Speaker 1: Recently, I saw a tweek by an American rapper named
Speaker 1: d DG and I thought, this is this is I
Speaker 1: want to know what will and writer think about this?
Speaker 1: Would you rather know how you're going to die or
Speaker 1: when you're going to die?
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm happy knowing that I'm never going.
Speaker 1: To Now that's wonderful for you when that sounds miserable
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 3: But yikes, all right, So if you know how you're
Speaker 3: going to die, you can prepare for what you know
Speaker 3: because if it's something awful, like you know, eaten by
Speaker 3: a shark, okay, and you know that well, but you can't, right,
Speaker 3: you can't avoid fake. That's that's part of the idea
Speaker 3: stipulation here. So yeah, I guess you could prepare for
Speaker 3: the how. I think i'd rather know how, because if
Speaker 3: it was bad, I'd like to prepare for that so
Speaker 3: I can like know that, oh I'm going to be
Speaker 3: falling off a cliff and it's going to be those
Speaker 3: are going to be the final moments and come to
Speaker 3: peace with that. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I disagree. I think I'd want to
Speaker 4: know when. Yeah, because a if it was something like
Speaker 4: say a car accident, then every time you have such
Speaker 4: a fear of being in a card, you know, whereas
Speaker 4: if it's just when, then it's like I can prep
Speaker 4: what I need to do, you know. I think of
Speaker 4: was it Three Billboards where the worst.
Speaker 5: Movies I've ever seen in my entire life.
Speaker 4: But the way he did his last day where he
Speaker 4: was just like he didn't let anyone know what was
Speaker 4: going to be his last day, but he just had
Speaker 4: moments with his wife, had moments with his kids, and
Speaker 4: what he had to do.
Speaker 2: There's something about that where it's like I wouldn't.
Speaker 4: Tell anybody else, probably, but I'd make sure I'd have
Speaker 4: moments with everybody that I wanted to have moments with,
Speaker 4: but I wouldn't want to know how when.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think I would want to know when
Speaker 1: for the same reason because I do think being a planner,
Speaker 1: i'd want to know, Well, let's figure out what on
Speaker 1: my quote unquote bucket list are really important and how
Speaker 1: much time do I have to do those things? And
Speaker 1: how can I maximize the amount of time, Like if
Speaker 1: my number one thing is time with my children or
Speaker 1: experiences with my children, I want to be able to
Speaker 1: start doing those things immediately.
Speaker 5: And also I always.
Speaker 1: Love when you hear a story of like somebody who
Speaker 1: knew they were dying, they had a terminal illness or something,
Speaker 1: and they actually plan something out, like for a letter
Speaker 1: to be delivered later or a message left behind after.
Speaker 1: And I think, Man, I hope when it's my time,
Speaker 1: I feel decent enough, because that's this really truly the
Speaker 1: worst part about when you're sick and you die is
Speaker 1: that you don't feel good enough to experience those things
Speaker 1: you know, like you think you're going to want to do,
Speaker 1: like well, eat all the ice cream you want or
Speaker 1: do all that, and it's like, but the truth is,
Speaker 1: you don't feel.
Speaker 3: Like you're not going to do any of that. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: you're not going to.
Speaker 5: Do any of those things. I'd want to do those
Speaker 5: things while I still feel good.
Speaker 3: So you know that there are websites that you can
Speaker 3: go plug in info and it'll tell you when you're
Speaker 3: going to die, Like if like statistically you can get
Speaker 3: the date and the year. I want to do this
Speaker 3: because I don't know if you know, like exactly the
Speaker 3: year like twenty sixty something or whatever. I guess let's
Speaker 3: say forty years. No, that's not about you know, somewhere
Speaker 3: somewhere between twenties sixty and twenty eighty. We're talking is
Speaker 3: when we're gonna go.
Speaker 5: Right, right.
Speaker 4: So I was a heavy smoker and probably didn't take
Speaker 4: care of myself.
Speaker 3: So I'd be lucky if I make it to my eighties.
Speaker 3: So if that year you can go, you know, you
Speaker 3: can start working backwards from that now and be like,
Speaker 3: all right, have you seen speaking of that?
Speaker 4: Have you seen the It's one of my favorite things
Speaker 4: in the world, and so something that I would do.
Speaker 2: Have you seen the video?
Speaker 3: There is an.
Speaker 4: Irish man who passed away, and right before he did,
Speaker 4: he recorded his voice, so as they're lowering the casket
Speaker 4: into the ground, it's his voice going, hey, let me out.
Speaker 3: It's dark in here. Oh come on, what are you
Speaker 3: guys doing?
Speaker 4: You're just standing around and everybody's trying to mourn, but
Speaker 4: they're laughing hysterically because it's actually his voice just going.
Speaker 3: Why are you still loring me?
Speaker 5: Someone opened a.
Speaker 4: Door like it was hysterically fun and he did it
Speaker 4: on purpose, so that everybody's just laughing hysterically as they're
Speaker 4: trying to be there where there's something so wonderful about that.
Speaker 1: Yes, I do love that. I also I just was
Speaker 1: thinking about the flip side of it. Let's say you
Speaker 1: find out you're gonna die in ten years. That then
Speaker 1: that year, just imagine every day you're like the morning,
Speaker 1: he'd just be like, and every time you do anything
Speaker 1: you cross the street, am I gonna.
Speaker 5: Make it a wor car?
Speaker 3: You'd have to know the exact moment, you know, like yeah,
Speaker 3: because otherwise yeah, yeah. The same with how, like because yeah,
Speaker 3: I think you guys are right if you knew just
Speaker 3: the how and it was something like trying down the stairs?
Speaker 3: How could you go through? How do you ever walk downstairs?
Speaker 4: But then isn't there isn't there the philosophical argument then
Speaker 4: that you should live your life as if it's going
Speaker 4: to be tomorrow anyway. So you're telling the people that
Speaker 4: you love that you love them, you're not wasting the
Speaker 4: time your you know, they say that nobody, you know,
Speaker 4: nobody sat you know, was lying on their deathbed and
Speaker 4: saying I wish I worked more, I wish I did
Speaker 4: this date. It's always I wish I spent more time
Speaker 4: in my family. I wish I told this person that
Speaker 4: I love them.
Speaker 1: So all right, guys, let's quit the podcast and just
Speaker 1: start telling our families.
Speaker 5: We love them well, we.
Speaker 3: Can do both. This doesn't work. I love this, I
Speaker 3: love it, and I love you both. I love you,
Speaker 3: I love you guys.
Speaker 5: We love each other.
Speaker 2: Don't diet be Today's.
Speaker 5: Welcome to Pod Meets World.
Speaker 4: I'm Daniel Fishel, I'm Writer Strong, and I'm Wilfordell.
Speaker 1: If you've listened to Pod Meets World since episode one,
Speaker 1: then you know there have been a handful of fellow
Speaker 1: child actors whose names repeatedly pop up, from Jonathan Taylor
Speaker 1: Thomas to writer's brother Shiloh to Andrew Keegan to Jason
Speaker 1: Marsden to Genevan Oi. While some of you listeners grew
Speaker 1: up amongst a high school clique, we had something kind
Speaker 1: of similar, and one member of that crew, a lifelong
Speaker 1: friend of writers, Larissa Olenik, was a vital mainstay. Larissa
Speaker 1: began her acting career on stage in a San Francisco
Speaker 1: based touring production of Le Mizerab, which should sound familiar
Speaker 1: because it's also where a young baggy pants wearing former
Speaker 1: rollerblader from Sebastopol started his journey to Hollywood as well,
Speaker 1: and after running around a theater Willie Nilly and becoming besties,
Speaker 1: with Writer, she'd travel between northern California and LA to
Speaker 1: audition for TV and movies, where she'd eventually land a
Speaker 1: role on Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, and the rest is history.
