Austin Basis Interview on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Well, hey there you, yes, I mean you have you just finished
watching an episode of your favorite televisionprogram, The Marvelous Missus Masel. Are
you looking for a podcast to enhanceyour viewing experience, Well, look no
further. Welcome to Perfectly Marvelous.Join our hosts Erica, Kara and Jade

(00:28):
as they provide you with hours ofwitty banter, behind the scenes, fun
facts, and oh so much more. Now sit back, relax, and
get ready for a perfectly marvelous time. Good evening, folks, Welcome to

(00:57):
the podcast. I'm Jade, I'mKara, and I'm Erica, and this
is Perfectly Marvelous, a podcast dedicatedto the magnificent, the magical, the
marvelous Missus Mazel. Today, weare very excited to be talking with Austin
Bassis, who plays Alvin Blank,the head writer for The Gordon Ford Show

(01:18):
in season five. Who who ismissus Mazel. Welcome Austin, Thank you
so much for joining us. Thankyou for having me on your little,
your little marvelous podcast, your magical, magical and marvelous podcast. Oh well,
okay, before we start listeners,we just we have to tell you

(01:40):
just a little bit about Austin andhis incredible career thus far. Yeah So.
Austin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from
the Actor's Studio Drama School with anMFA in acting and is a lifetime member
of the Actors Studio and Austin isan actor, writer, producer, and
has been diagnosed type one diabetes himselfat just eight years old. He is

(02:02):
an incredible advocate and celebrity ambassador forthe Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In addition
to playing Alvin on The Marvelous MissusMasel, Austin is most known for his
role as JT. Forbes on theaward winning series Beauty and the Beast.
He was also a series regular onthe CW drama Life Unexpected, and was

(02:23):
a lead in the Warner Brothers webseries Ghost Facers, which I was super
excited about because I've watched the hellout of that and Supernatural, So making
out big, big NERD moment forme there and for our listeners who might
not know Austin has been He's beendirected by Clinias Wood. He has shared

(02:46):
the screen with the likes of ViolaDavis, Larry David Harvey, Keitel,
Sandra Oh, just just you know. The list goes on and on,
and He's appeared in numerous TV shows, including, but not limited to,
Curb Your Enthusiasm, How to GetAway with Murder, two of my favorites
of all time, Marvel's Agents ofShields, Little Fires Everywhere, Casual,

(03:07):
so many more. And Austin's alsoappeared in numerous feature films and shorts,
most recently First Oscar, where heplays the famed Hollywood producer David O.
Selznick you may have heard of him, And Finally Austin He recently rapped on
the short films Kanashimi, The LastTake and Daruma, which are all making

(03:30):
the rounds in this year's festival circuit. And Austin also co created and performed
in an improv and sketch comedy showin New York City called m Comedy,
and with his production company Behind theBag Productions, he executive produced, wrote,
and starred in the short film WeFear The Fear We Share On that's

(03:50):
on Prime Video. And in additionto his acting work, Austin has a
podcast called Actor Speak, and hewrote him published a superhero comic book series
twenty eighteen with his writing partners DaveMalbeck and Josh Toub called The Kinetechs about
kids with disabilities and chronic illnesses whoturn their perceived weaknesses into their greatest straits.

(04:11):
The story has been adapted into afull length graphic novel and we'll be
coming soon to a books here nearyou. Now, I'm going to interrupt.
I'm a specialized teacher, and Ithink that's incredible that I'm definitely going
to look at today. I lovethat. And yeah, listeners, believe
it or not, this is Thisis a mere smattering of Austin's credits and
accomplishments and all of the links toAustin's books and his podcast, his social

(04:32):
media and the ways that you canget involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
All of that is available in theshow notes of this podcast, so
check it out. And now,without further ado, let's start the show.
What do you say, guys,tit's up, hits tits up?
Yay? I have to say,man, boobs up up, whatever you

(04:56):
got up, where you get themup? Get them up. I'm living
together. I'm having a Sorry,I'm afraid it wouldn't work. You don't
think he could direct the drama.Alvin mel was on Caesar with me.
I have no problem with milk Brooks. I like mel Brooks. No Brooks

(05:17):
is funny, but he likes air. He comes in a room, Michael
over and he sucks it all up. Ask Simon, ask Gilbert, Hell,
asks Sid Green, night Monster,Darth, mock the meat it feeds
up, he says Shakespeare before noon. I only request your Alvin, please
stop taking your hatred from mel Brooksout on me just because we share a

(05:39):
name. I don't hate mel Brooks. Am I in the right place.
So this is the writer's room,right in a room. Well, I'm
your new writer. Alvin George mentionedsome girl was starting with us. He
didn't say when I'm some girl?And today is the day? Who's George?
He'll know when you're seeing moth paulose, I wouldn't mind it being consulted

(06:03):
about a new hire. But I'mjust the head writer. So what do
I know? Millie Niche, Midgea trust people whose names don't rhyme with
anything Spi Bridge Fridge, shit sinceRalph now Adam Cecil and I'm Alvin suit
great got my sitting outfit on.You're what I really could listen to clips

(06:24):
from the Gordon Forward writer's room allday long. So once again, welcome
Austin. We are so excited tohave you here on the podcast with us
and get to hear directly from youAlvin himself. Yes, well, thank
you, thank you for having me. It was such a great experience that

(06:44):
I could talk about it for threehours, such hours, through part or
whatever. You want all of it, We want it all. Yes,
yeah. So we may or maynot be known for having rather long podcasts
at this point, so itself aswell. I'm glad. I'm glad you
feel us there. So we putout some questions. We asked our listeners

(07:10):
give us your questions for Austin,and we got some really really great ones
back. I know We're probably notgoing to have time to get to all
of them, but listeners keep anear out because I'm sure the answer to
your question will probably come up aswe discuss. Yeah. Yeah. Before
we listen, we jump into thelistener submissions Austin. First, we just
we want to hear about you alittle bit, so, like, how

(07:30):
did you get into acting, whatwas what was your you know, your
origin story? Have you always wantedto be an actor? What was it
like to start out? Ironically,I'm sitting here at my nephews baseball field
to watch the finals of a tournament, a baseball tournament. So actually,
when I was younger, I hadmy sight set on Major League Baseball and

(07:54):
playing for the New York Mets.Nice and uh, you know, I
guess late puberty, you know,uh late bloomer and you know, uh
they maybe not the best Jewish genes. Um, and uh, a lot
of other circumstances just led me,you know, kind of back to what

(08:18):
uh I kind of grew up doing. Anyway I did. I went to
Jewish summer camp and um did alot of musicals and uh idea. I
always was a fan of Halloween.You know, had my own like full
round, year round costume chess andlocal costume store that I go to get

(08:41):
you know, props and fake bloodand uh, you know, fake teeth,
you know, uh, capes andmasks and all that stuff all year
round. So um, I kindof always have had it in my blood.
Ironically that I you know, wedid a serious about Dracula around the

(09:01):
time you know what we Do inthe Shadows came out. It was called
Dracula Ghost to Camp. It waskind of Dracula Ghost to Jewish Sleepaway Camp.
And uh, we were trying topitch it as a series, but
it is in my blood because Ilove to play Dracula when I was younger,
and um, you know, Iwound up playing Dracula at some point,

(09:24):
you know, in my middle school. But uh yeah, it's like
slowly I think, um, andit goes back to what you were saying
early on of like, you know, kind of having a lot of different
things that I'm interested in and feellike I have, you know, talent
to contribute in. And I hadthat all throughout growing up, like a

(09:45):
lot of extracurricular activities, you know, dancing, art, you know,
writing, creative writing, you know, combination of you know, sports and
drama and you know all this stuff. And then it's like as you get
all all this stuff whittles away andyou're like, which one am I going
to choose to to do for therest of my life? And you know,

(10:07):
you weigh all the ups and downsof like, you know, how
much money could I make in thisfield? Oh, how one are my
odds at success of actually making aliving? Um? And it really kind
of naturally everything fell away, andacting was the one that was always you

(10:28):
know, there in the middle.And ironically, now that I've established or
had, you know, career andsome success, I've added other aspects and
kind of getting back into you know, like I've told people like I felt
like I was good at a lotof things, but I really wanted to
try to be great at one thing, and um and that's that was acting.

