WEBVTT - You're Probably Taking Criticism All Wrong with Jennifer Morrison 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.840 No one has all the answers, but when we ask 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:10.639 the right questions, we get a little closer, closer to truths, 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:16.560 closer to each other, even closer to ourselves. I'm journalist 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.280 Danielle Robe, and each week, my guests and I come 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.800 together to challenge the status quo and our own ways 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:27.360 of thinking by daring to ask what if, why not? 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.480 And who says? So? Come curious, dig deep, and join 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:43.240 the conversation. It's time to question everything. Shakespeare famously wrote, 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:45.519 all the world's a stage, and all the men and 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.680 women merely players. The older I get, the more I 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:51.839 think he was right. I mean, I think he was 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.680 right about a lot of things. But what Shakespeare is 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.400 saying is that all of us are actors. We take 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.319 on these roles child, teacher, mother, wife, The list goes on, 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.200 and he's observing that we're constantly performing for one another, 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.800 whether we realize it or not. And I think those 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.800 roles shift right. We're one version of ourselves at work, 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:15.840 another with our closest friends, another with our parents, maybe 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:19.560 another with our kids, and somewhere between all of those roles, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:24.479 we spend a lifetime trying to answer a deceptively simple question. 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.280 Who am I when no one's asking me to be 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:34.040 someone for them? I exhale when I think about that question. 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.560 Who am I when no one's asking me to be 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.200 someone for them? Well, Jennifer Morrison has made a career 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:48.120 out of becoming other people. You know her from house 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.480 from Once Upon a Time, How I Met Your Mother, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.960 and more recently as the director behind some of TV's 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:58.000 biggest shows, including Yellowjackets, The Night Agent, and The Five 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:03.720 Star Weekend. Spent decades studying human behavior, first as an 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.800 actress and now from behind the camera as a director, 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.800 and it is so fun to hear her opinions and 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.919 experiences on set and about the craft. Just listen very 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.400 closely for the part where she talks about actors as 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.120 emotional athletes. I've been thinking about that ever since, and 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.640 like how we can all become them. Anyways, what I 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.440 was really interested in was what she taught me about 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.920 being human. Jennifer wanted to be an actress since she 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.959 was five years old, and she did it. She did 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.680 the unimaginable. She became the point zero one percent of 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:39.920 recognizable TV actors. Just to put that in perspective, imagine 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.519 a football stadium with ten thousand people in it, one 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:49.079 of them becomes Jennifer Morrison. So Jennifer realized her childhood dream, 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.360 and then she realized she'd gotten so good at becoming 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.960 everyone else that she'd slowly stop becoming herself. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.240 I also could feel this tugging of like a true 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.880 self that just was constantly being pushed away because I 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.000 was sacrificing to succeed. I was sacrificing to succeed. I 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.560 was never seeing my friends, I was never seeing my family. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:13.000 I was always missing every event. I was spending every 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.400 hour of the day being someone else, and no hours 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.320 of the day even knowing who I was. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.760 Now. Shakespeare believed we spend our lives playing different parts, 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.880 but Jennifer made me wonder if he left one question unanswered. 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.640 What if every role we play is still authentically us? 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:40.000 It's time to question everything with Jennifer Morrison. Jennifer, I 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.640 feel like I have known you for over thirty years 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.920 and I don't know anything about you. Yet. You're a 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.200 very private person. Yeah, I guess I am. I feel 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.000 like I'm an open book but a private person. If 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.000 that makes sense, that makes all the sense in the world. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.640 I actually think that's very Chicago of you, probably very 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.760 Chicago of me. So you just directed the five Star 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.040 week End, which is out on Peacock now, and it's 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.240 about grief and friendship and the people who show up 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.240 when life changes overnight. But in modern terms, I feel 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.440 like it's a story about the group chat. Yeah, in 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.320 a lot of ways, when life gets hard, who do 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:20.320 you go to for advice, distraction, honesty, presence. What is 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:22.240 your favorite way to show up for the people that 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:22.960 you care about. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.720 It's a really good question because I think it's different 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.720 for everybody, and it's hard to know what to do 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.400 in any given situation. And we had several people go 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:38.000 through losses while you're shooting the show, which was really 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.120 interesting since the show was dealing with grief. And I 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.360 called my best friend and I said, I don't know 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.080 what to do. I want to be here for people 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:49.800 and I want to make sure that I'm showing up 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:50.320 in the right way. 