Speaker 1: And that's what you really missed with Jenna.
Speaker 2: And Kevin an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Welcome to and that's where you really miss podcasts. We
Speaker 1: have an extra very extra very extra very special Guess.
Speaker 2: Wow, that was the most special intro thus far, and
Speaker 2: I think deserved well. It is the one and only
Speaker 2: Eric Stoltz actor and director extraordinaire. He directed twelve episodes
Speaker 2: of Glee. By the end of it so much.
Speaker 1: So many episodes? Was that the most anybody directed? Maybe
Speaker 1: maybe fat Track, I don't know, but close close.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's up there for sure, and like we fought
Speaker 2: for him to keep coming back, not that we had to,
Speaker 2: but like we'd let it be known that we loved him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anytime Ryan came around, we'd be like, we love
Speaker 1: Eericiodes and he would kind of be like, why do
Speaker 1: you love so much? And not that I think he
Speaker 1: was like had disdain over it, but I think he
Speaker 1: was just genuinely curious because, like you said, we never
Speaker 1: did that and the people heard because he was there.
Speaker 1: He was there for that whole journey and we are
Speaker 1: better for it. So here, Eric stalts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's in a suit?
Speaker 3: What my friends? Wow?
Speaker 2: Oh god, I haven't.
Speaker 3: Seen you in over a decade.
Speaker 2: My eyes are watering. I have to say. No one
Speaker 2: has made me feel this way. We talk about how
Speaker 2: much we love you, and here it is. It's happening
Speaker 2: right now. I have goosebumps. I'm sweating.
Speaker 1: Oh it's good to see you.
Speaker 3: It's so good to see you, guys.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, oh my god, so much to catch up.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I know you're busy. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for one just like stopping by to chat
Speaker 2: a little bit.
Speaker 3: First of all, who's busy? There's a strike going well,
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 1: Know you know the world everybody else I see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I assume you're busy. You should be busy. I
Speaker 2: want you to be directing and acting and everything always.
Speaker 3: So you're very kind.
Speaker 1: I did watch I did watch all of your directing
Speaker 1: in Madame Sack, which we absolutely love, love love.
Speaker 3: So oh I'm so glad.
Speaker 1: No, it's wonderful. I always we even started rewatching it.
Speaker 3: Wow, it's a lot of watching.
Speaker 1: It is a lot of watching, but it's really great.
Speaker 1: It's really good TV. I think, thank you.
Speaker 3: I rewatched the first two seasons of Glee in preparation
Speaker 3: with this. I had to stop.
Speaker 1: What that's a lot of Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well I hadn't seen the show. I mean, I you know,
Speaker 3: when Corey died, I couldn't. Yeah, I just couldn't. And
Speaker 3: it's been ten years, and I have so many, so
Speaker 3: many fond memories of it that I wanted to I
Speaker 3: wanted to catch up with it as much as is Well,
Speaker 3: I could not do all the ones that I directed
Speaker 3: because there were just too many.
Speaker 2: And he's like, do I need to watch all twelve episodes?
Speaker 2: You no know?
Speaker 1: No, no, so many episodes. Well, it's really good to
Speaker 1: see you.
Speaker 3: Good to see you guys all grown up and beautiful.
Speaker 3: It's so nice to see.
Speaker 1: Oh. Thanks, we're trying trying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're four adults. We were still assholes like when
Speaker 2: you met us.
Speaker 3: But that's just not true.
Speaker 1: Well, we have the wonderful Eric Stilts. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: all the good things and all the good memories. We
Speaker 1: talked about you a lot on this podcast because we
Speaker 1: have so many fond memories. He became one of our
Speaker 1: favorite directors, if not our favorite director, for many many reasons.
Speaker 1: But you started as an actor, and I'm just interested.
Speaker 1: I don't think we ever. I don't know if there
Speaker 1: was time to ever know when you transition from actor
Speaker 1: to director or what made you get into directing, and
Speaker 1: because obviously you are an actor's director, and that's why
Speaker 1: we loved you so much. So I'm just curious about
Speaker 1: that transition before we get into the Glee stuff.
Speaker 3: Gosh, I got into it in a very roundabout way.
Speaker 3: I was annoyed at how I was being treated as
Speaker 3: an actor by people whose job it was to treat
Speaker 3: me that way. It was sort of spawning. And people
Speaker 3: are hired to serve you in every way when you're
Speaker 3: doing a big film anyway, certainly not an independent film,
Speaker 3: and bringing your clothes and bringing your food and wake
Speaker 3: you up and take you home and treat you as
Speaker 3: though you are not quite a human. And I began
Speaker 3: to bristle with that. So I thought, I love I
Speaker 3: love the business, and I love what I do. Maybe
Speaker 3: there's something else that would intrigue me. So a friend
Speaker 3: of mine, Cameron Crow, was making his very first film,
Speaker 3: Say Anything Wow. And I had introduced him to my
Speaker 3: favorite ad Jerry Zizmer, who did Apocalypse Now, among other things,
Speaker 3: in a podcast. Now he's the one who said with
Speaker 3: extreme prejudice, and so Cameron hired Jerry, and he also
Speaker 3: hired Laslo Kovacs, who I'd worked with on Mask. So
Speaker 3: I realized this, and Polly Platt was the producer who's
Speaker 3: the genius. And I realized, all these people that I
Speaker 3: loved are making this film. So I asked Cameron if
Speaker 3: I could be a PA on it Wow, and he
Speaker 3: said sure, sure, man. So I was a PA, and
Speaker 3: I also played a small part and say anything, but
Speaker 3: I was a PA. And I found that I really
Speaker 3: enjoyed being on the other side of the camera, and
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed not caring how I looked, and I
Speaker 3: really enjoyed watching how the actors interact. I mean, Cameron
Speaker 3: is fantastic with actors. He's he's touched by genius. And
Speaker 3: it was a real education. So I paid on a
Speaker 3: couple more films, and then I started producing some independent
Speaker 3: films and then on What I had one experience for
Speaker 3: the director, the director pitched a fit. I'm looking around
Speaker 3: as if he's in the room with it. Heed me
Speaker 3: walk off the set and he insulted the crew. And
Speaker 3: I was producing it. I thought, we can't we can't
Speaker 3: lose this day. We're losing the light, We're losing the money.
