Mario Lopez breaks down the big news about his new gig hosting Access Daily & Access Hollywood starting this fall, and how he's going to balance that with a new baby at home and 37 other jobs! Then, we meet & chat with Brandon Thomas Lee from The Hills New Beginnings about growing up in Malibu with Tommy Lee & Pamela Anderson as parents, going to boarding school in Canada, why he joined the reality show reboot, and more!
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time to listen to Mario Mario Lopez. Here got producers
Frasier Nichols in here for another episode of the podcast.
Gonna be joined by Brandon Thomas Lee in a bit,
son of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson. Not to be
confused with Brandon Lee of the late Bruce Lee. We'll
talk about that too. He just joined the Hills reboots,
so we're gonna meet him. But first I want to
(00:20):
talk about some big news this week. I am officially
starting a new TV gig this fall. But I'll be
hosting Access Daily, which is going to be an updated
version of the current Access Live, and also Access Hollywood,
which will now be a full hour. So I'll be
on your TV two hours a day if you're watching
(00:41):
NBC not mine. Oh thanks a lot. Well, you already
got a little You already got Mori overlow. I'm gonna
be at work when the first one's on, Okay hopefully
so just an hour DVRD I could I could use
the v R right there? Appreciate that, No, but I'm
really excited. This is uh something I've been wanting to
get into for a while. Um to be involved with
(01:03):
with the network on a larger capacity because they have
so many great platforms with the new stream service they've
got going on, and just to be doing events like
their Fourth of July special or the Thanksgiving special or
the Olympics, Christmas, Christmas tree lighting stuff and stuff like that,
um which is great. And it's a bit ironic that
I first it wasn't the first gig, but say by
(01:25):
the Bell was an NBC show way back in the day,
so it kind of came returning home right, kind of
returning home. But but meanwhile, I gotta figure out how
gonna juggle the other shows because the Pool show that
I'm doing supersize my Pool, it's apparently is doing real
well and they're want to They're wanted to do uh more.
Um So, if you're not familiar with that show, that's
(01:46):
basically Pimp My Ride, but old show on in TV.
But but Pools and that's on HDTV, That's that's on
h G TV, and that's a real feel good show.
There's nothing better than hooking people up, um with sweet Pools.
But now I go home every damn like, dang, my
pool needs a facelift he could use. And fun about
that show. Not a lot of people know you do
all the actual work I have. I have, I have
(02:10):
the ideas. Don't make fun because I have the ideas,
I have the iPad or I kind of flush it out.
Then I have a team. I got guys. Well, that's
all those shows, they all have team. Yeah. I saw
the I did see the first episode of it, and
that family seemed pretty happy. They didn't they were very happy.
And how do I get you to come to the
apartment that I rent and put in a pool that
(02:31):
doesn't exist? Yeah, I get a lot of requests, right listen,
why don't you hook me up with a pool? I'm like, well,
here's the deal. It's a makeover show? Is that to
make a wish show? So you know, those people really
appreciate it. They're always with kids involved, so so it's great.
And then aside from that, I still have the Food
Quest show that's on A and E. We're getting ready
(02:53):
to to premiere in another month, and that I do
with my wife. That's another one where I seem to
know everything about cuisine, just an expert in quisine. But
that but that's fun and we we bang those out
like on the week. I haven't unfortunately caught that one yet.
I've seen little clips here and there, but my assumption
was that it was we starved you for a week
and then you had to go find food. Oh my gosh. Well,
(03:15):
when we're shooting the show, um, we have sponsors and
usually from a lot of liquor companies and specifically whiskey
as of late, and this one whiskey pig Whistle from
the maker's Pappy van Winkle, which the highest, the best
bourbon you can get. Man, we could get a nice
little buzz as you're shooting the show. And so because
I'm always you know, doing takes and the whole thing.
(03:36):
So that's the fun little perk good thing. That's a
half hour, yeah exactly. But but the one I'm I'm
really excited about at the moment, which I'm getting ready
to do our first table read is the Netflix show, uh,
The Amazing Universe of Ashley Garcia, which is a sitcom
that we're going to start shooting in a couple of weeks.
We have the table read this next week. We've got
a fun little cast. And the thing about Netflix is
(03:58):
you have to shoot all the episodes before it airs,
as opposed to network TV. You can shoot one or
two episodes they air, then they just been sort of
on the fly. Also, you can shoot one or two episodes.
If it doesn't rate well, they can cancel you too.
So at least with Netflix, you have them all done.
