July 25, 2025 • 27 mins
You know her as Amber from Clueless, Elisa Donovan takes a seat at Luke’s Diner this week.
Elisa competed on Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America,” and almost got kicked off the first episode, does she think Lorelai would survive a day in the kitchen?
Plus, she shares a secret game changing step to making the perfect bolognese.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Lukes Diner with Scott Patterson an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all in podcast one
Elevemn Productions. iHeartMedia Radio, I heart Podcast. Luke's Diner, Episode
one on one interview with the amazing Yes I said
it amazing Alisa A.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Donovan.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
You know her as Amber from Clueless, both the movie
and the TV series, and recently on Worst Cooks in America.
Here she is, Alisa. Welcome to Luke's Diner.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It's great to have you. Were very excited you were
on Worst Cooks in America Select Edition. What made you
say yes to doing a cooking show like this?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I was, well, I grew up in a household with
a mom who absolutely despised cooking, like she was anti
the kitchen. Yet she loved to have dinner parties, so
we would have a lot of people over and those
people would be drunk and starving. So I literally had
(01:27):
to like teach myself how to cook. So when they
asked me to do this, I was like, oh, I
definitely want to do this because one I want to
learn sort of how to be better at it, but
also I knew, like I felt like I had some skills,
and then you get there and it is like it's
(01:49):
one of the hardest things I've ever done, right, it
was like it was difficult but so fun.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So you know, before you went on the show, what
was the best dish that you could cook up? What's
your favorite?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So I love what I did. The first thing I
did on the show was a beef tenderline with rosemary.
That is like because you know, if you can use
a thermometer, it's like a pretty, you know, decent and
if the butcher can tie it up for you, it's
like a lot of steps that someone else does and
(02:22):
then you just sort of have to check in on it.
But what I really really love to make now is bolonaise.
But I do it like in my own sort of
style because I'm an essentially organic eater, like grass fed
beef and organic vegetables and all that, so I kind
(02:45):
of add and I have a cow dairy allergy, so
I substitute everything with goat or sheep, so this like
yummy bolonaise with I put a lot of vegetables in there,
which is not traditional, like baby broccoli and kale, and
spinach and arugula just to like get it as you know,
(03:06):
nutritious as possible. And it takes a long time, which
I love.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
And you're you're using this on any manner of pasta.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, I love this. This is another thing I tried
to make. It was funny because Anne Gosh, I just
love her and I am I'm so so terribly sad
to hear that she is not with us. I kind
of can't haven't really metabolized that yet. But she was
like she was so encouraging and then also super scary.
(03:41):
So she would like say something like that's right, Yes,
you got it, and then she would say, why would
you ask me that I just told you. It was
like always super on your haa, on the edge of
your seat. But so the pasta I try, I remembered.
I'm like, oh, there is this pasta from this place
and NAPA and they it's lemon feticini. So it's like
(04:05):
lemon infused fetuccini. And so when we made pasta on
the show, I went, I'm going to impress her because
I'm going to embed the lemon in there. And she
had this moment where she was like, oh, that seems
really sort of impressive, you know, but then I couldn't
really execute it, but she was impressed with the idea.
(04:26):
So generally you can put put with any pasta, but
I love this lemon.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Fetuccini, all right, And did you do you add some
a little bit of pasta water to the bolognaise so
it sticks to thee.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So I didn't realize this was important until a very
good friend of mine who comes from a big Italian family,
and she and her husband and their kids were our
families or friends, and they came over for the bolonese
and I had this moment of like, am I really
making bolonise for an Italian woman? Like what is wrong
with me? But her husband loves it. And then just
(05:04):
as I was changing the watch, she's like, oh no,
take some of the pasta water. Like she was there
at that specific moment and taught me that that's what
you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I thought it was the opposite, that you're supposed to
get rid of it, like rinse it out, rinse it out.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah. Now, the minute I learned to do that, my
family looked at me in a whole different way, in
a whole new way. Wait, respect it was like, yeah,
you made its stick to the pasta.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
De right, Yeah, it's impressive.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Tell me, was there a moment when you reconsidered your
choice to be on the show. Oh, what was the
most difficult part.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
About so many times? First of all, I've never worked
that many hours in a row, you know TV we
worked like fifteen hours norm this was human It's seventeen eighteen.
And in fact, Anne said the first week, so it
was maybe our third or fourth day, it was two
(06:02):
o'clock in the morning, and she said, I just want
to say, this is the longest day in history on
Worst Cooks in America. Like, we were sort of like
waffling around, like you're starting to hallucinate, and then you're like,
oh my god, I have a sharp knife, like things
are on their flames. You're like, this is dangerous. And
then getting and I felt like and I like what
(06:25):
did I sign up for? And then but every we're
all in the same boat, you know, you know, and
then you're like going back to the hotel and everybody's like,
are we are we? Are we going back? Are we
all going to go back? Like? Are we going to tomorrow?
