WEBVTT - Rachael Leigh Cook 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:21.439 That's all. 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:24.320 That's okay because. 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:25.120 No one here is. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:32.760 Hello beat NIX slowly getting there. I can feel it. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.760 We are inching closer to a name. It's time for 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.320 another installment of teen Beat with me. Danielle Fischel, the 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.320 host of the nineteen ninety eight ABC TGIF premiere party 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.000 featuring the musical stylings of in Sync and an appearance 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:51.760 from the Olsen Twins. But now decades later, I sit 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.720 down with interesting people to chat about their awkward and 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:58.120 embarrassing memories from childhood, all in an attempt to learn 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.600 more about their present selves. And I am the perfect 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:05.800 host because, like I say, I gave you my childhood. 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:07.440 It's time we hear yours. 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.080 And this week I'm joined by someone else who experienced 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.880 the joy of puberty under the watchful eye of an 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:15.360 international viewing audience. 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:16.800 She began her. 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.160 Time in the spotlight at just seven years old in 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.800 a PSA for foster care, though not this one. A 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.200 public service announcement would later become quite a big deal 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.920 in her origin story. But first she'd transition into print 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.560 modeling at age ten, all from the comfy confines of 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.240 her hometown Minneapolis, Minnesota, and when she left behind those 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.800 cold winters and juicy Lucy's for Hollywood. That was the 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.560 moment she became a nineties it girl. She made her 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.919 screen debut in nineteen ninety five's Babysitters Club, a who's 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.480 who of cool girls from the era who bout me 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:55.480 for the part, But it was nineteen ninety nine's She's 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.880 All That that forever cemented her as a first crush 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.040 for an entire Jar generation, and her starring role in 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.840 two thousand and ones Josie and the Pussycats has outlived 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.640 Us All, a film that has grown from box office 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:13.079 failure to cult classic, now correctly repositioned as a feminist manifesto. 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:16.920 But now she's employed her ten thousand hours of experience 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.240 in the industry and lovable personality to move from just 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:24.160 starring in a dizzying amount of Hallmark movies like Autumn 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.400 and the Vineyard, Sisterhood, Inc. And the recently released Caught 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:31.280 by Love to also producing her own like minded content 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:35.880 like Love Guaranteed on Netflix and an upcoming cinematic reunion 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.320 with Freddie Prince Junior that I am currently sat for. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.000 I can tell you, as someone who has now been 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.400 in rooms with her for four different decades in counting, 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.200 she is always the coolest girl in the room. But 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.600 is it possible that underneath that cool is somehow some 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:56.880 embarrassment from her formative years. Well it's time to find out. 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:01.239 Welcome to teen Beat, the one, the only Rachel Lee. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.240 Cook Danielle Fischel. That was the nicest intro I've ever 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.120 gotten in my life. I don't even care that it's 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.799 not true most of it. I'm not cool, You're You're 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:12.760 so oh my. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.680 God, You've always been cool, truly. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:21.320 I'm like, I'm trying to be like Hallmark cool. Yeah, yeah, 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:27.560 I am like I never felt cool. I was such 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:33.160 a little try hard too, Like am embarrassing really. 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.360 In one way, and you never came across that way. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.080 Just so you know, we apparently cannot understand how we 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.720 are perceived by others because you did not seem like 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:42.600 a try hard at all. 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:42.840 To me. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:48.280 You actually were the definition of effortlessly cool. So, I mean, 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.240 I can't even imagine you had one awkward moment as 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.120 a teenager. But we are going to search, and I 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:57.760 hope to find something. Let's start in Minnesota. Okay, you 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.440 were in no way a Nepo baby. You was a 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.520 cooking instructor and your dad was a stand up comedian 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.440 turned social worker. Yeah. 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.840 Much heavier on the social worker for sure. 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:11.680 But did you ever get to see your dad on stage? 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:17.080 I did, luckily, really shined in very clean material, you know, 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.840 even before like you know, Seinfeld was a household name 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:22.800 and things like that, there was my dad just bringing 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.120 it basically with the dad jokes on stage. It was 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.400 pretty adorable if I love that. Yeah, And I know 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.280 that my dad is one of the most beloved humans 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:36.640 to this day. He's doing great thing. I get messages 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.279 sometimes saying like, hey, mister cook, you don't really helped 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.400 me a lot when I was in junior high. And 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:43.120 I hope your dad's doing good. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.119 As a social worker. Yes, the impact he made on people, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:47.120 that's so special. 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.839 He was it Olson Junior High for a very long 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:55.080 time and Mannesota. Wow. So yeah, amazing guy. What was 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.520 the question? I'm just happy to see you again. 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.320 It's so nice to be in the same room with you. 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.760 I mean, sometimes when parents are trying to make it 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:08.040 in the industry and then don't, they're not necessarily super encouraging. 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.359 What were your parents supportive of your dream? 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.240 I think literally My dad is just someone who liked 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.800 to laugh and make people laugh. And there was a 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.200 comedy club I think three blocks from my house. So 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:26.360 I think it was a passion of convenience. Okay, yeah, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.120 I don't. I don't know. I don't think he was 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:29.479 ever going to try and take it on the road. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:31.239 He wasn't going to try to be famous. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.560 No, no, no, no, no no. But he also just 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:40.040 loved comics and you know who isn't intrigued by that world. Yes, 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.040 So I think he liked hanging with the people a 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.600 little bit, and I think they found my dad adorable 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.719 and non threatening, which he definitely is, even though very smart. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:51.640 And I think that, you know, they sort of liked 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:53.919 having him as a friend, and he maintained some of 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.320 those friendships with you know, a couple of them. 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:58.520 That's so cute. And you have a younger brother, Ben, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:05:59.560 who's a producer. 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:01.920 Yes, did you ever meet Ben back in the day. 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:02.960 I don't think I did. 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.160 Okay, I don't think I met your brother. 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.000 I know, I don't. I don't think. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.559 So. All right, we'll get around to that. Okay. 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:13.880 Were you guys always close growing up? 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:18.840 Not always? Okay, it was a weird thing for my brother, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:20.640 who's two and a half years younger than me, to 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.039 sort of all of a sudden have his sister disappear 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.400 for what he's told is going to be a couple 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.400 month adventure, you know, doing this thing. It's an amazing opportunity. 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:31.880 She's going to go make this movie. And I think 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.719 he was like, well, mom's going to like just leave me. 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.400 I'm twelve and this doesn't feel great, but like, okay, 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.680 I understand that this is a special thing. Cool. And 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.680 then I think before Ben kind of knew it, like 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:47.080 I had kind of hijacked my mom away from him, 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.960 which is the coolest thing in the World's great mom 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.440 and my dad's a great dad. But Ben tells me 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:55.080 about you know, the odd day and just like a 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.320 you know, sort of hot Minnesota summer afternoon where my 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.600 dad just not knowing what to do or how to 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:02.680 full time dad. We're just knock kind of store and 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:06.760 be like do you want soup? Right? Or like what 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:07.479 do I do? 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.440 He soup? It seems like a thing I could feed you, 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:12.960 I could hit right. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.080 So yeah, So when you say like were we always friends? 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:19.840 We were doing a normal amount of sibling fighting before 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.520 I sort of fell into, you know, what became my career, right, 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:25.880 But I think in a weird way was great for 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.280 our friendship because when we were able to truly reunite 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.440 and spend time together, we were almost legal adults. Yeah. 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.679 So yeah, now we're incredibly close. So that's that's a blessing. 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.200 Yeah, my brother and I have a little similar situation 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:41.440 because you know, I started on. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.280 Boy Meets World at twelve. He's four years younger than me. 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.880 So around the time of eight, you know, my dad 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.320 had a full time job, so my dad was always gone, wow, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:50.920 and my mom had to be on set with me, 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.480 which meant we hired a live in housekeeper so that 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.960 someone could be home to let my brother in after school, 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:01.000 and then you know, he'd only be home alone for 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.120 a couple hours before my mom would come back and 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:07.440 then I'd maybe drive back with Ryder or Ben. But still, similarly, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:12.320 my brother'd be like, wait, what, so mom's just on 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.120 set now with you? And he was really young and 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.040 he's eight, and so yeah, that was that was hard. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.600 Or then you know, going out to dinner for his 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:24.720 birthday to Ruby's Diner and then having a long line 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.360 of people coming up and asking from my autograph, and. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.720 He'd be like, why do people like you so much? 