Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
Speaker 1: me Tommy di Dario, So today's guest is probably one
Speaker 1: of the coolest dudes I've had.
Speaker 2: The opportunity to hang out with. He just oozes cool.
Speaker 1: I feel like when he's not even trying to be cool,
Speaker 1: there he is being cool again. Milo Mannheim joins me today,
Speaker 1: who is best known for his starring role as Zed
Speaker 1: in Disney's hit movie musical franchise as Zombies, which just
Speaker 1: wrapped production on its fourth installments. He also stars as
Speaker 1: Wally in the smashit series School Spirits, which just releaates
Speaker 1: his second season. The series is now on Netflix, where
Speaker 1: it's sat in the top ten for multiple weeks, and
Speaker 1: a third season is on the way. No surprise there,
Speaker 1: it was such a beloved show. And because he's not
Speaker 1: busy enough, he's making his off Broadway debut starring as
Speaker 1: Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, which is receiving rave reviews.
Speaker 1: Is it safe to say that everything Milo touches turns
Speaker 1: to gold?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 1: He is such a brilliantly talented artist but also a
Speaker 1: really good human And today we are celebrating the work
Speaker 1: that you love, but we're also getting to know a
Speaker 1: deeper side to an artist that so many have been
Speaker 1: schering on for quite some time now. So let's see
Speaker 1: if we can get Milo to say something that he
Speaker 1: has never said before.
Speaker 2: Milom, my man, how you doing today.
Speaker 3: I'm great. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to
Speaker 3: be here.
Speaker 1: Oh I'm psyched to have you. And welcome to New York.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've been here for a minute now, but
Speaker 1: this is your poem for now?
Speaker 3: Yeah it is. I mean I went to NYU for
Speaker 3: one year, but I really didn't get to explore as
Speaker 3: much as I wanted to. It was a pretty rigorous schedule.
Speaker 3: And now I'm working. I'm staying in like Midtown, so
Speaker 3: I'm really in the heart of it all and I'm
Speaker 3: loving it. It's life. Life is living.
Speaker 2: Out here, all right. I like that.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm an East Coast guy, so I've been in
Speaker 1: New York for a while now, so I always like
Speaker 1: to welcome a new friend to the city.
Speaker 3: So welcome, thank you. I feel welcome. I just added
Speaker 3: a friend to my arsenal.
Speaker 2: There we go, there, we go.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 1: We're going to town from New Jersey friends, so we're
Speaker 1: some of the best kind because we got your back.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that. See, I'm a Jew, so I'm sure
Speaker 3: we get like the Italians and Jews getting mixed up
Speaker 3: all the time.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, we're family. We're totally family.
Speaker 3: Honorary baby.
Speaker 1: Oh I love it. I love you already. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: so happy you're here. Thanks for joining the show. You're
Speaker 1: here for a very good reason in New York. And
Speaker 1: of course you're starring off Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors,
Speaker 1: which is so much fun and such an iconic show.
Speaker 1: Do you actually have a show tonight?
Speaker 3: I do have a show tonight, and in fact, me
Speaker 3: and Liz have an interview together, so she's waiting in
Speaker 3: the lobby right now and she'll come up here whatever
Speaker 3: this is done. But yeah, that's been something to learn,
Speaker 3: is how to really take care of yourself and be responsible.
Speaker 3: I mean, in film it's a lot different than in theater.
Speaker 3: And I feel like when I'm on stage, I'm having
Speaker 3: like the best time and i feel like I'm not working.
Speaker 3: And then when I'm off stage the work really begins
Speaker 3: and I'm trying to be responsible. It's not working out
Speaker 3: very well. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean I was gonna say, how are you here,
Speaker 1: like kicking it with me, and then you're gonna go
Speaker 1: see Liz and do something and then go on stage
Speaker 1: like half hour later. Like that's normal for you. You
Speaker 1: don't need to be in like silence for two hours prepping,
Speaker 1: you know, for.
Speaker 3: The first time in my career, I'm really like valuing
Speaker 3: alone time and not doing anything. I always tell my team,
Speaker 3: and I feel like people know this about me. I
Speaker 3: relax by doing stuff Like when I'm just sitting alone
Speaker 3: in my room, I kind of spiral and just like
Speaker 3: my thoughts take over and I'm like I need work
Speaker 3: or something. But it's so nice to be in the
Speaker 3: flow of things here. That's what's so beautiful about theater.
Speaker 3: A great thing about film is that it's new every day,
Speaker 3: and you know you're shooting a scene and then when
Speaker 3: it's done, it's done. But here we've gotten into such
Speaker 3: a good groove. So I think I've gotten over, you know,
Speaker 3: some of the anxiety about that, and I feel like
Speaker 3: I'm in the groove now and sometimes doing these things
Speaker 3: really wake me up. Good for my voice, I guess
Speaker 3: when I haven't been talking all day, a little bit
Speaker 3: of talking, but I don't know. Every day is different.
