Pod Meets World: TGI- The BMW DNA!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Have you ever thought about how incredibly complex I spit is.
It may only be water, but just aliva isn't simple.
That remaining one holds incredibly meaningful information that could change everything.
And I'm not just talking about your family treat Hi.
I'm Barrett to day Thurston, and on this season of

(00:24):
Spit and I Heart Radio podcast with twenty three and Me,
we explore how DNA isn't just about ancestry, it can
also be key to understanding your health. Hey, you, welcome
back for today's show. We've got all the nineties nostalgia
you can handle, but going back to the days of

(00:44):
T G I F and hanging with the cast of
the iconic sitcom Boy Meets World. Danielle Fishel Rider, Strong,
Will Fred dell Or as you might remember them to Panga,
Seawan and Eric are the host of pod meets World,
a podcast dedicated to revisiting the show one episode at
the time. But today the gang has taken a break
from their rewatch to talk about their experience with twenty

(01:06):
three and Me and what they learned from their health
and ancestry reports. Danielle, Writer, and Will are all blown
away by the amount of information contained in their reports,
and each one of them is walking away with steps
to better themselves. It's almost like an episode of their
role show. For Writer, his DNA showed a likelihood of
increased anxiety, something he's dealt with for some time. Seeing

(01:29):
it actually show up in his report has inspired him
to exercise more, a proven way to lower stress. For Danielle,
it was learning she was at risk for type two diabetes.
Having that information top of mind will make her think
twice next time she's going for her beloved candy or
her next fast food fixed. And for will Well, information

(01:49):
about his ancestry has inspired him to ask his parents
some more questions. Just like to Panga, Sean and Eric, Danielle, Writer,
and will are looking to learn from their experience is
better themselves and grow as adults. Let's listen in and
hear how twenty three and Me's helping them make that happen.

(02:29):
Welcome to a special episode of Pod Meets World. This
episode is brought to you by twenty three and Me,
which you guys have heard us now over almost an
entire season of Boy Meets World talking a lot about
our background actors and how important they were to the
feel of the show to our set environment, how we

(02:50):
were friends with a lot of them. I'm gonna start
right off by saying, spoiler alert, there is no Dusty
in this episode. I'm really bummed about it. We have
been on a on a worldwide search for Dusty Gould
see Valley either. Yeah, we haven't heard from see me.
By the way that came up. You called her see

(03:13):
me to her face, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, she knew
her name was see Me. Well, yeah it was. It
was the people thought that it was like a behind
her back sort of thing. Oh my gosh, yeah no,
I mean I think there was something a little mean
about it at first, but then it just became that's
the problem. We don't remember her name because we always
called her see Me and she responded to it like
that's what we did. Um. It was just because it

(03:33):
was the first week of the first season that we
asked her where she was from and she said, see
me Valley and um, so we were just like, oh
my gosh, you're so you're a Valley girl. We'll call
you see me. Um. But yeah, I would love to
talk to her. Yeah, and Dusty, we're still on a hunt,
so you never know, but we are going to talk
to a few of our other background actors today because

(03:56):
it is very important for us and everyone to know
your back ground, speaking of which I am coming to
you today. So sleep deprived, and I guess it's really
come to my attention through my twenty three and me
results that I am less likely to be a deep sleeper,
which are you? Isn't that what it said? Yes? I

(04:19):
think I think we can say this from your genes.
Isn't it cool? By the way, another thing that I
think is amazing is that it tells me I am
most I am more likely to be photo sensitive, which
means I might sneeze when looking at the sun. And
when I tell you I have never once walked into
the sun and not sneezed, it's the exact same way.

(04:41):
But I didn't see that. Where did this say that?
It's one of your so much to read. I don't
like like i'ven't explored all all the ins and out
And that's really That's the really cool thing is that
there are so many different reports and some of them
are just really fun, like finding out you're more likely
to be photo sensitive. I'm also so more likely to
drink more caffeine than most, and that checks right off right.

(05:05):
You probably have that too. I'm less likely to drink
caffeine than most, and I drink no caffeine. I have
no caffeine in my life whatsoever. And it says I'm
less like and I am not likely to be an
especially deep sleeper. I still don't get you. We were
talking about delta ways or something. Now as I heard
what you're explaining to me, Danielle, I'm a superhero, did

(05:27):
you Did you explain it wrong? That's what's said, Uh, superhuman?
You have mediclorians or whatever it is, that you're a Jedi. Yes,
first of all, let's not's that's it's in my jeans though,
that apparently due to my sleep patterns. That's because of
the underwear. That's because of the underwear. That too, The

(05:47):
underwear just makes me lucky twenty three and me is
telling me I'm a weak hold on. Let's talk about
ancestry just really quick. Did you guys learn anything new
or yeah? I totally did. So what what was what
was the story that your family told you and the
reality of your Well, it's not that my family told
me something that was just we just heard that we

(06:08):
were Dutch and Irish and German primarily. Um, that's what
I knew. And it come came out that I am
almost Jewish. Nice, I am nine ash can Nazi Jewish. Wow,
and you didn't know that, no idea whatsoever. And of

(06:29):
course then when I said that to my my parents,
my dad was like, well, of course my great grandfather
was jew or something where we were like, well, why
didn't anybody tell about that? Yeah? You know, so that
was completely I'm I'm I'm nine point eight percent European
and it's mostly northwestern European, so British and Irish. What
we thought, Um, lots of Irish, lots of lots of British,

(06:50):
but eighteen point seven percent as ashke Nazi Jewish. So
no no idea, no idea whatsoever. I was shocked. Writer,
did you learn anything in yours about specifically about health,
anything you're more likely to have or not have? Oh? Yeah,
it nailed me. In three categories. It said, I am
most likely to I am most likely to have restless

(07:13):
legs restless leg syndrome, which I've had all of my
life and just had to deal with. More likely for
increased anxiety, check and severe acne which you guys couldn't
remember from when I was on I had severe acne. Yeah,
and so did my dad. I remember when I when
you know, when I started breaking out during boy MEA's work.

(07:34):
I got it A little bit later. I got it
more like at fifteen fourteen fifteen, um, when I had
the really bad acne. So we haven't gotten to it
on the show, but well we'll start to be able
to see the the amount of makeup they had a
cake on my face. It was the worst, the worst.
But yeah, knowing this then about your your d n

(07:55):
A makeup now that like, is there something now you're
going to change about your life? Will you talk to
your doctor about restless leg syndrome? Is there anything or
do you take anything for anxiety? Will you start? Yeah?
Well no, The anxiety thing is really interesting because, um,
I've never really thought of myself as as an anxious person. Um, like,

(08:16):
especially when I was a kid, I was not an
anxious kid. Um, But I do. I have noticed lately
that like I need to exercise, Um, it's hugely important anxiety.
And what I realized is like if I don't like
the only the way I manage anxiety and I put
that in air quotes would be like drink alcohol and

(08:36):
that's the worst thing you can do to manage anxiety. Um,
you know, And especially like during the pandemic, there were
there's these these periods where like there would be you know,
you're not working, you're not taking your kids to school,
everybody's sitting at home. It would be like, well, why
is the day over? Why is it? You know? How
do we know the days over? We have a glass
of wine and then you know, and we just got
into the habit of like, oh, that's just it's five

(08:57):
o'clock time to drink um. So I definitely only think
that like being able to recognize that there's in a
genetic component to like the feelings I have of anxiety
and that it might just be part of my body
makes me remember to just move my body to deal
with it in terms of my body, as opposed to
thinking like, oh, there's something wrong, I need to like,
uh change you know the way I think, or no,

(09:19):
it's just part of my body. Is that I get
these feelings that other people might not have, you know
that that and I don't need to associate it with
like necessarily things I'm I'm I've done wrong or you know,
I just don't want to. I just don't. I basically
it allows me to contextualize my anxiety and recognize it
as like it mostly physical thing, like something that is

(09:40):
like you know, I'm born with and that I just
have to contend with and it's and you know, I
just have to find healthy ways to contend with it. Well,
I mean, you know that I'm anxiety boy, and I
was hit with this very bad during during Boy. Me
thrilled like very during Boy. So then you'll see during
the episodes, you know, the seasons where I come back
and I'm really heavy, and it's because I was medicated
to even record. And the things I always tell people

(10:03):
now that I've been dealing with it for so long
is the three most important things for me that help
more than anything are talking about it, diet and exercise
and getting off of social media. And the first two
people are like, I can easily do that, and then
it's like, well, I'm not gonna get off social media.
I need it for work. What what do you do?
I work at a bank. Okay, you don't need your
social media. You're just addicted to it. But it's it's

(10:24):
those three things where moving your body exactly what you're
saying is just so unbelievably important. And it is. It's
all genetic. I mean, I found out other people in
my family down the line. They might not have called
it that at the time. They might have said, you know,
in the fifties they had spells or whatever because they
didn't know how to how to diagnose it. But that's
all that it was was it is, it's genetic anxiety.
And and but that's one of the things about the

