E448 Sharae Foxie and Zeke Goodman: With a Generous Spirit

E448 Sharae Foxie and Zeke Goodman star in the new Stephen Laughton play, One Jewish Boy, directed by Chris Fields (Echo Theatre, Los Angeles: Previews May 19 – 21st, Opens May 22nd, Closes April 28th). We chat acting, emotions, trauma, compassion and more! For more information and links, please visit: HeyHumanpodcast.com

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
Hey, humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here.
Thanks for listening to another episode
of Hey, Human podcast.
This is episode 448,
and my guests are Sheree Foxy
and Zeke Goodman. They are starring in Stephen
Lawton's new play, One Jewish Boy, directed
by Chris Fields. It's going to be at

(00:28):
Los Angeles'
Echo Theater,
from March 22 through April 28 with special
performances,
nineteen, twenty, and 21, that are in the
pay as you can program.
And
I talked with these two about
acting, obviously, because they are actors,
but about

(00:49):
theater in general, about performance,
about the differences between television and film and
theater,
about how one
becomes the character and what that does to
the psyche. We covered a whole lot of
stuff. I'm really excited to see this performance,
and
I wanted to make sure to get this
interview out before,

(01:10):
obviously, the show is run so that,
if you are in the area and you
would like to go see some great theater,
you will have the chance.
I'm really excited to see the show.
Check out heyhumanpodcast.com
for links and to learn more about my
guests and the show.
Hey Human is on YouTube under official Susan
Ruth. I'm on Patreon

(01:31):
at susan ruthism, TikTok and Instagram susan ruthism.
And you can check out susanruth.com
to learn more about me and my other
artistic endeavors. And you can find my albums
on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, wherever you
get your music.
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human Podcast
on Apple, iHeart, YouTube, Spotify, wherever you get

(01:52):
your podcasts. And thank you for listening. Be
well,
be kind, and here we
go. Zeke Goodman, Sheree, Foxy, welcome to Hey
Human.
Thank you so much. Yeah. It's really good
to see you both. We are
specifically talking about
one Jewish boy, which is the play that
you are both in. However,

(02:14):
every Hey Human, I like to start talking
about
where y'all are from and what shaped you
into who you are today. So let's start.
Shrey, you wanna jump in? So I grew
up in San Jose,
and,
oh, many things have shaped me.
But I'd say,
my family, I'm pretty close with my siblings.

(02:35):
We are all
creative in some some sort of way.
And
what brought me to LA, I think originally
it was dancing,
then
that that kinda went out the window.
And then I got into, like, you know,
wanting to make films, and then that went
out the window. And acting has kind of
just been the

(02:56):
the thing.
Making films as a as in the writer
director person or making Yeah. I I just
I was at, like, Pasadena City College and
started taking film classes over there, and then
I ended up on on stage. And that's
how this all
started. So
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And did you study acting
as a kid? Did you do that high

(03:16):
school drama thing that someone No. Not at
all. I,
no. I think when I was,
I I played sports. I played basketball.
I didn't really get to the theater until,
Pasadena City College, to be honest. And then
I
did some training in New York at the
William Esper Studio and then kind of finished

(03:37):
my Meisner training over here. But I kinda
just hopped around in different acting classes. So
And Zeke, what about you? I'm a fellow
Californian.
I'm Los Angeles born and bred. Right in
the middle of the city too, right at
the corner right near the corner of, like,
Santa Monica and La Brea. So, like, little
eastern corner of West Hollywood,
very Russian area. My folks

(03:59):
are both creative people,
very talented. My mom's a writer. She started
writing when she was pregnant with me.
And my dad
is a cameraman, and I kinda watched them
both. He's DP.
And I watched them kinda both build their
careers, and they're super sweet, grounded, hardworking people.
And I did do
the whole, like, youth theater
thing. Like, could not get enough of it.

(04:20):
If you asked what I wanted to be
when I was eight years old, it would
have been like a knight
or an actor. And I think, honestly, being
an actor is kind of just like a
way to be a knight. When it came
time for me to leave high school,
growing up here, I felt like it was
a very
narrow focused
community. Like growing up in Los Angeles, a
lot of creative people. And my parents were

(04:41):
very encouraging of me spreading my wings and
I think very discouraging
of me
following an acting path. Supportive but discouraging. I
think they want me to see what else
was out there. So I went to school
back on the East Coast to not study
acting, but I was doing comedy and improv
and theater the whole time I was out
there and writing plays. And then I tried

(05:02):
to do other stuff and got basically nowhere.
And so I moved to Chicago right after
graduating
with, like, a play play in my pocket.
And I joined an improv theater there called
IO. Oh, IO is great. Yep. And I
did their training program, and then I was
at a theater also called the Annoyance, which
is kinda like the more punky DIY
theater there.