You have them all done. You're not getting fired or
you're not getting cut. So that's uh, that's at least
a nice little bit. And that's a I think that's
(04:19):
a better way too, because with people watching, people like
to binge stuff, and if it's a half hour comedy,
they'll go through a few episodes, so they won't just
watch one and then give up on it because they
have to wait a week. They'll just go through a
few and then hopefully they end up liking it if
they don't like the first one. And it's interesting because
you don't shoot the pilot episode first. Really you shoot
the fourth episode and you sort of work backwards up
(04:41):
into number one because they want to work out the tone,
the relationships, see what works, to make sure they've got
it down for the first episode to hopefully that's that
crazy math. Yeah it is. And of course the radio show, which,
by the way, I have the most fun because I
could just kick back in my flip flops words which
are not supposed to be wearing as a man. The
(05:02):
only reason I don't break in my own rule, but
the only reason is because I immediately change into regular
shoes and then I go into usually jiu jitsu, where
you have to be in flops. I need to add
an addendum to my flip flop rule because I sound
like hypocrite, but that's come on, that's fair. So basically
the addendum is the rule doesn't apply to you at all. No,
if you either got to change right away or if
(05:22):
you have jiu jitsu later because you have to be barefoot,
they're right, it's right. And then on your other podcast,
the three Knockdown Rule, your your partner Steve Kim. He
wears flops and slides all the time. He just breaks
the rules. He's that dude is a hot man sweatpants
from Yes, he just that's right. We have a lot
of fun on that with the boxing podcast, and there's
(05:43):
there's a lot going on, so yeah, I can think
he gets to see a little different side of me
on all those but I feel very blessed. And then
the new Baby that's my favorite project, the new babies
at home. He's such a good little baby, little Santino. Anyway,
let's get to our guest, someone else who just landed
a new gig starring on the Hills New Beginnings. To
Brandon Thomas Lee. Brandon Thomas Lee, Welcome to the podcast.
(06:07):
I'm good man, I'm good to took the mission out
from Malibu to be here, so I'm happy to be here.
I'm happy to be here. I want to get to
Malibu in his second. But first of all, I'm glad
that you told me before we went on there that
is Brandon Thomas Lee, because I didn't even think about
getting confused with Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son. Yeah, from
The Crow back in the day, but you weren't even alive.
I want to say when that happened, right, I mean
(06:30):
either barely alive or yeah, you know, um yeah every day. Man,
I'm untagging myself from photos and Instagram of The Crow
and I'm like, you know, and I love that movie,
which is great. It's like, you know, I'm like, oh cool,
you know I got this, but like after the ten
thousand The Crow, I'm like, dude, this is brutal. So
I mean that's why I use my full name, all right,
(06:51):
And you know Brandon Thomas Lee. I love Brandon Lee. Great.
It's a strong name. And my mom was telling me
the other day, she goes, you know, like, that's why
we chose that name. It's um because when Bruce Lee
named his son that, it is supposed to be the strongest,
most powerful name on the planet. It means the sword. Okay,
that's uh, that's you know. I guess her reasoning behind
that probably got to split it up now anticipated social
(07:13):
media tagging. Now it's just the sword, the sword, right, right.
So you mentioned Malibu and you were born and raised
there pretty much right, Um, how was that? Man? That's
so idyllic for anyone that doesn't live in Malibu. You know,
people go there for vacation and it's a big outing
for the family, for the Lopez family. We go out there.
But I gotta imagine it's just it's got to be
(07:35):
so cool. But at the same time, if there's a
mud slide, then you're pretty much stuck, right, what do
the pros and cup there's anything If a fly lands
in the middle of peace told us, and it takes
you know, an hour get Beverly Hills. Um, But yeah,
it was cool growing up in Malibu. It's definitely a
little bubble um of people. It's the same people you
see every day and that kind of gets old. Um. Yeah,
you get to really know everyone, right, every single person.
(07:57):
It's a small town. But um, and I love that
vibe about it. You go to Cross Creek, it's like
the same thing you can go to, like your Delhi,
your smoothie shop. It's all the same. It's never going
to change. Um, although you just got a whole foods
I heard, Oh my god, I can't believe that it
would be like the first place to put can't believe
that just happened. By the way, because I come back,
(08:18):
I forget where. I think. I came back from New
York and it's been being built for like two years.
I'm like, when is this thing going to be done?
I don't have anywhere to get groceries. Actually yeah. And
now I'm like, I mean I'm in there every day.
Now I'm saying that game change kind of go hang
out there. All the chicks from Pepper and I got
to go there, so I'm like, I'm trying to hang
around the next But anyway, So I grew up in Malibu. Um,
(08:42):
I think when I was about thirteen years old. I
moved to Canada for high school. Um. I went to
Vancouver Island to go to a boarding school for like
five years there, and I loved it. It was my
idea to go, which was insane. Everyone's like, were your
parents punishing? I was like, no, I just want moms
from there. Yeah, exactly. And I just wanted to leave
and kind of like get a normal, uh life, you know,
(09:04):
because it was pretty crazy for me growing up in
l A and with people just chasing me everywhere and
everyone kissing your ass, that kind of gets old for me.
