Are You A Charlotte? - Stamp of Approval with Marcia Cross (S3 E13 "Escape From New York")

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

From NYC to Melrose Place!  Kristin is joined by her former Melrose Place co-star Marcia Cross (aka KIMBERLY SHAW).  After reminiscing about their Melrose days (including Kristin’s untimely death in that Melrose Pool!), Kristin and Marcia go deep in to the LA episode of Sex and the City.  And, in a wild twist, Kristin and Marcia SHARE A HUSBAND!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe.

That's your home. That's your husband. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of despair is realizing this would happen.

and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your favorite shows. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor and a trainer disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. Back then, I lied to everybody.

They have had this case for 30 years. I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth. Listen to the red weather on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know Roll Doll. He thought up Willie Wonka in the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, The Secret World of Roll Doll, I'll tell you that story, and much, much more. What?

You probably won't believe it either. Was this before he wrote his stories? I must have been. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Listen to the secret world of Roll Dahl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, and I want to know, are you a Charlotte?

Hi, everybody, welcome to Are You a Charlotte? Today, I have the most special guest. It's Marsha Cross, everybody. I cannot wait for you to hear our conversation. I'm sure you all know Marcia. Marcia is incredible. Her breakout role was in 1992 as Dr. Kimberly shot on Melrose Place. We were on the show together. And then she became hugely well known as Bree Vanderkamp on Desperate Housewives where Kyle McLaughlin played her husband. I mean, the connections that I have with this woman go back so far. And we're going to have a lot, a lot, a lot of fun. So thanks for joining us. Okay, everybody. It's so exciting.

Joining us on Are You a Charlotte is the amazing, the fantastic Marcia Cross. Oh, my God, I just thought, am I a Charlotte? No, but I've always wanted to be a Charlotte. We can get to that at the end, okay? Put a pin in that. I will remember to get back there. Okay, this is the thing, you guys. We are talking about one of the LA episodes is the first one. It's to escape from New York. And I've wanted to have Marcia on. since the beginning that I started the podcast. And, you know, life has been taking her in many places. So I'm happy that there was a little opening that you could do this episode because

when I think of the 90s, I think of Marcia. Because I spent literally like a huge chunk of the 90s with you. Yes. Running around Santa Monica. You know, we were filming up in Calabasas. Oh, yeah, that's right. Right, right, right. We were trooping around Brentwood.

I mean, apparently, occasionally going out into the world because there are pictures of us. Yes, yes. I love those pictures. I'm like, oh, look at us for babies. Totally. But I did not feel like a baby at the time. Did you? Of course not.

Right? No, you don't feel like a baby. It's only later you go like, oh, my God, I was 12. Right? I mean, I felt like we were like seasoned. You still more than me. No, I definitely did. Right.

Oh, yeah. Right. But now we look back on it and we're like, oh. We're little children. I know. What I could have told myself back then. I know. I know. And people sometimes ask me that. Like, what would you tell yourself? And I say that I would tell myself, you know, take a breath. Everything's going to be fine. Yeah. Because I just remember so much kind of like angst. Yeah. I feel like my angst at that age was like, am I going to have a family?

I feel like that was my big angst at the time. For sure. For sure. For sure. We talked a lot about men and relationships and what we wanted and what we didn't want. And we were trying to figure all that out. But I think that's exactly what you should be doing. I know, but I wish someone had told me that it was going to be fine. There was so much pain I could have avoided it. Of course. No, of course, of course.

But I also feel, and I think this was more so for me than you, you know, am I going to be successful? I think was probably my bigger thing at the time. I don't even think I wanted kids at the time. I hadn't gotten there yet. No, you hadn't. You hadn't. You were in a different place. I was free.

But I was definitely. I was very free. Yes, you know what I mean? That's a word we could use, right? Yeah. I was worried about being successful too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

We were pretty focused, I feel like. We came from Roy. We did. We did. Roy. So Roy London, sometimes I forget to explain to our listeners. Sometimes I'm just like rolling with it. And I'm like, oh my God, they don't know who we were talking about.

So there was this incredible teacher. And we were both lucky enough to find ourselves there. His name was Roy London. he was really just a genius human being in so many ways. Yes. And for me, so I'd come from New York, you'd gone to Juilliard. So Marcia had been classically trained, like in the old school way, right? Ready for Shakespeare.

Yeah, yeah, totally. Which is what I'm doing now, don't for you. Which is fantastic. But like not necessarily going to prepare you for television in the 90s. Not exactly. Right. And for me, I'd gone to Bill Esper at Rutgers, which was, Right.

