The Spawkwing Diamond! (feat. Frankie Grande)

• Have you ever thought that Like A Virgin would be even better if Frankie Grande one-upped Fran & Rose on their knowledge of every franchise beloved by gay nerds?? This is our gift to the Virgins, with tangents on Boca Raton, Nicole Kidman and Frankie's new horror film Summoning Sylvia AND a sprinkling of accent work and gestalt therapy!
• Plus, Fran watched Swarmed, Rose went to the Ragtime Reunion Concert, and both have some lingering thoughts on TDOV Capitalism

Subscribe to our Patreon for weekly bonus episodes for just $5 a month! Or if you're broke follow our finsta @likeavirgin42069

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You know how crazy we sound when we laugh at
one point five speed? Yeah, like nah, we sound like SpongeBob.
Well like gay podcasters in general, like trying to listen
to them at one point five speed is like insane. Yeah,
you're taking your life and your ear drums in your hands.
She's she a me, no me, not on my mate? Yo?

(00:25):
Yo yo? What is your child? Edged brother? Yo? I'm
going down before like usually so. Welcome to Like a Virgin,

(00:48):
the show where we give yesterday's pop culture today's takes.
I'm Rosalind Fran Toronto, and we are recording this a
lot earlier than we normally do be because Franny, what
are you doing next? My friend Laurel Laurel Charleston, if

(01:09):
you don't follow her, she's an amazing, amazing at MUA
and a friend of Rosin I my and a friend
of Roseen. I. One day I'll learn how to speak English.
Scammed us into a Virgin Cruise Line cruise leaving from
Miami next week. Thank you for being honest. Yeah, brand
strong Virgin. Yeah not just a Virgin cruise, a Virgin

(01:29):
cruise where children are not allowed, which I love. Oh
thank god, oh thanks and more importantly, a cruise that
I don't have to really pay for, because I think
cruises are kind of disgusting and I would never really
want to pay for one. Well, I hope you have
a lot of fun on your cruise. I haven't been
on a cruise in a long time, but we used
to go on them a lot when I was a teenager.

(01:50):
And in fact, I lost my virginity on a cruise,
which I do think we've talked about on this podcast before.
God that you lost your virginity in maritime law at sea. Yeah, yeah,
I lost my virginity in the Bermuda Triangle. I'm gonna
lose my tucking panty virginity because I've actually never worn
tucking panties before, and um, Laurel is bringing me some

(02:13):
for for a little you're tucking on the cruise, I'm
gonna you're tucking at sea. I'm tucking at sea for
the tan line. Most importantly, I think that that is
kind of gonna. I mean, I'm obviously I'm bringing like
six spading suits, but one of them is a tucking
panty specifically for tanning. Um, and I actually, yeah, I've
never had one before. Not that everyone should wear them,

(02:34):
but I was just like, you know, one of swaffed
in quint um. Yeah, we would be amazing on a
Virgin cruise line together, like the Virgin brand, so strong,
Virgin slide into our dms. Come on, let's should we
do a show at Actually, actually, my my, I'm one
of those gay cruises. My sisters were trying to get

(02:54):
me to go on a cruise with them for their
twenty first birthday later this year, and I like truly
have no desire to go on a cruise again. Listen,
I'm not judging you. I'm so excited for you. I
hope you're going to have but like, especially post COVID
for years after code, I really I really don't want
to be stuck on a boat somewhere ye like full

(03:18):
of you know, shrimp and um like well liquor. That
will be exactly the vibe. I'm I'm there for the
Tan Diva and I will get one um because you
can only get a tan at sea. Yes true? Um,
wait what what if we did a show at sea? What?
What what would we do it on? Would it be

(03:38):
um aquamarine or wait what what splash? Oh? Yeah we
could we could finally do our splash episode. We would
do a whole weird We would do like a couple
of nights on the boat. I'm assuming and um unless
we're just helicoptered in for one night. Um. And so
we would do sort of like thematic grouping of of

(04:00):
you know, like see adjacent topics. Yeah. Oh, you would
finally have to watch Mamma Mia and we would do
Mamma mea. That's not a CE movie. It's an island. Well,
it takes place on an island one in the middle.
On this island, you would say, would you say you

(04:21):
find a tree? Do you see with mangoes? Okay? Anyways,
um okay, wait, speaking of once on this island, though,
I wanted to tell you I saw a musical last okay,
but I don't think you are familiar with at all. Um.
So I went to kind of last minute went to
the concert with the original Broadway cast of Ragtime. M

(04:47):
It was a one night only event. It was supposed
to happen in twenty twenty, but was pushed back because
of the pandemic. My brother had gotten tickets because Ragtime
is his favorite show ever, and then his friend couldn't go.
Last minutes have you invited me, which was very very
sweet of him, and so I love Radtime, but I
also have a lot of trauma associated with it because

(05:08):
it was one of our mainstage shows when I was
in high school and I wasn't cast in it and
I really wanted to be, and so I have a
lot of feelings around it. But I also did dare
I ask? I mean, I mean, like the trans answer
is mother or Evelyn Nesbit or maybe Emma Goldman Um. Yeah,

(05:31):
I could see myself as I'm a Goldman Um. What's
exactly the kind of premise? So Radtime is based on
a novel which takes place in the early twentieth century,
and it is about a bunch of different classes and
societies of people having to sort of interact, which is,

(05:52):
you know, like white society, um, the like Harlem society
which was had sort of like congregated around rag music
in the early nineteen hundreds, and then also Eastern European
immigrant who were living in tenement houses on the Lower
East Side, and how they all sort of come together.

(06:13):
And it's like incredibly like epic and emotional and has
some of the best music in musical theater history. And
the cast has some like true Broadway divas in it.
Marin Mazzi, who has passed, played mother. Audra McDonald plays Sarah,

(06:37):
who has some incredible songs like your Daddy's son. As
I said in our Patreon episode, Uncle Frank from Succession
is Tatteh. Also, Liam Shell was in the original Broadway
caste Girl, and so I knew going into it that
she wasn't playing the little girl. They had an actual

(06:59):
they had children playing the children's roles. But it was incredible.
I cried so much. Um, it was very it was
a very like who's who of like New York Broadway
people there and also just like you know, people who
you would expect to be at something like that. Um,
Michael Cores was there, which was It did get kind
of annoying that like there were there were so many

(07:22):
standing ovations throughout the show, and like at a certain
point it was like, okay, can we can we get
this moving? To get back to standing ovations are honestly,
at at a certain point they become a new sense. Yes, yeah,
because it's a long long you can never go to
can can where they like stand and clap for like
eleven minutes or whatever. You'd be like your uber is

(07:43):
called yeah no no, yeah, I'm out of the building.
I'm one of those people who leaves like before before
before the curtain, Yeah, before the curtain. Gall absolutely, Um,
you really be go into the theater. If there's one
thing you gotta do, it's you know, people always ask
me if I want to go see shows, and I
pretty much unanimously say no unless the ticket is it's free,

(08:07):
like unanimously me missusing the word unanimously by the way. Um,
I don't have the patience to sit through life theater
and unless i'm my legs are so big, honey, my
arms on this arm you really are crammed into those
sitting like the hunchback on Notre Dame. The lady behind
me getting mad at me because my coat is too

(08:28):
big and it's on her knees. Please, I can't, I can't,
I can't. Um. But if it's a show that I
love seeing theater, send row I love seeing theater and um,
any you know publicists who are listening who want to
see I love seeing, free love seeing, please please send
us the tickets. We will gladly go. Unless it's Haiti

(08:50):
Haities town. I'm never seeing Oh my god. Um okay,
well I don't have a transition. I'm so sorry. My
brain is just totally okay you want to talk about
my brain is not honestly the honestly the way we
do transitions on this podcast in general. I mean, like,

(09:10):
like you know, content transitions. Um, I feel like they're
not gender um are honestly, Like, it's just it's always
hit our miss and the hits are from bros. And
the missus are from me. And that's just like my
transitions are. Like. So what we're going to talk about
next is like that's gonna be how I do it, um,

(09:32):
Because the thing is, we are here today recording on
Transgender Day of Visibility, even though the podcast is not
being released on Transgender Day of visible Oh it's oh,
it's visibility, today's visibility. Not remembering it might be vengeance, visibility, vivaciousness,
trans Day of something or trans Day of something. Um

(09:52):
and um um. Did you see that Lizzo is releasing
um binders and tucking panties in her shapewear brand Yiddy,
which is the worst name for a shapeer brand ever,
No tell me more, Okay, I mean Yitty is the
shapewear brand that Lizzo launched to compete with Skims, which
is like awesome and like if anybody's going to do that,
like Lizzio can do it right whatever, And but also

(10:16):
team Skims seem Skims sorry is an excellent product. We
are a pro Skims podcast and we are yes, we
are a Skimming e stuff. And if you and if
you have a problem with that, prove us wrong, prove
us wrong, try on the garment, period, Try on the garment.
Tell us wrong, Lizzo, Lizzo, send us some fucking under
and we'll we'll see if you can stand up to Kim. Yeah. Period.

