Speaker 1: Hey everyone, Before we jump into today's episode, we wanted
Speaker 1: to send you guys a message because I'm sure you
Speaker 1: have heard a little bit about what's going on in
Speaker 1: Hollywood these days. As you may have heard, the WGA
Speaker 1: has been on strike for a while and recently SAG
Speaker 1: after It joined in with the fight. Writer Will and
Speaker 1: myself have all been a member of SAG after A
Speaker 1: for thirty plus years and we fully support this strike.
Speaker 1: When the strike was announced, a lot of questions were
Speaker 1: opened up. Is doing pod Meets World going against the strike?
Speaker 1: Is doing Pod Meets World the live tour going against
Speaker 1: the strike? And there were a lot of tweets spelling
Speaker 1: out what you can do and cannot do. There was
Speaker 1: the SAG after A website that tried to be as
Speaker 1: clear as possible, but we did not want to do
Speaker 1: anything that could have possibly gone against the strike, So
Speaker 1: we reached out individually to our SAG representatives and ask
Speaker 1: them directly, is Pod Meets World allowed? Is the Pod
Speaker 1: meets World live tour allowed? And we have been given
Speaker 1: the green light by our SAG representatives, So with that
Speaker 1: we feel comfortable continuing to do Pod Meats World and
Speaker 1: going on tour with podmeats world life. So continue to
Speaker 1: enjoy our episodes and we will.
Speaker 2: See you on the road. Yes, Keidan, thank you for listening.
Speaker 2: We would like to thank listener Jason P.
Speaker 1: Who was kind enough to point out something currently living
Speaker 1: on the internet that I figured was a perfect look
Speaker 1: into the heart and soul of one of us hosts. Oh,
Speaker 1: especially when it comes to our likes and dislikes. And
Speaker 1: I won't make us wait any longer. Writer, do you
Speaker 1: enjoy using the Letterboxed app?
Speaker 2: Oh? I'm obsessed? Do okay? Jensen is too. I don't
Speaker 2: even know what this is? What is knsboieq okay.
Speaker 3: So Letterboxed is essentially a movie social media app, a
Speaker 3: movie watching social media app. But it's become like the
Speaker 3: central database for any movie lover. You can look any
Speaker 3: you can look up any movie and ever made like
Speaker 3: short films, obscure, you know, silent films, whatever. It's compiled
Speaker 3: all of them and it's the best interface. And what
Speaker 3: you can do is keep track of the movies you're watching,
Speaker 3: the movies you want to watch. You can create lists
Speaker 3: of whatever you want. People leave reviews. It's basically like
Speaker 3: the entire like film community.
Speaker 2: Geeks out together. It's nerd. It's nerd stuff. For this,
Speaker 2: here's what I love it for.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm not like I'm not put posting reviews,
Speaker 3: like I've thought about it, and I definitely publicly post
Speaker 3: my like my stars movies. So I go back and
Speaker 3: but you know, like I've rated I don't know, like
Speaker 3: six hundred eight hundred movies.
Speaker 2: There are people who've rated like four thousand films.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: It's like people that I follow who are professional film
Speaker 3: critics or filmmakers that just the sheer amount of like
Speaker 3: film knowledge, it's insane. And then everybody can put their
Speaker 3: top four, which is a great sort of like way
Speaker 3: to know, like if you agree with somebody's taste or not,
Speaker 3: is you get to see their top four just underneath
Speaker 3: their Yeah, really what I wish because now this has
Speaker 3: become my go to app to like share movies with people,
Speaker 3: you know, like I have friends who are like what
Speaker 3: should I watch? Or you know, what should I watch
Speaker 3: with my kid? Or and so I can just send
Speaker 3: them a list that I've curated. But mostly it's to
Speaker 3: be able to search my own memory because I forget crap,
Speaker 3: you know, I forget what I've seen and so this way,
Speaker 3: there's like a place I can go when somebody's like,
Speaker 3: I really like this movie, do you have any ideas
Speaker 3: or just in a conversation something comes up. I can
Speaker 3: look back on all the movies I've watched in that vein,
Speaker 3: And I really wish this existed for books, because I
Speaker 3: can't do the same thing with books.
Speaker 2: Good Reads is just not that great of an app well.
Speaker 1: As I said, one of our listeners was kind of
Speaker 1: have to point out that your letterboxed profile and reviews
Speaker 1: are viewable by the public, and as he said, I quote,
Speaker 1: this is a small glimpse into the most harsh critic
Speaker 1: of Boy Meets World and himself, and he has some
Speaker 1: absolutely wild beliefs. Yeah, you haven't actually posted reviews, which
Speaker 1: I wish you did for some of them.
Speaker 2: So are you ready to defend some of your takes? God?
Speaker 1: Okay, So I want to start with some of your
Speaker 1: highest rated films for context and to prove that you
Speaker 1: aren't just a hater. Okay, Okay, the department can we
Speaker 1: guess some Okay, I was gonna say, all right, I
Speaker 1: was five done, Yeah Tomorrow, five stars, Coco, five stars,
Speaker 1: Great Movie, Training Day, five stars, uncut Gems five stars.
Speaker 1: There will be Blood five stars. Also, Jensen and I
Speaker 1: were thrilled to see one of your hot takes is
Speaker 1: something we agree with.
Speaker 2: Downsizing four and a half stars, terrible movie. I've been
Speaker 2: when you revisit it. I have a lot of opinions
Speaker 2: about that film. Yeah, that movie. Love terrible film.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it is. I mean, I'm a huge
Speaker 3: Alexander Payne like fanatic. And when that movie came out,
Speaker 3: I went to like an early screening and I kind
Speaker 3: of knew. I was like, oh, there's something. Well, I
Speaker 3: don't know if we want to get into it, but yeah,
Speaker 3: I love that movie.
Speaker 1: Okay, we can discuss that later, but I want to
Speaker 1: now onto the.
Speaker 2: Bottom of your barrel.
Speaker 1: And I I have to admit some of these are
Speaker 1: just shocking, but I I know you will be excited
Speaker 1: to defend them. So maybe Top Gun, Maverick one and
Speaker 1: a half stars.
Speaker 5: Wrong.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just not for me.
Speaker 4: No, it wasn't It wasn't it. But you just didn't
Speaker 4: like it. It doesn't mean it was a bad movie
Speaker 4: because it was a great movie. Well, I mean, I
Speaker 4: mean I'm making sure yeah, and acting and story, I
Speaker 4: mean everything about it was good.
Speaker 2: You just didn't like it.
Speaker 3: I guess it depends on what you by everything about
Speaker 3: it being good, like a story as fan service, right
Speaker 3: Like I look at a movie like that and I
Speaker 3: feel like, Okay, so the Christopher mcquarie, who's in a
Speaker 3: great screenwriter wrote a top gun fan service movie, Like
Speaker 3: that's not interesting to me, Like that is execute that film.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you this.
Speaker 3: We went to the like it's it's it's incredibly well made.
Speaker 3: But like I feel the same way about most superhero movies.
Speaker 3: That's why I give them one star or half a star,
Speaker 3: is because I'm like what I'm for me my, Like
Speaker 3: I evaluate films for how far they're pushing in a
Speaker 3: cultural conversation, and I feel like a movie like that,
Speaker 3: it's just.
Speaker 2: Your only category is just how far we're pushing big one.
Speaker 2: It's a big part of it.
Speaker 3: Like I like originality, right Like I like something that
Speaker 3: is like my The ideal movie going experience for me
Speaker 3: is I know nothing about it. I sit down and
Speaker 3: I'm told I'm taken on a journey that takes me
Speaker 3: somewhere I've never been before. And then when I come back,
Speaker 3: I run and go back there and watch it again
Speaker 3: or think about it, you know, afects my life in
Speaker 3: some way, And so that's why I revised stuff, because
Speaker 3: it's like I'll give something a lower rating, but then
Speaker 3: I'll be like, three days later, I'm still thinking.
Speaker 2: About it, so I bump it up.
Speaker 3: So where do you? Where would you come? I'm like,
Speaker 3: I will never think about Top Gun. Like when I
Speaker 3: walked into Top Gun, I was one person. When I
Speaker 3: walked out, I'm the same person.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 2: My thoughts in the world never change if you're talking
Speaker 2: about the world.
Speaker 3: If I if I if you said to me, I
Speaker 3: really love Top Gun, Maverick, I don't say that tells
Speaker 3: me something about Will's view of the world.
Speaker 2: No, but this means nothing. It's popcorn. It's fun. Fine,
Speaker 2: it's fun. Where does where does? Where? Where?
Speaker 4: Would it then fall in the review of the movie
Speaker 4: that it was the movie that single handedly got people
Speaker 4: back into the theater. That's like, it's right, but would
Speaker 4: that add to the experience at all? Like the because
Speaker 4: you're talking about how it pushing the culture full star
Speaker 4: Otherwise it would just be one tough critic, a harsh
Speaker 4: I know, I don't.
Speaker 1: We do not need to deep dive on all of
Speaker 1: these I just I'm going to a few of them. Okay,
Speaker 1: Almost Famous two and a half stars.
Speaker 2: I agree with you on that movie. I think that
Speaker 2: movie kind of poopy.
Speaker 1: I'm almost famous, Okay, Ace Ventura one and a half stars.
Speaker 1: The Mask a point five star, John Wick point five star,
Speaker 1: which is the same rated Sharknado. You also gave half
Speaker 1: a star to Heat.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm the big anti Heat. I have
Speaker 2: opinions about that.
Speaker 1: You're also anti Scarface. You gave one star Big one star?
Speaker 1: What No, No, No, that's wrong Big.
Speaker 2: It says Big. That's why. No, but Big should be
Speaker 2: five stars. I love Big. I just rewatch it with Indy.
Speaker 2: That's a mistake. That's a mistake, a huge mistake.
Speaker 3: No, Biggest is way up there. Why didn't you like
Speaker 3: John Wick? I'm just curious. I never finished it. If
Speaker 3: I gave it half a star, it means I usually
Speaker 3: didn't finish the movie. I think the first twenty minutes
Speaker 3: of John Wicker amazing, and then when I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: oh he's we're just the fun of this movie is
Speaker 3: just a ballet of violence.
Speaker 2: We're just watching him shoot people in the head. I
Speaker 2: don't care.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it's just John Wu. It's bringing back the
Speaker 4: Asian film did you like do you like John Wu
Speaker 4: stuff and all that the kind of old school Okay.
Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever seen that much.
Speaker 3: No, I don't like just like fun killing movies, Like
Speaker 3: like you know, kill Bill one is like the most
Speaker 3: boring thing in the world to me. Kill Bill two
Speaker 3: finally has some story. But like I know that I'm
Speaker 3: on the outside of most people on that, Like I
Speaker 3: just don't love Like, like I said, I totally tap out.
