Speaker 1: My whole career started because of a decision I made
Speaker 1: in the bathroom there because we were doing we'd only
Speaker 1: been working.
Speaker 2: Let's it's bad decisions that happened.
Speaker 3: It's a good decision. This is a good choice.
Speaker 4: Hi.
Speaker 1: My name is Sarah Drew and I love horseback riding.
Speaker 2: Hello once again, Welcome one and all to a brand
Speaker 2: spanking new episode of Off the Beat. It's me as always,
Speaker 2: Brian Baumgartner. Is there a doctor in the house. Well, no,
Speaker 2: there's not, but my guest today did play a doctor
Speaker 2: on TV, doctor April Kepner, or as I know her,
Speaker 2: Sarah Drew from Gray's Anatomy. She's not only a doctor,
Speaker 2: but guess what, she's also a mom on Amber Brown,
Speaker 2: a shy teen from Everwood and a popular high school
Speaker 2: girl from Daria. In real life, she is one a
Speaker 2: delightful human two a fantastic actor, but also a real
Speaker 2: life writer and producer of lifetime movies including Reindeer Games, Homecoming,
Speaker 2: and A Cowboy Christmas Romance. So let's dive right in
Speaker 2: to Sarah's life as a pastor's daughter on Long Island,
Speaker 2: starting her career on Daria while she was still in
Speaker 2: high school and making the move behind the camera as
Speaker 2: a writer and producer. Here she is my new friend,
Speaker 2: Sarah Drew.
Speaker 4: Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 3: I love it, Bubble and Squeakna, Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 4: I cook get every more left over from the night pople.
Speaker 2: Hi, Sarah, how are you? I'm so good? How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm great. It's so nice to meet you.
Speaker 2: It is very, very nice to meet you. I've been
Speaker 2: a fan of yours for a long time. Oh, thanks
Speaker 2: for taking the time. Where are you today?
Speaker 3: I'm just at home in l A.
Speaker 2: You're in l A? All right?
Speaker 3: Where are you? Are you in l A?
Speaker 2: I'm I'm adjacent. Yeah, I'm near, I'm near. It's fine.
Speaker 2: It's finally nice here. So we have a we have
Speaker 2: a nice day to sit inside and talk. So there go.
Speaker 2: What what? What's what's happening? I mean we're coming into
Speaker 2: spring here. Are you excited about this?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean I'm excited to have warm weather again. I'm
Speaker 1: excited for my daughter to want it to get into
Speaker 1: the pool because it's not quite as freezing.
Speaker 3: That's exciting. Gets some energy out when she gets home. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't know. I got a movie coming out at
Speaker 3: the end of this month.
Speaker 2: I was just about to say, write new spring blooms
Speaker 2: new things, and so it is.
Speaker 1: Always blooming new, always bloom, always new things.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk about that, uh in a little bit.
Speaker 2: You're in La now, but you came originally from New York.
Speaker 2: I have been I have been researching you. Uh fascinating
Speaker 2: to me childhood. Uh. Your your father was a was
Speaker 2: a pastor. Is that right? Yeah? Now so you you
Speaker 2: saw him in a way performing h a stage?
Speaker 3: Absolutely? Yes.
Speaker 2: Do you do you feel like was was that your
Speaker 2: first sort of in person watching someone in front of
Speaker 2: a group of people. Was this something that was interesting
Speaker 2: to you as a child? Did you Did you think
Speaker 2: about it?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I mean there is there is a lot of theater
Speaker 1: to the church experience.
Speaker 3: For sure.
Speaker 1: You go and you sit down, you get your program,
Speaker 1: you follow along, you sing along sometimes which you don't
Speaker 1: get to do usually in musicals. But and then there's
Speaker 1: a presentation and there's uh it's uh, there is a
Speaker 1: theater aspect to it. So I grew up you know
Speaker 1: that always being a part of my life in a
Speaker 1: big way. I I will say, I mean I started performing.
Speaker 1: I would do little my dad would do little skits,
Speaker 1: little church skits, you know, like for the kids and stuff,
Speaker 1: put on crazy clothes and be silly upfront. He's all
Speaker 1: he's like a big ham He's silly and also deep
Speaker 1: and wonderful and wise and all the things.
Speaker 3: But I started.
Speaker 1: I think the first moment my parents were like, oh,
Speaker 1: this might be a thing was my graduation from kindergarten,
Speaker 1: where I just walked on to the stage with all
Speaker 1: the presents in the world, absolutely eating up the reality
Speaker 1: that there was an audience full of people and just
Speaker 1: was like A is for apple. Well, I think it
Speaker 1: was a Christian school, so I think I said it
Speaker 1: was Bee is for be still and know that.
Speaker 2: I am God.
Speaker 1: So they kind of looked at each other and they're like,
Speaker 1: that's interesting, and then they couldn't get me off the
Speaker 1: stage any opportunity I had.
Speaker 3: I've been performing ever.
Speaker 2: Since, So at a super young age, you decided this
Speaker 2: is what you wanted to do.
Speaker 1: There is an I never wanted to do anything else
Speaker 1: in the world. It was always from my earliest memories,
Speaker 1: all I wanted to do was perform. I would come
Speaker 1: up with shows and make my parents give me tickets,
Speaker 1: like I'd make tickets and then I would do a
Speaker 1: show on the coffee table, you.
Speaker 3: Know, like that.
Speaker 1: That was I wrote a musical when I was eleven,
Speaker 1: Never got never got to make it happen because you know,
Speaker 1: everybody went back to school and nobody had time anymore.
Speaker 1: But but fully had auditions and started rehearsals that you know,
Speaker 1: all the community theater and all the school plays. Anytime
Speaker 1: I could get to jump into somebody else's skin and
Speaker 1: live live a life through somebody else's eyes, I wanted
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: So it sounds like not, but I read that your
Speaker 2: your brothers are are also pastors in the church.
Speaker 1: One brother, one brother, and he was a pastor for
Speaker 1: about ten years and now he is working sort of
Speaker 1: adjacent to the church, but he's working for a nonprofit
Speaker 1: that whose whole purpose is to activate the church to
Speaker 1: care about the climate crisis. Okay, so that's what he's
Speaker 1: working on now. But it's in the same world of
Speaker 1: let's let's gather as a community to care and be
Speaker 1: good stewards of the people and the planet that we're on.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a responsible mission, yes, time to accomplish absolutely,
Speaker 2: did you. I mean it sounds like performing was always
Speaker 2: in your blood. Did you ever have a thought to
Speaker 2: go into theology or religious stuy?
Speaker 3: I mean I did.
Speaker 1: I was always in leadership positions. So I would I
Speaker 1: would go to the Christian youth camps, and then I
Speaker 1: would come home from the internships, and then I would
Speaker 1: start a Bible study and I would plan my talks.
Speaker 1: And so in high school I was leading Bible studies,
Speaker 1: and in college as well, I met my husband actually
Speaker 1: leading worship. We sang and he plays guitar too, and
Speaker 1: so that was how I met my husband, always being
Speaker 1: kind of upfront in some sort of leadership position. And
Speaker 1: the interesting thing is I was never interested in going
Speaker 1: into theology for like any kind of pastoral role. I
Speaker 1: knew though that I had giftings and talents for leadership.
