Speaker 1: Do you want to talk about last night?
Speaker 2: Roynert?
Speaker 3: Should you talk about last night?
Speaker 4: Do you want to talk about last Do you want
Speaker 4: to talk about what happened? But I saw Will in
Speaker 4: the wild last night. He went out to an event
Speaker 4: and it wasn't a Podweights World event. It wasn't business related.
Speaker 4: I mean, I guess it was kind of business y,
Speaker 4: but it was just for a friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So George Wong directed a movie called Weekend in Taipei,
Speaker 4: and George is, you know, one of Will's oldest friends.
Speaker 4: And I haven't hadn't actually seen him, I think for
Speaker 4: like nine or ten years really, yeah, but he had
Speaker 4: recently reached out for me and Alex to help him
Speaker 4: out acting in a short film that he's making. And
Speaker 4: you couldn't do it.
Speaker 1: You couldn't do it. I wouldn't.
Speaker 4: And then so we just reconnected and we've been talking
Speaker 4: and then he said, oh, I directed this big movie
Speaker 4: and Luke Proissant uh produced it with him and wrote
Speaker 4: it with him and uh. So he had the premiere
Speaker 4: last night and he invited me and Will and I
Speaker 4: was it was so fun.
Speaker 2: Man, you guys you were going to see each other there.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like you spotted him in the wild randomly.
Speaker 4: No, okay, it was it was bizarre. I mean, I
Speaker 4: thought about it when I got home. It was like,
Speaker 4: that was so nice to like hang out with Will
Speaker 4: and talk and like not be podcasting right or doing
Speaker 4: the show or a convention. It was like, oh man,
Speaker 4: it was just it was fun.
Speaker 5: It was.
Speaker 4: But the movie is really good.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 5: But the thing that was so fun was our business
Speaker 5: is in such a ridiculous kind of state of flux.
Speaker 5: It doesn't know what it is anymore. We don't know
Speaker 5: what's happening in the industry at all. And then there's
Speaker 5: these little nuggets of like what it used to be
Speaker 5: like going to a premiere, you know, even though it
Speaker 5: was kind of a smaller premiere, there was still a
Speaker 5: little red carpet and I sat there and I watched
Speaker 5: a whole but I didn't walk it, of course, But
Speaker 5: I sat there and I watched a whole bunch of
Speaker 5: like celebrities that I've seen before. And there's all these
Speaker 5: cool like ferraris set up outside because there's a lot
Speaker 5: of car chases in the thing. And then you go
Speaker 5: to this little reception afterwards with it, and it was
Speaker 5: just like a taste of what it used to be
Speaker 5: in La you know, and a lot of it is
Speaker 5: kind of ridiculous, but it was fun. There was a
Speaker 5: pageantry to it that I think I got a little
Speaker 5: taste of last Night and you get to see a
Speaker 5: great film at the same time.
Speaker 1: It was a fun night and.
Speaker 4: It's coming out in theaters, which I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 2: Pings feel like they're coming out in theaters, which I'm
Speaker 2: so happy about, even if it's limited release.
Speaker 5: Yeah, people are missing, but we're amazed at how fast
Speaker 5: like they come out in theaters and then a week
Speaker 5: later you can I know exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so fast.
Speaker 4: But isn't that part of the problem, like that you're like,
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna Yeah, things should like be forced to
Speaker 4: stay in theaters and then it should be like, well.
Speaker 1: It used to be you'd have to wait six to eight.
Speaker 4: Months for a movie to come out on VHS, you know,
Speaker 4: and remember that.
Speaker 5: It was like you'd walk into Blockbuster or something and
Speaker 5: be like, oh, that's right, whatever just.
Speaker 3: Came out on DVD.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the coolest.
Speaker 4: I think that's really important for the cultural like the zeitgeys,
Speaker 4: you know, I mean that's that's the problem with streamers.
Speaker 4: It's like even when they have good, big movies, they
Speaker 4: kind of just come and go. You know, showers get
Speaker 4: a lot of cultural time because like everybody's watching them
Speaker 4: for weeks or binging them that week. But like movies,
Speaker 4: it's I've been really sad to see things just pop
Speaker 4: up on Netflix that that are good and then you know,
Speaker 4: big movies with big stars, and then you try and
Speaker 4: talk to other people about them and it's like it's
Speaker 4: not on their algorithm, so they never popped up, and
Speaker 4: then yeah, it's it's it's it's a bummer. I missed
Speaker 4: the culture of like everybody's watching the same movie that
Speaker 4: summer or that winter or whatever.
Speaker 2: You know, let's go see Joker two together, Yeah, I heard.
Speaker 3: I'm one of the tractors.
Speaker 4: I didn't like the first ones, so I definitely had
Speaker 4: no interest in the second.
Speaker 3: Did anyone see Wild Robot? You did sart opening day?
Speaker 3: I want to see it in theaters.
Speaker 2: I saw them you can stream it for the same
Speaker 2: price we could go see it in theater, and I
Speaker 2: was like, no, I want to see it in the theater.
Speaker 3: Okay, that's one of.
Speaker 4: The best books too, to read to your kids by
Speaker 4: the way, Oh my god, Like there's there's two or
Speaker 4: three of them, but the first one, yeah, it had
Speaker 4: been recommended in Indian and I just spent like, you know,
Speaker 4: two weeks reading it every night, and it was it's beautiful.
Speaker 4: It's so touching and fun. And then the movie I
Speaker 4: couldn't believe that it visually it was just you know,
Speaker 4: like animation is so cool these days. Like I love
Speaker 4: that we're finally past the point of like making everything
Speaker 4: look real, and now we're making things like look stylized,
Speaker 4: you know, like Mitchell's Versus Machines, like these like interpretive
Speaker 4: like takes with CGI, you know, so it's not just
Speaker 4: like make it look real anymore three dimensional. It's like,
Speaker 4: give it some style, give it its own look and feel.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the reasons.
Speaker 2: Why I was just gonna say, speaking of animation, our
Speaker 2: very own. Will Fredell is starring in a Lego Marvel
Speaker 2: Avengers movie Mission Demolition.
Speaker 3: He plays Dennis. It's out right now. I've already seen
Speaker 3: it three times.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's on Disney Plus my kids love it. Will
Speaker 2: sent me a text and was like, hey, FYI, I've
Speaker 2: got a movie coming out and I think the kids
Speaker 2: are gonna like it. And I was like, what how
Speaker 2: come I know nothing about this? When did you do this?
Speaker 2: Why are you keeping secrets from us? And so the
Speaker 2: next day was a Saturday. We came out on a Saturday.
Speaker 2: Rightday was a Friday night. Okay, so Friday night, so
Speaker 2: Friday night we we was literally the day it came out.
Speaker 2: I said, do you want to see Uncle Will in
Speaker 2: a movie? And Ather was like, yeah, which one's Uncle Will?
Speaker 2: And then there's a whole opening with all the Avengers
Speaker 2: and Will isn't one of the Avengers. He plays Dennis,
Speaker 2: and so literally every character is that Uncle Will.
Speaker 3: Is that Uncle Will. I was like, no, no other,
Speaker 3: I'll let you know when we get to him. Is
Speaker 3: that Uncle Will is uncle Will? Ironman is that Uncle Will.
Speaker 3: I was like, when we see Uncle Will, I'll let
Speaker 3: you know no all time. Finally I was like fast
Speaker 3: warning to uncle.
Speaker 1: Is God yet No.
Speaker 3: It was so fun, It's so cute. Highly highly recommend
Speaker 3: you watch it.
Speaker 1: It was cool, It was cool. We had a ton
Speaker 1: of fun doing it.
Speaker 5: The Lego world is you know, a perfect combination with
Speaker 5: something like Marvel two.
Speaker 1: It just works on all the levels. So Yeah, we
Speaker 1: had a blast.
Speaker 3: You can't go wrong with with wilfred Ell and Kevin Smith,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the two of us together, so ye's kind
Speaker 1: of cool.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so fun. Welcome to pod meets World. I'm Daniel Fishal,
Speaker 3: I'm Right or Strong, and I'm Will Ferdell.
Speaker 2: When a sixth grader not only changes schools, but moves
Speaker 2: towns all together, it's not an easy process, especially when
Speaker 2: you're just about to start filming a sitcom that gives
Speaker 2: you extended leaves of absence for weeks at a time.
