Speaker 1: Wind Down and her radio podcast. All Right, we're just
Speaker 1: gonna get right to it because I got bit by
Speaker 1: something in Mexico. I gotta get this, like the feeling
Speaker 1: out of my head because I wanted to, Like my
Speaker 1: arm looks like a freaking baseball. Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: I will say, I commend you because you're handling it
Speaker 1: more like an adult than I probably would. It's says
Speaker 1: little things that bother me more than anything else. But like,
Speaker 1: I haven't been able to sleep because it's just it's
Speaker 1: it's is so bad, like nothing is helping. So we
Speaker 1: just need to get straight to I'm so excited because
Speaker 1: this week my movie that I filmed during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: essentially it's called Welcome Home Christmas on Lifetime. It's going
Speaker 1: to be airing this Saturday. And so excited because we
Speaker 1: have a few of the cast members joining us today.
Speaker 1: And let's get right to it with the one and
Speaker 1: only country superstar Craig Morgan. Welcome, Kras, What up, buddy,
Speaker 1: It's good. It's good to see y'all. It's good to
Speaker 1: see you, Manna. That makes it better for me. I
Speaker 1: gotta be honest, absolutely, I'm super uncomfortable around Janna. Why
Speaker 1: he used make me nervous again, I make you nervous.
Speaker 1: You're so like You're acting is so good that I
Speaker 1: feel I feel inferior, and generally I'm really good at
Speaker 1: everything else. I do you know what I mean that, Craig,
Speaker 1: that that's how I used to felt until I married Joanna,
Speaker 1: And now I'm to care about everything I do because
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I used to be the best at
Speaker 1: this until I met my wife. And I used to
Speaker 1: be a stud till I got married. You are crazy
Speaker 1: because well, first of all, I just have to say,
Speaker 1: I just have to, um, you know, give Craig a
Speaker 1: lot of um love right now, because he's been the
Speaker 1: nicest country star of all of them that I've ever met.
Speaker 1: Um always so welcoming, You're so kind, um obviously, I
Speaker 1: mean I grew up listening to your music and then
Speaker 1: I knew that you did a few acting jobs with um.
Speaker 1: It was it was what's that called is? I don't know,
Speaker 1: I always say it wrong, is? Oh? And what was
Speaker 1: that called? Zsolian Isles? I always forget the name of
Speaker 1: that one. Um, but you were I'm not sure You've
Speaker 1: done a few other movies and I remember reading a
Speaker 1: Welcome Home Christmas and I was like, Craig Morgan has
Speaker 1: to play this role like he's just because you're an
Speaker 1: Army veteran yourself, and the movie revolves around army veterans.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, do you do enjoy acting because
Speaker 1: you're really good at it? Oh, you're so sweet? Thank you.
Speaker 1: I'm I love it, I gotta tell you. And mainly
Speaker 1: because there's no band, there's no crew, there's no headache.
Speaker 1: You know, you just said in a trailer and wait
Speaker 1: for him to come and get you, and you pretend
Speaker 1: to be someone else. Uh. You know, before I started,
Speaker 1: they asked me, you know, have you ever done any acting?
Speaker 1: I said, I've been pretending to be a singer. So
Speaker 1: I absolutely love it. I was. I was always nervous
Speaker 1: though about getting into it. The Resolian Isles was the
Speaker 1: first piece that I did where I really had a
Speaker 1: true character role. I wasn't playing a country singer or
Speaker 1: Craig Morgan, you know what I mean. I did the
Speaker 1: Army Wives, but I was a country singer, you know,
Speaker 1: I played I played a country singer and we did
Speaker 1: some stuff, had a few lines here and there, and
Speaker 1: uh so when I did Resolian. I was it was exciting,
Speaker 1: but I was also a little nervous because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm like, you might not be cut out to do this.
Speaker 1: You just don't know. And I hate not doing something well.
Speaker 1: I hate doing I try to avoid things that if
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be able to do it, I just
Speaker 1: avoid it. And you know, and it ain't like I
Speaker 1: won't try to learn something, but I you know, I
Speaker 1: felt like I wanted to do well at it, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: especially after Resolian. I was you know, then it then
Speaker 1: you get the bug and it's like I just I
Speaker 1: really did. I enjoyed that and they were great, they
Speaker 1: were really good to me. And then we did another
Speaker 1: Lifetime movie and had a had a great part in that,
Speaker 1: and it just I do love it. I just want
Speaker 1: to do it well. I don't want to be the guy. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be the guy that everybody says, oh,
Speaker 1: you're really good and then they go home and they
Speaker 1: go you know, no, I'm serious. Everyone was kind of
Speaker 1: everyone was talking about you. You're behind your back and
Speaker 1: the best of ways being like, he's really good and
Speaker 1: you played the part perfectly, so I just you made
Speaker 1: it you made it exciting to go to work, especially
Speaker 1: during that nervous time. You know, Craig, I've always wondered
Speaker 1: how it is to transitionto something like that, I mean,
Speaker 1: goring to have a you know, perfect candidate with my
Speaker 1: wife being able to do it. But I feel like
Speaker 1: there's this relationship right amongst entertainers where every professional athlete
Speaker 1: wants to be an actor, every actor wants to be
Speaker 1: a musician, every music right, and it's a cycle that
Speaker 1: we all just like appreciate what the other one does
Speaker 1: because really, you're living the dream I wanted to live.
Speaker 1: I might be living the dream someone else wanted to live.
Speaker 1: And so how was that transitioning into that, be having
Speaker 1: this name and this brand as being Craig Morgan, you know,
Speaker 1: the performer, into something where you're back to the bottom
Speaker 1: of the total poll you're trying to prove yourself. Like,
Speaker 1: how how was that going into that? And was that
Speaker 1: something that you pursued or did someone start to pursue
Speaker 1: you into acting? Man, there's a there's a few questions,
Speaker 1: but those are I love what you said. First, let
Speaker 1: me say this about how we all kind of you know,
Speaker 1: like I want to be a football stud You know,
Speaker 1: I want to be a baseball player. I want to
Speaker 1: or I want to be a copper. I want to
Speaker 1: be this. You know. I think we all have that
Speaker 1: almost like a type A personality. But there's multiple subcategories
Speaker 1: of those type a's, and we all actors, UH, law
Speaker 1: enforcement officers, fireman, soldiers, entertainers, athletes. We all share that.
