June 24, 2025 • 55 mins
This week, Tommy is joined by actress Candice King who is known for her starring role as Caroline Forbes in all eight seasons of the smash hit, “The Vampire Diaries", as well as the successful spinoffs, “The Originals" and “Legacies." She currently can be seen starring in the highly anticipated series, “We Were Liars" out now on Prime Video. The series is based on E. Lockhart’s #1 New York Times Bestseller of the same name. Today, Candice opens up about saving Nina Dobrev at last year’s fan convention, what the real possibility is of having the cast reunite for another "The Vampire Diaries" project, what those cast reunions at conventions are really like, if she has finally watched the entire series, if she understands the magnitude of what she created with her character Caroline, was there ever a moment or scene for her character that she didn’t agree with, why it was fun playing a character with some faults in "We Were Liars," if she was nervous stepping into her first big leading series role since The Vampire Diaries, why she hopes people can see her as Bess and not Caroline in this series, if the die-hard book lovers will enjoy this adaptation, starting in Hollywood as an up and coming pop-star, how she became a back-up singer for Miley Cyrus, what she wants her children to be proud of her for, her pop culture hot-takes, why she thinks people are so obsessed with Caroline and Klaus, how that relationship came to be, society’s built-in guilt for working mothers, and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Tommy di Dario, I think it's safe to say that
everyone loves Candace King. Yes they do. I stand by it.
She is my guest today, and Okay, maybe I'm a
touch bias because she's a dear friend of mine, but
I also know for sure that she has created an
iconic role that means so much to so many people.
(00:23):
That iconic role, of course, it's Caroline Forbes from The
Vampire Diaries. She sank her teeth into playing Caroline so
brilliantly for eight seasons, and she also appeared in the
spinoffs The Originals and Legacies, and out right now on
Prime Video, she has a new series called We Were Liars,
which is giving me all the drama that I need.
It is the perfect show for the summertime. I think
(00:46):
we cover like eight hundred topics in this interview because
we were both just so happy to be in the
same city finally catching up with you know, I guess
some microphones that just happened to be there. And a
big shout out to Travel Guard, my personal sponsor for
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(01:07):
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(01:27):
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for more information. All right, so let's see if we
can get Candace to say something today that she has
never said before. Candace King, how am I going to
(01:48):
do an interview with you today? All I want to
do is just curl up and drink wine and I
don't know, talk about things we can't talk about on here.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I mean, it's a perfect day for it. In New
York City. It's cold, rainy, so this is the perfect
day to just, you know, have all of our secrets
mingling on a microphone for no one to hear, for
no one.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
No, that could be very dangerous because you and I
are open books. I know, we really are. I know
Oh my god, you look radiant.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Thank you. I had professionals put me together this morning.
That reasally helps. I know, I keep having because since
we've I've been doing so much press for we were liars.
I have like so many of my friends being like, wow,
like you look fantastic. I'm like, yes, guys, I have
a team of like four to five people working on
me at all times, like it's the Emerald City up
(02:35):
in here. So that that is usually when we look
our peak selves.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I guess you're serving.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Look after look, mama's trying, you know, mamas are really
really drying.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Well, you look amazing. You have a new show. We're
gonna talk all about that a bit later. But first,
we have not connected on this yet and I didn't
ask you this at dinner the other night. But one
of the funniest videos that keeps popping up on my
Instagram is basically you being Superwoman. And that was that
epic con in December when the backdrop I guess like
(03:08):
blew over and was about to smash onto Nina, and
without hesitation, you jump out of your seat. You kind
of like push her down. You put one hand up
on the backdrop with Kat and you go into beast mode.
You have you always had these instincts like where did
that come from?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Ah? That's motherhood, that is it is this weird gift
that kind of takes over you like I will without
even you could be at a table full of moms
and you will just suddenly like put your hand on
the corner of a table without realizing it, right before
a kid like bunks their head. Like there's this weird
little second sense of just like you know, you just
(03:48):
have this like little spidy sense waiting at all times
for something really dangerous to happen. That's, you know, probably
where why sleeping is so difficult, because I'm always waiting
for the cry and the middle of the night. But that,
I mean, that was it. I mean I also am
such a sucker for details where I was like, I
don't see any sandbags on these and it's a windy day,
(04:10):
so I was kind of like we.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Actually clock that. I clock all those Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
But I'd had What also wasn't heavily featured in that
video was I feel like, you know, God, she loves
to keep me humble and teach me some lessons. And
so the day before that happened. I'd shown up for
this convention, and it's basically it's a fan convention. It's
really fun. We go to Covington, which is where we
filmed a lot of the show, and get to, you know,
(04:37):
meet people who are still fans of the show in
the city in town where we filmed it, which is
really a cool experience. And so I flew in the
day before. I'm answering emails. I'm running around. I'm literally
jumping in the shower while I'm having to also like
finish an email and fire and unpack. And I was
running so fast that I forgot something. So I leapt
(04:59):
out of the sh shower and my foot slipped on
the marble floor and I hit speaking of corners, my
face hit directly onto the corner of the marble counter
and I sliced my face open, like so close to
my eye. And luckily I used to live in Atlanta,
and I've like collapsed and lifted up, and it just
(05:23):
I mean, it was a it was a deep valley
into my face and I was like, oh no. I
was like, God, why do you have to teach me
this lesson to slow down? Now? Luckily, with all my
friends that still live there. I was able to figure
out a plastic surgeon, and so I was I'd slipped
and got stitched within two hours. So that next day,
(05:45):
when I saw that scaffolding falling, I was like, not today, sir,
not today. I am prepared. I've had stitches already. No
more emergency room trips. The plastic surgeon did a great job.
But don't we don't need to go back today.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh my god, Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
You just got to be ready at all times.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, you were on it, very impressed, video still floating around.
So I feel very safe with you here today.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I feel very say, I know where all the exits are,
you know, I'm looking at the glass window behind you.
I'm prepared. I'm right.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
She's ready, She's ready, She's so ready. That's amazing. Are
those conventions so fun? I mean, you get to reunite
with your cast after so many years. What is it like, like,
do you guys reflect on the show? Do you get emotional?
Do you just drink and party? Like, well, what do
you do?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
We definitely don't reflect on the show, but we'd get
to do that with the with the with attendees of
the convention, and that is really cool. The fact that
this is a show that has continued to mean so
much to people, and obviously it's not only a nostalgic
(06:52):
experience for them. And it's funny enough like a show
about vampires and you know, blood and the super now
has become like this comfort show for a lot of people.
But I think with time and distance, it's become a
really nostalgic time for all of us actors as well,
and a lot of the crew members who still live
(07:13):
in Atlanta that we get to reconnect with when we
go there. So it's it's become this really special thing
to be like, Wow, we were a part of something
that was so cool and still means so much to people,
and I think we appreciate it more now than we
ever did, which is always kind of how that works
some life.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, it's it's funny you say comfort viewing because it
is something that is a bit more not dark, but
it is like supernatural and vampires and all of it, right,
but it is people like we have a friend who
puts it on when she's getting ready for work, like
it's just something people like to have on, which is
really cool.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
It is cool. It's funny that people that watched it
when it was on TV, are now like when it
was live, not live, but when it was airing one
episode every week in new eppisodes. The fact that now
they are watching it with like their children, their teenage children.
That's a crazy feeling when suddenly it's like this generational show. Yeah,
(08:09):
and you're like, wow, that was a long time ago.
How old are all of us?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yet you look the same, which is crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, I really commit to a character, Tommy, you know
I can't let the people down.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh you haven't. You certainly have it? You have not
What really is the probability or the possibility of some
sort of cast reuniting for a movie or mini series
or special, Like, do you guys talk about it? Do
you think it will ever happen? I know it's something
you probably hear about all the time.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I think that no matter what,
this is an industry that sees something that has worked
and been successful and wants it to like stay in
the Zeitgeister, remake it. So by any means, I don't
think that that would have anything to do with us
as a cast, But who knows. I have no idea,
(09:02):
but what I do know is just that there's a
lot of characters that are so dead, like very dead,
and so that would be tough. Like everyone came back
at one point and was alive. And I just feel
like I do like when a story has an ending.
So I'm sure you know who, I don't know what
will happen with that, you know, trilogy of shows because
(09:23):
it was also the Originals and it was Legacies, and
so it really was this gift that kind of kept
on giving. And I appreciate that. Caroline Forbes, you know,
she she made it to the very end, but who knows.
I I just value the time that we experienced together
in the world that was created as it was, but
(09:44):
who knows what will the powers of it be? Anything
can happen, right, anything, That's what el Golden, Ellie Goulding.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Says, philosopher, you know, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Justin Bieber says never saying ever, and Ellie Golding says any.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Can happen, well, And it sounds like Kannis King is
saying never say never. I'm just saying, I'm just saying,
that's really really, really cool. Do you Is it weird
to watch yourself like when it comes on, or you
see something online a clip like will you watch it?
Or do you have this thing where you're like, oh
my god, I don't want to watch myself.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It doesn't bother me, Yeah, I think because maybe I
got desensitized to it when The Vampire I was was
the first like real show I'd been a part of.
I'd done like little guest stars and things like that,
and or maybe like an independent film or two, but
that was like the first like real kind of production
(10:38):
that I had been a part of. And we watched
the pilot together as a cast multiple times. You know,
it was exciting. We'd watch those early episodes, especially even
if we weren't even in it. I mean, I remember
being so excited to see the big flashback episode that
our crew worked incredibly hard on. And I still stand
by as like a beautiful episode of television that I
(10:59):
think was written off, you know at the time, but
it was a beautifully made show. But it doesn't. It
doesn't bother me because it's just at a certain point,
I go to work, I do my job. I hopefully,
you know, if it feels good to go home that day,
(11:19):
then I'm like, Okay, I did my job and everything
else is out of my hands. I'm not the editor.
I'm not the one deciding what is the best story
for the show and what is the best cut. So
I kind of don't take it personally after that. And
that's just me. But I don't know if I'm just
a little weird where I just watch it then as
the character, right, it's not me, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Well, I think that's really cool. I mean, I think
what you created with that is so meaningful to so
many people. Do you understand the magnitude of what you
created with the role of Caroline, Like, do you get
how important that is to people?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yes? I understand how important she is, the character is
to people. It's a hard thing for me to feel
that I had much participation of that, even though I
know that technically I'm like the fore like the front facing,
I'm like the face of that character. But I just
feel I was also given such a gift from the writing.
(12:13):
You know that the character got to have all of
these big experiences happen, and even though she was a vampire,
she went through very real life experiences like losing her
mother and having heartbreak and feeling deep deep sense of
insecurity and not being the hero of the story like
(12:33):
so often having to like sit in her mass a
little bit, and so there was this like built in
relatability that was written into the character that I by
no means feel that I brought the character. I also
am just such a super fan of all of the
writers we had, and of Julie Pleck and and the
opportunities that she and all the writers over the years
(12:55):
gave to Caroline. So it's hard for me to kind
of take that on for myself because I feel like
I got to, I was lucky enough to, you know,
fall in love with Caroline each episode as well. So
I understand what she means to fears because she means
a lot to me too.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And there's not a lot of characters out there that
I feel like have that lasting impact, which is pretty cool.
