Isabelle Fuhrman Will Try to Fix You

Isabelle Fuhrman got her big break when she was cast as the titular character in the horror film The Orphan. Not to be undone, she quickly followed that up by appearing in The Hunger Games. Going completely against casting, she was younger and smaller than they were originally looking for, and she blew everyone away with her performance. And then, during the pandemic, she became a doula! Her infectious positivity and endless grind have helped her sustain a decades-long career. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What you're trying to get into a day, or shown
what you're trying to do.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm trying to get into our world famous podcast, Zach Graft. Notice,
real friends, I miss you too.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
I missed you so much it hurts sometimes.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
I miss you so much it hurts a lot.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
I believe that I was all over the universe, and
I thought so many times.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Over the universe, you were all over the planet, the universes.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Right. I was on Earth and it was awesome. I
wish you were there. Thought of you a lot.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
So can I ask you a question?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Ask me anything?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Where'd you go?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
I went to Stockholm because Josh Reeden is very dialed
in Stockholm. He loves Stockholm. He's got a lot of
friends there. So I have this new thing in my
brain that I've been ruminating on. I really want to
go to cities where someone I know is dialed in.
I don't want to go with my guidebook and sit
on the tour bus. I want to go where someone

(00:57):
knows the city. And I've been to Stockholm before. I
love it, but Josh just really knows it well, you know,
was all the good restaurants. He's got tons of friends there,
so I went there for a week and then Amanda
Klutes his sister. Everybody should follow her Anna Clutes on Instagram. She's,
you know, we went through all the knick stuff together
and I know her and she's she's a sweetheart of

(01:18):
a human being. She her dream, her whole life dream,
was to move to Paris and like and like literally
be Emily in Paris and start a new life. She
went through a divorce and then she wrote a book
about it and she began this life living in Paris,
and she's sort of an influencer basically like telling you
everything you should ever know and do in Paris. And

(01:39):
she fell in love with this Parisian guy and they're
the cutest couple in the world. Anyway. So Anna invited
Josh and I to come over and she showed us Paris,
like I've never seen Paris.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, was it like how we got showed Amsterdam.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Even well, I don't remember. I don't remember much of that.
That's funny, but yeah, yeah, yeah something we ran into it,
We ran into friends that knew it, and yeah, it's
just like every every like restaurants are off the beaten pass.

(02:17):
Things you should see, things to avoid things to know,
just like where to walk around. And we met their
friends and it was amazing.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Man.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
We just like we ate the best food. We We
drink way too much wine. I'm going on detox now.
I told you. I told you about my light up
board that I use when I wanted to not drink.
I cleared the whole thing out. It's got one little number. Yeah,
it's the number. September eleventh is lit up and that's it.
That's all I got. But I'm starting. I needed to

(02:48):
cleanse my soul. It was fun.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I missed you though, Dude, I missed you too. Case
kept asking when when's Zach coming back. I was like,
I don't know, but I know he's having fun. And uh,
you know, I got some meetings on the books for us.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Really, you're doing some hustling for a Fake Doctor's Real
Friends productions.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I'm trying my best, man, I think you know. I'll
say it on the air and then you can choose
whether to cut it out or not. But you know,
I'm trying to get us in Stupid Buddy together so
we can make a little animated series about uh these
fake doctors real friends.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I'm down. I would love as an animated series.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Okay, got, we gotta get. This is the thing we
gotta do. Get iHeart on board, Okay, and then we
gotta get and then we gotta get. We'll probably have
to get a couple of outside producers because animation is expensive.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, well, I'm down to talk about it. You know,
I made you those figures. I haven't seen any animation
on your page using said figures.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well, you need to call up Julian Clark and ask
him what.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
I did you think. I didn't DM that mofo. I said,
where are my mouths? Those? For those of you who
don't know I'm talking about, I made these anime puppets
had the custom made for Donald's birthday. And the guy said, wow,
I'm so backward. I'll rush them through because it's Donald.
But the mouths that change that make all the vowels
for the for the puppets. He's imed to send them

(04:12):
later because I can rush everything with those. I go, okay,
now I'm starting to look at the counter. I'm like,
where the fuck are my mouths?

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah he's a good dude, though, Man, this dude is
an awesome guy.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
I know, but I never thought I DM somebody where
the fuck of my mouse?

Speaker 2 (04:26):
His name's Julian Clark. If you have the opportunity, you
can follow his artwork on Instagram. He does actually do Uh.
He's working with Ardman right now. He's worked with me
on a lot of the stuff that I'm trying to.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
His works amazing. But bro, it's time for my mouth
to arrive now. But I'm just saying, you haven't. You
don't need you don't need to have these puppets talking.
I don't unders don't understand why you're not making Zach
and Donald just like butt fucking shit.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Is that what you want us to do?

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Well, Sorry, we don't have to butt fuck, but we could.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
I can't do that if.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
I mean, I think the fans. I think the fans
would be laughing if there was just a little a
couple of thrusts naked or no, just put some clothes up,
Just put us on like one of your Star Wars dummies,
put our heads on them.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh I would. I was. That's my plan is to
do that. You and me are going on a fucking
Star Wars. Keep honest.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
If I'm a listener right now, I'm like, why has
the Zach puppett, not eagled the Donald puppet. What the
fuck is going on in that garage?

Speaker 2 (05:31):
You know, I didn't even think about eagling.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, eagling.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
And we'll put the metals in later when we get them.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Aren't you convincing me to start playing heads?

Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm trying to get you going.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
If somebody, just somebody just stepped in the middle of
this conversation, he'd be like, who forever, who tank forever?

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Trying to get you riled up?

Speaker 2 (05:53):
I'm riled up. I am.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
I'm officially riled Joelle.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
How are you? Producer, priestess?

Speaker 5 (05:59):
Thank you?

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I'm so good.

Speaker 5 (06:01):
Almost my birthdays. I've been planning a very special events
your birthday, almost my birthday, almost my birthday, And so
you know, when you're older, you have to plan your
own celebration, and if your friends are busy, you have
to plan like a month in advance. And so I
like booked a restaurant with like up and coming chef
and like a whole room out. I'm by ten of
my girlfriends. I've got like seat place things, and I'm

(06:25):
getting them all flowers. The theme is good as hell
because I'm taking a lot of pictures everybody has to
come looking amazing, and then I just yes, and then
I just want to celebrate. You know, all the ladies
in my life have been doing amazing things and accelerating
their growth and starting businesses. So I'm giving everyone their flowers.
It's going to be cute.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay, guys, you're going to celebrate your friends on your birthday,
on your day, celebrate your friends, yery thing.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Are you a generous person, Joel?

Speaker 5 (06:56):
I try to be.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
You seem like a really good friend, always blowing up
your friends. Donald, I'm a good friend to you. I'm
always you are you.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Are probably one of you are my best friend, but
you are a great friend to me. Yeah, I think
I am sometimes even when I don't deserve to be.
To have a friend like you.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Things good thing.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
We have Casey as our living moderator to to to
everybody couple's therapists.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Everybody needs a moderator.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
I wonder about other listeners out there whose whose wife
is a couple therapists. Between two men.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
There's got to be I would say, I would I
would say, I would say, uh names, but I don't
want to go down that path.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
I gotta tell I texted her last night, might b
FF because I got man do I got a show
for her? And y'all listen, Chimp Crazy. You need to
watch this show called chim Crazy. This is the craziest
ship I've ever seen in my life.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
This house.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
You have to watch it. Donald, Chip Crazy?

Speaker 3 (08:01):
You do this to my house? Is it Chip like Chimpanzee?

Speaker 1 (08:05):
It's Tiger. It's the guy who made Tiger King, who
somehow found a crazier story than Tiger. This guy, I
don't know how a documentarian who's who, who was able
to make the masterpiece that is Tiger was able to
for the second time another crazy animal. Indade you're animal

(08:26):
person and make a crazier documentary?

Speaker 3 (08:30):
Does murder?

