Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine, Hey, bright Side Besties.
Speaker 2: Today on the bright Side, Jessica Bielle joins us to
Speaker 2: talk about her new book, all about periods her acting
Speaker 2: and producing career. Yeah, we're getting into it. It's Wednesday,
Speaker 2: May fifteenth.
Speaker 3: I'm Simone Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the
Speaker 3: bright Side from Hello Sunshine, Simon. I cannot wait to
Speaker 3: open the show with this big titty cookies.
Speaker 4: I love the sound of this.
Speaker 1: This is what we're talking about today.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, let's get into it.
Speaker 3: So I have to tell you I've been using your trick.
Speaker 3: You know how last week on the Mother's Day episode,
Speaker 3: you taught everybody that's saying the word radiant makes you smile. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's fabulous. I've been sharing it with my friends.
Speaker 4: It's so good. Right, Oh, I'd love to hear that.
Speaker 3: One of my friends said, that's how I feel about
Speaker 3: the word titties.
Speaker 4: It's so true. You can't help but smile when you
Speaker 4: say titty.
Speaker 1: Exacty, so big titty cookies.
Speaker 3: But we actually have news behind this because cookbook author
Speaker 3: Molly Baz is speaking out after a Times Square billboard
Speaker 3: of her promoting lactation cookies sparked major controversy. And before
Speaker 3: I jump into what that is, I do have to
Speaker 3: tell you I just learned what lactation cookies are because
Speaker 3: of this moment. They are cookies with ingredients in them
Speaker 3: that promote lactation.
Speaker 1: Simone, did you use these?
Speaker 2: I did try some lactation cookies. There's this one ingredient.
Speaker 2: It's called fen Greek. It's a seed and that's in
Speaker 2: a lot of these lactation recipes. Jury's still out as
Speaker 2: to whether it actually works. But when a lot of
Speaker 2: women are trying to lactate more, it's worth a shot.
Speaker 4: You're like willing to try anything.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Basically, what happened is she developed these lactation cookies with
Speaker 3: a breastfeeding startup called Swell, and it's a really cute ad.
Speaker 3: You see her big pregnant belly which is exposed and
Speaker 3: two oatmeal cookies covering her breasts.
Speaker 1: And it was supposed to be in Times Square for
Speaker 1: a week.
Speaker 3: After a few days it was on under review, it
Speaker 3: ultimately was replaced with a photo of her that was
Speaker 3: quote unquote approved content her and a crop top. Basically,
Speaker 3: but everyone on the internet was upset, including Molly, because
Speaker 3: all of these billboards surrounding hers of ads with Calvin
Speaker 3: Klein and lingerie brands exposing very naked people are allowed
Speaker 3: to stay up.
Speaker 2: I can only imagine how upsetting this was for her.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, and we talked about this, Danielle,
Speaker 2: this is probably the best thing that could happen to Molly.
Speaker 2: And also this company Swell because I remember you telling
Speaker 2: me about these lactation cookies and I was like, oh, cool,
Speaker 2: you know great lactation cookies. You know, there are a
Speaker 2: lot of recipes out there that can help spur lactation,
Speaker 2: get the milk to flow. But then when I heard
Speaker 2: that this ad got taken down, I was like, I'm
Speaker 2: ready to fight.
Speaker 4: Let's go.
Speaker 3: I just can't help but think of the breastfeeding in
Speaker 3: public movement because women need to feed their children. And
Speaker 3: then there were a bunch of people who found breasts
Speaker 3: to be sexual and so it just starts this big fight.
Speaker 3: And I feel like her pregnant belly and her breasts
Speaker 3: were sexualized in a way that feels weird and unnecessary.
Speaker 3: Was such a cute ad.
Speaker 2: There was nothing sexual or graphic about it to me.
Speaker 2: She was wearing a bikini first of all, underneath this,
Speaker 2: like sweater or cardigan, and she had on briefs that
Speaker 2: fully covered her vaginal region. There was nothing showing that
Speaker 2: was suggestive. Like, it's clearly a woman who was pregnant
Speaker 2: and she's being cheeky and covering her titties with cookies.
Speaker 2: And then when you think about the ads that it
Speaker 2: was right next to in Times Square, ads that are
Speaker 2: far more sexual, like that doesn't get taken down, that
Speaker 2: doesn't get flagged for being graphic.