It's a testament to the work that yes, the writers
of course did who are brilliant. But you brought her
to life, you know, like it was sink or swim
with you bringing her to life, and girl, you swam,
you swam, you swam.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Caroline's a good swimmer. I feel like like I just
got to, like, you know, hang on her life raft
or like piggyback, right, I don't know. She like my
kids always want to play dolphin in the pool where
they're just like riding on my back, and I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
It's it's it's such a joy to to still watch it.
And before we move on to your new show, which
I'm so excited about. I always find this fascinating when
it comes from the artists who created the character. When
you look back at all of your work with Caroline,
was there ever a moment you think on where you're like,
I'm not sure, like that moment was one I would
(14:05):
have included or maybe I would have done it differently,
Like do you ever think about that?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Not really, I think that the only time that got challenging.
And I feel like even if Julie was here, Caroline
Dreaz or you know, like would say the same thing,
which was navigating being pregnant while the character's pregnant and
it's a supernatural pregnancy, was probably like like a more
difficult dance over the years, out of all the things.
(14:34):
But no, because we also this was a different structure
of television. This is when we still had twenty two episodes.
There was even a year where we did twenty three,
so there was time to really let these characters breathe
and be and have these episodes that just were like
fun holiday episodes and which you really don't get. I mean,
they call them filler episodes, but I think there's so
(14:57):
much more than that. It's like it's it makes you
just feel like you're a part of the world, and
I miss that in television a lot, and I feel
like so in all those I feel like we just
got to be a part of the world. So I
didn't feel like I can't believe she did that because
these characters got to be like almost I know that
(15:19):
they were vampires for the most part, but they kind
of got to be human where some day some episodes
were they were just a little bit more not the
main story as others. But the pregnancy was tough because
I was really pregnant, and then they wrote in that
Caroline was pregnant with these super net spoiler alert, with
these supernatural like twin which babies. But I never looked
(15:43):
pregnant enough to have twins. So even though I was pregnant,
I had to still wear a fake belly over a
real belly.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Painful.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
It was just a lot of layers for how much
a pregnant woman has to pee in a day to
like unwrap, And so that was very interesting navigating that
was probably the only kind of like did it have
to be twins? And of course, like I met my
most pregnant and I finally look like pregnant enough and
(16:12):
they're like, you know what, we really need to do
a jump forward so she's no longer pregnant. It was like, great,
so Caroline's really puffy in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I guess I.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Just had a lot of salt the night before.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well, you still looked great. You looked great. You look great.
That is such a fun role that will forever be
in your arsenal. And now you're digging into something really juicy.
And that trailer that dropped for you, just your character
where you whisper in that year so vindictively, and dare
(16:48):
I say, evilly was so good. So tell me about
We Were Liars? What is it all about? Who do
you play? Give me the whole scoop.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Well, We Were Liars is a wi a book written
by Emily Lockhart, and it came out, I want to say,
in like twenty sixteenish around that time, and all of
a sudden, it really had this huge cult following become
quite obsessive with the book. In twenty twenty, it kind
(17:20):
of like exploded on the scene with book Talk, which
I've now learned the lingo from the kids what that is.
But it's really just like you know, big book lovers
on TikTok who create content about like their favorite books
and authors, And particularly with We Were Liars, people the
book talk fandom was videotaping, was taping them. Videotaping got
(17:43):
them so old, was recording themselves having a very emotional
reaction to the book, but not explaining why or what happened.
And what's so brilliant about this book is on the
back of the cover it says, if anyone asks you
what happens, just lie. So it's kind of this like
very mysterious story that people don't want to give too
(18:04):
much information about so you can really experience it for yourself.
I had heard about We Were Liars from Karna Mackenzie
and Julie Pleck before because they were so in love
with it and they really wanted to bring it to
our TV screens, and so by the time they were
able to option it finally after years of trying to
get it. I read it and I totally understood why
(18:24):
they were, you know, wanted to make this so so bad.
I was so thrilled I got to audition for the
part of Bess. And who the liars are. The liars
are these teenagers that live on this island, But it's
really about a family. It's about the Sinclair family who
spend their summers on their own private island called Beechwood Island,
(18:47):
off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. So as you can imagine,
this is a very wealthy family, and this is generational wealth,
think like you know, the Kennedy esque or murdoch esque.
And and so they go and spend these quiet summers
on their own private island, away from prying eyes, and
(19:07):
that's where all of their secrets seem to be buried.
But secrets don't necessarily stay buried very long, especially on
an island that is full of sand. And I play
best Sinclair. We are the mothers to the liars, who
are all teenagers, and we are also the daughters to
Harris and Clair and Tippers and Clair kind of the
(19:28):
patriarch and matriarch of the family. And in this particular
time period of their summer on the island. The story
of We Were Liars goes back and forth between this picturesque,
beautiful summer where a bad thing ends up happening, and
then the summer after where it's the fallout from the
(19:50):
bad thing, but we don't know what the bad thing is,
and the central character, Cadence Sinclair, is trying to figure
it out and piece together or her memories because no
one will tell her what happened.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Oh, I love a good mystery, and you really seem
like you play a character who might not be the
greatest human.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
She's you know, she's got some faults. You know. It
was really fun And what us, like older adults, us
women kind of just realize quickly when we got there
to start filming is what's really magical is inevitably, when
you're an adult you go if you go home to
visit your parents, there is a part of you that
(20:33):
regresses to this like childlike teenage state, you know, where
you kind of pick the same fights with your siblings,
you get irritated at the same things of your parents
that you did in those like teenage years, and it's
just impossible to not kind of have that regression a
little bit, and so we see them at home, we
(20:54):
see these like sisters in that regressive state like around
their parents, and they're also mothers, so it's kind of
this like you know, they're the adults, but that they're
also still like stuck in this like temper tantrum childlike state.
And Best Sinclair, who I play, she likes to believe.
(21:14):
She carries it as if she is the youngest of
the Sinclair sisters and she is the baby, and she
likes attention, and when she doesn't get it, she gets
very upset and she throws these like grand temper tantrums
that are like the temper tantrums of my dreams. I
think that we all wish we could be like that,
(21:36):
Like you get very envious of There's something really beautiful,
as obnoxious as it is, about a child who can,
just like in the middle of a store, have a
breakdown because they're hungry and they're tired, and they don't
want to be there anymore, and they don't like hearing
noahs an answer, and it's just not fair and these
(21:56):
kids will just have these big temper tantrums And the
reality is as we as adults wish that we could
do that. Yeah, some adults do do that and then
are carried off of planes, you know, but the best
in particular, it's like she would never have a temper
tantrment and it's just life has gotten too much for her,
(22:17):
and so it's they're coming out with a vengeance, and God,
they're just terrible and awful and embarrassing, but also really
freeing because it's so nice to see a woman who's
obsessed with perfectionism just finally saying, you know, forget it.
I'm going to stop my feet and I'm going to scream,
and I'm like and it feels really good to like
(22:39):
tap into that female rage.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, it's such a juicy role to tap into, and
I imagine that it must have been so exciting but
also maybe a little nerve wracking stepping into a role
like this that people know so well, right, and you're
coming off of a career where you're very known for
one character and then you've had lots of great jobs
(23:02):
in between, and this is now the next really big,
splashy thing. Like I see ads everywhere and promo's running
and I mean it's everywhere, Like I keep seeing the
show everywhere with that. Do you have any nerves stepping
into a role like that before you start shooting or
do you just have this like, nah, I got it personality.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, I don't know about that. I will always get nervous,
and I tell myself, I think that's a good sign.
If you're not nervous anymore than probably e they're a
little too confident, or maybe you're not as excited to
be there any It's like nice to have some nerves.
It's like kind of like that. It reminds me of
you know, coming back from summer vacation before the first
(23:41):
day of school. You're always going to be a little
bit nervous. And I think it's wonderful when everyone can
get to work and admit that everyone's a little bit
nervous on that first day. But I just I wasn't
nervous necessarily. I would obviously hope that, you know, people
see a different character. I feel that best Sinclaire is
(24:02):
so different from Caroline Forbes. But I also understand as
a TV viewer, when you like see your character like
the character that you know so well, it takes a
minute that this is a completely different world. Everyone keeps asking, like,
what's so similar about you know what's similar about We
were liars in The Vampire Diaries, and I'm like, nothing.
(24:24):
You know, there's a lot less blood, no one's biting
each other's necks, they're stabbing each other in the back,
maybe metaphorically, but it is a completely different show, which
really also gets me incredibly excited to be, you know,
working with Julie Pleck again and finally working in like
a true form with Krana Mackenzie, because I think that
(24:48):
these women not only do like elevate YA in such
a beautiful way, because I think everyone underestimates I think
the YA genre, like as far as books and television.
What I love about it so much is it brings
like those are the biggest feelings you ever have. You know,
(25:10):
when you fall in love for the first time, it
is all encompassing. It is if you can't be with
that person, it feels like the end of the world.
And even something as simple. There's these beautiful little clips
in the first episode, and little snippets and mostly in
the first episode where you see like their knees touching,
(25:30):
or you can see her like looking at like the
way his eyelashes like rest while his eyes like go
or reading his book, and it's like those little details
of like falling in love for the first time, like
I don't know, just gave me butterflies all over again,
remembering when I was a teenager. This is such a
long winded answer to say that it's a completely different
(25:51):
show and environment and and I wasn't nervous. I think
it's more just like I love this story so much.
I love the creator behind it so much. I've really
enjoyed getting to know Emily Lockhart, who was on set
a lot and also wrote the finale of this season.
And we pull so much from her book, Family of
(26:12):
Liars is you know, we really expand on the adult
characters and pull from like the prequel, which is, you know,
funny enough, the second book that she released from the series,
and so it really is a love letter to the
original pages. And I I'm just such super fans of
everyone who's been a part of bringing the show to
(26:32):
the screen that I'm like, that's what I'm excited about.
I just want people to see it at this point.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So you think the diehard lovers of the book.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Are going to love it, I really do, because the
creators and the showrunners and the author were just such
a part of it. Of course, there are going to
be certain logistical things that might change a bit here
and there, but there's so many little easter eggs throughout
the show that if you know, if you watching that,
(27:02):
like even if they just like wink to the original readers,
whether it's like the name of a boat or like
the exact fudge that was used, and like little things
from the book, which I love because I also is
someone who will read a book and then when it
comes to the screen, like I want that sense of
like the link to the audience saying that, like we
(27:22):
trust the source materials.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yeah, yeah, Oh my god, I'm so excited. Are you
able to let go after you do the shoot and
you've done your press and now it's coming out, Like,
are you able to just let it go in the
world or are you kind of like reading reviews and
checking TikTok and seeing what people are saying.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
No, I mean, the last time I was part of
a new show coming out in Totality was really I mean,
I had a BlackBerry. Let's do you know what I mean.
