0:00

I Am all in.

0:08

You. I

0:17

Am all in with Scott Patterson, an

0:19

iHeartRadio podcast.

0:20

Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am All in Podcast.

0:23

One on one interview with Melaura Harden.

0:27

This is brought to you by One eleven Productions, iHeartRadio,

0:29

iHeart Media, iHeart Podcasts,

0:33

and Melaura Harden portrayed

0:36

Carolyn Bates. Carolyn was set

0:38

up with Christopher by Emily and Richard at

0:41

Friday Night Dinner. Let me tell you something

0:43

about Malaura Harden. Who she

0:46

is. She's an actress best known for roles

0:48

as Jan Levinson on NBC's The Office,

0:52

Trudy Monk on The USA Networks

0:54

Monk, and Tammy Cashman on Amazon

0:56

Prime Videos Transparent, which

0:59

she received a Primetime Emmy

1:01

Award nomination. I want to talk

1:04

about that too, How that felt, How

1:06

you found out. Malaura has

1:08

been in many many

1:10

feature films, including Hannah Montana,

1:12

the movie seventeen Again, Thank You for Smoking,

1:15

Absolute Power, opposite Cleanewood

1:17

and Gene Hackman, and What a Scene

1:20

That Was with Gene Hackman and

1:24

twenty seven Dresses. She stars in

1:26

the first one woman movie ever made

1:29

a Golden Vanity, as Mabel

1:31

Montgomery, an iconic child

1:34

star Alla Judy Garland. The film is currently

1:36

being submitted to festivals.

1:38

Malaura Hardened welcome. So

1:40

excited to talk to you and to meet you. You.

1:43

Thank you.

1:44

First of all, how'd you get this role on Gilmore Girls?

1:47

They just make an offer. I can't imagine they made

1:49

you audition, but they just offered it to you, right,

1:51

Please say they offered it.

1:52

I'm trying to remember, I think so, yeah,

1:54

I'm pretty sure. I mean Amy Sherman

1:57

Palladino and I are You've

2:00

known each other for a really long time because we used to take

2:02

ballet together at

2:04

the same ballet studio as little girls.

2:06

So I've known her like since

2:08

we were really young, like maybe

2:10

twelve or thirteen, I mean that long ago. Oh

2:13

yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, they just

2:15

they offered it.

2:17

Oh man, Yeah, Okay,

2:19

here come the questions. What

2:22

was she like as a twelve or

2:24

thirteen year old? Go on, cough character?

2:27

Isn't she? I

2:30

remember really liking her. I

2:32

mean she's I still

2:34

really like her. We get along great. You know,

2:36

she's she's really fun too. She's

2:39

so smart, and she's quirky, and

2:42

she's so her own person, and you

2:45

know, yeah, she's

2:47

she was always I think. I mean, I remember

2:50

just as a little girl just liking her. Just

2:52

I don't remember like we weren't like super close

2:55

friends. I just remember liking her and we would

2:57

always say hello at dance class, and she

2:59

was always friendly to me, and we were friendly

3:01

to each other. And it was really only

3:04

later that we, you know, we

3:07

like kind of hung out as girlfriends a

3:09

little bit. I

3:11

think it was after the Gilmore Girls thing. I

3:14

think it was like we went to lunch a few times.

3:16

She came and saw me in Chicago on Broadway. I

3:18

played roxy Heart and she came saw

3:21

me, and we went out to dinner and like had

3:23

a whole like girls hang and like

3:25

we've done a few kind of days like that where

3:27

we've just hung out as girlfriends.

3:29

You know that's nice. That's very nice. Yeah,

3:32

So you saw no indication at that time

3:34

that she was going to go on to become one

3:36

of the most prolific writers

3:39

and most awarded writers in television

3:41

history.

3:42

And she's such an incredible I don't think people really

3:44

talk enough about her directing. I

3:46

think she's absolutely exceptional

3:49

director. Yeah, I saw it in this

3:51

episode watching this episode again that she directed

3:54

the one that I was in partings, but

3:57

you know, I have particularly noticed

3:59

it and was able to tell her at the Critics' Choice Awards

4:01

this this year that I just think she's

4:04

just her directing on marvelous, Miss Maisl

4:06

is unbelievable, I mean, really

4:08

really inspired.

4:11

You know, Oh, you were there, you were I was

4:13

there that night. Yeah, I

4:15

saw Amy and Dan that night.

4:16

You know, I know, wasn't that great?

4:18

It was great? It was a funny evening. Yeah. So

4:23

you played kron therapist being set up

4:25

at Christopher emmeilin Richard's Friday night dinner.

4:27

Do you think your character had any

4:29

chance with him?