(10:40):
And I and I think that when I actually saw
this announcement, I was like genuinely excited because I was like, oh,
she's actually like you know, I kind of trusted her
a little bit to do something like this, even though
it should be you know, it wasn't perfect, but I
was like, Okay, maybe this is something. And then I
saw this image and this image like of the campaign

(11:00):
is so like everyone in the image looks bad except
for Lizzo, and their makeup is like not right, and
this tucking panty is like not like styled like you know,
big like kind of like bikini strap styled. It's like
styled like a Calvin Kleine you know why line boxer.

(11:23):
And it's like it just smelt immediately, and I was like,
I'm not really sure what I'm seeing, but like I
feel like, I mean, you know me, I'm like so
um ansty about like queer trans like Pride campaign stuff
like that. I've been looking at them for eons and
so like I have like a sixth sense for stuff
like this, but um, yeah, and smell is one of

(11:44):
the fives. Smell yes, you're right, I use my fifth
sense and lo and behold. Like Later that night, Zachary
Drucker tweeted I think on behalf of your Body coast,
saying that there's this awesome shapewear brand and binder company
called your Body that Lizzo's company ordered a full size
run from a year ago, didn't like reach out to

(12:07):
the actual brand until a year later, had one meeting,
they saw no trans people on their team, and then
all of a sudden, this brand, this new Yiddi brand,
was arrived without any help from trans people at all, apparently.
And so I think that you know a lot of
the things that I thought were, you know, happening in
this image were happening in this image. And it's just

(12:27):
frustrating because like you and I talked about the Lisso
album momentarily last year, and this one song that she
had called Everybody's Gay, which I found extremely annoying in
a canon of kind of like quasi gay anthems, and
which I did not listen to. Yeah, yeah, And it's
just like things like that where I'm just like, actually, like,

(12:48):
you have all the tools to do this right and
you didn't. And I guess I'm not surprised because capitalism
is like that and a list celebrities are terrible, their
teams are terrible. People bowl because they have to be
for some reason. But yeah, I don't know. It just
made me so mad, Rose, I don't even know why
it made me so mad. I'm like so mad. Well,

(13:10):
I I get I get why you're mad, Like if
this is not something I would get mad about, like
even though I do think it is objectively something that sucks,
I get why you're mad, and I get why someone
who I get why anyone would be mad because I
think you're right, Like Lizzo is someone who presents herself
as like being of the people and you know, like

(13:31):
a champion of people who mainstream culture often leaves out,
and so for her to do so so explicitly like
this like is stinky YEA A part of me wants
to say, like it is still great that Lizzo made
this line for queer and trans people. But then like

(13:54):
the flip side of that is like it's just a
it's just a product. It's just a market for her
to reach, Like there's no, there's no like, it's not
she's not like some like Champion four, you know, like
diversity and inclusion by doing that, she's just trying to
make more money. Um. And that's the thing is like
this conversation does like doesn't even need to be about Lizzo, right,

(14:15):
Like it's it's we don't look to like our A
list celebrities to be like you know, moral ethical centers
and like people that are perfect at doing everything or whatever,
like I don't really care about I don't care about
a lot of things, um and and just with something
like this, it's just like so it's so ick and
I think that part of like what I feel like

(14:37):
I want to talk about it is like most trans
underwear is like not even that good, you know, Like no,
I mean I don't. Brands are like there's such a
limited availability and they're all owned and run by trans people,
which is awesome, but like they're like the smallest number
of styles and no color options. And you know, I

(14:58):
don't even use like I just I just tuck in
regular underwear, like I don't use trans specific underwear. Yeah,
I mean, like I also talk in regular underwear depending
on like what the occasion is or whatever. And but
you know, for binders and other things, it's like there
are reasons why people you know, need or want this
underweard depending on what they're wearing. And it's like, I

(15:20):
this is an untapped market. That's like why I'm so mad.
It's like there's just a way to do this right,
to make you can make tons of money and also
get that money in the hands of trans people or
like have trans people be your lateral collaborators on something.
And like yeah, and I just like wish underwear was
cute like for trans people. We're just we were just
talking about Laudree and our Patreon the other day. Yeah,

(15:42):
I mean I do think what this all comes comes
back to is like you you simply just can't look
to capitalism to like be ethical and inclusive and like
make you like feel good about your gender, your community
or whatever. It just it it does work. No, no,
but it. But what I what we can do even

(16:04):
if we can't look to capitalism to be these like solutions,
we can hold like those that are the arbiters of
our capital world to higher standards because that does work,
you know. And I feel like part of the organizing
that's happening rather or by organizing, I mean like I'm
dming diet product and like Zachary Chuggar, and like, I
just feel like there there's reasons why stories like these

(16:27):
need to be blown up, and like I feel like
you should make a TikTok about it. I should make
a TikTok about it. Actually, I um, Okay, we've talked
about this for too long. I really want to talk
about swarm. Okay, that's the that's the show with Billy Eilish, right, Yes,
it's the show with Billie Eilish. And I know that
it's a bit reductive to say the show with Billy Eilish,
but um, Billy Eilish, Yeah, yeah, A show with Dominic

(16:51):
Fishback obviously of course as well, Um yeah, I I
uh do. I'll give you the loose premise because I
don't really think the log lines for this show are
kind of like, you know, I don't think people are
properly describing the show. The show is about a serial
killer who is also mentally ill, and her kind of

(17:17):
illness and her compulsion kind of reaches a peak in
the first episode when something happens to her sister. I
guess I won't. I'll try and not spill it. Something
happens to her sister that really traumatizes her, and it
sends her on a kind of vengeance killing spree, and
she starts to kill people that wrong or bad mouth

(17:37):
this pop idol that she loves named Nija, who is
a kind of cipher for Beyonce because like the swarm,
the beehive whatever. There's also a trope we're in dominating.
Fishback's character bites Nisa at some point, like Allah the
woman that bit Beyonce. Do you remember that story? Yeah?

(18:00):
But you know the movie the movie the show I've
only I've only watched like the first I think four episodes,
and the show like is actually really stunning, great drama.
Dominique Fishback is incredible, and I think it's just across
the board incredibly active. Chloe Bailey is so fucking good,
but the show kind of forgot to have fun. I

(18:23):
think it's it's so dark, but the premise is so
kind of silly, like it's it is actually like so
so silly that she's killing a lot of the people
that she's killing and because her motives aren't really clear
at all. To me, comedy would have been the kind
of motive. And the show is otherwise like very funny,

(18:44):
has great jokes, like a great sense of humor, and
I was like, why didn't they lean in with the
murder stuff? Because I think what a lot of what
the show is trying to accomplish, And this is kind
of where I was thinking about you Rose is like
this kind of girl bossification of like the series murderous
story or like the Bad Girl's story. Um, whether it's
like Gone Girl or like I think a better a

(19:06):
much better example is I care a lot. Do you
remember that movie on Netflix and how like it was
like it had everything, like we were like, oh, this
is gonna be so cool, and we watched it we
were like there was nothing to root for for that
that that care. They forgot to have fun completely and
there was no wait, speak for yourself. I loved I care,
you loved I care a lot? Yeah I did. I

(19:28):
don't understand. I thought it was so fun. I don't. Okay, well,
maybe you'll love Swarm because like, I'm not going to
watch I think that it was like it was overwritten
and underwritten, you know, like it it there was so
much spinning out from this like traumatic event that happened
in the first episode, and yet her killing spree, and

