WEBVTT - Josh Pais 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.120 I had directed one project that started out I did 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:08.160 this at Circle Rep Lab, Okay, and it started out 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.719 where all the actors were there was. I brought in 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.360 I think maybe three hundred pounds of peat moss into 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:17.200 this sphere. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:19.040 Yeah, and the. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:24.240 Show started where the actors were lying under the peat 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:28.880 moss with just like just their faces, you know, and 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.440 hope it and the audience had to kind of navigate 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.199 through that. They were guided somewhat, you know. And then 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.640 at some point, you know, this crazy music starts happening 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.720 and they're like vibrating kind of coming out of the soil. 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.519 Yeah, you know, it's like, gosh, we are very I 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:52.159 mine was sand coming out of sand. Oh my god. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.320 This is a different coming out of being born out 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.240 of sand. And I was I was, I was the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.680 I was the bad guy in that. And at the 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:06.720 at the end, like the wicked Witch, I descended and 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.080 melted down into the sand at the very end of 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:16.120 the show. Yep, all the elements, all the elements. 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:16.280 Got to find this material. 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:24.240 Okay, all right, Hi, I'm. 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.320 Josh Pie and I'm sitting in a chair. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.319 Hello everybody. I am excited to have you back here 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:46.120 with me on another edition. Of Off the Beat. I am, 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.560 of course, your host Brian Baumgartner on the show today, 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.040 we have that guy, you know. 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:54.280 The one. 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.840 I mean, he's been on all your favorite shows and 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:02.560 movies and was the original Well Rafael in Teenage Mutant, 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:05.440 Ninja Turtles, he was on Law and Order, The Sopranos, 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:10.040 a beautiful mind, joker. He's worked with just about every 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.359 actor out there, and he's been in the business for 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.840 over thirty years. I know you know him, of course, 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:23.000 I am talking about my guest today, Josh Eyes. Josh 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:24.800 will be the first to tell you that he has 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.240 made a very long and very successful career of being 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.720 that guy, not quite in the limelight, but always a 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:38.800 strong supporting role in really fantastic projects. When you see 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.600 that face, you know it is going to be great, 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:46.040 even if you can't exactly think of his name. His 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.400 most recent project Man in Full, which is out for 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.840 you right now on Netflix. Now. I'm pretty sure this 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.200 conversation will help you remember him once and for all. 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:02.840 He's smart, he is charming, he is so very very talented. 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:08.680 He's that guy and so much more. He is Josh Pies, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:13.840 Bubble and Squeak. 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:15.920 I love it. 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:17.520 Bubble and squeak on. 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:20.920 Bubble and squeak. 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:25.359 I cook get every mole lift over from the nine before. 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:39.200 Hi Josh, Hi, Hi Josh. How are you. 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.640 I'm good, nice to meet you and. 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.280 Very nice to meet you as well. Thank you for 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.840 joining me today. I'm going to get the elephant out 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.640 of the way right now. I'm wearing my very small 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:55.840 kids headphones right now. They have stickers on them. I 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.200 left my headphones on a plane this last weekend. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.520 Wow, and are you going to be able to get 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:01.960 them back? 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:07.000 Or I think they're I think they were pretty nice, 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.520 so I think they're gone. I'm assuming they're gone. I 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.840 bought some new ones and could not make them work 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.960 here today, So there you go. I've got some. 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.240 Hey, I think they look great on you. I think 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:19.400 it should be your new look. 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.760 Yeah, I mean it's I think I think they're pinching 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.240 my head a little bit. So there's a way to 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.400 excuse anything stupid that comes out of my mouth. They 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.919 will just leave it at that. Uh, it's very nice 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:38.240 to meet you. What a career that you've had, and uh, 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.880 I've been a fan of yours for a very long time. Likewise, 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.800 like well, that's that's very kind. But now I know 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:51.599 more about you, having dive doven doved into uh, into 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:57.920 your life dove in. I understand you very interesting childhood, 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:02.160 some some parents that were well it's it seems quite different. 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.160 But you grew up there in New York. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.440 City, in Alphabet City. 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.960 Out in in New York City, in Alphabet City. 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.160 In alphabet city, you know what Alphabet city. 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.520 I mean, yes, of course, yes, But. 