July 23, 2025 • 69 mins
I've always had a love of stories! Coming from small town Ohio, what else is there? I was a very nerdy student who felt like I didn't really belong, so I always took refuge in the movies--stories that taught me that people could be both vulnerable and strong! I am a classic recovering perfectionist who gets bored easy. So I did everything growing up from pole vault, to piano, to FFA public speaking contests, the list goes on and on. After getting my Masters Degree in Psychology at UD, I moved to Nashville and fell in love with the storytelling, creative community. I was finally able to put words to this PASSION of storytelling! I loved it so much, I simply had to work in EVERY area of it! I worked as an actor, director, producer, writer, art department, songwriter, etc. I am so thankful for everything that this journey has taught me about myself and the wonderful people I have been so blessed to meet. I am so excited for the stories still to be told, and the continued healing in becoming who you were meant to be.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, good morning, and welcome to break Through Walls. I'm
Ken Walls and I'm your host, and today I have
an amazing young lady I met through my buddy Glen
Moore Shower and her name is Alex Bowling. And Alex
is an actress. She's a producer, she's a director. She's
(00:28):
multi faceted and talented as hell. So if you would
do me a favor and stop everything you're doing and
share this out, I have the one, the only Alex Bowling,
Bowling like the game. Wait till you hear about that.
So just share this out, stay with us, and we
(00:52):
will be right back. And we are back. Let me
(01:25):
bring Alex on right now. Alex, where are you? Oh god,
hold on a minute, She'll be on. Hang on. We
gotta we gotta get Alex on here. I forgot one
step there she is. Oh my gosh, sorry, I'm a professional.
(01:53):
Oh my goodness, how are you, Alex?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I amblous this morning.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I'm good, I'm good. It's good to have you on here.
We just met. I guess a week ago ish with
Glenn and I happened to pop on his acting class
and you did a well it's not called a solo
(02:19):
a monologue that Sorry, I'm digging into my incredible acting knowledge,
but so so you did a monologue and I was
like whoa. And Glenn and I talked right after the
class and I said, dude, she was freaking awesome. You
(02:41):
got to get her on the show. He goes, well,
let me get her on the phone, and here we are,
so Alex, you're incredibly talented. I was blown away. And
so you know, I want to hear about I started
this show I guess over six years ago now, and
(03:03):
it was really to help people kind of have a
breakthrough in life. Right. So I think that a lot
of people get stuck. They don't know what to do.
And I love interviewing people who are doing really cool
things and have made it in some big ways. And
you've made it in some big ways. I've seen a
(03:25):
lot of your work and it's really impressive. So tell
everybody a little bit about where you were born and raised.
That's a fun story.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yes, Oh my gosh. So, as you know, I am
from Ohio originally and very very rule Ohio, the corn belt.
That's about all there is there.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I've been there, yes, you.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Know, but it is very pretty and it is defly
something to experience if you haven't. But I have always
been a busy body, involved in everything. I get bored easy.
I've always been a storyteller and a creative. My always
are joking that I, you know, I've been telling people
what to do since I could wave a finger, and
(04:17):
uh so now I don't know. I'm like, how could
I make a living doing that?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Right? So, so you you and we won't we don't
want to doss you, so we won't mention the town
that you're from. But it's it's it's listen, I've I've
been to this town. And when I told her that,
she's like, no, you have, I'm like, actually I have,
(04:44):
because I stopped at the only gas station in this
town and and I don't even remember why. I think
I was looking for something and it was before you know,
you had Google Maps and all of that, and I
missed announced the name and the guy was very quick
to correct me, and I'm like, what, No, that's not
(05:05):
how it's pronounced. And I argued with him, but apparently
that's how it's pronounced. But so so you like, she
literally I've I'm telling you she grew up in the sticks,
like if you go to any place like you would
consider the sticks, go a little bit further, and that's
(05:26):
kind of where she grew up, right, am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's pretty close.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
It's pretty far out there. Yeah, but so and and
it's a lovely little town. But so so you you
talk about like what it was like for you growing
up in farm country and all of the things that
you experience as a kid that maybe drove you into
(05:56):
this creative space that you now reside in.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, so you know there, you only know what you know,
and so when you're raised in that environment, I don't
think you are, at least for me, I wasn't like
thinking that this was horrible or that I needed to
get out. It was just that this is the environment
(06:22):
that I live in, and there were a lot of
great things to it. But I quickly realized that I
had a passion for learning, at a passion for storytelling
and creating. From a young age, I was creating little
stories myself. I'm also involved in music, so whether it
(06:44):
was songwriting or doing like little bits of musical theater
at a local like small church or at our elementary school.
So it was like I just loved these stories and
the other fabling that I will say about being raised
in farm country is that the work ethic that you
(07:05):
develop is insane. So I am forever grateful to the
environment that I grew up because it taught me how
to work hard. So I am no stranger to that,
and I carry it with me nowadays.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah. I mean I was raised in small farmtown, Ohio
as well, and it definitely teaches you that I didn't
grow up on a farm. But you know, all of
my friends had farms, and so if I was going
to go hang out with anybody, it was like, oh,
we gotta go bail some hay first, which sucked. Yeah
(07:43):
it really.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I can stack a half ton truck at least with
forty bails. I can even still like it, visualize how
they go on there. That was my job.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I'll tell you. When I was I don't know, twenty
twenty one, I was working looking for a farmer. It
was not on his farm. It was an electronics company
that he had at the farm, and it was an
office that he built on this barn. I mean on
the other side of the wall there were sheep, Like,
(08:16):
oh my god. Anyway, so one day he comes running in.
He's like I need your help. And I'm like with
what and he goes, it's getting ready to rain. I
got to get this Hay up off the field. And
I'm like what and he's like come on, and I'm like, okay,
come on, and I go I didn't remember any of
this from my childhood. I didn't realize you couldn't get
(08:37):
Hay wet. And so so we go out and I'm
literally I was getting ready to leave to go to
the city to my apartment and go to the pool
and I'm wearing swim trunks, like thin, thin swim trunks
and tank top and he gave me a pair of gloves.
(09:00):
He goes, you really need to be wearing jeans. And
I'm like, I'll be all right, let's go O m G.
I had Hay stuck in places in my body that
I don't want to talk about, but I'm gonna tell
you it was. It lasted too, It didn't go away
for a long time time. Oh yeah, I'm like, dear God,
(09:21):
have mercy. I so don't don't bail Hay in shorts.
Is the up and down your I mean, yeah, yeah,
but that's you know, that is that is you know
I've said this forever. I think every kid coming out
of high school, before they decide what they're going to
do with their lives, should go spend a couple of
(09:43):
years working on a farm, and then a couple of
years going door to door, maybe even selling Jesus or
something like. You know, I mean, like, go out and
learn what real life's about. Then decide what you're going
to do with your life, right, because so many people
are like, well, my daughter, she's like, I want to
be a lawyer, and I'm like, but do you.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Know, I know, you know, I did have kind of
a little bit of that farm upbringing, but I still
I still felt like I didn't really know what I
wanted to do. And so that was interesting for me
because I knew that, you know, I was good at
school and I really enjoyed learning, and so I think
(10:29):
I had always wanted to do something creative. I was
always involved in music and I loved acting. But you know,
where I'm from, of course, it's not really something that
you're supposed to do. And so I was trying to
think of so many different things that I could that
I could potentially do that would be fulfilling. So for
(10:50):
a while I thought well, you know, maybe I'll be
a lawyer or a politician or a doctor or whatever.
And even when I got into college, I tried all
of these day different things, but it was never like
that soul fulfilling like passion. And yeah, gosh, the FIFA. Yes,
(11:15):
she grew.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Up in Van work That's where I haven't. I have
aunts and uncles in Van Werd.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I did FIFA. So fun fact, and this actually feeds
into my film story is I I was always a
public presence. I guess I had some sort of a
presence when I spoke. And so I joined FIFA when
I was in high school. And FFA has public speaking
(11:45):
contests and like parliamentary procedure where you do, like you know,
you run a meeting, an official meeting, and so I
did these contests. And so my freshman year of high school,
they put me in the cafe and I did the
FFA creed. Was the public speaking contest that I did.
(12:06):
And you say, it's this creed about the future farmers
of America and I believe in the future of agriculture
or whatever. I know, that's how it starts. And I
actually placed in the top sixteen in the nation at
fifteen years old doing that, right, Yeah, And I went
to Indianapolis and I got to perform at the National Convention,
(12:28):
and I think that was like a part of the
start of people being like, oh hey, she's got like
some kind of presence or public speaking going on. So
I continued to do it, like all through high school.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Wow, look look who's watching.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I know Glenn.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I talked to him late last night. Love that dude,
Love you, Glenn. Thank you for introducing us. By the way,
So so that that's a that's a really kind of
cool way to get get kind of thwarted into the
public eye. I guess right, Yes, that's pretty cool. So
(13:13):
so what look what Nicole just said about you. You
have a beautiful light about you. It's true. It helps
that the sun is shining through the window next tour,
but yes, you said, yeah, I love that. So so
(13:36):
so okay, So you you get through high school, you graduate,
there's like six hundred kids in your graduating class. I
can't believe that that's actually smaller than the school I read.
It's crazy. So so then you went where did you?
(14:00):
Did you go to college? Did you?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I did? So I went to audobuying University in Westerville, Okay,
and thought I did like the lawyer politician track. I
thought that's what I was going to do for a while,
because obviously I had been doing kind of speeches and
understood a little bit about procedure. It turns out it
(14:26):
was not really my passion. I also loved psychology and
I loved the brain, and so I thought maybe for
a while I was going to be like a neurosurgeon
or neuroscientist. So I even I studied abroad in the
Netherlands at Mastricht University because it was one of the
only places that an undergraduate could work in an fMRI
(14:49):
brain scan lab. So I studied road there for about
four months and worked in a brain lab for working memory.
Came back still thought I was going to be on
the science and research track, and even went through my
masters in psychology, mostly focusing on research in you know,
(15:11):
cognition and working memory. I love the brain. I still
love the brain, and I love understanding people. But but
there is you know, I'd always been told, especially you know,
by my family, you know, do do what you love
and you'll never work a day in your life. And
I was just like I took the mcat and was
(15:33):
doing all these things. I was like, this feels like work.
This I thought, I liked this, but this feels hard.