(19:48):
yet and the show and yet the show is trying
to say something about stand um very specifically that it's
not actually saying, like the show really doesn't commentate on
standum or how to oxyx stands are. This woman isn't
killing people because she's a stand. She's killing people because
she's like mentally ill. And I could believe a story

(20:10):
where someone kills because they're a stand and that, but
that just like wasn't what was laid out. You know,
who is Billy in all of this? Okay? So it
kind of it's a little poker facy and that the
episodic nature is her running across the country and killing people,
you know, in little kind of like scenes one by one,

(20:30):
and one of these episodes involves a kind of white
woman wellness cults that sets up camp outside of Bonnaroo
every year Bonnaroo every year that's run by a one
Billie Eilish, who plays a sinisterly sweet, understated forgive me
Sydney Sweeney esque kind of like cult leader person, really

(20:54):
well acted, precise, like very understated. I was so surprised
by what Billy brought um and very gaggy end to
the episode as well. But um, yeah, Billy is really
really good. She plays as cult leader that kind of
usurps Dominic Fishback momentarily, who you know, is trying to
make sense of these murders that she has been committing

(21:15):
without like really knowing why she's committing them or you
know what, what's going to happen next, and Billy's like
trying to be her mentor and like help her through this.
Um is the show gay? Yes? It is? I mean
it's it could be gayer because she the thing is
Dominic Fishback was obviously everything could be gay. So Dominice
Fishback's sister quote unquote is not her biological sister. She

(21:38):
was like taken in I think from a fought like
her friend Chloe Bailey. Basically her parents like fostered in
Dominique Fishback, So they're not biological sisters, but they're still
you know, sister sisters. And it's very clear that that
Dominique Fishback is in love with Chloe Bailey, her best
friend slash sister you know, and um love some pseudo incests, yes,

(22:01):
but it's never really clearly pseudo lesbian in fact. Yeah,
I assume that this is going to be something that
comes to fusion towards the end, so maybe I'll have
another like recap after, but like it is, Oh, it's
not all out, No, it is all out. I just
haven't watched it all. Yeah, I don't know. I just like,
for me, it's just like I think that there there
was just like such a cool premise in in this show,

(22:23):
like Murderous stand Um. I think it's really interesting and
funny and fun, but I don't think the show is
really having all that much fun. And the main character's
motives are like kind of much like I care a lot,
it's just like I actually don't really have I don't
understand your sociopathy and at the very least like you could,

(22:44):
like Dominique is making it complex with her acting, but
the writing isn't really making it very complex. You know. Well,
you've definitely sold me on not watching it, which I
was already planning to do. Yeah, so thank you for that,
of course, of course my pleasure. I feel extremely validated
in my choice, as you should. Also, it should be said, um,

(23:07):
the most toxic standum is the Barbs, not the beehive.
So like that was a little I mean, you know,
I'm sure they just picked like Beyonce as like the
kind of camp for aesthetic reasons. But if there's a
murderous standum, it's the barbs, right problem. You say that,
but you say that with fear in your eyes because

(23:30):
they'll because they'll cure us. I know we've said, I know,
we said podcasting is an uncancellable medium. But like to
a point, babe, it's funny. Okay. Then if anyone asks,
we didn't say anything about the Barbs, no, no, only
that we love them and that we love Nikki. Um.
Speaking of people we stand um, one of them is

(23:52):
Frankie Grande, actor, singer, dancer, personality star of the upcoming
can't be queer horror film Summoning Sylvia, which will be
out soon. Um, Frankie Grande honestly needs to be a
repeat guest, right, don't you think ross like? You know?
We we honestly like need him, need him back like

(24:14):
once a season. If not one, Yes, a correspondent, if
you will, We at least need like a sort of
soundboard in which we can program lots of Frankie Grande
Gallum and jarge our Banks impressions into Yes, yes, we
actually need Frankie to do just like a full download,

(24:35):
so we can create an AI generated version of Ranky
Grande's Gollum impressions so that it can say anything we
want at any time. We might have enough material science
is incredible. You know, we obviously are very excited to

(25:05):
have you in the pod. We always start by asking guests, like,
what's like a formative cultural object? You know, what have you?
Never in a million years would I have thought that
Frankie Grande would pick Star Wars. I don't know if
this is something that a lot of people know about
you or not so many people know about you, but
I loved that. Yeah, it's funny nerds come in all shixercises.

(25:29):
I feel like I'm here to give an alternate impression
of what it means to be a nerd. We can
love makeup and hair and sparkles and glitter and be
super super fucking gay, but also love nerdy things like
you know, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek.
I have tattoos all over my body of all my
favorite genres aliens. We're Star Wars right there, my x wing,

(25:53):
you know. Um. And so I think that people don't
know that about me, and I've always found that to
be so kind of fascinating, and you know, and people
don't even believe it when I told him, including my husband,
didn't believe it when I was like, I'm a nerd
and a gamer and he was like, no, you're absolutely not.
And I was like, yes, i am, I promise, And
then I was like nerding out with him and he
was like, oh, okay, maybe you are. But I think

(26:15):
the world was kind of Keaton when Hale and I
got married on May the fourth, Be with You and
had a Star Wars wedding, so I think they were
people are like, okay, maybe, okay, she's yeah, maybe she's
not lying. I'm not sure. So when did the obsession start?
Is this life long? Absolutely? My mother raised me on

(26:36):
episodes four or five and six. You know I really
loved I actually loved all of them. You know, A
New Hope was amazing. But I think I just really
gravitated towards. That was maybe my first introduction into you know,
sci fi fantasy escapism, which you know many queer kids
do gravitate towards early in life because it's like, oh,

(26:58):
you know, like I might not feel one hundred percent
accepted where I am right now, but like that world
is cool, so like maybe I can just live there
in my head for a little bit. Um. That was
kind of my experience with it, anyway, and I just
was obsessed with it ever since, so much so that
even in nineteen ninety nine, when episode one The Phantom
Menace came out, I loved it. I was a child

(27:22):
of some early age, and I was obsessed with The
Phantom Menace, even even jar Jar Banks, who I think
we have reclaimed. Can you do the wait? I need
you to it again. I'm sorry. Musa Musa, Lussa serv Smith,
Monsters out the Luten and Orsa st Yeah. Okay, oh

(27:52):
my god, I'm just falling in love with you in
real time. Um, so you're a Jarjar apologist, because not
a lot of like og Star Wars fans really stand
and jar Jar. He was like a polarizing character. Yeah,
very polarizing character. I think it took the world a
little bit for fans. It took the world into Katie
Land a little bit. But it's interesting because it now

(28:13):
Star Wars is a child's franchise, like we have manysnifications
with a disneyfication. So it was kind of like the
foretelling of like this is going to be for kids, y'all,
so like just just get on board. This is kind
of like an elevated children's story now. And and so, yes,
I think that jar Jar I was young, so obviously

(28:34):
I thought that he was hysterical. I was like, oh
my god, Jargar's like a clown. That's so funny. I
love him. And then I went to a Star Wars
convention right after this came out, and yes, at Disney
at what was formerly known as MGM Studios, and I
went to their room familiar, Yes, exactly MGM Studios, And

(28:55):
I went to this convention and they were like, does
anyone have any impersonations? And I did my Jarjar and
I got a standing ovation and the monitor in like
this room was like, well, I'm pretty sure that is
the first and last time Jarge or Banks will get
a standing a Well. I love I love that you're
a Jarjar apologist, because I generally am a prequels apologist,

(29:16):
and I do think in recent years we have reevaluated
them as a culture because they get shit on a lot.
But I think the prequels are great and they do
what the prequels are supposed to do, which are exactly like,
give you the reasons why everything happens the way it
happens in the main trilogy, and I honestly kind of
think they're better than the new ways. I love it.

