Full Transcript for David Rapaport

gonna let you know, just like the studio is really looking for this and you're bringing this out of the character, but can you add that exactly? And sometimes to be honest, you know, we're casting, we're doing auditions because we don't know what we're looking for. You know, there's something on the page that says we're looking for Serena vander Woodson. She's blonde, she's twenty, she's that's it. We get a breakdown from the producers, we get a script. I have an idea in my head, they have an idea in their heads. My job really is to be the liaison between the studio producers, agents, managers, actors and kind of oversee the whole process that ends up getting us all on the same page and finding that one perfect actor that everyone thinks, Oh, I couldn't think of anyone else for that role except for Late Lively. Let's say, with Gossip Girl. Was there when you got the character breakdowns for Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Jenny Humphrey, Dan Humphrey, Yes, Serena vander Woodson, Blair Waldorf for any of those, did you right away or like, I know who this person is? No, not at all. The only person I thought of initially was Blake for Serena, and she was the only person I thought of for Serena, much like an actor. I went in for a meeting on Gossip Girl, and I met with Josh and Stephanie, the creators. I I went in with a book of pictures, and I did come up with ideas. I said, this is who I sort of picture for Blair and for Nat and for Chop. I don't know that there was anyone that was in that book that ended up being cast, with the exception of Blake as Serena. She really was the only one I thought of. She was kind of at that time, the ultimate kind of a girl. It was her lessons, her presence, her look, her vibe, her acting ability would have you and to me, she just matched the character so perfectly. I mean, she knocked it out of the park too. Oh she did, she did, and she became this movie star. She just you know, she was. She was perfect for it and didn't um didn't Layton audition for Serena and someone realized, No, you're definitely the Blair, you know what. I don't remember that specifically, I definitely remember I read with her um for Blair, and I think if you YouTube, some of the auditions got online. I don't know how they did, but you can hear my voice, I think reading with her, which is kind of funny. I mean her too, she's just phenomenal. Oh she was great. She was great, and she walks into the room and she just has such a presence and it's such a star. And that was such an exciting fine for us. Um. I don't think I knew later and before that, she wasn't in my book that I presented to Josh and Stephanie. So I was really excited to discover her in a way. She had worked before, but discover her for this role, I guess yes, and she just um, I mean Blair is such I mean, like when you think of Gossip Girl, I see Blair's headband. Absolutely. I mean everyone brought such a good layer and color to the show, for sure, but Blair and Chuck were just so their their characters were so like wait what that. I just feel like they brought a little extra spice and that's a surprise. I mean you sort of hope for that, but you never really know if that's going to happen. And that's something that they had, that immediate chemistry, and that exploded on set and with the writers and when have you who ended up writing more for them, And I was exciting and they were kind of, like I always said, like our Rachel and Ross like you. You at first didn't know about it. I just rewatched a bit of the show and at first I'm like, wait, I didn't remember this was the episode that they slept together in. And then it keeps, you know, and you didn't really know where it was going to go. Obviously it was so early on, but then as it does, you die for them to be together. And it's a real testament to Add and Layton as actors because their characters are are not necessarily the most likable people. They do some really nasty things, but you feel for them. You're right. There was a lot of things with Chuck and Blair where you're like, oh, really, that's nasty, but the way they played it, they kept pulling you in. It's like Frank from Shameless. You're like, you're an alcoholic horrible dad. But the way he played the character, you like root for him. And that's a real testament to the actors. Absolutely talking about that. Chuck Bass is such uh so many people's favorite. How was that casting process? Because he has a crazy, thick British accent. He was like living in England at the time, and I just think even like he has such a unique cool look. Oh he was, I'll tell you. He was the only one we considered. He initially read for Nate, but there was something a little bit more dark and mischievous about him. I think, just off the page, Well, Chuck Bass or like Chuck Bass is edgy. Nate is like not ugy, no exactly, And we brought him in for for Chuck and it was like, oh, that's a no brainer. There's no one that we need to test him opposite, like he just embodies that character. Did he come in with his accent or did he come in with an American accent? He did both. He did both, and I remember discussing it, but I know they wanted to keep it American because things were different back in the day, and it was you know, they they wanted them all to have, you know, to sound similar, m to have a similar upbringing. That's also like a whole another thing you have to add of, like why is Chuck Bass have an accent and live on the Upper East Side. I guess you could do it in one scene or one episode, but it is a whole another layer and they didn't want to do that for whatever reason. But um, but he actually so ed coming from London, didn't have a visa to work in the States, and his visa did not come through until I think that either the day before or the day of his first day of filming on set, and so the studio said to us, understandably, we need to look for a backup or recast this role because if the visa does not come through in time, you cannot