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:53.360 And she said, she was like, just do what you 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.120 always do. She was like, you hold space. And it 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:56.440 was so. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.680 Interesting to have yourself reflected back to yourself by someone 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:01.080 because I wouldn't have thought of it that way. I 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.960 wouldn't have necessarily framed it that way, but she was like, 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.400 you just hold space for what that person needs, and 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.360 if what they need is to laugh, you'll make them laugh. 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.240 And if what they need is to cry, you'll hold 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.960 them while they cry. And she just said, you know, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.479 you have a calming presence to do that, And so 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.520 I try to think of it that way. Now you 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.240 know now that I sort of have the words to 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.159 think of it that way. And sometimes I just want 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:28.440 people to know I'm there without the pressure to respond. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:31.599 I think that's the biggest thing, is like when someone's 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.200 going through something, I don't ever want them to feel 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.560 like they have to take care of me while I'm 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.600 trying to take care of them. So I try really 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:41.719 hard to be clear of like, hey, please don't respond 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.120 to this text. I want you to know I'm thinking 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.560 of you, or leave a voicemail and say cannot call 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:46.920 me back. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:48.400 I just want you to know I love you, you know 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.920 what I mean. Like, it's just trying to make sure 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.960 that you're not adding one more thing to the weight 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.160 of what they're dealing with. So I don't know, I 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:57.880 don't know if there's any right way to do it, 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.200 but that's the best I can do. I think that's 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:05.120 incredibly tailored and thoughtful. I've seen you post a lot 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:09.520 on Instagram about girls' nights, yes, And I was wondering 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:11.719 if you are the kind of friend that is more 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.400 in the day to day or if you're kind of 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.400 the deep end friend where you show up for the 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.560 important stuff but you're not texting back day to day. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:19.680 I do text back. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:21.359 I do try to make sure that by the end 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:22.960 of the day, even if I'm on set, I try, 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.200 even if it's at a weird hour, I try to 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.479 make sure that I respond to everything by the end 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.760 of the day. Every once in a while, something will 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.440 go a little longer if it requires a longer, more 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.000 elaborate answer, and I need to give thought to it, 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:36.520 and I want to make sure that it gets the 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.000 attention it deserves. So I do try to really pay 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.480 attention to that despite my schedule. But I would say 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.440 in terms of like being at events, it has to 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.920 be scheduled. It definitely has to be scheduled at this point. 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:52.679 So between you know, my home life as I work life, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.919 it's like, you know, sometimes we're scheduling months in advance, 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:56.600 but it's worth it. 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.479 What does the typical girls' night look like for you, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.080 very simple it is on the couch is not Yeah, 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:04.160 it's not complicated. 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.200 It's maybe like a nice restaurant, you know what I mean, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.320 Like a nice restaurant or having people over. We definitely 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.600 since having a family, do that a lot more, where 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.000 it's like it's easier to have someone at the house 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.160 instead of getting a babysitter and all that kind of stuff. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.800 So sometimes it's just you know, mordering good food. In 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:22.320 what I do try to avoid is too much of 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.880 the cooking because a I'm not a great cook and 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.720 no one really wants to suffer through that. But be 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.200 it's the dishes and that, you know what I mean. 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.480 So yeah, so I try to keep it simple and casual. 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.280 When I have these types of conversations, I go home 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.600 and I reflect so much about my life. I'm wondering 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.520 if when you're directing a show like that, if it 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.680 makes you think about the type of people you want 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.680 around you when things get with five Star Weekend, Yeah, 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.360 oh absolutely. I mean I was so drawn to the 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.680 book in the first place, all in Hildebrand's book just 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:55.720 because I was like, what a great concept. I am 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:57.920 so jealous of anyone who gets to have a five 0:07:57.920 --> 0:07:58.800 Star weekend? You know. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.320 It's the idea is you put together the women who 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.400 were your closest person in each phase of life. So 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.920 it's like her closest person from high school, her closest 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.000 person from college, her closest person from work, and her 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:14.000 closest person from mom life. And I feel like that 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.920 is a natural evolution of closeness in life, you know. 