May 7, 2026 • 24 mins
Wilmer and Freddy know what it feels like to hit the wall, and in this episode they’re talking about what burnout really looks like. From 200‑episode seasons to coming home with almost nothing left in the tank, they open up about the cost of staying on top, and what it takes to protect your joy, your health, and the people you’re doing it all for.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, woo soup.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is Freddy Rodriguez and Woman About Drama.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome to thosemos available everywhere you get your podcast. You
gotta remind everybody that shout out to iHeart shout out
to iHeart Michael through the podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We are back for another episode.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank god, we are only we get to you know,
talk again.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
How are you feeling, man? You look you look a
little burned out.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm a little tired. Yeah, I'm a little tired.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm a little tired because we just wrapped season of
n C I s Yeah, I just wrapped.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Two hundred episodes in the show crazy. It's really crazy.
Do you feel do you feel?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I mean you ever? I mean, are you experiencing burnout
at this moment? After doing two hundred? After doing how
many episodes did you do this season?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, it's not normal to do two hundred anymore. Nobody
does yees anymore? Right, and so to two hundred?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
By that by episode seventeen, you're like, oh good, and
so third, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Know how many episodes you do?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Did you do twenty twenty?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Is that standard for you?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Guys?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Twenty We used to be twenty four at the beginning.
Then with the twenty two. Then then we had a
COVID with it ten or something with it, strike with
the sixteen or vice versa, and then now we're back
at twenty now.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, but it's it's it's a grind, man, it's a grind.
You kind of have to. It's a different steminus. You know,
it's not for everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, not for.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Everybody, because you know, it takes eight days to shoot
one episode, right, so you know there's no vacation. It's
a half hour lunch. You know you're there at seven.
You'll leave us seven.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Nine months out of the year, just about it over
over nine and a half. I mean you knew that
going again, right, Like like what made you You must
have been ready for that, that grind, yeah, before you
went in there.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I also thinks about creating a character that like allows
you to.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Flow.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, in movies you tend to take the most
challenging characters because for three months, that's what you're doing,
You're doing this character, you're finding it out, you're grinding
it out. But in TV, you want to find characters
you can you can.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Flow, yeah, because it's long.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But you you've also you know you've you've done t
for for a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
How do you how do you prevent yourself from burning out?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Man? When I did it differs. You know, I didn't
feel burned out when I did Cable, when I did
Network TV, you know, the last foray into network TV,
when I did Bull, I experienced and burnout. It was.
It was pretty It was difficult. You know, I was
doing ten page lawyer scenes, you know, all the lawyer jargon,
(02:57):
three cameras, you know, two hundred people in the room.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
To pat logs.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
A lot of output, man, a lot of output. I
felt like I was like in like theater camp, you know,
like every every episode was training my brain to absorb
that type of dialogue and to be But the burnout
was was pretty real, man. And I'd never I never
did twenty episodes, but I think that one was also
(03:23):
like yours twenty and then and then I think it
kind of went to like eighteen, but it stayed in
that space. But you know, by the time January came
and we were I was, I was, I was dragging
my feet.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Even even Christmas doesn't feel like a rest.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah, yeah, two and a half weeks I offer for
Christmas and you're just and then you get into a
holiday season, you're like shopping, you're the family, cooking, the
whole thing.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's like, how many days an episode do you work? Eight?
You work all eight? Really, you work all eight.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Sometimes that'll give me a day off for meetings. Yeah,
so I go and my because I have to do
studio meetings or whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah, but for the most part, it's eight out of eight,
seven out of eight.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah. Yeah. Are you in every scene? Is that? Why?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Pretty much? Yeah, we're in the most scenes.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
The four the four Investigators are like kind of going,
you know. But when you get to that point when
you're doing that many episodes and you're doing other development aside,
I mean, what do you how do you prevent the burnout?
What do you think? What do you think helps? Like
what's the state of mind or what do you do?
Like how do you stay healthy? That's a good question.
(04:34):
Have you have you watchable? I got progressively fatter as
that's very therapeutic, you really want to make it. You
got to store some energy.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You gotta store some energy, man, you know. Uh no,
I I I had a hard time with burnout on
that on that show and gained weight and I had
to try to figure out how to do that and
how to maintain my health and eat healthy. And but
how did you do it? I mean, I mean, you're
you're so much more of an expert at that than me,
(05:06):
And I think that maybe it was a learning curve
for me to do that, where you're like a freaking
pro at.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
It, right, I mean, I think it's you know, you
you fight against everything you possibly get to get to
the point to get to the point where you're like
starting to gain weight because you're too tired to work out.
