189 - Samantha 'The Curse' Ashley Interview

This week, we welcome Samantha Ashley, known for her recent role in the brilliant mini-series, The Curse, alongside Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie.

Samantha plays Tonya, an assistant director on the show Fliplanthropy, working alongside Whitney, Asher and Dougie. 

Join us as Samantha recounts her experience on the acclaimed The Curse, collaborating with an exceptional cast, and delves into her exciting career so far.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Nerd Party. Hello, and welcome to the A twenty four
project. Here in the Nerd PartyNetwork, my name is Lee Hutchinson and
Dallas King and I make our waythrough the A twenty four filmography and along
the way bring you interviews with thetalent involved in front of and behind the

(00:24):
camera. This week, we welcomeSamantha Ashley, known for her recent role
in the brilliant mini series The Curse, alongside Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder,
and Benny Safte. Samantha plays Tanya, a production assistant on the show Flip
Lanthropy, working alongside Whitney. Asherand Dougie join us as Samantha recounts her
journey to the starring and they acclaimedThe Curse, collaborating with this exceptional cast

(00:48):
and delving into her exciting career trajectorythus far. Thanks so much to Samantha
for joining me and hope you toowill enjoy this episode. What kind of
started your passion for acting and howhave you kind of turned into a career?

(01:08):
So I've been I've been passionate aboutacting for as long as I can
remember a kid, really, Imean, I love playing pretend as a
kid, I think all kids do. But really, I think I was
like maybe eleven eleven or so whenmy aunt took me to my first play,

(01:32):
like musical theater piece that I've everseen, and that was rent by
Jonathan Larson and it was done atlike a high school in New Jersey by
one of my cousins, like noBroadway or anything like that, believe it
or not. And yeah, Iwas just got super super inspired by it.
And I don't know, I justknew I was like that. And

(01:53):
between watching movies I loved. Ilove movies. I feel like movies raised
me. I grew up as anonly child, so lots and lots and
lots and lots of movies. Whatmovies did you enjoy when you were younger
and what do you kind of enjoynow? Oh, that's a good question,
you know. I watched a lotof movies on repeat, Like I

(02:15):
mean, like the classics, likeI loved Romeo and Juliet by Leonardo DiCaprio
and Clair Danes. I've seen thatmovie like I don't know how many times,
thirteen going on thirty by Jennifer Gardner. Just a lot of like those
those early two thousand movies. Iloved horror films too, so like horror

(02:42):
was like a big genre that Iwould watch and now I now I like
a lot more independent films, andI used to watch independent films too,
like on demand was a big thing, and I remember just like scrolling and
not having nearly as many options aswe have now and just watching a lot
of weird movies like and yeah,just really enjoying them. But yeah,

(03:08):
I I just remember like really thinking, like I love that. I think
that's what I want to do.And then when I was in eighth grade,
I said, Okay, if thisis what I want to do,
maybe I should I should join theschool play. And I for I've always
had like severe anxiety, so Ithink the first few times I like got

(03:32):
on a stage, I trusted myinstincts, but I also like wasn't very
good. I was just kind oflike giving myself, I guess this exposure
therapy to like just face my fearsand be in front of a crowd.
And yeah, after that, itwas just kind of like always participating in

(03:54):
like in ways that I can inschool or in my community, and and
finding little ways to just learn moreand more about it. And the more
I learned about it, the moreI fell deeper and deeper in love with
it. It was almost like oneaffirmation after another. And yeah, I
just never saw myself doing anything else. I always knew I was going to

(04:16):
pursue it, and I studied atheater in college. I got my associates
degree in theater. And then afterthat I trained at a studio in Tampa,
Florida. No longer no longer open. It got shut down during COVID.
Unfortunately, it was called the PerformerStudio Workshop. But while I trained

(04:40):
at that studio while in college,I mean again, it was just like,
I'm just going to train to bean actor. I just want to
learn acting. And in that studiowe got exposure to casting directors like Ryan
Glorioso, Elizabeth Kulan, Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry's casting director, forget her
name and forgive me, but yes, just to name a few, a

(05:06):
couple of cast and directors like that, and agents, and that's kind of
what led me. That was thedoor that led me into like getting involved
professionally in film and TV, whichwas always the dream to be on the
screen as well. And you've madethat dream or reality my obviously, first
introduction to you was The Curse,but you've started quite a lot of things

(05:29):
already. What would you maybe recommendpeople to check. I saw that you
were starring in Rosewell, New Mexico. Being a nineties kid, I remember
really being quite fond of the originaland that theme song is still stuck in
my head all these years later,so I'll definitely have to revisit this new
one. Yeah. Yeah, thatwas a lot of fun. I was

