Speaker 1: I Am all in You.
Speaker 2: I Am all in with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all in Podcast. One
Speaker 1: on one interview with Steve Braun one eleven Productions. iHeart Radio,
Speaker 1: iHeart Media, iHeart Podcasts. We have a fella who Let
Speaker 1: me tell you a little something about him. He was
Speaker 1: in one episode of Gilmore Girl, was a very memorable episode.
Speaker 1: He portrayed Trip cavanall like Logan's website launch party, was
Speaker 1: one who kept talking about his house in Tortola. And
Speaker 1: let me tell you a little something about Steve. He's
Speaker 1: an acting coach and communication consultant, drawing on many years
Speaker 1: of acting training, Buddhist practice, and Mark Arts training to
Speaker 1: help his clients discovering express there unique emotional truth. While
Speaker 1: pursuing an acting career, Steve starred in movies such as
Speaker 1: How Kamar Go to White Castle, Wrong Turn Two, and
Speaker 1: The Trip, and he's a series regular on The Immortal
Speaker 1: and Twins. He gets started on CSI, Miami, CSI, New
Speaker 1: York Bones, Gilmore Girls, The Closer, and CIS and The Mentalist. Steve,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast Pleasure Having you. We have a
Speaker 1: lot to talk about let's start off by talking about
Speaker 1: how you got this part. How'd you get the role?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, like a lot of actors, I auditioned,
Speaker 2: but this series, as you know, was different in that
Speaker 2: the words needed to be spat out so unbelievably rapid fire.
Speaker 2: But also this guy like the douchiest of the douchees
Speaker 2: who shows up at this party, like you know, just
Speaker 2: going on and on about tortola and whatever else, Like
Speaker 2: it needed to be even faster than that. So I
Speaker 2: prided myself as being someone who could spit out words
Speaker 2: the rapid fire. But this was a challenge. But so
Speaker 2: I remember in the edition was first up, and I
Speaker 2: went in there and I just I don't know that
Speaker 2: the planets aligned, and I got all these like just
Speaker 2: these these thick chunks of dialogue out rapid fire, And honestly,
Speaker 2: I think that was it, and you know, channeled some
Speaker 2: of that annoying, snobby douchebag that that might live in me.
Speaker 1: Well, uh, you played Trip Kavanaugh. We met him at
Speaker 1: Logan's launch party. Was very memorable that now, when you
Speaker 1: got your lines, did it did it intimidate you? Because
Speaker 1: you were you were there, there were these long descriptions
Speaker 1: about your house and Tortsola was so much dialogue, Yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit.
Speaker 2: I mean I mean it's it's both an opportunity and like, oh,
Speaker 2: I gotta like actually spit this stuff out. So I
Speaker 2: mean the words were so beautiful because they're just hideous, like,
Speaker 2: I mean, who is this jerk? Right?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: And and the reaction to the other actors just only
Speaker 2: made it even juicier. So I think mostly this number
Speaker 2: of years ago, I saw it as just more fun
Speaker 2: than you could possibly have doing anything else. Uh, and
Speaker 2: to be paid for it, I mean, what a joy?
Speaker 3: M hm.
Speaker 1: And so the speed of the diagalogue dialogue is usually
Speaker 1: what gets people. What was your what was your method
Speaker 1: for conquering that? You just you just ran it to death.
Speaker 1: You just get it over and over and you just.
Speaker 2: Now this repetition like at that point with that level
Speaker 2: of speed and also that many words, to me, everyone's
Speaker 2: got their own. It's just muscle memory. So if I
Speaker 2: can like my mouth to remember these things, then I
Speaker 2: can kind of go on autopilot and just deal with
Speaker 2: the actors in front of me while my mouth is
Speaker 2: spitting out this ridiculousness, which I suspect there is a
Speaker 2: disconnection and the character like this, he's not like you know,
Speaker 2: checking in to see whether his audience is okay or
Speaker 2: like whether they're you know, like connected in their hearts.