So all the while I had this kind of burning
itch to do something creative, and I had still been
involved in music and songwriting and thinking about acting, but
(15:59):
still in act My head was like, no, no, that's
not something you're supposed to do, you know, go do
something else. And I just kept putting it off for
the longest time. But when I did eventually step into
that world, that that quote became real for me, and
it was like, Oh, I understand what it means to
(16:21):
be working so hard, but it doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, that's right. I need to introduce you to this
guy right here. He's been on the show. He's a
country music rock star. Oh, he's amazing Dylan. I don't
think Dylan. I think he's in Dylan. Where are you
in Arkansas or did you make it? Did you get
to Nashville? I don't. I don't know, but he's got
a couple of albums out. He's a freaking awesome, awesome dude,
(16:50):
good friend of mine.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I need you know if you're in Nashville.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I'm sure he is at least every now and then
because he does a lot of performing, or at least
he was and talk to him in a minute. But yeah,
he's a good dude. I need to introduce y'all. But
so so, so you got oh he's in Arkansas. Okay, Yeah,
he's in Arkansas. So so you you started getting into
(17:16):
the creative stuff and this is in Westerville that you
were having these happenings.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah, so I've kind of I've kind of dabbled in
it all of my life. I grew up and actually
create a family that just never pursued it as a career. Right.
My grandfather was a performing musician, especially on steel guitar,
and then a lot of my family all are musicians
and they would harmonize together and sing together and and
(17:47):
it was so fabulous growing up, but none of them
ever really pursued that on a larger scale. And so
I'd always been involved in in music, and even in school,
it was like any opportunity I could turn something into
a creative project, I did. There were a couple of
projects I did in high school where we were supposed
(18:09):
to do projects on like presidents of the United States,
or something, and I made I made a video. I like,
had me and a few friends, I like directed a
video and and we were playing characters and it was
it was so great. So I got to do that.
And then our high school didn't have drama, but I
wanted to do a play so bad that my senior
(18:33):
year I convinced my piano teacher to direct a musical
so that we could have a musical my senior year
and it was the just the best experience. I got
to play Jessica James and way out West in address
and it was it was so great and I loved
every second of it. So when I went to Auduvine College,
(18:57):
that college actually has a theater, and I remember going
and watching like the opera or the theater productions, and
I was like, I should I should change our major.
I should? And then it became like, oh, my family
will kill me. Maybe.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Isn't that interesting though, that we really do we We
we have a tendency, especially at that age, but we
have a tendency to allow what we think our family
or what our family will actually say or do to
control what we do. That's insane to me. I don't
I've never understood that In fact, I always did the
(19:41):
opposite of what they wanted me to do. I was
that kid, so really, h.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I still struggle with the people pleasing, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
You're on it. But yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Used to. At Outer Mine, I would sneak into the
arts building and they had all the practice rooms, and
because I've played piano since I was about eight, I
would sneak into the practice rooms and I would play
the piano and just shut the door and play the
piano and no one would knew that I didn't belong there.
(20:18):
But it was just it was so crazy because it
was I think, that desire and that spark was there
the entire time, and I just was so in denial
of it. But everything in good time, you know, because
my masters that I got in psychology helps me so
(20:38):
much in storytelling immeasureably. So I am very grateful for
those very diverse experiences.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
But you're not a practicing psychologist. No, no, right, And
by the way, everybody, please share this out. If you
have not shared this out, don't be a communist and
share this out. I'm kidding. You can share it out
and be a communist, I guess, So please share this out.
(21:13):
Let's get a bunch of people on here, but so
so Alex you so you just so people are clear,
you got your your undergrad at Otterbne in Westerville, which
is Columbus, Ohio. Yes, and and then you ended up
(21:34):
getting your masters at ud at the University of Dayton,
which is about an hour and a half from Columbus,
maybe an hour and fifteen if I'm driving. So, so
what did you when you graduated from Otterbne and you
(21:56):
had a degree in what what was the degree your.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Undergrad So my undergrad was in psychology, but I didn't
know if I was going to go to med school yet.
So I actually had a double minor in biology and chemistry.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Chemistry. Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, I've lived a lot of lives.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Oh my god. I hated chemistry. I love physics, but
I hated chemistry. So so so you went and decided that,
did you immediately go, okay, I'm going to get my
masters now?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yes? Yeah, okay, So I took the MCAT. I thought
I might go to med school. It didn't feel right
and it felt like such a long commitment for something
that I wasn't really sure about. So I thought, okay,
well let me just get my masters, and I I
actually was such a giant nerd that I graduated with honors,
(22:56):
summa cum laude. And I actually got my my master's
degree paid for because I did a work study program.
So I taught statistics at UD and I worked in
different labs there.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Statistics, Yes, do.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
So that seemed like the next step. So I went
ahead and got that. But all the while while I
was there, I still had this burning itche of creativity.
And I actually started taking some piano lessons at a
local college as well outside of u D, and that
(23:37):
was at Wright State University near right Pat Air Force Base.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
So I was going, and I was doing my master's
at UD in psychology, and then I was taking physics
and piano at Wright State.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Good grief. Has anybody ever said you might be an
education junk? He just yes.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Usually the term is overachiever.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But give me, come on, give me another class, give
me another class.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I like the way that Glenn says it, though, because
he says not overachiever. He just says achiever. And I'm like, yes,
there you go.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
That's right. However, and what I would say to Glenn
is Glenn, I get what he's saying, but most people
don't do that. So in comparison, in comparison, look, my
wife is on here and her brother, God rest his soul,
(24:43):
got one of his master's degrees at Wright State. I
think he got one. It didn't he get one at
UD as well, Jill, I thought he did. Maybe it
was Right State and the other was Ohio State. I
don't know, she'll she'll answer though. So, so, okay, you
got your master's degree in psychology. Yes, and you you
(25:08):
get through that, you get your your your piece of
paper and it says you now have a master's degree
in psychology. And right, Glenn, that's because of where she
grew up. Dude, I'm telling you, like slinging bails hey
is not a joke. But so what did you do?
(25:31):
Then you're like, okay, let's go be a psychologist, let's
fix people.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
So my you know, I had really been focusing on
research at that point. I still had kind of this
feeling that I just wasn't doing what I was meant
to be doing and there was something off. And because
I had done music still and been continuing to do it,
the next steps them music City, Nashville, and so I thought, okay, well,
(26:02):
maybe I can use my degree and find a job
in Nashville. So that's actually what I did, and I
got a job in research at the Sarahkanan Research Institute
in Nashville, and so I moved to Nashville and I
started doing some research there and I got involved in
the creative community here, first with music, and then I
(26:26):
had kind of this lingering thought of like, I wonder
if they have like a community theater or something that
I could get involved in that again. And I found
an acting class. Actually it's the Nashville Acting Studio, which
was a game changer for me because I started taking
classes there about six months after I'd moved to Nashville,
(26:49):
and I loved it right away. I was like, oh
my gosh, I have to do this forever. But at
that point I wasn't thinking of it like a career.
I was just like, Oh, this is fulfilling me. Little
did I know that it was actually a working actor
class that so many of these actors had experience in
the industry, they had agents, and so about three months
(27:11):
into the class, the instructor was like, Hey, you should
consider getting an agent, and I was like, what are
you talking about me?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Well, wow.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, and so that kind of like started the bug
for me. And I was like, I don't know what is,
but I have to do it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Oh my god. Wow. So and you were doing what
site like psychology research.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So it was it was more I used my background
in research and statistics for the job, so I was
actually doing orthopedic research. Okay, And I continued, I still
have a job where I do kind of research or
stats face as a separate, full time job from my
film and acting career.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
But yes, I have I read somewhere maybe on TMZ.
I don't know that you are the Queen of spreadsheets.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I don't know about the queen, but I will take
that title.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Oh my god, Like, just kill me now if you
want me to. God, spreadsheets are not in my purview
at all. So okay, So, so you this is so
interesting because I'm I see this unfolding and I'm I'm
(28:49):
seeing that you know, one of the things that I
already love about you, there's the amazing Cynthia Manion. Hey Cynthia,
I know you were on her show too. That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
And she just had a birthday.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Oh happy birthday, Cynthia. Did I miss it?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
My god, I must have missed it, so I don't remember.
Maybe I did. I don't so so so you you
go into this acting class that's hardly theater.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Correct or No, it was, yeah, it was yeah. It
was acting based. It was scene study, very like emotional based. Okay,
And this is where things start to get fun, because
not only did I love it and I found my passion,
but speaking of breaking through walls, I felt like the
(29:45):
discovery of acting and learning to understand emotions because you
have to understand emotions in order to act them experience,
I in some ways healed mice because I learned how
to have emotions that I maybe never allowed myself to have. Mmm.
(30:09):
And so it was. It was just and I'm forever
grateful because getting now to do my passion of storytelling, acting, filmmaking,
et cetera, not only fills me with so much joy,
but it has made me a better person. It has
made me a better human, Like it changed me so
(30:30):
much and I love it.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Wow, that's so incredible. So talk about the I mean, well,
did you listen to your instructor and get an agent?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I did? I did, but I did not right away. I,
as you have figured out am quite analytical, so for
me it became okay, there's a step by step process
that we have to go through before we can get
an agent. So I actually decided that I was gonna
(31:06):
work and train and get more experience for about a
year before I applied to agents. So at that point
I had the bug and I had to be involved
in everything film related. So I was auditioning for local
student films and doing them. I was working as a
production assistant on set. I was doing props on set,
(31:30):
like anything that I could to get more experience because
I was like, I, while I appreciate these instructors saying
that I should get an agent, I wanted to come
in and feel like I had done the work to
be ready to have that agent, not just because someone
said that I was ready. And maybe, you know, maybe
(31:50):
it was in security. Maybe I just needed to feel
better in myself about it. But yeah, So after about
a year of doing some training and getting experienced, I
did get an agent, the Avenue Agency, and I have
been with them now for almost eight years.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay, so when you what's the
very first professional thing that you did with an agent?
You don't remember your don't remember. Wow mm hmm. I mean,
(32:33):
do you do commercials and and things of that.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
I do. I do. I remember my very first short
film ever, and that was a student film, though it
wasn't through my agent. One of the first things I
did with my agent was probably either a music video
or commercial, but I don't remember it. And isn't that
funny though, the things that we that we choose to
(32:59):
remember that we that we don't. I don't know. That's
interesting to me now that I because I'm a crazy
spreadsheet person, I could probably find it. I have like
a link of like all of my auditions from the
last like ten years or something like that, be like
which one was it? Oh?
