WEBVTT - Ashleigh Murray 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.200 And it was also just so great to be introduced 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:11.920 to vets and to share a space with them. And 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:13.360 that's right. 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.040 I haven't been I haven't been referred to as a 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.000 VET before. 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.520 I hope you take it as a compliment and not 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:24.760 an insult. Well I don't believe that. Yeah, Bryan. 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.960 Against me, No, But I mean when I showed up 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.800 on set, it must have it must have been just 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:44.120 it was unnerve intimidating for you. Oh stop it, stop it. 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:51.920 Hi. I am Ashley Murray and I play Hazel in 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:52.960 the Other Black Girl. 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:02.720 We're back, everybody with another episode of Off the Beat. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:07.280 This is your host, as always, Brian Baumgartner, and my 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:12.720 guest today is my old pal, Ashley Murray. She is 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:17.440 a super smart, super dynamic actor who you may recognize 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:22.200 best with Caddiers on She played Josie of Josie and 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.759 the Pussycats in both Riverdale and Katie Keen. She also 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:32.120 played Senzi on Tom Swift and recently starred as the 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.560 titular Other Black Girl in our new show The Other 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.640 Black Girl. Now I say ours because I also make 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.920 an appearance in that show. Along with my guest from 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:49.400 last week, Sinclair Daniel if you haven't listened to that episode, 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.120 you should go back and listen. And if you haven't watched, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:57.640 you should watch the Other Black Girl on Hulu. But first, 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:02.520 sit right here and get to know my hilarious friend 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:07.160 and castmate, Ashley Murray. 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:14.440 Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and squeak on 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.679 Bubble and Squeak, I cook get every mole left over 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:22.240 from the ninety before. 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.880 Hi, Ashley, how are you? 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:37.560 Hie? 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:39.040 I'm good. 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:40.320 How are you? 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.280 I'm good. It's so good to see you. 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:45.200 It's so good to see you too. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:47.960 Oh my god, it's been a year. 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.560 No, it has it's been a year. 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:53.440 Have you missed me? Terribly? 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.160 Terribly? I don't know how I've slept, to be quite honest. 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:02.520 Well, yeah, there's there's a lot of reasons for not 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:06.920 sleeping over the last several months. Are you in New York? 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.000 I am, Yeah, I'm in New York. 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:10.800 Okay, how's New York? 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:12.760 It's cold now? 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:19.480 Okay, she's cold, she's cold. Well. I want to talk 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.720 a lot about us meeting and working together, but but 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:28.080 I want to start with with you, just just you, 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:33.920 and how you got into this crazy business. I researched 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.839 which I did not know. Did you You grew up 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.880 originally in Missouri? Is that right? 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.240 Kansas City, Kanas City, Missouri, that's where you were born. Yeah, 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.320 That's where I was born and I lived there for 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.280 the majority of my childhood. I moved around a little bit, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.720 but the majority of my childhood was in Kansas City. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:04:01.800 How was that? How was Kansas City for you? 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.680 You know, it's hard because I'm in that group of 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:10.640 people that didn't quite gel with their hometown. Okay, you know, 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:15.760 they're really beautiful historical things about Kansas City that I 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:20.680 will champion to the day I die. Also, I am 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.839 just not meant for the pace of life that exists 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:24.599 in Kansas City. 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:25.679 What's that pace? 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:30.000 It's slow, you know, it's it's slow, very easy going, 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.640 very minimal. You know, I live in New York City. 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:36.520 There's so many people from everywhere doing everything at any 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.440 given moment. Life is much simpler in Kansas City. 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:45.080 So well, you know, there must be something about the 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:50.920 water there in Kansas City, though, that that that breeds, 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:57.480 that's the wrong world, that that nurtures funny, funny, funny people, 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.840 because it's crazy. There was aeriod of time when on 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:06.320 this podcast I was talking to people, and every single 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:14.240 funny person, Paul Rudd, Eric stone Street, Rob Riggle, Dave Keckner, 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.080 like everyone's from Kansas. You wouldn't. You wouldn't think, Well, 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:18.680 I don't know. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.040 I ain't from Kansas. I'm from Missouri. Now, okay, there's 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:26.280 a kansaity Kansas, and there's a Kansasity Missouri. I'm the 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.000 Missouri side. I'm not from Kansas. 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.600 What does that mean? Well, Kansas is in the name 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:33.479 of the city. 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.320 Well, the thing is, Kansas City falls on the state line, 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.719 so like a portion of it is in one side 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:43.560 and the other. And similarly to the way that people 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.200 you know are down for their sports teams, you can't 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.400 be calling somebody from Kansas City, Missouri from Kansas. It's 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:56.640 just disrespectful God, and you can fight me on it. 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:57.600 I'm sorry, but. 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.880 Okay, it is okay. So do you root for other 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.839 sports teams besides the Kansas City once? 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.559 Well, I used to root for the Saint Louis Rams 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.280 because my cousin Mike Jones played for them for a while. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.440 But I am very much so a Kansas City Chief fan. 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:18.159 Kan City Cheese can see Royals. I also did for 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.200 a spell. I was very much so for the forty 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:25.400 nine ers and the Giants because I lived in Oakland 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:27.200 for two years of my childhood. 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:29.719 Yeah, now that's what I heard that you spent some 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:31.800 time in Oakland living with your aunt. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.200 Yeah, right, I did. I lived with my aunt. 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:36.000 How was How was that different? 