WEBVTT - Jesse Tyler Ferguson 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.800 Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Welcome back to the table. We 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.280 are at the Sunset Tower Bar. I could not be 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.400 more excited. It is a beautiful day in sunny SoCal. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.520 Are you gonna eat yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonna do 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.480 like I do, my typical chop salad with chicken. Oh 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:22.840 that's good. I love the chop sad. Yeah. Today we're 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:27.440 having lunch with an acclaimed Broadway actor, a Tony winner, 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:32.839 an acclaimed television star, an Emmy winner, a gentleman who 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.360 has launched a podcast or our show is similar? Do 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:38.880 I ask similar questions? You're like a star, You're great 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:44.440 at this. No, you're a great conversation a star. So 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:48.720 sit back and let's enjoy lunch with this incredibly funny 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.480 man and talented actor, Jesse Tayler Ferguson. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.520 I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.039 If you pulled up a chair today on Table for two, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:13.200 we're sitting with an incredible actor, very acclaimed actor. I'm 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.920 one of the most successful television shows we all know, 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:18.920 Modern Family, which I've a lot of questions about a 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.880 Tony Winner. Yes, incredibly all around great guy. I know 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.680 you Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Welcome to Table for two. 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:27.600 I'm so glad finally doing this. I know me too, 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:28.479 Like we tried to do this. 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.640 Like a year ago we did. Jess and I sort 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.760 of have a similar podcast going on, which is I 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.960 do lunch, Jesse does dinner, and I know that the 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.480 genesis for me was I believed in the romance of 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:44.919 a meal and the intimacy of a connection and felt 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:48.040 that in this world of podcast and zoom is, one 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:52.760 of the things that went away was the connectivity being 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.960 in the same room, which is an ask for people 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.560 because it's not like they flip up their screen, but 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:03.440 in the nuances our lunch today, things happen. What was 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:08.120 your motivation to create you know dinners on You. 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.160 Said it so much more elegantly than I do, and 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:12.360 I explained mine just like the romance of it is 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:13.320 exactly spot on. 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:14.400 I just feel like. 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.160 There's something about having a meal with someone your guards 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.400 let down a little bit more. You know, it's a 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:22.080 it's something you do with people you care about. So 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:23.920 even if it's like someone I don't know so well, 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.400 it does feel soon intimate that we're having a shared 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.120 meal and you know, there's also the the you know, 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.160 you hear us ordering our food and like you sort 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:33.400 of get a sense of like what we're like is 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:34.960 real people, which. 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:35.560 I think is interesting. 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:37.720 But you know, the same thing for you know, you 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.760 know during the pandemic when sort of everything switched to 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.160 zoom and then it kind of just stayed that way. 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.280 I thought, if I'm going to do this, I want 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.359 to look for a reason where like I have. 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.560 To be sitting with someone real time, and. 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.200 Like the rules of this podcast and is as you 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.160 well know, like you have to be in person and 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.240 you have to you must arrive at the same place 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.799 and share a meal together. And it's just it's part 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.360 of it's part of what makes the podcast special. 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.240 Yeah, you're right, and the like normally, like Jeff, we're 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.400 at the tower and Jeff allows us to use this 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:08.960 private space. But sometimes we're in the terrace. Yeah, and 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.280 you know, and there's noise or we have the mullet 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.000 king Eric behind you. It will come and you know, 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:21.200 you know, and it's all about the interaction of again connectivity. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.960 That's cool. So when you do Dinners on Me, which 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.120 and I love that you have the same you know, 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:31.400 the same thought process is there some sort of common 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.760 thread with humans that you're finding, because you know, I 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.480 think we both we kind of sit in the same 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.240 room in regard to the same kind of guests, very 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.640 you know, entertainment oriented journeys. Who have you found anything 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:44.440 that well. 