(05:49):
really excited to be a part ofthat because I was I got a recurring
guest star on that once. Iwas in a few episodes and I got
to go back like a few differenttimes, and yeah, that all was
just really a lot of fun.It was just a lot of fun.
I played a student, and ahigh school student, this rebellious kid who

(06:09):
was in Janine's Janine's class, andI pretty much, yeah, I can't
I can't actually remember quite exactly thereason for her being there, but essentially
she ends up getting like hypnotized bythe alien and like under a spell.
And yeah, they pretty much usedme as bait to pretty much get to

(06:32):
Janine's character. So it was justa lot of It was just a lot
of fun. So she was thefirst time I had like a stunt double
and I was doing like this actionlike fantasy stuff. So all of that
was really like cool to see andexperience. And yeah, I feel like
that's always the cool part about aboutworking. And fortunately for me, like

(06:57):
I've I've had some consistency before astrike of course, so I felt like
I had a lot of different likeroles and experiences and they've all been really
really different in their own ways,and they've all just like they're always a
learning experience. So I've just embracedlike having fun and just like I always

(07:19):
just want to suck it in whenI'm there too, because I'm so I'm
still so fresh and being on setis so foreign to me still, so
I think I always have those jittersno matter what I do, of like,
oh I'm on set again, youknow, So getting used to that
as well. I suppose talking ofsets, when did you sort of first

(07:42):
become aware of the opportunity for thecurse was something that immediately caught your attention
when you saw he was involved init. So funny story, I was
on I was in Kentucky filming anindependent movie. So I was working already
I was on set for that andmy manager had sent me this or my

(08:07):
agent had sent me this audition,my new Mexico agent, and I didn't
think anything of it, to behonest with you, I didn't know like
Nathan Fielder's names. Did it ringa bell at the time. I didn't
really know much of him. Andyeah, I just I remember coming home
late from set, being a littlefrustrated, having worked that day for whatever

(08:30):
reason. I can't really remember atthe time, but I do remember being
like not in a good mood.And I didn't have like my MacBook at
the time. I had a reallyshitty old Dell laptop and it wouldn't charge,
and I was having these technical difficultiesand I needed to get this audition
in like at a certain time.And it was like a one liner.

(08:52):
It was like because it's a recurringco star, and I mean, the
three main characters are Benny's Nathan andthose characters in the show, and then
of course you have like those thoseother characters who who have who have a
little bit more of a drive inthe story. And yeah, I just

(09:13):
remember just thinking, like I don'twant to do this edition, Like it's
just it's like, what am Imissing out on? Like it's a stupid,
like little one liner for an ADroll like and I because I was,
I was trying and it wasn't workingout, and I can't remember when
my manager ended up reading for melast minute and I managed, I think,
to get everything working. But Iremember hitting up like cast members like

(09:37):
hey, can you guys read forme? Or like can I borrow somebody's
phone because I'm having issues? Andit ended up working out. I was
like, let's just get this inbefore my laptop dies again. And I
was just like I know what anAD is. You know, I've worked
with a few of them, andI know what their jobs are. And

(10:00):
despite their personalities, I feel likethey all they have a type and a
role that they play. And sothat's that's what I did, you know.
And I and I just use theenergy that I was in, which
is something that I was taught toalways do as an actor, you know,
is to never kind of like ignorethe state that that you're in when

(10:26):
when you walk into a room andit's time to deliver the performance. So
yeah, I kind of just didit. And then like a month or
so, I can't remember the timein between us. Sometime went by because
I was done with that show andI, I mean with that film,
and I had just moved from Tampato LA and I remember sitting in La

(10:50):
and at the time, I wasstaying in a in a dining room in
my friend's apartment. I hadn't hadmy own room yet. I just got
in there and I remember just beingso like just overwhelmed already with the actor's
life in LA. And my managercalled me and was like, you have

(11:11):
a callback for that show. Andthen I remember then I mdb'd the show
and I was like, oh,like, let me really like look at
what this is now and prepare.And I saw that Emma Stone was attached
to it and forget about it.With the nerves, the stakes were high,
you know, Like now I wasjust like, oh my god,

(11:33):
these people. I was like,I had like a twenty four. I
was like, oh my god,like I have to like I have to
get this, and all of asudden, like I put this pressure on
myself right because of what it is. But at the same time, like
I I I felt, I feellike I know myself enough that I,

