WEBVTT - Work in Progress: Susan Kelechi Watson 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:15.560 Hi, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Welcome 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.599 back to Work in Progress, whip smarties. This week we 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:22.360 are joined by an incredible performer and advocate who is 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.640 one of the most wonderful people to run into in 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.480 any room and has some of the most exceptional taste 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.519 in the material she chooses to work on. She has 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.920 been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.600 for the Critics' Choice Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:40.760 Drama Series for the NAACP Awards. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:41.920 Anne has won. 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:47.400 Back to back Outstanding Drama Ensemble Awards at the SAG Awards, 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.520 all for her incredible work as Beth Pearson on NBC's 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:57.920 series This Is Us. She has worked across Broadway, film, television, 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.800 and she is back on screen in Shondaland's brand new 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.920 show The Residence. She's here today to talk about what 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.640 it's like to work in the world of Shonda alongside 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.120 Uzu Aduba, and what it's like to make a show 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:17.039 revolving around a murder mystery in the White House. We 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.920 will touch on some of her lessons about following your passion, 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:25.400 trusting your calling, and finding your voice as an artist, 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.920 and I'm excited to ask her about what she thinks 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.360 present day Susan would have to say to nine year 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:47.600 old Susan. Let's dive in, Susan, I'm so so happy 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:49.960 to have you on the show today. How are you? 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.280 I am good? How are you? I'm great? 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.760 You are one of those people to begin that I 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:00.240 have to say in the last I mean, don't know 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.000 what time really is, you know, post pre lockdown. Everything's 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.440 kind of melting right, but right it feels like five years, 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.520 which means maybe it's been ten. But like since you 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.880 and I have been running into each other at things. 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.840 Anytime I see you in a room, I'm always like, ah. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.840 Ah, so sweet. I love that. Thank you. 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.320 You're a beautiful talent, but you're such a genuine human 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.920 and it was really fun, you know, having grown up 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.200 with some of the folks that you did, this is 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:34.040 us with to feel very familiar with some of you 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:35.960 and then get to meet so many more of you, 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:41.520 Like just seeing y'all in rooms, having that experience, you know, 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:45.239 getting your flowers, like giving everybody a family to come 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:47.640 home to on TV. I just I loved it. So 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.040 I'm yeah, I'm just thrilled to be with you today. 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:52.000 Yeah, me too. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.160 This is so lovely and I love like you said, 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:57.440 you know, you do these shows, and you do all 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.520 these circuits, and you know what it is, right, and 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.440 you meet up people as you go, and you're trying 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:08.600 to like make connections or hope for connections, and you 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:10.720 want to be sort of as genuine as possible and 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.120 meet people who are, you know, sort of like minded 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.640 and things like that. And sometimes the business feels like 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:19.000 the thing that connects us all. But it's really lovely 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.160 when we get like sit and really know each other 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.480 as people and know a little bit more about one another. 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:26.760 So I just I love this. I'm so happy to 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.520 be here and just explore for a bit, you know. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.920 Yeah, me too. And I am so absolutely in love 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.200 with new show and I have a million things I 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.880 want to ask you about it. But before we before 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.360 we jump into present, I like to go back with 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.680 people because I think, you know, as as an interviewer, 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.080 I kind of get to be in the role of 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.560 audience too, right, And like I sit across from people 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.320 who are at these beautiful crossroads, who are doing these big, 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:59.400 amazing projects and who have crazy stories, and I like 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.760 to think about it before you were you know, a 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:04.600 household name or on a billboard? 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:06.360 Who were you? 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:11.600 And I wonder if the adult woman that you are today, 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.200 like you got to go to the park we were 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:18.240 both talking about loving outside of New York earlier and 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.560 run into yourself at nine or ten, Like, if you 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:23.760 got to be face to face with that that little 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.920 version of you, do you think you'd see things about 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.159 who you are today in her? Or do you think 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.200 her mind would just be totally blown at what your 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:34.400 life is as a grown up? 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.560 You know? You know she had big dreams. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:44.000 Yeah, you know what that'sen YEARL I think had big dreams. 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.640 And it's funny you say that because I think I 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:53.760 thought about that the other day. If if if I 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:58.920 would think that this is where I would be, or 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.960 would it look different or how you know, would I 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.960 find this? Would it feel like the success I thought 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.080 that looked like as a young person, you know what 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.080 I mean, like those in that age range, because when 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.560 you I've always wanted to act, so you know, I 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:17.880 think I always thought of. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.040 And back then it was like a big deal. 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.120 If I would have gotten like a commercial or like 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.160 if I was a voice on a cartoon, or like, 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.400 you know, just anything that would kind of put me 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.720 in that space and that realm and all that kind 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.000 of stuff. And so I think about what I've had 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:40.599 the good fortune to do at this time, and I 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.800 think one of the biggest things that changes for me 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:43.800 is probably. 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.360 Just the perspective on it. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.560 You know. I think there's something like, when you're younger, 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:57.560 you don't understand the work that goes into what it 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:00.159 takes to do those things that you dream about. You 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.800 don't understand what that journey is really going to be. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.400 And some part of that is fortunate, because maybe a 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.479 lot of us wouldn't sign up for it if we 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:12.440 knew all of the bumps and bruises and you know, 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:17.640 hills and valleys and all the things. But I guess 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:23.479 my main hope is that, yeah, she would be proud 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.040 of what we've done together, because so much of it, 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.919 for me is based on what young me wanted, you 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:32.480 know what I mean, And so much of what I'm 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.800 fulfilling now is based on what I really wanted back then. 