Speaker 1: Ask to be sure, ask the questions, ask the important,
Speaker 1: ask them important questions, and have conversations. Let's have conversations
Speaker 1: as families, questions with each other. It's so important. Hi,
Speaker 1: I am so let Moonfry and I am so humbled
Speaker 1: and honored to be here today with Brian.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everybody. If you're hearing my voice, that means
Speaker 2: you're listening to the podcast. I like to call off
Speaker 2: the beat and I am your host, Brian Baumgartner, my
Speaker 2: guest today. Well, it may cause a little bit of
Speaker 2: a generational divide of sorts with you listeners. For me,
Speaker 2: people around about my age, let's just call it gen X.
Speaker 2: She is an icon of nineteen eighties television. I'm talking
Speaker 2: about Punky Brewster herself. Solei Moonfry is on the show today. Now,
Speaker 2: if you don't know Punky, who doesn't know everybody knows Punky?
Speaker 2: Am I right? It was an absolute smash hit, a
Speaker 2: total classic, and they even made a reboot a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago. Now, if you're a bit younger than me,
Speaker 2: you may not have seen or know that much about Punky.
Speaker 2: That's fine. Millennials, you may have watched a show called
Speaker 2: Sabrina The Teenage Witch on TGIF Friday Nights. Well, Soley
Speaker 2: was there playing Sabrina's college roommate Roxy or if you're
Speaker 2: gen Z or maybe Jen Alfa. I don't know if
Speaker 2: you would listen to this. She is the voice of
Speaker 2: Jade in the Brats cartoons or Zoe on Proud Family.
Speaker 2: If you're anyone of any age, I hope that you
Speaker 2: have seen her relatively new documentary kid ninety, where she
Speaker 2: documents her early life of stardom and everything that happens.
Speaker 2: It is a fascinating watch. Basically, what I'm saying is this,
Speaker 2: there's a lot to choose from. And on top of
Speaker 2: her acting career that spans literal generations, she's a mother
Speaker 2: of four. She also works with GSK and the Ask
Speaker 2: to Be Sure campaign to help spread awareness about meningitis
Speaker 2: B and the meningitis B vaccination. Let's talk to her
Speaker 2: about all of that right now here. She is the
Speaker 2: utterly delightful solet moonfry, Bubble and Squeak I love it,
Speaker 2: Bubble and Squeakna Bubble and Squeaker cook.
Speaker 1: Get every mole lift over from the night before.
Speaker 2: Hi, Sile, how are you? Hi? How are you? I
Speaker 2: mean I'm better now talking to you.
Speaker 1: I love it. I'm so happy to be talking.
Speaker 2: To you me as well. Now we have to get
Speaker 2: this out of the way. This is like the traditional
Speaker 2: Hollywood I don't know, six degrees of separation. Do you
Speaker 2: remember us meeting? Tell me remind me when my memory
Speaker 2: of it is so so scattered. We have been discussing
Speaker 2: this through our mutual friend, which we'll talk about in
Speaker 2: a minute. I'm not a Hollywood Hills house party guy
Speaker 2: at all.
Speaker 1: Okay, Oh boy, anything that starts with Hollywood Hills house
Speaker 1: party is uh.
Speaker 2: Because I was there. It had to have been some
Speaker 2: like Emmy or some awards adjacent. There was a band,
Speaker 2: There was Demi Moore dancing a lot.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: I ended up talking to a long time to Andy
Speaker 2: Roddick and Brooklyn Decker and you and I met outside
Speaker 2: at a food truck.
Speaker 1: Well, I love a food truck.
Speaker 2: Other than that, I don't know why I was there.
Speaker 2: I don't know who I was with. I don't know
Speaker 2: anything about it. But anyway, we've met. So it's good
Speaker 2: to see you again, basically basically.
Speaker 1: So nice to connect again. Um, what kind of food
Speaker 1: truck it was?
Speaker 2: No, I don't even remember whose party it was. I
Speaker 2: don't I don't remember. I don't remember why, or who
Speaker 2: or anything. It was more like official, It wasn't like red.
Speaker 1: So I had a huge kind heart at the time.
Speaker 2: You did, and from what I hear about you, you
Speaker 2: always do. We have been connected by my well in
Speaker 2: relative terms, new friends doctor Shaka Gilla who who Well,
Speaker 2: she's my pediatrician.
Speaker 1: Well, Saka is one of my favorite people in the
Speaker 1: world and one of my best friends since I was
Speaker 1: fourteen years old, and we met at a UB forty concert.
Speaker 2: Are you serious it goes back that long?
Speaker 1: Yes, that's I mean, literally, it goes back that long.
Speaker 1: And she and her sister have been such an important
Speaker 1: part of my life, my whole life and my kids' lives,
Speaker 1: and they're just amazing.
Speaker 2: Wow. I did not know it had been that long.
Speaker 2: But she started telling me about this thing that you
Speaker 2: guys have been kind of working on together. Yes, the
Speaker 2: Ask to Be Sure campaign, which is about bringing awareness
Speaker 2: to meningitis, the meningitis B vaccine. Shaka was telling me
Speaker 2: how important this is. Tell me how how you got
Speaker 2: involved with this campaign? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I learned about meningitis B and I
Speaker 1: I had no idea, you know. I had the assumption,
Speaker 1: like so many people, that when the kids are younger,
Speaker 1: they get vaccinated for it. And what I didn't realize
Speaker 1: was meningitis BE was totally different. And it was right
Speaker 1: around the time that my daughter Poet turned sixteen, and
Speaker 1: of course, as a mother, I want to do everything
Speaker 1: I can to help protect my kids. Uh So I
Speaker 1: was really surprised to find out about it, and I
Speaker 1: learned so much through the process. Of course, I reached
Speaker 1: out to one of my best friends, being Shaka, and
Speaker 1: learned so much about how you know, meningitis is an
Speaker 1: uncommon but serious illness and that it can be potentially fatal.