That was me, So I get, you know, and I
want I want to also talk a little bit about
(05:33):
that part, because when we talk about gaining weight, you're
talking about a you know, a subliminal state of mind
that all of a sudden, the only motivation you have
is to memorize lines, say them aloud, and be on
your feet for ten to twelve hours and do choreography
and do walking around and do community with us, and
(05:54):
your output entertaining. So therefore, you know, you're reading line
and you're not sitting down and having a proper meal, right,
you're eating only on set, which is like you know,
if anybody has seen the stereotypical craft services.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's like every pair of chips, you can ease whatever.
And it's like that.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Instinct like sugar spike or that instinct like coffee spike
or that instant like so like your body starts slowing down.
And so for me, the I take care of my
brain first, So I do the brain knocked in, I
do you know, collagen and creating creamers and stuff like that,
and that kind of keeps keeps you hydrated, keeps your
(06:36):
brain hydrated, and that's how you retain information. And then
how do you take care of the body. I just
I stay in the gym as hard as it is.
So I started doing it four thirty in the morning
because you needed church, right, you needed a place to
work it out, to grind it out. And then you
(06:56):
come to set warm awoken. You know, you're not sleepy,
you're not drugging, you don't just wake up.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So that helps.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Now ten episodes in, Yeah, I'm gonna take the day off, right,
I'm mentoring morning now from working out right, and then
feels better to sleep in. Yeah, I take two hours
today right right, Then comes episode seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's pasta bar. You know I've been pretty good the
last three episodes.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I have a pasta, So then you start slowing the say,
oh my guys, the white sauce of the red sauce.
You recommend that white sauce extra Yeah, I like cheese.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
That's the problem, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
The problem is like you's like it's easy to reward
yourself because it's also easier to reward yourself more often, right,
Like Okay, well I have a pasta a week, right,
you know, but then you're not working out, you're working whatever.
But you gotta like fuel your body for stamina, you know,
(08:08):
give yourself some healthy cars so your body can absorb
it as supposed to restore it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, you know, but that's like that's on the physical part.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
The mental fatigue is is where it's it's scary, bro.
It's heavy because you gotta you gotta retain information.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Movies is funny because you'll shoot like two scenes for
twelve hours. Yeah, TV you're doing five scenes in one day.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
You like, give me the next episode the next exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, it was tough.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think I think one of the things I got
me through it, I just felt I felt appreciated, you know,
and sometimes it's all you need is to like feel appreciated,
you know. Shout out to to David's staff and the
George Cheeks and all the wonderful people at CBS. I
loved working at that network and always felt appreciated by them.
(09:00):
And there were some other executives that were there before that,
and I know you're still working with all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I just uh, they were just like good human beings, you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Know, real aware, yeah, always aware.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, man, Amy, you know, shut out, she's my sister, man, Yeah. Yeah.
Just nice people, man, nice people. I always felt appreciated
by them. I always felt like I was doing some
good work for them, and they and they were always
vocal about that. And and that's that's that was like
one of the things that got me through, you know
that And and the uh, the fan response, right, you know,
(09:35):
the fans love.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That is working and you're getting to them. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You just feel like you're doing your job, you know,
and so it's sort of curbs the burnout, you know,
and and and by the time you get to the end,
you're like, where's where's I want to stay in bed
for like a month.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
And then your wife comes and just like, can we
plan a vacation? Yeah, yeah, exactly right, and you have vacation.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
You know. You know Elsie did that for me. Man,
She's she's so wonderful. She took me to she took
me to Puerto Rico and got this wonderful room and
we were at this great resort and and I and
I fell asleep a lot of the time I was there. Man,
I felt so bad because I know she wanted to like.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Explore it, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Like on the on the on the balcony.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, I know. Amanda does a really good job by
making sure I'm awake.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yeah, we're going. The car is here, the boat is there.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Do you feel that choosing, you know, a job that
may induce burnout now at this stage in your career
is different than what it was earlier in your career.
I mean I got a little older, you mean, yeah,
I'm sure when you did seventy show you were like
bringing on right, I mean you're in your teens and you're.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like, I will literally on my days where I had
a day like a half a day, I will fly
to New.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
York have meetings, promote, and come right back.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
They give me, like Tuesday off, I'll fly to Miami
to do Spanish speaking press and come back and rehearse
the same day.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I do. Crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It's tough like that because I just did you do that?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Now you think you could do that?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Now I could. But instead of.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
You know, watching movies on the plane and like talking
to strangers, which I love talking to.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yes, the whole flight to talk like exactly, I love that.
I'd be like, hey man, let's talk for two hours.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah, and then we're going to sleep. Ten hours later
we still talked. I was so pig dude.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
So so now now now you sleep on the I
try to sleep.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
When I don't have to be awake.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But look, getting back to the philosophical part of it,
you know, sometimes you kind of wonder, like what is
the thing that makes you ignore the fatigue and like
makes you ignore or the soreness and the tiredness, Like
what is that thing? What is that feeling you're chasing?
