Goodbye Danny Boy • EP 911

Just grab your box of tissues now because this goodbye hasn’t gotten any easier after all these years. Just ask Paul Johannson who joins the queens for a final farewell to Dan Scott. But this recap isn’t just a tear-jerker, it’s a jaw-dropper! Hear why Paul almost passed on Season 9, and why he’s glad he didn’t!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
First of all, you don't know me. All about that
high school drama, Girl drama, girl, all about.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Them high school queens, We'll take you for a ride,
and our comic girl sharing for the right.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Drama, Queens of Girl Fashion, but your.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
Tough girl, you could sit with us.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Girl Drama, Queens Drama, Queens Drama, Queens Drama, Drahn The
Queens Drama Queens.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Wow, this episode, I'm a wreck.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
I really was just in tears this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Same This was actually one of those that halfway through
I was like, man, I know, with everyone's cities and
jobs and time zones, it's really hard for us to
watch and record all on zoom. And I was like,
I wish I'd just been able to cry with you guys.
And then I was like, but we wouldn't have made
it worse.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
We would have been having to stop every like ten
minutes for me. I mean, I've really had a sabfest
this morning. I had to pause several times to just
weep and then keep going.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
I would have loved to have just been able to
make eye contact with you guys, because there were so
many moments that I a just were completely new to me.
A couple that I remembered, but I would have just
killed that, you guys, and there him to be like, whoa,
I was.

Speaker 6 (01:16):
Thinking about you.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
With so many of the flashbacks, I was like, oh
my god, Rob's having another one of those moments where
he's seeing things he's never seen.

Speaker 5 (01:25):
Funny you say that because I actually found myself. At first.
I was just going like wait what, wait what? And
then I stopped looking at him because I feel like, listen,
if I do run it back with one tree hill,
I don't. I don't want to already be privy to
like the ten biggest surprises of Dan Scott's run, and

(01:47):
I saw after they're doing all his cuts right and
after like the second one where I was like what
the hell, I was like, I gotta stop. I gotta
stop right because I was like, you're spoiling the show
for you. Percent I don't want to remember him standing
in the show getting hit by this car. If I
watched this again, I want so I completely every time
he started to flash back, I just closed my eyes
and you know, looked at my phone.

Speaker 6 (02:08):
You pulled the kid in the movie theater. I'm not looking.
I'm not looking, and I'm looking.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Because it was also good. As much as I love
coming in and asking you guys, like what was that scene,
I'm finding myself more and more interested in like what
it is, and then also going like, but this is
the fun of watching it, And if I know the
biggest twists ahead of time, that's that kind of robs
the joy from it.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, you're right, cute theater. Rewatch the first first few seasons.

Speaker 6 (02:35):
I know, I forse six.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
I'm excited for you to meet v One Brook Davis
and kind of hate her.

Speaker 5 (02:41):
But it's going to be completely because I don't know
those versions of the characters, so it's going to be interesting.
We should Well, let's let's talk about this one though.
This episode this season nine, episode eleven, Danny Boy, aired
March twenty first, twenty twelve. Synopsis reads, this for Nathan
has come to an end and Dan's life hangs in

(03:03):
the balance. Oh boy does it. Brooke is surprised when
her father returns and Clay and Quinn reconnect with logan
written by our Verio and Mike Harrow and David Strauss.
Oh boy, did they write a good one.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I know somebody else who might not have seen this
episode before, and we called him to see if he
would be available to come sit with us and talk today,
and we got him. Can we bring in Paul Johanson
please bring Danny Boy.

Speaker 5 (03:32):
Oh my gosh, I'm such a huge Paul fan. I
hope I don't make it weird.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Hi.

Speaker 5 (03:39):
Well, hello, hello, sir, you just.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Get more and more handsome every year, Paul.

Speaker 7 (03:46):
I think the word is older fall.

Speaker 6 (03:49):
Whatever it is, it's working for you.

Speaker 7 (03:52):
Blushing. I haven't seen you guys in so long. I'm
actually blushing.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
Did you hear what we were just saying about you?

Speaker 7 (03:59):
No? Oh?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Well, half of it was nasty, but the other half
was so lovely you probably would have blushed even more.

Speaker 7 (04:07):
Right Well, I mean, you know, my humor only goes
one direction. Secrets of the World.

Speaker 5 (04:15):
It's good to see you, friend, are you too?

Speaker 7 (04:18):
Hi?

Speaker 5 (04:18):
So Hi, Paul?

Speaker 3 (04:20):
You had us all sobbing, just sobbing in this episode.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
My god, have you seen this episode before?

Speaker 7 (04:29):
Like?

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Did you just film it? And then we're like, I
can't watch it back? Have you ever watched it? This
one and the last one?

Speaker 7 (04:36):
Actually, I've the fans will probably not like this, but
I've probably seen twenty five percent of One Tree Hill.

Speaker 4 (04:46):
Oh, we all have too.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's kind of what we're doing
now is watching it back because we hardly watched.

Speaker 7 (04:52):
Anyway, because I think when you're like you guys know why,
I'll just say this for the fans, I think I'm
I'm not a particularly huge fan of seeing myself. I
I'm too, I'm too difficult on I'm too hard on
myself to to allow myself to appreciate what they see,
which is this this this character I just see, I

(05:14):
could have done that better? Oh that like land right
or you know what, where was my head or the
blocking you know whatever it is. I'm one of those people,
so and I and I and I'm actually the same
when I watch other people's work too, So it's hard
for me to get so. But the good news is
we are in the golden age of television, and the
work out there is probably the best it's ever been.

(05:35):
So I'm really doing this time in a weird way. Uh.
It kind of would be cool to see sort of
like a what is that? What is that is what
they call the dark marble, kind of like you know
AI stuff. I'd love to see a dark one Tree
Hill AI version of all of us. Do you guys

(05:57):
know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
You know it's funny you say that, because yes, and
half of me goes, oh, that would be so fun
you know, almost like the upside down episode from high school,
and the other half of me, I gotta say it.
People are already making such weird ai of all of
us with old One Tree Hill photos.

Speaker 6 (06:16):
And I hate it.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah, it makes me.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Feel so uncomfortable. It's so creepy. And I know people mean, well,
but to see yourself, but it's not yourself, and then
you're doing things you never did, and I just think I.

Speaker 6 (06:32):
Can't explain it. It makes my skin crawl.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
How much darker could Dan get? Though Dan's already in
the upside down?

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Man?

Speaker 6 (06:40):
Also that I was gonna say, I.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Want the dark thing, like just for us to watch
on a zoom that's not for the public. Yeah, but
then joy, you're right, like we could all go dark?
Where would God?

Speaker 5 (06:53):
I have a small treasure trove of fan fiction I've
written over the years for One Tree Hill and it
gets real racy. So you guys ever want, I can
just send some your way.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Because I think I can pretty much guarantee that there's
at least one episode that opens with Dan looking hotter
than Dan Scott slash Paul Johanson has ever looked, which
is a tall order to begin with walking through that
warehouse in slow mo, just one handed cock in the shotgun.

(07:23):
I know that's not the episode we're talking about, but
last week all three of us were like, wait, are
we in love with Paul? Yeah, like differently than we
already are. Are we going to run away with him?
What's happening?