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:42.279 It was very different because you know, it was just 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.600 myself and my older brother for one year and then 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.240 it was just me. And it's the one time in 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.440 my life I've been an only child. And I'm sure 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.760 that many only children can speak to the fact that 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.720 you have a lot more access to things. There's a 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.200 lot more time from the parents, there's a lot more 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.240 money to go around for extra curricular activities. So that 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:07.679 was actually the time that I discovered that I wanted 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.480 to be an actress was when I was living with 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.280 my aunt. I was in my first ever play at 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:14.240 ten and a half eleven. 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.160 Okay, what was the play? 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.000 It was? It was a play that was written by 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.880 the children, so it wasn't you know, anything published, and 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:22.560 I came in. 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:25.520 So better than most television. 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:31.440 Actually the play was I think the play was entitled 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:37.120 Channel zero We're watching you there you go? Uh, And 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.960 I had a non speaking role. I was a mute 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:46.320 narrator and I got a standing ovation at the end 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.520 of the show. So I was like, oh, I don't 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:50.880 even have to say anything. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:55.680 To move people. And that was when you decided it 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:56.640 was what you wanted to do. 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.160 Yeah, and I was. I was in the throes of 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:03.400 so many other things creatively. I wanted to be a seamstress. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.520 I wanted to be a dance choreographer. I wanted to 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.280 be a potter. I think that's what they're called people 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.480 who throw pots, a sculptor. I discovered a lot of 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:16.239 things in that two year range, but I fell deeply, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:17.680 madly in love with acting. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.840 Wow. Yeah, And so from then on you were doing 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.600 it either in school or whatever. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.280 Yeah, I was doing when I moved back to Kansas 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.760 City to live with my mom again, I was doing 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.440 like an after school program of acting. And then once 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.640 I got into high school, I started to compete. They 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.720 have this thing called competitive drama or speech and debate 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:45.280 depends on where you're from. What it's called forensics, Yes Fordic, 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:50.920 Oh my god, the away trips for forensics. I did 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:54.959 a lot of forensics in high school, and I, if 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.360 I may, I will toot my horn that I was 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:03.439 the third person in my high school's history to break 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.560 the amount of points that you can score as a 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:11.400 whole in the forensics league. It's very difficult to reach 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.319 that point. You have to do very well, and I 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:19.079 maxed out of the points halfway through my competitive career, 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:20.960 so then I just kept doing it for fun. 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.280 So you're like, so I did this. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:29.480 I did because when you came out with the forensics. 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.440 No, I know, I think three time state champion. 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:33.360 I think. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:39.960 Not to too. But the point is we both it 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:45.200 appears enjoyed acting but also winning, so you know. 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.040 It wasn't really the winning. To be honest with you, 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.560 I just know. I'm serious, I'm serious. I really just 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.160 loved being challenged. It actually kind of made me feel 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.600 a way. I remember we walked into a a like 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.240 a cafeteria. It was a Saturday because it was, you know, 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:04.400 one of those type of competitions, and I saw a 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.240 young girl that I recognized from other competitions, and she 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:08.600 came up to me and I was like, hey, how 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.120 are you, and she goes, I was doing really well 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.160 until you walked in, because I knew I was going 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:17.280 to place. But now I'm not, and I was like, oh, 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:21.960 I'm sorry, really nice to see you. I just I 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.920 like competing with myself. And I really loved directing, quite frankly, 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:28.800 because you remember how you'd have to cut all of 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:32.640 your work down to fit into the time frame. That 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.520 was my favorite thing to do, was to help all 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.760 of my other friends in class and on the team 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.880 to whittle down their work, to hone in on what 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.960 the important parts of the stories were and help them 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.040 express it like it was great, Like winning was great. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.200 But I just really loved I loved the competition. I 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.599 loved to just like challenge myself to see if I 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.560 could do better. I wasn't really about beating anyone else. 0:10:58.040 --> 0:10:59.560 I thank you. 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:02.800 I think mine was about beating people. But I know, 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.559 but I believe you. So you were doing for forensics, 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:12.680 you were doing school plays. Did you do any screen 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:16.679 work or commercials or an agent? Did you? Were you 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:17.719 on that path at all? 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.560 I was trying to get on that path, and I 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:24.360 was very close to Actually I was semi on the 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:29.520 radar of Disney back when I was like fourteen, I 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:35.800 want to say. But then the first writer strike happened. 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:40.040 Oh really yeah, and then everything went silent. We didn't 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.199 hear from anybody for ages, and I was like, well, 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.600 got to start over. And that was it. Like it 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.160 was just regular school productions. And I didn't do any 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:53.839 television or screen until I was nineteen. I did my 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.880 first short ever, okay, and it was with this young 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.720 woman who is now, if I'm not mistaken, an Emmy 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.680 winning director. Her name is Morgan Damren. We met at 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.560 the Missouri Finears Academy and she was doing her first 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.000 short film. It's called Finding Harmony. I think she and 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:17.080 I might be the only ones with that DVD. That 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.480 was my first film related work. But I actually graduated 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.360 high school early so that I could start working in 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.439 children's theater. I did children's theater when I was eighteen. 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:32.480 That was in Kansas City. And then what prompted you 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.880 the move? The big move to New York and to 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:41.080 attend the New York Conservancy for Dramatic Arts, which is 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.120 a fancy, fancy title. 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.880 Yes, it used to just be called. When I first 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:51.120 discovered it, it was called the School for Film and Television. Okay, yes, 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.880 I know, I know that's why they changed it. I 0:12:54.920 --> 0:13:00.680 found that school when I was also at the like 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:06.199 yearly statewide competition where all of the musicals that were 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:10.240 nominated were competing to win the best Musical, Best Stage Play. 