Speaker 2: So when I did transfer to ay Wright Middle School
Speaker 2: in Calabasas, California in nineteen ninety three, the front office
Speaker 2: thought it would be a good idea to pair me
Speaker 2: with a buddy and a signed friend who coincidentally was
Speaker 2: also a child actor. And thus began the friendship of
Speaker 2: Danielle Fischle and Vanessa Evigan, one that would extend to
Speaker 2: high school and then into adulthood and motherhood and now.
Speaker 3: Whatever podcast hood is.
Speaker 2: We spend our summers either in her bed bath and
Speaker 2: beyond vanilla scented Ford Explorer or my bed bath and
Speaker 2: beyond vanilla scented Toyota four Runner blasting sublime and gossiping
Speaker 2: about boys.
Speaker 3: We liked on the way to Malibu Beach. And so
Speaker 3: when she in the.
Speaker 1: Moment more California than.
Speaker 3: Did really was, it was the best.
Speaker 2: And so when she was cast on Boy Meets World
Speaker 2: during season fives, if you Can't Be with the One
Speaker 2: you love as the recently rhinoplastid Kimberly Susman, I couldn't
Speaker 2: have been more excited. She had just come off starring
Speaker 2: on her own show UPN's Social Study and also six
Speaker 2: episodes of Against the Grain on NBC with a young
Speaker 2: Ben Affleck, and would later appear on You Wish Norm
Speaker 2: How I Met Your Mother, and as Britney Hodges on
Speaker 2: over two dozen episodes of The Young and the.
Speaker 3: Restless, and they probably shot all of those on like
Speaker 3: one day.
Speaker 2: Coincidentally, Boy Meets World wasn't Vanessa's first Michael Jacob sett.
Speaker 2: Her debut was as a background eight year old on
Speaker 2: My Two Dads, a show her father, Greg Evigan, starred
Speaker 2: in opposite Paul Riser. And today we have forced her
Speaker 2: to come to talk to us minus the Sublime and
Speaker 2: Vanilla car smell about that one time in nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 2: she was on the Boy Meets World episode that dealt
Speaker 2: with teenage drinking. Welcome to the podcast, Vanessa Evigan.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yes, Oh my gosh, I don't even know how
Speaker 6: to use a computer.
Speaker 3: Hey, it's so good to see you. Good to see
Speaker 3: you too, Oh my goodness, here, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2: I was just explaining to the guy and the whole
Speaker 2: world about how you and I met that you were
Speaker 2: my assigned buddy.
Speaker 5: Buddy assigning friends to Danielle or.
Speaker 4: Chance it assigned us.
Speaker 6: I don't even remember.
Speaker 2: That you were my assigned buddy at a e Wright
Speaker 2: when I first started there in sixth grade.
Speaker 3: The school was like, yes, the school was.
Speaker 2: Like, we are going to put you in touch with
Speaker 2: this very sweet, fun, wonderful girl.
Speaker 3: We think you guys will really hit it off, and
Speaker 3: obv we did.
Speaker 2: But literally they were like, you can't come in here
Speaker 2: without any friends. And you were my sweet friend who
Speaker 2: like showed me around the school and showed me where
Speaker 2: to eat lunch, and and that's literally how we met.
Speaker 6: At the beginning of our amazing.
Speaker 3: Friendship, I know, our lifelong friendship. So that reminds me.
Speaker 2: I guess if you don't remember being my assigned buddy,
Speaker 2: maybe you don't also remember what I was wearing on
Speaker 2: that first day of school, or do you remember the
Speaker 2: story about what I was wearing on the first day story?
Speaker 4: I thought, maybe we just actually remembered.
Speaker 2: It's a very funny story. I know, Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: it's so cringe, but okay. So in Orange County, where
Speaker 2: I grew up before I moved to Calabasas, the first
Speaker 2: day of school, at least all through elementary school grades
Speaker 2: one through five the only thing I had been to.
Speaker 2: Everyone got very dressed up for the first day of school,
Speaker 2: like your first day of.
Speaker 3: School outfit was a big deal.
Speaker 2: And my best friend Jessica from elementary school, we used
Speaker 2: to plan our outfits all summer long, what are we
Speaker 2: gonna wear, and like, at least the first day, if
Speaker 2: not the whole first week, we would wear kind of
Speaker 2: fancier clothes then you end up wearing for the rest
Speaker 2: of the school year. So on the first day of
Speaker 2: sixth grade to eighty Wright, I was like.
Speaker 3: I'm new to this school. I wore.
Speaker 2: I wore like one beast blacken white, little floral jumper,
Speaker 2: like like a pant pant suit.
Speaker 3: Jumper those one beast.
Speaker 4: Like like a blossom style.
Speaker 2: And I also wore like pantyhose and ballet flats, and
Speaker 2: I my mom My mom swears she's like, I tried
Speaker 2: to talk you out of it, and I do remember
Speaker 2: her saying like, I don't think they're gonna do that.
Speaker 2: I don't I don't think it's gonna I don't think.
Speaker 2: I don't think you're gonna want to be wearing this today.
Speaker 2: And I was like, no, no, I was very sure
Speaker 2: this is what I wanted to wear. And I got
Speaker 2: there and it was like, you know, nineteen ninety three,
Speaker 2: and everyone had on beat her jeans, converse beaning.
Speaker 3: Old T shirts, flannels.
Speaker 4: Like it was.
Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing remotely like what I was wearing.
Speaker 3: And all day I was like, this is so uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: And my favorite memory, aside from meeting Vanessa that day,
Speaker 2: is that as I was walking alone down a hallway,
Speaker 2: a walks toward me, making this face at me the
Speaker 2: whole way and looks me up and down, and as
Speaker 2: he passes me, goes.
Speaker 3: Are you going to a funeral?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 3: My god, you had the best style.
Speaker 6: I can't even imagine anyone thinking that we were going
Speaker 6: to a funeral.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, No, he really and I was like, that
Speaker 3: is exactly what it was. I was like, I should
Speaker 3: just run with it.
Speaker 2: Immediately after school, I have to go write your funeral,
Speaker 2: right Grandma, Grandma, Grandma.
Speaker 3: I gotta go making me wear this right now. Actually,
Speaker 3: my mom picked me up from school and she was like,
Speaker 3: how would your day? And I was like, we are
Speaker 3: going shopping now, and the immediately I.
Speaker 2: Bought all all new clothes store exactly and yeah, anyway,
Speaker 2: tell me.
Speaker 1: Please tell me. Jan Fisher has a photo of that.
Speaker 4: I hope so.
Speaker 2: I don't think we have somewhere, but it's it's pretty,
Speaker 2: it's pretty mortifying.
Speaker 3: I think about it about once a month. Vanessa.
Speaker 2: We just watched If You Can't Be with the One
Speaker 2: You Love and we attended Kimberly Susman's nose Job party.
Speaker 6: Oh yes, how do I You look?
Speaker 3: Fantastic?
Speaker 2: Wanted to ask you, what are your thoughts on the episode?
Speaker 6: Now?
Speaker 3: It is armuably maybe the most.
Speaker 2: Very special episode we had had, at least up to
Speaker 2: that point on the show. What did you think about
Speaker 2: it watching it today? I?
Speaker 6: Well, I watched it actually my son. I let my
Speaker 6: son wanted to watch it, and it was such a
Speaker 6: big deal. Obviously, because Ben, you know, he takes his
Speaker 6: first drink. I think, so that was a big, big
Speaker 6: deal and.
Speaker 3: Now is a mom.
Speaker 6: I'm like, oh my gosh, this is like it's gonna
Speaker 6: happen one day to me. I'm gonna have to like
Speaker 6: be the mom that So that's how I thought of
Speaker 6: it now. And I also was like, wow, you know, nice.
Speaker 4: Pat of brawl.
Speaker 6: What was happening with but like everything and I'm not
Speaker 6: remembering what an interesting haircut. I was looking back at
Speaker 6: it going and then I thought, gosh, that was such
Speaker 6: a great show. I loved it. I forgot how awesome
Speaker 6: it was and how I mean it was funny, and
Speaker 6: then there was those moments where and everyone was so
Speaker 6: good in it. It wasn't like it just.
Speaker 5: The show in general or that specific episode episode.
Speaker 1: Comedy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, no, I mean.
Speaker 4: Everyone, it's a heavy episode.