Speaker 1: She'd turned parts in The Babysitters Club and all that
Speaker 1: into iconic titular role on the Secret World of Alex Mack,
Speaker 1: and soon after she'd be sharing the screen with a
Speaker 1: young Heath Ledger in the classic Ten Things I Hate
Speaker 1: About You. She was more recently seen with her own
Speaker 1: story arc in a little show called mad Men, and
Speaker 1: return to Family TV for Netflix's Aaron and Aaron in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. But today none of that is important
Speaker 1: because we are focusing on her time as Sean's first
Speaker 1: love interest Dana Pruitt on the TGIF family sitcom Boy
Speaker 1: Meets World for season three's The Heart Is a Lonely
Speaker 1: Hunter and Stormy Weather, and an eventual return for season five.
Speaker 1: So welcome to the podcast. Writer Strong's Bay Area boyhood, Bosom, Buddy, Larisso, Lene.
Speaker 3: A lot of bees, very literative, very literative literation it.
Speaker 6: Boy Meets World hat, You have a I don't have
Speaker 6: a Boy Meets World hat?
Speaker 5: Unbelievable? Was that the cast and Kruegift for season three.
Speaker 7: I don't know you.
Speaker 3: I'm so jealous you.
Speaker 5: Have that hat. I love awesome. That's so cool.
Speaker 6: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Hi, we have heard so much about lame Is on
Speaker 1: the podcast and the important role that it played in
Speaker 1: both of your lives. So I want to know what
Speaker 1: was nine lesbian Ryder strong.
Speaker 5: Boy meets World hat and.
Speaker 3: Stole it?
Speaker 5: I hope you.
Speaker 7: Stole it shield me from how vulnerable this is probably
Speaker 7: about to get. Nine year old writers strong? Was? I think?
Speaker 7: Where are you right now? Writer?
Speaker 3: I'm in my parents' house. Yeah, so I'm in the
Speaker 3: I'm in where my grandmother lives. So I'm in the studio,
Speaker 3: the guest house. So this is like the first window
Speaker 3: that the house is that way.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Daniel's question was, what was nine year old writer
Speaker 7: strong like?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 5: What was nine year old thesbian rider strong?
Speaker 7: Like?
Speaker 5: Did you guys become instant friends?
Speaker 7: I don't. I mean the four of us were pretty
Speaker 7: inseparable because you know, two girls, two boys around the
Speaker 7: same age. It was all of our I believe, like
Speaker 7: first big things.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I got the job because my godparents on ad in
Speaker 7: a newspaper, right, and I was like this sounds cool,
Speaker 7: let's go do this. So I think even I don't
Speaker 7: know Danielle, we can relate on that. I found my journal,
Speaker 7: Oh no, with me were in my storage unit because
Speaker 7: I just moved out of my mom I just moved
Speaker 7: out of the house that I've been in, like similarly
Speaker 7: to the Shire, the house that I've been in my
Speaker 7: entire life that houses all the artifacts. So we just
Speaker 7: moved out of there, and I think it ended up
Speaker 7: in storage. But I definitely found my journal from when
Speaker 7: I was eight years old. I was I also had
Speaker 7: a very large crush.
Speaker 3: Everyone with right, just a crush strong. You happen to
Speaker 3: have known no, no, not when when we were on
Speaker 3: when we were doing Late Miz. Yes, I guess so
Speaker 3: you remember me.
Speaker 7: Like forcing you to hold my hand.
Speaker 3: Yes, let's jump in. I feel like there were moments,
Speaker 3: there were times when like we we all, like I remember,
Speaker 3: we would all like admit that we had crushes on
Speaker 3: each other. Like there was a moment where like Sabrina
Speaker 3: and I we were both and I had a crush
Speaker 3: on each other, and then that changed. So I feel
Speaker 3: like it was just kids stuff. Yeah, we were nine
Speaker 3: ten and.
Speaker 7: This was this was this is what I found in
Speaker 7: the journal that everything was like today, I gave Writer
Speaker 7: a handful of Eminem's and he didn't say thank you.
Speaker 7: But when Sabrina also very very close, I like she
Speaker 7: and our Instagram friends, Writer like she also like seems
Speaker 7: exactly the same to me, like, you know, we're just
Speaker 7: we're not like having a conversation, but like we're in touch.
Speaker 7: But yeah, she and I were also very close, but
Speaker 7: like I just I feel like I pretty much just
Speaker 7: spent that entire time pining in desperately.
Speaker 4: Were you also randomly in love with a guy named
Speaker 4: Dave or David? That's what we found out in Danielle's journal.
Speaker 4: I loved and David and I.
Speaker 7: Didn't know David was You don't know what it was.
Speaker 1: I did, but now I realized it was David Letterman,
Speaker 1: I was a weirdo. Let's not go into my journal.
Speaker 1: So this is about you. It's about all about that.
Speaker 5: I love that.
Speaker 1: Very similarly, though, you did not hate Sabrina because I
Speaker 1: did not hate Rachel. I was like, man, Rachel's so cool,
Speaker 1: and Writer loves her so much.
Speaker 7: I can hate Rachel. You're like Rachel, She's got the
Speaker 7: coolest style, she's so ready. I know I spent I spent.
Speaker 7: I feel like I spent the majority of Leman's and
Speaker 7: years afterwards just being like there he is never to
Speaker 7: be mine. Narrative like that I have sort of like
Speaker 7: continue to slap myself into in various different circumstances in
Speaker 7: my life.
Speaker 5: Did you know he had a pony, Susie the pony?
Speaker 7: I don't remember. Okay, remember a lot of but I
Speaker 7: don't remember. I don't remember the pony.
Speaker 2: Did he ever give you.
Speaker 5: A white rose?
Speaker 7: No?
Speaker 5: Okay, all right, just these are just things I needed
Speaker 5: to know.
Speaker 2: Well, he's basically married by the time he was twelve, when.
Speaker 7: I'm so curious because you seem warmed up.
Speaker 3: How I want to talk about nine year old Larissa
Speaker 3: because I feel like, let's let's see, she was amazing.
Speaker 3: She was so talented, like and I remember like that
Speaker 3: was that was the thing about doing le Midis at
Speaker 3: that age, is like you knew which kids had something,
Speaker 3: and like Larissa like immediately was just amazing, a great singer,
Speaker 3: a good actor. And then like, yeah we stayed in touch.
Speaker 3: Was it did you start going to Bruce's class like
Speaker 3: right away? Or like how did we keep acting around
Speaker 3: it because I remember then going to doing acting class
Speaker 3: with you somewhere and being like, oh, God, Larissa's amazing,
Speaker 3: like so talented. And then yeah, I did know that.
Speaker 7: I mean that wasn't I mean, I certainly didn't well think,
Speaker 7: I mean, I guess, thank you, but same like I
Speaker 7: always I always knew writer was good. Like it's just something.
Speaker 7: It's so funny that even at that age, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 7: that kid's good. And then yeah, when we were in class,
Speaker 7: I think I just followed. I think my mom and
Speaker 7: I just followed you and your mom wherever you guys went.
Speaker 7: Basically I was like, oh, you're going to this class,
Speaker 7: we'll go to that class. Or you have this agent, now,
Speaker 7: we'll have that agent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well that's what I felt like. We were on
Speaker 3: this journey together. Yeah, it was like our parents were
Speaker 3: helping each other and like navigate this crazy thing. Like yeah,
Speaker 3: and I remember when my mom broke her leg, like
Speaker 3: your mom basically took care of her for six weeks
Speaker 3: at the open Oh, we were like cause we were
Speaker 3: like this little northern California crew of like actors, and
Speaker 3: we like no one knew what we were doing, like
Speaker 3: our parents like in retrospect, it's insane how much they
Speaker 3: took on. And so like we were each other's family,
Speaker 3: like going down to LA and like doing this thing,
Speaker 3: and like there was this constant check in of like
Speaker 3: are the kids okay? You okay? You know, and but
Speaker 3: a lot but that came from also, like I know,
Speaker 3: like for me, Larissa stood out as somebody because there's
Speaker 3: a lot of kids doing this who you would watch
Speaker 3: an acting class and be like, Okay, well you're doing
Speaker 3: this because your mom wants you to or your dad
Speaker 3: you know, maybe there's not an animating talent here or something,
Speaker 3: Whereas like with Larissa, that was not the case. It
Speaker 3: was like, oh, this is a real actor, and this
Speaker 3: is somebody who's going to be doing this for the
Speaker 3: rest of their lives. And like, I don't know, I
Speaker 3: think we found that in each other, and our parents
Speaker 3: found each other, and like it was just such a supportive,
Speaker 3: amazing friendship to have moving into LA.
