Making Beautiful Music with VICTOR🎻| The Walking Dead: Dead City | Logan Schmucker - SQUAWKING DEAD

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey everybody, it's your friend Dave from Walking Dead.
And if you've been enjoying The Walking Dead Dead City and if
you further enjoyed the character Victor, the violinist
who comforts Negan during his incarceration, you're going to
love what I have in store for you.
I'm here to introduce Logan Schmucker, who plays Victor.
We sat down for nearly two hoursthe unedited portion of this

(00:22):
interview, which you can get from our Kofi Patreon pages.
I've reduced it to about an hour.
You'll be able to, if you happento tip us or join a membership
tier in either platform, see some of the backstage banter
that we kind of did back and forth.
I cut a lot of it out, but I highly encourage you streaming
that version of what you're about to see.

(00:43):
So stop watching right now and check that out and see if you're
interested. Doesn't cost much, $4.00 tip or
for as little as $4.00 a month you could join the Walkers tier
and have access to that immediately.
Without further ado, I introduceyou to Logan Schmucker.
You've been playing violin for the past 16 years.
Plus, it's actually 2222. I think it was on my resume.

(01:06):
Yeah, well, I forget when somebody actually mentioned that
to me. I started playing when I was
seven years old. Is there any correlation to the
story you told me in The WalkingDead Dead City?
It's actually hilarious because I remember reading that when I
got to sides, I was just like, you know, first of all, I saw it
and I started reading and I'm like, OK, why is this like just
me? But my well, actually my dad's

(01:28):
really sweet and he, he didn't play violin.
So a lot of that part of like, you know, me and tyrannical dad,
that's not true at all. It's going to be more opposite
of very sweet. Yeah.
My, my, my dad's an engineer forthe, for the Environmental
Protection Agency. So he's like, he's not really a
musical guy. My mom was the one who was like
suggested, you know, she's like,you should play violin.

(01:49):
My sister was playing violin. And so my mom suggested I did it
too because I'd way too much energy as a kid.
So I started practicing. And for the first couple of
years, I actually did hate it. So that's pretty easy to
channel. I was, you know, I was buzzing
off the walls. So how do you, like as a seven?
Yeah, sit still and like, practice this really methodical
instrument. I mean, it's funny.
Yeah. When I went to my second

(02:09):
teacher, I remember it was in, like, streets where Ohio.
This is actually a cool, cool story because I remember it was
like 4. We were 45 minutes late.
It was a rainy day. Going to trying to find this
guy's place in this, like, residential area.
Finally find him and super nervous because like I was very
anxious with a violin playing. We get in super late and play
for him and he's like this Bulgarian guy, incredible

(02:30):
teacher. Actually, I just wrote him a
message the other day and like thanking him for all the not
just like the I have to do one thought at a time.
But basically I played this piece called the Elves dance for
him. And I remember there was like a
minute of silence and he was just looking at me through my
soul. And then he just goes, I can
teach him. And I felt like I was like Luke

(02:50):
Skywalker on Degeba, you know, Iwas like, oh, man.
And it was really exciting. And there's also my very first
teacher. He like, put a pencil in my hand
to see if he usually didn't teach kids.
He put a pencil in my hand like a Ticonderoga.
And he was like, just hold his pencil.
And I held it. And it was like a violin, just
exactly like a violin bow. And he's like, oh, usually it
takes a minute to figure that out.

(03:10):
So it came pretty naturally. And I actually did play soccer.
OK, so which is, that was also weird.
I played soccer in high school and like I could have done four
years of varsity, but I decided to focus on violin instead.
So that part's a little reverse so.
It wasn't like the impressive story of what you were expected
to do, but it did take a little bit of time to kind of get into
it. Yeah, well, it's pretty
rigorous. And you know, a lot of my

(03:32):
friends who still are full time instrumentalists, they they know
far more than me. I mean, you're putting hours of
your life into it at a young agetoo.
So like when you could be getting sun.
I got to go to Italy in 2000. Was it 12?
We were like playing music. They did try to create
opportunities for us to like sink in, like soak in this
beautiful Italian landscape likeFlorence, Sienna, Rome,
Archidoso. We were in practice rooms all

(03:53):
day. So it's like you're in Italy.
But and like, meanwhile, my family was like enjoying and
driving through all these, like,you know, all these different
places trying to wine and then you're just like in the cellar
basically practicing you. Climb out, it's dark already.
Yeah, what exactly? Save me any pasta.
Literally, literally. But then we play soccer with the
locals, so that kind of made it that that made it OK.

(04:15):
Well, how old are you around then?
Just to kind of get a head spaceprobably. 1516, yeah.
He's already been playing about 7:00-ish years.
Yeah, and it was like it was about time when you get like
really serious about it and there was a lot of really
serious players. So I remember I was also really
nervous. But of course, you're an age
where you're taking yourself waytoo seriously.
Yeah, taking yourself too seriously.
Yeah. But also super adventurous

(04:35):
still. So like, and Italy is just the
place to like, Oh my gosh, the adventures that we still had,
even in the night time, it was like this beautiful castle that
we were staying in. So literally it's like a castle
town. It like used to be like a Fort
or something. So we're just running around at
night and we have the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises.
It's kind of, it's kind of unreal.

(04:55):
You've had this, I think, this intense mastery of your craft.
But then there's also the transition between you as a
musician and you as an actor. Yeah, That wasn't an interwoven
path, right? You were mostly focused on the
music, I think. For sure.
No. I was in high school.
I remember the seeds started really young of I kind of always
knew I wanted to be an actor first, but the violin kind of

(05:16):
scratches a similar itch. And like when you're watching
some of these, some of the greatviolin, it's like I was so
inspired by Yasha Heifetz. It's like Pearlman, Pinky
Zuckerman. I could really list them because
that's what I really soaked up. That was like my breakfast,
lunch and dinner. I'd watch that stuff and you
know, I'm practicing Bach. And you know, the hardest line,
by the way, was saying that I did not like Brahms because I

(05:37):
fucking love Brahms. Oh yeah, see I was thinking that
too. I'm like, wait, how does this
transfer? But I get it because, like, you
know, his dad liked it. So yeah, I get it.
But I fucking love Brahms. Just for the record.
His violin concerto is incredible.
His fourth Symphony, his trio iseverything he does.
I'm, I'm such a Brahms guy. I'm a big Brahms guy.
Just make. That clear.

(05:58):
Just make it clear. Johan, Johan's my guy.
Friends, Johnny. Johnny Brahms, we John Brahms
actually wrote, it's called the academic overture.
This dude's a badass. Like basically this college hits
him up and like, Hey, we want you to we want to Commission you
to write this piece for our college for the performance the
students to play and like to have like this beautiful
representative piece for the school.

(06:18):
And he writes the academic overture.
And basically what he does is hethrows in a bunch of German
college drinking songs. So like you hear the bum bum,
bum, bum, bum bum. And I think the song was a bus
cultive from the whole, which islike both come there from on
high. So you're drinking beers and
singing these songs and all of asudden imagine being in college
and like hearing this great composer putting in your

(06:38):
drinking songs into this piece. So like, what a badass.
What? Speaking of singing things in,
when I was looking at your resume, I was like pool shark.
Oh yeah. Oh, now we're talking what you
say, you know. Like a litmus test for people
who are like, you know, did theycatch that?
Well, you never know. And you know, I because, like,
you know, when you're business of acting classes that you take,

(06:59):
they're always like put, put show your sense of humor too.
And at the time, you know, I wasliving in Bushwick, hitting up
all the bars and playing pool until like 3:00 AM.
When was that? Pretty recently, like I just
moved out last November, so that's like 3 year chapter in my
life where like my buddies and I, you know, we're all we're all
going to this place called shoutout to Ice house.

(07:21):
You know the ice house. Yeah, you know, they're good
players. So it's like there's a respect
for the craft of that too. So you you go in with respect,
no heckling, you know, like you call your shots and you play it
right and you respect your opponent.
And I really dug that too. You lived in.
Bush and I was like, OK, we're here.
We're not going anywhere. It's kind of the place to be

(07:41):
actually, upscale food and entertainment.
Incredible coffee places and youknow, donation based yoga stuff,
which I did all the time and it's like a very.
Park Slope. Exactly.
My philosophy is if you're trying to figure out where to
leave cheap in New York City, you're going to ask the painters
and the actors first because they know where the deals are.
And then you see this whole cycle, you know, then all the

(08:02):
all the business guys kind of follow because they want to be
where it's hip. You know, it's funny.
It's. Kind of like the thing where if
you are kind of in entertainmentor you want to be an
entertainment quite work out foryou, but you still want to stay
yeah, enterprise, just go into something else, go into food.
A lot of people were in financing and hedge funds and
stuff like that. They just kind of went into
yeah, it's post COVID. Let's do the thing that we love.