Myzner training, so a little bit less classics, but still pretty serious, right? Yeah. And then I remember starting to audition in New York and just being like, I don't know what to do with these scripts. They'd give you these little TV, just one scene from a show, and you tried to make this good, and it was impossible. So when I came to L.A., I think I'd just heard on the streets or whatever, you know, you should go check out Roy. And it was like just lightning in a bottle in that room. Life changing. Right?

Yeah, all those people, I mean. The thing I loved about Roy, which we didn't really understand until after the fact was I always tell people, you never did a scene just to do a scene. You did a scene to save your life. Yes. Like if you could never, like you had to, everything. The stakes were always top, top, top. I always feel like that's where I learned to act, like, in terms of putting it all together. Yeah, yeah.

And I think everything changed for me after that. Like, that was it. Definitely. Because he knew how, like, and also, do you remember when we would first get to class, he would just talk for a while? That's right. I forgot about that. And tell stories. He was just such a, he loved life and he was so full of life.

And the stories were fascinating. And there were lessons in the stories. Like one really weird lesson. I just thought of recently, because I had a different guest on who told me she fell in love with her co-star and then he broke her heart. And I was like, yeah, see, that's a rule. Do you remember Roy used to be like, don't fuck your co-star. Save it.

Because then it'd be gone. Right. Save it for on screen. And then after you're done, you can do it. Right. Right, because it's probably not going to work out. Right. That was a really good lesson.

Don't you think? I mean, he's so right. Yes, he's right. Like he lives on in us in so many ways. That was a kind of a trite, I guess, whatever. No, it wasn't trite at all because you take all that chemical and all that stuff that's going on. And it's the, you can't do it. You're not doing it that keeps it, you know, is alive.

Rather than what if you do it? And then you're like, oh, that was not what I wanted. And then you have to go recreate it the next day. Definitely. Right. It's hampered your actual creativity and the energetics. of it. And I feel like that was the thing that Roy was so special about. And as you said, he taught us how to take a really lame scene on the page. Because obviously in film and TV,

sometimes each scene art is not great, right? And how to kind of put something on top of it that meant something to you in that moment where you had stakes that may not even have been in the scene, but it made it interesting. Pretty much how I do all my work. Yeah, it's amazing to think about it. I did get into some trouble. I mean, mostly on Melrose, I'm trying to think a little bit on the beginning of Sex and City because I'd spent so many years auditioning and going to Roy. Like I used to go to Roy four nights a week, right?

We would just observe, right? So you'd have one class that was yours and then three nights that you'd audit. And you'd learn so much from watching him work with others that it was just a joy to go to. I wish I could do it right now. I know, me too. Roy, please come, be present with us. Yeah. Roy's since passed, and one of the reasons he was so brilliant was that he had AIDS and nobody knew it.

And unfortunately out of nowhere, it was like... Out of nowhere, sudden, sudden, sudden, sudden. So, so upsetting. It still breaks my heart. I know. Needless. It seems so needless when you think about it. Because it seemed like it wasn't exactly in the throes of everything, right?

When everybody was passing, it was like, you know, it felt like, wait a second, how is this happening? And he really just was the most vibrant person. Oh my God. You would have never thought. Nothing sickly about him. No. He was like full of life anyway. No, I know it's it's.

Otherwise everyone's going like, writing it down. No, totally. Where is in spirit? Let's go find your own. London is with us in spirit and in our memories and our hearts. Thankfully. But rooted the thing is never the thing.

Yes. Good. Good. I remember that one always. And I remember the energy of us like like the, kind of, I mean, striving sounds like a negative word, but like the excitement. No, we were dedicated. Right.

I love that. Right. Me too. It was really special. And the group of people who was there was amazing and really, like, there was such energy in the room, you know, and whenever I would see one of them succeed, I'd be like, oh, what is that going? I've taught a class lately and I'm like, don't, where's all your stuff?

This is not a play. Like, and I, remember we bring everything but the kitchen sink in? Yes. And then these kids come in and they don't have anything. and I'm like, you can't fold that crappy pretend laundry. I don't ever want to see that again. I mean, I'm like, do something specific. That's so good.

But remember? Yes. We never, ever phoned it in like that. Oh, no. You know, we'd come in with like, oh, my God, suitcases. Oh, yeah, we rehearsed, like, every day. Like, that was our lives. But when we weren't rehearsing, this is what I remember about us.

