Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Hi, everyone,
Speaker 1: welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about
Speaker 1: the choices we make and where they lead us. You guys,
Speaker 1: my guest today as someone I've called a friend for
Speaker 1: over thirty years? Can you guess who it is? The
Speaker 1: phrase that Kelly Taylor said, I Choose Me was in
Speaker 1: part because of his character. We shared the screen together
Speaker 1: on Beverly Hills nine on two ONA, where he played
Speaker 1: Brandon Walsh and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards,
Speaker 1: which I have no recollection of for his work for
Speaker 1: that role. Oh my gosh. Now you can catch him
Speaker 1: on Wild Cars on the CW Wednesday nights. Please welcome
Speaker 1: Jason Priestley to the podcast. Oh okay, this is good.
Speaker 1: I'm over here doing happy dance that you're on the pod.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm it's nice to finally be here. Jed.
Speaker 1: I know this is so you. Did you know you
Speaker 1: are the number one requested guest to be on this
Speaker 1: pod because we did a little survey and everybody wants you.
Speaker 1: Everybody wants Jason.
Speaker 2: That's hilarious. That's awesome. Well, that's good to know. Good
Speaker 2: to know if somebody still wants to pay attention.
Speaker 1: Oh, somebody definitely does. Wait, do you remember when we
Speaker 1: met yeah on teen Agel on.
Speaker 2: Teen Agel in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wait, we were in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're in Phoenix. We shot that one in Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: We shot the first one in Phoenix. We shot the
Speaker 2: second one in Salt Lake City. You're in the second one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, teen Angel returns.
Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, the original with Adam Bisk and Renee what
Speaker 2: was Renee's last name.
Speaker 1: I don't even remember what my character was or what
Speaker 1: my role was. Nothing. I remember nothing other than seeing
Speaker 1: you for the first time and thinking, oh my god,
Speaker 1: he's so cute.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember it. I remember it was you were
Speaker 2: you were one in Rene. You were Rene's like buddy.
Speaker 2: You were here like kick number two. Yeah. I think
Speaker 2: I think that was the last time you played the
Speaker 2: female number two.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the good old days.
Speaker 2: But you were a kid man, you were like in
Speaker 2: high school, like you were seventeen.
Speaker 1: I think I had my parents on the set with me,
Speaker 1: and you had you had a girlfriend. I think was
Speaker 1: that Robin?
Speaker 2: No, No, no, I don't think I had a girlfriend
Speaker 2: back then.
Speaker 1: Oh I don't know. I was just like, I was
Speaker 1: really stoked that our relationship was an automatic like friendship
Speaker 1: and no drama, Like I don't know. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like a brotherly sisterly thing that we've always had. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I love that about it.
Speaker 2: It's true, you know. You know what it does. It
Speaker 2: just makes it really comfortable whenever we see each other.
Speaker 2: We don't have to. We don't have to, you know,
Speaker 2: go back through the menu, show the last three months
Speaker 2: before we saw each other. We can we left off right.
Speaker 2: It makes it, It makes it much easier.
Speaker 1: Yes, it does. Okay, So I named my podcast I
Speaker 1: Choose Me, which, as fans know, was when Kelly had
Speaker 1: to choose between Brandon and Dylan and instead she choose herself.
Speaker 1: But that's what sort of launched it all. Do you
Speaker 1: remember filming that scene? Did you?
Speaker 2: I do? I do? I really, I totally remember it.
Speaker 2: And I remember you because you and me were on
Speaker 2: the beach just north of the just north of the
Speaker 2: Venice Pier, and Rusty, our steady cam operator, was exhausted
Speaker 2: because we kept walking through the sand and doing a
Speaker 2: big long walk and talk poor poor Rusty man. Uh,
Speaker 2: And I remember it was it was it was kind
Speaker 2: of cool and bluster that day, and it was it
Speaker 2: was it was cloudy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were on the beach, but the scene where
Speaker 1: she says I choose me was outside the.
Speaker 2: Oh that's right, because that's where that's where Brandon proposed
Speaker 2: that's what I'm getting beach. That was the proposition, Yes,
Speaker 2: the first time, that's right.
Speaker 1: Did you understand the importance or that the ultimate meaning
Speaker 1: of I choose me at that time? Because I did not?
Speaker 2: I did, Oh, I did, I totally did. I totally did.
Speaker 2: I remember you and me and Luke all joking around
Speaker 2: about it, right, Yeah, because it because it was because
Speaker 2: because we thought it was we thought it was we
Speaker 2: thought it was clever, and we thought we thought it
Speaker 2: was an original choice. Like I don't remember ever seeing
Speaker 2: uh a character on TV like that when when faced
Speaker 2: with a choice of you can marry this awesome guy
Speaker 2: or this awesome guy and the character goes no, I'm good.
Speaker 1: And so brave, so brave.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And you know, I think you know, certainly in
Speaker 2: those early seasons, as you know, first four or five
Speaker 2: seasons of the show, I think that we really tried
Speaker 2: to do things like that that were that were you
Speaker 2: know they were different and you know, sometimes controversial, you know,
Speaker 2: but but I think it was important to to reach
Speaker 2: our audience, the audience that we were trying to reach.
Speaker 2: I think it was important for them that we addressed
Speaker 2: the that we addressed the issues that they were going
Speaker 2: through at the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I have so many women that come to me
Speaker 1: and say, when I saw that episode and I saw
Speaker 1: Kelly choose herself, it dawned on me that I have
Speaker 1: that choice too. Like people women on that age didn't
Speaker 1: really realize that they could choose themselves and understand like
Speaker 1: what that would mean to them and their self esteem
Speaker 1: and their entire lives probably changed, which is so cool.
Speaker 2: It is. It's it's crazy to think. And I and
Speaker 2: I especially went through this because I was just in
Speaker 2: UH in Europe at a fan event over there and
Speaker 2: UH and so many young people came over to talk
Speaker 2: to me. They were with their moms and they're you know,
Speaker 2: their moms and made them watch the show and they
Speaker 2: were they were all just telling me how much they
Speaker 2: liked it and how how relevant they all thought it.
Speaker 2: It still was.
Speaker 1: You know, that's so cool like that that show still is.
Speaker 1: It's got a whole new generation of watchers. So like,
Speaker 1: did you ever think when we were filming that show
Speaker 1: that we would be here talking like this about what
Speaker 1: we're talking about?
Speaker 2: Uh? No, No, I really didn't. I was no. I
Speaker 2: loved you know, I mean, I love the show, and
Speaker 2: I thought we made I thought we made a lot
Speaker 2: of great television. But but I also, uh you know,
Speaker 2: I also I was also very you know, like you know,
Speaker 2: and how many people remember this, but we really struggled
Speaker 2: to get through our first season, and you know, our
Speaker 2: numbers were barely keeping us on the air. You know,
Speaker 2: we were sort of a top sixty show. Like it
Speaker 2: wasn't It's not like we not like we hit it
Speaker 2: gangbusters out of the gate. So and I and I
Speaker 2: you know, and I I you know, I I give
Speaker 2: props to you know, the people at Fox, and they
Speaker 2: kept us on the air. And you know, like Aaron,
Speaker 2: Aaron must have been in there fighting every day to
Speaker 2: keep the show on the air. And I'm and I'm
Speaker 2: obviously very glad that he did, because I feel like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, once once the show hit its stride and
Speaker 2: once the show kind of found its audience, the first
Speaker 2: Gulf War was was good for us because Fox was
Speaker 2: the only channel that was still showing entertainment, so I
Speaker 2: think we gained a lot of followers that way. But
Speaker 2: we gained you know, the summer episodes in season two
Speaker 2: with a big turning point for all of us. You know.
Speaker 1: I just think all the time how lucky we are
Speaker 1: to have had the careers that we have, and that
Speaker 1: so many people around the world love us and support us.
Speaker 1: Like there's no feeling that kind of describes that. And
Speaker 1: I only share that with my fellow cast mates, you guys,
Speaker 1: and it's such a bond.