It's been a minute. So even though I've I've been
a part of other projects and worked. It's you know,
to be part of uh like, oh, it's series coming,
(28:01):
like a series launch. This is my first time in
a long time, and it's a completely different atmosphere now.
So I'm I don't know how I'll be. I know
i'll be excited. I'm just so ready for everyone to
see it. Filmed a year ago, so it's it's time.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Oh my god, I predict it's going to be massive.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So from your mouth to god.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Zeerous, I'm telling you, I predict that because you're you're
You're just so good at anything you do and I
feel like you are and I'm gonna be your hype
man right now. And I'm not just saying that because
we're friends. You just bring, you bring your full self
to what you do, no matter what kind of project
it is, whether it is acting, whether it's home decor
and renovating, you know, all of it. You just go
(28:47):
for it.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Well thanks, I mean, I will say, you know, it's
so as an actor, the reality is you always feel
lucky to have a job, you know, and it's like
so excited and to be like okay, I'm going to
work and then you hope like okay, well I enjoy
you know who I'm working with, you know, will that
(29:08):
be fun? And then be like, well, I actually also
do I enjoy like the actual project that I'm working on,
and to kind of be able to check all three
of those boxes is like a really very cool experience
and doesn't happen all the time, and this checked all
those boxes and more so, you know, obviously, selfishly, I'm like,
not only is this I mean, did I binge the
(29:29):
entire show again? But I also would love to be back,
you know, creating with this incredible cast and production again
because we truly had a wonderful time. I mean, the
show is beautiful. The second I started watching it just
to like get ready for the press one because it's
been a year since we filmed it, I immediately was like, man,
(29:49):
I want to go there. And then I'm like, no,
I was there. I know where that is. That's me.
You're running on that beach, and I know this little
town that's where I was drinking wine, Like I know
that is and it just it is beautiful. We filmed
in Halifax, Nova, Scotia, but we also filmed in like
little beach towns called like Lunenburg, and we lived there
(30:10):
for five months and had this, Like, you know, it
did feel kind of like we were on our own
little island. You know, it's pretty far, you're isolated, and
we all kind of got to lean each other on
each other like a family, and we really did all
enjoy working together. So it was it was very good.
Wasn't too shabby.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
You rose to the occasion. I'm confident of it. You
rise to every occasion you you haven't placed in front
of you, including maybe being a backup singer for Miley
Cyrus when she was Hannah Montana, which also, by the way,
I still get videos on my algorithm, so I think
I sent you one. Do they know, like are there
(30:51):
listening to our conversations outside of Instagram? Like what is
going on? But that video also surfaces quite a bit
so in the spirit of your singing, if you could
sing backup for anybody right now, who would you pay?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Oh god, no one. I'm a terrible backup singer. Backup
I like tricked everyone into like the you know there
are backup singers is a that is a whole serious
They like.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
You did it?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
I did it. I did it for a year. It
was one of the coolest years of my I I
was nineteen. I my So I started off in music
and I was signed to a label at the time,
and rather big label, and then unfortunately i'd gotten dropped
after I made my record and they keep the record
(31:38):
and and so I was like, I don't know what
I'm gonna do. And the producer that I'd worked with
on my record called me and said, hey, do you
need a job? And I was like, looking at like
a fake resume. I typed up to go and try
to be a waitress in La because you can't get
a job there unless you've already been a waitress, and
I hadn't done that yet. And I was a personal
assistant at the time, just trying to figure out like
(31:58):
what the next plan was. And I was like, yeah,
I need a job. He's like, great, it's this like
girl on Disney and like it's this like tour like
you in. I was like, I'm in. And I literally
thought it was gonna be like a mall tour. Oh
my gosh, Like I did not know what this was.
And then cut to would get there and she's so,
(32:18):
you know, cute powerhouse vocalist, even at fourteen, you know,
I think she I can't remember she turned fourteen or
fifteen on that tour and then lo and behold, it's
like cameras come in. They're they're filming a three D
experience of the entire tour. It's stadiums, it's like a
seventy two city tour, like the Jonas Brothers opened up,
like it was. It was insane, Like I went from
(32:43):
like thinking it was a mall tour to literally living
on a tour bus at nineteen, traveling no idea. Had
the time of my life. It was amazing. And then
and then and then that was it. It was one year
and then done. And then I was like, I think
I'm gonna focus on acting. And then a year I
booked The Vampire Diaries.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
That's wild. So you were a pop star for a year.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I got yes. I got to also realize, like, you know,
I had always wanted to be a pop star. That
was what I really wanted to do. And then seeing her,
I was like that, that's that's a pop star. And
but I got to do it. I did it. Like
friends would come out to the shows, Oh that's cool,
and it was so fun.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You must have been the coolest person around to your friends.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I mean, I mean, I don't know. I my like,
it was very cool. It was very fun. We all
kind of giggle it like a lot of the opportunities
we got back then. But yeah, it was it was
a it was a very cool gig. And and still
I mean that that definitely made me realize she I mean,
(33:46):
even then she was so talented. She's so incredibly talented now.
She's had that voice from day one. I remember just
hearing her singing.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Being like, wow, if you were in into Miley at
a party, would you pull up the video and say
I was your back?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
No, I don't even know if I had, Like, no,
I don't. We have mutual friends like that. Uh. One
of my best girlfriends has like written with her a lot,
and and so we have a lot of mutual friends.
We just haven't been in the same room. But I
don't know. I'm also kind of like, I think I
still have it in my head that I kind of
(34:21):
like float in the background that I I don't know.
I usually don't go and say hi to people. I'm
too know, because I've done it too many times where
I'm always like hi and people are like who are you?
And I'm like, yeah, I'm just gonna. I don't know.
I think I also like when I moved to LA,
I like had a lot of friends in the business,
and so I would always like be kind of the
(34:43):
friend holding the bag or the friend of and even
like you know, early days, and I don't know, it's
just been a very normal trajectory, so I never anticipate
that someone's gonna And also she's had a million people
work for it. By no means, do I think she
just like would be rude? I just, by no means
expect her to remember that girl that had bright red
(35:03):
hair and sing backup for her for one year.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Well, well, I don't know. If I'm in a room
with both of you, I'm making the introduction. So I'm
just putting that out there. I'm just putting that out there.
And to put a button on your pop star career.
What pop star today or then when we were coming up?
Would you have wanted to emulate? Like do you think
would have been your vibe?
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't know, I mean, like, would you have I
just remember no, I because I remember this was also
like the like early oughts, So this was kind of
post dance, you know, the dance pop star. It was
more like but I knew I wasn't like I didn't
have a guitar, so I was like Michelle Branch but
(35:48):
probably like in which I'm so happy for her because
I'm so happy she's like performing, like I see her
little clips on Instagram, just getting back out there. But
actually Simpson like crushed it like she it was the
horrific recipe. Her music was so great, Like I just
I feel like she I'm so happy that, like, like
(36:10):
I keep feeling like I keep seeing her in the
zeitgeist right now again, which makes me very happy because
she's also like an amazing woman and couldn't be kinder.
I've we found ourselves, like our kids went to school
together during we were around each other in twenty twenty,
like a little like covid pod and it was just
she's like the best. So I'm like, but she it
(36:32):
was just I feel like that time, like she was
like peak of what I was like, Man, yeah that's cool.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Oh I could totally see you having that vibe. I
would like to think I would be like an Alicia Keys. Yeah,
So I'm just putting that out there just like yeah,
just like playing like soulful and yeah, that's why I
tell myself that I'm Alicia.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
I know I always get mad that I can't play
an instrument or I feel like plain instrument speak a language.
Immediately You're just like this elevated cool person.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Well we can work on that. We'll work on that together,
you and me, babe.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I had all of twenty twenty. I was there, like,
did anyone see like Amanda Cipher, I know that I
always butcher her last name Cipher where she like jumped
on one of the late night chows and was like, yeah,
I just picked up this little ditty like during twenty
overachiever and then like started playing this like what is
it the harpstick or something, and like saying Joni Mitchell
and she was like, yo, just a hobby I picked up.
(37:23):
I was like, I mean I started watching a New
Housewives franchise.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Like equally as important. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
I guess I made. I made a human. Made did
like grow a human? Drink?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
You win? You grew a human. Speaking of your little
humans who I love, I'm so proud of you, and
I imagine you. Every parent I'm not a parent, but
hopes that their kids are also proud of them. Right,
So when you think back to like this moment in
(37:56):
your life and them being raised as kids and where
you are right now, Like what do you hope that
they would look at and say, oh my god, I'm
so proud of my mom and this is why, Like
what do you hope makes some proud of you?
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I I'm like most working parents, and not to gender it,
but I think a lot of working mothers just so
we're kind of like built as a society, there is
that like built in guilt, and there's I think like
just feels like there's a different expectation. You know. Even
(38:34):
going off to work for five months, I felt like
I constantly had to like explain myself for most apologize
and and so, and it is hard. You know. It's like, yeah,
mommy couldn't be there for the last day of school,
and mommy does have to get up really early. And
I hope that they remember. I hope that they don't
(38:56):
remember any of that, but I hope that they remember
the Like I really try hard to what I call
mommy magic a situation like and try to like create
something like a little extra magical. So even on the
days where I would work and have to be up
really early, I would let them like come and stay
(39:16):
in my bed and just we would do just like
mommy daughter, you know, slumber parties. And my oldest would
read lines with me with the appropriate lines, not maybe
with the non bad words, not the provoked scene that
you saw and maybe the cheeser, yes, but you know,
little things like that that I just hope that they
(39:38):
felt seen and like that. I just like to try
to play with them, and I hope they remember that
and and yeah, I have no control over that, because
it's great. I think so often. I think that's the
thing you learn as a parent is how little like
(39:58):
you do all these things and it's like you just
don't know what kids are going to remember. Yeah, even
my own parents will be like don't you remember this?
And I'm like, no, idea. There was something where my
parents are taking me on this big trip and I
was like, nope, I was seven years old and this
is where it was. And my dad was like, you
were not and I was like, Dad, I love you,
but you've never taken one photo of us as a family,
(40:19):
Like you don't remember half the things, like I know.
And he's like, I will bet you like twenty bucks
right now, and he found the photo and he was right,
Like I my memory of that time was very different,
and so I don't know what they're going to remember.
That's like a crazy part of parenthood. You do all
these things and it's just what gets cherry picked, and
(40:40):
it's almost like inside out, like what goes in like
the and like the discard bin, and like what stays
is those core memories.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, I don't know. Well, I think they're going to
be very proud of you when they grow up and
realize everything you've done for them and sacrificed for them.
The unit you made that's so beautiful and the memories
you make and you literally create this like little beautiful
life that I get some witness from Afar through little
glimpses on social and through talking to you. And it's
really cool that you do show working mothers particularly that
(41:09):
you can kind of you can do it all. It's
not always easy and there are better days than not, right,
but I think.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
That's it, Like you can't do it all, Like, if
I'm being honest, you can't, Like I cannot make my
kids breakfast when my pickup is at four thirty in
the morning, But.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Why does that have to be doing it all.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Because it feels like it needs to be See.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
That's where I that's where I want to change the story.