(05:23):
Founded by a guy named Mick Napier. He's
kinda like a Chicago comedy legend.
And I had a show there and I
was doing the training program at IO and
I ended up getting on there, like, you
know, you end up joining the ensemble. So
I was basically like in the cadet program
to be on the ensemble, which it's great,
but I was very unhappy.
So I took an acting class again,

(05:43):
which I had been avoiding for a long
time, kind of push pull and judgment and
a bunch of other stuff had happened in
between.
And then, I ended up getting an agent
there and going out for a lot more
stuff. And I wanted to train seriously. So
I applied to some grad schools and got
into the MFA program at USC.
So I came back to LA, and I
never intended to come back here. And I
had a great experience there. And then the

(06:05):
pandemic hit, and I took a leave of
absence, and I booked a TV show. I
left school and I started working, and that's
been the past
four years. Yeah. And I did a show
at the Echo.
Right when I finished that TV show, I
was, like, kind of in the wilderness. And
a couple of friends mine from USC who
had finished were doing this play. And I
had heard about it and I love theater

(06:25):
and I really wanted to do it. So
that was the first time that I did
that was my first professional show and first
echo show. Echo has
a New York slash Chicago
vibe to it, I feel like. There's definitely
a muscularity
and like yeah. That kinda like red blooded,
like, no holds barred American theater thing. For
sure. For sure. Mhmm. Yeah. Which TV show

(06:46):
were you in? I was in an Amazon
show called I Know What You Did Last
Summer, which was like a reboot of the
old movie, but very different.
So I did that
on Amazon Prime.
Okay. I bet that was an interesting experience.
That that was a crazy experience, which I
don't know if we have time to go
into every facet of it
in this forum.

(07:07):
Another time, I will detail all of the
all of the twists and turns of that
because there is a there's a lot there.
Were you the killer? No. No spoilers.
Well, you're on scene the show, but I
was definitely playing a really troubled guy. I'll
put it
back. I imagine I look at somebody like
Evan Peters who is playing psychopaths over and
over and over again. Mhmm. And

(07:30):
if you are a good actor who is
embodying the person whom you are
becoming,
then I cannot imagine that the brain can
different differentiate
between, oh, I'm playing a part and I
am the part and I am this person.
Yeah. These get quite convoluted when you are
eating that kind of emotion.

(07:51):
Shireen and I were kinda talking about this
right at the beginning because the play deals
with definitely some emotionally
active and not all only positively emotionally active
material.
And I had a teacher in in school,
voice teacher,
Natsuko Ohama, who she's brilliant, brilliant voice teacher.

(08:12):
And she always used to say,
in grad school, like they make you refer
to the character in first person like you
whenever you're playing the character it's I they're
very like serious like I I I I
And different people have different opinions about that.
But like,
Natsuko would always tell us, character's not all
of you, a character's part of you.
And you're infinite and the character's finite. Because
the character only exists on the page or

(08:34):
on the stage when you're living through it.
Right? And so I think part of the
way when I was younger, I did not
really understand,
stamina or compartmentalization
at all,
but
I think a lot
of the game is accessing that part of
yourself and then taking care of it, and
then taking care of the rest of yourself

(08:55):
so that you can go there without it
being like
overly taxing or painful.
That's like the empathetic proposition of acting right?
Is that like you can relate to another
person's you can feel what another person is
feeling without having it be your whole life
of being you have to have an aesthetic
and ironic distance because otherwise it'll just you
have no perspective anymore you don't know what

(09:16):
you're doing sorry that was a very long
winded answer. No I mean it's a great
answer Sharay, how do you feel about it?
Where is your line of
of saving self in the face of having
to play intense people?
You know,
I love the way because, yeah, Zeke definitely
gave me that gem of
of just the

(09:37):
the separation of it. But I I
I don't think I do that.
Like, I try to take care of myself
in that way, but I think when
there's just a lot of overlap
in the kind of, like,
backstory in the work that I'm doing, it's
kinda hard to separate that sometimes.
And I sometimes I find myself fighting it,

(09:59):
and I'm just like, it's okay. I'll just
like her name's I'm playing, Alex, and I'm
just like, okay, Alex. You wanna come through?
We'll just
come through. So there's no set time that
I'm doing work. If something, like, comes to
me, it'll be in the shower or when
I'm cooking, then that's when she's, like, in
the room with me. So I think of
it as, like, a spirit. That's how I
approach these things. Or whether I wanna approach

