April 21, 2025 • 25 mins
Welcome to the Actor's Guide Podcast, Episode 25!
This is the Self-care Episode, also another change of pace episode. This is random unreleased goodies from previous episodes. Some things you’ll hear in this conversation - why this podcast is therapeutic for E-Kan and Rían, the power of writing things down, things we can’t stand, Artists’ Way and Morning pages, and why Rían hates hot baths. Also, E-Kan and Rían will discuss reality tv show guilty pleasures, and the blurred line between documentary and reality tv. And is reality tv underrated? Rían will talk about his early experience working for a tv station and if you stick around, you’ll hear about the time that Sinead O’Connor sneezed on him. We get wild on this one.
Time stamps:
(00:00) Intro
(01:42) Writing is Thinking
(02:45) Morning Pages
(05:15) Rían can't handle a hot bath
(09:05) The importance of getting into the right brain
(11:45) Reality TV vs Documentary
(14:15) Reality TV to unionize?
(17:45) Rían went to the Price is Right
(20:37) E-Kan went to see the Daily Show
(23:50) Rían meets Sinead O'Connor
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So you'd make a whole
(00:00):
event of having a bath.
You would have a bath.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Oh my God.
Are you kidding me?
This is like with a highlight that'll
literally take a long bath.
Have a nice caneral burning.
Oh, I go all out.
Me, I have the idea that
it's going to be great.
A minute and a half later.
I'm like, I'm so bored.
Hey everyone.
Welcome to the actor's guide to the end
of the world podcast where we talk
about acting in Hollywood in a way people
(00:21):
understand we release new episodes every
Monday.
I'm your co-host E-Kan Soong.
Uh, this will be another episode, a
little different than our usual.
I'm still traveling.
So this is never before released bits
from previous episodes.
Make sure you follow us
wherever you find your podcasts.
We're on YouTube and sub stack for video.
Follow us on all social
(00:41):
media at actors guide podcast.
In this episode, we talk about self care.
Some things we love some things we hate.
We also talk about the blurred lines
between documentary and reality TV shows,
memorable moments, watching live talk
show tapings and the time that
Sinead O'Connor sneezed on Ryan.
This is a good one.
Everyone.
Hope you enjoy it.
Leave a like or
(01:01):
comment if you're into it.
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(01:42):
To be honest, this is therapeutic.
Being able to talk about this.
Yeah.
You know, a lot of this podcast is
piecing together what we
care about from all the
noise.
Yeah.
And it's also talking about it in the way
that like, I'm not
coming at this from any
area of expertise.
You know what I mean?
I'm not here to tell
anybody anything really.
I'm not here to lecture.
So it's a good opportunity for me to
learn about stuff and to actually because
(02:03):
sometimes I don't know what I believe
until I start talking
about it and I start, you
know, listening to someone else and then
stuff comes out of my
mouth and I'm like, oh,
yeah, actually, OK,
that's what I believe.
So it helps me kind of sort of the noise
in my brain, you know, instead of just
scrolling for all the actors and writers
and creatives listening to that.
That is a perfect example of
(02:25):
that's what every writer says.
Writing is a perfect way to figure out
what you actually think.
Does someone do a version?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Go on.
Yeah.
Is it Paul Schrader, right?
Paul Schrader?
As a Paul Schrader, the Duplass brothers,
they talk out a script.
I but also even the just the, you know,
the artist's way, the
pages in the morning, I
(02:45):
do the morning pages.
That helps me.
I get a lot of insight from that because
just scribbling out basically for anybody
doesn't know the artist's way is a book
for people to just sort of access
creativity, whoever they are.
It doesn't have to be
in a creative industry.
But one of the things that she prescribes
is like get up and write three pages of
whatever's in your head
(03:05):
before you do anything else.
Just write it out and don't think about
it and don't try and
curate it or whatever.
Yeah.
And actually try to keep the pen on the
paper and keep going.
Don't edit yourself.
But it's amazing what
comes out of my head.
And it's amazing if I do it before I
meditate and if I do it after I meditate,
it's very different.
If I do it after meditate and after I
meditate, what comes
(03:25):
out is very different.
It's it's generally more well-formed than
it's rooted in that kind of feeling.
Whereas sometimes before it's chaos, like
it's just whatever scattered thoughts
were in my head.
And I haven't looked at
the exercise in a long time.
I also do morning pages.
You can kind of use it the way that you
want, but ultimately the way that I hear
(03:47):
disgust is it's the first
thing you do in the morning.
First of all, it forces you to not be on
your phone and not be forced for your to
do list and all that stuff.
But a lot of people do it
first thing in the morning.
The way that people describe it, it's
like it's like taking
the foam of a coffee cup
(04:07):
and just scraping it off.
It's almost like just scraping off.
And this is actually sounding gross.
I'm just trying to think.
It's actually.
It's actually it's
your brain is so fuzzy.
It's like, let me doodle.
Let me subconsciously write.
I specifically do it first thing in the
morning because it was like, this is no
(04:27):
editing.
This is me waking up.
This is me getting into my body and
getting into my brain and
what pops up and go from
there.
And I feel like for me, it's the only
time I'm not like get
up and go during the day
where I'm like, okay, this
is me not forcing anything.
This is me really relinquishing control
and just be like, okay,
(04:47):
let me just slowly wake up.
I'm also very fortunate to not be able to
have to like run to
work, you know, at, you
know, right when I
wake up in the morning.
But, you know, we're only
asking for five, 10 minutes.
So if you can dribble for three pages or
if you could do this
for three or five minutes
uninterrupted when you
first wake up in the morning.
(05:08):
So obviously if you find value of doing
it after meditation,
before meditation, you know,
after a hot bath, whatever.
You can always use this
tool, whatever you want.
But I hate hot baths.
Your Ireland skin, your
precious Ireland skin.
I can't.
I just can't hand.
I get so bored and so hot in a bath.
(05:28):
I just hate it.
Do you like a bath?
I love it.
