0:07

Welcome to once upon

0:07

the film industry. I am Steven

0:10

Lloyd Bennett. And I'm Al Lopez

0:10

and we are here with the lovely

0:14

and talented Michele Weaver.

0:14

Michelle,

0:20

you have seen her on TV shows

0:20

love is and counsel of dads on

0:26

NBC. And she's here to hang out

0:26

with us for a little bit. Thanks

0:30

for being on Michelle.

0:30

Appreciate it. Thanks for having

0:32

me. Well, you know, I've known

0:34

Steven for a long time. So it's,

0:37

it's good to catch up and I've

0:37

just met Al. So it's ni

0:40

e. Pleasure. Pleasure. Michelle

0:40

was in my first short film wh

0:45

n I moved to LA in 2014 15 Shu

0:53

yeah. Oh my god. emancipation,

0:53

that was a little black and

0:57

white thing. I shot for 37 whole

0:57

dollars.

1:02

And we, we did that in a day. Y

1:02

ah, it was fun. And we got it o

1:08

beat. It was on TV for a l

1:08

ttle bit on that show on BET

1:13

merican black film festivals TV

1:13

how. And I always liked working

1:18

with her. So I said let's ta

1:18

k to her. Cool. So I'll just k

1:21

ck it off with the very first How did your family first

1:24

influence your decision to be an

1:27

actress? Wow. Well, I started out dancing

1:30

when I was three. And I had

1:35

always performed I we all were

1:35

required to do something

1:39

musical. So I was on piano at a

1:39

Oh, I don't know, probably six,

1:45

something like that. And then I

1:45

my family was like, Listen, you

1:48

should either do choir or do

1:48

band and so I was like, Okay,

1:51

I'll do choir. So I would

1:51

perform with the choir and I

1:54

would do this I would audition

1:54

for like the exclusive choir

1:59

groups. And so I performed I

1:59

always performed I performed

2:03

since I was three years old. My

2:03

older sibling I ended up getting

2:07

a degree in acting and dance

2:07

before me so it kind of made it

2:12

gave me a little entryway there.

2:12

I was academic child and I

2:16

wasn't going to major in the

2:16

arts. I was I applied to eight

2:21

schools with a psychology major

2:21

in a French literature minor my

2:25

mother's Haitian so English was

2:25

her third language. So I always

2:30

wanted to pick up another

2:30

language and travel the world.

2:33

And when I was when I was in

2:33

senior, I got a random audition

2:38

to audition. Well, basically my

2:40

school goes to a theater. It's

2:43

called the thespian conference.

2:43

And they had the opportunity for

2:48

seniors to audition for tons of

2:48

colleges. I had already early

2:52

submitted to most of the schools

2:52

I wanted to go to, and there was

2:55

just an open spot. So I was

2:55

like, shoot, I have a song I

2:57

have a monologue. I just went

2:57

auditioned, I ended up getting a

3:00

theater scholarship to go to

3:00

Pepperdine. And so my parents

3:03

were like powered, I don't do

3:03

it, you know. So they thought I

3:07

was gonna do a double major in acting and psychology. I got

3:10

there took a psychology class,

3:13

and I said, Nope. And I picked

3:13

up a double major in media

3:17

production. And so but I mean,

3:17

at that point I paid for my, the

3:22

way it worked in my family is

3:22

that we all pay for our own

3:24

school. And then, you know, my

3:24

parents were kind of help out

3:26

here and there. And so it's like, what are you going to tell me? I'm paying for it.

3:32

Wait, I gotta jump in there. You

3:32

pay for your own school? Well,

3:36

yeah, we got scholarships, and

3:36

my parents would help here. And

3:38

they would they could, but it

3:38

wasn't like my parents were

3:41

covering completely not to shoot

3:41

those shade my parents, but they

3:45

did help out in areas. So I just

3:45

was like, I'm going to go into

3:49

the industry. And then once I

3:49

was studying theatre and media

3:53

production, I just was like,

3:53

this is where I'm gonna go. So

3:57

they kind of had to, like, Okay,

3:57

and then. And then once from

4:02

there, they saw my dedication

4:02

and all that stuff. They were

4:06

just supportive. My dad did say,

4:06

my senior year in high school, I

4:11

did a play, man who came to

4:11

dinner and it was my first lead

4:16

role in a play. And in high

4:16

school. In my dad, I remember my

4:20

dad saying, you know what,

4:20

Michelle, you could do this, I

4:23

believed you up there. And so I

4:23

think once he saw me in my

4:27

element, they were they didn't

4:27

want to kind of pushed me too

4:31

much. Just kind of let me figure

4:31

figure out where I belonged, in

4:35

a sense. So they were very

4:35

supportive, and especially now

4:38

they're super supportive. And,

4:38

and even when I didn't, wasn't

4:41

booking that much like, I don't

4:41

know, I think they just started

4:44

to see, I guess it's kind of one

4:44

of those things. When you're a

4:47

parent when you start to see

4:47

like, your kids figuring out

4:51

where they belong, even if even

4:51

if you're not, even if they're

4:54

not necessarily thriving at it

4:54

yet. You're like you know what,

4:57

it's going to work out and so

4:57

you

5:00

They were pretty supportive from

5:00

the beginning. But of course,

5:03

they wanted me to go in a more

5:03

academic, you know, direction at

5:07

first. But then once they

5:07

realized that wasn't happening

5:09

happening, they kind of just got

5:09

on board, which is good, which

5:13

is a real blessing. What would

5:13

you say is, were some of your

5:16

biggest inspirations as an

5:16

actress starting out? I okay,

5:20

I'll tell this story. When I

5:20

when I was first starting out,

5:24

you know, you meet tons of

5:24

artists your age and being

5:27

living in Hollywood. I lived in

5:27

Hollywood with two other actors.

5:30

I slept on the top bunk. And we were bunking it, yeah,

5:33

bunking it I would literally, I

5:37

was working out so much, I was

5:37

trying to be in shape, you know,

5:40

to be an actor. And so getting

5:40

out of bed from a bunk bed when

5:43

you're sore. Like, I would just

5:43

fall on the ground and just

5:48

be like, are you okay? I'm like,

5:48

I'm fine. But anyways, I'm glad

5:52

I don't have that problem

5:52

anymore. Um, but yeah, I

5:56

remember people who's talking to

5:56

me, and we would do these does

5:59

this hang out with tons of

5:59

artists and people who just so

6:02

discouraged after a year after

6:02

two years, and I remember

6:06

specifically, this moment of

6:06

this girl, like, how do you do

6:09

it? How do you stay positive?

6:09

How are you hanging in there?

6:12

Like, I'm so frustrated, like,

6:12

my response was always like,

6:16

Steve Harvey was, like, lived in

6:16

his car for two years. There is

6:20

like this rumor that Halle

6:20

Berry, at one point had to check

6:24

herself into a homeless shelter.

6:24

I don't know if that's true. But

6:27

this is the story that I go at.