(10:20):
it that way or not, it just kind
of I think someone was like, oh, the
character kind of possesses you. And I was
like, I don't like that, but I like
to just give them a little bit of
room to come through when they want to.
And then I'm like, okay. I'm clocking out.
I'm going to sleep now.
It's interesting to give, to give the character
that kind of autonomy too. It's it's that
that they've imagine that makes them that much

(10:43):
stronger and believable
when the time comes. I imagine I think,
like, there's gonna be some point where it
doesn't feel like that, but there's still a
lot that I'm
figuring out with with her.
And so I just I just kinda let
her hang out
with me, if that makes sense. It does
make sense. Yeah. Zeke?

(11:03):
I definitely feel that on the bleed over,
and
it's almost like what whatever the points of
contact are, like, you're talking about Sheree where
it's like, oh, there's overlap. Right? Immediately. I
think sometimes the way I look at it
is like,
maybe a spirit or whatever that thing is,
is like, oh, well, this is the thing
that holds
where the overlap is. This is kind of
like the embodiment of those things in me.

(11:25):
So it's like it's a person in and
of itself, but the way you enter through
is that stuff.
And so it's like always hanging around. I
think part of the thing
when I was younger
is that I didn't trust.
I had a harder time trusting that thing
to just hang around.
I'd be like, oh,
I need to serve it in some kind
of way. Like, your job is to kinda

(11:45):
just, like, be available for it to, like,
flow through you and to kinda trust it
and to know it's not trying to harm
you. Not to get too woo woo about
all this stuff. I guess I'm very woo
woo because I No. I'm rules. Like, I
I'll do rituals. So, like, I'm like, okay.
Like, my clocking out is like I literally
am like, we're going to sleep, Alex. And
I'm like,
I am me and you are like you

(12:06):
know, it's an interesting thing. And it's not
like that with every character, you know, you
but you were
talking specifically about, like, intense characters.
Luckily, she's not very
I don't think she's a very intense or
toxic person to me.
But so I'm okay with her hanging around.
But, yeah, there's some other times where I've
had to just really compartmentalize

(12:27):
and and,
yeah, up the self care about it. So
There are times when I watch actors and
I look in their eyes and I think,
oh, this is
the actor playing the person.
And there are other times
when I look in their eyes and I
say, oh,
they are the person. I remember it when

(12:48):
I was watching do you guys remember the
movie Ray, Jamie Foxx? Oh,
yeah. And I remember sitting in the theater
watching this movie, and at some point, I
forgot I was watching Jamie Foxx playing Mhmm.
Ray Charles.
I I truly forgot, and all and then
he did one little thing or something, and
it kinda braves. Like, oh, wait. Oh, yeah.

(13:09):
I completely
it had completely left my mind. Whereas actors
are like, I love Robert De Niro, who
doesn't love Robert De Niro, but he's these
days, he's always Robert De Niro playing Robert
De Niro playing a person. And that's kind
of a different
vibe altogether. People hired
Robert De Niro to be Robert De Niro.
But if you watch Robert De Niro in
Cape Fear,

(13:29):
he was
that character. Am I making any sense at
all? Yeah. That makes so much sense. Yeah.
Yeah. And it's it's like that thing of
you I would imagine you would almost have
to be possessed.
Not that that's a great word, but, you
know, that you almost have to be in
order for the eyes to show it. Mhmm.
You know what part of it is? I

(13:50):
was talking with a friend about that about
this last night. Like, everybody
has a different
way for them to feel prepared to
be present in the moment.
And, like, the thing that I've been finding
is
whatever I need to do to basically be
empty,

(14:10):
to use, like, almost a Buddhist term or,
like, available is another way to put it.
That's the key.
Because I think part of it like sometimes
it's actually very pleasurable to watch someone where
you see that they have an awareness that
they're performing. There are certain kinds of work
that's really necessary to have that ironic distance.
But in terms of being, like, I feel

(14:31):
the difference you're talking about is someone who's
really there. Like, they're just actually there in
the moment.
That thing about availability and emptiness and, like,
everyone, every actor has chatter.
Right? There's always chatter.
But, like, it's more about,
for me, at least lately, I've been finding
not
preferencing that over what I'm actually doing in