Speaker 3: I wake up feeling so different every day, but I'm
Speaker 3: feeling happy to be here right now.
Speaker 2: Oh well, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: And yeah, we know your work in film and television
Speaker 1: and we're going to celebrate that in a bit. But
Speaker 1: let's talk about Seymour. I mean, such an iconic character.
Speaker 1: What made you be like, Yeah, I want to play
Speaker 1: that character. Let's go, let's rock. I'm moving to New
Speaker 1: York to do it.
Speaker 3: Well, the number one thing was to be able to
Speaker 3: work with Michael Mayer, who's directing the show, and you know,
Speaker 3: I've loved him my whole life. And first of all,
Speaker 3: I saw this show like five or six years ago
Speaker 3: with Jonathan Groff, and I went to it because you know,
Speaker 3: my mom had got us tickets and I was, you know,
Speaker 3: of course excited, But I left that theater like wow.
Speaker 3: I did not give this show nearly the credit it deserved.
Speaker 3: It's such a brilliant show and this production is so
Speaker 3: well done and it's so fun. It's like being shot
Speaker 3: out of a cannon from beginning to end. And yeah,
Speaker 3: just to know that I could have been a part
Speaker 3: of that in any way was crazy. In fact, when
Speaker 3: I got the audition or not the audition the offer.
Speaker 3: I thought it was for the dentist, and I did
Speaker 3: not know that they had se me in that Seymour
Speaker 3: role in their heads. And then when I found that
Speaker 3: that's what it was, I was so game. And it's interesting,
Speaker 3: you know, bringing your own spin to it. That's the
Speaker 3: beauty of this production. Everybody does it so differently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1: And you and Liz Gillies, you guys take people on
Speaker 1: a journey, and I imagine there's a lot of trusts
Speaker 1: you have to put into your co star in this
Speaker 1: type of show and in these types of roles. So
Speaker 1: what was the moment where you knew you could lean
Speaker 1: on her and you could trust her, Like, was there
Speaker 1: something that happened where you were like, Okay, we got
Speaker 1: each other.
Speaker 3: That's a great question. First and foremost, I was a
Speaker 3: little bit I don't want to stay scared intimidated by Liz.
Speaker 3: I mean, she's a powerhouse of a person, of an actress,
Speaker 3: of a singer. I was so excited to be working
Speaker 3: with her, and I really didn't know much about who
Speaker 3: she was as a person, and I got sick the
Speaker 3: first week, so I missed the first week of rehearsals,
Speaker 3: which killed me, but she reached out to me and she,
Speaker 3: you know, we had a really long face time we
Speaker 3: went through the whole show, and I was like, Wow,
Speaker 3: he's such a sweet, kind person, obviously incredibly talented. But
Speaker 3: I think that's what I realized. We kind of had
Speaker 3: the same vision for how we wanted to do this.
Speaker 3: The show is very over the top and heightened, and
Speaker 3: a great note Michael Mary gave me was this isn't real,
Speaker 3: but it's true. You know, none of these things that
Speaker 3: are happening are real. The plant is freaking talking. You know,
Speaker 3: a lot of this stuff is over the top, but
Speaker 3: underneath all of it is truth. And after that FaceTime
Speaker 3: with Liz, I realized we both really valued bringing a
Speaker 3: grounded aspect to the show through all the chaos, and
Speaker 3: as we've been doing it more and more, we've just
Speaker 3: found magical moments together. And Yeah, I really am so
Speaker 3: grateful that she's so collaborative and that we had the
Speaker 3: same sort of idea of how we wanted it to present.
Speaker 1: It's always nice when you get to work with someone
Speaker 1: you actually really enjoy, right, my god.
Speaker 3: And I mean I think she's fantastic just watching her,
Speaker 3: watching the things that I've seen her in, but getting
Speaker 3: to know her is even better. I mean, and now
Speaker 3: we have such a good relationship. We've been doing it
Speaker 3: for over a month now, and it's great if I
Speaker 3: you know, I have a friend in New York in
Speaker 3: her right now always, which is great. And there's something
Speaker 3: about just being on the journey together. I mean that
Speaker 3: you experience with all castmates of things that you do,
Speaker 3: but nobody truly understands what it is other than the
Speaker 3: people in the cast doing it together, and the people
Speaker 3: are part of the production, so we really get to,
Speaker 3: you know, talk about those things. Not that there's many
Speaker 3: problems with the show at all, but if we are
Speaker 3: feeling things within ourselves, we can talk it out and
Speaker 3: have an intelligent person on the other side to tell
Speaker 3: us what is just in our head and what's real.
Speaker 3: And it's also really refreshing to know someone like her.
