Interview with the Teacher – Miss French /Teacher's Pet - RE-VAMPED with Juliet Landau

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 3 (00:05):
Here are some exciting coming attractions.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
I have something exciting to share.
On September 7th and 8thSaturday and Sunday I will be at
Fanboy Expo in Orlando, florida, with so many Buffy and Angel
alum.
We will be signing autographs,doing photo ops, panels, and I
will also be recording a liveepisode of my just-launched

(00:31):
podcast, slaying it, with JulietLandau, and I will be on stage
with you, you on stage with mewell, if you're in Orlando and
we will be recording, and thenwe will broadcast worldwide.
So come, come, come to FanboyExpo.
It's going to be such a blast.
You can get tickets atfanboyexpocom.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Woo.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
And now on with the show.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Hello, hello, I'm Juliet Psst.
We're going to slay, want tocome, and we're back, we're back

(01:31):
.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yay, hip hip, hooray, hooray Finally.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh my gosh, I am so excited for everyone to hear.
Interview with the TeacherTeacher's Pet, part Two.
We sat down with Musetta Vander, who played Natalie French, the
teacher in Teacher's Pet, forher most in-depth Buffy
interview to date, and we alsogot to talk to her about some

(01:59):
highlights from her incrediblelife and impressive career.
So should we go without furtherado into the interview?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yes, I would like to yes.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Oh, I'd love to hear it.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
For the first time For the first time.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, we are so excited, Musetta, to get to talk
with you today.
Thank you so much for doingthis.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Oh my gosh thank you for having me.
It's wonderful to be here.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yay, All together.
We love your work and veryexcited, obviously, to talk
about all of it, butparticularly with a lens on
Buffy.
So where were you born and canyou talk about your early life
and the fact that you grew upwithout a TV?

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Well, I was born in Durban, south Africa.
Yeah, we didn't have television, so I grew up very much
connected to nature.
My mother was a ballet teacherand an opera singer, so from a
very early age I was on stage.
I was always doing theatricalshows, pantomimes and stuff like
that.
Growing up with TV was actuallywonderful because it really

(03:01):
allowed you to use yourimagination, because we had
nothing to look at.
You know, there was nothingthat I was like oh, I want to be
like this or like that.
I didn't.
There was nothing like that forme.
So and I didn't really read alot of books.
I love nature.
So we had a lot of property,well, like two acres of land in
the middle of like nowhere.
So we had two streams acrossthe property and we had monkeys,

(03:21):
a lot of monkeys, monkeys, andthere's a lot of legwands and
like a lot of all kinds ofanimals coming out of the bush.
It was a more of a newerdevelopment.
So I myself and my best friendwho lived on the mountain
opposite from our house, wewould call each other, like
yodeling across themountainsides, to come over and
play and then we'd go and do, wewould build forts and we would

(03:42):
go for adventures and and theballet studio was at the house,
so all my friends, of course,were the people in the class and
stuff like that.
And yeah, that's part of how Igrew up, you know, just really
very close to nature, and Istill love it to this day.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Do you still get back , because I did a movie in
Durban probably about 10 yearsago.
Is it very much the same?
Do you still get back, or is itreally different now?

Speaker 4 (04:05):
Oh wow, from when I grew up to what Durban looks
like today.
It's unrecognizable, I meanreally completely different.
I go back every year.
I'm actually heading to SouthAfrica now for my mom's birthday
.
So I travel a lot, andconsistently.
I believe that traveling isessential.
For me at least it's essential.

(04:26):
I can't imagine life withouttraveling, and because my family
lives so far away, I used totravel every two years to go
back for a couple of weeks.
Now I travel every year and Iam considering maybe moving back
I'm not sure yet at some point,just because you know, my mom's
older, all my brothers andsisters, my brother and sister,
are there and it's nice to kindof reconnect with family, you

(04:47):
know.
So I don't know, I I living inboth places simultaneously.
That would be ideal.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, yeah, if you could teleport right.

Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, but maybe by the time I do that I'll be
teleporting.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
And did you study dance?
Cause I was a professionalballerina prior to becoming an
actress.
I know you have first to gostudy because my dad was like
you have to study.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
You can't, just you know, go do this and that you
have to go get a degree.
So I went and I did that, but Ialways danced.
But I was taller and not petite, but I was more inclined to the
commercial side of dancing.
So I started going into all thecommercial world of dance.
You know a lot of the showslike television broadcasts or
commercials or for conventions,where there's car shows and

(05:50):
stuff.
I loved it.
So I traveled all over theworld and paid much more than
being a ballet dancer.
You don't have to starveyourself and you just travel to
all these amazing places and allwork is hard.
I love ballet.
It was the foundation ofeverything that I do, even to
this day.
I think it's a very goodgrounding that everybody should
have at some point.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, and also the work ethic.
Right Like it seems, becausewhen I was preparing for this, I
watched a lot of interviewswith you and just listening to
you talk, it seems like you havedefinitely that work ethic is a
big part of who you are.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
It's a very disciplined art form and you
have to be dedicated to it to beeven think of being remotely
competitive.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
When I first was on a set as an actress.
I remember because you justreminded me when you were saying
that some of the actors werecomplaining and I was thinking
to myself your feet aren'tbleeding, you're being paid well
, you're being fed Like.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
This is not hard work , you know exactly right, that
is exactly right, because Ithink that that was the biggest
realization for me.
When it came here, it was likewow, I'm used to working so much
harder than this, you know, sofor me it was like nothing.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
So did you always know that you wanted to be a
performer?
Was there ever a time where youthought, oh, maybe that's not
my thing, or did you just?
Was it like a duck to water?

Speaker 4 (07:07):
It was like a duck to water.
I didn't know I was going to bean actor.
I knew it was going to be anentertainment business, but
because I didn't have TV, I meanwe would go to the drive-ins,
right.
So we would go to the drive-inand, you know, I would always be
in the back of the car, like,and I would pop up at them when
I'm not supposed to pop up,because I was a kid and I wasn't
allowed to see this movie whichhad an age restriction on it.
It's in my tummy and I'd belike I really want to watch this

(07:31):
, you know.
And so, uh, I had a children'sbook, one of the very few books
I actually liked looking at, andone day I was just paging
through it and I was like oh,that's it all girls things girls
can do when they grow up.
And I was just oh, no, no, no,no.
And then I saw an actressstanding on a soundstage with
the microphone, the crew aroundher, and I go oh, that's what

(07:53):
I'm going to be.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
And it was just like that, and then you went about
and did it.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
You know, I didn't do it originally in South Africa
because we didn't at that timehave really a film industry.
I just knew, since I was veryyoung, I would not live in South
Africa.
I just knew it in my core.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Talk a little bit about how you came to the States
and started working in film andTV.
And then I also want to ask youafter that about because I know
you did a lot of music videos,but just first your transition,
sort of when you did make thatmove that you always knew was
going to happen.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
What prompted it and when was it and what was it like
?
Well, I think what led into itis I.
I started with the dancing assomebody saw me and said, oh,
you should come and, you know,be an extra on set for this
commercial.
And then somebody spotted methere and said, oh, you should
come to this movie.
And then I.
Then I got into the movie sideof dancing and then someone over
there said you should go seethis agent, this modeling agent.
So I went there and they sentme on the audition for a host of
an MTV-like show and I bookedit.

(08:52):
I didn't even know who the heckI was introducing half of the
time.
But I was at the MTV VJ, I waslike, ok, great, you know,
because I never saw it Becauseit was so different.
Television had just come intoSouth Africa.
I remember when, when itstarted and now I had my own
show and the way they did it, itwas so different to what they

(09:14):
do here.
Like you weren't allowed to doanything.
I wasn't allowed to endorse anyother projects.
I couldn't do modeling jobs, Icouldn't do any acting.
They paid me very little moneybut everybody's like, oh, it's a
great opportunity, you have todo this.
And so I committed to it and Ifocused on the dancing because
at this point I was just gettinginto the film business.
Somebody offered me a movie.
I did a movie but then with theshow, I wasn't allowed to have

(09:34):
any commercial endorsements fromanybody else.
I did the show and I would hostall these artists on there.
Sometimes I wouldn't even seethe videos and they put me in a
in an event place like anightclub and I would host from
there and there's no feedback ofthe actual music video.
I would introduce these artists.
I hadn't even seen most ofthese videos.
One day an American actor wasvisiting in South Africa.

