Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Speaker 1: Tommy de Dario. If you are not watching nine one
Speaker 1: one on ABC, you are seriously missing out. The show
Speaker 1: is so phenomenal that it has been renewed for an
Speaker 1: eighth season. And my guest today, well, he is phenomenal
Speaker 1: as well. In fact, he is on my show because
Speaker 1: of you. I saw all of the tweets, the dms,
Speaker 1: the emails, all of it. So like a genie in
Speaker 1: a bottle, your wish has been granted. The talented actor
Speaker 1: Ryan Guzman stars in the Smash Shit Firefighter drama series
Speaker 1: nine one one, and audiences fell in love with his
Speaker 1: character Eddie the moment he debuted in episode one of
Speaker 1: season two. Man he has become a staple on the
Speaker 1: show and fans have been rooting for Eddie throughout the years,
Speaker 1: and Ryan plays each moment of Eddie's journey with such
Speaker 1: care and vulnerability and truth. We have a lot to
Speaker 1: cover today and I have a feeling you were going
Speaker 1: to really enjoy this fun but also personal and deep conversation.
Speaker 1: We do dive into some very serious mental health conversations.
Speaker 1: So after the interview, I will be providing resources for
Speaker 1: anyone struggling with their own mental health. This is one
Speaker 1: of the most powerful interviews.
Speaker 2: I have ever done.
Speaker 1: And I really thank Ryan for opening up in the
Speaker 1: ways that he did today because I know that he
Speaker 1: is going to help so many people out there feel
Speaker 1: less alone. So let's see if we can get Ryan
Speaker 1: to say something that he has never said before. Ryan,
Speaker 1: my friend, how you doing today?
Speaker 2: I'm good, Brodd? How are you? I'm good?
Speaker 1: I know you have been working your butt off. You
Speaker 1: were just saying you were filming all night. Are you
Speaker 1: exhausted or you're on like adrenaline right now?
Speaker 2: A little mixture of both, you know. I got a
Speaker 2: little coffee pumped through my system. But yeah, we've been
Speaker 2: I think I worked six out of seven days this
Speaker 2: last week. We've been doing around fourteen to fifteen hour days.
Speaker 2: And I just got off last night around in the morning,
Speaker 2: so got home around two thirty. But we're here, we're here.
Speaker 1: Well, you were putting in the work. Congratulations to you
Speaker 1: on all of the success with the show. It's of
Speaker 1: course now on ABC. People are loving it. The numbers
Speaker 1: are going insane, and you've always been a fan favorite
Speaker 1: from day one. You know, when you have that first
Speaker 1: scene of you putting that shirt on in slow motion
Speaker 1: and your body was glistening, and what a man was playing.
Speaker 1: People just fell in love with your character. But that's
Speaker 1: not just why they love your character. I mean, over
Speaker 1: the seasons, people have found you so relatable and really
Speaker 1: really are truly invested in the role that you play.
Speaker 1: Why do you think that is? I'd like to say that.
Speaker 2: I mean, I try to play as grounded as I can,
Speaker 2: but I think the story itself, it's just the way
Speaker 2: tim Inar writes the character, and I think he's always
Speaker 2: had a special connection with this kind of character, so
Speaker 2: just indebted to how he writes and the connectivity between
Speaker 2: Eddie and his son. I mean, it's just like it
Speaker 2: pulls the heartstrings, you know, And that's always been a
Speaker 2: fan favorite as well, So you know, I'm living in
Speaker 2: gratitude for everything that's been written for that character, and
Speaker 2: I try to do it as much justice as I can.