Speaker 1 (08:32):
I cannot. I'm not done yet. Do Also no spoilers,
but listen, everybody. If you like crazy docs that make
you wish there were thirty episodes when there's only five,
you need to watch Chim Crazy.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Ask your question.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
I came home all jet lag last night. I was like,
I gotta stay up. I'm like, I'm like I gotta
stay up and give myself a pep talk. Well I
didn't need much help once Chip Crazy came home.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
It's addicted. All right, let me ask you a question. Yeah,
Tiger Kings.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
I feel like it was a perfect storm situation right
dealing with COVID.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, it was well made. It was well made too.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Absolutely, But I don't know how many of us would
have gone looking for a Tiger king at during that time. So, uh,
do you think that Tiger King would have do you think?
I mean you found chip crazy?

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, because this is why. Let me tell you something.
The guy is a really good documentarian. In fact, he
did such a good job on Tiger King. He does
this clever thing where he's like, I can't be I'm
not going to be able to go down and be
an exotic animal documentarian person because everyone's gonna be like,
oh my god, it's a tiger King. So he hires
a guy to be a proxy director. So he never
goes to the set. He's like working from like home

(09:48):
base at his house. So and then the geniusly high,
Oh my god, this is what I'm not spoiling anything,
but he the guy he hires to be the quote
unquote proxy director is a guy that's been totally embedded
and and always and was in trouble for being in
the exotic animal community. So the people let him in
because they're like, Oh, this dude's into exotic animals. He's cool.

(10:10):
He's doing a documentary on like the hobby.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh my gosh, all of the crazy they're giving you,
all of the crazy stuff.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
I mean, it's heartbreaking some of it. It reminds me of
It reminds me of black blackfish is that it reminds
a lot of blackfish vibes with it, Like how these
animals are treated. And you know, people get these chimps
because they're adorable, and then you know, they then they
grow to be very large animals that need to like

(10:44):
ideally be free and and and then they've been domesticated,
so they don't know how to be They can't be wild.
They they have to be brought to proper animal sanctuaries
that can deal that can deal with these types of animals.
Some people are so obsessed with these chimps that they
keep them in cages in their houses when they're like,

(11:06):
you know, two hundred pound dangerous chimps.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
The same thing happened to Caesar.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
What do you mean from the Planet of the Apes and.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
The Planet of the Apes, that's what happened to Caesar.
That's the downfall of men.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Oh okay, I didn't keep up with those.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Have you watched the Golden Child yet?

Speaker 5 (11:26):
No?

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Why are you so down at me watching Golden Child?
You'll never see me like anger?

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Can you be a fucking Eddie Murphy fan and not
seeing the Golden Child?

Speaker 1 (11:35):
I know you got so mad last night. You called
me the end curse.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
I didn't call you the inn curse, but you need
to watch me.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
You texted me that I was an end curse.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
No, I said, Nigga watched the Golden Child.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
But I said, I've been smoking to Donald in so
long I've been in Europe. I come home. He fucking
never text me like his wife at least be like, hey,
how's Europe? Not Donald? And then that's what he texted
me as today out of the blue, so we can
talk about it. I've never seen the gold Child. I've

(12:06):
never seen the Golden Child? Joel, do you love the
Golden Child?

Speaker 5 (12:08):
I also have not ever seen the Golden Child? What
is going on? I'll correct my mistake. I'm so sorry, Oh.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
My gosh, what is going on here? This is an
Eddie Murphy gem for those of you who have never look.
This is when I was a kid. This was the
movie that you know. Eddie Murphy is an action hero
in Beverly Hills Cop. He's an action hero and the

(12:37):
Golden Child as well. There aren't that many. I mean,
I take that back. There was Beverly Hill Cop two three.
There's a bunch of movies that he made.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Did you make it through the New Beverly Hills Cop.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Be honest, I haven't seen it yet. I'm not gonna lie.
As I've gotten older, Eddie Murphy isn't as important to me.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Listen. I known't ever size anyone's work. I try not to.
I will say one tiny thing that I began the
New Beverly Hills Cup movie and I have yet to
complete the Hills Cup movie.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Is it good?

Speaker 6 (13:16):
Now?

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Has just said.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
There are certain movies that I have that that that
that have that effect on me. But it's not because
the movie is not good. It's just that I'm putting
it on at a late hour. So I was thinking
that that.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Wasn't the case.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Got it.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Nothing entertained me more in my life and then recent history,
more than Chimp Crazy. Everybody. You gotta watch that ship.
When are we getting together.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
I would like to get together. I would like that
a lot.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
You can't go to the charity tennis tournament. I understand,
but your wife's going to be my date.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes, she's going with you, and.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
And Bill's going. Bill's gonna play. We're playing in this
uh charity. Well I can't play. I suck right now.
I'm so out of it, but I'm gonna go support
and get I gave money the charity. And Bill's like
my ringer, like, because Bill Lawrence is so good at tennis.
You know, he played in college and he's very good.
He mostly plays pickup ball these days, but I think

(14:21):
Bill could maybe win the tournament. So I'm bringing Bill
is like my you know, I'm kind of like, what's
what's What's what's Tiger's dad's name, mister Woods. Yeah, well,
I'm kind of like I'm kind of like Tiger's dad
and Bill's my Tiger.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Got it? So you're gonna bring Tiger. You're gonna be
really hard on Bill?

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah, on him if he doesn't win this tournament, shape
let's go.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
I'm down for I'd love to see.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Did you watch any of the u U S Open?

Speaker 2 (14:57):
No, I haven't been able to. I haven't been a
to do much. My wife went out of town on
a little girl's trip.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
Not a little girl's trip on drinking wine, and she too.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Was drinking wine. Yeah, And and I was with the kids.
And so my past week was me being mister mom
or mister dad.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Were you a good mister mom?

Speaker 3 (15:20):
I sucked, dude, I'm not really that good.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
How many times did you yell at them?

Speaker 2 (15:24):
I didn't have to. They were well behaved and stuff
like that. It's just that we ate out every night,
you know, like ship like that. Like I spent a
lot of money on toys. You know what I mean too.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
Your kids got kind of spoiled by eating out. They
eat out all the time.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
They're like sushi, Yeah, I want sushi.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yes, that's my kids.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
Those are me too, a child.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
To invite me to a day or soon. What it's been.
I missed the heat wave. It's been like one hundred
and forty degrees here.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Lucky.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
It's all so lucky, dude.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
It was horrible, terrible, And I got people working in
my uh in my in my uh on my house
right now. We're repaving our driveway because we had trees
that demolished the concrete, so we had to kind of
repave it so our cars don't hit bumps and get
scratched underneath and stuff like that. And they were working

(16:20):
in the heat, and I was just like, holy you
guys are freaking superstars. Man, Like I know, I you know,
I stepped outside and I was like, God, damn, it's
so hot.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
You didn't You didn't offer to help.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
No, I did not. I should have, but I don't
have that in me.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
Like you know, people are, people are built different.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
I'm not.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
You know, I don't have I didn't want your help
playing asphalt. You're just gonna get in the way. You
could offer them some water, I'm sure you did, yes,
but they don't want to sparkling. They don't want Oh
you even went sparkling o generously. I'm presenting at the
Emmys on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
You cannaday, motherfucker. This is what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
What are you mad about?

Speaker 2 (17:05):
I'm not mad about anything. I'm very happy for you.
But this is what I'm talking about, my dude, Like,
this is how it's supposed to be. We say, Scrubs
is coming back, and yes, it's time to start setting
these seeds and planting these freaking and start planting these
these these freaking little little tidbits here and there. I

(17:26):
know you're doing you, and you could always do you
and all of that stuff, but it's you know, now
it's time for the star of that show to start
starring out so that it does come back. Okay, now
what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
They send me the copy for the joke they wanted
me to say, and I was like, I'm not saying
that super joke. So I've been I've been rewriting it.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
And I just wait a second, just don't diss the
head right out of the wo the head writer.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
I'm not dissing anybody. I'm sure whoever wrote it as
a genius person. It's just not it's not a funny joke.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
So and now everybody who's listening to this.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
No, this this will air long after the end. But
my joke, hopefully my joke's better. But I've been working on.
I've been working on. I sent it to some comedy
writers I know to tell me if they thought it
was funny. You yeah, yeah, I did. Mike bro Bigley
his podcast, So check that out, if you if you
if you watch that listen to that. It's called working

(18:24):
it Out, and I thought it was really good. I
really like Mike a lot. I think he's a wonderful writer.
Which well, we got to book him on our show
because now he owes us a tit for attack and
and that's that. Now we have a really cool guest
today Isabelle Furman. Incredible Actressho's had a very long career
and really interesting story that I want to get into now.

