Berner Phone - Christy Carlson Romano: Surviving Disney & Her Demons

Episode Date: April 28, 2022

You may know her as Ren from Even Stevens, Belle on Broadway, or the voice of Kim Possible! Christy Carlson Romano invited me into her gorgeous home in Austin to discuss the reality of being a Disney star, her partying days, choosing to be sober, finding the love of her life, becoming a mom, advocating for child actors, and her current career aspirations. It's a hot one! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Burning Hell We're podcasting. We're podcasting. You guys, I'm freaking out because I'm not only interviewing an icon, a cultural icon, but she let me into her home, which, to be honest, now I don't trust you.

Okay. If you let me into your... You're home. I have questions for you. It's Austin. It's where you are right now. It's people that I don't know, man. People are different here. It's a little too friendly and I'm uncomfortable, frankly. And you know what? Because I am from New York, I will tell you. It freaked you out of first? No, I'm telling you that even if people are nice here, don't trust them. Don't trust anybody ever. And that's a New Yorker in me. But I can enjoy and reap the benefits from at least like a smile and a nod. And like people wave to you. You drive down the street, people like say, hey,

what's off you're like whoa hate that and but I do think I was walking on Austin and I'm like people are having too much fun around here no everyone's like eating janking bands and I'm like who do people work to people ever like think about their life and reflect on how they like anyway you guys were with Kristen Carlson fucking Romano oh wow I am I'm kind of blown away for so many reasons well it kind of is come about through TikTok that we are meeting right now so many people have thought that I look like you you look like me like we're sisters we're related and by the way you said you're Jewish so I'm I'm also like German Jewish from like back in the day so you never know so I'm half

Sicilian and my dad is German Jewish okay so my mom's German Jewish um or yeah or was or is or some shit I don't know like you know how it's passed down through the female and I don't just can we just related can we just like agree that this is a relationship yeah soul sisters yeah i'm not you know because i'm really talking to my sisters right now so you can be my sister okay i love that for you i will replace all of it i'll pretend like remember when you're little i can do that i am uh pathological at times so we can do this oh i love the self-awareness but you also have i just have to say i've only known christie for about six minutes your energy is great oh good you're you're so normal not feel like you were going to be weird but like you could be a

bitch if you wanted to you think so oh my god are you kidding you could be like it's miss possible really it's miss possible to you i mean we are assinicely sitting in like this set sitting in like this set that i have to do my podcast and and it's got a still from kim possible and then my youtube plaque so it's kind of an asshole move wait when did you start this youtube oh shit um like i want to say um about four years three four years ago but I started with cooking on my YouTube with like Disney stars and they would come on and they would like cook things. Like I did the knocko with Will Ferdell from Kim Possible. And then, you know, it just was really fun.

It was really cool. But then COVID was like getting thicker and thicker. So it was a little harder and that I'm just keep belching. So you're going to do with that. I love it. Honestly, the little devils love it. We burp in hell and no one. Do you burp?

I'm actually more of a farder. Okay. It comes out one way for me. Okay. I actually don't burp. So, like, if you get stomach problem, like, you just goes down one way, you don't throw up? And I wish I could be like, oh, I'm so dainty. I don't burp.

But it's like I am just having, like, projectile diarrhea. Oh, is that because you had your, you told me you had your bachelorette party? I'm still broken from it. And you said you're broken. Fully broken. And that's what happens. You get the shits. Yes.

I am that girl who farts on the dance floor. And everyone's like, what is that? And they like, look at the biggest dude. And they're like, ew. And I'm like, I know. It was me. It was me. Oh, you could.

claim it you claim it it it depends on the mood yeah depends on the people around me okay can trust them but but i have like a secret enjoyment of having a really nasty fart and not telling a single person yes it is the white lie you're allowed to have like i feel empowered by my by my odor if i do like a really good one you guys were talking about kim possible about her parts it's wild but i want to say i'm okay during the day like you know i'm doing comedy I'm at this comedy festival and people are asking me what I'm doing tonight

and I'm like, do you guys know even Stevens? That's kind of how I throw and everyone like, duh. Today? Somebody said that? No, I've been saying that to everyone. Oh my God. And everyone goes, yeah, and I go, do you know, Christy?

I mean, I know her like that. You guys don't, but Christy. And they're like, obviously. And I go, I'm podcasting with her at her house. So I'm, don't text me, don't call me, don't make out of contact with me anymore. The thing is nostalgia is so in right now and as a 90s kid,

I loved watching you as the older sister and then obviously the Lizzie McGuire movie Connecticut Kelly. Connect Kelly. Yeah yeah. And you always were like you always were very like put together and tough. I feel like no one could fuck with you. Yeah. Which I liked. You were that older sister that you're scared of but you're also like she's smarter than everyone in this room. Is that interesting? Because I was the youngest of four and like definitely not that person. I think I was probably emulating what I thought my older sisters were in my mind.