And you know, it's different for everybody. I think that
I think for us, for people like us that were
(12:10):
at this place of our lives and careers, it's about
keeping the light on. It's about giving our families, you know,
that kind of balance and that wealth being. You know,
I think that's the thing that really keeps you going.
It has to be about something more than just the art.
It can't just be about because you love it. Yeah,
you know, because at the end of the day, it
is a business and it is a job. Yeah, and
(12:32):
you have a responsibility, right, your responsibility, right, you have
millions of dollars are being burned on the set just
so you can say your lines. Yeah, put it that way.
You're carrying a lot, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man. I had a family emergency
when I was doing that show, and I postponed it
because I felt this deep sense of responsibility on my shoulder.
You know. I was like, oh, man, if I leave now,
shut production, that's a couple hundred gram more than that
per episode, like per day. Like I just I just
(13:07):
felt this deep sense of responsibility on my shoulder. Man.
And I don't know if that comes with like the
way we grew up, right, Like, you know, we we
grew up with such a deep sense of responsibility in
whatever we do. But I feel that now, man, no
matter what problem, no matter how burned out. I feel
no matter how tired I am, I just you know,
(13:29):
I just feel like I signed up for this thing.
They're putting their trust in me. It's my job to deliver,
you know, no matter what age, no matter what, how
many hours, nothing.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I just know the fans are watching, and you know,
you want to give them the best possible show and
all that.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
And they expect to expect that many they you know,
they've been watching you for thirty years, right, so they're like,
I expect to see something from Wilburg. I expect to
see a level of performance and quality.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
And care and invest all of that.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
I mean, I'm sure you could phone it in. I'm
sure you could, like you know, you could do all
that stuff, but but the fans expect more of you.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
What do you want to do next? Like, got you
open to doing a show for twenty eighthisodes again?
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I would, man, I would.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I mean, you're in great ship, you were broken, you're
killing it, And I would, yeah, yeah, you know a
head full.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Of hair, Yes, I still got it, it's still there.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I would, man, I would. I would because of my
last experience with with those very people that we just
talked about over at CBS. You know, I just so
appreciated the way singer handler or ensemble. I it's more
about the It's more about the project and the and
the character.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I'm talking about the technical weight that you have to
carry because if you're you're, if you're like the center
of the boaster.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I'd be open to all of it. Okay, good, I'd
be open to all of it as long as as
long as I had the same kind of team behind
me that I had that was supporting me. Because it's
so hard. It's so hard to do you you need
a team like that that that believes and supports you.
As long as I had that, Yeah, I would. I
(15:14):
would venture off into doing that again.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, and I think I still have the stamina for it. Man,
I could still do it.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, your baby, baby, Well, come on, man, that you
know it happen.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
What, Well, what will be the character you want to
play next? I know you're open, but yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Know, man, that's a good that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Do you want to do some action?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I do? I still I love doing I you know,
I did a little action here in there. I loved it.
You know, did the lawyer thing. Loved it. I you know,
as long as I could. As long as I can
do something with the character, that's all that matters to me.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Doctor.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I would, Yeah, because you speak English, I don't, so
I won't do it.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I would, I won't be doing that. But I welcome.
I welcomed the burnout, you know, like I know it.
Throughout our careers, there may have been times where you're like, oh, no,
I would do this. I wouldn't do this. Has there
ever been a project that you've that you've passed on
because you were so burned out you were just like,
(16:39):
I just can't I don't have the staminaugh for it
right now.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
No, there's shows that didn't go that I that I
was like, I was ready to lock in. Yeah, Like
I did this show where I play a coronel and
I was a military show and I was just excited
to just be covering dust and gunpowder.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I just want to go and do that. So I
was locked in reder to go in great shape and
all that. But it didn't go.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, but but you were ready to. You were you
didn't feel like ah man.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
But fatigue is.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I mean sort where the fatigue gets a little concerning
is in that sometimes these jobs take the best out
of us, and then you come home and you have
to muster the little bit of best. You have to
make sure your family has all of you. And that,
(17:37):
to me is the concerning part. And I'm playing with
that balance, you know, because during the day you're at
one hundred, right then you come home and you're probably
feeling fifteen percent. You're seventeen percent when you come home,
and you gotta prove you gotta turn that up. You
(17:59):
gotta chase your kids, you gotta you know how, and
you got taught.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
To your lady. You know you got I mean, you're
you're changing in many ways.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It keeps you young, right, like you're like just fucking
getting it, just giving the game, you know. Yeah, but
but that kind of stuff is something you gotta and again,
you gotta find that balance, if you know, you talk
about longevity, you know, and how are you going to
take care of yourself to go? But you know, then
you see people like you know, Anthony Hopkins, Yeah, they're
doing he's doing Marvel movies. He's doing like yeah, like
(18:33):
you like, how how are you hanging on that hard?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And you know what it.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Is it's still play for him. Yeah right, So I
didn't think about like that. We just can't forget. And
again this who comes now straight up to everybody who's
experiencing that dilemma, Like, I've been doing this job for
this much, but you gotta go back to what was
fun about it, yeah right, and like you gotta continue
to cultivate that fun part of the job to make
(19:00):
sure that that's the thing that keeps you awake, the
thing that keeps you engaged. Yeah right, that's the toughest part, right,
because you gotta you gotta remember why you started, you know.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, Because imagine being a part of a job, whatever
it is, right, it doesn't even have to be like
a TV show. It could be whatever. Imagine being a
part of something where you're you're you're giving it everything.