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.159 So there's a lot of connection there. It's not like, 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:40.600 you know, I always thought I was going to be 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:41.080 a doctor, and. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.760 Then suddenly and then you know, I think a lot 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:47.120 of that, but it's connected to who I am as 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:54.080 an artist, but also I think as a person, I 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.960 see similarities and I see differences. I definitely see the 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.680 side of me that was, you know, very very sort 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:06.200 of forward presenting and very passionate and all of those things, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.480 and aside of me that wanted to people please, or 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.920 the side of me that wanted to be to maybe 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:15.200 be liked or accepted, and all of those things. And 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.640 I think a lot of a lot of those things 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.040 have gone away, which is a great thing to happens 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:21.800 as you get older. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:26.840 You're like, I don't care, But. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.600 I also think that the passion and and all of 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.400 and wanting to take space in the world is still 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.640 is still there, and so I feel like we would 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.600 have still have that very much in common. It's funny 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.520 as we're saying this, I'm like seeing myself on like 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.360 a swing set with my younger. It's all getting very 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:49.000 and very like poetic and metaphorical in my mind. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:50.640 As we talk about it. 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.080 But it is a beautiful thing to be able to 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.440 think of and think like I honored a lot of 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.840 the things that I. 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.800 Wanted to be even as I was a child totally well. 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.720 And there's something that there's something I like about pondering 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.760 this with people because you know, I think part of 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:12.760 our job as artists is to be willing to be 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:18.760 vulnerable in the human condition, right to take failures and 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:21.840 fears as well as you know, love stories and all 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.640 the all the good things. But I think when you 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.480 do the work to kind of dig in so often, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.280 you you know, you get into your adulthood and you 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.640 start to figure out the younger selves you carry with you, 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.400 and especially the younger selves you kind of reparent or 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.480 you you give wisdom to about something scary or hard 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.880 that happened to you that you didn't have then. 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:44.760 You know. 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:50.080 And I like also being able to have that visualization, 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.360 that swing set moment for the for the joyful stuff, 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:57.600 for like the really good things, you know, the points 0:08:57.600 --> 0:08:59.760 of pride that you would probably share with your younger 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.400 self and say, this thing you've dreamt of, it's going 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.760 to happen. You know, it's a lot different, but it's 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:09.040 going to happen. Right, That's really special. Did you when 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.360 you talk about how you're honoring that younger version of yourself, 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:17.319 did you always know that you wanted to be this 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:19.800 kind of artist that you wanted to be a performer, 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.200 because I know you went to Howard and got your 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.599 MFA at NYU. You know you were you were pursuing 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.200 the arts even through your student years. But did you 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.319 know as a little kid that you wanted to do this? 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:32.559 Yeah? 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.120 Yeah, wow, I know from the time I was three 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.800 that I wanted to do it. So yeah, yeah, from 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.400 the time I was three. Yeah, Like I can remember 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.120 like being on my bed and had a little talk 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:45.600 with God and was like, what. 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:46.160 Do you want to be? 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.040 And I was like, I want to be an entertainer. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.040 And I remember just banging my legs against the bed. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:52.840 And being like yeah. I was like, well that's what 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:53.200 you'll be. 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.080 And I was like right, And then I remember like 0:09:56.160 --> 0:10:00.479 making these little like what I feel like. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:05.160 Was the first reality television applause. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.600 It certain applause here because I would walk out of 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.240 my brother and I my younger brother and I shared 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:15.480 a bedroom in Brooklyn, right My two older brothers shared 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:20.679 another bedroom. And I remember walking out of that bedroom 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.800 and going into the living room and family was in 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:29.400 the living room, okay, and whatever what they were talking about, 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.720 whatever's happened in that living room. They don't know, but 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:37.360 I'm walking into it as like this version of myself 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:38.360 that's being filmed. 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:39.880 Okay, oh wow, And. 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.559 Whatever's happening in this living room is the scene. And 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.839 I'm walking in and I'd have the scene with them, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.760 whatever it was, and I'd do my little thing and 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.319 make whatever that reality was into something, go back into 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.920 my room and have a confessional and talk to an 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.280 imaginary camera and be like, oh, did you see what 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.840 just happened with my brother? Like what do you think that? 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.200 And I would have a whole dialogue about it. 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:07.040 Oh my god. 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:09.960 And I did this all the time. You know, this 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:11.800 is something I remember, like I did this often. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.280 It's like you were starting in the show. You were 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.400 producing the show, you were your own camera operator, you 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.920 were writing the show, was. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:24.920 Leading people towards certain conversations, and you know, just like ridiculous, right, 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.800 and and I just anything that I could do to 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.120 try to do, you know, something in that way. 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:33.880 I wasn't in art school. I wasn't doing any of 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:34.360 that stuff. 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.680 So anything that kind of that kind of led me 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.400 there was was what I was doing. 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:40.720 So then what was the what was the kind of 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.360 collegiate process for you? Like you know, going after an 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:47.680 MFA and then graduating and starting you know, pounding the 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:51.000 pavement as we do, like going in during pilot season 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.559 all the things. What did that kind of period look 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:55.080 like for you? 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:59.200 It was not as glorious as I thought it would be. 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:00.800 You know. 