March 8, 2024 • 34 mins
This week, Tommy is joined by actor Ed Westwick, best known for his breakout role of Chuck Bass in the pop culture phenomenon known as Gossip Girl. The show was based off the tremendously popular book series which catapulted Ed into international stardom. Ed has gone on to play so many other incredible characters in film and television, but out now is his new movie, DarkGame. He plays a detective who is in a race against time to stop a twisted game show on the dark web where captives are forced to compete for their lives. Today, he opens up about how he’s always wanted to play a detective, what working on an intensely dark film was like, how the film mirrors society’s need to constantly be experiencing life through a screen, the importance of not limiting yourself based on what others think you should and shouldn’t be doing, cultivating a mindset that life is an adventure and bad days will happen, how he misses his Gossip Girl character and would jump at the opportunity to step into his shoes again, and the moment when he recently broke the internet by revisiting the old stomping grounds of the beloved character of Chuck Bass.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, guys, welcome to I have never said this before
with me Tommy di Dario. Today's guest is the brilliantly
talented Ed Westwick. Now you may know Ed from his
breakout role of Chuck Bass in the pop culture phenomenon
known as gossip Girl. You know you love me xoxo
gossip Girl. Yeah, I had to do it just once. Okay,
(00:24):
I'm mortified, moving on. The show is based off the
tremendously popular book series which catapulted ed into international stardom.
Now Ed and I we are around the same age,
so I grew up watching the show and loving every
single second of it. It really was iconic, and because
of streaming, younger generations are falling in love with the
(00:44):
series as well, which I know for Ed is pretty
cool to see. Ed has gone on to play so
many other incredible characters in film and TV. But out
now is his new movie Dark Game. He plays a
determined detective who was in a race against time to
stop a twisted game show on the dark Web where
captives are forced to compete for their lives. Yeah, the
(01:07):
movie is gonna have you at the edge of your seats.
It is so well done. It's everything the more that
you want in a suspenseful, thrilling, semi horror type of film.
And today we dive into the movie. We're gonna revisit
his old friend Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl, of course,
and we even get a little philosophical. So let's see
(01:27):
if today we can get Ed to say something that
he has never said before. Ed Westwickman, Man, how you
doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Tell me?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm doing so good. It's great to be with you, man.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I'm so psyched to have you. We have so much
to talk about. You have a lot going on right now.
But before we jump into your brand new movie, I
gotta say, I feel like you just set the Internet
on fire and you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Do you have any idea what I'm referring to.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I'm going to take a wild guess here. He's talking
about my engagement.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Okay, good guess, and that could be wrong, but that's
actually wrong?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Holy cow? Okay, no, what is it? Tell me?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You were in New York, you put up a post,
you visited the Palace Hotel, and you kind of slipped
back into your character of Chuck Bass's shoes. You knew
what you were doing with that post, didn't you?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
One hundred percent? I knew what I was doing, And
you know what it is, Tommy. The reason why I
said the engagement because it's the biggest thing in my life,
of course, but we just had so much going on
right now. It's been such great period in my life.
There's amazing stuff. I feel super blessed, super grateful with
so much support out there.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
It's really cool. But I mean, yeah, I went to
New York.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I was doing promotion for the movie we're probably going
to talk about, and I thought.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
You know what I'm here, let's go buy an older
stomping ground as it were, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So I went back over to the Palace, which was
the place where we shot the pilot opening scenes.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I had all of these flashback what's happening.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It was like it was like a scene in a
show where the character has a flashback. And I'm not
somebody in real life who actually has flashbacks, but I
swear to god, I had flashbacks like.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
It was a TV show. And the weird thing is
I had flashbacks on the TV show. So I h.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, we were there and we were like, oh my god,
we've got to take a picture. We got to, you know,
play with people in a good way and let them
know that I'm back and was thinking about these old times,
and so many good memories from New York, so many
good memories from Gossip.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
It was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And do you know what, People still watch the show,
They still talk about it. I still take pictures with
people who are fans of it. It blows my mind.
It's got a real legacy. Wow, what are things to
be involved in?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
People are crazy over that post and that was so
much fun. And we'll reflect back on that a little
bit later. But let's get into Dark Game, because man,
the movie is terrifying. It's gruesome, it has you at.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The edge of your seat.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It's horror, it's mystery, it's all the things. So what
you say yes to wanting to do this type of
a movie.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I mean, first and foremost, I'd never played a detective,
I never played a cop. I was fascinated by that character,
and I think a lot of people are, and I
think maybe it's common for actors.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It seems to be like a type of character that
we see a lot of in terms of.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
That genre, and that's understandable.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Right, because it's this very individual, specialized thing that not
a lot of people want to do and not a
lot of people want to really experience because it's heavy.
You know, you're going to see some traumatizing stuff, You're
going to be involved in probably what the worst of
society has.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
You're going to experience that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So look, as an actor, maybe it's a safe way
of experiencing that. Of course it's not really experiencing it,
but it's just interesting to get to play in that world.
I find that as a movie fan and as a
TV fan, I love these kind of things. I love
True Detective, I love Heat, I love Seven. These are
(05:05):
iconic productions for me. So I was like, I want
to play that kind of a role, you know. So
that's what drew me in. I'd worked with the producer
before he said he had this project.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We made this movie for not a lot of money.
It's always a great challenge making movies. This was a
great challenge. I feel so blessed that we put together
something that's the looks and feels as it does. And
all the feedback I'm getting on social media people that
love in the movie, which is great.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
But that's what drew me to it.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
It was the genre, the fact I had not done
anything like that, and knowing that I have an ease
of way of working with Tom the producer.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
So playing a detective live up to your expectation since
you've always wanted to step into that kind of role.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
One D plus, I just come off a movie where
I was playing a bit of a just a nice
guy who was caught up in a difficult Situation's a
survival thriller called Deep Fear, And you know, it was
just he was just a nice guy, you know. It
was a nice guy getting on with his life. This
character in Dark Game, he's flawed, not his own kind
(06:12):
of cause his family are brutally murdered, essentially, and that's
what drives him to become a detective. And then he's
caught up in this whole story that takes place in
the movie. But I was drawn to it in that regard.
I wanted to do something different, right, just come from
from this character. It was a bit lighter. Wanted to
play something darker. It's always a nice way to do
it if you have those opportunities, you know. But it
(06:35):
was great, It was great. It was really moody, and
I like doing Moody, and people like it when I
do Moody. You know, I think they like it when
I do Moody.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So you give good Moody, you give good my.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Fiance, I'll tell you I'm pretty moody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
No, I'm jo.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
We're all mood I'm a Ktsarian, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I think it's I think it's one of those things
that you're just born with.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
I'm an actor, I'm an artist.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You get it, you know, Yeah, I get it, man,
I get it well.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And what's so cool about this movie is, you know,
even if you're not the biggest horror fan or you
get freaked out easily or kind of scared, it's a
very smart film. And I think it's very relevant to
this day and age. Would you say the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Oh, one hundred percent would. I think it's got a
real sitgeist thing going on.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
You know, these crimes are.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Taking place on the dark Web, right, and we're all
kind of becoming more familiar with this thing that is
the dark Web, and it's the sinister place, and there's
nefarious activities taking place on there, you know, and it's
becoming more and more of like a household thing that
we're aware of, you know, even if we're not on it,
you know. But I think are becoming more and more
(07:43):
open to the idea that terrible things are taking place.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I mean it's sad, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I mean, I'm sure they always have, but now there's
new ways for them to happen, right, And the dark
web is probably a place where such a thing can
take place in our story.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
It's something really, really bad. It is a gruesome movie.
