May 12, 2025 • 38 mins
Welcome to the Actor's Guide to the End of the World, episode 28!
You asked for an episode on Trump’s tariffs, and you got it. E-Kan and Rían were intended to jump into political waters but it just so happens everyone and their mom was asking, and they couldn’t NOT talk about it. This is everything you need to know, what exactly was said, the surprising responses from those in the industry - IATSE, SAG-Aftra, the Teamsters, as well as Governor Newsom and Jon Voight, of all people. Rían battle a headache while E-Kan digs into Jon Voight’s proposal to reinvigorate the US Hollywood industry.. and dare we say, Make America Film Again…
This is going to get wild.
They also open up about how do you stay informed without getting bogged down with the depressing news cycle? E-Kan found a silver lining and some benefits in learning a little more about what makes our industry run, or in some ways, not run.
Also, the first American pope got announced, and you will hear the crazy connection E-Kan has with him. Then Rían and E-Kan dig into the social dynamic on set- should you be social and chat with everyone or keep your distance, stay on set or break away to your trailer? The guys discuss what works for them and what they prefer, and the unnamed star who absolutely did NOT talk to him.
Follow us wherever you find your podcasts, including video on YouTube and Substack.
https://deadline.com/2025/05/trump-movie-tariffs-hollywood-1236384980/
https://deadline.com/2025/05/sag-aftra-reacts-trump-film-tariffs-1236385594/
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/president-trump-gavin-newsom-film-tariffs-tax-credit/
https://deadline.com/2025/05/jon-voight-hollywood-plan-read-in-full-trump-tariffs-1236387042/
NYC increases tax credit - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/new-york-aims-large-scale-producers-indie-projects-film-subsidy-boost-1236212240/
Texas increases tax credit- https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/31/texas-film-television-incentive-fund/
Hidden Gems-
Yellow mangoes. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.
Capital One Cafes - (NYC, LA)
(00:00) Intro
(01:00) E-Kan’s Pope story
(05:10) Trump’s Tariffs
(08:30) Union’s response
(11:40) What Governor Newsom has to say
(13:35) Jon Voigt’s proposal
(22:00) How do you not overwhelmed by the news?
(26:00) Stay on set in between takes?
(30:40) The one rule on set
(35:00) Hidden Gems
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:13):
I was getting ready to shoot first day on
set everyone was like oh my god you're
working with so-and-so
He is a blast
He has so many stories. Oh, yeah, I know
who this is. He's gonna tell you about
auditioning with Scorsese. Oh my god
such a blast
The guy didn't say two words to me. All
(01:34):
right. Hey everyone. Welcome to the
actor's guide to the
end of the world podcast
I'm E-Kan Soong and this is Rían Sheehy Kelly
it. How's it going? Hey, buddy
We talk about acting in Hollywood in a
way people understand wherever you're
listening to this.
Thank you for joining us
We got a lot to talk about make sure you
follow us on all platforms YouTube sub
(01:54):
stack at actors guide podcast
Follow us on all social media at actors
guide podcast. We're everywhere
Leave us a comment leave us a review if
you get a chance it helps the podcast
Follow econ around New
York City if you see him
Let's just jump right into it. I wanted
to tell you this story though
Go on because it's just so timely you
(02:16):
might have heard the Pope just got
announced the new Pope
I did hear that new Chicago Pope
Yeah, there's a lot of Chicago memes a
lot of deep-dish pizza memes
It gets better. They announced the new
Pope white smoke and
all it's a big celebration
my dad comes home and
Follows these things and he announces hey
(02:37):
the new Pope just got named and we're
like, yeah, we heard he goes
That was a former student of mine. I
taught him math at
Villanova. What he was a math major
Wait, your dad taught a Villanova. Yeah,
my for those that didn't know this my dad
has taught for over 35 years in
college for
(02:59):
Literally, he's still
he's still working. Um
He
Did work at Villanova?
the Pope apparently was a
math major at Villanova and
Me and my mom looked at my dad because my
dad is always making stupid
jokes that don't make sense
We immediately were
(03:20):
like you're full of shit
Like we couldn't even comprehend. Is this
some weird joke that you're just but no
my dad contends that
new Pope
Studied we do know that he was a math
major at Villanova and he
was a former student of my dad
That's crazy
(03:41):
Your dad taught the Pope Matt
So now that he's is the
Pope in charge of the Vatican's
Finances, I don't know. I don't know
Vatican City has a lot of money
I know the Catholic Church has a lot of
money. So if he fucks that up your dad is
partially responsible. It's a good point
That's a good point. I I feel confident
that the Pope does not
(04:02):
control the finances, but
That would be funny if
they did it's funny though
We're I'd never expected to be talking
about the Pope today,
but now that I think of it
I don't know what the Pope actually does
I don't know how much hand the Pope has
and all of the
day-to-day dealings of the I
Was going to bring up the Irish Catholic
roots, but I guess
they're not that deep with you
During well, I was vague. I was born
(04:24):
Catholic, but I I'm not a practicing
Catholic. Okay, I mean no judgment
No judgment. Anyway, so my fun Pope story
was the highlight was
all the fun of this episode
Now we're gonna get into the serious
stuff. We do talk about Trump's tariffs
He fired a shot use
the big T word last week
(04:45):
We never thought that we would talk about
it, but we kind of can't not
talk about it. So here we are
we talk about what we know we talk about
a lot of different ideas that are
floating around what it even means and
Some possible solutions that might come
out of all of this. We
have a fun little tidbit
We talk about etiquette on
set do you chat a lot or you?
(05:08):
Chatty Kathy or a solitary Simon do you
hide off in your trailer like Rian does?
We talk about these etiquette rules that
happen beyond said and what
works for us sit back relax
thank you for making us part of your day
wherever you're listening and
Now a word from our sponsor. You think
(05:29):
you're ready for leading roles. You feel
you got that star power. Fuck you
Seriously, what do you think you are?
Welcome to your humility coach here to
always keep you grounded with this app
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keeping you humble. Are you gonna wear
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(05:50):
Pincha Pindejo
We weren't sure if we were ever going to
talk about this we we taped last week
we talked about a lot of
what's going on internationally and
Next thing you know Trump drops this bomb
and everybody on their
mom is is mentioning to us
Are we gonna talk about it break it down?
There's you can't not we
(06:11):
we kind of can't avoid it
we'll talk about how governor Newsom and
John Voight of all people is getting
involved in this and
Possible scenarios that might happen. So
this one's gonna be a big guy. I've been
I've been getting some texts
I've been getting some texts on this
little bit of debate. So yeah, you know,
I'm glad we're talking about it
Shout out to Emma friend of the show.
(06:31):
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah
Thanks to our listeners. Here we are.
We're diving into these territories and
it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting
Let's let's start with with the original
announcement. Yeah.
Yeah, that's a great place
Trump said he's been studying
about this for a week now. I
Don't know if you caught that a whole
(06:52):
week. You don't say so you studied it up
you you hit the books
So Don Donald Trump he's ordering the US
trade representative
and Commerce Department
Begin process to impose a 100% tariff on
imports of movies that are
produced in foreign lands
He calls it a national security threat.