6:27

And like Courtney Cox, like

6:31

passed out on a job because she

6:31

was literally eating cans of

6:35

soup and barely surviving that

6:35

she passed out because she was

6:39

malnourished, like, and I'm

6:39

like, who do I think I am, that

6:43

I'm just gonna walk into

6:43

Hollywood and just make it like,

6:46

these people are incredibly

6:46

talented, they are so good at

6:50

what they do. And they had to

6:50

struggle. So why am I getting so

6:55

easily discouraged by the

6:55

struggle? Now, of course, I had

7:01

my ups and downs. But that was

7:01

kind of the thing that I would

7:04

always tell myself and tell the

7:04

people, it's like, Don't be so

7:07

arrogant that you think that

7:07

you're just going to get a free

7:09

pass on doing the work and

7:09

putting in the time to build

7:14

your business to build your

7:14

brand to win people over in the

7:18

rooms. And so that was kind of

7:18

my encouragement I, the truth of

7:22

matter is and there was this one

7:22

moment when Kirk Franklin did

7:25

this random YouTube video. I

7:25

mean, someone just started

7:31

rolling the camera on him when

7:31

they were in the studio, I think

7:33

this came out in 2016 or 2015.

7:33

You can look it up. But um, he

7:40

basically said you can't skip

7:40

experiences, you cannot skip

7:44

experiences. And I remember

7:44

hearing that word and just being

7:47

like, it's real. And and one

7:47

story that I love is looking at

7:53

them day in and day It started

7:53

off working very young. She

7:57

became a fashion icon very early

7:57

on in her career, because she

8:01

did the work her parents, you

8:01

know, and her decided that she

8:04

wanted to work on her style like

8:04

that wanted to wanted to build

8:07

her brand. But after she was on

8:07

Disney, she had been a producer,

8:11

she had been a star of two shows

8:11

already. She wasn't really taken

8:16

seriously as an actor, because

8:16

she also didn't have the

8:20

experience. Like her shows were

8:20

great. They were more comedy

8:23

driven. They're more sitcom me,

8:23

and she wanted to be a movie

8:27

star. And if you look at her,

8:27

she listened to her interviews

8:31

before she got spider man before

8:31

she got what was that one movie,

8:35

he was she was was in it with

8:35

Zac Efron. And she's like, I

8:39

went in an audition for years.

8:39

This girl is on the cover of

8:43

magazines. And she's auditioning

8:43

in a waiting room with people

8:46

who probably have less credits

8:46

than her to show them No, I can

8:49

be a movie star. And it just

8:49

reminds me you can't skip

8:52

experiences just because you're

8:52

famous, you still have to go

8:55

through the process of showing

8:55

them that you have the talent to

8:59

lead a movie, and even this,

8:59

Okay, one more thing I'm going

9:02

to say about that. This, I

9:02

forget who it was, but I was

9:06

being very frustrated in the

9:06

process wasn't working was

9:09

working six days at the

9:09

restaurant just like trying to

9:13

barely make it in and out of

9:13

classes. And this person, I

9:17

don't know, I went to some

9:17

workshops somewhere and a guy

9:19

said, Are you willing to to

9:19

invest $2 million into your

9:23

performance? Is that how

9:23

confident you are in pulling off

9:27

this role? And it just convicted

9:27

me. I was like, dang, that's the

9:31

truth. Someone is investing $2

9:31

million into your performance.

9:35

Are you confident that you're

9:35

going to lead that film now? Me

9:39

I watch films all the time, and

9:39

I critique the heck out of some

9:41

actors. So that literally

9:41

checked me You may think that

9:46

you're talented, you may you may

9:46

have a lot of beautiful things

9:49

to to add to a movie, but that

9:49

does not mean you can lead a

9:54

film. How many times have we

9:54

watched a film where we've seen

9:58

an amazing actor It fell flat, like, dang, I

10:00

don't know what it is. But

10:04

something was missing. This is

10:04

not an easy job and reminding

10:08

myself that give myself time to

10:08

grow, to step up to that level

10:15

and being giving them something

10:15

to believe in, you can't expect

10:19

people to believe in you. Right,

10:19

you need to believe in yourself

10:23

first. And that's, and that's

10:23

the first step. So those are a

10:27

few of the things that

10:27

encouraged me. I remember when I

10:30

saw him jump in. I remember when

10:30

I was, when I was acting while

10:34

studying acting. When I first

10:34

started out, there is this line

10:37

that my acting coach, Pete

10:37

metallian, has said to me one

10:41

time, and it stuck with me

10:41

forever. And I took it as a life

10:43

lesson. He said, You believe, I

10:43

believe, if you believe it, I

10:48

believe it. And he's saying that

10:48

as an actor, as an actor, you

10:52

have to believe it, and the

10:52

audience will believe it. But I

10:55

took that for life. Because once

10:55

you start believing in yourself

10:58

and start believing in your

10:58

mission, believing in your

11:00

goals, believing in your vision,

11:00

all those things, and then

11:04

things start to sort of attract

11:04

to you and people start to

11:07

attract you. And people start to

11:07

be like, Oh, this division, this

11:09

division? Yeah. Because when you

11:09

believe you act different. Yeah.

11:13

It's not even about what you say

11:13

is that it's about what you do.

11:17

And so if you believe it, you

11:17

just naturally, you know, carry

11:21

yourself differently, react to

11:21

things differently. And how

11:25

important was it for you to? I

11:25

mean, I mean, when someone asks

11:29

you that question, you know, is

11:29

someone willing, are you willing

11:32

to invest $2 million in

11:32

yourself? Like, during that

11:36

time? How important was it for

11:36

you to be well prepared for that

11:39

moment when you're when that

11:39

opportunity was was available

11:42

for you? Yeah, I do remember

11:42

being terrified by that

11:46

statement. Like, I don't know if

11:46

I know. First of all, I have

11:51

like $2. So $2 million. And keep

11:51

in mind, $2 million, is an indie

11:55

film. This is not a blockbuster

11:55

film. This is not Marvel, this

12:00

is not even one of those medium

12:00

budget. This is an indie film,

12:05

like the bottom of the bottom,

12:05

which I mean, still people make

12:09

films on $50,000 right now, but

12:09

in the sense of a SAG low

12:14

budget, that's $2 million. So

12:18

it terrified me at first. So I

12:18

just, I think for me, what it

12:23

was, is that your work is not

12:23

over. And you just need to keep

12:27

going to class and keep

12:27

challenging yourself. And not

12:31

being I mean, at the time, I

12:31

just a lot of people will like

12:34

turn down auditions, like, Oh,

12:34

no, I don't want to do that.

12:38

Like I would just audition for things, even things that I didn't want to do. Just because

12:40

I was like this, you just need a

12:44

freaking build up your skill.

12:44

And I took a lot of classes back

12:48

then for sure. I was always in a

12:48

class or working with people

12:51

working with friends. And so

12:51

that's how I responded to that

12:54

moment was okay, well, what can

12:54

you do in the time being, you

12:59

can grow. So I invested invested

12:59

as much money as I could and as

13:04

much time as I could into

13:04

growing, because I was

13:08

inevitably The only way to get

13:08

to the point where I would have

13:11

enough confidence. And

13:11

eventually I did have enough

13:14

confidence. I mean, I started to

13:14

get to the point where like, now

13:17

I can do this. I did an indie

13:17

film elicit we shot it. I mean,

13:22

he shot it so quick. He would do

13:22

it in like two tapes. He would

13:25

change rewrite scenes while

13:25

we're in the middle of doing a

13:28

to take scene. And I think after that I was

13:31

like shoot, I can freakin do

13:34

this. Okay, let's go let's go.