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.400 And then there was this secondary competition to win scholarship money, 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:19.800 and if you were inducted into the ability to compete, 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.359 you had to do a monologue. And I was competing. 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.079 And at that time, they also had schools from around 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:31.400 the country giving seminars to introduce themselves to graduating students. 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.040 And that's where I found my conservatory, and I also 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.600 I fell in love with that conservatory. I decided that 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:39.320 that's where I wanted to go. It was in New York, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.120 and I also won that two thousand dollars scholarship. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:45.000 It's winning again. There you go. 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.600 Maybe I do like it. Listen, if money is attached 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.800 to it, I'm gonna get it, all right. I got 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.520 places to go, I got things to study. It costs 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:59.200 money I need, that's right. But yeah, I discovered my 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.280 college there and I actually couldn't afford to go when 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:05.200 I graduated, I didn't have the money to go to 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:10.079 New York, so I moved back to California for the summer. 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:12.880 My aunt helped me get a job with her friend 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:21.440 who was an attorney. So I was her office assistant and. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:23.240 I did that work too. God, we did many connected. Yes. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.320 My job was to count pages that they were they 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.080 were going to submit, like for evidence, which was important work, yes, 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:34.000 but I had to go through and make sure all 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.720 the pages were actually there. Oh yeah, that sounds like 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:38.400 office work. 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.880 It's it is office work, and that's that's accurate. It's 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.000 one of the many things that paralegals do. And I 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.160 only know that because later on in life, due to 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:51.280 that one three month office job, I ended up becoming 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:56.360 a legal assistant almost four years while I was pursuing 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.840 my career here in New York. Okay, but anyway, I 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.040 worked as an office assistant. I was also teaching theater 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:08.720 at my aunt's summer program. And this was I don't 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.800 know if she had actually opened up the school. She 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.160 may have opened it at that point. My aunt, Angela Wellman, 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:18.840 excuse me, doctor Angela Wellman. She has the first and 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:24.880 only non public or non privatized public conservatory of music 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:26.920 in the United States. It's in Oakland. It's called the 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.360 Oakland Public Conservatory of Music. And I taught theater there 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.960 in the summer. So I did that and I also 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.080 put on a one woman show. I cooked all the 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:40.200 food and put together a lineup of performances and raised 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:44.960 money to afford to go to college. And I got 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:49.720 there and was about ten thousand Somewhere between seven and 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.600 ten thousand dollars short, I can't remember now, but we 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:56.480 were able to thankfully get money from family friends. They 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.760 lent me money so that I could stay in school. 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.120 I went to my little two year conservatory. It was wonderful. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.840 How much singing were you doing at this time, either 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.400 with your aunt or growing up in high school. 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:17.480 I only sang in the musicals. I didn't really sing 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.640 anywhere else. I come from a very musical family. My 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.280 mom's a singer, my aunt sings, my grandmother was a 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:27.840 beautiful singer. So naturally I have it, but it wasn't 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.000 my main focus. It's actually the thing that I'm most 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:34.880 afraid of. But I sang in musicals, and I didn't 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:36.880 really sing in college, now that I think about it, 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.160 I don't unless it was karaoke. That was it. Like, 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.840 I wasn't really doing anything else. 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:47.360 Right, Did you have a focus either being on stage 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.920 or were you looking right away to try to get 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.280 into on screen film and television work. 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.320 It was always film and television. It was okay, yeah, 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.080 it we When I went to this particular school, they 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:07.040 didn't have any coursework for the stage. They were implementing 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.720 that the year that I was graduating, but I opted 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.800 not to participate. I just wanted to get right in 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:18.480 to the nitty gritty. I love film, I love movies, 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:23.560 and I also loved television because I thought, comparatively, it 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:28.000 was the closest thing to theater. You know. I didn't 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.959 understand that you had to get renewed and that, you know, 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.440 sets and crews could change, and that you never have 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.280 the same director. Like I was clueless. I just thought, well, 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.040 everybody loves Raymond was on for nine years, Like it's 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.760 the same thing as being on a show for six months, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.600 you know. So foolish. But film and TV was always 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.240 my goal, and training for it in New York was 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:52.400 also always my goal. 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:57.800 Now, you mentioned the early short film work. I have 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.080 pulled up here that some of your other on screen 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:08.640 early work included a coke commercial, yeah, Diggy Simmons yeah, 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:15.080 and Lady Gaga's MTV VMA promo video. 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:16.200 Yeah. 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:20.920 So how how were these early experiences for you? Where 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.200 you know, you were you were actually getting paid. 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.480 I'll say that the second screen work that I did 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.199 was well film wise, was Welcome to New York that 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.679 I did with a very dear friend of mine, Steven 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.840 Tyler O'Connor. He is a creator, a director, a writer, 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:43.199 and he was doing this movie and I auditioned for 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.240 it and I got in, and I believe that we 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.080 were paid. It's been so long ago, but like we 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.800 probably made you know, some small amount of money what 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:53.520 he could afford because it was, you know, it was 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:58.480 a small budget. But I got the chance to like 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.399 hold the cam. You know, I was running around New 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.359 York City and hitting marks and it was right. That 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.840 beginning of that experience was far more valuable than what 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.160 I got paid, because I don't even remember. I remember 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.359 what I learned from it more than anything. But once 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:21.480 I then graduated into having representation, I had a manager, 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:26.480 I was freelancing with agents, and that commercial money I 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:32.959 miss it, I do that was good, good, easy money. 