Speaker 1: Well, you're nearing the end of season seven, and past
Speaker 1: seasons for you have been a bit heavier, a bit
Speaker 1: more intense. You've really gone through quite a lot of
Speaker 1: things that we'll touch on a bit later, which I
Speaker 1: know is also part of the reason why so many
Speaker 1: people relate to you. Are you enjoying this journey this season?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, I haven't really been able to
Speaker 2: kind of flex my humorous side and just kind of lightheartedness,
Speaker 2: kind of vibe about Eddie, and I love that aspect
Speaker 2: of him. So while everybody else is kind of going
Speaker 2: through chaos, well Cap is going through chaos, Eddie is
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, trying to keep everybody together while
Speaker 2: you know, Chimney and Hen going at it during the
Speaker 2: whole tsunami and beside an adventure, Eddie's just you know,
Speaker 2: being there for everybody as much as he can. So
Speaker 2: you're not to say that he's always going to be happy,
Speaker 2: because Tim always has this thing about saying, you know,
Speaker 2: if I just let your guys be happy, then there'd
Speaker 2: be no story. You gotta have some kind of drama.
Speaker 2: Nobody wants to show up just for people smiling all
Speaker 2: the time. But yeah, we've got some things in store
Speaker 2: for the rest of the season, and from what we've
Speaker 2: already shot, I've been super pleased about, you know, this
Speaker 2: new way of life, Freddy.
Speaker 1: Like I said, the things you've gone through are intent
Speaker 1: throughout the years. Do you have any fears stepping into
Speaker 1: this role or any anxiety before you had to film
Speaker 1: some of those more intense scenes because it's a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, prior to nine to one one,
Speaker 2: I might have had some fears about the depth of
Speaker 2: a lot of the things that we shot, And I
Speaker 2: honestly didn't really call myself an actor until like maybe
Speaker 2: three and a half years ago. No, yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 2: thought I was just fooling everybody, trying to get jobs
Speaker 2: and land the movies that I was getting. And then
Speaker 2: I think somewhere around the third season, a co star
Speaker 2: of mine kind of like metaphorically slapped me in the
Speaker 2: face and said, you know, let's let's really get into
Speaker 2: this man. You've got some really good opportunity here. So
Speaker 2: that's when I started call myself an actor. But to
Speaker 2: be honest, the depth of Eddie in the past three
Speaker 2: four seasons has been amazing. As just a I don't know,
Speaker 2: a class, it's been class for me. It's been an
Speaker 2: opportunity to flex these emotions that I don't get to
Speaker 2: flex in my day to day life, and to access
Speaker 2: certain things and see how far can I push Eddie.
Speaker 2: How you know, in the scene where Eddie is just
Speaker 2: losing his stuff and he's breaking everything in his house,
Speaker 2: like obviously I've never done in my house. But how
Speaker 2: do I get there? How can I allow the audience
Speaker 2: to feel what I'm feeling? And that task itself becomes
Speaker 2: a challenge, and I really love that type of challenge.
Speaker 2: So again, living in gratitude for all the little things
Speaker 2: that Eddie presents that you know, I haven't really been
Speaker 2: presenting my own life.
Speaker 1: That being said, is there a storyline that's particularly special
Speaker 1: to you for any given reason?
Speaker 2: I kind of lean automatically towards the military PTSD just
Speaker 2: because I have a cousin who served six tours, and
Speaker 2: you know, he shared with me and I actually, oddly enough,
Speaker 2: during the episode of Eddie Begins, I brought him on
Speaker 2: as a military tech and he helped out everybody in
Speaker 2: the production. His name's Randy Hudson. I you know, I
Speaker 2: love that guy to death. But yeah, he's shared with
Speaker 2: me a lot of his issues that he's gone through
Speaker 2: and a lot of the obstacles he's gone through in
Speaker 2: his day to day life and what it's like to
Speaker 2: be a military vet coming back and kind of assimilating
Speaker 2: back into civilian lifestyle. So that storyline always kind of
Speaker 2: held a special place in my heart, just because it
Speaker 2: was very close connected with me and my own family,
Speaker 2: and I always hope that you know I did it
Speaker 2: justice enough for everybody that has that story ingrained in them.
Speaker 1: I think you definitely did. I saw a lot of
Speaker 1: comments when I announced you as my guest saying that
Speaker 1: that was a very meaningful part of your journey on
Speaker 1: this show. I'm so curious. You know, quite often in television,
Speaker 1: it moves so fast, there's always rewrites, there so much
Speaker 1: going on. Was there ever a story that you wanted
Speaker 1: to come to fruition that never did.
Speaker 2: I hated the fact that we killed off Shannon so quick.