13:34

But it's terrifying. Like you

13:37

almost have to and that's the thing like I don't know if you're ever really ready for

13:39

anything you know? I mean, they

13:42

even say that about you know,

13:42

marriage kids career your role.

13:45

I don't know if I was really

13:45

ready for love is but boy did I

13:49

jump off the wall. And I put in

13:49

my all and I grew a lot. And I

13:54

don't think you can ever be

13:54

fully fully ready except for

13:57

just ready to grow and learn.

13:57

Nice, and you're fantastic and

14:01

levels. Thank you is a great

14:01

opportunity. I was so proud. I

14:06

was like, oh, Michelle it's nice being able to see

14:13

people that you work with, like

14:16

grow, right? Like I love seeing

14:16

even commercial that like I know

14:18

that person. Yeah. Yeah, it is

14:18

really cool. And share with us

14:23

like, you shed a little bit

14:23

about it already. But how tough

14:26

is it to break into the

14:26

industry? Um, well, I believe

14:30

I'm still working in. I've had a lead on a show. I've

14:32

been on an NBC show. I don't

14:36

know if you ever I feel like

14:36

breaking in the industry is such

14:41

a term that can cause confusion,

14:41

to be honest, because like for

14:49

example, I love Jennifer Hudson.

14:49

She broke into the industry, got

14:56

an Oscar and then kind of

14:56

disappeared for a little while

14:59

and she said is expanding her work, she's

15:00

still expanding her,

15:04

her artistry. And so I don't

15:04

know what breaking into should

15:08

mean, does it mean that people

15:08

know who you are? Is it mean

15:10

you're doing three movies a

15:10

year? Is it mean that you're

15:13

award winning? Like, what is

15:13

breaking into the industry

15:16

really mean? It means even if it

15:16

just means that you can survive

15:19

off of acting, you can do that

15:19

off with commercials. And I

15:21

don't know if that's really

15:21

breaking into the industry, you

15:25

could survive off laughing is

15:25

doing YouTube stuff. So I think

15:29

the term breaking into the

15:29

industry is something that is

15:34

different, depending on the

15:34

person and what they it's, to

15:38

me, it's very similar to the

15:38

word of success, like, how do

15:42

you know once you've reached

15:42

success? I guess it depends on

15:45

the person. Right? I was just

15:45

about to say I feel like it's a,

15:49

it depends on the standard of

15:49

what the person thinks that is,

15:53

like, if someone has a standard

15:53

of, you know, I want to be the

15:56

biggest movie star in the world,

15:56

then breaking in for them is

15:59

not, you know, a couple

15:59

commercials. If someone's

16:03

standard is like, hey, I want to

16:03

be a regular on a TV show, then

16:06

maybe getting an under five on a

16:06

soap opera is breaking in for

16:10

them, you know? So it's just

16:10

about your standard and how you

16:13

set forth your, your mindset and

16:13

all that. So you see. So

16:17

basically, you define what

16:17

breaking into the industry is

16:20

and you define what success is

16:20

to you as an individual. Yes, I

16:24

do believe that. I have a random

16:24

question. I didn't plan but have

16:27

you ever been stopped on the

16:27

street? Yep. After love is I was

16:30

I was actually a lot. Mostly in

16:30

Atlanta. When I was in Atlanta,

16:34

I can tell when someone knows

16:34

who I am. Because they'll like

16:36

stare at me. And then usually

16:36

say something to someone else.

16:41

And then I'll be like, they start going like this

16:44

point. I think one of the funniest

16:48

moments was when I was getting

16:50

my nails done, probably three

16:50

months after love is premiered.

16:56

And literally the lady sitting

16:56

in the chair next to me, was

16:59

like, Why do you look like the

16:59

girl from love is and I was

17:02

like, cuz I am her. I mean, sometimes I pretend that

17:05

if I try to not pretend but I'm

17:09

not good at it. Even though I'm

17:09

an actor, I'm not good at lying

17:11

like that, you know, like, so

17:11

I'll usually be like, I don't

17:15

know, like, people will say, I know you from somewhere when I know you. I'm like, I don't

17:17

know, I'm around like, Are you

17:20

an actor? Yeah, but you know,

17:20

nothing super big like, and I

17:24

just wait for people to discover

17:24

themselves. Like, I'm not gonna

17:26

sit here and be like, club is

17:26

like this bit like, I'm not

17:30

gonna say no. But I, I also

17:30

worked in the restaurant

17:35

business for many years. And I

17:35

remember people coming in, like,

17:39

I was supposed to know them, and

17:39

I wouldn't. And then I wouldn't

17:42

make them wait. And someone

17:42

would come to me to like, you're

17:44

making that after Wait, like,

17:44

they were on this and this and

17:46

this. I was like, Oh, that's why

17:46

they came in so untitled.

17:52

For me, I was like, I'm never

17:52

gonna be that person. Like, I

17:54

just can't. Yeah, I remember I was walking

17:55

to the airport isn't I was in

17:59

New York. And I saw an actor

17:59

from power. I won't say who it

18:02

was. And I was walking, and I noticed him

18:05

and I did one of those things. I

18:07

was like, Oh, that is the guy.

18:07

And then I looked away. And I

18:13

looked back and he's staring at

18:13

me, like, please notice me

18:16

Please notice me. Give us like a

18:16

space like, please say something

18:20

prefix. And I was like, oh, four.

18:25

Listen, though, you didn't say anything at that point.

18:32

You would have made his day

18:32

right there. Too much.

18:38

It does. And I listen, I'm I'm

18:38

human. So I caught myself in one

18:42

of those moments, because I was

18:42

with a bunch of actors. And

18:44

every one else was getting

18:44

recognized. And I wasn't. And I

18:48

was like, Oh my god, like, why am I not kidding? Yeah. And then finally, someone

18:51

recognized me. And I was like,

18:55

Oh, that's right. Yeah. Let's take a picture, girl, let's do this. And then afterwards, I was

18:57

like, Whoa, like, why did you

19:00

allow yourself to get into that?

19:00

Like, it's not about that, like,

19:04

and so it was a good moment of

19:04

like, testing my heart because

19:07

it is weird when you're, it's

19:07

interesting. Like, we're all

19:10

human. We all have egos. And so

19:10

if you're used to people

19:14

recognizing you, it does so you

19:14

notice when you when it stops,

19:18

just like if you know your your

19:18

mom always calls you after

19:22

performance to tell you how good you are. And then she stops calling you it's like, oh my

19:24

god, why aren't you calling me

19:27

like my bad now like, it's, it's

19:27

like this mental game that you

19:30

have to just make sure you're

19:30

ahead of. But so that was a good

19:34

moment for me to be like, Oh my

19:34

god, you're becoming like them.