I mean, it's in the title dark Game. It's a
game that's pretty damn.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Dark, so, you know, not for the squeamish, but you
can always close your eyes for fifteen seconds. If you're
watching the movie with a buddy or someone you know,
they can just say, hey, close your.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Eyes for this part.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But look, it is a cat and mouse thriller. It
is a bit of mystery. It is a little bit
of horror just because of what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I mean, it's a.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Horrifying scenario to imagine yourself being in. You would never
want to be, of course not So it's all of
those things, and hopefully it's entertaining, leaves you feeling you
know something and that might not be utter joy and
happiness but you know what, sometimes it's good to be
a little bit freaked out. Maybe it'll keep you make
(08:47):
you will go and join some self defense classes or
something like that, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
And honestly too, something I kind of got out of
it is we live in the same age with especially
social media. You're scrolling and you see videos online and
you're like, wait, why is somebody recording that and not
actually like doing something to help the situation. And I
kept thinking about that as I watch this movie.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Man, there's a.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Real thing going on, isn't there, with the whole bystander
type of thing and voyeurism in a way, and maybe
a bit of cowardice as well. You know, but I
think people are automatically thinking. We see it at concerts,
right when people go to concerts, the phone is up
and they're filming straight away. And I've got to think,
(09:28):
how many times do people actually then watch those videos
unless you're posting like a couple of seconds clip or something.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
This is in my experience anyway, I'll.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Make loads of videos, put our video loads of stuff.
How much of that am I really watching back? Or
is it just sitting on my phone? So there's that mentality,
But then Also with the instances you're talking about where
people are capturing a crime, it's like it's almost become
like an involuntary thing.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
It's just, oh, I've got to get the.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Phone out, I've got to capture this because this needs
to be you know, broadcasted.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
It's a weird time, it's a fascinating time. You know.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I'm of the opinion that there's so much positivity come
out of tech, come out of social media.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
But then of course there's always a downside. But that
is life. Man. It's nothing perfect. Nothing's black and white.
There's a gray area. You know. We just got to
kind of muddle through.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You know, that's my philosophy, motivational part of the interview.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I'm so with you.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I always kind of laugh to myself because, especially on
these like inflate videos where someone acts bananas and then
they have to isolate the person because they're threatening.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I've been watching like three of them the other day.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Yeah, if they're crazy, and I'm always like, well, I
want to be the guy filming it. I'd be the
guy getting up and trying to kick some ass to
figure out the situation. I'm not promoting violence. I'm just
kidding but like I would need to get involved in
the situation. I wouldn't want to sit there filming it
on my phone. So it's just such a crazy concept
to me.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
You know, I think, and I always want to well,
you know, I'm like you, I'm like, yes, there would
be a line that is crossed where you're like, hang
on a minute, we need to do so thing. But
there's also then there's the empathetic thing that comes in
where I'm like.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
What's going on with that person? You know?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
And I think we live in a day and age
as well, it's always been there, but where some people
are at breaking point for whatever reasons, whether it's cost
of living, whether it's you know, a mental health stuff
from social media or from work or whatever, and you
never know what's going on with somebody, and.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That's a difficult thing to navigate.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
We're navigating ourselves, but we've got to navigate what other
people are going through as well.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And it's it's.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Hard, man, you know, none of this there's no real
manual for living in such a fast pace advancing world
in life. You know, It's it's crazy, but hey man,
we all just got to try and do our best, right,
I think.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
You and I are solving the world's biggest problems today
right here, right now.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I think if we think we're solving it, I think
we need to tone down the arrogance.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Maybe the I think we've got the solution, right.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
We are the problem. We are the problem at.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Least, do you know what, dude?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
At least we're being I think we just say at
least we're aware and we're talking about it, you know,
And I think there's something in that for sure. So,
but hopefully I like to think of myself as a solution.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
To so this film, you know, it's escape is in,
it's dark, it's it's all those things we talked about.
How do you not get sucked into that world of darkness?
Is it very hard for you to separate art from
(12:39):
real life when you're in it? Or you're really good
at kind of comparimentalizing it.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I mean, look, it's part of me that enjoys that.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I'm not going to lie to you because I think
that I I'm able to know in my core that
it's not real, but I'm also able to exist within
the mindset for a temporary time, and I know that
it's temporary. So that might be me just being on
(13:07):
set obviously when you're kind of want to be in
the movie for it, maybe taking it back to the
hotel with me and staying in that mindset a little bit.
I was away from home. I was in a hotel
that was pretty dark, and I was isolated. You know,
I didn't see people.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
After work.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I went back, I ate my food, I looked at
my lines for the next day, I went to bed.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
That's what I did.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I did that for like a month, and so
that's isolating and your mind becomes the only person talking to.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
You a lot of the time.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
And so I stayed in the character because he is
a very isolated individual although he has this he has
his girl and she's pregnant, and that's a very interesting,
you know, set up for us in the movie because
it represents this, this other side what he has on
the line. It's an opportunity for us to show more
tender moments with the character.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
But you know, he is in his own world.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
He's holding on to so much, you know, and I
try to demonstrate that with the you know, there's a
bit of there's a hint towards his drinking, and there's
also a hint towards his use of nicotine pouches.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
You know, it's just.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Subtle because I don't ever want to overplay it. But
these are things that I thought that I just add in.
So for me, I like to kind of stay in
there as much as I feel the need to. I
think as an actor, you need to do whatever you
need to do in order to feel comfortable and that
you're believing what you're talking about, you know, because if
(14:35):
you don't believe it, if you don't feel relaxed with it,
then the camera's not going to pick it up. That
camera's going to pick up the falsity of it, you know.
So that's what I try to do. You know, I'm
sure there's times that you know, you can't be like
we said at the side, you can't be one hundred
percent perfect in whatever you do all the time or whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
So you just try your best.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But that's a kind of a mentality or a guidingline
that I like to try and stick to.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Are you the type of person when you're working on
something like this you kind of take a step back
from friendships and real relationships in your life. You kind
of go a little mia or you live your life
as normally as you can.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I remember, you know, Amy, my fiance, and I had
been together about five months when we shot this movie,
and so I was brand new, wildly in love and
I'm still wildly in love. But it was that first
chapter of our relationship and I didn't like being I
still don't like not being with her.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
But like I didn't, you know, I wanted to be
around her. I wanted to know what's going on. So
I was.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I was talking to her, you know, in between breaks
and stuff like that, when I.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Felt like out of my work mode. So I wasn't
entirely MIA.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
But but yeah, I think it's it's each project is different,
each character is different, Each thing requires a different approach,
you know. In terms of my experience and training, you know,
I come from the UK. There's a lot of fantastic,
really traditional drop schools here.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I didn't go to one.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I picked up a lot of my lessons on set
early on in my career.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I started working when I was seventeen years old. I
got very lucky. I continue to be lucky to this day.
