September 22, 2021 • 60 mins
Carlos talks to actress and comedian Rachael Harris about her family upbringing, her favorite projects she’s worked on and how she first got into the entertainment industry.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Rachel Harris grew up in Ohio and began working in
restaurants while pursuing her acting in comedy career. She began
to perform comedy shows with the Groundling in Los Angeles
and landed her first acting gig in the film Treehouse Dolls.
She can now be seen in hit films like The
Hangover and Natural Selection, and on the Netflix series Lucifer.
On this episode of The Carlos Boston Show podcast, Rachel
(00:26):
Harris reflects on her family upbringing, her favorite project she's
worked on, and how she first got involved in the
entertainment industry. Rachel Wright, carl How are you good? How
are you good? What sunny place? Are you in? Los Angeles?
(00:50):
Where where are you? I'm in the Bay Area? Oh nice? Yeah? No,
no, no no, no, I love the area too. Do you
spend time up here? I hadn't in a while, but I, um,
I like it because being from the East Coast, it's
um I feel like it has more of a change
of seasons. We're on the East Coast. Are you from? Well,
(01:14):
I'm originally from Ohio and then um, yeah, I'm originally
from Ohio and then I lived in New York for
many years, like in the early nineties. Okay, okay, so
so you you and I have a little bit in common.
I was born in Cleveland and oh my gosh, yes,
and my grandmother lived in sense and so I spent
a lot of time in Cincy as well. And uh
(01:36):
and I lived in New York for a number of
years too. Oh my gosh, Carlos, did you did you
go to like all the Reds games? Did you base
at all? So that's so funny that you know Reds.
I almost never hear anyone say that. So there was
a guy named George Foster, probably before your time, but
he was a He was a great player for them
in the seventies. He was like m v P. One
(01:59):
season he had fifty two homers RBIs batted three twenty
And I was playing little league baseball for a whole
crazy reason in Cincinnati, attending school there, and he stopped
by our little league park. You've never seen a little
kid more excited. I don't think you've ever seen a
little kid more excited. So yes, no, I believe that.
I love that you were pointing clearly. Yeah, Because I
(02:21):
was raised with the big Red Machine. I actually got
to see eat Rose oh, and I know Dave Conceptition
and and Johnny Bench all those guys because my dad,
my mom and dad were you know, from Ohio. There's
two things that you love, the Reds and the Buckeyes.
And so in the summer's we drive to Cincinnati and
(02:44):
we go to Red's games. Like maybe I don't want to,
it's like we had season tickets. It was a big deal.
And so and then we would go to King's Island,
you know, like and then we go to see the
point it depended on. It's my step brothers, you know,
because we were king Get my stepbrothers and sisters on
the way. All right, important question, what was your fast
food joint? What was your fast food joint? Where did
(03:06):
you guys go? Well, mine with McDonald's. I mean that's
because in high school we drive down to McDonald's. But
we also loved Skyline chiliactly. That's where I was asking.
That's why didn't say Hamburger, Joy. I wanted to see
if you were Skyline chilly girl completely, And that's those
are and like now those are kind of like very
generic type like filly dogs if you think about it,
(03:31):
like Kraft cheese and like cann canned chili. It's not
like home style chili where you like have where berts,
like you've made it on the pot and it's really
like hardy, you know. You know, Ohio has all those
kind of restaurants and dairy queens and um, oh my goodness,
(03:55):
and you remember those. I worked at a dairy queen,
like I made dilly bars. I made daily bars. And
I also and also Krispy Kreme originated in the on
the East Coast. Like people out here in Los Angeles
they're like, oh yeah, Christy, I have been eating those
for fifty years, like it's crazy, and we and every day.
(04:18):
But this was the deal. When I was in high
school and worthing to know how we would drive. We
get a one hour lunch and it was a big deal.
You'd find a friend that had a car. I did not,
so I would get in somebody's car. We'd drive down
and every day I had a quarter pound of the cheese,
a small French fry, and diet coat for lunch. The
diet coke was important. And then we'd go get a
(04:41):
Crispy cream cream filled chocolate tuffed you know, donnut. And
I didn't understand why I was chunky. My mom used
to say chunky, chunky girl. Do you know what? That is?
So funny? I'm forgetting all the words, but we did
used to use words like chunky. That's right. We had
words like chunky, and people had names like Eugene. So
(05:05):
all those things were drewp calling somebody the chunky. Now
you would our careers would be over. You only talk
about that with myself. You can't be like the chunky girl, right, yeah? No, no,
you know so that ohio so um. I was born
(05:27):
in Cleveland, So my folks had met New York. They
moved to Pittsburgh, then they moved to Cleveland, then they
then we left early. We went to Kalamazoo and then
my dad was like, all of this is crazy. Oh
you know you know Wooster I do all right, So
we are like all these places and then we at
(05:48):
we moved down to Miami, Florida. Do you know Miami Florida?
Did you ever spend time in Miami? No? No, that
was where rich people went down. We never went like
like people would go to spring Break. Like I remember
like hearing about things like Captiva Island. To this day,
I've never been to cap Tiva Island. But when I
hear that, I think rich people Florida. Alright, alright, so anyway,
(06:12):
and I I interrupted you. So you went to Miami.
We went to Miami. But I love that we were
rich people. We will I'll say this. We were people
with a rambler who got something called a trip tick.
I don't know if you remember trip ticks. We got
trip ticks because you got it from Triplet correct. Yeah,
and they and they'd map out, they'd highlight your whole
route for you. Correct. So that's what we were doing.
(06:33):
So we were we were on our way down to
Miami in those days. That's how we got there. But now,
but now, are your folks from Ohio as well, or
or did they just somehow end up there? Yeah? No,
My parents, my mom and dad met in Ohio and
high school in Springfield, Ohio. I like to say, like
(06:54):
in the same town that John Legend grew up. But
we've never connected over that, but I wish we did
because his is uh. I know at the time his
grandmother went to it was in a you know, like
a home for seniors, was an orphanage in the early days,
in like the forties and fifties that my mother threw
(07:17):
up in which is a whole other like story that
I would love to connect with him over, which I
should do at some point. But but it wasn't that
little tiny town of Springfield, Ohio. Oh I bet I
just took a totally different, weird path. There's a good
movie in here. There's a good movie or a good
podcast about two little girls in Springfield in that time.
(07:41):
In fact, John, who I know a little bit, maybe
not super well, but talks about his life change because
of McDonald's. He won a scholarship for college. Ah, that
was a McDonald's scholarship opportunity, and it changed his world.
He was like well when he went to high school
in sixteen when he graduated, which was crazy, and his
(08:03):
parents didn't have a lot of money, but that scholarship
was a game changer for him. Yeah. Well, me too.
I have this similar kind of story where I was
I couldn't afford college, but I was given an anonymous
donation to college to go to school. Who do we
think did it? Oh? I don't. I don't know. I
mean to this day that the university won't tell me. Um,
(08:26):
so I just have to kind of hey forward in
my own personal way, you know for another Yeah, so
but it was it's crazy. Yeah. So what was young
Rachel like? So if I if I went through the
Dairy Queen and I bumped into young Rachel back in
the day, like, what was she like? Was she quiet?
Was she loud? Was she was? Was she on her
(08:47):
way to becoming an actor and comedian? Like? Who was she? I? Well, well,
back in the Dairy Queen days, I was. I first
was introduced Dairy Queen because I played soccer when I
was a kid. I'm like through the local soccer chapter
and my dad coached my soccer team. My stepdad coached
my soccer team, which was the greatest thing ever. I
(09:10):
was very competitive. I loved it. Um. I was big
into pelee and all the those like athletics, and at
the same time, I was into theater and music and
I always wanted to be a singer. So I was
very I was very I would say interested in social activities.
(09:30):
Like I loved everything that happened after school. That is
a great framing of it. I love that that is
a that's a very positive, optimistic framing of it. I
love that I love everything that happened after school. I
love that yeah, I was. I wasn't the best student,
but I certainly was really fun. And but I wouldn't
(09:52):
say I was like a party girl because I was
a complete rule follower. But I just wasn't a great student.
So I'm lucky that the role that I had in
been becoming an actor worked out, because I don't have
another I don't have a really strong skill set outside
of it. Carlos. Yeah, wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait,
stay with this for me. What do you think would
(10:13):
have happened? Because I love sliding doors? Sliding doors is
one of my favorite things. Literally, what would have happened
do you think if you hadn't made it as an actor? Wow? Well,
if I hadn't been given that scholarship, and if I
hadn't been on that track to becoming an actor, I
think I would have maybe stayed in my small town
(10:37):
in Ohio. I don't know, or I would have, I think,
But I always had a yearning as a little when
I was young. It was my childhood was challenging, for
lack of a better word, and I always said to myself,
it's I don't think it's going to be this way forever.
(10:58):
And so I always had this inside of like I'm
going to move on and do other things UM, and
that I'm going to it gets better. Does that make sense?
Like it's going to get better? It does? And I'm
going to um and myself and know that it's going
to um. But it's not always going to be this way.
(11:20):
It's not always going to be a struggle. Does that
make sense? And that people live differently than I do.
I don't know if that makes sense. But but but
how did you know that? Because you and I both
know that part of what's so hard for so many
people in general, and especially young people is the sense
that you're stuck in the sense that you're in a
bad situation that you don't have any control over, and
you don't have a sense that it's going to get better.
(11:43):
And so you know, obviously I've so admire the people
who do the work that says it gets better, because
I do think that sometimes that leaves a window open
for a lot of people who otherwise don't feel any
fresh air coming in and don't have any sense of
this is temporary. So how did you know enough to
know that it could get better, or even to say
(12:03):
to yourself, as you did, it will get better. I don't,
you know, honestly, Carlos, I think it was when I
remember being in my parents bathroom upstairs. It's very weird,
but I remember looking in the mirror and having um
a feeling. I get choked up because it was I
didn't go to perform it. I didn't We didn't go
to church regularly. It wasn't like something that we were
(12:27):
brought up doing every Sunday. But I feel like I
had a moment where I spiritually just had a gut
feeling like nobody told me anything like God is with
you or I don't mean it to sound so esoteric,
but I really did have this kind of wonderful feeling
(12:48):
that but if there is a God or whatever is
out there, I just have to have faith in though.
And it was kind of like this blind faith, and
I talked about it before I didn't. It wasn't like
I had any huge introduction any kind of spiritual life.
So I feel like that's it for me. I feel
very fortunate that that happened, and it's like it's purest form.
(13:10):
Does that make sense? It does. But I also think
that um my mother always said to me, you know,
it's really helpful when you have something to look forward to,
you and if if you can look forward to And
so for me, that became theater. When I was in
high school, I was always looking forward to doing shows
(13:32):
and preparing for those things, and like, and it's an athlete.
When I was playing soccer, I remember loving to practice
and getting ready for a game. Does that make sense?
So it's like, I think that's also why I love acting,
because it's not just about the performance, it's about the preparation.
And so I think if you can get into that
(13:53):
mindset where I like when a friend said this to
me the other day, she said, the funny thing about
vacation is that they they start the moment you decide
that you're going to go on one, and and it's
the planning that's so fun about it, right, And she said, so,
it's in the it's in the planning of it. So
I find I have something to look forward to that
(14:13):
gives me the hope to keep to keep going. And
so for me, I guess you could big big picture.
And I'm sorry that I've kind of gotten the weeds
there Carlos talking about it, But I think it's that
if I knew that, oh, I want to live this life.