I kind of wanted to just go and do my
own thing, create my own life, and then you know,
eventually come back to l A. Did you like it
over there? I love it. I mean like I'm you know,
I'm dual citizen, I'm have Canadian so I just I, uh,
I felt like home. You know. My grandparents still live
on the island, and you know, every every other every
(09:26):
other day, and my Grandma's shipping up cookies to the
whole like boarding house. So everyone loved that. Um. Yes,
So I went there for five years. I went to
then I went to university in Toronto for two weeks
to um, try to get a degree in theater was
my goal, and I was kind of like, you know what,
like I don't think I want to do this for
four years, and I'm just gonna try to go to
(09:47):
l A and and and start acting and try to
be an entertainer, which is kind of always what I
wanted to be ever since, ever since kind of I
started high school and I didn't know what that meant
until I started. Um, you know, I did my first
musical and like any night, I was so nervous, and
at the end, um, you know, we got like a
standing ovation. I ended up winning the Performing Arts of
the Year award at my school, and I was like,
you know what, Like this is if I could figure
(10:09):
out some way to do this for a living, this
is what I want to do. I want to be
you know, I've always spent I've spent a lot of
my life like with this like an escapism aspect of it,
being like everyone knows me for this, but I want
to be this and how can I be this? And
it's like, you know, by being a completely different person
or a character, you can achieve that. So that's kind
(10:30):
of what draw drew me into it, and that's you know,
that's my whole like so smart and good for you
to to to get away for a while. Then you
get to appreciate would you come home to Afteriously? Did
you play drums at all growing up? Because I grew
up playing drums and I loved your dad playing. For
everybody who's was a drummer play, but did I'm surprised
he didn't influence that, or maybe he did. I remember
for a second, I had like a band when I
(10:51):
was like seven, so maybe it was like me and
my brother and like my right and I forget we
were like called the Termites or something like that. Yeah,
and uh, I was never the drummer. I feel like
my brother was like drumming. I was playing bass and
(11:12):
all this stuff and it was fun. But I kind
of stayed away from that, you know. I was like, man,
you know, if all of a sudden, if I go
down to this road, yeah, everyone's gonna expect me to
be a certain way, and I'm not gonna want to
be that way. And it's gonna be a giant let
down for everybody that I'm not like the best drummer
in the world who's crazy with all these tattoos and
and uh, um, yeah, so I kind of just I
(11:36):
was like, I was like home, I got there so
much pressure and God bless my brother who's now um
a producer and he's just signed with Sony Records at
r C A and he's killing it right now. His
group's name is Midnight Kids, and they make like it's
like eighties nostalgic, like electronic music. It's so dope. Midnight
They're they're sick. Nice man right on. Shout out to him, Well,
(11:59):
congrats on the show. Oh. It was funny because my
wife was My wife watches and she was watching it
last night and I and I happened to be walking
by and I said, Hey, that's Brandon. I go always
and she goes, He's really sweet. He comes across very
down to a very nice that's true story. I'm not
just saying that because the moment I was just telling
these guys. Yeah, so he comes across real nice kid. Um,
(12:21):
you had to be young in the show originally A
right when the show was originally on, were you watching?
Hell No, I still haven't watched one episode of the
original House. I've not. I didn't do my research at all.
It's probably not necessary. You're doing your own thing now. Anyway,
it's a different show. It's a different show. If someone
if they came to me and told me, hey, this,
(12:41):
we're going to do this exactly like the original, I
probably would have watched the original. But from the get
it's it's new beginnings of a different show. There's confessionals,
there's it's just the way shows are filmed now, especially
reality shows, are completely different. It's much more like they
demand much more from the actual person in terms of
like honesty and like and you know, really putting yourself
(13:03):
out there. And that's kind of what like I knew
going into and I was like, you know what, like
I'm not going to watch the original, and I'm just
gonna go into this like with a fresh perspective and
kind of be myself and be honest and open with everybody,
because I feel like when people get these opportunities that
kind of like start rubbing their hands together, like who
can I be on this show? Like how is am
I going to get the most famous? All this? Um?
(13:24):
Like I was kind of like, look, this is who
I am. I'm a young entertainer growing up in l
A trying to make it and you know, I also
have this crazy personal life. Um. But at the end
of the day, I'm just really trying to make it
um as an actor. And and this is kind of
what you follow me on the show. I go off
(13:44):
to work, I come back. You know, I'm going through relationships,
I'm doing different jobs here and there. That's kind of
what I wanted it to be, like an insight into
my professional life and my personal life so people could
get to know me better. Because growing up you just
think that, um, oh wow, that's Pamela Anderson in time
at least, so he just must be a nut or
like some spoiled kid, or or you know, you just
(14:04):
must not work for anything. It's the opposite. It's true
for me because I've i mean, like, I've just never
wanted to take anything from my parents. I don't think
I've gotten anything from them since I was in high school. Um,
which is just a mandatory kid thing. Uh and uh yeah,
I mean like, and if anything, it's harder with famous
(14:26):
parents like that. You have a lot to prove people.
You think you have a chip on your shoulder, assume
things are handed to you. You said, crazy personal life,
that's crazy about it? It's not my girls or I mean, dude,
I'm twenty three years old, like in living in l
A and um like killing it. Hey, God bless you
(14:49):
by the way, I'm feeling you there. I'm always I
gotta tell you though in looking back, I gotta badge
and correct me if I'm wrong. But if you're out
here smashing these days that it's got to he is
so difficult with social media and you get pinched easier
it was. I was sloppy back in the day, so
I can imagine how much it would have gotten pinched.
But now everybody run around with the phone. It's got
to throw a monkey ranch, right, There's no privacy. You
(15:11):
could be. You could be in the most private club
restaurant no matter where you are, and all of a sudden,
like the girl across from you is like taking a
photo overplay and like tagging you and you're like yo,
and then some other girl your scene looks up your
tads you get and your pinch. Do you say everyone
with all of a sudden boom, Yeah, you definitely, I
mean you definitely can't. I mean my dad was telling me,
(15:34):
like you know, oh, He's like I could have had
you know, You've got eight girlfriends back in the day,
and now if you have to, you're fucked, you know,
for sure going to find out about one because everyone
in the world can find out what anyone in the
world is doing at any point in time because everyone
is so open on their Instagram. And that's another reason
why I did the show. I'm like, God, everyone's started
(15:55):
showing their whole life on Instagram for free, right for free.
