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I don't know what I'm gonna do after this.
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I don't know if I'm ever gonna have a job like this again.
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Also, I was suddenly 23, and I went, wait, when I started this job, I was a child.
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Graduating from university at 17, going on to lead one of the biggest fantasy franchises there was on television, we wonder what it takes to be labeled as someone who's exceptional before you've fully discovered who you are.
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If you work plus discipline equals goal.
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That made sense to me as a kid.
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A lot of your identity seems to be wrapped up with being like a high achiever, dependable and ambitious.
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Mm-hmm.
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What happens on days where you don't feel like that?
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I get a random phone call.
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And they go, hey, do you want to come to New York in two days and audition for a Broadway show?
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And then suddenly I'm at LaGuardia getting ready to fly back to Kansas City that night.
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And I get a phone call that, congratulations, get ready, pack your stuff and come to New York for six months or more.
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and my whole life changed.
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So I'm literally reading a full book a day while doing a reading and a full-time show to write full essays when I get home at 11 o'clock at night and somehow get to bed by three in the morning and then get up the next day and do it all over again.
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I was then too tall to be a kid on Broadway anymore and I remember reading the script and going,
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Wow, I've never read a character that I connect to more than Clary.
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This one's mine.
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Yeah.
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I am going to fight for this.
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For two hours.
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Who is Clary is trending internationally on Twitter at this point.
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Like, there's so much anticipation for this.
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And then I get the phone call.
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And they're like, congratulations, it's you.
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You know, in school, for example, you do the work, you do the essay, you learn the material, and the grade comes with that.
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In our industry, you can do the work, you can make a great audition, you can do all the things, and then it may not go your way.
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There are days where that still befuddles my mind.
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I'd never led a show.
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I'd never shouldered a franchise on my back.
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And did you feel pressure with that?
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Or did you trust in your abilities?
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Before we get into the episode, I've got a quick favor to ask.
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Now, this is the first ever podcast that I've done.
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And incredibly, our sponsors backed us before we'd even released an episode.
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Now, they did this because they believed in our vision and they believed in what we're trying to build.
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If you like what you see, please do hit the subscribe button.
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It's free.
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And it really does help us bring you some amazing guests and will help the channel to grow.
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We've taken a lot of time to curate this.
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And if you head over to www.stripthescript.com, there's loads of resources there.
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And there's other unseen footage and things that will help you on your journey as a creative or entrepreneur.
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With all that said, I hope you enjoy the show.
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Strip the script.
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Welcome to this week's episode of Strip the Script.
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Now some careers take decades to build, while others seem to begin before you've even finished childhood.
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Imagine making your Broadway debut at 14 years old and sharing the stage with legends like Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
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graduating from university at 17, going on to lead one of the biggest fantasy franchises there was on television, joining the DC universe and carving a career in film, theatre and stage all before the age of 25.
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Now, from the outside, it sounds like a story of extraordinary success, which it is.
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But with every gift comes a cost.
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We wonder what it takes to be labelled as someone who's exceptional before you've fully discovered who you are.
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To be a kid and try to balance auditions with the classroom, film sets with homework and ambition with simply growing up.
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This week's conversation isn't just about the achievements, but more so about the person behind them.
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We're going to take time to explore the pressures of early success, the sacrifices that shaped her and the craft that has sustained a career.
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Because on Strip the Script, we don't believe the most compelling stories are in the credits.
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We believe it's in what it took to earn them.
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Load full transcript
This is Strip the Script.
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And this is Catherine McNamara.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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Yeah, welcome to the show.
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I really appreciate you coming on.
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I know that you actually fly out tomorrow.
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I do, but it's my absolute pleasure.
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Yeah, and you know what it is?
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We were obviously shooting together a film a couple of weeks ago.
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And it was an intense schedule, wasn't it?
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It certainly was.
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And, you know, producers I've worked with before who I love very dearly.
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And...
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I was on this side of the Atlantic, and they said, well, instead of doing this in two weeks, why don't we just do it now and get it done?
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Do it like, are you free tomorrow?
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Exactly, truly.
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And so, you know, you and I did 20 pages a day of some scientific dialogue, and I was so grateful to have someone like you on the other side of that because I didn't know what I was walking into, and I was hoping for the best, and to have you as a teammate was such a gift.
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So thank you.
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That's really kind of you to say, and we had fun.
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We did.
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But there was a lot of...
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technical scientific jargon in there.
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That... And platforms and all sorts of things that I never want to say again.
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Yeah, neither.
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But during, I mean, most of the time, because it was, we had to film so much in a short space of time, most of the time was taken up with acting, obviously.
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But we did have a few little breaks in between while they were doing setups, which if we weren't learning the lines for the next scene, we were, you know, we were able to have a chat a little bit.
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And one of the things that really interested me was, which I didn't know before, was sort of like your childhood and your drive and some of the things that you've achieved off screen.
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Thank you.
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And, um...
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I kind of was really interested by that.
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And obviously we didn't get a chance to chat a lot about it.
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So I thought, you know what, let's jump on the podcast and just talk through some of it.
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And obviously we'll get to some of your amazing shows.
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Sure.
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Maze Runner, all of the stuff that everyone knows you for.
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But before we get there, I kind of want to rewind all the way back to a young Catherine in Missouri before your professional life started, which it started young.
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So I kind of want to go back to like that early part of childhood and see like who you were before everyone sort of knew your name.
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Yeah.
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It's so funny because I look back.
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Hindsight is 20-20, right?
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And I look back at my childhood and I go, well, there's no wonder I became an actor.
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I was always playing dress up.
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I would always like even because I'm sure we'll get to this in a bit, but I did a lot of my schooling at home from a really early age.
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And so even I would walk into my school room dressed up as somebody different every day.
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Just for fun, because I thought it was fun and entertaining and there was something about it.
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I was constantly creating characters and constantly doing that, even before I knew that being an actor was a job.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Because where I grew up, that's not really something that you think about.
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At least I didn't.
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My whole family is in science and medicine.
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Yeah.
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And so from the time I was a little kid, we would go see theater and go see the symphony and go, you know, do all these things.
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Kansas City, where I grew up, has a huge arts community.
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But I never put two and two together that, oh, that's...
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their job they they get to be actors they get to tell stories they get to do art for a living and uh so that to me that was i i giggle at that a little bit because it just makes sense in the end yeah you touched on it there like your family are scientists researchers and military is that right uh medicine medicine
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And so how did the arts, because those you don't typically put academia and arts always together, like how did that sort of develop for you and how did the arts find its way into your life?
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Well, it's interesting because everyone in my family who is a scientist or a dentist or a doctor or a nurse or whatever it may be, they all have their own artistic outlet.
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And so the arts was a huge part of my childhood.
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My grandma's a watercolor artist.
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My great aunt sings in an amazing choir every year at Christmas.
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And my grandfather built guitars and taught himself to play guitar and banjo.
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And he's who I watched old movies with when I was a kid.
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And so the arts were always around me.
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Yeah.
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And I did ballet from the time I was two years old just because my mom put me in a bunch of different activities to see what I would like.
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And ballet was what I took to.
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So that's what I stuck with.
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And it became very apparent that the arts were a huge part of my life.
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But I wanted to be an economist growing up because that's what normal seven-year-olds decide they want to be.
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Is that what you was thinking at seven?
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Exactly.
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From seven years old, I wanted to be an economist.
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Wow.
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At seven years old, I was living in Barbados and growing up on the beach.
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Because I was the only child at that point.
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So I was running up and down the beach, making stories up in my head and exploring caves.
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I definitely wasn't thinking about it.
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I mean, that sounds pretty great.
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Yeah, it's cool.
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I definitely enjoyed it.
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And so with that, you know, you obviously were thinking about these great things from like such a young age, academia.
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Is that something that, well, I wonder like where did that drive come from?
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Because I imagine that you were probably asking big questions that were probably past someone of your age.
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And yeah, I wonder where did that drive come from to learn all of this?
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So I have to thank not only my mother because she was very good at going, you know, if I go, well, why is the sky blue?
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She would first go, well, why do you think the sky is blue?
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And then kind of go from there.
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And critical thinking was a huge part of my childhood.
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But also I had a preschool teacher.
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Her name is Miss Vicki.
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I'm still in touch with her to this day.
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I love her very dearly.
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She saw that I really loved learning and really took to it and was a bright kid.
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And so she took the time to kind of encourage me and go, wow.
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I think you can read this book.
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Okay, now you read that book, read this book.
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What about, because I went to a Montessori preschool, so it's very self-driven.
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Really?
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How did we miss talking about this on set?
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We had no time to talk about it.
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But so, you know, the Montessori learning process is very self-driven and she goes, well, why don't you try addition?
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Okay, now, you know, subtraction, multiplication, division.
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So by the time I was six years old, I was doing all of that.
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But ultimately what that set me up for is that learning was always
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a sort of journey of self-discovery and discovering the world around me instead of a task or a chore.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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It's kind of cool because it's sort of combining the creativity with learning, which you said it there.
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It's about the critical thinking.
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And I think it sort of doesn't surprise me, like hearing that a lot of people in your family, like water artists and
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To be in the arts is like you have to have a curious mind.
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Yes.
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So the fact that you're able to have a curious mind and sort of combine that with education Yeah.
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is really cool.
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I was very grateful for it.
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And, you know, the not only Kansas City as a whole, but the people in my family, particularly the women in my family, are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen in my life.
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Yeah.
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You know, and growing up watching these women balance family and career and all of these things and build whatever life they wanted, whatever that was defined as was is something I will forever be grateful for.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So it sounds like there's no sort of limits to what is possible for you to achieve.
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If you're willing to work hard enough.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Do you know what?
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And I think that's such an important thing because, and it's really interesting to hear actually that, you
know, your family sort of support what you're doing and everything, and which we'll probably get into that a little bit more in a bit.
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Because I have friends who are, you know, really academic, but they wanted to be creatives, but their parents may not have sort of allowed them to go down that route.
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Right.
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And with my mum, it was always like...
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do what you love doing, follow your passion, and the money and the work will come from that.
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And I really appreciated that because it allowed me to feel like I can do what I want to do.
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Absolutely.
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And even with, you know, doing this podcast, I thought, you know, it'd be really great to just chat to other creatives and see what their journey is and hopefully...
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Other people can learn from their journey.
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And it wasn't it never crossed my mind of like, oh, no, I don't want to do a podcast.
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I've never done a podcast.
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I've never interviewed people.
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It's just like, you know, I'm a curious person.
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Let me just.
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So I think that's that's really great to hear.
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I just wondered, do you feel that there's a difference between intelligence and discipline?
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I think there is a difference, but I think they go hand in hand.
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Yeah.
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You know, I think if you have a goal you want to achieve, you have to also have the discipline in order to do it.
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Yeah.
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And that's something that I think came naturally to me in certain ways.
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You know, it's a math problem.
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Yeah.
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If you work plus discipline equals goal.
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Yeah.
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You know, and that made sense to me as a kid and kind of going through life.
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You know, if I did the homework, if I learned the material, I could do the work and get the grade.
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You know, that sort of formula worked for me for a lot of my life and in a lot of the things that I've done.
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And, you know, in our industry, there's a lot of other things around it that we have no idea about that have nothing to do with us.
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But I think it's such a good philosophy for life is if you if you want to achieve something, go and do it.
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There's a.
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I loved quotes as a kid.
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Yeah, yeah, me too.
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So I had this quote up on my wall.
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It's a Henry David Thoreau quote.
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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
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Live the life you've imagined.
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Oh, nice.
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And that sort of struck me at a really young age.
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But if you want to do something with your life or if you want to accomplish a goal, no matter what that is,
219
00:13:53.727 --> 00:13:57.610
Live your life as though you are doing that thing and as though you are at that goal.
220
00:13:58.150 --> 00:14:03.714
And slowly but surely, those pieces will fall into place because it's really just manifesting.
221
00:14:03.774 --> 00:14:04.895
That's really what the quote is.
222
00:14:05.175 --> 00:14:06.456
That's just hit me just now.
223
00:14:06.476 --> 00:14:09.158
30 years later, here we are.
224
00:14:09.618 --> 00:14:11.099
But that's kind of the case.
225
00:14:11.219 --> 00:14:12.360
But I think that's, you know, I think...
226
00:14:13.770 --> 00:14:17.693
Being a creative person, you kind of have to have an element of that.
227
00:14:17.713 --> 00:14:20.615
Because like you said, there are so many other factors.
228
00:14:21.035 --> 00:14:31.043
Like I know that when I do an audition, as long as I do the audition to the best of my ability, I kind of try to forget about it because I know that once that tapes in,
229
00:14:32.184 --> 00:14:33.846
I know that they're not going to be disappointed in it.
230
00:14:33.866 --> 00:14:37.551
They're not going to look at it and think, that guy was terrible, we're never going to see him again.
231
00:14:38.072 --> 00:14:39.013
It's going to be a good tape.
232
00:14:39.213 --> 00:14:43.259
Whether I get it or not is, you know, maybe someone else looks slightly different.
233
00:14:43.339 --> 00:14:47.184
Maybe they've already cast someone who's playing my son and I just don't look like their dad.
234
00:14:47.204 --> 00:14:48.686
Like there's so many outside factors.
235
00:14:49.867 --> 00:15:17.893
to be clear with your vision and what you want to achieve and sort of put one foot in front of the other one step at a time and slowly build towards that um will stead you in a good place do you know what i mean absolutely as long as you're moving even if it's an inch yeah or a centimeter or whatever like you're you're getting there yeah yeah yeah and so at what point did you because you went to montessori what point did you then have like homeschooling and why was that was
236
00:15:20.094 --> 00:15:28.540
Well, because Miss Vicki was so incredible and really fostered, and my whole class of kids that I was with at the time were all still friends to this day, you know, 28 years later or something.
237
00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:31.402
She really fostered this love of learning in all of us.
238
00:15:31.722 --> 00:15:42.690
And I ended up in a situation where the public school advised my parents to take me somewhere else and do something else for my education because socially they couldn't move me up anymore.
239
00:15:42.830 --> 00:15:44.951
And academically I needed more.