Like I had this like version of what a role model would be as a female. But what was cool about it was that Disney did, you know, they did a lot of things wrong, right? But like they did a lot of things right in that they kept casting me in these like these types of roles, like these female empowerment roles. So I kind of slipped in there as the smart brunette. Yeah. And if you were blonde, who knows what they would have done oh god i know right well but they had their blonde it was it was hillary and they and she you know what people don't know about hillary okay if you want some tea do you want some tea i mean i'll never say no to tea okay i won't force it on you but bitch we'll drink it okay let's drink some tea uh Hillary god lover she did have some investment from you know her i believe i believe

okay so don't quote me on this but it's possible that there was some outside investment from like her dad or something into that Lizzie McGuire movie but good you know I'm like good for her like I if I had had capital hopefully you know I could have done an Even Stevens movie and but Lizzie McGuire was like a cultural reset like we needed Lizzie McGuire to happen yeah and it's interesting to see how even Stevens and Lizzie kind of are still very locked into people's minds equally yeah even though they were branded differently Yes. And one actually had way better ratings.

Like Lizzie appealed to the demo more. It was female. I think even Stevens had better ratings? No. Oh. No, it was a lot worse. It was a lot worse. But I, as a comedian, loved giggling to eat.

Bean? You must have. Bean. Because you know why, too? I just smacked your phone. Do it. She's been through worse. She does look kind of, she does look kind of slain.

She does look kind of slimy. She does, she does look kind of slay. She does look kind of silly. You want to see. mine it's got a wallet on it that's how you know I'm a mom it's got a fucking kickstand and a wallet I can't do that because I'm like when I lose it I can't lose it all right right I get that I get I do get that where is where do you have a purse then oh yeah my fake prodda she's somewhere my frada and she's been through a lot she has been well so with even Stevens like what they made sure

they did especially for someone like you who's a comedian like growing up is I was the straight man obviously Deshaia's like crazy right but they were all about the true true aspects of comedy on that show, they wanted to make sure even from like the beginning, if you go back and watch it as an adult, right? Like we had Richard Kind on. We had like Phyllis Diller, was my co-star on one of them. We had the greatest comedian people on it. And it was all to pay homage to shy his character, Lewis, wanting to be a comedian.

I didn't even remember that. Remember, that was his whole thing was like he wanted to be a comedian. and in the earliest episode he opens his door he has a poster of Kramer wow doesn't always age well no it didn't age well it didn't age well right that's how you know it was relevant at the time it didn't age well either so it does like the last things don't age well let's be honest um but you actually no no we didn't age well we've aged amazing we've aged amazing because we're sisters we are sisters but i do have to say it's funny we're talking about this is nostalgia we're talking about your past and i was like researching you like this week uh-huh and i mean you've really you've

done so many incredible things from Broadway, Bell, like, and you were acting from in the womb. It feels like it. It's, it's, you've done so many things. But me and you bonded because people started tagging you in my, in my stupid TikToks, like not anything that anyone should care to waste their time and watch. And they go, you look like her. And I at first was like, I mean, honor, privilege. And then you adorably started to chime in. Of course. And then I was like, so, We're besties. We're best friends. It had to happen.

And it's weird because we don't know each other, but I consume your content. I guess you consume mine. Yes. I guess we both, humor has kind of brought us together. Oh my gosh. Yes. In a way. But your brand of humor, being authentically who you are, I think, is what I can connect with in an

authentic way, too. And so, like, it's cool to see how TikTok works because TikTok, look, I'm not going to hate on Instagram because that's like what brought me. Who you can. We hate Instagram. Really, though? I mean, Instagram needs to keep evolving. Okay.

But right now, I just think Instagram, sorry, I'm like taking over this. No, you're doing. You do it. I love the Instagram hate ramp. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just this place of filters and fakeness. Okay. And people living this aspirational life where TikTok show this refreshing, like, rawness.

Oh, gosh. And people will follow you for your sense of humor. Oh, yes. The hip to waste ratio in your face tune. And I mean, I love Instagram. It's done so much for me. But that's what I'm trying to say. It's like, it's like,

Maybe this is because I worked for Disney, and I still don't talk shit on Disney to the point where they, like, want to blacklist me. Because, like, I know. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. They're the biggest company that own everything. Like, why would you cut your nose off to spite your face? So people always ask me. It's not worth it.

And also, everyone has beef with their bosses. Yeah. Let's not cut off the most important boss. And I've really loved Disney, dude. I love Disney. I do have a funny Disney story. Oh, tell me. I have a whole bit where I just say, like, the reason I was attracted to fuck

boys was because of Disney princes. Oh, my God. Can we rate? So my daughter up there, who you got, just got to meet the cutest, the cutest, cutest, cutest, the littlest one, right? I, like, literally wanted to get impregnated, looking at those kids. My fiance's going to kill me. Oh, my gosh.

So, um, so she, so my littlest one is way more girly girl. And my older one is more like, she's, she's pretty awesome. Like, she's more into science and germs. And she like, like, I love that for her. Like, I'm putting her in, like, like, like STEM science camp this summer and I'm like fully embracing that for her. Like I'm not taking that away from her because there's a statistic of girls by the time they reach like first grade, the ones that were interested in science, it's like a 50% off

fall off. And so I'm like, nope, not my girls. But the other one is a girly girl and I'm not going to like deprive her of that. And of course me, like I love that for her. Yes. And the feminist movement, they call it I think Bimbo Cor. Oh yeah. I love that one girl.

