Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
Speaker 1: me Tommy di Dario. Today I am joined by a
Speaker 1: man of many, many talents. Luke McFarlane has tackled TV
Speaker 1: and film, Broadway and now the unscripted world. He is
Speaker 1: currently hosting and starring in Hallmark plus his home renovation
Speaker 1: series Home Is Where the Heart Is, which is out
Speaker 1: right now. And yes he is rolling up the sleeves,
Speaker 1: and yes he is getting dirty because he is showcasing
Speaker 1: his very impressive skills in woodwork to help bring some
Speaker 1: magic to some incredible human beings. I love feel good
Speaker 1: shows like this. You guys are in for such a
Speaker 1: treat with this one.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Luke has done fifteen fan favorite Hallmark movies, so it's
Speaker 1: pretty cool to see him in a totally different role,
Speaker 1: still bringing that same joy to many. You may know
Speaker 1: and love Luke from his role in Brothers and Sisters
Speaker 1: or the Apple series Platonic, which he just finished filming
Speaker 1: season two of. Then there's the movie Bros. Which was
Speaker 1: a big studio rom com featuring a same sex love story,
Speaker 1: which was pretty groundbreaking for the time, and I would
Speaker 1: argue that it still very much is. And Luke added
Speaker 1: Broadway to his resume performing in the very moving play
Speaker 1: The Normal Heart. And this is just naming a few
Speaker 1: of his many many credits. So let's see if today
Speaker 1: we can get Luke to say something that he has
Speaker 1: never said before. Luke, how you doing, my man?
Speaker 2: I'm good, Tommy, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: I am so happy to see you. A lot has
Speaker 1: changed since I saw you last.
Speaker 2: It is correct, it's been met. When I was doing
Speaker 2: the Bros.
Speaker 1: Press tour yep, yep, on my show Extra and you
Speaker 1: were not a parent, then you're a parent now.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct. I walked into I will say this,
Speaker 2: when I walked into the theater. You were sitting down
Speaker 2: in the theater and I walked and I turned to
Speaker 2: Billy Eichner and said, like, who is this guy? He's
Speaker 2: very very handsome. Oh god, Billy immediately made a joke
Speaker 2: about that. But it's true. And you look fantastic. You
Speaker 2: look great.
Speaker 1: Thank you well likewise, my man. Likewise, I saw your
Speaker 1: promo stills for the new show, and you're clearly staying
Speaker 1: on top of your fitness game. Oh yes, you have
Speaker 1: not let that slip in two years. I haven't you know.
Speaker 1: I did just have a daughter.
Speaker 2: She's going to be two years old soon, and I
Speaker 2: still make time to sort of have a little time
Speaker 2: to myself, to go to the gym. It's a big
Speaker 2: part of what I do. And yeah, even having any kid,
Speaker 2: it just becomes a little bit earlier in the morning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. But you're carving out the
Speaker 1: time for you, which is great.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: Well, we have lots of cover and obviously we're going
Speaker 1: to get to the show. A lot of people know
Speaker 1: you from the acting world. You know, you're rolling up
Speaker 1: your sleeves or getting dirty in the unscripted world, and
Speaker 1: we're going to talk all about that. But to begin, Luke,
Speaker 1: you have such an impressive career. You've done projects that
Speaker 1: are so wonderful and that means so much to so
Speaker 1: many people. So in your perspective, what for you is
Speaker 1: a career high?
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, you know, it's always funny to look back
Speaker 2: at your career because you never quite know where it's
Speaker 2: going to go. I mean, if you told me that
Speaker 2: would become this amazing home for me, and it has.
Speaker 2: I've done fifteen movies with them, I would be really
Speaker 2: I'd probably ask first of all, what is Hallmark And
Speaker 2: now it's become this amazing platform for me to do
Speaker 2: movies and to work on movies and to be a
Speaker 2: romantic lead in these movies. But now it's been a
Speaker 2: place for me to go. Can I executive produce something?
Speaker 2: And I did executive produce the show which is going
Speaker 2: to be Well, which is live now where I get
Speaker 2: to show another part of myself, which is my passion
Speaker 2: for home renovation and woodworking. So career highlight. Trying to
Speaker 2: answer your question, sorry rambling, Gosh, I got to work
Speaker 2: on Broadway. That was huge. You never thought that that
Speaker 2: would happen. I worked an amazing production of The Normal Heart,
Speaker 2: which won a Tony Award almost ten years ago. That
Speaker 2: was amazing, beautiful story. Yeah, gosh, I don't know. It's
Speaker 2: been so varied. I worked on a sci fi series
Speaker 2: which I loved. I worked on Brothers and Sisters for
Speaker 2: one hundred episodes with Sally Field and Cliss of Lockhart
Speaker 2: and Rob Lowe and the amazing Matthew. So it's been
Speaker 2: very It's been all over the place. I don't even know.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I look back on my IMDb page and try
Speaker 2: to remember the plot of some of the movies that
Speaker 2: I've been in.
Speaker 1: It's pretty cool that you've touched kind of everything, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've done the Broadway, You've now done film,
Speaker 1: you've done TV, you're doing unscripted. Is that something you
Speaker 1: always wanted for yourself? Or you just kinda are a
Speaker 1: yes person and took the opportunities as they came.