(14:52):
the moment. It's like that's there and then
this is, like, here and they're kind of
equal. Like, there's no
they're just all stuff
that you're encountering, that you're dealing with. You're
responding. You've both done work
that is play and
film,
television, all of that. When you're acting in
in a play, it's gotta be that much

(15:14):
more of a high wire act,
especially the playwright's words. It's like Aaron Sorkin.
His words were are impeccable. Right? And what
is that like? Is it just an incredible
rush every single time,
or do you eventually
fit into the feeling of it all?
So, you know, obviously, there's no there's no

(15:36):
stops or pauses.
So
the the world,
for me at
least, has to be
very,
very lived in and imagined because
you're not on, you know, on a complete
full set. And so it's for me, it's
a really interesting

(15:56):
way of
being in that world
and being like really locked in because there
are no pauses or stops or redos. So
there, yeah, it's
it is it feels like a rush. Whenever
we've
done, just in rehearsals, like going from beginning
to the end of the play, it feels
so fast.
Like, at least for me, when we've done

(16:18):
it, it feels very fast. Like, when we're
done, I'm like, that that's it. And I
know we're there for at least an hour
and a half, but it feels very, very
fast
and long at the same time. I always
yeah. It's so weird. I'm sure you've
heard actors say before, like, good writing is
easier.
Right? Like, it's much easier. And I think
that the way I kinda like to think

(16:38):
about it is that good writing is there
for you
to do the job.
Like, it's harder to do
when thoughts and feelings don't connect and they're
not grounded to the circumstances in the scenario.
Right? Like, that's a struggle. But in terms
of servicing the playwright, like, the servicing actually
comes from allowing the work, the words to
do their job.

(17:00):
And that
it's like making it easier, which allows you
to make things easier and allows you to
do it better. I feel like it's really
easy to get caught up in
you know, a kind of reverence or duty
to the playwright and, like, definitely that respect
and you gotta be generous. But I kinda
yeah. I kinda like to think of more
of it as an act of generosity, which
is like the playwright's done something

(17:20):
has literally given me the means to express
myself.
And so then the way that I match
that
generosity is
to just kind of give over and kind
of trust the words. And that's the process
to me. The process is like, how can
I trust the words
what's on the page more and more and
more? You know, like, people revere Shakespeare, but

(17:43):
Shakespeare was there for people to go have
a good time and put on a good
show
four hundred years ago or whatever. You know?
It wasn't there to, like, be
important.
You know?
And most work that's, like, meant to be
important is really boring and bad.
No one enjoys it very much.
They say they do.

(18:04):
Well, and the playwright
has to trust the actors so much in
that, not just that they're going to deliver
what's written on the page,
but that they're gonna deliver what isn't written
on the page that can't be facilitated
by stage prop and lighting and all the
all the bells and whistles that go into
television and film
that are
non existent when you've got I've seen some

(18:27):
theater where
there's this, you know, a stick in it
in a Yeah. You know, with a tree
drawn on it. And it's been phenomenal because
the magic of
what is being said and done Yeah. Creates
this whole universe
into it it breathes
it into existence
where you believe it's in there. You believe
it's there. As an improv person, you understand

(18:50):
that. You have to create things out of
nothing
in a believable way.
This is why I think I enjoy theater
so much. This is fun to see what
happens in the space
as much as to hear the the words
flowing by, you know. Well, it's every what
what you're pointing out too, I think is,
like, it's everybody. So it's, like, we're doing
the playwriting a favor. The playwright's doing us

(19:11):
a favor, and the audience is doing us
a favor, and we're doing the audience a
favor. And if Mhmm. Like, everybody is in
a generous spirit, then things really tend to
click. Yeah. That's a great that's a communion
of it. Tell me how you both felt
reading
the play for the first time and and
going through the
audition process and and how one might embody

(19:32):
a character
in an audition
versus once you've lived with it, obviously, you
get to know the character more and more
and become it. But in that first for
people listening who maybe think, oh, maybe I
could do that sort of thing. What is
some advice for that?
When I first read the script,
I wept like a baby because I just

(19:54):
it there was just so much
love. I'm such a lover girl.
There was just so much love in it,
and I really loved
the how how natural the dialogue was. Like,
it just felt like there's a lot of
there there's like
it's a bit of voyeurism to this. Like,
it just felt like I was like watching
a couple.