Do you know Chrissy, the Bimbo Chrissy on TikTok? Yeah. She's on my FYP because I'm like sort of like I have okay so like I do love pretty women on TikTok and so my FYP like kind of serves up like are you on buy TikTok I don't know is that on FYP mine is like girls with IBS and depression but I do to say lesbian TikTok is like next level hot oh it is though lesbian TikTok is incredible but it it is okay so like back to like this oh my god this is a slippery slope that my husband upstairs show he and ever here i literally went in and i'm like she's a disney star you be no cursing you be nice and she's like look if a girl wants to look my labia

she can't but i'm just like continue oh my god and i was talking about my daughters so back to those asshole disney princes so basically my daughter loves ariel and she loves like she was even talking to you about it. She's like, I love a little mermaid. But legit, like, Prince Eric, what an ass. What an ass hat. Prince Eric, first I'm like, you want to fuck a fish. That's so weird. And then I have all these things he told her like, like, you're going to be happier where the people are live. We don't love a liar. And then like wanted her to change her whole body type for him. Oh, no, no, no, no. First of all, the metaphor of her not having a voice and him just like loving the way she looks. I mean, it's very problematic. It is so problematic. Yeah.

I did, I was trying to get my first, like, TV set, and I applied to, like, one of these TV sets, late nights, like, two, five minutes. And I love my Disney bit, and I just, like, rip these princes apart. Good. And we send it, and they don't even give me notes. They go, we're NBC and we own Disney. So, no. What?

They own Disney? I think it's all, it's just kind of, like, we're not, you're not going to shit on Disney. Right, right, right. But you know what? They've got to have a good sense of humor about some of it. Like I think that's how they're going to stay relevant in the millennial market at least because and even specifically Gen Z with everything that's going on too. But I'm also like very excited.

I know that you've like you've had children. You've created such a beautiful home for yourself. You've gone through your own like journey of acceptance of who you are after being a fucking famous Disney like I mean not just Disney but like famous actress singer blah blah. Right. right which is like a lot to handle because most people don't even have their first careers till they're like 25 let's be honest and that's actually the normal that's normal that's more I would say more organic like before your brain was fully formed you were dealing with who knows what the

fuck you were dealing with but I hate to manifest this but I'm excited for your career right now because your fans such as myself slash sister have aged with you like I'm about to get married like I'm like loving your style I'm loving what you're doing with your hair like what's your skincare what what's it what's your mother shit that you're doing oh my gosh yes and like i'm just i want to see like who i want to see the fucking even stevens now i know even if like maybe shy is busy maybe shy i moved to australia yeah yeah he does crazy shit yeah he's been crazy but like where's bean where are you right well beans is amazing by the way so so beans has had it if you think i've had it rough beans has had it way more rough like he was an elf at a santa place in the mall

like he is so resilient and so awesome and by the way I think he's handsome he's grown a really big beard and like he is one of those guys that yeah is he on the shorter side yeah but he's not as short as he was as a kid he's not like a dwarf or anything like he's a shorter guy there's nothing more handsome than a hilarious guy

and it's short king spring beans so let's fucking go you know what DM him DM his ass give beans a shot because he's a good dude and he's been through some shit Look, I like a guy who's been through some shit. My husband was a Marine and was kidnapped when he was like one and he has some crazy ass stories.

He was in a punk band. Like, give me the damage dude. I will, but they have to be a good guy. This is the problem is I think we all think we can fix a guy. But he needs to be like on the way up from being trash. Like he needs to be. Like he needs to have kindness to him. He needs to be like a phoenix that's a rose from the ashes of asshole.

Was your dating life not great before? oh my gosh thank you for asking it was fucking awful and i was engaged twice for my husband i don't know that you know let's get into oh my god this is amazing tea but this was not like really in the public eye no because paparazzi yo i was telling somebody earlier today which i don't think it'll make it on my podcast but i hope it makes on yours i was trying so hard to take my clothes off from maxim and fm and those bitches didn't want to hear for me at all like you know because here's the thing in the 2000s book Before Instagram and shit, it was who's on the cover of FHM, who's on the cover of Maxim,

I will give her a role, like, as the next female, like, leave. Especially trying to show them, like, I'm not that, like, teenager anymore. Yeah. And nobody wanted to hear from me. And it was not an option. And it was so strange to me being sort of like this feminist mindset and being like, well, I'm willing to betray my own senses. You're like, you're saying no?

Yeah. It's like posting a slutty Instagram photo and it gets 10. likes and you're like okay okay now i'm upset yeah what about playboy oh my god i never thought about that well and the weird thing is i actually did do a nude scene and it was weird um and it was it was coming off of that feeling of please see me as a woman like please like just i have titties and they're beautiful and like here they are and so really it's really strange though for being sort of like this like girl power icon right coming from disney i actually asked adam bonnet who was the head of disney at the time and i was like adam i was like can i do this i was 21 or something like that at the

time and it was some shitty horror movie called like mirrors too and y'all can google it and see my titties but it's like one of those things where it's like it's like i was coming at it from a place of like i'm going to um read my nudity clause and my nudity contract i'm going to do this it's my agency and like I've asked Disney and they said you're not a mom yet they said to me and you're not like so we can't hire you for anything that was the conversation that I had with them so I kind of got a blessing like an unofficial blessing. It was they were like we you're not relevant to us right now. Exactly exactly. But it gave you some freedom. It gave me some freedom but I don't know how authentic that really was in terms of feedback. But also what's so funny is right now I feel like they

wouldn't even cast you as a mom because you don't look old enough yet. Yeah it's true. It's true though. And I am a mom. but I don't I mean look raven is a mom of two but it's a very different situation and everybody's kind of got an agenda but like I respect that and I respect branding and I respect all of it but you know I do think Impossible needs to be rebooted like that's some bullshit we're gonna start a change that org for it don't worry we are we haven't even I mean Kim possible I recently watched Mulan and that's why I yelled at your daughter earlier and I was like watch Mulan and I was like get her And you're like, please don't you all my daughter. So I get it. I think like it's fun because she's a fish. But like when I watched Mulan, I was like, I think this inspired so much. Because I was a tennis player.

