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Speaker 1: Bubble and Squeak. I love it Bubble and Squeak on

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Speaker 1: Bubble and Squeaker cookie every month, left over from the

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Speaker 1: night before. Ho Ho ho. My holiday listeners, welcome to

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Speaker 1: a very special holiday edition of Off the Beat. Tis

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Speaker 1: the season. I am your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today we're

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Speaker 1: gonna do things a little bit differently because I don't

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Speaker 1: know if you've noticed, but it's almost January already, which

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Speaker 1: means it's almost which means that I am just this

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Speaker 1: close to making an entire trip around the Sun with

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Speaker 1: Off the Beat. Now. I have to tell you all,

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Speaker 1: this blows my mind. Week after week I have gotten

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Speaker 1: to talk to some of the most incredible people from

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Speaker 1: some of my absolute favorite film and TV shows, and

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Speaker 1: you all, you're out there listening, You have made this

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Speaker 1: all possible. I cannot I truly could not be more

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Speaker 1: grateful for each and every one of you for coming

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Speaker 1: on this journey with me. I am having a blast.

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Speaker 1: I hope you continue to have a blast as well.

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Speaker 1: So my special gift to you, we put together a

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Speaker 1: couple of best of episodes for Off the Beat, featuring

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Speaker 1: just a very small sampling of the hilarious, emotional, and inspirational,

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Speaker 1: if I do say so myself. Interviews that I've put

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Speaker 1: on this year, this is by no means a comprehensive list.

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Speaker 1: There are some truly fan seking tastic guests you're not

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Speaker 1: going to be hearing from. But tis the season for reflection,

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Speaker 1: for looking back and looking forward. So we're going to

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Speaker 1: do just that, starting with some of my very first guests,

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Speaker 1: and one in particular who I had happened to cross

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Speaker 1: paths with on a boat, well maybe more of a

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Speaker 1: booze cruise while filming The Office. So here he is,

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Speaker 1: my good friend Rob Wriggle, with the story of what

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Speaker 1: it was like to play the iconic Captain Jack. Of course,

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Speaker 1: I can't not mention Captain Jack uh your role of

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Speaker 1: The Office coming out to film what was, without a doubt,

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Speaker 1: the most difficult film we that we had in ten years.

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Speaker 1: There's no question, There's no question. Working from seven pm

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Speaker 1: to like seven am out on the water, it was.

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Speaker 1: It was Were you aware of the Office when you

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Speaker 1: got that job? Was so I was. I was very

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Speaker 1: aware of the BBC version while I was on snl Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know, we're on the writers are on seventeen and

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Speaker 1: the studios down on eight and on sixteen. They have

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Speaker 1: a casting directors and stuff. I actually auditioned for Michael Scott.

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Speaker 1: I knew this, and I auditioned for Dwight and Keckner's

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Speaker 1: role I forget his name, Packer. They made the right choice, obviously,

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Speaker 1: but I was fresh in their minds because I think

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Speaker 1: I did the episode that I did the Booze Cruise

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Speaker 1: before I got the Daily that gap between sn L

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Speaker 1: and when I got the Daily Show, that's when I

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Speaker 1: got the office role, which I was so happy to

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Speaker 1: get and so on, and for me it was super

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Speaker 1: cool because one I love the show is your Guy.

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Speaker 1: As his second season, I think the show's a hit.

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Speaker 1: Everybody knows and everybody's loving it, and I was one

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Speaker 1: of them. I was like more and more and I

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Speaker 1: get to be part of it, which was great. But

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Speaker 1: I'm still so green as an actor and as a performer.

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Speaker 1: Being on cameras still may be nervous. I'm nervous as hell.

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Speaker 1: And when we got out on the water, remember when

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Speaker 1: we floated out? Okay, Between between setups, normally everybody goes

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Speaker 1: back to the trailer. They go back to crafty kind

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Speaker 1: of everybody separates against their space. There was nowhere to

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Speaker 1: go on that boat. When they say, okay, we're setting

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Speaker 1: up for it, moving on, it's time for a new shot,

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Speaker 1: they'd go to set up. We all just go sit

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Speaker 1: on the dance floor or sit in those boots and

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Speaker 1: hang out, yeah, those booths, And I remember thinking this

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Speaker 1: is awesome. I just remember enjoying the hell out of it,

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Speaker 1: and not even dawning on me that we were dust

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Speaker 1: till dawn, um and it was draining, and I think,

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Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, Correll was shooting Evan Almighty and

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Speaker 1: he would literally leave, we pull back to the to

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Speaker 1: the dock. He would get out, get into sedan and

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Speaker 1: drive to film all day. And I remember thinking, when's

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Speaker 1: this guy getting his sleep? This is insane. And yet

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Speaker 1: his performance on the boat, and I'm sure his performance

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Speaker 1: in the movie fantastic, but it was totally fun. One

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Speaker 1: thing about that episode that bumps me out to this day. Okay,

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, I don't know, maybe it was the Devil,

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Speaker 1: maybe evil demon angel, somebody would not let me get

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Speaker 1: the words Wall and Paul Pack out of my mouth.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't say it. I couldn't say it. We're supposed

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Speaker 1: to be on Lake Waldon Paul Pack. I can say

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Speaker 1: it now as if it's nothing. I can say it

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Speaker 1: with ease. That night I maybe got it out once

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Speaker 1: or twice correctly, and the rest I just couldn't do it.

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Speaker 1: And I remember they were looking at me and they

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Speaker 1: were baffled. They were absolutely baffled, like what is this

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Speaker 1: guy has a major malfunction? How do you can you

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Speaker 1: not say? Waldon Paul Pack? And I can't explain it.

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Speaker 1: It's just one of those moments where you're like, I'm

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Speaker 1: so sorry. I wanted to die. I wanted to go crawl.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to dive off that boat they died. Well,

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Speaker 1: first of all, everyone has been there. I have not

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Speaker 1: thought about that in fifteen years, and you and I

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Speaker 1: see each other, I don't know, ten times a year

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Speaker 1: at various things. I have not ever once I thought

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Speaker 1: of that moment until right now. And the second you

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Speaker 1: said it, I was like, oh, that's right. He couldn't

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Speaker 1: say it. I couldn't say it. I couldn't say it right.

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Speaker 1: And I know it was so simple, and they were

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Speaker 1: literally they were looking at me. Go wall in, Paul Pack.

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Speaker 1: I go, well, it's just wall and well, while Papa

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Speaker 1: pack while play Pop. I mean really there was some

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Speaker 1: synapsis in my brain that would not connected. And you know,

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Speaker 1: you know Brian as an actor. To Drive Home, I

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Speaker 1: said every line perfectly, I said every word perfectly. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I couldn't have been more spot on the drive Home.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's so funny. That is Oh that is amazing.

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Speaker 1: Do you get recognized? Do people yelled Captain Jack at

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Speaker 1: you every now and then? Yes, yes they do. I

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Speaker 1: was probably no joke, probably heavier, so I looked a

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Speaker 1: little different then. Interesting that episode, by the way, it

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Speaker 1: was was shared with me or reminded by Kevin Riley actually,

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Speaker 1: who was the head of NBC at the time, that

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Speaker 1: he would call about the ratings after every night, and

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Speaker 1: obviously the Office became a big show for him and

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Speaker 1: he kind of staked his reputation on it. And after

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Speaker 1: Booze Cruise, the Office didn't just retain the number from

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Speaker 1: my Name is Earl, which came before, but actually beat

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Speaker 1: it in the ratings. And he said, he said, I

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Speaker 1: may have cried. It was like that kind of moment

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Speaker 1: for him. Like that episode so significantly the only thing

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Speaker 1: that brought other than not being will say well in

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Speaker 1: Paul pack, which still haunts me. I mean, I still

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Speaker 1: feel so bad about that. I was bummed out because

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Speaker 1: I knew that once my episode was over, you wouldn't

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Speaker 1: see Captain Jack again. And I was like, and they're

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Speaker 1: not going to bring me back as some other character,

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Speaker 1: because I just wanted to be reoccurring on on the Office,

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Speaker 1: just because it's such an iconic, legendary show. But I

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Speaker 1: won't be greedy. I was very grateful for the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to to be Captain Jack. Well, look, I mean during

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Speaker 1: that time and just setting the Office aside, you were

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Speaker 1: really on had the opportunity to appear on every great

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Speaker 1: show during that time with you know, all due respect

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Speaker 1: to the ones you weren't on, but I mean Arrested

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Speaker 1: Development and thirty Rock and Modern Family and just amazing

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Speaker 1: all of the shows that that that you were on

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Speaker 1: during that time and obviously recurred on a lot of them. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I was very happy about that, very blessed. But the

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Speaker 1: Office is definitely special. Well, yes it is for me

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Speaker 1: to yes the great Lake wall Empow Pack or Lake

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Speaker 1: wallym p pack, And that is what we call in

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Speaker 1: the business. A transition to my next guest, who was

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Speaker 1: actually my very first guest on this podcast. She had

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Speaker 1: her own special audition story that was not haunted, but

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Speaker 1: perhaps helped by a certain kind of energy. Here she

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Speaker 1: is with the story, Alison Hannighan. Everyone. I remember my

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Speaker 1: manager calling me before I read the script and he's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: we're sending you the script. You're either going to love

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Speaker 1: it or hate it. Nobody like that's just how it's going.