(08:23):
You know the Kermit also, by theway, I just.
Wanted to let you know. Oh yeah, I recognize.
Hey there. How are you?
Yeah, hey, should. We do the rest of the interview
like this. Yeah, sure.
Oh my gosh, there's gonna be a couple of friends that freak out
because yeah, right, right, right.
The with the two Kermits, the rainbow song, rainbow
connection. Yeah, oh man, how do?
You even find it a restaurant. Honestly, people would people

(08:48):
would fly and like the bartender, all the servers are
puppets. Yeah, yeah.
They're all my Yeah, Ralph the dog who played the piano.
Oh. My gosh.
I. Think we're on to something?
Exactly. You went to the American Academy
of Dramatic. Arts, yes.
Ada, a lot of people go AMDA andyou're like, no, it's close.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
I think they'll appreciate the triple enunciation of it.

(09:09):
Yeah. Incredible school.
Like, thank God for that place. To hit on the acting piece,
which we didn't really get into just yet, but the Academy
Company in New York, TR Conservatory program, I get some
music. Where did you get into the
acting portion of it? So in high school, I was in the
pit orchestra for Pirates of Penzance.
I remember I looked up and I just saw everybody dressed as

(09:30):
pirates and like singing with cat like Tred.
Let's get like Tred upon where we still they were having the
most fun ever. And I watched the movie with
Kevin Kline and I'm like, this is kind of what I want to do.
So that kind of spread, that planet is C to me.
And it kind of kept growing. I got to the music school.
I was at Duquesne University fortwo years saying violin.

(09:51):
And I was really not happy. And then all of a sudden one of
my friends reached out and was like, hey, I'm doing a
production of True Lest by Sam Shepard.
You want to like read Frostin? And I did.
And then that like completely. I just knew I needed to.
I just knew it. And I got kind of possessed by
it, especially the toaster scene.
We had like 15 toasters of this guy.

(10:11):
He just got well, also there's something about my relationship
with perfection because violin, what's tough is there is such a
thing as perfection, like the notes and the and the phrasing
and all that. And it was so freeing to be an
acting and be like, if you mess up, that's actually a gift.
It's a beautiful thing. And I needed to learn that
because I was like an anxious wreck.

(10:32):
I see. So like in terms of the violin,
when you mess up, it's more noticeable when you when you
when you act and you mess up, it's like, well, you can be
coached from jostled in the right dire almost makes you a
better human being. Whereas if you mess up, there's
no getting being a better. Like you freeze, right?
You freeze and you're like, oh man, I failed Bubba.
It's tough. And I know a lot of musicians
like struggle with that and thatthere's a relationship with.

(10:55):
I think a lot of them had way better coping mechanisms.
And I did dealing with it at thetime, which is really tough
because it was also sometimes it's like your whole identity.
Yeah. I just felt like acting just
opened me up. I actually learned how to
breathe. I don't know if I knew how to
breathe before that. That kind of belly breath.
Yeah, diaphragmatic Josh Moser, Voice and speech.
Yeah, right, right. It's here.

(11:16):
And then you get used to the diaphragm and you're like, Oh my
gosh, this is how you actually relax in life.
What from working out to being ahuman?
Yes, just. Breathing either from your
diaphragm or just just from yourstomach.
Just feeling your stomach breathe.
In and out. Yeah, what a what a revelation.
When you know how to breathe, you can like, release thoughts
that aren't true. Yeah.

(11:36):
That's the whole other side of it.
Yeah. Now that I know I can breathe,
there's no room for this. Yeah.
Into kind of like space. Yeah.
Marinate in that moment when youdon't.
Yeah. You're playing the violin.
Let's just say. Yeah.
It's like you're there's blinders.
Oh, yeah. You can't see past the moment.
Yeah. And then the mistake, it's like
literally going off the rails. It's like literally just taking

(11:57):
the taking the train, you know, and there's no Spider Man to
catch it. Undoubtedly, music opened a lot
of doors when it came to acting.Did you feel like acting?
In a sense, the pressure was off.
Did you feel like you could growas a human?
Oh my God. Yeah.
Oh my God. Yeah.
Also, you're not in a practice room by yourself in the
collaboration and learning aboutall of that.

(12:17):
Yeah, well, not just the feedback, but like, you know,
it's a dialogue and there's a lot of dialogues and exchanges
and then figuring out like, OK, what do I want from the scene
and what does my partner want from the scene as far as the
creative process, finding middleground and finding what's best
for the scene. There's so much stuff than the
collaboration that is so was so freeing to and it like it really

(12:41):
felt like my thing. It was really nice to kind of
take just like ownership of it. And also, I had done so many
auditions with violin, so when it came to auditioning, I was
bold and I was not afraid. Is there an effort element?
Oh my gosh, for sure. I'm like, well, I don't really
give it. I don't give it pass.
Yeah, I don't give a hoot really, because I already spent
so many years giving a hoot, like, without notes in all this.

(13:05):
And now I can just, like, literally, you know, I had
incredible teachers at school, too that helped to reframe a lot
of this one. You're like, you're solving
somebody's problem when you comeinto the room as an actor, this
is your time still. So you bring them to your space.
And a lot of the synapses were just really clicking for me.
Stuff that had been like, lessons building up and violin
that were finally like, OK, I understand it now.

(13:26):
The video guy, he does a bunch, like, basketball videos.
He does like, trick shots and helike, misses it.
And then he's like, I understandit now.
And then he just like, sinks them.
Michael Satcher's in this. Of course.
He said the actors are merely a link in the chain, and you have
the people behind the camera, infront of the camera, above the
camera to hit on what you were saying before.

(13:48):
It does take a lot of the pressure off of you because when
you're playing, let's say, solo,yeah, it's all when you have
that distribution of the performance, knowing that
everybody's putting their energies to making this one
thing work, that does take the brakes off of you as an actor.
Be sure two thoughts on that too.
One, absolutely all of that. You know, I graduated acting

(14:11):
school and the Conservatory thing in January 2020, so right
before the pandemic. So an opportunity like this
means something really differentafter, you know, years of having
to do other things to, like makeit while the industry is still
coming back and you know, you know, honing your skills and
learning how to to be in the world as an actor.

(14:31):
This like new normal. Thing yeah right and also like
it was so odd even just getting back into it like some there's
it was literally kind of the only thing that was like illegal
to do in the world. You know you can't do theater
because you're not 6 feet apart from all the shitty gigs that
you do that you're like why I you know like I invested in
myself to do this. Why am I blah, blah, blah, The

(14:52):
bartending, the countless hours of PA stuff.
When you get to a show like thiswhere everybody's known each
other for years and they're likefamily and like Michael knew
everybody like they've known each other like aunts and uncles
and cousins. And it's like this beautiful
dynamic. There's so much more of
appreciation of realizing everybody is also kind of like

(15:13):
not standing on the shoulders. But the amount of people that
are supporting them in their journey.
And you see like the thousands of people really connected to
the show in a day's work. It's really humbling.
And you're like, OK, I'm just going to, I can just do nothing
but do my best because everybody's doing that here.
And there's so many people that support them and families
connected to this. It was really like humbling and

(15:33):
beautiful. And it's good to be able to like
see it from that lens. Well, a different kind of
production, yeah. It's not like you're it's you're
the only time you've done movies.
No, son. Have you done any TV you said?
Prior to this is like ATV movie.That's right, I did see.
Yeah, but this is definitely thebiggest production, right?
So you see the resources that come into this.
It was great to like go in afterwalking that path.

