July 8, 2026 • 35 mins
Oscar-winning actor, singer, dancer & Broadway powerhouse Ariana DeBose syncs up with Kyle to discuss surviving the grind of eight shows a week, growing up as a dance kid, fighting the Revolutionary War onstage and how therapy fits into the life of a performer. After riffing on why she doesn’t do small talk, the responsibility that comes with winning an Oscar and the joy of messy people, Ariana and Kyle play a game where they channel wedding singers, flight attendants, and of course, Disney princesses.
Tune in every Wednesday for new episodes of What Are We Even Doing?
Executive Producers: iHeart Media, Elvis Duran Podcast Network & Full Picture Productions
Executive Produced for Full Picture Productions by Desiree Gruber & Anne Walls Gordon
Produced by Ben Fingeret, Nora Faber & Maia Mizrahi
Editing by Mikey Harmon & Nicholas Giuricich
Research by Kimberly Walls
Music by Yatta
Art by Danica Robinson
Additional GFX by Chris Olfers/The Southern Influence
Styling by Dot Bass
Follow us on socials!
Instagram: @wawedwithkyle
TikTok: @wawedwithkyle
YouTube: @kyle_MacLachlan
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What do we even do?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What are we even doing?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Hello, great big world.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hi, it's Kyle, your host of what are we even doing?
Sitting down with creatives and wonderful wonderful performers actors, dancers, musicians, singers.
That's a hint. Today we have actor, singer dancer Oscar
Golden Globe winner. Yeah, this is a couple of paragraphs,
so you keep prepared among many other awards. Arianna Debos
(00:33):
is with us even incredibly talented. But I want to
first start off and say, so it's cookie dough and
soft blank. Is that right? Those are the guilty pleasures.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I do enjoy cookie dough.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I used to be soft blank, and then I discovered
I was allergic to white grapes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
No, but red's fine.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Okay, white grapes, But that's a travesty because we're like
going into summer, and like, who doesn't love a white wine.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well here's what you could do. Rose is a good
choice because it's a red grape. Although it's super super
super thing.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I do love a rose. I was really into the
whispering angel of it all a minute. Sure, Like because
I once I find something, I'm like, oh I like that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm a creature of habits. I go by back to this.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Am I as am. I I agree, and it's actually
a quality product. So that's good. It's a quality product.
I'm here to sell you. I love that we're starting
off with wine and food. Food.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I love to eat. I love food.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I don't always know what I'm eating because I will
go for an experience, like you know, but I really
enjoy just like ambiance and great.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Food and great space show.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Is that maybe because I know you're from Wilmington.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I was born in Wilmington.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yes, And I feel like in the South in particular,
especially North Carolina, the food there is so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
We eat. I mean a lot of it's creamed, but
you know it does.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
We have found some good alternatives, though. I love nothing
beats North Carolina barbecue.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I am very much.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
That girl that I will fight you over the North
Carolina barbecue.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is the best.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Versus Texas or or or Midwest.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yes, like I cannot with the other sauces. I want
vinegar based.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Oh interesting, Barbie run, I run a little sweet with
my barbecue. Really, I prefer that I prefer the sweet
and then the vinegar is right in there neck and next, okay.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Then we gotta get you some good North Carolina barbecue because.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It changed my life.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You know, my first my first.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Gave me the meat sweats, but it changed my life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We don't sleep, you know. Actually you do sleep for
the first two hours and then you're then you're up
for the rest of it. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it.
That and wine. It shares those things. North Carolina is
such an amazing I've spent a lot of time in
North It's weird. I started at Flat Rock Playhouse, which
was Yeah, Hendersonville Brevard Music College is there, which is amazing.
(02:56):
You never did you ever know?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I'm one of those weirdos that didn't go to college
or school. I mean I went to school right high school.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's great. Wait for as Rolls Bell Forever.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Seems like you knew what you wanted to do at
a pretty young age.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yes, right, I mean that's very correct.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
They put me in dance glass like studio, ballet, tap jazz.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
But when I was three, I'm told they would play
music and I just always do this, okay. So that
was the activity and I loved it. I was oddly
competitive about it. I didn't like it when other students
did the steps wrong, and then I, I guess you
could call it precocious. I would literally be like, no,
that's not it. Let me help you, and I would
(03:38):
take the other girl's hand and try and make help
them do the steps better.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Very thoughtful, Gen's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think some kids didn't really like that. Yeah, but
that's okay, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
And then I was eleven when I realized sort of
like the emotive quality of movement and that I was
making people feel when I was performing. And that's when
I was like, oh, I like I like that. I
like that connective tis shoe and energy.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah. So it started off as a puzzle. Maybe great exercise.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Great, I mean excellent exercise.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, it's extraordinary. And I danced for yeah you did years,
Yeah you did? Oh my god. I wouldn't call it
dance actually, But it was in an effort to like
work towards I wanted to work on Broadway. I wanted
to work in musical theater.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I continually appreciate Broadway in a way that it can,
at its best celebrate the triple threat. Like there was
a time even in old Hollywood films where if you
did not dancing, and act. Well, you you weren't getting
no jobs, right, And so when I came to the theater,
I didn't realize there was an option to like not
(04:46):
dance or not saying. I thought you really had to
do all three at the same time. Now it's a
little like, no, you can be a parking mark like
we just where you just stand and sing, and you
sing so beautifully and so masterfully that everyone is wowd
by you.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And I would love to just be good at one thing?
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Like? Can I please be good at one one thing?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I am good at many things, and I'm grateful to
be good at many things.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Would you put the you put the work in I do,
I would be good at these things.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It just never made sense to me that I had
the option of only being excellent at one thing.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Do you think that people who go and watch a
show really understand all that goes into doing that performance.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I mean there's an appreciation, but I mean from my
experiences in various shows, it really is a full time job.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It looks very shiny. I mean we're up there, we
look you know, like.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Rock theater rock stars in a way, and a spectacle
is the name of our game. But I think there's
a there's a real physical cost, there's a real emotional
cost depending on what story you're telling as well, And
there's a lot lot of prep that goes into that,
not just like the education factor, but I mean when
I was doing Hamilton, I was getting up. I would
(06:07):
if I could, I would attempt to go to the gym,
but I was doing so much body maintenance. Like I
was going to the chirofracture, I was in that, I
was visiting my acupuncturist.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I was in therapy. Yes, like I was doing all
of the things.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, just to be able to show up and do
my show, which is your primary job.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That's if you're lucky, you're not working two jobs, you're
working the one job.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I know that that eight shows. I don't know, it's
which is why maintenance is so important.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well in the the idea of doing something over and
over and over again in the same way, but it
feels fresh and new wear and tear on the body
over and over and over again. It's like, don't talk
to me about my shoulders.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, but you know what I mean. I thought the
revolutionary were eight times a week for you all my
shoulders got and that will never be the same.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
The bullet. I mean, I remember going to see the
show and it was just like it was such a
remarkable interpretation. I was just like, this is what a
cool thing to be able to do.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Oh, I loved it.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I didn't realize what an acting challenge it was going
to be. I was very grateful for that experience because
it reminded me how dancers are great actors.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
With a challenge like that, it's like.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Okay, I'm embodying the I just called it the Angel
of Death. I was like, she's the bullet, but she's
my version of the Angel of Death, And like, how
do I thread this needle in a compelling way whether
or not the audience is really realizing that's what I'm doing.