(10:50):
And so you know, I feellike, yes, so you're sure,
I'm okay, I'm okay, Yes, I'm exactly That's what we'd say
in Brooklyn, am I Yeah,So, yeah, I was. I
was born in um. I wasactually born in Canarsi but um uh which

(11:16):
is the L train all the wayat the end um but um the or
the A train, I think.But I grew up in a place called
Cgate at the you know, thesouthern tip of the subway map. I
always say the usually it used tobe the southern tip was cut off by
the map key where you like,you know, have the so because there's

(11:39):
no trains that go there or bustes. So um. Yeah. I grew
up in Cgate, Coney Island,UM and kind of went to school locally
until high school. Where I wentall the way to the other side of
Brooklyn in Midwood by Brooklyn College,and then went upstate New York. I
was in New York. My allmy schooling as a New York up state

(12:01):
was undergrad. I came back tothe city for grad school for the Actor
Studio, Drama School, and NewYork through and through until I moved to
LA and I may never move back, right, Yeah, yeah, you're
a New Yorker. Yeah, wellokay, So along lines of like your
roles that you've done and everything,what's what's your favorite what's your favorite role

(12:22):
that you've ever done, like play, musical, TV, show, film,
anything, if you had to pickone, I mean it's tough.
It's always the last role, yeahright, oh yeah, as it should
be. Yeah, and and especiallybecause it was such a special experience and
um it was like the uh confluenceof all my efforts as an actor,

(12:46):
but also my training and my ummy upbringing and just like you know,
my my personality just all filled intothis character to a degree where you know,
I w I've gone to these FYCevents because I'm a TV Academy member,
and um, I heard Hannah Wattinghamtalk about her role on Ted Lasso

(13:11):
as just feeling right and feeling likeyou know, you know, embarrassingly as
an actress, you know, trainedactor actress that he did not have to
do that much to like live inthe character. And I was helped by
amazing sets in wardrobe and all theyou know, all the wonderful things that

(13:33):
you know, uh, working onthe marvelous Missus Mazel, Missus Mazel provides.
Um. But yeah, you knowit, I mean Alvid, but
it's a close second just because ofyou know, because honestly, you only
I only get to do a certainamount of things as Alvin. You know,

(13:56):
was the writer's room, it wasyou know, toochures and it was
like the show. Um, youknow, one time we skated on the
ice at Rockefeller Center, which I'venever done before a New Yorker, So
that was thrilling. That was ourfirst night shooting. What's kind of cooling
and yes, all nighters at RockefellerCenter. Um and then um, yeah,

(14:16):
So I would have to say areally close acond is JT. Forbes
on Beauty and the Beast, becauseyou know, almost seventy episodes of a
character and an arc and all thesedifferent you know ups and downs of an
actor getting to play you know,drama, comedy, you know, uh,
some action sequences. I got tobe like a superhero a little,

(14:37):
you know, I have a superpower, and um I do love Spruce though,
uh you know, the untapped marketof Spruce. Uh. We always
we were trying to before web series. We were trying to pitch that as
like a spinoff series of Supernatural,which they've tried to do over and over,
and they've just missed the ball becauseyep, all those characters are still

(15:01):
alive, whereas most characters in SupernaturalCurious have you know, Gone by the
Wayside have perished as it were.I would have watched a Ghost Facers spin
off all day, Like every timeit was a Ghost Facers episode, I
was super excited. So I'm withyou there. That would have been here.
Yeah, all right, let's getinto some specific questions. We've got

(15:24):
a couple of Instagram questions. Erica, you want to take that first one
from definitely so Mama Latch fifty fiveasks wondering if you ever watch any previous
episodes of the show before being castin the part. Yes, I watched
them all. I was a hugefan of the show. And I feel
like that helped me. That definitelyhelped me, I think at least get

(15:48):
a leg up or an understanding ofthe pace, uh and the tenor and
the tone of the show. Um, when I got in auditioned for pilots,
it's never you never know, andso you have to take it off
the script and your instincts and gowith that. And usually when they cast
you, you're right, you knowyour instincts are right, and or at

(16:10):
least you're it's in a situation whereyou could be directed, you know,
to a place and you're the characterthat they want, you know, or
the actor you know. Most ofthe times it's a combination. But with
Maizel, like, I've watched allthe episodes and here's the here's the weird
part is so season four was airing, had just premiered or is about to

(16:33):
premiere when we auditioned for the show. So I was auditioning late February early
March, and there had been maybeone or two episodes, so I had
seen like one or two episodes ofseason four. So all I had was
the information of writer's room Gordon Ford, and obviously I didn't even know who

(16:56):
Gordon Ford. Was because it wasn'tuntil like episode two or three or four
where they're watching I think the Masalsor the Lesman's are watching Going Forward on
TV, and then all of asudden, you know, Sophie Lennon gets
on the show and there's my carand you know, the stage Delhi and
all this stuff. And so Ihad a surmise based on my knowledge of

(17:21):
the entire series what happens, andI know from previous seasons. Each season
has its own little vignette of likethe cats skills, or they're going on
tour, or she's you know,doing you know, radio ads, and
you know, like she has tomake money other you know, at the
burlesque house because she can't, youknow, she's not getting booked anywhere else.

(17:44):
So I basically had to put twoin two and two and three and
you know, the square root offive together and figure out how it's gonna
work, and you know, readthe other breakdowns. Luckily I had a
friend helped. You know. Theway I found out about it from LA
was in New York. They werecasting people in New York and I'm in

(18:06):
LA and so a friend of minewas auditioning and he asked me to work
on the sides with him. Andso here I am reading Alvin and the
other characters and he's reading one ofthe one of the writers. I am
doing the lines. I'm like,you know, this is reminded me of
like college when I was doing NeilSimon. It just feels like I grew

(18:27):
up right by Brighton Beach. I'mlike, this character feels like and the
way Amy and Dan right, itfeels like that energy and that this show
is very much like that. Alot of the characters, Michael's Egan is
like straight out of a Neil Simonshow totally. I mean, like I
don't share that. I share thatlove of Neil Simon Austin. It was

(18:47):
one of the first plays that Iever did was Brighton Beach Memoirs. And
I know that that was. Yeah, so when I talk about Neil Simon,
it's it's Brighton Beach Memoirs specifically.Um. But you know, when
I grew up, Matthew Broddick wasBlocks of Blues, Jason um who was

(19:08):
Brighton Beach Memoirs. It was amovie, but I saw lost in Yonkers
on Broadway. You know, likethis is you know, this is something
you know, I feel like otherthan when I got older and John Patrick
Shanley, you know, that kindof writing felt like me speaking, or

(19:29):
at least I could speak that languageof that playwright. It felt the same
way. Whereas like all I hadto do is say their words and live
in the given circumstances and you know, go with it and the jokes were
there. I didn't have to likedo what you do a lot with you
know, TV and film is youget these you know, the scripts that
are comedies and you're like, allright, I gotta make this funny because

(19:53):
it's it's it's okay, but um, you know, and and the same
thing with Amy and Dan. It'slike you just gotta play it. You
gotta keep on tempo. You gottalike, you know, pick up the
cues and hit the right you know, hit the right you know, balance
of like almost like musicality, right, I said, it's like a musical
without the you know, the songs. So um yeah. So you said

(20:18):
you were reading with your friend whowas auditioning. And then how did you
come to audition where you just sentthe sides like from your did you just
contact your agent and say, hey, this is something I want to I
want to try to get go outfor my friend and co writer Dave Mallback.
I have to shout him out becausewithout him asking me to help him
with the sides. And he knewhe had auditioned before, but he also
knew that I was a fan ofthe show and um and we work on

(20:41):
auditions together, and so he calledme. I was like, you know,
you want to jump on a zoomand I need to work on this.
I'm gonna tape tomorrow. It's duetomorrow. And I got on.
It was like a Thursday Wednesday nightand it was due on Thursday, and
we went over it. I'm like, oh my god, this is like,
uh can I you know, doI have your permission to like ask

(21:04):
my agents because I have to getsides for Alvin. He has sides for
another character. They're not the sameside, same scenes, but certain lines
are cut out, like certain pages, you know. So it was just
so it was Alvin that you readfor just Alvin. It wasn't like an
like mel or something, and Ichose Alvin. I chose Alvin. Like
and this is like again, whatI was going back to before is like