You know, maybe we're all going to band together and
just like jump into the Hudson River. But it was
so many times I did, especially I almost got kicked
(06:47):
off the first episode, and I thought I went from
thinking I'm going to win this show to oh, or
I might just be kicked off the first day. It
was so absurd and crazy. It's really I would do
it to get in a heartbeat. So it's like I've
been conditioned, I guess to be abused.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Let me ask you this. Let's let's tie it into
Gilmore Girls. If Laurel I Gilmore competed on the show,
do you think she would have failed? Yes, then you.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Did probably yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
She had a pop tart situation.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Would pop right right. And then sometimes you think sort
of in the beginning, you can be you know, sort
of like charming and silly about it and it's serious business,
like it's not messing around. There are things and but
she it was so great because she had so much
(07:48):
joy in actually teaching you. You know, the moments where
I really like learned something, and then when you get
better and she praises you. I felt like it was
like better than years of therapy. You know, I'm like
I got through it and I won, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Loved and I know it was an accident, right, but
you knocked over Anne.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Oh my god, the plate.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I mean, what happened? And how did she react to that?
What did she say to you?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Okay, this is what I also thought I was going
to be eliminated for doing that. So I Mark Long,
who was on my team, who is a very large,
very strong man, had I think won that challenge, and
he picked up Anne and like, you know, uh, carried
her around because he was so excited. So then I
(08:39):
think I'm getting kicked off. Now I'm also exhausted, like
in a state of I can't even understand how I
got here, and now I'm going to be eliminated and
so humiliated. And then Anne announces no one's going home,
and my elation was just like oh yea, and I
(09:00):
when I'm gonna do the same thing the guy on
my team did. I'm going to pick up Anne and
it's gonna be so funny, and I just like ran
at her and her expression when she saw that I
was going to pick her up was like, oh my god.
And then it just all happened so fast, and the
next thing I know, we were on the ground and
(09:21):
I went, what's happening? And then everyone is like terrified.
I didn't know if I had like given her a concussion.
I was just like beside myself. And she laughed so
hard and was like, I love you. This is the
best thing that's ever happened, Like she had such a
(09:42):
great attitude about it. And then after you know, we cut,
we go back to the dressing rooms and the producer
who was working with me came over and I was like,
I almost started crying. I said, I'm so sorry, I'm
so embarrassed, like it's like I lost my mind. And
She's said, this was one of the greatest moments we
(10:02):
have ever had on this show. And I was like,
are you going to Are you sending me home? Because
did I hurt am you know? And she said, no, no,
You're definitely not going home now.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
So would you recommend to employees run at their CEOs
and just for sure up and slam them on the ground.
Would that get them ahead?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It's like really showing your commitment, like get in there.
Be a little bit scary, but a little intimidating and
really like I'm taking one for the team and or
I'm taking you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Down with me. Yeah, yeah, all right, So everybody listening,
you know, do that, go to work, go to your CEO.
Just run at them, pick them up, get them on
the ground, and the promotions will come.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I guarantee you they will love it.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And say Elisa donov And sent me.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Right, it's my recommendation.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
How would Suki Saint James feel watching you compete on
Worst Cooks? What do you think? What do you think
Suki would say? I?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
How did she get here? I mean, the thing that
people don't understand about these shows is that, first of all,
I mean, I guess you can sort of see symtems.
You're sharing a stove with another person most of the time,
so it's four burners or six I don't recall, but
you're sharing that space with another cook, so you have
(11:38):
to like lean over things and if you need the
smaller flame and they're using the smaller flame, like you
can't do it, and then they're talking to you, and
then you're getting distracted, and and it's the time thing,
right that they're always like telling you you got to go,
you gotta go, you gotta go. And so even when
you go to you know, grocery shop quote unquote, which you,
(11:58):
they you know, give you time to pick your ingredients.
You're just panicked. So half the time you come back
with like, you know, a banana and an onion and
they're like go and then you say, oh wow, I
have nothing that I need and then you're just in trouble.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And I'll tell you so. But now you know what
it's like to be under pressure in a kitchen. Would
you survive like a busy shift at Luke Steiner? What
do you think with Luke there?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
You know what I think I would be. I worked
in restaurants when I was in high school and college
in New York City, and again I tried to get
by on the charm part, you know, so like I'm
fun and oh a little zany, everybody losy and then
in the end it was like you're fired. I don't
(12:51):
think that I could handle the stress because I get
like very uh. It's a part of being an empathetic person.