240
00:15:45.452 --> 00:15:45.652
Yeah.
241
00:15:45.772 --> 00:15:55.316
But I was still, fortunately in Missouri, you're allowed to still go to school, even if you're homeschooled for art and music and PE and recess, field trips, before and after school activities.
242
00:15:55.456 --> 00:15:57.656
So all the fun stuff I got to do was cool.
243
00:15:57.816 --> 00:16:01.778
And then my mom had gone from research scientist to college professor at the time.
244
00:16:02.258 --> 00:16:10.044
And she was able to find this accredited program that was basically a classical education through the mail.
245
00:16:10.104 --> 00:16:11.024
It was correspondence.
246
00:16:11.364 --> 00:16:15.707
For those of you who were born after the year 2000, we used to have to do school through the mail.
247
00:16:17.008 --> 00:16:22.052
And it really was a perfect opportunity for me to have the best of both worlds.
248
00:16:22.132 --> 00:16:22.372
Yeah.
249
00:16:22.432 --> 00:16:24.193
Because I did all my academics at my own pace.
250
00:16:24.313 --> 00:16:24.534
Yeah.
251
00:16:24.634 --> 00:16:27.876
I was able to really facilitate it on my own very quickly.
252
00:16:27.896 --> 00:16:28.296
Yeah.
253
00:16:28.656 --> 00:16:28.957
And...
254
00:16:29.677 --> 00:16:34.341
then I was able to go to the school and be with my friends and do all the fun stuff and still have the social atmosphere.
255
00:16:34.361 --> 00:16:38.525
You get to socialize with all the fun stuff and do all the other stuff that you're great at on your own.
256
00:16:38.585 --> 00:16:39.125
It was great.
257
00:16:39.686 --> 00:16:41.367
I truly couldn't have asked for anything better.
258
00:16:41.427 --> 00:16:41.687
Yeah.
259
00:16:41.707 --> 00:16:51.155
See, I was wondering before this conversation started whether you sort of missed out on some childhood at all with being such a high achiever.
260
00:16:51.316 --> 00:16:55.940
But it sounds like you, at this point, leading up to, so this point takes you up to like 14.
261
00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:56.260
Yeah.
262
00:16:56.280 --> 00:16:56.500
Yeah.
263
00:16:56.640 --> 00:16:56.840
Yeah.
264
00:16:57.821 --> 00:17:03.428
So then you get to 14 and you book a role on Broadway.
265
00:17:03.468 --> 00:17:04.409
Yeah.
266
00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:05.650
Talk me through that.
267
00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:06.632
How did that come about?
268
00:17:06.752 --> 00:17:15.482
And how did you take that leap from, you know, doing ballet and dance classes to making your Broadway debut at 14 years old?
269
00:17:15.742 --> 00:17:17.984
It's all thanks to the Kansas City arts community.
270
00:17:18.164 --> 00:17:22.107
Because Kansas City has a huge regional theater community that is just incredible.
271
00:17:22.528 --> 00:17:24.269
I always say they raised me artistically.
272
00:17:24.810 --> 00:17:30.354
Because I happened to run into a family friend who was directing a community theater production and needed an answer.
273
00:17:30.935 --> 00:17:32.055
And I was the kid who would try anything.
274
00:17:32.276 --> 00:17:34.437
You know, that was also kind of instilled in me as a kid.
275
00:17:34.497 --> 00:17:38.381
Try anything once, whether it's a food you don't know or an activity you've never tried.
276
00:17:38.921 --> 00:17:39.562
And so I did.
277
00:17:39.722 --> 00:17:41.503
I was like, what's this theater thing?
278
00:17:41.543 --> 00:17:43.044
Let me see if this is fun for me.
279
00:17:44.005 --> 00:17:44.245
And...
280
00:17:45.566 --> 00:17:48.327
There are very few moments of absolute clarity in life, I feel.
281
00:17:49.407 --> 00:17:53.968
And when I stepped on stage on opening night for the first time, it hit me like a brick wall.
282
00:17:54.808 --> 00:17:58.589
I went, oh, I was put on this earth to tell stories.
283
00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:04.591
And to be a part of whatever collective imaginative creation this is that we're doing here.
284
00:18:05.791 --> 00:18:09.832
And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could not do anything else with my life.
285
00:18:09.852 --> 00:18:10.053
Yeah.
286
00:18:10.453 --> 00:18:16.455
And did you find that, because obviously I'm guessing you'd continued doing ballet and dance up until that point?
287
00:18:16.635 --> 00:18:17.235
I had, yeah.
288
00:18:17.255 --> 00:18:24.057
I mean, I was doing ballet and then I expanded into other dance styles and kind of started learning to sing and all these other things.
289
00:18:24.757 --> 00:18:35.301
And thankfully was welcomed into the Kansas City theater community and started working professionally and did a bunch of shows for those couple of years in Kansas City.
290
00:18:35.481 --> 00:18:40.187
So what did you find, because obviously there's storytelling in dance, of course.
291
00:18:40.687 --> 00:18:51.300
So what was it about acting and being on the stage for the time that you're talking that was different to performing as a dancer?
292
00:18:51.955 --> 00:18:53.035
I don't think it was different.
293
00:18:53.135 --> 00:18:55.456
I think it was the more that I didn't know I was missing.
294
00:18:55.776 --> 00:18:56.016
Yeah.
295
00:18:56.276 --> 00:18:59.518
Because again, one of those hindsight moments, you look back when I was a kid.
296
00:18:59.598 --> 00:18:59.818
Yeah.
297
00:19:00.698 --> 00:19:05.580
I was obsessed with the storylines of every ballet and with the characters in all of these ballets.
298
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:10.261
And I could tell you the plot of any ballet you asked me and the characters and what they were feeling.
299
00:19:10.301 --> 00:19:11.882
And that's what it was all about
for me.
300
00:19:11.902 --> 00:19:12.082
Yeah.
301
00:19:12.322 --> 00:19:17.944
And I didn't even realize until I started doing theater and started acting and went, wait, there's more?
302
00:19:18.825 --> 00:19:41.622
this is amazing there's enough level to it and that's to me I'm just so grateful that I sort of fell into it but I think each one of us that ends up in this industry we find our way here in some circuitous way if we didn't grow up in it and so then I worked with a woman in a show who was from New York they'd flown her in to do this production for the summer
303
00:19:42.082 --> 00:19:42.522
In Kansas?
304
00:19:42.622 --> 00:19:43.583
In Kansas City, yeah.
305
00:19:43.863 --> 00:19:46.443
And it was a production of The Sound of Music.
306
00:19:46.483 --> 00:19:47.284
She was playing Maria.
307
00:19:47.424 --> 00:19:48.144
I was one of the kids.
308
00:19:49.124 --> 00:19:51.085
And we got to be really close during the production.
309
00:19:51.105 --> 00:19:54.466
And then she was going on to do a little night music on Broadway after that.
310
00:19:55.466 --> 00:19:59.507
And about a month into their production, they needed an immediate replacement for one of the kids.
311
00:19:59.787 --> 00:20:00.068
Oh, wow.
312
00:20:00.648 --> 00:20:05.609
And she talked to the director, Trevor Nunn, I think folks on this set of The Pond.
313
00:20:05.629 --> 00:20:06.830
Yeah, yeah, National Theatre.
314
00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:07.610
Yes, exactly.
315
00:20:08.410 --> 00:20:12.953
I say that sometimes in America and people look at me like... Yeah, he was at the National for, I don't know.
316
00:20:13.173 --> 00:20:17.216
He is so incredible.
317
00:20:17.276 --> 00:20:20.819
She talked to Trevor and talked to the producers and said, look, I met this girl in Kansas City.
318
00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:22.420
I think she'd be amazing for this.
319
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:23.901
And I get a random phone call.
320
00:20:24.602 --> 00:20:28.704
And they go, hey, do you want to come to New York in two days and audition for a Broadway show?
321
00:20:29.565 --> 00:20:31.246
And I had never been to New York.
322
00:20:31.847 --> 00:20:34.128
I had never seen a Broadway show that wasn't a national tour.
323
00:20:34.669 --> 00:20:35.930
I didn't know anything about it.
324
00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:40.133
But I also never thought I'd get a chance to audition for a Broadway show again.
325
00:20:40.373 --> 00:20:41.193
Yeah, after that.
326
00:20:41.313 --> 00:20:42.074
Yeah, exactly.
327
00:20:42.234 --> 00:20:42.935
So I went, sure.
328
00:20:43.275 --> 00:20:43.495
Yeah.
329
00:20:43.675 --> 00:20:43.995
Why not?
330
00:20:44.175 --> 00:20:44.536
Let's go.
331
00:20:44.756 --> 00:20:44.916
Yeah.
332
00:20:44.996 --> 00:20:45.396
Let's try it.
333
00:20:45.416 --> 00:20:46.817
Let's try everything once, right?
334
00:20:46.837 --> 00:20:47.298
Exactly.
335
00:20:47.318 --> 00:20:47.538
Yeah.
336
00:20:48.058 --> 00:20:50.960
At least because I had shows booked in Kansas City for the next year.
337
00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:51.360
Yeah.
338
00:20:51.561 --> 00:20:53.062
And I was in rehearsals for a show at the time.
339
00:20:53.082 --> 00:20:54.583
It was this professional in Kansas City.
340
00:20:54.603 --> 00:20:54.743
Yeah.
341
00:20:54.783 --> 00:20:54.983
Yeah.
342
00:20:55.003 --> 00:20:55.203
Wow.
343
00:20:55.223 --> 00:20:55.363
Yeah.
344
00:20:55.403 --> 00:20:56.944
And I begged my director at the time.
345
00:20:56.984 --> 00:20:58.766
I said, I am so, because I had rehearsal that day.
346
00:20:58.786 --> 00:20:58.906
Yeah.
347
00:20:59.086 --> 00:21:00.027
I was like, I'm so sorry.
348
00:21:00.067 --> 00:21:01.428
Can I miss one day of rehearsal?
349
00:21:01.448 --> 00:21:01.648
Yeah.
350
00:21:01.668 --> 00:21:01.868
Yeah.
351
00:21:02.248 --> 00:21:04.150
to do this Broadway audition and then I will be there.
352
00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:06.372
I promise I'll have everything exactly as you need it.
353
00:21:06.772 --> 00:21:07.933
And she goes, absolutely, go.
354
00:21:08.534 --> 00:21:10.355
I'm guessing you probably never went through.
355
00:21:10.375 --> 00:21:12.137
You didn't go back because you got the role.
356
00:21:13.104 --> 00:21:15.466
Thankfully, she was really incredible about it.
357
00:21:15.906 --> 00:21:22.151
Because I went to New York, I did the audition, and I did the callback four hours later with Trevor Nunn.
358
00:21:22.171 --> 00:21:24.673
Did you know who Trevor Nunn was at this point?
359
00:21:24.773 --> 00:21:27.335
I knew who Trevor Nunn was, but I'm a huge theater nerd, so there you go.
360
00:21:27.815 --> 00:21:31.458
But obviously I never thought I'd meet someone like that, you know what I mean?
361
00:21:31.618 --> 00:21:42.787
And then suddenly I'm at LaGuardia getting ready to fly back to Kansas City that night, and I get a phone call that, congratulations, get ready, pack your stuff and come to New York for six months or more.
362
00:21:43.147 --> 00:21:43.547
Oh wow.
363
00:21:44.248 --> 00:21:46.870
And my whole life changed in that one day.
364
00:21:47.471 --> 00:21:49.332
And so you were in New York for those six months.
365
00:21:49.672 --> 00:22:01.382
And being 14, and I suppose because it wasn't that long prior to where you had that epiphany, well not always the epiphany, but where you realized, oh wow, this is what I want to do.
366
00:22:01.402 --> 00:22:02.143
I want to tell stories.
367
00:22:02.163 --> 00:22:04.385
I think shortly before that, about a month?
368
00:22:04.425 --> 00:22:05.125
It was like two years.
369
00:22:05.285 --> 00:22:05.726
Oh, two years.
370
00:22:05.746 --> 00:22:06.086
Okay.
371
00:22:06.706 --> 00:22:10.790
So then when you do get to New York and you're now doing this Broadway show, you're
372
00:22:12.031 --> 00:22:15.516
Were you nervous, like being a 14 year old in Broadway?
373
00:22:15.576 --> 00:22:23.487
And we're going to come to some of the other things at the minute, because not
only were you 14 in Broadway, you were also studying for your university degree in business.
374
00:22:23.587 --> 00:22:24.027
I was.
375
00:22:24.268 --> 00:22:24.808
At 14.
376
00:22:24.828 --> 00:22:25.509
I was.
377
00:22:25.590 --> 00:22:26.210
That's crazy.
378
00:22:26.230 --> 00:22:27.452
I'm a big old nerd.
379
00:22:29.494 --> 00:22:31.715
But, you know, when I...
380
00:22:32.695 --> 00:22:34.196
I didn't know anything about New York.
381
00:22:34.296 --> 00:22:37.597
I'd been there for a total of six hours, I think, before moving there.
382
00:22:37.817 --> 00:22:38.037
Yeah.
383
00:22:38.697 --> 00:22:40.998
And I didn't know how I was going to feel about it.
384
00:22:41.078 --> 00:22:42.418
I'd never lived in a big city.
385
00:22:42.538 --> 00:22:46.300
I grew up, you know, running around the woods in my backyard my whole childhood and having space.
386
00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:52.102
And I was a little nervous about it in that sense of just, am I going to enjoy living in this new place?
387
00:22:52.122 --> 00:22:52.322
Yeah.
388
00:22:53.657 --> 00:22:55.858
one day in New York and it absolutely had my heart.
389
00:22:56.298 --> 00:23:06.603
I just, it was an explosion of people and languages and culture and colors and art and just life in so many different ways that I'd never seen or experienced before.
390
00:23:07.464 --> 00:23:09.625
And I was so grateful that it happened to me at 14
391
00:23:10.625 --> 00:23:14.086
Because I feel like that's sort of the age where you're starting to gain world perspective.
