WEBVTT - Vanessa Matsui 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:40.680 Hello, Hi, Hi, How are It is so good? I'm great. 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.640 It's so nice to see you. You too. Are you 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.800 in Toronto? I am Yeah, I'm in I'm in Canada. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:53.760 I've been up here for most of the pandemic. Well, 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.120 we're so happy to have you because we obviously couldn't 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:01.960 complete a season one reward of shadow Hunters without talking 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:07.280 to the one and only Dot. We that's so sweet. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.600 I'm happy to be here absolutely. So. You know, you 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:14.120 were so instrumental. I remember during the pilot you and 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.959 I spent so much time together and trying to figure 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.440 out what this world is. You were figuring out Warlocks, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.600 I was figuring out shadow Hunters. We were figuring out 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:27.000 this family dynamic and history and relationship, and it felt 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.680 as though we built a little family between you and 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.960 me and Maxim. And getting to sort of watch Dot 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.640 continue to come back over the years was so wonderful, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.440 despite her many ill fated incidents. So tell us a 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:45.480 little bit about how you got involved in shadow Hunters, 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.600 what the audition process was like, your first experiences with 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.560 the material. Were you aware of this story before this 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:55.840 audition came your way? Yeah? I mean no, I was 0:01:55.920 --> 0:02:00.240 not aware of Uh, of the material before it came 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.640 my way. I think how it all came about. I 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:07.680 remember I had a general at free form Um and 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.200 then the audition came in and it was one of 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.120 those really lovely auditions where it was just it was 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.040 it was one audition and then I just got the part, 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:23.120 which literally never as you know, that never happens. Usually 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.760 you have to really go through the ringer and they 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.120 make you really work for it. So yeah, it was 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.240 it was really deceptively easy. I mean, you know, you 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.880 do all these other auditions and you never know what's 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.840 going to pan out, and this one I really I 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.960 remember really connecting with it. I thought it was I 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:47.040 really liked dot immediately um as soon as I had 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.640 read it, So maybe it had just it kind of 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:54.839 came of. There are times I just watched because it's 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.079 so difficult with what we do to not sound arrogant 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.320 at times, like to a real sort of balance that 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.720 we played. Like you want to talk about what I do, 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:05.040 and I'm proud of what I do, but I don't 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.080 want to. I don't want to come across as like, 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.040 look at me, I'm doing this acting thing, you know 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:10.200 what I mean, Like I don't ever want to be 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.280 that guy. But I saw this interview with with John 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.160 C McGinley recently, who played Dr Cox in Scrubs, and 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.400 he was talking about playing Dr Cox in Scrubs and 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:20.480 he said when he went into the audition, there were 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:21.840 a bunch of other guys there and they were all 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.079 sort of studying their lines and like you could see 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:25.680 them trying to get into character. And he was just 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.040 sat with his arm on the couch and he was like, Oh, 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:31.520 I got this one. I'm getting this role for sure. 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:33.600 Like if this is my competition here, if these are 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.920 the other guys I'm testing with, I got this one. 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.040 And he did because that's who the character was, and 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.120 he knew he knew that this was the role that 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:41.720 was right for him in this in this world, he 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:43.560 knew that he could do this. And I think there's 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:47.600 a world in which that is really important. I think 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.480 it's actually a really important thing to go in. Like 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.080 you're saying, you know, you connected with Dart and it 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.200 was it was a done deal. You know, everyone else 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.280 saw that connection obviously. I think sometimes it's also just 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.520 about trusting that connection. I think you know, when you're 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.080 acting sometimes it's you know it is it is hard 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.200 to not overthink things. Sometimes I think, you know, we 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:12.080 wanted so badly that you can get into that space 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.120 of I don't want to say, like trying too hard, 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.720 but sometimes it is that, And sometimes it is your 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.640 best auditions or your best take is really those ones 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:22.880 where you just kind of let it go and you know, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.560 you obviously you have to do the work, you put 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.640 everything in, and then you at one point do you 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:29.839 have to just sort of throw it away? Or at 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.240 least that that's how I feel, for I agree with yeah, 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.919 or if nothing else is like an exercise in in 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.080 in exploration, like you know, throwing that one. Some of 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.479 some of my favorite directors I've worked with, in fact, 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.080 all of my favorite directors I've worked with have always said, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:48.279 do one for you. We've got a little more time, 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:50.200 do one for you. Just do whatever you want, you know, 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.719 forget the direction, forget the lines to a certain extent, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:54.720 just do just do one. You know, we've got a 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.360 little more time, the cameras are rolling, Just do one 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.159 for you. And nine times out of ten there's something, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.040 even if it's not right or good, there's something interesting 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:03.880 that comes out of that way, like well, it's interesting. 