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, do you have a color coded rating system on
how you think you did and all of that. I'm
sure don't get me started on that. Now you're like,
that's a great idea. I'm gonna have to add that
to my spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
No, this is how horrible I am. I'll say this quick. SI.
I do because I'm a stats person, and you would
take that Excel spreadsheet and you would put it into
a stats program. No colors. I'm always like, oh, no colors.
It means nothing to me, I want to filter by
like numbers or like zeros and ones, and I'll like
write all kinds of logic and stupid formula. Anyway, Oh
(33:54):
nothing is people who like colors in their Excel spreadsheet.
But I my cell spreadsheet of auditions looks disgusting. I
probably do anyone.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Oh my gosh. But you read them and you're like,
this is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, because I can make like pivot tables out of
it so that I can see, like year over year,
how I do or well the casting directors that are
asking to see me, the genres that I'm going out
for the most, the months that I'm the most productive.
But wow, you know it's again this kind of weird,
(34:30):
diverse faund that I had. It made me look at
acting very different because I was like, well, this is
a business and I'm a product. So if I want
to perform well, I have to know how my product
is being marketed or what it's doing well in.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, what I find really interesting is because I've
studied a lot of psychology as well. I spent many
years trying to fix myself by studying psychology on my own,
and then eventually, you know, said, I'll okay, fine, I'll
go to AA. So, but you know, I think it's
(35:13):
interesting how because most people, and I hate to categorize
most people, but most people are either very heavy on
the left side of their brain or they're very heavy
on the right side of their brain, and they don't
tend to mix. I'm I'm a musician as well. I
(35:34):
play guitar, sing and play drums. But and when you're
playing drums like you're you got it, You're both sides
of your brain have to work like in perfect harmony
with you. You're so intense on both sides of your brain.
The the statistician status that word, and then the the
(35:58):
the creative over here, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna put
you on the spot, and I don't know that you'll
do it, but I'm going to ask you to perform
that not solo. What's it called, the the monologue?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Yes, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
But you don't have to if you can remember it.
If not, that's all right. But but you know, I
think you're so it's it's incredible. It's not. It's very
rare to see both sides work so strongly and well together.
And I'm talking of the brain, So talk a little
(36:38):
bit about some of the short films, and I don't.
I don't have any queued up. I should have, dang it.
I tried downloading some of the stuff you sent me
and it wouldn't download. And I'm like, all right, it's
just being a pain in the butt. But I'm looking
over here to see if I have any But talk
about some of the stuff that you've done. Is there
(37:00):
any place that people can see it? Glenn made a
comment here, hold on the fact that you look for
patterns in your life. Yes, it is really really it
really is really is really smart. So talk about some
of the stuff that you've done. If there's a place
that people can go find it and watch any of it.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yes. So it's very exciting because today is actually the
official lauge of my website. I planned it perfectly for
your podcast. So my website is live now for my
production company. And my production company is called Like the
(37:44):
Game Pictures because my name is and yes, so it
is www dot Likethegame Pictures dot com. So all of
my films that I have made with my production company
that I own the rights to are there for people
to stream. I think there's like seven films, so you
can check them out. They're all short films. There's some
(38:05):
incredible talent. I am so blessed to work with just
so many wonderful talented people. I for years, I've just
been like pinching myself getting like I can't believe that
these people would come and want to work with me.
And so the stories we've been able to tell are
really incredible, and I'm excited for everyone to see them,
(38:25):
and I'm so excited for what's next for like the
game pictures. But yes, my production company is like the
game pictures because my name is Alex Bowling. Bowling felled
like the.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Game is that right? I have it scrolling across the
bottom like the game pictures dot Com.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Yes, okay, pictures dot Com.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
So what are some of the my wife, Jill, you
put the wrong address, it's she put likethegame dot Com.
It's like the game pictures dot Com. So what are
some of the the challenges that you've faced? I mean you,
(39:16):
so you you get out of you finish school with
your master's degree, and you decide to go to Nashville. Yes,
and has it all just been like easypasy, like just
every door has opened? Never never had to really work
(39:40):
hard at it.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
A chance, not a chance. I mean, it has been
a scratch and claw the whole way, and I still
am working at it. But you know, when you're able
to look at it from thirty thousand feet, there's this
beautiful thing that happens where I feel like I have
been given the privilege to really be in an incubator
(40:07):
that allows me to understand what I really want and
learn so many things that are important for growth as
a human and in really pursuing my dreams. So it
was really hard for me when I first decided that,
you know, this is really what I want to do
with my life is be a storyteller, actor and filmmaker.
(40:32):
There was so much guilt and shame that I was
letting people down because I was supposed to be this
doctor or a lawyer or something else. And so not
only did I struggle with all of that guilt and shame,
but I had I had buried so many emotions inside
for so long, like I wouldn't even allow myself to cry.
So it was so hard for me as an actor
(40:54):
to be like, how do I cry? When I could
maybe count on one hand the number of times that
I cried in my life. So it became like, not
only am I gonna go after something that seems so foreign,
I have to be okay with it as a person,
and I have to be, you know, okay with all
(41:17):
of me and who I am. So it's been a
very difficult journey, and if I'm being just completely transparent
about the difficulties of it, I think a lot of
that that shame and guilt and the burdens of carrying,
you know, perfectionism and being an overachiever and not wanting
(41:40):
to let anyone down kind of resulted. And by the
time that I was deep into pursuing both acting and
filmmaking and my career because I've always been doing both,
I was so burnout that I was reaching a point
of my body and nervous system were starting to be
(42:05):
like you are not in balance with who you're meant
to be, and I was having horrible panic attacks. I
developed like health anxiety. I don't know if anyone is
familiar with it, but it's basically like an extreme form
of hypochondria, where you just constantly think that there's something
wrong with you, and the brain is so powerful and
(42:28):
from my experiences in psychology, Yes, that it can make
you believe things that are not necessarily true. So if
you are if you are looking for things that are
wrong in your body, you're going to find something because
it's going to make something up. So I was having
these horrible symptoms of just being dizzy, or i'd have
(42:48):
body pains and body aches that I thought there's something
wrong with me for sure, but there there never was
anything physically wrong. It was just that I was always
living and not in bad balance with I was meant
to be or who I was happy being. So I
have had to do, you know, so much work in
(43:09):
that just not not so much like work, not just
in chasing the dream if you will, or or pursue
I don't like Glenn says pursuit. Yeah, I don't like
pursuit the way.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
He's Glenn says, not pursue, he says, to have.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
To have yes. So in having this career, I had
not found the difficulties in facing that rejection, the difficulties
of feeling like I was letting everyone down for having
it and then not being true to myself. So it
was a crazy, hectic anxiety triangle that in in complete transparency,
(43:50):
I still deal with from time to time in those relapses.
But I just want everyone to be fully aware that
just when you when you discover your passion and you
start doing it, even though it fulfills you and it
makes you so incredibly grateful and alive, there's always the
good and the bad. There's always going to be the
(44:13):
side that's that's difficult to travel through.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
Wow. So question, and I you know, you don't have
to go too deep on this, but was was this all,
you know, the anxiety about letting people down? I'm assuming
mom and dad or you know whoever. Was that because
they they had high expectations that you were going to
(44:43):
do other things, or you thought they had high expectations
that you were going to do other things.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
I think a little bit of both. But it wasn't
just them, because I was so much of a you know,
education junkie said, like, I think everyone was like, oh,
you know, learning is really easy for you, so somebody
like you, and especially where I'm from, you know, you
(45:14):
people don't really venture outside of the mold too much.
So when I came along and everybody was like, oh,
you're definitely outside of the mold, right, they were like, oh,
so you should probably just be like a doctor or
a lawyer or something. So I just I think I
always had in my head that, oh, if you're good
at school, then that's probably what you should do. But
(45:41):
it's like I tried it, and while I could do it,
it was not very fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Right right, This is an incredible story, and I thank
you for your transparency too, because I think that you know,
some many people are and I talk about this all
the time, so does Glenn. But you know, we're walking
around telling ourselves these doctor Joe Despenza talks about it.
(46:10):
You know that we're constantly telling ourselves these stories. The
fifty sixty thousand thoughts a day that we're having are
you know, primarily the same thoughts we had the day before,
and half of them are a lie and all these things,
and it's like, you know, so we're all walking around
a little bit neurotic, I guess in a sense. But
(46:34):
I love the fact that you are, because I feel
like most people just bury those they stuff them down inside. Yeah,
well it's panic attacks. That's so funny. Are you drinking
diet coke? What is that?
Speaker 2 (46:55):
No, it's cold. I'm being classic cliche here. Pat Hella Brew.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Oh, my dear lord, So what is what? What? What
are some of the fun projects that you've done, whether
it was writing or producing or what are some of
the things that you've done that really kind of lit
that fire inside of you that when people go to
likethegame Pictures dot com and they look at your material,
(47:28):
what are some of the projects that you're most proud
of that brought you the mosoy?
Speaker 2 (47:34):
I love that. So actually, every one of my projects
does bring me joy in different ways. I, as you
have figured out by now, love to challenge myself. So
every project that I do, I use as something to
grow and learn something new. And it was pointed out
to me about six or seven years ago, when I
(47:55):
had been doing acting for a little while, that I
look at scripts kind of like a director, and I
was like, Okay, so I guess maybe I'll try that.
So the first film that I did with my production
company that you can find on the website is called
Les Gama, and that was really the film that started
it all. I have always kind of looked up to
(48:18):
Barbara streisand actually because she wears speaking of hats, a
lot of hats in the industry, director, writer, producer, actor, songwriter, singer,
you know you name it, she does what she wants.
I learned of Dolliparton and so when I did Less Gama,
it was a black and white silent film, noir, and
(48:39):
so I was the first time I had really worn
multiple hats in that way. I produced it, I wrote it,
I directed it, I acted in it, and it was
the most incredible itinerians and the film turned out amazing.
It was so well received, and I think after doing that,
I was like, I can do this all right, Let's know,
(49:02):
what are we going to do now? So I kind
of use that to launch into trying different short films.
So one of the next ones I wanted to do
was kind of a launch piece of my production company,
and that is tugging at the harpstrings. And so my
friend who had done Las Gama with me, we were
(49:23):
both just going through a hard time, I think COVID
had happened, and she was like, you know what, I
don't want to do anything but like act, act and
play my and I was like, what a weird thing
to say. And I was like, oh, okay, I think
I can make that a movie. So it's a kind
of a romantic dramedy about a woman who was playing
(49:47):
the harp at her younger sister's wedding and having to
kind of look at all of the different areas of
her life, especially love and different emotions. And that film
was fun to because I, you know, I got to
wear all of the hats again, directed, wrote, produce, acted
in it. But I also ended up writing a song
(50:09):
for it that got to be in it, so then
I got to add that one in. So those were
kind of the first building blocks of the production company.