He has talked to special ambassadors
ie John Voight
(07:14):
Hollywood is being destroyed
Now you have a grossly incompetent
governor governor Newsom. We'll get back
to that to me ill thought
out and just sort of just like
many of these announcements are was how
do you put a tariff on a fucking film a
lot of the initial reaction that I heard
from a lot of people is like that's
(07:35):
ridiculous it's still gonna be just as
expensive to produce here it's just
gonna make foreign films the screening of
foreign films prohibitively expensive
for people to go to the cinema people in
the industry said this is so complex how
like there's foreign distribution there's
independent distribution what
happens if it's made if it's a US company
(07:57):
and one part or one aspect of
is done in foreign territory all these
complexities that you're just bringing
up we do not know any of this there's
actually not a lot that he said we don't
want to make this bigger than it really
is we're just going off of what we're
hearing the White House responded after
Trump's announcement and said they're
not making they didn't make any final
(08:17):
plans about any of this this story might
go away before we even upload this what I
thought was interesting was is the
the diverse opinions from experts from
workers in the industry who are we to
disregard one versus the other by the way
you know sag had a response we'll
get into that I a t see the teamsters I
(08:38):
saw we have a lot of different opinions
and we didn't get it we didn't even get
into Governor Newsom we didn't even get
into John Voight so so I will mention
this one thing we actually don't know
what is happening with a lot of Trump's
tariffs we do know that he is a hundred
forty-five percent tariff on China okay
that has been going on they're meeting
next week by the way so who knows things
(08:59):
could drastically change next week he's
meeting with China in the next couple
weeks China as a response did put a
limit on US movies being played in China
this has already been going on this is
already a thing so that is one small
thing obviously China is a huge market
international box office that is not
(09:21):
ideal for American films they're playing
Fast and Furious 7 right now I believe
and you know Minecraft film Minecraft
movie so all this is actively going on we
know that there's an ongoing thing
with Canada Canada is has removed all US
alcohol from their liquor stores so
there's ongoing back and forth with these
things we don't know what the
retaliation could be we actually let me
(09:44):
just say the IOTC response here Matthew
Loeb IOTC president after in response to
Trump's announcement he called for a
balanced federal response to return film
and TV jobs okay well that's fair in a
statement Loeb made it clear that any
potential solution to the US production
exodus should not cause harm to the
(10:04):
country's neighbor to the north as these
as these tariffs almost certainly would
that's fair so they said the tariffs
tariffs are harmful their their take is
the tariffs are harmful so this is where
it gets slightly interesting Teamsters
announcement was kind of a different
(10:24):
tone for those paying attention Teamsters
president president he's kind of
a badass at least he's been badass for
recent years for a lot of the the the
strikes that he's been working through
president Sean O'Brien for years
Hollywood Studios have hollowed out the
industry by following corporate America's
crooked playbook of outsourcing good
union jobs studios chase cheap
(10:46):
production overseas he goes on to say the
Teamsters Union has been sounding
the alarms for years if studios want to
benefit from American box offices they
must invest in American workers we thank
President Trump for boldly supporting
good union jobs when others have turned
their heads this is a strong step toward
finally reigning in the studios
(11:07):
un-American addiction to outsourcing
our members work Teamsters applaud any
elected official Republican Democrat
independent who's willing to fight for
American workers we look forward to
continuing to work with the
administration to build a trade agenda
that benefits our members and workers
throughout the American motion picture
in TV industry so there we go that was
definitely a different sentiment and
(11:29):
you know that's kind of like where we
that's kind of like where we start I
at see was opposed to it the Teamsters
were somewhat supportive of it and sag
sag afters is actually pretty similar to
Iot see a sag after supports efforts to
increase movie television and streaming
production we will continue to advocate
for policies that strengthen our
competitive position accelerate economic
(11:51):
growth and create good middle-class jobs
for American workers we look forward to
learning more about the specifics of the
plan announced by the president and
to advancing a dialogue to achieve our
common goals that's more measures than I
would have thought so let's talk about
Gavin Newsom's response said this before
we've never been excited to jump into
(12:12):
partisan politics we try to keep things
pretty relevant here but I'll be honest
with you it was easy to write this off
as oh something silly was said the
Hollywood industry is already kind of
shaky and we do know that more
instability is just going to cause more
(12:34):
instability in the Hollywood industry
it's like we know that it's not helping
all this uncertainty that being said when
we dig into these stories and we see what
everyone's saying it's kind of
interesting I mean there might be a
couple things to learn because we know
that it's not working so right off the
bat Gavin Newsom Trump has no authority
(12:55):
to impose a hundred percent movie
tariffs he does respond we've proven what
strong what strong state incentives
can do now it's time for a real federal
partnership to make America film again
at POTUS let's get it done so Newsom had
to respond obviously Trump threw some
(13:15):
barbs at him but Newsom responded with
let's work together so a federal tax
credit he's not the only one to say that
but this is this is what Newsom is
proposing that's a possible solution
that's a possible solution so that
actually might be a little a bit
friendlier for foreign countries it's not
(13:36):
a penalty it's just a rebate for
American-based productions well honestly
that would have that would that would
have seemed to me and I don't know a lot
but like that would have seemed to me to
be the way to go initially not not be
punitive and not trying you know
obviously if you're if you're new
listening reans from Ireland hi guys I'm
from Ireland yeah so you know we have a
(13:58):
vested interest and it just so happened
we were last even last week we were
talking about hey it can all these these
industries coexist and you know if we
support Hollywood is that necessarily
something that we're detracting from
foreign industries and foreign film
markets apparently Trump is ready to
fight fire with fire we're trying to
figure everything out just like just
(14:19):
like you guys we have a vested interest
and you know reen at the moment works
internationally so this is not you know
this is not theatrics here this is
actually this does affect us I'm sort of
like a spy or like a like an
international kind of miss like a figure
of mystery in some ways yeah but you
Irish people are so friendly you know no
one be was suspecting you you'll be
(14:41):
like the nicest spy ever exactly you
never see a never see us yeah talk about
this John Voight thing so we here's the
thing first of all hello John Voight a
John Voight just pops onto the scene by
the way if you heard his tweet message
it is kind of hilarious like I can't not
mention this tweet message because he
(15:03):
said that Donald Trump is a friend
obviously and reiterates that he's one
of the greatest presidents since Abraham
Lincoln and also George Washington so
we can't ignore that we can aside from
that we can John Voight put a proposal
together this happened before Donald
(15:25):
Trump made his announcement but we'll
put a link in the description because the
proposal was a lot more in depth
than Trump just spinning out about a
tariff his proposals federal tax credit
10% 10 to 20% he's proposing a federal
tax credit also same thing as
Governor Newsom just saying federal tax
(15:46):
credit that's reasonable that's not
crazy right there is a foreign tariff for
John Voight's plan we have here 120%
of the value of the foreign tax incentive
received meaning that if the
production receives a foreign tax credit
there will be a 120% of that that
(16:08):
will be a US tariff on that production he
says here this is not meant to be a
penalty but a necessary step to level the
playing field while not creating a
never-ending cycle of chasing the highest
incentive I'm not gonna lie
John Voight had some interesting things
to say he wants to separate the
producer from the streamer okay he wants
(16:32):
to end this trend this trend that
Netflix owns a lot of its content just by
licensing it it's the studio but it
also is the owner when they didn't
produce the TV show let me let me try to
break that down when Netflix was buying
up content and kind of making its making
(16:53):
its way now Felix was creating a few
Netflix originals they were also buying
international shows with no star what
with with lesser lesser names because
they were cheap we knew that we knew that
this is the eight years ago this
was when they were amassing all this
content guess what those producers of
(17:16):
those shows you mentioned that signing
away the rights so Netflix could say
hold it in an original show it wasn't a
Netflix original it was created by
someone else in Brazil or Ireland or
whatever Netflix owned that outright the
producers got very little money but
they're on Netflix squat for squid game
(17:36):
exactly exactly squat for squid game
that's not fair actually this was
previous episodes Korea tons of shows on
Netflix trying to unionize now hello
that's that's gonna be a conversation
that Netflix is gonna have with Korean
producers anyway separating producer from
streamers right now Netflix owns a
(17:57):
hundred percent along with long licensing