Speaker 3: You know, there's something about this billboard being taken down
Speaker 3: that plays into the whole shape of women's bodies that hurts.
Speaker 3: And this isn't the first time that there's been issues.
Speaker 3: I actually learned because of this moment that it wasn't
Speaker 3: until twenty seventeen that an ad for period products was
Speaker 3: allowed to run using red liquid. I guess they used
Speaker 3: blue liquid before it was supposed to be more palatable.
Speaker 3: But women's health is censored, and I think we've all
Speaker 3: had it. I see the tide turning. I think more
Speaker 3: women are speaking up. I'm really wanting men to speak
Speaker 3: up about it.
Speaker 2: In terms of the feminine hygiene ads. Yeah, there was
Speaker 2: an ad that was rejected from the oscars a few
Speaker 2: years back from a postpartum care company called Freeda, And
Speaker 2: it was depicting the aftermath of birth, which is this
Speaker 2: really raw and truthfully all encompassing, kind of like dark
Speaker 2: experience for a lot of women, right, And it showed
Speaker 2: you what it looks like for a woman to have
Speaker 2: to go to the bathroom and change her pads after
Speaker 2: she's given birth. There's a lot of bleeding that happens
Speaker 2: that was deemed too graphic by the Academy of Motion
Speaker 2: Picture Arts and Sciences. And this is the crazy thing.
Speaker 2: This is how whoever is making these decisions, like the
Speaker 2: executives at these AD companies, this is how they view
Speaker 2: women and the issues that we endure. So that AD
Speaker 2: was placed in the same category as other prohibited topics
Speaker 2: like political candidates, religious or faith based messages, guns, gun shows, ammunition,
Speaker 2: adult diapers, condoms or hemorrhoid remedies. Feminine hygiene products were
Speaker 2: placed in the same category as ammunition.
Speaker 1: I feel like adult diapers should not be there either.
Speaker 1: People need those.
Speaker 2: I honestly I'm confounded, like I don't get it, Like
Speaker 2: why is this so upsetting to you? And when I
Speaker 2: say you, I'm talking to whoever is in a suit
Speaker 2: making these decisions, Why do we upset you so much?
Speaker 2: Like this is just our bodies, This is how we're
Speaker 2: just existing, okay, Danielle. Another thing that has me feeling
Speaker 2: some type of way is this article that I read
Speaker 2: in People magazine where a newlywed A asks if she's
Speaker 2: the a hole for being mad that her husband use
Speaker 2: their joint account to pay for her engagement ring without
Speaker 2: her knowledge.
Speaker 4: To me, this is like a I'm breaking out in
Speaker 4: hives just thinking about it.
Speaker 2: Wait, why I think it's deceptive for him to be
Speaker 2: paying for it out of the joint account without talking
Speaker 2: to her about it first.
Speaker 4: Like, I think there's a lot of pressure on.
Speaker 2: Men to deliver with the ring, right, Like it's it's
Speaker 2: a lot of pressure, and I think a lot of
Speaker 2: it is unfair, And that's not what marriage is about.
Speaker 4: It's not about the ring.
Speaker 2: So I get that many men or partners are struggling
Speaker 2: to find the money to pay for these rings. Right. However,
Speaker 2: to not ask your future wife if she's okay splitting
Speaker 2: the cost of the ring, that to me is the
Speaker 2: cardinal sin.
Speaker 1: Red flag.
Speaker 2: I also, just like, for the record, I would not
Speaker 2: be Okay, splitter ring like that is your gift to me.
Speaker 2: If you're subscribing to traditional gender roles in America, that
Speaker 2: is your gift to me. It's a present. You will
Speaker 2: pay for it. It is a present.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, the lie.
Speaker 3: I'm with you, huge red flag. You cannot start a
Speaker 3: relationship a out out a lie. The ring part I
Speaker 3: sort of disagree with hear me out. I feel like
Speaker 3: we keep fighting for equality and at the same time
Speaker 3: we want chivalry. Not that those things are mutually exclusive.
Speaker 3: You can have both. But if we are wanting to
Speaker 3: be fifty to fifty financial partners, shouldn't we also set
Speaker 3: up a new system when we enter engagement, Like, are
Speaker 3: we also buying the manner ring?
Speaker 1: Something about it just doesn't seem right.
Speaker 3: Feels like back in the day we were being traded
Speaker 3: for goats and we got a ring, and that's now
Speaker 3: we're in the same system.