Speaker 2: I mean, I love TV from the very beginning. I've
Speaker 2: always loved TV. I think it speaks to my generation.
Speaker 2: You know, TV was where my family sat down and
Speaker 2: watched things together, so it always had a sense of
Speaker 2: like togetherness. TV was that for us. Movies were not
Speaker 2: as much part of growing up. It was Mom went
Speaker 2: to Blockbuster and came back with three videos and we
Speaker 2: debated forever, and then she would fall asleep and no
Speaker 2: one would ever watch Jade or some weird psycho sexual
Speaker 2: movie that she always sem to come home with. So
Speaker 2: TV is important, and I actually really love being on
Speaker 2: TV because it also, as an an actor, creates a
Speaker 2: space that you get to return to again and again,
Speaker 2: a group of people that you see every single day.
Speaker 2: Movies aren't as much like that. That's interesting.
Speaker 1: What a perspective, And you strike me as someone who
Speaker 1: likes to form relationships and nurture those bonds. So I imagine
Speaker 1: you do that more in television.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. You get to know the carpenters, you get to
Speaker 2: know the set painters, you get to know the wardrobe
Speaker 2: people in a much more intimate way. And yes, I
Speaker 2: do like that. I think it makes you a better
Speaker 2: actor to just understand where people come from a little
Speaker 2: bit more.
Speaker 1: And your work means so much to so many for
Speaker 1: many reasons. But I just saw you posted minutes before
Speaker 1: the interview you're out magazine cover. Yes, and you've been
Speaker 1: such a prominent figure for that community for many reasons.
Speaker 1: What I kind of take from your career and from
Speaker 1: you is you're someone who shows people that you can
Speaker 1: go after your wildest dreams, no matter what background you
Speaker 1: come from. And I think that's pretty cool. And like
Speaker 1: you said, we met during Bros. And that's a movie
Speaker 1: that means a lot to many people today. Does that
Speaker 1: hold a special place in your heart?
Speaker 2: Oh my god? Absolutely. I mean only was it my
Speaker 2: first opportunity to be part of a feature film put
Speaker 2: up by his studio, which just means a different thing.
Speaker 2: You know, a lot more money, a lot more pressure,
Speaker 2: you know, working with people like Judd Apatau and you know,
Speaker 2: guest stars that were you know, household names. That was
Speaker 2: the first time for that, So that definitely holds a
Speaker 2: special spot for me too.
Speaker 1: I mean clearly, I see you reminiscing, Yeah, and you're
Speaker 1: thinking about that time, and I imagine doing something that
Speaker 1: with Billy and working on a project like that and
Speaker 1: being such a pioneer for that is pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Oh, I know you're gonna say you're talking about Out magazine.
Speaker 2: It's funny actually because just you know, I posted that
Speaker 2: and Guy Brendan just sent me a text. Guy Brendan,
Speaker 2: who is also in Bros. Along with Billy, played Billy
Speaker 2: Aikner's best friend in the movie, sent me a text.
Speaker 2: He said, I saw your Out magazine. I can always
Speaker 2: tell when you really care about a project because you
Speaker 2: take your shirt off.
Speaker 1: I was like, God, So what incorrect? Or I mean,
Speaker 1: is that accurate?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, look, there's something about skin that you know,
Speaker 2: just you know, gets people's attention. We all know about
Speaker 2: the scroll and we all know what makes people stop.
Speaker 2: And I care so much about the show that I'm
Speaker 2: executive producing homes Where the Heart Is. And yeah, maybe
Speaker 2: I did want a couple extra eyes, and maybe I
Speaker 2: was willing to take the shirt off to get a
Speaker 2: little bit more attention on something I care so much about.
Speaker 1: Listen and an oversaturate of market. You Gotta do, you
Speaker 1: Gotta do, You Gotta do, you Gotta do. Yeah, that's awesome,
Speaker 1: And with that series, I think it's so cool for
Speaker 1: many reasons that you're doing it, because it's so different
Speaker 1: than what we're used to from you, right, And when
Speaker 1: I first saw it, I thought, huh yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I knew you loved board work.
Speaker 1: I saw, especially during COVID a lot of your videos
Speaker 1: you put up doing all of that. But what for
Speaker 1: you made you say I need to be a part
Speaker 1: of this project, like sign me up.
Speaker 2: So it began with an amazing woman named Jessica Sebastian
Speaker 2: and she had always wanted to do a home renovation
Speaker 2: show and she came to me because she knew she
Speaker 2: wanted to do it a Hallmark and Hallmark is starting
Speaker 2: to get into the nonscripted space and they said to her,
Speaker 2: you got to work with one of our talent, and
Speaker 2: we know who that's going to be. It's Luke McFarlane.
Speaker 2: It's got this interest, so Jessica and I began talking.
Speaker 2: We began talking about what the show want to be
Speaker 2: and our sort of idea about wanting to create spaces
Speaker 2: for people that reflected who they were, where they're coming from,
Speaker 2: and then specifically for me. I said, but I want
Speaker 2: to add something personal to every home that we renovate.
Speaker 2: I want to build something specifically for them, because word,
Speaker 2: working for me is something I've done for a long time.