terms he's proposing that they
have to prepare a premium for those
licenses when those licenses and
producers then retain the ownership hey
that would be really nice it would be
nice if someone fights for that guess
what that sounds very similar to the
Ryan Coogler Sinners deal hey maybe a few
(18:19):
people in power can actually do
something right hey no one else is doing
it Ryan Coogler gets the ownership of
sinners after 25 years hey it's it's
crazy enough to work okay by the way
they abolished this 30 years ago in
(18:40):
America before networks were not allowed
to own their programs ABC NBC that was
banned they abolished it 30 years ago and
all the networks celebrated yay and all
Hollywood goes man this is bullshit we
got rid of that 30 years ago he's trying
(19:01):
to bring it back but for streamers I
don't know I don't know no one's talking
about that where I was like I know a lot
of liberals and a lot of people in
Hollywood who who had been trying to
push for that you're very animated today
you're very very animated that coffee is
kicking in now yeah yeah I took a nap
(19:23):
today but watch out folks California tax
credits does not have any tax credits
that apply to above the line we knew
that the California tax credits do not
apply to Tom Cruise and big-name stars
we know that he mentions that in the
proposal and the last thing that we'll
talk about with John Voight is this is
where you come into play did you know
(19:44):
did you know that there's a UK cultural
test to qualify for the UK tax credit I
know that as of about an hour ago so John
Voight posted this there is a UK
cultural test to approve to get approved
for UK tax credit I'm just gonna read
some of the bullet points and by the way
this is not that crazy I want to
(20:06):
believe that Georgia has tax credits as
far as how many locals from Georgia are
working on a TV show so yeah Canada has
something similar exactly exactly so
this is not that crazy you get points for
the film is set in the UK or the
European economic area the lead
characters are British citizens or
(20:26):
residents the film is based on British
subject matter or underlying material
original dialogue is recorded in English
or another indigenous UK language so
those are the big ones where you get
points sorry what what are these points
get them that's a great question you
tally a certain amount of points for
each category and if you qualify for a
(20:47):
certain amount of points you hit the
threshold to get the tax credit what we
believe that he's proposing is hey how
come we don't have a US cultural test for
US credits and US films pretty much
it with this deep breath deep breath yeah
I know I know I know we got through
it we got through it I know we both can
take a nap here this was not easy this
(21:07):
is not easy for either of us so as we're
wrapping this up we see that there are a
lot of different opinions as polarizing
as Trump is we didn't even get to crew
stories now we don't have the time to go
down through crew stories but that is a
Facebook group of industry professionals
you'd be surprised a lot of them are
saying hey this kind of makes sense I
(21:30):
know some people who have spoken to me
personally aside from political
affiliation and think that it actually
kind of makes sense too so I've heard
both sides of the fence now as far as
do we have enough to get freaked out over
we know that media stocks already
dropped I don't know if there's enough to
(21:51):
get freaked out over because the
White House already said they didn't make
any final plans and on top of it
there's no mention of TV in any of this
this is specifically talking about film
so far like I said that I think the
responses to a lot of this have been the
most interesting part and there might be
some solutions in this the entertainment
industry does need a little help in the
(22:12):
past couple months New York just landed
a huge increase to their tax credits they
literally just doubled their tax
credits New York and then Texas just
increased their tax credits and I think
literally doubled it so there are people
making moves right now we might need
(22:33):
more help we know California needs more
help and the big question is is are these
even competitive with like you said tax
credits in Ireland in UK and and
Australia we also have a number of
listeners in Texas do you ever notice
that when I see the breakdown I see we've
quite a few listeners in Texas and
I'm always most curious really oh
actually I didn't see that yeah I see
(22:56):
we see we see who's listening we see you
we have eyes everywhere yeah and it's
funny cuz like I know this stuff is
pertinent to the industry and it's
pertinent you know what's going on at the
moment I find this hard to talk
about because it weighs into an area that
I feel it's so I'm so burnt out on I
find the news really difficult to read
lately the same type of story that is
(23:19):
it's exhausting let's talk about that a
little bit I do a good job controlling
what's information is coming at me what's
in my feed and so on and so forth
um I'm not scrolling through the latest
news blurbs I am NOT watching CNN or
(23:40):
whatever news channel 24 7 I'm pretty
resistant to it because I know how much
that can boggle someone or just weigh
someone down and I I try to protect
myself from that so I can understand if
people are desensitized but how much do
you how much news do you watch I mean I I
(24:00):
would typically traditionally would
read the news every day I've stopped
doing that just because I find it read
the news on what like news or whatever
yeah yeah yeah we have Google News
basically I'll just go to the Google News
homepage or you know click links
on story so I do you know I typically do
(24:21):
consume a lot of news but I've actually
heard that back a lot lately just because
I find it kind of overwhelming
and a bit relentless activates that I
mean I'm like here we go there is a lot
of it's clear well I mean from what I
heard anxiety is contagious okay I mean
scientifically we know that um personally
(24:45):
for me there is a lot of
anxiety that comes from the unknown if
you're in the Hollywood industry right
now whether you're an actor whether
you're a writer for the past two and a
half three years we've been dealing with
a lot of anxiety and a lot of unknown
what I just realized when we were digging
(25:05):
into these articles is the fact
that personally for me having a little
more clarity as opposed to the sky is
falling studios are trying to replace
actors with AI and etc etc meanwhile
we're trying to pay bills on the table
and also continue to work at our craft
(25:27):
and become a better actor right looking
at the specifics of what is actually
happening what is what are people saying
actually reduces my anxiety in
this particular situation a teeny bit I
am NOT fighting an ambiguous dark cloud
that is just looming over us and
(25:51):
eventually going to strike what I'm
saying here is is Trump makes an
announcement what did he say not much of
anything okay we have a few responses
from people who we believe have American
interest at heart and maybe someone might
say something smart that actually
(26:12):
makes me feel a little better yeah that's
a pretty that's a good way of
looking at it I get it so so I agree I'm
not ready to solve any world crises
that are happening right now but no it's
a particular issue yeah you have to stay
tuned for next episode I was gonna be a
hidden gem you're gonna solve a world
crisis there's some people over here
(26:35):
trying to think about an idea to help us
I mean PJ Byrne stay in LA is one of them
and it just so happens that hey we
actually might have some people whether
they're Republican or Democrat trying to
find a solution I mean what we've been
(26:56):
frustrated about what's been having
happening in California for what four or
five years now this is this is this is
where I am longer really and so yeah yeah
exactly that helps me a little bit
yeah because this actually makes me feel
like we're going somewhere instead of
just going down the same same decline I
(27:17):
can I can dig it I can dig it I have it
I have a question for you which is
unrelated to this topic it was just
something I saw yeah on Instagram this
morning yeah give it to me Walton Goggins
was talking about taking like taking your
time on set or like what do you need
to do to prepare for scene he was talking
about what he likes to do he's
just like he's taken it was don't sit
(27:38):
with the other actors you know in the
green room he's like stay on set pick
something up you know what I mean talk
to you talk to people on the set but he's
like you know just stay in it and
and don't staying on the set in between
takes there was an older actor was like
you're not leaving are you and he's like
no I'm staying he's like good good
always stay on the set like in between
(27:59):
setups and everything else stay right in
it stay in that apartment I was just
curious as to how you what how do you
act on a set you know are you chatty are
you very social on a set are you you
know do you just stay you just stay in it
really sort of living in it or do you
fuck off and have a cup of coffee and
chat to people and have a laugh and what
(28:23):
does it require for you we I would say
that for most of my experiences we have
to react and roll with the punches of
what that set is what star am I working
with what's the vibe on set what's that's
different day to day and for us
or when I say for me I have to do
(28:44):
whatever I need to do to do my best work
and I think it's something that we talk
at Leslie's some days if the star wants
to keep chatting in between takes and saw
the stuff like that you stay
chatting with them you stay connected
with them I will admit sometimes we
don't have that luxury to be like oh the
second ad comes over to you like we're
(29:05):
doing another setup so we're gonna shoot
bring you over here and we're gonna
wait and we're gonna bring you back on to
set now there's a few times where I'm
like that's just easier let me just sit
over there while they will they set up
and I don't have the option of being like
no no no no no no you you guys
change sets around you guys switch sides
of course it would be a great problem to
