Speaker 1: Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello
Speaker 1: whip smarties. Today I'm sitting down with a woman I
Speaker 1: absolutely adore from life and also from television, who, like myself,
Speaker 1: grew up on essentially a cult classic TV show. Today's
Speaker 1: guest on Work in Progress is none other than Troy
Speaker 1: and Bellisario, who we all fell in love with on
Speaker 1: Pretty Little Liars and who has made such an incredible
Speaker 1: career as an actor, a director, a writer, and now
Speaker 1: she is starring on Dick Wolfe's newest show, on Call
Speaker 1: on Amazon Prime. It is an adrenalized and visceral police
Speaker 1: drama that follows a rookie and a veteran officer played
Speaker 1: by Troyan as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California.
Speaker 1: This show is so good, It is so well written,
Speaker 1: it is so well shot, and it happens to hail
Speaker 1: from many of the same team members that I worked
Speaker 1: on Chicago PD with and I just, oh, I love
Speaker 1: everything about it. I can't wait to talk to Troy
Speaker 1: in about what it was like to go from high
Speaker 1: school drama to cop show and all of her incredible
Speaker 1: work in between. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2: Oh No you look amazing.
Speaker 1: Oh no, angel I had to do a meeting today
Speaker 1: with like a stranger on Zoom, and I looked in
Speaker 1: the mirror this morning and was like, oh, I've been
Speaker 1: in storage units for three days, like gathering supplies for
Speaker 1: friends whose houses burned down, and I need to.
Speaker 2: Re do it all. So I actually like washed my
Speaker 2: hair today. It was a big deal, incredible.
Speaker 1: And then you just look like this all the time. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's not like you have just perfect face all the time.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I was thinking, you mean the sweatshirt that
Speaker 2: I dropped my children off in school in and me
Speaker 2: my hair up in the craziest ponytail. It's so good
Speaker 2: to see you.
Speaker 1: It's so good to see you. How are you, guys?
Speaker 1: Everything's okay.
Speaker 2: We are exceptionally and exceedingly lucky. We're doing okay. We
Speaker 2: were out of town for a little bit, you know,
Speaker 2: just left and then just got back and yeah, how
Speaker 2: are you doing.
Speaker 1: It's just been wild. I mean, likewise, it was weird.
Speaker 1: I what a stupid thing. But it's like my best
Speaker 1: friend who's my business partner, and I were speaking at
Speaker 1: cees last week, so we were in Vegas just like
Speaker 1: bopping around and then suddenly we were like, what's going on,
Speaker 1: Like what is happening at home? And my parents had
Speaker 1: to evacuate, and so we evacuated them to my house,
Speaker 1: and then they had to evacuate my house, and it
Speaker 1: was like and now we're okay, but we're all just
Speaker 1: kind of waiting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really really I don't know how to describe it.
Speaker 2: It feels so strange to be like doing stuff like
Speaker 2: this this week, because you know, whenever I'm listening to
Speaker 2: the news or looking at watch study or anything online,
Speaker 2: it's just like, okay, wind advisory, like, we're not we
Speaker 2: haven't seen the end of this, and I've I just
Speaker 2: like I don't even know how the city begins to
Speaker 2: process rebuild, you know, we're not even through it. So
Speaker 2: it's yeah, it's this bizarre kind of you know, awful limbo.
Speaker 1: Well, and it's such a weird thing. There was that
Speaker 1: I don't remember where it started, but someone had posted,
Speaker 1: you know, climate change will be a series of disasters
Speaker 1: you watch on your phone until you're the one filming it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's like I was listening to this climate scientist
Speaker 1: interviewed at the top of the week, and he was
Speaker 1: talking about how everyone in LA who's been affected by
Speaker 1: these fires is now a climate refugee.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: And it really it shifted something mentally for me, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh boy, it has it really has
Speaker 1: arrived on our doorstep. Yeah, and it's very surreal. And
Speaker 1: then at the same time, exactly as you said, life
Speaker 1: has to go on. People have to go to work,
Speaker 1: you know. So many people I know are like desperate
Speaker 1: to get back to work, you know, and we have
Speaker 1: to do these things. But I do feel really lucky
Speaker 1: that at least for the past week I was basically
Speaker 1: able to shut everything down and just start managing, you know,
Speaker 1: going through things. Because one of one of the girls
Speaker 1: on my team, her family's house burned down. They have nothing,
Speaker 1: and we were just like, okay, we can gather furniture,
Speaker 1: we can gather supplies, we can pack clothes, we can
Speaker 1: pack cosmetics, we can shuttle things to donation centers, we
Speaker 1: can shuttle things to people we know. And it was
Speaker 1: pretty cool to just watch everyone in our universe just
Speaker 1: stop and serve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very special. Yeah. I don't know if you follow.
Speaker 2: There's a gentleman on Instagram who I absolutely adore. His
Speaker 2: name is his Instagram handle was blakely Thornton. Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 2: we're afraid. He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I die for him.
Speaker 2: He is so amazing and he it was just saying
Speaker 2: how the beautiful thing to come out of all of
Speaker 2: this horrific horror is the community service is just like
Speaker 2: the LA community just wrapping its arms around everybody possibly
Speaker 2: can and just be so well being there. Yeah, feel
Speaker 2: extremely lucky and like you said, extremely grateful to be.
Speaker 2: You know, yesterday it was just me going to Costco
Speaker 2: and buying under our packs and socks, packs and hells
Speaker 2: of water and just being like where, you know, where
Speaker 2: can I go meet? And I go, So yeah, yes,
Speaker 2: really feel extremely lucky.
Speaker 1: It's special. And I mean you you also grew up here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So it's like, I don't know, I feel such pride
Speaker 1: in the way that people are getting to see what
Speaker 1: our city is, not what they think it is, not
Speaker 1: what they judgmentally call it, but what it is, and
Speaker 1: how hard LA rides for La. Yeah, I just yeah,
Speaker 1: I love our I love our city.
Speaker 2: I know, I know it's and it's something that you know,
Speaker 2: because I'm it's obviously everybody who's in LA who's been
Speaker 2: affected is is reeling. And everybody who's in LA who
Speaker 2: hasn't been affected in the most dramatic ways is reeling.
Speaker 2: And like you said, when this is your hometown too,
Speaker 2: your you know, your heart just aches because I've never
Speaker 2: seen anything like this. We've never seen LA has never
Speaker 2: seen anything like this, like not at this level. And
Speaker 2: so it really, like you said, it ushers in a
Speaker 2: new era of what we have to be prepared for,
Speaker 2: of what the city has to you know, prepare it
Speaker 2: citizens for and take care of us for. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: what a wild man. I was really hoping twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five was not gonna, yeah, come out of the gates
Speaker 2: this hot. But yeah, if every year previously has taught
Speaker 2: me anything, it's just don't get your hopes up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just stop saying this is gonna be our year.
Speaker 2: Just enough of that, It's okay, Yeah, it's just it's.
Speaker 1: Just enough of that.