(21:26):
culminating of all these like all theseself tapes I'd done over the pandemic,
so many close calls, but alsolike not knowing, not being in the
room and just sending it out thereand like feeling like I'm doing good work
and um and in the same way, I you know, like this is
this might be news, but um, you know, I I thought I

(21:48):
had it, Like I was likeI got this, oh yeah, And
then I got word that they're goinga different way, right, they were
going a different way with Alvin,And I was like my agents and my
manager and were like really, Imean like I don't get it, Like
I don't know what the thing was, and I think they may have had
someone in mind that ultimately couldn't doit. And then a week or two

(22:12):
later, I got a call thatit was a live zoom with Amy and
Dan the next day, and theywere like, there's five scenes for the
first audition, eight scenes for thecallback, and I think I got the
information or the new sides at likethree or four on the Tuesday, and

(22:32):
the live zoom was at noon orone on the next day. That's how
it goes. So yes, crazy, but you was it was it was
meant to be so and and likeyou said, you know, when it's
meant to be. It doesn't feellike a reach, it doesn't feel like
a strike. I just feels likeit was in you and it was your
You knew it was your part,it was your role. I love that.
That's awesome. All right. Wegot another question from Denise Chamberlain on

(22:56):
Facebook. She asks did you havedid you all have fully formed stories for
your characters or did you just likedrop, you know, drop into the
role and go like, how wasformulating the backstory among you know, you
and all the other actors in thewriter's room. I well, I credit
the chemistry and everyone everyone's you know, I credit the chemistry that we had

(23:19):
in that room. And just fromday one even we did an ice skating
rehearsal at Skyrink in New York,and it was just like half the people
knew each other from before. Iworked with Eddie before, Lucas, worked
with Michael Josh, worked with everyoneon Broadway, you know, and knew
Jason Ralph and it was just likeall these things coming together. And then

(23:47):
the casting, you know, thecasting's ability to kind of see people and
know people's work and you know,kind of create a puzzle that fits together
and work together. The one ofthe funny things, the un unspoken uh
things that we talked about because wedidn't get last names until the finale episode.

(24:11):
Uh so you'll have to ask LucasKavner, who's the writer, the
actual writer of the group that wrotefor a late night talk show. Um,
So, a lot of questions wehad about like what you know,
how it goes? You know,he answered, because he had done that
before. Um and the you knowMichael Michael also as a writer too,
so you know w GA members andobviously nothing nothing happens without them, and

(24:37):
um so, uh sorry that wasa beat from my car um. We're
shut off in twenty four seconds,my car um, just so you know,
uh edit out and uh So hecame up with all the Lucas came
up with all the last names ofthe characters. And then when we found
it out, we're like, oh, I think like Lucas is better.

(25:03):
But yeah, like when I gotthe thing, because again I had very
okay so when I got the Sowhen I got when I got the audition
and hadn't seen all of season fourand didn't know much information, I didn't
have the whole script yes, Ihad maybe twenty twenty five pages of it,
so I could like look at whatwas crossed out and like other stuff.

(25:26):
I got some information, and Ijust knew that he was the head
writer of a late night talk showand it was around, you know,
nineteen sixty nineteen sixty one, becausethat's where the last season left off,
and I knew from that first episodeit picks up right you know, you
know, right after that, likeat least of season four. I didn't

(25:49):
know about season five. So likeseason four, she's dropped off at the
like she's you know, left atthe tarmac, and then it picks up
right after that. So I lookedup anything I could find on like all
the people, all the writers ofthe Sid Caesar Show, because I talk
about it. My character worked onSid Caesar, so I know all these

(26:11):
people's names. I looked up allthose guys. I looked up as much
videos because I had seen, youknow, tons of mel Brooks movies.
I know, obviously know who melBrooks was. I had watched Carl Reiner
on Sid Caesar and know of himfrom the Dick Van Dyke Show and the
you know the kind of great clipsfrom that. So I looked up that
stuff. I watched the old youknow, Dick Van Dyke because Carl Reiner

(26:36):
was the head writer of the DickVan Dyke Show. He actually wrote the
pilot that he was in that didn'tgo that got he got replaced as his
own as a writer. She gotreplaced by Dick Van Dyke. Yeah.
Yeah, it's a crazy it's acrazy stories about one night show, oh
totally. And you know, likeI had remembered because he had interviews where

(26:59):
he talked actually doing like pretty muchevery episode for a long time. And
they also the Dick Vandier had alady writer in it. Um also Sid
Caesar had a lady writer in itin nineteen fifty five or fifty six,
when that show is going on midfifties. So you know, Midge was

(27:19):
not the first of her time,but it was starting to be a thing.
And so it was like understanding howwriters would work, what was the
chemistry between the writers, watching interviewsthey had They had like reunion specials of
the Sid Caesar writers that I watchedwith Mel Token, who was the head
writer of the Sid Caesar show.And so between Mel and Mel Token and

(27:44):
Um and uh, Carl Reiner,I kind of like said somewhere in those
like I'm bald like har Rider,and uh, you know, I'm a
little uh you know, chubby likemel Token and and so between those two,
I could, you know, likefind the balance of who I am

(28:07):
as Alvin and you know a lotof the kind of period work, the
period piece you know of that time, knowing what the difference between the writer's
room I'm familiar with and all mywriter friends that are like you know,
sidcoms and you know, dramas andthe way writers rooms function now it's a
whole different thing for a late nightwriter's room and then a whole different thing

(28:30):
for a writer's room in the nineteenyou know, early sixties, right,
yeah, Yeah, And that wassomething else I had I was curious about,
just while we're on the topic,like, was there was it super
challenging falling into a period piece likein the sixties. What was like the
biggest challenge or or was there none? I mean, what was it like
to prepare for to specifically do asixties period piece? Well, you know,

(28:56):
I think I've done I've Joe aboutthe pandemic because all of a sudden
I started doing uh every different projectwas a different decade of the twenty first
century or the twentieth century. Souh, it was like I think I
did a project in eight different decades. Like so I'm just standing the difference

(29:21):
between like American you know, howAmericans talked, you know, in the
forties versus the fifties versus sixties.Um what um? I think always for
me, like with dramatic stuff,I have a you know, usually a
playlist that I play for like,you know, stuff that's not as um,
upbeat and stuff. So I'll listento certain songs and you know,

(29:45):
usually I let it kind of shuffleand I have my own kind of energy.
Sorry there's sirens around, but couldyou hear that? Or no?
Yeah, you're okay, great.Um. So I usually have a playlist
for like the more dramatic stuff andlike can the little more method acting type
stuff. But I always find ithelpful. I did a bit apart on

(30:11):
Winning Time on HBO that took place. You know, it's about basketball,
the Lakers in the late nineteen seventiesand early eighties. So what I did
was I looked up the for nineteenseventy nine, the you know, the
hits of nineteen seventy nine, andI know some of those songs, but
it's like you have to know whatthe what the sounds were and what like

(30:36):
the energy was at that time.Similar I did the same thing for nineteen
sixty and also with other comedies onyou know, like car fifty four,
Where are You? Like, youknow, you know, you're talking about
a time when the Ed Sullivan Showwasn't even around, you know yet,
So it's like you can't watch EdSullivan, you watch Dick van Dyke,

(30:59):
you know, you could watch stuffof the past, like I Love Lucy
and the Honeymooners, and you know, like you have a sense of how
comedy was then. And yeah,one of the things one of the things
that struck me the most when Istarted to listen to your interviews of just
you as Austin is how different yousound from you know. It's always a
like I'm an actor myself. Iknow that, like your voice just naturally

(31:21):
changes when you get into character,Like everyone is always marveling, marveling at
Rachel Brosenhan and how she just soundsso different when she's Midge and when she's
Rachel, you know, And thatwas the thing that I was like,
oh my god, Austin, hetalks like I never expected you to have
the voice that you that you havenaturally, you know, because I really
do fall into that, you know, Palladino click, you know, and

(31:42):
you naturally speak at you know,a slower, more relaxed pace, so
completely like I am a I ama slug sloth, Like you know,
if I superpower would be faster likeget get places on time. Um,
So I had to really rev upmy engine to be at that level.
And and know that Midge, whotalks fast already, is coming into a