4:31

Sure? Yeah, she

4:33

totally did. I mean, I think what was so

4:36

great about the character and watching this again was

4:39

the character was so not in

4:41

any way desperate or needy. She

4:44

just was just who she was and she

4:46

was just sort of like being herself and

4:48

this guy could either. You know, I

4:50

think she thought, whatever, he's okay,

4:52

this is I mean, she even says it's the most blatant,

4:55

you know, setup I've ever had besides

4:57

my mother. And she thought it was touching

4:59

that that, like this friend of her mother's

5:02

really wanted her to, you know, meet a guy in

5:04

the new town that she's moved into. And I

5:06

think that's sweet and

5:09

uh, you know, and with such a great

5:12

device to get you

5:15

know, to get Lauraai

5:19

and Chris

5:21

what Chris is this character Christopher

5:26

to get them together again, you know, to get them

5:28

like like talking, and

5:30

he's saving her and and it's kind

5:32

of great. It's it's particularly great

5:35

that they call my character Libby

5:38

that Libby is so you

5:41

know, that she's so centered and so

5:43

like such a potential like cash,

5:46

you know what I mean. And that makes it even

5:48

more interesting, I think for the

5:50

regulars in the show and the and

5:52

the fans of the show that Christopher

5:55

ends up in bed with, you know, Lauraai,

5:58

I think it's great.

6:00

So that's one of the things we just discussed. Do you think

6:04

that as a

6:06

therapist you

6:08

overstepped your bounds a little bit

6:11

in that you know, backseat therapy

6:14

session with Laurel I

6:17

kind of advocating for her to do

6:19

something. Is that Is that something that

6:21

you read in the script and said, Oh, I don't

6:23

know if a therapist would do that, would

6:26

go that far?

6:27

Do you think that, Well, I don't know, I don't know how many

6:29

therapists would have a therapy

6:31

session in their far with a notepad.

6:34

You gotta suspend, you got to you gotta suspend

6:36

your disbeliever.

6:37

You're a set up date in this like tiny

6:39

little idyllic town that you know, you

6:42

guys are all in, like.

6:45

The reality is a bit skewed

6:47

there, So I guess that you can accept anything

6:50

exactly excellent point. You know,

6:52

it never dawned on us that it was just a TV show

6:54

and we're trying to terpet his real life. It's

6:56

like, what's we throw a flag on the play? Uh

7:01

So those are iconic dinner scenes. Those those

7:03

Friday night dinner scenes are some of the best

7:05

stuff in the whole thing. What was it like

7:07

working with everybody?

7:09

Really great? Really great? I

7:12

remember. I mean for me, what was

7:14

the most exciting thing was that Ed Herman

7:16

played my father when I was nine years

7:19

old in a Disney movie I did called North Avenue

7:21

Irregulars. Oh my, and I literally

7:23

hadn't seen him since then.

7:26

That imbered and

7:29

I of court.

7:30

And I had such fond memories of him. He was so sweet

7:32

to me when I was nine doing that show sort

7:34

of a caper like a caper movie, really

7:37

fun movie. If anyone can ever find that

7:39

they should. It's really fun. It had like Chlorus

7:41

Leachman and Karen Valentine

7:43

and oh gosh in series,

7:46

and I mean it had some iconic,

7:49

iconic comedians in

7:51

any case that was super fun. So

7:54

that was I was mostly focused on Ed just

7:57

you know, just reconnecting with him and

8:01

yeah. But but everybody was

8:03

perfectly nice to me. I don't remember like

8:06

thinking anything other than that.

8:08

So at nine years old, here

8:10

you are.

8:11

Yeah, started acting when I'm six.

8:14

Professionally, You're from Houston.

8:17

I was born in Houston. I was raised here.

8:19

Ah.

8:20

Yeah, so they didn't your your parents didn't

8:22

move here to pursue the business.

8:24

You moved here anyway?

8:26

Well, my parents are both actors, so

8:28

they here for the business for themselves.

8:31

Okay.

8:32

The reason I was born in Houston, Texas is

8:34

because my dad was doing a production at the Alley

8:36

Theater in Houston. So

8:38

that's why. Yeah, that's why I was there, and then

8:41

traveling around doing regional theater for

8:43

the first five years of my life and then yeah,

8:47

and then then coming to LA and then really

8:49

the only reason I got into it was because my

8:52

comm my parents' commercial agents. When you

8:54

went when during the time when you had to drop

8:56

off your headshots because they were physical headshots.

9:00

Uh, just said, you're so cute,

9:02

don't you want to do what mom and dad does? And I was like, I

9:05

could do what mom and dad does. And I'd seen them

9:07

age, and I'd seen them acting, and I'd seen

9:09

them working onlines, and I think I

9:11

just loved what it looked like to me, and

9:14

I was like, can I please? Can I please? I

9:16

tugged on their sleeves and tugged on their sleeves, and finally

9:19

they were like, oh, oh my god,

9:21

this crazy business, with all this rejection.