Speaker 2: Did you love growing up here? I mean, who you
Speaker 2: grew up here too? Right? Yeah? Yeah, so it's like, yes,
Speaker 2: I loved growing up here. I also like didn't know
Speaker 2: anything different, you know totally. It's like I went to
Speaker 2: the same school K through twelve and everybody was like, oh,
Speaker 2: did you love that school, and I was like, sure,
Speaker 2: I love that school. I also had never been to
Speaker 2: another school, so how I know, you know, it's just
Speaker 2: this is what home feels like to me. You know,
Speaker 2: home feels like the you know, the Ripley's believe it
Speaker 2: or not, and the Mullholland you know drives and the
Speaker 2: Topanga canyons and the beach and the mountains, and it's
Speaker 2: like it just all feels like home. Though I don't
Speaker 2: know what was your experience growing up same.
Speaker 1: I think that the sort of biodiversity of this place
Speaker 1: was a so amazing to me, and you just said it.
Speaker 1: You know, you can be up hiking peaks and then
Speaker 1: in the ocean at sunset. It's so it's just so special.
Speaker 1: And that was what was funny to me is so
Speaker 1: many people from outside think La just totally revolves around
Speaker 1: the business, and for me, growing up here, LA really
Speaker 1: revolved around nature. But yeah, the business is also so
Speaker 1: intrinsic in it, and I think, I guess not. I
Speaker 1: think I wonder, especially for you, because you grew up
Speaker 1: in like a television family, was your childhood also sort
Speaker 1: of experienced on set or did your parents keep you
Speaker 1: really separate from that universe when you were a kid.
Speaker 2: Well, it was funny, it was experienced on set. I
Speaker 2: was extremely fortunate that my parents just like constantly took
Speaker 2: me to work, so I really they did have the experience,
Speaker 2: especially with my my older brother Michael, of like growing
Speaker 2: up on the Universal back lot and then the Paramount
Speaker 2: back lot and just kind of running around and those
Speaker 2: were just joyful memories because getting to be there with
Speaker 2: my parents and watch what they do and watch them
Speaker 2: working and see how those sets functioned was just really
Speaker 2: super exciting. But my parents, conversely were also very clear
Speaker 2: that I was not allowed to work until I finished college. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and which was great. You know, I was allowed to
Speaker 2: do like little things, but they were just like, you're
Speaker 2: not allowed to drop out, You're not allowed to get emancipated.
Speaker 2: You're not allowed. I mean, I love that idea of that.
Speaker 2: I'd be like, you can't get amancipated. Like that's a
Speaker 2: whole effing point of a mash point. Yeah, it is
Speaker 2: that your parents won't get to tell you that. But
Speaker 2: but I really accepted my parents, you know, sort of
Speaker 2: like stipulations about get a college degree, because then you know,
Speaker 2: you have a plan B and C. I did get
Speaker 2: my college degree in acting, so I don't know what
Speaker 2: they thought about that, right, Yeah, my backup plan is acting.
Speaker 2: My plan B is my plan A. Yeah, my Plan
Speaker 2: B is my Plan A. That's the way I'll get
Speaker 2: around this. But it was it was just a really
Speaker 2: wonderful experience because it also allowed me to have a
Speaker 2: very inside look at like the luckiest actors, you know,
Speaker 2: the way I think a lot of actors who come
Speaker 2: to LA and who maybe you know who don't have
Speaker 2: the great fortune that I did to like experience sets
Speaker 2: without getting the job. Yeah, I got to see the
Speaker 2: way a set is run, and I got to see
Speaker 2: the way lights are set up, and the way wardrobe
Speaker 2: you know, the wardrobe department functions, and like all of
Speaker 2: these key things that have to happen before and for
Speaker 2: the actor to finally step in and like step on
Speaker 2: a mark. And so it felt I don't know, I
Speaker 2: just felt so lucky that I got to see how
Speaker 2: the sausage was made. You know. It's like, yeah, like
Speaker 2: kind of like growing up in a bakery. It's just like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's great to bake bread, you know, like I get
Speaker 2: to see it from the inside.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, and I think it's so cool because there
Speaker 1: is so much work and it really you know, the
Speaker 1: two hundred people that it requires to make something. For
Speaker 1: you to know that so early, and also I think
Speaker 1: to understand the you know the importance of your crew
Speaker 1: and all the things you never see in the finished
Speaker 1: product is really such a gift.
Speaker 2: On that note, I just want to like add that
Speaker 2: it was really because my parents were constantly on set.
Speaker 2: Like obviously I was not on set with them all
Speaker 2: the time, but they would come home very late, they
Speaker 2: would leave very early because they were constantly on set.
Speaker 2: And so I also had the experience of being the
Speaker 2: kid who was away from my family when they were
Speaker 2: at work. And then when I was working and I
Speaker 2: saw the crew that got there and loaded in and
Speaker 2: you know before and like we're there after the actors
Speaker 2: wrapped out, I wouldn't know. I would be like, you've
Speaker 2: got a kid at home, you've got a partner at home,
Speaker 2: Like you're spending more time with us than you are
Speaker 2: with them. So like I had a real kind of
Speaker 2: like front seat appreciation for everybody on the crew and
Speaker 2: how much time and energy it took just to be
Speaker 2: a part of something.
Speaker 1: And now a word from our sponsors who make this
Speaker 1: show possible. It's such a privilege to know the ins
Speaker 1: and outs of it. And to your point, you know,
Speaker 1: it requires so much sacrifice, you know. I think there's
Speaker 1: again from outside, much like La, there's this misnomer that
Speaker 1: being on a set is like all sort of privileged
Speaker 1: and fancy, and it's like no, no, it's sixteen seventeen
Speaker 1: hours a day and it's hard, and you build.
Speaker 2: Such a.
Speaker 1: Kind of second family because, as you said, you're with
Speaker 1: these people more than you're with your own family. I
Speaker 1: know for us that was sort of gorgeous and really
Speaker 1: tough on One Tree Hill, especially because we were all
Speaker 1: so young. I mean, I think i'd been twenty one
Speaker 1: for like three weeks or something when I moved out there,
Speaker 1: and you know, now I think about how lucky we
Speaker 1: are to be so close as adults who've like gone
Speaker 1: to therapy and healed our shit and like doesn't work,
Speaker 1: you know, and I wish we'd had some of those skills.
Speaker 2: Then.
Speaker 1: How was it for you guys? I mean, I know
Speaker 1: you were twenty four when The Pretty Little Liars started airing.
Speaker 1: Was it also kind of a jumble of you know,
Speaker 1: closeness and like total Shenanigans.
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, It's interesting really that you that you say
Speaker 2: that your experience on Montree Hill too, you guys were
Speaker 2: you weren't on location because the entire show was out there,
Speaker 2: but you were on location you were. Yeah, we were
Speaker 2: away home and away from your families, and that is
Speaker 2: really you know, that was Lucy's experience, that was Shay's experience.
Speaker 2: But Stasha who had her parents in La, Ashley who
Speaker 2: had her parents in Orange County, and me who had
Speaker 2: my family in LA like the fact that we were
Speaker 2: we were all different ages and different experiences. And I
Speaker 2: wonder if this happened too with you guys, Like because
Speaker 2: I was twenty four and I had gone to college.