Speaker 2: I agree with you, you know, I love to burn
Speaker 2: down a good old system, so I think there's some
Speaker 2: work to be done there. However, it does not sound like,
Speaker 2: oh girl, right here, here's what she said.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna let her speak for herself.
Speaker 2: Okay, So she says We have been having some arguments lately,
Speaker 2: and he feels that ring is a wedding expense and
Speaker 2: it's only fair that I contribute towards it too. So
Speaker 2: that's what you were saying, and that as a woman
Speaker 2: of this day, I shouldn't hesitate to be an equal partner.
Speaker 2: He expects me to apologize him because I called his
Speaker 2: actions tacky and his decisions scammy, and in bad face,
Speaker 2: she is scammy. I hope she actually she actually called
Speaker 2: him scammy.
Speaker 3: I want to say, it is kind of scammy. If
Speaker 3: this happened to you, Could you come back from this?
Speaker 3: Is this redeemable in your eyes?
Speaker 4: I don't know this. This is a big one.
Speaker 2: It also sounds like, look, I think most things are
Speaker 2: actually redeemable. I think you can come back from most
Speaker 2: things in a marriage. You know what, Danielle, this is
Speaker 2: such a controversial topic. You've made some really good points
Speaker 2: honestly that have me thinking, I think we need to
Speaker 2: phone a friend. So I'm gonna call my husband. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna bring him in.
Speaker 1: Let's call in the reserves. We need a male perspective here.
Speaker 2: Hold on, let me call him real quick. Well, okay,
Speaker 2: ladies and gentlemen, we have my husband, Michael Lloyd Green
Speaker 2: on the line. Oh boy, okay, so I have to
Speaker 2: ask you. There was this article in People magazine about
Speaker 2: this woman who feels like she was duped by her
Speaker 2: husband because he was paying for her engagement ring out
Speaker 2: of their joint a count without her knowledge. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: she's already unintentionally partially paid for two installments of the ring.
Speaker 2: She called him TACKI and scammy. We're having a debate
Speaker 2: about this. What do you think? Is this like a
Speaker 2: deal breaker?
Speaker 5: I wouldn't go so far as to say neil breaker,
Speaker 5: but it's certainly something that I think is, you know,
Speaker 5: gonna rock the boat in a significant way, and for
Speaker 5: good reason. I mean, that's more than just a big
Speaker 5: conversation to be at number one. He was lying it
Speaker 5: was disingenuous, and that's a problem. I mean, I'm a
Speaker 5: firm believer that you know, you can get through anything
Speaker 5: if you really do genuinely love each other.
Speaker 6: But that's a tough way to start things out.
Speaker 4: You would never do this to me, babe.
Speaker 6: No, no way in hell. Also, I just know you'd
Speaker 6: kill me.
Speaker 2: That's the truth. Well, there you have it, folks. That's
Speaker 2: that's that's what would happen if if you pulled it
Speaker 2: on me. I love you, babe, thank you, But oh
Speaker 2: my god, there you have it.
Speaker 4: Folks, don't try this at home.
Speaker 1: We wish them the best.
Speaker 2: Up next, Jessica bial is talking why two K trends,
Speaker 2: what it means to be a boy mom, and why
Speaker 2: she was inspired to write a book about periods.
Speaker 4: That's after the.
Speaker 3: Break Welcome back today, Jessica Bale is hanging out with
Speaker 3: us on the bright side.
Speaker 1: Jessica's been a household name for decades.
Speaker 3: I mean, I grew up watching her, and I'm in
Speaker 3: awe of how gracefully she's moved from teenage superstardom to
Speaker 3: a hugely successful career as an actress and producer. Jessica
Speaker 3: received critical acclaim for her performance in twenty seventeen's The
Speaker 3: Sinner and more recently as Candy Montgomery in the Hulu
Speaker 3: series Candy. She's also produced a number of projects with
Speaker 3: her production company, Iron Ocean, and now Jessica's adding author
Speaker 3: to her list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jessica recently partnered with the nonprofit company Period to
Speaker 2: write a kid's book about periods and changing bodies too. Literally,
Speaker 2: everything I wish I had in a book as a preteen. Jessica,
Speaker 2: Welcome to the bright Side. Hello, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: We're very happy to have you. You are bright and sunny
Speaker 3: in from Vegas.
Speaker 4: I am.
