1
00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,800
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Welcome back to the table. We

2
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,280
Speaker 1: are at the Sunset Tower Bar. I could not be

3
00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,400
Speaker 1: more excited. It is a beautiful day in sunny SoCal.

4
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,520
Speaker 1: Are you gonna eat yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonna do

5
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,480
Speaker 1: like I do, my typical chop salad with chicken. Oh

6
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,840
Speaker 1: that's good. I love the chop sad. Yeah. Today we're

7
00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,440
Speaker 1: having lunch with an acclaimed Broadway actor, a Tony winner,

8
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:32,839
Speaker 1: an acclaimed television star, an Emmy winner, a gentleman who

9
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,360
Speaker 1: has launched a podcast or our show is similar? Do

10
00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,880
Speaker 1: I ask similar questions? You're like a star, You're great

11
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:44,440
Speaker 1: at this. No, you're a great conversation a star. So

12
00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,720
Speaker 1: sit back and let's enjoy lunch with this incredibly funny

13
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,480
Speaker 1: man and talented actor, Jesse Tayler Ferguson.

14
00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,520
Speaker 2: I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.

15
00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,039
Speaker 1: If you pulled up a chair today on Table for two,

16
00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,200
Speaker 1: we're sitting with an incredible actor, very acclaimed actor. I'm

17
00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,920
Speaker 1: one of the most successful television shows we all know,

18
00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,920
Speaker 1: Modern Family, which I've a lot of questions about a

19
00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,880
Speaker 1: Tony Winner. Yes, incredibly all around great guy. I know

20
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,680
Speaker 1: you Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Welcome to Table for two.

21
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,600
Speaker 3: I'm so glad finally doing this. I know me too,

22
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:28,479
Speaker 3: Like we tried to do this.

23
00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,640
Speaker 1: Like a year ago we did. Jess and I sort

24
00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,760
Speaker 1: of have a similar podcast going on, which is I

25
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,960
Speaker 1: do lunch, Jesse does dinner, and I know that the

26
00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,480
Speaker 1: genesis for me was I believed in the romance of

27
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,919
Speaker 1: a meal and the intimacy of a connection and felt

28
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,040
Speaker 1: that in this world of podcast and zoom is, one

29
00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,760
Speaker 1: of the things that went away was the connectivity being

30
00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,960
Speaker 1: in the same room, which is an ask for people

31
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,560
Speaker 1: because it's not like they flip up their screen, but

32
00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: in the nuances our lunch today, things happen. What was

33
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:08,120
Speaker 1: your motivation to create you know dinners on You.

34
00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,160
Speaker 4: Said it so much more elegantly than I do, and

35
00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,360
Speaker 4: I explained mine just like the romance of it is

36
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:13,320
Speaker 4: exactly spot on.

37
00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:14,400
Speaker 3: I just feel like.

38
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,160
Speaker 4: There's something about having a meal with someone your guards

39
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,400
Speaker 4: let down a little bit more. You know, it's a

40
00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,080
Speaker 4: it's something you do with people you care about. So

41
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:23,920
Speaker 4: even if it's like someone I don't know so well,

42
00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,400
Speaker 4: it does feel soon intimate that we're having a shared

43
00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,120
Speaker 4: meal and you know, there's also the the you know,

44
00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 4: you hear us ordering our food and like you sort

45
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:33,400
Speaker 4: of get a sense of like what we're like is

46
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:34,960
Speaker 4: real people, which.

47
00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:35,560
Speaker 3: I think is interesting.

48
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:37,720
Speaker 4: But you know, the same thing for you know, you

49
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,760
Speaker 4: know during the pandemic when sort of everything switched to

50
00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,160
Speaker 4: zoom and then it kind of just stayed that way.

51
00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,280
Speaker 4: I thought, if I'm going to do this, I want

52
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,359
Speaker 4: to look for a reason where like I have.

53
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 3: To be sitting with someone real time, and.

54
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,200
Speaker 4: Like the rules of this podcast and is as you

55
00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,160
Speaker 4: well know, like you have to be in person and

56
00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,240
Speaker 4: you have to you must arrive at the same place

57
00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,799
Speaker 4: and share a meal together. And it's just it's part

58
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,360
Speaker 4: of it's part of what makes the podcast special.

59
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, and the like normally, like Jeff, we're

60
00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,400
Speaker 1: at the tower and Jeff allows us to use this

61
00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,960
Speaker 1: private space. But sometimes we're in the terrace. Yeah, and

62
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,280
Speaker 1: you know, and there's noise or we have the mullet

63
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,000
Speaker 1: king Eric behind you. It will come and you know,

64
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:21,200
Speaker 1: you know, and it's all about the interaction of again connectivity.

65
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,960
Speaker 1: That's cool. So when you do Dinners on Me, which

66
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,120
Speaker 1: and I love that you have the same you know,

67
00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,400
Speaker 1: the same thought process is there some sort of common

68
00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,760
Speaker 1: thread with humans that you're finding, because you know, I

69
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,480
Speaker 1: think we both we kind of sit in the same

70
00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,240
Speaker 1: room in regard to the same kind of guests, very

71
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 1: you know, entertainment oriented journeys. Who have you found anything

72
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:44,440
Speaker 1: that well.

73
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:46,920
Speaker 4: It's been mostly and maybe you found this too when

74
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:48,400
Speaker 4: you're when you were starting off. I mean, you have

75
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,520
Speaker 4: a I know, you know a lot of really incredible

76
00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 4: entertaining people, and so like I went to my own

77
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,360
Speaker 4: rolodext first, and so that sort of set the tone

78
00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,880
Speaker 4: of like who was going to then come in? And

79
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,839
Speaker 4: you know, because I have such wonderful people who said

80
00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 4: yes so early on, like Tracy Ellis Ross and Jesse

81
00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 4: Williams and Julie Bowen and Chelsea Clinton, who's a buddy

82
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 4: of mine. Like, because I was able to sort of

83
00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 4: set the tone with these incredible guests, I've been able

84
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,560
Speaker 4: to get other people who I don't know as well on,

85
00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,240
Speaker 4: like Aquafina and I just had I mean a Savari

86
00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,159
Speaker 4: on recently and I've never met her before, Paul Vegus,

87
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:24,880
Speaker 4: someone I don't know.

88
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,599
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you find it harder or easy?

89
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,599
Speaker 4: Yeah, interesting, I find it a little harder to interview

90
00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,000
Speaker 4: the people I know really really well.

91
00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,160
Speaker 1: Me too, Yeah, because you kind of sink into something. Yeah,

92
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:36,200
Speaker 1: that's and it.

93
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,320
Speaker 4: Feels like weird and fraudulent to almostly be asking questions

94
00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:41,359
Speaker 4: that you know the answers to.

95
00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true. And you have to be careful of

96
00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,680
Speaker 1: being too inside, right because you get too inside and

97
00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:48,479
Speaker 1: the people that have pulled up the chair and I

98
00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,080
Speaker 1: love the figurative, the idea that you and I are

99
00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,839
Speaker 1: having lunch and there are people yes on wood that

100
00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,960
Speaker 1: are having lunch or in their cars and they I mean,

101
00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,719
Speaker 1: I get feedback which is like, yeah, it really wonderful.

102
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,400
Speaker 3: I feel like you're fly on the wall.

103
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,039
Speaker 1: The do you have. I mean it's so hard. People

104
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:06,719
Speaker 1: ask me like who are some of my favorite guests?

105
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:08,760
Speaker 1: And I never have an answer for them, just because

106
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:10,000
Speaker 1: it's all about.

107
00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,360
Speaker 4: The conversations that surprised you. You thought it would go

108
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,599
Speaker 4: one way and it ended up being a whole other conversation.

109
00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,880
Speaker 1: Oh that's yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you know

110
00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,480
Speaker 1: with Anna, who is so intimidating, so I bring her

111
00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,560
Speaker 1: up not to be so name drop because she saw her,

112
00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,000
Speaker 1: but she was really there was a lot of humility

113
00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,599
Speaker 1: and there was a lot of generosity in this conversation

114
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,160
Speaker 1: where people are so look at her as being so

115
00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:35,640
Speaker 1: stoic and some cold.

116
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:36,200
Speaker 3: Yes.

117
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,840
Speaker 1: Tom Ford was he that's his table over there, and

118
00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,880
Speaker 1: he was very Uh, I didn't want to talk about fashion.