Oh, 100%.
Dude, that's where I watch most of my TV.
In the bath.
I'm not sitting.
I'm not sitting anywhere for 30 plus
minutes long enough to actually watch TV.
That's where I force myself to watch
things I have to watch.
But anyway, you make a whole event.
But no, this is interesting.
I don't want to leave this.
I don't want to leave this.
(05:49):
Tell me.
You make a whole event of having a bath.
You would have a bath.
Oh, 100%.
Would you?
Oh my God.
Are you kidding me?
This is like with a highlight.
This is like my ultimate self care is I
literally take a long bath.
I take, um, I think the limit that I
shoot out is 40 minutes.
I think 40 minutes is
actually the proper time.
Uh, I put Epsom salts.
(06:10):
Um, you know, back at home, I would have
a nice candle burning.
Oh, I go all out.
That sounds very healthy.
A hundred percent.
For me, I have the idea
that it's going to be great.
Every, and I like, I'll only do it once
every like six months ago, you know what
I'm going to do, I'm going to have, or if
I get an injury, I'll do Epsom salts.
And, but just if I, if without, like
without at a time
when I'm not injured and
I'm like, you know what would be great?
(06:30):
A bath to be really relaxing and I'll
fill the bath and the water's hot and I
get in, it's too hot and I'm like, and I
ease myself in and I'm like, okay, okay.
And then I get used to it and I'm like,
oh, this isn't too bad.
And then I swear to God.
A minute and a half
later, I'm like, I'm so bored.
I'm too hot.
I'm so bored.
And I just get out again.
I just, I can't stay in the bath.
I'm so fidgety.
(06:50):
Bats are so aspirational for me.
It's like a nap.
I always think a nap
is going to be great.
I cannot nap to save my life.
I cannot do it.
I go, you know what?
I'm going to have a nap.
I'm knackered.
I'm so tired.
I'm going to lie down
the middle of the day.
And then, oh, the most I ever get is
eight to 10 minutes off.
I actually will, I think fall asleep for
(07:11):
about eight minutes.
And then my body does this
thing where like my jaw starts.
I could see that. I mean, technically,
eight to ten minutes is better than
nothing if you can nap at all.
(07:31):
But I could see that. I could see that.
About this whole bath thing.
Now, to be fair, I'm not focusing or
meditating during the bath.
I actually would play an episode of TV,
entirely meditated for 40 minutes.
So that's that's that is asking a lot.
I know a lot of people who do not feel
(07:51):
like you don't like the desert.
So you won't like a dry sauna.
I know a lot of people.
No, I do like a dry sauna.
That's literally being in a desert.
A dry sauna is a dry, hot, hot weather.
That's literally desert for 10 minutes.
Oh, you can't spend 10
minutes in the desert.
That's my. So I know some people who
can't do 10 minutes.
I know a lot of people who are
uncomfortable with really hot, really
(08:12):
cold, with, you know,
wet that a lot of them
don't like the steam room.
I get that.
But technically, I'm just doing it
because I'm rarely sitting
down one place for 40 minutes.
And so I never get a
chance to watch TV or movies.
So that's kind of like
the really real reason.
(08:32):
It's like, oh, let me
watch this episode of TV.
So if you watch a long movie, you're
you're just going to be so wrinkled.
You're just going to be
wrinkly at the end of it.
You're going to just
come out like a raisin.
Yeah, yeah. I don't watch movies.
I would actually just
watch a TV cold water.
Wrinkled, shriveled up
there, cold water watching.
And Leslie's a big advocate of this when
(08:54):
she talks about right
brain activities, right
brain versus left brain, right brain
being creative and left
brain being sort of executive
function and so she's a big proponent of
doing a right brain
activity like playing the guitar
or painting or doing something to get you
into your right brain
because that's where
(09:15):
all that creativity lives and that's
where all of that sort of
magic happens as an actor,
I find. And then one thing that I learned
from her which I
didn't know is that driving
is a right brain activity because there's
so much going on that
your left brain can't
process it all and your right brain takes
over and that's why I
love driving. Like I
(09:36):
love driving around LA. I get so much, it
gives me so much peace and relaxation and
clarity and I find that I'm so relaxed
driving that the chaos, I
love driving off freeways
as well because I don't really have to
think about stopping and
traffic and all that stuff.
You're just kind of driving even if it's
heavy traffic on the
freeway, you're just all going
on the same road in the same direction. I
(09:57):
find that the chaos on
the roads doesn't affect
me at all. Like I just, I let it kind of,
I don't, you know, it
doesn't spike adrenaline
in me. I don't usually get mad unless I'm
in a rush, unless I'm
late and then I'm stressed
out of my mind. But if I'm driving and I
have time, it's the most
creative place I can be.
I'll put on music that I like. I usually
put on relaxing music.
I'll do whatever like,
but I'm just in my head and I love that
(10:19):
feeling of peace. So
that's one of the most relaxing
things I can, that's my
bath. Driving is my bath.
That's a great point. It's like finding
little things that work
for you. I mean, here's the
thing where we're, we're, we're both big
on self care. And then
there you go. These are
two, two things. Obviously I love driving
around LA too. I
think that's also a really
good indication to think of if LA is
(10:39):
going to work for you.
If, if driving is a huge
sticking point, you always get road rage,
you hate being in the
car. Maybe LA is not
going to work for you, but it just so
happens that for a lot of
people who love LA, like,
like we do, we happen to like drive. I
completely agree. I, I, I'm
so relaxed driving. I could
drive, I could drive forever. And it just
like, it's, it's
very, it's very chill for
(11:00):
me. Yeah. It's interesting. When you said
there, we're big on self care.
And we also both don't have day jobs. We
both don't have day jobs
and have two hour commutes
in the morning. So there's
something to be said for that.
I'm not driving in Russia
to get to an office, but um,
(11:21):
It used to be...
I think you give yourself credit, yeah.
Give yourself credit.
You meditate.
You meditate.
That's really huge.
I don't meditate, yeah.
