Taryn Manning

The one and only Taryn Manning is on the pod to talk about working with Eminem on 8 MILE, having Britney Spears prove she can sing on CROSSROADS, what is it she's still waiting on from HUSTLE & FLOW, and why she was the outsider on ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. She and Stephen talk all things acting, the dark side of Hollywood, faith, music and so much more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Karen Manning, what a great episode that was, honestly, honestly.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome to one Bad Movies. Today we were chatting with
Taryn Manning. Yeah, known for her amazing performance in Eight Mile, Yes,
worked alongside Eminem. She also Hustle and Flow, probably one
of the coolest indie underrated, cool cool movies of all time.
Hustle and Flow.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yes, she had a good run there in the odds.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Terren's impressive career also includes stand up performances in Oranges,
The New Black Crossroads, and The Sons of Arnikey of Anarchy.
In our conversation, we dove into her experience working on
these iconic projects and much much more. JJ.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
What else do they have to add about Tirean Manning? Oh,
I just liked she was gnarly. She was gnarly, and
she told stories that I had never heard about from
like working with Eminem and some names associated with how
and Flow that I was just unaware of that. I
think she they she spills the tea on some stuff.

(01:06):
That's I thought. I was just fascinated with her behind
the scenes stories. And he is not just an actor,
she's a singer too, So that is Taren Manning coming
up now on one bad movie.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Adult great Batts.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
It's so bad.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
It's goods, Damnum.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Guilty manness this sun this dude, it's so bad.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
It's your one bad.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
There's timing for everything. It's my How cool is groot?

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Is it cutets?

Speaker 2 (01:51):
It's the guys. They have all that, you know, fancy stuff.
I don't know what this but the sad you know.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, it's not your movie. I'm a should you pay
him to put all this year?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
These guys?

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Too much?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Good they earned it.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Put up with me.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, there's not enough to nobody in the world.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
It's a whirlwind I call whirlwinds.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Hello, Hello, that's funny.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Hello? Is it me or looking for So we're talking
about our bad movies? Are just bad movies?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (02:25):
I heard this way and they like that all right.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's like they say, just like, you know, mock the mic,
you know what's up?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, but not in front of butterface cover the butterface
face for radio. Baby, I've heard it all.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Now you can get comfortable and just just bring it closer.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
That's all. I just want to be comfortable.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Okay. So yeah, so you like it closer than closer,
closer closer, now take it off, now take it off.
Not one of those that's funny, okay, closer with Big
Red was a big Red the gum with arid extra dry,

(03:12):
so long selast so long ago, like you just stepped
out of a salon.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
What other one? Wait? What was the Big Red jingle?

Speaker 3 (03:22):
There's that one? Do that one you just did? Yeah
with Big Red, do it again the one you just did?
You said, arid dry, They host a little longer hotel,
a little longer alonger with Big Red, the deep big
detion is last right, do it your friend best? Why

(03:44):
would you and say goodbye? A little longer.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Longer?

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Clow? That was what a jingle? Our doublemint doublemint double
will be come the twins double. Yeah, that's all you
re ever now that.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Guy who wrote that jingle, right, that's all it is
your pleasure double your phone with doubleman double. He just
doubles doublement twice.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
But Big Red was that was a that was a
that was a banger, like that was a well made song.
We should let's get specially alonger. There's like an abba
you just took put some flour on the floor and
some horns and wow, what else raise your head. They

(04:37):
don't do that anymore.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
We should write jingles about ourselves.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
I have a headache, this big, it only, etcetera. I'm like,
I needed that, it's true. I'm like, that's really weird.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I was an actor who when I first started, they
were like, wow, you should do commercials. And I was like,
I don't know, man. They were like no, really, like
you're kind of cute. I'm like, yeah, but I just
can't do that that like take the bite of the
burger thing, I you know what I mean, like that,
I don't look like I don't know. I just couldn't

(05:14):
get into.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
It, even just for a commercial.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Like if I did a movie and I was an
actor eating a hamburger, I.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Was cool, even for ninety dollars.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
I'd take the money and run. But the point was
like going these auditions and be like what do you got?

Speaker 3 (05:32):
You know?

Speaker 2 (05:33):
They were like, yeah, just.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Ephen tried this one in like you got it, chew
it better man the ketchups.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Smile at the end. Yeah, show the like cheese hanging
out of my mouth. It wasn't I didn't know what
I was doing.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, commercials that I don't be like a Mario
Lopez tonight have to be like super hot, super what hot?

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well that too? That doesn't you know that that that's
an add on, that's that's yeah, it's like an extra cheese.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, like the car wash, like you know the Carls.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's that's that's a whole other conversation.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
But that's just the whole thing. But it's gross to me.
Harris Hilton commercial, they all did that.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
She was brilliant. She is extremely talent.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
I love her.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
She's a sweetheart. It was her. She's got that tennis sequi.
You know, the best thing about her she's never given
up and I love that about her. Oh yeah, oh yeah,
she'll talk about you know Lewis carry on. Remember he's
a really good friend of mine. He was excited that
we met, Yeah for sure. All right, Well he remembers

(06:37):
like remember no, that was a no that he was
an artist and and he did that clothes horse because
you love clothing in the fashion shows. And then he
went to prison. But you know he's he's been through it.
He loves God. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
I have a question, not necessarily, you know, I could
do my Taron Manning, what's your one bad movie?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
One bad Well, see wow, wow.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Excellent, thank you. Is there anything in particular that because
here's the thing, is this the vibration here on One
Bad Movie? Is is the word.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Anecdotal rights or a dictionary? What does that mean?

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Is there any stories like even out of context? Is
there any like things that don't necessarily have to be
like you were on the set and it was it
could be like craft service and somebody had a worddrobe malfunction.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
And you know what I mean, Oh, I see where
you're headed.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
It could be like anything, as long as it's not
like two groady TTM is the right.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
So this is a PG show, I would.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Know it's not PG. But you know, if you were
wearing like an adult diaper at some point for like
a stunt and you craft yourself, you don't have to
tell that you don't want to welcome to one.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
I refuse those times. So there was like nine questions
in one. So I'm going to start from question one.
That's just another stalker a live Well, I've in direct
we're going to block them live the worst movie. Okay,
one bad Movie. I'm just gonna put that into like
one compartment like as a total, and then we could

(08:26):
go into stories within? Is that cool? Well? U, my goodness, gracious,
I've done so many movies and most of them are bad,
but I'm a working actor.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
How many movies have you made?

Speaker 3 (08:41):
I don't know. We'd have to go on to IMDb.
I'd say upwards of sixty seventy ohteah, and then that's
the TV. Yes, is fired up right now?

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Is there one? My gosh, like one of my bad movies?
We've talked about this.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
You're credited with ninety six credits.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Okay than minus the TV. Yeah, yeah, so that would
make about I would say sixty movies.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
There's fifty sixty features, seventy three, film and.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Videos seventy three, and I'd say about seventy year bad.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Well, I did one hundred, one hundred, and I thought
like we were like developing the show, right, these guys
should be talking to me and go early on when
we were like you like, hey, the structure, it'll be
this many minutes and how many bad movies? Think of Stephen?
I went, I kind of scrolled through it. I didn't
really look and I wasn't paying attention. Probably seven seven.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Wow, so you did twenty seven only as if?