They don't need to, but they need to feel this presence.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, kind of lurking. Yeah, And I just thought that
was fun.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I love the way you interpreted that. You made it
personal because when you say angel of Death, suddenly a
whole palette of things comes up that you can do,
that you can draw from.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It gave me a really fun toolbox. I was never bored.
I'll tell you that. I was never bored. Yeah, it
might have been in pain and exhausted, but use it.
Never I did. Oh channel it into the way.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You know. I know Renee. I work with Renee. She
she love her, love her. And again, what a talent.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
What a voice, what a voice? And what It's just
like a light. She's one of those humans that walks
into a room and the air shifts. Oh yeah, I
really feel like in the in the right way, shifts
in the right way. You're very curious cat.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I am a curious cat. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's fine.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Like, I don't know if you're realizing I have social anxiety.
I've developed that, so sometimes I get nervous when I'm
just talking to people.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But I much prefer the one on one.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Oh this is yeah, this is this is the way.
This is the way to roll. I love what I do,
you know, And I'm but I'm so curious about how
others approach it and what what drives and what stimulates them,
you know, what excites them, you know. And uh, And
I'm also I got to say, I'm very taken with
you because you you do something that I was kind
(09:01):
of going to maybe do. I don't I don't have
any regrets. You know, it's like I want a different direction,
but you are the embodiment like the West Side Story,
who doesn't want to, you know, be in that musical.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That was literally just a dream job. I don't know
that I'll ever have a job like that.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You will, you will, But I know what you mean.
There are special jobs.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That was a special job. It really was.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I mean, even just kind of the way it happened
was quite magical because I was just convinced.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I was like, this is a joke. They are punking me.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Why am I bothering He's never going to choose me, right,
which my great lesson was like, don't decide for them,
just go in and just show up, Just show up,
just say yes.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Do something. But it just was like tape and you
went in me the person I was at a progression
of things.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
It was a progression of things.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I did go in kind of early on in their
process and read for Cindi Tolan and her associates. And
I had braids in my hair at the time, so
I looked really Caribbean and I was like, oh, because
I don't know, there's like a misconception about what latinos
Latina has look like right, And I was like, well,
(10:12):
I am very Puerto Rican, but my hair is giving
something different that may not immediately clock that for people.
But I changed my hair every two days, so I
don't care anymore.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It looks great today, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But yeah, I just I went in initially, didn't hear
anything for a good long time, and then suddenly I
got a phone call. I was like, can you please
come in tomorrow? And I was like, Hi, I'm playing
Donna Summer and I have two shows tomorrow, Like what
are we doing here? And I've never been so bold
in my life.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, well it's a bit. I mean, I understand that
the reaction is like, hey, you know, I'm not just
someone that you can wind up and send out. It's
like this, this is my job, this is what I do.
I was like, and you got to give me a
little bit of warning.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Can I get some warning? And then I like, let
me just send you the packet. Let me send to
the pack and I'm like, okay, some of the packag
So I look at the pack and it's like pages
and pages and I was.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Like, oh, absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
What Arianno Tobosa is not doing is that tomorrow with
no time to prep Like, who's going to go in
and do him cold read looking unprepared?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Not I said the fly, yes.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But I didn't realize he like Stephen was there, like
I was not prepped to walk in.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
And there's full disclosure.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
No, there was, there was no transparency.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Oh god, I did not look at him and I
was like, oh, I'm not doing this today.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Just learn the steps. Learn the steps. And thank god.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Cindy Tolan is a real ment, like just a great
human being, and she was like, you don't have to read,
and I was like, thank you. I'll come back if
he likes me, if there's a remote interest.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I love that because there's a little bit of you
taking control more than a little bit. You're saying I
can do this, this is where I will shine. But
if you're asking me to learn pages of dial overnight.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, well and adapted pages too. Not for nothing.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Tony Kushner is arguably one of our most brilliant writers.
And I was not in the mood to go in
and butcher his text.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Right, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
In the mood.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I'm not in the mood to make a mockery of
this really beautiful writer.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
A great response.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So it did work out in my favor. And I
didn't realize it was very inherently very anitah like I.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Wasn't really clocking it. I was just like, I don't know.
I caught the spirit and was like, no, not today.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I need to feel that, like if something comes a
rule or something, because I sometimes feel like I begin
to transform strange things inside. Can you describe that, because
I don't really know how to describe what.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Happens when I have an idea for a character or
I feel like the character just like I describe it
as like they come and they sit on my chest. Yes,
and I'm like, okay, I get it. You're there, all right.
I need to do this. Little things will happen physical
where I start to shift already, Like well before I
step on a stage or roll a camera, I try
(13:08):
to clock it so that I don't come off as.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Just the most schizophrenic person, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Like you you don't know who you're gonna get today,
Like actors are moody. That's one thing, and I love
that for us because it just shows we have we're.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
In touch with all of our emotions. That's great.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
But to me, it's just like a character coming forward,
so I know what's in my toolbox. Yeah, and I
like to know so I feel it and then I
go back.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
To being Ariana.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I don't know. That's like how I think it's.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sort of feel. It just reminds me of I think
something al Patina we can talk about, Yeah, which is
I there are something about they're all parts of me.
This isn't the right quote, but I guess there are
a lot of mes in. There's something so many in me, right, yeah,
something like that.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
He does have a lot of MEAs in him. Yes,
but we all do.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I think it's our our willingness to feel all the
different versions of ourself and let them out and let
them out. Had characters that actually scared me a little
bit because I was just.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Like, oh, I don't realize that going to be that
dark yep. I was like that got dark fast. But
you know I.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
That's when I just constantly like try to work on
Ariana and like keep myself aligned so that I know
when to bring it back, yeah, and not go too crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I know that that feeling. I played a character and
the New Twin Peaks recent with David quite quite quite dark.