Speaker 1: Now we have a different we might be in a
Speaker 1: different subcategory, but we are driven. I think that is it.
Speaker 1: I think that's what we do. Now. You ask how
Speaker 1: how I transition, I'll tell you what I tell people.
Speaker 1: They asked me how to transition from the military into
Speaker 1: the music, and I say, I'm working on it. How
Speaker 1: long did you serve again in the military, Uh, seventeen
Speaker 1: and a half total years, had almost eleven of active
Speaker 1: and then almost seven of active reserve. Thank you again
Speaker 1: for your service. And I there was a story that
Speaker 1: you told me when we were filming that your guys
Speaker 1: didn't know that you wanted to be this country singer.
Speaker 1: Is that my memory correct on that? No, yes it is.
Speaker 1: Um I was sitting around in the barracks and play music,
Speaker 1: but you know I was, I was an n c O.
Speaker 1: Especially when I started playing music more. I grew up
Speaker 1: in and around. I was born in Nashville, so music
Speaker 1: was always My dad was a musician growing up, so
Speaker 1: it was always kind of a part of my life. Um.
Speaker 1: But when I was in the army, it was just
Speaker 1: for fun. You know. It's kind of like sitting around
Speaker 1: in the evenings when you're off and and and we
Speaker 1: do hang out and play music what have you, especially
Speaker 1: you know, uh, when you're away from home. Um. But
Speaker 1: I don't know that I read that. I don't remember
Speaker 1: ever sitting down until towards the end of my military
Speaker 1: active duty time. I had to make a decision do
Speaker 1: I was at that mark, you know, almost halfway to
Speaker 1: the retirement, and it was like, do you stay here
Speaker 1: and retire of the army or do you get out
Speaker 1: and try this? And I remember talking to my wife
Speaker 1: and talking to some of my buddies, my commander. I
Speaker 1: literally went to my commander, who to this day as
Speaker 1: a dear friend. He was a full bird colonel, and
Speaker 1: I sat down and I said, I'm thinking about pursuing
Speaker 1: the music industry, and I'd just like to get your
Speaker 1: take because I was due to re enlist, you know,
Speaker 1: and go for another two or three years, and uh,
Speaker 1: he said, I think if you stay in the army,
Speaker 1: you'll be the startain major of the army someday. He said,
Speaker 1: but I also think that you have a very special gift,
Speaker 1: and I think you should try. It was that guy's
Speaker 1: advice solely. Uh, you know, my parents, my dad was
Speaker 1: trying to get me to do it, and friends were
Speaker 1: saying it. But that guy's advice. I'll never forget that
Speaker 1: because he felt like I could be the sergeant major
Speaker 1: of the army if I stayed in And yet he
Speaker 1: still thought that I should pursue this. I never would
Speaker 1: have done it. I don't think if it hadn't been
Speaker 1: for him. So um, you know, it's all he's kind
Speaker 1: of been there. But but like I said, I'm transitioning.
Speaker 1: So how am I transitioning into the acting thing? I'm
Speaker 1: working on it. Man. I'd like to get better. I
Speaker 1: want to be really good. I want I want when people,
Speaker 1: uh like I was. I was lucky because of the entertainment,
Speaker 1: because of music and my success and that I achieved
Speaker 1: enough notoriety that someone who was a friend of mine
Speaker 1: said you should come to resultiing ills, you know, And
Speaker 1: it was Angie. You know, she's the lead. And so
Speaker 1: when she said it, they said, okay, and we'll try it.
Speaker 1: And you know, and I did well enough that you know,
Speaker 1: brought me back. But and then you do something else,
Speaker 1: and one thing leads, as you know, Jenna, one thing
Speaker 1: leads to another. So I'm always I just tell you
Speaker 1: everything that I get to do, I'm super grateful for it. Uh.
Speaker 1: And and anytime, you know, when my son died, I
Speaker 1: made a decision that I wasn't going to pursue or
Speaker 1: do anything anymore if it wasn't didn't feel like it
Speaker 1: was good for everybody that was involved. And so you know,
Speaker 1: this movie is basically it's like, for me, this is
Speaker 1: a very important this is just a cool thing because
Speaker 1: I have a lot of friends that are those guys
Speaker 1: still to this day that are coming home. I have
Speaker 1: guys that have been home for a few years that
Speaker 1: are going through what this movie kind of talks about.
Speaker 1: What your character is is alluding to. You're the person
Speaker 1: that's trying to help these soldiers, uh come back and
Speaker 1: get back into society. And and and so for me,
Speaker 1: that was that was really really cool. It's kind of like,
Speaker 1: if I get to do a Disney movie and my
Speaker 1: kids get my grandkids get to see it. You know
Speaker 1: that so true. This is a personal thing for me.
Speaker 1: So it was really cool. Yeah. And I remember too,
Speaker 1: you said that you didn't even think you were going
Speaker 1: to do music ever again, that you didn't know if
Speaker 1: and then obviously you ended up writing The Father and
Speaker 1: My Son and the Holy Ghost, which is I remember
Speaker 1: moriically that for you in the kitchen. Um, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I just wrote the song about a son,
Speaker 1: and I mean we were I was bawling, like in
Speaker 1: the kitchen. He was just like his eyes were all swelling,
Speaker 1: and it's just it's such a powerful song. And I
Speaker 1: just I can't even imagine what you went through to
Speaker 1: write that. And I know I do. Remember you said
Speaker 1: something about your wife, how she came out, and if
Speaker 1: you want to tell that story, yeah, she Uh you know,
Speaker 1: I got up about four thirty. Uh And my wife
Speaker 1: is one of those people goes to bed at eight
Speaker 1: o'clock and I probably won't get up till at least six.
Speaker 1: I mean, she's a good looking woman. Uh so she
Speaker 1: gets her beauty rest. But I had gotten up at
Speaker 1: about four thirty and and literally in my head. I
Speaker 1: was singing some singing in my head some of the
Speaker 1: lines in that verse and the course. It was really weird.