I played on the boys team. And I realized like I think I really channeled like that you can compete with the boys. Right. But you also don't have to be a boy. You can do things in your own way. Yeah. As a woman. Yeah.

And I do think impossible like just her outfit like the cargo pants. Are you kidding me? Like that was so like hot. Oh my gosh. You know what? I, oh my God, in my comedy, what I try to portray is that you can be like goofy, gross, silly, but still be sexy, which I think Kim Possible was one of the very few characters that has nailed where like, you want to, like, everyone wants to fuck her, but you're also scared of her, but you're also like, it's, and women are not allowed to be multifaceted like that. Yes, exactly. And also what was cool about it was the gender swapping because Ron Stoppable was like the girl and sort of the, yes, sort of like, help.

helpless but in their in their arc though what they did do is they they made it much more of a three dimensional arc for all the characters and then they ended up dating which is kind of cool because she's not uh you know i'm excited like keep your moment i look at me talking like i'm your manager do it no tell me keep your momentum with all this digital stuff because i have no choice this is how i make yeah but nowadays it's like they can't say no to like a huge following that you cultivate and then i don't know what the people want it the people want unupdated even stevens of where they are now what they're doing the people want it can possible and the people want to see you in some new roles i want you in a netflix film tomorrow like i need it because you're you're you don't know how

i don't know how if you know how recognizable you are i think i think i've lost track i it's because i'm pretty humble and like i smile i think you also look exactly the same oh this is good same do i yes same to you same to you yeah but i want to ask for your girls i yeah based on your experience. Oh, God. Are you going to ask you that question? I'm going to ask you, are we putting them in the industry? Is it so beautiful? I know, but that's bad. I don't need a real answer, but like your gut, are you like, ooh, I'm going to let them decide. I'm going to, what are you doing? Okay. So, like, I know some like family influencers. Like I've met the LeBrand family. Okay, okay, okay. Okay. I know, I know. It's hard. I know. I get it. It's complicated. That's what I mean. It's, it's, and let me tell you,

I can tell you tea on them, but not negative T. It's, it's probably an unpopular. It's, opinion um i'm devoted by the way i want to just point this out here i am devoted to advocating for child actors and i'm going to be going forward with this once my kids like you know are potty trained and sleep sleeping through the night and i don't look like you know we're fucking tired we look great we look great but the inside is caffeinated and like cracked out so basically like i would like to advocate for kids so like exploit child exploitation like that stuff is my fucking like I feel a fire inside. This is good. Oh, it's big. It's really big. But I also don't want to, like, go guns blazing and then

have people, like, be, like, freaked out about, like, what I'm trying to do to the production and, like, oh, no, she's, like, a whistleblower. Like, I'm not trying to whistleblower. This is a different thing. This is something the union should have sort of as, like, protocols. Or there should be, I feel like there should be, like, resources to rehabilitate these kids coming out of their shows, not just in their shows. Because they do, Disney does do that right now, where they have programs and they even have like a prom where the new kids all get like educated about you know social media and all this stuff good for that and good for them but what about the kids when they're leaving and like what are they doing to their lives I got chilled because it's not

just child actors I feel like it goes in a lot of things like as an athlete oh yeah after playing college like I played college tennis and yeah and like top level D1 they take care of you they take care of you and then you don't even decide that you're done you just graduate and if you don't go pro who are you you lose your whole identity yeah you don't have any finances because you didn't go pro right right right no one cares about you oh my gosh you committed your whole life to something that's gone right right and there's no transition out of that so i'm i'm hearing the child actor thing what was your hardest our darkest time out of it it didn't hit me until later see this is the problem is so you don't mature at the rate that you would normally mature so like

in some ways you're like over exposed which i think prodiget athletes can also attest to. So you get like super mature in certain things. And then you're not mature in other ways. So for me, it's like I talked to my husband about it. Like I said, like he was living his best life as like a punk rocker at the same time that I was like, you know, just kind of going to my, well, I partied a lot. See, this is the weird things.

I actually did a lot of nightlife and I drank a lot. And like I was at every table and like I did a lot of fun stuff. But it didn't really amount to social skills. so like you could get drunk and look hot and like you know sleep with financial bankers and do all stuff but you still aren't a person like you still don't know who you are and people are also treating you with the idea that you're you're already established like you're famous you don't to like earn trust in people people treat you differently yeah there's no perspective at the end of the day like you just lack a lot of perspective yeah um you yeah so i was very immature so my

darkest time was through the nightlife and sort of like so my validation became like waking up at like you know three four o'clock waiting for the sun to go down so I could go out and just be around people because during the day it's like if I wasn't having auditions and stuff I was just waiting to like you know have that validation it was very sad um and then you know you didn't have any roots you could I felt very fearful to like leave California because if I would leave even to like travel around the world in your 20s like I didn't have friends to go and do that with even though I I had gone to Columbia for a minute, but I left to go do Broadway. I was Bell.

