Speaker 1: Wilmer Badma.
Speaker 2: It's Freddie Rodriguez.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this podcast.
Speaker 3: This is part two, Part two conversation with Adam Road
Speaker 3: that it was too good.
Speaker 2: It had to be too You're still awake.
Speaker 4: But going back to uh so then that that gave
Speaker 4: you the confidence to go, I'm gonna pack my stuff
Speaker 4: up and move to La No.
Speaker 2: So I did. I did extra work. I was trying
Speaker 2: to you know, get an agent and hustle for auditions
Speaker 2: and crash auditions, mostly commercials. At the time, I was
Speaker 2: doing some theater work. I was, you know, still working
Speaker 2: as a bellman and uh and doing all these things.
Speaker 2: And there's a whole side story about you know, getting
Speaker 2: my stockbroker license and a bunch of other stuff as
Speaker 2: a whole you know, during that course of time. But
Speaker 2: I I did background, like I said, between New York
Speaker 2: Undercover and you know, more movies than I can remember,
Speaker 2: you know, during that period of time. I guess we
Speaker 2: call that like two two and a half three years
Speaker 2: whatever it was. Circle it back now to where I
Speaker 2: caught it and sort of like you know, digressed for
Speaker 2: a moment, and back to my pops. Right. So, my
Speaker 2: pops was in the army, with this guy named Bill Clark.
Speaker 2: And I'm walking into the house one night and my
Speaker 2: father is watching TV, which is the norm, and he's like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you remember this guy. And as I'm walking in the door,
Speaker 2: he's freaking out. He's like jumping up and I can't
Speaker 2: believe this. I can't believe it. You remember him? And
Speaker 2: I'm looking at the Emmy Awards on TV and he's
Speaker 2: pointing to this guy on stage and he's like, that's
Speaker 2: Bill Clark. You don't remember him. And I'm like, I
Speaker 2: don't remember him. He goes the man, I haven't seen
Speaker 2: him in years. And my father knew this guy from
Speaker 2: the Army reserves and when he knew him, they were friends,
Speaker 2: and Bill was a New York detective. And my father
Speaker 2: cannot put together how in whatever it is ten years
Speaker 2: that he hadn't seen him, twelve years he hadn't seen him.
Speaker 2: This guy was now standing on stage at the Emmy
Speaker 2: Awards winning an Emmy, winning an Emmy with the people
Speaker 2: from New York from NYPD Blue and so the whole
Speaker 2: Botch Go crew there. Yeah, and my dad is bugging out, man,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I don't remember. So my Dad's like, wow,
Speaker 2: this is crazy. Couldn't believe it. So every Sunday I
Speaker 2: mentioned Sonny Volpie to you guys, the teamster my dad
Speaker 2: used to have. They go to this little diner and
Speaker 2: my father this guy, Sonny, and another guy, the old timers.
Speaker 2: You know, they were older than my dad. But he
Speaker 2: used to hang out with these guys and they sit
Speaker 2: and bullshit, read the paper, talk smack about whatever, and
Speaker 2: you know, spend a couple hours on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 2: So he's reading the paper and there's an article about
Speaker 2: Bill Clark and my father says to Sonny, He's like,
Speaker 2: you know this guy. You ever come across him, you know,
Speaker 2: driving or whatever. And son He's like, yeah, no, I
Speaker 2: know Bill. Yeah, a nice guy, you know. So my
Speaker 2: father said, can you can you get me in touch
Speaker 2: with him? I want to reach out to him, you know,
Speaker 2: it's been so long. So Sonny gets HI the number
Speaker 2: of the production office. My father calls, gets a hold
Speaker 2: of Bill. Bill can't believe it, but ray, oh man, Ray,
Speaker 2: it's good to hear from me. They're talking, they catch up.
Speaker 2: Bill's asking about his family, how you know, how the
Speaker 2: kids or whatever. My father says, yeah, you know, Adam,
Speaker 2: Adam has been acting the last few years. He's doing that,
Speaker 2: and you know what my sister's doing, and you know,
Speaker 2: so they catch up on life, right. Bill says to
Speaker 2: my father, Look, I'm leaving tomorrow. I'll be back to
Speaker 2: New York in a couple of months. We've got to
Speaker 2: come back to Shoot. I'll call you. We'll get dinner
Speaker 2: when I get back. And if, for whatever reason, you
Speaker 2: get to LA between now and then, you call me,
Speaker 2: here's my numbers, let me know. And it turned out
Speaker 2: that year, this is ninety six. That year we were
Speaker 2: supposed to come out here to visit my parents' best friends.
Speaker 2: Their sons were living in LA and so we were
Speaker 2: coming out to visit them for Thanksgiving. The two families
Speaker 2: we're going to get together. So we come out to
Speaker 2: see Ralph and Xavier, and you know ral you know
Speaker 2: my boy Ralph. So come out to see Ralph and
Speaker 2: we have Thanksgiving. My father calls Bill and he says, hey, man,
Speaker 2: I'm in town for Thanksgiving and you know, would love
Speaker 2: to see you. We're here until whenever, and Bill says,
Speaker 2: tomorrow tomorrow, we'll get together. Day after Thanksgiving. We'll go
Speaker 2: to dinner. And my father says, great, So the day
Speaker 2: after Thanksgiving nineteen ninety six is really the day like
Speaker 2: my life changed because we go out to dinner and
Speaker 2: we go to Giorgio Baldi's on Intrada. It's real fancy
Speaker 2: Italian restaurant that was very Hollywood. It still is, you know.