Speaker 2: Yeah it is. It's cool, it's unbelievable, and I feel
Speaker 2: like I feel like we were all incredibly blessed by
Speaker 2: by the experience.
Speaker 1: We all brought so much of ourselves to the characters.
Speaker 1: And I say this because I'm a super fan. Now
Speaker 1: I'm watching the show back, as you know, on OMG podcasts,
Speaker 1: and I love the show so much. I never knew
Speaker 1: how much I love the show. I'm so invested in
Speaker 1: the characters and it's blowing my mind that it took
Speaker 1: me this long to catch on. But people, because I
Speaker 1: think we brought so much of ourselves into each of
Speaker 1: our characters. There are times when Kelly blurred into Jenny
Speaker 1: and Brandon blurred into Jason, and I think that was
Speaker 1: pretty much the magic sauce.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we did, We did well. I mean, do
Speaker 2: you remember the meetings that we used to have with
Speaker 2: the writers at the end of every season and they
Speaker 2: would say, so, what are you into? What are you
Speaker 2: doing these days? And you know, like, uh, what do
Speaker 2: you what do you think about? What do you think about?
Speaker 2: The storyline? About this?
Speaker 3: That sent me into it was really it was it
Speaker 3: was something I'd never experienced before, and I think that
Speaker 3: I think that sort of encouraged everyone to bring.
Speaker 2: More of their own personal uh experience and personal likes
Speaker 2: and dislikes to the to the character. And uh, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, look at look at David Silver and his
Speaker 2: music career. You know that was happening alongside Brian Austin
Speaker 2: Green and his music career. It was all very It
Speaker 2: was all it was all very It felt it felt
Speaker 2: very in house all in a way, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Now, watching it back, though, it just doubles down
Speaker 1: the fact for me that you're such a good actor.
Speaker 1: And I want to know, do you know what a
Speaker 1: good actor you are? Like, do you know that without
Speaker 1: a doubt.
Speaker 2: Uh. I'm I feel like I'm pretty competent. Uh. I
Speaker 2: feel I feel like I feel like I've figured out
Speaker 2: a pretty good system, like a pretty good technique for myself.
Speaker 2: You know, there's when when you're a young actor and
Speaker 2: you're you know, and you study with a lot of
Speaker 2: people and you're trying to figure out a technique that
Speaker 2: works for you and uh, and how you're going to
Speaker 2: be able to get to the places that you need
Speaker 2: to get to as as what a whatever character you're portraying.
Speaker 2: I I I sort of you know, my my technique
Speaker 2: is sort of an amalgamation of a lot of the
Speaker 2: different teachers that I worked with over the years and
Speaker 2: things that I picked up, you know, just being on
Speaker 2: set and you know, working with directors and working with
Speaker 2: other actors and you know, seeing seeing what their process is.
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's one of those things that becomes
Speaker 2: certainly as you get older, it becomes very personalized.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like that on the job training though.
Speaker 2: No, it's absolutely the best. And you know, spending my twenties,
Speaker 2: you know, making you have two hundred and eighty hours
Speaker 2: of television like I couldn't have been in a better
Speaker 2: place to learn to get better. So it's funny you
Speaker 2: say that you know you love the show. When I
Speaker 2: watched the really early episodes of the show, all I
Speaker 2: can see is my bad acting. And then and then
Speaker 2: as the seasons go on, it felt like it got
Speaker 2: much better. But I saw I saw a lot of
Speaker 2: a lot of mugging and a lot of life.
Speaker 1: Oh, there's some of that for everybody. But like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, you'res I'm in season seven right now, and
Speaker 1: you're just so good.
Speaker 2: Well, thanks Snne.
Speaker 1: I'm so lucky to have worked opposite you, and I
Speaker 1: really realize that now maybe I took it for granted.
Speaker 1: Wait wait, wait, I have to pause for a second.
Speaker 1: I just thought of something. Okay, while I was researching
Speaker 1: for our little talk today, I had to do a
Speaker 1: double take because you were in a Britney Spears music video. Yes,
Speaker 1: and I never knew about it. You Pharrell, what's his name?
Speaker 1: Austin Powers? Mike Myers Like, when did that happen? And
Speaker 1: why didn't nobody tell me about that?
Speaker 4: Well, that happened because because Mike and I were friends.
Speaker 4: Mike and I used to play hockey together and h
Speaker 4: and after I did snl Uh, Mike, Mike and I
Speaker 4: spend a little bit of time together and.
Speaker 2: Uh and then uh and he would he would always
Speaker 2: invite me to like, you know, table readings and you know,
Speaker 2: charity thing whatever he was doing right and uh. And
Speaker 2: then one day he calls me and this was the
Speaker 2: mose for the second Austin Powers movie. They did that.
Speaker 2: They added that video to the soundtrack, and he wanted
Speaker 2: to do a music video for you. So he called
Speaker 2: me out and he was like, Hey, will you come
Speaker 2: and do this Britney Spears video. It's you and take
Speaker 2: Diggs and me and it'll be super fun. I was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: my no problem.
Speaker 1: Wait, did you know going into it that you were
Speaker 1: supposed to be that you were the one that had
Speaker 1: to dance with her like grind on the dance.
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I had no idea what I
Speaker 2: was getting into.
Speaker 1: As I know, you wouldn't have done that if I
Speaker 1: had told you, because I know how much you love
Speaker 1: to dance.
Speaker 2: God it was but you literally.
Speaker 1: Are just like there and you dance for just a
Speaker 1: second and then you back on out. You guys, if
Speaker 1: you haven't seen this, you need to check it out.
Speaker 1: It's priceless. What's his name of her song?
Speaker 2: Uh? Boys, Boys Boys?
Speaker 1: You remember? Oh my god, it's so good, It's so good.
Speaker 2: Okay, hold on, can I just time out for a second. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you had to do research before talking to me each other,
Speaker 2: for I liked.
Speaker 1: I take my job very seriously.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, no, no, no doubt, no doubt. I
Speaker 2: like it.
Speaker 1: There's many things I did not need to research. Let
Speaker 1: me tell you, that's pretty much the only thing I uncovered. Okay,
Speaker 1: So by season three you were not only acting in
Speaker 1: the show, but you were also directing episodes. You were
Speaker 1: the first one of us to lead that charge. And
Speaker 1: you hadn't directed anything before that, right.
Speaker 2: No, I hadn't. I directed the year before that, but
Speaker 2: that was it. So for me, getting that opportunity from
Speaker 2: Aaron was a really big deal. And that episode, that
Speaker 2: episode turned out great. It was super fun. I think
Speaker 2: you mean you remember the day that the two days
Speaker 2: we spent up at Magic Mountain and were you there
Speaker 2: in Magic Mountain?
Speaker 1: Hey?
Speaker 2: You were there, because me and.
Speaker 1: I remember being there.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, we were at Magic Mountain and these camera
Speaker 2: mounts on the on the roller coasters and stuff. It
Speaker 2: was super fun and I think the storyline was we
Speaker 2: were there for some or you were there for some
Speaker 2: kind of like Senior did stay or something, and some
Speaker 2: dude tried to steal Donna's purse.
Speaker 1: And yes, I don't know. I just remember Shannon and
Speaker 1: I riding over and over and over on the biggest,
Speaker 1: baddest roller coaster. We just kept saying, go again, go again,
Speaker 1: go again. That was the best day ever. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you were You're just a natural born leader. You're a
Speaker 1: natural born director. It's so apparent, you know you. You are
Speaker 1: great at leading a set, You're great at setting a tone.
Speaker 1: I'm not just blown smoke up her. But either by
Speaker 1: the way, Buddy.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that, Jenny, those are things that I
Speaker 2: worked very that I've had to work very hard on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm sure that it's not easy to like
Speaker 1: go from being an actor, especially a heart throb, into
Speaker 1: being taken seriously in the in the directing world. But
Speaker 1: you've done it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, it wasn't It definitely wasn't easy. But I've
Speaker 2: I've certainly been enjoying a certain amount of success behind
Speaker 2: the camera, which which I really which I really enjoy,
Speaker 2: you know, I like I I from the from the
Speaker 2: minute I should shot that first episode. And at the
Speaker 2: end of season three, I was like, oh, yeah, this
Speaker 2: is for me, this is this is what I want
Speaker 2: to be doing. And you know, and and I got
Speaker 2: to direct a lot of episodes of of ninety two
Speaker 2: and them before moving on. Like it was it was
Speaker 2: very uh, it was it was good. It was great.