19:36

Stop, stop. Stop. Wait, yeah. Well, that says a

19:39

lot about you, though. You

19:41

recognize it, right? You use you

19:41

know, you came out of your

19:44

element. And you notice that and

19:44

you know, you you adjust

19:47

yourself? Yeah, I mean, it might

19:47

have happened before and I just

19:51

didn't notice it before. So But

19:51

either way, we all have to just

19:55

be self aware and we change the

19:55

thing that we want to change. So

19:59

I was like, no I don't want to be like that. So

20:00

you have a look that feel can be

20:04

like four or five different

20:04

looks. I think you have that

20:07

kind of kind of face and aura.

20:07

Have you ever been stereotyped

20:12

for a role like, Oh, no, I can't

20:12

see her playing that. Well,

20:16

actually, yeah. Well, the first

20:16

role elicit that I played in it

20:22

was I'm come off like super

20:22

wholesome and, and I I'm pretty

20:27

crude. So that's not like a bad

20:27

assumption about me over the

20:31

years. But so when I auditioned

20:31

for the role of Ferran on elicit

20:36

she's a woman who seduces, and

20:36

I'm a married man and comes out

20:40

of jail because of a bad

20:40

relationship, all this stuff.

20:42

Yeah, people did not expect me

20:42

to book that role. Let me tell

20:45

you something, I didn't even

20:45

expect myself.

20:49

I knew the director and I was

20:49

like, let me just go in and have

20:52

fun. Like, let me just don't

20:52

like and do this role. Like, I

20:55

didn't even expect myself to

20:55

book it at all. But I was like,

20:58

this girl, this helicopter like,

20:58

This girl is confident. You have

21:02

so what she has baggage, I got

21:02

baggage, like. So I went in with

21:05

that. And that actually helped

21:05

me win the role because I wasn't

21:10

so obvious. While some girls

21:10

were playing into those nuances

21:14

of her that made her just so

21:14

obvious, if that makes sense. I

21:17

don't know. Do you get what I'm

21:17

saying? But I know. Yeah, it's

21:20

more interesting to watch

21:20

someone that when you first look

21:22

at them, you wouldn't know their

21:22

story. So for that, when I went

21:26

on set, I'd worked with a lot of

21:26

the people on that movie before.

21:30

And they greeted me with their

21:30

doubt. Girl when I found out,

21:34

you know, I'm like, she can't

21:34

play this role.

21:38

And I'm like, Are you kidding

21:38

me? Thank you for setting this

21:41

up for me to just succeed in

21:41

this role.

21:44

But I'm competitive. So I'm

21:44

like, whenever someone tells me

21:47

No, I'm like, I'm about to show

21:47

up. Right? gonna say no, I no

21:51

one tells me No. But. But yeah,

21:51

so it actually helped me it kind

21:55

of pushed me to just go even

21:55

deeper and just to let go and be

21:59

free in it. And then, but they

21:59

ended up complimenting me

22:02

afterwards, like you actually

22:02

killed us. And and I'm

22:06

impressed. But yes, I do.

22:06

Experience people stereotyping

22:10

me for sure. But I think every

22:10

actor Yeah, you get stereotyped

22:14

a little bit. So talking about

22:14

roles. What were some of the

22:17

toughest, most challenging roles

22:17

that you face to date?

22:20

emancipation? emancipation was very hard,

22:23

though, actually, what you

22:27

didn't clean up? And by the way,

22:27

thank you. I think that was on

22:32

my first rolls. Like in a short,

22:32

I think I'd done maybe a couple

22:36

shorts before that. But I think

22:36

honestly, every roll of I don't

22:41

think I ever really necessarily.

22:41

Or if I do it's a trap. If I go

22:46

into a thing like, Oh, this is

22:46

going to be easy. I've done this

22:49

before. It's a trap. And that's

22:49

what the most difficult things

22:54

are actually the scenes that I

22:54

think I have. Because I get

22:58

overconfident. And then I'm on

22:58

set like, Oh my god, there's so

23:02

much going on in this scene that

23:02

I did not prepare for, like

23:04

between the lines. That is

23:04

usually what happens like that

23:08

happened on love is like the

23:08

most emotional scenes, I can

23:11

come in friggin because I knew

23:11

like I was gearing up for like

23:14

this hard scene. So I put so

23:14

much effort into it. But the

23:18

scenes, I think in television

23:18

and in film, the most difficult

23:23

scenes, I think, are the most

23:23

simple ones. Because you

23:28

overlook it. You underestimate

23:28

the scene. And especially on an

23:34

NBC. I made that mistake a few

23:34

times for sure. The scenes that

23:41

are more subtle or sometimes

23:41

more difficult, because you you

23:44

do it and then you feel like you

23:44

didn't do anything. Right. But

23:48

then that's how you're supposed to do it because it's just life like. Yeah, so that's what I

23:50

would say. I think every role

23:54

that I got in the time that I

23:54

got it was probably my most

23:58

difficult role that time because

23:58

it was a step up from what I had

24:02

done before. The time that I did

24:02

love it. Like obviously that was

24:05

the most difficult I've ever

24:05

done. Even when I did Dolly, a

24:09

dolly parton show I did an episode on heartstrings

24:11

that roll was very difficult for

24:15

me because I just come off

24:15

playing nury and I was in my

24:20

head as an actor thinking don't

24:20

play nury don't play nury like

24:23

you can't play yourself at all

24:23

because you you don't want to be

24:26

typecasted so then there was

24:26

this extra pressure instead of

24:29

just being honest and the scene

24:29

the director would literally

24:32

direct me out of my head into

24:32

just being free into the scene.

24:36

And so even if the if it was

24:36

only one episode or if it wasn't

24:40

as much dialogue as love as

24:40

there was different difficulties

24:43

in there that really challenged

24:43

me an actor

24:48

comes up to you is new, a just

24:48

getting started. What would be

24:52

some of your advice, your

24:52

initial advice, how do you get

24:54

started as an actor? Well, the

24:54

easy thing, get into class.

25:00

It's hard right now because it's

25:00

COVID. But I would say audit

25:02

every acting class you can in

25:02

Los Angeles and find the fit for

25:06

you. And honestly, for me, like,

25:06

I have weird advice, not weird,

25:10

but every person is different. But

25:12

for me, I think it's very

25:15

important for an actor to secure

25:15

some kind of job have an income.

25:20

And that's what worked for me.

25:20

And so I tell people, I'm like,

25:23

I don't know what works for you.

25:23

But I don't want to go into an

25:26

audition, worrying about rent, I

25:26

want to have rent taken care of,

25:30

so that when I go in, I can be

25:30

free and enjoy myself does find

25:34

a side hustle that you you can

25:34

enjoy. And maybe it takes a

25:38

couple side hustles before you

25:38

can find one that you like, I

25:41

love doing commercials, some

25:41

actors are like, I can't do

25:44

commercials. I love commercials.

25:44

And to be honest, auditioning

25:48

for commercials helped me so

25:48

much with acting, because you

25:51

can go into an audition for two

25:51

minutes, be grounded, be real

25:54

and walk out, then you can do

25:54

anything like, you have no time

25:58

to prepare, they ask you on the

25:58

fly, like it actually helps you

26:01

get confidence in the room. And

26:01

they don't freaking compliment

26:05

you. They don't care about you.

26:05

They're like, Okay, next. So you

26:07

can have confidence and peace in

26:07

that environment, then it will

26:11

only help you in the theatrical

26:11

world, where they give you more

26:15

time and there's more

26:15

investment, if that makes sense.