I think, I like take on what's going on. So
the panic of anyone else just rendered me, you know, useless,
And then I do the opposite, Like there was a
(13:11):
moment where Anne said you were completely spastic, and then
now you've like calmed down but now it's like you're
in a coma, you know, like, and I was like, well,
I feel very zen right now, Like I just kind
of reversed everything, and she was like, well, just zen
a little bit faster, and so zen faster is my
(13:37):
I learned.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So what's something that that was surprising you? You walked
away learning from the show? Any skills that you use
when cooking?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Now, some really basic things that I did not know,
like how to hold a knife. For example, you don't
put your finger along the top of it. You hold
it with your your your your your thumb and your
first finger, and you have more control over the night.
It feels counterintuitive, but it actually when you're doing it,
it completely works. And then you can use the other
(14:09):
hand because I'm alrighty the left hand on top to
just like you know.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And so what Anne would do is she gives you
a red mark on your finger if you use the
knife incorrectly, like just put a red sharpie. So I
had so many red and then it makes you not
do it.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
But.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, and I would. I woke up with red sharpie
on my pillow in the hotel and I was like,
this has taking me over. And also what else did
I learn? This was simple. This is one of the
moments I when when you crack an egg, if you
get the shell goes into the egg, you know, and
(14:52):
then you're trying to get it out trying. The thing
you do is you take the rest, the remainder of
the shell itself to scoop it out, and it somehow
sticks to it. It is the most efficient. It like
changed my life. And I said to Anne in the moment,
oh my god, if that's the only thing that I learned, like,
this is incredibly useful. And she was like, well, I
(15:15):
certainly hope that is not the only thing that you
learn on this show. I was like, okay, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I'm sorry the eggshell hack. I'm gonna remember it. Did
I did that this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Isn't it? It's so irritating trying to.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Get it with your finger it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Or like a fork or a spoon doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I spent five minutes destroying the yolks. Yes, yeah, so,
but you EmPATH that you are. You were competing for charity.
The American is stuper for cancer research, which I know
is a cause that's it's really close to your heart.
Did that add a different kind of pressure during the
competition and be on the show. Oh what do you
(15:56):
hope people take away from your work and cancer at
Because I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
For sure that was half the reason of really wanting
because the further you go, if you win, you obviously
win a lot more money for your charity than if
you leave earlier. So I really wanted to stay the
whole time. It was a significantly larger amount of money
that I could have made for them. But why that
(16:22):
is so important to me is I lost my dad
to cancer many years ago, and I went through that
process with him and saw how the traditional Western medicine
really at that time and still now has not really
figured out how important lifestyle of nutrition and all those
(16:47):
sorts of things contribute to both getting cancer and treating
it right. And this organization in particular, really focuses on
those very things, so they're preventative as well as in treatment. So,
you know, watching my dad his you know his situation,
(17:09):
his doctors were like, oh, just you know, you just
have to gain weight, We just want to put some
meat on your bone, so eat you know, soda and
donuts and whatever. And I was, I, you know, have
been a healthy organic eater for many, many, many many years.
So I was trying to talk to my dad about this,
(17:29):
and he he wasn't going to listen to me, his
you know, twenty something year old daughter, when his doctors
were telling him something different. So so that this organization
in particular is really a great one. So I sadly
didn't win as much money for them as I had hoped,
but I did make a little for them.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well good for you for trying. I mean, that's very honorable.
You wrote a memoir and you're a screenwriter. Yes, okay,
you know I've taken into my turn as a screenwriter.
Oh yeah, tell me about your writing process.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So the book, the memoir is about losing my dad
to cancer and how it changed my life and my career.
And he came to me in these dreams and other
worldly sorts of experiences that helped me to heal and
move on. And so that's what the book is about.
(18:28):
And I originally I've been a writer since I was
a kid, you know, writing In high school, I really
started to do a lot of autobiographical fiction and had
a phenomenal teacher. And in college I was a writing
me and drama major. So I've always been a writer,
(18:49):
but I when my dad passed away. I first did
this as little performance pieces like I would like I'd
spoken word nights in LA would read portions of it.
And then I always wanted to write a book. And
(19:09):
you know, my agents at the time and everyone around
me was like, writing a book, what are you talking
about it? Do make it a TV show. I'm like, no,
it's not a show. And so I kept writing the book.
But then they said, well, write it as a play
at least. So I wrote it as a one woman
show and I did it at the Geffen at the
(19:33):
Audrey Skerball as a benefit, and it was an incredible experience,
and I felt like, Oh, this is what I'm supposed
to be doing with my life, Like this is why
I have been so fortunate to be on these TV
shows and these movies that have made me some money
(19:53):
and given me some notoriety that allows me to have
this platform to tell stories that are meaningful and that
are about the human condition and you know, the pain
and the beauty and the joy and the laughter and
the tears of life. So I felt like, from that moment,
this is what I'm going to do, Like I didn't
(20:16):
know how where it was going to go or how
I was going to make it happen. So then I
started to write it as a movie. I wrote it
as but like I just started to write it in
all the different versions, and I wound up getting the
book deal first. But you know, because the writing is
so different, right, screenwriting is an entirely different animal from
(20:39):
writing narrative of you know, writing autobiographical fiction or memoir.