Speaker 1: And so really in the last five years since leaving Grays,
Speaker 1: I've been producing and writing and directing too, and so
Speaker 1: that leadership stuff. I find that I feel very at
Speaker 1: home when I'm in a leadership position. It feels very
Speaker 1: very I feel very alive. I love taking care of
Speaker 1: people I love, you know, captaining the ship in a
Speaker 1: way that makes people feel seen and loved in a
Speaker 1: very similar way that I think my dad would pastor
Speaker 1: his church, but obviously not remotely related to religion, just
Speaker 1: related to creating good.
Speaker 2: Community, right. And while that might be a skill that
Speaker 2: you have, undoubtedly these early experiences in the church gave
Speaker 2: you experience and an opportunity to sort of at least
Speaker 2: try that out or flex those muscles. Right.
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, yeah, standing up in front of people and
Speaker 1: guiding a discussion and planning, you know, planning my talk
Speaker 1: and writing out the thoughts and listening to you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, I mean I directed a little bit. I
Speaker 1: remember directing the spring play my senior year of high school.
Speaker 1: So just any opportunity I had to be able to
Speaker 1: in a ship in some way, I did. And then
Speaker 1: I kind of took a seat and was just sort
Speaker 1: of a good soldier as an actor for like twenty
Speaker 1: years before I got my first opportunity to step into
Speaker 1: those leadership roles again.
Speaker 2: You grew up in Stony Brook. Did you find yourself
Speaker 2: going into the city a lot, meaning the city New
Speaker 2: York City?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Is there another city?
Speaker 4: Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Sounds like a New Yorker to see shows? I mean,
Speaker 2: was that a part of your upbringing?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: The way that because we didn't have a lot of money.
Speaker 1: My mom, well, she was a research scientist and then
Speaker 1: she left that career to become a teacher at a
Speaker 1: private school that she wanted to put us in because
Speaker 1: I needed to move into a different school situation, and
Speaker 1: she changed careers and became a teacher actually in order
Speaker 1: to get us into this I have a school, so
Speaker 1: we could actually afford to go, so.
Speaker 3: Where we didn't.
Speaker 1: I did not grow up with like a lot of
Speaker 1: extra money or funds lying around. So what we would
Speaker 1: do is we would go at the crack dawn, get
Speaker 1: on the train, take the train into Manhattan, and go
Speaker 1: stand in line for four hours at ts KTS.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's where you were going. Yeah, that's so great.
Speaker 2: I tell people that all the time, like, if you
Speaker 2: put in the effort, you have the opportunity. And particularly
Speaker 2: as someone who who has an interest in the field,
Speaker 2: like I don't know, I'm gonna I'm gonna like date
Speaker 2: myself by references or whatever. But it's like you don't
Speaker 2: have to go see lay Miz or whatever is the
Speaker 2: top show at that moment, Hamilton. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: eventually those opportunities may become available, but just see stuff
Speaker 2: and experience good bad, or indifferent work that gives you
Speaker 2: touch of a base to pull from as you're moving forward,
Speaker 2: even seeing stuff that maybe is not your thing.
Speaker 1: Right, No, I, I mean we that's that. That was
Speaker 1: the sort of fun and joy and crapshoot of it
Speaker 1: all is that you go, you take the journey, and
Speaker 1: it's a two hour journey into the city, just the
Speaker 1: train ride as a two hour train ride, you know,
Speaker 1: and you're getting up at the crack of dawn to
Speaker 1: get out with the whole family in tow and there's
Speaker 1: no guarantee that you're going to get to see any
Speaker 1: of the shows that you want to see, so it's
Speaker 1: just like a what's available, what can we do? I
Speaker 1: also remember there used to be standing room only tickets
Speaker 1: you can get that I that we used to do
Speaker 1: all the time. I remember seeing Lion King's SR s
Speaker 1: ro O as my mom when I was calling. We
Speaker 1: got some sro tickets so we would stand in the
Speaker 1: back with our our arms on the on the back
Speaker 1: thing in the orchestra and watch the show standing. I mean,
Speaker 1: I I saw so I saw Lee Miz that way,
Speaker 1: I saw a fan of the opera, I saw Lion
Speaker 1: King that way, you know, and then I also remember,
Speaker 1: and this was after I think in my college years,
Speaker 1: when I was home for winter break or something, when
Speaker 1: Wicked was like the height of everything, and they had
Speaker 1: this like lottery so you could put your names in
Speaker 1: and maybe get tickets, and my mom and I actually
Speaker 1: won two tickets and sat and saw Wicked for twenty
Speaker 1: bucks each in the front row, which was amazing. However,
Speaker 1: the show that we saw earlier that day was this
Speaker 1: random show that I don't even remember the name of
Speaker 1: it. It was about a bunch of folks who were homeless
Speaker 1: and the angels that came alongside of them and cared
Speaker 1: for them, and the music was incredible. We were weeping,
Speaker 1: weeping like it was and it only lasted a couple
Speaker 1: of months on Broadway. It wasn't a big hit. And
Speaker 1: I remember being so deeply moved by that show that
Speaker 1: nobody had heard of that we ran got tickets to
Speaker 1: because there were tickets to it at TKTS And that
Speaker 1: was my highlight more than being in the front row
Speaker 1: to see Wicket.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing, Yeah, I do, I miss so. I
Speaker 2: remember seeing an early version of Cabaret that that same
Speaker 2: way I couldn't get in. Did the the Sro stuff
Speaker 2: and and loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1: I think there's something also about when you're when you're
Speaker 1: making the choice to do the thing that's not very
Speaker 1: comfortable and takes a lot of effort, it makes you
Speaker 1: appreciate the experience also so much more, Like I better
Speaker 1: like this show. I better find all the things that
Speaker 1: are great about the show and love it because I
Speaker 1: spend all day to trying to get in to see
Speaker 1: this and then you like jump for joy that you
Speaker 1: actually got into the the Sro seed, Like, yes.
Speaker 4: I get to see this thing.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter that I'm standing, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: So you're in high school. You're you're in high school
Speaker 2: and you end up getting cast with a voice role
Speaker 2: as Stacy in Daria, which ends up becoming quite quite
Speaker 2: a big thing. Now, how how did that come about
Speaker 2: for you? And let me just say this, I've said
Speaker 2: this a lot, being a voice actor. If you think
Speaker 2: being an actor is hard, being a voice actor is
Speaker 2: way way more difficult, uh to do? How How did
Speaker 2: how did that role come about for you?
Speaker 4: So?
Speaker 1: Yeah, and by the way, I keep trying and nobody
Speaker 1: wants me for any other cartoons or animated anything. You know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter that I was on Gray's Anatomy for
Speaker 1: nine years. They're like, Nope, you're not in the Mafia.
Speaker 1: You're not in the Voice Sober Mafia, so you don't
Speaker 1: get to do it.
Speaker 2: How did you get in the mafia though? To start?
Speaker 2: You're there.
Speaker 1: So the interesting thing is it's actually funny because it's
Speaker 1: similar to how Grays turned up.
Speaker 4: It is.
