Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
Speaker 1: me Tommy Deadario. I love when I talk to a
Speaker 1: guest who has so many different layers, and the actor
Speaker 1: you are about to hear from brings all of that
Speaker 1: and more. Tanner of Buchanan joins the show today. Now
Speaker 1: you may know this talented guy because he stole the
Speaker 1: world's attention in his breakout role of Robbie in the
Speaker 1: hit Netflix series Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai is, of course,
Speaker 1: the sequel to the original the Karate Kid films, and
Speaker 1: the final season, season six, is set to release later
Speaker 1: this year. But next up, Tanner can be seen in
Speaker 1: the romantic comedy How to Date Billy Walsh, which is
Speaker 1: out right now on Amazon. So the film, it follows
Speaker 1: a pair of childhood friends, Amelia and Archie. Archie has
Speaker 1: always kept his love for Amelia a secret, but just
Speaker 1: as he finds the courage to declare his feelings, well,
Speaker 1: Amelia falls from Billy Waller, the new transfer student played
Speaker 1: perfectly by Tanner. So Today, Tanner opens up about how
Speaker 1: he can relate to his character about being misunderstood at
Speaker 1: different moments throughout his life. We talk about how we
Speaker 1: all have multiple layers that make up who we are,
Speaker 1: and we can't be defined by other people's perception of us.
Speaker 1: We talk about being comfortable in his own skin and
Speaker 1: how it's still hard to get used to seeing his
Speaker 1: image on a movie poster. We then dive into what
Speaker 1: we can expect in the new and final season of
Speaker 1: Cobra Kai that he is filming right now, and perhaps
Speaker 1: the greatest lesson you will ever hear in your entire life.
Speaker 1: We learn how you two can master a slow motion walk.
Speaker 1: So let's see if today we can get Tanner to
Speaker 1: say something that he has never said before. Tanner, It's
Speaker 1: good to see you, mo man? How are you good?
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 1: It's nice seeing I am fantastic. I have to say
Speaker 1: congratulations to you with this film. I watched it over
Speaker 1: the weekend and it's so good. But before we dive
Speaker 1: into that, I have probably one of the most burning
Speaker 1: questions you will ever be asked in an interview. Are
Speaker 1: you ready?
Speaker 2: I'm ready?
Speaker 1: How do you master a slow motion walk?
Speaker 2: That is a good question.
Speaker 3: I have not a clue to all, to be honest,
Speaker 3: I feel like I kind of just walked in there
Speaker 3: and they, I mean, the director was super honest.
Speaker 2: He goes, Listen, most of your stuff is going to
Speaker 2: be in slow mo. And I said, okay, and he goes,
Speaker 2: you know, you just.
Speaker 3: Gotta he goes, You don't really have to like play
Speaker 3: it super slow mo. He goes, but make sure you
Speaker 3: take your time because we want to make sure you
Speaker 3: have all those little looks.
Speaker 2: And stuff and different like the different stuff like that.
Speaker 3: So I maybe played stuff a little bit slower than
Speaker 3: what I'm used to because I'm a little crazy and
Speaker 3: like to look all over the place.
Speaker 2: And move my body a little bit more. But this
Speaker 2: one was a little bit more subdued.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you nailed it. You nailed it. I imagine
Speaker 1: that must feel a little funny doing that in real.
Speaker 3: Time, right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, Just the take about fifteen
Speaker 3: percent of what you usually do off of that, and
Speaker 3: then you're good.
Speaker 1: Well, like I said, the movie is awesome. You play
Speaker 1: the new kid who's the popular kid. People really gravitate
Speaker 1: towards him, we'll say, But what's cool about the role
Speaker 1: is he has a lot of different layers to him.
Speaker 1: And there's a powerful moment kind of near the end
Speaker 1: that you give this little monologue after a date that's
Speaker 1: just so awesome. So I'm curious to know. Are you
Speaker 1: somebody who feels like you've been misunderstood throughout your life
Speaker 1: or you've been judged one way based on maybe people
Speaker 1: not really knowing the real you.