So when I first was doing the play, I had
some writers come during the rehearsal process, the development process
to get their feedback, and they would say things like
some of my favorite lines when you say la da
(20:59):
da da da da, it's beautiful, And I was like,
thank you so much, and they would say, and you
have to cut it because nobody you can't. It doesn't work.
You need to put that in the book. You don't
put that in the stage piece. And it was like
really hard to to like metabolize all of that because
I felt like, this is this is what it's supposed
(21:20):
to be. So I really learned a lot through the
process of you know, going to people who are better
at this than me and have been doing it for
longer to be able to guide me into the specificity
of how to write for each medium. And so now
the film is in development that I wrote and that
I'm going to direct and the I but the book
(21:42):
deal is what ultimately came first.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Wow, you're making a film about it. That's fantastic. Good
for you.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
I mean, you know, it's so easy to raise money
for independent movies.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
No, it's I don't know why the jobs and raise
money for anything. It's it's like, you're kidding me. Everybody
wants to donate that.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, everybody, but they're throwing money.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
At us, send some my way because I have a
bunch of independents.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Well I have so much extrass so I'm just I'll just.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
I know right, it's annoying. Got to get rid of it.
Well that's a a what a what a story? What
a story? And congratulations on seeing that process through because
obviously we're being silly here. It's impossible to raise money
for independent films. It is, especially now. I mean it
used to. It was hard twenty years ago, twenty five
(22:34):
years ago. Like now it's impossible. So congratulations on that.
What's the name of the memoir?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Wake me when you leave?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And where can people get it.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So they can get it wherever you get books anywhere.
It's on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible. I'd read the
audio book, which was really a special part of the
whole process for me, which happened at the very end,
because it was like it was sort of of like
doing the play again but not but getting it was
(23:05):
sort of like the perfect coming together of all of it.
Like I thought about how when my writer friends were like,
you have to cut this, I'm like, now I get
to say it anyway in the audio book.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Listen. I save the most impactful and difficult question for
the very last.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So ready, I'm ready for it.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Here we go, And I apologize for this the first
pots I've done this to it. I mean to put
you on the spot, but this is it's a very
very very tough question and your answer is hugely important.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
It really will cause it will impact the rest of
my life.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And I'm sorry to do it. I'm sorry. If you
were to come into Luke Steiner, what would you order
and where would you sit?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Oh, definitely I would order a burger because that because
you have to, and I would have it with again
because I don't do it. I'd love a cheeseburger, So
if you have goat cheese, I'd get some goat on
there and some grains and fries. I would assume that
(24:23):
you have like freshly cut fries. I don't want to
be frozen bs so and straight up Russa. I like
a sweet potato fry, but I'm more of a classic.
Let's do a Russet fry freshly cut, and then I'm
definitely going to sit. So I like to be, you know,
(24:44):
in the spot where you can see everything else. But
I don't want to be sequestered, you know what I mean.
I want you, I want to be a part of
the mix, but I don't want to have anybody sitting
behind me.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So you're not sitting at the counter.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Oh you know. I do like a count or too.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Though everybody's behind me, and everybody's behind me.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Is there a mirror in front so I could see
who's vying, you know? But then I'd have to watch
myself eat. I might sit at the counter.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I do like the counter, Johnny. Uh yeah, are all
our assistant over here is telling you that is the
correct answer. Congratulations and you will receive Uh. We're going
to match all the funding you've received so far from
your god surprise, congratulations at Leasta.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Donovan, Oh my goodness, thank god.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Thank you so much for sharing your story. We really
appreciate it. And good luck with everything, good luck with
the film, good luck, thank you. Please come back, you're well.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I'll come back when when we you know, when the
film's made in forty.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Five years, you know, we'll probably still be doing.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
This'll be here, we will, and then I'll need I
will be able to sit at the counter. I'm going
to need like a walker. I'm going to need a back.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
We'll get you. We'll put you're on a sled and
we'll pull you. Know. You will appear in two thousand
and sixty five, in again and again and again and
again and again. That's what it will be called. Anyway,
all the best to you, and remember everybody, keep those cards,
letters coming. The best fans on the planet. And there
(26:20):
just ain't no debate about it. And somebody tried to
debate me the other day and I crushed them, gilmour Gill,
you did. I crushed them.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
I crushed I believe it.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
But it was really nice about very nice about still
don't mess with these fans and where you lead, we
will follow. Stay safe, everyone.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Hey, everybody'll forget.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Follow us on Instagram at i Am all In podcast,
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Lukes Diner with Scott Patterson an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all in podcast one
Elevemn Productions. iHeartMedia Radio, I heart Podcast. Luke's Diner, Episode
one on one interview with the amazing Yes I said
it amazing Alisa A.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Donovan.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
You know her as Amber from Clueless, both the movie
and the TV series, and recently on Worst Cooks in America.