(18:46):
Only she's an actress. She's a doula. I don't know
if she's a practicing doula.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
She could be. Why not a doula and doesn't do it?
I know you get that, you get that degree to
use the the the experience.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
And I wonder if she can use your doula skills
in other ways? Are there any other ways that your
dualist skills can come in handy?

Speaker 2 (19:09):
If you've got a bad back, I'm sure she knows
the proper you're constipated. Let's get it.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Someone your friend is constipated. You could help help them crown.

Speaker 5 (19:19):
Oh my god, that's so upset.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Stories I'm not sure we made about a bunch of
docs and nurses, he said.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
Here's the stories net so YadA here, yeada here, but
there she is thunderous applause. Hi, Isabelle, Welcome to our

(19:58):
amazing program.

Speaker 7 (20:00):
Well, thank you guys for having me. I actually am
a huge fan of both of you guys, and I
loved your podcast.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
So thank you.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
We're happy to have you have you on, and it's
so cool because we have so many questions for you.
First of all, I'm just gonna go with the one
we were talking about right before you came in the room.
How did you We want to talk about your acting career?
Obviously been working forever. You're so beautiful. Oh my god,
you're even more beautiful on zoom than you are in
the movies. How did you?

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Are you a Star Wars fan?

Speaker 1 (20:29):
No, we don't care about that, are you? How did
you Donald Donalds? I get the first fucking question, Isabelle,
since you listened to the show. You know, we get
very competitive with who gets to ask more questions. How
did you become a doula? How did that happen? Someone
told me that you're a doula?

Speaker 7 (20:47):
Yeah, no, that was actually really It was more so
that when COVID happened, one of my friends was pregnant
and she wanted to do this like weekend doula course
just to have a better understanding of her pregnancy. And
we watched this dock mentory that Ricky Lake directed called
The Business of Being Born.

Speaker 6 (21:05):
And after doing.

Speaker 7 (21:05):
That weekend course, I was like, I love this teacher,
and I want to sign up for six months and
there's nothing going on and maybe I'll never work again,
and maybe movies will never exist.

Speaker 6 (21:14):
And babies will always be born.

Speaker 7 (21:17):
And so I was like, I'm just gonna, you know,
go full granola mom, even though I'm not a mom.

Speaker 6 (21:23):
Yet, and just kind of dive right in.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Wait, so, yeah, go ahead, I'll allow you. I'll allow
you one. Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Are you practicing?

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Do you practice?

Speaker 3 (21:33):
No?

Speaker 6 (21:33):
No? I mean I I.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
You and that bad.

Speaker 7 (21:37):
Yeah. I think for me, it's more so that I
would hope that it helped inform me as I get older.
And also, you know, now I'm at the age where
all of my friends are getting pregnant and having kids,
and it's interesting to be a part of those conversations
and have some knowledge of like different herbs that they
can take to help deal with their you know, their

(21:57):
first trimester and queasiness.

Speaker 6 (21:59):
Things like that.

Speaker 7 (22:00):
I mean, you just kind of learned certain things about
the human body and women in general that just empowered
me so much more as a young woman.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
That will you go that route when you do have
a child? Will you go the sort of home birth?
I know, yes, I.

Speaker 6 (22:16):
Mean I totally want to. I don't know.

Speaker 7 (22:20):
You have to cross those bridges when they come to them,
And it depends on how old I am when I have.

Speaker 6 (22:24):
Kids, and you know how healthy I am at that time.

Speaker 7 (22:27):
But my hope is that I can be in my
living room and just do the thing.

Speaker 6 (22:33):
You know, that'd be great.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, that makes me nervous. The home birth thing, I
got to say. I know, I know the documentary youre
talking about. I know how crazy the whole hospital thing is,
and I totally respect everyone's choices. I'm just saying it's
a neurotic semi. I worry about the whole I worry
about the home thing. But you know, I'm close to
a hospital. Some of these people do it in the

(22:56):
middle of nowhere, and that that freaks me out.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
So, you know, I think the cool thing.

Speaker 7 (23:00):
Is learning that, Like it's women for you know, for
all of history have been giving birth all over the
place in fields, working, traveling, and we have amazing modern
advancements with hospital and it's incredible to have those options.

Speaker 6 (23:16):
But the idea that I didn't.

Speaker 7 (23:18):
Even know until I was in my early twenties that
I could have a baby without being in a hospital,
that I didn't have to be scared of it, but
it's something that I should just.

Speaker 6 (23:27):
Be informed about and understand.

Speaker 7 (23:30):
Was like earth Shatrin Tony and made me go like, gosh,
I'm so cool. I'm like a portal of life from
another universe. It's a crazy way to look at like
having a baby is like.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
I am literally bringing in a spiritual being from another world.
I am a vessel.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
I love that I'm gonna need help. I mean, I
don't even have any current plans to have a child,
but I'm gonna need a tool. I hope that you're
still available.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
Well, maybe you'll be practicing you were, you.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
Know, I'm a pilot and if you don't, you know,
get certified. Every so often you lose your license. And
do you have to go to doula school to be
to be doula ready or once you're a dula or
a doula.

Speaker 7 (24:11):
I think so dula and midwife are different. If you're
a midwife, you have to be like a nurse's r N.
You have to constantly keep up your practice and everything.
I think as a dula, it's like, you know, your
your job is not to offer like medical assistance or advice.
Your job is to really support the mom and whatever
mom's decision of how she wants to have the birth.

Speaker 6 (24:31):
And I think the job kind of came to be.

Speaker 7 (24:33):
Even though historically dulas and midwives were kind of one
and the same, the job of doula sort of came
to be after birth has become so medicalized that sometimes
women want to be able to have, you know, an
advocate for them there that's not there, you know, very
nervous partner going, oh, I don't really know, but someone
there who at least understands what's going on and is like,

(24:56):
you know, let's keep the energy of the room good.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
Let's place some music.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Okay, Coldplay and everybody calm.

Speaker 6 (25:03):
Down, Cold Hands and so controller.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
That's gonna be my birthing song when I give birth.
I'm just gonna fix you on a repeat.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Got the eye tig.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Or what about rock the rocky theme?

Speaker 4 (25:35):
D He really wants to get onto Star Wars.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, well we're not gonna get there yet. We're gonna
go back to the very beginning, which is apparently a
very good place to start your performance in this movie.
At eleven years old, I mean I was a child.
I was trying to be a child actor, but with
very little success. I got a couple of little things.
But you were eleven years old when you got Orphan?
Is that correct?

Speaker 2 (26:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (26:07):
I was ten and turned eleven while we filmed.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
How the fuck were you such a good actress?

Speaker 2 (26:12):
What were you doing before that?

Speaker 1 (26:14):
How did this happen?

Speaker 6 (26:16):
I honestly don't you know.

Speaker 7 (26:17):
It's acting sort of fell into my space and my
lap in like the most crazy, serendipitous way.

Speaker 6 (26:24):
And then you know, years later, I'm like it was
so easy back then, like it just kind of happened.

Speaker 8 (26:28):
And now I'm like grinding, grinding, grinding. But you know,
I think everything goes through waves.

Speaker 7 (26:32):
When I was when I was a kid, though, Orphan
was just an audition that I was sent through my agent,
and I remember reading it because my mom had to.

Speaker 6 (26:39):
Read it before me because it was righted r.

Speaker 7 (26:41):
She blacked out all the like curse words and like
the sex scene in it.

Speaker 6 (26:46):
So I had this like script with like all these
black sharpie.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
Marks, and it was like trying to read through information.

Speaker 8 (26:54):
And I remember reading that script and being like, oh
my gosh, she just wants someone to love her, and
I my mom, I understand her, and my mom was like,
what do you understand?