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Speaker 1: People can't stand it or they love it. So I

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Speaker 1: loved it. And he was saying, take a look at

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Speaker 1: you know, whatever role because all the rules were open,

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Speaker 1: and see which one you like. Oh. I think it

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Speaker 1: was actually between my yeah, exactly, Heather and Michelle. And

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Speaker 1: I was like, no, I love Michelle and just immediately

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Speaker 1: like wanted to do that part. And so I went.

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Speaker 1: I went to the audition. It was casting. It was

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Speaker 1: just me and the casting director, and he told me, um, no,

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Speaker 1: she can't be that quirky, like take out all the

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Speaker 1: you know, all the quirk just take that away and

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Speaker 1: because we want, you know, we want these two to

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Speaker 1: be together or whatever. And I was like, oh, okay,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's written in question form. Every line has

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Speaker 1: a question mark at the end of the sentence and

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Speaker 1: so I was like, oh, all right, well that's weird

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Speaker 1: because that's definitely not how I pictured it. So I

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Speaker 1: did it again, just super boring, and he was like, Okay, great,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to bring you back for the directors and

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Speaker 1: that's that's great. And I got on the phone to

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Speaker 1: my manager. I was like, they said that they're gonna

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Speaker 1: bring me back for the directors, but honestly, I don't

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Speaker 1: want to go because if he wants me to do

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Speaker 1: it like that, I just that's that's not going to

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Speaker 1: be funny. And so so they were like, yeah, yeah, okay,

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Speaker 1: well let's just see if you get the call back

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Speaker 1: and talk to us then. And so I did, and

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Speaker 1: the call that they took me, my managers took me

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Speaker 1: to lunch right before maybe to butter me up to

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Speaker 1: go to the Cabby. I don't know why, but we

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Speaker 1: were at lunch and I had like seven iced teas

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Speaker 1: or something ridiculous, and then I sat in traffic all

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Speaker 1: my way to the callback, and I had to pee,

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Speaker 1: like I've never had to pee before, and I just

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Speaker 1: remember kind of then you have to go through it's

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Speaker 1: on the backload of universal and drying to find the bungle,

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Speaker 1: I was going to wet my pants, and so I

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Speaker 1: was like, well, I don't want to be late. I'll

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Speaker 1: sign in and then run to the bathroom. So I

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Speaker 1: did that, and I'm like, I went to the bathroom

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Speaker 1: washing my hands, and the assistant comes in to the

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Speaker 1: bathroom and says, okay, we're ready for you, Like, oh,

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Speaker 1: all right, So I never come the bathroom. Yeah, well yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean yes, well thank god I wasn't in the

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Speaker 1: stall still, so I dry my hands, but I never

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Speaker 1: had time to settle down. I still had that I'm

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Speaker 1: going to wet my pants energy, and so I just

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Speaker 1: went in and I never even decided if I was

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Speaker 1: going to do it boring or the way I wanted

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Speaker 1: to do it, And because I had that like hyper

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Speaker 1: p energy, I just did it the way I wanted

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Speaker 1: to do it, and I got the job. There you go.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure the casting director appreciates me telling that story,

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Speaker 1: but I think that that shows a boldness from you,

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Speaker 1: whether it was intentional or not. Right, so like it

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Speaker 1: was just about the P or whatever, But if you

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Speaker 1: read the script this morning, that you would say if

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Speaker 1: it was just about the PA, it was just about

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Speaker 1: the PA, just about Alison to Hannigan's peak. No, but

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Speaker 1: I mean like there are times you read something and

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Speaker 1: you see it clearly and it sounds like you did.

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Speaker 1: There were multiple role was available for your choosing at

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Speaker 1: least audition, and you saw a character and you saw

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Speaker 1: the role and they said, well, no, they want it

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Speaker 1: like this. Well that's not you know, well that's not

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Speaker 1: what I wanted to do. I really like, I had

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Speaker 1: so much fun just being weird and like talking in

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Speaker 1: question form. It was so much fun. And then like no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: be just lose the quirk and and just like you know,

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Speaker 1: we want them to root for them to be together.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, what, but that didn't I didn't see it

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Speaker 1: that way, and I'm so not normally like that either.

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Speaker 1: I'm very much like, okay, what do you want? I'm

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Speaker 1: your puppet, you know. So I guess that was just no,

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Speaker 1: this is how I would want to play it. It

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Speaker 1: also helped that I was on Buffy and it wasn't

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Speaker 1: like I have to get this part, you know. It

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Speaker 1: was like, hey, that'd be great. It's a small part

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Speaker 1: in this movie I thought was really funny. But it

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Speaker 1: wasn't like, oh, this is going to change your life.

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Speaker 1: You know, you didn't know that at the time, so

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Speaker 1: the stakes weren't that high, and I had a job

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Speaker 1: to go back to, so that gave me a confidence

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Speaker 1: that I didn't normally have. And I know, and you

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Speaker 1: know that because people always say act like you don't

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Speaker 1: care about the job, but it's you can't. Well, you

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Speaker 1: have to truly not care. You have to truly not

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Speaker 1: care exactly well. And I'm so grateful that I had

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Speaker 1: a crappy agent for Buffy because they weren't able to

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Speaker 1: give me the script, so I only had the sides,

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Speaker 1: and had I read the script, I would have completely

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Speaker 1: lost my mind and I wouldn't have There's no way

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Speaker 1: I could have gotten it because I would would have

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Speaker 1: wanted it so desperately. So I'm I'm really glad that

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Speaker 1: when I got the script, I was like, I want

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Speaker 1: the lottery that you did, Allison, that you did. But

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Speaker 1: you're not the only one who had a less than

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Speaker 1: ideal audition end up changing your life. Here's my next guest,

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Speaker 1: my old friend Eric stone Street, with what could only

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Speaker 1: be described as an aggressive casting experience, the producer in

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Speaker 1: Chicago that had helped me get my SAG card by

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Speaker 1: doing three backgrounds. She's like, when I was moving, she said, Oh,

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Speaker 1: I have a friend that is a casting associate for

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Speaker 1: somebody in l A. And I'll give you her name.

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Speaker 1: That was the only professional name I came to town with.

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Speaker 1: And she was nice enough to accept my head shot

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Speaker 1: and she's like, yeah, we'll call you in, you know,

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Speaker 1: if something comes up, we'll give you a call. And

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Speaker 1: she called me in. And it took me, you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe four or five times of going in for I

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Speaker 1: can't think of his name, biggest producer in town, TV wise,

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Speaker 1: Big Bang Theory Lori, Chuck Lori, Yeah, Chuck Lori. It

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Speaker 1: took me like four or five times going in and

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Speaker 1: getting called back. And finally I got a little part

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Speaker 1: on Darman Gregg and that was really the beginning. But

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Speaker 1: I didn't, you know, know anybody. But again, it all

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Speaker 1: comes down to people just being nice and like giving

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Speaker 1: you a shot. Right. I think for me, a big

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Speaker 1: lesson you learn is how important just like the number

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Speaker 1: of jobs you get, regardless of what they are. Right.

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Speaker 1: So there's like commercials and there's this show and that show,

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Speaker 1: and you start to build a career. I know you

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Speaker 1: did a lot of commercials. I hear over a hundred

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Speaker 1: commercials you did after arriving at Los Angeles. Well, I

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Speaker 1: did a national campaign in Chicago for the n c

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Speaker 1: A where I played this character named Joe Football, where

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Speaker 1: I was painted red and blue. And then that helped

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Speaker 1: me get a commercial agent in l A. And then

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Speaker 1: I was lucky enough one day to meet a guy

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Speaker 1: named Joe Picka, and Joe Picka is a legendary commercial

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Speaker 1: director in Los Angeles. And I went in and I

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Speaker 1: auditioned for an American Express Tiger Woods commercial where the

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Speaker 1: balls traveling all over the world and I was just

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Speaker 1: a guy on a T box somewhere in the ball

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Speaker 1: lands and I smashed the ball. So I go into

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Speaker 1: this audition and when before I went in, my agent

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Speaker 1: called me and was like, you're auditioning for Joe Pita.