Speaker 7: I think our mom's just talked on the phone very recently.
Speaker 5: Writer.
Speaker 7: Yeah, It's like they were definitely like each other as
Speaker 7: touchstones for sure. Like I remember that about Marla specifically too,
Speaker 7: that I was just like.
Speaker 3: Yes, another NorCal so talented.
Speaker 1: So Writer's family they help you get set up with
Speaker 1: an agent, and that's obviously pretty easy because, like Writer mentioned,
Speaker 1: you're an incredible talent. So you get an agent and
Speaker 1: then you book the lead in the Secret World of
Speaker 1: Alex Mack and you're just twelve years old. Were you
Speaker 1: then intimidated being the lead in a show at such
Speaker 1: a young age?
Speaker 7: I mean, the funny thing about that is that, like
Speaker 7: we've been coming down for pilot season for at least
Speaker 7: two I think I booked Alex Mack when it was
Speaker 7: the August version of pilot season, so probably two and
Speaker 7: a half years at that point, which like two and
Speaker 7: a half years from nine.
Speaker 3: To Yeah, you're burnt out, washed up already. You're like,
Speaker 3: why hasn't this happened yet?
Speaker 8: Right, this is what I said, you.
Speaker 7: Already you'd already gotten Women's World yep, and like other
Speaker 7: people's careers were taking off, I did not get the
Speaker 7: part of Tapanga.
Speaker 3: Oh you auditioned, You auditioned for Topanga?
Speaker 7: Why did not? I did not make it very far,
Speaker 7: but I think I got a callback and that was
Speaker 7: one of those that I was just in the backseat
Speaker 7: of the car with my mom just like shoveling ice creaming,
Speaker 7: like it's over.
Speaker 5: I got a call back and I didn't.
Speaker 3: Oh man, but you got the part. You got the part,
Speaker 3: kid got the part.
Speaker 7: But yeah, I know, I remember, like I remember all
Speaker 7: of the heartbreak sort of leading up to it, or
Speaker 7: really just the sense of like it's just the math
Speaker 7: of it all, which I think I still do where
Speaker 7: it's like, you know, I'm like, well, it's been a
Speaker 7: second since I've booked something. It's either completely done for
Speaker 7: me or something's around the corner. And that was sort
Speaker 7: of like how I went into that whole experience, and
Speaker 7: I think I was at that point in my career
Speaker 7: as a twelve year old. I think I was sort
Speaker 7: of ready to call it and I got the show.
Speaker 7: But then, you know, as Natanya mentioned on her I've
Speaker 7: listened to a lot of the episodes. Guys. It's been
Speaker 7: incredible therapeutic, let me tell you. There there was a
Speaker 7: big gap in between us doing the pilot and doing
Speaker 7: the first season. I think about a year at least,
Speaker 7: and there was a lot of shuffling. So I think
Speaker 7: with all of that, it just the reality of it
Speaker 7: didn't really sink in. Honestly, it was just kind of like, Okay,
Speaker 7: we're shooting the pilot. We'll see if you get called
Speaker 7: back for the first season. We'll see if the first
Speaker 7: season does anything, we'll see. So I don't know. I
Speaker 7: don't know that I felt that the pressure of being
Speaker 7: the lead on a show until maybe later after we
Speaker 7: started doing press and stuff, and yeah, I think at
Speaker 7: that point I was just sort of in the routine
Speaker 7: of it, in the routine of like cautiously optimistic but
Speaker 7: preparing for the worst, like, well, maybe I'll just go
Speaker 7: back to school. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Can anybody think of any other career ever where you can.
Speaker 4: Be and like, I think I'm done with this at twelve,
Speaker 4: But it is it's like it's maybe, yeah, maybe, like
Speaker 4: if it's something, if you're some sort of athletics, gymnastics,
Speaker 4: something like that. But to be in some kind of
Speaker 4: lifestyle where you are eleven or twelve, you're in the
Speaker 4: routine of I'm going to another audition.
Speaker 3: No, oh God, more disappointment and even more agonizing than sports,
Speaker 3: because in sports there's measurable, quantifiable level like measures of success,
Speaker 3: like you can run faster than anybody, You've won so
Speaker 3: many games, whereas with acting, you could be slamming your
Speaker 3: head against the wall and have no talent, no ability
Speaker 3: to book jobs, no way about. You'll keep you have
Speaker 3: the passion, you keep trying it. So you're also constantly looking,
Speaker 3: So you're seeking evidence of whether this is the right
Speaker 3: choice or not, some sort of validation, some validation something.
Speaker 3: Your parents are, you know, looking for that validation too,
Speaker 3: because they're committing their time and money and energy towards
Speaker 3: Oh my god, like you know, so, yeah, it does,
Speaker 3: it's it's it's a it's an incredibly strange pressure to
Speaker 3: have as a teenager.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you remember though, where you were when you found
Speaker 1: out you got the role? No, so you were by
Speaker 1: that time you were already like, well I booked a job.
Speaker 5: But we'll see how this goes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I don't.
Speaker 7: I mean, I don't know if it was that extreme necessarily,
Speaker 7: but you know, honestly, if we if we really want
Speaker 7: to talk about it, there probably was some sort of
Speaker 7: like protective mechanism in me that like, you know, either
Speaker 7: knew not to get too excited because it might be disappointed,
Speaker 7: but maybe even more was like, oh your life might
Speaker 7: change and better to you know, dip like ease into
Speaker 7: the water slowly, and you know, I think that maybe
Speaker 7: there was some some sort of intuition of like, oh,
Speaker 7: things are not going to be the same after this,
Speaker 7: and you know, best to what's the word not burn out? Maybe?
Speaker 1: You know, were your parents celebrating this for you? Was
Speaker 1: anybody in your life.
Speaker 5: Like the Wills and this Judy Savage?
Speaker 7: We all we loved Judy so much. Yeah? No, my
Speaker 7: I mean I know both you know I Will. Are
Speaker 7: both your parents lawyers?
Speaker 3: Or yeah?
Speaker 7: With my parents are medicine, So they're just kind of like, Okay,
Speaker 7: what is this thing that you're doing. I really have
Speaker 7: no concept of what was actually happening until it completely.
Speaker 1: Started to ramp up, right, and then when it did
Speaker 1: completely ramp up, were you then very excited about being
Speaker 1: the face of a hit show or did you What
Speaker 1: were your feelings then?
Speaker 7: I honestly was really excited to get invited to Nickelodeon's stuff,
Speaker 7: because I think that started happening before we even aired,
Speaker 7: and so I got to go. I remember flying to
Speaker 7: New York, I mean maybe for the first time for
Speaker 7: remember when we did upfronts. I think I did up
Speaker 7: Fronts and I can't remember if the kids from all that.
Speaker 7: I don't know if all that was on yet, but
Speaker 7: like they were definitely a part of my whole Nickelodeon experience.
Speaker 7: But Melissa was definitely there. And I've talked about this before.
Speaker 7: I was like so excited to meet Melissa and like
Speaker 7: the shirt that she was wearing. I was like, ah,
Speaker 7: I have that same shirt from Express or what. She
Speaker 7: was just that much older than me that I at
Speaker 7: that particular age that I was just like, oh my god.
Speaker 7: I looked up to her so much, and I think,
Speaker 7: you know, obvious, it's very clear that like our show
Speaker 7: would not have been successful had they not come first.
Speaker 7: So I think once that stuff started to happen, it
Speaker 7: sunk in.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I just went to work.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's something so magical when you were a kid
Speaker 4: about working for Nickelodeon, because I think I was eleven
Speaker 4: when I got my Nickelodeon show, and there is you
Speaker 4: like you're going to the studio. You're like you're going
Speaker 4: to the offices and everything's bright, and there was something
Speaker 4: so cool about that.