And I'm like, wow, you know I could get paid
to do that and have a curate and look nice,
and like, let's do that, get some good cuts. Yeah, exactly,
so you know, and and and that's why I'm like not,
I mean, I'm being more active on social media now,
but I feel like it gives me such an opportunity
to kind of like lay off and be like, hey,
(16:15):
you know, see what I did last week on this
on this Monday, you know, like instead of every day
on my Instagram. Um yeah, but that's It's it is
a funny in a in a different dynamics. It seemed
to be navigating it. Well, man, how do you get
involved with the show. So I grew up in Malibu obviously, Um,
and so did Brodie and kind of Brodie's you all
(16:35):
need each other. Yeah, Brodie's obviously older than me, but
you know, Malibu's small town. Um, it's just like we've
been running around together for years and he's always been
that like kind of older guy that's been around, always
had chicks. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's
like let's go hang out with Brody. You know. Um,
when I was like sixteen, like find it figuring out
which party bron was brod he was going to, and he,
(16:55):
you know, he was kind of always like like the
older brother kind of in malid do for me at least. Um,
And now we've become even closer, um, just because we
spend way more time together from the show. But you know,
Brodie called me one day, He's like, hey, man, like,
you know, the Hales is coming back. I was like,
I know, congratulations, and I kind of sense. I was like,
(17:16):
is he about to ask me to be on the show?
And he goes and he's like yeah. I mean he goes,
you know what, when we were filming the original, I
was your age and I was doing the same sort
of thing and he's like, you're working right now and
you're killing He goes like what would you think about
coming on the show. And I was like, holy shit, UM,
you know that's crazy. Uh, obviously I'm interested. I'm like,
(17:38):
let me think about it for a second, because that's
a huge move. I've never I've been always a super
private person, UM, and I've never wanted to do anything
like this, and I've had the opportunity hundreds of times, um,
just based off my family and show stuff. And uh.
I took like a couple of days to think about it,
and I took a meeting with um some people from
(17:58):
Evolution and MTV, and they kind of was saying all
the right things, and I was like, you know, what
if I can kind of make this about me and
and what I'm about and kind of show people you
know that that I can step out from under my
parents shadow and and be my own person and see
what I've been up to him Like, this is a
great opportunity, Like let's run it. Yeah. So I kind
of just and I just jumped into it with open
(18:19):
arms and and uh and you know, thank god the
whole cast embraced me because I was kind of scared. Yeah.
I was like, holy sh it, I just know Spencer
and Stephanie Pratt and Heidi Pratt and like these people
are just insane. They're gonna tear me to shreds because
I'm just not confrontational. And um, but that's good. You
need like the balance like that on the show. Are
you happy with the way you've been portrayed so far?
Very happy? I think it's like very true to myself.
(18:42):
And I was so nervous to watch the first episode.
I was like, I wonder how they're gonna cut me
because the way they're editing, because it's so easy, man,
you can make someone look you know, like if they're
a sweetheart, you can make them look like an asshole. Um.
And I really think like it came off just I
just knew that I gave like if you're on a
show like this, you just got to know kind of
what's going to happen. If if they have any opportunity
(19:05):
to kind of like increase the height like the hype,
or like make a moment way more than it is,
they're going to do that. That's television. Um. But I
kind of as I was doing this, made sure like, look,
I'm gonna stay treated myself in every single aspect and
kind of in in every way operate how I want
to operate. And I just I feel like I just
(19:26):
was on a roll and it came off like smooth,
and I just I just love the way I'm being
being portrayed because I look at I'm like, oh that's me.
That's dope. I'm not like, oh man, like I didn't
mean it like that. That hasn't happened yet. So I'm
really happy. And you know, knock on wood or yeah,
yeah so far, but knock on lambing it will continue
(19:46):
to have fun with it. Before I let you go, though,
brand I want to put you on the spot with
quick questions, quick answers. All right, go to karaoke song,
Oh my, maybe take me home tonight, Eddie Mooney, okay,
okay U movie you've seen the most Saving Private Run.
Really that's a long movie. I've watched very serious. Maybe
(20:07):
I've watched it maybe over thirty times. It's my favorite movie.
You like war movies in general, just or something about
that one? War movies in general. I was a World
War two freaking high school. I took like ap U
S History, a p European history, just because I wanted
to know more about World War Two. And I was
like you know, when I was like sixteen, I wanted
to be in the army no matter, like more than anything.
And so I'm just like fascinated with the aspect of
(20:28):
like loyalty and service and kind of like heroism and
all this stuff. It just fascinates me, and I want
to be in a World War two movie more than anything.
So she's my favorite, too nice celebrity crush growing up,
growing up, Jennifer Anderson, for sure, she's still my crush.
(20:50):
No argument here, Dream collaboration, dream collaboration in what aspect
Let's say you're starting opposite oh Man comedy, Will Ferrell drama.
Oh my god, maybe like Brad Pitt or Leo not
(21:11):
Jennifer Aston. I need that in my real life. I
need that in my real life. I wouldn't be able
to separate. I'd just be like, look like, let's just
get married. I know I'm younger than you, but I
can make this work. Just go handle this. Yeah, what's
your ideal sandwich? Oh Man? Classic Italian sub, classic Italian
(21:35):
sub with like some good like dressing on there, some
good like balsamic or like some like vand and ground
there nice like meaty like sandwich like I just love that. Yeah,
What's the Hills mondays on MTV. You can follow him
on Instagram at Brandon Thomas Lee. Thanks for something by Man.