Speaker 2: Why did you give rat Tattuui one star? That's a
Speaker 2: good question. I need to watch it. I'm not a fan.
Speaker 2: I think it is one of the most awkward.
Speaker 3: Like, like you know, there's always with world building, and
Speaker 3: especially with Pixar world building, there's like there's a buy
Speaker 3: in factor, right, And like I think with Ratituey there
Speaker 3: was a fundamental buy in problem with him puppeteering a
Speaker 3: chef with his It never worked for it, Like I
Speaker 3: just could never buy in. And I know that they
Speaker 3: had lots of problems with that script and with that director,
Speaker 3: like they and and it feels it feels like a
Speaker 3: cheat to me.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 3: The moment the chef has the flashback to his childhood
Speaker 3: where he tastes ratatuy is such a phenomenal cinematic moment.
Speaker 3: I just think it would have been an awesome twenty
Speaker 3: minute short film, like it would have been just a
Speaker 3: ate twenty minute short film. Patton Oswald I love so,
Speaker 3: I love his voice, so there's lots to be loved.
Speaker 3: But I need to revisit it because it's the one
Speaker 3: Pixar I haven't watched with Indy, Like we've watched all
Speaker 3: of them otherwise, and I usually love them, but Ratitude
Speaker 3: is not up there.
Speaker 2: Did you like UP? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I did like UP, but I also don't love I
Speaker 3: love Iron Giant, but I don't love it's.
Speaker 2: Brad Bird as the director.
Speaker 3: I don't love his characterization, Like his animated characters are
Speaker 3: a little too extreme for just my taste, like aesthetically,
Speaker 3: and like I don't like the way people look in Ratituey.
Speaker 3: There's something off about it for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I just writer. Would you like to let
Speaker 1: anyone know where they can find you on letterboxed?
Speaker 2: I think I'm just rather strong or strong and it's
Speaker 2: it's public.
Speaker 6: So no.
Speaker 3: I recently was connected with one of my like film
Speaker 3: nerd friends and she was so nice in her stars.
Speaker 3: I was like, because you can see where somebody puts
Speaker 3: their average, you know, like and like everyone. She gives
Speaker 3: three stars and I am like just extreme, Like if
Speaker 3: I like it, I go five.
Speaker 2: If I don't have a.
Speaker 6: Star, one star.
Speaker 3: Right, So yeah, okay, I think that that's fun because
Speaker 3: the point is to spark debate and conversation.
Speaker 4: Yeah right, I can't wait to have lunch with you
Speaker 4: again because our entire lunch is going to be talking
Speaker 4: about heat.
Speaker 2: So why you're so anti?
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what I've been doing, the secret project
Speaker 3: that I've been doing for years now. I have this
Speaker 3: weird habit of writing poems. It's based on movies, based
Speaker 3: on either they're like biographic, but they're like super formal,
Speaker 3: like I'll write like sonnets or villain l's. Like I
Speaker 3: give myself this challenge of like, all right, let's take
Speaker 3: a movie that I.
Speaker 2: Love and I don't know why this is happened.
Speaker 3: So maybe someday I'll start posting those as my reviews
Speaker 3: on letter box A different question.
Speaker 1: Great idea, And also will I encourage you to start
Speaker 1: a letterboxed because I think between you and writer and
Speaker 1: the way you guys feel feel about movies. This would
Speaker 1: just one we have endless pre show chatter, and two
Speaker 1: I would love to sit down at the table and
Speaker 1: hear your different takes on these things. So anyway, thank
Speaker 1: you writer for letting us bring some of those up
Speaker 1: and defending some of your hot takes. And I want
Speaker 1: to talk more about downsizing when we're not on the air.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Pod meets World. I'm Daniel Fischel, I'm Rider Strong,
Speaker 1: and I'm Wilfredell. There is one film we do all
Speaker 1: agree on, and that's the nineteen ninety four ABC movie
Speaker 1: Summertime Switch, something we recently recapped right before we started
Speaker 1: season three, starring our harsh critic over here, right or Strong,
Speaker 1: and our guest this week, Jason Weaver. We couldn't help
Speaker 1: but notice Jason was leaps and bounds above everyone else
Speaker 1: in the movie.
Speaker 2: Sorry.
Speaker 1: Rider obviously encouraged to improv, sing, dance, play basketball, and
Speaker 1: act circles around his peers and for good reason. Best
Speaker 1: known as Marcus Henderson on the wb sitcom Smart Guy,
Speaker 1: a teenage Michael Jackson on the nineteen ninety two Jackson
Speaker 1: mini series, and the singing voice of young Simba in
Speaker 1: Disney's Lion King.
Speaker 2: Talk about a movie, right, it's some of his later work.
Speaker 1: I want to now rattle off a star of drum
Speaker 1: line with Nick Cannon. He appeared in the Coen Brothers
Speaker 1: comedy Lady Killers the two thousand and six film atl
Speaker 1: alongside rappers t I and Big Boy, and most impressively
Speaker 1: singing the hook on One Call Away, a top five
Speaker 1: chingy hit single in the United States. And today we
Speaker 1: are going to focus on his true moment of artistry,
Speaker 1: the Citizen Kane of identity mix up movies that involve
Speaker 1: bull from Night Court, Summertime Switch. It's time for the
Speaker 1: reunion you've been waiting for, right or Strong? May I
Speaker 1: welcome your camp buddy and fellow Freddie Egan Jason Weaver
Speaker 1: to Pod meets World.
Speaker 2: How's it coming?
Speaker 6: Man?
Speaker 3: Then?
Speaker 6: Terrific? How are you doing that?
Speaker 2: How are you guys doing We're all right?
Speaker 1: Is this the first time you guys have seen each
Speaker 1: other since Summertime Switch?
Speaker 6: Yeah, the time Switch. Yeah, it's been that long since
Speaker 6: that that hot summer in Jacksonville.
Speaker 3: It was so hot, it was so hot, it was
Speaker 3: you have to dig ditches in the heat. I was
Speaker 3: actually we were at like some boy scout camp. I
Speaker 3: forget where we were. You were at the like luxury side,
Speaker 3: so but.
Speaker 6: I had all the luxury you were, you were dealing
Speaker 6: with all the crap.
Speaker 1: Yes, and see Jason, how how hounded were you on
Speaker 1: social media by pod meets World listeners the day the
Speaker 1: Summertime Switch podcast was released?
Speaker 6: Yo, it was crazy because, you know, because we're all
Speaker 6: like shut down. Everybody's you know, down for the strike
Speaker 6: or whatever, so you just have all this kind of
Speaker 6: idle time, you know, and things and other things that
Speaker 6: we're doing and developing what you guys have with the podcast.
Speaker 6: So I'm just sitting, you know, just working on some
Speaker 6: other projects, and all of a sudden, I just see
Speaker 6: all these notifications coming through. So I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 6: what did I do? What did I say? Oh no,
Speaker 6: something's happening. And then when I looked, I was pleasantly
Speaker 6: surprised to see you know, all the fans of you
Speaker 6: guys podcast just you know, tagging me and let me
Speaker 6: let me know that you all were, you know, covering
Speaker 6: Summertime Switching. You know, I'm just glad that we got
Speaker 6: an opportunity to do this. I will say though, that
Speaker 6: you guys, fans are relentless, man like they are all
Speaker 6: a joke.
Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you something.
Speaker 1: Whenever we mentioned someone on the podcast or we do
Speaker 1: we do an episode that involves a guest actor or
Speaker 1: something from Boy Meets World, a few people will tag them.
Speaker 1: I've never seen a fan reaction quite like the reaction
Speaker 1: to you. You are so loved. You have so many fans,
Speaker 1: I mean hundreds of people.
Speaker 6: Jason.
Speaker 2: We were j we we were like, okay, great, we promise,
Speaker 2: we will. We will.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I appreciate it. Gods, sorry about that, Like, yeah,
Speaker 6: my uh. You know that the people that have followed
Speaker 6: my career throughout the years, and you guys know this,
Speaker 6: you all experienced this as well. I mean, there's such
Speaker 6: a strong connection with those people because in our own
Speaker 6: little way, we've kind of all grown up together, although
Speaker 6: we don't, you know, really know each other personally, but
Speaker 6: there's a there's just this connection there. So when you know,
Speaker 6: when they see one of their favorite personalities or celebrities
Speaker 6: or childless celebrities that they that they love growing up,
Speaker 6: and there's this opportunity to build a reconnection or establish
Speaker 6: a reconnection if you will, and just have a moment
Speaker 6: where we look back in retrospect and just you know,
Speaker 6: show appreciation and gratitude just for how we all have
Speaker 6: been blessed and been able to connect with so many people,
Speaker 6: in touch so many people's lives. Man, you just got
Speaker 6: to jump at that opportunity. So, you know, my fans,
Speaker 6: I will say, we're pretty aggressive, but I think for
Speaker 6: doing that, because it's it's great being here.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're so happy you're here.
Speaker 1: Jason did what do you remember specifically about filming Summertime Switch?
Speaker 1: I mean, you mentioned the hot Jacksonville. What is your
Speaker 1: overall memory of the movie.
Speaker 6: I really just remember I remember having a lot of fun.
Speaker 6: It was kind of just like it it felt like
Speaker 6: taking a summer break, but yet you were working and
Speaker 6: just having that experience of working with so many talented
Speaker 6: child actors at that time. I mean, and you know,
Speaker 6: when I say talented, that's kind of an understatement. You
Speaker 6: know a lot of those a lot of the kids
Speaker 6: that are on that show were seasoned actors by that time.
Speaker 6: It been in you know, a few films, and you know,
Speaker 6: just really understood how to conduct themselves professionally on set,
Speaker 6: how to you know, how to show up being prepared.
Speaker 6: You know. It was really one of those kind of
Speaker 6: all star summer camp kind of things for give the kids,
Speaker 6: if you will, in the art so to be able
Speaker 6: to you know, share that moment with everybody. Although we
Speaker 6: were in most of the time in one hundred degree
Speaker 6: plus heat, you know, although those were kind of circumstances,
Speaker 6: I think we were all just you know, we had
Speaker 6: that youthful adrenaline. You know, I think we all recognized
Speaker 6: that this was a unique moment in all of our lives.
Speaker 6: You know, I think it's kids, all of us when
Speaker 6: we're in that moment at that time, you know, we're
Speaker 6: just kind of we're kind of there. I don't think
Speaker 6: we have any kind of preak and sived ideas to
Speaker 6: where we're gonna go next, and we have some kind
Speaker 6: of strategy as to where we're going to take our
Speaker 6: careers moving forward forward. We're kind of just in that
Speaker 6: moment in processing everything and having fun at the same time. So,
Speaker 6: you know, that was my That was my experience as well.
