October 29, 2024 • 47 mins
During his youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jesse Tyler Ferguson quickly discovered his affinity for the performing arts. Upon joining a local theater group, he found the stage to be a place where he could express himself fully. And when an opportunity arose to travel to New York City as a teenager, Ferguson set his sights firmly on Broadway. His career took off—early Broadway roles included in On the Town and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee—meaning that Ferguson had little reason to give much thought to television. And yet, the script for a new sitcom, called Modern Family, resonated deeply with him—and, as it turned out, with millions of fans. On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the actor joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss his early years on the theater circuit, the moment he recognized his on-screen chemistry with Eric Stonestreet, and the philosophy behind his own restaurant-oriented podcast, Dinner’s On Me.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Welcome back to the table. We
are at the Sunset Tower Bar. I could not be
more excited. It is a beautiful day in sunny SoCal.
Are you gonna eat yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonna do
like I do, my typical chop salad with chicken. Oh
that's good. I love the chop sad. Yeah. Today we're
having lunch with an acclaimed Broadway actor, a Tony winner,
(00:27):
an acclaimed television star, an Emmy winner, a gentleman who
has launched a podcast or our show is similar? Do
I ask similar questions? You're like a star, You're great
at this. No, you're a great conversation a star. So
sit back and let's enjoy lunch with this incredibly funny
(00:48):
man and talented actor, Jesse Tayler Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If you pulled up a chair today on Table for two,
we're sitting with an incredible actor, very acclaimed actor. I'm
one of the most successful television shows we all know,
Modern Family, which I've a lot of questions about a
Tony Winner. Yes, incredibly all around great guy. I know
you Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Welcome to Table for two.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm so glad finally doing this. I know me too,
Like we tried to do this.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Like a year ago we did. Jess and I sort
of have a similar podcast going on, which is I
do lunch, Jesse does dinner, and I know that the
genesis for me was I believed in the romance of
a meal and the intimacy of a connection and felt
that in this world of podcast and zoom is, one
of the things that went away was the connectivity being
(01:52):
in the same room, which is an ask for people
because it's not like they flip up their screen, but
in the nuances our lunch today, things happen. What was
your motivation to create you know dinners on You.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Said it so much more elegantly than I do, and
I explained mine just like the romance of it is
exactly spot on.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I just feel like.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
There's something about having a meal with someone your guards
let down a little bit more. You know, it's a
it's something you do with people you care about. So
even if it's like someone I don't know so well,
it does feel soon intimate that we're having a shared
meal and you know, there's also the the you know,
you hear us ordering our food and like you sort
of get a sense of like what we're like is
real people, which.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I think is interesting.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
But you know, the same thing for you know, you
know during the pandemic when sort of everything switched to
zoom and then it kind of just stayed that way.
I thought, if I'm going to do this, I want
to look for a reason where like I have.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
To be sitting with someone real time, and.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Like the rules of this podcast and is as you
well know, like you have to be in person and
you have to you must arrive at the same place
and share a meal together. And it's just it's part
of it's part of what makes the podcast special.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, you're right, and the like normally, like Jeff, we're
at the tower and Jeff allows us to use this
private space. But sometimes we're in the terrace. Yeah, and
you know, and there's noise or we have the mullet
king Eric behind you. It will come and you know,
you know, and it's all about the interaction of again connectivity.
That's cool. So when you do Dinners on Me, which
(03:25):
and I love that you have the same you know,
the same thought process is there some sort of common
thread with humans that you're finding, because you know, I
think we both we kind of sit in the same
room in regard to the same kind of guests, very
you know, entertainment oriented journeys. Who have you found anything
that well.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It's been mostly and maybe you found this too when
you're when you were starting off. I mean, you have
a I know, you know a lot of really incredible
entertaining people, and so like I went to my own
rolodext first, and so that sort of set the tone
of like who was going to then come in? And
you know, because I have such wonderful people who said
yes so early on, like Tracy Ellis Ross and Jesse
(04:05):
Williams and Julie Bowen and Chelsea Clinton, who's a buddy
of mine. Like, because I was able to sort of
set the tone with these incredible guests, I've been able
to get other people who I don't know as well on,
like Aquafina and I just had I mean a Savari
on recently and I've never met her before, Paul Vegus,
someone I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, So you find it harder or easy?
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yeah, interesting, I find it a little harder to interview
the people I know really really well.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Me too, Yeah, because you kind of sink into something. Yeah,
that's and it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Feels like weird and fraudulent to almostly be asking questions
that you know the answers to.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's true. And you have to be careful of
being too inside, right because you get too inside and
the people that have pulled up the chair and I
love the figurative, the idea that you and I are
having lunch and there are people yes on wood that
are having lunch or in their cars and they I mean,
I get feedback which is like, yeah, it really wonderful.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I feel like you're fly on the wall.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
The do you have. I mean it's so hard. People
ask me like who are some of my favorite guests?
And I never have an answer for them, just because
it's all about.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
The conversations that surprised you. You thought it would go
one way and it ended up being a whole other conversation.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh that's yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you know
with Anna, who is so intimidating, so I bring her
up not to be so name drop because she saw her,
but she was really there was a lot of humility
and there was a lot of generosity in this conversation
where people are so look at her as being so
stoic and some cold.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Tom Ford was he that's his table over there, and
he was very Uh, I didn't want to talk about fashion.
Oh interesting, you know fashion? Was like not. You know,
he wears his uniform, which is you know what you've
seen him in his whole life. He's like, so, yeah,
you know with the nuances of what you know, but
nothing stands out. It's all a bo right blur, like
(05:59):
from blur, think God were recording me exactly. So you
born and raised in Albuquerque.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yeah, well no, I was born in Montana. But the yeah,
I only lived in Montana for the first year of
my life.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
It's so funny, I said to Brian two nights ago,
to Montana. It's great, beautiful. I hadn't been there since
I was born.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
And then my dad threw his seventieth birthday party there
in Missoli, Montana, which is the town I was born in,
and so I I went to that. That was That's
the basically the first time I got to experience Montana
and it's gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
It's beautiful. Yeah. So Albuquerque ways like I mean, it's
an interesting journey from Albuquerque to eventually being on Broadway, Like,
that's not how did that?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
How did you traverse that?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Well? I mean I became when I was young. I
found a lot of comfort in theater. I didn't have
a lot of a lot of friends at school, and
I found my people to be, you know, the artistic types.
And there was no big theater program or there was
really the zero theater program in my grade school and
also my high school, and so I had to look
(07:13):
for extracurricular places to do that. And there was a
pretty good children's theater company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that
I joined, and I just found myself to be so
much more myself and comfortable around these other kids who
were like, you know, playing theater games right zip zaps
ofp and I just I just really blossomed. And so
it was something that I think when I think about
(07:35):
like how I fell in love with theater, I think
it's because theater felt like it was finally a safe
space for me, and I was able to really you know,
explore parts of myself that I just felt like I
couldn't do yeah at school, I you know, I think
at that certainly at that young, young age. I didn't
know that I was gay. I didn't know what that meant.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
But so because you said safe place, which made me
want to you know, because I certainly didn't either, but
I certainly knew I was different. And the other kids
who have this like ability to sense things and be mean, yeah,
you I they sense they since and they they're the
ones that would tell me like, oh you're gay, right
and an usually not nice.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Way, usually usually followed by get them right.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Well, you know you're so self conscious. Yeah, I don't
understand that.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Age when you're self conscious about everything, right, so you
don't want to get called out for anything, right, So
uh yeah, when I say safe space, I think that
I didn't realize even what I was trying to be
safe from, but it just felt like more secure around
these people. And that's I think that I do think
that theater in that way sort of saved me, protected me.
(08:43):
So that's why I have this great, great affinity for it, right,
And it just always feels.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Like it came like your tribe. Yeah yeah, and when
you went to did you get out of Albuquerque when
you were going to college or you moved to New York? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Yeah, I mean, I was able to go to New
York when I was in high school as part of it.
So I was part of a French exchange program, and
it was our year to go to to like Paris
and spend some time in France, like basically a month
in France. And there's also an opportunity to go to
New York City for like five days with my local
community theater. Okay, and my parents said, you have to
(09:18):
choose one or the other, and I chose to go
to New York for five days rather than France for
a month.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I had never been to Broadway and it was just
like you might watched the Tony Awards, and I had
this just this like kind of a fantasy version of
like what New York was in my head, and I
needed to see if it was actually real because I
was getting to that point where like I was going
to graduate from high school at some point in the
near future, and I wanted to know if that's where
I should go. And I just had a feeling that
(09:44):
it was it was going to feel right, and so
I had to take the opportunity to go to New
York for for a week.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And did you see do you remember what you saw?
Uh huh, okay, tell me and what.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Ye yes, well it was nineteen ninety two or three, right.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
You're sure? I mean literally there's a full like because
I was eighty four. So the theater that was, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Like the original of the Kaja Phone.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Oh yeah, I saw that, the original Dream amazing, It's incredible,
the original Sweeney incredible because I grew up in Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I saw well.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
The shows that we were scheduled to see were Fan
of the Opera, Guys and Dolls with Naple Lane and
Faith Prince, that incredible revival.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What else was it?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I think it was Cats and The Secret Garden.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Okay, and I think I played hooky And I didn't
see Cats because it was my first night in New
York and I really desperately wanted to see Falsettos, which
was not on our list of shows to see from
Albuquerque in Mexico. The Blue Hairs of Albuquerque, Mexican were
not interested in seeing Falsettos, a quirky William Finn musical
about you know, same sex couple, and I had. I
(10:56):
was aware of it because I'd seen it on the
Tony Ward. So I went to the t kt S
booth and bought a ticket to go see Falsettos by myself.
And that was the very first Probably show I ever saw.