Speaker 1: And I went on this whole journey to ask to
Speaker 1: be sure and it has been such a learning experience
Speaker 1: and just really an amazingly eye opening experience.
Speaker 2: Now you're talking to someone who is not very specifically
Speaker 2: not a doctor, but I remember I remember, like when
Speaker 2: I was a kid, people getting meningitis and this was
Speaker 2: a very serious thing. But meningitis B is slightly different, right, and.
Speaker 1: People are so unaware of it because I think so
Speaker 1: many people think it's something that kids, you know, get
Speaker 1: vaccinated for when they're younger, but really it does affect
Speaker 1: sixteen to twenty three year olds especially, you know, as
Speaker 1: kids are going out into college, living in closer you know, areas,
Speaker 1: sharing things, you know, all of that. And so really
Speaker 1: for me, this has been a journey of asking questions
Speaker 1: and being able to talk to, you know, my pediatrician
Speaker 1: and having this conversation. I think it's important for us
Speaker 1: to have conversations and to never be afraid to ask,
Speaker 1: to be short, to never be afraid to ask your doctor,
Speaker 1: to talk to the pediatrician, and such a learning experience
Speaker 1: that I was really unaware of. And so it has
Speaker 1: been quite the journey.
Speaker 2: Last year, you partnered with GSK and Lifetime and actually
Speaker 2: made a short film, which is is not something uncommon
Speaker 2: for you. We're going to talk about a little bit
Speaker 2: called I Never Thought to Ask a Mom's Quest for Answers,
Speaker 2: which was really about educating other moms about meningitis. Be
Speaker 2: was this your idea?
Speaker 1: It was such an incredible experience, you know, it was
Speaker 1: really holistic, and we teamed up with Lifetime and of
Speaker 1: course GSK, and it was amazing. My dear friend, one
Speaker 1: of my best friends, Melissa Joan Hart, and I got
Speaker 1: to be on the journey together as well as Shaka,
Speaker 1: and so really it was coming from such an authentic place,
Speaker 1: you know, and it was such an amazing experience to
Speaker 1: be a part of. And you know, it's so incredible
Speaker 1: to see how also this whole experience inspired, you know,
Speaker 1: my own kids and my daughter Poet to have an
Speaker 1: interest in public health going forward in life. And so
Speaker 1: you know, it has all come from a really authentic place.
Speaker 1: And I think authenticity is so important and being able
Speaker 1: to these conversations, it is so important, and so when
Speaker 1: you watch the documentary, it really is. You know, Melissa
Speaker 1: is one of my best friends, Shaka doctor you know,
Speaker 1: you know doctor Shaka. I mean, she is one of
Speaker 1: my lifelong friends. So these are real conversations. And it
Speaker 1: was really so wonderful to team up with GSK on
Speaker 1: this and this Has to Be Sure campaign and to
Speaker 1: meet the incredible survivors and families who have lost their children,
Speaker 1: and the way in which they have touched my heart
Speaker 1: and left such a blasting effect on our lives has
Speaker 1: been so profound.
Speaker 2: Good for you, Good for you, I mean you you
Speaker 2: brought up the word authentic. I say this all the time,
Speaker 2: like work that is borne out of something that is
Speaker 2: organic and true for you. Is just always better. It's
Speaker 2: just always better, always well.
Speaker 1: Again, everyone has different perspectives in life, right and comes
Speaker 1: from different experiences. It's so important to have conversations and
Speaker 1: to have the courage to have conversations. You know when
Speaker 1: when speaking with these incredible mothers who had lost their children,
Speaker 1: you know, you hear about intuition, you hear about mother's instincts,
Speaker 1: you hear about all of these these things parents, you know,
Speaker 1: having instincts, And I think so often it's so important
Speaker 1: to listen to that inner voice and to be able
Speaker 1: to really ask those important questions in all areas of
Speaker 1: our lives because we are our children's advocates.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you bring up an interesting point. You know,
Speaker 2: I started in the theater, and you know, one of
Speaker 2: the things that that I always talked about was that
Speaker 2: art shouldn't be preachy. That really the central, the central
Speaker 2: focus of art in and of itself should be asking questions.
Speaker 2: And that's really what that's really what I love about this.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I feel like no one should
Speaker 2: be able to argue. You're not preaching, you're not saying
Speaker 2: do this, You're saying, ask questions. Educate yourself, because if
Speaker 2: you don't know, you can't do anything about it right.
Speaker 1: Right, Ask to be sure, ask the questions, ask the
Speaker 1: important ask the important questions, and have conversations. Let's have
Speaker 1: conversations as families ends with each other. It's so important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, your career is incredible, the diver the diverse projects
Speaker 2: that you've done. You're an author, You're a photographer. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you about being a cinematographer. I
Speaker 2: think you should be if you never thought about that
Speaker 2: before you started in a well, in a Hollywood family
Speaker 2: is that I hate that word, but I don't even
Speaker 2: know what to say. A family in the entertainment business.
Speaker 2: Your dad was an actor, your mom was an agent
Speaker 2: and a case.
Speaker 1: One was actually a food artist. She was she was
Speaker 1: a food artist. Yes, so she yes, food She was amazing.
Speaker 1: My My family incredible, full of artists and activists, and
Speaker 1: so activism is always run in our blood and just
Speaker 1: an incredible family of artists. And I started acting very
Speaker 1: very young. I grew up watching my brothers and my dad,
Speaker 1: and I was so shy. I actually didn't talk till
Speaker 1: I was three. And then once I started I didn't stop,
Speaker 1: and I think acting really helped bring me out of
Speaker 1: my shell. And I started acting at five and started
Speaker 1: Punky at seven, and just wow, what a journey. I mean,
Speaker 1: just an incredible, incredible journey.