Thank you so much. Man really appreciate it. So don't
(21:58):
forget a new episodes and listen to more Ario dropping
every Friday, all on Mario dot com to catch up
on the podcast, and please make sure you follow Listen
to Mario on I Heart Radio and subscribe on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. More fun next week.
Thank you so much for listening
Time to listen to Mario Mario Lopez. Here got producers
Frasier Nichols in here for another episode of the podcast.
Gonna be joined by Brandon Thomas Lee in a bit,
son of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson. Not to be
confused with Brandon Lee of the late Bruce Lee. We'll
talk about that too. He just joined the Hills reboots,
so we're gonna meet him. But first I want to
(00:20):
talk about some big news this week. I am officially
starting a new TV gig this fall. But I'll be
hosting Access Daily, which is going to be an updated
version of the current Access Live, and also Access Hollywood,
which will now be a full hour. So I'll be
on your TV two hours a day if you're watching
(00:41):
NBC not mine. Oh thanks a lot. Well, you already
got a little You already got Mori overlow. I'm gonna
be at work when the first one's on, Okay hopefully
so just an hour DVRD I could I could use
the v R right there? Appreciate that, No, but I'm
really excited. This is uh something I've been wanting to
get into for a while. Um to be involved with
(01:03):
with the network on a larger capacity because they have
so many great platforms with the new stream service they've
got going on, and just to be doing events like
their Fourth of July special or the Thanksgiving special or
the Olympics, Christmas, Christmas tree lighting stuff and stuff like that,
um which is great. And it's a bit ironic that
I first it wasn't the first gig, but say by
(01:25):
the Bell was an NBC show way back in the day,
so it kind of came returning home right, kind of
returning home. But but meanwhile, I gotta figure out how
gonna juggle the other shows because the Pool show that
I'm doing supersize my Pool, it's apparently is doing real
well and they're want to They're wanted to do uh more.
Um So, if you're not familiar with that show, that's
(01:46):
basically Pimp My Ride, but old show on in TV.
But but Pools and that's on HDTV, That's that's on
h G TV, and that's a real feel good show.
There's nothing better than hooking people up, um with sweet Pools.
But now I go home every damn like, dang, my
pool needs a facelift he could use. And fun about
that show. Not a lot of people know you do
all the actual work I have. I have, I have
(02:10):
the ideas. Don't make fun because I have the ideas,
I have the iPad or I kind of flush it out.
Then I have a team. I got guys. Well, that's
all those shows, they all have team. Yeah. I saw
the I did see the first episode of it, and
that family seemed pretty happy. They didn't they were very happy.
And how do I get you to come to the
apartment that I rent and put in a pool that
(02:31):
doesn't exist? Yeah, I get a lot of requests, right listen,
why don't you hook me up with a pool? I'm like, well,
here's the deal. It's a makeover show? Is that to
make a wish show? So you know, those people really
appreciate it. They're always with kids involved, so so it's great.
And then aside from that, I still have the Food
Quest show that's on A and E. We're getting ready
(02:53):
to to premiere in another month, and that I do
with my wife. That's another one where I seem to
know everything about cuisine, just an expert in quisine. But
that but that's fun and we we bang those out
like on the week. I haven't unfortunately caught that one yet.
I've seen little clips here and there, but my assumption
was that it was we starved you for a week
and then you had to go find food. Oh my gosh. Well,
(03:15):
when we're shooting the show, um, we have sponsors and
usually from a lot of liquor companies and specifically whiskey
as of late, and this one whiskey pig Whistle from
the maker's Pappy van Winkle, which the highest, the best
bourbon you can get. Man, we could get a nice
little buzz as you're shooting the show. And so because
I'm always you know, doing takes and the whole thing.
(03:36):
So that's the fun little perk good thing. That's a
half hour, yeah exactly. But but the one I'm I'm
really excited about at the moment, which I'm getting ready
to do our first table read is the Netflix show, uh,
The Amazing Universe of Ashley Garcia, which is a sitcom
that we're going to start shooting in a couple of weeks.
We have the table read this next week. We've got
a fun little cast. And the thing about Netflix is
(03:58):
you have to shoot all the episodes before it airs,
as opposed to network TV. You can shoot one or
two episodes they air, then they just been sort of
on the fly. Also, you can shoot one or two episodes.
If it doesn't rate well, they can cancel you too.
So at least with Netflix, you have them all done.
You have them all done. You're not getting fired or
you're not getting cut. So that's uh, that's at least
a nice little bit. And that's a I think that's
(04:19):
a better way too, because with people watching, people like
to binge stuff, and if it's a half hour comedy,
they'll go through a few episodes, so they won't just
watch one and then give up on it because they
have to wait a week. They'll just go through a
few and then hopefully they end up liking it if
they don't like the first one. And it's interesting because
you don't shoot the pilot episode first. Really you shoot
the fourth episode and you sort of work backwards up
(04:41):
into number one because they want to work out the tone,
the relationships, see what works, to make sure they've got
it down for the first episode to hopefully that's that
crazy math. Yeah it is. And of course the radio show, which,
by the way, I have the most fun because I
could just kick back in my flip flops words which
are not supposed to be wearing as a man. The
(05:02):
only reason I don't break in my own rule, but
the only reason is because I immediately change into regular
shoes and then I go into usually jiu jitsu, where
you have to be in flops. I need to add
an addendum to my flip flop rule because I sound
like hypocrite, but that's come on, that's fair. So basically
the addendum is the rule doesn't apply to you at all. No,
if you either got to change right away or if
(05:22):
you have jiu jitsu later because you have to be barefoot,
they're right, it's right. And then on your other podcast,
the three Knockdown Rule, your your partner Steve Kim. He
wears flops and slides all the time. He just breaks
the rules. He's that dude is a hot man sweatpants
from Yes, he just that's right. We have a lot
of fun on that with the boxing podcast, and there's
(05:43):
there's a lot going on, so yeah, I can think
he gets to see a little different side of me
on all those but I feel very blessed. And then
the new Baby that's my favorite project, the new babies
at home. He's such a good little baby, little Santino. Anyway,
let's get to our guest, someone else who just landed
a new gig starring on the Hills New Beginnings. To
Brandon Thomas Lee. Brandon Thomas Lee, Welcome to the podcast.