9:23

We'll let her go on ten auditions. If she doesn't get

9:25

anything, we'll ease her out of it. She'll never know the difference.

9:28

Of course, I got the first thing I went on.

9:30

So did.

9:33

That was that?

9:34

Were you were you a child star? Did

9:36

you go on the talk shows when

9:38

you were a kid?

9:40

I didn't go on the talk shows. I

9:42

still haven't gone on the talk shows too much, really.

9:45

Really, So you were never on

9:47

like Lenno or Carson or anything.

9:49

No, No, yeah, I'm not

9:52

really much of a talk show type.

9:54

I guess I don't really, I don't

9:56

guess I don't Garner. I mean I've done like.

9:58

Oh yeah, they don't like beautifulest directally

10:00

funny people that are really good at what they do.

10:02

They hate that right now, I know.

10:06

I don't know, I don't know, but no,

10:09

but it's been, it's been. It's

10:11

been just great. Like like growing

10:13

up in this business was super fun. And

10:16

yeah, to reconnect with ed Herman was really

10:18

really fun because he really is a highlight

10:20

in my memory. That was a super

10:22

fun show to work. That movie

10:24

was incredible. On the back lot of Disney and

10:27

they were making Pete's Dragon Around the Corner,

10:30

which was a huge movie that came

10:32

out that summer, and I remember meeting

10:34

the animator who gave me a picture

10:36

and I have a picture of me with Pete the

10:39

Dragon, who's completely animated of course.

10:42

Right anyway, let

10:44

me ask you played

10:48

a really integral role here

10:50

with that scene, okay, and

10:53

that you realized, you know, your character realized

10:55

that Laurel I need to stand up for herself and

10:59

asked to a lobe. Did you think that that

11:01

was the right advice.

11:04

Me personally?

11:06

You personally, Laura Harden,

11:10

this is your life.

11:11

I think it's always good to

11:14

push people to if they

11:16

have noise, if they have if

11:18

they're suffering about something. I think

11:20

it's great to push

11:23

through that so that you can get to the other side faster.

11:25

And sometimes that requires pushing

11:28

the boundaries. Sometimes it requires being.

11:31

Sometimes it requires you know, just shutting

11:33

up and wearing beige, and other times it requires

11:36

pushing through so that you can get to the

11:38

freedom faster. The freedom

11:41

mind where you don't have like a static television

11:43

in the background in.

11:45

Your actually actually can be very toxic,

11:48

right, So you've got to clear it out. I think.

11:50

So, yeah, well, I don't think you can really

11:52

get anything done from

11:54

that place, right, from a place of like

11:57

noise, noise, noise, noise, right, right,

11:59

you know, you have to have clarity, and you and

12:01

sometimes to get clarity you have to like you

12:04

have to stir it up and make it explode,

12:06

you know.

12:06

Yeah, you got to get out of that paralysis.

12:09

That's right.

12:09

Interesting, interesting, interesting, So

12:12

you're the right person to play that role. You're

12:15

very psychologically, aren't you.

12:18

And I was this necklace in

12:21

in the episode. I noticed, this is my personal

12:25

character. Where's that necklace?

12:26

I put that remains? Look

12:28

at that. I just got an

12:30

email for somebody I don't know. I get all these mass emails

12:33

about you know, they're collecting celebrity

12:35

memorabilia downtown Los Angeles this

12:37

weekend. You could probably fetch a nice sum for that.

12:39

Anyway, I'll

12:42

give you.

12:42

Okay, that's funny. You're right. I could go sell

12:45

my beautiful.

12:46

Absolutely, because that's that's

12:48

what we do.

12:49

That my mother gave me.

12:50

So I got so

12:56

okay, So Laurel I follows through on this

12:58

ultimatum. Right, yeah,

13:01

you watch the episode, right?

13:03

I did?

13:04

All right? What was your reaction.

13:07

I loved it. I thought it was I thought it was great.

13:09

It was such a good cliffhanger, you

13:11

know, everybody was everything's

13:14

changing. It's the end of the season, right,

13:16

it's the last episode of the season. When

13:18

we used to make twenty two episodes.

13:21

Right, remember that nine

13:24

months it was like.

13:24

You make a living on a

13:27

series. Because they were making twenty two episodes.

13:29

You could make a good living, you know, really.

13:32

Good living, and or a thing called

13:35

residuals.

13:36

Residuals, remember those Remember

13:38

those mailbox money.

13:40

Amazing when you run the mailbox.

13:43

Yeah, you'd skip to the mailbox.

13:45

You just skipped there.

13:46

It was so good then you'd skip back

13:48

because you had your residual checks. I can eat,

13:50

I can eat exactly. Oh

13:53

my goodness, now, I know, right, everything's

13:55

ten episodes now at low ball money.