Speaker 2: He just spit. I think that's what worked for me.
Speaker 1: So what do you remember about filming that day? What
Speaker 1: was your top It's the top thing that pops in
Speaker 1: y as.
Speaker 2: A great group of actors. Everyone was really because, like
Speaker 2: you know, you'll have on a series like that, a
Speaker 2: lot of scenes with two people, three people, but like
Speaker 2: the energy of the background performers and the party scenario,
Speaker 2: a bunch of people, kind of comic characters coming in
Speaker 2: and out. There was energy there which was really exciting.
Speaker 2: Also just sort of anecdotally, then Senator Obama was kind
Speaker 2: of on the scenes. I remember that there was there
Speaker 2: was conversations around who this new person was, who would
Speaker 2: buzzibly be president one day? That sticks out for me,
Speaker 2: But mostly like the the well oiled machine at that
Speaker 2: point of making great television consistently and quickly, like you
Speaker 2: could you could tell that everyone knew what the hell
Speaker 2: they were doing, happy to be there. It was a
Speaker 2: good environment.
Speaker 1: Was it was it different from other shows that you did?
Speaker 1: The environment yeah, oh for sure. Well I tell you what,
Speaker 1: how I was to compare them, compare them?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so all right, let's let's spill the tea. Like,
Speaker 2: so let's say you've got a series regular who is
Speaker 2: just not a happy person, but they've booked this series
Speaker 2: regular job with and with that comes an expectation that
Speaker 2: they should be happy, right, Like you're shot out at
Speaker 2: two pm, you got your health insurance, like, smile, right,
Speaker 2: But they're still miserable, and so they're trying to control
Speaker 2: their environment. And you know, there's a lot of that
Speaker 2: can go around. If like the one, two, three in
Speaker 2: the call sheet are nasty and not having a good
Speaker 2: time of it, it really trickles down. It effects affect
Speaker 2: everyone else, right, So but here you at a situation
Speaker 2: where that that wasn't the case, Like there was just
Speaker 2: a lot of supportive energy. Everyone is really kind.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I've been on sets, particularly TV sets, where you're working
Speaker 2: with someone for a full week, fifteen hour days and
Speaker 2: they don't even introduce themselves, right, it wasn't wasn't the
Speaker 2: case here.
Speaker 1: Like it was a good group really. So so you
Speaker 1: worked on shows where where the leads were wrapped at
Speaker 1: two pm.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wow, because it's you know, like season twenty seven
Speaker 2: or like whatever it.
Speaker 1: Is, right, the executive.
Speaker 2: Cruisers and then whatever. They kind of show up with
Speaker 2: a little twinkle in their eye and they say their
Speaker 2: line and they go home and.
Speaker 1: Oh, now I know what you're talking about. I know
Speaker 1: what you're talking about. Man, I know what you're talking about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, so you know your character trips seem to
Speaker 1: be oblivious that Logan and Roy weren't into your story. Yeah,
Speaker 1: about your house in Toortle, How is it working with
Speaker 1: Alexis and Matt and those scenes so.
Speaker 2: Great because I mean, I think it shows in the
Speaker 2: final cut like that they held all my ridiculous yammering
Speaker 2: with a beautiful container of awkwardness that made me look
Speaker 2: even more ridiculous, which was terrific. So and I think,
Speaker 2: you know, the generosity, So you're in a situation like
Speaker 2: that and the other actor who's just walking on for
Speaker 2: a day, right, has a ton of dialogue you can
Speaker 2: if you have an understanding of like the overall picture
Speaker 2: and how like if everyone's good in the show, we
Speaker 2: all look good to try to offer something generously to
Speaker 2: that actor to help them get through all of this dialogue.
Speaker 2: They didn't have to do that, but they did. And
Speaker 2: then again, I think what shows in the final cut
Speaker 2: is them just the internal eye rolls and the awkwardness
Speaker 2: around this idiot.
Speaker 1: So your last role was sixteen years ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I stepped away.