Speaker 2: It was a great training ground for me too, you know,
Speaker 2: like having Rick Hunter and Steve Randolph and you know,
Speaker 2: all the boys there to really show me the ropes.
Speaker 2: It was. It was, it was you know, it was
Speaker 2: the best thing that could have happened to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I had that same similar experience where they just
Speaker 1: kind of let you take the lead, but we're just
Speaker 1: always there to support you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: Who was your when you directed? Who is your DP?
Speaker 2: Was it Rick or was it Steve? Steve Oko? Yeah,
Speaker 2: well Steve Randolph man, he was a He was a
Speaker 2: beauty that that guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, amazing. I need to ask you one more question
Speaker 1: about nine. Okay, who taught you to kiss like that?
Speaker 1: Because your kisses now okay, I know because you were
Speaker 1: kissing me, but watching him back, Oh my god, you
Speaker 1: are an aggressive, really good kisser.
Speaker 2: Wow. Thanks, Yeah, how many women.
Speaker 1: Do you think you've kissed? God, come on, come on,
Speaker 1: those people. If you were to ask this question, it
Speaker 1: would be like maybe a double digit, but I'm thinking
Speaker 1: triple for you.
Speaker 2: I it's if it's not triple digits, it's got to
Speaker 2: be really close.
Speaker 1: Yeah, is it weird?
Speaker 2: Oh you know what, No, it's got to be. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's well into the triple digits. I mean I kissed
Speaker 2: one hundred girls on nine to two one oh on camera,
Speaker 2: like you know.
Speaker 1: Off, Oh my god, Yeah, you're you're a very distinct kisser.
Speaker 2: No, anywhoin in a good way? Is it distinct? No?
Speaker 1: A good way. We kind of eat my face off.
Speaker 2: I did a few times, but that it's.
Speaker 1: Okay because it looked good. I just remember getting like
Speaker 1: incredible razors scratch, what's that called burns on my face
Speaker 1: from your whiskers. Yeah, there was just yeah, no controlling
Speaker 1: that the good old days. Can you believe we're parents
Speaker 1: of kids that are the age we were then?
Speaker 2: Yes, that is. That is the most shocking thing to me.
Speaker 1: Like, you don't feel any different right talking to me,
Speaker 1: I feel like we're back there the same age. Like
Speaker 1: I don't feel any different, But we have grown almost
Speaker 1: grown up kids.
Speaker 2: Well you do have grown yeah, my kids, My kids
Speaker 2: are almost grown up. But it's but yeah, it's uh,
Speaker 2: it's shocking.
Speaker 1: What if they were doing what we were doing in
Speaker 1: their lives right now?
Speaker 2: I would feel like a failure as a parent.
Speaker 5: Why because I've spent my whole life with my kids
Speaker 5: saying to them, hey, guys, look I know what I
Speaker 5: I know what I do, but it's not real, Like,
Speaker 5: you can't.
Speaker 2: This is not you know, the success that I that
Speaker 2: I've enjoyed in this career is not normal. So like
Speaker 2: to don't think you're just going to follow in dad's
Speaker 2: footsteps and it's going to be you know, smooth sailing
Speaker 2: and you're going to be you know, on your way
Speaker 2: to the Emmy's the next week, right, Like, it's just
Speaker 2: it's just not like that. And so I tried, so
Speaker 2: I tried to be super hyper realistic with them about
Speaker 2: you know, about about choosing your career and choosing a
Speaker 2: job path that's something that has some security and.
Speaker 1: H how's that working out for you?
Speaker 2: Well, it worked, it's worked out well with my daughter.
Speaker 2: With my son, I mean, he doesn't really know what
Speaker 2: he wants to do yet, but but but in the meantime,
Speaker 2: while he's trying to figure it out, he's, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: in the theater.
Speaker 1: A lot, which I can tell you love that.
Speaker 2: You know what, you probably be honest. I love going
Speaker 2: and watching him and I love watching him do his thing,
Speaker 2: and he's yeah, you know, he he loves it. So
Speaker 2: I love it for him. But you know, I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's gonna be. I don't know
Speaker 2: if it's gonna be as his life's work or he's
Speaker 2: gonna find if he gets as.
Speaker 1: Lucky as you. What if he gets as lucky as us?
Speaker 1: You say that doesn't happen anymore, but maybe it will.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and I would be. I would be super
Speaker 2: proud of him and super excited for him if he could,
Speaker 2: if he could enjoy a career like I'd like the
Speaker 2: one that I had, I'd be super stoked. But but
Speaker 2: I you know, but I also I worry because I'm
Speaker 2: a parent.
Speaker 1: That's what we do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. None of what's None of your daughters
Speaker 2: are what are they? What are they into?
Speaker 1: Okay? One is working in New York. She lives there,
Speaker 1: she's on her own. She does event planning, and the
Speaker 1: other one is my daughter Lola in the middle one.
Speaker 1: She is in fashion, she helps me run my brand.
Speaker 1: And then my youngest who's eighteen is I feel like
Speaker 1: it's going to happen for her. I feel like it's
Speaker 1: a natural. She's very natural in front of the camera. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Wow, as she started her career yet as she started
Speaker 2: doing anything.
Speaker 1: Yet she got some headshots done right step one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and she is very exciting news. I'm not allowed to
Speaker 1: talk about it yet, but she's got something else that's
Speaker 1: happening that's going to be amazing. So wow, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's going to happen for it.
Speaker 2: Wow. Good, Well you know what. That's exciting. That's exciting. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's going to be nerve racking for you and
Speaker 2: awesome for her.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a question, kind of a
Speaker 1: serious one. Okay, can we talk about grief a little bit?
Speaker 1: Because we've both been through it mm hmm more than
Speaker 1: once and it's I'm really talking about the passing of
Speaker 1: our friends and co stars, Luke and Shannon. We haven't
Speaker 1: really sat down and talked about like how you dealt
Speaker 1: with it and how I dealt with it. Well, where
Speaker 1: are you in your grief? Process. Are you still I
Speaker 1: feel like I don't feel like I've gone anywhere in
Speaker 1: my grief process. I feel like I've kind of stalled
Speaker 1: it so that I don't have to accept.
Speaker 2: It right Where am I? I'm in the acceptance part
Speaker 2: with both them, you know, like you know, obviously Luke's
Speaker 2: passing was far more shocking than Shan's. And I and
Speaker 2: I and I, uh, you know, at the time, the time,
Speaker 2: the time, when the time, while Shannon was sick, I uh,
Speaker 2: you know, whenever I had the chance to spend time
Speaker 2: with her, I made sure that I that I said
Speaker 2: all the things that I wanted to say to her.
Speaker 2: So so when she did pass away, I feel like
Speaker 2: her and I had had said everything that we needed
Speaker 2: to say to each other, which I think gave me,
Speaker 2: you know, some closure, like right away, you know, which
Speaker 2: which was good because you know, it's tough. It's tough
Speaker 2: being being a cast as young as we all are.
Speaker 2: To have lost two of our castmates already is is shocking,
Speaker 2: well relatively young, uh and and and Luke. Uh, you know,
Speaker 2: Luke's passing was so uh shocking and like just came
Speaker 2: out of the blue, Like it took me a lot
Speaker 2: longer to to reconcile that and and what that meant.
Speaker 2: But I but I also, unfortunately for myself, you know,
Speaker 2: I've I lost a couple of other really close friends
Speaker 2: of mine in the inter in the in the years,
Speaker 2: you know, in my adult years. So I I unfortunately,
Speaker 2: I'm I'm starting to get pretty good at uh and
Speaker 2: saying goodbye to my friends, which is just said, mm hmmm.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the moment you found out about Luke?
Speaker 2: I can't you? It was you. You called me on
Speaker 2: the phone.