(09:56):
At the time he was doing amovie down there, saw me on TV
and we bumped into each otherthe same night and that's how I
ended up in America.
I ended up marrying him andmoving to the States, which was
really fated to come here.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
It was meant to be it really was.

Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yeah, it really was.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
And so can you tell us about the music videos you
did with Rod Stewart, elton John, tina Turner, chris Isaac and
the Traveling Wilburys?
Can you tell us about that?

Speaker 4 (10:21):
Yes, it was like surreal to get here and then end
up in these music videos of thesame artists I used to
introduce, because I didn't knowwho Rod Stewart was, obviously,
and stuff like that.
The Traveling Wilburys not somuch, but I knew who Rod Stewart
was.
So when I came here I startedin what I knew, which was dance.
I thought myself a dance agentand that automatically led to
music video auditions.

(10:42):
And then I booked the Ron IsleyRod Stewart music video.
It was fantastic.
I mean, it was like surreal.
All of these with the ChrisIsaac.
I was sitting at one point hehad my foot up on his lap and he
was tattooing something on myankle for the music video and it
was like surreal.
I was like if I could send this, just take a picture and send

(11:11):
it to my friends back in SouthAfrica, they wouldn't even
believe this.
And then when I did thetraveling Wilburys, I just
naturally progressed from onemusic video to the other and I
think the reason that happenedfor me is because it was the
time of MTV VH1.
It was just the right timing.
I was a dancer, which maybe putme in a little bit more of an
advantageous position than mostother girls who couldn't.
So I just booked a lot back toback.
And then when I got Tina Turner, they were like, oh, you're

(11:33):
going to be shaving this reallyhot guy's head in a bathtub.
I'm like, oh, ok, his name'sJaiman Ansu.
I go, ok, all right, you know.
And looking back on it now andthen I remember the traveling
Wilburys.
We were shooting on WilshireBoulevard and one of those big
churches down there.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Oh yeah, I bet it was the Wilshire E-bill, because.
I did music videos and theyshot in that space.

Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yes, yes, yes yes, and you know, and shooting music
videos became like, okay, I'mgoing to shooting another music
video.
And so one day I'm calling myhusband and we're talking and he
said where are you?
I'm like, oh, I'm here at theRoyal Shitty Bell Theater and
I'm shooting this music videowith Traveling Wilburys.
And he goes Traveling Wilburys.
I'm like, yeah, he's a guy, tomPetty.

(12:19):
And you know, he said where areyou?
Wait, stay there, I'm coming.
It was an amazing experienceall around.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
They were also all of those music videos at that time
, and the ones that you were inparticularly are such.
They're just beautifully shot,they're really, you know, it's
real filmmaking.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
There were budgets, there was, you know it was a
very different time.
For music videos, it was theheyday.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
Yes, and so artistic and so well-pl planned, and the
wardrobing and the costuming.
I remember doing one.
It wasn't a music video, it wasfor Philips DCC, it was for the
launch of their new like kindof sound system.
The hairdressers were flown outfrom Italy to do my hair.
It was just amazing and thefootage is beautiful, just
gorgeous.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
So you have done a lot of genre, and what is it
that you love about genre?

Speaker 4 (13:08):
For me, you know, with the sci-fi genre and how I
ended up there.
It was interesting because whenyou asked me to do this
interview, I thought, well, letme look at Buffy again.
I haven't looked at that for along time and when I look at it
today, when I sat down and Iwatched it, I was looking at it
like who is that?
I don't even recognize myselfanymore because I don't even
sound the same to me at least Idon't sound the same.

(13:30):
It's so surreal to look back onthat.
It's almost like a dream.
You have all these differentfacets to your life.
I think I ended up in thesci-fi genre because when I
listened to that episode I couldhear my accent quite strongly
and I think that's how I endedup there, because they didn't
know what to make with mebecause I had that accent.
And you were exotic right,Exotic, yeah, yeah.

(13:50):
So of course I fit the sci-figenre perfectly.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
And that's, you get super force right.
Yes, as.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
I thought you first super force, Season two.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
You're coming on season two, right.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
Yeah, coming on season two.
Right, yeah, I believe I comein on season two.
I didn't even know how hard itwas to to get it like a series
recurring role.
I was like they phoned me tobook the job and I was like, oh
no, I have a trip to hawaii, Ican't work.
I called my husband I go.
You know I booked this job.
You know it's going to florida,orlando, it's a series, he's
like.
Did you say yes?
I thought, well, we're going toHawaii, he goes, cancel, call
them back, tell her you want thejob I'm available now.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
I'm like I'm available.

Speaker 4 (14:33):
It was really funny, you know when I arrivedivety, so
how were you?

Speaker 2 (14:51):
cast as Natalie French.
What was that process like foryou?

Speaker 4 (14:55):
I went for an audition and I went just to sit
down and I read the part and Iremember the director being
lovely, very nice.
I had seen the movie, I'd seenthe movie, so I was a big fan of
Buffy already.
I thought it was a great movie.
I just loved that concept.
It was very empowering forwomen different animals and

(15:16):
creatures and vampire huntingand stuff.
And then when I got the job Iwas just super thrilled.
I was super excited.
I mean, I had no idea I wasgoing to get the job.
I just was super, super happy.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
What was the shooting process like?
It was very easy.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
It was a very smooth, easygoing.
I was very impressed by all theactors in it because I thought
they were very talented, so onpoint, with everything they did.
They were so comfortable, theywere so good in their abilities
as actors.
I was very impressed with that.
It was so well written.
You know, when the material iswell written, it's easy.
It's when you have bad materialto make that look good.

(15:54):
There should be awards formovies that are badly written,
that look good.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
I always find, just in terms of even dialogue, when
something's well written it justgoes in, and when something's
not well written, you can drillit and drill it, and the bumps
in it make it so much harder,even just on the level of
learning it, whereas I kind offeel like when something's if
you're working on Shakespeare,when you're working on a really
well-written script of any kindit kind of just goes For me, the

(16:26):
dialogue just kind of starts tolive in me without that
Herculean effort of trying tomake something that isn't
working work.

Speaker 4 (16:29):
You're absolutely right, and I don't think people
realize how hard that is,because I've seen actors who are
Academy Award winners domaterial that's really badly
written and they just don't comeoff the same.
So, yeah, it makes a very bigdifference.
The writing is very, veryimportant.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Well, it's also interesting because it was the
fourth episode of season one andit's already.
The show is in such a grooveand I didn't come in until
season two.
Such a strong episode and wewere talking about it the other
day and all of the relatablethemes and that using the
praying mantis and that wholemetaphor, really to have this

(17:06):
teacher that's praying on ayoung student and how powerful
and really profound that is aswell.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
When I read the script and I obviously before I
went in for the audition and Isaw the character, I just
immediately I loved it becauseit was predatory.
I think that's kind of part ofour nature too.
You know, we have this kind ofof as human beings.
We have a predatory side to us.
But bringing in this whole likeinsectoid element to it was
very different.
And it's very easy to play thevillain the whole time and

(17:33):
bringing in this, this kind ofpraying mantis feeling as the
character that was.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
I loved that idea and did you end up using a lot of
your dance background in termsof that physicality?
Did you access that part ofyourself in playing the role?
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 4 (17:50):
You know, I think it's also because since I was a
child, when I was growing up,with pantomimes, I mean, I was
poodles and I was a bear and Iwas all these different animals,
I was a lion.
And then, when it came to thepraying mantis, definitely just
very subtly, you bring that inand also having the ballet
training behind you just givesyou that kind of praying mantis
kind of body stature you know?

Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, and otherworldly element as well,
yeah, I actually really likepraying mantises.

Speaker 4 (18:16):
So you know, because I was always in the forest, I
like the praying mantises.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
I'd look at them and I'd hold my hand.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
I was like oh, Although when they get to be the
size that you're, you know thatwasn't.
That's a little frightening.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
Yes, definitely a little frightening Definitely a
little frightening.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
You wouldn't want to wake up with a giant praying
mantis, having you for dinner,because you know, when I was
playing a vampire, I didn'treally approach it from the
aspect of playing a vampire.
I approached it as trying tomake as well-rounded a character
as possible and as human aspossible and delve into those
elements.
Did you work with the idea thatit's human, not human, or what

(19:01):
was?