Speaker 2: It's been professional. Sometimes sometimes it's about paying the bills.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's reminiscing about, like you know, working with my
Speaker 2: dad where I was a kid, it's a big part
Speaker 2: of what we did. We always built stuff together. So
Speaker 2: I knew I wanted to add that because I think
Speaker 2: when you design a space for someone, it has to
Speaker 2: be personal. It has to be intimate. It's not just
Speaker 2: about this is the it color, this is the right paper,
Speaker 2: these are the things you need. It's not that, it's
Speaker 2: who are you? And how can your space represent you.
Speaker 2: I think we look at clothing as a way of
Speaker 2: expressing ourselves a lot, but we don't do it I
Speaker 2: think with as much intention as our physical space. You know,
Speaker 2: we want our physical space to represent who we are
Speaker 2: as well. So that's what the show is really about.
Speaker 1: Home is where the heart is Palmark. Plus that's right out. Now,
Speaker 1: what about this show feels different than an acting job?
Speaker 1: Like what fulfills you in a different way doing this
Speaker 1: versus that kind of work?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, tell me. It was so hard. It
Speaker 2: was also so hot. And look, we did not have
Speaker 2: all the money in the world. So like I found myself,
Speaker 2: you know, finishing up an interview with a family and
Speaker 2: then being like, Okay, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta
Speaker 2: build this thing. I gotta get dirty and dusty, and
Speaker 2: you know, some some days my day would start at
Speaker 2: six am and I was like literally on the table
Speaker 2: saw until the sun went down. Like it was very
Speaker 2: different that way. I expected there'd be a whole team
Speaker 2: that would kind of help me. It was like, if
Speaker 2: you really care about something, you have to do it.
Speaker 2: So it was hard and it was hot. We filmed
Speaker 2: it in Atlanta in the summer, so if you look
Speaker 2: carefully at the show, you can see some sweaty shirts.
Speaker 2: H for sure, Uh huh.
Speaker 1: That wasn't production throwing water over you making you look
Speaker 1: extra steaming.
Speaker 2: One percent. I actually I did make a comment. I
Speaker 2: think a lot of home run. Those shows, there's a
Speaker 2: what I like to call sort of like a carpenter drag,
Speaker 2: where like they'll go in and like maybe knock one
Speaker 2: wall down and lift one thing. But I swear to
Speaker 2: you I was doing it all with some help, but
Speaker 2: I had my hands super dirty.
Speaker 1: Really, yes, okay, all right, well you enjoy it too.
Speaker 1: You don't want to fake it?
Speaker 2: No, I do, and I do. And I walking into
Speaker 2: a reveal and making sure that like the thing that
Speaker 2: you're showing them is good is a different kind of
Speaker 2: stress for me. It's very much reflective of myself.
Speaker 1: And these shows for me, are always very emotional. And
Speaker 1: I'm an Italian from Jerseys, so I can like cry
Speaker 1: when wind blows, but I no, no, I imagine for
Speaker 1: you when you see the faces of these families and
Speaker 1: whoever you're profiling, you must feel that too. Did you
Speaker 1: catch yourself getting emotional at all?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely? I think I got the most emotional in
Speaker 2: one of the episodes it's streaming now, where it was
Speaker 2: really important. It was a mother and daughter and the
Speaker 2: mother was having a hard time. Oh it's making emotional now.
Speaker 2: She was having a hard time letting go of something
Speaker 2: that her late husband had built. So it was his
Speaker 2: conversation of like, how can you let go of this
Speaker 2: thing while letting your daughter make this space for herself.
Speaker 2: And we were in a cabinet chop and we were
Speaker 2: trying to convince this lovely mother to sort of let
Speaker 2: go of these old cabinets so we could give her
Speaker 2: some new cabinets. And it was very emotional.
Speaker 1: Actually, wow, yeah, wow, that's hard to let go. I
Speaker 1: mean home, Your home is sacred, right, It's a space.
Speaker 1: I always say it to my husband, like when we
Speaker 1: move or when we design a home, like I want
Speaker 1: it to feel like our sanctuary. We can turn out
Speaker 1: the world and come home and.
Speaker 2: Just be safe.
Speaker 1: And there are things that you bring with you from
Speaker 1: loved ones who have passed or you know that you
Speaker 1: collect along the way, and I just I think there's
Speaker 1: something so magical when you can help facilitate creating that
Speaker 1: that knew something for someone else because you know how
Speaker 1: important it is totally.
Speaker 2: And I think it's important to remember. And this is
Speaker 2: something I talked about a lot, but homes are also
Speaker 2: time traveling machines. And you know, when I first bought
Speaker 2: my home in Los Angeles, which is one hundred years old.
Speaker 2: You literally take off the wallpaper and you see what
Speaker 2: was there before. So you're actually going back in time
Speaker 2: and you're going this was once somebody's idea of what
Speaker 2: you were describing with your husband as a cozy space.
Speaker 2: And you're like, oh God, should I be removing this?
Speaker 2: Should I be taking this away? But the home travels
Speaker 2: through time. We just get to inhabit it for a
Speaker 2: brief moment. So yeah, trying to honor about all those things,
Speaker 2: it can get very emotional.