And this might have been when we had already been on Melrose. I don't know. But, like, do you remember the magazine stands? Oh, yeah. And we were like, two or three. that were like our hunts. You know, so like, let's say we didn't have an audition or we didn't have a class or whatever. You know, we would like go to yoga and then we would go, let's go by the magazine stand.

And they don't even exist anymore. I know. So crazy. And not even those fun yoga schools too. Like, I know. It was way back. It was way back before yoga. I mean, now there's a yoga works on every corner.

But like back in the day, you know, there was one place on Montana, yoga works, the true yoga works. And people would say like, oh, is it a religion? I remember so many people asking me that. I don't remember that for that hysterical. Isn't that so, it's so different. I know that's really obvious. But it's like, and there was also we would go down to the promenade and there was that magazine stand in the middle.

We would like get coffee. Oh my God. I forgot all about that place. All right. So you remember more. I remember really random things. Okay. Random.

Can I tell you what I remember? Yeah. When I'm driving in my car because Kristen used to always get in the car and she'd take her foot and put it up on the dashboard. I wasn't going to show my black socks. It's so true. And so I started doing it. And so I drive like that now.

And there isn't a time I do it where I don't think of Kristen. That's adorable. There you go. There's your right. Yeah. That's adorable. Can I tell you what I found out about myself? Because yes, I still do it.

And sometimes I take my shoe off. Right? Yeah, sure. You know, I can just put my bare foot up there. And it is kind of, I think, in some ways, a southern thing, right? Because like you would be, you know. I don't know that. You know, because like you'd be out on the back roads or whatever.

You know what I'm saying. Oh, no, it has more meaning even. Yeah. But I also. So cut a scan and I have scoliosis in my lower back. This is why it's comfortable. Oh, right. That makes sense.

Because it's twisted. It's twisted. So I need to take the pressure off in the car. You can't really change your position. So I just recently found this out. Me too, which I don't like actually. I know. I know.

But not that we need to go down that road, but it's an interesting. Maybe that's why it's so comfortable. I know. I know. I mean, I still do it. You know what I mean? It's kind of a needed. because you spend so much time in the car in L.A.

That's so funny. What a random thing that you remember. I do. Very true. Very true, Marsha, very true. I also remember, so you had your adorable house. I did. I still have it.

You still have it? I have it. I have it. I love it. I still go to Dr. P. Oh, my God, you do? I do. 30 years later.

And you said kids and they're all grown up probably by now. Yes, they're going to Stanford and one graduated from Harvard. Yeah, I knew that was coming. They're doing great. They're doing great. Yeah, I still go to him and I drive by that house. I'm like, oh, that. I mean, it's rented.

Oh, good. That's so smart. So smart. I know. I just loved it. I could never sell it. I know it's a good house. Oh, it was a good house.

I know. It's old. I know. It's so sweet. Me too. And then I went and I rented a house that reminded me of your house because I was like, this is what I should do. Like Marcia's, she knows what to do.

So I'm going to try to do. Do you remember this house? Yes. Of course I do. Yes. They have totally redone it. It's unrecognizable. Sometimes we have to go a back way because I live not that.

far from there now. I go to my kids. Like, I used to live in that house, but it didn't look like that. But it was there in that spot. It's like a big two-story thing now. But, you know, to me, you were like somebody who was already successful. To me, you seemed very grounded and, you know, knowledgeable, right? And that's partly why I was like, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to try to learn from Marsha, right? Like, I don't know if I said that, but I know I thought that. No, but that's the sweetest thing ever. It's true. But also, you were not so much a headed me that I felt like we couldn't relate. No, we were the same.

We were in it. Yes, totally. And we liked the same things and we were interested in the same things. And I just remember being like fun. And I remember that when I did get sex in the city, people would say to us, you know, well, who spends this much time with your girlfriend? And I was like, well, you know, I just spent like three solid years with mushroom cross. Like, you know what I mean?

And thank God. Yeah. Right? I'm so thankful for that time. I know. There was someone who I could trust, you know, in the bigger. situation that we were in, which is not like it was horrible, but it was, you know, unclear what was going to happen. You kind of needed an anchor. Yeah. I mean, I feel like I am an anchor.

Yeah. I mean, I just feel like that. In a great way. Yeah. In a great, great way you are an anchor. So you're very grounded and crazy at the same time. But yeah, I've got both. I mean, crazy in the way that you need to be. You know what I'm saying? Like, like you have enough of an understanding of human nature to play the different things that you have to play. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yes. I can run the gamut. My Hyundai hot take this week is Matthew McConaughey being his utmost McConaughey's self. I guess he was the last minute casting based on the fact that we wanted someone else that we maybe didn't get.