Speaker 3: She gets stressed out before shows too, and she's worried
Speaker 3: about her voice, and I'm like, ah, okay, you're so
Speaker 3: fantastic and you're feeling this way, then maybe I'm feeling
Speaker 3: this way. You know, it's normal, and it's not true
Speaker 3: because I don't think that when she feels that way,
Speaker 3: it's it's correct. I think it's just those things in
Speaker 3: our head, you know, they get to us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's nice to have a reminder that someone
Speaker 1: else is feeling it and going through it at the same.
Speaker 2: Time as you.
Speaker 1: I think we always forget that whatever the feeling is,
Speaker 1: but it's like, oh no, that person feels the same way.
Speaker 2: I take it.
Speaker 1: You two have some fun too on that stage and backstage.
Speaker 1: What's the quirkiest thing you guys do when you're between
Speaker 1: scenes or backstage?
Speaker 3: You know, it's usually like before or after the show,
Speaker 3: because I feel like once the show starts, we're like
Speaker 3: so locked in. There are a few moments, but we're
Speaker 3: just chilling backstage together. And when it started, we were
Speaker 3: talking about the show and we're like about to get
Speaker 3: ready for this thing. Like the one part I think
Speaker 3: about is when the Dentist is singing the Dentist song.
Speaker 3: That's like two or three minutes that we're just chilling
Speaker 3: backstage together. And it started with you know, those anxieties
Speaker 3: and great things that we're looking forward to, and now
Speaker 3: it was just like what did you do today? Like,
Speaker 3: how was the trip? And it's nice to know that
Speaker 3: we finally like settled in. But I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 3: the the rest of the cast is very quirky, and
Speaker 3: me and Liz kind of were in the same boat
Speaker 3: when we started, and we we wanted to feel the
Speaker 3: environment and we wanted to make sure that, you know,
Speaker 3: the vibe we were bringing made sense. But like opening night,
Speaker 3: because everybody else had done it so many times, they
Speaker 3: were already in that you know, goofy thing. A lot
Speaker 3: of the times. I don't know if I should be
Speaker 3: saying this, but we're singing random stuff that sounds good,
Speaker 3: like with the music on stage. But like there's one
Speaker 3: part where it's a tradition now, I guess during the
Speaker 3: like opening part of the second act, there's a part
Speaker 3: where everybody goes Shaka Khan and they sing the they
Speaker 3: sing the name Shaka Khan, and I was like, I
Speaker 3: don't know how this started, but I'm not questioning it
Speaker 3: and I'm going to join in. But I guess that's
Speaker 3: a little tidbit and fun information about the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: Now people are going to be showing up looking for
Speaker 1: that moment that's that's so awesome. Do you do you
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, you've done so much TV, don't
Speaker 1: You've done film? Obviously, you've done a lot of stage work.
Speaker 1: But at this point do you get stage fright? Like
Speaker 1: do you feel that before you go on or it's
Speaker 1: just smooth saleing every night?
Speaker 3: One percent I get stage fright. There are some nights
Speaker 3: when I don't, and I'm very grateful for it, and
Speaker 3: I make it clear to everybody. I'm like, I'm not nervous.
Speaker 3: I'm not nervous, like we're gonna kill the show. But
Speaker 3: at first I thought the stage fright was because I
Speaker 3: was not prepared, and that's not true, because I do
Speaker 3: so much preparation and take it very seriously. And that's
Speaker 3: where the stage fright comes from, is that I care
Speaker 3: so deeply. You know, we we got it, We got
Speaker 3: the show in our pockets. We if something goes wrong,
Speaker 3: which it rarely does, we have the tools to be
Speaker 3: able to fix it. That's the beautiful thing about live theater.
Speaker 3: But I just care. You know, every audience that comes in,
Speaker 3: you can hear them murmuring before the show, and I
Speaker 3: think it would be weird not to have some nerves
Speaker 3: and excitement, because that would mean that you're not, you know,
Speaker 3: doing the show for this audience. So it's not debilitating
Speaker 3: stage fright, but it's you know, it's definitely a feeling
Speaker 3: that's there. It's those butterflies for sure. I think the
Speaker 3: time I don't get that is when we're doing something
Speaker 3: on film that we've already done like ten hours of
Speaker 3: and it's like, all right, we got one in the bag,
Speaker 3: let's just have fun.
Speaker 1: So interesting to hear an artists talk about the different
Speaker 1: mediums and how they feel and react to being on
Speaker 1: those types of sets, because they are also very different.
Speaker 1: I think what's so cool is when you do something
Speaker 1: like this, I imagine you learn a lot about yourself. Right,
Speaker 1: So is there something you've learned about yourself or a
Speaker 1: way you've changed through doing this role, through being in
Speaker 1: New York, through being a part of this production that
Speaker 1: you can think.