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:37.120 And the commercials were fun. Like the auditions did never 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.080 match what you were doing, Like for that Lady Gaga 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:45.600 MTV promo commercial, I was wearing pretty much what I'm 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.679 wearing in the commercial walking down you know the street 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.359 in Manhattan with a pink two two and ripped fish 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.760 nets and a faux hawk and crazy makeup. It's like 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:59.560 one o'clock on a Tuesday. Nobody gives a fuck. I'm 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.880 just on my way to this audition. And I get 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.320 in there and they were like, so what would you 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.399 be if you weren't an actor? Like what did that 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.320 have to do with anything? Just asking you questions and 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.280 they narrow the line down and then all of a 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.680 sudden you book the commercial. So you know, it was 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.600 fun and quite frankly like I'm not lying when I 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.280 say I missdoing commercials. It was just it was so 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:22.440 easy and so fun. 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:46.960 I was told before you were cast in Riverdale that 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:48.720 you almost quit acting. 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:54.879 Oh yeah, why because I was broke. I was so broke. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.919 I was so many months behind on rent. I was 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.159 like four months behind on rent. I was selling my 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:06.240 belongings just to be able to pay my utilities so 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:10.320 that my roommates wouldn't get pissed off. You know. I 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:17.639 was really truly like scraping the bucket. And I had 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:22.560 just met with my now agent at Innovative, and I 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:24.479 was like, how am I going to tell them that 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.159 I can't audition. I've been waiting and working so hard 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.240 to get to this point to get representation, and now 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:33.400 I have to tell them I can't do it. So 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.680 my manager and I were conspiring up a story as 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:38.960 to why I would have to take a break. I 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:40.600 was going to take a break for a year. I 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:44.119 actually had finished my second round of interviews to be 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:49.280 an executive assistant at some office in Columbus Circle, and 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:55.080 I walked to Whole Foods to buy some groceries for 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.600 the first time because I had gotten a proved for 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:02.080 food stamps that day. And while I was shopping, my 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:04.240 manager called me and told me that I had an 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:07.920 audition for Riverdale. And I was like, all right, fine, 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:10.600 I'll just do this one thing. But then like that's it, 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:14.040 I'm going to get this job at this office. Like 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:17.119 I have to pay my rent, I can't leave the city. 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:21.439 I just have to take a break. And within it 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:24.720 was like what four days after that, I got the job. 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:26.000 Wow. 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:30.840 Yeah, it was a very intense turn of events. I'd 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:34.240 never tested for anything before, I'd never been to LA 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:38.040 for work in any sort of capacity. It was insane, 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:41.960 Like I washed my clothes in my bathroom sink and 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:45.000 ran up the street to my local laundromat, and the 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:48.320 guy recognized me, and I begged him to please drive 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:50.480 my clothes for free, because I had just spent the 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:52.840 last money I had on my credit card to go 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:56.879 downtown to get prints of my resume to staple to 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:59.680 all of my head shots, and I needed to wear 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:02.040 this outfit. They asked me to wear the same outfit 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:05.239 I did in the first audition. It was desperate. I 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:09.199 was up all night stapling my stuff together waiting to 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:14.639 find out the flight information. Went to JFK, got to LA, 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:18.040 took a cab to the wrong lot, and walked twenty 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.120 minutes to get to the right one, and everybody thought 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.639 I was insane because I guess people don't walk in LA. Yeah, 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.200 And I was blinking one eye at a time because 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:30.400 I hadn't slept. I was way too broke to care 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:33.480 whether or not I booked the job. I was just like, 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.520 I could leave here this as broke as I am 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:40.680 when I got here. But at least Warner Brothers now 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:43.200 knows that I exist. I didn't even know that there 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:45.480 was a WB office in New York, and now they 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:48.760 know who I am so either way, it's gonna work 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:51.720 out well for me, and I ended up being lucky 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:52.399 enough to book it. 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:56.640 Wow, how much singing did you do on that audition? 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:02.040 I sang one song twice, and the first time I 0:24:02.080 --> 0:24:06.040 sang it was in front of the studio I believe. 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:07.800 I think it was a studio, and then the network 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:12.720 that following day, but I forgot the song halfway through. 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:14.919 I was so tired. I literally was singing and I 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:18.560 stopped mid sentence and was just standing like an oppose 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:21.920 waiting to find and then it came back and I 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:26.040 kept singing again. Ended that that was it. 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:31.840 Cast is Josie from Josie and the pussy Cats, which 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:36.199 I didn't even realize. But I'm an idiot that it's 0:24:36.280 --> 0:24:38.639 a comic book. Were you a comic book fan? Were 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:40.560 you aware of Josie and the Pussy JH. 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.760 I was aware of Josie the Pussycats. I was aware 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:45.920 of Archie comics. I was obsessed with that. 0:24:46.160 --> 0:24:48.760 I knew Archie comics, but I didn't know Josie and 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:52.600 the Pussycats were I knew them both? Okay? Were you 0:24:52.680 --> 0:24:53.080 a fan? 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:57.600 Yes? And I watched the cartoon. I loved it when 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:00.399 they also would make a debut on this we do 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:01.760 cartoon like. 0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:07.400 I'm okay it. 0:25:06.280 --> 0:25:10.160 Into animation and comics. That was my thing. I loved it. 0:25:10.920 --> 0:25:12.719 How'd you find out that you got cassed? 0:25:13.760 --> 0:25:16.040 I was in my hotel room. 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:18.040 After you were You were still in La. 