Speaker 7 (07:35):
Was big conversation whether I was going to do it
like that, you know, sort of like the walking tall
version or whatever it is, whether it's just gonna be
like one of these things. And I kind of was
just like, let's just go full you know, let's go
full nineties bad boy by Yes, you know, in a
weird way I think, you know. Uh. Craig and I

(07:55):
often kind of joke about having had switched rules at
one point in some sort of dream version. It would
have been cool to like him be me and me
be him and see how they would have played out,
because that was originally what I wanted. I went to
the writers before we started hitting and said, I really
want the Keith part, you know, when I really wanted,
and they were not having it. They're like, no, no,

(08:16):
you don't get it. You don't go to you, And
I had no clue, So you.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Know you had no I'm so glad that you didn't.
You know what you're saying about the work out there
right now being the best it ever has been. You know,
we've the industry has changed so much, and what we're
seeing on TV is such it is a departure from
what it was in the early two thousands. So we're
getting a lot more gritty, a lot more real, raw performances,
and it's funny. As we watched back our show, I'm

(08:44):
really proud of the work that we did, Like there
is so much that we were I guess being on
a show for that long, at some point the higher
ups kind of take their hands off of it and
they just trust us to do our job in a
lot of different lanes, and so I feel like we
got to do a lot of that. But you certainly
did in this episode. You really really shined, shown shined

(09:07):
whatever man the scene with you and Nathan on the river,
you and Debb, which, by the way, Barbara, I'm sorry
would be so adhd. I don't mean to take us
on a million trails. But like, also watching Barbara in
this episode, as soon as she walked in, I was like, wait,
where has Barbara been the last ten episodes or the

(09:27):
last six Why wasn't she at Hayley's side every second
of the way. But anyway, Yeah, your performance, Paul, really
blew me away in this one. I don't think I've
ever seen you do work like that.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
It's beautiful.

Speaker 7 (09:41):
That means like the world to me, especially coming from you, guys.
I think Barbara is a movie star and should have
been a major movie store. Yeah, he has everything, all
the good She's so talented.

Speaker 5 (09:55):
Your guys' stuff was so perfect, like tonally as well.
It opened with a joke and then it got sweet.
Dan closes it with the quickie joke, which is like
perfectly on brand for him. But yeah, the the the
river court scene just so unclear. That was that was
Dan sort of just having a fantasy of what he

(10:15):
wish could have happened. Correct.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
I kind of thought it was Nathan's fantasy, or maybe
both of them were there together.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
But yes, I had the same thought. I was like,
Paul's doing exceptional work, and what again, people who like
aren't in the industry don't realize is you just got
a script with essentially like three straight pages of the
dialogue and people don't understand, like, not only is that
such an undertaking just to remember, but then to like
have to play all the levels. You you did it

(10:44):
effortlessly and it looked it just looked natural and easy,
and yeah it was. It was terrific work, Paul.

Speaker 6 (10:51):
It was beautiful.

Speaker 7 (10:52):
Well love that. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
You know, I want to I want to get to
all of that, but it's a joy's point.

Speaker 6 (11:01):
We just want to shower you.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
And then I'm like, wait, we actually have a job
to do, which is to recap the whole episode. Something
I love. And it actually ties into what you were saying,
and we spoke about this last week for nine to ten,
how there was this really amazing balance between seriousness and
almost like a sexy seventies heist comedy that you, Austin

(11:25):
and Tyler were doing together, and that it started in
this great way because it's you and Austin, you know,
and Dan and Julian are arguing and Julian's very like.

Speaker 6 (11:33):
What are you talking about?

Speaker 7 (11:34):
What have you done?

Speaker 3 (11:35):
You know, freaking out, and you think it's going to
be this odd couple moment, and then you don't expect
Chris Keller to pop between the two and goes that
what I did, and you do all this really amazing
stuff that is somehow able to toe the line between
absurdist and funny and so real and high stakes.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, the perfect straight man exactly.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
And it really hit me in the opening of the
episode that you manage to continue it even though things
have gone sideways. Chris is gone, Nathan is with you,
Julian's driving the car, and I just love that it
opens with you being like, it's the switch in the middle, Yes, eMac,
And it's so serious and scary and it's also so

(12:21):
deadpan funny, and I caught myself being like, yes, they kept,
they kept what was so good with the three of
you in nine ten, going in nine to eleven, and
then the way the story starts to weave together. You know,
Rob asked questions Paul last week about the timeline of
the day, and even the fact that you three drive

(12:42):
by on Front Street, you drive by Karen's in the
Tree Hill Cafe, and you see Brooke still dealing with
that EMS crew, and you realize this is how it
all happens. Brooke, here's it on the radio.

Speaker 6 (12:54):
She calls Haley like.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Suddenly you understand where all of our people are, and
it's it's such great balance and it's such great storytelling.
Was it fun for you to watch that as a director,
because I know as an actor it's hard to watch, but.

Speaker 6 (13:15):
As a director, where.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
You like, oh good cuts, oh good reveal there? Or
were you just like I really hate watching myself on TV?

Speaker 7 (13:23):
I did. I watched. I watched those ones, and like you,
there is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship that goes into
a show with twenty leads. There's a lot of work
that comes down into intermingling and weaving together things that
that that have to be resolved because you brought them
up and then you have to find a way to
make them pay off. And that high level of work.

(13:46):
And uh, and I'm really glad you pointed out that
that's where the credit should go. You know again, I
really you know, we are we have an exceptional cast.
I just want to quickly say that working with those
two guys, it brought back a lot of joy for me,
you know, because I really it made me that really
brought you know, a lot of just just going to

(14:08):
work and having something like that to do with those guys.
And I mean there's nobody like Tyler. I mean I
love him and I follow him on social media because
he always makes me smile. He's a genuinely good person,
you know. Yeah, And it's kind of almost like I'm
in awe of that because I just, you know, don't

(14:31):
you know, I still live in Hollywood.

Speaker 6 (14:33):
I don't see it every day.

Speaker 7 (14:36):
He's a genuinely good person and a very guy. And
everybody I know knows him. You know, he's friends with
like big movie stars and everybody. They all love him.
And we were lucky, I think to have him on
our show. I think he brought at a great deal levity.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
You know, what memories do you have about filming these episodes?
I mean this whole sequence of like, I kind of
wish you've been to be here with us for the
whole run of this Serbian Mafia storyline.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
It's just so funny.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
I just would love to hear any behind the scenes
memories that you have from the whole thing and leading
up to this.

Speaker 8 (15:15):
It's funny you should say that because the beginning of
season nine was was very difficult for me to come
back and do the show because you know, the as
you know, the showrunner called me and had, you know,
kind of said, hey, listen, you know, once you come
back and do the story arc.

Speaker 7 (15:32):
We've got for you. But there's a there's a there's
a hitch. And I said, oh, okay, tell me the
hitch first. There's no, no, want to pitch you the
story first because you won't like the hitch hitting the
story was that sounds amazing. I'm that's that and he goes, great,
you got to take a thirty percent pay cut to
do it, and I said, oh, well, I'm family, you know,

(15:56):
I have a kid, and yeah, I have you know,
I mean, wow, that's got I wish you would have
led with that, because yeah, so I ended up doing it,
and it wasn't I didn't do it for the money, obviously,
because it was just such a good story and I
wanted to. I wanted to finish this character off right
for the fans, and they deserved it. Tough way to
swallow it, you know, to come to work and know

(16:17):
that I'm they just you know, basically got my income.
I'm only saying that because it was to me there
after after nine years and you guys. You know I
wanted I didn't want to miss seeing you guys.

Speaker 5 (16:29):
That's such a manipulative tactic a that he led with
the story and be What's also tough about it is
that so much of the season nine rides on you.

Speaker 7 (16:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (16:40):
So, if anything, I think there's a very valid argument
to be made for, Hey, we have it, we have
a storyline we need you for, and you can ask
for a little more money, you know what I mean.
It's wild to be like, hey, you're the one guy
who can really land this plane for us, and could
you do it blindfolded? Like it's it's really to be
handicapping the person and you're asking to really bring it home.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Considering how much money the show had made for the
studio and the producers.