Speaker 6 (27:04):
Like what exactly? But I think there was just something
about that script. You know, sometimes there are.

Speaker 7 (27:09):
Those projects that kind of come into your life and
you're kind of meant to do them. And I hadn't
done anything for I mean, I had done a small
independent film and a commercial silot that didn't but I
was not, like, you know, to lead a Warner Brothers movie.
I don't think they really wanted to hire me originally

(27:30):
because I had nothing really under my mind.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
It's scary with an eleven year old kid, because you
just don't know, Like it's one thing that they can
do it in a tiny room in front of three people,
but can they do it on a set? Can they
do it? I mean, this movie has so many stunts
and such scale to it totally, and there you are with,
you know, two two incredible actors, Peter Starsgard and it's
very firmingly right for.

Speaker 7 (27:52):
Me yeah, yeah, and it's it's huge to be working
with those people.

Speaker 6 (27:57):
I mean, they were like, you know, real actors.

Speaker 7 (27:58):
You know, they've not super crazy famous, They've been working forever.

Speaker 6 (28:02):
They're so great. I mean, I really was.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Peter is one of the finest.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
I was just saying, Peter alone, Peter Saws got alone.

Speaker 6 (28:10):
That's and I got to seduce him ten years old.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Right, I forgot about that?

Speaker 2 (28:16):
Was No, it was very disturbed. It was a very
disturbing moment at the time that shit came out. I
remember that, Shi. It was very controversial when it came.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Yeah, let's take a break, we'll be right back after
these fine words. No, wait, I have so many questions.
So there was also this story that happened with the
There was this documentary about this real case of this
of a family trying to figure out if what what

(28:47):
was your reaction when you saw that come out about
this this girl they didn't know if she was actually
a young girl or if she was an adult because
none of her hospital records. What was the name of
that documentary.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
Grace, Yeah, the serious case in Natalia Grace, which I
was seen.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
But of course everything it was it was just a.

Speaker 6 (29:07):
This was so funny.

Speaker 7 (29:08):
So David Leslie Johnson, who wrote the original Orphan, he
and I have been in touch since I did the
first one.

Speaker 6 (29:14):
And I, you know, Orphan was like became a cult classic.

Speaker 7 (29:17):
It wasn't like huge in the box office, but it
really massively had its own fan base, and like still
to this day. I mean, all these years later, it's
the thing I recognized for the most and people quoted.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
For a sate a lit. I said, it's so iconic.

Speaker 7 (29:31):
Totally, And so he and I were talking because he
had written he had kind of had a friend Dave
Kogoeshav write a sequel for Orphan, and they couldn't get
it off the ground years ago. And then this you know,
Natalia Gray story came up on Doctor Phil and I
remember calling him. I was like, can we get coffee?
And I said take it out now. I can't tell

(29:53):
you how many people are sending me this article, like
I think we got to take it out now. And
so that's how we ended up making Orphan for a Kill.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
But how did you? I'm sorry I hadn't see the sequel,
which I will now will because I'm fascinated, but but
how did you? What was the What was the premise
that enabled you to this many years later, still play
a young woman. How did that work out?

Speaker 7 (30:15):
It was such a team effort, and I honestly didn't know.
I was like, is this movie gonna be just so bad?
I'm just gonna look great?

Speaker 1 (30:24):
How old were you? How old were you?

Speaker 7 (30:26):
I was twenty three. We filmed it in twenty twenty.
We filmed it during during COVID and.

Speaker 6 (30:32):
And I mean it was nuts. I had like a
little chair that they made me that helped me like
walk around so i'd be smaller.

Speaker 8 (30:40):
Julia Stiles, who plays my mom in the movie, had
these boots that were like these massive platform boots that
you can only you can only buy.

Speaker 6 (30:48):
They're like, you know, they're like you know, pull dancing
stripper boots.

Speaker 8 (30:50):
They're like really high heel, They're great, really comfortable, but
you can only have them with like fringe or spar
so it's like she.

Speaker 6 (31:01):
Was wearing those.

Speaker 7 (31:02):
I was squatting half of the time, so I looked shorter.
We did a lot of force perspective, like they lit
everything that.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
They tried to make them have an answer.

Speaker 6 (31:13):
But that was the thing that I remember when I
saw the movie. For the first time.

Speaker 7 (31:16):
I was really nervous because you know, you're seeing dailies
and things are looking okay, but when you edit a
movie together, I was like, at the end of the day,
I mean, I'm in my twenties, Like this is either.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
You're supposed to be older. Though I'm sorry, I don't
know the premise.

Speaker 6 (31:26):
It's a prequel. I was supposed to be younger. I
was younger, and the.

Speaker 8 (31:33):
Movie when I went to watch it, I remember I
was just so deeply uncomfortable because it was like, oh
my god, somehow they did it.

Speaker 6 (31:38):
I look like I'm ten years old again. I was
there and it just didn't make it.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
I must have done some some some face work to
you to make you look.

Speaker 7 (31:48):
They didn't, though we didn't have the money, honestly, I mean,
I think that was the crazy thing that the conversations of,
like they were going to cast a kid and put
my face on it. They made a mask for one
of the girls who was my double, and then ultimately
they just ended up deciding that we just have to
be really clever, kind of like Peter Jackson did the Hobbit,
we have to do everything for his perspective, And I had.

Speaker 6 (32:07):
A bigger cup and a bigger fork.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
Really, Oh my god, it's like that movie. Remember that
movie we were kids, Donal The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Yes,
it's like that, they like got larger things.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
Was The Incredible Shrinking Woman? Was it Lily Tomlin?

Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yes, it was Lily Tomlin.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
I have to see this movie.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Oh it's a masterpiece. Oh I see it. It must
be like eighty six to well.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Say Something and eighty one eighty one.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
Oh, I remember seeing. I was so young, but I
remember that. It's really funny. By the way, you should
see it with your kids if you're looking for a
good eighties movie. It's about a woman who just something.
She has some weird uh allergic reaction and she just
starts shrinking.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
And she was back when they made movies like All
of Me and Steve Martin the Man with Two Brains, right.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
But it was really funny, and she becomes tiny, like
smaller than a barns. Really, she sits down, she falls
on the train. I mean it was kind of like
I definitely inspired. It must have inspired Honey, I shrunk
the kids because it was like that.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
Well, Alice in Wonderland was all of that too, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
But I've never heard that, you had never heard of
I'm kidding. Is there any chance of a third installment? Isabelle?
Can they can you go back even further? What if
you're like a baby?

Speaker 6 (33:21):
Apparently it's a conversation.

Speaker 7 (33:25):
We were there, they're writing a script. I haven't read
anything yet, so I have no idea. I mean, the
thing is, we did not think that the second Like,
you know, you don't expect a lot.

Speaker 6 (33:34):
You hope that the fans will come back.

Speaker 7 (33:36):
But the second movie people really loved, and so then
it was like, Okay, I guess we maybe are going
to do a third and it seems like that's like
a real conversation.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Well that thing, first of all, this story about the
real young girl woman that had happened to that just
fascinated I think people. So that was like it was
like a real version of that. And also Meg and Meghan,
which was sort of a campy, campy, uh can't be
horror version of this was a big hit too. I mean, granted,
Megan she's a robot, but it's in the same spirit.

(34:06):
It was like a can't be kid who's gonna kill you?

Speaker 2 (34:09):
Right?

Speaker 1 (34:11):
I love Meghan, by the way, I'm not usually the
I'm not usually the consumer of this genre, especially can't
be hard. I don't usually watch it, but I thought
Megan was fucking hilarious and amazing.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
Yeah, it's you know, I think that sort of iconic
character like a Megan or like an Esther. I think
people love those sorts of things where you can dress
up on Halloween and you can really kind of attach
yourself to a character. And that doesn't always exist anymore.
I think it's not as common as it used.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
You are. You are definitely a Halloween character every fricking year.
It must be. It must be exhausting to get all
of the Instagram posts of you. I mean it's flattering,
all all of it, but holy it's like you Wednesday.