(10:46):
twenty three and me that was so amazing is those
little markers. For instance, that what it says when I
looked at the thing, your average wake up time, judging
by your genetics, is seven AM. And that's like almost
exactly every morning when I roll out of bed. Whoa
literally literally almost exactly every morning. Susan gets up before

(11:07):
me because she's got early clients. I doze in bed,
and by about seven forty to seven fifty I'm up
and out. And when so when this thing comes out
and it says it's seven forty am, I'm going You've
got to be kidding me. How is that even possible? So, yeah,
some of these things are some of them I gotta say.
It says that I'm not predisposed to being afraid of heights,

(11:28):
and I'm hugely afraid of heights, but that could also
be the anxiety part. But there are certain things that this,
you know, the muscle. Here's the other thing where it
made me feel like, yes, I am in fact magic.
Um is it says my muscle composition is common in
elite power athletes with mine. I'm man, thank you, I'm

(11:49):
a stallion. Yeah, me too, me too. I'm also though, uh,
this is not such a positive thing. I am also
more likely to have to develop type two diabetes. And
as you guys know, I love my sweets, I love
my fast food, and so the good news is I

(12:11):
have generally my upbringing was that of like very healthy
eating and exercising, so I really try to enjoy those
things like sweets and fast food in some sort of moderation.
But it is really good for me to know that
um as I age because it's I think it literally
says like from the time you're forty one, which is
my exact age, up until the time I'm e d

(12:33):
I am like likely so like really it's a worse
than a chance, and so It's good for me to
know those things because that's something I can stay on
top of with my doctor. Now, Like, let me get
regular screenings, let me stay on top of that, let
me make sure I'm watching my diet, and then I'm exercising,
because maintaining a healthy weight is one way to help

(12:55):
prevent that from happening. So, I mean, I'm actually really
excited that I know that. The last time writer and
I were at your house for a party, there was literally,
and I'm using that word correctly, a board that had
donuts hanging all off of it, and the second you'd
grab a donut, it would reappear as if by magic.
So I do love doughnuts, donut fan. That's just called

(13:19):
Sundays around here, diner food. But you're a big diner
food fans. At least it's Sundays and not every day. Yeah,
it's just Sundays. Yeah, No, I I do. I love salty,
I love sweet, I love fried um. I just like
that kind of food. So first salty or sweet. That
that was the other thing the app told me is
that is that I prefer salty over sweet, which is
absolutely correct. So it does, and it told me this

(13:42):
is where the history kind of buff and me loves it.
Told me that I have that I have more Neanderthal
DNA than most of the other people. Yes, yes, we're
elite power athlete Neanderthal's magical sleep. This is the coolest
app in the world. I'm waiting for my laser vision

(14:03):
which will come. Um, but yeah, this is I was.
It's so amazed a by how detailed it gets. I
do want to show you guys my ancestry makeup because, um,
look at how almost exactly fifty percent of one thing
I am. Wow you are Yeah, that is my uh,

(14:24):
that is my um, my Maltese side. That is my
Southern European side. Wow, look at you. Yeah, that's me
right there. So I'm I'm kind of all over the place. Yeah,
I am forty nine point five percent Southern European and
fifty point five percent Northwestern European. That's what I'm north
I'm sixty two percent Northwestern European, which is which is interesting.

(14:49):
But I'm also it's like eight percent Italian. I have
no idea there's Italian anywhere in my family line, Like,
no idea. What's however, that we're partially Italian? So it's
really really cool kind of getting these breakdowns. But the
other things where it's just talking about like whether you're

(15:10):
lactose in tallerant or not, your make your wake up time,
you know, whether you like cilantro, like all those kind
of things. The breakdown is is really neat. I know,
it is really fun. Well, continuing to get to know
our background, let us bring in our very first background guest.
So to give you a little background about background actors.

(15:33):
The actor the background actor definition is someone who performs
in a non speaking role, usually in the background of
a scene. They helped make movies, TV shows, and other
productions look and feel more authentic and so hospitals, concert
city streets would be completely empty if not for hiring
background act Criterias, yes, school cafeterias, holy classrooms. So let

(15:57):
us welcome our first background actor, g An Torres. It's
so good to see your faces again. I know this
is so fun. How did you become a background actor?
And how old were you? I was I think it
was eighteen and it was my first year of community

(16:17):
college and I'm still trying to figure out what to do.
I was creative, Um, I kind of liked filmmaking, editing
things like that. Um, maybe I wanted to be an actor,
but I felt a little shy to be on stage.
So I remember talking to my dad and he had said, hey,
why don't you sign up to be a background actor.
You know they can be on set, you can see

(16:38):
everything that they do. And I thought, okay, that's a
good idea. So I went down to the casting agency,
you know, paid the little fee that you pay, take
a picture, get all your information, sign up, and that's
how I started. And so it's I don't know if
you guys want me to tell you about how that
whole process goes, and you already know about it, okay, okay.

(17:00):
So the way they did, at least back in the
nineties was that you called a hotline and you listen
for something that maybe you fit. So for me and
I swear, it's like the only time we're looking young,
like really paid off. I'd always um looked for eighteen
to look younger shows, which, of course Boy Meets World

(17:21):
was one of those shows. And so you listen to recording.
If you felt like you fit that, you know, that
type of those specs that they're looking for, you called
the number and then you gave them your social Security
number everything. Yeah, apparently like there was no big deal

(17:42):
back then. So you gave them your social security number.
That's actually how how they had you filed. And they
looked you up and they thought, yeah, you fit good,
you're working tomorrow. Here's your call time, bring you know,
three sets of clothes. That's where you're going, and that's it.
And then described my stuff pop in the car next morning.
And I'm mama, way that's to me. I'm sorry. I'm

(18:02):
looking at a great picture of the two of us
together right now. Yeah, I am. I'm looking at an
awesome picture of the two of us right now. It's
on on set. That's so cool. That is where were
you living, What was the what was the commute like
then from where you were living to where we were shooting.
So I would never do this commute nowadays. But I
was in South Orange County. I was down in Mission Gate, Okay.
And I remember called times being about seven thirty for

(18:25):
us in the morning in the morning, and I would
leave my house at six and that was fine, Like
I could get to the kil A studios by six wow,
And that was okay. Back then. It is not okay.
Were you were you a Mission Vie? Here? Were you
a Diablo? I wasn't. I was okay, my wife was

(18:47):
a Diablo. I won't tell you really rivals exactly. Oh
that's so funny. So what other shows were you a
background actor on? UM? I got booked on two and
oh uh, let's see a Party of five step by
Step with Christine Laken. Yes, there is a few those.

(19:08):
I don't know why those seemed to like stick out. UM.
A few movies. Babylon five that was really random but cool.
That was one of the coolest because you actually got
as an extra. You still got to have makeup done
and I got to look like an alien and it
was so not me, but it was great. It was
so much fun. That's fun. So okay, So you were

(19:30):
on season three and four of Boy Meets World walk
people through? Then what would happen? So your call time
seven thirty am. What happens when you arrived to set?
What's the process? Like? They arrived a set and then
the A D would pass out scripts to everyone and
you'd actually go through we probably spend like a good
hour maybe, and we'd go through the entire script and

(19:50):
she would say something like Okay, Jeannie on this line,
on writer's line, you're gonna go from the top of
the stairs to locker two, you know, and have a
conversation with somebody and then you know, let's say, Daniel
in your line, I was to exit and leave, you know,
walk off set or whatever. So everyone had, um, you know,
there's blocking. Yeah, different blocking with different crossings. I think

(20:13):
it's amazing. I don't know who put it together, because
it seems like that would take a long time to
figure out at least twenty extras and where they were
going and how they're not going to cross in front
of you, and it just it's like I I mean,
it's it's a dance exactly. And so this would have
been Deed, right, Yes, so she was our second second

(20:38):
stage manager, and so she would have been in charge
of So yeah, I wonder if Deed mapped out all
of those moves. I mean, it must we have to
have dd on, Yeah, we will, we should. Yeah. And
she was so good at it, like she was She's
just on and she's so friendly. That was one of
the things that I'm sure was like a really you know,
I'm sure, and I don't want to put words in
your mouth was. Was every ad you worked with on

(21:00):
sets like wonderful and fun to be around? Or were
there some that were better than others? She was the best.
I will say she was the best. I think, you know,
maybe because I got the opportunity to come back and
do more shows. But she was amazing, and Mike was
Mike was great too. I just I think everyone sometimes
is in work mode and as you guys know, you're

(21:22):
pressed for time, You've got to get lines done. You know,
you just gotta really nail it. And I think maybe
some were just like whatever, do this, But with her,
she was I don't know, she was on it. She
was on it, but still like awesome. And I have
a question, just because I'm curious. Behind you on your
your your shelf back there is that say Transformers? Or

(21:44):
am I wrong? You are correct? Thank you? And it's
a G I Joe. Is a G I Joe? Next
to that that is G I Joe. We are absolutely friends.
Which Transformers? Is it? Can I ask from here? Is
not robots and robots in disguise? Is it? No? It's well,
it's well, the game is for information protocol. It's I
can't I can't tell American. Sorry, I think it's Bumblebee