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:19.960 Oh yeah, I was still in La. We had just 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:28.200 finished the studio audition and the head of Archie Comics 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:31.240 came up to me and congratulated me on how well 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:33.800 I did and I was like, oh, thank you. And 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:35.600 then they left and I got back to the hotel 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:39.280 and I found a tray of chocolate dip, strawberries and champagne. 0:25:40.119 --> 0:25:42.600 I thought it was a gift from my manager and 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:45.800 my agent congratulating me on my first test. I was like, 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.520 this is so nice. So I called my manager. I 0:25:48.560 --> 0:25:50.639 was like, hey, Kim, thank you so much. She was like, 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:52.000 what are you talking about. It was like for the 0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:55.200 champagne and strawberries like I need. It was so stressful 0:25:55.240 --> 0:25:57.760 the day. She was like, call the front desk right now, 0:25:57.960 --> 0:25:59.719 call the manager. I did not send those to you 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:01.359 so much. One knows where you are. It was like 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:04.560 deaf Con nine. I don't understand why it went from 0:26:04.640 --> 0:26:07.560 zero to one hundred. She was convinced that somebody was 0:26:07.600 --> 0:26:10.960 like trying to poison me. My manager's very protective, bless her, 0:26:10.960 --> 0:26:14.879 I love her so much. And so she starts going 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:17.680 on a rampage down the directory trying to figure out 0:26:17.680 --> 0:26:20.480 who put this food and this alcohol in my room. 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:22.159 Shes like, don't drink it, don't touch it. I need 0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:25.600 to find out where it came from. And she discovered 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:31.240 that it was sent over as a congratulations from the studio, 0:26:31.640 --> 0:26:36.439 and I was like, oh, that's nice. And then like 0:26:36.480 --> 0:26:38.800 twenty minutes later, my agent called me and said that 0:26:39.160 --> 0:26:43.200 they were offering me the role. So I still went 0:26:43.280 --> 0:26:45.119 home poor as hell, but I had a job. She 0:26:45.240 --> 0:26:45.800 had a job. 0:26:47.960 --> 0:26:52.600 So you flew back to New York, obviously, But did 0:26:52.640 --> 0:27:01.040 you feel Was it relief? Was it excitement? Was it gratitude? 0:27:01.480 --> 0:27:05.000 Was it yeah, the plan has worked? What was your 0:27:05.040 --> 0:27:06.280 overwhelming feeling? 0:27:07.359 --> 0:27:12.240 Honestly, I it was all of those things. I was 0:27:12.320 --> 0:27:16.600 so grateful, and there was a major sense of relief, 0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:20.199 and a part of me, not even a part of me, 0:27:20.359 --> 0:27:22.600 so much of me. I've always known that this is 0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:25.359 what I'm meant to do. And I am a firm 0:27:25.440 --> 0:27:30.080 believer in what's mine is mine, and when it's my time, 0:27:30.119 --> 0:27:35.320 it's my time. And that helps keep those very human 0:27:35.359 --> 0:27:39.560 emotions of jealousy or fear, any of those things that 0:27:39.680 --> 0:27:42.320 naturally occur at Bay. You know, I'm able to quell 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:44.560 those things because I just try to bring it back 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:47.880 to myself and remind myself that my path is my own. 0:27:47.960 --> 0:27:52.080 Nothing about what we do is ordinary or planned, So 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:57.120 I just have to sit deeply within myself and show 0:27:57.200 --> 0:28:00.199 up as best I can and keep pushing. And I 0:28:00.200 --> 0:28:03.520 got this. It was met with so much excitement because 0:28:03.560 --> 0:28:07.160 also it was such a quick turn of events of 0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:09.760 me not having a job to having it to the 0:28:09.880 --> 0:28:13.159 day that I flew back, it was already announced on 0:28:13.240 --> 0:28:17.360 deadline that I had been cast in the role, so 0:28:17.359 --> 0:28:19.840 so much of my world changed very quickly. 0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:25.199 It's an iconic character. Did you feel pressure about that? 0:28:25.840 --> 0:28:29.280 Obviously it's being reimagined in a new way, yeah, But 0:28:29.359 --> 0:28:35.320 did you feel pressure of the history? I guess I didn't. 0:28:35.720 --> 0:28:39.440 Good I didn't because I knew the love I had 0:28:39.480 --> 0:28:44.080 for the comics as a whole. I also was very 0:28:44.280 --> 0:28:49.000 brave and honest with the CEO of Archie Comics that 0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:51.080 I told him to his face that I stopped reading 0:28:51.120 --> 0:28:54.200 the comics after they turned into a graphic novel. I 0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:58.720 preferred the original Digest version. And this is before I 0:28:58.720 --> 0:29:01.120 booked a job. I was like, listen, I'm just being honest, Like, 0:29:02.240 --> 0:29:05.040 I go hard for Archie comics, but I love I'm 0:29:05.280 --> 0:29:11.560 partial to the Digest, right, And I knew that the 0:29:11.680 --> 0:29:15.600 characters that I grew up watching were not me. They 0:29:15.600 --> 0:29:19.640 didn't look like me, you know. I was not the 0:29:19.680 --> 0:29:22.360 same age they were when I was playing it. And 0:29:22.520 --> 0:29:25.760 I wanted to bring as much love and care and 0:29:25.800 --> 0:29:29.760 respect as well as my own idea to the work. 0:29:30.080 --> 0:29:33.520 And I knew that it would be met with nothing 0:29:33.560 --> 0:29:36.840 but respect. So I wasn't worried about the pressure of 0:29:36.880 --> 0:29:40.080 the history behind it. I was more concerned about the 0:29:40.120 --> 0:29:42.880 public reception around the fact that I was playing a 0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:45.640 character that on paper didn't look like me. 0:29:46.360 --> 0:29:47.880 Hmm interesting. 0:29:48.240 --> 0:29:49.920 Yeah, I was more worried about that. 0:29:51.240 --> 0:29:54.560 Yeah. And did you feel that ever? 0:29:54.760 --> 0:29:58.960 Oh yeah, yeah, yes, I did. Yes, I felt it 0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:05.240 right after the I felt it throughout the portrayal actually 0:30:05.320 --> 0:30:10.160 working and doing the show. There were too many people 0:30:10.840 --> 0:30:16.800 comfortable with trying to pigeonhole my character simply because of 0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:21.240 the restraints that are placed on black women just in general, 0:30:21.400 --> 0:30:25.320 you know, having any ounce of emotion. Oh, she's angry, 0:30:25.440 --> 0:30:29.880 she's aggressive, she's this, you know, being standing up for herself. Well, 0:30:29.920 --> 0:30:34.480 she's bossy and she's sassy, and it's like no, and 0:30:34.600 --> 0:30:39.040 having to feel that. Even the pushback with my character 0:30:39.680 --> 0:30:44.600 hooking up with Archie's character, that received a lot of 0:30:45.240 --> 0:30:49.600 unsavory feedback, So it was that was one of the 0:30:49.640 --> 0:30:51.800 more difficult things to deal with. I wasn't really too 0:30:51.840 --> 0:30:55.800 concerned about my performance to the character. 0:30:56.640 --> 0:30:59.520 Yeah, I read that there was a period where you 0:30:59.600 --> 0:31:04.240 were tact for things that Josie did in the show, 0:31:04.280 --> 0:31:09.120 which is a crazy, crazy idea. How ultimately did you 0:31:09.200 --> 0:31:09.680 deal with that? 0:31:14.040 --> 0:31:18.920 It's really hard. You know, the type of attacks that 0:31:19.040 --> 0:31:27.520 I was experiencing are not new, but having such constant 0:31:27.560 --> 0:31:33.400 access to me was a different It's a different experience 0:31:33.440 --> 0:31:36.720 in our industry, having social media on the Internet, and 0:31:37.800 --> 0:31:39.880 it's a part of my job and my contract to 0:31:39.920 --> 0:31:43.520 be socially active and push the show. And I'm also 0:31:43.640 --> 0:31:47.720 being met with so much vitriol and hate. Not to 0:31:47.720 --> 0:31:49.680 say that that's all it was, because it definitely wasn't. 0:31:49.680 --> 0:31:52.000 There are a lot of really wonderful supportive people who 0:31:52.080 --> 0:31:56.600 love the work that I do. But trying to mitigate 0:31:57.440 --> 0:32:01.480 all of the nastiness is something that I am not 0:32:01.640 --> 0:32:04.040 totally sure how I did. Like sometimes I just had 0:32:04.080 --> 0:32:06.760 to disengage. And a part of that is also a 0:32:06.800 --> 0:32:11.040 reason why I have such a difficult relationship with social media. 0:32:11.040 --> 0:32:17.960 It's hard to be a public figure and manage other 0:32:18.040 --> 0:32:24.720 people's ability or inability to disassociate you from what you do. 0:32:24.720 --> 0:32:28.760 Do you feel like or have you thought about I mean, 0:32:28.760 --> 0:32:34.520 this is six or seven years before Hallie Bailey was 0:32:34.680 --> 0:32:39.719 cast as Aerial in The Little Mermaid. It seems like 0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:42.440 a lot of things that you're talking about right now 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:46.880 may be similar things that well, I'm sure she's experienced 0:32:46.920 --> 0:32:49.720 because I've read about it even now. 0:32:51.280 --> 0:32:55.040 Oh, I mean, we can track it back to even 0:32:55.200 --> 0:32:58.680 Candice Patten when she was cast on The Flash. The 0:32:59.160 --> 0:33:07.120 amount of of hate and she was constantly being attacked constantly. 0:33:07.680 --> 0:33:12.560 You know, it's somehow, some way, these things just don't 0:33:12.560 --> 0:33:14.959 seem to disappear because they're not dealt with, you know. 0:33:15.160 --> 0:33:20.120 I Unfortunately we are not anomalies. It's actually quite common. 0:33:22.080 --> 0:33:26.080 You do Riverdale for three years, then they decide to 0:33:26.840 --> 0:33:30.080 give you a bump give you a up grade, give 0:33:30.120 --> 0:33:34.680 you a start another show where you're higher up in 0:33:34.800 --> 0:33:37.520 the on the on the call sheet. I guess I 0:33:37.560 --> 0:33:42.320 don't know Katie Keene. So you're playing the same role. Yes, 0:33:42.680 --> 0:33:47.280 And by the way, you're still playing a sixteen year old, right? 