WEBVTT - Work in Progress: Troian Bellisario 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:15.640 Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.640 whip smarties. Today I'm sitting down with a woman I 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:25.160 absolutely adore from life and also from television, who, like myself, 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:30.000 grew up on essentially a cult classic TV show. Today's 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.680 guest on Work in Progress is none other than Troy 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.479 and Bellisario, who we all fell in love with on 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.519 Pretty Little Liars and who has made such an incredible 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.920 career as an actor, a director, a writer, and now 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.800 she is starring on Dick Wolfe's newest show, on Call 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:53.760 on Amazon Prime. It is an adrenalized and visceral police 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.840 drama that follows a rookie and a veteran officer played 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.560 by Troyan as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.960 This show is so good, It is so well written, 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.480 it is so well shot, and it happens to hail 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.160 from many of the same team members that I worked 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.240 on Chicago PD with and I just, oh, I love 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:15.360 everything about it. I can't wait to talk to Troy 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.360 in about what it was like to go from high 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:22.120 school drama to cop show and all of her incredible 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.119 work in between. Let's dive in. 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:37.680 Oh No you look amazing. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.280 Oh no, angel I had to do a meeting today 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.720 with like a stranger on Zoom, and I looked in 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.240 the mirror this morning and was like, oh, I've been 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.360 in storage units for three days, like gathering supplies for 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.040 friends whose houses burned down, and I need to. 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.680 Re do it all. So I actually like washed my 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.480 hair today. It was a big deal, incredible. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.360 And then you just look like this all the time. Yes, 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.320 it's not like you have just perfect face all the time. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.800 Oh no, I was thinking, you mean the sweatshirt that 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.600 I dropped my children off in school in and me 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.760 my hair up in the craziest ponytail. It's so good 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:24.200 to see you. 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.359 It's so good to see you. How are you, guys? 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:27.240 Everything's okay. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:34.400 We are exceptionally and exceedingly lucky. We're doing okay. We 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.160 were out of town for a little bit, you know, 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:42.400 just left and then just got back and yeah, how 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:42.960 are you doing. 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.080 It's just been wild. I mean, likewise, it was weird. 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.720 I what a stupid thing. But it's like my best 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.560 friend who's my business partner, and I were speaking at 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.600 cees last week, so we were in Vegas just like 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.840 bopping around and then suddenly we were like, what's going on, 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.120 Like what is happening at home? And my parents had 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.880 to evacuate, and so we evacuated them to my house, 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.360 and then they had to evacuate my house, and it 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:12.760 was like and now we're okay, but we're all just 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:14.720 kind of waiting. 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:23.040 Yeah, it's really really I don't know how to describe it. 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.600 It feels so strange to be like doing stuff like 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.040 this this week, because you know, whenever I'm listening to 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.320 the news or looking at watch study or anything online, 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.320 it's just like, okay, wind advisory, like, we're not we 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.480 haven't seen the end of this, and I've I just 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:48.240 like I don't even know how the city begins to 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:54.400 process rebuild, you know, we're not even through it. So 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.960 it's yeah, it's this bizarre kind of you know, awful limbo. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.160 Well, and it's such a weird thing. There was that 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.080 I don't remember where it started, but someone had posted, 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.080 you know, climate change will be a series of disasters 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:13.080 you watch on your phone until you're the one filming it. Yeah, 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.360 and it's like I was listening to this climate scientist 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:18.760 interviewed at the top of the week, and he was 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.760 talking about how everyone in LA who's been affected by 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.720 these fires is now a climate refugee. 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:26.240 Wow. 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:31.919 And it really it shifted something mentally for me, and 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.640 I was like, oh boy, it has it really has 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:40.920 arrived on our doorstep. Yeah, and it's very surreal. And 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.840 then at the same time, exactly as you said, life 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.080 has to go on. People have to go to work, 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.920 you know. So many people I know are like desperate 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.320 to get back to work, you know, and we have 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.440 to do these things. But I do feel really lucky 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.360 that at least for the past week I was basically 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:05.359 able to shut everything down and just start managing, you know, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.240 going through things. Because one of one of the girls 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.159 on my team, her family's house burned down. They have nothing, 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.520 and we were just like, okay, we can gather furniture, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.600 we can gather supplies, we can pack clothes, we can 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.880 pack cosmetics, we can shuttle things to donation centers, we 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.359 can shuttle things to people we know. And it was 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.159 pretty cool to just watch everyone in our universe just 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:26.599 stop and serve. 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:32.039 Yeah, it's very special. Yeah. I don't know if you follow. 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:36.120 There's a gentleman on Instagram who I absolutely adore. His 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.680 name is his Instagram handle was blakely Thornton. Yes, yes, yes, 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:40.760 we're afraid. He's a friend of mine. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:41.440 I die for him. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.920 He is so amazing and he it was just saying 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:50.479 how the beautiful thing to come out of all of 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:55.839 this horrific horror is the community service is just like 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:00.480 the LA community just wrapping its arms around everybody possibly 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:05.200 can and just be so well being there. Yeah, feel 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.279 extremely lucky and like you said, extremely grateful to be. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.200 You know, yesterday it was just me going to Costco 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:17.000 and buying under our packs and socks, packs and hells 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.640 of water and just being like where, you know, where 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.599 can I go meet? And I go, So yeah, yes, 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:23.880 really feel extremely lucky. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:28.040 It's special. And I mean you you also grew up here. Yeah, 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.920 So it's like, I don't know, I feel such pride 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:33.880 in the way that people are getting to see what 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.080 our city is, not what they think it is, not 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.480 what they judgmentally call it, but what it is, and 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:44.960 how hard LA rides for La. Yeah, I just yeah, 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.040 I love our I love our city. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:50.680 I know, I know it's and it's something that you know, 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:56.720 because I'm it's obviously everybody who's in LA who's been 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.880 affected is is reeling. And everybody who's in LA who 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.440 hasn't been affected in the most dramatic ways is reeling. 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:08.239 And like you said, when this is your hometown too, 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:13.000 your you know, your heart just aches because I've never 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.480 seen anything like this. We've never seen LA has never 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.480 seen anything like this, like not at this level. And 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:22.560 so it really, like you said, it ushers in a 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.920 new era of what we have to be prepared for, 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.960 of what the city has to you know, prepare it 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:33.760 citizens for and take care of us for. So yeah, yeah, 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.920 what a wild man. I was really hoping twenty twenty 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.960 five was not gonna, yeah, come out of the gates 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:47.360 this hot. But yeah, if every year previously has taught 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.360 me anything, it's just don't get your hopes up. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.920 Yeah, just stop saying this is gonna be our year. 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:58.760 Just enough of that, It's okay, Yeah, it's just it's. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:07:59.800 Just enough of that. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:06.360 Did you love growing up here? I mean, who you 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:10.240 grew up here too? Right? Yeah? Yeah, so it's like, yes, 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.360 I loved growing up here. I also like didn't know 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.440 anything different, you know totally. It's like I went to 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.680 the same school K through twelve and everybody was like, oh, 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:22.520 did you love that school, and I was like, sure, 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.960 I love that school. I also had never been to 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:29.760 another school, so how I know, you know, it's just 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.640 this is what home feels like to me. You know, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:38.160 home feels like the you know, the Ripley's believe it 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:43.679 or not, and the Mullholland you know drives and the 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.840 Topanga canyons and the beach and the mountains, and it's 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:52.400 like it just all feels like home. Though I don't 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.679 know what was your experience growing up same. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:59.560 I think that the sort of biodiversity of this place 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.760 was a so amazing to me, and you just said it. 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:07.160 You know, you can be up hiking peaks and then 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.520 in the ocean at sunset. It's so it's just so special. 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.960 And that was what was funny to me is so 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:20.000 many people from outside think La just totally revolves around 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.920 the business, and for me, growing up here, LA really 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:28.160 revolved around nature. But yeah, the business is also so 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.920 intrinsic in it, and I think, I guess not. I 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:36.160 think I wonder, especially for you, because you grew up 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:43.360 in like a television family, was your childhood also sort 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.560 of experienced on set or did your parents keep you 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.959 really separate from that universe when you were a kid. 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.280 Well, it was funny, it was experienced on set. I 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.560 was extremely fortunate that my parents just like constantly took 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.319 me to work, so I really they did have the experience, 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.800 especially with my my older brother Michael, of like growing 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:07.240 up on the Universal back lot and then the Paramount 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.120 back lot and just kind of running around and those 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.640 were just joyful memories because getting to be there with 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.400 my parents and watch what they do and watch them 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:21.160 working and see how those sets functioned was just really 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:26.960 super exciting. But my parents, conversely were also very clear 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.920 that I was not allowed to work until I finished college. Yeah, 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.440 and which was great. You know, I was allowed to 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.600 do like little things, but they were just like, you're 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.079 not allowed to drop out, You're not allowed to get emancipated. 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:41.520 You're not allowed. I mean, I love that idea of that. 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.120 I'd be like, you can't get amancipated. Like that's a 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.680 whole effing point of a mash point. Yeah, it is 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.679 that your parents won't get to tell you that. But 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:53.000 but I really accepted my parents, you know, sort of 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:58.800 like stipulations about get a college degree, because then you know, 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.160 you have a plan B and C. I did get 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.120 my college degree in acting, so I don't know what 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:09.920 they thought about that, right, Yeah, my backup plan is acting. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.400 My plan B is my plan A. Yeah, my Plan 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.040 B is my Plan A. That's the way I'll get 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.480 around this. But it was it was just a really 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:24.040 wonderful experience because it also allowed me to have a 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:29.040 very inside look at like the luckiest actors, you know, 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.400 the way I think a lot of actors who come 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.160 to LA and who maybe you know who don't have 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.960 the great fortune that I did to like experience sets 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:41.800 without getting the job. Yeah, I got to see the 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:43.920 way a set is run, and I got to see 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.719 the way lights are set up, and the way wardrobe 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.080 you know, the wardrobe department functions, and like all of 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:53.080 these key things that have to happen before and for 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.960 the actor to finally step in and like step on 0:11:56.000 --> 0:12:00.440 a mark. And so it felt I don't know, I 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.400 just felt so lucky that I got to see how 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.200 the sausage was made. You know. It's like, yeah, like 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.920 kind of like growing up in a bakery. It's just like, yeah, 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.120 it's great to bake bread, you know, like I get 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:11.840 to see it from the inside. 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.559 Yeah, well, and I think it's so cool because there 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.120 is so much work and it really you know, the 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.640 two hundred people that it requires to make something. For 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.760 you to know that so early, and also I think 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.640 to understand the you know the importance of your crew 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:30.800 and all the things you never see in the finished 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:35.160 product is really such a gift. 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.360 On that note, I just want to like add that 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.920 it was really because my parents were constantly on set. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.040 Like obviously I was not on set with them all 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.400 the time, but they would come home very late, they 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.199 would leave very early because they were constantly on set. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.880 And so I also had the experience of being the 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.320 kid who was away from my family when they were 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.439 at work. And then when I was working and I 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.559 saw the crew that got there and loaded in and 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.360 you know before and like we're there after the actors 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.880 wrapped out, I wouldn't know. I would be like, you've 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.000 got a kid at home, you've got a partner at home, 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:17.000 Like you're spending more time with us than you are 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.360 with them. So like I had a real kind of 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:24.240 like front seat appreciation for everybody on the crew and 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.360 how much time and energy it took just to be 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:27.200 a part of something. 