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.440 You know? So just I know, but but I know 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:39.559 that that's it's hard because you're also just like you know, 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:44.040 you're you're special, you know. And I'm sure that like 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.040 did he do that thing where he was like, well 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:47.520 maybe I should cry? Acting? 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:48.160 Absolutely? 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.000 How that he did not like it? He did not 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:53.240 like the audition process. And you know what's funny is 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.719 that I feel like my brother, My brother booked a 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:59.240 role in a movie once where he played. I think 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.280 he didn't have any lines, but he was like a 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.080 kid who is like running or playing in the street 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:05.280 and then got hit by a car. 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.599 Did you do a movie? I feel like he was 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:08.360 a movie you were in? 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:09.280 Eleven fourteen? 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.040 No, I think it had the word angel in it. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.240 My brother was an eighteenth angel. Was there a kid 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:17.719 who gets hit by a car at the end? 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:18.520 Probably? 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:20.079 I think that was my brother. 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:25.080 Get out. That's wild. But he didn't love acting. No, 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.800 when did you guys? You know? Hopefully like reconnect build 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:29.520 a Bridge. 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:32.520 We It didn't really cause too many problems between my 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.280 brother and I. It was just something that, like I 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.640 realized later, he dealt with that, you know, impacted his 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.600 self worth. And so those are things that now, as 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.480 full grown adults who are very capable of naval gazing, 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.480 we have been able to look back and be like, 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.440 that must have been so painful for you and for 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.240 him to talk through some of that. 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:52.720 Ye. 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:57.280 So it's nice because I also can take responsibility for 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:58.960 things that were in the past, like, but it's not 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:00.840 my fault, you know, that feeling of like I didn't 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.120 do it on purpose, but it doesn't matter, Like, yeah, no. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.120 And that's that's so well said. And you have two kids. 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:08.160 I have two kids, And. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.560 How conscious are we as parents of two, of being 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.600 like fair all the time? Yes, because it's so hard 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:19.400 when one of them really strongly feels like you're favoring 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.199 or love the other one more. It's like one of 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:22.080 the worst feelings. 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:22.800 Yes it is. 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.679 And I boy, I don't even give one of them 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:29.640 a compliment about something without saying a compliment at the 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.680 exact same time for something different can totally be different. 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:34.679 I want to highlight their differences. I don't want them 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.160 to feel like they have to be the same. But yeah, 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.400 you know, when one of them does really great at 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.480 baseball and the other one's good at watching baseball without 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:45.360 getting in trouble. 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.960 I'm like, Adler, what a game man. Your focus was 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:49.439 on fire. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.320 And Keaton you were the best listener of any other 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.040 kid I saw there. But like I so, you know, 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.960 whatever you have to come up with, just make them 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:01.040 feel like not one of them's more popular than the other. 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.200 I know. I'm always like, they're gonna bust me on 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:08.199 just balancing it out now that they're older. You know 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:09.920 what I mean. If Charlie's like, I got a hundred 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.760 on my test and I'm like, that's amazing, honey, and THEO, 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:20.040 I know you said something funny today, but he's amazing. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.720 But it's just you know, in any given moment, you 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:23.360 know what I mean. 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:24.720 Oh yeah, it's just hard. 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.400 It's very hard for sure. Now in Minnesota, you did 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.760 a ton of print work. You were on the box 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:37.199 of milk bones. I think that's so doesn't get any 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.160 bigger than milk bones. 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:44.200 Well, it does get you made fun of. I bet 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:46.960 it did any kid comments like which one's the dog? 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.200 And you know there's that. It was a classic okay, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.200 but I think people just didn't kind of know what 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.480 to make of it, like it's not like that kind 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.160 of stuff. You know, it makes you think you are 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.640 gonna transition it into something like acting. You know. It 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.600 just sort of feels like like there's always a point 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.680 of reference, like for me and I'm sure with you too. 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:11.840 There was like a girl in my school shout out 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:15.480 Stephanie Watson, ooh, may help to me knowing that bigger 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.120 things were possible for me in that world. Yeah, she 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.679 had done print work, and I was like, well, maybe 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.560 if she could, I could, And then you know, just 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.199 sort of found other revenues to keep going. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:32.720 Jessica Wesson is mine exactly. Yeah, so thank you, Thank 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:34.400 you to them and Stephanie. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.160 Right. So yeah, I think it's not like I felt 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.080 like I was, you know, this runaway success at print work. 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.040 But it was the height of success that I could 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:47.200 imagine was being in the target ads. I was just like, oh, 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.960 those glossy pages when they would come in in the Sunday. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.200 Pay beautiful and didn't you like look forward to them anyway? 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.480 And now you're like, I'm in them. 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.200 I think about three times. No more, don't want to 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.520 like see like I have a big head about it, 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:05.640 but but yeah, felt huge to me and I still 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.480 have such a soft spot for Target because well, honestly, 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:09.360 who doesn't. 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.280 What mom's our age or not regularly thinking about the 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.960 things they need to get from Target at all times. 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:20.079 And then you start looking toward Los Angeles. How did 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:24.199 traveling to LA come together? And how long did you 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:25.480 live at the oak Woods? 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.959 Okay, I can't we're we were fully at the oak 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.120 Woods at the same time. We swam in that pool. 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.679 I remember. I don't remember who was living there, but 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.160 I know we were both there me too. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.720 So I must have been visiting someone. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.640 Yeah, I know you were there at least one time. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.240 I mean I've been there a few times. Writer lived there, obviously, of. 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:46.360 Course, I'm sure that was it. 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:55.120 Will lived there, Shane there you biquitous? Okay, So Shane 0:13:55.240 --> 0:14:00.000 was there, Yeah, Jessica Biell was there, really, Yeah, she's amazing. 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.520 I did not live there, I was, Okay. So I still, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.040 after all of these years, Daniel, have not gotten good 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:12.840 at telling my origin story of like how I got to, 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.199 you know, like survive in the industry. But basically I 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.640 was still with this print agency after it was sort 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.920 of becoming a parent that I was gonna keep, not 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.119 make it past five to two or going to any 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:31.880 mild model exactly. And I was looking for opportunities in 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.000 the acting world that were not like musicals, because I 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.960 was really aware that singing and dancing were not going 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:39.880 to be like my. 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:41.720 Okay, you were not a triple threat. 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.800 I barely a single stop. It was that we're not 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.520 in home run territory, and so I just sort of 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.800 was on the lookout for that. And I think there 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.840 was both an ad in the classified section of the paper, 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:58.040 which again we all sat around read as family for like, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.640 you know, young actors needed. My mom was like, these 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.400 are a scam. Some of them were like John Casablanca's nonsense, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.080 and some of them were like legit auditions for local, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.000 you know, cool little movies that were being made. And 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.480 I think it came through my agency, but it also 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.560 might have been that. And I got a part in 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.280 a short film that was shooting locally with an awesome 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.080 team shout out Peter Siebertson, and gave me my first 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.400 role despite me having no idea how to act. Really, 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.800 I just remember I came into the room. He was 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.280 sitting on, you know, sort of a stool, and he 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.920 read his lines in a very even tone, you know, 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.160 and just seemed very calm, and I was like, I 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:36.120 should probably just do that. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:37.280 I'm just going to match that. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.440 And then so now I just got cast in this movie. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.640 And then before I knew it, I had tape. And 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:45.800 back in the day, the hardest thing is you couldn't 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:47.840 get tape if you didn't have an agent, and you 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:49.720 couldn't get an agent if you didn't have tape. So 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:51.800 before I knew it, I had broken through one of 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:56.200 the hardest parts of like how to. So there was 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.480 a woman who was a manager who was scouting. She 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.560 was new to being manager. She had just come over 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.200 from the record industry, so was establishing herself with a 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:10.160 crop of new younger actors she already represented at that point. 