Speaker 2 (09:43):
But it's check this out. I just rounded it off
logically in my head, like I did one hundred movies.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Like around bad, like many bad movies, but I was
great in all of them.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Right on.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
I can't help the writing. I gave it what I could.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's called when you elevate the project. That movie is
me as like a modern day some kind of something
with a gun and I go through a time portal
to kill flying female demons.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
So at least you could make sense of it. Did
you get paid a lot?

Speaker 2 (10:26):
I think they convinced me to go.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
That's just money talk.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
I'm sure they paid me enough to be in a
very bad movie.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
What country? What? What country? Were you in? What country?

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Probably Bulgarians. There's Transylvania.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Wow, I got a banger the cult? Are you in it?

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Well? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (10:49):
But this is Oh, there's several that that I'm like,
I couldn't. I feel like it's money, it's money laundering
or racketeering. It's like they take the money, they give
us just a portion, and then they run off with it.
And you're like, that's what you made out of all
that unbelievable just mailing it in. So I have to

(11:10):
ask you a question when you knew. Did you know
you were doing a bad movie when you were doing it?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Well, boy, that's the best question yet asked on this program.
You know why, you know why? That's the secret, Sauce tared.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
We don't ask, but you know our family, I know.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
It was a bad movie before. That's the secret.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Then you walked yourself right into the lions. Then. But
even but even when we take those on, we still
have to do, we still have to deliver.

Speaker 4 (11:45):
Before yes, did you so?

Speaker 3 (11:51):
But it's questionable. It's questionable.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Parents, I would have to say about this one.

Speaker 3 (11:59):
I wasn't sure this one here.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, I wasn't sure if this was a bad script,
was like, and then I got there and we started
filming and I went, oh, maybe it'll be okay.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Can I leave now?

Speaker 3 (12:14):
A boy, I'm already love I love it.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
We live our lives. So the deal of the homeless
guy was home and he was just trying to defend it.
So I can't plain.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
We make our plans.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Vacation of desperate NATO.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
And we never know what. Wow, Baltimore, they're under something though.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
This asteroid has this really practicluspisode, this entire order to
break away by its way to or ex gravitation.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
The result would be a civilization.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
In the event. I'm just a demolitions expert.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Nobody things.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
We need your expertise.

Speaker 3 (13:03):
Take the walls and yes, yes, let's go to the.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
Moon.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Look at all that that costs him a lot post production?

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Then Wow, Earth's Darkest Day.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
Nice Syo Armageddon Steve Superstar. Yes, that's a good one.
I would watch that for real.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
One bad movie is the number of people tearing literally
out there in the world, like dig easy movies is astronomical.
I know, so we're we're fans of that. But you've
been in a couple of pretty freaking coolness. Well yeah,

(14:08):
but we're talking about you today.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Okay, so then let me talk.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
So I have a couple of questions.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
I bet you can snuggle you all stopped talking, snug
all you want.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
I'm down to hear you, like say something about eight
mile but like actor wise, actor vibe wise, like.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
What was it?

Speaker 3 (14:35):
Like?

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Meaning there's every there's what happened with the movie, the
success of the movie. Kim Basinger's you know my ex
sister in law, you know blah blah blah, So I
know her about her acting a little closer than most
people do, and you know, YadA YadA, Yeah, But I
just mean getting the role and walking into that scenario

(14:58):
got it, which because it was I think it was
a studio movie, right, yeah, So I mean it was
a pretty to do.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
Curtis Hanson, Curtis Hanson, big director, so.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Tickets from there. Just when you got the gig, was
it like whatever, whatever, we'll see what happens, or were
you like, whoa I got to really show up? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Well it was a casting director who was a big
time like but she passed away. There were like maybe
ten casting directors that we loved to read for that
we'd find out actually have power in the business, you
know what I'm talking about, Like Debaquilla Mary Vernew. This
was my goodness, gracious, can we pull up her name
just because I'm blinking, But she passed away. But to

(15:37):
get this role, I had to go in there about
five times, right, I mean again and again and again.
There was a time that we actually auditioned and earned
a part, see which you had five callbacks, huh, And
it just kept dwindling down to the to the I
guess best man for the.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
Job, and was all that was Curtis or no, not
till the end, Malle Finn.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
Malle Finn, Membor, Mally Finn sweetheart. So there was a
time like you'd be sitting in the room with Christina Ricchie,
terror Reid, Kirsten dunst Leally sobiesky Rika Christiansen, Britney Murphy
and we're all just on the sign.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
And she like, hey with that, Wow, what role did
you audition for.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
For Britney Murphy's part? All the gals that were there,
and then it just kept going like, well, I didn't
get that part. So then they like, you know, down
the line, but five times it when.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
Did you read with Eminem and when it did, no,
But he watched the.

Speaker 3 (16:36):
Tapes and he's like I like her, So that that
was cool. Same with Crossroads.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
Were you nervous with both of them? Were you nervous
because they were like the first time these two musicians
were acting right, Were you nervous like, oh my god,
this could.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Be No, I was pumped. I was just like, well
with okay, Crossroads is a different story. With Eminem, I
was a little bit star struck. And I remember being
walking on set that day and his bodyguards like I
walked up. I was walking towards and his bodyguards like
did a little like on the set. Yeah, like that,
like like I was just like a runaway rogue fan

(17:11):
or something, you know that feeling, you know that feeling.
I'm like, oh, hello, I was just you know, gonna
say hi, I played Jeanine and they're like, she plays Janine.
He's like oh, and then they and then they moved
out of the way, and I was just, hey, what's up?
And now he was so nice, so cool. I mean
we're talking like that was some shady I mean he

(17:34):
was writing the soundtrack the whole time and get a
gym on set, and he was so humbled around all
of us actors. We're all humbled around him, but he
was like, this is my first movie and he was humbled.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
Like but with the acting too. He did a pretty
good job for somebody had never done.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yeah, he did a great job. But I have another
better story.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
So they had already started filming and I showed up,
you know, because you know how it is scheduled. And
I show up to set and there's a there's a letterhead,
a yellow letterhead like eight by eleven, you know, like
long and Brittany Murphy had written me a three page
note handwritten, Hey, it's so nice to have another girl

(18:19):
on set. I think you're incredible. Three pages of just
the sweetest stuff I've ever read. So kind, and I
cherished that letter to this day.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah, very sweet.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
And she's you know, she passed, so it's like, but
she went through it. On that movie, Curtis Hansen was
pretty cruel to her. She was a little bit insecure
because they you know, trying to be like the lead
pretty woman and all that, and like, she also had
a tendency not to come out of her trailer on time,
and so there was a lot of riff raft going

(18:54):
on too, as it does.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
That a lot of Hollywood.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
I come out of my trailer on time. I'm only
there to work. I'm like, give me out of this thing.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
I locked myself in.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah you have, oh I have you have?

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, there there was a few times that your.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
Sound was still on hold. What is that?

Speaker 4 (19:20):
What?