0:33:47.360 --> 0:33:48.960 Can you still play a sixteen year old? 0:33:49.440 --> 0:33:55.400 I mean, listen, yes, I can. Do I want to know? Well, 0:33:55.480 --> 0:33:57.200 I mean yeah, no, I don't think I would. The 0:33:57.200 --> 0:33:59.440 only way that I could is if everybody else around 0:33:59.480 --> 0:34:03.320 me was so older, or I just didn't have to 0:34:03.320 --> 0:34:07.680 make out with anyone that was also sixteen. But at 0:34:07.680 --> 0:34:11.080 that point in Katie Keene, my character was aged up. 0:34:11.480 --> 0:34:14.440 There wasn't an exact age given, but it's like somewhere 0:34:14.520 --> 0:34:19.000 in their early twenties, but she was no longer a teenager. 0:34:19.400 --> 0:34:23.640 Okay, all right? Was it fun for you to keep 0:34:23.680 --> 0:34:26.840 playing that character in a different world. 0:34:27.480 --> 0:34:30.279 I was excited to be home because we actually shot 0:34:30.280 --> 0:34:33.200 it in New York yea, So it was really really 0:34:33.239 --> 0:34:39.760 great to just be at home. And I'd say roughly 0:34:39.880 --> 0:34:45.360 ninety percent of our location were spots that had such 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:52.200 deep meaning for me. Because there's a scene between Lucy 0:34:52.239 --> 0:34:54.040 and I who were sitting out on a park bench, 0:34:54.080 --> 0:34:56.040 and there's like a big lighthouse or something, and that 0:34:56.080 --> 0:34:59.239 was up in the heights, and that was like a 0:34:59.280 --> 0:35:01.880 ten minute walk from the one and only studio I'd 0:35:01.920 --> 0:35:03.719 ever lived in in New York, the one and only 0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:07.560 time I'd ever lived by myself. You know, there were 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:11.719 just so many memories that I got to look back 0:35:11.760 --> 0:35:14.440 at and say, I remember when I was that age, 0:35:14.520 --> 0:35:16.920 and I always said I'm going to be shooting a 0:35:16.960 --> 0:35:18.880 TV show one day, I'm going to be in film, 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:21.160 I'm going to do this, And then here I was 0:35:21.239 --> 0:35:23.719 actually doing it in all of these spots. So it 0:35:23.920 --> 0:35:25.480 was quite special for me. 0:35:26.520 --> 0:35:30.279 Do you miss the ears? You're going to wear the 0:35:30.320 --> 0:35:32.520 ears again? Are you? Are you gonna? Are you gonna 0:35:32.560 --> 0:35:34.600 play it again? Play it? 0:35:35.239 --> 0:35:43.000 Play it. I think if the right thing came along 0:35:45.120 --> 0:35:49.160 for me to do it again, I wouldn't say no, 0:35:50.160 --> 0:35:51.880 you know I do. I wouldn't want to be doing 0:35:51.920 --> 0:35:54.840 the same thing. That's the thing, you know, the character 0:35:55.200 --> 0:35:58.080 Josie is Josie. But and I wouldn't want to keep, 0:35:58.480 --> 0:36:00.560 you know, spinning the same wheel at all. I don't 0:36:00.560 --> 0:36:03.960 have any interest in that. But there's always new people 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:06.520 and new ideas being born. And I think if the 0:36:06.640 --> 0:36:10.360 right fresh idea came along and I felt like I 0:36:10.360 --> 0:36:12.359 could lend myself to it, and they felt like I 0:36:12.400 --> 0:36:15.239 was right for it. Then. Yeah, but right now I 0:36:15.280 --> 0:36:18.240 don't really have an interest breaking news. 0:36:19.800 --> 0:36:23.960 I heard a yes out of that. All right, No, 0:36:24.160 --> 0:36:28.279 we's just we'll move along. Last year, two years ago, 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:34.759 whenever it was you started in another CW show, Tom Swift. Oh, yes, 0:36:35.040 --> 0:36:40.520 spin off of the Nancy Drew series. Was that a 0:36:40.600 --> 0:36:43.879 positive experience for you playing a mystery? 0:36:43.920 --> 0:36:47.359 Actually it was because that was also the first time 0:36:47.360 --> 0:36:50.759 that I got to be funny. I used to be 0:36:50.880 --> 0:36:56.120 real funny, and I just felt like that was gone. 0:36:56.440 --> 0:37:00.560 You know, Riverdale was a very dangerous town. Nothing funny 0:37:00.640 --> 0:37:05.840 was ever really happening. And when I got to Tom Swift, 0:37:06.000 --> 0:37:13.759 I got to be funny, smart, mature, rich because this 0:37:13.960 --> 0:37:16.440 character was ridiculously rich. 0:37:16.719 --> 0:37:17.080 Yeah. 0:37:17.120 --> 0:37:20.640 I also got to shoot in Atlanta, and I'd never 0:37:20.680 --> 0:37:23.360 worked there before, and it was the first time that 0:37:23.400 --> 0:37:26.680 I was on a set where there were copious amounts 0:37:26.680 --> 0:37:29.680 of black people. I'm used to being one of like 0:37:29.920 --> 0:37:35.200 four and that's across the board, and to be in 0:37:35.239 --> 0:37:39.239 a place where the city is so black, and then 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:42.719 to be at work and not feel like I'm on 0:37:42.800 --> 0:37:46.319 a different planet. You know, there are people there that 0:37:46.719 --> 0:37:51.360 look like me, that are working alongside me. And it 0:37:51.480 --> 0:37:55.440 was the first time that I actually felt myself relaxed, 0:37:55.760 --> 0:37:59.520 and I didn't realize that I had been held for 0:37:59.560 --> 0:38:01.720 so long. I was just kind of just a little 0:38:02.440 --> 0:38:07.160 held in and I felt like, oh, I can, I 0:38:07.160 --> 0:38:10.200 can kind of chill, which is such a weird thing 0:38:10.320 --> 0:38:11.839 to have to expe what do you mean. 0:38:12.160 --> 0:38:14.680 Wait, what do you mean that you could kind of chill? 0:38:14.760 --> 0:38:20.880 It's because once I left Kansas City, which has a 0:38:20.960 --> 0:38:24.080 very strong black population, and I moved to New York. 0:38:24.120 --> 0:38:25.560 There are so many different people here. But I was 0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:28.560 also going to a you could call it. It's a 0:38:28.600 --> 0:38:31.080 privatized conservatory. It's an institution. You have to pay a 0:38:31.120 --> 0:38:33.200 lot of money. And so there weren't that many of 0:38:33.280 --> 0:38:38.640 us there. And for some people, they were intimidated by me. 0:38:38.760 --> 0:38:42.719 They were intimidated by my confidence, they were intimidated by 0:38:43.360 --> 0:38:47.520 my talent. They were just intimidated by me being comfortable 0:38:47.560 --> 0:38:51.719 as myself. And there was like verbal and nonverbal pushback 0:38:51.760 --> 0:38:54.759 to that. And because I don't want to be isolated, 0:38:55.200 --> 0:38:58.880 I then made myself smaller so that these people wouldn't 0:38:58.880 --> 0:39:03.399 feel as uncomfortable around me that, oh, well, now if 0:39:03.440 --> 0:39:06.960 I kind of dumb parts of myself down a bit, 0:39:07.600 --> 0:39:11.040 then everybody can be on the kind of the same 0:39:11.160 --> 0:39:13.719 level and we don't feel threatened and we can just be. 0:39:14.400 --> 0:39:17.440 And so I just sort of lived in that compact state, 0:39:18.120 --> 0:39:21.120 and not everyone that I was around was like that, 0:39:21.280 --> 0:39:24.200 but I found it to be necessary, whether it was 0:39:24.239 --> 0:39:29.080 blatantly said or inferred. So I just began to That 0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:31.600 was the way that I had to assimilate in order 0:39:31.640 --> 0:39:36.399 to maintain surviving in these spaces and then getting into 0:39:36.440 --> 0:39:40.480 a space where I could just be myself, because I've 0:39:40.880 --> 0:39:44.040 been around people who are like, oh, you're black, black, 0:39:44.160 --> 0:39:45.600 Like what do you think? Of course, I'm black. I 0:39:45.600 --> 0:39:47.960 don't understand. Like, if I'm just myself, like you do, 0:39:48.239 --> 0:39:49.160 what does that mean? 0:39:49.920 --> 0:39:53.799 Tell me what does that mean? I don't know. 0:39:53.960 --> 0:39:59.920 It's like people who are because when I like, probably 0:40:00.200 --> 0:40:04.080 soften some of my countryness, or soften some of my twang, 0:40:04.320 --> 0:40:08.920 or soften some of my expressiveness. And then if something 0:40:09.120 --> 0:40:12.200 is said or something happens and my twain comes out 0:40:12.520 --> 0:40:15.160 or I have a real expressive reaction to it, They're like, oh, 0:40:15.320 --> 0:40:17.680 I didn't know that was in you, and I'm like what. 0:40:18.280 --> 0:40:21.840 And part of that is because I've been in situations 0:40:21.840 --> 0:40:24.840 where I am myself and I'm ostracized for it. I 0:40:24.920 --> 0:40:28.840 culturally show up as me, and it's a problem for 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:31.399 some people. And when you're not exposed to so many 0:40:31.400 --> 0:40:36.760 people like that, people repel it. And so in order 0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:39.719 for me to survive in the spaces where I have 0:40:39.840 --> 0:40:45.000 to be in order to work, I truncate. And now 0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:48.759 being in a place where there are people who are 0:40:48.840 --> 0:40:54.799 like me, and I know or feel like, I'm not 0:40:54.840 --> 0:40:57.279 going to be judged for just being myself. They're going 0:40:57.320 --> 0:40:59.920 to understand my twang, they're going to understand my expression, 0:41:00.000 --> 0:41:03.400 and I can relax and I can just be myself, 0:41:04.120 --> 0:41:06.239 you know, I can be my full self. And I 0:41:06.280 --> 0:41:09.719 feel like I didn't realize that I was only being 0:41:09.840 --> 0:41:14.040 probably like ninety to ninety five percent of myself. It 0:41:14.160 --> 0:41:18.240 was just like just this little like just a little 0:41:18.440 --> 0:41:20.759 like tuck it in just a little bit and then 0:41:20.800 --> 0:41:23.520 you'll be fine. And now I realize, oh my god, 0:41:23.560 --> 0:41:26.400 I can just I can let all that go. It 0:41:26.440 --> 0:41:29.200 was a very strange experience, but that's what that's what 0:41:29.239 --> 0:41:29.640 it was like. 0:41:31.239 --> 0:41:36.320 That's fascinating. It is and I think that the part 0:41:36.440 --> 0:41:40.360 that had not really occurred to me was the idea 0:41:40.640 --> 0:41:45.160 of the shooting city too. The location. Yeah, that's an 0:41:45.160 --> 0:41:47.120 element that I'm not really considered. 0:41:47.760 --> 0:41:51.520 Yeah, I wouldn't expect you to. And I say that 0:41:51.560 --> 0:41:55.200 because we have two very different existences, right, you know, 0:41:56.680 --> 0:41:59.520 and I didn't even expect it to happen. You know, 0:41:59.560 --> 0:42:02.040 It's not like I've never been around black people. You know, 0:42:02.200 --> 0:42:04.480 my whole life I have, I have never been around 0:42:04.520 --> 0:42:06.800 that many black people. Atlanta got all the black people. 0:42:06.960 --> 0:42:07.680 It's so great. 0:42:08.000 --> 0:42:11.120 Well it's funny because you know, I'm from Atlanta, I know, 0:42:11.560 --> 0:42:15.759 so that's where I that's where I grew up culturally. 