(06:07):
I'm good man, I'm good to took the mission out
from Malibu to be here, so I'm happy to be here.
I'm happy to be here. I want to get to
Malibu in his second. But first of all, I'm glad
that you told me before we went on there that
is Brandon Thomas Lee, because I didn't even think about
getting confused with Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son. Yeah, from
The Crow back in the day, but you weren't even alive.
I want to say when that happened, right, I mean
(06:30):
either barely alive or yeah, you know, um yeah every day. Man,
I'm untagging myself from photos and Instagram of The Crow
and I'm like, you know, and I love that movie,
which is great. It's like, you know, I'm like, oh cool,
you know I got this, but like after the ten
thousand The Crow, I'm like, dude, this is brutal. So
I mean that's why I use my full name, all right,
(06:51):
And you know Brandon Thomas Lee. I love Brandon Lee. Great.
It's a strong name. And my mom was telling me
the other day, she goes, you know, like, that's why
we chose that name. It's um because when Bruce Lee
named his son that, it is supposed to be the strongest,
most powerful name on the planet. It means the sword. Okay,
that's uh, that's you know. I guess her reasoning behind
that probably got to split it up now anticipated social
(07:13):
media tagging. Now it's just the sword, the sword, right, right.
So you mentioned Malibu and you were born and raised
there pretty much right, Um, how was that? Man? That's
so idyllic for anyone that doesn't live in Malibu. You know,
people go there for vacation and it's a big outing
for the family, for the Lopez family. We go out there.
But I gotta imagine it's just it's got to be
(07:35):
so cool. But at the same time, if there's a
mud slide, then you're pretty much stuck, right, what do
the pros and cup there's anything If a fly lands
in the middle of peace told us, and it takes
you know, an hour get Beverly Hills. Um, But yeah,
it was cool growing up in Malibu. It's definitely a
little bubble um of people. It's the same people you
see every day and that kind of gets old. Um. Yeah,
you get to really know everyone, right, every single person.
(07:57):
It's a small town. But um, and I love that
vibe about it. You go to Cross Creek, it's like
the same thing you can go to, like your Delhi,
your smoothie shop. It's all the same. It's never going
to change. Um, although you just got a whole foods
I heard, Oh my god, I can't believe that it
would be like the first place to put can't believe
that just happened. By the way, because I come back,
(08:18):
I forget where. I think. I came back from New
York and it's been being built for like two years.
I'm like, when is this thing going to be done?
I don't have anywhere to get groceries. Actually yeah. And
now I'm like, I mean I'm in there every day.
Now I'm saying that game change kind of go hang
out there. All the chicks from Pepper and I got
to go there, so I'm like, I'm trying to hang
around the next But anyway, So I grew up in Malibu. Um,
(08:42):
I think when I was about thirteen years old. I
moved to Canada for high school. Um. I went to
Vancouver Island to go to a boarding school for like
five years there, and I loved it. It was my
idea to go, which was insane. Everyone's like, were your
parents punishing? I was like, no, I just want moms
from there. Yeah, exactly. And I just wanted to leave
and kind of like get a normal, uh life, you know,
(09:04):
because it was pretty crazy for me growing up in
l A and with people just chasing me everywhere and
everyone kissing your ass, that kind of gets old for me.