shoot him. Yo. I that's like visa stuff is a very serious thing, and I get that, but let's be honest. No one else was going to play Chuck Bass like Ed Westwick did. No, there was no way, and Josh and Stephanie would, to their credit, would not even look at other tapes that I was sending them, and I would say to them, you guys, like my job was on the line, we have to recast this role because if he's not on, like, we are not legally allowed to use him, and they would not watch the tapes in the studio, and network are checking in with me saying like, who do we have who are we going to test? And I was like, I don't I don't have anyone, Like, they won't respond to me, and luckily they stuck it through and Ed's visa came through and he was available, And I mean, I could not imagine anyone in that room. Besides, I don't think anyone who liked the show watched the show as a fan of the show. I think they'd all agree with us. Can I ask you a question. I'm curious, you know, having watched the show, I've been a fan and then joining it, Like, what was that like for you? So when I do you know my cast in experience or what happened, Yes, a little bit with the barbecue. Yeah, so my friend Nathaniel and Adam we're going to barbecue. I end up going with them. I was kind of in a weird funk of wanting to move home. I was just kind of over l a and I hadn't booked something in a minute, and I kind of felt like everyone was using. People are always wanting to know what did you do or what could you do for me? And being from the Midwest, I was just kind of like, I don't like how this feels. So I was ready to like go and and here's the thing. This is also a good lesson that I learned in life. When it gets hard, the easiest thing is to be like, all right, I'm done, I'm gonna go. So I ended up sticking it out. But this was at the time where I was within those couple of weeks going to move home. They picked me up. We go to this barbecue and we were just eating and talking and hanging. And then a couple of days later, my manager called and said, what what did you do this weekend? And I said, I was at a barbecue. I went to a movie and I said, um, why what's up? And she said, well, this pilot that is going to launch or you know, get ready to air on the c W. There's a couple episodes, like three or four episodes that they want to see you for. She's like, you were at the creator of the O c And and Gossip Girl, and I'm like wow, And I thought it was kind of wild that the entire time we were at that barbecue nothing came up about it. Um, which is also kind of gangster too, you know what I mean. Josh and Stephanie. So I auditioned in I felt like it went pretty well. They called back and said, actually, you know, they're going to go with someone that they have in New York right now because it was starting to film like that week, like that or that next one. It was a real quick turnaround. And I said, well, can you get notes? I would like to learn because if it doesn't go well for me

in an audition, I want to know the notes so that I can bring it to the next one. And she said, they actually didn't have notes on your read. They kind of feel like you looked a little bit similar to the girls cast. So I looked up like, I looked up Laton and I looked up Taylor, and I'm like, we don't look anything alike. You know, I have a mixed background. So I said to my manager, if that's true, if that's really what the note was, then send pictures of my hair curly. My hair was straight, no makeup at the barbecue. And then they saw it. I got it, went and did the three to four episodes, and then shortly after that they asked me to be a series regular. So that barbecue really changed my life. Barbecue and I remember being like barbecues in l A get on my nerves sometimes everyone's just talking about themselves and what they do. And it ended up being a really fun one with a very nice, genuine people, and that, yeah, changed my life. So it's funny. I'm interested. I always like when I hear Josh's side of it, because he's like, I just opened the door and you were standing between these two guys, and I'm like, that's Vanessa. I'm like, really, wow, that's crazy, that's crazy. Look. I always tell actors too, And in terms of auditions, like you're never auditioning for the role at hand, You're not always auditioning for the role at hand, I should say, because if you're meeting a casting director or producers, likely they're doing so many other projects and some of their things are coming up that you they'll keep you in mind for other stuff. And for me specifically, I met with Warner Brothers two years before Gossip Girl is ever a thing, and I have one of the best meetings of my entire career, and I was like, oh my god, they're gonna hire me. I want to cast all the pilots. I didn't hear from them for two years, but they remembered me, and the first call they called me on was Gossip Girl. So you know, it's it's worth putting yourself out there and going out and meeting people and auditioning and what have you. You were probably shocked to get that call two years later. I thought they forgot about me. I mean, I was shocked that they did didn't hire me two years before it that I was even more shocked that they called me two years later. So, and that's why there are some actors I've been reading for years that I will you know, I'll read them when they're in their teens and then hire them in their twenties and it's that's just how it works. It's it's a business that just hopefully we're in it all together. We're rooting for each other, and hopefully we'll all keep working together for a long time. And a big thing with casting and I think are like auditions. What people have told me a lot throughout the years is everyone's rooting for you. No one wants you to go in and mess up or not do well. Like everyone wants to see a performance that's good. And I think some actors should like take that because I remember the first few times I heard that. I'm like, that's

