WEBVTT - Michelle Monaghan 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.159 I was getting ready to drive to the Warner Brothers 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.240 to read with Shane, and I called Bonnie up in 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.840 New York and her agent her assistant put me on 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.319 hold because I'm calling her up to be to say 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.119 to her, I can't go in and do this, like 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:15.760 this is like way over my head, this material. I 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.599 have no idea what I'm doing. And in that moment, 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.599 of course, I hear myself telling me it's I'm on 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.480 hold for ages, and all of a sudden, I just 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:26.200 hang up the damn phone, and I was like, you 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:28.880 know what that means. I have to go in. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.240 I have to do this audition, you know, and say, God, 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:39.320 I did because it changed my life. 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:41.600 Hi. 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.960 I'm Michelle Montiman, and I am very happy to be here. 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:56.080 Hi, everybody, we're back. Well, your back off the beat 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.360 is back and I am back me being your host, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:04.160 Ryan Bomgarterner, and you know who else is back, My guest, 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.000 Michelle Monahan. Technically she's here for the first time, but 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.200 she is back in my heart. She's had an incredible 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:18.320 and incredibly prolific career, starring in movies like Kiss Kiss 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:23.440 Bang Bang, Gone, Baby Gone, The Mission Impossible franchises, Pixels, 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.880 Patriots Day, and most recently Maxine Plus. She's been in 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:36.200 spectacular shows Boston Public, The Original True Detective, The Path, Echoes, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.800 and a brand news series that I am enjoying very much, 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:47.559 Apple TV Plus's Bad Monkey with Vince Vaughan. She's such 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:53.000 a complex and versatile actor. She has an epic career. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.800 But before we got into that, there's one thing I 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.320 have to address with her. While doing my usual research 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:04.120 for this converse, I came across one tiny detail that, well, 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.280 it truly rocked me, and I don't think I would 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.400 be doing just as her her story or to you 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.960 listeners if I didn't address it head on. Michelle is 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.640 a blue ribbon hog wrestler. I repeat. As a child, 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:24.200 Michelle wrestled hogs with such skill she was proclaimed the 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.320 best of the best of all other hog wrestling children. Now, 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.400 what is hog wrestling? Why are so many children doing it? 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.400 What happens when the hog wins? And most of all, 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.440 why did she leave behind a promising career in hog 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:41.320 wrestling for Hollywood. We're about to find out and learn 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:46.320 all about this ancient Iowan tradition. Here she is champion 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:56.480 hog wrestler. Michelle Monaghan Bubble and Squeak. I love it, 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:58.360 Bubble and squeak. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:05.880 Gana bubble and squeaker, cooking every move from the nut before. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.960 Hi Michelle, Hi Brian. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:19.560 How are you. 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:21.680 I'm doing all right? How are you? 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:23.760 I'm great? Thank you? 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.240 Yeah? Where are you hanging out here this summer? Are you? 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:29.440 Are you overseas? 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.680 I was overseas and i just returned from Thailand, so 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.440 I'm back in Los Angeles. 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.960 All right, Well, welcome home. 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:39.120 Thank you. 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:45.000 Yeah. I have been diving into your your life and 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.200 career here a little bit, and now I'm a bigger 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:53.320 fan now than I was before. I understand. You grew 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.440 up in Iowa. Winthrop. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:02.960 I did Winthrop, Iowa, very small town in northeast Iowa. Yeah. 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.440 What do you think that gave you as a base? 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:10.480 Oh gosh, it's such a good it's such a great question. 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.240 I mean, I think it's interesting. You know, growing up 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.400 you don't know any different, right, It's like wherever you 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.600 grew up is that's your backyard, and that's what you're 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:24.640 familiar with. It gave me a strong sense of community. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.920 I grew up in a town of a little over 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.359 seven hundred people. I had thirty nine people in my 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.080 graduating class. We were a tight knit community and you 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.760 really loved your neighbors and you were just there for 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.279 one another. So I think it gave me a great 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.760 kind of backbone, also a strong work ethic. My dad 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.599 was a farmer, My mom also ran a daycare from home. 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:54.479 We fostered children all growing up. My parents were really 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:59.560 incredible members of the community. And so that's what it 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.919 gave me. It gave me my family and my community 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.279 for sure. And then what's so interesting about kind of 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.719 coming from a small town like that, I guess to 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.360 kind of think everything is possible and maybe nothing is possible, 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.640 and depending on how maybe who are raised. You know, 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:17.560 I happen to be raised with like you can do 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.880 anything you want to do. And I was naive enough 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.920 to think, like, yeah I can, why not? And so 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.960 I set out for bigger cities and kind of greater things. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.640 And then once I discovered, you know, the rest of 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.200 the world, I sort of never looked back. But it's 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:41.160 always maintained having had that great small town as a foundation. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.240 Yeah, I mean, part of the reason I ask, right 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:48.360 is because you and now this is so dumb, all right, Admittedly, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:52.920 but you think about like I don't know, particularly people 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:57.000 who have families and the entertainment business who start out 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.880 maybe at a super young age. You're from la or 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.400 for you're from New York, and not that there's anything 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.360 wrong with both of those places. My children will come 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:14.640 from those places but same but but but a diverse 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.679 a different kind of upbringing in background. There is going 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.640 to be something about you that is different that now 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.320 people may not be able to articulate what that thing is. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.600 But like you, for example, you were a blue ribbon 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:35.120 hog wrestler. Now what this Now? What this true? No one, 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:37.760 No one would be able to say, oh, yeah, she's 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:42.880 the hog wrestler. But that experience in and of itself 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.279 is is you're going to present yourself to the world 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.279 in at least a slightly different way with it with 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:50.760 a slightly different perspective. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.560 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's funny you mentioned that, but yes 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.120 it's true. I don't think they do that anymore at 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.920 our County Fair. I don't think Peter would be down 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.920 for it. But that was a normal that was like 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.000 a normal, that was a normal thing that you would 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:13.080 enter into a hog wrestling contest, and people probably still 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.200 don't know what it is, but you basically my best friend, 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:17.920 and she's still my best friend. I just saw a 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.280 couple of weeks ago in Iowa. I was back there 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.680 and she and I were probably I don't know, everybody 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.080 did it from around town. I mean, that was just 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:30.080 the thing you did. You get in a big, probably 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.640 about fifteen foot diameter pin and it's full of mud, 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.240 and there's a hog in there, and there's a barrel, 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:39.920 and you run around and you chase the hog and 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.760 you try to, like as fast as you can get 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.200 the hog into the barrel. It's actually cruel and unusual 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.040 when I now look back at it. 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:52.120 But at the time, my friend and I happened to 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.640 be really good at it, and we won the Blue 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:59.120 Ribbon that summer, and so that is, you know, But 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:02.240 you're right, like those are the things that defined me. 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:04.240 You know. It's just like I just said, I was 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:08.120 suspect from my brother's wedding, and we were laughing because 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.680 I was looking at all the cornfields that are just 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.360 surround my mom and dad's house. Of course, I used 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.320 to go like God. I used to walk beans, I 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:19.720 used to cancel, I used to pick up rock like 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:25.480 all those things that are just very Midwestern. Yeah, but 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.320 that really really defined me. Those were my first jobs. 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:33.320 I spent so much time in those fields, and you know, 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.400 I still when I go back, I have so much 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:37.000 nostalgia for it. 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.440 Well, you know, I grew up in large part the 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.120 same way. So just I mean, just to make you 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.320 feel like you have nothing to worry about. Mine were 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.880 distinctly Southern as opposed to the Midwestern, right, got it. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:59.320 So it was more shrimping, okay, but but frog gigging 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:05.200 a thing that I that I have done. Yes, this 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.360 is Oh my god, have I never told the maybe 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.400 I'm going to get canceled? And I was just like 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:15.079 trying to make you feel better, you know, because they 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:19.280 were by the way, they were eaten, so they uh, 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:23.240 this is in the middle of the night dark you 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.680 wear my this is when I was a kid. This 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.400 is not a joke. My mining helmets, you know, uh no, 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:34.480 not mining lights on the on your forehead like like 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:39.679 a miner. You go with a cane pole in a 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:43.920 canoe down a creek a little river, and you shine 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:48.280 from your forehead the light onto the banks and you 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:52.520 see the underbelly of the frog and the frog freezes 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:57.200 in the light and then oh my god, all right, producers, 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.320 it's got this. Then you you have a long other 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.680 pole with a little gig on it. Yeah, and you 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.680 get the thing as close as you can through the 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:11.000 frog and then yeah, and then you can you gig it. Yeah, 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:12.560 and then you take them home and you eat it. 