WEBVTT - Leonardo Nam 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.600 And I had to leave. And I remember I'd gone 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:05.160 out the night before and I kept pressing snooze, and 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.639 I remember thinking, you know what, Leo, if you can't 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.080 get up, if you can't get your ass up and 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:16.120 go to school for the reason why you left everything 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:21.160 in Australia, because you're too busy going out and partying 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.599 or doing you know, trying to experience this other side 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:25.800 of New York and not the real reason why you've 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.560 come here. Then you just accept it. For the next month, 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.639 you go, you party your balls off, you do it, 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:34.519 and then you get on a plane and you go 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.400 back to Australia. Or you make the decision and you 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.199 make the choice now that you show up for yourself, 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.520 you show up for what you came here to do. 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.440 You give it your all, and then you see what happens. 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:52.120 And that really was the moment that really changed my life. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:58.120 Hey guys, I'm Leonardo nam I currently have a show 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.520 called Maggie on Hulu. But you may know me from 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.640 things like Westwold or Assisted of the Trampling Pants all 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:16.880 my first movie The Perfect Score. Hello everybody, and welcome 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:21.960 to a brand spanking new episode of Off the Beat. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.240 And would you look at that. It's me your host, 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.520 Brian Baumgartner. Today, as you just heard, we are going 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:35.319 to be speaking to the truly amazing Leonardo nam Now 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:41.240 you may know Leo as Westworld employee Felix Lutz or 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:47.160 currently as Dave on Hulu's new hit comedy Maggie. Now. 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:51.400 So interesting about Leo. He was so sure that he 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.680 wanted to be an actor that he traveled across the 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:59.440 world literally to sleep on a bench in Central Park. 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:04.640 That's where New York concrete jungle, where dreams are made of. 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.760 That is where he got his start. And now he's 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.680 been on so many incredible TV shows and movies. After 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:17.840 starting performing Shakespeare in Shakespeare in the Park where he 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:22.080 slept originally, He's gone on to star in The Perfect Score, 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:26.079 The Fast and the Furious, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.920 even where he was cast originally by the offices Ken Kappas. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.160 And I'm told that some of you may be excited 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:39.239 to know that he was once featured in Steve Aoki's 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.760 music video with BTS. So there you go. I thought 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.320 it was pretty amazing. You should go and check it out. Uh. 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:51.040 With all of that said, let's get to it shall 0:02:51.120 --> 0:03:01.880 we my new best friend Leo nam Bubba Squeak. I 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:08.799 love it. Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and squeaker cookie every 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:24.240 month left over from the Nabby. What's up Leo? Hey, Brian, 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.919 how are you? I'm good? How are you? I'm great, man, 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:32.040 I'm I'm excited to be on your show. Hey, thanks 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.880 for having me. Oh, thanks so much, thank you. You 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.960 know your your accent right now? Is is? Really? I 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.920 wasn't sure what accent I was gonna get. You got 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:50.040 the accent right now. I mean, you're you're from all 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.400 four corners of the globe. I am a little bit. 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:59.680 You were born in Buenos Ares to Korean parents. You 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.120 grew up in Sydney, that's the accident I'm hearing, and 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.560 then to New York. This is uh yeah, you're you're 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:14.360 Mr International for sure. Well, it does feel nice to 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.920 to hear someone repeat to me like, oh, where I've 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.320 lived and what I've done, you know most of that stuff. 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:22.320 By the way, you know, it was like not by choice. 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:24.240 It's not like I was like, you know what, I'm 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.839 decided to be born in you know what I mean? 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.880 Nudge me over there. You know, well, I was an 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:39.040 early adapter and passionate fan of Westworld when it started. 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.320 Every Sunday night was sending tweets about how it was 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:47.520 blowing my mind. And obviously you played a pivotal role 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.560 in that. But I do want to go back to 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:56.160 start with your childhood. I mean, obviously an incredibly diverse background. 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:01.440 When did you move to Sydney from argent Tina. I'm 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.560 we moved when I was seven. I believe we started 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.200 to kind of make the trip when I was about six, 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.880 and yeah, it got to Australia, um right at the 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:18.200 end of first grade, I believe when I started school there. 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.760 What do you consider yourself besides international man of Mystery 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:28.200 are are you? Are you Australian? What do you consider yourself? Yeah, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.280 I mean I feel like I am Australian like culturally, 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:37.200 you know, I relate to people most um by as 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.040 being an Australian and I think a lot of that 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:42.599 comes from, um, you know, my formative years being in Australia, 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:49.200 and Australia has this sensibility about themselves where you're Australian first, 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.599 you know more than anything else, and so you're Australian 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.000 and you know whether good or bad. You know, people 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.880 have different perspectives about that, um and and I certainly 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.599 you know, do my off. But but I do love 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:06.120 that quality about Australians, that you're Australian like first and foremost. 