Speaker 2: I know she wasn't a very likable character for so
Speaker 2: many different reasons. But I always loved working with Devin,
Speaker 2: so I would love to explore a little bit more
Speaker 2: with that. But yeah, there's always beauty and chaos a
Speaker 2: little bit. So I would have loved the relationship mother
Speaker 2: father parenting style aspect of Bettie's life to be a
Speaker 2: more explored, but unfortunately that can't happen anymore.
Speaker 1: There's always so many things going on, I'm sure it's
Speaker 1: hard to fit them into each episode, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: things to have to get cut because major things keep
Speaker 1: happening episode after episode, one of them being recently, of course,
Speaker 1: Buck realized he's by and that's a storyline everyone's going
Speaker 1: crazy over. Did you see that coming where you like,
Speaker 1: I think one day this is gonna happen for him?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean it's always kind of been in the ether. Everybody,
Speaker 2: you know, all the fans, you know, have their speculations
Speaker 2: about Eddie and Buck, and you know, for the longest time,
Speaker 2: I think Oliver and I again had light heartedness to it.
Speaker 2: We always kind of like saw it as like, oh well,
Speaker 2: at least they're so interested in our characters. Thank god,
Speaker 2: they're interested in our character, right, you know, not ignoring us.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if either of us had a pinpoint,
Speaker 2: you know, idea on which character or if any character
Speaker 2: would actually lead in that way. But again all credit
Speaker 2: to Timmneer. He's the one that knows the way, so
Speaker 2: he chose Buck's character to explore that route, and now
Speaker 2: seeing it happen in front of our eyes, it makes
Speaker 2: so much sense. It just the way him, Buck and
Speaker 2: Tommy are getting together and the way they're exploring their
Speaker 2: own individuality and personality. It's beautiful to watch. I was
Speaker 2: very excited to see you know that episode specifically just
Speaker 2: for the fact that it was such a moment between
Speaker 2: you know, a friend and another friend who had held
Speaker 2: this huge secret and how do you come out to
Speaker 2: your friend? You know, because I know I've had this
Speaker 2: actually in my own personal life. I've said this in
Speaker 2: prior interviews. I had a friend who was at least
Speaker 2: scared of coming out to me, and I realized that
Speaker 2: that moment itself wasn't so much the journey for me,
Speaker 2: you know, it was this hard journey for himself, and
Speaker 2: all I had to do was catch I just had
Speaker 2: to be there for him. And I was like, that
Speaker 2: moment itself is so beautiful. I can't wait to do
Speaker 2: that scene. I can't wait to, you know, show the
Speaker 2: world like this is how you you be there for
Speaker 2: your brother. Wow.
Speaker 1: How cool that you could pull from your real life
Speaker 1: experience and make that scene even more special, which is
Speaker 1: why I think it came off so incredibly powerful. It
Speaker 1: really was so cool to see, and the reception has
Speaker 1: been absolutely incredible in terms of people feeling like, you know,
Speaker 1: they're scene through that character and it's on primetime TV,
Speaker 1: and you don't see a ton of that, which is
Speaker 1: still kind of crazy, but you know, and of course
Speaker 1: there were some negative comments, which blows my mind. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that blew your mind too to see that,
Speaker 1: because who cares.
Speaker 2: Right, Honestly, I've got this now filter for negative comments.
Speaker 2: They just kind of seep right through, and I don't
Speaker 2: even hold onto anything. So all I've seen is really
Speaker 2: really good comments. And one of the best parts is
Speaker 2: actually have gone to work and Oliver himself has been
Speaker 2: like telling me these stories of people saying, man, I
Speaker 2: did not have the strength to come out until way
Speaker 2: later on in my life. So I'm like, oh, man,
Speaker 2: could you imagine twenty thirty years of holding onto this
Speaker 2: repressed thing and then it just eating way at you
Speaker 2: and not being able to say anything, even to the
Speaker 2: closest people, and then seeing something on television to inspire
Speaker 2: you that kind of thing is just like WHOA, Okay,
Speaker 2: We're doing something much greater, much bigger than us.