(20:14):
I mean,
going through a span of of many, many
years, but, I loved the time jumping of
it,
and just the different iterations of themselves, the
good, the bad, and the ugly. And so
I think I just fell in love with
both of them immediately.
Advice
for anyone.
I don't even

(20:35):
I don't even know if I'm qualified to
give any advice.
I just I I think I just
it was the first time in a really
long time that I read something
that
was felt, like, in in my heart and
spirit. And I was like, I I I
really wanna do this.
Like, you know, this is before it was

(20:55):
even a
a a a thought to for them to
do a full production of it. This was
in October when we did, like, an internal
reading
of the of the play. And at the
time, I had a different I had a
different Jesse.
I had a whole different husband. But it
was just to read it in front of
people to read it out loud. But I
remember working on it and getting the accent
down enough because I was like, I wanna

(21:16):
plant a seed, and I want Chris to
see that there's something here. And I remember
we did the reading, and his like, I
could see the cogs turning. And he was
like, do we have something? And I was
like, yes.
We do. So my advice is to just
be a con artist and tell them they
have to do to do the play. But
I don't know. There's I don't really have
any

(21:37):
advice other than, like, I I I read
it.
It it was really felt. It resonated in
some ways, and I I felt like it
was it was like a dream role. I
was like, it'd be such a dream to
do something like this.
So I'm here now, but that's all I've
got. I I
I don't know. I think I just believed
in it and them, and I really care

(21:58):
about
the love of it. I really care about
Jesse, and I really care about Alex, and
I really care about the both of them.
I I just wanna say one thing about
Shreya that I think is part of what
makes your work,
so good and maybe helps you get a
role like this, which is that, like, you
really don't front,
like, at all.
And I think that
a lot of actors,

(22:21):
there's, like, a kind of trap, which is
I'm talking about auditioning too, which is that,
like, we think we have to, like, achieve
a certain kind of thing in order to
get the role. And sometimes that's true, but,
like, we didn't really audition for the play
because we did this public like, I I
know they did an internal reading, and then
Chris asked me to do the public reading.
That's the director. Yes. Chris Fields. And he

(22:43):
was like, you would be perfect for this
role.
And I've auditioned for I did a play
at the Echo and I auditioned for other
stuff there. I felt everything you said, Sheree,
about how you feel about the play and
in response to it, I'll say that's just
a ditto for me. Right? Like, it's super
meaningful and,
dream kind of part and all all that.

(23:05):
Let's take that for granted. And the writing
is really good. Steven's brilliant. In terms of
how you approach work, though, like, I think
the main thing that I've thought of is
your audition is always gonna be a first
impression.
But that first impression is about who you
are and what you see in relation to
the part that's being offered. And so the
best thing that you can do is do

(23:25):
your best to
come in,
not just with humility, but with, like, a
kind of
acceptance that all you can do is
share
where the work has touched you or where
you're touching the work. And I feel like
the only reason that anybody's able to recognize
you or think of you for something else.
Like, that's happened to me a lot. Even

(23:45):
more than, like, booking something off an audition
is somebody sees something that I have done,
and then they ask to work with me.
And I feel like that is only happening
if
you're truly bringing yourself to the work because
that gives you the chance to actually connect
with other people and have them recognize you
and feel like in communion with you. Don't
try to get things right. Be yourself.

(24:08):
Have some faith,
and maybe good things will happen. And if
you can withstand
constant rejection
and
feeling like you put your genuine self out
there and it's not right, quote, unquote, for
the thing, if you can withstand that for
long enough without going crazy, then you'll be
fine.
Well, it also sounds like a healthy dose
of vulnerability

(24:29):
that Yeah.
Laying oneself open is a big part of
it.
Yeah. And also not taking it personally if
that's like, that's learning that and
that there's nothing deficient.
That's that's my biggest advice is
make it as personal as possible, every audition,
everything that you're doing. That's the only way

(24:50):
it's worth it. Mhmm. Right?
I watched the promo reel and, in preparation
because, I have not seen the play, obviously,
yet.
Shocked into compassion
was such a
a fascinating way
to say it.
Tell me what you
meant by that.

(25:10):
I mean, obviously, there is a lot of
love in the play, but there are some
really serious and intense
moments and just
political things that are weaved into it. We
touch on trauma, current and past. So those
are really, like, serious heavy

(25:30):
things, and,
you know, we're really in that world. And
it
it it can be a shock to people's
systems, but I think, like, it can't just
be a love story. I mean, that's beautiful
and lovely and all, but finding the lesson,
the gem,
the
just opening that dialogue or discourse in the
in the chaos and in the mess, because

(25:51):
that's also life too. If we can just,
like, sit with that,
the uncomfortable parts, You know, maybe it'll get
us somewhere. And just in the way I
move in my life, like sometimes
it takes the uncomfortable
for me
to take action or to Like, if I'm
too comfortable,
there's just really
there's nothing at stake there.