26:17

But also my advice would be to

26:17

also still have a life, if you

26:22

don't have experiences to pull

26:22

from. There's an amazing acting

26:26

coach who talks about that with

26:26

her students. She's like, how to

26:29

like, go on vacation. Like,

26:29

don't be like I can't book out.

26:34

Because what if a job comes?

26:34

Like, honestly, almost every

26:36

time I booked is because I was

26:36

out of town like I swear to you

26:39

like I would just there was a

26:39

time where every time I went on

26:42

vacation, I get a call. They're

26:42

booking you or you're testing

26:45

for this, can you come back? I'm

26:45

like, No, yeah, I got a mini

26:48

vacation and I got to do something about not being

26:51

desperate people read your

26:55

desperation in the room. It's so

26:55

irritating, there's nothing

27:00

worse than a desperate person.

27:03

So if you have things to look

27:03

forward to in your life, besides

27:06

acting, or just creative ways to

27:06

express your self, then when you

27:10

go in the room, you can have

27:10

fun, and and take full advantage

27:15

of the opportunity, instead of

27:15

making it this moment where you

27:19

need this job, otherwise, you're

27:19

not going to thrive. Now, I will

27:23

say some actors thrive off of

27:23

that. They thrive off for high

27:26

stakes. And so they do better

27:26

that way. And I think that's

27:30

also important know who you are,

27:30

know what kind of person you

27:33

are, know the environment you

27:33

thrive in. Know your weaknesses,

27:36

know your strengths so that you

27:36

can create an atmosphere where

27:39

you can succeed. And then it's

27:39

all about timing. Success is

27:42

when preparation meets

27:42

opportunity. Yeah, control you

27:46

can control. Wow, that's pretty.

27:46

You dropped a lot of hidden gems

27:50

there for anyone who's very well. They weren't hidden.

27:52

They were pretty out there. Yeah. So as an actor, what what

27:56

would you

28:01

what genre Do you like working

28:01

in? Typically?

28:06

See, that's the thing for me is

28:06

I love so many different genres.

28:10

I mean, I grew up dancing, I

28:10

grew up singing. So I like a

28:13

dream to be in a musical like

28:13

dream by far.

28:19

But I also love john and i love

28:19

comedy. I don't have as much

28:21

experience with comedy. I have

28:21

training in it. But

28:26

so I would love to do some

28:26

comedies, romantic comedies, all

28:29

types of stuff. And I also have

28:29

a background in martial arts,

28:32

actually. So yeah, all three of us all had to

28:34

do martial arts because my dad

28:39

was stationed in South Korea

28:39

when he was in the army, and he

28:42

got a black belt in hapkido and

28:42

Taekwondo. So we all I got to

28:46

brown belt, and then I chose to

28:46

do the Nutcracker instead of get

28:49

a black belt, but I have a

28:49

background in martial arts. So I

28:53

would love to do more physical

28:53

action work, because I love I

28:59

did stunts in college, worked

28:59

with stunt for stage, which is a

29:03

little bit different. But I love that kind of stuff. I

29:06

love being outdoors. And

29:10

I'm a Colorado kid, so I'm not

29:10

afraid of dirt or falling on my

29:14

face. What draws your interests

29:14

to signing onto a project? What

29:18

makes you say, Oh, yeah, this is

29:18

the one. That's such a good

29:22

question. Right? Because

29:22

honestly, like love is I didn't,

29:26

I had just come off a testing

29:26

like another job that I loved

29:31

and is between me and the girl

29:31

who got it wasn't me.

29:35

Within 24 hours, they asked me

29:35

to test for love is after

29:38

hearing No, from this other

29:38

project, which was a really, I

29:43

mean, I guess I can tell you

29:43

what the project is. It was a

29:46

umbrella Academy. And the

29:46

amazing actress from Broadway

29:49

got the role because she's

29:49

incredible. So I was like, okay,

29:51

fine, I'll lose you. But, um, I loved that role

29:54

because it was so dark and artsy

29:59

and I love dark and art. And, but so within 24 hours, I got

30:01

the test for love A's and I

30:04

liked love it. But it wasn't

30:04

until I was really in the test

30:09

where something clicked in me.

30:09

And I got the character because

30:12

I was in a similar situation

30:12

with my career in the sense of

30:14

if you look at the pilot, she's

30:14

talking about trying to get a

30:18

get an opportunity. Yeah, in

30:18

writing and like doing the work

30:22

and, and so I was definitely in

30:22

that place.

30:28

So it just like in the past, I

30:28

was like, Oh my god, I have to

30:33

get this role, which is

30:33

terrifying when you get that

30:35

because you're like, Oh, my God,

30:35

I hope I get it. But yeah, I

30:37

don't know. I think a lot of

30:37

times when I read the script,

30:40

when I'm done reading it, it's

30:40

something that is not

30:44

necessarily about words, or even

30:44

emotion, it's like almost,

30:49

it's like a traction, like

30:49

you're like, Oh my god, I feel

30:53

this girl like I feel this

30:53

woman. If I read the script, and

30:56

I have to sit for a moment,

30:56

like, Oh, my God, what I just

30:59

read. This is awesome. Then

30:59

Yeah, but I read scripts that I

31:03

didn't like the script that much. But I love the character. And I was like, shoot, I love

31:05

this character. I don't care if I don't like the script, I want

31:07

to play this character.

31:11

But I've read scripts, I turned

31:11

on a really great, just this is

31:16

just for an audition, it wasn't

31:16

offered. But I was like, I'm not

31:18

gonna audition for this. It's an

31:18

incredible role. And I turned it

31:23

down, not because I didn't feel

31:23

like I connected with the

31:26

character because I did. But I

31:26

felt like it's very strange. As

31:30

an actor, there's a balance

31:30

between being like, Oh, I can

31:33

play anything I set my mind to

31:33

and then also knowing that you

31:36

can't play anything you set your

31:36

mind to. And knowing I really

31:40

stick because I was like, Listen, you guys is a great script, great character. But

31:42

there's a woman out there that

31:45

this is for, and it's not me.

31:45

And it's a very strange thing.

31:48

It's like you just know. And for

31:48

me, in this particular

31:51

situation, it was like a need.

31:51

For me as an audience member, I

31:55

would be disappointed to see

31:55

someone of my skin color and my

31:59

hair texture to play this role.

31:59

I want a woman who has a darker

32:04

skin tone, different hair

32:04

texture to bring this to life.

32:08

And so I'm very glad I have Yes,

32:08

I'm very glad you do that.

32:13

Yeah, and I think that's hard.

32:13

Like, I think in the end, we

32:16

feel like we can play anything.

32:16

And to certain degree we can but

32:19

at the same time, like, I'm just

32:19

like, I'm an audience member, I

32:24

would be very disappointed if I

32:24

saw someone like me play this

32:27

role. And that's enough for me

32:27

to be like, nope, because if I

32:30

feel that way, I know that the

32:30

majority of people are going to

32:32

feel that way. I had a I met

32:32

with some actress.