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:29.680 And now a word from our sponsors who make this 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:44.720 show possible. It's such a privilege to know the ins 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.000 and outs of it. And to your point, you know, 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:51.040 it requires so much sacrifice, you know. I think there's 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:55.280 again from outside, much like La, there's this misnomer that 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.199 being on a set is like all sort of privileged 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.880 and fancy, and it's like no, no, it's sixteen seventeen 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.760 hours a day and it's hard, and you build. 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:06.000 Such a. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.520 Kind of second family because, as you said, you're with 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.720 these people more than you're with your own family. I 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.480 know for us that was sort of gorgeous and really 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.000 tough on One Tree Hill, especially because we were all 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.280 so young. I mean, I think i'd been twenty one 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.480 for like three weeks or something when I moved out there, 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.800 and you know, now I think about how lucky we 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.920 are to be so close as adults who've like gone 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.160 to therapy and healed our shit and like doesn't work, 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:41.920 you know, and I wish we'd had some of those skills. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:42.440 Then. 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:44.840 How was it for you guys? I mean, I know 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.440 you were twenty four when The Pretty Little Liars started airing. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.280 Was it also kind of a jumble of you know, 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.680 closeness and like total Shenanigans. 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.440 Oh absolutely, It's interesting really that you that you say 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.360 that your experience on Montree Hill too, you guys were 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.760 you weren't on location because the entire show was out there, 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:08.800 but you were on location you were. Yeah, we were 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.920 away home and away from your families, and that is 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:17.720 really you know, that was Lucy's experience, that was Shay's experience. 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.960 But Stasha who had her parents in La, Ashley who 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.080 had her parents in Orange County, and me who had 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.720 my family in LA like the fact that we were 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.240 we were all different ages and different experiences. And I 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.320 wonder if this happened too with you guys, Like because 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.880 I was twenty four and I had gone to college. 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.960 I finished high school and finished college, and a lot 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:44.040 of the girls had you know, gotten their GEDs, or 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:47.800 had been homeschooled, or who didn't go to college, and 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:51.200 so there were a lot of in the very beginning, 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.360 I would say, like a lot of high school experiences 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.960 literally that like they were getting to go through in 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.840 high school. You know, we were shooting in a hallway 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.160 and that was not their high school experience because they've 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.760 been homeschooled, you know, or like we were going to 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.960 a prom and it's like I had my prom experience, 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.800 you know, but like they didn't, and so there were 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.240 a lot of like definite shenanigans going on. But I 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:23.800 think I always felt like the older sister, you know that, like, yeah, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:25.880 got to go away to college and now was like 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.560 coming back on Thanksgiving break and I was like, oh, okay, 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.880 I see what you guys are up to. Yeah, but 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:35.320 I'm good. But it was It was also really fun because, 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:37.360 as you say, they become your second family. Like we 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:41.280 really felt like sisters because you're spending all this time 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:45.360 together and you're not always going to be best friends, 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.960 but like a sibling. If anybody has a sibling, you know, 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.400 doesn't matter if you're not best friends, it doesn't matter 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.520 if you've got in a fight the day before. You're 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.560 like you're still at dinner together, You're still hanging out. 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.960 You know, It's it's fine because you know, like it's 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.840 just the these are your it's like your second family, 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.680 you know. As you said, does that make any sense. 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.200 Absolutely, because it's real life dynamics. It's not a rom com. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.919 It's like, you know, we talk about it a lot. 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.920 We were together for ten years and none of us 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.320 had any idea how to be adults when we first met, 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.920 and we went through all of our shit together, where 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.760 we loved each other, we hated each other, we were 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:26.760 obsessed with each other, we were fighting, we were doing 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.320 all the things that you do in your young life. 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.320 But if anybody from outside our little circus family had 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.760 anything negative to say about anybody in it, it was 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:39.160 like hell no, like of course, you know, and that's 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.240 that's such a special thing, and it's like it's it's 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:45.480 the real dynamic of something like that. And I think 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.960 for me, I think Hillary was probably more in the 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:52.400 position you were, because you know, she'd been in college 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.520 and then was working at MTV and was really like 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.600 involved in that whole world. And I went to an 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.840 all girls, like fifty five girls in my graduating class, 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.040 small prep school. I never had a traditional high school anything. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:08.000 Oh my god. 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.119 And then I'd done three years of college, and you know, 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.400 it was like the philanthropy chair of my sorority, nobody's 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.399 shocked there. And then I got on set and was like, 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:19.080 I don't know what it's like to go to high 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:19.879 school with boys. 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:20.600 I don't know. 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:23.760 I don't know any of this so in a weird way. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.960 Even though I was such like a book smart kid, 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:31.679 I had no real life experience. And Hillary was definitely 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:33.840 even though we're only a week apart, like my smarter 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:35.760 older sister who was like, Oh, you're going to make 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.359 all these stupid mistakes and I'm gonna say I told 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.840 you so, but I'm going to be the person who 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.479 like catches you also when you fall, and it was 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.120 absolutely ridiculous and amazing, and yeah, it's like such a 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.680 weird It's just such a weird journey. And I think 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:55.199 especially on shows like both of ours, they hit the 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.040 zeitgeist in a way that you just can't be prepared for. 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:00.960 I mean, was it so so real to you when 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:05.720 suddenly it was everywhere? How did you how did you 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:11.479 kind of process such fast fame and the fandom that 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.200 came along with a show like that. 