Speaker 4 (19:01):
your process, like you know.
For me, obviously, because Ithink emotions underlie
everything, whether it's ananimal or an insect or whatever,
there's an emotional componentto everything.
You cannot separate them unlessyou're playing, you know a rock
, you know anything, anythingthat has movement, okay, and it
has an emotional component to it.
And so, for me, I wanted her tobe feminine, I wanted her to be

(19:26):
alluring and I wanted her to bedeadly.
So, yeah, those were things.
I tried to keep her very subtle, you know, as much as I could,
so it wasn't like I was tryingso hard to do one thing or the
other.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Well, also, you don't want to tip it, you don't want
to see the end, what's coming,you't be like, oh well, she's
definitely going to be bad guy.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, exactly exactly right, yeah as opposed to your
performance as lash in theoblivion movies which I those.
I was the perfect age for thosemovies when they came out.
So oblivion, oblivion 2, iswhere I first saw you and you're
iconic in those movies oh,thank you that.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
That was one of my.
That was one of my favoritecharacters to play.
It was just so much freakingfun I was hoping to hear that.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
It looked like fun and you're surrounded by an
amazing cast.
You have George Takei, JulieNewmar, Carol Stryken.
It's just an amazing cast andit's like this fun space Western
.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
It was absolutely amazing.
I remember when I went to theaudition originally I had brown
hair and then when I got the joband I read the character and I
looked at Betty Page and Ithought she should be like Betty
Page and so I didn't really ask.
So I dyed my hair jet black,because he was already in
Romania, you know, and I got tothis and he goes your hair's jet
black, I go do you like it.
He loved it though.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Oh good, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it's so interesting when arole like speaks to you and so
like no, no, she has to looklike this.
Like it's very clear when thathappens and it almost feels like
it's irrefutable, there's noother.
Like no, she can't be blonde,she has to look like this, right
, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 4 (21:00):
You know, I just felt her.
I felt her she had to be thislike sassy, sexy, deadly, like
wicked character, and that wasjust screaming black, long hair
with bangs to me Now, you shotthem back to back, right?
Yeah, we did.
We shot for three months inRomania.
Was it cold?

(21:20):
Well, we shot for three months.
So when we went in, it wasright after the fall of
Ceausescu and it was warm.
It was like end of summer.
Okay, because we shot for solong, it ended up going into
winter and they were literallydays when we would shoot and we
were on the set.
And you know romania, in thosedays they have dogs everywhere.
You know that set was built,you know the whole set, that

(21:41):
whole the whole town, yeah thatwhole town was built for
Backlash and they've madeseveral movies there since.
Oh wow, yeah, many, many, manydifferent movies have shot there
, so it'll be like bitterly cold, okay.
And then you hear like, andliterally like a rat is trying
to chew through the wood to comeinside from out of the cold or

(22:03):
like a dog running into the shot.
It was really funny, like theyhad those saloon doors that
swing open like that and the dogwould just randomly run in.
So there were all kinds of veryunusual things that happened on
that production.
It was I should write a bookabout all the things that
happened on that, but I fell inlove with it.
I fell in love with theRomanian people.
It was a very interesting timeto be there, because they had,

(22:26):
at that point, nothing.
You couldn't get food.
It was very hard to get to.
You know, we stayed in a hotelcalled the Levada.
Our food was brought in for usand some nights there was just
nothing to eat.
You go, what do you want to eat?
I say, I don't know.
Chicken, no, no, chicken, no,no, beef, okay, vegetables,

(22:49):
potatoes.
I said, okay, potatoes.
That's why I look so good.
I couldn't eat anything.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Perfect place to go shoot.
What was it like working withJulie Newmar I actually she used
to take dance class, sosometimes we were in dance class
together.
There was a place calledStanley Holden back in the day.
Yes, oh my God, on Pico, onPico.
On Pico, yeah, and that's why,well, when you know Baryshnikov

(23:18):
was in town, he would be there.
Patrick Swayze would come toclass.
We were probably in classtogether, you and I.
Yeah, so julie was there, andhow did you find working with
her on this project?

Speaker 4 (23:30):
she was lovely, you know.
She was very, very professional, you know.
She looked amazing, of course,and she was so right for the
character, you know miss kitty,I mean she's cat woman and she
just loved it.
I mean, I think that you formsuch a bond with people,
especially on that film, becausewe spent such a long time
together, because we traveled toso many different locations and

(23:52):
because we went through so manydifferent things.
Like one of the actors found aplace where we could get some
kind of meal, food things, so wewould be looking.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Because you needed some sustenance besides potatoes
.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yeah, I mean there was food.
At one point a big soccer teamcame in from italy who came to
stay there, and they broughttheir own chefs and we were all
cozying up with them becausethey had pasta because they had
actual food yeah, I mean, I mean, look, you could get food, but
it was hard to get it.
yeah, it was the buildings thatall had bullet holes in them.
You know, people, some of thebuildings, because the buildings
, because it looked like theChamps-Élysées they were trying
to build, the Etchagesco triedto build and then it was just
abandoned.
When the whole revolutionhappened, some people would be

(24:33):
living up on the floor, highfloors with nothing, with fires,
because they were told to moveout of their homes, like within
like 24 hours, you know, as theycame and demolished all the
buildings that were there.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
It sounds like it was intense to be there right at
that particular time.

Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah, it was after the Etruscisco was overthrown,
but yeah, it was like a countrystarting to rebuild itself,
right.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Well, if you are going to write a book about the
making of Oblivion, so youalready know I'm going to buy a
copy of it because I would loveto hear about it.
How did you feel?
Like now that movie comes outand you're on the poster for
that movie, Was that like asurreal thing?
It's like I'm on a movie poster.

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Yeah, I had no idea that I was going to be on the
poster for this movie.
I didn't know.
I just, you know, I just wentin there to have a good time.
I love the character it wasright up my alley.
I was just standing in the parkhere in West Hollywood with the

(25:29):
whips cracking whips and Iremember people driving by going
.
What in the world.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
What's happening there?
What is going on?
Going back to Buffy a littlebit, when you talked about the
director of your episode, andthat was Bruce Seth Green, who I
also worked with Do youremember any specifics about
working with Bruce, about whatthe shoot particularly was like,
any fun stories, you know?
I?

Speaker 4 (25:51):
just remember him being very kind and very nice.
I remember him being veryspecific.
I remember it being a fun set,you know, because it was just
nice.
I remember the detail.
I remember them deciding tohave my nails be green with a
hint of green because of thepraying mantis.
I remember the eyeshadow had ahint of green in it.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
That would be Todd McIntosh, and he was very
detailed.
I loved working with Toddbecause he was very detailed
about everything and he reallyloved it, and so that
collaboration takes things tothat next level.
That's true.

Speaker 4 (26:28):
And Susanna who did the wardrobe, susanna Poisto.
You know I had known Susannabecause I did a movie with
Susanna before.
So I mean everything, just itwas just a seamlessly everything
was thought of every singledetail, which is what I liked
about it, you know it wasn'tlike oh you come in and well, I
think most shows who are verysuccessful pay attention to all
the details.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
And did you feel?
Because I know you know havingguests start on a lot of
different stuff and it's always,you know, you're the new kid
coming into somewhat, eventhough this was a new show, it's
still a well-oiled machine thatyou're kind of coming in on,
and some sets you have to doyour job no matter what, but

(27:05):
some sets it's an easier thingto come in as the new kid than
others.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Have you found that in your career?
Absolutely.
There are some shows where,especially if they've gone for
many seasons and you come in,it's very intimidating in the
sense of you know you come infor like one guest star and
they've been working togetherforever.
For them it's like nothing.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
They'll be like okay, ready, okay, we're rehearsing.
Okay, here we go, action.
You're going to go from here tohere.
You ready, okay.
And they'll be like, okay,ready, okay, we're rehearsing.
Okay, here we go, action.
You're gonna go from here tohere you ready.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
Okay, everybody get going, quiet action, go.
And I'm like, oh, my god, I'mjust heading in the direction
where they're going.
You know, and especially ifit's getting to the dialogue,
this kind of technical jargon orcomedy, when you do comedy,
getting the timing and thetiming I remember with fraser,
the timing, the comedy, thatit's like, oh, okay, I guess we