Speaker 1: So I went downstairs and did something that I have
Speaker 1: not had not done since my son had died, and
Speaker 1: that was I started writing by myself waking up. I mean,
Speaker 1: and Jenny, you've had some things wake you up, and
Speaker 1: you want to write it down. I used to when
Speaker 1: first started this, I would wake up with an idea
Speaker 1: and go, I need to write that down. I won't
Speaker 1: forget that you go back to sleep. What was that
Speaker 1: I was thinking about? But then I got started where
Speaker 1: I would write things down. If something woke me up,
Speaker 1: or if I had a great idea, I would write
Speaker 1: it down. I got a little hook sheet, just like
Speaker 1: all songwriters do. Um. But for some reason that morning
Speaker 1: I didn't just write it down and go back to sleep.
Speaker 1: I went downstairs and got my guitar. Uh and literally
Speaker 1: the melody, the lyric verbatim that is on that song.
Speaker 1: It's what I wrote in that three and a half
Speaker 1: or four hours that I was there. And my wife
Speaker 1: when I came upstairs, Uh, she asked me if I
Speaker 1: was all right, because I mean, I'm ain ashamed to say.
Speaker 1: I just cried the whole time. And obviously I think
Speaker 1: she heard me, and I said, yeah, I wrote the song,
Speaker 1: but I didn't ask her if she wanted to hear it,
Speaker 1: because I just I just didn't want her to to
Speaker 1: go through that hurt. She was hurting, I know, listening
Speaker 1: to me. I mean, since our sun died. I just don't.
Speaker 1: I try real hard not to get too emotional around
Speaker 1: my wife because she's carrying enough hurt anyway. She don't
Speaker 1: need to carry my hurt, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And people say that's wrong, but I don't really care.
Speaker 1: That's just kind of the way it is. That's what
Speaker 1: I do. Um And and after I finished it, you know,
Speaker 1: and like I said, we were kind of talking about
Speaker 1: she didn't say, you know, let me hear it. What
Speaker 1: are you know? All she said was are you okay?
Speaker 1: And I said I'm fine, I'll be all right, you know.
Speaker 1: And then I thought, I thought, man, this is not
Speaker 1: just something that's you know, so personal to me. There's
Speaker 1: something about this song. So I literally called my daughter
Speaker 1: and told her, and she's like, send it to me.
Speaker 1: And because she's a writer as well, and I've I've
Speaker 1: did a little work tape of it, and I sent
Speaker 1: it to her and she's like, you know, you gotta
Speaker 1: record this that of course she was crying to you know,
Speaker 1: She's like, you have to record this, And I never cary.
Speaker 1: Even then I'm like, no way, I won't be able
Speaker 1: to do it. And then I think I called my
Speaker 1: tour manager Jerry, and I told you, man, I wrote something,
Speaker 1: you gotta hear this, and and and I think Jerry's like,
Speaker 1: you gotta let the guys everybody hear this, you know,
Speaker 1: and played it for management, and before you know it,
Speaker 1: it was the label and I'd already finished my album done,
Speaker 1: turned in picking the first single. We were, everything was done,
Speaker 1: and the label heard the song and said, this is
Speaker 1: the first single on the new new project. So what
Speaker 1: do you do with that hurt? You know where you
Speaker 1: said if other people that are going through loss as well,
Speaker 1: and you said that you know you have the hurt,
Speaker 1: would it like, how do you cope with the hurt
Speaker 1: still in your in your chest and your body? Boy?
Speaker 1: You said it, girl, it's it is in your body,
Speaker 1: it's in your chest. Uh. I pray a whole lot.
Speaker 1: I mean literally, I pray off and on all day,
Speaker 1: every day. Um. But but and and then there are
Speaker 1: every once in a while, I wail, I say, well,
Speaker 1: because I sound it's horrible, I sound like something wrong
Speaker 1: with me, you know. But sometimes you just gotta let
Speaker 1: that out and it's just draining and you just you know,
Speaker 1: and you get it out of your system and you pray.
Speaker 1: And what I've learned is in something I heard a
Speaker 1: priest say, and it, man, it's just given me so
Speaker 1: much confidence in my emotions is that it's okay to
Speaker 1: have sorrow and joy. They will coexist. Uh, Sadness and
Speaker 1: happiness do not coexist. So it's okay to be sorrowful.
Speaker 1: It's okay to feel sorrow because you can feel joy
Speaker 1: at the same time you can't. You know, I'm not
Speaker 1: always gonna be happy, it's just life. But I can
Speaker 1: still be joyful even though I might not be happy
Speaker 1: at that moment. I can still find joy. And my
Speaker 1: son's Jerry is gone, and it hurts every day. Um,
Speaker 1: and that's that that that hurts, and I'm sorrowful for that.
Speaker 1: But I still find joy in things that happen in
Speaker 1: my life and my other children. I'm sorrowful that my
Speaker 1: son is not here. But I'm also joyful that he's
Speaker 1: in heaven. And I'm fairly confident. If you ask me
Speaker 1: if I knew for sure, i'd have to say no.
Speaker 1: And the reason is because I'm not God. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I feel like, based on everything that God has
Speaker 1: told me and showed me and then my son's life,
Speaker 1: I feel confident that he's there. Well, I mean, that
Speaker 1: was that was the question I had to And it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, to to see you be able to talk
Speaker 1: about that, Craig, and you know, that's motivating to hear
Speaker 1: from you and how you're handling that, and I think
Speaker 1: it's got to be encouraging to people out there who
Speaker 1: have also had similar losses and that there is hope
Speaker 1: to enjoy your day to day, you know, because you know,
Speaker 1: people a lot of people can't imagine that haven't suffered
Speaker 1: such unfortunate laws. So to know that there is some
Speaker 1: light at the end of tunnel is as long as
Speaker 1: you're doing the things that kind of you're talking about
Speaker 1: and you said it's okay to you gotta let that
Speaker 1: that stuff out sometimes, you know, you gotta let those
Speaker 1: emotions out and kind of cleanse your soul a little bit.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well we all have we all have we
Speaker 1: all have a cross that we must bear, I mean,
Speaker 1: and and something that I've learned m learn for the
Speaker 1: most part is, for one, I never compare my pain
Speaker 1: to anyone else's pain because I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: really know their heart and how their hurt is. Um,
Speaker 1: So I don't do that. But but what I do
Speaker 1: know is that we all have certain pain and we
Speaker 1: just have to find a place. And for me, it's
Speaker 1: through my spirit and through my God that to know
Speaker 1: that it's okay, it's okay to feel that pain, uh,
Speaker 1: and and and know that there is joy. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that you'll ever get over it, but what it
Speaker 1: does mean is that you can live through it very
Speaker 1: wise words. For sure, I gotta imagine to your wife,
Speaker 1: because you know she's dealt with a lot of your
Speaker 1: transitions as well. I can't imagine being an you know,
Speaker 1: an army y and our military wife and then you know, now,
Speaker 1: you know, going on the road because you guys have
Speaker 1: been together for was it thirty years? Thirty something years? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you better get that. You better figured that part out.