Speaker 6: You know with Summertime Switch, it was you know, me
Speaker 6: and Wrter, although we really didn't get a chance to
Speaker 6: work on a lot of scenes together because we were
Speaker 6: shooting in you know, two separate you know, different kind
Speaker 6: of scenarios, if you will, But the moments that we
Speaker 6: did have that you know, allowed us to come together
Speaker 6: and work together and and hang out. It was It
Speaker 6: was great, one of the more rewarding experiences when I
Speaker 6: look back, you know, of my career. I'll be completely
Speaker 6: honest with you. I didn't I know that film was
Speaker 6: going to become as popular it become like a childhood
Speaker 6: classics as it did. As we were making the movie,
Speaker 6: I was like, Okay, they're going to put this out
Speaker 6: on ABC, and that's going to do that. Yeah, it's gone,
Speaker 6: and you know whatever. But it ended up being, you know,
Speaker 6: one of those films that connected with kids who have
Speaker 6: now turned into adults who are just fanatical about it.
Speaker 6: So it's beautiful.
Speaker 2: When was the last time you watched it?
Speaker 6: Ooh, it's funny. I was hanging out with Okay, this
Speaker 6: is gonna sound bad, but I was hanging out with
Speaker 6: some friends. We were drinking one night at a friend's
Speaker 6: barbecue at their house, and there were some people there,
Speaker 6: some relatives who flew out of town or who came
Speaker 6: from out of town.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 6: You know, they were really really nice, but they were
Speaker 6: excited to see me. They were fans of my work.
Speaker 6: And the gentleman, the husband of the couple, he was like, Man, Man,
Speaker 6: I hope I don't embarrass you by saying this, but
Speaker 6: you know, one of my favorite movies that you've ever
Speaker 6: been part of, The Summertime Switch. Man. It's like, oh great,
Speaker 6: you know cool, glad you liked the film. Man. He's like, Man,
Speaker 6: as a matter of fact, hold on, this is one
Speaker 6: of my favorite parts. It goes to like YouTube and
Speaker 6: up and it just starts looking at it. So all
Speaker 6: of a sudden, you know, after watching a couple like
Speaker 6: scenes or excerpts that they had, they just went about
Speaker 6: finding a whole movie so that everybody could watch it
Speaker 6: because it was like kids started to walk in and
Speaker 6: then it became like a gamy thing. Yeah, first it's
Speaker 6: craving off, kind of awkward, I will not lie. And
Speaker 6: I was like, oh my god, this guy's really about
Speaker 6: to put scenes off of this movie I did years ago.
Speaker 6: But it ended up being a beautiful moment with you know,
Speaker 6: all these kids coming into the room and just you know,
Speaker 6: this family having a moment with me watching this film.
Speaker 6: So it was dope.
Speaker 1: Man, Now I know you mentioned that you guys really
Speaker 1: didn't get to work together too much because you were
Speaker 1: in you know, kind of competing storylines. Really, but do
Speaker 1: you remember your first impressions of each other?
Speaker 3: Writer?
Speaker 2: If you want, do you remember your first impression of Jason?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, like I said, I it's funny because I
Speaker 3: googled you this morning. We're exactly the same age, but
Speaker 3: in my mind you were so much older than me.
Speaker 2: Really, yes, dude, you can't.
Speaker 3: You were so mature and so professional in a way
Speaker 3: that like I just I felt like I had no
Speaker 3: idea what I was doing, and you just had so
Speaker 3: much more experience. I don't know, I mean, I guess
Speaker 3: maybe the music, and like you just were so tapped
Speaker 3: into like you knew exactly who you were and what you.
Speaker 2: Were doing in a way that like I just was flailing.
Speaker 3: So I just remember looking up to you and like
Speaker 3: I think, and.
Speaker 2: You were the coolest person I'd ever met.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I remember good conversations, but like we didn't
Speaker 3: get to work together that much. I just I do
Speaker 3: remember you correcting my basketball skills, because like our main
Speaker 3: scene skills were.
Speaker 6: As I was breaking, as I was breaking everything, as
Speaker 6: I was having horrible shooting percentage that day. Man, Man,
Speaker 6: thank you so much for sharing those kind words. Man,
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, the sentiments that you express, Man,
Speaker 6: it's mutual, man uh, and the feeling is mutual. I
Speaker 6: walked on to that set with such a high level
Speaker 6: of respect, you know, for everybody that was involved in
Speaker 6: that film, and especially you. I mean, it's you know,
Speaker 6: it's it's hard to carry a film, you know, even
Speaker 6: as an adult. You know, there's a lot of responsibility.
Speaker 6: It's placed on your shoulders. You know, the actual work
Speaker 6: scheduling itself is pretty intense. So you know, when I
Speaker 6: saw you handling it the way that you did and
Speaker 6: and just being just as genuine as you as you were,
Speaker 6: and it's still how you are now, I mean, that
Speaker 6: was the one thing that really, you know, hit home
Speaker 6: me because I'm very uh a p person, if you will,
Speaker 6: and and I'm very sensitive to energy. I've come to
Speaker 6: recognize that now as I've gotten older, but as a kid,
Speaker 6: I was even even more hyper sensitive to it. Now,
Speaker 6: I just remember every time I was around you, I
Speaker 6: just felt just a genuine, real energy. And you're always
Speaker 6: sincere and always polite, same with you, very professional, you know,
Speaker 6: I think that's what made me kind of be on
Speaker 6: my p's and q's is just you know, realizing that
Speaker 6: you're working opposite of seasoned actors. We were kids, but
Speaker 6: you know, we weren't playing around. It was. It was
Speaker 6: one of those kind of situations where we all came
Speaker 6: into it just knowing what our roles were and knowing
Speaker 6: what we had to do.
Speaker 3: And yeah, and everybody was coming off of a movie
Speaker 3: or a series. You know, you had like Sole Moon, fright,
Speaker 3: you had Patrick off of Sandlot, like everybody had like
Speaker 3: a resume at that point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it could have gone off the rails very easily.
Speaker 3: I mean, you you get that many teenagers into a
Speaker 3: hotel situation, like, but we, as far as.
Speaker 2: I know, it went really smoothly. Nobody, nobody had.
Speaker 6: A nobody got arrested. Trauma, There was no trauma. Yeah,
Speaker 6: it was pretty cool. There were no ego trips, you know,
Speaker 6: the rare occasions I think where we were all able
Speaker 6: to kind of hang out once we wrapped from set,
Speaker 6: you know, depending upon if we had an early call
Speaker 6: time the next day. You know, I even remember those times.
Speaker 6: It just it was just us as kids just having
Speaker 6: fun and being in the moment, and you know, I've
Speaker 6: really been blessed throughout my life to have so many
Speaker 6: experiences like that throughout the course of my career, but
Speaker 6: Summertime Switch was definitely a highlight, most most most definitely.
Speaker 2: Okay, so they at what point did you get involved
Speaker 2: in the project, because it seems they clearly created are
Speaker 2: they either changed the character to be for you or
Speaker 2: it was written specifically for you because it takes advantage
Speaker 2: of all of your talents.
Speaker 6: You know, it's so crazy because it's just that whole ABC,
Speaker 6: you know, family thing. So you know, I was, I
Speaker 6: think when I when I came on to a Summertime Switch,
Speaker 6: I just finished working on the show called Thea that
Speaker 6: was on a BBC. Now, mind, we only did one season.
Speaker 6: We weren't as successful as you guys were, just you know,
Speaker 6: we were just went season for season. But from what
Speaker 6: I remember, I made a really good impression with the
Speaker 6: executives at ABC because they knew that, you know, I
Speaker 6: was going to come and do my job and uh
Speaker 6: and on top of that, the I was kind of
Speaker 6: riding that wave of the you know, teenage heart thing,
Speaker 6: the childhood crushing, they're the heart throb thing. You know,
Speaker 6: I was in the right on magazines and the world up.
Speaker 6: So there was a there was an audience, I think
Speaker 6: as well the demographic that I think they were trying
Speaker 6: to bring to the film, which I was, you know,
Speaker 6: able to I guess spring and uh and it all
Speaker 6: worked out. And so when I when I found out
Speaker 6: about it, it was like right after the cancel, A
Speaker 6: I believe in our show. And I went back to Chicago,
Speaker 6: and then I got a call, you know, from my
Speaker 6: agent letting me know that there was this, you know,
Speaker 6: offer to come and be a part of this film.
Speaker 6: And so I jumped at the opportunity because you know,
Speaker 6: I wanted to continue to work and U And once
Speaker 6: I found out all the other talent that was attached
Speaker 6: to it, I was like, Man, this is once in
Speaker 6: a lifetime thing. You know, what are the chances you
Speaker 6: get to work with you and you know, with Patrick
Speaker 6: and Salaymon Fry and all these people, rich and mall,
Speaker 6: so you know, it's dope.
Speaker 2: I wonder if anybody auditioned for the movie or if
Speaker 2: they just completely yeah, that was what they do.
Speaker 3: And I wonder, like, because Isaac Letzky was coming off
Speaker 3: of Saved by the new Class. Yeah, everybody, And like
Speaker 3: Richard Mall, like, I bet you they just completely cast
Speaker 3: this thing without a single audition, you know, like yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, rightfully. So, I mean because again everybody came to set.
Speaker 6: You know, there was there was little amount of risk
Speaker 6: I think from a production sign or from a producer
Speaker 6: sign at network executive side. You know, they knew what
Speaker 6: they were they knew what they were getting.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what they do is and you know, even
Speaker 4: NBC back in the day, we talked about this. You
Speaker 4: know in the eighties, they would take all their talent
Speaker 4: that they you know, all the young talent of the day,
Speaker 4: and they would make a movie the Week essentially, is
Speaker 4: what they would do. And ABC what they what you
Speaker 4: would find for a lot of these things were these
Speaker 4: were scripts that somebody tried to sell as a feature
Speaker 4: and somebody then didn't want to put a whole bunch
Speaker 4: of money into it, or they didn't think it could
Speaker 4: it could really open in theaters everywhere. So they go, well,
Speaker 4: wait a minute, this is a great idea. We'll take
Speaker 4: all of our young talent and we'll do it cheaper,
Speaker 4: and we'll do it as a movie of the week.
Speaker 4: And they would that's what they do. They just started pumping.
Speaker 4: So that started really big in the seventies and the eighties,
Speaker 4: and this was what ninety five, you guys are forty.