That's a good one. That's a really good one.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I mean, it's a it's a good one, and it's
a great story. It says a lot about your strength too.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, it was part of that.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I felt like, I, yeah, I was afraid to ask
about that show to the people who were planning this trip.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I didn't even tell my parents that thought I was
going to do that. You know, I hear.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
I had a free ticket to Probably show and I
let it go and I spend money, with my own
hard money to see something else. But I did feel like, Okay,
I'm here in the city by myself. No one knows
who I am. I felt comfortable and securely going up
to the booth and buying a ticket for it. Almost
felt like I was going into like a you know,
I guess I'm like like looking at a porn magazine
or something like. Yeah, I was afraid that something need
to do this. Yeah, and yet it was just a
(11:48):
Probably musical.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
No. But unless it's the same feeling, especially because of
the subject matter of the show, I think that made
it makes it seem like you were doing something maybe
you are you hide I was hiding a little bit, yeah,
you know, and that's brave.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
It was definitely a moment that solidified my desire to
move to New York. Right, And not only that, but
that show is so imprinted so much on me. Like
I you know, I obviously knew who William Finn was.
I was a fan of his music, but you know,
I was looking through the program, I was like, oh,
it's just the director James of Pine.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
He directed you know, Sending the Park with George and
Into the Woods, Like these are shows that I absolutely loved.
And you know, I put those two names on my
dream board like people I would love to work with
one day. And you know, I mean, if we fast
forward a little bit, that's exactly what happened. I mean
I got to work with both of them on the
twenty fifth annual putin Kunty spelling basis.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Oh my god, right, you were so amazed. That was
so good.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Did you then graduate and go and pursue the career?
I should know this. She didn't know, Well, did you
go to the I.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Didn't go to college.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Per se I went to. I always say I didn't
take college. I got a certificate of Complete from the
American Musical Dramatic Academy, which is a two year program. Okay,
if had some great talent that it's come out there,
yeah like you.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But yeah, you know, I auditioned for like regional theaters.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I wasn't part of the Actors Equity Association at that point.
I was doing non non union work and taking whatever
I could get.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Right it had it been so different now the age
you were at in the nineties doing this versus where
we're at now for a young person, because not only
is the whole casting different because you know of representation
and justifiably so you know, it's do you think could
(13:43):
it be replicated your my experience and yeah, I mean
I do social media.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, well, I mean it's also different.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I do think that there is still a deep desire
to discover untapped talent and new talent and fresh talent,
right which you know I was No one had hired
me before, so like I was, you know, an unknown commodity, and.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Soone's actual audition the first thing I really booked.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
That that sort of puts some wind in my sales
was the revival of On the Town that they did
the Delacorte Theater, directed by George C.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Wolf.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, of course, right, And you know, he.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Had just come off of directing Angels in America and
Jelly's Last Jam and bringing the noise, bringing the funk.
He was is extremely prolific. His next job is doing
Gypsy with Ador McDonald on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Wait for that.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
I cannot wait for that. I mean, come on, So
you know, the.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Having him sort of believe in me and give me
my first big opportunity, which was also a big speaking
role in On the Town. It wasn't like I was
just casting the ensemble and I had never been given
really much of an opportunity to even have a speaking role.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
On stage, which I was fine with.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Was summer are we talking?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
This is nineteen ninety seven and the show and did
have transferred to Broadway in nineteen ninety eight and also
bombing pretty miserably on Broadway. It ended up transferring to
the Gershwin Theater, which is the large house on Broadways more.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Wicked and running successful for twenty something years.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Right, nineteen ninety nine, Yeah, gets shorted. Yeah, so that's
a big break. It was a big break. That's sort
of like, you're not you're not a waiter, you're working actor.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Well I was, you know at the time, I was
bartending at the winter Garden Theater or Cats was playing.
It's like, you know, Cats like was punishing me, Like
you played hockey on us the first time, New York.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Now you're gonna have to watch the show every night.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
For a year, right, you know karma, that's what they
call karma. And actually I actually really do like kind
of love Cats secretly. And there's production in New York
right now. That's Cat's been set in the ballroom scene
in New York and it is the most incredible thing
I've ever seen my own. Yeah, I hope it transfers
to Broadway called Cat's Agelica Ball. Anyway, I was working
(15:48):
at the winder Garden Theater and when I was auditioning
On the Town and a lot of the cast members
of Cats were also auditioning for On the Town as well.
It's a big dance show, right, and so naturally they were,
you know, three great parts for guys who dance, and
I wasn't much of a dancer. And I remember my
friend Abe Silva, who is now a great writer and
director and you know working on Pomeroyal right now. He
(16:10):
was in the cast of Cats, And he tells me
this funny story about when I finally got the job.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Then he and his like dressing roommate.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Were like talking about their callbacks from the town, and
someone's like, did do you even know who this is? Like,
as they're putting on their cat make did you hear
anything about on the town?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Do you know who got it?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
And like it's one of the guys across the room
was like, yeah, the bartender got it, like putting the
whiskers on their.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Face, but the bartend, the bartender got it.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
But then the thing is, after like I mentioned to you,
I mean, it was a short run in the park.
It was a few months, and then after that I
didn't have a job. So I went back. I went
back to the Winter Garden, I went back to like
the gift shop I was working on. It's had several jobs,
back to Starbucks, Like you know, I did whatever I
could do to make some money. It wasn't I mean,
it was a huge break and obviously people were now
(16:59):
aware of me, and it I.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Think boomed me into other opportunities.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
But I was still like in a place where I
had to pay my bills.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Do you have your tribe from those years, because I
find that my friends that are actors, yeah, they have that.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
You know Via Delaria who starred opposite of me and
on The Town she played my girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Can you believe that that is? Is that great? Great?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Great?
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I mean this twenty one year old kid and like
this forty something year old lesbian playing love interests and
we had.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Such good chemistry.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Well she's remained one of my very very close friends.
George Wolf is still a very good friend of mine.
A lot of people who are in that show, but
then also other friends of mine who were up and
coming actors, and you know sort of I would see
auditions and become friends with them, and they're they're part
of my closest friends still so to this day.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So right, yeah, that's an amazing when you're in New
York now, you know, having been raised there and it's
changed so much to the city and it's you know,
it's still my heart. It's still my favorite place in
the world. But like I see, it's like almost like
I say, ghosts, but like on the corners, Like do
you do you? You know, you know, like you have
(18:18):
like now how you live. You have an apartment. You
you're successful, so you live a certain way. But like, yes,
when you.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
The Starbucks on eighty fourth and Broadway, that's where I
used to work and I walk in there and I'm like,
I used to work here and like no, I'm ordering
your coffee and you know it's but I always tell
them it's like I used to be behind there, Like
I used to work there all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, all the time.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I mean when I go into the Golden Theater, which
is where Falsetto's played, right, whenever I see a show
in the Golden I'm like, this is where I sat
right on my.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
First you from that day.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
I don't know if I do.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
I mean, I definitely photos of me that we or right,
I don't know if I have a photo of me
outside of falset Know. I think I took a photo
of the Marquis, photos of pigeons on that trip.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You don't watch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, right, I guess not?
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You don't, don't you Like when you first saw what
is this most ugly bird you've ever seen?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Was just fascinatd buy it.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I mean it's sort of like when you travel to
other I mean I was just in Morocco and there's
cats everywhere, and I was kicking photos of cats, like
I must look like such a tourist right now.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
But it was the photos of that week in.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
New York, my first week, And you're ridiculous because it's
just a lot of Theata marquees and pigeons.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That is you need, you need to make it back
to that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yeah, And I think I even took a photo of
like the gap because it was like, I've never seen
a gap that wasn't inside the mall, like a gap
that actually a butt of a sidewalk.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Cars. That's crazy, that's so funny. Yeah, because things that
used impress me. Right. Thanks for joining us on Table
(20:06):
for two. Before the break, our guest Jesse Tyler Ferguson
was telling us about his journey from Albuquerque to Broadway.
I'm curious to hear about some of Jesse's most interesting
experiences on stage. There's nothing quite like sitting in a
dark theater when the lights go down and the curtain
(20:27):
goes up. The experience that you guys deliver.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Yeah, it's my favorite thing.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Has there ever been like when you're on stage, what's
the funniest and weirdest thing that annis members are kooky?
Especially like they like what I can't hear you totally anything,
Any stories that you've been like, oh no.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Well, you know Take Me Out, which was the last
show I did on Broadway, and they did involve a
lot of male nudity. It's about a baseball team and
a lot of the the scenes take place in the
locker room, specifically the showers, and they're very integral scenes
because it's about homophobia and masculine toxic masculinity and behave
and how like someone coming out of the closet changes
the whole dynamic of the locker room antics and behaviors
(21:13):
and relationships. I was not in any of these naked scenes.
I played Jesse Williams, who played the star player Darren Lenning.
I played his account business manager, so no one needed
to see the business managers, you know. Although I always
begged Richard Greenberg just to write a scene of one
last scene where it's just Mason Marzak showering at home
by himself, sadly, just all by himself.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Life has gone.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
But because I guess I just I think theaters audiences
have changed so much, and and I just feel like,
I just feel like such a lack of respect for
what it means to be in a sacred space and
a lot of you know, I mean, we did everything
we could to protect his cast, but there were photos
that leaked out of some of the cast members.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Of course, when Joe did it, I'm known how a
phone I was taking a sneak in a.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Picture taking of they had to sneak in a whole camera.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
But I think because some photos did lead the audience
members that then started coming because it was a big
press thing, you know. It was like they have the
Tony nominations. Both Jesse Williams and myself and another cast member,
Michael Oberholtzer all got nominated in the same category, and
then that was immediately overshadowed by new pictures leaking out, right,
And I just felt so bad for the company because
(22:32):
it was a celebrated revival. Now the conversation was about penises, right,
and but that did bring a lot of different people
into the theater who didn't necessarily come to see the play.
They wanted to see the spectacle and I was like, Wow,
you're gonna guys are gonna be so bored by about
two and a half hours of really important thoughts and.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Conversations for like two minutes of nudity. And I remember.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Having to navigate that behavior amongst audiences, you know, the
whistles that would have and sometimes when Jesse would walk
out even fully clothed, like just on the anticipation like
what's coming, and that was that was always really really rough,
and I was I don't know if I ever handled
it super well. I would usually like shoot really evil
(23:16):
looks towards those parts of the audience, but I do, Uh,
you know, I've had many mishaps on stage that have
have nothing to do with with misbehaving audiences, are completely
my own faults.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Right, Well, that's the fun of it, Yeah, in the
weird way as as you know, I assume as the performer, Yeah,
because each night is not going to be the same, right,
and so something can go wrong, something cannot be where
it's supposed to be, someone can forget the line, you
can trip, you can fall, and you sort of have
to figure out how to navigate this and not have
(23:52):
necessarily the audience be sol away.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Right, right, Well, nothing's worse than when you completely go
up and you don't know what's next, and there's a
whole lot of God was wondering if beat or not.