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:17.720 But that, yeah, it's frog hunting. It's frog hunting. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:18.640 Hunting. 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.320 We go, we go deer hunting, you know where I 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.400 come from, but we also eat the deer. But also like, 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.360 how do they how do they? You know, frog legs. 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.720 I've had frog legs before in France, and that's just 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.560 another form of frog gigging. But it's just, uh, it's 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:36.360 the French French gigging. I guess I don't know. 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:42.400 All right, enough about frogs and hogs. What else did 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.560 you do as a kid, Like, did you have other 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.079 hot Were you into sports or I. 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.320 Wasn't wasn't Yeah, I wasn't. I wasn't into sports at all. 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:54.080 I like being around sports, Like I I was a 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.880 track manager. I was like a wrestling cheerleader. For one year, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.520 I did sill which are otherwise known as like the flags. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.720 I did that for several years. In high school, which 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.120 I loved and I still like to throw a flag 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:12.640 around the backyard. I babysat. I mean, I did a 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.520 speech class, I did debates. Yeah, my brother did drama. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.000 And then, you know, for lack of anything else to do, 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.319 I sort of followed in my brother's footsteps and I 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:24.720 joined him in the school play. And I think that 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:29.320 was the first time and I didn't have any desire 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.560 to be an actress at that point at all. It 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.280 took me until my early twenties to discover that, but 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.440 I remember that feeling of being on stage, and I 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.679 remember loving that kind of collaboration with everyone so much. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.720 So that was probably my first introduction to what ultimately 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.520 I was going to I was going to do. 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:53.720 Yeah, you moved it to Chicago, the big city to 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:59.320 study journalism. Was journalism the plan that journal was that 0:11:59.400 --> 0:11:59.800 the plan. 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.000 Journalism was always the plan. You know. I grew up 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.800 in a family that we loved current events. We watched 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.480 we sat down and watched the nightly news of Tom 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.800 Brokaw every single night. I loved journalism. I loved the news, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:18.040 and I really really wanted to be a journalist and an 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:22.160 investigative journalist. Broadcast news. And when I think about it, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.080 I'm like, maybe that was the closest thing I thought 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.400 that I could be, to be on camera. Maybe that 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.240 had something to do with it too. I don't know, 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.199 because when you grew up in a town, it was 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:31.920 like some I heard people, I don't even think, like 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.440 you think you could be an actor or anything like that. 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.079 So I went and I studied journalism at Columbia College 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.959 in Chicago, and you know, I loved it. It was 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:45.200 it was really my dream. And I had started modeling 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:50.960 in Chicago, and I modeled for Montgomery Ward for Target, 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.320 and that's really how I put myself through school. I 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.760 really thought that that was the end all and be all. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.920 And then I realized my senior year I wasn't. I 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.520 wasn't cut out for journalism. I didn't. I found out 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:06.920 I was going to have to go back to small 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.400 markets such as Iowa and essentially be a one man band, 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.320 you know. And I was like, wait a second. I 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:17.680 really liked the big city. The modeling was going pretty well. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:21.600 I was paying my bills and saving some money, and uh, 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.560 and then I had this overwhelming feeling I needed to 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.280 move to New York and I had a buddy that 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:31.439 moved there, and I moved. I moved in with him, 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.800 coincided with a terrible breakup with someone, so it just 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.240 all the cards kind of fell into right into place, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:39.280 and moved to New York. 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:44.040 Okay, so before before New York, how did you start model? Like? 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:48.439 Did you find an agent? Did you there's a mid photo? 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.600 So I was scouted in Iowa and like Cedar Rapids, 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:57.240 Iowa and yeah, yeah, So it was one of those 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.360 things like we think that you could be a model 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.319 that can take some photos. And I loved the sound 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.080 of that, you know, I'd been told that before and 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:08.560 didn't really think too much of it. But I was 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.120 also the gal looking through all those Sears catalogs and 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.480 you know, just loving all the ladies in there, you know, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.520 loving all the models. And so when I had the 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.040 opportunity to take some test photos, I guess I got 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.560 very excited. And shortly thereafter I was able to secure 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.960 an agent and agency Elite Model Agency in Chicago, and 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:34.120 my dad would drive me four and a half hours. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.160 This was a big deal for him to take time 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.800 off of work to take me into Chicago to dry. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:42.680 He wouldn't even he never missed a day work in 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.400 his life unless it was to drive me into work 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.360 for Montgomery Wards. That was a really big deal, Like, 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.520 you know, they really believed in me, and you know, 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.840 I was making I was probably making six hundred bucks 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.240 for the day, which is a lot of money. Yeah, 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.640 and you know he didn't even make me payper gas. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:04.080 So that was awfully sweet. So that was it. That 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.360 was it, And so I knew, you know, while I 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.040 was in high school, I was able to make that money. 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.640 And so I thought, gosh, I grew up very humble, humble, 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.360 and my folks were always like, listen, we want you 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.600 to go to college, but we can't help out that much, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.120 you know. And so you know, I saw a great opportunity. 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.160 I was like, listen, I love modeling. I can make 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.520 some tuition here and I can go to college and 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.480 studying journalism in a big city. Like perfect. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.480 Yeah, that's awesome. So okay, so then you go, it's 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.880 the perfect time you decide I'm not going back to 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.480 small markets, I'm going to the big city. For you. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.240 At that moment, was it about just getting to New 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.200 York or did you have a plan. 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.320 Okay, yeah, I wanted to live in New York. By 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:48.960 that time, I had been there for a couple of 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.480 jobs and gigs, and there was just something so special 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:56.120 about that city that I felt really connected to, and 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.840 I really there was this feeling that something was going 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.480 to happened for me there and I didn't know what 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.240 it was, but I knew that I'd be okay because 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.840 I could continue to model and I would just kind 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.000 of make my way, and for an entire year, that's 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.480 kind of what I did. I just went on casting, 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.760 so I made enough money to pay my rent. I 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.960 found another roommate, and it was great. And then commercials 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:22.200 started coming through. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.360 Through the modeling, through the through the model, through. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.240 The modeling, right and then you know, I think it 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.080 was like a secret dealtorant commercial. It was a it 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.240 was a face wash commercial. It was a clean and clear. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.720 There was a Tampax commercial. And there it was like 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.160 all of it was going and then, you know, and 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.160 it was great because I was making money and I was, 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.080 you know, kind of paying off my loans now at 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:47.280 that stage. And then sure enough, an audition came through 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.680 my modeling agent for a role on the show called 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:56.280 Young Americans, and it was this yeah on CW and 0:16:56.320 --> 0:17:00.120 I think it came through the modeling agencies because they 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.520 were looking for a model type and the agent was saying, listen, 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.800 you've had good luck doing these commercials. You know you 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.280 should give it a shot. And I thought, yeah, I 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.280 don't have anything else. Sleeper was like why not? And 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.440 I got the gig. I got the gig and they 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.800 were like, can you be on a train to Baltimore 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.560 tomorrow at ten am? And I was like wait what? 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.760 And sure enough, you know, I was on a train 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.640 at Baltimore and started working with Kate Bosworth and Kate 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.960 Minnig and Ian Summerhoulder. It was such a wonderful cast, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.120 but I had no idea what I was doing when 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:38.879 I mean to tell you like, it took me a 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.480 whole season to learn what my mark was. I mean, 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.760 I was so green. It was so green, but it 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.920 was it was such an amazing opportunity. And I think 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.120 that's really when I was like, wow, I loved it again. 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.399 It was that collaboration. I was familiar with the camera 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:58.400 from modeling, so I felt comfortable with it and I 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.560 loved the people. And then it was when I got 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.880 back to New York after that gig, I thought Oh wow, 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.000 Maybe I should find an agent, you know, maybe I 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:07.919 should take this more seriously. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:09.720 How many episodes did you do on that? 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:14.919 I think I did gosh, I'd hate to say maybe five, okay, 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:17.320 and it got it got canceled after the first season, 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:19.040 and it was just a I think I was just 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:21.480 a guest star. But I think I did five. 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:22.040 Five. 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.080 But you were there long enough to you know, because 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.960 a lot of guest stars sometimes it's hard to have 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.640 the time and feel comfortable enough to figure things out. 