(15:55):
Just know everybody's sacrificing to be there too
well. And at the speed at which
they're doing, because it's different from a movie set.
You said you have a you have a set ceiling of a time you can
play more. Yeah, right.
But like with TV, there's like atwo weeks maybe.
Yeah, if that. Yeah, that was also wild.
I mean. 2 episodes. So that was spaced out for like
weeks, you know, I would have one day and then breaks and then

(16:17):
one day and then breaks. It was like a month and 1/2 at
one point. And, you know, at that point
too, we're still filming and stuff.
And I'm like, shit, I hope they like what I'm doing.
I wonder if they're going to cutme all this stuff.
You know, I remember during the month and 1/2 was like, gosh, I
wonder if they're just like yeah, we should just like scrap
this or something. And then all of a sudden you
find out in like 3 days before you're like, OK, now we have to

(16:39):
go and do all the under the cathedral scenes in the prison
thing and do that all in one day.
So it's like hurry up and wait to the most maximum capacity.
Meantime, you're waiting. Yeah, right.
And just like, back of the desk job.
And you're just like, Oh my gosh, just trying to think about
like, you know, your entire illusions of reality, you've
gotten demolished because you'rejust like, having lunch with

(17:00):
Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And you're like, OK, so now I'm
back in New York and what's going on?
Were you traveling back and forth from Ohio to New?
York Actually, the travel team was super great because there
was a week where I had one day filming and there's a week off.
And then we were doing the all the the box cone stuff in the
cathedral and I was super anxious for that.
And I was like, hey, do you think I could go chill with

(17:21):
family? And so they literally
accommodated me and like, let mego back to Ohio and I was just
spent the week with my family. And it was like, yeah, they
could tell I was just like, I was just wired because I'm just
literally in the kitchen practicing that little like, so
many times because I had an inkling that I was going to have
to play that a lot that day. And so I just need the stamina.

(17:42):
Yeah. So I'm glad I did that because
it was quite a few takes of that.
You know, we're getting coverageof everybody.
Like they kind of went through the whole ring and I was last.
It's kind of like a guillotine. Well, actually, literally,
unfortunately. We'll get to that.
Well, so in terms of scenes thatwere filmed, was that final
scene filmed first or was was itkind of like the way it was
filmed? No, so we filmed, we filmed all

(18:04):
the battle stuff first. So my first day was like on top
of that roof thing with all the cannons and the zombies in the
cages. And there was this the very
first scene, right? It's also I, we had just come
off the writers strike. So it was like 6 months since I
had acted and all of a sudden I'm like, you know, Jelko on the
one side, Jeffrey Dean Morgan onthe other side, and I'm just

(18:26):
like, who the hell am I? Yeah.
I mean, Jelko, first of all, yeah.
Right. I've watched both of these guys
so much going up and then all ofa sudden they're like real,
tangible, physical people. And I'm just like, Oh my gosh.
So I just have this costume and I'm like, what?
What? Your collars up like this.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(18:47):
Maybe they won't notice. And then yeah, it's crazy
because like, that first day, like I just got the costume on,
they're like, OK, we're gonna start filming.
I'm like, Oh my God. And then like, you know, how
comes Francis Jeffrey Dean Morgan's like Logan, I'm like,
no way that he knows my name well.
He must have heard. You well he hid he told me he's
like hey man, I just was so I'm really excited to work with you

(19:08):
and like. Appreciate the.
Accent. Oh, thanks.
Thanks. Yeah.
He's like, man. So I I I hid his APA on watching
your callback. There's good stuff, man.
I'm like, no way. And so I was still shitting
myself. I was definitely not.
Well, executive producer, of course he could do that.
Yeah, right, right. Any just like wearing the
costume and it's so surreal. And then like all of a sudden,

(19:29):
so the scene where he's talking,telling the story about Walker,
mate, I'm between his two guys going with that absolute bloody
fuck is going on and the entire crew is like watching us too.
That was also Jeffrey Dean Morgan's first day back for the
season. But like I said, he was cracking
me up the whole time. So I was like, it put me at ease
because I was like, Oh my God, I'm sure you noticed me.
Just like, pale, as pale as can be.

(19:50):
Here's. What I noticed, I noticed you
were just like, yeah. But I.
Have to say that worked in your credit, because that was one of
the things I noted in that it wasn't as though he was a safely
character. Yeah, right.
He knows where he's at. Yeah.
There's that sense of modernism.This is where we are.
This is the way things are. Yeah.
But you know, I've got this thing on the side that helps
bring comfort to a Yeah, a wounded and captive.

(20:13):
Man yeah, a broken soul individual.
But it didn't make you say like laughing along with Negan and
Shelco was kind of like a not laughing, but it was more like.
Yeah, yeah. Like I could ease up a little
bit. Exactly, exactly.
It's like you're a normal person.
Yeah. So that actually kind of worked
in your favor. Well, also no thank you.
But also I remember because theygave me a little activity to do.
So in acting school, we were a Meisner school and part of the

(20:36):
whole thing is like the daily training, almost like your
attitudes. So basically somebody's going to
knock at the door and then there's an activity that has a
lot of meaning. So there's somebody who's doing
an activity that has a lot of meaning.
There's somebody who knocks on the door and then you watch as
like this whole thing unfolds, right?
So I was like, thank God they gave me these wire cutters to do
because I just really invested into like that and like

(20:58):
thinking, OK, this is like what this guy's always got to do and
like the stupid menial work thatyou do in life.
And so you can just really get into like, oh man, here we are
doing this again and I guess we're going to battle or
something. But I don't really give a crap
about that. I don't really, I'm not a fan of
war, all that. So it's like that saved me too,
to invest in an activity and notthink about, OK, I'm like in

(21:20):
this warehouse where there's like a huge boat and there's all
these cans and shit and I don't know what I'm doing here.
Well. This is what I'm supposed to be
doing today. Yeah.
Just happened to be there while this war was going on.
It's like, oh, yeah, it's happening here.
Maybe you can learn more about this guy.
Right. And also like, Jelko's
characters, kind of like your nightmare boss, you know,
Because you're just never sure, actually.

(21:40):
It is more like The Office, likeSteve Karl's character.
Yeah, Michael Scott. Right.
Shit, But only if Michael Scott.She said it.
Right. Oh man, let me tell you this.
Like rhyme or whatever, Yeah. You were there for that too.
You were there in the backgroundwhile he.
Was yeah, I was in the background.
I almost. Thought that might have been ADR
at some point too, yeah. Oh no, it's cool.

(22:01):
It was cool. And he was also so nice too.
I mean, it's wild where you're working with actors of that
caliber and they just so kind oflike name drop, but like,
they're not name dropping. They're just people that they're
with all the time. Because like, I'd studied The
Pillow Man by Martin McDonough and I'd done that in school, and
then he was telling me about this play.
Then he's like, Oh yeah, you know, Martin asked me to do this
play. I'm like Martin McDonough and

(22:22):
he's like, oh, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, Oh yeah, you know,
Pillow Man. That's right.
Because my cut my my addition ofPillow Man and his name is like
the guy who, you know, world thepremiere of the role.
So whatever. Yeah, it's cool stuff.
Describe to me the first step inthis journey on the Washington
Dent City. Who called whom?
It's a good story. Like I said, there was a strike

(22:43):
that happened. This is probably February.
Yeah. So my agent sent me the request
on actors access. It's really interesting because
I'd, I'd had quite a few actor violin things I was up for that
just didn't fall through. And I'm like, there's only a
handful of us really out there. So, like, you know, if I don't
get these, what am I doing? Why am I doing all this?

(23:05):
So I was really comfortable. It's though, like my sister just
got married in September. And it was like, thank you.
Yeah. Huge congratulations because it
was one of the happiest days of my life, too.
And to see just kind of this, like, evolution of walking into
the world with more responsibility as like a fully
formed adult and like, here to help solve the world's problems

(23:26):
and like, kind of take more. Yeah.
You know what I mean? No, But for sure, she's she's
incredibly smart and organize and people love working with her
because she just gets shit done.So to see her evolve like that
into this, like final four, not final, you know what I mean?
But like this really, Yeah, thisbeautiful moment.
Just. Caring about the world?
Yeah, About yourself and. Yes, yeah, yeah.