It took a little pushing to get in there. But
when you start putting on for me, sometimes you just
kind of put the clothes and the thing and you
begin to and you begin to transform. And then you
walk out of your trailer and you're like, I am Now,
(14:45):
I'm not one hundred percent. I'm not an asshole when
I got out there like that. But but I'm like, okay,
I'm carrying this, Yes, and he's just under the surface. Yeah,
And then you just let him do his thing, and
then it's the taking off of the character that I've
and I've never had that experience before, Like when I
really had to like put him away, yes, to drive
home to see my family, my young son and my wife,
and I'm like, he ain't coming close to my house?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Correct? Correct? You know what I mean, Like leave him
like five miles down the road. Yes, at least.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yes, It's tough.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
It really is tough. I get that way.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I don't know if you feel this way, But there
are some scenes you talk about like having to push
yourself to like go go, go be the character. Like
that will manifest for me in a way of like
I don't want to do this scene today. I don't
want to do the scene today. I really don't want
to do this scene today. Okay, I'm doing this scene today.
Like you know, it happened with like the Anita morg scene,
like identifying a body.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I was like this, Oh gosh, oh that's awful, that's awful.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I don't want to see anybody. Don't look me in
the face, because the second anyone looks at me, I'm
a goner.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Like because you work yourself up or the body.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I find acting so fascinating because some of the scenes
and situations that will you know, play out, the body
doesn't know that it's not real. Yeah, mind might, but
the body doesn't. And so having to unwind.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
All of that after the fact take it off can
be really challenging. Which is wild off therapy.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, therapy is. Yeah, film you know you're doing the
scene once you know it said day on stage. This
is where I'm like people that can visit those places
every night and sometimes twice a day.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It's impressive you.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Have such a to really visit it, not you know, you.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Can not just touch it.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
I'm like these folks that are diving into the well
of whatever the abyss is.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
It was such an exciting moment when you won the Oscar,
and I want to say specifically that you are the
first queer woman of color to receive an Oscar in
the acting category. Does that bring with it a certain
responsibility or a feeling or what what what I mean?
From winning You're like, hey, I am kind.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Of I mean, it's definitely a it's a thing. It's
definitely a thing.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I think anytime there's you're a first, You're an uncharted territory.
You know, there's not a handbook for how to handle
it or how to feel. In my case, I was
so thrilled for myself and all the communities that I
belong to, because I really do believe like when you
(17:32):
shine light on one of us, you're shining light in
like all of us in different ways.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
So that was very very special about it.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But I also in the aftermath of it was like,
I can't make a wrong move, and I developed a
lot of fear to the point where like even doing
press for me in the last few years has been
challenging because I'm afraid I'm going to say the wrong thing,
and I'm an opinionated person, and I'm like, oh, it
brought to me like this odd self censorship filter. Yeah,
(18:05):
I was filtering things, trying to make myself palatable so
that I didn't offend anyone and I didn't mess up
the gain, the gains that we had made. It's like
we got here, one of us did it, so more
of us can do it. Like this is awesome, But
I can't.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Be the person that messes it up for everyone.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
That part of it has been personally challenging to navigate.
But you can't stop doing the things that you love.
You can't stop living. You got to keep going in
the living. Some of my favorite people in the world
are the messy ones. You can be a quote unquote
like poster child totally, but like being messy is human
(18:46):
and I am an actor. I'm in the business of
being human and being messy. So once I've got back
to a space of not just being up here and
totally like cuckoo banana pants and terrified all the time,
the integration of the two got me back to the
living of it all.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Beautiful journey.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yes, it's strange, it's just strange.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I don't know if I would characterize it as struggle,
but I do think it's when you are first, it's
hard to enter into the conversations of having your challenges
with it because people want to see you shine, and
we are shining and thriving, but that doesn't mean.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
There's not challenge within all of that.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
And I think, you know, celebrity and social media and
all of these things, they just want to see us
looking fabulous and being at the fashion show.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
So I think that's great perks of the job.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
But they don't necessarily see the other side.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
They don't living in the world we're living in. It
is a shame to kind of detach the humanity from
the artist.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It's a real shame. I'm like, you're missing the good stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
If we could just cultivate the art of listening again
and being able to see each other, like really see
each other. I was like, I'm a very sensitive person.
I walk down the street and I can feel when
someone I don't know is having a moment and is
not well. I call it a people skill, and I
don't know that we have. We're not in tune with
(20:20):
those as much anymore. I mean, you could make the
argument that maybe we never were, but I think the
way through.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Especially as an artist, is.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Like just stay in tune and see like, see the humanity,
that's where the ugly bits are, That's where the challenging
bits are.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
It's where the glory and the euphoria is. But you
can't have one without the other.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And to sit here and act like we can't talk
have those conversations, I just I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Clearly, I don't do small talk.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I love the way you extrapolated that, and because it
does completely make sense.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, I think I had a teacher, Tammi Holder. There
was this really cool program in my home state in Raleigh,
North Carolina, and it was like a summer program where
theater kids from around the county would come together and
make musical for six weeks and it was just really
great because none of us really went to school together.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
And I did that for three years and in lots
of different roles.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
The first roll I got cast in was Aida and Aida,
and I was like, what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I didn't know I could sing? I did not like.
Tammy Holder was like that girl can sing. I was like, okay, cool,
thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So it was me and Heather Headley from the I
was listening to Heather Edley trying to figure out how
to do this and then I was in the ensemble
of a miss and then I was Cassi in a
chorus line. I call her Blassie. Yes, I can say that.
But like the going through the different kinds of shows
(21:55):
and playing different roles like it just those summers changed
my life, yes, right, and and the ethos of coming
together from all walks of life to make the thing
like we were helping to make our costumes like we were.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Doing completely immersed in the Yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I love that that program doesn't exist anymore, but I'd
like to bring it back.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
We talked about a couple of things, both toe oh
yeah and lyrics, which I know you can't say a
lot about, but I'm curious about that only because I'm
a huge fan of the play. Yeah, so tell me
what you can say.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
No. So I am in a film called Lear Rex
Uh it's al Pacino is playing King Lear. And then
what I liked about the script when I read it,
it's an adaptation right and the whole And when I
met with with our director, I was like, look, I
did not go to Juilliard. I am not change Fear trained.
(22:52):
So I know you've hired Jessica Chastain. I love that
for her, but I also yeah, and she's real.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Good at it. I trust love Shakespeare. I've learned from Shakespeare.
I love the rhythms, the prose. But what I really
liked about this script with that it.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Was making that story tangible to the ear for today.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
That element of it was very exciting to me.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
And I really loved the cast that I got to
work with going to work.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Every day, which, mind you, I played Cordelia, so I
didn't work as much as everyone else did.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But when I was there and I got to watch
and just be a sponge, I didn't realize how badly
I needed to.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Watch other people work.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
I mean, how many times do you get to work
without Alphacino or.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Watch him work? And then you asked me about TOW.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's just a beautiful, inspirational kind of slice of life
film in a way during Roseburns, Stephanie Lang film who
I just become madly in love with as a director,
A queen's queen, like she's just she knew what she wanted,
she knew how to get it, trust did her crew.