(22:05):
on the cover. They're sorry. I'm just that's actually my
career job, So that is what. I'm a creative director
for a boarding game company called Renegade Game Studios, and
I am in charge of the Hasbro Yes, I worked
for Hasbro for years, so I was that's I'm sorry.
I know, I know my Transformer, I know my nerves,
so I know my g I Joe, my transformers in

(22:27):
the background. I'm gonna call that out every time. I
love that. Yeah, so I want to know. Background actors
are not allowed to talk, but you have to make
it look like you're talking. Did you have any tricks
to making it look like you were talking but staying
totally silent? Um? No, there were no tricks, and there

(22:49):
were no tricks. But I will say that becoming a
regular right on the show and working with other regular extras,
there were times it was almost like we're trying make
each other laugh without really blowing it. Right. So you're
gonna have conversations saying ridiculous things to each other at
the lockers, saying things that just maybe are inappropriate. Yeah

(23:13):
you're reading lips. Yeah, you're saying things that you can
go back through the episodes and read your lips. Sometimes
you might be saying inappropriate stuff appropriate. Oh my god. Yes, yes.
Did you become friends with all the other actras? Mean,
did you hang out offset because you were kind of
regulars there? We did sometimes. Yeah, I went out a

(23:33):
lot with Wendy Smith. Um. And then there's a few
of them that I've become Facebook friends with and we
just keep in touch and we talked about the old
days of Boy Meets World in certain episodes. Um. Yeah,
And any episodes stick out in your head that you did, yes,
and it's actually one with you well, it's um, it's
with the guitarist oh, um, Lesha Haley. Yes, yeah, shallow Boy. Yes,

(24:01):
that was a fun episode. That was That was a
fun episode. She was amazing. I really hope we get
to have her on the show because she was absolutely incredible.
That was a fun episode to do. Were you in
the Were you in the chubby scene where she was
singing that's cool? Yeah? Oh yeah, you can see me.
I'm holding a French fry and I I just go
right into disgust and she starts singing, and I throw

(24:24):
the French fry down and I get up and walk
away out of Chubbies. That's a fun action. Oh I
can't wait to go back and watch that. Laugh. That's cool.
I think the most pressing question we have were we nice? Yes,
but like but professional? Right? So I think as an extra,

(24:45):
you feel like it's like a privilege to be on set,
and you just you don't wanna You don't want to
mess that up. So you know I would. I would
see you guys, And I have no idea if you
if you remember this face are not? Are not? But
I just I don't. I would just like smile. But
I don't think I ever tried to start up conversations
unless it was like the last show of the season

(25:05):
and I felt like, Okay, it's cool. Everyone's just happy
and excited and celebrating and things like that. But um,
I think you guys probably all were approachable. I just
didn't want to. I wouldn't. I didn't want to do
anything to have me not back on the set. Well,
it's also it's because I think about it now, like
I just I just wrapped a movie I was directing,

(25:26):
and it's um, sets are fun environments, or they can
be fun environments and actors like to talk, and kids
like to talk, and yet if you think about what
it would be like to have twelve kids in a
classroom set, we're also work needs to get done. If
if they were allowed to just talk and joke and laugh,
it would be completely out of control. So it's a

(25:46):
it's um, it's a little bit of like, you talk
as much as you can before somebody says, all right,
keep it down, you know, no personal conversations. We need
to get work done. And so it was it was
always like a tough balance between wanting to be like,
so what's your name and where are you from and
what do you like to do without actually then being
in trouble because there's no time for that. Yeah. I

(26:07):
think I really don't. I don't remember you guys having
much conversation right before your liones. Yeah. I think you
just all seemed very focused, especially you writer. You were like,
it just seemed like you were so on it, and
I was he was, he was. So do you tell
anybody now about your history as a background actor? Yeah?

(26:30):
I do sometimes. Um, it's been what like twenties for
a lot of beers. Yeah, so let's just say twenty
a lot, Yes, twenty a lot. Uh, if I have
made new friends, like you know my kids. You know,
you start making new friends with your kids, you know,
they're their friends and parents and things like that. And
then let's say I have a few drinks and we're

(26:50):
watching or whatever, flipping through in Disney Plus and the
I'm like, oh, hey, you should you should put a
woman's rolled for a second, you know, so like, go,
should I something? You know, I'll find it episode And
I'm like, that's so fun, like me, it's it's it's

(27:11):
kind of a fun conversation. Do you know how many
episodes you're actually in that you that you can see
yourself in? Haven't you added it up? I haven't. It's
maybe close to fifteen, but it's over the course of
two seasons or yeah. Yeah, I mean obviously there were
some shows where you didn't have the school scenes, right

(27:31):
if there was a lot of shooting, and some days
it was it was just a one one day call
and one scene and that was it was Dusty there
with you while you were there. Dusty Gould red hair,
one of the one of the background actors. He was
one of the Yeah, he was in the classroom with
me in the class, probably, and I realized that most

(27:52):
of the kids in the classroom were miners. Yeah, I
wanted to keep them young in the classroom, so I
think they kind of had a step right, because you know,
they had to go to school. And yeah, we're just
on a sitting sitting on our chairs and empty stage, waiting, waiting,
so much downtime on a set. Yeah, yeah, thank you

(28:13):
for sending us these amazing pictures that I have, this
great picture. We will post them on our social media
so that you guys get to see exactly who she
is and then you can spot her when we get
to her her episodes and seasons three and four. It
was really great to catch up with you, Genie. I
totally remember your face. You haven't changed at all. Thank you, guys.

(28:36):
You're all the same to me too. It's funny, it's awesome.
It's really nice to reconnect with you. Thank you for
all of the Yeah, thanks for coming on our show,
and thank you for all the work you did for
us all those twenty plus years ago. Thank you, Thank you, guys.
I love it. I love your podcast. Been listening. I
think it's really cool. I love everyone's perspective and and

(28:58):
you know, what you went through. I think it's really
neat because I was just a small part of it,
and it really I don't know, you know, you always
try and guess and think how everyone else is thinking,
or what it is their challenges, or maybe they don't
have challenges and only I have challenges. But it's great,
it was really great. Thank you so much. It's great
to see you. All right, all right, guys. Our next

(29:21):
guest was a background actor on Boy Meets Worlds in
seasons two through four, and then he came back in
season six just to watch a taping and was invited
back to be an extra in that episode. That's awesome.
That's awesome. So cool. Um, so let's please welcome. I
think I bleeve Justin if I'm saying your name wrong,
justin our Mayo. That's absolutely perfect, Yes, all right, justin welcome.

(29:49):
Oh my god, this is insane. Right off the bat,
I absolutely remember Justin, absolutely do. The second I saw
your picture, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, absolutely not. Yeah,
I knew exactly you were right away. You did a
whole bunch of episodes and I completely remember you. Yeah,

(30:09):
that's awesome. Thanks. Well, of course I think it did
like fifty maybe, Yeah, you did a whole lot of episodes.
You were one of the regulars there for most of
the time, so yeah, I completely remember Justin Wait, so
you did maybe fifty episodes just within seasons two, three,
and four. So I just I just watched um. So
the first episode I did was season two, episode eight,

(30:33):
banned on the Run, and then I did the rest
of that season, did season three, season four, and then
I missed the show so much like I went to
an audience taping of it when you moved to Radford.
I watched the show. Then I snuck over to the bathroom,
which was in a sound stage next door. I hid
in the bathroom for half an hour, waited for the

(30:54):
audience to leave and everybody get escorted out. Then I
walked back onto the sound stage and I saw Steve
and Deed and they saw me and they jumped up
and they said, oh my god, Justin what are you
doing here? And I said, I came to see the show.
And they said you have to come back and do
an episode, and I said, please, that would be honest.
Oh my gosh, we have So Steve Hayfer and d

(31:16):
d to Stephano. We talked about them a little bit,
our stage manager. I'm sure you remember that justin. Yes,
you guys had so many I don't really remember the
catch right, but you guys had so many in jokes
and catchphrases. And you guys are always having such an
awesome time. It's so funny. One of the pictures that
we have of you justin you are in the scene

(31:38):
with Lesha Haley, which is exactly the same scene we
were just talking about with Genie. There's another background actor
we have from that set that that Lesha Haley episode
Shallow Boy was really special. Oh, I remember that. I
still had my script somewhere in the garage. Wow. I
think it's because everybody has to react to her playing
the song. I think that was why it was in Bees.