13:58

Yeah, you know, it's still a job,

14:01

and it's still you got your insurance, and

14:03

it's still

14:05

you know, a good decent chunk

14:07

of money. You can't necessarily live on it,

14:09

you know, but what the heck it's it's

14:12

it's better than a stick in the

14:14

eye, right.

14:19

Can't necessarily live on it, and you

14:21

don't care.

14:22

You can't even go to McDonald's on it. It's

14:23

twenty so that you could

14:25

get your health insurance. You're

14:28

not making it sound because let me tell you something.

14:30

You're not gonna eat very much and you're gonna need that

14:32

health insurance, now,

14:34

are you ever? And

14:37

if there ever were residuals where there wouldn't be, you wouldn't

14:39

be able to skip to the mailbox anymore because

14:41

you'd be in ill health, have no energy. You're

14:45

starting. Yeah,

14:50

I don't know. It kind of sucks to be an actor these days,

14:52

but at least you.

14:54

Get then take our job any

14:56

minutes.

14:57

Right, It's like we don't even discovers

15:00

by the way, we're not going to

15:03

need you to report today

15:05

or like forever, because

15:08

don't worry about the copyright stuff.

15:10

Just to buy your voice for three d

15:12

and forty five dollars

15:15

seventeen cents. Oh

15:20

god, I laugh, and soon I will

15:22

be crying.

15:23

Yeah, it's over, man, We're done.

15:26

Oh my god, yeah, the last.

15:28

I'm all right. For those young actors

15:30

that are out there follow yours.

15:32

It's like, you know, it's like it's

15:34

like, if this is the Titanic, how

15:37

much of it is still sticking out of

15:39

the water. Is it just the tip? I don't

15:41

know.

15:42

We are resillions and we are creative

15:45

being, yes, and so we will

15:48

find a way, you know what.

15:49

I think, you know what I think AI is going to do though,

15:52

as long as we're on that's up. I think

15:55

it's going to be so creepily accurate

15:59

and saves the studios so

16:01

much money. But I think it will it

16:03

will cause a real revival

16:06

in live theater.

16:07

I do too.

16:07

Yeah, and I think live theater

16:10

will be able to, you

16:12

know, expand the

16:15

seating, yes, because there'll be such

16:17

a demand for Because I think as good

16:19

as AI is and

16:22

will be, I still think there's that creepy

16:24

element to it, where that's not real, it

16:26

doesn't look real, it's not the same. I

16:29

mean. But I think that'll

16:31

last what a generation, and

16:33

then after that generation

16:35

everybody be ai crazy and they'll

16:37

go, what the hell you old people talking about? It looks really

16:40

real, it's great. We don't care about live theater. But I think

16:42

I think for the next I don't know, twenty years.

16:44

Yeah, maybe, I do think though, that

16:46

human human beings really do

16:49

crave connection, and we

16:51

are I

16:54

don't know, we're pack animals, right, we want

16:56

to be with other humans. And here's

16:59

the other thing, Like, I'm

17:01

a person who very much and

17:04

most actors are. You know, feels

17:07

like when you're at a party and you

17:09

walk in a room and you can

17:11

there's one hundred people there, but

17:14

there's someone way in the corner

17:16

and you just feel them so much that

17:18

you turn your head and

17:20

you connect. You look at each other,

17:23

you see each other, or you see them or they don't

17:25

see you. Those moments

17:27

that we all replicated movies and television

17:29

shows all the time really do happen.

17:32

And that's because we're energetic

17:34

beings. We're not just our physical

17:36

selves. We're not just body

17:39

you know, mind, flesh and

17:41

bone. We have souls, we have spirits,

17:44

we have actual energy that we're exchanging

17:46

all the time. And I don't think

17:48

I mean while I know, AI isn't going to be able

17:51

to exchange energy

17:53

like that.

17:54

Right, No, not

17:56

even close.

17:57

It'll be really interesting to see if it can make people

18:00

laugh and cry as

18:02

deeply and resonant lee as

18:05

we can as actors.

18:08

Wow, it's an interesting dilemma. Yeah,

18:11

it has potential tragic proportions

18:13

for futures, but

18:16

very true.

18:26

Listen, you've you've been steadily working.

18:29

Yeah.

18:30

I don't need to tell you this. You need to tell me this

18:32

because I didn't know this. Thirty years

18:35

various television roles.

18:36

Films, thirty years

18:38

more than years.

18:39

No, that's what it says here. It's only thirty years. Sorry,

18:42

Laura, we're right, You're wrong. Sorry, Okay, Yeah,

18:44

No, I got this from the research department. The

18:47

AI department says it's thirty years. So that's

18:49

what it is. Thirty five years,

18:52

years, fifty years.