Speaker 2: I finished high school and finished college, and a lot
Speaker 2: of the girls had you know, gotten their GEDs, or
Speaker 2: had been homeschooled, or who didn't go to college, and
Speaker 2: so there were a lot of in the very beginning,
Speaker 2: I would say, like a lot of high school experiences
Speaker 2: literally that like they were getting to go through in
Speaker 2: high school. You know, we were shooting in a hallway
Speaker 2: and that was not their high school experience because they've
Speaker 2: been homeschooled, you know, or like we were going to
Speaker 2: a prom and it's like I had my prom experience,
Speaker 2: you know, but like they didn't, and so there were
Speaker 2: a lot of like definite shenanigans going on. But I
Speaker 2: think I always felt like the older sister, you know that, like, yeah,
Speaker 2: got to go away to college and now was like
Speaker 2: coming back on Thanksgiving break and I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: I see what you guys are up to. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: I'm good. But it was It was also really fun because,
Speaker 2: as you say, they become your second family. Like we
Speaker 2: really felt like sisters because you're spending all this time
Speaker 2: together and you're not always going to be best friends,
Speaker 2: but like a sibling. If anybody has a sibling, you know,
Speaker 2: doesn't matter if you're not best friends, it doesn't matter
Speaker 2: if you've got in a fight the day before. You're
Speaker 2: like you're still at dinner together, You're still hanging out.
Speaker 2: You know, It's it's fine because you know, like it's
Speaker 2: just the these are your it's like your second family,
Speaker 2: you know. As you said, does that make any sense.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, because it's real life dynamics. It's not a rom com.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, we talk about it a lot.
Speaker 1: We were together for ten years and none of us
Speaker 1: had any idea how to be adults when we first met,
Speaker 1: and we went through all of our shit together, where
Speaker 1: we loved each other, we hated each other, we were
Speaker 1: obsessed with each other, we were fighting, we were doing
Speaker 1: all the things that you do in your young life.
Speaker 1: But if anybody from outside our little circus family had
Speaker 1: anything negative to say about anybody in it, it was
Speaker 1: like hell no, like of course, you know, and that's
Speaker 1: that's such a special thing, and it's like it's it's
Speaker 1: the real dynamic of something like that. And I think
Speaker 1: for me, I think Hillary was probably more in the
Speaker 1: position you were, because you know, she'd been in college
Speaker 1: and then was working at MTV and was really like
Speaker 1: involved in that whole world. And I went to an
Speaker 1: all girls, like fifty five girls in my graduating class,
Speaker 1: small prep school. I never had a traditional high school anything.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: And then I'd done three years of college, and you know,
Speaker 1: it was like the philanthropy chair of my sorority, nobody's
Speaker 1: shocked there. And then I got on set and was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what it's like to go to high
Speaker 1: school with boys.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know any of this so in a weird way.
Speaker 1: Even though I was such like a book smart kid,
Speaker 1: I had no real life experience. And Hillary was definitely
Speaker 1: even though we're only a week apart, like my smarter
Speaker 1: older sister who was like, Oh, you're going to make
Speaker 1: all these stupid mistakes and I'm gonna say I told
Speaker 1: you so, but I'm going to be the person who
Speaker 1: like catches you also when you fall, and it was
Speaker 1: absolutely ridiculous and amazing, and yeah, it's like such a
Speaker 1: weird It's just such a weird journey. And I think
Speaker 1: especially on shows like both of ours, they hit the
Speaker 1: zeitgeist in a way that you just can't be prepared for.
Speaker 1: I mean, was it so so real to you when
Speaker 1: suddenly it was everywhere? How did you how did you
Speaker 1: kind of process such fast fame and the fandom that
Speaker 1: came along with a show like that.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I kind of would to flip it
Speaker 2: around and ask you because how long were your How
Speaker 2: long were you in was it North Carolina? Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2: How long a year were you in North Carolina?
Speaker 1: Ten months? Like nine to ten months, and.
Speaker 2: Then you'd come home for a little bit, And what
Speaker 2: was it like when you came back to LA.
Speaker 1: I don't totally know, because I wanted to work so
Speaker 1: much that, like any movie that happened to have its
Speaker 1: shooting dates on my hiatus, by the way, some which
Speaker 1: were not good, I still wanted to go do just
Speaker 1: to experience or something else. I think I would probably
Speaker 1: make choices slightly differently from my adult perspective now. But
Speaker 1: there were years when I barely came home, like I'd
Speaker 1: come over a weekend, fly back, you know, to try
Speaker 1: to see my friends for one night, and then I'd
Speaker 1: go back to Wilmington. That that was the weirder part
Speaker 1: of it. I think was never really feeling like anywhere
Speaker 1: was home, because if I was totally invested there, I
Speaker 1: was missing so much here, and if I'd fly home here,
Speaker 1: I'd miss weekends with friends there. I kind of felt
Speaker 1: like I could never get the balance right, which I
Speaker 1: mean I think women feel in every way between life
Speaker 1: and work, like what's life work balance?
Speaker 2: Sure?
Speaker 1: But I think what was weird for us was being
Speaker 1: in such a bubble Like even now, sometimes my best
Speaker 1: friends will be like, you do know you're a famous person, right,
Speaker 1: And I'm like, but I'm not really like right, And
Speaker 1: I'll fill in the blank, like so and so is
Speaker 1: really famous, and they're like, you're not paying attention to
Speaker 1: what's happening in this room since you walked into it.
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is. Why we I don't
Speaker 1: know if you experienced that. I think I think we
Speaker 1: were very much always told that our show wasn't such
Speaker 1: a big deal. Probably I never wanted anyone to ask
Speaker 1: for a raise, because when they sign you on a
Speaker 1: six year TV contract, no money, they don't want to
Speaker 1: pay you more money and they sadly don't have to.
Speaker 1: But like you know, I still don't quite know how
Speaker 1: to process it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's still still is like yeah, for sure, I
Speaker 2: mean I feel, hmm. It's interesting because my experience, you know,
Speaker 2: like you said, well, because we shot in La So,
Speaker 2: and because I was dating Patrick throughout throughout all of it,
Speaker 2: and he was shooting throughout all of it at the
Speaker 2: same time. But in Toronto, it was most of my
Speaker 2: weekends were flying to see him or him coming to
Speaker 2: see me. So it was interesting because like I would
Speaker 2: have my poll experience during the week and then I
Speaker 2: would like go to camp or like you know, he
Speaker 2: would come here and I would try to like see
Speaker 2: as much of him as possible, and but then I
Speaker 2: was very lucky in that, like so many of my
Speaker 2: friends that I grew up with, like we're in LA,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, and so I would get
Speaker 2: to see them, but I never experienced the like shock
Speaker 2: of fame, you know. I guess like I've had those
Speaker 2: experiences when I've gone to some place that's outside of America. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I feel very fortunate and that like Los
Speaker 2: Angeles people like really don't care that much, you know,
Speaker 2: and they're like okay. But also because I don't I
Speaker 2: don't know how to like do this the way that
Speaker 2: it is done. When I'm on a show like pl
Speaker 2: I get a lot of when I'm outside people are like,
Speaker 2: oh man, you look so much like that girl, you know,
Speaker 2: or they're like, oh, have you seen Pretty Little Liars?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, yeah, I've seen a couple episodes. Yeah,
Speaker 2: totally get that all the time. That's that's my experience.