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like everyone can kind of relate
Speaker 2: to that. You know, me personally.
Speaker 3: You know, I grew up in a small, small town
Speaker 3: where sports was the big thing to do and I
Speaker 3: decided to go the opposite way and pursue dance, and
Speaker 3: a lot of people maybe disagreed with that, but you know,
Speaker 3: it's what led me to my career now. So you know,
Speaker 3: I'm happy with all the decisions that I made. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I feel like I can relate to that in a sense.
Speaker 3: But like I said, I feel like everybody can kind
Speaker 3: of relate to being an outlier at least at some
Speaker 3: point in their life of what they maybe don't understand
Speaker 3: yet about themselves, or or you know, really being in
Speaker 3: school and trying to find out who they are as
Speaker 3: a person and not really understanding what that's going to
Speaker 3: look like, trying to grow up. Even now, I feel
Speaker 3: like I'm constantly learning about myself on my own, and
Speaker 3: it may be hard for people to understand what I'm
Speaker 3: doing or the way that I'm taking and you know,
Speaker 3: it's something that you have to be able to figure
Speaker 3: out with you yourself, and I maybe do you want
Speaker 3: to say it that way?
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. So is that a reason why you
Speaker 1: wanted to take on this role because were layers to explore?
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean I feel like a lot of people
Speaker 3: they might watch the film and go, oh, he's just
Speaker 3: the American that rides the motorcycle and he's supposed to
Speaker 3: be popular, and it's like, like you said, there's that
Speaker 3: scene that I mean, Billy really keeps everything to himself
Speaker 3: and there's a lot going on in his family life
Speaker 3: and we get a little glimpse into that obviously, but
Speaker 3: not too much. I did a lot of work kind
Speaker 3: of on my own and tried to come up with
Speaker 3: different stories and what his life looked like and the
Speaker 3: way that it was molded. I've kind of kept it
Speaker 3: to myself, as I do many characters. But yeah, there
Speaker 3: was a lot of work that went in to try
Speaker 3: and figure out just to make sure he had those layers.
Speaker 3: As he is a man of few words.
Speaker 1: Well, that backstory is super important, So I'm sure that
Speaker 1: was really helpful in creating the role for you. So
Speaker 1: what makes you say yes to a certain project like
Speaker 1: this one? I mean, you've done so many different things
Speaker 1: throughout the course of your career already, You've seen like
Speaker 1: you're so hard working, you put your everything into all
Speaker 1: that you do. So why this movie?
Speaker 3: When I was first approached about it, Bashing Charithra, I
Speaker 3: believe were already attached. I had seen both of their
Speaker 3: kind of acting and their careers and had followed them
Speaker 3: a little bit and knew that they were amazing actors
Speaker 3: and it was also an opportunity. After reading the script,
Speaker 3: I realized how funny it was and how different it
Speaker 3: was from maybe some of the other writing styles that
Speaker 3: I had been in, and knew that it was just
Speaker 3: something that I wanted to do. Also, the plus of
Speaker 3: being able to ride a motorcycle just about the entire
Speaker 3: movie was a big one for me as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah was that new for you?
Speaker 2: No, no, no no.
Speaker 3: I grew up riding dirt bikes and have a couple
Speaker 3: of motorcycles, so it was something that was just a
Speaker 3: plus that I was like that, I want to ride
Speaker 3: a motorcycle for work.