You're experiencing burnout. Yeah, and you hate it, right, you
hate every aspect of it. I mean that's what really
exacerbates the burnout, I think in my opinion, you know,
(19:34):
I I you know, it's funny, there was there was
a job that that I didn't take, uh because I
was burned out. I had uh, I had taken I
had you know, I was coming off of, you know,
a string of of of movies and a TV show
and I was just so I was just so tired, man,
I was so tired. And I and I remember, oh,
(19:56):
it was right after that time I saw you in
London and I got home and I think I was
I was promoting because I went to London at that
time I saw you, and I was promoting a movie
out there, and I was just so exhausted. Man, I
was coming off of this run and uh. And I
had a meeting with Catherine Bigelow for the hurt Locker. Now,
(20:19):
mind you, I didn't know it was going to be
the hurt Locker as we know it today, right. I
had a meeting with her because it was a small
indie movie that she wanted to do in Morocco. And
I had talked to a couple of my active friends
and I was like, man, how is Morocco. They're like, oh, man,
we got we got food poisoning when we were there
(20:40):
and the water was terrible. Like they just did not
have great things to say about it. Right, And so
we had a meeting and we and we vibed and
she was like, well, I'd love for you to be
a part of this, you know. And I was like, Okay,
I haven't seen my kids and like in like a month,
like I've been working non stop, Like do I really
want to go to my rocco on some like indie
(21:01):
movie and get food poisoning and be away from the kids,
And like, I was so burned out. And then I
got offered Ugly Betty and.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
So and I shot here.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It shot here, and I was like, oh me, a
romantic comedy after all of the stuff that I was
doing back then, all the gritty indie movies and the
TV show. And I was just flattered that that that
ABC saw me as like a romantic lead. And so
I took Ugly Betty instead of this small indie movie
that was in Morocco. And then the movie come out,
(21:35):
comes out and it's magnificent, and.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You would I'm going with this and a guy.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
And then Jeremy Renner got nominated for an Oscar and
the whole movie did, and I was like, oh man, wow,
I can't believe I didn't do that thing, but you know,
it would have been awesome. It's just is it, you know,
just a testament? And it was.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
But also it was a pop cultural phenomenal in culture,
had too, and I also.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, no, no, I had I had at an
incredible time. I think it was the right gamble America
for era, and and all of them were just so lovely,
lovely people to work with, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
But that was the wood job as we as, this
conversation revolves around burnout and fatigue, and I was like,
I was like, I just don't have an any man
and you know, kids and all.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
That stuff, and so yeah, priorities, right, You've got to
make sure that you have a list of priorities. What
are the things that you're willing to live with, what
are the things you're willing to live without? Yeah, but no, look,
it's a great reminder for everybody, everybody's who's listening that
it's you know, you have to make some early choices
that allow you to have that you know, that runway.
(22:45):
You got to pace yourself, but you got to give
it all at the same time. It's in a very annoying equation. Yeah,
but make sure you save some in the tank for
the things that you're working for.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah. Yeah, and you know, and sometimes that may not
even be the main I think you're doing right, Like,
like sometimes you're working a nine to five, right and
there may be something that you feel passionate about you
to do all your off time. That that thing is
what fills the void. That's what makes the nine to
five tolerable. And so it's it's important that you're not
(23:19):
allowing the nine to five to burn you out so much.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That you don't get to do the thing that tells
the void. That's great, that's a great reminder. Well, on
that note, this is a woman of ot the Romance.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
It's Freddy Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I hope that whatever we discuss here creates a little
bit of that light in that dark room so you
can find, you know, you can find the way out
of it and into the sun again, and you can
enjoy what you are and what you want to be
and where you're gonna go next.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
So this is Dose Amigos, and I see you on
the next episode, so you have the next one piece.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Those Amigos is a production from WV Sound and iHeartMedia
is Michael Tuda podcast network hosted by me, Freddie Rodriguez,
and Wilmer Valdorama.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Those Amigos is produced by Cooper Male and Sophie Spencer Saviles.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Our executive producers are Wilmer Valderama, Freddie Rodriguez, and Leo
Clem at WV Sound.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
This show is mixed and mastered by Sean Tracy and
original music by Madison, Devinport and Hala Boy.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the R Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
See you next week.