Speaker 6: It's heavy, heavy for the time, you know, and yeah,
Speaker 6: like really and it was wild. I kept trying to
Speaker 6: figure out, like, is my TV like the even like
Speaker 6: just just the quality of the show. Right, Wait a minute,
Speaker 6: I'm trying to get the call. I'm like, you know what,
Speaker 6: it's just perfect the way it is. And then I'm like,
Speaker 6: this was those were the good days. They really were
Speaker 6: the good old.
Speaker 2: Like we do talk about how weird it is to
Speaker 2: not have everything in like four K, Like we're like, oh, wow,
Speaker 2: you can't read.
Speaker 4: You can't read. Everything's all blurry.
Speaker 5: You're trying to pause it to read stuff in the background,
Speaker 5: and it just never can never kind of get it
Speaker 5: exactly where you want it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's weird.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but you all look exactly the same, literally, like
Speaker 6: I'm not kidding, I'm not I'm serious. It's so wid
Speaker 6: especially you Danielle, Like wow, I mean, thank you, you
Speaker 6: know you guys, just uh yeah, it was so fun.
Speaker 6: That was a really really really like just not only
Speaker 6: the fact that we were best friends. Yeah, and we
Speaker 6: got to do that show together. I was like, oh
Speaker 6: my gosh, this couldn't be like more special.
Speaker 5: So you were you were friends then continuously from sixth
Speaker 5: grade up through this. So did you tell Danielle like
Speaker 5: I have an audition for Boy Meets World or did
Speaker 5: Danielle did you go to the producers and they were like,
Speaker 5: that's she's like my closest friend, You've got to bring
Speaker 5: her on the show.
Speaker 1: I mean, how did that work?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I remember, because well Michael Jake. You know, my
Speaker 6: dad was on My Two Dads exactly. I had known
Speaker 6: Michael because I was an extra on My Two Dads
Speaker 6: and I was like seven, and you know, I had
Speaker 6: audition and I was like, oh, this is so great,
Speaker 6: this would be so fun, but it's you know, it's
Speaker 6: probably not gonna happen. And then I just remember them
Speaker 6: sending everyone out, sending everything at home and telling me
Speaker 6: to stay and I was like, oh cool, I think
Speaker 6: that this was gonna happen. And then I remember I think,
Speaker 6: I remember messaging you saying I think I'm I think
Speaker 6: I'm going to do an episode of the show. And
Speaker 6: it was just awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you you paged she paged me. Yeah, I
Speaker 3: paged her.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I was like, remember the I mean we used to
Speaker 6: have the goal. You got the updated pagers to where
Speaker 6: you could like code. Lots of words came in on those. Yes,
Speaker 6: it was just like a phone number anymore. Yeah, we
Speaker 6: we three two.
Speaker 2: I don't know, I just remember I it's not my
Speaker 2: number anymore, but my cell phone number was ended with
Speaker 2: eight zero zero eight, which in page your code was boob.
Speaker 6: I actually remember, because you have to memorized numbers back then. Like,
Speaker 6: do you remember cell phone that? Like, we actually had
Speaker 6: cell phones that had the curly wires?
Speaker 4: Are runners?
Speaker 3: We don't remember those two? Oh yeah we Yeah, you
Speaker 3: had the Ford Explorer. I had a for Runner.
Speaker 6: Well that was after I crashed the fore Runner.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, right, tell us.
Speaker 4: About that childhood I've ever heard from our TV shows.
Speaker 6: The best part of it all though, my parents were
Speaker 6: out buying me a car with my money because I
Speaker 6: was acting thankfully and I'm thinking I'm getting a new car.
Speaker 6: They're like, well, you should think yourself and then.
Speaker 3: Buying me a car. No, you're buying you a car.
Speaker 6: Literally, thirteen days after I got my license, I was
Speaker 6: driving behind my boyfriend at the time. Uh, and I
Speaker 6: just I don't know what happened, but I swear the
Speaker 6: car just flipped itself into neutral on the highway, on
Speaker 6: the freeway and on the one oh one, and I
Speaker 6: spun out and hit the center divider head on, and
Speaker 6: thankfully I was okay. And I swear you were supposed
Speaker 6: to be with me, or someone was supposed to be
Speaker 6: next to me in the car, because I just me, Yeah,
Speaker 6: I mean it was either you or I feel like
Speaker 6: I don't know who else.
Speaker 4: It would would have been, And Daniel, didn't you have
Speaker 4: like the exact same thing happened.
Speaker 2: I also crashed my toy A fore Runner on.
Speaker 5: Should not be driving inherent issue with the Toyota fore Runner.
Speaker 6: They're bad, dangerous cars.
Speaker 2: My car hydroplaned and her car flipped into neutral. But yeah,
Speaker 2: and I also hit the center divider, completely spun out
Speaker 2: and total MYR might I recommend a people?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I just kept going down after that when my
Speaker 6: parents were like, well, you totaled your car, so we're
Speaker 6: gonna get you an old uh used Ford explorer that
Speaker 6: I mean that thing. I don't know, that thing where
Speaker 6: they say fixed or repair daily found.
Speaker 1: Exploder.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: So what was it like seeing yourself that age on screen?
Speaker 2: Was this the first time you had watched the episode,
Speaker 2: like since it had aired that many years ago?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 6: Yes, because I watched it briefly for a second. My
Speaker 6: son was like, I really want to watch it, and
Speaker 6: and I was like, okay, trying to remember if it
Speaker 6: was like a pro appropriate right. You know, he's listening
Speaker 6: to this isn't in a jelly roll right now, so
Speaker 6: I think we're okay.
Speaker 1: How old is he?
Speaker 6: Well? He's seven twenty seven. We argue like a lawyer.
Speaker 6: I don't know, it's it's it's he's my he's my
Speaker 6: husband made over. But but no, him and my daughter
Speaker 6: they both wanted to watch it. But my son ended
Speaker 6: up seeing, uh seeing it, or at least just just
Speaker 6: a little bit of it, and he was like, why
Speaker 6: what what is that on your nose? And I was
Speaker 6: like oh, and I was trying to explain that to him.
Speaker 6: Then he was like, you had your nose done? And
Speaker 6: I'm like not really, no, no, no, no, no, I
Speaker 6: was done. People think I did, especially after that. No,
Speaker 6: I don't know why people thought it was real, but no, wait,
Speaker 6: what were it was the main question?
Speaker 3: What did you think seeing young Vanessa on screen?
Speaker 6: I thought she was so cute. Yeah, oh she was
Speaker 6: a cutie. Definitely not my best acting. I felt like
Speaker 6: I was like, WHOA, Maybe got to get into some
Speaker 6: acting class after that.
Speaker 3: No, you were not much. You were not given much
Speaker 3: with what you had.
Speaker 6: It was fun, it was sweet, and I actually remember
Speaker 6: it all so well going back to that, like it
Speaker 6: was it was really fun and cute, you know. I
Speaker 6: just those were just such fun times. I don't know,
Speaker 6: it was just drawing.
Speaker 4: Do you remember the discussion about the whole nose job thing, Like,
Speaker 4: was it ever talked about like why this character was
Speaker 4: having this party or like was we were trying to
Speaker 4: figure out, like what was the point of it, because
Speaker 4: it's like they don't really make a joke. We don't
Speaker 4: really make a joke out of it. No, but then
Speaker 4: you're wearing this thing on your face the whole time.
Speaker 6: I know, I guess I don't remember. I vaguely remember
Speaker 6: it just being like me being like a snotty, snooty
Speaker 6: kind of rich, mean girl kind of thing. I don't
Speaker 6: know why classify that as a person who would haven't read.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 6: That's what We're trying to have a party for it, right, right,
Speaker 6: But yeah, I don't really remember why.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we thought we had the same conversation.
Speaker 2: We were like, was this was this a thing people
Speaker 2: were doing all the time back then? Like oh, nose
Speaker 2: job parties, I know, and teenage nose job parties.
Speaker 4: We must have had a conversation about It's some note session.
Speaker 4: It must have come up, but I don't remember it
Speaker 4: at all. I mean, all I remember is that you know,
Speaker 4: it was the episode about drinking, but it's it's a
Speaker 4: bizarre like it's element.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was a little because the show is definitely
Speaker 6: about the I mean, the drinking is clearly the importance
Speaker 6: of the show, right, and then for whatever reason, you know,
Speaker 6: spruce it up with me with a Fonda with a
Speaker 6: nose jobs.
Speaker 2: It was really really do you what do you remember
Speaker 2: about the week? Like, do you remember the table read?
Speaker 2: Were you there for the table read? Do you remember
Speaker 2: the run throughs? What do you remember most about the week?