Speaker 3: Of totally A couple things. I think when it comes
Speaker 3: to just like life, I'm realizing how much I value routine.
Speaker 3: I have add and I think that sometimes in film
Speaker 3: it's so you know, different every day, You're waking up
Speaker 3: at a different time every day, and I didn't realize
Speaker 3: how much that actually can throw me off. And here
Speaker 3: having your schedule, you know, be pretty much the same
Speaker 3: every day. You get into a rhythm that makes life
Speaker 3: easier in general. And I thought that maybe, you know,
Speaker 3: getting a cup of coffee with a friend before a
Speaker 3: show would stress me out because I'm like, I need
Speaker 3: to be resting my vocal cords right now. But it's
Speaker 3: like the more you give life, the more you get
Speaker 3: from it, I guess, is what I'm realizing over here.
Speaker 3: And that's what I love so much about New York
Speaker 3: is it's impossible not to be living life. In LA
Speaker 3: It's you really got to plan your days and it's
Speaker 3: easy to miss one and just spend it at home.
Speaker 3: But here you just walk outside and stuff is happening.
Speaker 3: What I've learned as an actor on this stage is,
Speaker 3: you know, I think it's really a great thing when
Speaker 3: you want to improve and you want to be better,
Speaker 3: and you know, every day get better and progress. But
Speaker 3: I don't think it's necessarily good when it becomes debilitating
Speaker 3: and you tell yourself you're not good. You know, I
Speaker 3: am here for a reason, and I got to remind
Speaker 3: myself that sometimes. And this is another one of the
Speaker 3: things that I talk about with Liz all the time.
Speaker 3: Is like, what of these things that we're thinking about
Speaker 3: are true and we can work on, and what are
Speaker 3: we like we've got this one hundred percent. We just
Speaker 3: like don't feel that way, you know. So I think
Speaker 3: there's a Feelings can be indicators of things, you know,
Speaker 3: really happening that need to change, or things that are
Speaker 3: going great, but they can also just be random, floating
Speaker 3: thoughts that have no purpose. And I think doing this
Speaker 3: show has helped me identify which ones to care about
Speaker 3: and which ones not to care about.
Speaker 1: Oh that must be so refreshing. I mean, I know
Speaker 1: we're all works in progress, so I'm sure some days
Speaker 1: are easier than others. With all of that being said,
Speaker 1: but it feels like, I don't know, being here in
Speaker 1: New York and being a part of this production maybe
Speaker 1: has lessons any anxieties that you have and things like
Speaker 1: that totally.
Speaker 3: And I don't want to like give a spoiler to
Speaker 3: the end of the show. I thought of multiple things
Speaker 3: that I've never said before for but one of those
Speaker 3: things was just like, I have anxiety. I have pretty
Speaker 3: bad anxiety. And I feel like in this world, especially
Speaker 3: in this industry, you're always putting out the good parts
Speaker 3: of yourself. I'm a very go lucky, happy guy, very
Speaker 3: positive and very grateful. However, you know, we all got
Speaker 3: our problems, we all got our things that we overthink,
Speaker 3: and I think it's unfair to not, you know, at
Speaker 3: least be open that those exist. I think it can
Speaker 3: be dangerous when you're just seeing all the perfect stuff,
Speaker 3: you know, So I that was one of the things.
Speaker 3: I have, multiple of things that never said before, But
Speaker 3: I think it's important just to let people know, like
Speaker 3: we all have those anxieties, you know. I think any
Speaker 3: good artist or any good you know, in whatever job,
Speaker 3: is conscious about the work they're doing, you know, and
Speaker 3: you just want to think about it positively and forward
Speaker 3: rather than something that gets you stagnant in your head.
Speaker 1: For sure, and anxiety can be so crippling, right, So
Speaker 1: it's like learning how to work around that totally.
Speaker 3: The audience here are so loving, though, and you know,
Speaker 3: I've been you know, social media is such a weird
Speaker 3: place because I feel like a lot of people say
Speaker 3: things they don't even really believe online and here it's
Speaker 3: like all these people bought tickets. They're coming here because
Speaker 3: they want to see the show, they want to love it,
Speaker 3: And I sometimes you think the audience is like a
Speaker 3: comment section, you know, and they're going to judge you
Speaker 3: that harshly. But that's not the case. You know. It's
Speaker 3: so loving here, and it kind of goes with the
Speaker 3: rhythm of New York, like it's easy here to put
Speaker 3: life outward and you know, perform for the audience and
Speaker 3: spread it this way rather than always looking inward. And
Speaker 3: I think there's you know, good parts about that as well.
Speaker 3: Go through a lot of therapy, a lot of looking inward,
Speaker 3: but it's just nice to it's honestly, in such a
Speaker 3: chaotic city, it's very relaxing somehow, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I feel that.