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.320 Well, I mean I kind of would to flip it 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.280 around and ask you because how long were your How 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.800 long were you in was it North Carolina? Yeah? Yeah? 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:25.640 How long a year were you in North Carolina? 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.159 Ten months? Like nine to ten months, and. 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.800 Then you'd come home for a little bit, And what 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:33.880 was it like when you came back to LA. 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.760 I don't totally know, because I wanted to work so 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:42.840 much that, like any movie that happened to have its 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.480 shooting dates on my hiatus, by the way, some which 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:47.520 were not good, I still wanted to go do just 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.440 to experience or something else. I think I would probably 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.320 make choices slightly differently from my adult perspective now. But 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.760 there were years when I barely came home, like I'd 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:01.680 come over a weekend, fly back, you know, to try 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:03.760 to see my friends for one night, and then I'd 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.440 go back to Wilmington. That that was the weirder part 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:11.360 of it. I think was never really feeling like anywhere 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.320 was home, because if I was totally invested there, I 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.600 was missing so much here, and if I'd fly home here, 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.200 I'd miss weekends with friends there. I kind of felt 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.520 like I could never get the balance right, which I 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.080 mean I think women feel in every way between life 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.320 and work, like what's life work balance? 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:30.600 Sure? 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:35.000 But I think what was weird for us was being 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.560 in such a bubble Like even now, sometimes my best 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:41.480 friends will be like, you do know you're a famous person, right, 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.520 And I'm like, but I'm not really like right, And 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.080 I'll fill in the blank, like so and so is 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:48.359 really famous, and they're like, you're not paying attention to 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:50.680 what's happening in this room since you walked into it. 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:57.120 I don't know what that is. Why we I don't 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.840 know if you experienced that. I think I think we 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.560 were very much always told that our show wasn't such 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.800 a big deal. Probably I never wanted anyone to ask 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:07.399 for a raise, because when they sign you on a 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.960 six year TV contract, no money, they don't want to 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.840 pay you more money and they sadly don't have to. 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:19.240 But like you know, I still don't quite know how 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:20.000 to process it. 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:25.000 Yeah, it's still still is like yeah, for sure, I 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:30.959 mean I feel, hmm. It's interesting because my experience, you know, 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.879 like you said, well, because we shot in La So, 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:40.000 and because I was dating Patrick throughout throughout all of it, 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:41.960 and he was shooting throughout all of it at the 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.960 same time. But in Toronto, it was most of my 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:49.600 weekends were flying to see him or him coming to 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:55.160 see me. So it was interesting because like I would 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.879 have my poll experience during the week and then I 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:01.520 would like go to camp or like you know, he 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:03.000 would come here and I would try to like see 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.879 as much of him as possible, and but then I 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.040 was very lucky in that, like so many of my 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.440 friends that I grew up with, like we're in LA, 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:14.159 you know what I mean, and so I would get 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:23.600 to see them, but I never experienced the like shock 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:27.120 of fame, you know. I guess like I've had those 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:32.880 experiences when I've gone to some place that's outside of America. Yeah, 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.000 you know, I feel very fortunate and that like Los 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:40.439 Angeles people like really don't care that much, you know, 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:45.639 and they're like okay. But also because I don't I 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:48.320 don't know how to like do this the way that 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.120 it is done. When I'm on a show like pl 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:53.720 I get a lot of when I'm outside people are like, 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:57.080 oh man, you look so much like that girl, you know, 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.240 or they're like, oh, have you seen Pretty Little Liars? 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:02.560 And I'm like, yeah, I've seen a couple episodes. Yeah, 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:06.640 totally get that all the time. That's that's my experience. 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.200 But but then it's lovely because then when people do 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:14.439 recognize you there, our fans have always been so kind 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:17.560 and so gracious, like, yeah, you know, I feel like 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.760 so fortunate in that we have a very rabbit and 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:27.400 passionate fan base. But they are the sweetest and kindest 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:29.480 and gentlest of souls, you know what I mean. Like 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:32.919 you don't have like fans that are like mean or 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:38.600 you know, expect too much from you. You know. That's like, yeah, 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:41.840 it's great. I would say I feel very lucky. Patrick 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:45.240 and I always say like we're the luckiest amount of 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:49.240 famous because like, yes we're you know, we get invited 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:52.200 to cool things or we get to like have wonderful 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:57.000 experiences with other celebrities, but we can still go grocery 0:23:57.000 --> 0:23:59.119 shopping and like who cares go under the. 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.439 Radar and semblance of a normal life. Now, Yeah, I 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:06.959 don't remember because fun fact for the for the friends 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:09.919 at home, Patrick and I were in the same class 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:10.399 at USC. 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:11.880 I know, it's so crazy. 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:15.919 One of like my oldest, sweetest friends. And I can't remember. 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:18.879 Did you guys meet at sc or after? 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:23.720 So we met after me? Okay, yeah we we There 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:27.159 were actually moments when we met we found at USC, 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:31.960 Like no was a moment, yeah, he you would have 0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:36.680 been already gone shooting, but he did. Uh. Mauraz Saud 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:39.560 that like do you hear about the production of Matzad? 0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:43.520 It was like so many of your classmates. Okay, so 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:48.720 right after they graduated, your class graduated. He in that 0:24:48.960 --> 0:24:53.119 summer like put together a big production of Matsad that 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:56.240 like kind of went into the ball I guess, or 0:24:56.240 --> 0:24:59.560 I don't remember when it was, but it was we 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:01.959 met Benn and because a bunch of seniors that I 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:03.959 was then doing a play with were like, you have 0:25:04.000 --> 0:25:06.560 to come see this this class and like this class 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:09.800 is amazing, and so we discovered that we actually met 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:12.000 like then I think, I, you know, I was like 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:14.160 a nerdy freshman and they were like, this is Patrick. 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:15.880 He directed it, and I was probably. 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:19.000 Like like cool, it was really good man, Oh my god. 0:25:19.040 --> 0:25:21.280 I was like it was amazing, it's so cool. And he, 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:24.200 you know, in my memory like was standing underneath the 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:26.560 streetlight with like a cigarette and he was like cool, 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:28.520 you know, like it was like a whole Goodard film. 