Speaker 1: I called you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you called me? What yeah, this is? And I
Speaker 2: was and I was and I was in the kitchen
Speaker 2: in my in my house, and the phone rang. It
Speaker 2: was you, and I said, hey, Jenny, what's going on?
Speaker 2: She goes, do you know what's going on with you
Speaker 2: know what happened with Luke? And I was like no.
Speaker 2: And then you told me what was happening and where
Speaker 2: he was and what the what what was going on?
Speaker 2: And you said, right, I'm gonna I'm gonna call you
Speaker 2: back when I know more. And then you because I
Speaker 2: felt I felt like you were kind of the hub
Speaker 2: of the information because you because you were talking you
Speaker 2: you were talking to Madison told you, Yeah.
Speaker 1: And his manager I and I was at the hospital
Speaker 1: trying to get in to see him, right, but they
Speaker 1: wouldn't let anyone in. And they actually told me he
Speaker 1: wasn't even there, but I knew he was. I can't
Speaker 1: believe I forgot that I called you, Like that's blocked
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, of course you wouldn't remember. I'm sure
Speaker 2: you know. You were in shock like the rest of us. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was hard. That was tough that day, those those
Speaker 2: few days were not fun for anybody. M H.
Speaker 1: And you know, and with Shan too, Like I feel you'll,
Speaker 1: like when one of us, another one of us goes
Speaker 1: passes away, our life ends it. There's this bond that
Speaker 1: until not only until our last breath, but until the
Speaker 1: end of time. I feel like we are intertwined and
Speaker 1: connected on such a level that when something bad happens
Speaker 1: to you, I will come into that conversation, when something
Speaker 1: bad happens to me, Brian will come into that conversation,
Speaker 1: Like we're all so connected in this wild way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's true. You know, I enjoy it because I comfort.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like I do? I do? Yeah, And
Speaker 2: I came from a small family. It was just me
Speaker 2: and my sister and so to you know, to sort
Speaker 2: of feel like I have this extended family. Is it's good.
Speaker 2: It feels good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some It's just there's something so special about
Speaker 1: it and we I don't think any of us take
Speaker 1: it for granted now. I think maybe before we lost
Speaker 1: luke h, I think maybe it was a little easier
Speaker 1: for us to like not think about that as much.
Speaker 1: But now it's just so in the front of my
Speaker 1: mind all the time. How fucking grateful I am to
Speaker 1: have all of you and have this shared experience that
Speaker 1: we can never forget and people will never forget.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's documented right like it It's not like
Speaker 2: we had an experience that that only we got to experience,
Speaker 2: right we We had an experience that that there was
Speaker 2: there was a global experience, and that's that's something that
Speaker 2: that that's incredibly special that not many people get to
Speaker 2: get to live in that rarefied air. And I feel
Speaker 2: I feel we were all super fortunate to be there,
Speaker 2: you know, right place, right time, right and we were done.
Speaker 1: You've done so many projects, We've all done so many
Speaker 1: other things. But I don't feel like that bond can
Speaker 1: ever be recreated. There are different kinds of bonds that
Speaker 1: happen on sets. But I got really good over the
Speaker 1: years at meeting a new cast or for whatever period
Speaker 1: of time, three weeks, four years, and knowing that at
Speaker 1: some point that's going to end, and we're going to
Speaker 1: part ways and we're probably not going to talk to
Speaker 1: each other anymore, like as much as we see each
Speaker 1: other now, you know, Yeah, I don't feel like the
Speaker 1: bonds are the same. That's what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I totally agree with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And part of that, you know, probably had to do
Speaker 2: with the ages that we all were and you know,
Speaker 2: and and the amount of time that we worked. You know,
Speaker 2: we were working ten months a year together, right, Like,
Speaker 2: we spent a lot of time together, and it was
Speaker 2: and those are and those are really formative years for
Speaker 2: all of us, right, whether whether you know whether our
Speaker 2: cast made was nineteen or twenty five, you know, we
Speaker 2: were all in it together, and like you know, we
Speaker 2: used to do. And by the way, nobody does fun
Speaker 2: ship after work anymore. Yeah, because you know, I got
Speaker 2: you know, I work on the series all the time,
Speaker 2: and you know, everyone just goes home. I got study
Speaker 2: my lines I got, you know, we would be.
Speaker 1: Like, let's party, let's take out.
Speaker 2: We're going out, man, We're going to We're going to
Speaker 2: marriage text Max and we're going to sing karaoke till
Speaker 2: two in the morning, you know, and then we're gonna
Speaker 2: get up and go back to work. Like what would
Speaker 2: we like?
Speaker 1: We were young, man, we were young. Now I just
Speaker 1: want to go home and get to bed so I
Speaker 1: can get my eight hours before I have to get
Speaker 1: up again. Oh my god, I having such a vivid
Speaker 1: flashback right now. I don't think we've ever talked about this.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the time when I think I was
Speaker 1: had a couple of drinks. I don't know where we were.
Speaker 1: You're like, uh, whitch time? But no, the time and
Speaker 1: I professed my never ending love for Luke to you,
Speaker 1: oh and I was like, but Jesson, I'm in love
Speaker 1: with him, Like we know me, I, Jenny am in
Speaker 1: love with him. I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2: Do you remember I do remember this.
Speaker 1: I think we were in a hotel, well, I.
Speaker 2: Think we were. I think we're in a hotel Universal.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's it right. It was when we were
Speaker 2: doing that that episode of what was the High School
Speaker 2: graduation and the college graduates, whatever we were doing up there.
Speaker 2: I remember, what did you do with that? What did
Speaker 2: I just? I just put that away. I just put that.
Speaker 2: I put that in the vault for you January.
Speaker 1: Like, oh, good girl, okay you and the rest of
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 2: I just I looked over your shoulder and I said
Speaker 2: to the bartender cut her off.
Speaker 1: But oh my god, I was just remembering that it
Speaker 1: was so good. It was so good. Okay. So you know,
Speaker 1: on this probably talk about choices and yes, where they
Speaker 1: lead us. So I want to talk about when did
Speaker 1: you realize that you needed to choose to leave the show?
Speaker 2: H it was it was It was halfway through the
Speaker 2: eighth season when we went away for Christmas break and
Speaker 2: I I went, I went away. Where did I go?
Speaker 2: I went to Eastern Europe. I went to Hungary or
Speaker 2: some Budha past or something. Anyway, it was just I
Speaker 2: had this overwhelming feeling like I just I couldn't see
Speaker 2: the light at the end of the tunnel, and I
Speaker 2: and not that not that to hear our show was
Speaker 2: was was bad or no, it was ending that I
Speaker 2: that I that I was lamenting already at that point
Speaker 2: in time. But but but I just I couldn't see
Speaker 2: an ending. I think I was I was like, when
Speaker 2: is this show gonna? Am I ever going to get
Speaker 2: off of this show? And what's gonna happen? When I
Speaker 2: started having all those thoughts, what's gonna happen when I
Speaker 2: do get off the shows? Anyone never gonna want to
Speaker 2: hire me again? Like all that stuff, And then I
Speaker 2: and then I and then I called Aaron when we
Speaker 2: when we got back to work in January, and I said, so, like,
Speaker 2: what's the plan? Aaron? Like what are we gonna do? Like?
Speaker 2: Are we gonna how much longer? Because because they were
Speaker 2: trying to make a deal with me from for the
Speaker 2: next season, I say, like, what's the deal And we're
Speaker 2: just gonna do like We're just gonna do one more
Speaker 2: season and be done. It was. And he just kept saying, no,
Speaker 2: I'm I'll be dead before they take the show off
Speaker 2: the air, you know, and he was all and more
Speaker 2: power to him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's not what you wanted to hear.
Speaker 2: That's not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to
Speaker 2: I wanted to just I want, you know, And I
Speaker 2: kept saying to them, Aaron, let's like let's end the
Speaker 2: show while it's still well, our numbers are still big,
Speaker 2: and let's go out on top. Let's not let's not
Speaker 2: do that like slow descent into into anonymity, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. Let's let's leave, let's go out on
Speaker 2: a high note. Let's and let's get it done. And
Speaker 2: he didn't want to do that, and so I and so.