Speaker 1: But you know, I mean, she's that's incredible too. With
Speaker 1: it with all the transitions that you guys have had
Speaker 1: through military, through you know, you being chart topping, insanely
Speaker 1: famous country artist. Um, you know to now doing acting
Speaker 1: and everything else that you want to do. What's U
Speaker 1: what's something like? Is it your wife's just independence or
Speaker 1: is it just what kept you all strong and together?
Speaker 1: Well we've been married. It is thirty two years, and
Speaker 1: in thirty two years, we've probably really seen each other
Speaker 1: like twelve years. Uh. You know you've heard that I
Speaker 1: was saying, absence makes the heart grow fonder. I believe
Speaker 1: that all of our children were born during uh leaves
Speaker 1: of absence from the military, or born they were conceived
Speaker 1: during a happening. You're gone for nine months to come home,
Speaker 1: it's like whoa. So I think the spontaneity, the excitement. Uh.
Speaker 1: And she's, like I said, she's super cute. So that
Speaker 1: makes it easy. Um, you keep it fresh and and
Speaker 1: and you can't take each other too serious. Communication is important.
Speaker 1: But I when I talked to young soldiers, especially guys
Speaker 1: that have experienced a lot of trauma overseas and combat stuff,
Speaker 1: I gotta tell them, you know, you gotta not be
Speaker 1: too honest. Uh, there's just certain stuff that uh, that
Speaker 1: certain that that people in your life don't need to hear. Uh.
Speaker 1: There's other people you can share those things with, and
Speaker 1: you need to find those other people. It's okay to
Speaker 1: have those other people in your life. Um. Love is
Speaker 1: the most important thing, man, I mean, that's it. Uh.
Speaker 1: I'm a Catholic now, you guys. I I grew up
Speaker 1: my whole life a Baptist. But one thing I've learned
Speaker 1: is that love overpowers everything everything, it really does. The
Speaker 1: more you love, the less time you have for anger
Speaker 1: and hate and envying all of those other things that
Speaker 1: get in our way. Uh. And and and and Jen,
Speaker 1: I say this, that's one thing I've always felt like
Speaker 1: when we were around you, and and I talked about
Speaker 1: it all the time. You always have this joyful love
Speaker 1: that it's almost like you see through all of the
Speaker 1: u uh, the imperfections or anything else you make. Uh,
Speaker 1: you make people feel good and loved. And that's a
Speaker 1: very special trait. Uh. Not everyone and not not not
Speaker 1: all humans have that. In fact, I would venture to
Speaker 1: say that there's a very small percentage of people. But
Speaker 1: my wife is one of those people. Like my wife
Speaker 1: will kiss someone on the lip she's a limp kisser.
Speaker 1: You don't know him, You're just Maddie. She's not not
Speaker 1: in a not in a sex with in a loving way.
Speaker 1: She just has so much angelic love. But how do
Speaker 1: we stay together? It's all of those things, uh, overlooking
Speaker 1: our our insecurities, are imperfections and getting beyond it. And
Speaker 1: after after so many years, you know, stuff bothers. She
Speaker 1: lives and as a man, I learned to shut my
Speaker 1: mouth at certain times and not say what I really think.
Speaker 1: I'm still learning that, Craig. I'm still I'm still trying
Speaker 1: to learn that piece. It took me a long time
Speaker 1: and there's still days where I can't do it. I
Speaker 1: gotta tell her I love you because it because there's
Speaker 1: that thing when arguing is not a good thing. But
Speaker 1: there's almost always the positive after that. Are that make
Speaker 1: up stuff? There's a silver lining to it. For sure.
Speaker 1: You have an album coming out right. My album's out.
Speaker 1: It is out. We haven't pushed the physical product yet,
Speaker 1: but we released it through all of the anywhere music
Speaker 1: can be downloaded, you know that commercial anywhere music can
Speaker 1: be download arkay, okay, then everyone download um Craig's new
Speaker 1: album is there what's what's the album name? God Family Country,
Speaker 1: God Family Country. Everyone go down Craig Morgan's new album
Speaker 1: and then watch him on a Welcome Home Christmas, which
Speaker 1: premier is November seven, UM eight seven Central on Lifetime. Craig,
Speaker 1: it's such an honor. We love you, Thank you for
Speaker 1: coming out. I love you, guys. Karen. I was telling
Speaker 1: on who I was talking to this morning, and she said,
Speaker 1: we've got to have them out, so you guys come out.
Speaker 1: We would love to end to your house in Alaska too,
Speaker 1: so he can go fishing. I'll show you all the
Speaker 1: pictures from Alaska and have you come out there. Okay,
Speaker 1: Well text me and let's get something on the on
Speaker 1: the books. Akay. It took every part of me not
Speaker 1: to go. It's what I love about Sundays. Such a
Speaker 1: good song and then ridd Nick Yeah, as the kids say,
Speaker 1: it's so good. He's he's just one of those staples
Speaker 1: man and such a great person. Losing a child. I
Speaker 1: cannot imagine, Like that's the one thing I don't know
Speaker 1: if I could physically handle. No, I don't even like
Speaker 1: thinking about it because yeah, it bothers me, but just
Speaker 1: I love his energy around it Yeah, just that's what
Speaker 1: I was kind of commended him on that because just
Speaker 1: seeing his energy around it just reassuring you that you
Speaker 1: can still have happy days and that's okay. You don't
Speaker 1: have to feel guilt, you know, around that. So he's
Speaker 1: an amazing person. He really is. You know, I've got
Speaker 1: to know him a little bit with you over the years.