And then once I had my feet under me, then
I was like, Okay, now let's really get down to business.
And I've been so blessed to meet just such incredible
talent that have really elevated my game. I met an
(50:32):
edible friend and a co writer of mine, Priscilla Wise,
a few years ago, and she's actually the one who
really introduced me to Glenn, because I met Glenn in
Nashville acting studio like seven years ago but had not
really followed up. And then Priscilla was in Glenn's class
and she's like, I think you should come check it out.
(50:54):
I think you'll like it, and I did, and of course, I,
you know, fell in Love and Dress History. But so
I started writing films with Priscilla, and at this point
we have written four together, so you'll see some of
those on the site, and that is the Hollywood Sunset Revolutions, Spirals,
(51:15):
and our newest one, which is not out yet but
you'll see it in the coming soon section, is Headed
for Home and it is a sci fi about women
in space. But I love writing and I love storytelling
because I get to take all of these conflicting thoughts
(51:35):
that I had of growing up, of either feeling out
of place or like I didn't belong or all this
guilt or you know, I'm not doing what I need
to be doing and how can I be you know, strong?
But I need to cry and doesn't that make me weak?
And so I had all these conflicting things that I
get to take and put into an incredibly layered character
(51:58):
and it is the most beautiful thing to see it
come to life.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
Spirals is really my love story to my journey with
that anxiety and discovery of it. It is one of
films on the website, and it's really about a woman.
Speaker 1 (52:15):
Who I watched. I watched the entire thing. By the way, Yeah,
that's so great. That's the woman that starts looking in
the mirror right.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
Yes, yes, she's a former professional dancer, and so she
has left dance and has a lot of trauma on
triggers around it, but now is forced to go back
into a dance studio after years of being away to
bring her daughter to her first dance lesson and what
she encounters when she reaches the dance studio are a
(52:52):
whole lot more than memories, and she starts her own spirals.
Because you can physically spiral to dance, you can mentally
spiral and an anxiety spiral. But you also there's some
theories that time is cyclical and spirals. So if you
were looking at time horizontally and you had past, present, future,
(53:12):
there's three different points. But if you were looking at
it from a different perspective, those points could coincide and intersect,
so you could actually have different points of past, present
and future coexisting. So we get to play with those
in this film. It's incredible. Catherine James is my leading actress.
(53:32):
She's a dear friend of mine. She's in so many
of the films that you'll see on the website. She's
phenomenal I expect so many great things from her, and
I just hope that everyone is able to connect to
the layers of the story and that the beautiful thing
about it is like we get to be multi dimensional,
(53:53):
you know, we get to be vulnerable and strong. You know,
showing emotion doesn't make you weak, means you have a
big heart, you have the capacity for so much more.
And I love that. And now our newest film, Headed
for Home, which I'm super excited about because I got
to work with the incredible Caro Rainer isn't yes in
(54:15):
Glenn's class and has been on your show. She has
talk about an inspirational woman, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
She.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
I can't wait for everyone to see this film, and
I'm hopeful that we will to get the funding to
make it a full feature because she is the kind
of character that you know, you really just dream about
working with, because not only is she portraying such a layered,
(54:49):
complex character, she is equally that way in real life.
She has the capacity to be caring, to be inspiring,
to be strong in ways that you never knew existed.
And I always say this about her, but like there
are certain actors that you feel like when you watch
(55:10):
them especially in a close up, that they can save
the world in a glance, and I feel like she
is one of those people. So I am super excited
for the stories that we still get to tell and
the many incredible people that I still have yet to
work with. It's like, ooh, I think I heard that
quote the other day. It's like you don't know who
(55:33):
yet you are still going to meet in your life,
or who you're going to work with. And I am introverted,
believe it or not, but I do.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
I think most actors, most creatives are yes, quite.
Speaker 2 (55:47):
Nicely, but I do enjoy meeting people and hearing their
stories and really getting to champion them and inspire them
to really, you know, follow their passion and do what
they love.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
So if you had to pick one thing, only one thing,
and I'm talking about the statistics job is on the table, writing, acting, producing, directing,
you had to pick one thing that you had to
do for the rest of your life and you can't
(56:23):
do anything else, what would it be.
Speaker 2 (56:27):
I only get to pick one.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
Yep, it has to be a monogamous relationship with that
one thing.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
Well it's a tough one. It is a tough one
to say. But if I only get to pick one.
It has to be acting.
Speaker 1 (56:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
Okay, directing is a very very close second.
Speaker 1 (56:53):
God, I thought you were going to say writing. Wow. Okay,
that's it interesting. So if you had a I have
a magic wand. Oh it's at my home office. I
actually have one, my fairy godfather. Yes, somebody sent it
(57:18):
to me, and I don't have it with me. I
wish I did. But pretend like this little knife is
a magic wand and I could wave this over you
right now and make all of your dreams come true instantly.
What would that look like for you? See?
Speaker 2 (57:42):
This is the fun part.
Speaker 1 (57:45):
That is the fun part.
Speaker 2 (57:47):
Because that's already happened.
Speaker 1 (57:52):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah, there's really only one thing that I would prefer
to have happened, and that's I would say, my day job,
if you will, of stats. I'd love to convert that
into more of doing statistics for my own production company.
Still being afford to live.
Speaker 1 (58:14):
Right, Yeah, it is a thing.
Speaker 2 (58:17):
Yes, But otherwise I'm getting to do what I love.
I'm making films, I have a website, I'm telling stories.
I'm working with people that I never dream about working.
I'm getting to learn from Glenn Moore Shower I'm bringing
(58:37):
stories to life of people that I watched as a
child and I studied them on TV and I was like,
I have to see everything that they've ever done. And
I look at it now and I didn't have words
for it then, but talk about like this is why
I'm so grateful when people say the light from earlier.
But it's like it's you just wake up, Quinn, smile
(59:00):
on your face. I'm already doing it.
Speaker 1 (59:03):
I love that, Absolutely love your answer. Wow, So hey,
are you are you? Are you up for doing a monologue?
That monologue I watch you do? Or can you do you?
Can you do it?
Speaker 2 (59:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (59:20):
I love this. I'm gonna give you full screen and
I want you guys to see what blew me away.
Literally blew me away when I first saw you do
this in Glenn's class, and you didn't know I was
going to ask you to do this. You do not
know that part of the let's let's do this, let's
(59:44):
do this. I'm going to leave your website scrolling so
everybody can see it. But here, here we go, the
one and only Alex.
Speaker 2 (59:54):
Curse on this show.
Speaker 1 (59:56):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (59:56):
I was like, there's a curse on this monologue, So
just trigger warning or whatever. People. All right, Hey, Dad, hm,
(01:00:20):
you son of a bitch. I never made one of
these when you were responding because I was so mad
at you for leaving me, and then when you went quiet,
(01:00:42):
seemed like I should just live with my decision, and
I have. But today is my birthday, and it's a
special one, m because you once told me that you
(01:01:10):
once told me that when you came back, we might
be the same age, and today I'm the age you
are when you left. So be a real good time
for you to come back and tell doctor brand I'm
(01:01:38):
sorry that her father passed away today. He had no
pain and was at peace. Did she know? Did she
know that her mother's things a sham yeh? That you
(01:02:02):
all let left us here to suffocate, to starve, you
never coming back, did you know? Dad? Dad?
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Oh? Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, Holy crap. I can't
and I just I can't. Wow. The intensity, Oh my god, Wow,
you're so talented, so talented. Wow. I hope somebody like
(01:03:19):
Spielberg or somebody huge is watching right now and got
to witness that.
Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Oh yeah, I didn't know I was going to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
That was unbelievable, Like I'm sire, and you don't even
have onions nearby, and you had tears and it was
it's amazing Tea. Oh my gosh, wow, so well done.
It's it was beautiful. Alex. You are incredible. And I
don't I don't hope for I know that all of
(01:03:53):
your dreams are going to come true. And I'm gonna
I'm gonna be able to say, you know, I knew
her back in the day, she was on my show
before she became a humongous, freaking a lister. Your look amazing, amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Well, if you haven't fallen in love with Alex by now,
then you're a communist. And oh no, you're amazing. Thank
you so much for being on today and sharing your heart,
your look. Oh my god, that's so funny. Glenn, that's
(01:04:51):
not Glenn's my agent. Like Glenn, I'll tell you offline.
He's so funny. Last night I said, dude, you have
full authority to negotiate that contract for me in this movie.
He goes, oh, okay, but anyway, so Alex, thank you
(01:05:18):
from the bottom of my heart. And if they're one
last thing, you have the stage for two more minutes,
and there's all eight billion people on the planet Earth
are listening right now watching you. What are you going
(01:05:40):
to say to all eight billion people at once to
impact every one of their lives in a positive way
and make this a better world?
Speaker 2 (01:05:57):
You know, it's such a good question, and it's something
that I wish that I had heard, maybe at a
young age. But it's that direction doesn't have to be large.
Energy can be small things that guide you, that fill you,
(01:06:22):
that tell you the ways that you're supposed to move,
or your passions and where you're supposed to go, or
even just how you connect with someone. It doesn't have
to be a lightning bolt or some grand gesture. Sometimes
it's something so small that you're like, that made me
smile and that made me feel right. Just watch for
(01:06:48):
the small things, the energies, because you recognize them in
other people. And there's a quote that I've been saying
a lot lately that I feel like really really fits it,
and it's you don't meet the people you love, you
recognize them. And I was like, you can you can
(01:07:10):
recognize that energy and other people. You can also learn
to recognize that same loving energy in yourself. Love all
the parts of yourself, observe them follow the energy and
it doesn't have to be something big.
Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
That's beautiful, so beautiful. Thank you so much, you're amazing.
Stay with me. I'm going to end the live stream.
I'm going to wrap it up. It's going to feel
like I'm not coming back, but I promise I'm coming back.
Don't leave me. So I want to say thank you
to everyone who's watched, everyone that's watching the replay or
(01:07:51):
listening to it on the podcast networks globally. Go to
likethegame Pictures dot com, w ww dot like Thegame pictures
dot com. Check out everything Alex is doing. If you're
a big director and I'm going to claim something huge
(01:08:14):
for you in your life right now, somebody big needs
to call her, get email her and invite her to
come and be in a big, big movie because she
deserves it. So Alex, thank you, You're amazing everything. Even
my wife is on here saying great interview, So thank
(01:08:36):
you so much. I appreciate you. You're amazing. Everybody share
this out. If you did not share it out, you
can still redeem yourself and go ahead and share this.