18:54

Fifty years. I've been a professional actor. What

18:58

I'm fifty six? I started.

18:59

I was no, stop it, stop

19:02

it, No, you're thirty five. Get

19:04

at you?

19:04

No, I'm not. And that's another thing I really

19:06

noticed it at the.

19:07

Math said, you know, your first gig gets thirty

19:09

I mean at five, and then been doing

19:12

thirty five thirty years, and now you're thirty

19:14

five years old.

19:14

Stop it, No, I'm not so

19:17

fifty years. That's kind of amazing

19:19

five decades. But that's something I

19:21

really noticed about the Gilmour Girls episode.

19:24

Man, I was so young

19:27

and I was so beautiful. I

19:32

was watching the episode. I was like, fuck, you're

19:36

gorgeous and

19:38

you're so young. How old were you when

19:41

you did this?

19:41

What?

19:42

What year was that? Do you remember what year this one

19:44

was?

19:44

This is two thousand and six, this is eighteen

19:46

years ago.

19:48

I was very young. Eighteen years ago.

19:50

You were eight. You were eighteen years younger than fifty

19:52

six, so you was thirty thirty

19:55

eight.

19:56

Yeah. I really looked wow, and I

19:58

was.

19:58

Just like, wow, you're

20:02

still easy on the eyes, and you were easy on the

20:04

eyes back then. What can I say? What

20:06

can you say? It's

20:09

a Melaura Harden thing, you

20:11

know, it's just what happens.

20:14

What's your favorite role that you ever did?

20:17

Oh my gosh, that's

20:20

really hard, I will say. I mean

20:22

golden Bandages on my mind because we've I've been taking

20:24

it to festivals and watching it multiple times.

20:27

We went to all these festivals last year with

20:29

it, and I would say

20:32

it is one of my favorites because she's such a rich

20:35

character. She's so multi layered,

20:37

she's it's just me. So it was

20:39

like super challenging and fun and

20:41

you know, just like more

20:43

and more and more. I'm one of those more and more more people.

20:45

I like more and more and more, and

20:49

I like all fire, all cylinders

20:51

firing at all the all times. And that

20:53

required that because it was a small

20:56

you know, like micro budget. I made a

20:58

dollar on that movie, you know

21:00

movie. But it was like just

21:03

super fun to to carry

21:06

that journey of emotional

21:08

you know, it's a it's a hugely, it's

21:10

hilarious, it's it's dramatic,

21:13

it's tragic, it's you know, so just

21:15

the the universe of emotions

21:17

that I had to traverse was really exciting.

21:21

Of course, Chicago on Broadway was incredible

21:23

to do because I'm a singer and

21:25

I'm a dancer, and to be able to

21:27

do the three things that I love eight

21:30

times a week, you know, acting, singing, and dancing

21:32

all at once was just like I was

21:35

basically in heaven again because all

21:37

cylinders are firing, right, Should.

21:39

I do that?

21:41

The producers do it?

21:45

Yeah,

21:49

yeah, yeah.

21:51

The answer is you don't

21:53

hesitate, just say oh,

21:55

it's just it'll be one of the highlights

21:57

of your life. When I did the Hand of Montana

21:59

movie, I got Billy ray Cyrus excited about

22:01

it. He went and did it. He

22:04

played Billy Flynn.

22:05

But I mean it's like actual singing.

22:08

Yeah, but it's a great song, you know, the song Billy

22:12

Oh my God. You would have a ball. You

22:15

should be like running to your agents

22:17

and get on the phone and.

22:20

Well they you know, they they reached out

22:22

for my availability.

22:23

Okay, good, well you're pretty

22:26

available right now, right like we all are.

22:28

Nothing's happening because of the strike.

22:30

No, no, I'm doing I'm doing a series in Canada.

22:33

Okay, good Yeah?

22:34

Where are you? Where? What part of Canada?

22:36

Halifax?

22:38

Where's that?

22:39

It's very east.

22:42

It's it's almost a europe I.

22:44

Did the type in Montreal. Is

22:47

it east more than that Easter it's.

22:49

The It's the most eastern place

22:52

in the northern North

22:54

America. Okay, yeah, it's sticking

22:56

way out in the Atlantic, like if

22:58

you're in Massachusetts, you got to make a hard right

23:01

and then go up the coast. You know, what is it?

23:03

What is it? What series are you doing there?

23:05

Sullivan's crossing. It's a Canadian Yeah,

23:08

yeah, Americans, it's it's it's on CW

23:11

here. And you know, we

23:13

haven't been picked up yet for a third season, but probably

23:15

will be.

23:16

But all right, between this season and third

23:18

season, you should do Chicago.

23:20

Think so, yes, God,

23:23

you'll have a good time and then you can call me and thank

23:26

me for.