Speaker 1: I I was doing like children's theater at this awesome
Speaker 1: regional theater on Long Island called Gateway Playhouse, and there
Speaker 1: was a so they it was an established regional the
Speaker 1: summerstock theater, so there were professionals that would live there
Speaker 1: and do main stage shows, but during the summer we
Speaker 1: would also the kids in the area would.
Speaker 3: Do children's theater.
Speaker 1: So we would use the same stages as the main
Speaker 1: stage was, so we would be doing like Winnie the
Speaker 1: Pooh on the set of The King and I you know,
Speaker 1: like that's just that was what we were doing, right,
Speaker 1: And our dream was to be on main.
Speaker 3: Stage, you know.
Speaker 1: That was just like, oh, if we could just get
Speaker 1: to main stage, all our dreams would come true.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: But with that community, there was like a couple actors
Speaker 1: that I knew a couple friends that I knew there
Speaker 1: who had like a manager who worked out of her
Speaker 1: basement on Long Island, you know, and she and they
Speaker 1: introduced me to her. So I started auditioning for a
Speaker 1: couple of little things and she got me this audition
Speaker 1: for a guest spot on Daria. So I actually started
Speaker 1: on Daria playing a little girl that Daria baby sits for, okay,
Speaker 1: And I remember she would sang the song I can
Speaker 1: hope and I Can dream and I am full love
Speaker 1: self esteem, Like I literally was playing like a seven
Speaker 1: year old or something. So I did that, and they
Speaker 1: had a different actress playing Stacy actually the beginning of
Speaker 1: the show, and then that actress fell out, and then
Speaker 1: they asked me to read for Stacy and to take
Speaker 1: over the role, and then I was Stacy for the
Speaker 1: rest of the run.
Speaker 3: Wow, isn't that crazy?
Speaker 2: Yeah? And this is a good run. And this was
Speaker 2: a big show, Like were you aware as you were
Speaker 2: doing it how big it was? Were you?
Speaker 3: Okay, completely unaware?
Speaker 1: And I got paid nothing because I was I mean nothing, yes.
Speaker 3: Zero, no residuals.
Speaker 1: Like I would go in and record five episodes at once,
Speaker 1: and they'd give me a couple hundred bucks and call
Speaker 1: it a day, like nothing. So, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: about the staying power of that show and I'm just like, well,
Speaker 1: I didn't really have representation then.
Speaker 2: So wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I remember I was still recording those
Speaker 1: episodes when I went to college, and they would just
Speaker 1: hold all of my stuff to do all at once,
Speaker 1: and I would take the train in to Manhattan from
Speaker 1: Virginia where I was in college, and I would just
Speaker 1: record for six hours straight, several episodes, all my lines
Speaker 1: and then call it a day. And that's it.
Speaker 2: And you were you in the Union?
Speaker 3: No, no, no, nothing.
Speaker 2: No nothing. You were literally just like I was just a.
Speaker 1: Hired kid that everybody took advantage of. That's inane, a
Speaker 1: single pen of residuals now.
Speaker 2: So you see nothing now, I've never.
Speaker 3: Seen anything, not even just now. I've never seen a cent.
Speaker 2: They just slip you.
Speaker 3: I was non union.
Speaker 1: I had no experience. There was I think they called
Speaker 1: me directly, like the manager might have gotten me that
Speaker 1: first audition, but then they called me direct mes i'd want.
Speaker 3: To come in and read this other part into.
Speaker 1: And for me, I'm like, yay, I'm doing something professional.
Speaker 2: No, wow, all right, Well, yeah, producers of Daria, I'm
Speaker 2: coming after.
Speaker 1: You, I know, and there's some sort of reboot or something.
Speaker 1: I mean, they never include me in any of that stuff.
Speaker 1: It's as if I was never there.
Speaker 2: Well, it's better for them if they pretend you were
Speaker 2: never there, Sarah, What, I don't think that's right. That
Speaker 2: wasn't anyone.
Speaker 3: That can't be true.
Speaker 2: No, it had to have and someone else. Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 1: But I did have a lot of cool bragging power
Speaker 1: during that time. I didn't watch I didn't watch the show.
Speaker 1: I didn't have MTV, I had no access to it,
Speaker 1: and there was no streaming at that point, so like,
Speaker 1: I never even really saw it.
Speaker 3: And you know, I but people were like, Daria, you're
Speaker 3: on Daria. You have you have a role?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I get a couple hundred bucks every
Speaker 1: few months.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so good, that is so MTV. Wow. All right. Uh, well,
Speaker 2: you say you went to college. You ended up going
Speaker 2: down south Ish South adjacent is what I call Virginia,
Speaker 2: down to the University of Virginia study drama. I had
Speaker 2: a great friend from high school who went there studied drama.
Speaker 2: How was that experience?
Speaker 1: I loved it? I loved down a second. I loved it.
Speaker 1: I I had some incredible professors there. In fact, my
Speaker 1: you know what was so great is first of all,
Speaker 1: I got to have the real college experience, you know,
Speaker 1: like I just got to study all the things. It
Speaker 1: wasn't a conservatory program. The drama department was very friendly,
Speaker 1: not competitive, just like I found I still have some
Speaker 1: of my best friends in the world from doing drama
Speaker 1: at UVA. I lived in awesome houses with good friends,
Speaker 1: like it just was. It was everything you would want
Speaker 1: a college experience to be. I found, you know, I
Speaker 1: found my people. I found other layers to myself that
Speaker 1: I know, all the things that you want to do
Speaker 1: at college.
Speaker 3: It was good.
Speaker 1: It was really really good. And then my professors were amazing.
Speaker 1: And so what's interesting is I I did this musical
Speaker 1: theater program in New York called CAP twenty one the
Speaker 1: summer between my second and third year of college, and
Speaker 1: my whole career started because of a decision I made
Speaker 1: in the bathroom there because we were doing we'd only been.
Speaker 2: Working bad decisions that happened.
Speaker 1: Now this is a good decision, this is a good choice.
Speaker 1: We're in the I'm in the bathroom and we have
Speaker 1: this casting director from Telsea Casting coming to do a
Speaker 1: masterclass with us that afternoon. At this musical theater program,
Speaker 1: we had not worked on monologues at all. We had
Speaker 1: only been doing songs. So every student was planning to
Speaker 1: do two songs for this casting director and get the
Speaker 1: feedback and whatever. In the bathroom, I was like, I've
Speaker 1: been learning during this musical theater program, then maybe musical
Speaker 1: theater isn't for me professionally, and that maybe I'm a
Speaker 1: stronger actor than I am a singer, and I have
Speaker 1: a shot to show this person what I can do
Speaker 1: as an actor. So I pulled out Nora from a
Speaker 1: doll's house because they just had that in my back pocket, right,
Speaker 1: and I did Nora.
Speaker 2: One does as one does, yes.
Speaker 1: And I did Nora for her, and that casting office
Speaker 1: started bringing me in for auditions. And the third one
Speaker 1: I went in for was a production of Romeo and
Speaker 1: Juliet where I was cast as Juliette, and I almost
Speaker 1: didn't audition for it. This was at the Macarter Theater
Speaker 1: in Princeton, New Jersey, because it conflicted with the first
Speaker 1: five years of my fourth year, first five weeks of
Speaker 1: my final year of college and I'm like, I just can't.