Speaker 7: The offices in New York were so fun. Everywhere I
Speaker 7: went I got Nickelodeon product, I had like back and
Speaker 7: slime and floam. I think was a thing like all
Speaker 7: this stuff. And actually I did find some of those
Speaker 7: things at my mom's house too, and I was like,
Speaker 7: these have disintegrated. It's time. There are certain things that
Speaker 7: you're like, this does not feel good to the.
Speaker 4: Touch to this is probably toxic, this is right, this
Speaker 4: is officially burning my back.
Speaker 7: That element of it. I was like, I just I
Speaker 7: think I honestly was just overwhelmed. And then, like I'm saying,
Speaker 7: we just went to work. And I think, talking again
Speaker 7: about le Miss, that was really the thing that for
Speaker 7: me clicked in more than anything as a as a kid.
Speaker 7: Because I listen, I will say for myself, I was
Speaker 7: not naturally good at this. I decided at a certain
Speaker 7: point to be good at this because I liked the experience.
Speaker 7: I mean, sure I have some natural whatever, but like,
Speaker 7: I liked the experience of it so much. I liked
Speaker 7: the family that we made so much, like the fact
Speaker 7: that writer and I were still in touch. I'm still
Speaker 7: in touch with a lot of people friendly Miss, and
Speaker 7: that was the aspect of it. And I remember a writer,
Speaker 7: I went back and I was so thrilled to go
Speaker 7: back and be with my family and so that's that's
Speaker 7: always been And with Alex Mack too. We were filming
Speaker 7: it in Valencia. We weren't filming it on a on
Speaker 7: a h at the studio. We were we were sort
Speaker 7: of separated, and so that that was really the part
Speaker 7: that that just becomes your world. And so I mean,
Speaker 7: I mean, I love going to work. So I've always
Speaker 7: loved that part of it for sure, and known how
Speaker 7: special that part is, especially as an only child, like
Speaker 7: I just I need I need those people in my life.
Speaker 5: I have a very weird questionquestion I wanted to ask.
Speaker 7: Let's get weird.
Speaker 1: Recently, the actress Alison Mack, who was a child actor
Speaker 1: and was most notably on Smallville, was jailed for her
Speaker 1: role in a cult. And every time it comes up
Speaker 1: in my head, I have to separate the difference between
Speaker 1: Alex Mack and Alison Mack.
Speaker 3: Same.
Speaker 5: Does that happen to you?
Speaker 1: Do people come up to you and say, like, tell
Speaker 1: me about the woman with the cult and You're like, sorry,
Speaker 1: what you're talking about?
Speaker 3: No, that has not.
Speaker 7: That's really funny. That has not since you know, in
Speaker 7: light of recent events, No, no one has asked me
Speaker 7: about that. I actually, I mean you know Alison and
Speaker 7: I knew each other.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you guys didn't know Alison will think so. Oh
Speaker 3: I knew Alison was a young actors space. She was
Speaker 3: so talented. I mean I just I was in love
Speaker 3: with her. I was in love with her. It just
Speaker 3: had such a cross on it. Pre this is pretty Smallville,
Speaker 3: but yeah, we used to. She was so talented and
Speaker 3: such a cool person too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 3: When I heard all that, I was like, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 3: I know, talk to her for twenty years and look
Speaker 3: what happened.
Speaker 7: Actually the funny, but not the funny. I mean, I
Speaker 7: don't know, I don't want it.
Speaker 3: Were you almost in the cult?
Speaker 7: Actually, I will tell a story that Diane, when I
Speaker 7: was meeting with her to potentially have her be my manager,
Speaker 7: she was like, this is before Alex Mack and she goes,
Speaker 7: she goes, you know, you and Allison are just too similar.
Speaker 3: Oh interesting, Yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 7: And so that's why she didn't was good managing. That's
Speaker 7: like a I mean, how respects that's to be respected that.
Speaker 7: She was just like, you guys are going to go
Speaker 7: in for the same things. I'm already invested in her.
Speaker 5: And I'm interested she might take you on now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, A good time to love to see.
Speaker 7: I would love to see her.
Speaker 3: I saw her two months ago. Yeah, we had the
Speaker 3: reunion of the Young Actor's Space where you and Diana
Speaker 3: and Judy were there and I got to sit and
Speaker 3: sit with both of them and talk for a while.
Speaker 7: And an Angie too, Angie Angie Ellen right or I
Speaker 7: can't remember. She messaged me on Instagram, but yeah, yeah,
Speaker 7: I remember.
Speaker 3: Everybody was crazy.
Speaker 7: She was one of my teachers. Yeah, I was in
Speaker 7: New York. I was so bummed I missed that.
Speaker 1: But well, so then Ten Things I Hate About You
Speaker 1: comes along, and that movie, though released in nineteen ninety nine,
Speaker 1: seems just as popular today with a whole new generation
Speaker 1: of people.
Speaker 5: What do you think has made it so timeless? Uh?
Speaker 7: Listen, the writing is really good. Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 7: it's Keween Karen, who went on to write Legally Blonde
Speaker 7: and The House Funny and a million other things like
Speaker 7: they are awesome and the script was awesome, And you know,
Speaker 7: that was a time. I don't think that I was
Speaker 7: in a position to be super choosy, but there were
Speaker 7: a lot of teen scripts sort of coming my way,
Speaker 7: and that was the one that I just latched onto.
Speaker 7: I was like, I became. I was just like no,
Speaker 7: I would will not take no for an answer, And
Speaker 7: I went in for both characters for a really long time,
Speaker 7: up until the bitter end, when they were just like, okay,
Speaker 7: we've decided that, like we're pushing you for Bianca. And
Speaker 7: I met Julia and she and I read together, and
Speaker 7: I was like, ah, yes, yes, yes, this fits, this fits,
Speaker 7: even though well whatever. I just remember when I got
Speaker 7: to said I had like pink in my hair, and
Speaker 7: I was like, see, I told you I was punk
Speaker 7: rock and they were like, we have to bleach that out.
Speaker 7: Thanks so much, you're still show I forget we can
Speaker 7: talk about hair hair, yes, And I think, you know,
Speaker 7: that's another example of we all really got along. We
Speaker 7: all really got along, and we were you know, it
Speaker 7: was a different time. No one was on their phone,
Speaker 7: like that didn't exist. We were in a hotel first
Speaker 7: and Tacoma and then in Seattle, and it was summer.
Speaker 7: Joe and Julia and I were all seventeen.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 7: You know, it was a magical, magical time. Uh. And
Speaker 7: we were all for the most part, like very invested
Speaker 7: in what we were doing and honestly, I watched that
Speaker 7: movie again recently, and aside from a few things that
Speaker 7: do not age well, but it really does, I was
Speaker 7: blown away by how much I enjoyed it. I knew
Speaker 7: that I enjoyed it, like personally nostalgically, but I just
Speaker 7: I really enjoyed the whole experience of watching it.
Speaker 3: Did Gill direct that?
Speaker 8: That?
Speaker 7: Was?
Speaker 4: Was that?
Speaker 3: Gilly Younger? It was, Okay, I bought his car.
Speaker 2: It's not so strange the world, Gilly?
Speaker 3: What did you work with him on?
Speaker 6: He was?
Speaker 3: He was directing an episode of TV that you were in. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he did? Was it?
Speaker 2: It might have been Go Fish, I can't remember.
Speaker 4: He did a show after and he pulled up in
Speaker 4: this car and I was like, I need, I need
Speaker 4: to buy your car. And it was it was the
Speaker 4: it was the.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was yeah, but it was.
Speaker 4: He pulled up and since the time I was a
Speaker 4: little kid, I wanted a green Ferrari convertible and I've
Speaker 4: never seen one. And he pulled up and parked it
Speaker 4: right in front of me. It's like, I need your car,
Speaker 4: and we just yeah. It was like a week later,
Speaker 4: let me.
Speaker 8: Get rid of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And then I had it until twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: I saw it right before the pandem.
Speaker 5: I want to ask you a Heath Ledger question.
Speaker 1: Did he always feel like just a special different actor?