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.960 I got out of school and I remember thinking, I 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.640 want to go straight into a Spike Lee film, or 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.320 I want to you know, be in the next you know, 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:16.959 whatever was big, and I felt like for me it 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:22.120 started to the reality hit of like being called in 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.040 or not being called into auditions. It's funny. I just 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:29.080 recently did play at the Lincoln Center called Blood Quilt, 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:34.520 and Daniel Sweet is the casting director over there, and 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.199 I asked him if he remembered, and thank god he 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.440 didn't remember. One of my first things I did out 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.400 of school was bussed into an audition that I was 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:47.080 not invited to that Daniel was running. But I thought 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:48.840 I was right for it, so I went and I 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:57.160 was like, obviously this is an oversight. And he took 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.680 me aside and he was like, listen, I you know 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:02.560 I can dig it. You're like passionate about this, He 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.040 was like, but you cannot. I forget what they even 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.679 call it like, you cannot just, I don't know, bust 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:09.439 into an audition. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.200 That's it. You can't crash the audition. 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:15.800 And not that I busted into somebody's room on the audit, 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:17.560 but like I came into the waiting. 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.280 Room like hit the sign in sheet. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.120 Yeah, yeah, like you know, you're like a polite wedding 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:30.719 crashers my turn, but I do get a turn, right, 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:35.360 And so he was like no, Like there's people like 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:37.320 at a certain like he was like. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.600 No, you were not called in. So there's a part 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.520 of me. Sometimes I think about that version of me 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.000 and I'm like, oh, I miss that. Because one thing 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.960 that the business does it really can humble you in 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.640 a way that I found was good for me. 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:53.160 It helped me kind of. 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.120 Hone how to use my passion and how to like 0:13:56.200 --> 0:14:00.760 focus on how to build these relationships so that I 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.920 wasn't just doing like you know, the I wasn't just 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.679 being the crasher, you know what I mean. I was 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:16.480 now sort of understanding more of what the protocols are 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.560 and not necessarily that I'm going to say all right, now, 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.000 let me go just by the rules. But I think 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.760 I had to understand a lot more about the business 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.680 and what we're in and in order to then be 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.720 my authentic self in it. I think a lot of 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:34.440 me just was you know, coming from my background by 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.480 you know, my cultural background, from the things that I 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.000 had learned in school and only thing you just saved 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:42.080 for it. And I had to really learn what that 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:48.280 process was. And it wasn't easy. Yeah, you can pound 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.960 the pavement, you grind, you do all the things, and look, 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:52.640 somebody might look at my journey and be like, well, 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.160 that was easier than mine, and you know, it just 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:56.080 depends on where. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.160 You were you were at in your own journey. 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:04.240 But for me, my expectation for what I was looking 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:08.440 for right out of school was high, and I had 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:13.040 to learn that, oh, my path isn't like an instant one. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:17.040 It's there's definitely more of a journey. I didn't walk 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.200 into a room and people necessarily went, she's a star, 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.440 you know what I mean. I didn't have that experience 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:28.160 of it. You know now now for the you know, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:33.640 in more recent years, the kinds of reactions that I 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.920 wanted when I walked into a into an audition room 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:42.520 are much different than I had in the. 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:43.680 Past, you know what I mean. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.000 Or getting the offer, just having a meeting with the director. 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.720 All these things have changed, you know, so if everything 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.520 is so very different than what it was, but it 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.920 feels much more earned than an instant. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.400 Yes, well you know they they say it takes ten 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.400 years to become an overnight success. 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:05.600 There you go, and you know it's funny. 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.960 I remember going by by that marker and being like, okay, 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:10.000 it's ten years. 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:17.240 Yeah, oh where is Like literally, I was so thoughtful 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:18.000 about this stuff. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.320 And I study the business like I tend to look 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.280 at things, but it becomes like a study of those things, 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.520 you know, Like I'm not just reading about like reading 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:29.600 the trades. I kind of study like, oh, look at 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.360 the patterns and things and how people's careers go and 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.040 you know what led to this and why you know, 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.760 why did they choose that film over this. That's the 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.320 producer mind in me is working at the same time, 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:48.240 and so there is something to even things like ten 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.640 years to make a start that I held onto those things, 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.120 and I would watch people's trajectories career and I would see, 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.000 like who really dropped in at their ten year mark? 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:55.880 Who like did that? 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.800 Who sort of is somebody that I can kind of 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:06.160 track and see how they created a success for themselves, 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.760 just so that I always had some kind of model 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:10.480 to go by, you know. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.119 And now a word from our sponsors who make the 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:27.480 show possible. When you talk about that, when you talk 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:32.720 about the way that you study things like what's some 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:36.000 of the inside baseball that you've seen? What do you 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.680 look for? Because I think so many I know I'm 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.840 having the feeling, but I know people listening are like, 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:41.520 what do you mean? 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:42.359 Say more? 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:48.560 Maybe I could give an example of if there is 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:55.760 an actor who is maybe early on in their career 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:02.280 and and you see, Okay, no, this is something that 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:03.720 I'm looking at. Now, let me give you something that 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.760 I'm looking at now. So people who I look at, 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:15.320 people who sort of created roles for themselves and because 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.920 that's a lane that I am really starting to get 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.520 into now and or re explore now because of something 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.200 I thought about a lot in the past, but really 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:27.480 looking to re explore now. And have created these these 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.320 lanes for themselves. And I watch how they created the 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.000 work for themselves and then they and through that they 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.080 gained their own sort of audience and their own sort 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:37.760 of following. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:39.960 And this isn't like and. 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.720 I'm not speaking like directly to like influencers or things 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.600 like thatm something about people who like created shows for 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.240 themselves or created characters. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.640 For themselves and do that kind of thing. And then 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.080 I watch as like, Okay, so now they have. 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.800 Their following, they have the thing that they created that 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.600 in turn inspired Hollywood to come knocking at their door 0:18:58.640 --> 0:18:59.760 and say, okay, how can. 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:00.520 We part here? 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:03.399 Then you look at did that partnership create success? What 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.800 they able to remain authentic to their brand within that 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.919 partnership that partnership once that thing happened, what did that 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.920 spawn as the next thing? And whether their next project 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.280 was successful or not. Did their fan they stick with them? 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.439 Did the people stick because they they they like whatever 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.080 it is they're bringing, They want to be along for 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.960 that ride. Does that person stay in one box? Do 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:29.960 they start to branch out into other things? And do 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:32.440 they start to work with other directors and other people 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.760 so that they have their brand plus you know, they 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:37.320 can be a part of this movie and a part 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.320 of that franchise. And you know, so I just watch 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:45.679 how people kind of build but also make opportunities for themselves. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.639 So sometimes you'll have people who are like huge successes now, 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.680 but if you trace back, it's because they invested in themselves. 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.960 They said, you know, I want to do this project, 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.440 and if I hadn't done that, nobody would have hired me. Yes, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.119 and you can't even imagine that now, like nobody you 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:04.879 know what I mean, You're huge, You know what I mean. 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:09.639 They started with the investment in themselves and the belief 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.879 and the courage to put to put those types of 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:20.200 projects out into the world. And you know, there's all 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.080 types that the people can reject and people can save 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:24.680 me things about you know, anything can happen. But also 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:29.040 I think they invested in that. No, they'll find their audience, 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.479 they will find the people that are looking for what 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.800 they're looking to give. So that's something that I mean 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.640 by studying, like I'll look at how how those things, 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:40.800 how those journeys are created. 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.679 I love that because what I'm hearing you say is 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:48.640 whatever the specific example is, what you're doing is identifying 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:54.320 the courage it takes to make something, how someone commits 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:59.479 to that vision, and then like what that might spark 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.200 in you when you say someone do something. I think 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.159 the beautiful thing about being excited for other people instead 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.680 of envious is you watch them do something and then 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.840 you go, oh my god, if they did that, what 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.399 if I could do this thing I've been thinking about. 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:18.200 That's right, that's right. 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:23.440 I think it's something so wonderful about exactly what you said. 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:28.920 Envy is such a wasted emotion. I wish people would 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.480 get that like imprinted into their spirit. 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.440 It is a waste of time. 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.200 Yeah, look at that person and get And the flip 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:42.760 side of it is get inspired by it. Hope that 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.800 they do more. Hope it's something that it ignites something 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:49.720 in you that makes you want to be better, do better. 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.119 Lights a fire that says, oh, it's okay for me 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.560 to do that, you know. Hope that you keep having 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:00.440 sparks of beautiful light like that around you, that you're 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.280 always in the realm of creativity. You're always in the 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:07.200 realm of something beautiful happening. 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:09.560 Because when you're in a realm where you can. 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:12.120 Touch it, that means you can be it, you know, 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.119 and sometimes we just need that reinforcement. We already are it, 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:16.800 but you need the reinforcement to know that you. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:17.320 Can be it. 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:22.320 You know you can you are, you know, a human, 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.399 but when you become like a human being, a human 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.520 doing something. It's different when you can like start to 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:30.000 be it because b is more active. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:31.159 It's an action, you know. 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:38.200 And and I my hope is that in anybody watching 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.080 this that if they do feel that envy in anyway, 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:47.439 just to know that, you know, it's wasted time sitting 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:51.480 there because there is something in you that is so 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:55.000 incredibly unique. Everybody has the thing that nobody else has. 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.879 Everybody has it, you know, so just buying yours. I 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:02.120 used to tell people coached for a while and when 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.840 things were kind of still sort of in the with acting, 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:08.440 and you know, when things slow down and things get 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:10.040 a little still, I would like coach. And one of 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.000 the things I used to say to folks is like, 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:14.960 what's your superpower? And I would help them identify it 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:17.680 so that you know, when you walk into the room, 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.960 you have one, and just lean into that thing, you know, 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:25.080 and because that'll give you a certain confidence, you know, 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:29.080 a confidence to kind of and when you can hold 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:33.639 that with you when you walk into spaces, you will 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:36.840 I feel like any of that envy or jealousy and stuff, 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:39.199 you know, it begins to subside because you know you 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:42.920 have something to add, You bring something valuable to the table. 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.800 Just by being you. It's just your own authentic youth. 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:51.000 I love that, And it's kind of a recalibration, right, 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:56.000 instead of seeing yourself in competition as when you're losing 0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:58.800 as more than or less than to say I am 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:03.120 also yes, yes, I mean what a shift? 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:05.959 What a shift? And who's keeping score? Anyway? Like why 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:06.760 are you keeping school? 