I want to I want to be an actor, I
want to be a performer. I just have to keep
showing up. I think it's that that notion of didn't
(14:37):
There's always tomorrow. Just give it another twenty four hours
and keep showing up, you know. And and a lot
of phrases, a lot of things that are cliche, um,
but they're cliche because they're true. You know. It's like
of success is just showing up. If there were a
lot of mantras for me that by you know, it's
(14:58):
not that I didn't have bad days, but I would
always say, thank God, if this is what I'm supposed
to be doing. I need I need a sign. I
need some sort of sign that says this is it.
And I usually would get that sign. And I think
in college when I was given that scholarship and they
said that scholarship will be taken away if you leave
(15:20):
the theater department, if you if you go outside of
theater and music, um, and I felt like that was
such a huge boost of confidence that somebody was saying,
we believe in you enough to give you this this scholarship.
And so there was a little a part of me
(15:40):
was you know, I need to I need to show
up for this. This person believes in me, and so
I need to keep pursuing this. And it was all
kinds of blessings. I'm so long winded, but it takes
me a while to get to make my point or
figure it out. Carlon Sometimes, well, well, I love that
(16:01):
you got a chance to go on that journey. And
I want for every person, and certainly you know, you
wish every every child who particularly children who are having
a challenging situation. You want there to be something that
allows you to keep going forward, and that doesn't always
show up. And and when I do see that it
(16:23):
shows up, it makes me hopeful that maybe it'll show
up even more for yet other kids. And I think, well,
I think for me as a child, it was just
having positive teachers in my life, if I'm really getting
specific about UM. I mean, my mother was very supportive
UM and loved musical theater UM. But I really think
(16:46):
that it was more It's lucky. When I got into college,
I got into therapy, so I had a safe place
to discuss things with UM. And then I also had
UM again, wonderful speakers and professors. When I got into college.
That that gave me revide posts from me that I
(17:09):
that I Yeah, I just don't think I would be
nearly as evolved if I hadn't gone to college, if
I hadn't been given as opportunities, I would be probably
much more full of um self doubt and I already
have and low self esteem. You know, education was really
a gift for me being educated, you know, because there
(17:33):
was nobody in my family went to college, no one,
no one in my in my family's gon ascribed as
the first person to go college. And so it was
I was sort of the weird one, you know. And
and a lot of families you're weird if you don't
go to college. But for me, it was looked at
as why do you want to be so high falutin
(17:55):
or whatever. Rachel, tell me about your mom? Who is
(18:15):
she or was she? Who is she? Or was she? Um? Okay,
So my mom was born Cynthia Anne Whittaker and um
nineteen Septmber three, Um, and Uh, she had a really
ropedile hit like I said, she she grew up my
(18:37):
aunt and my mother uh didn't. Um. We're taken from
their family when they were around six, and then they
were taken to the Sonic Home for Children in Springfield, Ohio. UM,
and she was raised there until she graduated high school. UM,
and then she went to university. But during that time,
(18:58):
my mom always reflects back and she is very funny
and full of m and loved musical theater. And so
I think that's why I loved musical theater and theater
in general so much. UM. But she UM, she's she
was given so much from this and Sonic home that
she grew up in. She was given things that she
(19:19):
wasn't going to be able to afford in her normal
from if she had stayed with her family. UM. She
and my aunt were given musical lessons, like they both
played the violin and the viola. They they went to museums,
they went on field trips all over the place. And
my mother at that time was saying she was just
so bud She had clean clothes and a bed to
(19:40):
sleep in. And so my mother was the type of
person that never took anything for granted, was very um,
very thoughtful, always tried to walk in other people's shoes
as much as she could. UM. I think she also
struggled with not feeling good enough her entire life UM.
(20:06):
But but she was you know, it was it was complicated,
you know because when you grow up in an orphanage
until you're eighteen, you don't really have parents. And back
then they didn't have therapy, so it wasn't like there
was somebody that could sit down with them and say
this is what happened, and this is how we're going
to take care of you, and we love you and
if you need a hug, we're here for you. And
(20:29):
and so I think that Collard the whole way that
she UM parented my brother and my sister and I
and then later she married my stepdad and he's one
of the best things that ever happened to us. UM
and then and his three children, so his three stepkids.
There were six kids with these two parents later. And
(20:50):
my mom did a great job considering she she had
no UM, she didn't really have parents. Did she work
outside the home? She did. She worked as a secretary
UM for UM a few companies, and yeah, and then
it's like she she worked outside the home. But then
she also UM. She at one point she was UM
(21:16):
like a she was just babysitting children during the day
when we were in school. So she was taking care
of her own kids and then also working as a
I mean now we would call her a nanny for
a daycare, but then back then it was just like,
oh no, my mom babysits kids, you know, during the week.
And then yeah, so and then my and my dad
(21:38):
was a UM worked for our company, well, McCormick Equipment,
and he worked for that company for over forty years.
And he was the blue collar worker. And every day
got up, you know, seven am, came back to five pm.
And what happened to your birth father? If you don't
mind me asking, Oh no, I don't and at all.
(22:01):
My birth father and my mother divorced when I was two, um,
and they had a very turbulent relationship, feeling a very
dark episode of Carlos Watson shows. But it's the truth. Um, yeah,
tell the truth, to tell the truth, to tell the truth.
So um my so my biological father, UM, they divorced him.
(22:25):
My mother was when I was too um and back
then it was the seventies, you know, that was like
v so. UM, my grandparents and my uncle's I think
they all said, you know, it's best if you don't
come around very often. And so I only saw my
biological father once a year until I was eighteen, when
(22:48):
I was in college, and I was like, I think
this is going to be weird if I don't really
know my dad. Uh, I think I need to spend
time with them. And so and until he died, we
did have a great relationship and I got to know
him and it was great. Yeah. But and he worked
for red Stone Arsenal in Alabama. So he was a
(23:08):
software engineer and I'm part of the Patriot Project and
all of these really fascinating things for the government. Yeah.
Could college educated or no, Yes, college educated. He went
to Ohio State University. M hmm. Interesting. Interesting, And I'm
sorry I'm asking all this, but I'm generally fascinating. How
(23:30):
did your mom and birthdad meet? They met at Capital University.
My dad was between undergrad at Capital and they met there.
And then my mom honestly, she got pregnant and they
got married right back up, you know, and back in
the day that was that was not cool. And so
they got married. They got pregnant with my older sister
(23:52):
and then um and then they got married. So they
were very young. My mother was my teen when she
got married and she had just left home in Springfield
when she was eighteen. So she went from living in
this sonic children's home to living with my dad and
was very ill equipped, you know. And the only thing
(24:14):
that I think really saved her, and in that regardless
that my aunt was also in the in the home
with her, So they had each other. That's what they've
always said was that the only way that they were
able to make it through that was because they had
each other. Rachel, what a It's just such a reminder
of how these certain things can happen in our lives
and we can just end up down certain roads. I mean,
(24:36):
as I hear you talk about your mom in a
different world, she's easily someone who could have gone to
college and that would have created a completely different trajectory
for her, and and so and and some of the
things that I can tell she must have said to
you casually, intentionally, what have you probably fed you somewhat
(25:00):
if you were moving through, you know, growing up? No,
she definitely, Um, I remember distinctly because I've said this
to my friends before. She would always say to me, Rachel,
you can be anything you want to be if you
put your mind to it and you apply it, and
you apply yourself to it. And I believed her and
(25:22):
then like that and that's kind of wonderful because I
was like, well, I'm gonna be an actress. I'm going
to be an actor singer. And I really and I
just really believed in that. And and that was a
seed that was planted when I was very young. And
she said, there's two things I want you to do.
She said, I just want you to be kind. I
just want you to be a nice girl. Um. And
(25:44):
then and I think she also she also said, and
just don't get pregnant. You know. She was like, just
make sure you're married before you have children, and um,
you know, so it was I mean, it's like good advice.
But yeah, well they traveled through you. They traveled through you,
(26:08):
and they stayed with you, probably in ways you're both
aware of and maybe even not fully aware of. Yeah,
I mean, given the world that we live in now,
I love it. The worst thing that could have happened
was that I get pregnant. You know, in her mind,
when we're dealing with so much now, that is so
much worse. It'd be like, that's fine if you get pregnant,
(26:29):
Like we'll be able to deal with that you don't
have a terminal illness, and you don't have you know,
there's so yeah, a lot of worse things. Rich What
did you first start having some acting success? I mean,
I love that you said that she believed in you,
you were believing in yourself. She loved musical theater. You
(26:50):
get the scholarship uh in college. But when did you
actually start to have some success And when did you
actually start to think like this is actually happen or
did you go into it the whole time just assuming
that mom was right that this could happen. But I
don't want to seem like a comte, complete sociopath. But
(27:11):
but you know, it really started early for me. I mean,
I'm very lucky that when I was even in grade school,
I was doing uh, pertain place and it was just
like I'm very good at this, like sort of percocious
in that trial that you're like, just she's too much,
just calmed down. Um. And then and then when I
(27:33):
got into high school, I did a lot of you know,
I did all of these crazy shows for good Dune, um, hello,
all of the classics, right Settler on the roof, all
these things. And then when I got to college. That's
actually when I thought maybe I can do this, but
I was very nervous, and luckily that I went to
Automne College that's now Automne University and they had an
(27:58):
internship program in New York. And I went to New
York and worked with the Caffeian Agency Agency and we
would see back then, you know, everything was done through
the mail, and so they wanted you to see the
business side of it, right, which was great because when
you when you're an actor, you think, oh, I'm just
gonna go audition for parts, and you don't really think
about the businesses. So they would have sack of submissions,
(28:22):
um and there's no way they were going to go
through them. So that and and even even seeing that
I didn't determine. I was like, it doesn't matter. I
just need one casting director to say she's good or whatever.
So I think I think it was in the early
(28:42):
two thousands. I had moved to Los Angeles. I mean
I really was banking on myself. I really was like,
I'm going to do this. I know that I'm good.
I just have to find the right vehicle. And then
I had had an agent in New York. I couldn't
get arrested. In New York, I couldn't get any place.
Is any nothing, I mean nothinging. So I don't know
(29:03):
why I didn't quit any But I had an agent
in New York that I'm going to open an agency
in Los Angeles. Would you like to come out? And
I called my parents and I said that my agents
going to open up an agency in Los Angeles. And
they said go, please go, because I have an uncle
that lived in West Kolina, and so my stepdad was like,
(29:24):
please go and U and I went. And he said
because I think he would work a lot in television
and commercials. And I was a little offended because I
was like, I'm a serious theater actress. I'm going to
do drama, okay and uh. And then when I got
to Los Angeles, I started doing theater out here, Like
I did a show with Ron glass Um at the Tamaran,
(29:47):
which was one of the best experiences of my life,
and I loved I learned so much from him just
telling you know, that's a whole other show and book
and whatever. But um. But then I started out to
for commercials and getting callbacks, and I had one casting
director that really was committed and said you can do this,
(30:07):
did you just have to? You just have to keep
showing up, which was great. And then once I booked
two national commercials and and guest starred like I was
on Sister Sister. My first big job was on Sister
Sister in a recurring role. I was like, wow, this
is a big time with Tian tamar And and Jack
(30:28):
and tim Maria, and that was great. That was one
of my first big jobs. And that's when I thought, Okay,
I think I can do this, even though I had
been working in restaurants all over New York City for
years and in Los Angeles, and so I think that
was the first time that I think the first two
(30:48):
national commercials that I booked on the same day, which
was absurd because I've been on auditioning in Los Angeles
for about three and four years. And then both those
came in in one day. They looked. They literally called
both called you to tell you you got it. Yeah yeah,
my agent yeah, same casting director. And they were for
two things. One was for it was for Listerine. For
(31:13):
all I did was like swish the streen in the mouth,
not kidding. And then the other one was for an
insurance company. I want to say it was for like
All State or something. Have you stayed in touch with
that casting director? I would have yes, but he is
since Yeah, Danny Coldman, and he was a real like everyone.