It's it's awful that hasn't happened to me a lot,
Like personally, I'm gonna this is gonna make me like
I'm gonna sound like I'm like really trying to I'm
not the problems, you know what I'm saying. But there
was a moment and Take Me Out. Take Me Out
(24:16):
was Jesse Williams first Broadway show, and he was unbelievable
in it, incredible, and he had such an ease on stage.
I was like, how is this possible? Like how are
you this comfortable on your first Broadway outing? But there
were sometimes where he was so relaxed he really did
forget what was next.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
And there's a tradition on Broadway where they record for
the archives of LINC considered archives a lot of these
performances and they're not available for public concention. You have
to like have a reason to see them. You have
to go to the library, you have to watch them
in a cubicle, but they a lot of these shows
are archive. You can watch incredible performances. I have lin
considered library. So we who had the honor of having
our show recorded for Lincoln. That's great, that's very very exciting.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
And Jesse of.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Course was, you know, not too worried about it, and
like there's nudity involved in this as well, and like
you know that was all gonna be recorded, and like
they knew that they would, everyone would be protected and
the stuff and not leak. And anyway, he was walking
to the theater and next door at the Saint James,
Bradley Cooper was recording, was working on Maestro. They were
doing scene scenes from Mestre at the Saint James Theater.
So there were massive, you know, film trucks outside basically
(25:22):
sharing the street with Vice. And so Jesse's walking down
the street to our stage door and seeing all these
like huge film trucks and he's from the world of
Hollywood and straighten out of me and he's like he
knows what a film truck looks like, the trailers and stuff,
and he's like, this is a way bigger deal recording
this thing for Lincoln set up, And I thought he
didn't know that Bradley Cooper was next door doing my struck.
So we came in already like freaking out, like what
is happening here? So you put him at ease, like
(25:43):
that's not actually for us, this like tiny little band
is for us.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
That's all you know, someone else.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
But we could do a big scene between Jesse and
I and Jesse completely goes up and he thinks I'm
upset with him because he assumed that I'm annoyed because
of we're recording this for you know.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
The archives.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Sure here he is sort of like his mind goes everywhere,
but like what the next line is. It's like, oh god,
Jesse epsot with me, this is the recording that's gonna
be the library in the middle of a scene and
he's just not saying anything. He's just tail spinning right,
and somehow we get back on. But it was a
it was like a good forty five seconds of just
pure terror for.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Both of us.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Feel like forever, forever, forever. Do you sometimes then have
to sort of say, like give the hint, like say
something that's not written to sort of hopefully trigger Bruce.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I went so far to my body, I don't remember
what happened. I was like also like watching myself from
the ceiling. I was like, what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
What are we doing? No one's talking, No one's talking.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And I think we both kind of like repeated lines
a few times, like said things that we'd already said,
sort of time to.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Fill the space, and and.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Jess was like rubbing his head and like, you know,
it was like it was a lot of there was
a lot of It was like a.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Really long I bet that's nerve wrecking. That's certainly nerve wrecking.
And it's you know, my feeling is from an audience member,
like the decorum that people come now, but all over life,
so it's not just theater, but like how you dress.
And Matthew Broderck always says this, like when you go
to the theater, like who were a tie? Yeah, Like
he has a very specific feeling about people that don't
(27:17):
dress to go to the theatre. You know, it's right,
and I get it, Yeah, totally, No, for sure, Yeah,
I mean you're going out.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
I have a funny sort of Matthew though, it's like
kind of that it's gonna be a little counterintuitive to.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
What he just said. Okay, Oh, I was at his very.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
First performance in New York of Plaza Suite and Matthew and.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I our buddies. We actually work out at the same
gym sometimes we train together.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Love him left him so much. I mean, there's nobody like.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Hi, there's nothing.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
So, you know, he's on the stage with his wife,
the incredible Sara Juska Parker. They're in the scene and
I notice Sarah looking down at his wrist, and the
Plaza Suite takes place in nineteen forties, you know, at
the Plaza Hotel. Matthew Broderick is wearing his Apple Watch
on stage and then it starts chiming no alerts on stage,
(28:06):
so she's just like, are you I could tell like,
She's like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
He very quietly sort of takes off the watch and
puts it into his you know, nineteen forties briefcase and
just leaves. He can't leave the stage to them on stage,
but I was like, I laughed so hard, like you
were incredibly unprofessional that so he can't be exclaining too
much about people not dressing right, you know what, He's
wearing his Apple watch on stage for a sold out
(28:31):
performance Applausea.
Speaker 6 (28:32):
Suite, Jesse, you end up being on one of the
most successful sitcoms and everyone is next level in this
and that clearly the chemistry and the just connection is
(28:53):
so real.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How did that jump happen? And when did you kind
of guys realize, oh shit, we're in thing big here.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Yeah, it's you know, I never anticipated I mean, here
we have. You've heard me talk so much about theater,
and truly that's where I thought my career was going
to stay. And I never anticipated moving to Los Angeles,
never anticipated doing a sitcom. But I did have the
opportunity to to be a part of a show called
The Class pretty early on, and it was an incredible
(29:24):
company of people, starting Jason Ritter, Lizzie Kaplan, John Burnenthal
who just went an enmy for the Bear, had some
incredible theater talent, Julie Houlston, Sam.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Harris, and I.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It was a great show, and I moved to LA
to do that and it was canceled after a year,
and I was sort of that place where I was
deciding whether or not it was just going to move
back to New York and you know, pick up where
I left off with theater and do what I knew best,
or if I was going to stick it out for
a little while here and just sort of see what else.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Might come up.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
And then the writers strike happened, the rider strike previous
to the last one we had, and it shut down
the industry just like this last one did.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And I sort of felt like I needed to see.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
It through and I ended up booking a job shortly
after the strike was resolved. But it was kind of
in a moment of panic, and it was I think
a lot of people were scrambling for work just because
everyone needed to do something to take money.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
And the show I ended up doing.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
It was problematic because I think, first of all, it
was written and created by one of my dear friends,
Abraham Higabotham, who also was a writer on Modern Family,
but he was a first time show runner, and I think,
you know, he didn't have the ability to sort of
take charge of what he wanted the show to be,
and it kind of just disintegrated and it ended up
being the first show canceled that year. And so I
was really at a place where I was like, I
(30:40):
think my tail has been doing my legs, like it's
time to go back. It's time to go back to
New York. And then the script from Modern Family came
to me, and I was my agent, knew I wanted
to move back to New York, and like, you know,
you probably don't even want to audition for this, knowing
you want to go back to New York, but just
take a look at it. And I remember reading it
on my like first generation iPhone in a coffee shop
(31:05):
and falling in love with it and really seeing opportunity
for to be a pop culture touchstone for, you know,
the fight for marriage equality, which we were in the
in the depths up. I thought, these are two incredibly
well drawn characters. I think that this could really resonate,
this could make this could make change. It felt unlike
anything I'd ever read before, because it was obviously incredibly
(31:28):
hilarious but grounded in so much.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
I just could tell how much how much there was
to mind.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
From these characters, right, you know, I played and read
many different gay roles, and it just felt like this
was really going so much deeper under the surface than
anything else IDE ever read for, or auditioned for or played.
And so yeah, I went into that process obviously deeply
wanting it, but kind of also feeling like I was
(31:55):
so incredibly right for it. I wasn't it wasn't that
a nice feel it was it was also I think
because I felt like I was I was like, listen,
if this doesn't work out, I'm just going to go
back to New York and do theater. Like I really
have a great backup plan. I'm I feel like I'll
be welcome back with open arms. And so I just
I didn't feel a ton of pressure around the whole experience,
(32:16):
which is incredible because it's the experience that changed my
entire career.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, the process is so now you're going to audition.
Are you auditioning with different other actors to see what
the couple will look like a little bit? And yeah,
what was that like? And then when did you know?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
You?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Guys hit? I mean the relationship between the two of you, Yeah,
is amazing. And you're also playing the less sort of
flame boying and he's straight and he's playing the more.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
It's like, you know, yeah, how well, ironically, they would
only want to see me for Cam, which was the
part that Eric Ston Street ended up playing. They didn't
want to see me for Mitchell, which is the well
I did a play, right, So I went in an
audition for Cam, but I read it as if I
was from the viewpoint of Mitchell, so I think the
casting within moments they realized, oh, he's in for the
(33:01):
wrong part. Even though I told him I was coming
in for the wrong part, right, they still made me
read for Cam and so I auditioned again for Mitchell.
And after that it happened very quickly. I was I
auditioned for Mitchell in front of the creators. I didn't
have to have a pre screen or anything. And right
after that, I tested for the network and I booked it.
So I was one of I think I was the
first cast member nailed down. Sophia Aagara had a development
(33:25):
deal with ABC and Fox, so she was already being
talked about for the role of Gloria. They were tailoring
the role for her. But beyond that, I was the
first person that they knocked down. So because I was
cast as part of this couple, I then got to
do chemistry reads with so many different people and I
auditioned for different cams. And it's interesting because it was
(33:47):
the role I initially went in for, so I knew
I knew the vantage point of like, you know what
the material he was reading as well very well, but
everyone find Josh Gadd auditioned fl it to actually some
people who ended up being our friends in the show,
like they Audi reported it. Initially, I remember reading with
(34:08):
just you know, so many different sizes and types and gay, straight, black, white,
and something about when Eric Snunzer came in it just
felt I don't know, it was we had immediate chemistry
with him.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I really enjoyed his take.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
It was incredibly I don't know, it was so big
but yet grounded at the same time. Later I found
out here he was basing it off of his mother,
and so it's someone that he knows so well. So
even though he was completely flamboyant and was based in
this like real person, it deeply cares for and it
just I don't know, it just it just really clicked
(34:45):
and it felt. It felt really it felt really right.