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.920 It's been mostly and maybe you found this too when 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:48.400 you're when you were starting off. I mean, you have 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:50.520 a I know, you know a lot of really incredible 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:54.280 entertaining people, and so like I went to my own 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.360 rolodext first, and so that sort of set the tone 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.880 of like who was going to then come in? And 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.839 you know, because I have such wonderful people who said 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.400 yes so early on, like Tracy Ellis Ross and Jesse 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.960 Williams and Julie Bowen and Chelsea Clinton, who's a buddy 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:11.760 of mine. Like, because I was able to sort of 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.160 set the tone with these incredible guests, I've been able 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.560 to get other people who I don't know as well on, 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:21.240 like Aquafina and I just had I mean a Savari 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.159 on recently and I've never met her before, Paul Vegus, 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:24.880 someone I don't know. 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.599 Yeah, So you find it harder or easy? 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.599 Yeah, interesting, I find it a little harder to interview 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.000 the people I know really really well. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:35.160 Me too, Yeah, because you kind of sink into something. Yeah, 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:36.200 that's and it. 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:40.320 Feels like weird and fraudulent to almostly be asking questions 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:41.359 that you know the answers to. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:43.919 Yeah, it's true. And you have to be careful of 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.680 being too inside, right because you get too inside and 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.479 the people that have pulled up the chair and I 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:52.080 love the figurative, the idea that you and I are 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:54.839 having lunch and there are people yes on wood that 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.960 are having lunch or in their cars and they I mean, 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.719 I get feedback which is like, yeah, it really wonderful. 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.400 I feel like you're fly on the wall. 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.039 The do you have. I mean it's so hard. People 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:06.719 ask me like who are some of my favorite guests? 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:08.760 And I never have an answer for them, just because 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:10.000 it's all about. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.360 The conversations that surprised you. You thought it would go 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.599 one way and it ended up being a whole other conversation. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.880 Oh that's yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you know 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.480 with Anna, who is so intimidating, so I bring her 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:23.560 up not to be so name drop because she saw her, 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.000 but she was really there was a lot of humility 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.599 and there was a lot of generosity in this conversation 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.160 where people are so look at her as being so 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:35.640 stoic and some cold. 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:36.200 Yes. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.840 Tom Ford was he that's his table over there, and 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.880 he was very Uh, I didn't want to talk about fashion. 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.400 Oh interesting, you know fashion? Was like not. You know, 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:49.040 he wears his uniform, which is you know what you've 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.320 seen him in his whole life. He's like, so, yeah, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.040 you know with the nuances of what you know, but 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.480 nothing stands out. It's all a bo right blur, like 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:16.520 from blur, think God were recording me exactly. So you 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:18.120 born and raised in Albuquerque. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.240 Yeah, well no, I was born in Montana. But the yeah, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:22.960 I only lived in Montana for the first year of 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:23.320 my life. 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.280 It's so funny, I said to Brian two nights ago, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.080 to Montana. It's great, beautiful. I hadn't been there since 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:29.560 I was born. 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.800 And then my dad threw his seventieth birthday party there 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.560 in Missoli, Montana, which is the town I was born in, 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.680 and so I I went to that. That was That's 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.000 the basically the first time I got to experience Montana 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:40.760 and it's gorgeous. 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.600 It's beautiful. Yeah. So Albuquerque ways like I mean, it's 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:47.440 an interesting journey from Albuquerque to eventually being on Broadway, Like, 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:48.960 that's not how did that? 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:51.080 How did you traverse that? 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.080 Well? I mean I became when I was young. I 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.960 found a lot of comfort in theater. I didn't have 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.200 a lot of a lot of friends at school, and 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.880 I found my people to be, you know, the artistic types. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.839 And there was no big theater program or there was 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.720 really the zero theater program in my grade school and 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:13.040 also my high school, and so I had to look 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.080 for extracurricular places to do that. And there was a 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.720 pretty good children's theater company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.360 I joined, and I just found myself to be so 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.600 much more myself and comfortable around these other kids who 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.880 were like, you know, playing theater games right zip zaps 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.960 ofp and I just I just really blossomed. And so 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.360 it was something that I think when I think about 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:36.800 like how I fell in love with theater, I think 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:38.960 it's because theater felt like it was finally a safe 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.760 space for me, and I was able to really you know, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.000 explore parts of myself that I just felt like I 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.239 couldn't do yeah at school, I you know, I think 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.480 at that certainly at that young, young age. I didn't 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:54.400 know that I was gay. I didn't know what that meant. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:56.960 But so because you said safe place, which made me 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.400 want to you know, because I certainly didn't either, but 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.400 I certainly knew I was different. And the other kids 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:06.920 who have this like ability to sense things and be mean, yeah, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:11.160 you I they sense they since and they they're the 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.480 ones that would tell me like, oh you're gay, right 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.160 and an usually not nice. 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.440 Way, usually usually followed by get them right. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.760 Well, you know you're so self conscious. Yeah, I don't 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:23.680 understand that. 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:25.400 Age when you're self conscious about everything, right, so you 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.680 don't want to get called out for anything, right, So 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.640 uh yeah, when I say safe space, I think that 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.000 I didn't realize even what I was trying to be 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.160 safe from, but it just felt like more secure around 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.320 these people. And that's I think that I do think 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:43.720 that theater in that way sort of saved me, protected me. 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.560 So that's why I have this great, great affinity for it, right, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:48.560 And it just always feels. 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.640 Like it came like your tribe. Yeah yeah, and when 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.160 you went to did you get out of Albuquerque when 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.960 you were going to college or you moved to New York? Right? 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.120 Yeah, I mean, I was able to go to New 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.360 York when I was in high school as part of it. 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.920 So I was part of a French exchange program, and 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.679 it was our year to go to to like Paris 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.680 and spend some time in France, like basically a month 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.880 in France. And there's also an opportunity to go to 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.920 New York City for like five days with my local 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.719 community theater. Okay, and my parents said, you have to 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.520 choose one or the other, and I chose to go 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.600 to New York for five days rather than France for 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:22.920 a month. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:23.360 Wow. 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.040 I had never been to Broadway and it was just 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.559 like you might watched the Tony Awards, and I had 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:33.280 this just this like kind of a fantasy version of 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:34.760 like what New York was in my head, and I 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.120 needed to see if it was actually real because I 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:38.880 was getting to that point where like I was going 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:40.480 to graduate from high school at some point in the 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.680 near future, and I wanted to know if that's where 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:44.760 I should go. And I just had a feeling that 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.000 it was it was going to feel right, and so 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:48.360 I had to take the opportunity to go to New 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:49.120 York for for a week. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.480 And did you see do you remember what you saw? 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:53.840 Uh huh, okay, tell me and what. 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:59.120 Ye yes, well it was nineteen ninety two or three, right. 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:04.680 You're sure? I mean literally there's a full like because 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.520 I was eighty four. So the theater that was, you know, yeah. 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:10.480 Like the original of the Kaja Phone. 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.880 Oh yeah, I saw that, the original Dream amazing, It's incredible, 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:19.480 the original Sweeney incredible because I grew up in Yeah, yeah, yeah, but. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.120 I saw well. 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.160 The shows that we were scheduled to see were Fan 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.560 of the Opera, Guys and Dolls with Naple Lane and 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:28.680 Faith Prince, that incredible revival. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:30.840 What else was it? 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:35.000 I think it was Cats and The Secret Garden. 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:39.120 Okay, and I think I played hooky And I didn't 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:43.360 see Cats because it was my first night in New 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.800 York and I really desperately wanted to see Falsettos, which 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.719 was not on our list of shows to see from 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.160 Albuquerque in Mexico. The Blue Hairs of Albuquerque, Mexican were 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.640 not interested in seeing Falsettos, a quirky William Finn musical 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.640 about you know, same sex couple, and I had. I 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:57.800 was aware of it because I'd seen it on the 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.079 Tony Ward. So I went to the t kt S 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.000 booth and bought a ticket to go see Falsettos by myself. 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.240 And that was the very first Probably show I ever saw. 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.839 That's a good one. That's a really good one. 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.559 I mean, it's a it's a good one, and it's 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:14.640 a great story. It says a lot about your strength too. 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:16.320 Yeah, it was part of that. 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.720 I felt like, I, yeah, I was afraid to ask 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:23.360 about that show to the people who were planning this trip. 