Speaker 6: I do remember. I remember being really nervous. I think
Speaker 6: just because I had a crush.
Speaker 3: I think on Matt Lawrence.
Speaker 4: Matt Lawrence, and.
Speaker 6: Then I answer, what's that? Everybody did? Probably I actually
Speaker 6: I don't remember. I was like cruising through the the
Speaker 6: podcast some of the podcasts, and I saw the one
Speaker 6: he was on, and I actually was like, wait a minute,
Speaker 6: he looked so familiar, and then I was like, oh
Speaker 6: my gosh. And then he was joking or he was
Speaker 6: saying something about in sync was there, and they thought
Speaker 6: he was mean, but it was because he had a
Speaker 6: crusher on you. And I was like, we all had
Speaker 6: crushes on everyone.
Speaker 3: That is the way it was as a teenager.
Speaker 6: Yeah, clearly, and so I just but I was nervous,
Speaker 6: I think, because like you were my friend and I
Speaker 6: wanted to make sure I did a good job. And
Speaker 6: it was just, you know, when it's that close to home,
Speaker 6: and I think that I think I was friends with
Speaker 6: them then then or after, I don't remember, And so
Speaker 6: it was one of those like you just know people,
Speaker 6: and yeah, you want to make sure you do good job.
Speaker 6: And obviously Michael was you know, I'd work with my
Speaker 6: dad so much, and I was like, I got to
Speaker 6: make sure I do, you know, leave a good impress
Speaker 6: And I feel like I did a couple of his
Speaker 6: shows though after that or maybe before it.
Speaker 2: So good, you did leave a good impression, I guess.
Speaker 2: So was Michael like a part of your family life?
Speaker 2: What do you remember? What years was my two dads
Speaker 2: on And was Michael still like a prominent figure in
Speaker 2: your family life at the time that you were on Boy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he really was. He was just I just, I mean,
Speaker 6: my memories of him were just I mean, oh, my
Speaker 6: dad always like talked so highly of him, and I
Speaker 6: always thought he's really funny and serious though like he
Speaker 6: he didn't scare me, but he was like he's coming
Speaker 6: in to make changes. They're gonna change, you know, things
Speaker 6: are like yeah, you know, And I think I was
Speaker 6: maybe a little I had known that that he you know,
Speaker 6: he's really smart, he's really talented, but he's also like quick,
Speaker 6: comes in, you know, makes changes, leaves, wants him to
Speaker 6: be done and wants it to be right. And I
Speaker 6: was like, okay, I kind of just make sure you know,
Speaker 6: I hear toes. Yeah, I don't zone off to my
Speaker 6: add world where I'm like squirrel, what did he say? So, yeah,
Speaker 6: it was, and I think I was at the table reading.
Speaker 6: I'm pretty sure I was. Yeah, yeah, because I was.
Speaker 6: I think I was really nervous, like turning red on
Speaker 6: my chest and like sweating and probably like I like
Speaker 6: real blondes, do you know.
Speaker 1: No, that's a good way to describe Michael.
Speaker 5: He was very intense, but he's also arguably the funniest
Speaker 5: person I've ever met in my life. Yes, I mean,
Speaker 5: he's just very quick witted with that kind of stuff.
Speaker 6: So yeahah, you don't have like that many hit shows
Speaker 6: back to back to back and.
Speaker 5: Are without knowing exactly. Yeah, I mean, aside from being
Speaker 5: a brilliant sitcom writer, which he is, brilliant, just even
Speaker 5: even the way he would tell just a basic joke.
Speaker 5: It's just he had the structure down.
Speaker 6: He was just fun totally. And wasn't he pretty dry too?
Speaker 6: Like I feel like was he dry or I don't?
Speaker 5: I mean, I mean it depended it dependent on how
Speaker 5: he wanted to tell the joke. He could switch between
Speaker 5: dry to you know, kind of bigger too.
Speaker 1: I mean it was, yeah, he was. He was just funny.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he really was.
Speaker 2: What is it that gave you the acting bug as
Speaker 2: a kid? Was it growing up on sets with your dad?
Speaker 6: It was? And it was actually it's like, my biggest
Speaker 6: memory of it all is there was an episode on
Speaker 6: my two Dads called I don't remember the name of it,
Speaker 6: but where Paul Reiser was a leprechaun. And yeah, literally
Speaker 6: like he's he's a leprechaun and all these kids are
Speaker 6: coming to see him, and my dad, I guess, asked Michael, like, hey,
Speaker 6: my kids, you want you need extras? And he's like, yeah,
Speaker 6: I need a bunch of extras. You know, would your
Speaker 6: kids be up for it? And I'm I had to
Speaker 6: have been six, five, seven, I don't know, and my
Speaker 6: brother and I did it and my dad will know.
Speaker 6: He tells the story today to this day. He said
Speaker 6: Michael had to him up to him and say, hey,
Speaker 6: can you tell Vanessa? Or maybe it was the camera man,
Speaker 6: can you get to stop staring into the camera like
Speaker 6: and and But from that moment on, I knew I
Speaker 6: wanted to be an actress, I guess. And my dad
Speaker 6: kept saying no, no, no, and then fine, and then
Speaker 6: he would say go get into a play. And then
Speaker 6: I got into a play, and then he's like you know,
Speaker 6: and then finally I think when I was about eleven,
Speaker 6: they were like, okay, well we'll let you do it.
Speaker 6: And then that's when I got my first acting job,
Speaker 6: and and then my first series regular, which was awesome.
Speaker 3: Tell us about that.
Speaker 1: What was what?
Speaker 2: What do you remember about your first audition, your first
Speaker 2: book job?
Speaker 3: What was it?
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, the first one was called Jack's Place, but
Speaker 6: my the big first one for me was against It
Speaker 6: was called Against the Grain. He was with Ben Affleck
Speaker 6: and he was my brother, and Robin Lively and John Terry,
Speaker 6: Donna Bullock. Like. It was a great a great cast,
Speaker 6: I mean, and it was a football show. It was
Speaker 6: I was honestly like, it was a critically acclaimed NBC
Speaker 6: show that I mean didn't happen after the first season,
Speaker 6: which was a bummer because it was so was like
Speaker 6: a football show and it was so good. But you know,
Speaker 6: and then Seventh Heaven came out and it was basically
Speaker 6: like they just did something right that we didn't do,
Speaker 6: I guess, but yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. That
Speaker 6: was my first like real memory and then you know,
Speaker 6: it was lucky to work a bit. You know, I
Speaker 6: still do occasionally when I'm I think kids right now
Speaker 6: are my focus? How to do more than one thing
Speaker 6: at one time?
Speaker 2: Tell me a little bit about social studies too. I
Speaker 2: remember you doing social studies.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's right. That that was a show right back.
Speaker 6: To back Tuesdays. You that was that was said, That
Speaker 6: was upn It was great. My biggest memory of that
Speaker 6: was Film next Door to Milisha and like Brandy, I
Speaker 6: don't know, there was like all these fun shows and
Speaker 6: Sabrina and that was fun. That was actually the days
Speaker 6: the that I did your yes because the hair it
Speaker 6: was like funny. I really had fun with that show.
Speaker 6: That was like a height like a I wasn't high school.
Speaker 6: We were in you know, like junior high sixteen, yeah,
Speaker 6: junior high high school sixteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 6: Guess it was high school. And it was just really fun.
Speaker 6: It was it was wild because we we we got that.
Speaker 6: We did that. I did the pilot of it, and
Speaker 6: then they got this big meeting together after the pilot,
Speaker 6: and then we got picked up and they started recasting
Speaker 6: the whole show, and I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 6: oh no, and they faintly kept me, but they recasted
Speaker 6: I guess older they went with the people. I guess
Speaker 6: that the original I don't even remember, but it was
Speaker 6: like really young. I looked way older than everyone. I
Speaker 6: guess we were all the same age though, must have
Speaker 6: been those paths they kept patting me with. They continue
Speaker 6: to do it in every show I was ever in,
Speaker 6: Like in bra.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I mean, yes, I got it.
Speaker 6: I mean I watched the It's World. I was like, okay,
Speaker 6: I mean that was what real fake? But you know continued.
Speaker 2: Do you remember was that something you wanted? Was it
Speaker 2: something like you were on? Were you self conscious in
Speaker 2: asking for.