(23:46):
And so see that and then, you know, I'm still acting and I've
had some pretty big gigs, but itwas just, you know, it's also a
little bit brutal. So I was contemplating that I
was going to keep doing it. And I'm like at this temp job in
Dumbo and just kind of focusing on health and simple things and
all that. And then Dead City came in and I

(24:06):
remember I read the script and Iwas like violin playing soldier.
And it's just a couple sides andit didn't say names or anything
like that. I'm like, OK, I really like
this. This is cool.
This monologue is actually kind of me.
So it's not. Even just work, it's just like,
yeah, this sounds right up my alley.
Yeah, it was great. And you know, they specifically

(24:27):
put some violin piece names in it too.
And I remember they put the partida #2 from Bach, which is
in D minor. And for a long time too, I, I
like had the Daydream or dream of playing the Bach Chicone in,
in a cathedral and recording it.So that was a dream that I kind
of had put to the wayside for a while because I wasn't pursuing
violin full time anymore based on that, you know, because in

(24:47):
the, it was a scene where like Negan is really down and he's
beaten up. And even in, in that version of
script, I think he was laying down in his bed and just like
depressed. And I just thought I should do
the part in the boxer cone, which is also the partita #2 but
it's when the D major part comes, because it's like this is

(25:08):
the ashes of immolation and despair.
There's like a little spark thatkind of starts to bring hope.
Yeah. And I felt like that part was
always like the ember from the ashes.
Yeah. And it's just hope.
And I just sounded like hope. And I remember I played that one
for the tape and then I didn't hear anything back for like a
week or something. It was a longer duration.

(25:30):
Tuesday I got an e-mail. They're like, hey, tomorrow, can
you do a call back? And then I'm like, OK, I'm
calling out of work. All right.
And then my everybody was super flexible and lovely and they
took care of me and it was really sweet.
And so I just go back. It was actually really ironic
that day. I had a black lemon jacket on
that I just found at L train with my friend Henry and my
sister, the one who just got married for my birthday.

(25:52):
She, she went to Peru for her honeymoon.
She got me this red scarf, cashmere Peruvian scarf.
So I had a black jacket with a red scarf on and I got back and
I I should have been so nervous,but I was so calm and I got on
the Zoom and it was like Elijah name Michael Sachazemis.
A lot of the executives of this thing and then those 2P, as who

(26:15):
I ran later, would find out was both Jeffrey Dean Morgan and
Lauren Cohen. And I'm like, no way.
But so they're all watching. Videos are off.
Yeah, their video was off and you said PA.
Yeah, this is so funny. I mean, imagine, but thank God
they do that because if they were actually there, I'd have
been like, what? So.
And it was Christine Comer casting and thank you so much

(26:36):
for this. Oh my gosh.
So we did the scene and they gave some notes.
So we did it again. And I had to change the settings
a bunch on the. So I had to do all that.
And it was like trying to just remain calm as I'm like because
there's like on Zoom, you have to do certain settings so the
music can be heard without cutting out.
Right, because of the noise. Yeah, levelling, right, noise
reduction. Yeah, So then I do that and

(26:58):
like, thanks. And then I thought I like, you
know, did the classic thought I I hung up and I was like, wow.
And then I was still on the calland they're like, hey, Logan,
you're still here. I'm like, oh man.
And so I hung out and they're like, thank God.
All you said was wow. And I'm like, wow, it felt good.
And I'm like, but you never knowat this point.
With the opportunity alone and yeah, Oh my God, you don't know

(27:18):
that they're there, but Mikey's there.
And then it was like the 11th at11:11 PM that Friday that I
found out that I got it. So the following.
It might have been the following.
I think you're right. It was the following.
But I remember it was the 11th at really quick.
Yeah, I just remember that entire week.
I was just like, Oh my gosh, this could be cool or it could
be nothing. And then it was I got it and

(27:39):
then I'm like, OK, no, I have todo it.
I like found incredible violinist that I had my first
violin lesson in 10 years. Oh, OK.
For the box Chicone Yeah. And I like nearly passed out
because it was just like so muchinformation.
So I like I just I remember, I'mlike, OK, I'm going to sit down
and and practice. Oh, and it was like that Sunday
after I remember I was I was talking with my parents about

(27:59):
and like, OK, so I mean, I got it.
I just don't know what's going to happen next.
All of a sudden I get a text andit's Eli.
And he's like, hey, we're so excited to like work with you.
And yeah, exactly. And he's like, yeah.
So if you want to talk about themusic, let's do that sometime.
Like if you have any time today,we can call.
And so I'm like, guys, we're going to have to call you back.

(28:20):
And then I was just like, you know, walking around my
apartment, like what the, what the, what the fuck is happening?
And then we call and then we talk about the music, and he's
like, OK, so that Bach piece, that wasn't the one that was
like, exactly in the script, butlike, is that still partina #2?
I'm like, yeah, maybe it's partina #2 That's the Bach
Chacon, that's the Mount Everest, the violin pieces.
He's like, yeah, did you choose wisely on that one?
Yeah. Yeah, right.

(28:42):
Because now they have to do thisagain, yeah.
But you did. Yeah.
Did you? So did I mean even you
mentioning it and describing it because I was in tears, Rick,
just recalling it. Yeah.
So while I was watching it, it was, it was one of those a lot,
a lot went into it. So have you watched the show at
all? Like any of The Walking Dead
shows? I so I started the first season
and I, I didn't finish the firstseason.

(29:02):
I don't blame you. I was going to start watching it
to like prep for this, but I'm like, if I do that I'm going to
be so nervous I can't speak so. And I would never do that.
But, you know, it's like, I think that's fine If your
character has survived this long.
Yeah, you already know what it'slike.
Yeah, I don't think you need to know too much, and especially if
it's Manhattan. Right.
Well, so I thought his victor, Ikind of imagined like how he

(29:25):
kind of got in with the the Burrazi and what circumstances
would lead to that and how much does he really is like a prison
guard is pretty lowly within thethe hierarchical structure of
that. So I thought he's just a lot of
details he doesn't really need to know and he doesn't care to
know because he's just like, he kind of fell into this group of
guys that he doesn't really see,like his values don't aren't

(29:48):
represented by them. And so he's just doing this for
pure survival because he has no other choice because it's New
York in this world. So it's like the worst.
So it's either that or you're out on the streets and get
devoured in seconds. Between the tribes and the dead
themselves. So in your head, you kind of
developed a sort of, for sure a little bubble.
Yeah, There was a day where I just walked, like, up and down

(30:11):
Manhattan by myself, just like trying to see what were some
memories that, you know, like I went to the Saint Patrick's
Cathedral. That's awesome.
Yeah. I just wanted to do that, to be
like, what did he like? How is he seeing this?
How? And like, if you see this world
but it's overgrown and broken, what does it look like?
And where was he from? Because it's so interesting to
be like, how did this guy with this specific gift end up in the

(30:35):
bottom of Saint Patrick's Cathedral and, like, find this
violin? In your head, I think you're
thinking he's he's about the same age as you.
Yeah, for sure. Which?
Is funny because that's kind of what went into my emotional
reaction. There's a character on the show
and you may have seen Carl. Yeah, Carl.
Rickson I do know about that, Carl.
Negan and Carl have a special. Relationship, yeah.

(30:57):
In that it kind of made him soften.
Or it's the idea of kids made him soften.
He saw something. Carl.
Yeah, and as you know, Carl isn't in the show.
Yep, probably haunts him. And that's it.
When I saw you, I saw the Carl that could have been, which I
know. I mean, it's like you must not
be able to connect with that. But for me, it's more like when

(31:18):
that happened on the show, I didn't feel it, but then seeing
the what could have been in you.But that's not when it happened.
When you started playing, that'swhen everything it just came
down. It was like an inflection point.
It's like it just, I could have had that thought and would go
and talked about it on the show,but when you played, that
changed everything for me. There was an expression of it's

(31:39):
not only about being there, not only about comfort, but it's
also about soothing one soul with whatever you can.
This is an interesting theme because I think this has come up
quite a few times in the past even few months.
It's interesting, like the worldwe're in now, kindness and
empathy are actually like the biggest form of rebellion, you
know, because it's a pretty unkind world.

(32:00):
And even more so in in this likezombie ridden apocalyptic place
where survival is, you know, so like have the capacity to want
to heal as opposed to, you know,bunk somebody with a bat or, you
know, or shoot somebody or, you know, send a zombie cannon to
obliterate their ship. It's cool to like, hey, I want

(32:23):
to, I kind of want to save you because I can, I think I can.
I'm here. You're here.
Yeah. You're clearly not doing well.
Yeah. And I have a means to make your
day just a little bit better. I mean, isn't that kind of the
point of what? Here's some cockroaches, you
know? Yeah, here's some cockroaches.
Enjoy that? Dinner.
Dinner. In the movie, it's.
Kind of like to get through another.
I'm going to say a shitty lesson.