I kind of wanted to just go and do my
own thing, create my own life, and then you know,
eventually come back to l A. Did you like it
over there? I love it. I mean like I'm you know,
I'm dual citizen, I'm have Canadian so I just I, uh,
I felt like home. You know. My grandparents still live
on the island, and you know, every every other every
(09:26):
other day, and my Grandma's shipping up cookies to the
whole like boarding house. So everyone loved that. Um. Yes,
So I went there for five years. I went to
then I went to university in Toronto for two weeks
to um, try to get a degree in theater was
my goal, and I was kind of like, you know what,
like I don't think I want to do this for
four years, and I'm just gonna try to go to
(09:47):
l A and and and start acting and try to
be an entertainer, which is kind of always what I
wanted to be ever since, ever since kind of I
started high school and I didn't know what that meant
until I started. Um, you know, I did my first
musical and like any night, I was so nervous, and
at the end, um, you know, we got like a
standing ovation. I ended up winning the Performing Arts of
the Year award at my school, and I was like,
you know what, Like this is if I could figure
(10:09):
out some way to do this for a living, this
is what I want to do. I want to be
you know, I've always spent I've spent a lot of
my life like with this like an escapism aspect of it,
being like everyone knows me for this, but I want
to be this and how can I be this? And
it's like, you know, by being a completely different person
or a character, you can achieve that. So that's kind
(10:30):
of what draw drew me into it, and that's you know,
that's my whole like so smart and good for you
to to to get away for a while. Then you
get to appreciate would you come home to Afteriously? Did
you play drums at all growing up? Because I grew
up playing drums and I loved your dad playing. For
everybody who's was a drummer play, but did I'm surprised
he didn't influence that, or maybe he did. I remember
for a second, I had like a band when I
(10:51):
was like seven, so maybe it was like me and
my brother and like my right and I forget we
were like called the Termites or something like that. Yeah,
and uh, I was never the drummer. I feel like
my brother was like drumming. I was playing bass and
(11:12):
all this stuff and it was fun. But I kind
of stayed away from that, you know. I was like, man,
you know, if all of a sudden, if I go
down to this road, yeah, everyone's gonna expect me to
be a certain way, and I'm not gonna want to
be that way. And it's gonna be a giant let
down for everybody that I'm not like the best drummer
in the world who's crazy with all these tattoos and
and uh, um, yeah, so I kind of just I
(11:36):
was like, I was like home, I got there so
much pressure and God bless my brother who's now um
a producer and he's just signed with Sony Records at
r C A and he's killing it right now. His
group's name is Midnight Kids, and they make like it's
like eighties nostalgic, like electronic music. It's so dope. Midnight
They're they're sick. Nice man right on. Shout out to him, Well,
(11:59):
congrats on the show. Oh. It was funny because my
wife was My wife watches and she was watching it
last night and I and I happened to be walking
by and I said, Hey, that's Brandon. I go always
and she goes, He's really sweet. He comes across very
down to a very nice that's true story. I'm not
just saying that because the moment I was just telling
these guys. Yeah, so he comes across real nice kid. Um,
(12:21):
you had to be young in the show originally A
right when the show was originally on, were you watching?
Hell No, I still haven't watched one episode of the
original House. I've not. I didn't do my research at all.
It's probably not necessary. You're doing your own thing now. Anyway,
it's a different show. It's a different show. If someone
if they came to me and told me, hey, this,
(12:41):
we're going to do this exactly like the original, I
probably would have watched the original. But from the get
it's it's new beginnings of a different show. There's confessionals,
there's it's just the way shows are filmed now, especially
reality shows, are completely different. It's much more like they
demand much more from the actual person in terms of
like honesty and like and you know, really putting yourself
(13:03):
out there. And that's kind of what like I knew
going into and I was like, you know what, like
I'm not going to watch the original, and I'm just
gonna go into this like with a fresh perspective and
kind of be myself and be honest and open with everybody,
because I feel like when people get these opportunities that
kind of like start rubbing their hands together, like who
can I be on this show? Like how is am
I going to get the most famous? All this? Um?
(13:24):
Like I was kind of like, look, this is who
I am. I'm a young entertainer growing up in l
A trying to make it and you know, I also
have this crazy personal life. Um. But at the end
of the day, I'm just really trying to make it
um as an actor. And and this is kind of
what you follow me on the show. I go off
(13:44):
to work, I come back. You know, I'm going through relationships,
I'm doing different jobs here and there. That's kind of
what I wanted it to be, like an insight into
my professional life and my personal life so people could
get to know me better. Because growing up you just
think that, um, oh wow, that's Pamela Anderson in time
at least, so he just must be a nut or
like some spoiled kid, or or you know, you just
(14:04):
must not work for anything. It's the opposite. It's true
for me because I've i mean, like, I've just never
wanted to take anything from my parents. I don't think
I've gotten anything from them since I was in high school. Um,
which is just a mandatory kid thing. Uh and uh yeah,
I mean like, and if anything, it's harder with famous
(14:26):
parents like that. You have a lot to prove people.
You think you have a chip on your shoulder, assume
things are handed to you. You said, crazy personal life,
that's crazy about it? It's not my girls or I mean, dude,
I'm twenty three years old, like in living in l
A and um like killing it. Hey, God bless you
(14:49):
by the way, I'm feeling you there. I'm always I
gotta tell you though in looking back, I gotta badge
and correct me if I'm wrong. But if you're out
here smashing these days that it's got to he is
so difficult with social media and you get pinched easier
it was. I was sloppy back in the day, so
I can imagine how much it would have gotten pinched.
But now everybody run around with the phone. It's got
to throw a monkey ranch, right, There's no privacy. You
(15:11):
could be. You could be in the most private club
restaurant no matter where you are, and all of a sudden,
like the girl across from you is like taking a
photo overplay and like tagging you and you're like yo,
and then some other girl your scene looks up your
tads you get and your pinch. Do you say everyone
with all of a sudden boom, Yeah, you definitely, I
mean you definitely can't. I mean my dad was telling me,
(15:34):
like you know, oh, He's like I could have had
you know, You've got eight girlfriends back in the day,
and now if you have to, you're fucked, you know,
for sure going to find out about one because everyone
in the world can find out what anyone in the
world is doing at any point in time because everyone
is so open on their Instagram. And that's another reason
why I did the show. I'm like, God, everyone's started
(15:55):
showing their whole life on Instagram for free, right for free.