Speaker 5 (17:07):
Did you hear the music in this episode? Every single artist?
I was like, I know who that is? I know
who that is?

Speaker 4 (17:13):
Right, they could have pulled one of those songs.

Speaker 5 (17:15):
Yes, you know, it's rude to ask your actor to
pay less money when it's like it's like cold Play,
Florence and the Machine. Yeah, no, we're not hurting for cash.

Speaker 7 (17:25):
I got paid because I got I got to see
the people I love, you know, of course, and really
I thought I could, really, I could really bring a
lot to that, to that, but it was it was just,
you know, it was just I guess in the end
of the at the end of the day, it's really
you know, we're I've always felt that this is the
luckiest job in the world. I've always you know, I'm

(17:47):
I'm never grumpy on set because I'm always giddy about
being there. You guys have been by me, so you know,
like I come like, how are we going to mess
things up today and have fun doing it? Because I
don't Steve spontaneity. So that's how I feel. But that
being said, just to go back, it was it was
beautifully written for me, and in order for it to work,

(18:10):
you had to have eight years of setup. Yes, yeah,
so that's what played so well.

Speaker 5 (18:16):
You know, I have a.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
To that point, I wrote so much in my notes,
like I found myself kind of like waxing poetic about Dan.
But I just want to share some of these thoughts
because I really think Dan is one of the best
characters in television history and that's due to you. I mean,

(18:43):
like ninety percent. There's like there's writing involved for sure,
but that's all like devices to get us from point
A to point B, and what you did with this
character made all the other things possible. But the reason
I think this about Dan is because I think it's
one of the best mirrors for humanity that I've ever seen. Like,
we love to hate him because he feels what every

(19:07):
one of us feels, but we don't act on it,
and Dan does. He's a titan, So it puts us
in a position where we sort of get to feel
superior to him because we're watching this guy do all
the things that we would never even though thoughts pass
through our mind, but we have self control and we
don't do these things.

Speaker 6 (19:23):
Oh, we have too much morality for that.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
That's right, Well, Dan doesn't, so he does what he wants.
He's a titan. He's wrestling with his own humanity. He's
pushing on every boundary. He's stepping on whoever he needs
to step on. He's climbing, and he's racing to arrive
at what he thinks is the top of the mountain.
Which is that kind of ultimate power control that we

(19:46):
all like secretly wonder if we had that, would we
finally be happy? Like in all the ways in our
personal lives where we're in small ways trying to have
power and control over things because we're just trying to
reach some goal that we think if I get it,
then it'll make me happy. So Dan comes to the
end of his life and realizes there is no top
of the mountain.

Speaker 4 (20:05):
It's a loop.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
And the vulnerability the very thing that he's been trying
his whole life to escape, which we've been watching him
do for ten years. The vulnerability is the key to
reaching the one thing that he's always wanted but he
could never get, which is to be loved. Because love
cannot be forced or bought or manipulated or coerced or demanded.

(20:30):
And there were people who did love Dan, but he
didn't know how to receive that love, knowing all the
horrible things he's done, and receiving love requires surrender. I'm
almost done, but like these are all my thy thanks
for me, I'm just like bestseller.

Speaker 4 (20:47):
Fingers Crossed.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
I just cannot think of a more fundamental human experience
to watch unfold. Over the course of ten years, we
spent nine seasons as an audience feeling superior to this guy,
judge him, hating him, but in the end, he holds
up a mirror to all of us because Dan did
all the things the worst parts of ourselves want to do,

(21:09):
but in the end he still had to surrender in
order to receive love. That message, yeah, is so it's
a big rainbow over life. It's a big overarching This
is so much more than just a character on a
TV show. That is the mirror, That is the road
that we're all walking down on some level.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, and to piggyback that joy. One of the things
that really hit me, Paul, watching you do what you do,
which is not just watching you deliver this storyline, but
also listen to your coworkers in these scenes. What made
me sob over and over again in these moments you

(21:52):
had with people was we saw Dan finally own his
behavior in ways that he had hadn't before. And every
single person when you said I'm so sorry, like once
they heard i'm sorry, was able to say I still

(22:14):
love you, like, yes, this horrible thing happened, but I
still love you. And you got to hear it from
deb and you got to hear it from Haley, and
you got to hear it from Nathan, and it was like.

Speaker 6 (22:27):
Maybe that's it.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
And we've talked about this a lot. You know, a
couple of weeks ago, joybe were talking about how do
you practice your integrity and your morality and you know,
the human desire to want to believe you can forgive
when you come up against the most horrific thing, and like, yeah,
it's an exercise. You can't just be you know, a

(22:49):
little polypuritan and like do it. The day Dan kills Keith,
everyone isn't going to be like, well, if you say sorry,
we'll forgive you. It takes time, and there's something about
this story and you being the person who could do
it for the show, like not just for Dan, but
for the whole show where we got to see the
human struggle of depravity and reclamation and complicated forgiveness happen,

(23:21):
and how much time that can take and how hard
it can be for people, and that you'll fall down
but you just have to keep getting back up. And
like to Joy's point, that's why, for me and clearly
for all of us, you are one of the best
television characters of all time because we don't get that,
we get like wrap it up in a bow, solve

(23:43):
the case of the week at the end of every
episode and move along and like this is a truly
human journey. Yes, on a show that rides a shark
a lot, but like a truly human journey. We read
books about families that go through stuff like this, that
get written after the patriarch dies, the family has never

(24:06):
dealt with it before, and then someone writes a gorgeous story, right,
But to see it and to have matters for a decade,
and to watch this show, whether you've been Dan Scott
or you've been deb or any of the rest of
us and go, oh, I wonder if I could own
it and change. I wonder if I could say I'm

(24:29):
sorry for the hundredth time and mean it differently and
have a different relationship with the person that I love
and that I hurt.

Speaker 4 (24:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Hello, And your ability, Paul, of all the things that
you've been through in your life, the history that you
carry with you, in the way that you interpret that
into your work, that you don't just separate the two
and show up and say lines like you bring this deep, deep,
deep well of making poetry out of difficulty, and you

(24:59):
bring that into your characters and into your work, and
you certainly did it here. I don't think Wintery Hill
would have kept going without you or exists or could
have existed, like you, really this was such a beautiful,
beautiful story.

Speaker 6 (25:13):
We love you.

Speaker 5 (25:27):
That scene at the River Court I thought was the
It was the perfect encapsulation of and we've talked about
this before where it's like what happens with Julian. I
don't know if you since you haven't seen all the episodes, Paul,
but like there's the storyline where Julian accidentally leaves one
of the boys in the car and the window has
to get broken and there's a whole blowback. And we
talked about how like if you just saw a newspaper

(25:50):
headline of like man leaves baby in car, you'd be
so quick to judge and sort of be you know,
be better than or you know, and then then when
you actually get to see the person, you realize, like, wow,
it's a human being. It was a simple mistake. I
feel like, if you can do that with Dan Scott,
you can do that with anyone. And I feel like
that was the challenge of the episode, and that scene

(26:12):
at the River Court is where they really stuck the landing,
because it wasn't easy, it wasn't like because I'm a
bad guy, he's a dickhead. It was grounded in like
very honest, simple human feelings, you know. And so I
think that's where it was so successful is because at
the end of it, you find yourself. If you can
have empathy and combasion for Dan Scott, then you can

(26:32):
have it for everyone.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
And people can have it for you if you see
yourself as the Dan Scott of your own life, have
so much shame and you're carrying so many things that
you've done, you're not beyond redemption.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
It also struck me as such a lesson really profound
at the time, right because the idea that phrase it
gets better was really launched in the early days of
our social connectivity to try to help people not give up,
you know, to be an anti suicidality rallying cry, you know,

(27:08):
like it will get better. There will be you will
find your people. Things will be okay. Maybe not today
or tomorrow, but eventually. And it struck me today, like
we talk about this a lot on the show Paul,
how things were We got it then, but now with
you know, all these years more of life experience and
hardship and heartbreak and great moments too, but you know

(27:31):
all of it that we see these storylines differently even
than we did at the time, and watching you deliver
that performance that like eviscerated me as a viewer and
as your friend and as your coworker. They had nowhere
to hide from my DearS.