(29:26):
have to be like I'm long Goggins let me
just sit here and play with my props
you know I mean I would love that would
you that's that that would be would you
do that if you had if you had I would I
would I would stay on set the whole
chatty thing is interesting and I won't
say what show or what experience I was
getting ready to shoot first day on set
everyone was like oh my god you're
(29:46):
working with so-and-so he is a blast he
has so many stories he's gonna tell you
about auditioning with Scorsese sit back
relax oh my god such a blast the guy
didn't say two words to me he said hi
(30:07):
nice to meet you my name is did not look
at me did not say two words we eventually
got to set we did a little
rehearsal sat next to next to each other
didn't say two words there was not a lot
of heavy lifting for him or me he was on
his phone fidgeting it was freaking me
out and I was like dude I can't even sit
(30:28):
next to you I'm freaking out and I had
to go walk around because I was like
there's something I don't know what
you're going through but there's some
energy there I don't want to get involved
but let me just we'll make it work
regardless but that's kind of like one
on point I'm saying in your sandbox and I
gotta protect with I gotta make sure I
don't shit the bed because you're you're
fine you're you're you're you know top
(30:49):
on the call sheet so that's where I am we
got it we got to play ball with
whoever it's funny it's funny is it and I
will say like I have to be careful
with this stuff like because I I really I
love me I really enjoy the buzz of it
so I get kind of excited and I like
chatting to a lot of different people so
I have to be careful with that too
because I have to it's a balance for me
(31:10):
to also remember to take the time to do
what I need to do to get to where I need
to be however that looks and like I know
what you're saying about if you have the
power to stay on a set and go I'm the you
know I'm just star here I'm gonna do
this I'm gonna do that oftentimes you're
moved off the set because you're
in people's way when they're you know
(31:30):
changing setups which is totally fine
obviously you're not you don't want to be
in anybody's way yes but I do see
actors who like cannot wait to get off
the set in between takes or whatever just
you know they like and then they come
back when they're brought back or
whatever and they just don't want to be
there in between and that's totally fine
and real quick I just want to throw this
out there where you know if you study at
(31:52):
Leslie Khan and you know a lot of times
we talk about this whatever you need to
do to be brilliant it could be sense
memory it could be substitutions it
could be a lot of things that Leslie
doesn't actually even teach you can do
that do whatever you need to do to be
brilliant and and protect yourself and
(32:13):
the other thing I will say is is to that
point a lot of actors especially stars
might not want to rehearse with you they
might not want to run lines and how do
you protect your performance be like I'm
bulletproof I can handle any
direction I can take any note and I'm
ready I'm ready to work and and and how
do you get to that level and that's what
we strive for that's a that's a very
(32:33):
good point it is it's it's a kind of it's
a weird thing of like I think you
have to be good at just reading the
temperature of one set to what someone
else needs some people just don't want to
be bothered so you don't want to be
going up and chatting to them and yapping
away and like I suppose it also
depends on the nature of what it is
you're doing if it's a comedy it's a
(32:53):
little lighter it's a little easier
something heavy people might need more
space and phone a phone is interesting as
well I find that a phone takes me
right out if I cannot bring a phone to
set I'm in better shape now sometimes I
do and I like leave it off to side in
between takes or whatever but I find
that a phone distracts me from where I am
anyway I've seen a lot of stuff
(33:14):
recently about people just do not bring a
phone to set at all just be a hundred
percent there a lot of great directors no
phones no phones I like that I do
like that I do too I know that you're
you're fairly social have you ever been
in a situation where you were so social
that you felt like it hurt your work
yeah I think so to a degree because I
always think that there's like I always
(33:35):
think there's more specificity you can
find I think there's a there's a I always
think there's more to mine out of
something you know to me without being
too precious about it without being too
rigid mm-hmm yeah you know and also
there's some
You know what, when I did this, I did
this indie movie a couple
years ago and I was determined
(33:57):
to be a part of it in every way.
Like, you know, I hung out with people
after work because we're
all, you know, away together.
Because sometimes I have to remind myself
to like, just be here
and enjoy every second
of this.
Don't miss any of it.
You know, I was hanging out with people
after long days and we'd
go out and we'd hang out
and whatever.
So some, you know, you'd be out late and
then you might have an
early call time in the morning.
(34:17):
So I actually found that in sort of in
the middle of that job,
I like, I was like, Oh,
I got to protect my energy a little bit
here because I'm, I was
so, you know, so committed
to like, Oh, just enjoying all of it and
just being a part of it.
There is a point where you have to kind
of pull it back and
direct your energy a little
bit more efficiently or just
intelligently go, okay,
well, obviously I can't be doing
(34:38):
that every night or, you know, and I'll
go the other way
because I can relate to this.
This is actually, I just remember this.
I always remember this quote.
Timothy Oliphant.
Obviously he's done a lot of work,
justified and so on.
He admitted, he realized halfway through,
I'm not having as much fun as everyone.
And he just realized he's working with
these series regulars.
(34:58):
He's like, I'm not having much, most, I
think the realization was
when they had like bloopers
and, and, and, um, gag reels at the end
of the season, you know,
just for fun with camaraderie
and community, he was in none of them.
And it was like, what is this saying?
The fact that I'm not
having, and I relate to that.
Because you're no fun.
Yeah.
Because you are zero fun.
(35:19):
Yeah.
No, you relate to it
because you're not funny.
Yeah.
All the things that we work on at
Leslie's when we're like,
dig deeper, where, where
what are you missing?
What are you trying to, you can try to
prefer perfect the
beautiful, you know, ornament
that you were beautiful sculpture that
you're trying to make,
but there's an element of,
can you let go?
And if you're in a, if in your, a comedy,
(35:42):
can you maybe, if you
have a little more fun,
you actually might be doing a better job.
Even if you're in something serious, but
even if you're in
something to be sad for having
fun outside it to kind of lighten it.
And then yeah, yeah,
I think you're right.
I think like do as much work as you can
beforehand and then let
it go when you get there.
And don't be a dick as
we've discussed a few times.
(36:03):
The, um, and George
Clooney is notorious for that.
Like he could be joking around with you
and doing incredibly
serious scene right afterwards.
So he, he just goes in and
out completely seamlessly.
So he's so good.
So let's do a hidden gems hidden gems.
Mine is a little unusual.
It's not hidden.
It's maybe not a jam for lots of people,
but I had a yellow
(36:23):
mango for the first time a
couple of weeks ago.
That's cool.
My God, it was one of the most delicious
things I've ever eaten.
I, I don't know why I've never had a
yellow mango before.
I didn't even know the
difference there for a dollar.
I didn't either.
I didn't know there was a yellow mango or
a different type of mango.
Anyway, they were like
yellow mangoes a dollar.
And I was like, all
(36:44):
right, I'll take a few of them.
Well it was like to steal from a friend
of mine an angel sleeping in my mouth.
It was just an
incredible taste and sensation.
I was like, well, I'll be
knees every time I see them.
Okay.
Tangy, sweet, yellow mango.
Awesome.
I love that.
It's my hidden gem for anybody who's as
(37:04):
shelter has led as
sheltered a life as I clearly have
fruit wise.
Man, you really need to get out there.
There's so many yellow mango mangoes that
have not been eaten yet.
Let me throw this hidden gem out there.
It is a little timely, but I want to give
a little love to it.
It's so funny because
(37:25):
it's, it's a huge brand.
You probably seen the commercials, but if
you're in New York,
you've seen, no, not that
big.
If you're in New York, I'm trying to go
through like the random
little adventures I had in
New York.
If you've been in New York, you know that
there's a capital one
cafes throughout Manhattan.
Capital one is obviously the big.
(37:45):
There's one here or there
used to be in Santa Monica.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So there's one in Santa Monica.
I haven't been to those, but I know that
there's a couple in LA.
You've mentioned these before, I feel.
I think so.
You might've seen it on
my, on my social media.
So capital one cafe.
It's so funny.
This is not sponsored, is not sponsored.
It is sponsored by Kevin.
Kevin Hart is sponsored, but I am not.
(38:05):
Capital one cafe is such
a nice cafe in Manhattan.
It's clean.
It's spacious.
Even if you don't have the bank card,
you're welcome to go in
there and it's a fully working
cafe.
They have Verve, coffee beans.
Anyway, the reason why I want to give it
a little love is they
have promotions specifically
(38:26):
right now during the baseball season,
MLB, where every
Monday, all you have to do is
scan their QR and you get a free cup of
coffee or free tea or
free handcrafted beverage.
That's a long, every Monday.
Handcrafted beverage is a great phrase.
They also have free QR codes online where
me and my sister have
(38:48):
found them and we've
also, we often got
treated to a free coffee.
Now the thing is, is I
support them so much.
Long story short, I needed to open up a
new checking account.