(31:36):
He was a very big commercial casting director back in
a day. But Danny Coldman was amazing. Yeah. And so
once you get these first two do you quit the
restaurant jobs? Do you stop? Were you were? You wait
for saying what were you doing? I was working at
Kate Mantalini in Los Angeles, right across from Brostein Gray
and seating everyone. Like. I got to see Billy Wilder
(31:57):
actually one day, which was married Jing because It's a
Wonderful Life is one of my favorite films. Um, so
that was mind blowing. And he had frog legs for lunch,
which was again was just like so insane and amazing.
Um and mel Brooks, like I got to work with
mel Brooks on Curby Enthusiasm, but I also got to
(32:18):
see him at the restaurant. Funny um, Funny. Franklin came
in from One Day at a Time, which I was like,
oh my god, I loved One Day at a Time.
And the Jefferson's like that whole comedy block right, So
that was that was incredible. Um. And then I saw
all of these really fancy managers that I was dying
(32:40):
to work with, and I was like, one day I'm
work with you. One day I'm going to work with
somebody from this from Roasting Greg and I did would
would you make a pitch like were you one of
the folks? Like you didn't? No, I would never pitch that.
I was just like, please don't recognize me as opposed
to please only know me when I'm when I'm working,
(33:03):
I'm just like hi, and I see you here man
news have a great lunch. Um. But yeah, that was
That was a weird time because all of the waiters
and waitresses, all of us, we were all actors. We
were all hustling, you know, trying to get jobs. And
so I would work there during the day at Can't
Mantelini and then drive down to the Center Theater Group
in the evening and cold call people to try to
(33:26):
get them to buy some like subscriptions to the Center
Theater Group for their season. And that was full crushing.
And the only thing that was great about that was
that I got to see the show is for free,
So that's and That's why I did it, because I
could see every single show for free. Anyway, for those
I am just none stop packing? Are you just no?
(33:50):
But I love this and I love people's come up stories,
and I love yours, and there's something good that has
happened to you in this life. I feel like, um,
this will sound weird, but I feel a little bit like,
um uh, like you got kissed by an angel. I
feel like someone was looking out for you a little
bit and that you got you got a little kiss
(34:13):
and and not that everything's been easy, and not that
everything has been straightforward, but that there's so many different
ways this could have played out, so many different ways
it could have played out. And I think I can
tell that you like the way it's played out, and
so I'm happy for you that it played out this way,
which says to me that you know, you got kissed
(34:33):
by an angel a little bit, and so um yeah,
so I I like that. So when did you quit
the restaurant business? When did you when did you stop
having to do the straight hostess face and and instead yeah,
well I think it was I know what it was.
It was. I'd gone to the ground lings, which was
as that was A huge turning point was getting into
(34:55):
the ground Lings, and that's where all of my best
friends are from my best friend and Cheryl Hynes, we
met at the Groundlings a hundred years ago. UM and
Susan Yeagley who's married to Kevin Neal and she's one
of my closest all of us we are on Tony School.
All these people that you don't know that I whatever,
that are my closest friends that have seen me at
(35:16):
my worst and also seen me at my best, like
on stage when we had fantastic sketches. So when I so,
you're like, that's not the question that I asked you, Rache.
But the circle back, all right. So it was when
I was in the Groundlings and I I I got UM.
I was performing in the Sunday Company and Christopher guests
(35:40):
Eugene Levy and Karen Murphy that's their executive producer, came
to a Sunday show looking for people to be in
a movie called Dog Show, And so they came and
we didn't know, Thank goodness, because I would have my
anxiety would have gone through the roof and I would
not have been able to perform the right way or
or be my true authentic stuff. I would have been
too nervous. Um, So luckily I didn't know they were there.
(36:03):
And then after the next day they called me, said,
Eugene Levy and Chris Guess want to meet you for
a meeting. And I ended up being in Weston show
this little part, and then from that I went to
do Bad Actress with Kirstie Um And once I did
Fat Actress, that's when I quit working at the at
(36:23):
the at their restaurants and stuff, because that was a
regular series, like I knew, like, oh, I'm in this series.
I'm a serious regular and I and I can't. I can't,
I can't do my ship. Well, what's been the most
fun part of being Because when I look at the
variety of things you've had a chance to do from
(36:44):
the Daily Show too, Fat Actors, on and on and on, Like,
what's been the most fun thing when you look back,
and I don't have any preconceived notions, I'm just curious
from someone who actually has been in it, actually got
to do it, Like, what has been the most fun
about this ride? What have you enjoyed? Well? I think, uh,
there's there's a couple of things that have been the
(37:07):
most fun um for different reasons. Like I have to
say being in The Hangover and getting to swear my
face off and and and really put my parents in
a difficult situation was fantastic. Like that was. That was
and having somebody tell me, like having Todd Phillips say
(37:28):
I want you to say this, and be like, well,
you're the director, and uh, and I willingly did it,
so I was I wasn't forced to under to rest
to do any of that, um, but so I have
to say The Hangovers was extraordinarily fun. Um an independent
feature that I did called Natural Selection, where I was
the lead in every single scene, and that was the
(37:49):
That's my most satisfying um creative work that I've done
so far yet that I've done yet, because there's going
to be more and and then I think I think
those are the two most satisfying things that I've gotten
to do. I don't know. But but then also just
(38:11):
creatively producing with my best friend Cheryl, like just have
to say, the fun wise like creating something with her
and then pitching it to people and having them get excited,
and then and creating my own work and and the
experience and the groundings and writing my own sketches, getting
(38:32):
them up on their feed casting. I think that has
been the most fun too, you know, like getting to
have your own vision and create it from the from
the ground up is really exciting and super fun. You
have a big hit series coming, I know, I know,
I know, Lucifer Special, But you have a big hit
(38:52):
series coming that you're the star of, and you're gonna
enjoy that so much. You're gonna enjoy it. You're gonna
have a really nice run. I can feel it. You're
gonna have a really really nice run. Car List. I
feel that too, And I don't think that's presentptuous, but
I'm ready. You think that's the thing. Like I'm ready,
and I'm ready to be a boss in the best
sense of the word. Like I'm ready to have a safe,
(39:17):
like crazy, exciting atmosphere at work where everyone feels heard
and like where the prop die and say you should
say this and we'll like, that's just that's amazing. I'm
saying that, you know, where it just is where everybody wins,
you know where That's what I want and that's what
(39:40):
Jared and I are wanting to create. So we are
yea whether we did that together or did that alone.
I'm ready. I think you guys are gonna do it together.
I've recently been around a couple of partner teams and
it's a really beautiful thing to see. There's a music
group called the City Girls. Do you know City Girls Group?
They're kind of like the New Salt and Peppa. They're great,
(40:03):
and of course I can relate to because that's my Yes,
that's my that's my that's my genre, that's my wheelhouse,
that's what I grew up with. You're gonna love the
You're gonna love these women. They're from Miami and they've
known each other since they were in junior high school.
And they also really like each other a lot. And
so recently I've had a couple of scenarios where I've
been with people who have good partners and there's also
(40:25):
there's good energy. Or we were I was talking to
the guy from Airbnb who started Airbnb, and he talked
about enjoying doing it with his partners, one of whom
had been his college roommate who he moved out here with,
and another guy. And there's something good about that that
allows you to stay strong and stay creative and stay optimistic. Through.
What are the inevitable ups and downs? And so do
(40:47):
you think it will be a comedy? Do you think
it will be a drama? What do you what? What
is this show which I'm I'm dubbing Rachel. I'm calling
it Rachel. I don't know if I'm calling it Rachel?
What is this? What is this show? I'll take it.
Let's do it together. We can produce it. Um no,
I um, it's I think it's a comedy drama. Y.
I think that because there are aspects of my life
(41:07):
I said I do. I do find myself swearing very easily.
I don't swear on my children. I try not to.
Although one of the funniest things I've ever heard it's
my four year old not realizing what he was saying,
and he just was like and I was like, oh,
and I knew that was me and his father were separated,
(41:29):
and I knew at anyway. So I like to swear.
So what I'm trying to say, and I know it
takes me eighteen years to get it out, but what
I'm trying to say is that I like to swear.
I like it when people have real conversation. I like
things to be like overlapping. I don't like music playing
like I don't know if if you've seen like sitcoms, right,
(41:49):
there's like music that kind of like tells you something
I don't like that you don't okay, no walk up music, No,
no walk up music. Like I love shows like UM
better Things, and I love my and Sharon Horgan is
one of my She's I don't know, maybe you've interviewed Charon.
I don't know, but she oh, she did Catastrophe with UM.
(42:14):
That's one of my favorite shows. So it's more along
those lines of and like I'm in old school Ali
mcgel lover, So it's like if I could do a
one hour that is funny, but it is also you
have a very special episode of Rachel. Oh you know,
I'm really I'm liking this. And I love the Ali
McBeal reference because that was a little more groundbreaking that
(42:35):
I think about now. You know, before her Mary Tyler
Moore kind of had something like that, meaning that it
was funny, but they're also serious and it clearly was
her show, and it had a whole set of interesting characters.
So because I think that like, for example, this is
this is kind of horrible, but It's the best example
I can give for the tone of the show that
(42:57):
I would want to do is that when my father died,
I love him so much. He's six three, my stepdad,
and the referend to who's my dad? When he died,
we it's in Ohio, right, And you know this because
you're in Cleveland. The home that we were in was
old and so all of like the doorways and hallways
were very narrow, and he's a very tall man, okay,
(43:19):
And gratefully he died in the home. We were right
there with him. I was holding his hand. We were like,
you could go now, it's great. And then the funeral um,
the the funeral home came and they came in a minivan.
It's okay, um, my dad again at six too, And
(43:41):
they came to take him and they got like a stretcher.
They put him on the stretcher and then they're taking
him out of They couldn't get his body around through
the door and the hallway. And so I'm sitting there
looking at it and my brother who's funnier than I am,
my brother Jack Harris, and I absolutely love and he's
(44:03):
my heart and soul. He he's helping these two guys
who literally one was six ft and one was like
five ft, and we're like, this isn't gonna work. These
guys are gonna be able to handle my dad. So
my brother helps out and he's got them and he
looks at me and we start laughing so hard that
(44:23):
they're taking my dear sweet father's body out of the house,
because we're like, this is this is something that you
would see on New Heart or Unmarried tailor more or
or or or Atlanta. I don't know anything that you'd
see this horrible, this very sad thing. And then this
(44:44):
very funny thing happened where you can see them like
sweating and trying to like figure out how they're going
to get my dad out of the house. And then
at the same time, I'm like getting all the family
out into the yard so they don't have to see it.