Speaker 2: That sounds awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Why not. Why not? That's sick.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: Another thing I love about this movie is it really
Speaker 1: taps into to, for lack of a better phrase, the
Speaker 1: mean girl, mean guy culture that we live in, right
Speaker 1: and just with phones capturing everything and people putting one
Speaker 1: another down and all of that. It really explores that
Speaker 1: and how certain people and how characters in the film
Speaker 1: really deal with that. And it's so interesting to me
Speaker 1: because I think it's something that you can see in art,
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure it necessarily stops the people from
Speaker 1: doing it to do it further. So it's such a
Speaker 1: really unique concept to me, and I love seeing it
Speaker 1: because I hope it does. I don't know the answer
Speaker 1: to that. I sure hope it does. But for you, obviously,
Speaker 1: your character isn't someone in this film who really battles
Speaker 1: much of that at all. But how do you kind
Speaker 1: of tune out the negative in life and separate yourself
Speaker 1: from all of that, for lack of another better term,
Speaker 1: that chit storm that exists out there.
Speaker 2: It is interesting.
Speaker 3: I'm right on that cusp of no social media to
Speaker 3: social media, so you know, I didn't really grow up
Speaker 3: with social media like kids are now. I mean, that's
Speaker 3: the entire that seems like what life is now, you know,
Speaker 3: And as much as I can understand it, I don't
Speaker 3: understand it as well as maybe I should. But I
Speaker 3: guess for me, you know, there's always going to be negative.
Speaker 3: It feels as though the negative is maybe a little
Speaker 3: bit more at the forefront, because obviously it is so
Speaker 3: accessible to everyone all over the world. But I guess
Speaker 3: the best way to do it is to just know.
Speaker 3: You got to ignore a lot of it, especially being
Speaker 3: in a career where you know, I am at the
Speaker 3: forefront and you know, a lot of people see what
Speaker 3: I do and have a lot of opinions about that.
Speaker 3: I just got to take it and stride and know that,
Speaker 3: you know, I did the best that I could and
Speaker 3: as long as I'm happy with myself and what I've
Speaker 3: done at the end of the day, that's all that matters.
Speaker 1: Oh well said, And I think that that mentality is
Speaker 1: so important to have and only serves you for the better.
Speaker 1: And another thing that the movie touches on is constant comparing,
Speaker 1: right Like there's you know, girls in the movie comparing
Speaker 1: their bodies to each other. There's guys trying to be cooler,
Speaker 1: I mean, and so on and so forth. I think
Speaker 1: that's such another important thing to shed a light on
Speaker 1: in any way that we can. How do you not
Speaker 1: fall into that trap right of comparison syndrome? I mean,
Speaker 1: have you do you? It's something that I feel like
Speaker 1: speaking off of, you know what you don't know about somebody,
Speaker 1: And similar to the theme of this movie, you would say, Oh,
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about that. You don't compare
Speaker 1: yourself to anybody. So I'm so curious what that relationship
Speaker 1: is like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I feel like it's a natural thing
Speaker 3: for people to go, oh, you know, I like that outfit.
Speaker 3: I think that you know, I would love to have
Speaker 3: that outfit, but that may be too cool for me.
Speaker 3: Or he rides motorcycles. That sounds super cool. But ultimately,
Speaker 3: if it comes down if that's not your thing, that
Speaker 3: you know, that's okay. I definitely when I was younger,
Speaker 3: compared myself to a lot of people, like I said,
Speaker 3: being and especially now, like I said, with social media
Speaker 3: and just this career, I mean, everyone's posting the best
Speaker 3: versions of themselves or you're seeing the best versions of
Speaker 3: themselves and you just have to go wait a second.
Speaker 3: You know, they probably sat there and took fifty photos,
Speaker 3: or they tried on ten outfits. Oh, they had their
Speaker 3: makeup done. You know, everything isn't as perfect as it seems.
Speaker 3: And I did used to fall into that a little bit.
Speaker 3: But I think you just got to find where you
Speaker 3: are and be comfortable in your skin. It's a really,
Speaker 3: really hard thing to do, and it's a really long journey,
Speaker 3: and I think it's something that I'll constantly be adjusting
Speaker 3: just as the world continues to change, because it keeps
Speaker 3: changing faster and faster and faster, and it's hard to
Speaker 3: keep up with that. But I think ultimately everybody knows
Speaker 3: who they are, you know, in the core of what
Speaker 3: they want to do and who they want to be.