Speaker 2: It's It was at the bottom of the Pacific Palisades,
Speaker 2: right where the pch meets in Trada and we walk in,
Speaker 2: you know, and and right away I'm like, oh shit, man,
Speaker 2: this is Hollywood, like for real, Like Kurt Russell and
Speaker 2: Goldie Hawn are sitting there having dinner. Was it. I'm
Speaker 2: getting confused now because the only murders in the building,
Speaker 2: I can't remember it was Steve Martin or Martin Short
Speaker 2: was sitting there in the rest one of those guys.
Speaker 2: Was there somebody else? But you walked in and you
Speaker 2: knew it's a small restaurant, so you walked in and
Speaker 2: you were like, oh shit, like wow, this is like
Speaker 2: this is the real deal, man, you know. And it was.
Speaker 2: It was a trip. I'm in there with my family
Speaker 2: with Bill and his wife at the time, and h
Speaker 2: and we meet his best friend was meeting us for
Speaker 2: dinner there. Bill's best friend So Bill's best friend is
Speaker 2: there with his wife and three kids, and we all
Speaker 2: sit down at this big table, got the biggest table
Speaker 2: in the place, and we're all sitting there and uh,
Speaker 2: his best friend comes and sits next to me and
Speaker 2: we start talking. And two and a half three hours
Speaker 2: goes by for dinner and me and this guy been
Speaker 2: talking the whole time, and his name's David. And at
Speaker 2: the end of the dinner, I'm just like, you know,
Speaker 2: he's asked me about my life and we're talking. I'm
Speaker 2: sharing stuff with him, and we just really hit it off.
Speaker 2: And at the end of the dinner, I'm like, yes,
Speaker 2: you know, David, I know you work on the show,
Speaker 2: but what do you do at NYPD Blue. And it
Speaker 2: turns out it's David Milch, who is, you know, just
Speaker 2: a legendary writer in television and tremendous talent, and so
Speaker 2: he says, yeah, you know, I helped create the show
Speaker 2: and this is what I did. And he's like, look,
Speaker 2: I'm writing a pilot for something that Bill and I
Speaker 2: are doing, and there's a character in the show that
Speaker 2: I think you would be right for if you wanted
Speaker 2: to come out in audition. Have you ever thought about
Speaker 2: moving to LA And I had been thinking about it
Speaker 2: for almost a year at that point, as Ralphie had
Speaker 2: moved out here and I was already thinking about I
Speaker 2: just knew, like that's where you had to go at
Speaker 2: the time you're going to pursue it. La was where
Speaker 2: you had to go do it. You know, New York
Speaker 2: was one thing, and you could stay and go that
Speaker 2: track in New York. But you know, for some reason,
Speaker 2: even as a kid, man La just kind of called me. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I was on the sun, the palm trees,
Speaker 2: whatever it was. I was like, I know, one day
Speaker 2: I gotta go. I gotta go that way, you know,
Speaker 2: whatever it was. And so uh he said, man, David
Speaker 2: was so kind and generous.
Speaker 1: Man, so let you audition for it.
Speaker 2: So not only that, he says, look, you have a
Speaker 2: place to stay. And I'm like, look, hey, I have
Speaker 2: a place to stay because I know I could stay
Speaker 2: with Ralph and his brother. He's like, oh, okay, I
Speaker 2: would have offered you my guest house. You could stay there.
Speaker 2: And right then he says, stay in town a little
Speaker 2: longer if you can. This is Thanksgiving. Let me find
Speaker 2: I want to just get you on camera. I want
Speaker 2: to see if we find something on blue on NYPD
Speaker 2: Blue and just see you on camera. So I hang
Speaker 2: out for about two weeks and waiting around. I'm just
Speaker 2: enjoying LA and finally get a call, Hey, we've got
Speaker 2: something on an episode. I come in and it's a
Speaker 2: character that like has one line three words and it's
Speaker 2: a It's in an episode of NYPD Blue called Upstairs.
Speaker 2: Downstairs with the detectives and the uniform cops are beefing
Speaker 2: with each other, and I'm a uniform cop that comes
Speaker 2: up and I'm carrying some boxes and shit and I
Speaker 2: and I all I say is uh is there's like
Speaker 2: the sergeant and two detectives Jimmy Smith's and it might
Speaker 2: have been Dennis Fans talking to the sergeant and there's
Speaker 2: like a heated exchange. And I come up with these
Speaker 2: boxes and I'm just like in the corner and then
Speaker 2: and then one of them says, yeah, in the corner
Speaker 2: or whatever, and I go, you know, delivery boy again, right,
Speaker 2: But then I have a stare down with Jimmy Smith's,
Speaker 2: Like we have a stare down right, Yeah, that's it,
Speaker 2: in and out right done, Like you know, by the
Speaker 2: time you recognize me, when you saw it, it was over. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I got my minute and I never forget. Man.