Hey, woo soup.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is Freddy Rodriguez and Woman About Drama.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome to thosemos available everywhere you get your podcast. You
gotta remind everybody that shout out to iHeart shout out
to iHeart Michael through the podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
We are back for another episode.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank god, we are only we get to you know,
talk again.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
How are you feeling, man? You look you look a
little burned out.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm a little tired. Yeah, I'm a little tired.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm a little tired because we just wrapped season of
n C I s Yeah, I just wrapped.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Two hundred episodes in the show crazy. It's really crazy.
Do you feel do you feel?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I mean you ever? I mean, are you experiencing burnout
at this moment? After doing two hundred? After doing how
many episodes did you do this season?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, it's not normal to do two hundred anymore. Nobody
does yees anymore? Right, and so to two hundred?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
By that by episode seventeen, you're like, oh good, and
so third, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Know how many episodes you do?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Did you do twenty twenty?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Is that standard for you?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Guys?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Twenty We used to be twenty four at the beginning.
Then with the twenty two. Then then we had a
COVID with it ten or something with it, strike with
the sixteen or vice versa, and then now we're back
at twenty now.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, but it's it's it's a grind, man, it's a grind.
You kind of have to. It's a different steminus. You know,
it's not for everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, not for.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Everybody, because you know, it takes eight days to shoot
one episode, right, so you know there's no vacation. It's
a half hour lunch. You know you're there at seven.
You'll leave us seven.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Nine months out of the year, just about it over
over nine and a half. I mean you knew that
going again, right, Like like what made you You must
have been ready for that, that grind, yeah, before you
went in there.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I also thinks about creating a character that like allows
you to.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Flow.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, in movies you tend to take the most
challenging characters because for three months, that's what you're doing,
You're doing this character, you're finding it out, you're grinding
it out. But in TV, you want to find characters
you can you can.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Flow, yeah, because it's long.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
But you you've also you know you've you've done t
for for a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
How do you how do you prevent yourself from burning out?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Man? When I did it differs. You know, I didn't
feel burned out when I did Cable, when I did
Network TV, you know, the last foray into network TV,
when I did Bull, I experienced and burnout. It was.
It was pretty It was difficult. You know, I was
doing ten page lawyer scenes, you know, all the lawyer jargon,
(02:57):
three cameras, you know, two hundred people in the room.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
To pat logs.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
A lot of output, man, a lot of output. I
felt like I was like in like theater camp, you know,
like every every episode was training my brain to absorb
that type of dialogue and to be But the burnout
was was pretty real, man. And I'd never I never
did twenty episodes, but I think that one was also
(03:23):
like yours twenty and then and then I think it
kind of went to like eighteen, but it stayed in
that space. But you know, by the time January came
and we were I was, I was, I was dragging
my feet.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Even even Christmas doesn't feel like a rest.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah, yeah, two and a half weeks I offer for
Christmas and you're just and then you get into a
holiday season, you're like shopping, you're the family, cooking, the
whole thing.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It's like, how many days an episode do you work? Eight?
You work all eight? Really, you work all eight.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Sometimes that'll give me a day off for meetings. Yeah,
so I go and my because I have to do
studio meetings or whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah, but for the most part, it's eight out of eight,
seven out of eight.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah. Yeah. Are you in every scene? Is that? Why?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Pretty much? Yeah, we're in the most scenes.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
The four the four Investigators are like kind of going,
you know. But when you get to that point when
you're doing that many episodes and you're doing other development aside,
I mean, what do you how do you prevent the burnout?
What do you think? What do you think helps? Like
what's the state of mind or what do you do?
Like how do you stay healthy? That's a good question.
(04:34):
Have you have you watchable? I got progressively fatter as
that's very therapeutic, you really want to make it. You
got to store some energy.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You gotta store some energy, man, you know. Uh no,
I I I had a hard time with burnout on
that on that show and gained weight and I had
to try to figure out how to do that and
how to maintain my health and eat healthy. And but
how did you do it? I mean, I mean, you're
you're so much more of an expert at that than me,
(05:06):
And I think that maybe it was a learning curve
for me to do that, where you're like a freaking
pro at.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
It, right, I mean, I think it's you know, you
you fight against everything you possibly get to get to
the point to get to the point where you're like
starting to gain weight because you're too tired to work out.
That was me, So I get, you know, and I
want I want to also talk a little bit about
(05:33):
that part, because when we talk about gaining weight, you're
talking about a you know, a subliminal state of mind
that all of a sudden, the only motivation you have
is to memorize lines, say them aloud, and be on
your feet for ten to twelve hours and do choreography
and do walking around and do community with us, and
(05:54):
your output entertaining. So therefore, you know, you're reading line
and you're not sitting down and having a proper meal, right,
you're eating only on set, which is like you know,
if anybody has seen the stereotypical craft services.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's like every pair of chips, you can ease whatever.