Speaker 3 (19:20):
Remember that one struck the shash and remember old one.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
It does matter that your sound.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Doesn't matter, you know, you're like, that's right.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
There was a couple of times when I was in
international situations on independent films, where I had to look
at like a at a dude named Hans and go, bro,
you've like broken all the rules working me here because
like I'm in Bulgaria. Oh so now you're talking out
your ass because you're telling me you're bringing me in

(19:51):
tomorrow like early.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
Again, pushing your call force call.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
And here's the problem there, Hans. I'll come in in
the morning, but once I get my I ain't coming out.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
So you just got hours on the other side.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Window, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
What was the point of that though, Like if you
were just gonna punish them on the other side, did
you just want that thousand dollars for the first call? Well,
because you're just gonna go to the.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Other one thousand.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
But you're the other thing.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
If they themselves, we didn't need them thirteen days in
a row.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Oh no, it's terrible.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, you get to some place exhausted. Yeah, it didn't
matter who you are.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
Well, just money talk. I try, right, Yeah, but sometimes
they just call you in because they don't know what
they're doing. They are a bunch of chickens with their
heads cut off. You're like, can I run this set
for you? Because I could tell you she didn't need
to be in yet because a lot of time they're
first time directors and we've done It's so sweet. It
could be the greatest too.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Sure Sometimes, what were your first couple of scenes on
eight Mile? Do you remember? Like who were they with?

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Oh? I mean I only had scenes with him, with
Marshall Mathers.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Most of your stuff was just with him only.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, it's when I went and like like I went
in and you know, accused him of like I'm pregnant
and you're leaving me. Everyone booed you off stage last night.
He's like, get out of here, get out of here,
And I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, but I was
just like, yeah, I did it again. There was a
time that you could do like ten takes like they
would let you know. It's like, was he fun in

(21:40):
the dis direction? Yeah, but he just wanted it several
different ways, which I love to do, right, yeah, I
love to do. I'm like, what else do I crying?
Do you laughing like.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
I'm switching gears?

Speaker 1 (21:48):
Hold on real quick, real quick, I'm stitching gears. Hold
on hold real quick. Did Marshall did you get to
talk to him about your character? Did he give you
any insight on it.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
I'm just Curtis. No, it was Curtis, but I have
another story from there. So at that time, I was
twenty two about and I had a band with my brother,
and I was I would leave my trailer door open
and bump my music because you know, there's a lot
of time downtime, and I would just have my music
just bumping out, like there was a time that You're

(22:17):
just like, so, hope someone hears it. So Mark Levelle,
his road manager, can walk in by, he daring, what
are you listening to? Oh? Nothing, just me my band,
you know, just Flagrant, And he's like, oh, yeah, that's cool.
Can I can I show it to Marshall? And I'm
like yeah, So I take the CD out of the player.

(22:39):
He shows it to him, and then Marshall Mathers loved
it and wanted to sign us, and then put a
song on the soundtrack. I met with Jimmy I Van,
I mean the whole shebang. It became about like my music,
which is my first love. I couldn't believe it what
happened after that?

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Oh what do you mean with that situation that they
love the music, and then what they love the music?

Speaker 3 (23:02):
I'm I signed with DreamWorks over Jimmy Ivan because my brother,
My brother was like kind of we're a duo and
he was the boss of us, and he's like, we
don't need to be put on. We're the Golden Child.
We don't need Marshall Mathers. I'm like, please, calling please,
but he's like, no, I do No. You wanted to

(23:22):
just sign without being put on, you know, right, but
you still put this song on the soundtrack, our song
that he loved because Brittany Murphy and him, like I
don't know if they were just chilling, but he said
he played it every night on the way home. Yeah,
those are good memories. Like that's like, yeah, I like,
that's an.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Awesome freaking story today maybe, I.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
Mean, it's a long time wasting my time. So it's tender.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
What song on boss?

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Just look up boot but look up Boomcat E p
K and then you go all the way to the
end and you'll see my brother too, because it's our
e p K for DreamWorks and they put it out there.
The whole thing absolutely a boom cat K A T
e p K K A T. The boom is the

(24:15):
kick and the cat is the snare drum, boom cat.
That's it right there, Son, I got my boom cat
bron there it is. That's it right there, son, Okay, okay, kemel.

(24:53):
I got the faith, no religion. That was before I
found God. I'm not a competitional decision. When you come
is the club? I got the faith, no religion. Uh oh,
it's like that didn't like this. No, it's just so
my brother plays the syn face. Oh gosh, it's about

(25:20):
sag after watch Past the sag Gates because I'm a singer. Baby.
That's after being fired a couple of times. Yeah, that sucked.
My brother's a dick, but but I love him. You know,

(25:42):
he's a genius though, but he was rough on me.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
That's your brother. Where's he lived now with my mom?

Speaker 4 (25:52):
Yeah exactly.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
He got rich from this and then he got on
drugs and but uh but no, it's all kind of
like this is a good right here, Like you see
the Gap commercial, you see cross Road to see eight Mile,
like how all this intertwined? And DreamWorks was like do
you want to act or sing? I'm like ah, because
it was all going together.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Right, you know, because of eight Mile?

Speaker 3 (26:17):
No before yeah, before that, yeah, anyway, the end of
it is that the eight miles song. But I'm yeah.
So basically they were asking me do you want to
sing or act? And I'm like both, you know, but
there was a time you got to choose a little
ahead of its time that goes into it and uh

(26:37):
then it stops there and then it's the wasting my
time from the crazy beautiful there blah blah blah.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
It's crazy question. Okay, Now, yes, if you could do
like without your brother, if you had to just for
the freedom for you to express yourself, Yeah, if you
could do like an acoustic I do you perform now?

Speaker 3 (27:02):
Acoustic acoustic solo. I didn't dance music. I've done a
whole solo tear manny like music stuff. Right guys, I
don't know what's going to play though on the program.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
Right now, we're gonna like sponsor to.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
I did a song. I did a song about uh
about God that went on Orange is a New Black
that I wrote one night I was having a hard time,
called Chains and I wrote it out of know where.
It just came from my heart and it was on
Oranges Black, Yeah, And I put it onto my iPhone
and they licensed it's one of the most moneies I've

(27:39):
ever made from a freaking phone recording, more than even
that they paid me per episode.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
You just brought up like another amazing platform, which is
Orange Is a New Black? Yeah, how long were you
on that?

Speaker 3 (27:53):
The whole seven years? The whole seven seasons?

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh, I didn't know that the whole time.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yeah, whoa yea was that?

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Did you ever have to do your own stunts?

Speaker 3 (28:05):
I love stunts. I love Yeah, what I'm always when
they call it a stunt? Yeah, I'm like, let me
see your hands because I don't like when I could
tell someone else's hands right, like, those aren't my hands?

Speaker 2 (28:16):
To the fence.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
You could do everything but not burn yourself like I
was on Hawaii Fi Vo and Alec alex uh mc
mcclaugh Yeah mcah McLoughlin. I was saying about Sarah mcla
he does all his own stunts, but he won't But
Sag won't let you burn yourself, like like set yourself
on fire. So that's where they draw the line. But

(28:40):
he's like, he does his own stunts.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
What what was it about seven years on Orange Is
the New Black? What? Like is what was that? Just
a cool gig? Was it like a character like that,
you dug.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
She was an awful, awful character. You know it. It
was a lie, you know, But and I had to
move and I was kind of a fish out of water,
to the point where the producer NEARI Tennenbomb or whatever
her name is, called my manager the very first season
and said, Listen, does tarn like know how to make
friends because she's a little bit you know, doesn't talk

(29:19):
to anybody. And when I heard that, I'm like, my
character doesn't like anybody. I'm sitting on this side because like,
my character does not like anybody. So that was the
first time I went really a message that's funny. Yeah,
so they called it tattle tiled on me.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
You freaking hired me to do this, Yeah, you hired
me to be.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
The most living piece of garbage on the planet. And
now I'm being tattletailed upon because they would all fratenize.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, it's a compliment to your performance, babe.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, but they've are ready to like, you know, I
wasn't like fitting in.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
So then what happened? Did you have to like chill
a little bit or like forget it.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
Chill more like not to really talk to anybody?