Speaker 2: I'm sitting in the trailer. I'm writing in this little journal,
Speaker 2: like I got a line and I'm here on the
Speaker 2: thing and it's like like this is like really happening, man,
Speaker 2: you know. And so I do this thing. Great, it's done.
Speaker 2: I pack my ship. I go back to New York
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I'm moving to LA. I know I'm
Speaker 2: moving now, like now, I got to go out because
Speaker 2: this is the possibility of this audition for this show
Speaker 2: is going to happen. And I'm like, that's that's all
Speaker 2: I needed. Like that's enough for me. I'm packing up.
Speaker 2: I'm moving out. So pack up, I move out. I
Speaker 2: moved to LA end of January. I get out here
Speaker 2: and I have a place to stay for a little while.
Speaker 2: That doesn't work out, things get complicated. I'm trying to
Speaker 2: and at the lowest point, man, I get a call
Speaker 2: that the show that that character is not going to
Speaker 2: be in the pilot.
Speaker 4: Ah.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, shit, man, I'm out here. I'm freaking
Speaker 2: figuring out exists but not yet but not yet. So
Speaker 2: and I don't have an agent. I don't. I'm trying
Speaker 2: to get all of this right. So I come out
Speaker 2: here with that same hustle, and instead of mailing envelopes out,
Speaker 2: I'm literally driving around in my car handing out headshots
Speaker 2: at agencies with a Thomas Guide straight up Thomas. Okay,
Speaker 2: there's an agency here as part of the valley learning
Speaker 2: my way around LA. And I go to this agency
Speaker 2: and I think they were no more for repping dancers
Speaker 2: at the time, but KM something I can't remember what
Speaker 2: it was, man, but I give my this woman she
Speaker 2: says she wants to rep me. She asked me for
Speaker 2: my address, so they like, look, I don't have an
Speaker 2: address right now. The only address I could give you
Speaker 2: is where I was selling real estate for first time
Speaker 2: home buyers out in Riverside, right And I'm like, I
Speaker 2: can give you that. She's like, oh, you don't have
Speaker 2: an address. I'm like, no, let me give you this
Speaker 2: beeper number in this and she was like, okay, you're
Speaker 2: looking for a place to live. I'm like yeah, and
Speaker 2: so she's like, okay, call this number later tonight. I
Speaker 2: call the number. She picks up. Her name was Jennifer.
Speaker 2: She's like, look, me and my roommate are looking for
Speaker 2: a third roommate because we're we just want to save
Speaker 2: some money before we move on to our next place.
Speaker 2: So I ended up living sleeping on the floor in
Speaker 2: the living room of this apartment in Burbank for like
Speaker 2: months and a half.
Speaker 1: What's an agent?
Speaker 2: And she became my agent for a while, right wow.
Speaker 2: And then as I as I'm thinking like damn, when
Speaker 2: is this pilot gonna happen whatever, Bill calls me and
Speaker 2: he's like, Hey, the characters back in the pilot and
Speaker 2: they're gonna they're gonna bring you in for an audition.
Speaker 2: And my saving grace and I'm going back to this
Speaker 2: this moment was an acting class that I was in.
Speaker 2: That Milch again was like an angel and was like,
Speaker 2: go see this woman. She has an acting class. And
Speaker 2: I go and I show up and it turns out
Speaker 2: there's like four or five people in the class that
Speaker 2: he's paying for Oh wow, to go study. And he
Speaker 2: paid for me to go study with this woman, you know,
Speaker 2: And it was what was so great about it in
Speaker 2: that moment was that it was somewhere to be like
Speaker 2: and you know, I was lonely as hell out here.
Speaker 2: I really Ralph was my boy, and that was the
Speaker 2: only person I knew out there. My boy Ralph was
Speaker 2: grinding trying to make his career happen, and so all
Speaker 2: of a sudden it was like, oh, there was community,
Speaker 2: you know, and and somewhere to be every week and
Speaker 2: doing something and you know, and it was cool man.
Speaker 4: And but now but now you're in the pilot and
Speaker 4: now well, first of all, you're still so you go
Speaker 4: to not in the pilot yet, so practice is the audition, right.
Speaker 2: So the audition comes up finally, like the characters back
Speaker 2: in the pilot, audition for it is coming up. So
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, this is my moment. I go, I prep,
Speaker 2: go do my audition, and I walk out, you know,
Speaker 2: feeling good. But it's really only the second time that
Speaker 2: I had, like an audition for television. I had audition
Speaker 2: for something on New York Undercover and get it. And
Speaker 2: this was really my first audition for something big. And
Speaker 2: I walk out and I'm an agent, so I don't
Speaker 2: get feedback. I don't want to bother Bill because just
Speaker 2: getting to know him at the time. So like ten
Speaker 2: days goes by and I don't hear anything, and I think, like,
Speaker 2: I mean each day that I didn't hear anything, I
Speaker 2: was silence. Was like I was crushed, and at that
Speaker 2: time my life like to be crushed. The feeling I
Speaker 2: felt was anger, so like I would express it as
Speaker 2: I mean, I would literally like bust out in a
Speaker 2: rage at a red light, just because like you so
Speaker 2: missed at myself, man, And.