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:31.760 And I was just like a full arcle in response. 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:36.520 And then he came back to school my junior year 0:25:36.560 --> 0:25:40.600 and he gave me and Brian Jordan Alvarez the Jack 0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:44.040 Nicholson Award because he had won it, I guess his 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:47.560 junior year. So we met then, but then after school 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:50.160 when I graduated, being at the Geffen was my first 0:25:50.240 --> 0:25:53.040 job and that was the play that we met, So yeah, 0:25:53.080 --> 0:25:56.119 that's occur. Wow, it's crazy. 0:25:56.520 --> 0:25:59.879 And then you went and did something on suits and 0:25:59.880 --> 0:26:01.720 he came in and did something on PLLL. 0:26:01.880 --> 0:26:04.120 Like, were you guys. 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:08.159 Just sort of game to play because you were in 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:10.520 this back and forth of travel and long distance and 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:12.360 all the things and just wanted to figure it out. 0:26:13.200 --> 0:26:16.200 Yeah, it was. There were actually two very funny, very 0:26:16.240 --> 0:26:21.040 different stories, and one of them was it was the 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:25.000 first season of Pretty Little Liars and we actually broke up. 0:26:25.200 --> 0:26:29.040 I broke up with him, and like the morning after 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:33.280 we broke up, he got the audition for something for 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:37.880 Pretty Little Liars and he knew Gail Pillsbury, our casting director, 0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:42.959 and he like prepared the crap out of it and 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:46.679 went in and was just like did the audition and 0:26:46.720 --> 0:26:49.159 Gail was like you're amazing. I love you, and he 0:26:49.240 --> 0:26:51.480 was like, okay, but like I really want this role. 0:26:52.200 --> 0:26:54.880 And then he called his agents at the time, the managers, 0:26:54.880 --> 0:26:56.760 and they were like, okay, like you're coming in really 0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:59.960 hot for like an ABC Family like guest star role. 0:27:00.080 --> 0:27:01.679 Like I don't understand, you know, cause they were like 0:27:01.680 --> 0:27:04.080 we're trying to get you like your own show right now, 0:27:04.359 --> 0:27:06.280 and he was like, yeah, but I want this guest 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.600 star and then he got it. And then he called 0:27:09.640 --> 0:27:11.800 me and he was like, Okay, well, I know that 0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:13.520 we just broke up, but like I'm going to be 0:27:13.600 --> 0:27:15.320 at your table read and I'm going to be on 0:27:15.359 --> 0:27:18.680 your set, so you know, we should probably like talk 0:27:18.800 --> 0:27:22.480 or something like that. And then we fully talked, which 0:27:22.560 --> 0:27:25.280 I think you know what that means, and got back 0:27:25.280 --> 0:27:28.520 together and then the mo phone wasn't even at the 0:27:28.560 --> 0:27:32.199 table read. We never shot the same day like it was, 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:35.639 but it is a hilarious, like you know, part of 0:27:35.680 --> 0:27:37.720 our history that he then is like he put in 0:27:37.760 --> 0:27:40.439 the work. He put in the work. And then by 0:27:40.480 --> 0:27:43.240 the time, I was always on the set of Suits 0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:45.800 because when I would get a day off, I would 0:27:45.840 --> 0:27:48.280 fly there and so I was just like a fixture 0:27:48.440 --> 0:27:52.480 at their craft service table and at behind the video village. 0:27:52.520 --> 0:27:55.040 So obviously I knew, you know, the writers, and I 0:27:55.080 --> 0:27:57.120 knew the showrunners and all of that, and so when 0:27:57.160 --> 0:28:01.320 it came time when they had a character, you know, 0:28:01.480 --> 0:28:07.120 they're absolutely amazing. Casting director Bonnie was just like, oh, 0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:09.800 this is Troyan's role, and so we got to work 0:28:09.840 --> 0:28:12.840 it out. So it was like joyous because it was 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:16.040 a you know, work vacation where I got to see 0:28:16.119 --> 0:28:18.280 him and like actually work with all of the people 0:28:18.280 --> 0:28:21.160 that I had just been like sneaking around getting snacks 0:28:21.160 --> 0:28:22.960 for in between takes, you know, and trying to get 0:28:23.000 --> 0:28:26.639 a little set mouse. Yeah, so that was. 0:28:26.600 --> 0:28:31.280 How that It's really really nice And now a word 0:28:31.320 --> 0:28:34.320 from our sponsors. 0:28:41.320 --> 0:28:42.600 It's so cool to me to. 0:28:42.600 --> 0:28:45.880 Watch all the things that you've chosen to do, you know, 0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:47.880 not just as an actor, but as a writer and 0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:52.240 as a producer. I mean from from feed to all 0:28:52.320 --> 0:28:55.600 of these like incredible films and projects you've gone to 0:28:55.680 --> 0:29:01.480 work on. How have you tried to cultivate all of that? 0:29:01.920 --> 0:29:06.360 You know, how were you leaning into these other aspects 0:29:06.400 --> 0:29:09.800 of your talent while you were making this massive TV show? 0:29:11.120 --> 0:29:13.520 I mean, I mean, first of all, thank you for 0:29:14.240 --> 0:29:18.440 saying that. It was always like because my parents are 0:29:18.480 --> 0:29:22.720 writers and directors, they always told me when I was 0:29:22.760 --> 0:29:24.920 watching the actors on their sets, they were like, you're 0:29:24.960 --> 0:29:31.200 watching the luckiest point zero zero zero one percent of actors. 0:29:31.480 --> 0:29:35.240 You know, these are talented right outside that gate. They 0:29:35.280 --> 0:29:38.560 are equally talented people. It's they just didn't have the 0:29:38.560 --> 0:29:40.640 same luck that these ones had, you know, and so 0:29:41.480 --> 0:29:44.680 they put into me at a very young age that 0:29:44.960 --> 0:29:47.280 you got to work your ass off, you got to 0:29:47.440 --> 0:29:49.280 you know, be as good as you can. But also 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:52.240 like a certain element of it is just luck, and 0:29:52.280 --> 0:29:55.400 there's nothing you can do to change that. But they 0:29:55.400 --> 0:29:59.400 did tell me that, you know, while acting is a 0:29:59.480 --> 0:30:04.000 very uncon controllable thing, something that is controllable is writing 0:30:04.440 --> 0:30:08.239 and directing. So if you need a creative outlets and 0:30:08.320 --> 0:30:11.960 you can't like, you know, there's only so many monologues 0:30:11.960 --> 0:30:14.080 I can do by myself in my office if I 0:30:14.160 --> 0:30:17.400 have like the urge to be creative, you know, but 0:30:17.480 --> 0:30:19.040 I can sit down at my desk and I can 0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:23.280 write and you know, come up with new worlds, which 0:30:23.320 --> 0:30:25.800 is you know what my parents do so well. So 0:30:26.880 --> 0:30:32.000 I I remember being on you know, waiting for the 0:30:32.040 --> 0:30:35.480 Geffen Show to begin when I was just out of 0:30:35.520 --> 0:30:38.560 college and I had a month before rehearsal started, and 0:30:38.640 --> 0:30:40.360 I was like chomping at the bit, you know, but 0:30:40.400 --> 0:30:43.160 I couldn't get like a job, even for a month, 0:30:43.200 --> 0:30:44.960 Like I couldn't I was working at coffee bean. I 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:46.520 couldn't go back to coffee because I'm like you guys, 0:30:46.520 --> 0:30:47.720 are I'm gonna leave it in a month, you know, 0:30:47.840 --> 0:30:52.120 so so I but I started writing because I didn't 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:54.479 know what else to do. And then that script became 0:30:54.920 --> 0:30:58.920 the first feature, which was Feed. And then I remember 0:30:58.960 --> 0:31:02.440 all of my shorts being on set on Pretty Little 0:31:02.480 --> 0:31:08.160 Liars and feeling feeling creatively like stifled, because as you 0:31:08.200 --> 0:31:11.920 know from those ten months shooting schedules, you know, there 0:31:11.960 --> 0:31:15.360 are stretches of time where you're working on amazing stuff 0:31:15.400 --> 0:31:17.200 and you're like engaged and all of that stuff, and 0:31:17.240 --> 0:31:19.880 then you have like a week where you have a line, 0:31:20.040 --> 0:31:23.840 but you're on set all the time and you're like, ooh, 0:31:24.000 --> 0:31:27.200 I have nothing to do. And so I would sit 0:31:27.240 --> 0:31:29.280 in my chair and I would write, and it was 0:31:30.440 --> 0:31:33.680 really helpful because then when I got off the show, 0:31:34.280 --> 0:31:38.320 and especially when I got pregnant, and my agents were 0:31:38.320 --> 0:31:42.040 basically like, see you when you're you know, your stomach 0:31:42.080 --> 0:31:47.080 doesn't take up an entire frame of the camera. That 0:31:47.240 --> 0:31:50.000 was when I really was so grateful that I knew 0:31:50.000 --> 0:31:53.160 how to direct. And I you know Joanna Johnson, who 0:31:53.600 --> 0:31:56.840 was just she had just left the Fosters had just ended, 0:31:57.040 --> 0:32:00.320 and she was just making good trouble and she was 0:32:00.360 --> 0:32:04.640 incredible and She gave me my first job outside of 0:32:04.680 --> 0:32:06.480 the PLL family while I was like eight and a 0:32:06.480 --> 0:32:09.280 half months pregnant, and then like just kept on hiring 0:32:09.320 --> 0:32:14.240 me through you know, both pregnancies and breastfeeding and all 0:32:14.280 --> 0:32:16.840 of that. So it was it was just a really 0:32:16.920 --> 0:32:20.120 fortunate like way for me to continue to have a 0:32:20.240 --> 0:32:22.440 job and be a mom. 0:32:22.920 --> 0:32:27.160 Hyeah is awesome. Yeah, definitely not easy. How do you 0:32:27.960 --> 0:32:31.880 how do you approach directing? Because you know, to direct 0:32:31.920 --> 0:32:35.040 to show that you're on I think is an easier transition, 0:32:35.200 --> 0:32:36.960 you know it like the back of your hand. Yeah, 0:32:37.160 --> 0:32:40.480 But to go onto something like good Trouble, where do 0:32:40.640 --> 0:32:42.880 you like to start when you get a script and 0:32:42.920 --> 0:32:44.000 you have to learn a world? 