Speaker 3: So I stepped in and I said, Okay, here's what
Speaker 3: we're gonna do. We're gonna put the camera over here,
Speaker 3: We're gonna come over here, and I talked to the
Speaker 3: actors and at the end of the day, I thought,
Speaker 3: I really like that, and it never really occurred to
Speaker 3: me before. So then I started doing some short films
Speaker 3: and some television, and then I just started direct I
Speaker 3: started bartering my acting for directing fair enough, which you know,
Speaker 3: you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: You're good at both, which is crazy. You know, it's
Speaker 2: hard to be good at one of them, and you
Speaker 2: just happened to be very good at both things. Makes
Speaker 2: a lot of sense though, Like people can hear you
Speaker 2: talk like you're so nice, you're thoughtful, you really care
Speaker 2: about and that's you know, our experience with you too,
Speaker 2: is like the care you take in each conversation, each
Speaker 2: set up with the crew, actors, whoever it is.
Speaker 1: All the extras loved you the most because you gave
Speaker 1: them direction, you gave them intention, you gave them action
Speaker 1: like that. I think they were startled when a director
Speaker 1: was talking to them, because that doesn't happen very often
Speaker 1: on set at least the ones that I've been on,
Speaker 1: and so I thought I was watching the episode. I
Speaker 1: think it was Duets, and I was watching it recently,
Speaker 1: and I was like, there are so many kids in
Speaker 1: this hallway. This looks like high school. And I was like,
Speaker 1: Eric directed this, yes, and some.
Speaker 3: Of them are kissing. Yes. Yeah. I maybe doing Harry
Speaker 3: Kiss a lot.
Speaker 2: A lot. It was in the world Blame It on.
Speaker 3: The alcohol, You guys were.
Speaker 1: Just so many memories of you being like, Okay, you're
Speaker 1: gonna kiss.
Speaker 2: I watched Blame It on the Alcohol before this, and
Speaker 2: I was like, Heather and I are making out the
Speaker 2: entirety of the song. I was like, Eric starts at
Speaker 2: it again.
Speaker 3: I know my strength would have a field day with that.
Speaker 3: But it was fun.
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: I couldn't complain so much fun with you guys.
Speaker 1: When you came into the show. Did you feel prepared
Speaker 1: for a musical TV show?
Speaker 3: I did. I mean, I mean I did, because I
Speaker 3: grew up doing musical I felt like, you know, I
Speaker 3: listened to your podcast and I have to agree that
Speaker 3: I Ryan with Ryan. I felt like I was part
Speaker 3: of every one of you guys, like I was that
Speaker 3: part of Ardi part of Dina and that part of Cory,
Speaker 3: and I felt like I was a theater kid who
Speaker 3: was also in the orchestra of the band, of the
Speaker 3: jazz band. I did all the musicals. I think by
Speaker 3: the time I got to college, I'd done forty two
Speaker 3: plays and musicals, and some of them with Dante di Loretto.
Speaker 2: No way, what that's right.
Speaker 3: I grew up with Dante in Santa Barbara, California.
Speaker 1: I don't think I knew that.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I knew that either.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, okay, okay, it's.
Speaker 3: True, although although I don't believe Dante is the one
Speaker 3: that it brought me. Oh No, Dante did bring me
Speaker 3: to Glee. But I had met Ryan through I was
Speaker 3: in Shondaland. I was doing Gray's Anatomy's and Private Practice,
Speaker 3: and there was a fantastic nurse on it named Linda Kleine.
Speaker 1: Yes, Harry just talked about her.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, just the biggest hoot in the world.
Speaker 3: And I'd come in and say, good morning, how are you? Said,
Speaker 3: I was on Booth Weekend with Ryan Murphy. You gotta
Speaker 3: meet him. You're gonna love this guy. He's doing niptok
Speaker 3: And I said oh great, okay, yeah, I meet him
Speaker 3: and Linda set up a meeting no with Ryan, we.
Speaker 2: Have to I guess she keeps getting mentioned. She's fantastic.
Speaker 2: Had a meeting with Ryan.
Speaker 3: I had to meet with Ryan, and I remember they
Speaker 3: walked me in to a large conference room with large chamber,
Speaker 3: and I was sitting at one end, and then Ryan
Speaker 3: came in and sat at the other end, and she
Speaker 3: had looked at me for a while because I think
Speaker 3: he likes, you know, making people a little uncomfortable, which
Speaker 3: is fun. And then he kind of went, so, what's
Speaker 3: your favorite movie? And I immediately like thought, I think,
Speaker 3: I asked him it from the forties, fifties, sixties, and
Speaker 3: seventies foreign American. I am, I have these lists in
Speaker 3: my head of films that I love and Ryan said,
Speaker 3: minds Network and I said, oh, damn it because Network
Speaker 3: was one of my favorite movies too. But I can't
Speaker 3: say it after because then you seem like a sycophantic,
Speaker 3: you know, right. So, but the meeting went well and
Speaker 3: he hired me on Nip Tuk, which was difficult show.
Speaker 3: It was in the the last few years of the show.
Speaker 3: But I had a decent time and I met Chris Sioffa,
Speaker 3: who went on to be the DP at Glee and
Speaker 3: I'll never forget. I was setting up a shot on
Speaker 3: Nip Tuck and said, I want the camera to sort
Speaker 3: of drift behind and around on this line, and the
Speaker 3: crew sort of looked at and Chris came out of me.
Speaker 2: Said why, it's a very good impression.
Speaker 3: And I said, well, because this is a shift, a
Speaker 3: dramatic shift in the scene. This is the point where
Speaker 3: it becomes a little more intimate, and I want the
Speaker 3: camera to sort of move and help. Finally goes oh okay,
Speaker 3: And later on I told that story he said, yeah,
Speaker 3: I was kind of a dick, and I no, no, no,
Speaker 3: I totally understand it, because when you come on as
Speaker 3: a guest director, you are literally coming into someone's home
Speaker 3: having dinner with them, and you can't be saying I
Speaker 3: don't like this food, bring me something else. You have
Speaker 3: to sort of say, what have you to offer and
Speaker 3: how can I help? So I met a lot of
Speaker 3: the crew from Glee on that, and I came onto
Speaker 3: your show.
Speaker 2: We've had a lot of actors on here, and actors
Speaker 2: who weren't necessarily regulars but were there a lot and
Speaker 2: the difficulty of when you're stepping in to do a
Speaker 2: scene here, a scene there, how hard that is and
Speaker 2: sort of sounds like when you're coming in to be
Speaker 2: a guest director, where it's like, yeah, I can't come
Speaker 2: into the kitchen and tell you how to cook this.
Speaker 2: What are sort of the places where you can, though,
Speaker 2: you know, scoot your elbows out and have little freedom
Speaker 2: to because you every director that came in had a
Speaker 2: different technique, had a different style, and you threw in
Speaker 2: shots and you even like threw in some little story
Speaker 2: moments that weren't even in the script and you managed
Speaker 2: to get them in there and they were great. How
Speaker 2: how do you go about sort of finessing that and
Speaker 2: doing that when you are especially if it's your first
Speaker 2: or second episode, right.