Speaker 3: And I think as long as you stay comfortable and
Speaker 3: believe in yourself, that's where you should live.
Speaker 1: Man, you strike me as someone who's very introspective, and
Speaker 1: that's always it's always exciting for me to talk to
Speaker 1: somebody like that, because you know, you love what you do.
Speaker 1: You're making shows, you're making movies. You're in this amazing
Speaker 1: spot in your career at a very young age. You
Speaker 1: have this amazing new film that's that's out right now.
Speaker 1: As people are listening to this, yet you remain so
Speaker 1: humble and so full of gratitude, and I think that's
Speaker 1: something that's really going to serve you well for the
Speaker 1: rest of your career.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate it. I try to.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I feel like it's just easier to
Speaker 3: try to remember you just don't get caught up in
Speaker 3: it all.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I'm just lucky enough to be able to do a
Speaker 3: career that I love, and to me, it's a job
Speaker 3: and I just go in every day and it's one
Speaker 3: of those things that I'm like, I kind of just
Speaker 3: can't believe that I get to do this as a job,
Speaker 3: and it just so happens that a lot of people
Speaker 3: see it.
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, it's my job.
Speaker 3: And you know, on the sets, it's not just me
Speaker 3: and the actors. It's you know, the directors and the
Speaker 3: producers and the grips and lighting and camera and the
Speaker 3: pas and the ads and catering, you know, and crafty
Speaker 3: and transpot It's like, it's not just us, it's a
Speaker 3: crew of people, and without everybody, none of it would
Speaker 3: be able to happen. So I think as long as
Speaker 3: you remember that it's it's a job and it takes everybody.
Speaker 2: You know, everybody's equal.
Speaker 3: You know, there's no one that's more important than the
Speaker 3: other other person, because without each other then, you know,
Speaker 3: we wouldn't have stuff like the you know, stuff like
Speaker 3: this movies.
Speaker 1: It's a big team effort, that's for sure. Do you
Speaker 1: see or kind of you know, like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I can't believe that's me on the poster of How
Speaker 1: to Date Billy Walsh, Like, is that feeling still present
Speaker 1: for you even though you've been working for so long.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, it's it's it's exciting, but it's one of
Speaker 3: those weird things, you know. I don't know really how
Speaker 3: to explain it other than it's you know, if someone
Speaker 3: worked an office job and they did a presentation or
Speaker 3: an excel sheet and then the company decides, hey, you know,
Speaker 3: to promote our business, We're going to put your excel
Speaker 3: sheet on this big billboard and people are going to
Speaker 3: look at it, and you go, okay, thank you. But
Speaker 3: also that's a little it's a little odd at the
Speaker 3: same time because I don't I don't quite understand, but
Speaker 3: I will also I appreciate that you are promoting it
Speaker 3: and and't want that to happen. So it's a little
Speaker 3: bit it's just surreal because you go, oh wait, that's me.
Speaker 3: That's a little odd. So I don't know if it's
Speaker 3: just something I'm trying to get used.
Speaker 2: To, and I don't know if I ever will, to be.
Speaker 1: Honest, Yeah, well that's a good thing, I think, because
Speaker 1: it's going to keep you hungry for more and grounded
Speaker 1: and excited to keep doing the work that you're doing.
Speaker 1: So when people get done watching this film, what do
Speaker 1: you hope that they take away from it?
Speaker 2: Well, first off, I hope everyone enjoys the movie.