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.600 And I have all those closest people across those phases 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.520 of my life, and I'm like, man, how cool would 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.280 it be to get them all together? You know, because 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:24.920 they all have so much in common, but they're also 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:27.520 so different and they don't really know each other, any 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.120 of them. So yeah, I mean, as soon as I 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.440 read the book, I was like, oh, man, I wish 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.280 I could do this. But again, imagine trying to schedule that, 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.679 and it makes you think a lot about I don't know, 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:40.880 just like the priorities in life, and how tricky it 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.440 is because the only reason the women in Five Star 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.600 Weekend are able to do it is because they're showing 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.600 up for someone who's grieving, and it feels like a 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.719 little bit more of a crisis, and so somehow we're 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.240 all able to rearrange everything for a crisis, but if 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.560 it's just for ourselves, we're like, oh, I can't do it, 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:58.559 or I can't make it, or you know, it's too 0:08:58.600 --> 0:08:59.720 busy or whatever. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.880 That does make me think too right. Yeah, and it's 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.000 a real thing. Backup run Setter who wrote all the 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:07.880 five Star Weekend. I mean she has a writer's room 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.680 but oversaw the whole thing as a showrunner. She's amazing 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.040 at this and she's probably why she was the perfect 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:14.120 person to write the show. 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.880 Is like she really like, doesn't matter how tired she is, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.280 doesn't matter how many school functions, she just wants to 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.600 She's like, my friend has a show opening somewhere, I'm 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:24.120 going to be there. 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:25.880 My girlfriends are going away for the weekend. I'll be there. 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.120 And I was like, man, I so admire her ability 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.719 to really just push through and do it, and it 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:34.560 inspired me to try to be better about it, to 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:38.079 really show up. Yeah, you directed the first four episodes 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.400 of this year, so it alternates. So Minckey Spiral directed 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.240 the pilot in the second episode and I did three 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.640 and four, she did five and six, and I did 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.800 seven and eight. Interesting, Yeah, so we hold is that like, 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:49.760 how do you decide that? 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.920 So that is sort of like a logistical need. I mean, 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.360 I've done shows before where I've done all like four 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.400 in a row, which I really don't mind and I 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.000 actually really like as a filmmaker, but is very very 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.000 hard on the department heads because in order to prep, 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.200 you're just prepping a massive amount of material. And if 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.000 you were to do four and four, then while you're 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.600 trying to execute four episodes, which is a ton of content, 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.079 you're also trying to prep the next four, which is 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.240 a ton of content. And so it makes it so 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:20.400 that it's just very hard to shoulder all that possible 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.000 but harder, and so in this situation, it felt better 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:27.559 to do alternating blocks. And even with the alternating blocks, 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.640 we weren't stopping to edit, which is also what you 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.000 normally do. So because of Jennifer Garner's schedule and I 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.200 think because of the release schedule a combination of the 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.840 two things, we didn't stop to edit. We just shot 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.840 all eight and then edited all eight, and so it 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.000 was just it was a little bit of a different 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:47.080 process than usual, but also I think really benefited the 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:47.840 outcome of the show. 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.520 In the eight episode, Yeah, and you mentioned Jennifer Gardner. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.680 It's an incredible cast. You have Genah Gemma Chan, Darcy Carden, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.320 and Chloe Sevenier. What a line up. I know, they 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.600 feel like they have such a vibe on and off 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.640 the screen. Was there a real life group chat? One 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.439 hundred percent? They're absolutely. I mean, I'm not in it, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.720 so I can't tell you, like I haven't witnessed it, 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.560 but yes, I mean they all got along, they all 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.000 hung out, they all were doing things outside of work. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.720 We also all spent a lot of time in Nantucket 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.439 together at the end because the show is set in 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.040 Nantucket and we did all of our exteriors there, so 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.440 we shot everything we could up until the end, and 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.480 then the last month of shooting we just crossboarded all 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.600 eight episodes in Nantucket. So also, it's like going to 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.320 summer camp, you know, it's like everybody's living on this 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.760 little island together and doing their things. 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:40.080 So but they are. 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:44.280 They're all so extraordinary and so uniquely different and brought 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:46.040 so much to the table in that ensemble. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.480 It was very invigorating to be around them. I'm interviewing 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.880 Ellen Hildebrand on Monday, Oh kra Larice's book Club podcast, 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:54.839 and I had no idea she was the Queen of Nantucket. 