Speaker 6: Them or was it I think I might have been
Speaker 6: because like at ay right, there was a few episodes
Speaker 6: of you know, not episodes literally into situations where like
Speaker 6: I had the bra and then the girls would like
Speaker 6: show their I mean, it was ridiculous, you know. I
Speaker 6: don't know if you remember that, but like no, but anyway,
Speaker 6: I I think I was so self conscious of that.
Speaker 6: I was pretty bullied. Actually, I was so thankful when
Speaker 6: I met you because I feel like I could breathe again,
Speaker 6: Like I had a friend, you know, just wasn't mean
Speaker 6: and pushing me into park cars and ripping my brow
Speaker 6: off so literally. And I'm not exaggering when I say that,
Speaker 6: So I might have that might have been. Why But
Speaker 6: as I got older and did you know shows when
Speaker 6: I was supposed to be like my twenties, they were
Speaker 6: then telling me I hated to you know, add more,
Speaker 6: which I was totally fine with then, but must have been,
Speaker 6: you know, right like now I could care less. I'm like,
Speaker 6: you know, they're fine. Now, they're better than they were then. Yeah,
Speaker 6: lucky with the kids. But yeah, I don't know. I
Speaker 6: think it must have been must have been maybe or
Speaker 6: that maybe it was like the cool snotty girls supposed
Speaker 6: to have big boots.
Speaker 2: I have no ideas, so funny, I know I have
Speaker 2: memories of that being a thing too, But in the reverse.
Speaker 2: I remember I worked on something where someone was supposed
Speaker 2: to be a teenager was a teenager and they felt
Speaker 2: like her chest was too big, and so they bound
Speaker 2: her with an ace bandage in order to look smaller.
Speaker 2: And so I do remember that being like a topic
Speaker 2: of conversation, and I was just wondering, like, in your case,
Speaker 2: you really noticed it on boy Meet's World. I did
Speaker 2: not notice it. I can I just I did not
Speaker 2: notice in any way. It didn't look fake to me.
Speaker 6: I didn't.
Speaker 2: I didn't pay any attention to it, but you obviously
Speaker 2: noticed it. And so I was wondering, is that something
Speaker 2: that you came with an insecurity and were like, listen,
Speaker 2: let's give me a little quote unquote help in this area,
Speaker 2: or if it was just something discussed. Maybe it was
Speaker 2: a combination of it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I'm not sure. I mean I was always like, yeah,
Speaker 6: I give me more, the more, the better, you know,
Speaker 6: But I don't feel that way now. But but yeah,
Speaker 6: that was uh yeah, it's just wild how how like
Speaker 6: things little things had happened in school can really just
Speaker 6: like follow through with you for so long. Yeah, possibly
Speaker 6: forever unless you deal with it. But luckily I dealt
Speaker 6: with it, and now I just think it's funny right
Speaker 6: now you can joke about it. Oh yeah, because I
Speaker 6: could like probably remember the bra too. I mean.
Speaker 4: It was thick.
Speaker 6: I mean I want to go back.
Speaker 4: I want to go back to your dad for a second,
Speaker 4: just because I'm so curious, like, and I've been asking
Speaker 4: other people this question lately, which is because my son
Speaker 4: is very much like a performer and he's like lovely
Speaker 4: acting and whatnot, and I'm like, my wife and I
Speaker 4: are both actors, and I just don't know how to
Speaker 4: like help him or talk to him. Did your dad
Speaker 4: ever like talk to you about like did he teach
Speaker 4: you how to act? Did he give you notes? Did
Speaker 4: he how did how did that relationship work? Or did
Speaker 4: he just say let other teachers and directors take care
Speaker 4: of this.
Speaker 6: It's a really good question, you know. First of all,
Speaker 6: I almost want to say congrats, And I'm sorry about
Speaker 6: like that, because I always my husband and I always
Speaker 6: say like we just really hope they don't want to
Speaker 6: get into it and we know the journey and like
Speaker 6: how I mean, for a show to go as long
Speaker 6: as yours went unheard of, you know, and for it
Speaker 6: to be that well known it's it's and I think
Speaker 6: that people really think, like I have moms all the time, like, oh,
Speaker 6: do you think you can help me get my kids
Speaker 6: into acting? Can you get you think we can get
Speaker 6: them an agent? And I'm like, I don't even know
Speaker 6: where to begin now, but I know that my dad
Speaker 6: clearly did not want me to be in the business
Speaker 6: until I begged him to the point where he was
Speaker 6: like fine, And I I remember vaguely kind of, I think,
Speaker 6: meeting with a few agents, and then I ended up
Speaker 6: falling into like I think I was with Iris Burton first. Wow,
Speaker 6: remember that name, but.
Speaker 4: She was legendary, legendary.
Speaker 6: Yes, she was wonderful. But he did coach me a lot.
Speaker 6: He did help me. He's a wonderful coach, and but
Speaker 6: also very like critical, like I would watch them and
Speaker 6: be like and he's like, yeah that I mean, you
Speaker 6: just weren't listening or you weren't like really helpful. Especially
Speaker 6: as an adult too now, like gosh, those were things
Speaker 6: I like to carry over because there's nothing worse in
Speaker 6: watching an actor who's just like not listening and they're
Speaker 6: just like throwing out their lines and they're not connected.
Speaker 6: And obviously I was super young then, But I feel
Speaker 6: like as I got older, I noticed, you know, roles,
Speaker 6: and I didn't like what I did. And I was like, oh,
Speaker 6: and you know, I studied with Warner Laughlin. So to
Speaker 6: answer your question, studied, I mean Warner Laughlin is like
Speaker 6: my go to coach, Like I coach with her forever
Speaker 6: and still do from time to time, even just like
Speaker 6: on the phone. But yeah, my dad will help me.
Speaker 6: My sister sometimes will run stuff. You know, I'll if
Speaker 6: I have a friend, like I mean a couple of friends,
Speaker 6: Like a lot of people have moved to Nashville, which
Speaker 6: is wild, so I'll like work with them on stuff sometimes.
Speaker 3: But because that's where you live now, or any.
Speaker 6: Of you here, I know you're not.
Speaker 3: No, no, we are not.
Speaker 2: Actually you mentioned your sister, so I want to te
Speaker 2: talk a little bit about your siblings, because your brother
Speaker 2: went on to become a very successful songwriter, and your
Speaker 2: sister is also an actress best known for doing dance
Speaker 2: moves I wish I could do.
Speaker 3: She was in the Step Up of Movies, two of.
Speaker 5: The two of the more important ones of the of
Speaker 5: the of the series of four, She's in Step Up
Speaker 5: to the Streets.
Speaker 1: In the fourth one.
Speaker 6: Actually, I think Fifth one loves Step Up, really loves it.
Speaker 4: Any of them their their life.
Speaker 1: It's really want to Yeah, I mean Step Up two.
Speaker 5: When when we meet Moose in two, it really kind
Speaker 5: of changes the entire amazing tire ball game.
Speaker 1: But I mean, for all those movies, you got no idea.
Speaker 1: I mean, he really.
Speaker 6: Loves my sister dancing together one time.
Speaker 5: No, I don't dance at all a matter of fact,
Speaker 5: I'm completely and totally opposed to it.
Speaker 1: But the films are wonderful, yeah, which is really all
Speaker 1: that matters. Yeah, they're great.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So tell us a little bit about your sister, Brianna,
Speaker 2: your brother Jason Evgan.
Speaker 3: Okay, you guys are very you're an entertainment family. We are.
Speaker 6: We definitely are. My my brother, I'll start with my brother.
Speaker 6: He he is, but they're both my younger brother. Younger
Speaker 6: brother and sister. My brother is kind of started off
Speaker 6: in a band and and you know.
Speaker 3: Just really want to tell us about the band.
Speaker 6: He was in the After Midnight Project, but they were
Speaker 6: first Illusion and then you know he I think at
Speaker 6: some point he kind of just realized like this isn't
Speaker 6: I mean, he was signed and then unsigned, like Jack
Speaker 6: Osborne signed him, and he was doing a little bit
Speaker 6: here and there, and then I think one day he
Speaker 6: really really realized, like, I'm going to try and catalog
Speaker 6: my music and see what happens. And he did, and
Speaker 6: he did some Disney stuff and then he got his
Speaker 6: first big because he's a writer and a producer and
Speaker 6: a phenomenal singer and can do every instrument. I mean,
Speaker 6: he's truly like a brilliant He's like a he's like
Speaker 6: a genius when it comes to so yeah, he's like
Speaker 6: a genetic defect. I don't understand. Yeah, he so heart attack.