Speaker 2: You know. One of the things that I like to
Speaker 2: focus on here is moments that sort of shaped and
Speaker 2: change a person that maybe maybe was unexpected early on.
Speaker 2: I mean, it sounds like you're in this environment. You
Speaker 2: don't speak to the age of three, that's crazy. Your
Speaker 2: family is around all these people. I mean I read
Speaker 2: Muhammad Ali's build a Cherry Coke on you, Yes, you kid,
Speaker 2: And my dad.
Speaker 1: Was a golden glove boxer, so it was really that
Speaker 1: was quite the highlight.
Speaker 2: Oh seriously, so like he was he boxing with him
Speaker 2: or in the same jail.
Speaker 1: So my dad was a golden glove boxer. So meeting
Speaker 1: Muhammad Ali was like, you know, huge for me. And
Speaker 1: he had a white suit on, I believe, and my
Speaker 1: cherry coke went flying out of my hand and all
Speaker 1: over him, and he was wonderful.
Speaker 2: When did you decide, Okay, well, acting is kind of fun,
Speaker 2: it's getting me out of my shell, but that this
Speaker 2: was something that you wanted to do, was this. I'm
Speaker 2: sure it was encouraged at least. Was it pushed by
Speaker 2: your parents? Was this something that you were driven to
Speaker 2: do on your own at such an incredibly young age.
Speaker 1: My mom actually thought I was so shy that she
Speaker 1: didn't know that I would ever, you know, like speak
Speaker 1: when I went in to try it out. But it
Speaker 1: was something that was so close to my heart. I
Speaker 1: just I loved it. It was playing make believe, and
Speaker 1: we really did always have our childhoods as well, you know,
Speaker 1: growing up on Punky. It was it was such a wonderful,
Speaker 1: vibrant experience, you know, we were riding around in scooters
Speaker 1: and pogo sticks and playing you know, for me, acting
Speaker 1: was always playing make believe, you know, and so yeah,
Speaker 1: so I was really fortunate that it was something that
Speaker 1: I really, you know, loved and wanted to do. And
Speaker 1: so my experience, you know, although I definitely had rollercoasters
Speaker 1: of emotions, and I had an incredibly beautiful, full life,
Speaker 1: and there was moments of insecurity and pain and all
Speaker 1: of the things that come along with it, you know,
Speaker 1: but overall, I really have always held acting so close
Speaker 1: to my heart.
Speaker 2: A couple of your early jobs, which there's a point
Speaker 2: to this Missing Children, a mother's Story, Invitation to Hell?
Speaker 2: Who will love my children? It sounds like you started
Speaker 2: off with some pretty damn dark material. Did you feel
Speaker 2: comfortable because it was make believe? And I say this like.
Speaker 1: My daughter now it's a great question.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my daughter now, who's eight, nothing scares her, which
Speaker 2: is interesting, like very she could not be more sweet.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean she's like doing doodle sketches of
Speaker 2: like horrible monsters and it's like, isn't this cool? Dad?
Speaker 2: When you're there, you have to be aware that it's
Speaker 2: not real. But are you getting support there on set
Speaker 2: to help you tell this story?
Speaker 1: Well, we could have a whole conversation at some point
Speaker 1: around the physics and matrix of all that is very really,
Speaker 1: I think is fascinating. Ultimately, I was working with such
Speaker 1: incredible people and of course had an amazing foundation within
Speaker 1: my own family. I was working with Anne Margaret and
Speaker 1: Mayor Winningham were the two women that played you know,
Speaker 1: my mother and Mayor and one and Ann Margaret and another,
Speaker 1: so you know the colorizy of people that I was
Speaker 1: working with. And George Gains, you know with Punky, I mean,
Speaker 1: his kindness and love just so exuberant. So I was
Speaker 1: so fortunate to work with some of the greatest people
Speaker 1: ever and they were so nurturing. Jeff Goldbloom, you know,
Speaker 1: played my fallow something. I mean, just the caliber of
Speaker 1: people and that kindness. You know, there are these moments
Speaker 1: in time. For example, Andy Gibb, Oh my gosh, one
Speaker 1: of my biggest crushes of all time, right, and when
Speaker 1: you look at the amount of time that we spent together, right,
Speaker 1: I'll get emotional talking about it. But the impact that
Speaker 1: people have in our lives last forever, and so ultimately,
Speaker 1: the kindness that I was shown and the ways in
Speaker 1: which I was treated as a human being and really
Speaker 1: seen and heard, that has stuck with me so much.
Speaker 1: So I think it is so important, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean when you have these experiences, and it was
Speaker 1: certainly something when we went on with Punky that was
Speaker 1: so important to me, is how we treat each other
Speaker 1: because it makes such a difference. And I loved scary movies,
Speaker 1: you know, I had big brothers, like I was obsessed
Speaker 1: with scary movies. So working with Wes Crave, you know,
Speaker 1: working with Wes Craven, it was like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is you know, it was a dream come true.
Speaker 1: So really, I think it comes down to that point
Speaker 1: around people, you know, and how we touch each other's
Speaker 1: lives and this tapestry. And I think sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: people don't realize the impact they have on others, and
Speaker 1: they can have very different experiences and they can be
Speaker 1: very painful, and I think, you know, it's a real juxtaposition,
Speaker 1: like you hear in show business that you know, there's
Speaker 1: parents that are amazing and loving and wonderful and make
Speaker 1: sure their kids have a really healthy home life, and
Speaker 1: then there's other extremes, you know, so and by the way,
Speaker 1: you can also be as loving as possible and give
Speaker 1: your kids everything that they could ever imagined, and still
Speaker 1: people sometimes get lost, you know. So it interesting and
Speaker 1: anyone anytime people bring up you know, downfalls and trials
Speaker 1: and tribulations, I always look at it and go, you know, yes,
Speaker 1: there are so many deer people that I love that
Speaker 1: didn't always make it out, you know, in the best way,
Speaker 1: and then there's so many that have and that have
Speaker 1: such flourishing, beautiful lives. And so, you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's like with anything you know in life.
