Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2: I'm Buzznight the host of the Taking a Walk podcast,
Speaker 2: and once in a while we love to share some
Speaker 2: other podcasts that we think that you'd like to check out.
Speaker 3: Jeff Zito is a dear friend of mine.
Speaker 2: He has one of the most successful Apple podcasts called
Speaker 2: Celebrity Jobber. Check out this new episode with an actor
Speaker 2: comedian who has been in some of the quintessential movies
Speaker 2: of our time, Anthony Michael Hall. He was known as
Speaker 2: a member of Hollywood's brat Pack Remember Sixteen Candles, Weird Science,
Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club also spend some time as a cast
Speaker 2: member on Saturday Night Live. Here's Jeff Zito's Celebrity Jobber
Speaker 2: with Anthony Michael Hall.
Speaker 4: Hey, it's Jeff Zito and thanks for listening to another
Speaker 4: episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast. Dreaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Speaker 4: iHeart wherever you listen to podcasts, Please subscribe with love
Speaker 4: a five star rating and leave a review. You could
Speaker 4: check out past episodes online Celebrity Jobber dot com. Also
Speaker 4: you can follow on Instagram Celebrity Underscore Jobb or Underscore
Speaker 4: podcast or YouTube dot com slash the ad sign Celebrity
Speaker 4: Jobber Who were these celebrities before they were famous? What
Speaker 4: was their life like? What did they do? What about
Speaker 4: a first job? Some of these celebrities worked in the
Speaker 4: world of advertising and marketing or had their own upholstery business,
Speaker 4: and then one day their big break came along and
Speaker 4: that was it. You know Anthony Michael Hall from movies
Speaker 4: like National Lampoons, Vacation, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club. But
Speaker 4: who was he before all that? What was his first job?
Speaker 4: What was his big break? We're gonna find out. Well,
Speaker 4: Anthony Michael Hall is my guest this week on Celebrity
Speaker 4: jobb Or.
Speaker 5: It's the Celebrity job Or podcast with Jeff Zito. If
Speaker 5: you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five
Speaker 5: star rating and leave a review. Check out all our
Speaker 5: past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you pupped.
Speaker 5: What if these celebrities weren't famous, what would they have become?
Speaker 5: What was their first job? We're about to find out.
Speaker 4: Now here's a good here's a great way to break
Speaker 4: the ice. What if people call you? Do they call
Speaker 4: you am h, Do they call you Anthony?
Speaker 3: They called you? What do your friends call you?
Speaker 1: But give it? First name? Is Mike or Michael. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I hear you all three. I get amahs, Michael or Anthony.
Speaker 1: It's all good.
Speaker 3: All yeah, nice to meet you too, man.
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously I'm a you know, a huge fan,
Speaker 4: and I've known about you my whole life. I'm having
Speaker 4: a midlife crisis because I just turned fifty.
Speaker 3: And you know, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you've ever had that midlife crisis
Speaker 4: at any point, But do you have any do you
Speaker 4: have any suggestions any way to get.
Speaker 1: Through that kind of I wouldn't treat it as a crisis,
Speaker 1: first of all. Well also, I just got a joke too.
Speaker 1: I'm in show business, so I think every year is
Speaker 1: a new crisis because you never know where the work's.
Speaker 3: Coming, right, right.
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit older than you at fifty seven,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't. Yeah, I would just you know, look
Speaker 1: at it as a speed bump, not a dead end,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. You got to keep rocking
Speaker 1: and rolling. You're still a young man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know people do say that, but I just don't.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I don't see it yet. But we'll get through it.
Speaker 4: So let me let me ask you this. Michael, can
Speaker 4: I call you Michael sure man, So let me let
Speaker 4: me ask you. I do a podcast that's like about
Speaker 4: celebrities before they were famous and like what their life
Speaker 4: was before they were famous. This is going to be
Speaker 4: a really interesting question for you because I feel like
Speaker 4: you've been famous your whole life, right, I mean, what
Speaker 4: when did you started like acting?