(32:44):
Yeah. Well, isn't that what you were
doing for him this whole time, this whole year, apparently,
that he's been in the cell. Yeah, that was his whole thing
had like, you're going to have to live that lesson in that
episode in a scene. And that's like the lesson to,
you know, bestow upon Megan. That's something from the
Carrie. And by losing you too, it kind

(33:05):
of brings up those feelings thathe's had previously.
Yeah. And maybe things that we are yet
to be revealed in this. Series.
I seriously have no idea becausethey only gave me the two
scripts of the episode, so I'm really looking forward to see
where he goes. Oh, and what Megan becomes as a?
Result, yeah. Because I mean, clearly maybe
you've seen this too. Audience is be pretty receptive

(33:27):
to your. Character I was yeah.
What a revelation I was exactly.It's been a little overwhelming.
I'm surprised. Obviously.
It's really sweet. I mean, I, like I said, I was
like, I mean are they going to come here or something and then
it's really sweet to see that but I mean I remember too during
that when we were filming that cathedral scene and I don't want
to call him Jeff because I don'tknow him like that.

(33:48):
Well, it's really only a couple of days, but JDMI remember
hearing when he screamed, no, that was like that got me.
But also it's crazy because I remember we filmed that day that
what we filmed was April 22nd, which is his birthday.
It's also my grandpa's birthday.He's no longer he passed in when
I was in high school and it was just so surreal to have this

(34:10):
weird also connection. You know, my grandpa was older
than him, but you know, it's just hear this.
He it was from his soul. And I remember I knew exactly
which one they were going to usebecause that one was like,
affecting. And it's just like this poor
guy, how much more they got to endure.
So you felt it? Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Well, it's also like, you know,
when we're like, doing all thoselooks to each other.

(34:32):
And I remember we did. We had so much coverage of all
of it, too, you know, like, I remember I was like, really like
my jaw was quivering and there was more tears.
So I think they went for the more conservative to not like,
reveal one way or another. There's a lot of options that we
gave and it was just interestingseeing.
It's like having a look at this guy that you go, I knew a couple
days like, you know, just like with the soulful connection.
And it's really sweet. Yeah.

(34:54):
He's got such a good Boo Boo face.
You know, he can get you. I mean, watching him is is a
reason why he's a legend, because it's fit.
He could do so much, so little. And that was great.
What an opportunity to learn from like a giant like that.
He's pretty tall, but yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Did you find yourself spending alittle bit more time with to

(35:16):
kind of prep for that eventual because you knew it was coming
obviously almost immediately? I think we talked quite a bit,
but also within the day there's so much work and stuff going on.
So I'm also trying to be mindfulof because he's not just an
actor, he's also producer on this.
You also want to be too like hungry for, you know, it's a lot
of focus that it takes. So I was trying to be mindful of

(35:37):
like giving him space and also Iwas trying to stay within my
own. There's like a private space
that you get into where it's like you can just kind of be in
your own world and stay within your own tempo.
So you could bring your own likewavelength to the story.
I think there was also like a mutual understanding of that.
I really felt like we were both kind of need a little bit of,
but he also he's talking with his buddies and Michael and

(36:00):
people that he's like, you know,his family and in this show.
So, you know, I was trying to bemindful of that.
How was it like working with Mike?
Did you feel like he needed to give you a bit more energy or a
little bit more direction? Was he more hands on or was he
more like you're just, you're killing it?
It was a good mix of both. He was so good at reading when
to give a little taps, especially because I I couldn't

(36:21):
probably sense when he could sense my nerves.
So he would just give me a little thing to focus on.
Yeah, yeah. There was one time where we're
doing the scene where I'm like, we're, you know, Victor's
uplifting Negan and he's like, that's your dad.
This is like your chance to like, yeah, to like write, find
some closure there. It's interesting how all that

(36:43):
you do little notes like that. And then also other times you'd
be like, OK, great, we got that.So you don't need to do that one
again. And yeah, because like I
remember, there's a couple, you know, it's.
A way of kind of saying that in a way that's like.
Yeah, yeah. Would also like, he's got so
much to do too. So like at this level, you're
kind of like the directors. It's not the director's job
really to direct. They hire the actors because of

(37:05):
their intuition, and you hire people for their instincts and
you let them RIP. And then you just kind of gently
guide him. I feel like he was really good
with like, let me do the thing and then be like, OK, all right,
but remember, you're scared of the Kroat because he might
fucking kill you. So.
And I'm like, oh, yeah, right, right, right.
OK. Because also it was tough
because Joke was such a nice dude.

(37:26):
And like that. See where they're telling the
stories. I just wanted to be like, yeah.
And then yeah. But remember, you can like
fucking kill you at any time. And you're like, yeah, right,
right. Thanks.
You have to. Pretend to go along and yeah,
right. That's kind of like what I was
thinking of as well. Yeah, Very good.
Thanks, Mikey. Yeah, right.
So he was like really good with getting that.
And yeah, it was funny. Like there's some stuff that we
did that like didn't make it as in like not dialogue or

(37:46):
anything, but just like some when you're building that like
unspoken camaraderie with characters.
I remember cuz one time the Croat when he was when he came
up, he's like Negan. He like slapped him on the arm
and he told that whole story. And at the end of that scene, I
like did the same thing, but in like a playful way.
Yeah, like weird guy that didn'tmake it, which is like, it's

(38:06):
great cuz they we also did this mount.
There's like I saw, Oh my gosh, I saw like a fan edit already on
YouTube, which is like, that's weird.
It's new for you, isn't it? That's that's a new thing.
Yeah, but it's cool. It's weird, but yeah, it's cool.
And it's just like it, it reallylike had all these close-ups on
what we were doing. It was cool to like we didn't
know each other that well, but we're like syncing certain
things. That was that's why you know
you're working with a good actorwhen you guys just like can

(38:29):
create unspoken relationship. Imitation is the highest, more
flattery. Like you're both kind of like
monkey see, monkey do situation.Like you're both on the same way
of like this guy's kind of crazy.
Yeah, Another thing that JDM said when he first saw me, he's
like, oh man, I just remember thinking, man, you're like a
younger version of me. I'm like, holy shit, that's like
high praise, but I don't know about that.
Given the facial hair. That was so hairy because they

(38:51):
would like just just grow it. And I don't think they realized
like that it could go up to here.
At this point I'm like please let me line it up at least.
No, we're like, that was like the tag to what we're saying
about how, oh, this guy's a normal guy.
He's not like a St. He's like, no, I wouldn't do
that. No, he did participate.
He did kind of have this camaraderie.
He's like, he knows where he lives.
Yeah. But then we said, yeah.

(39:11):
And he's also uncount. Oh, yeah.
You have this basic neckbeard. When I, when I don't shave a
little bit here, it kind of goesup.
It goes all the way up. Oh no, It worked in your favor,
especially when you're talking about Croatians of the Borazi.
Yeah, a right neckbeard guy fromlast season.
I remember that one. He's like, you're distracting
everybody. Yeah, I remember seeing that.
How is it like in the chair? Like what was involved in?

(39:33):
Oh sure, the VFX done for the neck explosion.
Yeah, I mean, that was all interesting.
Neck geyser. Yeah, the neck geyser rights,
old reliable. It was interesting so that in my
mind as I kind of rehearsed all of that, I thought I'd be
standing so the on the day they're like hey, here's this
like throne. I'm like Oh my gosh, those were
really hard to play sitting likethat, but I practiced sitting a

(39:54):
little bit too. I mean, their team was so wildly
good at it, they got it done like 45 minutes flat.
So basically we did all the other coverage of the scene.
They're like, OK, we only had two takes to get this thing.
So boom, in makeup, they're putting this prosthetic around
my throat because there's like alittle part of flesh.
There's a little opening in the side.