Speaker 1: You know him very very well, and he's just one
Speaker 1: of those people man that just makes you know your
Speaker 1: day better when you're around him. One percent. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: just adore him. So that was awesome. Alright, guys, so
Speaker 1: excited because up next we have my other costar, um
Speaker 1: Tim Reid and his wife Daphne Axwell read all right,
Speaker 1: we are so excited, Mike, do you want to do?
Speaker 1: By the way, before we even start, am I allowed
Speaker 1: to say aunt Viev? Am I not allowed to say
Speaker 1: aunt Viev? Girl? If you say aunt Viev, I'll salute you.
Speaker 1: She's the real ant Viv And that's how it's going
Speaker 1: to introduce her. If you guys don't know those voices,
Speaker 1: you will when you hear him some more. But we
Speaker 1: have Mr Tim Reid, who's most famously known to our
Speaker 1: generation as the father Ray Campbell and sister Sister and
Speaker 1: then the real aunt Viv Miss Daphne Maxwell read herself,
Speaker 1: thank you guys so much for coming down. We're so
Speaker 1: excited to have you on Wine Down. Just a little background,
Speaker 1: I had the pleasure of working with Tim reid Um
Speaker 1: on the movie that comes out this weekend called The
Speaker 1: Welcome Home Christmas on Lifetime, and you know I and
Speaker 1: he's married to obviously the beautiful Daphne. And you know,
Speaker 1: I just said this in an interview last week. I
Speaker 1: said you were my favorite scene partner because you just
Speaker 1: you just come with such grace and and in the beginning,
Speaker 1: I have to say I was a little intimidated because
Speaker 1: you know, I was like, oh god, I hope he
Speaker 1: likes me, and you know, he looks mad or angry,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what to do with this energy,
Speaker 1: so I was I was scared. But the more I
Speaker 1: got to know you and your personality and it was
Speaker 1: just you were just so fascinating to me and I
Speaker 1: just loved hearing your story. So thank you for you know,
Speaker 1: for just being so kind and such a great scene
Speaker 1: partner as well. Yeah, I was very upset when when Janna,
Speaker 1: you know, told me that she was able to work
Speaker 1: with you, Tim, and especially the days that she was
Speaker 1: shooting with you, because this whole pandemic thing ruined you know,
Speaker 1: family and friends to come on and see. You know.
Speaker 1: I only came one day, and it was a day
Speaker 1: that you guys ended up shutting down production. So I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, this is such a waste here.
Speaker 1: One time she shoots in Tennessee, like an hour away
Speaker 1: from our house, I was looking forward to being there
Speaker 1: and being around people like you, and I couldn't go.
Speaker 1: So but yeah, she had nothing but great things to
Speaker 1: say about you, and and so we're excited to talk
Speaker 1: to you guys. And you guys have been married for
Speaker 1: thirty eight years, So how how have you managed to
Speaker 1: stay married but also have your careers, especially in such
Speaker 1: a demanding and also you know, with being on sets
Speaker 1: and just being around other people, being able to get
Speaker 1: away too. You know, we have our careers and we
Speaker 1: also have our own interests, and we we have the freedom,
Speaker 1: uh to travel individually altogether. And uh it's you know,
Speaker 1: you need that that debriefing time. You need to be
Speaker 1: able to get away and come back and get away
Speaker 1: and come back. And uh that's certainly been one of
Speaker 1: the parts for for me personally. And we have a big,
Speaker 1: sick level of love and trust and support for each
Speaker 1: other that we want each other to expand with whatever
Speaker 1: they're dreaming about, and we support that. And supporting that
Speaker 1: is making compromises and you know, making decisions according to
Speaker 1: what you want and what you know your partner wants,
Speaker 1: and then learning how to fight fair. That's so we're
Speaker 1: working on that. Is there a part when you guys
Speaker 1: have been together so long, we're earlier in your marriage
Speaker 1: because you have that same you know, occupation where there's
Speaker 1: a maybe a hint of jealousy here there. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously ultimately you love and support each other, but there's
Speaker 1: got to be some of that at some point. Now,
Speaker 1: we worked together for many, many, many years at the
Speaker 1: beginning of our relationships, so there was nothing to be
Speaker 1: jealous about. We were both tired. You do you do
Speaker 1: reach a point where you where you say, because after
Speaker 1: a while we said, you know, it's time for us
Speaker 1: to work separately. Know it's and it's not so much
Speaker 1: of us, it's a it's the business itself. This business
Speaker 1: you know, it's don't have to tell you it will
Speaker 1: it will put you in a box as quick as
Speaker 1: quickly as possible because it control the box. And I
Speaker 1: was never ever, I never was raising a box, never
Speaker 1: been around that kind of structural light. So I don't
Speaker 1: know how to adapt to it. You know, I'm still
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what is the husband. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's you know, it's freelancing and uh, if you
Speaker 1: have the freedom and the respect of your partner and
Speaker 1: you have the freedom to freelance a little bit, it helps.
Speaker 1: And I think that's really been People ask me sometimes,
Speaker 1: like I'll be traveling and my friends said, well are
Speaker 1: you going. I said, I'm going to Brazil. I'll be
Speaker 1: going for a few said keep going to Brazil. But
Speaker 1: he said, your wife, let you go to Brazil, and
Speaker 1: I'm going. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how
Speaker 1: to answer the question, because it's basically how you started
Speaker 1: the relationship. I was traveling when I met her, we
Speaker 1: were dating. I took her with me. Sick seeks to
Speaker 1: travel through Europe and in South Africa. So it's not
Speaker 1: like all of a sudden getting married and I can't travel.
Speaker 1: That makes no sense. So that's the way it's been.
Speaker 1: We've always been a traveling team or any body that's
Speaker 1: very cool and speaking of like being put in a box,
Speaker 1: tim is as actors and as you know, the kind
Speaker 1: of shows that you all really I make up that
Speaker 1: reached that next level of fame in y'all his careers.