Speaker 2: But but then it's lovely because then when people do
Speaker 2: recognize you there, our fans have always been so kind
Speaker 2: and so gracious, like, yeah, you know, I feel like
Speaker 2: so fortunate in that we have a very rabbit and
Speaker 2: passionate fan base. But they are the sweetest and kindest
Speaker 2: and gentlest of souls, you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 2: you don't have like fans that are like mean or
Speaker 2: you know, expect too much from you. You know. That's like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's great. I would say I feel very lucky. Patrick
Speaker 2: and I always say like we're the luckiest amount of
Speaker 2: famous because like, yes we're you know, we get invited
Speaker 2: to cool things or we get to like have wonderful
Speaker 2: experiences with other celebrities, but we can still go grocery
Speaker 2: shopping and like who cares go under the.
Speaker 1: Radar and semblance of a normal life. Now, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't remember because fun fact for the for the friends
Speaker 1: at home, Patrick and I were in the same class
Speaker 1: at USC.
Speaker 2: I know, it's so crazy.
Speaker 1: One of like my oldest, sweetest friends. And I can't remember.
Speaker 1: Did you guys meet at sc or after?
Speaker 2: So we met after me? Okay, yeah we we There
Speaker 2: were actually moments when we met we found at USC,
Speaker 2: Like no was a moment, yeah, he you would have
Speaker 2: been already gone shooting, but he did. Uh. Mauraz Saud
Speaker 2: that like do you hear about the production of Matzad?
Speaker 2: It was like so many of your classmates. Okay, so
Speaker 2: right after they graduated, your class graduated. He in that
Speaker 2: summer like put together a big production of Matsad that
Speaker 2: like kind of went into the ball I guess, or
Speaker 2: I don't remember when it was, but it was we
Speaker 2: met Benn and because a bunch of seniors that I
Speaker 2: was then doing a play with were like, you have
Speaker 2: to come see this this class and like this class
Speaker 2: is amazing, and so we discovered that we actually met
Speaker 2: like then I think, I, you know, I was like
Speaker 2: a nerdy freshman and they were like, this is Patrick.
Speaker 2: He directed it, and I was probably.
Speaker 1: Like like cool, it was really good man, Oh my god.
Speaker 2: I was like it was amazing, it's so cool. And he,
Speaker 2: you know, in my memory like was standing underneath the
Speaker 2: streetlight with like a cigarette and he was like cool,
Speaker 2: you know, like it was like a whole Goodard film.
Speaker 2: And I was just like a full arcle in response.
Speaker 2: And then he came back to school my junior year
Speaker 2: and he gave me and Brian Jordan Alvarez the Jack
Speaker 2: Nicholson Award because he had won it, I guess his
Speaker 2: junior year. So we met then, but then after school
Speaker 2: when I graduated, being at the Geffen was my first
Speaker 2: job and that was the play that we met, So yeah,
Speaker 2: that's occur. Wow, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: And then you went and did something on suits and
Speaker 1: he came in and did something on PLLL.
Speaker 2: Like, were you guys.
Speaker 1: Just sort of game to play because you were in
Speaker 1: this back and forth of travel and long distance and
Speaker 1: all the things and just wanted to figure it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. There were actually two very funny, very
Speaker 2: different stories, and one of them was it was the
Speaker 2: first season of Pretty Little Liars and we actually broke up.
Speaker 2: I broke up with him, and like the morning after
Speaker 2: we broke up, he got the audition for something for
Speaker 2: Pretty Little Liars and he knew Gail Pillsbury, our casting director,
Speaker 2: and he like prepared the crap out of it and
Speaker 2: went in and was just like did the audition and
Speaker 2: Gail was like you're amazing. I love you, and he
Speaker 2: was like, okay, but like I really want this role.
Speaker 2: And then he called his agents at the time, the managers,
Speaker 2: and they were like, okay, like you're coming in really
Speaker 2: hot for like an ABC Family like guest star role.
Speaker 2: Like I don't understand, you know, cause they were like
Speaker 2: we're trying to get you like your own show right now,
Speaker 2: and he was like, yeah, but I want this guest
Speaker 2: star and then he got it. And then he called
Speaker 2: me and he was like, Okay, well, I know that
Speaker 2: we just broke up, but like I'm going to be
Speaker 2: at your table read and I'm going to be on
Speaker 2: your set, so you know, we should probably like talk
Speaker 2: or something like that. And then we fully talked, which
Speaker 2: I think you know what that means, and got back
Speaker 2: together and then the mo phone wasn't even at the
Speaker 2: table read. We never shot the same day like it was,
Speaker 2: but it is a hilarious, like you know, part of
Speaker 2: our history that he then is like he put in
Speaker 2: the work. He put in the work. And then by
Speaker 2: the time, I was always on the set of Suits
Speaker 2: because when I would get a day off, I would
Speaker 2: fly there and so I was just like a fixture
Speaker 2: at their craft service table and at behind the video village.
Speaker 2: So obviously I knew, you know, the writers, and I
Speaker 2: knew the showrunners and all of that, and so when
Speaker 2: it came time when they had a character, you know,
Speaker 2: they're absolutely amazing. Casting director Bonnie was just like, oh,
Speaker 2: this is Troyan's role, and so we got to work
Speaker 2: it out. So it was like joyous because it was
Speaker 2: a you know, work vacation where I got to see
Speaker 2: him and like actually work with all of the people
Speaker 2: that I had just been like sneaking around getting snacks
Speaker 2: for in between takes, you know, and trying to get
Speaker 2: a little set mouse. Yeah, so that was.
Speaker 1: How that It's really really nice And now a word
Speaker 1: from our sponsors.
Speaker 2: It's so cool to me to.
Speaker 1: Watch all the things that you've chosen to do, you know,
Speaker 1: not just as an actor, but as a writer and
Speaker 1: as a producer. I mean from from feed to all
Speaker 1: of these like incredible films and projects you've gone to
Speaker 1: work on. How have you tried to cultivate all of that?
Speaker 1: You know, how were you leaning into these other aspects
Speaker 1: of your talent while you were making this massive TV show?
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, first of all, thank you for
Speaker 2: saying that. It was always like because my parents are
Speaker 2: writers and directors, they always told me when I was
Speaker 2: watching the actors on their sets, they were like, you're
Speaker 2: watching the luckiest point zero zero zero one percent of actors.