Speaker 1: He's not the only one inspiring. It's characters like you,
Speaker 1: because you're showing you know what an ally means. And
Speaker 1: I think that's really cool to see this, Like macho
Speaker 1: cool guy that's just like cool, like who cares, and
Speaker 1: that's also equally as powerful and as important. Before we
Speaker 1: put a pin on this, you know, part of the
Speaker 1: conversation you mentioned you never know what the writers are
Speaker 1: going to do, and I think there were talks at
Speaker 1: one point if possibly Eddie being the one to come
Speaker 1: out in some sort of way. Do you laugh and
Speaker 1: have fun with all of the fandom's obsession with you
Speaker 1: as Eddie and Buck getting together? Like is that something
Speaker 1: you guys always are seeing and hearing and I know
Speaker 1: everyone brings it up to you, and it's something that's
Speaker 1: always looming, Like how do you react to that? Does
Speaker 1: it ever get tiring for you?
Speaker 2: Again, if the fans are interested, we're doing our jazz.
Speaker 2: So I love the love and I mean, unfortunately I'm
Speaker 2: not the one that writes it, so it's all up
Speaker 2: to Tim. But me and Oliver have a really good
Speaker 2: time with the fact that, you know, people are so
Speaker 2: invested into these storylines, and in fact, they're so invested
Speaker 2: they're creating their own storylines. They're us you know, clips
Speaker 2: and edits and videos, and you know, every now and
Speaker 2: then Oliver will show me something, I'll show Oliver or
Speaker 2: something like, did we actually do this in a scene?
Speaker 2: This actually had because they cut it so well together. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so yeah, I think at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: you know, we just love the love. We're here to
Speaker 2: entertain and tell the truth. If it's true to the
Speaker 2: character then Yet.
Speaker 1: You can't predict the future. Nobody can on this show.
Speaker 1: But if the opportunity one day happened to come your
Speaker 1: way where they were like, this storyline might be explored
Speaker 1: between fucking Eddie, would you be open to that storyline
Speaker 1: and in the future, I see you smiling, I said.
Speaker 1: Oliver had the same reaction, a big as grint on
Speaker 1: his space when I asked this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, like I said, it's got to live
Speaker 2: in the truth. And I think right now we live
Speaker 2: at a moment, or me, I live moment to moment. So
Speaker 2: I love the fact that the biggest plot point between
Speaker 2: these two characters is one happens to be by one
Speaker 2: happens to be hetero, and they have this vulnerability towards
Speaker 2: each other. And that is the truth to me, is
Speaker 2: it's the fact that you have such a safe space
Speaker 2: and it doesn't matter your sexuality, that you have a
Speaker 2: safe space to talk to this individual and he can
Speaker 2: fully accept you. If we can stay with that, then
Speaker 2: whatever happens happens. But I don't necessarily want to push
Speaker 2: the fact that because you're vulnerable, you have to be
Speaker 2: one way or the other in your sexuality. That I
Speaker 2: would hate to you know, have a lot of other
Speaker 2: men who are struggling mentally and not sure about Oh
Speaker 2: do I even open up? Will that make me something
Speaker 2: that I'm not? I would hate to push that narrative.
Speaker 2: So if we live in the truth, whatever happens happens,
Speaker 2: and again, I'm here for it all.
Speaker 1: Whatever happens happens. That's a nice way to put it.
Speaker 1: And I agree with you. I think there's power in both, right.
Speaker 1: I think there's power in showing a strong friendship that
Speaker 1: you don't always get to see, and then there's power
Speaker 1: if something eventually does happen. So whatever happens happens. I
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: What can we expect for the rest of the season
Speaker 1: with your character? Is anything you can tease the finales
Speaker 1: coming up? We have a couple more weeks. What can
Speaker 1: we expect?
Speaker 2: What can we expect? Well, we can expect that Eddie
Speaker 2: Smiles might turn to frowns. Oh no, or at least confusion.