23:30

We have to Okay, So that's Golden Vanity,

23:33

which is this is the one woman movie.

23:36

You are playing a Judy

23:38

Garland type character. You're

23:40

singing, you're dancing, You're.

23:43

Dancing, but I'm saying not dancing. I do

23:45

sing it.

23:46

And and what what what's the

23:48

top three festivals you took

23:50

it to?

23:51

Well, it's it's a lot. Well,

23:54

we premiered at the Burbank International Film

23:56

Festival where we're an Audience Award and we

23:58

won the I won Best Act. And

24:01

then we took it to the Fort Lauderdale

24:03

International Film Festival where I won

24:05

Best Actor and we won the Audience Award. And

24:09

we also were in the

24:12

Saint Augustine Film Festival, and we

24:14

were in the Women's

24:16

Independent Film and Television Festival

24:18

were we won Best Narrative Feature. At Saint

24:21

Augustine. We got

24:24

was that one's not a competition one, that one's not a

24:26

competition festival. Anywhere

24:28

everywhere we went we won, We won awards.

24:31

I didn't even we didn't even apply for the

24:33

big Vibes because I just didn't.

24:35

I just was I was really needed to not

24:37

wait around anymore because this was a

24:40

movie that was first time filmmakers,

24:43

first time writers. It took forever

24:45

to get the post done on this

24:47

movie, to land on a cut that was satisfactory,

24:51

get the color correction, pay for the score,

24:53

the sound rights and the music rights

24:56

and so forth. And I literally woke

24:58

up January last year and

25:01

said, guys, do we have all the rights in place?

25:04

Can I take this the reins

25:06

on this and just submit to festivals.

25:08

I just want eyes on it. Really, that was my

25:11

was. I just wanted people to see it because it's a

25:13

real tour to force performance by me. It's a

25:15

really wonderful, amazing,

25:18

little quirky, fabulous,

25:21

fresh movie that I just wanted people

25:23

to see. So now we're trying to sell it in twenty two.

25:25

All Right, it's called Golden Vanity starring

25:27

Melaura Harden. Check it out when it's

25:30

available for downloads, or if it hits

25:32

your little theater or it gets

25:34

on a streamer, check

25:37

it out. But I want to talk about Gene Hackman

25:40

Clint Eastwood Absolute Power,

25:43

riveting scene. Tell us

25:45

about this if you don't

25:47

know the scene and Absolute Power. The

25:50

Melaura plays the

25:52

mistress of the President,

25:55

the President of the United States, which is portrayed

25:59

by the Great, the Great

26:01

Gene Hackman, and Clint Eastwood is

26:04

a cat burglar, a high end cat

26:06

burglar who was in that

26:08

house because it's not the president's house. It's

26:11

the billionaire super

26:13

pac guy who's funding his campaign.

26:17

Let it allowing Gene Hackman

26:20

to have his dalliance with

26:23

Melaura Harden. And

26:26

Clint Eastwood is robbing this

26:28

man's master bedroom

26:30

safe which is behind mirrors,

26:33

and he's getting

26:36

off with cash and jewels and all

26:38

kinds of things. And then

26:41

Melaura Harden and the President of the United States

26:43

waltz into the room and start kind

26:45

of getting down down,

26:48

and so Clint can't leave,

26:51

and he stays and he watches he

26:53

sits in that chair and he watches, and

26:56

he watches you get

26:59

murdered right by

27:01

the president of the United States because he

27:05

wanted it rough and he likes it rough.

27:07

And he smacked you and you smacked him

27:09

back, and then it got

27:12

and then it got bad, and then the bad thing

27:14

happened. And what a heart wrenching scene.

27:16

Tell us about that. I

27:18

mean, God, how did you get it? How'd

27:20

you get it? Did you audition what I did?

27:22

I did audition for it, and actually it was

27:24

It's interesting. Phillis Huffman was the casting

27:26

director who was a family friend because

27:28

David Huffman, her her

27:31

late husband, actually was

27:34

a really close friend with my father. They

27:36

had done a movie together and become very

27:38

close friends. And Phillis

27:41

called me in for it. And actually, when

27:43

I first read it, it was written completely naked.

27:45

The whole time. She was just nude from like start

27:48

to finish, and I

27:50

just I just felt like, well,

27:52

I'll go in, but you know whatever,

27:55

I'm not gonna I'm just not gonna. I wasn't going to

27:57

do like such a

27:59

sexual scene that becomes such a violent scene

28:01

completely naked. I just wasn't going to do that. So

28:04

basically, I went in, I did my reading and I

28:06

told Phyllis that I said, you know, just so you know, like

28:08

I think this is great. I love it. I

28:11

love it. I would love to work with Clinticeod of course

28:13

and Gene Hackman and you know, but I'm

28:15

not I'm not going to do this completely naked. So

28:17

like I'm just letting you know. She's

28:19

like she's like okay, yeah, I mean, good to know,

28:22

you know. And so apparently, you

28:24

know whatever, Clint liked it

28:26

and chose me, and she

28:28

told him and and and

28:30

he was He's like, okay, well just ask

28:32

her if she'd be okay if it was like a very

28:34

short skirt, and if she could be wearing

28:37

like a like a bra underwear

28:40

that we could expose. And

28:42

I was like, yeah, absolutely, that's fine.