You know, Eric and I always talk about, like if
we were they were passing the show today, if he
would have a shot at that role because he is
a straight man.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Yeah, you know, I don't know if he would. I
don't know if he would.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
I also can't imagine that couple with anyone else other
than him.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
How do you feel about that? I'm very Yeah, I
feel like we can go back at a time and
you kind of sounds like you came as an actor
pursue a career when you didn't have to hide being gay.
You could be gay and walk into the room. You
go back ten years and I know people that we
both know that were you know, you couldn't And so
(35:26):
you go to Milk and you have Champagne playing Harvey Milk, right,
So you know, Brian, my husband, would say the movie
wouldn't have gotten made unless you had a movie star
right like Sean making it. Now, eventually you have to
get to the place where an openly gay actor gets
the part or can be a contended part. And then
you have now people like yourself and people like Matt Boehmer.
(35:48):
You know, someone like Matt who would never have worked
if he was an openly gay man because of the
nature of the roles that he played exactly. I would
like to think he would be cast today. I would
like to think that we're getting to a place where
we want equal distribution, but we also want the best
person in the role.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's tricky, and I you know,
every time I think about this, I don't fully know
if I have all the right answers, but I mean, listen,
I always, I always just reflect back upon myself. I mean,
because my point of view is really the only place
I can talk about this from.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
I am an actor, and I want the opportunity to
play roles that are not just gaying. I want to
play straight part and I have played straight parts. I've played,
I've played. I have played everything from like a twelve
year old autistic kid and spelling bee to you know,
a romantic interest in the class to half of a
gay couple in modern family.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
I just got to do you know.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
I got to play Truman, Capodi and a reading of
True you know, just just recently. I love the challenge
of playing different parts. So to say only gay actors
should play gay roles sort of kind of contradicts how
I want people to.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Look at me.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Right.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
I do think that, and I we've gotten better.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
I think we are farther to go, But I think
it's a lot about representation and having opportunity.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
To at least cast people who have that lived experience.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
I think specifically we have a really long way to go.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
All that we are getting better with a representative representation
of transactors.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yes, I'm I'm so proud.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Of my friend Jinx Monsoon who is now playing a
lot of CIS roles on She's playing Mamma Morton in Chicago,
she played Audrey and Little Shop of Horrors. Like that
seems like that's movement forward, right, But she's not a
CIS woman, right. So it's like, I do think we
have to remind ourselves that we are all actors. We
should be given opportunities that are not just who we are,
not the mold of who we are. But also we
(37:41):
have to make sure that those opportunities are actually indeed
being given, yes, and that people are being considered.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Right, And I think, I mean, so it is. It
is a very it's still it's complicated. It is. There's
a business piece to it, if you sit on one
side of the room, there's an artistry piece to it.
There's just a humanity piece. And I think you're right.
You want to play roles. You're an actor, that's your feeling.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
I also think about when they're talking about people who
with some movies, I think about someone like gab Rasadabe
who no one knew who she was and she comes
out in this movie that absolutely blows people away. Precious,
and she's incredible in it. She has an Oscar nomination.
She was she had no career before that beyond like,
why can't these opportunities be given to people who are
part of the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yeah, like we don't have to know who everyone is.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Yeah, welcome back to Table for two. Since his time
(38:51):
on Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson has started a podcast,
Dinner Zombie, acted in the play Take Me Out, and
just released a short documentary called It's Okay about the
recent drag bands in the United States.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, it's about a Drag Story Hour.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
The director is David France, who directed How to Survive
a Plague about the AIDS crisis, and also I worked
with him on a documentary called Welcome to Chechenie about
the gay purge and Checchnia, and he came to us
with this idea of doing something about Drag Story Hour
because it's such a hot button topic.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
You know, there were people armed protesters outside of schools
where these Drag Story Hours are being held. So we
have found some kids who had never been to a
drag Story out before, and we followed them and recorded
their experience, and it's it's really field reporting. I mean,
it's it's just we watch what happens with them. And
(39:49):
these two brothers who we follow have both very kind
of different experiences with it. The younger one is extremely
open to it. The older one is a little resistant
and like, what's happening? What it was saying? We also,
you probably didn't even notice it. It's something I love
that David did is he put microphone vests on these
kids so we could hear their heartbeat and their breathing.
(40:10):
And that's sort of what is underlaid with the film
because you do hear their heart, you hear them breathing,
and it's very intimate this film. Yes it is, and
uh it's we really hear what's happening to them inside
their bodies as well. But what I love about the
film is that the book that Shalida the drag Queen
who is doing the drag Quen story hours reading, is
a book that I actually read to my kids, and
(40:33):
it's just about different types of families.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
What's the book.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
The book is called It's Okay to Be Different, and
it talks about everyone from like you know, some people
have all their teeth and some people don't like it's
all different types of Some people have two mommies, some
people have one mom, some people have two dads. Some
people you know, are raised by their grandparents. And it's
happens to be a book that's.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
That's now being banned in schools, and it's it's just like,
what a part what about this book is causing so
much fear in people?
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Right?
Speaker 3 (41:00):
And so that that happens to be the book that
she leads reading.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
So you hear her list reading this book, and you
see these kids enraptured and engrossed and growing and learning
as they're experiencing this thing. And for them it's like
not even a man and address reading the book. It's
like this fabulous princess with sparkles on reading this dress
reading this book.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Rather and uh.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
The documentary is very very simple and very quite by
the way, feel like didn't see the whole Thing's right,
nothing big happens, And that's what I love about it.
Speaker 8 (41:28):
It's like, it's okay, is there truth to the rumor
of a little reunion.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
On Modern Family?
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
It's damn.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
I mean, there was you know that I've talked about
this before, but there was a spinoff written for me
and Eric.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Well, I was gonna have to say, like, where's the
road up? Yea, you know the fell, where's the Fonds?
I mean, I mean.
Speaker 4 (42:04):
There's a piece of me that sort of feels like,
are we the right characters right now to you know,
speaking of opening the doors for other people, letting, you know,
letting other people sort of start telling me stories people
make with a bit more diversity or lived experience.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (42:17):
I just don't know if Mitch and Cam or like
the characters that necessarily need to be listen, I would
love to explore more. I would love to do something
with the entire cast. Yeah, I've been begging people to
put something together. So I don't think it's for lack
of interest from the cast.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
I think that that is that's the show, and this
is how I okay telling you. Then you have your neighbors,
so like that's like you know the couple that is
you know conservative, you know, but yet you know, then
you have like, uh, you know, you're kind of it's
like Maud, you know, you have all these different things,
but and there's always some sort of message that's not
(42:57):
like hit over the head, but you go, oh, like yeah,
and then you have people like Sophia like coming to
visit because she's in town. Course there's like fun stuff
to do with it. Absolutely, I mean the repartee and
and and you're you know, your kid grew up and
so she's getting older and maybe there's stuff there for sure.
Speaker 4 (43:14):
No, I mean we the the spin off was basically
based in them moving out of town to a farm. Yeah,
and it is sort of like, you know, a little
bit of green Acres, a little bit you know, brilliant,
and especially Mitch, she's like it really is not good
at this when.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
He was rapped with the thing on the boat yea,
yea yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
So I mean it had a lot of a lot
of potential. And yeah, I think you know, if there's
probably one thing. I mean, Modern Family was about a family.
So it's like we were mostly white. Yeah, Sophia and
en Rico obviously and and Lily are exceptions. But I
think you know that was a criticism that we got
a lot is that it was a very white show,
which you know, we weren't entirely white, we were, but
(43:56):
the dumpy Pritchet clam was pretty white. But I think
even in the opportunities to cast other roles in Michigan
camps where they know, they were really looking toward, you know,
being extremely more you know, way more diverse, And yeah,
I think that's something that everyone should be conscious about
right now.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Versity.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Yes, I agree. I think that show has the capability
of having a lot of diversity in the neighborhood on
the farm and I love.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
It, and diversity with politics too.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
So yeah, anything on the horizon that a little inside
skinny table for two lunch.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
I just did.
Speaker 4 (44:43):
I was just mentioning this Truman Capote thing I did.
I did this reading of it in Tangier.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Yeah, you kept having Morocco. That's what I'm meant to say, Like,
what were you doing there?
Speaker 4 (44:50):
I was doing this reading of True, which is a
play about Trim Capote. It's a one one man show
and I did it with Rob Ashford and Tangier to
benefit local chair he wanted to been being a local
orphanage and we raised a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Was really incredible, but the experience was so good. Yeah,
play together.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
I'm sort of now wondering if that's something that I
should maybe be looking at you know.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yes, what a great character.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Oh, when I'm going to do Shakespeare the Park next summer. Oh,
you are going back.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
To the delacort Okay, yes, just you know that is
my favorite thing in the world and my favorite I'd
look forward to it every year. So what are you
going to do now?
Speaker 4 (45:24):
The Delacorte Theater has been closed this past summer because
there's renovation. So Oscar used to the artistic director of
the Public Heada really wants to open it back up
with a big bang.
Speaker 3 (45:31):
So he's chosen Twelfth Night, which is a great play.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Great I saw that years ago.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yes, with Anne Hathaway.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Maybe I almost want to say Michelle Fife for Bettle
maybe a different one that was like an eighty nine.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Right, Well he attached Thus far, it's very exciting myself,
the pitt in Neango, Sandra Oh and Peter dinklih God.
So that's all I know of so far that I've
committed to it. But that's what I'm doing next time.
It's the next summer summer of twenty twenty five. Yeah,
that's a big you'll see me there.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Well, this has been a true joy. Thank you for
having Jesse Tyler Ferguson for having lunch with me today here.
I mean just enjoy our beautiful SoCal day and I
dig you digo. Thank you everyone for pulling up a shair.
Thank you, thank you for pulling up a chair.
Speaker 5 (46:27):
I love our lunches and never forget the romance of
a meal. If you enjoy the show, please tell a
friend and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Table
for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeartRadio seven
three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are Bruce
Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer is Dylan Fagan.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Our editors are Vincent to Johnny and Cas B.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Bias.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Table for two is researched and written by Jack Sullivan.