a good feeling. Not that I'm I'm thinking they want me to mess up, but it kind of like eases you to know, like, listen, everyone just wants to see something fun here, just going and have fun. Absolutely, And I've said this before but selfishly and I'll admit it again, like actors make me look good. I want them to come in and do a good job so they answer the problem for me and for the producers and like, oh my god, look how good I m. I brought in the most amazing actors. And now we've cast this role in two weeks instead of ten. We really do want you to do well. I just remember the first time someone told me that. I'm like, that makes sense, but so out of for the pilot, you guys cast Serena first. I think we actually cast Taylor first, if I remember correctly. Okay, because that that's also a thing. This was like shocking to me years ago when I found this out. Sometimes too, when they cast one person, they kind of cast around so that not everyone looks super similar, or the height with everyone is not you know, so someone's not so much shorter or taller. I don't know if that's still a thing anymore, but that definitely was when I first moved to l A, because sometimes they'd be like, you kind of look too much, like, you know, there's another girl with brown hair and green eyes, and I'm like, okay, I'm probably not getting the role then to play her friend. We cast Blake before we cast Layton, and Layton had blonde hair at the time. So it's funny that you told me that hair story, because so much about Blake being cast and Laton being cast was about their hair or hair styles, because Blake's hair was kind of wavy, and some people said, you know, we don't see Blake lively as an Upper east Side Manhattan girl because she has a sort of wavy hair, and so we had to do a whole screen test with her with very straight hair so she could look a little bit more like people assumed an Upper east Side girl would look like. And then it's funny because then she ends up having becoming famous for her wavy, her waving locks like a stable Blake's hair. It's like everyone's dream. They're like, how did you do it? Where did you get? Like? They love that. That's that's funny. It was crazy. And uh, and Layton was blonde. I forgot that Layton was blonde, Like I, you know, I still don't picture her that way. We had to do a screen test with her just to see her hair die, to see how it looked. It's funny because I think some people are able to envision that and some people weren't. And Josh Schwartz, you know, was the one who really stood up and said, I have no issue seeing Blake as a New York girl. He's like, I, you know, he had just cast me Barton on the Oath miss from the Upper east Side, but he Castor as a sunny California girl, and it's TV and people believed it and they costumed her the right way, and you know, it's uh, it's sometimes it takes doing those screen tests to prove what you see or feel in your heart, your gut to executives sometimes right, for sure. I mean it's

so fascinating that something like hair even though it's a big deal, but you wouldn't think it's like changing cast are not going to give a role to someone or not do that, you know. And then another interesting casting story is Jennifer Lawrence audition for Serena vander Woods in correct, yes, which is wild to me. I mean there was I go back and there were so many people that are auditioned for for that and when I think about which is actually kind of funny too. We did the Gossip Girl spinoff pilot that start Britney Snow Britney Snow and Kristin Ridder, thank you, um. And I remember for that, Dakota Johnson came in and Rooney Mara and a lot of other women who were now like kind of big names but at the time didn't have that kind of stature. And you know who did the best read for that? I'll tell you because I think your friends with you know, Dobrev. That was one of the best auditions I had ever seen, and for that role specifically. And I remember calling the CW because this was before she booked Vampire for the spinoff. I think she had booked Vampire Diaries that year. I called them and said, look, I just read this girl. She has a super best friend. Yeah, you look like Kelly Rutherford because she was supposed to be a young Kelly Rutherford. So I don't know how we would cast her, but you like, she needs to be under radar. You guys have defined something for her. And I just remember thinking, I'm going to like think about this girl in a couple of years and be like, oh god, I miss that opportunity. She was so incredible. But those are the auditions that stick with you. And had she not booked Vampire Diaries, I would have brought her for the next thing, right and then. And then that's again how sometimes you know, she probably as an actor was like bummed that it didn't go further, because that happens. And I remember my mom being like, when one door closes, another one opens. I'm like, okay, Mom, you have to tell me that because you're my mother super irritated that I didn't get it. But a lot of times things like that in life do happen like that. And with Nina, I mean, Vampire Diaries changed her life and she got to go and play three different roles, right, But that's awesome to hear just because she