392
00:23:14.226 --> 00:23:14.646
Yeah, yeah.
393
00:23:14.706 --> 00:23:19.507
And you're starting to notice things outside of your community and your family unit and things like this.
394
00:23:20.007 --> 00:23:25.389
And I'm so grateful that I had New York City as my lens for that time in my life.
395
00:23:25.429 --> 00:23:32.390
Because it's at that age where, you know, you're developing and you're, you know, opening up your eyes to the world.
396
00:23:32.470 --> 00:23:32.810
Yeah.
397
00:23:32.830 --> 00:23:35.651
To be there and doing something that you like.
398
00:23:36.251 --> 00:23:57.712
love doing is just incredible what was it like for the first night as a 14 year old um going out and and performing and i know that actually i think when we like i said we didn't have too much of a chance to chat massively in between uh because we were just filming like back to back um but you did say you did mention a story uh one of the early performances something happened didn't
399
00:23:58.573 --> 00:23:59.975
Oh, no, no, no, not that.
400
00:24:00.135 --> 00:24:01.576
Not that one.
401
00:24:01.736 --> 00:24:04.839
But there is something interesting.
402
00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:08.543
So I had two weeks of rehearsal as an immediate replacement when I got there.
403
00:24:08.603 --> 00:24:15.050
The first show I ever saw on Broadway was the show that I was going to be in, which was an insane, mind boggling moment.
404
00:24:15.070 --> 00:24:15.390
Yeah.
405
00:24:15.670 --> 00:24:18.151
But I never had a rehearsal with the orchestra.
406
00:24:18.491 --> 00:24:19.772
I never had a rehearsal with the lights.
407
00:24:20.552 --> 00:24:22.713
I never had a rehearsal with everyone in costume.
408
00:24:22.833 --> 00:24:23.053
Wow.
409
00:24:23.253 --> 00:24:29.456
And so the first time seeing the show at its full and hearing the show, I was on stage.
410
00:24:29.856 --> 00:24:29.996
Yeah.
411
00:24:30.016 --> 00:24:32.797
And it was my first performance, was being in and amongst that.
412
00:24:33.457 --> 00:24:34.237
And it was...
413
00:24:35.938 --> 00:24:37.919
I would love to say that I have so many memories of it.
414
00:24:37.939 --> 00:24:38.580
It's so magical.
415
00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:40.701
I have no memory of my first performance.
416
00:24:41.181 --> 00:24:42.222
I have zero memory.
417
00:24:42.542 --> 00:24:44.243
Because this is all I remember.
418
00:24:44.303 --> 00:24:47.906
Because the first scene of A Little Night Music is very, it's this beautiful waltz.
419
00:24:47.986 --> 00:24:49.767
And the lighting designer did such a beautiful job.
420
00:24:49.787 --> 00:24:51.928
It was so shadowy and gorgeous and dreamy.
421
00:24:52.488 --> 00:24:54.430
And I'm the last person to come out on stage.
422
00:24:55.410 --> 00:24:59.232
And so I step out on stage because everyone else has already entered.
423
00:24:59.272 --> 00:25:00.293
I'm the last person to enter.
424
00:25:00.873 --> 00:25:04.395
So I come out on stage and I get to watch everyone.
425
00:25:04.415 --> 00:25:06.216
I have like one second to take it all in.
426
00:25:06.376 --> 00:25:08.317
And I see, you know, you can feel the audience.
427
00:25:08.357 --> 00:25:10.499
You see everyone dancing and waltzing around.
428
00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:11.999
And then I have to go in.
429
00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:16.222
And I remember just stopping, taking a breath and going, here we go.
430
00:25:16.342 --> 00:25:17.663
And then off I went onto my track.
431
00:25:18.583 --> 00:25:21.025
And the next thing I remember is running up the stairs after a curtain call.
432
00:25:21.205 --> 00:25:21.385
Yeah.
433
00:25:21.525 --> 00:25:21.765
Yeah.
434
00:25:22.565 --> 00:25:25.626
It happens in a blur, doesn't it?
435
00:25:25.646 --> 00:25:25.826
Yeah.
436
00:25:25.886 --> 00:25:35.129
And the thing is, when you step on, I mean, it varies from role to role, but a lot of time, once you step on to stage, you're on the train.
437
00:25:35.409 --> 00:25:36.009
Yeah.
438
00:25:36.189 --> 00:25:37.730
And the train's not stopping until the end.
439
00:25:37.750 --> 00:25:37.930
Yeah.
440
00:25:37.990 --> 00:25:40.031
And I love that thrill.
441
00:25:40.211 --> 00:25:40.911
I do too.
442
00:25:41.011 --> 00:25:47.333
Of going on a journey with the character from the very start to the end and just, you know, as soon as you step on, that's it.
443
00:25:47.353 --> 00:25:48.093
You have to go now.
444
00:25:48.193 --> 00:25:48.993
It doesn't matter how you do.
445
00:25:49.013 --> 00:25:49.594
The show must go on.
446
00:25:49.614 --> 00:25:50.554
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
447
00:25:51.615 --> 00:26:03.129
So at what point then during this time, was it prior to your first performance or after where you decided that it would be great to also get your degree?
448
00:26:03.149 --> 00:26:03.250
Yeah.
449
00:26:03.914 --> 00:26:05.515
I was sort of in the process of it already.
450
00:26:05.775 --> 00:26:06.035
Really?
451
00:26:06.355 --> 00:26:10.577
Yeah, because I truly never thought I'd leave Kansas City in my whole life.
452
00:26:10.637 --> 00:26:11.358
I thought I'd be there.
453
00:26:11.418 --> 00:26:17.461
I thought I was going to work at the bank until 5 p.m. and then go to the theater at 8, and then that was going to be my life, and I was so thrilled with that.
454
00:26:18.441 --> 00:26:23.924
Then I moved to New York, and it's one of those things where –
455
00:26:25.944 --> 00:26:29.688
I did a semester of dual enrollment for my last semester of high school.
456
00:26:30.028 --> 00:26:32.410
I also didn't realize I was going to graduate high school when I did.
457
00:26:33.311 --> 00:26:36.674
I remember being on the phone with my guidance counselor and he goes, great.
458
00:26:36.774 --> 00:26:38.176
And after these two classes, you're done.
459
00:26:38.196 --> 00:26:38.836
And I went, what?
460
00:26:40.798 --> 00:26:41.519
I'm 14.
461
00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:42.460
He goes, yeah, but you're done.
462
00:26:43.120 --> 00:26:43.841
I'm like, what do you mean?
463
00:26:43.881 --> 00:26:48.886
He goes, well, you've fulfilled all the credits and you're graduating with honors after these two classes.
464
00:26:48.966 --> 00:26:49.326
And I went,
465
00:26:49.842 --> 00:26:50.543
There must be more.
466
00:26:51.083 --> 00:26:51.704
Okay.
467
00:26:52.264 --> 00:26:55.127
Because I loved school so much and I didn't want to stop learning.
468
00:26:55.247 --> 00:27:03.574
So at that point I was going to live in Kansas City and be an actor, so I started a drama program for undergrad at University of Missouri, Kansas City.
469
00:27:04.355 --> 00:27:06.477
And I was just barely into my first classes.
470
00:27:06.517 --> 00:27:09.019
I was like right about to start when I booked this Broadway show.
471
00:27:09.719 --> 00:27:14.664
And so I was able to transfer classes because they had some semi-online learning things through the university.
472
00:27:15.024 --> 00:27:20.448
So I was able to do that a little bit and at least get some of my core classes done, not any of the acting classes, unfortunately.
473
00:27:21.448 --> 00:27:27.192
But then after that, you really can't get an acting degree through correspondence.
474
00:27:27.232 --> 00:27:29.373
That doesn't really work for what we do for a living.
475
00:27:30.074 --> 00:27:42.142
So I started looking at schools in New York, and none of the schools, at least at that time, Tisch and
any of the other ones there, wouldn't let you go to school and work professionally at the same time.
476
00:27:42.162 --> 00:27:42.422
Yeah.
477
00:27:42.782 --> 00:27:46.243
Because they have a process and they have a program and I mean, it makes sense.
478
00:27:46.323 --> 00:27:46.723
Yeah, yeah.
479
00:27:46.923 --> 00:27:53.505
But I didn't want to quit the Broadway show I had just moved there to do, nor did I want to quit learning.
480
00:27:53.605 --> 00:27:54.065
Yeah, yeah.
481
00:27:54.285 --> 00:27:56.285
So I actually spoke to my cast.
482
00:27:56.345 --> 00:27:57.086
I spoke to Angela.
483
00:27:57.106 --> 00:27:57.846
I spoke to Catherine.
484
00:27:57.886 --> 00:28:00.887
I spoke to some of the other incredible performers that were in Night Music.
485
00:28:01.647 --> 00:28:05.648
And they said, well, look, you're already doing what you would be going to school to do.
486
00:28:05.668 --> 00:28:05.808
Mm-hmm.
487
00:28:06.428 --> 00:28:11.653
And you can still learn outside of school and keep learning your skills and things like this.
488
00:28:11.733 --> 00:28:16.617
But why don't you go to school for something else you love and round yourself out as a person and have something else?
489
00:28:17.418 --> 00:28:19.519
So I went back and did economics and business.
490
00:28:19.780 --> 00:28:20.120
Oh, wow.
491
00:28:20.260 --> 00:28:23.743
So it actually came from speaking to some of your, like Catherine and Angela.
492
00:28:24.363 --> 00:28:24.864
And all of them.
493
00:28:25.284 --> 00:28:33.672
And I was really grateful because Drexel University at the time, which is one of the top 25 business schools in the U.S., had a fully online program that they had just launched.
494
00:28:34.433 --> 00:28:38.036
And so I was able, I applied and was able to get in and get my bachelor's that way.
495
00:28:38.486 --> 00:28:40.548
So what did a typical, well, congratulations.
496
00:28:40.568 --> 00:28:40.788
Thank you.
497
00:28:40.808 --> 00:28:41.309
Yeah, yeah.
498
00:28:41.329 --> 00:28:42.170
Thank you very much.
499
00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:42.911
That's amazing.
500
00:28:44.012 --> 00:28:52.841
What did a typical day sort of look like then for a 14-year-old at that time performing in Broadway and doing a degree?
501
00:28:52.941 --> 00:28:54.643
Like, how did you do that?
502
00:28:54.663 --> 00:28:57.266
Was it in between shows or...?
503
00:28:57.446 --> 00:28:58.067
Sort of.
504
00:28:58.087 --> 00:28:58.267
Yeah.
505
00:28:58.327 --> 00:29:03.010
And the way they had set it up, because every role on any theater show has to have an understudy and a performer.
506
00:29:03.511 --> 00:29:06.973
And the way they did it for us, because we were kids, is we each did four shows a week.
507
00:29:07.073 --> 00:29:07.393
Okay.
508
00:29:07.654 --> 00:29:12.097
Which was a breeze, because I came from doing eight to ten shows in Kansas City per week.
509
00:29:12.697 --> 00:29:17.041
But we would do four shows on stage and four shows doing
our homework at the theater.
510
00:29:17.721 --> 00:29:24.987
And it was so great because I was at the theater for all eight shows, but I got to... You make it sound like you say homework, like it was like you're actually doing homework, getting a degree.
511
00:29:25.247 --> 00:29:29.471
You know, either way, whatever we occupied our time with, it was that.
512
00:29:30.291 --> 00:29:31.953
And it was really lovely.
513
00:29:31.973 --> 00:29:36.156
I got to sit there and listen to the show and be a part of it.
514
00:29:36.196 --> 00:29:38.598
But every day I would, you know, get up, go do...
515
00:29:38.958 --> 00:29:43.559
some sort of training, whether it was dance classes or singing lessons or whatever it was that I was working on at the time.
516
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:48.040
Maybe an audition or two as that part of my career kind of expanded.
517
00:29:48.621 --> 00:29:50.161
And then I would go to the theater at night.
518
00:29:50.481 --> 00:29:55.082
And or two show day, I would go sit at the theater and either do homework or be on stage.
519
00:29:56.102 --> 00:30:05.785
And there was one summer that was particularly insane that I look back on and I still have no idea to this day how I did it and didn't lose my mind.
520
00:30:06.445 --> 00:30:11.907
But I was doing a new reading of a new Aaron's and Flaherty show directed by Susan Stroman.
521
00:30:11.927 --> 00:30:15.089
It was like it actually ended up on Broadway, but I was too old by that time.
522
00:30:15.129 --> 00:30:15.829
Yeah.
523
00:30:15.909 --> 00:30:17.169
You know, the little dancer statue.
524
00:30:17.189 --> 00:30:17.670
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
525
00:30:17.830 --> 00:30:19.950
So that was about Degas and that girl.
526
00:30:20.511 --> 00:30:23.472
And it was, you know, about the ballerinas and Degas and this whole thing.
527
00:30:23.532 --> 00:30:23.732
It was.
528
00:30:24.172 --> 00:30:24.833
Sounds kind of cool.
529
00:30:24.913 --> 00:30:26.173
Glorious show, glorious show.
530
00:30:26.293 --> 00:30:36.380
And I got to work with some of my people from my show and like Jeremy Jordan, like all these incredible artists who I, you know, the Broadway community is very small, so a lot of these people I'm still like watching and in touch with to this day.
531
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.021
But that took up most of my days.
532
00:30:39.101 --> 00:30:46.046
So then instead of training or doing homework during the day, I was, you know, at the reading at eight in the morning until four or five in the afternoon.
533
00:30:46.466 --> 00:30:48.107
Then I was trying to get some homework done
534
00:30:48.567 --> 00:30:49.928
And running to theater and doing that.
535
00:30:50.228 --> 00:30:54.191
But that was also during a summer semester in which I was taking summer courses.
536
00:30:54.271 --> 00:31:00.395
And what they don't tell you about summer courses is that because they're condensed into four or eight weeks, the workload is like triple.
537
00:31:00.616 --> 00:31:01.016
Oh, wow.
538
00:31:01.116 --> 00:31:01.997
So I'm sitting there.