Speaker 3: Well, what a good question, that's it. I always found
Speaker 3: the best way to work was to and and Glee
Speaker 3: was kind of wide open. That way is to do
Speaker 3: it as written and make sure we got it as written,
Speaker 3: and then come to you and say, hey, why don't
Speaker 3: you try this, or is there something you want to
Speaker 3: try or wouldn't it be fun if and then shoot
Speaker 3: that as well. And then I would watch all the dailies.
Speaker 3: I would like forty four hours watching dailies and I
Speaker 3: go through to Kevin sneezed don tape free. I love
Speaker 3: that and I give it. I remember I would send
Speaker 3: I think the first episode I sent my editor in
Speaker 3: post production thirty nine pages of notes on which takes
Speaker 3: I thought had the best performances. And it probably wasn't
Speaker 3: the Yeah they hate you or do it a gracious way.
Speaker 3: I don't think they knew what to make of me,
Speaker 3: and I I probably should not have done that, and
Speaker 3: I later apologized to them because it's it is a
Speaker 3: little rude, but I was so passionate about what you
Speaker 3: guys were doing and what was what was coming out
Speaker 3: in the story and the music, and it all came
Speaker 3: from a good place. It wasn't you know, I'm the
Speaker 3: director and I know what's best. It was wouldn't it
Speaker 3: be great?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: You did? I mean, because having been a fan of
Speaker 2: your acting work for forever and also the first time
Speaker 2: my family ever was impressed of like who I was
Speaker 2: working with. My brothers was like you working with Eric Stoltz. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I was like, this is the first time you showed
Speaker 2: any interest in gleaning and so coming onto a set
Speaker 2: knowing that you're working with an actor is very intimidating,
Speaker 2: especially one that you respect as much as like we
Speaker 2: all respect you, and you could it was that thing
Speaker 2: that you just described where we'd get to the last
Speaker 2: take and you'd be like, we got it already, we're done.
Speaker 2: Do now whatever you want, or you would like throw
Speaker 2: in a word or two. And for some reason, that
Speaker 2: ability to or that permission was so liberating, and we
Speaker 2: didn't know that was an option. Wait, we can do
Speaker 2: this trying yes, And really, for somehow, you know, got
Speaker 2: rid of all of that intimidation because you just wanted
Speaker 2: to allow us to play, allow everyone to just play.
Speaker 2: And we trusted you because you spoke to us differently,
Speaker 2: and the way you ran a set was different and
Speaker 2: also intimidating, which we should talk about because it was great,
Speaker 2: but it challenged us in all these wonderful ways. And actually,
Speaker 2: let's talk about that. You had some rules no sides
Speaker 2: on set.
Speaker 1: Well, Eric showed up in a suit and we were like,
Speaker 1: who's this guy?
Speaker 2: Because Eric was there before, not in a suit, when
Speaker 2: we were not shooting, and then we shoot and he's
Speaker 2: in it. Yeah, it's been great.
Speaker 1: He's serious, but then our first day on set. I
Speaker 1: remember no sides on set and we're like, who's this guy?
Speaker 2: Who is this?
Speaker 1: Who is this guy?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: And it was it was driving because as all the
Speaker 1: other directors that had come in, everybody had some caliber
Speaker 1: directorial work. Who they know how to approach a TV
Speaker 1: show that has been on for at least a season
Speaker 1: or two. Now that you're coming into somebody's health house,
Speaker 1: but also getting things done with confidence and with you know,
Speaker 1: making your days most of the time. But you it
Speaker 1: was like, who's made this guy making all these rules
Speaker 1: and who does he.
Speaker 2: Think he is?
Speaker 1: But it was really exciting because it was new for us.
Speaker 1: It kind of like we were slumped in our chairs
Speaker 1: and it like made us sit up in our chairs
Speaker 1: a little bit. And that was exciting to me because
Speaker 1: it was like somebody who actually cares somebody totally different.
Speaker 1: There's this absolutely different strategy going on and everybody's eyes
Speaker 1: are wide open, and it was really exciting. Talked us about, Yeah,
Speaker 1: tell me about like when that rule came in place.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know if you remember, but I was
Speaker 3: sort of hanging around your set for a couple episodes
Speaker 3: before we started do as because I wanted to get
Speaker 3: the lay of the land. I wanted to sort of
Speaker 3: see how the crew worked with you, how you worked
Speaker 3: with the crew, And I introduced myself to each of you, saying,
Speaker 3: I am your next director. How do you like to work,
Speaker 3: do you like to rehearse? Do you like to shoot
Speaker 3: the rehearsal? What is missing? Or what would you like
Speaker 3: or what did you feel your character needs that hasn't
Speaker 3: been given to you, that kind of stuff, And so
Speaker 3: I and I realized you were having a blast on
Speaker 3: that show, and I thought, I'm gonna have fun too.
Speaker 3: But I also I've always felt like unless you know
Speaker 3: the lines, you can't really go off of them, you
Speaker 3: can't really expand you can't really bring yourself to it
Speaker 3: because you're struggling to figure out what the lines are,
Speaker 3: as opposed to I know what my lines are, and
Speaker 3: I know what my intention is, and I have feelings
Speaker 3: about this and that it's kind of freeing. So I
Speaker 3: thought i'd try, and I remember I did that, and
Speaker 3: literally within an hour, Dante came down from the from
Speaker 3: the his offices, which I found out later didn't happen
Speaker 3: that often, and he pulled me aside, said, what are
Speaker 3: you doing. I said, what do you mean? He said,
Speaker 3: you take away their sides. What are you doing? And
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, I did. I think it's I think
Speaker 3: it'll be good. I think it'll be good for the show.
Speaker 3: And he says, are you sure, because you know some
Speaker 3: people are pissed off about it? And I said, just
Speaker 3: give me a day or two and and we'll see.
Speaker 3: But uh, and there were some you guys, some of
Speaker 3: you guys are a little grumpy about it. And I
Speaker 3: understand because you know, you get you find your ways
Speaker 3: to work and it's comfortable for you. But I do
Speaker 3: think that it paid off because then when we got
Speaker 3: to episodes like Blame It on the Alcohol, which were
Speaker 3: just chaos and just you know, the improvisational, wacky, you
Speaker 3: know stuff, you were able to come to play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: So was this the first time you've ever done that
Speaker 2: on a show?