Speaker 1: And Will Cantler from Bernie Telsea Casting called me on
Speaker 1: my phone and said, if I have to drive to
Speaker 1: Virginia and put you in my car and drive you
Speaker 1: to this audition, I will do that. This is not
Speaker 1: to be taken lightly. Get your butt to New York.
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, And what was wonderful is
Speaker 1: that my my my acting coaches at UVA were like,
Speaker 1: of course you go, of course you do it. In fact,
Speaker 1: Richard Warner, my main act the head acting guy there,
Speaker 1: he worked on the audition material with me for like hours,
Speaker 1: just fine tuning it and helping me find it. And
Speaker 1: then the college agreed to give me three credits if
Speaker 1: I kept just to do the show as an independent study,
Speaker 1: if I kept a journal.
Speaker 2: So I have.
Speaker 1: I have a meticulously kept journal diary from my entire
Speaker 1: experience of playing Juliet, which was my launch into my
Speaker 1: entire career as a result of the just nurturing of
Speaker 1: that in that drama department. So I'm very grateful for
Speaker 1: that experience.
Speaker 2: After college, you you entered the theater world. You made
Speaker 2: your Broadway debut in two thousand and three, and did
Speaker 2: you think that that was your life. Did you think
Speaker 2: that theater was what you were going to do or
Speaker 2: did you always have an eye toward television? Film? Was there?
Speaker 2: Where were you at?
Speaker 1: What I always wanted to do? And in fact, right
Speaker 1: before I did the play on Broadway, I actually did
Speaker 1: my first movie, so I did have I did Radio
Speaker 1: with Ed Harris and Debra Winger and Cuba Gooding teens.
Speaker 1: That was my first moment on any set of any
Speaker 1: kind in my whole life was like a scene with
Speaker 1: Ed Harris.
Speaker 2: So that's a good start.
Speaker 1: By the way, my first take, hiss, I love that, man,
Speaker 1: My first take that they laid down. He gathered the
Speaker 1: whole crew around and he said, all right, let's give
Speaker 1: it up for the first take in the future illustrious
Speaker 1: career of Sarah Drew. And he had the whole crew
Speaker 1: give me a standing ovation.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: I mean classy dude, right, the.
Speaker 2: Classic classy Yes.
Speaker 1: Yes, And I'm a twenty two year old, you know.
Speaker 1: And actually I was cast in the Broadway show. I
Speaker 1: did a self tape in my little efficiency apartment in
Speaker 1: where was I Walter Burrows, South Carolina shooting that movie?
Speaker 1: I couldn't get in. I couldn't go in for the audition, right,
Speaker 1: so they so the director for that play at the
Speaker 1: Lincoln Center cast me off of.
Speaker 3: Tape, which is crazy.
Speaker 1: So what I what I My vision I think as
Speaker 1: a teenager was I wanted to be a serious actress.
Speaker 1: However that played out, Maybe it would be in film
Speaker 1: and television, maybe it would be on the stage. I
Speaker 1: didn't have any understanding when I was a teenager of
Speaker 1: what film and television would be. The only experience I
Speaker 1: had was on stage, and I loved it so much
Speaker 1: and it fed my soul in such a profound way
Speaker 1: that I think I most I probably mostly envisioned myself
Speaker 1: as a theater actor. And the biggest dream I had
Speaker 1: was being able to make a living solely from being
Speaker 1: an artist. I did that that I didn't have to
Speaker 1: have a day job. That was the only dream that
Speaker 1: I had that I wanted to be serious. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to do fluff and I wanted to you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and so I think I always thought it might
Speaker 1: it would be stage, and then film and theater at
Speaker 1: film and TV opened the doors to me, and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden it was like, well, I can
Speaker 1: make a much better living over here.
Speaker 2: There you go. That's like you truth, there you go. Yeah, No,
Speaker 2: I know, well, I mean you know our and I
Speaker 2: won't bore you with it. Our pasts were similar, I
Speaker 2: think for me, I don't, I don't know. I never
Speaker 2: thought about film and television like for me it was.
Speaker 2: I was so singularly focused on the other thing. Yeah,
Speaker 2: for such a long period of time. And so it's
Speaker 2: it's always interesting to me to talk to, you know,
Speaker 2: actors who when they were very young, like like how
Speaker 2: they went about making their decisions. It's very clear to me.
Speaker 2: You you you were looking you, you were you were dating,
Speaker 2: dating around because very very soon after you make your
Speaker 2: Broadway debut on Lincoln Center, you got cast as Hannah
Speaker 2: on Everwood. Now, I don't know if you know this,
Speaker 2: we work together. Wait no, but I we're not on
Speaker 2: the same scene. I was in the Everwood. Yes, I was.
Speaker 2: You were I was in Everwood. I okay, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: be honest with you. I did not go back and
Speaker 2: research my own work. Folkused on you. But I was
Speaker 2: a I was a handy man contractor wow on Everwood.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I was there. I was there at the
Speaker 2: Salt Lake City great American, the.
Speaker 1: Little America, Little Americas stayed a little America.
Speaker 2: Well, it might have been Grand America, but one of
Speaker 2: the one of the America's America, of one of the Americas. Yes,
Speaker 2: and in fact, I don't know if I've told this
Speaker 2: story or not in a long time, but you'll know
Speaker 2: what I'm talking about. I arrived, so I know exactly
Speaker 2: when it was. It was the first week of April
Speaker 2: where I was shooting, and I think I I think
Speaker 2: it was two episodes. I think I shot them at
Speaker 2: the same time, like I stayed.
Speaker 3: Do you remember the season you were in.
Speaker 2: I wasn't.
Speaker 3: I wasn't in season one and two. I only came.
Speaker 2: I think it was season one or two. I really don't,
Speaker 2: but I I was with I know I was with
Speaker 2: mister Wolf.
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, yeah, because he came on when I came on,
Speaker 1: So yeah, it would have been.
Speaker 2: Three or four. Okay, Yeah, this was not this This
Speaker 2: did not change the trajectory of your seasons. I don't
Speaker 2: remember exactly, but I was there. Here's the crazy. My
Speaker 2: memory isn't about the work. My memory is about the extras.
Speaker 2: So I don't think I not the extras, but like
Speaker 2: the extra the outside of work. I don't think at
Speaker 2: that point I might be lying that I had ever
Speaker 2: been to Salt Lake City. And I know things have
Speaker 2: changed now I have, I have been back. But when
Speaker 2: I was there, I arrived on a Monday in April,
Speaker 2: the night the day of the National Championship Basketball Final
Speaker 2: four game, which is always on a Monday, and I'm
Speaker 2: a basketball and I wanted to watch it, and so
Speaker 2: I asked the people there where I was there like
Speaker 2: a sports spot. Was there some place where I could
Speaker 2: watch the game, and they directed me down the road
Speaker 2: and I walked I at least walked home. I don't
Speaker 2: remember how I got there. It was snowing in April
Speaker 2: there in Salt Lake City and I arrived at this
Speaker 2: establishment to just watch a basketball That was all I
Speaker 2: was interested in, and I was told that I had to.