Speaker 4: So it's just starting to wane at this point where
Speaker 4: they're like, oh well, this still costs a lot of
Speaker 4: money and we you know, so by like ninety seven
Speaker 4: they were kind of gone. But this was a staple
Speaker 4: of TV for twenty twenty five years. Let's take our talent,
Speaker 4: let's take some money, let's throw some money at it,
Speaker 4: and let's do a movie of the week. So this
Speaker 4: is like, you guys are right, you might be one
Speaker 4: of the last of exactly what you're saying, where it's
Speaker 4: like we're gonna offer all of our talent, Let's get
Speaker 4: this person, let's get that person, Let's get this person
Speaker 4: and just throw them all together and do a fun
Speaker 4: hijinks kind of romp. So yeah, that's television royalty. That's
Speaker 4: that was around forever. Yeah, you know, and those were those.
Speaker 6: Are fun days too, I mean, because you know, there
Speaker 6: was there was a structure there where you could you
Speaker 6: could be funneled into the next thing if you will,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean, based upon the kind of
Speaker 6: work and relationship that you had with that network or
Speaker 6: with that production company. There were so many different opportunities
Speaker 6: that you could kind of just easily transition to, you know,
Speaker 6: like that. So no, I think we were the last
Speaker 6: of the mohigue is if you will, when it came
Speaker 6: to that, you know, those those family movies of the
Speaker 6: weeks and you know, the collective cast coming together and
Speaker 6: uh and tapping into that particular demographic that they were targeting. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you had a lot of scenes Jason with Richard
Speaker 1: Mall in the camp kitchen.
Speaker 2: He has a little bit of like a little of it.
Speaker 2: It's kind of a ridiculous accent. We were discus, like
Speaker 2: a real accent. What do you remember about working with him?
Speaker 6: You know what? It was funny because I was so
Speaker 6: starstruck We're working with him, To be honest with you,
Speaker 6: was all a blur because I was a big Night
Speaker 6: Court fan.
Speaker 2: Oh me too, me too.
Speaker 6: So you know when I when I found out I
Speaker 6: was doing scenes with him, I think I was just
Speaker 6: so focused on making sure that I didn't mess up,
Speaker 6: you know, because I knew this guy was like you know,
Speaker 6: veteran actors been working since the eighties, probably longer than that.
Speaker 6: And again, I'm a kid in a professional adult setting,
Speaker 6: so I'm just sitting there like, you know, let me
Speaker 6: just make sure I just bang out these scenes, and
Speaker 6: you know, I don't want to hold the director up.
Speaker 6: I think that was another thing I was so kind
Speaker 6: of aware of in the back of my mind is
Speaker 6: I didn't want a lot of time being taken shooting
Speaker 6: my stuff, as I knew that I was, you know,
Speaker 6: being given an opportunity, and I didn't want to be
Speaker 6: known as one of those actors that took like multiple takes,
Speaker 6: you know, to get it right. So I was all
Speaker 6: about at that time being like, okay, let me just
Speaker 6: be all point. Okay, take this direction, keep it moving
Speaker 6: it so you know, oh my god, dude.
Speaker 2: That is you know what's funny about that?
Speaker 3: That is so not what comes across and really come
Speaker 3: across so comfortable and relaxed in a way that like
Speaker 3: I am clearly not like, yeah, we just rewatched it.
Speaker 3: You are so good in this movie. It like I
Speaker 3: blew my mind. I was watching.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, he's got like real scenes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like the second half of the movie is like
Speaker 3: a real emotional arc for you and it's good. It's
Speaker 3: like honest in a way that's like relaxed, and it
Speaker 3: does not feel like you are having any pressure. It
Speaker 3: feels like you're just totally and then of course you
Speaker 3: get up and you like sing and dance and do
Speaker 3: a whole number there too. It's like, oh, oh, Jason
Speaker 3: was in like a real movie. I was I don't
Speaker 3: know what I was doing that garbage getting dumped on me,
Speaker 3: but you were like acting and like, p It's awesome, dude.
Speaker 2: It does not come across like eure uptight or scared
Speaker 2: at all. It's great.
Speaker 6: There was always something. I really appreciate you saying that,
Speaker 6: because there was always something that was kind of thrown
Speaker 6: on the plate at the last minute, like that scene
Speaker 6: of performing, Yeah, I performed the song. I think they
Speaker 6: had just found out that I signed a deal with
Speaker 6: Motown Records, and I think, yeah, and I've been I
Speaker 6: think I had done the line king already. Yeah, So
Speaker 6: so they were they were aware of that and they
Speaker 6: were like, oh man, it'd be just great if you
Speaker 6: could just have a song and there signed. I remember
Speaker 6: we recorded that at the last minute. So even with that,
Speaker 6: it was it was a lot. I was like, oh,
Speaker 6: my god, I gotta play basketball, I gotta act and
Speaker 6: I got to sing it.
Speaker 2: Yes, they put it all on you man, it's incredible. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: but it was.
Speaker 6: It was fun. We had a good time, and you
Speaker 6: know that, to go back to what what Will was
Speaker 6: saying to I think they they knew too that it
Speaker 6: was going to be successful because we were essentially what
Speaker 6: we did was a kids version of like Trading Places. Yeah,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean, like that, That's pretty much
Speaker 6: what it was. So, you know, I think the natural
Speaker 6: feel if people saw that, you know, as as viewers.
Speaker 6: And I've never told anybody this, but I played a
Speaker 6: lot of that from like Eddie's Trading Places because I
Speaker 6: saw that film and I remember when I read the script,
Speaker 6: I was like, oh man, this is this is Eddie,
Speaker 6: so like just kind of do Eddie, don't do Eddie Edie.
Speaker 6: So it worked out and if people loved it, man,
Speaker 6: I'm just so so honored and so blessed.
Speaker 1: That I wasn't like to be signed to Motown so
Speaker 1: young incredible.
Speaker 6: I signed to them right after I worked on the
Speaker 6: Jackson's mini series, The Jackson's in American Dream, where I
Speaker 6: played Michael Jackson and you know, it was kind of
Speaker 6: just a natural, a natural thing that took place. The
Speaker 6: CEO of Motown at that time got rest his soul.
Speaker 6: Mister Gerald Busby was always present on set as we
Speaker 6: were shooting that mini series because all of the music
Speaker 6: that we were doing, you know, it was Motown, Motown owned,
Speaker 6: so they really wanted to make sure that the music
Speaker 6: in the catalog was being represented properly. So, you know,
Speaker 6: just after I guess months of establishing a rapport with
Speaker 6: one another and him seeing he kind of displayed my
Speaker 6: talent day in the day out on set, that singing
Speaker 6: and all of that, I just got this offer to
Speaker 6: record with them. I recorded one album with Motown. It
Speaker 6: was called Love Ambition. At that time, it was not
Speaker 6: commercially successful. It wasn't like one of those albums are
Speaker 6: R and B albums that came out in the nineties
Speaker 6: that you know, just kind of blew up and went
Speaker 6: out of control. But the single, which was the title
Speaker 6: for the album as well, Love Ambition, especially in my
Speaker 6: hometown Io, became kind of like a classic hit and
Speaker 6: what what we at home called a steppers classic hit,
Speaker 6: and stepping is something it's like, it's couples dancing in Chicago,
Speaker 6: very elegant, very refined, very soulful. So my song has
Speaker 6: lived like for thirty years in that space and in
Speaker 6: the step of set strictly in Chicago. And now it's
Speaker 6: like making this you know, resurging or what have you,
Speaker 6: and making people kind of go back and look at
Speaker 6: my career with Motown. And so it's just really interesting
Speaker 6: right now. I think, just I think for all of
Speaker 6: us that you know, we have these these people who
Speaker 6: have admired our work for so long in a fan
Speaker 6: base has admired our work for so long, to where
Speaker 6: now we can we can look back and and be
Speaker 6: you know, I know we were proud at the time
Speaker 6: of what we did, but you know, even now as
Speaker 6: adults and understanding uh fully the moments that we were
Speaker 6: in and be able to look back in retrospect and
Speaker 6: to share those moments with fans and and you know,
Speaker 6: to laugh about them and in the cheer about him
Speaker 6: and even at times to cry about those moments together.
Speaker 6: It's just awesome. So that my experience with Motown is
Speaker 6: that as well.
Speaker 1: Writer said he remembered that you had so many great
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson stories from I mean working with him to
Speaker 1: play him must have been absolutely surreal.
Speaker 6: Oh, it was. It was. That was that was another
Speaker 6: you know situation where it was a lot of pressure.
Speaker 6: That was another ABC show. But that was another thing
Speaker 6: I did with them, and uh man, I just remember,
Speaker 6: you know, there was just so much there were so
Speaker 6: many eyeballs on just even when we were just in
Speaker 6: production it's doing principal photography, you know, because at that time,
Speaker 6: Michael Jackson and the Jackson family, it was just pandemonium.
Speaker 6: You know, He's like the biggest star in the world
Speaker 6: at that time, and so that pressure, you know, for
Speaker 6: the fan base alone and wanting to know who's playing
Speaker 6: him and if they were going to do justice to
Speaker 6: the role. And you know, and even though you're a kid,
Speaker 6: you know, these people don't care. All they know is
Speaker 6: Michael Jackson and they just wanted to be portrayed the
Speaker 6: right way or the way they think he should. Yeah,
Speaker 6: so it was it was. It was a lot, but
Speaker 6: it was a lot of rehearsal, a lot of preparation,
Speaker 6: a lot of support from people in production, a lot
Speaker 6: of support from my mother, a lot of support from
Speaker 6: the other parents who had kids that were working on
Speaker 6: the show, a lot of support from the Jackson family,
Speaker 6: from Michael himself, So that took a little bit of
Speaker 6: the pressure off on a little bit of the strength.
Speaker 4: It would be a little bit, but geez, I mean,
Speaker 4: I mean, he's he's arguably one of the most famous
Speaker 4: human beings in the history of the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, literally, yeah from yeah, I mean up there
Speaker 2: like literally.
Speaker 4: So it's one of those things where it's like, oh,
Speaker 4: but how old were you when you were playing him?
Speaker 6: I was, what twelve thirteen?
Speaker 2: Okay, so yeah, no pressure, there you go.
Speaker 4: And now wait, you said that they signed you because
Speaker 4: of this, So were you actually singing all the songs?
Speaker 4: It wasn't It wasn't like lip syncing you were. You
Speaker 4: were singing all the songs.