(40:15):
So basically the action was fountain pen goes into throat.
Then she rips it out and rippingit out.
Rips out the thing. Yeah, rips that up, but also
throws me to my knees in front of the chair and then I fall
sideways. Probably makes way more sense
that they cut it the way they did.
It looks way more smooth. And then there's the blood rig.
And I remember one time they accidentally launched a little

(40:36):
blood early. So then then we had to go into
the other costume and that was the only unbloody costume.
So we psyched really had to do it. 2 takes or something like
that where, like, you know, you're trying to capture all
this stuff going on. Yeah.
And I was like, so happy that the violin didn't break because
I thought it might for sure. Because it's actually quite

(40:58):
notorious for breaking violins. Tell me more about that.
For sure. Back in high school freshman
year, it was an April Fool's joke.
So basically there's a local music shop that's about to throw
away this like $25 violin. My music teacher is like,
actually, let's do an April Fool's joke.
So let's pretend like you're going to audition for one of the
youth orchestras in Cleveland and we record it and you're
gonna mess up three times and then on the third time you're

(41:20):
gonna break the violin and walk out.
We recorded it and it is gone viral like 334 times and it
ended up even like on 2 set violin, which is like this very
niche like violin YouTube channel.
But the guys are hilarious. My freshman year of music school
whiplash came out and so that was going on and then it went
viral. The first time it was on Thug

(41:41):
Life. So like the violence smashed and
it's like, yeah, exactly. The sunglasses is 3.5 million
views. Every few years it happens again
where I just like all my friendsare like, yeah, yeah, for sure
that every time it's like, oh, that's him again.
So I was so happy the violin didn't break and I'm like the
circle. It's no complete and.

(42:03):
A lot of people don't know when it comes to acting, it's about
going there and pulling pranks is part of that.
Yeah. It's kind of like a roller
coaster. You think there's a track and
there is. Yeah.
But you have to make it as convincing as possible that
you're not on the track and something could.
Have. Yep.
It has to be spontaneous. How old are you?
Sorry. Oh, I'm back.

(42:24):
This is 2016 even probably 14. Oh, wow.
Yeah, so the young and no facial, no beard then?
Was that before you saw the performance or after?
That was after. That was before that was my
freshman year in high school, sothat was.
Maybe this was it. Maybe, maybe, maybe you're onto
something. Yeah, yeah.
Maybe more than to open the possibility, Yeah, you've seen

(42:45):
acting as a form of that withoutall the craziness.
Yeah, I did some like acting in middle school and that was super
fun but I, I think you're onto something I I buy it for sure
because it's fun and like everybody, everybody like knew
well the. Reward of the.
Prank. Yeah, going viral.
Everybody in high school knew about it.
And they're like, oh, violent prank guy.
Everybody would see it. It's like on YouTube, Logan
smashes violin and like, it's sowild.

(43:08):
Yeah. And thank God the violin didn't
break because they literally sent it to me.
And I I have it to this day. Is it of any value I like?
I mean like in terms of hard value that violin in particular.
I mean, it's pretty good for basically, I think they had to
buy a couple of them, right? So you have your hero prop, that
one they actually use and then they had a couple other ones.
So I think it's probably around 1000 bucks.

(43:29):
Okay. And they painted it up so it
looks great. Mean like in a post apocalyptic
way. Or yeah, well, just made it to
make it a little bit more film. Film beautiful.
Like they painted like the the little pegs and stuff.
And it still has a little bit ofprop blood on it.
Yeah. Oh, my.
I played gig on it. I played gig on it on Wednesday.
Yeah. And so I'm like, you know, like,
I just don't do that. It's super fun.

(43:50):
And I have an unofficial name for it, and that's actually my
mom's idea. But Ethel.
OK. Because Ethel and Lucille.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right from the Ethel
Merman. Lucille Ball I love.
Lucille. Yeah, exactly.
So I'm like it kind of works. She's sassy.
She's sassy and she got a littleHusky voice, you know?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, she's.

(44:11):
Not taking any shit. Yeah, Lucille's the bow, right?
Yeah, Yeah. Well, Lucille's the bat there.
You. Go yeah.
Oh, there's a picture I'm going to post tomorrow.
It's like because I got a picture with Lucille but holding
the violin and it's like, cool, I.
Wonder how this is going to sound?
Yeah, right. And then they like electrify
myself. Exactly.
Oh, yeah. I feel like you've been
hustling. You've reached this point where

(44:31):
like, I don't know if it's working out, isn't it?
I totally get that. I feel that almost every day.
Yeah, but oh, man, there's that conclave movie.
OK, There's so many quotes from that movie that were incredible.
But it's that monologue that RayFines gives where he's just
like, you know, we need a Pope that has a doubt.
I'm not saying I'm going to be the Pope at all, you know?
I'm just saying, like, you know,within all our lives, there's

(44:51):
the doubt on the path of faith, right?
I feel like I've learned so muchabout faith from the acting
journey. Faith in self, faith in the
universe. If your intentions are good and
pure and you want to do something for the love of it,
things will like unfold if you're listening to yourself in
the universe despite the doubt. And you have to be really

(45:13):
connected to yourself. It's it's.
Almost the. Opposite problem of music,
because when you're not in the concerto or in the solo.
Yeah, good shot Concerto. Oh yeah.
Come on. It's just you playing and you're
feeling for yourself. Yeah.
It's just you and your, your violin.
Yeah. Whereas and when it's acting,
the silence is almost crippling.It's like you're putting
everything out on the table and you know, screw it, F it.

(45:34):
This is like, I know what you were saying before.
Like it's like, who cares, win or lose, but then it kind of
wears on you after a while. Because it also feels less
rebellious when it comes to selftapes.
You know, like as in when you'relike having to act direct light,
produce, do the sound edit. Yeah.
So it's all you and there's not really, there's not always

(45:55):
energy coming back. So that's where it gets a little
tough feedback, right? Yeah.
Because you send it out to the, like basically you send it to
the cloud and nobody really knows what the cloud is.
It just. And then you just look up at the
sky and. Tree falls in the forest?
Yeah, couldn't exist. Yeah.
And then you're just like, OK, did this do anything?
It's like Gildenkrantz Rosenstern and dead.

(46:16):
Like, you know, you feel like kind of in this limbo a little
bit because you're like, OK, does this action have any cause
or effect? Have a reaction.
Yeah, right. Exactly.
Yeah, Newton's laws. Well, I say it's the opposite
problem because once you're there.
Yeah, all right, let's work, Let's do the thing.
Yeah. And get it.
Everything. Yeah, Get everything.
Whereas before it's like when you're there, when you're

(46:38):
getting shared or what? That's it's intense.
Yeah. It's almost enough to throw you
off the rails. Right, because you're.
Yeah, right. It's like you're unicycling on,
on a tightrope. Yeah.
On 4 tight ropes with violin. Because, you know, like Fiddler
on the Roof. Well, I was gonna ask you about
that too. First of all great image on your
website. Oh, thank you.
Right, Thank you. That was just this past summer.
I. Was in Sacramento.

(46:58):
Sacramento Broadway at the MusicCircus.
How was that? Oh my gosh, have you ever been
to Sacramento West Coast at all?That's my first time in
Sacramento. It was like 120° every single
day. But they had us in hotels and
they were so like, accommodating.
Yeah, we were super air conditioned.
But they also ended up shuttlingus because part of the reason
why they chose that hotel because the theater is just

(47:20):
right down the street, so you can walk there.
I kind of understood why there'sa certain lilt to Californian
walks, because the heat is so absurd.
You feel like you're kind of melting down the street.
Yeah. It's like, hey, man, whatever.
It's because that's all the energy you can afford to give.
Yeah. You can't really afford to give
too many FS because you just can't.
You're running on a different battery system.

(47:41):
It's melting forwards. It was incredible.
All the artists were so great. It's it's in.
It's indoors. It used to be outdoor that I got
a lot of the stories from peoplewho've been there for a lot
longer than I have and they weretelling me about how it used to
be outdoors and super hot and yes, Welter again.
But it's like it adds to the mythos and the history and the
love of like theater. And it's in this in the round.

(48:03):
And that was beautiful too, because it's interesting because
the Fiddler's also kind of a symbol of hope and faith.
So it's interesting to have these two back-to-back because I
did Fiddler actually after I wrapped Walking Dead.
So it was doing that and then right in the Fiddler ended June
6th, I believe was my last day filming.

(48:23):
Then it was probably a couple weeks after that where I was
flown in Sacramento. And so it's interesting like
carrying this, you know, the song of faith and hope for
different people, you know, because Tevye is really not
super different. Well, that's great.
I'm not going to say Tevye and Negan are that similar, but it's
interesting playing playing sad songs for broken men.