539
00:31:02.017 --> 00:31:05.339
I'm doing like an Arthurian legend class or something and then a few other things.
540
00:31:05.619 --> 00:31:11.804
But I was trying to read a full book that was either an Arthurian legend or something that was based off of it.
541
00:31:12.064 --> 00:31:12.304
Yeah.
542
00:31:12.644 --> 00:31:16.325
So I'm literally reading a full book a day while doing a reading and a full time show.
543
00:31:16.625 --> 00:31:23.688
And then having to write full essays when I get home at 11 o'clock at night and somehow get to bed by three in the morning and then get up the next day and do it all over again.
544
00:31:24.048 --> 00:31:25.308
And was that sounds like a lot.
545
00:31:25.348 --> 00:31:28.309
Did you did you cope with that?
546
00:31:28.790 --> 00:31:29.050
Yeah.
547
00:31:29.250 --> 00:31:29.470
Yeah.
548
00:31:29.570 --> 00:31:30.790
I mean, I was doing things I love.
549
00:31:30.830 --> 00:31:31.210
Yeah.
550
00:31:31.251 --> 00:31:33.291
I was doing school, which I loved so much.
551
00:31:33.571 --> 00:31:35.852
And I've always been a huge myths and legends person.
552
00:31:35.932 --> 00:31:37.093
So that was a treat.
553
00:31:37.533 --> 00:31:41.274
And I was performing in the show that was the most exhilarating thing I'd ever done in my life.
554
00:31:41.647 --> 00:31:46.070
So I suppose it's like, you know, it's like what they say when you do something that you love, it doesn't feel like work.
555
00:31:46.111 --> 00:31:46.471
Yeah.
556
00:31:46.511 --> 00:31:49.513
Because that sounds like a lot, everything you just mentioned there.
557
00:31:49.533 --> 00:31:50.174
It's a lot of work.
558
00:31:50.314 --> 00:31:54.757
But because you enjoyed it, you're saying it didn't actually feel like a lot?
559
00:31:55.057 --> 00:31:56.278
It didn't, from my memory.
560
00:31:56.338 --> 00:32:00.402
I mean, I also, I have to shout out my mother because she is...
561
00:32:02.426 --> 00:32:04.229
is the most supportive person in my life.
562
00:32:04.309 --> 00:32:08.974
And I'm so grateful to her because she never got involved, but she was always supportive.
563
00:32:09.395 --> 00:32:14.721
So, you know, because you see so many parents of kids in the industry that are a bit much, to put it nicely.
564
00:32:14.821 --> 00:32:19.126
I mean, there's a lot of great parents in the industry too, don't get me wrong.
565
00:32:19.146 --> 00:32:19.306
But...
566
00:32:19.666 --> 00:32:22.467
But my mom was always let it be mine and let it be my thing.
567
00:32:22.547 --> 00:32:23.967
And, you know, she was there to support me.
568
00:32:24.027 --> 00:32:24.768
She was there to drive me.
569
00:32:24.828 --> 00:32:28.769
She was there to walk me around and, you know, feed me, remind me to eat and things like this.
570
00:32:29.009 --> 00:32:34.231
But I really couldn't have done it without her those weeks because she she was been my rock and
kept me sane.
571
00:32:34.371 --> 00:32:34.971
Yeah.
572
00:32:35.011 --> 00:32:37.792
But also I always thrive on a challenge.
573
00:32:38.072 --> 00:32:38.312
Yeah.
574
00:32:38.352 --> 00:32:39.352
I've always been that way.
575
00:32:39.552 --> 00:32:42.933
You know, you give me something that seems impossible and I'm going to figure out a way to do it.
576
00:32:43.194 --> 00:32:43.474
Yeah.
577
00:32:43.534 --> 00:32:43.734
Yeah.
578
00:32:43.774 --> 00:32:43.994
Yeah.
579
00:32:44.974 --> 00:32:55.644
So I suppose like a lot of your identity seems to be wrapped up with being like a high achiever, dependable and ambitious.
580
00:32:57.065 --> 00:32:59.207
What happens on days where you don't feel like that?
581
00:33:00.548 --> 00:33:02.449
I keep myself busy with other things.
582
00:33:03.230 --> 00:33:03.510
Truly.
583
00:33:03.871 --> 00:33:05.052
I'm still, you know, it's funny.
584
00:33:06.538 --> 00:33:15.841
Something I'm still figuring out is that, you know, in school, for example, you do the work, you do the essay, you learn the material, and the grade comes with that.
585
00:33:16.041 --> 00:33:16.241
Yeah.
586
00:33:16.621 --> 00:33:22.583
In our industry, you can do the work, you can make a great audition, you can do all the things, and then it may not go your way.
587
00:33:22.763 --> 00:33:22.983
Yeah.
588
00:33:23.143 --> 00:33:25.484
For whatever reason, and there's absolutely nothing you could have done.
589
00:33:25.544 --> 00:33:25.744
Yep.
590
00:33:26.284 --> 00:33:29.205
There are days where that still befuddles my mind.
591
00:33:29.385 --> 00:33:29.525
Mm-hmm.
592
00:33:30.325 --> 00:33:32.926
And those are the days where I find something else to do.
593
00:33:33.187 --> 00:33:40.290
I go for a run or I go train or I go see friends or I will work on my other projects that I'm developing myself.
594
00:33:40.710 --> 00:33:42.711
And that I learned that during the pandemic.
595
00:33:42.931 --> 00:33:43.591
Yeah.
596
00:33:43.631 --> 00:33:44.612
Because I had a lot of down.
597
00:33:44.692 --> 00:33:45.652
We all had a lot of down time.
598
00:33:47.053 --> 00:33:53.679
But I needed something creative, and I needed to do that and not let those juices stop flowing.
599
00:33:53.960 --> 00:34:00.526
And I started writing little things and developing things with friends and talking to people and kind of dipping my toe into the producing world.
600
00:34:00.606 --> 00:34:08.613
And now I have a project that we're working on with a few other people, and I'm hoping to be directing one day and all of these things.
601
00:34:09.354 --> 00:34:12.457
And having that creative outlet...
602
00:34:13.337 --> 00:34:14.398
is essential.
603
00:34:14.438 --> 00:34:26.244
And I think if you are creative, or no matter what it is that you want to do with your life, even if you're not doing that thing at that moment, whatever those skills are that you need and those tools are that you're using, keep using those in some way.
604
00:34:26.472 --> 00:34:27.573
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I agree.
605
00:34:27.593 --> 00:34:32.937
And I think, you know, you were touching on, you know, different things that you do outside of acting.
606
00:34:32.957 --> 00:34:39.182
And I think as an actor or a creative person, I think it's really important to have those other things.
607
00:34:39.263 --> 00:34:39.443
Yeah.
608
00:34:39.823 --> 00:34:43.786
Because if you don't have other things to focus on, like you can fixate on...
609
00:34:44.767 --> 00:34:46.248
Am I going to get this job?
610
00:34:46.348 --> 00:34:47.708
When's the next audition coming in?
611
00:34:48.128 --> 00:34:53.450
You can put so much pressure on yourself audition to audition that it can drive you crazy.
612
00:34:53.751 --> 00:35:04.755
And I think it's just so important to have those other avenues so that the acting is still a passion and a hobby, even though it's your profession and one's profession.
613
00:35:05.475 --> 00:35:06.936
It doesn't feel like it.
614
00:35:07.237 --> 00:35:15.083
And there's not the desperation attached to it because you are exploring other avenues and keeping your mind active and being curious about other things.
615
00:35:15.588 --> 00:35:17.449
And it maintains the joy of it as well.
616
00:35:17.569 --> 00:35:24.234
And I think, too, we as actors, we are, you know, portraying life and imaginary circumstances, as the greats will say.
617
00:35:25.275 --> 00:35:27.397
But we can't do that if we don't experience life as well.
618
00:35:27.557 --> 00:35:28.097
Yeah, exactly.
619
00:35:28.117 --> 00:35:29.298
Because we don't know what life is.
620
00:35:29.518 --> 00:35:30.119
So, so true.
621
00:35:30.279 --> 00:35:35.302
And so that's something that I always kept in mind being a young person who's working professionally.
622
00:35:35.502 --> 00:35:41.527
And as I've grown up and kind of tried to maintain a work-life balance, I keep having to remind myself that… Yeah.
623
00:35:42.007 --> 00:35:42.668
Go live life.
624
00:35:42.808 --> 00:35:43.508
Go do things.
625
00:35:43.849 --> 00:35:46.511
You don't have to work all the time because I love my job.
626
00:35:46.671 --> 00:35:48.333
I would work all the time if I could.
627
00:35:48.373 --> 00:35:51.996
You know, and so I would be working on something all the time if I could.
628
00:35:52.536 --> 00:35:58.701
And so reminding yourself to take time off and go do other things and other hobbies and interests and these sort of things.
629
00:35:58.782 --> 00:36:00.183
It's so important.
630
00:36:01.154 --> 00:36:03.815
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631
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652
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So with your, so you're on Broadway, you've got your degree and have you ever sort of like, did you just do the degree because you love learning or has there been a point where you've actually been able, because it was in business, right?
653
00:38:52.676 --> 00:38:52.876
Yeah.
654
00:38:53.116 --> 00:38:57.299
So has there been a point where that business degree has helped you in acting?
655
00:38:58.018 --> 00:38:59.159
I feel like it really has.
656
00:38:59.699 --> 00:39:03.583
I have had several moments where I feel as though my degrees come in handy.
657
00:39:03.623 --> 00:39:08.486
Because especially now, with the way the industry is, every actor has to handle their career like a business.
658
00:39:09.167 --> 00:39:10.488
And there's so many things we have to do.
659
00:39:10.608 --> 00:39:12.310
Social media is marketing.
660
00:39:12.430 --> 00:39:15.492
Networking is the auditions we go to, the people we meet and all these things.
661
00:39:15.752 --> 00:39:17.234
You have to know how to manage your finances.
662
00:39:17.274 --> 00:39:22.578
You have to know how to build things and manage people by managing your whole team and things like this.
663
00:39:23.198 --> 00:39:26.399
And it has worked out so well in so many ways.
664
00:39:26.639 --> 00:39:29.060
The first way I noticed it is I could actually read my contracts.
665
00:39:29.120 --> 00:39:29.280
Yeah.
666
00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:32.001
So I did several classes in law as well while I was doing business.
667
00:39:32.181 --> 00:39:33.962
And my attorney loves it.
668
00:39:34.142 --> 00:39:34.242
Yeah.
669
00:39:34.262 --> 00:39:35.422
And thankfully, I'm so grateful.
670
00:39:35.442 --> 00:39:36.703
It makes it cheaper for you, I suppose.
671
00:39:37.083 --> 00:39:37.583
Well, sort of.
672
00:39:38.263 --> 00:39:43.505
But it just means more emails back and forth to my attorney because rather than somebody who just goes, oh, you think this is good?
673
00:39:43.565 --> 00:39:43.785
Great.
674
00:39:43.885 --> 00:39:44.145
Awesome.
675
00:39:44.165 --> 00:39:45.186
I go, awesome.
676
00:39:45.226 --> 00:39:45.806
I'll follow your lead.
677
00:39:46.106 --> 00:39:47.506
I do have questions because I want to learn.
678
00:39:49.327 --> 00:39:50.388
And I don't know what these things mean.
679
00:39:50.928 --> 00:39:54.010
And I'm so grateful because my attorneys are very, very open to that.
680
00:39:54.111 --> 00:39:55.652
And they get excited by that, too.
681
00:39:55.672 --> 00:40:00.876
Yeah, yeah, of course, because I suppose it doesn't challenge them, but it gives them a different response to, OK, cool, I'll just sign it.
682
00:40:01.096 --> 00:40:05.879
They don't have many 15, 16 year olds calling and being like, I have 12 questions about this contract you just sent me.
683
00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:08.081
Wow.
684
00:40:08.421 --> 00:40:09.001
Well, that's great.
685
00:40:09.062 --> 00:40:09.742
That's really cool.
686
00:40:10.342 --> 00:40:16.307
And so so once you solicit, we're going to start moving in towards film and TV.
687
00:40:16.327 --> 00:40:16.927
And.
688
00:40:18.068 --> 00:40:22.686
What was that procedure like and how did that come about for you?
689
00:40:23.439 --> 00:40:29.881
Well, I was living in New York, and I had done the show for six months, and then we actually closed.
690
00:40:30.261 --> 00:40:34.822
We thought the show was going to close because Catherine and Angela both had to leave for scheduling reasons after six months.
691
00:40:35.482 --> 00:40:40.363
They were trying and trying to find other people to fill the show and schedules, other things.
692
00:40:40.463 --> 00:40:42.003
We had a million people come see the show.
693
00:40:42.563 --> 00:40:44.364
There was nobody, so it closed.
694
00:40:44.844 --> 00:40:52.406
And then once they had heard the show was closed, Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch decided that they were willing to jump in.
695
00:40:54.747 --> 00:40:57.709
old hat at Sondheim, as it were, and greats of Broadway.
696
00:40:58.229 --> 00:41:01.391
And it was such a lesson, to sort of segue for just a moment.
697
00:41:01.431 --> 00:41:07.395
It was such a lesson in the diversity and versatility of material.
698
00:41:07.896 --> 00:41:14.060
And I will never ever forget it, because we had the show with Catherine and Angela, and we had the show with Bernadette and Elaine, and we rehearsed it for two weeks.
699
00:41:14.460 --> 00:41:16.602
It was a completely different show.
700
00:41:17.322 --> 00:41:17.762
night and day.
701
00:41:18.083 --> 00:41:19.524
Both were extraordinary.
702
00:41:19.984 --> 00:41:26.609
But just a completely different interpretation of the material from two sets of these powerhouse leading ladies.
703
00:41:27.189 --> 00:41:37.456
I will never forget watching them and learning from them and just absorbing everything that they said and told, every story they told, everything they taught me, everything they did on stage and backstage.
704
00:41:38.937 --> 00:41:43.280
So coming out of that experience, I was then too tall to be a kid on Broadway anymore.