And it's like that.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Instinct like sugar spike or that instinct like coffee spike
or that instant like so like your body starts slowing down.
And so for me, the I take care of my
brain first, So I do the brain knocked in, I
do you know, collagen and creating creamers and stuff like that,
and that kind of keeps keeps you hydrated, keeps your
(06:36):
brain hydrated, and that's how you retain information. And then
how do you take care of the body. I just
I stay in the gym as hard as it is.
So I started doing it four thirty in the morning
because you needed church, right, you needed a place to
work it out, to grind it out. And then you
(06:56):
come to set warm awoken. You know, you're not sleepy,
you're not drugging, you don't just wake up.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So that helps.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Now ten episodes in, Yeah, I'm gonna take the day off, right,
I'm mentoring morning now from working out right, and then
feels better to sleep in. Yeah, I take two hours
today right right, Then comes episode seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's pasta bar. You know I've been pretty good the
last three episodes.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I have a pasta, So then you start slowing the say,
oh my guys, the white sauce of the red sauce.
You recommend that white sauce extra Yeah, I like cheese.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
That's the problem, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
The problem is like you's like it's easy to reward
yourself because it's also easier to reward yourself more often, right,
Like Okay, well I have a pasta a week, right,
you know, but then you're not working out, you're working whatever.
But you gotta like fuel your body for stamina, you know,
(08:08):
give yourself some healthy cars so your body can absorb
it as supposed to restore it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, you know, but that's like that's on the physical part.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
The mental fatigue is is where it's it's scary, bro.
It's heavy because you gotta you gotta retain information.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Movies is funny because you'll shoot like two scenes for
twelve hours. Yeah, TV you're doing five scenes in one day.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
You like, give me the next episode the next exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, it was tough.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think I think one of the things I got
me through it, I just felt I felt appreciated, you know,
and sometimes it's all you need is to like feel appreciated,
you know. Shout out to to David's staff and the
George Cheeks and all the wonderful people at CBS. I
loved working at that network and always felt appreciated by them.
(09:00):
And there were some other executives that were there before that,
and I know you're still working with all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I just uh, they were just like good human beings, you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Know, real aware, yeah, always aware.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, man, Amy, you know, shut out, she's my sister, man, Yeah. Yeah.
Just nice people, man, nice people. I always felt appreciated
by them. I always felt like I was doing some
good work for them, and they and they were always
vocal about that. And and that's that's that was like
one of the things that got me through, you know
that And and the uh, the fan response, right, you know,
(09:35):
the fans love.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That is working and you're getting to them. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You just feel like you're doing your job, you know,
and so it's sort of curbs the burnout, you know,
and and and by the time you get to the end,
you're like, where's where's I want to stay in bed
for like a month.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
And then your wife comes and just like, can we
plan a vacation? Yeah, yeah, exactly right, and you have vacation.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
You know. You know Elsie did that for me. Man,
She's she's so wonderful. She took me to she took
me to Puerto Rico and got this wonderful room and
we were at this great resort and and I and
I fell asleep a lot of the time I was there. Man,
I felt so bad because I know she wanted to like.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Explore it, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Like on the on the on the balcony.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, I know. Amanda does a really good job by
making sure I'm awake.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yeah, we're going. The car is here, the boat is there.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Do you feel that choosing, you know, a job that
may induce burnout now at this stage in your career
is different than what it was earlier in your career.
I mean I got a little older, you mean, yeah,
I'm sure when you did seventy show you were like
bringing on right, I mean you're in your teens and you're.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like, I will literally on my days where I had
a day like a half a day, I will fly
to New.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
York have meetings, promote, and come right back.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That's crazy.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
They give me, like Tuesday off, I'll fly to Miami
to do Spanish speaking press and come back and rehearse
the same day.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I do. Crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It's tough like that because I just did you do that?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Now you think you could do that?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Now I could. But instead of.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
You know, watching movies on the plane and like talking
to strangers, which I love talking to.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yes, the whole flight to talk like exactly, I love that.
I'd be like, hey man, let's talk for two hours.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah, and then we're going to sleep. Ten hours later
we still talked. I was so pig dude.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
So so now now now you sleep on the I
try to sleep.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
When I don't have to be awake.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But look, getting back to the philosophical part of it,
you know, sometimes you kind of wonder, like what is
the thing that makes you ignore the fatigue and like
makes you ignore or the soreness and the tiredness, Like
what is that thing? What is that feeling you're chasing?
And you know, it's different for everybody. I think that
I think for us, for people like us that were
(12:10):
at this place of our lives and careers, it's about
keeping the light on. It's about giving our families, you know,
that kind of balance and that wealth being. You know,
I think that's the thing that really keeps you going.