Speaker 6: I, so I said, well, I feel like I I
Speaker 6: gotta go or anything like, like there's other stuff I
Speaker 6: want to do, and I feel like I just want
Speaker 6: to I feel like maybe I need to leave the show.
Speaker 2: And he got all offended. He was not happy.
Speaker 1: That must have been such a hard conversation.
Speaker 2: And then they did. It was it was. It was horrible.
Speaker 2: It was horrible. It was horrible. And I and you know,
Speaker 2: you know, had I known then what I know now
Speaker 2: that the show was only going to last another year
Speaker 2: and a half, I would have stayed on the shelf.
Speaker 1: I can't believe you didn't leave until season eight.
Speaker 2: You said season nine. I think I did it.
Speaker 1: No, I thought it was earlier than that, because Shammon
Speaker 1: was only there for four seasons.
Speaker 2: Yes, Luke was there for five five, Yeah, he did
Speaker 2: the first six or eight or ten episodes of season six,
Speaker 2: and then that's when that's when we did the big
Speaker 2: you know, Rebecca gay heart story with them when they
Speaker 2: when they were going to get married and then her
Speaker 2: dad tried to kill kill kill her instead. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you watched that. You watched that? Does it hold up?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's so upsetting. And then the next episode
Speaker 1: nobody mentions her he's mourning, but the whole rest of
Speaker 1: the cast is like, let's go to the party at
Speaker 1: the frat house. Like it blows my mind.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: So did they try to keep like did he try
Speaker 1: to keep you? Did he try to like incentivize it
Speaker 1: more because you're already executive producing the show? Yeah, what
Speaker 1: mark could he have offered you?
Speaker 2: Like, you know, yeah, yeah, there wasn't There wasn't really anything.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, like I said in retrospect, you
Speaker 2: know I would have I would have stayed on this show.
Speaker 2: But you know, it worked out the way it worked out.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, it worked out the way it worked out.
Speaker 1: You did end up coming back? Please tell me I'm
Speaker 1: right about that.
Speaker 2: I did. Yes, the very last episode. I was so
Speaker 2: I was doing a play in London in the West end.
Speaker 2: When you guys were filming that last I was doing
Speaker 2: a play called side Man. Okay at the Apollo Theater
Speaker 2: with Edie Falco and myself. I remember that. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: was fun. But but but but I shot I filmed
Speaker 2: something because I guess I guess at the wedding episode
Speaker 2: that you know, they had a little thing, you know,
Speaker 2: brand brand instead of send a video file, which is
Speaker 2: you know, Aaron must have been panicked about that. You know,
Speaker 2: he hated technology in the show. That's why you know
Speaker 2: it took his years to have laptops and our flip phones.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, so you only came back on a video Yeah,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, this is not how I remember it. No, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm not to the end of the show yet. I'm
Speaker 1: only in season seven, like I said, but I can't
Speaker 1: wait to see what happens. And I'm very disappointed that
Speaker 1: you actually don't come back. I thought we got married.
Speaker 1: That didn't happen, did we? We almost got married already
Speaker 1: before season No?
Speaker 2: Right, No, we didn't get married.
Speaker 1: No, when did that happen? When did we not get married?
Speaker 1: When we were getting.
Speaker 2: Married, Brandon asked Kelly to marry him twice. Wasn't it twice.
Speaker 2: I feel like it was twice.
Speaker 1: Sure, No, you'd think I remember that, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think I think it was twice, and I think so,
Speaker 2: and it never happened.
Speaker 1: We got onto the altar though.
Speaker 2: Who was wedding? Yeah, because we were we were we
Speaker 2: were out on that bluff out amount about wasn't that
Speaker 2: Brandon and Kelly? No, that was Dylan, And that was
Speaker 2: Dylan and Rebecca.
Speaker 1: Rebecca, that was a beautiful wedding. But ours was in
Speaker 1: the backyard of your house. That's right, we didn't we
Speaker 1: stopped mid wedding or something.
Speaker 2: That's right. I feel like you're right. What season was added?
Speaker 2: Have you watched that one already?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I hope not, because that's a
Speaker 1: real sad testament my brain right now. Do you have
Speaker 1: a good memory.
Speaker 2: I have a. I have a I feel like I
Speaker 2: have a pretty good memory. There are there are. I
Speaker 2: do have some gaps in the show, though, like because
Speaker 2: and it's hard for people to understand, but you know,
Speaker 2: when you're when you're when you're producing that much material,
Speaker 2: every day in the workplace is so frantic and frenetic, right,
Speaker 2: because you know, we got to get through these nine
Speaker 2: pages and we got to do it in eleven hours.
Speaker 1: You have to be here at six a m.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's you know, at a certain point in time,
Speaker 2: the days all it just becomes like one long day. Right.
Speaker 2: The whole season just felt like it was one day.
Speaker 2: Yeah really did Yeah? And and so there you know
Speaker 2: there are gonna be gaps and that's that. Some people
Speaker 2: bring up episodes. I'm like, we did that, really, but
Speaker 2: it's sort of like the like, the event episodes are
Speaker 2: the ones that sort of stand out to me. Right,
Speaker 2: you know, Burt Reynolds came to our set and was
Speaker 2: was a guest star on the show, or you know,
Speaker 2: the camping episode, and you know stuff like that. Right,
Speaker 2: those sort of event ones stand out more in my
Speaker 2: mind than just have you ever watched the show Hanging
Speaker 2: Out in the wallsh house? I watched the I watched
Speaker 2: the first season and a half with my daughter because
Speaker 2: she she was she was after a while, she was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I don't need to see anymore of that.
Speaker 1: She didn't get hooked.
Speaker 2: It sucks now. She was like, this was during COVID,
Speaker 2: so she was twelve thirteen. Maybe, I mean that's kind
Speaker 2: of been a sweet spot.
Speaker 1: Did you want were you like into it? Did you
Speaker 1: want to keep watching? Or were you like, yeah, let's
Speaker 1: turn it off.
Speaker 2: No, I was okay to turn it off.
Speaker 1: Oh No, I can't take my eyes off of it.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for every week watching another episode. Not
Speaker 1: only does it just like remind me of who I
Speaker 1: am and who I was then and how far I've come.
Speaker 1: Like we've changed, we've changed. It's weird, we've not changed
Speaker 1: at all, but we've changed so.
Speaker 2: Much of course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but when we talk to each other and we
Speaker 1: are together, all of us, it's as if nothing has changed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we fall back into all the same old patterns,
Speaker 2: and I love it. Yeah, I do too. I did too.
Speaker 2: I always look forward to when we're all going to
Speaker 2: be together because I enjoy that when everybody just reverts
Speaker 2: back to the way they were in their early twenties,
Speaker 2: it's awesome.
Speaker 1: If you could go back in your life and do
Speaker 1: it all over again, would you and.
Speaker 2: Do it again? Do it all again knowing what I
Speaker 2: know now?
Speaker 1: Yes, you would?
Speaker 2: If I could know what I know now? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: What is it that you know now that changes that
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 2: Oh? I feel like I didn't know anything about how
Speaker 2: the world worked or what was really like I like,
Speaker 2: I understood what was happening, but we were in such
Speaker 2: a bible. Yeah, and I understand it so much better now,
Speaker 2: like you know, like the TV series that I that
Speaker 2: I that I do now, it's just a different experience
Speaker 2: just because I have so much more experience. And I
Speaker 2: never I you know, I never you know, on that show,
Speaker 2: I felt like a hamster on a wheel and I
Speaker 2: had to just keep running as fast as I could
Speaker 2: or I was gonna, you know, the wheel was going
Speaker 2: to overtake me and spit me out right like uh
Speaker 2: and I and I don't find myself of a feeling
Speaker 2: like that nowadays. And so if I if I could
Speaker 2: go back, if I could go back to our show
Speaker 2: and do it again, knowing what I know now, I
Speaker 2: would absolutely do that.