And so, like, I left. So cool. I left in my sophomore year. And so, like, I don't know. Look, I don't want to come off as, like, woe he's me. No. But there was some dark fucking times. It's a double-edged sword, too, because if you grew up in this time, social media is

fucking horrible and you would have been depressed for other reasons. But after even Stevens or after Composible, you would have had this following that you would have continued to cultivate whatever way you wanted. Yes. Which you are now doing now. And maybe you would have never, like, met your husband and blah, blah, blah. That's true, right? You can't do the ifs.

Dead, dead on, dead on. You can't do the ifs. Where is your anxiety, depression, your mental health now? Oh, yeah, I guess it depends on how caffeinated I am, which right now I'm pretty fucking caffeinated. Yeah, you've recorded like seven podcasts today and we're just going, we're going. But I'm so happy to see you. Like this is, and really like what I'm learning is that like maybe it is through the TikTok

experience of seeing that there are people struggling. It's really humanized the mental health journey, not just for myself, but for all of us that have survived this pandemic and, like, thrived out of it and have a story to tell through it. And, like, I'm not alone anymore. And I think TikTok has given me the gift of sort of a unique perspective. And like, I also think people are seeing you. Oh, yeah.

And I don't, I don't mean it. And it's like, oh, I'm getting likes, I'm getting favorites. It's like you feel like you're attracting, because the algorithm's so good, you're attracting people who kind of understand you. Like the algorithm literally brought us together. Yeah. Like the people who follow me and follow you like, like us both for a reason. Is it magic?

Is it Disney magic? Does Disney own TikTok? Wait, above us. Just like the fucking thing goes over. Make the TikTok. Come on, let's make the TikTok tea like we did with Disney channel. not we both are singers if you were wondering yeah um I'm nice I also I was talking my therapist today yeah we love therapy I want a fucking therapist you honey we have to okay we have to I know

even the littlest things like I was I was talking about something of just in this world and I was explained to her she's like yeah you want you're so sensitive and like when people don't love you or you think that they're mad at you or you think they might think you're a bad person you like crumble but then you get so happy when people love you and she's like it's so extreme i'm like welcome to people in showbiz and then she's like what is the root of it all and i think i think of your career where like it's such an early age people loved these characters uh-huh so like when people think who is christie yeah okay who who is she now okay so this is going to blow your fucking mind so i am ren almost pretty much i think ren would be more in politics but i did some do some politics

basically okay I've done a full circle because I was probably a pretty piece of trash human being at some point and who I wanted to be like right before I met my husband I was probably at my lowest point and then I met my husband and I was like oh no there's no way this like hot like like spiffy marine guy who's like at Columbia you know like just he's he's out of my league like I felt like because dating in LA is awful by the I'm a New Yorker but I've I can't I can't even consider no oh it's really bad so I was I was I remember there was this one asshole that I was I would go out a lot right so like the Paris Hilton crowd and like all those fancy boozy assholes and like there's this one guy he's this he's this really like no offense

but he is a very gluttonous person and he's known as like the mayor of Hollywood um I don't want to say the name but like um and he's like and he was and I used to hang out with that crew or whatever for like a couple summers and then he was like oh you're turning 25 we got to throw you back in the water and i was like what the fuck so that's l.A in a nutshell for you is that this fat fucking asshole guy oh my god i'm gonna get canceled but he was a man like a mean dude but he's a mean dude and and he's the one who's like that that curator of the of femininity and what is what is what is good for him to want to sleep with that night it's just horrible LA's the worst.

So I was super, like, down on myself. So when I met my husband, I was, like, not in a good place. And then, you know, he gave me a shot, I say this, but he would not explain it that way at all. It was the story you were telling yourself in your head. Yeah. And maybe this is shit I do need to talk to somebody about so that I can, like, empower myself. But, like, but I was humbled as my point.

And, like, I was a piece of trash being for a long time. But then I think. Why are you calling yourself that? Well, because I did a lot of dumb stuff. and I was really bad to a lot of people. And I wasn't taking accountability and I wasn't changing and growing. And I had a drinking problem.

And so I just didn't realize that I had a drink problem for the longest time. So when I got pregnant, and this was like after I was married, I got pregnant and immediately like, I was like, oh shit, like I haven't been sober for longer than like a week at a time or like whatever.

And when I would drink, I would like be social and I would binge drink and I would like want to be like, like seeing and validate and all that shit. So basically I needed to change my whole like you know because it's like what they say too sometimes in recovery or allanon like I've been in alan on meetings a lot for family and stuff but it's like okay if this isn't working for you like if it's unmanageable then like you have to change something something has to change so for me

I was at that point and it's weird it's like I don't think there's one like all time low that you hit, I think there's multiples along the way, which is why sometimes you, I guess you have to be patient with people who are either in active addiction or just different parts in their life. Yeah, not everyone's rock bottom looks the same. And it's not always what you see on TV or like what the media makes it out. And sometimes people's rock bottom could look amazing on the outside, but deep down, like they're just not, they've completely abandoned themselves. That sucks, doesn't it? Because you really want to help people sometimes. Yeah. So I'm sorry because I totally went off the fucking rails oh don't apologize we love a movie moment okay good thank you thank you very much so basically like

i went full circle and what i wanted to be was the person i was when i was doing even stevens i wanted to come back to being ren stevens because i believed so much in who those women were that i was graced to play like no bullshit oh this is your timer a warning to we'll play the game like soon okay okay no rush just the most emotional moment of this whole entire interview. No fucking. Sorry. Oops.