Speaker 1: That's I make up that it's such a type casted role,
Speaker 1: right with that family friendly comedic role. How was that
Speaker 1: for you too, as as professionals in your occupation to
Speaker 1: kind of get out of that and do those projects
Speaker 1: that are outside of that type cast Oh, no problem
Speaker 1: at all. Whoever calls and says we got a job
Speaker 1: for you, We're on it. For me, it was it
Speaker 1: was I've always was taught. Like I said, I've never
Speaker 1: had structure. I don't know what a family structure is.
Speaker 1: I've never had because I was a bastard child. Was
Speaker 1: I didn't know. My father was so late in life,
Speaker 1: so I never had the structure was never Oh it's
Speaker 1: dinner time, Aossey Inherit to me was like an alien show.
Speaker 1: I don't know when he was talking about so um
Speaker 1: with that. I think my my thing is to keep
Speaker 1: aggressively facing change. Uh. If I felt like I was
Speaker 1: being like when I was doing sitcom and I was
Speaker 1: very successful at sitcoms, had quite a few. After KRP,
Speaker 1: the sitcom business went. People forget it went't bomb, sitcoms died.
Speaker 1: You couldn't get anything. I don't care who you were.
Speaker 1: If it wasn't for Bill Cosby and The Cosby Show,
Speaker 1: that we wouldn't be the term sitcom would not be
Speaker 1: existing in our vocabulary. He saved the sitcom business. However,
Speaker 1: what do you do? You came out of sitcom, You're
Speaker 1: trying to get a job, and that all there is
Speaker 1: these our comedy style shows like Heart to Heart, Life
Speaker 1: Sign and Its Sign. So I had to restructure myself
Speaker 1: at the structure of my body. I started went to
Speaker 1: the gym, worked out. I wanted to become somebody who
Speaker 1: could work in our show. And guess what I got,
Speaker 1: signing and time and that. But I say it was
Speaker 1: it was. It was changing my whole structure. Then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, those shows began to die. And guess
Speaker 1: what was happening this new thing in comedy, sort of
Speaker 1: dramatic comedies. I quit the show and I started uh searching,
Speaker 1: and I ended up with Frank's place. So I'm saying
Speaker 1: is that you have to be able to ignore the box,
Speaker 1: you have to creach your own reality right now, the
Speaker 1: reality that the world and we all exist in. One
Speaker 1: of the things I want to say about this Love
Speaker 1: Your Lady, who stars in this movie that's coming out,
Speaker 1: is we had a lot of difficulty in making this movie.
Speaker 1: They had left people with acting on the crew. It
Speaker 1: was COVID nineteen. We were one of the first films
Speaker 1: to have to deal with the the restrictions that were
Speaker 1: put on us by the unions, and not restrictions, but
Speaker 1: rules and good rules. By the way, wearing a mask,
Speaker 1: all those things. No one had ever gone through that
Speaker 1: before and make it and the cost every third day
Speaker 1: we had to be tested every third day. They sticking
Speaker 1: stuff up your nose, the whole crew, I mean. And
Speaker 1: then we were on lockdown. And as you mentioned, so
Speaker 1: to see the talent and the crew. It's eighty degrees,
Speaker 1: we're planning like it's snowing. And yet um, those those workers,
Speaker 1: that crew with masks, they had to wear mask every
Speaker 1: time they on the set and eight degrees struggling with
Speaker 1: lights and stands. Everybody gave a hundred percent And I
Speaker 1: appreciate that kind of work ethic and I think it
Speaker 1: shows in the movie from what I've seen, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you gotta keep changing, you gotta adjust. I do
Speaker 1: agree with that, Daphany. I want to go back to
Speaker 1: something you said, um about how you're learning how to
Speaker 1: fight fair. What does that look like to you in
Speaker 1: a marriage with fighting fair? Fighting fair is learning how
Speaker 1: to listen, um, not just talk. And we still stru
Speaker 1: go with that sometimes. But we know some basic ground
Speaker 1: rules that you just it's not a do or die situation.
Speaker 1: They're going to be there tomorrow, take a pause, refresh,
Speaker 1: and move on. I like that. And Tim, you know
Speaker 1: you you touch on it just a few minutes ago.
Speaker 1: But you also talked to Brandon and I about this
Speaker 1: on set, about how you were raised and it was
Speaker 1: a tough neighborhood you you know, like you said, um,
Speaker 1: what you said about you know, your upbringing. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: can you can you tell the story about Martin Luther King? Oh? Yeah, Well, Um,
Speaker 1: I have had the pleasure and the incredible experience of
Speaker 1: having um interaction with Dr King at a very early age.
Speaker 1: This was before he was well known internat internationally or nationally.
Speaker 1: I was in the late fifties and he was coming
Speaker 1: to our church to speak, uh, and talk about this
Speaker 1: they can called the civil rights. Well, this was before Montgomery,
Speaker 1: and I had gotten in some trouble because I was
Speaker 1: running with the pretty rough group of people, young people
Speaker 1: of which all are dead now but myself and one other.
Speaker 1: But and we had gotten some trouble and it was
Speaker 1: a matter of me going to reform school or somebody
Speaker 1: standing up for me and my grandmother at back of
Speaker 1: the day. As usually the black family, they took me
Speaker 1: to the pastor of our church and said, uh, talk
Speaker 1: to him, because we're gonna lose him if we say,
Speaker 1: if he doesn't listen. So the pastor looked at me,
Speaker 1: so you one of those top kids and juvenile, deliquid,
Speaker 1: nos on that cup at all. I just you know,
Speaker 1: I find myself to survive hanging out of these guys.
Speaker 1: I got a job for. I want you to beat
Speaker 1: the body God for this young man coming in called
Speaker 1: Dr Martin Luther, the King and he's going to speak,
Speaker 1: and I want you since we need a tough guy.