Speaker 6 (27:51):
I just was like, oh my god.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
The fact that you were able to in this role
encapsulate an experience that I think so many people have had,
which is, I know you're trying to help me, but
I'm in so much pain that your hopefulness is painful
to me.

Speaker 4 (28:16):
It's so.

Speaker 6 (28:18):
Human.

Speaker 3 (28:20):
It's why, you know, twelve years later, with way more
access to things in our social connectivity, people follow therapists
that don't treat them, that are like, actually, the thing
not to say to a grieving person is this the
thing you maybe want to say to them, is this
other thing? Share how you'll be there for them, Share
these things. And to have a man like Dan Scott,

(28:42):
a titan like joy said say to us, this hopefulness
hurt me so badly that I acted out of my
pain in the most horrific way. It's like watching an
elephant sit down. You're just like, what's happening? I've never
seen this happen before, Like the king of the jungle

(29:02):
is having a moment, and the two of you together.
I mean, he's obviously not here today, but you and James,
the way you play this father and this son to
watch you have this experience and the wisdom of the
writers to give us the conversation that was happening at

(29:24):
Dan's bedside in the hospital, but put it on the
river court and have all of us wonder, like, wait,
did Nathan bust him out for like a final night?

Speaker 2 (29:33):
I thought it was a flashback, man, Then when you
stand up.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
What it did for me was when you stood up
and said, let's play a game.

Speaker 6 (29:39):
I was like, oh my god, he's dying.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
He's dying right now, he's hallucinating. He's oh my god,
and it I'm sorry, you don't cry. It like it
just crushed me. And you two were so beautiful. And
even to hear Dan say like, for once, let's not keep.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
Score, Yes, so good, the release of all.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
His stuff in like his dying breasts with his son Goodbyeugh.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
That was the perfect button for it. He said, yeah,
let's not keep score for once, let's just play.

Speaker 7 (30:18):
To play.

Speaker 9 (30:20):
I was like, ah, and that finally gets out there
face like the joy we got to watch you have
of you know, finding this other emotional level.

Speaker 6 (30:32):
To Rob's point, like.

Speaker 3 (30:35):
Only you could have landed that plane and we could
only have had such a profound lesson from a character
we'd spent ten years loving to hate and hating to love,
and like, holy shit. I don't know if you ever
look back on it and think like I really did some.

Speaker 6 (30:54):
Things on that show, but I hope you do.

Speaker 5 (30:57):
Yeah, let me just say two quick things. One is
I've for as much fun as we've had laughing at
the absurdity of season nine, with its ridiculous twists and
high highs. I feel like we are getting treated so far.
I don't want to drink six. We still have two
episodes left, but like to the longest best wrap up

(31:17):
of a series. Last episode was the was the action,
was the comedy. This episode was just all of the feelings,
and I just felt like, man, it's been such a
service to the fans, and I'm like, now I'm here
for it, Like I'm glad we went through It was
like we went through the awkward years of puberty and
junior high school to now be beautiful and flourishing our

(31:41):
senior year of high school. And the other thing, though,
is that, like, I'm so grateful that you chose to
sort of honor the character and show up for the
fans in a situation where you rightfully could have said
no because you weren't being treated respectfully or fairly. So

(32:01):
because I mean, you can't, we can't talk about season
nine if Dan hadn't been there. That's literally, it's it's
the spinal cord of the whole season.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
Yes, of the whole show.

Speaker 5 (32:11):
Yeah, oh yeah, just specifically season nine though, you know
what I mean, Like, yeah, yeah, what's the through line?
So you know, as a fan who has come to
love Dan Scott, I'm glad. I'm grateful that you showed
up and you brought it the way you did, because man,
it's great.

Speaker 7 (32:30):
I'm I'm gonna loss for words. I didn't expect to
be invited to hear today and to be spoken to
such appreciation. It means a lot to me what you
guys are saying. I don't know, I don't think about
it that much anymore. You know, I'm I'm living my

(32:50):
life and I'm grateful, But I know, I don't think
about it. But as we talk and having been requested
to go back and look at the show, you know,
last night and today, a lot of things came back.
A lot of stuff about how I walked onto the
set for that one speech at the River Court and
prepared myself about twenty before I came in on a
lot of really deep diving on you know, having spent

(33:15):
years embodying a character that was reviled by people and
holding that inside and feeling you know, never being invited
to you know, be part of the promotion of the show,
like none of the adults were, not just me, but
but you know, you know, all the older characters who

(33:37):
kind of been not that it's not that it mattered
to us then, but having such you know, looking back
on it going, you know, it would have been a
different experience had there been sort of a way to
share this with my sweet friend Craig Sheffer, who nursed
me back to health. I couldn't play my own part.
He had to play it for me off camera. For

(33:58):
those guys I mean, just just great people, you know,
you know, you know, but the canadidate characters are essential
to this show too. They're run a sense of female
empowerment and strength standing up against you know, a behemoth
of a man who just bullied the hell out of them,
and for their children's freedom from him. And it's just
stories that I see in real life too. You know.

(34:20):
It's it's it's it's it's beautiful that you guys are
saying these things to me. I do. I do have
to acknowledge that. You know. Again, it's you know, giving
the right tools from from you know, the creative side
of it, the creative any side that we don't we're not,
we're not really much of a part of I usually
just take the script and do what I can with

(34:41):
my character and go, how would this character that I
know want this to come out in the way that
we play it, Because to me, it's always playing. I
just keep myself open to whatever's happening. My favorite thing is,
you know, when it doesn't go the way I expect it,
that's my favorite scene of the day. Yeah, you know,
but to end, just to end that scene in the
river court was something that I did do a lot

(35:03):
of work saying in my head was slow down, don't
sell it. It's not a fucking presentation, it's a personal experience.
Slow down, and do it for you, Paul, do this
for you that are important to you. And if they're
not coming out the right way, that means you're not

(35:25):
dialed into what this is really about. This is a
scene about a man who's laying in the bed and
he's his last prayer to me. When you guys say
whose version was it from? For me, I played it
as if I was talking to whatever maker I'm going
to saying, hey, man up, you know, please just be

(35:47):
understood for a minute, just can somebody understand me? And
so I'm transported to this river court with my son
and it's like, oh God, thank you for picking him.
That's the one. And there was all outside of me.
It was all a sort of like a biblical experience
for Dan. And then when I had a chance to say,
it's not you, it's me. It's not you, it's me.

(36:08):
Live your life, love your child, go hug your wife,
forgive yourself. You did nothing wrong. It's me, it's not you.
Will you please please take from this at least the
knowledge that that I loved you. I'm flawed, but I
loved you, and and I just all I need to
hear is the two words, no, three words, I guess
I forgive you, and once you say that, I can

(36:30):
be set free. And when he gives that to me,
that's when I can play basketball. That's when I can
go to see with Keith. That's when I can move on.
I can't. I can't until you forgive me. But how
can you forgive me if you don't know me? Because
nobody sat there and ask me how you doing, Dan,
how you feel? Not yet you know? So I kind
of made it about about me all like playing Dan

(36:54):
and gave me. So if that's what you guys are resonating,
then that means I did my job.