Speaker 3: Well? No, no, no, I had done it. I had
Speaker 3: done a TV movie with mainly kids, I mean Katerina
Speaker 3: SCARSONI I think it's nineteen and Alison mac And I said,
Speaker 3: you know, no signs on set MM, because you know
Speaker 3: you have limited time. I want you guys to come
Speaker 3: ready to do your best, and I think it's hard
Speaker 3: to do your best when you're sort.
Speaker 1: Of you know, yeah, fair you laid the land for
Speaker 1: us though. For sure in terms of.
Speaker 2: The ripples that's sent through base camp, we got that
Speaker 2: note we're in hair and makeup.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think nay I came up to me and say, Stills,
Speaker 3: what the hell is this? Like, she's like right in
Speaker 3: my face. Also try it.
Speaker 1: She doesn't need signe. That's the problem that she photogram.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what she's all upset about now.
Speaker 1: But you you made our days. You shot, you know,
Speaker 1: your takes were shoot the rehearsal to three takes. We
Speaker 1: got it move on And that was new for us too.
Speaker 1: A lot of the time we were doing five, six,
Speaker 1: seven takes of each, you know, a setup and and
Speaker 1: so there was something like refreshing about it. And you
Speaker 1: came prepared and all your notes and your binder and
Speaker 1: everything was printed out, and we always felt like he
Speaker 1: cared so much. So it raised the bar for us
Speaker 1: because number one, we really had to know our lines.
Speaker 1: Number two, number two, we you were giving everything so
Speaker 1: much focus that when we came onto set, it made
Speaker 1: us kind of like strap up our boots a little
Speaker 1: bit and get to work, which in a fun way though,
Speaker 1: like we still had a lot of fun.
Speaker 4: So we oh, you know, I do remember the first
Speaker 4: couple of days, and particularly I remember Leah and Corey.
Speaker 3: Were a little mistrustful and stand offish, and it made
Speaker 3: me think, you know, I don't know. Well, no, I
Speaker 3: figured it out. I mean, you guys had been through,
Speaker 3: like we made a pilot. We're usually famous. Everybody wants
Speaker 3: something from us, yes, And I remember I was giving
Speaker 3: a direction like if you're the camera, I was talking
Speaker 3: to Corey, I'm Corey, and Corey was given the line like, hey,
Speaker 3: doing this, and I said, it's really Notice the intention
Speaker 3: is great, but when you go like this and the
Speaker 3: camera's here, I can't use it. If you limit your
Speaker 3: range of motion to just this, then I see both
Speaker 3: eyes and I'm more likely to use the reaction. And
Speaker 3: they said, oh okay, And then they would try it
Speaker 3: and they'd say, yeah, that kind of makes sense. So
Speaker 3: they realized I wasn't just trying to con troll their performance,
Speaker 3: you know, but yeah, enhance them.
Speaker 2: I mean that was sort of the beauty, though, of
Speaker 2: your communication, is that you would communicate those things to
Speaker 2: us that had never been communicated to us.
Speaker 3: See that's the thing that the thing like, don't tell
Speaker 3: the actors the truth. Yeah, don't don't let the actors
Speaker 3: make a decision other than lunch, you know, bring them
Speaker 3: what they want, infantalize the actors. And I found that, Uh,
Speaker 3: it didn't sit well with me as an actor. So
Speaker 3: I always thought, we want to direct, and I'll just
Speaker 3: tell you the truth, right, here's what we need.
Speaker 1: And must must want that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it goes a long way because I remember too,
Speaker 2: like explaining to people, you know, like at the time
Speaker 2: Lindsay Lohan was having a rough go of it publicly, right,
Speaker 2: You had to understand when you're on a set, you
Speaker 2: are catered to in every possible way. When we're doing
Speaker 2: a musical number, there are multi people dabbing off our
Speaker 2: brow from any sweat, we have fans, we have people
Speaker 2: bringing a site like you know, we have full teams
Speaker 2: like we don't. We're basically getting lifted and carried onto
Speaker 2: the set. And so when you get taken away from that,
Speaker 2: it's you can see how it could be hard for
Speaker 2: people to adjust to not being in that yeah, all
Speaker 2: the time. And when you do have somebody on set,
Speaker 2: who is in charge, Like a director being honest with you,
Speaker 2: It goes a very long way because that's all you want.
Speaker 2: It's like, yeah, just tell me we need to do
Speaker 2: I'm going to do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's most people. Most people just want to hear
Speaker 3: the truth, not and you can all I remember when
Speaker 3: I was acting, you can just always tell when a
Speaker 3: director is coming at you with some sort of bullshit, like,
Speaker 3: you know, wouldn't it be good if you stood up
Speaker 3: on this word? And my immediate reaction was like backleg No,
Speaker 3: why that's instinct, you know, as opposed to I would
Speaker 3: come up you guys, say at some point, you need
Speaker 3: to get to the door, right, because that's got to
Speaker 3: be the last shot on scene, because it says you
Speaker 3: exit and I'm into the next shot. So let's figure
Speaker 3: out when that is. Show me what feels right to you,
Speaker 3: and we'll shoot it. So I would figure out how
Speaker 3: I needed to get in and out of scenes, the
Speaker 3: transitions from one scene to another, and I would tell
Speaker 3: you guys, like I'm going to start on the door
Speaker 3: knob and then pull back and then let's see what
Speaker 3: happens and we'll cover it. And then the ending has
Speaker 3: to be you go out shoes office. So you guys
Speaker 3: were really helpful figuring out the meat of the scene.
Speaker 3: I had this sort of you know, intros and outros,
Speaker 3: and you guys had a fair amount of freedom within that.
Speaker 1: Speaking of introts, an actress, do you remember, I can't
Speaker 1: remember what season it was, but you started directing back
Speaker 1: to back episodes and it was very rare that any
Speaker 1: director should should have to do that ever, because that's
Speaker 1: so difficult. You have no time to prep. You're prepping
Speaker 1: while you're directing, if you're prepping at all. But I
Speaker 1: remember that happening. Do you remember that?
Speaker 2: Nope, it was I must.
Speaker 1: It might have been a prom episode, or it might
Speaker 1: have been a finale. I can't remember. All I remember
Speaker 1: is you being like, We're just going to do it.
Speaker 1: We're here, I'm just going to do it. I was like, wait,
Speaker 1: I do remember.
Speaker 3: There was one season opener I did. I can't.
Speaker 1: It was Purple Piano Project.
Speaker 3: Oh three, yeah, three, And it was I was told
Speaker 3: after as by Leo Bauer or Genius A d that
Speaker 3: it was my first episode, that it was done in
Speaker 3: eight days.