Speaker 3: When you were what eight years old?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I did. I did. It's so funny because when
Speaker 1: I was in New York, I was celebrating the SNL
Speaker 1: fiftieth and I was taking part in those festivities and
Speaker 1: it took My wife was great, but I was on
Speaker 1: the red carpet doing some interviews and it really started
Speaker 1: to hit me right there. Actually when I was in
Speaker 1: the interviews, and you know, I started nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 1: I got my first job. I was hired by Steve Allen,
Speaker 1: the late great Steve Allen. So yeah, I mean my
Speaker 1: career goes back to that, and that's the beginning of
Speaker 1: it for me. So that was a real blessing, you know,
Speaker 1: starting that young. I think a lot of it attribute
Speaker 1: to my mother. I had a very strong, willed mother
Speaker 1: who was a single parent at the time. She wound
Speaker 1: up remarrying when I was about twelve, and I had
Speaker 1: my sister and my stepfather who raised us. But my
Speaker 1: mother was also an artist. She was a singer and
Speaker 1: you know, raised me, you know, singing for my supper
Speaker 1: literally because she was a jazz and blues singer. So,
Speaker 1: you know, coming from a creative family when you asked
Speaker 1: me that question. In my life before that was just
Speaker 1: growing up in New York City, you know, but I
Speaker 1: was really exposed because of my mother's life and career
Speaker 1: to a lot as a result of that. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: I studied the arts. You know. I did everything from
Speaker 1: taking karate to studying drawing at the Art Students League,
Speaker 1: to taking you know, music lessons and playing drums. I mean,
Speaker 1: all kinds of things that I did as a kid
Speaker 1: that were really helpful and helped me build a foundation
Speaker 1: for a life of the arts.
Speaker 4: You're very first paying gig was being a young Steve
Speaker 4: Allen in a movie that was like, yeah, because a
Speaker 4: lot of people's first jobs are you know, the newspaper
Speaker 4: delivery boy or a babysitter.
Speaker 3: Yours was in the business as an actor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly, I mean, and that was very fortunate
Speaker 1: for that reason. You know, so absolutely. You know, I
Speaker 1: was doing the play with Summer Stock with Steve Allen.
Speaker 1: I was such a little kid, you know, and then
Speaker 1: from there I did commercials and it led to you know,
Speaker 1: the film and TV work that I got as a
Speaker 1: young teenager. But at that point had already been in
Speaker 1: the business for seven or eight years. So yeah, I've
Speaker 1: been a long career. So I thank God for that.
Speaker 1: So when you cut to Roswelt Delirium, you know, it
Speaker 1: was an amazing experience because some you know, here I
Speaker 1: am forty something years later and I'm a producer on
Speaker 1: the project. But it was great to see these kids.
Speaker 1: They came to work so prepared, they were so refreshing
Speaker 1: that they were so committed to do a good job
Speaker 1: and they were really prepared. But also just to see
Speaker 1: their joy at work, to see them having fun with
Speaker 1: what they were doing, and to see the light in
Speaker 1: their eyes, you know, at the beginning of their careers.
Speaker 1: So I could certainly to that and it was wonderful
Speaker 1: to see, you know, to see them do a great job.
Speaker 4: So when you're when you're talking about what you're doing
Speaker 4: right now, which is Roswell Delirium, and do you have
Speaker 4: other jobs within not just being an actor, but is
Speaker 4: there other things that you do in this film, Like
Speaker 4: did you mention directing it?
Speaker 1: No? No. I produced the film, and I produced it
Speaker 1: with the filmmaker who's a writer director named Rick Bakewell.
Speaker 1: So it's both of our companies that came together in
Speaker 1: my company's Manhattan Films and Rix's Light Force Pictures. So
Speaker 1: we joined forces and we made this project and we
Speaker 1: shot in La a couple of years ago, and we
Speaker 1: just got this great cast. So we have a lot
Speaker 1: of really wonderful performances from some really great known actress
Speaker 1: to like d Wallace Stone and Sam Jones, Lisa welschol
Speaker 1: Original Bell Johnson. So a lot of really great people
Speaker 1: came in and supporting roles to flesh out our cast.