We appreciate you, love you all. Have an amazing day
and we will see you all later. Thank you, Alex,
thank you, Bye bye,
Hey, good morning, and welcome to break Through Walls. I'm
Ken Walls and I'm your host, and today I have
an amazing young lady I met through my buddy Glen
Moore Shower and her name is Alex Bowling. And Alex
is an actress. She's a producer, she's a director. She's
(00:28):
multi faceted and talented as hell. So if you would
do me a favor and stop everything you're doing and
share this out, I have the one, the only Alex Bowling,
Bowling like the game. Wait till you hear about that.
So just share this out, stay with us, and we
(00:52):
will be right back. And we are back. Let me
(01:25):
bring Alex on right now. Alex, where are you? Oh god,
hold on a minute, She'll be on. Hang on. We
gotta we gotta get Alex on here. I forgot one
step there she is. Oh my gosh, sorry, I'm a professional.
(01:53):
Oh my goodness, how are you, Alex?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I amblous this morning.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I'm good, I'm good. It's good to have you on here.
We just met. I guess a week ago ish with
Glenn and I happened to pop on his acting class
and you did a well it's not called a solo
(02:19):
a monologue that Sorry, I'm digging into my incredible acting knowledge,
but so so you did a monologue and I was
like whoa. And Glenn and I talked right after the
class and I said, dude, she was freaking awesome. You
(02:41):
got to get her on the show. He goes, well,
let me get her on the phone, and here we are,
so Alex, you're incredibly talented. I was blown away. And
so you know, I want to hear about I started
this show I guess over six years ago now, and
(03:03):
it was really to help people kind of have a
breakthrough in life. Right. So I think that a lot
of people get stuck. They don't know what to do.
And I love interviewing people who are doing really cool
things and have made it in some big ways. And
you've made it in some big ways. I've seen a
(03:25):
lot of your work and it's really impressive. So tell
everybody a little bit about where you were born and raised.
That's a fun story.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yes, Oh my gosh. So, as you know, I am
from Ohio originally and very very rule Ohio, the corn belt.
That's about all there is there.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I've been there, yes, you.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Know, but it is very pretty and it is defly
something to experience if you haven't. But I have always
been a busy body, involved in everything. I get bored easy.
I've always been a storyteller and a creative. My always
are joking that I, you know, I've been telling people
what to do since I could wave a finger, and
(04:17):
uh so now I don't know. I'm like, how could
I make a living doing that?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Right? So, so you you and we won't we don't
want to doss you, so we won't mention the town
that you're from. But it's it's it's listen, I've I've
been to this town. And when I told her that,
she's like, no, you have, I'm like, actually I have,
(04:44):
because I stopped at the only gas station in this
town and and I don't even remember why. I think
I was looking for something and it was before you know,
you had Google Maps and all of that, and I
missed announced the name and the guy was very quick
to correct me, and I'm like, what, No, that's not
(05:05):
how it's pronounced. And I argued with him, but apparently
that's how it's pronounced. But so so you like, she
literally I've I'm telling you she grew up in the sticks,
like if you go to any place like you would
consider the sticks, go a little bit further, and that's
(05:26):
kind of where she grew up, right, am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's pretty close.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
It's pretty far out there. Yeah, but so and and
it's a lovely little town. But so so you you
talk about like what it was like for you growing
up in farm country and all of the things that
you experience as a kid that maybe drove you into
(05:56):
this creative space that you now reside in.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, so you know there, you only know what you know,
and so when you're raised in that environment, I don't
think you are, at least for me, I wasn't like
thinking that this was horrible or that I needed to
get out. It was just that this is the environment
(06:22):
that I live in, and there were a lot of
great things to it. But I quickly realized that I
had a passion for learning, at a passion for storytelling
and creating. From a young age, I was creating little
stories myself. I'm also involved in music, so whether it
(06:44):
was songwriting or doing like little bits of musical theater
at a local like small church or at our elementary school.
So it was like I just loved these stories and
the other fabling that I will say about being raised
in farm country is that the work ethic that you
(07:05):
develop is insane. So I am forever grateful to the
environment that I grew up because it taught me how
to work hard. So I am no stranger to that,
and I carry it with me nowadays.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah. I mean I was raised in small farmtown, Ohio
as well, and it definitely teaches you that I didn't
grow up on a farm. But you know, all of
my friends had farms, and so if I was going
to go hang out with anybody, it was like, oh,
we gotta go bail some hay first, which sucked. Yeah
(07:43):
it really.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I can stack a half ton truck at least with
forty bails. I can even still like it, visualize how
they go on there. That was my job.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I'll tell you. When I was I don't know, twenty
twenty one, I was working looking for a farmer. It
was not on his farm. It was an electronics company
that he had at the farm, and it was an
office that he built on this barn. I mean on
the other side of the wall there were sheep, Like,
(08:16):
oh my god. Anyway, so one day he comes running in.
He's like I need your help. And I'm like with
what and he goes, it's getting ready to rain. I
got to get this Hay up off the field. And
I'm like what and he's like come on, and I'm like, okay,
come on, and I go I didn't remember any of
this from my childhood. I didn't realize you couldn't get
(08:37):
Hay wet. And so so we go out and I'm
literally I was getting ready to leave to go to
the city to my apartment and go to the pool
and I'm wearing swim trunks, like thin, thin swim trunks
and tank top and he gave me a pair of gloves.
(09:00):
He goes, you really need to be wearing jeans. And
I'm like, I'll be all right, let's go O m G.
I had Hay stuck in places in my body that
I don't want to talk about, but I'm gonna tell
you it was. It lasted too, It didn't go away
for a long time time. Oh yeah, I'm like, dear God,
(09:21):
have mercy. I so don't don't bail Hay in shorts.
Is the up and down your I mean, yeah, yeah,
but that's you know, that is that is you know
I've said this forever. I think every kid coming out
of high school, before they decide what they're going to
do with their lives, should go spend a couple of
(09:43):
years working on a farm, and then a couple of
years going door to door, maybe even selling Jesus or
something like. You know, I mean, like, go out and
learn what real life's about. Then decide what you're going
to do with your life, right, because so many people
are like, well, my daughter, she's like, I want to
be a lawyer, and I'm like, but do you.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Know, I know, you know, I did have kind of
a little bit of that farm upbringing, but I still
I still felt like I didn't really know what I
wanted to do. And so that was interesting for me
because I knew that, you know, I was good at
school and I really enjoyed learning, and so I think
(10:29):
I had always wanted to do something creative. I was
always involved in music and I loved acting. But you know,
where I'm from, of course, it's not really something that
you're supposed to do. And so I was trying to
think of so many different things that I could that
I could potentially do that would be fulfilling. So for
(10:50):
a while I thought well, you know, maybe I'll be
a lawyer or a politician or a doctor or whatever.
And even when I got into college, I tried all
of these day different things, but it was never like
that soul fulfilling like passion. And yeah, gosh, the FIFA. Yes,
(11:15):
she grew.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Up in Van work That's where I haven't. I have
aunts and uncles in Van Werd.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I did FIFA. So fun fact, and this actually feeds
into my film story is I I was always a
public presence. I guess I had some sort of a
presence when I spoke. And so I joined FIFA when
I was in high school. And FFA has public speaking
(11:45):
contests and like parliamentary procedure where you do, like you know,
you run a meeting, an official meeting, and so I
did these contests. And so my freshman year of high school,
they put me in the cafe and I did the
FFA creed. Was the public speaking contest that I did.
(12:06):
And you say, it's this creed about the future farmers
of America and I believe in the future of agriculture
or whatever. I know, that's how it starts. And I
actually placed in the top sixteen in the nation at
fifteen years old doing that, right, Yeah, And I went
to Indianapolis and I got to perform at the National Convention,
(12:28):
and I think that was like a part of the
start of people being like, oh hey, she's got like
some kind of presence or public speaking going on. So
I continued to do it, like all through high school.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Wow, look look who's watching.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I know Glenn.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
I talked to him late last night. Love that dude,
Love you, Glenn. Thank you for introducing us. By the way,
So so that that's a that's a really kind of
cool way to get get kind of thwarted into the
public eye. I guess right, Yes, that's pretty cool. So
(13:13):
so what look what Nicole just said about you. You
have a beautiful light about you. It's true. It helps
that the sun is shining through the window next tour,
but yes, you said, yeah, I love that. So so
(13:36):
so okay, So you you get through high school, you graduate,
there's like six hundred kids in your graduating class. I
can't believe that that's actually smaller than the school I read.
It's crazy. So so then you went where did you?
(14:00):
Did you go to college? Did you?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I did? So I went to audobuying University in Westerville, Okay,
and thought I did like the lawyer politician track. I
thought that's what I was going to do for a while,
because obviously I had been doing kind of speeches and
understood a little bit about procedure. It turns out it
(14:26):
was not really my passion. I also loved psychology and
I loved the brain, and so I thought maybe for
a while I was going to be like a neurosurgeon
or neuroscientist. So I even I studied abroad in the
Netherlands at Mastricht University because it was one of the
only places that an undergraduate could work in an fMRI
(14:49):
brain scan lab. So I studied road there for about
four months and worked in a brain lab for working memory.
Came back still thought I was going to be on
the science and research track, and even went through my
masters in psychology, mostly focusing on research in you know,
(15:11):
cognition and working memory. I love the brain. I still
love the brain, and I love understanding people. But but
there is you know, I'd always been told, especially you know,
by my family, you know, do do what you love
and you'll never work a day in your life. And
I was just like I took the mcat and was
(15:33):
doing all these things. I was like, this feels like work.
This I thought, I liked this, but this feels hard.