119
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,400
Speaker 1: Oh interesting, you know fashion? Was like not. You know,

120
00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,040
Speaker 1: he wears his uniform, which is you know what you've

121
00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,320
Speaker 1: seen him in his whole life. He's like, so, yeah,

122
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,040
Speaker 1: you know with the nuances of what you know, but

123
00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,480
Speaker 1: nothing stands out. It's all a bo right blur, like

124
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:16,520
Speaker 1: from blur, think God were recording me exactly. So you

125
00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:18,120
Speaker 1: born and raised in Albuquerque.

126
00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,240
Speaker 4: Yeah, well no, I was born in Montana. But the yeah,

127
00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:22,960
Speaker 4: I only lived in Montana for the first year of

128
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:23,320
Speaker 4: my life.

129
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,280
Speaker 1: It's so funny, I said to Brian two nights ago,

130
00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,080
Speaker 1: to Montana. It's great, beautiful. I hadn't been there since

131
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:29,560
Speaker 1: I was born.

132
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,800
Speaker 4: And then my dad threw his seventieth birthday party there

133
00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,560
Speaker 4: in Missoli, Montana, which is the town I was born in,

134
00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,680
Speaker 4: and so I I went to that. That was That's

135
00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,000
Speaker 4: the basically the first time I got to experience Montana

136
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:40,760
Speaker 4: and it's gorgeous.

137
00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,600
Speaker 1: It's beautiful. Yeah. So Albuquerque ways like I mean, it's

138
00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,440
Speaker 1: an interesting journey from Albuquerque to eventually being on Broadway, Like,

139
00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:48,960
Speaker 1: that's not how did that?

140
00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:51,080
Speaker 3: How did you traverse that?

141
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,080
Speaker 4: Well? I mean I became when I was young. I

142
00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,960
Speaker 4: found a lot of comfort in theater. I didn't have

143
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,200
Speaker 4: a lot of a lot of friends at school, and

144
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,880
Speaker 4: I found my people to be, you know, the artistic types.

145
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,839
Speaker 4: And there was no big theater program or there was

146
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,720
Speaker 4: really the zero theater program in my grade school and

147
00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,040
Speaker 4: also my high school, and so I had to look

148
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,080
Speaker 4: for extracurricular places to do that. And there was a

149
00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,720
Speaker 4: pretty good children's theater company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that

150
00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,360
Speaker 4: I joined, and I just found myself to be so

151
00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,600
Speaker 4: much more myself and comfortable around these other kids who

152
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,880
Speaker 4: were like, you know, playing theater games right zip zaps

153
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,960
Speaker 4: ofp and I just I just really blossomed. And so

154
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,360
Speaker 4: it was something that I think when I think about

155
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:36,800
Speaker 4: like how I fell in love with theater, I think

156
00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,960
Speaker 4: it's because theater felt like it was finally a safe

157
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,760
Speaker 4: space for me, and I was able to really you know,

158
00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 4: explore parts of myself that I just felt like I

159
00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,239
Speaker 4: couldn't do yeah at school, I you know, I think

160
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,480
Speaker 4: at that certainly at that young, young age. I didn't

161
00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:54,400
Speaker 4: know that I was gay. I didn't know what that meant.

162
00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,960
Speaker 1: But so because you said safe place, which made me

163
00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,400
Speaker 1: want to you know, because I certainly didn't either, but

164
00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,400
Speaker 1: I certainly knew I was different. And the other kids

165
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,920
Speaker 1: who have this like ability to sense things and be mean, yeah,

166
00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,160
Speaker 1: you I they sense they since and they they're the

167
00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,480
Speaker 1: ones that would tell me like, oh you're gay, right

168
00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,160
Speaker 1: and an usually not nice.

169
00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,440
Speaker 3: Way, usually usually followed by get them right.

170
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,760
Speaker 1: Well, you know you're so self conscious. Yeah, I don't

171
00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:23,680
Speaker 1: understand that.

172
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,400
Speaker 4: Age when you're self conscious about everything, right, so you

173
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,680
Speaker 4: don't want to get called out for anything, right, So

174
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 4: uh yeah, when I say safe space, I think that

175
00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,000
Speaker 4: I didn't realize even what I was trying to be

176
00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,160
Speaker 4: safe from, but it just felt like more secure around

177
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,320
Speaker 4: these people. And that's I think that I do think

178
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,720
Speaker 4: that theater in that way sort of saved me, protected me.

179
00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,560
Speaker 4: So that's why I have this great, great affinity for it, right,

180
00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:48,560
Speaker 4: And it just always feels.

181
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,640
Speaker 1: Like it came like your tribe. Yeah yeah, and when

182
00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,160
Speaker 1: you went to did you get out of Albuquerque when

183
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,960
Speaker 1: you were going to college or you moved to New York? Right?

184
00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,120
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I was able to go to New

185
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,360
Speaker 4: York when I was in high school as part of it.

186
00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,920
Speaker 4: So I was part of a French exchange program, and

187
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,679
Speaker 4: it was our year to go to to like Paris

188
00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:09,680
Speaker 4: and spend some time in France, like basically a month

189
00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,880
Speaker 4: in France. And there's also an opportunity to go to

190
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,920
Speaker 4: New York City for like five days with my local

191
00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,719
Speaker 4: community theater. Okay, and my parents said, you have to

192
00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,520
Speaker 4: choose one or the other, and I chose to go

193
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,600
Speaker 4: to New York for five days rather than France for

194
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:22,920
Speaker 4: a month.

195
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: Wow.

196
00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,040
Speaker 4: I had never been to Broadway and it was just

197
00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,559
Speaker 4: like you might watched the Tony Awards, and I had

198
00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:33,280
Speaker 4: this just this like kind of a fantasy version of

199
00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:34,760
Speaker 4: like what New York was in my head, and I

200
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,120
Speaker 4: needed to see if it was actually real because I

201
00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:38,880
Speaker 4: was getting to that point where like I was going

202
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,480
Speaker 4: to graduate from high school at some point in the

203
00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:42,680
Speaker 4: near future, and I wanted to know if that's where

204
00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:44,760
Speaker 4: I should go. And I just had a feeling that

205
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,000
Speaker 4: it was it was going to feel right, and so

206
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,360
Speaker 4: I had to take the opportunity to go to New

207
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:49,120
Speaker 4: York for for a week.

208
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,480
Speaker 1: And did you see do you remember what you saw?

209
00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:53,840
Speaker 1: Uh huh, okay, tell me and what.

210
00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:59,120
Speaker 4: Ye yes, well it was nineteen ninety two or three, right.

211
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:04,680
Speaker 1: You're sure? I mean literally there's a full like because

212
00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,520
Speaker 1: I was eighty four. So the theater that was, you know, yeah.

213
00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:10,480
Speaker 3: Like the original of the Kaja Phone.

214
00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,880
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I saw that, the original Dream amazing, It's incredible,

215
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,480
Speaker 1: the original Sweeney incredible because I grew up in Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.

216
00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:21,120
Speaker 3: I saw well.

217
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:23,160
Speaker 4: The shows that we were scheduled to see were Fan

218
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,560
Speaker 4: of the Opera, Guys and Dolls with Naple Lane and

219
00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:28,680
Speaker 4: Faith Prince, that incredible revival.

220
00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:30,840
Speaker 1: What else was it?

221
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,000
Speaker 3: I think it was Cats and The Secret Garden.

222
00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,120
Speaker 4: Okay, and I think I played hooky And I didn't

223
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,360
Speaker 4: see Cats because it was my first night in New

224
00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,800
Speaker 4: York and I really desperately wanted to see Falsettos, which

225
00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:48,719
Speaker 4: was not on our list of shows to see from

226
00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,160
Speaker 4: Albuquerque in Mexico. The Blue Hairs of Albuquerque, Mexican were

227
00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,640
Speaker 4: not interested in seeing Falsettos, a quirky William Finn musical

228
00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,640
Speaker 4: about you know, same sex couple, and I had. I

229
00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:57,800
Speaker 4: was aware of it because I'd seen it on the

230
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,079
Speaker 4: Tony Ward. So I went to the t kt S

231
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,000
Speaker 4: booth and bought a ticket to go see Falsettos by myself.

232
00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,240
Speaker 4: And that was the very first Probably show I ever saw.

233
00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,839
Speaker 4: That's a good one. That's a really good one.

234
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:10,559
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a it's a good one, and it's

235
00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 1: a great story. It says a lot about your strength too.

236
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:16,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was part of that.

237
00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,720
Speaker 4: I felt like, I, yeah, I was afraid to ask

238
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,360
Speaker 4: about that show to the people who were planning this trip.

239
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,880
Speaker 3: I didn't even tell my parents that thought I was

240
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,000
Speaker 3: going to do that. You know, I hear.