(27:46):
had me, yeah, that's where, youknow, in those situations where
it's sort of you're thrown intoit, for me it's like that's the
technique comes in, that's wherethere's other times you don't
need to access it or whatever.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
But it's like, okay, concentrate and do.
I need to take this moment anddo what I really, you know, find
what I need to find in thismoment, because this is the
moment absolutely right, andoften you don't have a lot of
time to rehearse either.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
You know, because they they've got so much
dialogue, the serious regulars,that when you come in you've got
the dialogue that flows in inbetween here.
You know there's no time torehearse with them, they're so
busy and the last thing I wantto do is still focus on this.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
So you just have like two, two chances that's it,
yeah, and a lot of times it'sfunny with, depending on the
nature of the show, the guestscan actually have a lot of the
exposition or like you're seeingthe mumbo jumbo, so you've got
a lot of stuff that services thewhole.
As the guest, you know, whetheryou're sometimes you're the
victim of the whatever the thingis that you're playing, you can

(28:41):
be carrying a lot of theemotion.
You can be carrying a lot ofthe emotion.
You can be carrying a lot ofthe dialogue.
It's like quicksilver that youhave to show up and you know, do
so much work that you can,because usually sometimes you're
hired a week in advance,sometimes less, you know, and so
it's all that stuff that peopledon't know that goes into it
before you even step on set.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
You are so right, because that's exactly how it is
.
I remember being on Star Trekand I was sitting in my makeup
room with everybody and you know, they come in, they hand out
the sides in the morning andthey say oh, by the way that
scene.
We changed all the dialogue.
It's now this and I'm shootinglike, oh my God, really, and I
have an accent.
I was trying to do it withoutmy accent and now I have all

(29:19):
this dialogue and I'm like, oh,oh, you can't say anything Right
.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
I always find it funny that thing, that because
somehow we managed to pull itout, but it's so stressful in
that kind of situation and it'sso also like I always think the
producers don't really.
They're like, oh, that workedreally well, and you're, but
you're like, well, it would haveworked even better.
Like think of all the levels Icould have gotten if I wasn't
given the dialogue at the lastminute and only thinking about

(29:47):
what do I say next?
Oh, exactly, yeah exactlyBecause your mind is so focused
on what these words are that youhave to say that you can't
really relax and just perform,because once you're having your
back pocket and you've got yourdialogue down, it's a breeze,
you go to set, you have fun,yeah, and you discover stuff,
yeah, and you rehearse it andyou play around, but when you
just you have one or two takesand they change your dialogue,

(30:08):
it's like oh wow all right, ohyeah, and don't you find it
crazy when they change it justenough where it's not totally
different, but enough to makeyour brain go like, as you're
approaching it, you're thinking,oh, it's just this little bit
tweak, different, thesedifferent, these parts of it
that make it actually almostharder than if it was completely

(30:29):
different?

Speaker 4 (30:30):
Yeah, you just could be able to roll the punches.
Yeah, no, I think it makes it alot easier if you don't have an
accent.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Yeah, or, but you know, often I've played so many
characters with dialects, soit's the same similar thing,
sure, and I always like to getto a place where I'm so
comfortable with the dialectthat I can speak with it, and
it's not just the dialogue, butstill it.
That's all more daunting ifyou're handed it right before
you're needing to shoot, andthen again that's where your

(30:57):
brain is, instead of in what allof the other things that should
be going on or could be goingon in the scene.

Speaker 4 (31:04):
Totally right.
You don't want to be in yourhead, you want to be in your gut
when you act.
And if you can't try toremember your lines, you know,
then you like, you can't, youcan't perform like you should
because you need to be in thebelly.
You're gonna have right, thatemotional freedom, you know.
Yep so.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
So what was it like eating?
I mean just, watch.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
I know, obviously I know what you're asking.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, you obviously didn't eat Like the cut is so
good that it looks like you are,but obviously you didn't eat
the bugs.
But that whole sequence it justwhat was that like that?

Speaker 4 (31:35):
actually was one of the scenes that I was like, wow,
I don't know, because they cameto me and they had these
crickets that they use forfishing in the box and I was
like listen, I'm a huge likeanimal person.
I don't want to hurt anything,I don't care if it's a cricket
or I don't know what it is, justjust they're like no, all you
have to do, you're not going tohurt, it's going to.
You're going to spread yourbread and you're going to
sprinkle the crickets on hereand then you're just going to

(31:55):
fold the bread and I'm like butthen the butter is going to be
on their wings, right, andthey'll get smushed, yeah, yeah.
And they're like well, they'regoing to be fish food either way
.
So it's like, well, all right.
So I put really light layer ofbutter and buttered my bread
really lightly, and you can seethem actually, when I was
watching this you can see themjumping off, but they cut before

(32:17):
I closed.
I didn't close all the way.
The editing on that wasbeautifully done.
Yes, because it looks like I docompress.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
It does it really does?

Speaker 4 (32:24):
Yes, because it looks like I do compress it.
Does it really does?
I would not do that.
So as I fold it over, it justwent, let's say, three-quarter
way over and from the angle thatthe camera was, it definitely
looked like.
I closed the thing and thenpicked it up and ate it and the
sound effects it put in therealso, you're like, you're a
trooper for that.
That's when I would say I have atrip to hawaii.

(32:45):
Well, you know, I think, Ithink originally, when I uh read
that I didn't think it wasgonna be like really live
crickets, right, I thought it'dbe like a little like fake.
You know, I know animatronicthings, not not.
Yeah, live crickets jumping inand out.
I was like, and also you gottaremember, now they're jumping.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
And then like jumping here, jumping here, they're
jumping, oh, no, no, no nobecause I, I did a film, uh,
about a year ago, and in itthere was a snake.
And then there was a thingwhere I sort of had to chop the
snake's head off and all thisstuff, and obviously we didn't
do that in the film, but I hadthe same thought, I okay.
And then when we went to set mysequences, they're like oh,

(33:20):
have you met your, your co-star,the snake?
I, I was like really, and I'vealways been, I'm squeamish about
certain things, so I had to,like my husband, of course,
being a photographer has thefirst moment that I have the
snake coiling on my arm and allof that where I'm looking like
and I actually made friends withthe snake and everything was

(33:43):
good and I ended up doing it,but and of course we didn't do
any of the violent stuff thatway, but it was it is that thing
where you think like, oh, thisis going to be, it is, I'm not
going to be working with thereal thing.
And then you're on set and whatdo you mean?
Yeah, no, you're working with asnake, you're working with the
crickets.
It was interesting for mebecause I had never touched a
snake.
I had never.
But and once I I actually Isaid, well, what's the snake's

(34:05):
name?
And they said, oh, actually,it's snake number one.
And I thought, well, that's notgoing to work.
I need to personalize this.
So, I named the snake Todd, andapparently Todd was a famous
snake, had been in snakes on aplane like all these movies.
So snake had worked a lot, butfor me he's managed by Gersh.

(34:31):
Yeah, but for me he's banned byGersh.
But I didn't mind, actuallyfelt so much smoother than I
anticipated and I didn't mindanything about it, except for a
few times when the coiling wouldget tight and when the little
tongue would start to come upnear my face.
That was the only time where Iwas like, ok, I got to get
through this take now, becauseit's kind of coming up in there
Any other time.
I was actually ended up beingtotally fine with it.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
Yeah, it's amazing how cold they are.
You know, yes, they're reallycold.
I mean, you always hear it,they're cold-blooded, but they
really are cold when you touchthem.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
And silky.

Speaker 4 (35:18):
I mean that was what was surprising to me, like that
silky texture and silky.
I mean that was what wassurprising to pictures from
different shows.
And then I have Buffy.
But then they come by and thenthey see it's Buffy, and they
see Miss French and they go ohmy gosh, you're Miss French,
You're Buffy, and it's like theycan't believe it.
They can't believe it, you know.
So it's really, it's reallynice.

(35:39):
It's always been a verypositive experience for me.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
I've never met anybody who didn't like the show
.
Can you talk about working withthe Coen brothers, and again,
you play a mythical character inthat film?
Can you chat a little bit aboutwhat that was like we?

Speaker 4 (35:55):
filmed in a town called Jackson Mississippi.
I remember the audition.
We went in as dancers it was adance audition, yeah, and I went
in on the audition and I justremember doing something unusual
because there was a seductionscene.
So they told us it was aseduction scene.
So I knew the twochoreographers, bill and Jackie
Landrum.
Oh, I knew them, my gosh.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yes, wow, yeah so.