I switched banks.
I use Capital One.
If you have a, any Capital One card, you
get 50% off any beverage using that card.
(39:10):
All right.
Anytime.
And you also, I know it never ends.
Just go back to our episodes here,
looking at transcripts to
see if I find where you've
mentioned this.
I probably said it to you off air.
I probably raved about it.
I raved about it six months ago.
Now here I am.
I'm a customer.
That's good business, everyone.
And not only that, we think, actually I
didn't want to tell this part.
This is a real hidden gem.
(39:30):
I don't want, I don't
even want people to know.
I can book, I don't know.
Maybe I'll cut this out.
You got to listen to the end, everyone.
You got to listen to the end.
I can book a Nook, a private room at the
Capital One Cafe for free
for two hours using my app
as a hard card member.
(39:51):
There you go.
I might be recording an
episode in the Capital One Cafe.
One of these days, just watch out.
So that's our hidden gems.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Hidden gems is the way we say thanks for
listening to the end.
However you're watching or listening,
thanks for making us part of your day.
Until next week, see you.
See you next week, guys.
I was getting ready to shoot first day on
set everyone was like oh my god you're
working with so-and-so
He is a blast
He has so many stories. Oh, yeah, I know
who this is. He's gonna tell you about
auditioning with Scorsese. Oh my god
such a blast
The guy didn't say two words to me. All
(01:34):
right. Hey everyone. Welcome to the
actor's guide to the
end of the world podcast
I'm E-Kan Soong and this is Rían Sheehy Kelly
it. How's it going? Hey, buddy
We talk about acting in Hollywood in a
way people understand wherever you're
listening to this.
Thank you for joining us
We got a lot to talk about make sure you
follow us on all platforms YouTube sub
(01:54):
stack at actors guide podcast
Follow us on all social media at actors
guide podcast. We're everywhere
Leave us a comment leave us a review if
you get a chance it helps the podcast
Follow econ around New
York City if you see him
Let's just jump right into it. I wanted
to tell you this story though
Go on because it's just so timely you
(02:16):
might have heard the Pope just got
announced the new Pope
I did hear that new Chicago Pope
Yeah, there's a lot of Chicago memes a
lot of deep-dish pizza memes
It gets better. They announced the new
Pope white smoke and
all it's a big celebration
my dad comes home and
Follows these things and he announces hey
(02:37):
the new Pope just got named and we're
like, yeah, we heard he goes
That was a former student of mine. I
taught him math at
Villanova. What he was a math major
Wait, your dad taught a Villanova. Yeah,
my for those that didn't know this my dad
has taught for over 35 years in
college for
(02:59):
Literally, he's still
he's still working. Um
He
Did work at Villanova?
the Pope apparently was a
math major at Villanova and
Me and my mom looked at my dad because my
dad is always making stupid
jokes that don't make sense
We immediately were
(03:20):
like you're full of shit
Like we couldn't even comprehend. Is this
some weird joke that you're just but no
my dad contends that
new Pope
Studied we do know that he was a math
major at Villanova and he
was a former student of my dad
That's crazy
(03:41):
Your dad taught the Pope Matt
So now that he's is the
Pope in charge of the Vatican's
Finances, I don't know. I don't know
Vatican City has a lot of money
I know the Catholic Church has a lot of
money. So if he fucks that up your dad is
partially responsible. It's a good point
That's a good point. I I feel confident
that the Pope does not
(04:02):
control the finances, but
That would be funny if
they did it's funny though
We're I'd never expected to be talking
about the Pope today,
but now that I think of it
I don't know what the Pope actually does
I don't know how much hand the Pope has
and all of the
day-to-day dealings of the I
Was going to bring up the Irish Catholic
roots, but I guess
they're not that deep with you
During well, I was vague. I was born
(04:24):
Catholic, but I I'm not a practicing
Catholic. Okay, I mean no judgment
No judgment. Anyway, so my fun Pope story
was the highlight was
all the fun of this episode
Now we're gonna get into the serious
stuff. We do talk about Trump's tariffs
He fired a shot use
the big T word last week
(04:45):
We never thought that we would talk about
it, but we kind of can't not
talk about it. So here we are
we talk about what we know we talk about
a lot of different ideas that are
floating around what it even means and
Some possible solutions that might come
out of all of this. We
have a fun little tidbit
We talk about etiquette on
set do you chat a lot or you?
(05:08):
Chatty Kathy or a solitary Simon do you
hide off in your trailer like Rian does?
We talk about these etiquette rules that
happen beyond said and what
works for us sit back relax
thank you for making us part of your day
wherever you're listening and
Now a word from our sponsor. You think
(05:29):
you're ready for leading roles. You feel
you got that star power. Fuck you
Seriously, what do you think you are?
Welcome to your humility coach here to
always keep you grounded with this app
You'll have your very own personal coach
keeping you humble. Are you gonna wear
that don't know if it's ever gonna happen
I think you're better than ever this this
holiday season give the
gift of humility now in espanol
(05:50):
Pincha Pindejo
We weren't sure if we were ever going to
talk about this we we taped last week
we talked about a lot of
what's going on internationally and
Next thing you know Trump drops this bomb
and everybody on their
mom is is mentioning to us
Are we gonna talk about it break it down?
There's you can't not we
(06:11):
we kind of can't avoid it
we'll talk about how governor Newsom and
John Voight of all people is getting
involved in this and
Possible scenarios that might happen. So
this one's gonna be a big guy. I've been
I've been getting some texts
I've been getting some texts on this
little bit of debate. So yeah, you know,
I'm glad we're talking about it
Shout out to Emma friend of the show.
(06:31):
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah
Thanks to our listeners. Here we are.
We're diving into these territories and
it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting
Let's let's start with with the original
announcement. Yeah.
Yeah, that's a great place
Trump said he's been studying
about this for a week now. I
Don't know if you caught that a whole
(06:52):
week. You don't say so you studied it up
you you hit the books
So Don Donald Trump he's ordering the US
trade representative
and Commerce Department
Begin process to impose a 100% tariff on
imports of movies that are
produced in foreign lands
He calls it a national security threat.