Speaker 2: What see? This is my point. I've always said we
Speaker 2: were always scheduled. People ask how many days it takes
Speaker 2: to shoot an episode, like, well, we were always scheduled
Speaker 2: for eight days, but never did we ever make that
Speaker 2: except for.
Speaker 3: It was hard too because and I understand it, you know.
Speaker 3: I remember we were doing one giant tap dance number
Speaker 3: with Chris Kolfer and everybody, and you know, we would
Speaker 3: show Ryan the numbers before we shot them, and Ryan
Speaker 3: came in and he sat down and we did the
Speaker 3: whole number. And I turned to Ryan, and Ryan said,
Speaker 3: I hate it. Let's wrap. We're doing it over and
Speaker 3: I said, oh my god, okay, and Leo Kimelmer said,
Speaker 3: I don't worry about it. It is what it is,
Speaker 3: this happens. Yes, we'll do it on another day. Get
Speaker 3: them back to the shed with Zach and Brooke, and
Speaker 3: I was I tried not to take it personally, but
Speaker 3: you can't take anything personally, and you know it's all subjective.
Speaker 3: But things like that would happen for the better of
Speaker 3: the show, by the way, you know, most shows didn't
Speaker 3: have an overlord would come down and say that really
Speaker 3: works or what are you thinking? No, start from this.
Speaker 3: I don't care if it costs money, I don't care
Speaker 3: if it costs time. We wanted to make it the
Speaker 3: best thing possible.
Speaker 2: It did suck too, because we'd have to that would happen,
Speaker 2: and we like, damn it, we have to go back
Speaker 2: and do this. But he was unfortunately always right yeah
Speaker 2: about those things, like damn he was.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the really tough part was going back to that
Speaker 3: bloody cheated shd that that or Zack and Brook where
Speaker 3: you guys had to rehearse.
Speaker 1: Until he moved to the Powerhouse. The Powerhouse that was
Speaker 1: a magical place. There was I don't remember which season
Speaker 1: it was, but you we were sitting on this one
Speaker 1: of the smaller stages. I think we were shooting in
Speaker 1: the library or we had like a mini cafeteria set
Speaker 1: up thing. It was like a little like one room
Speaker 1: thing and you were talking. You're like, I just wish
Speaker 1: like this character would do this because this is what
Speaker 1: happens and you but this is how you would think,
Speaker 1: and you were, you know, verbalizing it, and I was like, damn,
Speaker 1: how do we get him to be a writer on
Speaker 1: the show, because like, seeing how much you cared. You
Speaker 1: were talking to one of the other writers as well,
Speaker 1: so must have been you know, season three and beyond
Speaker 1: and there were great ideas. And that started with duets.
Speaker 1: When you had like Heather show up to to like
Speaker 1: do the meatball push with her nose. That was like, yeah, breadsticks.
Speaker 1: And since then.
Speaker 2: We're like, yeah, he's got like great ideas for Tina
Speaker 2: and Artie and Finn and Rachel.
Speaker 1: Like could he just write it?
Speaker 2: And I remember thinking, because we had done it a
Speaker 2: couple times for things, we're like we had harry on
Speaker 2: recently and we talked about how he and I sort
Speaker 2: of incepted Ryan to get the Michael Jackson songs we wanted,
Speaker 2: and I remember trying to plot how we could get you.
Speaker 2: I didn't even know if you were interested in writing.
Speaker 2: I didn't know if you were a writer. I was like,
Speaker 2: but we need him in there. I was like, he
Speaker 2: goes home and is thinking about what these characters are
Speaker 2: doing in the future, and he's right, and I need
Speaker 2: him to get some pens and paper and do this
Speaker 2: for us.
Speaker 3: Well, that's very sweet. I know I'm not a writer,
Speaker 3: and I'm I wasn't interested in it, but I would.
Speaker 3: In fact, I have a place in New Mexico that
Speaker 3: has some cows and things, and I remember so clearly
Speaker 3: walking with a script through the cows and saying to myself,
Speaker 3: if I was a gay high school cheerleader, how would
Speaker 3: I feel if I was rejected by my lover and
Speaker 3: I'd sort of acted out, I mean, with the script
Speaker 3: in my head. The cows were very entertains, riveted, patient
Speaker 3: by it. But you know, a grown man's sort of
Speaker 3: why was a teenage girl cheerleader? How would I deal
Speaker 3: with this? Which is silly, but I was very invested.
Speaker 3: I just I love you guys, and I love the stories.
Speaker 3: And by the way, I heard your podcast on duets,
Speaker 3: and I have to say that the nudging of the
Speaker 3: meat ball I remember quite clearly. I had asked Heather,
Speaker 3: did we bring Heather in?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 3: And there was a bit of an uproak because she
Speaker 3: wasn't in the script and there was nothing written for her,
Speaker 3: and she'd had a long day or something, I can't
Speaker 3: remember what, but I said begged, and she brought her
Speaker 3: in and I did the shot and I came over
Speaker 3: and she wasn't nudging the meatball. And Kenneth Silverstein, do
Speaker 3: you remember Kenneth the function manager. He was standing there
Speaker 3: because he was a little you know, he was kind
Speaker 3: of in charge of the money in the hours, and
Speaker 3: he sort of sidled up to me. He said, why
Speaker 3: don't you have her nudge the meatball? And I said,
Speaker 3: can I do that? And he said, she's here, and
Speaker 3: so we had the take where she doesn't nudge the meatball,
Speaker 3: and then we had her nudge the meatball. Oh, I
Speaker 3: cut it in And I thanked Kenneth for that because
Speaker 3: what that did was that opened up a little door
Speaker 3: for me where I thought, I can try things and
Speaker 3: I can cut them in and if they don't work,
Speaker 3: they'll say what the hell are you doing? That's about?
Speaker 3: But if they if they do work. Like my favorite
Speaker 3: moment I think of the whole run of Glee, was
Speaker 3: you Kevin in that pool scene going into the pool
Speaker 3: in your wheelchair. Was like, you can't do that. He's
Speaker 3: in a wheelchair. You can't do that.
Speaker 5: Like done everything else, So yes we can. Let's we
Speaker 5: have to talk about this, do you know? Because I'm
Speaker 5: like terminally online, I'm on Twitter all the time.
Speaker 2: How in the past like two years, the gift of
Speaker 2: me being pushed into the wheelchair has become such a
Speaker 2: viral thing. I get asked about it more than anything.