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.880 I didn't know that Jace dot Clary could behave that way, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.920 but that's how we interacted and that's what came out. 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.240 And that's an interesting like level of their psyche that 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.720 I've just sort of discovered through that process, which is 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.680 really cool. Well, that's just it. It's trusting the work 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.440 that you've done and then allowing yourself the freedom to 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.280 just exist in that, in whatever person you've created or 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.600 warlock you've created, and and trust everyone else around you 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.480 that you know, we're creating this together and let it 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.520 kind of fly and be free. And that's there's a 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.679 a magic to it. We keep talking about magic. There's 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:40.880 no better word for it, but that's kind of all 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.160 we have. Yeah, I no, I mean I agree a p. 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.760 I think sometimes even when I talk about acting with people, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.039 I do sometimes feel that when it's good, like you know, 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.360 when you have that connection there really is it's akin 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.919 to magic, absolutely, because sometimes it's strangers, it's people that 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:01.120 you've never really met before. I haven't really had the 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.320 time to gell and you can have this magical connection 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.920 once you're able to just like let yourself go, let 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.920 let it, let it flow. It is. Yeah, I remember 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.760 I had that with I did. I did just a 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:16.760 shadow and as I did a show called Penny Dreadful, 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.800 and I played a very interesting character and that interesting 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:25.360 he was a Nazi. Not interesting, he was a horrible guy. Um, 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.719 but he had this weirdly sort of subverted, kind of 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:33.200 beautiful relationship with this councilman who's played by Michael Graddis, 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.600 And we remember reaching out to him before we started 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.560 and like, obviously we've got to do some pretty heavy 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.839 stuff in this, like let's just go and grab a 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.160 coffee or whatever, um and just have a chat and 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:44.480 get to know each other a little more so you 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:46.839 know where our boundaries are or whatever. And it was 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.840 I remember in that moment being like, oh my god, 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.719 I love this guy. Like I'm going to learn a 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.919 huge amount from him in that relationship. Already started to 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.080 gell and we haven't started playing the characters yet, like 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:59.080 this one, and it is it feels like magic. I 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.480 remember going home talking so I think my girlfriend at 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.359 the time, and she was like, how did it go? 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:05.159 And I was like, I'm gonna have the best time. 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.160 I'm so excited. I'm so excited to start this because 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:13.880 it was just this really cool, like yeah, really cool thing. Yeah, 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:18.120 that is it's so nice when that happened. Absolutely, and 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.200 it started with the three of you, right like our 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.760 show kind of started with the three of you, well 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.000 to some extent, I mean, but you, you and Emerald 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.480 and Matt. There was your world at the institute that 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.080 you guys were building, and then there was our world 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.080 in you know, the sort of what we thought was 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.360 the mundane world with Simon and Luke and you and 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.120 Jocelyn and and Clary and all of these folks who 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.880 had these there were these two little families and suddenly 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:47.720 they crashed into each other and everything exploded. But it 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.120 was really interesting having those sort of scenes of normalcy 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:53.320 that were some of the first scenes we shot of 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.040 just us in the antique store having a little chat 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.080 about Clary's birthday or you know, these things where it's 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.440 it's so mundane for lack of a better word, but 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:07.760 it's so instrumental in in establishing and building the world. Absolutely. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.040 I know, I loved shooting that scene with you. Well, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:12.840 so why don't we talk about that, like we can 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.240 literally with you, which is kind of amazing. We can 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.320 literally start at the beginning, we talked about your passing process, 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.600 which is irritating, like she was just so perfect she 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:22.360 got it right away, and we're like, oh great, yeah 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:26.040 months it took us, but that's fine. It just now 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.640 never doesn't hurt to hear that someone was just so fantastic. 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.440 They're like, yeah, the roles are yours. You go for it. 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.400 I'm kidding. Of course, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We couldn't 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.360 have wish for anyone better. But what tell us, tell 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.640 us what you're what? Day one was? Tell us what 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:43.760 walking onto the set for the first time was. Tell 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:47.360 us what putting on dots clothes and creating that look was. 