Speaker 1: Because all the all the boxes were checked.
Speaker 2: The dude, you know, you take a shot in the class,
Speaker 2: the whole thing. And I'm like, oh man, you know,
Speaker 2: because I didn't think I was bad in the audition,
Speaker 2: but I didn't know, like I didn't have enough you know,
Speaker 2: I haven't had enough experience, no barometer yet, you know.
Speaker 2: And I had no agent to call and go like,
Speaker 2: well what they say, what's the feedback? Like, you know,
Speaker 2: tell me something so and like I said, I didn't
Speaker 2: want to bother Bill because I'm like, man, the dude
Speaker 2: did more than I could ever ask somebody to do
Speaker 2: for me. And you know, anyway, those ten days goes by,
Speaker 2: and at that time I had They used to be
Speaker 2: a restaurant on Melrose called Georgia's. Oh yeah yeah, and
Speaker 2: it was a beautiful spot man, and it was owned
Speaker 2: by Denzel and Wesley Snipes and Norm Nixon and the
Speaker 2: owner operator partner was a guy named Brad Johnson. Uh,
Speaker 2: and I love Brad. Brad was really good to me.
Speaker 2: An ex girlfriend of mine at the time was still
Speaker 2: a dear friend of mine. Her dad was friends with
Speaker 2: Brad and he reached out to Brad before I came
Speaker 2: to LA and was like, Hey, look, this kid's good kid.
Speaker 2: He's gonna come by, you know, just look out for him.
Speaker 2: And so I would go to this spot and it
Speaker 2: was the spot man like it was. It was dope spots,
Speaker 2: so like you had to get dressed up. So I
Speaker 2: put on you know, uh, sports coat and slacks and
Speaker 2: no leather pants. I couldn't afford the leather pants at
Speaker 2: that time. Man pants. I wish I had some leather pants.
Speaker 2: But I would go there jazzed up and once a
Speaker 2: week I would go and sit down and Brad would
Speaker 2: hook me up with a meal and you know, a
Speaker 2: drink or two. But what was the best thing about
Speaker 2: it was like it was a place to post up
Speaker 2: and I would meet people, you know. So I met
Speaker 2: some girls and went on my first hikes that I
Speaker 2: ever went on with That's go on a hike you know,
Speaker 2: California ship like the hike. I'm like, yeah, all right, uh,
Speaker 2: And I met some guys that I'm still you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, I haven't seen it in a while, but like,
Speaker 2: you know, it was friends with for years, and you know,
Speaker 2: it was a place again to like feel like okay,
Speaker 2: like I'm belonging, belonging, right. So one night Bad calls me, like, hey,
Speaker 2: come back for dinner tonight in the middle of the week.
Speaker 2: It was like a Wednesday, and and I had not
Speaker 2: told anybody about this audition, right. I was like, I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna say anything about this audition till I know
Speaker 2: what the end result is. And I hadn't gotten the end.
Speaker 1: And that's the rule of thumb, by the way, just
Speaker 1: to yourself.
Speaker 2: And like, so I get a call come in for dinner.
Speaker 2: So I sit down with Brad and I'm there at
Speaker 2: a big table with him in about I don't know
Speaker 2: eight other people and they're all adults, successful people, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, this was like one of the hottest restaurants
Speaker 2: in town. And Brad's friends were all doing it or
Speaker 2: they're all you know, they were probably in their forties
Speaker 2: at the time, and they were like experienced and you know,
Speaker 2: but I'm being invited to the table. We're having conversation
Speaker 2: and they're talking about their careers, business things, things that
Speaker 2: are going on for them. And it comes to my turn.
Speaker 2: Somebody turns like at them, so, you know, what's up?
Speaker 2: What's going on? You know, what are you up to?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, shit, man, I didn't have shit else
Speaker 2: to talk about. I'm like, we talk about this this
Speaker 2: house that I showed somebody in Riverside, like earlier that day.
Speaker 2: I'm like, uh, I said, well, I'm like, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: let the cat out the bag. Fuck it, right, I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I had this audition for a Stephen Boschko pilot about
Speaker 2: ten days ago, and you know, I was like, I
Speaker 2: went in there, I did my best. I was like,
Speaker 2: but I think I blew it. And I have no
Speaker 2: point of reference to get any feed. But I'm just
Speaker 2: telling them what's on my mind. Right. They're like, oh, man,
Speaker 2: well you got to stick with it. It's you know,
Speaker 2: it's all good for the process. About five minutes after
Speaker 2: I talk about this, man, my pager goes off. This
Speaker 2: is how old. There's a long cage. My pager goes off,
Speaker 2: and I look at the number, and I thought I
Speaker 2: was fly because I had an eight hundred number for
Speaker 2: my pager, right, so anybody could die that page, right,
Speaker 2: and they didn't need any quarters up for your call, right balling.
Speaker 2: So I look at the number and it's and I
Speaker 2: was waiting to see this number. It was three one
Speaker 2: oh uh you know, uh six six there was the
Speaker 2: Fox exchange right, and I'm like, oh, this was the number.
Speaker 2: I was three six nine three one oh three six
Speaker 2: nine something some something. And I was like, I knew
Speaker 2: it was from Boshko's office. So I get on there.