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Whatever? Did you like politicize it at all? Did you
like play? Did you play?

Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah? I tried to be a little sweet.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
You know, it's the most horrible person in the world.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
Yeah, And it was like the character. They chatted so much.
I'd be like, shut up, we need to get on
our marks and work, like seriously, Like I say this
to this day. Sometimes I'd be waiting forever for them
to get to their marks. I'm like, the crew needs
to get home to their wives. Because I'm a team player,
you know, I don't like when gals the guys lag.
You know, it's not all about the actor. It's about everybody.
It's a it's a it's a team so iron teen,

(30:31):
it's all about humble. It's just it's a work situation. Okay,
I'm getting it. I'm getting here. She was a racist,
anti gay, just just bigot, big it just you know,
calling out you know, Bible versus. But had no idea
what she was talking about. She was just sponsored by

(30:53):
the Christians because she shot the gall at the abortion clinic,
so they thought she was a hero, but really she
was just pissed and then she went to jail, but
they sponsored her through it. So she just all right,
I'll do whatever you say to get me out of here.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, that's crazy.

Speaker 3 (31:09):
But she was humbled in there for.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Sure, like she that's the backstory of the character.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, no, that's part of the story though. Yeah, so basically,
but yeah that people ask me like, did you do
you think she was really Christian? I think she began
to like she was like, no, I have no idea
what I'm talking about. That's what I think. And then
she got her ass whipped and she got beat up,
and you know, and then but she was the one
that was really like refined by going to prison because

(31:35):
the meth got out of her head, her brain and
the mountain dew.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
That you're.

Speaker 3 (31:43):
And I was taken to the mental institution in real
life on that on that show because I was mad
one day. I had a bad day. Yeah it was great,
but yeah, these things happened because it was a lot
of a character. All back to back, back to back,
seven seasons is long. But then I'd be DJing on
the weekends, but I wasn't really allowed to be I'd
be going to Canada, Spain and back by Monday on

(32:05):
my Mark exhausted. I was, Yeah, I was making a
lot of money. DJ like, but they like can't hold me.
But I had to like approve everything. Nah, that was it. No,
I'm like, no, I can do it.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
You know.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
One time I didn't make it back. There was a
hold of in Canada. I think I lost my passport. No,
they just you know, yeah, but I cost them a
lot of money.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
You've done some very cool work as an actor.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Your music's I think your music is what.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
Have you heard? What have you heard of my music?

Speaker 4 (32:47):
Though?

Speaker 3 (32:48):
We really listened, yeah, but we played Yeah, but that's no.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
But it's all it takes is a song, right, Yeah?
What's up right too? I know all it takes is
a song?

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Yeah, yeah, it's usually like this simple.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Maybe there was a song with you, Oh really all
it takes. But I think your music is something kind
of that was one season and is with you still obviously,
but it was on this one season that led more
to the acting.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
Right, It kind of went hand in hand for a while,
but then the acting.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Took it became your primary focus.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
Yeah, and also the bills, and so.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
It would it be fair to say that like kind
of as far as your your artistic focus goes, like
the acting was a little more intriguing.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Now. I was devastated about the music. Yeah, I always
say I'm a working actor and a struggling musician. I
my heart's in music, and I guess, but.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
It's a parallel for you. It's an even parallel. So
that's interesting. That's very you know, there's musicians that that
act and actors that sing and all kinds of stuff
like that. Good Hustle and Flow is a great performance
by you because it's a difficult situation. It's singleton producing.

(34:16):
The dynamics are rushed, you're filming fast.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
Really it was very planned because go go ahead and
tell me what you're thinking. The reason why this movie
was one of the best is because the director who
wrote it, Craig Brewer, he'd written that years prior, so
he knew this movie and his characters like the back
of his hand. So working with him, he knew what
he wanted and that was powerful.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
But may I just absolutely intersect right there, which is
so as a performer or as somebody who responds to
direction as an actor. That was a blessing for you
because you were in the character and he would be like,
you know, think about this it again.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
Yeah, because I'm just like I like to be you know,
I like to be directed. I revere my directors and
I want to hear from them. And we had an
amazing table read, which is like a lost art form,
where we all sat together and it was the most
incredible table read we were performing. Wasn't flat. It was like,
oh my god, we got something here.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
After the first no, no, no, after the table of
Hustle and Flow, because a couple of those producers I
know from back in.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
The day, Stephanie Lanier and John Singleton, they were the producers.
John Singleton passed away.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
The rest of the cast.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Now, I was never paid for Hustle and Flow. It's
the whole thing. You can look that up. But anyway,
moving forward, So it was Anderson Taraji Tarren toward DJ Qualls,
Taren Manning. That's it. It's like five of us.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
And Terrence Howard's badass too. He's an acting son of
a gun. Yeah, so yeah, he's very.

Speaker 3 (35:59):
To Wait, we had a blast.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, can I ask what happened?

Speaker 3 (36:03):
What do you mean?

Speaker 2 (36:04):
No?

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Well, you just said, yeah, that's the truth. Do you
want to leave it at that?

Speaker 3 (36:09):
I mean, it's just like, I mean, you can look
it up, but Yeah, it's just basically like the two
white actors. I don't know, I'm not making it because
people be like, I'm racist. Everyone thinks I'm racist anyway,
But that's the craziest thing on the planet. It's just
that I'm a good actor. Feel like I cherry picked
to play racist, anti gay, Like I've got all these
movies and I go, no, I'll do that one. It's like, no,
it's all I get. But yeah, So basically I wasn't

(36:31):
paid my back end points. But it wasn't those kind
of back end points. It was the real kind the
producer the producer points. And so I rode like at
one point something million and I'm waiting on it, and
it's a full thing after all these years, because you
can't do that. You can't taking advantage of a young
gal and just not honor her contract, you know.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
But it came through.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah, and they all called me and told me to
get in line and get to the back of the line.
I was like, nah, every man for himself. You can
hire your own lawyers. I'm but I'm going for mine,
right because I've been like downgraded a lot, you know,
but I know my worth good. Yeah, because it's real good.
You know, they think that they pay you, like the
section eight white trash, you know whatever they call you,

(37:14):
that they can just continue that trajectory. And it's not fair.
It's not fair anymore, you know.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
But now you're moving on to some new frontiers. Am
I correct?

Speaker 4 (37:25):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (37:25):
You got your own podcast?

Speaker 3 (37:27):
Yeah, I like you. Well, it's just like, what else
can we do? There's no work coming, come on, we're bored.
We're artists. But just so I can talk about what
really matters to me, I hear, I heard it? Sorry,
Sorry about that. That's my nerves. Like you see, I
can hold everything else.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
Get me that foot Donna pillow for down there.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
Maybe I should, you know, because it's talking about heavy stuff.
Is that's the truth. But everyone's like, why are you
victimized yourself? I don't. It's just that I want to
pass on to a young actor that maybe wouldn't know, like,
you know, you're not you're rights, but that you're you're
you know that you you're entitled to that because you
went and did the work. Mostly, yeah, the movie wouldn't

(38:09):
be what it was, But if it wasn't a whole
all of us, all the elements and then Terrence went
on to be like, I wasn't paid a lot, Like
I don't know what they started to plan all this stuff.
But anyway, what was your question?