I used to be big on
self-destruction, so this is a nice...
It's a nice 180 that I've made in my life
where I spent a good few
years trying to destroy
myself and now I've
done it the other way.
(11:42):
We've both been big into
self-destruction for sure.
The lines have blurred
with what reality TV is.
We might not watch a lot of reality TV,
but hey, entertainment is
entertainment and apparently
the audience gets to
choose what they want to watch.
Now here's the thing.
There's a lot of YouTube.
There's a lot of V-logs that are
essentially real life V-logs.
(12:04):
Are you saying...
Do you mean vlogs?
Are you calling them V-logs?
Oh, I say...
Oh, I never say vlogs.
Do you?
Is that how people do that?
I think so.
So I don't know what the
proper words are, but...
Like vlog and vlog.
It's a difficult word to say.
I'll give you that.
It just sounds like you're saying like a
(12:24):
Russian vlog, the
impaler, Transylvanian type word,
but I didn't realize that that's what
people actually said.
Yeah, they say vlog.
But you're right though, V and L rarely
go together in English, in that order.
I think a lot of people think reality TV
on TV is so manufactured
now that they're actually
going to vlogs on YouTube.
(12:45):
And it's actually more of a pure
connection to authentic people.
So I think the lines are really blurred.
What were we saying?
So yeah, the cops...
Reality shows.
I mean, if people call cops a reality
show, I want to knock it, but that...
It brings up a great point.
Cops was cutting edge, riveting.
You're in the moment.
(13:06):
You're there.
It feels like you're there.
Next thing you know, we have
reality TV, which is low cost.
They're not paid like actors yet they're
providing entertainment for TV.
It does bring up a great point because
now that here we are
talking about unions, in
the past recent years, reality stars have
(13:29):
been trying to unionize.
That's interesting.
So just let that sink in.
That means, you know,
reality stars are paid a lot less.
People don't realize the grueling hours
that you're signing off all your privacy.
They're recording you 24 seven possibly.
And you have a little rights.
(13:51):
Sometimes you're mistreated
depending on what show it is.
And the studios and the networks are
making a lot of money.
Sound familiar?
I mean, this is kind of like what we're
dealing with where, hey, if
we're talking about protecting
performers and that might be something
that's coming down the
pipeline for networks who
(14:11):
are expecting to pop
out these shows for cheap.
So that's definitely a thing.
That's very interesting.
I didn't know they were trying to
unionize, but it makes sense.
I could see what they would.
And that would have ramifications for the
industry as a whole
because it would still,
I imagine, be cheaper to make a reality
show with union
(14:32):
performers than it would be to
make a scripted show.
But it would certainly, hopefully even it
up a little bit
because there's so much of
it now.
And even as we're talking, like, and I
say, I don't watch reality TV.
I don't.
I don't seek it out.
However, as we're talking about it there,
I'm remembering more
and more of the reality
(14:53):
shows that I used to watch with my ex and
there was some just nonsense in there.
I used to watch we watched a show called
rehab for a while, which was a show about
a club in Vegas.
It was a nightclub in
Vegas and it was the servers.
You'd follow the service and there was
always drama among the servers.
(15:13):
I watched Cake Boss, you know, and we
loved Cake Boss for a while.
Dance Moms, Total Shite.
Oh, Dance Moms, obviously.
A lot of people watch.
I mean, to be honest, I didn't watch
that, but a lot of people watch it.
Wait, first off, when you said rehab, I
thought you were talking celebrity rehab.
Oh, yeah. And I was like, wow.
OK, but rehab, I didn't know that was a
(15:34):
show, but I know of the
club and I believe it existed.
It was very short lived.
And I remember somebody like Lil John or
someone did the team or
he played at it one time.
He's like, what's happening, rehab?
It was ridiculous. It
was such a ridiculous show.
That's hilarious.
It did not last long, I don't think.
Discuss it over the course of the strike,
(15:55):
even reality TV production was was down.
So over the course, the board, even
during the strike and even the past year.
Now, obviously, we still hear of a lot of
shows succeeding and getting produced.
But in general, that
production is going down.
So that's just a testament to where the
strength of the industry is right now.
(16:16):
But they're not producing as much reality
TV compared to years before as well.
So everything's just
tightening up a teeny bit.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some people can argue that Anthony
Bourdain's No
Reservations was in a way his vlog,
his, you know, his travel doc series.
Now, here's the thing. A few
(16:36):
people adore Anthony Bourdain.
Rest in peace. More than I do.
I actually absolutely loved him.
He's a brilliant writer.
He's obviously a captivating host and
performer as well as well as
other things.
But you can argue that that's essentially
a version of reality TV.
So I'm not going to knock any of that.
(16:56):
You're right, because it
is an interesting point.
Like, like, what's the difference between
documentary and reality TV?
Or what's the difference between like a
competition show like Top Chef or Great
British Bake Off? Are they reality TV or
are they just competition?
Because it's really at the end of the
day, it's about the contestants.
They're the people like the bachelors.
It's not like, is it a
contest or is it reality TV?
I don't actually know what's class as
(17:18):
reality TV or what's doc.
When when does it become documentary?
You know, when is it a documentary?
Which has the name
documentary garners more respect.
It sounds like a legitimate
form of, you know, I don't know.
I don't know. It sounds more legitimate
anyway. But I agree.
Yeah, that is interesting.
So I wonder, just in terms of the union
conversation, who gets to unionized?
(17:39):
Contestants on shows
surely don't get to unionize.
Do you know what's funny?
Actually, I went to when I moved to L.A.
first, I went to a taping
of The Price Is Right at CBS when Drew
Carey was hosting it.
He may still be. I'm not sure.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think he does.
But it was the show was a
St. Patrick's Day episode.
(18:00):
And me and a few piles of mine, a few
Irish friends who were
who were over in L.A. went along to be in
the audience of this St.
Patrick's Day episode of the show.
None of us got picked.
We're the only Irish
people in the audience.