Speaker 6: It is a bright and sunny, hot day here.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I want to talk about periods. Yes, period
Speaker 1: two periods. I remember getting mine so clearly.
Speaker 3: I was fourteen and in gym class and I was
Speaker 3: so embarrassed. What personal experience helped you want to change
Speaker 3: the narrative around periods?
Speaker 7: Well, definitely that original experience. I've been thinking about a
Speaker 7: lot lately. And even though my mom, you know, she
Speaker 7: swore she said, no I talk to you, I prepared you,
Speaker 7: I blocked it out. I don't remember it. I don't
Speaker 7: remember feeling calm. I don't remember feeling.
Speaker 6: Like I knew what this was or that I knew
Speaker 6: what to expect.
Speaker 7: And I guess it just made me wonder does everybody
Speaker 7: else feel that same way? Does anybody else feel that
Speaker 7: same way?
Speaker 6: And is it normal?
Speaker 7: And do are other people having the same experience as
Speaker 7: I'm having?
Speaker 2: Mm?
Speaker 3: Well, I love that the book felt really digestible for preteen.
Speaker 1: What actually prompted you to write this?
Speaker 7: I didn't really have this clear idea of, oh, this
Speaker 7: is what I should be doing, because I am not
Speaker 7: an expert in this space, and I am not pretending
Speaker 7: to be an expert. I just happen to be a
Speaker 7: person who has had a period for thirty odd years
Speaker 7: and has a lot of personal experience with how hard
Speaker 7: it is and how stigmatizing it still is and kind
Speaker 7: of taboo. It still kind of feels even now as
Speaker 7: we've you know, kind of gotten so far culturally and
Speaker 7: socially caring about women's and people who have uteruses and
Speaker 7: people who menstright stories, it still feels like a lot
Speaker 7: of shame and humiliation can be surrounding this topic. So anyway,
Speaker 7: I was meeting with Jolanni Memory, who owns a kid's
Speaker 7: co and I love that company. This is my partner
Speaker 7: and collaborator with this book, and they write books about
Speaker 7: all types of hearts objects for kids, and I have
Speaker 7: a lot of these books for my kids. And we
Speaker 7: just started talking about things that I was caring about.
Speaker 6: We weren't even talking about writing.
Speaker 7: A book together. And then by the end of our
Speaker 7: conversation we both looked at each other and that, well,
Speaker 7: I guess we need to write this book, and my
Speaker 7: partner and my company, Michelle Purple, we both looked at
Speaker 7: each other as well. Obviously, periods it's the first thing
Speaker 7: that a young girl or someone who is born at
Speaker 7: birth with female reproductive organs is going to experience in
Speaker 7: a big way, like that big first kind of body evolution.
Speaker 7: We got to normalize this thing for younger people coming
Speaker 7: up behind us.
Speaker 3: Some people might be surprised to hear that you wrote
Speaker 3: a book for preteen girls because you're a mom of
Speaker 3: two boys.
Speaker 7: I actually think it's even more important for people who
Speaker 7: don't experience a period to understand what it is, what
Speaker 7: happens to your body, your mind, your your emotions, your hormones.
Speaker 7: So that really so my sons can be supportive of me,
Speaker 7: and they can be supportive of their friends or possible
Speaker 7: partners or family members when it's when they're going through
Speaker 7: it and they're not freaked.
Speaker 6: Out by it either.
Speaker 7: I mean, like that's a huge part of changing the
Speaker 7: narrative and the dialogue.
Speaker 4: Jessica, you'll appreciate this.
Speaker 2: I'm a boy mom as well, and I also want
Speaker 2: to normalize the female body for my sons and my
Speaker 2: two year old son thinks that tampons are candy, so
Speaker 2: he will. I'll find my ripped up tampons all over
Speaker 2: the house, which is great now because they're so cheap
Speaker 2: and so easy to find. But I would love to
Speaker 2: talk about that a little bit more with you. How
Speaker 2: are you raising mindful boys?
Speaker 7: You know, I think it's a day to day experience, right,
Speaker 7: it's very imperfect because I've never done this before.
Speaker 6: You've never done this before, right.
Speaker 7: But I just tell them the truth as much as
Speaker 7: I possibly can. My kids, I think think they're toys,
Speaker 7: like almost like cannons that you.
Speaker 6: Could just feel like shoot around or something like that.