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:10.720 It's like, really, the thing is, everything happens at different 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:15.760 times for everyone, and I find it's so much more 0:24:15.880 --> 0:24:20.800 valuable to really get still and sort of figure out 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:23.720 where you can invest in yourself rather than invest time 0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:26.760 tracking other people to sort of be chellous about what 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:31.080 they're doing, you know, you know what I'm saying, Like 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:37.679 I've sort of embraced the practice of like we're just 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:41.560 gonna look straight up at my own life, just what 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:44.159 I've got, and just pick out the things to be 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:46.640 grateful for and just what I have. I'm not looking 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:48.879 at no, just what do I have that I can 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:55.240 be incredibly grateful for in this moment? Tomorrow it'll be 0:24:55.320 --> 0:24:57.639 in that moment, the next thing, it'll be in that moment. 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:03.040 But really and really get happy and really like invest 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:06.400 in getting excited about your life. Like practice actually getting excited. 0:25:06.400 --> 0:25:09.359 There's there is something exciting to just like, oh, you know, 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:10.720 I'm gonna meet my friend today. 0:25:10.800 --> 0:25:13.639 I love being with that friend, you know, to have 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:15.560 like this, you know, this coffee. 0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:17.760 I'm gonna make this thing, this pancake that I saw 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.000 that they doing, like like the Graham It's like a 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:23.720 two ingredient pan gonna make it, you know what I mean. 0:25:24.880 --> 0:25:28.240 Like there's an investment in the little things and get 0:25:28.280 --> 0:25:30.439 excited about the little things. And once you start to 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:32.600 see all the little things in your life that you 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:36.920 can be excited about, I think that's such a better 0:25:37.800 --> 0:25:41.000 a better focus than looking at other people. Because we 0:25:41.040 --> 0:25:43.840 can also go about the adage of you never know 0:25:43.880 --> 0:25:46.600 what somebody's going through anyway, you don't know what everybody 0:25:46.760 --> 0:25:49.040 you don't know that you really want that you know, 0:25:50.400 --> 0:25:50.960 you know, and. 0:25:50.960 --> 0:25:54.000 God, yeah, and God forbid you. 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:59.679 You you you know, you don't ever want to also 0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:03.960 put negative energy out toward people. You want people to thrive, 0:26:04.000 --> 0:26:06.800 You want people to you know, to do well. I 0:26:06.880 --> 0:26:09.359 think it's a reflection on all of us. I don't 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.280 see us so much as individuals. We're all a part 0:26:12.280 --> 0:26:15.080 of this big collective, you know, and everybody has their 0:26:15.080 --> 0:26:18.960 part to play and the collective. So if somebody's playing 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:22.320 their instrument really well, this doesn't mean you need their instrument. 0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:25.200 It means you need to start tuning up yours, get 0:26:25.200 --> 0:26:28.440 your rehearsal on, get your stuff together, and get your 0:26:28.440 --> 0:26:30.520 instrument popping, because we need you. 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:31.000 In the band. 0:26:31.320 --> 0:26:31.520 You know. 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:36.160 Yes, somebody is on the other side. I'll never forget 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:38.840 it was told to me this way. Someone is always 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:41.080 waiting on the other side of your obedience. So the 0:26:41.160 --> 0:26:45.200 minute you say yes to the things that you are 0:26:45.240 --> 0:26:47.560 being called to, the things that you feel like in 0:26:47.600 --> 0:26:49.639 your purpose are a part of your journey. The minute 0:26:49.640 --> 0:26:53.320 you say yes and you start really you know, pursuing 0:26:53.359 --> 0:26:56.400 and achieving, there's somebody else waiting on the other side 0:26:56.440 --> 0:26:59.240 to see that, to inspire their part of the journey, 0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:02.880 their leg of it, you know. And so you don't 0:27:02.920 --> 0:27:06.159 even realize, we don't even realize as human beings the 0:27:06.359 --> 0:27:10.840 power there is and really stepping into where you're being 0:27:10.880 --> 0:27:11.399 called to be. 0:27:11.440 --> 0:27:13.840 It's so powerful it resonates for everybody. 0:27:13.960 --> 0:27:15.960 Yeah, well, because it has that ripple effect. 0:27:16.440 --> 0:27:16.840 It does. 0:27:17.840 --> 0:27:29.879 And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. You know, 0:27:30.600 --> 0:27:33.159 it's like the cliche is a cliche, right, it's a 0:27:33.160 --> 0:27:37.080 phrase because it's so universally true that hindsight is twenty twenty. 0:27:37.560 --> 0:27:39.240 Like you look back and you go, oh my god, 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:41.760 it all makes sense, the stress and the hardship, you know, 0:27:41.760 --> 0:27:43.919 the thing that I thought went wrong, but really it 0:27:43.960 --> 0:27:48.040 was going right for me. Like is it a wild 0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:53.000 thing to now through the journey of your career, you know, 0:27:53.080 --> 0:27:55.800 all the work that goes into the overnight success moment? 0:27:57.080 --> 0:28:00.640 Is it wild to look back from this knowing how 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:04.359 this is us began for you, how best began for you? 0:28:05.840 --> 0:28:10.720 Did you know what it meant? Or were you sort 0:28:10.760 --> 0:28:12.880 of on the ride and couldn't believe where it went? 0:28:13.160 --> 0:28:14.439 Like what does it look like? 0:28:14.560 --> 0:28:16.040 Kind of in the rear view now. 0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:21.160 In the moment, I knew what it meant to take 0:28:21.880 --> 0:28:25.520 bringing this character to life in a very three dimensional way. 0:28:26.359 --> 0:28:29.040 I knew the importance of that. That's what I knew 0:28:29.040 --> 0:28:29.520 in the moment. 0:28:30.119 --> 0:28:31.639 I was like, look, you know, we. 0:28:31.560 --> 0:28:39.080 Have this woman on screen that I have an opportunity 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:44.760 to really represent the every woman. You know, in representing 0:28:45.200 --> 0:28:49.800 the every woman, she comes in my package, which is 0:28:49.840 --> 0:28:52.920 a black woman. So I have the opportunity to show 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:58.840 who I know us to be, you know. And I 0:28:58.880 --> 0:29:03.880 took that very seriously, and not seriously in a way 0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:06.920 where I was walking around like I got to be no, no, no. 0:29:07.160 --> 0:29:08.640 I just knew what that was. 0:29:09.160 --> 0:29:13.000 And that went into any scene that I did or 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:16.880 anytime you know, Sterling and I played that there was 0:29:16.920 --> 0:29:23.800 the resonance of we have to be true to who 0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:27.640 we know these people are in the world. We have 0:29:27.720 --> 0:29:31.720 to be really true to that so people understand and 0:29:32.000 --> 0:29:37.239 get a new perspective and a deeper perspective, you know. 0:29:37.400 --> 0:29:39.200 So to some people, I was preaching to the choir, 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:41.400 and to some people it was a very new experience 0:29:41.480 --> 0:29:46.720 for them as an audience member. But that I knew 0:29:46.800 --> 0:29:49.920 in the moment that I wanted to be a woman 0:29:49.960 --> 0:29:51.840 that women identified with. 0:29:52.760 --> 0:29:54.160 And so she's a very. 0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:56.760 She's very much a compilation of so many different women 0:29:56.760 --> 0:30:01.560 in my life that I've experienced. That is in hindsight, 0:30:02.680 --> 0:30:06.239 I she is really I you know, I hear all 0:30:06.280 --> 0:30:10.240 the time the effect of that she had on people. 0:30:10.240 --> 0:30:11.880 I hear about it all the time. I don't know 0:30:11.920 --> 0:30:14.720 if I'll ever truly wrap my brain around that. I don't. 0:30:15.280 --> 0:30:17.640 I don't know, and I don't I'm not. 0:30:17.600 --> 0:30:22.320 Sure that it's necessarily for me too to wrap my 0:30:22.320 --> 0:30:22.840 brain around. 0:30:22.880 --> 0:30:28.840 I think I can only be grateful that that it landed, you. 0:30:28.800 --> 0:30:32.080 Know what I mean with people and and I am 0:30:32.120 --> 0:30:35.239 so grateful that people identified with who she is. 0:30:35.800 --> 0:30:38.960 But I didn't watch her in the same way as 0:30:38.960 --> 0:30:39.320 an actor. 0:30:39.360 --> 0:30:41.760 When I'm watching my work, I'm watching for technical things, 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:42.400 I'm watching her. 0:30:42.800 --> 0:30:44.280 How do I get better? You know what it is? 0:30:44.400 --> 0:30:45.360 You know what I'm saying. 0:30:45.560 --> 0:30:48.080 So you know, you have to allow for it to 0:30:48.200 --> 0:30:52.800 be for your audience, you know, and for them to 0:30:53.600 --> 0:30:57.600 after a while, she's theirs. She's not really mine anymore. 0:30:57.960 --> 0:31:01.960 Well because in a way, you know, I think about 0:31:02.600 --> 0:31:05.960 it's like a seesaw to me in my brain, that's 0:31:06.040 --> 0:31:07.800 what comes. Like I think about this swing seat, but 0:31:07.800 --> 0:31:09.400 then I think about the seesaw. We're just on the 0:31:09.400 --> 0:31:10.200 playground today. 