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.880 I didn't even tell my parents that thought I was 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:27.000 going to do that. You know, I hear. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:28.600 I had a free ticket to Probably show and I 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.240 let it go and I spend money, with my own 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.280 hard money to see something else. But I did feel like, Okay, 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.240 I'm here in the city by myself. No one knows 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.960 who I am. I felt comfortable and securely going up 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:40.680 to the booth and buying a ticket for it. Almost 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.160 felt like I was going into like a you know, 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.800 I guess I'm like like looking at a porn magazine 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:46.559 or something like. Yeah, I was afraid that something need 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.640 to do this. Yeah, and yet it was just a 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:49.320 Probably musical. 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.000 No. But unless it's the same feeling, especially because of 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.360 the subject matter of the show, I think that made 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:57.959 it makes it seem like you were doing something maybe 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.400 you are you hide I was hiding a little bit, yeah, 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.440 you know, and that's brave. 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:05.440 Yeah. 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:10.120 It was definitely a moment that solidified my desire to 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.280 move to New York. Right, And not only that, but 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.720 that show is so imprinted so much on me. Like 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.320 I you know, I obviously knew who William Finn was. 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:20.720 I was a fan of his music, but you know, 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.199 I was looking through the program, I was like, oh, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:23.760 it's just the director James of Pine. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:23.880 Oh. 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:25.640 He directed you know, Sending the Park with George and 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:27.840 Into the Woods, Like these are shows that I absolutely loved. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:31.640 And you know, I put those two names on my 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.400 dream board like people I would love to work with 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:36.120 one day. And you know, I mean, if we fast 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:37.960 forward a little bit, that's exactly what happened. I mean 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:39.880 I got to work with both of them on the 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:41.679 twenty fifth annual putin Kunty spelling basis. 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.280 Oh my god, right, you were so amazed. That was 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:44.840 so good. 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:45.280 Thank you. 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:50.120 Did you then graduate and go and pursue the career? 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.400 I should know this. She didn't know, Well, did you 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:53.000 go to the I. 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.000 Didn't go to college. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.120 Per se I went to. I always say I didn't 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:01.800 take college. I got a certificate of Complete from the 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:06.120 American Musical Dramatic Academy, which is a two year program. Okay, 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:07.839 if had some great talent that it's come out there, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:09.679 yeah like you. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.360 But yeah, you know, I auditioned for like regional theaters. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.440 I wasn't part of the Actors Equity Association at that point. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.520 I was doing non non union work and taking whatever 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:21.080 I could get. 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.840 Right it had it been so different now the age 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:29.120 you were at in the nineties doing this versus where 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:33.760 we're at now for a young person, because not only 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:37.959 is the whole casting different because you know of representation 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:43.320 and justifiably so you know, it's do you think could 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:47.520 it be replicated your my experience and yeah, I mean 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.120 I do social media. 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:51.160 Yeah, well, I mean it's also different. 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.720 I do think that there is still a deep desire 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.679 to discover untapped talent and new talent and fresh talent, 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:02.040 right which you know I was No one had hired 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.080 me before, so like I was, you know, an unknown commodity, and. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:08.320 Soone's actual audition the first thing I really booked. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.760 That that sort of puts some wind in my sales 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.800 was the revival of On the Town that they did 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.240 the Delacorte Theater, directed by George C. 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:16.640 Wolf. 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.119 Yeah, of course, right, And you know, he. 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.920 Had just come off of directing Angels in America and 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.600 Jelly's Last Jam and bringing the noise, bringing the funk. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.400 He was is extremely prolific. His next job is doing 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.600 Gypsy with Ador McDonald on Broadway. 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:32.160 Wait for that. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.200 I cannot wait for that. I mean, come on, So 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:34.640 you know, the. 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.440 Having him sort of believe in me and give me 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:40.880 my first big opportunity, which was also a big speaking 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:42.400 role in On the Town. It wasn't like I was 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.280 just casting the ensemble and I had never been given 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.600 really much of an opportunity to even have a speaking role. 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.600 On stage, which I was fine with. 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:50.960 Was summer are we talking? 