He has talked to special ambassadors
ie John Voight
(07:14):
Hollywood is being destroyed
Now you have a grossly incompetent
governor governor Newsom. We'll get back
to that to me ill thought
out and just sort of just like
many of these announcements are was how
do you put a tariff on a fucking film a
lot of the initial reaction that I heard
from a lot of people is like that's
(07:35):
ridiculous it's still gonna be just as
expensive to produce here it's just
gonna make foreign films the screening of
foreign films prohibitively expensive
for people to go to the cinema people in
the industry said this is so complex how
like there's foreign distribution there's
independent distribution what
happens if it's made if it's a US company
(07:57):
and one part or one aspect of
is done in foreign territory all these
complexities that you're just bringing
up we do not know any of this there's
actually not a lot that he said we don't
want to make this bigger than it really
is we're just going off of what we're
hearing the White House responded after
Trump's announcement and said they're
not making they didn't make any final
(08:17):
plans about any of this this story might
go away before we even upload this what I
thought was interesting was is the
the diverse opinions from experts from
workers in the industry who are we to
disregard one versus the other by the way
you know sag had a response we'll
get into that I a t see the teamsters I
(08:38):
saw we have a lot of different opinions
and we didn't get it we didn't even get
into Governor Newsom we didn't even get
into John Voight so so I will mention
this one thing we actually don't know
what is happening with a lot of Trump's
tariffs we do know that he is a hundred
forty-five percent tariff on China okay
that has been going on they're meeting
next week by the way so who knows things
(08:59):
could drastically change next week he's
meeting with China in the next couple
weeks China as a response did put a
limit on US movies being played in China
this has already been going on this is
already a thing so that is one small
thing obviously China is a huge market
international box office that is not
(09:21):
ideal for American films they're playing
Fast and Furious 7 right now I believe
and you know Minecraft film Minecraft
movie so all this is actively going on we
know that there's an ongoing thing
with Canada Canada is has removed all US
alcohol from their liquor stores so
there's ongoing back and forth with these
things we don't know what the
retaliation could be we actually let me
(09:44):
just say the IOTC response here Matthew
Loeb IOTC president after in response to
Trump's announcement he called for a
balanced federal response to return film
and TV jobs okay well that's fair in a
statement Loeb made it clear that any
potential solution to the US production
exodus should not cause harm to the
(10:04):
country's neighbor to the north as these
as these tariffs almost certainly would
that's fair so they said the tariffs
tariffs are harmful their their take is
the tariffs are harmful so this is where
it gets slightly interesting Teamsters
announcement was kind of a different
(10:24):
tone for those paying attention Teamsters
president president he's kind of
a badass at least he's been badass for
recent years for a lot of the the the
strikes that he's been working through
president Sean O'Brien for years
Hollywood Studios have hollowed out the
industry by following corporate America's
crooked playbook of outsourcing good
union jobs studios chase cheap
(10:46):
production overseas he goes on to say the
Teamsters Union has been sounding
the alarms for years if studios want to
benefit from American box offices they
must invest in American workers we thank
President Trump for boldly supporting
good union jobs when others have turned
their heads this is a strong step toward
finally reigning in the studios
(11:07):
un-American addiction to outsourcing
our members work Teamsters applaud any
elected official Republican Democrat
independent who's willing to fight for
American workers we look forward to
continuing to work with the
administration to build a trade agenda
that benefits our members and workers
throughout the American motion picture
in TV industry so there we go that was
definitely a different sentiment and
(11:29):
you know that's kind of like where we
that's kind of like where we start I
at see was opposed to it the Teamsters
were somewhat supportive of it and sag
sag afters is actually pretty similar to
Iot see a sag after supports efforts to
increase movie television and streaming
production we will continue to advocate
for policies that strengthen our
competitive position accelerate economic
(11:51):
growth and create good middle-class jobs
for American workers we look forward to
learning more about the specifics of the
plan announced by the president and
to advancing a dialogue to achieve our
common goals that's more measures than I
would have thought so let's talk about
Gavin Newsom's response said this before
we've never been excited to jump into
(12:12):
partisan politics we try to keep things
pretty relevant here but I'll be honest
with you it was easy to write this off
as oh something silly was said the
Hollywood industry is already kind of
shaky and we do know that more
instability is just going to cause more
(12:34):
instability in the Hollywood industry
it's like we know that it's not helping
all this uncertainty that being said when
we dig into these stories and we see what
everyone's saying it's kind of
interesting I mean there might be a
couple things to learn because we know
that it's not working so right off the
bat Gavin Newsom Trump has no authority
(12:55):
to impose a hundred percent movie
tariffs he does respond we've proven what
strong what strong state incentives
can do now it's time for a real federal
partnership to make America film again
at POTUS let's get it done so Newsom had
to respond obviously Trump threw some
(13:15):
barbs at him but Newsom responded with
let's work together so a federal tax
credit he's not the only one to say that
but this is this is what Newsom is
proposing that's a possible solution
that's a possible solution so that
actually might be a little a bit
friendlier for foreign countries it's not
(13:36):
a penalty it's just a rebate for
American-based productions well honestly
that would have that would that would
have seemed to me and I don't know a lot
but like that would have seemed to me to
be the way to go initially not not be
punitive and not trying you know
obviously if you're if you're new
listening reans from Ireland hi guys I'm
from Ireland yeah so you know we have a
(13:58):
vested interest and it just so happened
we were last even last week we were
talking about hey it can all these these
industries coexist and you know if we
support Hollywood is that necessarily
something that we're detracting from
foreign industries and foreign film
markets apparently Trump is ready to
fight fire with fire we're trying to
figure everything out just like just
(14:19):
like you guys we have a vested interest
and you know reen at the moment works
internationally so this is not you know
this is not theatrics here this is
actually this does affect us I'm sort of
like a spy or like a like an
international kind of miss like a figure
of mystery in some ways yeah but you
Irish people are so friendly you know no
one be was suspecting you you'll be
(14:41):
like the nicest spy ever exactly you
never see a never see us yeah talk about
this John Voight thing so we here's the
thing first of all hello John Voight a
John Voight just pops onto the scene by
the way if you heard his tweet message
it is kind of hilarious like I can't not
mention this tweet message because he
(15:03):
said that Donald Trump is a friend
obviously and reiterates that he's one
of the greatest presidents since Abraham
Lincoln and also George Washington so
we can't ignore that we can aside from
that we can John Voight put a proposal
together this happened before Donald
(15:25):
Trump made his announcement but we'll
put a link in the description because the
proposal was a lot more in depth
than Trump just spinning out about a
tariff his proposals federal tax credit
10% 10 to 20% he's proposing a federal
tax credit also same thing as
Governor Newsom just saying federal tax
(15:46):
credit that's reasonable that's not
crazy right there is a foreign tariff for
John Voight's plan we have here 120%
of the value of the foreign tax incentive
received meaning that if the
production receives a foreign tax credit
there will be a 120% of that that
(16:08):
will be a US tariff on that production he
says here this is not meant to be a
penalty but a necessary step to level the
playing field while not creating a
never-ending cycle of chasing the highest
incentive I'm not gonna lie
John Voight had some interesting things
to say he wants to separate the
producer from the streamer okay he wants
(16:32):
to end this trend this trend that
Netflix owns a lot of its content just by
licensing it it's the studio but it
also is the owner when they didn't
produce the TV show let me let me try to
break that down when Netflix was buying
up content and kind of making its making
(16:53):
its way now Felix was creating a few
Netflix originals they were also buying
international shows with no star what
with with lesser lesser names because
they were cheap we knew that we knew that
this is the eight years ago this
was when they were amassing all this
content guess what those producers of
(17:16):
those shows you mentioned that signing
away the rights so Netflix could say
hold it in an original show it wasn't a
Netflix original it was created by
someone else in Brazil or Ireland or
whatever Netflix owned that outright the
producers got very little money but
they're on Netflix squat for squid game
(17:36):
exactly exactly squat for squid game
that's not fair actually this was
previous episodes Korea tons of shows on
Netflix trying to unionize now hello
that's that's gonna be a conversation
that Netflix is gonna have with Korean
producers anyway separating producer from
streamers right now Netflix owns a
(17:57):
hundred percent along with long licensing
terms he's proposing that they
have to prepare a premium for those
licenses when those licenses and
producers then retain the ownership hey
that would be really nice it would be
nice if someone fights for that guess
what that sounds very similar to the
Ryan Coogler Sinners deal hey maybe a few
(18:19):
people in power can actually do
something right hey no one else is doing
it Ryan Coogler gets the ownership of
sinners after 25 years hey it's it's
crazy enough to work okay by the way
they abolished this 30 years ago in
(18:40):
America before networks were not allowed
to own their programs ABC NBC that was
banned they abolished it 30 years ago and
all the networks celebrated yay and all
Hollywood goes man this is bullshit we
got rid of that 30 years ago he's trying
(19:01):
to bring it back but for streamers I
don't know I don't know no one's talking
about that where I was like I know a lot
of liberals and a lot of people in
Hollywood who who had been trying to
push for that you're very animated today
you're very very animated that coffee is
kicking in now yeah yeah I took a nap
(19:23):
today but watch out folks California tax
credits does not have any tax credits
that apply to above the line we knew
that the California tax credits do not
apply to Tom Cruise and big-name stars
we know that he mentions that in the
proposal and the last thing that we'll
talk about with John Voight is this is
where you come into play did you know
(19:44):
did you know that there's a UK cultural
test to qualify for the UK tax credit I
know that as of about an hour ago so John
Voight posted this there is a UK
cultural test to approve to get approved
for UK tax credit I'm just gonna read
some of the bullet points and by the way
this is not that crazy I want to
(20:06):
believe that Georgia has tax credits as
far as how many locals from Georgia are
working on a TV show so yeah Canada has
something similar exactly exactly so
this is not that crazy you get points for
the film is set in the UK or the
European economic area the lead
characters are British citizens or
(20:26):
residents the film is based on British
subject matter or underlying material
original dialogue is recorded in English
or another indigenous UK language so
those are the big ones where you get
points sorry what what are these points
get them that's a great question you
tally a certain amount of points for
each category and if you qualify for a