Speaker 4 (36:20):
I'd worked with them before and several other jobs,
and I guess that's how I gotcalled in.
That's, I believe that's howthe whole thing happened with O
Brother.
And so I did the wholeseduction scene towards Bill,
you know, and I just went overand I sat on his lap, which got
everybody laughing because theydidn't know I knew him.
It was kind of a bold move to do.
You know, Jackie just laughed.

(36:40):
That's great, yeah.
And so then I got the job,which is great.
I was a huge fan of the Coenbrothers, so when this audition
and opportunity came in, Iwanted to be in a Coen brothers
movie you weren't in Hawaii'syour dream to be part of, like

(37:07):
films, like like the Coenbrothers or, you know, Spielberg
or whoever.
So when this opportunity came,I was like I want this, you know
, and.
But there were a lot of people,a lot of people, a lot of
dancers, I mean, and I guess itjust came down to who they
decided to pick and put togetheras what they wanted for their
different characters.
And then we all flew out toJackson Mississippi to go work

(37:30):
there and we rehearsed thatscene for like a week.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
Oh, wonderful yeah, every day how luxurious.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
Yeah, we worked on the timing.
Specifically, it had to beabsolutely perfect the lip
syncing, everything.
The first outfit they put me inwith, because it was all
antique, real antique dresses,because once we got into the
water, the water, because it wassilk, was so heavy.
I just took the dresses andjust the dress just like, oh my
gosh.
Yeah, and so I had to go andchange and get into a different

(37:58):
wardrobe.
But small things like look inthat movie I was a huge fan of
John Turturro already because Ithink he's a brilliant actor.
It was so interesting becausewhen you work with people who
are well-established and whoreally know the craft, just to
be around them and work withthem and watch how they work, he
would be just doing likenothing, talking, and the minute

(38:29):
they start yelling action andhe gets ready, he would look at
me like I was the only womanhe's ever seen in his entire
life and it was so magneticallycharged and powerful that it I
was like you, I was just likefelt like I was drawn to him,
like I was the only woman on theplanet you know, and I was like
wait a minute, I'm supposed tobe seducing him.
He's not supposed to beseducing me just because his
reaction is so intense.
The minute they yell cut, it'slike, you know, back to normal.
So I think the what I learned alot from that movie is plugging
in and and connecting in in sucha way, especially the way he

(38:53):
does, he just plugs into youwhere then nothing else exists.
You don't see anybody elseanymore.
You know, and I loved thatmovie.
I, I was very happy to be partof that and I, um, I remember
one day I was somewhere andsomebody said oh but your elbows
were dark.
You had dark elbows, like myelbows were dark and I'm
actually talking about, and Iguess, from when we were lying

(39:15):
on the rocks, because it wasman-made rock, the paint some of
the darkness from the oh, Inever noticed that I go like
that, oh, and I do like that.
They saw my elbows were dark.
Oh, oh, so it was the funniest.
What a strange thing to pick up.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
What a thing to notice out of that beautiful
sequence.
Well, I wasn't looking at theelbows.
I mean, it's such a, it's sobeautifully done.
Were you ever paired with yourother sirens prior, or did you
meet when you were flown outthere?
Okay, when you were rehearsing,how much of the rehearsal
period were you submerged inwater like?

(39:49):
Were you actually in water,coming in and out of water, or
was that saved for certainmoments?

Speaker 4 (39:54):
no, I, we rehearsed in the studio for a couple of
days, right, and then we wentout to the location where we
would rehearse my dress ripduring the rehearsal, I believe,
because we had to be able tofigure out how we're going to do
all the stuff we're doing,where the tree limb was going to
be for the dress to be thrownor the cloth or whatever we were
doing, and how we would walkthe path through, because it was

(40:16):
a real river.
It's a path that's clear.
That's what's happened, halfwhat's happened.
But once we started filming, itwas just.
It was just.
They were just genius, justgenius directors, you know, they
finish each other's sentences.
It's like two peas in the pod.
They look at it like one brainbut two people.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
Can you tell us about shooting Barry Sonnenfeld's
Wild Wild West with Will Smithand Kenneth Brownow?

Speaker 3 (40:40):
Now are you just typecast in sci-fi Westerns at
this point?

Speaker 4 (40:47):
typecast in sci-fi westerns.
At this point I didn't knowabout the original wow, wow west
.
I wanted to audition forselma's part but they said, no,
no, no, it's gonna be somebodyelse you can come in for these
parts.
So okay, so I went and Iauditioned for the movie and I
was very fortunate, I got it.
Barry is a real jokester,prankster, and so both berries,
it was a blast.
So once we got to set and I metwill and kevin and kenneth,

(41:07):
they were amazingly nice.
I mean so, so nice, sogentlemanly, so much fun.
We traveled to two differentplaces, went to santa fe, a lot
of it was shot at warnerbrothers and, uh, some of it was
shot just on a different partof the studio, and then the last
part was shot in Santa Fe wherewe do the thing on the train

(41:27):
and all that stuff.
But I had a magnificent timebecause I also ended up doing
the rehearsals prior to shooting.
Salma couldn't come in.
I did her part, I did my part.
We rehearsed for two weeks.
The casting director called meand said Musetta, salma can't
make it to the table readtomorrow.
Can you read her part at thetable read?
So I hang up the phone and I'mlike, oh my gosh, she's Spanish

(41:49):
and I'm going to have a Spanishaccent and I'm going to be more
of a.
Anyway, so I did, I studied thewhole night, I rehearsed the
lines, I did her lines, my lines, and I remember we had to sing
like the anthem from like backin the day and none of us

(42:12):
foreign girls, girls, knew whatthat even was.
But anyway, so get to the tablereading and it's this long table
and everybody's there thedirectors, the producers, camera
, all the cast and they put medown in the chair right opposite
Will Smith and Kevin Kline andKenneth Branagh, and there's the
directors and producers andthey're like you ready, and I
was like uh-huh, yeah, and so Idid the whole table read and it
was amazing and obviously thetable read went well yeah, the
table read went well and thenshe couldn't make it to the

(42:32):
rehearsal.
So I did two weeks of where Idid all her dialogue.
We rehearsed on the train, allthe scenes she did on the train,
blah, blah, blah.
Incredible.
It was an incredible experienceand I really got to know and
work with them like I neverwould have in my character,
because my character was asmaller part.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
So, musetta, you've done a lot of genre shows
Babylon 5, xena, Highlander,stargate, sgi.
Can you tell us a little bitabout working on those shows?

Speaker 4 (42:59):
So Star Trek was an amazing experience for me to do.
I originally was supposed toplay a different episode, but
anyway, and then I couldn't doit and then I did this episode,
which I love, beautiful episodeand apparently it was the most
skin that had been shown on StarTrek at that point, because I'd
seen where I was lying on thebed and my spine tingles and all

(43:22):
of that.
And I love working on Star Trek.
It was probably at that stageone of the most difficult shows.
I've done it to that point justbecause of the dialogue it was.
So you know it had a completelydifferent way of speaking.
We were speaking aboutintergalactic terminology which
you don't normally say there's alot of jargon.
There's a lot of jargon.
I think my very first scene Ishot was a scene where I beam

(43:46):
aboard the shuttlecraft.
So that was a fun scene whichis very light, and it set the
tone for me, which was great.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
Oh, that's wonderful that it was.
Sometimes that's a good luck ofscheduling right.

Speaker 4 (43:59):
Yeah, that was great.
So that really gave it a nicelight, vibrant, cheery feeling.
I really enjoyed it.
It was a beautifully done showand I'm very, very happy to have
been part of that.
Stargate that's also anotheramazing show.
I'd also obviously seen themovies, just like on Star Trek,
that was shot up in Canada inVancouver.
There were so many funnymoments on that because it was

(44:22):
Peter DeLuise was directing thefirst episode that I did.
Oh, wow, yeah, he lovedpranking people and playing
jokes Him and Teal'c, my loveinterest in the episode.
I would come through the portalthere was Stargate portal and
we would be rehearsing and thenPeter DeLuise- would say.