Speaker 1: But primarily it's a bunch of young child actors that
Speaker 1: did a beautiful job, you know, and if anything, they
Speaker 1: were reminding us all on set, you know, to kind
Speaker 1: of be prepared and to have fun work. That was
Speaker 1: great to see that from their perspective as they went
Speaker 1: to work and did the film.
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Speaker 3: Over time, do you just pick up.
Speaker 4: Like you're in the biz, You're in all these films,
Speaker 4: you're in these commercials, but like overtime in your career
Speaker 4: has progressed to where it is now you're doing Roswell Delirium,
Speaker 4: which by the way, is on Amazon Prime right now.
Speaker 4: Do you figure out these these other skills of being
Speaker 4: a producer, Like I don't know what all you know,
Speaker 4: you see the you know at the very end of
Speaker 4: a film, it's like key grip, best boy. I have
Speaker 4: no idea what all these little things are. But like
Speaker 4: do you pick up? Do you pick it up over time?
Speaker 1: But there's just things that you learn on the job.
Speaker 1: So yeah, absolutely, I mean that's one of the things
Speaker 1: you do learn is when you're working actor. You come
Speaker 1: on set and you see everybody doing all these different jobs,
Speaker 1: and so to have that sort of healthy respect for
Speaker 1: all those technical abilities in those technicians is really important,
Speaker 1: you know. So there's a lot so producing is something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I've worked with a number of producers over decades,
Speaker 1: so you know, I had a lot of training on
Speaker 1: the job, which is the most beneficial I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: and that served me well in this situation too, where
Speaker 1: I was going to work and producing my company's second film.
Speaker 1: You know, so what your experience, what.
Speaker 4: Is your favorite outside of acting and being in front
Speaker 4: of the camera. Is there another part of the business
Speaker 4: that you really enjoy?
Speaker 1: Well, oh, okay, you're going to say business. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was going to say my family, because I've become a
Speaker 1: family man here later in life. So I'm happily married.
Speaker 1: I have a beautiful wife, and we have a son.
Speaker 1: I have a two year old. Believe me or not,
Speaker 1: at this age right on loving that aspect of it,
Speaker 1: I do. Yeah, our son is almost will be two
Speaker 1: next month. So to see my life from you know,
Speaker 1: from a new perspective and through my son's eyes is
Speaker 1: so beautiful, as all parents will, I'm sure it can
Speaker 1: attest to you know, you just get fresh eyes and
Speaker 1: it gives you a fresh perspective on life and not
Speaker 1: what to appreciate it what matters, you know. But in
Speaker 1: terms of what I like to do, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, producing is great, and I also want to
Speaker 1: get behind the camera start directing. So I have a
Speaker 1: bunch of projects that developing in Manhattan Films, and I
Speaker 1: have partners and we're raising funds and you know, full
Speaker 1: steam ahead. In terms of building out the company. So
Speaker 1: that's the goal, you know, so because I want to
Speaker 1: be able to produce stuff and co produce things, and
Speaker 1: and also direct some films and projects and hopefully give
Speaker 1: other people opportunities down the line. So that's a you know,
Speaker 1: a good aspiration and worth working towards.
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Speaker 3: What do you think it was that really helped you?
Speaker 4: I mean, you you've worked in the business for a
Speaker 4: long time and being persistent, but and I could guess,
Speaker 4: but I want you to tell me. Was there a
Speaker 4: particular role, There was a situation, a big break, if
Speaker 4: you will, that really put you. I mean, you were
Speaker 4: the youngest cast member on Saturday Night Live. You didn't
Speaker 4: just get that by by accident.