Our sound engineers are Jo B. Klein, Jess Krainich, Evan Taylor,
and Jesse Funn. Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our
talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table for two
Social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks to Amy Sugarman.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Uni Scherer, Kevin Yvane, Bobby Bauer, and Alison Kanter Graber.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Welcome back to the table. We
are at the Sunset Tower Bar. I could not be
more excited. It is a beautiful day in sunny SoCal.
Are you gonna eat yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonna do
like I do, my typical chop salad with chicken. Oh
that's good. I love the chop sad. Yeah. Today we're
having lunch with an acclaimed Broadway actor, a Tony winner,
(00:27):
an acclaimed television star, an Emmy winner, a gentleman who
has launched a podcast or our show is similar? Do
I ask similar questions? You're like a star, You're great
at this. No, you're a great conversation a star. So
sit back and let's enjoy lunch with this incredibly funny
(00:48):
man and talented actor, Jesse Tayler Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If you pulled up a chair today on Table for two,
we're sitting with an incredible actor, very acclaimed actor. I'm
one of the most successful television shows we all know,
Modern Family, which I've a lot of questions about a
Tony Winner. Yes, incredibly all around great guy. I know
you Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Welcome to Table for two.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm so glad finally doing this. I know me too,
Like we tried to do this.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Like a year ago we did. Jess and I sort
of have a similar podcast going on, which is I
do lunch, Jesse does dinner, and I know that the
genesis for me was I believed in the romance of
a meal and the intimacy of a connection and felt
that in this world of podcast and zoom is, one
of the things that went away was the connectivity being
(01:52):
in the same room, which is an ask for people
because it's not like they flip up their screen, but
in the nuances our lunch today, things happen. What was
your motivation to create you know dinners on You.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Said it so much more elegantly than I do, and
I explained mine just like the romance of it is
exactly spot on.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I just feel like.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
There's something about having a meal with someone your guards
let down a little bit more. You know, it's a
it's something you do with people you care about. So
even if it's like someone I don't know so well,
it does feel soon intimate that we're having a shared
meal and you know, there's also the the you know,
you hear us ordering our food and like you sort
of get a sense of like what we're like is
real people, which.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I think is interesting.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
But you know, the same thing for you know, you
know during the pandemic when sort of everything switched to
zoom and then it kind of just stayed that way.
I thought, if I'm going to do this, I want
to look for a reason where like I have.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
To be sitting with someone real time, and.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Like the rules of this podcast and is as you
well know, like you have to be in person and
you have to you must arrive at the same place
and share a meal together. And it's just it's part
of it's part of what makes the podcast special.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, you're right, and the like normally, like Jeff, we're
at the tower and Jeff allows us to use this
private space. But sometimes we're in the terrace. Yeah, and
you know, and there's noise or we have the mullet
king Eric behind you. It will come and you know,
you know, and it's all about the interaction of again connectivity.
That's cool. So when you do Dinners on Me, which
(03:25):
and I love that you have the same you know,
the same thought process is there some sort of common
thread with humans that you're finding, because you know, I
think we both we kind of sit in the same
room in regard to the same kind of guests, very
you know, entertainment oriented journeys. Who have you found anything
that well.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It's been mostly and maybe you found this too when
you're when you were starting off. I mean, you have
a I know, you know a lot of really incredible
entertaining people, and so like I went to my own
rolodext first, and so that sort of set the tone
of like who was going to then come in? And
you know, because I have such wonderful people who said
yes so early on, like Tracy Ellis Ross and Jesse
(04:05):
Williams and Julie Bowen and Chelsea Clinton, who's a buddy
of mine. Like, because I was able to sort of
set the tone with these incredible guests, I've been able
to get other people who I don't know as well on,
like Aquafina and I just had I mean a Savari
on recently and I've never met her before, Paul Vegus,
someone I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, So you find it harder or easy?
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yeah, interesting, I find it a little harder to interview
the people I know really really well.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Me too, Yeah, because you kind of sink into something. Yeah,
that's and it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Feels like weird and fraudulent to almostly be asking questions
that you know the answers to.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's true. And you have to be careful of
being too inside, right because you get too inside and
the people that have pulled up the chair and I
love the figurative, the idea that you and I are
having lunch and there are people yes on wood that
are having lunch or in their cars and they I mean,
I get feedback which is like, yeah, it really wonderful.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I feel like you're fly on the wall.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
The do you have. I mean it's so hard. People
ask me like who are some of my favorite guests?
And I never have an answer for them, just because
it's all about.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
The conversations that surprised you. You thought it would go
one way and it ended up being a whole other conversation.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Oh that's yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you know
with Anna, who is so intimidating, so I bring her
up not to be so name drop because she saw her,
but she was really there was a lot of humility
and there was a lot of generosity in this conversation
where people are so look at her as being so
stoic and some cold.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Tom Ford was he that's his table over there, and
he was very Uh, I didn't want to talk about fashion.
Oh interesting, you know fashion? Was like not. You know,
he wears his uniform, which is you know what you've
seen him in his whole life. He's like, so, yeah,
you know with the nuances of what you know, but
nothing stands out. It's all a bo right blur, like
(05:59):
from blur, think God were recording me exactly. So you
born and raised in Albuquerque.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yeah, well no, I was born in Montana. But the yeah,
I only lived in Montana for the first year of
my life.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
It's so funny, I said to Brian two nights ago,
to Montana. It's great, beautiful. I hadn't been there since
I was born.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
And then my dad threw his seventieth birthday party there
in Missoli, Montana, which is the town I was born in,
and so I I went to that. That was That's
the basically the first time I got to experience Montana
and it's gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
It's beautiful. Yeah. So Albuquerque ways like I mean, it's
an interesting journey from Albuquerque to eventually being on Broadway, Like,
that's not how did that?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
How did you traverse that?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Well? I mean I became when I was young. I
found a lot of comfort in theater. I didn't have
a lot of a lot of friends at school, and
I found my people to be, you know, the artistic types.
And there was no big theater program or there was
really the zero theater program in my grade school and
also my high school, and so I had to look
(07:13):
for extracurricular places to do that. And there was a
pretty good children's theater company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that
I joined, and I just found myself to be so
much more myself and comfortable around these other kids who
were like, you know, playing theater games right zip zaps
ofp and I just I just really blossomed. And so
it was something that I think when I think about
(07:35):
like how I fell in love with theater, I think
it's because theater felt like it was finally a safe
space for me, and I was able to really you know,
explore parts of myself that I just felt like I
couldn't do yeah at school, I you know, I think
at that certainly at that young, young age. I didn't
know that I was gay. I didn't know what that meant.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
But so because you said safe place, which made me
want to you know, because I certainly didn't either, but
I certainly knew I was different. And the other kids
who have this like ability to sense things and be mean, yeah,
you I they sense they since and they they're the
ones that would tell me like, oh you're gay, right
and an usually not nice.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Way, usually usually followed by get them right.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Well, you know you're so self conscious. Yeah, I don't
understand that.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Age when you're self conscious about everything, right, so you
don't want to get called out for anything, right, So
uh yeah, when I say safe space, I think that
I didn't realize even what I was trying to be
safe from, but it just felt like more secure around
these people. And that's I think that I do think
that theater in that way sort of saved me, protected me.
(08:43):
So that's why I have this great, great affinity for it, right,
And it just always feels.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Like it came like your tribe. Yeah yeah, and when
you went to did you get out of Albuquerque when
you were going to college or you moved to New York? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Yeah, I mean, I was able to go to New
York when I was in high school as part of it.
So I was part of a French exchange program, and
it was our year to go to to like Paris
and spend some time in France, like basically a month
in France. And there's also an opportunity to go to
New York City for like five days with my local
community theater. Okay, and my parents said, you have to
(09:18):
choose one or the other, and I chose to go
to New York for five days rather than France for
a month.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I had never been to Broadway and it was just
like you might watched the Tony Awards, and I had
this just this like kind of a fantasy version of
like what New York was in my head, and I
needed to see if it was actually real because I
was getting to that point where like I was going
to graduate from high school at some point in the
near future, and I wanted to know if that's where
I should go. And I just had a feeling that
(09:44):
it was it was going to feel right, and so
I had to take the opportunity to go to New
York for for a week.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And did you see do you remember what you saw?
Uh huh, okay, tell me and what.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Ye yes, well it was nineteen ninety two or three, right.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
You're sure? I mean literally there's a full like because
I was eighty four. So the theater that was, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Like the original of the Kaja Phone.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Oh yeah, I saw that, the original Dream amazing, It's incredible,
the original Sweeney incredible because I grew up in Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I saw well.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
The shows that we were scheduled to see were Fan
of the Opera, Guys and Dolls with Naple Lane and
Faith Prince, that incredible revival.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What else was it?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I think it was Cats and The Secret Garden.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Okay, and I think I played hooky And I didn't
see Cats because it was my first night in New
York and I really desperately wanted to see Falsettos, which
was not on our list of shows to see from
Albuquerque in Mexico. The Blue Hairs of Albuquerque, Mexican were
not interested in seeing Falsettos, a quirky William Finn musical
about you know, same sex couple, and I had. I
(10:56):
was aware of it because I'd seen it on the
Tony Ward. So I went to the t kt S
booth and bought a ticket to go see Falsettos by myself.
And that was the very first Probably show I ever saw.
That's a good one. That's a really good one.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I mean, it's a it's a good one, and it's
a great story. It says a lot about your strength too.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, it was part of that.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I felt like, I, yeah, I was afraid to ask
about that show to the people who were planning this trip.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I didn't even tell my parents that thought I was
going to do that. You know, I hear.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
I had a free ticket to Probably show and I
let it go and I spend money, with my own
hard money to see something else. But I did feel like, Okay,
I'm here in the city by myself. No one knows
who I am. I felt comfortable and securely going up
to the booth and buying a ticket for it. Almost
felt like I was going into like a you know,
I guess I'm like like looking at a porn magazine
or something like. Yeah, I was afraid that something need
to do this. Yeah, and yet it was just a
(11:48):
Probably musical.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
No. But unless it's the same feeling, especially because of
the subject matter of the show, I think that made
it makes it seem like you were doing something maybe
you are you hide I was hiding a little bit, yeah,
you know, and that's brave.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
It was definitely a moment that solidified my desire to
move to New York. Right, And not only that, but
that show is so imprinted so much on me. Like
I you know, I obviously knew who William Finn was.