Speaker 7: I try not to tell. I try not to talk
Speaker 7: about Heath too much anecdotally because that is or because
Speaker 7: it is very real. Yeah, sure, that particular loss like
Speaker 7: collectively and also anyway, yeah, short answer, yes, like there's
Speaker 7: there's some people sparkle.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, he was a sparkler for sure.
Speaker 7: I just remember. I'll I'm like I said, I but
Speaker 7: I do you remember the first time I met him?
Speaker 7: He like ordered me dessert and I was like, okay,
Speaker 7: and then I was like it was something like you
Speaker 7: like push it across the tab and was like I
Speaker 7: thought you'd like it.
Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, I do need this Sunday.
Speaker 5: It's so sweet. So let's chat Boy meets World.
Speaker 1: Were you a fan of the show at all before
Speaker 1: you came on? I mean, obviously you writer, but did
Speaker 1: you can you watch the show?
Speaker 7: Yes, it was a big deal. I feel like we
Speaker 7: would gather. I feel like we would gather and watch
Speaker 7: it or maybe I don't know, writer, if you were
Speaker 7: even a part of that, but the rest of us,
Speaker 7: would it was a big deal. It was a big deal.
Speaker 7: Uh yeah, and I was I was a big fan
Speaker 7: of the show, and it felt it was a big
Speaker 7: deal for me to be on the show. And I
Speaker 7: don't I was trying to remember. I don't remember auditioning.
Speaker 7: I'm not quite sure how that worked out.
Speaker 3: I don't you must have had you visited the set
Speaker 3: before you worked on the show, I mean a taping. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you must have come to a taping. But I feel
Speaker 3: like I feel like our writers and Michael in particular,
Speaker 3: must have known who you were. I'm sure, like I
Speaker 3: wonder if they just offered this part to you, because
Speaker 3: it was like, oh, you already had your own show
Speaker 3: on Nickelodeon and we knew each other. Yeah that's amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah.
Speaker 7: You know. There's very few jobs that I've gotten with
Speaker 7: on auditioning, but I really wonder if this was one
Speaker 7: of those. I mean, Barbie and Sally would probably know
Speaker 7: oh yeah, uh yeah, but I do. It was I'm
Speaker 7: just thinking and looking at my hair. I was like, oh,
Speaker 7: I think that must have been like second season of
Speaker 7: Alex Mack, so that would have already been happening and
Speaker 7: probably been like mildly successful at that point, I.
Speaker 3: Bet you they wrote either wrote this part for you
Speaker 3: or yeah, or is a straight offer after they wrote
Speaker 3: the part.
Speaker 5: And they were yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, now in light of the journal finding, this question
Speaker 1: is even more interesting. What was it like then playing
Speaker 1: Sean's first girlfriend, writer's first girlfriend on the show and
Speaker 1: you kind of constant makeout partner?
Speaker 5: What was that like for you?
Speaker 7: Ryer? Have we talked about this?
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so. Are you serious? Was it ever?
Speaker 7: Ever?
Speaker 3: You kissed me during rehearsal though I remember, but I
Speaker 3: remember during rehearsal you just went for it, and I
Speaker 3: was like, Oh, we're going to be kissing during better
Speaker 3: Oh my god. You seem so confident to me. I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, I guess we're doing this like okay,
Speaker 3: And we were tired, so.
Speaker 7: I can't even tell you that I knew this was
Speaker 7: like I mean, and I hadn't watched the episode in
Speaker 7: forever and I went back in just like, oh god,
Speaker 7: oh god. And it's been a couple of months I've
Speaker 7: had But yeah, no, all I remember about that entire
Speaker 7: experience of the first episode at least was I mean,
Speaker 7: because I, like I said, it was between first and
Speaker 7: second season. Since Alex mac I was fourteen or fifteen,
Speaker 7: but I was a very very very young, fourteen fifteen
Speaker 7: year old. I was a very late bloomer. And then
Speaker 7: you know, once thing sped up, they really sped up.
Speaker 7: But at that point in my life, like I was,
Speaker 7: I was a kid.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you were definitely, and I remember you were.
Speaker 3: You were more sheltered, you know, than like me. Like
Speaker 3: I remember like me and my brother were way more
Speaker 3: advanced in certain areas, and I remember you and your
Speaker 3: mom were like, no, no, no, I did.
Speaker 7: Exactly what my mother told me to do.
Speaker 3: A good way.
Speaker 7: And I was like until I wasn't. And then you know, subsequently,
Speaker 7: like all exploded at this certain age.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I think it's healthier too. It's just sort of.
Speaker 3: A little bit. But yeah, that's crazy. That was your
Speaker 3: first kiss, you you because I remember sitting at the
Speaker 3: rehearsal being like, this is gonna be weird because it's Larissa,
Speaker 3: you know, and we like went to hold hands for
Speaker 3: the rehearsal, and then you just right in for the kiss,
Speaker 3: and it was I was like, oh, this this is fine, great, Okay,
Speaker 3: we're going to be kissing, I know, but you were
Speaker 3: you seemed so confident to me, I thought like, oh wow,
Speaker 3: she is such a like consummate actor, she just wants
Speaker 3: to do it, and like, yeah, that's son.
Speaker 7: No wow. Shot freaked out the entirety because I don't
Speaker 7: think we did it until the run through.
Speaker 3: Okay, So I just remember you. I just remember not
Speaker 3: expecting you to actually kiss me, and then you kissed
Speaker 3: me and being like, oh wow, I didn't.
Speaker 7: Know you guys have talked about there was no intimate
Speaker 7: intimacy coordinator. I'm sure like mccrapan did his best, but yeah,
Speaker 7: there was no one sort of talking us through it.
Speaker 7: And I think for me at that age, I was
Speaker 7: just like I didn't want to look like I didn't
Speaker 7: know what I was doing. I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 7: I had no idea what I could see. So I
Speaker 7: just went like one hundred and fifty. Instead, I was like,
Speaker 7: I'm just going to commit. I'm just going to commit,
Speaker 7: and then it was fine, and then it was fine
Speaker 7: once we got over it. But I do remember, I mean,
Speaker 7: leading up to that first run through, and of course
Speaker 7: we're all in school together, and I'm like, how am
Speaker 7: I supposed to do school? Right now?
Speaker 1: I can't think about anything except writer's tongue, and.
Speaker 7: Then it's like and then there's nothing worse than just
Speaker 7: like sitting, like driving back to the apartment or hotel,
Speaker 7: probably like with my mom, just like my mom threw
Speaker 7: Both our moms were there. Both our moms were definitely there.
Speaker 8: Wowses, and the men, middle aged men in their hands
Speaker 8: and pencil looking at you, going hmm, is.
Speaker 3: This going to work?
Speaker 6: But you have your first kiss on film, you have
Speaker 6: your first kiss ever, it's kind of like you can
Speaker 6: kind of watch your whole first that it would have been.
Speaker 6: I'm saying, like the first week though, it's like that's
Speaker 6: crazy for you.
Speaker 5: Great, Well, what other memories do you have on set?
Speaker 3: Do you make the trauma? Okay, guys, let's just laugh
Speaker 3: about it.
Speaker 5: What memories?
Speaker 1: What other memories do you have of being on set?
Speaker 1: Because then you were on set with us for several weeks.
Speaker 1: Once the awkwardness of the first kisses out of the way,
Speaker 1: then it has to just be more fun, right.
Speaker 7: Once all of that, once all of that was out
Speaker 7: of the way, I remember having I just remember having
Speaker 7: a great time. I Mean, it's funny the way that
Speaker 7: you guys talk about or y'all talk about your experience
Speaker 7: on the show. It's sort of like not feeling like
Speaker 7: you were cool or not feeling like it was the
Speaker 7: cool show. Like to me, it was the cool show.
Speaker 7: And I, you know, I also was like I was like,
Speaker 7: I'm going to get in there. I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
Speaker 7: I'm gonna flex them acting like the scene. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 7: so it's so good.
Speaker 3: Good, it's fine?
Speaker 7: Or no, you mentioned too ready, you mentioned the hand acting.