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.880 I mean were we out buying heroin? You know? You 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.240 know thirty years ago you were in my neighborhood, you know. 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.840 A little more gentrified now though to be to. 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.640 Be clear, it's totally gentrified now. 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:33.000 Yeah, yeah, but that. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.479 You know, back then, it was just the police just 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:44.719 kind of cordoned off the you know from First Avenue East, uh, 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.600 and they just they knew it was completely out of control. 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.560 You know, it was just a it was a drug world. 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:56.640 It was violent and it was also full of creative people, 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.160 so it was a great mix. And if you lived there, 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:04.359 you were protected. But anybody coming in, no taxis wouldn't 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.600 go past, you know, Avenue A. 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:09.760 Yeah, I this is about you, but I do have 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.080 to bring up your dad is about you? Well, it's 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.320 always here's the thing. It's always about me, So I 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.440 just pretend it's about other people to really get my own, 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.680 my own attenda across. Uh, your dad, as a physicist, 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:33.480 survived the Holocaust in the Netherlands, worked with Albert Einstein 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.600 and and ended up writing his biography. He I understand, 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.200 ended up on the Upper east Side. So you had 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:46.119 this life in New York in part of the time 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.239 in Alphabet City and and part of the time on 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.920 the Upper east Side. Yes, what do you think that 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:56.120 that gave you as a child, that sort of diverse 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.479 experience even in one city. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:04.080 I mean, it gave me a very broad view of life. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.520 You know. It was the Upper East Side was very 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:13.760 at that time, it was really the posh neighborhood and 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:18.840 you know, very affluent, and you know, in Alphabet City 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:24.880 it was poverty, you know, and struggle and people thriving 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.320 on struggle like they felt, yeah, I'm struggling. 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.320 It's I'm a badass, right, like a badge. Ward is 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:34.920 a badge, Yeah. 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:39.120 To a certain extent. Yeah, And so it just gave 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:45.080 me this incredibly broad spectrum. It was like the perfect 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.480 childhood for an actor, just to be immersed in these 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:55.560 two different cultures. And seeing how these different people survived 0:07:55.600 --> 0:08:02.200 and lived and thrived and created. Yeah, I mean, there 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.240 was going to be more to that sentence, but it just. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.520 Then it's stuck. No, but it's I mean, you know, 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.040 we're obviously going to talk about where you ended up 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.040 and what you're doing now, but at the time it's 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:21.480 clearly like rich character study material. I mean, these two 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.000 worlds at the time as a child, are you acknowledging 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.720 that or just observing? Is there anything within yourself even 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:35.440 at that young age where you're you begin studying, for 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:39.360 lack of a better phrase, the human condition or by 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.040 by by the different people that you're encountering. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.400 I think on some level I was, and on also 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:51.840 on some level in Alphabet city, like you had, I 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:56.559 had to be able to assess who people were on 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.360 the street and who is dangerous and who was cool 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.959 and who you know, So it there was a certain 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:10.800 survival strategy in my ability to read people quickly and 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.080 get where they were at. And I think I think 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:18.880 on some level I was a little anthropologist, you know, 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.520 because the worlds were so diverse, So I think I 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:24.720 think I was. I think I had a bit of 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.600 awareness of how unusual. 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.920 This was Yeah, do you feel like Alphabet City and 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.840 the people there. I mean you talk about needing to identify, 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.120 I know exactly what you mean. You walk into a 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.880 situation and it's like, okay, there, this is good, this 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.280 is safe, this is maybe not. Was there a feeling 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:50.680 of community there? Like was there a safeness if you 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:55.640 were there and you belonged there that you felt protected 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:56.080 in a way. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:02.160 It was beautiful, just beauty, a full community and it was. 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:06.280 There was some racial tension, but there was not a 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:10.200 lot of racial tension relative to the mix of different 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.720 people that were there because we were all in it together. 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.760 And you know, there was one guy and he always 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.960 he would say, you know, he would say, I've got 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.680 eyes in the back of my head for you. I'm 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.199 looking out for you. You know, I got your back. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:30.360 Wow. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.640 And he was an American Indian man named Reno Thunder 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.520 who was an actor no longer around. And you know, 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:40.960 and I also got to see like, for example, just 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:48.880 with Reno, like this very dynamic, powerful man. And he 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:56.559 got evicted from his apartment and he's he ended up 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.800 living in Tompkins Square Park, do you know what I mean. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:06.440 So it was just like so intense to see that 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:11.440 level of struggle and that level of how uncertain things were. 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.880 I mean, everything really is uncertain, but you know, we 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.280 strive to live in the illusion that it's not as 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:23.280 uncertain as it is. But that was a very uncertain environment, 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.400 which also was I think challenging as a kid. You 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.400 know that it was like somebody just took acid and 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.840 jumped out the window of an abandoned building. You know, 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.520 somebody just got got killed on the street, or somebody 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.360 is making this amazing art. You know, they found a 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.080 piano and they're taking all the piano parts and they're 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:50.280 making this amazing sculpture, you know, and you know, so 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.640 it's just like everything was out, nothing was in everything, 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:58.800 Like people just expressed themselves fully on the street. Again. 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:03.440 Kind of great childhood for an actor, just to be 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:05.040 exposed to that. 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.560 Yeah, I was going to ask you, and you sort 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.960 of answered my question before I asked it that you know, 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:17.400 it's known as being incredibly diverse, dangerous, but also sort 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.640 of bohemian and artistic. Do you feel like that was 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:23.680 nurtured by you? 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.040 Oh? Yeah, I mean my mom was a painter and 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:33.080 a poet, you know, and she always you know, told 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.840 me like being an artist is the ultimate thing you 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:41.680 can be and just create, make something, make something every day, 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:46.000 whether it's a little drawing or a poem or something. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:51.679 And we had performances in our performance art in our 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:56.360 living room where people would gather and there would be 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:01.040 music and people would get up and improvise something. And 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.520 there was there was this one cab driver, this guy 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.840 named Billy, and he would always pull in, he'd park 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.920 his cab outside and he'd come in and he he 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.160 would bring a bowler hat and he would do like 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.840 waiting for Geodo, Like he would take his hat off 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.480 and do one part and at that point, like because 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.800 he always did the same thing, like people would just 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.120 kind of check out and be like, you know, I'm 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:28.480 gonna go get some wine right. 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.480 Now, you know whatever. 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.040 But it was just like full of full of characters, 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:34.679 full of. 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.960 Yeah, you know, I think that everybody, depending on who 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:46.880 you're with, right is at times playing versions of themselves. Right. 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:51.640 You behave in a certain way depending on who you're with, 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.360 whether it's your grandparents or you know, your your buddies 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.560 on the street and Alphabet City or whatever. It seems 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:04.000 to me looking at your career later on and again 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.920 the teaching that you have done. That it seems like 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:11.960 you potentially attended your own master class as a young 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.880 age being there in Alphabet City, and then you go 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.800 to your dad's on the Upper East Side and you're 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.760 encountering I imagine, a whole different sort of cast of 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:29.800 characters which forces you to very specifically probably behave and 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.040 act in a totally different way. Not that you're being 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.840 not yourself, but as I like to say, a different 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.840 version of yourself. Do you feel like that training early 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.080 on was real? 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:45.000 Well, I definitely, I definitely did that. 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:45.520 You know. 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:51.200 My mom was very unstructured, free flowing whatever, you know, 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.160 I didn't have to be home at any particular time, 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:58.480 and my dad was very structured, and so I had 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:03.120 to fall in line with you know, with that structure. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.240 And then you know, and then just being around these 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:12.880 theoretical physicists, you know, was fascinating, you know. 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.360 Different, different than Billy the cab driver. 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:19.240 Different, a little different. Yeah, and so many of these 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.640 these physicists, you know, like my dad for example, like 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:31.800 absolutely brilliant, but in certain like he got a toaster oven, 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.480 I remember, you know, and I and it was so complex, 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.040 like I had to go over. You know, you first 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.200 you put this setting, then you open the door, then 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.400 you put the bread in close it, then you press 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.400 the button and he would write that down like it 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.200 was so like, and so many of them were so 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:54.640 their brains were so amazing in these certain areas. In 0:15:54.760 --> 0:16:01.520 other areas, it's all the focus went one right into 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.960 one area. And what interesting with physicists is they would 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:10.800 always compete with jokes, which was always interesting. They would 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:16.080 always try to, you know, tell a better joke, whether 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.720 they were actually funny, they were somewhat funny, but they 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:20.480 were very drawn. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:26.000 Out, okay, like joke stories, joke stories. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:30.520 that's interesting. I know you went to Syracuse. You studied 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.480 acting and directing there. Something that I like to talk 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:38.200 to everybody about, is there a moment for you where 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:44.040 because look, you're performing in first your mom's living room, 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:48.440 then you start to develop a taste. Were you solid 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.240 in what your path was going to be before you 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.280 went to Syracuse? Did you go there with that in mind? 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.560 Yeah? I was. I was pretty I was pretty solid 0:16:58.560 --> 0:16:58.920 about it. 0:16:59.040 --> 0:16:59.480 Yeah. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.600 Yeah, I kind of knew it. I knew it, and 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:08.240 you know, there were certain experiences that I had at Syracuse. 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:12.439 That woke parts of me up. You know, there was 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:17.560 a familiar with this dude, Jersey Gretowski, who is of 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.240 course Polish. Yeah, you know. And I had a teacher 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.560 that had just come back who was working with him, 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:29.560 and and you know, she introduced us to this physical 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:34.879 work of like pushing yourself beyond your mind, basic like 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:40.680 getting so tuned into your body and your impulses that 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:46.399 the you know, the mind ceased to be the dominant force. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.359 And that was that was like a real awakening for me. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.600 And I was like, this is what I want. I want, 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.520 I want to how can I make how can I 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:02.479 live in this arena? So like that like that that 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.840 sunk things in on another level. 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.280 Yeah, it's it's fascinating to me again because you called 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.639 me out and said it's about me, but about me. 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:18.399 I had a very similar experience and ended up starting 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.840 a theater company when I graduated from college, and our 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:28.440 first original work was we called it the Ki Kurtowski 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:32.919 Experience and it was a company created work that was 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:39.760 literally that like like working your body, very physical for 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.679 those of you who don't know. And then ended up 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.040 working in sort of totally a different way for a 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:50.680 long period of time with some folks from the Chocolate 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:55.080 Cox School, which was physical but in a different, more 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.720 comedy based way. So yeah, no, I know what you mean. 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.880 It's like, oh, okay, here's you know, a loud guy 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.760 with good instincts, and now it's like, oh, look at 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:10.080 the world that actually exists here, and then I have 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.680 to explore Yeah, yeah for me as well. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.120 Do you have footage of that? Do you have any 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:16.919 footage of that? 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.920 You know what? I have not thought about that in 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:21.440 so long. 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.640 I'm gonna think it's time to bring out, you know, the. 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:33.240 Experience Grotowski experiment. And then there was a a colon 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.199 and then there was something else and as you were talking, 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.399 I couldn't. I can't. I can't remember at the moment 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:41.480 what it is, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna find out. Yeah, 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.480 it's uh. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.560 Don't very similar paths because I was I was so 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:52.160 deep into all of that and creating directing. I had 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:56.199 directed one project that started out I did this at 0:19:56.280 --> 0:20:00.560 Circle Rep Lab, okay, and it started out where all 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.520 the actors were there was I brought in I think 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:09.720 maybe three hundred pounds of peat moss into this sphere. Yeah, 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:15.520 and the show started where the actors were lying under 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:20.040 the peat moss, just like just their faces, you know, 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.040 and hope it and the audience had to kind of 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.760 navigate through that. They were guided somewhat, you know. And 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.080 then at some point, you know, this crazy music starts 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:32.920 happening and they're like vibrating, kind of coming out of 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:33.479 the soil. 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:39.440 Yeah, you know, it's like, gosh, we are I mine 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:44.280 was sand coming out of sand. Oh my god. This 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.639 is a different coming out of being born out of sand. 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.439 And I was I was, I was the I was 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.280 the bad guy in that. And at the at the end, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:59.640 like the wicked witch, I descended and melted down into 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:01.480 the sand. And at the very end of the show. Yep, 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:04.920 all the elements, all the elements. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.040 Uh so got to find this material. 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:11.800 Okay, all right, all right, that that last one I 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:33.560 I have. I definitely have that somewhere. Look, the shows 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.880 that you have been in and played in in some 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:41.800 cases significant recurring roles. You have a decade's long career, 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:47.400 and yet you you seem to, based on what I've read, 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:54.200 consider yourself that guy. Uh even on on on your Instagram, bio, 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:58.600 your your reps, so you know, called you a face 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:04.280 you recognize, but when a story still left to be told? 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:06.440 What does what does that mean to you? 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:11.679 Mm? It mean let's see, let's figure this out. Help me. 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:15.919 I mean a face to be recognized. Yeah, I have 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:21.280 a certain you know. People are like oh oh yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:25.840 yeah you you hey, I know, I know you and 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:29.800 and like some people are like almost like come up quietly, 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:34.280 like I really I know you are I know, like 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:39.240 it's you know, like it's a big secret, the story 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:41.360 to be told. I don't know. 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:45.240 You know, do you enjoy being that guy? Do you 0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:46.840 do you enjoy that? 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.639 Yeah? I do. It's sometimes I'll have the situation where, 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.480 you know, I'll go into a store and they'll be like, oh, 0:22:54.640 --> 0:22:58.480 we went to camp together, and I was like, no, no, 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:01.400 I never went to camp. And it's like no, no, 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:04.080 I know you from oh you've been in the store before. 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.120 No no. And then it's like and this happens all 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.840 the time, and then and then that eventually I'll go 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:15.320 like I'm an actor and they'll be like no, no, no, no, 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.040 that's not it, you know, and this is just regular 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:21.800 you know. And then there's people that they know me 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:24.080 and they know how they know me. You know, they 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:26.880 know me from Ray Donovan or you know what, Law 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:28.240 and Order or whatever it may be. 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:32.560 I want to attempt to tell at least a part 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:34.800 of your story for those of you who don't know. 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:41.240 Josh started out doing spots on television in well, just 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:47.040 little shows like Cosby's Show, Murphy Brown. I mean, you're 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:52.040 working on iconic and at the time, humongous shows that 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:57.000 truly like everyone is watching, and not just everybody is 0:23:57.080 --> 0:24:01.200 watching like today, everyone is watching at exactly the same 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:08.439 time on eight o'clock on a Thursday or whatever. So 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:11.960 you're starting there, and you're starting I'm sure to get 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:17.320 recognized for this work because everybody is watching it, and 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:22.440 then pretty quickly you get like an enormous break. You're 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:28.359 cast as one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. At 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:32.120 the time, does this feel like a big break for you? 0:24:32.800 --> 0:24:36.240 Wh your face is not seen? So it's a weird 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:38.600 like thing, right, It. 0:24:38.640 --> 0:24:43.480 Was so weird? Yeah, it was. It was so immersive 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:48.200 and it was almost similar to Gretowski work because Christ 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:55.879 is so physical and so absolutely engaging. I mean just 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.480 the cost of you know, costume was seventy pounds. None 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:05.120 of the little dots, you know, right, the body is 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:09.840 like you're fucking carrying this dude, you know, seventy pounds. 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:13.200 And you're the only actor who did the voice and 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:19.400 strapped on and got in there. I mean, you love 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:23.240 Gratowski the physical stuff. Did were you happy with this 0:25:23.400 --> 0:25:25.760 choice that you made this choice at the time, or 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:27.640 did you begin to regret that choice? 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:32.240 Well, I mean I'm not somebody that just in the 0:25:32.359 --> 0:25:37.119 act of filming it, like, I'm not somebody that experiences claustrophobia, 0:25:37.240 --> 0:25:41.840 Like it's not something, it's not a concern. But I 0:25:41.920 --> 0:25:47.639 experienced major claustrophobia. You know, like you are completely sealed in, 0:25:48.400 --> 0:25:53.600 your head is glued on, and you're it's hard to breathe, 0:25:54.080 --> 0:25:57.439 it's hard to see, you know, and your body just 0:25:57.520 --> 0:25:59.040 gets hotter and hotter. 0:25:59.359 --> 0:25:59.560 You know. 0:25:59.560 --> 0:26:04.679 We would lose five pounds from morning till lunch. You know, 0:26:04.760 --> 0:26:07.800 they had just impressed air. So it was just, you know, 0:26:07.840 --> 0:26:11.160 there were times where it was like this is insane. 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:17.399 But it also helped to create that character Raphael, you know, 0:26:17.440 --> 0:26:21.760 who was like full of angst and rage and you know, 0:26:21.880 --> 0:26:24.520 so it's like it was perfect. It couldn't have been 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:28.640 a better preparation. And it was. It was weird because 0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:31.240 when it came out, you know, there was I remember 0:26:31.280 --> 0:26:35.840 one day I was with Leif Tilden, who played Donatello. 0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:39.439 We were hanging out on the beach and this kid 0:26:39.680 --> 0:26:43.199 had a teenage hutant ninja turtle towel and he was 0:26:43.280 --> 0:26:46.239 running around all around the beach and was going, I'm 0:26:46.280 --> 0:26:49.520 an ninja turtle, I'm an inja turtle. And we stopped 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:52.600 him and said, hey, I'm Raphael, and this is Donna Tllo, 0:26:52.840 --> 0:26:55.520