Speaker 3: What do you think it was?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good question. I think working with John Hughes,
Speaker 1: you know, when I did Vacation, it was interesting because
Speaker 1: John Hughes wrote the national input in Vacation, but I
Speaker 1: did not meet him on that film. It was directed
Speaker 1: by Harold Ramis. Who was you know, I often think
Speaker 1: of that. I guess it's Isaac Newton and said that
Speaker 1: we're all standing on the shoulders of giants at some point,
Speaker 1: you know, my life was it was those giants were
Speaker 1: Steve Allen, they were Harold Ramis, John Hughes, Mattie Simmons,
Speaker 1: the founder of National improm people that saw something in
Speaker 1: me as a kid that gave me an opportunity to
Speaker 1: be myself, you know, and as a kid, I was
Speaker 1: kind of a funny kid, and they saw something in me,
Speaker 1: which I'm so grateful for and that's spawned a career.
Speaker 1: So the idea of returning that favor or paying it
Speaker 1: back and helping others is primary to me. It's important,
Speaker 1: so not only my own creative aspirations, but the idea
Speaker 1: of building a company to help others is really important
Speaker 1: to me.
Speaker 4: And you just mentioned that, you know, you're a pretty
Speaker 4: funny kid, and I'm glad you said that because with
Speaker 4: being the youngest cast member on Saturday Night Live at
Speaker 4: seventeen years old, and then you know, Rusty Griswold, I
Speaker 4: believe you are thirteen years old and you delivered the line.
Speaker 3: Though.
Speaker 4: The thing that's so great about you when you were
Speaker 4: that age is you're like, You're not expecting a little
Speaker 4: kid to be like funny like this, So where did
Speaker 4: you get your sense of humor?
Speaker 3: And was that role like you, Well, this is.
Speaker 1: Funny because this goes into my own biography. Like I'll
Speaker 1: tell you the truth. When I was a kid, it's
Speaker 1: like that old ADYE. Murphy movie in the eighties, Raw
Speaker 1: when they had that opening sequel and you see at
Speaker 1: the child actor playing him and he was doing shows
Speaker 1: for the family. I mean that was me. Even though
Speaker 1: I didn't ultimately become a comic as a kid, I
Speaker 1: was one of those kids doing shows for the family,
Speaker 1: you know. So I would get up and imitate my
Speaker 1: aunts and uncles and whoever the hell else it was.
Speaker 1: And it was if I was at a funeral or
Speaker 1: if it might have been a wedding or at somebody's house.
Speaker 1: It was always a relevant's house. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: my grandparents' house. So that is really how it started
Speaker 1: for me, you know, kind of being a hammy little
Speaker 1: kid that wanted to make people laugh. And I think
Speaker 1: that that's what John hughesaw on me, and also Maddie
Speaker 1: Simmons and Harold Ramis and those guys. I think I
Speaker 1: had a sense of kind of fearlessness, maybe because I
Speaker 1: loved to make people laugh and it was fun for
Speaker 1: me and very natural, you know. And as I get
Speaker 1: into high school back in the eighties, I started really
Speaker 1: honing in on comics that I loved. So heroes of
Speaker 1: mine were like George Carlin, your prior you know. Later
Speaker 1: I learned about Lenny Bruce on records, you know. So
Speaker 1: I've always loved comedians and comedy and comedic film, so
Speaker 1: I think that was also a big inspiration.
Speaker 4: Do you think there was ever a point in time
Speaker 4: where you were like, because you're so involved with the
Speaker 4: arts and your mother was is a great singer, would
Speaker 4: you ever consider being in music? Did that ever tickle
Speaker 4: your fancy at any point? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did, and have to produce music at different
Speaker 1: times in my life, and I do. I love that
Speaker 1: and people will ask me that question a lot over
Speaker 1: the years. I think something creative absolutely, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it be a musician or maybe something with camera. You know,
Speaker 1: I've grown up around cameras now and I know some
Speaker 1: things about that, you know. I think just having a
Speaker 1: creative life is is both challenging and scared of people,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, it's it's very liberating too.