0:31:10.400 --> 0:31:11.040 Yeah sure. 0:31:11.080 --> 0:31:15.320 And like you bring all these women you know and 0:31:15.360 --> 0:31:19.400 their experiences into the room with you, and especially the 0:31:19.480 --> 0:31:22.840 experiences of women you know you haven't seen on camera 0:31:23.320 --> 0:31:26.640 into the room with you. It's the privilege of being 0:31:27.120 --> 0:31:30.400 I think, a woman and an actor, and it's so 0:31:30.640 --> 0:31:36.560 compounded and so much exponentially larger as an audience member 0:31:36.560 --> 0:31:38.320 and a fan to watch you do this as a 0:31:38.360 --> 0:31:40.360 black woman, and as a black woman on a show 0:31:40.440 --> 0:31:42.280 like this, and as a black woman on a show 0:31:42.320 --> 0:31:44.520 like this married to Sterling K. Brown's character on a 0:31:44.560 --> 0:31:46.520 show like this. Inside of the world of the show 0:31:46.600 --> 0:31:51.560 like this, like, I just see the multiplication table, and interestingly, 0:31:52.760 --> 0:31:55.920 it must be the most personal thing for you and 0:31:55.960 --> 0:31:57.920 all these women you know you carry in the room 0:31:57.960 --> 0:32:01.480 with you as Beth, And the minute Beth goes out 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:06.120 in the world, exactly as you're saying, she represents, I 0:32:06.160 --> 0:32:09.400 would imagine that many women and that many stories and 0:32:09.440 --> 0:32:13.239 that many family histories for everyone who watches her and 0:32:13.320 --> 0:32:17.760 sees themselves or someone they love in her. And it's like, 0:32:17.920 --> 0:32:21.840 in that way, it's almost like the multiplication table happens 0:32:22.080 --> 0:32:23.080 out in the world. 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:25.080 Yeah, exactly, that's right. 0:32:25.120 --> 0:32:27.840 And you know it keeps going, but you can't possibly 0:32:27.840 --> 0:32:29.240 know how big it is because you're not on that 0:32:29.360 --> 0:32:33.800 side of the seesaw. But it's like, I remember conversations 0:32:33.840 --> 0:32:36.960 I had with my best friend Nia when the show 0:32:37.040 --> 0:32:39.520 was on and she you know, you guys started airing 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:41.080 and I was working on a show in Chicago, and 0:32:41.120 --> 0:32:43.800 she'd come visit me from Detroit and we were opening 0:32:43.800 --> 0:32:48.600 a business in Detroit. We opened a beautiful intersectional hair 0:32:48.640 --> 0:32:52.200 salon together because we met in our twenties and we'd 0:32:52.200 --> 0:32:54.000 go to award shows and we couldn't get our hair 0:32:54.040 --> 0:32:56.920 done together, and we were like, well, the beauty industry's 0:32:57.000 --> 0:32:59.800 racistem this is bullshit, right, And you know, in our 0:32:59.800 --> 0:33:01.680 two ties we complained about it, and then in our 0:33:01.720 --> 0:33:03.760 thirties we were like, oh, well, maybe we'll come up 0:33:03.760 --> 0:33:07.160 with a way to fix it. And I remember like 0:33:07.840 --> 0:33:11.240 sitting in the apartment one night, like taking her braids 0:33:11.240 --> 0:33:13.400 out on the couch, watching you guys, and she was like, Beth, 0:33:13.440 --> 0:33:15.840 care's a better speak on it. And we were just 0:33:15.960 --> 0:33:20.680 laughing and we were like, it tickled me as a 0:33:20.680 --> 0:33:23.880 woman who loves this like powerful, amazing black woman to 0:33:23.920 --> 0:33:27.200 see her be so tickled by you. And then like 0:33:27.280 --> 0:33:31.440 we're sitting in this moment like taking her braids out 0:33:31.680 --> 0:33:34.000 and then talking about how amazing it is to see 0:33:34.040 --> 0:33:38.440 you on this big network show as this woman with 0:33:38.520 --> 0:33:42.680 her natural hair, Like it it hit us and all 0:33:42.720 --> 0:33:45.360 around us and in our business and in our friendship 0:33:45.480 --> 0:33:48.280 and like we were just two girls in Chicago watching 0:33:48.280 --> 0:33:50.040 your show and you didn't know either one of us. 0:33:50.080 --> 0:33:53.240 Then it's mess something It's so amazing the power of 0:33:53.240 --> 0:33:56.400 what it means to like come into a living room 0:33:57.160 --> 0:33:57.760 for people. 0:33:58.040 --> 0:34:01.720 You know, we know what that is. We we know, 0:34:02.720 --> 0:34:06.280 you know. I can't name how many shows growing. 0:34:06.080 --> 0:34:09.280 Up that you you know, I there are certain series 0:34:09.280 --> 0:34:11.839 like when I rewatched them from growing up, like you know, 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:13.480 I get I get teary eyed. 0:34:13.360 --> 0:34:14.680 At the end because I feel like I grew up 0:34:14.719 --> 0:34:15.719 with these people. 0:34:15.640 --> 0:34:18.640 You know, like they were in my my house, and 0:34:19.800 --> 0:34:21.400 you know, and so to be able to do that, 0:34:21.440 --> 0:34:25.839 if even if it's from anything to seeing a professional woman, 0:34:25.920 --> 0:34:28.120 seeing a woman be you know, more than a mother 0:34:28.200 --> 0:34:30.359 and a wife and try to find her own way 0:34:30.360 --> 0:34:32.080 in the world, or even down to the hair, like 0:34:32.600 --> 0:34:36.520 I remember when I started the show, there wasn't a 0:34:36.560 --> 0:34:38.040 ton of doing natural. 0:34:38.120 --> 0:34:40.640 Hair on TV happening at that time, and. 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:44.360 I remember being a huge topic of conversation. But it 0:34:44.440 --> 0:34:48.440 was one of those things, like I mentioned that I thought. 0:34:48.280 --> 0:34:50.120 Well, in my. 0:34:52.360 --> 0:34:56.279 Desire to keep her as authentic as I can imagine, 0:34:58.239 --> 0:35:00.319 one of the things with black women, you can see 0:35:00.360 --> 0:35:02.640 the hair switch up, like that's just part of the 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:04.879 for doing this authentically. 0:35:04.960 --> 0:35:08.160 This has to be kind of a part of this ride. 0:35:08.200 --> 0:35:14.120 And so it was definitely intentional on my behalf, but 0:35:14.160 --> 0:35:17.200 it wasn't so thoughtful. I just thought like, oh, you 0:35:17.200 --> 0:35:19.400 know what part of the authors see authenticity is going 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:20.960 to be her changing up her hair, Like that just 0:35:21.000 --> 0:35:22.799 has to be there, you know what I mean. So 0:35:22.840 --> 0:35:27.480 it wasn't like this major, but I understood the effect 0:35:27.480 --> 0:35:30.440 that it did have for those watching it because I 0:35:30.480 --> 0:35:32.680 can't imagine either, Like if I was, you know, like 0:35:32.880 --> 0:35:34.799 on the other side of that, I'd been like, wait, 0:35:34.840 --> 0:35:36.040 they don't let us do that. 0:35:36.040 --> 0:35:37.760 You know what I'm saying, Like, yeah. 0:35:37.560 --> 0:35:39.520 But I was so grateful to be in a space 0:35:39.560 --> 0:35:46.440 that that that type of again authentic journey was welcomed. 0:35:46.400 --> 0:35:47.719 And nobody contested it. 0:35:47.800 --> 0:35:51.520 Nobody said, oh, you know she needs to nobody said anything. 0:35:51.560 --> 0:35:54.000 Nobody said anything. So as long as nobody said no, 0:35:54.080 --> 0:35:57.600 I just kept saying okay, and every week okay. 0:35:58.080 --> 0:36:00.640 And then somebody told me that Dan one time was 0:36:00.680 --> 0:36:03.760 in the editing room because you know, she was really 0:36:04.080 --> 0:36:08.919 switching it up. And and I remember one time Dan 0:36:09.000 --> 0:36:10.759 was in the editing room and somebody told me that 0:36:10.840 --> 0:36:12.879 Dan was like, oh, I can't wait to see what 0:36:12.920 --> 0:36:18.080 best Hair is doing this week. Yeah, and yeah, this 0:36:18.160 --> 0:36:20.680 is Dan Fogelman who created the show. For everybody who's listening, 0:36:20.800 --> 0:36:23.920 it's you know who's now working with Thirling on Paradise. 0:36:24.000 --> 0:36:28.400 Just a really powerful showrunner and creative has given us 0:36:28.440 --> 0:36:33.279 so so much amazing work. And Dan was just one 0:36:33.320 --> 0:36:37.240 hundred percent down with it. So that it also helps 0:36:37.360 --> 0:36:40.640 when the environment is inviting you to do the thing 0:36:40.680 --> 0:36:45.000 that you feel best advocates for your for your character. 0:36:45.560 --> 0:36:50.279 Yeah, and it's interesting, right, Like, I know a lot 0:36:50.320 --> 0:36:52.320 of people make a lot of money on the internet, 0:36:52.719 --> 0:36:55.719 making it seem like how we allow people to be 0:36:55.880 --> 0:37:00.560 fully themselves or fully considered is too much effort for 0:37:00.680 --> 0:37:05.719 society instead of awesome, right. And it's like, I like, 0:37:05.920 --> 0:37:07.799 I love the way you're talking about it because on 0:37:07.840 --> 0:37:11.920 the one hand, it's just authentic. It's just who this 0:37:11.960 --> 0:37:13.920 woman is. It's who so many women you know are. 0:37:13.960 --> 0:37:17.239 It's actually not rocket science for the production, it's not 0:37:17.320 --> 0:37:20.239 hard on anybody. But what it is when it's just 0:37:20.360 --> 0:37:23.080 allowed to be part of the daily journey of someone 0:37:23.200 --> 0:37:26.919 and be simply that is so transformative for people who 0:37:26.960 --> 0:37:28.560 see it who've never gotten to see it. 0:37:29.160 --> 0:37:29.319 Right. 0:37:29.560 --> 0:37:32.200 So it's like it's not rocket science, but it is 0:37:33.280 --> 0:37:36.800 major in terms of what it becomes on screen. 0:37:37.360 --> 0:37:38.879 I agree. Sorry, I just. 0:37:38.880 --> 0:37:41.759 Love that you were in an environment where it got 0:37:41.760 --> 0:37:43.800 to be both. It got to be the most casual, 0:37:43.840 --> 0:37:46.600 obvious thing so that it could go out in the 0:37:46.640 --> 0:37:47.880 world and be powerful. 0:37:48.520 --> 0:37:49.000 Yeah. 0:37:49.200 --> 0:37:49.879 Yeah. 0:37:50.040 --> 0:37:53.160 I remember being in front of we were doing a 0:37:53.200 --> 0:37:57.400 panel with the people with journalists from the Golden Globe, 0:37:58.000 --> 0:38:03.280 and I remember asking, has anyone in the room seen 0:38:03.320 --> 0:38:04.040 a couple like. 0:38:04.320 --> 0:38:06.080 Randlen Beth, like a black couple of the way that 0:38:06.120 --> 0:38:06.880 we were being. 0:38:07.320 --> 0:38:11.200 And in that Hope Pannel, which was at least maybe 0:38:11.200 --> 0:38:14.479 about how many people were in that room, maybe twelve 0:38:14.560 --> 0:38:16.439 to fifteen or something, but from all over the world, 0:38:16.840 --> 0:38:20.359 there's just one person raised their hands and I was like, oh, 0:38:21.239 --> 0:38:24.560 you know, so it was something like I said, it's 0:38:24.560 --> 0:38:29.360 something that for some people it's like, yeah, totally we 0:38:29.440 --> 0:38:31.080 get this, and for some people it's like, oh wow, 0:38:31.120 --> 0:38:33.640 this is so there's there. 0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:35.439 That's the power of what. 0:38:35.360 --> 0:38:37.839 We get to do and and the medium we get 0:38:37.840 --> 0:38:40.399 to use to do it, because it can just it's 0:38:40.440 --> 0:38:42.080 in your home, turn on the TV's there. 0:38:42.760 --> 0:38:48.440 Yeah, it's beautiful and you and Sterling did God. I 0:38:48.520 --> 0:38:51.840 just I love watching you both work as actors. You know, 0:38:51.880 --> 0:38:53.800 I think about on that show and I think about 0:38:53.960 --> 0:38:56.319 your new show and his new show that you just mentioned, Like, 0:38:56.680 --> 0:39:01.040 I love watching y'all. But the the o bond and 0:39:01.120 --> 0:39:06.520 affection and safety you two had together as performers, like 0:39:06.640 --> 0:39:13.480 it just radiated from the screen. I imagine it's it's the 0:39:13.520 --> 0:39:15.799 most special thing to get to make something like that. 0:39:15.840 --> 0:39:17.520 I work with your friend, and it's got to be 0:39:17.560 --> 0:39:21.560 hard when it's time to go, right, Like, is it 0:39:21.600 --> 0:39:24.680 bittersweet to watch Paradise now and be like, God, he's 0:39:24.760 --> 0:39:25.399 so good, but. 0:39:25.400 --> 0:39:28.759 I miss him. You know, we got to visit each other. 