Speaker 7: But we've also talked about, hey, this is something that
Speaker 7: I use every month, and to.
Speaker 6: My little one, I said, hey, look, my little one's three.
Speaker 7: I said, I'm going to explain this to you later,
Speaker 7: but this is something that I need every month, and
Speaker 7: I need some privacy in the bathroom right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, like that is the hardest heart is
Speaker 2: getting them frimassy in the freaking bathroom.
Speaker 6: It is hard. It is really hard.
Speaker 7: But I had a huge breakthrough with my nine year
Speaker 7: olds just two days ago where I finally had a
Speaker 7: copy of my book and I said, hey, look, I
Speaker 7: wrote a book and he was like, WHOA, cool, and
Speaker 7: he goes, I want to read that. It goes, oh periods,
Speaker 7: it's about punctuation. And I was like, well no, and
Speaker 7: so I said, hey, you want to read it, and
Speaker 7: so we sat down we read about half the book together.
Speaker 7: He read it and I was sort of helping him
Speaker 7: with some of the we're he's never heard ovaries, uterus
Speaker 7: things like that, and then I got to sort of
Speaker 7: explain every page, like, hey, so what that means is
Speaker 7: you know, this happens to me every month and I
Speaker 7: actually bleed out of my body, you know.
Speaker 6: And he was like, WHOA, that's weird.
Speaker 7: I said, it is kind of weird, but you know what,
Speaker 7: it's pretty normal too. It's going to happen to every
Speaker 7: you know, fifty percent of the world's population, a lot
Speaker 7: of people, you know, this is going to happen to.
Speaker 7: And what we got to talk about is we got
Speaker 7: to have that discussion about if you you know, maybe
Speaker 7: you'll see a friend at school who is having their period,
Speaker 7: and maybe they might have had an accident and there's
Speaker 7: blood on their pants, and maybe you could make a
Speaker 7: choice to help them instead of laugh or point at them.
Speaker 7: I said, maybe you could even offer them your sweatshirt
Speaker 7: and you could say quietly, Hey, I think maybe you
Speaker 7: have blood on your pants?
Speaker 6: Do you want my sweatshirt? Can I help you? Do
Speaker 6: you need to go to the nurse?
Speaker 7: Do you need?
Speaker 6: You know? What can I do for you?
Speaker 7: And he was like, yeah, totally because people might just
Speaker 7: laugh and point I said, yeah they might, and wouldn't
Speaker 7: that feel bad?
Speaker 6: What if someone did that to you?
Speaker 7: And literally, I'm trying to be so cool and he
Speaker 7: was like, okay, I'll redone now.
Speaker 6: I say, yeah, we're.
Speaker 7: Done, and so he runs off, and literally I just thought,
Speaker 7: oh my god, it just happened. The conversation that in
Speaker 7: my mind I've played out that I hoped to have
Speaker 7: with him, that I hope this book inspires for families
Speaker 7: anywhere and everywhere.
Speaker 6: It happened, and he heard.
Speaker 7: Me and it wasn't like scary, and we didn't make
Speaker 7: a big deal out of it, and it's just in
Speaker 7: there now.
Speaker 6: Somewhere in his brain or in his cellular body.
Speaker 7: If he ever sees that, maybe he'll offer that person
Speaker 7: a sweatshirt or something.
Speaker 6: It was a cool moment.
Speaker 7: I just thought, Okay, this is it this is why
Speaker 7: this is important.
Speaker 4: You've inspired me that.
Speaker 2: I love that you thought that the conversation was going
Speaker 2: to be harder than it actually was, and that's that's
Speaker 2: usually how everything is.
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna I'm going to take that home with me.
Speaker 2: You know, in the book you write about feeling embarrassed
Speaker 2: by your period, and honestly, I still experience that. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I had an accident on the plane and it was mortifying,
Speaker 2: Like we don't talk about this enough that you know
Speaker 2: this can still happen to us, and we're still learning
Speaker 2: about our bodies. And so I'm curious now, like where
Speaker 2: you are in life as a mom, as a parent,
Speaker 2: how are you in conversation with your body now?
Speaker 7: I feel like a lot of times I am in
Speaker 7: a fight with my body. I am like trying to
Speaker 7: understand what she is doing, and we are at odds
Speaker 7: sometimes even now, And I think that's why it's still
Speaker 7: so crazy that I have the same experience many times
Speaker 7: that you just shared with us.