(24:02):
And then when she knew we got it, we moved on.
There was no wasting time. I loved making TOW so
much because it ultimately is a true story about Amanda
Ogle who was unhoused and living in her car and
searching for a job and her her daughter was living
(24:22):
with her ex husband at the time, like circumstances that
I find highly relatable to so many people in this
country at this time, and she never gave up. Her
car is stolen and then towed and she has to
fight the man to get her car back and it
took her one hundred and some odd days to.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Do so, but she did not give up.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
It's amazing and I love that sentiment that like, it
doesn't matter what your circumstances, you don't have to let
those circumstances define you. And resilience can and should be
the way even when it's hard.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
It is so hard to get up some days.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
And I'm learning this now in my own personal journey,
Like it's the easier choice to stay in bed, but
the living and the learning and the not letting powers
that be quote unquote when is getting out of bed. Yeah,
And I'm very much in a get out of bed mood.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Good for you. You know what gets me out of bed?
What coffee too?
Speaker 3 (25:22):
So yeah, Hope Booth, I just think their mission is incredible.
I met their founder, Gloria at the Loreal Women of
Worth gala this past October and she just spoke so
passionately about what Hope Booth is doing. And they literally
refurbish phone booths, like they found a way to recreate
(25:46):
the concept of a phone booth in the towns that
they have installed them.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And you walk into the Hope Booth and based using.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Technology in conjunction with healthcare providers and trained therapists, et cetera,
they have developed a way for you to like take
your minute if you're in crisis, or if you're having anxiety,
just any for any reason. But it is a mental
health Hope Booth And whether it's using breath breath work
or or mantras or helping your eyes focus on a
(26:18):
game or getting getting you you know, to the crisis
help that you need or speaking with someone, you can
do it from the from the Hope Booth. And I
just love that it's an effort to make healthcare real,
mental health care free and available in whatever city you're in.
So I partnered with them during this Mental Health Awareness Month.
(26:40):
Just try and join light on the organization and there's
a link in my Instagram bio if you would like
to become a Hope warrior with me and donate, I
you know, because I think I just think every little
bit helps And how cool would it be to just,
you know, maybe you're stressed at work and you can
walk out your workplace, walk down the street.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
And do a hope booth and be like, Okay, yeah,
I just need a sick. It's gonna be okay.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
But I need a sick And what do you have
for me that can help me balance these emotions real
quick so I can go back and be my best self.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
We're gonna do a little game if you you're up
for it. Yeah, I mean, ship pshaw. I came all
this way, I came all this way, come back. We
designed it just for you. You know what it's called. What's
it called in de boze mode? Yeah? Yeah, in that mode.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Really good trademark that.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I go back again, okay, segment we designed just for you. Okay,
de boze mode, debo mode. I mean, honestly, you have
such a show stopping presence, which is true and the
manner in which you deliver lines okay, okay, from being
the embodiment of death in Hamilton, who, of course Angela
(27:54):
Bassett did the thing.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Because she did, she's still doing still, why is any
would arguing?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Well, in this Sae, I'm going to give you some
totally bland, everyday sentences and ask you to deliver them
in different voices and scenarios. Carson, that's an old night reference.
You are the killer in the horror.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Film, the killer in a horror film.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Okay, she's the first line, the killer in a horror
drum roll.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Oh bless, Okay, I got this, I.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Got this killer horror film.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
M okay, we're out the paper Dows.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I did not expect that. That very good.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Wear out of the paper Dows.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
My god, oh my god. Okay, great, Oh that's perfect. Okay.
Number two, you are a flight attendant preparing the passengers
for tank off a flight, A flight at caring the
passengers for takeoff.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Mhm hm hmm, Ladies and gentlemen. I want pineapple on
my pizza, but never mushroom.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
That is I thought I was on the flight to Tucson.
I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Songs specifically, specifically, that was it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Probably I would like pineapple on my pizza. Never.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
That was very good. Okay. Here we are number three.
You are a musical artist accepting.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
A Grammy my choice of genre.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
You're a musical artist.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Okay, except, okay, okay, okay, here we go.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
I just.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Please remember to refill the bretta. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Repel the breada thank you so much of my bad.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I love y'all. Re the bretta.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Right to North Carolina and we went right to Okay,
here we are before. You are a Disney princess falling
in love. Yeaes the moment of falling in love.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Okay, h oh, please remember to remove your shoes before entering.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
The only way to make it work is the same.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
You have to say this one. Oh, this is straightforward.
You are Alexander Hamilton.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
You Alexander Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, yeah, Alexander Hamilton Hamilton. I'm not giving away.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Miney literally, that's what's going on.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I hear you can everyone see my screen?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Sorry I was on mute. I just have this like
image like can everyone see my screen?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Oh, I'm sorry, I was on mute.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
It's very lin Manuel Miranda with the you know what
I mean?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That was beautiful. You channels see the channeling, channeling, go
to channel you are a wedding singer.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Oh, no, wedding singer, and I'm just like running through
the rolodex of popular wedding singer song.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Oh gosh, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
No, okay, wait, this is oh I want this to
be really good because this is funny. Yikes, I'm at
a loss.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Are you on this one?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I'm actually at a loss.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Wed wedding singer.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
Song jog out Okay, okay, dun't dum dum. Side effects
may include disneyness, dramut, headaches and rashes, dran dry and.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Now we used to a really random balance. That's what
happens on the wedding. What is that? Oh my god?
That sting song? I can hear it, but I can't.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Side effects man include disneyness, dra mouth, headaches, rashes, and drowsy.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
There's Avery Watcher.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
And you oh yes.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Yes, and I have two options.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
That was so much fun?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Thank I got before?
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Did I?
Speaker 3 (33:01):
What?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Did I win.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Something you've always wanted? You already have an Academy award?
But do you have a tiny Academy award with my
face on it? I?
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Oh my god, Now Kyle, you can hang out with
my oscar.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I'm so excited.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
To get I love this, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That so fun. Okay, So we talked about a few
things coming up to anything else you want to mention
a couple of things. Something in the work.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I love to work.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
I would like to work Hire me please, And I'd
also like to do a variety show like sox dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Call to one two seven also.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Close I to tell you about.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
You want to work together? We did that. Yeah, that
would be something that would be fun. That would be fun.