Speaker 2: People bring it up to me all the time. I
Speaker 2: get sent it on Twitter several times a week, or
Speaker 2: on TikTok or on Instagram, and when it happened. I
Speaker 2: remember when it aired, like I was really excited for
Speaker 2: it personally, but you know, it happened, the episode aired, whatever,
Speaker 2: we moved on, and then all of a sudden, there's
Speaker 2: been this like re emergence of this one little clip
Speaker 2: and I'm like, yes, finally, because I remember, like you said,
Speaker 2: you know, if we do everything as scripted, and we did,
Speaker 2: and then you walk up to me because everyone was
Speaker 2: sort of talking if I remember this correctly, and you can,
Speaker 2: but I think we were all sort of joking about
Speaker 2: it the entire time, like I need to get in
Speaker 2: the pool. While in the pool, and I remember like
Speaker 2: Leah and All was like shouting like push this, yeah,
Speaker 2: just get him in the pool. And then you came
Speaker 2: up to me and like whisper to me, Hey, so
Speaker 2: like we got it, We're done. I want to do
Speaker 2: one more. How are you with being pushed into the pool.
Speaker 2: I was like, push my ass in the pool, please,
Speaker 2: and not no ear in years did I ever think
Speaker 2: it actually get cut in? Like I didn't think it
Speaker 2: would make the edit, and I think we ended up
Speaker 2: doing it twice or something. But I was so happy
Speaker 2: because also, if any director was going to be like, yeah,
Speaker 2: let's try it, it would have been you. And it's become
Speaker 2: such a random Is that how that happened? Is my
Speaker 2: memory correct?
Speaker 3: Your memory is correct. I think the idea happened on
Speaker 3: the day and it didn't make any sense because everyone
Speaker 3: was diving in and you would just sort of roll
Speaker 3: by and it looks kind of weak. And then I
Speaker 3: remember I pitched it to the team. You always got
Speaker 3: to pitch it sort of your AD and your DP,
Speaker 3: and they all said, oh hell no, right, no, you
Speaker 3: got to get a stuntman. You don't have permission. What
Speaker 3: Ifrian doesn't like it. I mean all these reasons, I said,
Speaker 3: those are all really good reasons. But I just think
Speaker 3: it'll be good. And I had sort of a I
Speaker 3: had done a movie in a wheelchair. I think I
Speaker 3: told you this my worth together. I did a sun
Speaker 3: Dance film called The Water Dance with Helen Hunt and
Speaker 3: I was playing a quad and one of the fellows
Speaker 3: who wrote and directed that, Neil Jimenez, who sadly just died,
Speaker 3: was in a chair. The whole time, and so I
Speaker 3: stayed in my chair the whole time, and he would
Speaker 3: give me these books like he Won't get far on foot,
Speaker 3: and these really sort of darkly funny, weird takes on
Speaker 3: being in a wheelchair. And he said, we just hate
Speaker 3: it when anyone pities us or tries to take the chair.
Speaker 3: I mean, he would taught me through it. And so
Speaker 3: I thought, this is something that already can do. It's
Speaker 3: like a giant finger to the world. Yeah, And it
Speaker 3: makes total sense because it's it's not it's not a
Speaker 3: pitying thing. It's a joyful, crazy act that a teenager
Speaker 3: would do.
Speaker 2: I also that reminds me that he came up to
Speaker 2: me and you're like, they don't want to do that.
Speaker 2: He told me that, But you're like, I told I
Speaker 2: think it was Andrew, and you're like, I'm going to
Speaker 2: have Andrew's day on you.
Speaker 1: And Andrew will get it. Andrew would definitely get it.
Speaker 3: Oh, I got you a partner in crime.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I was like, if we have one take, like,
Speaker 2: I need to throw my body into this water.
Speaker 3: And you know what, it was kind of foolish because
Speaker 3: you could have hurt yourself. You could have heard yourself
Speaker 3: that wheelchair could have snapped your neck. You don't know,
Speaker 3: and it is always better to plan things and discuss
Speaker 3: it with stunt coordinators and the official But every once
Speaker 3: in a while, you just got to say, hey.
Speaker 2: What the hell is it pretty safe? Like I was
Speaker 2: going into the water. There wasn't a lot of risk
Speaker 2: in that one, Like it was true.
Speaker 3: That's true. But now that I have back then, I
Speaker 3: was just a director saying how can we make this
Speaker 3: episode sing? Now I've sort of been producing shows, and
Speaker 3: I think if you did that to me, that's kind
Speaker 3: of a liable You're opening yourself up to a lot
Speaker 3: of a lot of questions. So but I would enlist
Speaker 3: you guys. You guys would do anything, which is fantastic
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 1: For you specifically for you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think you do anything because you were
Speaker 3: enormously talented and at that point free enough to say,
Speaker 3: why don't we try that? Why don't we?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Why not?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: It is a great place to approach acting.
Speaker 2: When you came on the beginning of season two for Duets,
Speaker 2: we were probably pretty well behaved, yeah, mostly, And then
Speaker 2: when blaming on the alcohol your next episode, I think, right,
Speaker 2: was that your next episode? Yes, how was that? I
Speaker 2: remember because that episode was written sort of as a
Speaker 2: telling off of us in real life, because we got
Speaker 2: caught coming back from lunch a little under the influence,
Speaker 2: some of us more than others. And so when we
Speaker 2: did that episode, you were very adamant, obviously about nobody
Speaker 2: actually drink. We're not going method, and you taught us
Speaker 2: this technique of you know, spinning around in circles adah
Speaker 2: and then and then.
Speaker 3: Start trying to stand still.
Speaker 2: Yes, which was great, But I don't know if I
Speaker 2: do know that not everybody followed that, you know, how
Speaker 2: was that experience comparatively?
Speaker 3: It's interesting because I felt like in watching the season
Speaker 3: two h for me, I felt like I was being tested,
Speaker 3: maybe unintentionally because you never know how the scripts are written.
Speaker 3: But I mean, Duet's was obviously an intimate, sort of
Speaker 3: relational about you know, Kurt rejected, Arty is rejected. It's
Speaker 3: about love that isn't working out. And there were two
Speaker 3: guest stars and they each had a line. You know,
Speaker 3: I think the librarian went shush to to do you
Speaker 3: and Mike, and there was Jonathan Wolf in the cafeteria
Speaker 3: where Santana comes in and says she's just using you already.
Speaker 3: Everyone slept with her, hey you hey kid, and this
Speaker 3: guy turns around, Jonath Wilma says, oh, yeah, I slept
Speaker 3: with her. Those are the only two guest stars. So
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I was the new director. I thought, okay,
Speaker 3: Duet's was probably the easiest production wise episode. Let's try
Speaker 3: the new guy out on that. And then when we
Speaker 3: had a good time and it worked, they might have said, oh,
Speaker 3: let's give him the most crazy, anarchic, chaotic episode, depending
Speaker 3: on the alcohol and see what happens. And luckily, I
Speaker 3: mean Ian had written all three of these, so I
Speaker 3: was I was triple blessed with that. And you guys
Speaker 3: were maniacs, main alcohol maniacs, maniacs.