(26:12):
So even just right now, people are there's
a lot of movement happening. There's a lot
of protests. There's a lot of things happening.
And whether they're showing it on the media
or not, I mean, TikTok and Instagram exist,
so it's out there. This is such an
insane, potent time, but I don't think any
of this would have happened in this way
if our systems weren't shocked.

(26:33):
And I think we've just been so comfortable.
Right now, as you as you mentioned, the
the idea that
we sometimes
need
art. We oftentimes need art to help us
feel or get out the stuff
that has been compacted.
It's Yeah. It's so important.

(26:55):
The trick, of course, is to have
it written in such a way that it
doesn't feel like you're being preached at. Yeah.
Right? Because that turns off everyone.
I mean, I think one of the things
that I really loved about the play in
general, you asked earlier about, like, first impressions
reading it was that
I felt like,
where I can promise anyone who comes to
see the play is that there's no it's

(27:15):
not didactic. It's not pedantic. It's not like
it's not
the only lesson I think that the play
really is trying to impart is that, you
know, it's that thing. It's like the opposite
of love isn't hate. It's fear. Right? Mhmm.
Like,
that fear is something that isolates us
and makes us treat the world as a,

(27:37):
dangerous and fearful place. And
love is the prospect of losing yourself
into other people and being part of something
greater than yourself. It plays more about how
we cling to our fear to protect us
when in fact all it does is keep
us separated from each other. Yeah.
And and and that to me is like,

(27:58):
that's that's just human stuff. It doesn't really
matter. There's no there's no real
except I guess, anti fascist
or anti racist, which the play is. There's
not really a political agenda to that. You
can kind of believe whatever you want about
how higher taxes should be if that's your
ethos. And I found that really refreshing. I

(28:19):
mean, I think the place really has a
lot to say about what it feels like
to be a Jewish person in contemporary Western
society,
which is a lot about and maybe any
kind of person who has
a culture that is
involves some kind of narrative of trauma and
victimization.
Which is everyone. Which is everybody. Which is

(28:39):
everybody. Right? That's kinda cool. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So it is everybody.
And the aspect of love, which is also
running toward oneself, which I think is the
trickiest one of all.
Very hard.
I mean, I feel like Shuri, we've talked
about this.
I talked around it. Like,
there's this thing, like, if you can't you
can't love anybody in case in unless you

(29:00):
love yourself. Right? Like, kinda, like, trite little
thing. Right? But, also, I think a big
part of it is if you're constantly trying
to be a certain kind of person in
order to be lovable or loved,
You can't really
meet anybody in a humane
way
because you're putting so much judgment on what
it takes to be lovable that no one
can ever possibly

(29:21):
match that. But I think we do that
culturally a lot. Everybody has to be perfect
all the time. Everybody's opinions have to be
perfect.
Like,
what everybody says has to be perfect.
Yeah. We really are in a culture of
of
what people watching what everyone says and does
with such a
an intensity
Yeah. That it leaves little room for growth

(29:45):
or or self acceptance, self realization.
There was
a animated from the seventies. Meryl Streep is
voices the female
character.
Have you seen this? No. The mask Fascinating.
I'm trying to remember what it was called.
It's really quite beautiful and and tragic all
altogether.
My phone is off or I would Google
machine it. It's really quite something. And if

(30:08):
you Google
animated Meryl Streep seventies
relationship
love masks, you'll find it
for sure. But it's really something to watch.
And, basically, the two characters
are having this conversation about their relationship,
and they put on these
these masks
in you know, while they're talking.

(30:30):
And, and it's just this is us moving
through our lives.
Who do we
What is it called everybody rides the carousel?
Yeah. I think that is it. Yeah. Did
you just Google it? Yeah. I just Google
it. I couldn't help myself.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. I'm glad. I'm glad
because because I would have looked it up
AdWords and said it in the preamble. But,
it's really great

(30:51):
and heart wrenching as well. Amazing. But it
did what you were talking about makes me
makes me think of it.
So everybody watch it for sure. Well, you
know what's so heartbreaking?
It and this is what makes, like, a
good love story is that when you can't
do that with the person that you want
to be closest to in the world, when
you're kind of fronting with, like, the your
who you think is your soulmate because you're