Speaker 1: Why did you step away?
Speaker 2: You know? The writer's strike hapen, the last writer's strike
Speaker 2: hap And I was sort of left without a paycheck
Speaker 2: and without an ego stroke. And I kind of realized, oh, like,
Speaker 2: this is really just a paycheck and an ego stroke
Speaker 2: for me. So I started working around that time on
Speaker 2: the first Obama campaign and just sort of helping staff
Speaker 2: and volunteers express their unique truth about the candidate and
Speaker 2: kind of spread the message. And that was a year
Speaker 2: and a half two year process. I started leaning more
Speaker 2: into martial arts, internal arts that I've done for fifteen
Speaker 2: years at that point.
Speaker 1: What kind of martial arts, what style.
Speaker 2: Shell and kung fu? I've done sort of kung fu proper,
Speaker 2: krav magalo boxing, taiji twan, but mostly it went to
Speaker 2: internal arts, meditation sheng that'th work that sort of thing?
Speaker 1: And is there a studio that you dojo that you
Speaker 1: go to in the area?
Speaker 2: Uh, you know, I go to a bunch. But you know,
Speaker 2: for eleven discipleship of this the Shellon monk that I
Speaker 2: was working with and no kidding, now what I do
Speaker 2: Taichi with the elders in the park mostly.
Speaker 1: And now where and what city are you in? Now?
Speaker 2: Right now? I'm in Vancouver. I'm back in fourteen Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: Oh you're in Vancouver. Oh that's so interesting.
Speaker 2: I'm here got a place in August of twenty twenty
Speaker 2: in the middle of the pandemic.
Speaker 1: Have you been to the Shallon Temple in China?
Speaker 2: No, planning a trip just before COVID.
Speaker 1: Boh they do incredible things there. Yeah, all right. So
Speaker 1: you're an acting coach as well. You got your own
Speaker 1: acting schools called BGB Studio. When did you start that?
Speaker 2: I started that in twenty twelve. I mean I've been
Speaker 2: I've been coaching since two thousand and seven or eight.
Speaker 2: Just to tie this back to Gilmore Girls, my studio
Speaker 2: partner is Reesa braydmon Garcia, who uh has?
Speaker 1: Who was so sure she's a she was? She's a
Speaker 1: big time casting person.
Speaker 2: That's right. And she cast the reboot the Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 2: Year in the Life.
Speaker 1: Does she really Reesa Brayman Garcia cast the reboot.
Speaker 2: And Jamie Rodowski, who cast me in My who cast
Speaker 2: me as Trip in My episode of Gilmore Girls. She
Speaker 2: ended up working at our studio for a number of
Speaker 2: years and she she also cast the reboot with with Reesa.
Speaker 2: Yeah so recent. I started in twenty twelve and it's
Speaker 2: been going strong ever since.
Speaker 1: How many students do you have?
Speaker 2: You know? It sort of fluctuates as we've eight week
Speaker 2: classes and ongoing classes from like two four hundred depending
Speaker 2: on the month.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's fantastic, but it's.
Speaker 2: Uh, it's it's beautiful. I it's to be deeply in
Speaker 2: the work of human connection and it's it's so much
Speaker 2: more than just book a job for the actors at
Speaker 2: our studio, and it's a community. It's all sorts of
Speaker 2: great things.
Speaker 1: You teach kids too, Yeah, we just started teaching kids. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got to deal with their parents.
Speaker 2: That's the trick.
Speaker 1: There's amazing to do that too. And I had a
Speaker 1: Saturday class for kids and I my ex girlfriend is
Speaker 1: great acting teacher, great actress. I said, you do this
Speaker 1: Saturday thing. I can't deal with the parents because.
Speaker 2: You set something up right. But then sorry, like we
Speaker 2: can't make it because I slept in or we got
Speaker 2: to go to soccer. Like the scheduling, it's like it's
Speaker 2: it's a nightmare.
Speaker 1: But my daughter is a star. Do you not see that? Right?