Speaker 2 (38:23):
I was saying with hustle and flow, Yeah, so good,
such a crazy cat, had so much fun. But I
dig that you said that the director was just And
I watched a little documentary on it for a little
bit just to catch some vibe off of it. Yeah,
and it's weird because what you said is what you got.
What I got from the documentary where this cat like
I knew what he wanted, talked about how fast he

(38:45):
had to shoot the movie. Uh, talked about how you know,
the the movie itself was like a reflection of shooting
the movie itself. You know, it was like this hustle,
It was hard to get it done. It was just
labor love, you know.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
What I mean.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
Which the stem of the story of the movie about
this gentleman's pursuing is the music and all of that,
amongst other things.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yeah, we might have been pressed for a time, but
I was twenty five and just having a blast. But
I know that we were in Memphis, like in the ghetto,
and our trailers got completely pillaged. We came back one
morning because there was no security, and they took everything
but the shell of our trailers. So we all had
to sit in a room together like hey, hey, you

(39:30):
know when you're like holding. They completely took the stoves,
the carpet, the in Memphis, Michigan. Hello, there he is.
They took it all. They took everything. But you have
a fly. Yeah, they took they I know, I know

(39:50):
you're just tired. You can get the Grand Slam here,
what's a senior the fifty five and up?

Speaker 2 (39:58):
See, I'm a senior.

Speaker 3 (40:00):
You're talking about we're talking about four and k we're
talking about Denny's. Get this for a discount, the Grand
Slam breast, I don't you know what I mean? Though?
Fifty five and you can move into certain communities at
fifty five in up, Yeah, you're there. You could go

(40:20):
ahead and move it.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Area Grandpa housing.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
You look great. Hey, whatever it is that you're going
through with the Grandpa stuff. Whatever cream you're using or yeah, what.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Are you CBD cream?

Speaker 3 (40:39):
Nice? I want some of that old Yeah you look
happy though? Are your happy eyes?

Speaker 2 (40:44):
I'm a California granpere?

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Oh so you're California sober. Sorry, I fidget do whatever
you want. Why do you make this? Why do you
make me nervous? Am I staying in front of a Baldwood?

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Right, Paul Baldwin, don't say that.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
I want to know more about you, but on my terms.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
Now what else you need to know?

Speaker 3 (41:07):
I don't know you need to know.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
I'm retired from my Shenanigans.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
I don't know what that means.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
No more Sky and Ivan, no more motorcycles. I could
ride miss skateboard a little bit.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
You love kateboard.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
I'm a grampy, so I gotta be cool. I gotta
be cool now, you know, like Cat of Nine Lives
all that I had my ninth life. Now they go
like this, like the spirit above goes, yo, bro, wow,
you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 (41:40):
That was great? That was that was really good? Or
is that? Is that Daffy Duck? Or is that Roger
Roger rat?

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Wait, that's a screeching black cat baby that used to
be on my tail.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
But he ain't No mom, I love black cats. That's all.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Let's dive into crossroads now, shifting from working with one.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
That's a base muscling. Oh, that's the port I did
later that.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Did you get paid for that?

Speaker 3 (42:18):
That what I did? You won't believe it? And all the.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Like hires animators. You should we should watch it together
in a minute, like animated, like comedy short muscling when
you make it like your characters like became an aerobics instructor.

Speaker 3 (42:40):
And take it to the left right.

Speaker 5 (42:45):
The muscle in you should it would be so all
of a sudden, like the class is over and there's
like other instructors that you have, and when the students leave,
you're like, now you listen to me, bitches.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
And then you're like, all right, turn the lights down.
But your grandpa blunders work Yeah, yeah, muscle.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
And flow, Well, grandpa could be the custodian I love
at the aerobic studio.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
Clear out the room, everybody, and you start just watching cameo.
Yeah yeah, take it to that. Yeah, that'd be fun
and roll it up. Do you have muscles not really
yet work out?

Speaker 2 (43:26):
There's an old expression, I got eighteen inch biceps. That
would mean eighteen and eighteen, So guys like me had
to come up with yeah, yeah, I got eighteen inch
biceps nine and nine get it nine?

Speaker 3 (43:40):
And ye here your grandpa nice dad joke Alore that's
a good one. Anymore with that game.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
From Well, get used to it, this Manning.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
You really have you really have becoming green past. No,
it's good, it's good.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
Yeah, that's the length now of my comedy skills as
a grampy.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
I want to talk about Crossroads exactly for Crossroads for
like one minute, and then we're shifting over to Hustle
and Flow. That is her one bad movie.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
No, it's not one. You think that's the one. I mean,
I think it's it's the biggest ones.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
I mean, it was a huge hit, and there's a
Karen one.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Was there a story about Crossroads you had or not?

Speaker 3 (44:19):
There's many stories about Crossroads. Britney Spears, Wonderful Humans.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Do you want to talk about that? Or no? It
was that a cool movie or not? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (44:27):
At a blast is Tamra De Mike D's White from
The Beastie Boys directed it. That was the one that
remember they had an offer out, but I went in
and I nailed the audition and they expired the offer.
So there's a thing that happens that they'll read us,
they would make us read. But all the while they
had like an offer out, like nepotism or if we
just go in there blindly read for a part and

(44:51):
find out, oh, there's an already an offer out but
this time like I got the part and it was
like attracted, but yeah they expired it. Yep, known story.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
That's a sign of how retractive you are.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
Yeah, they're basically like I play. I played white trash,
just what they wanted and I came in like white trash.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
Let's watch this a trailer.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Well, the best part is Brittany and she was incredible,
such a sweetheart. I'm sure you've met her.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Oh my gosh. I introduce both my kids to Brittany
at a show.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
And that was the real Brittany dan Ackroyd, he told
he gave me some advice.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
He's a good guy.

Speaker 3 (45:38):
Yeah, sweetheart, I'm pregnant. I never watched anything. I'm in
antsing this February.

Speaker 4 (46:04):
Take a chance, speak, share the adventure, make the journey.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
I can't this.

Speaker 4 (46:32):
Guy, and that's my car. It's one thing that hasn't
been taking out a buy chicks.

Speaker 5 (46:38):
I'm not a girl to present in association with MTV films.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Wow, what year was this? Thousand and two? Wow? How
old was Britain?

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Nineteen nineteen? Life takes us I was twenty or pretty
one right now A da ball. Yeah, it was fun.
We had a blast your cuteness. Yeah it was please
it's cute. Yeah, but it was cool. I mean it

(47:17):
was hard though, because she had fans always all around
the set, so it'd be so loud, like it was
so yeah nice. And we made her sing one day,
We like, so can you really sing? And she's like yeah,

(47:39):
or like sing sing for us and she's sang a
star spangled banner and she nailed it, like because a
lot of times people said she wasn't like they would
say stuff, but she just We.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Were like, wow, I gotta watch Hustle and Flow for
a second because I think you're smoking in it. The
braz just the most fire in my opinion house, just
because it's so funny. You said what you said about
about Hanson handsOn, I mean, uh, tell.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Me the directors the boy being Hanson. Who is the
director on Curtis Hanson, that's a who is the director?
Craig Brewer John Single. I want to meet that dude,
Craig doing now he did Footloose, the.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
Director of Hustling floaded Footloose.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
I believe so oh He did Black Stig Moon too,
with that Christina Ricci Black Brewer.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
We gotta see what he's doing now, guys.