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.720 You know, Australia also has like this tall poppy syndrome 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.200 expect where you know everyone's the same and you're like 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:14.599 and if that, if one starts to pop out, you 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:21.479 can cut them off. But yeah, I'm Australian, Korean and 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.599 American and those are kind of the the big key ones. 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.560 Argentinian is you know when you look back at my life, yes, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.920 I definitely am Argentinians as well. But other than you know, 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:37.039 other aspects of small aspects of food and um, some 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.960 aspects of you know, culturally, how I how I relate 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.680 to other people is Argentinian. But you know, ultimately, when 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.960 someone first meets me, what I believe I present first 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.839 is Australian and that's how I feel most comfortable when 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.280 someone relates to me that way. How do you think 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:59.559 that your background there, your history, helped shape you into 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:03.880 who you are? Oh, great question, you know, I feel 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:08.000 like the whole idea and concept of an immigrant is 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.720 all I've known and so the idea that you're not 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.120 of this country, but you are this country in that 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:20.160 you're living here now you're contributing to this country. And 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.400 so I think that that concept of you know, my 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.560 parents being immigrants in Argentina and then being in a 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:30.480 double immigrant then going to Australia, I think that really 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.520 that that put a sense of hope and possibility in 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.760 my life. You know, one thing that happened in Argentina 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.280 was the Falkland Wars were happening, and it was kind 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.480 of a moment where my family's realized that, you know, 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:50.680 ship's going down in Argentin. So my aunt married and 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.400 Aussie and you know, in process of getting married, um, 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.679 my grandmother then it was in Australia and was saying, hey, 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.560 this is definitely a place that is not you know, 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.680 in the midst of war, and it was in the 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.480 kind of in her understanding of Western culture. You know, 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.800 there was an exodus you know from Korea at that time, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.440 it was very much a third world country and so 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.320 looking to to move to the West. You know, their 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.680 first stop was Argentina and then along the way, you know, 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.680 the Fookland Wars happened. So then they moved to Australia. 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:29.080 But I feel like because I came from a family 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.600 that has moved around and have always been able to 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.240 find their feet no matter what, I really connect to 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.679 a sense of hope that I believe is possible. You know, 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.440 like growing up, did I see anyone that looks like 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:50.520 me on screen? And no, there wasn't. There was maybe one, 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:52.960 you know, that was the idea of Bruce Lee, but 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.400 that was even during my time. He was dead and 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.840 so there was no one that was actively telling story 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.480 that looked like me. But I do think that it 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:08.800 was because I had family that did immigrate and immigrated 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.680 twice and really carved their own life in their own 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:17.280 way for their family. For me, for um, it really 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.800 does instan has instilled in me a sense of hope. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:24.520 I really believe. That's so interesting to me because you know, 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.520 in a lot of ways, I'm the opposite, right, I mean, 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:32.400 I'm from the south of the United States, right, and 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.800 most of my family have lived in that region, from 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.760 the kind of the lower Midwest to the deep South. 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:42.760 I mean, me moving to California was a big deal. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.240 I mean, that was that was that was a trip 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.320 where that's like a totally different country from down there. 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.559 But yeah, did they think of you as a betrayer? 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.760 Did you like betray them? By betray maybe a strong 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:58.559 too strong of a world that you know? I mean, 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.800 I traveled around it, did the are quite a bit? 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:05.040 And I guess there was a sense of comeback here. 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.280 I mean, not not so much from my parents. My 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.000 parents were very supportive, but I think there was always 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:14.240 that sort of idea of why are you somewhere else? Now? 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.120 I'll tell you now that I'm in southern California. My 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:24.839 family likes to visit here, so they want so there's 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.360 kind of a free pass for this little in this 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:31.880 little island here. But yeah, but that idea of of 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.680 not being too far from home. And I don't know, 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:36.600 I'm kind of going off on a tangent here, but 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.720 your experience having started so early on that journey of 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.240 finding a new place, finding a new identity in some 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.520 ways in a new place, and that your family had 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.840 done that so often that that becomes second nature. And 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.480 I do think we do live in a global world now, 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.000 and and the idea that you have been or had 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:00.720 experiences and family and in so much of it is awesome. 