I was a fan of his music, but you know,
I was looking through the program, I was like, oh,
it's just the director James of Pine.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
He directed you know, Sending the Park with George and
Into the Woods, Like these are shows that I absolutely loved.
And you know, I put those two names on my
dream board like people I would love to work with
one day. And you know, I mean, if we fast
forward a little bit, that's exactly what happened. I mean
I got to work with both of them on the
twenty fifth annual putin Kunty spelling basis.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Oh my god, right, you were so amazed. That was
so good.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Did you then graduate and go and pursue the career?
I should know this. She didn't know, Well, did you
go to the I.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Didn't go to college.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Per se I went to. I always say I didn't
take college. I got a certificate of Complete from the
American Musical Dramatic Academy, which is a two year program. Okay,
if had some great talent that it's come out there,
yeah like you.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But yeah, you know, I auditioned for like regional theaters.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
I wasn't part of the Actors Equity Association at that point.
I was doing non non union work and taking whatever
I could get.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Right it had it been so different now the age
you were at in the nineties doing this versus where
we're at now for a young person, because not only
is the whole casting different because you know of representation
and justifiably so you know, it's do you think could
(13:43):
it be replicated your my experience and yeah, I mean
I do social media.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, well, I mean it's also different.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
I do think that there is still a deep desire
to discover untapped talent and new talent and fresh talent,
right which you know I was No one had hired
me before, so like I was, you know, an unknown commodity, and.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Soone's actual audition the first thing I really booked.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
That that sort of puts some wind in my sales
was the revival of On the Town that they did
the Delacorte Theater, directed by George C.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Wolf.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, of course, right, And you know, he.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Had just come off of directing Angels in America and
Jelly's Last Jam and bringing the noise, bringing the funk.
He was is extremely prolific. His next job is doing
Gypsy with Ador McDonald on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Wait for that.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
I cannot wait for that. I mean, come on, So
you know, the.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Having him sort of believe in me and give me
my first big opportunity, which was also a big speaking
role in On the Town. It wasn't like I was
just casting the ensemble and I had never been given
really much of an opportunity to even have a speaking role.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
On stage, which I was fine with.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Was summer are we talking?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
This is nineteen ninety seven and the show and did
have transferred to Broadway in nineteen ninety eight and also
bombing pretty miserably on Broadway. It ended up transferring to
the Gershwin Theater, which is the large house on Broadways more.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Wicked and running successful for twenty something years.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Right, nineteen ninety nine, Yeah, gets shorted. Yeah, so that's
a big break. It was a big break. That's sort
of like, you're not you're not a waiter, you're working actor.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Well I was, you know at the time, I was
bartending at the winter Garden Theater or Cats was playing.
It's like, you know, Cats like was punishing me, Like
you played hockey on us the first time, New York.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Now you're gonna have to watch the show every night.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
For a year, right, you know karma, that's what they
call karma. And actually I actually really do like kind
of love Cats secretly. And there's production in New York
right now. That's Cat's been set in the ballroom scene
in New York and it is the most incredible thing
I've ever seen my own. Yeah, I hope it transfers
to Broadway called Cat's Agelica Ball. Anyway, I was working
(15:48):
at the winder Garden Theater and when I was auditioning
On the Town and a lot of the cast members
of Cats were also auditioning for On the Town as well.
It's a big dance show, right, and so naturally they were,
you know, three great parts for guys who dance, and
I wasn't much of a dancer. And I remember my
friend Abe Silva, who is now a great writer and
director and you know working on Pomeroyal right now. He
(16:10):
was in the cast of Cats, And he tells me
this funny story about when I finally got the job.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Then he and his like dressing roommate.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Were like talking about their callbacks from the town, and
someone's like, did do you even know who this is? Like,
as they're putting on their cat make did you hear
anything about on the town?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Do you know who got it?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
And like it's one of the guys across the room
was like, yeah, the bartender got it, like putting the
whiskers on their.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Face, but the bartend, the bartender got it.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
But then the thing is, after like I mentioned to you,
I mean, it was a short run in the park.
It was a few months, and then after that I
didn't have a job. So I went back. I went
back to the Winter Garden, I went back to like
the gift shop I was working on. It's had several jobs,
back to Starbucks, Like you know, I did whatever I
could do to make some money. It wasn't I mean,
it was a huge break and obviously people were now
(16:59):
aware of me, and it I.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Think boomed me into other opportunities.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
But I was still like in a place where I
had to pay my bills.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Do you have your tribe from those years, because I
find that my friends that are actors, yeah, they have that.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
You know Via Delaria who starred opposite of me and
on The Town she played my girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Can you believe that that is? Is that great? Great?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Great?
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I mean this twenty one year old kid and like
this forty something year old lesbian playing love interests and
we had.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Such good chemistry.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Well she's remained one of my very very close friends.
George Wolf is still a very good friend of mine.
A lot of people who are in that show, but
then also other friends of mine who were up and
coming actors, and you know sort of I would see
auditions and become friends with them, and they're they're part
of my closest friends still so to this day.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So right, yeah, that's an amazing when you're in New
York now, you know, having been raised there and it's
changed so much to the city and it's you know,
it's still my heart. It's still my favorite place in
the world. But like I see, it's like almost like
I say, ghosts, but like on the corners, Like do
you do you? You know, you know, like you have
(18:18):
like now how you live. You have an apartment. You
you're successful, so you live a certain way. But like, yes,
when you.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
The Starbucks on eighty fourth and Broadway, that's where I
used to work and I walk in there and I'm like,
I used to work here and like no, I'm ordering
your coffee and you know it's but I always tell
them it's like I used to be behind there, Like
I used to work there all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, all the time.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I mean when I go into the Golden Theater, which
is where Falsetto's played, right, whenever I see a show
in the Golden I'm like, this is where I sat
right on my.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
First you from that day.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
I don't know if I do.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
I mean, I definitely photos of me that we or right,
I don't know if I have a photo of me
outside of falset Know. I think I took a photo
of the Marquis, photos of pigeons on that trip.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You don't watch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, right, I guess not?
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You don't, don't you Like when you first saw what
is this most ugly bird you've ever seen?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Was just fascinatd buy it.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I mean it's sort of like when you travel to
other I mean I was just in Morocco and there's
cats everywhere, and I was kicking photos of cats, like
I must look like such a tourist right now.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
But it was the photos of that week in.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
New York, my first week, And you're ridiculous because it's
just a lot of Theata marquees and pigeons.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That is you need, you need to make it back
to that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yeah, And I think I even took a photo of
like the gap because it was like, I've never seen
a gap that wasn't inside the mall, like a gap
that actually a butt of a sidewalk.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Cars. That's crazy, that's so funny. Yeah, because things that
used impress me. Right. Thanks for joining us on Table
(20:06):
for two. Before the break, our guest Jesse Tyler Ferguson
was telling us about his journey from Albuquerque to Broadway.
I'm curious to hear about some of Jesse's most interesting
experiences on stage. There's nothing quite like sitting in a
dark theater when the lights go down and the curtain
(20:27):
goes up. The experience that you guys deliver.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Yeah, it's my favorite thing.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Has there ever been like when you're on stage, what's
the funniest and weirdest thing that annis members are kooky?
Especially like they like what I can't hear you totally anything,
Any stories that you've been like, oh no.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Well, you know Take Me Out, which was the last
show I did on Broadway, and they did involve a
lot of male nudity. It's about a baseball team and
a lot of the the scenes take place in the
locker room, specifically the showers, and they're very integral scenes
because it's about homophobia and masculine toxic masculinity and behave
and how like someone coming out of the closet changes
the whole dynamic of the locker room antics and behaviors
(21:13):
and relationships. I was not in any of these naked scenes.
I played Jesse Williams, who played the star player Darren Lenning.
I played his account business manager, so no one needed
to see the business managers, you know. Although I always
begged Richard Greenberg just to write a scene of one
last scene where it's just Mason Marzak showering at home
by himself, sadly, just all by himself.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Life has gone.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
But because I guess I just I think theaters audiences
have changed so much, and and I just feel like,
I just feel like such a lack of respect for
what it means to be in a sacred space and
a lot of you know, I mean, we did everything
we could to protect his cast, but there were photos
that leaked out of some of the cast members.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Of course, when Joe did it, I'm known how a
phone I was taking a sneak in a.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Picture taking of they had to sneak in a whole camera.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
But I think because some photos did lead the audience
members that then started coming because it was a big
press thing, you know. It was like they have the
Tony nominations. Both Jesse Williams and myself and another cast member,
Michael Oberholtzer all got nominated in the same category, and
then that was immediately overshadowed by new pictures leaking out, right,
And I just felt so bad for the company because
(22:32):
it was a celebrated revival. Now the conversation was about penises, right,
and but that did bring a lot of different people
into the theater who didn't necessarily come to see the play.
They wanted to see the spectacle and I was like, Wow,
you're gonna guys are gonna be so bored by about
two and a half hours of really important thoughts and.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Conversations for like two minutes of nudity. And I remember.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Having to navigate that behavior amongst audiences, you know, the
whistles that would have and sometimes when Jesse would walk
out even fully clothed, like just on the anticipation like
what's coming, and that was that was always really really rough,
and I was I don't know if I ever handled
it super well. I would usually like shoot really evil
(23:16):
looks towards those parts of the audience, but I do, Uh,
you know, I've had many mishaps on stage that have
have nothing to do with with misbehaving audiences, are completely
my own faults.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Right, Well, that's the fun of it, Yeah, in the
weird way as as you know, I assume as the performer, Yeah,
because each night is not going to be the same, right,
and so something can go wrong, something cannot be where
it's supposed to be, someone can forget the line, you
can trip, you can fall, and you sort of have
to figure out how to navigate this and not have
(23:52):
necessarily the audience be sol away.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Right, right, Well, nothing's worse than when you completely go
up and you don't know what's next, and there's a
whole lot of God was wondering if beat or not.