I would go back into the into the piano world
and learn and start to exercise my voice. Give me
some inspiration, maybe I need to.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
This is inspiring, like I actually feel like ready to
take on the rest of the day.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I'm so happy, Thank you for It wasn't just a coffee,
it was thank God. Well we are we're out of time,
and I definitely think we we figured out what we're
even doing. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
I think we have a better inkling we do.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This has been a true pleasure. I really to speak
with someone who I admire so much.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
You.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I'll see you on the set of our show.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yes man, wait, yes, I'm just I just want to
be backstage ready to go on, do something fun with you.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Thank you, real, real pleasure, all right. What Are We
Even Doing is a production of iHeartMedia and the Elvis
Duran podcast Network, hosted by Me Kyle maclachlin and created
and produced by Full Picture Productionists, featuring music by Yata
and artwork by Danica Robinson. For more information at the podcast,
(35:01):
please visit our Instagram and TikTok at wawed with Kyle.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to What Are We Even
Doing on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Exclamation point
What do we even do?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What are we even doing?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Hello, great big world.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hi, it's Kyle, your host of what are we even doing?
Sitting down with creatives and wonderful wonderful performers actors, dancers, musicians, singers.
That's a hint. Today we have actor, singer dancer Oscar
Golden Globe winner. Yeah, this is a couple of paragraphs,
so you keep prepared among many other awards. Arianna Debos
(00:33):
is with us even incredibly talented. But I want to
first start off and say, so it's cookie dough and
soft blank. Is that right? Those are the guilty pleasures.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I do enjoy cookie dough.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I used to be soft blank, and then I discovered
I was allergic to white grapes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
No, but red's fine.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Okay, white grapes, But that's a travesty because we're like
going into summer, and like, who doesn't love a white wine.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well here's what you could do. Rose is a good
choice because it's a red grape. Although it's super super
super thing.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I do love a rose. I was really into the
whispering angel of it all a minute. Sure, Like because
I once I find something, I'm like, oh I like that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm a creature of habits. I go by back to this.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Am I as am. I I agree, and it's actually
a quality product. So that's good. It's a quality product.
I'm here to sell you. I love that we're starting
off with wine and food. Food.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I love to eat. I love food.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I don't always know what I'm eating because I will
go for an experience, like you know, but I really
enjoy just like ambiance and great.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Food and great space show.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Is that maybe because I know you're from Wilmington.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I was born in Wilmington.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yes, And I feel like in the South in particular,
especially North Carolina, the food there is so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
We eat. I mean a lot of it's creamed, but
you know it does.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
We have found some good alternatives, though. I love nothing
beats North Carolina barbecue.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I am very much.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
That girl that I will fight you over the North
Carolina barbecue.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is the best.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Versus Texas or or or Midwest.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yes, like I cannot with the other sauces. I want
vinegar based.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Oh interesting, Barbie run, I run a little sweet with
my barbecue. Really, I prefer that I prefer the sweet
and then the vinegar is right in there neck and next, okay.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Then we gotta get you some good North Carolina barbecue because.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It changed my life.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
You know, my first my first.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Gave me the meat sweats, but it changed my life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We don't sleep, you know. Actually you do sleep for
the first two hours and then you're then you're up
for the rest of it. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it.
That and wine. It shares those things. North Carolina is
such an amazing I've spent a lot of time in
North It's weird. I started at Flat Rock Playhouse, which
was Yeah, Hendersonville Brevard Music College is there, which is amazing.
(02:56):
You never did you ever know?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I'm one of those weirdos that didn't go to college
or school. I mean I went to school right high school.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's great. Wait for as Rolls Bell Forever.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Seems like you knew what you wanted to do at
a pretty young age.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yes, right, I mean that's very correct.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
They put me in dance glass like studio, ballet, tap jazz.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
But when I was three, I'm told they would play
music and I just always do this, okay. So that
was the activity and I loved it. I was oddly
competitive about it. I didn't like it when other students
did the steps wrong, and then I, I guess you
could call it precocious. I would literally be like, no,
that's not it. Let me help you, and I would
(03:38):
take the other girl's hand and try and make help
them do the steps better.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Very thoughtful, Gen's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think some kids didn't really like that. Yeah, but
that's okay, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
And then I was eleven when I realized sort of
like the emotive quality of movement and that I was
making people feel when I was performing. And that's when
I was like, oh, I like I like that. I
like that connective tis shoe and energy.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah. So it started off as a puzzle. Maybe great exercise.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Great, I mean excellent exercise.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, it's extraordinary. And I danced for yeah you did years,
Yeah you did? Oh my god. I wouldn't call it
dance actually, But it was in an effort to like
work towards I wanted to work on Broadway. I wanted
to work in musical theater.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I continually appreciate Broadway in a way that it can,
at its best celebrate the triple threat. Like there was
a time even in old Hollywood films where if you
did not dancing, and act. Well, you you weren't getting
no jobs, right, And so when I came to the theater,
I didn't realize there was an option to like not
(04:46):
dance or not saying. I thought you really had to
do all three at the same time. Now it's a
little like, no, you can be a parking mark like
we just where you just stand and sing, and you
sing so beautifully and so masterfully that everyone is wowd
by you.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And I would love to just be good at one thing?
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Like? Can I please be good at one one thing?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I am good at many things, and I'm grateful to
be good at many things.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Would you put the you put the work in I do,
I would be good at these things.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It just never made sense to me that I had
the option of only being excellent at one thing.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Do you think that people who go and watch a
show really understand all that goes into doing that performance.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I mean there's an appreciation, but I mean from my
experiences in various shows, it really is a full time job.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It looks very shiny. I mean we're up there, we
look you know, like.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Rock theater rock stars in a way, and a spectacle
is the name of our game. But I think there's
a there's a real physical cost, there's a real emotional
cost depending on what story you're telling as well, And
there's a lot lot of prep that goes into that,
not just like the education factor, but I mean when
I was doing Hamilton, I was getting up. I would
(06:07):
if I could, I would attempt to go to the gym,
but I was doing so much body maintenance. Like I
was going to the chirofracture, I was in that, I
was visiting my acupuncturist.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I was in therapy. Yes, like I was doing all
of the things.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, just to be able to show up and do
my show, which is your primary job.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That's if you're lucky, you're not working two jobs, you're
working the one job.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I know that that eight shows. I don't know, it's
which is why maintenance is so important.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well in the the idea of doing something over and
over and over again in the same way, but it
feels fresh and new wear and tear on the body
over and over and over again. It's like, don't talk
to me about my shoulders.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, but you know what I mean. I thought the
revolutionary were eight times a week for you all my
shoulders got and that will never be the same.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
The bullet. I mean, I remember going to see the
show and it was just like it was such a
remarkable interpretation. I was just like, this is what a
cool thing to be able to do.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Oh, I loved it.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I didn't realize what an acting challenge it was going
to be. I was very grateful for that experience because
it reminded me how dancers are great actors.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
With a challenge like that, it's like.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Okay, I'm embodying the I just called it the Angel
of Death. I was like, she's the bullet, but she's
my version of the Angel of Death, And like, how
do I thread this needle in a compelling way whether
or not the audience is really realizing that's what I'm doing.