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Speaker 1: Like okay, what what what does that mean? She's like,

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Speaker 1: you don't know who Joe Pitka is. I'm like, no,

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Speaker 1: what do I need to do right now? Do I

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Speaker 1: need to pull over? What's happening? He's like no, he's

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Speaker 1: very intimidating, he's very scary, you know, he's very loyal.

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Speaker 1: Just be cool, becom, don't poke the bear I'm like,

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Speaker 1: what the hell. So I go in and I auditioned

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Speaker 1: for this Tiger Woods commercial where it's like, I don't

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Speaker 1: even think I have lines. He just was like looking

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Speaker 1: me up and down at my body and maybe you

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Speaker 1: have to go swing the golf like a golf club

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Speaker 1: or something. And I'm standing there and he's just staring

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Speaker 1: at me, like literally like a lion about to pounce

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Speaker 1: on a pound of meat. He goes, where you from?

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Speaker 1: And I said, I'm from Kansas City. It was Kansas City.

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Speaker 1: I said, yeah, where are you from? He goes Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 1: I said Pittsburgh. He goes, yeah, you got a problem

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Speaker 1: with Pittsburgh And I said, well, no, but it seems

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Speaker 1: like you have a problem with Kansas City. He's kind

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Speaker 1: of have a problem with Kansas City. Why do you

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Speaker 1: think I have a problem with Kansas City? And I said, well,

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Speaker 1: because I said where I was from, and you were

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Speaker 1: like judgemental about it. Because I wasn't judgmental about He goes,

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Speaker 1: what's your problem? And I go, well, I don't have

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Speaker 1: a problem. And I'm like, oh my god, it's happening.

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Speaker 1: Like she warned me that this could happen. And I'm

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Speaker 1: just I'm engaged. Now I'm in an argument with the

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Speaker 1: guy who like is maybe hiring me. So he's like,

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Speaker 1: get the funk out of here, and like literally said

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Speaker 1: it like that, and I'm like I leave, and I'm

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Speaker 1: like I call her and I said, well, I guess

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Speaker 1: I screwed that moment up. I guess I didn't heed

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Speaker 1: your warning. She's like, what happened? I said, well, we

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Speaker 1: got into an argument about where I was from. Like

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Speaker 1: she's like, what did you do? What did you do?

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Speaker 1: He said, I didn't do anything. I just answered his question. Well,

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Speaker 1: long story short, like a day later, she calls me

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Speaker 1: and she's like, you are not going to believe this.

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Speaker 1: And I said what she said, you are not getting

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Speaker 1: that American Express commercial and I said, well, yeah, clearly.

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Speaker 1: She goes, but Joe Pitka had his casting director callback

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Speaker 1: and say he can't wait to work with you on something.

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Speaker 1: And I was like so confused. And then a month

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Speaker 1: later I get a phone call. It says, show up

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Speaker 1: in the Long Beach Harbor. You're in an IBM commercial

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Speaker 1: with Joe Picca And that was the beginning of our

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Speaker 1: our run. Wow, incredible, unbelievable. How many did you end

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Speaker 1: up doing with him. This is gonna sound so ridiculous

338
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Speaker 1: what I'm about to say, but it's like a couple

339
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Speaker 1: of campaigns, but it was like almost sixty and he

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Speaker 1: would just call and listen. I have talked about him

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Speaker 1: when I've been asked, you know, for comments about acting

342
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Speaker 1: and things like that. I just had dinner with him

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Speaker 1: a month ago here in Los Angeles. And he doesn't

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Speaker 1: like to hear this because he's this guy. You know,

345
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Speaker 1: he's Polish from Pittsburgh. He's stubborn, and he's bullheaded, and

346
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Speaker 1: he's you know, he is he him. But I'm like, Joe,

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Speaker 1: you have to acknowledge my appreciation and my thankfulness to you,

348
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Speaker 1: because you taught me so much about like working under pressure.

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Speaker 1: You taught me so much about like being prepared you

350
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Speaker 1: saw me, taught me so much about being patient and

351
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Speaker 1: like confident in your abilities and like you. But more

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Speaker 1: than anything, you gave me the ability to go into

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Speaker 1: these theatrical auditions with the confidence that I had somebody

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Speaker 1: outside of this room it's going to hire me for something,

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Speaker 1: and like you don't know what that means to an

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Speaker 1: actor to know that, like I'm not walking in with

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Speaker 1: desperation on my brow. It's like fuck you, Like, no,

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Speaker 1: I'm serious. You need to know that you mean a

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Speaker 1: tremendous amount of my career and that I wouldn't be

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Speaker 1: where I ended up being without you. And that's all

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Speaker 1: I'm going to say about it. That's amazing. Yeah. Good,

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Speaker 1: he's a good guy. I just figured out a stick man.

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Speaker 1: I mean, he he is tough, but he just appreciated

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Speaker 1: that I in that room, that first moment that I

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Speaker 1: gaged him, and that I wasn't like whimpering, And that

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Speaker 1: was his test. His test was like, well, can you

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Speaker 1: work with me on set when there's ten hours of

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Speaker 1: time we've wasted and we've got to get the shot

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Speaker 1: in one minute? Can you be that person? And that's

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Speaker 1: what he kind of puts people through. My next guest

371
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Speaker 1: found herself with an incredible opportunity to take a leading

372
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Speaker 1: role on what would eventually become a true cult classic,

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Speaker 1: Freaks and Geeks. But if the stars had aligned differently,

374
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Speaker 1: she would have listened to all of the people telling

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Speaker 1: her to pass. I'm happy to say that she had

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Speaker 1: her own motivations, because otherwise she may not have been

377
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Speaker 1: so busy these last few decades. Okay, that was bad.

378
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,199
Speaker 1: That was That was bad. I'm blaming that on the writers.

379
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Speaker 1: Here she is busy phillips everyone. I went to pick

380
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Speaker 1: up I think Colin at the airport and Linda was

381
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Speaker 1: also there picking up her roommate actually, and she had

382
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Speaker 1: just gotten the part and she knew that they had

383
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Speaker 1: they wanted me for Kim Kelly. And she was like, dude,

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Speaker 1: can you believe it. I'm I got freaks and geeks.

385
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna do it. You gotta be Kim Kelly. And

386
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Speaker 1: I was like, I know, I was just talking. I

387
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Speaker 1: just it's so exciting, Like I just my agents were

388
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Speaker 1: feeling like I don't know. And she's like, no, no, no,

389
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Speaker 1: do this show. You gotta do this with me. It'll

390
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Speaker 1: be so much fun. We'll have so much fun. And

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Speaker 1: I honestly, in that moment, I was like, yeah, of

392
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Speaker 1: course I'm sucking doing it. Like why would I not

393
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Speaker 1: do I already know this girl who's rad and like

394
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Speaker 1: I want to be best friends with anyway, why would

395
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Speaker 1: I not do this? And so I called my manager, Lorraine,

396
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Speaker 1: and I was like, I really want to do this,

397
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Speaker 1: and she's like, I'm gonna call Judge. I'm gonna find

398
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Speaker 1: out what the deal is. And then she called me

399
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,440
Speaker 1: back and she was like, you know, Judd is really

400
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 1: insistent that they want to make this character a series

401
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: regular if the show gets picked up. I think you

402
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,159
Speaker 1: should just do it. I think it's brilliant. And so

403
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 1: because of like Lorraine my manager at the time, and

404
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,480
Speaker 1: Linda CARDLINI, I was like, I had no idea what

405
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Speaker 1: I was doing. Who knows what anything is? You know,

406
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,159
Speaker 1: They're like Judd Apataw from Sick in the Head. I'm like,

407
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,320
Speaker 1: I don't know what the funk that is? Like, had

408
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 1: you read the script? Yeah, I did not understand it

409
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Speaker 1: at all. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie.

410
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Speaker 1: I totally, Brian totally. I was like, don't get it.

411
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Speaker 1: I don't get what the tone of this is. I

412
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,199
Speaker 1: was so confused by it. And then I remember they

413
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 1: cut together. We had a pretty long shoot for the pilot.

414
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a period piece and it's involved and

415
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 1: those were the those were the olden days of how

416
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,400
Speaker 1: Hollywood where they really spent a ton of money and

417
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:09,359
Speaker 1: like they were shooting on film, you know. And after

418
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 1: we wrapped the pilot that evening in the cafeteria of

419
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,159
Speaker 1: the school, we were shooting at they rolled out like

420
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 1: a little a V cart and they had cut together

421
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 1: the editors had just put together like a tiny little

422
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Speaker 1: mishmash of the show for all of us to see

423
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Speaker 1: what we've been working on, which, honestly, also in retrospect,

424
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Speaker 1: is so special because so yeah, I mean, if your

425
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: show doesn't get picked up, the crew literally never sees

426
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 1: the show. I mean, I don't know about you. I've

427
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 1: done pilots that I still haven't seen, right right, I

428
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,040
Speaker 1: mean I've done shows that I've never seen. But that's

429
00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,400
Speaker 1: a different issue. That is a different issue, I would say.