Speaker 2: But I loved it.
Speaker 3: I loved it. I just kept shooting, and the ones
Speaker 3: that were drunk or drinking, I said, well, let's just
Speaker 3: keep shooting. Do it again, let's go back, We'll keep
Speaker 3: shooting and get a real close on his face. And
Speaker 3: it was, you know, like the crew was sort of
Speaker 3: at that party.
Speaker 2: Too, yes, and that so that's my favorite episode. Has
Speaker 2: always been my favorite episode. It is because because it's
Speaker 2: so different, like we're never going to go to a
Speaker 2: house party. It really was teens being teens outside of school.
Speaker 3: For them, it's such a mixed message to the adults
Speaker 3: are getting drunk absolutely so they may want to. They
Speaker 3: may have wanted to have taught you a lesson, but
Speaker 3: the lesson was like this weird double edged sword, like
Speaker 3: it's fun, but you shouldn't do it, but we do it,
Speaker 3: but don't right.
Speaker 2: And we talked to about how like we never really
Speaker 2: got to improv that much on the show. Oh but
Speaker 2: yeah with you, and I remember that was probably like
Speaker 2: the most like you said, chaotic thing, because I remember
Speaker 2: us having a pow wow, I think sort of in
Speaker 2: the middle that day, like okay, what is everybody's thing?
Speaker 2: Like what are because we had talked about with the
Speaker 2: writers about the different drunk types and who would be
Speaker 2: funny to see in each type of thing, and you
Speaker 2: really like encouraged us to just really go for it
Speaker 2: and play and like set up these things on the
Speaker 2: day as we're in rehearsal, like what if you guys
Speaker 2: were over here and what if you guys said this,
Speaker 2: what does that look like? And having the freedom in
Speaker 2: that situation to really just be pure maniacs. I think
Speaker 2: probably why it's my That's probably why it's my favorite
Speaker 2: episode because we felt like we were also at a
Speaker 2: party the entire day and sitting there.
Speaker 3: And by the way, you would do anything like what
Speaker 3: if Heather did a backflip and then you did blow
Speaker 3: on her belly? Just like what I don't think the
Speaker 3: blow made the final but no, Heather, the back flip, like,
Speaker 3: what is happening over there? Get away real quick? Yeah?
Speaker 2: The daily from that, but the must be nuts nuts?
Speaker 6: Oh they are.
Speaker 3: I watched them all.
Speaker 2: Guess you did.
Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite episode that you directed?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, like I said, I only watched the
Speaker 3: first couple of seasons, so I didn't. I didn't get
Speaker 3: how dare you? But I'd say, you know, I would
Speaker 3: say I did love prom just because you know a
Speaker 3: musical number that ends in people puking. Oh no, that
Speaker 3: was that was blaming on the alcohol. Prom. Oh prom
Speaker 3: was the one that entited dance.
Speaker 4: With the prom Queen dancing, hurt dancing, Queen dancing Queen right,
Speaker 4: that was park. I loved them jar Parks.
Speaker 2: Did you just multiple proms? I feel like, yeah, you got.
Speaker 2: I think like how Brad Beeker got stuck with all
Speaker 2: the competitions.
Speaker 1: You got got practical dances, Yeah, it was that Heather
Speaker 1: pro Dinosaurs.
Speaker 3: I got that. Yeah, weird.
Speaker 1: Those were so much fun, fun because Eric, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: made them really fun.
Speaker 3: And I think I rented a pale blue prompt suit.
Speaker 1: Yes, you did one of them.
Speaker 2: Yes, I remember that because the crew and one of
Speaker 2: them a crew dressed up too, like everybody problem Joey Patrick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Andrew, Yes, everybody got dressed up.
Speaker 1: It was a you know, it was a problem.
Speaker 3: It was a prom and it was that show as
Speaker 3: hard as it was to do overall, as hard as
Speaker 3: it was to do, and as much of a strain
Speaker 3: as it was on everybody, particularly you guys. I mean
Speaker 3: at that point, I think you had just gotten back
Speaker 3: from touring in between seasons, so you were wiped out
Speaker 3: starting a season, which is insane, right, But there really
Speaker 3: was a feeling like we just loved what we were doing,
Speaker 3: you know, and and all your your characters. It meant
Speaker 3: a lot. I mean, I went to high school at
Speaker 3: a time in the seventies where one of my best friends,
Speaker 3: Scotti Durnovich, just gayer than you can imagine. In the
Speaker 3: seventies before it was cool, and I remember we were
Speaker 3: walking outside the gym at school or something, and I
Speaker 3: was a tiny, loud and obnoxious kid and some jocks
Speaker 3: walked by and said, hey, fag and they like punched it.
Speaker 3: And I remember like that feeling of oh my god,
Speaker 3: and he was like, it's okay, it happens. I was shocked, because,
Speaker 3: you know, we would do plays together in the theater world,
Speaker 3: the music world. We love everybody. It's like the Dyscapellian church.
Speaker 3: You know, hey, you're straight a woman, you're a man,
Speaker 3: what are you? Who cares?
Speaker 2: We love it.
Speaker 3: And to have seen that happen growing up in a
Speaker 3: school situation, and then to come around and be able
Speaker 3: to work with you guys on a show that is
Speaker 3: probably the most inclusive, open, helpful show for kids who
Speaker 3: are struggling to perhaps come out in a place that
Speaker 3: is not welcoming or caring or loving, it meant something,
Speaker 3: you know, and it was. It sounds ridiculous to say important,
Speaker 3: but I think the fact of it mattered. And I
Speaker 3: should love those curtain bird scenes too, because of the
Speaker 3: best Father's sons and Michael Mathews, Michael, Chris Colper. Truly,
Speaker 3: Mike was a beast and Chris, you know, Chris was
Speaker 3: a guy. I think I owe an apology to Chris
Speaker 3: because I felt like my job as a director was
Speaker 3: to sort of connect with each of you and get
Speaker 3: you guys to try stuff that I thought you might
Speaker 3: have in you. And that's a bit egotistical, and sometimes
Speaker 3: it works, sometimes it doesn't. And I tried some things
Speaker 3: with Chris and I remember him looking at me like
Speaker 3: what no, And I'm just said, come on, man, let's
Speaker 3: just try it. And I was insistent, and I didn't
Speaker 3: need to be because his instincts were oh my god,
Speaker 3: oh my god, that man's instincts or that boy at
Speaker 3: the time. And I don't think I used a single
Speaker 3: take of me directing him. It was always go back
Speaker 3: to Chris's first couple of takes, go back to what
Speaker 3: he how he saw it, because he was touched.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not unbelievable, undoubtedly so, and the two of them
Speaker 1: together like just yeah fire. Michael Malley, Michae O'Malley. He
Speaker 1: was always like a like a parent said to us.