Speaker 7 (34:56):
Like. I actually have a great story about that, which
was a few years so when fourph and two came out,
I was in Austin, Texas with a friend and I
was like, I'm going to dress up like Esther and
take a picture and post it on my Instagram. I
usually we come up with a group costume. Me her
fiance and I do like a trio costume. Couldn't figure

(35:16):
out what we were going to do, and I was like,
you know what, fuck it, I'm just going to dress
up like Esther for Halloween.

Speaker 8 (35:21):
And we went to a concert and the amount of
people came up to me, it was like, your costume
is amazing. Not a single person recognized me, and I
just was I was laughing the whole night, and I
was like, this is the best thing ever, because it's kind.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Of like when Mark Hamill dressed up like a Stormtrooper
and was walking around Comic Con with a Stormtrooper mask
on and was taking pictures with everybody and nobody knew
that they were standing next to Luke Skywalker. Do you
remember that? Joelle? Like you?

Speaker 5 (35:53):
And it was amazing. I really like it when folks
go out and call It's like when celebrities go to
Comic Con and they just put on like a regular
dollar store mask.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
And walk around.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
I did. I did that because we had to shoot
scenes from which I was here at Comic Con, because
there was a scene outside Comic Con, and I, you know,
I'm not Mark Hamill in the world of comic Con,
but I still had to be able to direct this
scene and not have people being like, hey, can un
I take a selfie? So I wore this Batman mask

(36:22):
and directed the whole scene with wearing a Batman mask.

Speaker 3 (36:25):
I mean, it's just genius. It's hiding in plain sight,
you know.

Speaker 7 (36:30):
I also think just nobody would believe it. They're like,
you know, what, what are they doing here?

Speaker 1 (36:35):
I remember when I was first coming up in New
York as an actor, and I didn't I was. I was.
I was peeying on music videos and stuff. And I
had a Halloween party and I had met Christina Ricci
at an audition. She wasn't auditioning, she was accompanying her
friend who was auditioning because she was already super famous.
And you know, we met and we were chatting and
I said, I'm having a Halloween party. You should come.

(36:56):
And she came to the Halloween party. It was much
to my surprise because I had the divy apartment in
the East Village on Avenue A and Seventh Street, and
I didn't know any certainly didn't. She was a big star,
and she walked in and I remember my friends being like,
your costume is amazing? Are you Christina Ricci? Like, is
that your costume.

Speaker 6 (37:19):
So good? And I did.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
I didn't know any famous people, so I didn't and
I didn't want her to feel comfortable. So I just
started saying, yes, yes, that's her costumes, Christina Ricci. You know,
everyone's wasted. They're like, you kill that you look so
much like her anywhay, you know, because.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Because nobody believed that you could have that type of pull.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
That's why. No, that's it right there. That's the only
reason that we didn't.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
We didn't always like That's why people always say that.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
I didn't live in a world yet coming over to
my Halloween party.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
That's why somebody when people meet you or you know who,
you look like, you look like that dude from scrub Yes, yeah,
do you get that, Zach.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
I get that, I get you look like the guy
from Scrubs and and uh and yeah that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Yeah, that's what I get all of it all the time.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
And I get it, and I just make a joke
if that happens, I go, I get that all the time.

Speaker 2 (38:18):
That's what I say. Yeah, I get that.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
He's way more handsome in real life.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
I will say that. I say, I say I'm more
handsome than he is, though I think.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
Sometimes I get told I look like Jack Shepherd, and
then I just make up a story of like I
am Jack Shepherd. Yeah, and uh, and then I say,
like Christian's driving me crazy.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
Right, you know I'm gonna start doing that because I
get mistaken for people like Alphonso Robero and Jalil White.
From here on out, I'm gonna go with it. You're
absolutely right, I am.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
And and you should be like in order and then
you should go, and then you should go. I am
Julie White. Did I do that? I worked with Julia
Styles in a in a production of Twelfth Night at
the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and funnily enough, we
were supposed to be I was supposed to be her
twin because I was playing Sebastian. So if you can

(39:13):
imagine trying to make me and Julia's Styles look like twins,
like twins.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Hold up twins that look so much alike that she's mistaken.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Right for him? Yes, yes, yes, that's and I mean
you really. I mean, granted, in theater you get a
lot of leeway, but that's just too much Leva.

Speaker 7 (39:36):
I will say, that's the thing that I find magical
about theater is I think people's skepticism goes out the window,
which is in every movie no matter what you're like,
oh no, no, that's not really that's not really going
to happen, or that's going to happen, or that's the ending.

Speaker 6 (39:48):
In theater, you can kind of say anything, so I
can I can buy that. But also it defends was
this Shakespeare in the Park?

Speaker 3 (39:55):
Yes, it was.

Speaker 7 (39:56):
You know, everyone's kind of far away, you get a
little space.

Speaker 6 (40:01):
I feel like, you know, you could buy it well.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
And also with Shakespeare in the Park too, there's so
much they do all the you know rightly, so they
do all of this color blind multicultural casting, so so
many times someone's the identical twin and it's like a
black persons. So it's like, you really do you do
get a lot of leeway at the public Then there's only.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
One that you can only there's only one Othello is
the only one where the dude has to be black
and the bad guy gotta be white. That's the only one.
Everything else is up to interpretation. But that's the only one.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
I remember, Tay Diggs, I did. I was doing both
so a Broadway when playing like, uh, you know, I
was playing a neurotic Jewish play play right in the
in the in the twenties and Tay Diggs came backstage
and he was lovely, so the performance was great, and
he said, how long are you going to do this?
Do you think because I I maybe like to do it,
and I was thinking, like, Diggs, I don't. I don't

(40:59):
think you can play then ronic Jewish playwright. I mean maybe,
I mean maybe you can these days stretch it up,
switch it up, you know, And this is what this
wasn't twenty twenty.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
I love the fact that Tay walked backstage.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
It was like, let's listen, you did great, you did great.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, by the way, I
love it. I love it. I love Tay Jiggs, but
I love Tay Diggs. And hey, if you listening to
the podcast, this is I'm not I'm not teasing you
at all, but I was taking a bit back. I
was like, I just crushed this big part on broad
Man and it came backstage and he's like, yo, yo,

(41:39):
give it up, let me let me take the part.

Speaker 7 (41:42):
How much that was me I'm gonna do?

Speaker 1 (41:47):
When are you done? Because I'm like, dude, dude, I
just started, and now you want to do it. And also, Tay,
I believe in multi cultural casting, but this would be weird.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
I think, I don't know, they would change it up.
They would switch it up.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, well theater right right? Uh? Isabell?

Speaker 2 (42:06):
You did?

Speaker 1 (42:07):
She did a production Macbeth.

Speaker 6 (42:09):
I did. I did in in New York.

Speaker 7 (42:10):
It was Macbeth and it was an all female Macbeth
that was about a group of girls to get together
after school to do the play and they bring new
things in their backpacks that kind of up the anti
and up the stakes of it, and it ultimately ends
and the girl who plays Macbeth and Macbeth my ultimate demise.

Speaker 2 (42:32):
And it was this kind of a movie. This sound on,
This sounds like a.

Speaker 7 (42:37):
Good movie, an incredible production. Erica Schmidt, who wrote a
Sierra Now that Joe Wright directed. She she directed and
wrote that adaptation and actually workshopped at Juilliard and then
did a production of it in Seattle before she brought
it to New York.

Speaker 6 (42:52):
And we'd worked.

Speaker 7 (42:53):
Together previously, and I, you know, she sent me an
email and I sent her tape of you know, one
of the monologues. But I mean, it's quite big shoes
to fill playing that role.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
And which part were you playing?

Speaker 6 (43:05):
I played Mac? I played mad?

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Wow? Yeah? And how much of the how much of
the how much of the you're saying you're saying you're saying, yeah,
you're saying sort of a play within a play. How
much of the play did y'all do?

Speaker 7 (43:18):
There's no dialogue outside of the original Shakespeare part. It's
just I think we probably did about seventy five to
eighty percent of the play, like they made.

Speaker 6 (43:26):
We made some cuts so that way it wasn't as long.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
But yeah, they just cut Shakespeare. A lot of people
who don't know don't know that, but you're very rarely
seeing the full show because it's there's so long, although
Macbeth is I believe the shortest.