430
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,879
Speaker 1: But anyway, it was so special. And I remember watching

431
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,159
Speaker 1: this thing that they put together and they had the

432
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: come sail away song, you know, like chriscendoing, and I

433
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 1: got full chill, and I was like, this is what

434
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 1: we've been doing. Oh my god, this is real. Like

435
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,359
Speaker 1: my mind I'm gonna start crying, but like my little

436
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: brain was blown, like this is what I've wanted to

437
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 1: do since I was a baby. And there I am,

438
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: and I don't even look like me and I don't

439
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,679
Speaker 1: sound like me, and it's real. Yeah, that was that. Wow.

440
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: Were you aware at that moment that the show was

441
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,119
Speaker 1: special or doing something new, or did your little brain

442
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: not comprehend that at the at the time. I mean,

443
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: that whole experience is so has had so many different

444
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,199
Speaker 1: incarnations of what it was and what it is and

445
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 1: what it continues to be. So it's funny, you know,

446
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,400
Speaker 1: like we had such an amazing time while we were

447
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,439
Speaker 1: doing it, and the freedom that Judd and Paul and

448
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 1: Leslie Gladder, like all of our directors, they gave such

449
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 1: a gift that we were all way too inexperienced and

450
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: young to understand at the in the moment, I think,

451
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,119
Speaker 1: but we all enjoyed it very much. I mean, I

452
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 1: don't remember, aside from like my personality conflict with Franco, Like,

453
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: I don't remember ever having like a complaint about anything

454
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,639
Speaker 1: having to do with it. Late nights were super fun.

455
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: Early mornings were super fun. We would hang out, We

456
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,520
Speaker 1: would go to Swingers and get food at midnight after

457
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,639
Speaker 1: we wrapped like together, we would go to Birds on

458
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: Franklin where Seagull convinced me that the Scientology building had

459
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 1: a Tower of terror ride inside of it, and I

460
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 1: believed him for like ten minutes. I really thought it

461
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 1: was true, and South was like, come on, it's not true.

462
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 1: And I was like, I don't know. It looks like

463
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 1: it has one of those es in it, you know,

464
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 1: like a drum. I was like, what, we don't know. Um,

465
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,639
Speaker 1: so it's really fun, you know. And I think and

466
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 1: when the show was over and it became clear like

467
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 1: that it was going to be over over, I wasn't

468
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,880
Speaker 1: ready for it to be and I wanted it to continue.

469
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: I was really really sad and really disheartened, and and

470
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 1: and I did feel in that moment already like but

471
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: we made something so good. Why is this hat? Why

472
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,920
Speaker 1: is this fair? I mean, and again that's the best

473
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 1: lesson you can learn as an actor. It's like, actually

474
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, babe. Paul said it was ahead of its

475
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 1: time a little bit. I mean in terms of the

476
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 1: cringe comedy. I mean, you know, Judd's now made a

477
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:58,679
Speaker 1: career out of very similar toned things. It launched so

478
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: many careers and and really pioneered a new way of

479
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,159
Speaker 1: doing television that is, uh, you know, I think a

480
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,359
Speaker 1: lot of shows, including The Office, Oh A great debt

481
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: of gratitude to um. Yeah, I remember feeling that it

482
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: was ahead of its time, Like I said, like I

483
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 1: read it and didn't understand it. You know, I didn't

484
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 1: understand tonally what it was supposed to be. It wasn't

485
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: until I actually saw it that I was like, oh shit,

486
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 1: this is awesome. And I think it's really a testament

487
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 1: to how the people in charge treated us with so

488
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: much respect. And we were kids and maybe at moments

489
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: didn't deserve it, but they really treated us like experts

490
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 1: in our field and real collaborators in making this thing.

491
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: And it changes everything when you get to work with

492
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 1: people who respect you. Yeah, I've been on both sides

493
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 1: of that like line, where I've worked for people who

494
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,800
Speaker 1: just definitely don't respect me, and I'm there to like

495
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: service what they want to be done or how they

496
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:24,720
Speaker 1: want it said. And I have no joke heard actors

497
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 1: like that I was working with being referenced as talking props. Yeah,

498
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,760
Speaker 1: that's a bummer, you know, that really takes the fun

499
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,960
Speaker 1: out of it. But like for me to go from

500
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: doing really fun, creative theater programs and then getting to

501
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 1: be a part of a show, a network television show,

502
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: were these adults in charge And by the way, that

503
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,200
Speaker 1: is the funniest thing to me, which is that I

504
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: thought that Judd and Leslie were literally fifty years old.

505
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 1: Leslie is like three years older than We're like essentially

506
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 1: the same age exactly. But she was like they were

507
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 1: like married, they had a baby, they were like old people,

508
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: and and then like cut to five years later, We're

509
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 1: like hanging out with each other in Hawaii and I'm like, wait,

510
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: what's happening? They say, oh my god, Oh my god.

511
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: Is right? That is hilarious busy speaking of working with

512
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: people when they're young and then running into them again

513
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,680
Speaker 1: as adults. One of my next guests started out with

514
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,320
Speaker 1: a pretty surprising role on the Office and then he

515
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 1: went on to be on a tiny little show called

516
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: Glee with his friend Jenna. Here they are Kevin McHale

517
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 1: and Jenna Uskowitz. Kevin, I actually met you before, Jenna.

518
00:30:54,920 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 1: You were a very significant guest star on the Office

519
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: and you were seventeen ish years of age. How was

520
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,280
Speaker 1: that experience for you the delivery boy? I believe it

521
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: was your title pizza delivery boy from Alfredo's. What was

522
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 1: that experience like for you and how much experience did

523
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: you have at that time in film and television? It

524
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,600
Speaker 1: sounds like not a lot, not a lot. It was

525
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,720
Speaker 1: I think my second guest star thing ever. The other

526
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 1: one was Zoe one on one on Nickelodeon. And yeah,

527
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: it was a really really big thing for me. The

528
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,760
Speaker 1: audition process was unlike anything I've ever experienced, where the

529
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 1: callbacks we were in the room with Steve and he

530
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 1: came in and read with us. You know, Steve Correll.

531
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 1: I just say, Steve Um, I was dying. I was

532
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: so terrified. Really were you? Were you a fan of

533
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,920
Speaker 1: the show. Oh, yeah I was, And I was a

534
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 1: fan of the the UK version, like I was all

535
00:31:55,480 --> 00:32:00,719
Speaker 1: about it. And Alison Jones, the casting director, is probably

536
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: the only reason why I've had any sort of career

537
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:09,360
Speaker 1: because she, when no one else did, kept giving me

538
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: chances on everything. So I got really close and super

539
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: bad she and then she just you know, as if

540
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 1: you get on TV and you become semi recognizable, you

541
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:20,959
Speaker 1: get to skip a couple rounds of auditioning and you

542
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 1: just get brought into the later rounds. I didn't have

543
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,280
Speaker 1: any reason to get brought into automatically too later rounds

544
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 1: for things. She just started doing that for me because

545
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:33,160
Speaker 1: somehow she believed in me, and it I really took

546
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 1: that to heart and made me feel better when I

547
00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: would go into these rooms that she would bring me into.

548
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 1: But yeah, I went in an auditioned with Steve and

549
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: got it and I screamed and was freaking out. And

550
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: then all of you were just so so awful, no

551
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 1: so nice, because I mean I was. I was so

552
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,960
Speaker 1: intimidated obviously coming in there. It's like, these are these

553
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 1: professional adults and they're all talented and funny, and I

554
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 1: felt like, you know, severe case of imposter syndrome, and

555
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,360
Speaker 1: everyone went out of their way to make me feel comfortable,

556
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,840
Speaker 1: to make me feel like I deserve to be there,

557
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: every one of you, and um, it was just really

558
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 1: really great. And also what a great gig you guys had,

559
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: because I mean, Jenna, those sets were pre lit, like,

560
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 1: oh my god, the way they could set up something

561
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,320
Speaker 1: so quickly. They were on their own, they had their

562
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,680
Speaker 1: own stage. Oh god, it was the dream so you

563
00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 1: ruined it for anything else because I feel like you

564
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 1: also gotten still. Oh, I get recognized so often from

565
00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 1: that one episode, and it's it's absolutely I don't know

566
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 1: how you go anywhere because I was in one episode

567
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 1: and you still do. I can't, by the way, but

568
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 1: you still do. Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot crazy

569
00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: because I went back and looked at those pictures and

570
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,560
Speaker 1: you do look quite different. I mean you are older,

571
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: let's be clear. So am I. I guess that's how

572
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,279
Speaker 1: time works. I'll explain it to you later. Wow, well

573
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 1: that is very very interesting. Yeah I would I don't

574
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,720
Speaker 1: know that I would have thought that with with everything

575
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: that's coming after. Still, so you guys just say the

576
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,799
Speaker 1: least you have a very diverse training and backgrounds. Talk

577
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 1: to me about Gale. How did the opportunities come up

578
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 1: for both of you? Um? Were these just auditions first off? Yeah? Regular? Okay?

