March 17, 2025 • 31 mins
Welcome to the Actor's Guide Podcast, Episode 20!
There’s a viral article circulating comparing Hollywood’s reaction to Jeremy Strong’s compared to “golden boy” of the moment, Kieran Culkin (article link below). If you weren’t aware, Jeremy Strong is deeply passionate about the craft of acting and the reaction is mixed. If you’re watching on YouTube, you’ll see the picture from 1993 when he was waiting outside the Oscars to watch the actors and actresses enter the ceremony. Adorable or mortifying? E-Kan and Rían will be the judge.
E-Kan and Rían discuss the comparison - is being passionate about the craft and caring too much unsexy, almost cringey? Is having ambition uncool? Also getting some side eye was Timothy Chalamet’s SAG Awards speech. What can actors learn from these actors, and how does likability fall into play? What does this tell us about society and even politics and dating?
They also dig into the recent developments of a billion dollar studio expansion in Los Angeles and what Rick Caruso has to say about it and why he's filing a lawsuit against it. Everything you to know about a pivotal project for the Hollywood's future.
The guys also launch their newest segment - The Week in Reddit! They go through the Acting Reddit thread for the best (and maybe the worst) questions and insights. Is it genius? Toxic? It's Reddit! Send us your questions actorsguidepodcast@gmail.com!
Hidden Gems:
Report on Plastics in common day foods- https://www.plasticlist.org/
Links:
Jeremy Strong/Kieran Culkin Substack Article, thatfinalscene.com - https://substack.com/@itssophieschoice/p-158233281
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/entertainment/jeremy-strong-oscar-nomination/index.html
Jeremy Strong Q/A - https://youtu.be/SM4vf6oskw8?si=Yv4Z05Z_21D-rDjk
Timothy Chalamet SAG Awards speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P50UQeIL4o
Time stamps:
(00:00) Intro
(03:05) Rick Caruso vs Hollywood
(05:40) Jeremy Strong - Kieran Culkin debate
(09:13) Status is ease
(14:30) Ambition is unsexy?
(19:45) The Best in Reddit
(21:46) Self-tape vs In person
(28:00) Hidden gems
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you're not familiar with Jeremy
(00:01):
Strong, he put out an
official statement when he got
nominated.
"I've devoted my life to the attempt to
do genuine work that
would be worthy of this
honor."
Kieran Culkin, the only thing that's
shared is his wife
sharing an Instagram story of
him popping a bottle of champagne in
France and the words, "Let's fucking go."
(00:22):
Right.
You talk about that on Smartlist, I
mentioned that like sexy indifference.
Or even in dating, you know, if someone
likes the other person
too much, they back off,
you know, that kind of...
And that's why everyone's single.
Yes.
Hey guys, welcome to the Actors Guide to
the End of the World
podcast where we talk about
acting in Hollywood in
a way people understand.
I'm your host, E-Kan Soong
(00:42):
This is my co-host.
Rían Sheehy Kelly, how you doing?
What's up, buddy?
Oh, you know, just enjoying my life.
Oh yeah, hanging in there.
I jumped in the sea today.
Oh wow.
Yeah.
I jumped in the
freezing cold water today.
Every week.
So you guys have a weekly tradition?
Shout out to the lads who go every week.
Me, Karl, Paddy, Karl,
(01:03):
every week we get in the sea.
Yeah, that's no joke,
but I love a cold plunge.
That's great.
So if you guys aren't following yet,
please follow us wherever
you find your podcast at
Actors Guide podcast.
We're on YouTube.
We're on Substack.
If you get a chance to write us a review,
we would love and appreciate that.
It helps people find the podcast.
And a shout out to the people
(01:23):
who have written us reviews.
Thank you very much.
You are, I think.
I assume you know who you are.
So on the show for today, there's a $1
billion studio that's in the works in LA.
We're all hoping for more production.
There's a catch.
There's a powerful person
in LA who's opposing it.
So we're going to talk about that.
It sounds very Batman-esque.
(01:44):
Yeah.
Sounds very mysterious.
And also we're going to talk about a
viral story that's been
going around on Substack
and on social media.
This discussion about the differences
between how Jeremy Strong
and Ciaran Culkin have been
perceived during awards season.
One cares deeply about the craft.
(02:05):
The other one is a little
more casual and laid back.
And it brings up the
question, is caring too much cringy?
I love, I love this topic.
I love this topic.
Stop caring, everybody.
Stop caring.
And then we're also
going to introduce a new bit.
It's called This Week in Reddit.
(02:26):
We are going to take the best and worst
bits of the acting thread of Reddit.
We're going to go through
the acting Reddit thread.
And for the best, sometimes worst,
comments, questions, advice.
We're going to debate it.
We're going to discuss.
So sit back, relax.
Now a word from our
sponsor for today's episode.
Does your pet get the yips in auditions?
(02:47):
Does your little friend literally shit
the bed at callbacks?
Welcome to the Royal Academy for Dramatic
Barks, where your puppies will be trained
by acting legends Ellen Barkin, Mark
Ruffalo and Sir Patrick Stewart.
Sign up today.
All right.
So for Word Around Town, we have a
billion dollar studio
(03:07):
renovation, television city
right in the heart of L.A.
And it just so happens that Rick Caruso
himself, the wannabe
mayor, is filing a lawsuit and
is opposing the renovation.
A lot of different factors here, but
let's just talk about Rick Caruso.
We've talked about him during the fires.
He also owns the Grove, which is why he
(03:30):
could want this
expansion not to happen because
it's competition.
Because if they have retail, if they have
shopping, he's not going
to want the competition.
You got money when you own the Grove.
I think it's impressive when someone
lives near the Grove, but
just imagine you own the
Grove or at least his,
(03:50):
you know, corporation.
He's alleging it's a violation of the
California Environmental Quality Act.
And in the past, a lot of people use this
act to block these type of transactions.
Hackman VP called the lawsuit an
unfortunate but
predictable abuse of CEQA to stop the
television studio plan.
(04:11):
Who will own this or who will be like,
well, is it like who's
in charge of all of this?
Hackman Capital Partners.
They own Culver Studios.
They own Kauffman Astoria Studios and
they own Rally Studios.
So they're expanding their portfolio.
The Entertainment Union Coalition, who's
running Keep California
Rolling, is in favor of this
(04:33):
project, obviously.
No, it just, it does seem largely driven
by self-interest there.
I mean, like if you're the owner of a
large mall next door to
it and you're like, this
is going to ruin the quality, the
environmental quality of this place
because of the traffic,
yet you run like one of our own, one of
the biggest malls in
the city and most popular
(04:53):
spots in the city.
I mean, it does kind of seem like the
environmental quality is
not your primary concern.
Exactly.
According to his lawsuit, it was unclear
whether Hackman Capital
Partners were going to use
that entire renovation
for studios, for production.
(05:14):
Oh, that's interesting.
I mean, it could have been offices, it
could have been retail space.
So it wasn't really
clear what it was for.
And so they're kind of
forcing it to be clear.
So maybe it's a good thing.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Obviously, we want more productions in LA
and this is going to be a big part of it.
And we'll see how that lawsuit goes.