Speaker 2: I was asked if I was a member of the club,
Speaker 2: and I was like, what do you mean? I mean
Speaker 2: this place appeared to be like a TGI Fridays to me,
Speaker 2: like this is a private club. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2: But because they served alcohol in Utah at the time,
Speaker 2: you had to join anywhere you went, So I am
Speaker 2: officially a member. I guess still currently. I never It
Speaker 2: was like two dollars and I had to fill out
Speaker 2: of join the club.
Speaker 1: In order to go into an establishment that serves alcohol.
Speaker 2: Correct, And that was that.
Speaker 3: And I was like, this phenomenal.
Speaker 2: This is people think Hawaii is like a different country.
Speaker 2: This is no.
Speaker 1: I just I just shot a movie. So I've now
Speaker 1: been I've shot five things in Salt Lake City now
Speaker 1: in my life, and I just yeah, I'm there all
Speaker 1: the time and I love it. By the way, my
Speaker 1: husband and I bought our first house, we got our dog.
Speaker 2: Now you're just trying to be nice to the no no, no.
Speaker 3: Listen, I will say still to this day.
Speaker 1: You cannot go into an establishment and get a double
Speaker 1: of anything.
Speaker 2: A double.
Speaker 3: They will not they will.
Speaker 1: Not give no, they cannot serve a double like a
Speaker 1: like a you know, jack and coke with a double.
Speaker 3: They can't.
Speaker 1: They will literally get arrested. Oh so you have to
Speaker 1: have someone else at the table order a shot if
Speaker 1: you want to have a double. Like the rules are
Speaker 1: really interesting. The cocktails I discovered are very weak in
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City.
Speaker 2: Well, you and I are going to get along. Just
Speaker 2: by Sarah, I'm just saying you're going to get you
Speaker 2: and I are going to get along just fine. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was that was my That was what I remember about.
Speaker 3: I don't remember that. I don't because I lived there
Speaker 3: for two years, and like.
Speaker 2: We bought houses. We bought houses like Scott and I
Speaker 2: had known Scott sort of peripherally. I don't even know
Speaker 2: if that's the right word. And yeah, everyone had a
Speaker 2: house in Park City, like everyone was like, I.
Speaker 1: Wasn't in Park City. I know, I wasn't that fancy
Speaker 1: I was. I didn't live in Park City. I lived
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake.
Speaker 3: I liked Salt Lake. I wasn't like York City was fun,
Speaker 3: but I don't know. It was so much cheaper to
Speaker 3: buy and it was our first time, so we bought
Speaker 3: in Salt Lake City. I love it there.
Speaker 2: You entered season three, as you mentioned, did you find
Speaker 2: it difficult to enter midstream or like you just mentioned,
Speaker 2: other people came in and that made it easier. Was
Speaker 2: it tough for you to start?
Speaker 3: It was such a wonderful community.
Speaker 1: I mean that's the other thing is like I was
Speaker 1: welcomed with open arms to a very kind.
Speaker 3: Sweet group of people who were all living in Utah together.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, I'm like, I'm like on a
Speaker 1: WB show, and the actors are like sweethearts who are
Speaker 1: not getting all mixed up in the head because of
Speaker 1: being surrounded by the Hollywood scene. We're like in the
Speaker 1: mountains and skiing and gathering around fires and having a
Speaker 1: glass of wine.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 1: Like it was so sweet. That was such a sweet
Speaker 1: community that I was just like welcomed with open arms
Speaker 1: it and they were excited to have somebody new too.
Speaker 3: It was like, Oh, who's this. It was just so lovely.
Speaker 3: I was so loved there.
Speaker 2: The ending felt like it was sort of external to
Speaker 2: what the show was, the WB and the upn merger CW.
Speaker 2: It was all sort of weird. How did you feel
Speaker 2: about about it ending?
Speaker 3: Oh, it was such a bummer.
Speaker 1: And the thing is that the reason we didn't get
Speaker 1: another season is because Seventh Heaven decided to come and.
Speaker 3: Do a bonus season.
Speaker 1: That's literally why we were supposed to do another season, right,
Speaker 1: And they had, in fact, they had, in fact shot
Speaker 1: their finale. They were like three sets of twin babies
Speaker 1: on that show at that point, and all I remember
Speaker 1: thinking was like, good fucking luck with all your babies
Speaker 1: on set.
Speaker 2: Like I was so mad.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it was they decided to come back even
Speaker 1: after they did their farewell episode because the numbers were
Speaker 1: big for the farewell episode, obviously because it was a
Speaker 1: farewell episode.
Speaker 2: Guys, God, someone should think about that. Actually, they're smart.
Speaker 2: Every year, every numbers going forever excited you. You then
Speaker 2: had I mean some pretty amazing guest star opportunities on
Speaker 2: some very big shows. I had. You looked quite different
Speaker 2: on mad Men. I will tell you. I know mister
Speaker 2: Ham quite a bit. I'm a big fan of that show,
Speaker 2: and I was like, wait, who was she in that?
Speaker 2: And then I saw you and I was like, oh
Speaker 2: my word, Glee, Medium, Supernatural. Do you have any favorite experiences? Well,
Speaker 2: how was your time on mad Men? Because that you
Speaker 2: had to maybe unlike Daria, you had to have been
Speaker 2: aware of the huge phenomenon that mad Men had become
Speaker 2: basically bore a network. Uh, you know, people were watching
Speaker 2: what do you call it? Basic cable? I guess. I
Speaker 2: mean this is the fact that you know, for the
Speaker 2: for the first time, in huge numbers, tons of awards.
Speaker 2: Was that Was that a positive experience for you?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, what I mean?
Speaker 1: The only thing that was said about it is that
Speaker 1: I thought there was so much more room to tell
Speaker 1: a much longer story for those characters, Like, I mean,
Speaker 1: the last time you see my character is when my
Speaker 1: husband's doing Bye Viberti for me and you just see
Speaker 1: my face go, oh is this my life?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 1: And that's and I'm like, that could have been like
Speaker 1: the number of places that you could have gone and
Speaker 1: the layers we could have unpacked in that story, it
Speaker 1: could have been so great. So that's the only that's
Speaker 1: only sadness I have about it because I was only
Speaker 1: there for like four episodes and I but I loved
Speaker 1: every second. I mean, Matt Winer was amazing, super involved
Speaker 1: in exactly how every beat of the scene was going
Speaker 1: to go and needed to go. But in a way
Speaker 1: that I thought was like, I don't know, might have
Speaker 1: driven me crazy if I'd been.
Speaker 3: On the show forever.
Speaker 1: But I was like, oh, I love that you have
Speaker 1: a very specific vision and I'm I'm just a visitor here,
Speaker 1: so like, yeah, lay it on me, what what is
Speaker 1: what is your vision that I can help bring to life?
Speaker 1: And I felt very encouraged there too. It was very
Speaker 1: like encouraging as well. So yeah, it was fun. The
Speaker 1: secrecy though around that show was insane, Like they wouldn't
Speaker 1: even give me the whole script for this stuff. Whenever
Speaker 1: I was on a show, I think I maybe went
Speaker 1: to one table read, but I wasn't allowed to hold
Speaker 1: a copy. I wasn't allowed to have a copy of
Speaker 1: this script.
Speaker 3: I'm like, you, guys, what what are we doing? What
Speaker 3: are we doing here?