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:05.600 And I love the idea that that brings hope to you. Yeah, yea, 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.640 that there's there there can be a rebirth. But I 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.839 feel like anyone that strikes out on their own right 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.040 like you did and what have you, I feel like 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.080 we all have to. We have this camaraderie of hope. 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:22.360 We have this camaraderie of belief in humanity and striving 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.560 for for the best life that you can. And I 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.600 love hearing that that you've decided, you made the choice 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:32.040 to like, you know, get out of the town that 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.000 you were in and made it to southern California no 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.880 matter what. And um, I have to say, I'm in 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.559 the same way. You know, we're just we're just traveling shows, 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:49.880 right but you um so okay. So you arrive basically 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:53.880 end of your first grade year to Australia, when do 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:58.400 you start to get a thought of being an actor? 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:04.680 You know? I feel like it kind of started in 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.040 when I was in sixth grade. There was a sense 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.960 of performance that started to come into my sphere. My 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:16.000 brother's a choreographer. He was older than I am, and 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.600 it is older than I am, and he had to 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:23.560 kind of navigate his way through as a dancer at 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.800 the time, and he was very much involved with that. 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.160 Dance world was more hip hop and that kind of stuff. 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.920 But then we were also involved in church, and there 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.760 was a Korean church kind of um, you know, they 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.640 do these performances about about why this is a sin 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.000 to instill fearing, right, and I was like, oh, I 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:51.319 could get into that. Let's do that, right, uh, And 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.640 and we we would perform and do these we write 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:58.679 these plays and stuff and about you know, someone robbing 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.560 a convenience store or you know, bashing an old lady 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.160 and why that was bad and what happened and then 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.679 you know, the devil comes in or what have you. Right, 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:15.480 So these really like wild stories and I really kind 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.800 of enjoyed that. But the next step from there onwards 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:25.080 was I was part of a public speaking after school program. 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.400 And the after school program happened to have a ballet 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:33.000 school that was part of it too, and also a 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.240 drama side to it. And I remember going in and 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:41.880 originally I was part of the public speaking program, and 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.800 I remember I did rather well, and I kept like 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:50.320 not winning. I was like second place or you know, 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:52.760 just a great job that you know, you just didn't 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.120 get it. And I remember the teacher, Miss Hopwood. She 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.640 said to me, you know, Leo, you um, you're either 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.920 so passionate it or you're so technical, and you need 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:06.080 to find a hybrid. And she said, maybe what would 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.840 help you is if you did some drama, and so 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:15.960 she gave me king Lear. At welve, I did the 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.680 Edmund speech and it blew my mind. It blew my 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.520 mind that I thought, oh my goodness, like someone has 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.960 written this from you know, youngkers Ago and I relate 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.720 and resonate in some weird wave even though I'm saying 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.200 these strange words, but I kind of get this feeling. 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.200 And so that kind of was the key that unlocked 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.640 it for me. And so after that, I then started 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.560 to join a theater troupe. And I went to an 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.440 all boys technical high school in Australia that was there 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.680 was no drama, and I started that. I started a 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.640 theater club at school and then because of that, I 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.320 end up doing my I guess what you would call 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:56.320 your s A t S been Australia back then, it 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.280 was called the HC. But I did that in drama 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.160 and in the process of doing that, I found some 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:06.040 wonderful lifelong friends and you know, us theater geeks and 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.200 you know, feeling awkward and weird and trying to find 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.320 ourselves and all that good stuff. Right, I found my 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.520 jam of people, and um, within that, I also found 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.920 my jam of people that were very ambitious and very 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.880 focused and we're really reaching for the stars and and 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.840 you know we're writing musicals, were writing plays, we're writing 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.880 films in high school. Um. So I joined that crew, 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.440 that community, and because of that, I connected with an 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:41.640 agent in Australia who put me in touch with someone 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.280 that's still my mentor to this day. Uh and he 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.920 swan In in Sydney, and um, she really was the 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.560 one if I can attribute the idea of craft and 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:56.320 the respect of craft and class really you know, you know, 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:01.160 being able to have taste and discern meant and she 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.440 brought this concept of elevating my world. And so, um, 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.920 that's kind of how my that that bug happened for me. 