They don't need to, but they need to feel this presence.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, kind of lurking. Yeah, And I just thought that
was fun.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I love the way you interpreted that. You made it
personal because when you say angel of Death, suddenly a
whole palette of things comes up that you can do,
that you can draw from.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It gave me a really fun toolbox. I was never bored.
I'll tell you that. I was never bored. Yeah, it
might have been in pain and exhausted, but use it.
Never I did. Oh channel it into the way.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
You know. I know Renee. I work with Renee. She
she love her, love her. And again, what a talent.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
What a voice, what a voice? And what It's just
like a light. She's one of those humans that walks
into a room and the air shifts. Oh yeah, I
really feel like in the in the right way, shifts
in the right way. You're very curious cat.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I am a curious cat. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's fine.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Like, I don't know if you're realizing I have social anxiety.
I've developed that, so sometimes I get nervous when I'm
just talking to people.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But I much prefer the one on one.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Oh this is yeah, this is this is the way.
This is the way to roll. I love what I do,
you know, And I'm but I'm so curious about how
others approach it and what what drives and what stimulates them,
you know, what excites them, you know. And uh, And
I'm also I got to say, I'm very taken with
you because you you do something that I was kind
(09:01):
of going to maybe do. I don't I don't have
any regrets. You know, it's like I want a different direction,
but you are the embodiment like the West Side Story,
who doesn't want to, you know, be in that musical.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That was literally just a dream job. I don't know
that I'll ever have a job like that.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You will, you will, But I know what you mean.
There are special jobs.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That was a special job. It really was.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I mean, even just kind of the way it happened
was quite magical because I was just convinced.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I was like, this is a joke. They are punking me.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Why am I bothering He's never going to choose me, right,
which my great lesson was like, don't decide for them,
just go in and just show up, Just show up,
just say yes.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Do something. But it just was like tape and you
went in me the person I was at a progression
of things.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
It was a progression of things.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I did go in kind of early on in their
process and read for Cindi Tolan and her associates. And
I had braids in my hair at the time, so
I looked really Caribbean and I was like, oh, because
I don't know, there's like a misconception about what latinos
Latina has look like right, And I was like, well,
(10:12):
I am very Puerto Rican, but my hair is giving
something different that may not immediately clock that for people.
But I changed my hair every two days, so I
don't care anymore.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It looks great today, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
But yeah, I just I went in initially, didn't hear
anything for a good long time, and then suddenly I
got a phone call. I was like, can you please
come in tomorrow? And I was like, Hi, I'm playing
Donna Summer and I have two shows tomorrow, Like what
are we doing here? And I've never been so bold
in my life.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, well it's a bit. I mean, I understand that
the reaction is like, hey, you know, I'm not just
someone that you can wind up and send out. It's
like this, this is my job, this is what I do.
I was like, and you got to give me a
little bit of warning.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Can I get some warning? And then I like, let
me just send you the packet. Let me send to
the pack and I'm like, okay, some of the packag
So I look at the pack and it's like pages
and pages and I was.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Like, oh, absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
What Arianno Tobosa is not doing is that tomorrow with
no time to prep Like, who's going to go in
and do him cold read looking unprepared?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Not I said the fly, yes.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But I didn't realize he like Stephen was there, like
I was not prepped to walk in.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
And there's full disclosure.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
No, there was, there was no transparency.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Oh god, I did not look at him and I
was like, oh, I'm not doing this today.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Just learn the steps. Learn the steps. And thank god.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Cindy Tolan is a real ment, like just a great
human being, and she was like, you don't have to read,
and I was like, thank you. I'll come back if
he likes me, if there's a remote interest.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I love that because there's a little bit of you
taking control more than a little bit. You're saying I
can do this, this is where I will shine. But
if you're asking me to learn pages of dial overnight.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, well and adapted pages too. Not for nothing.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Tony Kushner is arguably one of our most brilliant writers.
And I was not in the mood to go in
and butcher his text.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Right, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
In the mood.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I'm not in the mood to make a mockery of
this really beautiful writer.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
A great response.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So it did work out in my favor. And I
didn't realize it was very inherently very anitah like I.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Wasn't really clocking it. I was just like, I don't know.
I caught the spirit and was like, no, not today.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I need to feel that, like if something comes a
rule or something, because I sometimes feel like I begin
to transform strange things inside. Can you describe that, because
I don't really know how to describe what.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Happens when I have an idea for a character or
I feel like the character just like I describe it
as like they come and they sit on my chest. Yes,
and I'm like, okay, I get it. You're there, all right.
I need to do this. Little things will happen physical
where I start to shift already, Like well before I
step on a stage or roll a camera, I try
(13:08):
to clock it so that I don't come off as.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Just the most schizophrenic person, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Like you you don't know who you're gonna get today,
Like actors are moody. That's one thing, and I love
that for us because it just shows we have we're.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
In touch with all of our emotions. That's great.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
But to me, it's just like a character coming forward,
so I know what's in my toolbox. Yeah, and I
like to know so I feel it and then I
go back.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
To being Ariana.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I don't know. That's like how I think it's.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Sort of feel. It just reminds me of I think
something al Patina we can talk about, Yeah, which is
I there are something about they're all parts of me.
This isn't the right quote, but I guess there are
a lot of mes in. There's something so many in me, right, yeah,
something like that.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
He does have a lot of MEAs in him. Yes,
but we all do.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I think it's our our willingness to feel all the
different versions of ourself and let them out and let
them out. Had characters that actually scared me a little
bit because I was just.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Like, oh, I don't realize that going to be that
dark yep. I was like that got dark fast. But
you know I.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
That's when I just constantly like try to work on
Ariana and like keep myself aligned so that I know
when to bring it back, yeah, and not go too crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I know that that feeling. I played a character and
the New Twin Peaks recent with David quite quite quite dark.
It took a little pushing to get in there. But
when you start putting on for me, sometimes you just
kind of put the clothes and the thing and you
begin to and you begin to transform. And then you
walk out of your trailer and you're like, I am Now,
(14:45):
I'm not one hundred percent. I'm not an asshole when
I got out there like that. But but I'm like, okay,
I'm carrying this, Yes, and he's just under the surface. Yeah,
And then you just let him do his thing, and
then it's the taking off of the character that I've
and I've never had that experience before, Like when I
really had to like put him away, yes, to drive
home to see my family, my young son and my wife,
and I'm like, he ain't coming close to my house?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Correct? Correct? You know what I mean, Like leave him
like five miles down the road. Yes, at least.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yes, It's tough.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
It really is tough. I get that way.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I don't know if you feel this way, But there
are some scenes you talk about like having to push
yourself to like go go, go be the character. Like
that will manifest for me in a way of like
I don't want to do this scene today. I don't
want to do the scene today. I really don't want
to do this scene today. Okay, I'm doing this scene today.