didn't look like Kelly Rutherford. You know, it's like, it's crazy, it's wild. And how about that with like Kelly and any of the parents, Like who was the first or did you guys obviously have to go off of getting Serena to match what her mom would look like. Yeah, we had to do Serena to match the mom. And Kelly, I remember, came into audition and she had her baby, Like she came in with the stroller, and I think like one of my assistants held the baby in the other room while she was auditioning. And and that's like, it's hard to audition. I can't imagine how actors do it like that. You just you have to drive all over town and be available and memorize, you know, fifteen pages of sides. When you have a young child, it's it's a wild kind of crazy. Yeah, And there was like article I read about you just singing your praises, and it was saying that you also had someone else in mind for Dan Humphrey, which is funny because then we think about it, you're like, no one else is Dan humfree but pen But can you tell us that story? Yeah? Absolutely. I was obsessed with this kid, Aldon ironright, who a lot of you probably know from the Star Wars movies. Now. He was at, oh god, what's the school over here? He was at one of those schools in l A. And I think I had um seen him in a play or something, and I remember I really desperately wanted to come in for this role, and he actually passed on it because his parents said, we wanted to go to college, and we don't want him to do TV. We wanted to do movies if anything. And I called his mom and spent an hour on the phone with his mom and I said, look, I think Blake had just put one of those big schools on the hold. And I said, look, this is an opportunity as an actor to learn with other amazing actors in New York. Please give him this opportunity, Please let him come in. I was talking to her about myself, about Josh Schwartz about Warner Brothers just making her, you know, feel safe and what have you. And I went through this whole thing to get Aldon to come in, and he came in. He did a phenomenal, phenomenal audition. I thought he was such a star. And the producers rightfully so just said he's too short for Blake, like he could maybe play the brother, but I don't see him being the love and we go back to now it's a high thing. Yeah, it was literally the height. It was just he just feels too short. He committe play a brother, but we had to cast locally New York for the brother. So Alden went off and did his you know, have his amazing career. And pen Pen, I think literally came in like the last week before before we started shooting. So was he the last one of them, was the last one to be cast. Yeah, as far as I remember of the series regulars. Yeah, yeah, he was so easy. He was just pat you know, like he always even about him and very cool, so sweet, and he always like because I had a majority of my scenes were with him, he just always seems so like effortless in doing it. And he had a lot of a lot of dialogue, a lot of you know, he was always rambling, is what we always said Dan was doing, and he always just had a lot to say and he would just say it. Sometimes I'd be done with the scene and I'm like, I don't know how you just did that because it was just a lot of words, and you made it so easy and so nice and just so natural. He's like a great again, everyone really is. Just they all brought such a cool vibe to their characters. Oh absolutely. And it's funny because I think when he auditioned, he had if we're talking about hair again, let's go back to it, he had the hair that he has now on you, which is kind of like like bigger and fuller. And when I saw the pilot because I wasn't on set when they shot it, and I'm like, oh my god, what they do to his hair because it

was really really short, he looked amazing, but it looks so different. So it's funny to kind of see, um, you know again with the hair changed that for the pilot as well, So it's not all casting decisions are about hair, but it just happened to be here. But also too, he's like such a good looking guy like he pulled off both very well. Like when I watch you, I'm like, wow, okay, you look great and that buzz cut like sweet, yeah, super hot? Sup. Why do you think and not just because you cast everyone, because that's a part of it, but why do you think the cast had such good chemistry? Because you cast a bunch of young adults that do a pilot in New York City, don't know each other at all, and a lot of people's first big job is that just they were just that good of actors that they're like, we'll just going to bring our a game and kill it or and by the way, I know all of you know, I worked with all them. Everyone is super nice and have great personalities. Offset Um, but what do you think was the key to that? I think, Um, you know, look, I not the patsils in the back, but I think we did do a good job of kind of matching the essence of the character to the person in some ways. And they were not not to say that these people were their characters. They're obviously all playing roles and what have you, but the essence of them was there and I think they you know, it's it's one of those things that you hope for in every show that you cast. I'll be honest with you. You You know, you when you make a pilot, you usually audition actors with maybe two or three scenes. At most two or three scenes from the pilot. You don't necessarily know what they're going to do in series or what's expected of them, and so you really kind of hope for the best. And I you know, we got lucky. We got very lucky. Right. That was a question I wanted to ask you. When you are reading a pilot or a movie, what do you look for in the scenes that you're going to audition the actors, Because here's a big thing. You're