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.160 This is nineteen ninety seven and the show and did 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.160 have transferred to Broadway in nineteen ninety eight and also 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.160 bombing pretty miserably on Broadway. It ended up transferring to 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.640 the Gershwin Theater, which is the large house on Broadways more. 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.520 Wicked and running successful for twenty something years. 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:08.320 Right, nineteen ninety nine, Yeah, gets shorted. Yeah, so that's 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.200 a big break. It was a big break. That's sort 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:14.400 of like, you're not you're not a waiter, you're working actor. 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:15.960 Well I was, you know at the time, I was 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.000 bartending at the winter Garden Theater or Cats was playing. 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.040 It's like, you know, Cats like was punishing me, Like 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.440 you played hockey on us the first time, New York. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:25.280 Now you're gonna have to watch the show every night. 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:31.880 For a year, right, you know karma, that's what they 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.320 call karma. And actually I actually really do like kind 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.640 of love Cats secretly. And there's production in New York 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.320 right now. That's Cat's been set in the ballroom scene 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.760 in New York and it is the most incredible thing 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.080 I've ever seen my own. Yeah, I hope it transfers 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.880 to Broadway called Cat's Agelica Ball. Anyway, I was working 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:51.040 at the winder Garden Theater and when I was auditioning 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:53.320 On the Town and a lot of the cast members 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.880 of Cats were also auditioning for On the Town as well. 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.800 It's a big dance show, right, and so naturally they were, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.360 you know, three great parts for guys who dance, and 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.840 I wasn't much of a dancer. And I remember my 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.280 friend Abe Silva, who is now a great writer and 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.280 director and you know working on Pomeroyal right now. He 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:11.720 was in the cast of Cats, And he tells me 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.320 this funny story about when I finally got the job. 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.440 Then he and his like dressing roommate. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.600 Were like talking about their callbacks from the town, and 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.800 someone's like, did do you even know who this is? Like, 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.600 as they're putting on their cat make did you hear 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:26.440 anything about on the town? 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:27.200 Do you know who got it? 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.240 And like it's one of the guys across the room 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:35.720 was like, yeah, the bartender got it, like putting the 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:36.480 whiskers on their. 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.280 Face, but the bartend, the bartender got it. 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.480 But then the thing is, after like I mentioned to you, 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:43.320 I mean, it was a short run in the park. 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:45.400 It was a few months, and then after that I 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.640 didn't have a job. So I went back. I went 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:49.200 back to the Winter Garden, I went back to like 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.320 the gift shop I was working on. It's had several jobs, 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.040 back to Starbucks, Like you know, I did whatever I 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:55.880 could do to make some money. It wasn't I mean, 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.320 it was a huge break and obviously people were now 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:00.680 aware of me, and it I. 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.320 Think boomed me into other opportunities. 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.159 But I was still like in a place where I 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:13.960 had to pay my bills. 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.960 Do you have your tribe from those years, because I 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.520 find that my friends that are actors, yeah, they have that. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:22.840 Yeah, I do. 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:26.359 You know Via Delaria who starred opposite of me and 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.400 on The Town she played my girlfriend. 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:33.600 Can you believe that that is? Is that great? Great? 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:34.000 Great? 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.000 I mean this twenty one year old kid and like 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:40.240 this forty something year old lesbian playing love interests and 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:40.879 we had. 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:41.640 Such good chemistry. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:42.160 Oh my god. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.320 Well she's remained one of my very very close friends. 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:46.639 George Wolf is still a very good friend of mine. 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:48.720 A lot of people who are in that show, but 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.560 then also other friends of mine who were up and 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:53.320 coming actors, and you know sort of I would see 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.720 auditions and become friends with them, and they're they're part 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.320 of my closest friends still so to this day. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.600 So right, yeah, that's an amazing when you're in New 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:06.000 York now, you know, having been raised there and it's 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:07.720 changed so much to the city and it's you know, 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:09.840 it's still my heart. It's still my favorite place in 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.000 the world. But like I see, it's like almost like 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.440 I say, ghosts, but like on the corners, Like do 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.320 you do you? You know, you know, like you have 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.800