(29:40):
Oh my god, frand you have a no, no no, no,
I'm I'm a little bit of a virgin to start.
I mean, I've seen pretty I've seen I think all
of the existing like main franchise films, but no, for
the most part, I'm not as in the fandom and
you know, loosely attached to a lot of these characters. However,
I've never heard that take before, So why do you.
Why do you both of you think the prequels are better? Well,

(30:01):
I'm you know, I love Obi Wan, I love Young Anakin,
I love Amidala. Are you kidding the way she was
serving in like like a different outfit every five full drag? Yeah? Yeah,
Also was Yoda. Yoda is alive and well in kicking
ass in the prequels, which is like that Count Dooku

(30:23):
versus Yoda sword. You know, Lightsaber Battle was the most
epic moment in all of Star Wars history. I think it.
It's definitely like one of the first things that I
remembered from like my theater specifics experience of Star Wars.
I remember my dad losing it, Like you know, your
dad always wants to take you to like things like this,
And like I was a kid who was maybe a
little more resistant to not like action adventure stuff because

(30:47):
I love Lord of the Rings. I love loved a
lot of san fantasy sci fi. But I was not
an alien girly like Men in Black like scared the
shit out of me as a kid. And so yeah,
when I was like, you know, like I want to say,
like nine ten or whenever that movie came out of
It's like kind of young, and I remember being really
scared of that movie when I tried to watch it
with my dad, And I think the kind of aliens

(31:08):
in general, and the way they looked and how grotesque
they were in um, the original three, the episodes four
or five and six, I think I was just I
had a kind of like kiddy aversion to it. And
now when I look back on it, I think, like,
those practical effects are like so gorgeous and like that's
something that I really love about. Um. Okay, I have
a piping hot take. Um. I just started watching The

(31:31):
Mandalorian last night, and did everyone know that this is
a great show? Like yes, no, Like it's it's like
very well, yeah, everyone should get on this. Has anyone
heard of Pedro Scal? It's like this new guy on.
There's a baby Yoda thing that's like kind of yeah,
like this thing should go viral, right. Um. I literally

(31:54):
Rose told me two days ago that The Mandalorian is
Pedro Pescal has no fucking idea. So I'm only on
the second episode. Does he take off his mask? He does? Okay,
okay spoil yeah, no, no, no no, everyone knows this is
like this was this was Yeah, datcha as as I

(32:16):
am as I'm constantly saying when we record these episodes,
you can't spoil things that happened sometimes decades talking. So like, okay, here,
did you know that Darth Vader is Luke's boot? Um?
Did you know that Luke Skywalker and Leiah are twins?
Even though they also made out, they did kiss in

(32:38):
the first movie? And it's is that something that Star
Wars fans discussed widely or what did we just like
sweep it under the rug? Wait? Really that's like a
huge thing to ignore. I mean they explained it, so
then we were like, okay, we accept your explanation, and
then we moved on. Yeah, there was no twitter, you

(32:58):
know in the so it was and it passed exactly.
It was just like it was just like all they
didn't know. Okay, it's fine, that's so. That's so there
were to be like canceled, how dare you? Yes? Yes,
canceled incest Nope, never happened. Okay, Um, I'm curious. I
don't even know like it could because I'm kind of
the virgin. I'm like, do we go into like favorite characters,

(33:19):
do we go into a favorite movie? Do we go
into like I have a fun Star Wars and thing
that happened last night. Oh temas. So my husband is
a chess man, so he's really very good at chess.
Um so he wanted to go to this game night,
and so I took my two best friends, Selena s
Titties and our friend Mondo, and we went to um
a trivia okay, a chess night at this board game cafe.

(33:43):
But there was also trivia night, and so um As Titties,
me and Mondo played trivia and we're so aggressive, like
we're crazy people and we're like screaming at you know,
these like lovely people that are just wanted to have
a nice trivia night. But we were so aggressive. But
one of the categories was Star Wars, so I swept
in that category. And I'm gonna askew Rose if you
know this question. Okay, okay, um what is the name

(34:03):
of the planet where um Obi Wan slices Anakin in half?
Oh oh oh fuck um oh um oh. I like
this information does exist somewhere, Like I've definitely I've definitely

(34:28):
like read um and Obi Wan Anakin fan fiction that
took place on that side. But yes, I but yet
I don't know the name of the planet, so I'm
gonna have to concede. Okay, so the name of the
planet is Moosta Far, and I knew that, but for that,
but also because um, on my wedding, I named all
of the tables as a different planet from the Star

(34:50):
Wars galaxy and Star Wars universe. So I put Hale's
family at Moosta Far because they're the Fiery Heart hot
Long Islands. Um, this is like giving me my bod Mitzvah.
I put my grandmother and her nonagenarian friends at dag
Above because that's where Yoda's planet is, so like old
and wise. I put like my mom at Coorissant because

(35:12):
it was like the city planet. And I just had fun,
Like I just did. People were from Chicago are hath
because it was the ice planet. I think that's the
coldest place I've ever been in my entire life. Um yeah,
so I just had fun. Anyway, that's so cute. Okay,
So speaking of you know, sort of all the different planets,
and like, I think that one of the fun things
about Star Wars it's it's such an expansive universe, and

(35:33):
like all of these franchises, you know, like the ones
that like laughs the longest, like we're talking Lord of
the Rings Harry Potter. It's like there's a lot of
world to play in. So yes, you know, when you
think about Star Wars, like who do you see yourself as?
Are you a Jedi? Are you, um you know, are
you a Han solo type figure? Are you an alien?
Are you adroid? What? Like? Where are you in the

(35:56):
Star Wars universe? So I think I'm a Sith. I
think I'm a Sith because but like you know, maybe
what you know, like you know almost like you know
some of like the Witches of Dagmar like kind of
something just really like, um, I've always won more there.
Those are the ones from the Star Wars a clone Wars,
the ones with the painted faces that are like way, yeah,

(36:17):
the Witches of Dagma and we you know, like they're
they're very very spooky scary. Um. I just I always
want to I want to play a villain. I like
being a villain on TV. I think it's it's very
like anti who I am as a person, so like
people are like, oh he's acting, Um, that's so exciting.
Like in my upcoming project, you'll see I'm acting, I'm
like the villain a bit so. Um, that's fun to me.

(36:40):
I always am drawn to the dark side, isn't that crazy? Um? Like,
I don't think I'm a jar jar character in the
Star Wars universe. I think I'm someone to know. I
think I'm very pro rose and I are very pro
like faggy villains, like villains that real y queer. Yes,
vengeance about Oh so you're calling Frankie Fay. Yeah. Oh no, no, No,

(37:01):
I would never. That's that's no never never. Um, okay,
you I have to but I'm scared of waiting into
this discourse. But while we're talking about, you know, character alignments. Um.
I have been told once, and I've never stopped thinking
about this, that in every gay male relationship there is
a C three PO and an R two D two.

(37:23):
Which one are you? Honey? Um? In every gay male
relationship there's a C three PO and an R two
D two. Which one are you? I's gonna say C
three P what? Oh? Um? Well, are you the chatty,
brainy no interpreter? No? Or you're a little fun like

(37:44):
adventurer who likes to go p boo boo boo bop.
That one, you're R g D two, I'm C three
po oh. He thinks he's really so we're we're you're
R two D two. Yeah. I think I'm C three
p but he thinks true. I honestly think when I
think about this analogy, I think a lot about like
attachment styles. Like there's one that's kind of like worrying

(38:07):
about stuff and like trying to keep shit on lock,
and then the one who's like, actually, just like just
like okay, let's just move forward and like we don't
need a panic and like literally I can fix it
with the three beeps. Yeah, I think that's I think
that's til Yeah, okay, well, I love I think he
just wants to be taller. I think that's his issue.
I think he's like, no, I'm taller than you, and
I'm like you are, honey. Okay, so we figured out alignment. Now,

(38:31):
which Star Wars character would you most want, you know,
to spend a romantic weekend with, possibly um keeping each
other warm on hoff? I mean there's I mean it
has to be young Anakin Hayden Christiansen. That was he
was smoke. I've said this on the pod before, but unfortunately, yeah,
young Anakin was and and I think episode one or
oh no no, episode one, episode two, and I not

(38:53):
not ban like yeah, no, I'm talking about hating Christians Anakin,
which is episodes, not like old Darth Bay where he
doesn't have Yeah, but there's this, there's this. I'm kind
of I'm kind of into that, to be honest, although
my answer would be like, um, like general like older Leia,
I want her to mommy, mee, mommy fun and like