I've got to get to the bottom of it all. But what I remember of Matthew is that he came and he ad lipped. And not only that, but there was apparently a glass coffee table in the set office. and he jumped on it and shattered it, which I think it's just so him. And when I watch it, I can 100% believe that he is alibbing and that Sarah Jessica is just honestly responding in the moment

to whatever Matthew is saying or doing. And I really enjoyed watching the scene and I wanted to replay it again. So Matthew McConaughey, my Hyundai hot take, celebrating iconic moments, bold moves, and unforgettable style just like Hyundai. In the middle of the night,

night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband.

To keep this secret for so many years, years. He's like a seasoned pro. This is a story about the end of a marriage, but it's also the story of one woman who was done living in the dark. You're a dangerous person who prays unvulnerable and trusting people. Your creditor might go up and good. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there. This is Dr. Jess.

C. Mills, Director of the Men's Clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight

and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain

and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. It was many and many a year ago in a kingdom by the sea. In 1995, my neighbor and a trainer disappeared from a commune. It was hard to wrap your head around.

It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. And back then, I lied to my parents. I lied to police. I lied to everybody. There were years right where I could not say your name. I've decided to go back to my hometown in Northern California, interview my friends, family, talk to police, journalists,

whomever I can to try to find out what actually happened. Isn't it a little bit weird that they obsess over hippies in the woods and not the obvious boyfriend? They have had this case for 30 years. I'll teach you sons of a bit to come around here in my wife. Boom, boom. This is The Red Weather. Listen to the Red Weather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You know Roll Doll, the writer who thought up Willie Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Our new podcast series, The Secret World of Roll Doll, is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans. What? And he was really good at it.

You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. I was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's? Played poker with Harry Truman and had a long affair with a congresswoman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, before writing a hit James Bond film.

How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids. The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to the secret world of Roll Dahl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. When I went to Melrose, when I got Melrose, which you were already there, right? So you'd been there since the beginning, I think, right?

Not the beginning, but like at some point, yeah. Sooner than me, certainly, because I came kind of late, I think. I don't know how long it went, but whatever. And, you know, you've been in Roy for so long, right? Yes. And I just wanted to be so good. You know what I mean? And I just wanted to, you know, like, do my best in a situation that didn't.

necessarily want that. Correct. They wanted to get the shot. Let's go. Exactly. Hurry up. Don't move. Don't move. Don't move. We got six more episodes we're shooting today. Exactly. Exactly. Right. And there were a few things that I did that I think back on where I'm like, I cannot believe I did these things. But it was all from the Roy perspective of like you do what you have to do in a scene. Yes. Like I was often working with Andrew Shue, you know, who was more of a soccer player, you know, type of personality, like athletic and to the point and let's get it done. and I would mess with them in scenes. Like I would mess with them to try to like get them like present or whatever.

And I remember he'd get really mad at me. And I feel I still think you're doing the right thing. Do you? Well, yeah, I do that. If I'm on stage, like I was doing, you know, I do something. And if the person starts to like zone out, you know, I don't stick to anything. I just get, I just go for that moment and, you know, grab them back. So.

Right. I think it's totally appropriate. That makes me feel better. Because when I think back, I'm like, ooh, Wow, he must have just been super irritated that he got this crazy person. It probably brought him to life, you know, and got him out of his comfort zone. I thought so. Yes.

I mean, I thought so. Right? I'm totally in favor of it. Thank you. This is why we love Marshall. We have such similar sensibilities. So let's just recap a little bit before we talk about the episode, just life. So we're running around.

It's the 90s. We're going to Roy, which is like just joy. And you feel. Like, I think it bridged the gap between, like, okay, you're going on all these crazy auditions. You're driving here. You're driving there. We're not having. Remember all of it.

Like, Warner Brothers. Oh, my God. I feel like I lived at that Warner Brothers casting office. They don't even understand where they get, like, four times a day. You get sides. Go home. Drive there. Four times a day to the same location.

Change your outfit. Change your outfit. Put the stuff in the car. You know, oh, my God. And I had this crappy little red car. Remember. And it was just no air conditioning. And like, me too.

Oh, my God. Yes. Anyway, sorry. Yes. Yes. No. All of that. All of that.

And so you're in that, which is kind of hard, right? Yeah. But then you also have this joy of going to Roy that feels very connected. And he's working with people who are doing movies and he's talking about the scripts. And it made you feel like, yes, I can do it. Yes. It can be done. Yeah.