(31:11):
worried that that part won't be accepted or
you don't even accept it in yourself.
Not at all. Like, that's what's hard. The
hardest thing is when two people really love
each other and they can't get past a
thing. Is trauma the the third character in
this story? I don't wanna give too many
spoilers. I want people to go see it.
Obviously, people who don't live around here aren't,
you know, going to be able to go

(31:31):
see it. But,
is that the third character?
It's very present. It might it's it's definite
I mean, I think it is that character.
Yeah.
Maybe that's his mom. Yeah. Mom is a
very present character.
She's very present.
Very present.
Oh my goodness. He's a good Jewish boy.
Are you the only two actors in the

(31:52):
in the Yeah. Yeah. It's 200.
Mhmm. I love it. I'm so excited to
see it. Yeah. It's fun. I think also,
like, Shreya and
I
are very,
in tune from, like, the jump. Like, I
think we were very lucky that we have
pretty immediately had a pretty good unspoken

(32:13):
language.
Like, I barely knew her. And I remember
walking into the into the first reading rehearsal
and seeing you, and I was like, oh,
okay.
Like, you know what I mean? Like, I
was like, yeah. Okay. That's her. Like, don't
don't need to worry about that. Don't think
I even asked her any questions. I was
like, kick my
Yeah. You didn't say anything. I didn't say
either. But, like, that wasn't I wasn't afterwards,

(32:35):
after we did the reading, I was like,
I'm so sorry. I wasn't trying to be
rude. It's just, like, there was something so
special when you meet someone and you can
tell energetically
that you're kind of on the same page
or wavelength.
We didn't I don't think we really had
to earn each other's trust very much. Right?
No. I I don't think we've ever actually
talked about this in detail.
I know you kinda mentioned when we were

(32:56):
going to the bowl we had a bowl
a thon for the theater recently,
and we had carpooled with Steven.
And you mentioned that, like, you felt like
you
met us in a past life Yes. Is
what you said then.
I felt
there's just something that's, like, almost a little,
like, telepathic
sometimes for, like I just feel like we

(33:16):
have each other's backs. Yeah. And it's kind
of been like that from the beginning.
And
yes, I just I feel very, very, very
grateful.
I'm I'm so grateful that they decided to
do this play one, but that they didn't
hold these auditions. I'm just like, no.
You know what? I think you know what,
Trey? Like, I think that when we went
to that reading

(33:37):
for our first rehearsal, it's so rare that
things happen like this. We went to that
first rehearsal, the first read through that we
ever did to the play around the table
with Steven was, like, banging. Like, it was,
like, firing on all cylinders. The the feelings
were all there. There was not like a
missed beat. It all felt really good. And
then we did this public reading
that was a really it was one of

(33:57):
the most special theater experiences in my life,
acting experiences in my life, like, period. Like,
it just felt right and
good. We felt like we're the right people.
Chris knew that we were the right people.
Steven
wrote us very lovely notes and I feel
like we've connected personally with him. And I
remember after
we did the reading,

(34:18):
it was it was just
I I have a thing about,
being braggadocious, so I don't I'm not gonna
talk about how it went, but let's just
say like it went really well. I remember
afterwards,
I I also said to Chris, like, why
are we not doing this play, like, immediately?
Oh, you said that to him? Yes. I
said that to him too. And I remember

(34:39):
for, like, a week and a half after,
I was like, I should really touch Shrey
and tell her how special that experience was.
Like, I should really do that. I should
really do that. And I let it live
for a couple days, and and it was,
like, a Wednesday night. And my girlfriend was
like, that Shreae really is amazing.
You have you texted her? You should really
be texting her and telling her how amazing
she is. Like, you should find out what

(34:59):
she's up to. And I was like, yeah.
But there was a part of me that
didn't wanna open that thing because I was
like, I had to, like, shut down the
experience because it was so special. And I
was like, okay. If we never get to
do it again, then I don't wanna be
so sad that we didn't because that was
that. And that's great. And I was literally
it was like a Thursday, and I I
was literally like,
man, you know what? I'm just gonna text

(35:20):
Trey. I'm gonna I'm gonna text Chris and
just say how special that was. And literally,
like, maybe I was, like, in an appointment,
and I was, like, I'm gonna do it
right after and I I'm going to the
appointment and Chris Fields calls me and it's,
like, we're doing a full run of the
play, like, last minute. It's so special when
things work out like that and it's so
rare.
So I guess all that's to say, I
know I feel very

(35:41):
grateful to be doing this
this particular play with you
at this space at, like, this moment.
It makes me very motivated
to get people to come see it.
Trey, did you feel like it was,
that sort of I've known you before?
Yeah. I mean,

(36:02):
I don't think I thought about it in
that way,
but there are people in my life, people
that I've loved and cared for very deeply
in my life that just, you know, wear
blips or whatever, but still very important.
And I haven't told you this, Zeke, but
there are just things that, like, you'll wear
shirts that like, you have this caterpillar shirt.