Speaker 2: You know, these are talented right outside that gate. They
Speaker 2: are equally talented people. It's they just didn't have the
Speaker 2: same luck that these ones had, you know, and so
Speaker 2: they put into me at a very young age that
Speaker 2: you got to work your ass off, you got to
Speaker 2: you know, be as good as you can. But also
Speaker 2: like a certain element of it is just luck, and
Speaker 2: there's nothing you can do to change that. But they
Speaker 2: did tell me that, you know, while acting is a
Speaker 2: very uncon controllable thing, something that is controllable is writing
Speaker 2: and directing. So if you need a creative outlets and
Speaker 2: you can't like, you know, there's only so many monologues
Speaker 2: I can do by myself in my office if I
Speaker 2: have like the urge to be creative, you know, but
Speaker 2: I can sit down at my desk and I can
Speaker 2: write and you know, come up with new worlds, which
Speaker 2: is you know what my parents do so well. So
Speaker 2: I I remember being on you know, waiting for the
Speaker 2: Geffen Show to begin when I was just out of
Speaker 2: college and I had a month before rehearsal started, and
Speaker 2: I was like chomping at the bit, you know, but
Speaker 2: I couldn't get like a job, even for a month,
Speaker 2: Like I couldn't I was working at coffee bean. I
Speaker 2: couldn't go back to coffee because I'm like you guys,
Speaker 2: are I'm gonna leave it in a month, you know,
Speaker 2: so so I but I started writing because I didn't
Speaker 2: know what else to do. And then that script became
Speaker 2: the first feature, which was Feed. And then I remember
Speaker 2: all of my shorts being on set on Pretty Little
Speaker 2: Liars and feeling feeling creatively like stifled, because as you
Speaker 2: know from those ten months shooting schedules, you know, there
Speaker 2: are stretches of time where you're working on amazing stuff
Speaker 2: and you're like engaged and all of that stuff, and
Speaker 2: then you have like a week where you have a line,
Speaker 2: but you're on set all the time and you're like, ooh,
Speaker 2: I have nothing to do. And so I would sit
Speaker 2: in my chair and I would write, and it was
Speaker 2: really helpful because then when I got off the show,
Speaker 2: and especially when I got pregnant, and my agents were
Speaker 2: basically like, see you when you're you know, your stomach
Speaker 2: doesn't take up an entire frame of the camera. That
Speaker 2: was when I really was so grateful that I knew
Speaker 2: how to direct. And I you know Joanna Johnson, who
Speaker 2: was just she had just left the Fosters had just ended,
Speaker 2: and she was just making good trouble and she was
Speaker 2: incredible and She gave me my first job outside of
Speaker 2: the PLL family while I was like eight and a
Speaker 2: half months pregnant, and then like just kept on hiring
Speaker 2: me through you know, both pregnancies and breastfeeding and all
Speaker 2: of that. So it was it was just a really
Speaker 2: fortunate like way for me to continue to have a
Speaker 2: job and be a mom.
Speaker 1: Hyeah is awesome. Yeah, definitely not easy. How do you
Speaker 1: how do you approach directing? Because you know, to direct
Speaker 1: to show that you're on I think is an easier transition,
Speaker 1: you know it like the back of your hand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But to go onto something like good Trouble, where do
Speaker 1: you like to start when you get a script and
Speaker 1: you have to learn a world?
Speaker 2: Well, I was very fortunate in that I in order
Speaker 2: for me to start directing on Pretty Little Liars, the
Speaker 2: studio actually stipulated that I would need to go through
Speaker 2: the Warner Brothers Director's TV program. Well that's so cool, yeah,
Speaker 2: which was I mean, like it sounds like it was
Speaker 2: a big hoop that they made me jump through, but
Speaker 2: like I didn't get to go to film school, so
Speaker 2: it was you know, you can shadow directors all day long,
Speaker 2: but like until somebody teaches you how to actually like
Speaker 2: make a shot list, you know, this is all stuff
Speaker 2: you're learning on the fly, yeah, and or break down
Speaker 2: a scene. And so I was so so grateful that
Speaker 2: they they said that I had to do that if
Speaker 2: I could, you know, in order for me to have
Speaker 2: my episode. And it was awesome because I would shoot
Speaker 2: Monday through Friday on the show, and then on Saturdays
Speaker 2: I would go back to Warner Brothers and there would
Speaker 2: be six hours where I was with a group of
Speaker 2: people and we were using the pretty little liar sets
Speaker 2: or class So it was like the most perfect setup
Speaker 2: for me to like imagine, Okay, now this is how
Speaker 2: I'm going to talk to our amazing DP or this
Speaker 2: is how I'm going to talk you know, like practice.
Speaker 2: And then, like you said, the big step out of
Speaker 2: that is when you go to another show. So then
Speaker 2: the next show that I did was Famous and Love,
Speaker 2: which was really great because it was the same crew
Speaker 2: and it was the same studios but in different sets,
Speaker 2: different actors, but the same you know. Marlene was still
Speaker 2: a producer, Lisa Cochran, it was the creator. Lisa Cochran
Speaker 2: was our producer, and so it was still like within
Speaker 2: the family, and that was really wonderful. And then when
Speaker 2: Joanna hired me, it was great because it was in
Speaker 2: the first season of Good Trouble. So I got to
Speaker 2: be there, I think for the second and third episode,
Speaker 2: which were amazing and created by the other showrunners Brad
Speaker 2: and Peter, and so I got to like absorb. I
Speaker 2: was like, oh, this is their visual style, and I
Speaker 2: got to watch them communicate with the most incredible DP mark,
Speaker 2: and I got to see how the set functioned and
Speaker 2: like from the very beginning, see the characters like go
Speaker 2: through their first three storylines, you know, and that's, like
Speaker 2: you said, it's if I go to another set, I'm
Speaker 2: extremely nervous. It is. So it's so overwhelming because, like
Speaker 2: you said, especially when you're stepping into an established show,
Speaker 2: like nobody knows the characters, like the actors you're speaking with,
Speaker 2: you know, the crew has been here generally from the
Speaker 2: very beginning, and so you really are the odd man
Speaker 2: woman out who comes in and who's like, I think
Speaker 2: we should put the camera there, and you know, you
Speaker 2: see them be like, oh my god, we'd never put
Speaker 2: the camera there, and you're like, I'm like, it's you know,
Speaker 2: it's a lot of juggling but the best you can
Speaker 2: do is I just try to absorb as much of
Speaker 2: the show as I can, you know, watch, try to
Speaker 2: make notes about the visual style. Yeah, if I can
Speaker 2: shadow another director, do that, get other scripts, and just
Speaker 2: really get in the practice of Okay, here's how I
Speaker 2: would break down this, you know, this scene if I
Speaker 2: were doing it, or like, oh, I see how they
Speaker 2: played out that scene. And that makes sense because sometimes
Speaker 2: when you're coming onto a set, you don't have a script,
Speaker 2: you know, as you know, you have an outline, or
Speaker 2: you have like a general gist of the scene, and
Speaker 2: so it's yeah, it's and then the biggest thing that
Speaker 2: I do is just lean so hard on the crew
Speaker 2: that has been creating the show up until then, you know,
Speaker 2: really just stand next to the DP and the camera
Speaker 2: operators as much as possible, and I'm like, okay, I'm
Speaker 2: really thinking this for this shot, and they're like, yeah,
Speaker 2: that that seems great, and I'm like, okay, good, good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So totally. I mean it's exciting. It's like it's
Speaker 1: I love, I love you know, when I get to
Speaker 1: talk with other women that I really admire, particularly about directing.