You know. I think that's what a big part of
this industry is.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And so, you know, I find myself not with this
kind of three years of traditional acting training like you
get at university, because that's what it is here. You
can get a degree in acting or drama or whatever,
and so there's no textbook for me. I'm just kind
of figuring it out using instincts, using life experience, using
(16:40):
technique that I've built up on sets. And Gossip Girl
for me, was an education but in life, like in
a live scenario, because we did so many episodes day in,
day out, and you were able to kind of work
on things and just home techniques and home practices and
home that American accent. Although I haven't done it in
a while now, so I don't know how good it'll be,
(17:02):
but but.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, it's all of those things.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
That's cool, man.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And I like your story because there's not one path
to achieving great success. And I think people always think, oh,
to do X, Y and Z, you have to follow
a very strict guideline of how to get there, and
that's just not the case. If you put in the
work and you bust your ass like you do, look
where you can end up.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
I just think there are no rules anymore, man, There
are no rules. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I've got a band, right now and for the longest time,
I wanted to do music and I thought, ah, you
can't be music or an actor.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I don't do it. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
I pigeonholed myself, you know, pigeonholed myself even though there
were people doing it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It was just this weird thing I got in my mind.
And this was in my early twenties, right.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I had a band when I was a kid, just
for fun, like with my mates growing up.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Then I moved to New York and was doing this
thing and like the thought, oh, I can't do music,
and then I wanted to be in a band, but
I just felt this, I put a ceiling on myself.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
It was the weirdest thing. And then more recently, I'm like,
I'm going to do whatever I want to do. I'm
going to do it everything. I always wanted to record
an album.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I had these wonderfully talented musicians that came into my
life through mutual friends. We put together this thing. We
recorded an album. We're going to release that album. I've
got other interests in some cool like startup projects, et cetera,
et cetera. This is the age where there are no
rules in terms of constraints in terms of your path
to success.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Go for it. You know, anything can happen, man, anything.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Can happen, and especially as an artist, all of that
enriches your life to be able to deliver these amazing
characters because you're living you're actually living your life.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Right one hundred percent. I couldn't agree with you that more.
That's a great point, Like everything is creation. If you're
creating a business, if you're creating an approach and a negotiation.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
In that business, you're creating a product, if.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
You're creating a relationship with someone that you want to
get married to, if you're creating a character. For everything
is creation. This whole universe is based on creation, you know.
So it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
You strike me as someone who is very much an optimist.
From chatting with you up until this point. You know,
you've seem to love the work you do. You said
you've been doing it since you were seventeen. You're still
doing it, you're pursuing other passions. Do you often have
bad days in your work because I think people often assume, oh,
he's got it made, he's a Hollywood actor, he's killing it,
(19:26):
like the world is his oyster. But do you have
bad days and how do you kind of want to
juggle that?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Oh my god, dude.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So I have done probably five thousand auditions in my life,
and you have seen the work I've done. Well, you know,
there's you can look up the work I've got. So
that means I did not get tons of those jobs.
It's we're very well known. There is so much rejection
in this acting business. So those are bad days when
(19:52):
you've tried putting a lot of efforts to make an
audition tape and you don't get the job, or when
you have in a shitty day and you don't in
a lot of effort and you don't get the job,
And then you're like, why did I not put in
more effort that day? What was going on with me?
Why am I feeling demotivated today? So, of course, you know,
right now I feel great. I had a great night's sleep,
i had a great workout. I'm pumped for this interview.
(20:14):
It's wonderful. So everything's good. But yeah, of course I
have bad days. You know, I lost both my parents
to cancer eleven years ago, one a year and a
half ago. These are terrible things, These are difficult things,
and I've dealt with them differently because I was at
different points in my life. You know, I used to
party too much.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Now I don't party at all.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
You know, It's like it's one of those things and
that helps with feeling good, you know, because you're not
messing yourself up.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
So it's one of those things, man. I mean, life
is a continuous work in progress. But of course, man,
I have stressful moments. I have overwhelming moments.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I have anxious moments, and I have moments where I
just don't feel great. But I get back in the game,
and you know, and I think, now, what I'm more
aware of than ever is that, look, we're on a
not a roller coaster, but we're on there's waves. Man,
there's waves, you know, and you're gonna have good times
and some bad times. And ultimately, I think, especially in
(21:13):
my in my kind of career, and I mean the
acting and all the other stuff, it's about kyd of
catching a bus. You might sit around and you've got
to wait for the bus. You catch the bus, you
get on that bus.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
But sometimes you're.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Waiting around for a while, and it could be pretty
boring in the bus stop, you know, it could be
quiet you could be the only person there. But yeah,
it's it's just life. Life is amazing. But I think
if what I've worked to do is cultivate a mentality
that it's an adventure, and when I embrace that, things
should turn out.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Okay, they've been pretty good so far. Let's carry on.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah, you put one foot in front of the other.
That's that's the only way to do it, in my opinion.
And I like that people like you share that with
the world and interviews like this, because it's very easy
to get caught up in your own ship cycle and
think life sucks sometimes and then you just have to
have that ground and grounding again.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
So I love that mentality so much.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
You mentioned Chuck Vass at the beginning of this interview.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I brought him up too.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I get the sense that you kind of miss him,
but you slipping into his shoes from time to time.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I do. Do you know what, here's my whole mentality
on it. I'll track my thoughts for you.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
I was nineteen when I started Gossip Golf finished when
I was twenty five and thirty six now, and what
happened was this we were thrust.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
It into this show. You know, I chose to put
myself in it. I got the part. It was great,
and then it exploded and it was amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
And we were in New York and I was young,
and I had money and I had fame, and it
was wow, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And I had also people telling me, oh my god,
you're doing such a great job. You're doing a great job.
You'll killing it. Oh yeah, thanks, yeah, yeah, all right,
I am great. And you know, you.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Develop a little bit of ego around that. You're moving quick.
And it was New York. We were partying hard, we
were having fun, we were working hard.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It was a good time.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
And then the show ends and a sense of your
identity kind of is put into question because you have
identified with this show, this character, this lifestyle so much.
And I moved out to LA and I'm just like, huh,
what's going on? Because I felt LA was the natural progression.
Then my dad died, which obviously I was twenty six.
(23:27):
It was crazy. It was very difficult to deal with,
and they went through this period of not feeling great,
you know, and then kind of coming out of that
in my early thirties for about thirty and just continuing
to evolve and to grow and become a very positive person,
I guess in general. And then I was able to
(23:49):
have hindsight and reflect on this amazing period and this show.
And the one of the reasons for that is because
I was constantly reminded of it because so many people
love it, and.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I thought, this is incredible. This has been years now
we're talking about this. This is what? Wow? What is this?