Speaker 2: Maybe we'll start to see, you know, has he gotten
Speaker 2: past certain traumas or is he just kind of pushed
Speaker 2: them to the side and acting like they're not there.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I have to say a lot of people are still
Speaker 1: holding on to hope that we're going to get that
Speaker 1: karaoke scene.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, we had such a good time playing
Speaker 2: that karaoke scene, and it was kind of a letdown
Speaker 2: a little bit to know that it wasn't going to
Speaker 2: be in there. But now again, looking at the episode itself,
Speaker 2: as fun as it would be, the main story was
Speaker 2: Chimney and the way Kenneth Troy played Chimney and that
Speaker 2: episode specifically. I mean I think he got you know,
Speaker 2: performance of the Week for that, it would have been
Speaker 2: a disservice to add, you know, a three minute scene
Speaker 2: of us laughing and having a great time and being
Speaker 2: drunk saying karaoke and take away from that performance. So
Speaker 2: I'm glad that Tim made that decision. And I don't
Speaker 2: know if he has any plans on showing that later
Speaker 2: on or whatnot, or having some extended clip version, but
Speaker 2: I could tell you this much, everybody from the cast,
Speaker 2: to the crew, to the background had a wild and
Speaker 2: crazy time doing that scene.
Speaker 1: And I think what I just heard you say is
Speaker 1: you might accidentally drop it on your Instagram very soon.
Speaker 2: I might get fired if I do that. All right,
Speaker 2: well we'll see.
Speaker 1: I'll talk to AIRBCPR No problem. What do you want
Speaker 1: to see for season eight? Like, are you thinking about
Speaker 1: the future is? They're like, okay, if I could have
Speaker 1: my way, I absolutely want to explore blank.
Speaker 2: To be honest, there's so much going at us, so rapid,
Speaker 2: so fast paced. At this moment. The scripts are getting
Speaker 2: handed in like quick as can be, so we have
Speaker 2: a moment's notice to kind of know what we're doing
Speaker 2: and where we're going with our character. From what I know,
Speaker 2: from what I've shot thus far, I think next season.
Speaker 3: Will literally be a refresh button to Eddie and starting
Speaker 3: over in so many different ways, so many new ways
Speaker 3: in which Eddie has never looked bored, and we've never
Speaker 3: seen Eddie explore.
Speaker 2: He'll be He'll be on his own in a lot
Speaker 2: of areas.
Speaker 1: Speaking of that, I have to bring up season five
Speaker 1: the mental health breakdown. Man, that was Oh that was intense,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people felt very connected to that.
Speaker 1: How was it stepping into that scene for you and
Speaker 1: that storyline, because it's pretty powerful.
Speaker 2: Thank you man. That was cathartic, to be honest, it
Speaker 2: was I've gone through my own mental health issues as
Speaker 2: far as, like, you know, my own depression and anxiety,
Speaker 2: and and you know, I was raised in an age
Speaker 2: where men aren't vulnerable and aren't allowed to show feelings.
Speaker 2: So that kind of repression is like a ticking time bomb,
Speaker 2: you know, especially for a person in Eddie's life or
Speaker 2: his lifestyle. So to kind of relinquish this boundary of
Speaker 2: who Ryan is and step into Eddie and just kind
Speaker 2: of just full on dive deep into this well of emotion,
Speaker 2: it was it was almost like therapy. It was crazy
Speaker 2: because you know, from the second they started to say rolling,
Speaker 2: it's like I just started to, you know, start balling
Speaker 2: and crying. And when Buck comes in and you know,
Speaker 2: he's trying to check in on me, and the whole
Speaker 2: room is just all scattered around and I'm losing it.
Speaker 2: It's just like there was no semblance of Ryan anymore.
Speaker 2: It was just all Eddie and it was just lost.
Speaker 2: And that's what it is. It's like if I were
Speaker 2: to look at my son, you know, five year old son.
Speaker 2: That's kind of what we revert back to is just
Speaker 2: this child that is just so scared and not having
Speaker 2: any sense of direction and our hope that anybody will
Speaker 2: ever love him or ever see him. And it's just
Speaker 2: these like you know, existential fears that come out within
Speaker 2: those tears, and that my goal to portray that whole
Speaker 2: scene and then the scene following it, so to get
Speaker 2: there was just let go, just let go.