241
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:28,600
Speaker 4: I had a free ticket to Probably show and I

242
00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:30,240
Speaker 4: let it go and I spend money, with my own

243
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,280
Speaker 4: hard money to see something else. But I did feel like, Okay,

244
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,240
Speaker 4: I'm here in the city by myself. No one knows

245
00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,960
Speaker 4: who I am. I felt comfortable and securely going up

246
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:40,680
Speaker 4: to the booth and buying a ticket for it. Almost

247
00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 4: felt like I was going into like a you know,

248
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:44,800
Speaker 4: I guess I'm like like looking at a porn magazine

249
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:46,559
Speaker 4: or something like. Yeah, I was afraid that something need

250
00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 4: to do this. Yeah, and yet it was just a

251
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:49,320
Speaker 4: Probably musical.

252
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,000
Speaker 1: No. But unless it's the same feeling, especially because of

253
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,360
Speaker 1: the subject matter of the show, I think that made

254
00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,959
Speaker 1: it makes it seem like you were doing something maybe

255
00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,400
Speaker 1: you are you hide I was hiding a little bit, yeah,

256
00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,440
Speaker 1: you know, and that's brave.

257
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:05,440
Speaker 3: Yeah.

258
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:10,120
Speaker 4: It was definitely a moment that solidified my desire to

259
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,280
Speaker 4: move to New York. Right, And not only that, but

260
00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,720
Speaker 4: that show is so imprinted so much on me. Like

261
00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,320
Speaker 4: I you know, I obviously knew who William Finn was.

262
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,720
Speaker 4: I was a fan of his music, but you know,

263
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,199
Speaker 4: I was looking through the program, I was like, oh,

264
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:23,760
Speaker 4: it's just the director James of Pine.

265
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:23,880
Speaker 1: Oh.

266
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,640
Speaker 4: He directed you know, Sending the Park with George and

267
00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:27,840
Speaker 4: Into the Woods, Like these are shows that I absolutely loved.

268
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,640
Speaker 4: And you know, I put those two names on my

269
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:33,400
Speaker 4: dream board like people I would love to work with

270
00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,120
Speaker 4: one day. And you know, I mean, if we fast

271
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:37,960
Speaker 4: forward a little bit, that's exactly what happened. I mean

272
00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:39,880
Speaker 4: I got to work with both of them on the

273
00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:41,679
Speaker 4: twenty fifth annual putin Kunty spelling basis.

274
00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,280
Speaker 1: Oh my god, right, you were so amazed. That was

275
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:44,840
Speaker 1: so good.

276
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:45,280
Speaker 3: Thank you.

277
00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,120
Speaker 1: Did you then graduate and go and pursue the career?

278
00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,400
Speaker 1: I should know this. She didn't know, Well, did you

279
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,000
Speaker 1: go to the I.

280
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:54,000
Speaker 3: Didn't go to college.

281
00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,120
Speaker 4: Per se I went to. I always say I didn't

282
00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:01,800
Speaker 4: take college. I got a certificate of Complete from the

283
00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:06,120
Speaker 4: American Musical Dramatic Academy, which is a two year program. Okay,

284
00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:07,839
Speaker 4: if had some great talent that it's come out there,

285
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:09,679
Speaker 4: yeah like you.

286
00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,360
Speaker 3: But yeah, you know, I auditioned for like regional theaters.

287
00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,440
Speaker 4: I wasn't part of the Actors Equity Association at that point.

288
00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,520
Speaker 4: I was doing non non union work and taking whatever

289
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:21,080
Speaker 4: I could get.

290
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,840
Speaker 1: Right it had it been so different now the age

291
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,120
Speaker 1: you were at in the nineties doing this versus where

292
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,760
Speaker 1: we're at now for a young person, because not only

293
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,959
Speaker 1: is the whole casting different because you know of representation

294
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:43,320
Speaker 1: and justifiably so you know, it's do you think could

295
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,520
Speaker 1: it be replicated your my experience and yeah, I mean

296
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,120
Speaker 1: I do social media.

297
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:51,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean it's also different.

298
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,720
Speaker 4: I do think that there is still a deep desire

299
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,679
Speaker 4: to discover untapped talent and new talent and fresh talent,

300
00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,040
Speaker 4: right which you know I was No one had hired

301
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,080
Speaker 4: me before, so like I was, you know, an unknown commodity, and.

302
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,320
Speaker 3: Soone's actual audition the first thing I really booked.

303
00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,760
Speaker 4: That that sort of puts some wind in my sales

304
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,800
Speaker 4: was the revival of On the Town that they did

305
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,240
Speaker 4: the Delacorte Theater, directed by George C.

306
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:16,640
Speaker 5: Wolf.

307
00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, right, And you know, he.

308
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:21,920
Speaker 4: Had just come off of directing Angels in America and

309
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,600
Speaker 4: Jelly's Last Jam and bringing the noise, bringing the funk.

310
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,400
Speaker 4: He was is extremely prolific. His next job is doing

311
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:30,600
Speaker 4: Gypsy with Ador McDonald on Broadway.

312
00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:32,160
Speaker 1: Wait for that.

313
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,200
Speaker 3: I cannot wait for that. I mean, come on, So

314
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:34,640
Speaker 3: you know, the.

315
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,440
Speaker 4: Having him sort of believe in me and give me

316
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:40,880
Speaker 4: my first big opportunity, which was also a big speaking

317
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:42,400
Speaker 4: role in On the Town. It wasn't like I was

318
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,280
Speaker 4: just casting the ensemble and I had never been given

319
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,600
Speaker 4: really much of an opportunity to even have a speaking role.

320
00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,600
Speaker 3: On stage, which I was fine with.

321
00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:50,960
Speaker 1: Was summer are we talking?

322
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,160
Speaker 4: This is nineteen ninety seven and the show and did

323
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,160
Speaker 4: have transferred to Broadway in nineteen ninety eight and also

324
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,160
Speaker 4: bombing pretty miserably on Broadway. It ended up transferring to

325
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,640
Speaker 4: the Gershwin Theater, which is the large house on Broadways more.

326
00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,520
Speaker 3: Wicked and running successful for twenty something years.

327
00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:08,320
Speaker 1: Right, nineteen ninety nine, Yeah, gets shorted. Yeah, so that's

328
00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,200
Speaker 1: a big break. It was a big break. That's sort

329
00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,400
Speaker 1: of like, you're not you're not a waiter, you're working actor.

330
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 4: Well I was, you know at the time, I was

331
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,000
Speaker 4: bartending at the winter Garden Theater or Cats was playing.

332
00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,040
Speaker 4: It's like, you know, Cats like was punishing me, Like

333
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,440
Speaker 4: you played hockey on us the first time, New York.

334
00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:25,280
Speaker 3: Now you're gonna have to watch the show every night.

335
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:31,880
Speaker 4: For a year, right, you know karma, that's what they

336
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,320
Speaker 4: call karma. And actually I actually really do like kind

337
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,640
Speaker 4: of love Cats secretly. And there's production in New York

338
00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,320
Speaker 4: right now. That's Cat's been set in the ballroom scene

339
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:42,760
Speaker 4: in New York and it is the most incredible thing

340
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,080
Speaker 4: I've ever seen my own. Yeah, I hope it transfers

341
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,880
Speaker 4: to Broadway called Cat's Agelica Ball. Anyway, I was working

342
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,040
Speaker 4: at the winder Garden Theater and when I was auditioning

343
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,320
Speaker 4: On the Town and a lot of the cast members

344
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 4: of Cats were also auditioning for On the Town as well.

345
00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,800
Speaker 4: It's a big dance show, right, and so naturally they were,

346
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,360
Speaker 4: you know, three great parts for guys who dance, and

347
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,840
Speaker 4: I wasn't much of a dancer. And I remember my

348
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,280
Speaker 4: friend Abe Silva, who is now a great writer and

349
00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,280
Speaker 4: director and you know working on Pomeroyal right now. He

350
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:11,720
Speaker 4: was in the cast of Cats, And he tells me

351
00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,320
Speaker 4: this funny story about when I finally got the job.

352
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,440
Speaker 3: Then he and his like dressing roommate.

353
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,600
Speaker 4: Were like talking about their callbacks from the town, and

354
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,800
Speaker 4: someone's like, did do you even know who this is? Like,

355
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,600
Speaker 4: as they're putting on their cat make did you hear

356
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:26,440
Speaker 4: anything about on the town?

357
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:27,200
Speaker 3: Do you know who got it?