And it is somewhat of Promena And because of streaming
and all of these things that have conspired in order
for this to take place. The invention of streaming means
the show can live on this platform.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
The invention of social media means that this thing can
be talked about in this commentary on it, and people
communicated the message past say have you seen this?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Have you seen this?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
So all of this stuff happens. That means that this
stuff can happen. And I just reflected on it. I
was like, huh wow, because in the beginning I was
a little bit like, oh, I'm done with it.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
You know, I want to move on Like.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
I was young, you know, you want to feel like
there's more to life, there's more you want to get
on with. But now I just I'm so fascinated by
what that show achieves. I'm so fascinated by the impact
it's had. And then, of course, naturally, because I am
you know, storytelling is a I said, part of my
(25:02):
life and my existence, and because I know the fans
have such an.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Enjoyment for it, of course I think, hey, could there
be more?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Now there's not going to be more, there's no spoiler
alert there.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
I would love to have done something. Unfortunately that's not
on the cards. I've been told, which is fine.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
But you know what, I think, what we've discovered, and
what I've discovered in my career is that people probably
mostly enjoy me playing certain types of characters, and I'm
not forgiving them more of those types of characters if
I get given the opportunity.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
It's so cool because I'm thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I grew up with the show and watched it, and
at that time, I felt like I was watching a
lot of shocking never before seeing things on television, and
I couldn't believe it, and it was like, oh my god,
I can't believe a show is showing.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And now it's so cool because like you said, there's
all new generations twelve thirteen, fourteen year old watching it,
and I'm so curious in this day and age when
so much more is on TV, so much racy things
and topics that weren't really talked about, Like how how
it still captivates them is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
I think, Look, I haven't seen Euphoria, but from what
I've heard, some of the storylines were pretty extreme. And
I think there's a line again with people like, you
know that old thing your mum used to say to
you when you'd watched something violent, and like you can
(26:31):
talk about it with like porn for example, Like people
were like, don't look at certain things. It will it
kind of messes you up, or it's like too much
or you know. And so I think the majority of
people maybe don't want the most extreme storyline in the
history of mankind on their TV show. They just want
(26:52):
to be entertained in an intelligent way that's fine and witty,
and Escape is a bit and doesn't have to kind
of really make them feel a little bit dare I
say dirty? So Gossip Girl at the time was edgy,
but now because of other stuff that's out there, it's
not edgy, but.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
It resonates probably because.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Of its other assets, which are, hey, it was witty, Hey,
the great fashion. Hey, they had characters that you could
relate to because maybe they weren't doing like super super
crazy stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
You know, maybe it's just a little bit more. You know.
It was warm instead of burning hot, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And people loved the love stories.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
I mean a million people have written that your love
story with Blair Waldorf, of course in the show, is
one of the greatest love stories in any television series
in the world. I mean, when you hear things like that,
that must feel pretty damn good.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
It feels amazing. You know that again, you were part
of this thing.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But that's testimony to the writers, you know, and late
in the night doing our thing. But we had great writers,
you know, we had great editors, We had great music supervised.
Is that put a whole package together with kick ass music,
you know, that makes as anyone knows.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
If you've ever watched a movie.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Which not a lot of people have unless you're in
the business, you probably have of course, with no score
on it, with no music.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
It's like what am I watching?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah, Then you put that stuff together with the music
and it comes alive and you get the chills and
it's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
That's what it's about. That's the full package.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That's why it's about a big team that goes into
making these productions. That's why there's so many names at
the end of a movie or a show, you know,
because a lot of people involve.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Well, I think it's cool that you'll always hold that
special place in your heart for that role and for
that show. Because I talk to a lot of people who,
you know, don't necessarily feel the same way about past projects,
and I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I don't always quite get it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I get wanting to move on and expand your arrange
and do different things, but to kind of almost act
like something didn't exist, I'm always like, huh, it's.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
The weirdest thing in the wild man, because like, look,
in all honesty, like I still make a living off
a gossip girl, you know, so why would I hate
something that still helps me pay my bills aid? And
then like it's still I'm still essentially working on it, do.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
You know what I mean? It's ongoing.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
And then something that's brought so many people like joy,
like hello, you were involved in something really positive here,
Like what are you talking about? You know, I get
it with actors, like they don't want to be known
for one thing or like, but you know when I
mean at least anybody who knows you for anything. Man,
it's like that old Sinatra thing, like I'm going to
butcher the quote, but it's like about, well, look, they
(29:35):
could be yelling at you instead of applauding you or
like whatever it is. You know, if you've done anything
that people have seen, you've been lucky to give that opportunity.
Try and be grateful for it. But who knows. Some
people have a really bad time as an actor on
a show.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I didn't. I had a great time.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
I know, life happens and you can't keep in touch
with everyone. But is it kind of like the gangs
back together when you all see each other or check in.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I'm going to see Chase Brawford on March the thirtieth
in Paris, France.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
We're doing a convention together.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
And we did one in North Carolina about two years
ago and I hadn't seen him in ages and it
was just like the last day on set, you know.
But he'll always if I love those guys, they'll always
have a very very special place in my heart, and
of course time has passed. Of course we've all moved on.
It's gonna be great to see him, and it's gonna
(30:28):
be good.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I'm going to say it again because it keeps coming
to mind throughout this interview. I just so love your
grounding and your gratitude for everything you've accomplished, where you've
been and where you're going. It's refreshing to hear. And
I think that that's probably why you're someone who.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Is continuing to achieve so much.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Success as you're really seemingly I mean, what do I know,
but you seem to be very in touch with yourself
and in the life that you want, in the life
you've created.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I think that's really cool.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Well, dude, do.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You know what, man, it's a pretty I actually put
a dark thought into the mix up. One day there
won't be a day. One day everything will be gone.
It will all be gone. And these legacies that men
try or women or whoever try to hold on to,
these fights and these spats and this bitterness and this
(31:13):
suing each other or.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Whatever it is that we all get caught up.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
In, none of it will matter, And you have to
ultimately say what is the point.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
What is my point? You know, what is the point
in me actually being here?
Speaker 3 (31:26):
And mine is to try and be happy, man, because
that's when everything good happens for me, everything good happens
for those around me, and there's no point in really
wasting your time in the other direction.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
It's a difficult notion.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
A lot of people don't want to think about the
end of humanity, the end of this planet. But you know,
if we believe in science, which I do, that day
is coming. I mean, it's going to come a long way,
thank god, you know, but it's a reality, and it
just kind of frames the fact that, look, man, it's
all impermanent, and stop taking everything so seriously, the good
and the bad.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Don't take it so seriously.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
And I know that's sometimes easier said than done because
we have emotional people when we get attached to things.
But if you could just try and have a little
bit of perspective. And I'm not this guy all.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
The time, and I'm not sounding pre chy, probably i am,
but I don't mean to.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Hopefully if that my mentality can kind of set you
a bit free and you can chill. But I did
have a great night sleep and I did have a
workout today, so I've done some good things that make
me make me feel good.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And it's funny because I usually end these conversations in
my show with a question based off the title, which
what is one thing you've never said before? But I
feel like you kind of just answer that like that
felt like a great answer unless you have something else
for me. But I feel like you've been so open
during the whole conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
I mean, the only other thing to say is that
I know pretty much every lyric to every song to
Parc wrote so and I've never said that before. I've
never openly admitted it, but.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
There every so you would go on record and say every.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Lyric, I said nearly every lik nearly okay.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Every song, nearly every song, nearly every song.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
There's some songs I know every lyric too, you know,
but I've never really spoken about my love affair with
the two puts your openly so my metaphorical love affair,
of course.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Thank you for clarifying.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, that's awesome, well cool, unexpected, but I love that
I'm here for it.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
That's super fun.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Ed.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I could talk to you for hours. This has been
such a good time.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Remind everybody where we can watch your new movie and
check it out.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Thank you, Tomy. So Dark Game is out now.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
It is available on all demand platforms, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Voodoo,
all of those, Fandango great, it's all of them.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
It's ready to go, awesome, rock on, go watch the movie, guys.