Speaker 2: Why it's not national security.
Speaker 3: It's not national like, let's we're pretending.
Speaker 2: That doesn't surpriss me in any way.
Speaker 1: No, but it was a big time hush hush, and
Speaker 1: they'd only give me my sides for my scenes. And
Speaker 1: I do remember, Oh they paid so cheap. But everybody again,
Speaker 1: but everybody would do. Everybody said yes because it's mad men.
Speaker 1: But like I was playing full interesting guest star spots,
Speaker 1: but was getting paid like a day rate, you know, which.
Speaker 3: Is what the industry has kind of gone back to.
Speaker 2: Now. Yeah, not for long, Sarah, Not not for long.
Speaker 2: You may have been paying been paid day rates, but
Speaker 2: not for long, because now Juliet may have launched you,
Speaker 2: but another guest are uh relaunched you. You get a
Speaker 2: guest role on Private Practice, You get introduced to someone
Speaker 2: what's her name again? Oh yeah, Shonda rhymes that was
Speaker 2: a show and what her name is? Uh, you enter
Speaker 2: the universe of Shondaland, and what some people may not
Speaker 2: know is you were actually cast in a in a
Speaker 2: in a new show by Shondaland. A pilot you shot
Speaker 2: that did not get picked up by ABC, by the way,
Speaker 2: was probably the only one she ever did I picked.
Speaker 3: I know, we're all like, this is the one. I mean,
Speaker 3: this is the most sure.
Speaker 1: Congratulations you landed the definite pilot show.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, well, clearly it wasn't your fault. It didn't go
Speaker 2: oh because she has you join Gray's Anatomy. Now, I'm
Speaker 2: told for two episodes. Yes, that was your contract.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I came in.
Speaker 1: She was like, I've got this fun little two episode
Speaker 1: arc that I would love. You want to come play
Speaker 1: for a couple episodes. I was like sure, as I'd
Speaker 1: been doing all my other little spots along the way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I go, I do my two and then I go
Speaker 1: and I don't think about it again.
Speaker 2: And then you then you go back for nine years.
Speaker 2: Now I'll go back for nine years.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know. It's always fascinating to me to talk to
Speaker 2: people who start your way, and you know what's funny
Speaker 2: because now not always. Obviously, there are people who are
Speaker 2: cast in pilots and as you know, main characters, pivotal characters,
Speaker 2: and they stay forever. And I mean I guess that
Speaker 2: was my case too in a way, though it changed
Speaker 2: a little bit. But yeah, having the opportunity to just work,
Speaker 2: I mean it goes to like the say, yet, do
Speaker 2: you want to come and play? The answer is yes,
Speaker 2: because you truly don't know what can happen from there?
Speaker 2: Did she or anybody else give you an idea of
Speaker 2: what happened over those two episodes that made them give
Speaker 2: you a call to come back?
Speaker 1: I had one of the writers. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: all just like sweet conversations that people told me down
Speaker 1: the road.
Speaker 3: But sure, but one of the writers told.
Speaker 1: Me that after I got fired, there was a riot
Speaker 1: in the writer's room, like the character They're like.
Speaker 3: Why but why? You know?
Speaker 1: I think my mad Men episode aired like right around
Speaker 1: the time that I was like where my episode at
Speaker 1: Grays was about to air. So it was so there
Speaker 1: was just this like what are guys, come on, what
Speaker 1: are we doing?
Speaker 3: Let's find some story for this person.
Speaker 1: So I mean that felt I don't I don't truly
Speaker 1: know you know, that's like the nice things that people
Speaker 1: say to you once you come back. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know what the reality was. All I know
Speaker 1: is that I got a call the morning after my
Speaker 1: firing episode aired, and it was my team saying they
Speaker 1: want to bring you back, and they're talking about it
Speaker 1: being a potent turning into a potential series regular. So
Speaker 1: then I spent all of season six auditioning at every
Speaker 1: episode because that's kind of what you do. You get,
Speaker 1: you do like a few episodes and they throw you
Speaker 1: a little bit more money, and then another few episodes
Speaker 1: and they throw you little bit more money, But then
Speaker 1: they don't tell you if they're actually going to pick
Speaker 1: you up to series regular until June, which is a
Speaker 1: month before they would start shooting shooting the next season.
Speaker 1: So it was really like I would go to every
Speaker 1: table read.
Speaker 3: Going have they given me something.
Speaker 1: To say or do that I could show that maybe
Speaker 1: there's a reason I should stay, you know, like there
Speaker 1: was all there was that feeling of, right, this is
Speaker 1: every every single second you every single word you are
Speaker 1: given to say, every single moment screen moment that you
Speaker 1: are given, is you building a massive audition for them
Speaker 1: to see if they want to keep you around.
Speaker 2: Right in addition to just you know, because this should
Speaker 2: not be undersold, and this is obviously not a comment
Speaker 2: on how important the work is or your performance, but
Speaker 2: also like, what they're also given is an opportunity to
Speaker 2: see if you're an asshole totally like and like how
Speaker 2: you are you? Are you a nice person to work with?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 2: Because you know, I do personally believe that is a
Speaker 2: that is an underappreciated or undercomment. People don't talk about
Speaker 2: how important that is of just like being a good
Speaker 2: person and wanting to hang out with you for nine years, right, Yeah,
Speaker 2: you're on.
Speaker 1: Set like for that show too. We were still in
Speaker 1: those earlier seasons. We're still doing sixteen hour days. You know,
Speaker 1: these are the people that you're spending the vast maturity
Speaker 1: of your time with. I will say though, and I'm
Speaker 1: not not specifically talking about Grace, but like across the
Speaker 1: Hollywood board, I have not found that the rule applies
Speaker 1: that if you're not an asshole, you get to do
Speaker 1: all the work like if anything, well, well the assholes
Speaker 1: are still very much alive and well doing very good work.
Speaker 2: Yes, But but I will say this rare. Most of
Speaker 2: the time there, it's well, I shouldn't say this a
Speaker 2: lot of the time, but I know they're stuck. No,
Speaker 2: there's because there is a difference. What I mean is,
Speaker 2: particularly if you're brought into a long running show and
Speaker 2: you're there for what you say, essentially an extended audition,
Speaker 2: it's much easier to lose one of those.
Speaker 3: Yes, So totally yes if they're an asshole.
Speaker 2: But I do appreciate what I mean.
Speaker 3: I'm not and I'm.
Speaker 1: Not specifically talking about grays, and I say that across
Speaker 1: the way I'm talking about this.
Speaker 2: I'm going to know.
Speaker 1: Listen, Listen, I'm saying, I am saying I'm talking about
Speaker 1: this on a grander scheme that often I'm noticing it now.
Speaker 1: You just even in the worlds that I'm in right now,
Speaker 1: it's like, do people get the numbers, Great, we'll keep
Speaker 1: hiring them, and and it's like, well, but that person
Speaker 1: was like made so many people's lives so difficult. Sorry,
Speaker 1: they get us the numbers, So that's you know, and
Speaker 1: you kind of go, gosh, when I whatever, I get
Speaker 1: to work with somebody who's like truly good at what
Speaker 1: they do and also truly wonderful to work with.