Speaker 6: Now, I was actually singing the material. Now that the
Speaker 6: Motown the Motown stuff was actually the original recordings that
Speaker 6: Michael did, the pre Motown stuff prior to them getting
Speaker 6: signed to Motown. When they performed at the Apollo, the
Speaker 6: Regal Theater would have you their their Motown audition. I
Speaker 6: sang all that stuff.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 6: And the only time that I sang a Motown song
Speaker 6: was it was Who's Loving You? And I had to
Speaker 6: sing that live that day. Because the pre recorded track
Speaker 6: or the track that they had, they couldn't get clearance
Speaker 6: from the Motown Music publishing company at that time. So
Speaker 6: the day that we were shooting, I actually had to
Speaker 6: sing it, and so I'm singing it live. And it
Speaker 6: was that day that I got the role for the
Speaker 6: Lion King because unbeknownst to me, Elton John had come
Speaker 6: through the set that day just like visitings and just
Speaker 6: so happened to see were performing. He was only there
Speaker 6: for a brief minute, I believe, but he showed up
Speaker 6: as I was performing. I didn't even get a chance
Speaker 6: to see him or meet him. And when we wrapped
Speaker 6: from set that day, my mom came up to me
Speaker 6: and was like, yo, man, guess who I just had
Speaker 6: a brief conversation with and you know he complimented you
Speaker 6: on your performance. I was like who, It's like Elton John.
Speaker 6: I was like, okay, cool, cool, because you know, at
Speaker 6: that time, all I'm listening to is you know, Bell Bivdevo.
Speaker 6: You audition like you know, I.
Speaker 3: Really you're playing Michael Jackson Elton John.
Speaker 6: It's like okay cool. So you know, she tells me
Speaker 6: that he wants me to audition for this this new
Speaker 6: animated movie that he's doing with Disney called The Lion King.
Speaker 6: You know, he explained him and Tim Rice put this
Speaker 6: thing together and she good forward if I auditioned, So
Speaker 6: I did, and that's and that's how that whole thing
Speaker 6: came about. Man like, unbelieva again, it's just just blessings.
Speaker 6: Man Like. You guys know, I mean, you know, we've
Speaker 6: we've had something. I mean, no, you guys, you guys
Speaker 6: want to hit show were real for real. You guys
Speaker 6: were with the crew that we were all looking at
Speaker 6: as kids who on sitcoms and hoping we could get
Speaker 6: a gig like that.
Speaker 3: Like you guys go that is like it doesn't and
Speaker 3: you can start planning around it.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because when you did The Lion King, that's like
Speaker 2: one day or two days in the studio and then
Speaker 2: you're done. The job is you did.
Speaker 6: But you guys are coming to work every day, hanging
Speaker 6: with each other. That that was something that you know,
Speaker 6: I always admired about you all show. On top of
Speaker 6: the fact that it was a really good show.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I just want to ask you one more question about
Speaker 1: did you you said that Michael was really supportive of
Speaker 1: you did he have any advice for you on how
Speaker 1: best to play him?
Speaker 2: Like, what was Michael's advice to you?
Speaker 5: The only advice that I ever received from Michael regarding
Speaker 5: the role, because mind you, when we were shooting it,
Speaker 5: he was actually overseas in Europe.
Speaker 6: Doing the Dangerous Tour, okay, so he really wasn't like
Speaker 6: present like that on the set, but he would see
Speaker 6: like the dailies, and you know, he would send notes
Speaker 6: if he had any, which were very rare. And I
Speaker 6: think the one thing that he told Michael Peters, God
Speaker 6: rest his soul as well, who was our choreographer at
Speaker 6: the time. Michael Peters are also choreographed Thriller and beat
Speaker 6: It for Michael. He was like Michael's choreographers. So Michael
Speaker 6: Peters had come up to me one day in rehearsal
Speaker 6: and had just told me. He said, you know, Michael's
Speaker 6: been looking at the daily He's very very pleased. You know.
Speaker 6: He said, you can stick to turn a little bit
Speaker 6: harder if you want to, like the famous fan that
Speaker 6: he would do. And he actually gave me a note
Speaker 6: to do it successfully, which I which I didn't know
Speaker 6: at the time, And it's kind of something that all
Speaker 6: dancers know, but it's about keeping your eyes like when
Speaker 6: you do a spin or you're doing multiple spins, keeping
Speaker 6: your eyes on that one point. Ye. So yeah, so
Speaker 6: he was like, you know, Michael's advice for that is
Speaker 6: just you know, do that, and it just relaxed a
Speaker 6: little bit and just have fun. And he knows it's,
Speaker 6: you know, really a pressure kind of situation, but you know,
Speaker 6: just have fun. And that was all I needed, you know,
Speaker 6: to know that he was watching, to know that he
Speaker 6: was pleased with the work that was being done so
Speaker 6: far at that time. That was reassuring for me and
Speaker 6: that allowed me to kind of relax and go into
Speaker 6: the role more. And yeah, it worked, thank thank god.
Speaker 6: Like none of his fans, you know, ended up being
Speaker 6: disappointed with my performance. I was, you know, to be honest,
Speaker 6: unless there are a few people out there that I
Speaker 6: don't know of, but most of his fans felt that
Speaker 6: I did justice to that role, to his legacy, and
Speaker 6: so I'm very happy.
Speaker 2: What an incredible feat.
Speaker 4: I mean, well, what one of the things you were saying,
Speaker 4: which is so interesting is when that nobody knew Summertime
Speaker 4: Switch was going to have any staying power. But that's
Speaker 4: The thing is when, especially when you're a young actor,
Speaker 4: you never know what's going to work what's not. You
Speaker 4: think you're going to a job, you have fun doing
Speaker 4: the job, you're really enjoying it, you hope people.
Speaker 2: When you're doing the Lion King, you kind of know
Speaker 2: it's going to be really I don't know. Again, you
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 6: You don't know.
Speaker 2: That was like a golden age of Disney film. I
Speaker 2: mean like, no, you never know.
Speaker 6: No, you you never you guys know this, man, You
Speaker 6: you never know. Even when the thing looks like as
Speaker 6: you're making it it looks like it's set up to
Speaker 6: be a hit, you don't know until the people see it,
Speaker 6: until it takes a connection. We and all try to
Speaker 6: make our professional prediction as far as where or forecast
Speaker 6: where something is going to go, but you never know
Speaker 6: until it gets out there. I just knew that it
Speaker 6: was Disney, and I knew that it was following in
Speaker 6: the same line or Legacy is a Laddin and Beauty
Speaker 6: and the Beast, and you know, so I knew they
Speaker 6: were gonna pump a lot of money into it. I
Speaker 6: just didn't know that it was going to be as
Speaker 6: successful as it was because I mean that I just
Speaker 6: can't wait to be King to this day. I went
Speaker 6: to Disney a few years ago and I was at
Speaker 6: the Animal Kingdom resort and that's all that was pumped
Speaker 6: this hallways. It was just it was incredible. To this day,
Speaker 6: I'm just I'm blown away and again, and i know
Speaker 6: I'm probably sound like a preacher on you Guys podcast,
Speaker 6: but I'm so thankful to God, you know what I mean,
Speaker 6: because this journey so far has just been just extraordinary. Man.
Speaker 6: I've really been able to walk into some blessings that
Speaker 6: you know, normal kids from from where I'm from, you know,
Speaker 6: from the South side of Chicago, and man, not many
Speaker 6: of us get opportunities like this, man. So you know,
Speaker 6: I'm just so happy and so grateful that I had
Speaker 6: all that.
Speaker 3: I went through a period like three years ago, yeah,
Speaker 3: probably about three or four years ago. Uh, I got
Speaker 3: such major dad points because my son was six years old,
Speaker 3: five or six and obsessed.
Speaker 2: With Lion King, and I was able to be like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I worked with that guy.
Speaker 3: And then I got so sick of your song, Indy,
Speaker 3: I can't Wait to Be King was like five times
Speaker 3: a day, and I like to this time, I'm over it.
Speaker 2: Man, I love you.
Speaker 3: I can't listen anymore. They had to tell stop. That
Speaker 3: was his obsessive favorite song and I was just like, dude,
Speaker 3: and you have to stop. So well, maybe it'll come back.
Speaker 3: But man, there's a ban on itto my house because.
Speaker 6: I I get it.
Speaker 1: Every few years you go viral actually for a story
Speaker 1: about your Lion King residuals where your mom advised you
Speaker 1: to reject a two million dollar buyout from Disney in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four and instead negotiate a royalty steal.
Speaker 2: So so, sir, news is, this was.
Speaker 1: A genius move and it came for itself over and
Speaker 1: over again. But how insanely hard was it to trust
Speaker 1: your mom back then when she was you know, two
Speaker 1: million dollars in nineteen ninety four is very hard for
Speaker 1: anyone to turn down.
Speaker 6: Yeah, oh absolutely, Well, you know, I will say this,
Speaker 6: my mother has had had an experience working in the
Speaker 6: in the record industry. My mother's name is Marilyn Haywood,
Speaker 6: professionally known as Kitty Haywood. My mother experienced, you know,
Speaker 6: a great deal of success as a solo artist and
Speaker 6: also in a group with my aunts called Kitty in
Speaker 6: the Haywoods. They work with Curtis Mayfield. They work with
Speaker 6: the Reap of Franklin back in the day on the
Speaker 6: Sparkle soundtrack. As a matter of fact, my mother and
Speaker 6: my aunts are on the original giving him something he
Speaker 6: can feel with the Reap of Franklin. Those are those
Speaker 6: that's my mom and my aunts in the background. Yeah.
Speaker 6: So my family has a has a history, a rich
Speaker 6: history in music. My big up my cousins. Two of
Speaker 6: my cousins are multi Grammy Award winning producers. My cousin
Speaker 6: Tricky Stewart produced single Ladies for Beyonce and Uh Break
Speaker 6: My Soul for her and Umbrella for Rihanna. My cousin
Speaker 6: Kou Carell works with Rihanna as her vocal producer. He
Speaker 6: works with share just a number of people. So that's
Speaker 6: that's my family's business. I was the only actor, you
Speaker 6: know what I mean in my family at the time.
Speaker 6: And so when that situation came about with the Lion
Speaker 6: King and when they presented the initial offer, you know,
Speaker 6: as you guys know with negotiating your own deals, the
Speaker 6: initial offer comes through, you counter and then you negotiate,
Speaker 6: you know, from there. But my mother just offered first glance.
Speaker 6: When the initial offer came through for just a straight
Speaker 6: buy out of that, you know, I think just the
Speaker 6: lights went off in her mind and she was like, Okay, well,
Speaker 6: if they're willing to buy you out for that amount
Speaker 6: of money, right, I can only imagine, you know, on
Speaker 6: a residual basis, which you could possibly generate over time.