0:42:16.600 --> 0:42:18.960 Like that wasn't different for you. 0:42:19.120 --> 0:42:21.080 And that's partly what I say. I mean, obviously we 0:42:21.160 --> 0:42:25.360 have a different experience because you're a black woman and 0:42:25.440 --> 0:42:30.279 I'm a white male, but also like, yeah, that was 0:42:31.000 --> 0:42:32.279 you know, and we'll talk about it in a minute 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:34.839 when we were working down there. In some ways it 0:42:34.960 --> 0:42:37.680 was for me, it was it was like, oh no, 0:42:37.840 --> 0:42:40.640 this is this is like this is what I'm. 0:42:40.520 --> 0:42:46.160 Used to exactly exactly. And that is what was so 0:42:46.200 --> 0:42:49.279 strange for me is that it was something that I 0:42:49.320 --> 0:42:52.080 would have expected to have even in a place like 0:42:52.200 --> 0:42:55.600 New York, New York, right, which is you know, just 0:42:56.280 --> 0:43:00.960 ferociously diverse, and yet it still wasn't really that way 0:43:01.080 --> 0:43:03.880 on set, the way that it was in Atlanta. And 0:43:04.440 --> 0:43:06.799 that's how that's what I mean about the ways in 0:43:06.840 --> 0:43:10.279 which I had to kind of shrink myself because I 0:43:10.480 --> 0:43:14.239 was in environments that were not diverse enough. You know, 0:43:14.400 --> 0:43:17.320 you grew up in Atlanta, so that wasn't that that 0:43:17.480 --> 0:43:19.360 was normal for you to be around a bunch of 0:43:19.360 --> 0:43:22.239 black folks, Like that's just normal. And when I'm the 0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:25.880 one black person that you know, eighteen people are ever around, 0:43:25.960 --> 0:43:29.520 it's like, oh right, you know, it just it changes 0:43:29.560 --> 0:43:30.239 the dynamic. 0:43:31.680 --> 0:43:35.279 Well, I am so glad that you had such a 0:43:35.320 --> 0:43:40.120 positive experience on Tom Swift. I'm sorry for you that 0:43:40.239 --> 0:43:44.120 it didn't get renewed, But uh, I left the door. 0:43:43.920 --> 0:43:46.680 Open because of that very reason. 0:43:46.640 --> 0:43:50.680 I left the door open for something that was to come. 0:44:08.480 --> 0:44:14.600 The other Black Girl. You were cast as Hazel the Titular, 0:44:14.840 --> 0:44:16.880 which to me is just a funny word. 0:44:17.360 --> 0:44:19.480 Such a funny word, other black. 0:44:19.200 --> 0:44:23.840 Girl to Sinclair Daniels Nella in the show. Talk to 0:44:23.880 --> 0:44:28.840 me about meeting the folks there and how that project 0:44:28.880 --> 0:44:36.160 came about for you, Oh you audition seventy nine times. 0:44:36.640 --> 0:44:41.680 I auditioned a lot in the sense of my first 0:44:41.760 --> 0:44:46.560 round of auditions. I went to a producer's session, but 0:44:46.800 --> 0:44:50.239 I didn't pass to the cam read, and so I 0:44:50.280 --> 0:44:53.200 was knocked out. I was very very sad about it, 0:44:53.719 --> 0:44:56.279 and I had actually when I got the audition, I 0:44:56.360 --> 0:45:02.680 had just bombed and auditioned the day prior, yes on 0:45:02.760 --> 0:45:05.279 a movie that I really wanted to be a part of, 0:45:05.440 --> 0:45:10.480 but I did so horrible. And the next day I 0:45:10.560 --> 0:45:12.200 found out that I had an audition for The Other 0:45:12.239 --> 0:45:16.239 Black Girl. I saw the book actually in a bookstore 0:45:16.360 --> 0:45:18.800 in my neighborhood. It was a bookstore that I'd walked 0:45:18.840 --> 0:45:21.040 by for two years and never went in, And the 0:45:21.080 --> 0:45:22.640 one day that I went in, I saw the book 0:45:22.680 --> 0:45:24.920 on the table and I was like, huh, And so 0:45:24.960 --> 0:45:26.880 I picked it up and I started reading it, and 0:45:26.920 --> 0:45:28.680 I was like, oh my god, I love this did 0:45:28.719 --> 0:45:31.960 the auditions, was feeling really good about it, got knocked out, 0:45:32.080 --> 0:45:35.280 was heartbroken for about a month or two, I think, 0:45:35.960 --> 0:45:38.680 And then they came back around and asked to see 0:45:38.719 --> 0:45:40.960 if I would be willing to come back in and reread, 0:45:41.560 --> 0:45:43.480 and I did, and I did that, I think for 0:45:43.520 --> 0:45:48.759 about a month, and the last round of zoom testing, 0:45:50.239 --> 0:45:53.319 it was like how many hours we were doing it. 0:45:53.320 --> 0:45:56.280 It was probably a total collectively of like eight hours, 0:45:56.280 --> 0:45:59.680 but like four and a half each each time. It 0:45:59.719 --> 0:46:03.080 was a lot, and I was like, well, I don't 0:46:03.120 --> 0:46:04.840 have anything else to give, Like, I don't know what 0:46:04.880 --> 0:46:10.280 else I could do. I was terrified the whole time 0:46:10.360 --> 0:46:13.279 because I've never played a character like Hazel before. I'm 0:46:13.320 --> 0:46:19.360 typically more cast type as Anella than I am a Hazel. 0:46:19.719 --> 0:46:23.239 And I really wanted to do Hazel because I wanted 0:46:23.280 --> 0:46:26.200 to see if I could push myself to be you know, 0:46:26.640 --> 0:46:30.800 mysterious or intimidating. You know, I didn't find myself naturally 0:46:30.840 --> 0:46:32.920 to be, and so I was so worried that I 0:46:32.920 --> 0:46:35.120 wouldn't be able to perform. 0:46:35.880 --> 0:46:40.800 And then I got awesome. Now we had the luxury 0:46:41.000 --> 0:46:43.680 the author was on set. How much did you talk 0:46:43.719 --> 0:46:44.800 to her about Hazel? 0:46:45.560 --> 0:46:49.919 You know, I think I spoke more to our directors 0:46:50.080 --> 0:46:56.520 than I did Zakiyah. But I just kept checking in 0:46:57.239 --> 0:46:59.799 to make sure that what I was doing was on 0:46:59.840 --> 0:47:06.880 the right right path. And the things that I wanted 0:47:06.920 --> 0:47:11.040 to lean into, mostly that I felt comfortable with was 0:47:11.920 --> 0:47:16.879 her empathy. That's where I am most comfortable because that's 0:47:16.880 --> 0:47:20.560 so much of who I am as a person, and 0:47:20.640 --> 0:47:23.480 so when I'm bringing myself to the work, I'm trying 0:47:23.480 --> 0:47:25.920 to find the things that I can align with in 0:47:25.960 --> 0:47:31.359 that character. And I really leaned into my empathy for her. 0:47:31.880 --> 0:47:35.000 So when it came to the part of being a 0:47:35.040 --> 0:47:38.480 little nefarious, yeah, I would have to try to find 0:47:38.480 --> 0:47:42.360 a way to justify that through her empathy. It was 0:47:42.480 --> 0:47:43.279 very uncomfortable. 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:46.000 How similar do you feel or was there a pressure 0:47:46.120 --> 0:47:49.640 for you to play the Hazel that was in the 0:47:49.680 --> 0:47:51.960 book or did you view it as a more an 0:47:52.040 --> 0:47:55.320 inspiration and you were recreating this character. 0:47:56.280 --> 0:48:01.600 I would say, I don't know if inspiration so much 0:48:01.680 --> 0:48:05.560 as it is just similarly to the way I knew 0:48:05.600 --> 0:48:10.040 the Archie comics, you know, and Josie. It was just 0:48:10.160 --> 0:48:15.520 additional information. But I chose to take what the writers 0:48:15.560 --> 0:48:18.359 were giving me and make it out of that. So 0:48:18.440 --> 0:48:22.600 I would just entrusted my art into what they were 0:48:22.640 --> 0:48:23.000 giving me. 0:48:23.040 --> 0:48:26.080 In words, Well, that makes sense, you know. By the way, 0:48:26.080 --> 0:48:28.120 there's been a there's been an actor strike. There's been 0:48:28.160 --> 0:48:29.960 a writer strike and an actor strike. I don't know 0:48:29.960 --> 0:48:33.720 if you've heard about that. The last few the last 0:48:33.760 --> 0:48:41.440 few months, I felt so badly. I told Sinclair this 0:48:42.120 --> 0:48:46.000 for the two of you, because I felt like your 0:48:46.040 --> 0:48:50.360 work in the show was so tremendous and I felt 0:48:50.719 --> 0:48:55.480 so sad that you weren't able to get the attention 0:48:55.920 --> 0:48:59.160 and to ensure that as many people as possible could 0:48:59.200 --> 0:49:01.960 see the show. I mean, here's a good thing about streaming. 0:49:02.120 --> 0:49:03.799 It's still there, so. 0:49:03.920 --> 0:49:06.400 Yeah, and people are still discovering it, which is great. 0:49:06.680 --> 0:49:10.400 People are still discovering it now, which is great. But 0:49:10.480 --> 0:49:12.640 I felt so badly for the two of you. How 0:49:12.680 --> 0:49:15.839 difficult was it to not be able to talk about 0:49:15.880 --> 0:49:18.200 this thing that I know you were so proud of. 0:49:19.040 --> 0:49:20.480 It was really heartbreaking. 0:49:20.640 --> 0:49:21.040 Brian. 0:49:21.480 --> 0:49:27.080 Yeah, I have worked hard for a long time and 0:49:28.400 --> 0:49:32.560 to be a part of something that I was so 0:49:32.760 --> 0:49:37.080 utterly proud of, not just for the work that we did, 0:49:37.200 --> 0:49:39.440 but for the people that I got to work with, 0:49:40.000 --> 0:49:44.280 you know, our culture at work. I loved coming to work, 0:49:44.320 --> 0:49:49.080 for the people, for the experience, for the work. It 0:49:49.120 --> 0:49:51.600 was just I loved being at work. I really wanted 0:49:51.640 --> 0:49:55.800 to share this, not just for myself but for everyone else. 0:49:56.640 --> 0:49:58.560 And I wanted to get the chance to go on 0:49:58.640 --> 0:50:01.920 like daytime television I've never done any of those things before. 0:50:01.920 --> 0:50:04.399 I've never had that experience, and this would have been 0:50:04.440 --> 0:50:07.480 that chance. And it was very, very it was a 0:50:07.520 --> 0:50:11.640 hard pill to swallow, you know. I am and have 0:50:11.880 --> 0:50:16.640 been in support of both strikes wholeheartedly, and the sacrifice 0:50:16.680 --> 0:50:20.680 that we had to take was not being able to 0:50:20.719 --> 0:50:25.240 give our show more attention. It was really, really, really, 0:50:25.520 --> 0:50:26.440 it was really hard. 0:50:27.680 --> 0:50:32.680 Yeah, I know, I think one of the unintended casualties 0:50:33.040 --> 0:50:36.960 that happened out of it. You felt good about the 0:50:37.000 --> 0:50:40.320 culture there on the other Black Girl, Oh my god. 0:50:40.080 --> 0:50:45.160 I loved it. I just loved it. It was honestly, 0:50:46.120 --> 0:50:48.960 it was so chill, you know, but like and chill 0:50:49.080 --> 0:50:51.719 with respect to the fact that, you know, what we 0:50:51.880 --> 0:50:54.320 do day in and day out can be very chaotic. 0:50:55.200 --> 0:50:57.239 You know. The days were so long, we were block 0:50:57.280 --> 0:51:01.320 shooting the entire season. That puts a lot of strain 0:51:01.440 --> 0:51:06.200 on everyone. And to still come in and kind of 0:51:06.200 --> 0:51:08.719 feel like I'm hanging out with my friends and we're 0:51:08.719 --> 0:51:11.160 also going to make this thing. The last time I 0:51:11.200 --> 0:51:13.640 felt that was like in high school, you know, like 0:51:13.680 --> 0:51:16.600 when you're just school's over and it's after school and 0:51:16.600 --> 0:51:20.160 now we get to it's play rehearsal, you know, like right, 0:51:20.360 --> 0:51:22.239 that's what it felt like. And it was also just 0:51:22.280 --> 0:51:30.520 so great to be introduced to vets and to share 0:51:30.560 --> 0:51:34.719 a space with them. And that's right. 