(39:16):
tell you like what to do, like please just tell
me what you do. And then also I mean obi
Wan for me because I'm like a you or girly
like through and through for life. And I think probably
the prequels the reason I liked them so much were
because of you in because it's post sure, it's post
Mulan Rouge, so like he was everything. He was everything

(39:40):
and it was such an interesting take on it. Um
oh yeah, completely completely agree. Oh I love it. We're nerds.
It's so wonderful gay nerds. We really are umanes right
he I'm this is this is how much of a
virgin I am. So I'll let me answer this by
telling you that there's a TV show called obi Wan
that is just airing where we meet where Obi Wan

(40:03):
is right now, so we are in the middle of
a new Obi run like story run. However, yes, he
dies eventually. He dies in the originals, Yes, in the
original four. You know what was weird about that Obi
Wan show, which I did love? I thought it was great.
Why wasn't it just it's actually called Obi Wan Kenobi
and it should have just been called Obi Vader. It

(40:23):
also could have been called Vader, And I did love
seeing the continuation of their you know, toxic relationship. It's
very much giving ex boyfriends. Yeah for sure. Um yeah, yeah.
My only issue was like how did why do they suck?
Like how come both neither of them can use the force?

(40:43):
Like it's so strange how they're like crawling on their
hands and knees, and like Vader's like, oh man, there's
a bonfire between me and Obi Wan, and I just
can't figure out how to get them on the other
side of that bonfire. Yeah, the rules of the forest
are very finicky. They're not you know, set in stone,
and it's like, you know, this like magical force that

(41:05):
kind of sometimes it is really powerful sometimes like you
can barely like float over a diet coke can exactly.
I was like, huh, wow, they're really having trouble with
this fight there, and okay, um I okay. I really
feel like when I was first watching these movies, I
didn't totally grasp like a lot of what was going on.

(41:28):
And especially if you start from like episode four or whatever,
you're kind of like, what episode four, like all this
stuff that's like, you know, happening, and like you have
this huge like scroll screen that's been like you know,
spoofed out of an item allah like spaceballs, et cetera,
where it's just like all this stuff has happened, and
now I have to like enter the world. Did you
enter the world knowing stuff about it or did you

(41:49):
just like did you you know, already want to be
a part of it because of the buzz like what
was So this brings up a very very big controversy
in the fandom, which is what order do you introduce
a new person to the Star Wars franchise? Um? You know,
George Lucas thinks you should go one, two, three, four,
five six, um, because it doesn't it, but but there

(42:10):
are people that say you need to do four or
five six, so that the big twist where you find
out that Vader is Luke's father actually still is a twist. Um,
I don't know that there are enough people on the
planet that that applies to. So, yeah, exactly, So I
say do one two three, four five six. Well, as
a kid, I was introduced four five six one two three,

(42:32):
So um, I don't think there's a wrong way to
do it. I don't think there's a wrong way to
do So. Do you remember in the nineties they've re

(42:59):
released ally of the up movies and theaters. So I
saw those at them at the movie theater and Book
Raton Florida because that's where I grew up, and I
know that you are also a Florida girl. No way,
where'd you go to school? I went to Dreyfuss. Oh
my god, I played you in volleyball. I was not
on the volleyball team. No surprises to anyone on the

(43:21):
same recording. Okay, Reggie, you have no idea how often
Book a Raton comes up on this podcast. It's actually whackadoodle.
It's like once an episode. What is well? Is there
a know about Boca? It is? It is an oddly
protected space on this planet. Like I truly feel like
there's some sort of dome that surrounds it because it

(43:42):
is like there's no pollution and there's like very little crime,
and it's very beautiful and well maintained, and everything is huge.
There's just like huge buildings and massive malls and huge
parking lot trees, huge parking lots, the biggest, the biggest,
the biggest, um And it was a really fun place
for me to grow up. It is very homogeneous. We

(44:05):
can say that it's not extremely diverse, which made for
some interesting discoveries when I think of college and I
was like, wow, there's so many people that aren't like
me in this world. So it was an interesting place
to grow up. But I do still think it's really
there's something really special about it. I think so too.
I mean we used to like we used to refer

(44:25):
to it as God's waiting room because you know, it's
like where all the where all the old people come
to spend their twilight years. Yea, it is really. I
think a big part of my personality is like I
am like a nine year old woman in a thirty
four year old woman's body because I grew up surrounded
by the elderly and you know, what I think that

(44:47):
has served me? Well, what where where in Star Wars
the Star Wars universe would you most compare a book
or a tone too? Oh man, it's got to be
coo a song because well no, but it's such a power.
I I was just gonna say, course, not because everyone's rich. Um, No,
it's not. It's Nabu. It's nab It is Nabu. It's
Nabo because everyone is rich. It is rich. Um. But

(45:10):
and it's literally a dome. It's a bubble of perfect
beautiful magicness with huge palaces. I mean it's almost the
same exact architecture as Nabu. Yes, and I grew up
wearing literally everything that Padmea Amidala wore, so it makes
I bought them all at Town Center mall. It's Naboo
kind of like the capital or like so Nabu is
um where Princess Amidala came from. So it's very rich,

(45:33):
very chechy, very royalty. Yes, um, but it's like um
in the middle of a jungle. So it's got that
tropical Okay, they saw off of what Ross told me
about Bucca's malls. I feel like, yeah, that's definitely where
Amidala came from, yes, exactly. Yeah, you could see Amidala
literally going through nemons. She and I went to Hebrew
School together, yes exactly, nay Amidala Nabu, Yes, I remember that.

(45:57):
Yeah of course. Um yeah. And also extremely Jewish community.
So you know, I grew up knowing um, you know,
as I was raised Roman Catholic. But then when I
got to Bocca and I was ten, I was quickly
informed that I was wrong. They were like, no, that's
not how we roll here. You'll be going to forty
seven Barbat and Bana Mitzvah's and I really embraced the

(46:19):
Jewish culture, the Jewish community, um, you know, like I
learned the prayer of the candles and I kind of started.
That began my transition away from the Roman Catholic Church
into Cabala. So I started studying Cabala because I was there,
and now I consider myself kind of like you know, um,
just a student of the universe, but with more emphasis
on Judaism and Cabalah than on Roman. So you wow.

(46:41):
There used to be a Cabala center near the Temple
Um off of Yamato. I remember one time it was
like in, you know, like when I was a teenager
and Cabala was like kind of a little let's say,
And I remember one day my mom called me and
I had like I had just gotten a car, and

(47:01):
she said, redacted dead name, Um, I'm having a really
stressful day. I need you to go to the Cabala
Center and get me a red string bracelet so that
I can be centered. And I was like, um, I
have to go to rehearsal, and she was like, I
need it now, and so I went and got her
a red string bracelet. It probably costs like forty five dollars,

(47:22):
and I'm not going to say that she was very centered. Yeah, No,
you gotta do the rest of the work, like you
gotta like do the Cabala one on one which teaches
you very very simple things. By the way, it is
not like complete rocket science, but it breaks it down
in a way that actually made a lot of sense
to my little thirteen year old brain. And of course
I did go because of me. That's what I was

(47:42):
going to say, obviously, light and I said, yeah, girl,
me too, What the fuck are you talking about? And
then she was like Camala, and I was like, I
gotta go it's kind of like being a Jedi, you
know it is. It's Jewish myths, literalism, that is, you know,
jed I mysticism. It's very mystic. Yes, exactly. I'm sorry

(48:02):
if you already answered this. Did you have a bar mitzvah? No?
I didn't. I had a sweet sixteen So people did
come to that, which was really fun. It was alien themed,
and during the cake cutting, I showed the scene from
Alien three where the alien burst through someone's skulls and
eat their brains. So that's that's me as a that's
me as a child. Fran you still haven't seen any

(48:24):
of the alien n correct? Oh, Iranie, Frankie, you see
what I'm dealing with. This is literally the reason we
started this podcast. It's because I'm always yelling at frand like,
how have you never seen Alien? Rose? Whenever you need backup,
I will come up. Thank you. I I'm always happy
to have a sister to bully with. Yes, please absolutely?