Speaker 1: Do you think you would have more appreciation for all
Speaker 1: the little things?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I would appreciate it more. I think
Speaker 2: would have I have more fun.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that. You had a pretty good time,
Speaker 1: as I recall.
Speaker 2: Yeah I did, okay, Yeah, yeah, well we all did. Okay,
Speaker 2: Yeah we had we had. We had good times on
Speaker 2: that show. That's dimming. Like we know, we all talk
Speaker 2: about how hard. We worked, and we worked and we
Speaker 2: did we worked incredibly hard, but we had we had
Speaker 2: tons of good times. And also I think that's what's
Speaker 2: bonded us all together, you know, like I said, you know,
Speaker 2: you know we would we would all go out as
Speaker 2: a as a group, and you know, especially when we're
Speaker 2: shooting those like season finale episodes where we were always
Speaker 2: in a hotel and we would all just stay in
Speaker 2: the hotel, and it's.
Speaker 1: Like our it's like we weren't we were our characters
Speaker 1: when the camera was rolling, but the second the camera
Speaker 1: wasn't rolling, we still treated one another as if we
Speaker 1: were our characters somehow. Like it was so intertwined and
Speaker 1: woven together and confusing, so confusing, I feel, do you
Speaker 1: ever feel like you are ten years behind developmentally? Maybe
Speaker 1: you eight and a half years behind developmentally, like in
Speaker 1: your emotional intelligence, perhaps like it you had. Because we
Speaker 1: didn't go to college, we didn't experience those extremely formative
Speaker 1: times of you know, learning what independence was. We were
Speaker 1: all just slammed into being adults, having adult bills and
Speaker 1: responsibilities and full time jobs at such a young age.
Speaker 1: And like I said, well, we were in a bubble.
Speaker 1: Do you ever feel like because I feel this way,
Speaker 1: like I didn't develop fully and I had to play
Speaker 1: catch up like in my thirties and even my forties
Speaker 1: of just developing emotionally.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you feel that way? I did. Yeah. When
Speaker 2: I first left the show, I found myself playing catch up,
Speaker 2: also catch up, like socially and because we were always
Speaker 2: at work, and it was like, I, you know, I
Speaker 2: had some growing up to do as well, Like don't
Speaker 2: I feel like? I feel like that's pretty normal. And
Speaker 2: I think if you didn't feel like you had to
Speaker 2: do any growing up, that would be a problem. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I didn't dawn on me for a good ten years
Speaker 1: though that I'm like, I'm living as if I'm that
Speaker 1: age still, and I'm communicating as if I'm that age,
Speaker 1: and that doesn't work for a person my age. I
Speaker 1: should I should be able to handle my emotions in a
Speaker 1: different way or communicate in a different way, a more
Speaker 1: mature way. But I just I had relied on that
Speaker 1: so much for so long.
Speaker 2: Of course. Yeah, well, well it's good that you recognized it,
Speaker 2: but that's totally normal, and I went through the same thing.
Speaker 1: That's interesting. I was the only one. No, Well, okay,
Speaker 1: do you remember that. I love this. I keep remembering things.
Speaker 1: Do I remember this correctly? You had a really bad
Speaker 1: racing accident, yes, and you died or almost died.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I die. My heart stopped a couple of times.
Speaker 1: Where was this? And when was this?
Speaker 2: In Sparta, Kentucky, August eleven, two thousand and two, and I,
Speaker 2: you know, what a big race against it? You know,
Speaker 2: I was racing Indy lights and so I was raising
Speaker 2: you know, two hundred mile an hour open wheel oval cars,
Speaker 2: and and it was doing that. It was my turn
Speaker 2: to have a big crash, and and I had one.
Speaker 2: And uh, and they put me in the helicopter that
Speaker 2: was at the track just in case. And I was,
Speaker 2: I was bleeding out so fast that inies. Oh I
Speaker 2: I I broke my broke my nose when I pulled
Speaker 2: my nose off my face. Actually it was really disgusting.
Speaker 2: I broke my orbital bone, my cheekbone, my ocul mantle. Uh,
Speaker 2: three skull fractures. I broke my back, my ninth thoracic
Speaker 2: bird of bray. I shattered both my feet. Yeah, that
Speaker 2: was it, so not too bad. And and then I
Speaker 2: was I was bleeding so quickly because both of my
Speaker 2: karateid arteries. You can see those scars I have right there.
Speaker 2: Those are from my seat belts. So you know, my
Speaker 2: seat belts were outside my racing suit. I hit the
Speaker 2: wall with such impact that my seatbelts cut into my
Speaker 2: corotid arteries. So I was bleed. I was spraying blood
Speaker 2: seven feet in the air.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Okay, oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was. It was, it was. It was everything.
Speaker 2: It was all of the things. And then so they
Speaker 2: put me in the helicopter to fly me to University
Speaker 2: of Kentucky to stabilize me and the helicopter. I went
Speaker 2: back to the track and I met the pilots who
Speaker 2: flew me in, and I said, so, how bad was
Speaker 2: that guys when they put me in the back of
Speaker 2: the helicopter. How bad was I? They were like, oh, dude,
Speaker 2: you were dead. You were you were you were you
Speaker 2: Your heart was barely beating. You were bleeding to death
Speaker 2: right in front of us. But we were like, yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll make the trip. Maybe you'll make it. And and
Speaker 2: and then my heart stopped in the helicopter on the
Speaker 2: way there, and.
Speaker 1: The dogs see anything.
Speaker 2: I did not see anything. You didn't see the light, No,
Speaker 2: that that may just be for the special people. Oh,
Speaker 2: you're not the special people. I need the good people.
Speaker 2: You're good.
Speaker 1: I think it was there, you just didn't notice it.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, the blood was in the way or something.
Speaker 2: I was I was too busy dying to notice the
Speaker 2: light that was shining in my eyes.
Speaker 1: The story just takes me back to that moment of trauma.
Speaker 2: Oh how did you hear about that? Did you see
Speaker 2: it on TV like on the crawl in the bottom
Speaker 2: of TV? Or did somebody call you? Did Luke call you?
Speaker 1: Maybe I don't remember, Jason, because.
Speaker 2: Luke Luke was the first guy to be to be
Speaker 2: at the hospital when when when I woke up, he
Speaker 2: was he was there, which was amazing.
Speaker 1: He was that way though.
Speaker 2: Yeah he was, Yeah, he really was. He was. He
Speaker 2: was special.
Speaker 1: I was in the hospital once with a really bad
Speaker 1: kidney infection and anemia and he came to visit me.
Speaker 1: He was the one like at my bedside.
Speaker 2: Oh it really that? And And did you did you?
Speaker 2: Did you tell him what you loved him at that
Speaker 2: point in time? No?
Speaker 1: I never told him. Okay, I mean with words. I
Speaker 1: think he knew.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1: Okay, this is a deep question.
Speaker 2: You guys had the funniest relationship. I mean, well, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, one one minute, you know, one minute you're
Speaker 2: expressing your love. For the next minute you're sprayed Banaka
Speaker 2: and his eye, Like, I don't was you guys, you
Speaker 2: guys were you guys had this this, You guys had
Speaker 2: this and it was it was fun. It was fun
Speaker 2: a lot you guys had this like fun for you
Speaker 2: post pole, post poll, it was, it was, it was
Speaker 2: fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Glad you enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: It was the show. Been the show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, good times.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't trade it for the world though, especially the
Speaker 1: moment when I sprayed but knock in his eye. Okay,
Speaker 1: I want to ask, Oh.
Speaker 2: My god, do you remember when I was shooting I
Speaker 2: got I'm gonna backtrack it for one, so remember the
Speaker 2: sixties episode, the flashback episode that I shot. It wasn't
Speaker 2: and uh and Luke's character had this like folks bus
Speaker 2: and he had a wig that's right. Do you remember
Speaker 2: shooting that?
Speaker 1: Nope? What happened? Did something fun happen?
Speaker 2: Oh my god? What happened? Uh?
Speaker 1: Dylan and Kelly were like in a van.