579
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:40,880
Speaker 1: And what did you have to do? Obviously? Did you

580
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,720
Speaker 1: have to dance as well as sing as well as ack?

581
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: You did not know And they realized that was probably

582
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:50,560
Speaker 1: a mistake later on, how to bring in some people

583
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:55,400
Speaker 1: who could dance, like nobody can dance, not one, not

584
00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:01,600
Speaker 1: even everybody can sing that No. I was in the Spring.

585
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 1: I was in Spring Awakening at the time, and it

586
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 1: was the same casting director Jim Carnahan in New York

587
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,520
Speaker 1: who cast Spring Awakening was also casting the New York

588
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:12,160
Speaker 1: side of Glee, and so we had it was all

589
00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 1: a buzz in the theater and they were like, Oh,

590
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,279
Speaker 1: there's this new musical theater TV show that's coming out,

591
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,120
Speaker 1: and everybody got brought in for it because the pilot

592
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 1: also was like some of these characters like Argentina were

593
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 1: pretty non specific, and so I went in and m

594
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 1: everybody went in and we didn't have to sing for

595
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 1: our first audition because they were like, I guess you're

596
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,839
Speaker 1: on Broadway. I guess you can sing. So I didn't

597
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 1: have to sing in my first call. Um, I just

598
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 1: went on PA and just read, just read lines like

599
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,360
Speaker 1: any other show. Yeah. Yeah, And literally Tina's only line

600
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,239
Speaker 1: was a stutter and she said, uh, and that's it.

601
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,160
Speaker 1: That was my entire audition, first audition. God, that's all

602
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,799
Speaker 1: you did. They didn't give you anything else. No, I

603
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 1: haven't stopped. That's it. That was it. Wow. I'm not

604
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,320
Speaker 1: going to say any bad but that they got to

605
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,319
Speaker 1: be more creative than that. This is poor people, Okay, Yeah,

606
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,239
Speaker 1: I mean literally, by a weird stutter on one day,

607
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,319
Speaker 1: your entire life could be changed. Sliding Doors. Check out

608
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 1: the movie So Kevin, what about you? Well, now you're

609
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: in a boy band. That's right. Does that mean that

610
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 1: they knew that you could sing or did you have

611
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,520
Speaker 1: to sing? They sure did not know. I could say,

612
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,360
Speaker 1: so we had to sing, you'd prepare a song. I

613
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,760
Speaker 1: read the script before. I remember I brought two friends

614
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,200
Speaker 1: with me. I was like, Oh, this show shoots in

615
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 1: New York. I don't know why I thought that. Um, yeah,

616
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I had it probably mixed up

617
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 1: with something else. And I went in an audition and

618
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,000
Speaker 1: it wasn't an audition room. It was in Robert Rick,

619
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,400
Speaker 1: who casted its like in his office, and I just

620
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:47,440
Speaker 1: sat on the other side of the desk from him,

621
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: and it was one of those places where the walls

622
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,799
Speaker 1: are really thin, so you can hear what everybody is doing.

623
00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,239
Speaker 1: Is this what you're talking about? Yeah, Oh my god,

624
00:36:56,239 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: those walls are really thin there, and so so awkward. Yeah,

625
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 1: it's just awkward on a good day when there's no singing, singing,

626
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:14,720
Speaker 1: And that's how I felt, because I one have terrible

627
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,839
Speaker 1: nerves auditioning, hate auditioning, and then having to sing, Like

628
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 1: the first thing to like go when you get nervous

629
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,000
Speaker 1: is your voice. That vocal cords just freeze up and

630
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,840
Speaker 1: then you can hear what everybody's doing. It's just so embarrassing. Mortifying.

631
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,440
Speaker 1: So I went in there. I sang let it be.

632
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: I've never heard of it, Let it be. It's a

633
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:40,799
Speaker 1: new song. The artists. I intentionally only prepared like a

634
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,000
Speaker 1: verse and a chorus because the song is so slow,

635
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 1: so I was like, I'm not going to bore them

636
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 1: to death. Let me just do this. Then I get

637
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,920
Speaker 1: to the end of the chorus and Robert goes like,

638
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:55,160
Speaker 1: keep going, keep crying. I'm like, I'm a fake fan.

639
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: I don't know the second verson this, and so I

640
00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:01,919
Speaker 1: don't know what I did. I think I sort of

641
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:06,040
Speaker 1: stumbled through saying singing this verse verse again and then

642
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 1: went into the course again because I knew that um

643
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,279
Speaker 1: and then I did the scenes, and then immediately, which

644
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: also never happens, He's like, okay, so when you come

645
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,239
Speaker 1: back and started talking about the next audition, I was like,

646
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: what's nice? Okay, great? And then I went back two

647
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 1: days later to Ryan's office at Paramount, and it was

648
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:30,960
Speaker 1: it went from being at Robert's desk too a boardroom. Basically,

649
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 1: it was a full table of fifteen people, right, you know,

650
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 1: in this gigantic room. Brad Ellis, who ended up being

651
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 1: on the show and playing the piano he was there.

652
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 1: We went early to practice our songs with him, and

653
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,440
Speaker 1: I prepared two songs this time, ended up still doing

654
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 1: Let It Be and yeah, it was a full creaz.

655
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: I learned the words. I was prepared this time, Yeah,

656
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:59,880
Speaker 1: I and again I was So it wasn't that I

657
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,280
Speaker 1: just I don't think I was good at playing the character.

658
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 1: I was just so nervous that that's what already became.

659
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,600
Speaker 1: Because I did the song, the nerves were already and

660
00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: then I literally ran out of the room and that

661
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,960
Speaker 1: was it. Like I think Ian Brennan, who was runing

662
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,880
Speaker 1: the creators of the show, later he told me he

663
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,480
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, we knew from that immediately we wanted you,

664
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:24,479
Speaker 1: but I had to wait seven weeks a test because

665
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,799
Speaker 1: they hadn't found anybody else yet. Oh my god. Wow.

666
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 1: All right, folks, my next guest comes from one of

667
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:56,440
Speaker 1: my absolute all time favorite shows, as you know, The Sopranos,

668
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,520
Speaker 1: so I of course very excited to have her on.

669
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:02,279
Speaker 1: But before we go into her interview, I want you

670
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:06,560
Speaker 1: to consider this incredibly difficult dilemma. If you were being

671
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:10,440
Speaker 1: offered a roll on The Sopranos, but your grandma was

672
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,080
Speaker 1: making chicken cutlets that weren't quite ready. Would you go

673
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,280
Speaker 1: to your audition or would you wait for the food?

674
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: I guess that you'll just have to wait and see

675
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 1: what she chose. Here's Drea de Matrio on what it

676
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: was like rolling up for her audition. I wore no makeup,

677
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,479
Speaker 1: with my hair in a bun and pull back, slip back,

678
00:40:31,719 --> 00:40:34,399
Speaker 1: because they say, just be a blank canvas for them,

679
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 1: and I said sure, and I show up like that,

680
00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,120
Speaker 1: and now they want me to play the saucy you

681
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:41,920
Speaker 1: know what, would be a queen's girl. And I was like,

682
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,920
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, I know how to do that, but I'm

683
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,640
Speaker 1: not prepared because I don't have the hair or the

684
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,560
Speaker 1: makeup and I can't put on that accent without it.

685
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,720
Speaker 1: And I didn't get the part. I put an audition

686
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,799
Speaker 1: from Michael's girlfriend and I couldn't. I didn't get the part,

687
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 1: but he liked me, and he made me read for

688
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:03,680
Speaker 1: every other side character. I read for the Russian girls,

689
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:07,480
Speaker 1: I read forum Oh god, I can't remember. There were

690
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,720
Speaker 1: like four roles that I read for in that script

691
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,080
Speaker 1: and I got none of them. And then they finally

692
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,120
Speaker 1: called my agent at that time and said, she seems

693
00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,720
Speaker 1: like a snooty Connecticut girl. Would she be okay playing

694
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:22,280
Speaker 1: um the hostess in the restaurant who turns down Lorraine

695
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:24,560
Speaker 1: Brocko And I was like, you have me learning brock

696
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:28,000
Speaker 1: all either. And I couldn't say my lines because I

697
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,640
Speaker 1: was so nervous. I was with Karen, Karen for fucking

698
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,520
Speaker 1: good fells. I couldn't saying my lines at all. I

699
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,600
Speaker 1: was dying. It was hurt. It was she and Jim,

700
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 1: and I didn't know Jim, and nobody knew Jim yet

701
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:42,560
Speaker 1: really um, so I didn't care about him, but I

702
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,600
Speaker 1: definitely cared about her. And I couldn't say any of

703
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,759
Speaker 1: my lines. And then a year later they would call

704
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 1: me back to play Michael's girlfriend again, his date, just

705
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 1: a date, Like, why are they calling me back? I

706
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,279
Speaker 1: messed up? So I don't think they knew that I

707
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,560
Speaker 1: was the same girl. I also they knew they did.