It's so much fun and I'm going to look forward
to continuing to follow your career. I love the work
you do and after chatting with you, you're You're an
awesome guy and it's really been nice to get to
know you more.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Tommy, great to be you can read you man. Thanks
for your time.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me Tommy Dederio.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Piblisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(34:27):
tell your friends. Until next time. I'm Tommy Dederio
Hey, guys, welcome to I have never said this before
with me Tommy di Dario. Today's guest is the brilliantly
talented Ed Westwick. Now you may know Ed from his
breakout role of Chuck Bass in the pop culture phenomenon
known as gossip Girl. You know you love me xoxo
gossip Girl. Yeah, I had to do it just once. Okay,
(00:24):
I'm mortified, moving on. The show is based off the
tremendously popular book series which catapulted ed into international stardom.
Now Ed and I we are around the same age,
so I grew up watching the show and loving every
single second of it. It really was iconic, and because
of streaming, younger generations are falling in love with the
(00:44):
series as well, which I know for Ed is pretty
cool to see. Ed has gone on to play so
many other incredible characters in film and TV. But out
now is his new movie Dark Game. He plays a
determined detective who was in a race against time to
stop a twisted game show on the dark Web where
captives are forced to compete for their lives. Yeah, the
(01:07):
movie is gonna have you at the edge of your seats.
It is so well done. It's everything the more that
you want in a suspenseful, thrilling, semi horror type of film.
And today we dive into the movie. We're gonna revisit
his old friend Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl, of course,
and we even get a little philosophical. So let's see
(01:27):
if today we can get Ed to say something that
he has never said before. Ed Westwickman, Man, how you
doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Tell me?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm doing so good. It's great to be with you, man.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I'm so psyched to have you. We have so much
to talk about. You have a lot going on right now.
But before we jump into your brand new movie, I
gotta say, I feel like you just set the Internet
on fire and you knew what you were doing.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Do you have any idea what I'm referring to.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I'm going to take a wild guess here. He's talking
about my engagement.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Okay, good guess, and that could be wrong, but that's
actually wrong?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Holy cow? Okay, no, what is it? Tell me?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
You were in New York, you put up a post,
you visited the Palace Hotel, and you kind of slipped
back into your character of Chuck Bass's shoes. You knew
what you were doing with that post, didn't you?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
One hundred percent? I knew what I was doing, And
you know what it is, Tommy. The reason why I
said the engagement because it's the biggest thing in my life,
of course, but we just had so much going on
right now. It's been such great period in my life.
There's amazing stuff. I feel super blessed, super grateful with
so much support out there.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
It's really cool. But I mean, yeah, I went to
New York.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I was doing promotion for the movie we're probably going
to talk about, and I thought.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
You know what I'm here, let's go buy an older
stomping ground as it were, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So I went back over to the Palace, which was
the place where we shot the pilot opening scenes.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I had all of these flashback what's happening.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It was like it was like a scene in a
show where the character has a flashback. And I'm not
somebody in real life who actually has flashbacks, but I
swear to god, I had flashbacks like.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
It was a TV show. And the weird thing is
I had flashbacks on the TV show. So I h.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, we were there and we were like, oh my god,
we've got to take a picture. We got to, you know,
play with people in a good way and let them
know that I'm back and was thinking about these old times,
and so many good memories from New York, so many
good memories from Gossip.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
It was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And do you know what, People still watch the show,
They still talk about it. I still take pictures with
people who are fans of it. It blows my mind.
It's got a real legacy. Wow, what are things to
be involved in?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
People are crazy over that post and that was so
much fun. And we'll reflect back on that a little
bit later. But let's get into Dark Game, because man,
the movie is terrifying. It's gruesome, it has you at.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The edge of your seat.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
It's horror, it's mystery, it's all the things. So what
you say yes to wanting to do this type of
a movie.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I mean, first and foremost, I'd never played a detective,
I never played a cop. I was fascinated by that character,
and I think a lot of people are, and I
think maybe it's common for actors.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It seems to be like a type of character that
we see a lot of in terms of.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
That genre, and that's understandable.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Right, because it's this very individual, specialized thing that not
a lot of people want to do and not a
lot of people want to really experience because it's heavy.
You know, you're going to see some traumatizing stuff, You're
going to be involved in probably what the worst of
society has.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
You're going to experience that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So look, as an actor, maybe it's a safe way
of experiencing that. Of course it's not really experiencing it,
but it's just interesting to get to play in that world.
I find that as a movie fan and as a
TV fan, I love these kind of things. I love
True Detective, I love Heat, I love Seven. These are
(05:05):
iconic productions for me. So I was like, I want
to play that kind of a role, you know. So
that's what drew me in. I'd worked with the producer
before he said he had this project.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
We made this movie for not a lot of money.
It's always a great challenge making movies. This was a
great challenge. I feel so blessed that we put together
something that's the looks and feels as it does. And
all the feedback I'm getting on social media people that
love in the movie, which is great.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
But that's what drew me to it.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
It was the genre, the fact I had not done
anything like that, and knowing that I have an ease
of way of working with Tom the producer.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
So playing a detective live up to your expectation since
you've always wanted to step into that kind of role.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
One D plus, I just come off a movie where
I was playing a bit of a just a nice
guy who was caught up in a difficult Situation's a
survival thriller called Deep Fear, And you know, it was
just he was just a nice guy, you know. It
was a nice guy getting on with his life. This
character in Dark Game, he's flawed, not his own kind
(06:12):
of cause his family are brutally murdered, essentially, and that's
what drives him to become a detective. And then he's
caught up in this whole story that takes place in
the movie. But I was drawn to it in that regard.
I wanted to do something different, right, just come from
from this character. It was a bit lighter. Wanted to
play something darker. It's always a nice way to do
it if you have those opportunities, you know. But it
(06:35):
was great, It was great. It was really moody, and
I like doing Moody, and people like it when I
do Moody. You know, I think they like it when
I do Moody.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So you give good Moody, you give good my.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Fiance, I'll tell you I'm pretty moody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
No, I'm jo.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
We're all mood I'm a Ktsarian, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I think it's I think it's one of those things
that you're just born with.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
I'm an actor, I'm an artist.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You get it, you know, Yeah, I get it, man,
I get it well.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And what's so cool about this movie is, you know,
even if you're not the biggest horror fan or you
get freaked out easily or kind of scared, it's a
very smart film. And I think it's very relevant to
this day and age. Would you say the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Oh, one hundred percent would. I think it's got a
real sitgeist thing going on.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
You know, these crimes are.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Taking place on the dark Web, right, and we're all
kind of becoming more familiar with this thing that is
the dark Web, and it's the sinister place, and there's
nefarious activities taking place on there, you know, and it's
becoming more and more of like a household thing that
we're aware of, you know, even if we're not on it,
you know. But I think are becoming more and more
(07:43):
open to the idea that terrible things are taking place.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I mean it's sad, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I mean, I'm sure they always have, but now there's
new ways for them to happen, right, And the dark
web is probably a place where such a thing can
take place in our story.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
It's something really, really bad. It is a gruesome movie.