Speaker 6: And so she was like, look, I know this kind
Speaker 6: of sounds, you know, a little bit of a stretch,
Speaker 6: and you know, I know this is a huge opportunity
Speaker 6: for you, but you know, let's let's try this. Let's
Speaker 6: let's make this chest move real quick. And you know,
Speaker 6: all they can do is just say is no. And
Speaker 6: I was like, well, you know what, I'm twelve thirteen
Speaker 6: at the time. Although I understand to some degree what
Speaker 6: two million dollars is, I'm not really don't know. All
Speaker 6: I want to do is go to the ballpark and
Speaker 6: go get McDonald's after you you know me. Yeah. So,
Speaker 6: you know, it was like all of us at that
Speaker 6: time just you know, trusting our parents to move on
Speaker 6: our behalf in the right way. And so she did,
Speaker 6: and it just continued to be the gift that just
Speaker 6: keeps on giving. I'm so so grateful that she had
Speaker 6: had the foresight to just be able to see, you know,
Speaker 6: to see that and to understand the importance of setting
Speaker 6: her son, you know, upright. And you know now that's
Speaker 6: why whenever she calls and she needs anything, she she
Speaker 6: got it.
Speaker 4: I think the message is always listening to your mom's
Speaker 4: especially when your mom's a pro.
Speaker 3: You know, like you were so fortunate that she had
Speaker 3: that experience, because yeah, I mean music industry is brutal,
Speaker 3: man Like, if you've been through that, like you come
Speaker 3: out with those scars, like you protect your kids, like
Speaker 3: that's all again.
Speaker 6: And she knew that, and you know, like all of
Speaker 6: us at that time with being in the in the business,
Speaker 6: you know, there has to be somebody there to protect
Speaker 6: you and looking out for your best interest because you know,
Speaker 6: all these companies are looking at at the end of
Speaker 6: the day, as they should, they're just looking at their
Speaker 6: bottom line. They're trying to get the most bang for
Speaker 6: their books, so they're not really concerned about ultimately how
Speaker 6: it's going to affect you in the long run, whether
Speaker 6: it's successful or not successful. You know, that's your job
Speaker 6: to make sure that you're protected. So you know, I'm
Speaker 6: just glad and fortunate to have my mom there who
Speaker 6: knew the business, and you know, and even now, if
Speaker 6: there are certain parts of my career where I may
Speaker 6: be confused and I really need some real advice, and
Speaker 6: I always, you know, I reach out to my mom
Speaker 6: because she really is smart like that. She's pretty brilliant
Speaker 6: as a businesswoman. So cool.
Speaker 1: I have two more career things I want to talk
Speaker 1: about from your history before we get into your current career,
Speaker 1: which is you have so many great things to talk about,
Speaker 1: but we have a ton of Smart Guy fans, and
Speaker 1: so I want to talk to you about when in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven you landed the role alongside taj Maori.
Speaker 2: What do you remember from that audition?
Speaker 6: Oh, I just remember having a especially the screen test audition.
Speaker 6: I just remember having a great time with the creator
Speaker 6: of the show, Danny kalis Uh. Danny also created What's
Speaker 6: the Show with the Twins Zack and Cody? Yes, Yes,
Speaker 6: Sweet Life with Zach and Coach, because he did that
Speaker 6: after Smart Guy. But Danny was so he was such
Speaker 6: a pleasure to work with because you know, we were
Speaker 6: a Disney show and you know, they wanted to kind
Speaker 6: of keep it cookie cutter. I mean, it's the same
Speaker 6: basic fourth camera you know, sitcom for man and as
Speaker 6: we all know, you know, they there's a formula to that,
Speaker 6: and they wanted they want the jokes to play a
Speaker 6: certain kind of way. They want the kids to look
Speaker 6: a certain kind of way. They want the sets, the wardrobe,
Speaker 6: everything to be a certain kind of way. And you know,
Speaker 6: me naturally, as just a kid, especially who was so
Speaker 6: fully immersed at that time in like the culture of
Speaker 6: hip hop and and being a part of that whole movement,
Speaker 6: there was so much of that that I wanted to
Speaker 6: inject and bring into the role and into the show.
Speaker 6: And at first, Disney was a little bit reluctant because
Speaker 6: you know, at that time, all they knew about hip
Speaker 6: hop was like what they were hearing about Biggie and Tupac.
Speaker 6: It was not a lot of negative There was not
Speaker 6: a lot of positive energy surrounding hip hop or the
Speaker 6: culture of it at that time. But it was something
Speaker 6: that I really felt strongly about because I was like, yo,
Speaker 6: you know, just keeping it, keeping it enough. Stack with
Speaker 6: you guys. I was like, Yo, if I'm going to
Speaker 6: be on TV and if I'm going to be representing
Speaker 6: kids that looked like me and that come from the neighborhood. Like,
Speaker 6: it's got to be authentic, it's got to be real.
Speaker 6: They got to be able to see themselves in his character.
Speaker 6: They got to be able to relate to them. And
Speaker 6: I'm not going to be presenting something that's not real.
Speaker 6: You know, we're gonna do this. Let's be real about it.
Speaker 6: And Danny was so gracious and so understanding and so
Speaker 6: patient with that. And I just remember anytime I had questions,
Speaker 6: anytime I had concerns, you know, if there was a
Speaker 6: subtle change, of course, I'm not going to rewrite the script,
Speaker 6: but if there's a joke or something that I wanted
Speaker 6: to try out, I was always given that freedom. You know,
Speaker 6: me and Omar Gooding in particular, we were always giving
Speaker 6: that freedom to try different things. And I just really
Speaker 6: appreciate that because I know that took a certain level
Speaker 6: of trust and some young kids that they didn't have to,
Speaker 6: you know, really do that with. But that was one
Speaker 6: of the things that I remember the most about working
Speaker 6: on A Smart Guy was just like the support that
Speaker 6: we got from the executives and from the producers to
Speaker 6: kind of stretch out and try different things. And test
Speaker 6: our range, and then of course you know, working with
Speaker 6: the cast, working with Taj, working with JJ, working with
Speaker 6: essen z atkins Man. They were fantastic. I mean, these
Speaker 6: are people that you know, I still keep in contact
Speaker 6: with to this day, who I absolutely love. Well.
Speaker 2: I have a headshot from Taj where he says I'm
Speaker 2: his best friend. Did Tash talk about me? Is am
Speaker 2: I still best friend?
Speaker 6: I'm sure. I'm sure you are.
Speaker 2: Thank you you're not.
Speaker 4: It's nice that you're Yes, it's very nice Jason, that
Speaker 4: you're you're being this this sweet to.
Speaker 3: Day performing Rock and Robin at like every party. Yes,
Speaker 3: there was like a period. There was a period where
Speaker 3: he was I guess he was under contract with ABC
Speaker 3: or something, so every agency of the Disney Tosh would
Speaker 3: show up and he would.
Speaker 2: Before Rock and Robin.
Speaker 3: He was amazing because he was he was younger than
Speaker 3: us and he was so talented. I remember, but it
Speaker 3: was like there was a period where for a couple
Speaker 3: of years, every party we went to was like, oh, there's.
Speaker 2: There, you go there.
Speaker 4: That's a perfect example of what Disney does though, because
Speaker 4: Disney put him in that and then right after he
Speaker 4: and I did Kim Possible together for four years. So
Speaker 4: it was just like plugging people in. Let's plug who
Speaker 4: we got here, who we got here, who we got here,
Speaker 4: Let's plug him in.
Speaker 2: Let's make a thing. I mean, it's like the old
Speaker 2: contract day is in the studio. Yes exactly. I kind
Speaker 2: of yearned for that, Like I think, I love that.
Speaker 4: I love it. Yeah, it's the best. It was the
Speaker 4: best when it was like okay, you're now. I mean
Speaker 4: when we were on team working for Disney. You were
Speaker 4: part of that team, and it's like anytime they needed
Speaker 4: you to host something, they you know, bring you down
Speaker 4: to host something, big parties for this, big parties for that.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be on that show, You're gonna be in
Speaker 2: that movie. It was great.
Speaker 6: It was to fun. Yeah, I don't know. I think,
Speaker 6: you know, we'll see you moving forward because I know
Speaker 6: we're all trying to figure out, you know, what the
Speaker 6: what the new business model is going to be moving forward,
Speaker 6: you know, after this strike. You know, but maybe maybe
Speaker 6: something will will eventually reform like that because you know
Speaker 6: you're getting met, we're getting met with so much resistance,
Speaker 6: if you will, and like you know, the major studio,
Speaker 6: well not even major studios, but more like the digital
Speaker 6: streaming streams.
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So I don't know how they maintain an identity like
Speaker 3: back in the day, like you knew who Disney was,
Speaker 3: you knew who ABC was based on a set of
Speaker 3: shows like now Netflix, like do people know like because
Speaker 3: Netflix is different for based on your algorithm, Like which
Speaker 3: one you know we're watching gets their version of Netflix?
Speaker 2: So this whole notion of like or.
Speaker 3: Even now Max, Like I don't even know what HBO
Speaker 3: means anymore. It's just kind of another one of the streamers.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that's the idea is like what if what
Speaker 3: if a network or a streamer where to contract contractually
Speaker 3: like absorb a set of talent, like oh we are
Speaker 3: these these like twenty actors are only associated with Netflix
Speaker 3: or these.
Speaker 2: That would be one way to sort of brand themselves
Speaker 2: and to have like a repertoire of actors you know
Speaker 2: at Expose or like you were saying, will to bring
Speaker 2: back like a summertime switch, like let's take the stars
Speaker 2: from all of our shows and make one big movie
Speaker 2: with them to get a brand as a network or
Speaker 2: as a streamer. Well hopefully they'll do that with all
Speaker 2: the new AI actors. They'll just be able to plug
Speaker 2: in the AI actors.
Speaker 4: To whatever they want, and all these computer generated programs
Speaker 4: will be in all these wonderful films.
Speaker 2: It'll be us.
Speaker 3: They'll be able to make us from nineteen ninety four
Speaker 3: Switch just didn't you.
Speaker 2: Just see exactly? Season eighty Boy meets World starts next week?
Speaker 2: Didn't you see? We all look great. We're not making anything,
Speaker 2: but I can't wait to see the episode. It's going
Speaker 2: to be awesome.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to talk Chingy with you.
Speaker 2: How did your song with him come together?
Speaker 5: What?
Speaker 2: Wait?
Speaker 6: Wait?
Speaker 2: What just happened? One call Away? He Jason sings Charlie.
Speaker 1: No, Jason sings the hook on a Chingy song called
Speaker 1: one Call Away, and it is phenomenal.
Speaker 2: How dare you will Chingy is a person? Correct? Okay?
Speaker 6: I don't know. You don't listen to hip hop?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 4: No, I do listen to I listened to awesome music,
Speaker 4: incredible hip hop. But after nineteen eighty seven eighty eight,
Speaker 4: everything stops music wise.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, like when hip hop starts, like a year
Speaker 3: one of hip hop at the beginning, d J Rob.
Speaker 2: Bass, it takes two.