0:32:45.240 --> 0:32:48.600 Well, I was very fortunate in that I in order 0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:52.960 for me to start directing on Pretty Little Liars, the 0:32:53.160 --> 0:32:57.000 studio actually stipulated that I would need to go through 0:32:57.280 --> 0:33:02.040 the Warner Brothers Director's TV program. Well that's so cool, yeah, 0:33:02.080 --> 0:33:04.680 which was I mean, like it sounds like it was 0:33:04.840 --> 0:33:06.760 a big hoop that they made me jump through, but 0:33:06.880 --> 0:33:09.600 like I didn't get to go to film school, so 0:33:09.800 --> 0:33:13.000 it was you know, you can shadow directors all day long, 0:33:13.120 --> 0:33:16.440 but like until somebody teaches you how to actually like 0:33:16.720 --> 0:33:19.360 make a shot list, you know, this is all stuff 0:33:19.400 --> 0:33:22.440 you're learning on the fly, yeah, and or break down 0:33:22.480 --> 0:33:25.640 a scene. And so I was so so grateful that 0:33:25.680 --> 0:33:29.120 they they said that I had to do that if 0:33:29.120 --> 0:33:30.560 I could, you know, in order for me to have 0:33:30.600 --> 0:33:34.760 my episode. And it was awesome because I would shoot 0:33:35.320 --> 0:33:39.400 Monday through Friday on the show, and then on Saturdays 0:33:39.400 --> 0:33:41.520 I would go back to Warner Brothers and there would 0:33:41.520 --> 0:33:44.040 be six hours where I was with a group of 0:33:44.080 --> 0:33:47.360 people and we were using the pretty little liar sets 0:33:48.120 --> 0:33:53.440 or class So it was like the most perfect setup 0:33:53.560 --> 0:33:56.760 for me to like imagine, Okay, now this is how 0:33:56.800 --> 0:33:59.080 I'm going to talk to our amazing DP or this 0:33:59.160 --> 0:34:02.880 is how I'm going to talk you know, like practice. 0:34:03.400 --> 0:34:06.440 And then, like you said, the big step out of 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:08.480 that is when you go to another show. So then 0:34:08.520 --> 0:34:10.399 the next show that I did was Famous and Love, 0:34:11.000 --> 0:34:15.000 which was really great because it was the same crew 0:34:15.360 --> 0:34:18.840 and it was the same studios but in different sets, 0:34:18.960 --> 0:34:22.799 different actors, but the same you know. Marlene was still 0:34:22.800 --> 0:34:26.160 a producer, Lisa Cochran, it was the creator. Lisa Cochran 0:34:26.280 --> 0:34:29.200 was our producer, and so it was still like within 0:34:29.239 --> 0:34:32.480 the family, and that was really wonderful. And then when 0:34:32.560 --> 0:34:35.360 Joanna hired me, it was great because it was in 0:34:35.400 --> 0:34:39.360 the first season of Good Trouble. So I got to 0:34:39.440 --> 0:34:43.680 be there, I think for the second and third episode, 0:34:44.080 --> 0:34:48.799 which were amazing and created by the other showrunners Brad 0:34:48.800 --> 0:34:53.080 and Peter, and so I got to like absorb. I 0:34:53.120 --> 0:34:55.239 was like, oh, this is their visual style, and I 0:34:55.239 --> 0:34:59.879 got to watch them communicate with the most incredible DP mark, 0:35:01.280 --> 0:35:03.600 and I got to see how the set functioned and 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:07.960 like from the very beginning, see the characters like go 0:35:08.040 --> 0:35:13.960 through their first three storylines, you know, and that's, like 0:35:14.000 --> 0:35:16.720 you said, it's if I go to another set, I'm 0:35:17.120 --> 0:35:21.600 extremely nervous. It is. So it's so overwhelming because, like 0:35:21.600 --> 0:35:24.400 you said, especially when you're stepping into an established show, 0:35:25.280 --> 0:35:29.040 like nobody knows the characters, like the actors you're speaking with, 0:35:29.320 --> 0:35:32.680 you know, the crew has been here generally from the 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:36.960 very beginning, and so you really are the odd man 0:35:37.080 --> 0:35:39.759 woman out who comes in and who's like, I think 0:35:39.760 --> 0:35:41.520 we should put the camera there, and you know, you 0:35:41.520 --> 0:35:43.359 see them be like, oh my god, we'd never put 0:35:43.400 --> 0:35:47.120 the camera there, and you're like, I'm like, it's you know, 0:35:47.360 --> 0:35:50.279 it's a lot of juggling but the best you can 0:35:50.320 --> 0:35:54.239 do is I just try to absorb as much of 0:35:54.280 --> 0:35:56.840 the show as I can, you know, watch, try to 0:35:56.880 --> 0:36:00.359 make notes about the visual style. Yeah, if I can 0:36:00.400 --> 0:36:05.200 shadow another director, do that, get other scripts, and just 0:36:05.239 --> 0:36:09.440 really get in the practice of Okay, here's how I 0:36:09.440 --> 0:36:12.200 would break down this, you know, this scene if I 0:36:12.239 --> 0:36:14.480 were doing it, or like, oh, I see how they 0:36:14.560 --> 0:36:17.000 played out that scene. And that makes sense because sometimes 0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:19.800 when you're coming onto a set, you don't have a script, 0:36:20.000 --> 0:36:23.080 you know, as you know, you have an outline, or 0:36:23.160 --> 0:36:26.839 you have like a general gist of the scene, and 0:36:27.360 --> 0:36:30.719 so it's yeah, it's and then the biggest thing that 0:36:30.760 --> 0:36:34.279 I do is just lean so hard on the crew 0:36:34.320 --> 0:36:37.680 that has been creating the show up until then, you know, 0:36:38.360 --> 0:36:41.520 really just stand next to the DP and the camera 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:44.359 operators as much as possible, and I'm like, okay, I'm 0:36:44.400 --> 0:36:47.920 really thinking this for this shot, and they're like, yeah, 0:36:48.000 --> 0:36:49.879 that that seems great, and I'm like, okay, good, good. 0:36:49.960 --> 0:36:56.719 Yeah, So totally. I mean it's exciting. It's like it's 0:36:56.840 --> 0:37:00.279 I love, I love you know, when I get to 0:37:00.280 --> 0:37:04.200 talk with other women that I really admire, particularly about directing. 0:37:04.239 --> 0:37:06.600 I just want there to be more of us everywhere. 0:37:07.400 --> 0:37:09.600 Yeah, well what is your Have you directed a lot 0:37:09.600 --> 0:37:10.680 on other shows as well? 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:14.200 No, so we I directed the last three seasons on 0:37:14.200 --> 0:37:17.720 One Tree Hill, which I loved, and then the show 0:37:17.760 --> 0:37:19.839 that I did after that, there was like a our 0:37:19.880 --> 0:37:25.280 actors don't direct policy, which I think now has begun 0:37:25.320 --> 0:37:27.600 to shift in that space, but at the time was 0:37:27.640 --> 0:37:31.160 like very firm. And then what I've mostly done since 0:37:31.200 --> 0:37:34.400 then is like really start developing and producing, and so 0:37:35.680 --> 0:37:42.120 it feels exciting, you know, having I really wanted to 0:37:42.200 --> 0:37:45.440 understand production because I have such a natural inclination for 0:37:45.480 --> 0:37:49.319 it on set anyway, and it was so nice to have, 0:37:49.440 --> 0:37:51.920 you know, the mentors that I had in some of 0:37:51.920 --> 0:37:54.439 our on site producers in Wilmington, who were like, you're 0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:58.960 a producer, like you just do that naturally. It's been 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:01.400 nice these last few years to lean into that. But 0:38:01.440 --> 0:38:05.880 I'm really starting to get the directing itche again, and really, yeah, 0:38:05.920 --> 0:38:09.640 I just love it. I love being able to look 0:38:09.680 --> 0:38:12.239 at the full picture of what's happening on a set, 0:38:13.120 --> 0:38:17.360 and I always really enjoy working with other actors as directors. 0:38:19.040 --> 0:38:22.239 I just think that it's it's great, It's like a 0:38:22.280 --> 0:38:24.520 great niche for us particularly. 0:38:24.680 --> 0:38:28.440 Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel I also think something 0:38:28.480 --> 0:38:33.799 that feels so good for me about it is the 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:39.360 ability to be creative and inhabit like an emotional moment 0:38:39.600 --> 0:38:42.799 or a story, but not have to deal with the 0:38:42.840 --> 0:38:46.520 insecurity of my face or wondering what it's doing, or 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:50.240 the frustration of, like, I don't know if this happens 0:38:50.280 --> 0:38:54.440 to you, but like all the time when I prepare 0:38:54.440 --> 0:38:56.839 for a scene as an actor, there's a way that 0:38:56.880 --> 0:38:59.719 I expect the scene will go, the way that I 0:38:59.719 --> 0:39:03.640 hope the scene will go. And then there is what 0:39:03.760 --> 0:39:07.480 I view is my own limitations and like the frustration 0:39:07.719 --> 0:39:10.120 of like I wanted it to be here and I 0:39:10.120 --> 0:39:14.279 imagine being here, you know, but there's that frustration of 0:39:14.320 --> 0:39:18.520 my own instrument and like not really occupying that. And 0:39:18.920 --> 0:39:23.120 there's just a freedom when I'm watching somebody else, you know, 0:39:23.480 --> 0:39:26.840 find their way in that I just feel so excited 0:39:26.880 --> 0:39:29.640 to like be in service of them, you know, because 0:39:29.680 --> 0:39:31.480 you can see it from the outside, You're like, oh, 0:39:31.560 --> 0:39:33.680 oh my god, they totally have it. I just need 0:39:33.719 --> 0:39:36.520 to like free them of that or give them that 0:39:36.600 --> 0:39:39.360 permission or have them move over here. And like being 0:39:39.400 --> 0:39:43.360 a part of that collaboration is so fulfilling. 0:39:44.440 --> 0:39:49.279 You know, Yeah, it's lovely and I think it's interesting too, 0:39:49.320 --> 0:39:53.400 because you the way you talk about watching other people 0:39:53.440 --> 0:39:56.440 do it. You know, you you make space for people 0:39:56.480 --> 0:39:59.919 to have their experience, and it can really be hard 0:40:00.120 --> 0:40:02.680 to give yourself the kind of space that you'll give 0:40:02.680 --> 0:40:06.440 to others. I think, by nature as performers, were so 0:40:06.680 --> 0:40:11.000 hard on ourselves. And yeah, I think there's something it 0:40:11.239 --> 0:40:14.080 feels nice to be artistically free. 0:40:15.280 --> 0:40:18.200 Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. 0:40:18.840 --> 0:40:22.919 How did you decide on the new show? Like, what 0:40:23.120 --> 0:40:26.399 was it about on Call that made you go, that's 0:40:26.440 --> 0:40:27.680 my next gig? For sure? 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:32.680 Well, I certainly did not do that at all with 0:40:32.800 --> 0:40:35.920 on Call, like and not like to knock the show, 0:40:36.000 --> 0:40:41.080 but like, I've never ever had an experience of being 0:40:41.200 --> 0:40:45.520 like that's my next show. Like all of my experiences 0:40:45.560 --> 0:40:48.440 are like, oh my god, I so desperately want this job, 0:40:48.640 --> 0:40:51.360 or like this will never happen. Like it's just like 0:40:51.400 --> 0:40:54.640 I've never had a moment of, you know, feeling that 0:40:54.800 --> 0:41:00.120 like confident, and even especially with this show. So I 0:41:00.160 --> 0:41:02.120 hadn't been on a you know, I hadn't been a 0:41:02.120 --> 0:41:06.440 series regular since Pretty Little Liars, And a lot of 0:41:06.440 --> 0:41:12.799 that was because my girls were so young and and 0:41:12.880 --> 0:41:17.440 so it was really like, you know, for the past 0:41:17.920 --> 0:41:20.640 let's see it were was six so for the past 0:41:20.719 --> 0:41:23.080 six years or seven years, the counting of the year 0:41:23.080 --> 0:41:27.160 that I was pregnant with her. You know, it was 0:41:27.239 --> 0:41:31.200 like would I be in the right like literally, like 0:41:31.239 --> 0:41:34.560 would I be not pregnant enough to shoot this in 0:41:34.600 --> 0:41:38.399 the window? Am I too pregnant? Am I breastfeeding? The 0:41:38.440 --> 0:41:41.879 other difficult thing is, you know, our home base being 0:41:42.080 --> 0:41:47.759 LA I really did not consider taking work outside. 