Speaker 2: Yes, they were in a van. And you guys were
Speaker 2: and you got oh yeah, yeah, you guys were in
Speaker 2: the van and you guys were making out like like
Speaker 2: like we literally me and Diana vall time or behind
Speaker 2: the monitor, like if someone get a bucket of water
Speaker 2: and we got it.
Speaker 1: I feel like.
Speaker 2: Maybe and me I was like, no, keep it rolling,
Speaker 2: just keep keep going, guys, go burter.
Speaker 1: You's sick of hilarious. Oh good stuff. Okay, I'm We're
Speaker 1: going to wrap this up in a minute, but I
Speaker 1: want to ask you a couple of questions. What do
Speaker 1: you know in this life without a doubt? What is
Speaker 1: it that you.
Speaker 2: Know without a doubt? Wow? I know I at this
Speaker 2: point in time in my life. The one thing that
Speaker 2: I that I well, I mean besides the fact that
Speaker 2: I love my kids and my kids love me and
Speaker 2: stuff like that, but I know that that I know
Speaker 2: how to make stuff like and not just stuff like
Speaker 2: chairs or chests or drawers, but I know how to
Speaker 2: make content and and I so I have I have
Speaker 2: supreme confidence in my abilities to uh to create content.
Speaker 2: And that's and that's been you know, that's been a
Speaker 2: new thing, Like that's really only come to me in
Speaker 2: probably the last five or six years.
Speaker 1: Is that inner confidence like that has just you can't
Speaker 1: keep it down anymore. You believe it now?
Speaker 2: No, yeah, totally, one hundred percent. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: because you know, you know, even even sort of in
Speaker 2: the you know, the middle part of my career as
Speaker 2: a director, you know, you're always you know, you know,
Speaker 2: you always question is that the right thing? Or should
Speaker 2: I do that? Or really you know, you always questioning yourself.
Speaker 2: And now I just I mean, I'm always questioning myself
Speaker 2: to make the project better. But but it's not that
Speaker 2: I am questioning my abilities at all. And that's and
Speaker 2: that's been a new thing. And that's and that's the
Speaker 2: thing that sort of happened to me in my fifties.
Speaker 2: And I think you know, you know, when I was younger,
Speaker 2: and I would hear people talk about, oh wait till
Speaker 2: you get your forties, Wait to get your fifties, man,
Speaker 2: it all changes. And I think that's what people were
Speaker 2: talking about. It's the fact that you just as as
Speaker 2: your life goes on and you and you you gather
Speaker 2: more information and you know more stuff because you've done
Speaker 2: more stuff, you just you get to a point where
Speaker 2: you're like, I know how to do this now, and
Speaker 2: and and that that feeling of confidence I think is
Speaker 2: it's great. It's wonderful to have.
Speaker 1: It gives you a sense of freedom, doesn't it that overthinking?
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, and you know who's got time to be insecure? Like, right,
Speaker 2: let's just let's just get on with it.
Speaker 1: I can't waste any more of my precious days on
Speaker 1: this earth being insecure. I really work. I mean that
Speaker 1: is so clear to me too. No, it's just not
Speaker 1: worth it. And I spend so much time doing that
Speaker 1: being insecure.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Really, I think the industry, I think all of us
Speaker 1: in the industry are insecure. We don't know where our
Speaker 1: next job is coming from.
Speaker 2: Yep, we don't know.
Speaker 1: You know, we know there's somebody else that could do
Speaker 1: the role we're doing. We just happened to have gotten it.
Speaker 2: That's happened to me in the right place at the
Speaker 2: right time, right, that's available for the money, that's me.
Speaker 1: Okay. How do you hope people remember you?
Speaker 2: Well? Uh, you know, I just hope people remember me
Speaker 2: as a as someone who was who's good at their
Speaker 2: job and you know, good to his friends and loved
Speaker 2: his family. Like that's all. I don't you know, to
Speaker 2: talk about legacy is something that. I don't think I'm
Speaker 2: quite old enough to start doing that yet.
Speaker 1: You got to start planning for it, though, I feel
Speaker 1: like you already Are you already have it?
Speaker 2: Well you're tapped in, Well I haven't. Yeah, I got planned,
Speaker 2: I got planned. Yeah, I'm planning. You know, you get
Speaker 2: to a certain point you start you start looking to
Speaker 2: the future and you're like, oh, so, how many more
Speaker 2: years am I actually going to do this? And how
Speaker 2: many are how's that going to work? And what am
Speaker 2: I going to do? And you know, yeah, yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: working on those plans or like the retirement plans.
Speaker 1: Is it a five year or ten year?
Speaker 2: Tell me, I'm I'm at ten years, ten years, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm ten years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeaheah, Okay, then you'll know what sixty I'll be
Speaker 1: sixty five, sixty five, that's your deadline? Okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to go with sixty and I
Speaker 2: back that up to sixty two.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: But I but I feel like I feel like, look,
Speaker 2: you know, I still really enjoy what I do, Like,
Speaker 2: I enjoy acting, I really enjoy directing and producing, you know,
Speaker 2: so I still really like it. So I'm and my
Speaker 2: golf game's not that good yet. So until my golf
Speaker 2: game gets better than my director game, I think I'm
Speaker 2: going to keep directing. I mean, yeah, how's your great
Speaker 2: how's your golf game? Have you talked to anybody on
Speaker 2: this podcast about golfing yet?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: I don't think so, because you're a golfer now. You've
Speaker 2: become a golfer in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did, and then I got my second Hipper
Speaker 1: place and I haven't played since, so it's been over
Speaker 1: years since I played. But I'm actually going to be
Speaker 1: in a pro am coming up real soon, so I
Speaker 1: figure I need to start swinging a golf club sometime
Speaker 1: before then.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a little nervous. You're in a pro am.
Speaker 2: What pro am?
Speaker 1: I don't know the name of it off the top
Speaker 1: of my head. It's in Myrtle Beach.
Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah that sounds so professional.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not. I'm the weak link on the team.
Speaker 2: You're on the am side, not the pro side.
Speaker 1: For sure. Oh man, I love hearing about your plans
Speaker 1: for the future because I have plans to, Like, I
Speaker 1: want to be out when i'm sixty. I want to
Speaker 1: have the choice when i'm sixty to really do only
Speaker 1: and I'm kind of there now. I've been making some
Speaker 1: hard choices in my life about what I want to
Speaker 1: do and what I don't want to do. Like, is
Speaker 1: there ever a time for you when you know, you
Speaker 1: get offered a job, an acting role, and you're like,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't want to do that. I want
Speaker 1: to spend my time on a set yep, acting.
Speaker 2: Yes, I do. I say, I say no to a
Speaker 2: lot of projects and it's and and to have that
Speaker 2: kind of freedom is is wonderful m hm. You know,
Speaker 2: because you know, God knows that you know the life
Speaker 2: of anyone who works in the entertainment business. You know,
Speaker 2: sometimes you got to take that job you don't really
Speaker 2: want to do because you got two kids in private school,
Speaker 2: and sometimes these things just happen. But I've been I've
Speaker 2: been fortunate the last I don't know, five six, seven
Speaker 2: years that that I've been. Uh, you know, I get
Speaker 2: I get offered enough projects that that are compelling to
Speaker 2: me and that I and that I want to pursue,
Speaker 2: and so I'm able to turn down a lot of
Speaker 2: stuff that I really don't want to do.
Speaker 1: Is there a project that you regret doing?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, so many yes, Yes, yes, yeah, Oh my,
Speaker 2: oh my god, jeez, the highwaymen, that was that was
Speaker 2: that didn't turn out the way that I thought it
Speaker 2: was going to. Oh, fancy dancing. That didn't turn out
Speaker 2: the way I thought it was. What? Oh yeah, no, no,
Speaker 2: please don't wait.
Speaker 1: It about dancing.
Speaker 2: I just need to know, you lose all respect for
Speaker 2: me if you ever it's okay, here's the google. This
Speaker 2: is Yes, yes you can. Of course you can.
Speaker 1: Good times tonight, people, of course you can.
Speaker 2: I mean you'll never get that ninety minutes back of
Speaker 2: your life, I promise.