(32:07):
room where she's overwhelmed. So it'slike I knew I had to be responsible
for that. And Dan and Amywere very clear with like, you know,
you know, they would always like, let's mazel it up, like
let's you know, let's see youknow, and that's the loud or funnier.
That's something that we've talked about aton on the podcast is just you

(32:30):
know, how overwhelming it could beto get those scripts and know the expectations
that Dan and Amy have. Socan you give us an idea of,
you know, how much direction dothey give you guys on set? What
is it like working with them.Well, I I'll have to say that

(32:52):
the writing, in the writing itselfis direction. So when I studied Shakespeare,
I had a classics teacher at theActor Studio, Doug Moston, who
was a self taught Shakespeare scholar,and his whole gimmick was that. And
this is true about a lot ofscripts. But the best writing will give

(33:15):
you clues and direction in the writing, in the words, in the choice
of words, in the punctuation.And so you know, knowing that and
kind of approaching modern material with thatsame like mindset scripts like Dan and Amy's

(33:36):
art Shakespearean in a sense, andyou have to like just like commit fully
to it, and you can't speedup the pace unless you know the beats
and the shifts that happen. Soit's like really important to kind of you
know, have those you know,those beats and those scripts broken down so

(33:59):
that when you get to set,you know half their job is done or
most of their job is done,honestly, because no, I'm not going
to say, oh, they're betterwriters than they are directors, but you
know, there's it's you know,like it's never an equal thing. You
know. It's like I would saythey fancy themselves writers first, and then

(34:20):
they direct it because you know theyyeah, yeah, yeah, it's totally
there. It's like you say,everything is baked into the writings so and
and and it's so you know,you have to be so word perfect,
and the Palladinos are really like outstandingin that capacity. And actors always talk
about how um it demanding, buthow rewarding it feels to work in on

(34:45):
a project like that that's so specificthat it that it no one else could
possibly touch this but the people whowrote it, you know, yeah,
because your job is like you know, like a lot of your job is
done for you. Like I wassaying, like when I get scripts and
I have to make a joke funI mean it's like, why isn't it
Why isn't it funny already? Likelike I'm an actor, Like I'm not

(35:06):
a comedian, Like all I wantto do is do the work, you
know, like do do the lines, commit to the circumstances and to the
character um and how the character talks, and the jokes will be there and
the you know, the best writinghappens like that. And so you know,
when we get to situations where Danand Amir on set directing, and

(35:29):
they've kind of like you know,taken off the writers out and put on
the directors, you know, BeretUh they they uh, I've never met
anyone more perfectionists than I am.And they are right, like they are

(35:52):
perfectionists. Um. And it's nota like it's not like an established goal.
It's like it's something that evolves overthe course of shooting it. And
I think like when they write it, they have something in mind, and

(36:13):
then when everything shooting, and theyhave an idea of like we rehearse,
we do the lines, we youknow, always go through you know a
lot of time, especially for thebigger shots. That's like let's say,
you know, two to four pageone shot where that's the only shot that
is going to like be that scenebecause there's no cutaways, like it has

(36:37):
to be perfect, and there's usuallynever less than at least thirteen to fifteen
takes of that shot. And beforewe do that, there's probably two hours
of rehearsal, whereas most sets maybeless than twenty minutes to a half hour
of rehearsal before they set up lighting, you know it. And the perfectionism

(36:59):
is not just the acting, it'sa combination of the acting, the movement,
the writing, the camera work them, the musicality of it. So,
um, there are a couple ofdifferent shots that like to me,
at least as a as an assomeone who appreciates the show and loves the

(37:20):
you know kind of energy and themovement of it. Uh, was just
amazed to see it like how itwas made from the other side and to
kind of like, um, peoplesay that, like as an actor,
it's hard to watch stuff act youknow kind of how it's done right,
how shots are set up, youknow, but when it works, you're

(37:42):
like, you you know that thoseare two different setups. It's not like
someone's not on a close up anda wide and the same shot. And
so if they're doing like you know, like someone's like crying and then they're
like crying in that shot and thenyou know, you see in another shot
it's like they've cried every tape,you know, or they do something funny
and it's like you're like, it'skind of amazing, you know, And

(38:05):
so um, the you know,when they set up those long shots,
it's like finding out a collaboration betweenthe camera the actors, and like sometimes
they'll get ideas halfway through we've gottenit down. It's not take number eight.
We're like, that was it.She has an idea, you know,

(38:27):
Amy has an idea, and thensomeone runs through the camera and it
could be as it could be ablocking thing with a background actor, you
know, of wiping the frame.Like there was one shot that Dan did
in the first our first episode whereit was in all the trailers where Josh
Grissetti says it's showtime, you know, like Eddie, you know, so

(38:50):
Ralph says it showtime and and Adamis running down the hallway because his parents
were there. Um, so we'retalking about a two story set, and
it took all morning to do thatone shot. I think it's like a
page or a page and a half. But everyone in that scene, every
single person, almost everyone except likeGordon and maybe my car have a line.

(39:13):
So it's like a shared collaboration andall movement, right, And so
it's like Dan was setting it upand Amy came to like kind of help
with this because she loves and she'svery you know, oh yes, the
movement is a thing, and she'svery like intuitive about these things and like

(39:34):
the establishing thing of finding something toget to see Gordon coming out, Like
the first line is, um,he's moving or like he's you know,
Gordon's moving, Gordon's out of theofficer, like I think Trudy says that.
So it's like, how do youget Midge in the shot, Trudy
in the shot, and then Gordoncoming out in time. So it was

(40:00):
a combination of using Midge hearing likeseeing Mage coming around Midge, seeing Trudy
right when you right when she seesGordon he's coming, and then popping up
as Midge turns. And it waslike we did so many takes where it
was just a matter of those threeparts and that was the first two lines

(40:21):
of the or one line of thething, but three actors had to be
included in that one shot. Andthen yeah, and then it was like
I had the last line, soit was like me getting my line right
before I get off camera, andyou know, being on camera for the
it was like a whole thing.Um, you should watch David Mullen the

(40:42):
DP of finale. There's a yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a behind
the scenes thing of like it waslike I'm so like proud to be part
of that like one shot because iteveryone in the cast was in that shot.
You know, everyone in the cast. It's a four page scene,

(41:04):
I mean, needless to say,the whole Gordon Ford Show part was twenty
pages that we shot in the lastweek and it was just everyone was included
in it, and that one establishingshot locked off four pages. So that
is a lot of a lot ofwork for a little less time. So
it's like everyone needs to be onit, but you actually take less time

(41:29):
doing that than you do trying toget everyone's coverage in this wide, crazy
shot. You would have had todo all these different setups from behind the
stage, you know, in frontof in the audience, then in the
office. Like that's three different setsor locations that you would have had to
like do setups, and they itjust makes it easier when you're like have

(41:51):
gifted actors and technicians and writing thatflows, and they they create technology to
do these shots, like right right, it's amazing, it's it's really Jim
mccoppy. Yeah, it's one thinglike I went down a rabbit hole with
all those behind the scene camera workvideos that have been posted and shared.