So all the while I had this kind of burning
itch to do something creative, and I had still been
involved in music and songwriting and thinking about acting, but
(15:59):
still in act My head was like, no, no, that's
not something you're supposed to do, you know, go do
something else. And I just kept putting it off for
the longest time. But when I did eventually step into
that world, that that quote became real for me, and
it was like, Oh, I understand what it means to
(16:21):
be working so hard, but it doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, that's right. I need to introduce you to this
guy right here. He's been on the show. He's a
country music rock star. Oh, he's amazing Dylan. I don't
think Dylan. I think he's in Dylan. Where are you
in Arkansas or did you make it? Did you get
to Nashville? I don't. I don't know, but he's got
a couple of albums out. He's a freaking awesome, awesome dude,
(16:50):
good friend of mine.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I need you know if you're in Nashville.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I'm sure he is at least every now and then
because he does a lot of performing, or at least
he was and talk to him in a minute. But yeah,
he's a good dude. I need to introduce y'all. But
so so, so you got oh he's in Arkansas. Okay, Yeah,
he's in Arkansas. So so you you started getting into
(17:16):
the creative stuff and this is in Westerville that you
were having these happenings.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah, so I've kind of I've kind of dabbled in
it all of my life. I grew up and actually
create a family that just never pursued it as a career. Right.
My grandfather was a performing musician, especially on steel guitar,
and then a lot of my family all are musicians
and they would harmonize together and sing together and and
(17:47):
it was so fabulous growing up, but none of them
ever really pursued that on a larger scale. And so
I'd always been involved in in music, and even in school,
it was like any opportunity I could turn something into
a creative project, I did. There were a couple of
projects I did in high school where we were supposed
(18:09):
to do projects on like presidents of the United States,
or something, and I made I made a video. I like,
had me and a few friends, I like directed a
video and and we were playing characters and it was
it was so great. So I got to do that.
And then our high school didn't have drama, but I
wanted to do a play so bad that my senior
(18:33):
year I convinced my piano teacher to direct a musical
so that we could have a musical my senior year
and it was the just the best experience. I got
to play Jessica James and way out West in address
and it was it was so great and I loved
every second of it. So when I went to Auduvine College,
(18:57):
that college actually has a theater, and I remember going
and watching like the opera or the theater productions, and
I was like, I should I should change our major.
I should? And then it became like, oh, my family
will kill me. Maybe.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Isn't that interesting though, that we really do we We
we have a tendency, especially at that age, but we
have a tendency to allow what we think our family
or what our family will actually say or do to
control what we do. That's insane to me. I don't
I've never understood that In fact, I always did the
(19:41):
opposite of what they wanted me to do. I was
that kid, so really, h.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I still struggle with the people pleasing, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
You're on it. But yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Used to. At Outer Mine, I would sneak into the
arts building and they had all the practice rooms, and
because I've played piano since I was about eight, I
would sneak into the practice rooms and I would play
the piano and just shut the door and play the
piano and no one would knew that I didn't belong there.
(20:18):
But it was just it was so crazy because it
was I think, that desire and that spark was there
the entire time, and I just was so in denial
of it. But everything in good time, you know, because
my masters that I got in psychology helps me so
(20:38):
much in storytelling immeasureably. So I am very grateful for
those very diverse experiences.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
But you're not a practicing psychologist. No, no, right, And
by the way, everybody, please share this out. If you
have not shared this out, don't be a communist and
share this out. I'm kidding. You can share it out
and be a communist, I guess, So please share this out.
(21:13):
Let's get a bunch of people on here, but so
so Alex you so you just so people are clear,
you got your your undergrad at Otterbne in Westerville, which
is Columbus, Ohio. Yes, and and then you ended up
(21:34):
getting your masters at ud at the University of Dayton,
which is about an hour and a half from Columbus,
maybe an hour and fifteen if I'm driving. So, so
what did you when you graduated from Otterbne and you
(21:56):
had a degree in what what was the degree your.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Undergrad So my undergrad was in psychology, but I didn't
know if I was going to go to med school yet.
So I actually had a double minor in biology and chemistry.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Chemistry. Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, I've lived a lot of lives.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Oh my god. I hated chemistry. I love physics, but
I hated chemistry. So so so you went and decided that,
did you immediately go, okay, I'm going to get my
masters now?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yes? Yeah, okay, So I took the MCAT. I thought
I might go to med school. It didn't feel right
and it felt like such a long commitment for something
that I wasn't really sure about. So I thought, okay,
well let me just get my masters, and I I
actually was such a giant nerd that I graduated with honors,
(22:56):
summa cum laude. And I actually got my my master's
degree paid for because I did a work study program.
So I taught statistics at UD and I worked in
different labs there.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Statistics, Yes, do.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
So that seemed like the next step. So I went
ahead and got that. But all the while while I
was there, I still had this burning itche of creativity.
And I actually started taking some piano lessons at a
local college as well outside of u D, and that
(23:37):
was at Wright State University near right Pat Air Force Base.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
So I was going, and I was doing my master's
at UD in psychology, and then I was taking physics
and piano at Wright State.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Good grief. Has anybody ever said you might be an
education junk? He just yes.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Usually the term is overachiever.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But give me, come on, give me another class, give
me another class.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I like the way that Glenn says it, though, because
he says not overachiever. He just says achiever. And I'm like, yes,
there you go.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
That's right. However, and what I would say to Glenn
is Glenn, I get what he's saying, but most people
don't do that. So in comparison, in comparison, look, my
wife is on here and her brother, God rest his soul,
(24:43):
got one of his master's degrees at Wright State. I
think he got one. It didn't he get one at
UD as well, Jill, I thought he did. Maybe it
was Right State and the other was Ohio State. I
don't know, she'll she'll answer though. So, so, okay, you
got your master's degree in psychology. Yes, and you you
(25:08):
get through that, you get your your your piece of
paper and it says you now have a master's degree
in psychology. And right, Glenn, that's because of where she
grew up. Dude, I'm telling you, like slinging bails hey
is not a joke. But so what did you do?
(25:31):
Then you're like, okay, let's go be a psychologist, let's
fix people.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
So my you know, I had really been focusing on
research at that point. I still had kind of this
feeling that I just wasn't doing what I was meant
to be doing and there was something off. And because
I had done music still and been continuing to do it,
the next steps them music City, Nashville, and so I thought, okay, well,
(26:02):
maybe I can use my degree and find a job
in Nashville. So that's actually what I did, and I
got a job in research at the Sarahkanan Research Institute
in Nashville, and so I moved to Nashville and I
started doing some research there and I got involved in
the creative community here, first with music, and then I
(26:26):
had kind of this lingering thought of like, I wonder
if they have like a community theater or something that
I could get involved in that again. And I found
an acting class. Actually it's the Nashville Acting Studio, which
was a game changer for me because I started taking
classes there about six months after I'd moved to Nashville,
(26:49):
and I loved it right away. I was like, oh
my gosh, I have to do this forever. But at
that point I wasn't thinking of it like a career.
I was just like, Oh, this is fulfilling me. Little
did I know that it was actually a working actor
class that so many of these actors had experience in
the industry, they had agents, and so about three months
(27:11):
into the class, the instructor was like, Hey, you should
consider getting an agent, and I was like, what are
you talking about me?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Well, wow.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, and so that kind of like started the bug
for me. And I was like, I don't know what is,
but I have to do it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Oh my god. Wow. So and you were doing what
site like psychology research.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So it was it was more I used my background
in research and statistics for the job, so I was
actually doing orthopedic research. Okay, And I continued, I still
have a job where I do kind of research or
stats face as a separate, full time job from my
film and acting career.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
But yes, I have I read somewhere maybe on TMZ.
I don't know that you are the Queen of spreadsheets.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I don't know about the queen, but I will take
that title.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Oh my god, Like, just kill me now if you
want me to. God, spreadsheets are not in my purview
at all. So okay, So, so you this is so
interesting because I'm I see this unfolding and I'm I'm
(28:49):
seeing that you know, one of the things that I
already love about you, there's the amazing Cynthia Manion. Hey Cynthia,
I know you were on her show too. That's so awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
And she just had a birthday.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Oh happy birthday, Cynthia. Did I miss it?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
My god, I must have missed it, so I don't remember.
Maybe I did. I don't so so so you you
go into this acting class that's hardly theater.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Correct or No, it was, yeah, it was yeah. It
was acting based. It was scene study, very like emotional based. Okay,
And this is where things start to get fun, because
not only did I love it and I found my passion,
but speaking of breaking through walls, I felt like the
(29:45):
discovery of acting and learning to understand emotions because you
have to understand emotions in order to act them experience,
I in some ways healed mice because I learned how
to have emotions that I maybe never allowed myself to have. Mmm.
(30:09):
And so it was. It was just and I'm forever
grateful because getting now to do my passion of storytelling, acting, filmmaking,
et cetera, not only fills me with so much joy,
but it has made me a better person. It has
made me a better human, Like it changed me so
(30:30):
much and I love it.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Wow, that's so incredible. So talk about the I mean, well,
did you listen to your instructor and get an agent?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I did? I did, but I did not right away. I,
as you have figured out am quite analytical, so for
me it became okay, there's a step by step process
that we have to go through before we can get
an agent. So I actually decided that I was gonna
(31:06):
work and train and get more experience for about a
year before I applied to agents. So at that point
I had the bug and I had to be involved
in everything film related. So I was auditioning for local
student films and doing them. I was working as a
production assistant on set. I was doing props on set,
(31:30):
like anything that I could to get more experience because
I was like, I, while I appreciate these instructors saying
that I should get an agent, I wanted to come
in and feel like I had done the work to
be ready to have that agent, not just because someone
said that I was ready. And maybe, you know, maybe
(31:50):
it was in security. Maybe I just needed to feel
better in myself about it. But yeah, So after about
a year of doing some training and getting experienced, I
did get an agent, the Avenue Agency, and I have
been with them now for almost eight years.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay, so when you what's the
very first professional thing that you did with an agent?
You don't remember your don't remember. Wow mm hmm. I mean,
(32:33):
do you do commercials and and things of that.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
I do. I do. I remember my very first short
film ever, and that was a student film, though it
wasn't through my agent. One of the first things I
did with my agent was probably either a music video
or commercial, but I don't remember it. And isn't that
funny though, the things that we that we choose to
(32:59):
remember that we that we don't. I don't know. That's
interesting to me now that I because I'm a crazy
spreadsheet person, I could probably find it. I have like
a link of like all of my auditions from the
last like ten years or something like that, be like
which one was it? Oh?
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, do you have a color coded rating system on
how you think you did and all of that. I'm
sure don't get me started on that. Now you're like,
that's a great idea. I'm gonna have to add that
to my spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
No, this is how horrible I am. I'll say this quick. SI.
I do because I'm a stats person, and you would
take that Excel spreadsheet and you would put it into
a stats program. No colors. I'm always like, oh, no colors.
It means nothing to me, I want to filter by
like numbers or like zeros and ones, and I'll like
write all kinds of logic and stupid formula. Anyway, Oh
(33:54):
nothing is people who like colors in their Excel spreadsheet.