Speaker 1: Fancy dancing and that shut down.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1: You're so honest. I love it so much.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: You're approaching the season finale of your current show, wild
Speaker 1: Cards on the CW.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1: How many seasons have you done?
Speaker 2: This is the this is the season two only.
Speaker 1: Season two? What was the show before?
Speaker 2: Because I'm come before that, I was. I did a
Speaker 2: show for five years called Private Eyes.
Speaker 1: Private Eyes, Okay, yeah, wild Cards is completely different, people.
Speaker 2: Wild Cards is a different show. Yes, and it's you know,
Speaker 2: you know, I play the dad now I'm now I've
Speaker 2: got I've run the whole damn it. In my career,
Speaker 2: I started as the engine and now I'm the father
Speaker 2: of the engenue.
Speaker 1: How's that feels? Like? Really? Like, really tell me how
Speaker 1: does that feel?
Speaker 2: You know what, I'll tell you how it feels. It
Speaker 2: feels awesome because I don't have to carry the freight
Speaker 2: every day. I like, I just drop in every once
Speaker 2: in a while while do a couple of scenes, and then
Speaker 2: i'm you know, I'm home sucking to brew. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: Sucking a brew. Wait, you don't go home and suck Bruce.
Speaker 1: You don't do that. I know that about you.
Speaker 2: No, I don't. That's a that's just a funny line
Speaker 2: that actually that Tim Allen used to say on whatever
Speaker 2: show he was doing, and the DP told me, but
Speaker 2: he was like yeah, And then the kids all thought
Speaker 2: he was saying home sucking a broom, and so they
Speaker 2: didn't understand it was You are.
Speaker 1: Just you have had so many experiences with so many
Speaker 1: different people. That's one of the reasons I love talking
Speaker 1: to you, because you have great stories and you're a
Speaker 1: great storyteller. I'm not the best storyteller. I need people
Speaker 1: to fill in all my blanks. That you're such a
Speaker 1: good conversationalist. And also just like I thought, I'm really
Speaker 1: not just saying all this to make you like me more.
Speaker 1: But but you even like at our fan events, you're
Speaker 1: the guy on our team, our cast, that is the
Speaker 1: one that's like, come right in, take this picture with us,
Speaker 1: like you're in charge of us. You tell us where
Speaker 1: to sit, we do it. I think whatever were always
Speaker 1: defer to you, like what Jason, what should we do?
Speaker 1: You're like the big brother.
Speaker 2: I don't. Yeah, But again that's the way it was
Speaker 2: back on the show, too, right. For some reason, I
Speaker 2: just I took on that mantle right well, I mean
Speaker 2: I was number one in the call sheets, so it
Speaker 2: was it was my job, job, and it's just it's
Speaker 2: just sort of remained my job just in your genes,
Speaker 2: it is so. And so that being said in furtherance
Speaker 2: to your previous question, So you know, like being being
Speaker 2: number one in the call sheet for as long as
Speaker 2: I have been, you know, being number five on the
Speaker 2: call sheet is like super liberating. I really I kind
Speaker 2: of I kind of dig it. I like, for real,
Speaker 2: it's fun. It's fun. It's fun to not have to
Speaker 2: just be top to bottom every day and carry the
Speaker 2: freight and you know, drive every scene like it's it's
Speaker 2: fun to just kind of be a passenger for a minute.
Speaker 1: And you feel fulfilled.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And then.
Speaker 1: What do you do when you're not working?
Speaker 2: I fly back home, because that's how little I work
Speaker 2: on that show. It's amazing, like a fly a flight
Speaker 2: to Vancouver for four days and shoot three episodes in
Speaker 2: those four and then come home and then be at
Speaker 2: home and you know, taking care.
Speaker 1: Of my kids and doing pilates.
Speaker 2: And doing pilates. That's right, you guys.
Speaker 1: I saw Jason not that long ago, a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, and you look amazing. You're in such great shape.
Speaker 2: Thanks, Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1: Not sitting back sucking bruise.
Speaker 2: So so so Naomi, who you know, Ny only opened
Speaker 2: a pilate studio here in Nashville, and so I've been
Speaker 2: going to her pilate studio a lot, just you know,
Speaker 2: to support my wife. And somewhere along the somewhere along
Speaker 2: the way, I've discovered it. It's a pretty awesome workout
Speaker 2: if you do it really regularly. And so it's been
Speaker 2: it's been really good. I've been really enjoying it.
Speaker 1: I never, in my wildest dreams thought Jason Priestley would
Speaker 1: be doing plates. But I have to tell you, I
Speaker 1: want to do pilates in the same class as you.
Speaker 1: That would be so fun.
Speaker 2: All right, Well come here anytime.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, your wife is rad She's always been an inspiration.
Speaker 2: It's so cool.
Speaker 1: You're such a lucky man.
Speaker 2: I certainly am every day.
Speaker 1: I don't want our conversation to end, but I know
Speaker 1: we all have other things to do in life before
Speaker 1: I let you go, though, Jason Priestley, what was your
Speaker 1: last I choose me moment?
Speaker 2: You know what? I choose me almost every day when
Speaker 2: I go to pilates, because it is a totally selfish endeavor.
Speaker 2: And whether I'm going there or I'm just going to
Speaker 2: the gym, you know, I work out six days a week.
Speaker 1: But that's not selfish. I got to stop you.
Speaker 2: That's not selfishish. It is no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: It's not selfish because you have to take care of
Speaker 1: yourself so that you can be there for your kids
Speaker 1: and you have to stay healthy.
Speaker 2: Well, that's true.
Speaker 1: You're taking care of yourself so you can be a
Speaker 1: better caretaker and okay, father figure.
Speaker 2: Yes, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1: I don't want you to feel like it's selfish.
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't. I don't think itself is in a
Speaker 2: bad way, but I think it's I feel like it's
Speaker 2: it is. It is a self serving act in a way,
Speaker 2: you know. I also I also want to keep myself
Speaker 2: in shape so I feel better. Yes, right, I mean, I,
Speaker 2: you know, being being there for my kids and being
Speaker 2: a better father for my kids, and it's sort of
Speaker 2: a byproduct of it. But I feel you know, I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't ever want to be that guy. And I
Speaker 2: was talking to another actor friend of mine about this
Speaker 2: the other night and just talking about you know, like
Speaker 2: getting older and how you know, as we get older,
Speaker 2: our bodies start eating all our muscle masks, and so
Speaker 2: it's really important to you know, to resistance train and
Speaker 2: keep your skin bag full so you get because if
Speaker 2: you know, once your body eats all its muscle, then
Speaker 2: then your bones start to get brittle, and then you
Speaker 2: fall over and you break a hip and next thing
Speaker 2: you know, you're, uh, you're home sucking to brew. Now
Speaker 2: that doesn't work there, I mean.
Speaker 1: The aging thing. It's good to know that you have
Speaker 1: conversations like that with your friends, because I do too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: conversations I never saw myself having, but they matter. They
Speaker 1: mean something to me. And sharing like knowledge and information
Speaker 1: with people my same age worrying or thing thinking or
Speaker 1: focusing on the same things is so important. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: one of the reasons I love doing this podcast because
Speaker 1: we can really share a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: information with a lot of people. And I think you're
Speaker 1: that message of that. What you're doing and choosing yourself
Speaker 1: for yourself and as a byproduct for your family, there's
Speaker 1: nothing wrong. That's that's what it's all about, is taking
Speaker 1: care of yourself because guess what, nobody else is going
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1: I learned so much about you today. You danced with
Speaker 1: Britney Spears and you did a show called Fancy Dancing.
Speaker 2: Uh, the guy who would never dance.
Speaker 1: Exactly, Brandon Walsh doesn't dance. You guys, everybody knows that.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say goodbye. I love you so much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jenny, I love you too. It's been really
Speaker 2: nice to talk to you today.
Speaker 1: I'll see you soon, I hope.
Speaker 2: Okay, I hope so too.
Speaker 1: Give Naomi and the kids my love.
Speaker 2: I sure will love to your girls. Jack