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.480 Tell us, Like, because you did you you know, you 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.320 really started the show, like from the get go. I 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.480 mean my first fitting was when I started to get 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:01.200 a taste for what this was going to be, because 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:06.040 they were the best clothes that I've ever, I want 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:07.960 to say, to this day, have had on set. Like 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.040 it was like it was designer, I mean, and now 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:11.880 that we know more about the Warlocks, like they are 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.840 they are you know, their fashion, and it was I 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:20.320 remember feeling just so fabulous, Like I can't remember what 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.760 brand it was, but the red dress that was you know, 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:29.240 tech fiber, and it was one of those experiences where 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.400 you know, you do hear actors talk about this that 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.560 you put on the costume and you really start to 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.240 embody what it was. And I was like, okay, this 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.080 is the world we're in, Like this is a bit 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.880 it is mundane, but it was elevated and I could 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.720 feel that I was part of this other world. And 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.040 then it was just you know, that plane duality with 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:50.000 you because you can't you didn't know what was about 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:55.160 to happen to you as the character, even though I knew. 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.839 So it was Yeah, it was. It was a really 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:59.800 it was really nice scene. I think that was the 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.560 a scene in that antique shop. I think, so the 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.840 first scene we ever shot on the show. I think 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.000 it might have been. It was very early, and it 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.760 was because none the studios were ready, That's what I 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.400 remember to A whole bunch of stuff hadn't been built, 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:18.400 so we were shooting on location and that place is 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.680 actually now destroyed, like I think that's one of the 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.640 last things. Yeah, it's like a condo now. And I 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.400 remember in the attic they were all those weird records 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.800 like it was it was such a wild building. Yeah. Yeah, 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.480 So that, yeah, and then stepping on to that set. 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.080 I mean, I also I love filming on location, so 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:40.600 that that was a real treat and yeah, yeah, yeah 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:44.319 it was fun. And then doing those stunts and destroying everything. 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:48.600 I wanted to talk about this too. That's one of 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.959 my favorite characters because first of all, we talked about 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.959 like the immortals and how difficult it must be to 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.480 embody an immortal who's been through so many relationships and whatever. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.840 And later on we discover your relationship with Magnus and 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.120 you know, all of this stuff that's gone through the 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.200 course of your life, but you were you, like Dot 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.640 was immortal, not for lack of trying. Like everyone tried 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.120 to kill you at some point, like you did constantly 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.720 getting like throwing through windows and stabbed and like all this, 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.280 and then added out for Dot. Dot was back, like 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.400 she's the immortal of all immortals. It was crazy as 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.960 a theory that Dot's like the most powerful warlock of 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.600 them all because you just can't you can't get rid 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.680 of her, and that's why everyone's trying to kill her 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:31.520 because she's just too powerful. I know. Well it's really wild, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.640 you know, And going back to the audition, when I 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.559 originally an audition for it, I thought I was in 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.720 just I think it was maybe one episode, maybe two, 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.560 And so maybe that's also why they just cast me 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:45.880 really quickly, because they were like, whatever, you know, day 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.640 player over here. But you know what, that's even cooler 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.520 because even if that was the case, you convinced them 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.520 on set. Your performance was such that you convinced them 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.720 on set to like ship, no, we're going to try 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:58.600 and kill her, and then to keep bringing her ass 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:00.199 back a bunch of times. It's gonna be all. They 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.440 fell in love with you. It was very It was 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:05.800 very nice to be asked back. I was. I remember 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.040 being very shocked because I mean I knew that I 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.240 was going to die, So yeah, when I got brought back, 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:17.920 I was obviously so excited. And I even remember so 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.880 many of of your episodes. We we always had a 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:22.240 moment when we would look at each other and go, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.480 is this your last episode? I don't know, do I 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.600 say goodbye to you? Do we do the thing where 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.079 we say series wrap on? Or are you coming back? 