Everybody else is wearing green.
I didn't realize how
long it was going to take.
Like we were all kind of
getting antsy then because it is.
If anybody's been to a game show taping,
(18:23):
you'll know, like it takes a while.
It takes a long time to interview you on
the way in to see if you'll be a good
candidate, but you're obviously not a
good candidate, even though we're Irish.
And we went to leave after, I don't know
how many hours, you know,
because we were just kind of bored and
they tried to stop us from leaving.
And they're like, you can't leave.
(18:44):
And we're like, we're
talking about we can't leave.
Of course we can leave.
They're like, no, it'll be a
gap in the in the audience.
And we're like, yeah,
we're still leaving.
So we left.
But oh, my God.
Wait, wait, you
literally just felt like leaving.
You were just like, I'm tired.
We should just go.
Yeah, we just we didn't
know we weren't prepared.
I was like, you were like in our mid 20s.
(19:05):
You know what I mean?
I was like, I'm not judging you.
I applaud you the fact
that you you didn't care.
But real quick.
So were they looking for
authentic Irish people for the St.
Patty's episode or was it just
coincidence that you were like, hey,
let's go on the person to press right.
Yeah, just coincidence.
I think I don't know why I don't know who
(19:26):
organized it, but we all went along
and then we all left halfway through
because it was just a sport.
So they will tell you.
Oh, my God.
That's so good.
The time that we got
rejected from the press is right.
Did you ever go to you
ever go to sitcom tapings?
(19:46):
A couple of times.
Yeah. OK. Yeah.
I need to I need to try that.
I've actually never done that.
And I want to it's a
great education for actors.
Leslie obviously is a
very pro about actors
seeing live tapings to see what the work
really is and how grueling it is for
doing a sitcom, hopefully a good one.
(20:07):
You know what I mean?
It's yeah, it's tough.
It's tough.
Best job in show business, they say, on a
on a multi-com sitcom.
The work the work days are short, regular
schedule and the money is astronomical.
So yeah, yeah, a lot of
good, a lot of good money.
So I have done a couple
talk shows last winter.
I went to The Daily Show, which is great.
(20:28):
Oh, I love The Daily Show.
Who was hosting when you were there?
It was John Stewart. Perfect.
So John Stewart, my sister had a hookup
with someone in production
and it just so happened, she was like,
hey, do you want to go Monday or Tuesday?
And I didn't even realize that Mondays
was John Stewart's day.
And so we just got lucky because I was
like, oh, yeah, Monday sounds good.
(20:49):
I had a great time. It was so good.
But yeah, you know, you you you learn a
lot when you see those hosts,
you see the type of work that that goes
into their monologues, their jokes,
how prepared they are.
I mean, John Stewart
is absolutely crushed.
And then there's a lot of comedian live
tapings that people go to.
And you see jokes being
(21:11):
retold for their stand up special.
And it's kind of tough as an audience
member because you know that the main job
that they're trying to do is get a really
great Netflix or whatever comedy special.
But they might be redoing some jokes
while a theater is full of audience.
So it's really interesting
going to a live live taping.
Funny enough, one of the first jobs, not
(21:33):
jobs, it was work experience.
So when you're in fourth year in high
school here, secondary
school, as we call it,
your fourth year, you're about 16.
They call it transition year.
And in that year, it's not such the the
focus is not so academic.
But what you can do is you can you do
work experience for two weeks,
twice in the year, and you can apply to
places and see what they
take you on for work experience.
(21:54):
So the place that I did my work
experience was RT which is our national
television station here.
There's the two
channels, RT one and RT two.
So I was really interested in TV.
And so I got to do my
work experience there.
And I got to be around that there was a
(22:17):
huge, a very popular talk
show called The Late Late Show,
which is still around.
It's one of the longest running talk
shows in the world, I think.
And so I got to be around during the
rehearsals for that and see
how it was all set up and walk
around the studio.
And it was just it was
a phenomenal experience.
I loved it.
(22:37):
I loved being around it.
I love the buzz of it.
I was actually technically working in the
sports library, the video sport library.
But I got to just go down to the
soundstages and walk around the studios.
And I loved everything about it.
But I got to see actually I got to see
Sinead O'Connor rehearse.
And then I went up to her and I asked for
(22:59):
her autograph after.
And she had a cold.
And she's again up and she sneezed on me.
And I was like, oh, and
she's like, oh, I'm so sorry.
And I was like, no, that's OK.
I was so starstruck.
God rest her.
But she literally sneezed on you.
She literally sneezed on you.
Wow.
Yeah, it was such you know, you don't
realize how special that is
until you look back and go,
(23:20):
oh, cool.
I got to see Sinead O'Connor
just warming up and rehearsing.
And what a phenomenal and absolutely
phenomenal talent and a singer.
Yeah.
But yeah, so I so I do I
loved that environment.
I loved being around TV and had I not
been an actor, had I not
found acting or acting,
you know, sort of stumbled into acting, I
(23:43):
might have done something
in television in that way,
you know, but by the time it came to
picking a course where I
was already sort of into,
you know, if it came to doing a master's,
I was already into acting.
So that kind of just I
got swept along that tide.
But I mean, that makes sense.
Those those worlds
are not that far apart.
(24:03):
I mean, you were on a
real live working TV set.
So that's that's incredible.
That's a great experience,
especially at a young age.
Oh, it's phenomenal.
I got to meet people.
And yeah, yeah, that's huge.
That's awesome.
It was quite formative.
And actually, the funny thing was, I
after I finished, I knew
the way I knew how I could
get into the studios.
(24:24):
And so sometimes, like if I was walking
by, I'd hop over the
wall and just walk in and
have a little walk around and then leave.
I doubt you can do that
now, but at the time you could.
Wait, can you still visit that studio?
No, I don't think so.
Well, not that way, I would imagine, but
I used to just I would
hop over the wall there
and I would walk in.
I would just walk into the, you know,
walk around the back
and walk into the studio.
(24:46):
That's funny.