(48:44):
Yeah, I get. That yeah, I did fiddler my
sophomore year in high school. I was a fiddler and I'd like
walk down the stairs with the violin and there's something.
Cool about having that physicality to being.
You have to be the actor also while you're playing.
Back then, I had no idea about that stuff.
I was just the nervous violinistwho was worried about getting
bumpy. Dump, bump, bump, bump, right?
But this time it felt a full circle moment because I'm like,

(49:07):
OK, my body's telling a story too, and what's that story?
And how's my physicality servingall this and all this training?
And it's crazy how much more when you can feel everything and
the respect for everything. And it's such a heartbreaking
story, too. Yeah.
Such. And they even had, like, fake

(49:27):
snow and that last Anatevka scene.
So they had, like, circles and then a circle going this way.
And then everybody's walking outof Anatevka and then the snow is
coming down. It was just so beautiful.
I cried every single night. Yeah, it truly was.
They really know how to do theater right there.
And it was like every single night, the entire house was
full. And it's a circle like in the

(49:49):
round and over 1500. Oh, my gosh.
And these are this is a community that loves musical
theater. And it was just so the hooping
and hollering for the song. Also, all of our singers were
just the most gorgeous voice. Yeah.
So hearing these classic like myfamily had, even though they're
not Jewish, but we I've been hearing this music my entire
life. So it's so beautiful to hear it

(50:10):
done so not just like accurately, but full of
expression and and the all the actors were incredible did.
Your family come out there. My mom came up, yeah, my mom
came up and it was really cool for her to see because, yeah,
first of all, it's been a while because of COVID for live
performance, but also eleven years since I had done the first
one. So I was just a boy.
I was a boy. But I did have a beard back

(50:30):
then. I was like, I remember I just,
everybody kept telling me I looked like Mr. Thomas because I
had, like, shaggy hair and like,you know, all this stuff.
Yeah, I was like a sophomore in high school at the time, too.
And this is at Porthouse Theatre.
And they do great productions, outdoor productions, too.
So it's just wild to be like, think about that.
And the circle again the circle is not complete.

(50:51):
The thing that went into your performance near the end of your
your character's life, did you channel anything specific to
that scene that that needs you? Because I mean, obviously in
that moment there was a bit of like a nervousness.
As a kid when you're doing recitals, it's a wild like thing
when you're a kid doing this forthe first time because just

(51:11):
imagine there's a whole list of kids names and then next to
those kids names, the piece thatthey're playing.
So just like literally like a guillotine, 1 by 1, you see
these kids going up racked with nerves to all the parents are
watching and they're going to play the twinkle, twinkle or
star. They're just starting out.
Or you start, you know, there's the whole like Suzuki method
thing. There's all the pieces that are
really recognizable and everybody approaches it and

(51:35):
there's some God forsaken reason.
I was always like the smack dab last one, which is a compliment
because they liked how I played.But it's also like just watch 1
by 1 by 1. Everybody goes and all you're
doing is watching yourself go off the rails.
So my bow used to shake so much when I played.
And so I wanted that to be in this last scene because it said

(51:58):
in the script that Victor makes a mistake.
Then he looks at the Dhamma. It was both shaking because my
bow used to shake. But then he also uses his own
advice. You focus on Bach, you can get
through another shitty lesson. So it's like, OK, my bow
shaking. I look at her also.
Who is that? And she was also one of the
first people I met, like, in real life.

(52:18):
But yeah, no, my bow is shaking.And just like getting in the
zone and then just think about Bach.
And then you'd find the power and control and also acoustics
were like unreal in that cathedral.
So like being able to hear the music go off the walls and come
back to you. It's almost like you're playing
in an ocean. Yeah, it was wild because like

(52:39):
there was like 3 cameras right up my nose, right?
One's up, one's down here. Yeah.
And like all the crew is like dead quiet.
And so and going back to when you were saying, like, you know,
it's not always on you. At that moment, I'm like, OK, if
I'm not in my zone, if I even entertain these other thoughts,
I'm not going to be able to playthis well.
So I just had to be really quiet, Zen out, be in my own

(53:00):
space. And then I do think that was
some of the best. That pressure really helps me
too. And also because it's in the
story, it's storytelling. So the pressure is story.
All of it becomes storytelling. And I was really happy.
I was kind of overwhelmed with how happy I was with how that
last scene ended up. When you look at a scene and be

(53:21):
like, yeah, I can't. I couldn't have done that.
Yeah, yeah. And it's a full circle moment
because I felt like a lot of things that have been about my
performance anxiety with violin and literally weirdly, this show
was like a solution to it. Like the merging of the acting
stuff in the musical. Yeah.

(53:41):
And it was like this beautiful. You can't write this stuff.
I mean, they did, but you can't.And I was like, Michael, can I
be like a can I possibly be likea zombie that plays violin dead?
Is dead. You can't do that to.
Me, right, Just like possessed by Bach playing violin.

(54:01):
Lisa Henry. She was the first person you
saw. Yeah, Oh my gosh.
And like obviously I watched allthe Ozarks.
Oh my gosh. So the got to the hotel, get to
the elevator. In the elevator, I look to my
right and I'm like, huh, is thatit's a hammer?
And so I was like, hello. And well, because I get my head,

(54:24):
I'm like, OK, am I going to bother her or am I going to?
And then there's that, like little adventurous side that
came out. I'm like, dude, just do it.
And yeah, right, just do it. I'm like, hi.
And then she turns up and says hello.
And I'm like, are you? Are you in the show?
And she's like dead city. And I'm like, yeah, it's like,

(54:44):
oh, are you? And I'm like, yeah.
And she's like, oh, what are youdoing?
And I'm like, well, I'm acting. And she's like, oh, great, who
are you playing? And I'm like Victor, and she's
like Victor. I kill you.
That was my first introduction to the show.
Yeah, no, she's couldn't be for like her.
So we were in this site. It's like an excitement.

(55:05):
Yeah, that. Idea Oh my gosh, we were just in
Braintree in Massachusetts, justin the holding little hotel and
we would hang out so much. It was like we, I think out of
everybody, it was her and I, we would like out of everybody I
hung out with, it was her the most.
We're just like chilling, talking outside the hotel,
talking about life. And she's like, she's just
unbelievably sweet and kind. And we're just talking about all

(55:27):
the things. And my first day of shooting, I
was, I was just like a nervous wreck going to the transpo.
And I saw her and we were talking and I'm like, God, I'm
like, she's like, you're going to do great.
And I'm like, thank you, Lisa Marie, I know you're going to
kill me. That was so meaningful to me.
And I remember all this is superfun too.
In the other hotel there was a pool table.

(55:48):
We're coming. Full circle.
Exactly. her and I had been talking for a bit.
I met saw these guys that were playing pool.
We end up getting into a little,little pool, you know, we're
getting to around and then Lisa Emery comes by and so she's
watching me play pool. I'm playing like shit.
And I'm like, gosh, I'm really not showing my pool shark.
It's on my resume. And then we're all just chit
chat. Hold it like this.
Yeah, yeah. You know, it's something like

(56:09):
it's like there was like a kitchen near the bar.
And so we're just like kind of having snacks and stuff.
These guys who actually oddly, Ithink I might have been related
to one of the guys because we had like a cousin that was had
the same name. Boston, right?
Yeah. I mean, I'm from Ohio.
So like, it's so wild. But there's like a lot of
Italian. I'm like, wait, no way.
Yeah. So like, all that's going on,

(56:31):
Lisa Emery's watching us play pool.
And then she's just like, you know, chatted up.
And I'm like, this is the coolest thing ever.
That that's the way this could be.
Yeah, yeah. Apparently so.
This is like your introduction to the family.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
I. Think you know what's coming?
The conflict of love interest. Oh yeah, not on Amazon Prime.
Inside. I wish, I don't know.

(56:51):
So we not Serbia, it's on. It's like Dailymotion.
It's it's in. I think it is Serbia right too.
It's just fully on Dailymotion, but it's owned by Real One
Entertainment. We filmed that in 23.
So it's playing like a jazz pianist called Lucas Sharp.
The love interest. Well, I'm the love interest in
this case because the main character is actually Scarlett,
played by Hedy Nasser, and she'slike everywhere to right now.

(57:13):
She was in juror #2 Clint Eastwood flick and she's
incredible. She's everywhere.
She was in the Anne Hathaway movie.
She's popping up everywhere too.I'm so proud of her.
And she wrote me the sweetest message to like, I'm so proud of
you. And it's really great to like,
you know, to see your friends and colleagues blossoming and
want. To see them blossom.