705
00:41:43.520 --> 00:41:44.161
You were too tall.
706
00:41:44.281 --> 00:41:44.941
I was too tall.
707
00:41:44.961 --> 00:41:45.241
Really?
708
00:41:45.381 --> 00:41:46.462
Yeah.
709
00:41:46.822 --> 00:41:54.528
There's sort of a height limit because there's costumes that are made a certain size and yada yada and they're very expensive costumes and there's so many kids and it's a thing.
710
00:41:54.728 --> 00:41:57.710
It's sort of an unspoken thing but at least when I was there it was a thing.
711
00:41:58.431 --> 00:42:07.538
And so I started auditioning for Film and TV because I was in New York and there were other opportunities to do and that sort of became the next thing because short of you
712
00:42:11.080 --> 00:42:14.502
booking something else or going back to school or leaving New York.
713
00:42:14.542 --> 00:42:16.223
At that point, I never wanted to leave New York.
714
00:42:16.703 --> 00:42:19.184
I thought, oh man, I'm gonna live in New York for the rest of my life.
715
00:42:19.204 --> 00:42:19.885
This is gonna be great.
716
00:42:20.065 --> 00:42:21.785
I keep thinking this and then it keeps changing.
717
00:42:21.806 --> 00:42:22.366
You know what I mean?
718
00:42:22.386 --> 00:42:27.248
That's what's great is that sometimes you can't plan things and you just have to roll with it sometimes.
719
00:42:27.628 --> 00:42:36.613
By seeing new places, like you said earlier, you get new experiences, you develop as a person, you have a different outlook and you just grow.
720
00:42:36.833 --> 00:42:37.193
You do.
721
00:42:37.273 --> 00:42:38.434
Yeah, you can't limit yourself.
722
00:42:38.574 --> 00:42:39.034
Exactly.
723
00:42:39.054 --> 00:42:47.097
Well, and by nature of that, I, you know, did the obligatory Law and Order SVU that every actor who lives in New York for any period of time usually does.
724
00:42:48.137 --> 00:42:53.799
Did an episode of 30 Rock, which was sort of circuitous because Elaine Stritch played Alec Baldwin's mom on 30 Rock.
725
00:42:53.839 --> 00:42:53.999
Yeah.
726
00:42:54.779 --> 00:42:57.662
And she used to film all of her stuff on Mondays while she was doing the show.
727
00:42:57.923 --> 00:43:01.687
And one day she goes, Kat, or Catherine, she called me, well, anyway.
728
00:43:02.447 --> 00:43:05.110
She was like, you're going to come with me tomorrow.
729
00:43:05.390 --> 00:43:11.517
Meet me at, you know, where I'm staying and we'll go in the town car and we're going to go, you're going to come to set with me tomorrow.
730
00:43:11.817 --> 00:43:12.058
Yeah.
731
00:43:12.158 --> 00:43:13.159
And I went, okay.
732
00:43:13.379 --> 00:43:13.559
Yeah.
733
00:43:13.699 --> 00:43:14.520
I had no idea what that meant.
734
00:43:14.881 --> 00:43:15.802
I had no idea what that entailed.
735
00:43:16.302 --> 00:43:22.711
So we get to set, and while she's in hair and makeup, she sends some poor PA to take me to sit in Video Village somewhere.
736
00:43:22.731 --> 00:43:23.912
She's like, go learn something.
737
00:43:23.932 --> 00:43:25.935
While I'm doing this, you shouldn't just be sitting here.
738
00:43:25.955 --> 00:43:26.536
Go learn something.
739
00:43:26.916 --> 00:43:29.820
So here I am at Video Village in a scene that she's not in.
740
00:43:30.781 --> 00:43:33.385
And, you know, Jack McBrayer and the other actors in the scene are going...
741
00:43:34.407 --> 00:43:34.827
Who is this?
742
00:43:34.847 --> 00:43:35.648
Who are you with?
743
00:43:35.748 --> 00:43:36.729
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
744
00:43:36.769 --> 00:43:40.333
Who's this child that sat at Video Village that none of us know?
745
00:43:40.373 --> 00:43:41.254
Yeah.
746
00:43:41.474 --> 00:43:43.716
But everyone was so lovely and so kind.
747
00:43:43.756 --> 00:43:44.937
And many of them had seen the show.
748
00:43:44.957 --> 00:43:46.018
Yeah, yeah.
749
00:43:46.038 --> 00:43:48.280
And I learned so much that day.
750
00:43:48.461 --> 00:43:48.661
Yeah.
751
00:43:48.841 --> 00:43:50.703
I'd never been on a TV set like that before.
752
00:43:50.723 --> 00:43:52.164
I'd never been on a soundstage.
753
00:43:52.544 --> 00:43:54.546
I had no idea what was happening.
754
00:43:54.566 --> 00:43:55.147
Yeah.
755
00:43:55.207 -->
00:44:01.249
But that, even just being there for that one day, gave me a little bit of a foundation for when I went to set myself.
756
00:44:02.190 --> 00:44:04.850
I just, I'm a perpetual student.
757
00:44:04.970 --> 00:44:05.571
That's what I love.
758
00:44:05.611 --> 00:44:09.512
But then, you know, I ended up getting a screen test for a Disney Channel pilot.
759
00:44:09.652 --> 00:44:09.852
Yeah.
760
00:44:10.152 --> 00:44:17.375
Back, what is it now, 13, 14 years ago when they were trying to do High School Musical, the series, for the first time.
761
00:44:17.395 --> 00:44:17.495
Yeah.
762
00:44:18.055 --> 00:44:20.537
Right after High School Musical 3 came out, whatever year that was.
763
00:44:21.838 --> 00:44:23.999
So then I went to L.A. for the screen test.
764
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:26.160
And I said, well, I've never been to L.A.
765
00:44:26.300 --> 00:44:27.061
It's pilot season.
766
00:44:27.081 --> 00:44:29.462
Oh, no, I'm never going to leave L.A. once I'm there.
767
00:44:29.623 --> 00:44:30.803
That's what happened.
768
00:44:30.943 --> 00:44:35.546
I might as well, you know, I'm going to stay in L.A. for like two weeks because I'm never going to book this Disney Channel show.
769
00:44:35.626 --> 00:44:40.990
But I might as well do the L.A. thing while I'm in L.A. since I'm spending the money on travel.
770
00:44:41.488 --> 00:44:42.869
There's two things I want to touch on, actually.
771
00:44:42.929 --> 00:44:43.309
Yeah.
772
00:44:43.490 --> 00:44:46.412
But just on that, it just sort of registered with me.
773
00:44:46.672 --> 00:44:49.635
If that was your mindset, you know, I'm never going to book this job, so I might as well just go.
774
00:44:49.755 --> 00:44:52.057
And it was like that when you auditioned for the Broadway show.
775
00:44:52.077 --> 00:44:52.857
Yeah.
776
00:44:52.917 --> 00:44:57.941
It was like that when you did your first thing at Kansas, the first show that you did there that led on to Broadway.
777
00:44:57.961 --> 00:44:58.121
Yeah.
778
00:44:58.382 --> 00:45:00.543
Do you think that that has a lot to do with it?
779
00:45:00.623 --> 00:45:05.648
Because it's like you haven't put expectations on yourself as an actress.
780
00:45:05.908 --> 00:45:07.409
I may as well just try it and see what happens.
781
00:45:07.489 --> 00:45:07.789
Yeah.
782
00:45:07.809 --> 00:45:10.151
Rather than like, oh, my gosh, this is an amazing opportunity.
783
00:45:10.171 --> 00:45:10.992
I really hope I get it.
784
00:45:11.432 --> 00:45:13.053
Do you think that's played a part?
785
00:45:13.073 --> 00:45:13.333
100%.
786
00:45:13.393 --> 00:45:19.918
And actually that all goes to one of the first people in Kansas City Theater who was teaching me because I needed a monologue for auditions.
787
00:45:19.998 --> 00:45:20.238
Yeah.
788
00:45:20.378 --> 00:45:22.459
And there was an actor there who's like, come over to my house.
789
00:45:22.979 --> 00:45:23.800
I've got some monologues.
790
00:45:23.820 --> 00:45:28.383
We'll read through some stuff and I'll teach you how to do a monologue and how to audition and how to do this.
791
00:45:29.403 --> 00:45:35.007
And I remember sitting in her house and she sets me down and she goes, first of all, the most important thing you need to remember is...
792
00:45:35.562 --> 00:45:35.902
Always.
793
00:45:36.543 --> 00:45:37.883
An actor's job is to audition.
794
00:45:38.644 --> 00:45:39.244
That is your job.
795
00:45:39.604 --> 00:45:40.224
That is what you do.
796
00:45:40.284 --> 00:45:41.945
You go in for those 10, 15 minutes.
797
00:45:41.965 --> 00:45:44.046
You do the thing that you love to the best of your ability.
798
00:45:44.466 --> 00:45:46.167
You walk out of that room and leave it behind you.
799
00:45:46.207 --> 00:45:46.848
You've done your job.
800
00:45:46.928 --> 00:45:47.148
Yeah.
801
00:45:47.428 --> 00:45:50.229
Whether or not you book the job is that's like a special thing.
802
00:45:50.249 --> 00:45:51.010
That's a separate thing.
803
00:45:51.250 --> 00:45:51.610
Yeah.
804
00:45:51.650 --> 00:45:54.632
But your job is to go in and audition, audition, audition.
805
00:45:55.072 --> 00:45:57.413
And so I started my career with that mindset.
806
00:45:57.813 --> 00:45:58.734
Which is so useful.
807
00:45:58.814 --> 00:45:59.034
Yeah.
808
00:45:59.074 --> 00:46:07.438
And it's not, it's, I guess when I say, oh, I'm never going to book this, it sounds a little bit negative, but it's more the case of, I had never dreamed these sort of things for my life.
809
00:46:07.598 --> 00:46:09.819
And I was happy, happy to just be auditioning.
810
00:46:09.859 --> 00:46:12.701
Happy to just have the opportunity because that was my job, you know?
811
00:46:12.741 --> 00:46:13.061
Yeah.
812
00:46:13.121 --> 00:46:16.463
And so that's what happened with the screen test in LA.
813
00:46:16.483 --> 00:46:17.983
I went, this is Disney channel.
814
00:46:18.003 --> 00:46:20.665
This is, you know, high school musical was the biggest thing in the world at the time.
815
00:46:20.705 --> 00:46:24.647
And I thought never in my wildest dreams is this going to be me.
816
00:46:24.807 --> 00:46:26.948
So, but oh my gosh, what an experience.
817
00:46:27.068 --> 00:46:27.929
Yeah, yeah, completely.
818
00:46:27.949 --> 00:46:54.383
And I think, and it sort of comes back to what I was saying earlier about like, if you have other things that you're sort of not necessarily pursuing, but other interests, it does the same thing that not putting so much pressure on the audition does, you know, it takes it alleviates any pressure, stress, worry, anxiety, whatever it may be, and allows you to just be the actor and just be free with it and appreciate the moment that you're in and doing your job, which is at this point, it's auditioning.
819
00:46:54.483 --> 00:46:55.064
A hundred percent.
820
00:46:55.124 --> 00:46:58.186
Now, I do have to say, there will always be those jobs.
821
00:46:58.326 --> 00:46:59.547
You knew I
was going to say that.
822
00:46:59.727 --> 00:47:06.293
There will always be those jobs that stick with you and always be those jobs that you're just like, man, I really wanted this one.
823
00:47:06.313 --> 00:47:07.053
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
824
00:47:07.213 --> 00:47:08.555
And that just happens.
825
00:47:08.635 --> 00:47:09.355
And that's human.
826
00:47:09.495 --> 00:47:13.358
And so if that does happen, don't get down on yourself because it's sticking with you.
827
00:47:13.579 --> 00:47:13.779
Yeah.
828
00:47:13.799 --> 00:47:14.299
That happens.
829
00:47:14.639 --> 00:47:14.820
Yeah.
830
00:47:14.860 --> 00:47:16.961
I try to be like what you're saying most of the time.
831
00:47:16.981 --> 00:47:18.142
And I'm pretty good at doing that.
832
00:47:18.383 --> 00:47:18.683
Me too.
833
00:47:18.703 --> 00:47:18.883
Yeah.
834
00:47:19.083 --> 00:47:28.195
But there was last year, there was this one audition for this film that I've got coming out in September, which I did with Mina, who you obviously know.
835
00:47:28.415 --> 00:47:29.757
I love Mina so much.
836
00:47:30.137 --> 00:47:31.519
And yeah, Mina's great.
837
00:47:31.579 --> 00:47:33.702
He's like such a nice guy.
838
00:47:33.922 --> 00:47:37.267
And yeah, we've become good friends, which has been great.
839
00:47:37.827 --> 00:47:47.411
But leading up to the audition for Daniel, you know, it's not often you get scenes through that are so juicy, so rich with the text.
840
00:47:47.431 --> 00:47:50.652
And because this is a biblical film, they've taken a lot of the text from the Bible.
841
00:47:51.272 --> 00:47:56.474
So it was just like a it was like a dream audition amongst a lot of commercial auditions.
842
00:47:56.834 --> 00:47:57.815
Oh, well, hello.
843
00:47:58.015 --> 00:47:58.455
What's this?
844
00:48:00.813 --> 00:48:03.835
Get my glasses on and start breaking it down.
845
00:48:03.855 --> 00:48:04.995
Scene study.
846
00:48:05.055 --> 00:48:05.656
Exactly.
847
00:48:06.196 --> 00:48:08.417
So we had this audition for it and it was just great.
848
00:48:08.537 --> 00:48:10.818
It was just, it was like, just the text was great.
849
00:48:10.838 --> 00:48:14.760
I mean, and I did the audition and I thought, I did a really good job.
850
00:48:14.780 --> 00:48:16.962
Like I know, like I said earlier, like I've done a really good job.
851
00:48:17.042 --> 00:48:18.082
I know it wasn't terrible.
852
00:48:18.102 --> 00:48:18.903
Whatever happens.