But I my cell spreadsheet of auditions looks disgusting. I
probably do anyone.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Oh my gosh. But you read them and you're like,
this is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, because I can make like pivot tables out of
it so that I can see, like year over year,
how I do or well the casting directors that are
asking to see me, the genres that I'm going out
for the most, the months that I'm the most productive.
But wow, you know it's again this kind of weird,
(34:30):
diverse faund that I had. It made me look at
acting very different because I was like, well, this is
a business and I'm a product. So if I want
to perform well, I have to know how my product
is being marketed or what it's doing well in.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, what I find really interesting is because I've
studied a lot of psychology as well. I spent many
years trying to fix myself by studying psychology on my own,
and then eventually, you know, said, I'll okay, fine, I'll
go to AA. So, but you know, I think it's
(35:13):
interesting how because most people, and I hate to categorize
most people, but most people are either very heavy on
the left side of their brain or they're very heavy
on the right side of their brain, and they don't
tend to mix. I'm I'm a musician as well. I
(35:34):
play guitar, sing and play drums. But and when you're
playing drums like you're you got it, You're both sides
of your brain have to work like in perfect harmony
with you. You're so intense on both sides of your brain.
The the statistician status that word, and then the the
(35:58):
the creative over here, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna put
you on the spot, and I don't know that you'll
do it, but I'm going to ask you to perform
that not solo. What's it called, the the monologue?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Yes, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
But you don't have to if you can remember it.
If not, that's all right. But but you know, I
think you're so it's it's incredible. It's not. It's very
rare to see both sides work so strongly and well together.
And I'm talking of the brain, So talk a little
(36:38):
bit about some of the short films, and I don't.
I don't have any queued up. I should have, dang it.
I tried downloading some of the stuff you sent me
and it wouldn't download. And I'm like, all right, it's
just being a pain in the butt. But I'm looking
over here to see if I have any But talk
about some of the stuff that you've done. Is there
(37:00):
any place that people can see it? Glenn made a
comment here, hold on the fact that you look for
patterns in your life. Yes, it is really really it
really is really is really smart. So talk about some
of the stuff that you've done. If there's a place
that people can go find it and watch any of it.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yes. So it's very exciting because today is actually the
official lauge of my website. I planned it perfectly for
your podcast. So my website is live now for my
production company. And my production company is called Like the
(37:44):
Game Pictures because my name is and yes, so it
is www dot Likethegame Pictures dot com. So all of
my films that I have made with my production company
that I own the rights to are there for people
to stream. I think there's like seven films, so you
can check them out. They're all short films. There's some
(38:05):
incredible talent. I am so blessed to work with just
so many wonderful talented people. I for years, I've just
been like pinching myself getting like I can't believe that
these people would come and want to work with me.
And so the stories we've been able to tell are
really incredible, and I'm excited for everyone to see them,
(38:25):
and I'm so excited for what's next for like the
game pictures. But yes, my production company is like the
game pictures because my name is Alex Bowling. Bowling felled
like the.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
Game is that right? I have it scrolling across the
bottom like the game pictures dot Com.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
Yes, okay, pictures dot Com.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
So what are some of the my wife, Jill, you
put the wrong address, it's she put likethegame dot Com.
It's like the game pictures dot Com. So what are
some of the the challenges that you've faced? I mean you,
(39:16):
so you you get out of you finish school with
your master's degree, and you decide to go to Nashville. Yes,
and has it all just been like easypasy, like just
every door has opened? Never never had to really work
(39:40):
hard at it.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
A chance, not a chance. I mean, it has been
a scratch and claw the whole way, and I still
am working at it. But you know, when you're able
to look at it from thirty thousand feet, there's this
beautiful thing that happens where I feel like I have
been given the privilege to really be in an incubator
(40:07):
that allows me to understand what I really want and
learn so many things that are important for growth as
a human and in really pursuing my dreams. So it
was really hard for me when I first decided that,
you know, this is really what I want to do
with my life is be a storyteller, actor and filmmaker.
(40:32):
There was so much guilt and shame that I was
letting people down because I was supposed to be this
doctor or a lawyer or something else. And so not
only did I struggle with all of that guilt and shame,
but I had I had buried so many emotions inside
for so long, like I wouldn't even allow myself to cry.
So it was so hard for me as an actor
(40:54):
to be like, how do I cry? When I could
maybe count on one hand the number of times that
I cried in my life. So it became like, not
only am I gonna go after something that seems so foreign,
I have to be okay with it as a person,
and I have to be, you know, okay with all
(41:17):
of me and who I am. So it's been a
very difficult journey, and if I'm being just completely transparent
about the difficulties of it, I think a lot of
that that shame and guilt and the burdens of carrying,
you know, perfectionism and being an overachiever and not wanting
(41:40):
to let anyone down kind of resulted. And by the
time that I was deep into pursuing both acting and
filmmaking and my career because I've always been doing both,
I was so burnout that I was reaching a point
of my body and nervous system were starting to be
(42:05):
like you are not in balance with who you're meant
to be, and I was having horrible panic attacks. I
developed like health anxiety. I don't know if anyone is
familiar with it, but it's basically like an extreme form
of hypochondria, where you just constantly think that there's something
wrong with you, and the brain is so powerful and
(42:28):
from my experiences in psychology, Yes, that it can make
you believe things that are not necessarily true. So if
you are if you are looking for things that are
wrong in your body, you're going to find something because
it's going to make something up. So I was having
these horrible symptoms of just being dizzy, or i'd have
(42:48):
body pains and body aches that I thought there's something
wrong with me for sure, but there there never was
anything physically wrong. It was just that I was always
living and not in bad balance with I was meant
to be or who I was happy being. So I
have had to do, you know, so much work in
(43:09):
that just not not so much like work, not just
in chasing the dream if you will, or or pursue
I don't like Glenn says pursuit. Yeah, I don't like
pursuit the way.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
He's Glenn says, not pursue, he says, to have.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
To have yes. So in having this career, I had
not found the difficulties in facing that rejection, the difficulties
of feeling like I was letting everyone down for having
it and then not being true to myself. So it
was a crazy, hectic anxiety triangle that in in complete transparency,
(43:50):
I still deal with from time to time in those relapses.
But I just want everyone to be fully aware that
just when you when you discover your passion and you
start doing it, even though it fulfills you and it
makes you so incredibly grateful and alive, there's always the
good and the bad. There's always going to be the
(44:13):
side that's that's difficult to travel through.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
Wow. So question, and I you know, you don't have
to go too deep on this, but was was this all,
you know, the anxiety about letting people down? I'm assuming
mom and dad or you know whoever. Was that because
they they had high expectations that you were going to
(44:43):
do other things, or you thought they had high expectations
that you were going to do other things.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
I think a little bit of both. But it wasn't
just them, because I was so much of a you know,
education junkie said, like, I think everyone was like, oh,
you know, learning is really easy for you, so somebody
like you, and especially where I'm from, you know, you
(45:14):
people don't really venture outside of the mold too much.
So when I came along and everybody was like, oh,
you're definitely outside of the mold, right, they were like, oh,
so you should probably just be like a doctor or
a lawyer or something. So I just I think I
always had in my head that, oh, if you're good
at school, then that's probably what you should do. But
(45:41):
it's like I tried it, and while I could do it,
it was not very fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Right right, This is an incredible story, and I thank
you for your transparency too, because I think that you know,
some many people are and I talk about this all
the time, so does Glenn. But you know, we're walking
around telling ourselves these doctor Joe Despenza talks about it.
(46:10):
You know that we're constantly telling ourselves these stories. The
fifty sixty thousand thoughts a day that we're having are
you know, primarily the same thoughts we had the day before,
and half of them are a lie and all these things,
and it's like, you know, so we're all walking around
a little bit neurotic, I guess in a sense. But
(46:34):
I love the fact that you are, because I feel
like most people just bury those they stuff them down inside. Yeah,
well it's panic attacks. That's so funny. Are you drinking
diet coke? What is that?
Speaker 2 (46:55):
No, it's cold. I'm being classic cliche here. Pat Hella Brew.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Oh, my dear lord, So what is what? What? What
are some of the fun projects that you've done, whether
it was writing or producing or what are some of
the things that you've done that really kind of lit
that fire inside of you that when people go to
likethegame Pictures dot com and they look at your material,
(47:28):
what are some of the projects that you're most proud
of that brought you the mosoy?
Speaker 2 (47:34):
I love that. So actually, every one of my projects
does bring me joy in different ways. I, as you
have figured out by now, love to challenge myself. So
every project that I do, I use as something to
grow and learn something new. And it was pointed out
to me about six or seven years ago, when I
(47:55):
had been doing acting for a little while, that I
look at scripts kind of like a director, and I
was like, Okay, so I guess maybe I'll try that.
So the first film that I did with my production
company that you can find on the website is called
Les Gama, and that was really the film that started
it all. I have always kind of looked up to
(48:18):
Barbara streisand actually because she wears speaking of hats, a
lot of hats in the industry, director, writer, producer, actor, songwriter, singer,
you know you name it, she does what she wants.
I learned of Dolliparton and so when I did Less Gama,
it was a black and white silent film, noir, and
(48:39):
so I was the first time I had really worn
multiple hats in that way. I produced it, I wrote it,
I directed it, I acted in it, and it was
the most incredible itinerians and the film turned out amazing.
It was so well received, and I think after doing that,
I was like, I can do this all right, Let's know,
(49:02):
what are we going to do now? So I kind
of use that to launch into trying different short films.
So one of the next ones I wanted to do
was kind of a launch piece of my production company,
and that is tugging at the harpstrings. And so my
friend who had done Las Gama with me, we were
(49:23):
both just going through a hard time, I think COVID
had happened, and she was like, you know what, I
don't want to do anything but like act, act and
play my and I was like, what a weird thing
to say. And I was like, oh, okay, I think
I can make that a movie. So it's a kind
of a romantic dramedy about a woman who was playing
(49:47):
the harp at her younger sister's wedding and having to
kind of look at all of the different areas of
her life, especially love and different emotions. And that film
was fun to because I, you know, I got to
wear all of the hats again, directed, wrote, produce, acted
in it. But I also ended up writing a song
(50:09):
for it that got to be in it, so then
I got to add that one in. So those were
kind of the first building blocks of the production company.
And then once I had my feet under me, then
I was like, Okay, now let's really get down to business.