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh shit. I get up from the table.
Speaker 2: I go to the payphone. I call casting as system
Speaker 2: picks up. His name was Scott Jenkinsjer and he's like, Adam,
Speaker 2: are you available to come in to read for Steven tomorrow?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, yeah, of course I'll be there.
Speaker 3: Now, you have a fax machine because we're going to
Speaker 3: send your Yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 2: I had the scenes. It was the same It was
Speaker 2: the same scenes, same scene right. Luckily because for the
Speaker 2: ten days, bro I was going over that scene every
Speaker 2: single day, one hundred times a day. I was reliving
Speaker 2: my chance, you know what I mean. It was like
Speaker 2: I was reliving it because I thought I blew it.
Speaker 2: So I was like, man, I would have done this anyway.
Speaker 2: Your chance is actually now coming tomorrow. So I got
Speaker 2: to go the next day, man, And it was the
Speaker 2: first time I auditioned. There were a lot of people
Speaker 2: at this time there were less and maybe like it
Speaker 2: was down to like fifteen twenty people. Maybe when I
Speaker 2: got there.
Speaker 1: You recognize anyone that was in the room.
Speaker 2: I feel like nobody that I knew well at the time,
Speaker 2: but I feel like Yancey Arias was there. Yancey is
Speaker 2: the one that comes to mind when I think if
Speaker 2: there were any familiar faces, but Yancey and I would
Speaker 2: run into each other. I'd see him a commercial auditions
Speaker 2: and stuff in New York. Yeah, yeah, I don't. Yancey
Speaker 2: comes up. Yancey comes to mind. I don't remember who
Speaker 2: else maybe, but I go in. It's my turn, and
Speaker 2: I just felt so prepared, like I already felt like
Speaker 2: I had lost. So I was like, fuck it, man,
Speaker 2: like I just let go and.
Speaker 1: You quite literally lost it once. So this is just
Speaker 1: like gravy yep.
Speaker 2: Scene, And I mean I got applause at the end.
Speaker 2: People in the room were like, wow, that was great,
Speaker 2: and I just felt I was beaming inside because all
Speaker 2: I wanted to do was make a good impression, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean? So I walked out. What was
Speaker 2: the scene?
Speaker 1: Like, what was the scene that you had to perform?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I don't even remember, now, okay for the cop.
Speaker 2: You were playing a cop? I was playing a cop.
Speaker 2: There was an exchange with somebody, you know it. I
Speaker 2: don't remember. I don't. I wish I could. Actually, I
Speaker 2: would have walked out feeling like I walked out on
Speaker 2: a high.
Speaker 1: Even if I don't get it, I left it there.
Speaker 2: I left an impression. I left an impression in that room,
Speaker 2: Like I know, I didn't let build down because that
Speaker 2: was my main thing. Like I didn't want to leave
Speaker 2: these people that gave me a chance, that opened the door.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to. I didn't want to let them
Speaker 2: down on it, you know. So I felt like Bill
Speaker 2: and David at least like I got my respect, you know,
Speaker 2: like they didn't look foolish for bringing me in. So
Speaker 2: I walked out, and I'm like, man, I remember going
Speaker 2: to the bathroom, splashing some water on my face, smiling
Speaker 2: like you feel good? I feel good now, I'm like
Speaker 2: walking out and I'm leaving the building and the casting
Speaker 2: system comes outside and say hey, Adam, Adam come back
Speaker 2: and calls me back in.
Speaker 1: I'm like, don't ever come back again.
Speaker 2: They weren't clapping because you were done, so like, okay,
Speaker 2: well good luck. First of all, this is what you
Speaker 2: call us.
Speaker 3: You're describing like the best standing to a romantic movie ever, right,
Speaker 3: like them guns and direct him. So hey Adam, wait,
Speaker 3: come wait.
Speaker 2: Wait I stopped my checks. I'm like, oh, right, because
Speaker 2: I got paused the pushing with the guy behind it.
Speaker 2: You have that moment then turn around like yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: brings me back in the office. He's like, just wait here.
Speaker 1: You ever come here again?
Speaker 2: Yo? You left your water whatever, you left your water again. Yes,
Speaker 2: we're going to do you a favorite. We're not going
Speaker 2: to tell any other time about this audition. So only
Speaker 2: because you're a friend.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you didn't clean up after yourself.
Speaker 2: You don't ever leave an audition without taking yourself. Clearly
Speaker 2: you're a rookie. She comes out, She goes, Adam, it
Speaker 2: was a guy because Scott the same guy that he
Speaker 2: comes out. He comes out, he brings me back in
Speaker 2: the office of a woman named Junie Lowry Johnson, who
Speaker 2: was the casting director. A minute or two goes by.
Speaker 2: She walks in and she looks at him. They look
Speaker 2: at each other and they're like, you got the job.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh my god.
Speaker 1: I say he told you there that day.