(32:00):
She's she does a whole It's like the whole part
point of the scene is that if she's making a
scene right, and everybody has to sort of react to it,
as opposed to other scenes where we're just like talking
the foreground and everybody's just kind of, you know, living
normal life. Background. That's the Atlantis Morris set. Oh, you're
giving some I'm looking at the picture right now. You're
giving such a great like over the shoulder, look at

(32:21):
Lesha Haley, this kind of your eyebrow race. You've got
the boy mes World eyebrow rais and you are sitting
there looking at her like she's she's off her nut.
It's great. It's absolutely phenomenal that the second I saw
that picture, I was like, oh, yeah, I know just exactly.
They kept coming back to me over and over and
said bigger, bigger, bigger. But that's how I totally learned

(32:45):
on that set that you have to go pretty big
for people to notice things. Sometimes. It's true you would
have been, especially in that episode, what would have been
characterized as a featured extra, right, yeah, I mean it
doesn't you don't get any extra money. It's just a
it's just a good you know, you're saying really well
and you do a little bit which is really cool.

(33:06):
And the longer I was there, the more they threw
me cool bits to do, like I think there's one
time you hit a ball off the pool table and
like kids me in the foot, And then one time
I played they came in I think a Train of
Consequences where we're you're on the train the New Year's
e party. Yeah, and I played the pizza guy and

(33:26):
Wrider comes up to me and he's like, does anybody
know anything about deliveries? And then then he like rushes
me out the door and then comes back and says,
you know, he's gonna good thing is he's going to
deliver ms Mrs g Andelle's babies and they'll be they'll
be in an under thirty minutes or whatever is the joke.
That's right. I forgot about that. That's so funny, and

(33:47):
so that's why, right, Yeah, but you and not because
we were around the same age. You weren't really in
the classroom, right, you were? You and I were always
kind of in the same scenes together. Yeah, so I
was too old to be one of the classroom regular kids,
and they wanted to have you know, kids that were
people were over eighteen to be you know, the hallway kids,

(34:09):
Chubbies and whatever else like that. So yeah, I was.
I'm fifty two now, it's still a bit older than you,
but I was, yeah close, What are your old? Do
you know? I'm I'm forty six, So yeah, we're pretty
so we're decently close. Did you have to eat in
all those chubby scenes? Um? I think I ate a
few times in a chubby scene. Mostly I was standing

(34:30):
up or you know, pretending to be breaking up with
a girlfriend in the background or something crazy. You know,
so much fun. Do you have any particular episode or
scene that you remember the most. Oh gosh, I mean
I really like the Train of Consequence, so that was

(34:51):
really funny. And I remember Charisma Carpenter was in that episode.
I didn't know who that was. I think we're sitting
back and train me well on Charisma, and I had
no idea who she was. And it was really fun.
It was just it was different because it was a
different set. So there's a really good memory there. And
the the one with the monkeys was really cool because

(35:14):
I grew up watching I mean I was a little
too young to watch the Monkeys originally, but you know,
when I was a kid, there's only like three channels,
so I had to watch the Monkeys. You met the
Monkeys the band. I instantly went to the episode where
Eric has monkeys. Yeah, okay, that was an episode where
Eric has monkeys. Y's got the same monkey that that

(35:34):
Ross has on Friends. That same Marcel monkey was on
our show. I have no recollection of that. Yeah, so
that's where my head went. I was like, oh, you're
in the episode where I'm with the monkey. Um, So
I mean, can you tell us a little bit about
how you started in in the business. Yeah, I mean
I I absolutely obsessed with movies as a kid, and
I used to cut out and use paper ads and

(35:55):
pasted my wall with mouse because I couldn't afford posters.
So I had a movie ads from the Sunday calendar
all over my wall. And then I just wanted to
be an extra in my but I just wanted to
do something, and I was, you know, just out of college,
and I didn't know what to do with My sister goes,
why don't you be an extra? IM like, you can
do that. She's oh, yeah, why don't you get the
drama logue and go? She said, go do something free

(36:17):
and if you like it, um, you're meant to do this.
So I went and worked on a science fiction movie,
played a cracked out space guy or something, and it
worked for like fourteen hours for zero pay, and I
couldn't wait to do it again. And then eventually I
got an agent agency. So I was working on like
nine O two and no and like Step by Step

(36:40):
and Party of five, and the same that that same
group of three that age Grange. Right, if you were
if you if you were eighteen or over eighteen but
still look young, you could be in the background of
all those shows. That's what they needed. Oh yeah, like
seven and Clueless and so many JA was crazy. And

(37:01):
then it's the best to get on the show and
be a regular, because to be a regular like nine
or two one, so basically doing like nine, Party of five,
Boy meets World. And then I then I do a
random day and I work on like show Girls for
three days or something and something random. That's so cool.

(37:21):
And I got into and I got into SAG and
and dd I said, DEDI, if I get into SAG
with you, keep me on the show. She said yes,
And do you want to hear my SAG story? I
got into SAG. So I get a call one day
from from like my age and agency, and they said,
would you be interested in being Johnny Depps but double
and I said, um, and and my brain just said,

(37:46):
you know, normally you might think Beckham. I'll think about that.
I said, oh, yeah, absolutely, she goes or she said,
like trying, but yeah exactly. Yeah. So well here's a
bat and she goes, I said, what is that entail exactly?
And she said, well, okay, you go I lived in
I live in Orange County. And she said, okay, um,

(38:07):
you have to go up to the studio, shows goes.
I'll call you back in down and give you the details.
You'll go up there, You'll talk to them for a
mental interview for a moment. You'll pull down your pants
and they'll take a bit through of your butt a polaroid.
They'll they'll give it to a producer and and they'll
probably give it to Johnny Depp. And and I said,

(38:27):
so okay, yeah, yeah, I'll do that, I guess, and
and she hangs on the phone. I go take a shower,
I get ready, and like what the hell am I doing?
And then she she calls back an hour lan and
she goes, oh, they I'm sorry, they just found somebody
to do that. And I said, okay, but I'm like,
oh bummer. And I was so disappointed. Man, I could
have been Johnny Depps. But but and when did they

(38:51):
get you back? Okay, Well, first of all, do you
remember when it was from? So it's it's it's don
Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp and Marlon Branda film I
good movie. So two days later I get a call
and so they threw me a bone and they put
me on um Don Juan de Marco. So I get
up there and I didn't realize that was the movie.

(39:11):
And I was like, Hey, that guy looks like Marlon
Brando and they're like, that's because that is Marlon Brando
and as ooh and that's Johnny Depp on Holy Ship.
So we're in working on scenes and Marlon Brando really
like loves like the little guy, the low and the
totem pulp person. He was like talking to me, like
justin He's like he heard my name. He said, it's

(39:33):
getting kind of warm in here, don't you think? Is that? Yeah?
It was getting kind of warm, and they brought an
air conditioner just for him, and I got stuck in
a stairwell with Marlon Brando. So I'm eating snacks and
Marlon Brando and a a assistant director come in and
they're arguing and they're like, you say, Marlin, can you
work at like an extra fifteen minutes? Like I sure,

(39:55):
I'll work an extra fifty minutes and I'll just come
in fifteen minutes late tomorrow, and they kept going back
and forth and Marlin Brandon was just handling this guy
really easily and really calmly, and the guy turned to
me and saw me, and he got really mad and
he he said, you like you need to leave, And
Marlon Brando said, oh no, no, no, no, no, the
kids stays. And I was like, holy like, I'm gonna

(40:19):
tell this story for the rest of my life. So
he gave one. So Marlon Brando gave one extra girl.
She played a nurse. He goes, okay, you're you have lines,
because he was there doing like small talk and they
were mentioned talking about how to get into SACK. Do
you know the voucher system? How you got into SAD
So you needed three SAG vouchers. And for our listeners,

(40:40):
SAG is Screen Actors, just the union for actors that
you have to be a member of in order to
you know, collect your residuals and have your health insurance
and all that exactly, and get paid eighty bucks instead
of forty bucks exactly. That's an extra And um, he said, okay,
you want to get into He he like he was hurt, hurt.
We were all like trying hard to get into SAG.