358
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,240
Speaker 4: And like it's one of the guys across the room

359
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:35,720
Speaker 4: was like, yeah, the bartender got it, like putting the

360
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:36,480
Speaker 4: whiskers on their.

361
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,280
Speaker 3: Face, but the bartend, the bartender got it.

362
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,480
Speaker 4: But then the thing is, after like I mentioned to you,

363
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,320
Speaker 4: I mean, it was a short run in the park.

364
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 4: It was a few months, and then after that I

365
00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 4: didn't have a job. So I went back. I went

366
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:49,200
Speaker 4: back to the Winter Garden, I went back to like

367
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 4: the gift shop I was working on. It's had several jobs,

368
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,040
Speaker 4: back to Starbucks, Like you know, I did whatever I

369
00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:55,880
Speaker 4: could do to make some money. It wasn't I mean,

370
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,320
Speaker 4: it was a huge break and obviously people were now

371
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:00,680
Speaker 4: aware of me, and it I.

372
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,320
Speaker 3: Think boomed me into other opportunities.

373
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,159
Speaker 4: But I was still like in a place where I

374
00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:13,960
Speaker 4: had to pay my bills.

375
00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,960
Speaker 1: Do you have your tribe from those years, because I

376
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,520
Speaker 1: find that my friends that are actors, yeah, they have that.

377
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:22,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do.

378
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,359
Speaker 4: You know Via Delaria who starred opposite of me and

379
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,400
Speaker 4: on The Town she played my girlfriend.

380
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,600
Speaker 3: Can you believe that that is? Is that great? Great?

381
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:34,000
Speaker 1: Great?

382
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,000
Speaker 4: I mean this twenty one year old kid and like

383
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,240
Speaker 4: this forty something year old lesbian playing love interests and

384
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:40,879
Speaker 4: we had.

385
00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:41,640
Speaker 3: Such good chemistry.

386
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:42,160
Speaker 1: Oh my god.

387
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,320
Speaker 4: Well she's remained one of my very very close friends.

388
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,639
Speaker 4: George Wolf is still a very good friend of mine.

389
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:48,720
Speaker 4: A lot of people who are in that show, but

390
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 4: then also other friends of mine who were up and

391
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:53,320
Speaker 4: coming actors, and you know sort of I would see

392
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,720
Speaker 4: auditions and become friends with them, and they're they're part

393
00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,320
Speaker 4: of my closest friends still so to this day.

394
00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,600
Speaker 1: So right, yeah, that's an amazing when you're in New

395
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:06,000
Speaker 1: York now, you know, having been raised there and it's

396
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:07,720
Speaker 1: changed so much to the city and it's you know,

397
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:09,840
Speaker 1: it's still my heart. It's still my favorite place in

398
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,000
Speaker 1: the world. But like I see, it's like almost like

399
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,440
Speaker 1: I say, ghosts, but like on the corners, Like do

400
00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,320
Speaker 1: you do you? You know, you know, like you have

401
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:20,800
Speaker 1: like now how you live. You have an apartment. You

402
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,320
Speaker 1: you're successful, so you live a certain way. But like, yes,

403
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:24,600
Speaker 1: when you.

404
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,080
Speaker 4: The Starbucks on eighty fourth and Broadway, that's where I

405
00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:27,439
Speaker 4: used to work and I walk in there and I'm like,

406
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,840
Speaker 4: I used to work here and like no, I'm ordering

407
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,639
Speaker 4: your coffee and you know it's but I always tell

408
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:34,560
Speaker 4: them it's like I used to be behind there, Like

409
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,520
Speaker 4: I used to work there all the time.

410
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:38,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, all the time.

411
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,920
Speaker 4: I mean when I go into the Golden Theater, which

412
00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 4: is where Falsetto's played, right, whenever I see a show

413
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,359
Speaker 4: in the Golden I'm like, this is where I sat

414
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:47,000
Speaker 4: right on my.

415
00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,160
Speaker 1: First you from that day.

416
00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:50,119
Speaker 3: I don't know if I do.

417
00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,240
Speaker 4: I mean, I definitely photos of me that we or right,

418
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:54,359
Speaker 4: I don't know if I have a photo of me

419
00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,440
Speaker 4: outside of falset Know. I think I took a photo

420
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,560
Speaker 4: of the Marquis, photos of pigeons on that trip.

421
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 3: You don't watch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, right, I guess not?

422
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,639
Speaker 1: You don't, don't you Like when you first saw what

423
00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 1: is this most ugly bird you've ever seen?

424
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,040
Speaker 3: Was just fascinatd buy it.

425
00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,760
Speaker 4: I mean it's sort of like when you travel to

426
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,400
Speaker 4: other I mean I was just in Morocco and there's

427
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,199
Speaker 4: cats everywhere, and I was kicking photos of cats, like

428
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:18,880
Speaker 4: I must look like such a tourist right now.

429
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,080
Speaker 3: But it was the photos of that week in.

430
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,040
Speaker 4: New York, my first week, And you're ridiculous because it's

431
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,880
Speaker 4: just a lot of Theata marquees and pigeons.

432
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,200
Speaker 1: That is you need, you need to make it back

433
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:29,359
Speaker 1: to that.

434
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:30,679
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think I even took a photo of

435
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 4: like the gap because it was like, I've never seen

436
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,680
Speaker 4: a gap that wasn't inside the mall, like a gap

437
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,880
Speaker 4: that actually a butt of a sidewalk.

438
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,200
Speaker 1: Cars. That's crazy, that's so funny. Yeah, because things that

439
00:19:44,240 --> 00:20:06,760
Speaker 1: used impress me. Right. Thanks for joining us on Table

440
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,560
Speaker 1: for two. Before the break, our guest Jesse Tyler Ferguson

441
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,639
Speaker 1: was telling us about his journey from Albuquerque to Broadway.

442
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,240
Speaker 1: I'm curious to hear about some of Jesse's most interesting

443
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:24,399
Speaker 1: experiences on stage. There's nothing quite like sitting in a

444
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,840
Speaker 1: dark theater when the lights go down and the curtain

445
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 1: goes up. The experience that you guys deliver.

446
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's my favorite thing.

447
00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:37,400
Speaker 1: Has there ever been like when you're on stage, what's

448
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,600
Speaker 1: the funniest and weirdest thing that annis members are kooky?

449
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:47,359
Speaker 1: Especially like they like what I can't hear you totally anything,

450
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,600
Speaker 1: Any stories that you've been like, oh no.

451
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:53,880
Speaker 4: Well, you know Take Me Out, which was the last

452
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,040
Speaker 4: show I did on Broadway, and they did involve a

453
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 4: lot of male nudity. It's about a baseball team and

454
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,280
Speaker 4: a lot of the the scenes take place in the

455
00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,400
Speaker 4: locker room, specifically the showers, and they're very integral scenes

456
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,280
Speaker 4: because it's about homophobia and masculine toxic masculinity and behave

457
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:10,440
Speaker 4: and how like someone coming out of the closet changes

458
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,440
Speaker 4: the whole dynamic of the locker room antics and behaviors

459
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,080
Speaker 4: and relationships. I was not in any of these naked scenes.

460
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 4: I played Jesse Williams, who played the star player Darren Lenning.

461
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 4: I played his account business manager, so no one needed

462
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 4: to see the business managers, you know. Although I always

463
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 4: begged Richard Greenberg just to write a scene of one

464
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,399
Speaker 4: last scene where it's just Mason Marzak showering at home

465
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:37,200
Speaker 4: by himself, sadly, just all by himself.

466
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,120
Speaker 1: Life has gone.

467
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:46,440
Speaker 4: But because I guess I just I think theaters audiences

468
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,439
Speaker 4: have changed so much, and and I just feel like,

469
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 4: I just feel like such a lack of respect for

470
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,439
Speaker 4: what it means to be in a sacred space and

471
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,639
Speaker 4: a lot of you know, I mean, we did everything

472
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 4: we could to protect his cast, but there were photos

473
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 4: that leaked out of some of the cast members.

474
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 1: Of course, when Joe did it, I'm known how a

475
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 1: phone I was taking a sneak in a.

476
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 3: Picture taking of they had to sneak in a whole camera.

477
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 4: But I think because some photos did lead the audience

478
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,919
Speaker 4: members that then started coming because it was a big

479
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 4: press thing, you know. It was like they have the

480
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,760
Speaker 4: Tony nominations. Both Jesse Williams and myself and another cast member,

481
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,639
Speaker 4: Michael Oberholtzer all got nominated in the same category, and

482
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,239
Speaker 4: then that was immediately overshadowed by new pictures leaking out, right,

483
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 4: And I just felt so bad for the company because

484
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 4: it was a celebrated revival. Now the conversation was about penises, right,

485
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 4: and but that did bring a lot of different people

486
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 4: into the theater who didn't necessarily come to see the play.