(20:47):
certain amount of points you hit the
threshold to get the tax credit what we
believe that he's proposing is hey how
come we don't have a US cultural test for
US credits and US films pretty much
it with this deep breath deep breath yeah
I know I know I know we got through
it we got through it I know we both can
take a nap here this was not easy this
(21:07):
is not easy for either of us so as we're
wrapping this up we see that there are a
lot of different opinions as polarizing
as Trump is we didn't even get to crew
stories now we don't have the time to go
down through crew stories but that is a
Facebook group of industry professionals
you'd be surprised a lot of them are
saying hey this kind of makes sense I
(21:30):
know some people who have spoken to me
personally aside from political
affiliation and think that it actually
kind of makes sense too so I've heard
both sides of the fence now as far as
do we have enough to get freaked out over
we know that media stocks already
dropped I don't know if there's enough to
(21:51):
get freaked out over because the
White House already said they didn't make
any final plans and on top of it
there's no mention of TV in any of this
this is specifically talking about film
so far like I said that I think the
responses to a lot of this have been the
most interesting part and there might be
some solutions in this the entertainment
industry does need a little help in the
(22:12):
past couple months New York just landed
a huge increase to their tax credits they
literally just doubled their tax
credits New York and then Texas just
increased their tax credits and I think
literally doubled it so there are people
making moves right now we might need
(22:33):
more help we know California needs more
help and the big question is is are these
even competitive with like you said tax
credits in Ireland in UK and and
Australia we also have a number of
listeners in Texas do you ever notice
that when I see the breakdown I see we've
quite a few listeners in Texas and
I'm always most curious really oh
actually I didn't see that yeah I see
(22:56):
we see we see who's listening we see you
we have eyes everywhere yeah and it's
funny cuz like I know this stuff is
pertinent to the industry and it's
pertinent you know what's going on at the
moment I find this hard to talk
about because it weighs into an area that
I feel it's so I'm so burnt out on I
find the news really difficult to read
lately the same type of story that is
(23:19):
it's exhausting let's talk about that a
little bit I do a good job controlling
what's information is coming at me what's
in my feed and so on and so forth
um I'm not scrolling through the latest
news blurbs I am NOT watching CNN or
(23:40):
whatever news channel 24 7 I'm pretty
resistant to it because I know how much
that can boggle someone or just weigh
someone down and I I try to protect
myself from that so I can understand if
people are desensitized but how much do
you how much news do you watch I mean I I
(24:00):
would typically traditionally would
read the news every day I've stopped
doing that just because I find it read
the news on what like news or whatever
yeah yeah yeah we have Google News
basically I'll just go to the Google News
homepage or you know click links
on story so I do you know I typically do
(24:21):
consume a lot of news but I've actually
heard that back a lot lately just because
I find it kind of overwhelming
and a bit relentless activates that I
mean I'm like here we go there is a lot
of it's clear well I mean from what I
heard anxiety is contagious okay I mean
scientifically we know that um personally
(24:45):
for me there is a lot of
anxiety that comes from the unknown if
you're in the Hollywood industry right
now whether you're an actor whether
you're a writer for the past two and a
half three years we've been dealing with
a lot of anxiety and a lot of unknown
what I just realized when we were digging
(25:05):
into these articles is the fact
that personally for me having a little
more clarity as opposed to the sky is
falling studios are trying to replace
actors with AI and etc etc meanwhile
we're trying to pay bills on the table
and also continue to work at our craft
(25:27):
and become a better actor right looking
at the specifics of what is actually
happening what is what are people saying
actually reduces my anxiety in
this particular situation a teeny bit I
am NOT fighting an ambiguous dark cloud
that is just looming over us and
(25:51):
eventually going to strike what I'm
saying here is is Trump makes an
announcement what did he say not much of
anything okay we have a few responses
from people who we believe have American
interest at heart and maybe someone might
say something smart that actually
(26:12):
makes me feel a little better yeah that's
a pretty that's a good way of
looking at it I get it so so I agree I'm
not ready to solve any world crises
that are happening right now but no it's
a particular issue yeah you have to stay
tuned for next episode I was gonna be a
hidden gem you're gonna solve a world
crisis there's some people over here
(26:35):
trying to think about an idea to help us
I mean PJ Byrne stay in LA is one of them
and it just so happens that hey we
actually might have some people whether
they're Republican or Democrat trying to
find a solution I mean what we've been
(26:56):
frustrated about what's been having
happening in California for what four or
five years now this is this is this is
where I am longer really and so yeah yeah
exactly that helps me a little bit
yeah because this actually makes me feel
like we're going somewhere instead of
just going down the same same decline I
(27:17):
can I can dig it I can dig it I have it
I have a question for you which is
unrelated to this topic it was just
something I saw yeah on Instagram this
morning yeah give it to me Walton Goggins
was talking about taking like taking your
time on set or like what do you need
to do to prepare for scene he was talking
about what he likes to do he's
just like he's taken it was don't sit
(27:38):
with the other actors you know in the
green room he's like stay on set pick
something up you know what I mean talk
to you talk to people on the set but he's
like you know just stay in it and
and don't staying on the set in between
takes there was an older actor was like
you're not leaving are you and he's like
no I'm staying he's like good good
always stay on the set like in between
(27:59):
setups and everything else stay right in
it stay in that apartment I was just
curious as to how you what how do you
act on a set you know are you chatty are
you very social on a set are you you
know do you just stay you just stay in it
really sort of living in it or do you
fuck off and have a cup of coffee and
chat to people and have a laugh and what
(28:23):
does it require for you we I would say
that for most of my experiences we have
to react and roll with the punches of
what that set is what star am I working
with what's the vibe on set what's that's
different day to day and for us
or when I say for me I have to do
(28:44):
whatever I need to do to do my best work
and I think it's something that we talk
at Leslie's some days if the star wants
to keep chatting in between takes and saw
the stuff like that you stay
chatting with them you stay connected
with them I will admit sometimes we
don't have that luxury to be like oh the
second ad comes over to you like we're
(29:05):
doing another setup so we're gonna shoot
bring you over here and we're gonna
wait and we're gonna bring you back on to
set now there's a few times where I'm
like that's just easier let me just sit
over there while they will they set up
and I don't have the option of being like
no no no no no no you you guys
change sets around you guys switch sides
of course it would be a great problem to
(29:26):
have to be like I'm long Goggins let me
just sit here and play with my props
you know I mean I would love that would
you that's that that would be would you
do that if you had if you had I would I
would I would stay on set the whole
chatty thing is interesting and I won't
say what show or what experience I was
getting ready to shoot first day on set
everyone was like oh my god you're
(29:46):
working with so-and-so he is a blast he
has so many stories he's gonna tell you
about auditioning with Scorsese sit back
relax oh my god such a blast the guy
didn't say two words to me he said hi
(30:07):
nice to meet you my name is did not look
at me did not say two words we eventually
got to set we did a little
rehearsal sat next to next to each other
didn't say two words there was not a lot
of heavy lifting for him or me he was on
his phone fidgeting it was freaking me
out and I was like dude I can't even sit
(30:28):
next to you I'm freaking out and I had
to go walk around because I was like
there's something I don't know what
you're going through but there's some
energy there I don't want to get involved
but let me just we'll make it work
regardless but that's kind of like one
on point I'm saying in your sandbox and I
gotta protect with I gotta make sure I
don't shit the bed because you're you're
fine you're you're you're you know top
(30:49):
on the call sheet so that's where I am we
got it we got to play ball with
whoever it's funny it's funny is it and I
will say like I have to be careful
with this stuff like because I I really I
love me I really enjoy the buzz of it
so I get kind of excited and I like
chatting to a lot of different people so
I have to be careful with that too
because I have to it's a balance for me
(31:10):
to also remember to take the time to do
what I need to do to get to where I need
to be however that looks and like I know
what you're saying about if you have the
power to stay on a set and go I'm the you
know I'm just star here I'm gonna do
this I'm gonna do that oftentimes you're
moved off the set because you're
in people's way when they're you know
(31:30):
changing setups which is totally fine
obviously you're not you don't want to be
in anybody's way yes but I do see
actors who like cannot wait to get off
the set in between takes or whatever just
you know they like and then they come
back when they're brought back or
whatever and they just don't want to be
there in between and that's totally fine
and real quick I just want to throw this
out there where you know if you study at
(31:52):
Leslie Khan and you know a lot of times
we talk about this whatever you need to
do to be brilliant it could be sense
memory it could be substitutions it
could be a lot of things that Leslie
doesn't actually even teach you can do
that do whatever you need to do to be
brilliant and and protect yourself and
(32:13):
the other thing I will say is is to that
point a lot of actors especially stars
might not want to rehearse with you they
might not want to run lines and how do
you protect your performance be like I'm
bulletproof I can handle any
direction I can take any note and I'm
ready I'm ready to work and and and how
do you get to that level and that's what
we strive for that's a that's a very
(32:33):
good point it is it's it's a kind of it's
a weird thing of like I think you
have to be good at just reading the
temperature of one set to what someone
else needs some people just don't want to
be bothered so you don't want to be
going up and chatting to them and yapping
away and like I suppose it also
depends on the nature of what it is
you're doing if it's a comedy it's a
(32:53):
little lighter it's a little easier
something heavy people might need more
space and phone a phone is interesting as
well I find that a phone takes me
right out if I cannot bring a phone to
set I'm in better shape now sometimes I
do and I like leave it off to side in
between takes or whatever but I find
that a phone distracts me from where I am
anyway I've seen a lot of stuff
(33:14):
recently about people just do not bring a
phone to set at all just be a hundred
percent there a lot of great directors no
phones no phones I like that I do
like that I do too I know that you're
you're fairly social have you ever been
in a situation where you were so social
that you felt like it hurt your work
yeah I think so to a degree because I
always think that there's like I always
(33:35):
think there's more specificity you can
find I think there's a there's a I always
think there's more to mine out of
something you know to me without being
too precious about it without being too
rigid mm-hmm yeah you know and also
there's some
You know what, when I did this, I did
this indie movie a couple
years ago and I was determined
(33:57):
to be a part of it in every way.