Speaker 1: Well, the work you did was clearly honest and raw
Speaker 1: and vulnerable. You can't fake the work that you did
Speaker 1: in that, and it was really powerful man for many
Speaker 1: people to kind of go through that with you, and
Speaker 1: for people who have had their own experiences and you're right, like,
Speaker 1: I'm from an old school Italian family and you know,
Speaker 1: you grow up thinking men don't go through that and
Speaker 1: men don't show those emotions. So to have that on
Speaker 1: primetime TV is huge.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I hope that helped out a lot of people.
Speaker 2: I hope that people were actually able to see that
Speaker 2: and at least, you know, go to their best guy friend,
Speaker 2: and you know, I think that's what really needs to
Speaker 2: happen as far as men. We need to lean on
Speaker 2: each other. You know, women have thought their own issues
Speaker 2: and they have their certain way of connecting with each other.
Speaker 2: But there's a special connection that you can have with
Speaker 2: your brother. And I give so much credit to quite
Speaker 2: a few of my personal brothers in including my actual brother,
Speaker 2: for allowing me to run to them in my moments
Speaker 2: of need and my moments of feeling lost, and them,
Speaker 2: you know, being men themselves, not having to say one
Speaker 2: thing to me or they can just you know, if
Speaker 2: they see me in a moment of you know, deep
Speaker 2: into a problem, they have the ability to say, well,
Speaker 2: here's a solution. And since i'm you know, of like mind,
Speaker 2: I can be like, okay, you know what, thank you
Speaker 2: forgiving me some kind of direction. So yeah, I implore
Speaker 2: all men out there to kind of at least have
Speaker 2: one or two in your corner, you know, because we
Speaker 2: can't get anywhere without community, lean on each other.
Speaker 1: That's certainly a good way to take care of, you know,
Speaker 1: our own mental health is have that community.
Speaker 2: It's so important. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: What have you most learned about yourself through playing this
Speaker 1: character for so many years? You know, you joined in
Speaker 1: season two, It's been a lot of years now under
Speaker 1: your belt.
Speaker 2: Have you thought about that?
Speaker 1: Have you learned anything through playing Eddie?
Speaker 2: I've learned a lot through Eddie. I've learned patience. You know.
Speaker 2: He has a sense of patience that I didn't have
Speaker 2: in the beginning, even prior to being a father, you know,
Speaker 2: and then kids itself, they teach you how to be patient.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I've learned how to be there as a father.
Speaker 2: Kind of oddly enough, it's just living as one on
Speaker 2: screen prior to actually being one in real life. It
Speaker 2: gave me, say, practice, I get to practice on television
Speaker 2: what I get to imploring with my own children. And
Speaker 2: you know, even if it's the worst thing for Eddie,
Speaker 2: you know, and I see him doing something horrible, at
Speaker 2: least I come back home like, well, that can't happen.
Speaker 2: I can't do that with my kids. So yeah, and
Speaker 2: in so many ways it's helped me grow as a man,
Speaker 2: let alone a father.
Speaker 1: That's pretty awesome when you can take things away from
Speaker 1: your job like that and become a better I love
Speaker 1: that so much. Can you believe you've been on the
Speaker 1: show for so long now, do you ever think like, damn,
Speaker 1: that's that's not normal. That's the rarity in the business.
Speaker 1: So is that a cool feeling for you?
Speaker 2: Yeah. I literally just had that moment yesterday when he
Speaker 2: was filming a scene all of us, the whole cast,
Speaker 2: and I'm sitting outside, Oh, I can't tell you the
Speaker 2: location that's gonna blow something. I'm sitting outside one of
Speaker 2: the sets, and I just had that moment to myself.
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh my God, like I'm actually here, Like
Speaker 2: how did I get so lucky to be on not
Speaker 2: only just a television show, the number one television show
Speaker 2: out there, where we're in our seventh season and we're
Speaker 2: making we're creating numbers that people don't even get in
Speaker 2: their first season. So again, if there's a moment to
Speaker 2: tap into, let's get into that gratitude and again and
Speaker 2: just be super thankful that I was lucky enough to
Speaker 2: land there.