Speaker 4: I'm all all day long, original nw A like I
Speaker 4: listened to original n w A all the time, straight
Speaker 4: out of Compton's one of the greatest albums ever, so
Speaker 4: like kind of after that, it falls by the wayside
Speaker 4: a little bit for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, with all well we forgive you, We're.
Speaker 6: Gonna fast forward, We're gonna go to the future, but
Speaker 6: yet the past here, okay song. I did a song
Speaker 6: with this artist by the Day with ching and he
Speaker 6: had his first single he had was called right There
Speaker 6: and he and he's from Saint Louis.
Speaker 2: You'll know that song, well, you will know that I will.
Speaker 6: No, you'll know, you'll know. I did the follow up
Speaker 6: single with him, a single call One Call Away that
Speaker 6: actually ended up being like a surprise kind of sleeper hit,
Speaker 6: another opportunity that I kind of walked into that I
Speaker 6: did not know it was going to turn out like that.
Speaker 6: I was actually in Los Angeles. I was working. I
Speaker 6: had a small role in a film called The Lady
Speaker 6: Killers that the Cohen Brothers kid and that Tom Hanks
Speaker 6: starting and Marlon WANs and so I had a small
Speaker 6: role in that film. And the night before I was
Speaker 6: supposed to shoot, for some odd reason, I was out
Speaker 6: because usually I'll be in the bed, like if I
Speaker 6: know I got a seven am call. I'm usually in
Speaker 6: the bed early, but for some odd reason, I think
Speaker 6: I had gone out to dinner or whatever. And it
Speaker 6: was during kind of like award season, so everybody was
Speaker 6: out and about, you know, partying and hanging out, and
Speaker 6: I ran into a good friend of mine who used
Speaker 6: to be a famous radio personality down here in Atlanta
Speaker 6: with Ludacris. His name was Poon, and Poon and Luda
Speaker 6: had a show years ago on Hot ninety seven down here,
Speaker 6: and so I've known those guys for years. And what
Speaker 6: ended up happening was I ran in a pooling at
Speaker 6: this party. He was like, hey, man, up, what are
Speaker 6: you doing tonight. I was like, oh, I'm nothing. I'm
Speaker 6: probably gonna go back to my hotel. I got to
Speaker 6: work tomorrow. He's like, well, come to the studio. I
Speaker 6: want you to meet this kid that we have coming
Speaker 6: out on our label on Disturbing the Piece. I just
Speaker 6: want you to meet them, and you know, listen to
Speaker 6: some of the album. So sure enough, you know, went
Speaker 6: to the studio. I met Ching as we were, you know,
Speaker 6: kind of there hanging and vibing. Ponent said, well, man,
Speaker 6: we got this song called one Call Away looking for
Speaker 6: this artist, you know, to sing the hook, but we
Speaker 6: can't find the right voice for it. Like he was like, man,
Speaker 6: you still sing right? I was like yeah, but I mean,
Speaker 6: come on, man, the record industry is not trying to
Speaker 6: hear Jason Weave on a hook right now. Like I'm
Speaker 6: doing movies and I'm on TV. Like they're not tripping.
Speaker 6: It's like, just just come in tomorrow, sing down the
Speaker 6: song a few times, you know, we'll send it to Capitol.
Speaker 6: We'll see if they like it. Sure enough, the next
Speaker 6: day I go to work and I'll never forget it.
Speaker 6: I got a call like right when I was on
Speaker 6: set in the middle of my scene and Pohan was like, man,
Speaker 6: we got the studio time. You know, do you think
Speaker 6: that you can you can make it here in the
Speaker 6: next couple of hours. I'm like, dude, I'm gonna set
Speaker 6: working with the Cohen brothers.
Speaker 2: Like what are you talking about.
Speaker 6: I'm not yeah, Hank, Yeah, I'm looking at Tom Hanks,
Speaker 6: you know, getting prepared in hair and makeup, like are
Speaker 6: you saring? But as I'm as I'm having this conversation,
Speaker 6: Ethan is like next to me, like or he's in
Speaker 6: earshot distance, so he's listening. We do a couple of
Speaker 6: takes of the scene. I think we were getting like
Speaker 6: the master shot or whatever. And then after lunch we
Speaker 6: were gonna start going in and getting coverage. And so
Speaker 6: as we're breaking down for lunch, Ethan was like, hey, man,
Speaker 6: you got like a studio session or something booked today.
Speaker 6: I was like, oh no, mister coin Man, it's man,
Speaker 6: this dude is crazy. I was like, I total I was,
Speaker 6: I'm just trying to save my job. I'm at this point.
Speaker 6: I'm like, this dude's I'm not leaving. Said, I'm right here.
Speaker 6: He's like, no, well, I mean we got an hour.
Speaker 6: He's like, and then you know the coverage that we're
Speaker 6: gonna get, we're gonna do this. You won't even be
Speaker 6: in it. Man, where is it? And we were shooting
Speaker 6: in Glendale that day and the session that I had
Speaker 6: to go to is in Burbank.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 6: Yeah not far so He's like, man, it's in Burbank.
Speaker 6: I was like, yeah, it's off for Magnolia. He's like,
Speaker 6: go and do it real quick. If you can knock
Speaker 6: it out, Like, go and knock it real talk man,
Speaker 6: and shout out to eat the call for that because
Speaker 6: he didn't have to do that, but he was real
Speaker 6: cool about it, and so I went. I went to
Speaker 6: Enterprise Studios. I sang the song down maybe about five
Speaker 6: or six different times on separate tracks, and then I
Speaker 6: left and went back to work, and then they camped
Speaker 6: the vocals and then they sent it to Capital, and
Speaker 6: Capital was like, man, we really really like it, but
Speaker 6: we have different versions from different artists. And then they
Speaker 6: did like a focus group and they played all the
Speaker 6: different versions for this focus group, and Mom was the
Speaker 6: one that, you know, kind of came out on top.
Speaker 6: And that's what I got on that record.
Speaker 2: Honest fun day.
Speaker 1: I did not expect when I asked that question that
Speaker 1: the answer to how one call Away with Chiney came
Speaker 1: about is actually Ethan Culin.
Speaker 6: Brothers.
Speaker 2: I love Sorry, I just couldn't love it anymore. That's awesome.
Speaker 4: By the way, I will say one of my favorite
Speaker 4: bands of all time. I do listen to a little
Speaker 4: bit later music. Outcast will always be one of my
Speaker 4: favorite favorite groups ever ever. And Jurassic Five. So there's
Speaker 4: there's there's kayeties I did. I made it into the nineties.
Speaker 4: I could I could listen to I. I could listen
Speaker 4: to Outcast over and over and frankly I do so Yeah,
Speaker 4: I love them, Love.
Speaker 2: Jason.
Speaker 1: You are also still working on TV. You never really left.
Speaker 1: You're on The Shy debuting a new season next month,
Speaker 1: and you'll be on Tyler Perry's Sisters for its sixth.
Speaker 2: Season on be Ep.
Speaker 1: Has there ever been a time in your life you
Speaker 1: have been doing this for so long. You've talked about
Speaker 1: how blessed you've been. Has there ever been a time
Speaker 1: where you've thought, Man, maybe I'll just leave this all
Speaker 1: behind and go get a quote unquote regular job and
Speaker 1: just have a regular old life.
Speaker 2: Has there ever been a time where you've thought about that? Oh?
Speaker 6: Yeah, oh yeah, you know, just just being completely transparent
Speaker 6: and real. There was a time in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 6: two thousand and nine, I was in Los Angeles, me
Speaker 6: and my ex girlfriend. We were living in Hollywood at
Speaker 6: the time, in this little town home that we were
Speaker 6: like Rennie. And this was like during the Great Recession,
Speaker 6: and you know, so the economy was really really bad.
Speaker 6: And then you know, as far as you know, content
Speaker 6: in certain things traditionally that I had always been a
Speaker 6: part of a certain films that I've always been a
Speaker 6: part of those opportunities that kind of dried up. I
Speaker 6: think just because there was there was really no money,
Speaker 6: and there was really not a lot of backers that
Speaker 6: were willing to get behind films. That weren't a lot
Speaker 6: of studios that were willing to get behind certain kind
Speaker 6: of films, and so, you know, the opportunities were far
Speaker 6: in between. And I'll never forget I was, you know,
Speaker 6: I hadn't worked for maybe six months. I'd had a
Speaker 6: horrible pilot season. I think that was like my second
Speaker 6: second horrible pilot season where I didn't book anything. The
Speaker 6: little jobs that I, you know, was was kind of
Speaker 6: getting in. They were jobs that were kind of just
Speaker 6: keeping the bills paid and keeping your face out there.
Speaker 6: But it really wasn't like making a difference. And so
Speaker 6: I got into point where I was, you know, I
Speaker 6: found myself at this point of transition where I was like, Okay,
Speaker 6: well maybe this is maybe this is the point where
Speaker 6: you know, I kind of segue or transition into something else,
Speaker 6: and you know, and I was fine with that because
Speaker 6: I made peace with myself that like, okay, well, as
Speaker 6: an actor that is, or as a performer that if
Speaker 6: that was if this was kind of the end of it,
Speaker 6: then I'll take it. But what ended up happening was
Speaker 6: right across the street from where I was. I was living.
Speaker 6: I was on Sunset and Vine and the Arc Light
Speaker 6: there was the Arc Light theater. In the areas like
Speaker 6: this plaza shopping plaza there, and then that shopping plaza
Speaker 6: was a Locordon Blue culinary school. Yeah. So I'm in,
Speaker 6: I'm in, I'm in this apartment. I'm depressed, not knowing
Speaker 6: what I'm going to do, what the future holds. I
Speaker 6: have my son out there with me. My son is
Speaker 6: like what eight or nine at the time, his mother
Speaker 6: and I were co parenting. She just she just so
Speaker 6: happened to be out in California as well, so we
Speaker 6: were able to co parent and raise our child. You know,
Speaker 6: even as I was out there, you know, trying to
Speaker 6: get a job, and you know, I'm just having one
Speaker 6: of those moments and I'll never forget. My ex girlfriend
Speaker 6: was like, uh, she said, we know how, you know,
Speaker 6: I know it's kind of tough right now, but you know,
Speaker 6: keep your creative juices flowing. And the one thing that
Speaker 6: I know that she do love to do is to cook.
Speaker 6: Which I did because I would have friends over. We
Speaker 6: would have kind of like these actor pity parties, and
Speaker 6: you know, you don't have these, you'd have these horrible auditions.
Speaker 6: And so we would get together, you know, in the
Speaker 6: afternoon or in the evening, and we just down bottles
Speaker 6: of wine and we talked about horrible auditions and our
Speaker 6: lives were at that time. And so I would do
Speaker 6: all the cooking for these pity parties. And so my
Speaker 6: ex was like, well, you know you love to cook.