(05:34):
So let's talk about
this sub-stack article.
For those that don't know sub-stack, it's
a new hot blogging, writing platform.
Podcasts are on it.
We're on it.
So this writer, great film writer, I
don't know how long
she's been doing it, but it's
a great film writer.
Her thread got a lot of traction online
and so on during this Oscar season.
(05:56):
She does a lot of film commentary and
it's just posing the question.
As the award season went on and
culminated with Jeremy
Strong watching Kieran Culkin
accept another award over him.
I don't know if you saw this.
There were memes about
Jeremy Strong's reaction.
I didn't see it.
Was he gutted?
Because Kieran Culkin
did shout a mo and go.
Feel like he was so overcome with
(06:18):
emotion, both
positive and everything else.
To paint this picture, if you're not
familiar with Jeremy
Strong, obviously we have heard
about his process.
We talked about this a
little bit last week.
He put out a quote.
He put out an official
statement when he got nominated.
"I've devoted my life to the attempt to
do genuine work that
would be worthy of this
(06:39):
honor.
Today's nomination is, without
overstatement, a
realization of a lifelong dream.
I remember spending the night on cold
metal bleachers outside
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
in 1993 with my father to watch the
actors and actresses
arrive for the Oscar ceremony."
So he cares deeply about this craft and
(07:01):
this process as an actor.
I think it's just an interesting
comparison with Kieran Culkin.
The only thing that's shared is his wife
sharing an Instagram
story of him popping a bottle
of champagne in France and
the words, "Let's fucking go."
Do you know what I mean?
(07:23):
So it's just like, what does this say
about society and is this fair?
Is caring too much not cool or cringy?
I know.
Every time I say that.
It's such a weird question.
There's other elements.
Obviously, Kieran
Culkin grew up on movie sets.
(07:43):
And I do want to say this.
I don't know if you knew this.
Jeremy Strong grew up in a
very working class upbringing.
I believe he shares a story for vacations
because they didn't have
money to go on vacations.
He was literally in a toboggan on bricks
rowing, pretending he was like...
(08:05):
Roll it back there.
He was in a toboggan on
bricks rowing to pretend he was...
He was on vacation.
Aww.
I know.
Exactly.
Exactly.
One, that's heartbreaking.
Two, that's weird.
At what point did really caring about the
craft and really working your butt off at
(08:26):
it, at what point was
that considered uncool?
Now I know that that's a weird
generalization that maybe Gen
Z kids are talking about, but
here we are.
Because I feel like in society that
actually is kind of true.
I don't know if the people who care and
(08:48):
work the hardest are
actually the ones being celebrated
and rewarded.
I feel like people want to be with the
party guy who's
organizing the happy hour.
And that guy actually might
get promoted at your office.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, one thing is, you know, when we
talk about status in
scenes and ease, you know,
(09:11):
status is ease and really caring about
something does not,
doesn't sort of engender ease.
You know what I mean?
Like I...
I think that's spot on.
Caring about something too much or
gripping it too tightly
is the opposite of ease, I
think.
(09:32):
This is a shameless plug.
We talked about Jeremy
Strong and his process.
We actually talked about it last week.
I went to a Q&A that he was doing for The
Apprentice during this award season.
I put it up on my YouTube at
Econ Song, E-K-A-N-S-O-O-N-G.
I thought it was great.
I thought it was incredibly informative.
So I'm going to put that
link in the description.
(09:52):
I did not think it was cringy.
I thought it was
actually very captivating.
So there's nothing wrong with really
caring about something.
Like I think I...
One, I don't know, it's a complicated
question because one, I
think it's brilliant that,
you know, he cares
that much in some ways.
Two, in my own experience, I've caring
too much about something.
The tighter I grip it, the further away
(10:15):
it gets in some ways.
Great to have all that ambition, but just
to not be attached to the outcome of it.
It's like catching...
trying to catch the wind.
Yes.
First off, you're spot on because I think
historically we always idolize these cool
characters who had ease.
I mean, we're talking about like, we're
talking about James Dean.
(10:36):
We're talking about
Brad Pitt in Oceans 11.
We're talking about Cool Hand Luke.
We've always appreciated those guys or
characters that had more
ease and effortlessness.
It's just interesting how in society
where it transcends,
hey, this isn't a character.
This is actually, in society, we actually
(10:59):
want to be around
people who might be a little
more off the cuff and so on.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Funnily enough, because I don't think it
means that any of these
people care any less, but
somebody like Jack Nicholson, who sort of
embodies ease in a lot of ways in the way
that he works and the way
(11:19):
he comes across on screen.
I'm sure he strikes me as someone who
cares a great deal and
obviously throughout his
career would have cared a great deal.
But how it comes across is different.
Jeremy Strong sort of has a reputation
for being very intense
and being very committed
to the craft and very, like, quite
(11:40):
serious about the work.
So maybe it's just the public perception
of how much you care as
opposed to how much you
actually care.
I don't know, you know?
I want to be clear because a lot of
people were conflating
these two on threads.
Every so often, I would throw in my
opinion here and there, we're
not talking about performance
(12:00):
both of those performances are incredibly
the goal as an actor.
And, you know, it's
something that we talk about in LK.
We want to be brilliant, but we also want
to make it look effortless.
That's kind of part of
the magic trick, right?
We want to be great actors and we want to
make it look effortless.
We're not seeing the Jeremy Strong's
performance ever looks,
ever, ever looks not effortless.
(12:21):
He still looks like a great actor and
it's still kind of effortless.
You know what I mean?
Sure.
Don't get caught acting as they say.
Exactly.
Exactly.
We're not talking about, we're not
criticizing performances.
We're just talking about how their story
of their lives and
their career is affecting
our perception of them.
Do you know what I mean?
I think we can get to this point of kind
(12:45):
of debunking this a teeny bit.
There's a lot of people who we celebrated
for having a deep craft and process.
I mean, Daniel Day-Lewis.
Yeah.
How do people not use him as a perfect
example of being committed to the craft?
I mean, no one's making
fun of Daniel Day-Lewis.
I mean, sure, they might think he's a
(13:05):
little odd or a little, you
know, I don't think people
are cringing at Daniel Day-Lewis.
No, but you know, I definitely don't.
Yeah, go ahead.
You know what I think the difference with
Daniel Day-Lewis is
nobody knows Daniel Day-Lewis.
You know what I mean?
He doesn't do very many interviews.
He doesn't talk about it.
Like that's the difference.
I think is that he's not out there
talking about his process.
(13:27):
And I think Jeremy Strong is a bit more
accessible in that respect.
I think he has probably
said a little bit more lately.
You know what I mean?
And I'm not faulting for that at all.
Like he's obviously being interviewed and
he's doing press and
these things are coming
up.
But I don't have a sense of Daniel
Day-Lewis as a person.
I mostly know his work, you know?
(13:50):
Jeremy Strong, I think there is a bit of
a public persona or a
public perception of
who he is as a person because he's also
been on a very successful TV show.
And that's like in succession.
That's slightly different to doing a lot
of really intense
Oscar-nominated movies up to
that point.
You know what I mean?