Speaker 3: I hope they walk away going, oh, I really enjoyed that,
Speaker 3: and the fact that they had just a lot of
Speaker 3: fun watching it. I think, you know, you touched on
Speaker 3: it a little bit. And with the whole social media
Speaker 3: of it all, I hope everyone kind of walks away going,
Speaker 3: you know, you don't know the story to everybody, because
Speaker 3: as accessible as everybody's life is, you know, I hope
Speaker 3: people can walk away and go, oh, you know, I
Speaker 3: don't know what's going on in somebody's life, and you know,
Speaker 3: I maybe shouldn't have preconceived notions about that. And if
Speaker 3: it's somebody that you truly want to pursue to get
Speaker 3: to know, get to know them, rather than you know,
Speaker 3: judging a book by its cover.
Speaker 1: Well said, Well said, And I think those are all
Speaker 1: really important points to take away from a really fun movie.
Speaker 1: And that's what I loved about it is it's so
Speaker 1: much fun, but it really has these pieces of useful
Speaker 1: information and tips that we should all remember going through
Speaker 1: this wildlife that we're in. So I think it's a
Speaker 1: really important movie to be dropping right now, especially because
Speaker 1: it has appeal to everybody, no matter what walk of
Speaker 1: life that you come from. What excites you for your future? Like,
Speaker 1: you're such a go getter. I know, I know the
Speaker 1: rumors about you that you show up first to set
Speaker 1: and you're always on time and professional, and you're like
Speaker 1: the a star when it comes to your work. And
Speaker 1: I know you write a lot and you believe in
Speaker 1: manifesting and all of that, so I know you take
Speaker 1: your future very seriously, you take your job very seriously.
Speaker 1: What's something that's surprising that you want to do in
Speaker 1: your future?
Speaker 3: So honestly, right now, I'm trying to get more behind
Speaker 3: the camera, not necessarily directing, but the main thing I'm
Speaker 3: trying to focus on is kind of the writing producing
Speaker 3: side of things. That's something that kind of excites me
Speaker 3: that I'm dipping my toe into right now with a
Speaker 3: couple of different things, and ultimately kind of want to
Speaker 3: move in that direction.
Speaker 2: Still want to be in.
Speaker 3: Front of the camera because it's something that I really
Speaker 3: really love, but also be able to get to the
Speaker 3: point where I can find stories that you know, maybe
Speaker 3: haven't had the chance to be told that I am
Speaker 3: able to kind of approach and say, hey, I also agree,
Speaker 3: and I think this story should be told and try
Speaker 3: to bring it to the forefront for people to be
Speaker 3: able to see and you know, learn from.
Speaker 1: Rock em Man. Well, I have no doubt you'll do that.
Speaker 1: You see, when your mindset on something, you go for
Speaker 1: it and you achieve it. So I see that coming.
Speaker 1: I see that coming. And I've got to ask, as
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Copra, Kai, I think you're still
Speaker 1: in the filming of the new season?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: Is that correct?
Speaker 3: We are?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Cool? How's that all going?
Speaker 2: Are you?
Speaker 1: Are you almost done with the season?
Speaker 2: We are? We are working you know, this season so
Speaker 2: far is it's a lot. We're all working harder than
Speaker 2: we ever have. There's a lot going into this season
Speaker 2: and everyone's truly putting in not even one hundred and
Speaker 2: ten percent, We're all putting in two hundred percent. And
Speaker 2: I know we say it every year and it's going
Speaker 2: you know, and we always like, oh, this season's going
Speaker 2: to be bigger and badder than every season.
Speaker 3: This season truly is going to be the biggest season
Speaker 3: and there's so much to take in. It's gonna be
Speaker 3: a lot, it's gonna be a crazy, wild ride, and
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna.
Speaker 2: Make everybody really, really, really really happy.
Speaker 1: Oh nice, have you been using a lot of ice packs?
Speaker 1: Are you nursing your muscles this season? From all the
Speaker 1: training you're doing.
Speaker 3: It's it's a lot of heating pads and uh that's
Speaker 3: assault baths.
Speaker 2: And you know, the icing things.
Speaker 3: And advil for you know, it's, uh, we're doing it.
Speaker 2: All at all.