0:39:28.760 --> 0:39:31.560 It's so funny. I was shooting on one line, he 0:39:31.600 --> 0:39:35.240 was shooting across the street on the other. No, So yeah, 0:39:35.320 --> 0:39:35.680 for sure. 0:39:35.719 --> 0:39:38.319 So I went over there one time, I think when 0:39:38.360 --> 0:39:40.120 I was having lunch or something. 0:39:40.320 --> 0:39:42.560 Are we trying to do or maybe I. 0:39:42.120 --> 0:39:44.680 Had just finished it, whatever it was, I went over 0:39:44.800 --> 0:39:48.000 And the amazing thing is that so many people who 0:39:48.080 --> 0:39:51.160 shot on This is Us they rehired the same crew. 0:39:51.320 --> 0:39:58.360 They rehirea directors. Yeah, they're high, you know, hair and makeup, 0:39:58.640 --> 0:40:02.320 you know, all those people were there. Cool of of course, 0:40:03.280 --> 0:40:08.160 Sterling of course, and and Dan and at the time John, 0:40:10.120 --> 0:40:15.680 John and Glenn were directing Who and they directed John 0:40:15.760 --> 0:40:18.640 Rink gn Glenn Fakarr. They directed our first episode of 0:40:18.680 --> 0:40:20.399 This Is Us. So they were essentially the ones that 0:40:21.360 --> 0:40:23.640 got me hired onto This US because they were they 0:40:23.640 --> 0:40:28.879 were the first directors that I had auditioned for, and 0:40:29.080 --> 0:40:31.400 they brought me back into the you know, the final, 0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:36.080 the test and all of that. But they they are 0:40:36.160 --> 0:40:41.520 fantastic directors and so it was just a whole reunion set. 0:40:41.680 --> 0:40:46.200 It really was just like the best reunion. Yeah, yeah, 0:40:46.200 --> 0:40:46.760 it was great. 0:40:47.239 --> 0:40:55.040 And now for our sponsors, well, and it's not lost 0:40:55.080 --> 0:40:56.799 on me that you went from and I love that 0:40:56.880 --> 0:41:00.120 the family continues, right, like the family moves in to 0:41:00.160 --> 0:41:04.600 this other space. But you went from a big, you know, familial, 0:41:04.920 --> 0:41:10.440 well oiled machine into Shondaland right like Susan, the Residence 0:41:10.520 --> 0:41:11.120 is so good. 0:41:11.160 --> 0:41:12.760 It is so great. 0:41:13.560 --> 0:41:16.920 I loved the script when I read it. I am 0:41:17.160 --> 0:41:19.319 so in love with the show and the cast and 0:41:19.360 --> 0:41:22.319 the pacing and the music and the It's like it 0:41:22.360 --> 0:41:25.480 feels like a play and and and like what I 0:41:25.520 --> 0:41:27.800 wanted Clue to be. But never was no shade to 0:41:27.800 --> 0:41:29.920 anybody who made that movie back in the day, Like, 0:41:30.520 --> 0:41:33.880 oh my god, it's it's Poirot. It's all these amazing, 0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:41.520 juicy stories and you all are so good, Like how 0:41:41.520 --> 0:41:46.160 did this happen? Were you were you freaked out about 0:41:46.400 --> 0:41:49.480 like the size of the Shonda World? Did you know 0:41:49.600 --> 0:41:53.200 anybody before? Like, tell me, tell me how the residence 0:41:53.239 --> 0:41:53.680 came to be? 0:41:54.000 --> 0:41:54.840 You know, I. 0:41:54.719 --> 0:42:01.319 Remember my agent told me about it. He first told 0:42:01.320 --> 0:42:03.440 me about it and sort of like our group meeting 0:42:03.520 --> 0:42:07.279 with everyone that my whole team, you know, and that 0:42:07.400 --> 0:42:09.560 was one of the projects that they had discussed. And 0:42:09.600 --> 0:42:11.319 then I remember him coming back to it and I 0:42:11.400 --> 0:42:14.200 was in London at the time doing a play at 0:42:14.200 --> 0:42:18.399 the Old Vic and they said, yeah, you know, look 0:42:18.440 --> 0:42:22.360 they're looking at you, you know, for this role of Jasmine, 0:42:22.440 --> 0:42:24.880 So give it a read and let us know what 0:42:24.920 --> 0:42:28.759 you think. And I called them back within within ten 0:42:28.800 --> 0:42:29.920 minutes because I looked. 0:42:29.719 --> 0:42:31.239 At it right away, you know what I mean. 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:33.200 And I called hi back within ten minutes like I 0:42:33.200 --> 0:42:36.359 did like page fifteen, and I was like, yeah, sign 0:42:36.440 --> 0:42:36.759 me up. 0:42:37.280 --> 0:42:37.720 Whatever. 0:42:38.160 --> 0:42:40.839 And then I came back to New York a month 0:42:40.920 --> 0:42:43.200 later because I remember I traveled. 0:42:43.239 --> 0:42:45.040 I went to South Africa for the first time. I 0:42:45.040 --> 0:42:46.160 did it like a whole thing. 0:42:46.280 --> 0:42:49.520 And I came back and they were like, yeah, they 0:42:49.560 --> 0:42:52.400 want to set up this meeting with you. And so 0:42:52.480 --> 0:42:56.800 I met with Paul William Davies, who's the amazing writer, 0:42:57.120 --> 0:43:00.600 who just the extraordinary writer. He wrote all eight episodes. 0:43:01.320 --> 0:43:05.200 And I met with Betsy Bears, the fabulous Betsy Beers, 0:43:05.840 --> 0:43:07.719 and well, actually Betsy wasn't in that meeting, so it 0:43:07.760 --> 0:43:11.560 was Paul and Alison who were. 0:43:11.440 --> 0:43:13.160 In that meeting. Wonderful Alison. 0:43:13.200 --> 0:43:16.200 I and and then I had to meet with Betsy 0:43:16.200 --> 0:43:18.800 the next day because she was unable to make that meeting. 0:43:18.880 --> 0:43:23.160 And Betsy, as you know, is Seanda's partner. And and 0:43:23.239 --> 0:43:24.840 I just when I got in the meeting. 0:43:25.160 --> 0:43:31.239 Listen, it's kind of like that that audition crasher I 0:43:31.280 --> 0:43:35.280 told you about the second day. She walked into that meeting, like, look, 0:43:35.680 --> 0:43:38.600 I don't know what's going on, but I read this scrip, honey, 0:43:38.640 --> 0:43:40.279 and this is amazing. You know. 0:43:40.400 --> 0:43:44.640 I just was so lit up by this project, so 0:43:44.920 --> 0:43:45.719 lit up. 0:43:46.280 --> 0:43:50.640 Yes, I was like, whatever you guys need, you know, whatever, 0:43:52.400 --> 0:43:55.160 I just I want you to have because this project 0:43:55.200 --> 0:43:55.960 is incredible. 0:43:56.040 --> 0:43:57.480 I would love to be a part of this thing. 0:43:58.239 --> 0:44:01.319 I it's it's playing for me in my head like 0:44:01.400 --> 0:44:05.480 a movie already. But I think I just was so 0:44:05.640 --> 0:44:10.719 excited to meet who was behind it, and like it 0:44:10.800 --> 0:44:12.840 was just very exciting to me. I don't know, it 0:44:12.880 --> 0:44:16.799 didn't feel like anything like you know, sometimes those things 0:44:16.800 --> 0:44:20.760 can feel tense or you know, like you have nerves 0:44:20.800 --> 0:44:22.880 or something. I didn't feel anything like that. I was 0:44:22.920 --> 0:44:25.759 just so excited by the material. I just thought it 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:28.919 was fun. It just all of it just felt really 0:44:29.560 --> 0:44:32.560 amazing and just sort of like I just had so 0:44:32.640 --> 0:44:33.279 much love for it. 0:44:33.280 --> 0:44:34.640 I think I led with that. 0:44:35.040 --> 0:44:37.960 Than anything else. And we just had the amazing conversation 0:44:38.080 --> 0:44:41.160 about it. And again then next day I met with 0:44:41.440 --> 0:44:44.560 Betsy and we just had an amazing conversation. And the 0:44:44.560 --> 0:44:46.960 great thing about Stondaland is like, Wow, they get some 0:44:47.080 --> 0:44:49.759 amazing people to work for them and with them, I 0:44:49.800 --> 0:44:55.120 should say, they are just an incredible team over there, 0:44:55.360 --> 0:44:57.760 and it's really inspiring the way they put people together 0:44:57.800 --> 0:45:00.759 and how they lift people up, you know, in their 0:45:01.000 --> 0:45:03.919 in their own journeys as writers or as actors, as 0:45:04.280 --> 0:45:06.960 you know, behind the scenes. They make sure you know, 0:45:07.120 --> 0:45:13.040 crews are respected and that things are as diverse as possible, 0:45:13.600 --> 0:45:15.960 and that people get as much opportunity as possible. So 0:45:16.520 --> 0:45:21.000 it has been just such a wonderful, wonderful ride with Chaplin. Yeah, 0:45:21.000 --> 0:45:25.319 to leave, you know, that's the space of this is 0:45:25.400 --> 0:45:27.759 us space, and going to that space was really kind 0:45:27.800 --> 0:45:30.839 of amazing, and it felt very correlated in a way 0:45:30.880 --> 0:45:34.759 because it was very similar in terms of the type of. 0:45:36.719 --> 0:45:38.480 The type of people I was working with. It's just 0:45:38.520 --> 0:45:39.600 really good people. 0:45:40.200 --> 0:45:42.840 Good people, and it's and it is it's a level, 0:45:42.920 --> 0:45:48.680 it's it's it's rare air, you know. And I've thought 0:45:48.680 --> 0:45:50.680 about you guys so much as I've been watching the 0:45:50.719 --> 0:45:56.400 show since the premiere, because while it's in my you know, 0:45:56.480 --> 0:45:59.240 every couple of days I get to another episode moment 0:45:59.320 --> 0:46:04.319 in life. I've been working on Grays this season, and 0:46:04.440 --> 0:46:08.400 let me tell you something like walking onto that set, 0:46:08.520 --> 0:46:12.800 I went, oh, I see, yeah, this this is exactly 0:46:12.840 --> 0:46:14.880 the kind of place I want to come to work. 0:46:15.600 --> 0:46:18.160 The way people respect each other, the way people will 0:46:18.239 --> 0:46:25.080 speak to each other, the both efficiency that exists so 0:46:25.120 --> 0:46:27.359 that you can be patient with the work. 0:46:28.000 --> 0:46:29.880 Like it it's rare. 0:46:30.640 --> 0:46:34.239 Yeah, And oh man, there's there's something very special that 0:46:34.320 --> 0:46:41.200 the Shondaland enterprise does. And I feel like it comes 0:46:41.239 --> 0:46:44.920 through on screen like I'm watching you all, and the 0:46:45.000 --> 0:46:48.400 pacing and the cuts and the there's always something bubbling 0:46:48.480 --> 0:46:51.080 under the surface, and it feels so exciting and it 0:46:51.120 --> 0:46:52.239 feels very sparkly. 0:46:54.080 --> 0:46:55.479 I love that. I love that. 0:46:55.920 --> 0:46:59.040 I think when I think of Shondaland, I think of sparkly, 0:46:59.120 --> 0:47:03.480 don't you. Yes, Like it's it just feels like you are. 0:47:03.520 --> 0:47:07.480 Watching TV through like champagne. Yeah, it's just the best. 0:47:07.719 --> 0:47:08.520 You know what I'm saying. 0:47:08.640 --> 0:47:10.200 There's just glitter on it. 0:47:10.200 --> 0:47:13.239 It's just Yes, there's just something shiny about it, and 0:47:13.360 --> 0:47:15.799 you just want to jump into the screen and be 0:47:15.960 --> 0:47:18.279 with them. And the stories are compelling and they make 0:47:18.360 --> 0:47:21.359 you want to It's the best page turn. It just 0:47:21.440 --> 0:47:23.200 makes you want to turn the page and go to 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:26.719 the next and go to the next, and and so yeah, 0:47:26.960 --> 0:47:33.720 I've binged so many Shonda shows, as as everybody else has, 0:47:33.880 --> 0:47:37.000 you know. So the minute I knew that I was 0:47:37.040 --> 0:47:40.560 going to Shondaland, I yeah, I was on like, yeah, 0:47:41.000 --> 0:47:42.640 the first ticket out of here, and I was like, yes, 0:47:42.719 --> 0:47:43.439 I will be there. 