Speaker 2: You know, I've talked to a lot of people here,
Speaker 2: many of whom like yourself who started much younger, and
Speaker 2: I just kind of want to hear your perspective on this.
Speaker 2: You kind of already answered the question, but you know,
Speaker 2: you think about kids and kids' activities, right, and that's
Speaker 2: usually like the soccer team, right, or you know, the
Speaker 2: youth theater or whatever. You know, there is something about
Speaker 2: your experience. Thankfully you are with a lot of very positive, loving,
Speaker 2: nurturing people. But just aside from even that, the ability
Speaker 2: to go at such a young age and have your ensemble,
Speaker 2: have your world be people who are so diverse in
Speaker 2: terms of age and experience and as long as they're good.
Speaker 2: What a gift that is early on, you know, you're
Speaker 2: not with the six and seven year old soccer teams.
Speaker 2: Not that there's anything wrong with that, my daughter does
Speaker 2: that too, but having that experience of having you know,
Speaker 2: older people who, if they're if they're giving and nurturing,
Speaker 2: that are mentoring you and helping you and helping you
Speaker 2: to see not just the work but the world in
Speaker 2: a new way. For me, that's always been a valuable gift,
Speaker 2: and this was this was not a part of my reality.
Speaker 1: I think that you're so spot on with that, and
Speaker 1: I think people come into this world in their unique ways.
Speaker 1: My kids are all so uniquely different, right, It's so
Speaker 1: fascinating to me that you could be born into this.
Speaker 1: And you know, Poet is just like her activism, her
Speaker 1: heart for activism, her just mind blowing jagger, her filmmaking,
Speaker 1: her inspiration, her heart. Lyric, I mean, he is a comedian.
Speaker 1: He is like literally, he's like a ninety year old
Speaker 1: man in a ten year old body. You know, my
Speaker 1: youngest self, he's you know, he's obsessed with basketball, and
Speaker 1: it's such a big heart. They each have such big hearts.
Speaker 1: And you know, my son, Lyric, he gets, you know,
Speaker 1: on a nightly basis, Hey can I do my comedy?
Speaker 1: You know, and he's like ready to get up right,
Speaker 1: And it's like he's a performer and he was born
Speaker 1: that way and he is who he is. And I
Speaker 1: want to encourage that, you know, And I really want
Speaker 1: my children to be able to be who they want
Speaker 1: to be. And I think one of the greatest things
Speaker 1: that we can do in life, one of the greatest
Speaker 1: gifts is to inspire our kids to follow their passions,
Speaker 1: you know, and to do it with kindness and heart.
Speaker 1: It's like the two of the biggest lessons I can
Speaker 1: pass on to my kids is like, you know, find
Speaker 1: that thing that you're passionate about, find what it is
Speaker 1: that inspires you and drives you each and every day,
Speaker 1: and then go out and also help make a difference
Speaker 1: in the world. You know, help make a difference. Be kind,
Speaker 1: grow up, be kind, be kind in this moment, be
Speaker 1: kind in the future, and make a difference. Those are so,
Speaker 1: you know, those are the things that I want to
Speaker 1: pass on self. Love like it all starts within, you know,
Speaker 1: and so anyway, so so my point being that, yeah,
Speaker 1: they are who they are, right, and so I try
Speaker 1: to encourage it and also encourage the education and all
Speaker 1: the different things to try to help, you know, them
Speaker 1: be as well rounded as possible. And at the same
Speaker 1: time they're their own people. And so right, I'm trying
Speaker 1: my best here.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, you're such a good mom. I mean
Speaker 2: everything you're saying I love. I don't have to take
Speaker 2: notes because I have a recording of this, but I
Speaker 2: just love everything that you're saying. You mentioned it a
Speaker 2: few times. We're not going to go through Punky Brewster
Speaker 2: minute by minute, but there were a couple of stats
Speaker 2: that I looked at, and I was more curious about
Speaker 2: your psychology as a seven year old Punky Brewster. Three
Speaker 2: thousand young girls tried out, including five hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles alone, which is acounding.
Speaker 1: It may have been even more than that. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure what it's like, Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: like those were the ones reported, but you know, I'm
Speaker 2: sure it was happening even more. Do you remember how
Speaker 2: many auditions? Was it like fifty?
Speaker 1: There was a lot and then there was a story
Speaker 1: that you know, when I went in for one of
Speaker 1: the one of the final auditions, someone did say they
Speaker 1: had already gotten it. So I think my mom was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's head out. I was like, I'm still going in.
Speaker 1: You know. It was a great deal of competition out there,
Speaker 1: But I just I connected to Punky so much. And
Speaker 1: I'll be really honest. You know, she was my superpower,
Speaker 1: my superhero, you know, and she still is. And it's
Speaker 1: so wild because it makes me emotional just thinking about it,
Speaker 1: because through my best moments, through my most difficult moments,
Speaker 1: it's like she's like that superhero that like pulls me
Speaker 1: through it, you know, and so it's why I have
Speaker 1: such an affinity, you know, and I think, like I'm
Speaker 1: so I'm in such gratitude. Like any time anywhere that
Speaker 1: someone says what Punky means to them, it's like it's
Speaker 1: like the greatest gift in the world, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the greatest gifts in the world.
Speaker 2: And so for me, I say that all the time.
Speaker 2: That's so crazy as a.