(44:45):
And now, with fire in your loins, you look at Teal'c and you say
and I was like this is veryserious I'm coming through this
portal, I'm all like, reallylike a you know, and then he
says, now I'm firing your voice.
It's hard to keep a straightface and, you know, I would do a
scene where I was dying,christopher Judge, as I was

(45:05):
referring to earlier, and Iwould be dead.
I'd be dead.
It do a scene where I was dying, christopher Judge, as I was
referring to earlier, and Iwould be dead.
I'd be dead.
It's a scene where my characterhas died and they're like okay,
we're going to shoot it now,Ready, I'm all dying there in my
corpse posture and they'refilming.
My eyes are closed andChristopher Judge, unbeknownst
to me, has a feather and he'saround my nose.
Oh no, I'm like what the heckis on my face?

(45:25):
I'm trying not to sneeze andthen, of course, having a whale
of a time.
You know it was really funny.
So it was a lot of fun.
It was so many good memoriesover there, oh Zena.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
You went to New.

Speaker 4 (45:39):
Zealand right, yes, that was at the height of you
know where the world was goingto come to an end.
I think it was the year 1999.
Oh, y2k that whole the.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
Y2K stuff yes.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
I was in South Africa .
We, you know I was.
Everybody was like what's goingto happen tomorrow?
Am I actually going to do Xena?
Will I make it?
But yeah, so I was dressed inthat period and I flew from
there out to New Zealand.
It was an amazing experience.
It was amazing because thething I love about acting

(46:13):
especially when you're doingguest stars on different shows
you get to travel to so manydifferent.
Yeah, you meet so many peoplethat you would never meet
normally, and New Zealandreminded me a lot of South
Africa was very much like SouthAfrica.
Same type of landscaping, sametype of feeling of people.
Um, they would have instead oflike a craft service I remember

(46:33):
that very clearly they wouldhave a tea time at four o'clock.
A truck would come with likesandwiches and tea.
So but, uh, on that show I, thevery first day I had all this
fight sequences.
You know, with Lucy Lawless,that I had to do and, being the
dancer, of course I reallywanted to do a nice roundhouse
kick because you know I could dothat.
I was flexible, this was thetime to show what I can do.

(46:55):
So it's her close up, it's overmy shoulder, it's her close up
and we start the scene, you know, and I do my roundhouse kick
and I pull my hamstring.
Oh, no wait, did you not warmup?
Yeah, I did.
I don't know what shoot, Idon't know.
I don't know how that happened,because I wasn't even really
trying, because I knew it wasn'tmy close-up.

(47:17):
I knew it was her close, right,I snapped that, I pulled that
hamstring.
Oh, I hadn't even startedshooting my stuff yet.
So I was like, oh my gosh, thisis a nightmare.
And so if you actually look atthe fight sequences and you look
close, like even this is thevery first time you see my
character and I'm stepping out,I can barely walk.
I had to end up going tosomebody to like hammer my leg

(47:40):
and massage it and chop thekarate chop, just try and get my
leg to moving and my, my leg isbent the whole time, even when
I jump off.
I'm like you know, yeah, butstill we got through it.
I mean, we did it, but not likethe way I wanted to do it.
But, you know, because I wantedto have my, my flexibility.
You know my round I was gettingmy grunge at days oh, oh,

(48:04):
that's so frustrating, yeah, butyou know, everything happens
for a reason?

Speaker 2 (48:07):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
And now I have amazing stories to tell from it.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
There's a few episodes of Buffy where we were
working on Disney Ranch and Iwas wearing a period costume and
they actually gave me a shoethat was a little bit too big
and the skirt got caught and myankle snapped and, of course,
being the dancer, I likefinished the whole take and they
were like how did you keepgoing?
We all heard that snap and Iwas like I didn't want to ruin
the take, you know.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
Is this the Boxer Rebellion or no?

Speaker 2 (48:34):
It ended up being the Boxer Rebellion.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
That's the Boxer.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
Yeah, it was before that we shot the Boxer Rebellion
and so, yeah, we had tore-block certain scenes where I
was supposed to be doing a powerwalk and all this stuff,
because I literally couldn't, Iwas hobbling so badly.
But it's funny because even insome of the scenes like I'm sure
you can pick out on Xena whereyou're like, oh, that's me
moving, Because there's a fewscenes where I'm just taking a

(48:58):
step or two but I'm kind of likeIgor in the way that I'm moving
and it's very different than Iwould have moved if I didn't
have a foot that was like fourtimes the size that it normally
is in blue, you know.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Yeah, you know, I think that'sexactly right.
That's a testament to the dancebackground, because what are
you going to do if you're onstage and you pull something?
You got to keep going.
You just have to keep going,and that's pretty much what I
did.
I just went through and keptgoing.
Yeah, it was like fire.
Somebody stabbed like a redpoking iron in the back of my
thigh.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
No, pulling your hamstring is not a fun thing to
do.

Speaker 4 (49:32):
That was not a fun thing, but you know, we all go
through it, we live through itand the body is an amazing thing
it repairs itself.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
It does indeed.
And have you ever felt, if itwasn't in high school, but any
other period in your life?
Have you ever felt like anoutsider?

Speaker 4 (49:49):
Yes, in the sense that I don't really think more
like the traditional way ofgrowing up, how I was supposed
to think, to fit into a box of acertain role.
I'm a very social person, soI'm not like I don't engage in
conversations.
I'm not very social person, soI'm not like I don't engage in
conversations, I'm not that kindof.
But as far as my thinking goesof our place in the universe and

(50:09):
what the universe is about andpurpose of life, I always
thought a little bit differentlythan most people.
You know that I always feltlike, well, there's not many
people I can talk to about thatkind of stuff.
Now it's becoming much moreopen, like healing and
meditation and all of thatinteriorization, all those kinds
of concepts which in thebeginning wasn't really readily

(50:30):
available.

Speaker 3 (50:31):
Which is interesting in today's time.
There's that feeling,especially when you're into a
very niche thing.
It's like I guess I'm the onlyperson, and now that you have so
much more access to otherpeople, not only is this not
that niche of a thing, but thereare whole communities around it
.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
Exactly, you know, 20 , 30 years ago, when you came up
with these things and you'd say, oh, I'm going to go meditate,
for example, and we were, likeyou know, wasn't really like
something, like why don't youjust come out and have fun?
I want to go really spend somequality time, you know.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Have you ever had a social situation where you felt
like you were trying when,whatever age it was trying to
fit in somewhere?
That, where it was, you eitherrealize that you didn't need to
or didn't want to, but have youever had that sort of feeling?

Speaker 4 (51:14):
Oh yes, oh for sure, you know, I think for sure, when
you feel like when you're in aplace where suddenly you're
trying to make a conversationbecause you want to be polite
and then you end up saying theabsolute wrong thing.
I've done that many times.
I'm trying to engage inconversation and I say something
and you put your foot right inthe middle of it and you're like

(51:35):
, oh, maybe I shouldn't havesaid.
It's like saying, hey, I'msorry, I'm going to Hawaii, I
can't do your show.
So, yeah, definitely.
I've had many times like that,you know, and I think that's
part of figuring it out.
It's part of figuring out lifeand how, how you navigate
through all the different things, because we are all different

(51:56):
in some ways, you know.
So you learn, okay, well, thatdoesn't work here and that works
there, and so you use what youcan.
I had an audition once for avery, very big director and I'd
already passed the acting partof it and I went in for the
personal interview.
It was with Spielberg and Iwent in for the in-person

(52:19):
interview and it was forMinority Report.
I remember when I did theaudition I thought, oh, I'm
never going to hear anythingfrom this and I'm only sharing
the story, to kind of bring uphow you feel you don't fit in or
you did something wrong and Idone the whole audition.
It was fine.
I got the callback.
Callback was at AmblinEntertainment and I didn't tell
anybody I didn't want to jinx it.

(52:39):
I didn't tell anybody.
I was too terrified, you know.
I believed I wouldn't want tojinx it.
I didn't tell anybody.
I was too terrified, you know,I believed I wouldn't want to
jinx it.
So I researched every singlething I could about every movie
he did all of so excited to getthere.
And I'm sitting there and ittook me forever to figure out.
What should I wear?
What you look?
I don't really know what I'mplaying because the script's
very secretive.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
I had to audition for the role of right I don't know
how to sort of give a hint ofwhat I look like.