Speaker 1: Do you want to do more in this space? I
Speaker 1: mean it's a whole new category for you.
Speaker 2: I mean it is. I will say my real passion
Speaker 2: is furniture building. I've built a lot of furniture, and look,
Speaker 2: I've done everything from framing to trimwork, to hang indoors
Speaker 2: to even painting. God bless me, I hate painting so much.
Speaker 2: I hate painting. But furniture building is really my passion.
Speaker 2: I get to work in my workshop, I get to
Speaker 2: stay in one place, I get to work with sort
Speaker 2: of beautiful special woods. So that's what I'd like to
Speaker 2: do more. But I didn't like to sort of encourage
Speaker 2: people and talk more about what makes great pieces of furniture.
Speaker 1: That's so cool that you're such an entrepreneur in doing
Speaker 1: it all. And I think that's the way of twenty
Speaker 1: and twenty five and going forward.
Speaker 2: I mean, the.
Speaker 1: Idea of doing one thing and staying in one lane,
Speaker 1: to me is very dated. And I love that you
Speaker 1: can go do a show right like Platonic and film
Speaker 1: season two, and go jump into the some scriptive worlds
Speaker 1: and go work on your furniture. You know, your wo
Speaker 1: would work and all of it well, like.
Speaker 2: You honestly tell me, like to watch you. You know,
Speaker 2: when I first met you, you were doing these you know,
Speaker 2: fifteen to five minute, twenty minute interviews, and now we
Speaker 2: get this opportunity to sit down and actually talk. And
Speaker 2: I know that's probably a part of yourself that you've
Speaker 2: always want to share. Yeah. If we like somebody, we
Speaker 2: want to see them grow. Yeah, and Hallmark has done
Speaker 2: that for me. Yeah, give me the opportunity to grow.
Speaker 2: Trust me.
Speaker 1: I've seen a few of those Christmas moves like many
Speaker 1: people have.
Speaker 2: Many people.
Speaker 1: Actually, I was just texting with a friend here we go.
Speaker 1: I'm very close with Jennifer a few and she said
Speaker 1: she watches catch me if you claws. Oh, all the time,
Speaker 1: like year round when she's having a bad day.
Speaker 2: Oh that was a favorite one. Yeah, amazing Italia Richie,
Speaker 2: I love making that one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: See you bring so much joy to people, not even
Speaker 1: during just the holidays with your work, but year round.
Speaker 2: And Jennifer love Cwett No less, there we go. It
Speaker 2: was a soft name drop. You know.
Speaker 1: That's what we do on this show. We just slide
Speaker 1: them in sometimes. But that's awesome. I think it's really cool.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited for this series, and I love that
Speaker 1: hall Hallmark is now expanding into this category because it's
Speaker 1: so hot. People want it. My dad, he just turned
Speaker 1: seventies and Italian from Jersey. He watches like those those
Speaker 1: home Rhino shows on streaming all the time just because
Speaker 1: for him he has anxiety. That's another story, but it
Speaker 1: gives him such calm.
Speaker 2: You know, I got to ask you, this Old House
Speaker 2: is that what your dad watches? What does your dad watch?
Speaker 2: Do you know any of the titles?
Speaker 1: I don't know any of the titles. I will get
Speaker 1: them for it.
Speaker 2: I'm curious because like I grew up, this Old House
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, me and my dad used to watch that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's something though, because he likes sold Western,
Speaker 1: So like when I started seeing him watching these I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I see you.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: But that's that's the power of these shows. It transcends
Speaker 1: all demographics and ages and people just want to feel
Speaker 1: that joy and connection and you're bringing that, which is
Speaker 1: so damn cool.
Speaker 2: Well, also the home renovation shows this beautiful built in
Speaker 2: thing where you get up before and then as right right,
Speaker 2: so that after takes you all the way to the
Speaker 2: end of the episode. Yeah, and that's really what we
Speaker 2: want to see.
Speaker 1: Okay, but you're not hanging up your hat in the acting.
Speaker 2: World, correct, No, I am not. I just finished film
Speaker 2: in the second season of Apple's Platonic with the amazing
Speaker 2: Rose Byrne and the incredibly funny and talk about someone
Speaker 2: who's got his hands and everything Seth Rogan. Now he's great,
Speaker 2: he's amazing. Yeah, he's like truly a genius. Can't wait
Speaker 2: to see his new show. But yeah, so I just
Speaker 2: finished doing the second season. That really excited about that.
Speaker 2: Just finished making a little horror film with an actress
Speaker 2: I know you interviewed Olivia Holt, and that was really
Speaker 2: fun playing a playing a teacher who may or may
Speaker 2: not be a zombie.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, is this your first kind of step into horror?
Speaker 2: I made one horror film. I'll let people look it up.
Speaker 2: It was yeah, it was what is it? Come on?
Speaker 2: Come on? It's called rock paper Dead had an amazing cast.
Speaker 2: Oh god, Michael Madson and Tatum O'Neill in that movie.
Speaker 2: It was wild. So it's been a minute. It's been
Speaker 2: a minute.
Speaker 1: All right, Well we look forward to that. You know
Speaker 1: what I announced? It was my guest. A lot of
Speaker 1: people were writing saying they want to see you play
Speaker 1: a superhero, specifically Captain America.