Speaker 1: That is so cool and that's why I no doubt
Speaker 1: you'll continue having so much success in your career and
Speaker 1: in your personal life because you keep bringing up gratitude
Speaker 1: and it's very evident that something you lead your life with.
Speaker 1: And in fact, I saw a recent Instagram post where
Speaker 1: you give a beautiful tribute to Twitch and you credit
Speaker 1: him with being able to form connection with people in
Speaker 1: your life now and to different things and places, and
Speaker 1: I thought that was such a beautiful way to show
Speaker 1: people that you're working on yourself and you're a work
Speaker 1: in progress, and that he helped you kind of open
Speaker 1: your eyes. So that was a really cool moment for
Speaker 1: you to also reveal thank you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I believe so much of the world right now
Speaker 2: is showcasing a polished version of themselves, And to be honest,
Speaker 2: I did it myself for so long that I've become
Speaker 2: tired of it, and I would much rather get to
Speaker 2: the raw, the raw, the unfiltered, the you know, the
Speaker 2: mess ups, the you know. I've stuck my foot in
Speaker 2: my mouth too many times. I've done, you know, stupid
Speaker 2: things in my life, and I never want to present
Speaker 2: myself as a person that does everything great because there's
Speaker 2: so many things I suck at. So I think there's
Speaker 2: an opportunity within that rawness to invite others to become
Speaker 2: raw themselves and for us to see that, you know,
Speaker 2: we're not competing with each other. We're competing with ourself
Speaker 2: and our own image of ourself. And friends like you know,
Speaker 2: a brother like like twitch, you know, and not understanding
Speaker 2: what he was going through and that lack of connectivity
Speaker 2: that I always you know, felt but never acted on,
Speaker 2: which again I felt imposter syndrome for so long of
Speaker 2: calling him my brother. It really struck a chord in me.
Speaker 2: And now I can't go backwards. Now I'm propelled forward
Speaker 2: to be like, is this conversation authentic between us? Or
Speaker 2: are we just kind of saying what we have to
Speaker 2: say just so we can pass on to the next
Speaker 2: person and create whatever that is. And I'm not here
Speaker 2: for that. I would much rather have that depth, and
Speaker 2: I'd much rather have that.
Speaker 1: Rawness beautifully said and a perfect segue. And so what
Speaker 1: I want to finish this conversation with, which is based
Speaker 1: off the title of the show. I've never said this before.
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering, is there anything that comes to mind
Speaker 1: that you want to share today that you've never shared before?
Speaker 2: Uh huh, Yeah, you know what, I've been thinking about
Speaker 2: this for so long, and there's so many things, you know,
Speaker 2: that come to mind, one specifically, and it's been hesitant
Speaker 2: to actually say any of this for so long because
Speaker 2: you know, it's been years upon years, about six and
Speaker 2: a half seven years ago, and I've really never said
Speaker 2: this out loud, especially onto a public platform. I had
Speaker 2: my own mental health crisis, and I tried at one
Speaker 2: point in time to take my own life.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 2: Luckily it didn't work. Luckily I got a second chance,
Speaker 2: by the grace of God, and from that moment forward,
Speaker 2: I've taken each step as an opportunity to erase what
Speaker 2: got me there and build on what allowed me to
Speaker 2: live forward. So I would say that that moment itself,
Speaker 2: in addition to what happened to my brother twitch are
Speaker 2: probably the two biggest fundamental moments of my entire life
Speaker 2: and have allowed me to have a deeper sense of
Speaker 2: mercy and empathy towards every individual. So I would implore
Speaker 2: that all men renounce this fact of you know, you're
Speaker 2: a man, you have to hold all this sin, but
Speaker 2: lean on your brother, really lean on your brother. And
Speaker 2: if your brothers aren't being there and the way they
Speaker 2: need to be, find some new ones. That's another thing.
Speaker 2: If you don't have the people that are conducive to
Speaker 2: a healthy livestyle, you're keeping onto them because of loyalty,
Speaker 2: let them go. There's plenty of other people. There's people
Speaker 2: that have been through your situation before that are willing
Speaker 2: and more than willing, you know, to help. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that was a big one man.