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:35.560 I don't know exactly. I know who knows, who knows? Yeah, 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:40.040 she is very immortal. I know, yes, so many exactly 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.640 that's because it was the pilot, right right, where Doc 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:46.760 gets thrown out of the window, but then she comes back, 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:49.280 but it was not really her comes back as the 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:54.520 demon and then back again. Correct, Yeah, and then we 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.520 see you in season two as well, right, yeah, come 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:02.320 back in season two? Yeah? Yeah, amazing because yeah again 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.760 I think am I lying when? Because you ended up 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:10.600 in Chernobyl with Valentine and he's a stabby stabby you know, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.880 Psycho through the window thing, and that wasn't that the 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:15.600 last time we saw you in season one? And then 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.200 you came back in season two? Or did you come 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.800 back again in season one? I think I may have 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.320 come back again in season one, but I was I 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:26.240 had all that the crazy makeup, and I was drained 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:31.640 of life and it was like all tattooed. I remember 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.720 being in the makeup trip that it was wild because 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:36.439 it was it was so much because it was like 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:37.839 the whole phase of the whole body. And then I 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.880 came back and there was with the with the little girl, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:47.400 and but then eventually I got better, Our Dot got better, 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.480 and then and then I come back and then, h 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.240 we should clarify Dot got better. This wasn't like an 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.720 affliction that Vanessa had that she turned up and just 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:57.959 had all this ship like growing all over and they're like, 0:13:58.000 --> 0:13:59.559 I guess we got to write it in because you've 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:06.920 got this thing, was saying, very talented makeup. Can you imagine? 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:08.800 I feel that good of an actor. You can just say, hey, 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.160 we need these like these like blue veins going through 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.240 your facing, Like listen, it's not on my CV for nothing. 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:19.960 Here we go and yeah, it done. Problem guys. I mean, 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.520 dot Dot had many talents though, aside from veins and 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.640 healing and coming back, she was our introduction to the 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.240 tarot cards, which eventually led us to the Mortal Cup. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.760 So what do you do You have any tarot experience 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.440 yourself or is this did you have to learn for 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.080 the show? I don't. Yeah, I mean I'd always dabbled. 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:40.760 I have a couple of friends who are really good 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.960 at tarot, so and I love getting my card spread. 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.600 If I'm being totally honest, I find it really exciting. 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:49.480 And sometimes once in a while, you know, I'll pull 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:53.440 if I'm feeling the need for inspiration, I will pull 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.360 a card. But no, I did have to learn what 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.360 it was and how to do it, and and yeah, 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:05.200 now out. I love it pretty easy to do, especially 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.480 when you you know, it becomes so instrumental to something 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.840 that you do. It's it's that's something I do love 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.600 about our industry as we get to learn little bits 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.320 of so many different skills and hobbies and aspects of 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.080 life that some of them kind of stickally. Oh absolutely 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.520 even something when you get to learn about these moments, 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:28.240 sometimes it's like your redescript And like I I got 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:32.120 to be in uh and that GEO show last year 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:36.080 or I guess just under called called the Hot Zone 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.800 and it was all about the anthrax attacks at Post 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.840 nine eleven, which as I'm Canadian, so I didn't you know, 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:45.880 obviously I knew about nine eleven, but you know, I 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.120 think like nine eleven was so that was the big 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.760 news story in Canada and these anthrax attacks that I 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:55.200 had never heard about, so did a ton of research 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:56.920 on it. And it's just it's such a it was 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.760 a wild moment in American history, um that I had 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.080 no idea about. There's so much. There's so much in 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.760 script that I think it's fascinating. Like I remember reading 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:11.160 this was really interesting reading my first Elvis script and 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.320 it wasn't for the Basilman one. Um, it was for 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.080 one previous to that, which I think and ended up 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.600 not getting made, which is a shame. Elvis was blocked 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.240 and he used to dye his hair because he wanted 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.360 to look like his favorite movie stars. That crazy, and 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.320 I was like, that's crazy. No idea, absolutely no idea, 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:28.680 And then I googled it and I was like, yeah, 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:30.560 sure enough. There it is, like can you do this 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.320 research about these people like we got I got very 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:38.080 deep into uh not manson Dharma. They're doing show about 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.240 Dharma and I was in the running for that for 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.840 a little bit, and I really did some research, you know, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.400 and when you on your way to playing someone who existed, 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:48.640 they did everything a certain way, like there isn't really 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.960 that much creative freedom there. Like they walked a certain way, 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:53.640 they talked a certain way, they spent to cigarette a 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:55.360 certain way, they their food a certain way. So I, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.520 you know, went really deep into it. And some of 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.720 the things that you were in the script, you're like, 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.360 there's no way, there's just no way that that happened. 