It has to be about something more than just the art.
It can't just be about because you love it. Yeah,
you know, because at the end of the day, it
is a business and it is a job. Yeah, and
(12:32):
you have a responsibility, right, your responsibility, right, you have
millions of dollars are being burned on the set just
so you can say your lines. Yeah, put it that way.
You're carrying a lot, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man. I had a family emergency
when I was doing that show, and I postponed it
because I felt this deep sense of responsibility on my shoulder.
You know. I was like, oh, man, if I leave now,
shut production, that's a couple hundred gram more than that
per episode, like per day. Like I just I just
(13:07):
felt this deep sense of responsibility on my shoulder. Man.
And I don't know if that comes with like the
way we grew up, right, Like, you know, we we
grew up with such a deep sense of responsibility in
whatever we do. But I feel that now, man, no
matter what problem, no matter how burned out. I feel
no matter how tired I am, I just you know,
(13:29):
I just feel like I signed up for this thing.
They're putting their trust in me. It's my job to deliver,
you know, no matter what age, no matter what, how
many hours, nothing.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I just know the fans are watching, and you know,
you want to give them the best possible show and
all that.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
And they expect to expect that many they you know,
they've been watching you for thirty years, right, so they're like,
I expect to see something from Wilburg. I expect to
see a level of performance and quality.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
And care and invest all of that.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
I mean, I'm sure you could phone it in. I'm
sure you could, like you know, you could do all
that stuff, but but the fans expect more of you.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
What do you want to do next? Like, got you
open to doing a show for twenty eighthisodes again?
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I would, man, I would.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I mean, you're in great ship, you were broken, you're
killing it, And I would, yeah, yeah, you know a
head full.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Of hair, Yes, I still got it, it's still there.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I would, man, I would. I would because of my
last experience with with those very people that we just
talked about over at CBS. You know, I just so
appreciated the way singer handler or ensemble. I it's more
about the It's more about the project and the and
the character.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I'm talking about the technical weight that you have to
carry because if you're you're, if you're like the center
of the boaster.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I'd be open to all of it. Okay, good, I'd
be open to all of it as long as as
long as I had the same kind of team behind
me that I had that was supporting me. Because it's
so hard. It's so hard to do you you need
a team like that that that believes and supports you.
As long as I had that, Yeah, I would. I
(15:14):
would venture off into doing that again.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, and I think I still have the stamina for it. Man,
I could still do it.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, your baby, baby, Well, come on, man, that you
know it happen.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
What, Well, what will be the character you want to
play next? I know you're open, but yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Know, man, that's a good that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Do you want to do some action?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I do? I still I love doing I you know,
I did a little action here in there. I loved it.
You know, did the lawyer thing. Loved it. I you know,
as long as I could. As long as I can
do something with the character, that's all that matters to me.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Doctor.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I would, Yeah, because you speak English, I don't, so
I won't do it.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I would, I won't be doing that. But I welcome.
I welcomed the burnout, you know, like I know it.
Throughout our careers, there may have been times where you're like, oh, no,
I would do this. I wouldn't do this. Has there
ever been a project that you've that you've passed on
because you were so burned out you were just like,
(16:39):
I just can't I don't have the staminaugh for it
right now.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
No, there's shows that didn't go that I that I
was like, I was ready to lock in. Yeah, Like
I did this show where I play a coronel and
I was a military show and I was just excited
to just be covering dust and gunpowder.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I just want to go and do that. So I
was locked in reder to go in great shape and
all that. But it didn't go.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, but but you were ready to. You were you
didn't feel like ah man.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
But fatigue is.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I mean sort where the fatigue gets a little concerning
is in that sometimes these jobs take the best out
of us, and then you come home and you have
to muster the little bit of best. You have to
make sure your family has all of you. And that,
(17:37):
to me is the concerning part. And I'm playing with
that balance, you know, because during the day you're at
one hundred, right then you come home and you're probably
feeling fifteen percent. You're seventeen percent when you come home,
and you gotta prove you gotta turn that up. You
(17:59):
gotta chase your kids, you gotta you know how, and
you got taught.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
To your lady. You know you got I mean, you're
you're changing in many ways.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It keeps you young, right, like you're like just fucking
getting it, just giving the game, you know. Yeah, but
but that kind of stuff is something you gotta and again,
you gotta find that balance, if you know, you talk
about longevity, you know, and how are you going to
take care of yourself to go? But you know, then
you see people like you know, Anthony Hopkins, Yeah, they're
doing he's doing Marvel movies. He's doing like yeah, like
(18:33):
you like, how how are you hanging on that hard?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And you know what it.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Is it's still play for him. Yeah right, So I
didn't think about like that. We just can't forget. And
again this who comes now straight up to everybody who's
experiencing that dilemma, Like, I've been doing this job for
this much, but you gotta go back to what was
fun about it, yeah right, and like you gotta continue
to cultivate that fun part of the job to make
(19:00):
sure that that's the thing that keeps you awake, the
thing that keeps you engaged. Yeah right, that's the toughest part, right,
because you gotta you gotta remember why you started, you know.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, Because imagine being a part of a job, whatever
it is, right, it doesn't even have to be like
a TV show. It could be whatever. Imagine being a
part of something where you're you're you're giving it everything.