(42:16):
Listeners will link will link it allagain in the show notes in care first
time We like to make that stuffas easy to find as possible, because
you need everyone needs to watch thisstuff. You have to. Well,
I think it shows. It's likethere's this perfect storm almost of talented writers,
actors, like the camera work thatyou know, I don't know,

(42:37):
like I still get goosebumps just lookingat it sometimes because it worked so well
and it created something so special thatwell, and you know, I want
to go Washton. Yeah right,it's you can watch it over and over
again. We always say that wereally would love a whole documentary just on
behind the scenes with David Mullen andlike how he does the just inhuman things

(43:00):
that he accomplishes. It's incredible.The team of just camera operators alone.
I think you guys have like somethinglike an eleven person camera crew, like
at a minimum, and that's justmind boggling. And I was just gonna
say, like I'm listening to youtalk, and as a fellow theater lady,
you know, I can only imaginehow rewarding it must be to work
on a show like this, becauseit's like you get to exercise that muscle

(43:22):
that you grew to be so strongwhen you were just starting out as an
actor, and it's got it?Does it? Does it just keep continuously
reminding you of like why you loveacting getting to do stuff like this.
Yeah, I mean it's also liketest your skills at a level life.
I've been doing TV and film forlike twenty years and want to get back

(43:43):
into theater. But you know,this show, it was kind of like
that if I do theater after this, I am I am well prepared to
do that, Souff because it's like, you know, it's one thing to
do a two hour play, youknow, because I've done certain plays where
like whole acts are like an hourand a half where I'm on stage like

(44:05):
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Yeah. Yeah, it's like you're on stage for an
hour and a half and like literallythe characters are trapped on stage. And
so to me, it's like,you know, it's such a different thing
because theater is a is a verylive, imperfect science. But when it

(44:27):
when it works, it it's magical, right because of that thing because you're
in the same room, You're inthe room where it happened, you know,
so and so in in in infilm, when you have people that
are used to for the most parthalf a page two page scenes, and

(44:50):
if it's longer, it's usually betweenonly a couple of people or in a
courtroom. So they're like the camerasare like sedentary, you know, but
it like to me, it's like, you know, I screwed up a
take at a very at the veryend that still haunts me to this day.
Guys started annoying everyone because I waslike, well, I texted,

(45:14):
we have a text Gordon Forward BFFforever, like you know, Gordon Forward
bfs um, and so we allhad this text thread. And it's funny
because at first Rachel wasn't on itbecause she, you know, like she
does the whole show and she Idon't know, like she doesn't have time

(45:35):
to text. And and then shesaw us kind of texting and laughing and
like doing all this stuff. She'slike, do you guys have a te
what's going on? Like ad meadd me to the thread. You know.
It's like I want to talk aboutlike ketchup and mustard and you know,
all this stuff. And so I'mlike, okay, uh but uh
and then we like someone put itlike we've got a picture. It's amazing.

(45:57):
But I kept like after that takeafter that day, I like,
I literally route an apology letter.I'm like, guys, I know we
had it. I screwed it upat like finish line. It was like
two or three lines from the end, and so the tough part it was
like I would say, it wasa three and a half page one er,
and I come in and I wasintimidated by Amy. Two is the

(46:22):
first episode. We were being directedby her sou and you know, it
wasn't the first scene, but itwas a bigger scene of that thing,
establishing the office the day after thegordon Ford celebration on the ice with being
number one, so everyone was hungover, and it was you know, She's
like, we're just going to doit in a one er and the hair

(46:45):
of the dog, the whole,you know, like drinking the things.
So it was a lot of alot of props, a lot of movement,
and a lot of background and allthe gordon Ford people like except gordon
Ford, you know. So Icame in at page three and we had
rehearsed it. It's all down,you know, and then there's a timing

(47:07):
when the cameras come in. Sowe'd done it without the cameras for like
two hours we got it down andthen the cameras come in and you start
like figuring out the exact way youwant it to, you know, or
she wants it to look right.So who the camera follows? Are they
on their front back? You know, spinning around and all this stuff.

(47:28):
And so to the point where Ihad to be at a certain level and
watch a video monitor so I knewwhen the camera was pointed away and then
move into position so that I wason camera from my line, so that
like when when the Q line happens, I step in and you the camera
whips around and I say my firstline and I don't know where the camera

(47:52):
is like at that point, butI know when the line happens, that's
bringing the camera over and I justgo about my blocking, you know.
So basically we've done it like eighttimes or nine times, I think,
and it was like, you know, like you know, we were all
like I think that was it.I think that was it. And mind
you, we had to drink thehair of the dog and it was not

(48:15):
it wasn't a raw egg and Worcestershireand all that stuff. It was like
I would say, this is worse. It might sound better. But it
was like mango jello and it wasit was coagulated and solidified. Michael Cyril
Creighton, who had to do iton camera multiple times because he keeps asking

(48:38):
other people for it, almost vomitedon camera. Um And I mean collaculated
as a super appetizing word. Soand if if if coagulated have a have
a taste, that's it. Likeif you see if you see it,

(48:58):
if you see the actual tape theyuse, I think it's a take that
Michael does almost throw up, sowe watch it again. That's like I
feel like that's kind of the pointof hangover remedies is just like just to
get you to puke it up,you know, just oh yeah, totally
yeah. Like if you if youget it out there, you'll you'll be
good. If you don't puke itup, you're not going to be Remember

(49:20):
what the alcohol taste? Like?Does this taste so bad? Yeah?
And like so to me it waslike we'd done this. I had to
drink it too, and it wasgetting complicated because my lines were so quick
that I didn't have time to drinkit and swallow the coagulated you know material
um uh and so uh you knowthis. One time they were like,

(49:47):
were doing it again. I waslike, we got it right, we
got it. And then it's like, all right, now we're perfecting it
because that's Amy and that there wasThis was us learning how specific and detailed
she was. And it could bea camera thing, and sometimes you think
it's an acting thing, but mostof the time it's a camera thing.
If it's an acting thing, she'llgive you direction and she'll say it right,

(50:08):
you know. So like going backto the directing thing, they only
direct you when you know they wantsomething different or like they just want it,
you know, quicker, or likea certain thing. But it's they're
hiring the people they want. Sofor the most part, it's only really
to find every little nook and crannyof the material and get it out there,

(50:30):
especially when it's not just one take. When it's one take, it's
got to be exactly perfect the waythey want it. They have to live
with that, live and die withthat one take. Right. And so
my Q line, I get it, you know, you get ready.
I see the camera turn away.I go to my like position right by

(50:51):
the door of the the you know, the the bullpen, the office.
Um not the writer's room, butthe whole office, and I'm about to
kind of go in and do thehair of the Dog, and the Q
line is hair the Dog, right, and and I say no, and
I take it anyway or something likeThat's I forget exactly what my line was,

(51:13):
so I knew the line was comingup. And then there was a
slight kind of pause. And it'sso specific that it's just so little that
anything that throws you off it isa whole different thing. Because we had
it oiled and it was like happening. It was smooth, and then all
of a sudden there was this likebeat of pause before hair of the Dog,

(51:34):
and I can't move. So I'mlike about to move and I can't
move until that happens. So ithappens, and I'm like, oh,
it like happened, and so Iwas catching up. I was playing catchup
right away, and I'm like almostlike in the room and like taking the
thing, and I had to turnto the camera and so all my lines

(51:54):
were like I was like hoping theycame, hoping they came, and sometimes
they don't. And so first linecame major gives it back. How could
you be so like, you know, happy in the morning, you know,
today or whatever. And I haveto get to a spot where as
it happened, and as it kindof muscle memory, I sit down basically

(52:15):
on my line, and so Iknow the camera's moved around, but uh
the uh So I get to thatspot and I haven't sit down yet from
my line, so like muscle memory, I don't know what the line is.
And I sit down and it's notthere, and I had to pause

(52:37):
and I just could not and I'mlike, oh sorry, guys, like
and it's it's literally like two orthree lines from the last the end of
the scene. And I'm just like, oh my god, So you pulled
you pulled an a pause, youwrote it. You wrote an apology.
I did, right, exactly,an apology like, uh, you know,

(53:00):
opus to hum to basically, youknow, they at least maintain some
sort of you know, dignity metrying to impress amy. Yeah, yeah,
right, God, I mean thepressure I can only imagine as an
actor. I can. I mean, it sounds like a dream, but

(53:22):
I can only imagine. And it'sso funny because when you're in the other
position, when you're the other actorexperiencing, you know, the watching someone
kind of drop a line or messup a take. It's like, dude,
it's totally fine, we all doit. But when it's you,
you're like, I'm so sorry,I've everything. You'll never work with me
again, Please forgive me. Ican do better. You know, I

(53:43):
know totally what that's like. Andspecially on a show like this, you
know, right, yeah, anda show like this. It's just everything
you're saying is just reminding me,just to you know, the marvel I
keep using obviously, the marvelous missusmeans a good words like it's good.
Yeah, It's just it's so appropriatebecause you know, it's notoriously difficult to
shoot a play on film. It'swhy it you know, plays or for

(54:05):
stage, you know. But whatI think that this show does is,
I'm sure you agree, Austin,is it's truly like a play on film.
It's true. It's so theatrical,it's it's almost I mean, I
can only imagine what it's like,what a feat it is. I think
that's why it attracts all of thetheater nerds. But so many fans of
this show are also in the theater, you know, like all of us,