32:37

Was there a name, but I met with

32:37

her and she's maybe close to

32:41

your complexion. And, you know,

32:41

I met with her and she just was

32:45

I wanted someone dark skin and

32:45

who had like a natural hair

32:50

look. And like a fro that sort

32:50

of look. And it was in the

32:54

script. And she came in and the

32:54

casting director brought her in

32:57

and she's like, I'm just gonna

32:57

say off the bat. I'm not ready

33:00

for this. But I really love the

33:00

script. And I just want to talk

33:03

to you. Like she just turned it

33:03

down already in the meeting. She

33:06

turned it down because she just

33:06

like, I just want to meet you.

33:09

Because I know I'm not. I know

33:09

I'm not right for this script.

33:12

And when she did that, I

33:12

appreciate it so much. Because

33:15

he when I saw a picture, I was

33:15

like, I can't she's not right

33:18

for this little cow meter. And I

33:18

seen on TV shows. Okay, but like

33:22

to actually have her say that I

33:22

appreciate it so much. I

33:25

appreciate you being like, you

33:25

know what? Yeah. Someone else

33:29

needs to be class. Yeah. And I

33:29

think that's a hard.

33:34

It's hard. But yeah, yeah. But

33:34

yeah, it's necessary. This is

33:38

this is a something I was always

33:38

interested in. Because I think I

33:43

have a similar mindset to you

33:43

when it comes to this. We met

33:47

each other at a Bible study. And

33:47

how does your spirituality play

33:54

when you're selecting a project?

33:54

Or what clear boundaries do you

33:58

set? When it comes to that? I

33:58

think as an artist, it's a very

34:02

interesting process, because I

34:02

believe that the actor is a

34:06

vessel. My experience of being

34:06

an actor is like, also being

34:11

like a person who prays you're a

34:11

vessel for what, what God is

34:17

saying what the Holy Spirit is

34:17

saying. And some people pray

34:20

where they and some actors play

34:20

where they want all the control

34:24

and they want no, this is how it

34:24

should be. This is how I see it

34:26

in my mind, this is how it be

34:26

but the actual the people who

34:28

are really good actors, and the

34:28

people who are the good prayers

34:31

are the people who are open

34:31

enough to be the vessel of

34:35

someone else's voice, right. So

34:35

I for me personally, that's why

34:39

I have to feel a sense of

34:39

calling to it calling to the to

34:46

the character, a purpose for it.

34:46

And the thing to be honest, I

34:50

don't necessarily tell my Rep.

34:50

No, this none of this, none of

34:55

this. I tell them, I'm I'm

34:55

uncomfortable with this kind of

34:59

stuff. I'm on comfortable with this. But I

35:00

also find that for the right

35:03

story, I might wiggle my

35:03

boundaries a little bit because

35:07

of the purpose of the story,

35:07

right, like, so that's why I'm

35:10

very much of an actor who read

35:10

scripts. I'm like, let me read

35:13

this script. Let me see. And

35:13

also, okay, what kind of

35:16

director is this, I think about

35:16

what kind of directors This is a

35:19

very raw director. And I do have

35:19

boundaries with sex scenes, and

35:24

nudity, and things like that.

35:24

And I also will be very, very

35:27

upfront and say, Look, I'm not

35:27

going to be doing the nudity

35:30

that you want for this role.

35:30

It's not in my boundaries, and I

35:33

know what kind of director you

35:33

are. And so it might be better

35:36

for you to find someone who

35:36

doesn't have those boundaries,

35:41

so that they can be completely

35:41

raw, and be able to bring your

35:44

story to life the way that you

35:44

see it, your vision. And I think

35:48

knowing that, and being okay

35:48

with that is is important. As an

35:53

actor I, I sat in an acting

35:53

motivational group

35:59

years ago, and it incited a lot

35:59

of anger in me. And the reason

36:04

why is because this guy's a

36:04

casting director speaking to a

36:07

lot of young actors probably in

36:07

their 20s, early 20s, straight

36:12

off the boat, you want to say or

36:12

straight off the plane into LA.

36:16

And he's telling them I hate

36:16

actors who say they have

36:18

boundaries, like your freaking

36:18

actor, you're not allowed to

36:21

have boundaries. And I said, it

36:21

made me very angry. So this is

36:24

why actors are committing

36:24

suicide, because they sell your

36:27

soul, they sell their soul,

36:27

their body, all of their

36:29

boundaries, their mind their

36:29

emotions, everything to to

36:34

directors, because that's what

36:34

they're told to do. That's what

36:37

makes them a good actor. And

36:37

then they have nothing left. And

36:40

so they feel empty, and they

36:40

kill themselves, or they drink

36:43

themselves to death, they these

36:43

things. And so I think it's very

36:46

important in every actor to know

36:46

what their boundaries are, and

36:49

to readdress them yearly,

36:49

because, you know, it could

36:53

change over time, and not being

36:53

afraid to be honest about them

36:58

and find the balance within

36:58

that. So I am very aware when I

37:02

read scripts, okay, what is the

37:02

storytelling and what is my part

37:06

in the story? Because I do

37:06

believe media is one of the

37:09

biggest influences in the world.

37:09

And I'm just in prayer about it.

37:13

And and one thing that I've

37:13

learned, don't be religious when

37:18

choosing your roles, either,

37:18

because part of the point of

37:22

telling your story is to tell

37:22

people tell stories of flawed

37:26

human beings. Right. Right.

37:26

Nobody's perfect, right. And I

37:32

think that's a crutch that some

37:32

people who are Christians, it's

37:38

a fine line of finding a balance

37:38

of not being so open, that you

37:46

just do something to please

37:46

other people, but also, not

37:51

being so closed off that, you

37:51

know, you actually miss out on

37:55

an opportunity of playing a real

37:55

person, some of the roles that

38:00

you've played, which ones have

38:00

really impacted your life,

38:04

outside of acting. See, that's

38:04

the thing that's so fascinating.

38:09

Does life imitate art is art

38:09

imitate life. I do believe that

38:14

God is intentional that like,

38:14

everything in life is presented

38:21

to us and we have an opportunity

38:21

to choose it, to refuse it.

38:26

To learn from it, to hide from

38:26

it. The thing about my journey

38:30

is I believe it's very

38:30

intentional. I mean, I wasn't

38:33

even necessarily planning to be

38:33

an actor, I've been dreaming of

38:35

being an actor. Since the moment

38:35

I could dream. I always knew

38:39

that I would. It's like,

38:39

something in me knew I was going

38:41

to be in Hollywood and and I

38:41

denied it denied it. I can't be

38:44

in Hollywood, I need to be

38:44

someone who's professional.

38:47

Like, I applied to eight schools

38:47

in psychology, and I still ended

38:50

up in Los Angeles, right? being

38:50

an actor, right? And

38:56

it's funny the things that you

38:56

end up crossing paths with. So

39:00

to answer your question,

39:00

honestly, every rule triggered

39:05

something and triggered is used

39:05

in such a negative way. Because

39:09

it's, it's usually painful. But

39:09

pain is good. If we respond to

39:16

it the right way as an

39:16

opportunity to learn. And every

39:21

role has triggered something in me.

39:24

And when I tell you, like

39:29

especially will elicit you know,

39:29

judgment and all being closed

39:34

off all this stuff. Love is I

39:34

mean, even the one liners that I

39:39

did would trigger something in

39:39

me like something that I was

39:42

like, why are you so desperate?