Speaker 3 (48:38):
Yeah, he's doing. Yeah, you should have a mi make
some movies. He is?

Speaker 2 (48:42):
What's he doing?

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Who knows?

Speaker 2 (48:45):
He's the shizzle.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
There's always something he has a brewin. He's Craig Brewer.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Now you're with the dad jokes, right. He was a
consulting producer on the Empire.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Empire.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
Got a couple upcoming projects.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
Yep, Empire with Taraji and Terrence Right, Fight Night, the
Million Dollar Heights. How long have you all known each other?

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Years? And he and I were arrested together years ago.

Speaker 3 (49:10):
Hey, what'd you do?

Speaker 1 (49:14):
It's a long, long story.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
I got time.

Speaker 2 (49:17):
This is about you.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
I know, I like, but I like many other.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
View three with that director j I'm curious right now.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
It was this Empire, Craig, He's probably right, it's TV.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
I mean, TV is a lot of work.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
I'm giving that kazillion dollars. He's gonna start working again.

Speaker 3 (49:34):
Do you ever see Black Snake Moon?

Speaker 2 (49:35):
I'm doing it?

Speaker 3 (49:36):
What Black Snake Moon?

Speaker 2 (49:38):
What's that?

Speaker 3 (49:39):
Is that? A movie? After the Hustling Flow?

Speaker 2 (49:41):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (49:41):
Yeah, yeah, it was Samuel jacksons this please.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
Sure, because this is like spicy sauce.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
Do you still want to be in movies?

Speaker 2 (49:52):
Big Shaw? You know, but I'm thinking I should just
make bad mates.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
You're great.

Speaker 4 (50:02):
Nice, I'm playing.

Speaker 3 (50:05):
Then you gotta go.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Oh girl, I loved her this story.

Speaker 4 (50:12):
It's hard on here for a real part.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
I like that man.

Speaker 4 (50:18):
Only life he's ever known, a man trying to squeeze
a dollar. I havn't done, and I ain't even got
to sit.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
It takes time.

Speaker 4 (50:26):
The only family he's ever had.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
You know this makes I mean, I'm leaving you Sideway
lack and the only chance.

Speaker 4 (50:35):
He'll ever get I'm never gonna be none when I
want you with his band May to break free my daddy.
You know his heart gave out of him when he's mad.
He can me feeling this.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Feeling you know what's.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
Oh yeah, he just came. What we got.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
Man, We still don't know what you said to do
this as a series now, I know, yeah, to like
rewrite it and make a contemporary or break up the
story a longer version.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
When he gets out of jail, like yeah, everybody.

Speaker 4 (51:48):
A million shots.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Sometimes give is that boy?

Speaker 3 (52:09):
Yes? Chris, Chris He's awesome.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
So Craig Brewer. He also directed Dollamite Is My Name,
which was huge ship for Netflix from great and he
did the Coming to America sequel, Coming Number two America.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Yeah, but that that wait, what is that movie or
we're talking about we're talking about like Eddie Murphy and.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
Uh, they did a sequel. Yeah, it was recently really
just came on recently. He was the same director, really
same people.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Your Royal Balls are King, That's one of my favorite movies.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
What do you want to do now?

Speaker 3 (52:54):
I don't know, Like I'm just living my life, like basically,
like I'm a little bummed down on the industry just
because it makes two of us. Yeah, so I'm at
like a crossroads.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
That's good. That's good. Good, that's good. The reason I
ask is is like there's been this weird kind of
thing throughout all the interviews with a lot of people
that just like worked in the business, you know, started
doing other indie stuff. But there's a weird vibe of
people who have been around kind of down on the industry.

(53:29):
Right I'm going to the industry kind of sees me
a certain way.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Yeah, yeah, meaning like I know, I understand that feeling.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
But you know what I'm saying, it's it's like weird
that like when you want to voice a certain opinion,
when you want to say what you want to say
about certain stuff, there seems to be like a a
system or like a club or like a little click.
You know that if you don't play that Hollywood game,
that's cool. So but that's why we can do our

(53:59):
own Which way we can do our own podcast.

Speaker 3 (54:02):
Yeah, we have to have financiers and all that.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Our own TV shows, I know, and I do. Right on?

Speaker 3 (54:09):
What else am I going to do? Work at a Starbucks?
I'll be like, actually, the But I've always been a
worker bee since I was young, So it's weird not
to work, you know, all the time.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
So tell me your acting class you're going to start.

Speaker 3 (54:21):
I'm really excited. I wanted to do a scene today together. Okay, yeah,
maybe they can call it an improv and we just
nail it, show them how it's done. What do you
think we're actors?

Speaker 2 (54:32):
Like?

Speaker 3 (54:33):
I don't just do a scene like cold cold reading
at your class? Here? No, I just love so bit.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
Throwing down an improvisational gauntlet. I love it, I think.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
No, if you don't. Let's because you you go, you
go so quickly and I try to keep up. But
you're talking about having like opinions or something, and we
kind of get kind of like ostracized. Is that what
you were saying a second ago? Well, yeah, we're talking
about that.

Speaker 2 (55:01):
For me, it's it's like most of the people in
the industry thought I was a pretty talented guy at
a certain pay. Now, when you know, you start representing
your faith, some people if you talk too much about
your faith, people in the industry go like, hey man,
you know, don't bring your Bible to the set. That's
kind of the mentality, and I don't want to get

(55:24):
into that because it's just a waste of time. Meaning now,
what I've learned is circumvent that. Don't even worry about it,
you know that. That's that's why I'm like almost total
indie guy now. I don't even want to partner with
anybody in Hollywood because God's providing all the resources I
need to to start doing the stuff I want to
do on my own.

Speaker 3 (55:44):
That's why I was like, why are you so interested
in Craig Brewer Because it's like there's so many of
there's like more of us than you know. So basically, yeah,
but i'd have to meet to do.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
I can't blame the guy forgetting to pay the challenge,
you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (56:00):
That's right. Yeah, he's talented, but he doesn't.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
And I think it's funny. I don't care what John says.

Speaker 3 (56:05):
He just but here's what I wanted to ask you.
I wanted to ask you. Doesn't funny John Sanilton is
not with us.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
You don't know funny h nothing. I'm blabbing over here.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
Going inside jokes. Should I leave the room? You guys
are so with you. I wanted to ask you a question.
How do you watch movies and stuff anymore? Knowing what
you know?

Speaker 2 (56:32):
Be more specific? I mean because we can edit this.
We're not love, So go ahead.

Speaker 3 (56:37):
I'm not trying to know. I'm just I don't know
what I'm asking, but I do know that, like like
horror films have hold a certain frequency, and in films
with murder, and there's a lot in there when you
start to really see it. So how do you capitulate
to it to this day?

Speaker 2 (56:55):
It's just to watch it or to consider being a
part of it in the future, all of it.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
Watch it even right now.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Listen, in the last fifteen twenty years, I've done mostly
faith based stuff. You know, ninety eight percent of what
I've done in the last twenty years is faith based.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
I'm asking advice, by the way, I'm not because I'm
grappling with that.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
Well. And then I could segue into some gnarliness here please,
which is all the cats that are kind of running
the faith based Christian movie and TV industry right now
are cats I helped twenty five years ago. Now, they
would go did you hear what he said? Helped? Like

(57:38):
we needed him? Yo, they didn't. They were not known
until I was in there.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
What are you talking about? Exactly?