Speaker 7: I noticed almost like behind the ear acting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I could feel you and I we were
Speaker 3: loving every moment and I could feel us. I could
Speaker 3: feel watching it back. It was like I could feel
Speaker 3: us just loving the like drama and the like awkwardness
Speaker 3: and like leaning into the like let's make this as
Speaker 3: natural as possible and like and so it just ends
Speaker 3: up being a lot of looking at our hands and
Speaker 3: rubbing our hands. It's but it's great. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: I'd rather that than like very polished that comback. Like
Speaker 3: I could tell that we are two young actors who,
Speaker 3: you know, like thought thought we should be on My
Speaker 3: so called life were disappointed as boy meets World.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who had probably done my so called life scene
Speaker 1: my so.
Speaker 7: Called life impersonations. I think like the second season of
Speaker 7: Alex Mac, I did it through all of that as well,
Speaker 7: like my best so fun, my best approximation of clar
Speaker 7: days And but that's fine, you know, like it's the
Speaker 7: only way I've sort of been able to keep going
Speaker 7: as is that I can look back on stuff like
Speaker 7: that and be like, well, I was just in process.
Speaker 7: It was just I was just figuring it out. And
Speaker 7: it usually is like the scene that you're like this
Speaker 7: is it that ends up kind of being like, oh,
Speaker 7: that's cute, that that's how you did it, and then
Speaker 7: the one that you kind of throw away, it's like
Speaker 7: then there's like at the next episode, I can see
Speaker 7: as having a lot more fun to get so much
Speaker 7: relationship they like each other.
Speaker 3: Yes, I wish there had been more episodes of that,
Speaker 3: like just being you know, partners together like in in
Speaker 3: situations that are funny. Yeah, I felt I had.
Speaker 7: A blast with you guys. I mean I just remember that.
Speaker 7: I remember that part very I was like, oh, here
Speaker 7: we are, here, we are.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: I have a question, did you know when when you
Speaker 4: got Boy Meets World that it was going to be
Speaker 4: multiple episodes or was it supposed to just be a
Speaker 4: one off.
Speaker 7: I think it was the I think it was always
Speaker 7: the two together. Okay, then the one that they.
Speaker 2: Brought everybody back, right and.
Speaker 7: And lindsay back for that, I think, I mean, I
Speaker 7: don't think that was ever on anyone's agenda, But I
Speaker 7: think it was always the first two together because as
Speaker 7: you guys I listened last night, as you mentioned, like
Speaker 7: there is there's a significant amount of continuity between the two.
Speaker 7: So yeah, yeah, they must have always been coupled.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they I think that was always a plan.
Speaker 1: And by that time that you were now had done
Speaker 1: a couple of episodes, we were all pretty close.
Speaker 5: Larissa. I have a great picture of you and I
Speaker 5: in a limo.
Speaker 1: And I'm wearing a hard rock cafe leather jacket and
Speaker 1: you have on a great striped sweater, and I have
Speaker 1: no idea where we were going.
Speaker 3: Probably the Kid's Choice Awards, because Kids Choice were every year.
Speaker 3: Would have like I remember, Liverisa, you and I presented
Speaker 3: at the Nickeload and Kids Choice Awards. I did it
Speaker 3: in roller blades. It's like roller blades and you jeans. Yeah,
Speaker 3: remember you don't. We can probably find it online, but
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure you and I are at the podium
Speaker 3: together and you're like, yeah, and but anyway, that was
Speaker 3: something we would have been picked up in a limo
Speaker 3: for if we were all going.
Speaker 4: To the Choice.
Speaker 5: I wonder that's what Oh well, I mean.
Speaker 3: Do you think, oh we got to talk about We haven't.
Speaker 2: Even talked about.
Speaker 1: It's at night though, And where would we have where
Speaker 1: would they have picked us up from?
Speaker 7: Like, do you know what it might have been? Do
Speaker 7: you remember that we did that slumber party together at
Speaker 7: the Great Mall?
Speaker 1: Yes, it was the slumber party at the Great Mall.
Speaker 3: You guys did a slumber party. It's a great mall.
Speaker 3: What's the great you put together?
Speaker 5: The Great Mall of America.
Speaker 3: In Minnesota and Minnesota they flew you guys out to Minnesota.
Speaker 7: Yes, it was one of those things. Well, and that
Speaker 7: this could also be like a Judy thing, because I
Speaker 7: was asking my mom about it recently and she was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 7: I remember that it was something like they had approached
Speaker 7: me about it, and I was like, I was like,
Speaker 7: this doesn't sound like something that would be fun to
Speaker 7: do on my own.
Speaker 5: Won't bring us end?
Speaker 7: What if Danielle came along too? You know, I'm just
Speaker 7: like I'm like, you can get.
Speaker 3: Two of us.
Speaker 7: Also, we'll have a much better time totally.
Speaker 3: So what did you guys do sleep on the floor
Speaker 3: in what was us? Did you sleep on the floor
Speaker 3: in the mall?
Speaker 1: We just went and like I feel like we just
Speaker 1: had a slumber party. We visited the slumber party.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we like brought some wars or something like that
Speaker 7: and there Q and so odd.
Speaker 3: It sounds so weird.
Speaker 7: I feel like that might have been a limo situation
Speaker 7: because they know you're.
Speaker 1: Right, because it's it's also like a bunch of pictures
Speaker 1: and which could have very well been that we were
Speaker 1: somewhere local and my mom decided to use this as
Speaker 1: an opportunity for a little photo shoot for us. But
Speaker 1: it does feel very much like a photo shoot you
Speaker 1: have when you're on a trip, like you're in a
Speaker 1: different location, Like we should commemorate this look at us
Speaker 1: in a limo in Minnesota at.
Speaker 5: The Great Mall.
Speaker 1: That is exactly what it was, for sure. And let's
Speaker 1: please talk about our Kushling's commercial.
Speaker 7: And memories that they made about our lives just after
Speaker 7: hanging out, like.
Speaker 3: When you walked into her dressing room and had that conversation.
Speaker 3: It's just totally natural, just.
Speaker 7: Happen to be care with there.
Speaker 1: Do you remember about that experience, because I have I
Speaker 1: have a surprisingly kind of a lot of memories, and
Speaker 1: none of them are of actually really filming it. They're
Speaker 1: of all the stuff like gearing up for filming it.
Speaker 1: Do you remember looking at the storyboard, like when they
Speaker 1: showed us the storyboard.
Speaker 7: I do remember all of us just kind of being like, oh.
Speaker 3: Oh, I am this is what today is going to
Speaker 3: be these days.
Speaker 7: But again, like you know, the fact that we were
Speaker 7: in it together. I was just like, thank.
Speaker 3: God, yes, like you know, nothing God.
Speaker 7: I mean, not that it was so listen, it wasn't
Speaker 7: so embarrassing. I mean, it's just we're teenagers, you know,
Speaker 7: just were teenagers.
Speaker 5: Like feeling uncomfortable.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we're being awkward already, and it was just like, okay,
Speaker 7: so we're going to commit to this thing. But at
Speaker 7: least it was, you know, the three of us in
Speaker 7: it together. And yeh, that's not what I remember. And
Speaker 7: actually I have to say this last show that I
Speaker 7: just worked on, our set decorator came up to me,
Speaker 7: went in she was like, oh my gosh, my boyfriend
Speaker 7: and I found this video of this commercial and I
Speaker 7: was like, oh god, I know, so embarrassing. And she
Speaker 7: was like, what was embarrassing about it? And I was like,
Speaker 7: I don't know, it's just so cheesy, and she was like, honestly,
Speaker 7: it was just really nice to see the three of
Speaker 7: you together. And I was like, noted, no, note.
Speaker 5: You know, and I do.
Speaker 1: It's it's nice because the three of us are obviously
Speaker 1: friends in the commercial.
Speaker 5: But you're right that, like my overwhelming.
Speaker 1: Memory of the thing is just that the three of
Speaker 1: us looked at each other and we all shared the
Speaker 1: same sentiment, which.
Speaker 5: Is like, this is so fun together.