Speaker 4 (37:00):
So it's powerful.

Speaker 6 (37:03):
It's really beautiful.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
We should probably jump into your criticisms now of your performance.
You're ready, You've had all the niceties.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
You're going to get, sir, Somebody make me stop crying, please.

Speaker 5 (37:15):
Okay, No, that was that we needed to shower you
with that much love and appreciation. But we should also
we'd be remiss if we didn't discuss the rest of
this episode because this was This was a great episode.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
It was so good.

Speaker 5 (37:29):
I loved the first time Haley sees Nathan and the
sweet exchange of high hails and and Haley says say
that again. Yeah, that's the perfect All she wants to
do is hear her husband greeting her.

Speaker 4 (37:48):
I remember shooting that. I don't.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
I don't remember anything particular about it other than just
the feeling of knowing what a big.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Deal moment it was.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, and the choreography had to be so specific of
bodies partying at certain times so that everything could we
could see each other and get to each other. And yeah,
I remember it feeling like a big deal and it
really paid off.

Speaker 4 (38:14):
I love the way that it looked.

Speaker 7 (38:15):
I watched your eyes during that scene. I like it
was watch your eyes, and I was like, nobody plays
searching panic like Joy, just watch your eyes. Your shirt beautiful,
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
That's just my internal daily monologue. Is there anywhere safe
for me? Anywhere at all?

Speaker 5 (38:34):
Yeah, waiting for the.

Speaker 4 (38:36):
Other shoe to drop.

Speaker 3 (38:38):
It felt so special and so interesting. It struck me
watching that. You know, to your point, Joy understanding the
technical side, and you know, Paul, you've directed a million
sequences like that, you know, for our friends at home
to move on a steady cam through the hallways, get
to your mark, stop, make sure all our background actors

(39:01):
are in their own sort of ballet which looks, you know, natural,
like the flow of humans, but it's actually quite complex
to get all the timing right and then to bring
these people together in the hallway. It struck me that
it was one of the only moments of real, like

(39:21):
deep breath relief happiness we've had in the Tree Hill Hospital.

Speaker 4 (39:26):
Ooh, Like it's always.

Speaker 3 (39:27):
Absolute shenanigans and a nightmare and someone's going.

Speaker 6 (39:30):
To die in the hospital.

Speaker 4 (39:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
And there was something so interesting about that scene between
the two of you being the opener, where we all
got to collectively take that deep breath. You know, you
knew that the audience was finally going to get what
they'd been begging for all season, and suddenly the hospital
for the rest of the episode is like a cocoon.

(39:54):
It's this really safe place. Yeah, for all these characters.
They get to have these moments that they haven't had before.
And it was really interesting to invert what that set
normally meant for us. And I thought it kind of
lent this like subconscious something is shifting here. And then

(40:18):
I felt the shift everywhere. I felt it in Haley
and Dan when you took Lydia to see him, I
felt it in Nathan scenes as a father, knowing he
could probably lean into telling Jamie it might be okay,
but that that wasn't the right thing to do and
that he needed to prepare his son. I felt it
even though you weren't in the hospital, Rob in your

(40:40):
moment of continuing to show up, you know, continuing to
knock at the door for Logan and then finally saying
to Logan when he was like, well, you know you
went to wander and you were like, no, I wasn't
wandering away. I was looking for something, and it was
you so good. I just was like, oh my god,

(41:01):
our dad's.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
Like dad, that's my title for the episode, dads Yes.

Speaker 6 (41:06):
From Dan to Nathan.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
And then watching Nathan and Clay, I was like, oh
my god. And even Julian, you know, you don't really
see us with the kids, but Julian being able to
stand there and say I'm happy I could help.

Speaker 4 (41:20):
He was holding you up, Julie.

Speaker 7 (41:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (41:22):
Oh, it was just so special.

Speaker 5 (41:25):
And Julian, how about just he's just so steady. He's
such a great partner. Like I love the fact that
Brooks dad blows back into town and for once we
think she might be getting the dad she deserves.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
I bought it too, hook Line and Sinker. I was like, finally, yay.

Speaker 5 (41:44):
And I just I loved how Julian saw her the
entire time, Like when she was upset, he didn't have
to ask why. He knew exactly what it was and
he was on her team. And I was like, man,
because kind of going back to the thing of like
all Dan's got one was to be seen and to
be understood, right, which I think is wildly universal, right,

(42:05):
And I just love that for Brooke in this moment
where the person she probably wants more than anyone to
love her and to know her is completely missing the mark.
Here comes her chosen person who's like, yeah, I see you.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
And there's something really interesting when I reflect on her storyline,
the reason the father relationship felt especially crucial to her
is because not only is she hoping to get a
do over with her dad, she's hoping to get a
do over with the scenario she went through with her
mom without it taking so long and involving so much
hardship and involving so much betrayal. She's hoping to rebuild,

(42:42):
you know, she says it many episodes ago to Victoria
when she's like, oh, what makes you think he's going
to change and she says, you did so in a way,
I realized in this episode that what I was witnessing
between Brooke and her dad was like a double letdown.
And Julian really takes on that mantle of a partner

(43:04):
like everything, he's really a head of household in that
moment to just say, like, it doesn't matter what's out there.
What matters is what's in here. And it reminded me
a lot of last episode when you guys had your
conversation Paul, when Dan is pressing Julian, you know, why
do you want to do this? And what are you
really here for? And is this about your kid? And

(43:24):
you're not even really friends with my son.

Speaker 6 (43:26):
Like you really try.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
To push his buttons and he's like, because he is
my friend, and I believe we should show up for people,
and he just keeps showing up. And it's a quality
that I think is so tremendously important. And I also
liked here's my ADHD brain being like ping this other thing.
I loved joy that you had the moment that Haley

(43:49):
had the moment with Julian to acknowledge who he's been
and what he's done, because there's never been any fanfare
for him.

Speaker 6 (43:56):
Yeah, and he doesn't need it, but he does deserve it.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
I love that you guys had that little moment in
the hospital together.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
It was really sweet me too. That really showed me.
The scene between you and Julian felt so much like, Oh,
this is the power of one the power of one person,
because when I'm looking at Brooke objectively, like this woman
has talk about looking for a safe place. Her mom's
not safe, her dad comes, shurns up, not to be safe.

(44:26):
So many of her friends have betrayed her, so many boyfriends,
so many business people, Like now she's dealing with and
she's been let down by the system in multiple ways,
like when the police won't help her out, and that
she gets attacked again by this guy the cafe, Like
it is just blow after blow for Brook's whole life.

Speaker 4 (44:47):
Talk about looking for a safe place.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
She's finally home, she's like got her husband and her babies.
Oh and then her husband leaves the kids in the cars,
and then she's got to deal with that. I mean, you know,
it's a thing. And now her dad comes and it's
like the one one piece that is supposed to guarantee safety.
Your dad is supposed to show up for you, and
he doesn't, And like, god, that was another one, Brooklyn.

(45:11):
I mean, Sophia, Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
I'm.

Speaker 5 (45:14):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
I've known you for twenty years.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Okay, No, by the way, I have to tell you.
As I'm listening to you talk, I'm like, isn't it
so weird? Did I manifest Brook Davis? Or did Brook
Davis manifest so many of the insane things.

Speaker 6 (45:25):
That have happened to me? Do I love her?