getting ready to sign on some actors to play these roles that potentially at the time you don't know, but could go on for four or five, six years. So these are going to be characters that are going to live in people's living rooms, beyond people's computer screens. And you you narrow it down to three scenes of like a hundred scenes, these people thousands of scenes they could be doing, you know what I mean, So what do you pick for these actors to come in an audition? Because you're picking three scenes, Like I said to deliver years of entertainment to people exactly. Well, you're really looking for the range of an actor. You're looking for different colors throughout the pilot to show as much as you can from that character. And it really the casting process is a process like we're bringing people up to five, six, seven, eight times um over the period of ten weeks, audition them on their own, audition with other actors to kind of test chemistry. So you're really trying to gauge as best you can if they are going to if they are it, if they're the right thing, if they're going to last the five six years. It's it's kind of like getting married, I say sometimes, like there's no way to know when you first meet someone if you are going to have a lifelong commitment with that person. That's the intention, I guess, as is the intention to cast a patent that you'll have these people on for six years. But there's really no way to know, and sometimes you get lucky and sometimes it doesn't work right. And then so for um, for the pilot, did you guys have any chemistry? Reads Like at that point, you guys weren't aware that Chuck and Blair we're going to be this major arc throughout the show. Serena and Dan also are, but they also there was the chemistry and the vibe in the pilot, So did they have a chemistry read? As far as I remember, and I could be wrong, but as far as I remember, nobody had a chemistry read. I want to say, maybe Blake and Layton did one scene together, um, but none of the guys and the girls had chemistry reaes together. I think we got really lucky with those. That also might be because they knew that everyone was going to be all over on the show, so they're like, everyone just asked that chemistry period. Basically, yeah, exactly. Let me ask you this, when did you know that show was going to be a hit or what happened that you're like, oh, this is this is it? That's a good question. So when I got offered Gossip Girl, I was also offered a show on another major network. It was a much bigger network at the time, and they told me I had to choose between the show they offered me and Gossip Girl, and I just thought the Gossip Girl script was incredible. I just thought it was so zeitgeist and poppy, and it was something I would want to watch. And so essentially for my first big job, I was passing on a huge studio to do what at the time was a very small network and a smaller show. And see a lot of people would be like, oh my god, that's such a risk, such a risk. But everyone that's listening, guys, sometimes taking those risks are all what it's about. It made my whole career. Were you scared? I was terrified, And that studio told me that would never worked with me again, and they and they haven't worked with me again. Well I think I think you're just continued to work, you know, And I made a home at CW and so many other places since then. But um, well you have. But with c W then you did Arrow the New nine O two one. No, I mean the list goes on and on Riverdale. I mean, you just but here's the thing. Everyone there's like, listen, he he took what we gave him, he put it on his own. Little twist was great with the actors. Helped in the room. You just did a lot to help them make a bunch of shows that were hits for them. That's got to feel pretty damn good. Yeah, it feels great. It feels great. I mean, my favorite part of of casting I really missed now because of self tapes. It's working in the room with the actor and directing

them and helping them kind of build a performance and giving them confidence and then going for director and producers and so that part I missed. But yeah, I love working on shows that are part of pop culture. I love reading about them in magazines. And the way that Gossip Girls specifically exploded was that was overwhelming. I had no concept that I was going to be as big as it was, and I don't think I really had a hit like that again, probably until Riverdale, you know, which was greg brilliante show. And Greg has given me so many incredible opportunities on c W and outside of c w M with all the superhero shows like Arrow and Flash and Supergirl and Legs of Tomorrow and You, which is on Netflix with Pem Badgley, which I think was the next show. Yeah he did after Um, after Gossip Girl, so it's you know, keeping it all in the family is really exciting. Totally. So you decided not to take the other job with a big studio that was bigger than c W at the time because you just felt you just the words on the page made you have a certain vibe and feel and you're like, I'm gonna just go for this. Correct. I had a feeling it would be something special. I didn't know that it would be big, but I knew that it would be special, right, And then it was both. I also find it there's some things when I watched this show that there was just some really good performances. I told some of my producers like, I'm a little like shock that no one got nominated for. Like, I know we got a lot of teen Choice things and stuff like that, but a Golden Glober and Emmy like. There were some performances some of the seasons that I truly think deserved a little more light on it. But at that time, c W, even though they had hit shows and people so many millions of viewers were