You're experiencing burnout. Yeah, and you hate it, right, you
hate every aspect of it. I mean that's what really
exacerbates the burnout, I think in my opinion, you know,
(19:34):
I I you know, it's funny, there was there was
a job that that I didn't take, uh because I
was burned out. I had uh, I had taken I
had you know, I was coming off of, you know,
a string of of of movies and a TV show
and I was just so I was just so tired, man,
I was so tired. And I and I remember, oh,
(19:56):
it was right after that time I saw you in
London and I got home and I think I was
I was promoting because I went to London at that
time I saw you, and I was promoting a movie
out there, and I was just so exhausted. Man, I
was coming off of this run and uh. And I
had a meeting with Catherine Bigelow for the hurt Locker. Now,
(20:19):
mind you, I didn't know it was going to be
the hurt Locker as we know it today, right. I
had a meeting with her because it was a small
indie movie that she wanted to do in Morocco. And
I had talked to a couple of my active friends
and I was like, man, how is Morocco. They're like, oh, man,
we got we got food poisoning when we were there
(20:40):
and the water was terrible. Like they just did not
have great things to say about it. Right, And so
we had a meeting and we and we vibed and
she was like, well, I'd love for you to be
a part of this, you know. And I was like, Okay,
I haven't seen my kids and like in like a month,
like I've been working non stop, Like do I really
want to go to my rocco on some like indie
(21:01):
movie and get food poisoning and be away from the kids,
And like, I was so burned out. And then I
got offered Ugly Betty and.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
So and I shot here.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It shot here, and I was like, oh me, a
romantic comedy after all of the stuff that I was
doing back then, all the gritty indie movies and the
TV show. And I was just flattered that that that
ABC saw me as like a romantic lead. And so
I took Ugly Betty instead of this small indie movie
that was in Morocco. And then the movie come out,
(21:35):
comes out and it's magnificent, and.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You would I'm going with this and a guy.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
And then Jeremy Renner got nominated for an Oscar and
the whole movie did, and I was like, oh man, wow,
I can't believe I didn't do that thing, but you know,
it would have been awesome. It's just is it, you know,
just a testament? And it was.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
But also it was a pop cultural phenomenal in culture,
had too, and I also.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, no, no, I had I had at an
incredible time. I think it was the right gamble America
for era, and and all of them were just so lovely,
lovely people to work with, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
But that was the wood job as we as, this
conversation revolves around burnout and fatigue, and I was like,
I was like, I just don't have an any man
and you know, kids and all.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
That stuff, and so yeah, priorities, right, You've got to
make sure that you have a list of priorities. What
are the things that you're willing to live with, what
are the things you're willing to live without? Yeah, but no, look,
it's a great reminder for everybody, everybody's who's listening that
it's you know, you have to make some early choices
that allow you to have that you know, that runway.
(22:45):
You got to pace yourself, but you got to give
it all at the same time. It's in a very annoying equation. Yeah,
but make sure you save some in the tank for
the things that you're working for.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah. Yeah, and you know, and sometimes that may not
even be the main I think you're doing right, Like,
like sometimes you're working a nine to five, right and
there may be something that you feel passionate about you
to do all your off time. That that thing is
what fills the void. That's what makes the nine to
five tolerable. And so it's it's important that you're not
(23:19):
allowing the nine to five to burn you out so much.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That you don't get to do the thing that tells
the void. That's great, that's a great reminder. Well, on
that note, this is a woman of ot the Romance.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
It's Freddy Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I hope that whatever we discuss here creates a little
bit of that light in that dark room so you
can find, you know, you can find the way out
of it and into the sun again, and you can
enjoy what you are and what you want to be
and where you're gonna go next.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
So this is Dose Amigos, and I see you on
the next episode, so you have the next one piece.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Those Amigos is a production from WV Sound and iHeartMedia
is Michael Tuda podcast network hosted by me, Freddie Rodriguez,
and Wilmer Valdorama.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Those Amigos is produced by Cooper Male and Sophie Spencer Saviles.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Our executive producers are Wilmer Valderama, Freddie Rodriguez, and Leo
Clem at WV Sound.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
This show is mixed and mastered by Sean Tracy and
original music by Madison, Devinport and Hala Boy.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the R Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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Wilmer Valderrama
Freddy Rodriguez
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