(54:29):
and I think that's not a coincidence, Like you pick up on that,
like you were mentioning earlier, thatmagic when you get it right in
the theater, and I think thatcomes through on this show too, and
it just makes it that much morecompelling to watch. Absolutely. We have
a couple more questions from our ourlisteners. All right, so do doc

(54:52):
World film on Instagram asks what wasyour favorite line you got to deliver this
season, the one that made theshow most of the time. Like you
were saying before, it's word perfect. Even in the audition, they're like,
no improv word perfect. So that'sdefinitely harder on an audition, But

(55:13):
when you're on set, there's ascript supervisor and then a script a dialogue
person that literally comes around to everyoneand corrects them. So I remember Hanker's
aria was like on set and hesaid, I don't know if this is

(55:34):
the right thing, but it's thisspecific is like his line was you aren't
and he said you're not. Inthe take and the dialogue Jodi came over
and said, it's you aren't.You said you're not like or whatever,
like it's you know, because they'rethe same, you are not, So

(55:54):
you cant say you are you're not, or you aren't, and he said
the wrong thing and he got correctand he's like seriously, she was like,
yeah, that was a New YorkMets fans. Um. So I
guess Alvin's like most kind of Iguess known word, especially since Midge like

(56:22):
try to say it at the end. Is the twenty and one you know,
twenty and one um? Also becausethat was a concept I didn't know.
And I heard from my writer friendwho used to work on David Letterman.
He said that bus PTSD back hshrut back traumatic memories of that,

(56:44):
the joke clock ticking um in inhis job. And there's another and this
is this is the brilliance of Amyand Dan and also in general film and
TV versus theater. There was awhole scene in the finale of Midge coming

(57:05):
into the writer's room in her likeunderwear, you know, and so we
all have a thing. She's tellingus things, you know, like and
I think I say, she's likegoing off like she usually does, and
we're just staring and we're just like, you know, mouth the gape,
and I think I had the firstline and it was like, um,
is she saying something or like didshe like, um, did she say

(57:30):
something? She is she talking right? Like like it was all about like
not paying attention and being like oddand then one take we just have like
or the next one of the nextdrafts was like and we played it.
It was funny in the table read, and then in the next draft or
one of the next drafts, itwas just us gawking at the window.

(57:53):
And it just worked better because allthat like in one thing and with no
dialogue, you know, like shejust turns and we're just like, you
know, like and they they it'slike about editing and refining and you know,

(58:13):
the some of the scenes with Midgeand and Susie, you know,
there was like double white pages,which is crazy, like you know,
they got around to double doubles likeit. You know, that's they went
through every color of the rewrite scriptsand went through them again. So it
was like, you know, certainscripts, I was like, I'm not
reading this because it has nothing todo with me, and I'd rather watch

(58:36):
it live on you know, youknow how that last little bit would be,
how that first scene would be,um, and those things go through
tons of rewrites. A lot ofour scenes were just like either it's whittled
down or you know, someone's linegets goes to someone else. Um.
Yeah, so twenty and one andif I would have gotten to say that,

(58:57):
it would have been me. Umshe awesome. Yeah, I love
it. I love the end ofthe end of that moment too, where
where Michael Creighton just like lingers andjust like stares out stars her down again.
That was Amy saying let's do onemore and Michael, you just hold

(59:17):
for a sec and he did,and he did the rest, you know,
he did. He so effective.Were there any other moments that you
got directed to do something just onthe fly by amyir Dan and when you
did something that maybe inspired them togo, actually, you know what more
of that? Anything you can?Um? Yeah, I think I was.

(59:42):
I think And I don't know ifthis was intentional, but it's like
I always thought of Alvin as likereally serious about comedy and everyone else is
the joke. The comedy comes fromthem. He's a straight man, which
is the hardest thing to do incomedy. Right, He's a straight man,
and he he's the he's them,the commander of the leader. Yeah

(01:00:06):
right, and so he has toyou know, crack the whip when he
needs to and then kind of likelike speed things up and like reprimand people
when it's necessary, and you know, like there was something that I was
playing early on and then I thinkI was having so much fun that I
let go because it was different.I mean, I guess we became number

(01:00:29):
one, so the pressure was alittle off. But the idea that he
like Alvin rarely smiled, like becausethey would have everyone laugh, and I'm
like, I don't think Alvin wouldlaugh. He's not a lad, a
joke lapper. He's like a jokethinker. And then he So I think
I made that choice, and Ithink Dan like took to it and was

(01:00:50):
very much like, uh, youknow, like I think he's you know,
uh, you know, this islike in the shore is the first
time you see you know, likewhen he laughed said the joke that Mel
says about his wife, you knowtook like, you know, it took
us a little while, but wegot it there. Um and he's like,
that's what Alvin's wife said to himon his weather now, and that's

(01:01:12):
like that's kind of like the firsttime he laughed. So I kind of
made the choice, and that waswhat Dan said. So I kind of
made the choice that he doesn't reallynothing's really he doesn't let down his guards,
nothing's funny until or he doesn't smileuntil the show starts and he's done
his job, you know. Andthe other the other thing too. That

(01:01:32):
worked out well. And I alwayslike resist something sometimes but that's just natural
tension, and I think it workssometimes better for the character. But um,
he really wanted me to go overthe top with the shift to beat.
When I first get introduced, umas you know, like she comes

(01:01:53):
into the room and I'm talking aboutmel Brooks, um, and they were
like here it comes, you know, and it's like, you know,
he walks in the room and it'slike, you know, like, um,
I figure out what exactly when Isay. But you know, I've
been watching the tape so much becauseI'm trying to edit and whittle it down
to like a sizzle reel for Alvin. But it's so hard because everything so

(01:02:15):
quickly, you know, like ithappened so quick, and the editing so
quick and seamless that I have tolike find seems to cut and exactly know.
But yeah, like he you know, he says something to the effect
of thing, my car just wenton, but um, let me shut
it off. Um. He sayssomething like, uh, you know Melos

(01:02:36):
on season with me. I haveno problem with mel Brooks. I like
mel Brooks. Mel Brooks is funny. And then he wanted me to go
really as big as possible with helikes air, you know. Yeah,
and so I was like, youknow, like I was like hesitant to
go that big and that broad.Um, but for the most part it
was off camera, but I wentreally big with it. And and it

(01:03:00):
was like right when Amy walked behindthe moteler and I was like, I
know Amy's here and this is theend of the day and she's watching my
coverage because they went around the room. My god, So like this is
the moment do or die. Herewe go like this is my day.
This is my day that has provedmy word. They're like, you know,

(01:03:22):
I love that. I love thosemoments when, like, as an
actor, your coverage comes at likethe worst possible time. It's like and
it's always that way, isn't it, Austin. It's always like, why
couldn't my coverage happen an hour before? Yeah, Like all of a sudden,
something happens with your body or theweather or the atmosphere. Something goes
on and it's like, okay andAustin time for your coverage. It's like,
why, okay, great, I'mready, here we go. I've

(01:03:44):
got this. Yeah, I loveit. They did someone's coverage couple like
um I think Mella and uh cecilso like Michael and Lucas. They did
their coverage at one point in theroom right after lunch, and they were
like for the rest of the shoot, they were like, I wish we
can do it again. I wishwe could have that coverage back, because

(01:04:05):
it was just like we you know, because as it went around, it
could started warming up and everyone wascooking, and like, you know,
by the time it got around tome, I knew the thing and I
could have some fun with it.And here they were the first people and
I'm the last, and you know, I got a chance to kind of
have fun with it. And theywere just trying to work against the digestive,

(01:04:29):
you know, the digestive duldrums ofyou know, a very good meal
that you know, Amazon Prime Videoprovided. I will say, we got
a ton of questions about, youknow, and comments about it looking like
you guys had so much fun onset. I know, Janelle Holmes said,
where things as funny on set asthey were on the show, And

(01:04:51):
then Doodle Dumb for seven to oneon Instagram mentioned, you know, we
never got to see any blooper reelsor anything like that, and they wanted
to know if there were any bloopersor mishaps or you know, funny things
during your time on set that youcould share with us. Yeah, like,
obviously might screw up of that onething. But I think with the