Security's probably
changed after after 15 years.
I would imagine.
I would imagine that
was more than 15 years.
I was like 16 years old.
Yeah, yeah, actually.
Yeah, you're like, no, no, sorry.
20, what is that?
26 years.
I didn't want to age you.
I was rounding down.
By 10 years, I appreciate that.
Well, that's our show everyone.
(25:07):
Hope you enjoyed it.
If you get a chance, please
leave a review on YouTube,
or on Substack, or on all social media at
Actors Guide Podcast.
See you next week.
So you'd make a whole
(00:00):
event of having a bath.
You would have a bath.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Oh my God.
Are you kidding me?
This is like with a highlight that'll
literally take a long bath.
Have a nice caneral burning.
Oh, I go all out.
Me, I have the idea that
it's going to be great.
A minute and a half later.
I'm like, I'm so bored.
Hey everyone.
Welcome to the actor's guide to the end
of the world podcast where we talk
about acting in Hollywood in a way people
(00:21):
understand we release new episodes every
Monday.
I'm your co-host E-Kan Soong.
Uh, this will be another episode, a
little different than our usual.
I'm still traveling.
So this is never before released bits
from previous episodes.
Make sure you follow us
wherever you find your podcasts.
We're on YouTube and sub stack for video.
Follow us on all social
(00:41):
media at actors guide podcast.
In this episode, we talk about self care.
Some things we love some things we hate.
We also talk about the blurred lines
between documentary and reality TV shows,
memorable moments, watching live talk
show tapings and the time that
Sinead O'Connor sneezed on Ryan.
This is a good one.
Everyone.
Hope you enjoy it.
Leave a like or
(01:01):
comment if you're into it.
And now a word from our sponsor.
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You're so fucking close.
(01:42):
To be honest, this is therapeutic.
Being able to talk about this.
Yeah.
You know, a lot of this podcast is
piecing together what we
care about from all the
noise.
Yeah.
And it's also talking about it in the way
that like, I'm not
coming at this from any
area of expertise.
You know what I mean?
I'm not here to tell
anybody anything really.
I'm not here to lecture.
So it's a good opportunity for me to
learn about stuff and to actually because
(02:03):
sometimes I don't know what I believe
until I start talking
about it and I start, you
know, listening to someone else and then
stuff comes out of my
mouth and I'm like, oh,
yeah, actually, OK,
that's what I believe.
So it helps me kind of sort of the noise
in my brain, you know, instead of just
scrolling for all the actors and writers
and creatives listening to that.
That is a perfect example of
(02:25):
that's what every writer says.
Writing is a perfect way to figure out
what you actually think.
Does someone do a version?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Go on.
Yeah.
Is it Paul Schrader, right?
Paul Schrader?
As a Paul Schrader, the Duplass brothers,
they talk out a script.
I but also even the just the, you know,
the artist's way, the
pages in the morning, I
(02:45):
do the morning pages.
That helps me.
I get a lot of insight from that because
just scribbling out basically for anybody
doesn't know the artist's way is a book
for people to just sort of access
creativity, whoever they are.
It doesn't have to be
in a creative industry.
But one of the things that she prescribes
is like get up and write three pages of
whatever's in your head
(03:05):
before you do anything else.
Just write it out and don't think about
it and don't try and
curate it or whatever.
Yeah.
And actually try to keep the pen on the
paper and keep going.
Don't edit yourself.
But it's amazing what
comes out of my head.
And it's amazing if I do it before I
meditate and if I do it after I meditate,
it's very different.
If I do it after meditate and after I
meditate, what comes
(03:25):
out is very different.
It's it's generally more well-formed than
it's rooted in that kind of feeling.
Whereas sometimes before it's chaos, like
it's just whatever scattered thoughts
were in my head.
And I haven't looked at
the exercise in a long time.
I also do morning pages.
You can kind of use it the way that you
want, but ultimately the way that I hear
(03:47):
disgust is it's the first
thing you do in the morning.
First of all, it forces you to not be on
your phone and not be forced for your to
do list and all that stuff.
But a lot of people do it
first thing in the morning.
The way that people describe it, it's
like it's like taking
the foam of a coffee cup
(04:07):
and just scraping it off.
It's almost like just scraping off.
And this is actually sounding gross.
I'm just trying to think.
It's actually.
It's actually it's
your brain is so fuzzy.
It's like, let me doodle.
Let me subconsciously write.
I specifically do it first thing in the
morning because it was like, this is no
(04:27):
editing.
This is me waking up.
This is me getting into my body and
getting into my brain and
what pops up and go from
there.
And I feel like for me, it's the only
time I'm not like get
up and go during the day
where I'm like, okay, this
is me not forcing anything.
This is me really relinquishing control
and just be like, okay,
(04:47):
let me just slowly wake up.
I'm also very fortunate to not be able to
have to like run to
work, you know, at, you
know, right when I
wake up in the morning.
But, you know, we're only
asking for five, 10 minutes.
So if you can dribble for three pages or
if you could do this
for three or five minutes
uninterrupted when you
first wake up in the morning.
(05:08):
So obviously if you find value of doing
it after meditation,
before meditation, you know,
after a hot bath, whatever.
You can always use this
tool, whatever you want.
But I hate hot baths.
Your Ireland skin, your
precious Ireland skin.
I can't.
I just can't hand.
I get so bored and so hot in a bath.
(05:28):
I just hate it.
Do you like a bath?
I love it.
Oh, 100%.
Dude, that's where I watch most of my TV.
In the bath.
I'm not sitting.
I'm not sitting anywhere for 30 plus
minutes long enough to actually watch TV.
That's where I force myself to watch
things I have to watch.
But anyway, you make a whole event.
But no, this is interesting.
I don't want to leave this.
I don't want to leave this.
(05:49):
Tell me.
You make a whole event of having a bath.
You would have a bath.
Oh, 100%.
Would you?
Oh my God.
Are you kidding me?
This is like with a highlight.