Speaker 1: Here we are doing this together, and I'm happy that
Speaker 1: we're here together and we're doing this.
Speaker 3: Do you remember, Larissa, you and I were you know,
Speaker 3: national ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, which
Speaker 3: was like this huge Washington push for They were trying
Speaker 3: to pass some legislation, you know, some anti tobacco legislation.
Speaker 3: So there was this it was this giant it was
Speaker 3: like hundreds of millions of dollars dollars funneled into this campaign,
Speaker 3: and we were like the national ambassadors and they flew
Speaker 3: us to d C. We had like give speeches and
Speaker 3: be part of that.
Speaker 7: I was available, I shouldn't have been asked to be
Speaker 7: a part of it. That's the photo that I sent you, writer.
Speaker 7: I feel like that's from one of those. I sent
Speaker 7: it to you, like a couple years ago, because they
Speaker 7: were asking something for press for another show and I
Speaker 7: was like, I was like, oh, I have this because
Speaker 7: I sent it to you for approval. I was like, hey,
Speaker 7: remember when I was Gwen Stefani and you were a
Speaker 7: beat poet the writer with like full goate. I think
Speaker 7: I said it, but I think that was from one
Speaker 7: of those.
Speaker 4: So you were in costume and writer was writer. Do
Speaker 4: you guys do wait to Danielle? Do you do you
Speaker 4: guys know that Larissa and I actually did a show.
Speaker 4: We did a pilot together after Boy Meets World with Jeff.
Speaker 4: Jeff Sherman wrote it, Jeff McCracken directed it, and Alex
Speaker 4: Daysier was in it too.
Speaker 3: Oh that's right, you did mention that and it was
Speaker 3: shot at.
Speaker 7: My house, right, because that was the only way we
Speaker 7: could get you to do it, was.
Speaker 5: That what it was that would make sense because at.
Speaker 3: The time, at that time, that totally makes sense.
Speaker 4: That's the only way I could do it is I
Speaker 4: guess we have to shoot it here year was it.
Speaker 7: I'm not making they wouldn't be clear. I'm not making
Speaker 7: light of that. I just I was like, I just.
Speaker 3: Remember, No, I forgot.
Speaker 4: That was the reason that that was hugely in my
Speaker 4: in my anxiety face.
Speaker 7: We shoot it at his house, and I was like, well,
Speaker 7: shoot at his house, then that's right.
Speaker 3: Good I found the photo. Larissa.
Speaker 4: You and I didn't really work together until later because
Speaker 4: we did voice some voice over together and then we did.
Speaker 7: Did we do voice over together?
Speaker 3: Was it?
Speaker 7: Did you did you Club?
Speaker 4: It was? Yeah, we did winks. We did Winks for
Speaker 4: a while and then we did and we did that pilot.
Speaker 4: What was the name of that show, Katie?
Speaker 7: Yeah, because I wrote that with Jeff and Wendy or
Speaker 7: I mean right, yea, yes, the three of us kind
Speaker 7: of collaborated on that, and it really was yeah, like
Speaker 7: a Boy Means World Reunion.
Speaker 3: It was. It was a good show. It was it
Speaker 3: was fun.
Speaker 7: Honestly, Will like our like I our scenes were really good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought, so, yeah.
Speaker 7: Oh there's really something here well. And also I have
Speaker 7: such a fondness for Alex too, Like I mean because wow,
Speaker 7: I said I was propped out, but I'm not more
Speaker 7: catch on Hapcatcher hepcat baby tea.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the most nineties thing ever had.
Speaker 3: I was a big Scott.
Speaker 7: I mean, I'm still I still love Scott, but I
Speaker 7: was like a he that was like my life when
Speaker 7: I was sixteen, and so Alex and I sort of
Speaker 7: like had kept a connection for years before then we did. Yeah,
Speaker 7: we did this pilot together. Yeah, that was Yeah, we
Speaker 7: shot it here. I'm trying to remember there were turtles.
Speaker 4: Yes, I owned I sold turtles on the internet or
Speaker 4: something like that was.
Speaker 5: Part of the show.
Speaker 3: As part of the show.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I sold turtles in real life, not turtles
Speaker 4: is real life.
Speaker 5: And I was like this drumps pony.
Speaker 3: That's so funny. Oh man.
Speaker 1: Now going back to just some memories, do you have
Speaker 1: like a favorite hangout session, like a favorite hang with
Speaker 1: writer story?
Speaker 7: I remember, well, gosh, I mean I don't know writer,
Speaker 7: We've just known each other for so Also Writer, I mean,
Speaker 7: do you remember that I did Pepper Dennis.
Speaker 3: Too, Yeah, of course, yeah, yeah, So third job together
Speaker 3: was doing Pepper Dennis where I met my wife.
Speaker 7: So yeah, yeah, they're just honestly, like most recently. The
Speaker 7: last time you and Alex were in New York, it
Speaker 7: was a couple of years. It was pre pandemic, so
Speaker 7: you think you were both in New York. I think
Speaker 7: it was her short that you were in Tribecca for
Speaker 7: that's we did, like we had like a solid.
Speaker 3: Hang oh yeah. We stayed late.
Speaker 7: We late, and I remember I was like, this is it.
Speaker 3: This is you came out to a screening of her short.
Speaker 3: It was part of a program at Tribeca, and then
Speaker 3: the three of us and maybe some other people went
Speaker 3: out for pizza afterwards, and I remember you and I
Speaker 3: got into it. Yeah, it was really a good oh
Speaker 3: yeah wow. And you know they were so pissed that
Speaker 3: I had to go to They were like, why we
Speaker 3: want we wanted a teenager, We want want to be
Speaker 3: twenty one year old. Du You look a lot like
Speaker 3: Shiloh in that totally Oh wow, I do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot like Shiloh in that picture.
Speaker 3: That's amazing. Wow, there another one.
Speaker 7: You've seen each other through so many iterations, you know,
Speaker 7: and it's it's always reassuring when and I mean I
Speaker 7: think that this is sort of like look.
Speaker 3: At that he both looks so awkward here. You're like, uh,
Speaker 3: does he have to put his arm around me? Does
Speaker 3: he have to put his arm around me? And I'm like,
Speaker 3: hey man, I'm just here. You're just lucky I'm here.
Speaker 5: I refuse to show you my teeth, oh.
Speaker 3: Riot, or do something like I share my teeth so cute?
Speaker 3: Come on, it's adorable.
Speaker 7: But isn't that why we're here? You know? Isn't that
Speaker 7: why we're all here? To appreciate the fact that like
Speaker 7: we're still here, Yes, we're still here, and years can
Speaker 7: go by and there's just some things you share with
Speaker 7: people that it's all you can kind of just get
Speaker 7: right back into it. Yeah. Yeah, isn't that the beauty
Speaker 7: of I think now after the fact, I know we
Speaker 7: all went through our phases of sort of like rejecting
Speaker 7: this time in our lives, which I think is healthy
Speaker 7: to need to step away and say and sort of
Speaker 7: compartmentalize and say like that's something that I did before,
Speaker 7: but now to be able to embrace it more holistically
Speaker 7: and just I mean, we're all in our we're all
Speaker 7: in our forties, right, Yeah, It's like it's a small
Speaker 7: miracle that we're all even still here. I just I've
Speaker 7: never really appreciated it more. That's why it is the best.
Speaker 7: It is such a great age. Yeah, because of stuff like.
Speaker 5: This that it is.
Speaker 1: Writer and I had this conversation recently where it is
Speaker 1: so nice now to be far enough removed from some
Speaker 1: of the things we would have called childhood traumas that
Speaker 1: or that felt you know, pretty serious at the time,
Speaker 1: to be far enough away from them now to be
Speaker 1: able to truly laugh at at ourselves and the way
Speaker 1: and how serious we may have taken something. And it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it was any less significant at the time, sure,
Speaker 1: but just being able to have the distance to say,
Speaker 1: it's kind of nice to laugh about that now.
Speaker 5: It's it's really it really is beautiful.
Speaker 1: And you are still acting a bunch now, you're still
Speaker 1: having dream jobs like.