Speaker 2: Just like yes, yes, well winning yes, well, but you
Speaker 2: you started the story. You start, I mean you started
Speaker 2: our conversation talking about Ed Harris too. I mean like
Speaker 2: that's an example of someone who is supremely talented. Yes,
Speaker 2: and then every story I've ever heard about him is
Speaker 2: like incredibly great, uh, you know, like really successful comedy
Speaker 2: actors that I've had the opportunity to work with, Steve
Speaker 2: Carell and Will Ferrell. It's like, you know, Jenni Fisher jokes,
Speaker 2: It's like they have this unspoken competition happening, like who's
Speaker 2: the nicest guy? You know, so like there's both. I
Speaker 2: but nine years is a long time. I do have
Speaker 2: to tell you. I can't. I mean, I just hot.
Speaker 2: I hated you guys. I mean I hated you guys
Speaker 2: on Gray's Anatomy so much because you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: let's face it, we were up against each other for
Speaker 2: a really long time.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I didn't even you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a long time. Nine o'clock on Thursday Nights.
Speaker 2: Oh who was it? It was you guys, it was us,
Speaker 2: it was CSI for a while, because like Thursday Nights
Speaker 2: is like for those of you who don't and these
Speaker 2: are days before before streaming. The people who spend the
Speaker 2: most money on advertising are other studios that are advertising
Speaker 2: their movies that are premiering that weekend. And so Thursday
Speaker 2: night is a very big night in television, so a
Speaker 2: lot of networks put their big shows up. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I was like damn it. And I was like the
Speaker 2: resident business business mind on the set of Like we
Speaker 2: would come in and.
Speaker 3: So were you like checking in on.
Speaker 2: All the very every Friday morning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was in the makeup and then you would
Speaker 1: come in and be like, this is how we did
Speaker 1: freaking Grace anatomy.
Speaker 2: Or we I mean, here's the thing is we we
Speaker 2: were fine against you in the in the coveted eighteen
Speaker 2: to forty nine demographic. But then you know, the first
Speaker 2: number they give is how many people were watching, and
Speaker 2: you guys were like ninety eight billion and against us,
Speaker 2: and it's like, who are all these people that are
Speaker 2: watching the show? But no, I say that in I mean,
Speaker 2: what an incredible run. I just uh, I just heard
Speaker 2: coming back for more the show nine nine years and
Speaker 2: then and then you left for a little bit, and
Speaker 2: then you came back again for some more episodes. After
Speaker 2: a couple of years now. I read when the news
Speaker 2: got out that you were not returning, there was an
Speaker 2: airplane that flew overhead. There was during lunch for everyone
Speaker 2: to see that some fans paid. Now did you pay
Speaker 2: for it? Because you want me, I would not the
Speaker 2: rumor is you paid for it, that you were no
Speaker 2: longer making guests our money and so you I'm totally making.
Speaker 3: Oh do you know it is?
Speaker 1: You know it was this one specific I know who
Speaker 1: it was because she let us know because she reached
Speaker 1: out to both me and Jessica just to make sure
Speaker 1: that we would both be on set, so she didn't
Speaker 1: want to fly the plane. So we knew it was
Speaker 1: going to happen, okay, and we but like we she
Speaker 1: or this fan organized it. And it's a very sweet
Speaker 1: fan who actually had come and done a set visit
Speaker 1: one time, and Jesse Williams and I had hung out
Speaker 1: with her for a while and she's an unbelievable sweetheart.
Speaker 1: But she rallied the troops and was like, this is
Speaker 1: what we're doing, Sarah and Jessica. I hope that you
Speaker 1: get this message. I we are setting, We're sending a plane.
Speaker 1: We're so mad, We're so mad, and we want to
Speaker 1: show you that we and so we like it was
Speaker 1: such an unbelievable gift. I like, in that moment, like
Speaker 1: it was devastating when I was told I wasn't coming back,
Speaker 1: because it came out of nowhere to me. So I
Speaker 1: felt like a huge punch to the gut. Right, But
Speaker 1: the amount of like the outpouring of love was so
Speaker 1: epic that I really wouldn't trade it for anything.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for those of you who don't know, I don't
Speaker 2: know if I set that up entirely great, but basically,
Speaker 2: someone flew a plane over the studio saying, don't don't
Speaker 2: this person go for these two people, not y.
Speaker 3: It was we love you Sarah and Jessica, I think,
Speaker 3: is what it said.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that was it was difficult for you.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it was awful.
Speaker 1: I'd never I you know, I've never been fired from anything.
Speaker 1: And of course they weren't calling it firing. They were
Speaker 1: just saying not picking up your option. But in my
Speaker 1: brain that feels like firing. It's like, well, you could
Speaker 1: keep me, but you choose not to. So I don't
Speaker 1: know how else to interpret that, right, and so, and
Speaker 1: it was, you know, I was aware of what I
Speaker 1: was bringing to the table, and I was just kind
Speaker 1: of confused by all of it, to be perfectly honest,
Speaker 1: it just didn't make sense in my brain. But this
Speaker 1: is the thing, is that happens all the time to
Speaker 1: very wonderful people being wonderful and having talent, and like,
Speaker 1: this is just it's like the nature of the beast, right.
Speaker 3: It just hadn't happened to me yet.
Speaker 1: And so it felt like a like a big blow
Speaker 1: after nine years for it to happened. But I will say,
Speaker 1: like since then, I've I've expanded as an artist in
Speaker 1: so many ways. And I wouldn't have started producing or
Speaker 1: you know, I've been directing and I like all and writing.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have written my first two things and produced them.
Speaker 1: And so there's like so many good things I don't
Speaker 1: know well.
Speaker 2: And you it's interesting to me because it Yeah, it
Speaker 2: must have been difficult, but you did choose to go back. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so there there was that was that was positive. I
Speaker 2: mean you felt at least okay enough to go back
Speaker 2: and play with them a little bit longer.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because I mean again, I loved my community there.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like I wanted to go see everybody I
Speaker 1: wanted to go say hi, I was excited for the
Speaker 1: potential of this, of the story that they pitched to me,
Speaker 1: about how I would be going back, and it all
Speaker 1: felt really good, and I was feeling like I was
Speaker 1: I would getting ready to go.
Speaker 3: Shoot my first.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I was that one was right after I'd
Speaker 1: finished another series. I mean it was like there was
Speaker 1: a lot going on in my world that made it
Speaker 1: all feel really good to go back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, You've talked a lot about taking on leadership roles
Speaker 2: since you left. You have, as you mentioned, You've written,
Speaker 2: You've produced Start, You've done some directing Reindeer Games, Homecoming,
Speaker 2: you also wrote a cowboy Christmas romance with Lifetime, and
Speaker 2: so you've enjoyed being on that side of it and
Speaker 2: developing your own material. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I just feel like this, this industry is so we
Speaker 1: have absolutely no control. We There's there's nothing. I could
Speaker 1: sit and wait for my agent to call. I could
Speaker 1: sit and wait for an appointment. I can sit and
Speaker 1: wait to see if the tape I sent out was
Speaker 1: watched by anyone or not. You can throw it into
Speaker 1: the abyss and hope maybe somebody saw it. Like, there's
Speaker 1: so much we have no control over so having a
Speaker 1: creative outlet to be dreaming and thinking about another story,
Speaker 1: a story that I could that I could make and
Speaker 1: bring and and create words I want to say, you know,
Speaker 1: has been like incredibly life giving in the last few years.