Right. Definitely. This is the way to do it and the way that it works and the way that it's fun. Right. Like it added fun to it. And I love that part. And I'm so thankful for him, you know, and the whole class being there. And then, so then we're up there.

I get on the show. We're up there in Calabasas, wherever the heck, desert. Yeah. Right? Filming. Yeah. Which was so freaky and weird. Yeah.

It's not like that anymore. No. It's all built up. And I mean, I've been up there lately, but the times that I have been up there, I'm like, oh my gosh. Oh, really? Wow. All I remember is Target, which we called Tarjeet.

Yes. And that was the only place to go at lunch. Yeah. So we didn't. Or it was 125 degrees. Exactly. And we didn't leave your trailer. And just had to be in your trailer.

Yeah. It was really odd. And you had really no sense that you were doing something that was a big deal or whatever. It was very. God, no. Are you kidding? No. Although I did pretend every time I did a scene like, okay, it's Croissian.

I'm Michelle Pfeiffer and these are the stakes. Smart. This was me in my. Smart. Listen, I tried over there. I tried. I don't think my things were as lofty. I was like, I'm going to get Andrew Shrew to, you know, pay attention to me.

That's what I was doing. Okay. Well, that was your hill to climb. But I was crazy, so I had a lot. Good for you. But that's why you were. incredible. Yeah.

So incredible. So, oh my God. Are you kidding? Super incredible scenes. So then I, they kill me. And I remember like, oh. How did you die? I don't remember.

I died. I died in the pool. I died in the pool. Hold on. I died in the pool, but I don't know why. I got drunk and I fell in the pool. Oh, that's great. I like that.

It was the best part of my whole character. Yeah, that's good. And then they had, they waited me down and had me sink in my hair. Oh, okay. And that's coming back. Yes. Then I was a ghost. Oh, yes.

That's right. They were into this shit over there, right? Like wacky things, wacky things. And then, so then I get fired, but you're still on. Uh-huh. And then, but I don't know for how long, but you're still living in your house. I'm still living in my house. I think we were still hanging.

Yeah. Right? Yeah. And then I, like, some time goes by where I don't know what's going to happen. And then I get sex and steady. I remember it totally perfectly. You do? Please tell them.

Well, I just remember you getting the job. And I remember saying to you, this is going to change your life. No way. Oh. Yes. Oh, yeah. I don't remember that. I knew. I was like, this is a big deal. And I said, this is going to change your life. Because I knew the people involved were good. Right. And it was a great idea. And it just, you know, you just know, like, I didn't think I knew that about desperate. But I definitely. I didn't. I definitely knew it about sex in the city. Interesting. Totally. I mean, I felt in my gut like I really wanted to be a part of it. But I didn't necessarily feel that it would be all that it came to be. Wow. I remember saying it to you. You probably. I didn't like, you know, but I just remember, I even remember where I was standing, maybe we're on the phone or something. Wow.

Like I remember I was in my little laundry area. Yeah, yeah. In my house, I was like, I just remember saying it right there. Amazing. And so then, soon after, you get desperate housewives. I don't know the time. Right? Because I have no sense of time.

I don't have a great sense of time either. This podcast is actually helping me kind of categorize things. Yes. Because I can look at years like, oh, yes, this is 2000. I remember 2000 because it was the year. before 2001, which is like obviously a very changing year for the world and definitely for our country. But I feel, so this is what I remember.

I remember you came to one of our LA premieres when we did such a thing, low-key, premiere premiere is a loose word, right? We would show two episodes. There's pictures of us there. We're showing our lower abdomen. Oh, my God. Really? Yes.

I'd like to see it now. 2000. Probably very flat. It looks great. Let me tell you. We both look great. We both look great. And I know we didn't necessarily feel that way.

Of course not. But we look fantastic. And then there's like funny pictures. This would have been Melrose type. I can put all these pictures on Instagram when we put this up. There's pictures of us. I think at a Melrose event might have been like the 100th episode or something. That I do remember because I saw those pictures.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't know what's happening. You know some pictures. But I look like a child. Oh, my God. Like a little child.

I'm meaning cake. or something, I don't know. And they repost them on Instagram as us both being Kyle McLaughlin's fictional wives. Yes. How about that? How crazy is that? It's insane. Which I, like, in a certain way, I don't know that I was ever fully aware.

You don't even mean. Like, the craziness that he comes on our show, he was only supposed to do five. We can't part with them. We love him so much. Then he leaves our show. He comes to your show. He was only supposed to do one season, he told us. Oh, really?