0:41:47.239 --> 0:41:50.400 Of LA and that's really hard. 0:41:51.200 --> 0:41:53.720 And as you know, from where the industry is right now, 0:41:54.800 --> 0:42:00.279 not a lot shoots in Los Angeles. And so it 0:42:00.400 --> 0:42:04.279 was you know, like I hate to talk about like 0:42:04.320 --> 0:42:08.560 gender dynamics, but it was so much easier I think 0:42:08.680 --> 0:42:10.919 for the place that Patrick was in in his career too. 0:42:11.040 --> 0:42:14.719 He did a lot of like limited series. Yeah, and 0:42:14.840 --> 0:42:18.080 so even when it was a limited series away in Scotland, 0:42:18.120 --> 0:42:19.880 it was like, oh, you're going away to Scotland for 0:42:19.960 --> 0:42:23.640 this said amount of time, Like that makes sense. The 0:42:23.640 --> 0:42:27.439 things that I was being offered to audition for were 0:42:27.480 --> 0:42:32.000 not limited they were longer series, and they meant completely 0:42:32.040 --> 0:42:37.880 relocating our family. And that is just a really big 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:40.839 decision to take on and there's this real big toss 0:42:40.920 --> 0:42:43.680 up of things where it's like you don't even have 0:42:43.719 --> 0:42:46.920 the job and you have to consider this, yeah, you 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:48.880 know what I mean. Like I kind of for a 0:42:48.880 --> 0:42:50.440 while did that thing where I was just like, just 0:42:50.480 --> 0:42:53.920 pursue a job, just any job, and it ended up 0:42:54.120 --> 0:42:59.640 almost making us move to Albuquerque, and which was like 0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:02.440 the was awesome, but then like I was getting down 0:43:02.440 --> 0:43:03.840 the line and I was going to do a studio 0:43:03.880 --> 0:43:06.040 test and I was like, oh my god, what am 0:43:06.080 --> 0:43:09.799 I Like, we are not prepared to if this goes 0:43:09.840 --> 0:43:14.839 my way to do this, And so after you know, 0:43:14.960 --> 0:43:18.160 pulling out, you're you don't want to like waste people's 0:43:18.160 --> 0:43:20.719 time and you don't want to you know, tell people 0:43:20.800 --> 0:43:23.560 you want to do something when ultimately you can't. So 0:43:23.560 --> 0:43:26.279 so when on Call came around, it was truly like 0:43:26.440 --> 0:43:29.759 one of the first auditions that I had where it 0:43:29.800 --> 0:43:32.600 was like, oh wow, this is going to be shooting 0:43:32.640 --> 0:43:34.520 in and around the Los Angeles area. 0:43:34.920 --> 0:43:36.560 Absolutely dream come true. 0:43:36.719 --> 0:43:39.279 A total dream. But then at the same time I 0:43:39.360 --> 0:43:41.759 read the script and I was like, I'm never going 0:43:41.800 --> 0:43:44.520 to get this role, like never, I had never played 0:43:44.520 --> 0:43:47.120 a cop. I just was like, you know, she was 0:43:47.640 --> 0:43:50.239 like I'd never played my age. That was the other 0:43:50.280 --> 0:43:53.279 thing is like she's in her early forties and I 0:43:53.360 --> 0:43:56.879 had never even played somebody who was in her late thirties. Yeah, 0:43:57.320 --> 0:43:59.480 so I was just like, they're not looking for me. 0:44:00.040 --> 0:44:02.719 And even when Patrick and I made the tape for 0:44:02.800 --> 0:44:05.840 the audition, I was like, what do I do? Like 0:44:05.920 --> 0:44:08.239 do you have any notes? And he was like, you're 0:44:08.280 --> 0:44:10.240 not going to get this job, so like just do whatever, 0:44:10.480 --> 0:44:12.600 like like it was so like we but we both 0:44:12.640 --> 0:44:14.400 It wasn't like a knock. It was just like, you know, 0:44:14.719 --> 0:44:17.840 this is never going to go my way, And then 0:44:18.320 --> 0:44:22.759 when it did, it was this like absolute shock and 0:44:23.320 --> 0:44:25.520 this amazing thing because I thought the writing was just 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:29.560 awesome and I was so scared obviously going to set 0:44:29.719 --> 0:44:32.080 every single day just being like when are they going 0:44:32.120 --> 0:44:34.239 to look up at the monitor and realize they've made 0:44:34.239 --> 0:44:37.440 a horrible mistake, you know, like I just had imposters. 0:44:37.680 --> 0:44:41.879 Oh you're so good at it, thank you. But I do, 0:44:41.920 --> 0:44:44.239 and I bet I'll have imposter syndrome if we get 0:44:44.239 --> 0:44:47.040 a season two, Like I just you know, I don't 0:44:47.080 --> 0:44:51.080 know when I'll be comfortable with this character. But but 0:44:51.120 --> 0:44:53.760 it is funny because I've I've had that question recently 0:44:53.800 --> 0:44:56.440 where people are like, what about this job made you 0:44:56.480 --> 0:44:59.960 say like, that's you know, yours, And I was like, true, 0:45:00.000 --> 0:45:04.840 really it was. It was Sarah Isaacson, the casting director, 0:45:04.880 --> 0:45:07.359 it was you know, Elliott Wolf and Tim Walsh, and 0:45:07.400 --> 0:45:12.000 it was you know, oh my god, I mean it 0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:12.359 was Dick. 0:45:12.440 --> 0:45:16.120 Wolf is just like an absolute icon. I loved I 0:45:16.160 --> 0:45:19.440 loved working for that man, and Tim is such a 0:45:19.480 --> 0:45:21.719 good writer, and so to see that you guys were 0:45:21.760 --> 0:45:25.480 all doing this together, just like, I was so tickled 0:45:25.520 --> 0:45:26.440 when I read about it. 0:45:26.480 --> 0:45:27.880 I was like, oh my god, it's going to be 0:45:27.960 --> 0:45:29.719 so good, and it is. 0:45:29.760 --> 0:45:34.560 I just I really enjoy the pacing of the show 0:45:34.680 --> 0:45:37.920 and the edge of it, and it just feels so 0:45:39.400 --> 0:45:43.120 gritty and honest. You guys have done such a such 0:45:43.120 --> 0:45:44.320 a phenomenal. 0:45:43.880 --> 0:45:48.920 Job with it. Thank you. Yeah, I feel extremely lucky 0:45:48.960 --> 0:45:52.840 to be a part of this show and this crew. 0:45:53.760 --> 0:45:56.279 And also, like you said this, I think this is 0:45:56.280 --> 0:46:02.400 a real like kind of shift for Wolf Productions, you know, 0:46:02.440 --> 0:46:08.839 Wolf Entertainment, because especially because it's for Amazon, like, we're 0:46:08.920 --> 0:46:12.400 able to do things that I think, you know, so 0:46:12.520 --> 0:46:17.120 many other shows have probably wanted to do, but we 0:46:17.160 --> 0:46:22.880 get to occupy a different footprint, and I know, you know, 0:46:22.960 --> 0:46:27.239 I know for me like being in the PLL that 0:46:27.400 --> 0:46:31.759 was on free Form and then seeing the Pretty Little 0:46:31.800 --> 0:46:35.920 Liars that was on HBO Max, Like you really see 0:46:35.960 --> 0:46:40.880 when you like walk so somebody else can run, you 0:46:40.920 --> 0:46:42.680 know what I mean, that kind of thing. And so 0:46:42.840 --> 0:46:47.200 I feel extremely grateful because I understand that I'm standing 0:46:47.200 --> 0:46:51.640 on the shoulders of Dutch a legacy with Wolf Entertainment 0:46:51.680 --> 0:46:55.360 and so many amazing shows that have just like I mean, 0:46:55.400 --> 0:46:58.680 they're just juggernauts. So it's like to be the new 0:46:58.719 --> 0:47:01.239 little kid on the street. It's like kicking rocks and 0:47:01.280 --> 0:47:04.240 trying to make some noise. I feel very, very fortunate. 0:47:04.560 --> 0:47:05.360 It's so great. 0:47:05.920 --> 0:47:09.160 And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. 0:47:19.040 --> 0:47:21.920 Yeah, what are you up to these days other than 0:47:22.080 --> 0:47:26.280 hosting an amazing podcast. I mean, this is. 0:47:26.280 --> 0:47:31.440 Like such a wonderful constant that's so fun. It's really 0:47:31.480 --> 0:47:36.680 wild because this this is the first, well, I guess 0:47:36.719 --> 0:47:40.799 technically the second. Now, like twenty twenty four, coming into 0:47:40.880 --> 0:47:43.760 that year was the first year I was not attached 0:47:43.800 --> 0:47:46.799 to a TV show in my entire career, like in 0:47:46.840 --> 0:47:51.120 development on something or you know, a pod deal somewhere 0:47:51.239 --> 0:47:54.000 or whatever. And I really wanted to take a breath 0:47:54.080 --> 0:47:57.600 and just see, like, wait a second, what do I 0:47:57.680 --> 0:48:01.560 really want to do next? So I went and made 0:48:01.600 --> 0:48:05.239 this great movie last year that is an adaptation of 0:48:05.280 --> 0:48:07.279 a thriller from a big best selling book in the 0:48:07.400 --> 0:48:09.680 UK that was so much fun. 0:48:10.160 --> 0:48:11.960 When will that be coming out? 0:48:12.280 --> 0:48:14.959 I don't even know yet. We're just doing key art now, 0:48:15.040 --> 0:48:17.320 and everyone always asks me these questions that I realized 0:48:17.320 --> 0:48:18.560 I should know the answers. 0:48:18.239 --> 0:48:19.879 To, and I'm like, I don't know what you don't 0:48:19.880 --> 0:48:23.399 because nobody ever tells you. I ever think, Well, that's 0:48:23.440 --> 0:48:23.680 the thing. 0:48:23.760 --> 0:48:26.640 Our job, our world is so weird. I don't get 0:48:26.680 --> 0:48:29.239 attached to the details because I've realized that the more 0:48:29.239 --> 0:48:32.000 attached to details you are, the more anxious you'll be 0:48:32.040 --> 0:48:32.560 as a human. 0:48:32.800 --> 0:48:34.640 Yeah, so I'm kind of like, hey, I don't know. 0:48:35.800 --> 0:48:37.880 And then there was another film we were supposed to 0:48:37.920 --> 0:48:42.280 shoot in New York and then we lost our location, 0:48:42.680 --> 0:48:46.520 which was an absolute nightmare for us. Real estate moves 0:48:46.520 --> 0:48:50.080 in New York can really up independent film. So now 0:48:50.120 --> 0:48:52.440 we're trying to figure out, like how we put it 0:48:52.480 --> 0:48:56.360 back together, and we will. But it was supposed to 0:48:56.400 --> 0:48:57.799 be a twenty twenty four and now it looks like 0:48:57.840 --> 0:49:00.719 it'll be a twenty twenty five, and it's just it's like, yeah, 0:49:00.760 --> 0:49:04.960 I don't know, it's wild. I feel I definitely needed 0:49:05.040 --> 0:49:10.240 a beat because doing network TV for fifteen straight years 0:49:10.280 --> 0:49:14.239 just exhausted me. But I now I'm like, oh, I'm 0:49:14.280 --> 0:49:16.279 starting to get the itch, like I'm ready to be 0:49:16.440 --> 0:49:20.440 back at work in that consistent way. Because while I 0:49:20.520 --> 0:49:26.280 love making films, the for me at least as an actor, 0:49:26.320 --> 0:49:28.719 and I wonder if you feel this, like the ability 0:49:28.800 --> 0:49:33.120 to spend day in, day out with someone and really 0:49:33.239 --> 0:49:36.440 build a life. That's the thing I love the most. 0:49:36.520 --> 0:49:39.839 I mean, movies are a dream, but it's like summer camp. 0:49:39.840 --> 0:49:43.640 It goes by so fast, and I really love I 0:49:43.680 --> 0:49:45.560 love the development we get to have in TV. 0:49:46.719 --> 0:49:50.440 It is a real like yeah, it's really really just 0:49:50.480 --> 0:49:54.640 such a different experience. And like you said, when you're 0:49:54.640 --> 0:49:59.200 doing especially network network seasons, you know, you have ten 0:49:59.280 --> 0:50:02.480 months of being day and day out with this character 0:50:02.600 --> 0:50:06.360 and with this crew, and it's you know, really awesome. 0:50:07.080 --> 0:50:10.200 I'll be very excited because our order, initial order was 0:50:10.239 --> 0:50:13.480 like just eight half hour episodes, so it was supposed 0:50:13.480 --> 0:50:16.239 to be three and a half months. And then with 0:50:16.280 --> 0:50:19.040 the strike, and with the holidays and then the wow, 0:50:19.400 --> 0:50:21.080 how long it took to come out? It was actually 0:50:21.120 --> 0:50:25.600 two years. Yes, it's like I'm very excited to hopefully 0:50:25.600 --> 0:50:29.160 get back to some sort of like regularity. 