39:42

Why are you so hungry to get all

39:45

like just tons of different

39:45

things, but love is definitely

39:48

triggered. I had to re face

39:48

every relationship I was in the

39:52

healthy ones, the unhealthy

39:52

ones. And at first, that was not

39:56

good because I didn't know how

39:56

to readdress them.

40:01

So it left me very open, very

40:01

vulnerable.

40:04

But it was actually good because

40:04

I needed to readdress a lot of

40:08

those things in order for me to

40:08

be in a, in a healthier

40:11

relationship. And even

40:16

even Counsel of dads when I tell

40:16

you, there were things that that

40:20

character was going through that

40:20

I was going through, like, it's

40:24

almost freaky, how you will get

40:24

these roles and you'll be like,

40:30

crap, I'm frickin dealing with

40:30

this with so and so now I got to

40:33

frickin deal with it in this

40:33

scene. Like it's, it's strange.

40:36

And a lot of actors talk about

40:36

it. Like I know Taraji P. Henson

40:39

has talked about it before. And

40:39

she's like, it's very strange

40:43

how you end up lining up with

40:43

these parts that

40:47

are kind of bringing up things

40:47

that are going on in your life

40:50

at the time. By the end of your career,

40:52

you're gonna be like a therapist. Yeah.

40:57

But have you look at a lot of

40:57

actors, though, isn't it

41:00

interesting. When you listen to

41:00

a lot of actors, interviews, you

41:04

can tell the ones who are really

41:04

worth allowing themselves to

41:08

change for the world and the

41:08

people who just allow it to bury

41:11

more. Yeah, cuz you have, I

41:11

mean, we're in a game of

41:15

imitating life. Yeah, to understand the human

41:17

psyche to be able to a certain

41:21

degree, not like a psychologist,

41:21

but to a certain degree to be

41:25

able to do the artistry. So it's

41:25

interesting, you know,

41:29

guitarists have guitars pianos

41:29

have pianos, but act as your

41:33

instrument is you answer your

41:33

mind and your body and you, you

41:39

have to play it properly. That's

41:39

why you have to have safe

41:42

healthy boundaries, because you

41:42

will destroy your one

41:45

instrument. And then when you

41:45

have

41:48

john, preach, preach, preach.

41:48

Yeah.

41:54

So so going through the two most

41:54

recent projects love is and

41:59

counsel of dads, what was it

41:59

like? You know, you got love is

42:04

and that was like the big thing.

42:04

And then it goes off air and

42:09

then canceled dad's another big

42:09

thing. And then it goes off.

42:13

What was that? What was that

42:13

roller coaster like? Oh, God is

42:18

awful. Right? I sort of thought

42:18

of that about you. I was like,

42:21

Damn canceled as it is. It's a part of the

42:23

business. And I think it's

42:26

fascinating though, because both

42:26

shows people would say in like

42:30

the cast who've been working for

42:30

30 years like I've never

42:33

experienced this show with so

42:33

much magic so much. Spirit like

42:37

I've never all the shows I've

42:37

done over the past 30 years of

42:40

my career like this shows gonna

42:40

last at least five years this is

42:42

what people are saying like

42:42

people who work on people who

42:46

are on the crew, like I've done

42:46

this show the show the show the

42:49

show like this, you're gonna

42:49

laugh man like this is so

42:55

I'm like, This is hilarious. But I mean, you know, love is

42:59

would have lasted but there is,

43:02

you know, drama, drama, drama,

43:02

legal stuff, but but even even

43:06

with counsel, God's there was

43:06

COVID happen. And there's so

43:10

many things about the show that

43:10

they're like shooting in

43:13

Savannah with three under, like,

43:13

kids, minors in court, like no,

43:18

we're not putting money in. There's so many external factors

43:21

that have a show, go and not go.

43:25

But it's very interesting. I

43:25

think you have to go through a

43:28

level of just surrender and

43:28

trust. And that just reminds you

43:32

that you are not your job, you

43:32

are not your career. And I do

43:38

take it as a great opportunity,

43:38

though. At first, it was just

43:41

like, dang, this sucks. But then

43:41

I did realize that, you know,

43:45

I'm not really, I'm in a very

43:45

interesting place in my career.

43:49

I've worked with amazing people.

43:49

I've been a number one on a call

43:53

sheet. I have some fans. You

43:53

know, some people recognize me

43:57

just kind of people who don't

43:57

know, what does number one on

43:59

the call sheet mean? Oh, yeah.

43:59

So number one, it's kind of like

44:03

being the president on a set. So

44:03

every movie has numbers listing

44:08

them the main character to the

44:08

smallest amount of screen time,

44:14

there is a lot of old age

44:14

tradition in Hollywood. If your

44:17

number on the call number one on

44:17

the call sheet, you're basically

44:20

the boss, everybody has to cater

44:20

to you first. This is back in

44:23

the day when there was huge

44:23

movie stars. You're the number

44:25

like people fight for the

44:25

number. So like, if you look in

44:28

movies, where there's like four

44:28

main characters, they are

44:32

fighting for that number one

44:32

slot. That means your name shows

44:35

up first and billing.

44:35

Technically, you could get paid

44:38

more. Now, it's different now

44:38

because I think we're in a time

44:44

in history where we're trying to

44:44

remove a lot of habits of

44:47

elitism, like yeah, and classism

44:47

in a sense, and it's in a way it

44:52

is kind of a classism on set,

44:52

like to the point where I was on

44:56

set and I didn't understand

44:56

this, right? I was new. I've

44:58

been on some movies and insets but I didn't really

45:00

understand the number one thing

45:02

because I'd never been more than

45:02

one line or like, I was number

45:05

three on two movies, but it just

45:05

was such an indie film, they

45:08

didn't care about that stuff. I

45:08

would say something to a crew

45:11

person, they would literally

45:11

Excuse My French, but I do want

45:14

to say, he's like your fucking

45:14

number one, you can do whatever

45:17

the fuck you want. And I was

45:17

like, day,

45:21

this guy holding a light that

45:21

that to me, I was like, okay,

45:26

like it very much is a thing,

45:26

like they're gonna cater to your

45:28

needs more than anyone else. But

45:28

so I hadn't experienced that

45:32

same time, you know, both shows

45:32

and go more than season one. And

45:35

they always say like, you really

45:35

need to be on a show at least

45:38

three seasons for it to really

45:38

make an impact. And that's kind

45:43

of the truth. Like to really get

45:43

a following it usually is think

45:46

about shows most shows, ratings

45:46

really pick up once they have a

45:50

season two, because once they

45:50

have a season two people who

45:53

weren't naturally drawn to it

45:53

start to watch the first season.

45:56

So like, Oh, well, the show's got in season two, everybody's loving it, like, Oh, my God, I'm

45:58

gonna watch this first season.

46:00

So I haven't experienced that

46:00

yet. But the good thing is, is

46:04

I'm also in a place in my career

46:04

where I'm not super branded in

46:08

one direction.

46:12

Because I haven't been on a show

46:12

long enough for you to be like,

46:15

Oh, she can only play this role.