(14:10):
So let me throw one other thing.
So on this idea of ambition, because in
this article, they also
mentioned Timothy Chalamet's
SAG Award speech about how he wanted to
achieve greatness, how he openly said it.
A lot of people were appreciated the
honesty and a lot of
people also did cringe.
(14:31):
He said that this is more fuel for me to
keep going and keep
doing, I'm paraphrasing here,
but this is more fuel for me, keep doing
things and I want to be great.
I want to be one of the greats.
I can also throw in a lot of actors in
the past who were
actively, I mean, for lack of
a better word, chasing Oscars.
We could talk about Bradley Cooper.
(14:51):
We could talk about Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway got a lot of backlash for
her Oscar campaigns in the past.
And a lot of that, you know, might be
because she's also a woman as well.
But we're talking about this overly
ambitious pursuit of something.
Go ahead.
I don't.
The term overly ambitious is
tricky for me because I don't.
(15:14):
It's not really for me to judge what
somebody's ambition
is, you know what I mean?
Whether it's the right amount or not
ambitious enough or too ambitious.
I don't know.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, that's a great point.
That's a great point.
So let me throw out the overly.
Just let's just say ambitious.
Where do you fall on that?
Because I feel like you and I are both
kind of in between on this spectrum here.
(15:35):
I think it's fine.
I think it's absolutely
fine to have those ambitions.
And I think it's probably
probably a lot of actors do.
I think where it gets where it can
backfire on people is when
they say them publicly because
you become sort of defined by that or you
become judged by that standard.
Then if you say I want to be one of the
(15:56):
greats, I want to be this.
You're kind of setting yourself up
against that standard and
then you'll always be judged.
Are you one of the greats or are you not
one of the greats or
like how do you know?
And it's such a subjective term that I
think to say it
publicly, that might be the thing
that trips people up.
Is it should we just not say it out loud
(16:18):
when Timothy Shalomay
says it out loud at his SAG
Awards speech, people are like, they
don't know how to place it.
They don't know how to take it.
Is it does it make people uncomfortable
that he says I'm openly
aspiring to be great at
a bad thing?
The fact that society cringes at it.
It's funny, isn't it?
Like you're right.
That's an interesting point.
(16:41):
Why does saying it out become, you know,
create problems for you?
But it's that thing of when you publicly
state a goal, you become
judged by whether or not
you hit that goal.
When people know you care,
they sort of judge you by that.
They see what you care about and they
have power over you.
(17:01):
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's that's that's that's power.
Yeah.
Maybe that's what it is.
But, you know, they talk
about that on smart list.
They mentioned that
like sexy indifference.
That's attractive to people.
It's the same in, you
know, in relationships.
There's a there's a kind of a balance of
like, or even in dating,
you know, if someone likes
the other person too much, they back off,
(17:21):
you know, that kind of
the stereotype of like
the push and pull.
And that's why everyone's single.
Yes.
Another example to throw into this mix is
is Denzel Washington.
He won his first Oscar for Training Day
or this is his second
Oscar, his first Oscar
for Best Actor.
And he said when he was in college,
(17:42):
everyone asked, what do
you want to be when you grow
up?
And he said, I want to be
the best actor in the world.
Just straight up.
I think it's as basic or as sort of
simple as it like ability.
Is that is that what the difference is?
Or is it is it some or
is it the way somebody?
Yeah.
Or the way somebody carries themselves.
You see it in politics a lot.
(18:05):
Like ability plays a much bigger role in
politics than it than it
should, you know, in terms
of policy and everything else and who
would necessarily do the best job.
It becomes a sort of a popularity thing.
So and Denzel is a very charismatic guy.
Jeremy strong.
Not as much.
You know what I mean?
He doesn't have that, you
know, outgoing personality.
(18:26):
And it's funny because
you brought up politics.
I was going to bring up politics, but it
does it does say
something about even how our last
election went.
You know, Trump maybe goes off the cuff.
And then on the other
side, you have Kamala.
You have people like AOC and care very
deeply, very articulate, very passionate.
(18:50):
And maybe maybe that came into play.
Trump has no problem doing interviews on
a golf course with a
bunch of random strangers,
a random dudes doing a podcast.
The actor aspect, we call it.
What is your room?
When you go into an
audition, what is your room like?
What is the vibe in
or essence in the room?
What does look like an actor who someone
(19:11):
wants to be with on set for 16 hours?
I don't think either of them are going to
suffer too much from these things.
It's just it's just interesting to talk
about how it's perceived.
Anyway, yeah, I'm glad
we talked about that.
But let's let's jump
into this Reddit bit.
It's called this week in Reddit.
(19:33):
We are going to take the best and worst
bits of the acting thread of Reddit.
Some are going to be a
little more involved.
Some are going to be quick bits.
So where do you want to start?
OK, I see one here.
Audition a month.
Is it bad for everyone else or just me?
And this was 23 days
ago, so fairly relevant.
(19:54):
So chances are it's probably not you.
It's probably not your reps.
The industry is just dead.
This is not nitpicking on Reddit, but we
don't know what city they're in.
So are they non-union?
Are these non-union auditions?
Are they commercials?
Are they TV film?
Are they for theater?
(20:15):
That's true.
Sometimes they do.
Sometimes they'll
preface it with, you know,
LA actor, whatever, or
Atlanta here or New Mexico.
It's funny because you do see threads
like this a lot in the acting.
So Reddit, I find where people just want
reassurance that like,
is this normal?
Am I wasting my time?
(20:35):
Am I, you know, are people--
because I think it's
that thing about comparison.
Like, how am I-- how do I stack up
against people around me?
Every actor I know at
some point, I think,
has talked about either not enough
auditions or not happy with their reps.
You know what I mean?
At what point as an actor are you like,
I'm always getting the quality auditions?
(20:57):
Yeah.
So a couple of comments.
Ha ha.
If you're getting an audition a month,
you're up there with
one other person I know,
which means you're getting out a lot.
You've got a good rep.
Another person goes,
what even are auditions?
It's been 80 years.
Another person goes, no, it's just you.
The rest of us have at least
25 to 30 auditions per week.
I mean, don't you see the constant posts
on this subreddit about how thriving
the industry is right now?
(21:19):
All right.
So the bottom line is
nobody's getting a ton of auditions.
And you know, you might want to get used
to that a teeny bit.
But this is the landscape
of film and TV right now.
Yeah.
But it's nice to see that people are like
all in the same boat.
Nice.
I don't know.
Like, it's not great for the industry.
But it's reassuring to know that.
(21:39):
This was one from a few
weeks back that I had saved.
It said, do you guys find it more
beneficial to do a self audition tape
or go in person an audition?
And it's basically asking.
I'm just curious about what
everyone's preferences are.
I did a self tape not that long ago.
I'm just wondering what the
pros and cons of both are.
Which sounds like it might be a less
(22:00):
experienced actor asking this question.
But it's really split with this, I find.
Because I was actually talking about this
with some actors yesterday,
the day before.
It seems to be really
split down the middle.
The first comment is, I
prefer going in person
because it gives me the
opportunity to show casting
that I can work well under direction.