0:51:35.120 --> 0:51:37.400 I haven't been I haven't been referred to as a 0:51:37.560 --> 0:51:38.360 VET before. 0:51:38.480 --> 0:51:40.880 I hope you take it as a compliment and not 0:51:40.920 --> 0:51:46.840 an insult. Well, I don't believe that, Yeah, Bryan, I 0:51:46.920 --> 0:51:48.000 need convince. 0:51:47.800 --> 0:51:51.840 Me no, But I mean when I showed up on set, 0:51:52.000 --> 0:51:55.880 it must have it must have been just it was 0:51:56.000 --> 0:52:03.799 unnervesting for you. Oh stop it, stop it. Hey, Look, 0:52:03.880 --> 0:52:08.920 I mean I attempt to make everyone as comfortable as possible, 0:52:09.040 --> 0:52:09.600 which is so. 0:52:09.719 --> 0:52:13.319 Funny considering the character that you had to play was unbearable, 0:52:13.840 --> 0:52:16.320 which is why it was. It was just so great. 0:52:16.480 --> 0:52:22.040 I know my time there, I wasn't there for that long, 0:52:22.160 --> 0:52:27.839 but I felt a real sense of community and sort 0:52:27.880 --> 0:52:33.279 of what you're describing that like, let's get together and 0:52:33.400 --> 0:52:36.920 quite frankly in a way, very much like the office 0:52:37.160 --> 0:52:44.560 in terms of feeling a real sense of no ego 0:52:45.400 --> 0:52:50.200 or self aggrandizing and just like, how can we make 0:52:50.360 --> 0:52:54.040 this the best that it can be? How can we 0:52:54.239 --> 0:52:56.600 tell this story in the best way. 0:52:57.360 --> 0:53:01.200 I really felt that, Yeah, that's it, exactly right. We 0:53:01.200 --> 0:53:04.200 were all advocating for the same thing. We all just 0:53:04.280 --> 0:53:06.919 wanted to make a really good show, and we all 0:53:06.960 --> 0:53:09.759 wanted to do the best we could to provide that 0:53:10.360 --> 0:53:14.439 and to also, you know, keep the day moving, keep 0:53:14.560 --> 0:53:17.880 keep the ball rolling, and keep everybody happy and healthy 0:53:18.080 --> 0:53:22.720 and you know, said and hydrated so that we could 0:53:22.960 --> 0:53:25.520 make this thing and go home because we were under 0:53:25.560 --> 0:53:29.880 so much pressure to shoot so much in such a 0:53:29.920 --> 0:53:30.840 little amount of time. 0:53:31.360 --> 0:53:34.000 Now I got nothing from Sinclair on this shoot. I 0:53:34.000 --> 0:53:37.759 shouldn't have said that. Damn it. I shouldn't have said that. Now, 0:53:37.800 --> 0:53:40.399 I'm not going to get anything out of you. Damn it. 0:53:41.120 --> 0:53:43.360 Oh, I feel like I know what you're about to 0:53:43.360 --> 0:53:44.920 ask me, and I'm going to take the same thing. Well, 0:53:44.920 --> 0:53:46.319 go ahead. Uh. 0:53:46.800 --> 0:53:51.600 There was an unexpected hiatus that happened. Oh yeah, Suddenly 0:53:51.719 --> 0:53:54.440 there was a period of time that we were to 0:53:54.560 --> 0:53:58.279 be shooting that we were not shooting, and there was 0:53:58.360 --> 0:54:01.879 some discussion that I just heard that it appeared as 0:54:01.920 --> 0:54:06.040 though there was some reworking to be done to the 0:54:06.160 --> 0:54:11.080 later episodes. This is what I recall being told, and 0:54:11.320 --> 0:54:16.800 after watching the show, loving the show, and also reading 0:54:16.880 --> 0:54:21.600 the book and loving the book, there was a divergence. 0:54:21.920 --> 0:54:25.880 I would say that occurred in the two stories, and 0:54:25.960 --> 0:54:29.400 to me, it appeared as though it was done to 0:54:29.560 --> 0:54:35.400 potentially come back for a second season. Do you believe 0:54:35.480 --> 0:54:38.920 that to be true? Was that something you heard or not? 0:54:40.320 --> 0:54:42.960 I did not know you were going to say that. 0:54:43.160 --> 0:54:45.880 No, I did not hear this, But you know what 0:54:45.880 --> 0:54:48.040 I'm you know what I'm referring to, right. 0:54:48.480 --> 0:54:52.239 I think I know what you're referring to, but like 0:54:52.320 --> 0:54:56.480 the reasoning behind it, No, I have no that I 0:54:56.560 --> 0:54:56.960 don't know. 0:54:58.320 --> 0:54:58.720 Brian. 0:54:58.920 --> 0:55:01.560 You know you've been doing this longer than I have, 0:55:01.719 --> 0:55:03.600 but I've been doing it for a hot minute, and 0:55:03.760 --> 0:55:07.759 I know not to trust anything, like you could be 0:55:07.840 --> 0:55:10.720 doing something that's so great and you it never sees 0:55:10.760 --> 0:55:12.839 the light of day again. And then there people who do. 0:55:13.160 --> 0:55:13.719 I know that? 0:55:14.040 --> 0:55:17.000 No, No, I'm horrible, and then they go, you know 0:55:17.080 --> 0:55:17.640 you just don't. 0:55:17.800 --> 0:55:20.920 I don't know, no, but to me, so, let me 0:55:20.960 --> 0:55:25.879 be clear that the story in the book ends, right, 0:55:26.160 --> 0:55:29.560 there's not a sequel to that story, right, But at 0:55:29.560 --> 0:55:34.879 the end of the series there is open. It is 0:55:35.000 --> 0:55:39.799 more open than it is closed. And that was my 0:55:40.120 --> 0:55:43.480 that was my question. But you're saying you didn't hear 0:55:43.480 --> 0:55:44.239 anything about this. 0:55:44.920 --> 0:55:48.600 No, I didn't. And even to that, to that thought, 0:55:49.280 --> 0:55:53.520 everything that I've been a part of has always been 0:55:53.680 --> 0:55:56.880 open ended, whether it was from a book or not. 0:55:57.160 --> 0:56:00.959 And so when I signed on, it was never made 0:56:00.960 --> 0:56:03.359 clear that it was going to be like a what 0:56:03.400 --> 0:56:06.480 are they called. It's not a mini series, it's well, 0:56:06.480 --> 0:56:06.839 there's a. 0:56:06.760 --> 0:56:09.320 Mini series or continual series. 0:56:09.760 --> 0:56:16.400 Contractually, there was no verbiage that insinuated that this wouldn't 0:56:16.719 --> 0:56:19.120 that this would stop after the tenth episode. 0:56:19.200 --> 0:56:22.000 So I know, right, But what I'm saying is is 0:56:22.040 --> 0:56:26.239 that to me, there was a clear decision made to 0:56:26.320 --> 0:56:28.400 leave it more open than in the novel. 0:56:29.040 --> 0:56:34.759 Oh okay, I set it to me three times and 0:56:34.800 --> 0:56:36.520 I'm like, oh no, wait, that's what he's saying. 0:56:37.320 --> 0:56:40.920 I'm not trying to trick you. This is not this 0:56:41.080 --> 0:56:44.759 is not like, yeah, I'm not trying to trick you. 0:56:45.160 --> 0:56:47.400 I know you're not. I'm just trying. I'm trying to 0:56:47.440 --> 0:56:51.520 get on the same train, but I keep missing the car. Well, 0:56:51.600 --> 0:56:53.960 I think I'm in the same car now. And I 0:56:54.040 --> 0:56:55.919 did not hear anything like that. I don't. 0:56:56.000 --> 0:56:57.759 I don't know, So you don't know. You don't know 0:56:57.800 --> 0:57:00.879 why there was a pause in production I know. 0:57:00.800 --> 0:57:04.120 Why there was a pause, but I don't know that 0:57:04.120 --> 0:57:11.080 that choice of redirection was solely to leave it open 0:57:11.280 --> 0:57:14.239 for a second season. I don't, I don't. I do 0:57:14.400 --> 0:57:17.520 know why the pause, but not the full life. 0:57:17.800 --> 0:57:23.479 Fine done, don't know you do you want to come back? 0:57:24.400 --> 0:57:25.040 Oh my god? 0:57:25.160 --> 0:57:28.680 Yes, I mean, is there a way that Colin comes back? 0:57:28.800 --> 0:57:31.040 I mean, that's really all I'm concerned about. Is there 0:57:31.080 --> 0:57:35.920 a way that he can redeem himself in some way? 0:57:37.200 --> 0:57:41.760 Redemption? I don't think it's in Colin wheel house. Although 0:57:42.560 --> 0:57:48.000 you know there's nothing wrong. Life is cyclical, history repeats itself. 0:57:48.280 --> 0:57:51.120 There's always going to be Colin. Colin can always keep 0:57:51.160 --> 0:57:54.240 coming back. You know. It's just a question of whether 0:57:54.360 --> 0:57:56.520 or not people have learned from Collin. 0:57:57.360 --> 0:57:58.320 Very very true. 0:57:58.680 --> 0:58:01.040 Well, I don't see why Colin can't show up again. 0:58:01.560 --> 0:58:04.600 I agree. Well, it would be my pleasure to work 0:58:04.640 --> 0:58:07.560 with you again on this or anything else. I think 0:58:07.600 --> 0:58:11.960 you are fantastic in the show. I want to congratulate you, 0:58:12.760 --> 0:58:16.680 and I want America in the world to see it 0:58:17.040 --> 0:58:22.480 and your work. The other Black Girl streaming now on Hulu. 0:58:23.280 --> 0:58:27.640 That's right. Thank you so much, Brian, I really appreciate it. 0:58:27.760 --> 0:58:28.840 I appreciate you. 0:58:29.600 --> 0:58:32.120 Thank you. I appreciate you, and it was such my 0:58:33.000 --> 0:58:36.960 pleasure to work with you, and I hope for nothing 0:58:37.680 --> 0:58:42.120 but the best for you in continuing this show or 0:58:42.160 --> 0:58:46.400 something else very soon. Thank you all right, thanks for 0:58:46.480 --> 0:58:46.920 coming on. 0:58:48.040 --> 0:58:48.680 You're welcome. 0:59:02.480 --> 0:59:06.200 Ashley. You are such a talent and a joy. Thank 0:59:06.240 --> 0:59:08.640 you so much for being here. I just feel lucky 0:59:08.920 --> 0:59:12.040 that I get to work with people like you. Now, 0:59:12.120 --> 0:59:14.080 I promise this is going to be my last plug 0:59:14.280 --> 0:59:16.960 for the show, but I've been holding it in for 0:59:17.000 --> 0:59:20.320 four months now, so I think I've earned this. Watch 0:59:20.960 --> 0:59:23.920 The Other Black Girl on Hulu. You can binge it 0:59:24.000 --> 0:59:26.240 right now if you want. It's all out there and 0:59:26.280 --> 0:59:28.560 it's really really good. And I'm not just saying it 0:59:28.640 --> 0:59:31.360 because I'm in some of it, but because of people 0:59:31.440 --> 0:59:37.560 like Ashley Sinclair, Bellamy Young, Eric McCormick, Carcel Movey, Langston Kerman, 0:59:37.760 --> 0:59:42.320 are creators and writer Zakiya and Rashida Jones, so many 0:59:42.400 --> 0:59:46.280 great people. It's smart and funny, it's a little scary 0:59:46.440 --> 0:59:51.320 and complex and nuanced, and it's just it's just good. 0:59:51.720 --> 0:59:55.280 So meet me back here next week, when I'll catch 0:59:55.360 --> 0:59:59.840 up with another amazing guest about what they've been sitting 0:59:59.840 --> 1:00:03.360 on these past few months. Until then, have a really 1:00:04.080 --> 1:00:16.280 really good week. Off the Beat is hosted and executive 1:00:16.320 --> 1:00:21.120 produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. 1:00:21.400 --> 1:00:25.640 Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, 1:00:25.760 --> 1:00:29.680 Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan 1:00:30.000 --> 1:00:34.280 Papa Zachary, and our intern is Ali Amir Saheen. Our 1:00:34.320 --> 1:00:38.040 theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and 1:00:38.120 --> 1:00:39.480 only Creed Bratton.