I mean, it's in the title dark Game. It's a
game that's pretty damn.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Dark, so, you know, not for the squeamish, but you
can always close your eyes for fifteen seconds. If you're
watching the movie with a buddy or someone you know,
they can just say, hey, close your.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Eyes for this part.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But look, it is a cat and mouse thriller. It
is a bit of mystery. It is a little bit
of horror just because of what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
I mean, it's a.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Horrifying scenario to imagine yourself being in. You would never
want to be, of course not So it's all of
those things, and hopefully it's entertaining, leaves you feeling you
know something and that might not be utter joy and
happiness but you know what, sometimes it's good to be
a little bit freaked out. Maybe it'll keep you make
(08:47):
you will go and join some self defense classes or
something like that, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
And honestly too, something I kind of got out of
it is we live in the same age with especially
social media. You're scrolling and you see videos online and
you're like, wait, why is somebody recording that and not
actually like doing something to help the situation. And I
kept thinking about that as I watch this movie.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Man, there's a.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Real thing going on, isn't there, with the whole bystander
type of thing and voyeurism in a way, and maybe
a bit of cowardice as well. You know, but I
think people are automatically thinking. We see it at concerts,
right when people go to concerts, the phone is up
and they're filming straight away. And I've got to think,
(09:28):
how many times do people actually then watch those videos
unless you're posting like a couple of seconds clip or something.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
This is in my experience anyway, I'll.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Make loads of videos, put our video loads of stuff.
How much of that am I really watching back? Or
is it just sitting on my phone? So there's that mentality,
But then Also with the instances you're talking about where
people are capturing a crime, it's like it's almost become
like an involuntary thing.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
It's just, oh, I've got to get the.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Phone out, I've got to capture this because this needs
to be you know, broadcasted.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
It's a weird time, it's a fascinating time. You know.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I'm of the opinion that there's so much positivity come
out of tech, come out of social media.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
But then of course there's always a downside. But that
is life. Man. It's nothing perfect. Nothing's black and white.
There's a gray area. You know. We just got to
kind of muddle through.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You know, that's my philosophy, motivational part of the interview.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I'm so with you.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I always kind of laugh to myself because, especially on
these like inflate videos where someone acts bananas and then
they have to isolate the person because they're threatening.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I've been watching like three of them the other day.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Yeah, if they're crazy, and I'm always like, well, I
want to be the guy filming it. I'd be the
guy getting up and trying to kick some ass to
figure out the situation. I'm not promoting violence. I'm just
kidding but like I would need to get involved in
the situation. I wouldn't want to sit there filming it
on my phone. So it's just such a crazy concept
to me.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
You know, I think, and I always want to well,
you know, I'm like you, I'm like, yes, there would
be a line that is crossed where you're like, hang
on a minute, we need to do so thing. But
there's also then there's the empathetic thing that comes in
where I'm like.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
What's going on with that person? You know?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
And I think we live in a day and age
as well, it's always been there, but where some people
are at breaking point for whatever reasons, whether it's cost
of living, whether it's you know, a mental health stuff
from social media or from work or whatever, and you
never know what's going on with somebody, and.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That's a difficult thing to navigate.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
We're navigating ourselves, but we've got to navigate what other
people are going through as well.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And it's it's.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Hard, man, you know, none of this there's no real
manual for living in such a fast pace advancing world
in life. You know, It's it's crazy, but hey man,
we all just got to try and do our best, right,
I think.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
You and I are solving the world's biggest problems today
right here, right now.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I think if we think we're solving it, I think
we need to tone down the arrogance.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Maybe the I think we've got the solution, right.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
We are the problem. We are the problem at.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Least, do you know what, dude?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
At least we're being I think we just say at
least we're aware and we're talking about it, you know,
And I think there's something in that for sure. So,
but hopefully I like to think of myself as a solution.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
To so this film, you know, it's escape is in,
it's dark, it's it's all those things we talked about.
How do you not get sucked into that world of darkness?
Is it very hard for you to separate art from
(12:39):
real life when you're in it? Or you're really good
at kind of comparimentalizing it.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I mean, look, it's part of me that enjoys that.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I'm not going to lie to you because I think
that I I'm able to know in my core that
it's not real, but I'm also able to exist within
the mindset for a temporary time, and I know that
it's temporary. So that might be me just being on
(13:07):
set obviously when you're kind of want to be in
the movie for it, maybe taking it back to the
hotel with me and staying in that mindset a little bit.
I was away from home. I was in a hotel
that was pretty dark, and I was isolated. You know,
I didn't see people.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
After work.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I went back, I ate my food, I looked at
my lines for the next day, I went to bed.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
That's what I did.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I did that for like a month, and so
that's isolating and your mind becomes the only person talking to.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
You a lot of the time.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
And so I stayed in the character because he is
a very isolated individual although he has this he has
his girl and she's pregnant, and that's a very interesting,
you know, set up for us in the movie because
it represents this, this other side what he has on
the line. It's an opportunity for us to show more
tender moments with the character.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
But you know, he is in his own world.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
He's holding on to so much, you know, and I
try to demonstrate that with the you know, there's a
bit of there's a hint towards his drinking, and there's
also a hint towards his use of nicotine pouches.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
You know, it's just.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Subtle because I don't ever want to overplay it. But
these are things that I thought that I just add in.
So for me, I like to kind of stay in
there as much as I feel the need to. I
think as an actor, you need to do whatever you
need to do in order to feel comfortable and that
you're believing what you're talking about, you know, because if
(14:35):
you don't believe it, if you don't feel relaxed with it,
then the camera's not going to pick it up. That
camera's going to pick up the falsity of it, you know.
So that's what I try to do. You know, I'm
sure there's times that you know, you can't be like
we said at the side, you can't be one hundred
percent perfect in whatever you do all the time or whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
So you just try your best.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
But that's a kind of a mentality or a guidingline
that I like to try and stick to.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Are you the type of person when you're working on
something like this you kind of take a step back
from friendships and real relationships in your life. You kind
of go a little mia or you live your life
as normally as you can.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I remember, you know, Amy, my fiance, and I had
been together about five months when we shot this movie,
and so I was brand new, wildly in love and
I'm still wildly in love. But it was that first
chapter of our relationship and I didn't like being I
still don't like not being with her.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
But like I didn't, you know, I wanted to be
around her. I wanted to know what's going on. So
I was.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I was talking to her, you know, in between breaks
and stuff like that, when I.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Felt like out of my work mode. So I wasn't
entirely MIA.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
But but yeah, I think it's it's each project is different,
each character is different, Each thing requires a different approach,
you know. In terms of my experience and training, you know,
I come from the UK. There's a lot of fantastic,
really traditional drop schools here.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I didn't go to one.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I picked up a lot of my lessons on set
early on in my career.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
I started working when I was seventeen years old. I
got very lucky. I continue to be lucky to this day.