Speaker 6: But that Demi Lovado sings was like, I feel like
Speaker 6: the one that got him on the map really and
Speaker 6: then and then it followed with like, you know, talked
Speaker 6: Dirty to Me, that Jason Derula song, and then a
Speaker 6: slew of incredible Room five songs, and then he's got
Speaker 6: like he's I mean, he's I feel like if you
Speaker 6: name a person's he's wrote or he's.
Speaker 3: Worked with my dear friend Sabrina Carpenter, yes he has. Yeah.
Speaker 6: And then him and his wife started their own little
Speaker 6: project called Elephant Part, which is phenomenal. I mean, it's
Speaker 6: like the best music your kids can listen to it too,
Speaker 6: because it's just wonderful. Me she just wanted to dance.
Speaker 6: It's so happy. And then my sister, you know, she
Speaker 6: was an dancer and went to Campbell Hall and literally
Speaker 6: was like doing a recital and this guy named Matt
Speaker 6: just love her and decided to manage We wanted to
Speaker 6: manage her and got her an audition for a Step
Speaker 6: Up and she missed our family Hawaii trip for it
Speaker 6: and this better, this better be a better payoff. Yeah,
Speaker 6: because you're not you're not an actress, like this was
Speaker 6: your first you know, it was literally like her first
Speaker 6: thing ever, and she was just a natural, absolutely, like
Speaker 6: as you know.
Speaker 5: And I think, uh, I think if memory serves, the
Speaker 5: Step Up movies were produced by David Nixy, who's Early
Speaker 5: nick Say's dad.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so Lily nix Say's dad produced all the Step
Speaker 5: Up movies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, gosh, we are all so connected.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, really small world.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and John Chu directed to I believe, and maybe
Speaker 6: all of them, I don't know, and he's so talented.
Speaker 3: So yeah.
Speaker 6: And now my sister is actually in Africa. She lived
Speaker 6: in Africa and she lives in Zimbabwe and she is
Speaker 6: married with a child, and they are this amazing force.
Speaker 6: Just they have a documentary coming out. They're doing so
Speaker 6: much basically just to they're working on creating sustainable living
Speaker 6: for people that I mean, it all kind of flows together.
Speaker 6: It's really hard to explain in a nutshell and I
Speaker 6: can't do it. But she's just making a huge difference
Speaker 6: over there.
Speaker 1: Right now, and I'm so proud of amazing.
Speaker 6: Yes, and she was only supposed to go during COVID
Speaker 6: for like a year and a half or two years,
Speaker 6: and then she found met her husband, who's wonderful and
Speaker 6: he's the reason women are allowed to be rangers in Africa.
Speaker 6: He started something there and he preserves all this land.
Speaker 6: So they're just an incredible couple. And yeah, and I
Speaker 6: really miss her, but she is coming back out here
Speaker 6: in November. Abundant Village is her thing, and she's doing
Speaker 6: a lot of a lot of talks and you know,
Speaker 6: just fundraising like public speaking, speaking and getting people familiar
Speaker 6: with what she's doing. So yeah, wow, that's cool. And
Speaker 6: they're my best friends, both of them. They're just great humans.
Speaker 6: So that's the most import In part.
Speaker 2: Going back a little bit before when we were talking
Speaker 2: about against the Grain and Social Studies, two shows that
Speaker 2: could have been massive, huge breaks, but then were life
Speaker 2: was cut short, as they so often are with shows
Speaker 2: that just get yanked off the air before they're really
Speaker 2: given a chance.
Speaker 3: Do you remember one was that heartbreaking for you? And two?
Speaker 2: Did your dad have any advice or like, what did
Speaker 2: your dad say to you then when that happened and
Speaker 2: you were probably devastated.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, it's always hard. It's always hard when you
Speaker 6: when you get canned or canceled or you know, all
Speaker 6: picked up or it was hard. Especially the Against the
Speaker 6: Grain one was hard because it was like critically acclaimed.
Speaker 6: They were like NBC's it's like their favorite show and
Speaker 6: it's gonna you know, it's it's gonna be huge, blah
Speaker 6: blah blah. And I'm a kid, so I'm just thinking, great,
Speaker 6: you believe it's so young. I think I was twelve
Speaker 6: or thirteen maybe, and it was really sad. I mean
Speaker 6: I remember because we all just got so close and
Speaker 6: Ben was like felt like a brother, and I just
Speaker 6: I didn't want to go back to school either because
Speaker 6: it was so hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just wanted to stay ever forever.
Speaker 6: And yeah, it was hard. It was heartbreaking. And and
Speaker 6: when Social Studies was canceled too, that was really hard
Speaker 6: because I mean that was another one, Like you said that,
Speaker 6: we just they really thought that one was going to work.
Speaker 6: And I don't really know what happened. And you know,
Speaker 6: anytime you're you just it's just hard.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 6: My dad's advice was just keep going. If you love it,
Speaker 6: don't give up. And it's it's a business that's going
Speaker 6: to either it's going to either build you up, break
Speaker 6: you down, or crush you and you won't be able
Speaker 6: to do it. So you have to be strong enough
Speaker 6: to stay in it or you got to quit. And
Speaker 6: I'm like, and not quit, but just like walk away
Speaker 6: and do You always said find something you love to
Speaker 6: do that you're good at, that you can make money at.
Speaker 6: And I'm like, okay, I think I'm pretty good at it.
Speaker 6: I can make money at this. I love it, but
Speaker 6: I you know, you know what it's like, it's like
Speaker 6: up and down, like I watched my dad and my
Speaker 6: sister and I will all so I always say, any
Speaker 6: job is a blessing and exciting and I'm like, you
Speaker 6: never know when you're gonna be back on set again. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I love I mean, I love it. I think it's
Speaker 6: so fun.
Speaker 3: Do you have any memories of young Ben Affleck.
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely, Yeah. He was a cute one still is wild.
Speaker 6: How I mean to think Ben just I mean I can't.
Speaker 6: I mean, he's like he's been Jen Low or whatever
Speaker 6: Ben j that even I heard of that. I love it. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I mean, honestly, my memory is my guardian because my
Speaker 6: parents were trying to like take my sister places. My
Speaker 6: dad was working, my mom, you know, all of us,
Speaker 6: and I'm on the show, and my brother was like
Speaker 6: on a traveling hockey league. So this Kelly was our
Speaker 6: babysitter and she was eighteen I think, or she's like
Speaker 6: twenty one, I would say, and I think just head
Speaker 6: over heels for him, and I just it was just
Speaker 6: that was my biggest memory because I was like too young.
Speaker 6: I always like thought he'd really cute.
Speaker 2: And probably had a crush on him, right, but he
Speaker 2: was like a big brother more than someone.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Uh huh. He actually is the reason I started
Speaker 6: a really weird habit that I still do. And my
Speaker 6: sister and brother and my parents will notice it, but
Speaker 6: I'll and you probably remember it, Danielle, maybe but I go.
Speaker 3: Like, yes, okay, yes, your little mouth thing you do.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, it's like a rabbit. I'm actually smelling my breath.
Speaker 6: But one day on set I was just doing that,
Speaker 6: like not really knowing what I was doing, and Ben
Speaker 6: was like, are you what are you doing? You look
Speaker 6: like a little rabbit. What are you doing? I was like,
Speaker 6: I don't know, and I literally I'm not kidding with you.
Speaker 6: It became the worst habit. I just started doing it because.
Speaker 2: How are you doing You're blowing mouth, You're blo out
Speaker 2: of you.
Speaker 3: To smell your breath.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And it didn't start that way, but now now
Speaker 6: it's actually like a really interesting way to tell if
Speaker 6: your breath smells. My brother would be like, you're doing it,
Speaker 6: you're because then it got to the point where I
Speaker 6: would literally be doing it in the middle of a scene.
Speaker 3: Oh my god.
Speaker 6: You know when someone points something out's how they say
Speaker 6: to your don't oh yeah, not your kids are doing
Speaker 6: is they're going to keep doing it and like ignore
Speaker 6: everything they do that's not right.
Speaker 4: There?
Speaker 2: Aff Yeah, yeah, did you watch your Boy Meets World
Speaker 2: episode when it aired on? Like, did you did the
Speaker 2: whole family gather around and watch your episode.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure we all did, like I'm
Speaker 6: I mean, and if you weren't there, we must I
Speaker 6: must have had like I don't know, we had to
Speaker 6: have done something. I know we definitely watched it, Like,
Speaker 6: I'm pretty sure it was very exciting that it was,
Speaker 6: you know, coming on and you.