This is like my ultimate self care is I
literally take a long bath.
I take, um, I think the limit that I
shoot out is 40 minutes.
I think 40 minutes is
actually the proper time.
Uh, I put Epsom salts.
(06:10):
Um, you know, back at home, I would have
a nice candle burning.
Oh, I go all out.
That sounds very healthy.
A hundred percent.
For me, I have the idea
that it's going to be great.
Every, and I like, I'll only do it once
every like six months ago, you know what
I'm going to do, I'm going to have, or if
I get an injury, I'll do Epsom salts.
And, but just if I, if without, like
without at a time
when I'm not injured and
I'm like, you know what would be great?
(06:30):
A bath to be really relaxing and I'll
fill the bath and the water's hot and I
get in, it's too hot and I'm like, and I
ease myself in and I'm like, okay, okay.
And then I get used to it and I'm like,
oh, this isn't too bad.
And then I swear to God.
A minute and a half
later, I'm like, I'm so bored.
I'm too hot.
I'm so bored.
And I just get out again.
I just, I can't stay in the bath.
I'm so fidgety.
(06:50):
Bats are so aspirational for me.
It's like a nap.
I always think a nap
is going to be great.
I cannot nap to save my life.
I cannot do it.
I go, you know what?
I'm going to have a nap.
I'm knackered.
I'm so tired.
I'm going to lie down
the middle of the day.
And then, oh, the most I ever get is
eight to 10 minutes off.
I actually will, I think fall asleep for
(07:11):
about eight minutes.
And then my body does this
thing where like my jaw starts.
I could see that. I mean, technically,
eight to ten minutes is better than
nothing if you can nap at all.
(07:31):
But I could see that. I could see that.
About this whole bath thing.
Now, to be fair, I'm not focusing or
meditating during the bath.
I actually would play an episode of TV,
entirely meditated for 40 minutes.
So that's that's that is asking a lot.
I know a lot of people who do not feel
(07:51):
like you don't like the desert.
So you won't like a dry sauna.
I know a lot of people.
No, I do like a dry sauna.
That's literally being in a desert.
A dry sauna is a dry, hot, hot weather.
That's literally desert for 10 minutes.
Oh, you can't spend 10
minutes in the desert.
That's my. So I know some people who
can't do 10 minutes.
I know a lot of people who are
uncomfortable with really hot, really
(08:12):
cold, with, you know,
wet that a lot of them
don't like the steam room.
I get that.
But technically, I'm just doing it
because I'm rarely sitting
down one place for 40 minutes.
And so I never get a
chance to watch TV or movies.
So that's kind of like
the really real reason.
(08:32):
It's like, oh, let me
watch this episode of TV.
So if you watch a long movie, you're
you're just going to be so wrinkled.
You're just going to be
wrinkly at the end of it.
You're going to just
come out like a raisin.
Yeah, yeah. I don't watch movies.
I would actually just
watch a TV cold water.
Wrinkled, shriveled up
there, cold water watching.
And Leslie's a big advocate of this when
(08:54):
she talks about right
brain activities, right
brain versus left brain, right brain
being creative and left
brain being sort of executive
function and so she's a big proponent of
doing a right brain
activity like playing the guitar
or painting or doing something to get you
into your right brain
because that's where
(09:15):
all that creativity lives and that's
where all of that sort of
magic happens as an actor,
I find. And then one thing that I learned
from her which I
didn't know is that driving
is a right brain activity because there's
so much going on that
your left brain can't
process it all and your right brain takes
over and that's why I
love driving. Like I
(09:36):
love driving around LA. I get so much, it
gives me so much peace and relaxation and
clarity and I find that I'm so relaxed
driving that the chaos, I
love driving off freeways
as well because I don't really have to
think about stopping and
traffic and all that stuff.
You're just kind of driving even if it's
heavy traffic on the
freeway, you're just all going
on the same road in the same direction. I
(09:57):
find that the chaos on
the roads doesn't affect
me at all. Like I just, I let it kind of,
I don't, you know, it
doesn't spike adrenaline
in me. I don't usually get mad unless I'm
in a rush, unless I'm
late and then I'm stressed
out of my mind. But if I'm driving and I
have time, it's the most
creative place I can be.
I'll put on music that I like. I usually
put on relaxing music.
I'll do whatever like,
but I'm just in my head and I love that
(10:19):
feeling of peace. So
that's one of the most relaxing
things I can, that's my
bath. Driving is my bath.
That's a great point. It's like finding
little things that work
for you. I mean, here's the
thing where we're, we're, we're both big
on self care. And then
there you go. These are
two, two things. Obviously I love driving
around LA too. I
think that's also a really
good indication to think of if LA is
(10:39):
going to work for you.
If, if driving is a huge
sticking point, you always get road rage,
you hate being in the
car. Maybe LA is not
going to work for you, but it just so
happens that for a lot of
people who love LA, like,
like we do, we happen to like drive. I
completely agree. I, I, I'm
so relaxed driving. I could
drive, I could drive forever. And it just
like, it's, it's
very, it's very chill for
(11:00):
me. Yeah. It's interesting. When you said
there, we're big on self care.
And we also both don't have day jobs. We
both don't have day jobs
and have two hour commutes
in the morning. So there's
something to be said for that.
I'm not driving in Russia
to get to an office, but um,
(11:21):
It used to be...
I think you give yourself credit, yeah.
Give yourself credit.
You meditate.
You meditate.
That's really huge.
I don't meditate, yeah.
I used to be big on
self-destruction, so this is a nice...
It's a nice 180 that I've made in my life
where I spent a good few
years trying to destroy
myself and now I've
done it the other way.
(11:42):
We've both been big into
self-destruction for sure.
The lines have blurred
with what reality TV is.
We might not watch a lot of reality TV,
but hey, entertainment is
entertainment and apparently
the audience gets to
choose what they want to watch.
Now here's the thing.
There's a lot of YouTube.
There's a lot of V-logs that are
essentially real life V-logs.