(41:02):
We need are like last voucher. Hes, okay, you have lines,
You're gonna have lines. You gave this nurse lines. Marlon
Brando out of nowhere, just gives her lines. So we shoot.
I go home. Um, I get a call like two
days later, they really need you on set donal Wanda Market.
They have to do a reshoot or whatever. I rush
up to the set. I get there and I was

(41:23):
non union and I needed one more voucher and I'd
waited a whole year. I didn't get my third voucher.
And she signs signs of vouchers handsome to me, and
she said, go home. You're done for the day. And said,
what are you talking about? She goes, welcome to SAG.
I said, what do you? I said, this is SAG
voucher because yeah, somebody up there likes you. Somebody, somebody
really big is really looking out for you. I said,

(41:45):
I'm like, are you telling me Marlon Brando one got
me into SAG. And she's like, I'm not saying that. Goodbye.
I walked away. Random you into SAG. I think you
know who knows like And I heard from a couple
other people that that's what they heard, the same thing

(42:06):
because either Marlon or Johnny or somebody they were they're
really cool and you know, and I got into SAD.
I got to stay on boy Meats World, so I
had a regular gig because normally when you got into
SAG is an extra, your jobs just went down because
you could, you know, because the first I don't want
to pay you the extra money. Yeah, because only the
first certain number of people on a SAG TV show

(42:28):
or or extras have to be SAG, and everybody above
that number could be non union. So in a crowd scene,
there's forty SAG people in a thousand non union people.
So did you stay in the entertainment industry? Do you
still work in the entertainment industry? Now? I do, Well,
I have a regular job. I'm a buyer for a
medical company, but for um so. I had a daughter,

(42:50):
so eventually I had a quit, quit extra work, and
but I worked on about three hundred things, and then
I started to move into local commercials. And then I
are writing, and I said, if if no one's gonna
put me in anything, I'll put myself in something. So
I started writing and directing indie movies. So I directed
a movie called blood Sucker Jones, which is a like

(43:13):
a black exploitation movie. So here's something really interesting. When
I first started, when I was cast on the show
and I shot my first episode A couple episodes before
that was the episode called Who's Afraid of Corey Wolf? Yeah?
And the Halloween one right yeah, And there's a small
theme in about how he thinks he has to kill

(43:33):
Tapanga to like become a full fledge werewolf or something.
And I took that colonel with an idea, and that's
the plot of the first movie I made, Bloodsuck at Jones,
but it was about a vampire making um, becoming a
full fledge vampire. He has to kill his first love.
So we made that, we got into vessels that did

(43:54):
pretty good, and then we made a sequel, blood Suck
at Jones Versus A Creeping Death. Where can we find
these movies? Where can every one stuff? So they're both
on Amazon and you can get um but you can
you can rent them on Amazon. You can rent them
on Amazon Prime. We used to be there for free,

(44:15):
but now it's only for antial. But we're rereleasing it
to put it on a lot of platforms. And then
I just finished our biggest movie. It's called Zanna Do
hell Fire and I love these titles, thanks Matt. And
I wrote it for my daughter, like I was a
single dad, so I wanted to write a movie about
a single dad. So it's about a nine year old
girl who brings her comic book character from the future

(44:37):
to the present just to hang out, and her evil
sister follows and all hell breaks loose. That's so cool.
I want to watch that. And okay, well here's another
little tidbit. I was gonna make it Union, and I
wanted to cast you in it as the single dad,
and then I didn't have enough money, um to make
it Union, so I didn't. I never ended up contacting you,

(44:59):
but that my play and was always to get all
of you in a movie. One day that would be
maybe we could do blood Sucker Jones three, blood Sucker
totally many scripts, so but that's still my dream and
I hope to do that one day for sure. Just
thank you so much for being here with us and
telling us about your life now and your experiences as

(45:20):
a background actor. It really means a lot to us,
So thanks so much. This podcast is incredible, Like hearing
all you hearing your feelings about how you thought you
were going to be fired, and and then I thought
I didn't get invited back, and then I found out
the next week it was like an off day, off
week ago. Well, thank you again, Justin. This has been

(45:44):
a real, a real pleasure. So thank you for being
here with us. We wish you the best and we
can't wait to reconnect on our our movie set. I'm
sure i'm checking out, please please, thank you, Justin. Jason,

(46:07):
how are you doing. I'm well, it's great, you guys,
nice to see you were You were a background actor
in season three. Tell us a little bit about some
of the episodes you were a part of, and like,
what is your favorite memory from being a background actor
on Boy Meets World. The only episode I really remember
vividly was there was a scene in the I want

(46:29):
to say it was in the lunch room or maybe
in that um that hangout place that that you guys
always went to, and uh, Corey uh was being bullied
by this guy and they brought in this like really
really really tall, good looking like Nordic cooking kid, and
there was always there was a big height differential which

(46:51):
was very funny. But they made it even funnier because
they had this guy who was already quite a bit
taller than Ben stand on an apple box like watching
that as like I want to be actor, uh, you know,
trying to start my career, and just watching the decisions
being made on the fly, and I thought that was
so cool. So how old were you were you eighteen?

(47:12):
Playing younger? I was twenty three? Wow, okay, but if
you were in Chubby's you could really be any age? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
because you guys were in high school by the time
I was on the show. I don't think I could
if I get started, yeah, uh doing background work or
just in the in the business and you know in general.
Um I had well, I had just moved to l

(47:33):
A when I was doing extra works, so so I
moved here in so I was on the show nine six,
So I didn't know anyone here. I didn't have any friends,
and I had heard that oh if you could go
do background work and goes sign up and you know,
so that's how I paid my bills sort of the
first here here. Where'd you move from Pennsylvania? Oh? Nice,

(47:54):
outside of Allentown, you know the billy Joel song. That's
where of course I know Pennsylvania. Well, both my brothers
went to school in Pennsylvania. Okay, so that's very cool. Now,
what made you come out here? What made you come
out to Los Angeles? Was it just the bug to
be an actor? It was a little bit of that.
It was there was a really really big snowstorm. So
I used to work in radio, and the station I

(48:16):
worked at back in Allentown, we were known for the
school closings, like back before the internet, who would do
the school closing the best form on the radio. So
I I worked overnight, So I would stay overnight, uh
and do my shift, and then in the morning I
would have to stay and help the morning show take
the calls. So I remember driving home after being completely

(48:37):
sleep deprived in this blizzard, and I got home, I'm like,
why why am I here? Why? It's terrible. Yeah. For
for Jason, just very quickly, for Writer and Danielle, the
two West Coast kids. So when we were East Coast
kids growing up, you would wake up on a day
when there was snow on the ground, and you would
put on the radio and you would wait for your

(49:00):
school to be called, and then they tell you if
you were delayed, or if you're if you had a
snow day and it was canceled, it was the best.
So I don't think you had that out here on
the West Coast, did you, and the mountains and the
mountain towns, But but you would. You'd sit there and
you'd wait. It would say like, and the Avon Public
schools are and if if it was a good dj
they would pause because they would either be are open

(49:24):
and running normally and you go, or in which case
the horse and buggy couldn't get you to school right eat,
you couldn't get we had slaves, but that's what it was.
It would be and they'd be like Avon Public Schools
are closed today and be like, yes, not thinking that.
Of course, then you had to do an extra day
in the summer because they just tack it on. Yeah,

(49:45):
but it was you just have a day off where
you'd go sledding or you would play snowball. You it
was the greatest thing in the world. So it's something
that is just Jason and I know what this is.
But if you did not grow up in that, you
didn't you didn't know. So yeah, it's totally cool. Jason,
were you a background actor on any other shows. I
was on Friends a couple of times. Cool. Actually, like
you can see me really well because it was like

(50:05):
the season two premier, like when the show was just
like absolutely white hot at the top of the zeitgeist,
and it's like great, Ross gets off the plane with Julie. Yeah,
Rachel does this like pratfall on the airport over the furniture.
I'm right there addressed as a limo driver. How fun.
I have to watch that again. And uh, I got
my sag card on Executive Decision, which was a movie

(50:28):
with Steven Seagal and Kurt Russell, John Leguizamo, everybody jumping
on the airplane. Yes, beat wrong, pump wasn't. Yes, it
was great. Yes, it was a great I love the
title because that sounds exactly like a Steven Seagal movie.
There's like a hard to kill as an executive decision

(50:48):
and not it's a spoiler alert, but it's from Seagal's
only in like the first fifteen minutes and then it's
killed off. That's a straight up Kurt Russell. Uh. Yeah,
it's a great movie. It's a great movie. We should
explain to everybody why having your SAG card is so
important because it's now come up a couple of times.
Um and so as writer mentioned, SAG stands for the

(51:09):
Screen Actors Guild, and you it's it's joining SAG is
a little bit of a catch twenty two because you
cannot have a speaking role in television or a movie
until you are a member of SAG. But you can't
become a member of SAG until you have a speaking part.
So we can do one, right, you can do one,

(51:30):
and then you do you get something that's called lead.
You get your voucher. Yes, so top being taft heart
lead in means I think actually you get the option
to join right away. You can get yeah, and but
there are other ways to earn your SAG, like you
get like three SAG vouchers, right, and that what it
needs to be here a time limit. Can you just
get three? Okay? Just three? Yeah? When I was doing

(51:53):
it because STAG and after we're separate unions at the time,
So win SAG. You you would get three vouchers doing
background work because they would have a certain allotment of
union background actors they would have to use, and then
a certain allotment of non union so if you worked
on the show as a non union you wouldn't get
a voucher. But sometimes there was an slot they would
open up, somebody didn't show up and you would get

(52:15):
bumped up and you would get to use the union voucher.
But the day wow, wow, that's so cool. Yeah. So
I got into SAG because I did. I was a
member of Equity, which is the theater Union. And I
don't know if this is still the case, but back then,
if you were a member of Equity, after you were
in Equity for a year, you could get you were
eligible for sex. I think just by being in Lame

(52:35):
as Rob as a kid, I then became eligible for sex.
So I never had to do like the voucher at
Half Heartley thing. I just you know, I think I
did the same thing. I think well, after being in
the Harvard Stage, I was in Equity and then I
was able to join SADE. What year did you join
SAG writer? Do you remember? Nineteen nine? Daniel Jason? Nineties five. See,

(52:57):
that's the thing most actors, because it's a very big
deal as an actor to get your SAG card. It
still says when you joined too on the card, right,
But you don't need to look at it. Most actors,
you ask them like when did you join SAG, and
they can instantly. I was eighty nine, Like I'll always remember,
but now I remember, there used to be a screen
Extras guild, remember that, I think pre like it wasn't

(53:19):
until the mid nineties that the two guilds merged. It
used to be that if you were an extra, you
you were in a separate union and then and then
it became all under SAG, and that was a big
deal because that's that's how then you could become a
SAG member by doing background work. Before that you couldn't
even do it by doing background work. Yeah, yeah, I
do remember that. Yeah, background work didn't used to count.