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.720 But being there five weeks doing five episodes or however 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.280 long it was for five episodes, you can kind of 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.040 get your feet under you feel comfortable with the people, 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.160 you know, all of those things that are just sort 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.480 of inherently difficult totally. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.240 And we were all just a bunch of young kids too, 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.120 so it was all it felt like summer camp in Baltimore. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:56.560 We were jet skiing on a lake and are yeah, 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:58.000 I come on, man, it. 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.800 Was like we were having a you know, for sure, 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.960 I felt co Yeah, this I old girl felt right 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:05.400 at home. 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:09.080 I was good. I was totally good. I was like, 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.000 do they have beer in Baltimore? They do fantastic. 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:39.440 Well, pretty shortly after that role on Boston Public. Yes, 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:45.160 now talk about what kind of doors that opened for you, 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:50.760 because this in terms of shows, would you consider it break? 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.240 Yeah, it was definitely my first break. It was a 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:56.920 really big break. And I think, if I remember it correctly, 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:02.600 I had auditioned for a David Kelly show at the time, 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:06.400 and I didn't get the gig. But then he turned 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:10.960 around and he wrote me Kimberly woods As. I can't 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.040 believe I remember that name, but it was because it 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.960 was like my first gig, and that was a big 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.359 deal because I was living in New York at the time, 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.080 and I remember having to come out to LA living 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.960 in Manhattan Beach in a little apartment. I was shooting 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:31.440 at Rosecrant Studios, And again, that was an amazing cast, 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.359 just such a beautiful, welcoming cast, and I got to 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:41.040 play this teacher, this young teacher, and I learned a 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.119 lot on that show. I mean, that's really where I 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.040 learned how to act. That was just that was the 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.160 beginning because I had never studied acting. So every job 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.320 that I went to from there in on out was 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:57.480 really acting one on one, acting two two. It's I 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:04.520 learned everything from my fellow coast and directors. 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:07.679 You get a huge role in a very very big film, 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:11.440 Kiss Kiss, Bang bang. Is this happening at the same 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:15.280 time the Boston public is happening, So. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:21.359 Boston Public happens, And then yes, it's happening. It's basically 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:25.520 happening right around the same time I'm in town. I 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:29.200 auditioned for the role, and originally it was somebody else 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.000 that was going to play Robert's part, and then I 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:35.080 knew they they they were interested me, and I think 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.399 the movie kind of went away for a few months, 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.199 and then I randomly got a call saying, you know, 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:46.200 Shane Black wants you to come in and read with him. 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.360 I remember calling it my agent at the time who 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.000 I got after Young Americans, who I'm still with today. 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:53.840 By the way, twenty six years I was with her 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:54.520 last night. 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:56.080 We realized, what's for you? 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.840 Thank you? Yeah, well that's a testament to her, my friend. 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.320 Twenty six years with the same agent. 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:02.720 Yeah. 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:05.000 I basically knocked on her door in New York when 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.119 I had that job of young Americans, and I said, 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.159 I have this job, but I don't have an agent. 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.000 So first of all, that got me in the door, right, 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:21.000 and I was like, I don't know, but I think 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.399 maybe this is what I'm supposed to do. I don't 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:25.720 know really what I'm doing, but I promised all work hard, 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:27.800 and she was like, I believe you. Let's give it 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:33.120 a shot. And so I remember calling her. I was flow. 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.400 They flew me out here. I was staying at what 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.639 was the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. It was close to 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:41.919 Warner Brothers, and I was getting ready to drive to 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:44.119 the Warner Brothers to read with Shane, and I called 0:22:44.160 --> 0:22:48.680 Bonnie up in New York and her agent, her assistant 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:50.720 put me on hold because I'm calling her up to 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:52.840 be to say to her, I can't go in and 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.040 do this, like this is like way over my head, 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.879 this material. I have no idea what I'm doing. And 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:01.080 in that moment, of course, I hear myself telling me 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.399 I'm on hold for ages, and all of a sudden, 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:06.359 I just hang up the damn phone, and I was like, 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:09.159 you know what that means. I have to go in. 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:10.639 I have to do this. 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:14.639 Audition, you know, and say, God I did because it 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:15.880 changed my life. 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:19.679 Wow. And that's just a number of times now I 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:22.120