Is I think doing it all is doing what you're
doing now. It doesn't have to be this perfect. Yeah,
you know I have to get cook breakfast every day. No,
that's not realistic.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
But then some nights when like then your babies are
like I need you, like, or I woke up and
someone wakes up in the middle night because they had
a dream and and you like stay up with them,
and then you still have to get up the next
day and you're like, man, these lines are a lot
harder to remember. Yeah, like I had them last night
and then now I've only had a few hours of sleep.
And like there's those days too where it's like I
(42:05):
was really there's always it does feel like a trade off,
Like there are absolutely days where I was like, man,
you know what, I was a great mom today? Was
I a super great friend? Was I like, was I
as fully present as my job the entire time that
I would have liked to have been? Was I, you know,
the best partner I could be. I feel like it
(42:26):
is kind of this rotating thing where like there's certain
things that take priorities at different times, and there's some
times where I'm like, this is mommy, this is really
important that mommy works today. And I really I think
that that's kind of where I mean like having it
all that it kind of yeah, yeah, where your tension goes.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Yeah, yeah, I think for me, I want to I
encourage people to change the narrative that doing it all
isn't doesn't mean succeeding at it all. It just means trying.
It's just trying your damn best because that's all we
can do. And I think you're doing amazing and I'm
proud of you, and I will always gush and like
I said, be hype man, because it's it's a lot,
it's a lot of things to juggle and you're doing it.
(43:04):
So I'm I'm really happy to see and experience it
and be a little little spy in the corner. Okay,
we have a final question that is you know what
that is coming. But before we get to that, I
want to do a really quick, rapid fire pop culture
round with you because there's no one else that I
brought on my show that I know it'll appreciate this
because you are the queen of pop culture.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Okay, you know everything?
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Okay, you ready?
Speaker 2 (43:27):
These are rolling my shoulders back.
Speaker 1 (43:30):
These are three intense questions, and I need you to
really think hard about them. Okay. Number one, what was
the biggest pop culture scandal that rocked your world?
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Scandal?
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Oh? Really?
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Yeah? Oh. I was on a plane when that news
broke and I had wi FI and I gasped like
we were so basically we were stranded. I was supposed
to land in Nashville and they re routed to Memphis,
so we're just stuck in the air because of bad weather.
And I was like scrolling and it popped up like
what the first like it was. I was already scrolling
(44:06):
and it was like the first news break, and I
gasped so loud that the woman next to me said,
oh my god, is everything okay? And I just looked
at her and said, do you watch vander Pump Rules?
And she goes no, and I go okay, and then
she goes, where are you from? And I go not
right now, no, No, we are not talking right now
(44:32):
because you don't understand what's happening. And I cannot speak
with you on this matter. I cannot explain it. I
have to focus.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
All right. Yeah, wow, I'm a little hot and sweaty
for you. I feel like I'm living it's crazy, okay,
all right, fair enough, all right. Number two, what was
the greatest moment in music history throughout the course of.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Your life or the course of my life?
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Was there like a performance at an award show, a song,
a consert like what for You is one of the greatest.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
I think the Era's tour. Seeing the Eras tour in
La I remember seeing I saw so many, like all
the pop stars when I was young, of like Christina
Aguilar justin Timberlake. I remember seeing the Spice Girls, e
those just the four of them. But I feel like
it's hard to I go to concerts all the time.
(45:27):
I got to see Brittany Howard with with help me
anyone in the room because she performs on her own
so often with the Alabama shakes thank you in Atlanta,
like they didn't even make it into this concert venue.
They were like in the backyard of this concert venue.
And I just remember being like, well, she's a super
(45:50):
such star. God, I love her. I still like tear
up every time I see her perform anywhere. In Nashville,
and then recently I got to say, like the we
Could performance during the Oscars balled like a baby so good,
I know, and then Beyonce a bowl. I can't even
I know. I literally was like to my children, I'm like,
(46:10):
you guys have to watch this. This is important. It's
important O your history, I know. And I'm gonna go
see Cowboy Carter in a couple of weeks, so I
feel like that's gonna be my new answer. Music is
my love language. I love it so much. I just
love seeing I love seeing anything live. So I have
a really hard time coming up with a short answer
for that.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
That's a good roundup. I appreciate it. I respect that
favorite celebrity couple then or now.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I mean, I think we have to give it to
the theatrics of benefit.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
I thought you were going to give me Britney and
Justin back in the day. I'm okay, because they were babies, Okay, respect.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
And I and like, I don't know, that's been an
interesting I don't know. I'm not going to expand on
that too much. Okay, you just said celebrity couple. That's
who popped into my.
Speaker 1 (47:00):
All right, Benifer were like that and the last one,
I had to tie you into pop culture because it's
probably one of the most talked about relationships in television
is between Caroline and Klaus, which is so funny. Why
do you think people are obsessed with it? And what
do you think of that relationship?
Speaker 2 (47:15):
So I don't know. I feel like I've never watched
the show in totality, and I told my daughter when
she's ten that we can watch it, and so that'll
be next year, so then maybe I'll understand. But what's
so funny is that Caroline and Klaus were never supposed
to be a thing. It was that would have been
the second season, I think, where he came in and
(47:39):
there's some they basically just like had you know, Caroline
got hurt or something and then he had to like
save her. She was a damsel in distress, which happened
with Caroline a lot in those early years, and it
was truly a non non thing. It wasn't the scene
wasn't built up as some big introduction to these characters.
(48:00):
It was literally just a scene that was supposed to
service like Klaus having like a slight bit of humanity
within him so you could get to know him better
as character. That is it point period, end of sentence. Suddenly,
that night after it aired, hashtag claraline like phill like
rose to the top of Twitter. It was like this
whole thing and the writers were laughing because no one
(48:22):
caught that as like some sort of like romantic moment.
So then so then they started every once in a
while would like write a fun scene between them just
to tease the audience. That was it. It was just
supposed to be like some silly like fun thing for
the audience every once in a while. And still to
this day it is like the biggest talked like question
(48:43):
that I get of, Like people love those two together
and I don't know if it's because like he wanted
her so deeply and she would be like show like
I don't want but everyone is convinced that, like they
were the end game from the beginning, and even Joseph
and I like we're kind of giggling. We're like, well,
I don't like we had fun do uring our scenes,
(49:07):
but like it was just it was really funny that
this was always this, but when are they going to
end up together? And I do like that, you know,
it wasn't this like big, long like relationship that people
always kind of got to want what they couldn't have,
which is also what I think. I think Caroline maybe
didn't know what she wanted and he wanted what he
(49:28):
couldn't have, and so I like that the audience got
to sense that, like feel that as well. In all
those seasons. It's iconic, but it is so funny. So
maybe I'll get it when I rewatched the show one day. Yeah, yeah,
and have my ten year old explain it to me.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
There we go. Well, it's an iconic relationship and for
that reason, you were in the pop culture round up.
You survived. Congratulations you did it.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
Rapid fire is probably you intended, but.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
That was brilliant And Candace, as we wrap up the show,
you know that question is coming, and it's based off
the title of my show, which is, what is one
thing you've never said before? And I know that's probably
so hard for you, especially to me, because we've talked
about everything, but as you know, it was born from
having two minutes with people on a carpet or a
(50:16):
junket and you just don't have time for real connection
and conversation besides kind of the bite size bites about
the projects. So is there anything today that you can
think of, whatever that means to you that you've never
said before that you want to share.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Yeah, I know we kind of touched on it. I
mean I think that I have probably put a bit
of a shinier bow on. Like I love what I
do and I'm really proud of what I do. I
love my career, I love to work. I really love
being a mom. I love being a mommy. It's also
(50:51):
what I've always wanted to do. And I think I
keep waiting for it to feel like like I won't
feel that like mom guilt and that I won't feel
this like that it's really hard to be away from
my kids, and I like I've just had to accept
(51:11):
that it's just going to be. It's just hard, and
and that for better or for worse, it is what
it is, as opposed to it's okay, like it it
just it is really hard. And I think that so
I've thought about the way that I talk about being
a working parent and while like the support of community
(51:32):
is so important, like even working on we were liars.
I mean, thank God for this incredible cast and also
like the women who were who played you know, my sisters,
the three of us were all there filming, and we
all were mothers to young children, and so we got
to lean on each other for that support. And it
was just I think sometimes in a public facing way,
(51:53):
I'll put like I'll shine it up and put a
bow on it and be like, yeah, but it's all
part of it, and you know, whereas like it's so,
it doesn't always feel like that, And so I wanted
to kind of give that justice too, that even on
the days where you have like a great sense of
community and you know that like you're going to look
back and it's going to be okay, and your kids
(52:15):
are not going to remember every single little thing and
you do everything that you can, there will still always
there's like that feeling I'm learning to make even if
I'm making friends with the feeling of like being away
from my kids, knowing that like that feeling's going to
have to have a seat at the table and like
all right, well they're here and it's part of it.
So if anyone is like a working parent and feels
(52:38):
that way and feels like well everyone else seems to
be finding it to be just fine, that I guess
I just want them to feel seen and be like
it's okay if it's not fine.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Oh I love that. Yeah, that's such a great answer,
and I think a lot of parents probably go through
that without talking about it. So I appreciate you, you know.
Speaker 2 (52:55):
Of the bummer sometimes it's like, but it's also it's
the real and I am you know. I used to
get a lot of jokes being like I'm just like
the glitter like a glitter bomb, you know. I've like
like to be sunshine and the positive, put a positive
twist on everything. And I like that part about myself.
I really really do. I I've shut that down before
(53:19):
and that doesn't feel right either. I like trying to
find the positive, you know. The lemonade, I really really do.
This is just a I think a part of you know,
being a parent that I keep trying to like put
some lemonade twist on it. And I'm like, you know what,
maybe this isn't the lemon Maybe this is just the lemon.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yeah, and it's okay to honor that too. Oh my god,
I love that and I love.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
You so I'm so happy for you, Like this is
just my favorite day. I really am. I'm just so
proud of you, and I hope like your biggest cheerleader,
and I just I'm really happy for you.
Speaker 1 (53:59):
Well I feel the same way, and I'm so proud
of you. This show We Were Liars is going to
be a massive, massive hit. I know it. I am
declaring it right now. Everybody can watch it on.
Speaker 2 (54:11):
It's on Amazon Prime, so you can watch it stream it.
It is. All episodes are coming out and we'll be
released on June eighteenth. So it is. It is a
very bingeable show. And if anyone asks what the show
is about once you've watched it, remember lie, do not google, like,
(54:33):
do not research anything. Just go into the show and
enjoy the escapism. Fall into this world like you would
fall into reading, like a good juicy book.
Speaker 1 (54:44):
And yeah, just enjoy and everybuddy go watch it. I
could talk to you for four more hours, but we're
going to go to lunch and continue this, so let's go.