(53:41):
And once you're a member of SAG you get health
insurance as well, So there's there's again, it's a it's
a a double edged sword. Joining SAG means you pay dudes,
So you have to pay kind of a lot of
money every year in order to stay in SAG. You
also have to earn a certain amount of money every
year to stay in ZAG. And there are like two

(54:03):
levels of earnings. Like you know whether you're going to
be in Plan A or Plan B and Plan A
is the better insurance, but it means you also have
to be earning a significantly larger portion of money a year.
That's gone. Now. I don't real think there's Plan A
Plan B anymore. I think there's just one plan that's
not as good as Plan A and not as bad

(54:24):
as Plan B. I think they kind of went in
the middle and now it's one and some people were
happy with that and some people where. There's been a
lot of changes at SAG and some of them haven't
been great. But so, Jason, do you still work in
the entertainment industry and what are you doing now? Now?
I'm managing a tour company called Bikes and Hikes l A.
But I am still in entertainment a little bit. I

(54:45):
host my own podcast called a Lifetime of Hallmark where
we review and kind of pick apart Lifetime and Hallmark movies.
And they're so it's very like earnest and wholesome or
they are just murdering sex seven. I'm trying to get
more into hiking. Is your company? Is it like cool
hikes around l A? Is that what you guys do?

(55:07):
We we cater to tours from around the world, so
that we do biking tours and do three daily bike
tours of l a ones of thirty two mile one
that goes out to the back, that we do shorter
ones in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and then we do
hikes to the front and back of the Hollywood Sign.
And that's cool. Arc. Yeah, I might have to join
you for the one to the Hollywood Sign. I've never

(55:28):
all the years I've been here, thirty so many years,
I've never done a hike to the Hollywood Sign. And
it's something, Yeah, come on, all right, let's do it. Oh,
we should all go. We should totally do that. That
would be really cool. Does it ever come up in
your life that you were a background actor on Boy
Meat's World. Yeah, because I I have a lot of
friends that watched it growing up. In some it'll come
up in conversation. I'll tell them and they're like, what,

(55:50):
what what? And now? So I live in West Hollywood
and just that I'm sure people have heard in the
news that Ben is running for a city council was Hollywood.
I in my I've lived in we Hope for fifteen years.
I've never once seen him out. I've run been ten
times in the past month ten. That's so funny. Have

(56:10):
you have you talked to him when you've seen him
out of you The first time I saw him, it
was right after I found out I was gonna be
on with you guys, and so I just went up
to I was like, Ben, Hi, I'm a resident here.
We hope it also is on Boy Meets World. And
we just had like a twenty minute conversation. That's amazing.
So you knew you were a background actor, you didn't
remember me, but now when he sees me, he recognizes
me and like makes a point of staying hi. That's

(56:32):
so cool. That's cool. Good. I'm happy to hear that. Well, Jason,
thank you so much for being here with us. It
was really fun to catch up with you. And I
think we'll take you up on that offer to go
on a hike to the Hollywood time because I've ever
done it. All right, what was what was the name
of the podcast, One More Time A Lifetime of Hallmark?
I checked that out, perfect, Yes, Well, thank you for

(56:52):
being here with us, Yeah, alright, by I want to
do I've wanted to do that Hollywood hike because it's
just such an iconic thing. Going and actually seeing the
Hollywood Sign, which you see it, you drive by, and
you just get everybody gets at wherever they live. They
get so complacent about where they live that they don't
do the things that, yeah, that show them the joy

(57:13):
of of the town or city that they live in.
So that nightmare. Like the roads up to the Hollywood
Sign are like so congested, like the local residents hate
it so much because and there's probably no place to park,
and it's awful exactly trying to make it hard. Yeah,
because people live up there, you know. But that's I'm
surprised you didn't. It's like that's how I knew I
was at a rider house. It was like, well, I
can't the streets are are turning everywhere and I can't

(57:35):
actually park, So hey, I must be at the rider's house.
It's just a scant thirteen miles from where I had
to park my car. That's gonna be nice, man. I like,
you know, I like to be around trees. I like
to be so that means being a little off the
beaten path. My place now is right off a big,
big road. No no, no no, your place now has decent parking,
But the other ones it was like, are you. I'd
have to call you and be like, I'm acclimatizing for
the night. I'll see you in the morning. Oh my gosh,

(57:59):
that is I once my car got stuck hanging off
a cliff outside of Writers right, that's right, because I
was on the curb. I was backing and it was
really curved. It was a terrible, terrible thing, and I
can don't see and it was dark, and I turned
my wheel and I like went, literally my car was

(58:21):
dangling off. That's right. I forgot. Did it rip off
the front of your car too? And we know nothing,
nothing like happening. I just couldn't get the wheel back
up onto the things. So the tow truck just had
to basically bring my car down the We just started
driving tow trucks to Rider's house. It was just easier
that way, say a lot safer. Oh my god. That
was one of our boy Beats World dinners that we had,

(58:43):
remember one of our boy Meats World dinners. It was
really fun. Well, I'd love to introduce our next guests.
Her name is Jessica Bibbo. I hope I said that right.
Jessica Um. She was one of the background actors that
Genie are very first guest. Genie had friends that she
would bring in as being other background actors, and Jessica

(59:04):
was one of those people. Hi are you. Jessica was
one of the background actor actors in the famous Danielle
to Penga cutting her hair episode Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.
And so you're actually in the bathroom scene with me, right, yes? Yeah.
It was my first time ever being on the show too.

(59:25):
That was the first episode. Yes, And I remember they
picked me, I think because I have obviously big hair.
So yeah, so the lady picked me and I was like,
oh my gosh, like I've never even been here before,
I've done this. So I and my friend Ginie was like,

(59:49):
She's like, you got a feature and whatever. Three years
and so what happened? So was it de de de
Stefano who pay d out? It was? Yeah, she picked
me in another um extra I called Wendy and it
was the three of us and I made me Indy

(01:00:10):
bathroom and I I think it was it was such
a fun experience. I was so nervous the first day
and it just it was just so much fun to
be in that episode, especially because it was such a
big hit. Yeah, and you're so featured in the in
the bathroom at the sink right there, So, um, what

(01:00:32):
do you really like remember about that day? I remember,
I remember you actually, Um, I was so nervous for
you because you had to cut your hair on camera
and I was like, oh my gosh, this is like
I was so nervous for you and like you had
to get it in the So I really remember that,
and I just remember thinking like being nervous for you,

(01:00:56):
and and just I thought it was it was just
so fun because it was really my first time on
a set and so the whole thing like it looked
smaller than I thought it would. You know how everyone
always says that's true. It's totally true. It is true.
I guess it's just something about when you actually see
the limits of the set, You're like, oh, well that's
all it is. I'm like it's shorter, and like I

(01:01:19):
don't know, like there was there. I had like this
perception of what it would be and then it was different.
So I remember that. And then um, I also remember
I got to get my makeup done, so that was
super exciting because I was featured. I'm like, oh, I
get to get my I did. I'm like, you don't
bother with the hair. No one's gonna know how to
do that, not my hair, but I did. So. The

(01:01:40):
other actor that was featured with you, Wendy. Had you
ever met her before? Did you know her at all?
I didn't, but my my best friend Genie was friends
with her. They worked together every week, and so we
connected immediately. We're still friends to this day. And because
I think Jennie was talking about Wendy, yeah, we're all
still friends and I, you know, I met her that

(01:02:02):
one time. I live in Orange County too, so I
don't see her, but um, we're still connected just because
of that one day and we still like reminisce about it.
She was like so excited to be chosen too. So
are you are you a Mission Viejo as well? I am, yeah,
but you're also not a Diablo. You were a Cougar exactly. Okay,
how did you know? That's because we talked to We

(01:02:23):
talked to Jeannie and my wife is Diablo, so so
my kids are going to be Diablos. Okay, there you go, alright,
and my my uncle and my mom and like, yeah,
but there's a lot of mission video history in this
there is why we were. My My wife lived off
a spartan right right across from anton Across from Antonucie
is Antonucci still there, like the greatest Italian restaurant. Yeah,
it's totally that I used to go. They're growing up

(01:02:45):
with my grandfather. I'm Italian, so that was like his spots. Yeah. Sorry,
little little mission viejo. So it's for my wife. Shout
out to my wife. Can I ask you a question?
Had you heard of boy Mets World or seen Boy
Me's World before you came on the show. I had
heard of it, um, you know, I was. I was
older at the time, so I was I don't think

(01:03:07):
I had seen it. I had seen it maybe on TV.
But the funny thing is because I was in college.
The day after the show aired and I went to school,
everybody came up to me, I'm not kidding you. I
saw you on TV, Oh my gosh, and I was like,
oh wow, like so many college people, college age people
were watching the show, boys, girls, everything, so I was like,

(01:03:28):
that's so cool. Yeah. I mean, at first I knew
about the show was such a big hid Do you
ever tell people about it? Now? Do you have children?
Do they know about your past as a background actor.
My kids like think it's so fun because I showed
him the picture of the three of us at the bathroom. Um,
they think it's very cool. They know I'm doing this.
They can't wait to hear about it. Um And yeah,

(01:03:48):
I still I have so many friends who are like,
I can't believe that that was you. They knew the episode.
They're like, so they think it's amazing that I was.
I like, not, I was not the actor, but like
they think it's like the coolest thing. So, yeah, it does.
It still comes up. It's so funny. Now you remember
being nervous for me? Do you remember? Did I seem nervous?