Here she is, Alisa. Welcome to Luke's Diner.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It's great to have you. Were very excited you were
on Worst Cooks in America Select Edition. What made you
say yes to doing a cooking show like this?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I was, well, I grew up in a household with
a mom who absolutely despised cooking, like she was anti
the kitchen. Yet she loved to have dinner parties, so
we would have a lot of people over and those
people would be drunk and starving. So I literally had
(01:27):
to like teach myself how to cook. So when they
asked me to do this, I was like, oh, I
definitely want to do this because one I want to
learn sort of how to be better at it, but
also I knew, like I felt like I had some skills,
and then you get there and it is like it's
(01:49):
one of the hardest things I've ever done, right, it
was like it was difficult but so fun.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So you know, before you went on the show, what
was the best dish that you could cook up? What's
your favorite?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So I love what I did. The first thing I
did on the show was a beef tenderline with rosemary.
That is like because you know, if you can use
a thermometer, it's like a pretty, you know, decent and
if the butcher can tie it up for you, it's
like a lot of steps that someone else does and
(02:22):
then you just sort of have to check in on it.
But what I really really love to make now is bolonaise.
But I do it like in my own sort of
style because I'm an essentially organic eater, like grass fed
beef and organic vegetables and all that, so I kind
(02:45):
of add and I have a cow dairy allergy, so
I substitute everything with goat or sheep, so this like
yummy bolonaise with I put a lot of vegetables in there,
which is not traditional, like baby broccoli and kale, and
spinach and arugula just to like get it as you know,
(03:06):
nutritious as possible. And it takes a long time, which
I love.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
And you're you're using this on any manner of pasta.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, I love this. This is another thing I tried
to make. It was funny because Anne Gosh, I just
love her and I am I'm so so terribly sad
to hear that she is not with us. I kind
of can't haven't really metabolized that yet. But she was
like she was so encouraging and then also super scary.
(03:41):
So she would like say something like that's right, Yes,
you got it, and then she would say, why would
you ask me that I just told you. It was
like always super on your haa, on the edge of
your seat. But so the pasta I try, I remembered.
I'm like, oh, there is this pasta from this place
and NAPA and they it's lemon feticini. So it's like
(04:05):
lemon infused fetuccini. And so when we made pasta on
the show, I went, I'm going to impress her because
I'm going to embed the lemon in there. And she
had this moment where she was like, oh, that seems
really sort of impressive, you know, but then I couldn't
really execute it, but she was impressed with the idea.
(04:26):
So generally you can put put with any pasta, but
I love this lemon.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Fetuccini, all right, And did you do you add some
a little bit of pasta water to the bolognaise so
it sticks to thee.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So I didn't realize this was important until a very
good friend of mine who comes from a big Italian family,
and she and her husband and their kids were our
families or friends, and they came over for the bolonese
and I had this moment of like, am I really
making bolonise for an Italian woman? Like what is wrong
with me? But her husband loves it. And then just
(05:04):
as I was changing the watch, she's like, oh no,
take some of the pasta water. Like she was there
at that specific moment and taught me that that's what
you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I thought it was the opposite, that you're supposed to
get rid of it, like rinse it out, rinse it out.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah. Now, the minute I learned to do that, my
family looked at me in a whole different way, in
a whole new way. Wait, respect it was like, yeah,
you made its stick to the pasta.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
De right, Yeah, it's impressive.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Tell me, was there a moment when you reconsidered your
choice to be on the show. Oh, what was the
most difficult part.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
About so many times? First of all, I've never worked
that many hours in a row, you know TV we
worked like fifteen hours norm this was human It's seventeen eighteen.
And in fact, Anne said the first week, so it
was maybe our third or fourth day, it was two
(06:02):
o'clock in the morning, and she said, I just want
to say, this is the longest day in history on
Worst Cooks in America. Like, we were sort of like
waffling around, like you're starting to hallucinate, and then you're like,
oh my god, I have a sharp knife, like things
are on their flames. You're like, this is dangerous. And
then getting and I felt like and I like what
(06:25):
did I sign up for? And then but every we're
all in the same boat, you know, you know, and
then you're like going back to the hotel and everybody's like,
are we are we? Are we going back? Are we
all going to go back? Like? Are we going to tomorrow?