And I've been so blessed to meet just such incredible
talent that have really elevated my game. I met an
(50:32):
edible friend and a co writer of mine, Priscilla Wise,
a few years ago, and she's actually the one who
really introduced me to Glenn, because I met Glenn in
Nashville acting studio like seven years ago but had not
really followed up. And then Priscilla was in Glenn's class
and she's like, I think you should come check it out.
(50:54):
I think you'll like it, and I did, and of course, I,
you know, fell in Love and Dress History. But so
I started writing films with Priscilla, and at this point
we have written four together, so you'll see some of
those on the site, and that is the Hollywood Sunset Revolutions, Spirals,
(51:15):
and our newest one, which is not out yet but
you'll see it in the coming soon section, is Headed
for Home and it is a sci fi about women
in space. But I love writing and I love storytelling
because I get to take all of these conflicting thoughts
(51:35):
that I had of growing up, of either feeling out
of place or like I didn't belong or all this
guilt or you know, I'm not doing what I need
to be doing and how can I be you know, strong?
But I need to cry and doesn't that make me weak?
And so I had all these conflicting things that I
get to take and put into an incredibly layered character
(51:58):
and it is the most beautiful thing to see it
come to life.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
Spirals is really my love story to my journey with
that anxiety and discovery of it. It is one of
films on the website, and it's really about a woman.
Speaker 1 (52:15):
Who I watched. I watched the entire thing. By the way, Yeah,
that's so great. That's the woman that starts looking in
the mirror right.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
Yes, yes, she's a former professional dancer, and so she
has left dance and has a lot of trauma on
triggers around it, but now is forced to go back
into a dance studio after years of being away to
bring her daughter to her first dance lesson and what
she encounters when she reaches the dance studio are a
(52:52):
whole lot more than memories, and she starts her own spirals.
Because you can physically spiral to dance, you can mentally
spiral and an anxiety spiral. But you also there's some
theories that time is cyclical and spirals. So if you
were looking at time horizontally and you had past, present, future,
(53:12):
there's three different points. But if you were looking at
it from a different perspective, those points could coincide and intersect,
so you could actually have different points of past, present
and future coexisting. So we get to play with those
in this film. It's incredible. Catherine James is my leading actress.
(53:32):
She's a dear friend of mine. She's in so many
of the films that you'll see on the website. She's
phenomenal I expect so many great things from her, and
I just hope that everyone is able to connect to
the layers of the story and that the beautiful thing
about it is like we get to be multi dimensional,
(53:53):
you know, we get to be vulnerable and strong. You know,
showing emotion doesn't make you weak, means you have a
big heart, you have the capacity for so much more.
And I love that. And now our newest film, Headed
for Home, which I'm super excited about because I got
to work with the incredible Caro Rainer isn't yes in
(54:15):
Glenn's class and has been on your show. She has
talk about an inspirational woman, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
She.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
I can't wait for everyone to see this film, and
I'm hopeful that we will to get the funding to
make it a full feature because she is the kind
of character that you know, you really just dream about
working with, because not only is she portraying such a layered,
(54:49):
complex character, she is equally that way in real life.
She has the capacity to be caring, to be inspiring,
to be strong in ways that you never knew existed.
And I always say this about her, but like there
are certain actors that you feel like when you watch
(55:10):
them especially in a close up, that they can save
the world in a glance, and I feel like she
is one of those people. So I am super excited
for the stories that we still get to tell and
the many incredible people that I still have yet to
work with. It's like, ooh, I think I heard that
quote the other day. It's like you don't know who
(55:33):
yet you are still going to meet in your life,
or who you're going to work with. And I am introverted,
believe it or not, but I do.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
I think most actors, most creatives are yes, quite.
Speaker 2 (55:47):
Nicely, but I do enjoy meeting people and hearing their
stories and really getting to champion them and inspire them
to really, you know, follow their passion and do what
they love.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
So if you had to pick one thing, only one thing,
and I'm talking about the statistics job is on the table, writing, acting, producing, directing,
you had to pick one thing that you had to
do for the rest of your life and you can't
(56:23):
do anything else, what would it be.
Speaker 2 (56:27):
I only get to pick one.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
Yep, it has to be a monogamous relationship with that
one thing.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
Well it's a tough one. It is a tough one
to say. But if I only get to pick one.
It has to be acting.
Speaker 1 (56:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
Okay, directing is a very very close second.
Speaker 1 (56:53):
God, I thought you were going to say writing. Wow. Okay,
that's it interesting. So if you had a I have
a magic wand. Oh it's at my home office. I
actually have one, my fairy godfather. Yes, somebody sent it
(57:18):
to me, and I don't have it with me. I
wish I did. But pretend like this little knife is
a magic wand and I could wave this over you
right now and make all of your dreams come true instantly.
What would that look like for you? See?
Speaker 2 (57:42):
This is the fun part.
Speaker 1 (57:45):
That is the fun part.
Speaker 2 (57:47):
Because that's already happened.
Speaker 1 (57:52):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah, there's really only one thing that I would prefer
to have happened, and that's I would say, my day job,
if you will, of stats. I'd love to convert that
into more of doing statistics for my own production company.
Still being afford to live.
Speaker 1 (58:14):
Right, Yeah, it is a thing.
Speaker 2 (58:17):
Yes, But otherwise I'm getting to do what I love.
I'm making films, I have a website, I'm telling stories.
I'm working with people that I never dream about working.
I'm getting to learn from Glenn Moore Shower I'm bringing
(58:37):
stories to life of people that I watched as a
child and I studied them on TV and I was like,
I have to see everything that they've ever done. And
I look at it now and I didn't have words
for it then, but talk about like this is why
I'm so grateful when people say the light from earlier.
But it's like it's you just wake up, Quinn, smile
(59:00):
on your face. I'm already doing it.
Speaker 1 (59:03):
I love that, Absolutely love your answer. Wow, So hey,
are you are you? Are you up for doing a monologue?
That monologue I watch you do? Or can you do you?
Can you do it?
Speaker 2 (59:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (59:20):
I love this. I'm gonna give you full screen and
I want you guys to see what blew me away.
Literally blew me away when I first saw you do
this in Glenn's class, and you didn't know I was
going to ask you to do this. You do not
know that part of the let's let's do this, let's
(59:44):
do this. I'm going to leave your website scrolling so
everybody can see it. But here, here we go, the
one and only Alex.
Speaker 2 (59:54):
Curse on this show.
Speaker 1 (59:56):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (59:56):
I was like, there's a curse on this monologue, So
just trigger warning or whatever. People. All right, Hey, Dad, hm,
(01:00:20):
you son of a bitch. I never made one of
these when you were responding because I was so mad
at you for leaving me, and then when you went quiet,
(01:00:42):
seemed like I should just live with my decision, and
I have. But today is my birthday, and it's a
special one, m because you once told me that you
(01:01:10):
once told me that when you came back, we might
be the same age, and today I'm the age you
are when you left. So be a real good time
for you to come back and tell doctor brand I'm
(01:01:38):
sorry that her father passed away today. He had no
pain and was at peace. Did she know? Did she
know that her mother's things a sham yeh? That you
(01:02:02):
all let left us here to suffocate, to starve, you
never coming back, did you know? Dad? Dad?
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Oh? Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, Holy crap. I can't
and I just I can't. Wow. The intensity, Oh my god, Wow,
you're so talented, so talented. Wow. I hope somebody like
(01:03:19):
Spielberg or somebody huge is watching right now and got
to witness that.
Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Oh yeah, I didn't know I was going to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
That was unbelievable, Like I'm sire, and you don't even
have onions nearby, and you had tears and it was
it's amazing Tea. Oh my gosh, wow, so well done.
It's it was beautiful. Alex. You are incredible. And I
don't I don't hope for I know that all of
(01:03:53):
your dreams are going to come true. And I'm gonna
I'm gonna be able to say, you know, I knew
her back in the day, she was on my show
before she became a humongous, freaking a lister. Your look amazing, amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Well, if you haven't fallen in love with Alex by now,
then you're a communist. And oh no, you're amazing. Thank
you so much for being on today and sharing your heart,
your look. Oh my god, that's so funny. Glenn, that's
(01:04:51):
not Glenn's my agent. Like Glenn, I'll tell you offline.
He's so funny. Last night I said, dude, you have
full authority to negotiate that contract for me in this movie.
He goes, oh, okay, but anyway, so Alex, thank you
(01:05:18):
from the bottom of my heart. And if they're one
last thing, you have the stage for two more minutes,
and there's all eight billion people on the planet Earth
are listening right now watching you. What are you going
(01:05:40):
to say to all eight billion people at once to
impact every one of their lives in a positive way
and make this a better world?
Speaker 2 (01:05:57):
You know, it's such a good question, and it's something
that I wish that I had heard, maybe at a
young age. But it's that direction doesn't have to be large.
Energy can be small things that guide you, that fill you,
(01:06:22):
that tell you the ways that you're supposed to move,
or your passions and where you're supposed to go, or
even just how you connect with someone. It doesn't have
to be a lightning bolt or some grand gesture. Sometimes
it's something so small that you're like, that made me
smile and that made me feel right. Just watch for
(01:06:48):
the small things, the energies, because you recognize them in
other people. And there's a quote that I've been saying
a lot lately that I feel like really really fits it,
and it's you don't meet the people you love, you
recognize them. And I was like, you can you can
(01:07:10):
recognize that energy and other people. You can also learn
to recognize that same loving energy in yourself. Love all
the parts of yourself, observe them follow the energy and
it doesn't have to be something big.
Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
That's beautiful, so beautiful. Thank you so much, you're amazing.
Stay with me. I'm going to end the live stream.
I'm going to wrap it up. It's going to feel
like I'm not coming back, but I promise I'm coming back.
Don't leave me. So I want to say thank you
to everyone who's watched, everyone that's watching the replay or
(01:07:51):
listening to it on the podcast networks globally. Go to
likethegame Pictures dot com, w ww dot like Thegame pictures
dot com. Check out everything Alex is doing. If you're
a big director and I'm going to claim something huge
(01:08:14):
for you in your life right now, somebody big needs
to call her, get email her and invite her to
come and be in a big, big movie because she
deserves it. So Alex, thank you, You're amazing everything. Even
my wife is on here saying great interview, So thank
(01:08:36):
you so much. I appreciate you. You're amazing. Everybody share
this out. If you did not share it out, you
can still redeem yourself and go ahead and share this.
We appreciate you, love you all. Have an amazing day
and we will see you all later. Thank you, Alex,
thank you, Bye bye,
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.