(01:04:11):
I think you? If anything, you you were very focused
and concentrated and maybe a little stressed. Yeah, I mean
I don't know that was my feeling. It was an
incredibly stressful day. I remember it. I remember set was
on edge. We were all like, it was not a
fun It's I have to say, like, I do not
have fond memories of it. I have like I get

(01:04:31):
like not in my stomach when I think about that
day on set. Yeah, I think people also thought you
were gonna cut your hair. Sure. I thought you're gonna
cut your hair shorter than you did, so when you
actually cut it, I was like okay. Like it was
like more of like a like a relaxed, relaxed moment
for me, because I thought you were going to go
like up, like bobbing it up. So seeing that you
lifted it up and cut it, I was like okay.

(01:04:52):
I was like that that. I was given very specific
instructions about where I was allowed to cut, and you know,
it was was a very stressful day. And Michael came
out and said, you know, okay, show me where, show
me where, and I was like like right here, and
he was like lower and I was like no, because
I wanted to go a little shorter, and Michael really
had a spot that he he really wanted me to

(01:05:13):
do it. Um. Now I have a question. Has anybody
asked you because you're holding the scissors at the end
of the day, you get to decide where the cut happens.
Did you ever think, even for a moment about cutting
it in a different spot than people told you to? Well,
not really, mostly because I didn't want to screw anything
up for the one take we have on camera. And

(01:05:33):
it was like things were very set, you know, we
had we only had a certain amount of time we
had we could rehearse it and and then you get
the one take with the scissors. But it also was
a little like the way she cut it, she meaning me,
the way I cut my hair. I just swung my
hair around and then grabbed it and cut it wasn't
like so I knew there was a margin of error
that was kind of out of my control. But I

(01:05:55):
definitely didn't want to do anything that was going to
make anybody mad at me. And I also knew that
I needed to cut it in a place where there
was still room for then when I got a real
haircut where that could still it was still going to
get shorter from that wherever I cut it, because I
was going to cut a blunt cut and then you know,
Lorie was going to put layers in it and stuff.
So I knew it was going to end up being
a little shorter than wherever I cut it. So I

(01:06:15):
also didn't want my hair to be too short. But yeah,
that was a really stressful. Remember the rehearsing and blocking
of that scene where then Jeff McCracken would yell before
we got to it because they wanted to make sure
we got the scene all the way up until the
point of the cut perfectly. And yeah, I remember being like,
you can say stop in a normal voice. I'm not

(01:06:38):
because Jeff as an actor, Jeff took on. Do you
remember watching his face when he faces of the emotions
of the actor on the scene he was on the
set with, which made him totally find myself doing that.
Do you do that, Danielle, you're watching the monitor. I
totally do it too. I'm constant. I'm I don't think
I'm as exaggerated as Jeff, but I'm definitely like putting

(01:06:58):
myself through whatever the actor right when I'm directing. It's
so yeah, that's what makes I also do it, even
with hair in the face. Like I was watching you know,
I just directed a movie. I was telling you about
it on camera there was a piece of hair in
one of the actor's faces and I was like, I
was like, and it was like, Okay, that's not gonna work. Yeah,
So I think we we all got that from from Jeff. Jeff,

(01:07:22):
are you still in the business. So I did like
a couple more things after your show, um, like, you know,
very little things and then I ended up going into
the skincare business, so I became an esthetician. I have
my own skincare line now called Skincare, and that's what
I've been doing literally since. Like I was twunny, simply,

(01:07:46):
what's your website skin care? Yeah? Do you go at website? Yeah,
it's it's just simply just skinkcare dot com. It's all natural.
It's out of Orange County, so it's doing really well.
It's good. It's I should send you some please, yes,
we we will all take it, you guys. It's amazing.
It works really well. I need it because we were

(01:08:06):
talking about how I washed my entire body with head
and shoulders. Was that in this episode? I can't remember
at this point. So I need some sort of skincare
regime because the one apparently good. It's simple, like, it's great,
it's okay, perfect. I don't have dandrif on my face?
Do I write her? Do? I? I don't know. Well,

(01:08:27):
Jessica was really nice to reconnect with you. Thank you
for being here with us. I'm I'm so glad you're
in that iconic scene and set with me. We have
this adorable picture of the three of us that I'll
put on and put on the Instagram and thank you
for being here with us. I love it. It It was
so good talking to you guys. Thank you for having
me as well. Thanks for joining us. It's so fun.

(01:08:49):
She's so sweet, so sweet, and so many background actors
from Orange County, Orange County, which makes perfect sense. I
guess for people who aren't out here that that can
be a hike. I mean, I'm from Orange County. Yeah,
it's it's at the very I mean, with great traffic,
it's still at least an hour. Oh yeah, I mean

(01:09:09):
now with with traffic, traffic, it's an hour and twenty minutes,
and with traffic you're looking at two hours plus. It
makes the question why not kids in Los Angeles? Like
why didn't why didn't teenagers in Los Angeles become background?
Maybe because they kind of grew up around the industry
and it just took about it. And yeah, and whereas
like in the Orange County you'd be like, oh, it's

(01:09:30):
right over there and get these jobs. That's interesting. Maybe
I don't know, but it is. That's and then they
all seem the other thing that's very interesting so far,
and we we didn't ask Jessica, well, she kind of
told this this, but it doesn't seem like you kind
of were on the circuit where it's you did nine
O two and no, you did step by step, you did,
you did, It's like you had you did Party of five.
There are certain shows that you did everywhere. Interesting. Well.

(01:09:51):
Our next guest is a woman named Melody Morrero, and
she was a background actor in seasons two and three,
but then she was featured in season two, episode twelve
called Turnaround, and she was given a name Jacqueline. So
I can't wait to hear about how that happened and
who Jacqueline was. Hi, Oh my gosh, it is so

(01:10:15):
cool to see you guys. It's been almost thirty years. Yeah,
we're just set. It's been eight years. That's amazing. A
few years. It's so good to see you. So you
were a background actor in seasons two and three, but
then you were featured as Jacqueline in an episode. So
how did that come about? I was, Oh my gosh,

(01:10:36):
I was so over the moon that day. They said, Okay,
we've seen you around, said a lot. You were the
Um I was the waitress at Chubby's a few times,
and UM, I don't know. It's just happenstance. I was
just trying not to stick out too much. But when
one of the producers came up, I think I forget
her name. The one of the assistant producers said we

(01:10:58):
have a spot for you. Just come with us now,
and so I was like, okay, whatever you whatever you say,
and then had me walk with with Eric. Oh really,
wasn't the two of us together? Is that why I'm
looking at the picture I have. I have a photo
of us together. It's so great. So where we dad?
Where we were Eric and Jacqueline dating at the time,
is it? Yeah, we were totally a thing. Did you

(01:11:21):
write a whole backstory? Is there a history there, scripted
idea about us dating or the Yeah, they didn't exactly
go with that, but yeah, I just come around the
corner of the lockers and Eric, you you walk up
and say hey, Jacqueline, I was just headed that way
or something along those lines, and I was so geeked out.

(01:11:41):
It was so much fun. Man, that's so cool. I'm surprised.
That must have been the episode that they had Eric
girl crazy that one episode. Yeah, No, I'm kidding, that
was Eric's thing? Was It was so great that we
got a chance to do that. That's very cool. How
did you become a background actor? UM? In college, one

(01:12:03):
of my friends was telling me about she was going
to a movie set the next day and I said,
what are you What are you doing? She said, oh,
I'm I'm an extra and I was like, okay, I
have no idea what that means. And she told me
about what she was doing, and it was Central Casting
at the time, and I was a young mom in
college and I had a mouth to feed, and I'm like,
this will be a cool way to make a little
bit of extra cash. So I did it, and UM

(01:12:25):
did a number of things, but we be Scrolled happened
to be absolutely my favorite, obviously, But I did it
for two years, two and a half, Yeah, three seasons almost,
and I did an episode of Friends and Er and
a lot of things. But yeah, first it was just
a way to make some cash. And then I thought,
maybe I'll get bit by the acting bug. And that

(01:12:46):
didn't exactly plan pad out that way, but yeah, that's
how I kind of stumbled upon this. So do you
still work in the entertainment industry? What do you do now? No,
I'm in human resources. Yeah, I went from background acting
to human resources. So yeah, for what company? For Toyota?