You know, maybe we're all going to band together and
just like jump into the Hudson River. But it was
so many times I did, especially I almost got kicked
(06:47):
off the first episode, and I thought I went from
thinking I'm going to win this show to oh, or
I might just be kicked off the first day. It
was so absurd and crazy. It's really I would do
it to get in a heartbeat. So it's like I've
been conditioned, I guess to be abused.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Let me ask you this. Let's let's tie it into
Gilmore Girls. If Laurel I Gilmore competed on the show,
do you think she would have failed? Yes, then you.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Did probably yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
She had a pop tart situation.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Would pop right right. And then sometimes you think sort
of in the beginning, you can be you know, sort
of like charming and silly about it and it's serious business,
like it's not messing around. There are things and but
she it was so great because she had so much
(07:48):
joy in actually teaching you. You know, the moments where
I really like learned something, and then when you get
better and she praises you. I felt like it was
like better than years of therapy. You know, I'm like
I got through it and I won, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Loved and I know it was an accident, right, but
you knocked over Anne.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Oh my god, the plate.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I mean, what happened? And how did she react to that?
What did she say to you?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Okay, this is what I also thought I was going
to be eliminated for doing that. So I Mark Long,
who was on my team, who is a very large,
very strong man, had I think won that challenge, and
he picked up Anne and like, you know, uh, carried
her around because he was so excited. So then I
(08:39):
think I'm getting kicked off. Now I'm also exhausted, like
in a state of I can't even understand how I
got here, and now I'm going to be eliminated and
so humiliated. And then Anne announces no one's going home,
and my elation was just like oh yea, and I
(09:00):
when I'm gonna do the same thing the guy on
my team did. I'm going to pick up Anne and
it's gonna be so funny, and I just like ran
at her and her expression when she saw that I
was going to pick her up was like, oh my god.
And then it just all happened so fast, and the
next thing I know, we were on the ground and
(09:21):
I went, what's happening? And then everyone is like terrified.
I didn't know if I had like given her a concussion.
I was just like beside myself. And she laughed so
hard and was like, I love you. This is the
best thing that's ever happened, Like she had such a
(09:42):
great attitude about it. And then after you know, we cut,
we go back to the dressing rooms and the producer
who was working with me came over and I was like,
I almost started crying. I said, I'm so sorry, I'm
so embarrassed, like it's like I lost my mind. And
She's said, this was one of the greatest moments we
(10:02):
have ever had on this show. And I was like,
are you going to Are you sending me home? Because
did I hurt am you know? And she said, no, no,
You're definitely not going home now.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
So would you recommend to employees run at their CEOs
and just for sure up and slam them on the ground.
Would that get them ahead?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It's like really showing your commitment, like get in there.
Be a little bit scary, but a little intimidating and
really like I'm taking one for the team and or
I'm taking you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Down with me. Yeah, yeah, all right, So everybody listening,
you know, do that, go to work, go to your CEO.
Just run at them, pick them up, get them on
the ground, and the promotions will come.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I guarantee you they will love it.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And say Elisa donov And sent me.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Right, it's my recommendation.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
How would Suki Saint James feel watching you compete on
Worst Cooks? What do you think? What do you think
Suki would say? I?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
How did she get here? I mean, the thing that
people don't understand about these shows is that, first of all,
I mean, I guess you can sort of see symtems.
You're sharing a stove with another person most of the time,
so it's four burners or six I don't recall, but
you're sharing that space with another cook, so you have
(11:38):
to like lean over things and if you need the
smaller flame and they're using the smaller flame, like you
can't do it, and then they're talking to you, and
then you're getting distracted, and and it's the time thing,
right that they're always like telling you you got to go,
you gotta go, you gotta go. And so even when
you go to you know, grocery shop quote unquote, which you,
(11:58):
they you know, give you time to pick your ingredients.
You're just panicked. So half the time you come back
with like, you know, a banana and an onion and
they're like go and then you say, oh wow, I
have nothing that I need and then you're just in trouble.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And I'll tell you so. But now you know what
it's like to be under pressure in a kitchen. Would
you survive like a busy shift at Luke Steiner? What
do you think with Luke there?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
You know what I think I would be. I worked
in restaurants when I was in high school and college
in New York City, and again I tried to get
by on the charm part, you know, so like I'm
fun and oh a little zany, everybody losy and then
in the end it was like you're fired. I don't
(12:51):
think that I could handle the stress because I get
like very uh. It's a part of being an empathetic person.
I think, I like take on what's going on. So
the panic of anyone else just rendered me, you know, useless,
And then I do the opposite, Like there was a
(13:11):
moment where Anne said you were completely spastic, and then
now you've like calmed down but now it's like you're
in a coma, you know, like, and I was like, well,
I feel very zen right now, Like I just kind
of reversed everything, and she was like, well, just zen
a little bit faster, and so zen faster is my
(13:37):
I learned.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So what's something that that was surprising you? You walked
away learning from the show? Any skills that you use
when cooking?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Now, some really basic things that I did not know,
like how to hold a knife. For example, you don't
put your finger along the top of it. You hold
it with your your your your your thumb and your
first finger, and you have more control over the night.