(11:54):
you know, I was able tolike let that go after like the initial
excitement of it all to an extentbecause I was still a little nervous,
but yeah, I kind of Ijust I just remember for the callback it
was with Nathan and the casting directorand Jennifer and then yeah, I just

(12:15):
remember doing what I did, andright right like the next day or so,
I had gotten like the confirmation thatI got the role. And and
I remember he said in the inthe callback, he was just like believe
it or not, like not manypeople know how to play like an ad.
He's like, so thank you.And I was like, yeah,

(12:37):
I'm I'm glad I could be theanswer to your problem. And I don't
know why I said that, butlike, yeah, I just I was
just like great. And then hekind of like chuckled, and yeah,
I don't remember thinking much of itafter that, like I blew it or
I got it. Like I wasjust kind of like, I'm glad that's

(12:58):
done, and I hope I getit, you know, And I got
it and it was great. Timingwas perfect. One of the people you
spoke about there was was Jennifer Vendette'sso she's like it's incredibly well known,
like casting director, she's worked onall of the Safty projects. Like everyone
seems to hold up her work fromEuphoria so highly, Like she's like street

(13:20):
and social media casting. Was sheinvolved in sort of finding you in the
first place or was she someone justthere in the room casting her eye over
over the cast of over the potentialcast. Yeah, I mean she,
I'm pretty sure. She's the onethat handed off my initial tape to the
producers. So I initially the firsttape that I had done in Kentucky that

(13:43):
that was for her, and thatwas I had gotten that through my New
Mexico agent, So I have aregional agent in New Mexico. And from
to my understanding, all of thecasting for that was done locally, including
the crew, aside from like peopleof course that they brought over from La
It was kind of a mix ofof that, but like like majority of

(14:07):
the cast and crew were hired locally, and yeah, it was a mix
of the street casting and and kindof just going through those local agencies.
Because a lot of the other actorsthat I spoken to too, they they
were signed and they too had gottenit through their agencies. And then you
had like these real people like thefiremen who that in that one episode obviously

(14:33):
there they were real firemen. Soyeah, a lot of I thought that
was really really cool, and II'm really glad that, like I had
that that opportunity, Like I feellike I feel like that's a that's a
huge thing. Now. You know, a lot of the casting is done

(14:54):
locally as well as LA. Youknow, a lot of the a lot
of the LA castings are they're alwaysfor like the bigger lead roles. And
then in that aspect, it's likethere's a lot of different types of competition
and I think opportunities that are availablecompared to like the regional markets and when

(15:16):
people are casting locally. So yeah, like I that's pretty much how I
got I got that opportunity. AndI can't remember, but something tells me
that I had auditioned for her atleast like a handful of times prior to
the Curse, So yeah, II I definitely looked her up. And

(15:39):
I'm always really grateful to be inthe room with with casting directors that I
admire. I I absolutely I havea huge admiration and respect for casting directors,
and especially when like people like Jenniferand the work that they do and
the people that they cast. Ithink it's always really raw and refreshing,

(16:00):
and I find that it's not alwaysa star familiar face, and it's it's
it's new people you know, andreal people. And I think I think
that's something that we always, wealways need to see, you know.
I'm curious as well. One ofthe things I was always wondering when watching

(16:21):
it is, so say, forexample, yourself, you go for this
role of an assistant director, youmaybe read the scripts, Like, when
you're reading the scripts, do youhave an idea of the kind of tone
or the atmosphere or this type ofshow you're kind of walking into or is
it very much reading like, oh, these people are making a show,
it's you know, it's going tobe a bit odd. And then actually
when you get to set, it'sa very different type of tone. How

(16:45):
do you what do you kind ofknow going in from like the script and
then I guess the prep. Sure, that's a good question. I always,
I mean, I always do myresearch, even for the audition,
So I just if I get thejob, I just dive deeper and I
kind of I use what I gotthe role for a reason. So I

(17:06):
always use that as a foundation andthen I kind of just dive deeper from
there if I do get the role. But when I audition, I treat
every audition the same. And ifI have the time to IMDb and do
my research, like I'll do itso that I can have an understanding of

(17:29):
who the director is and what thetone of this might be. I don't
always have all of the information andthe sides, and I may not always
get that right, So I don'talways pressure myself. I just do the
best that I can, and Itry to get a general understanding of it,
like a dark comedy versus like alike a sitcom or like a family

(17:52):
drama. I'm very I'm well awareas an actor that all of those things
have different tones and that the directorhim or herself may have a particular tone
as well. So I just tryto I just try to get those two
things and take what I can fromthe writing and ultimately go through my approach