Speaker 6 (43:40):
Yeah, we didn't cut very much, to be honest.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (43:43):
Yeah, And it was like the full Hamlet.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
You'd be there for five hours. I mean people, everybody,
everybody cut, and I think people usually cut the same stuff.
That's like, you know what, we don't need that, we
don't need that.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yeah, but Macbeth, they get the greats to be or
not to be that.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
Is, yeah, you're not going to cut to be Okay,
that's going to be in there. You're going to get that. Yeah,
it's like you know, you know, we actually had.

Speaker 6 (44:05):
A really cool stunt to and play that.

Speaker 7 (44:08):
You know, the way that it ends is like obviously
Macbeth gets the boilers.

Speaker 6 (44:14):
I mean, but it was it was a show.

Speaker 8 (44:16):
So it's like, I don't it'll never I don't know
if it'll come back or you know what. But we
had this puddle on stage that we play in the
whole show. But there was like one part of it
that when all the girls would attack me to like
cut my hat off, I would dip my head underwater
into this like hole and someone would hand me a
snorkel and for seven minutes I would lie on stage

(44:38):
tend to be dead while they walked around with a
like a cut off version.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
That doesn't seem safe. It was safe.

Speaker 6 (44:44):
And every night it was so stressed.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Every time. Was there a night that you were like.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
That, wait was this I just have this?

Speaker 6 (44:58):
This was twenty nineteen in.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Trouble believing that anyone allowed you to do this. It
just feels it feels unsafe.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
It was. It was.

Speaker 6 (45:06):
It was nuts. I remember though. There were every night
we rehearsed this.

Speaker 7 (45:09):
So much that we really had like a whole system
and we had like a whole you know, sign language,
hand signal conversation of you know, taps and finger movements
to know, like when everything.

Speaker 6 (45:20):
Was situated and good.

Speaker 7 (45:22):
But there was one night where it's like the snorkel
filled with water and I remember being like, I'm going
to ruin the show.

Speaker 6 (45:27):
I'm going to ruin the whole entire show. You know,
I'm going to ruin the whole show in the last
seven minutes. You're gonna be over.

Speaker 8 (45:33):
But I was lucky that they, you know, they one
of the girls noticed something was wrong and surrounded They
surrounded me again and I was able to come up
and you know, but it was an incredible show and
I don't think I've ever seen anything like that in.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
At this sounds like a really good indie movie, Like
you know too, you know what I mean, Like that's
a clever you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (45:56):
We have that in common as well. I was in
a production with Best at the Public Theater. My first part,
actually my first part out of I was the two
young characters, Fleance and young Seward. Wow, because I was
I was fresh out of school and and uh George
sea Wolf directed it. It was a big production with
Alec Ballwin, Angela Bassett, Leev Schreiber, Jason Barberharner, Michael C.

Speaker 5 (46:20):
Hall.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
That's what I'm talking It was six yeah, yeah, I
want to do another place so bad, Isabelle, Your your
story is making me I don't want to snorkel on
the water.

Speaker 6 (46:30):
Do another play?

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Can we do a play? This is happening in real time.
This is happening in real time. We're putting together a
Broadway show right now.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
You guys should do fences, the two they were talking about.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
We were talking about the multiculturalism of theater. Isabelle and
I would like to invite you to do Fences with me.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
I'm not gonna make it. I'm not going to make it.
Tell you right now, it ain't gonna go that far.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Well, Donald, I don't know. I don't know. It's the
new era.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
I'm gonna keep it one hundred to be protests and
all should be. They got protest for bringing this up.

Speaker 3 (47:08):
With Donald.

Speaker 6 (47:09):
It's not possible.

Speaker 7 (47:10):
You can't.

Speaker 6 (47:11):
I wouldn't, Fiola Davis.

Speaker 8 (47:14):
It's just you don't want to touch anything before she's.

Speaker 3 (47:19):
That's yeah, Oh my gosh, come on.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
You know you know Denzel is doing a fellow soon
in the early next year.

Speaker 6 (47:27):
I think I was going to playing. I'm kidding, right,
he's amazing. Is it a different production? Different?

Speaker 1 (47:36):
It's with Jake. I know it's with Jake Jillenhall playing.
He's doing it on Broadway on Broadway, Yes, Jake, Jill
And he didn't do the movie, Joel. Joel is clutching
her pearls. You didn't know this. He did make Beth. Yeah,
he's never done on Sello on Broadway. I don't know
who whatever, but he's played Othello before. I'm sure I

(47:58):
don't know. Joel can google. That's why she has the
Google machine.

Speaker 6 (48:01):
College the Google Machine.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Let's take a break.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
We'll be right back after these fine words. Wait, we
skipped Hungry Games?

Speaker 2 (48:15):
What?

Speaker 1 (48:15):
What the hell was that? Like, that's a small movie, huh?

Speaker 7 (48:18):
I mean that was like my childhood dreams come true.
I was such a fan of the book and I auditioned.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Did you actually read the book before the movie.

Speaker 6 (48:29):
I was such a fan of the book. I had
read the book like fifteen times.

Speaker 7 (48:32):
I was like, I was like at the geeking point
where I was seeing the cast and now in Spencer,
I was like, oh my gosh, this is crazy.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
And I don't buy that you got something.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
When Harry Potter came out. All these motherfuckers were going crazy, like, Yo,
they made Harry Potter. Do you know what I was saying?
What the fuck is Harry Potter?

Speaker 1 (48:54):
But you were in eighth grade? When I guess you
were in eighth grade? Is that right?

Speaker 6 (48:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (48:58):
So I was a huge fan and I auditioned for
Catness actually originally, and then I met with them about Primrose.
But I kind of fell in between both ages and
I was lucky that Debrazanne, the casting director, had me
come in and read for Catness, and I was such.

Speaker 6 (49:15):
A fan of the book. I was like, can I
do like a piece from the book?

Speaker 7 (49:18):
And she let me, which was very nice, and I
think that monologue gave her the idea to have me
come in for a clothes and you know, that character
was supposed to be like eighteen and I was fourteen,
and I just came in for an audition and they
cast me off of it. So I was like a
part of the whole summer camp of the Hunger Games,
which is really what that first movie was. I think

(49:40):
everyone kind of wasn't sure what the success of it
would be. I mean, we knew it had a huge
fan base, but like you know, we were just.

Speaker 6 (49:45):
You know, all young in North Carolina running through the woods.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Were they teaching you guys how to use all of
these weapons and stuff like that.

Speaker 7 (49:53):
I learned how to knife throw, which was such a
cool experience. And we had the same stunt team that
did the matrix all of that, and they were super serious.

Speaker 6 (50:01):
And I always love.

Speaker 7 (50:02):
Being a part of the you know, that whole stunt crew,
Like those people are so the stunt guys are the coolest,
Like there are three kids on sets.

Speaker 3 (50:10):
That's where you hang out.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
That's where you hang out. And I just remember that
we had we had stunt tributes as well, so we
spent so.

Speaker 7 (50:16):
Much time together, all of us, and I just I
wanted to do all of my stunts and wanted to
learn everything that I could.

Speaker 6 (50:22):
I was just obsessed with the whole process of making.

Speaker 7 (50:24):
That movie and that was and then it was such
a huge hit, and yeah, I'm so happy to be
a part of it.

Speaker 6 (50:31):
Honestly, I met such good friends that I still have
to stay.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
That's pretty cool to be part of something that was
that huge.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
I mean, that's just you don't have anything like that
in your life.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Sack.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
I've been a part of a couple of huge things.
I'm just saying. She was in eighth fucking grade, bro,
and she was like, she gets she gets the second
big part of her life.

Speaker 6 (50:51):
Yeah, And I couldn't tell anyone. That was the hardest.

Speaker 7 (50:54):
I mean, you could tell a fourteen year old girl
not to tell everyone like you just got the coolest
job ever. I was like, my friend actually like if
she locked me in her bathroom at her house, because
you know, all of a sudden, my lunch at school
was totally different because they wanted me to gain muscle
for the movies.