And I'm like, wow, you know I could get paid
to do that and have a curate and look nice,
and like, let's do that, get some good cuts. Yeah, exactly,
so you know, and and and that's why I'm like not,
I mean, I'm being more active on social media now,
but I feel like it gives me such an opportunity
to kind of like lay off and be like, hey,
(16:15):
you know, see what I did last week on this
on this Monday, you know, like instead of every day
on my Instagram. Um yeah, but that's It's it is
a funny in a in a different dynamics. It seemed
to be navigating it. Well, man, how do you get
involved with the show. So I grew up in Malibu obviously, Um,
and so did Brodie and kind of Brodie's you all
(16:35):
need each other. Yeah, Brodie's obviously older than me, but
you know, Malibu's small town. Um, it's just like we've
been running around together for years and he's always been
that like kind of older guy that's been around, always
had chicks. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's
like let's go hang out with Brody. You know. Um,
when I was like sixteen, like find it figuring out
which party bron was brod he was going to, and he,
(16:55):
you know, he was kind of always like like the
older brother kind of in malid do for me at least. Um,
And now we've become even closer, um, just because we
spend way more time together from the show. But you know,
Brodie called me one day, He's like, hey, man, like,
you know, the Hales is coming back. I was like,
I know, congratulations, and I kind of sense. I was like,
(17:16):
is he about to ask me to be on the show?
And he goes and he's like yeah. I mean he goes,
you know what, when we were filming the original, I
was your age and I was doing the same sort
of thing and he's like, you're working right now and
you're killing He goes like what would you think about
coming on the show. And I was like, holy shit, UM,
you know that's crazy. Uh, obviously I'm interested. I'm like,
(17:38):
let me think about it for a second, because that's
a huge move. I've never I've been always a super
private person, UM, and I've never wanted to do anything
like this, and I've had the opportunity hundreds of times, um,
just based off my family and show stuff. And uh.
I took like a couple of days to think about it,
and I took a meeting with um some people from
(17:58):
Evolution and MTV, and they kind of was saying all
the right things, and I was like, you know, what
if I can kind of make this about me and
and what I'm about and kind of show people you
know that that I can step out from under my
parents shadow and and be my own person and see
what I've been up to him Like, this is a
great opportunity, Like let's run it. Yeah. So I kind
of just and I just jumped into it with open
(18:19):
arms and and uh and you know, thank god the
whole cast embraced me because I was kind of scared. Yeah.
I was like, holy sh it, I just know Spencer
and Stephanie Pratt and Heidi Pratt and like these people
are just insane. They're gonna tear me to shreds because
I'm just not confrontational. And um, but that's good. You
need like the balance like that on the show. Are
you happy with the way you've been portrayed so far?
Very happy? I think it's like very true to myself.
(18:42):
And I was so nervous to watch the first episode.
I was like, I wonder how they're gonna cut me
because the way they're editing, because it's so easy, man,
you can make someone look you know, like if they're
a sweetheart, you can make them look like an asshole. Um.
And I really think like it came off just I
just knew that I gave like if you're on a
show like this, you just got to know kind of
what's going to happen. If if they have any opportunity
(19:05):
to kind of like increase the height like the hype,
or like make a moment way more than it is,
they're going to do that. That's television. Um. But I
kind of as I was doing this, made sure like, look,
I'm gonna stay treated myself in every single aspect and
kind of in in every way operate how I want
to operate. And I just I feel like I just
(19:26):
was on a roll and it came off like smooth,
and I just I just love the way I'm being
being portrayed because I look at I'm like, oh that's me.
That's dope. I'm not like, oh man, like I didn't
mean it like that. That hasn't happened yet. So I'm
really happy. And you know, knock on wood or yeah,
yeah so far, but knock on lambing it will continue
(19:46):
to have fun with it. Before I let you go, though,
brand I want to put you on the spot with
quick questions, quick answers. All right, go to karaoke song,
Oh my, maybe take me home tonight, Eddie Mooney, okay,
okay U movie you've seen the most Saving Private Run.
Really that's a long movie. I've watched very serious. Maybe
(20:07):
I've watched it maybe over thirty times. It's my favorite movie.
You like war movies in general, just or something about
that one? War movies in general. I was a World
War two freaking high school. I took like ap U
S History, a p European history, just because I wanted
to know more about World War Two. And I was
like you know, when I was like sixteen, I wanted
to be in the army no matter, like more than anything.
And so I'm just like fascinated with the aspect of
(20:28):
like loyalty and service and kind of like heroism and
all this stuff. It just fascinates me, and I want
to be in a World War two movie more than anything.
So she's my favorite, too nice celebrity crush growing up,
growing up, Jennifer Anderson, for sure, she's still my crush.
(20:50):
No argument here, Dream collaboration, dream collaboration in what aspect
Let's say you're starting opposite oh Man comedy, Will Ferrell drama.
Oh my god, maybe like Brad Pitt or Leo not
(21:11):
Jennifer Aston. I need that in my real life. I
need that in my real life. I wouldn't be able
to separate. I'd just be like, look like, let's just
get married. I know I'm younger than you, but I
can make this work. Just go handle this. Yeah, what's
your ideal sandwich? Oh Man? Classic Italian sub, classic Italian
(21:35):
sub with like some good like dressing on there, some
good like balsamic or like some like vand and ground
there nice like meaty like sandwich like I just love that. Yeah,
What's the Hills mondays on MTV. You can follow him
on Instagram at Brandon Thomas Lee. Thanks for something by Man.
Thank you so much. Man really appreciate it. So don't
(21:58):
forget a new episodes and listen to more Ario dropping
every Friday, all on Mario dot com to catch up
on the podcast, and please make sure you follow Listen
to Mario on I Heart Radio and subscribe on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. More fun next week.
Thank you so much for listening
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!