Speaker 3: To me.
Speaker 2: You also produced some rather dramatic dark material in the
Speaker 2: years since you left, most recently How She Caught a Killer.
Speaker 2: Is there something about that dark material that is attractive
Speaker 2: to you? The right thing?
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it's it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm interested in the human experience of like seeing
Speaker 1: the glimmers of light in the midst of darkness.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 1: I do love the like the feel good stuff that
Speaker 1: makes me really happy put smiles on people's faces. But
Speaker 1: even the stuff that I write that is feel good
Speaker 1: always has to have like a like a well of
Speaker 1: depths underneath of like we're really sorting some grief out
Speaker 1: or some family drama out or something, because.
Speaker 3: That's what I feel like life is. For How She
Speaker 3: Caught a Killer.
Speaker 1: I loved it so much because it was about a
Speaker 1: woman seeing a community of women that were usually forgotten.
Speaker 1: So these sex workers who people dehumanize at every turn, right,
Speaker 1: and this cop being like we're not doing enough. This
Speaker 1: is an important community of people. These are human beings,
Speaker 1: these are women with lives, and I will do whatever
Speaker 1: it takes to bring this killer to justice. And that
Speaker 1: to me felt very in line with the things that
Speaker 1: that that draw me to material. It's like, where's the
Speaker 1: redemption story? Where is the where's the hope in the
Speaker 1: midst of the pain? I just feel like that is
Speaker 1: so what I experience living my life as a parent,
Speaker 1: as an artist in the world at large.
Speaker 3: Just we are.
Speaker 1: Constantly holding pain and hope, and you can you can
Speaker 1: allow the hope to win. You can force yourself to
Speaker 1: see the light, or you can stay in the pain
Speaker 1: and the anger and the cynicism. I like to find
Speaker 1: I like to be like hunting for the hope even when.
Speaker 3: Things are blackest. So that's that's what drew me to
Speaker 3: that specific story.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Yeah, I mean that, I mean that's truly
Speaker 2: what for me. It's all about using art to ask questions,
Speaker 2: not preach, but ask questions and shine lights little lights
Speaker 2: in places that people don't necessarily go to that often.
Speaker 2: So good for you. You have breaking news here on
Speaker 2: the podcast. A new movie coming out this month, premiering
Speaker 2: very shortly here in late April, branching out a new
Speaker 2: Hallmark movie you're starring in. Tell me a little bit
Speaker 2: about this movie and why you're excited about it.
Speaker 3: I love this one.
Speaker 1: It is a story about a single mom and her daughter,
Speaker 1: and she became pregnant through IVF. Doesn't have a partner,
Speaker 1: never had a partner, but wanted to make a family
Speaker 1: and so yeah, so she so she made her family.
Speaker 1: When her daughter's nine, she has an assignment to make
Speaker 1: a family tree and she goes home and she's like,
Speaker 1: who's in my tree?
Speaker 3: I feel like we're just a log. What is our family?
Speaker 3: What is the tree?
Speaker 1: And so we wind up going doing genetic registry to
Speaker 1: try and find because she's too young to get the
Speaker 1: name of the person who's the donor for IVF. So
Speaker 1: we wind up finding the family and it's this beautiful, vibrant,
Speaker 1: large Mexican family who just want to embrace these these
Speaker 1: two humans and like envelop them into this this beautiful,
Speaker 1: chaotic new group of people to love. So it's really
Speaker 1: a wonderful story.
Speaker 3: And then there's a love story that happens, of course
Speaker 3: through the donor and the mom.
Speaker 1: But but but the biggest love story is the story
Speaker 1: between the daughter finding this this guy who's just a
Speaker 1: he was a donor, and then they fall in love.
Speaker 1: They love each other, they just adore each other from
Speaker 1: the first moment. And for me, it's a story about
Speaker 1: how there are a million different ways to make a
Speaker 1: family and and the and the great joy of pulling
Speaker 1: people into your experience and choosing your family. Doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be genetic. It doesn't have to be what you
Speaker 1: were born and raised with. But there are lots of
Speaker 1: different ways to do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean the log line is, uh, a journey
Speaker 2: of trust, love and discovering the meaning of family. And
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, look, there was a show called
Speaker 2: Modern Family that I remember quite well as well. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that that redefining what family means and and and it
Speaker 2: sounds like the search for not just your daughter, but
Speaker 2: the search for sort of defining what family is is.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: It is a powerful message and I I I, Hey, look,
Speaker 2: I want all of the best for you, so check
Speaker 2: it out. Branching out Hall March.
Speaker 1: I'm also yes, I've also got my I directed a
Speaker 1: radio play that is out right now with LA Theater Works.
Speaker 1: It's called The Fever syndrome. Yes, it's called Fever Syndrome,
Speaker 1: and it's actually starring My Gray's Anatomy co star Kelly McCreary.
Speaker 1: She's playing a really fantastic role in it. It's a
Speaker 1: great it's Hugo Armstrong, Seamus Dever, Patrick Husinger, Kelly McCreary,
Speaker 1: Matthew Floyd Miller, Deshaun k Terry, and Joanne Whaley. And
Speaker 1: they're all in this awesome, meaty family drama that I
Speaker 1: got to direct.
Speaker 3: That's out now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have such a blast doing that one. But
Speaker 1: you can go to la la tw dot org and
Speaker 1: search fever Syndrome and you can download it for like five.
Speaker 2: Bucks la tw dot org. Check it out. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: I mean, the only real question that I have for
Speaker 2: you is, I mean, you haven't called me to do anything.
Speaker 2: I mean, here's what it feels like. This relationship is
Speaker 2: one sided. I call you, I call you, you don't
Speaker 2: call me. This is really okay. Well, I mean that's
Speaker 2: where I feel like we're at right now.
Speaker 1: I'm writing a role for you in my head as
Speaker 1: we speak.
Speaker 2: I feel like the relationship is very one sided. Sarah,
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you so much for being so generous
Speaker 2: with your time. I know you're very busy. Congratulations on
Speaker 2: well everything that you have accomplished, and uh and and
Speaker 2: what's to come next. I'm gonna be watching. I promise
Speaker 2: you that so much.
Speaker 3: It's so fun to chat with you. This was such
Speaker 3: a blast.
Speaker 2: Thanks Brian, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Sarah,
Speaker 2: Thank you, Sarah. It was so great to talk to
Speaker 2: you and to get to know you. Listeners check out
Speaker 2: Ranching Out, starring My new Friend and Yours Sarah Drew,
Speaker 2: coming out April twenty seventh on Hallmark Channel. Thank you
Speaker 2: all for joining us. I'm going to be back next
Speaker 2: week with another guest, another guest who also could be
Speaker 2: a doctor. Until then, have a wonderful week. Off the
Speaker 2: Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Ryan Baumgartner,
Speaker 2: alongside our executive producer Ling Lee. Our senior producer is
Speaker 2: Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and
Speaker 2: Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and
Speaker 2: our intern is Ali Amir Sahi. Our theme song Bubble
Speaker 2: and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratton