November 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Welcome to the Actor's Guide to the End of the World Podcast where we talk about acting and Hollywood in a way people understand. Today is good one, guaranteed to lift your spirits or all your money back.
Ireland recently announced that the will offer a Basic Income for artists, previously a pilot program for three years, but now PERMANENT moving forward into 2026. MIND BLOWN. E-Kan's ready to move there, who's with him? The guys discuss what this means for other countries and how big this really is.
E-Kan also has a recent revelation watching theater in NYC, including Hamilton TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW, which he might call life-changing. They break down what they think the differences between acting for Film/TV vs on the stage and some differing opinions.
Rían will recap how uber-successful TV director David Nutter's (Game of Thrones, Sopranos, The West Wing) showcase went. David Nutter recently made a very special visit to Lesly Kahn Studios to speak to the actors this month and brought a group of Norwegian actors to Los Angeles for a live showcase.
The guys also talk about the kind of perseverance they have gained in their years in LA which prompts a Chinese proverb from E-Kan...
Stick around to the end, every episode the guys share hidden gems - recommendations we’ve picked up on the way to say thanks for listening. E-Kan's Gem is courtesy of a little tip from Lesly Kahn, and is something all actors should be adding to their routine, more important now than ever.
Follow @actorsguidepodcast wherever you find your podcasts, including video on YouTube and Substack.
@ekansoong @riansheehykelly
Leave us a review and rating if you enjoy it!
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ireland-basic-income-artists-program-permanent-1234756981/
Hidden Gems:
Hamilton Cheap Tickets (Standing Room Only)
Actor Wellness Tip
https://www.amazon.com/Australian-Bush-Flower-Essences-Clearing/dp/B00757UBVY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ACSWS96AJ4YL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TRBWbWEZBSMdtGPPMrTCGEHfB4o-ajfw7MmuiyMQrXO2gmV2AGSXzrpCAQ-Oyt1PUtV0JBciNJqQ1og8mDxpAgKpa8jrIuPtjz6RwD_3Tx67MxR5TxJR721A8cVVFNbijvj7JC3HoYPQxw8N7QbGlf8LqRE4t_rBvyNqSsGW3GGxg37rW9dZNjEBSWXXKOiLZ1nzAi5xzucTtMkt1jW30Q.cdotDyWBiuHMEitW_CDRUTS7LkeKv4KGrqracOgYmz0&dib_tag=se&keywords=australian+bush+flower+essence+clearing&qid=1762286448&sprefix=australian+bush+flower+essenceclearing%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-1
Time stamps:
(0:00) Intro
(2:35) David Nutter brought Norwegians to LA
(7:42) Is the Golden Age of LA over?
(14:20) The greatest Chinese proverb ever
(20:30) E-Kan falls in love with theater
(23:20) E-Kan watches Hamilton TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW
(25:20) Do actors have more power on the stage than in TV/Film?
(33:20) Ireland offers Basic Income to Artists permanently?
(44:35) Hidden Gems
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I see Hamilton twice,
and I see the second night
some understudies in the second night
that didn't do the first night.
And you see the jokes
that the main person got
and would squeeze the
juice out of all these moments.
And you're like, well, I
see why he's the main star.
The understudy's great, but
(00:20):
you see why he's the main star.
So all these things
were going off in my head.
And then I see the Hamilton first cast,
and I see their performance.
So I'm like, oh, this is so different.
And I understand why
the first cast were--
they all became stars.
I'm having all these
thoughts go off in my head.
You just open up a huge box, man.
This is actually sort of like breaking--
(00:41):
this is sort of an exclusive.
This is actually like an actor's card
to the end of the world
podcast breaking news that--
This is breaking news.
Theaters actually good, guys.
I don't know if anybody--
like, theater's decent.
All right, welcome to the actor's guide
to the end of the world podcast where
we talk about acting in Hollywood
and the way people understand.
I'm E-Kan Soong
And I am Rían Sheehy Kelly
(01:01):
Follow us wherever you find your podcasts
at Actors Guide Podcast.
We have video on YouTube on sub-stack.
If you enjoy it, please leave a review.
It really helps the podcast.
Follow us on all
social media for fun clips
during the week at Actors Guide Podcast.
All right, everyone.
So on the show for today, I am claiming
that this is our warm
(01:22):
and fuzzy episode.
It's going to give you good
vibes or all your money back.
Recent announcement,
Ireland has made a monthly stipend
for artists permanent.
A program called the
Basic Income for the Arts,
which was a pilot
scheme which pays artists
a monthly stipend.
I am so blown away by it.
Ireland, everyone.
(01:42):
They do something right.
We talk about Ikan's
newfound love for the theater.
Yeah, I am a theater buff, everyone.
Breaking news.
Yeah, and then me and Ikan get into a
warm and fuzzy argument.
So stick around for that.
Yeah, this is a good one, everyone.
And our sponsor for today's show,
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So I'm in a great mood.
(02:23):
This episode is going to
make you warm and fuzzy inside.
I have a great feeling about it.
I guarantee it.
You guarantee it.
Yeah, I know it's bold.
So let's start off with--
so did you see the
performances with the Norwegians
with David Nutter?
I did.
We talked a little bit
about this last week,
(02:43):
but David Nutter did
a talk at Leslie Khan.
And then he also invited
everyone to this showcase.
I believe it was over the weekend, right?
A couple of nights.
Throughout the entire weekend.
And so you got an extra bonus.
I mean, I'm so jealous
because that would have been
an incredible experience to see.
David Nutter is a
prolific, widely experienced,
(03:05):
and brilliant TV director.
Throw out a name, but
he's directed The X-Files.
He directed an episode of The Sopranos,
a lot of Game of Thrones.
He's just a-- he's a brilliant director.
So he gave a talk at Leslie Khan Studios,
where we take classes.
What they do there is Leslie
brings in people once a month
to chat to the students.
(03:27):
It's free.
Just with this really--
it's a really great
opportunity to talk to and listen to--
to ask questions and listen to
heavy-hitting industry
professionals.
Yeah, this guy is a stud.
And Leslie herself was
saying how lucky she was,
the fact that he could
show up at any studio
and to collaborate
with her is a real honor.
(03:48):
Yeah.
And like I mentioned last week, he
was so really generous with his time.
But his approach to directing was
what became the focus
of the conversation.
And it was a really--
he's a really beautiful
way of looking at directing.
And he said that he always knew how
to make people care about things.
While he didn't-- when he started out,
he didn't always have
the technical knowledge,
(04:09):
but he knew how to make
people care about things.
And what speaks to him
about a script or a new project
is how it makes him feel.
There has to be heart
in it, which I thought
was really cool.
So what he does--
he works with a group
of actors in Norway,
in Oslo in Norway, a
group of Norwegian actors.
(04:29):
And I think they do
Zoom classes with him.
And then they come
over, I think, twice a year.
They bring them over,
and they do a showcase
for industry professionals and casting
directors and producers
and stuff.
So they--
Bring them over to America.
Bring them over to America.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
And I think they meet a bunch of people.
I think it's like a week or two weeks,
(04:49):
and they meet a lot of people.
They rehearse scenes,
and they put them up.
And David Nutter has a
theater space in his home,
which is cool.
So they did--
to be fair, they picked
some iconic scenes from movies
and some plays and--
Oh, yeah.
And then were they doing the Irish plays?
(05:12):
They did.
So they did.
They did a scene from
Banshees of In Eshirne,
which is with Perna
Gleeson and Colin Farrell.
They did that scene, which is a great
scene from that movie.
But yeah, so they did some Irish scenes,
which was really interesting.
So these actors are acting in their--
not in their first language, and they're
doing these iconic scenes.
(05:33):
I mean, they did a
scene from Girl Interrupted.
They did a scene from
Marriage Story, that iconic scene
of the fight between--
Oh, my god, the one
where he punches the wall?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a tough scene.
That's a tough scene.
So look, that's a--
it's a challenge in and of itself,
because you're dealing with
(05:53):
material that people know well,
and you're doing it in a
language that's not your own.
You're doing it in an
accent that's not your own.
But they did a really
great job, and everybody
brought something to it.
And it was like a
really entertaining showcase.
It never felt-- it didn't drag at all.
It was just scene
after scene after scene.
And everybody got a good showing.
And it was just a really cool--
(06:14):
it just reminded me
how fun this stuff is,
because we get to go
and see things like this
and just be a part of it.
And it's just--
it was a great reminder of
why I enjoy this kind of stuff
as well.
I'm like, oh, this is great.
I get to go watch these cool scenes
and see how somebody does them and see
a different sort of take on them.
(06:35):
But it was great.
And David Nutter is
obviously a great director.
And it's intoxicating, I
think, to be brought over to LA
and to--
When you live in a different
country and you don't know,
and maybe it's a lot of
people's first time to come here,
and you don't know anything about it,
and suddenly you're
meeting all these people.
And it can also feel like,
oh my god, this is my chance.
I have to make the most of this, because
(06:56):
this is my big break.
So there's a lot of
pressure in the mix there.
But they did a really great job, and it
was a really cool thing.
And I love that Leslie
brings in these people.
And we get to meet people that we
wouldn't necessarily
get to meet ordinarily in the run,
unless you worked with them.
You know what I mean?
It's just a great
opportunity to chat to people.
(07:17):
To see other people visit
and look at it with fresh eyes,
I think that's kind of
like the magic that--
part of the reason why we even moved to
LA in the first place,
let alone people who
aren't even Americans.
So I think that's a great--
it's like a few reasons
why shows like Entourage
were so popular.
It captures that appeal.
You know what I mean?
(07:38):
Absolutely.
I'd like to see it.
Maybe you can tell me
your experience with this,
because I moved to LA
in 2007 and left in 2008
and went home, and then ended up in
Chicago for 10 years.
And we were talking
about this in class today.
I feel like I missed the
sort of golden era of LA,
(07:58):
because there were some
people who were talking about it
in class, who were talking about the sort
of how the year would
go pilot season.
You'd be doing this, and then everybody
would take the month off.
And then they'd
recast a lot of the pilots.
So it was almost like a
second pilot season in June.
You know, everybody would
take May off, and then in June,
they would come back,
and then they'd be--
so they were talking
about sort of the golden era,
sort of 2013, 2014, 2015,
(08:22):
when there was so much content,
when streaming had
started to really come on.
Now, I missed all that,
because I left in 2008,
and I didn't come back till 2018.
And by the time I found my feet here,
I was a year in, and
then it was pandemic time.
What was that time like for you?
Was that your experience
of it going in for pilots,
and you know, a really busy--
(08:43):
It was like that.
Those cycles, as far as it was always
busy during pilot season, and then it
dies off during summer,
that changed with around 2015, 2016.
So it was more spread out
through the entire year.
So I don't know if that was our memory
just playing with us,
that this is exactly what it felt like.
(09:03):
In all honesty, I don't
know if my opportunities were
really that much more
than, say, 2018, 2019.
And also, to be fair, it's like I'm also
a much more experienced actor.
I wasn't in class for as long.
I didn't know the industry as long.
So for me to be completely
(09:24):
rooted with more connections
and credits, I'm
probably not a good indication
to really measure how strong LA was.
I think that touches on a lot of the
different experiences
and different--
(09:46):
when I say age, I'm not
talking about literal age.
I'm talking about your acting age.
Actually, this would be
a great little anecdote.
This is advice that I believe Godfrey--
Godfrey is a popular comic.
I believe this is one
of the first advice that
was given to him by Jerry Seinfeld.
And he basically said, Jerry Seinfeld
(10:06):
is the amount of time
that you've been a comedian,
the amount of time that you've been a
standup, that's your age.
That's it.
It has nothing to do
with your little age.
So if you've been a
standup comic for two years,
you're two years.
You're two years old.
It's a simple fact.
If you've been doing
standup for 10 years,
you're 10 years old.
That's what experience
(10:28):
actually really matters,
meaning that if I'm a
middle-aged man who just
found into acting, his
acting age is two years old.
It doesn't matter, because that's
how much experience you have.
So for me, it took me a
while to get into class.
It took me a while to get into Leslie
Khan and real acting
classes.
And needless to say, I was probably
(10:50):
having a lot of fun during those years.
And it took me a while to
take acting very seriously.
I think the idea that the
golden age of LA was back then,
I think that actually
might be problematic.
When I say problematic, what I mean
is limiting, because I
know a lot of people who
(11:10):
miss the old days, and
that's the reason why
they hate self-tapes, that
they believe that they're not
as good as they are in the room.
And then so looking
back is kind of tricky,
because if you had a great career,
I know a lot of people who are older--
oh, guess what?
They probably are Caucasian.
A lot of people were crushing back then,
(11:33):
and they absolutely
would love the good old days
before more diversity,
before streaming, et cetera, et
cetera.
So there's a lot of
different things going on with that.
But that's part of the issue where
I worry about the middle-class actor,
because those people who did really,
really well, hopefully
(11:54):
they were good with their
money and they saved for times
like this, when it's a
really unsteady environment now,
yeah, it's anyone's guess.
I agree.
I agree.
And I will say there's a
certain amount of resilience
that I think comes with not
having had that experience,
because it's not like you miss it.
And even during the
(12:14):
strikes, are people like, oh,
being out of work for a while.
I think that hits actors
who fall into that category
a bit harder, because
whereas I was always
used to surviving no matter
what, whether it was a side
job or--
and also without not
having a family to support.
So I think things like that and the way
the industry has changed
have probably hit people
(12:35):
like that a bit harder,
because they were more dependent on it,
whereas a lot of actors were just used to
supporting themselves
another way and taking jobs there.
So I feel like I'm
well-equipped to handle down times,
because it doesn't really bother me.
I'm going to survive.
You know what I mean?
(12:56):
That's so spot on.
This is the experience
that I'm talking about,
because coming out of the strikes
and the aftermath
after that, it was probably
survived to 2025.
It's literally we were
saying that all of 2024.
I was talking to new actors
who literally moved to LA,
got hit by the strikes.
And this is a weird flex, but I basically
(13:17):
said this feels like Tuesday.
As horrible, as rough as the three years
has been in LA, I kind
of was like, yeah, we've
seen this before, and
it feels like Tuesday,
because in my personal experience,
it's always been, like you said, a
survival, resilient time.
Be good with your money.
Save.
Keep working.
(13:37):
And if you didn't have the experience,
or if you're a newer actor, you wouldn't
know until you actually
survive it.
So even with the
pessimism about the industry now,
I don't feel that.
You know what I mean?
I do understand.
I understand the current situation.
I understand it's not
great for a lot of people.
And I do have real empathy for that,
and for people who
(13:58):
are struggling with it.
But I don't go around
going, oh, we're all fucked,
because I just don't feel like that.
You know what I mean?
I don't feel--
I'm pretty-- I don't know.
I'm generally pretty
optimistic and positive anyway,
but I find it doesn't serve me to be
like, oh, we're all fucked,
because I can't walk around like that.
It's one thing to have
these extreme labels.
(14:20):
It's also reinforcing a story
that we're telling ourselves.
We can make a choice
and be aware that, hey,
is this story helping us?
You know, this is a perfect example.
I forgot this is supposed to
be the warm and fuzzy episode.
So don't worry.
We're getting there.
But last week, we talked
about some real dark things.
And for me, it's information.
(14:40):
It's knowledge.
But I don't get wrapped up in the story
saying the world is doomed.
I look towards action that
we can move forward, progress,
and get through it.
So this is the perfect time for the
legendary Chinese proverb.
I told my parents this.
You might have heard this story before.
(15:01):
There's this farmer.
All of his horses one day ran off.
And his neighbors came over to him and
said, this is so horrible.
I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
What are you going to do?
This is such bad luck.
The farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, the horses that left brought
(15:24):
back other horses back
to the farm.
So he had more horses than ever before.
The neighbor said, oh my
god, this is incredible luck.
You're so fortunate.
This is great.
Farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, his son is training the horses,
falls down, breaks his leg.
(15:44):
The neighbors come over to him and say,
this is so horrible.
Your son is injured.
What are you going to do?
This is terrible.
Farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, the military comes into town,
and they're looking to enlist.
They can't enlist his
son because he's injured.
(16:05):
The neighbors go, oh
my god, you're so lucky.
Your son didn't have
to join the military.
The farmer goes, we'll see.
Anyway, that's my Chinese proverb.
I've heard it slightly.
Yeah, I've heard it a
similar type of story.
Please tell me, did you
hear the Irish version?
No, it wasn't Irish.
(16:25):
It was, I think it was Buddhist or
something, but it was
like maybe the farmer.
But I also thought of like, I just
imagine the neighbors
coming home and going,
I was just over at the
farmer next door's house.
Yeah.
Does he say we'll see
to everything you say?
Is that a bit weird?
I can't pin him down on anything.
(16:46):
Yeah, I'm not going over there again.
Yeah, meanwhile, that
guy lost all his friends.
Yeah, that's a great point.
Anyway, so I think that's...
I went over and I asked him, could I
borrow his lawnmower?
He just said, we'll see.
I mean, what the fuck is that?
We'll see.
I love that.
Anyway, the fact that I got to drop a
Chinese proverb on my parents,
they really enjoyed that.
(17:07):
Anyway, that's a reminder for myself
that, hey, we go
through these ups and downs
and we never know what's
going to come around the corner.
We could cheer our good luck.
Sure, that's great.
We could worry about our bad luck, but
there's something around the corner
and it keeps going that way.
So anyway, going back to you got to see
(17:29):
the Norwegians come to the big,
big L.A. and the shiny lights.
I was almost jealous of that, too,
because like, you
know, it's it's it's great
to have that kind of excitement and like
when you've lived here for a while,
you're like, you kind of have a different
view of it because it's a city.
You know, it's where you live and, you
know, the good and the bad of it.
But there's something really magic about
L.A. that I forget sometimes.
(17:51):
Yes, also also acting in person, you
know, not losing sight of the acting
in front of real people
when we're on Zoom a lot.
So there's something special about that.
Yeah, that's very true.
And, you know, obviously, and I get to
act in person in class or whatever.
But like it was a few years ago when I
auditioned for the Actors Studio
and you do it in a black box
here, I tell you about that.
(18:12):
Yeah. But it was like I
loved the buzz of that.
I loved I forgot what it was like to be
on a stage because I
haven't been on stage
in a long time and like I forgot the now
that's my that's on me.
Like it's plays are available.
People are making plays.
You know, I could
audition for my theater.
Yeah, exactly. It's nice
to know because here we are.
We don't know what the
next step of entertainment is.
You know, entertainment
(18:32):
gets more diversified.
We keep talking about what are people
going to do in the digital age?
Theater, you know, at least theater in
New York is blossoming.
I want I want to say
that as we get more digital,
people are going to flock
towards in person things.
And what happens in the future when
people are dying for human connection?
(18:54):
Who knows? Maybe we are
going to be doing more theater.
I don't know. I mean, what happens when
you have, you know, a Spielberg movie
that gets thrown on streaming and through
30 eyeballs watch it versus,
you know, the 50 people
in a black box theater.
Next thing you know, all the all the all
the eyeballs are going to be segmented
where, hey, who knows?
(19:14):
Maybe we will be doing
theater in the future.
I think I think there's
a rebound to everything.
I love seeing good theater.
And that's one thing I found in Ireland
is that I was going to a lot
more theater than I do here.
I mean, you've been you've been to a few
shows in New York, though.
I mean, that's all I have.
Yeah, I wasn't going to bring this up,
but I've officially seen enough
(19:35):
theater in New York. I
fell in love with theater.
Like it literally
just like like recently.
Have I seen such good experiences where
I'm like, oh, I get it now.
Yeah, because you haven't done a lot of
theater in your life.
I have not. Yeah.
Well, a handful of times I never had a
(19:57):
repeated practice of it.
Yeah. But you I mean, you do more sort of
exotic dancing than I do.
I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I guess it depends on
what you mean by performing.
You know, I didn't grow up with musicals,
but, you know, I will say musicals alone.
I've seen such like
Book of Mormon, obviously.
I mean, how can you not not book a Mormon
(20:17):
with the comedy, with the singing?
Like I'm not a dancer by any stretch.
And I'm watching them
and I'm like, oh, my God,
I could do that and love it.
I'm not saying I could do it well, but I
could totally do that and enjoy myself.
I was like, oh, my God, this looks fun.
You know what I mean?
(20:38):
I would I would pay good money to see you
dancing in a musical.
Dude, I mean, as far as broadening the
higher horizons and not
growing up with musicals.
I saw Hamilton for the first time
literally this month.
And for those that would know, obviously,
this is 10 years, this
is 10 year anniversary.
This is a huge, iconic, mind blowing.
I was immune to it because I never really
(21:00):
listened to the music.
I knew that I like hip hop.
I never really knew whether like I never
really listened to it, but I just assumed
that I oh, I might enjoy it.
Oh, I loved it.
OK, even the songs that
weren't hip hop, it actually.
It like the music for whatever was in
just connected to me.
(21:21):
OK, I was so blown away.
Leslie Odom is one of the stars.
He came back this year to do the run.
People are dog on nuts for this show.
So this is actually kind of a hidden gem.
I might as well throw it at you guys.
This is a hidden gem.
You see cheap Hamilton tickets.
You see standing room only tickets
(21:42):
basically before the show.
Right before the show, you wait in line.
I was going to get two
tickets for me and my sister.
I was literally the last ticket.
My sister did not get a ticket.
And my sister just looked at me.
She's like, well, you
were the one that waited.
She let me go in.
OK, I had such a great time.
I said, we have to go
(22:02):
back literally the next day.
I did standing room only and me and my
sister got the last two tickets again.
But these people are insane.
I saw people in line didn't speak a word
of English and they were singing
word for word every Hamilton song in line
(22:22):
while they were waiting for standing room
only tickets.
So they speak some words of English.
Well, those words of English.
My mind is blown.
I thought theater in
general was not specific.
A lot of indicating.
And you didn't need to be specific and
(22:43):
clear with your acting.
Oh, that's interesting.
So you really thought that I was you
know, you know, you
kind of opened me up with
you. You threw me.
Yeah, let's explore this.
This is my huge revelation because I see
a good amount of theater, huge stars.
I've seen Lawrence Fishford.
I've seen Sam Rockwell.
OK, cool.
(23:04):
I mean, I didn't spend an arm in a leg,
but I can understand people want to see
Sam Rockwell live this year.
I saw Jean Smart do a one
woman show called Meizzie.
And that was transcendent.
Love Jean Smart.
And then I saw Hamilton.
And the thing is, is
credit to the writing.
Lehman was a genius.
And you have multiple cast do his show
(23:26):
and they crush
because the show is so good.
They know all the moments.
It's a move.
It's a train that is going to crush.
And then you see Leslie Odom do it.
And you're like, this guy's a star.
I see Hamilton twice.
And I see the second night some
understudies in the
second night that didn't do the
first night.
(23:46):
And you see the jokes that the main
person got and would
squeeze the juice out of all
these moments.
And you're like, well, I
see why he's the main star.
The understudies great.
But you see why he's the main star.
So all these things
were going off in my head.
And then I see the Hamilton first cast
and I see their performance.
I'm like, oh, this is so different.
(24:08):
But all the nuts and bolts were there.
And I understand why the first cast were.
They all became stars.
I'm having all these thoughts go off in
my head over what you
just you just open up a
huge box marriage.
I saw this is actually this is actually
sort of like breaking
like this is sort of an
exclusive like this is actually like an
actress right at the end of the world
podcast breaking news that
(24:29):
theater is actually good.
Guys, I don't know if
anybody like theaters decent.
And you know, to top it off, this is
literally 10 years of Hamilton.
This is the 10 year anniversary.
So this is 10 years of me being, oh, you
see what everyone was going crazy about.
Anyway, can you actually tell the story
for 500 people in a
(24:49):
huge auditorium to the back
row, but have all their thoughts and
reactions and the
storytelling and the acting and
directing moment to moment specific?
I get it now because I thought everyone I
thought I was being desolate.
I thought I was being desolate.
I thought everyone is.
You know, it was conspiracy.
(25:09):
There is like your
telly can plays are good.
Tell him.
No, tell him.
He'll believe it.
No, he'll believe anything.
He'll believe anything.
Just tell him plays are good.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, theater is incredible.
Good theater is incredible.
But it's like I guess it's like, you
know, there's good
performances in film and TV
and bad performances of film and TV.
The difference in theaters, you have to
get it across over a
(25:30):
wider space like with with
at least with the camera, you can just
you don't have to, you
know, you don't have to
project, you don't have to
you can just keep it all here.
So it's almost it's almost more skillful
to get that
specificity and get that across,
you know, in that in a theater setting.
Let's let's talk about this because we
(25:53):
talked about this
briefly in the past, but
this is a great, great point.
Now, they say that TV is a writer's
medium, you know, as
we go through streaming,
that's I think that's
still that's still true.
They say film is a director's medium.
You know, they're the all
tour, they're crafting it.
It's kind of like their vision.
(26:13):
It's kind of standalone.
They say and I think that's part of the
reason why actors say
they get on the stage
and feel what that is, is is that's the
one time where the
actor actually does have
control. Now, obviously, they're, you
know, they they workshop it.
But the actor is the one doing it.
There's no cuts, there's no edits.
It's the actor doing it.
(26:33):
Right.
So that might be the purest form and the
truest power of the actor.
Right. Yeah.
So my point is, is because there's so
many layers of film and
TV that are completely
out of control of the
actor or better or worse.
I don't even blame the actor like I came
(26:54):
and I can't even tell.
I can't even tell.
Like I don't even say
that that actor is bad.
I don't even say that anymore.
I heard that a long time ago.
I think it's true.
If you're in a film and you look horrible
for whatever reason,
whether it fits out of
that, you're telling a different story
than everyone else's director's fault.
And when I say an actor looks bad, that's
(27:14):
a poor way of describing it.
It's if the actor is not looking through
the lens, there there's
a trust that director,
the director, the editor, the
cinematographer, the heads
of departments are going to do
their job. Of course, we should do
everything in our power.
Like Tom Cruise, know all your angles.
Ultimately, the final decisions are going
(27:35):
to be with the director and editor.
I disagree with that to a certain point.
I disagree with that to a certain extent.
Yeah, because I think
it's your job no matter what.
It's your job. You know, when someone's
very specific and you can see specificity
and thoughts in a performance, always, I
think like you notice it.
It's not like I look at
acting go, that's terrible acting.
I notice really good acting, though.
And I'm like, oh, that was great.
(27:57):
Yeah, but that's that's not.
But to say it's completely out of an
actor's control, I think is
no, no, no. My point is, is so what I'm
saying is, is is for
the director to choose
all your best takes. That's not that's
not what the conversation is.
I get it. I get it.
I understand that there's there.
There are a lot of elements that are out
(28:17):
of your control, but it doesn't diminish
what what you can control.
It doesn't diminish your your
responsibility as a performer.
And I think no matter what take is
chosen, that's why you have to be
specific on every take.
And you have to be listening and you have
to do all the things that we learn
and all the things we do, because.
You're right. You want
(28:38):
to be director proof.
You want to be edit proof.
I think what I'm getting
at is is let's use film.
Let's use film, for example, where you
have the benefit of maybe.
You know, more than five takes and then.
Oh, you know, up to where
it's the David Fincher 70 takes.
(28:59):
OK. If you're a smaller role on TV,
you're probably going to get three takes
at something. That's fair.
You got to make sure
those three takes are good.
Right. Or two. You're not in cover.
You're not in control of your coverage.
You do want to look good.
What looking good means? That's
subjective, obviously. Right.
(29:21):
I think my point is, is
is people like Meryl Streep
and people like Adam Driver,
they have the benefit of doing
a variety of different things
and being as free to go
all the different places.
My point is, is they're
(29:41):
still not in control of.
The editing, the flow of the story
and the directing and
the entire piece as a whole
for filming as an example,
it's a director's medium.
My point is, is you could do your great
job with the three takes.
Right. And then I can still prioritize
(30:06):
the fact that it's golden hour and the
sunset is falling over.
You're the day players best take.
Let's say you do two variety of
completely different opinions.
One is a better choice and
then the other than the other.
Yeah. Right.
It's up to the
(30:27):
director and editor's vision
as far as how they
want to tell that story.
Sure. So that's that's it.
You could do both incredibly specific.
But let's say one choice is better for
the arc of the story
and then and then not.
So a more accurate choice is a character.
Yeah. OK. And then
that's what I'm saying.
You gave them you gave them
(30:48):
the material to work with.
And then there's the
director editor's choice.
You're you're basically taking the
responsibility off the actor entirely
and going, well, the
director is the writer.
So none you can do. You know what I mean?
I'm not absolving the
actor from responsibility.
I think we're saying the same thing.
The actor needs to be
director editor proof.
Do everything in their
(31:09):
power and be undeniable.
The difference is, is I'm
acknowledging the limitations
and I'm wondering if you're
underestimating that.
Jason Bateman literally will tell a
director or whatever.
I'm not doing that.
I'm not doing that note.
She doesn't want to
give them that note, right?
Because he doesn't want
them to use that in the edit.
(31:32):
That is a rare, rare, very lucky.
We should all be so
fortunate to have that that power.
If you make we want to be
the best that we can be.
We want to be the clearest that we can be
in the medium that we're acting.
My point is, is Jason Bateman fortunately
has earned that power.
(31:53):
And most of us don't.
And most of actors
who aren't Jason Bateman
are at mercy of the director and the
editor, by the way, to a degree.
Yeah. Yeah. And then once we
give our consent with A.I.,
they're going to be getting whatever note
that they want anyway.
So that they're there.
Wait, what do you mean? Once
we give our consent with A.I.
(32:14):
Oh, you mean they're going to change your
performance with A.I.?
Yeah, I'm saying that
they're they're allowed.
Technically, they are allowed to change
your performance anyway.
So say for example, well, now we're now
we're really getting.
Oh, so. So I just want to say at this
point, like I feel pretty warm and fuzzy.
I don't know about you. Exactly. Exactly.
I didn't even get to the I didn't even
get to the good stuff yet.
(32:35):
If you were going to consent to letting a
production use A.I.,
they would have to ask for your consent.
You gave their consent and they have the
rights to change the
alter the performance
in a reasonable amount,
meaning that if the scene is roughly the
same, they can alter it.
(32:57):
Those are the things.
Unfortunately, all that
language in the contract is very
it's kind of broad, like I just said.
That being said, they
could put whatever words
and change your
performance in that scene.
So we are losing the power of that even
more because, you know,
whether Jason Bimbam says that or not,
(33:18):
they probably could
could change it anyway.
So yeah, onto the warm and fuzzy stuff.
So, you know, needless to say, we're
pretty we're pretty biased here.
I think we can say that
we're fans of Ireland.
That's correct. Right. We're pro Ireland.
Yeah, I have to say, certainly, you know,
certainly one of us.
(33:38):
Yeah, yeah. You know, we're
pretty pro Ireland over here.
Where is this going?
Sometimes you guys
really get it right. OK.
So Ireland just announced
they're stipend for artists.
They're month in stipend for artists.
They had a program that they launched
during the pandemic.
They just announced that
(33:59):
it's that it's permanent.
This is going to be a
permanent program moving on in 2026.
This is huge.
This is pretty rare in
the big scope of things.
So I just wanted to
give you your flowers.
This is the warm and
fuzzy I've been talking about.
This is this is big.
This is big. Yes, it is.
So so tell me what you
(34:20):
what you think about this.
It's great. I think it's wonderful.
I a few friends of mine got
it actually the first time.
So they started this as a pilot program
and basically they were
the idea was that it would be a basic
income for the arts.
And it works out, I think, to about three
hundred and three hundred and twenty
five euro per week. That's just paid
(34:41):
monthly to artists, people.
And that's around four hundred twenty
four hundred twenty some dollars
for the exchange rate.
Yeah. So that's per week.
It's not it's not
contingent on it's not means tested.
It's not you don't have to earn a certain
amount or not make a certain amount
in order to qualify.
You do have to apply and there are
eligibility criteria.
(35:03):
So this started as a pilot program.
People could apply whatever and a friend,
you know, a few friends of mine got it.
So, you know, basically the theory is
that yeah, no, no, more recently,
more recently than the pandemic over the
last last few years. Yeah.
But, you know, the program's gone well
and they're making
they're making it permanent.
I think this I think it's going to
(35:23):
support around two thousand artists.
So, you know, a small small sample size
to begin with anyway.
But basically the theory is that like it
takes the pressure off
artists because it gives them this sort
of guaranteed income.
You can also earn anything
else you want on top of that.
It's not you know, they don't they don't
(35:44):
penalize you for it.
So it's kind of promote art in various
different forms in Ireland
and to allow people to create, you know,
without without the pressure of of,
you know, like having to having to,
you know, come up with that that amount
of money every month.
In addition to everything else. So I
(36:05):
think it's a pretty thing.
It makes all the sense in the world.
So who's who's going with me?
And where do we sign up?
I'm ready to move there right now.
No, absolutely. I think it's I
think it's a brilliant scheme.
And like it's it's Ireland does, you
know, Ireland does value the arts.
Like I in my experience of it and I
granted I haven't lived there for it.
But that's that's my impression of it,
(36:25):
that Ireland does value the arts
in a way that's not.
You know, that that that
isn't always the case in in in
particularly in this country, there's
some debate about whenever these schemes
come up, there's debate
about the validity of them.
But I think Ireland
is pretty good at like
(36:47):
placing value on on on the arts, because
that has that's one of our great
strengths, I think, as a as a society and
one of our great, you know,
a lot of our great exports to
the world are literature and
you know, literature
and poetry and plays.
And I think that's I think
that's an understatement.
Yeah, I think that's an understatement.
(37:08):
You guys put your money
where that where your mouth is.
And I think that speaks volumes because
you're completely right.
You know, does anyone value the arts?
This is really, you know, I don't want to
say I don't want to be bombastic about
this, but, you know, the part of reason
why, you know, back to the whole theater
thing and then, you know, my love for
theater now that I'm a theater bust.
You know, how many
cities really push the arts?
(37:30):
Support it, you know, push it out there.
We don't see a lot of these programs
speaking, you know, speaking of New York.
They had the creatives.
Oh, by the way, the name of this Ireland
program is the Basic Income for the Arts.
Yeah, I.A. It's a pilot program.
And now it's permanent.
The closest thing that America or New
York had creatives rebuild New York
artists employment program.
(37:51):
So we they've had these type of things,
these type of programs.
None of them were ever made permanent.
Any country in the
world never made permanent.
They had pilot
programs never made permanent.
OK, New York, this collaboration, you
know, goes on for two years and so on.
And obviously New York's expensive.
So there's there's that. But, you know,
(38:13):
these type of things were always
pilot programs and they
were never government funded.
I see. So this is Ireland's government
pushing it versus a bunch of grant money
and so on and so forth.
So that's another thing.
You know what I mean? This other, you
know, you know, we can get into the
conversation as far as
(38:34):
universal basic income.
You know, we're getting
into that conversation.
A lot of a lot of countries are fighting,
you know, candidates trying to do that.
They're actually using they're hoping
that the momentum of this Ireland program
could actually help
springboard other programs like that.
But, you know, this is
specifically for the artists.
There's no strings attached.
(38:55):
I think I think it's incredible.
Yeah, I think it's incredible.
The fact that, you know, you have a
successful, you know, country like this
that they've done it for three years and
to make it permanent.
You know, for now, it's it's rare.
I think it's rare.
Because I think the arts
are what I think it's vital.
(39:16):
And I don't know. I'm not being, you
know, facetious when I say that.
I think the arts are
vital to any society.
I think it's like I mean, usually in the
past when you said that we thought
we were facetious, but now
it feels like it's for real.
Yeah, you thought I was a real prick.
Like, who's this fucking guy talking
about this bullshit?
Going on about the art.
All right. Yeah.
All right. Picasso.
(39:38):
So but I think it it
like you see it valued.
And I find that a lot of
European countries as well.
It is, you know, there is a lot of
there's a lot of
public art installations.
And it just does it creates such a.
It creates such goodwill in a country and
such a feeling of positivity.
And I think it opens people up in a way
that like I've never really understood.
(40:00):
There's such a debate about it here that
like schemes are being slashed
and people like, why
are we paying for this?
Like, why is that?
What's the value of this?
And does this back and forth all the time
between, you know, this weird kind of
like brutal pragmatism where like, no,
this is a waste of money.
This is a fucking way, you
know, my taxes, you know,
(40:21):
that that's exactly what
I was going to bring up.
This goes back into the fact that, first
of all, Americans were,
you know, it's funny, it's funny.
I'm so Irish, I'm
using Americans as they.
Yeah, they. Right. These guys.
But, you know, Americans
are known for overworking.
We know that, you know, with the you look
at what the entertainment
(40:42):
industry is doing, they're going to
squeeze every dollar out of any of their
workers and et cetera, et
cetera. So America is extreme.
But it brings up a good point.
Part of the reason why a lot of these
programs and I think Finland, Finland had
a basic income, ended after a year
when it got to the point where citizens
have to vote to increase taxes to allow
the program to keep going.
(41:04):
They didn't see a benefit.
So they didn't vote for more taxes.
And now we can see here that not only was
there success from the pilot program,
but the citizens thought it was
worthwhile across the
board across for all citizens,
whether they're artists or not, and they
were all for the program.
So there you go.
And it was actually helping all their
(41:25):
community and society as a whole.
So there you go.
And I think, you know, like you were
saying in America, we were not convinced.
No, there's as much it's
much more up for debate here.
Like many things are, you know, up for
debate here that in a
way that they aren't
in in Ireland and in Europe in the same
way, it's one of the interesting things
about America, it's quite and
(41:46):
particularly now is
it feels quite divided.
And
there's so much it's quite acrimonious
and it's just there's a lot of conflict.
And
so when something like this comes along,
I'm thrilled to see it.
You know, I'm absolutely thrilled to see
we just have our outgoing president.
We just voted in a new
president, Catherine Connolly.
(42:07):
But the outgoing
president, yeah, my good.
Now, the president in
Ireland is a more of it's not a
it's not like president here.
It's it's it's more of a figurehead of
state as opposed to like,
you know, the practical leader of the
effective leader of the country.
Our leader, the leader of the country is
is the Taoiseach,
which is prime minister,
(42:28):
basically, and the president
is slightly more ceremonial.
They do sign
things into law, but it's it's it's not a
it's more of a head of sort of a an
ambassador of the country.
So the rest of the world.
But our outgoing president, Michael
DeHiggins, was fantastic.
We've had very good
(42:48):
presidents for the last while.
And the term is seven years.
He just did. And you can do two terms.
He just did 14 years. And
he was he's a really, you know, wonderful
guy and very outspoken on the issues that
he cares about and and a
great ambassador for Ireland.
But he
you know, he said that, like, a country
should be judged on how they treat their
(43:09):
most vulnerable citizens. And I, you
know, I I believe that.
I think that
that, you know, putting value on the arts
and that kind of compassion that
that really typifies a
healthy society, I think.
Well, that was that was well put.
(43:30):
That's beautiful. What I tell you,
everyone, warm and fuzzy, warm and fuzzy.
We delivered. That was the warm and
fuzziest thing I ever heard in my life.
So there there you go.
And, you know, as an
American, I can I can
say I have no idea what you're talking
about, but it sounds great.
One last little note
about this competition,
(43:52):
credit to your friends, this
competition for this program,
eight thousand two hundred applicants in
twenty twenty two, two
thousand were chosen.
So it's very competitive out of eight
thousand two hundred
two thousand were chosen.
But it's one of four.
Like, you know what I mean?
That's one in four. You
have a one in four chance.
That's not a bad. Those are bad.
That's a great point.
That's a great point.
(44:14):
And then they increased it recently to
two thousand two hundred.
So there you go. We want to see.
Hey, here's the thing.
It's like, you know, we want to see this
program do well, and it's been doing well
for for many years now.
And, you know, we'll see other other
countries follow suit.
But, you know, we all can learn a little
bit from Ireland for sure.
So more for the warm and fuzzy.
Let's do hidden gems.
(44:34):
Let's do hidden gems.
So this is a hidden gem
courtesy of Leslie Kahn.
She mentioned a I don't know.
I don't know if she would describe it as
a tool or a thing
that she kind of came up
with just a little fun tool that she uses
and she, you know, has her actors do.
She mentioned it recently.
(44:54):
When you have an actor's victory, whether
it is you got called back, you got a pin,
you had a great,
lovely experience on set.
She said to make a one sheet about it,
basically a one sheet is a document,
whether you want to whip something up on
Canva, it's a one sheet document of a
picture, some text,
and you can just kind of
(45:15):
document it. It's almost
like a a victory scrapbook.
It's just important because it's a
reminder to celebrate our victories,
keep morale up, self-esteem.
It also helps her
surveillance to get to the next victory.
It reminded me of like a story that I
wanted to share on on
Instagram and social
media, and I'm going to do that.
(45:36):
And there's not a lot of celebration
going on in our industry.
So there you go. So it's a time to do it.
So that's my hand. Yeah, that's great.
And, you know, I think I've mentioned
this before, but I stole this from Emmet
Scanlon. Yeah, I love that.
He talks about so every time I get a job
or whatever, what I'll do is I'll keep
like sparkling apple
juice because I don't drink.
(45:56):
So I keep I keep that in the fridge.
And then whenever I get a job, I will
FaceTime my parents and they'll have one
in Ireland and we'll have a little we'll
celebrate together and drink a little
open up of bottles, because it just.
Yeah, it helps solidify that thing of
like just celebrate the victories,
because this is like,
you know, it's brilliant.
(46:17):
This is all great stuff.
And I think it contributes to that
positive feeling and leads to more.
So I think that one sheet that I'm glad
you brought that up.
That's a really cool idea.
My hidden gem for this.
I'm going to get it actually just so I
can show you for those who are watching
on YouTube one second.
So I my mother put me on these things,
but these these are mists for their
(46:39):
they're called Australian bushflower
essences and their
combination of different
different like herbs
and flowers and stuff.
But they, you know,
they sell these mists.
They also sell like things you can, you
know, drops you can put on your tongue.
Like all of these essences made of
Australian flowers, bush flowers.
But
these mists I use and
(46:59):
I spray them around.
This is a space clearing.
They have them for different purposes,
but this is the space clearing mist.
It says it you can
spray them on your skin.
You can just spray them around.
They smell phenomenal.
But it says this one is
system clearing negative energies,
emotional and psychic to create a safe,
sacred and harmonious environment.
Oh, perfect.
You even know we're going to
be warm and fuzzy this episode.
(47:20):
Yeah, for that.
There's a travel essence, but I
absolutely adore these things.
Like they smell phenomenal.
So I meditate in the morning to calm the
fucking gerbil running around in my head.
So I'll
so what I'll do beforehand is I'll spray
that space clearing mists.
And I love this.
So it just comes to me right down.
And then I meditate for 30 minutes.
So that's my part of my
(47:41):
little morning routine.
But they're great. They're really
I'm curious, how did you come up on on
these particular drops?
Australian about my mother.
Yeah, through my mom.
My mom is a homeopath and also clued into
a lot of different things.
So she's
any relation to me out of them.
Yeah. Yeah.
She's awesome.
She qualifies the
(48:02):
homeopaths many years ago in Ireland.
She's a journalist her whole career, but
also practice homeopathy.
She's a yeah.
But no, it's such a wealth of knowledge
about, you know, so
many different things.
So this is a yeah.
So she turned me on to
these possible essences.
Yeah. So just as mists, if you want to
just spray them around.
(48:22):
They also have all kinds of other things.
I think you can just go on
their website and order them.
And it doesn't bother your allergies.
No, no, no, no.
There you go.
That's a good that's a
good advertisement for.
There you go. Maybe
it's a future sponsor.
All right.
That's our show. Everyone.
I hope you enjoyed the episode.
Everyone have a good one.
(48:42):
See you guys.
I see Hamilton twice,
and I see the second night
some understudies in the second night
that didn't do the first night.
And you see the jokes
that the main person got
and would squeeze the
juice out of all these moments.
And you're like, well, I
see why he's the main star.
The understudy's great, but
(00:20):
you see why he's the main star.
So all these things
were going off in my head.
And then I see the Hamilton first cast,
and I see their performance.
So I'm like, oh, this is so different.
And I understand why
the first cast were--
they all became stars.
I'm having all these
thoughts go off in my head.
You just open up a huge box, man.
This is actually sort of like breaking--
(00:41):
this is sort of an exclusive.
This is actually like an actor's card
to the end of the world
podcast breaking news that--
This is breaking news.
Theaters actually good, guys.
I don't know if anybody--
like, theater's decent.
All right, welcome to the actor's guide
to the end of the world podcast where
we talk about acting in Hollywood
and the way people understand.
I'm E-Kan Soong
And I am Rían Sheehy Kelly
(01:01):
Follow us wherever you find your podcasts
at Actors Guide Podcast.
We have video on YouTube on sub-stack.
If you enjoy it, please leave a review.
It really helps the podcast.
Follow us on all
social media for fun clips
during the week at Actors Guide Podcast.
All right, everyone.
So on the show for today, I am claiming
that this is our warm
(01:22):
and fuzzy episode.
It's going to give you good
vibes or all your money back.
Recent announcement,
Ireland has made a monthly stipend
for artists permanent.
A program called the
Basic Income for the Arts,
which was a pilot
scheme which pays artists
a monthly stipend.
I am so blown away by it.
Ireland, everyone.
(01:42):
They do something right.
We talk about Ikan's
newfound love for the theater.
Yeah, I am a theater buff, everyone.
Breaking news.
Yeah, and then me and Ikan get into a
warm and fuzzy argument.
So stick around for that.
Yeah, this is a good one, everyone.
And our sponsor for today's show,
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For the raccoons.
So I'm in a great mood.
(02:23):
This episode is going to
make you warm and fuzzy inside.
I have a great feeling about it.
I guarantee it.
You guarantee it.
Yeah, I know it's bold.
So let's start off with--
so did you see the
performances with the Norwegians
with David Nutter?
I did.
We talked a little bit
about this last week,
(02:43):
but David Nutter did
a talk at Leslie Khan.
And then he also invited
everyone to this showcase.
I believe it was over the weekend, right?
A couple of nights.
Throughout the entire weekend.
And so you got an extra bonus.
I mean, I'm so jealous
because that would have been
an incredible experience to see.
David Nutter is a
prolific, widely experienced,
(03:05):
and brilliant TV director.
Throw out a name, but
he's directed The X-Files.
He directed an episode of The Sopranos,
a lot of Game of Thrones.
He's just a-- he's a brilliant director.
So he gave a talk at Leslie Khan Studios,
where we take classes.
What they do there is Leslie
brings in people once a month
to chat to the students.
(03:27):
It's free.
Just with this really--
it's a really great
opportunity to talk to and listen to--
to ask questions and listen to
heavy-hitting industry
professionals.
Yeah, this guy is a stud.
And Leslie herself was
saying how lucky she was,
the fact that he could
show up at any studio
and to collaborate
with her is a real honor.
(03:48):
Yeah.
And like I mentioned last week, he
was so really generous with his time.
But his approach to directing was
what became the focus
of the conversation.
And it was a really--
he's a really beautiful
way of looking at directing.
And he said that he always knew how
to make people care about things.
While he didn't-- when he started out,
he didn't always have
the technical knowledge,
(04:09):
but he knew how to make
people care about things.
And what speaks to him
about a script or a new project
is how it makes him feel.
There has to be heart
in it, which I thought
was really cool.
So what he does--
he works with a group
of actors in Norway,
in Oslo in Norway, a
group of Norwegian actors.
(04:29):
And I think they do
Zoom classes with him.
And then they come
over, I think, twice a year.
They bring them over,
and they do a showcase
for industry professionals and casting
directors and producers
and stuff.
So they--
Bring them over to America.
Bring them over to America.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
And I think they meet a bunch of people.
I think it's like a week or two weeks,
(04:49):
and they meet a lot of people.
They rehearse scenes,
and they put them up.
And David Nutter has a
theater space in his home,
which is cool.
So they did--
to be fair, they picked
some iconic scenes from movies
and some plays and--
Oh, yeah.
And then were they doing the Irish plays?
(05:12):
They did.
So they did.
They did a scene from
Banshees of In Eshirne,
which is with Perna
Gleeson and Colin Farrell.
They did that scene, which is a great
scene from that movie.
But yeah, so they did some Irish scenes,
which was really interesting.
So these actors are acting in their--
not in their first language, and they're
doing these iconic scenes.
(05:33):
I mean, they did a
scene from Girl Interrupted.
They did a scene from
Marriage Story, that iconic scene
of the fight between--
Oh, my god, the one
where he punches the wall?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a tough scene.
That's a tough scene.
So look, that's a--
it's a challenge in and of itself,
because you're dealing with
(05:53):
material that people know well,
and you're doing it in a
language that's not your own.
You're doing it in an
accent that's not your own.
But they did a really
great job, and everybody
brought something to it.
And it was like a
really entertaining showcase.
It never felt-- it didn't drag at all.
It was just scene
after scene after scene.
And everybody got a good showing.
And it was just a really cool--
(06:14):
it just reminded me
how fun this stuff is,
because we get to go
and see things like this
and just be a part of it.
And it's just--
it was a great reminder of
why I enjoy this kind of stuff
as well.
I'm like, oh, this is great.
I get to go watch these cool scenes
and see how somebody does them and see
a different sort of take on them.
(06:35):
But it was great.
And David Nutter is
obviously a great director.
And it's intoxicating, I
think, to be brought over to LA
and to--
When you live in a different
country and you don't know,
and maybe it's a lot of
people's first time to come here,
and you don't know anything about it,
and suddenly you're
meeting all these people.
And it can also feel like,
oh my god, this is my chance.
I have to make the most of this, because
(06:56):
this is my big break.
So there's a lot of
pressure in the mix there.
But they did a really great job, and it
was a really cool thing.
And I love that Leslie
brings in these people.
And we get to meet people that we
wouldn't necessarily
get to meet ordinarily in the run,
unless you worked with them.
You know what I mean?
It's just a great
opportunity to chat to people.
(07:17):
To see other people visit
and look at it with fresh eyes,
I think that's kind of
like the magic that--
part of the reason why we even moved to
LA in the first place,
let alone people who
aren't even Americans.
So I think that's a great--
it's like a few reasons
why shows like Entourage
were so popular.
It captures that appeal.
You know what I mean?
(07:38):
Absolutely.
I'd like to see it.
Maybe you can tell me
your experience with this,
because I moved to LA
in 2007 and left in 2008
and went home, and then ended up in
Chicago for 10 years.
And we were talking
about this in class today.
I feel like I missed the
sort of golden era of LA,
(07:58):
because there were some
people who were talking about it
in class, who were talking about the sort
of how the year would
go pilot season.
You'd be doing this, and then everybody
would take the month off.
And then they'd
recast a lot of the pilots.
So it was almost like a
second pilot season in June.
You know, everybody would
take May off, and then in June,
they would come back,
and then they'd be--
so they were talking
about sort of the golden era,
sort of 2013, 2014, 2015,
(08:22):
when there was so much content,
when streaming had
started to really come on.
Now, I missed all that,
because I left in 2008,
and I didn't come back till 2018.
And by the time I found my feet here,
I was a year in, and
then it was pandemic time.
What was that time like for you?
Was that your experience
of it going in for pilots,
and you know, a really busy--
(08:43):
It was like that.
Those cycles, as far as it was always
busy during pilot season, and then it
dies off during summer,
that changed with around 2015, 2016.
So it was more spread out
through the entire year.
So I don't know if that was our memory
just playing with us,
that this is exactly what it felt like.
(09:03):
In all honesty, I don't
know if my opportunities were
really that much more
than, say, 2018, 2019.
And also, to be fair, it's like I'm also
a much more experienced actor.
I wasn't in class for as long.
I didn't know the industry as long.
So for me to be completely
(09:24):
rooted with more connections
and credits, I'm
probably not a good indication
to really measure how strong LA was.
I think that touches on a lot of the
different experiences
and different--
(09:46):
when I say age, I'm not
talking about literal age.
I'm talking about your acting age.
Actually, this would be
a great little anecdote.
This is advice that I believe Godfrey--
Godfrey is a popular comic.
I believe this is one
of the first advice that
was given to him by Jerry Seinfeld.
And he basically said, Jerry Seinfeld
(10:06):
is the amount of time
that you've been a comedian,
the amount of time that you've been a
standup, that's your age.
That's it.
It has nothing to do
with your little age.
So if you've been a
standup comic for two years,
you're two years.
You're two years old.
It's a simple fact.
If you've been doing
standup for 10 years,
you're 10 years old.
That's what experience
(10:28):
actually really matters,
meaning that if I'm a
middle-aged man who just
found into acting, his
acting age is two years old.
It doesn't matter, because that's
how much experience you have.
So for me, it took me a
while to get into class.
It took me a while to get into Leslie
Khan and real acting
classes.
And needless to say, I was probably
(10:50):
having a lot of fun during those years.
And it took me a while to
take acting very seriously.
I think the idea that the
golden age of LA was back then,
I think that actually
might be problematic.
When I say problematic, what I mean
is limiting, because I
know a lot of people who
(11:10):
miss the old days, and
that's the reason why
they hate self-tapes, that
they believe that they're not
as good as they are in the room.
And then so looking
back is kind of tricky,
because if you had a great career,
I know a lot of people who are older--
oh, guess what?
They probably are Caucasian.
A lot of people were crushing back then,
(11:33):
and they absolutely
would love the good old days
before more diversity,
before streaming, et cetera, et
cetera.
So there's a lot of
different things going on with that.
But that's part of the issue where
I worry about the middle-class actor,
because those people who did really,
really well, hopefully
(11:54):
they were good with their
money and they saved for times
like this, when it's a
really unsteady environment now,
yeah, it's anyone's guess.
I agree.
I agree.
And I will say there's a
certain amount of resilience
that I think comes with not
having had that experience,
because it's not like you miss it.
And even during the
(12:14):
strikes, are people like, oh,
being out of work for a while.
I think that hits actors
who fall into that category
a bit harder, because
whereas I was always
used to surviving no matter
what, whether it was a side
job or--
and also without not
having a family to support.
So I think things like that and the way
the industry has changed
have probably hit people
(12:35):
like that a bit harder,
because they were more dependent on it,
whereas a lot of actors were just used to
supporting themselves
another way and taking jobs there.
So I feel like I'm
well-equipped to handle down times,
because it doesn't really bother me.
I'm going to survive.
You know what I mean?
(12:56):
That's so spot on.
This is the experience
that I'm talking about,
because coming out of the strikes
and the aftermath
after that, it was probably
survived to 2025.
It's literally we were
saying that all of 2024.
I was talking to new actors
who literally moved to LA,
got hit by the strikes.
And this is a weird flex, but I basically
(13:17):
said this feels like Tuesday.
As horrible, as rough as the three years
has been in LA, I kind
of was like, yeah, we've
seen this before, and
it feels like Tuesday,
because in my personal experience,
it's always been, like you said, a
survival, resilient time.
Be good with your money.
Save.
Keep working.
(13:37):
And if you didn't have the experience,
or if you're a newer actor, you wouldn't
know until you actually
survive it.
So even with the
pessimism about the industry now,
I don't feel that.
You know what I mean?
I do understand.
I understand the current situation.
I understand it's not
great for a lot of people.
And I do have real empathy for that,
and for people who
(13:58):
are struggling with it.
But I don't go around
going, oh, we're all fucked,
because I just don't feel like that.
You know what I mean?
I don't feel--
I'm pretty-- I don't know.
I'm generally pretty
optimistic and positive anyway,
but I find it doesn't serve me to be
like, oh, we're all fucked,
because I can't walk around like that.
It's one thing to have
these extreme labels.
(14:20):
It's also reinforcing a story
that we're telling ourselves.
We can make a choice
and be aware that, hey,
is this story helping us?
You know, this is a perfect example.
I forgot this is supposed to
be the warm and fuzzy episode.
So don't worry.
We're getting there.
But last week, we talked
about some real dark things.
And for me, it's information.
(14:40):
It's knowledge.
But I don't get wrapped up in the story
saying the world is doomed.
I look towards action that
we can move forward, progress,
and get through it.
So this is the perfect time for the
legendary Chinese proverb.
I told my parents this.
You might have heard this story before.
(15:01):
There's this farmer.
All of his horses one day ran off.
And his neighbors came over to him and
said, this is so horrible.
I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
What are you going to do?
This is such bad luck.
The farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, the horses that left brought
(15:24):
back other horses back
to the farm.
So he had more horses than ever before.
The neighbor said, oh my
god, this is incredible luck.
You're so fortunate.
This is great.
Farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, his son is training the horses,
falls down, breaks his leg.
(15:44):
The neighbors come over to him and say,
this is so horrible.
Your son is injured.
What are you going to do?
This is terrible.
Farmer goes, we'll see.
Next day, the military comes into town,
and they're looking to enlist.
They can't enlist his
son because he's injured.
(16:05):
The neighbors go, oh
my god, you're so lucky.
Your son didn't have
to join the military.
The farmer goes, we'll see.
Anyway, that's my Chinese proverb.
I've heard it slightly.
Yeah, I've heard it a
similar type of story.
Please tell me, did you
hear the Irish version?
No, it wasn't Irish.
(16:25):
It was, I think it was Buddhist or
something, but it was
like maybe the farmer.
But I also thought of like, I just
imagine the neighbors
coming home and going,
I was just over at the
farmer next door's house.
Yeah.
Does he say we'll see
to everything you say?
Is that a bit weird?
I can't pin him down on anything.
(16:46):
Yeah, I'm not going over there again.
Yeah, meanwhile, that
guy lost all his friends.
Yeah, that's a great point.
Anyway, so I think that's...
I went over and I asked him, could I
borrow his lawnmower?
He just said, we'll see.
I mean, what the fuck is that?
We'll see.
I love that.
Anyway, the fact that I got to drop a
Chinese proverb on my parents,
they really enjoyed that.
(17:07):
Anyway, that's a reminder for myself
that, hey, we go
through these ups and downs
and we never know what's
going to come around the corner.
We could cheer our good luck.
Sure, that's great.
We could worry about our bad luck, but
there's something around the corner
and it keeps going that way.
So anyway, going back to you got to see
(17:29):
the Norwegians come to the big,
big L.A. and the shiny lights.
I was almost jealous of that, too,
because like, you
know, it's it's it's great
to have that kind of excitement and like
when you've lived here for a while,
you're like, you kind of have a different
view of it because it's a city.
You know, it's where you live and, you
know, the good and the bad of it.
But there's something really magic about
L.A. that I forget sometimes.
(17:51):
Yes, also also acting in person, you
know, not losing sight of the acting
in front of real people
when we're on Zoom a lot.
So there's something special about that.
Yeah, that's very true.
And, you know, obviously, and I get to
act in person in class or whatever.
But like it was a few years ago when I
auditioned for the Actors Studio
and you do it in a black box
here, I tell you about that.
(18:12):
Yeah. But it was like I
loved the buzz of that.
I loved I forgot what it was like to be
on a stage because I
haven't been on stage
in a long time and like I forgot the now
that's my that's on me.
Like it's plays are available.
People are making plays.
You know, I could
audition for my theater.
Yeah, exactly. It's nice
to know because here we are.
We don't know what the
next step of entertainment is.
You know, entertainment
(18:32):
gets more diversified.
We keep talking about what are people
going to do in the digital age?
Theater, you know, at least theater in
New York is blossoming.
I want I want to say
that as we get more digital,
people are going to flock
towards in person things.
And what happens in the future when
people are dying for human connection?
(18:54):
Who knows? Maybe we are
going to be doing more theater.
I don't know. I mean, what happens when
you have, you know, a Spielberg movie
that gets thrown on streaming and through
30 eyeballs watch it versus,
you know, the 50 people
in a black box theater.
Next thing you know, all the all the all
the eyeballs are going to be segmented
where, hey, who knows?
(19:14):
Maybe we will be doing
theater in the future.
I think I think there's
a rebound to everything.
I love seeing good theater.
And that's one thing I found in Ireland
is that I was going to a lot
more theater than I do here.
I mean, you've been you've been to a few
shows in New York, though.
I mean, that's all I have.
Yeah, I wasn't going to bring this up,
but I've officially seen enough
(19:35):
theater in New York. I
fell in love with theater.
Like it literally
just like like recently.
Have I seen such good experiences where
I'm like, oh, I get it now.
Yeah, because you haven't done a lot of
theater in your life.
I have not. Yeah.
Well, a handful of times I never had a
(19:57):
repeated practice of it.
Yeah. But you I mean, you do more sort of
exotic dancing than I do.
I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I guess it depends on
what you mean by performing.
You know, I didn't grow up with musicals,
but, you know, I will say musicals alone.
I've seen such like
Book of Mormon, obviously.
I mean, how can you not not book a Mormon
(20:17):
with the comedy, with the singing?
Like I'm not a dancer by any stretch.
And I'm watching them
and I'm like, oh, my God,
I could do that and love it.
I'm not saying I could do it well, but I
could totally do that and enjoy myself.
I was like, oh, my God, this looks fun.
You know what I mean?
(20:38):
I would I would pay good money to see you
dancing in a musical.
Dude, I mean, as far as broadening the
higher horizons and not
growing up with musicals.
I saw Hamilton for the first time
literally this month.
And for those that would know, obviously,
this is 10 years, this
is 10 year anniversary.
This is a huge, iconic, mind blowing.
I was immune to it because I never really
(21:00):
listened to the music.
I knew that I like hip hop.
I never really knew whether like I never
really listened to it, but I just assumed
that I oh, I might enjoy it.
Oh, I loved it.
OK, even the songs that
weren't hip hop, it actually.
It like the music for whatever was in
just connected to me.
(21:21):
OK, I was so blown away.
Leslie Odom is one of the stars.
He came back this year to do the run.
People are dog on nuts for this show.
So this is actually kind of a hidden gem.
I might as well throw it at you guys.
This is a hidden gem.
You see cheap Hamilton tickets.
You see standing room only tickets
(21:42):
basically before the show.
Right before the show, you wait in line.
I was going to get two
tickets for me and my sister.
I was literally the last ticket.
My sister did not get a ticket.
And my sister just looked at me.
She's like, well, you
were the one that waited.
She let me go in.
OK, I had such a great time.
I said, we have to go
(22:02):
back literally the next day.
I did standing room only and me and my
sister got the last two tickets again.
But these people are insane.
I saw people in line didn't speak a word
of English and they were singing
word for word every Hamilton song in line
(22:22):
while they were waiting for standing room
only tickets.
So they speak some words of English.
Well, those words of English.
My mind is blown.
I thought theater in
general was not specific.
A lot of indicating.
And you didn't need to be specific and
(22:43):
clear with your acting.
Oh, that's interesting.
So you really thought that I was you
know, you know, you
kind of opened me up with
you. You threw me.
Yeah, let's explore this.
This is my huge revelation because I see
a good amount of theater, huge stars.
I've seen Lawrence Fishford.
I've seen Sam Rockwell.
OK, cool.
(23:04):
I mean, I didn't spend an arm in a leg,
but I can understand people want to see
Sam Rockwell live this year.
I saw Jean Smart do a one
woman show called Meizzie.
And that was transcendent.
Love Jean Smart.
And then I saw Hamilton.
And the thing is, is
credit to the writing.
Lehman was a genius.
And you have multiple cast do his show
(23:26):
and they crush
because the show is so good.
They know all the moments.
It's a move.
It's a train that is going to crush.
And then you see Leslie Odom do it.
And you're like, this guy's a star.
I see Hamilton twice.
And I see the second night some
understudies in the
second night that didn't do the
first night.
(23:46):
And you see the jokes that the main
person got and would
squeeze the juice out of all
these moments.
And you're like, well, I
see why he's the main star.
The understudies great.
But you see why he's the main star.
So all these things
were going off in my head.
And then I see the Hamilton first cast
and I see their performance.
I'm like, oh, this is so different.
(24:08):
But all the nuts and bolts were there.
And I understand why the first cast were.
They all became stars.
I'm having all these thoughts go off in
my head over what you
just you just open up a
huge box marriage.
I saw this is actually this is actually
sort of like breaking
like this is sort of an
exclusive like this is actually like an
actress right at the end of the world
podcast breaking news that
(24:29):
theater is actually good.
Guys, I don't know if
anybody like theaters decent.
And you know, to top it off, this is
literally 10 years of Hamilton.
This is the 10 year anniversary.
So this is 10 years of me being, oh, you
see what everyone was going crazy about.
Anyway, can you actually tell the story
for 500 people in a
(24:49):
huge auditorium to the back
row, but have all their thoughts and
reactions and the
storytelling and the acting and
directing moment to moment specific?
I get it now because I thought everyone I
thought I was being desolate.
I thought I was being desolate.
I thought everyone is.
You know, it was conspiracy.
(25:09):
There is like your
telly can plays are good.
Tell him.
No, tell him.
He'll believe it.
No, he'll believe anything.
He'll believe anything.
Just tell him plays are good.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, theater is incredible.
Good theater is incredible.
But it's like I guess it's like, you
know, there's good
performances in film and TV
and bad performances of film and TV.
The difference in theaters, you have to
get it across over a
(25:30):
wider space like with with
at least with the camera, you can just
you don't have to, you
know, you don't have to
project, you don't have to
you can just keep it all here.
So it's almost it's almost more skillful
to get that
specificity and get that across,
you know, in that in a theater setting.
Let's let's talk about this because we
(25:53):
talked about this
briefly in the past, but
this is a great, great point.
Now, they say that TV is a writer's
medium, you know, as
we go through streaming,
that's I think that's
still that's still true.
They say film is a director's medium.
You know, they're the all
tour, they're crafting it.
It's kind of like their vision.
(26:13):
It's kind of standalone.
They say and I think that's part of the
reason why actors say
they get on the stage
and feel what that is, is is that's the
one time where the
actor actually does have
control. Now, obviously, they're, you
know, they they workshop it.
But the actor is the one doing it.
There's no cuts, there's no edits.
It's the actor doing it.
(26:33):
Right.
So that might be the purest form and the
truest power of the actor.
Right. Yeah.
So my point is, is because there's so
many layers of film and
TV that are completely
out of control of the
actor or better or worse.
I don't even blame the actor like I came
(26:54):
and I can't even tell.
I can't even tell.
Like I don't even say
that that actor is bad.
I don't even say that anymore.
I heard that a long time ago.
I think it's true.
If you're in a film and you look horrible
for whatever reason,
whether it fits out of
that, you're telling a different story
than everyone else's director's fault.
And when I say an actor looks bad, that's
(27:14):
a poor way of describing it.
It's if the actor is not looking through
the lens, there there's
a trust that director,
the director, the editor, the
cinematographer, the heads
of departments are going to do
their job. Of course, we should do
everything in our power.
Like Tom Cruise, know all your angles.
Ultimately, the final decisions are going
(27:35):
to be with the director and editor.
I disagree with that to a certain point.
I disagree with that to a certain extent.
Yeah, because I think
it's your job no matter what.
It's your job. You know, when someone's
very specific and you can see specificity
and thoughts in a performance, always, I
think like you notice it.
It's not like I look at
acting go, that's terrible acting.
I notice really good acting, though.
And I'm like, oh, that was great.
(27:57):
Yeah, but that's that's not.
But to say it's completely out of an
actor's control, I think is
no, no, no. My point is, is so what I'm
saying is, is is for
the director to choose
all your best takes. That's not that's
not what the conversation is.
I get it. I get it.
I understand that there's there.
There are a lot of elements that are out
(28:17):
of your control, but it doesn't diminish
what what you can control.
It doesn't diminish your your
responsibility as a performer.
And I think no matter what take is
chosen, that's why you have to be
specific on every take.
And you have to be listening and you have
to do all the things that we learn
and all the things we do, because.
You're right. You want
(28:38):
to be director proof.
You want to be edit proof.
I think what I'm getting
at is is let's use film.
Let's use film, for example, where you
have the benefit of maybe.
You know, more than five takes and then.
Oh, you know, up to where
it's the David Fincher 70 takes.
(28:59):
OK. If you're a smaller role on TV,
you're probably going to get three takes
at something. That's fair.
You got to make sure
those three takes are good.
Right. Or two. You're not in cover.
You're not in control of your coverage.
You do want to look good.
What looking good means? That's
subjective, obviously. Right.
(29:21):
I think my point is, is
is people like Meryl Streep
and people like Adam Driver,
they have the benefit of doing
a variety of different things
and being as free to go
all the different places.
My point is, is they're
(29:41):
still not in control of.
The editing, the flow of the story
and the directing and
the entire piece as a whole
for filming as an example,
it's a director's medium.
My point is, is you could do your great
job with the three takes.
Right. And then I can still prioritize
(30:06):
the fact that it's golden hour and the
sunset is falling over.
You're the day players best take.
Let's say you do two variety of
completely different opinions.
One is a better choice and
then the other than the other.
Yeah. Right.
It's up to the
(30:27):
director and editor's vision
as far as how they
want to tell that story.
Sure. So that's that's it.
You could do both incredibly specific.
But let's say one choice is better for
the arc of the story
and then and then not.
So a more accurate choice is a character.
Yeah. OK. And then
that's what I'm saying.
You gave them you gave them
(30:48):
the material to work with.
And then there's the
director editor's choice.
You're you're basically taking the
responsibility off the actor entirely
and going, well, the
director is the writer.
So none you can do. You know what I mean?
I'm not absolving the
actor from responsibility.
I think we're saying the same thing.
The actor needs to be
director editor proof.
Do everything in their
(31:09):
power and be undeniable.
The difference is, is I'm
acknowledging the limitations
and I'm wondering if you're
underestimating that.
Jason Bateman literally will tell a
director or whatever.
I'm not doing that.
I'm not doing that note.
She doesn't want to
give them that note, right?
Because he doesn't want
them to use that in the edit.
(31:32):
That is a rare, rare, very lucky.
We should all be so
fortunate to have that that power.
If you make we want to be
the best that we can be.
We want to be the clearest that we can be
in the medium that we're acting.
My point is, is Jason Bateman fortunately
has earned that power.
(31:53):
And most of us don't.
And most of actors
who aren't Jason Bateman
are at mercy of the director and the
editor, by the way, to a degree.
Yeah. Yeah. And then once we
give our consent with A.I.,
they're going to be getting whatever note
that they want anyway.
So that they're there.
Wait, what do you mean? Once
we give our consent with A.I.
(32:14):
Oh, you mean they're going to change your
performance with A.I.?
Yeah, I'm saying that
they're they're allowed.
Technically, they are allowed to change
your performance anyway.
So say for example, well, now we're now
we're really getting.
Oh, so. So I just want to say at this
point, like I feel pretty warm and fuzzy.
I don't know about you. Exactly. Exactly.
I didn't even get to the I didn't even
get to the good stuff yet.
(32:35):
If you were going to consent to letting a
production use A.I.,
they would have to ask for your consent.
You gave their consent and they have the
rights to change the
alter the performance
in a reasonable amount,
meaning that if the scene is roughly the
same, they can alter it.
(32:57):
Those are the things.
Unfortunately, all that
language in the contract is very
it's kind of broad, like I just said.
That being said, they
could put whatever words
and change your
performance in that scene.
So we are losing the power of that even
more because, you know,
whether Jason Bimbam says that or not,
(33:18):
they probably could
could change it anyway.
So yeah, onto the warm and fuzzy stuff.
So, you know, needless to say, we're
pretty we're pretty biased here.
I think we can say that
we're fans of Ireland.
That's correct. Right. We're pro Ireland.
Yeah, I have to say, certainly, you know,
certainly one of us.
(33:38):
Yeah, yeah. You know, we're
pretty pro Ireland over here.
Where is this going?
Sometimes you guys
really get it right. OK.
So Ireland just announced
they're stipend for artists.
They're month in stipend for artists.
They had a program that they launched
during the pandemic.
They just announced that
(33:59):
it's that it's permanent.
This is going to be a
permanent program moving on in 2026.
This is huge.
This is pretty rare in
the big scope of things.
So I just wanted to
give you your flowers.
This is the warm and
fuzzy I've been talking about.
This is this is big.
This is big. Yes, it is.
So so tell me what you
(34:20):
what you think about this.
It's great. I think it's wonderful.
I a few friends of mine got
it actually the first time.
So they started this as a pilot program
and basically they were
the idea was that it would be a basic
income for the arts.
And it works out, I think, to about three
hundred and three hundred and twenty
five euro per week. That's just paid
(34:41):
monthly to artists, people.
And that's around four hundred twenty
four hundred twenty some dollars
for the exchange rate.
Yeah. So that's per week.
It's not it's not
contingent on it's not means tested.
It's not you don't have to earn a certain
amount or not make a certain amount
in order to qualify.
You do have to apply and there are
eligibility criteria.
(35:03):
So this started as a pilot program.
People could apply whatever and a friend,
you know, a few friends of mine got it.
So, you know, basically the theory is
that yeah, no, no, more recently,
more recently than the pandemic over the
last last few years. Yeah.
But, you know, the program's gone well
and they're making
they're making it permanent.
I think this I think it's going to
(35:23):
support around two thousand artists.
So, you know, a small small sample size
to begin with anyway.
But basically the theory is that like it
takes the pressure off
artists because it gives them this sort
of guaranteed income.
You can also earn anything
else you want on top of that.
It's not you know, they don't they don't
(35:44):
penalize you for it.
So it's kind of promote art in various
different forms in Ireland
and to allow people to create, you know,
without without the pressure of of,
you know, like having to having to,
you know, come up with that that amount
of money every month.
In addition to everything else. So I
(36:05):
think it's a pretty thing.
It makes all the sense in the world.
So who's who's going with me?
And where do we sign up?
I'm ready to move there right now.
No, absolutely. I think it's I
think it's a brilliant scheme.
And like it's it's Ireland does, you
know, Ireland does value the arts.
Like I in my experience of it and I
granted I haven't lived there for it.
But that's that's my impression of it,
(36:25):
that Ireland does value the arts
in a way that's not.
You know, that that that
isn't always the case in in in
particularly in this country, there's
some debate about whenever these schemes
come up, there's debate
about the validity of them.
But I think Ireland
is pretty good at like
(36:47):
placing value on on on the arts, because
that has that's one of our great
strengths, I think, as a as a society and
one of our great, you know,
a lot of our great exports to
the world are literature and
you know, literature
and poetry and plays.
And I think that's I think
that's an understatement.
Yeah, I think that's an understatement.
(37:08):
You guys put your money
where that where your mouth is.
And I think that speaks volumes because
you're completely right.
You know, does anyone value the arts?
This is really, you know, I don't want to
say I don't want to be bombastic about
this, but, you know, the part of reason
why, you know, back to the whole theater
thing and then, you know, my love for
theater now that I'm a theater bust.
You know, how many
cities really push the arts?
(37:30):
Support it, you know, push it out there.
We don't see a lot of these programs
speaking, you know, speaking of New York.
They had the creatives.
Oh, by the way, the name of this Ireland
program is the Basic Income for the Arts.
Yeah, I.A. It's a pilot program.
And now it's permanent.
The closest thing that America or New
York had creatives rebuild New York
artists employment program.
(37:51):
So we they've had these type of things,
these type of programs.
None of them were ever made permanent.
Any country in the
world never made permanent.
They had pilot
programs never made permanent.
OK, New York, this collaboration, you
know, goes on for two years and so on.
And obviously New York's expensive.
So there's there's that. But, you know,
(38:13):
these type of things were always
pilot programs and they
were never government funded.
I see. So this is Ireland's government
pushing it versus a bunch of grant money
and so on and so forth.
So that's another thing.
You know what I mean? This other, you
know, you know, we can get into the
conversation as far as
(38:34):
universal basic income.
You know, we're getting
into that conversation.
A lot of a lot of countries are fighting,
you know, candidates trying to do that.
They're actually using they're hoping
that the momentum of this Ireland program
could actually help
springboard other programs like that.
But, you know, this is
specifically for the artists.
There's no strings attached.
(38:55):
I think I think it's incredible.
Yeah, I think it's incredible.
The fact that, you know, you have a
successful, you know, country like this
that they've done it for three years and
to make it permanent.
You know, for now, it's it's rare.
I think it's rare.
Because I think the arts
are what I think it's vital.
(39:16):
And I don't know. I'm not being, you
know, facetious when I say that.
I think the arts are
vital to any society.
I think it's like I mean, usually in the
past when you said that we thought
we were facetious, but now
it feels like it's for real.
Yeah, you thought I was a real prick.
Like, who's this fucking guy talking
about this bullshit?
Going on about the art.
All right. Yeah.
All right. Picasso.
(39:38):
So but I think it it
like you see it valued.
And I find that a lot of
European countries as well.
It is, you know, there is a lot of
there's a lot of
public art installations.
And it just does it creates such a.
It creates such goodwill in a country and
such a feeling of positivity.
And I think it opens people up in a way
that like I've never really understood.
(40:00):
There's such a debate about it here that
like schemes are being slashed
and people like, why
are we paying for this?
Like, why is that?
What's the value of this?
And does this back and forth all the time
between, you know, this weird kind of
like brutal pragmatism where like, no,
this is a waste of money.
This is a fucking way, you
know, my taxes, you know,
(40:21):
that that's exactly what
I was going to bring up.
This goes back into the fact that, first
of all, Americans were,
you know, it's funny, it's funny.
I'm so Irish, I'm
using Americans as they.
Yeah, they. Right. These guys.
But, you know, Americans
are known for overworking.
We know that, you know, with the you look
at what the entertainment
(40:42):
industry is doing, they're going to
squeeze every dollar out of any of their
workers and et cetera, et
cetera. So America is extreme.
But it brings up a good point.
Part of the reason why a lot of these
programs and I think Finland, Finland had
a basic income, ended after a year
when it got to the point where citizens
have to vote to increase taxes to allow
the program to keep going.
(41:04):
They didn't see a benefit.
So they didn't vote for more taxes.
And now we can see here that not only was
there success from the pilot program,
but the citizens thought it was
worthwhile across the
board across for all citizens,
whether they're artists or not, and they
were all for the program.
So there you go.
And it was actually helping all their
(41:25):
community and society as a whole.
So there you go.
And I think, you know, like you were
saying in America, we were not convinced.
No, there's as much it's
much more up for debate here.
Like many things are, you know, up for
debate here that in a
way that they aren't
in in Ireland and in Europe in the same
way, it's one of the interesting things
about America, it's quite and
(41:46):
particularly now is
it feels quite divided.
And
there's so much it's quite acrimonious
and it's just there's a lot of conflict.
And
so when something like this comes along,
I'm thrilled to see it.
You know, I'm absolutely thrilled to see
we just have our outgoing president.
We just voted in a new
president, Catherine Connolly.
(42:07):
But the outgoing
president, yeah, my good.
Now, the president in
Ireland is a more of it's not a
it's not like president here.
It's it's it's more of a figurehead of
state as opposed to like,
you know, the practical leader of the
effective leader of the country.
Our leader, the leader of the country is
is the Taoiseach,
which is prime minister,
(42:28):
basically, and the president
is slightly more ceremonial.
They do sign
things into law, but it's it's it's not a
it's more of a head of sort of a an
ambassador of the country.
So the rest of the world.
But our outgoing president, Michael
DeHiggins, was fantastic.
We've had very good
(42:48):
presidents for the last while.
And the term is seven years.
He just did. And you can do two terms.
He just did 14 years. And
he was he's a really, you know, wonderful
guy and very outspoken on the issues that
he cares about and and a
great ambassador for Ireland.
But he
you know, he said that, like, a country
should be judged on how they treat their
(43:09):
most vulnerable citizens. And I, you
know, I I believe that.
I think that
that, you know, putting value on the arts
and that kind of compassion that
that really typifies a
healthy society, I think.
Well, that was that was well put.
(43:30):
That's beautiful. What I tell you,
everyone, warm and fuzzy, warm and fuzzy.
We delivered. That was the warm and
fuzziest thing I ever heard in my life.
So there there you go.
And, you know, as an
American, I can I can
say I have no idea what you're talking
about, but it sounds great.
One last little note
about this competition,
(43:52):
credit to your friends, this
competition for this program,
eight thousand two hundred applicants in
twenty twenty two, two
thousand were chosen.
So it's very competitive out of eight
thousand two hundred
two thousand were chosen.
But it's one of four.
Like, you know what I mean?
That's one in four. You
have a one in four chance.
That's not a bad. Those are bad.
That's a great point.
That's a great point.
(44:14):
And then they increased it recently to
two thousand two hundred.
So there you go. We want to see.
Hey, here's the thing.
It's like, you know, we want to see this
program do well, and it's been doing well
for for many years now.
And, you know, we'll see other other
countries follow suit.
But, you know, we all can learn a little
bit from Ireland for sure.
So more for the warm and fuzzy.
Let's do hidden gems.
(44:34):
Let's do hidden gems.
So this is a hidden gem
courtesy of Leslie Kahn.
She mentioned a I don't know.
I don't know if she would describe it as
a tool or a thing
that she kind of came up
with just a little fun tool that she uses
and she, you know, has her actors do.
She mentioned it recently.
(44:54):
When you have an actor's victory, whether
it is you got called back, you got a pin,
you had a great,
lovely experience on set.
She said to make a one sheet about it,
basically a one sheet is a document,
whether you want to whip something up on
Canva, it's a one sheet document of a
picture, some text,
and you can just kind of
(45:15):
document it. It's almost
like a a victory scrapbook.
It's just important because it's a
reminder to celebrate our victories,
keep morale up, self-esteem.
It also helps her
surveillance to get to the next victory.
It reminded me of like a story that I
wanted to share on on
Instagram and social
media, and I'm going to do that.
(45:36):
And there's not a lot of celebration
going on in our industry.
So there you go. So it's a time to do it.
So that's my hand. Yeah, that's great.
And, you know, I think I've mentioned
this before, but I stole this from Emmet
Scanlon. Yeah, I love that.
He talks about so every time I get a job
or whatever, what I'll do is I'll keep
like sparkling apple
juice because I don't drink.
(45:56):
So I keep I keep that in the fridge.
And then whenever I get a job, I will
FaceTime my parents and they'll have one
in Ireland and we'll have a little we'll
celebrate together and drink a little
open up of bottles, because it just.
Yeah, it helps solidify that thing of
like just celebrate the victories,
because this is like,
you know, it's brilliant.
(46:17):
This is all great stuff.
And I think it contributes to that
positive feeling and leads to more.
So I think that one sheet that I'm glad
you brought that up.
That's a really cool idea.
My hidden gem for this.
I'm going to get it actually just so I
can show you for those who are watching
on YouTube one second.
So I my mother put me on these things,
but these these are mists for their
(46:39):
they're called Australian bushflower
essences and their
combination of different
different like herbs
and flowers and stuff.
But they, you know,
they sell these mists.
They also sell like things you can, you
know, drops you can put on your tongue.
Like all of these essences made of
Australian flowers, bush flowers.
But
these mists I use and
(46:59):
I spray them around.
This is a space clearing.
They have them for different purposes,
but this is the space clearing mist.
It says it you can
spray them on your skin.
You can just spray them around.
They smell phenomenal.
But it says this one is
system clearing negative energies,
emotional and psychic to create a safe,
sacred and harmonious environment.
Oh, perfect.
You even know we're going to
be warm and fuzzy this episode.
(47:20):
Yeah, for that.
There's a travel essence, but I
absolutely adore these things.
Like they smell phenomenal.
So I meditate in the morning to calm the
fucking gerbil running around in my head.
So I'll
so what I'll do beforehand is I'll spray
that space clearing mists.
And I love this.
So it just comes to me right down.
And then I meditate for 30 minutes.
So that's my part of my
(47:41):
little morning routine.
But they're great. They're really
I'm curious, how did you come up on on
these particular drops?
Australian about my mother.
Yeah, through my mom.
My mom is a homeopath and also clued into
a lot of different things.
So she's
any relation to me out of them.
Yeah. Yeah.
She's awesome.
She qualifies the
(48:02):
homeopaths many years ago in Ireland.
She's a journalist her whole career, but
also practice homeopathy.
She's a yeah.
But no, it's such a wealth of knowledge
about, you know, so
many different things.
So this is a yeah.
So she turned me on to
these possible essences.
Yeah. So just as mists, if you want to
just spray them around.
(48:22):
They also have all kinds of other things.
I think you can just go on
their website and order them.
And it doesn't bother your allergies.
No, no, no, no.
There you go.
That's a good that's a
good advertisement for.
There you go. Maybe
it's a future sponsor.
All right.
That's our show. Everyone.
I hope you enjoyed the episode.
Everyone have a good one.
(48:42):
See you guys.
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