(18:17):
as an actor, and then andI do the best that I can,
and then I kind of like throwit all out the window and try to
be as grounded as I can bewhen it's time to deliver. You mentioned
obviously you weren't like familiar with NathanFielder at first, when you kind of
get a bit more of an ideaof him and you see sort of his
previous work, like Nathan, foryou, it's that reality sort of bending

(18:41):
discomfort. And then you think oflike Benny Saftie's involvement, and I just
think of like watching films like UncutGems and Good Time in the Cinema and
you've just got that stress and anxiety. Did you kind of have to start
to get the impression it might bein a similar vein to that as well
from your research? Yes, No, I just I don't. So I

(19:04):
didn't get the whole script, youknow. It was kind of like I
only got my sides and I hadvery few lines in this show, so
I did. I just felt likeit was gonna be weird. I knew,
I knew. I knew it wasgonna highlight realism more than anything.

(19:30):
Uh, And then I knew itwas gonna get like genre bendy, as
you were saying in some aspect.I just didn't know how that was gonna
happen or like the tone of iteither because I haven't seen all of Nathan's
work, but I did see itwas what was what was it called it

(19:53):
was the rehearsal, Yes, therehearsal yes, yes, yes, and
so like I felt like ultimately theshow was going to lean into that completely
and I was surprised, to saythe least, by like the Swiss and
turns that it's up. But Ialso wasn't if that makes sense, like

(20:18):
you know, so like I didn'treally know what to expect to answer your
question, Yeah, I think that'sthe same as the audience members like me
and my partner would watch and it'sjust like, I don't know where this
scene's going. I don't know wherethis threads maybe going to pull out,
and that it made such a greatdiscomfort and audience member that's just so hard
to get when you you know,cinema may be a bit easier, but
TV you're so often distracted in yourhome or is that you were just like

(20:41):
I don't know where any of thisis going, and I can't wait see
where it kind of flows into.Yeah, that's what I loved about it.
I feel like, in a weirdway, it kept me at the
edge of my seat, you know, And it's very often like unless it's
like a different type of show,like a sci fi you're like something that
like where every episode like there's likea literal cliffhanger, like in Yellow Jackets

(21:04):
or something, you know, likein this way it was it was just
so different. And I love realismmyself, you know, so in that
sense, I loved it. Itwas great. You got like a front
row seat for a lot of discomfortand those sort of things. Like I
think of that dynamic that you hadwith like Emma Stones like Whitney, where

(21:26):
you seem to be her connection tothe community or other members of like the
team and so on. What didyou sort of make of that dynamic between
the two of you. I alwaysthink of that scene where gets sent off
to like go get those people forour show, or you're bringing the bad
news to her. What did youthink of that kind of dynamic you shared.

(21:48):
I think as an ad you hateto be the bearer of bad news
like don't shoot the messenger type thing, you know, and ultimately like kind
of get over that at some pointalong the process because it's part of the
job. But as far as likethe dynamic between the two I Whitneys can

(22:11):
be very pretentious and obviously so,and so I feel like Tanya was just
annoyed to kind of like be dealingwith these amateurs, and that's kind of
like part of what comes with likethe unscripted shows and HGTV and all of

(22:32):
that. And ultimately, again,like the pressure is always going to be
on like the AD two, andthey're gonna feel it from almost every department,
you know. And so in thatsense, I felt like she was
just she was the one that wasjust trying to get things done. And
so it's one thing when inconveniences onset happen, but it's another thing when

(22:52):
someone's constantly perpetuating these things. Andso I felt like the nature of that
was was what created like this attitudefor her. And I'm on top of
just like Whitney's character, you know, like she doesn't help. So I

(23:12):
feel like, yeah, that's kindof like how I interpreted and played it
at least. Some of my coupleof my favorite scenes were when you and
Dougie are character Benny Saftie's character Dougieare shooting these like confessional scenes they're starting
to craft the show and they're reallyagain awkward, insightful, just brilliant showcases

(23:37):
from from Nathan and Emma Stone.What was it like to watch those sorts
of confessional scenes in this really tightlittle room. Oh it was great.
It was like it was watching ona stone deliverer monologue of close and personal
So as an actor, that partof it was amazing. Again, it

(23:59):
was just one more of those likeintimate scenes that I actually got to like
be present for. Although I wasn'tdirectly interacting with her in that particular scene,
it was still it was great towatch. And then yeah, just
in general as as Tanya, Ifelt like it was her first time probably