Speaker 4 (53:02):
So I mean, I had to read as a male cop, and so now I
don't even really know what I'mplaying.
So I decided, okay, I'm goingto dress this way.
That took me forever, and thenfinally I'm sitting there, I'm
all ready, I'm prepared, I amoverly prepared for this.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Right yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:16):
Every actor's dream meeting.
And I get called up and thedoor opens and they spiel her
and he goes hi, misaela, it's sonice to meet you.
He goes, my daughters imitateyou all the time and I'm like
what Am I being punked?
Somebody's punking me.
Okay, so now I'm like I don'tknow who you are, I don't know
what's going on, but I feeluncomfortable, and I'm never

(53:36):
uncomfortable.
So I go into the room and he'ssitting there.
He's trying to have aconversation with me and around
the room for hidden cameras,like I don't think he's
Spielberg, because why would heknow who I am?
All right now.
I have never lost confidence,ever in my life.
But in that moment every singlebit of confidence has just left
my body and vanished into likespace and I'm like I don't even

(53:57):
know who I am.
I'm like a, a sail in the wind,going like this.
All right, and it turned outthat as the conversation
progressed, after he tried tohave conversations with me and I
just kind of answered in likeone sentence at a time, I was
like not sure, Painful, verypainful, polite, but very
controlled.
Not who I am, okay, and that hehas all these kids.

(54:20):
I never really researched hispersonal life.
He has all these kids and theywould play the music from A
Brother when art thou and it washis favorite music and their
kids would be in the poolpretending to wash the laundry
and squeeze out the laundry, andthat's what they did for fun.
But I didn't know any of that.
I just thought I'm being punked.
I just thought this was animposter, and it was.
You know when those shows, thepunk shows, were on, and you

(54:43):
know yeah, I was being set upfor punk.
So I became completely just likeI don't know who you are.
You look like him, but it couldbe somebody else.
I remember that meeting so wellbecause all I had to do is just
be myself, be in the interview.
But in that moment I became aspace cadet.
I couldn't speak normally, Ididn't trust anybody and I
didn't know what was going on.
I didn't get the job but, but Iremember in that moment I it

(55:08):
was just between me and oneother person and I remember
crying about that for six monthsevery day.
Because that's every actor'sdream is to be in a movie like
the Spielberg.
You know, to get there, to evenget that opportunity.
And then when you have ameeting, the personal interview,
you become an idiot.
That is hard.
That was my hardest lesson allthe years of being an actor to

(55:28):
come to terms with that.
Now I don't let anything throwme at all.
I don't care if an explosiongoes off next to me, I'll be
like okay, I'll be right there.
What did you say?

Speaker 2 (55:38):
First of all, thank you for sharing that and it.
You know, it sounds like thatone of those situations where,
also, instead of you being youas you are always, that you got
inside your head and you werethinking about yourself and
what's going on, instead ofreally just being present and
being able to be with the flow.
It's funny because Guillermodel Toro mentored my husband and

(56:01):
I on our film that was releasedlast year and he told us a
story and I thought it was agreat story.
And he told us a story and Ithought it was a great story
which is sort of like theopposite of what ended up
happening to you is he?
This fellow came in to pitch andI forget what project it is.
He told us, and I'll need tolook it up after you know and go
.
Oh, it was that project.
But apparently this youngdirector came in for to pitch

(56:23):
him about something that hewanted him to present or be
involved in, whatever, and hesaid he got so nervous that he
started just profusely sweating,to the point that it was like
the scene in broadcast newswhere he was like dripping and
it was the worst pitch he's everheard in his entire life.
Like it got and it started outbad and then it just got like

(56:45):
paramountly worse and worse andworse and he was just sweating
and sweating and Guillermo saidthat was the worst pitch I've
ever heard in my entire life.
So like, let we've gotten thatout of the way Now let's hear
what like your passion aboutthat.
And he totally actuallyunderstood that he was had this
moment.
It was the moment that thisyoung filmmaker was like, oh my

(57:06):
God, I'm blowing it and it'sGuillermo del Toro.
And he diffused the situationand he ended up like doing it.
And he said part of the reasonhe ended up doing it was not
only was once they relaxed, theyhad a great conversation, but
really more.
He was like he cared so muchthat he was sweating so badly,
he was so upset, he was soeverything.
I felt like this person wants tobe a filmmaker and cares and

(57:30):
has that kind of burning desire.
But it was funny because I waslike, oh, that's a great story.
Like you didn't have to beperfect all the time.
You know you could give theworst pitch ever and maybe end
up getting the gig, you knowYou're absolutely right.

Speaker 4 (57:44):
You're absolutely right.
I think maybe I never.
Maybe even if the interviewwent perfectly, I might not have
gotten the job.
You know what I mean.
But what you do to yourselfafter that, yeah the torture,
the shame spiral you feel it wasyour fault and you did
something wrong.
Now, if I had gone in there andjust been myself and be fine,
like, okay, I didn't get the joband wouldn't think about it
right, but you're retracingeverything, yeah but I'm

(58:05):
thinking of how I wasn't even inmy body.
But you know, that was one ofthe pivotal points in my life
because I learned so much fromthat moment, you know, I mean
maybe I never would have gottenthe job.
So you know, whatever it's whatit is.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
It's also like that thing of when you over-prepare,
Like there's that sweet spotwhere you need to prepare enough
so that you feel free, but notto the point that you're laden
down and it becomes overwhelmingand sort of paralyzes you, and
so that's an interesting thingtoo is kind of going oh where's
that sweet spot for anythingthat I'm doing, that I know
enough to walk in the room andbe educated, but not so much

(58:42):
that it's going to actually notserve me well.

Speaker 4 (58:45):
Exactly right, you know, because all the other jobs
I got up to that point.
I didn't even, I didn't evenresearch it.
You know what I mean.
I would do the job, I'd go tothe interview, I'd speak to the
people, like I mean, we figureit out as we go along.
Oh, I have to be perfect, Ihave.
I try to be something that I'mnot, instead of just being
myself.
And it was a valuable lessonbecause, you know, I teach
acting as well, and so that'ssomething I share, because, as

(59:09):
an actor, it's a valuable lesson.
You don't want to beover-prepared for that.
It wasn't even an actingaudition, it was a personal
interview, no-transcript.

(59:55):
But it has helped me in manyways and it's helped many other
people that I teach acting to,so they don't make that mistake
that I made.
So you learn from your ownlessons?

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
Yeah, we sure do so.
Can you tell us about yourpassion for Qigong?
It felt like you alluded to ita little bit earlier when you
were talking about keepingmoving and health and all of
that stuff, but I would love tohear more about that part of
your life.

Speaker 4 (01:00:15):
Qigong is just a word .
That means energy and skills.
Qigong is a skillful gathering,circulating and applying life
force, energy.
Everything in the universe hasenergy, right, energy is
abundant everywhere around us,so, and we are made up of energy
.
And Qigong focuses on healingthe body in a very natural way.
The body has a natural abilityto repair itself, but we step in
the way so we have.

(01:00:36):
You can't just address thephysical body, you've got to
address the emotional body, theenergetic body, the mental body,
all of the bodies, to have thebody ultimately heal.
And how I ended up in Qigongwas not.
I never in my wildest dreamsever thought I was going to get
into healing.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
This has been amazing .
Is there anything?
First of all, what else is abig part of your life these days
that we haven't talked about?

Speaker 4 (01:00:58):
I just finished an audio book, oh yeah, called Swan
Song.
It's a young adult, children'snovel.
It's coming out.
I think they just asked meyesterday for photos, so I don't
know when it's going to be onAmazon.
It's a beautiful story.
It's a children's story, butI've got to tell you that's one
of the most difficult thingsI've ever done in my entire life
, really before.

(01:01:24):
Oh, tiring, oh, you've done one.
Yes, I was like I didn't evenknow.
I mean, I just said yes becauseyou know I say yes now to
everything.
Yes.
And then I read it and it wasbeautiful.
But oh my gosh, I was livingacross the street from
construction and then myneighbor decided to redo their
house.
Oh, and were you recording athome?
Yes, and I was at home, okay,and the amount of time it took
to record and the obstacles Ihad to overcome to record this

(01:01:45):
book, and it's such a beautifulstory.
It took me forever to do it,just because of the massive
amount of noise.
But anyway, that's what'scoming out right now.
I've got that book.
I've got a short film I didwhich hopefully will be doing
the circuits soon.
I've got a film that's out intheaters out in the East Coast
at the moment, but who knowswhat's up next?