And then, yes. I don't even know that. He was supposed to be the killer. I love Kyle. Yeah. He was supposed to be a killer? Apparently. I had no idea.

I know. Me neither. This is what he told us when he came on the pod. And then he said, no, I love this job. I want to stay. It was great. It's so great that you got him. And then he stayed for so long.

Yeah. It was wonderful. I wish he never had to go. I know. Yeah. I know. And I remembered like that show, it seemed like you aired and it was a huge hit. Like immediately.

That was true. That was the case. Right. And then we were at these events. And I was like, there's my show. Yeah. Life went on big time. Right.

Wow. Yeah. What was that experience like for you? Like, did you think like, oh, because you told me you had already gone to back to school. Right. But so, yeah, I had been, after Melrose, I was not happy because I would only get a certain kind of audition a certain kind of. And I thought, I really don't want to do bad TV for the rest of my life.

Like, that is not going to be my life. Totally. So I had been going to classes at Antioch just because I was interested. And then at some point, realized, oh my God, I have all these credits. All I have to do is my clinical hours and I can get my degree. So I started doing my clinical hours and it was kind of fabulous. And then I remember I thought, okay, well, I guess that's it for me because I just couldn't imagine, like I don't want to, you know, no offense, but wasn't my, my path was just not going to happen. So my God, your little

socks are so cute. Anyway, yeah, this is how it was. Talk about yourself. Talk about myself. You want to distract, but I want to hear. No, that was just total ADD me. And then, yeah, and then I remember going to Warner Brothers, and I remember looking down the hallway and saying, okay, this is the last time I'm here. And auditioning for Everwood. And then they called me back.

And I was like, I still didn't think anything of it. I still thought that was it. And then a girlfriend, she was like, no, no, this is a good show. You need to work on it. So I heard on it. And then I got it. And then I wound up in Utah and I was in Salt Lake City. And then I still thought I wanted to have a,

a baby by myself and like I was still in that family thing and um and so they wanted me to audition for desperate housewives and I read and I said I want to audition for the narrator because I want to have a baby I want to adopt a baby wow so I go in and then mark jerry said no I want you to read for brie so okay so anyway that's that and then once I got that that that was the end of you know then I was off and running and haven't looked back although I loved getting my degree and I you know I'm always fascinated with people and humans and psychology. Yes. Yes.

That is super interesting. In the middle of the night, Saska awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home.

That's your husband. So keep this secret for so many years. He's like a seasoned pro. This is a story about the end of a marriage. But it's also the story of one woman who was done living in the dark. You're a dangerous person who prays unvulnerable and trusting people. You're a predator, Michael Levin Good. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience. helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others.

Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. It was many and many a year ago in a kingdom by the sea. In 1995, my neighbor and a trainer disappeared from a commune. It was hard to wrap your head around. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. And back then,

I lied to my parents, I lied to police, I lied to everybody. There were years right where I could not say your name. I've decided to go back to my hometown in Northern California, interview my friends, family, talk to police, journalists, whomever I can to try to find out what actually happened. Isn't it a little bit weird that they obsess over hippies in the woods and not the obvious boyfriend? They have had this case for 30 years.

I'll teach you sons of a bitch come around here in my wife. Boom, boom. This is the red weather. Listen to the Red Weather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know Roaldahl, the writer who thought up Willie Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been.

Our new podcast series, The Secret World of Roll Doll, is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans. What? really good at it. You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. I was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's? Played poker with Harry Truman and had a long affair with a congresswoman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever?

And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids. The truth story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to the secret world of Roll Dahl on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And you're currently doing a play, which I also love. I just want to mention that really quick before we ever talk about Sex City. Yeah, that's so fun. That's what I wanted to do.

So I feel like I've spent my whole life getting back to my original dream. Right. You know, that's, you know, so, yeah, so I'm very happy about it. Amazing. Yeah, let me just say it really quick so I don't, you know, set the Ruskin Theater in Santa Monica, which it just built a brand new theater, two little spaces, which I just love. And it's called Honor, and I'm Honor, although it's not all about me. But, yeah, and it opens February 14th. Amazing. I'm so happy they built a new theater in Santa Monica. We need theater.

So happy I got to work. The old one was this tiny little place that had been there for 20 years. And, I mean, you'd work and you literally people have to uncross their legs. It was so tiny. Oh, wow. So it was just brilliant place to work. And I got to do Johnny, Robbie Bates play there and he came and that was wonderful. And now, you know, we're upgrading to this new theater. Wow. Wow. Yeah.