Like, you know, I hung out with people
after work because we're
all, you know, away together.
Because sometimes I have to remind myself
to like, just be here
and enjoy every second
of this.
Don't miss any of it.
You know, I was hanging out with people
after long days and we'd
go out and we'd hang out
and whatever.
So some, you know, you'd be out late and
then you might have an
early call time in the morning.
(34:17):
So I actually found that in sort of in
the middle of that job,
I like, I was like, Oh,
I got to protect my energy a little bit
here because I'm, I was
so, you know, so committed
to like, Oh, just enjoying all of it and
just being a part of it.
There is a point where you have to kind
of pull it back and
direct your energy a little
bit more efficiently or just
intelligently go, okay,
well, obviously I can't be doing
(34:38):
that every night or, you know, and I'll
go the other way
because I can relate to this.
This is actually, I just remember this.
I always remember this quote.
Timothy Oliphant.
Obviously he's done a lot of work,
justified and so on.
He admitted, he realized halfway through,
I'm not having as much fun as everyone.
And he just realized he's working with
these series regulars.
(34:58):
He's like, I'm not having much, most, I
think the realization was
when they had like bloopers
and, and, and, um, gag reels at the end
of the season, you know,
just for fun with camaraderie
and community, he was in none of them.
And it was like, what is this saying?
The fact that I'm not
having, and I relate to that.
Because you're no fun.
Yeah.
Because you are zero fun.
(35:19):
Yeah.
No, you relate to it
because you're not funny.
Yeah.
All the things that we work on at
Leslie's when we're like,
dig deeper, where, where
what are you missing?
What are you trying to, you can try to
prefer perfect the
beautiful, you know, ornament
that you were beautiful sculpture that
you're trying to make,
but there's an element of,
can you let go?
And if you're in a, if in your, a comedy,
(35:42):
can you maybe, if you
have a little more fun,
you actually might be doing a better job.
Even if you're in something serious, but
even if you're in
something to be sad for having
fun outside it to kind of lighten it.
And then yeah, yeah,
I think you're right.
I think like do as much work as you can
beforehand and then let
it go when you get there.
And don't be a dick as
we've discussed a few times.
(36:03):
The, um, and George
Clooney is notorious for that.
Like he could be joking around with you
and doing incredibly
serious scene right afterwards.
So he, he just goes in and
out completely seamlessly.
So he's so good.
So let's do a hidden gems hidden gems.
Mine is a little unusual.
It's not hidden.
It's maybe not a jam for lots of people,
but I had a yellow
(36:23):
mango for the first time a
couple of weeks ago.
That's cool.
My God, it was one of the most delicious
things I've ever eaten.
I, I don't know why I've never had a
yellow mango before.
I didn't even know the
difference there for a dollar.
I didn't either.
I didn't know there was a yellow mango or
a different type of mango.
Anyway, they were like
yellow mangoes a dollar.
And I was like, all
(36:44):
right, I'll take a few of them.
Well it was like to steal from a friend
of mine an angel sleeping in my mouth.
It was just an
incredible taste and sensation.
I was like, well, I'll be
knees every time I see them.
Okay.
Tangy, sweet, yellow mango.
Awesome.
I love that.
It's my hidden gem for anybody who's as
(37:04):
shelter has led as
sheltered a life as I clearly have
fruit wise.
Man, you really need to get out there.
There's so many yellow mango mangoes that
have not been eaten yet.
Let me throw this hidden gem out there.
It is a little timely, but I want to give
a little love to it.
It's so funny because
(37:25):
it's, it's a huge brand.
You probably seen the commercials, but if
you're in New York,
you've seen, no, not that
big.
If you're in New York, I'm trying to go
through like the random
little adventures I had in
New York.
If you've been in New York, you know that
there's a capital one
cafes throughout Manhattan.
Capital one is obviously the big.
(37:45):
There's one here or there
used to be in Santa Monica.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So there's one in Santa Monica.
I haven't been to those, but I know that
there's a couple in LA.
You've mentioned these before, I feel.
I think so.
You might've seen it on
my, on my social media.
So capital one cafe.
It's so funny.
This is not sponsored, is not sponsored.
It is sponsored by Kevin.
Kevin Hart is sponsored, but I am not.
(38:05):
Capital one cafe is such
a nice cafe in Manhattan.
It's clean.
It's spacious.
Even if you don't have the bank card,
you're welcome to go in
there and it's a fully working
cafe.
They have Verve, coffee beans.
Anyway, the reason why I want to give it
a little love is they
have promotions specifically
(38:26):
right now during the baseball season,
MLB, where every
Monday, all you have to do is
scan their QR and you get a free cup of
coffee or free tea or
free handcrafted beverage.
That's a long, every Monday.
Handcrafted beverage is a great phrase.
They also have free QR codes online where
me and my sister have
(38:48):
found them and we've
also, we often got
treated to a free coffee.
Now the thing is, is I
support them so much.
Long story short, I needed to open up a
new checking account.
I switched banks.
I use Capital One.
If you have a, any Capital One card, you
get 50% off any beverage using that card.
(39:10):
All right.
Anytime.
And you also, I know it never ends.
Just go back to our episodes here,
looking at transcripts to
see if I find where you've
mentioned this.
I probably said it to you off air.
I probably raved about it.
I raved about it six months ago.
Now here I am.
I'm a customer.
That's good business, everyone.
And not only that, we think, actually I
didn't want to tell this part.
This is a real hidden gem.
(39:30):
I don't want, I don't
even want people to know.
I can book, I don't know.
Maybe I'll cut this out.
You got to listen to the end, everyone.
You got to listen to the end.
I can book a Nook, a private room at the
Capital One Cafe for free
for two hours using my app
as a hard card member.
(39:51):
There you go.
I might be recording an
episode in the Capital One Cafe.
One of these days, just watch out.
So that's our hidden gems.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Hidden gems is the way we say thanks for
listening to the end.
However you're watching or listening,
thanks for making us part of your day.
Until next week, see you.
See you next week, guys.
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