708
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:01,719
Speaker 1: I don't even know. I don't know if I ever

709
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,920
Speaker 1: even asked that question. But according to Eileen, one of

710
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,120
Speaker 1: the producers, I got the part as his girl as

711
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,480
Speaker 1: a day player role in another day player part on

712
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 1: the show because of the way I said the word out.

713
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,480
Speaker 1: I had one line it was out, and she said,

714
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:19,080
Speaker 1: I turned it into a ten syllable word because I

715
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 1: had my mom told me to say it that way.

716
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,360
Speaker 1: I was at a home's house when they Yeah. I

717
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: was at my mom's house when they called UM to

718
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: come in the second time, and I said, hey, mom's

719
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 1: I show. It's that Sopranos show that I told you about.

720
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: But I had given her the pilot to reach so straight.

721
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,359
Speaker 1: This is gold. She's like, this is the most unbelievable

722
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 1: script I've ever read in TV. It read like one

723
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 1: of her scripts. Um and I looked at her and

724
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,160
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, I'll probably never get made. She said,

725
00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:51,279
Speaker 1: probably not too good. And that was And then a

726
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,200
Speaker 1: year later they called me at their house and said, hey,

727
00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:55,680
Speaker 1: can you come in for an audition? I said, no,

728
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 1: I can't. Actually I'm in Queen's And they said, that's funny,

729
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 1: were away. Can you be here in a half hour?

730
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,680
Speaker 1: And I was like, Oh. Go to my mom and

731
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,560
Speaker 1: I go, how quick are those chicken cutlets? Can be tough?

732
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: My grand cutlets. My grandmother goes, make a chicken cutlets sandwich.

733
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 1: Just get in the car and go. My mother goes,

734
00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:17,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get your name plate and diamonds out of

735
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:20,399
Speaker 1: the safe. You need to wear it because I had

736
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,560
Speaker 1: this Andrea in diamonds on a rope chain from my confirmation.

737
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 1: She goes, you're gonna wear that. You go tease your hair,

738
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:28,880
Speaker 1: go put makeup on and talk like Silavanna my neighbor.

739
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,279
Speaker 1: And I was like, Okay, let's go. And then I

740
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:33,560
Speaker 1: went with my parents in the car. They were waiting

741
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,520
Speaker 1: for me. In the car, I ran into Silver Cup Studios,

742
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:39,160
Speaker 1: which was in Queen's and I think my audition and

743
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,720
Speaker 1: I came back out and I my chicken cutlets sandwich

744
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,840
Speaker 1: and then I got I got the part and it

745
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:47,919
Speaker 1: was just for one line. Though, you know, I still

746
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:51,320
Speaker 1: have my checks from from those, my five hundred dollar

747
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:56,239
Speaker 1: checks from my first day player role, sitting on my

748
00:43:56,719 --> 00:43:59,400
Speaker 1: remember sitting in my honey Wagon and a lot of

749
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,360
Speaker 1: people don't know the honeywagon is, but honeywagon is a

750
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:05,680
Speaker 1: trailer you see where all the trailers are part that

751
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:10,080
Speaker 1: have the tiniest little rooms ever, so you know, like

752
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 1: the main actors are not in the honeyway, they're little toilets.

753
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 1: There are rooms with toilets with a pillow on the

754
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,080
Speaker 1: toilet so you can sit on your toilet while you're

755
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 1: waiting to be called up. That's a honey wayon. So

756
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: I would be sitting on my in my honeywagon, sitting

757
00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:25,600
Speaker 1: on the toilet every time I got a script because

758
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,160
Speaker 1: they kept bringing me back, which I thought was super cool.

759
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:30,719
Speaker 1: I remember being a craft services David Chase coming over

760
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:32,799
Speaker 1: with me and he goes, you know, people in the

761
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:35,360
Speaker 1: editing room really think that you're a couple with Michael

762
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,279
Speaker 1: And I said really, and he's like, yeah, you guys

763
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:41,360
Speaker 1: have really great chemistry. And I looked at him. I

764
00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:44,160
Speaker 1: was like, must be the eyebrows, because you have a

765
00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:49,719
Speaker 1: big eyebrows, you know. Um. By episode twelve, man, I'm

766
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:52,799
Speaker 1: sitting on my toilet, sitting on my toilet in the honeywagon,

767
00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:55,880
Speaker 1: and I was in twelve scenes and I lost my

768
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,239
Speaker 1: ship and I ran to a pay phone because that's

769
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:00,320
Speaker 1: all we had. And I ran into a pay phone

770
00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:02,759
Speaker 1: with my script and I called my mom collect and

771
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: I said, mow, you'll well it twelve fucking scenes. God,

772
00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:17,080
Speaker 1: that was the see that that episode of music industry stuff,

773
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:20,520
Speaker 1: and that was it. I was on my way to

774
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 1: becoming series regular. And I always tell people like, I

775
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:26,480
Speaker 1: never would have gotten that part if they were auditioning

776
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:29,920
Speaker 1: for a series regular because you know they were Mirrort,

777
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,360
Speaker 1: Robino versus Tommy Debbie Mays are all those girls would

778
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:36,239
Speaker 1: have been the perfect actors for those roles, you know

779
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:41,040
Speaker 1: what I mean. So I got really fucking lucky that

780
00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:45,360
Speaker 1: you did, Drea. And speaking of getting really lucky, my

781
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,000
Speaker 1: next guest just happened to audition for what would become

782
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:53,640
Speaker 1: one of, if not the biggest improv groups in the country,

783
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:58,680
Speaker 1: launching him into a beautiful career. Here he is to

784
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,560
Speaker 1: tell you all about it. Rob Cordry, you get back

785
00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:05,920
Speaker 1: to New York. Now at this point you're a serious

786
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:12,480
Speaker 1: Shakespearean actor, and then you get involved with what was

787
00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:18,000
Speaker 1: at the time this little improv group you seeb upright

788
00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:22,560
Speaker 1: Citizens Brigade. How did you How did you discover this group?

789
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,480
Speaker 1: And why, as a serious actor did you did you

790
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:29,680
Speaker 1: pursue wanting to do stuff with them? That's a good question. Uh,

791
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:36,040
Speaker 1: you know, I first of all, I mean, I realized

792
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 1: that one thing I wasn't doing well, the one thing

793
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,600
Speaker 1: I wasn't taught in college it was just seemed to

794
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:45,799
Speaker 1: be a crapshoot, was auditioning. And so I learned how

795
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:50,160
Speaker 1: to audition by I taught myself by just going out

796
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:52,600
Speaker 1: over and over and over again, and I, you know,

797
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 1: got my ten thousand. I was auditioning for everything in backstage,

798
00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:00,320
Speaker 1: and one of them just happened to be a sketch group.

799
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:05,760
Speaker 1: You know, I I'd be a performance artist in Berlin

800
00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:08,919
Speaker 1: right now if if it worked out a different way.

801
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:12,680
Speaker 1: I just happened to be a sketch group. And then

802
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,760
Speaker 1: then that when I got into the sort of comedy

803
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,279
Speaker 1: scene and or at least got a view of it,

804
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:23,400
Speaker 1: because we were pretty outside this sketch group. The UCB

805
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:26,560
Speaker 1: were just starting to gain prominence, they were just starting

806
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,720
Speaker 1: to teach classes, they were starting their takeover. I believe

807
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,680
Speaker 1: they had taught one class of students and I and

808
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: I thought I was under the impression that it was

809
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,200
Speaker 1: Andy Richter's sketch group. Okay, so I went and saw

810
00:47:40,239 --> 00:47:44,839
Speaker 1: an ascat, which is there was their weekly show, and uh,

811
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:47,719
Speaker 1: Handy Richter happened to be performing. So I don't know

812
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,279
Speaker 1: when I stopped believing it was this, but um, you know,

813
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:55,640
Speaker 1: then I got in. I got into a class at

814
00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:57,680
Speaker 1: the very It's the only thing I've gotten in on

815
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:00,920
Speaker 1: the ground floor of you know, when they were that

816
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 1: the four original u CB guys are still teaching classes

817
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:09,839
Speaker 1: in a five story walk up ballet studio and in Manhattan,

818
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:12,600
Speaker 1: and I just stuck away that I I loved it.