Speaker 2: Oh my god. I mean, I'm like, I don't know
Speaker 2: what to do. Man. I'm like, oh my god, this
Speaker 2: is crazy. You know, I can feel it now. And
Speaker 2: I'm like, wow, thank you, thank you, you know, and I
Speaker 2: leave and I run to the first pay phone. I
Speaker 2: call my mom. She's at work, you asking what my
Speaker 2: father did for lifing. My mother worked for the United
Speaker 2: Airlines for like thirty plus years, and she was the
Speaker 2: ticket agent at like an off site ticket office. So
Speaker 2: if you wanted to buy a ticket for United, you
Speaker 2: would go to these offices and purchase the ticket there.
Speaker 2: And she did that. I called her up and I
Speaker 2: was like, hey, Ma. She's like, hey, what's up, Mama.
Speaker 2: My work. I'm like, all right, you got a long line.
Speaker 2: She was like yeah, it's crowded and a lot of
Speaker 2: people here. I'm like great, perfect, because I was like,
Speaker 2: you know, I want to see what her reaction was
Speaker 2: going to be in front of all these people, and
Speaker 2: it was on the other line, and I was like,
Speaker 2: I got it. I got my first show, Mom, I
Speaker 2: got I got on this show, you know. And she
Speaker 2: was like, oh my god. You know she was happy.
Speaker 2: Of course in the moment. I don't think she understood.
Speaker 2: I always think we're doing you know so, But man,
Speaker 2: I'll never forget being on that love that lot. Every
Speaker 2: time I go to that lot, like it's just special
Speaker 2: to me for that reason. Fox. Yeah, and so I Man,
Speaker 2: I hang up the phone and I was like, man,
Speaker 2: this is it, Like, you know, I got a job on,
Speaker 2: like a series regular on a show.
Speaker 3: And this show had been already Greenland show had already
Speaker 3: been green because it was Stephen Botschko at that time,
Speaker 3: it was twenty two on the air.
Speaker 2: He was dumb, man, you know, he was remember remember
Speaker 2: when you Taylor Sheridan. Yeah, I remember when I got paid. Man.
Speaker 2: I remember doing the pilot, and I remember riding because
Speaker 2: this is funny too. We shot in New York. Uh
Speaker 2: and I am on the plane with uh. What was
Speaker 2: that conversation. I had a conversation with somebody and they
Speaker 2: were telling me like, oh, you're gonna make like twenty
Speaker 2: five grand an episode or whatever at that time, you're
Speaker 2: kidding me. I was like, usually I made ten thousand
Speaker 2: for No No, and so I was thinking twenty five.
Speaker 2: It turned out when it came down to the negotiation,
Speaker 2: I made six grand an episode.
Speaker 1: Wait wait, wait, that's that's before agent.
Speaker 2: Fees and all I had no agent. I got this
Speaker 2: with no agent.
Speaker 4: But I'm saying, like, you mean like six take home
Speaker 4: or like six was the number?
Speaker 2: Six was the number? Six was the neighbor? Yeah, but
Speaker 2: I had no agent, so all I had to do
Speaker 2: was pay tax, you know, which, look at that time,
Speaker 2: no shit, twenty two episodes making over six figures at
Speaker 2: that time was like yeah, crazy, you were like six
Speaker 2: g I was like what I mean? You know, I
Speaker 2: mean it was a slightly disappointing just because Bill called
Speaker 2: me the contract. The whole negotiation with Bill basically said, look,
Speaker 2: they're going to call you. The number is going to
Speaker 2: be low. But I didn't know. He was like, but
Speaker 2: you just take what it is, yes, because again it
Speaker 2: was like getting on a Stephen Botchko pilot at that
Speaker 2: time was also a big deal because it was like
Speaker 2: it was like, you know, being on an Alan Ball Show.
Speaker 2: Later on. You know what I mean, they had prestige,
Speaker 2: there was there was like something to it.
Speaker 1: So so questions. So you haven't said the name of
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's called Brooklyn South.
Speaker 1: Brooklyn South.
Speaker 2: It was called Brooklyn South.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're na by night it was it on.
Speaker 2: It was on Monday nights at ten o'clock. It was
Speaker 2: the first primetime show to ever get a TV m
Speaker 2: A rating. Wow. Yeah, because the guy's head gets blown off.
Speaker 2: Pieces fall show. It was a fall show. No, no,
Speaker 2: it was a fall show. It was like the crown
Speaker 2: jewel of CBS's lineup that year, that Monday night Slide
Speaker 2: at ten o'clock was there. That was their premos.
Speaker 1: How long you've been working with CBS?
Speaker 2: Yeah? What wait? What year was that? What year? Nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety seven?
Speaker 4: So you've been at CBS since ninety seven?
Speaker 2: That was nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 1: They've been good to you, man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, man, all of it. You know, you realize like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know they you learn a lot.
Speaker 1: Man, you know, how many seasons do you do there?
Speaker 2: So we only did one season and then the show
Speaker 2: got canceled.
Speaker 3: And then and then you and then Wendy you snatch
Speaker 3: up is at Miami. So that would that be your
Speaker 3: next big break?
Speaker 2: I would, I mean big break. Yeah. But the next
Speaker 2: thing that really kept me going was then iron Spelling
Speaker 2: show in Between, and then I did and then I
Speaker 2: did as it was called All Souls. It was it
Speaker 2: was actually also All Souls. It was very cool shows.