(24:22):
seeing Whitney in a more honest moment, one of her more honest, vulnerable
moments in which they don't really havethat relationship. So it was kind of
like seeing seeing her in a newlight in that sense, in that particular
moment. It's been it's only beencrazy thing, it's been less than a

(24:47):
week since she just won the Oscarfor for a brilliant performance and poor things.
What was it like to work alongsidean actress like that? And did
you get any hints and tips fromher as well? Yeah, it was
amazing. I mean I took inevery moment and she's a beautiful human being
as well, like as she's awonderful actress and performer, and she's also

(25:11):
like a really humble and graceful person, and I was really really grateful to
work with her, and I alot of the times, I feel like
I when I wasn't when I wasn'tdoing the scene with her, or like
when I wasn't directly involved in thescene, but like more like doing background
work or kind of just sitting offon the side, I observed a lot.

(25:36):
And there was a moment that Iwe got to talk a little bit
more, and it was when wewere shooting the car scene, because we
were sitting in the car together.So I feel like I like that was
like a moment to kind of likepick her brain a little bit or just
talk to her a bit. Andyeah, I just remember we were talking

(25:57):
about acting and like family and justsimple stuff, you know, kind of
just like, yeah, like thingslike that, how we both love the
craft, and how we don't knowhow people direct and write and act at
the same time, because that's like, that's absurd. So we were definitely

(26:19):
admiring Benny and Nathan's ability to dothat. Yeah, and yeah, I
just I really I took in thatmoment, and Yeah, I felt like
it was overall just a really greatopportunity. And when we work together directly,

(26:42):
I it was just presence, youknow, it was it was like
we just bounced off of each otherand a little different each time. You
know, for the most part,we stuck to the script that every once
in a while there would be likean ad lib or maybe a little frov
like in between or something like that. Was that kind of a set with

(27:03):
that sort of that kind of thingsencouraged where I kind of think with something
like this, there's so much ofwhat makes the Curse great is people's reactions
to what's going on, Like howmuch should, like say, do you
have over kind of how you canrespond to what's unfolding in front of you?
Or is it very much dictated inthe script or is it very much
trusted to use an actress by kindof Nathan the director. Yeah, Again,

(27:30):
from like my sides, at leastin what I was given and able
to read, there was no particularlike direction written in the script where like
like in the example that you said, like where my character would feel uncomfortable
in a moment, or my charactersthinking this in the moment. I think
like in general, like all ofthe characters aside from Dougie, Asher and

(27:56):
Whitneys. Aside from those three,I feel like, yeah, there wasn't
any like particular direction. There wasa trust and what we authentically brought to
the characters. And I think that'spart of casting, right, that's kind
of like the first step. It'sthey cast these people for a reason because

(28:18):
we're already bringing something that need that'sthe director was looking for to be delivered.
And the more you bring that andand you do your part as an
actor, then it's it. Itleaves room for more creative choices on the
day when it comes time to film. So there were there were a couple
of times I feel like with thewith the actors who weren't as experienced or

(28:45):
like the non actors, there therewas a little bit more direction, and
like those in between scenes, likethose little scene fillers. But other than
that, like that would that Iwould see direction in that sense, or
like if there was a scene withAsher, Douggie and Whitney or with the

(29:07):
two of them, there would beI feel like more creative direction. They
would have more discussions amongst each otherand they would kind they would direct each
other, but they would also likego back and look at the monitor together
if one of them was filming.So it was, Yeah, it was

(29:27):
just like a lot of I sawlike a lot of like more creative direction
than anything, not like oh dothis, you know, because again it's
it's the realism, right, Sothe nature of realism is kind of like
is that exactly that kind of Imean being a fly on the wall and

(29:49):
in all sense, in all aspectsand yeah, just letting people be people.
You know, what would like bea typical day on set be like
so say for example, you onlyget your sides and stuff, would you
get a fuller idea of like thisis where the story is going on this

(30:10):
Thursday of shooting, and what wouldbe kind of your average day like for
you? So it was it wasblock shooting. The whole shoot was was
done that way. So I wasthere from the beginning of the shoot to
the end of the shoot, althoughI was only in the last half of

(30:33):
the of the season. So yeah, I started shooting like again at the
beginning when they started that same month, and it was very sporadic because again,
like I had a pretty small role, like although I occurred in a
few episodes, it's like I wouldshoot a sceneor of like episode four,