Speaker 1: I just want there to be more of us everywhere.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well what is your Have you directed a lot
Speaker 2: on other shows as well?
Speaker 1: No, so we I directed the last three seasons on
Speaker 1: One Tree Hill, which I loved, and then the show
Speaker 1: that I did after that, there was like a our
Speaker 1: actors don't direct policy, which I think now has begun
Speaker 1: to shift in that space, but at the time was
Speaker 1: like very firm. And then what I've mostly done since
Speaker 1: then is like really start developing and producing, and so
Speaker 1: it feels exciting, you know, having I really wanted to
Speaker 1: understand production because I have such a natural inclination for
Speaker 1: it on set anyway, and it was so nice to have,
Speaker 1: you know, the mentors that I had in some of
Speaker 1: our on site producers in Wilmington, who were like, you're
Speaker 1: a producer, like you just do that naturally. It's been
Speaker 1: nice these last few years to lean into that. But
Speaker 1: I'm really starting to get the directing itche again, and really, yeah,
Speaker 1: I just love it. I love being able to look
Speaker 1: at the full picture of what's happening on a set,
Speaker 1: and I always really enjoy working with other actors as directors.
Speaker 1: I just think that it's it's great, It's like a
Speaker 1: great niche for us particularly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel I also think something
Speaker 2: that feels so good for me about it is the
Speaker 2: ability to be creative and inhabit like an emotional moment
Speaker 2: or a story, but not have to deal with the
Speaker 2: insecurity of my face or wondering what it's doing, or
Speaker 2: the frustration of, like, I don't know if this happens
Speaker 2: to you, but like all the time when I prepare
Speaker 2: for a scene as an actor, there's a way that
Speaker 2: I expect the scene will go, the way that I
Speaker 2: hope the scene will go. And then there is what
Speaker 2: I view is my own limitations and like the frustration
Speaker 2: of like I wanted it to be here and I
Speaker 2: imagine being here, you know, but there's that frustration of
Speaker 2: my own instrument and like not really occupying that. And
Speaker 2: there's just a freedom when I'm watching somebody else, you know,
Speaker 2: find their way in that I just feel so excited
Speaker 2: to like be in service of them, you know, because
Speaker 2: you can see it from the outside, You're like, oh,
Speaker 2: oh my god, they totally have it. I just need
Speaker 2: to like free them of that or give them that
Speaker 2: permission or have them move over here. And like being
Speaker 2: a part of that collaboration is so fulfilling.
Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, it's lovely and I think it's interesting too,
Speaker 1: because you the way you talk about watching other people
Speaker 1: do it. You know, you you make space for people
Speaker 1: to have their experience, and it can really be hard
Speaker 1: to give yourself the kind of space that you'll give
Speaker 1: to others. I think, by nature as performers, were so
Speaker 1: hard on ourselves. And yeah, I think there's something it
Speaker 1: feels nice to be artistically free.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1: How did you decide on the new show? Like, what
Speaker 1: was it about on Call that made you go, that's
Speaker 1: my next gig? For sure?
Speaker 2: Well, I certainly did not do that at all with
Speaker 2: on Call, like and not like to knock the show,
Speaker 2: but like, I've never ever had an experience of being
Speaker 2: like that's my next show. Like all of my experiences
Speaker 2: are like, oh my god, I so desperately want this job,
Speaker 2: or like this will never happen. Like it's just like
Speaker 2: I've never had a moment of, you know, feeling that
Speaker 2: like confident, and even especially with this show. So I
Speaker 2: hadn't been on a you know, I hadn't been a
Speaker 2: series regular since Pretty Little Liars, And a lot of
Speaker 2: that was because my girls were so young and and
Speaker 2: so it was really like, you know, for the past
Speaker 2: let's see it were was six so for the past
Speaker 2: six years or seven years, the counting of the year
Speaker 2: that I was pregnant with her. You know, it was
Speaker 2: like would I be in the right like literally, like
Speaker 2: would I be not pregnant enough to shoot this in
Speaker 2: the window? Am I too pregnant? Am I breastfeeding? The
Speaker 2: other difficult thing is, you know, our home base being
Speaker 2: LA I really did not consider taking work outside.
Speaker 1: Of LA and that's really hard.
Speaker 2: And as you know, from where the industry is right now,
Speaker 2: not a lot shoots in Los Angeles. And so it
Speaker 2: was you know, like I hate to talk about like
Speaker 2: gender dynamics, but it was so much easier I think
Speaker 2: for the place that Patrick was in in his career too.
Speaker 2: He did a lot of like limited series. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: so even when it was a limited series away in Scotland,
Speaker 2: it was like, oh, you're going away to Scotland for
Speaker 2: this said amount of time, Like that makes sense. The
Speaker 2: things that I was being offered to audition for were
Speaker 2: not limited they were longer series, and they meant completely
Speaker 2: relocating our family. And that is just a really big
Speaker 2: decision to take on and there's this real big toss
Speaker 2: up of things where it's like you don't even have
Speaker 2: the job and you have to consider this, yeah, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. Like I kind of for a
Speaker 2: while did that thing where I was just like, just
Speaker 2: pursue a job, just any job, and it ended up
Speaker 2: almost making us move to Albuquerque, and which was like
Speaker 2: the was awesome, but then like I was getting down
Speaker 2: the line and I was going to do a studio
Speaker 2: test and I was like, oh my god, what am
Speaker 2: I Like, we are not prepared to if this goes
Speaker 2: my way to do this, And so after you know,
Speaker 2: pulling out, you're you don't want to like waste people's
Speaker 2: time and you don't want to you know, tell people
Speaker 2: you want to do something when ultimately you can't. So
Speaker 2: so when on Call came around, it was truly like
Speaker 2: one of the first auditions that I had where it
Speaker 2: was like, oh wow, this is going to be shooting
Speaker 2: in and around the Los Angeles area.
Speaker 1: Absolutely dream come true.
Speaker 2: A total dream. But then at the same time I
Speaker 2: read the script and I was like, I'm never going
Speaker 2: to get this role, like never, I had never played
Speaker 2: a cop. I just was like, you know, she was
Speaker 2: like I'd never played my age. That was the other
Speaker 2: thing is like she's in her early forties and I
Speaker 2: had never even played somebody who was in her late thirties. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so I was just like, they're not looking for me.
Speaker 2: And even when Patrick and I made the tape for
Speaker 2: the audition, I was like, what do I do? Like
Speaker 2: do you have any notes? And he was like, you're
Speaker 2: not going to get this job, so like just do whatever,
Speaker 2: like like it was so like we but we both
Speaker 2: It wasn't like a knock. It was just like, you know,
Speaker 2: this is never going to go my way, And then
Speaker 2: when it did, it was this like absolute shock and
Speaker 2: this amazing thing because I thought the writing was just
Speaker 2: awesome and I was so scared obviously going to set
Speaker 2: every single day just being like when are they going
Speaker 2: to look up at the monitor and realize they've made
Speaker 2: a horrible mistake, you know, like I just had imposters.
Speaker 2: Oh you're so good at it, thank you. But I do,
Speaker 2: and I bet I'll have imposter syndrome if we get
Speaker 2: a season two, Like I just you know, I don't
Speaker 2: know when I'll be comfortable with this character. But but
Speaker 2: it is funny because I've I've had that question recently
Speaker 2: where people are like, what about this job made you
Speaker 2: say like, that's you know, yours, And I was like, true,
Speaker 2: really it was. It was Sarah Isaacson, the casting director,
Speaker 2: it was you know, Elliott Wolf and Tim Walsh, and
Speaker 2: it was you know, oh my god, I mean it
Speaker 2: was Dick.
Speaker 1: Wolf is just like an absolute icon. I loved I
Speaker 1: loved working for that man, and Tim is such a
Speaker 1: good writer, and so to see that you guys were
Speaker 1: all doing this together, just like, I was so tickled
Speaker 1: when I read about it.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, it's going to be
Speaker 2: so good, and it is.
Speaker 1: I just I really enjoy the pacing of the show
Speaker 1: and the edge of it, and it just feels so
Speaker 1: gritty and honest. You guys have done such a such
Speaker 1: a phenomenal.
Speaker 2: Job with it. Thank you. Yeah, I feel extremely lucky
Speaker 2: to be a part of this show and this crew.
Speaker 2: And also, like you said this, I think this is
Speaker 2: a real like kind of shift for Wolf Productions, you know,
Speaker 2: Wolf Entertainment, because especially because it's for Amazon, like, we're
Speaker 2: able to do things that I think, you know, so
Speaker 2: many other shows have probably wanted to do, but we
Speaker 2: get to occupy a different footprint, and I know, you know,
Speaker 2: I know for me like being in the PLL that
Speaker 2: was on free Form and then seeing the Pretty Little
Speaker 2: Liars that was on HBO Max, Like you really see
Speaker 2: when you like walk so somebody else can run, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, that kind of thing. And so
Speaker 2: I feel extremely grateful because I understand that I'm standing
Speaker 2: on the shoulders of Dutch a legacy with Wolf Entertainment
Speaker 2: and so many amazing shows that have just like I mean,
Speaker 2: they're just juggernauts. So it's like to be the new
Speaker 2: little kid on the street. It's like kicking rocks and
Speaker 2: trying to make some noise. I feel very, very fortunate.
Speaker 2: It's so great.
Speaker 1: And now a word from our wonderful sponsors.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what are you up to these days other than
Speaker 2: hosting an amazing podcast. I mean, this is.
Speaker 1: Like such a wonderful constant that's so fun. It's really
Speaker 1: wild because this this is the first, well, I guess
Speaker 1: technically the second. Now, like twenty twenty four, coming into
Speaker 1: that year was the first year I was not attached
Speaker 1: to a TV show in my entire career, like in
Speaker 1: development on something or you know, a pod deal somewhere
Speaker 1: or whatever. And I really wanted to take a breath
Speaker 1: and just see, like, wait a second, what do I
Speaker 1: really want to do next? So I went and made
Speaker 1: this great movie last year that is an adaptation of
Speaker 1: a thriller from a big best selling book in the
Speaker 1: UK that was so much fun.
Speaker 2: When will that be coming out?
Speaker 1: I don't even know yet. We're just doing key art now,
Speaker 1: and everyone always asks me these questions that I realized
Speaker 1: I should know the answers.
Speaker 2: To, and I'm like, I don't know what you don't
Speaker 2: because nobody ever tells you. I ever think, Well, that's
Speaker 2: the thing.
Speaker 1: Our job, our world is so weird. I don't get
Speaker 1: attached to the details because I've realized that the more
Speaker 1: attached to details you are, the more anxious you'll be
Speaker 1: as a human.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm kind of like, hey, I don't know.
Speaker 1: And then there was another film we were supposed to
Speaker 1: shoot in New York and then we lost our location,
Speaker 1: which was an absolute nightmare for us. Real estate moves
Speaker 1: in New York can really up independent film. So now
Speaker 1: we're trying to figure out, like how we put it
Speaker 1: back together, and we will. But it was supposed to
Speaker 1: be a twenty twenty four and now it looks like
Speaker 1: it'll be a twenty twenty five, and it's just it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's wild. I feel I definitely needed
Speaker 1: a beat because doing network TV for fifteen straight years
Speaker 1: just exhausted me. But I now I'm like, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: starting to get the itch, like I'm ready to be
Speaker 1: back at work in that consistent way. Because while I
Speaker 1: love making films, the for me at least as an actor,
Speaker 1: and I wonder if you feel this, like the ability
Speaker 1: to spend day in, day out with someone and really
Speaker 1: build a life. That's the thing I love the most.
Speaker 1: I mean, movies are a dream, but it's like summer camp.
Speaker 1: It goes by so fast, and I really love I
Speaker 1: love the development we get to have in TV.
Speaker 2: It is a real like yeah, it's really really just
Speaker 2: such a different experience. And like you said, when you're
Speaker 2: doing especially network network seasons, you know, you have ten
Speaker 2: months of being day and day out with this character
Speaker 2: and with this crew, and it's you know, really awesome.
Speaker 2: I'll be very excited because our order, initial order was
Speaker 2: like just eight half hour episodes, so it was supposed
Speaker 2: to be three and a half months. And then with
Speaker 2: the strike, and with the holidays and then the wow,
Speaker 2: how long it took to come out? It was actually
Speaker 2: two years. Yes, it's like I'm very excited to hopefully
Speaker 2: get back to some sort of like regularity.
Speaker 1: I totally know how that feels. We went through the
Speaker 1: same thing. The last show that I did we only
Speaker 1: did one season of, but was the show called Good
Speaker 1: Sam and I signed onto it at the top of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and it was and I started reading scripts
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. So it was really like a three
Speaker 1: year process because of the pandemic and lockdowns and all
Speaker 1: the things. For us to make a season of television.
Speaker 1: It was so surreal, and so it is really weird
Speaker 1: when you've when in the before times a year was
Speaker 1: a year, but in the like times of pandemics and
Speaker 1: strikes and things like a year takes three years. It's
Speaker 1: so insane, it is it is really wild.
Speaker 2: And I think I was just listening to something else
Speaker 2: that was one Oh my god. But Francis Ford Coppola, right,
Speaker 2: he made The Godfather part He made The Godfather and
Speaker 2: the Conversation and like the same calendar year and maybe
Speaker 2: it was maybe it was Godfather Part two and the conversation.