(36:25):
This
and I was like, is that the hungry
caterpillar shirt? And he has he just has
things that are very similar to people who
are very special
to me in in my life. And so
it's just so interesting where I'm looking at
this person and I'm like
and just even Steven,
I've actually met him. I'm realizing that we've
met I was walking a friend's dog months

(36:45):
and months and months ago,
and I've met Steven before, like, before the
play even got to me. So
the lines have definitely crossed. It just kind
of it's it's trippy and weird, but it
all it all makes sense too.
If it can be, like, I think the
way I really look at it, and I
don't mean this in a sanctimonious way where

(37:06):
it's like, if it can be a space
where the audience is experiencing the same kind
of catharsis, for lack of a better term,
that I think we're kind of touching, that
would I think that there's a possibility for
that to, like, take place.
I wanna let everybody know. So in LA,
the Echo Theater, it it runs March 22

(37:28):
through April 28, but there's a special
pay what you can,
03/19/2021.
So that's really cool that those options exist
as well because
theater you say theater to people and, like,
oh, I can't afford that. I can't afford
that. And it's such a magical
experience

(37:48):
that I'm glad to see that Echo does
do that. And I don't know if that
was Steven's idea or if that's just something
Echo does, but it's so wonderful.
You know, there's a lot of great theater
here in LA that I think that it's
not always known as a theater town. I
don't think that that reputation is actually
deserved.
I see such good work frequently.

(38:09):
Pay what you can.
Pay what you must.
Just go.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Tell
everyone
how to find you
individually. Where what are your social medias? What's
the best way to if they wanna track
your success? I just have Instagram.
I'm kinda barely on the thing, but I
will I will pop in.

(38:30):
But, yeah, it's just my first and last
name,
Sheree Foxy.
Mhmm. Instagram.
Track your success is a super positive way
to to
to propose what someone would do on my
Instagram.
Oh, dear.
No. No. No.
No. I know what you did last summer.

(38:50):
That that's right.
No. Mine is very professional. It's just e
z dot goodman.
Oh,
e z as in the letters? Yes. Like,
Ezekiel is my full name, and I used
to have that, and z Goodman was taken,
so I did e z dot Goodman. I
post everything
I do there, and I've been posting about
the play, like,

(39:10):
for me crazy, which is, like, two posts.
So When they're leaving,
how you want the audience to take this
in? For you is what would be a
success other than that was great,
but feeling emotionally
what they talk about on the car ride
home? I think something that just, like, kinda
came up. It was so interesting because me
and Chris, the director,

(39:31):
thought of this it was, like, during a
ten minute break from rehearsal, and we thought
of this quote,
at the same time. It was just something
that, like, embodies
the the feeling, the overall feeling, maybe.
But I think of the the quote by
Ram Dass, the I don't know if this
is it. So this might not be word
for word, but we're all just walking each
other home.

(39:51):
That's why.
That's I so that I'll leave I'll leave
that there.
Alright. I'll just walk me each other home.
Big big shouts to Chris Fields also for,
like, really
directing this play towards its most humane
form. You know, right after the reading,
you know, I'm playing a a young Jewish
father. My dad, who's a Jewish man, came

(40:12):
up to me after.
In real life? Real life. My real father
Mhmm. Came up to me after the reading
and said,
I don't remember the exact words they said,
but he basically said, like, oh, that's been
me.
If I if if anybody
feels
at all seen
by the play and moved towards maybe a

(40:33):
little bit
of,
self love
afterwards,
that would be a great takeaway.
Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you both so much. Especially short
notice. Shout out to Lucy for arranging this.
Huge shout out to Lucy Paula. Thank you.
Yeah. That was lovely of her to help
facilitate this on such a short notice.

(40:55):
I really appreciate you too, and I'm so
excited to see the
the play. And I will be there on
the Monday. I think it's the twenty
fourth. That's what I'm guessing is the twenty
fourth. That would be the Monday after we
open you. Yeah. So I'm really excited. Thank
you for listening, everybody. Go see theater. It's
so important,

(41:17):
and thank y'all. Thank you so much. Take
care.
Thank
you.
Bye.
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human Podcast
on Apple, iHeart, YouTube, Spotify, wherever you get
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Thanks. Bye.