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.560 And then from there the leap to New York happened. Yeah. 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:18.480 I mean I had a similar situation myself when it 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.120 changed for me, and it sounds like it roughly the 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.720 same age where I realized that this was not just 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:30.360 an activity, but that this was this was something deeper, 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.360 and I was involved in a program similar to what 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.920 you're talking about, where it was like, oh, I see 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:44.000 everyone had that like, oh, there's so much more to 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:48.600 this that I want to know about. And you decided 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.240 that to pursue this, you you needed to be in 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.240 New York. So I understand it. Nineteen years of age, 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:58.120 you moved to New York to study acting. I hear 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.080 you spent a few nights in Central Park. It yeah, 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:04.280 may I mean I had no money. I mean I 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.679 three hundred bucks in my back pocket and a credit 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.119 card that didn't work. And I thought, hey, it's a 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.520 good idea, great idea, guys, let's just going up and leave. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:19.240 Let's do it. And you know I I was um, 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.080 I just had that that vision and the ambition, you know, 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:26.679 to go through it. I landed in New York, and 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:31.080 I remember the only thing that I knew about was 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:35.360 Broadway Times Square in Central Park. And so at that 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.639 time I remember walking through Times Square just looking at 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.879 all these billboards, being like, oh my god, you know, 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.119 I've made it here. I am here, I am you know, 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:45.960 And then at like two in the morning, You're like, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.400 where am I going to sleep? It didn't click for me. 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:50.600 I was like, where am I gonna sleep? I don't know. 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.960 All I had was the audition date, you know, at 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:58.000 that school. And so I I then just I mean 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.040 there was a cab drive that that drove me around 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.639 for a little bit. Uh, and he offered me some weed, 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:10.840 which was really uh funny. I was like, what, like, yeah, 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:16.399 but what's going on? Like okay? Um? And and I 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.919 ended up, yes, staying at Central Park near Columbus Circle, 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.000 and uh, you know, it was in the middle of 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.560 summer and so it was hot, so it didn't need anything. 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.320 And but I remember, like, you know, talking to some 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.600 some people that that were there that were you know, 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.480 experiencing homelessness themselves, and and they were like they gave 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.800 me ideas like you know, if a newspaper while people 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:40.960 why people, why did they use that so it you know, 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.600 it keeps them warm somewhat and what have you. Um. 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.919 And so I didn't need that, thank god. But the 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.639 next day I was like, rightly, you gotta pull it together. 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.159 This can't happen. I should actually say I did have 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:58.560 a place to stay, but the person that I was 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:00.720 supposed to stay with at least that you know, the 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.200 first couple of nights, I didn't pick up the phone 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.520 when I called, and so there was this sense of like, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.639 well and here, maybe they'll they'll pick up later. And 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.480 that's why at two am, I was like, oh my god, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.600 where am I going to sleep? Okay? This is now, 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.000 this is This makes me feel better because I was like, 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.680 you got off the plane and you don't you have 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.840 no like, you haven't thought about anything. This makes it 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:30.879 a little better for me. Yeah. Yeah, that I should 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:35.560 have prevented by saying that. And he happened to be 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.800 a flight attendant and so he had to take a 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.879 trip and so that's why he wasn't available, and so 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.600 that's the whole reason why I experienced that. And so 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.560 then after a week of this, then he finally picked 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:51.920 up the phone and then I was able to stay 0:19:52.280 --> 0:20:14.120 after a week. So you you mentioned there you had 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.439 an audition that you said the studio. Now is this 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:23.840 HB Studio? Yeah, my goodness. So for those of you 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:30.399 who don't know, HB Studio basically was training all of 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.879 the best actors in New York City for years and years. 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.880 My favorite book that I studied, I never met her 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:43.080 Udha Haggins. Respect for acting. I studied that at school. 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:46.480 My favorite book still to this day, it's in my 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:51.320 office still here. You obviously you you have to be 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.680 doing something there or be connected to the right people 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:57.720 in Australia for for you to even get an audition there. 