You know. I think that's what a big part of
this industry is.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And so, you know, I find myself not with this
kind of three years of traditional acting training like you
get at university, because that's what it is here. You
can get a degree in acting or drama or whatever,
and so there's no textbook for me. I'm just kind
of figuring it out using instincts, using life experience, using
(16:40):
technique that I've built up on sets. And Gossip Girl
for me, was an education but in life, like in
a live scenario, because we did so many episodes day in,
day out, and you were able to kind of work
on things and just home techniques and home practices and
home that American accent. Although I haven't done it in
a while now, so I don't know how good it'll be,
(17:02):
but but.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, it's all of those things.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
That's cool, man.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And I like your story because there's not one path
to achieving great success. And I think people always think, oh,
to do X, Y and Z, you have to follow
a very strict guideline of how to get there, and
that's just not the case. If you put in the
work and you bust your ass like you do, look
where you can end up.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
I just think there are no rules anymore, man, There
are no rules. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I've got a band, right now and for the longest time,
I wanted to do music and I thought, ah, you
can't be music or an actor.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I don't do it. You know.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
I pigeonholed myself, you know, pigeonholed myself even though there
were people doing it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It was just this weird thing I got in my mind.
And this was in my early twenties, right.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I had a band when I was a kid, just
for fun, like with my mates growing up.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Then I moved to New York and was doing this
thing and like the thought, oh, I can't do music,
and then I wanted to be in a band, but
I just felt this, I put a ceiling on myself.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
It was the weirdest thing. And then more recently, I'm like,
I'm going to do whatever I want to do. I'm
going to do it everything. I always wanted to record
an album.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I had these wonderfully talented musicians that came into my
life through mutual friends. We put together this thing. We
recorded an album. We're going to release that album. I've
got other interests in some cool like startup projects, et cetera,
et cetera. This is the age where there are no
rules in terms of constraints in terms of your path
to success.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Go for it. You know, anything can happen, man, anything.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Can happen, and especially as an artist, all of that
enriches your life to be able to deliver these amazing
characters because you're living you're actually living your life.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Right one hundred percent. I couldn't agree with you that more.
That's a great point, Like everything is creation. If you're
creating a business, if you're creating an approach and a negotiation.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
In that business, you're creating a product, if.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
You're creating a relationship with someone that you want to
get married to, if you're creating a character. For everything
is creation. This whole universe is based on creation, you know.
So it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
You strike me as someone who is very much an optimist.
From chatting with you up until this point. You know,
you've seem to love the work you do. You said
you've been doing it since you were seventeen. You're still
doing it, you're pursuing other passions. Do you often have
bad days in your work because I think people often assume, oh,
he's got it made, he's a Hollywood actor, he's killing it,
(19:26):
like the world is his oyster. But do you have
bad days and how do you kind of want to
juggle that?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Oh my god, dude.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So I have done probably five thousand auditions in my life,
and you have seen the work I've done. Well, you know,
there's you can look up the work I've got. So
that means I did not get tons of those jobs.
It's we're very well known. There is so much rejection
in this acting business. So those are bad days when
(19:52):
you've tried putting a lot of efforts to make an
audition tape and you don't get the job, or when
you have in a shitty day and you don't in
a lot of effort and you don't get the job,
And then you're like, why did I not put in
more effort that day? What was going on with me?
Why am I feeling demotivated today? So, of course, you know,
right now I feel great. I had a great night's sleep,
i had a great workout. I'm pumped for this interview.
(20:14):
It's wonderful. So everything's good. But yeah, of course I
have bad days. You know, I lost both my parents
to cancer eleven years ago, one a year and a
half ago. These are terrible things, These are difficult things,
and I've dealt with them differently because I was at
different points in my life. You know, I used to
party too much.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Now I don't party at all.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
You know, It's like it's one of those things and
that helps with feeling good, you know, because you're not
messing yourself up.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
So it's one of those things, man. I mean, life
is a continuous work in progress. But of course, man,
I have stressful moments. I have overwhelming moments.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I have anxious moments, and I have moments where I
just don't feel great. But I get back in the game,
and you know, and I think, now, what I'm more
aware of than ever is that, look, we're on a
not a roller coaster, but we're on there's waves. Man,
there's waves, you know, and you're gonna have good times
and some bad times. And ultimately, I think, especially in
(21:13):
my in my kind of career, and I mean the
acting and all the other stuff, it's about kyd of
catching a bus. You might sit around and you've got
to wait for the bus. You catch the bus, you
get on that bus.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
But sometimes you're.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Waiting around for a while, and it could be pretty
boring in the bus stop, you know, it could be
quiet you could be the only person there. But yeah,
it's it's just life. Life is amazing. But I think
if what I've worked to do is cultivate a mentality
that it's an adventure, and when I embrace that, things
should turn out.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Okay, they've been pretty good so far. Let's carry on.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah, you put one foot in front of the other.
That's that's the only way to do it, in my opinion.
And I like that people like you share that with
the world and interviews like this, because it's very easy
to get caught up in your own ship cycle and
think life sucks sometimes and then you just have to
have that ground and grounding again.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
So I love that mentality so much.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
You mentioned Chuck Vass at the beginning of this interview.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I brought him up too.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I get the sense that you kind of miss him,
but you slipping into his shoes from time to time.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I do. Do you know what, here's my whole mentality
on it. I'll track my thoughts for you.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
I was nineteen when I started Gossip Golf finished when
I was twenty five and thirty six now, and what
happened was this we were thrust.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
It into this show. You know, I chose to put
myself in it. I got the part. It was great,
and then it exploded and it was amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
And we were in New York and I was young,
and I had money and I had fame, and it
was wow, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And I had also people telling me, oh my god,
you're doing such a great job. You're doing a great job.
You'll killing it. Oh yeah, thanks, yeah, yeah, all right,
I am great. And you know, you.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Develop a little bit of ego around that. You're moving quick.
And it was New York. We were partying hard, we
were having fun, we were working hard.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It was a good time.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
And then the show ends and a sense of your
identity kind of is put into question because you have
identified with this show, this character, this lifestyle so much.
And I moved out to LA and I'm just like, huh,
what's going on? Because I felt LA was the natural progression.
Then my dad died, which obviously I was twenty six.
(23:27):
It was crazy. It was very difficult to deal with,
and they went through this period of not feeling great,
you know, and then kind of coming out of that
in my early thirties for about thirty and just continuing
to evolve and to grow and become a very positive person,
I guess in general. And then I was able to
(23:49):
have hindsight and reflect on this amazing period and this show.
And the one of the reasons for that is because
I was constantly reminded of it because so many people
love it, and.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I thought, this is incredible. This has been years now
we're talking about this. This is what? Wow? What is this?
And it is somewhat of Promena And because of streaming
and all of these things that have conspired in order
for this to take place. The invention of streaming means
the show can live on this platform.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
The invention of social media means that this thing can
be talked about in this commentary on it, and people
communicated the message past say have you seen this?