Speaker 1: So the idea that you know, if you can do
Speaker 1: something that you love, the old adage, you know, you
Speaker 1: never work a day in your life, and it's and
Speaker 1: it's true, it's it's not as simplistic as that, but
Speaker 1: it certainly is the grounds for something. Then if you
Speaker 1: if you pursue something with passion that you love, you
Speaker 1: know it won't feel like work. And so I just
Speaker 1: feel grateful and thankful to God that I've had such
Speaker 1: a long career and it's endured over these decades.
Speaker 4: You know, was there ever a point in time where
Speaker 4: you're like, oh man, it's because it's got to be
Speaker 4: hard get you know, going on these calls and being
Speaker 4: rejected and it's got to be a tough one and
Speaker 4: a strange life.
Speaker 3: Were you ever like, hey, what should I be doing
Speaker 3: something different?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's your question. You have to deal with a
Speaker 1: lot of rejection. You have to be sort of built
Speaker 1: for that and that the doubts that no one thinks
Speaker 1: that they are. But you know, you learn it to
Speaker 1: have a tough skin, and you learn to be persistent
Speaker 1: and you learn a lot of great lessons that I
Speaker 1: think apply whether you're in the corporate world or in
Speaker 1: the world of sports. Or anything, you know, the idea
Speaker 1: of being determined, making decisions, you know, creating good habit
Speaker 1: through yourself and just persisting. And I think that that's
Speaker 1: something no one can teach you. That's something that you
Speaker 1: just have to enact within yourself and have that in you.
Speaker 1: And if you don't, then it may not be what's
Speaker 1: for you, you know, in life. But those are things
Speaker 1: that taught me. Well, So I'm grateful again. I think
Speaker 1: thought that this is the gift in himself, is to
Speaker 1: have the long jevity and to be still doing it.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm grateful to God.
Speaker 5: The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zido Celebrity Jobber.
Speaker 4: I would definitely see you being being a stand up
Speaker 4: comedian and I can see you transitioning into that world.
Speaker 3: Do you ever do you ever think about that?
Speaker 1: No, I mean not really, not really. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: a hard life, that's challenging, you know, but I do
Speaker 1: respect and I have a lot of love for people
Speaker 1: that do that. You know, I've been It's funny because
Speaker 1: you know you just mentioned that stand up. But when
Speaker 1: I was at the SNL fiftieth I Bill Burke came
Speaker 1: up to me. We were chatting, and it's led to
Speaker 1: you know, we struck a bit of a friendship. So
Speaker 1: we've been been in talks and he has a film
Speaker 1: he wants me to do later this year with him.
Speaker 1: So I'll probably make that film with Bill. But you know, look,
Speaker 1: that's a real that's a real lifestyle, a commitment to
Speaker 1: You got to greatly respect comics because again, there's no
Speaker 1: leg to stand down there. You're going up there with
Speaker 1: your wits and your brain and again that sense of
Speaker 1: determination to kind of put yourself out there, you know,
Speaker 1: and it takes a lot not up. But everybody is not.
Speaker 1: Everybody's built for that.
Speaker 3: You know, talk politics with Bill Burr. I don't think
Speaker 3: you guys will get along.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's just not talk politics perience.
Speaker 4: Look, man, it was a pleasure, and I urge everybody
Speaker 4: to go to Amazon Prime and check out the latest
Speaker 4: which is it's called Roswell Delirium and Anthony Michael Hall
Speaker 4: amh Michael, good talk, Russ.
Speaker 1: Good talk with me. Man. I appreciate the time, and
Speaker 1: thank you for supporting the picture. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3: MA, take care of yourself.
Speaker 4: Thanks man Born Michael, Anthony Thomas, Charles Hall. That's a
Speaker 4: lot of names. He kind of flipped the Anthony and
Speaker 4: the Michael around because I guess there was already a
Speaker 4: Michael Hall in show business. He's from Boston, the only
Speaker 4: child of a blues jazz singer. Her name was Mercedes Hall,
Speaker 4: and she got divorced from Michael's father, Larry, who owned
Speaker 4: an autobody shop, like when he was six months old.