Speaker 6: There's a culinary school across the street. Why don't you
Speaker 6: just so so you're doing something, you're keeping your creative juice.
Speaker 6: Just just go over there and do the orientation. Check
Speaker 6: it out, you know, see if it's something you want
Speaker 6: to do. Sure Enough, I woke up the next day,
Speaker 6: I went to the orientation, fell in love with it,
Speaker 6: enrolled in culinary school. Ended up doing that for about
Speaker 6: the year and a half. I was in the same
Speaker 6: as a matter of fact, I wasn't in the same
Speaker 6: exact class, but I was in the same graduating class
Speaker 6: as Kalise, the singer Calise. She she went to the
Speaker 6: same culinary school, and so you know, I was in
Speaker 6: there for like a year and a half and that
Speaker 6: really kept me balanced and kept me sane because you know,
Speaker 6: as all of us knows as creators and as actors
Speaker 6: and performers, when you're not in that space, it could
Speaker 6: be difficult because you know, I know, at least for me,
Speaker 6: that's that's a huge part of who I am. And
Speaker 6: when I'm not able to express myself creatively and to
Speaker 6: be around other creatives and bouncing off that energy, you know,
Speaker 6: I feel like I'm dying. I feel like I'm like
Speaker 6: withering away, you know what I'm saying. So what what
Speaker 6: culinary school did for me and and you know, diving
Speaker 6: into that world was it gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 6: form new relationships that I probably normally, you know, wouldn't
Speaker 6: have been able to. I learned a new skill set,
Speaker 6: you know, something to do professionally and just in case
Speaker 6: I may hit another law or a space where I
Speaker 6: still got to provide and keep a roof over my
Speaker 6: head and you know, take care of my family. That's
Speaker 6: what it did. And it also gave me another creative
Speaker 6: outlet to where you know, even now, when I when
Speaker 6: I think of projects or things that I may want
Speaker 6: to do or develop, That's also another world that I
Speaker 6: could kind of pull into my wheelhouse because I do
Speaker 6: have that experience of going to culinary school and working professionally,
Speaker 6: you know, in the back of the house at certain
Speaker 6: fine dining establishments and you know, knowing knowing what it
Speaker 6: is to you know, worked the line. And so I
Speaker 6: did that. I did that from like eight to twenty ten,
Speaker 6: and it really was it was a humbling experience for me,
Speaker 6: but it was much needed because when things begin to
Speaker 6: kind of pick back up work wise, and the industry
Speaker 6: was providing more opportunities for performance like myself to be
Speaker 6: seen and be heard, I went back into it with
Speaker 6: a you know, a new energy and reconnecting with my
Speaker 6: real purpose, you know, really understanding just how truly fortunate
Speaker 6: and blessed I am, you know, to be working in
Speaker 6: the industry. And so I, you know, although I've always
Speaker 6: taken it seriously and I've always been grateful, coming out
Speaker 6: of that chapter of my life, it just lit an
Speaker 6: even bigger fire up under me. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So to bring it back to summertime, switch, well, your
Speaker 2: character fast Freddy Egan.
Speaker 3: Is in the kitchen, and will you point it out
Speaker 3: You're like I did perfectly poaching eggs.
Speaker 2: I'm like, how is going to poach?
Speaker 4: You learn how to perfectly poach these, Like he's a chef,
Speaker 4: how is your chef?
Speaker 2: All of a sudden you.
Speaker 6: Back then don't do their c I'll give it. I
Speaker 6: guess it was somebody in the arms department of props.
Speaker 6: They did that.
Speaker 2: It was perfectly poaching.
Speaker 6: It was shadow and that's so hard to do.
Speaker 2: It's incredibly hard to do. That's what they say.
Speaker 4: It's like the way that you you show the skill
Speaker 4: of a chef as you go poach me an egg.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's one of the things they do is
Speaker 2: poach me an egg.
Speaker 4: So I'm like, he's he's twelve and he's perfectly poaching
Speaker 4: these eggs every days, Like, how is that happening?
Speaker 6: No way? Because that that's what I got hung up
Speaker 6: with in culinary school because in order to like graduate,
Speaker 6: you have to be able to prepare eggs five different ways,
Speaker 6: and your knife cuts have to be precise. So I
Speaker 6: could get eggs every other way. I can make a
Speaker 6: frenchime like it's nobody's business, but poaching an egg o, no.
Speaker 4: No, that two thousand, two thousand and eight thousand and
Speaker 4: so there was always an old adage that the only
Speaker 4: two businesses in the world that were recession proof were
Speaker 4: the mafia and the entertainment industry. And then two thousand
Speaker 4: and eight, two thousand and nine hit and that all changed.
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously, I'm not speaking for the mafia.
Speaker 2: I have no idea. They probably did very well.
Speaker 4: But the entertainment industry, I mean it was struggling, I
Speaker 4: mean really struggling.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was bad.
Speaker 3: We had the strike too, I mean that's the thing, like,
Speaker 3: it was all, yeah, we're kind of we're kind of
Speaker 3: in it again. I know, I don't know how people
Speaker 3: make money, like I don't understand it anymore, or I
Speaker 3: don't know how you and how the companies make motes.
Speaker 4: They don't either, which is why a lot of these
Speaker 4: companies aren't. They're losing money hand over fist, and you
Speaker 4: know it's it's the Netflix model isn't working. Eventually everyone
Speaker 4: has a subscription, and where do you go from you
Speaker 4: so you know it's yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, Jason, we cannot thank you enough for coming and
Speaker 1: spending this hour with us reminiscing about your incredible career,
Speaker 1: most notably the phenomenon that is summertime switch yeah, the fans.
Speaker 2: Of the shoe.
Speaker 6: That's right, That's right.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I just thank you so much. It was such
Speaker 1: a pleasure talking to you. You are so inspiring and
Speaker 1: motivational and all those things. So thank you for being
Speaker 1: a person we can all look up to and for
Speaker 1: spending some time with us.
Speaker 2: So great to see you, and thank you.
Speaker 6: No writer, Danielle will thank you guys so much. This
Speaker 6: is This has been a fantastic hour and I've been
Speaker 6: able to spend with you all. You know, I've admired
Speaker 6: you guys so much throughout the years, and to be
Speaker 6: able to share that with you all face to face
Speaker 6: and do via zoom to let you know how much
Speaker 6: I've enjoyed you all's work over the years and and
Speaker 6: just even now this this chapter and this this time
Speaker 6: in our lives as adults who were able to reconnect. Uh,
Speaker 6: this has just been a joy for me.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 6: This has really made my day. And I wish you
Speaker 6: all continued success. This show is hugely popular. I'm going
Speaker 6: to continue to support it. I love it because you
Speaker 6: guys are going on tour as well. Are you guys
Speaker 6: coming to Atlanta?
Speaker 2: Not on this first round?
Speaker 6: Will do me a favorite if you guys are ever
Speaker 6: in Atlanta or Chicago, make sure you call me because
Speaker 6: I would love to come and see you guys lives. Yes,
Speaker 6: because this is great.
Speaker 1: Absolutely do that. Also, I just want to throw it
Speaker 1: out there. What about summertime? Switch to you guys are
Speaker 1: counselors and this time it's sum time here some time.
Speaker 2: I don't have to play basketball.
Speaker 3: You do not.
Speaker 2: You can give me a basketball.
Speaker 1: We will, don't worry. We know you're not into the
Speaker 1: sports ball, I promise.
Speaker 6: But I would definitely be open to working with writer
Speaker 6: a cat that wants to be a ball, I'm down
Speaker 6: for it as long as.
Speaker 2: All right, that's what they wanted to hear. All right,
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jon, Thanks.
Speaker 6: Jason, good afternoon.
Speaker 2: Thank you too. Oh man, what an absolute unsant human being.
Speaker 2: Oh you went a different way.
Speaker 4: Just a confusion O God, yeah, God, what a pro.
Speaker 3: I mean you talk about being a triple threat, like
Speaker 3: you can sing, you can dance, you can act, you
Speaker 3: have insane success in all three areas by the age
Speaker 3: of fourteen. I mean, that's why I felt like, you
Speaker 3: know he was so much older, is because when we
Speaker 3: showed up on that set, like he was there to
Speaker 3: work and knew what that.
Speaker 2: Meant, and he stole it toole.
Speaker 3: He stole the meeting, and like I had no idea
Speaker 3: what I was doing, you know, it was just like, oh,
Speaker 3: plug and Plush show up and I'll figure out what
Speaker 3: acting means. Like he was already and it really you know,
Speaker 3: like having a mom like his, you know, because we're
Speaker 3: all protected by our parents, Like we've all talked about
Speaker 3: it on the show, but when you're protected by your
Speaker 3: parents and they have a little bit of knowledge about
Speaker 3: how the industry actually works, it can go a long way,
Speaker 3: I know for you, Like, my parents had no clue
Speaker 3: what was going on, and we just got lucky that
Speaker 3: my first agent was Judy's Savage again no relation to
Speaker 3: events Savage and she was still to this day like
Speaker 3: one of my parents' closest friends. Like I just got
Speaker 3: so lucky because she was such a pro and protected
Speaker 3: me in a way that you know, my parents couldn't
Speaker 3: because they didn't have the knowledge, they didn't have a
Speaker 3: skill set, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but he's also I mean, in any career, especially
Speaker 4: when you start as a child, anything that you do,
Speaker 4: if you get one project that endures where thirty years later,
Speaker 4: people still remember it you have hit a home run.
Speaker 2: He's got like five, I know, he's got all of them.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's insane.
Speaker 4: You get when when the third thing you talk about
Speaker 4: is the Lion King, right, It's like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: That was third of It's incredible, amazing, amazing. And he's
Speaker 2: still working, he's still just playing great shows, two shows, right,
Speaker 2: He's just he's a lifer.
Speaker 3: You know, it's so great.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you everyone for joining us of this episode
Speaker 1: of Pod Meets World. You can follow us on Instagram
Speaker 1: pod Meets World Show. You can send us your emails
Speaker 1: pod Meets World Show at Gmail, and we have.
Speaker 2: Merch merchandise at the Rich Kids.
Speaker 1: Camp Podmeetsworldshow dot com.
Speaker 2: Well send us out. We love you all. Pod dismissed.
Speaker 4: Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted
Speaker 4: by Danielle Fischel, Wilfredell and Ryder Strong.
Speaker 2: Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman.
Speaker 4: Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor
Speaker 4: Taras Sudbach, producer Jackie Rodriguez, engineer and Boy Meets World
Speaker 4: superfan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton
Speaker 4: of Typhoon and you can follow us on Instagram at
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