(48:50):
So okay, Alien is also in your kind of like
canon of alien things that you love? What other kind
of alien sci fi shows you? We know you love
Star Trek, right, yeah, Star Trek, Harry Potter, you know
all of them, just like yeah, Jurassic Yeah, my velociraptor
on the back here, um yeah, and the next mice,

(49:12):
next Star Trek. My next tattoo is the Star Trek
and singing it's going to go here. But I just
haven't had time. I had a lot of panic over
which enterprise to get because there have been so many
throughout the years of Star Trek. But I'm going og
and we're going with NCC seventeen oh one. Okay, we're doing.
I do have to show my ass a little and
say that Star Trek is kind of my one cultural

(49:34):
blind spot I have never engaged. So can you like
top line it for us? Like, what is Star Trek?
What do you love about it? Okay, so Star Trek
my mother was obsessed with it when she was a kid,
so she grew me, grew me up on the originals,
you know, with William Shatner and Spock and o'hura, and

(49:55):
you know, there were just these amazing, amazing, unbelievably like
iconic characters that like when they re booted Star Trek,
they was still just as iconic. Like I was like,
oh wow, Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto
are doing such a good job of the writing of
the characters is just so compelling, and the way that
they work together to solve problems. It is way more

(50:15):
of like a we need a full team kind of
show than Star Wars is and Star Wars you don't
really need a team you just yea yeah exactly, whereas
in Star Trek it's like, no, we need Scottie Ohura
bones Kirk, and we need McCoy and we need all
of them in order to get through the situation. So

(50:35):
I really liked that team building aspect of it, and
I would say, honestly, like just start with Star Trek
Discovery because that's the newest one. It is on Paramount
Plus and it is so queer, like they have an
openly gay couple on the show. They have the first
I believe non binary presenting character on the show or

(50:58):
actor for which is the qualification and of it. It's
both both presenting an actor I believe um on the show,
and it's just so if I watch it now and
I'm like, oh my god, this is this is the
world I want to live in. This is the world. Yeah,
I've heard amazing things about it like it really sounds incredible.
Um yeah, does that you would like it? If you
like Mandalorian, you would like Kyle jump in? When you

(51:20):
if you jump in? Do you do I have to
like read a wiki or do they summarize? Okay, great love,
No to start episode one of Discovery. You'll be fine.
There are there are no real references to the rest
of the world. You might miss a couple of things,
but it's like little easter eggs and stuff. Correct exactly,
You're not going to be like well, and of course
Michelle Yo is on it. Hello, Hello, Oscar winning legend,

(51:41):
Oscar winning legend Michelle Yo on season one and two
of Star Trek Discovery get into it, and she's incredible.
Corn it incredible. I'm gonna say, Michelle Yo, thank you
for that. Thank you so much. Okay, so I think
we need to like while we have you here, we

(52:02):
know that you love Lord of the Rings, and like
Lord of the Rings is, we come back to it
time and time again many podcast because we love it
so much. So okay, who okay, are you a hobbit?
Are you an elf? Are you a wizard? Are you
an orc? Are you an urquai? Oh? So good? Well,
first of all, I'm wearing my one ring from New
Zealand where I went to get it forged at Jens

(52:23):
Hansen where they made the rings for the movie. So
I am a you are, and i've if you liked
jar Jar, and then I have to do some me gold.
It's okay, here we go, Okay, here we am some where?

(52:43):
Does it cross master hurtss masters to re tricks, retur
stupid little Oh my god, did Andy serkis just like

(53:08):
drop into the zoom call? Yeah? I've dreamed that one
day I would get to play that role, because we
know he's not doing it anymore. Oh my god, I
think you will. Okay. I think we need like a
sort of Titanique version of Lord of the Rings. Okay, wait,
hot tea, I just heard that they're bringing a Lord
of the Rings musical to London. I don't I did
not get my phone call yet, but if you're listening,

(53:29):
anyone that's involved there, Oh my god, this the campaign begins.
Now we need Frankie in a Tolkien franchise period. I
think you could do like a one woman show in
which you like share doing west Side story, play all
the roles ys. Oh my God, there would be incredible.
Um So I guess I a war and I guess

(53:49):
I'm kind of a creature. I would say I'm a creature.
I've always dreamed of being a creature. That's another like
fun fact about me, Like I've dream of being like
a CGI capture voice acting creature in a movie, you know,
like I want to be grout except I want to
like actually say things and like act um but other
than that, Like, yes, I want to be a creature.

(54:11):
So I'd be a creature in that world. Okay, I
love that for you. Um is the best line ever?
Uttered Ful of a tuk or fly you Villimes? Right,
full of a tuk is pretty is pretty pretty good.
I'm gonna say that one's pretty good. What's your favorite
Lord of the Rings movie? Because there is a correct answer. Yeah,

(54:35):
I'm gonna say at me, I'm kind of mad at you. Yeah,
I just I loved how epic and long and and sweeping.
It was a Yeah, you're a fellowship I'm a hardcore
fellowship girl. Yeah, I mean I think both are incredible.
Didn't Return of the King when the Oscar it did?

(54:56):
Yeah for best Picture? Um so maybe I'm swayed by
the fact that it got all the finally got the
awards that it deserved. Oh my god, was not annoying,
but yeah, I don't know, there's something so magical about
the ending, you know, the white tree of gondor the
lightings of the the uh what are those called the pyres?

(55:17):
Oh Billy Boyd singing that song? Yeah? Oh the remix Diva.
The remix of that song is so there's like a
club remix of like, I love that You're off book
a man, he paused dude shadow and then out of
nowhere we get a full belt thing. He's like, dude

(55:38):
of nine, whoa, I just got that? How did you
get that reverb? But yeah, that was okay. Now that
we're getting your musical styling, s Frankie, we have to
say Rose was lucky enough to see you in TITANIEK
No way I was. I saw it in December and
right before I left, and it was like the most

(56:00):
fun I've had seeing a piece of theater in years.
It was just so joyful and like stupid and playful
and fun. You were so great and I had such
a fantastic time. It is I think one of the
queerest piece of theaters in the world, and it is

(56:23):
I've never had so much fun being in a show,
like I never get a chance to be that stupid
at eight shows a week. Usually there's some sort of
some realm of you know, seriousness that has involved And
that was literally just fun and laughing the whole time.
And I love that cast so much. I mean, Marlon Mondel,
like what a genius as icon legend star a genius

(56:46):
so and the fact that she changes the show every
night and does the improv differently like it just it
always kept us on her toes and it was great.
I will tell you it is the hardest show I
have ever done in my life in what way physically, uh,
physically and vocally because you know, we're singing those celine
down songs like my my big note is like a

(57:07):
sp and uh you know the stairs girl tap dancing
up and down those stairs honey with around Really I was, yeah,
I was doing things. It was full and anything goes honey. Um.
So yeah. And we had started on a on a
cement deck before we got to that beautiful dow Row theater.

(57:28):
We were doing it for like six months on cement,
so my body was just dead. Um. But I'm looking
forward to going back for whatever the next whatever the
transfer is, whatever the next uh incarnation is, I will
be back playing Victor Garber. Is there an Ewok emerging
onto screen right now? What's Yoh my god? Oh what's
her name? What's their name? And pronouns apace, we love,

(57:53):
Agenda is agender, we love, we love Opa and um yes,
he does definitely look like a little Ewok and he's
Apa from Avatar the Last Airbender, so he's my little
sky god. I love Avatar the Last Airbender. That was
early COVID like, like, yes, April twenty twenty, I watched
Avatar for the first time, and I think, to this

(58:15):
day it's like one of the best most um like
cohesive pieces of fantasy media I've ever experienced. Yes, and
I'm actually excited for the live action because they have
said that they're doing the exact plot of the cartoon,
like they're not debating. Yeah, so that makes me happy,
Like we're gonna get you know, angg and we're gonna

(58:35):
get tough, and we're gonna get you know, like the
real the real OG characters. So with the same plot,
which is great, what kind of bender would you want
to be. Oh, I'm an airbender. Okay, I see that.
I'm an abder because I want to fly, y'all. And
I am fast moving and I you know, am kind
of playful. Um, I can have centered energy. I'm definitely

(58:59):
not a fire bill older Um, definitely not an Earth
I'm not grounded enough for Earth. I am not angry
enough for fire um. And I mean, I guess there
could be a very strong case made for me being
a water bender, but I think I'm I see era
as well. And honestly, I love what you said about
just like this, this reboot. There's this thing happening in
like nostalgic reboots right now where it's just like a

(59:20):
lot of people aren't getting it right, and I feel like,
what the what the kids want is a shot by
shot remake like Rose and I just watched that trailer
for The Little Mermaid or whatever, and I was just like,
damn like shot by shot, like that shot. I want
to see when she comes out of the shed. They
had to nail it, they had to nail it exactly,
and they did. And I'm a little nervous about the CGI.