46:15

I haven't been at one character

46:18

for five seasons season here,

46:18

episode here, a movie here,

46:23

another season here. So the good

46:23

thing is, is that I'm not as

46:26

branded or tight as some actors

46:26

who come off of a huge show that

46:32

lasted three, six seasons, 10

46:32

seasons. So I'm still kind of in

46:36

the industry considered an up

46:36

and coming actor, which has its

46:41

benefits in the sense of, I'm

46:41

kind of in a moldable place

46:46

still, where people can kind of

46:46

openness, see where I still fit,

46:50

which is good, right? It's a

46:50

good place to be. Yeah, it ties

46:54

it benefits has its

46:54

discouragements. But it's all

46:57

part of the process. I'll say

46:57

this, and I might have told you

47:01

this already. But I feel like you're one of the

47:04

and I've worked with a bunch of

47:06

different actors. And a lot of

47:06

actors in my previous projects

47:10

have gone on, like, you have to

47:10

do big things. And

47:14

when I first met you, I said,

47:14

Oh, she has a hit factor. It was

47:18

like a, like a casual thing. I

47:18

said to myself, like, Oh, she

47:21

has the it factor as a reason

47:21

why I want to work with you on

47:24

emancipation, because I was just

47:24

like, I don't know,

47:29

how famous she's gonna be, but

47:29

she's, there's an energy you

47:33

carry. That's not just positive,

47:33

but it's something that's like,

47:37

I don't feel like you see

47:37

obstacles as a stopping thing.

47:42

You just sort of go and do what

47:42

you have to do. And you you have

47:45

a light about you. So that

47:45

always made me say, Oh, she has

47:49

the it factor. And she's gonna

47:49

be successful. Like you already

47:53

seemed like a movie star. Before

47:53

you were a movie star, even when

47:58

you drove here. I edited the film. So I

48:05

definitely saw that. Oh, yeah, I forgot that we use

48:07

my car and

48:14

she's, she's gonna be it. So I

48:14

will say that about you that I

48:17

have no doubt that you. You're

48:17

on your way. It's just a matter

48:22

of, you know, people figuring it

48:22

out. storytime.

48:29

Your most interesting onset

48:29

experience most interesting and

48:33

most embarrassing. Ooh.

48:36

All right. I got a lot of

48:36

interesting experiences on set.

48:39

But I will tell this one story

48:39

just because I think that okay,

48:43

I was on set for one line. And

48:43

it was for a fox show. And some

48:48

of the actor other actors were

48:48

improving because these people

48:50

were actually comedic geniuses.

48:50

So I decide to be bold and say,

48:55

Can I improv? one liner? Okay.

48:55

He's like, Okay, sure. Why don't

49:00

you say this, but when he starts

49:00

telling me lies to say, and I

49:02

don't say them, I say whatever

49:02

the heck I want, right? And I

49:06

just keep going. And he's like,

49:06

I can tell at this point. I

49:10

couldn't tell him the moment I

49:10

could tell after the first of

49:13

all, you asked to improv, you're

49:13

sucking at it. And then he's

49:16

giving you improv lines to do

49:16

and you're not saying them.

49:19

You're saying your own version?

49:19

Why are you being difficult?

49:24

What's wrong with you like

49:24

you're a newbie, like calm down?

49:28

And basically what ended up

49:28

happening is I was supposed to

49:31

be in two scenes, like one theme

49:31

with lines and one without, and

49:36

they had a girl who was an extra

49:36

with no lines in the scene with

49:42

me, right? Where she just stands

49:42

there I say my line and then the

49:46

next scene, we're supposed to be

49:46

together. And we give him a

49:49

look. He cut me out of the look

49:49

scene.

49:54

He's like at this girl forget

49:54

she's gonna try and act to add a

49:57

line or something. I'm not

49:57

dealing with her. So I basically

49:59

waited In the the green room all day, and he

50:03

wouldn't use, like, I figure it

50:08

out later on what happened, but

50:08

they're like, I'm just we're

50:11

just gonna hold on to you because he might want to bring you back. He never brought me

50:13

back. It was really embarrassing

50:17

afterwards. I was like, I think

50:17

I totally messed up and did

50:21

something wrong and, and I

50:21

wanted to be bold, and I wanted

50:23

to be free. And all this stuff was really embarrassing. And

50:26

once I realized what happened,

50:29

and I was also late that morning. But I say that story to say, you

50:33

know, it didn't destroy my

50:38

career. Okay, right. There you

50:38

go.

50:42

A year and a half later, I

50:42

booked the Lena series, I've

50:45

been in lead twice like these

50:45

moments happen. And like, you

50:48

just have to humble yourself and

50:48

be like, that was not the best

50:51

decision. But that's okay. Like,

50:51

you can still be bold next time,

50:54

just do it the right way. And

50:54

it's just humbling, very

50:59

humbling. Yeah. And it reminds

50:59

me that was something that I

51:02

really have said for so many

51:02

years. And I really believe in

51:08

it, not one job is gonna make or

51:08

break your career. It's

51:11

consistency. And so that's just

51:11

one of those moments like, and

51:16

even like, think about it. One

51:16

job can't just make your career

51:19

either, like you can have the

51:19

best job ever. But if you're not

51:22

consistent, you'll just disappear. And people do bad movies all the

51:25

time. But because they're

51:29

consistent, that one bad movie

51:29

is not going to ruin their

51:31

career. One bad audition is not

51:31

going to ruin your career and

51:34

one great audition is going to

51:34

make your career it's

51:37

consistency. So that's just

51:37

another example of how it's a

51:40

bad day on set. But it didn't

51:40

break me

51:44

and make me but it didn't break

51:44

me either. Right. That's

51:49

powerful. Shall we get the drum set for

51:50

the last question? Okay. It's

51:53

like a, I don't know, like a

51:53

thing. I'm gonna cut this out,

51:56

because let's do it anyway.

52:03

40 years from now, you're an old

52:03

woman.

52:08

You're looking back in your career? What is making you most proud

52:14

that I never gave up? And I told stories that I

52:16

believed in. Right? Yeah, I my continual

52:19

dream is to, to be completely

52:25

honest as to tell stories that

52:25

helps people heal. And I believe

52:28

I've actually had opportunities

52:28

to do that with lovers and

52:31

counsel dads, and I hope to

52:31

continue to do that. You know,

52:36

as much as I always say it's

52:36

every time no one has like a

52:40

surface answer to that. No one's like win an Oscar, or

52:42

make a billion dollars.

52:46

Everyone's always like saying

52:46

something that's always like,

52:49

helping someone else. Or like

52:49

you said, you didn't want to

52:52

help people heal. It's always

52:52

interesting to me that no matter

52:55

what it is, we always come back

52:55

to the most important things in

53:00

life. That's impact. All right,

53:00

Michelle, thank you. I

53:03

appreciate you. And we will be

53:03

working together again at some

53:08

point. I don't know when Yeah,

53:08

I'm sure Pleasure to meet you.

53:11

Take care. Stay blessed to both

53:11

of you guys. If you enjoyed this

53:17

episode and you're listening on

53:17

Apple podcasts, please leave us

53:20

a review. For more info about

53:20

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53:24

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53:28

guys. See you next week.