0:47:44.120 --> 0:47:47.640 And how did you guys? How is it as a unit? 0:47:48.400 --> 0:47:52.080 You know? I think about this world you're inhabiting. I 0:47:52.120 --> 0:47:55.360 think about how how Uzo's character comes in as this detective, 0:47:55.680 --> 0:47:58.600 how everybody's got to build out the kind of political 0:47:58.680 --> 0:48:03.400 apparatus of the White House around it, and the show 0:48:03.640 --> 0:48:06.960 is at the same time very serious and very funny. 0:48:08.080 --> 0:48:12.080 It's a murder mystery, but it's funny. How did you 0:48:12.160 --> 0:48:17.839 all figure out how to to pull the strings of 0:48:17.880 --> 0:48:19.600 getting the tone just right? 0:48:21.239 --> 0:48:24.480 Paul was very specific about the tone. He knew what 0:48:24.560 --> 0:48:26.840 he wanted it to be. He was very. 0:48:28.880 --> 0:48:32.560 It was written into it musically, I think, and rhythmically. 0:48:33.040 --> 0:48:37.040 His tone was written into the script. He was very 0:48:37.080 --> 0:48:41.520 hands on about it. So I don't think we were 0:48:41.600 --> 0:48:45.200 ever at a loss necessarily for like where we at 0:48:45.280 --> 0:48:46.399 and what's the tone. 0:48:46.440 --> 0:48:48.200 I think in the very beginning we had. 0:48:48.080 --> 0:48:50.799 To figure it out, you know, those first first week 0:48:50.880 --> 0:48:53.360 or so. But once we were into it and we 0:48:53.400 --> 0:48:56.520 got it, I think it was there. And like I said, 0:48:56.680 --> 0:49:00.759 it was something that I know all was very clear 0:49:00.800 --> 0:49:02.520 about from the beginning. 0:49:04.160 --> 0:49:05.680 But it's it's it's fun. 0:49:05.719 --> 0:49:08.680 And one of the things that caught us the most, 0:49:10.040 --> 0:49:12.280 or caught our attention the most, was that you really 0:49:12.320 --> 0:49:16.719 had to play against a lot of some of the 0:49:16.800 --> 0:49:20.279 jokes in order for it to be funny in a 0:49:20.320 --> 0:49:22.040 way that's funny that doesn't like wear. 0:49:21.880 --> 0:49:23.279 You out, do you know what I mean? 0:49:23.320 --> 0:49:26.600 Like if very dry yeah, if you do it try, 0:49:26.960 --> 0:49:28.719 then you can kind of keep that going for a while. 0:49:28.719 --> 0:49:30.880 But if everybody's like huge, you know what I mean, 0:49:30.880 --> 0:49:33.719 it can get like oh shouts, it's a lot, you know. 0:49:34.440 --> 0:49:37.680 So I think that there was something really smart about 0:49:38.280 --> 0:49:39.759 One of the things they said was just play it 0:49:39.840 --> 0:49:43.400 very straight, play straight, you know, and just let it 0:49:43.440 --> 0:49:45.399 be there. Let the comedy be there. And I love 0:49:45.440 --> 0:49:47.320 comedy like that. I love comedy where you kind of 0:49:47.320 --> 0:49:49.120 don't see, like everybody's just being and it. 0:49:49.320 --> 0:49:55.120 Just me so don't I don't like that embarrassing, like dumb, 0:49:55.160 --> 0:49:59.200 anxious comedy. I like I like this sort of intellectual almost. 0:50:00.120 --> 0:50:00.239 Uh. 0:50:00.960 --> 0:50:02.960 I don't want to say it's a British dryness because 0:50:03.000 --> 0:50:05.520 it's a very American show, but it has been a 0:50:05.520 --> 0:50:05.920 little bit. 0:50:05.960 --> 0:50:09.479 Yeah, isn't that that is a very kind of British thing, though. 0:50:09.400 --> 0:50:14.720 Isn't it. Yeah? It's yeah, it has that. It's it's witty, 0:50:15.280 --> 0:50:15.560 you know. 0:50:16.239 --> 0:50:20.600 And and it's it's. 0:50:20.400 --> 0:50:22.200 Smart and it's dry. 0:50:22.280 --> 0:50:25.279 And then sometimes it's just straight up you know, you 0:50:25.320 --> 0:50:27.640 have characters in there like the Third Man and you're 0:50:27.719 --> 0:50:28.840 just like, oh, that's. 0:50:28.640 --> 0:50:31.480 Just straight up comedy, you know what I'm saying. 0:50:31.760 --> 0:50:35.680 So there's so many different ways I think it can go, 0:50:36.239 --> 0:50:40.279 but I I know that it's very grounded by by 0:50:40.360 --> 0:50:44.600 Uzzo's Cordelia Cup, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. 0:50:44.840 --> 0:50:46.959 You know, it's so much fun to watch her play 0:50:47.000 --> 0:50:48.120 this character. 0:50:51.680 --> 0:50:56.480 Because you know, it's just watching people play. Was one 0:50:56.480 --> 0:50:58.160 of the joys. 0:50:57.600 --> 0:51:02.480 Of being on the show is you could be in 0:51:02.520 --> 0:51:05.200 a scene and there are like, you know, there might 0:51:05.239 --> 0:51:07.319 be like twelve people in the scene with you right now, 0:51:07.960 --> 0:51:10.560 and you might not be speaking, but as I'm watching, 0:51:10.880 --> 0:51:14.480 you know, whoever is speaking, I'm biting. 0:51:14.160 --> 0:51:15.120 The inside of my cheek. 0:51:15.160 --> 0:51:18.799 I'm just trying to like hold it together because I 0:51:18.840 --> 0:51:22.279 want to laugh, you know, like really when I was like, oh, 0:51:22.400 --> 0:51:22.879 that was. 0:51:23.160 --> 0:51:25.920 Funny, you know, and I'm such a. 0:51:25.880 --> 0:51:30.120 Fan of comedy, so to see that firsthand and in person, 0:51:30.200 --> 0:51:36.719 and then and I also feel like Uzo has such 0:51:36.800 --> 0:51:39.480 great instincts, you know, Ramdall has such great in There's 0:51:39.520 --> 0:51:42.960 people can Marino, There's people just with such great instinct 0:51:42.960 --> 0:51:45.759 Molly Griggs, I just go on and on. Their instinct 0:51:45.840 --> 0:51:49.319 is just has a bit of a comedic bend to it. 0:51:49.520 --> 0:51:52.520 So even sort of the most mundane things can be 0:51:52.760 --> 0:51:53.560 just really funny. 0:51:53.880 --> 0:51:58.400 I love that, and the set must be breathtaking, because 0:51:58.440 --> 0:52:01.000 for the whole first episode, I'm sitting there being like, 0:52:01.920 --> 0:52:05.799 I've I've spent some time what an insane sentence, like 0:52:05.840 --> 0:52:08.239 my nine year old self would geek, I've spent some 0:52:08.320 --> 0:52:11.719 time in the house, And like I'm looking at the 0:52:11.760 --> 0:52:14.160 set and then the sort of three D model of 0:52:14.200 --> 0:52:17.879 the back when the back wall comes up, it's so impressive. 0:52:18.239 --> 0:52:21.000 Oh wow, wow, how many. 0:52:21.800 --> 0:52:25.200 Like how many sound stages? Is it just the biggest 0:52:25.239 --> 0:52:26.799 craziest set you've ever worked on? 0:52:27.880 --> 0:52:28.120 Yeah? 0:52:28.239 --> 0:52:28.640 It was. 0:52:29.080 --> 0:52:31.960 I think somebody asked me today like was it How 0:52:32.000 --> 0:52:36.080 did you do the various levels? And you know, some 0:52:36.200 --> 0:52:38.759 things were built on a bit more of like an 0:52:38.760 --> 0:52:42.080 elevation so that you can come downstairs or you can 0:52:42.120 --> 0:52:44.200 go upstairs and you can do those types of things, 0:52:44.440 --> 0:52:51.239 and then some things were just on the just on 0:52:51.280 --> 0:52:54.400 a flat level and created to feel like you were going. 0:52:54.280 --> 0:52:55.120 Up and downstairs. 0:52:56.680 --> 0:53:02.439 But I felt, I knew whenever I was in there, 0:53:02.880 --> 0:53:07.040 it just really put you in the middle of the 0:53:07.080 --> 0:53:09.560 White House, like you just I've never been inside the 0:53:09.560 --> 0:53:14.000 White House, But after so many people who have been 0:53:14.520 --> 0:53:19.240 came back and told us it was eerily the exact 0:53:19.280 --> 0:53:23.600 copy even down to the like the square footage in 0:53:23.640 --> 0:53:27.760 certain areas and things like that. So I I really, 0:53:28.239 --> 0:53:31.160 you know, heads off to our design team because it's 0:53:31.239 --> 0:53:33.360 it's really an incredible feat because. 0:53:33.160 --> 0:53:34.759 People watch it and think you didn't shoot that in 0:53:34.760 --> 0:53:35.319 the White House. 0:53:35.760 --> 0:53:41.960 Yeah, you're like, we literally do that. Well, what can 0:53:42.000 --> 0:53:44.480 we expect from season two? I am just so excited 0:53:44.480 --> 0:53:45.359 for more of this show. 0:53:46.040 --> 0:53:50.200 I you know, I I'm we're waiting to hear and 0:53:50.680 --> 0:53:54.160 I'm yeah, And I'm not sure what Paul is up 0:53:54.200 --> 0:53:58.520 to for season two, but I would be really excited 0:53:58.560 --> 0:53:58.839 to know. 0:53:58.920 --> 0:53:59.879 I knew, I do know. 0:53:59.800 --> 0:54:03.440 That if and when they announced the season two I 0:54:03.480 --> 0:54:07.480 know he would be very ready for when. I'm trusting 0:54:07.520 --> 0:54:12.080 that He's just so brilliant. But I'm thankful that people 0:54:12.120 --> 0:54:14.520 want a season two. It's been you know, it's so 0:54:14.640 --> 0:54:17.160 fun to you know, hear people's response to the show. 0:54:17.239 --> 0:54:21.480 And and and let me tell you something, in a heartbeat, 0:54:21.840 --> 0:54:22.319 they call. 0:54:22.320 --> 0:54:25.600 Me up, I'm there for sure, Yeah for sure. 0:54:26.239 --> 0:54:29.440 Oh. I love that. I know. I know we've hit 0:54:29.440 --> 0:54:33.000 our time. I feel like I could spend all day chatting. 0:54:33.040 --> 0:54:34.640 We're gonna have to do this in New York in 0:54:34.719 --> 0:54:35.319 person soon. 0:54:35.640 --> 0:54:38.000 Oh, amazing. I love it. 0:54:38.040 --> 0:54:41.120 I would just love it. But I will part with 0:54:41.239 --> 0:54:44.960 my favorite and final question to ask people, which is 0:54:45.880 --> 0:54:49.160 just from here, And it can be a personal thing, 0:54:49.200 --> 0:54:52.440 a professional thing, a little mix of both. What feels 0:54:52.480 --> 0:54:54.840 like you're working progress as you look out at the 0:54:54.880 --> 0:54:56.880 rest of your year and what's coming. 0:54:58.000 --> 0:55:01.720 I think, be brave, be bold. 0:55:02.280 --> 0:55:05.040 I think that's the work in progress. 0:55:05.440 --> 0:55:06.440 Be brave, be. 0:55:06.600 --> 0:55:15.880 Bold, because I feel like that calls me into things 0:55:15.920 --> 0:55:21.879 that I may not be as familiar with, things that 0:55:23.000 --> 0:55:28.200 will make you a little fearful because you don't know 0:55:28.239 --> 0:55:32.319 what it is or you're not sort of super comfortable. 0:55:32.800 --> 0:55:36.640 But also just if I'm going to do it, be 0:55:36.719 --> 0:55:38.799 brave about it and also be bold about it, like 0:55:38.920 --> 0:55:45.279 do it in a really step out And I think 0:55:45.320 --> 0:55:51.880 that is call for twenty twenty five and this is 0:55:51.920 --> 0:55:54.200 a really great year for that with everything going on 0:55:54.239 --> 0:55:57.719 in the world, you know, is to face it, sort 0:55:57.760 --> 0:56:02.439 of face it with your fearful or not just face 0:56:02.480 --> 0:56:04.279 it and be bold about facing it. 0:56:05.000 --> 0:56:11.239 I love that. Yeah, So that mm hmmm, That's what 0:56:11.280 --> 0:56:13.360 I'm going to carry beautiful. 0:56:13.960 --> 0:56:17.560 Well, thank you so much. I'm I'm just so happy 0:56:17.600 --> 0:56:21.640 to have spent the morning with you and so thrilled 0:56:21.760 --> 0:56:24.440 that you've brought me my next newest favorite show. So 0:56:24.560 --> 0:56:28.360 thank you for the personal I am the entertainment okay, 0:56:28.480 --> 0:56:29.080 and I want. 0:56:28.920 --> 0:56:31.399 To watch you on Grace. Yeah, yah yay. I love 0:56:31.440 --> 0:56:34.960 that we're we're in it. 0:56:36.160 --> 0:56:37.560 You have a beautiful rest of your day. 0:56:37.560 --> 0:57:00.120 Thank you.