853
00:48:19.383 --> 00:48:21.904
I've, you know, they're not going to think this guy's terrible.
854
00:48:21.964 --> 00:48:23.085
Let's never speak to him again.
855
00:48:23.145 --> 00:48:24.846
I was like, I'll just leave it there.
856
00:48:25.693 --> 00:48:27.414
And then I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
857
00:48:27.634 --> 00:48:35.558
And then, you know, and this is something else that I've learned is, is that because like with this, for example, you know, I didn't get the recall for about.
858
00:48:36.878 --> 00:48:39.479
Two months, maybe three months after I got the recall.
859
00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:46.783
And then after the recall, I don't think I got offered the role for like maybe another a while.
860
00:48:47.003 --> 00:48:47.443
Yeah, you may.
861
00:48:47.463 --> 00:48:49.004
It could have been four or five, six weeks.
862
00:48:49.064 --> 00:48:49.284
Yeah.
863
00:48:49.704 --> 00:48:50.925
And at that point.
864
00:48:52.031 --> 00:48:53.112
I had really long hair.
865
00:48:53.192 --> 00:48:58.273
So I was in a play before, and my hair was, so my hair's been really long until about a month ago, two months ago maybe.
866
00:48:58.293 --> 00:48:58.594
Oh wow.
867
00:48:59.114 --> 00:49:07.177
And I kind of, I wanted to cut my hair, but I'd had the recall already, and I thought, no, I've got to keep it because of this recall.
868
00:49:08.537 --> 00:49:11.758
And maybe like six, seven weeks had gone past and I was getting frustrated.
869
00:49:11.778 --> 00:49:12.498
And I was like, you know what?
870
00:49:12.518 --> 00:49:12.838
Forget it.
871
00:49:12.958 --> 00:49:13.838
I'm just cutting my hair.
872
00:49:14.559 --> 00:49:20.800
And I was in Barbados at the time and I called the barbers and said, look, I'm flying out of Barbados tomorrow.
873
00:49:20.920 --> 00:49:21.981
Can you fit me in tonight?
874
00:49:22.001 --> 00:49:26.122
And he was like, look, I can't fit you in tonight, but I can do you first thing in the morning.
875
00:49:26.742 --> 00:49:28.902
And I was like, fine, because I just wanted to cut it off.
876
00:49:28.922 --> 00:49:30.723
And it was sort of like I was angry about not hearing.
877
00:49:30.843 --> 00:49:31.483
Not angry, but.
878
00:49:31.623 --> 00:49:32.343
You just wanted to wash it in.
879
00:49:32.363 --> 00:49:33.663
Yes, I just wanted to move on.
880
00:49:33.703 --> 00:49:36.744
Yeah, my fiance was like, look, but what about if you get the role?
881
00:49:37.164 --> 00:49:39.825
And I was like, well, if I get the role, then I've got short hair now.
882
00:49:40.005 --> 00:49:41.185
They've taken ages to let me know.
883
00:49:42.486 --> 00:49:43.166
Bold of you.
884
00:49:43.206 --> 00:49:52.948
And then literally about 20 minutes after speaking to him, or 20 minutes after booking the appointment for the next morning, I got the call to say you booked the role.
885
00:49:53.128 --> 00:49:54.028
Stop it.
886
00:49:54.048 --> 00:49:54.688
That's a good thing.
887
00:49:54.708 --> 00:49:56.469
They say if you want to book a job, plan a vacation.
888
00:49:56.489 --> 00:49:57.309
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
889
00:49:57.349 --> 00:49:57.869
Yeah, exactly.
890
00:49:57.949 --> 00:49:58.929
I love moments like that.
891
00:49:58.949 --> 00:50:00.790
Yeah, so now I've booked about 20 vacations.
892
00:50:01.750 --> 00:50:03.671
Yeah.
893
00:50:03.852 --> 00:50:08.595
But I say all that to say that it's easier said than done sometimes to just forget about it.
894
00:50:08.615 --> 00:50:15.480
And there will obviously be
those auditions that do come through that do take up your mind space.
895
00:50:16.120 --> 00:50:20.063
But more often than not, it's much better to try and forget them.
896
00:50:21.884 --> 00:50:28.766
And the other thing I'm going to move on in a minute, but the other thing that I wanted to touch on as well that you sort of spoke a little bit just before this was going to set.
897
00:50:28.946 --> 00:50:29.267
Yeah.
898
00:50:29.587 --> 00:50:30.687
And going to Video Village.
899
00:50:30.827 --> 00:50:31.047
Yeah.
900
00:50:31.567 --> 00:50:39.050
And I think that's also really important because, like you said, it set you up for being on set.
901
00:50:39.110 --> 00:50:39.330
Mm hmm.
902
00:50:39.830 --> 00:50:45.271
I had a similar thing where before I, you know, I've always enjoyed production and acting.
903
00:50:45.491 --> 00:50:46.792
So I went to film school.
904
00:50:47.952 --> 00:50:55.214
But before film school, I used to run on film sets every summer or every winter for like till I was like 18, 19.
905
00:50:55.394 --> 00:50:55.994
So I was a runner.
906
00:50:56.414 --> 00:50:57.234
Then I was a boom up.
907
00:50:57.654 --> 00:50:59.255
Then I was a second assistant director.
908
00:50:59.695 --> 00:51:05.396
And then I went to film school and dropped out of film school and went back to being a to working, you know, behind the camera.
909
00:51:05.556 --> 00:51:05.736
Yeah.
910
00:51:05.956 --> 00:51:07.217
At the same time as doing acting.
911
00:51:07.257 --> 00:51:12.740
So I was in some holidays, I'd be at the National Youth Theatre doing doing their workshops and stuff.
912
00:51:13.420 --> 00:51:21.244
And I think that if you have the opportunity when you're younger to do that and to just go and be a part of set.
913
00:51:21.504 --> 00:51:22.025
Yeah.
914
00:51:22.245 --> 00:51:26.207
That is something that people should do because you learn so much.
915
00:51:26.387 --> 00:51:27.408
You learn so much.
916
00:51:27.468 --> 00:51:36.914
And I think that's the thing about set particularly is you can study all you want, but there's nothing like the animal itself when it's actually happening.
917
00:51:36.934 --> 00:51:37.834
Yeah, yeah, yeah, completely.
918
00:51:37.854 --> 00:51:42.938
Because there's so much that is just rote that people know that you can only learn from the people that have been doing it for 40 years.
919
00:51:43.138 --> 00:51:43.638
Yeah, yeah.
920
00:51:43.658 --> 00:51:46.980
You know, and you can only understand by being in the environment.
921
00:51:47.100 --> 00:51:47.321
Yeah.
922
00:51:48.221 --> 00:51:53.124
So now we're moving to like, yeah, I mean, we tried, we did try to move into it before, but we was, there was some interesting stuff there.
923
00:51:53.944 --> 00:52:06.371
So, you know, we move into like the film TV side, you know, you've been a part of some amazing franchises, some amazing series, Shadow Hunter, Maze Runner, Arrow, just unbelievable stuff.
924
00:52:06.611 --> 00:52:13.695
And I wondered what did those chapters teach you, those different chapters?
925
00:52:14.136 --> 00:52:14.877
So many things.
926
00:52:15.277 --> 00:52:16.198
So many things.
927
00:52:16.378 --> 00:52:21.262
And this is something, you know, when anybody asks me what my favorite project or my favorite role is, I can never pick one.
928
00:52:21.282 --> 00:52:21.663
Yeah, yeah.
929
00:52:21.843 --> 00:52:26.066
Because every one of these major projects has taught me something.
930
00:52:26.226 --> 00:52:28.028
And every one of my characters has taught me something.
931
00:52:28.669 --> 00:52:31.831
And it somehow was exactly what I needed at the time.
932
00:52:32.112 --> 00:52:32.312
Yeah.
933
00:52:32.512 --> 00:52:40.479
I don't know if that's fate or just nature of humanity or maybe it's just me reading into things because that's what I needed to hear at the time.
934
00:52:41.600 --> 00:52:41.860
But...
935
00:52:43.745 --> 00:52:44.845
Yeah, each one of these things.
936
00:52:44.865 --> 00:52:46.146
So Shadowhunters, for example.
937
00:52:47.426 --> 00:52:48.507
Actually, Maze Runner came first.
938
00:52:48.587 --> 00:52:49.247
I always forget that.
939
00:52:49.327 --> 00:52:53.088
Maze Runner came first because I did the first Maze Runner before and the second Maze Runner in between seasons.
940
00:52:53.308 --> 00:52:54.009
Yeah.
941
00:52:54.049 --> 00:52:54.929
Or rather, second, third.
942
00:52:55.789 --> 00:52:58.750
My first and second Maze Runner.
943
00:52:59.851 --> 00:53:04.152
First Maze Runner, I actually had a few friends in the cast because I'd met Dylan.
944
00:53:04.172 --> 00:53:06.873
I'd done an MTV show before, and so I knew Dylan from that.
945
00:53:07.113 --> 00:53:07.994
Dylan O'Brien.
946
00:53:08.134 --> 00:53:09.395
Okay, yeah.
947
00:53:09.435 --> 00:53:12.918
So I had met Dylan O'Brien before, and he was very lovely.
948
00:53:13.078 --> 00:53:19.384
And then one of my other dear, dear friends who I just knew from friend circles, Dexter Darden, was also in Maze Runner.
949
00:53:19.404 --> 00:53:21.126
So I had two people I knew, at least.
950
00:53:21.186 --> 00:53:21.966
Yeah, they were just great.
951
00:53:22.347 --> 00:53:23.087
Which, amazing.
952
00:53:23.288 --> 00:53:28.492
And then I met sort of my counterpart, Natalie Emmanuel, and my other counterpart, Jacob Laughlin, and the rest of the cast.
953
00:53:28.572 --> 00:53:28.692
And...
954
00:53:29.633 --> 00:53:31.197
Everyone was so incredible.
955
00:53:31.257 --> 00:53:37.771
Not only are they incredible on screen and have gone on to do some amazing things, had done some amazing things before we all did Maze Runner,
956
00:53:40.148 --> 00:53:45.430
And I still, every time I bump into them, you know, I just bumped into Giancarlo Esposito at Sundance this year.
957
00:53:45.710 --> 00:53:50.731
I hadn't seen Giancarlo in maybe 10 years and literally stopped each other on the street and were like, oh, my God.
958
00:53:50.751 -->
00:53:51.632
It's like their time's passed.
959
00:53:51.692 --> 00:53:52.232
Exactly.
960
00:53:52.352 --> 00:53:54.233
It's the most wonderful people.
961
00:53:54.953 --> 00:53:57.554
Nobody shut their hotel room doors on that set.
962
00:53:57.574 --> 00:54:01.495
We were all like one after the other in this hotel in Albuquerque where we were filming.
963
00:54:01.515 --> 00:54:01.775
Yeah.
964
00:54:02.315 --> 00:54:07.897
It taught me so much about hard work and getting through something as a cast.
965
00:54:08.397 --> 00:54:12.259
And we were shooting nights in the winter at Elevation in New Mexico.
966
00:54:13.259 --> 00:54:14.580
It was cold.
967
00:54:14.940 --> 00:54:15.680
It was hard.
968
00:54:15.800 --> 00:54:20.282
It was dirt and sweat and, you know, everything else that comes along with it.
969
00:54:20.662 --> 00:54:22.883
But we got through it, and we got through it joyfully.
970
00:54:23.403 --> 00:54:27.284
And that's because we all kept each other afloat and kept each other going through it.
971
00:54:29.445 --> 00:54:30.646
And Shadowhunters was...
972
00:54:31.707 --> 00:54:32.229
Such a gift.
973
00:54:32.490 --> 00:54:35.140
Like that show taught me more than anything else I've ever worked on.
974
00:54:35.160 --> 00:54:35.421
Really?
975
00:54:35.441 --> 00:54:36.344
Personally, professionally.
976
00:54:36.425 --> 00:54:37.087
Professionally.
977
00:54:38.495 --> 00:54:41.436
Growing up-wise, I was 19 when I started that show.
978
00:54:41.797 --> 00:54:43.437
And the show wrapped up when I was 23.
979
00:54:44.218 --> 00:54:50.061
It's a huge chunk of your life, and a huge chunk of your life where you're learning so much about yourself and about what you want to do, who you want to be.
980
00:54:50.981 --> 00:54:58.745
And actually, funny you mentioned that audition process, because they saw everybody and their sister for that part.
981
00:54:59.005 --> 00:55:02.987
And everybody and their brother for the male lead of the show.
982
00:55:04.167 --> 00:55:06.969
And I remember getting the script, and I read it.
983
00:55:07.869 --> 00:55:13.073
And I knew Dominic Sherwood, who played Jace in Shadowhunters, played my love interest in Shadowhunters before.
984
00:55:13.093 --> 00:55:14.154
We'd known each other for like a year.
985
00:55:14.674 --> 00:55:20.739
And I remember reading the script and going, wow, I've never read a character that I connect to more than Clary.
986
00:55:21.659 --> 00:55:25.302
But if that's not Dom Sherwood, then I don't know anything about him.
987
00:55:26.423 --> 00:55:29.205
And I auditioned, didn't hear anything back.
988
00:55:29.225 --> 00:55:30.486
They were still going through rounds.
989
00:55:30.526 --> 00:55:34.929
A few months later, Dom Sherwood will be playing Jace Wayland in Shadowhunters.
990
00:55:35.069 --> 00:55:35.550
And I went...
991
00:55:36.780 --> 00:55:37.220
Okay.
992
00:55:37.380 --> 00:55:38.081
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
993
00:55:38.161 --> 00:55:39.422
Well, now I have to get this part.
994
00:55:39.442 --> 00:55:39.642
Yeah.
995
00:55:40.202 --> 00:55:46.166
Because if I had that intuition, then I just, again, it's one of those moments of clarity.
996
00:55:46.286 --> 00:55:46.567
I knew.
997
00:55:46.587 --> 00:55:48.488
I'm like, no, no, this one's mine.
998
00:55:48.608 --> 00:55:48.808
Yeah.