Sorry, my birth control. Sorry. Oh, man. So maybe I should take my birth control too. Yeah. I'm going on a cruise tomorrow. Oh, my God. I should probably start taking that.

Oh, my God. But do you, you know what I'm saying? So you wanted to become run again. I did. And I feel like I'm her now. I feel like I'm a legit, like I hold myself accountable. I'm pretty type A Like I was saying

Rhonda seems super type A I feel like she does not party And she's like I have shit to do in the morning Yeah I've got these two daughters Are you naturally type A? Yeah Okay I like Like girl I texted you when you're already away here

I was like I have to clean my office Yes because I don't even see you like as a party girl Oh yeah Were you was like Thank you Did you have people that told you that it was cool Like I remember LA Yeah I don't feel like you're that girl

Okay okay so let's see So basically there's two sides of me So there's like that part of me. I'm not. I'm actually a, I think I'm a Taurus moon, Gemini rising. And I'm a Pisces. Aries cusp. Okay.

See what I'm saying? Yep, I see exactly what you're saying. Okay. So like who I really am is Taurus, who's probably like Wren or whatever. Or though she's like a little Aries too. But I am Pisces areas where it's like, I've got that Pisces like, I'm just like emotional and super sensitive. But you're very like empathic. But you're numbing it with the alcohol.

All these things that you could, like, use for your power. But if you're not fully understanding of them, you're going to numb it. Dude, you can't use your power. Doesn't, okay. And let's talk about the psychic shit. My mom's Pisces. Well, I don't know to your mom. So Pisces technically do have drinking products.

Like, it's their fish, their water. And like they have tendency to, like, want to dream and do all that shit and live in the psychic plane, which is why I got taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a psychic. Twice. Oh my God. Were any of them right? about any oh shit let's see no because it was just it was a real con like both of those were con jobs but you believe in psychics sometimes i i believe in i believe in astrology more than i

believe in psychics okay i see that i also believe in empaths i believe in empaths and i believe in intuition intuition so like i feel like we are all repeating everything she says now thank you it makes me feel seen i love that i was trying to get those words in the You said it. Yes, I believe in all cultures. There's been that, like, really intuitive person, like the no-na in Italy. Yeah. The older, wise person who can see the future type stuff. Yeah. Well, and also, I'm super negative. Like, I'm a super negative. And I think that's the Sicilian. It's the Jew and Sicilian. And so it's like, I will be able to see the most negative thing out of a situation. And then plan for that because I'm Taipei is shit. I love that for you so

much. But my husband now, my husband's Aquarius, and he is a master manifester. And so he can manifest shit, which is why he's the best producing partner I could possibly have. Wow. And I love that he's not like the child star, but he totally understands you and understands where you're coming from because he's in the industry. Oh, yeah. And he had a rough childhood too. Hell yeah. Well, one of my like favorite tweets I have heard was, sorry, not to make this about me.

But it's basically, I'm going to frame it and send it to you. It's basically, oh, shoot, now I'm going to forget it. But it's, oh, yeah. Like, I want to find someone who's. parents fuck them up in a compatible way to how my parents fucked me up. Interesting. So it's like finding people's demons who like are compatible with your demons. It's not about like two people who are hot.

It's literally if your baggage matches theirs. Yeah. Like you're literal like your, you know, emotional baggage. Our baggage matches each other. Are you guys good at the same set? No, we were, well, we were, okay, so for a while we weren't. And then I think our marriage really became a real marriage when we learned to fight so that we could finish the fight, not finish the fight for somebody to feel emasculated or, you know,

betrayed or like sad. But like we now fight because we don't have time to fight because we have these two little kids. We fight for a solution. And we don't actually fight. We're just communicating and disagreeing. That's what fighting is important. If you're not fighting, you're not, you're both abandoning each other's boundaries. Right. But good, good at fighting is a good marriage, which means you know how to wrap it up. Yeah. If there's anything I can tell you. for your for your you know for you getting married it's it's exactly this it's learn to communicate and don't waste that time in the fight fight for the uh and even though i love being petty it's like you're on the same team oh yeah you're on the same team it's not fucking worth it you're only

you're only making yourself like your life you invest in your life anyway but what am I yeah exactly exactly okay we're gonna finish let's play this game with a final game to like oh my god it's sad I don't want you to leave I know I've Literally moving to Austin. Okay. Oh yeah. But wait, before we play the game, I need to know why Austin.

Why are we here? Why not New York? Where you're from and all the Jews and Sicilians are or L.A. Right? And the food is good. Well, well, I will say. Okay.