Speaker 2: So he was up for both Academy Awards in the
Speaker 2: same year for those films. I think I'm saying that right,
Speaker 2: but like that kind of like that kind of timeline
Speaker 2: just does not exist. It doesn't exist, said you know,
Speaker 2: especially now that you're in producing as well. You're signing
Speaker 2: on to something and then it's getting development, and then
Speaker 2: it's finally going, and then wild things that you can't
Speaker 2: control are happening, and then all of a sudden, it's five, seven,
Speaker 2: eight years down the line. And that's why you said
Speaker 2: you can't get caught up in the details, because you're like,
Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm not even going to stress about it.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: And I've learned that for people who don't work in
Speaker 1: the circus, that's very hard, like friends, family, loved ones
Speaker 1: that are like, how do you not have more details?
Speaker 1: Or they'll be like, what do you mean? We had
Speaker 1: one conversation about this and now the whole thing is happening,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't know. We made a plan
Speaker 1: and so it's the plan, right, Like yeah, and I
Speaker 1: realized not everybody's nuts like us, but here we are.
Speaker 2: But here, we are, here, we are Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: it's wild.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I know you're waiting to find out
Speaker 1: if you get another order. I certainly hope you do
Speaker 1: because I'm loving the show. What was it like to
Speaker 1: prepare for it? Because you said you know you had
Speaker 1: imposter syndrome. I guess that's just something we all have forever.
Speaker 1: But how did you did you wrap your head around it?
Speaker 1: Because I know what a preparer you are. You are
Speaker 1: such an organized professional person, so I would imagine you
Speaker 1: did a lot of prep ahead of shooting. What did
Speaker 1: that look like for you?
Speaker 2: Well, it was interesting because when they told me I
Speaker 2: got the job, we were actually starting to shoot. I'm
Speaker 2: not kidding it a week and a half later.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: So it was. We were incredibly fortunate in that we
Speaker 2: got to uh work. Did you work with Luch? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 2: So Luch was so great. He came out, he worked
Speaker 2: with us for I think we got like two and
Speaker 2: a half days of just dollid training with him, and
Speaker 2: that was amazing. And then you know, they were kind
Speaker 2: enough to set us up with some ride alongs in
Speaker 2: Long Beach so that we could meet some people from
Speaker 2: West Division and also just get out in the community
Speaker 2: and start to learn Long Beach as you know, a community.
Speaker 2: And then we were in it, and we were fortunate
Speaker 2: to have really wonderful texts on set with us because
Speaker 2: it was so not natural. And it was really frightening
Speaker 2: for me because I was supposed to be playing a
Speaker 2: twelve year you know, veteran member of the Force. So
Speaker 2: I was like, this shit needs to look intrinsic, like
Speaker 2: it needs to just be absolutely not thought about. And meanwhile,
Speaker 2: like I might have learned, you know, five minutes before
Speaker 2: the take that they were like, oh no, no, no,
Speaker 2: you're not you know, bringing your baton with this one.
Speaker 2: And You're like, do you just throw the car in
Speaker 2: gear and this is what you're doing. And I was
Speaker 2: just like, uh huh okay. And so we did that
Speaker 2: and we were kind of moving along, kind of finding
Speaker 2: our pace. And then when we went down for the strike,
Speaker 2: as you know, a lot of shows did not come back. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it was six months of waiting to find out
Speaker 2: is stressful. It was so stressful and and so I
Speaker 2: did I, you know, I would go to the scripts
Speaker 2: because we were about a little bit less than halfway
Speaker 2: through shooting the season and I would sit down with
Speaker 2: it on the strike and say like, I have this time,
Speaker 2: why don't I work on it? And I would find
Speaker 2: that it was just like sometimes supremely painful. I was like,
Speaker 2: what if what if I don't get to go back
Speaker 2: on this, you know, And so yeah, I kind of
Speaker 2: would like throw them, you know, in my book bag
Speaker 2: and like shove it under my desk. And then of
Speaker 2: course when they were like okay, great, like around they
Speaker 2: were like see you after Thanksgiving, I was like, oh bother, like,
Speaker 2: oh my god. And so it was great to be
Speaker 2: back on set, but it also felt like getting up
Speaker 2: and running again and remembering how your legs work and
Speaker 2: remembering how to approach you know, leave the car and
Speaker 2: what the protocol was so it you know, the most
Speaker 2: I could do was really deeply just get involved in
Speaker 2: the the emotional through line of the character. Yeah and
Speaker 2: uh and really just like like like I said before,
Speaker 2: with directing, just like really lean on the tech advisors
Speaker 2: just to be like I need you behind the camera
Speaker 2: and I need you to tell me if my right
Speaker 2: shoulders up or if I look tense, or if something
Speaker 2: it looks out of place, and just trusting them to
Speaker 2: make sure that I was being honest and yeah, that
Speaker 2: was That was mostly And then you know, there's a
Speaker 2: bunch of really great documentaries and honestly quite a bit
Speaker 2: of footage online. So I did a lot of that,
Speaker 2: a lot of watching that.
Speaker 1: That's awesome.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you got to work with Louch. He's
Speaker 2: the best, He's the best, the so lucky.
Speaker 1: Well, I know you're waiting to find out what happens
Speaker 1: next the limbo of this crazy life. What feels like
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to be about work, by the way,
Speaker 1: it can be any any sort of facet of your
Speaker 1: life right now. What feels like you're work in progress
Speaker 1: at the moment?
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, gosh, so many things I feel. I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess that's what living is, which is so great. Right,
Speaker 2: It's like a constant work in progress. I feel like
Speaker 2: I'm you know, with regards to work, I'm a work
Speaker 2: in progress because I'm constantly figuring out how to navigate.
Speaker 2: You know, I've got a TV show that I'm going
Speaker 2: to be going out with that I've been working to
Speaker 2: create for a while, so like learning how to pitch
Speaker 2: and really, like you said, like you're doing produce, like
Speaker 2: that's a work in progress for me, a work in
Speaker 2: progress with my marriage right now, because Patrick's been like
Speaker 2: shooting on location for the entire year, So figuring out
Speaker 2: how to fit back, welcome him back in, you know,
Speaker 2: and make sure that he he feels home again, like
Speaker 2: it's such a long time to be away from home.
Speaker 2: And then the girls are growing every day, so like
Speaker 2: mothering as a total work in progress, you know, and
Speaker 2: like figuring out how to relate to them and what
Speaker 2: they need and what they want and how they're changing
Speaker 2: and how I'm changing in response to them. And then
Speaker 2: you know, like like we talked about when we first
Speaker 2: got on, like the work in progress of how to
Speaker 2: be part of the larger community. And now that I
Speaker 2: just being so grateful that right now as the shows out,
Speaker 2: as I'm in this limbo waiting to find out I
Speaker 2: have some time, and so it's like, how can I
Speaker 2: be the most helpful? You know, who can I be
Speaker 2: checking in on? Who can I be reaching out to?
Speaker 2: You know, how can I be talking to my kids?
Speaker 2: You know, like figuring out that what's the best way
Speaker 2: to to talk about it? And yeah, so so life,
Speaker 2: my life is the life is my work in progress.
Speaker 1: Right, yeah, I feel it.