Speaker 1: I feel that deeply, and I'm very much like you,
Speaker 1: where I'm always thinking about what I want to do next.
Speaker 1: Mine spins and it's hard to turn it off, and
Speaker 1: I feel like here being in that environment, I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's soothing in a weird way.
Speaker 2: So I feel you.
Speaker 3: And my friends here. I have a lot of my
Speaker 3: friends from the show's school spirits here, and whenever we
Speaker 3: get together, we always have the best conversation and it's
Speaker 3: always forward and it's always something I've never really thought
Speaker 3: deeply about, and it unlocks a whole new, you know,
Speaker 3: sector of my brain. So I don't know, I just
Speaker 3: the fluidity of New York and the lack of fear
Speaker 3: to be yourself is something I really value here.
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1: Oh I love hearing that because I love the city
Speaker 1: so much, so I love when other people feel the
Speaker 1: same way. And you bring up school spirits renewed for
Speaker 1: season three. I know, congratulations, very very well deserved. I
Speaker 1: know the writers are amazing and the writing room takes
Speaker 1: care of it all, but like, let's play for a minute.
Speaker 3: What would be.
Speaker 2: One dream storyline?
Speaker 1: If you could pick anything out of the hat and
Speaker 1: say that's my dream, what would be?
Speaker 3: Okay? Well, this is what I found on the second
Speaker 3: season is that I really enjoy doing scenes with the
Speaker 3: living kids, even though you know we're dead. There's just
Speaker 3: a really like fun dynamic that happens there. But you know,
Speaker 3: the thing is like I would if we're gonna play,
Speaker 3: I'm down to play and we'll go crazy. But the
Speaker 3: thing that I love so much about the show is
Speaker 3: it's such a wild concept that they do in such
Speaker 3: a real way, Like there's nothing there's so many creative things,
Speaker 3: and none of them feel like absurd and like they're
Speaker 3: betraying the show, you know, And I think this season
Speaker 3: they're really gonna get into playing about like what this
Speaker 3: world is, like why this is happening, and I'm curious
Speaker 3: to see what they come up with. But in my
Speaker 3: wildest dreams, this is what I would want. Honestly, I'm
Speaker 3: so jealous of the actors that get to play two
Speaker 3: people when their body gets like inhabited by some other soul.
Speaker 3: But I won't be able to do that because I'm
Speaker 3: dead and I don't really have a body. I am
Speaker 3: the spirit, and I don't know how it would be
Speaker 3: possible for, you know, another character to hop into Wally's
Speaker 3: body where I could portray one of the other actors
Speaker 3: or their characters. But that would be something really fun
Speaker 3: to do, maybe on another show or something else. But
Speaker 3: you know, it also would be really interesting to see
Speaker 3: another actor try to portray Wally through their character. I
Speaker 3: don't know if we're seeing that this season. I have
Speaker 3: no idea what's happening this season, but I did have
Speaker 3: a quick call with them and it sounds like they're
Speaker 3: really getting into the adventure of solving this world. So
Speaker 3: we'll see about that.
Speaker 1: Oh, Okay, we can't wait for that. That should be awesome.
Speaker 1: And the cast is amazing. Peyton List, you know, she's wonderful.
Speaker 1: You seem to surround yourself with these talented, brilliant women
Speaker 1: that you work with and all these different projects.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I get really lucky. Everybody is a incredibly talented
Speaker 3: be so different at the way that they approach life,
Speaker 3: acting and see all great people. And I have a
Speaker 3: basically entire female team as well, like my manager is
Speaker 3: that whole team. And I've grew up a single child
Speaker 3: with a single mother or an only child rather, so
Speaker 3: you know, having amazing, powerful women in my life is
Speaker 3: a running theme, and I hope it keeps running.
Speaker 1: Are you someone that when a season comes out of
Speaker 1: a show, or you know, reviews come out for your
Speaker 1: off Broadway production or your movies come out, are you
Speaker 1: like all up in the reddit threads and blogs checking
Speaker 1: things out secretly or you do let it go?
Speaker 3: Great question. I am learning things as I go, And
Speaker 3: something that I'm grateful that I've never really done is
Speaker 3: read like critics reviews, whether they're good or bad. But
Speaker 3: I do a lot of the times, like in the
Speaker 3: group chat of school spirits, somebody will send a reddit
Speaker 3: theory that was like correct or something really cool that
Speaker 3: might be upcoming, and then I can't help go down
Speaker 3: that rabbit hole. I'm here for the love, Like why
Speaker 3: would I ever listen to a hater? You know what
Speaker 3: I mean? Like, if you don't enjoy it, then don't
Speaker 3: watch it, you know, or don't. I think it's so
Speaker 3: weird that we comment on things that we don't like,
Speaker 3: like why would you put that in your own life?