I don't know, but that's like the tone of the
show that I want. I want these real things that
are horrible, right that we have to experience sometimes, like
(45:06):
crying and it's like laughing in church where you where
it's where you just it's some of the funniest things
come out of the most horrific and sorrowful moments of
our lives and I and I feel like that's real
and and raw, and then you can be crying, you know,
five minutes later and so sad that that would be
(45:27):
the tone of the show that I want. I don't
know if that makes me sound like a really sick
person or and you well, I like that you put
new heart and childish gambito Donald globbery. You understand, like
it gets real, like he's able to make it's very
(45:51):
It's that's what I like. I don't even it's not
even about the people or the characters. It's for me,
it's the authenticity of that show and if it's real,
and that's what I'm drawn to. And I think that's
that's what I want to see, because it isn't always
you know, pink paint and balloons and happy. You know,
it's like real and that we learned so much. You know,
(46:15):
we only really know the true joy if we experience
the paint, right. I know that somebody really wonderful said that,
but I don't know who at this point. It might
have been Rachel Harris, who knows who it was? It
good good have been anybody be it's it could have been.
I don't know, it's easily good. All right. I'm gonna
(46:52):
try something with you called rapid fire. Do you mind
if I hit you with five or six things? We
may go all over the map a little bit. I
just I just wouldn't warn you, like when you say
rapid fire, you're gonna have to keep reminding me. But
you're like Rachel, this is in a three hour interview.
But it could be, but it could be, but it
could be. I just trust you guys to edit out
(47:13):
all of the ramblings. And yes, okay, your favorite color orange?
Your favorite stand up comedian? Oh wow? Oh, Chris Rock
your favorite Yes? Oh, here's your runner up? You got
run up, the same runner up. I'm a child of
the seventies. Google ahead, give it up. I can Okay,
(47:36):
it was, it was, it's not anymore, but but I
grew up listening to Bill Cosby on on vinyl. Yes, dude,
it is a really crazy day to say that. It
is a crazy day to say it. Let's do that.
We're not going to say that. Write a different day,
all right. I'm telling you that was Steve Martin, Steve Martin, Steve,
(47:58):
Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy. Oh my gosh, those three guys. Impossible.
You're like it's rapid fire, right, all right? Your favorite movie?
Good hands down? Oh my goodness, oh you pull in
the all right? Uh? Your karaoke song, the Total Clips
of the Heart. Oh my goodness. Um, I can hear
(48:21):
that's Bonnie. What's her name? I can around? Right it is,
isn't it? Dude? That's from our yeah, high school? And
definitely yeah, okay, biggest hair, biggest hair you've ever had?
Oh gosh, in high school like my senior picture wings,
(48:46):
biggest hair. I don't know, it could be maybe high school,
I want to say, just with alright, boyfriend, boyfriend, they
got away? Oh Bobo Dare Babo da Bobby o Dare?
And what a great name. I mean you already see
(49:07):
where is but where is bobbio O'Dare? Do we know
he married? He married one of our childhood friends. Great couple.
I don't blame him for marrying Katie Dawson. I was
a head case, you know, like Katie Dawson. Look clearly
from my childhood had a lot to unpack, was still
unpacking it. Okay, So who is to Babo Dare from?
(49:31):
Maybe for marrying Katie Dawson like he she was, just
like he was, but he was in my high school
love and like the greatest still to this day, one
of the greatest men I've ever known. Oh my god,
most beautiful place you've ever been, the most beautiful place
I've ever been. I would say probably. I'm sure everybody
(49:51):
says this, but Portofino, Italy, I love so beautiful and
Capri But then I also loved tell you right like
I love the snow, like I can't be Christmas for
me has to be in well, you know, being from
Cleveland and just needed to be cold. I just need
to be able to put on a sweater. Now are
you a Airbnb girl? You a hotel girl? Oh? Why
(50:14):
am a hotel girl? I'm a hotel girl. I love
I love a really swing hotel. I love it, I
appreciate it. I love all the trappings that come with it.
I love the Peninsula in New York City. Okay, guys, oh,
I like peninsula too, Like Pensula. That's your favorite though?
Do you think no? No? I think, um? Well, ironically enough,
(50:38):
in San Francisco, I loved I think I loved the
St Regions right like good I love that hotel. But
then I also loved the Four Seasons Malli Andileia. Um,
but I do. I mean, I just love the Peninsula
on seven and five, maybe just because every mean that
(51:00):
it comes with, you know, I just love that. I
feel like I'm in a really beautiful home. You know,
you know you already. It's so funny when you did
this thing there, I saw you in your movie. That
was like your Audrey Hepburn moment. Like you were like
you're having your Audrey Apburn moment when you did I
could see you. I can see you at the Peninsula thing.
I do. I love it. I love it so much.
(51:22):
I appreciate it, like I really, and I feel like
it's worth every single penny, you know what. That's the
good thing about this life. Alright, So we're gonna keep
doing rapid fire. What else is on that list? All right? What? What?
What else is a Rachel Rachel Harris list of worth
every penny? What else in this life would you immediately say,
(51:44):
worth every penny? What else is on that list? Okay?
So an amazing Okay. A dinner at Grammarcy Tavern in
New York City in the bar in the Bar area,
not in the back restaurant area and in the bar
area was with like six people. Anything you want to drink, eat,
laughing hard, worth every penny. I think, Um, I do
(52:10):
think Malle Why is one of my favorite places. And
I know people say Paris or or you know, Fiji
or whatever, but there's something very special to me about
Mallie Hawaii that island in particular worth every penny. Um
I think um uh oh. I think like a private
(52:32):
plane when you can get like on a jet and
go from Los Angeles to New York in a short
amount of time, worth every penny. But I also think
if you're listen, okay, first class or even business class
to Europe worth every penny. I'm a sleeper. I like
to like plan it out so that I can sleep
for eight hours, right, so it's a it's a ten
(52:54):
hour trip. I like worth every penny. A flat bed,
A flat bed sleeping on a cross country flight with
every penny. Um what else? What's not worth every penny?
Like Rachel Rachel Harris, you are awesome because I love it.
You are my little knees who I used to say,
(53:17):
we we we celebrated birthday and we'd get cake we
do the whole thing. I'd say, if you have a
great birthday, and she'd say, no, not until we've had
cake three times. And I love it and I love
that you there are there are multiple things that are
worth every penny. That's that's a good sign that that
you've encountered multiple things in this life that are worth
(53:37):
every penny. Yes, in health care, good health care. I'm
just saying that to make myself look like a normal,
nice human being. Okay, favorite TV series? Oh wow, favorite
TV series. Come on, I'm gonna say, Alian mcheel, Oh
you had to, you had to. Okay, Miss Barry White, Okay.
Um uh. If you could have dinner with anyone dead alive,
(54:00):
who would it be? I dinner with anyone dead or alive,
who would it be? Um? Well, I've always said that
my dream is to have dinner with um with Michael
Dorsey and that we just lead character and titsy and Okay,
so really basically what it is just that we don't
(54:21):
My dream is to have dinner with Justin Hoffman and
Bill Murray at the same time and just talked to
them about the making of Tipsy and I wish Sydney
Paul it could be there, but he couldn't he. I mean,
he's he's since again, it's never an easy answer for me.
But but that's a good group and Sydney Pollock has
so many good movies. We could spend time just on that.
(54:42):
All right, last couple here, what's your favorite thing about Lucifer?
What's your favorite thing about that series? Getting to do
the the back and forth, back and forth scenes with
Tom Ellis that were like therapy where I got to
where I played the therapist and they each one felt
like a little one act play for those scenes that
I got to do with him, And how much my
(55:04):
meanness from the bottom of my heart. How much are
fans that were global all over the world, how much
they love the show and how much they they relate
to it, and they they say thank you for doing
a show about people that feel like they're irredeemable finding redemption. Um.
Most interesting thing you've learned about love? Woh um m hmm. Okay,
(55:32):
the most interesting thing that I've learned about love is
that it doesn't require a legal document to be meaningful. Um.
And that also our hearts are big enough to love
many people that somebody that I love right that I'm
in a love relationship with. They can love many other people.
(55:54):
It doesn't just have to be me. Does that make sense?
It does. Did it to you a long time to
get to that or have you always been there? No?
I think it took me a long time to get
to the place where my views on marriage have shifted
so much. Um, just given my experience. UM. I think
(56:16):
it's the greater thing is to look. I know, for
the reason why we have marriage, so we all have
the same rights, right, so we're entitled to these certain things.
But I think if you really love someone, you don't
love them sign a contract and you show up for
them without any kind of contract. How do you show
up for someone when there is an illegal recourse that
(56:38):
can be done if you don't. I think for me,
that's more appealing to me at this point in my life.
And I learned from my children that they have big
enough hearts to love so many people, and that I'm
so grateful that they have that they can love me
(56:58):
and their dad, and they are you know, people that
are looking after them and their teachers and their friends,
and that they have these big, huge, enormous parts. Rachel,
I'm gonna come find you when you're ninety. Where are
we going to meet? Where am I going to see you?
What's gonna happen. I'm gonna come find you when you're ninety. Uh,
set the scene for me, Give me, paint the scene
(57:20):
for me. Okay. I could either be living in New
York and by myself in a great apartment, um going
to theater on the regular basis, having fantastic dinners at
the Grammerscha with wonderful friends. I'm surrounded by my children
and whoever they love and if they had children or not.
(57:43):
But I would love to be really in their lives
but also separate, giving them you know that I've raised
them really well, that they've had that they have, they're
just happy. So I think that's where I would be.
Either be because I like the idea of being surrounded
by keep lots of people when I'm in the nineties
(58:03):
and really healthy and strong. Oh I like that. I
like that. I see I see you on the edge
of Central part m Rachel. This was fun and I
so enjoyed it, and I don't know why it just
hit me now. I was looking forward to this, and
one of the reasons I'm looking forward to this is.
You know, sometimes you have an association with the name Well.
When I hear the name Rachel, I think of my
friend Rachel Donaldson uh in Santa Monica. And Rachel was
(58:28):
one of my first friends in college, and she remains
one of the best human beings I've ever met. And
so I realized that I have a very super positive association.
Anytime I hear it Rachel, I immediately assumed that they
are a spiritual cousin of Rachel Donaldson. So I knew
I was going to enjoy this. And and now I'm
(58:49):
gonna gonna call Rachel and tell her that there's another
good Rachel I met. So thank you for giving me.
She's in the cinema. My gosh, she's in Cinna Monica.
I'd love to meet her. You know what, I'm going
to range up because Rachel is a therapist in Sana Monica.
And is that's crazy and uh fun. One of the
(59:12):
best dancers you will ever meet. Rachel d was uh
Well was a was a very good dancer in her
day and just a good person. They don't make better people.
She she she is and was a good person. So
aren't you lucky to have her in your life. I am,
(59:33):
I Am. I was down in l A two weeks ago,
and even though I hadn't spoken to her in a
couple of years, she came over and said hello, and
I got to see her for two seconds, which was
really nice. Yeah, the greatest. And I bet she picked
up right It felt like you never we right right away,
right away, right away, right away. Yeah, that's good people. Yeah. Um,
(59:55):
Rachel Harris, I'm gonna smile at you and let you go.
But I'm so glad that you came and uh and
thank you. And I'm going to come on the set
when you and Cheryl'll have your show. I hope you'll
let me. I'm gonna come on your show. No, well,
you're you have a premonition and you're predicting it. Of
course I'm gonna ask you to be on the show.
I'm ready, We're going already, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm
(01:00:17):
ready to do it. All right, Okay, look at it,
talk to you. Have a good one. Thank you for
listening to this episode of The Carlos Watson Show Podcast.