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Like help faith based films I did right years ago
when I first became a Christian.

Speaker 3 (57:51):
I see it. It elevated that.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Now all those cats that I did, all those little
early faith based they've elevated grown up. Did better when
Stephen Baldwin was in their little unknown Christian title title.
Right right now, those cats twenty years later, I'm making
the biggest stuff in Hollywood that's faith based. Watch just watch. Wow,
here's me ready.

Speaker 6 (58:14):
Hello, Hello, hey guys, Yeah, twenty five years ago, I
gotta hook you up.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
And yeah, I'm wondering if maybe, like.

Speaker 3 (58:26):
You feel like going to get out there, like it's painful.
So y'all that's painful.

Speaker 2 (58:32):
Yeah, but I'm free, free, free.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
What oh of that pain?

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Because those cats now make all the stuff they make now,
and they're slaves to a system. I am what. What's
so all the big movies and all the big TV
shows now that are faith based, it's just like the
studio system. Money comes from this other thing, this other machine.
So if I raise my own money to make this podcast,

(59:02):
I can say what I want. If I raise my
own money to make my own movie, I can say
what I want.

Speaker 3 (59:06):
I sa're saying, yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
You understand, So I'm gonna move away. That's that was fun.
It was like a meeting.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
But you keep eating.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
That was cool.

Speaker 3 (59:13):
But you keep doing that, Steve.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Yeah, Christian, Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
To be here. You're not gonna put this in the show,
but but you keep half stuff in. It's like all right.
So so when you say that, have you have you
come across darkness like in your face that has made
you turned you off to the business, because it's been
great totally.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
There was a couple of movies I've done even in
my faith based start of my part of my career
in the last twenty years, there was movies I went
and did wear you know, like you're a movie cult, right,
you're whatever, you know. I was told, oh, we're going
to make this, and it's cool because you can like
put your you can infuse your little Christian thing if
you want. And you know, like one movie I played
a priest. Like when I got there, the movie was

(59:57):
like I didn't even want to play a priest, but
I was like, okay, well if I get to say this,
then I'll play the priest. They were like cool, yeah,
show up. And then I got there and it was
like vampires and drooling and blood and arms and you know,
rats calling up the wall and it was just it was.

Speaker 3 (01:00:09):
Just a bad deal, you know what I mean, right,
and you felt you felt bad like I. So half
of that I wasn't a Christian, right that came later.
So well that I get what you're saying that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
I think a lot of young actors go through when
they make crazier Indian films, you know, like whatever for
money this that or whatever, or even just cheesy films
and if you want to do Friday the thirteenth, whatever
it is. You know, I think that we do all
that stuff just thinking oh, it's just a gig, and
realized there's a lot of spirit stuff around some of

(01:00:44):
that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
Have you seen it?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (01:00:46):
Have you seen that proof? Like the spirits around?

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
Oh yeah, man. I've worked on certain movies where I
knew people that were involved, were people involved in spiritual darkness.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
Really oh yeah, before you took them or what hevy?

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
In India, yeah, where I was playing a pastor, like
a preacher pastor guy from Australia, and it was based
on a true story about a guy who was an
Australian doctor who lived in India in nineteen ninety nine.
He was murdered by like Hindi extremists. So these extreme

(01:01:22):
cats thought he was like talking about Jesus and they
killed him and his two sons burned them.

Speaker 3 (01:01:27):
Alive in a cause that sounds like a great tragic
It's very tragic, but a great part.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
So yeah, So I had to learn the whole how
to talk with the Australian accent, Mike, and I have
to learn the whole lilt. So I had to learn
that I'm doing it bad now.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
But are.

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Stains was the guy's name, while Graham Stains was the
guy's name. While I was there, I was in an
area of India called hydea bad the other way they
say it is height You're bad, hyd which is a huge,
like seventy percent of it is Muslim, so it's Wi

(01:02:08):
women wearing burkas walking around, but the other half.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
Is Hindi, okay, and then it's it's this rare sitting.

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
They kind of just go in and they work together.
But within some of that spirituality over there is a
lot of voodoo. So I'm telling you a trippy story
because I like this. One day was working on the
movie and I had this nightmare. I won't tell you
the whole nightmare just involved these black pearls. I kept

(01:02:34):
seeing this like volcano of black pearls. You know, all
the details of the rest of the dream, but like
I was sweating and this and all that kind of drama.
I kept seeing this like little.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
Volcano stress worldless, a lot of stress.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
Yeah, and the tossing turn.

Speaker 3 (01:02:51):
Away sleepers, a little black pearls.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
This volcano of black pearls. Right. So I go to
work the next day and I'm in the makeup trailer
and I'm sitting there and I tell the story and
I go, that's kind of weird, right, I said, it
was so weird to have such a kind of like creepy, dark,
spooky dream. And this one dude who was like the

(01:03:14):
one of the producers on the show, because he was
one of the people that knew the story of what
happened to the character I was playing, okay, and the
guy in the back in the makeup trailer, he's behind me,
and all of a sudden, you hear this voice go,
oh no, brother, this was not what the expedience was
at all. If you see the black pearl, this is
the voodoo of everybody in Hyderabat. They know you're here, brother,

(01:03:35):
they know you carry the light of Christ. Oh, so
they will pray against you. So I literally this dream
and a vision I had was voodoo that the Holy
Spirit was showing me was being propagated against me. And
then the next day it was confirmed by another Christian
friend of mine who went, that wasn't just a dream
whatever that was in the moment, the people were probably

(01:03:56):
praying against you with voodoo the Holy Spirit protecting you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:01):
You're vulnerable. Weird, right, not really like, but yeah, but whoa,
how did you? How did you get rid of that?

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
Well? You know, I'm born again, right, so when that
stuff happens now, you can shake it off faster because
you recognize that it's warfare. You know what I'm saying.
It happened to me this morning, dude. I was getting ready.
Something tripped me out, like I couldn't find something. I
couldn't find something, and I was in a hurry, so
like that'll get me angry. So all of a sudden,

(01:04:33):
like I'm trying to I start getting a little you know, anxiety, right,
and Holy Spear goes, bro, what are you doing? We
don't do this anymore, Holy Spear goes, We don't do
your You're your hands are gonna start shaking. You're gonna
start getting nervous. What's the point? Chill slowed down? And

(01:04:59):
I did and then I found everything, and then I
left and everything was cool.

Speaker 3 (01:05:02):
Where were you leaving from? Like another places in or here.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
Like here this morning? Just taking my dogs to the
Leader store.

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
Yeah, that's frustrating when you try to get everything right. Yeah,
I feel you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
Those those bad spirits try to get us even.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
I think that's what it is trying to slow you down.
I I I think that, but sometimes I wonder if
it's just my delusions or something like, is that really
what's happening? So like, do we always think it's an
opposing force or is it just our dumb asses just
being forgetful.

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
Well, now that you have the foundation that you do,
I want you to google something later, right, okay, because
now you have a plumb line. Plumb Google Bible, plumb line. Wow,
scriptures that come back reference plumb line. The plumb line

(01:06:05):
is when you're building something, right You ever hear the expression,
like when you're on a boat and you set a
navigational point. If you're off by like one percent in
the first mile, it's not much. But if you're going
one hundred miles, by the time you go that hundred miles,
you're seventy miles off course. So a plumb line when

(01:06:26):
you're building is the line you set in the earth
to lay the foundation so that the whole house you
build is stable.