Speaker 3: And I understand if the show's not for you, but like,
Speaker 3: why would you waste your own energy on that? But
Speaker 3: when it comes to the love and people getting into it,
Speaker 3: I'm all about that. I'm deep in the reddit thread
Speaker 3: all the time. I've mentioned it in many interviews that
Speaker 3: the reddit thread for school Spirits is awesome. And also,
Speaker 3: just like tiktoks, I think that like the seeing the
Speaker 3: edits that people put together, they're really creative. They put
Speaker 3: they'll do like a song from one time that you
Speaker 3: would never think would go with this, and it just works.
Speaker 3: And I feel like a lot of these TikTok editors
Speaker 3: are going to become successful filmmakers eventually.
Speaker 1: Honestly, yeah, no, I could totally see that and that's
Speaker 1: what's so cool about a lot of the work that
Speaker 1: you do. It's the fans are so passionate and the
Speaker 1: work resonates in such a big way that people get
Speaker 1: so invested there, all up in the Reddit threads and
Speaker 1: writing things online and tiktoking and all of it. I mean,
Speaker 1: even for Zombies, the franchise that you've been a part of,
Speaker 1: you know, the fourth movies coming out, I imagine that
Speaker 1: holds a really special place in your heart too.
Speaker 3: You know, with every project I do, there's always a
Speaker 3: moment or a few moments where I look back on
Speaker 3: Zombies because Zombies started this all for me. I don't
Speaker 3: know if I'd be here if it weren't for Zombies.
Speaker 3: And not only Zombies won, but I just had such
Speaker 3: an incredible experience making Zombies four as well as a producer,
Speaker 3: which was a completely new thing. But I'm seriously so
Speaker 3: grateful for all these experiences, and they've all been generally amazing. Like,
Speaker 3: if there's ever a problem, it's because I'm like homesick
Speaker 3: being far away, but you learn something about yourself Ben
Speaker 3: as well. I think that it's really all about reframing
Speaker 3: and trying to get the good out of everything, but
Speaker 3: everything's been so different, you know, and going back to
Speaker 3: seeing stuff online and whatnot. The thing that is awesome
Speaker 3: and also sucks is when somebody mentioned something that you
Speaker 3: weren't really thinking about while you were shooting it, and
Speaker 3: you're like, oh, that's such a great point. I wish
Speaker 3: that I was like leaning into that or whatever, or
Speaker 3: maybe they wouldn't have even caught it if I was
Speaker 3: thinking so hard on that. It's an interesting dynamic to
Speaker 3: see what people pick up versus what you intended to
Speaker 3: put down. Sometimes it's exactly what you wanted them to get.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's something completely different. But yeah, uh back to zombies,
Speaker 3: I mean it's it started it all for me. Hopefully
Speaker 3: I will always have this great relationship with Disney, and
Speaker 3: I will always be grateful for Zed. I mean, he's
Speaker 3: a homie and great person, so yeah, dead person.
Speaker 2: Rather yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are hoping for a fifth, sixth, seventh,
Speaker 1: eighth film all of it.
Speaker 3: Well so too, and you know what, to be honest,
Speaker 3: like I used to get really frustrated when it felt
Speaker 3: like franchises or shows we're trying to squeeze too much
Speaker 3: out of it, or like elongate something. But we've created
Speaker 3: a universe with Zombies where the creativity can just flow forever,
Speaker 3: and it's it's such an absurd concept, but it works
Speaker 3: and we can keep going. And we have this great
Speaker 3: new group of kids in Zombies four where we are
Speaker 3: kind of passing the torch to them and hopefully they
Speaker 3: can you know, take the ball and run with it.
Speaker 3: And I hope to be involved with that franchise for
Speaker 3: as long as it goes, hopefully producing them as we go,
Speaker 3: maybe even directing one one day. I know it's a
Speaker 3: behemoth of a thing to direct a musical movie like that,
Speaker 3: but I'm picking up the pieces and learning how to
Speaker 3: do it as they go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, something tells me Europe for the challenge, and I
Speaker 1: think you would definitely succeed in sore and doing something
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: But you know what's really cool about you.
Speaker 1: A lot of people who come from the Disney world
Speaker 1: and the Disney background, you know, kind of have a
Speaker 1: complicated relationship or sometimes a transition into adulthood might be
Speaker 1: a journey that's a little harder to navigate, but it
Speaker 1: seems like for you it's all been pretty seamless.
Speaker 3: Thank you for saying that. That was something I really
Speaker 3: connected with liz On as well, Like I don't know why,
Speaker 3: I didn't have any preconceived ideas about her relationship with Nick,
Speaker 3: but I am. I have a uniquely great relationship with Disney.