tuning in, c W, wasn't getting nominated. No, And then there's still not In some ways, I feel like on some shows they are, but I feel like, um, you know, it's looked at it sort of like a youth network. But I really am so impressed with so many of the performances on that show specifically, and so many the ones in their shows that I'm working on now, and it's it seems unfortunate, unfair that they get looked over because the material is pretty pretty heavy. It's pretty deep. Yeah, I mean some of the things that we touch on and Gossip Girl, like addiction and you know, suicide and you know, divorces with family, a lot of deep stuff, which I think maybe you don't yeah maybe then you know on the c W it's teenagers, you know, you just it was overlooked, but I did. I watched a couple episodes and I'm like, wow, that's like a scene that's definitely I could see watching the Golden Globes and that be one of the scenes that that person is nominated for. Um, was it Jane Jane the Virgin was was that? I feel like that was that was their first one? Yeah, and that was phenomenal too, and I was pumped for her, like you go, oh, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, it's um. We were nominated for a Radios Award, which is like the biggest casting award that year for Gossip Girl, and that was the first time I was nominated for an Audios and enomenal mad Men and Damages and a couple other shows and we didn't win, but I felt so proud to be amongst that group of people and to be recognized for the work that we did, because again, a lot of c W shows were not getting recognized like that, and this was a really you know, for that time, it was a very special, specific kind of cast, and it was it was really nice to be included. Well, I guess we know that. I clearly loved everyone that you picked for the show, and I think everyone across the world who watched the show would agree. Um, I'm gonna play one game with you. I love games, and it's it's a quote game, so I'm going to do some quotes. There was some for some of the guests that are coming on in the next couple of weeks that I read that Vanessa said, and I didn't know. So you're okay, okay, alright, alright, okay. Has our bad Girl really gone good? Oh? I mean that's Gossip Girl. Has not Bad Girl really gone good? Yes? Good? That one? Can we end it now because there's not many parts? Okay, quote too, I think even your underdoing it would be overdoing it, Blair, I thought that too. Quote to please. I think even your underdoing it would be overdoing it. Ye oh wow, Dan okay, Serena was about their Christmas gifts. Oh, okay, okay. Quote three, if you're going to be in this world, be yourself in this world? Mm hmm. Who would have said that? Can you give me a hint? Oh? You said, if you're going to be in this world, be yourself in this world. And that's a really good quote. It is. It's good. Vanessa was very relatable. I mean, for that the little small percentage of people that one live on the Upper East Side and two are in this world that gossip girl, you know, the glitz and the glam and the money. I mean, Vanessa worked at a coffee shop. Most kids aren't using a handbag to go to school or driving a limo or that. Not a lot of kids are experiencing that. So I do feel like Vanessa kind of kept she grounded a little bit of that age. I think, yeah, I for sure related to her character lot because I didn't have all those things in high school and still don't. And there's something beautiful and fun about watching the fantasy of this this world full of money. But to be able to kind of see yourself in that world is super important. I'm so glad that she was there. Yeah, Vanessa, she's she's such a little cutie. There's definitely things that got on my nerves. But yeah, that's okay. Okay, let's do the next quote. Okay, have a little faith and if that doesn't work, have a lot of mimosas. Oh um, oh god, this is so I want to say, I'll go to Blair again. Okay, let's play. I'm probably raw, have a little faith and if that doesn't work, a lot of mimosas. Well. Done, it was Blair? Who is that? Okay, good job? All right? Last one? Oh few? Okay, people like me don't write books they're written about. Oh, chuck, people like me don't write books written about That was Chuck. You definitely heard that one. Yeah, well you did really great. I was really nervous. Yeah you did well. Um, well, it was really great to have you on. I'm a huge fan back at you, and I'm really excited for everyone who will be listening to really know like all the hard work and how much you had to do with putting this together and what all goes into it, because this is all a lot of stuff people don't know. Absolutely, thank you for bringing me back to Gossip Girl. It's been you know, a while, and it's it was a really really special time and it's obviously such an incredible project. You're awesome. This was like so wonderful. Uh well, I'm sending you there. Thank you for having me. Thanks you Can you imagine if Ed's visa didn't come through or or Ted backed out, or if I moved back to Wisconsin when I said I was going to. I mean, I can't. I can't even think about it. You guys so nuts. Casting is a lot of hard work that a lot of people put in, but it's also just a little bit of magic and luck that makes everything come together so perfectly. And David, you really made that magic happen on Gossip Girl. You really have a way of putting people at ease and being so great to talk to. So thank you for today. All right, guys, until next time. X O x O x O x O is produced by Propagate Content and Met Jessica's Or. Our show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia, Emily Carr, and Hannah Harris. Original music by Moxie and Lune, and the episode was mixed by seth ol Lansky,