Speaker 3 (01:06:36):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
So why the plumb line is interesting is now my
plumb line is set so that when I sense I'm
moving in a direction I'm not supposed to, it corrects itself.
It kind of speaks to me like, hey man, you're
tilting the house a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
Bro.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
You're building today, one day at a time. Today's what
do I gonna do Now? I gotta hang with my dogs,
make sure you get home, sick shop, you know, have
a tea, take a nap. Whatever. Yeah, but wait, do
you see what comes back from the Bible with plumb line?

Speaker 3 (01:07:12):
It's hot in here is a we're done, so you're good. Yeah,
I guess that's it. I felt. Do we get to
everything that we needed?

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
I think we did.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
ADHD dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
You can stick the landing with your bad movie.

Speaker 3 (01:07:23):
Stick the landing like a gym.

Speaker 2 (01:07:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:26):
Oh, Karen, the Karen movie is not bad though, because
it's not bad. It's just the one that I got
me canceled. Yeah, but no, I love that, No, I
love Yeah, I'll look up the plumb line.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
One last question. Sorry, let's just do the promise of
the premise of this podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
The promise of the premise.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Yeah, it's called one Bad Movie. So I just want
to circle us back, deliver on it can say.

Speaker 3 (01:07:49):
With Stephen Baldwin and we just talked about one bad movie.

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
No, no, no, no, no, I'm gonna ask you a question. Okay,
has there been a movie that you've just been very
early on like oh my god, this is this is
doc and you've had to figure out how to navigate it.
And if so, what what was it? And what was
the biggest one? What would be the most noteworthy one.
We were like, oh my god, are.

Speaker 3 (01:08:07):
You saying Like when I walked on to set, I
realized at.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
Some point like early on, you're like, oh my god,
this is a Yeah, even if it was just like oh,
this could be cool, especially if it was like you
think you're signing on there something good and then like.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
Yeah, oh just happened. Yeah, So the story goes. It
was I got a movie and I love the script,
I love the part, and I was like, yeah, it's
finally like a good part to sing my teeth into.
And we're like filming and then we take a break
and it turns into a six month break. Yeah, and

(01:08:40):
it was like what, you know, what happened? And then
when they paid me in cash like from their ATM
machine and not like proper through my corp.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
That's one bad movie.

Speaker 3 (01:08:52):
And then they paid another actor three hundred thousand dollars
just to be there for two days and he had
his line fed to him through an earwig. Yeah, and
I was just and then didn't even do his one
scene with me, let his double do it. Yeah. Yeah.
I was just like, this is a bad It's gonna

(01:09:13):
be a bad movie. And I was mad. I was
mad inside and I don't like that feeling, right yep.
So I so before I went back after that six months,
I'm like, I ain't coming back unless if I get
one hundred thousand, Like we don't have that tearan and
you've already burned a bunch of scenes down. I'm like,
because I had to, I had to go back, but
for pennies. But that's like the difference between men and

(01:09:36):
women get paid. And the movie that changed titles, they edited,
like what happens in the editing room is a whole
different like magic can happen or became a totally different movie.
But yeah, it's like different title, different everything. It's called
Bloodline Killers. Yeah, that one you know about that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
I've done a couple of those where I had to
go back and give him a couple of days.

Speaker 3 (01:09:58):
Now I'm talking six months apart, like a year, not reshoots. No,
this was the other half of the movie not pickups, right, Yeah,
and you're like, but my hair looks different, different hair dresses,
different makeup people. It was wild. Yeah, just mailing it in. Yeah. Yeah,
that's a bad movie. That's bad movie. But everything's a

(01:10:19):
skeleton crew and after the pandemic. Yeah, Sean, she's cool. Yeah,
she's good in it. But the pandemic really changed a lot, right,
you had to get like tested every day and have
stuff put it through snozzle. You're like, I'm good, let
me alone. But every day they're like swiping away. Yeah.

(01:10:41):
That was just a lot. It's a lot, you know. Anyway,
that was awesome. Yeah, we're good. That's a wrap. My pleasure.

Speaker 2 (01:10:53):
Thanks for having me actress and musician.

Speaker 3 (01:10:57):
You're an awesome person.

Speaker 2 (01:10:58):
Good luck with everything in the future. The acting classes,
we're gonna you're coming back on the show to talk
more about that, and will you let me sit on
your acting class.

Speaker 3 (01:11:09):
Yeah, I wanted to do a scene with you today,
but you don't want to do today.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
You're not cold real, we'll prep we'll get a scene
pre care.

Speaker 3 (01:11:20):
Well, that's one of my one of my classes is
just cold reading and improv, like where you just go
you know, it's like ango because a lot of people
freeze up and you're like, all right, you don't really
want it that bad then. But that's the children more like,
you know, my daughter can stay your ass off, and
I'm like, oh here, they're like, what.

Speaker 2 (01:11:40):
Is your acting class?

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
Like everything grown up?

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
For kids?

Speaker 3 (01:11:43):
It's for everything.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
It's acting class.

Speaker 3 (01:11:46):
Yes, what else would it be? Yeah, it's for confidence?

Speaker 2 (01:11:50):
Is your acting class to you? Girl?

Speaker 3 (01:11:52):
Yes, it's for confidence, it's for self esteem.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Where is it?

Speaker 3 (01:11:57):
But it's also on zoom and.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
All can you plug it that the website.

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
Yeah, it's Mental Studios but it's m NTL Studios dot
com and it's in Palm Springs. And I also do
One Fine Day there my podcast, and it's a class.
I have the children's classes. I have the adult that's
like us eighteen to you know, any agent, and the
children is at twelve. Well, there's twelve to seventeen. And

(01:12:21):
that's the ones that you really like. That's that was
the age I did a lot of acting. And that's
scene study on camera, you know, just exercises. That's teaching them,
like said, etiquette, teaching them about marks, this and that, rolling,
you know, all these types of things, not just acting,
but like everything that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
And anywhere anyone in anywhere in the world can sign
up because of Sta Zoom.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, nice, totally Yeah. So yeah, it's gonna
be great. I'm excited. I like to teach. I like
to see people like grow in there and there.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
That's awesome because it's gratifying for you.

Speaker 3 (01:12:55):
Yeah. Yeah, it's about seeing them, you know, like getting
on the other side of the camera and just watching them.
Brost we're not good. I love to direct, do you.
I've directed a.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
Couple of things, I've directed anything, but I'd love to
see you direct something. I bet you be awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
Yeah. I love to watch actors, like because a lot
of times, like actors are like an engine, like you
have to warm it up. Sometimes we get one take
and it's like, oh man, I just got started. So
I love to watch an actor just do their thing
and just let them go because it's pretty pretty fun
to watch, especially when they're good.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
Thank you for being here. I'll let you go.

Speaker 3 (01:13:41):
Grandpa. I'm just kidding. I know you're tired. I could
do this all day, but anyway, I love you so much,
so I Grandma, listen, I call myself Grandma's here and listen.
I'm getting old too. We slow down. Yeah, thank you
guys so much.

Speaker 4 (01:14:01):
I have a night.

Speaker 5 (01:14:03):
My holes in the stats of creating those badlets, it's
so bad, it's good.

Speaker 1 (01:14:09):
It's twitally damning the bridge.

Speaker 2 (01:14:12):
We set up guilty pleasures.

Speaker 3 (01:14:15):
This sun is food, it's so bad.

Speaker 2 (01:14:18):
It's good but bad, the only sure