(12:04):
Are you saying...
Do you mean vlogs?
Are you calling them V-logs?
Oh, I say...
Oh, I never say vlogs.
Do you?
Is that how people do that?
I think so.
So I don't know what the
proper words are, but...
Like vlog and vlog.
It's a difficult word to say.
I'll give you that.
It just sounds like you're saying like a
(12:24):
Russian vlog, the
impaler, Transylvanian type word,
but I didn't realize that that's what
people actually said.
Yeah, they say vlog.
But you're right though, V and L rarely
go together in English, in that order.
I think a lot of people think reality TV
on TV is so manufactured
now that they're actually
going to vlogs on YouTube.
(12:45):
And it's actually more of a pure
connection to authentic people.
So I think the lines are really blurred.
What were we saying?
So yeah, the cops...
Reality shows.
I mean, if people call cops a reality
show, I want to knock it, but that...
It brings up a great point.
Cops was cutting edge, riveting.
You're in the moment.
(13:06):
You're there.
It feels like you're there.
Next thing you know, we have
reality TV, which is low cost.
They're not paid like actors yet they're
providing entertainment for TV.
It does bring up a great point because
now that here we are
talking about unions, in
the past recent years, reality stars have
(13:29):
been trying to unionize.
That's interesting.
So just let that sink in.
That means, you know,
reality stars are paid a lot less.
People don't realize the grueling hours
that you're signing off all your privacy.
They're recording you 24 seven possibly.
And you have a little rights.
(13:51):
Sometimes you're mistreated
depending on what show it is.
And the studios and the networks are
making a lot of money.
Sound familiar?
I mean, this is kind of like what we're
dealing with where, hey, if
we're talking about protecting
performers and that might be something
that's coming down the
pipeline for networks who
(14:11):
are expecting to pop
out these shows for cheap.
So that's definitely a thing.
That's very interesting.
I didn't know they were trying to
unionize, but it makes sense.
I could see what they would.
And that would have ramifications for the
industry as a whole
because it would still,
I imagine, be cheaper to make a reality
show with union
(14:32):
performers than it would be to
make a scripted show.
But it would certainly, hopefully even it
up a little bit
because there's so much of
it now.
And even as we're talking, like, and I
say, I don't watch reality TV.
I don't.
I don't seek it out.
However, as we're talking about it there,
I'm remembering more
and more of the reality
(14:53):
shows that I used to watch with my ex and
there was some just nonsense in there.
I used to watch we watched a show called
rehab for a while, which was a show about
a club in Vegas.
It was a nightclub in
Vegas and it was the servers.
You'd follow the service and there was
always drama among the servers.
(15:13):
I watched Cake Boss, you know, and we
loved Cake Boss for a while.
Dance Moms, Total Shite.
Oh, Dance Moms, obviously.
A lot of people watch.
I mean, to be honest, I didn't watch
that, but a lot of people watch it.
Wait, first off, when you said rehab, I
thought you were talking celebrity rehab.
Oh, yeah. And I was like, wow.
OK, but rehab, I didn't know that was a
(15:34):
show, but I know of the
club and I believe it existed.
It was very short lived.
And I remember somebody like Lil John or
someone did the team or
he played at it one time.
He's like, what's happening, rehab?
It was ridiculous. It
was such a ridiculous show.
That's hilarious.
It did not last long, I don't think.
Discuss it over the course of the strike,
(15:55):
even reality TV production was was down.
So over the course, the board, even
during the strike and even the past year.
Now, obviously, we still hear of a lot of
shows succeeding and getting produced.
But in general, that
production is going down.
So that's just a testament to where the
strength of the industry is right now.
(16:16):
But they're not producing as much reality
TV compared to years before as well.
So everything's just
tightening up a teeny bit.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some people can argue that Anthony
Bourdain's No
Reservations was in a way his vlog,
his, you know, his travel doc series.
Now, here's the thing. A few
(16:36):
people adore Anthony Bourdain.
Rest in peace. More than I do.
I actually absolutely loved him.
He's a brilliant writer.
He's obviously a captivating host and
performer as well as well as
other things.
But you can argue that that's essentially
a version of reality TV.
So I'm not going to knock any of that.
(16:56):
You're right, because it
is an interesting point.
Like, like, what's the difference between
documentary and reality TV?
Or what's the difference between like a
competition show like Top Chef or Great
British Bake Off? Are they reality TV or
are they just competition?
Because it's really at the end of the
day, it's about the contestants.
They're the people like the bachelors.
It's not like, is it a
contest or is it reality TV?
I don't actually know what's class as
(17:18):
reality TV or what's doc.
When when does it become documentary?
You know, when is it a documentary?
Which has the name
documentary garners more respect.
It sounds like a legitimate
form of, you know, I don't know.
I don't know. It sounds more legitimate
anyway. But I agree.
Yeah, that is interesting.
So I wonder, just in terms of the union
conversation, who gets to unionized?
(17:39):
Contestants on shows
surely don't get to unionize.
Do you know what's funny?
Actually, I went to when I moved to L.A.
first, I went to a taping
of The Price Is Right at CBS when Drew
Carey was hosting it.
He may still be. I'm not sure.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think he does.
But it was the show was a
St. Patrick's Day episode.
(18:00):
And me and a few piles of mine, a few
Irish friends who were
who were over in L.A. went along to be in
the audience of this St.
Patrick's Day episode of the show.
None of us got picked.
We're the only Irish
people in the audience.
Everybody else is wearing green.
I didn't realize how
long it was going to take.
Like we were all kind of
getting antsy then because it is.
If anybody's been to a game show taping,
(18:23):
you'll know, like it takes a while.
It takes a long time to interview you on
the way in to see if you'll be a good
candidate, but you're obviously not a
good candidate, even though we're Irish.
And we went to leave after, I don't know
how many hours, you know,
because we were just kind of bored and
they tried to stop us from leaving.
And they're like, you can't leave.
(18:44):
And we're like, we're
talking about we can't leave.