It's it's awful that hasn't happened to me a lot,
Like personally, I'm gonna this is gonna make me like
I'm gonna sound like I'm like really trying to I'm
not the problems, you know what I'm saying. But there
was a moment and Take Me Out. Take Me Out
(24:16):
was Jesse Williams first Broadway show, and he was unbelievable
in it, incredible, and he had such an ease on stage.
I was like, how is this possible? Like how are
you this comfortable on your first Broadway outing? But there
were sometimes where he was so relaxed he really did
forget what was next.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
And there's a tradition on Broadway where they record for
the archives of LINC considered archives a lot of these
performances and they're not available for public concention. You have
to like have a reason to see them. You have
to go to the library, you have to watch them
in a cubicle, but they a lot of these shows
are archive. You can watch incredible performances. I have lin
considered library. So we who had the honor of having
our show recorded for Lincoln. That's great, that's very very exciting.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
And Jesse of.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Course was, you know, not too worried about it, and
like there's nudity involved in this as well, and like
you know that was all gonna be recorded, and like
they knew that they would, everyone would be protected and
the stuff and not leak. And anyway, he was walking
to the theater and next door at the Saint James,
Bradley Cooper was recording, was working on Maestro. They were
doing scene scenes from Mestre at the Saint James Theater.
So there were massive, you know, film trucks outside basically
(25:22):
sharing the street with Vice. And so Jesse's walking down
the street to our stage door and seeing all these
like huge film trucks and he's from the world of
Hollywood and straighten out of me and he's like he
knows what a film truck looks like, the trailers and stuff,
and he's like, this is a way bigger deal recording
this thing for Lincoln set up, And I thought he
didn't know that Bradley Cooper was next door doing my struck.
So we came in already like freaking out, like what
is happening here? So you put him at ease, like
(25:43):
that's not actually for us, this like tiny little band
is for us.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
That's all you know, someone else.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
But we could do a big scene between Jesse and
I and Jesse completely goes up and he thinks I'm
upset with him because he assumed that I'm annoyed because
of we're recording this for you know.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
The archives.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Sure here he is sort of like his mind goes everywhere,
but like what the next line is. It's like, oh god,
Jesse epsot with me, this is the recording that's gonna
be the library in the middle of a scene and
he's just not saying anything. He's just tail spinning right,
and somehow we get back on. But it was a
it was like a good forty five seconds of just
pure terror for.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Both of us.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Feel like forever, forever, forever. Do you sometimes then have
to sort of say, like give the hint, like say
something that's not written to sort of hopefully trigger Bruce.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I went so far to my body, I don't remember
what happened. I was like also like watching myself from
the ceiling. I was like, what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
What are we doing? No one's talking, No one's talking.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And I think we both kind of like repeated lines
a few times, like said things that we'd already said,
sort of time to.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Fill the space, and and.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Jess was like rubbing his head and like, you know,
it was like it was a lot of there was
a lot of It was like a.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Really long I bet that's nerve wrecking. That's certainly nerve wrecking.
And it's you know, my feeling is from an audience member,
like the decorum that people come now, but all over life,
so it's not just theater, but like how you dress.
And Matthew Broderck always says this, like when you go
to the theater, like who were a tie? Yeah, Like
he has a very specific feeling about people that don't
(27:17):
dress to go to the theatre. You know, it's right,
and I get it, Yeah, totally, No, for sure, Yeah,
I mean you're going out.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
I have a funny sort of Matthew though, it's like
kind of that it's gonna be a little counterintuitive to.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
What he just said. Okay, Oh, I was at his very.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
First performance in New York of Plaza Suite and Matthew and.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I our buddies. We actually work out at the same
gym sometimes we train together.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Love him left him so much. I mean, there's nobody like.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Hi, there's nothing.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
So, you know, he's on the stage with his wife,
the incredible Sara Juska Parker. They're in the scene and
I notice Sarah looking down at his wrist, and the
Plaza Suite takes place in nineteen forties, you know, at
the Plaza Hotel. Matthew Broderick is wearing his Apple Watch
on stage and then it starts chiming no alerts on stage,
(28:06):
so she's just like, are you I could tell like,
She's like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
He very quietly sort of takes off the watch and
puts it into his you know, nineteen forties briefcase and
just leaves. He can't leave the stage to them on stage,
but I was like, I laughed so hard, like you
were incredibly unprofessional that so he can't be exclaining too
much about people not dressing right, you know what, He's
wearing his Apple watch on stage for a sold out
(28:31):
performance Applausea.
Speaker 6 (28:32):
Suite, Jesse, you end up being on one of the
most successful sitcoms and everyone is next level in this
and that clearly the chemistry and the just connection is
(28:53):
so real.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How did that jump happen? And when did you kind
of guys realize, oh shit, we're in thing big here.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Yeah, it's you know, I never anticipated I mean, here
we have. You've heard me talk so much about theater,
and truly that's where I thought my career was going
to stay. And I never anticipated moving to Los Angeles,
never anticipated doing a sitcom. But I did have the
opportunity to to be a part of a show called
The Class pretty early on, and it was an incredible
(29:24):
company of people, starting Jason Ritter, Lizzie Kaplan, John Burnenthal
who just went an enmy for the Bear, had some
incredible theater talent, Julie Houlston, Sam.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Harris, and I.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It was a great show, and I moved to LA
to do that and it was canceled after a year,
and I was sort of that place where I was
deciding whether or not it was just going to move
back to New York and you know, pick up where
I left off with theater and do what I knew best,
or if I was going to stick it out for
a little while here and just sort of see what else.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Might come up.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
And then the writers strike happened, the rider strike previous
to the last one we had, and it shut down
the industry just like this last one did.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And I sort of felt like I needed to see.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
It through and I ended up booking a job shortly
after the strike was resolved. But it was kind of
in a moment of panic, and it was I think
a lot of people were scrambling for work just because
everyone needed to do something to take money.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
And the show I ended up doing.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
It was problematic because I think, first of all, it
was written and created by one of my dear friends,
Abraham Higabotham, who also was a writer on Modern Family,
but he was a first time show runner, and I think,
you know, he didn't have the ability to sort of
take charge of what he wanted the show to be,
and it kind of just disintegrated and it ended up
being the first show canceled that year. And so I
was really at a place where I was like, I
(30:40):
think my tail has been doing my legs, like it's
time to go back. It's time to go back to
New York. And then the script from Modern Family came
to me, and I was my agent, knew I wanted
to move back to New York, and like, you know,
you probably don't even want to audition for this, knowing
you want to go back to New York, but just
take a look at it. And I remember reading it
on my like first generation iPhone in a coffee shop
(31:05):
and falling in love with it and really seeing opportunity
for to be a pop culture touchstone for, you know,
the fight for marriage equality, which we were in the
in the depths up. I thought, these are two incredibly
well drawn characters. I think that this could really resonate,
this could make this could make change. It felt unlike
anything I'd ever read before, because it was obviously incredibly
(31:28):
hilarious but grounded in so much.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
I just could tell how much how much there was
to mind.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
From these characters, right, you know, I played and read
many different gay roles, and it just felt like this
was really going so much deeper under the surface than
anything else IDE ever read for, or auditioned for or played.
And so yeah, I went into that process obviously deeply
wanting it, but kind of also feeling like I was
(31:55):
so incredibly right for it. I wasn't it wasn't that
a nice feel it was it was also I think
because I felt like I was I was like, listen,
if this doesn't work out, I'm just going to go
back to New York and do theater. Like I really
have a great backup plan. I'm I feel like I'll
be welcome back with open arms. And so I just
I didn't feel a ton of pressure around the whole experience,
(32:16):
which is incredible because it's the experience that changed my
entire career.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, the process is so now you're going to audition.
Are you auditioning with different other actors to see what
the couple will look like a little bit? And yeah,
what was that like? And then when did you know?
Speaker 3 (32:30):
You?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Guys hit? I mean the relationship between the two of you, Yeah,
is amazing. And you're also playing the less sort of
flame boying and he's straight and he's playing the more.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
It's like, you know, yeah, how well, ironically, they would
only want to see me for Cam, which was the
part that Eric Ston Street ended up playing. They didn't
want to see me for Mitchell, which is the well
I did a play, right, So I went in an
audition for Cam, but I read it as if I
was from the viewpoint of Mitchell, so I think the
casting within moments they realized, oh, he's in for the
(33:01):
wrong part. Even though I told him I was coming
in for the wrong part, right, they still made me
read for Cam and so I auditioned again for Mitchell.
And after that it happened very quickly. I was I
auditioned for Mitchell in front of the creators. I didn't
have to have a pre screen or anything. And right
after that, I tested for the network and I booked it.
So I was one of I think I was the
first cast member nailed down. Sophia Aagara had a development
(33:25):
deal with ABC and Fox, so she was already being
talked about for the role of Gloria. They were tailoring
the role for her. But beyond that, I was the
first person that they knocked down. So because I was
cast as part of this couple, I then got to
do chemistry reads with so many different people and I
auditioned for different cams. And it's interesting because it was
(33:47):
the role I initially went in for, so I knew
I knew the vantage point of like, you know what
the material he was reading as well very well, but
everyone find Josh Gadd auditioned fl it to actually some
people who ended up being our friends in the show,
like they Audi reported it. Initially, I remember reading with
(34:08):
just you know, so many different sizes and types and gay, straight, black, white,
and something about when Eric Snunzer came in it just
felt I don't know, it was we had immediate chemistry
with him.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I really enjoyed his take.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
It was incredibly I don't know, it was so big
but yet grounded at the same time. Later I found
out here he was basing it off of his mother,
and so it's someone that he knows so well. So
even though he was completely flamboyant and was based in
this like real person, it deeply cares for and it
just I don't know, it just it just really clicked
(34:45):
and it felt. It felt really it felt really right.
You know, Eric and I always talk about, like if
we were they were passing the show today, if he
would have a shot at that role because he is
a straight man.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Yeah, you know, I don't know if he would. I
don't know if he would.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
I also can't imagine that couple with anyone else other
than him.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
How do you feel about that? I'm very Yeah, I
feel like we can go back at a time and
you kind of sounds like you came as an actor
pursue a career when you didn't have to hide being gay.