(30:59):
and we were starting with episode fouron like the first day, then we
jumped to nine and then maybe endwith episode four, you know. So
everything was like all over the place. Would that have to be off kilter
feeling of like having an idea ofwhere some things are going and then kind
of throwing you around with it,for sure? For sure, and like

(31:22):
it was like I I didn't quiteknow again where anything was going, and
kind having to prepare like that.It's always like, oh my god,
like what is happening now, youknow, And it's like sometimes I'll get
more information that'll help if I goback to shooting episode four and I work

(31:47):
a little backwards that way. Soit was it was an interesting way to
work that way because the other showsthat I've done have been network TV,
and so it that's still pretty oldschool. It's like I film that week
and like a couple months later,the show is being released and everything is

(32:12):
being done in order. So yeah, in that sense, it was a
little it was a little all overthe place, but I felt really lucky
to be there from the beginning tothe end. It was that part of
it was amazing. Too, youknow, so I would work like a

(32:32):
week one day here and then havelike a week or maybe two off and
then work three days in one week. And yeah, sometimes a full day,
sometimes half a day. It reallyjust depended. Was there a kind
of solid group of you that weremaybe in those blocks, so, like
did that kind of help build abit of a community within this kind of

(32:52):
production as well? And was thereany sort of really kind of special days
for you, whether it was shootingor or having this bit of time down
down in New Mexico. Yeah,both both. I I was I spent
a lot of time with the actresswho plays Whitney's assistant, and then of

(33:15):
course Dougie's crew. I mean likewe're we're doing all of our seats together.
So I definitely I bonded with withDougie's crew, and that's always really
really cool. It's always a lotof fun. My most favorite day was
Rap Day for sure. Rap Daywas was great. Yeah, it was

(33:38):
a lot of fun obviously, likeRap Day's Rat Day, and I just
I got to I got to thinkthe three of them, like I wrote
them a thank you guard and EmmaStone was was kind enough to like sign
a picture so that I can getit to my parents. That kind of

(33:58):
thing where you think of like areso supportive especially can imagine the arts,
like driving people to like theater classesand shows and so on, and there's
that kind of thing of like itwas all all kind of worth that you
you were one of the one percentthat's broken through. Yeah. Yeah,
yeah, for sure. It's afull circle moment. It's it was amazing.

(34:22):
I mean I remember seeing her inSuper Bad when I was like in
sixth grade. So and I gotto tell her that, you know,
I got to express my gratitude toher, and you know, she I
had I think I had just moved. Yeah, I just moved to La
Yeah. So she we talked aboutthat, and she wished me a lot

(34:44):
of luck on my journey with that. So, like I said, she
was a really really sweet, sweetperson. Fortunately I didn't get to talk
too much to Benny and Nathan.They were very, very busy. And
so the last thing I I wantto do is like, you know,
mingle and during times when it's notappropriate to mingle, you know. So

(35:07):
I found my little opportunities here andthere, but for the most part,
I like to be respectful of thespace and people doing the work that they
need to do before I before Ikind of like, you know, do
any time kind of talking or youknow, connecting. Saw a great thing
recently where I think it was BennySaftey was on some sort of red carpet

(35:29):
event and he just looked like hewas still fully in his dougy outfit and
here and everyone, Oh yeah,this guy like just totally fully embraced method
acting and it's still stuck as thisDougie. It was absolutely brilliant, little
Cliff And so I thought he was. He was fantastic and in the role
like this real puppet master, andyeah, I loved him. Yeah,

(35:50):
yeah, I mean I was greatto see him as Dougie and then an
Oppenheimer and as that character in thesame year. It's like, wow,
man, you know, he reallykind of blew me away with that one.
Was it ever sort of disorientating shooting, like, especially for your role,
like shooting a show within a showand having sort of your characters arec

(36:14):
within this like meta narrative where there'san assistant director I imagine working on the
curse and you're an assistant director workingon the curse. And was it ever
sort of bizarre just thinking there's ashoot here and then there's a bigger shoot
kind of taking place around there.Oh for sure. The world within the
world is always kind of like atrippy thing. It's always super trippy,

(36:36):
and I think that's what makes itfun too, you know. Like a
lot of like the chairs we wereactually sitting in were like the flip lanthropy
chairs, Like it felt like,I don't know, it felt like it
gave us an opportunity to just alwaysbe immersed in the world of the set,
you know, in a weird way. Like, so yeah, like

(36:57):
there were there were definitely moments whereI felt like, I'm like, hey,
like I like, can I beyour your guys is real ad on
this show? Uh so yeah?Yeah. But other than that, like
you know, it was it waspretty casual, you know, because the
whole time it wasn't like wrapped inwithin that world. It would just felt