(01:05:13):
bloopers stuff, it, you know, like everyone takes it like seriously,
and especially when we do those steadycam Wanner shots. A guy's carrying a
sixty pound camera like everyone, soit's not like we're doing them intentionally.
And at some some shows you kindof screw around sometimes. And we had
so much time hanging around on setthat what I think worked for the energy

(01:05:39):
and the chemistry is that we hadfun doing it, but also spending time
together on set, and so thatfun and levity and you know, guess
camaraderie spilled over into the material andI feel like, you know, people

(01:06:00):
got you know, there was likesometimes it certain people got teased, you
know, like obviously Alvin gets teasedere then you know, they're teasing Mail
about his hangover, like you know, is that the new perfume from Johnny
Walker or like like or like thenew cologne. That was one of my
favorite lines. Yeah, and Lucasusually get he usually gets a couple of

(01:06:21):
my favorite lines. Uh that cecilUm Yeah, but yeah Adam uh Eddie
did have a great line in Iforget what it was, but it was
one of those lines that was cutout of that underwear scene, and I
was like, oh my god,it's such a shame to lose that amazing

(01:06:43):
line. You know. Yeah,we'll ever do you think they'll ever come
out with blooper reels like have youdid you guys ever ask about it or
like deleted scenes or anything like that, because we the deleted scenes would be
yeah, yeah, yeah, youknow what. I think they spend so
long on the scripts that there aren'tmany scenes that are totally deleted that happened

(01:07:05):
before they film it, because theyuse every ounce of time that they can
to film this stuff. And sowhen guys just talk faster, we got
to fit this in. Come on, no right? Yeah, yeah,
yeah exactly, Like and also theydon't have a timeline. There's not like
forty one and a half minutes,because you have to have you know,
commercial time, you know, ona network. It's streaming, so they're

(01:07:30):
able to do an hour and fifteenminute finale or a forty five minute episode
and then another fifty five minute episode, and I think they're consistently almost an
hour. So we're talking about eightypage scripts, you know, so eighty
pages in forty five fifty five minutes, so at least twenty to thirty pages

(01:07:55):
cut off, meaning you say itquicker. It's like a page. It's
a four five seconds per page,not a minute per page. And then
the finale was like one hundred andtwenty pages or one hundred and thirty pages,
and I'm like, oh my god, they're going big with this one.
So I was like really curious,and it was like, you know,
again, twenty to thirty pages ortwenty to thirty minutes, less than

(01:08:18):
what you would think a minute perpages, you know, if it's like
one hundred and thirty you know,or one hundred and twenty minutes an hour
and a half. So it wasI think one ten because they had you
know, the emotional kind of beats. But yeah, like the blooper reel
is like, I don't know whythis didn't happen earlier, but we all

(01:08:41):
were like, oh my god,if this was like this the whole time,
it may have gotten crazy because Amywas loose, she was having fun.
She was directing that last episode.Yes, the last dight was like
fourteen hours, and she didn't wantto let go, and it was just
like she just kept going like therewould be I don't know how many times
she made Rachel do the did thatthing, but it was a good two

(01:09:04):
or three days just for that monologue, um, just for the four minutes
um. And so she started allowingus to like improv right, so we
were we were screwing around. Solike even in the finale, like uh
Ralphie or uh Josh would always havea prop. He had binoculars. He

(01:09:29):
started with like he had a youknow, cards in front of him.
Then all of a sudden he hadlike a view master. Then he had
a big like one of the scenes, he has like a big like mallet,
you know, in the scenes,just just sitting there with the mallet
like no other reason for it.Just as like you know, psych gag
um and stick. Yeah. Andthen earlier, you know, we took

(01:09:51):
a picture one of the ones Isent you, I made as I blew
it up and I sent it toeverybody that was like the U kind of
like my rap gift was that framedor like fake framed photo of the Gordon
Ford writers with everyone in the blackand white and like, you know,
I made it look like those oldphotos that I looked up when I was

(01:10:11):
first doing research, and you knowthat all those guys and they would all
do silly stuff sometimes, like youknow, like standing on desks and you
know, all that stuff starts likelet's do it. And I said,
I don't know if I said itor like we had a fun picture.
We took normal one and then wewere like let's let's do let's pick up
a practice. So many props inthere and the set set deck department and

(01:10:33):
the props department is so good thatit's just like and the set design,
it's just amazing that you want touse as much things Like I was reading
a Playboy one of the episodes.I don't know if you really saw it,
but it's like there's a Playboy sittingon there and it's like, you
know, magazine with an article aboutj. JFK. And so we did

(01:10:56):
a prop photo where it's like allthese different things and there are so many
different horns like around the room,or like things that make noise, like
a slapstick and like you know,a literal snapstick. You know, there
was actually a thing that you dothis and it slaps and it's an actual
slapstick. So there was horns,and we had discovered all these props earlier

(01:11:17):
on and at one point we werejust bored sitting in the writer's room.
Like Amy talked about, we actuallydid hang out in the writer's room because
early on we had other places tohang and it was too cold in there.
The draft came in and it wasjust like it was cold. It
was winter, and so when weshot outside it rock fell. It was

(01:11:39):
like the end of winter and it'sfreezing, and so we're like in a
room now freezing, colder in thecity. So we didn't hang out in
the beginning, and then like forthe rest of the shoot, we hung
out in that room and we wouldjust like start reading the books. And
on the last day or the lastcouple of days, we all found the
book that was appropriate for each ofus and we took a picture with it.

(01:12:01):
Um uh. And so they foundthese horns and we were just in
the rehearsal before we were like doingthat scene where um uh, Midge I
think comes in and tells us she'sdoing um she's gonna be on the show.
It's like Lucas and Josh were justdoing a scene and there's a video

(01:12:25):
of it of them like going backand forth with the horn, like one
of them was like a go andit was just like back and forth like
they were talking horn to each otherand and so they we like, Amy
was like, you want to dothe horn thing in the in the scene,
and they did it at the veryend, and then it started being

(01:12:47):
like all right, so let's wehave to do it quicker like, and
then she started being like you haveto like and a lot of her things
were just like simple and quick,like even when Dannie Stevens was you know,
like a gazarias on the show,he leaves the room. There's a
bit where um Adam, the characterAdam Eddie gets up and Midge goes,

(01:13:11):
no, right, oh yeah yeah, So it was like as soon as
he leaves, like you know,like I think Eddie was kind of like
maybe taking too much, like makingtoo big of a show of it,
and she's like, no, justget up and don't even get fully up,
and you know, Midge don't evenlook at him, just says just
say no, like you know,like that type of thing where and then
she's like no, quicker, quicker, and then they finally got it.

(01:13:34):
You know. But that's the typeof stuff. She has this image in
her mind and it happens the wayshe wanted and you know, her instincts.
Yeah, amazing, awesome. Imean, I will say, you
can tell how much you know thetalent and the chemistry that you guys had
in that writer's room. It jumpsoff the screen like I smell that.

(01:14:03):
Yes, I was every time,like I'm smiling right now, thank you
about it? Anytime there was awriter's room moment like it was just so
enjoyable to watch. Yeah, I'mgonna I might have to watch the finale
again tonight when I get home.Yeah, are you the one that watched
it four times? I think Ithink all of us have watched it.