Well, let's see. Okay. So I'm pretty centered, actually. I will tell you that. Well, I'm not centered in the way that some people might think. But I'm obviously like a, like, she's, days. Like, I'm all about it. But, like, I think I like Austin because,

it feels very much like when I like what America felt like when I was growing up it's like a safer place people mind their fucking business about everything but so you chose this for family yes okay but I did not choose it because I'm like like no I'm not conservative I'm not we're in Austin we're in Austin that's what I'm saying is like Austin is really cool it's fun I was just thinking for you like LA is all the acting stuff New York could be like we're family is whatever. Austin seems a little random, but it's perfect. I'm telling you her home I'm obsessed with. It's really good energy. Okay. Did you sage before I came? Great energy. Or definitely sage after I leave because who knows where I've been. No, I want to keep your energy here. I love you. I love you

too. Okay. Wait. So why Austin though, honestly though, can I just, okay. So Austin's amazing. It's green. It's got amazing food scene. Their sushi scene is amazing here. They've got some dope sushi places. It's like sushi bar is here. It's also in L.A. They've got a pasta bar. Like, we know the chef. Like, basically, I can be a big fish in Austin and enjoy my life so much more, but I'm triggered when I'm in L.A.

I moved down to Orange County, and that was great, but there's so many fucking fires that, like, literally, there was, like, fires outside of my house, like, and I'm watching the ash, the ash right down. But for occasional, like, castings and stuff, you'll go or for, like, projects or whatever. I mean, yeah, I've got, I've got a studio there right now. I don't know how long I'm going to have that, but, like, that'll always be L.A. will always be L. It's just a matter of what's my relationship to it, and that's always going to change.

But I needed grassroots that felt neutral to me. And when I'm in New York, it's triggering because of family shit and because it's also the hustle and bustle and the energy. For me, energetically, Austin is a really safe space for me to be my clearest thinking and also be the best mom that I can be in all that shit. So, yeah, that's kind of where I met. And one last thing also, because I could ask you questions forever. What are we manifesting next for your career? Oh, man. Because I know you have podcasts going on.

Right. And your social media is like popping. Thank you. I want to get to a million on TikTok. If I'm looking like we're filming and we're not. I just keep going. I know. I noticed it, but I'm like, I'm working with it.

Like I'm such a weirdo. We have like a laptop and we're like, we're basically. We're talking to the blank laptop. Okay. So I want to get to a million on TikTok because that's going to help mama get some more sponsored deals. So please help me get to a million on TikTok. You will.

You will. You 100% well. But that's like the biggest. baseline is like to at least get to a million on TikTok and then from there we want these podcasts to build obviously and people to really like engage with them and love them but um we'll see like obviously I think this is the problem like so as creators and I'm sure you can understand too we do need to do traditional stuff in the industry in order for people to kind of know what we're like doing like we are still artists and we need to do art that we don't necessarily like create ourselves so like

there is a little bit of like do I do hallmark movies or do I have to produce them myself I'll do them if I have to but I don't have the time so it's easier to just show up on set and be like I'm the actor for the day and I'm guest starring and whatever so that would be great but like I'm not going to force anything certainly not think that I can control anything that's not you know in these four walls so you still love acting oh man if you ask me the day don't like I recently I've been I've been I'm having a hard time with that Um, so we'll see. We'll see how I feel.

It's something that has so much history. Yeah. And this is why I'm like, maybe I need a fucking therapist. No, yeah. Like I, when I'm making about tennis, but like I couldn't go into the gym for a while. It just make me cry and people are like, are you okay? And I'm like, I'm actually. How did you find your way back to the gym?

I'm curious. It's a lot of time heals it. Have you played tennis? I have. And it's a lot of like reframing the story that's in your brain. My story was you go to the gym to become a champion. Now that you quit tennis, you're just a fucking loser. Why are you going to the gym?

So it's like reframing the story in your head. Like, I go to the gym because I want, I know it's good for my mental health and I feel good. Okay. Or, and it's, so it's really the perspective that you're seeing things from. Right. But you have to really believe it. Yeah. Like, because I'm still like, yeah, you're fucking loser.

But, or like, yeah, I'd rather watch Netflix documentaries for my health. Right, right, right. I don't want to be here. Right, okay. So it's reframing the relationships because it's, it's, It's a story you're telling yourself. Okay. That's beautiful.

That acting is triggering or that this is horrible. It's a story you're telling yourself. I love that. Thank you. No, but that's, I'm learning that the world is just, I change a story every day of like who I am, what I'm doing. And you realize. You, though, you're so lucky. I don't know.

Is this like, are you, are you Gen Z? I'm millennial. Okay. Hardcore millennial, but I do vibe with the Gen Z. I was going to say, because like, why am I so hard on myself? This is crazy. Well, I'm also, I'm like you, I'm so fucking hard to myself, but I'm working on this thing called like reparenting, where you talk to yourself the way.

I saw Teffy. Do you like Teffy? She's my best. Okay, I thought so. I saw her. I love Teffy. So I saw she just posted something today about her daily check-ins. That shit, blew my mind.

I was like, oh, shit, I need to be doing this. I love it. And I love how we're also all sharing what our therapists are saying. Like, guys, this is good. It's really healthy to do for TikTok because there's a lot of people who can't afford that. voices that are being mean to you, they're not actually you. Right. They're that fucking asshole agent when you were seven that you told me I needed to get a nose job. Fuck that guy. Dude. Also, like your face is so good. Like, I kind of feel like if you stayed in Hollywood,

you would look like a real housewife right now. Oh shit. Yeah, I guess you're right. Like, don't do the fillers too much. I only just got Botox six months ago and I'm about to get it again, but I only did it once. Botox, we don't care. Botox is fine. Okay, okay. Okay, it's time to play the seven. Let's do this. I know you got to go. You got to go be funny soon in Austin. And so. Seven Deadly Sins. Speed round. What are you greedy about?