(59:42):
I think I look a little crazy. I am too,
like Um, why does Sebastian look like he's trying to
sell me a crabby patty? Yeah, I'm slightly nervous, but
I don't, I don't, I will, I will. This is
also a very like I'm in my thirties take, but
like it also looks very dark, like I'm going to
be squinting a lot during the underwater scenes like it's
giving Game of Throne season eighty or you know um

(01:00:06):
that ye. Can you believe that they were released an
episode without color correcting it, like, baby, turn the brightness up,
they give me some contrast. They legit did not color
correct an episode and then they they aired it without
color correction. No one would see anything, and then they
changed it before they put it on. It was on accident.

(01:00:27):
I didn't know that I had to watch it. I
had to watch season eight with night vision goggles. Legitimately,
they just weren't. They didn't have enough time to get
everything you know, um out in time, so they just
were like, you can put it on and then they
were like we'll fix it after. And then literally we
were like, well and it showed um yeah, or it didn't.

(01:00:48):
I guess crazy. My mother was in Where was my
mother that she couldn't watch it live. Um, I don't know,
maybe London or something and I or you know, I
don't know. Maybe she was on tour of my sister.
But anyway, wherever she was, I had to I face
timed her to watch it together. So she really, Oh
my god, we need to get your mama. We need
to get your mom a VPN or something like, yeah,

(01:01:12):
we have figured it out. We see we can VPN.
We vpned on this side for Downton Abbey and we
watched that together. Don't get roads started, No, get me
started on Downton Abbey. Did you see a New Era
also known as the best film of twenty twenty two?
Of course I did, of course I did. Wait. Frankie's
sprawling knowledge of nerd culture is like you are high

(01:01:35):
key like moving your way into like like a virgin
correspondent kind of territory, Like, yeah, I think we found
a filt. I can't wait. I accept. Throughout the this

(01:02:01):
whole kind of chat we've been having, I keep hearing
your mom like coming in through and through. So your
mom is also a nerd? Is that kind of Did
she induct you into Star Wars or did you choose
this life. She inducted me. But it was, you know,
it's that thing where like that's why I'm you know,
love makeup and dancing and all of that stuff, because

(01:02:21):
she was simultaneously introducing me to Madonna, star Wars, star Trek,
Whitney Share and you know whatever else there was letting
me have my rocks off with my little Vultron. Oh yes, Vultron.
So you know, it was she did a really good
job of raising me with um all of the grade
eighties pop culture references, very very well rounded, and I

(01:02:44):
gravitated towards s and l we were watching, you know,
like Hannah Rosanna Danna, you know when I was a kid.
So she gave me a really good, well rounded pop
education as a I mean, which is so important. Yeah,
I do. I think maybe the person I haven't said,
you know that's why I'm so universe and my likes
and my you know, things that I like to share

(01:03:05):
with the world and also lit things that I enjoy me.
I mean, your whole obviously, your whole family is iconic,
but like your mom sounds particularly iconic. Like I wish
I had like a mom like that because I grew
up kind of opposite as like all the virgins already know,
like cultural vacuum, like very protected, like very like kind
of boring suburban life that like, you know, I didn't
experience all these things, which is why I'm being inducted

(01:03:25):
into all of them. Now. Oh so you're yes to
some extent. Yes, we switch roles sometimes sometimes the guests
the virgin, you know, we we play tag. But yes,
the conceit of the podcast was that I was the
virgin and still am. I've I've never had sex, and
then I'm the horror Yeah yeah, and I'm yeah, I
see that for you. Um, So we would be remiss

(01:03:48):
as not to talk about horror because you do have
an upcoming project and Rose and I are definitely horror buffs,
maybe more so Rose than I. Um but I have
really gotten into horror, like the last four or five
years or so. Do you have favorite horror movies or
like things that were the impetus to your horror journey. So,
as a kid, it was Chucky scared the shit out

(01:04:12):
of me, like absolutely terrified me to the point of
where like I didn't sleep for like months, and for
some reason that was extremely attractive to me. I thought
that was awesome that I was scared shitless at seven
years old. So again, my mother, seven years old, let's
go see child's play. We saw. She showed me the omen.

(01:04:32):
She showed me pet cemetery, cemetery, Zelda, Oh my god,
so horrifying, exactly dark shadows. Like I was a kid
again with a full rell, well rounded pop culture education,
and horror was definitely on the top of the docket.
And so it just kind of made me obsessed with
horror for the rest of my life. And I think,

(01:04:52):
you know, I'm a big James One fan, so I
love you know, Incidius and Cidius two, Conjuring U Malignant,
like those kind of films. I'm a huge James One fan.
I think he's great. And you know, basically anything A
twenty four I will consume these days. I mean I'll
watch anything We're Nicole Kidman's name, Like that's the chick

(01:05:13):
i'd switch for. I'm pretty sure that's the thing. Like
I find Nicole Kidman to be the hottest person on
the entire earth. I am obsessed with Nicole Kinman. I
think she's so beautiful and everything that she does. Are
you a little by or it's just just by for
Nico Kidman, not no whatever. I don't know how the

(01:05:33):
Kinsey skill works, but I know you're like very far.
Yes exactly I am. I am a point ooo three percent. No,
when you say you would like go, when you say
you love Nicole Kinman, you mean like you can recite
the AMC monologue like not that exactly want to touch
her boobs? No, like because here, you know, like I

(01:05:54):
love that woman so much, and I love her fashion,
and I love watching her on a red carpet and
I think she's just so fascinating and and she is
the one celebrity that I have met that I that
I flubbed. I flugged meeting I was. We were at
a Broadway show opening and I was at the bar
like getting a drink, and she was next to me

(01:06:14):
and I looked and I went oh, and she went
and the right and she walked away, and I was like, no,
that sparking diamond. Did you did a fiara? I did?
I was so mad at myself because I had so

(01:06:35):
many and I usually like, I'm so good with celebrities
and I and I always come with like the unconventional thing,
you know, like when I met Sigourney Weaver, even though
I have an Aliens tattoo, I said, I loved you
in Heartbreakers because Florida, and you know what I'm saying.
I was like, you're a comedian personal five device she was,
and she like, I was like, she wanted to talk

(01:06:56):
to me for three hours because that's the way I
entered with her, and I wasn't, like, Hi, I love
alien and she was great. Another one of them. So
I always have something fun to say to celebrity when
I meet them, and I had nothing. I was completely
unprepared for Nicole Kidman. And one day maybe this will
be the funny thing that I get to tell her.
But as far as I know, she's the only one

(01:07:17):
that I've flubbed the meeting. Rose and I are definitely
you know, lighting a candle for your one day, uh,
you know one, Nicole, putting you in my prayers. Okay,
we're gonna role play a little bit, so right now
I am Nicole Kidman. Okay, no, oh my god. Okay,
see even this is making me nervous and she's not
even here. She's here. It's me. Let's see what say

(01:07:40):
of Tim Nicole Kidman in this place magic. Yeah we are. Um,
I would just say Hi, I just want to I
want to tell you that, Um, you know, I've been
You're the only person in my entire life that I
actually have made me speechless because you and your work
so much and you have really inspired me to be

(01:08:02):
even more of a faggot. Thank you off. Yeah, I
love that. I can't do I can't really do it either.
On the hand, maybe what continental she really? It's funny
because she has, like you know, been in every decade,