Thank you for hanging out. Thank you. I've Never Said
This Before is host it by me Tommy. This podcast
is produced and edited by Mike Coscarelli, and executive producers
(55:05):
are Andrew Paglici and Katrino Norvel at iHeartRadio. I've Never
Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran Podcast
Network on iHeart Podcasts for more rate, review and subscribe
to our show. And if you liked this episode, tell
your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy de Dario
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Tommy di Dario, I think it's safe to say that
everyone loves Candace King. Yes they do. I stand by it.
She is my guest today, and Okay, maybe I'm a
touch bias because she's a dear friend of mine, but
I also know for sure that she has created an
iconic role that means so much to so many people.
(00:23):
That iconic role, of course, it's Caroline Forbes from The
Vampire Diaries. She sank her teeth into playing Caroline so
brilliantly for eight seasons, and she also appeared in the
spinoffs The Originals and Legacies, and out right now on
Prime Video, she has a new series called We Were Liars,
which is giving me all the drama that I need.
It is the perfect show for the summertime. I think
(00:46):
we cover like eight hundred topics in this interview because
we were both just so happy to be in the
same city finally catching up with you know, I guess
some microphones that just happened to be there. And a
big shout out to Travel Guard, my personal sponsor for
today's episode. Their mission is to make sure we safely
say hello to our next destination. So a vacation insurance
(01:07):
plan from travel Guard. It helps to protect your trip
investment with coverages like trip cancelation and interruption, medical expense,
and evacuation, lost or delayed baggage, which is the biggest
pain if you've ever experienced that, and so much more.
So let's go enjoy our trips without all the headaches
and out right now is my Pride series with travel
(01:27):
Guard about how the community can stay safe during their travels.
So go to travelguard dot com to watch that and
for more information. All right, so let's see if we
can get Candace to say something today that she has
never said before. Candace King, how am I going to
(01:48):
do an interview with you today? All I want to
do is just curl up and drink wine and I
don't know, talk about things we can't talk about on here.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I mean, it's a perfect day for it. In New
York City. It's cold, rainy, so this is the perfect
day to just, you know, have all of our secrets
mingling on a microphone for no one to hear, for
no one.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
No, that could be very dangerous because you and I
are open books. I know, we really are. I know
Oh my god, you look radiant.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Thank you. I had professionals put me together this morning.
That reasally helps. I know, I keep having because since
we've I've been doing so much press for we were liars.
I have like so many of my friends being like, wow,
like you look fantastic. I'm like, yes, guys, I have
a team of like four to five people working on
me at all times, like it's the Emerald City up
(02:35):
in here. So that that is usually when we look
our peak selves.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I guess you're serving.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Look after look, mama's trying, you know, mamas are really
really drying.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Well, you look amazing. You have a new show. We're
gonna talk all about that a bit later. But first,
we have not connected on this yet and I didn't
ask you this at dinner the other night. But one
of the funniest videos that keeps popping up on my
Instagram is basically you being Superwoman. And that was that
epic con in December when the backdrop I guess like
(03:08):
blew over and was about to smash onto Nina, and
without hesitation, you jump out of your seat. You kind
of like push her down. You put one hand up
on the backdrop with Kat and you go into beast mode.
You have you always had these instincts like where did
that come from?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Ah? That's motherhood, that is it is this weird gift
that kind of takes over you like I will without
even you could be at a table full of moms
and you will just suddenly like put your hand on
the corner of a table without realizing it, right before
a kid like bunks their head. Like there's this weird
little second sense of just like you know, you just
(03:48):
have this like little spidy sense waiting at all times
for something really dangerous to happen. That's, you know, probably
where why sleeping is so difficult, because I'm always waiting
for the cry and the middle of the night. But that,
I mean, that was it. I mean I also am
such a sucker for details where I was like, I
don't see any sandbags on these and it's a windy day,
(04:10):
so I was kind of like we.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Actually clock that. I clock all those Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
But I'd had What also wasn't heavily featured in that
video was I feel like, you know, God, she loves
to keep me humble and teach me some lessons. And
so the day before that happened. I'd shown up for
this convention, and it's basically it's a fan convention. It's
really fun. We go to Covington, which is where we
filmed a lot of the show, and get to, you know,
(04:37):
meet people who are still fans of the show in
the city in town where we filmed it, which is
really a cool experience. And so I flew in the
day before. I'm answering emails. I'm running around. I'm literally
jumping in the shower while I'm having to also like
finish an email and fire and unpack. And I was
running so fast that I forgot something. So I leapt
(04:59):
out of the sh shower and my foot slipped on
the marble floor and I hit speaking of corners, my
face hit directly onto the corner of the marble counter
and I sliced my face open, like so close to
my eye. And luckily I used to live in Atlanta,
and I've like collapsed and lifted up, and it just
(05:23):
I mean, it was a it was a deep valley
into my face and I was like, oh no. I
was like, God, why do you have to teach me
this lesson to slow down? Now? Luckily, with all my
friends that still live there. I was able to figure
out a plastic surgeon, and so I was I'd slipped
and got stitched within two hours. So that next day,
(05:45):
when I saw that scaffolding falling, I was like, not today, sir,
not today. I am prepared. I've had stitches already. No
more emergency room trips. The plastic surgeon did a great job.
But don't we don't need to go back today.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh my god, Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
You just got to be ready at all times.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, you were on it, very impressed, video still floating around.
So I feel very safe with you here today.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I feel very say, I know where all the exits are,
you know, I'm looking at the glass window behind you.
I'm prepared. I'm right.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
She's ready, She's ready, She's so ready. That's amazing. Are
those conventions so fun? I mean, you get to reunite
with your cast after so many years. What is it like, like,
do you guys reflect on the show? Do you get emotional?
Do you just drink and party? Like, well, what do
you do?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
We definitely don't reflect on the show, but we'd get
to do that with the with the with attendees of
the convention, and that is really cool. The fact that
this is a show that has continued to mean so
much to people, and obviously it's not only a nostalgic
(06:52):
experience for them. And it's funny enough like a show
about vampires and you know, blood and the super now
has become like this comfort show for a lot of people.
But I think with time and distance, it's become a
really nostalgic time for all of us actors as well,
and a lot of the crew members who still live
(07:13):
in Atlanta that we get to reconnect with when we
go there. So it's it's become this really special thing
to be like, Wow, we were a part of something
that was so cool and still means so much to people,
and I think we appreciate it more now than we
ever did, which is always kind of how that works
some life.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, it's it's funny you say comfort viewing because it
is something that is a bit more not dark, but
it is like supernatural and vampires and all of it, right,
but it is people like we have a friend who
puts it on when she's getting ready for work, like
it's just something people like to have on, which is
really cool.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
It is cool. It's funny that people that watched it
when it was on TV, are now like when it
was live, not live, but when it was airing one
episode every week in new eppisodes. The fact that now
they are watching it with like their children, their teenage children.
That's a crazy feeling when suddenly it's like this generational show. Yeah,
(08:09):
and you're like, wow, that was a long time ago.
How old are all of us?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yet you look the same, which is crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, I really commit to a character, Tommy, you know
I can't let the people down.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh you haven't. You certainly have it? You have not
What really is the probability or the possibility of some
sort of cast reuniting for a movie or mini series
or special, Like, do you guys talk about it? Do
you think it will ever happen? I know it's something
you probably hear about all the time.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I think that no matter what,
this is an industry that sees something that has worked
and been successful and wants it to like stay in
the Zeitgeister, remake it. So by any means, I don't
think that that would have anything to do with us
as a cast, But who knows. I have no idea,
(09:02):
but what I do know is just that there's a
lot of characters that are so dead, like very dead,
and so that would be tough. Like everyone came back
at one point and was alive. And I just feel
like I do like when a story has an ending.
So I'm sure you know who, I don't know what
will happen with that, you know, trilogy of shows because
(09:23):
it was also the Originals and it was Legacies, and
so it really was this gift that kind of kept
on giving. And I appreciate that. Caroline Forbes, you know,
she she made it to the very end, but who knows.
I I just value the time that we experienced together
in the world that was created as it was, but
(09:44):
who knows what will the powers of it be? Anything
can happen, right, anything, That's what el Golden, Ellie Goulding.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Says, philosopher, you know, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Justin Bieber says never saying ever, and Ellie Golding says any.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Can happen, well, And it sounds like Kannis King is
saying never say never. I'm just saying, I'm just saying,
that's really really, really cool. Do you Is it weird
to watch yourself like when it comes on, or you
see something online a clip like will you watch it?
Or do you have this thing where you're like, oh
my god, I don't want to watch myself.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It doesn't bother me, Yeah, I think because maybe I
got desensitized to it when The Vampire I was was
the first like real show I'd been a part of.
I'd done like little guest stars and things like that,
and or maybe like an independent film or two, but
that was like the first like real kind of production
(10:38):
that I had been a part of. And we watched
the pilot together as a cast multiple times. You know,
it was exciting. We'd watch those early episodes, especially even
if we weren't even in it. I mean, I remember
being so excited to see the big flashback episode that
our crew worked incredibly hard on. And I still stand
by as like a beautiful episode of television that I
(10:59):
think was written off, you know at the time, but
it was a beautifully made show. But it doesn't. It
doesn't bother me because it's just at a certain point,
I go to work, I do my job. I hopefully,
you know, if it feels good to go home that day,
(11:19):
then I'm like, Okay, I did my job and everything
else is out of my hands. I'm not the editor.
I'm not the one deciding what is the best story
for the show and what is the best cut. So
I kind of don't take it personally after that. And
that's just me. But I don't know if I'm just
a little weird where I just watch it then as
the character, right, it's not me, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Well, I think that's really cool. I mean, I think
what you created with that is so meaningful to so
many people. Do you understand the magnitude of what you
created with the role of Caroline, Like, do you get
how important that is to people?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yes? I understand how important she is, the character is
to people. It's a hard thing for me to feel
that I had much participation of that, even though I
know that technically I'm like the fore like the front facing,
I'm like the face of that character. But I just
feel I was also given such a gift from the writing.
(12:13):
You know that the character got to have all of
these big experiences happen, and even though she was a vampire,
she went through very real life experiences like losing her
mother and having heartbreak and feeling deep deep sense of
insecurity and not being the hero of the story like
(12:33):
so often having to like sit in her mass a
little bit, and so there was this like built in
relatability that was written into the character that I by
no means feel that I brought the character. I also
am just such a super fan of all of the
writers we had, and of Julie Pleck and and the
opportunities that she and all the writers over the years
(12:55):
gave to Caroline. So it's hard for me to kind
of take that on for myself because I feel like
I got to, I was lucky enough to, you know,
fall in love with Caroline each episode as well. So
I understand what she means to fears because she means
a lot to me too.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
And there's not a lot of characters out there that
I feel like have that lasting impact, which is pretty cool.