Speaker 2: Know, well, as as everyone knows, Jensen and I also
Speaker 2: went to high school together. So Jensen knew you as
Speaker 2: you guys were friends as teenagers, and Jensen swears that
Speaker 2: you two watched a social studies episode over the phone
Speaker 2: together probably, by the way, was a thing you did.
Speaker 4: The most I've ever heard. Yeah, let's watch a TV
Speaker 4: show one of us and talk about it.
Speaker 3: Yes, while on the phone together.
Speaker 6: It was hilarious. Yes, I mean those were the good
Speaker 6: old days when you pick up the phone and like
Speaker 6: actually talk to people. Yeah, I mean I don't sorry, Jensen,
Speaker 6: I don't remember that that well. But I remember we
Speaker 6: were friends. Well that's good friends. And then when I
Speaker 6: and then when I found out you guys got married,
Speaker 6: I was like, thank god, just it's so nice when
Speaker 6: you see like people finding each other that are yes
Speaker 6: and love and all that.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so as we mentioned you now live in Nashville,
Speaker 2: just an absolutely beautiful family living what could only be
Speaker 2: described is what looks like a Hallmark movie shot on
Speaker 2: a farm. Your property is absolutely gorgeous. You are always
Speaker 2: your photos look just every but you're also so real.
Speaker 2: Especially over the last couple of years, Vanessa has really
Speaker 2: embraced I think after years of feeling a lot of
Speaker 2: pressure to live like a quote unquote perfect life visually
Speaker 2: of a certain aesthetic on Instagram, Vanessa realized the damaging
Speaker 2: effect that was having on her own mental health and
Speaker 2: figured if it's affecting her mental health, it's probably affecting
Speaker 2: other people's and she did not want to contribute to
Speaker 2: the furtherance of it. And so you kind of adjusted
Speaker 2: what you post, and now you post very sometimes absolutely
Speaker 2: gorgeous photos and wonderful things, but they're also you post
Speaker 2: very relatable topics, and you have very relatable humor, and
Speaker 2: you show what your life is really like as a
Speaker 2: mom of two still work. As you mentioned you you
Speaker 2: recently did a movie not that long ago. Why don't
Speaker 2: you tell us about some of the projects you have
Speaker 2: right now and then I'll go back to your home life.
Speaker 6: Well, thank you for saying that. It is very important
Speaker 6: to me to be real.
Speaker 5: I I.
Speaker 6: Kind of can't even get on Instagram often anymore because
Speaker 6: I'm just like a little Yeah, so I really try
Speaker 6: to try to be very real and right now I
Speaker 6: just post what I feel like. It's pretty out. It's
Speaker 6: flowers that are blooming and so pretty and I planted
Speaker 6: them from seeds. But yes, I'll go back to that.
Speaker 6: But I did. I've done a couple things since I
Speaker 6: had kids, but not a ton. I was really thankful.
Speaker 6: I did a Western in I think it was like
Speaker 6: twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's what I was talking about.
Speaker 6: That was that was really really awesome. That was one
Speaker 6: of my favorite, probably one of my favorite jobs. I
Speaker 6: side for point means world of course because it will.
Speaker 6: It filmed in Nashville, and I was like the lead
Speaker 6: female in it and it was just me and a
Speaker 6: bunch of men on horseback with rifles and.
Speaker 4: It's cool cool.
Speaker 6: Yeah. So and it took place you know, in the
Speaker 6: I don't know, late some time before you know anything.
Speaker 6: So we are all there all nineteen early nineteen hundreds
Speaker 6: or eighteen.
Speaker 5: Okay, yes, probably the probably around the if it was
Speaker 5: a Western, you're probably around the eighteen sixties.
Speaker 2: Thanks for being smarter century late eighteen hundred, eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 6: I was like, yeah, I mean I get it, but like,
Speaker 6: I definitely didn't have that an eighteen hundreds of a
Speaker 6: few things there. Well, it wasn't like a million twenty
Speaker 6: million dollar movie where the people were like, Okay, we
Speaker 6: got to move all these.
Speaker 4: Things out of the world.
Speaker 5: Right. The cowboys are talking to each other on cell phones?
Speaker 6: Right, how can I not put this movie into a
Speaker 6: comedy though I don't really do things like hormal, I
Speaker 6: don't know, but it was so fun and I got
Speaker 6: to get my kids were in it, which was so cool,
Speaker 6: and my husband, which is the ultimate, like he literally
Speaker 6: got so into the role. It was maybe fifteen second role.
Speaker 3: He hit a fifteen second cameo.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he gets killed, but he went method yes, and
Speaker 6: he gets shot off the horse by sorry if I'm
Speaker 6: reading the movie. Spoiler is such a brilliant movie that
Speaker 6: you don't know no trace Atkins, who's a song country singer, Yeah,
Speaker 6: a country singer, Yeah, rides up on a horse and
Speaker 6: shoots him. And my husband is a horse. He rides horses,
Speaker 6: And that wasn't meant to be in the movie. But
Speaker 6: I told the director. I was like, hey, Mike, you know,
Speaker 6: my husband's actually really good rider, and he probably loved
Speaker 6: to like ride in on it, so he kind of
Speaker 6: changed the whole thing around for him. And he runs,
Speaker 6: he trots up like gets in the fight, gets shot,
Speaker 6: and he falls off the horse himself, does the stunt,
Speaker 6: doesn't Adlise. He's got to do it probably fifty times
Speaker 6: because you know, it's a movie, like, and he was
Speaker 6: like doing the thing like where you're like on the
Speaker 6: ground something and he couldn't walk for like a week
Speaker 6: after that. I mean, it was good. He looks great
Speaker 6: and the kids were so adorable in it, and that
Speaker 6: was really it was so fun and yeah, so that
Speaker 6: was like the most recent thing I did. And I
Speaker 6: feel like I've been kind of like my agent will
Speaker 6: send the auditions and I just am like, yeah, maybe
Speaker 6: I'll be like put myself on for that one. But
Speaker 6: I I just like would never want to turn a
Speaker 6: job down, right, So if I were to just happen
Speaker 6: to get it, I would never want to be like
Speaker 6: I can't. Yeah, I was gonna get it, but just
Speaker 6: you know, when I was like I'm gonna.
Speaker 2: And if it shoots in Nashville. That makes it a
Speaker 2: lot easier for you than having to travel for.
Speaker 6: It because it's in Atlanta or Nashville, you know, working
Speaker 6: sometimes California just kind of depends on what it is.
Speaker 4: So just nothing shooting in California anymore.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a Georgia, I know it is. It really is,
Speaker 6: and it's you know so and they just need to
Speaker 6: get it here now too. I feel like so many
Speaker 6: people have moved here. It's crazy, I know. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I feel like all of La just left from Nashville
Speaker 4: in the last ten years.
Speaker 6: I know, Jason Priestley, Melissa, everybody was like all like,
Speaker 6: so Shane West just moved here, which I just found
Speaker 6: a picture of us together.
Speaker 2: All Oh, yeah, me too. I've got a great picture
Speaker 2: of you, Me and Shane West those days.
Speaker 6: Corbyn and Corbyn, Oh my gosh, we have the short
Speaker 6: things that the belly rings. Oh my god, oh gosh.
Speaker 3: I know, did we ever belly buttons piers together?
Speaker 6: And we did?
Speaker 3: We did, That's right, that's right. It was so fun.
Speaker 1: Either of you still wear belly button piercings?
Speaker 4: No, I didn't think so.
Speaker 3: I committed to mine though for a long time.
Speaker 6: Here's a lot longer than me I had.
Speaker 3: I had mine until I was like thirty.
Speaker 6: We had a lot longer than I thought too. Yeah
Speaker 6: that's mine. Yeah, mine didn't last after a jump? And
Speaker 6: why off of the cliff? Oh yeah, it was pretty rough.
Speaker 1: So we did it? Get ripped out?
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
Speaker 6: Ish fully, Oh gosh, why did you let her do that? Pam? Like,
Speaker 6: I don't blame mom, Like I was the one that
Speaker 6: like did it.
Speaker 2: So you mentioned that you were able to have your kids,
Speaker 2: Maverick and Bertie Rose in the movie with you. If
Speaker 2: either of them said that they wanted to pursue a
Speaker 2: career in the entertainment industry, how would you and your
Speaker 2: husband Miles approach it.