819
00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,200
Speaker 1: I was terrified of it, you know, improv. Improv still

820
00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,960
Speaker 1: terrifies me to this day. I was doing it for

821
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:23,560
Speaker 1: the that the skill, to to learn this skill, to

822
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:28,040
Speaker 1: be comfortable, for confidence, and for like you know, and

823
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 1: also for the community. I made a lot of great

824
00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:34,480
Speaker 1: friends there and we then branched out and did other things.

825
00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:39,280
Speaker 1: As you know, yeah, you you you said it terrifies

826
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:44,840
Speaker 1: you do you There's no there's no lines, Brian, you

827
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:50,040
Speaker 1: gotta you gotta make them up. Yes, and that's terrifying.

828
00:48:50,239 --> 00:48:54,359
Speaker 1: It's stupid. Shakespeare's got all planned out for you, right,

829
00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:57,000
Speaker 1: you just follow the map and you're gonna get and

830
00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:01,399
Speaker 1: you're gonna get there, that's right. Yeah, you know, it's

831
00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:07,600
Speaker 1: it's interesting. So I have, by the way, zero improv training.

832
00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:10,920
Speaker 1: And it sounds like much like you. I stayed on

833
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:15,319
Speaker 1: the serious theater tracked longer. But I you know, so

834
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:19,360
Speaker 1: I was doing comedy, I was doing dramatic role I

835
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:23,640
Speaker 1: was doing different stuff. I never did improv. I never Yeah,

836
00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:26,799
Speaker 1: I never studied it. I didn't take the classes, and

837
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:30,160
Speaker 1: I don't know if that maybe for me is why

838
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:36,520
Speaker 1: I don't find it as challenging somehow. Oh, yes, that

839
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,560
Speaker 1: is exactly why, because you don't you haven't been in

840
00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:43,040
Speaker 1: a position where you've had to think about it too much.

841
00:49:43,719 --> 00:49:47,840
Speaker 1: Right now, I feel like because people are saying like, Okay,

842
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:50,719
Speaker 1: we're gonna you know, we're gonna improv I don't have

843
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:54,240
Speaker 1: I don't. I'm like, okay, now that's fine. I also

844
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:57,600
Speaker 1: want to set it's a little bit more different, right

845
00:49:57,640 --> 00:49:59,759
Speaker 1: because it's really just like you're just trying to find

846
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:03,120
Speaker 1: thing and and also you sometimes go in with a

847
00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:05,520
Speaker 1: couple of things, You've got a couple of ideas which

848
00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:08,040
Speaker 1: you would never do and try to act like you

849
00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:12,439
Speaker 1: know me, come on by everybody knows you're like, oh,

850
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:16,319
Speaker 1: I'm gonna improvise this, and I'm going to improvise that.

851
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,160
Speaker 1: But even like going in, you just that's kind of easy,

852
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:27,160
Speaker 1: like just because you're just playing the scene that that

853
00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:31,880
Speaker 1: is written. Actually that's a different version. Yes, Actually that's

854
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:36,640
Speaker 1: a really good point because because it's it is for

855
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:41,400
Speaker 1: me and I do you know, I'm not going to

856
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,520
Speaker 1: say I write a book on my character or you know,

857
00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:49,799
Speaker 1: have a fully developed history or whatever. But I begin

858
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:53,040
Speaker 1: to understand who that character is. And once you know,

859
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:57,400
Speaker 1: if you're given a situation which is improv but along

860
00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:00,719
Speaker 1: with that, given a character who has these certain characteristic

861
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:04,880
Speaker 1: it all begins to fill in much. Do you know

862
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,720
Speaker 1: what the scene is about? You've already memorized the lines

863
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:10,840
Speaker 1: the actual scene, so you know what the scene is about.

864
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:14,319
Speaker 1: You know what the game is. So basically you're just

865
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:18,880
Speaker 1: you're just subbing in things or or adding jokes that

866
00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:21,960
Speaker 1: the writers might have missed. Ya. You're just trying to

867
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:25,960
Speaker 1: make it a little bit better, you know, And usually no,

868
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:31,240
Speaker 1: it's not as good. But sometimes when when you start

869
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:35,040
Speaker 1: working with those guys. You also created your own sketch

870
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 1: comedy group, the Naked Babies, you spent a couple of

871
00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:42,160
Speaker 1: years with Third Rail Comedy. I mean, at this point,

872
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:46,120
Speaker 1: do you feel like and that's kind of a weird question,

873
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:49,760
Speaker 1: but do you feel like your your career your focus

874
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:55,920
Speaker 1: is now fully changed to this? Yes? Yeah, um, I

875
00:51:56,080 --> 00:52:00,400
Speaker 1: still had there is still this part of me that

876
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:03,640
Speaker 1: wanted that. Well, maybe I'll go back to the theater someday,

877
00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:06,920
Speaker 1: but but I'm doing comedy now. This is I have

878
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 1: found what I do best. I have I have once

879
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:15,719
Speaker 1: again lucked into this sort of Uh, I found the

880
00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:19,160
Speaker 1: end of the maze. But you know, nowadays, like I

881
00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,480
Speaker 1: was always, I always still harbored a dream that I

882
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:27,319
Speaker 1: would be on Broadway someday. Now that it's maybe even

883
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:31,959
Speaker 1: a possibility, I could probably, you know, if I made

884
00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:37,120
Speaker 1: myself you know it really worked at it. But I don't, boy,

885
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:42,960
Speaker 1: oh boy, I would dread that. It's so hard. Who's

886
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:46,000
Speaker 1: got time for Broadway? It's like it's so much work,

887
00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:49,440
Speaker 1: It's so much work. It's it's you know, And that

888
00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:51,759
Speaker 1: was what it was for me. I mean, the the

889
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:54,920
Speaker 1: eight shows a week, you have off on Monday. Nobody

890
00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:57,200
Speaker 1: has Monday off? Like what do you you know that

891
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:02,360
Speaker 1: the life is is very is very difficult. Oh my god.

892
00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:05,880
Speaker 1: Two thousand one, you got what you hoped would be

893
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:08,440
Speaker 1: your first big break. This is what I was told

894
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:12,160
Speaker 1: a commercial with Karen top What do you remember about that?

895
00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:17,319
Speaker 1: I don't know. It was definitely my first big on

896
00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:22,400
Speaker 1: you know, television network commercial, and so by break, I

897
00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:26,680
Speaker 1: guess it was a break in terms of just cash,

898
00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,120
Speaker 1: Like this thing was going to go out there and

899
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:31,799
Speaker 1: I was going to be able to quit my one

900
00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:35,680
Speaker 1: of my day jobs and and live as an actor,

901
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:40,440
Speaker 1: actually be an actor and make money at it. So

902
00:53:40,640 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 1: I did this and it was a care and yeah

903
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:47,640
Speaker 1: I did this a T T commercial in which and

904
00:53:47,719 --> 00:53:53,520
Speaker 1: then about a month later, nine eleven happened. So it

905
00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:58,080
Speaker 1: ran for about a week. Nine eleven happened, and they

906
00:53:58,120 --> 00:54:03,680
Speaker 1: pulled the commercial because in the commercial, Carrot Top hijacks

907
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:12,040
Speaker 1: a tour bus in New York. Yeah, so that went away. Wow,

908
00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:16,080
Speaker 1: that is quite the coincidence, Rob, But glad to see

909
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:18,919
Speaker 1: you made it back. Okay, By the way, I am

910
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:23,600
Speaker 1: still trying to find that Carrot Top commercial. My final

911
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:27,239
Speaker 1: guest for the day also spent his early days with

912
00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:30,440
Speaker 1: a mic in hand. Well maybe it was a hair

913
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:32,960
Speaker 1: brush or a bottle or a broom head. I don't know.

914
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:36,080
Speaker 1: It's all the same thing. Right. Let's just say he

915
00:54:36,200 --> 00:54:40,960
Speaker 1: made lip sinking cool long before TikTok. Here's Kevin Pollock

916
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:45,160
Speaker 1: with the unconventional way that he got his start in comedy.

917
00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:50,880
Speaker 1: You started doing stand up at age ten? Well sure, um,

918
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:55,960
Speaker 1: first for family and then eventually at school. Yeah, it

919
00:54:56,040 --> 00:54:58,800
Speaker 1: was just lip syncing a comedy album at ten. That

920
00:54:59,200 --> 00:55:03,520
Speaker 1: was the act. Okay, was lips what what comedy album? Well,

921
00:55:03,800 --> 00:55:06,080
Speaker 1: if only he had put in the liner notes of

922
00:55:06,200 --> 00:55:08,480
Speaker 1: his comedy album that he would go on to be

923
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:12,919
Speaker 1: the most prolific serial rapist from show business in history,

924
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:15,319
Speaker 1: maybe I wouldn't have chosen that one. But that wasn't

925
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:22,280
Speaker 1: in the liner notes. So it was Bill Cosby's first album. Interesting, yeah, yeah, okay,

926
00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:24,640
Speaker 1: fair enough. What was it that attracted you to it?