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.760 So you get accepted, Yeah, I got accept it. Yeah. Um. 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:05.560 And it was to be in Buddhist class and and 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.240 so I really, you know, it was desperate to to 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:12.520 be around the best. And so I remember what my 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.120 mentor in Australia had said. You know, when you meet 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.400 someone and you you see that their work is excellent, 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.840 work with them. Do whatever you can to say I'm 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.520 going to work with you. I'm gonna work with you. 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:28.240 I'm gonna work with you. And so really deciding and 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:32.240 to take that road of studying UM and and being 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.720 in in her class really changed my life. It isn't 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.800 the most um you know, prestigious school, and what happens 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:41.960 more like a working man school, you know, even though 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.560 the alumni is like al Paccino, Cynthia, next sent I mean, Babarah. 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.640 So it goes on and on and on. But it's 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:51.359 because they welcomed everyone and they believed everyone should have 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.800 access to this kind of work. Um. And so I 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.560 made the decision pretty early on actually to only work 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.800 with the best because when I was landed there, all 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.679 I wanted to do was just party because I was like, 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.280 I'm in New York City. I can't believe this. Oh 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:08.000 my god, this is great. This is a fantastic this 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:12.440 fantastic game whatever from the cab drivers. This is the 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:14.720 cab driver Like, what are you talking about? This is 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:19.920 I've made it. I've made it. And so I I remember, 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:23.119 actually pretty early on, I was in a class in 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:27.080 the Shakespeare class with Jeffrey Owens, who was teaching you know, 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.400 legendary guy. It was a ten am class and I 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:33.520 lived in the East Village and the school is in 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:37.719 the West Village, and I had to leave my house 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.000 by nine thereabouts. Mind you, I had like a red 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:45.320 mohawk at the time, and I got to school on 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:50.640 rollerblades even in the snow. I mean, hello, crazy Aussie, 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:55.199 just like coming throw guys coming through. Um. And I 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:57.480 had to leave at and I remember i'd gone out 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:00.720 the night before and I kept pressing snows remember thinking, 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:05.160 you know what, Leo, if you can't get up, if 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:08.480 you can't get your ass up, and go to school 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.320 for the reason why you left everything in Australia because 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:17.359 you're too busy going out and partying or doing you know, 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:19.399 trying to experience this other side of New York and 0:23:19.440 --> 0:23:22.919 not the real reason why you've come here. Then you 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:25.720 just accept it for the next month, you go, you 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:28.360 part of your balls off, you do it, and then 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:30.639 you get on a plane and you go back to Australia, 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:33.439 or you make the decision and you make the choice 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:36.439 now that you show up for yourself, you show up 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:38.560 for what you came here to do. You give it 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:41.560 your all, and then you see what happens. And that 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:44.560 really was the moment that really changed my life. Um, 0:23:44.840 --> 0:23:47.480 not only did I decide right there and then that 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:51.520 I would make the commitment to myself to the work, 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:54.199 to you know, the platform that that's been given to 0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:56.840 me at that moment and for the rest of my 0:23:56.920 --> 0:24:01.080 life what I would be doing, but also me realize, like, 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:03.280 what are you doing sleeping on the floor, Leo, Like, 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:07.040 get it together, get it together? Like yeah, at the beginning, 0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:09.720 it was sure, it was fun. Yeah whatever I did this, 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:12.280 I slept here in the park, yeah whatever, you know, 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:15.320 And I kind of imagined that i'd go back and say, hey, 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:17.719 back in the day, this is what I did, you know, Like, 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:22.040 but there in living in I realized like, nah, I 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:25.399 don't want to do this, you know, get your finger 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.680 out of here, as Leo and let's go um. And 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.480 so that that really was a big turning point for me. 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:33.920 And then after that it was, you know, every week 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:37.760 figuring out how I work, how other people work, um, 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:39.760 And I started to take a lot of ownership of 0:24:40.240 --> 0:24:43.320 my own discovery of what it meant to be in 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:46.960 my own craft, what it meant to feed my own beast, 0:24:47.440 --> 0:24:53.080 and what my beast likes to eat. Right, that's so awesome. 0:24:53.520 --> 0:24:56.560 I love that story. Are you starting to work outside 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:59.480 of the studio at this point? How does that transition 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:03.080 start to work for you from doing the work, putting 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:08.000 in the effort, and then also started to play other roles. God, 0:25:08.080 --> 0:25:11.120 I love that you're making me connect the dots from 0:25:11.119 --> 0:25:16.960 back there, um, because it was it's a mixture of magic. Really, 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.200 it's a mixture of like when you show up for yourself, right, 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:23.520 and you show up for yourself and you don't know 0:25:24.000 --> 0:25:26.919 what's going to happen, that you show up with the 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:30.919 belief in yourself, and you show up with the work 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:35.240 on your craft and respect for it, then other things 0:25:35.240 --> 0:25:37.480