Speaker 2: I'd take it. I'd take it.
Speaker 1: You want to turned that down?
Speaker 2: I love doing action. I don't know, I mean, yeah, sure,
Speaker 2: I'll take it. Captain America sign up. Although I am Canadian.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you knew that. So maybe Captain Canuck,
Speaker 2: which is actually an old comic book, So Marvel, if
Speaker 2: you're listening, Captain Canuck is probably available, very inexpensive if
Speaker 2: you want to turn that franchise into something. We're onto
Speaker 2: something here, let's do it. We're manifesting that right now.
Speaker 2: For trying to think what Captain Canuck's like superpower would be.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: He's a Canadian. I don't want to say something offensive.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not going to say, Joe, I'm not going
Speaker 2: to make a joke disappear. There we go.
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna we're gonna plush that idea out
Speaker 1: a little bit.
Speaker 2: It's a big legal sort of you know, polit a
Speaker 2: cool show.
Speaker 1: All right, Okay, you never know. Is there a role
Speaker 1: that you auditioned for that you really wanted that you
Speaker 1: were super bummed didn't work out?
Speaker 2: God, that's that's a super fair question. You learn so
Speaker 2: quickly to let go of things. Yeah, you just have to.
Speaker 2: I always like make the joke with with my friends
Speaker 2: when I'm driving and I see the billboard for the
Speaker 2: thing that I auditioned for. I was like, oh, I guess,
Speaker 2: I guess I didn't get that part, because you know,
Speaker 2: you find out that they cast somebody else. But well,
Speaker 2: here's something and this is this is true, and this
Speaker 2: is this is not the thing that I've never told
Speaker 2: anyone because I have something special for that later. But
Speaker 2: I actually auditioned originally for Matthew Reese's part in Brothers
Speaker 2: and Sisters. We both went in together. I was actually
Speaker 2: in New York doing a play at that time. They
Speaker 2: flew me out to do the test. Me and Matthew
Speaker 2: went in to audition for Kevin, who became you know,
Speaker 2: Sallyfield's son, and I auditioned for Kevin as well. Matthew
Speaker 2: got the part I didn't. They said, we loved you, you
Speaker 2: thought you were wonderful. We want to give you this,
Speaker 2: this sort of door price, which became Scotty and yeah,
Speaker 2: so low and behold. I wanted Kevin. I became Scotty
Speaker 2: so and it worked out pretty well. It worked out
Speaker 2: pretty well. Hundred episodes later. Yeah, that character's beloved. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was fun. It was a fun gig. That's funny.
Speaker 1: You never know where it will take you, right, I
Speaker 1: mean you walk in the room thinking it's one thing,
Speaker 1: and then something else happens, which may very well be
Speaker 1: even better than you imagined, which is pretty cool as
Speaker 1: an actor.
Speaker 2: Do you watch I.
Speaker 1: Mean, there's so many there's so much content out there now, right,
Speaker 1: series and movies and streaming and all of it. Is
Speaker 1: there a series or a film franchise that you will
Speaker 1: you would think would be so cool to be a
Speaker 1: part of.
Speaker 2: I am a deep Star Trek fan.
Speaker 1: Oh really?
Speaker 2: Yeah, like really deep. It's like weird actually, like I
Speaker 2: fall asleep to Star Trek Next Generation every night, have
Speaker 2: been doing it for five years. I could tell you
Speaker 2: any episode, any character. I know the titles of them.
Speaker 2: I've watched Star Trek Voyager, I've watched you know, the
Speaker 2: New one, Brave New World. But Star Trek Next Generation
Speaker 2: is like one of the like all time favorite comfort
Speaker 2: foods for me.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been able to audition for anything Star
Speaker 1: Trek related?
Speaker 2: It's funny, I'm just remembering this now. I actually did
Speaker 2: audition for Captain Kirk.
Speaker 1: That must have been a pinch me moment.
Speaker 2: Come on, I mean, yeah, but that was a long
Speaker 2: time ago. It was also like when you look back
Speaker 2: at these things, I was like, I didn't know what
Speaker 2: the heck I was doing, and that became of course
Speaker 2: Chris Pine's you know, huge breakout roll. But yeah, I
Speaker 2: auditioned for that one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: How did you keep your cool?
Speaker 2: If I like you, you're such a fan, I think
Speaker 2: at that point you just sort of walk in blindly. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And there is there is a part of me that
Speaker 2: wishes I could go back and go, like, you know,
Speaker 2: do things differently. I don't know, I don't think I
Speaker 2: realized how how big these opportunities were at the time,
Speaker 2: and then maybe that's a survival technique thing. You just
Speaker 2: you try to not get too worked out, so.
Speaker 1: You seem to be someone who can handle rejection well,
Speaker 1: because in the business there's a lot of it and
Speaker 1: in life, I mean, yeah, but add in all the
Speaker 1: career stuff you have to deal with. It's not your
Speaker 1: usual nine to five where you go in and do
Speaker 1: your job and constantly have to hear no right, And
Speaker 1: that's just a different, a different thing. So you've always
Speaker 1: been someone seemingly that can let that roll off your back.