Speaker 6 (51:10):
So I went from like, you know, having the normal
school lunch.

Speaker 7 (51:13):
Sandwich whatever, to like these prepared meals they had, like
sent me to school.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
With how do you not tell your friends? Why are
you doing this?

Speaker 7 (51:22):
It was like I just was saying like, oh, I'm
going someplace for the summer, blah blah blah. Took my
exams a week early and then just disappeared. And prior
to that, my best friend was like, why aren't you
like eating the normal food that you eat.

Speaker 6 (51:35):
What's going on?

Speaker 7 (51:36):
Like she thought it was like something wrong and genuinely
cared about me, and she was like, you're not leave
in this bathroom until you tell me, and I was like,
I'm going to be in the Hunger Games.

Speaker 6 (51:43):
She was the person that.

Speaker 7 (51:44):
I told and and she was a huge fan of
the book too, So we had a big, like.

Speaker 6 (51:50):
Kind of a moment, which was, you know, that's amazing
when I look back on eighth grade, remember the most
I tell.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
You about I'm jumping around, But sheiroes I didn't see
this one, but it's I love the premise. I'm in.
Four female friends head off to Thailand for a hedonistic
adventure replete with sex, drugs, booze, and relaxation. When a
drug lord kidnaps one of the ladies, the other three
joined forces to save their pal Donald. I feel like

(52:18):
that movie's our jam Why why haven't we We haven't
We haven't We weren't properly marketed to for this movie.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
I don't feel like we were either.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Is it like, really it sounds like that movie with
the with James Franco with all the girls go for
a party weekend and mayhemon suits.

Speaker 6 (52:35):
It was like it's a fun movie.

Speaker 7 (52:37):
I mean, I honestly, when I've watched the movie, all
I think about is like I actually had such a
great time with the girls, Like we had really bonded
and we were in Thailand. It was, you know, in
twenty one, so it was right as COVID was still
kind of you know, kind of starting dangerous.

Speaker 6 (52:59):
Oh yeah, but it was. It was an amazing time.

Speaker 7 (53:02):
And uh and and and the movie is like it's
kind of like a nod in a to all these
like action classics that you really like my character does,
like the full Liam Nissan speech from taking really like
the kidnappers on the phone.

Speaker 6 (53:15):
It's basically about it, like the.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
Is it a spoof or is it like serious?

Speaker 6 (53:21):
It's a group of girls who have no idea how
to get their friend back.

Speaker 7 (53:24):
They were really just looking to have a good time
and maybe hook up with some guys, and they end
up with like a suitcase full of cocaine and their
friend goes missing and they just kind of.

Speaker 8 (53:32):
Have to figure it out because, you know, because why
would you call the cops.

Speaker 6 (53:36):
They can figure it out on their own. They're strong,
independent women, they need no man.

Speaker 8 (53:41):
And so they just kind of take all of their
movie knowledge sometime with that Chimp doc.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
I'm watching this, This sounds great.

Speaker 7 (53:49):
I really I really just had never done a comedy
before and it came across my, uh my desk, and
I was like, I'm funny, I can do funny things.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
You are funny. I think you're very funny. Must have
been fun to shoot in Thailand and go on all
sorts of adventures in Thailand.

Speaker 7 (54:05):
I mean, that was the coolest thing ever. Sometimes you
were really we're really lucky. We get to work in
really amazing locations.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
And I wish I did more Donald than I really don't,
Donald have.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
You know what. I have a hard time, so I
don't go to these places. Like the last thing I
want is to freaking be in jail in Thailand for
smoking weed. You know.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Yeah, I don't know how Donald Donald would happen. Donald
would have to Well, I think you're allowed to smoke
weed in talent. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
I don't know, and I don't want to. I don't
want to say I.

Speaker 1 (54:35):
Want to. I want to film in some exotic places. Donald,
where should we go? Thailand?

Speaker 7 (54:40):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (54:40):
You know, I'm totally down with filming.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
When I saw that Vince, yeah, when I saw that
Vincent Vaughn movie Couple's Retreat, I was like, you know,
Vince Vaughan was just like, write me a movie that
takes place and Bora Bora, Right, you come up with
the what's the premise? I don't know. I don't know.
The premise is I'm in Bora Bora for months.

Speaker 3 (55:01):
With with with my wife.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
With my with my friends.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (55:05):
Yeah, I honestly I think that's happening more and more,
and I actually I actually think that that's something I've
been thinking about. I'm like, okay, as I'm writing my
own movies, and like, where would.

Speaker 6 (55:14):
I want to be filming?

Speaker 1 (55:15):
Where do I want to be?

Speaker 7 (55:16):
Like, we have to be here because it takes place
on an island, so we really.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Just as well. I just got back from Paris, and
I and I with the whole time, I was thinking,
I'm I'm writing something that takes place in Paris. I
want to be here and I want to make a
movie here.

Speaker 6 (55:30):
It's for Olympics.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
No, I just went because I have a friend who
dialed in in a local and and uh and she
showed h me and my buddy around and just to
sort of see the city from a from someone who
knows the city's perspective, which I had never had that experience.

Speaker 2 (55:47):
And I like this idea. I walked around here and
I like this idea.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
I walked around and it's just so romantic, and I
was taking such beautiful everywhere you point your cameras, more
beautiful than than the than the last place took a picture,
and I I thought, I'm working out uh an idea
that takes place there. But so it's sort of what
you're saying.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Your lead should be black. I think it should be
called the American in Paris.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
But the thing is, if it's about a very loud,
a very loud podhead who lives in Paris, Hey you're
talking about me, Oh my god, he screams Isabelle. I'm sorry.

Speaker 6 (56:27):
No, I don't think I'm such a huge fan.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
Donald.

Speaker 6 (56:30):
I watched Big Fat Liar as a kid, and yeah,
I know, girls and clueless. I mean, I've grown up
watching your movies.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
You make me feel so young, makes me feel so young.
Do you want to make movies yourself, Isabelle.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Yes, she's writing them.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
I wanted to delve. I wanted im being a good
interview and I'm delving into that area. Go ahead, Isabelle.

Speaker 7 (56:59):
I mean, I think a lot of actors have this
experience when you work on movies, and you know, you
don't have any control in what the final project is.
And there's something kind of magical about that in its
own way that you're like, Okay, I came and I
did my job, and I'm a part of like this
huge orchestra that creates this you know, final product, and
and I hope that I've you know that I've done

(57:19):
the best that I can, and that everybody you know
puts the same passion and love into it that it
turns out.

Speaker 6 (57:24):
But you know that doesn't always happen. And I love stories.
I love telling stories.

Speaker 7 (57:30):
I'm fascinated by people and psychology and how completely crazy
we all are in our own individual way.

Speaker 6 (57:41):
And you know, I just working.

Speaker 7 (57:44):
I just worked with Kevin Costner and you know, he
wrote this passion project in the eighties, has been working
on it for so many years, and watching him on set,
I was like, wow, he is in his element, Like
this is what he loves to do, and you can
tell by the way that he trusts in his crew,
the way that he works with his actress.

Speaker 6 (58:00):
And I was like, I can do this.

Speaker 7 (58:02):
I could totally do this, and and I think I
always felt like I could, but I was like, oh,
later on, later on, later on, But I've just kind
of decided I'm done saying later on, like I'm go
for it.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
I think Costner's first film directing himself was was Dancing,
and I remember, I remember, I remember thinking, even as
a young person, you know, I knew that Woody Allen
directed himself and and and others mel Brooks. You know,
That's what I kind of grew up on. But I
mean the scale of chances with the Wolves, the idea
that that guy was not only playing that part but

(58:36):
directing a movie that big, I it blew my mind.
I never I never knew that that was that was possible.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean Redford never did anything
like that, or or Newman Paul Newman.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
No, new Newman didn't well, I mean they directed movies.
But I'm saying, like I'm talking about on this, I
don't I can't think of director. You know, there's obviously examples,
like the most obvious being Citizen Kane, but like you know,
in terms of director making something so epic and putting
themselves in the lead, I mean, there's that'd be interesting

(59:12):
to see that.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
He definitely, he definitely showed a lot of actors in
Hollywood that they could do that, like, you know, Uh,
Robert Townsend comes to mind. Mel Gibson comes to mind. Yeah,
you know, keenan Ivory Wayne's comes to mind. They've directed
movies where it's you know, not only are they the
well you did it too, bro, you directed a pretty

(59:34):
epic movie that was.