Speaker 2: It was it's kind of ahead of its time. Actually
Speaker 2: it was a guy named Mark Frost that was one
Speaker 2: of David Lynch's partners on Twin Peaks, had broken off
Speaker 2: and created this show called All Souls and then it
Speaker 2: aired on UPN and it just wasn't It wasn't right
Speaker 2: for the network. And the show was kind of even
Speaker 2: ahead of its time. It was about a haunted hospital
Speaker 2: and it was really cool and it was really show.
Speaker 2: But what did makes sense? It didn't exist yet. So
Speaker 2: I lived in Montreal and I shot that, you know,
Speaker 2: over the course of a year on and off or
Speaker 2: ten months whatever it was. But then the next break
Speaker 2: really was a show called Roswell, and I did the
Speaker 2: third season of Roswell.
Speaker 1: I remember when you had.
Speaker 2: Catherine Heigel was my uh played my wife.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I remember rosswell super well. I remember when
Speaker 3: he started because I was friends for half of that cast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were good.
Speaker 1: Be Brandon were redon.
Speaker 2: Fair was on it, Jason Bear, Nick Weschler. Mahandra is
Speaker 2: still a friend love Mahandra Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Mahandra's great.
Speaker 2: I actually the her and Brandan have a podcast that
Speaker 2: I did at some time in the last day.
Speaker 1: Very hits me up occasionally.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great, we do we got man, sweet guy.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it was like it was like the rise
Speaker 3: of w B Yes, right, Dawson's Creek and then they
Speaker 3: started this this thing and then Roswell was that first.
Speaker 2: Like can we do a show up by Aliens?
Speaker 1: Yeah, around the X Files years and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: And then I think it was what year was that
Speaker 1: that show?
Speaker 2: I joined that show two two thousand and one, so
Speaker 2: then that show started ninety nine would have been the
Speaker 2: first year I think for that show in ninety nine.
Speaker 2: So those guys.
Speaker 1: Excuse so I just that seventy show in ninety eight.
Speaker 2: That's what I was going to ask you did is
Speaker 2: that ninety eight that you started the Yeah that's Fall
Speaker 2: of ninety eight premiere Fall of ninety eight.
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, damn yeah, So I remember bab Yeah, it
Speaker 3: was so crazy, But that's insane.
Speaker 2: So Roswell was big games kept the ball moving, thank god,
Speaker 2: because because I had I had bought my my my
Speaker 2: first place, and I was like, man, I bought my
Speaker 2: first place, had like two months of mortgage left in
Speaker 2: the bank and counting on that Aaron Spelling Show and
Speaker 2: then it got canceled, paying six grand though, and then freaking,
Speaker 2: and then Roswell hit and kept me going, man. And
Speaker 2: then when Roswell ended CSI, Miami came along and then
Speaker 2: that was you know, that was really that took things
Speaker 2: to another day.
Speaker 1: How many how many seasons did you do?
Speaker 2: We did ten seasons of cs and you were doing
Speaker 2: twenty We did, I mean, depending most seasons, I would
Speaker 2: say we did twenty two, twenty three. Couple one season
Speaker 2: we did like twenty five or twenty six one year,
Speaker 2: but I would say, yeah, average, we did twenty two.
Speaker 3: And it was one of those shows that really pop culturally,
Speaker 3: elevated what procedure was What's gonna be?
Speaker 1: And the location was so sexy and the cast.
Speaker 2: Was so bad, really set it apart. There was nothing
Speaker 2: on TV. Yeah, we kind of you know, the original
Speaker 2: the original CSI, I would say, you know, added something
Speaker 2: to procedurals that hadn't existed, which is you know, shooting
Speaker 2: those those those micro shots where they're like, you know,
Speaker 2: get inside someensics. Part of it really like giving people
Speaker 2: a visual.
Speaker 1: Which was which just turns out the proof.
Speaker 2: Which was amazing, right, But then Miami ratcheted it up
Speaker 2: another level because it was such a beautiful backdrop for
Speaker 2: the show. So now you had the you know, the
Speaker 2: the intricate technical shots that were interesting visually, but then
Speaker 2: set on top of this beautiful canvas that was Miami
Speaker 2: with the with the beautiful orange and that the pink.
Speaker 1: Over to breako the Fancis Hearts.
Speaker 3: It actually didn't shoot in Miami, shooted in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: We would go to Miami. The first five seasons, you
Speaker 2: would go to Miami for some exterior Yeah, probably like
Speaker 2: three times a year we would go to MIAMIB four.
Speaker 2: We'd go down there for like some anywhere between eight
Speaker 2: to twelve days, fourteen days, get exterior shots and shoot
Speaker 2: some stuff right there and then come back to LA
Speaker 2: And then I mean that was that was like.
Speaker 3: Such an iconic role for you, you know, and yeah,
Speaker 3: so cuside Miami was a moment and he started like
Speaker 3: it put you in in household.
Speaker 2: Numbers, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: What was your average ratings on that?
Speaker 2: Oh man, those days.
Speaker 1: You were probably averaging what seventeen.
Speaker 2: MILLI easy, I want to say, in the early days,
Speaker 2: we were probably up to twenty two, twenty three, twenty
Speaker 2: ten million. Yes, and like those pre pre DVR, Yeah,
Speaker 2: those numbers, we were still posting those kind of how
Speaker 2: rad is.