You could be gay and walk into the room. You
go back ten years and I know people that we
both know that were you know, you couldn't And so
(35:26):
you go to Milk and you have Champagne playing Harvey Milk, right,
So you know, Brian, my husband, would say the movie
wouldn't have gotten made unless you had a movie star
right like Sean making it. Now, eventually you have to
get to the place where an openly gay actor gets
the part or can be a contended part. And then
you have now people like yourself and people like Matt Boehmer.
(35:48):
You know, someone like Matt who would never have worked
if he was an openly gay man because of the
nature of the roles that he played exactly. I would
like to think he would be cast today. I would
like to think that we're getting to a place where
we want equal distribution, but we also want the best
person in the role.
Speaker 4 (36:07):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's tricky, and I you know,
every time I think about this, I don't fully know
if I have all the right answers, but I mean, listen,
I always, I always just reflect back upon myself. I mean,
because my point of view is really the only place
I can talk about this from.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
I am an actor, and I want the opportunity to
play roles that are not just gaying. I want to
play straight part and I have played straight parts. I've played,
I've played. I have played everything from like a twelve
year old autistic kid and spelling bee to you know,
a romantic interest in the class to half of a
gay couple in modern family.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
I just got to do you know.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
I got to play Truman, Capodi and a reading of
True you know, just just recently. I love the challenge
of playing different parts. So to say only gay actors
should play gay roles sort of kind of contradicts how
I want people to.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Look at me.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Right.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
I do think that, and I we've gotten better.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
I think we are farther to go, But I think
it's a lot about representation and having opportunity.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
To at least cast people who have that lived experience.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
I think specifically we have a really long way to go.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
All that we are getting better with a representative representation
of transactors.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yes, I'm I'm so proud.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Of my friend Jinx Monsoon who is now playing a
lot of CIS roles on She's playing Mamma Morton in Chicago,
she played Audrey and Little Shop of Horrors. Like that
seems like that's movement forward, right, But she's not a
CIS woman, right. So it's like, I do think we
have to remind ourselves that we are all actors. We
should be given opportunities that are not just who we are,
not the mold of who we are. But also we
(37:41):
have to make sure that those opportunities are actually indeed
being given, yes, and that people are being considered.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Right, And I think, I mean, so it is. It
is a very it's still it's complicated. It is. There's
a business piece to it, if you sit on one
side of the room, there's an artistry piece to it.
There's just a humanity piece. And I think you're right.
You want to play roles. You're an actor, that's your feeling.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
I also think about when they're talking about people who
with some movies, I think about someone like gab Rasadabe
who no one knew who she was and she comes
out in this movie that absolutely blows people away. Precious,
and she's incredible in it. She has an Oscar nomination.
She was she had no career before that beyond like,
why can't these opportunities be given to people who are
part of the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yeah, like we don't have to know who everyone is.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Yeah, welcome back to Table for two. Since his time
(38:51):
on Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson has started a podcast,
Dinner Zombie, acted in the play Take Me Out, and
just released a short documentary called It's Okay about the
recent drag bands in the United States.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, it's about a Drag Story Hour.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
The director is David France, who directed How to Survive
a Plague about the AIDS crisis, and also I worked
with him on a documentary called Welcome to Chechenie about
the gay purge and Checchnia, and he came to us
with this idea of doing something about Drag Story Hour
because it's such a hot button topic.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
You know, there were people armed protesters outside of schools
where these Drag Story Hours are being held. So we
have found some kids who had never been to a
drag Story out before, and we followed them and recorded
their experience, and it's it's really field reporting. I mean,
it's it's just we watch what happens with them. And
(39:49):
these two brothers who we follow have both very kind
of different experiences with it. The younger one is extremely
open to it. The older one is a little resistant
and like, what's happening? What it was saying? We also,
you probably didn't even notice it. It's something I love
that David did is he put microphone vests on these
kids so we could hear their heartbeat and their breathing.
(40:10):
And that's sort of what is underlaid with the film
because you do hear their heart, you hear them breathing,
and it's very intimate this film. Yes it is, and
uh it's we really hear what's happening to them inside
their bodies as well. But what I love about the
film is that the book that Shalida the drag Queen
who is doing the drag Quen story hours reading, is
a book that I actually read to my kids, and
(40:33):
it's just about different types of families.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
What's the book.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
The book is called It's Okay to Be Different, and
it talks about everyone from like you know, some people
have all their teeth and some people don't like it's
all different types of Some people have two mommies, some
people have one mom, some people have two dads. Some
people you know, are raised by their grandparents. And it's
happens to be a book that's.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
That's now being banned in schools, and it's it's just like,
what a part what about this book is causing so
much fear in people?
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Right?
Speaker 3 (41:00):
And so that that happens to be the book that
she leads reading.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
So you hear her list reading this book, and you
see these kids enraptured and engrossed and growing and learning
as they're experiencing this thing. And for them it's like
not even a man and address reading the book. It's
like this fabulous princess with sparkles on reading this dress
reading this book.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Rather and uh.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
The documentary is very very simple and very quite by
the way, feel like didn't see the whole Thing's right,
nothing big happens, And that's what I love about it.
Speaker 8 (41:28):
It's like, it's okay, is there truth to the rumor
of a little reunion.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
On Modern Family?
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
It's damn.
Speaker 4 (41:50):
I mean, there was you know that I've talked about
this before, but there was a spinoff written for me
and Eric.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Well, I was gonna have to say, like, where's the
road up? Yea, you know the fell, where's the Fonds?
I mean, I mean.
Speaker 4 (42:04):
There's a piece of me that sort of feels like,
are we the right characters right now to you know,
speaking of opening the doors for other people, letting, you know,
letting other people sort of start telling me stories people
make with a bit more diversity or lived experience.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (42:17):
I just don't know if Mitch and Cam or like
the characters that necessarily need to be listen, I would
love to explore more. I would love to do something
with the entire cast. Yeah, I've been begging people to
put something together. So I don't think it's for lack
of interest from the cast.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
I think that that is that's the show, and this
is how I okay telling you. Then you have your neighbors,
so like that's like you know the couple that is
you know conservative, you know, but yet you know, then
you have like, uh, you know, you're kind of it's
like Maud, you know, you have all these different things,
but and there's always some sort of message that's not
(42:57):
like hit over the head, but you go, oh, like yeah,
and then you have people like Sophia like coming to
visit because she's in town. Course there's like fun stuff
to do with it. Absolutely, I mean the repartee and
and and you're you know, your kid grew up and
so she's getting older and maybe there's stuff there for sure.
Speaker 4 (43:14):
No, I mean we the the spin off was basically
based in them moving out of town to a farm. Yeah,
and it is sort of like, you know, a little
bit of green Acres, a little bit you know, brilliant,
and especially Mitch, she's like it really is not good
at this when.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
He was rapped with the thing on the boat yea,
yea yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (43:35):
So I mean it had a lot of a lot
of potential. And yeah, I think you know, if there's
probably one thing. I mean, Modern Family was about a family.
So it's like we were mostly white. Yeah, Sophia and
en Rico obviously and and Lily are exceptions. But I
think you know that was a criticism that we got
a lot is that it was a very white show,
which you know, we weren't entirely white, we were, but
(43:56):
the dumpy Pritchet clam was pretty white. But I think
even in the opportunities to cast other roles in Michigan
camps where they know, they were really looking toward, you know,
being extremely more you know, way more diverse, And yeah,
I think that's something that everyone should be conscious about
right now.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Versity.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
Yes, I agree. I think that show has the capability
of having a lot of diversity in the neighborhood on
the farm and I love.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
It, and diversity with politics too.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
So yeah, anything on the horizon that a little inside
skinny table for two lunch.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
I just did.
Speaker 4 (44:43):
I was just mentioning this Truman Capote thing I did.
I did this reading of it in Tangier.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Yeah, you kept having Morocco. That's what I'm meant to say, Like,
what were you doing there?
Speaker 4 (44:50):
I was doing this reading of True, which is a
play about Trim Capote. It's a one one man show
and I did it with Rob Ashford and Tangier to
benefit local chair he wanted to been being a local
orphanage and we raised a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Was really incredible, but the experience was so good. Yeah,
play together.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
I'm sort of now wondering if that's something that I
should maybe be looking at you know.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yes, what a great character.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Oh, when I'm going to do Shakespeare the Park next summer. Oh,
you are going back.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
To the delacort Okay, yes, just you know that is
my favorite thing in the world and my favorite I'd
look forward to it every year. So what are you
going to do now?
Speaker 4 (45:24):
The Delacorte Theater has been closed this past summer because
there's renovation. So Oscar used to the artistic director of
the Public Heada really wants to open it back up
with a big bang.
Speaker 3 (45:31):
So he's chosen Twelfth Night, which is a great play.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Great I saw that years ago.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yes, with Anne Hathaway.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Maybe I almost want to say Michelle Fife for Bettle
maybe a different one that was like an eighty nine.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Right, Well he attached Thus far, it's very exciting myself,
the pitt in Neango, Sandra Oh and Peter dinklih God.
So that's all I know of so far that I've
committed to it. But that's what I'm doing next time.
It's the next summer summer of twenty twenty five. Yeah,
that's a big you'll see me there.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Well, this has been a true joy. Thank you for
having Jesse Tyler Ferguson for having lunch with me today here.
I mean just enjoy our beautiful SoCal day and I
dig you digo. Thank you everyone for pulling up a shair.
Thank you, thank you for pulling up a chair.
Speaker 5 (46:27):
I love our lunches and never forget the romance of
a meal. If you enjoy the show, please tell a
friend and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Table
for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeartRadio seven
three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are Bruce
Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer is Dylan Fagan.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Our editors are Vincent to Johnny and Cas B.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Bias.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Table for two is researched and written by Jack Sullivan.
Our sound engineers are Jo B. Klein, Jess Krainich, Evan Taylor,
and Jesse Funn. Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our
talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table for two
Social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks to Amy Sugarman.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Uni Scherer, Kevin Yvane, Bobby Bauer, and Alison Kanter Graber.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Bruce Bozzi
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