Speaker 6: Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 7: I have accidents all the time, and I feel like
Speaker 7: I should be able to know how to control this thing.
Speaker 7: I'm an expert now, at least of my own body.
Speaker 7: Aren't I And I don't feel that way. I feel
Speaker 7: like it changes so often and it takes me by surprise,
Speaker 7: and you know, my cycle shifts, and it's just crazy
Speaker 7: that I still feel like a preteen and things are
Speaker 7: still happening to me, like having accidents and you know,
Speaker 7: bleeding through tampons and bleeding through pants and things in public.
Speaker 7: And I'm still embarrassed about it. It hasn't gone away
Speaker 7: for me. It's a daily practice to not feel embarrassed
Speaker 7: about that. And it's not easy. It's so much easier
Speaker 7: said than done.
Speaker 2: All Right, we're going to take a quick break, but
Speaker 2: when we come back, we'll have more with Jessica Biale.
Speaker 4: We're back, Jessica.
Speaker 2: You've been in showbiz since you were fourteen years old,
Speaker 2: and it has changed so much. I mean, it used
Speaker 2: to be that you couldn't cross over between TV and film,
Speaker 2: but now TV is this procede art form. How did
Speaker 2: opening up your own production company open doors in your career.
Speaker 7: It's such an interesting thing to talk about because doors did.
Speaker 6: Not open at all, really, no even being in the
Speaker 6: business for so long.
Speaker 7: I mean, I've had this production company with my partner
Speaker 7: Michelle Purple for twenty years. This year has been twenty years.
Speaker 7: I started it with her when I was twenty two,
Speaker 7: and for the first ten years we had almost no
Speaker 7: success at all. We had a very challenging time getting
Speaker 7: any story told. We made a short film, we made
Speaker 7: a full length feature, which was beautiful and a cool experience,
Speaker 7: but it was a labor of love. And then not
Speaker 7: until many years later, that's when we were introduced to
Speaker 7: The Sinner and then built that show from the ground up.
Speaker 7: So when we were actually selling that show, Michelle and
Speaker 7: I looked at each other and she said, if we
Speaker 7: don't sell this show, I'm quitting, and I said me too,
Speaker 7: I'm quitting.
Speaker 6: I'm not doing this.
Speaker 7: I don't know if this show doesn't sell, I don't
Speaker 7: know what people want, I don't know what to bring them.
Speaker 7: I don't understand this business anymore. I just don't get
Speaker 7: it anymore.
Speaker 6: And then we sold it in the room, it was
Speaker 6: like it was so weird.
Speaker 2: So was that humbling for you to go from having
Speaker 2: such a successful career as an actor to then having
Speaker 2: to prove yourself as a producer.
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, absolutely. It was basically like starting over on
Speaker 7: some level. Also, it was during a time where nobody
Speaker 7: cared about women's stories. Yeah, female storytelling wasn't really that
Speaker 7: really wasn't happening. Was way before me too, way before
Speaker 7: you know, we really had this amazing runway.
Speaker 6: For powerful, complex female stories.
Speaker 7: So it just wasn't the right time either, and we
Speaker 7: were fighting against all the elements and it was a
Speaker 7: very humbling experience, and it is it still continues to
Speaker 7: be humbling. I don't find that my industry or being
Speaker 7: an actor or producer is easy in any shape, way,
Speaker 7: shape or form. It is so much blood, sweat and
Speaker 7: tears that you put into getting these projects made, and
Speaker 7: so many of the things we work on never ever
Speaker 7: come to your fruition. And I feel like most producers
Speaker 7: would say the same thing, that they have that experience,
Speaker 7: and it's very hard. And also in my own just
Speaker 7: sort of separating my company from my own acting career,
Speaker 7: it's the same thing. I am fighting for those roles
Speaker 7: that I really want and auditioning and not getting them,
Speaker 7: still hearing nose like a lot of no's. It's a
Speaker 7: humbling business all around, and I think it might always
Speaker 7: be that way.
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 3: Your project, Crulth Summer is set in y two K.
Speaker 3: Simone and I are obsessed with the Y two K era.
Speaker 1: Uh, you are also a teen icon of that era.
Speaker 3: Like when people think of Y two K, they think
Speaker 3: of you for sure. Do you ever get nostalgic for
Speaker 3: that time?
Speaker 6: I do.