Of course we can leave.
They're like, no, it'll be a
gap in the in the audience.
And we're like, yeah,
we're still leaving.
So we left.
But oh, my God.
Wait, wait, you
literally just felt like leaving.
You were just like, I'm tired.
We should just go.
Yeah, we just we didn't
know we weren't prepared.
I was like, you were like in our mid 20s.
(19:05):
You know what I mean?
I was like, I'm not judging you.
I applaud you the fact
that you you didn't care.
But real quick.
So were they looking for
authentic Irish people for the St.
Patty's episode or was it just
coincidence that you were like, hey,
let's go on the person to press right.
Yeah, just coincidence.
I think I don't know why I don't know who
(19:26):
organized it, but we all went along
and then we all left halfway through
because it was just a sport.
So they will tell you.
Oh, my God.
That's so good.
The time that we got
rejected from the press is right.
Did you ever go to you
ever go to sitcom tapings?
(19:46):
A couple of times.
Yeah. OK. Yeah.
I need to I need to try that.
I've actually never done that.
And I want to it's a
great education for actors.
Leslie obviously is a
very pro about actors
seeing live tapings to see what the work
really is and how grueling it is for
doing a sitcom, hopefully a good one.
(20:07):
You know what I mean?
It's yeah, it's tough.
It's tough.
Best job in show business, they say, on a
on a multi-com sitcom.
The work the work days are short, regular
schedule and the money is astronomical.
So yeah, yeah, a lot of
good, a lot of good money.
So I have done a couple
talk shows last winter.
I went to The Daily Show, which is great.
(20:28):
Oh, I love The Daily Show.
Who was hosting when you were there?
It was John Stewart. Perfect.
So John Stewart, my sister had a hookup
with someone in production
and it just so happened, she was like,
hey, do you want to go Monday or Tuesday?
And I didn't even realize that Mondays
was John Stewart's day.
And so we just got lucky because I was
like, oh, yeah, Monday sounds good.
(20:49):
I had a great time. It was so good.
But yeah, you know, you you you learn a
lot when you see those hosts,
you see the type of work that that goes
into their monologues, their jokes,
how prepared they are.
I mean, John Stewart
is absolutely crushed.
And then there's a lot of comedian live
tapings that people go to.
And you see jokes being
(21:11):
retold for their stand up special.
And it's kind of tough as an audience
member because you know that the main job
that they're trying to do is get a really
great Netflix or whatever comedy special.
But they might be redoing some jokes
while a theater is full of audience.
So it's really interesting
going to a live live taping.
Funny enough, one of the first jobs, not
(21:33):
jobs, it was work experience.
So when you're in fourth year in high
school here, secondary
school, as we call it,
your fourth year, you're about 16.
They call it transition year.
And in that year, it's not such the the
focus is not so academic.
But what you can do is you can you do
work experience for two weeks,
twice in the year, and you can apply to
places and see what they
take you on for work experience.
(21:54):
So the place that I did my work
experience was RT which is our national
television station here.
There's the two
channels, RT one and RT two.
So I was really interested in TV.
And so I got to do my
work experience there.
And I got to be around that there was a
(22:17):
huge, a very popular talk
show called The Late Late Show,
which is still around.
It's one of the longest running talk
shows in the world, I think.
And so I got to be around during the
rehearsals for that and see
how it was all set up and walk
around the studio.
And it was just it was
a phenomenal experience.
I loved it.
(22:37):
I loved being around it.
I love the buzz of it.
I was actually technically working in the
sports library, the video sport library.
But I got to just go down to the
soundstages and walk around the studios.
And I loved everything about it.
But I got to see actually I got to see
Sinead O'Connor rehearse.
And then I went up to her and I asked for
(22:59):
her autograph after.
And she had a cold.
And she's again up and she sneezed on me.
And I was like, oh, and
she's like, oh, I'm so sorry.
And I was like, no, that's OK.
I was so starstruck.
God rest her.
But she literally sneezed on you.
She literally sneezed on you.
Wow.
Yeah, it was such you know, you don't
realize how special that is
until you look back and go,
(23:20):
oh, cool.
I got to see Sinead O'Connor
just warming up and rehearsing.
And what a phenomenal and absolutely
phenomenal talent and a singer.
Yeah.
But yeah, so I so I do I
loved that environment.
I loved being around TV and had I not
been an actor, had I not
found acting or acting,
you know, sort of stumbled into acting, I
(23:43):
might have done something
in television in that way,
you know, but by the time it came to
picking a course where I
was already sort of into,
you know, if it came to doing a master's,
I was already into acting.
So that kind of just I
got swept along that tide.
But I mean, that makes sense.
Those those worlds
are not that far apart.
(24:03):
I mean, you were on a
real live working TV set.
So that's that's incredible.
That's a great experience,
especially at a young age.
Oh, it's phenomenal.
I got to meet people.
And yeah, yeah, that's huge.
That's awesome.
It was quite formative.
And actually, the funny thing was, I
after I finished, I knew
the way I knew how I could
get into the studios.
(24:24):
And so sometimes, like if I was walking
by, I'd hop over the
wall and just walk in and
have a little walk around and then leave.
I doubt you can do that
now, but at the time you could.
Wait, can you still visit that studio?
No, I don't think so.
Well, not that way, I would imagine, but
I used to just I would
hop over the wall there
and I would walk in.
I would just walk into the, you know,
walk around the back
and walk into the studio.
(24:46):
That's funny.
Security's probably
changed after after 15 years.
I would imagine.
I would imagine that
was more than 15 years.
I was like 16 years old.
Yeah, yeah, actually.
Yeah, you're like, no, no, sorry.
20, what is that?
26 years.
I didn't want to age you.
I was rounding down.
By 10 years, I appreciate that.
Well, that's our show everyone.
(25:07):
Hope you enjoyed it.
If you get a chance, please
leave a review on YouTube,
or on Substack, or on all social media at
Actors Guide Podcast.
See you next week.
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