Speaker 3 (45:27):
Or am I furious that I spent ten years calling
in that energy to my life?

Speaker 2 (45:33):
I'm just like, I can't. But it was so like
Sophia watching you when brook says like, why doesn't my
dad want me? And like, I've got a great relationship
with my dad. I've had moments of feeling that though.
I think that a lot of people have, but particularly
for so many people who've really had not had their
dad show up. And you know the way that that

(45:54):
translates also over to your storyline, Paul and yours excuse me, yours,
Rob that I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so squirrely.
What I'm really trying to say is the fact that
her dad manipulated her, not just didn't show up, but
did show up and actually was trying to coerce and
manipulate her. Another major major letdown.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
Because it's narcissistic abuse.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
This is grounds for a nervous breakdown.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Like we talked about why people need to check themselves
into mental health facilities, there is no reason why Brookes
should not have been like, I'm going to go check
into like silver Hill, I'll see you guys later, except
for the fact that one she had one person there
who held her, who saw her, who was willing to
walk through it with her, and even if she had
decided to go check in somewhere, Hey, people need to

(46:40):
do what they need to do. But like I'm just saying,
Julian was such a hero here, and really the power
of one is so amazing, and.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
I think the power of one really it rings so true.
I'm saying yes to every single thing you're saying. And
also I'm laughing because you know, to your point, we've
all been friends for twenty years, Like we see ourselves
in each other and in our characters, and we know
what relates on screen and.

Speaker 6 (47:03):
What's happened off screen.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
So of course we're starting to call each other by
the wrong names because it's literally all the same.

Speaker 6 (47:08):
Well, that's why I'm weeping.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
It's not like I mean, I cry about characters on
TV a little bit, but like I know, you guys,
but it's so.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
It's so emotional, and it's so powerful and the thing
that isn't lost on me and that I really appreciate
for her, and that maybe it's hitting me so hard
because it's a thing I finally feel like I appreciate in.

Speaker 6 (47:27):
My own life.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
Brook's been through it enough to know she doesn't need anyone. Yes,
she's totally capable on her own, but she deserves someone,
and she deserves someone good. And there's something about when
you have someone good in your life, whether it's your
best friend who doesn't leave your side when some shit
goes down, like you talked about with Craig Paul, whether

(47:52):
it's the partner that you wish you'd found ten years ago,
but you'll take them this year, because God, you'll take
any time with them. You can get whatever it looks
like when.

Speaker 6 (48:02):
You have someone.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
Not only I think, do you understand that you don't
have to go through something alone, but Weirdly, it heals
you in reverse because you go, oh, I actually never
did have this, so I can identify the patterns as
to why certain things happened, certain things didn't work. I
had to move past certain things. And to your point earlier, Rob,

(48:28):
when you were saying like it's so universal, no one
else has been Dan Scott, you know, nobody else has
had Brooks crazy life or had there I hope not
many people have had their husbands kidnapped like Hayley.

Speaker 6 (48:40):
I'll go down the list.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
But there's something about these characters, their specificity and the
way they show up and the way they show out
as humans. That's the thing that's relatable for everybody. And
I don't know to your point, I think we're getting
the wrap up our show deserves, and all the shark

(49:03):
moments and all the doghearts and all the things are
so worth it because of the genuine human experiences we're
watching right now. And you know, you, you you are
the tip of that spear, Paul, and you opened the
I mean you literally like pierced the veil and opened
the space for all the rest of us to be
more human in this journey to the end.

Speaker 7 (49:25):
This is why twenty years later, we still have sold
out fan events. By the way, this multivation because it's identified.
I think that's why I think they genuinely identify as
As Rob was saying, this is a this is an
onion that every time you feel a layer, did characters
go deeper and deeper and deeper. Yeah, one thing for
everybody we have really we really did, you know? We

(49:49):
really did ident bring something to our fans and I
think was special.

Speaker 5 (50:05):
Can I just point out something way more superficial and lighthearted,
but just to the theme of Brooke is just an
absolute badass? Did I? I'm sure I'm very curious to
how many of you caught this, But the first scene
where Brook's dad shows up, Brooke is at home. This
is the morning after she has been viciously assaulted and

(50:27):
thrown down a set of metal stairs. She is tending
to two babies solo parenting.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
I know what you're gonna say.

Speaker 5 (50:33):
And she is wearing inside her own house and she
is wearing high.

Speaker 6 (50:37):
Heels and a mini skirt.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
I saw that shit and was like, what She's either nuts,
Like that's the craziest choice in the world.

Speaker 6 (50:50):
She's either nuts or it's like a coping mechanism.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
Yes, I'm going to put on my very favorite outfit
because everything is and I need to feel in control
and pretty, and maybe i'll wear high heels extra pretty.

Speaker 6 (51:00):
Like it's so strang or.

Speaker 7 (51:03):
Was that something they brought up?

Speaker 3 (51:05):
I don't really remember, and I wish that I did,
because there's there's memories I have of wardrobe choices and
episodes that are so specific and so intentional.

Speaker 6 (51:15):
I don't I don't remember.

Speaker 4 (51:19):
But also like they often start on the wide shot.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
Usually every scene starts on a wide shot, so it's
totally feasible that you were on set ready to go.
You walked on set, you were like, where's my shoes?
And somebody handed you high heels and you're like, uh what, okay,
just let's go whatever.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
Also, we were blessed with all of you as our
male cohorts. You're all so tall, so we would always
have to be in heels, or they'd have to build
us little pathways of apple boxes so we could do
the two shots. So I feel like, yes, it's a
running joke, like why are these women always looking like
they're going to some crazy nightclub or red carpet event?

(51:56):
But it was easier for the crew for us just
to be jacked up taller than to have to like
build little ant pathways through the set. So I don't
I sadly don't have a specific memory on this one,
but it was not lost on me. You know that

(52:17):
she's like walking around and cooking lunch for her dad
and doing all these things in that outfit. Rob, I
thought you were gonna when you said like brooks of badass.
I thought you were going to be like, oh when
she sassed the cop, And basically it was like I
told you, so, I.

Speaker 6 (52:30):
Was so much about to have that moment.

Speaker 3 (52:32):
With them, because it's just like, yeah, You've put me
in this position because you want you didn't want to
listen to a woman who told you what was going
to happen, and now I've had to clean up your mess.
And I was very grateful that they gave me that
little moment to kind of say the thing that I
know so many women have wanted to say.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Did you think it was weird that Julian drove past
the cafe with Dan and Nathan in the car and
didn't notice like the ambulance and the fire truck and
all the things outside at all.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
I didn't because I thought really about how fast they're
going and the adrenaline, and how he's probably more looking
in the rear view mirror to see if this.

Speaker 6 (53:08):
Man is alive or dead.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Yeah, making sure traffic's open so we not hit, and
it was up the side street.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
What I did love, though, was getting the and I
think I might have said this at the top of
the episode, so forgive me. I loved getting the confirmation
of how the night went down because the second Brook
hears him, and I also sort of geeked because we're
obviously doing comic book stuff because of Clay and Logan.
I loved that she's there one second and then she's gone,

(53:35):
and the plant is like.

Speaker 6 (53:37):
Hitting around, like.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
Yeah, like we were just had. We were having little
comic book nods everywhere, and it was fun for me
to remember because we couldn't remember at the end of
the of last week that of course, oh my god,
that's it, Brooke, here's the radio, runs to her car,
calls Haley, and then we all go to the hospital
and of course horse as things go, it takes a

(54:02):
beat for anyone to even think to call Quinn and
Clay because like we're at the hospital and Nathan's here,
and it it felt so honestly human, those little choices
about how things go down, and you know, someone finally goes,
oh my god, does so and so know? And it
was a really sweet thing. And you know, in our

(54:24):
show that can be ridiculous. When we get it right,
and it feels really authentic. It's nice even in the
tiniest details.