999
00:55:48.988 --> 00:55:50.249
I am going to fight for this.
1000
00:55:50.309 --> 00:55:50.529
Yeah.
1001
00:55:51.010 --> 00:55:51.490
And I did.
1002
00:55:51.710 --> 00:55:53.151
And they called me back in.
1003
00:55:53.832 --> 00:55:55.353
Six months later, I got the recall.
1004
00:55:56.113 --> 00:55:57.414
Yeah.
1005
00:55:57.474 --> 00:56:11.021
And then for the next three weeks, I was doing studio tests, network tests, you know, screen tests over and over and over again, reading with Alberto Resende, who ended up playing Simon, reading with Dom, which was such a gift to do a chemistry read with somebody I already know.
1006
00:56:11.361 --> 00:56:12.782
Oh, biggest gift.
1007
00:56:12.962 --> 00:56:15.323
And to this day, Dom is still one of my closest friends.
1008
00:56:15.423 --> 00:56:15.683
Yeah.
1009
00:56:15.863 --> 00:56:18.685
Like we, you know, we worked together very closely for four years.
1010
00:56:19.625 --> 00:56:21.186
I've known all of those boys for 10.
1011
00:56:21.827 --> 00:56:22.627
It's such a gift.
1012
00:56:22.667 --> 00:56:31.433
That cast, when we all got to Toronto and we were starting this off, it's an international bestselling book series.
1013
00:56:31.453 --> 00:56:32.593
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's huge.
1014
00:56:32.954 --> 00:56:40.038
All of our phones, when all of our casting announcements went out, they quit working because we all still had our notifications turned on.
1015
00:56:40.058 --> 00:56:40.358
Yeah.
1016
00:56:40.578 --> 00:56:42.880
And because we had never had anything like that happen to us.
1017
00:56:44.585 --> 00:56:45.645
This is kind of insane.
1018
00:56:45.985 --> 00:56:49.647
So we knew that I was going to get the decision about Shadowhunters on a particular day.
1019
00:56:49.907 --> 00:56:51.147
It was between me and one other girl.
1020
00:56:52.128 --> 00:56:53.388
We had no idea who it was going to be.
1021
00:56:53.568 --> 00:56:54.829
We'd done so many screen tests.
1022
00:56:55.789 --> 00:56:58.290
And it got to be a little later in the afternoon.
1023
00:56:58.310 --> 00:57:00.671
And I went, okay, we haven't heard anything.
1024
00:57:01.231 --> 00:57:06.593
And then suddenly the account for the TV show on Twitter did hashtag who is Clary and posted it.
1025
00:57:06.953 --> 00:57:07.293
Oh, wow.
1026
00:57:07.753 --> 00:57:10.035
And so we're all going, it's happening.
1027
00:57:10.055 --> 00:57:14.998
So I called my team and I went, well, it must not be me because they've just tweeted this thing.
1028
00:57:15.018 --> 00:57:16.439
And they went, no, no, we just called them.
1029
00:57:16.879 --> 00:57:17.700
They haven't said
yet.
1030
00:57:18.200 --> 00:57:19.181
They've not told anyone yet.
1031
00:57:19.741 --> 00:57:20.782
For two hours.
1032
00:57:21.342 --> 00:57:22.122
Gosh.
1033
00:57:22.583 --> 00:57:25.505
Who is Clary is trending internationally on Twitter at this point.
1034
00:57:25.545 --> 00:57:28.106
Like there's so much anticipation for this.
1035
00:57:29.087 --> 00:57:30.028
And then I get the phone call.
1036
00:57:31.428 --> 00:57:33.309
And they're like, congratulations, it's you.
1037
00:57:33.730 --> 00:57:34.990
By the way, what are you doing right now?
1038
00:57:35.090 --> 00:57:39.793
Because we need you to go over to the ABC Disney building and record a couple videos for social media.
1039
00:57:41.113 --> 00:57:42.954
Well, guess what I'd been doing for those two hours?
1040
00:57:43.014 --> 00:57:43.835
I'd been at the gym.
1041
00:57:43.955 --> 00:57:46.256
Because I needed something to do.
1042
00:57:46.316 --> 00:57:48.377
And they're like, you live close to there, right?
1043
00:57:48.398 --> 00:57:49.358
You're like 20 minutes away.
1044
00:57:49.378 --> 00:57:51.339
Because it was the same building as Disney Channel.
1045
00:57:51.539 --> 00:57:53.401
And I'd been working for Disney Channel for several years.
1046
00:57:53.421 --> 00:57:54.681
They're like, oh, just run over.
1047
00:57:54.721 --> 00:57:55.782
We told them you live close.
1048
00:57:55.902 --> 00:57:56.322
Just do it.
1049
00:57:56.382 --> 00:57:57.663
I'm like, guys.
1050
00:57:58.424 --> 00:58:01.345
Yeah, they just always expect you to just be able to what we're doing.
1051
00:58:01.365 --> 00:58:03.267
And like, yeah, no, I don't do anything other than sit around.
1052
00:58:03.887 --> 00:58:09.369
It was crazy because the last thing I expected was congratulations, by the way, get over there for social media.
1053
00:58:09.590 --> 00:58:15.972
Which I'm so glad we did because the fandom online became such a huge part of the series and such a huge part of the community and still is.
1054
00:58:16.993 --> 00:58:20.514
And so I'm really glad that they encouraged that and had us do that.
1055
00:58:21.135 --> 00:58:23.816
They're not the best videos of my life, but it goes on.
1056
00:58:24.296 --> 00:58:27.718
And then, you know, about a month later, we were all in Toronto making this series.
1057
00:58:27.738 --> 00:58:29.839
And we had McG, who's a brilliant director.
1058
00:58:29.919 --> 00:58:31.479
He was one of our executive producers.
1059
00:58:31.499 --> 00:58:32.440
He directed our pilot.
1060
00:58:32.980 --> 00:58:41.103
And to have someone like him come in and galvanize and build the world and sort of make it feel huge and exciting, but also tangible and manageable.
1061
00:58:41.363 --> 00:58:43.864
And we all had each other's backs.
1062
00:58:44.285 --> 00:58:44.745
Yeah, yeah.
1063
00:58:44.925 --> 00:58:45.405
And, you know.
1064
00:58:45.565 --> 00:58:47.606
Which is similar to what you're saying with Maze Runner.
1065
00:58:47.626 --> 00:58:48.026
Maze Runner.
1066
00:58:48.046 --> 00:58:52.068
It's about having each other's backs and sort of the camaraderie, the familiness of it.
1067
00:58:52.528 --> 00:58:53.710
It really is a family.
1068
00:58:53.730 --> 00:58:54.510
It was and is.
1069
00:58:54.751 --> 00:58:54.951
Yeah.
1070
00:58:55.031 --> 00:58:58.515
And it extended to, you know, our guest cast and our recurring cast and our crew.
1071
00:58:58.535 --> 00:59:00.697
We had the same crew for almost four years on that show.
1072
00:59:01.258 --> 00:59:06.203
And every single one of those people on that set taught me so much in their own way.
1073
00:59:06.283 --> 00:59:10.548
I mean, we worked so closely with our camera team and with our stunt team.
1074
00:59:11.028 --> 00:59:12.930
And every single team had such...
1075
00:59:13.911 --> 00:59:15.071
a beautiful relationship.
1076
00:59:15.131 --> 00:59:21.213
There was such a symbiosis on that set and such a... Nobody was competing for resources.
1077
00:59:21.353 --> 00:59:26.535
Everyone was sharing and working together and building on each other's creative ideas.
1078
00:59:26.575 --> 00:59:30.516
You know, you'd have somebody from props who was like, hey, we're going to build this weapon.
1079
00:59:30.656 --> 00:59:37.458
And the stunt department would go, oh, I have someone who is the world champion of the martial art that goes with that weapon.
1080
00:59:37.838 --> 00:59:40.180
Why don't we make that a thing for this creature?
1081
00:59:40.520 --> 00:59:43.402
And then Wardrobe goes, ooh, I've got a thing for that.
1082
00:59:43.502 --> 00:59:49.566
And then the art department goes, here's these symbols from the set that we pulled that you can put on the weapon when you build it.
1083
00:59:49.586 --> 00:59:53.309
It just becomes the most gorgeous thing that you don't see on a lot of sets.
1084
00:59:53.349 --> 00:59:53.869
Yeah, yeah.
1085
00:59:53.989 --> 00:59:56.151
I think that's what, like, art is a collaboration.
1086
00:59:56.271 --> 00:59:56.871
It is.
1087
00:59:56.911 --> 00:59:57.892
Especially what we do.
1088
00:59:57.952 --> 00:59:58.552
Especially what we do.
1089
00:59:58.572 --> 00:59:59.112
That's what I was thinking.
1090
00:59:59.133 --> 00:59:59.353
Yeah.
1091
00:59:59.773 --> 01:00:05.357
So to see that sort of come together must be such a beautiful environment to be in.
1092
01:00:05.937 --> 01:00:08.319
I didn't realize what rarefied air it was.
1093
01:00:08.459 --> 01:00:08.699
Yeah.
1094
01:00:08.959 --> 01:00:11.581
Because I had never led a show.
1095
01:00:11.721 --> 01:00:14.203
I'd never shouldered a franchise on my back.
1096
01:00:14.503 --> 01:00:15.764
And did you feel pressure with that?
1097
01:00:16.144 --> 01:00:17.545
Or did you trust in your abilities?
1098
01:00:18.246 --> 01:00:19.186
And trust in the team?
1099
01:00:19.427 --> 01:00:21.808
I didn't feel pressure in a negative way.
1100
01:00:21.848 --> 01:00:24.870
I certainly felt a responsibility to the fans
of the book.
1101
01:00:25.191 --> 01:00:25.371
Yeah.
1102
01:00:25.651 --> 01:00:27.133
Because it was already a book series.
1103
01:00:27.533 --> 01:00:28.474
It was already a movie.
1104
01:00:29.235 --> 01:00:30.897
Lily Collins played the role before I did.
1105
01:00:31.017 --> 01:00:31.418
Yeah, yeah.
1106
01:00:31.678 --> 01:00:36.003
And so there's a lot of responsibility and a lot of expectation because I also grew up reading those books.
1107
01:00:36.043 --> 01:00:36.283
Yeah.
1108
01:00:36.463 --> 01:00:38.946
I grew up loving fantasy and reading that genre.
1109
01:00:39.026 --> 01:00:42.029
And I know how important those characters are to people.
1110
01:00:42.049 --> 01:00:42.150
Yeah.
1111
01:00:42.750 --> 01:00:47.074
And I was going to do everything in my power to make sure I did justice to the original IP.
1112
01:00:47.334 --> 01:00:47.554
Yeah.
1113
01:00:47.634 --> 01:00:48.435
So I read all the books.
1114
01:00:48.655 --> 01:00:57.582
I did the thing and fell in love with the world and just immersed myself in every bit of it until I felt like I knew exactly who she was.
1115
01:00:57.783 --> 01:00:58.083
Yeah.
1116
01:00:58.243 --> 01:01:05.849
You know, and also you're at the mercy of them changing things for television and what they're going to decide the show is going to look like or be styled like or however that is.
1117
01:01:05.969 --> 01:01:06.169
But...
1118
01:01:08.110 --> 01:01:11.672
That was the only sort of pressure I felt was the responsibility to the fandom.
1119
01:01:11.712 --> 01:01:12.432
Yeah, completely.
1120
01:01:12.912 --> 01:01:17.213
I mean, it sounds like there's a lot of things like I think this is a credit to you.
1121
01:01:17.713 --> 01:01:20.394
Things sort of seem to flow from one thing to another thing.
1122
01:01:20.474 --> 01:01:26.296
And you always have this sort of positive attitude and outlook with it or whether you like maybe if I get it great.
1123
01:01:26.336 --> 01:01:28.417
If I don't get it, this is a great opportunity to audition.
1124
01:01:29.057 --> 01:01:35.438
But there must have been some times there, maybe when Shadowhunters finished.
1125
01:01:35.518 --> 01:01:38.499
Like, was there moments of disappointment in there somewhere?
1126
01:01:38.659 --> 01:01:39.199
Oh, always.
1127
01:01:39.799 --> 01:01:45.580
I mean, you know, I'm auditioning for things between seasons and whether it's scheduled or whatever it may be, things don't work out, whatever, you know.
1128
01:01:46.400 --> 01:01:49.681
And it was lovely to have the show to go back to.
1129
01:01:50.301 --> 01:01:53.081
But then Whedon and the show was canceled.
1130
01:01:53.381 --> 01:01:56.542
We were so grateful to be able to go back and shoot the two-episode
1131
01:01:57.763 --> 01:01:59.708
series finale movie is kind of what we call it.
1132
01:02:00.249 --> 01:02:02.996
But then after that I'm going, I don't know.
1133
01:02:05.013 --> 01:02:06.113
what I'm going to do after this.
1134
01:02:06.394 --> 01:02:14.536
Am I ever going to have a job like this where I get to fight and have such beautiful character development and have such an amazing cast and crew and be a part of something?
1135
01:02:15.097 --> 01:02:19.118
Also, I was suddenly 23, and I went, wait, when I started this job, I was a child.
1136
01:02:19.338 --> 01:02:20.378
Yeah, and now you're a woman.
1137
01:02:20.418 --> 01:02:21.379
Now I'm a grown-up.
1138
01:02:21.659 --> 01:02:26.020
And what is that even like without this character in my life and this show in my life?
1139
01:02:26.120 --> 01:02:33.903
And, you know, my whole life was kind of changing, and I felt it, and then I took the time to sort of slow down and go,
1140
01:02:35.538 --> 01:02:35.819
Okay.
1141
01:02:37.161 --> 01:02:37.762
You're still you.
1142
01:02:38.423 --> 01:02:46.495
Yes, you've spent more time in her shoes and on those sets than you have with your family in your home as yourself in these last four years.
1143
01:02:47.651 --> 01:02:48.192
Was that hard?
1144
01:02:49.433 --> 01:02:51.575
To step away from a character that you've been playing for so long?