(37:21):
that way for me and like thecrew of course, Yeah, what's Nathan
Fielder like as a direct and howdid he manage his his set well?
To be honest, like I feellike I I like again, like the

(37:42):
direction was very little unless it wasnecessary, and like the scene needed that
kind of like staging or direction,right, so like, and I remember
the cameras being like far away fora lot of like our shots when we
were doing things as like a crewand stuff like that, leading into that
reality TV style thing where you kindof you don't feel you're being filmed as
such. Yeah. Yeah, Andthere was like this scene too, like

(38:06):
I remember in particular, it wasoutside of like the complex and I was
on the phone calling I forgot hisname, but it was it was one
of the characters from the crew andhe had left and I was calling him
for Whitney and the care I don'teven remember where the camera was when we

(38:27):
were shooting that scene, but itwas nowhere around in the parking lot.
And then when I saw the clip, it was inside of one of the
offices and it was kind of justlike zooming and like following us. And
I noticed a lot of a lotof that in the show. It just
felt very like it was far awayand it kind of like would just kind
of like creep in on you andthe situation and whatever was going on.

(38:53):
Like obviously you've mentioned you were youkind of would see your bits being filmed
on set. You had maybe someof the script, like what was your
reaction seeing the Curse for for thefirst time and what was it like to
kind of see it all put together. I remember racking up the first episode,

(39:15):
like I just remember finding it absolutelyhysterical, and I loved how it
drew me in both comedically and likeseriously, Like that was the part of
it again that I loved, andit just kept me at the edge of
my seat. And then it justtook a bizarre twist which just I for

(39:36):
me, like I just loved iteven more. But yeah, like I
I just remember laughing hysterically whenever thelike the the reality TV stuff came on,
and just it was it was solike the acting and everything was was
so it felt it felt real,Like I felt like I was watching an

(40:00):
episode like in the laundry mat whenit's playing in the corner of the laundry
mat you have, like the stupidHGTV reality show or when you're in the
gym. I see it all thetime when I'm that Planet Fitness, and
I find I see that I findthose things comical in real life too,
you know, so I can understandlike like like Nathan Fielder and his his

(40:23):
eye and like what he did,you know, And for me, like
something as subtle as that brought tearsto my eyes and I would just I
would die of laughter. So itwas just little thing like subtle things like
that, and I thought it washysterical. And it's it's always much better

(40:44):
not always, but for the mostpart, hopefully much better when it's when
it is finally brought to life andit's off of the page and and you
can see what they did, youknow. And for me, I think
I think there was a again,like I didn't know what to expect,
like the stuff that I've done before, as far as like the TV shows

(41:06):
that I've done before, I knowexactly what to expect as far as like
just like like the script that Iread and what I'm going to see,
you know, because they they're allthey all have like the same tone and
pace and and feel at the endof the day, those those network TV
shows. It was always one ofthose shows that me and my partner watched

(41:27):
every episode together and it's just likethey could be watching something and it'd be
like, where is this this going? And you're shooting ideas and you just
you had no idea what that nextthing would be and when we got to
that finale episode, like we'd neverin a million years hat of bet on
it going to be that. Andyou just felt like even just sitting there
thinking about some of those scenes andjust feel like that little uncomfortableness in my

(41:50):
see it was. It was sopowerful, Like what did you think of
the that ending? I know,I'm never gonna ever forget it, And
it's like one of those ones Ijust this my friends, I like,
what did you think? Et cetera. It's so great and ambiguous at the
same time. Yeah, same,same, same, The ambiguity of it,
I think, and just the shockand the thrill of it that I

(42:16):
want to know what's next, youknow, like I if there's a what's
next, and sometimes I don't know. It just it just kind of it
left me flatberg acid, uh flatbergastid, uncomfortable and uh unsatiated. And it's

(42:44):
one of those things you kind ofthink there's people going to talk about this
show for years to come. LikeI think there's like been a first wave
of people that have watched it onParamount Plus for showtime, and then there's
more people that are going to constantlycome into this, like I think when
I watched like Nathan You for thefirst time, I wasn't in that first
wave, but maybe like that secondgroup, and then it just seems to

(43:06):
blow up every year of people discoveringit more. And I think it's going
to be the same with the carsand so on, and people will be
like, how oh I slept onthis one or I didn't realize this was
out, And I think it's goingto grow and grow. Yeah, I
mean I hope so, and Ihonestly I don't doubt that at all.
You mentioned obviously this was like anA twenty four project as well. Have