Speaker 3: Well, that's what I wanted to ask about, because you
Speaker 3: you mean, you were doing a sitcom with kids, right, like,
Speaker 3: you were working with child actors. So what was that like?
Speaker 3: I mean, how was it to be on the other
Speaker 3: side of it?
Speaker 7: I love it, Yeah, I love it. I have to say,
Speaker 7: I have to say that I think that's also a
Speaker 7: huge part of you know, I'm going to use a
Speaker 7: big word and maybe it's with a capital eight. I
Speaker 7: mean with the capital the lowercase H. But that's part
Speaker 7: of like the healing process of all of this, is
Speaker 7: when things come full circle like that and then you
Speaker 7: get to be in a position where it's like, oh,
Speaker 7: I might actually have something to impart here, And especially
Speaker 7: seeing the kids on the show, I actually just zoomed.
Speaker 7: The show is called Erin and Aaron. We aired on
Speaker 7: Nickelodeon and now it's on Netflix. We're waiting to hear
Speaker 7: about a season two. But so I was just zooming
Speaker 7: with the parents, but then the kids hopped on and
Speaker 7: of course, you know my question is I was like,
Speaker 7: I was like, I know, we all want a second season,
Speaker 7: but like, how are the kids feeling?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Very cue And this is my third time playing a mom,
Speaker 7: and I've been incredibly I just I just love it.
Speaker 7: I've been incredibly protective every time. Like I've loved all
Speaker 7: I've loved all of these kids that I've I've worked
Speaker 7: with because I'm able to see in them. Yeah, some
Speaker 7: people don't want to be there, sure, and it's like
Speaker 7: it's like this is a path, this is a hobby,
Speaker 7: You'll grow out of it, whatever. But then with some
Speaker 7: of them, I'm just like, yeah, man, sometimes there's just
Speaker 7: no other way. Sometimes I'm actually curious to know if
Speaker 7: you would have it any other way, because I honestly
Speaker 7: think that, like I can look back and say I
Speaker 7: wouldn't really want anything to be different other than maybe
Speaker 7: just I would just be gentleer on myself in general.
Speaker 7: But yeah, but I see it. So when the kids
Speaker 7: hopped on and then like I sort of asked them
Speaker 7: and they were like, they were like yeah, I was like,
Speaker 7: how school, And they're like, you're kind of ready to
Speaker 7: get back to work, and I was.
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, there you go, there you go.
Speaker 7: I remember the exact same thing. I remember being so
Speaker 7: ready to get back to school. And actually, Danielle, I
Speaker 7: don't think I realized that you too were in like
Speaker 7: real scholar school, regular school. I didn't realize Jodie was.
Speaker 7: Christine was like that's something that I'm like, oh, no,
Speaker 7: wonder we sort of gravitated towards each other because very
Speaker 7: few people really understand absolutely and that is such difficult balance.
Speaker 7: But I wouldn't change it. I'm very old that I
Speaker 7: had both. But I was like, yes, I remember this.
Speaker 7: I remember wanting to get back to school and going
Speaker 7: for a semester and then just being like, when are
Speaker 7: we getting back to Yeah, I mean I'm obsessed. I
Speaker 7: mean I'm obsessed with them, So I I just love
Speaker 7: you know, I have no plans to be a mother
Speaker 7: in my real life, but I love playing a mom.
Speaker 7: I love anytime. I think it was maybe just towards
Speaker 7: the end of the season one of them sort of
Speaker 7: like quietly approached me and was like, oh, you know,
Speaker 7: I'm gonna get I'm actually surprised I haven't busted a
Speaker 7: tear yet. She was like, she's like, well, I'm just
Speaker 7: kind of nervous about, you know, how what's gonna happen
Speaker 7: when the show airs. And I was able to give
Speaker 7: her some i think solid advice because it's hard to
Speaker 7: hold yourself back, at least for me it is. I
Speaker 7: just want to tell them things all the time, but
Speaker 7: I have to wait for them to, you know.
Speaker 5: Help too.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, exactly, they have to want to anyway. And
Speaker 7: it was like it was like I imparted what I
Speaker 7: could and she walked away, and I was like in
Speaker 7: the makeup trailer and I was like, I like called
Speaker 7: it together, and I was like after she was out
Speaker 7: of the room. I was like, oh, because I just
Speaker 7: I there are so many elements of this business that
Speaker 7: are completely magical. And I'll say it again like that
Speaker 7: really is one of them. The people that you meet,
Speaker 7: the connections that you for, the family that you make. Yeah,
Speaker 7: I'm a lifer.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. My final question is totally related to that. What
Speaker 1: would little lame is Larissa think about current adult, beautiful
Speaker 1: Alissa still working all these decades later, and the wonderful
Speaker 1: human woman you've grown into being.
Speaker 7: Sorry, that's a big one. I think she's so much
Speaker 7: smarter than me. Honestly, I think she's more just like, Yeah,
Speaker 7: I told you.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 5: That's a perfect answer. That's exactly right. Yeah to you,
Speaker 5: this is life. This is the if I knew you
Speaker 5: were going to have you just duh, I've d at it. Yeah,
Speaker 5: And sister enjoyed that Kushli's commercial. You've got decades more
Speaker 5: of this, sister.
Speaker 7: A.
Speaker 1: Larissa, thank you so much for being here with us
Speaker 1: and gracing us with your presence.
Speaker 5: It's always so wonderful to see you.
Speaker 7: I mean I said it briefly, but you really are.
Speaker 7: And I kind of joked about it with you in text,
Speaker 7: but like you really are providing a service. Like I
Speaker 7: think I think you understand, but like I just want
Speaker 7: to mirror back for you that, like the ripple effect
Speaker 7: of this podcast is much bigger than and I think you,
Speaker 7: I think you get that, but I just I just
Speaker 7: wanted to reiterate it that I think it's just even
Speaker 7: for those of us who aren't child actors, there's something
Speaker 7: that's just so relatable about well just about what you're doing.
Speaker 7: It's important.
Speaker 5: Thank you, It's very sweet.
Speaker 7: Thank you, special corner of the world. It's very important.
Speaker 5: Thank you means a lot to us writers.
Speaker 1: Emotional I can tell, so I won't on the whole time.
Speaker 5: So cute on you. Thank you, Larissa, thank you so
Speaker 5: much for being here. We'll see you again soon.
Speaker 7: Thank you. Bye bye.
Speaker 5: We need to bring her back to do.
Speaker 4: We should actually, yeah, well we should have all three
Speaker 4: of the girlfriends back for the episode where they all
Speaker 4: gather for sure rewatch.
Speaker 3: We'll do a rewatch for that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2: That'd be fun, wonderful.
Speaker 1: I would I would love that we could also bring
Speaker 1: back Larissa and Jody and do a Kush Links episode.
Speaker 5: Yes, we watched the.
Speaker 2: Entire time.
Speaker 4: We should do it while doing while having a sleepover
Speaker 4: at the Mall of America.
Speaker 5: And we can watch Will's show with Larissa.
Speaker 3: Oh it was it was fun. It was good.
Speaker 2: I still have it too somewhere. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: we should.
Speaker 1: We could throw out and Pepper Dennis guys, Yes we could.
Speaker 5: We'll have a great to going. I really like this idea.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you all for being here with us for
Speaker 1: this episode of Podmeets World. As always, you can follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send
Speaker 1: us your emails pod Meets World Show at gmail dot
Speaker 1: com and we have.
Speaker 3: Merch another crush on Riders Strong merch.
Speaker 5: Od Meets Worldshow dot com will send us out.
Speaker 3: We love you all, pod dismissed.
Speaker 4: Podmeets World is nheart podcast producer and hosted by Danielle Fischel,
Speaker 4: Wilfredell and Ryder Strong. Executive producers Jensen Carp and Amy Sugarman.
Speaker 4: Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor,
Speaker 4: Tara Sudbaksh producer, Maddy Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World
Speaker 4: super fan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle
Speaker 4: Morton of typhoon, and you can follow us on Instagram
Speaker 4: at podmeets World Show or email us at pod Meets
Speaker 4: World Show at g mail dot com.