(01:13:08):
Oh nice, Yeah, that's cool. It's a great gig. I'm
about to celebrate twenty three years with Toyota, so but
pretty much my my very last extra gig was Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. I was hired by Toyota the next week,
so I was like, cool, I guess I have a career.

(01:13:28):
The acting thing is just not gonna help from Buffy
the Vampire Slayer to the career you're going to do
for the rest of your life. That's kind of cool.
That's kind of cool. Yeah, people like, what was your
last job? I was like, a vampire slayer? What did
you do? I'm looking at a picture you sent us
of me and you and another one of our background

(01:13:49):
actors and script am I doing? What earth is this? Pose?
It's You're the only one who didn't realize that you
weren't in a chorus line at the time, I Danielle,
I don't know, but it was adorable and I loved it,
and clearly I've treasured it for twenty years. So I'm
so glad you guys are in like matching denim too. Yes,

(01:14:10):
I completely recognize you. By the way, I totally recognize you.
You do not, I swear to God. From the second
I saw the picture, I completely recognize you because you
did multiple episodes, and again we were around the same age,
so we were always kind of together. You were in
It wasn't like you were in the classroom scenes as
a kid. Um we were. It was always kind of
around Eric. So yeah, I recognized you from the second

(01:14:32):
I saw the phone. Oh my gosh. Oh that just
warms my heart. I wasn't sure if you guys would remember,
but yeah, I'm looking at the picture. I'm like, oh, yeah,
I totally remember you and being in the hallways with
you with the lockers and all that stuff. Yeah, that picture.
I think they made me change my shirt though right
after they're like, yeah, you both can't. We're denthely, so
see they're like, Danielle's wearing denim, take it off. That's

(01:14:54):
pretty much what would happened. I mean, I'd walk into
certain outfits and they'd be like, yeah, honey, that's not
gonna work. So that's so funny. You in So Angeles
at the time we were you were doing the show. Yeah, yes,
I lived near Pasadena, so just a quick quick ride
on the four or five every day. Yeah, it was local.
Now I'm going to ask you, but I have a
feeling your favorite scene was probably when you were featured

(01:15:15):
as Jacqueline with Will. But do you have any like
other real specific memory of something that just really stands
out from your time on Boy Meats World? I do.
That is definitely my favorite. But there's just a flashback
to the fifties. You were in that episode two. I
was in that one. I had a poodle skirt, the
pony tails scarf um and we were at Chubby's in

(01:15:38):
the scene that I was in. So that was one
of my other favorites. Was just because I got to
go through full like hair and makeup and wardrobe and stuff.
So yeah, that wasn't really that was a fun costume.
So they provide Did they provide the costume for you
that time? You didn't have to bring your own? That's
so cool. Yeah, it was cool. I was looking for
it and I forgot the title of the episode, but yeah,
that was a good one. I can't wait till we

(01:15:58):
get to those. I don't know. We know so many
of the flashbacks at different times, but the fifties one
was the was the was that the toaster one? I
think that was the forties? I don't remember. We can't
remember we did the forties. The forties? Was the cat
that took us from the cat from Sabrina took us
back in time from episode? I think it was the toaster.

(01:16:20):
There's something that the coaster back to the fifties. That's
when we're like most of the cast of Happy Days
was on the episode, right, I'm like Shanzarelli or whatever. Yes,
we're going to get a lot of I'll get a
lot of emails telling us exactly how it happen. We
should stop talking about it now, that's so funny. Well, Melody,
we thank you so much for being here with us,
and thank you for for being a part of Boy

(01:16:41):
Meets World with us all that twenty plus years ago.
A lot to us. Oh, thank you so much for
including me. This was so much fun. I was so
stoked when I got the email. So it's just so
great to see you all again. It was so great
to see you. Is there is there anywhere if if
people want to want to find you could do? Are
you on social media or anything? Yeah? Yeah, Melody m

(01:17:03):
M one three is my handle. I'm pretty sure I
don't message myself a lot, so I forget so funny.
Thank you for joining us. It was great to see you,
and everybody is so nice. I totally remember, especially when
I saw the picture, Like at first I was kind

(01:17:24):
of and then I completely remember, because again, we had
the extras were kind of extras. I don't like that connotation.
The background actors were were like compartmentalized, so it's you
all had your kind of classroom extras, I said it again,
which I was never really a part of, so you know,
like I got to meet Dusty and everybody else. But
then as we grew up and Eric was more involved

(01:17:46):
with other people around as opposed to just being in
the school, there was a group of background actors where
I was with a Lot and Justin and Melody. Those
are all the kind of the same people that were
around there, which is really neat. So I sort of
buried this lead. But it actually didn't occur to me
until we were already recording this episode. But my one
of my best friends, um, one of my closest friends,
He's coming over to my house for dinner tonight. He

(01:18:08):
was going to bring this up. He was in my
wedding party. Actually, he was one of my group's been
at my wedding. His name is Chris Levitts and he's
a director from a writer director, and I met him
because I was I acted in a movie that he
directed in my twenties and that's when we became friends.
But he was an extra on Boy Leats World, one
of his first jobs as a kid, and it was

(01:18:30):
when he was under age, I think because he was
a kid actor, so he remember seeing his s but I,
you know, I talked him about it because I remember
when we first talked about doing this episode. I was like, oh,
you should come on. He actually doesn't have many memories.
I think he only did one or two episodes, but
it was one of the first things he said to
me when we started working either He's like, you know
we I was actually on your show back of this.
So I've always been curious if I can see him

(01:18:52):
in an episode, So as we do our are it
would probably be the second or third season, so I
have to keep an eye out for him somewhere in
the background of one of our epis. Another one of
our background actors was cal penn Real Yes really yes.
In what he was in like a sports scene. Well,
let's get him on our show. Let's talk about um,

(01:19:13):
do you think the chances so so we're watching a
lot of alone right now. Do you think the chances
are that Dusty maybe lives a life off the grid,
which is why he knows nothing about the podcast communing
with the Bears? Yeah, like maybe we just Dusty has
no idea because he's like skinning something right now or
you know, making a fire with sticks or pete. I

(01:19:34):
don't know. I'm still I'm still determined. I'm still holding
her Dusty for Dusty. So well, this was really a
great way to wrap up our twenty three and Me episode.
Thank you so much to twenty three and Me for
helping us get to know our backgrounds both personally and
from from boy Meat's world. It was really a really

(01:19:55):
smart way of bringing this all together. And like I said,
I am really I did. Now that I have a
couple of wellness and health uh you know, some information
about myself, but now I can take to my doctor
and can hopefully change the decisions I make for my
future knowing a few things. And so I encourage you
to take the twenty three and Me test as well.
And get to know your background and get to know
a little bit more about your health and how you

(01:20:17):
can help take care of yourself to prevent issues from
coming up in the future. I also always figured I
was a superhero, but to actually be told that I am,
it really changed the whole ball game for me. It
really did. It's it's it's pretty great to get that
confirmation finally, so you can get your superhero confirmation at

(01:20:38):
twenty three in me dot com. Thank you for joining
us for Pod Meets World. I am. I don't know
why I was doing our exit like I was gonna
say my name again. Mike. Thank you for joining us.
I'm you. Just listen to a whole episode with me
like you are. You can follow us on Instagram at
pod Meats World Show, and you can also send us

(01:21:01):
an email at pod Meats World Show at gmail dot com,
and as always, we have merch March that was so
subtle and dot com March baby. Sorry, Pod meets World
Show dot com. Thank you guys for being with us.
We will see you next time, will We love you all?

(01:21:23):
Pod dismissed. Pod Meets World is an I heart podcast
produced and hosted by Daniel Fisher. Wilford l and Ryder
Strong executive producers, Jensen Carpet and Amy Sugarman, Executive in
charge of production, Daniel Romo, producer and editor, Tara sup
Buch producer, Jackie Rodriguez engineer and Boy Meets World super
fan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton

(01:21:44):
of Typhoon and you can follow us on Instagram at
Pod Meets World Show or email us at Pod Meets
World Show at gmail dot com. And that's it On
another dope show, Did this episode inspire you to take
a closer look at your health history, your genetic makeup.
Who new DNA could reveal so much about our past
while also holding the keys to certain health insights that

(01:22:06):
may impact our future. I continue to be inspired by
these stories, and I hope you do as well. Catch
you next time. Listen to Spit, an original podcast from
I Heart Radio and twenty three in the on the
I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get
your podcast

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