Love it. Love it. Love it so much. Theater is a very, it's like a feeding. It feeds you as you're doing it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's not like in the trailer and then you watch it later.

It's like that's, you know. So anyway, so that's my happy world right now. Okay. So that's wonderful. And thank you for giving us a full update. So let's talk about the show. It's going to be hard because life is so much more interesting to talk about, but we're going to, we're going to, because this is a rewatch podcast.

I have to remind myself. Let me ask you this question, because I don't even know. I don't even know for sure. Did you watch the show when it was happening or were you too busy working? Your show or my show? My show. I assumed you watched your own show. Did you?

Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah, because I think it was going on before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There were shows that were more at the same time as mine that I totally miss. Right. You know when you're like, you can't even see straight and I have babies. I'm like, oh, I missed that whole decade.

Right. But no, no, no, I saw. Yeah. And now, oh, my daughter told me to tell you that she's now watching and she's a big fan. And she's going to school in North Carolina. And guess where Kristen? I was like, oh, my God, I understand. I know you're from South Carolina.

I was like, oh, my God, I understand Kristen so much better now having just been to the state. Yeah. Like, you really understand. I know. I mean, the girls are so like, they're like you, like they're feminine and they're really. No, really. Thank you. I mean, the funny thing about it.

is that when I was growing up in South Carolina, I was the oddball because I wasn't blonde. And, you know, my mom is not, you know, super Southern, right? She kind of is now. But, like, her, you know, she was feminist and she, you know, she had her vibe going on, right? And she didn't wear makeup or anything like that. But all my girlfriends' moms were, like, decked, you know, gorgeous. All of them were gorgeous. I was like this dark, you know.

Gorgeous. Well, thank you, please. Dark, you know, compared to them. You know what I'm saying? I know they're all blonde and curly hair. You know what I'm saying. And so I always felt like, oh, I've got to get out of here, you know. But I do think it had a really big, big influence on me.

Definitely. And sometimes I feel like when people are like, you know, why is she so animated or, you know, why does she wave her hands around so much? I'm like, they've just never been to the South. Well, I always thought with us, sorry, I know. It's okay. No. Because I'm, you know, from New England and like, you know, like my mother was like,

oh, God forbid we should take up any space. So I get around you and you're like, and I'm just like enthralled like always, you know. So don't let anybody say that about you. It's my wonderful thing ever. But I think that's also why we like as when I think about my different girlfriends who like I knew especially in those kind of formative earlier years, there's always something where I am wanting like a quality they have like learning from them.

And you're grounding. It's a New England thing too. It's like a New England, like part of the earth, like strong. You know, I needed to be around that. Yeah. You know, I needed your light. Thank you. That's nice.

I love you. I love you too. It's made me cry. It's so amazing to have a podcast so that I can have people on that I need to see. It's amazing. Yeah. I know you're an incredible person. You really are.

You really are. Thanks, babe. Very happy your life has turned out the way it has. I'm so happy that yours has, too. I mean, not that we haven't been through stuff. Oh, my God. Right? For sure.

Right. But you know what? Yeah, here we are. That's life. I mean, there's no life that goes on without it. No. No, that's the truth. And just because this is what it reminds me of when we didn't just like that.

People would be like, why are they doing this? And why are they doing that? I'm like, do they not know what happens in life? Maybe they don't. Or maybe they don't want to, they want to escape or something. I don't want to face it. But for sure, that's life. Right.

Yeah. I mean. Right. Yeah, it's just, I just did a little thing in New York called pen pals. And it was women across 50 years that are writing to each other. Amazing. And it looked very like kind of light on the page. But when you do it, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including the two actresses,

because life happens. Yeah. Just to ordinary people's lives, you know? Right. Yes. Husbands, death, cancers, children. Yes. You know, all of it. And just life.

Absolutely, absolutely. I agree. Yes. Yes. We're lucky to be here to live it. We are lucky to be here to live it. Let's go. I like it. I really like it.

Well, we're going to talk about the show. We're going to talk about the show. And the thing that I like when I looked at this episode and the other episode, I really feel like the two LA episodes are just one episode. So it's really hard to keep straight what happens and what. But they're so interesting for two reasons. One, you know, I was living here before the show, right? Like I lived in New York, but then I was living here and I had to go back there.

and I still had my house here at the point that we come back and do this. I was so excited to come back. I was like, oh, thank God, we're going to film in L.A. But of course, we filmed all night long, and they'd just send me home, and they'd be like, go sleep for two hours and come back at 3 a.m. I was like, oh, my God. Yeah. You know, but this is what you did.