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Have you seen this?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
So all of this stuff happens. That means that this
stuff can happen. And I just reflected on it. I
was like, huh wow, because in the beginning I was
a little bit like, oh, I'm done with it.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
You know, I want to move on Like.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
I was young, you know, you want to feel like
there's more to life, there's more you want to get
on with. But now I just I'm so fascinated by
what that show achieves. I'm so fascinated by the impact
it's had. And then, of course, naturally, because I am
you know, storytelling is a I said, part of my
(25:02):
life and my existence, and because I know the fans
have such an.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Enjoyment for it, of course I think, hey, could there
be more?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Now there's not going to be more, there's no spoiler
alert there.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
I would love to have done something. Unfortunately that's not
on the cards. I've been told, which is fine.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
But you know what, I think, what we've discovered, and
what I've discovered in my career is that people probably
mostly enjoy me playing certain types of characters, and I'm
not forgiving them more of those types of characters if
I get given the opportunity.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
It's so cool because I'm thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I grew up with the show and watched it, and
at that time, I felt like I was watching a
lot of shocking never before seeing things on television, and
I couldn't believe it, and it was like, oh my god,
I can't believe a show is showing.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And now it's so cool because like you said, there's
all new generations twelve thirteen, fourteen year old watching it,
and I'm so curious in this day and age when
so much more is on TV, so much racy things
and topics that weren't really talked about, Like how how
it still captivates them is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
I think, Look, I haven't seen Euphoria, but from what
I've heard, some of the storylines were pretty extreme. And
I think there's a line again with people like, you
know that old thing your mum used to say to
you when you'd watched something violent, and like you can
(26:31):
talk about it with like porn for example, Like people
were like, don't look at certain things. It will it
kind of messes you up, or it's like too much
or you know. And so I think the majority of
people maybe don't want the most extreme storyline in the
history of mankind on their TV show. They just want
(26:52):
to be entertained in an intelligent way that's fine and witty,
and Escape is a bit and doesn't have to kind
of really make them feel a little bit dare I
say dirty? So Gossip Girl at the time was edgy,
but now because of other stuff that's out there, it's
not edgy, but.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
It resonates probably because.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Of its other assets, which are, hey, it was witty, Hey,
the great fashion. Hey, they had characters that you could
relate to because maybe they weren't doing like super super
crazy stuff.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
You know, maybe it's just a little bit more. You know.
It was warm instead of burning hot, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And people loved the love stories.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
I mean a million people have written that your love
story with Blair Waldorf, of course in the show, is
one of the greatest love stories in any television series
in the world. I mean, when you hear things like that,
that must feel pretty damn good.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
It feels amazing. You know that again, you were part
of this thing.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But that's testimony to the writers, you know, and late
in the night doing our thing. But we had great writers,
you know, we had great editors, We had great music supervised.
Is that put a whole package together with kick ass music,
you know, that makes as anyone knows.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
If you've ever watched a movie.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Which not a lot of people have unless you're in
the business, you probably have of course, with no score
on it, with no music.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
It's like what am I watching?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Yeah, Then you put that stuff together with the music
and it comes alive and you get the chills and
it's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
That's what it's about. That's the full package.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That's why it's about a big team that goes into
making these productions. That's why there's so many names at
the end of a movie or a show, you know,
because a lot of people involve.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Well, I think it's cool that you'll always hold that
special place in your heart for that role and for
that show. Because I talk to a lot of people who,
you know, don't necessarily feel the same way about past projects,
and I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I don't always quite get it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I get wanting to move on and expand your arrange
and do different things, but to kind of almost act
like something didn't exist, I'm always like, huh, it's.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
The weirdest thing in the wild man, because like, look,
in all honesty, like I still make a living off
a gossip girl, you know, so why would I hate
something that still helps me pay my bills aid? And
then like it's still I'm still essentially working on it, do.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
You know what I mean? It's ongoing.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
And then something that's brought so many people like joy,
like hello, you were involved in something really positive here,
Like what are you talking about? You know, I get
it with actors, like they don't want to be known
for one thing or like, but you know when I
mean at least anybody who knows you for anything. Man,
it's like that old Sinatra thing, like I'm going to
butcher the quote, but it's like about, well, look, they
(29:35):
could be yelling at you instead of applauding you or
like whatever it is. You know, if you've done anything
that people have seen, you've been lucky to give that opportunity.
Try and be grateful for it. But who knows. Some
people have a really bad time as an actor on
a show.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I didn't. I had a great time.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
I know, life happens and you can't keep in touch
with everyone. But is it kind of like the gangs
back together when you all see each other or check in.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I'm going to see Chase Brawford on March the thirtieth
in Paris, France.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
We're doing a convention together.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
And we did one in North Carolina about two years
ago and I hadn't seen him in ages and it
was just like the last day on set, you know.
But he'll always if I love those guys, they'll always
have a very very special place in my heart, and
of course time has passed. Of course we've all moved on.
It's gonna be great to see him, and it's gonna
(30:28):
be good.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I'm going to say it again because it keeps coming
to mind throughout this interview. I just so love your
grounding and your gratitude for everything you've accomplished, where you've
been and where you're going. It's refreshing to hear. And
I think that that's probably why you're someone who.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Is continuing to achieve so much.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Success as you're really seemingly I mean, what do I know,
but you seem to be very in touch with yourself
and in the life that you want, in the life
you've created.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I think that's really cool.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Well, dude, do.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
You know what, man, it's a pretty I actually put
a dark thought into the mix up. One day there
won't be a day. One day everything will be gone.
It will all be gone. And these legacies that men
try or women or whoever try to hold on to,
these fights and these spats and this bitterness and this
(31:13):
suing each other or.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Whatever it is that we all get caught up.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
In, none of it will matter, And you have to
ultimately say what is the point.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
What is my point? You know, what is the point
in me actually being here?
Speaker 3 (31:26):
And mine is to try and be happy, man, because
that's when everything good happens for me, everything good happens
for those around me, and there's no point in really
wasting your time in the other direction.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
It's a difficult notion.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
A lot of people don't want to think about the
end of humanity, the end of this planet. But you know,
if we believe in science, which I do, that day
is coming. I mean, it's going to come a long way,
thank god, you know, but it's a reality, and it
just kind of frames the fact that, look, man, it's
all impermanent, and stop taking everything so seriously, the good
and the bad.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Don't take it so seriously.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
And I know that's sometimes easier said than done because
we have emotional people when we get attached to things.
But if you could just try and have a little
bit of perspective. And I'm not this guy all.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
The time, and I'm not sounding pre chy, probably i am,
but I don't mean to.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Hopefully if that my mentality can kind of set you
a bit free and you can chill. But I did
have a great night sleep and I did have a
workout today, so I've done some good things that make
me make me feel good.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And it's funny because I usually end these conversations in
my show with a question based off the title, which
what is one thing you've never said before? But I
feel like you kind of just answer that like that
felt like a great answer unless you have something else
for me. But I feel like you've been so open
during the whole conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
I mean, the only other thing to say is that
I know pretty much every lyric to every song to
Parc wrote so and I've never said that before. I've
never openly admitted it, but.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
There every so you would go on record and say every.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Lyric, I said nearly every lik nearly okay.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Every song, nearly every song, nearly every song.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
There's some songs I know every lyric too, you know,
but I've never really spoken about my love affair with
the two puts your openly so my metaphorical love affair,
of course.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Thank you for clarifying.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, that's awesome, well cool, unexpected, but I love that
I'm here for it.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
That's super fun.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Ed.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I could talk to you for hours. This has been
such a good time.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Remind everybody where we can watch your new movie and
check it out.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Thank you, Tomy. So Dark Game is out now.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
It is available on all demand platforms, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Voodoo,
all of those, Fandango great, it's all of them.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
It's ready to go, awesome, rock on, go watch the movie, guys.
It's so much fun and I'm going to look forward
to continuing to follow your career. I love the work
you do and after chatting with you, you're You're an
awesome guy and it's really been nice to get to
know you more.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Tommy, great to be you can read you man. Thanks
for your time.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
I've Never Said This Before is hosted by Me Tommy Dederio.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Piblisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(34:27):
tell your friends. Until next time. I'm Tommy Dederio
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