Speaker 4: So when he was a very young man, they relocated
Speaker 4: to the West Coast where his mom found work as
Speaker 4: a singer, and I think it was a year and
Speaker 4: a half later they eventually moved back to the East
Speaker 4: Coast and New York City.
Speaker 3: That's where he grew up.
Speaker 4: But he was in show business from the time he
Speaker 4: was a kid, and his mom actually managed him. He
Speaker 4: was acting at the age of eight years old, when
Speaker 4: a lot of kids their first job was, you know,
Speaker 4: maybe working in a restaurant or delivering newspapers or babysitting
Speaker 4: something like that.
Speaker 3: His very first gig.
Speaker 4: Was as the young Steve Allen in a semi autobiographical
Speaker 4: play called The Wake, and he also did some commercials
Speaker 4: around that time. He was the Honeycomb serial Kid. He
Speaker 4: was in some commercials for toys and Bounty paper towels.
Speaker 4: So his very first jobs were in acting, and that's
Speaker 4: what he's done his entire career. I mean, his job
Speaker 4: when he was seventeen years old was as a cast
Speaker 4: member of Saturday Night Live, and to date, I believe
Speaker 4: the youngest cast member ever on SNL. Of course I
Speaker 4: knew the answer, but I needed him to tell us.
Speaker 4: You know, his big break Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation.
Speaker 4: He might have noticed, if you know the film. I
Speaker 4: got him right there at the end where I said,
Speaker 4: good talk Russ, famous line delivered by Chevy Chase in
Speaker 4: the movie.
Speaker 3: Think I might have caught him off guard with that
Speaker 3: one there. That was his big break.
Speaker 4: I didn't know that John Hughes was the film screenwriter,
Speaker 4: And of course you know, John Hughes went to direct
Speaker 4: some like unbelievable movies in the eighties. Sixteen Candles another
Speaker 4: huge one for Anthony Michael Hall The Breakfast Club. He
Speaker 4: was a member of Hollywood's brat pack, and I guess
Speaker 4: to avoid being type cast, Hall turned down roles for
Speaker 4: him by John Hughes. In Ferris Mueller's Day Off, he
Speaker 4: was offered the role of Cameron Fry and also in
Speaker 4: Pretty in Pink, where he was offered the role of Ducky.
Speaker 4: You know, this guy was never going to be a carpenter,
Speaker 4: a real estate agent, or an accountant. This guy was artistic.
Speaker 3: It came from his mom. She was a singer.
Speaker 4: He could have been into music, because he did say
Speaker 4: he worked a little bit in producing music. And I
Speaker 4: definitely think he could have gone into stand up comedy
Speaker 4: when he was talking about entertaining his parents and his
Speaker 4: family at a young age, performing for them, making them laugh,
Speaker 4: and of course being the youngest cast member on Saturday
Speaker 4: Night Live. All those people, generally speaking are stand up comedians.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that was probably what could have been the
Speaker 4: future of Anthony Michael Hall.
Speaker 3: Pretty cool guy.
Speaker 4: Enjoyed talking to him, and thank you for checking out
Speaker 4: another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart,
Speaker 4: wherever you listen to podcasts. Please subscribe, would love a
Speaker 4: five star rating and leave a review. All past episodes
Speaker 4: online at Celebrity Jobber dot com and you can also
Speaker 4: follow on Instagram Celebrity Underscore job or Underscore podcast, or
Speaker 4: YouTube dot com. Slash the at sign Celebrity Jobber. Who
Speaker 4: were these celebrities before they were celebrities. Sometimes they were
Speaker 4: different people all together. In the case of Anthony Michael Hall,
Speaker 4: he was an actor, just not as well known as
Speaker 4: he is now. So thank you once again for listening
Speaker 4: and until next week, we'll see you then.
Speaker 3: I'm Jeff Zito.
Speaker 4: And if you happen to like the Celebrity Jobber podcast,
Speaker 4: you might like one from my friend Buzznight, which is
Speaker 4: called Taking a Walk Music History on Foot, which you
Speaker 4: can listen to next