Speaker 1: Mom, you know, as at the time, you know, my
Speaker 1: mom was a single mom raising us, and you know,
Speaker 1: my dad and she stayed friends, but they weren't together,
Speaker 1: you know, and all those things. And I think through
Speaker 1: Punky like she became you know, my escape into this
Speaker 1: superhero part of ourselves and gave me so much courage,
Speaker 1: you know, and and still does today. I mean, in
Speaker 1: the last years, you know, with my family and all
Speaker 1: of the different you know, trials and tribulations that we
Speaker 1: went through, Like I totally have leaned into Punky. You know,
Speaker 1: Punky is that super power for me.
Speaker 2: You know, Usually you have a you know, a show
Speaker 2: or a movie and they start auditioning and you realize
Speaker 2: it's very important for the network and the studio, and
Speaker 2: you auditioned more and more it sounds like pretty early
Speaker 2: on because I was going to ask, at what moment
Speaker 2: was it like, no, this is mine? Like this is
Speaker 2: me pretty early.
Speaker 1: I feel like from the moment that, like, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I haven't thought of it in that way really necessarily
Speaker 1: for so long, but like, there was never a moment
Speaker 1: that Punky didn't feel like a part of me, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like, yeah, she was me, I
Speaker 1: was her, like it just it was so interconnected. And
Speaker 1: it's interesting because now years later, as I've been so
Speaker 1: grateful to work with incredible foster youth at different times
Speaker 1: and stuff, I realized, you know, my mom was a
Speaker 1: foster youth, and so I think there's like, you know,
Speaker 1: something around the generational you know, patterns that connect us
Speaker 1: through our DNA lines, and perhaps there was a part
Speaker 1: of that that I've actually been thinking about now at
Speaker 1: this stage in life, as I reflect, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's so fascinating, Like my mom was in a youth
Speaker 1: home at an early age because she had lost her mom,
Speaker 1: and you know, and it's so interesting because for so
Speaker 1: many years that wasn't something that I really thought about,
Speaker 1: but I can understand the parallels. You know what I
Speaker 1: mean in a deeper way now, and so I think
Speaker 1: that it makes a lot of sense that it always
Speaker 1: felt like such a part of me and so much
Speaker 1: of the heart of what I felt.
Speaker 2: You mentioned George Gaines. I freaking loved George Gaines. I mean,
Speaker 2: I loved George Gaines and his performance at Tootsie is.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just it's outstanding. It's so nice for
Speaker 2: me to hear that he because I read somewhere else
Speaker 2: you've said nice things about him that you considered him
Speaker 2: your acting mentor that he was giving to you behind
Speaker 2: the scenes as well.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, he he always treated me, you know,
Speaker 1: as an equal, and so to have the career that
Speaker 1: he had and to show up in that way where
Speaker 1: he listened and he was engaged and he was kind
Speaker 1: and here you were running wild.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I remember him giving me these beautiful, you know, leather
Speaker 1: diaries from the time I was really young, and he
Speaker 1: knew I loved to write, and you know, that kindness,
Speaker 1: that heart, I mean, it just it sticks with you forever.
Speaker 2: Punky becomes well, to say it becomes huge is like
Speaker 2: an understatement. The show and specifically you become a pop
Speaker 2: culture phenomenon. Up here, here, Here were some of the
Speaker 2: here were some of the things we dug up. Appearing
Speaker 2: in parades, Okay, getting thousands of letters from fans a week,
Speaker 2: judging puppies for a dog food company. Well, really you
Speaker 2: remember that, leading anti drug marches and becoming involved with
Speaker 2: Just Say No campaign, which ties into you talking about
Speaker 2: wanting to get back and be an activist as well
Speaker 2: as an artist. You know, it sounds like you loved
Speaker 2: the work. How did your young brain deal at that
Speaker 2: time with all of that?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, so much of it was such
Speaker 1: an adventure, Like I I how amazing to be able
Speaker 1: to go to the White House, into the Eastering role
Speaker 1: and travel.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was awesome.
Speaker 1: I mean there's just so many highlights throughout life, you
Speaker 1: know that have been so colorful and amazing. And also,
Speaker 1: you know, it's interesting. My best friend Torri has been
Speaker 1: my best friend since I was two years old, and
Speaker 1: so many of these memories are actually with she and
Speaker 1: I going to these places. So my mom would do
Speaker 1: this thing where it was like.
Speaker 2: Your plus one, Yeah you're plus one your.
Speaker 1: Best friend, and so yes, so we traveled all over
Speaker 1: the world together and be like here we go to
Speaker 1: New York and here and there. So that quality of
Speaker 1: like of having you know, that essence of childhood as well.
Speaker 1: It was so amazing because it was such a full life.
Speaker 1: You know. We went to New York and would be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm taking the girls to like the nearest you know,
Speaker 1: the nearest place where there's a fair going on.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So it really was so fun. And then every summer
Speaker 1: I went to summer camp. I went to summer camp
Speaker 1: from the time I was five to seventeen. I went
Speaker 1: back to become a counselor, like and I went to
Speaker 1: the same camp like I pretended to get in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so I went to this camp, Cottontown Ranch. I
Speaker 1: went there my whole life. So I really did have
Speaker 1: these childhood experiences. And there was a great deal of
Speaker 1: innocence there. And even with my friends that I grew
Speaker 1: up with that were in the business, there was a
Speaker 1: great deal of innocence for so many of us. And
Speaker 1: just the joy and the playing and having fun and
Speaker 1: hanging out. And of course we went on to have
Speaker 1: wilder times, but really there was a great deal of
Speaker 1: love and innocence around us and childhood and play and yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just it was so much fun.
Speaker 2: I pitched a show one time, I want to talk.
Speaker 2: I want to Talk to Torri. At some point nobody
Speaker 2: bought it. It was like it was literally my own
Speaker 2: family destination. But I maintained I'm steadfast and its ability
Speaker 2: that the show it was called plus one, and so
Speaker 2: it would the idea.
Speaker 1: It was really a plus one let's get real.
Speaker 2: Wait, sit again, But I was.