28:45

And when I.

28:46

Went Clint's directing this movie

28:48

as well, directed yeah, right there you go.

28:50

Yeah. So when I went in for

28:52

my fitting, you know, you

28:55

know, I went in and got fitted

28:58

for this beautiful dress that they made for me, and

29:01

you know, beautiful bra and underwear a thing. And

29:04

he was just great. He was just like, you

29:06

know, I went and met them on that day and

29:09

he was so sweet, and I met Jean, and Jeane

29:11

was like, I'm a little nervous about our scene.

29:15

And I I said, don't worry,

29:17

Jeans, I'll take care of you.

29:18

And

29:21

I was like thirty and he was like seventy two,

29:23

I'm not kidding, as old as

29:26

my dad, and

29:29

you know, and it was just so cute, like it made.

29:31

It was so cute that he was vulnerable enough

29:33

to tell me that he was nervous and that I was

29:35

playful with him. He loved and

29:38

he set a place for me every single day

29:40

next to him at lunch, and it would

29:42

always be me and Clint, Me and Jean

29:44

and his bodyguard who was also his

29:47

stand in and friend and

29:49

like trainer and everything, and

29:51

we would just the three of us would always eat together. He

29:53

was such a gentleman to me. Every time my

29:55

skirt flew up and they'd cut, you always

29:58

put my skirt down when they'd cut. He always

30:00

gave me his hand to help me up. He

30:02

was just he couldn't have been more of a gentleman.

30:04

And Clint too, and I really

30:07

felt like the two of them were just

30:10

you know, it was funny because when I finished, I

30:12

was like, well, if I ever was going to do

30:14

a completely nude scene from

30:16

like for it's like a ten minute long

30:19

scene. To do a ten minute long

30:21

scene completely nude, I

30:23

think Clint eastwooding Jene happened to prove themselves

30:25

to be the ones to do that with, you know, like

30:28

because they just were so there

30:30

was just never anything

30:33

lascivious or distasteful

30:35

or it was just like playful

30:38

and warm and

30:40

respectful. And

30:43

it just couldn't have been a better working environment.

30:45

Man, that's fantastic. What a

30:48

scene.

30:48

Yeah, that's a great scene.

30:50

What a great director he is.

30:51

He's such a great director, and he's so funny.

30:54

I mean when he you know, in the scene where he put

30:56

in during the scene he punches me and I

30:58

and there's a you know a shot where Clint

31:01

was like they were down on the ground and I fall

31:03

into the shot like you know, just a very

31:06

close up. And the first time

31:08

I did it, I fall into the shot and I

31:10

and we cut and I was like, oh god,

31:12

like I really I went

31:14

down too hard. I hit my head and Clint

31:17

was like, Laura, you just

31:20

you can just you can just act it. You

31:22

don't have to do it, really do it.

31:24

It was it

31:26

was.

31:27

I'm buying it. You don't have to. Don't hurt your

31:29

head.

31:30

Wow, man, what a feather in your cap

31:32

though. To work with those two guys, I'm

31:34

really just great for you. What

31:37

a scene. That's one of the most memorable

31:39

movie scenes because when they said Melaura

31:42

Harden, I went, wait a minute, I

31:44

know her, Wait a minute.

31:48

She was in that scene, right, That was

31:50

one of the great scenes.

31:52

I love that vivid.

31:54

Oh fantastic. All

32:04

right, so we're gonna play a little game now called

32:06

rapid fire.

32:07

Okay, you ready?

32:10

Not really good luck? I hate

32:12

rapid fire, but I'll try good luck. Okay,

32:16

I'm trying to wish you luck. How

32:19

do you like your coffee?

32:20

I don't drink coffee?

32:21

Thank you? Are you Team

32:24

Logan, Team Jass, Team Dean? You

32:27

don't drink coffee? I get it. Who is your

32:29

favorite Gilmore Girls couple? Luke and LAURELEI,

32:32

Emily and Richard?

32:34

Uh, Luke and larele I?

32:36

Correct answer?

32:37

Can I not say that when you're sitting here?

32:39

Correct answer? You

32:42

don't drink coffee? Would

32:44

you rather work with Michelle or

32:46

Kirk?

32:47

I don't know who? Should you tell

32:49

me who?