Speaker 1: First of all, thank you for sharing something so personal
Speaker 1: and close to your heart with me today. I feel
Speaker 1: honored that you did open up and share that, and
Speaker 1: I'm truly god this could be another half hour conversation,
Speaker 1: so I'll keep it short, but I'm truly grateful that
Speaker 1: you are spreading that message today for anybody listening, because
Speaker 1: you know, mental health is a crisis, and I think
Speaker 1: people sometimes look at you, they look at me, they
Speaker 1: think everything's perfect. We are, you know, in this public
Speaker 1: space and what can be wrong, And when you humanize
Speaker 1: real shit like that, it makes people feel less alone.
Speaker 1: And you got through it, you realize that wasn't the
Speaker 1: right way to go about it, and your life forever
Speaker 1: changed for the better. And I'm truly grateful that you
Speaker 1: put that message out today because you have no idea
Speaker 1: how many people you're going to be helping with that,
Speaker 1: and I truly know that that's something that's not easy
Speaker 1: to get off your chest. And for that, I thank you,
Speaker 1: and I know so many people will be thanking you,
Speaker 1: and I hope you feel kind of like a little
Speaker 1: bit of a weightlifted that you share that hopefully.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of hard to understand what I'm feeling
Speaker 2: at the moment, but I hope in what you've said
Speaker 2: is true, and I hope that again I would love
Speaker 2: to do more for mental health, especially for men. I
Speaker 2: mean just in general, to be honest. But yes, I
Speaker 2: hope that there is a new wave out there that's
Speaker 2: kind of taking over that we can actually, you know,
Speaker 2: have some cohesiveness and connection and true understanding what connection is.
Speaker 2: Let's revisit that, so this issue isn't a common issue anymore.
Speaker 2: If we can take that down, then let's do it.
Speaker 1: I'm here for beautifully said, and thank you again for
Speaker 1: sharing that. I could talk to you for hours, especially
Speaker 1: leaving with that. I think you're such a cool person,
Speaker 1: and you know you watch people. I get to talk
Speaker 1: to people all the time, but this, to me was
Speaker 1: a real conversation, and that's what I value. That's why
Speaker 1: I have a show called I've never said this before,
Speaker 1: and I want to talk about the projects that the
Speaker 1: fans love, but also leave room to talk about things
Speaker 1: that matter. I don't think there's enough of that, So
Speaker 1: I truly thank you for hanging out, for coming on,
Speaker 1: for talking about the fun of nine to one one,
Speaker 1: which we all love and it's killing it in every way,
Speaker 1: but also sharing a little piece of view. I hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed the conversation as much as I have.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, my man. Yeah, I had a
Speaker 2: great time.
Speaker 1: Thank you, and remind everyone where how when all the
Speaker 1: things about your show?
Speaker 2: Yes, please watch Thursdays at eight on ABC.
Speaker 1: All right, and stay tuned for the karaoke scene that
Speaker 1: you just promised you will be dropping.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe when I'm fired again.
Speaker 1: All right, man, until we meet again, Take care, all.
Speaker 2: Right, brother man.
Speaker 1: If you or someone you know is struggling with the
Speaker 1: suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
Speaker 1: one eight hundred two seven three eight two five five.
Speaker 1: You can also text strength to the crisis text line
Speaker 1: at seven four one dash seven four to one, or
Speaker 1: go to Suicide Prevention Lifeline dot org. This information is
Speaker 1: all in the description on my episode page. So I
Speaker 1: hope you use the resources if you feel like you
Speaker 1: need to. And man, just another note. By Ryan sharing
Speaker 1: his truth, I know that he will help many people
Speaker 1: feel less alone and hopefully feel the same kind of
Speaker 1: safety he felt in asking for help.
Speaker 2: If they are struggling.
Speaker 1: I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me Tommy
Speaker 1: de Dario. This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Puglisi
Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio and by Me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney.
Speaker 1: I've Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis
Speaker 1: Duran podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate, review
Speaker 1: and subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
Speaker 1: tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy de Dario