Speaker 6 (59:35):
This is true.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
Well the Garden State I'm talking about wasn't. Uh. Yeah,
I don't mean to minimize it. I'm just saying I'm
just saying the same.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
Exactly what the fucker, dude, don't do this to don't
don't don't, don't do this. Don't do this, bro, Bro,
don't do this. It's a very beautiful movie.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Man, thank you. I'm just saying so. I wasn't my
skits at fucking motherfucker.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
Don't all of a sudden turn. Don't all of a
sudden turn your artwork in.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
There was never a day on Garden Stay where I
was like, release the six thousand horses.

Speaker 7 (01:00:21):
By the way, I'll just say, the horses are way
better trained than the actors at the time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Always did you have to learn to ride horses for
this this? Uh?

Speaker 6 (01:00:32):
I mean I knew how to ride.

Speaker 7 (01:00:33):
My dad taught me when I was really young, and
but I didn't know how to ride like you're in
a Western movie.

Speaker 6 (01:00:39):
I mean that's totally different.

Speaker 7 (01:00:40):
I mean that was like I remember Scottie, Who's our
like head wrangler, was like, if you think about it,
this was everybody's car. The same casual nature that you
walk into your car to sit on the four of five.

Speaker 6 (01:00:54):
You got to feel that way when you get.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
On the road. You got to feel that comfortable. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:01:01):
Yeah, it's a time.

Speaker 7 (01:01:02):
I mean, I honestly, it was also finding the right horse.
It's just like figuring out like your scene partner basically,
and you know, there were horses that I liked working with,
and there were horses that I didn't particularly like working with.
You know, you trust some of your fellow you know,
horse actors more actors.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
It's like it's it's like any scene partner. Well, you're Isabelle.
Your incredible, your career. I mean it's very rare that
someone can start so young and be so good at
a young age and continue to have a flourishing career.
So many kids get that shot and then it it

(01:01:41):
you know, it fucks them up or it makes them
you know, not hirable for one other for one reason
or the other. But it's just so impressive that you
were crushing it at eleven and are and are still
going strong now.

Speaker 2 (01:01:53):
Not only that, also that you were like, you know
what if it doesn't go the way I wanted to go.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
I'm a doula, Aula.

Speaker 7 (01:02:03):
I think that you know, my mom and my dad,
and my sister and my grandma. I have a really
great family and they always were telling me that having
balance is really important. And you know, I was really
bummed at the time when Orphan came out. It wasn't
like a huge box office hit. But I am like,
so damn happy that I've had Like I was, I.

Speaker 6 (01:02:24):
Was such a weirdo in middle school and in high school.

Speaker 7 (01:02:26):
I got to like have normal life experiences and go
to college and you know, and now I'm kind.

Speaker 6 (01:02:33):
Of like, Okay.

Speaker 7 (01:02:34):
You know, John c Riley did this interview when a
long time ago where you said I never want to
be too hot.

Speaker 6 (01:02:39):
I want to be always warm, and I always really
liked that.

Speaker 8 (01:02:43):
You know, it's it's nice to be always warm. It
means that at a moment's notice, you can you can
go up to a Simmeraro.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
I don't know that I'm always warm. I think sometimes cold. Yeah, dude,
in this town, sometimes I feel like I'm fucking everything's
going right, and then like the third minutes later, I'm like.

Speaker 6 (01:03:01):
With then seconds it's actually you're up.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
For a big part you really want and the rector
likes you, and it's going to be amazing. I mean,
you know, the audience is tired of hearing this example.
But I got this movie and I made it. It
was with me and de Niro and Tommy Lee Jones,
and I was like, holy shit, I never did something
like this then, like they got in a lawsuit, never
came out in the United States. Like I just like,
I just feel like in this town, there's so many

(01:03:27):
ups and downs. I like what you're saying, though I
believe it, Like you know, we're put it this way.
The obvious is we're all so blessed and lucky to
be able to make a living doing this crazy business.
But but yeah, it is. It is quite a roller
coaster ride, and.

Speaker 6 (01:03:41):
It isn't we And we're all very emotional creatures, those actors.

Speaker 7 (01:03:45):
I think that's the big thing is, like, you know,
I have a lot of friends who don't work in
this industry at all, And I will say they're rationale
and level headedness about you.

Speaker 8 (01:03:55):
Know, when I'm like, I don't know, I don't know
why it's not click, and they're like, well, you know,
did you do the best job you could?

Speaker 7 (01:04:04):
I'm like, yeah, Like why are you so upset about it?
Then I'm like, I guess it makes sense. I think
it's just that we're constantly applying for jobs. You know
that you're just constantly being told no.

Speaker 6 (01:04:13):
And at a certain point you're like, is it my hair,
is it my height?

Speaker 8 (01:04:17):
Is it something? Is it something with me? It's like
if we were all dating.

Speaker 6 (01:04:21):
I mean, I honestly think that my.

Speaker 7 (01:04:24):
Mom loves to cook, and she's at my house right now, and.

Speaker 6 (01:04:30):
Every time, no, no, no.

Speaker 8 (01:04:33):
I live in an apartment building where every time I
use the stove, the alarm goes off every single.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Time, like an emergency broadcast.

Speaker 1 (01:04:47):
This morning, you thought that was like a nuclear attack.
That's where you went. Not even once we went to
someone smoking, alarm went off and Donald was like, this
is the big one war games. He turned his key,

(01:05:11):
He turned his key, turn your key, turn your key, sir, Hey,
all right, Isabelle, you better go eat whatever. Your mom
just burnt. It's such a pleasure. Thank you for coming on, you.

Speaker 3 (01:05:27):
Guys, what a great guest.

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
She was lovely.

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
Oh my gosh, what an awesome guest. Yes, I like
and the behind the scenes stuff was even crazier when
we were in commercial break and stuff. You guys missed
a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:05:46):
I feel. I just feel so impressed when people can
keep it going. You know, she started at eleven and
now she's still going strong, and it's just hard. It's hard.
A lot of people who get accepted as a kid actor,
then people don't give him an the chance when they
get older. I mean you, I mean, you're obviously an
example that you were working as a child, But I mean,
like she she got she got a huge lead as

(01:06:09):
a child, and now she's still going strong. So I'm
happy for her.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
She seems cool and I'm glad she doesn't resent the
industry like a lot of child actors do when they
get as they get older, you know what I mean,
for putting them through and shit, we could go on
and on and on about some of the things that
some of the documentaries and stuff that have come out
about how young actors are treated in this industry and stuff,
and it's good to see that, you know, someone made

(01:06:33):
it through and as and as uh and is thriving
and happy, you know what I mean, and regrets.

Speaker 1 (01:06:40):
She seems super cool. Yeah, all right, Joelle, thank you
for for being a graducer and bringing in this a
wonderful guest. Everybody check out Bad Monkey, which I'm on
for me.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
I don't want to spoil it, so I'm not going
to say anything.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
Never mind, Well don't don't spoil Bad Monkey, but I'm
not gonna Bad Monkey's a good TV show, y'all. Y'all
should watch. Check out me on Mike bro Bigley's podcast
Working It Out. I think we had a really nice chat.
And I like Mike. He's a really good guy. And
Joelle is gonna go guilt him into being on our
podcast since in twenty twenty four. That's how it works.

(01:07:17):
You do a tit and then you do.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
A tat, and then you get a tat.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
You do a tit first, first you tit, and then
after you tit, you get that tat.

Speaker 2 (01:07:25):
That's right, sorry, kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:07:30):
Baby girl Boss.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Six seventh to the test Stories that show we made
about a bunch of talks and nurses.

Speaker 1 (01:07:41):
I said, here's the stories.

Speaker 2 (01:07:44):
Net all should know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
So yeada ra here hop yeahda ra Here swear show.
Is that no,