(01:00:38):
If you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends to
find us on the I Heart podcast app or Apple podcast.
Rachel Harris grew up in Ohio and began working in
restaurants while pursuing her acting in comedy career. She began
to perform comedy shows with the Groundling in Los Angeles
and landed her first acting gig in the film Treehouse Dolls.
She can now be seen in hit films like The
Hangover and Natural Selection, and on the Netflix series Lucifer.
On this episode of The Carlos Boston Show podcast, Rachel
(00:26):
Harris reflects on her family upbringing, her favorite project she's
worked on, and how she first got involved in the
entertainment industry. Rachel Wright, carl How are you good? How
are you good? What sunny place? Are you in? Los Angeles?
(00:50):
Where where are you? I'm in the Bay Area? Oh nice? Yeah? No,
no, no no, no, I love the area too. Do you
spend time up here? I hadn't in a while, but I, um,
I like it because being from the East Coast, it's
um I feel like it has more of a change
of seasons. We're on the East Coast. Are you from? Well,
(01:14):
I'm originally from Ohio and then um, yeah, I'm originally
from Ohio and then I lived in New York for
many years, like in the early nineties. Okay, okay, so
so you you and I have a little bit in common.
I was born in Cleveland and oh my gosh, yes,
and my grandmother lived in sense and so I spent
a lot of time in Cincy as well. And uh
(01:36):
and I lived in New York for a number of
years too. Oh my gosh, Carlos, did you did you
go to like all the Reds games? Did you base
at all? So that's so funny that you know Reds.
I almost never hear anyone say that. So there was
a guy named George Foster, probably before your time, but
he was a He was a great player for them
in the seventies. He was like m v P. One
(01:59):
season he had fifty two homers RBIs batted three twenty
And I was playing little league baseball for a whole
crazy reason in Cincinnati, attending school there, and he stopped
by our little league park. You've never seen a little
kid more excited. I don't think you've ever seen a
little kid more excited. So yes, no, I believe that.
I love that you were pointing clearly. Yeah, Because I
(02:21):
was raised with the big Red Machine. I actually got
to see eat Rose oh, and I know Dave Conceptition
and and Johnny Bench all those guys because my dad,
my mom and dad were you know, from Ohio. There's
two things that you love, the Reds and the Buckeyes.
And so in the summer's we drive to Cincinnati and
(02:44):
we go to Red's games. Like maybe I don't want to,
it's like we had season tickets. It was a big deal.
And so and then we would go to King's Island,
you know, like and then we go to see the
point it depended on. It's my step brothers, you know,
because we were king Get my stepbrothers and sisters on
the way. All right, important question, what was your fast
food joint? What was your fast food joint? Where did
(03:06):
you guys go? Well, mine with McDonald's. I mean that's
because in high school we drive down to McDonald's. But
we also loved Skyline chiliactly. That's where I was asking.
That's why didn't say Hamburger, Joy. I wanted to see
if you were Skyline chilly girl completely, And that's those
are and like now those are kind of like very
generic type like filly dogs if you think about it,
(03:31):
like Kraft cheese and like cann canned chili. It's not
like home style chili where you like have where berts,
like you've made it on the pot and it's really
like hardy, you know. You know, Ohio has all those
kind of restaurants and dairy queens and um, oh my goodness,
(03:55):
and you remember those. I worked at a dairy queen,
like I made dilly bars. I made daily bars. And
I also and also Krispy Kreme originated in the on
the East Coast. Like people out here in Los Angeles
they're like, oh yeah, Christy, I have been eating those
for fifty years, like it's crazy, and we and every day.
(04:18):
But this was the deal. When I was in high
school and worthing to know how we would drive. We
get a one hour lunch and it was a big deal.
You'd find a friend that had a car. I did not,
so I would get in somebody's car. We'd drive down
and every day I had a quarter pound of the cheese,
a small French fry, and diet coat for lunch. The
diet coke was important. And then we'd go get a
(04:41):
Crispy cream cream filled chocolate tuffed you know, donnut. And
I didn't understand why I was chunky. My mom used
to say chunky, chunky girl. Do you know what? That is?
So funny? I'm forgetting all the words, but we did
used to use words like chunky. That's right. We had
words like chunky, and people had names like Eugene. So
(05:05):
all those things were drewp calling somebody the chunky. Now
you would our careers would be over. You only talk
about that with myself. You can't be like the chunky girl, right, yeah? No, no,
you know so that ohio so um. I was born
(05:27):
in Cleveland, So my folks had met New York. They
moved to Pittsburgh, then they moved to Cleveland, then they
then we left early. We went to Kalamazoo and then
my dad was like, all of this is crazy. Oh
you know you know Wooster I do all right, So
we are like all these places and then we at
(05:48):
we moved down to Miami, Florida. Do you know Miami Florida?
Did you ever spend time in Miami? No? No, that
was where rich people went down. We never went like
like people would go to spring Break. Like I remember
like hearing about things like Captiva Island. To this day,
I've never been to cap Tiva Island. But when I
hear that, I think rich people Florida. Alright, alright, so anyway,
(06:12):
and I I interrupted you. So you went to Miami.
We went to Miami. But I love that we were
rich people. We will I'll say this. We were people
with a rambler who got something called a trip tick.
I don't know if you remember trip ticks. We got
trip ticks because you got it from Triplet correct. Yeah,
and they and they'd map out, they'd highlight your whole
route for you. Correct. So that's what we were doing.
(06:33):
So we were we were on our way down to
Miami in those days. That's how we got there. But now,
but now, are your folks from Ohio as well, or
or did they just somehow end up there? Yeah? No,
My parents, my mom and dad met in Ohio and
high school in Springfield, Ohio. I like to say, like
(06:54):
in the same town that John Legend grew up. But
we've never connected over that, but I wish we did
because his is uh. I know at the time his
grandmother went to it was in a you know, like
a home for seniors, was an orphanage in the early days,
in like the forties and fifties that my mother threw
(07:17):
up in which is a whole other like story that
I would love to connect with him over, which I
should do at some point. But but it wasn't that
little tiny town of Springfield, Ohio. Oh I bet I
just took a totally different, weird path. There's a good
movie in here. There's a good movie or a good
podcast about two little girls in Springfield in that time.
(07:41):
In fact, John, who I know a little bit, maybe
not super well, but talks about his life change because
of McDonald's. He won a scholarship for college. Ah, that
was a McDonald's scholarship opportunity, and it changed his world.
He was like well when he went to high school
in sixteen when he graduated, which was crazy, and his
(08:03):
parents didn't have a lot of money, but that scholarship
was a game changer for him. Yeah. Well, me too.
I have this similar kind of story where I was
I couldn't afford college, but I was given an anonymous
donation to college to go to school. Who do we
think did it? Oh? I don't. I don't know. I
mean to this day that the university won't tell me. Um,
(08:26):
so I just have to kind of hey forward in
my own personal way, you know for another Yeah, so
but it was it's crazy. Yeah. So what was young
Rachel like? So if I if I went through the
Dairy Queen and I bumped into young Rachel back in
the day, like, what was she like? Was she quiet?
Was she loud? Was she was? Was she on her
(08:47):
way to becoming an actor and comedian? Like? Who was she? I? Well, well,
back in the Dairy Queen days, I was. I first
was introduced Dairy Queen because I played soccer when I
was a kid. I'm like through the local soccer chapter
and my dad coached my soccer team. My stepdad coached
my soccer team, which was the greatest thing ever. I
(09:10):
was very competitive. I loved it. Um. I was big
into pelee and all the those like athletics, and at
the same time, I was into theater and music and
I always wanted to be a singer. So I was
very I was very I would say interested in social activities.
(09:30):
Like I loved everything that happened after school. That is
a great framing of it. I love that that is
a that's a very positive, optimistic framing of it. I
love that I love everything that happened after school. I
love that yeah, I was. I wasn't the best student,
but I certainly was really fun. And but I wouldn't
(09:52):
say I was like a party girl because I was
a complete rule follower. But I just wasn't a great student.
So I'm lucky that the role that I had in
been becoming an actor worked out, because I don't have
another I don't have a really strong skill set outside
of it. Carlos. Yeah, wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait,
stay with this for me. What do you think would
(10:13):
have happened? Because I love sliding doors? Sliding doors is
one of my favorite things. Literally, what would have happened
do you think if you hadn't made it as an actor? Wow? Well,
if I hadn't been given that scholarship, and if I
hadn't been on that track to becoming an actor, I
think I would have maybe stayed in my small town
(10:37):
in Ohio. I don't know, or I would have, I think,
But I always had a yearning as a little when
I was young. It was my childhood was challenging, for
lack of a better word, and I always said to myself,
it's I don't think it's going to be this way forever.
(10:58):
And so I always had this inside of like I'm
going to move on and do other things UM, and
that I'm going to it gets better. Does that make sense?
Like it's going to get better? It does? And I'm
going to um and myself and know that it's going
to um. But it's not always going to be this way.
(11:20):
It's not always going to be a struggle. Does that
make sense? And that people live differently than I do.
I don't know if that makes sense. But but but
how did you know that? Because you and I both
know that part of what's so hard for so many
people in general, and especially young people is the sense
that you're stuck in the sense that you're in a
bad situation that you don't have any control over, and
you don't have a sense that it's going to get better.
(11:43):
And so you know, obviously I've so admire the people
who do the work that says it gets better, because
I do think that sometimes that leaves a window open
for a lot of people who otherwise don't feel any
fresh air coming in and don't have any sense of
this is temporary. So how did you know enough to
know that it could get better, or even to say
(12:03):
to yourself, as you did, it will get better. I don't,
you know, honestly, Carlos, I think it was when I
remember being in my parents bathroom upstairs. It's very weird,
but I remember looking in the mirror and having um
a feeling. I get choked up because it was I
didn't go to perform it. I didn't We didn't go
to church regularly. It wasn't like something that we were
(12:27):
brought up doing every Sunday. But I feel like I
had a moment where I spiritually just had a gut
feeling like nobody told me anything like God is with
you or I don't mean it to sound so esoteric,
but I really did have this kind of wonderful feeling
(12:48):
that but if there is a God or whatever is
out there, I just have to have faith in though.
And it was kind of like this blind faith, and
I talked about it before I didn't. It wasn't like
I had any huge introduction any kind of spiritual life.
So I feel like that's it for me. I feel
very fortunate that that happened, and it's like it's purest form.
(13:10):
Does that make sense? It does. But I also think
that um my mother always said to me, you know,
it's really helpful when you have something to look forward to,
you and if if you can look forward to And
so for me, that became theater. When I was in
high school, I was always looking forward to doing shows
(13:32):
and preparing for those things, and like, and it's an athlete.
When I was playing soccer, I remember loving to practice
and getting ready for a game. Does that make sense?
So it's like, I think that's also why I love acting,
because it's not just about the performance, it's about the preparation.
And so I think if you can get into that
(13:53):
mindset where I like when a friend said this to
me the other day, she said, the funny thing about
vacation is that they they start the moment you decide
that you're going to go on one, and and it's
the planning that's so fun about it, right, And she said, so,
it's in the it's in the planning of it. So
I find I have something to look forward to that
(14:13):
gives me the hope to keep to keep going. And
so for me, I guess you could big big picture.
And I'm sorry that I've kind of gotten the weeds
there Carlos talking about it, But I think it's that
if I knew that, oh, I want to live this life.