Speaker 2: That's right? You know what you know? What she needs
Speaker 2: is audition technive. That's what she needs.
Speaker 1: I heard it. I heard it everywhere. I couldn't take
Speaker 1: it anymore. We drove from Florida. This girl is a star.
Speaker 1: Do you see it? Uh? Oh man sad? All right.
Speaker 1: So if there any actors listening who are just starting
Speaker 1: the careers, what's your first piece of advice you would
Speaker 1: give to them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think less about booking the job and really
Speaker 2: get in right relationship to why you're doing it. I
Speaker 2: mean to me, And this sort of sounds like sacriligious
Speaker 2: or like I'm killing someone's dream, But there's nothing that
Speaker 2: the industry can give you that will be more important
Speaker 2: and deeper than what the art can give you. That
Speaker 2: level of human connection that you get to experience multiple
Speaker 2: times a day, that's the actual goal of it. And
Speaker 2: if you focus on that, expanding yourself as a human being,
Speaker 2: you know, leaning into connection and vulnerability and presence, and
Speaker 2: if you can learn to love that for its own sake,
Speaker 2: Then the industry has, you know, the tendency to come
Speaker 2: back around and be attracted to you, but too lost.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to book work. You start spinning your tail.
Speaker 1: You totally agree. Yeah, you got to be in it
Speaker 1: for the right reasons, for the love of the craft.
Speaker 2: Which sounds ridiculous, Like it sounds so like something like
Speaker 2: Trip would say, But that's it, Like that's the audition's secret,
Speaker 2: right there, h it is.
Speaker 1: Do you think there are more opportunities for actors now
Speaker 1: because of all the streaming content available? I don't. I agree,
Speaker 1: I don't think there are either.
Speaker 2: Right, Like yeah, like it's and its it's antithetical to
Speaker 2: like what what you're you're seeing because you think, oh,
Speaker 2: there's more opportunity, there's there's not. But there's more opportunity
Speaker 2: with the technology that's available to you to be an artist,
Speaker 2: to be an actor, to write your own stuff, shoot
Speaker 2: your own stuff, be someone who is a creative person.
Speaker 2: But the industry proper, I think, is contracting and shifting
Speaker 2: and it's uh classic industrial model needs needs some work,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: Uh So, in your opinion, how can an actor stand
Speaker 1: out against hundreds of others who are going or an audition.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, don't mean to get all like woo
Speaker 2: woo on you, but I truly believe that every human
Speaker 2: being is unique indeed to the universe. So leaning all
Speaker 2: the way in uh to your unique emotional more experience
Speaker 2: of that world of the play, then invariably your expression
Speaker 2: of the art will be unique and so like by definition,
Speaker 2: will stand out from others. Whether whether it's something that
Speaker 2: they want or not. That's different because we start monetizing
Speaker 2: things that it gets different. But to me, that's that's
Speaker 2: the work of it. Consistently, it is.
Speaker 1: It is so true, and so many young actors get
Speaker 1: caught up in the the fallacy that imitating Brando or
Speaker 1: imitating John Maclovitch is going to get them a job,
Speaker 1: and it just isn't because everybody's going to see it
Speaker 1: and they're going to go just shake their head and go,
Speaker 1: oh god, yeah.
Speaker 2: But the nature of the industry is that, like it's
Speaker 2: meant to commoditize and process art. Right, So it'll say,
Speaker 2: but we want a John Malkovich type, but the actor
Speaker 2: can't hear that. They have to be uniquely them and
Speaker 2: when they are, oh yeah, that's exactly what we were
Speaker 2: looking for.
Speaker 1: No, it's not.
Speaker 2: But but you just someone offered a unique experience that
Speaker 2: was connected in true full and that's why you.