1145
01:02:51.715 --> 01:02:52.116
Oh, yeah.
1146
01:02:52.576 --> 01:02:56.801
In terms of, sorry, was it hard to re-find, rediscover yourself?
1147
01:02:57.241 --> 01:02:58.082
I thought it was going to be.
1148
01:02:58.202 --> 01:02:58.443
Yeah.
1149
01:02:58.703 --> 01:03:00.645
But then I spent a lot of time kind of processing it.
1150
01:03:00.825 --> 01:03:01.066
Yeah.
1151
01:03:01.446 --> 01:03:07.653
You know, that's when I was running through Toronto on my way to training or whatever it might be, walking around the city, kind of... Yeah.
1152
01:03:08.213 --> 01:03:13.875
When you know something's ending, you can sort of prepare for that a little bit and start to kind of process those things.
1153
01:03:14.455 --> 01:03:16.556
And I was really lucky to have done that.
1154
01:03:16.976 --> 01:03:19.217
And we got to say goodbye to the show in such a beautiful way as well.
1155
01:03:19.237 --> 01:03:19.817
Yeah, completely.
1156
01:03:19.857 --> 01:03:22.218
Because there was a chance that you weren't going to be able to do that, right?
1157
01:03:22.238 --> 01:03:22.878
Well, exactly.
1158
01:03:22.998 --> 01:03:25.439
And also, I didn't know when I was going to work again.
1159
01:03:26.100 --> 01:03:29.061
You know, I hadn't auditioned properly in years.
1160
01:03:30.221 --> 01:03:32.222
And I was sort of going, I hope I still got it.
1161
01:03:33.022 --> 01:03:36.185
Because we all have that little bit of imposter syndrome that goes, well, this was a nice career.
1162
01:03:36.225 --> 01:03:37.746
This will probably be the last job I ever do.
1163
01:03:37.826 --> 01:03:38.567
And see you later.
1164
01:03:38.667 --> 01:03:39.367
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1165
01:03:39.468 --> 01:03:41.429
But I was, again, I was very, very lucky.
1166
01:03:42.230 --> 01:03:46.293
Because one of the first auditions that came up for
me was Arrow.
1167
01:03:46.594 --> 01:03:46.794
Yeah.
1168
01:03:46.874 --> 01:03:47.675
And that was what I did.
1169
01:03:47.715 --> 01:03:48.395
I just said, you know what?
1170
01:03:48.415 --> 01:03:49.076
Get back on the horse.
1171
01:03:49.796 --> 01:03:50.177
Do the thing.
1172
01:03:50.537 --> 01:03:52.558
Which is an amazing thing to get back on the horse, right?
1173
01:03:52.598 --> 01:03:55.159
Yeah, and that was, I think it was my first audition.
1174
01:03:55.279 --> 01:03:55.879
That's amazing.
1175
01:03:55.979 --> 01:04:01.601
After we finished filming the finale, I'd gone to a Comic-Con in Australia, and on my way back, I got this audition.
1176
01:04:02.622 --> 01:04:03.962
I was sicker than a dog as well.
1177
01:04:04.042 --> 01:04:05.203
I'd caught something.
1178
01:04:05.643 --> 01:04:10.024
I'd caught a cold or something down in Australia, slept the entire 17-hour flight back.
1179
01:04:10.064 --> 01:04:12.265
I was so ill. Get off the plane.
1180
01:04:12.765 --> 01:04:14.446
The audition is like the next morning.
1181
01:04:14.466 --> 01:04:15.406
I have no voice.
1182
01:04:16.027 --> 01:04:16.527
I have no idea.
1183
01:04:16.547 --> 01:04:19.208
So my voice is like this very deep, gravelly, raspy thing.
1184
01:04:19.228 --> 01:04:19.348
Yeah.
1185
01:04:19.508 --> 01:04:29.772
which ultimately I think worked, went to the audition, met the showrunners, did this awesome audition for a character that at that point was a rookie cop with a dark past.
1186
01:04:29.972 --> 01:04:32.333
I was like, cool, I can play a cop.
1187
01:04:32.573 --> 01:04:33.074
I can do this.
1188
01:04:33.354 --> 01:04:33.934
This will be fun.
1189
01:04:34.514 --> 01:04:36.755
Because Arrow was so huge at the time.
1190
01:04:36.775 --> 01:04:41.437
I was like, oh, I would love to hop into the Arrowverse and CW and the Berlanti world and all of that.
1191
01:04:42.437 --> 01:04:43.578
Didn't hear anything for a few months.
1192
01:04:44.418 --> 01:04:47.259
And then all of a sudden they go, I get the call.
1193
01:04:48.279 --> 01:04:53.740
And I now have this part as this Jessica, the rookie cop with the dark past.
1194
01:04:54.320 --> 01:04:54.940
I'm like, cool.
1195
01:04:54.980 --> 01:04:56.821
So I start researching cops.
1196
01:04:57.441 --> 01:05:00.521
I'm like, what, you know, what am I, what training do they go through?
1197
01:05:00.641 --> 01:05:02.082
What kind of, what do I need to look like?
1198
01:05:02.142 --> 01:05:03.842
How do I need to build up in the gym?
1199
01:05:03.902 --> 01:05:05.282
What's my, what's my new regimen?
1200
01:05:05.882 --> 01:05:07.223
Then I get a call from the showrunner.
1201
01:05:08.243 --> 01:05:09.563
Beth Schwartz, love this woman.
1202
01:05:10.043 --> 01:05:13.066
She called me and she goes, hey, welcome to the show.
1203
01:05:13.106 --> 01:05:14.888
We're so, so happy to have you on board.
1204
01:05:15.669 --> 01:05:16.690
Everything you know is a lie.
1205
01:05:17.291 --> 01:05:19.953
You're Oliver and Felicity's daughter.
1206
01:05:21.135 --> 01:05:21.515
Surprise.
1207
01:05:21.695 --> 01:05:22.296
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1208
01:05:22.436 --> 01:05:22.997
And I went.
1209
01:05:23.077 --> 01:05:23.938
I'll take that.
1210
01:05:25.739 --> 01:05:25.980
What?
1211
01:05:26.640 --> 01:05:31.525
Because I knew from being in the fandom world what a big deal that relationship was.
1212
01:05:31.545 --> 01:05:32.206
And I suddenly went.
1213
01:05:33.427 --> 01:05:34.829
Oh, I have a lot of work to do now.
1214
01:05:34.869 --> 01:05:35.289
Yeah, yeah.
1215
01:05:35.710 --> 01:05:38.072
Because that's a character who's not in the comics.
1216
01:05:38.132 --> 01:05:38.352
Yeah.
1217
01:05:38.533 --> 01:05:46.381
It's a character who, you know, is made from this world and is literally the physical manifestation of this relationship that everyone loves.
1218
01:05:46.621 --> 01:05:47.242
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1219
01:05:47.442 --> 01:05:48.283
I better do this right.
1220
01:05:48.638 --> 01:05:50.560
Yeah, but that's, you know, you love a challenge, right?
1221
01:05:50.580 --> 01:05:51.020
I do love a challenge.
1222
01:05:51.040 --> 01:05:51.661
You love a challenge.
1223
01:05:51.681 --> 01:05:52.141
I loved it.
1224
01:05:52.181 --> 01:05:54.243
And this is what we do, this is what we want as actors.
1225
01:05:54.364 --> 01:06:01.170
It's to be able to sort of step into those shoes and be part of something great and big and sort of enjoy that process.
1226
01:06:01.330 --> 01:06:03.392
Yeah, but it was that moment from going,
1227
01:06:04.153 --> 01:06:06.574
I don't know if I'm ever going to have a job like this again.
1228
01:06:07.174 --> 01:06:12.276
And getting back on the grind and working really hard and getting back into it and going, you know what, that's fine.
1229
01:06:12.856 --> 01:06:14.436
Careers are a marathon, not a sprint.
1230
01:06:15.036 --> 01:06:16.577
Taking that pressure off a little bit.
1231
01:06:16.717 --> 01:06:20.458
And just appreciating the moments when they're there and being in the present with it.
1232
01:06:20.618 --> 01:06:21.178
Exactly.
1233
01:06:21.298 --> 01:06:24.899
And just doing the best job you can in that moment that you have for that audition.
1234
01:06:26.220 --> 01:06:29.361
Then, you know, beautiful things can happen if that's what's meant to.
1235
01:06:30.041 --> 01:06:35.742
You know what, it's been such a breath of fresh air talking to you about this and I could literally chat to you all day.
1236
01:06:35.782 --> 01:06:36.542
We're out of time aren't we?
1237
01:06:36.562 --> 01:06:37.582
I know that we're running out of time.
1238
01:06:37.863 --> 01:06:40.703
I do have one final question, well two final really quick questions.
1239
01:06:41.203 --> 01:06:49.605
One is, you know, I know that you spend a lot of time mentoring, investing into education, sponsorship, community work.
1240
01:06:50.785 --> 01:06:55.986
At what point did success stop being about like
ambition and about contribution?
1241
01:06:57.438 --> 01:06:59.781
I have to credit this with my mother and my grandmother.
1242
01:06:59.801 --> 01:07:00.562
Yeah.
1243
01:07:01.162 --> 01:07:07.330
Giving back and contributing to one's community has been instilled in me from the time I was very little.
1244
01:07:07.590 --> 01:07:07.991
Yeah, great.
1245
01:07:08.031 --> 01:07:12.336
I was always doing things, whether it was, you know, my birthday's around Thanksgiving.
1246
01:07:12.356 --> 01:07:12.516
Mm-hmm.
1247
01:07:12.696 --> 01:07:17.519
So every birthday party, I would always ask everybody to bring a non-perishable food item instead of a gift.
1248
01:07:18.039 --> 01:07:20.161
Because I, you know, I didn't want anything.
1249
01:07:20.201 --> 01:07:21.562
I just wanted to have fun with my friends.
1250
01:07:21.662 --> 01:07:27.886
But if you're going to bring something, bring a can of food, you know, that I can then take to the church or the shelter or wherever.
1251
01:07:27.906 --> 01:07:28.586
Yeah, that's right.
1252
01:07:28.606 --> 01:07:29.567
And I was a Girl Scout.
1253
01:07:29.667 --> 01:07:31.628
So we were always doing little community projects.
1254
01:07:31.728 --> 01:07:32.429
And I, you know...
1255
01:07:33.169 --> 01:07:43.475
As much as they instilled hard work and ambition in me, they also taught me that with that hard work and ambition, it gives you the opportunity to make your community a better place than when you found it.
1256
01:07:43.635 --> 01:07:44.476
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1257
01:07:44.556 --> 01:07:53.942
And so to this day, I've tried, especially now in this world where actors have become sort of a platform for global issues or for, you know...
1258
01:07:55.002 --> 01:07:56.583
a mouthpiece for change in the world.
1259
01:07:57.183 --> 01:08:08.130
I've tried to use that to its maximum capability and really work hard for causes that I really believe in and are close to my heart to kind of help make this world at least a little bit better.
1260
01:08:08.310 --> 01:08:09.431
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's great.
1261
01:08:09.451 --> 01:08:16.695
And I think if you're in a position where you can put a spotlight on something, and even if you can't put a spotlight on something, it's great to volunteer.
1262
01:08:16.995 --> 01:08:17.416
Exactly.
1263
01:08:17.436 --> 01:08:18.997
It's great to get involved with the community.
1264
01:08:19.017 --> 01:08:20.458
100%.
1265
01:08:20.478 --> 01:08:21.258
I do that as well.
1266
01:08:21.538 --> 01:08:23.760
And I think it's really important and special.
1267
01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:24.220
Yeah.
1268
01:08:24.620 --> 01:08:30.847
The very last thing is part of what we do on Strip the Script is we ask a guest to pass the mic.
1269
01:08:31.067 --> 01:08:39.577
So now that you sort of know the format of the interview, is there anyone you can think of who you think would be a good guest for us to see if we can get hold of?
1270
01:08:39.597 --> 01:08:40.759
And it doesn't have to be in England.
1271
01:08:40.779 --> 01:08:44.623
It can be anywhere because we travel to we travel to people.
1272
01:08:45.381 --> 01:08:46.361
Gosh, there's so many.
1273
01:08:46.722 --> 01:08:48.362
Truly, there's so many people that I can think of.
1274
01:08:50.123 --> 01:08:56.325
I will say, one of my dearest friends on this planet, who I met through Shadowhunters, his name's Will Tudor.
1275
01:08:56.606 --> 01:08:57.606
He's an incredible actor.
1276
01:08:57.626 --> 01:09:02.208
He's done many, many, many things and is still doing many, many great things.
1277
01:09:03.128 --> 01:09:09.371
He is one of the most thoughtful, intelligent, incredibly present people that I've ever met in my life.
1278
01:09:10.231 --> 01:09:13.352
And we sit there and have conversations like this all the time, Will and I.
1279
01:09:13.392 --> 01:09:15.113
So I think he would thrive in this environment.
1280
01:09:15.253 --> 01:09:16.053
Okay, amazing.
1281
01:09:16.073 --> 01:09:18.954
We're gonna take that as the challenge and we're gonna see if we can get in touch with him.
1282
01:09:18.994 --> 01:09:20.735
Great, thank you so much.
1283
01:09:20.775 --> 01:09:28.038
It's been such a pleasure and it was so nice because obviously when we first met, it was just like bang, we're filming straight away, straight on set, straight into costume.
1284
01:09:28.378 --> 01:09:33.840
And the little nuggets of conversation we were able to have between takes, I knew that you'd be a great guest and
1285
01:09:34.880 --> 01:09:41.191
I could literally sit here with you for at least another hour and really dive deep into some of these other points that we're talking about.
1286
01:09:41.211 --> 01:09:42.573
But you have been an absolute pleasure.
1287
01:09:43.154 --> 01:09:44.556
And I really appreciate your time.
1288
01:09:44.596 --> 01:09:46.559
And I wish you luck with everything that you've got coming up.
1289
01:09:46.740 --> 01:09:48.182
You too.
1290
01:09:48.242 --> 01:09:48.663
Thank you.