This is what you did. Thank God we were young. But, like, you know, I was not someone who was going to the standard hotel. You know what I'm saying? No, you were not. No, right. So that wasn't, but it was fun because that's the show. And, you know, it was fascinating to see.

and, you know, God rest its soul, it was a fun place. Yes, yes. Like, you know, it was good. The Playboy Mansion, on the other hand, more complicated place. Never been there. See? Me neither. Never been there.

Right? Except filming. Yeah. And they tried to make us go to the midsummer nights party. We have Holly Madison coming up to talk to us. Oh, my God. I know, right? But it was so complicated because for me at the time, I understood why our writers wanted us to go there and that it

makes sense. And at the time it was being billed as like a empowering. thing for women to be free with their sexuality. But to me, it was like a little kind of ick and weird. And being there, there were all those feelings. Of course. Oh, my God. Yes.

And decades of them. Like, I mean, the history, right? Yes. And the weird vibes of the history. You know what I'm saying? And we have a great talk with Holly coming up about that. But in the thing that I love watching the episode, there's such a lightness and the colors.

Yes. And especially because we come here and it frees us to really go. Yes, that's true. And she has that bright blue Mustang. You know, it's so gorgeous. For us, right? Yes, yes. Yes.

I mean, whenever we see a vintage Mustang, I tell my kids and they're like, mom, it's so old. And I'm like, no, no, that is a cool. No, there's nothing better than that car. Come on. But at the time, you know, it was also stressed because Sarah Jessica had to drive it and it was in fact a stick. Was it a stick? I don't know how to drive a stick. Me neither.

She didn't either. No, it was some stress. It was some stress. And they did have to roll down a hill like a. Like in the scene, which they shortened. Because I think we had, I think they wanted, you know that hill on La Siena naga that really? Yes.

Yeah. It was that hill supposedly. And then I think it was too stressful because they couldn't. Right. And they couldn't stop all the cars. And so they were trying to. Oh my God. It was bad.

Yeah. It was bad. So then they went to some little side street, which was much more manageable. And then we filmed like, you know, when they go to the, what's the place called on Sunset with a Bull? Oh, yeah, yeah. Not the whiskey. Salar ranch.

Thank you so much, Hannah. I mean, incredible. Oh my God. Did you ever go there? Fabulous on that bull. She's so great on that bowl. I don't know. Did you ever try that?

No. Did you? I think I'd break my hip now. I know. Me too. We just weren't doing stuff like that. I love the. That's a great thing about when you get thrown into these circumstances, probably with her too.

It's like, okay, here we go. And then you just act it. And you're like, oh, I guess I'm riding the bull, right? Definitely. But I mean, she really did get on that thing. Yeah, she did. I think I was there that day because Charlotte misses the one episode, but then she comes for the other.

But because I live here and I was so excited, I would like go, like, you know, to see or whatever. And then I was like, this thing's crazy in here. I'm going to leave. Cynthia's fine. You know what I mean? She's fine. She's obviously so brave and does it all. But it's so great how they cut to the slow mo of it all.

Oh, it's fantastic. It's really good. And I think like the, like when Carrie, you know, I almost said Sir Jessica, is going to Warner Brothers. I mean, it just brought back. Oh, my God. I was like, every drive on there. And then when the guard said something, I'm like, wait a second, did he send her to the public parking lot?

I know. I was going through my thoughts too. I was like, oh, she's going to be lost. She is going to be lost. Like, they should have really had no. I love how then she finds the New York Street on the lot. Yes, yes. And, of course, it doesn't really look like New York.

It's totally empty. And it is such a surreal, surreal place over there. but it's still there. And, you know, I hope that whoever gets a hold of Warner Brothers. Don't you love that we've got to be on all those lots? Even though, like, you know, we're dragging our stuff and auditioning. It's like, I love all those memories. Me too.

Me too. You guys, this is so much fun that we are going to have to have a part two. So join us later in the week on RU.S. Charlotte. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life. forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband.

Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical? at all. I sat down with psychologist, Dr. Steve Poulter, to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your favorite shows. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called

The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor and a trainer disappeared from a comment. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. Back then, I lied to everybody. They have had this case for 30 years. I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth. Listen to the red weather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, Roald Dahl.

He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, The Secret World of Rolled Doll, I'll tell you that story, and much, much more. What? You probably won't believe it either. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Okay, I don't think that's true.

I'm telling you, because I was a spy. Listen to The Secret World of Roll Doll on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.