Speaker 7: I do get nostalgic for that time because it was simpler. Yeah,
Speaker 7: and maybe that sounds crazy to people who didn't experience it,
Speaker 7: but we didn't even have We barely had a cell
Speaker 7: phone at that point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, butterfly clips and chokers.
Speaker 4: That was it.
Speaker 7: We didn't need anything else crop crop tops.
Speaker 6: Yeah, like clips, chokers, and a pager.
Speaker 7: That's it. Yes, I need anything else but a pager
Speaker 7: and a beeper. You know, when I was coming up
Speaker 7: in that time in this industry, there was like teen
Speaker 7: Beat and Tiger and these like you know, fun magazines,
Speaker 7: and yeah, sometimes your picture showed up in there or
Speaker 7: it was like fun to be in those mags. There
Speaker 7: wasn't this crazy paparazzi kind of thing. There wasn't everyone
Speaker 7: with a camera on their phone. Like we said, there
Speaker 7: weren't even real phones back then. So when I got
Speaker 7: into this business, that wasn't a part of it. It
Speaker 7: wasn't really part of the culture.
Speaker 4: Of it.
Speaker 7: And I've definitely had conversations with people who said, well,
Speaker 7: you know, you know when you got into this business,
Speaker 7: so that's part of your life. And I was like, no, no,
Speaker 7: hold on that. That actually wasn't a part of our life.
Speaker 6: Back then. It didn't exist.
Speaker 7: That technology didn't really exist. And as you know, we
Speaker 7: got into Y two K and then we got into
Speaker 7: the two thousands, that was a much bigger beast to
Speaker 7: contend with.
Speaker 6: But yeah, it was just simpler times.
Speaker 7: Things were just easier and you know, the dial up
Speaker 7: internet you can find everything.
Speaker 1: Feel like that was.
Speaker 3: I guess I'm wondering, like what era you're in right
Speaker 3: now because that was your HY two K era?
Speaker 1: Where is Jessica Bielle now?
Speaker 7: Mom working? I'm in working mom era. That's definitely the
Speaker 7: way it feels, and it's it's a great era.
Speaker 6: I like this era.
Speaker 7: It's not without a ton of challenges, but it's cool.
Speaker 7: I like being busy, and I've I've been working professionally
Speaker 7: for so long. I don't really know anything else. So
Speaker 7: for me, it's it's cool to be balancing everything. I've
Speaker 7: always been balancing everything. You talked about still weathering all
Speaker 7: these no's it is. It is a tough business. But
Speaker 7: what keeps you going in the face of all that rejection? Like,
Speaker 7: what's your why? That's you guys are good. These are
Speaker 7: really good questions.
Speaker 6: My why is that we cannot.
Speaker 7: Stop fighting for the stories that need to be told.
Speaker 7: Storytelling is my life and it always has been and
Speaker 7: all it's part of all of us. We're all storytellers
Speaker 7: and no matter what we do, truly, I mean, it's
Speaker 7: like ancient inside of us. That's how we've always passed information.
Speaker 7: And I think, especially being a part of like a
Speaker 7: female tribe, that's part of what we do for.
Speaker 6: Our members in our tribe.
Speaker 7: And I just get so tickled when we actually make
Speaker 7: something and it's good and people like it and it
Speaker 7: speaks to someone and they see the world in a
Speaker 7: different way or they get inspired, or even if they
Speaker 7: hate it, there's something that's okay too. Right, we're talking,
Speaker 7: we're having conversation, We're having dialogue about creativity. I have
Speaker 7: to be creative in my life, and I just I
Speaker 7: think the why is that I love I love telling
Speaker 7: stories and I don't know how not to do that.
Speaker 4: Jessica, we love you. Keep creating, Keep telling stories. Thanks
Speaker 4: so much for coming on the bright side.
Speaker 7: Thank you for having me, and you're making this world
Speaker 7: a brighter place too.
Speaker 6: So much much, much love to you.
Speaker 2: Jessica Biel is the author of a kid's book about
Speaker 2: periods Out Now.
Speaker 3: That's it for today's show. Tomorrow on the bright Side,
Speaker 3: Carrie Champion, it's here with us. She's a sports journalist
Speaker 3: and podcast host.
Speaker 2: Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Simone Voice.
Speaker 2: You can find me at simone Voice on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3: I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1: That's r O b A. Y. See you tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Keep looking on the bright side.