It's a testament to the work that yes, the writers
of course did who are brilliant. But you brought her
to life, you know, like it was sink or swim
with you bringing her to life, and girl, you swam,
you swam, you swam.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Caroline's a good swimmer. I feel like like I just
got to, like, you know, hang on her life raft
or like piggyback, right, I don't know. She like my
kids always want to play dolphin in the pool where
they're just like riding on my back, and I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
It's it's it's such a joy to to still watch it.
And before we move on to your new show, which
I'm so excited about. I always find this fascinating when
it comes from the artists who created the character. When
you look back at all of your work with Caroline,
was there ever a moment you think on where you're like,
I'm not sure, like that moment was one I would
(14:05):
have included or maybe I would have done it differently,
Like do you ever think about that?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Not really, I think that the only time that got challenging.
And I feel like even if Julie was here, Caroline
Dreaz or you know, like would say the same thing,
which was navigating being pregnant while the character's pregnant and
it's a supernatural pregnancy, was probably like like a more
difficult dance over the years, out of all the things.
(14:34):
But no, because we also this was a different structure
of television. This is when we still had twenty two episodes.
There was even a year where we did twenty three,
so there was time to really let these characters breathe
and be and have these episodes that just were like
fun holiday episodes and which you really don't get. I mean,
they call them filler episodes, but I think there's so
(14:57):
much more than that. It's like it's it makes you
just feel like you're a part of the world, and
I miss that in television a lot, and I feel
like so in all those I feel like we just
got to be a part of the world. So I
didn't feel like I can't believe she did that because
these characters got to be like almost I know that
(15:19):
they were vampires for the most part, but they kind
of got to be human where some day some episodes
were they were just a little bit more not the
main story as others. But the pregnancy was tough because
I was really pregnant, and then they wrote in that
Caroline was pregnant with these super net spoiler alert, with
these supernatural like twin which babies. But I never looked
(15:43):
pregnant enough to have twins. So even though I was pregnant,
I had to still wear a fake belly over a
real belly.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Painful.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
It was just a lot of layers for how much
a pregnant woman has to pee in a day to
like unwrap, And so that was very interesting navigating that
was probably the only kind of like did it have
to be twins? And of course, like I met my
most pregnant and I finally look like pregnant enough and
(16:12):
they're like, you know what, we really need to do
a jump forward so she's no longer pregnant. It was like, great,
so Caroline's really puffy in the future.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I guess I.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Just had a lot of salt the night before.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Well, you still looked great. You looked great. You look great.
That is such a fun role that will forever be
in your arsenal. And now you're digging into something really juicy.
And that trailer that dropped for you, just your character
where you whisper in that year so vindictively, and dare
(16:48):
I say, evilly was so good. So tell me about
We Were Liars? What is it all about? Who do
you play? Give me the whole scoop.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Well, We Were Liars is a wi a book written
by Emily Lockhart, and it came out, I want to say,
in like twenty sixteenish around that time, and all of
a sudden, it really had this huge cult following become
quite obsessive with the book. In twenty twenty, it kind
(17:20):
of like exploded on the scene with book Talk, which
I've now learned the lingo from the kids what that is.
But it's really just like you know, big book lovers
on TikTok who create content about like their favorite books
and authors, And particularly with We Were Liars, people the
book talk fandom was videotaping, was taping them. Videotaping got
(17:43):
them so old, was recording themselves having a very emotional
reaction to the book, but not explaining why or what happened.
And what's so brilliant about this book is on the
back of the cover it says, if anyone asks you
what happens, just lie. So it's kind of this like
very mysterious story that people don't want to give too
(18:04):
much information about so you can really experience it for yourself.
I had heard about We Were Liars from Karna Mackenzie
and Julie Pleck before because they were so in love
with it and they really wanted to bring it to
our TV screens, and so by the time they were
able to option it finally after years of trying to
get it. I read it and I totally understood why
(18:24):
they were, you know, wanted to make this so so bad.
I was so thrilled I got to audition for the
part of Bess. And who the liars are. The liars
are these teenagers that live on this island, But it's
really about a family. It's about the Sinclair family who
spend their summers on their own private island called Beechwood Island,
(18:47):
off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. So as you can imagine,
this is a very wealthy family, and this is generational wealth,
think like you know, the Kennedy esque or murdoch esque.
And and so they go and spend these quiet summers
on their own private island, away from prying eyes, and
(19:07):
that's where all of their secrets seem to be buried.
But secrets don't necessarily stay buried very long, especially on
an island that is full of sand. And I play
best Sinclair. We are the mothers to the liars, who
are all teenagers, and we are also the daughters to
Harris and Clair and Tippers and Clair kind of the
(19:28):
patriarch and matriarch of the family. And in this particular
time period of their summer on the island. The story
of We Were Liars goes back and forth between this picturesque,
beautiful summer where a bad thing ends up happening, and
then the summer after where it's the fallout from the
(19:50):
bad thing, but we don't know what the bad thing is,
and the central character, Cadence Sinclair, is trying to figure
it out and piece together or her memories because no
one will tell her what happened.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Oh, I love a good mystery, and you really seem
like you play a character who might not be the
greatest human.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
She's you know, she's got some faults. You know. It
was really fun And what us, like older adults, us
women kind of just realize quickly when we got there
to start filming is what's really magical is inevitably, when
you're an adult you go if you go home to
visit your parents, there is a part of you that
(20:33):
regresses to this like childlike teenage state, you know, where
you kind of pick the same fights with your siblings,
you get irritated at the same things of your parents
that you did in those like teenage years, and it's
just impossible to not kind of have that regression a
little bit, and so we see them at home, we
(20:54):
see these like sisters in that regressive state like around
their parents, and they're also mothers, so it's kind of
this like you know, they're the adults, but that they're
also still like stuck in this like temper tantrum childlike state.
And Best Sinclair, who I play, she likes to believe.
(21:14):
She carries it as if she is the youngest of
the Sinclair sisters and she is the baby, and she
likes attention, and when she doesn't get it, she gets
very upset and she throws these like grand temper tantrums
that are like the temper tantrums of my dreams. I
think that we all wish we could be like that,
(21:36):
Like you get very envious of There's something really beautiful,
as obnoxious as it is, about a child who can,
just like in the middle of a store, have a
breakdown because they're hungry and they're tired, and they don't
want to be there anymore, and they don't like hearing
noahs an answer, and it's just not fair and these
(21:56):
kids will just have these big temper tantrums And the
reality is as we as adults wish that we could
do that. Yeah, some adults do do that and then
are carried off of planes, you know, but the best
in particular, it's like she would never have a temper
tantrment and it's just life has gotten too much for her,
(22:17):
and so it's they're coming out with a vengeance, and God,
they're just terrible and awful and embarrassing, but also really
freeing because it's so nice to see a woman who's
obsessed with perfectionism just finally saying, you know, forget it.
I'm going to stop my feet and I'm going to scream,
and I'm like and it feels really good to like
(22:39):
tap into that female rage.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, it's such a juicy role to tap into, and
I imagine that it must have been so exciting but
also maybe a little nerve wracking stepping into a role
like this that people know so well, right, and you're
coming off of a career where you're very known for
one character and then you've had lots of great jobs
(23:02):
in between, and this is now the next really big,
splashy thing. Like I see ads everywhere and promo's running
and I mean it's everywhere, Like I keep seeing the
show everywhere with that. Do you have any nerves stepping
into a role like that before you start shooting or
do you just have this like, nah, I got it personality.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, I don't know about that. I will always get nervous,
and I tell myself, I think that's a good sign.
If you're not nervous anymore than probably e they're a
little too confident, or maybe you're not as excited to
be there any It's like nice to have some nerves.
It's like kind of like that. It reminds me of
you know, coming back from summer vacation before the first
(23:41):
day of school. You're always going to be a little
bit nervous. And I think it's wonderful when everyone can
get to work and admit that everyone's a little bit
nervous on that first day. But I just I wasn't
nervous necessarily. I would obviously hope that, you know, people
see a different character. I feel that best Sinclaire is
(24:02):
so different from Caroline Forbes. But I also understand as
a TV viewer, when you like see your character like
the character that you know so well, it takes a
minute that this is a completely different world. Everyone keeps asking, like,
what's so similar about you know what's similar about We
were liars in The Vampire Diaries, and I'm like, nothing.
(24:24):
You know, there's a lot less blood, no one's biting
each other's necks, they're stabbing each other in the back,
maybe metaphorically, but it is a completely different show, which
really also gets me incredibly excited to be, you know,
working with Julie Pleck again and finally working in like
a true form with Krana Mackenzie, because I think that
(24:48):
these women not only do like elevate YA in such
a beautiful way, because I think everyone underestimates I think
the YA genre, like as far as books and television.
What I love about it so much is it brings
like those are the biggest feelings you ever have. You know,
(25:10):
when you fall in love for the first time, it
is all encompassing. It is if you can't be with
that person, it feels like the end of the world.
And even something as simple. There's these beautiful little clips
in the first episode, and little snippets and mostly in
the first episode where you see like their knees touching,
(25:30):
or you can see her like looking at like the
way his eyelashes like rest while his eyes like go
or reading his book, and it's like those little details
of like falling in love for the first time, like
I don't know, just gave me butterflies all over again,
remembering when I was a teenager. This is such a
long winded answer to say that it's a completely different
(25:51):
show and environment and and I wasn't nervous. I think
it's more just like I love this story so much.
I love the creator behind it so much. I've really
enjoyed getting to know Emily Lockhart, who was on set
a lot and also wrote the finale of this season.
And we pull so much from her book, Family of
(26:12):
Liars is you know, we really expand on the adult
characters and pull from like the prequel, which is, you know,
funny enough, the second book that she released from the series,
and so it really is a love letter to the
original pages. And I I'm just such super fans of
everyone who's been a part of bringing the show to
(26:32):
the screen that I'm like, that's what I'm excited about.
I just want people to see it at this point.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So you think the diehard lovers of the book.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Are going to love it, I really do, because the
creators and the showrunners and the author were just such
a part of it. Of course, there are going to
be certain logistical things that might change a bit here
and there, but there's so many little easter eggs throughout
the show that if you know, if you watching that,
(27:02):
like even if they just like wink to the original readers,
whether it's like the name of a boat or like
the exact fudge that was used, and like little things
from the book, which I love because I also is
someone who will read a book and then when it
comes to the screen, like I want that sense of
like the link to the audience saying that, like we
(27:22):
trust the source materials.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yeah, yeah, Oh my god, I'm so excited. Are you
able to let go after you do the shoot and
you've done your press and now it's coming out, Like,
are you able to just let it go in the
world or are you kind of like reading reviews and
checking TikTok and seeing what people are saying.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
No, I mean, the last time I was part of
a new show coming out in Totality was really I mean,
I had a BlackBerry. Let's do you know what I mean.
It's been a minute. So even though I've I've been
a part of other projects and worked. It's you know,
to be part of uh like, oh, it's series coming,
(28:01):
like a series launch. This is my first time in
a long time, and it's a completely different atmosphere now.