Speaker 5 (54:32):
Speaking of little choices, let's talk about Logan Yep the
way in an incredible episode. One of my most favorite
moments was this tiny blink and you'll miss it unscripted
moment where we're shooting. We're back on the street. We
are shooting through Clay's car, so you see Quinn in
her seat, and then you see the door to Sarah's parents'

(54:55):
house where Logan lives, and Quinn is waiting and she
the door opens and Clay and Logan start to walk out,
and you see her kind of clock them and start
to look back down, and then she quickly looks back
and realizes that Logan is coming along, and she kind
of does this jump in her seat, and it's like
the sweetest little moment of like genuine excitement from her,

(55:17):
and I was like, aah, that's that was so perfect, man. Yes,
and he's just great.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Right, He's so good.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
I just every time his eyes are so big, they're
big like saucers, and they're so deep. I just want
to stare into them while he talks.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
So sweet and he smiles with his whole face, which
is my favorite thing that can happen to a kid
at that age, you know, because some kids were like
they do the the smile because they don't know what
to do with their teeth. And sweet Pierce, I mean,
he just smiles with his entire face and when he
looks up at her. It was such a sweet moment

(55:57):
for the three of you. But what actually gutted me
and made me a person into tears for the one
hundred and fortieth time in this hour was watching you
watch Logan and Quinn have this moment together.

Speaker 6 (56:10):
I was like, oh, I can't.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Take him my Yeah, you were so earnest and so happy.
It was just like, it's the relief of finally getting
to see you just be happy leading man. Like Sophia
was saying the last episode, there was just something so
strong and steady and like settled about Clay, like finally, finally,

(56:33):
Paul We've been talking and talking and talking. What do
you have to say about this episode? I'm curious.

Speaker 7 (56:39):
I'm what I'm watching is the dynamics of drama Queen's happening.
I'm watching Rob do what he does so well. He's
keeping the ship going in the right direction.

Speaker 3 (56:49):
He's like, okay, girls, he has to wrangle us all
the time, like hurting cats.

Speaker 7 (56:54):
Bringing up these fantastic anecdotal thoughts and things like that.
Joy'sy moting, moting. It's like, this is the perfect drama
Queen's episode because you're all going through your strengths and
I'm just gitting here, just soaking it in, having so
much fun.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
I know you said you were at a loss for words,
and we all were like, it's okay, we'll keep talking.

Speaker 4 (57:13):
Yeah, it's fine, it's fine.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
Was there anything else about when you were watching our
episode back? Was there anything about it that you I
don't know, I'm just curious kind of what your thoughts were.
You know, they were all the credits, they had a
beautiful memorial to your mother, Like the episode was dedicated
to your mom. I know you were going through a
lot while we were even shooting that. Yeah, I'm just

(57:38):
like any anything extra that you want to share.

Speaker 7 (57:41):
Well, I think I was sharing what you guys were
sharing too. It's like there's a lot of bittersweet at
the ending of time of our Lives, which isn't just
a TV show, but living in Wilmington, friendships, the crew
who are family and friends are lifestyle is different. Everything's
going to change. There's nothing going to stop that, and
this and the and and you know, the James left

(58:03):
the station. It's happening. And so as we start getting
closer to each episode. In the last episode, I'm leaving
an episode before you guys are, uh, and so I'm
I'm not going to be there for the big party.
I'm not going to be there for the final hot
goodbye with everybody and all that was hitting me too
during that episode. It wasn't just my character was Paul friends,

(58:25):
you know, hen since home in you know over there
and write Slope Beach, all the things that I put
down my roots and I'm like, oh, okay, well you
guys have a good time check out and missed the party,
and it was it was you know, there was a
lot of it, but you know, it's a big boy
life to choose to be a big, big girl life
too to choose to be an actor, you know, and

(58:47):
go do movies just three four months and we and
we have great loves and friendship to people. I'm gonna
stay friends with you for the rest of my life.
And you see him again two three years that go, hey, man,
how you doing? It's yeah, man, and I just so
hard right, so yeah, you know it is.

Speaker 3 (59:06):
It's really difficult, and it's strange because you feel so lucky,
and I think what we do, especially when you're fortunate
enough to do it the way we did, where you
do it for so long, when it ends and then
you're all on your next thing. It's almost like being
confronted with your own mortality early because you realize you

(59:28):
genuinely only have so much time. And you do a
show and then you go and you do another long
running show, and it's like you have to invest in
where you are. But when twenty five of us, as
you mentioned, all have to we had each other, and
then you have to go invest in where you are
so you're not a total aple. And also what else

(59:50):
are you supposed to do? You live somewhere new, it's
impossible to maintain the closeness you're sure you're going to maintain,
and it is. It's a very strange hybrid of immense
love and mourning because I could see you once a week,
or once a year or once every three years, like

(01:00:11):
you were mentioning when you run into someone from your crew,
and you're my family. I'm so in love with that,
and I'm so sad forever that we can't just have
a regular every morning.

Speaker 6 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I'm so sad.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
But it's literally impossible, and it's a really weird thing
to try to figure out how to navigate and hold
I guess does that make sense.

Speaker 6 (01:00:43):
It's very strange.

Speaker 5 (01:00:44):
What I think is so cool about it, though, is
that so first of all, we all got to have
this experience like just selfishly amongst us, right, like what
a crazy ride high high as low lows all of it,
and like Paul said, it has really been such a
gift for everyone who ought to be a part of it.

Speaker 7 (01:01:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:01:01):
Then what's great is though we created something that has
a legacy, and it has a very widespread legacy that
has brought a lot of people joy and strength and companionship.
Sometimes I think the show has been that one person
to people who were struggling. So it's such a wonderful
feeling that like we contributed something that was value added

(01:01:23):
to some folks out there.

Speaker 7 (01:01:24):
But then like the.

Speaker 5 (01:01:25):
Double bonuses because of that, it creates all these opportunities
this podcast, the conventions where we get to come back
together to honor and celebrate this thing and then selfishly
behind the scenes, give each other hugs and be like,
this is like summer camp. Well you look great, how
are you? You know, that's wonderful.

Speaker 7 (01:01:49):
In a weird way. I kind of wish that the
weird doing, and it doesn't put aside all of the struggles.
It doesn't, and all that stuff is kind of like
it's sort of a bit of of a of a
life and mirroring another life, you know, because in our
own lives we also had all the stories that we

(01:02:09):
had of Joey wrote a book about it. We all
had our own kind of like journeys. While we had
the journey together and knew about each other's journeys, and
some of us didn't, And the people we got close
to kind of had an idea, but nobody really kind
of knew what anybody was really going through, because you can't,
you can only kind of talk about you can't really
experience it through somebody else. So now that I'm older

(01:02:32):
and we're all older and we're looking back on I'm
going what that that was happening? Or oh my Joey's
book was like I knew and I was super close.
I didn't know, like I didn't really know, you know.
I know. I want to get everyone read a book
so I can know you better. I want to know
what you're going through, because if I wrote a book,
it'd just be like you guys would be like wait.

Speaker 6 (01:02:53):
A minute, Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
We need to read each other's book, and then there's
got to be some time where before we can go
back and just do it all over again, but all
in the best ways.

Speaker 5 (01:03:02):
Paul, Let's rent a cabin somewhere, just you and I,
a couple of boxes of hot pockets, some mountain dew,
and let's just bang out some books. Okay, Oh yeah,
I'm couple.