487
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,080
Speaker 4: They wanted to see the spectacle and I was like, Wow,

488
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 4: you're gonna guys are gonna be so bored by about

489
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 4: two and a half hours of really important thoughts and.

490
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:55,879
Speaker 3: Conversations for like two minutes of nudity. And I remember.

491
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 4: Having to navigate that behavior amongst audiences, you know, the

492
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,840
Speaker 4: whistles that would have and sometimes when Jesse would walk

493
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,840
Speaker 4: out even fully clothed, like just on the anticipation like

494
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 4: what's coming, and that was that was always really really rough,

495
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,679
Speaker 4: and I was I don't know if I ever handled

496
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 4: it super well. I would usually like shoot really evil

497
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 4: looks towards those parts of the audience, but I do, Uh,

498
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,440
Speaker 4: you know, I've had many mishaps on stage that have

499
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,360
Speaker 4: have nothing to do with with misbehaving audiences, are completely

500
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 4: my own faults.

501
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 1: Right, Well, that's the fun of it, Yeah, in the

502
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,960
Speaker 1: weird way as as you know, I assume as the performer, Yeah,

503
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 1: because each night is not going to be the same, right,

504
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,120
Speaker 1: and so something can go wrong, something cannot be where

505
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be, someone can forget the line, you

506
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,679
Speaker 1: can trip, you can fall, and you sort of have

507
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,160
Speaker 1: to figure out how to navigate this and not have

508
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 1: necessarily the audience be sol away.

509
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 4: Right, right, Well, nothing's worse than when you completely go

510
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 4: up and you don't know what's next, and there's a

511
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,720
Speaker 4: whole lot of God was wondering if beat or not.

512
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,160
Speaker 4: It's it's awful that hasn't happened to me a lot,

513
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 4: Like personally, I'm gonna this is gonna make me like

514
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 4: I'm gonna sound like I'm like really trying to I'm

515
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 4: not the problems, you know what I'm saying. But there

516
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 4: was a moment and Take Me Out. Take Me Out

517
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 4: was Jesse Williams first Broadway show, and he was unbelievable

518
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 4: in it, incredible, and he had such an ease on stage.

519
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,639
Speaker 4: I was like, how is this possible? Like how are

520
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 4: you this comfortable on your first Broadway outing? But there

521
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,440
Speaker 4: were sometimes where he was so relaxed he really did

522
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 4: forget what was next.

523
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:34,080
Speaker 1: Right.

524
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 4: And there's a tradition on Broadway where they record for

525
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,400
Speaker 4: the archives of LINC considered archives a lot of these

526
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,240
Speaker 4: performances and they're not available for public concention. You have

527
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 4: to like have a reason to see them. You have

528
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 4: to go to the library, you have to watch them

529
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 4: in a cubicle, but they a lot of these shows

530
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,479
Speaker 4: are archive. You can watch incredible performances. I have lin

531
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,000
Speaker 4: considered library. So we who had the honor of having

532
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,719
Speaker 4: our show recorded for Lincoln. That's great, that's very very exciting.

533
00:24:58,480 --> 00:24:59,400
Speaker 3: And Jesse of.

534
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:00,960
Speaker 4: Course was, you know, not too worried about it, and

535
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 4: like there's nudity involved in this as well, and like

536
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 4: you know that was all gonna be recorded, and like

537
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,240
Speaker 4: they knew that they would, everyone would be protected and

538
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 4: the stuff and not leak. And anyway, he was walking

539
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,040
Speaker 4: to the theater and next door at the Saint James,

540
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 4: Bradley Cooper was recording, was working on Maestro. They were

541
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,800
Speaker 4: doing scene scenes from Mestre at the Saint James Theater.

542
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:22,040
Speaker 4: So there were massive, you know, film trucks outside basically

543
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,479
Speaker 4: sharing the street with Vice. And so Jesse's walking down

544
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 4: the street to our stage door and seeing all these

545
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 4: like huge film trucks and he's from the world of

546
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,679
Speaker 4: Hollywood and straighten out of me and he's like he

547
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 4: knows what a film truck looks like, the trailers and stuff,

548
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 4: and he's like, this is a way bigger deal recording

549
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:36,639
Speaker 4: this thing for Lincoln set up, And I thought he

550
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 4: didn't know that Bradley Cooper was next door doing my struck.

551
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 4: So we came in already like freaking out, like what

552
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 4: is happening here? So you put him at ease, like

553
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 4: that's not actually for us, this like tiny little band

554
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:46,360
Speaker 4: is for us.

555
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 3: That's all you know, someone else.

556
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 4: But we could do a big scene between Jesse and

557
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:57,880
Speaker 4: I and Jesse completely goes up and he thinks I'm

558
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 4: upset with him because he assumed that I'm annoyed because

559
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 4: of we're recording this for you know.

560
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:04,360
Speaker 3: The archives.

561
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,160
Speaker 4: Sure here he is sort of like his mind goes everywhere,

562
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:08,639
Speaker 4: but like what the next line is. It's like, oh god,

563
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 4: Jesse epsot with me, this is the recording that's gonna

564
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 4: be the library in the middle of a scene and

565
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 4: he's just not saying anything. He's just tail spinning right,

566
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 4: and somehow we get back on. But it was a

567
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 4: it was like a good forty five seconds of just

568
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:20,679
Speaker 4: pure terror for.

569
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 3: Both of us.

570
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:26,320
Speaker 1: Feel like forever, forever, forever. Do you sometimes then have

571
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,680
Speaker 1: to sort of say, like give the hint, like say

572
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 1: something that's not written to sort of hopefully trigger Bruce.

573
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,320
Speaker 4: I went so far to my body, I don't remember

574
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,920
Speaker 4: what happened. I was like also like watching myself from

575
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 4: the ceiling. I was like, what are we doing?

576
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 3: What are we doing? No one's talking, No one's talking.

577
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,400
Speaker 4: And I think we both kind of like repeated lines

578
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,440
Speaker 4: a few times, like said things that we'd already said,

579
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 4: sort of time to.

580
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 3: Fill the space, and and.

581
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,159
Speaker 4: Jess was like rubbing his head and like, you know,

582
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 4: it was like it was a lot of there was

583
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 4: a lot of It was like a.

584
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 1: Really long I bet that's nerve wrecking. That's certainly nerve wrecking.

585
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 1: And it's you know, my feeling is from an audience member,

586
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: like the decorum that people come now, but all over life,

587
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,679
Speaker 1: so it's not just theater, but like how you dress.

588
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 1: And Matthew Broderck always says this, like when you go

589
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 1: to the theater, like who were a tie? Yeah, Like

590
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,199
Speaker 1: he has a very specific feeling about people that don't

591
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 1: dress to go to the theatre. You know, it's right,

592
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,480
Speaker 1: and I get it, Yeah, totally, No, for sure, Yeah,

593
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 1: I mean you're going out.

594
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 4: I have a funny sort of Matthew though, it's like

595
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,240
Speaker 4: kind of that it's gonna be a little counterintuitive to.

596
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 3: What he just said. Okay, Oh, I was at his very.

597
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,359
Speaker 4: First performance in New York of Plaza Suite and Matthew and.

598
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,360
Speaker 3: I our buddies. We actually work out at the same

599
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:39,639
Speaker 3: gym sometimes we train together.

600
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 1: Love him left him so much. I mean, there's nobody like.

601
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 3: Hi, there's nothing.

602
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 4: So, you know, he's on the stage with his wife,

603
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 4: the incredible Sara Juska Parker. They're in the scene and

604
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 4: I notice Sarah looking down at his wrist, and the

605
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 4: Plaza Suite takes place in nineteen forties, you know, at

606
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 4: the Plaza Hotel. Matthew Broderick is wearing his Apple Watch

607
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 4: on stage and then it starts chiming no alerts on stage,

608
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,720
Speaker 4: so she's just like, are you I could tell like,

609
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 4: She's like, are you kidding me?

610
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:10,160
Speaker 3: Right now?

611
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,879
Speaker 4: He very quietly sort of takes off the watch and

612
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,399
Speaker 4: puts it into his you know, nineteen forties briefcase and

613
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:17,960
Speaker 4: just leaves. He can't leave the stage to them on stage,

614
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 4: but I was like, I laughed so hard, like you

615
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 4: were incredibly unprofessional that so he can't be exclaining too

616
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 4: much about people not dressing right, you know what, He's

617
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,360
Speaker 4: wearing his Apple watch on stage for a sold out

618
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 4: performance Applausea.