Speaker 1: Really her plus one. Let's get real, because I mean,
Speaker 1: the gift that shocks me is, oh, my goodness, the best.
Speaker 2: Well that's very generous, no, but I mean just that
Speaker 2: experience of watching and being a part of I don't know,
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 1: You know, we actually have these hard tarts. We talk,
Speaker 1: you know, every day, however, many times a day, and
Speaker 1: you know, we talk about just like what it is
Speaker 1: when you want each other to win, and friendships and
Speaker 1: family where it's like, I mean, I look at the
Speaker 1: people in my life and I'm so blessed to have
Speaker 1: such a beautiful family and such incredible friends. And it's
Speaker 1: interesting as I've gotten older, you know, as it's gotten
Speaker 1: more expansive. Also, I feel like my my, my, my crew,
Speaker 1: you know, is pretty intimate. You know, the people that
Speaker 1: I really that's most and love most, but there's something
Speaker 1: that we have where it's like I just it's like
Speaker 1: I want to see the people I love succeed, you know,
Speaker 1: and I want to be talking about love and life
Speaker 1: and joy and how we're making the world better and
Speaker 1: you know, all of those things. I'm so grateful for that.
Speaker 2: You know, you're eleven or twelve years of age and
Speaker 2: the show ends, you're feeling at that time about that journey?
Speaker 2: Are you ready for it to end and move on
Speaker 2: to other things?
Speaker 1: I was ready for like the next chapter, which was exciting.
Speaker 1: I love Punky so much. I went on to do
Speaker 1: a pilot and then you know, the pilot didn't go
Speaker 1: and then I started developing rapidly, you know, which we
Speaker 1: explore in the documentary Kid ninety for sure. And yes,
Speaker 1: what was really interesting and really took a lot to
Speaker 1: digest was once I started going through puberty and all
Speaker 1: of that and and just this the insecurities that come
Speaker 1: along with being a tween teen and then just having
Speaker 1: them magnified so much so I would say those teen
Speaker 1: years were definitely some of my most insecure moments.
Speaker 2: Right well, I mean that makes sense, and having that
Speaker 2: played out you know, it's hard enough to have those
Speaker 2: years play out in your junior high school right when
Speaker 2: now you're playing you know, it's playing out across the country.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about I am going to talk
Speaker 2: about kid ninety and just a little bit, but I
Speaker 2: want to know your experience as a kid journalist, Like what,
Speaker 2: at what point did you decide you were going to
Speaker 2: pick up a camera and you were going to just
Speaker 2: start filming things around you. Did you want to be
Speaker 2: a cinematographer, were you interested in framing shots, or was
Speaker 2: like what was the impetus at that moment to just
Speaker 2: start filming.
Speaker 1: I kept a diary from the time I was about five. Okay,
Speaker 1: then I got an audio recorder when I was about ten,
Speaker 1: and I started recording via audio, and then I dove
Speaker 1: into the video camera. And I love documenting this incredible,
Speaker 1: colorful world around me. And I realize now, really I
Speaker 1: was a teen journalist and I thought the world around
Speaker 1: me was so colorful and incredible. And I started documenting
Speaker 1: our lives and I never put that camera to It
Speaker 1: came everywhere with me, I carried it everywhere. I just thought, Wow,
Speaker 1: what a colorful world. I think it also acted as
Speaker 1: a protective device when I was going through such a
Speaker 1: here phase in life, because it was like, now I
Speaker 1: can be behind the camera, so I can you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? It was like, now I'm the one
Speaker 1: behind the lens. So I started filming my friends and
Speaker 1: our worlds and went on to continue doing it. And ultimately,
Speaker 1: when we talk about sole purpose, you know, and purpose
Speaker 1: in life, that journalistic side of me, the director in me,
Speaker 1: all of those elements existed. They were the tapestry of
Speaker 1: those early years. And to have been able to go
Speaker 1: on to continue that, it's super interesting because for many years,
Speaker 1: you know, I've had such an incredible life, and of
Speaker 1: course I love acting and love it so much. You know,
Speaker 1: I tried so many different things for so many years,
Speaker 1: you know, and then when I went back and went
Speaker 1: through all the tapes that had been sitting in tupperware
Speaker 1: and peeling back the layer, you know, it was like
Speaker 1: this spark inside of me reignited and I had really
Speaker 1: associated that more with youth, and it was like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is my purpose, like you know, in so many ways,
Speaker 1: like my children, my faith, my inner being, my relationship
Speaker 1: with source, all of those elements, you know, so fundamentally
Speaker 1: important the philanthropic work that I love to do, and
Speaker 1: my art, the art that I get to create and
Speaker 1: do is so important to me, and I feel like
Speaker 1: it just reignited me in such a meaningful way and
Speaker 1: my goodness to do what I love. I just I
Speaker 1: love it. And I think that's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: why I was so grateful that Kid ninety connected to people,
Speaker 1: because for me, it was like I wanted them to
Speaker 1: feel like it was their story too, or that you know,
Speaker 1: they were able to see themselves in some way. And
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the greatest parts about being
Speaker 1: a documentarian is when you can be you know, most
Speaker 1: genuine and allow people to have a shared experience.
Speaker 2: You know, if you guys haven't seen a Kid ninety
Speaker 2: out a couple of years ago, it is fascinating you
Speaker 2: revisit your past, you explain why you started or what
Speaker 2: happened when you start looking at the tapes. Leonardo DiCaprio,
Speaker 2: Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Sheen, Mark Paul Gosler, my neighbor now
Speaker 2: by the way. For you as you're watching it, it's
Speaker 2: so exciting and also like it's got to be like
Speaker 2: for you going through it. So many years later now
Speaker 2: in a totally different which is what I love about it,
Speaker 2: going through it at such a different time in your life.