Speaker 2: I haven't. I don't know where that comes from. Like
Speaker 2: I don't. I'm having a memory of like a dear
Speaker 2: actor friend of mine who you know, we kind of
Speaker 2: sort of started out together, and I remember he went
Speaker 2: in for this audition for something and he didn't get
Speaker 2: it and he broke down and it was so profound,
Speaker 2: and I of course was comforting my friend, and you know,
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry, But in the back of my head,
Speaker 2: I was thinking, uh, oh, uh oh, this is this
Speaker 2: is going to be tough for you because this is
Speaker 2: a big, big part of it. And I don't know
Speaker 2: some people let things roll. Some people don't. And I
Speaker 2: don't want to put a judgment on that, because certainly
Speaker 2: like it's cool to have big emotions about things, but
Speaker 2: for me, there was a lot of rejection before.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of yeses, and you never let
Speaker 1: it stop you. Nope, look at you here today. Seth
Speaker 1: Rogan's had a really smart thing about that once too.
Speaker 2: He's like, you know, the one thing about successful actors
Speaker 2: is they just kept doing it. And I think that's true.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, and I think we need to hear that
Speaker 1: more and more because people look at you and they think,
Speaker 1: oh my god, he's probably never had to deal with that,
Speaker 1: and now he's transitioning to this unscriptive world and he's
Speaker 1: touching every kind of market of the industry. So it
Speaker 1: must be so nice.
Speaker 2: But you're like, we all go through it. Yeah, we
Speaker 2: totally do. There is no shortage of you know, forty
Speaker 2: five year old dudes that you know do crunches.
Speaker 1: So forty five year old dudes who do crunches that
Speaker 1: should be your Instagram bio.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just a forty five year old dude.
Speaker 2: It does yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you feel do you feel that though, I mean,
Speaker 1: you bring up age and I'm turning forty in January myself,
Speaker 1: and it's such an interesting time in my life because
Speaker 1: I feel like you ask yourself a lot of questions
Speaker 1: at that point, and you're very reflective, and you know,
Speaker 1: you go through what you go through, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm welcoming of it. I'm not weird out or freaked
Speaker 1: out by it, but you do start thinking things a
Speaker 1: little differently, right, and taking inventory.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think that thirties are hard like that. I
Speaker 2: think the thirties are hard. So like, you get to
Speaker 2: your forties, you get a new kind of confidence. I
Speaker 2: think about yourself and you're like, okay, like Tommy, you've
Speaker 2: done it. Yeah, Like you have this career, You've made
Speaker 2: this thing happen. You've been the host of multiple shows now,
Speaker 2: like so it's all worked out. And I think when
Speaker 2: you get to your forties and you've kind of pursued
Speaker 2: that passion and you've gotten to a place, you get
Speaker 2: to go like, ah, all right, yeah it's gonna be okay. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then you can start about start thinking about a
Speaker 2: family and that that's a whole other panic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, you kind of give yourself permission to do that. Right,
Speaker 1: It's like you don't have to wrap your entire identity
Speaker 1: around one thing. Not that you did that or not,
Speaker 1: but I do that, but like it's you allow yourself
Speaker 1: space to make room for those things that maybe you've
Speaker 1: always wanted to do.
Speaker 2: That's right, yeah, completely, and admit to your that it's
Speaker 2: okay or it's going to be okay. I think when
Speaker 2: I first graduated from school, I was like, I'm never
Speaker 2: going to make any money ever. I'm going to get
Speaker 2: like kicked out of the country because again I'm Canadian.
Speaker 2: I'm going to get kicked out of the country and
Speaker 2: it's all gonna be disaster and I'm going to live
Speaker 2: in a car. But that didn't happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it worked out pretty well. And you did
Speaker 1: it all while being true to yourself, which I know
Speaker 1: wasn't always easy, and you had to make some difficult
Speaker 1: decisions along the way, and you very much wore I
Speaker 1: think a pioneer for showing people it's okay to be
Speaker 1: who you are. But I know that came with probably
Speaker 1: a lot of sacrifice along the way.
Speaker 2: I mean I came out when I was that came
Speaker 2: out like eighteen years ago. And it was a different time,
Speaker 2: and it was before streamers, and it was before Timothy Shalomeh.
Speaker 2: I know, it was before there was just a different
Speaker 2: relationship to what you know, a guy could and couldn't wear,
Speaker 2: and whether they could paint their nails or not. So
Speaker 2: I do I do look back at that eighteen year
Speaker 2: old and go like, wow, that was that was some determination,
Speaker 2: or that eighteen years ago with some that was a
Speaker 2: guy with determination.
Speaker 1: Do you wish that today, when you're doing press and
Speaker 1: doing interviews that there was I guess less of a
Speaker 1: focus on that part of you, like it was just
Speaker 1: something that just was in your life. Or do you
Speaker 1: feel like okay talking about that part of you?
Speaker 2: I totally feel okay. But we're all looking for ways
Speaker 2: to relate to each other. I don't know about you,
Speaker 2: but when I meet people who are queer, I always
Speaker 2: want to know, like, ohlways, your coming out story. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just a story. That's an important story. So like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I totally get that people want to talk about that,
Speaker 2: and if you stick around long enough, I can tell
Speaker 2: you lots of other stuff about myself. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2: So I'm never going to fault somebody for a wanting
Speaker 2: to know about that. It's a big part of who
Speaker 2: I am, but there's other parts of me too.