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:03.880 And you look it up and you're like, oh my god, 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.760 ye that happened, and that's like, you know, either horrendous 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.960 or like really inspired. Not in the Dama case obviously, 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.240 but like sometimes you read something and you're like, wow, 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.840 that's what an incredible story that it just seems so unlikely, 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:18.640 but it's it sort of sticks with you, and then 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:20.719 you get to draw on these little things in the future, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.119 whether it's a skill or something you've heard or something 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.080 someone else does. And I agree with you, Cat, I 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.399 think that's one of the most wonderful things about what 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:31.600 we do is we get to sort of adds little 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:36.720 things to our like file ef facts of human beings. Absolutely, yeah, 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:41.960 we are very lucky. Yeah, coming back to one of 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.520 my favorite things about getting to do this podcast is 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.760 we get to find out We get these briefs from 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.320 our amazing producers and we get to find out little 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.040 bits of things about people we know and love that 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.120 we had no idea. So I had no idea that 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.919 you started in improv and we're a part of that 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.280 world for a little bit. And again another skill that 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.320 you bring into everything else, idios to tell us a 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.800 little bit about that. That's a world that's relatively foreign 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.119 to me at least like through the traditional improv world. Um, 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.720 but it's it's fascinating and I think it takes It's 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.919 a very admirable one that takes a lot of skills. 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.280 So talk us through that. Yeah, so I started, I 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.800 guess I discos. I didn't discover improv until I was 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:26.760 in university and there was a theater that offered free 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.879 improv classes on Sunday nights and then you got to 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:35.359 do the show afterwards. And it was probably it was 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:38.080 a theater St. Catherine in Montreal, and my teacher was 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.720 Eric Amber. He's incredible. He learned um from Keith Johnstone. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.080 So I learned a kind of improv that is very 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.840 story based and grounded. It was never like ha ha improv. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:55.320 It was really starting with basics and trusting the hilarity 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.879 would ensue through these very normal situations. And I just 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.920 I loved it. I've I mean, there was a point 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.360 in my life where I was probably improvising like five 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.720 nights a week at different ones across the city and theaters, 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.760 and I was part of an improv company called The 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:18.359 Bitter End and we did a completely serialized sitcom, completely 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.080 improvised every single week, and it started to get a 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:25.840 really big following in Montreal, and we eventually made a 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.120 web series at the dawn of the Internet. I think 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:31.480 we were probably one of one of the first web 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:34.960 series ever. Anyway, it was a really so cool, yeah, 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:39.360 like formative time of my life and I I love 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.240 it every time I'm about to start a new experience 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.439 because the feeling before it was called Sunday Night Improv 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.400 and you would get voted, you would do these scenes 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.800 and you have we had a director, but you would 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:55.280 get voted by the audience from one to five. So 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.720 it was like quite humiliating in a really really great way, 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:00.479 and like part of it was all so just like 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:06.120 really embracing failure and really embracing you know, if you're tanking, 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.879 like just let it tank and then see what happens. 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:11.600 And then it's pretty amazing what can happen if you 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.160 really are embracing the present moment. And it really helps 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.520 with my acting a lot, because all you have is 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:19.479 the other person in front of you, and so that 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:24.399 laser focus on your partner and creating something spontaneously in 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:28.040 the moment, and and getting a five is extremely difficult, 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.160 Like I think in my entire improv career, I got 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.040 like one five And when it happens, it is so 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.240 it's probably one of the best feelings in the world. Um. 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.800 But also when you are dying on stage it I 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:42.080 used to call it the improv death, feeling like there's 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.760 nothing worth like your stomach. You can feel the audience 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.720 just so horrified for you. And but it's a great 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:51.720 learning lesson. Like I have a daughter now and I 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:53.000 think to myself, I like, oh, no, I'm going to 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.640 put her in improv because I feel like it. Yeah, 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:57.760 it's one of those things that teaches you to, you know, 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.520 fail a bunch of times, get up again, get up 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.840 again constantly, and also not even you start to not 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:29.280 even care about failure totally speaking of not that in 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:32.080 any way, shape or form. When you came into Dot, 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.119 When you came in to meet Dot, did you know 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:38.440