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.200 Oh, yes, thirty books later, she is the queen. I 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:02.280 mean she is. I think she's like is Nantucket. Yes, 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.520 she's also like the nicest pools. Still have the best 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:10.600 time with her. She's amazing. But yeah, she knows everyone. 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:16.120 Everyone there knows each other. It's like a very surreal environment. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.040 To be in. I didn't know what to expect, but yeah, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.920 it was. It was definitely a small town. So when 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:25.240 I first started like asking people questions and entertainment, every 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.319 director that I interviewed was a man for you. Interesting, 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.280 you've stepped behind the camera at a moment with a 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.640 whole new wave of female actors. Greta Gerwig, Regina King, 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.800 Olivia Wilde. I just interviewed Maggie, Jillenhall, Eva Longoria. They 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.440 made that same move and have been taken seriously as directors. 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.000 What do you think actresses are seeing in front of 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.960 the lens that make them want to take control of 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:50.559 the story. 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:52.719 I don't know if it's a gendered thing as much 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.120 as an actor experience, but maybe it's slightly gendered. I 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:02.560 think in general, actors are the most underutilized resource on 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.240 a set, and that seems like the opposite because it's 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.680 their faces on the screen. But they're weirdly the last 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.360 people you think of when you're you know, in prep 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.480 and in getting ready for something, because you're just dealing 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.959 with so many other logistics of schedule and locations and 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.960 budget and you know, I mean, if you if there's 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:27.280 a fire, and like the logistics of the fire bars 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.840 and the what can be lit on fire and what can't, 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.440 and the stunts and this, and then you know, the 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.760 weather will happen, it's only the schedule changes and then 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:36.400 an actor falls out, and you know what, It's just, 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.600 it's you have a million a million million fires and 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:40.840 problems before you get to a set. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.720 So when you get to a set, you're like, oh, oh, hey, 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:49.240 the actors are here. So sometimes I feel like, because 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.280 the actors are not involved in the prep process, there 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:56.200 is a accidental dismissal of what they have to offer, 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:01.280 because there's this sort of subconscious feeling of like they 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.560 don't know they were in the meetings. They don't you know. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.000 And there's this thing called a tone meeting on a 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.320 television show that you have with the showrunners where they 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:10.800 talk you through what's important to them in every scene 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:12.920 and tonally, what they need to have happened, and exactly 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:16.000 where they think these characters need to be in their headspaces. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.680 And no one talks to the actors about the tone meeting, 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.320 which is so weird to me because I'm like, isn't 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.560 that exactly who you just talk to about the tone meeting. 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.760 So sometimes you come on set and your actors have 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:29.600 a very different idea in their heads of what they 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.440 think is important in the scene compared to what you 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.480 were just told by the showrunners is important to them 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.640 in the scene in the tone meeting. And so if 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.760 you don't have the language to like work together to 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.960 get to a common ground or to just say, like, listen, 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:43.640 in the tone meeting, they were saying this, like we're 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.600 kind of far apart, let's figure out how to get there, 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.000 you are often finding actors feeling like sort of frustrated 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.040 and shut down, or like what they're bringing to the 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.360 table just kind of gets ignored or pushed away a 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:58.160 little bit. And I think that at least for me, 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.480 you know, I was in that situation for a very 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.040 long time, for many many years, and I wasn't like 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:05.560 upset about it, but I was aware of it, you know, 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.720 and aware of feeling like, with the amount of research 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.760 I did and the amount of passion that I had 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.200 for the characters that I was playing, I felt like 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.960 people were getting maybe ten to twenty percent out of me, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.920 and I was dying to be like pushed and used, 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:25.840 you know, more than that. And so I'm sure that 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.160 all of the incredible women that you just listed felt 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.800 that way, just as much as I'm sure Jason Bateman 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.040 has felt that way, or you know what I mean. 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.360 So like that's why I'm saying, I'm not sure if 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.040 it's a gendered thing as much as a smart actor thing, 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.400 you know. And you just reach a point eventually where 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:43.080 you're like, I want to offer more, you know, I 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:47.520 want to give more than just maybe this little corner 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.440 of what you could do, you know. And all of 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.520 those women are brilliant, and so I'm sure they reached 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.880 that point, you know, and then we're like, I need 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.160 I need to give more of myself in the situation. 