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.760 Some a boy, a kid who had been in Iron 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.440 Will was shot in Minnesota, and funny enough, Brian Crusing 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.720 was in that movie. His mom worked with my dad 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.400 in the school system. Wow, I know. And so she 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:27.960 could like marry pouch I know for this woman Beverly Strong. Yeah, 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.560 thank you Beverly who saw some kind of potential in me, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:36.120 as did her other young client, Vinnie karthiser of mad Men, Famine, 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:40.080 many other things, incredible talent, love you crazy, Vinnie. And 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:43.920 he and she were like, I think this girl might 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:45.840 have something, you know, like we you know, see if 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.440 we have some tape. He was sort of like her 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.440 little confident. I almost feel like at that time, and 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.320 I went out to LA and stayed with this manager 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.000 with my parents blessing on my spring break from school. 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:57.920 And how old were you? 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:02.000 I was fifteen? Fifteen me on audition for The Babysitters Club, 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:07.240 despite having very little experience, and many many months later 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:09.439 I found out I got the part after auditioning for 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.760 several different people in the movie. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.040 Wow, what a leap of faith that paid off. 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.400 Exactly, And that just it just goes to show it's 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.560 not life like a just like a long hallway of 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.199 doors that you're just like, if I don't try to 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.120 open this maybe right, like I don't know if it's 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.280 going to open. It's like I tried a doorknob and open, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.080 I'm like, yeah. 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.680 We're still here to I know, we're still here. 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:32.640 I know, Oh my god. 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:34.439 And it's and so much of it is not just 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.320 the opening of the doorways, but the risk versus reward 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.280 of opening each doorway. You know, It's like for your 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.040 parents and for you. It was like, Okay, I do 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.160 need people to vouch for these people because I am 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:50.760 sending my fifteen year old across the country and and 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.000 so you go, well, all right, other people have vouched 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.840 for these people. So the risk feels less now and 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.840 the reward seems great. But the amount of risk management 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:05.600 you're doing with very little education in the industry. 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.600 Imagine doing that now with your kids. Like, I know 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:12.000 we have cell phones now, I cannot imagine. No, did 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:16.040 you instigate your like, you know, entry to acting. 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:16.760 I did. 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.440 Jessica Wesson was you know in the industry. I had 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:21.840 an agent, was going to be a model. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:22.959 I was. 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.440 My mom was like, you can't be a model. You're 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:30.480 very short, and was like, right, well, I mean so 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.119 are you. She was not common. My mom was not 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.560 trying to say I wasn't cute enough. She was just 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.399 like Danielle my mom's five feet even, and she was 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.760 like the hopes for you of like I don't think 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.240 she even knew print was a thing. It was just like, 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.520 come on, now, you're not going to walk a runway. 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:49.720 We're not even going down. And so I went back 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.120 and told Jessica I can't do that because I'm too short, 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.080 and she goes, oh, yeah, that's true. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:55.320 Damn it, Jessica. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:56.879 But she was like, you know what, you don't have 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:58.399 to be told to be on TV. And my agent's 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.000 also going to put me on TV. And that's all 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.439 I needed to know. And so for a year I 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.680 just kept begging and eventually my parents let me do 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:06.960 it as. 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:08.080 Girls girl right there. I love that. 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.040 Oh yeah, she was like, yeah, don't let that stop 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:15.680 you try something else. So Babysitters Club, it's your first 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.520 like real movie job. And if you didn't have friends 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.000 in LA because you had only been there for the audition. 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:23.600 I really did not. 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.359 They basically cast you a dozen Bree Blair, Skylar Fist, 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:31.680 Beazelda Harris, Marla Sokoloff, Larissa Olenik, Vanessa Zeema, Natanya Ross. 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.280 Some of these girls had been acting in Hollywood at 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:35.800 this point for a decade. 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.199 Yes, I remember Larissa seemed very fancy. Yeah, she was 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.920 like she had headlined her whole own show for many years. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.159 Like that was wild to me. And Zelda, you know, 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.160 being like the girl from Crooklyn. Everyone knew that movie, 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.680 like everyone knew it was like this respected movie. Yeah, 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:53.880 it was kind of intimidating for sure. 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.800 What was it like for you as your first job. 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:04.000 I think I told myself diminished things about my role 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.240 in things now. I was familiar with the books. I 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.760 think a lot of us were of our generation, but 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:13.120 I was like, well, Skyler's the lead, and nobody really 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:15.760 wants to be Maryanne. I'm just sort of like here 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:19.000