Speaker 1: He always gave words of advice. He always loved to
Speaker 1: be nice to everybody. Be nice to everybody, Be be
Speaker 1: kind to the people you work with. No, they're learn
Speaker 1: their names, and it really it hit. He's like invest
Speaker 1: in real estate, don't blow your money. Just a really
Speaker 1: smart guy with the best tickbits of advice for new,
Speaker 1: young successful actors that I never ever.
Speaker 2: Forgot, like on an acting and getting to watch him
Speaker 2: like rehearse the scene. Yeah, was also like you Eric, Yeah,
Speaker 2: thought deeply came in prepared. I had ideas, wanted to
Speaker 2: really make sure every emotional beat was going to be hit.
Speaker 2: And yeah, like a.
Speaker 3: Racehorse he was. He was ready to and he was
Speaker 3: so good. Oh my god, And I'm glad to hear
Speaker 3: that he gave that advice to you guys, because I
Speaker 3: will never forget. I think it was season four or
Speaker 3: five Mark and I think it was cored and I
Speaker 3: think it was Corey came up to me in between setups,
Speaker 3: so we were waiting around and said, hey, man, you
Speaker 3: got any No, they didn't start with the advice. They said,
Speaker 3: it's my birthday. One of them was having a birthday.
Speaker 3: It's my birthday next month. Hey, stults, what do you
Speaker 3: think I should do for my birthday? Do you think
Speaker 3: I should rent a plane with for fifty my friends
Speaker 3: would fly to Vegas for the weekend, or do you
Speaker 3: think we should rent a yacht and do this and that,
Speaker 3: and they were all happy and excited, like what did
Speaker 3: we do with our money in our fame? And I
Speaker 3: looked at them and I was I was in drunky mood.
Speaker 3: I thought, I said, you want my honest answer, here's
Speaker 3: what you should do. You should take that money and
Speaker 3: get in therapy and buy a house, a small house
Speaker 3: that you can keep forever, because it's not always going
Speaker 3: to be like this. And I remember they looked at
Speaker 3: me like I shot their dog looked at me like, oh,
Speaker 3: stones down, getting it away from him. But it is
Speaker 3: good advice.
Speaker 1: Home therapy and homes.
Speaker 3: Very those were the three wrong guys to be talking.
Speaker 1: To you, that's right at that point time.
Speaker 3: Mark, Corey and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was no talking about that.
Speaker 1: No, No, they definitely probably Vegas. What before we let
Speaker 1: you go? Which is so sad. What feeling does Glee
Speaker 1: leave you with?
Speaker 3: Well, I tell you I watched. When I got to duets,
Speaker 3: I wept. I wept because you were all so so
Speaker 3: beautiful and talented and and it was such a lovely experience.
Speaker 3: And then I wept for Nya and Corey m and
Speaker 3: even Mark. You know, Mark was yeah, a piece of
Speaker 3: work and he wasn't easy.
Speaker 6: But yeah, yeah, it's a sort of a sad loveliness
Speaker 6: that I look at that that time because I so
Speaker 6: loved you guys.
Speaker 3: I just you know, I cherished being able to get
Speaker 3: get there with you and do what I did. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, I haven't watched the rest of the seasons.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there really were.
Speaker 2: The feeling I can say I can speak for all
Speaker 2: of us is very mutual. We felt that from you.
Speaker 2: We're still obsessed with you. Yeah, you're not going to
Speaker 2: get rid of us that easily.
Speaker 3: Ok.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, thanks for taking your time to prepare for
Speaker 1: this podcast number one. Refresh your memory, always prepared, hang
Speaker 1: out with us, share your feelings. Yeah, Like I just
Speaker 1: echo Kevin, like anytime you were coming on, we knew
Speaker 1: we saw stilts on the roster and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: like a breath, like a sigh relief and such a
Speaker 1: joy and always just kind of like picked us up
Speaker 1: and back out of our choir slump. So thank you.
Speaker 2: It is true. And I don't know if you knew
Speaker 2: that where you know, we could get into the the
Speaker 2: rut of the process of the exhaustion of it all,
Speaker 2: and there absolutely was an injection of you know, positivity,
Speaker 2: and absolutely picked us back up and injected us with
Speaker 2: some energy.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 3: No, I'm glad, I'm glad. I mean, look, you guys
Speaker 3: didn't really need any help with the energy department.
Speaker 1: I could now, I mean I do now.
Speaker 3: We all grow older. But at that point, literally like
Speaker 3: you had toured all summer and you were making another
Speaker 3: twenty two episodes and you were partying in the on
Speaker 3: the weekends. It was you guys. Correct, You guys are
Speaker 3: living the dream we were.
Speaker 1: We really did.
Speaker 2: Yeah we did.
Speaker 1: I wonder I don't want to leave my house over.
Speaker 2: Yeah we did it all.
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did it.
Speaker 1: No need truly, we've done it. We've seen it all.
Speaker 2: No fomo.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks Eric. We we love you and adore you.
Speaker 3: Thank you, I love you right there.
Speaker 2: Thanks for spending so much time with us, and so
Speaker 2: good to.
Speaker 3: See you you too.
Speaker 1: He hasn't changed a bit. I mean he's I'm sure
Speaker 1: he's evolved, but he hasn't changed at all.
Speaker 2: No, in all the great ways, he's the same and
Speaker 2: just wonderful, caring and so prepared.
Speaker 1: Always so prepared, more prepared than we are for this podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, going forward, when you're rewatching the
Speaker 2: show with us, just pay attention to who's directing and
Speaker 2: you'll see it's a little more loose around the edges
Speaker 2: with us. I think when Stultz is directing, that's right,
Speaker 2: that's totally great and a great way.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks Stoltz for coming on. We really if you
Speaker 1: couldn't tell by the episode, you guys, we really loved
Speaker 1: Erek being one of our directors. And that's that's this
Speaker 1: week's episode.
Speaker 2: So that's what you really missed.
Speaker 1: See you next week.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, and follow us on Instagram at and
Speaker 2: that's what you really miss pod. Make sure to write
Speaker 2: us a review and leave us five stars. See you
Speaker 2: next time.