619
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 6: Suite, Jesse, you end up being on one of the

620
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 6: most successful sitcoms and everyone is next level in this

621
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,360
Speaker 6: and that clearly the chemistry and the just connection is

622
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 6: so real.

623
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 1: How did that jump happen? And when did you kind

624
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,760
Speaker 1: of guys realize, oh shit, we're in thing big here.

625
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's you know, I never anticipated I mean, here

626
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 4: we have. You've heard me talk so much about theater,

627
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 4: and truly that's where I thought my career was going

628
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 4: to stay. And I never anticipated moving to Los Angeles,

629
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 4: never anticipated doing a sitcom. But I did have the

630
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 4: opportunity to to be a part of a show called

631
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 4: The Class pretty early on, and it was an incredible

632
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 4: company of people, starting Jason Ritter, Lizzie Kaplan, John Burnenthal

633
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 4: who just went an enmy for the Bear, had some

634
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,480
Speaker 4: incredible theater talent, Julie Houlston, Sam.

635
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 3: Harris, and I.

636
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 4: It was a great show, and I moved to LA

637
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 4: to do that and it was canceled after a year,

638
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 4: and I was sort of that place where I was

639
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 4: deciding whether or not it was just going to move

640
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 4: back to New York and you know, pick up where

641
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,480
Speaker 4: I left off with theater and do what I knew best,

642
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 4: or if I was going to stick it out for

643
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 4: a little while here and just sort of see what else.

644
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:51,479
Speaker 3: Might come up.

645
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 4: And then the writers strike happened, the rider strike previous

646
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,360
Speaker 4: to the last one we had, and it shut down

647
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 4: the industry just like this last one did.

648
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,120
Speaker 3: And I sort of felt like I needed to see.

649
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:06,360
Speaker 4: It through and I ended up booking a job shortly

650
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 4: after the strike was resolved. But it was kind of

651
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 4: in a moment of panic, and it was I think

652
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 4: a lot of people were scrambling for work just because

653
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 4: everyone needed to do something to take money.

654
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 3: And the show I ended up doing.

655
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,520
Speaker 4: It was problematic because I think, first of all, it

656
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 4: was written and created by one of my dear friends,

657
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 4: Abraham Higabotham, who also was a writer on Modern Family,

658
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 4: but he was a first time show runner, and I think,

659
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 4: you know, he didn't have the ability to sort of

660
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 4: take charge of what he wanted the show to be,

661
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 4: and it kind of just disintegrated and it ended up

662
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 4: being the first show canceled that year. And so I

663
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 4: was really at a place where I was like, I

664
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 4: think my tail has been doing my legs, like it's

665
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 4: time to go back. It's time to go back to

666
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,520
Speaker 4: New York. And then the script from Modern Family came

667
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 4: to me, and I was my agent, knew I wanted

668
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 4: to move back to New York, and like, you know,

669
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 4: you probably don't even want to audition for this, knowing

670
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 4: you want to go back to New York, but just

671
00:30:57,640 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 4: take a look at it. And I remember reading it

672
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 4: on my like first generation iPhone in a coffee shop

673
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 4: and falling in love with it and really seeing opportunity

674
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 4: for to be a pop culture touchstone for, you know,

675
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:15,800
Speaker 4: the fight for marriage equality, which we were in the

676
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 4: in the depths up. I thought, these are two incredibly

677
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,760
Speaker 4: well drawn characters. I think that this could really resonate,

678
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 4: this could make this could make change. It felt unlike

679
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 4: anything I'd ever read before, because it was obviously incredibly

680
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 4: hilarious but grounded in so much.

681
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 3: I just could tell how much how much there was

682
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 3: to mind.

683
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,160
Speaker 4: From these characters, right, you know, I played and read

684
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,479
Speaker 4: many different gay roles, and it just felt like this

685
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 4: was really going so much deeper under the surface than

686
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 4: anything else IDE ever read for, or auditioned for or played.

687
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:52,640
Speaker 4: And so yeah, I went into that process obviously deeply

688
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 4: wanting it, but kind of also feeling like I was

689
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 4: so incredibly right for it. I wasn't it wasn't that

690
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,719
Speaker 4: a nice feel it was it was also I think

691
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 4: because I felt like I was I was like, listen,

692
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 4: if this doesn't work out, I'm just going to go

693
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 4: back to New York and do theater. Like I really

694
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 4: have a great backup plan. I'm I feel like I'll

695
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 4: be welcome back with open arms. And so I just

696
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 4: I didn't feel a ton of pressure around the whole experience,

697
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 4: which is incredible because it's the experience that changed my

698
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:18,960
Speaker 4: entire career.

699
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, the process is so now you're going to audition.

700
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,479
Speaker 1: Are you auditioning with different other actors to see what

701
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: the couple will look like a little bit? And yeah,

702
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: what was that like? And then when did you know?

703
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 3: You?

704
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 1: Guys hit? I mean the relationship between the two of you, Yeah,

705
00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: is amazing. And you're also playing the less sort of

706
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 1: flame boying and he's straight and he's playing the more.

707
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 4: It's like, you know, yeah, how well, ironically, they would

708
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,680
Speaker 4: only want to see me for Cam, which was the

709
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,960
Speaker 4: part that Eric Ston Street ended up playing. They didn't

710
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:50,400
Speaker 4: want to see me for Mitchell, which is the well

711
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 4: I did a play, right, So I went in an

712
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 4: audition for Cam, but I read it as if I

713
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 4: was from the viewpoint of Mitchell, so I think the

714
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,400
Speaker 4: casting within moments they realized, oh, he's in for the

715
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 4: wrong part. Even though I told him I was coming

716
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:04,680
Speaker 4: in for the wrong part, right, they still made me

717
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,840
Speaker 4: read for Cam and so I auditioned again for Mitchell.

718
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 4: And after that it happened very quickly. I was I

719
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 4: auditioned for Mitchell in front of the creators. I didn't

720
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 4: have to have a pre screen or anything. And right

721
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,680
Speaker 4: after that, I tested for the network and I booked it.

722
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,880
Speaker 4: So I was one of I think I was the

723
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 4: first cast member nailed down. Sophia Aagara had a development

724
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 4: deal with ABC and Fox, so she was already being

725
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 4: talked about for the role of Gloria. They were tailoring

726
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 4: the role for her. But beyond that, I was the

727
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 4: first person that they knocked down. So because I was

728
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 4: cast as part of this couple, I then got to

729
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 4: do chemistry reads with so many different people and I

730
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 4: auditioned for different cams. And it's interesting because it was

731
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:49,880
Speaker 4: the role I initially went in for, so I knew

732
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 4: I knew the vantage point of like, you know what

733
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 4: the material he was reading as well very well, but

734
00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 4: everyone find Josh Gadd auditioned fl it to actually some

735
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 4: people who ended up being our friends in the show,

736
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:08,440
Speaker 4: like they Audi reported it. Initially, I remember reading with

737
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,640
Speaker 4: just you know, so many different sizes and types and gay, straight, black, white,

738
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 4: and something about when Eric Snunzer came in it just

739
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:20,080
Speaker 4: felt I don't know, it was we had immediate chemistry

740
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 4: with him.

741
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed his take.

742
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 4: It was incredibly I don't know, it was so big

743
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 4: but yet grounded at the same time. Later I found

744
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:32,839
Speaker 4: out here he was basing it off of his mother,

745
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,799
Speaker 4: and so it's someone that he knows so well. So

746
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 4: even though he was completely flamboyant and was based in

747
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,840
Speaker 4: this like real person, it deeply cares for and it

748
00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:45,320
Speaker 4: just I don't know, it just it just really clicked

749
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,719
Speaker 4: and it felt. It felt really it felt really right.

750
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:50,919
Speaker 4: You know, Eric and I always talk about, like if

751
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 4: we were they were passing the show today, if he

752
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 4: would have a shot at that role because he is

753
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:55,680
Speaker 4: a straight man.

754
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I don't know if he would. I

755
00:34:58,360 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 3: don't know if he would.

756
00:34:59,440 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: Yeah.

757
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 4: I also can't imagine that couple with anyone else other

758
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 4: than him.

759
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,759
Speaker 1: How do you feel about that? I'm very Yeah, I

760
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,759
Speaker 1: feel like we can go back at a time and

761
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,080
Speaker 1: you kind of sounds like you came as an actor

762
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:16,440
Speaker 1: pursue a career when you didn't have to hide being gay.

763
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 1: You could be gay and walk into the room. You

764
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: go back ten years and I know people that we

765
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 1: both know that were you know, you couldn't And so

766
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,680
Speaker 1: you go to Milk and you have Champagne playing Harvey Milk, right,

767
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: So you know, Brian, my husband, would say the movie

768
00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 1: wouldn't have gotten made unless you had a movie star

769
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: right like Sean making it. Now, eventually you have to

770
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,959
Speaker 1: get to the place where an openly gay actor gets

771
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 1: the part or can be a contended part. And then

772
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: you have now people like yourself and people like Matt Boehmer.

773
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: You know, someone like Matt who would never have worked

774
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: if he was an openly gay man because of the

775
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: nature of the roles that he played exactly. I would

776
00:35:57,719 --> 00:35:59,439
Speaker 1: like to think he would be cast today. I would

777
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: like to think that we're getting to a place where

778
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,439
Speaker 1: we want equal distribution, but we also want the best

779
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 1: person in the role.

780
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's it's tricky, and I you know,

781
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 4: every time I think about this, I don't fully know

782
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 4: if I have all the right answers, but I mean, listen,

783
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,560
Speaker 4: I always, I always just reflect back upon myself. I mean,

784
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 4: because my point of view is really the only place

785
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 4: I can talk about this from.

786
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:23,560
Speaker 3: Right.

787
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,640
Speaker 4: I am an actor, and I want the opportunity to

788
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 4: play roles that are not just gaying. I want to

789
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,280
Speaker 4: play straight part and I have played straight parts. I've played,

790
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 4: I've played. I have played everything from like a twelve

791
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 4: year old autistic kid and spelling bee to you know,

792
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 4: a romantic interest in the class to half of a

793
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:40,840
Speaker 4: gay couple in modern family.

794
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:42,400
Speaker 3: I just got to do you know.

795
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,799
Speaker 4: I got to play Truman, Capodi and a reading of

796
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 4: True you know, just just recently. I love the challenge

797
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:52,080
Speaker 4: of playing different parts. So to say only gay actors

798
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,719
Speaker 4: should play gay roles sort of kind of contradicts how

799
00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 4: I want people to.

800
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 3: Look at me.

801
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 1: Right.

802
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:00,719
Speaker 3: I do think that, and I we've gotten better.

803
00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:02,319
Speaker 4: I think we are farther to go, But I think

804
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,680
Speaker 4: it's a lot about representation and having opportunity.

805
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 3: To at least cast people who have that lived experience.

806
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:08,480
Speaker 1: I agree.

807
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 3: I think specifically we have a really long way to go.

808
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 4: All that we are getting better with a representative representation

809
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,440
Speaker 4: of transactors.

810
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:19,839
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm I'm so proud.

811
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,200
Speaker 4: Of my friend Jinx Monsoon who is now playing a

812
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,800
Speaker 4: lot of CIS roles on She's playing Mamma Morton in Chicago,

813
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 4: she played Audrey and Little Shop of Horrors. Like that

814
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,480
Speaker 4: seems like that's movement forward, right, But she's not a

815
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 4: CIS woman, right. So it's like, I do think we

816
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:35,759
Speaker 4: have to remind ourselves that we are all actors. We

817
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 4: should be given opportunities that are not just who we are,

818
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 4: not the mold of who we are. But also we

819
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:42,920
Speaker 4: have to make sure that those opportunities are actually indeed

820
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 4: being given, yes, and that people are being considered.

821
00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:48,279
Speaker 1: Right, And I think, I mean, so it is. It

822
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:52,239
Speaker 1: is a very it's still it's complicated. It is. There's

823
00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:54,000
Speaker 1: a business piece to it, if you sit on one

824
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 1: side of the room, there's an artistry piece to it.

825
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,879
Speaker 1: There's just a humanity piece. And I think you're right.

826
00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:03,720
Speaker 1: You want to play roles. You're an actor, that's your feeling.

827
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 4: I also think about when they're talking about people who

828
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,760
Speaker 4: with some movies, I think about someone like gab Rasadabe

829
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 4: who no one knew who she was and she comes

830
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,920
Speaker 4: out in this movie that absolutely blows people away. Precious,

831
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:16,960
Speaker 4: and she's incredible in it. She has an Oscar nomination.

832
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,839
Speaker 4: She was she had no career before that beyond like,

833
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 4: why can't these opportunities be given to people who are

834
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:24,640
Speaker 4: part of the LGBTQ community.

835
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, like we don't have to know who everyone is.

836
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 7: Yeah, welcome back to Table for two. Since his time

837
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,640
Speaker 7: on Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson has started a podcast,

838
00:38:55,960 --> 00:39:00,200
Speaker 7: Dinner Zombie, acted in the play Take Me Out, and

839
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 7: just released a short documentary called It's Okay about the

840
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,719
Speaker 7: recent drag bands in the United States.

841
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:10,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's about a Drag Story Hour.

842
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 4: The director is David France, who directed How to Survive

843
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 4: a Plague about the AIDS crisis, and also I worked

844
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,600
Speaker 4: with him on a documentary called Welcome to Chechenie about

845
00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:24,799
Speaker 4: the gay purge and Checchnia, and he came to us

846
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,719
Speaker 4: with this idea of doing something about Drag Story Hour

847
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 4: because it's such a hot button topic.

848
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:28,480
Speaker 1: Yeah.

849
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,239
Speaker 4: You know, there were people armed protesters outside of schools

850
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,919
Speaker 4: where these Drag Story Hours are being held. So we

851
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,440
Speaker 4: have found some kids who had never been to a

852
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,120
Speaker 4: drag Story out before, and we followed them and recorded

853
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,600
Speaker 4: their experience, and it's it's really field reporting. I mean,

854
00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 4: it's it's just we watch what happens with them. And

855
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,640
Speaker 4: these two brothers who we follow have both very kind

856
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,840
Speaker 4: of different experiences with it. The younger one is extremely

857
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,080
Speaker 4: open to it. The older one is a little resistant

858
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 4: and like, what's happening? What it was saying? We also,

859
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 4: you probably didn't even notice it. It's something I love

860
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 4: that David did is he put microphone vests on these

861
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,160
Speaker 4: kids so we could hear their heartbeat and their breathing.

862
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:12,600
Speaker 4: And that's sort of what is underlaid with the film

863
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 4: because you do hear their heart, you hear them breathing,

864
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,560
Speaker 4: and it's very intimate this film. Yes it is, and

865
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 4: uh it's we really hear what's happening to them inside

866
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 4: their bodies as well. But what I love about the

867
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:28,080
Speaker 4: film is that the book that Shalida the drag Queen

868
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,360
Speaker 4: who is doing the drag Quen story hours reading, is

869
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 4: a book that I actually read to my kids, and

870
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:34,480
Speaker 4: it's just about different types of families.

871
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:35,240
Speaker 1: What's the book.

872
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:37,360
Speaker 4: The book is called It's Okay to Be Different, and

873
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,400
Speaker 4: it talks about everyone from like you know, some people

874
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,879
Speaker 4: have all their teeth and some people don't like it's

875
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 4: all different types of Some people have two mommies, some

876
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 4: people have one mom, some people have two dads. Some

877
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 4: people you know, are raised by their grandparents. And it's

878
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:51,799
Speaker 4: happens to be a book that's.

879
00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,239
Speaker 3: That's now being banned in schools, and it's it's just like,

880
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,360
Speaker 3: what a part what about this book is causing so

881
00:40:58,400 --> 00:40:59,200
Speaker 3: much fear in people?

882
00:40:59,360 --> 00:40:59,480
Speaker 1: Right?

883
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:02,399
Speaker 3: And so that that happens to be the book that

884
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:03,239
Speaker 3: she leads reading.

885
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 4: So you hear her list reading this book, and you

886
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:10,840
Speaker 4: see these kids enraptured and engrossed and growing and learning

887
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 4: as they're experiencing this thing. And for them it's like

888
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 4: not even a man and address reading the book. It's

889
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 4: like this fabulous princess with sparkles on reading this dress

890
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 4: reading this book.

891
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 1: Rather and uh.

892
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,319
Speaker 4: The documentary is very very simple and very quite by

893
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:26,759
Speaker 4: the way, feel like didn't see the whole Thing's right,

894
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:28,840
Speaker 4: nothing big happens, And that's what I love about it.

895
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 8: It's like, it's okay, is there truth to the rumor

896
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:45,600
Speaker 8: of a little reunion.

897
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:46,720
Speaker 3: On Modern Family?