Speaker 1: Right, I think it's important to also be able to
Speaker 1: share those parts, yes, and show that you're a well
Speaker 1: rounded person.
Speaker 2: Totally right again, Like you're just going back to Hallmark,
Speaker 2: Like they gave me that opportunity. Yeah, you know, they
Speaker 2: let me be a sort of romantic lead to many
Speaker 2: a lovely ladies, and then they let me be a
Speaker 2: romantic lead to a man, and then they let me
Speaker 2: produce a show where I get to talk about woodwork,
Speaker 2: and so I'm so incredibly grateful. Yeah, as far as
Speaker 2: like a partner that's going to lean in and keep
Speaker 2: asking questions about who you are, that's who you want.
Speaker 2: It's one partner that keeps going like but what else
Speaker 2: are you? Who else are you? What else can you be? Yeah,
Speaker 2: they've been amazing.
Speaker 1: I think that's really cool to note about Hallmark because
Speaker 1: I think sometimes I've heard from friends like, oh, are
Speaker 1: they cool with the gay community or is that something
Speaker 1: they're comfortable with? And it's like, yes, the proof is there.
Speaker 2: You know. That was the joke that people used to
Speaker 2: make you know, and.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they had to get to the point like
Speaker 1: many companies, I mean, times change, and you have to
Speaker 1: allow grace for people to realize what is right and wrong.
Speaker 1: And you can't. You can't hold someone's feed to the
Speaker 1: fire forever if they didn't necessarily do one thing and
Speaker 1: now they're doing something else, because that's growth and change
Speaker 1: and evolvement, and we all deserve that and we all
Speaker 1: go through it.
Speaker 2: That's right. You know, you got to do that for
Speaker 2: people too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Let them go through their evolvement, let them go through
Speaker 2: their change, let them go through their learning.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I think that's so cool. It's it's it's
Speaker 1: such an important show. I'm so psych that everybody gets
Speaker 1: to enjoy it and and watch it.
Speaker 2: How do people watch Hallmark Plus for Yeah, you go
Speaker 2: to Hallmark Plus dot com. Huh, and you sign up
Speaker 2: for a very reasonable price. Oh okay, it's cheaper than Netflix.
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you that much. I'll have to
Speaker 2: find out how much cheaper, but it's significantly cheaper. And
Speaker 2: you can also, you know, visit the Luke McFarland Criterion there.
Speaker 2: There's all my movies are up there, so you can
Speaker 2: go and check out.
Speaker 1: Okay, plug in your movies I see you, I see.
Speaker 2: It was plugging Hallmark. They've been so good to be
Speaker 2: and it was a joke. My friend text me, She's like, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's the McFarlane Criterion, where you can see you know
Speaker 2: all my movies, from Shoe Atticts Christmas to Jennifer Love
Speaker 2: Hewitt's favorite one catch Alas anymore coming up. I haven't
Speaker 2: got one in the can for Hallmark. Yeah, but you
Speaker 2: know I like to try to do on every Christmas.
Speaker 1: Okay, very cool, very cool. So we're at that point
Speaker 1: of the show Boy where apparently you know what's coming
Speaker 1: and the show is called I've never said this before,
Speaker 1: and that was born from wanting to just have these
Speaker 1: more real moments in real conversation with artists like yourself
Speaker 1: that you don't get to have on a carpet for
Speaker 1: two minutes or sit down junket for six minutes. So
Speaker 1: I like to give my guests the opportunity to share
Speaker 1: something that's important to them that they've never really said before.
Speaker 2: So take it away. Yeah, well, I wanted to talk
Speaker 2: about my eagle tattoo on my back. No, I'm kidding,
Speaker 2: I don't have any back. Well, gosh, you know, I
Speaker 2: was thinking about it. It's really lovely to be back
Speaker 2: here in New York's. New York City is a very
Speaker 2: important place to me. I left London, Ontario as an
Speaker 2: eighteen year old and came out here and I auditioned
Speaker 2: for Juilliard, which was where I trained as an actor.
Speaker 2: And actually, this morning I went on a run, I
Speaker 2: went past Lincoln Center. And this is going to sound
Speaker 2: like very boastful, but I knew I was going to
Speaker 2: get into Juilliard. I just knew it, which is a
Speaker 2: crazy thing to think. It's like harder to get into
Speaker 2: Juilliard than it is to get into like Princeton and Yale.
Speaker 2: And I guess I'm telling you that because well, it
Speaker 2: sounds embarrassing and boastful, but it also kind of points
Speaker 2: to that thing that you know you need at a
Speaker 2: certain time in your life and that you can kind
Speaker 2: of make it happen if you can get really clear
Speaker 2: about what it is you need. Look, I was like
Speaker 2: a closeted kid living in you know, a mid size
Speaker 2: city in Canada, and I thought, if I get to
Speaker 2: New York, I can be gay. So they're just going
Speaker 2: to take care of that. If I get to New
Speaker 2: York and get the approval that I can be an actor,
Speaker 2: I can do that. So I was like, oh, this
Speaker 2: is my opportunity to do that. So I guess the
Speaker 2: thing that I'm never telling, but it is like I
Speaker 2: just knew I was going to get in to Juilliard.