I want to I want to be an actor, I
want to be a performer. I just have to keep
showing up. I think it's that that notion of didn't
(14:37):
There's always tomorrow. Just give it another twenty four hours
and keep showing up, you know. And and a lot
of phrases, a lot of things that are cliche, um,
but they're cliche because they're true. You know. It's like
of success is just showing up. If there were a
lot of mantras for me that by you know, it's
(14:58):
not that I didn't have bad days, but I would
always say, thank God, if this is what I'm supposed
to be doing. I need I need a sign. I
need some sort of sign that says this is it.
And I usually would get that sign. And I think
in college when I was given that scholarship and they
said that scholarship will be taken away if you leave
(15:20):
the theater department, if you if you go outside of
theater and music, um, and I felt like that was
such a huge boost of confidence that somebody was saying,
we believe in you enough to give you this this scholarship.
And so there was a little a part of me
(15:40):
was you know, I need to I need to show
up for this. This person believes in me, and so
I need to keep pursuing this. And it was all
kinds of blessings. I'm so long winded, but it takes
me a while to get to make my point or
figure it out. Carlon Sometimes, well, well, I love that
(16:01):
you got a chance to go on that journey. And
I want for every person, and certainly you know, you
wish every every child who particularly children who are having
a challenging situation. You want there to be something that
allows you to keep going forward, and that doesn't always
show up. And and when I do see that it
(16:23):
shows up, it makes me hopeful that maybe it'll show
up even more for yet other kids. And I think, well,
I think for me as a child, it was just
having positive teachers in my life, if I'm really getting
specific about UM. I mean, my mother was very supportive
UM and loved musical theater UM. But I really think
(16:46):
that it was more It's lucky. When I got into college,
I got into therapy, so I had a safe place
to discuss things with UM. And then I also had
UM again, wonderful speakers and professors. When I got into college.
That that gave me revide posts from me that I
(17:09):
that I Yeah, I just don't think I would be
nearly as evolved if I hadn't gone to college, if
I hadn't been given as opportunities, I would be probably
much more full of um self doubt and I already
have and low self esteem. You know, education was really
a gift for me being educated, you know, because there
(17:33):
was nobody in my family went to college, no one,
no one in my in my family's gon ascribed as
the first person to go college. And so it was
I was sort of the weird one, you know. And
and a lot of families you're weird if you don't
go to college. But for me, it was looked at
as why do you want to be so high falutin
(17:55):
or whatever. Rachel, tell me about your mom? Who is
(18:15):
she or was she? Who is she? Or was she? Um? Okay,
So my mom was born Cynthia Anne Whittaker and um
nineteen Septmber three, Um, and Uh, she had a really
ropedile hit like I said, she she grew up my
(18:37):
aunt and my mother uh didn't. Um. We're taken from
their family when they were around six, and then they
were taken to the Sonic Home for Children in Springfield, Ohio. UM,
and she was raised there until she graduated high school. UM,
and then she went to university. But during that time,
(18:58):
my mom always reflects back and she is very funny
and full of m and loved musical theater. And so
I think that's why I loved musical theater and theater
in general so much. UM. But she UM, she's she
was given so much from this and Sonic home that
she grew up in. She was given things that she
(19:19):
wasn't going to be able to afford in her normal
from if she had stayed with her family. UM. She
and my aunt were given musical lessons, like they both
played the violin and the viola. They they went to museums,
they went on field trips all over the place. And
my mother at that time was saying she was just
so bud She had clean clothes and a bed to
(19:40):
sleep in. And so my mother was the type of
person that never took anything for granted, was very um,
very thoughtful, always tried to walk in other people's shoes
as much as she could. UM. I think she also
struggled with not feeling good enough her entire life UM.
(20:06):
But but she was you know, it was it was complicated,
you know because when you grow up in an orphanage
until you're eighteen, you don't really have parents. And back
then they didn't have therapy, so it wasn't like there
was somebody that could sit down with them and say
this is what happened, and this is how we're going
to take care of you, and we love you and
if you need a hug, we're here for you. And
(20:29):
and so I think that Collard the whole way that
she UM parented my brother and my sister and I
and then later she married my stepdad and he's one
of the best things that ever happened to us. UM
and then and his three children, so his three stepkids.
There were six kids with these two parents later. And
(20:50):
my mom did a great job considering she she had
no UM, she didn't really have parents. Did she work
outside the home? She did. She worked as a secretary
UM for UM a few companies, and yeah, and then
it's like she she worked outside the home. But then
she also UM. She at one point she was UM
(21:16):
like a she was just babysitting children during the day
when we were in school. So she was taking care
of her own kids and then also working as a
I mean now we would call her a nanny for
a daycare, but then back then it was just like,
oh no, my mom babysits kids, you know, during the week.
And then yeah, so and then my and my dad
(21:38):
was a UM worked for our company, well, McCormick Equipment,
and he worked for that company for over forty years.
And he was the blue collar worker. And every day
got up, you know, seven am, came back to five pm.
And what happened to your birth father? If you don't
mind me asking, Oh no, I don't and at all.
(22:01):
My birth father and my mother divorced when I was two, um,
and they had a very turbulent relationship, feeling a very
dark episode of Carlos Watson shows. But it's the truth. Um, yeah,
tell the truth, to tell the truth, to tell the truth.
So um my so my biological father, UM, they divorced him.
(22:25):
My mother was when I was too um and back
then it was the seventies, you know, that was like
v so. UM, my grandparents and my uncle's I think
they all said, you know, it's best if you don't
come around very often. And so I only saw my
biological father once a year until I was eighteen, when
(22:48):
I was in college, and I was like, I think
this is going to be weird if I don't really
know my dad. Uh, I think I need to spend
time with them. And so and until he died, we
did have a great relationship and I got to know
him and it was great. Yeah. But and he worked
for red Stone Arsenal in Alabama. So he was a
(23:08):
software engineer and I'm part of the Patriot Project and
all of these really fascinating things for the government. Yeah.
Could college educated or no, Yes, college educated. He went
to Ohio State University. M hmm. Interesting. Interesting, And I'm
sorry I'm asking all this, but I'm generally fascinating. How
(23:30):
did your mom and birthdad meet? They met at Capital University.
My dad was between undergrad at Capital and they met there.
And then my mom honestly, she got pregnant and they
got married right back up, you know, and back in
the day that was that was not cool. And so
they got married. They got pregnant with my older sister
(23:52):
and then um and then they got married. So they
were very young. My mother was my teen when she
got married and she had just left home in Springfield
when she was eighteen. So she went from living in
this sonic children's home to living with my dad and
was very ill equipped, you know. And the only thing
(24:14):
that I think really saved her, and in that regardless
that my aunt was also in the in the home
with her, So they had each other. That's what they've
always said was that the only way that they were
able to make it through that was because they had
each other. Rachel, what a It's just such a reminder
of how these certain things can happen in our lives
and we can just end up down certain roads. I mean,
(24:36):
as I hear you talk about your mom in a
different world, she's easily someone who could have gone to
college and that would have created a completely different trajectory
for her, and and so and and some of the
things that I can tell she must have said to
you casually, intentionally, what have you probably fed you somewhat
(25:00):
if you were moving through, you know, growing up? No,
she definitely, Um, I remember distinctly because I've said this
to my friends before. She would always say to me, Rachel,
you can be anything you want to be if you
put your mind to it and you apply it, and
you apply yourself to it. And I believed her and
(25:22):
then like that and that's kind of wonderful because I
was like, well, I'm gonna be an actress. I'm going
to be an actor singer. And I really and I
just really believed in that. And and that was a
seed that was planted when I was very young. And
she said, there's two things I want you to do.
She said, I just want you to be kind. I
just want you to be a nice girl. Um. And
(25:44):
then and I think she also she also said, and
just don't get pregnant. You know. She was like, just
make sure you're married before you have children, and um,
you know, so it was I mean, it's like good advice.
But yeah, well they traveled through you. They traveled through you,
(26:08):
and they stayed with you, probably in ways you're both
aware of and maybe even not fully aware of. Yeah,
I mean, given the world that we live in now,
I love it. The worst thing that could have happened
was that I get pregnant. You know, in her mind,
when we're dealing with so much now, that is so
much worse. It'd be like, that's fine if you get pregnant,
(26:29):
Like we'll be able to deal with that you don't
have a terminal illness, and you don't have you know,
there's so yeah, a lot of worse things. Rich What
did you first start having some acting success? I mean,
I love that you said that she believed in you,
you were believing in yourself. She loved musical theater. You
(26:50):
get the scholarship uh in college. But when did you
actually start to have some success And when did you
actually start to think like this is actually happen or
did you go into it the whole time just assuming
that mom was right that this could happen. But I
don't want to seem like a comte, complete sociopath. But
(27:11):
but you know, it really started early for me. I mean,
I'm very lucky that when I was even in grade school,
I was doing uh, pertain place and it was just
like I'm very good at this, like sort of percocious
in that trial that you're like, just she's too much,
just calmed down. Um. And then and then when I
(27:33):
got into high school, I did a lot of you know,
I did all of these crazy shows for good Dune, um, hello,
all of the classics, right Settler on the roof, all
these things. And then when I got to college. That's
actually when I thought maybe I can do this, but
I was very nervous, and luckily that I went to
Automne College that's now Automne University and they had an
(27:58):
internship program in New York. And I went to New
York and worked with the Caffeian Agency Agency and we
would see back then, you know, everything was done through
the mail, and so they wanted you to see the
business side of it, right, which was great because when
you when you're an actor, you think, oh, I'm just
gonna go audition for parts, and you don't really think
about the businesses. So they would have sack of submissions,
(28:22):
um and there's no way they were going to go
through them. So that and and even even seeing that
I didn't determine. I was like, it doesn't matter. I
just need one casting director to say she's good or whatever.
So I think I think it was in the early
(28:42):
two thousands. I had moved to Los Angeles. I mean
I really was banking on myself. I really was like,
I'm going to do this. I know that I'm good.
I just have to find the right vehicle. And then
I had had an agent in New York. I couldn't
get arrested. In New York, I couldn't get any place.
Is any nothing, I mean nothinging. So I don't know
(29:03):
why I didn't quit any But I had an agent
in New York that I'm going to open an agency
in Los Angeles. Would you like to come out? And
I called my parents and I said that my agents
going to open up an agency in Los Angeles. And
they said go, please go, because I have an uncle
that lived in West Kolina, and so my stepdad was like,
(29:24):
please go and U and I went. And he said
because I think he would work a lot in television
and commercials. And I was a little offended because I
was like, I'm a serious theater actress. I'm going to
do drama, okay and uh. And then when I got
to Los Angeles, I started doing theater out here, Like
I did a show with Ron glass Um at the Tamaran,
(29:47):
which was one of the best experiences of my life,
and I loved I learned so much from him just
telling you know, that's a whole other show and book
and whatever. But um. But then I started out to
for commercials and getting callbacks, and I had one casting
director that really was committed and said you can do this,
(30:07):
did you just have to? You just have to keep
showing up, which was great. And then once I booked
two national commercials and and guest starred like I was
on Sister Sister. My first big job was on Sister
Sister in a recurring role. I was like, wow, this
is a big time with Tian tamar And and Jack
(30:28):
and tim Maria, and that was great. That was one
of my first big jobs. And that's when I thought, Okay,
I think I can do this, even though I had
been working in restaurants all over New York City for
years and in Los Angeles, and so I think that
was the first time that I think the first two
(30:48):
national commercials that I booked on the same day, which
was absurd because I've been on auditioning in Los Angeles
for about three and four years. And then both those
came in in one day. They looked. They literally called
both called you to tell you you got it. Yeah yeah,
my agent yeah, same casting director. And they were for
two things. One was for it was for Listerine. For
(31:13):
all I did was like swish the streen in the mouth,
not kidding. And then the other one was for an
insurance company. I want to say it was for like
All State or something. Have you stayed in touch with
that casting director? I would have yes, but he is
since Yeah, Danny Coldman, and he was a real like everyone.