Speaker 3: I love them and talking with her. She has such
Speaker 3: fond memories of her time on Victorious as well, and
Speaker 3: you know, we were in such different times. But to
Speaker 3: hear her speak about it as lovingly as I, you know,
Speaker 3: feel about zombies is so refreshing. And I also think
Speaker 3: that it's just this time that makes it a lot easier. Beforehand,
Speaker 3: I think it was just a little bit harder to
Speaker 3: do all these different things, you know, and now, I
Speaker 3: mean so many things in my career I never expected
Speaker 3: and I've hits. I've checked so many boxes of different
Speaker 3: types of stuff I've done, like a movie about Jesus
Speaker 3: that was a musical. I also did all horror movie
Speaker 3: with Eli.
Speaker 2: Roth, like what's up Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Joe shout out, by the way, hold on, I
Speaker 3: have something cool to show you.
Speaker 2: Let me see.
Speaker 3: I just got the Thanksgiving soundtrack on vinyl, which I
Speaker 3: just think is the weirdest, coolest.
Speaker 2: Thing that is sick.
Speaker 3: I know the fact that they made that is Eli
Speaker 3: Roth really gets into his stuff like he is just
Speaker 3: he has been living Thanksgiving ever since it came out.
Speaker 3: And hopefully, you know, we do a second one on that.
Speaker 3: I'm glad I'm not dead from the first one, so
Speaker 3: hopefully I come back.
Speaker 1: I think when something is such a pivotal and life
Speaker 1: changing thing for your career that it's always nice when
Speaker 1: you can revisit it with fond memories and grow that
Speaker 1: relationship to your point, maybe in a director role, maybe
Speaker 1: in a producer role.
Speaker 2: So that's really cool to see.
Speaker 1: I think you'll be doing a lots more and in
Speaker 1: all verticals, you know, in your career.
Speaker 3: Thank you man. I hope so. And like you said,
Speaker 3: those things are big, you know, they can really launch
Speaker 3: you in a direction, and I'm it's you know if
Speaker 3: that's if it launches you in a direction you don't
Speaker 3: want to go. I totally understand how it could be
Speaker 3: frustrating for people, but luckily it I never really expected
Speaker 3: to have such a musical career, honestly, and I feel
Speaker 3: like I have one because of Zombies.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, it's so many talented people come out
Speaker 1: of that that kind of Disney class and family and I'm.
Speaker 2: Trying to think, was Sabrina Carpenter in your class?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we met like at events through Disney,
Speaker 3: and we've become much closer just through other things as well.
Speaker 3: But I always think about Disney sort of like a
Speaker 3: high school, Like you come in as a freshman and
Speaker 3: you have the seniors there. And I remember, like when
Speaker 3: Gary Marsh was leaving, he had a couple of us
Speaker 3: come in or it wasn't him, We surprised him during
Speaker 3: a meeting just to say how grateful we were for him.
Speaker 3: And it was me, Dove, Cameron, Raven Simone, and Ashley Tisdale,
Speaker 3: And I remember and like Duve I was even old,
Speaker 3: like older than I was, and I would consider her
Speaker 3: a senior to my freshman. But I remember sitting there
Speaker 3: like with Dove and we were, you know, closer at
Speaker 3: that time, and I'm like, oh my god, like that's
Speaker 3: Raven and Ashley and we're just here as like just
Speaker 3: four Disney kids, you know, thanking this guy that made
Speaker 3: it all happen. And that was one of those moments
Speaker 3: where I was like, I'm so grateful that they're all,
Speaker 3: you know, so warm and loving and truly I I
Speaker 3: don't know. Maybe it's a testament to Disney, maybe it's
Speaker 3: a testament to who I want to surround myself with.
Speaker 3: But I really look back on everybody there being super
Speaker 3: warm and you know, similar to me and Liz right
Speaker 3: now on this show, similar to Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 3: we're all on the same boat and it's a really
Speaker 3: weird boat to be in. So I think just having
Speaker 3: that you know, mutual understanding sets you off on a
Speaker 3: good foot. And you know, there's lots of mentors there,
Speaker 3: and I hope to be a great mentor for the
Speaker 3: incoming freshman's. I feel like I've graduated, but I'm still there.
Speaker 3: So you know, all these new kids before, I think
Speaker 3: that they were grateful to have Meg and I and
Speaker 3: Chandler and Kylie as well. But we love taking on
Speaker 3: that role.
Speaker 1: I think it's cool that you all have each other's
Speaker 1: backs and you all seem to meet in different ways. Again,
Speaker 1: like you doing the feather you know video with Sabrina Carpenter.
Speaker 1: It must have been a really fun moment for you
Speaker 1: to be like, oh cool, like she's asking me to
Speaker 1: be in this epic video.