(22:22):
Oh, you know, I was
talking about it on this job.
And I was talking to some of the actors.
The job that I'm doing at the moment, I
was talking to some of the other actors
as to what they prefer.
And some of them feel like
being in the room gives them
a much greater advantage
because they're meeting people
and they're talking to
the casting director.
They're showing they can take direction.
And they feel like self tapes are just
firing things into a void.
(22:45):
Personally, I sort of
fall between the two.
I love-- I really enjoy self tapes.
I actually really love doing them.
I love being able to
have the time to do them.
And then I think as far as callbacks go,
I'd love to have a callback in person.
Or even Zoom is interesting.
But at least you've presented like,
here's my take on this.
(23:05):
But a lot of people--
Yeah, third comment.
Self tape.
I don't have to commute 45 minutes in
traffic for every audition.
Allows me to have a full
time job to pay the bills.
Totally valid.
It certainly made
things a lot more convenient.
It isn't as stressful to do a self tape,
but they get to know you
better in the audition room.
(23:29):
Very, very divisive, this issue, I find.
It's really--
I know that for me, if it's a commercial,
I want to be in person.
I absolutely want to be in person.
They are happening in person in LA.
A lot of these
opportunities, it's immediate.
You get direction.
For that 20 seconds, you need to know
exactly what they want.
And they're going to explain it to you
(23:49):
versus just setting up
your self tape and biting into a
cheeseburger five different ways.
As far as film and TV, I think having
self tapes as a possibility
is incredible.
I've been in three different
cities in the past two weeks,
and I was never booked out.
And I always had that
(24:10):
opportunity, audition for this,
audition for this.
I never took a day off,
even though I was all around.
Yeah, I was just going to
say, that's a very good point.
Commercial versus TV film, yeah.
As far as being in person
with 45 other actors in a lobby,
I absolutely do not miss that.
(24:32):
I don't understand
how anyone misses that.
I love actors.
I have a lot of actor friends.
I just don't want to be in that energy.
I don't choose to be in that energy.
I can say hi to a friend, and you can
catch up and all that stuff.
But I think a lot of people are still
tied to that romantic idea
of being an actor in LA.
(24:53):
You're in a lobby with 45 other people
that look exactly like you.
I don't-- in theory, sure, it might be
fun for five seconds.
But I don't miss that.
Both of us are technical savvy enough to
be able to operate lighting, camera,
and possibly Zoom.
If you've been doing this for 50 years,
(25:15):
and you don't want to adapt to Zoom,
I get it.
I agree.
I think we're very similar on that.
I feel the same way about commercial
auditions, definitely.
Because a lot of
commercial auditions are--
there's some improv in there.
There's usually a joke, or
there's a laugh in there.
You can hear the laugh in the room, and
that's a very reassuring kind of a thing,
(25:38):
or a very physical win if
you get a laugh in the room.
I don't miss that
waiting room environment.
My relationship to
that changed over time.
When I was starting out, particularly
when I just moved to America,
or when I just moved
to Chicago, actually.
I'd lived in LA for a year, and then I
was in Chicago for quite a few years.
But initially in Chicago, I felt very
(25:59):
intimidated by that environment.
But over time, over the
years, I got much more used to it,
and I also got to know the casting
directors a lot better.
And I'd booked work through some of them,
so I felt more at home in it.
And my relationship to it changed.
But I don't miss it, because
invariably-- in LA, especially--
when you go into a room like that, you're
typically going into a room
you don't know very well.
(26:19):
You know what I mean?
You may not know the casting director.
I don't miss that at all,
because there's a real--
you're judging everybody,
and they're judging you,
and it's distracting from
what you're there to do,
and you're sizing people up.
And it's just weirdly
competitive, but not.
Having said that for a TV
and film, I love self-types.
(26:39):
I have to throw this out there.
There's one time that I remember, when
you said dealing with other actors BS,
whether it's good or bad,
or just the distractions,
there was a show called In Living Color.
They tried to reboot it.
It's a famous sketch show.
It's a la SNL, but a little edgier.
They tried to reboot it.
I'm so not a guy who does impressions,
stand up, et cetera.
(27:01):
But there was a requirement saying you
have to do two characters,
and two monologues, et cetera, et cetera.
So there was a number
that you had to prepare.
One of the other actors--
Asian guy, obviously,
possibly competition--
says to me, implying that there was three
or more characters or impressions
(27:24):
that we had to prepare.
I was expecting two.
They're like, oh, yeah, you know, they
asked me to do three.
Oh, I don't even know why.
I think trying to psych me out.
What a dickhead.
This is the BS that you have to deal with
(27:44):
with other actors in a room.
Anyway, I just left my ass off.
It's not like I was
going to get that job anyway.
So yeah, I don't miss that at all.
It's like walking out of the room as you
walk past the waiting room,
go, man, that third scene was long.
And then just leave.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's only two scenes that you had to
prepare, but they did a third.
(28:06):
They're special.
All right, guys, I think
that's a good place to end it.
Send us Reddit threads,
things that you want us to discuss.
Send us any questions that might be
keeping you awake at night.
Let's narrow that a little bit.
Not anything that might be
keeping you awake at night.
Let's keep it on topic, maybe.
All right, so let's do hidden gems.
(28:27):
Yeah, let's do it.
So my hidden gem for this week, which I
actually have an image of if you're on
YouTube, if you're watching us on
YouTube, is a drink
which has just been launched
and is going to be further launched
called Elton, invented
by my pal Laura O'Connor.
(28:49):
I'm going to read some of
the blurb from the back.
It's ultra hydrating, anti-inflammatory,
stomach settling, liver supporting,
skin boosting, deep bloating.
No preservatives, no sweeteners, no
colourings, no chemicals, no additives.
It's a very subtle kind
of a herbaceous flavour.
It's got some green tea in it, so there's
a bit of energy in there.
But I'm going to just give you some of
the ingredients because this is like the
(29:10):
taste is very difficult to
describe, but it's very subtle.
It's carbonated drink, but it has
raspberry leaf, green tea, milk thistle,
burdock root.
Don't know what that is.
Turmeric, ginger, but it tastes good.
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
That sounds good.
It's always nice to find a drink that has
healthy ingredients.
Yeah.
So she put a lot of research into this.
There's no calories.
(29:31):
It's carbonated.
My mother loves it.
She said, I would drink that on a night
out because there's no, you know,
it's no sugar.
It's not sweet.
It's not, it's not bitter.
There's nothing artificial in it and it's
actually very good for you.
So Elton is the name of this drink.
I think you can buy it.
You can certainly buy it online at the
moment, but it's going to,
it's going to be coming.
(29:52):
It's going to be more widespread in the
coming months, I think.
Yeah.
And I'm also hoping that maybe Laura will
hear this and throw me some Elton.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
That's definitely.
We're both choosing something that has to
deal with health and protecting yourself.
There is a list.
It's called plastic list dot org.
(30:15):
OK.
There were researchers who decide who
decided to investigate and see how much
plastics and chemicals
are in everyday foods.
So they decided they thought it was going
to be a quick, interesting experiment.
It ended up taking half a year and they
(30:36):
put half a million dollars into it.
So this ended up being
a very extensive list.
I don't want to freak people out.
We're conscious about
plastics, about chemicals.
You might want to check it out.
We have everyday things
like spam, canned meat.
We have their base in San Francisco.
So they chose a lot of
(30:56):
San Francisco things.
They got Shake Shack cheeseburger.
They have Starbucks here.
Don't go too crazy.
There's a lot of different chemicals you
could test for, but they chose and they
prioritized, I believe, 18 main ones that
are known to affect our health.
If you're not aware, people are trying to
reduce plastics like in their Tupperware.
(31:17):
I use glass Tupperware
as opposed to plastic.
So there's ongoing research about that.
But yeah, check out this list.
Don't go crazy.
They said, you know, be careful.
You know, these are just things to keep
in mind, but you don't
want to make two large
assumptions from this.
They did the research.
OK, good.
(31:37):
That's going to be
weighing on my mind for a while.
That's it, guys.
This is a fun episode.
Hope you enjoyed it.
If you get a chance, give us a like,
write us a review and
we'll see you next week.
Beautiful.
If you're not familiar with Jeremy
(00:01):
Strong, he put out an
official statement when he got
nominated.
"I've devoted my life to the attempt to
do genuine work that
would be worthy of this
honor."
Kieran Culkin, the only thing that's
shared is his wife
sharing an Instagram story of
him popping a bottle of champagne in
France and the words, "Let's fucking go."
(00:22):
Right.
You talk about that on Smartlist, I
mentioned that like sexy indifference.
Or even in dating, you know, if someone
likes the other person
too much, they back off,
you know, that kind of...
And that's why everyone's single.
Yes.
Hey guys, welcome to the Actors Guide to
the End of the World
podcast where we talk about
acting in Hollywood in
a way people understand.
I'm your host, E-Kan Soong
(00:42):
This is my co-host.
Rían Sheehy Kelly, how you doing?
What's up, buddy?
Oh, you know, just enjoying my life.
Oh yeah, hanging in there.
I jumped in the sea today.
Oh wow.
Yeah.
I jumped in the
freezing cold water today.
Every week.
So you guys have a weekly tradition?
Shout out to the lads who go every week.
Me, Karl, Paddy, Karl,
(01:03):
every week we get in the sea.
Yeah, that's no joke,
but I love a cold plunge.
That's great.
So if you guys aren't following yet,
please follow us wherever
you find your podcast at
Actors Guide podcast.
We're on YouTube.
We're on Substack.
If you get a chance to write us a review,
we would love and appreciate that.
It helps people find the podcast.
And a shout out to the people
(01:23):
who have written us reviews.
Thank you very much.
You are, I think.
I assume you know who you are.
So on the show for today, there's a $1
billion studio that's in the works in LA.
We're all hoping for more production.
There's a catch.
There's a powerful person
in LA who's opposing it.
So we're going to talk about that.
It sounds very Batman-esque.
(01:44):
Yeah.
Sounds very mysterious.
And also we're going to talk about a
viral story that's been
going around on Substack
and on social media.
This discussion about the differences
between how Jeremy Strong
and Ciaran Culkin have been
perceived during awards season.
One cares deeply about the craft.
(02:05):
The other one is a little
more casual and laid back.
And it brings up the
question, is caring too much cringy?
I love, I love this topic.
I love this topic.
Stop caring, everybody.
Stop caring.
And then we're also
going to introduce a new bit.
It's called This Week in Reddit.
(02:26):
We are going to take the best and worst
bits of the acting thread of Reddit.
We're going to go through
the acting Reddit thread.
And for the best, sometimes worst,
comments, questions, advice.
We're going to debate it.
We're going to discuss.
So sit back, relax.
Now a word from our
sponsor for today's episode.
Does your pet get the yips in auditions?
(02:47):
Does your little friend literally shit
the bed at callbacks?
Welcome to the Royal Academy for Dramatic
Barks, where your puppies will be trained
by acting legends Ellen Barkin, Mark
Ruffalo and Sir Patrick Stewart.
Sign up today.
All right.
So for Word Around Town, we have a
billion dollar studio
(03:07):
renovation, television city
right in the heart of L.A.
And it just so happens that Rick Caruso
himself, the wannabe
mayor, is filing a lawsuit and
is opposing the renovation.
A lot of different factors here, but
let's just talk about Rick Caruso.
We've talked about him during the fires.
He also owns the Grove, which is why he
(03:30):
could want this
expansion not to happen because
it's competition.
Because if they have retail, if they have
shopping, he's not going
to want the competition.
You got money when you own the Grove.
I think it's impressive when someone
lives near the Grove, but
just imagine you own the
Grove or at least his,
(03:50):
you know, corporation.
He's alleging it's a violation of the
California Environmental Quality Act.
And in the past, a lot of people use this
act to block these type of transactions.
Hackman VP called the lawsuit an
unfortunate but
predictable abuse of CEQA to stop the
television studio plan.
(04:11):
Who will own this or who will be like,
well, is it like who's
in charge of all of this?
Hackman Capital Partners.
They own Culver Studios.
They own Kauffman Astoria Studios and
they own Rally Studios.
So they're expanding their portfolio.
The Entertainment Union Coalition, who's
running Keep California
Rolling, is in favor of this
(04:33):
project, obviously.
No, it just, it does seem largely driven
by self-interest there.
I mean, like if you're the owner of a
large mall next door to
it and you're like, this
is going to ruin the quality, the
environmental quality of this place
because of the traffic,
yet you run like one of our own, one of
the biggest malls in
the city and most popular
(04:53):
spots in the city.
I mean, it does kind of seem like the
environmental quality is
not your primary concern.
Exactly.
According to his lawsuit, it was unclear
whether Hackman Capital
Partners were going to use
that entire renovation
for studios, for production.
(05:14):
Oh, that's interesting.
I mean, it could have been offices, it
could have been retail space.
So it wasn't really
clear what it was for.
And so they're kind of
forcing it to be clear.
So maybe it's a good thing.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Obviously, we want more productions in LA
and this is going to be a big part of it.
And we'll see how that lawsuit goes.
(05:34):
So let's talk about
this sub-stack article.
For those that don't know sub-stack, it's
a new hot blogging, writing platform.
Podcasts are on it.
We're on it.
So this writer, great film writer, I
don't know how long
she's been doing it, but it's
a great film writer.
Her thread got a lot of traction online
and so on during this Oscar season.
(05:56):
She does a lot of film commentary and
it's just posing the question.
As the award season went on and
culminated with Jeremy
Strong watching Kieran Culkin
accept another award over him.
I don't know if you saw this.
There were memes about
Jeremy Strong's reaction.
I didn't see it.
Was he gutted?
Because Kieran Culkin
did shout a mo and go.
Feel like he was so overcome with
(06:18):
emotion, both
positive and everything else.
To paint this picture, if you're not
familiar with Jeremy
Strong, obviously we have heard
about his process.
We talked about this a
little bit last week.
He put out a quote.
He put out an official
statement when he got nominated.
"I've devoted my life to the attempt to
do genuine work that
would be worthy of this
(06:39):
honor.
Today's nomination is, without
overstatement, a
realization of a lifelong dream.
I remember spending the night on cold
metal bleachers outside
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
in 1993 with my father to watch the
actors and actresses
arrive for the Oscar ceremony."
So he cares deeply about this craft and
(07:01):
this process as an actor.
I think it's just an interesting
comparison with Kieran Culkin.
The only thing that's shared is his wife
sharing an Instagram
story of him popping a bottle
of champagne in France and
the words, "Let's fucking go."
Do you know what I mean?
(07:23):
So it's just like, what does this say
about society and is this fair?
Is caring too much not cool or cringy?
I know.
Every time I say that.
It's such a weird question.
There's other elements.
Obviously, Kieran
Culkin grew up on movie sets.
(07:43):
And I do want to say this.
I don't know if you knew this.
Jeremy Strong grew up in a
very working class upbringing.
I believe he shares a story for vacations
because they didn't have
money to go on vacations.
He was literally in a toboggan on bricks
rowing, pretending he was like...
(08:05):
Roll it back there.
He was in a toboggan on
bricks rowing to pretend he was...
He was on vacation.
Aww.
I know.
Exactly.
Exactly.
One, that's heartbreaking.
Two, that's weird.
At what point did really caring about the
craft and really working your butt off at
(08:26):
it, at what point was
that considered uncool?
Now I know that that's a weird
generalization that maybe Gen
Z kids are talking about, but
here we are.
Because I feel like in society that
actually is kind of true.
I don't know if the people who care and
(08:48):
work the hardest are
actually the ones being celebrated
and rewarded.
I feel like people want to be with the
party guy who's
organizing the happy hour.
And that guy actually might
get promoted at your office.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, one thing is, you know, when we
talk about status in
scenes and ease, you know,
(09:11):
status is ease and really caring about
something does not,
doesn't sort of engender ease.
You know what I mean?
Like I...
I think that's spot on.
Caring about something too much or
gripping it too tightly
is the opposite of ease, I
think.
(09:32):
This is a shameless plug.
We talked about Jeremy
Strong and his process.
We actually talked about it last week.
I went to a Q&A that he was doing for The
Apprentice during this award season.
I put it up on my YouTube at
Econ Song, E-K-A-N-S-O-O-N-G.
I thought it was great.
I thought it was incredibly informative.
So I'm going to put that
link in the description.
(09:52):
I did not think it was cringy.
I thought it was
actually very captivating.
So there's nothing wrong with really
caring about something.
Like I think I...
One, I don't know, it's a complicated
question because one, I
think it's brilliant that,
you know, he cares
that much in some ways.
Two, in my own experience, I've caring
too much about something.
The tighter I grip it, the further away
(10:15):
it gets in some ways.
Great to have all that ambition, but just
to not be attached to the outcome of it.
It's like catching...
trying to catch the wind.
Yes.
First off, you're spot on because I think
historically we always idolize these cool
characters who had ease.
I mean, we're talking about like, we're
talking about James Dean.
(10:36):
We're talking about
Brad Pitt in Oceans 11.
We're talking about Cool Hand Luke.
We've always appreciated those guys or
characters that had more
ease and effortlessness.
It's just interesting how in society
where it transcends,
hey, this isn't a character.
This is actually, in society, we actually
(10:59):
want to be around
people who might be a little
more off the cuff and so on.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Funnily enough, because I don't think it
means that any of these
people care any less, but
somebody like Jack Nicholson, who sort of
embodies ease in a lot of ways in the way
that he works and the way
(11:19):
he comes across on screen.
I'm sure he strikes me as someone who
cares a great deal and
obviously throughout his
career would have cared a great deal.
But how it comes across is different.
Jeremy Strong sort of has a reputation
for being very intense
and being very committed
to the craft and very, like, quite
(11:40):
serious about the work.
So maybe it's just the public perception
of how much you care as
opposed to how much you
actually care.
I don't know, you know?
I want to be clear because a lot of
people were conflating
these two on threads.
Every so often, I would throw in my
opinion here and there, we're
not talking about performance
(12:00):
both of those performances are incredibly
the goal as an actor.
And, you know, it's
something that we talk about in LK.
We want to be brilliant, but we also want
to make it look effortless.
That's kind of part of
the magic trick, right?
We want to be great actors and we want to
make it look effortless.
We're not seeing the Jeremy Strong's
performance ever looks,
ever, ever looks not effortless.
(12:21):
He still looks like a great actor and
it's still kind of effortless.
You know what I mean?
Sure.
Don't get caught acting as they say.
Exactly.
Exactly.
We're not talking about, we're not
criticizing performances.
We're just talking about how their story
of their lives and
their career is affecting
our perception of them.
Do you know what I mean?
I think we can get to this point of kind
(12:45):
of debunking this a teeny bit.
There's a lot of people who we celebrated
for having a deep craft and process.
I mean, Daniel Day-Lewis.
Yeah.
How do people not use him as a perfect
example of being committed to the craft?
I mean, no one's making
fun of Daniel Day-Lewis.
I mean, sure, they might think he's a
(13:05):
little odd or a little, you
know, I don't think people
are cringing at Daniel Day-Lewis.
No, but you know, I definitely don't.
Yeah, go ahead.
You know what I think the difference with
Daniel Day-Lewis is
nobody knows Daniel Day-Lewis.
You know what I mean?
He doesn't do very many interviews.
He doesn't talk about it.
Like that's the difference.
I think is that he's not out there
talking about his process.
(13:27):
And I think Jeremy Strong is a bit more
accessible in that respect.
I think he has probably
said a little bit more lately.
You know what I mean?
And I'm not faulting for that at all.
Like he's obviously being interviewed and
he's doing press and
these things are coming
up.
But I don't have a sense of Daniel
Day-Lewis as a person.
I mostly know his work, you know?
(13:50):
Jeremy Strong, I think there is a bit of
a public persona or a
public perception of
who he is as a person because he's also
been on a very successful TV show.
And that's like in succession.
That's slightly different to doing a lot
of really intense
Oscar-nominated movies up to
that point.
You know what I mean?
(14:10):
So let me throw one other thing.
So on this idea of ambition, because in
this article, they also
mentioned Timothy Chalamet's
SAG Award speech about how he wanted to
achieve greatness, how he openly said it.
A lot of people were appreciated the
honesty and a lot of
people also did cringe.
(14:31):
He said that this is more fuel for me to
keep going and keep
doing, I'm paraphrasing here,
but this is more fuel for me, keep doing
things and I want to be great.
I want to be one of the greats.
I can also throw in a lot of actors in
the past who were
actively, I mean, for lack of
a better word, chasing Oscars.
We could talk about Bradley Cooper.
(14:51):
We could talk about Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway got a lot of backlash for
her Oscar campaigns in the past.
And a lot of that, you know, might be
because she's also a woman as well.
But we're talking about this overly
ambitious pursuit of something.
Go ahead.
I don't.
The term overly ambitious is
tricky for me because I don't.
(15:14):
It's not really for me to judge what
somebody's ambition
is, you know what I mean?
Whether it's the right amount or not
ambitious enough or too ambitious.
I don't know.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, that's a great point.
That's a great point.
So let me throw out the overly.
Just let's just say ambitious.
Where do you fall on that?
Because I feel like you and I are both
kind of in between on this spectrum here.
(15:35):
I think it's fine.
I think it's absolutely
fine to have those ambitions.
And I think it's probably
probably a lot of actors do.
I think where it gets where it can
backfire on people is when
they say them publicly because
you become sort of defined by that or you
become judged by that standard.
Then if you say I want to be one of the
(15:56):
greats, I want to be this.
You're kind of setting yourself up
against that standard and
then you'll always be judged.
Are you one of the greats or are you not
one of the greats or
like how do you know?
And it's such a subjective term that I
think to say it
publicly, that might be the thing
that trips people up.
Is it should we just not say it out loud
(16:18):
when Timothy Shalomay
says it out loud at his SAG
Awards speech, people are like, they
don't know how to place it.
They don't know how to take it.
Is it does it make people uncomfortable
that he says I'm openly
aspiring to be great at
a bad thing?
The fact that society cringes at it.
It's funny, isn't it?
Like you're right.
That's an interesting point.
(16:41):
Why does saying it out become, you know,
create problems for you?
But it's that thing of when you publicly
state a goal, you become
judged by whether or not
you hit that goal.
When people know you care,
they sort of judge you by that.
They see what you care about and they
have power over you.
(17:01):
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's that's that's that's power.
Yeah.
Maybe that's what it is.
But, you know, they talk
about that on smart list.
They mentioned that
like sexy indifference.
That's attractive to people.
It's the same in, you
know, in relationships.
There's a there's a kind of a balance of
like, or even in dating,
you know, if someone likes
the other person too much, they back off,
(17:21):
you know, that kind of
the stereotype of like
the push and pull.
And that's why everyone's single.
Yes.
Another example to throw into this mix is
is Denzel Washington.
He won his first Oscar for Training Day
or this is his second
Oscar, his first Oscar
for Best Actor.
And he said when he was in college,
(17:42):
everyone asked, what do
you want to be when you grow
up?
And he said, I want to be
the best actor in the world.
Just straight up.
I think it's as basic or as sort of
simple as it like ability.
Is that is that what the difference is?
Or is it is it some or
is it the way somebody?
Yeah.
Or the way somebody carries themselves.
You see it in politics a lot.
(18:05):
Like ability plays a much bigger role in
politics than it than it
should, you know, in terms
of policy and everything else and who
would necessarily do the best job.
It becomes a sort of a popularity thing.
So and Denzel is a very charismatic guy.
Jeremy strong.
Not as much.
You know what I mean?
He doesn't have that, you
know, outgoing personality.
(18:26):
And it's funny because
you brought up politics.
I was going to bring up politics, but it
does it does say
something about even how our last
election went.
You know, Trump maybe goes off the cuff.
And then on the other
side, you have Kamala.
You have people like AOC and care very
deeply, very articulate, very passionate.
(18:50):
And maybe maybe that came into play.
Trump has no problem doing interviews on
a golf course with a
bunch of random strangers,
a random dudes doing a podcast.
The actor aspect, we call it.
What is your room?
When you go into an
audition, what is your room like?
What is the vibe in
or essence in the room?
What does look like an actor who someone
(19:11):
wants to be with on set for 16 hours?
I don't think either of them are going to
suffer too much from these things.
It's just it's just interesting to talk
about how it's perceived.
Anyway, yeah, I'm glad
we talked about that.
But let's let's jump
into this Reddit bit.
It's called this week in Reddit.
(19:33):
We are going to take the best and worst
bits of the acting thread of Reddit.
Some are going to be a
little more involved.
Some are going to be quick bits.
So where do you want to start?
OK, I see one here.
Audition a month.
Is it bad for everyone else or just me?
And this was 23 days
ago, so fairly relevant.
(19:54):
So chances are it's probably not you.
It's probably not your reps.
The industry is just dead.
This is not nitpicking on Reddit, but we
don't know what city they're in.
So are they non-union?
Are these non-union auditions?
Are they commercials?
Are they TV film?
Are they for theater?
(20:15):
That's true.
Sometimes they do.
Sometimes they'll
preface it with, you know,
LA actor, whatever, or
Atlanta here or New Mexico.
It's funny because you do see threads
like this a lot in the acting.
So Reddit, I find where people just want
reassurance that like,
is this normal?
Am I wasting my time?
(20:35):
Am I, you know, are people--
because I think it's
that thing about comparison.
Like, how am I-- how do I stack up
against people around me?
Every actor I know at
some point, I think,
has talked about either not enough
auditions or not happy with their reps.
You know what I mean?
At what point as an actor are you like,
I'm always getting the quality auditions?
(20:57):
Yeah.
So a couple of comments.
Ha ha.
If you're getting an audition a month,
you're up there with
one other person I know,
which means you're getting out a lot.
You've got a good rep.
Another person goes,
what even are auditions?
It's been 80 years.
Another person goes, no, it's just you.
The rest of us have at least
25 to 30 auditions per week.
I mean, don't you see the constant posts
on this subreddit about how thriving
the industry is right now?
(21:19):
All right.
So the bottom line is
nobody's getting a ton of auditions.
And you know, you might want to get used
to that a teeny bit.
But this is the landscape
of film and TV right now.
Yeah.
But it's nice to see that people are like
all in the same boat.
Nice.
I don't know.
Like, it's not great for the industry.
But it's reassuring to know that.
(21:39):
This was one from a few
weeks back that I had saved.
It said, do you guys find it more
beneficial to do a self audition tape
or go in person an audition?
And it's basically asking.
I'm just curious about what
everyone's preferences are.
I did a self tape not that long ago.
I'm just wondering what the
pros and cons of both are.
Which sounds like it might be a less
(22:00):
experienced actor asking this question.
But it's really split with this, I find.
Because I was actually talking about this
with some actors yesterday,
the day before.
It seems to be really
split down the middle.
The first comment is, I
prefer going in person
because it gives me the
opportunity to show casting
that I can work well under direction.
(22:22):
Oh, you know, I was
talking about it on this job.
And I was talking to some of the actors.
The job that I'm doing at the moment, I
was talking to some of the other actors
as to what they prefer.
And some of them feel like
being in the room gives them
a much greater advantage
because they're meeting people
and they're talking to
the casting director.
They're showing they can take direction.
And they feel like self tapes are just
firing things into a void.
(22:45):
Personally, I sort of
fall between the two.
I love-- I really enjoy self tapes.
I actually really love doing them.
I love being able to
have the time to do them.
And then I think as far as callbacks go,
I'd love to have a callback in person.
Or even Zoom is interesting.
But at least you've presented like,
here's my take on this.
(23:05):
But a lot of people--
Yeah, third comment.
Self tape.
I don't have to commute 45 minutes in
traffic for every audition.
Allows me to have a full
time job to pay the bills.
Totally valid.
It certainly made
things a lot more convenient.
It isn't as stressful to do a self tape,
but they get to know you
better in the audition room.
(23:29):
Very, very divisive, this issue, I find.
It's really--
I know that for me, if it's a commercial,
I want to be in person.
I absolutely want to be in person.
They are happening in person in LA.
A lot of these
opportunities, it's immediate.
You get direction.
For that 20 seconds, you need to know
exactly what they want.
And they're going to explain it to you
(23:49):
versus just setting up
your self tape and biting into a
cheeseburger five different ways.
As far as film and TV, I think having
self tapes as a possibility
is incredible.
I've been in three different
cities in the past two weeks,
and I was never booked out.
And I always had that
(24:10):
opportunity, audition for this,
audition for this.
I never took a day off,
even though I was all around.
Yeah, I was just going to
say, that's a very good point.
Commercial versus TV film, yeah.
As far as being in person
with 45 other actors in a lobby,
I absolutely do not miss that.
(24:32):
I don't understand
how anyone misses that.
I love actors.
I have a lot of actor friends.
I just don't want to be in that energy.
I don't choose to be in that energy.
I can say hi to a friend, and you can
catch up and all that stuff.
But I think a lot of people are still
tied to that romantic idea
of being an actor in LA.
(24:53):
You're in a lobby with 45 other people
that look exactly like you.
I don't-- in theory, sure, it might be
fun for five seconds.
But I don't miss that.
Both of us are technical savvy enough to
be able to operate lighting, camera,
and possibly Zoom.
If you've been doing this for 50 years,
(25:15):
and you don't want to adapt to Zoom,
I get it.
I agree.
I think we're very similar on that.
I feel the same way about commercial
auditions, definitely.
Because a lot of
commercial auditions are--
there's some improv in there.
There's usually a joke, or
there's a laugh in there.
You can hear the laugh in the room, and
that's a very reassuring kind of a thing,
(25:38):
or a very physical win if
you get a laugh in the room.
I don't miss that
waiting room environment.
My relationship to
that changed over time.
When I was starting out, particularly
when I just moved to America,
or when I just moved
to Chicago, actually.
I'd lived in LA for a year, and then I
was in Chicago for quite a few years.
But initially in Chicago, I felt very
(25:59):
intimidated by that environment.
But over time, over the
years, I got much more used to it,
and I also got to know the casting
directors a lot better.
And I'd booked work through some of them,
so I felt more at home in it.
And my relationship to it changed.
But I don't miss it, because
invariably-- in LA, especially--
when you go into a room like that, you're
typically going into a room
you don't know very well.
(26:19):
You know what I mean?
You may not know the casting director.
I don't miss that at all,
because there's a real--
you're judging everybody,
and they're judging you,
and it's distracting from
what you're there to do,
and you're sizing people up.
And it's just weirdly
competitive, but not.
Having said that for a TV
and film, I love self-types.
(26:39):
I have to throw this out there.
There's one time that I remember, when
you said dealing with other actors BS,
whether it's good or bad,
or just the distractions,
there was a show called In Living Color.
They tried to reboot it.
It's a famous sketch show.
It's a la SNL, but a little edgier.
They tried to reboot it.
I'm so not a guy who does impressions,
stand up, et cetera.
(27:01):
But there was a requirement saying you
have to do two characters,
and two monologues, et cetera, et cetera.
So there was a number
that you had to prepare.
One of the other actors--
Asian guy, obviously,
possibly competition--
says to me, implying that there was three
or more characters or impressions
(27:24):
that we had to prepare.
I was expecting two.
They're like, oh, yeah, you know, they
asked me to do three.
Oh, I don't even know why.
I think trying to psych me out.
What a dickhead.
This is the BS that you have to deal with
(27:44):
with other actors in a room.
Anyway, I just left my ass off.
It's not like I was
going to get that job anyway.
So yeah, I don't miss that at all.
It's like walking out of the room as you
walk past the waiting room,
go, man, that third scene was long.
And then just leave.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's only two scenes that you had to
prepare, but they did a third.
(28:06):
They're special.
All right, guys, I think
that's a good place to end it.
Send us Reddit threads,
things that you want us to discuss.
Send us any questions that might be
keeping you awake at night.
Let's narrow that a little bit.
Not anything that might be
keeping you awake at night.
Let's keep it on topic, maybe.
All right, so let's do hidden gems.
(28:27):
Yeah, let's do it.
So my hidden gem for this week, which I
actually have an image of if you're on
YouTube, if you're watching us on
YouTube, is a drink
which has just been launched
and is going to be further launched
called Elton, invented
by my pal Laura O'Connor.
(28:49):
I'm going to read some of
the blurb from the back.
It's ultra hydrating, anti-inflammatory,
stomach settling, liver supporting,
skin boosting, deep bloating.
No preservatives, no sweeteners, no
colourings, no chemicals, no additives.
It's a very subtle kind
of a herbaceous flavour.
It's got some green tea in it, so there's
a bit of energy in there.
But I'm going to just give you some of
the ingredients because this is like the
(29:10):
taste is very difficult to
describe, but it's very subtle.
It's carbonated drink, but it has
raspberry leaf, green tea, milk thistle,
burdock root.
Don't know what that is.
Turmeric, ginger, but it tastes good.
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
That sounds good.
It's always nice to find a drink that has
healthy ingredients.
Yeah.
So she put a lot of research into this.
There's no calories.
(29:31):
It's carbonated.
My mother loves it.
She said, I would drink that on a night
out because there's no, you know,
it's no sugar.
It's not sweet.
It's not, it's not bitter.
There's nothing artificial in it and it's
actually very good for you.
So Elton is the name of this drink.
I think you can buy it.
You can certainly buy it online at the
moment, but it's going to,
it's going to be coming.
(29:52):
It's going to be more widespread in the
coming months, I think.
Yeah.
And I'm also hoping that maybe Laura will
hear this and throw me some Elton.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
That's definitely.
We're both choosing something that has to
deal with health and protecting yourself.
There is a list.
It's called plastic list dot org.
(30:15):
OK.
There were researchers who decide who
decided to investigate and see how much
plastics and chemicals
are in everyday foods.
So they decided they thought it was going
to be a quick, interesting experiment.
It ended up taking half a year and they
(30:36):
put half a million dollars into it.
So this ended up being
a very extensive list.
I don't want to freak people out.
We're conscious about
plastics, about chemicals.
You might want to check it out.
We have everyday things
like spam, canned meat.
We have their base in San Francisco.
So they chose a lot of
(30:56):
San Francisco things.
They got Shake Shack cheeseburger.
They have Starbucks here.
Don't go too crazy.
There's a lot of different chemicals you
could test for, but they chose and they
prioritized, I believe, 18 main ones that
are known to affect our health.
If you're not aware, people are trying to
reduce plastics like in their Tupperware.
(31:17):
I use glass Tupperware
as opposed to plastic.
So there's ongoing research about that.
But yeah, check out this list.
Don't go crazy.
They said, you know, be careful.
You know, these are just things to keep
in mind, but you don't
want to make two large
assumptions from this.
They did the research.
OK, good.
(31:37):
That's going to be
weighing on my mind for a while.
That's it, guys.
This is a fun episode.
Hope you enjoyed it.
If you get a chance, give us a like,
write us a review and
we'll see you next week.
Beautiful.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.