927
00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:29,719
Speaker 1: Performing in that way? Oh? Um? My mom brought home

928
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:34,560
Speaker 1: his first album, and I watched my parents laugh uncontrollably

929
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:39,120
Speaker 1: listening to the stories coming from the stereo hi fi,

930
00:55:39,239 --> 00:55:41,920
Speaker 1: which back then was a seven ft wide piece of furniture.

931
00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,040
Speaker 1: Compare that to the tiny devices we use now. Did

932
00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:48,400
Speaker 1: you hold in your pocket, right, yeah? Or just shoven

933
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:52,200
Speaker 1: your ears? But watching my folks laughing uncontrollably like that,

934
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:55,240
Speaker 1: it was the first and it was as off putting

935
00:55:55,480 --> 00:55:59,640
Speaker 1: or awkward as watching them openly weep. I mean it

936
00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:03,160
Speaker 1: really was strange. Not that they never laughed, it just

937
00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:06,680
Speaker 1: they never laughed at someone talking from the stereo. So

938
00:56:06,719 --> 00:56:08,600
Speaker 1: when no one was around, I just listened to it

939
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:12,440
Speaker 1: a lot more because I wanted to be that person

940
00:56:12,560 --> 00:56:16,200
Speaker 1: telling the stories making my parents laugh. Right. I think

941
00:56:16,239 --> 00:56:18,960
Speaker 1: that was the obsession, and then I would race home

942
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,560
Speaker 1: after school and listen to it and eventually standing in

943
00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:24,240
Speaker 1: front of the stereo pretending I was the one telling

944
00:56:24,239 --> 00:56:27,600
Speaker 1: the stories, not knowing that a lip sinking was a thing.

945
00:56:28,200 --> 00:56:32,120
Speaker 1: So I wasn't trying the lip sing. Uh, Nor did

946
00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:34,719
Speaker 1: I think I was inventing lip sinking. I didn't even

947
00:56:34,760 --> 00:56:36,759
Speaker 1: know the term. I was just playing. I was. There

948
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:39,279
Speaker 1: was no interactive games. We had just invented fire. This

949
00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:43,160
Speaker 1: was a while ago, Brian. So there I was, and

950
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:48,640
Speaker 1: my mother came home and quote unquote caught me. And

951
00:56:48,719 --> 00:56:51,000
Speaker 1: I used that term because it was as if I

952
00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:53,479
Speaker 1: was as embarrassed as if she caught me doing something else.

953
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:58,520
Speaker 1: So then she laughed, pointed at me, and said, you're

954
00:56:58,560 --> 00:57:03,000
Speaker 1: doing that for the zookers at Passover. So my first

955
00:57:03,120 --> 00:57:08,759
Speaker 1: live show was on the white painted out fireplace shelving

956
00:57:08,840 --> 00:57:12,160
Speaker 1: in front of the fireplace, stood on that and performed

957
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:16,000
Speaker 1: for twenty relatives that pass over and crushed Brian. I

958
00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:18,960
Speaker 1: just killed well. And I went on to do it

959
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,320
Speaker 1: at school and other functions. But you know, it was

960
00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:26,040
Speaker 1: a ten year old, precocious Jewish kid lip syncing this

961
00:57:26,200 --> 00:57:30,520
Speaker 1: hilarious comedy bed. I didn't write the material. I didn't

962
00:57:30,560 --> 00:57:34,320
Speaker 1: even perform it, really I but you know, I cleared

963
00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:36,760
Speaker 1: my throat at the same moment he does on the album,

964
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:39,280
Speaker 1: and those little things from a ten year old forget it.

965
00:57:40,080 --> 00:57:42,280
Speaker 1: So I just killed. I killed constantly, and I did

966
00:57:42,320 --> 00:57:46,320
Speaker 1: that act, I'm gonna say, for another five years. At

967
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:50,960
Speaker 1: every function at school, be it a folk festival, of

968
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:54,400
Speaker 1: father daughter, dinner, dance, you know, whatever the events were,

969
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:58,520
Speaker 1: there's Kevin and the no and the arc routine. I mean,

970
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:01,720
Speaker 1: I was mesmerized by all the many albums of the day,

971
00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:06,760
Speaker 1: and when friends would gather, I would be quoting the album.

972
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:09,400
Speaker 1: And then I realized, I guess I need my own material,

973
00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:12,760
Speaker 1: and uh, but I was. I was a natural and

974
00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:15,920
Speaker 1: doing impersonations. And then that became the cornerstone of what

975
00:58:16,480 --> 00:58:20,400
Speaker 1: I would call an act at seven Sea is when

976
00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:24,400
Speaker 1: I performed professionally in a nightclub. Did you did you

977
00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:29,480
Speaker 1: inherently feel the comedy in the rhythms or in the

978
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:32,200
Speaker 1: you felt it? Yeah? And you and then no, any

979
00:58:32,240 --> 00:58:34,920
Speaker 1: our car tune in particular is just Noah talking to

980
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:37,480
Speaker 1: God because Noah's confused about how to build the art,

981
00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:42,160
Speaker 1: and it's as g rated as comedy gets. And then

982
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:46,200
Speaker 1: once I I think dialed into the story. I I

983
00:58:47,280 --> 00:58:52,120
Speaker 1: organically or involuntarily picked up the comedy rhythms. So I

984
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:58,440
Speaker 1: learned timing timing from this Jedi master through osmosis, and

985
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:03,640
Speaker 1: then I think the impersonations was just a natural thing.

986
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:08,080
Speaker 1: But also it taught me how to act. I learned

987
00:59:08,520 --> 00:59:12,720
Speaker 1: acting nuances from the nuances that I went on to

988
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,600
Speaker 1: create while doing an impersonation. We talked to me a

989
00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:20,120
Speaker 1: little bit about that meaning different people's timing depending on

990
00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:24,320
Speaker 1: who you were imitating. You started to assimilate all of that. Yeah,

991
00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:29,560
Speaker 1: I mean I I learned from from watching actors and

992
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:34,240
Speaker 1: then impersonating them, so I would implement what I thought

993
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:41,160
Speaker 1: were gestures and nuance and line readings because I was speaking. Finally,

994
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:44,400
Speaker 1: then I learned to act on the set of movies.

995
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:47,440
Speaker 1: I I never attended an acting class. I'm not proud

996
00:59:47,480 --> 00:59:51,320
Speaker 1: of that. Never studied at university. In fact, I graduated

997
00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:56,240
Speaker 1: from San Jose State University in nine months. My friends

998
00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:59,000
Speaker 1: called a dropping out, but I was done. I was done,

999
00:59:59,320 --> 01:00:04,640
Speaker 1: and you you finished finished, But there was no ceremony.

1000
01:00:04,680 --> 01:00:07,440
Speaker 1: I didn't need a little hat with a tassel. I

1001
01:00:07,560 --> 01:00:22,880
Speaker 1: was done, all right, folks. With that we're done too.

1002
01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:25,400
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's look back at some of

1003
01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:30,080
Speaker 1: the phenomenal guests we've gotten to hear from this last year,

1004
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:34,120
Speaker 1: and more importantly, I hope you all have an absolutely

1005
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:38,720
Speaker 1: perfect and magical holiday. I'm gonna be back next week

1006
01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:42,360
Speaker 1: with the second of my best of episodes, but until then,

1007
01:00:42,840 --> 01:00:46,600
Speaker 1: I'll be enjoying some nag maybe sitting around the Christmas

1008
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:50,760
Speaker 1: tree I'm gonna tune and roasting chestnuts. I don't know,

1009
01:00:50,840 --> 01:00:53,840
Speaker 1: but I hope you get to spend some time with

1010
01:00:53,880 --> 01:00:57,960
Speaker 1: your loved ones this holiday season. Happy Holidays to you

1011
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:08,800
Speaker 1: and yours. Off the Beat is hosted an executive produced

1012
01:01:08,840 --> 01:01:13,200
Speaker 1: by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee.

1013
01:01:13,440 --> 01:01:17,680
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes,

1014
01:01:17,800 --> 01:01:21,720
Speaker 1: Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan

1015
01:01:22,040 --> 01:01:25,959
Speaker 1: Papa Zachary, and our intern is Sammy Cats. Our theme

1016
01:01:26,040 --> 01:01:29,760
Speaker 1: song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only

1017
01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:30,920
Speaker 1: Creed Bretton