0:50:29.360 --> 0:50:31.560 I totally know how that feels. We went through the 0:50:31.600 --> 0:50:34.000 same thing. The last show that I did we only 0:50:34.040 --> 0:50:36.839 did one season of, but was the show called Good 0:50:36.920 --> 0:50:39.440 Sam and I signed onto it at the top of 0:50:39.480 --> 0:50:44.960 twenty twenty, and it was and I started reading scripts 0:50:44.960 --> 0:50:47.640 in twenty nineteen. So it was really like a three 0:50:47.719 --> 0:50:50.759 year process because of the pandemic and lockdowns and all 0:50:50.760 --> 0:50:54.080 the things. For us to make a season of television. 0:50:54.160 --> 0:50:59.280 It was so surreal, and so it is really weird 0:50:59.320 --> 0:51:02.400 when you've when in the before times a year was 0:51:02.440 --> 0:51:05.759 a year, but in the like times of pandemics and 0:51:05.800 --> 0:51:09.560 strikes and things like a year takes three years. It's 0:51:09.640 --> 0:51:14.320 so insane, it is it is really wild. 0:51:14.560 --> 0:51:18.000 And I think I was just listening to something else 0:51:18.040 --> 0:51:22.399 that was one Oh my god. But Francis Ford Coppola, right, 0:51:22.480 --> 0:51:25.719 he made The Godfather part He made The Godfather and 0:51:25.760 --> 0:51:31.600 the Conversation and like the same calendar year and maybe 0:51:31.640 --> 0:51:34.880 it was maybe it was Godfather Part two and the conversation. 0:51:34.960 --> 0:51:37.200 So he was up for both Academy Awards in the 0:51:37.239 --> 0:51:41.000 same year for those films. I think I'm saying that right, 0:51:41.239 --> 0:51:45.239 but like that kind of like that kind of timeline 0:51:45.320 --> 0:51:48.200 just does not exist. It doesn't exist, said you know, 0:51:48.320 --> 0:51:52.160 especially now that you're in producing as well. You're signing 0:51:52.239 --> 0:51:54.839 on to something and then it's getting development, and then 0:51:54.840 --> 0:51:57.160 it's finally going, and then wild things that you can't 0:51:57.160 --> 0:52:01.680 control are happening, and then all of a sudden, it's five, seven, 0:52:01.760 --> 0:52:05.120 eight years down the line. And that's why you said 0:52:05.160 --> 0:52:06.960 you can't get caught up in the details, because you're like, 0:52:07.239 --> 0:52:08.799 I don't know, I don't know. 0:52:09.080 --> 0:52:10.960 I'm like, I'm not even going to stress about it. 0:52:11.040 --> 0:52:11.480 I don't know. 0:52:11.719 --> 0:52:14.160 And I've learned that for people who don't work in 0:52:14.200 --> 0:52:18.359 the circus, that's very hard, like friends, family, loved ones 0:52:18.400 --> 0:52:20.520 that are like, how do you not have more details? 0:52:20.600 --> 0:52:23.040 Or they'll be like, what do you mean? We had 0:52:23.040 --> 0:52:25.840 one conversation about this and now the whole thing is happening, 0:52:25.880 --> 0:52:28.680 and I'm like, I don't know. We made a plan 0:52:28.760 --> 0:52:31.799 and so it's the plan, right, Like yeah, and I 0:52:31.880 --> 0:52:35.319 realized not everybody's nuts like us, but here we are. 0:52:36.120 --> 0:52:39.720 But here, we are, here, we are Oh my gosh, 0:52:39.800 --> 0:52:40.480 it's wild. 0:52:41.320 --> 0:52:43.560 Well, I mean, I know you're waiting to find out 0:52:43.560 --> 0:52:46.440 if you get another order. I certainly hope you do 0:52:46.520 --> 0:52:50.480 because I'm loving the show. What was it like to 0:52:50.600 --> 0:52:52.759 prepare for it? Because you said you know you had 0:52:52.800 --> 0:52:58.040 imposter syndrome. I guess that's just something we all have forever. 0:52:58.200 --> 0:53:02.520 But how did you did you wrap your head around it? 0:53:02.560 --> 0:53:05.520 Because I know what a preparer you are. You are 0:53:05.719 --> 0:53:09.600 such an organized professional person, so I would imagine you 0:53:09.600 --> 0:53:13.080 did a lot of prep ahead of shooting. What did 0:53:13.080 --> 0:53:14.040 that look like for you? 0:53:14.840 --> 0:53:18.360 Well, it was interesting because when they told me I 0:53:18.400 --> 0:53:22.919 got the job, we were actually starting to shoot. I'm 0:53:22.920 --> 0:53:24.640 not kidding it a week and a half later. 0:53:25.239 --> 0:53:25.880 Oh my god. 0:53:26.560 --> 0:53:32.120 So it was. We were incredibly fortunate in that we 0:53:32.280 --> 0:53:38.080 got to uh work. Did you work with Luch? Yeah? Yeah, 0:53:38.120 --> 0:53:43.080 So Luch was so great. He came out, he worked 0:53:43.080 --> 0:53:45.040 with us for I think we got like two and 0:53:45.040 --> 0:53:50.520 a half days of just dollid training with him, and 0:53:50.880 --> 0:53:53.600 that was amazing. And then you know, they were kind 0:53:53.680 --> 0:53:56.040 enough to set us up with some ride alongs in 0:53:56.120 --> 0:53:59.960 Long Beach so that we could meet some people from 0:54:00.120 --> 0:54:02.880 West Division and also just get out in the community 0:54:02.960 --> 0:54:06.840 and start to learn Long Beach as you know, a community. 0:54:08.400 --> 0:54:12.480 And then we were in it, and we were fortunate 0:54:12.480 --> 0:54:15.680 to have really wonderful texts on set with us because 0:54:15.719 --> 0:54:20.560 it was so not natural. And it was really frightening 0:54:20.600 --> 0:54:22.200 for me because I was supposed to be playing a 0:54:22.239 --> 0:54:26.279 twelve year you know, veteran member of the Force. So 0:54:26.360 --> 0:54:30.319 I was like, this shit needs to look intrinsic, like 0:54:30.400 --> 0:54:35.160 it needs to just be absolutely not thought about. And meanwhile, 0:54:35.239 --> 0:54:38.120 like I might have learned, you know, five minutes before 0:54:38.160 --> 0:54:39.640 the take that they were like, oh no, no, no, 0:54:39.680 --> 0:54:41.960 you're not you know, bringing your baton with this one. 0:54:42.000 --> 0:54:43.400 And You're like, do you just throw the car in 0:54:43.440 --> 0:54:44.880 gear and this is what you're doing. And I was 0:54:44.960 --> 0:54:50.439 just like, uh huh okay. And so we did that 0:54:50.600 --> 0:54:53.040 and we were kind of moving along, kind of finding 0:54:53.080 --> 0:54:55.320 our pace. And then when we went down for the strike, 0:54:56.360 --> 0:55:01.280 as you know, a lot of shows did not come back. Yeah, 0:55:01.320 --> 0:55:03.839 and it was six months of waiting to find out 0:55:05.040 --> 0:55:09.000 is stressful. It was so stressful and and so I 0:55:09.040 --> 0:55:12.640 did I, you know, I would go to the scripts 0:55:13.120 --> 0:55:15.400 because we were about a little bit less than halfway 0:55:15.400 --> 0:55:17.640 through shooting the season and I would sit down with 0:55:17.680 --> 0:55:20.760 it on the strike and say like, I have this time, 0:55:21.360 --> 0:55:23.440 why don't I work on it? And I would find 0:55:23.440 --> 0:55:28.160 that it was just like sometimes supremely painful. I was like, 0:55:28.280 --> 0:55:30.759 what if what if I don't get to go back 0:55:30.800 --> 0:55:32.680 on this, you know, And so yeah, I kind of 0:55:32.920 --> 0:55:35.520 would like throw them, you know, in my book bag 0:55:35.560 --> 0:55:38.239 and like shove it under my desk. And then of 0:55:38.239 --> 0:55:40.200 course when they were like okay, great, like around they 0:55:40.239 --> 0:55:43.759 were like see you after Thanksgiving, I was like, oh bother, like, 0:55:44.320 --> 0:55:48.360 oh my god. And so it was great to be 0:55:48.480 --> 0:55:52.640 back on set, but it also felt like getting up 0:55:52.680 --> 0:55:55.200 and running again and remembering how your legs work and 0:55:55.239 --> 0:55:59.520 remembering how to approach you know, leave the car and 0:55:59.600 --> 0:56:04.240 what the protocol was so it you know, the most 0:56:04.320 --> 0:56:09.719 I could do was really deeply just get involved in 0:56:09.800 --> 0:56:15.040 the the emotional through line of the character. Yeah and 0:56:16.000 --> 0:56:18.520 uh and really just like like like I said before, 0:56:18.520 --> 0:56:21.280 with directing, just like really lean on the tech advisors 0:56:21.320 --> 0:56:23.759 just to be like I need you behind the camera 0:56:23.840 --> 0:56:25.640 and I need you to tell me if my right 0:56:25.640 --> 0:56:27.960 shoulders up or if I look tense, or if something 0:56:27.960 --> 0:56:31.520 it looks out of place, and just trusting them to 0:56:32.120 --> 0:56:36.359 make sure that I was being honest and yeah, that 0:56:36.480 --> 0:56:38.880 was That was mostly And then you know, there's a 0:56:38.920 --> 0:56:41.879 bunch of really great documentaries and honestly quite a bit 0:56:41.880 --> 0:56:45.239 of footage online. So I did a lot of that, 0:56:45.480 --> 0:56:46.799 a lot of watching that. 0:56:46.800 --> 0:56:47.440 That's awesome. 0:56:47.840 --> 0:56:49.680 I'm so glad you got to work with Louch. He's 0:56:49.719 --> 0:56:53.840 the best, He's the best, the so lucky. 0:56:54.640 --> 0:56:57.280 Well, I know you're waiting to find out what happens 0:56:57.320 --> 0:57:03.920 next the limbo of this crazy life. What feels like 0:57:04.320 --> 0:57:06.000 and it doesn't have to be about work, by the way, 0:57:06.040 --> 0:57:08.759 it can be any any sort of facet of your 0:57:08.760 --> 0:57:11.000 life right now. What feels like you're work in progress 0:57:11.120 --> 0:57:11.680 at the moment? 0:57:12.880 --> 0:57:18.040 Oh my goodness, gosh, so many things I feel. I mean, 0:57:18.080 --> 0:57:20.160 I guess that's what living is, which is so great. Right, 0:57:20.240 --> 0:57:23.400 It's like a constant work in progress. I feel like 0:57:25.280 --> 0:57:28.760 I'm you know, with regards to work, I'm a work 0:57:28.760 --> 0:57:31.480 in progress because I'm constantly figuring out how to navigate. 0:57:31.600 --> 0:57:35.000 You know, I've got a TV show that I'm going 0:57:35.080 --> 0:57:37.120 to be going out with that I've been working to 0:57:37.240 --> 0:57:41.200 create for a while, so like learning how to pitch 0:57:41.400 --> 0:57:44.280 and really, like you said, like you're doing produce, like 0:57:44.320 --> 0:57:48.040 that's a work in progress for me, a work in 0:57:48.080 --> 0:57:50.880 progress with my marriage right now, because Patrick's been like 0:57:51.000 --> 0:57:54.880 shooting on location for the entire year, So figuring out 0:57:54.880 --> 0:57:58.120 how to fit back, welcome him back in, you know, 0:57:58.200 --> 0:58:01.960 and make sure that he he feels home again, like 0:58:02.000 --> 0:58:04.000 it's such a long time to be away from home. 0:58:05.840 --> 0:58:08.520 And then the girls are growing every day, so like 0:58:09.000 --> 0:58:11.840 mothering as a total work in progress, you know, and 0:58:11.960 --> 0:58:15.040 like figuring out how to relate to them and what 0:58:15.120 --> 0:58:17.520 they need and what they want and how they're changing 0:58:19.320 --> 0:58:22.480 and how I'm changing in response to them. And then 0:58:22.680 --> 0:58:25.120 you know, like like we talked about when we first 0:58:25.160 --> 0:58:28.200 got on, like the work in progress of how to 0:58:28.240 --> 0:58:30.640 be part of the larger community. And now that I 0:58:31.360 --> 0:58:36.040 just being so grateful that right now as the shows out, 0:58:36.080 --> 0:58:38.280 as I'm in this limbo waiting to find out I 0:58:38.320 --> 0:58:42.160 have some time, and so it's like, how can I 0:58:42.200 --> 0:58:45.120 be the most helpful? You know, who can I be 0:58:45.240 --> 0:58:47.000 checking in on? Who can I be reaching out to? 0:58:48.920 --> 0:58:52.000 You know, how can I be talking to my kids? 0:58:52.240 --> 0:58:55.680 You know, like figuring out that what's the best way 0:58:55.720 --> 0:59:01.320 to to talk about it? And yeah, so so life, 0:59:01.920 --> 0:59:04.920 my life is the life is my work in progress. 0:59:05.360 --> 0:59:07.840 Right, yeah, I feel it.