Speaker 1: And I was like what, So myself and another young
Speaker 1: man who was a brilliant student in school comes from
Speaker 1: a will well to do black family. Um, he put
Speaker 1: he and I together to be Dr King's bodyguard for
Speaker 1: a full day. He got there in the morning and
Speaker 1: we stayed with him until he left late that evening,
Speaker 1: and he spoke. We were constantly when he was impressed
Speaker 1: we were standing there next to him. And I will
Speaker 1: never forget the experience because I've never been around anybody
Speaker 1: like that. I've never seen a rock star. This man
Speaker 1: had craped us. His whole being was common to me.
Speaker 1: I don't I can't even explain it now. It's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I've never been in the presence anyone
Speaker 1: that had that kind of effect on me. And the
Speaker 1: young kid who was with me between between us, we um.
Speaker 1: We had an experience that I'll never forget. And after
Speaker 1: that was over, we talked about He talked to us
Speaker 1: about the sort of rights movement coming and what he
Speaker 1: thought the world was going to have to do to
Speaker 1: to give rights to us. And after that, I began
Speaker 1: to think about that. And when I finally changed my
Speaker 1: life and ended up in college, I joined the Civil
Speaker 1: Rights Era. I was a leader of a couple of organizations,
Speaker 1: and then I went and marched on Washington in the
Speaker 1: nineteen three and I was beside him for a brief
Speaker 1: period of the March when I stood in the tree,
Speaker 1: I was on on a more militant side. At that time.
Speaker 1: I was a president of a group offshoot of Smith
Speaker 1: and uh what. I listened to him that day and
Speaker 1: he gave them teach and again he changed my life. Again.
Speaker 1: I took the non violent approach, went back and joined
Speaker 1: the became president of the c D College chapter, and
Speaker 1: it again changed my life. So on two occasions, he
Speaker 1: his words and his being had such an influence on
Speaker 1: as he here man, That's why I am where I
Speaker 1: am today because I was certainly going in the wrong again. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love, by the way watching Daphne because she just
Speaker 1: loves you. You can just tell, Like Daphne, you're just
Speaker 1: over there smiling and listening to your man, Like you
Speaker 1: can just tell there's so much love between the two
Speaker 1: of you, Like I just right just smiling. Later, when
Speaker 1: we're done with this show, Jan is going to be like,
Speaker 1: why don't you look at me that way? I want
Speaker 1: you to look at me the way Daphney looks at
Speaker 1: Tim's is on camera, right, You know that I appreciate
Speaker 1: you sharing that, Tim, And you know from from y'all's
Speaker 1: experience not only in the industry, you know, being in
Speaker 1: it so long and being together in it for so long.
Speaker 1: How have you seen things as of recent as to
Speaker 1: African American actors in the industry, are you feeling the
Speaker 1: need to take responsible reality as in like helping to
Speaker 1: educate people or explain things to people, or how like
Speaker 1: what is your personal take on on changing the temperature
Speaker 1: and the environment of your occupation and just societies in
Speaker 1: general moving forward. We have been around for so long
Speaker 1: that people ask us questions and ask us ask for
Speaker 1: our guidance, and Tim is great at teaching what you
Speaker 1: need to know about the business. I am one of
Speaker 1: the ones who help inspire people, young people to take
Speaker 1: a path. Sometimes they only need a push to get started.
Speaker 1: But we both have some basic advice that we give
Speaker 1: to young people. And changing what's happening now is not
Speaker 1: for us to do. This is not our time. This
Speaker 1: is young people's time and we need to keep up
Speaker 1: with them. At this point, all the technology, all the
Speaker 1: platforms that are available now, there are a lot more
Speaker 1: opportunities for UH young people to get involved in this.
Speaker 1: We just would like to make sure that they get
Speaker 1: involved with it with a sense of responsibility for the
Speaker 1: images that they're creating. And that's what Tim is very
Speaker 1: good at teaching. Okay, thank you. Uh. I'm in my
Speaker 1: legacy period of my career. I'm going through the three
Speaker 1: quarter life crisis, trying to figure out what I want
Speaker 1: to be when I grow up. And I've decided that
Speaker 1: talk is just that talk. Everybody's got an opinion. That's
Speaker 1: what keeps Facebook and Instagram and all these things alive
Speaker 1: on Twitter because everybody's got an opinion. What we need
Speaker 1: to do is we need people to do things. And
Speaker 1: I give us a whole lot of opinion. Make change,
Speaker 1: and you've got to do that by doing so. My
Speaker 1: game is to get into games to keep busy too.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm starting a new Why I'm up in
Speaker 1: Maryland now because I'm talking to people about creating a
Speaker 1: new show, trying to give people opportunities. I launched a
Speaker 1: new television channel streaming service, Legacy of the People Network,
Speaker 1: and it's global and it's on the Internet. Use these
Speaker 1: new things technology to to be a part of the action.
Speaker 1: Sitting back complaining and opinionating and criticizing is it doesn't work.
Speaker 1: It may soothe your ego, but it doesn't do anything
Speaker 1: to bring prosperity to you people around it. So the
Speaker 1: thing is to keep busy, to keep doing, and that's
Speaker 1: about do. I work with young filmmakers around the world.
Speaker 1: I have associates and on the continent of Africa, so countries.
Speaker 1: I have associates in England through the British Film Institute
Speaker 1: that I've been a lot of young filmmakers and so
Speaker 1: we're now working together and a lot of the content
Speaker 1: I have on a network coming from them. And so
Speaker 1: is to keep busy. You know, I act right to
Speaker 1: do someone talking. So it's to keep busy. That's the
Speaker 1: only thing I know to do. And I'm not allowing
Speaker 1: this reality that's been thrown on us to be my reality.
Speaker 1: I'm busier now and I was before. And uh, you
Speaker 1: have to create your own reality. Don't buy into this reality.
Speaker 1: That's because it's all opinionated. No, I don't really knows
Speaker 1: who's gonna win election, who's not gonna who cares? Just
Speaker 1: get busy. Vote, you know, you want to change things
Speaker 1: to vote, You want to do something, get create something,
Speaker 1: create jobs for other people, create opportunities for the people.
Speaker 1: That to me is the phone I'll die doing that that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm motivated to go create something. I'm ready to come.