Speaker 1: Tanner, as we wrap up, the name of the show is,
Speaker 1: I've never said this before, So I'm wondering, is there
Speaker 1: anything that you can think of, whether it's silly or
Speaker 1: deep or whatever might come to mind that is something
Speaker 1: you haven't said before.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, I've been alive for twenty five years. I'm
Speaker 2: going back in my rips.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, take a minute and whatever comes to mind.
Speaker 3: I'm going to say this, and some people might be
Speaker 3: mad at me, but that's okay. I think that In
Speaker 3: the Air Tonight by Phil Collins is not a good
Speaker 3: song and I can't listen to it.
Speaker 2: And I don't know why.
Speaker 3: It does that thing in my brain where it scratches
Speaker 3: it in the wrong way and I can't listen to it.
Speaker 1: So it's a trigger for you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of people are going to disagree with me,
Speaker 3: but it's like nails on a chalkboard for some reason.
Speaker 1: Really, is it the instrumentals? Is it the song? Like
Speaker 1: the message? I need a little more information.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I every time I listen to it, it like it
Speaker 3: gives it Honestly, it gives me the ick, and like
Speaker 3: there's something about it that just kind of yeah, in
Speaker 3: the Air Tonight just gives me the ick for some reason,
Speaker 3: and I just can't listen to it.
Speaker 1: Well, now we have a problem because when I hear
Speaker 1: that song, I'm gonna now think of you telling me
Speaker 1: that the song gives you the ick, And now I'm
Speaker 1: never gonna be able to enjoy the song again.
Speaker 2: It's a glassbreaking moment. It's gonna be a glass.
Speaker 1: Breaking that's amazing, and I will, I certainly will never
Speaker 1: hear that song in the same way again. So I
Speaker 1: appreciate you sharing that. That's Isn't it funny how we
Speaker 1: all have certain things that we can't put our finger on.
Speaker 1: Why but it just hits us in a weird way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it just it's you and you go, I just
Speaker 2: it's just wrong. I don't know why. It's just wrong
Speaker 2: for me and I don't know why.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yes, I'm
Speaker 1: sure a very controversial topic is people feel a certain
Speaker 1: way or another about that song, but I love it.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that problem. So enter the movie is
Speaker 1: out now, everyone's going to be looking for something new
Speaker 1: to stream to watch. As we close up this interview,
Speaker 1: why should we all turn on How to Date? Billy Walsh?
Speaker 3: I truly think it's something that everyone's going to be
Speaker 3: able to relate to. You know, everyone had friends or
Speaker 3: maybe they went to school, or you know, maybe there
Speaker 3: was different clicks of you know, friend groups that they
Speaker 3: hung out with or they observed. And I think it's
Speaker 3: truly something that people can go oh, I see how
Speaker 3: this is and I can relate to that. It also
Speaker 3: is the topic of young love, and I assume that
Speaker 3: you know, maybe not everyone, but you know, most human
Speaker 3: beings have experienced love, especially young love, at some point
Speaker 3: in their life, and it's something that they can look
Speaker 3: at and go, oh, I remember that time, and I remember,
Speaker 3: you know, going through that or feeling those things. And
Speaker 3: then also it's just honestly, it's really funny and just
Speaker 3: a really fun watch, and I think if people should
Speaker 3: just give it a chance, and I think they'll.
Speaker 2: Really enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Everyone go watch the movie now, Tanner. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for hanging out, and congratulations on all your success. Man, truly,
Speaker 1: we're cheering you on.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I appreciate it all right, be well,
Speaker 2: yeah you too.
Speaker 1: I've never said this before. Is hosted by Me Tommy Diderio.
Speaker 1: This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Publisi at iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: and by Me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Speaker 1: never said this before. It's part of the Elvis Duran
Speaker 1: podcast network on iHeart Podcast. For more, rate review and
Speaker 1: subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
Speaker 1: tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy Diderio.