32:51

You don't drink coffee, Michelle,

32:53

that's always a that's a safe no. No, no, Michelle,

32:56

it's a safer choice.

32:57

Okay, Well, I don't

33:00

if I like making the safe choice, so I'll say

33:02

I'll say.

33:05

You did that scene, so that's not a safe

33:07

choice. What

33:10

would you order at Luke Steiner?

33:13

Not coffee?

33:16

Everything else? But

33:23

you know, I have a coffee company and

33:26

we'd like you, as our spokesperson would

33:30

Who would you rather hang out with? Paris

33:32

or Lane?

33:33

Oh my god, this is hard for me.

33:35

I'm not a Gilmore Girls uber fan. Really,

33:39

you're gonna have to feed me some of these answers.

33:41

Because you'd rather hang out with Lan? Yeah?

33:44

Why?

33:47

Because you don't drink coffee. You need a lot of

33:49

coffee to deal with Paris,

33:52

like copious amounts. You

33:54

need an IV.

33:55

I wish my daughters were here so they could, like, you

33:57

know, shout in my ear because they both have watched

34:00

the Gilmour Girls from like, you know,

34:02

they've seen it all. They've seen the whole thing,

34:04

and I really haven't, so they'd.

34:07

Be like, mom, that one, that one,

34:12

Harvard or Yale?

34:15

Gosh, let's see, Well

34:18

probably I would say Yale. Yeah for me?

34:20

Okay, why well.

34:23

Because the you know, the Yale Drama School.

34:25

Is that's

34:28

completely logical, Meryl Streep is

34:30

why, I

34:32

mean, right, Yeah,

34:37

would you rather attend a DAR event

34:39

with Emily or a town meeting with Taylor?

34:43

A town meeting? Yeah no,

34:45

you'd rather, okay,

34:49

d the.

34:49

D very very hot

34:52

and sweaty in those tents.

34:53

Oh yeah, Andy.

34:54

Degree all night. What you call it

34:57

DAR? Daughters of the American Revolution,

35:00

I'd rather, oh, definitely that. Yeah, you

35:02

get the Yeah, you don't have to sweat my

35:04

daughter. It's over in like.

35:06

An hour, The Daughter's American Revolution

35:08

when they were like nine and seven.

35:10

Oh really, yeah, okay, that's like a real

35:12

thing.

35:13

It's cool.

35:13

Yeah, No, it's a real Gilmore

35:16

girl's character you would want

35:18

as a roommate. You

35:23

natch uh

35:26

something in your life.

35:27

You are all in on something

35:30

in my life.

35:31

That I'm in your life that you are all

35:33

in on being

35:36

a mom, being a mom. Fantastic,

35:39

Melaura Harden. You

35:41

are fun and you're funny, and

35:44

what a great career, and keep on keeping on

35:47

And I guess I'll maybe

35:49

hopefully one day work with you as an AI

35:51

bot somewhere.

35:53

Well, no, let's not do it as ais

35:55

let's do it as real people. You want to do it as real

35:57

people, I think so it'd be more fun. I'm

36:00

much more energy that way.

36:02

I'm going to talk to the producers of this show.

36:04

We're gonna I'm gonna get you on my show.

36:05

Okay, good, I love that idea. Let's do it.

36:07

I like I like it too, Yeah, let's.

36:09

Do it me. I'm not working right

36:12

now.

36:12

You know what. I'm actually going to

36:15

talk to them after I get off. I'm

36:17

gonna go.

36:18

Yeah, I love that idea.

36:20

I don't mess around.

36:21

No, let's not mess around. I don't know. There's

36:24

no time to mess around.

36:25

An I have no time, no, no time,

36:27

I have no time. So all

36:30

the best. It was a pleasure.

36:31

You're a pleasure to thank you.

36:33

And uh, just

36:35

good luck with the film, really good luck

36:38

with Golden with a Golden Vanity.

36:40

Good luck with Golden Vanity. And I

36:43

hope it. I hope it blows up for

36:45

you.

36:45

And yeah, well, I don't

36:47

you know what I at this point, I just want people

36:49

to see it. I just want it to sell so people can see

36:51

it. Because it's a it's a quirky thing. It's not it's

36:53

not for everybody. It's it's you know, but I'm telling

36:56

you it's really good for people that want to sit through

36:58

it. If you want, I'll send you a link, a private

37:00

link. You can watch it.

37:01

And you tell me I think, yeah,

37:04

I know, I I want to see it. I definitely want to

37:06

see it.

37:06

Okay, all right, all the

37:09

best, Okay,

37:11

bye, bye

37:40

Hey everybody, and don't forget Follow us on Instagram

37:43

at I Am all In podcast

37:46

and email us at Gilmore at

37:48

iHeartRadio dot com