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.560 I can imagine acting changes the way you view human 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.520 behavior because you're just noticing everything all the time. Has 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:18.520 directing done that for you at all? I think so 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.000 because I think I think I see more like in 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.000 collective theme. I don't know how, I don't know how 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.840 to put that into like story art kind of. But 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.960 also just like there are these sort of like movements 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:35.760 of energy in culture and in certain areas or pockets 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:37.680 of places where you start to go like, ah, this 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.760 is coming up a lot, or this is being said 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.720 over and over again, or why is everyone wearing these 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:45.520 same shoes all of a sudden. I don't know everybody's 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:46.880 in the flip flops all of a sudden. I don't 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.440 know if flip flops came out of nowhere recently. I 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.720 don't know what that's about, you know. Like, so it's. 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.720 I think I just I just see like in sort 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:57.880 of like a bigger picture a way, as opposed to 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.240 like I think as an actor, I'm kind of looking 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.120 more at like little quirks or ticks or little things 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:05.760 that you're like, oh, that could be interesting to use 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.240 as a character, like a little habit this person has, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.159 or a way that they move or talk or words 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.640 that they lean on that I might be able to suggest. 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.000 And then also you know, it just makes you pay 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:22.000 really close attention to therapy because you're like I need 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.919 to understand humans. I need to understand the motivation and 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.240 insecurity of everybody. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.920 Yeah. I heard Melissa McCarthy one time say that the 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.320 worst part of becoming famous was that she could no 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.240 longer go to like home Depot or Walmart and watch people. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.760 She had to find like a whole new process, which 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.119 I thought was so funny. That's probably very true. That 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:43.960 makes a lot of sense. I know. So your ten 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.560 years into directing now, and you started as you founded 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.760 your production company Apartment three C, which I loved that 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:53.560 you named after the apartment that you shared with your 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:57.280 college best friends. I had six one nine. Okay, so 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.800 before you became an actress and people knew you as 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:03.520 a director and people trusted you, who's the Jennifer that 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:07.720 lived in Apartment three C. Oh my gosh, so Apartment 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:08.040 three C. 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:14.920 Jen I was very passionate and excited about life. I mean, 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:16.880 I you know, it's like you look back on those 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.159 days of like the starry eyed everything as possible. I 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.320 also felt like I was like infatigable at that age. 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:26.439 You know, it was like you really. 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.000 Could stay up all night and I didn't want to 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:30.639 miss out on anything, you know, I wanted to be 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:32.240 with my friends just as much as I want to 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:33.840 be prepared for the play, just as much as I 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:34.800 wanted to get good grades. 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.640 And I was, you know, burning the candle. 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.880 At every end you could possibly burn it, and somehow 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.639 getting away with it. We were all very different in 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.800 a cool way, very different backgrounds, you know. 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.560 I was sort of the actress in the group. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.560 And then one of my friends was half Italian, half Irish, 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:56.240 like curly hair, just knew everybody, was like a social butterfly. 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.160 Everybody loved her. She was like Felicity, Like I felt 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.160 like she was like you know. And then another one 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.240 of my girlfriends one hundred percent Greek, very tied into 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.639 the Greek community. We went dancing in our weird black 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:11.480 pants at many many Greek clubs and had our big hoops, 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.760 and I'd like, you know, we'd have our like Greek 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:14.520 nights with her. 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.359 And then the other friend was one hundred percent Polish 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.359 and like came from just like a big family, and 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.959 she had so much responsibility in her family and like 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.359 just took care of everybody. Was such a caretaker, all 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.040 all of them like so smart and wonderful, but like 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:33.720 just keyed into such different corners of the community of 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.479 our school too, and so it was this really interesting 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:40.880 melting pot of women that came together in that apartment 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.000 three C. This feels like a show. Probably well, And 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.000 there were guys that lived in TWOC. There were four 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:47.560 guys at two C and we were in three Was 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.120 anybody dating. I don't think we ever dated, but we 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:51.040 all hung out. 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:53.560