So I'm I don't know how I'll be. I know
i'll be excited. I'm just so ready for everyone to
see it. Filmed a year ago, so it's it's time.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Oh my god, I predict it's going to be massive.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So from your mouth to god.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Zeerous, I'm telling you, I predict that because you're you're
You're just so good at anything you do and I
feel like you are and I'm gonna be your hype
man right now. And I'm not just saying that because
we're friends. You just bring, you bring your full self
to what you do, no matter what kind of project
it is, whether it is acting, whether it's home decor
and renovating, you know, all of it. You just go
(28:47):
for it.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Well thanks, I mean, I will say, you know, it's
so as an actor, the reality is you always feel
lucky to have a job, you know, and it's like
so excited and to be like okay, I'm going to
work and then you hope like okay, well I enjoy
you know who I'm working with, you know, will that
(29:08):
be fun? And then be like, well, I actually also
do I enjoy like the actual project that I'm working on,
and to kind of be able to check all three
of those boxes is like a really very cool experience
and doesn't happen all the time, and this checked all
those boxes and more so, you know, obviously, selfishly, I'm like,
not only is this I mean, did I binge the
(29:29):
entire show again? But I also would love to be back,
you know, creating with this incredible cast and production again
because we truly had a wonderful time. I mean, the
show is beautiful. The second I started watching it just
to like get ready for the press one because it's
been a year since we filmed it, I immediately was like, man,
(29:49):
I want to go there. And then I'm like, no,
I was there. I know where that is. That's me.
You're running on that beach, and I know this little
town that's where I was drinking wine, Like I know
that is and it just it is beautiful. We filmed
in Halifax, Nova, Scotia, but we also filmed in like
little beach towns called like Lunenburg, and we lived there
(30:10):
for five months and had this, Like, you know, it
did feel kind of like we were on our own
little island. You know, it's pretty far, you're isolated, and
we all kind of got to lean each other on
each other like a family, and we really did all
enjoy working together. So it was it was very good.
Wasn't too shabby.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
You rose to the occasion. I'm confident of it. You
rise to every occasion you you haven't placed in front
of you, including maybe being a backup singer for Miley
Cyrus when she was Hannah Montana, which also, by the way,
I still get videos on my algorithm, so I think
I sent you one. Do they know, like are there
(30:51):
listening to our conversations outside of Instagram? Like what is
going on? But that video also surfaces quite a bit
so in the spirit of your singing, if you could
sing backup for anybody right now, who would you pay?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Oh god, no one. I'm a terrible backup singer. Backup
I like tricked everyone into like the you know there
are backup singers is a that is a whole serious
They like.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
You did it?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
I did it. I did it for a year. It
was one of the coolest years of my I I
was nineteen. I my So I started off in music
and I was signed to a label at the time,
and rather big label, and then unfortunately i'd gotten dropped
after I made my record and they keep the record
(31:38):
and and so I was like, I don't know what
I'm gonna do. And the producer that I'd worked with
on my record called me and said, hey, do you
need a job? And I was like, looking at like
a fake resume. I typed up to go and try
to be a waitress in La because you can't get
a job there unless you've already been a waitress, and
I hadn't done that yet. And I was a personal
assistant at the time, just trying to figure out like
(31:58):
what the next plan was. And I was like, yeah,
I need a job. He's like, great, it's this like
girl on Disney and like it's this like tour like
you in. I was like, I'm in. And I literally
thought it was gonna be like a mall tour. Oh
my gosh, Like I did not know what this was.
And then cut to would get there and she's so,
(32:18):
you know, cute powerhouse vocalist, even at fourteen, you know,
I think she I can't remember she turned fourteen or
fifteen on that tour and then lo and behold, it's
like cameras come in. They're they're filming a three D
experience of the entire tour. It's stadiums, it's like a
seventy two city tour, like the Jonas Brothers opened up,
like it was. It was insane, Like I went from
(32:43):
like thinking it was a mall tour to literally living
on a tour bus at nineteen, traveling no idea. Had
the time of my life. It was amazing. And then
and then and then that was it. It was one year
and then done. And then I was like, I think
I'm gonna focus on acting. And then a year I
booked The Vampire Diaries.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
That's wild. So you were a pop star for a year.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I got yes. I got to also realize, like, you know,
I had always wanted to be a pop star. That
was what I really wanted to do. And then seeing her,
I was like that, that's that's a pop star. And
but I got to do it. I did it. Like
friends would come out to the shows, Oh that's cool,
and it was so fun.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You must have been the coolest person around to your friends.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I mean, I mean, I don't know. I my like,
it was very cool. It was very fun. We all
kind of giggle it like a lot of the opportunities
we got back then. But yeah, it was it was
a it was a very cool gig. And and still
I mean that that definitely made me realize she I mean,
(33:46):
even then she was so talented. She's so incredibly talented now.
She's had that voice from day one. I remember just
hearing her singing.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Being like, wow, if you were in into Miley at
a party, would you pull up the video and say
I was your back?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
No, I don't even know if I had, Like, no,
I don't. We have mutual friends like that. Uh. One
of my best girlfriends has like written with her a lot,
and and so we have a lot of mutual friends.
We just haven't been in the same room. But I
don't know. I'm also kind of like, I think I
still have it in my head that I kind of
(34:21):
like float in the background that I I don't know.
I usually don't go and say hi to people. I'm
too know, because I've done it too many times where
I'm always like hi and people are like who are you?
And I'm like, yeah, I'm just gonna. I don't know.
I think I also like when I moved to LA,
I like had a lot of friends in the business,
and so I would always like be kind of the
(34:43):
friend holding the bag or the friend of and even
like you know, early days, and I don't know, it's
just been a very normal trajectory, so I never anticipate
that someone's gonna And also she's had a million people
work for it. By no means, do I think she
just like would be rude? I just, by no means
expect her to remember that girl that had bright red
(35:03):
hair and sing backup for her for one year.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Well, well, I don't know. If I'm in a room
with both of you, I'm making the introduction. So I'm
just putting that out there. I'm just putting that out there.
And to put a button on your pop star career.
What pop star today or then when we were coming up?
Would you have wanted to emulate? Like do you think
would have been your vibe?
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I don't know, I mean, like, would you have I
just remember no, I because I remember this was also
like the like early oughts, So this was kind of
post dance, you know, the dance pop star. It was
more like but I knew I wasn't like I didn't
have a guitar, so I was like Michelle Branch but
(35:48):
probably like in which I'm so happy for her because
I'm so happy she's like performing, like I see her
little clips on Instagram, just getting back out there. But
actually Simpson like crushed it like she it was the
horrific recipe. Her music was so great, Like I just
I feel like she I'm so happy that, like, like
(36:10):
I keep feeling like I keep seeing her in the
zeitgeist right now again, which makes me very happy because
she's also like an amazing woman and couldn't be kinder.
I've we found ourselves, like our kids went to school
together during we were around each other in twenty twenty,
like a little like covid pod and it was just
she's like the best. So I'm like, but she it
(36:32):
was just I feel like that time, like she was
like peak of what I was like, Man, yeah that's cool.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Oh I could totally see you having that vibe. I
would like to think I would be like an Alicia Keys. Yeah,
So I'm just putting that out there just like yeah,
just like playing like soulful and yeah, that's why I
tell myself that I'm Alicia.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
I know I always get mad that I can't play
an instrument or I feel like plain instrument speak a language.
Immediately You're just like this elevated cool person.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Well we can work on that. We'll work on that together,
you and me, babe.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I had all of twenty twenty. I was there, like,
did anyone see like Amanda Cipher, I know that I
always butcher her last name Cipher where she like jumped
on one of the late night chows and was like, yeah,
I just picked up this little ditty like during twenty
overachiever and then like started playing this like what is
it the harpstick or something, and like saying Joni Mitchell
and she was like, yo, just a hobby I picked up.
(37:23):
I was like, I mean I started watching a New
Housewives franchise.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Like equally as important. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
I guess I made. I made a human. Made did
like grow a human? Drink?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
You win? You grew a human. Speaking of your little
humans who I love, I'm so proud of you, and
I imagine you. Every parent I'm not a parent, but
hopes that their kids are also proud of them. Right,
So when you think back to like this moment in
(37:56):
your life and them being raised as kids and where
you are right now, Like what do you hope that
they would look at and say, oh my god, I'm
so proud of my mom and this is why, Like
what do you hope makes some proud of you?
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I I'm like most working parents, and not to gender it,
but I think a lot of working mothers just so
we're kind of like built as a society, there is
that like built in guilt, and there's I think like
just feels like there's a different expectation. You know. Even
(38:34):
going off to work for five months, I felt like
I constantly had to like explain myself for most apologize
and and so, and it is hard. You know. It's like, yeah,
mommy couldn't be there for the last day of school,
and mommy does have to get up really early. And
I hope that they remember. I hope that they don't
(38:56):
remember any of that, but I hope that they remember
the Like I really try hard to what I call
mommy magic a situation like and try to like create
something like a little extra magical. So even on the
days where I would work and have to be up
really early, I would let them like come and stay
(39:16):
in my bed and just we would do just like
mommy daughter, you know, slumber parties. And my oldest would
read lines with me with the appropriate lines, not maybe
with the non bad words, not the provoked scene that
you saw and maybe the cheeser, yes, but you know,
little things like that that I just hope that they
(39:38):
felt seen and like that. I just like to try
to play with them, and I hope they remember that
and and yeah, I have no control over that, because
it's great. I think so often. I think that's the
thing you learn as a parent is how little like
(39:58):
you do all these things and it's like you just
don't know what kids are going to remember. Yeah, even
my own parents will be like don't you remember this?
And I'm like, no, idea. There was something where my
parents are taking me on this big trip and I
was like, nope, I was seven years old and this
is where it was. And my dad was like, you
were not and I was like, Dad, I love you,
but you've never taken one photo of us as a family,
(40:19):
Like you don't remember half the things, like I know.
And he's like, I will bet you like twenty bucks
right now, and he found the photo and he was right,
Like I my memory of that time was very different,
and so I don't know what they're going to remember.
That's like a crazy part of parenthood. You do all
these things and it's just what gets cherry picked, and
(40:40):
it's almost like inside out, like what goes in like
the and like the discard bin, and like what stays
is those core memories.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, I don't know. Well, I think they're going to
be very proud of you when they grow up and
realize everything you've done for them and sacrificed for them.
The unit you made that's so beautiful and the memories
you make and you literally create this like little beautiful
life that I get some witness from Afar through little
glimpses on social and through talking to you. And it's
really cool that you do show working mothers particularly that
(41:09):
you can kind of you can do it all. It's
not always easy and there are better days than not, right,
but I think.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
That's it, Like you can't do it all, Like, if
I'm being honest, you can't, Like I cannot make my
kids breakfast when my pickup is at four thirty in
the morning, But.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Why does that have to be doing it all.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Because it feels like it needs to be See.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
That's where I that's where I want to change the story.