It feels counterintuitive, but it actually when you're doing it,
it completely works. And then you can use the other
(14:09):
hand because I'm alrighty the left hand on top to
just like you know.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And so what Anne would do is she gives you
a red mark on your finger if you use the
knife incorrectly, like just put a red sharpie. So I
had so many red and then it makes you not
do it.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
But.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, and I would. I woke up with red sharpie
on my pillow in the hotel and I was like,
this has taking me over. And also what else did
I learn? This was simple. This is one of the
moments I when when you crack an egg, if you
get the shell goes into the egg, you know, and
(14:52):
then you're trying to get it out trying. The thing
you do is you take the rest, the remainder of
the shell itself to scoop it out, and it somehow
sticks to it. It is the most efficient. It like
changed my life. And I said to Anne in the moment,
oh my god, if that's the only thing that I learned, like,
this is incredibly useful. And she was like, well, I
(15:15):
certainly hope that is not the only thing that you
learn on this show. I was like, okay, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I'm sorry the eggshell hack. I'm gonna remember it. Did
I did that this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Isn't it? It's so irritating trying to.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Get it with your finger it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Or like a fork or a spoon doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I spent five minutes destroying the yolks. Yes, yeah, so,
but you EmPATH that you are. You were competing for charity.
The American is stuper for cancer research, which I know
is a cause that's it's really close to your heart.
Did that add a different kind of pressure during the
competition and be on the show. Oh what do you
(15:56):
hope people take away from your work and cancer at
Because I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
For sure that was half the reason of really wanting
because the further you go, if you win, you obviously
win a lot more money for your charity than if
you leave earlier. So I really wanted to stay the
whole time. It was a significantly larger amount of money
that I could have made for them. But why that
(16:22):
is so important to me is I lost my dad
to cancer many years ago, and I went through that
process with him and saw how the traditional Western medicine
really at that time and still now has not really
figured out how important lifestyle of nutrition and all those
(16:47):
sorts of things contribute to both getting cancer and treating
it right. And this organization in particular, really focuses on
those very things, so they're preventative as well as in treatment. So,
you know, watching my dad his you know his situation,
(17:09):
his doctors were like, oh, just you know, you just
have to gain weight, We just want to put some
meat on your bone, so eat you know, soda and
donuts and whatever. And I was, I, you know, have
been a healthy organic eater for many, many, many many years.
So I was trying to talk to my dad about this,
(17:29):
and he he wasn't going to listen to me, his
you know, twenty something year old daughter, when his doctors
were telling him something different. So so that this organization
in particular is really a great one. So I sadly
didn't win as much money for them as I had hoped,
but I did make a little for them.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well good for you for trying. I mean, that's very honorable.
You wrote a memoir and you're a screenwriter. Yes, okay,
you know I've taken into my turn as a screenwriter.
Oh yeah, tell me about your writing process.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So the book, the memoir is about losing my dad
to cancer and how it changed my life and my career.
And he came to me in these dreams and other
worldly sorts of experiences that helped me to heal and
move on. And so that's what the book is about.
(18:28):
And I originally I've been a writer since I was
a kid, you know, writing In high school, I really
started to do a lot of autobiographical fiction and had
a phenomenal teacher. And in college I was a writing
me and drama major. So I've always been a writer,
(18:49):
but I when my dad passed away. I first did
this as little performance pieces like I would like I'd
spoken word nights in LA would read portions of it.
And then I always wanted to write a book. And
(19:09):
you know, my agents at the time and everyone around
me was like, writing a book, what are you talking
about it? Do make it a TV show. I'm like, no,
it's not a show. And so I kept writing the book.
But then they said, well, write it as a play
at least. So I wrote it as a one woman
show and I did it at the Geffen at the
(19:33):
Audrey Skerball as a benefit, and it was an incredible experience,
and I felt like, Oh, this is what I'm supposed
to be doing with my life, Like this is why
I have been so fortunate to be on these TV
shows and these movies that have made me some money
(19:53):
and given me some notoriety that allows me to have
this platform to tell stories that are meaningful and that
are about the human condition and you know, the pain
and the beauty and the joy and the laughter and
the tears of life. So I felt like, from that moment,
this is what I'm going to do, Like I didn't
(20:16):
know how where it was going to go or how
I was going to make it happen. So then I
started to write it as a movie. I wrote it
as but like I just started to write it in
all the different versions, and I wound up getting the
book deal first. But you know, because the writing is
so different, right, screenwriting is an entirely different animal from
(20:39):
writing narrative of you know, writing autobiographical fiction or memoir.