Like you know, it happened with like the Anita morg scene,
like identifying a body.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I was like this, Oh gosh, oh that's awful, that's awful.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I don't want to see anybody. Don't look me in
the face, because the second anyone looks at me, I'm
a goner.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Like because you work yourself up or the body.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I find acting so fascinating because some of the scenes
and situations that will you know, play out, the body
doesn't know that it's not real. Yeah, mind might, but
the body doesn't. And so having to unwind.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
All of that after the fact take it off can
be really challenging. Which is wild off therapy.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, therapy is. Yeah, film you know you're doing the
scene once you know it said day on stage. This
is where I'm like people that can visit those places
every night and sometimes twice a day.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It's impressive you.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Have such a to really visit it, not you know, you.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Can not just touch it.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
I'm like these folks that are diving into the well
of whatever the abyss is.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
It was such an exciting moment when you won the Oscar,
and I want to say specifically that you are the
first queer woman of color to receive an Oscar in
the acting category. Does that bring with it a certain
responsibility or a feeling or what what what I mean?
From winning You're like, hey, I am kind.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Of I mean, it's definitely a it's a thing. It's
definitely a thing.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I think anytime there's you're a first, You're an uncharted territory.
You know, there's not a handbook for how to handle
it or how to feel. In my case, I was
so thrilled for myself and all the communities that I
belong to, because I really do believe like when you
(17:32):
shine light on one of us, you're shining light in
like all of us in different ways.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
So that was very very special about it.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But I also in the aftermath of it was like,
I can't make a wrong move, and I developed a
lot of fear to the point where like even doing
press for me in the last few years has been
challenging because I'm afraid I'm going to say the wrong thing,
and I'm an opinionated person, and I'm like, oh, it
brought to me like this odd self censorship filter. Yeah,
(18:05):
I was filtering things, trying to make myself palatable so
that I didn't offend anyone and I didn't mess up
the gain, the gains that we had made. It's like
we got here, one of us did it, so more
of us can do it. Like this is awesome, But
I can't.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Be the person that messes it up for everyone.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
That part of it has been personally challenging to navigate.
But you can't stop doing the things that you love.
You can't stop living. You got to keep going in
the living. Some of my favorite people in the world
are the messy ones. You can be a quote unquote
like poster child totally, but like being messy is human
(18:46):
and I am an actor. I'm in the business of
being human and being messy. So once I've got back
to a space of not just being up here and
totally like cuckoo banana pants and terrified all the time,
the integration of the two got me back to the
living of it all.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Beautiful journey.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yes, it's strange, it's just strange.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I don't know if I would characterize it as struggle,
but I do think it's when you are first, it's
hard to enter into the conversations of having your challenges
with it because people want to see you shine, and
we are shining and thriving, but that doesn't mean.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
There's not challenge within all of that.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
And I think, you know, celebrity and social media and
all of these things, they just want to see us
looking fabulous and being at the fashion show.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
So I think that's great perks of the job.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
But they don't necessarily see the other side.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
They don't living in the world we're living in. It
is a shame to kind of detach the humanity from
the artist.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It's a real shame. I'm like, you're missing the good stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
If we could just cultivate the art of listening again
and being able to see each other, like really see
each other. I was like, I'm a very sensitive person.
I walk down the street and I can feel when
someone I don't know is having a moment and is
not well. I call it a people skill, and I
don't know that we have. We're not in tune with
(20:20):
those as much anymore. I mean, you could make the
argument that maybe we never were, but I think the
way through.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Especially as an artist, is.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Like just stay in tune and see like, see the humanity,
that's where the ugly bits are, That's where the challenging
bits are.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
It's where the glory and the euphoria is. But you
can't have one without the other.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And to sit here and act like we can't talk
have those conversations, I just I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Clearly, I don't do small talk.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I love the way you extrapolated that, and because it
does completely make sense.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yeah, I think I had a teacher, Tammi Holder. There
was this really cool program in my home state in Raleigh,
North Carolina, and it was like a summer program where
theater kids from around the county would come together and
make musical for six weeks and it was just really
great because none of us really went to school together.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
And I did that for three years and in lots
of different roles.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
The first roll I got cast in was Aida and Aida,
and I was like, what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I didn't know I could sing? I did not like.
Tammy Holder was like that girl can sing. I was like, okay, cool,
thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
So it was me and Heather Headley from the I
was listening to Heather Edley trying to figure out how
to do this and then I was in the ensemble
of a miss and then I was Cassi in a
chorus line. I call her Blassie. Yes, I can say that.
But like the going through the different kinds of shows
(21:55):
and playing different roles like it just those summers changed
my life, yes, right, and and the ethos of coming
together from all walks of life to make the thing
like we were helping to make our costumes like we were.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Doing completely immersed in the Yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
I love that that program doesn't exist anymore, but I'd
like to bring it back.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
We talked about a couple of things, both toe oh
yeah and lyrics, which I know you can't say a
lot about, but I'm curious about that only because I'm
a huge fan of the play. Yeah, so tell me
what you can say.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
No. So I am in a film called Lear Rex
Uh it's al Pacino is playing King Lear. And then
what I liked about the script when I read it,
it's an adaptation right and the whole And when I
met with with our director, I was like, look, I
did not go to Juilliard. I am not change Fear trained.
(22:52):
So I know you've hired Jessica Chastain. I love that
for her, but I also yeah, and she's real.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Good at it. I trust love Shakespeare. I've learned from Shakespeare.
I love the rhythms, the prose. But what I really
liked about this script with that it.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Was making that story tangible to the ear for today.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
That element of it was very exciting to me.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
And I really loved the cast that I got to
work with going to work.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Every day, which, mind you, I played Cordelia, so I
didn't work as much as everyone else did.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But when I was there and I got to watch
and just be a sponge, I didn't realize how badly
I needed to.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Watch other people work.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
I mean, how many times do you get to work
without Alphacino or.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Watch him work? And then you asked me about TOW.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's just a beautiful, inspirational kind of slice of life
film in a way during Roseburns, Stephanie Lang film who
I just become madly in love with as a director,
A queen's queen, like she's just she knew what she wanted,
she knew how to get it, trust did her crew.
(24:02):
And then when she knew we got it, we moved on.
There was no wasting time. I loved making TOW so
much because it ultimately is a true story about Amanda
Ogle who was unhoused and living in her car and
searching for a job and her her daughter was living
(24:22):
with her ex husband at the time, like circumstances that
I find highly relatable to so many people in this
country at this time, and she never gave up. Her
car is stolen and then towed and she has to
fight the man to get her car back and it
took her one hundred and some odd days to.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Do so, but she did not give up.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
It's amazing and I love that sentiment that like, it
doesn't matter what your circumstances, you don't have to let
those circumstances define you. And resilience can and should be
the way even when it's hard.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
It is so hard to get up some days.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
And I'm learning this now in my own personal journey,
Like it's the easier choice to stay in bed, but
the living and the learning and the not letting powers
that be quote unquote when is getting out of bed. Yeah,
And I'm very much in a get out of bed mood.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Good for you. You know what gets me out of bed?