(31:36):
He was a very big commercial casting director back in
a day. But Danny Coldman was amazing. Yeah. And so
once you get these first two do you quit the
restaurant jobs? Do you stop? Were you were? You wait
for saying what were you doing? I was working at
Kate Mantalini in Los Angeles, right across from Brostein Gray
and seating everyone. Like. I got to see Billy Wilder
(31:57):
actually one day, which was married Jing because It's a
Wonderful Life is one of my favorite films. Um, so
that was mind blowing. And he had frog legs for lunch,
which was again was just like so insane and amazing.
Um and mel Brooks, like I got to work with
mel Brooks on Curby Enthusiasm, but I also got to
(32:18):
see him at the restaurant. Funny um, Funny. Franklin came
in from One Day at a Time, which I was like,
oh my god, I loved One Day at a Time.
And the Jefferson's like that whole comedy block right, So
that was that was incredible. Um. And then I saw
all of these really fancy managers that I was dying
(32:40):
to work with, and I was like, one day I'm
work with you. One day I'm going to work with
somebody from this from Roasting Greg and I did would
would you make a pitch like were you one of
the folks? Like you didn't? No, I would never pitch that.
I was just like, please don't recognize me as opposed
to please only know me when I'm when I'm working,
(33:03):
I'm just like hi, and I see you here man
news have a great lunch. Um. But yeah, that was
That was a weird time because all of the waiters
and waitresses, all of us, we were all actors. We
were all hustling, you know, trying to get jobs. And
so I would work there during the day at Can't
Mantelini and then drive down to the Center Theater Group
in the evening and cold call people to try to
(33:26):
get them to buy some like subscriptions to the Center
Theater Group for their season. And that was full crushing.
And the only thing that was great about that was
that I got to see the show is for free,
So that's and That's why I did it, because I
could see every single show for free. Anyway, for those
I am just none stop packing? Are you just no?
(33:50):
But I love this and I love people's come up stories,
and I love yours, and there's something good that has
happened to you in this life. I feel like, um,
this will sound weird, but I feel a little bit like,
um uh, like you got kissed by an angel. I
feel like someone was looking out for you a little
bit and that you got you got a little kiss
(34:13):
and and not that everything's been easy, and not that
everything has been straightforward, but that there's so many different
ways this could have played out, so many different ways
it could have played out. And I think I can
tell that you like the way it's played out, and
so I'm happy for you that it played out this way,
which says to me that you know, you got kissed
(34:33):
by an angel a little bit, and so um yeah,
so I I like that. So when did you quit
the restaurant business? When did you when did you stop
having to do the straight hostess face and and instead yeah,
well I think it was I know what it was.
It was. I'd gone to the ground lings, which was
as that was A huge turning point was getting into
(34:55):
the ground Lings, and that's where all of my best
friends are from my best friend and Cheryl Hynes, we
met at the Groundlings a hundred years ago. UM and
Susan Yeagley who's married to Kevin Neal and she's one
of my closest all of us we are on Tony School.
All these people that you don't know that I whatever,
that are my closest friends that have seen me at
(35:16):
my worst and also seen me at my best, like
on stage when we had fantastic sketches. So when I so,
you're like, that's not the question that I asked you, Rache.
But the circle back, all right. So it was when
I was in the Groundlings and I I I got UM.
I was performing in the Sunday Company and Christopher guests
(35:40):
Eugene Levy and Karen Murphy that's their executive producer, came
to a Sunday show looking for people to be in
a movie called Dog Show, And so they came and
we didn't know, Thank goodness, because I would have my
anxiety would have gone through the roof and I would
not have been able to perform the right way or
or be my true authentic stuff. I would have been
too nervous. Um, So luckily I didn't know they were there.
(36:03):
And then after the next day they called me, said,
Eugene Levy and Chris Guess want to meet you for
a meeting. And I ended up being in Weston show
this little part, and then from that I went to
do Bad Actress with Kirstie Um And once I did
Fat Actress, that's when I quit working at the at
(36:23):
the at their restaurants and stuff, because that was a
regular series, like I knew, like, oh, I'm in this series.
I'm a serious regular and I and I can't. I can't,
I can't do my ship. Well, what's been the most
fun part of being Because when I look at the
variety of things you've had a chance to do from
(36:44):
the Daily Show too, Fat Actors, on and on and on, Like,
what's been the most fun thing when you look back,
and I don't have any preconceived notions, I'm just curious
from someone who actually has been in it, actually got
to do it, Like, what has been the most fun
about this ride? What have you enjoyed? Well? I think, uh,
there's there's a couple of things that have been the
(37:07):
most fun um for different reasons. Like I have to
say being in The Hangover and getting to swear my
face off and and and really put my parents in
a difficult situation was fantastic. Like that was. That was
and having somebody tell me, like having Todd Phillips say
(37:28):
I want you to say this, and be like, well,
you're the director, and uh, and I willingly did it,
so I was I wasn't forced to under to rest
to do any of that, um, but so I have
to say The Hangovers was extraordinarily fun. Um an independent
feature that I did called Natural Selection, where I was
the lead in every single scene, and that was the
(37:49):
That's my most satisfying um creative work that I've done
so far yet that I've done yet, because there's going
to be more and and then I think I think
those are the two most satisfying things that I've gotten
to do. I don't know. But but then also just
(38:11):
creatively producing with my best friend Cheryl, like just have
to say, the fun wise like creating something with her
and then pitching it to people and having them get excited,
and then and creating my own work and and the
experience and the groundings and writing my own sketches, getting
(38:32):
them up on their feed casting. I think that has
been the most fun too, you know, like getting to
have your own vision and create it from the from
the ground up is really exciting and super fun. You
have a big hit series coming, I know, I know,
I know, Lucifer Special, But you have a big hit
(38:52):
series coming that you're the star of, and you're gonna
enjoy that so much. You're gonna enjoy it. You're gonna
have a really nice run. I can feel it. You're
gonna have a really really nice run. Car List. I
feel that too, And I don't think that's presentptuous, but
I'm ready. You think that's the thing. Like I'm ready,
and I'm ready to be a boss in the best
sense of the word. Like I'm ready to have a safe,
(39:17):
like crazy, exciting atmosphere at work where everyone feels heard
and like where the prop die and say you should
say this and we'll like, that's just that's amazing. I'm
saying that, you know, where it just is where everybody wins,
you know where That's what I want and that's what
(39:40):
Jared and I are wanting to create. So we are
yea whether we did that together or did that alone.
I'm ready. I think you guys are gonna do it together.
I've recently been around a couple of partner teams and
it's a really beautiful thing to see. There's a music
group called the City Girls. Do you know City Girls Group?
They're kind of like the New Salt and Peppa. They're great,
(40:03):
and of course I can relate to because that's my Yes,
that's my that's my that's my genre, that's my wheelhouse,
that's what I grew up with. You're gonna love the
You're gonna love these women. They're from Miami and they've
known each other since they were in junior high school.
And they also really like each other a lot. And
so recently I've had a couple of scenarios where I've
been with people who have good partners and there's also
(40:25):
there's good energy. Or we were I was talking to
the guy from Airbnb who started Airbnb, and he talked
about enjoying doing it with his partners, one of whom
had been his college roommate who he moved out here with,
and another guy. And there's something good about that that
allows you to stay strong and stay creative and stay optimistic. Through.
What are the inevitable ups and downs? And so do
(40:47):
you think it will be a comedy? Do you think
it will be a drama? What do you what? What
is this show which I'm I'm dubbing Rachel. I'm calling
it Rachel. I don't know if I'm calling it Rachel?
What is this? What is this show? I'll take it.
Let's do it together. We can produce it. Um no,
I um, it's I think it's a comedy drama. Y.
I think that because there are aspects of my life
(41:07):
I said I do. I do find myself swearing very easily.
I don't swear on my children. I try not to.
Although one of the funniest things I've ever heard it's
my four year old not realizing what he was saying,
and he just was like and I was like, oh,
and I knew that was me and his father were separated,
(41:29):
and I knew at anyway. So I like to swear.
So what I'm trying to say, and I know it
takes me eighteen years to get it out, but what
I'm trying to say is that I like to swear.
I like it when people have real conversation. I like
things to be like overlapping. I don't like music playing
like I don't know if if you've seen like sitcoms, right,
(41:49):
there's like music that kind of like tells you something
I don't like that you don't okay, no walk up music, No,
no walk up music. Like I love shows like UM
better Things, and I love my and Sharon Horgan is
one of my She's I don't know, maybe you've interviewed Charon.
I don't know, but she oh, she did Catastrophe with UM.
(42:14):
That's one of my favorite shows. So it's more along
those lines of and like I'm in old school Ali
mcgel lover, So it's like if I could do a
one hour that is funny, but it is also you
have a very special episode of Rachel. Oh you know,
I'm really I'm liking this. And I love the Ali
McBeal reference because that was a little more groundbreaking that
(42:35):
I think about now. You know, before her Mary Tyler
Moore kind of had something like that, meaning that it
was funny, but they're also serious and it clearly was
her show, and it had a whole set of interesting characters.
So because I think that like, for example, this is
this is kind of horrible, but It's the best example
I can give for the tone of the show that
(42:57):
I would want to do is that when my father died,
I love him so much. He's six three, my stepdad,
and the referend to who's my dad? When he died,
we it's in Ohio, right, And you know this because
you're in Cleveland. The home that we were in was
old and so all of like the doorways and hallways
were very narrow, and he's a very tall man, okay,
(43:19):
And gratefully he died in the home. We were right
there with him. I was holding his hand. We were like,
you could go now, it's great. And then the funeral um,
the the funeral home came and they came in a minivan.
It's okay, um, my dad again at six too, And
(43:41):
they came to take him and they got like a stretcher.
They put him on the stretcher and then they're taking
him out of They couldn't get his body around through
the door and the hallway. And so I'm sitting there
looking at it and my brother who's funnier than I am,
my brother Jack Harris, and I absolutely love and he's
(44:03):
my heart and soul. He he's helping these two guys
who literally one was six ft and one was like
five ft, and we're like, this isn't gonna work. These
guys are gonna be able to handle my dad. So
my brother helps out and he's got them and he
looks at me and we start laughing so hard that
(44:23):
they're taking my dear sweet father's body out of the house,
because we're like, this is this is something that you
would see on New Heart or Unmarried tailor more or
or or or Atlanta. I don't know anything that you'd
see this horrible, this very sad thing. And then this
(44:44):
very funny thing happened where you can see them like
sweating and trying to like figure out how they're going
to get my dad out of the house. And then
at the same time, I'm like getting all the family
out into the yard so they don't have to see it.