Speaker 4 (01:03:12):
I am waiting for your book.

Speaker 7 (01:03:16):
A lot of friends.

Speaker 6 (01:03:16):
If I wrote my book, isn't that a funny thing? Yeah?
When you think and you're like, could I I don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:03:27):
I don't know if.

Speaker 6 (01:03:28):
It's worth it to say the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
Yeah, it's tough. You gotta you gotta navigate that very carefully.

Speaker 10 (01:03:35):
Yeah, I believe that we have a perfect fan question
today because it is for you, mister Paul Johansson.

Speaker 5 (01:03:58):
Sonya asks in honor of one of the greatest villains
of all time. Wow, funny, Sonya. We were just saying
the same thing, what is your favorite Dan Scott scene?

Speaker 7 (01:04:10):
Oh, that's not fair. Can we quick quickly get you
guys to do it? And then I'll do it? What Rob,
I'll allow it.

Speaker 6 (01:04:19):
I like that.

Speaker 5 (01:04:20):
Okay, So mind I'm on first. Okay, I only have
knowledge of Dan Scott seasons seven through nine. Mind you,
I haven't. I haven't uh lapped back yet. So okay, listen,
there are myriad fun scenes right of just drama bitchiness.

(01:04:40):
Honorable mention is going to be the slow most shotgun
walk because listen, that was that was incredible. So you
that that scene awoke something in me, deep down inside me.
I have a newfound crush on Paul Johansson. But I
will say my favorite scene it's River Court You and Nathan, Yeah,
because that was just that was you beutiful And like
I said, I think it was kind of a It

(01:05:03):
was so much was being said and it was performed.
It was written beautifully, it was performed beautifully, And that
was that was the scene where I was like, oh, yeah,
this is it right here.

Speaker 4 (01:05:14):
Yeah, that was the payoff.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
I mean, I'm flashing through all these moments in my mind,
but I can't identify exactly what they're from. Like, there
were other moments in earlier seasons where you were manipulating
something but it seemed so real, or you were genuinely
it seemed like you were really remorseful, but actually you

(01:05:38):
just were sad that you were suffering consequences, not that
you were actually every remorse.

Speaker 6 (01:05:43):
Yeah, like some of.

Speaker 3 (01:05:45):
Those moments where we'd watch and be like, oh my god,
is Dan changing And then the next scene we'd be like, Davinity.

Speaker 5 (01:05:49):
Got us polk us, I know, I know, but this.

Speaker 4 (01:05:53):
One, this is the payoff for all of it.

Speaker 6 (01:05:55):
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 3 (01:05:58):
I loved watching you work for ten years and now
really twenty because we've gone back to do this. It's
impossible to pick, but also impossible to pick anything about
that scene between you and Nathan in this episode on
the River Court.

Speaker 6 (01:06:15):
It's like it's.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
It's the finishing of this incredible meal that you've served
us and it's just perfect.

Speaker 7 (01:06:26):
Well, I'm going to be very boring then, because I
could go back to getting my face smashed by Joy
in the in the nineteen forties. It was so fun
because you know, for I know, eight years, it was

(01:06:47):
like I was, you know, having this wonderful game on
set of my infatuation and it was played out and
smashed into my face, which is hilarious and you have
to have that kind of like approach to it. Also.
I think some of the scenes that I felt like
I did with with uh Moira I thought were very strong.

(01:07:10):
There's some very strong work that we had because we
had some very intense things. And then I love that
the humor. I think that Robbos, you know, sort of
alluding to with with Boozy and and the pranksters with
with were super fun and I don't know if you
remember those of you around for those, but they were
super playful. And Roses, yeah, that's exactly where I was going.

(01:07:32):
But it is The river Coret scene is my favorite
dance got seen because it was I got the catharsis
that my my my friends, you guys and my fans,
and the and the one Treehill audience got We all
shared it was a very important and very generous gift

(01:07:53):
to me as an actor from the writing staff and
the producers in the studio and everybody else to give
me an episode where I got my own episode to
say goodbye, and then you guys did your episode after.
But they they really they didn't have to do that.

Speaker 4 (01:08:10):
But it was the right thing to do.

Speaker 5 (01:08:11):
It was the smart thing to do.

Speaker 7 (01:08:13):
It was wonderful. So that is it.

Speaker 5 (01:08:14):
Yeah, yeah, well there is no one else I would
rather have been drowned by, not once, but twice twice.

Speaker 7 (01:08:28):
You want to be drowned?

Speaker 5 (01:08:30):
Maybe later this week you can drown me in Paris.

Speaker 7 (01:08:32):
Perhaps that's really nice.

Speaker 4 (01:08:35):
We should spin a wheel.

Speaker 5 (01:08:37):
That's a great idea. All right, we have most likely
to accidentally start a fire while cooking episode.

Speaker 7 (01:08:51):
Joy, I directed it, Remember you did.

Speaker 2 (01:08:54):
Yes, it's Chris Keller. Of course you did start the
fire and you directed that episode. We have so much fun,
we were, really that was so hard not to laugh
that day, Like, just get your work done, don't laugh
so hard.

Speaker 4 (01:09:07):
I don't know who in real life. Who in real
life is a really bad cook? You know?

Speaker 7 (01:09:11):
Joy?

Speaker 5 (01:09:12):
My knee jerk? Was you not because you're not a
competent cook, but because you sort of have that like
forgetfulness about you. Occasionally you're like leave, like leave a
computer on a plane and walk away. I could just
see like a boiling pot of water, and you're just
like a butterfly. I should write a poem about that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:27):
You know, No, Rob, You're not wrong. I have burned
many a pan by leaving it on the stove and
forgetting walking away thinking oh, I'll just get this started
and then I'm going to go do my makeup and
then I'll come back and make dinner. And then oh, no,
the house is on fire. Yeah, it's probably is me. Oh,

(01:09:51):
I mean, Paul, thank you so much for joining us.
I was really special to have you. Yeah, thanks for
allowing us to share. You know, it's nice to say
things about someone, but the soul satisfaction of being able
to say it to their face is really important.

Speaker 7 (01:10:07):
I love you, guys, I love all love you too.

Speaker 6 (01:10:09):
We love you.

Speaker 3 (01:10:10):
Thank you for letting us shower you with the compliments
we've been storing up like little chipmunks cheeks of our hearts.

Speaker 5 (01:10:18):
And thanks for the gift of Dan Scott.

Speaker 7 (01:10:20):
Well. I'm grateful that you guys allowed me to be
a part of this especially. I know you guys have again.
You're wrapping things up and it's beautiful. But thank you
for letting me be a part of this particular and
I hope I see you guys all soon.

Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
Someway, please please see you soon.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
Friends, next episode, Season nine, episode twelve, anyone who had
a heart, We'll see you next week. Bye, Hey, thanks
for listening.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
Don't forget to leave us a review. You can also
follow us on Instagram at Drama Queen's ot.

Speaker 9 (01:10:51):
Or email us at Drama Queens at iHeartRadio dot com.

Speaker 6 (01:10:55):
See you next time. We all about that high school.

Speaker 4 (01:11:00):
I'm a girl drama girl, all about them high.

Speaker 3 (01:11:02):
School Queens will take you for a ride.

Speaker 6 (01:11:05):
And our comic girl cheering for the right teams.

Speaker 3 (01:11:08):
Drama queensise my girl of girl fashion.

Speaker 6 (01:11:11):
What's your tough girl?

Speaker 1 (01:11:12):
You could sit with us Girl Drama Queens, Drama Queens
Drama Queens Drama Drama, Queens Drama Queens