Speaker 3: There for us to have a Latino on primetime hitting
Speaker 3: twenty two million people a week and then saying like,
Speaker 3: oh man, he's not only the he's not only the
Speaker 3: young guy in there, but he's also like a badass
Speaker 3: bro like you were killing it and making us all
Speaker 3: little what.
Speaker 2: I wish man? And you know, you grow older and
Speaker 2: you look back on things with different perspectives, and I
Speaker 2: wish that I would have understood the gravity of that
Speaker 2: at the time. You know, you know, you're on a
Speaker 2: big show and that feels good, but it's really only
Speaker 2: with with time and distance, maturity, perspective, whatever you want
Speaker 2: to say. It is like that you look back on
Speaker 2: and go like, oh man, the magnitude I understand maybe
Speaker 2: more now what that must have represented, you know, in
Speaker 2: that moment, and what a great opportunity.
Speaker 3: We were all trying to keep the light on at
Speaker 3: that point, you know, and I think the most in
Speaker 3: that time, we don't understand the gravity when we do
Speaker 3: the math of what pop culturally and culturally how it
Speaker 3: kind of elevated the values of who we were on screen.
Speaker 4: Yes, and what it's led to, Adam, And and you've
Speaker 4: continued to be a Latino leading man, and you've done
Speaker 4: wonderful work since, whether it's magic mic, whether it is
Speaker 4: criminal minds, whether whether it is all the stuff that critical.
Speaker 1: Minds are available in paramount plus. Right now, that's.
Speaker 4: Right, man, And I mean you're you're you're the guy
Speaker 4: that Latino actors are looking at going like I grew
Speaker 4: up watching that.
Speaker 1: They're also time like we need like an Adam Rodriguez type.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hopefully that's a I always feel like that's a
Speaker 2: dangerous thing because I'm like, well, is available, probably have
Speaker 2: a thing that's what you want. But right, yeah, but
Speaker 2: that's what you know.
Speaker 4: But that's one of the reasons why we wanted to
Speaker 4: have you here, man, give you your flowers, and for
Speaker 4: you to understand how important you've been for Latino culture,
Speaker 4: for our industry. And and we're just so thrilled that
Speaker 4: you're here to call you a friend, and and they're
Speaker 4: very proud of the of the career that you've crafted.
Speaker 2: And what a beautiful thing right for us to have
Speaker 2: grown up together in business, right, and and to have
Speaker 2: you know, been fortunate enough to pave the paths that
Speaker 2: we've paved, and and to still be here and still
Speaker 2: be able to do something we love and to have
Speaker 2: success at it, and and to be able to sit
Speaker 2: around and talk about that journey is you know, uh man,
Speaker 2: in a way, it's like it's a dream come true
Speaker 2: or a dream you could never adam that you could have,
Speaker 2: that you could have, you know.
Speaker 3: And so but look, we got to have you back
Speaker 3: again because obviously, you know, we got to start doing
Speaker 3: four parts there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got We didn't even discratch the surface,
Speaker 2: and I'm talking about it in all the amount of
Speaker 2: stories we could sit around and yeah, crazy, crazy, we.
Speaker 1: Didn't we have the leather pants conversation.
Speaker 2: We didn't. We didn't talk about adult shape.
Speaker 4: We didn't talk about meeting each other at that audition
Speaker 4: yeah party by yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 3: All can attest by this episode, you're going to see
Speaker 3: more about the Rodriguez next season for sure, But but
Speaker 3: I don't thank you so much for being podcasts.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: Hell, yeah, man, it's you know, we we waited for.
Speaker 3: You know, this is hopefully a big season final, We'll hopefully,
Speaker 3: but but yeah, but dude, thank you, thank you so
Speaker 3: much for being part of this thing for us. It's
Speaker 3: a very special podcast for us because we only want
Speaker 3: to to people that kind of have changes and you know,
Speaker 3: contributed and not only pop culture, but for for you know,
Speaker 3: for us, for for for all of our brown brothers
Speaker 3: and sisters. You know, so so thank you for being Sahiro.
Speaker 3: I'm Wilmer Valdorama' Freddie Rodriguez and this is Amigos.
Speaker 4: Dose Amigos is a production from w V Sound and
Speaker 4: iHeartMedia's Michael through That Podcast Network, hosted by Me, Freddie
Speaker 4: Rodriguez and Wilmer Valdorama.
Speaker 3: Those Amigos is produced by Aaron Burlson and Sophie Spencer Zabos.
Speaker 4: Our executive producers are Wilmer Valdorama, Freddie Rodriguez, Aaron Burlson,
Speaker 4: and Leo Klem at w V Sound.
Speaker 3: This episode was shot and eded it by Ryan Posts
Speaker 3: and mixed by Sean Tracy and features original music by
Speaker 3: Madison Devenport and Helo boy Our.
Speaker 4: Cover art photography is by David Avalos and designed by
Speaker 4: Deny Holtz Clau.
Speaker 1: And thank you for being at Third Amigo today.
Speaker 3: I appreciate you guys always listening to those amigos.
Speaker 4: More podcasts from my Heart, visit the our Heart radio app,
Speaker 4: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: See you next week.