898
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:47,240
Speaker 1: Yes?

899
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:48,560
Speaker 3: I don't think so.

900
00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 1: It's damn.

901
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,040
Speaker 4: I mean, there was you know that I've talked about

902
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:55,920
Speaker 4: this before, but there was a spinoff written for me

903
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:56,440
Speaker 4: and Eric.

904
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:57,880
Speaker 1: Well, I was gonna have to say, like, where's the

905
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:02,080
Speaker 1: road up? Yea, you know the fell, where's the Fonds?

906
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:04,560
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean.

907
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 4: There's a piece of me that sort of feels like,

908
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,480
Speaker 4: are we the right characters right now to you know,

909
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,600
Speaker 4: speaking of opening the doors for other people, letting, you know,

910
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,479
Speaker 4: letting other people sort of start telling me stories people

911
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,560
Speaker 4: make with a bit more diversity or lived experience.

912
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:17,880
Speaker 3: I don't know.

913
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:19,239
Speaker 4: I just don't know if Mitch and Cam or like

914
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 4: the characters that necessarily need to be listen, I would

915
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,080
Speaker 4: love to explore more. I would love to do something

916
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:29,840
Speaker 4: with the entire cast. Yeah, I've been begging people to

917
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:32,880
Speaker 4: put something together. So I don't think it's for lack

918
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 4: of interest from the cast.

919
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:38,640
Speaker 1: I think that that is that's the show, and this

920
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:42,360
Speaker 1: is how I okay telling you. Then you have your neighbors,

921
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,520
Speaker 1: so like that's like you know the couple that is

922
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,879
Speaker 1: you know conservative, you know, but yet you know, then

923
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,560
Speaker 1: you have like, uh, you know, you're kind of it's

924
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:53,880
Speaker 1: like Maud, you know, you have all these different things,

925
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,400
Speaker 1: but and there's always some sort of message that's not

926
00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,880
Speaker 1: like hit over the head, but you go, oh, like yeah,

927
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,320
Speaker 1: and then you have people like Sophia like coming to

928
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 1: visit because she's in town. Course there's like fun stuff

929
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:09,960
Speaker 1: to do with it. Absolutely, I mean the repartee and

930
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,840
Speaker 1: and and you're you know, your kid grew up and

931
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 1: so she's getting older and maybe there's stuff there for sure.

932
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,280
Speaker 4: No, I mean we the the spin off was basically

933
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 4: based in them moving out of town to a farm. Yeah,

934
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,919
Speaker 4: and it is sort of like, you know, a little

935
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 4: bit of green Acres, a little bit you know, brilliant,

936
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:31,239
Speaker 4: and especially Mitch, she's like it really is not good

937
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:32,480
Speaker 4: at this when.

938
00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 1: He was rapped with the thing on the boat yea,

939
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:35,279
Speaker 1: yea yeah. Yeah.

940
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:37,319
Speaker 4: So I mean it had a lot of a lot

941
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:39,600
Speaker 4: of potential. And yeah, I think you know, if there's

942
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,000
Speaker 4: probably one thing. I mean, Modern Family was about a family.

943
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:45,319
Speaker 4: So it's like we were mostly white. Yeah, Sophia and

944
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:49,000
Speaker 4: en Rico obviously and and Lily are exceptions. But I

945
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,839
Speaker 4: think you know that was a criticism that we got

946
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:53,120
Speaker 4: a lot is that it was a very white show,

947
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 4: which you know, we weren't entirely white, we were, but

948
00:43:56,600 --> 00:44:00,080
Speaker 4: the dumpy Pritchet clam was pretty white. But I think

949
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,320
Speaker 4: even in the opportunities to cast other roles in Michigan

950
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 4: camps where they know, they were really looking toward, you know,

951
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,720
Speaker 4: being extremely more you know, way more diverse, And yeah,

952
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,120
Speaker 4: I think that's something that everyone should be conscious about

953
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:12,400
Speaker 4: right now.

954
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 3: Versity.

955
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:17,000
Speaker 1: Yes, I agree. I think that show has the capability

956
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,640
Speaker 1: of having a lot of diversity in the neighborhood on

957
00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:22,320
Speaker 1: the farm and I love.

958
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:23,839
Speaker 3: It, and diversity with politics too.

959
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:39,560
Speaker 1: So yeah, anything on the horizon that a little inside

960
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:41,879
Speaker 1: skinny table for two lunch.

961
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 3: I just did.

962
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,359
Speaker 4: I was just mentioning this Truman Capote thing I did.

963
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:47,759
Speaker 4: I did this reading of it in Tangier.

964
00:44:48,239 --> 00:44:50,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, you kept having Morocco. That's what I'm meant to say, Like,

965
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:50,920
Speaker 1: what were you doing there?

966
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,239
Speaker 4: I was doing this reading of True, which is a

967
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:55,439
Speaker 4: play about Trim Capote. It's a one one man show

968
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,239
Speaker 4: and I did it with Rob Ashford and Tangier to

969
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,319
Speaker 4: benefit local chair he wanted to been being a local

970
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,279
Speaker 4: orphanage and we raised a lot of money.

971
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:05,399
Speaker 3: Was really incredible, but the experience was so good. Yeah,

972
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 3: play together.

973
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,200
Speaker 4: I'm sort of now wondering if that's something that I

974
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:12,279
Speaker 4: should maybe be looking at you know.

975
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:14,760
Speaker 1: Yes, what a great character.

976
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:16,920
Speaker 3: Oh, when I'm going to do Shakespeare the Park next summer. Oh,

977
00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:17,600
Speaker 3: you are going back.

978
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:19,719
Speaker 1: To the delacort Okay, yes, just you know that is

979
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,839
Speaker 1: my favorite thing in the world and my favorite I'd

980
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:23,239
Speaker 1: look forward to it every year. So what are you

981
00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:24,399
Speaker 1: going to do now?

982
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:26,319
Speaker 4: The Delacorte Theater has been closed this past summer because

983
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,840
Speaker 4: there's renovation. So Oscar used to the artistic director of

984
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 4: the Public Heada really wants to open it back up

985
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:31,200
Speaker 4: with a big bang.

986
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,080
Speaker 3: So he's chosen Twelfth Night, which is a great play.

987
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 1: Great I saw that years ago.

988
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:37,200
Speaker 3: Yes, with Anne Hathaway.

989
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,320
Speaker 1: Maybe I almost want to say Michelle Fife for Bettle

990
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 1: maybe a different one that was like an eighty nine.

991
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:46,600
Speaker 4: Right, Well he attached Thus far, it's very exciting myself,

992
00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 4: the pitt in Neango, Sandra Oh and Peter dinklih God.

993
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 4: So that's all I know of so far that I've

994
00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:56,319
Speaker 4: committed to it. But that's what I'm doing next time.

995
00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 4: It's the next summer summer of twenty twenty five. Yeah,

996
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:01,000
Speaker 4: that's a big you'll see me there.

997
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:02,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.

998
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,640
Speaker 1: Well, this has been a true joy. Thank you for

999
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:07,759
Speaker 1: having Jesse Tyler Ferguson for having lunch with me today here.

1000
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:12,359
Speaker 1: I mean just enjoy our beautiful SoCal day and I

1001
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:16,439
Speaker 1: dig you digo. Thank you everyone for pulling up a shair.

1002
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:26,960
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you for pulling up a chair.

1003
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:31,560
Speaker 5: I love our lunches and never forget the romance of

1004
00:46:31,640 --> 00:46:34,799
Speaker 5: a meal. If you enjoy the show, please tell a

1005
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:38,880
Speaker 5: friend and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Table

1006
00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:41,799
Speaker 5: for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeartRadio seven

1007
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:45,920
Speaker 5: three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are Bruce

1008
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:50,200
Speaker 5: Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer is Dylan Fagan.

1009
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,719
Speaker 2: Our editors are Vincent to Johnny and Cas B.

1010
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:54,400
Speaker 1: Bias.

1011
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:58,360
Speaker 2: Table for two is researched and written by Jack Sullivan.

1012
00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:02,760
Speaker 2: Our sound engineers are Jo B. Klein, Jess Krainich, Evan Taylor,

1013
00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:07,040
Speaker 2: and Jesse Funn. Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our

1014
00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:10,040
Speaker 2: talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table for two

1015
00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:14,840
Speaker 2: Social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks to Amy Sugarman.

1016
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:19,440
Speaker 1: Uni Scherer, Kevin Yvane, Bobby Bauer, and Alison Kanter Graber.

1017
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:25,000
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

1018
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:33,880
Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.