Speaker 2: You see the like you must have felt like some
Speaker 2: awkwardness or like some like, oh my gosh, I got
Speaker 2: that shot. That's beautiful. Oh my gosh, I can't believe
Speaker 2: I did that or I said that or whatever. What
Speaker 2: was the biggest thing that surprised you?
Speaker 1: Oh? The whole experience was completely life changing. It changed
Speaker 1: my entire life. The process of the documentary changed everything
Speaker 1: for me in so many ways. It changed, It changed
Speaker 1: so much because it was it was going back and discovering,
Speaker 1: you know, that teenage girl inside all of the dreams,
Speaker 1: all of the things, all of the people, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean just I mean, it was such an exploration,
Speaker 1: you know, ultimately, I think, you know, something that was
Speaker 1: so perfect. I mean, there were so many profound parts
Speaker 1: of it. But it's so interesting because when we're in
Speaker 1: the moment, right, we're not always able to see or
Speaker 1: hear things, you know, the way that they really are.
Speaker 1: And I've found this even for recent months and years, right.
Speaker 1: But it was really interesting because I had never gone
Speaker 1: through the videos at length, you know, I had never
Speaker 1: gone through all the audios, you know, so here I
Speaker 1: was like living with this treasure trove of all of
Speaker 1: these memories. And I'll use this example, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: I love talking about love, right And And an example
Speaker 1: is that I was watching this footage of myself with
Speaker 1: someone who I was just crazy about as a teenager,
Speaker 1: right crazy about, and I'm looking at it and I'm like,
Speaker 1: am I And I now I've already gone and visited
Speaker 1: them and this whole thing. And I turned to this
Speaker 1: incredible person who I'm editing with, and I go, am
Speaker 1: I trying to put in a love story here? And
Speaker 1: she goes so like, do you see the way you
Speaker 1: guys are looking at each other? And at this point
Speaker 1: in the edit, Bay, I had watched the footage at
Speaker 1: least ninety nine times, and it was the hundredth time
Speaker 1: that I not only saw the way I was looking
Speaker 1: at that person, but the way they were looking back
Speaker 1: at me. And I was like, oh, my goodness. If
Speaker 1: we go through the world with these blinders on, you know,
Speaker 1: so often where we aren't able to see all the
Speaker 1: different perspectives, what are we missing? And in that moment,
Speaker 1: and again I get emotional about it. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I have always loved people so much.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize how much love I had back. And
Speaker 1: it was a level of realizing the love around me
Speaker 1: in such a deep way, you know, and the insecurities
Speaker 1: of teen you know, teenage nests and teen years and
Speaker 1: new people like you, do they not like you? You know,
Speaker 1: all the things that stick with you. The story you
Speaker 1: tell yourself, whatever you know, experiences you had, and whatever
Speaker 1: you know that twelve year old me told myself from
Speaker 1: that or your house. My house got toilet paper by
Speaker 1: a group of kids that I just wanted to be
Speaker 1: friends with. And what did I tell myself, you know,
Speaker 1: or whatever it was, you know, or the person that
Speaker 1: picked on you or chased you down and said they were,
Speaker 1: you know, going to be you up, whatever it was.
Speaker 1: And there was many of those moments, you know. But
Speaker 1: what was it that, you know, or my development, or
Speaker 1: what the world was saying about me, what my friends
Speaker 1: were saying, whatever it was, it's not about them. It's
Speaker 1: it's that idea that like things happened for us and
Speaker 1: not to us, you know. But it was like all
Speaker 1: of those stories, realizing that those were just stories and
Speaker 1: that we were all going through our experiences and that
Speaker 1: we were all going through our pain and our trials
Speaker 1: and tribulations, and those insecurities started to strip away. And
Speaker 1: now here I am, you know, forty years old or something,
Speaker 1: and to be at that stage in life and going, oh,
Speaker 1: my goodness, like wow, I can see like my own
Speaker 1: self love, I can discover my worth in another way,
Speaker 1: my value. It just again it became like a superpower,
Speaker 1: you know, without you know, ego, you know about like
Speaker 1: righteousness or any of that, but just like, oh, I
Speaker 1: can actually feel a deeper level of love. Does that
Speaker 1: make sense right? No, It's so easy to get wrapped
Speaker 1: up and just pain of the past or experiences and
Speaker 1: allow those to define us. And I think it was
Speaker 1: for me a really important lesson in stripping all that
Speaker 1: away and being who and who am I today? Who
Speaker 1: is the version of me today? And I want to
Speaker 1: be my best person today? And of course we all
Speaker 1: have choices and take different paths and can make mistakes
Speaker 1: and all those things. But it's like, how do I
Speaker 1: show up in a room today?
Speaker 2: It's beautiful because it's real. So I don't want to
Speaker 2: be reductive of this, but I do have to tell
Speaker 2: you and I have no idea how familiar you are
Speaker 2: with the television show at the office, but I was
Speaker 2: struck watching it. That really what Greg Daniels was trying
Speaker 2: to create on that show. There is a similarity. And
Speaker 2: let me explain why it's scripted, the cameras are directed.
Speaker 2: All of that is true. However, the idea that these
Speaker 2: are characters who, in our case, were filmed for ten
Speaker 2: years and never seeing the end result, never seeing how
Speaker 2: your portrayed over that extended period of time. It's one
Speaker 2: of the reasons Greg said, when the characters in the
Speaker 2: show finally see this documentary that's been filmed for some
Speaker 2: reason about a paper company for ten years, the show
Speaker 2: ends because now they adjust how they are perceived because
Speaker 2: they see how they're perceived through another person's lens. And
Speaker 2: so I'm not at all trying to be reductive, but
Speaker 2: when I watched it, I was like, Oh my god,
Speaker 2: this is like a live, real version because so much
Speaker 2: time passed and you have this whole new perspective as
Speaker 2: you're watching it again, and certainly for you seeing it
Speaker 2: again and seeing yourself from so many years ago, it
Speaker 2: just must have been just an incredible thing.