Speaker 2: Is that a dumb thing to share?
Speaker 1: No, it's not. I feel like I'm looking at your
Speaker 1: face and you feel you seem so well.
Speaker 2: It's like I'm'm boastful guys, like, rarely do I have
Speaker 2: that much confidence about outcomes? You know, maybe that's what
Speaker 2: is embarrassing.
Speaker 1: I think that's a pretty cool thing. I think we
Speaker 1: need to allow ourselves to feel like we're the boss
Speaker 1: and can achieve what we put our mind to.
Speaker 2: And like figuring out for ourselves what exactly it is
Speaker 2: we want, Yeah, and not just be beat around by
Speaker 2: like well over here and make this happen, but like
Speaker 2: getting really clear about what it is we want. Like
Speaker 2: that's almost harder. And maybe that's like what's harder as
Speaker 2: I get older? What is it I really want? Now?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: Is that a question you keep asking yourself all the time?
Speaker 1: You know you asked me earlier in this interview, like
Speaker 1: what do you want to do? Next, or like what's
Speaker 1: the dream role or something like that. I don't have
Speaker 1: that same kind of clarity I did when I was
Speaker 1: an eighteen year old kid that wanted to go to
Speaker 1: the greatest acting school in the world. You know, do
Speaker 1: you feel like, because you're so fulfilled in what you've accomplished,
Speaker 1: that you're not putting that weight or pressure on yourself
Speaker 1: says think about what's next?
Speaker 2: Maybe, but maybe I'm also a little more afraid to
Speaker 2: put myself into the scarier, the unknown or the like difficult.
Speaker 2: So I don't know, but I can't remember a time
Speaker 2: later in my career when I was so sure about
Speaker 2: what I wanted next, so sure that I knew I
Speaker 2: was going to make it happen. Yeah, that's interesting, is it?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: It is? It is.
Speaker 1: I think, especially at this point of your life. You mentioned,
Speaker 1: you know, forty five and new dad, and it's like,
Speaker 1: what do I want in this chapter?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And I think it's okay to ask yourself that I
Speaker 1: really don't subscribe to the idea that you're born and
Speaker 1: there's one thing that you have to only do and
Speaker 1: stick to. Kind of what I said earlier, because I
Speaker 1: think interest change and evolve, and the world changes and evolves,
Speaker 1: and there might be something out there that you see
Speaker 1: and want to do that you're like, oh, I want
Speaker 1: to do that. Did you ever imagine you'd be doing
Speaker 1: an unscripted show at this point in your life?
Speaker 2: Totally? I mean absolutely. I think the thing that was
Speaker 2: the closest to sort of I know I'm going to
Speaker 2: get into Julliard was like I know I'm going to
Speaker 2: be a parent. That was the second always closest thing
Speaker 2: that I knew was going to happen, except for with
Speaker 2: you know, creating. Life is there's so many things that
Speaker 2: can happen, and you know, so it's also harder to
Speaker 2: be deterministic about it.
Speaker 1: What is the one thing that you hope your daughter learns?
Speaker 1: I don't early age.
Speaker 2: The big word that comes up for me in my
Speaker 2: favorite people in the world are curious people Like if
Speaker 2: you're not curious, I am checked out. So curiosity is
Speaker 2: number one. I want to foster that in her at
Speaker 2: every step of the step of it, Like, you just
Speaker 2: have to be curious about people, the world, buildings, would, architecture, music,
Speaker 2: whatever you want to be in, but be curious and
Speaker 2: be kind. Be kind. That's it. Be kind.
Speaker 1: Can't say that enough, you know for a man that's
Speaker 1: you know, rapping Season two of Platonic. Just did a
Speaker 1: Hallmark Plus series helping people with their dream homes. A
Speaker 1: dad of two, a two year old almost you're pretty
Speaker 1: put together. You're pretty put together. Don't know what secret
Speaker 1: you have going on, but.
Speaker 2: You don't simulate it. Wondering what's going on?
Speaker 1: Crying in a pillow.
Speaker 2: Episodes of The Star trek Luke.
Speaker 1: This has been so nice. Remind us all how to
Speaker 1: watch your new series, what it is all the things.
Speaker 2: The show is called Home Is Where the Heart Is
Speaker 2: and you can find it on Hallmarkplus dot com.
Speaker 1: Okay, we can't wait for that. It's so good to
Speaker 1: catch up with you. What a treat when I found
Speaker 1: out we would be talking, you know, a couple of
Speaker 1: years after our first interview. It's really cool to see
Speaker 1: you continuing to do things that fuels your soul and
Speaker 1: I love to see it.
Speaker 2: Thank you and you too, and let's pick up again
Speaker 2: in a couple of years.
Speaker 1: Sounds good, one man, Thank you, all right, thank you.
Speaker 1: I've never said this before. Is hosted by me Tommy Dederio.
Speaker 1: This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Piglisi at iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: and by Me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Speaker 1: Never Said this Before is part of the Elvis Duran
Speaker 1: podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more rate, review and
Speaker 1: subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
Speaker 1: tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy Dedario