What coffee too?
Speaker 3 (25:22):
So yeah, Hope Booth, I just think their mission is incredible.
I met their founder, Gloria at the Loreal Women of
Worth gala this past October and she just spoke so
passionately about what Hope Booth is doing. And they literally
refurbish phone booths, like they found a way to recreate
(25:46):
the concept of a phone booth in the towns that
they have installed them.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And you walk into the Hope Booth and based using.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Technology in conjunction with healthcare providers and trained therapists, et cetera,
they have developed a way for you to like take
your minute if you're in crisis, or if you're having anxiety,
just any for any reason. But it is a mental
health Hope Booth And whether it's using breath breath work
or or mantras or helping your eyes focus on a
(26:18):
game or getting getting you you know, to the crisis
help that you need or speaking with someone, you can
do it from the from the Hope Booth. And I
just love that it's an effort to make healthcare real,
mental health care free and available in whatever city you're in.
So I partnered with them during this Mental Health Awareness Month.
(26:40):
Just try and join light on the organization and there's
a link in my Instagram bio if you would like
to become a Hope warrior with me and donate, I
you know, because I think I just think every little
bit helps And how cool would it be to just,
you know, maybe you're stressed at work and you can
walk out your workplace, walk down the street.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
And do a hope booth and be like, Okay, yeah,
I just need a sick. It's gonna be okay.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
But I need a sick And what do you have
for me that can help me balance these emotions real
quick so I can go back and be my best self.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
We're gonna do a little game if you you're up
for it. Yeah, I mean, ship pshaw. I came all
this way, I came all this way, come back. We
designed it just for you. You know what it's called. What's
it called in de boze mode? Yeah? Yeah, in that mode.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Really good trademark that.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I go back again, okay, segment we designed just for you. Okay,
de boze mode, debo mode. I mean, honestly, you have
such a show stopping presence, which is true and the
manner in which you deliver lines okay, okay, from being
the embodiment of death in Hamilton, who, of course Angela
(27:54):
Bassett did the thing.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Because she did, she's still doing still, why is any
would arguing?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Well, in this Sae, I'm going to give you some
totally bland, everyday sentences and ask you to deliver them
in different voices and scenarios. Carson, that's an old night reference.
You are the killer in the horror.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Film, the killer in a horror film.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Okay, she's the first line, the killer in a horror
drum roll.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Oh bless, Okay, I got this, I.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Got this killer horror film.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
M okay, we're out the paper Dows.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I did not expect that. That very good.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Wear out of the paper Dows.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
My god, oh my god. Okay, great, Oh that's perfect. Okay.
Number two, you are a flight attendant preparing the passengers
for tank off a flight, A flight at caring the
passengers for takeoff.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Mhm hm hmm, Ladies and gentlemen. I want pineapple on
my pizza, but never mushroom.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
That is I thought I was on the flight to Tucson.
I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Songs specifically, specifically, that was it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Probably I would like pineapple on my pizza. Never.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
That was very good. Okay. Here we are number three.
You are a musical artist accepting.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
A Grammy my choice of genre.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
You're a musical artist.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Okay, except, okay, okay, okay, here we go.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
I just.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Please remember to refill the bretta. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Repel the breada thank you so much of my bad.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I love y'all. Re the bretta.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Right to North Carolina and we went right to Okay,
here we are before. You are a Disney princess falling
in love. Yeaes the moment of falling in love.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Okay, h oh, please remember to remove your shoes before entering.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
The only way to make it work is the same.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
You have to say this one. Oh, this is straightforward.
You are Alexander Hamilton.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
You Alexander Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, yeah, Alexander Hamilton Hamilton. I'm not giving away.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Miney literally, that's what's going on.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I hear you can everyone see my screen?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Sorry I was on mute. I just have this like
image like can everyone see my screen?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Oh, I'm sorry, I was on mute.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
It's very lin Manuel Miranda with the you know what
I mean?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That was beautiful. You channels see the channeling, channeling, go
to channel you are a wedding singer.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Oh, no, wedding singer, and I'm just like running through
the rolodex of popular wedding singer song.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Oh gosh, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
No, okay, wait, this is oh I want this to
be really good because this is funny. Yikes, I'm at
a loss.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Are you on this one?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I'm actually at a loss.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Wed wedding singer.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
Song jog out Okay, okay, dun't dum dum. Side effects
may include disneyness, dramut, headaches and rashes, dran dry and.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Now we used to a really random balance. That's what
happens on the wedding. What is that? Oh my god?
That sting song? I can hear it, but I can't.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Side effects man include disneyness, dra mouth, headaches, rashes, and drowsy.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
There's Avery Watcher.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
And you oh yes.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Yes, and I have two options.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
That was so much fun?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Thank I got before?
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Did I?
Speaker 3 (33:01):
What?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Did I win.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Something you've always wanted? You already have an Academy award?
But do you have a tiny Academy award with my
face on it? I?
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Oh my god, Now Kyle, you can hang out with
my oscar.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I'm so excited.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
To get I love this, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
That so fun. Okay, So we talked about a few
things coming up to anything else you want to mention
a couple of things. Something in the work.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I love to work.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
I would like to work Hire me please, And I'd
also like to do a variety show like sox dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Call to one two seven also.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Close I to tell you about.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
You want to work together? We did that. Yeah, that
would be something that would be fun. That would be fun.
I would go back into the into the piano world
and learn and start to exercise my voice. Give me
some inspiration, maybe I need to.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
This is inspiring, like I actually feel like ready to
take on the rest of the day.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I'm so happy, Thank you for It wasn't just a coffee,
it was thank God. Well we are we're out of time,
and I definitely think we we figured out what we're
even doing. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
I think we have a better inkling we do.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This has been a true pleasure. I really to speak
with someone who I admire so much.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
You.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I'll see you on the set of our show.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yes man, wait, yes, I'm just I just want to
be backstage ready to go on, do something fun with you.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Thank you, real, real pleasure, all right. What Are We
Even Doing is a production of iHeartMedia and the Elvis
Duran podcast Network, hosted by Me Kyle maclachlin and created
and produced by Full Picture Productionists, featuring music by Yata
and artwork by Danica Robinson. For more information at the podcast,
(35:01):
please visit our Instagram and TikTok at wawed with Kyle.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to What Are We Even
Doing on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Exclamation point
Elvis Duran and the Morning Show ON DEMAND News
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com