(57:34):
Yes. And like, thank God.
And we're finally in a beautifulenvironment where that's
possible again. And it's like years of like, you
know, struggling. And now it's like, hey, here we
go. Here we're doing the thing.
And like, let's be in this industry and let's let's be
like, cheer each other on. Yeah, Let's cheer each other on
and be like lights for each other.
And it's definitely a movie thatmy wife and I would definitely

(57:55):
dig. Into Oh, for sure, yeah, I know.
I know. I I know.
So yeah, write. Write to people.
Yes, please. Let's get it, let's get it
streaming because I know they were telling me like, oh man,
Hallmark's trying to buy it, Paramount's trying to buy it.
That's. Something I would typically
think would be associated with homework.
I know that you have their own production, it's in Hallmark.
Yeah. Pick it up.

(58:16):
Come on guys. It's.
Right there, it's charming. She's charming.
It's in the kind of love triangle aspect.
It's so funny too, because you see all that, like, this is
really polished Hallmarky look. But like all of our crew was
like, we're all Bushwick kids that are all like, you know,
ears pierced. Like I had a mullet and a beard
when I went in. And they just like, you know,
they tamed the wolf into the sheep.

(58:36):
And then I'm like, all right, sowho am I now without my mullet?
I mean, it was funny. A lot of my clothes were just
the clothes they used just. Ironically.
Yeah, yeah, right. Exactly.
So many fun sequences, though, Like we got to go Coney Island,
We're talking Central Park. Yeah, Dumbo.
Literally what's crazy is the last scene they filmed in Dumbo

(58:56):
ended up be a year later. That's where my temp job was,
right down the street. And so every day I would look at
that corner and go, hey, I know you're in this temporary
position, but you're not too farfrom where you were.
Just be patient. I took that as a moment of like,
don't worry, do the work, do it well, take it day by day.

(59:17):
We'll be back doing the stuff you love soon.
You're still kind of doing the dipping the toe in both worlds.
Yeah, if you could get it together.
Every opportunity I want them tobe together.
That's. After this experience.
Yeah, my pride and joy is like stories with music.
Not not always necessarily like musical theater.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I was playing piano on that one.
That was super fun. I was actually, I got that one

(59:39):
because I was playing piano while I did the the sides
actually doing that. Yeah.
So it's like there's something about it that it's cool.
Is it that you thought that it wasn't something that was
possible for you until it happened?
They're both real you. Have an idea of like, what the
future could be, right? Or it's in music, or it's in
acting, Yeah. Or both.
They're both demanding, so you have to really have a mastery of

(59:59):
both, be able to like, marry them because like, what I really
want to do is a lot of biopics of like musicians, violinists
and composers that I would love to do, you know?
And finding those, it's like, keep working towards that.
Like there's like, like the Yasha Haif, it's doing a biopic
of him is like absolute dream ofmine.
Shostakovich. Yeah.

(01:00:21):
He's this composer that lived doing the USSR.
What an interesting period. And this is a guy that would
like, write music. And his Symphony #5 is
particularly interesting historically because composers,
if they weren't fitting within the ideals, were getting
kidnapped and taken from their families, and their families
would never see them again. And so Despite that,

(01:00:42):
Shostakovich would be right in his pieces to like, you know,
stick it to the man. And Symphony 5 has this ending
where you can either play it ironically or you play it like,
like a celebration. Yeah, well, it's, you can play
it really slow because there's like this quote that I forget
who said it, but basically it was like our business is
rejoicing. So when you play ironically,

(01:01:02):
it's like, and it's like kind oftongue in cheek.
Yeah. Because they're like making fun
of like, OK, you want us to rejoice, use your stupid
rejoicing. So it's.
Cool. Do you have any any irons in the
fire that you can talk about? There are definitely some irons.
I don't know if I can talk aboutthat yet, but just the response

(01:01:24):
from this has been opening up some doors and I just, I'm
really excited to see what comes.
I know that. You're OK?
I'm OK, man. No, I'm doing good.
Let's touch on that fan responsefor just a minute.
Has it been more on the positiveside of that equation and you've
gotten occasionally some of the thirst strap beacon?
Oh, it's been so positive. It's really so sweet and like,
it's just, it's so surreal. I wasn't watching the show like

(01:01:48):
that. I didn't know that there's a
huge fan base of very loyal loving fans or the anxiety is
just like you just want also it's the tough world that we're
in. So you want to make stuff.
I think this is also contributing to my like soul
searching of things. I wanted to contribute to things
that like help people in their day.

(01:02:08):
If I'm not doing that, then why am I doing it?
Yeah, it will exactly. Like if I'm not doing things
that don't actually help in likeour you know, then it's
self-serving and then why am I doing it?
And maybe I'll consider other things or how I can help people.
Like with your sister? But she's also a producer too.
So she's. So it's so funny because we used
to make movies when we were kids, you know, little, little

(01:02:31):
short, dumb films. Like one of them was called Wet
Willy. And it was like a satire
superhero movie. And this is like when we were
seven and like 10. So this is like way back then.
It's just really funny that I've, you know, it found my way
back to acting. And she found her way into like
producing. I mean, she actually even worked
on, she worked on the Yogi 1 Kenobi series as a, as a like
second unit AD Yeah. So back then, right, she was

(01:02:55):
able to send me like codes of like what was kind of going on.
She didn't spoil that much because, you know, the NDA's are
crazy and plus like an also respected story and all that
because of both of our movie knowledge is pretty expansive.
Not to like, but like, yeah, we used to do like, like movie
trivia on car rides. She would be able to like
douchebag from Pride and Prejudice.
Well, he is playing that guy that our cousin wanted me to

(01:03:18):
play in his short film, which was like the Grand Inquisitor,
Rupert Friend. So I I learned about that and
that was the only thing that shewas just like she told me about
that. I know I really got off topic of
the question you asked, I think.Oh yeah.
Fandoms. Yeah, right.
But anyways, I just you really. Wanted to get it right.
Yeah, you want the Fizz to like,find some relief in the stories
you know they want to ruin. It but I also think their lives
better. Yeah, I just something to like,

(01:03:40):
feel and like you. Was that like in your mind when
you were acting in any way or? I think I was so overwhelmed
with stuff that yeah, but like, I think going into it, not
overwhelmed, but like they're like right here on your face.
You have to really be, it reads everything.
So you just want to be really like focused on listening and
all that. It was the leading up to it that
I'm like a really, because also it's a really special arc, a

(01:04:02):
really special thing they wrote.It was really personal to me.
I really hoped it was going to be good and people would like
respond to it and see, you know,you know.
Maybe don't watch what I sent you.
Yeah. Or, you know, you should.
Yeah. Yeah.
Because it is personal, isn't it?
You somehow translate or telegraphed that in a way that
made it. Now that I know it's personal to
you, it's of course waterworks are going to come at some point.

(01:04:25):
That's very sweet. I think it's kind of interesting
though, isn't it? Like how it's super personal to
you is to help give comfort to someone who's been suffering.
This universe is all about you think the world you're living in
is pretty, is bad. Enter this world.
Yep. Which is way worse.
Effectively come back to this world.
Yeah. Treat somebody a little bit
better. And I think we did well.

(01:04:46):
You. You did it.
I didn't do. It's kind of the point of
stories, too, to be able to identify, you know, identify
yourself in these characters. And it's like kind of why this
show has lasted, because people identify and they can see
themselves in the circumstances weirdly, you know?
Like we're living kind of the same issue.
Right. It's more symbolic.
There's some people in life who just turn into people who just

(01:05:08):
need to consume and are blinded by their consuming, which is
like the zombie. And so we can identify with
that. How do we not become the
automatic consumers in life, which is zombie default, Yeah,
default setting consumer. How do we like help each other
rise above that? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And fight for whatever this light hope thing is that we for

(01:05:30):
some reason conceive of in this other way that we strive for.
For meaning and purpose, yeah, While we're still here, yeah.
Have an effect or an impact? Yeah.
On doesn't have to be the. World.
Yeah, right. Your immediate, your immediate
sphere of influence. What's the limited time we have?
So while we're here, Yep, do good.

(01:05:51):
Exactly. Yeah, I think we've done good.
Thanks. Thanks, Victor.
Logan Schmucker. Thank you, Sir.
Thanks for having me. Having me here.
Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure man.
Oh yeah.

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