Speaker 6: I don't know. I guess I I maybe go along
Speaker 6: that same route my dad did and say like, Okay,
Speaker 6: well let's let's start by getting me in a play
Speaker 6: or something. Yeah, if you do, and really work their
Speaker 6: way up to it. And I'm quite frankly, I don't
Speaker 6: even know, Like I know, I still have an agent.
Speaker 6: I could probably say, hey, you know, could you send
Speaker 6: them out for something or hear? But Maddick's really into
Speaker 6: sports right now, thankfully, I Bertie could, like I wish
Speaker 6: I had her dramatic. I mean, I'm dramatic, but she's
Speaker 6: like next level. I've never seen anything like. I mean
Speaker 6: she can. We're at that point where I don't know, like,
Speaker 6: are you really is this like doing? We need to
Speaker 6: go to the doctor every day, right, do we? Like?
Speaker 6: I mean, the whole thing. But if if anyone were
Speaker 6: to go that way, I would say it might be
Speaker 6: more her, Like, gosh.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 6: I really want them to be like lawyers or doctors
Speaker 6: or I don't.
Speaker 4: Know, fishermen, something sensible, no tough one.
Speaker 2: So let's say you had the chance to tell young
Speaker 2: Vanessa the one we saw on Boy Meets World. And
Speaker 2: let's say you get to tell her one thing about
Speaker 2: your life? Now, what would you What would you tell her?
Speaker 2: If you could go back in time and tell young
Speaker 2: Vanessa something, what would you tell her?
Speaker 6: Oh my gosh, I feel like that that kind of
Speaker 6: stuff makes me like cry. I would say, you have
Speaker 6: no idea how great it's going to be. It's hard now,
Speaker 6: and it's nothing. It's it's nothing that you could possibly
Speaker 6: imagine it's going to be. Yeah, Like I couldn't even
Speaker 6: like ever imagine this would be my life. So I would. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I think.
Speaker 3: That's such an important lesson.
Speaker 2: It's such an important lesson because I know it's the
Speaker 2: same thing for me too.
Speaker 3: You know, I thought I had it.
Speaker 2: I thought I was like, you know, I'd go down
Speaker 2: different paths thinking like, well, I have to I have
Speaker 2: to purs like, what's my future going to be? It's
Speaker 2: going to be like this, And you go down that
Speaker 2: route and then you feel like you get a door
Speaker 2: shoved slammed in your face and you're like.
Speaker 3: Well, but that's what I'm supposed to do. And you're like, oh,
Speaker 3: you know what it's It's not what I'm supposed to do.
Speaker 2: This is what I'm supposed to do, and then that
Speaker 2: door slams in your face and you're like, well now
Speaker 2: I feel so super lost and it must be me
Speaker 2: and something's wrong with me, and and it's actually that No,
Speaker 2: you're not supposed to know what it's going to be,
Speaker 2: and whatever it does end up being is going to
Speaker 2: be beyond anything you're capable of imagining for yourself. So
Speaker 2: stop worrying about it so much. Stop trying to manipulate it,
Speaker 2: stop trying to control it. Stop trying to shove a
Speaker 2: square peg into a round hole and just go live
Speaker 2: the life and enjoy the journey.
Speaker 3: To wherever it takes you.
Speaker 2: So that's such an important lesson, and I'm honored to
Speaker 2: have been on the journey with you for all these
Speaker 2: years too.
Speaker 6: You're just like anytime I think of you, even my
Speaker 6: Dad's like it's official, but yeah, I mean, yeah, you're
Speaker 6: I mean you're just like all joy when I think
Speaker 6: of you and all of our memories together, and you know,
Speaker 6: even when we get to see each other now in California,
Speaker 6: when I come back and I'm going to see you
Speaker 6: the next time i'm out there, I'm going to come back.
Speaker 3: Okay, yes you are.
Speaker 2: And I also will come visit you in Nashville. I
Speaker 2: want to see your place.
Speaker 6: Yes, definitely. I mean, my Myles jokes all the time
Speaker 6: because I'm like trying to like just give people land.
Speaker 6: I'm like, we have so much land. You want, you
Speaker 6: can have it, build yourself a home. We'll come out
Speaker 6: and charge you for the acreage. So just just come.
Speaker 6: We'll just build a community.
Speaker 3: I love it. That's what writer's dream, yeah dream, Yeah,
Speaker 3: communal living.
Speaker 6: Hey, please, I mean come all right, we'll give you
Speaker 6: and your wife would like become fast like, yeah, you know, all.
Speaker 3: Right, thank you so much for being with us. Vanessa.
Speaker 3: It's always so good to see you.
Speaker 2: Thank you for coming and revisiting these these uh these
Speaker 2: teenage years and your time on Boy Meets World with us.
Speaker 2: We appreciate you so much and I look forward to
Speaker 2: seeing you sometime soon.
Speaker 6: Thank you for having me on to see you here. Bye.
Speaker 4: Oh. The fact that she had like it sounded like
Speaker 4: she had like a rough like fifth or sixth grade.
Speaker 4: It's like, and she was so beautiful and like what
Speaker 4: I would have assumed is like the popular girl, you know.
Speaker 4: And the fact that she has like these bullying memories.
Speaker 4: Ye all never know, you never know, you never know,
Speaker 4: you're you're right exactly. But it's so funny because here
Speaker 4: she is getting cast as on our show the popular
Speaker 4: meme girl, because that is kind of her her look
Speaker 4: at that age, you know, you would assume, like, well,
Speaker 4: this girl's fine, like this girl is going to have
Speaker 4: confidence and be told and of course it's just never
Speaker 4: the case. You have no idea what's going on inside.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Vanessa did.
Speaker 2: She had a very very rough all all of junior
Speaker 2: high was extremely rough for her, and also a significant
Speaker 2: portion of high school, and she was really bullied, and
Speaker 2: you know, it's something she I'm so proud of her
Speaker 2: because never ever did her negative experiences in junior high
Speaker 2: school or high school change the kind of person that
Speaker 2: she was.
Speaker 3: She never let it make her angry or jaded or mean.
Speaker 2: She was always just a consistent, bright, beautiful, fun, awesome,
Speaker 2: wonderful person. But the truth is, you know, she she
Speaker 2: turned it inward. She had a lot of pain inside,
Speaker 2: and she had a lot of self doubt, and she
Speaker 2: had a lot of self esteem stuff. And I don't
Speaker 2: think I'm talking out of school to say she's worked
Speaker 2: very hard on herself, sure, and it shows. It's one
Speaker 2: of the reasons why I mentioned her social media because
Speaker 2: when you do go to it and you see her,
Speaker 2: she's very open about, you know, struggling with body image
Speaker 2: and self image and figuring out how social media plays
Speaker 2: into her life is in a way of being able
Speaker 2: to share with friends and family, but also not contributing
Speaker 2: to something that seems fake. And so it's very she's
Speaker 2: just she's an open book. And I just love and
Speaker 2: appreciate and respect her so much, and I'm truly lucky
Speaker 2: to have known her for all the years that I
Speaker 2: have and I'll never I'll never not be in touch
Speaker 2: within us, just that they actually have, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know, but she has said give it away.
Speaker 4: I have at least like one hundred, one hundred and
Speaker 4: fifty eight years. It's a horse ranch. It's an actual
Speaker 4: horse ranch.
Speaker 2: And she's got a farm and she's got Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: from what I understand, it's like a city. It's a
Speaker 2: city of acreage, California.
Speaker 4: Guys.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she is.
Speaker 1: She and her husband owned Tenna. There you go.
Speaker 2: Thank you all for joining us for this episode of
Speaker 2: Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on
Speaker 2: Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send us your
Speaker 2: emails pod meets World Show at gmail dot com and
Speaker 2: we have merch.
Speaker 1: It's official March. I love it.
Speaker 3: Pod Meets Worldshow dot com writer send us out.
Speaker 4: We love you all, pod dismissed. Pod Meets World is
Speaker 4: an iHeart podcast produce and hosted by Daniel Fisher, Wilfred
Speaker 4: and Ryder Strong. Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman.
Speaker 4: Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor
Speaker 4: Taras sudbachsch producer Maddi Moore Engineer and Boy meets World
Speaker 4: Superman Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton
Speaker 4: of Typhoon. Follow us on Instagram at Podmets World Show
Speaker 4: or email us at Podmeats World Show at gmail dot
Speaker 4: com