Speaker 3: That happened so whimsically, by the way, like she asked
Speaker 3: me the day before or like, I don't know, less
Speaker 3: than a few days and I happen to be here
Speaker 3: and it was It's so fun for the fans to
Speaker 3: see that, especially when like me and Sabrina were never
Speaker 3: on the same show, Me and Liz obviously were never
Speaker 3: on the same show. And I think it just gets
Speaker 3: people really excited. But it's also so cool for us,
Speaker 3: you know, like we think about that too, and it's
Speaker 3: just like, you know, always such a great pairing. I mean,
Speaker 3: everybody that I've worked with, you know, from Disney outside
Speaker 3: of Zombies is so great. I just saw Karen Brar
Speaker 3: today at some event right now, and we just like
Speaker 3: connected on our our time back then and what we've
Speaker 3: been up to now, and it's great. Yeah, all love,
Speaker 3: all love.
Speaker 2: We like that.
Speaker 1: Well, Milo, I could talk to you for literally five
Speaker 1: more hours, but you got a show to get to tonight,
Speaker 1: so I'm going to wrap this up. And the last
Speaker 1: question I want to ask you is based off the
Speaker 1: title of my show, which is I've never said this before,
Speaker 1: And it was born from this idea of giving people
Speaker 1: the space to talk about things they don't always get
Speaker 1: the chance to talk about in quick SoundBite interviews. So
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, is there anything you can think of today
Speaker 1: that you've never said before that you want to share?
Speaker 3: You know? I keep thinking of two and one is
Speaker 3: more serious and one is more just like a fun fact,
Speaker 3: and I feel like we kind of covered it. But
Speaker 3: I've never said this before, but I do have anxiety,
Speaker 3: you know, and that's something that I think is important
Speaker 3: to share. And we've talked more in depth about that.
Speaker 3: But I just think it's fair to know that we all,
Speaker 3: you know, go through these things and we're not just
Speaker 3: who we present ourselves as. But the other thing that
Speaker 3: I think is very important to know about me, I've
Speaker 3: never said this before, but I'm an extremely sentimental person.
Speaker 3: I collect. I'm an avid collector of things. I have
Speaker 3: multiple collections from places I've been to. I've collected like
Speaker 3: I'll collect like magnets or like little souvenirs of those places,
Speaker 3: a shot glass that I think was interesting. I have
Speaker 3: like a cologne collection. I know, it's kind of like
Speaker 3: bougie of me to say. I also have a collection
Speaker 3: of tattoos of projects that I've done. I have like
Speaker 3: a little charm bracelet on my ankle. I have one
Speaker 3: for zombies, I have one for Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 3: I have one for school spirits. I believe all of
Speaker 3: those are matching with people that I've done those things with.
Speaker 3: Dancing with the Stars with Alexis wren Z, the z
Speaker 3: for Zombies originally with Kylie and now like half of
Speaker 3: the cast. Meg has one, Carla has one. And then
Speaker 3: the ghosts that I have for school spirits I have
Speaker 3: with Spencer McPherson and Rainbow with two of my best friends.
Speaker 3: So I'm just a really sentimental guy. I tried to
Speaker 3: like clean out my house the other day, and it
Speaker 3: was one of the more, like, more difficult things I've
Speaker 3: ever done in my life. I felt like I was
Speaker 3: going through a breakup. But I'm not a hoarder by
Speaker 3: any means. But I keep everything because I love reminiscing
Speaker 3: on those memories. Long ass answer, But that's what you got.
Speaker 2: Oh, I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1: I'm a sentimental man myself, so I think that's awesome
Speaker 1: we cherish the memories in our lives. I'm all about that.
Speaker 1: And thank you for also opening up about your anxiety.
Speaker 1: I think that's really cool for people to hear and
Speaker 1: know that we all go through the same shit and
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what we do. So oh, man, Milo,
Speaker 1: you are just you're the goat. Like I'm such a
Speaker 1: fan of you as a human. Now, I'm so happy
Speaker 1: we could connect and I hope you know you now
Speaker 1: have another friend.
Speaker 2: In New York.
Speaker 3: Dude. We got to link up so I can hear
Speaker 3: you talk instead of me just like spitting stuff at
Speaker 3: you for half an hour. So I'm excited to meet
Speaker 3: you in person.
Speaker 1: Likewise, likewise, I'm gonna come see your show. We'll figure
Speaker 1: it out. Congratulations on all of your success, man, keep
Speaker 1: on rocking.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I hope you have a good time.
Speaker 3: Let me know when you comes. I can meet you
Speaker 3: in the.
Speaker 1: Theater after for sure, for sure. Thank you man, all right,
Speaker 1: I love you.
Speaker 3: Peace out.
Speaker 1: I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me Tommy Dedario.
Speaker 1: This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Publisi at iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: and by Me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Speaker 1: Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
Speaker 1: podcast network on iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 2: For more, rate review and
Speaker 1: Subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
Speaker 1: tell your friends Until next time, I'm Tommy Dedario.