(01:08:23):
every half decade of our lives, like she has had
like prevalent pictures, prep like blockbusters, like iconic performances that
just like raised us, like Nicole Kimman raised us period. Right,
I don't know what that one thing is. Yeah, I
don't know what that one thing is that I would
be like, this is the thing where we start the conversation. Yeah,
what would you so? I got to think about this. Oh,
for me, it would be practical magic, like that is

(01:08:45):
we you know, you know that is like in many ways,
my ultimate origin story is practical magic. And if I
ever met Nicole. Have I met Nicole? No, I haven't.
If I did, I would um just tell her like
you are the reason I'm a redhead or something. Yeah. Yeah,
oh I love that. That's a great entrance. Setine is

(01:09:06):
really what started it for me. It really was when
she descended from that ceiling, everything changed. It was over.
It was over for me. How you just realized? You know?
But does she know? Does she know she's a gay icon?
I hope she Yeah, I think she knows. Does she know?
Do enough gay people tell her that? I really? I
think so? The way she was acting on the Oscars
Red Carpet, Yeah, I think she knows. Yeah. And the

(01:09:32):
the AMC now is getting the sequel? Did we hear this? Yes?
I'm worried about it because like, of course I want more,
but I also don't know that anything can compare to
the original because it was so It's like it was
like naive camp, you know, like they didn't go into
it hoping to make something like that. And so now
the Camp Camp now, yeah, but are they going to

(01:09:54):
do that right? Like will AMC do Camp Camp? Right?
You know, Camp and its purest forum is unaware of
itself and that's why the first commercial was so great.
So when it's aware of itself, then it's like drag
Race you know, or like just camp that's like aware
of it whatever. But like you know, it doesn't matter
because we're going to recite that and memorize that too.
You know, I know they should have hired us to
write the sequel. Yes, honestly, well, Rose and I joke

(01:10:16):
that Nicole Kidman herself did write, direct and pitch the
AMC commercial herself. Yeah, much like Shaer doing West Side Story.
She was. She was like the big boys. She did
the grip. She was in the editing room doing everything. Yep, exactly.
I mean does that first shot with the heels and
the puddle. It's just she also sewed the jumpsuit. She

(01:10:38):
sewed that jumpsuit. She was ryan stoning that thing. She
was like, she was like doing a drag race, drag
race unconventional materials challenge. She certainly was, Oh my god, Yeah,
she's my everything. One day, I gotta work on the
Nicole Kidman pinch of it all. I gotta do it. Well.
Hopefully this Selt therapy was was good for you. Yeah, yes,
we're putting it out into the unit. So that's going

(01:11:00):
to hop in. Okay, Um, so we have to ask
you to tell us about your upcoming project Summoning Sylvia. Yay, yeah, okay. Um,
speaking of Naive Camp, I don't know if it's naive
Camp or camp camp, so but I will will. I
don't think I'm the one to say I think it's
that's supposed to be. Society has decide what that is.
But um, it's pretty campy uh. It is a gay extravaganza.

(01:11:23):
So it is a gay bachelor weekend where we take
our best friend up to upstate New York where we
rent a haunted house and my character Nico decides to
have a seance to summon the owner of the house
the ghost that is believed to be haunting this house,
and then you know, insanity ensues from there. It is

(01:11:44):
an all LGBTQ plus leading cast, director, writer, creator, producer.
So um, it's just I think something that will hopefully
go down in queer film history one day, as as
as something that you know was entirely lgbt Q plus.
You know, we're definitely seeing and I have to applaud

(01:12:07):
things like Knock at the Cabin that are like giving
us these amazing queer characters in horror. But it's definitely
the exception and not the norm. And we're always the
first people to die. Still, you know, like there's still
no those stereotypes that I hope that this movie will
kind of break break for the world and hopefully people
will see it and be like, oh cool, we can
have an all queer movie and it could be for

(01:12:27):
everybody and it'll be great. Isooky, spooky or there thrills
and chills. So I'm going to put it in the
category of following comedy, thriller, horror, So in those in
that order, okay, yeah, in that order is how I
would put it. If you're a crazy horror fan and
you go, you might be like, well that wasn't horror.
But if you're terrified of horror, absolutely you can go.

(01:12:49):
So this is for most of My mom will be terrified,
I mean, but I don't know. She'll get a couple
of jump scares, but no, I think of the overall
should like oh, so, would you say it's maybe in
like the Megan category of films? Yes, absolutely, great, great analogy.

(01:13:09):
We love a comp I wish we had killing a
murder robot in ours, but well maybe in the sequel, yes, exactly,
maybe there will be. In Summoning Sylvia, I'm like kind
of like racking my brain. There really are not enough
like gay horror thriller kind of moments. Like I feel
like it's like what is that. It's because like you know,
this kind of like genre of films is already so

(01:13:31):
like relegated outside of like awards stuff and like not
considered serious genres, et cetera. Like you would think that
it would have more autonomy to like be super queer,
supertrans or whatever. But I don't know, are there any
other kind of like gay horror stuff like you said
knock to the cabin, but is there anything else? So
much of it is coded and not correctplicit rank you thanks, silence,

(01:13:55):
coded not explicit. Um often where the problematic character rather
than the solution solvers, if you will, you know, the
weird ones, um, you know, the odd balls. So it's
nice to just be us in a movie and be
able to just exist as gay people without it being
you know, so heavy handed or like have such a

(01:14:17):
large agenda. Our agenda is let's create a film with
all gay people and make it for everybody. But that's
our that's only agenda week that and also indoctrinate the
world into homosexuality, so that one day we are all well, yes,
of course, yes exactly, so that you know drag queens
can come through. Yeah. Um, Frankie, do you believe in ghosts? Um?
I I think I don't know. I go in and

(01:14:42):
out because I feel like at this point in my
life I probably would have had more for real experience,
but um, apparently I don't. There's not I can't really
talk about this, but I think my husband and I
are going to be put into a kind of environment
with ghosts coming up that is supposed to be okay,

(01:15:04):
continue so something. There is a project that we're working
on that might put me and my husband in a
ghost place. So I might have a different opinion moving forward,
but for now I feel like I don't have enough
empirical evidence to support this. That is like the best
like celeb like you know, I can't say it, but
I'm gonna say it. She's like, I will be put
in a place one day with ghosts. I can't say where,

(01:15:26):
I can't say when. So random I know that is
We're gonna have to redact that moment about the ghost.
I'm pretty sure my fathers is going to be like,
what the fucker like you? It's fine, just let him merit.
It's cool. So, yes, I don't know. I'm looking forward
to getting a little bit more information on that. I

(01:15:48):
think as a kid, I was way, way, way more
open to this, and I think that it is something
where maybe like throughout your life, you can become more
a tune aware, open, and then you can close yourself
off and be like no, that was just the air
conditioning where it's literally like one of your spirit being like, yo,
what's good. Don't go driving tomorrow, like you know, whatever

(01:16:08):
it is. Um So yeah, I think there it remains
to be seen, rights to be right now, I'm chilling.
I don't think that there are ghosts are at the moment,
but I do enjoy the idea of um spirits being
a part of my data people watching over you. I
like that. That is nice, that's comforting. You will definitely
have to get back to us though, if you discover

(01:16:29):
concrete evidence the ghost surreal. Yeah, yeah, we want we
want to break that on this podcast slide in towards
DMS at Like a Virgin for twenty sixty nine to
let us know how much you need to hear more
of Frankie Grande's goal of impression. Um, are you a
star Wars Stan? A star trek Stan? Are you star

(01:16:52):
trek Stan? Um? What's your gay nerd? You know? Flavor
of Choice. Also, you can and become a patron at
Patreon dot com slash like a Virgin to get access
to bonus weekly episodes. Um, and you can buy our
merch at Like a Virgin for twenty sixty nine dot com.

(01:17:15):
I'm Rosdamu. You can find me anywhere online at Rose Damu.
And I'm frant Roto. You can find me at France,
squishco anywhere you like. Like a Virgin is an iHeartRadio production.
Our producer is Phoebe Unter, with support from Lindsay Hoffman
and tour until next week. May the Force be with you?

(01:17:44):
Can you can you sign off with a little gallum again,
um Toe Turns Reports, Teltors Brochures, Thank you so much
for listener to a lot of Verdon podcast or Scarred
Graham and all