Speaker 1: Gotta be yourself. Well, I want I want acting teacher
Speaker 1: head in New York. You say, if you're gonna play
Speaker 1: yourself all the time, you better be pretty interesting. But
Speaker 1: you know, I do think it's true. You have to
Speaker 1: tap into your own uniqueness. It's the only way to
Speaker 1: differentiate yourself because there's nobody like you. We're gonna play
Speaker 1: rapid fire. You ready, You're under no pressure to answer
Speaker 1: these quickly. How do you like your coffee?
Speaker 2: Black?
Speaker 1: Are your team Logan, Team Jess or Team Dean?
Speaker 2: No idea?
Speaker 1: It was your that's my favorite answer so far podcast.
Speaker 1: I have you know what Ted? And he said, he
Speaker 1: goes who cares? Yours is funnier? I have no idea.
Speaker 1: Who is your favorite Gilmore Girls couple? Luke and Lorelei
Speaker 1: or Emily and Richard? Of course? Would you rather work
Speaker 1: with Michelle or Kirk?
Speaker 2: Michelle?
Speaker 1: Uh? What would you order at Luke's diner?
Speaker 2: Michelle? No, your burger, you know, the classic burger?
Speaker 1: Uh huh?
Speaker 2: Get a milkshake too?
Speaker 1: Would you rather hang out with Paris or Lane Lane,
Speaker 1: Harvard or Yale, or drop out and live in the
Speaker 1: pool house. Pool House for Poolhouse. Probably get a better
Speaker 1: education there. Now. Anyway, would you rather attend a da
Speaker 1: ar event with Emily or a town meeting with Taylor Gilmore?
Speaker 1: Girl's character that you would want as a roommate?
Speaker 2: Uh, Laura, l I.
Speaker 1: Something in your life. You are all in on my daughters.
Speaker 1: Oh beautiful? Yeah, you have to how many daughters? Yet wonderful,
Speaker 1: wonderful children are a miracle. Stephen Brown, Thank you for
Speaker 1: your time. It was enlightening, It was invigorating. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much. You know what, we have a clip. I
Speaker 1: think before we go, we got to see a clip
Speaker 1: of your work. Yeah, Jackie, can you roll that clip?
Speaker 1: I want to see this clip again? Here we go.
Speaker 2: True, hey man, glad you can make it. Mommywethell right,
Speaker 2: And this is my girlfriend Ry Gomo.
Speaker 3: Nice to meet, just back from Tortola. He's building an
Speaker 3: incredible house.
Speaker 2: Then, wow, congratulations, Well we'll see Construction on the island
Speaker 2: is such a joke. I mean, try getting anyone to
Speaker 2: meet a schedule.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've heard that.
Speaker 2: Hey, Plus, my property is totally isolated. Which would be
Speaker 2: great once the house is built. But it's a construction nightmare.
Speaker 2: It turns out v bridge that accesses my land can't
Speaker 2: take the way to the truck carring the supplies. We
Speaker 2: have to offload the supplies onto a smaller vehicle. That
Speaker 2: necessitiated two four clips. No, this is covered in the
Speaker 2: estimate course.
Speaker 1: That was brilliant work. How many takes did you have
Speaker 1: to do? You have to do all kinds of coverage too,
Speaker 1: didn't you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of coverage there, But how many takes?
Speaker 2: It wasn't many? Just got a move right, So.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you just kind of came out and nailed it though,
Speaker 1: didn't you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I remember stumbling a little bit and like
Speaker 2: I needed it to be game day, right, Like I
Speaker 2: stumbled a little bit in the rehearsal. I needed the
Speaker 2: thing to roll for me to actually step into it.
Speaker 2: But but yeah, and you can see those actors like
Speaker 2: really supporting it, which is really lovely.
Speaker 1: Right, there's a lot there was a fun scene. Love
Speaker 1: those scenes. Anyway, Thank you so much for your time
Speaker 1: and sharing your thoughts with us, Steven Brown, Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: round of applause. Anyway, We'll see you next time, everybody,
Speaker 1: and remember we and I am all In stay safe everyone, Hey,
Speaker 1: everybody and Altoget. Follow us on Instagram at I Am
Speaker 1: all In Podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: dot com