(43:27):
you got any kind of favorite filmsor TV shows that they've done. Yes,
I love A twenty four. Ilove A twenty four and the work
that they've been doing. They actually, to be honest with you, I
mean I told you earlier that likeI loved horror as a kid, I

(43:47):
mean I still love horror, oris one of my favorite genres, and
for me, A twenty four revivedhorror films because there was a point where
I felt like four films just weren'tthe same as when I was a kid,
and not because I don't scare thesame, but because if they just

(44:10):
I don't know, like they justweren't good. I couldn't find any good
ones anymore, and they were justregurgitating and they still regurgitate some of the
classics. And I mean, yeah, like I think Like the Strangers was
probably like the last like good fourfilm I had seen in a long time,

(44:31):
and then a twenty four. Imean, I'm a huge fan of
like ari Astro and Hereditary and bowIs Afraid. That's another one. I
think people are going to think thatthey've slapped on is bo Is Afraid.
I know it didn't. Yeah,but I remember watching that in the cinema,

(44:51):
very different to like The Curse,but watching that going oh going,
and just like things happened, You'relike, I don't know what I think
about this, but I'm really reactingto it. And that's so yeah,
yeah, I just I just lovelike the the creative risk and choices and

(45:15):
I don't know how it's still managedto evoke the emotion and provoke the thought,
but it's done in a way that'sat least creatively very refreshing, you
know. Especially it's the genre I'minterested in the least because it's just like
it's the same. I know whereit's going all the time. It's those

(45:37):
tropes, and I think of likeCreditory where I'm like, oh, I
didn't like the beginning. When thatyoung girl's killed, I'm like, oh
my god, I'm coming, likewe got to. She was our first
ever guest on this podcast years ago. She was she was, she's a
now little like goth teenager. Itwas just like you watched that going,
oh, I thought this was goingone way. It's taking me wildly different

(45:58):
directions. So yeah, fantastic choices, yeah for sure. Yeah. And
then some other ones I love obviouslyPearl X. Very excited for vaccines again,
Yeah the trailers, sen isn't it. Yeah, Yeah, I'm excited
for that one. And then asidefrom four, I mean the Whale.

(46:21):
I don't know if you've seen closethat one. Yeah, yeah, really
that again, very over underseen one. That that was another one didn't see.
Like I thought this film was goingin a certain direction and you just
get that whiplash like twenty minutes in, going oh this is not what I
expected, and it was all themore brief mm hmmm. I just remember
crying for like majority of that movie. Uh, Beef is a great another.

(46:51):
I mean, yeah, see they'remaking a second season of that one
as well. I saw that nice. It is a great cast. Oh
my god, it's great. Imean Stevens, he's brilliant. He's absolutely
brilliant. Deserves all the queene he'sbeen getting for that shows. It's a
great show. So what's next foryourself? Well, I haven't been working

(47:15):
because of the strike, and Istill feel like I'm feeling the lingering the
facts of that. I mean,I have done some independent movies that I'll
be honest, I don't know wherethey stand, if they're going to get
shelved or get released now or liketen years from now. But if they

(47:37):
if they do come out. Oneof them in which I was a lead
in opposite uh Danny Brejo, it'sit's called Seven Cemeteries, and it's like
a pretty western comedy. I don'twant to spoil it, but let's just

(47:58):
say that it'll it won't be somethingthat you would expect to see. I
think we've established we both quite enjoythose types of films. Yeah, yeah,
that, I mean that one's unreleased. Hopefully it comes out and people
can see it, but if not, I always referred to Chicago Buyer.
It was the first first job Igot, and it's also a role I

(48:22):
was I was really proud of andjust the job that I really enjoyed doing.
And I feel like one of thejobs that that highlights my my work
and my acting the most so far, at least at least professionally and from
what people could find. So wherecan people keep up today about these maybe

(48:43):
future projects or any social media thatyou might want to recommend folks to follow.
Yeah, I'm only really on Instagram. So my instagram is it's I
t s Samantha Ashley. Yeah,people can keep up with me there and
look at my work on IMDb prettymuch. Well, thank you so much,

(49:06):
Samantha. I really appreciate it,like you've given up your time and
hearing about your experience on the carsays I say it was a great role
and all that sort of stuff,and excited to see what comes next for
you. I can I can onlyimagine what a bizarre and incredible experience that
whole few months shooting it must havebeen. Yeah, it was. It
was great. Above anything else.It was. It was just really fun,

(49:27):
a lot of learning, and itwas a great experience