(01:14:26):
Yeah. Oh yeah, that's crazy, yep, because yeah, you can
watch this show so many times andget something different and catch you know,
it's not only the dialogue is sofast, but there's just eye Candy everywhere.
It's such as a feast of thesenses. Yes, mister eye Candy
himself. Yes. Okay, sowe've you've done such an amazing job at

(01:14:49):
answering so many of our listeners questionsand listeners if you didn't get your questions
specifically asked, I'm sure he answeredit in some form or fashions because we've
touched on so many things. Andthank Austin for your generosity. But um,
sure we have one final question foryou. Here are typically marvelous.
We each pick our most marvelous momenteach week for every episode, so we

(01:15:10):
got to know, do you havea most marvelous moment that comes to mind?
You know, just based on yourexperience working on the show or like
as a viewer. You know,if you had to pick a most marvelous
moment for when it comes to youand missus masl what would it be?
Yes, isn't that marvelous? Well? I for like, at least in

(01:15:34):
a couple of episodes, like uh, you know, like Rachel's work is
like I think speaks for itself andso it's like to know how difficult that
is, and to see her jugglewhile on a unicycle and then do jokes
every episode. Yeah, in bothcomedy and drama is kind of amazing to

(01:16:00):
witness and to be president to kindof hopefully hang on and not fuck up
you know this podcast, but don'tworry anyway. UM right, yes,
right. If if you talk aboutJusie Morrison, you're definitely dropping f bombs.
But for Alex, there's a coupleof scenes for Alex that I just
was like just blown away at likethe depth that she she drew from UM

(01:16:29):
and uh, you know multiple episodesobviously the roast episode, UM, you
know where she's listening, you know, she doesn't say a word and she's
just listening to Midge video in UMand you know the scene with that she
has with Hetty, the scenes thatshe has with Hetty, and then also

(01:16:50):
the scene in Horn and Hard Artsthe automat Um that that you know,
she kind of outs herself. Andso for me, at least as an
actor looking at that as a vieweras a fan, when I watched the
finale, the moment that because Iknew what was about to happen and that

(01:17:12):
the show is so frenetic. There'salways music, there's always stuff going on.
You said movement, you know,like and even in this shot there
was movement, but the sound cutout. And it's even giving me chills
now. Is when she sees themicrophone and the steadicam goes around her and

(01:17:33):
you're in the studio. There's nosign of any like acting stuff, and
it just like thee the microphone comesinto focus, like she surrounds and it's
such a beautiful shot because they circlearound and then pull into the circle the

(01:17:55):
microphone and it's she's in focus,and then it racks focus on the microphone
and it's just like that. Iwas in Like I was like, I'm
sitting with my mom, I meanmy mom, my dad, and my
my wife and we're watching it inthe you know, the screening the theater,

(01:18:15):
and I knew what. I didn'twant that, like I don't want
to show it. But it wasjust like I started getting emotional. I'm
like, oh my god, orif it happening. I was like,
dude, it was so exciting.I was like I was part of this,
Like I was part of this.But it was like that silence and
that like magical moment that I knowkind of like encapsulate how this show is

(01:18:38):
shot filmed, and taking away allthe sound and making it as simple as
that just like got me. Youknow. So that was in me as
a fan, as a as aas an actor. You know Alex's work,
and you know, obviously I'm aTV Academy member, so I'll be

(01:18:59):
voting for all of them this thiscoming next week or when it voting opens
this week. There's got to beAlex. I feel Emmy like her work.
Oh yeah, That's what I'm saying, is the Emmy is that marvelous
missus masl It's going to be ineverything, everywhere, all at once,
maizel it better, I hope.So sweep sweep sweep. Yeah, it's

(01:19:26):
gonna happen. And you know,if it doesn't, like you guys have
aren't just know, like if itcomes to if us and our listeners have
anything to say about it, likeyou guys have already won the prize.
I mean, awesome, true,the true who brought us. I truly
cannot thank you enough. I'm sureI speaksolutely all of our listeners when I
say thank you, thank you somuch. Oh my God, it was
my pleasure to be a part ofthis, this this podcast, but the

(01:19:48):
show as well. And it's like, obviously, you know, to be
on a show that I love somuch and you know, dream and work
with all these amazing actors like awardwinning but also great people, and to
be part of the cast that isreally everything they say, like you know,
um, and I see other caststalk about it and you know,

(01:20:11):
other more modern shows that are likecomedies that we had great finales as well,
but like in the net, inthe course of that last weekend when
the finale aired, I saw threeof the best finales I've ever seen,
you know, finales, right,but also the season. When I look
back on the season's work, youknow, I think Succession and Masal are

(01:20:34):
we're the most ambitious and the mostcinematic and the most funny and poignant shows.
And just for that just deserved alittle recognition at least, um if
just a nomination. But all right, I'm gonna have to go see my
brother, my brothers the coach,and my depews the player. So he's

(01:20:57):
probably gonna get up now. Thankyou so great, so much fun,
best of luck with everything. Thanks, thank you so much. Bye.
Oh my god, that fantastic.That just reinvigorated my like everything for the
show, all of the passion justcame flooding back. Talking to Austin just

(01:21:20):
now, like I can't even Ican't even believe it. It's palpable.
It's palpable how much one as anactor that show means to them and how
much it gets to showcase their talentand then the talent that is involved in
the time and the intricacies of shooting, like it just makes me want to

(01:21:41):
go back and watch it all overagain. Same and it makes me just
want to like audition hard, youknow, just like get on one of
those shows so I can come andtalk to you guys about my experience.
You know, I love it.Yes, it's gonna happen, It's gonna
happen. Yeah. Oh man,it's inspiring. It's truly inspiring. Listeners,
I'm sure you are feeling exactly thesame, Like I'm on a high

(01:22:04):
right now just talking to Austin.Thank you, listeners so much for all
of your amazing questions, Like youreally helped us to come up with some
great stuff to ask Austin, Sothank you so much. And we know
that you guys are wondering where theheck is our interview with Matilda zidigis,
Well, it's got It got alittle postponed, but it's certainly coming.

(01:22:25):
It's on the way. We're talkingto her about when we can schedule something
for the end of the month tofor all three of us to link up
our schedules and everything. But yeah, two of us got sick and then
Matilda had some stuff in her schedulegoing on, so the timing just didn't
you know, Yeah, good times, good times. It's been it's been
a it's been a time. Butwe are going to come out with that

(01:22:45):
with that interview for you very soon, hopefully within you know, the next
week or two, and we're definitelyalso going to do some listener feedback.
We're probably gonna have that be aseparate episode, so look out for that.
I did want to say Austin hadto jump off and go watch his
nephew play baseball, which is adorable. I wanted to let you guys know

(01:23:06):
where to find him on social media, So he's on Instagram at Austin Basis
and that's a U S T IN B A sis And I'm sure we
can put that in the show notes. Check it out our Instagram. Yeah,
we got a ton of links forAustin stuff in the show notes and
he's got a ton of stuff goingon to check it out. So many

(01:23:28):
projects that I know I'm now goingto go check out because most of them
sound absolutely fantastic. So yeah,yeah, and he's super involved in the
Writers Strike and obviously we've said juvenileDiabetes Advocate, so links to all of
that stuff and how you guys canjoin in the fight, the good fight
and support and all of that.Please check it out. Okay, So

(01:23:51):
before we close it out, Ijust want to mention I have started a
new podcast in addition to all theother things going on. It is called
Shall We Compare THEE? A Remakeand Sequel Podcast, And we just recorded
our first episode all on Psycho andthat will be coming out in a few
days now. So as soon asthat comes out, I'm gonna put up
the just the first episode on thisfeed, so you guys have you know,

(01:24:13):
so you're aware that it exists,and you can go and subscribe there,
and we've got a bunch of coolstuff lined up. We're going to
do our following episode on Peter Pan, comparing the twenty twenty three remake to
the cartoon and also mentioning, Yeah, we're going to mention hook and we're
also going to mention the Mary Martinnineteen sixty musical adapt made for TV like

(01:24:34):
adaptation of Peter Pans. So,if you guys are Peter Pan fans,
if Psycho is not your thing,you know, watch the Peter Pan.
We got four four films for youto watch. Leave us your biggest I
know, yeah right, so yeah, leave us your feedback there. If

(01:24:55):
you want to talk about how youfeel about Psycho or those four Peter Pan
films, you can write too.Shall we compare thee at gmail dot com
links in the show notes, andour next episode will be listener feedback.
Finally getting around to the emails thatwe never got to, and we've had
some emails you know, come in, you know, just this past week.

(01:25:15):
So we love it. We loveit all, and if you guys
have more that you'd like to sharewith us, please please share with us.
Find us on Instagram, send usmessages, voice messages, email us
at Perfectly Marvelous podcast at gmail dotcom. We love the getting these photos
from you guys, hearing the storiesabout how the marvelous missus Maisel has brought

(01:25:38):
joy to your life and what theshow means to you, all that stuff.
Please send it our way, sharewith us, and we will share
it back with the world because theshow is incredible and we just don't want
to let it go yet. Soso we're not gonna We're not gonna let
it go. We're gonna keep itgoing, ladies. As always, I've
had a marvelous time talking with you, and thank you so much by dear

(01:26:00):
dear listeners for joining us. Yay, I'm Kara, I'm Erican, and
I'm Jane. Thank you, andgood night. Whoo whoo whoo, whoa
hey, and it's only eight eleven. God you

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