Speaker 1: I'm fired up. Let's do it. Tim and Daphne, thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much for our listeners. Don't forget to
Speaker 1: watch um Welcome Home Christmas starting My Beautiful Wife and
Speaker 1: Tim Reid and among others this Saturday, November seven, and
Speaker 1: then Daphne, be sure to catch the Fresh Prince Reunion
Speaker 1: show on Thanksgiving weekend on HBO Max. Oh, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be FUNKYA And my Christmas movie is on December one.
Speaker 1: It's called the Business of Christmas and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: on b E two. Oh heck yeah, getting the Christmas
Speaker 1: stare at everybody. And you can go to my channel
Speaker 1: l L G C y of a people network dot
Speaker 1: com and that will take you to the platform to
Speaker 1: show you all the content. We got a lot of contact,
Speaker 1: a lot of content. I love it. Tim, Daphanie, thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much, love you, thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: for your time. Okay, ah, that's the sweetest people. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just want to like not even happy about Tim
Speaker 1: though too. Like I just every time we were in
Speaker 1: a scene together, I was just like, will you tell
Speaker 1: me a story? Daddy, Grandpa tell me a story. Like
Speaker 1: I just I was like, what book should I read?
Speaker 1: What should I do this? And I told him one
Speaker 1: time to us in there and he was asking about comedy.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I'm not funny. I can't do comedy.
Speaker 1: And he was just like, don't say that. He's like,
Speaker 1: you're very funny. He's like, I think you're so funny.
Speaker 1: I thought you only did comedy and then you know,
Speaker 1: and then he was like, you inspired me to do comedy.
Speaker 1: It's like he's just so freaking inspiring. He speaks with
Speaker 1: such wisdom and calm charisma that is just like you
Speaker 1: hang on every word that he says. But I just
Speaker 1: I love what he just ended with the like don't
Speaker 1: make the reality your reality. Yeah, He's like, don't worry
Speaker 1: about what everyone else is saying to do and just
Speaker 1: do what you do. Just go do it. I love that.
Speaker 1: Do you see how though in the beginning, I was
Speaker 1: intimidated by him just because he's so I'm always like that.
Speaker 1: So I was like, oh, yeah, he hates me. I
Speaker 1: was like, but my mission was to get him to
Speaker 1: like crack a smile filming, And I remember the one
Speaker 1: time I got to smile. I was like, I got you.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm just made. I'm done, I can quit.
Speaker 1: But he's just so fascinating. I just oh, man. I
Speaker 1: loved working with him. And he plays my general in
Speaker 1: the movie. Um General Patton and Chloe was my character.
Speaker 1: We're just kind of were buds. But I also I
Speaker 1: really respect him just as I do as a person.
Speaker 1: So hopefully y'all will see that connection. Two very very
Speaker 1: beautiful people inside and out. Tim and Daphne just wow,
Speaker 1: very very very cool to talk to them, um, and
Speaker 1: it's like aunt viev like, it's so cool. I grew
Speaker 1: up Flashing Fresh Frints. That was my favorite show might
Speaker 1: be of all time. So wow, we spoke to just
Speaker 1: some legends today, legends in their games. Mark, how are
Speaker 1: you feeling over there, dude, because I know you're a
Speaker 1: fan of Tim. I am a fan of Tim. I
Speaker 1: mean honestly, you guys have him from sister sister. For me,
Speaker 1: he's w Carappy in Cincinnati use Venus fly Trap and
Speaker 1: that show is a big part of why I'm in
Speaker 1: radio today. So absolutely super exciting to talk to him. Yes,
Speaker 1: he was wild. I agree. I think he's so cool. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, what a great show. Guys. Yeah, you can't
Speaker 1: really do any better than that. Those kind of guests. Mark,
Speaker 1: what are you doing this Saturday? You're gonna make some
Speaker 1: hot chocolate for your wife and sit down and watch
Speaker 1: a Welcome Home Christmas. That's right, I am. Of course
Speaker 1: it's Jenna Night's going to do it. Yes, i am.
Speaker 1: I've got the guy locked off on the calendar. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're the best Seastern Thanks guys, you know you know
Speaker 1: hear Jane's plans for it. Shut up. So they're having
Speaker 1: she's having a girl's kind of getaway weekend, like twenty
Speaker 1: minutes away. They got like an airbnb hearing some of
Speaker 1: her friends and they're gonna have like a little watch party.
Speaker 1: And I was actually looking forward to watching it with Janna,
Speaker 1: and she's like, well you can still come like just
Speaker 1: you know, we'll get a center for the kids and
Speaker 1: you can just come down and you know, like take
Speaker 1: pictures of us watching it and like serve us hot
Speaker 1: chocolate and give us some wine. I was like, So,
Speaker 1: I was like, you'll may be like your movie Pitch
Speaker 1: and there's like take care of you and all the
Speaker 1: girls while you watch it. Heyes, anybody need to re
Speaker 1: feel Okay. I was like, I think that you're in
Speaker 1: an apron and nothing else. Yes, yes, or maybe a
Speaker 1: little bow tie little boat. Yes, Oh my god, that
Speaker 1: sounds amazing. So that's what Janna wants me to do
Speaker 1: for the movie. I mean, and I was like, well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna try and get some other guys so you
Speaker 1: can come down to we'll have a guy watch party.
Speaker 1: You won't watch it then, like, guys, I gotta watch
Speaker 1: the beginning, the middle of the end so I know
Speaker 1: what happens. It would be like that time. I think,
Speaker 1: did I tell the story before? And here? When I
Speaker 1: had a summer summer reading project. At the end of
Speaker 1: the summer, my mom was like, all right, tell me
Speaker 1: where the book was about. And she was like, what
Speaker 1: was the main character's name. I was like, oh, he
Speaker 1: didn't have one. She was She turned over the back
Speaker 1: of the book. It said the main characters name on
Speaker 1: the back of the book. I didn't even read the
Speaker 1: back of the book. I was like twelve years old.
Speaker 1: So this would be like that with the movie. She'd
Speaker 1: be like, yeah, so did you watch a movie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what was my character's name? You didn't have one? Did
Speaker 1: you just called you therapists. Yes, that was so funny.
Speaker 1: Alright guys, well, love you, great show and tag team
Speaker 1: next week.