I don't know, but that's like the tone of the
show that I want. I want these real things that
are horrible, right that we have to experience sometimes, like
(45:06):
crying and it's like laughing in church where you where
it's where you just it's some of the funniest things
come out of the most horrific and sorrowful moments of
our lives and I and I feel like that's real
and and raw, and then you can be crying, you know,
five minutes later and so sad that that would be
(45:27):
the tone of the show that I want. I don't
know if that makes me sound like a really sick
person or and you well, I like that you put
new heart and childish gambito Donald globbery. You understand, like
it gets real, like he's able to make it's very
(45:51):
It's that's what I like. I don't even it's not
even about the people or the characters. It's for me,
it's the authenticity of that show and if it's real,
and that's what I'm drawn to. And I think that's
that's what I want to see, because it isn't always
you know, pink paint and balloons and happy. You know,
it's like real and that we learned so much. You know,
(46:15):
we only really know the true joy if we experience
the paint, right. I know that somebody really wonderful said that,
but I don't know who at this point. It might
have been Rachel Harris, who knows who it was? It
good good have been anybody be it's it could have been.
I don't know, it's easily good. All right. I'm gonna
(46:52):
try something with you called rapid fire. Do you mind
if I hit you with five or six things? We
may go all over the map a little bit. I
just I just wouldn't warn you, like when you say
rapid fire, you're gonna have to keep reminding me. But
you're like Rachel, this is in a three hour interview.
But it could be, but it could be, but it
could be. I just trust you guys to edit out
(47:13):
all of the ramblings. And yes, okay, your favorite color orange?
Your favorite stand up comedian? Oh wow? Oh, Chris Rock
your favorite Yes? Oh, here's your runner up? You got
run up, the same runner up. I'm a child of
the seventies. Google ahead, give it up. I can Okay,
(47:36):
it was, it was, it's not anymore, but but I
grew up listening to Bill Cosby on on vinyl. Yes, dude,
it is a really crazy day to say that. It
is a crazy day to say it. Let's do that.
We're not going to say that. Write a different day,
all right. I'm telling you that was Steve Martin, Steve Martin, Steve,
(47:58):
Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy. Oh my gosh, those three guys. Impossible.
You're like it's rapid fire, right, all right? Your favorite movie?
Good hands down? Oh my goodness, oh you pull in
the all right? Uh? Your karaoke song, the Total Clips
of the Heart. Oh my goodness. Um, I can hear
(48:21):
that's Bonnie. What's her name? I can around? Right it is,
isn't it? Dude? That's from our yeah, high school? And
definitely yeah, okay, biggest hair, biggest hair you've ever had?
Oh gosh, in high school like my senior picture wings,
(48:46):
biggest hair. I don't know, it could be maybe high school,
I want to say, just with alright, boyfriend, boyfriend, they
got away? Oh Bobo Dare Babo da Bobby o Dare?
And what a great name. I mean you already see
(49:07):
where is but where is bobbio O'Dare? Do we know
he married? He married one of our childhood friends. Great couple.
I don't blame him for marrying Katie Dawson. I was
a head case, you know, like Katie Dawson. Look clearly
from my childhood had a lot to unpack, was still
unpacking it. Okay, So who is to Babo Dare from?
(49:31):
Maybe for marrying Katie Dawson like he she was, just
like he was, but he was in my high school
love and like the greatest still to this day, one
of the greatest men I've ever known. Oh my god,
most beautiful place you've ever been, the most beautiful place
I've ever been. I would say probably. I'm sure everybody
(49:51):
says this, but Portofino, Italy, I love so beautiful and
Capri But then I also loved tell you right like
I love the snow, like I can't be Christmas for
me has to be in well, you know, being from
Cleveland and just needed to be cold. I just need
to be able to put on a sweater. Now are
you a Airbnb girl? You a hotel girl? Oh? Why
(50:14):
am a hotel girl? I'm a hotel girl. I love
I love a really swing hotel. I love it, I
appreciate it. I love all the trappings that come with it.
I love the Peninsula in New York City. Okay, guys, oh,
I like peninsula too, Like Pensula. That's your favorite though?
Do you think no? No? I think, um? Well, ironically enough,
(50:38):
in San Francisco, I loved I think I loved the
St Regions right like good I love that hotel. But
then I also loved the Four Seasons Malli Andileia. Um,
but I do. I mean, I just love the Peninsula
on seven and five, maybe just because every mean that
(51:00):
it comes with, you know, I just love that. I
feel like I'm in a really beautiful home. You know,
you know you already. It's so funny when you did
this thing there, I saw you in your movie. That
was like your Audrey Hepburn moment. Like you were like
you're having your Audrey Apburn moment when you did I
could see you. I can see you at the Peninsula thing.
I do. I love it. I love it so much.
(51:22):
I appreciate it, like I really, and I feel like
it's worth every single penny, you know what. That's the
good thing about this life. Alright, So we're gonna keep
doing rapid fire. What else is on that list? All right? What? What?
What else is a Rachel Rachel Harris list of worth
every penny? What else in this life would you immediately say,
(51:44):
worth every penny? What else is on that list? Okay?
So an amazing Okay. A dinner at Grammarcy Tavern in
New York City in the bar in the Bar area,
not in the back restaurant area and in the bar
area was with like six people. Anything you want to drink, eat,
laughing hard, worth every penny. I think, Um, I do
(52:10):
think Malle Why is one of my favorite places. And
I know people say Paris or or you know, Fiji
or whatever, but there's something very special to me about
Mallie Hawaii that island in particular worth every penny. Um
I think um uh oh. I think like a private
(52:32):
plane when you can get like on a jet and
go from Los Angeles to New York in a short
amount of time, worth every penny. But I also think
if you're listen, okay, first class or even business class
to Europe worth every penny. I'm a sleeper. I like
to like plan it out so that I can sleep
for eight hours, right, so it's a it's a ten
(52:54):
hour trip. I like worth every penny. A flat bed,
A flat bed sleeping on a cross country flight with
every penny. Um what else? What's not worth every penny?
Like Rachel Rachel Harris, you are awesome because I love it.
You are my little knees who I used to say,
(53:17):
we we we celebrated birthday and we'd get cake we
do the whole thing. I'd say, if you have a
great birthday, and she'd say, no, not until we've had
cake three times. And I love it and I love
that you there are there are multiple things that are
worth every penny. That's that's a good sign that that
you've encountered multiple things in this life that are worth
(53:37):
every penny. Yes, in health care, good health care. I'm
just saying that to make myself look like a normal,
nice human being. Okay, favorite TV series? Oh wow, favorite
TV series. Come on, I'm gonna say, Alian mcheel, Oh
you had to, you had to. Okay, Miss Barry White, Okay.
Um uh. If you could have dinner with anyone dead alive,
(54:00):
who would it be? I dinner with anyone dead or alive,
who would it be? Um? Well, I've always said that
my dream is to have dinner with um with Michael
Dorsey and that we just lead character and titsy and Okay,
so really basically what it is just that we don't
(54:21):
My dream is to have dinner with Justin Hoffman and
Bill Murray at the same time and just talked to
them about the making of Tipsy and I wish Sydney
Paul it could be there, but he couldn't he. I mean,
he's he's since again, it's never an easy answer for me.
But but that's a good group and Sydney Pollock has
so many good movies. We could spend time just on that.
(54:42):
All right, last couple here, what's your favorite thing about Lucifer?
What's your favorite thing about that series? Getting to do
the the back and forth, back and forth scenes with
Tom Ellis that were like therapy where I got to
where I played the therapist and they each one felt
like a little one act play for those scenes that
I got to do with him, And how much my
(55:04):
meanness from the bottom of my heart. How much are
fans that were global all over the world, how much
they love the show and how much they they relate
to it, and they they say thank you for doing
a show about people that feel like they're irredeemable finding redemption. Um.
Most interesting thing you've learned about love? Woh um m hmm. Okay,
(55:32):
the most interesting thing that I've learned about love is
that it doesn't require a legal document to be meaningful. Um.
And that also our hearts are big enough to love
many people that somebody that I love right that I'm
in a love relationship with. They can love many other people.
(55:54):
It doesn't just have to be me. Does that make sense?
It does. Did it to you a long time to
get to that or have you always been there? No?
I think it took me a long time to get
to the place where my views on marriage have shifted
so much. Um, just given my experience. UM. I think
(56:16):
it's the greater thing is to look. I know, for
the reason why we have marriage, so we all have
the same rights, right, so we're entitled to these certain things.
But I think if you really love someone, you don't
love them sign a contract and you show up for
them without any kind of contract. How do you show
up for someone when there is an illegal recourse that
(56:38):
can be done if you don't. I think for me,
that's more appealing to me at this point in my life.
And I learned from my children that they have big
enough hearts to love so many people, and that I'm
so grateful that they have that they can love me
(56:58):
and their dad, and they are you know, people that
are looking after them and their teachers and their friends,
and that they have these big, huge, enormous parts. Rachel,
I'm gonna come find you when you're ninety. Where are
we going to meet? Where am I going to see you?
What's gonna happen. I'm gonna come find you when you're ninety. Uh,
set the scene for me, Give me, paint the scene
(57:20):
for me. Okay. I could either be living in New
York and by myself in a great apartment, um going
to theater on the regular basis, having fantastic dinners at
the Grammerscha with wonderful friends. I'm surrounded by my children
and whoever they love and if they had children or not.
(57:43):
But I would love to be really in their lives
but also separate, giving them you know that I've raised
them really well, that they've had that they have, they're
just happy. So I think that's where I would be.
Either be because I like the idea of being surrounded
by keep lots of people when I'm in the nineties
(58:03):
and really healthy and strong. Oh I like that. I
like that. I see I see you on the edge
of Central part m Rachel. This was fun and I
so enjoyed it, and I don't know why it just
hit me now. I was looking forward to this, and
one of the reasons I'm looking forward to this is.
You know, sometimes you have an association with the name Well.
When I hear the name Rachel, I think of my
friend Rachel Donaldson uh in Santa Monica. And Rachel was
(58:28):
one of my first friends in college, and she remains
one of the best human beings I've ever met. And
so I realized that I have a very super positive association.
Anytime I hear it Rachel, I immediately assumed that they
are a spiritual cousin of Rachel Donaldson. So I knew
I was going to enjoy this. And and now I'm
(58:49):
gonna gonna call Rachel and tell her that there's another
good Rachel I met. So thank you for giving me.
She's in the cinema. My gosh, she's in Cinna Monica.
I'd love to meet her. You know what, I'm going
to range up because Rachel is a therapist in Sana Monica.
And is that's crazy and uh fun. One of the
(59:12):
best dancers you will ever meet. Rachel d was uh
Well was a was a very good dancer in her
day and just a good person. They don't make better people.
She she she is and was a good person. So
aren't you lucky to have her in your life. I am,
(59:33):
I Am. I was down in l A two weeks ago,
and even though I hadn't spoken to her in a
couple of years, she came over and said hello, and
I got to see her for two seconds, which was
really nice. Yeah, the greatest. And I bet she picked
up right It felt like you never we right right away,
right away, right away, right away. Yeah, that's good people. Yeah. Um,
(59:55):
Rachel Harris, I'm gonna smile at you and let you go.
But I'm so glad that you came and uh and
thank you. And I'm going to come on the set
when you and Cheryl'll have your show. I hope you'll
let me. I'm gonna come on your show. No, well,
you're you have a premonition and you're predicting it. Of
course I'm gonna ask you to be on the show.
I'm ready, We're going already, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm
(01:00:17):
ready to do it. All right, Okay, look at it,
talk to you. Have a good one. Thank you for
listening to this episode of The Carlos Watson Show Podcast.
(01:00:38):
If you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends to
find us on the I Heart podcast app or Apple podcast.
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