Speaker 1: It was so incredible and I really believe it's been
Speaker 1: fundamental in my journey and who I am today, every
Speaker 1: minute of it, Starting from the time that I started
Speaker 1: writing that dollar five years old.
Speaker 2: I'm like, wow, I mean it's crazy. Well, your first
Speaker 2: directorial view is at twenty two years of age, I
Speaker 2: mean Wild Horses. You also wrote it with.
Speaker 1: It it was actually nineteen at that time.
Speaker 2: You were nineteen. Oh, it was twenty two when it
Speaker 2: came out.
Speaker 1: I don't it actually never came out.
Speaker 2: Oh, it never came out.
Speaker 1: No, it's sitting it's sitting somewhere. We go, we gotta
Speaker 1: go dig it out.
Speaker 2: Really, Yeah, I didn't know that that's a whole Well,
Speaker 2: that's a whole other episode that you and I have
Speaker 2: to sit up. Well, that's that's a whole other episode.
Speaker 2: What was the impetus behind that? Again? Was that just
Speaker 2: an extension of wanting to be behind the camera?
Speaker 1: Absolutely? And I was.
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 1: I had gone off to school and I had this idea,
Speaker 1: and I came back and I was like, I want
Speaker 1: to make this and they were like, great, go write
Speaker 1: it in a week and I did, which is crazy
Speaker 1: because it's something that only, you know, an eighteen year
Speaker 1: olds would do. You know it right exactly, and I did,
Speaker 1: and it was like a blessing and it ended up,
Speaker 1: you know, we ended up making it. And then I
Speaker 1: fell in love during that journey and that ended up
Speaker 1: becoming the person that I was married to and having
Speaker 1: four beautiful children with. And so it was just like
Speaker 1: this incredible, wow life path. And then I did this.
Speaker 1: I had an amazing experience with my father who had Alzheimer's,
Speaker 1: and we drove a cross country and made this documentary
Speaker 1: Sonny Boy, which at some point I will share, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean just And then I love I love making
Speaker 1: art and creating, and I love directing, I love producing,
Speaker 1: I love all of it. I love all of it.
Speaker 1: I love creating.
Speaker 2: What about voiceover? I love it. I love oh I
Speaker 2: love it well.
Speaker 1: And I've had such a it's so great. And I've
Speaker 1: had the honor of being part of Proud Family for
Speaker 1: so many years as Zoe, who is my other superpower
Speaker 1: hero that I lead in too often, and Brats Brats
Speaker 1: absolutely so wild.
Speaker 2: I get so much joy creating characters through the voice.
Speaker 1: Absolutely you could just do my goodness.
Speaker 2: Oh well, thank you, that was nice. Uh. The reboot
Speaker 2: Punky Brewster happened during uh, well, this little thing some
Speaker 2: people like to call COVID. Were you excited to revisit that?
Speaker 1: SI thrilled. I was thrilled. And it was so special.
Speaker 1: And we did the pilot before COVID, and then COVID
Speaker 1: hit and it was it was such a surreal experience.
Speaker 1: It was Oh, Punky, I love it so much, and
Speaker 1: really it was such a special continuation and the people
Speaker 1: were so wonderful and the response was incredible, and really
Speaker 1: just it was really really special and so wonderful and
Speaker 1: just a beautiful experience that I held so close to
Speaker 1: my heart.
Speaker 2: You've said before, and you said it almost in this
Speaker 2: way earlier today that you've never known where Punky ended
Speaker 2: and you began because of you were alike and she
Speaker 2: was your superpowers. You mentioned after revisiting her. You still
Speaker 2: feel that way.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And you know, and the way in which we
Speaker 1: were in this parallel journey, the person that I've been
Speaker 1: married to for so many years and I were going
Speaker 1: in different directions Punky and her husband, I mean, it
Speaker 1: was just like whoa you know. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: definitely a place for me to put creative energy into,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Good for you. I am well. I'm a bigger fan
Speaker 2: of yours now than I was before. You continue to
Speaker 2: do incredible work giving back on issues that are important
Speaker 2: to you. I do want to ask or remind people
Speaker 2: again to go check out ask the Number two Be
Speaker 2: Sure campaign. Will put it in the description here so
Speaker 2: that all of you parents out there can be educated
Speaker 2: about meningitis.
Speaker 1: B thank you so much for having me and letting
Speaker 1: me share and being so kind and such an amazing listener.
Speaker 2: And oh please, Shaka is the best. She is. I
Speaker 2: think she's the best pediatrician in the world, but maybe
Speaker 2: I just think that because she's mine.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And Shaka is also one of the best human feeds.
Speaker 2: Yes, and I love how much you value that for real.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Best to you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: And Melissa of course for coming on.
Speaker 2: Yes and tell her I said hello. I'll harass her
Speaker 2: at some point here and get her on the program.
Speaker 2: Solet moon fry. Thank you to honor to be here.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Brian, and thank you for raising
Speaker 1: awareness with us. Best to be Sure, So.
Speaker 2: Leigh, thank you so much for being here. That was
Speaker 2: such a treat. I learned so much about you, primarily
Speaker 2: that you have a huge heart and you care about
Speaker 2: not just your kids and your family, but your whole community.
Speaker 2: God bless you. It was such a pleasure come back anytime.
Speaker 2: As for me, so Leay probably won't be back next week,
Speaker 2: but I will, so come back and join me please.
Speaker 2: Until then, guys, have a great week. Off. The Beat
Speaker 2: is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside
Speaker 2: our executive producer Lang Lee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia.
Speaker 2: Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr.
Speaker 2: Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern
Speaker 2: is Ali Amir Saheed. Our theme song Bubble and Squid
Speaker 2: performed by the one and only Creed Bratton