Is I think doing it all is doing what you're
doing now. It doesn't have to be this perfect. Yeah,
you know I have to get cook breakfast every day. No,
that's not realistic.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
But then some nights when like then your babies are
like I need you, like, or I woke up and
someone wakes up in the middle night because they had
a dream and and you like stay up with them,
and then you still have to get up the next
day and you're like, man, these lines are a lot
harder to remember. Yeah, like I had them last night
and then now I've only had a few hours of sleep.
And like there's those days too where it's like I
(42:05):
was really there's always it does feel like a trade off,
Like there are absolutely days where I was like, man,
you know what, I was a great mom today? Was
I a super great friend? Was I like, was I
as fully present as my job the entire time that
I would have liked to have been? Was I, you know,
the best partner I could be. I feel like it
(42:26):
is kind of this rotating thing where like there's certain
things that take priorities at different times, and there's some
times where I'm like, this is mommy, this is really
important that mommy works today. And I really I think
that that's kind of where I mean like having it
all that it kind of yeah, yeah, where your tension goes.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Yeah, yeah, I think for me, I want to I
encourage people to change the narrative that doing it all
isn't doesn't mean succeeding at it all. It just means trying.
It's just trying your damn best because that's all we
can do. And I think you're doing amazing and I'm
proud of you, and I will always gush and like
I said, be hype man, because it's it's a lot,
it's a lot of things to juggle and you're doing it.
(43:04):
So I'm I'm really happy to see and experience it
and be a little little spy in the corner. Okay,
we have a final question that is you know what
that is coming. But before we get to that, I
want to do a really quick, rapid fire pop culture
round with you because there's no one else that I
brought on my show that I know it'll appreciate this
because you are the queen of pop culture.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Okay, you know everything?
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Okay, you ready?
Speaker 2 (43:27):
These are rolling my shoulders back.
Speaker 1 (43:30):
These are three intense questions, and I need you to
really think hard about them. Okay. Number one, what was
the biggest pop culture scandal that rocked your world?
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Scandal?
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Oh? Really?
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Yeah? Oh. I was on a plane when that news
broke and I had wi FI and I gasped like
we were so basically we were stranded. I was supposed
to land in Nashville and they re routed to Memphis,
so we're just stuck in the air because of bad weather.
And I was like scrolling and it popped up like
what the first like it was. I was already scrolling
(44:06):
and it was like the first news break, and I
gasped so loud that the woman next to me said,
oh my god, is everything okay? And I just looked
at her and said, do you watch vander Pump Rules?
And she goes no, and I go okay, and then
she goes, where are you from? And I go not
right now, no, No, we are not talking right now
(44:32):
because you don't understand what's happening. And I cannot speak
with you on this matter. I cannot explain it. I
have to focus.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
All right. Yeah, wow, I'm a little hot and sweaty
for you. I feel like I'm living it's crazy, okay,
all right, fair enough, all right. Number two, what was
the greatest moment in music history throughout the course of.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Your life or the course of my life?
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Was there like a performance at an award show, a song,
a consert like what for You is one of the greatest.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
I think the Era's tour. Seeing the Eras tour in
La I remember seeing I saw so many, like all
the pop stars when I was young, of like Christina
Aguilar justin Timberlake. I remember seeing the Spice Girls, e
those just the four of them. But I feel like
it's hard to I go to concerts all the time.
(45:27):
I got to see Brittany Howard with with help me
anyone in the room because she performs on her own
so often with the Alabama shakes thank you in Atlanta,
like they didn't even make it into this concert venue.
They were like in the backyard of this concert venue.
And I just remember being like, well, she's a super
(45:50):
such star. God, I love her. I still like tear
up every time I see her perform anywhere. In Nashville,
and then recently I got to say, like the we
Could performance during the Oscars balled like a baby so good,
I know, and then Beyonce a bowl. I can't even
I know. I literally was like to my children, I'm like,
(46:10):
you guys have to watch this. This is important. It's
important O your history, I know. And I'm gonna go
see Cowboy Carter in a couple of weeks, so I
feel like that's gonna be my new answer. Music is
my love language. I love it so much. I just
love seeing I love seeing anything live. So I have
a really hard time coming up with a short answer
for that.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
That's a good roundup. I appreciate it. I respect that
favorite celebrity couple then or now.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I mean, I think we have to give it to
the theatrics of benefit.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
I thought you were going to give me Britney and
Justin back in the day. I'm okay, because they were babies, Okay, respect.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
And I and like, I don't know, that's been an
interesting I don't know. I'm not going to expand on
that too much. Okay, you just said celebrity couple. That's
who popped into my.
Speaker 1 (47:00):
All right, Benifer were like that and the last one,
I had to tie you into pop culture because it's
probably one of the most talked about relationships in television
is between Caroline and Klaus, which is so funny. Why
do you think people are obsessed with it? And what
do you think of that relationship?
Speaker 2 (47:15):
So I don't know. I feel like I've never watched
the show in totality, and I told my daughter when
she's ten that we can watch it, and so that'll
be next year, so then maybe I'll understand. But what's
so funny is that Caroline and Klaus were never supposed
to be a thing. It was that would have been
the second season, I think, where he came in and
(47:39):
there's some they basically just like had you know, Caroline
got hurt or something and then he had to like
save her. She was a damsel in distress, which happened
with Caroline a lot in those early years, and it
was truly a non non thing. It wasn't the scene
wasn't built up as some big introduction to these characters.
(48:00):
It was literally just a scene that was supposed to
service like Klaus having like a slight bit of humanity
within him so you could get to know him better
as character. That is it point period, end of sentence. Suddenly,
that night after it aired, hashtag claraline like phill like
rose to the top of Twitter. It was like this
whole thing and the writers were laughing because no one
(48:22):
caught that as like some sort of like romantic moment.
So then so then they started every once in a
while would like write a fun scene between them just
to tease the audience. That was it. It was just
supposed to be like some silly like fun thing for
the audience every once in a while. And still to
this day it is like the biggest talked like question
(48:43):
that I get of, Like people love those two together
and I don't know if it's because like he wanted
her so deeply and she would be like show like
I don't want but everyone is convinced that, like they
were the end game from the beginning, and even Joseph
and I like we're kind of giggling. We're like, well,
I don't like we had fun do uring our scenes,
(49:07):
but like it was just it was really funny that
this was always this, but when are they going to
end up together? And I do like that, you know,
it wasn't this like big, long like relationship that people
always kind of got to want what they couldn't have,
which is also what I think. I think Caroline maybe
didn't know what she wanted and he wanted what he
(49:28):
couldn't have, and so I like that the audience got
to sense that, like feel that as well. In all
those seasons. It's iconic, but it is so funny. So
maybe I'll get it when I rewatched the show one day. Yeah, yeah,
and have my ten year old explain it to me.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
There we go. Well, it's an iconic relationship and for
that reason, you were in the pop culture round up.
You survived. Congratulations you did it.
Speaker 2 (49:52):
Rapid fire is probably you intended, but.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
That was brilliant And Candace, as we wrap up the show,
you know that question is coming, and it's based off
the title of my show, which is, what is one
thing you've never said before? And I know that's probably
so hard for you, especially to me, because we've talked
about everything, but as you know, it was born from
having two minutes with people on a carpet or a
(50:16):
junket and you just don't have time for real connection
and conversation besides kind of the bite size bites about
the projects. So is there anything today that you can
think of, whatever that means to you that you've never
said before that you want to share.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Yeah, I know we kind of touched on it. I
mean I think that I have probably put a bit
of a shinier bow on. Like I love what I
do and I'm really proud of what I do. I
love my career, I love to work. I really love
being a mom. I love being a mommy. It's also
(50:51):
what I've always wanted to do. And I think I
keep waiting for it to feel like like I won't
feel that like mom guilt and that I won't feel
this like that it's really hard to be away from
my kids, and I like I've just had to accept
(51:11):
that it's just going to be. It's just hard, and
and that for better or for worse, it is what
it is, as opposed to it's okay, like it it
just it is really hard. And I think that so
I've thought about the way that I talk about being
a working parent and while like the support of community
(51:32):
is so important, like even working on we were liars.
I mean, thank God for this incredible cast and also
like the women who were who played you know, my sisters,
the three of us were all there filming, and we
all were mothers to young children, and so we got
to lean on each other for that support. And it
was just I think sometimes in a public facing way,
(51:53):
I'll put like I'll shine it up and put a
bow on it and be like, yeah, but it's all
part of it, and you know, whereas like it's so,
it doesn't always feel like that, And so I wanted
to kind of give that justice too, that even on
the days where you have like a great sense of
community and you know that like you're going to look
back and it's going to be okay, and your kids
(52:15):
are not going to remember every single little thing and
you do everything that you can, there will still always
there's like that feeling I'm learning to make even if
I'm making friends with the feeling of like being away
from my kids, knowing that like that feeling's going to
have to have a seat at the table and like
all right, well they're here and it's part of it.
So if anyone is like a working parent and feels
(52:38):
that way and feels like well everyone else seems to
be finding it to be just fine, that I guess
I just want them to feel seen and be like
it's okay if it's not fine.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Oh I love that. Yeah, that's such a great answer,
and I think a lot of parents probably go through
that without talking about it. So I appreciate you, you know.
Speaker 2 (52:55):
Of the bummer sometimes it's like, but it's also it's
the real and I am you know. I used to
get a lot of jokes being like I'm just like
the glitter like a glitter bomb, you know. I've like
like to be sunshine and the positive, put a positive
twist on everything. And I like that part about myself.
I really really do. I I've shut that down before
(53:19):
and that doesn't feel right either. I like trying to
find the positive, you know. The lemonade, I really really do.
This is just a I think a part of you know,
being a parent that I keep trying to like put
some lemonade twist on it. And I'm like, you know what,
maybe this isn't the lemon Maybe this is just the lemon.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yeah, and it's okay to honor that too. Oh my god,
I love that and I love.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
You so I'm so happy for you, Like this is
just my favorite day. I really am. I'm just so
proud of you, and I hope like your biggest cheerleader,
and I just I'm really happy for you.
Speaker 1 (53:59):
Well I feel the same way, and I'm so proud
of you. This show We Were Liars is going to
be a massive, massive hit. I know it. I am
declaring it right now. Everybody can watch it on.
Speaker 2 (54:11):
It's on Amazon Prime, so you can watch it stream it.
It is. All episodes are coming out and we'll be
released on June eighteenth. So it is. It is a
very bingeable show. And if anyone asks what the show
is about once you've watched it, remember lie, do not google, like,
(54:33):
do not research anything. Just go into the show and
enjoy the escapism. Fall into this world like you would
fall into reading, like a good juicy book.
Speaker 1 (54:44):
And yeah, just enjoy and everybuddy go watch it. I
could talk to you for four more hours, but we're
going to go to lunch and continue this, so let's go.
Thank you for hanging out. Thank you. I've Never Said
This Before is host it by me Tommy. This podcast
is produced and edited by Mike Coscarelli, and executive producers
(55:05):
are Andrew Paglici and Katrino Norvel at iHeartRadio. I've Never
Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran Podcast
Network on iHeart Podcasts for more rate, review and subscribe
to our show. And if you liked this episode, tell
your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy de Dario
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