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
Hopefully the book about oblivion.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
Yes, you never know, maybe one day I'll write that
book, what's the movie that'sout in theaters in New York so
people can go check it out.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
It's called the Uncivil War.
America Divided.
It's what happened during thepandemic and the separation of
families and stuff.
It's interesting because, goingback and watched it I just
watched it like two months ago,a month ago, for the first time.
We shot it forever ago andwatching it and looking at it as
an audience member, it's hardto watch, to think we all went
through this crazy time.
We were all locked up at homesand all this crazy stuff that

(01:02:40):
went on.
It's kind of almost abittersweet thing to watch.
You're like I don't want to bereminded of it.
But yeah, it is part of what wewent through.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
I was going to ask what the name of the short film
is so people can look out forthat once it goes to the
festivals and stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:02:52):
It's called Mommy Mommy.
It's about a dysfunctionalfamily and a player, a rather
disturbed mother, ooh Littletwisted.
It's a young filmmaker and Ithink he's going to be really
doing well one day.
It's meaty, it's different, youknow, and I'm always grateful.
When somebody offers me a job,I'm like, yes, I'd love to do it

(01:03:14):
Wonderful.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Well, is there anything that we didn't ask you,
that we should have asked you?

Speaker 4 (01:03:21):
I mean, I travel extensively, so I'm going to be
traveling a lot.
Nice, I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Where do you go?
Where are you off to next?

Speaker 4 (01:03:30):
Up to Washington State, then to Denver, then to
South Africa.
Oh right, I don't really plananything you never know with the
business.
I just literally I discoveredcamping, which I love.
I never had the chance to do itearlier, so I love camping.
I have a roof tent, oh my gosh.
So I will throw that thing onmy car and sometimes I'll just
drive somewhere and I'll justpark it somewhere and open up my

(01:03:53):
roof tent and sleep in themiddle of nowhere.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
And do you do it?
Do you go on your own?

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (01:03:58):
Because I can't wait for everybody, because you know
my husband works.
I do things very impromptubecause I just don't know.
When I have the time, like Ialways tell my friend do you
want to go?
Yeah, yeah.
When I don't know I have to dothis, I have to do that, I'm
like bye, yeah, I don't wait,I'll send you the invitation.
You want to go be at my houseat this time I'm leaving.

(01:04:21):
I had the craziest experiencewith a bear.
One of my first solo trips wasto Mount Shasta, wow.
So I go to Mount Shasta.
I've got this bee in my bonnet.
I'm going to go to Mount Shastaand I see this Lake, suskew,
beautiful and I travel away.
There's a hell of a drive.
I get them exhausted, I'm sotired.
As I get them exhausted, I'm sotired.

(01:04:43):
Uh, as I check in, they go oh,by the way, there's been bear
sightings in the area.
I'm like, okay, they go leaveyour food in your car.
I'm like that's a bummer,because I was going to sleep on
top of the car tent as well.
So I figured I'll just pitch mytent.
So I'll just pitch it and thenI'll sleep in my tent.
I was so tired, and I was, Iwasn't even going to make dinner
and then I decided to makedinner.
So I made dinner, got on mytent it's about 10 o'clock or so
, 11 o'clock Exhausted, I fellasleep like dead on the floor in

(01:05:07):
my little tent, which I'd neverpitched a six-man tent by
myself before.
That in itself I needed aneducation.
But anyway, I'm sleepingpeacefully on my stomach, passed
out on my little air mattress,and I hear go on, shoot, get out
of here, go, oh.
And I'm like what's happening?
Get out, go.
And I'm like, oh, okay, and Irealize it's a bear.

(01:05:28):
and I hear the as they'rewalking around my tent and I'm
like, oh my god, wow, and I meannot just one bear, like several
bear, and I parked, like thebathrooms were like I don't know
, don't know far away, farenough away anyway.
But now I'm on the floor andI'm in a blackout tent and I can
hear the footsteps and I canhear that around me.

(01:05:49):
I don't want to move, but Itell you I I've never been
afraid like that.
My whole scalp vibrated, myscalp went like this, my body
went like that.
I mean my body was physicallyshaking like, yeah, you shake
like I've never.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
I've never shook like a leaf ever no, but that that
would engender that I believethat's as good as time as any
but like your scalp vibrating,that was a new one to me.

Speaker 4 (01:06:13):
My whole scalp was going like that.
I was like I don't know yourscalp can move.
So I'm lying through and andnow I'm terrified, okay, and I
can hear them all around thething and I'm like I'm just
trying not to move, not tobreathe, not to do anything and
finally it's like two o'clock 230 and I'm like, okay, it's
quiet, okay, they go on.
Oh, thank god, okay, I go tobed.

(01:06:33):
So I go to bed.
I'm just falling asleep and Ihear, and I hear and the bear
sticks his nose in under my tent.
You know, the tent has a littleflap at the bottom his nose in,
like under my tent, like this,and I knew.
I knew the next thing was a paw.
Okay, now, I had kept all myfood in my car.

(01:06:55):
However, what I didn't put inmy car was my toiletries, right
like my toothpaste, mytoothpaste my soap Scented stuff
right.
Wow, they never left my tent.
So when he stuck his nose inthere I knew, because I'm in a
paper-thin tent, the nextthing's going to be a claw going
through to try and get towhatever this is.
In my tent I had a littlefold-up chair and I just had a

(01:07:16):
box in there and I just hit thebox super hard and I screamed
super loud in this little darktent like I'm sure I woke up
that entire canyon because youcould hear the bear as bears as
they were going through thecampsites, you can hear people
banging pots and pans and youcan hear them going down to all
the way to the river.
They finally left.
They finally left.
But when it was morning and Imean I just opened it because

(01:07:38):
now I'm like I'm not sleeping atall I asked the ranger, who
came in and they had picked upthe trash cans at one of these
camps.
I just lifted it that's howstrong that do you know?
It's giant trash cans and theyflung it like that and just
missed another couple in a tent.
Just missed them because theystarted coming down from the
mountains.
They want the food.
They have all these campersthere and this place, apparently
, is known for bear.

(01:07:58):
I actually made a whole videoabout it.
That's the location, because Imade a video that day about it.
If you go on my youtube channel, you can watch my bear story,
but it was the most terrifyingthing I have ever experienced in
my life, so oh, my gosh, yeah,listen, but I'm still going.
I'm still going camping soon andI'm taking my tent and I'm
sleeping on my car.

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
This time, oh my god truck and not in bear territory.
Hopefully Not the same, it isin bear territory.

Speaker 1 (01:08:23):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (01:08:25):
I'm going to be a lot wiser about it, but it can't
stop me.
It's like I wouldn't let itstop me.
I love nature.
It's the whole point of beingin the middle of nowhere with
nobody around you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:34):
You're lucky with what you did and also that you
yeah everything my goodness ohwow, so that's my bare necessity
story.
Yes, you're at harrowing onthat harrowing note.

Speaker 3 (01:08:47):
Yeah, we ain't topping that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
That'll do it.
This has been amazing.
Thank you so much for sharingyour time, your stories, your
experience with us.
It's just been reallyincredible.
We've never gotten the chanceto speak before and I feel like
somehow I've known you.

Speaker 4 (01:09:05):
Right, it's the same way, right.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Yeah, yeah, it's been really really lovely.
So I'm so excited that we gotto do this and can't wait to
hear about all of your newadventures as well.

Speaker 4 (01:09:16):
Likewise.
Likewise.
So lovely meeting you guys andthank you for the opportunity,
and I love sharing my stories.

Speaker 3 (01:09:22):
Thank you so much, and you're good at sharing them.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
Thank you, bye, thank you, bye-bye.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:09:30):
Please follow us on our socials.
We have TikTok slaying apodcast, x slaying a podcast,
youtube slaying a podcast, andgoing forward, going forward.
All of our video content on theyoutube, as well as little
shorts on tick tock to reach usall on our socials.
All the links are in the showdescriptions.
Thank you, folks, so much andhave a buffy day is that it wait

(01:09:51):
, wait hold on is that the buffyscream?

Speaker 3 (01:09:57):
I think it is.
I think that's what I wasattempting.
I think it is.
I think that's what I wasattempting.

Speaker 1 (01:10:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
See you next week, when we'll do it again.
Do it again and, mostimportantly, until next time, go
out and slay it.

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Interview with the Teacher – Miss French /Teacher's Pet

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Interview with the Teacher – Miss French /Teacher's Pet