So when I first was doing the play, I had
some writers come during the rehearsal process, the development process
to get their feedback, and they would say things like
some of my favorite lines when you say la da
(20:59):
da da da da, it's beautiful, And I was like,
thank you so much, and they would say, and you
have to cut it because nobody you can't. It doesn't work.
You need to put that in the book. You don't
put that in the stage piece. And it was like
really hard to to like metabolize all of that because
I felt like, this is this is what it's supposed
(21:20):
to be. So I really learned a lot through the
process of you know, going to people who are better
at this than me and have been doing it for
longer to be able to guide me into the specificity
of how to write for each medium. And so now
the film is in development that I wrote and that
I'm going to direct and the I but the book
(21:42):
deal is what ultimately came first.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Wow, you're making a film about it. That's fantastic. Good
for you.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
I mean, you know, it's so easy to raise money
for independent movies.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
No, it's I don't know why the jobs and raise
money for anything. It's it's like, you're kidding me. Everybody
wants to donate that.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, everybody, but they're throwing money.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
At us, send some my way because I have a
bunch of independents.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Well I have so much extrass so I'm just I'll just.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
I know right, it's annoying. Got to get rid of it.
Well that's a a what a what a story? What
a story? And congratulations on seeing that process through because
obviously we're being silly here. It's impossible to raise money
for independent films. It is, especially now. I mean it
used to. It was hard twenty years ago, twenty five
(22:34):
years ago. Like now it's impossible. So congratulations on that.
What's the name of the memoir?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Wake me when you leave?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And where can people get it.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So they can get it wherever you get books anywhere.
It's on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible. I'd read the
audio book, which was really a special part of the
whole process for me, which happened at the very end,
because it was like it was sort of of like
doing the play again but not but getting it was
(23:05):
sort of like the perfect coming together of all of it.
Like I thought about how when my writer friends were like,
you have to cut this, I'm like, now I get
to say it anyway in the audio book.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Listen. I save the most impactful and difficult question for
the very last.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
So ready, I'm ready for it.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Here we go, And I apologize for this the first
pots I've done this to it. I mean to put
you on the spot, but this is it's a very
very very tough question and your answer is hugely important.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
It really will cause it will impact the rest of
my life.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And I'm sorry to do it. I'm sorry. If you
were to come into Luke Steiner, what would you order
and where would you sit?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Oh, definitely I would order a burger because that because
you have to, and I would have it with again
because I don't do it. I'd love a cheeseburger, So
if you have goat cheese, I'd get some goat on
there and some grains and fries. I would assume that
(24:23):
you have like freshly cut fries. I don't want to
be frozen bs so and straight up Russa. I like
a sweet potato fry, but I'm more of a classic.
Let's do a Russet fry freshly cut, and then I'm
definitely going to sit. So I like to be, you know,
(24:44):
in the spot where you can see everything else. But
I don't want to be sequestered, you know what I mean.
I want you, I want to be a part of
the mix, but I don't want to have anybody sitting
behind me.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
So you're not sitting at the counter.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Oh you know. I do like a count or too.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Though everybody's behind me, and everybody's behind me.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Is there a mirror in front so I could see
who's vying, you know? But then I'd have to watch
myself eat. I might sit at the counter.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I do like the counter, Johnny. Uh yeah, are all
our assistant over here is telling you that is the
correct answer. Congratulations and you will receive Uh. We're going
to match all the funding you've received so far from
your god surprise, congratulations at Leasta.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Donovan, Oh my goodness, thank god.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Thank you so much for sharing your story. We really
appreciate it. And good luck with everything, good luck with
the film, good luck, thank you. Please come back, you're well.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I'll come back when when we you know, when the
film's made in forty.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Five years, you know, we'll probably still be doing.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
This'll be here, we will, and then I'll need I
will be able to sit at the counter. I'm going
to need like a walker. I'm going to need a back.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
We'll get you. We'll put you're on a sled and
we'll pull you. Know. You will appear in two thousand
and sixty five, in again and again and again and
again and again. That's what it will be called. Anyway,
all the best to you, and remember everybody, keep those cards,
letters coming. The best fans on the planet. And there
(26:20):
just ain't no debate about it. And somebody tried to
debate me the other day and I crushed them, gilmour Gill,
you did. I crushed them.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
I crushed I believe it.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
But it was really nice about very nice about still
don't mess with these fans and where you lead, we
will follow. Stay safe, everyone.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Hey, everybody'll forget.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Follow us on Instagram at i Am all In podcast,
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com
Hosts And Creators
Amy Sugarman
Danielle Romo
Scott Patterson
Tara Soudbaksh
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