Money. Oh, I love that for you. Who are you envious of? Hillary Duff. You said speed round. I'm just going to go for it. Fuck it. If the people want to know who I am.

What are you gluttonous about? Glutness. Okay. Glutness. Oh, shit. Like, what are you over-indulgent? now that it's talk my husband's like get off that fucking app you're losing your soul i'm like i'm researching these are my friends i'm working and i'm socializing i literally tell i'm like i'm researching

the trends the what was last time you experienced extreme wrath or anger oh oh anger oh i mean you're sicilian let's i know i was going to say oh shit i can't say she can't say it was so bad somebody sent my husband in my family pictures that were not okay that is that is the next hallmark movie a lifetime life time life Netflix stock that's too hot for that is I mean this podcast has gone bumbley on I can't even talk listen I need to get to a million y'all I'm in shock I'm giving all the team you're not following her on TikTok what are you doing um when was last time you were sloth or a lazy piece of shit oh man come on I have two little kids I can't possibly do that. When do you wake up in the morning? I unfortunately wake up. I'm not a morning

person. And so I will, I will wake up at like 7 o'clock, but then I'll hit the snoo's to like 7.30 because I got to get them ready for school. When do you go to sleep with TikTok? It's so hard. I know. Well, TikTok, Pinterest, like, I'm a very visual gal. And so those things keep me afloat. And like, I'm also very gluttonous, by the way, with Like to Know It in Amazon. Do you like just sign up for like to know it oh because i have everyone's clicking my stuff but i haven't connected it oh good yeah connect to connect it because you make money affiliate codes yeah or affiliate monies yeah i need to do that it's very easy streamlined and they're and they're in the little you know you know your creator they have a creator app and all that shit i'm very visual too but obviously because

we're sisters but it's a problem like i'm i love decorating and i love throwing parties and it's oh so you have a good friend group here i'm getting i'm getting to that you know what i'm saying like i have like mom friends and luckily they're like nice mom millennial mom friends you know so they're not Austin, like, attracts cooler people. They're good vibes only kind of people. And it's not like they're super duper Christian or, like, super duper Instagram-y follow. Like, Austin's weird. Austin is cool, man.

You know what I did last night? And I wanted to almost like have you meet up with me. I went to this like, Zilker is like where they do all the, all this stuff, Zilker. It's where they do ACL. It's like our Central Park. Okay. And it's beautiful. And like basically different parts of it, like they have a botanical garden,

which is like Central Park Zoo or like whatever. And their botanical garden is great. and they had these like crazy neon art exhibit museum shit and I went there and it was like weirdo people with cool neon things and they dressed up like they were at neon carnival or some shit oh I love it it's fun it's fun place like you never know there is a lot of fun culture everywhere in Austin yeah it's good vibes though I'm like I'll tell you guys about Austin come back and you're gonna say with me I need to stop looking like gonna make you move here I will now I need a visit monthly okay we go on a double date yeah I want to meet your guy what's his deal

He's a comedian, too. He's from New York, but then moved to Ireland. Oh, okay. Brennan will love that. Is he Irish? Well, he's Rooney. His last name's Rooney. Brendan Rooney.

Oh, they will love. He's actually going to go to Ireland for his 40th birthday next February, so maybe you guys can come. Wait, I would love. It's because Des has a place there. Oh, my God. Fuck it. I just was their last.

You're coming to Ireland by those. Fucking ain't. Wait. Irish men. Yeah. Because they're like sassy and negative, but also like they have these puppy dog eyes. yeah i love i love an irish man yeah so you're going to have little your kids are going to look like mine i mean he really wants girls good see but he's his family's all boys oh but you could have the

girls why not okay i'll manifest it yeah manifest it or just steal yours yes we can notice that'll be another lifetime movie too oh my god we're in we're writing scripts like writing scripts when was last time you oh this is the hard one okay when was last time you let your pride or your ego get in the way of something every day every fucking day it's hard to live with the fact that you have this legacy like it's hard to be that's the word legacy right but also I've always called this thing

called a narcissistic purgatory where like I have to make money being myself but being myself is annoying because that's the thing that makes me sad but then I have to be myself because then if I'm not myself I can't make money it's like this constant wheel that is that is an incredible thing narcissistic purgatory.

And please use it and please get it out there. Well, I think a lot of our depression is about the past and the story, you're telling yourself of the past. And for me, I was like, oh, when I was playing tennis, whatever, what advice would you give to these TikTokers who are 18 and blowing up or 16 are blowing up? Fuck. I know what I tell myself to make myself feel better about them? What?

I go, oh, so this is their, like, this is their pop. Like, oh, so when you're 25, like, like, you're never going to feel that same high. That's so sad. I'd rather chase a high that I never, that I get, like, later in life. But then again, these are all just negative ways you could go about your career. Okay. So the TikTokers should do the same thing that I would tell the child actors or anybody, even athletes into. It's like invest in something that's going to make you passive income while you have the money that you have.

Like, do it as soon as you can. Like, you know what I'm saying? So that like when this kind of dies down, you don't have to sweat. What about your relationship with yourself of still loving yourself even if you're not as relevant as you were in the past? Well, I'll tell you if you don't have passive income. you're going to feel a lot worse about yourself because then you'll be like, what was that all for?

And then you'll feel that feeling of, oh my God, I spent all my money that I made doing all that stuff and now I have nothing to show for it. So that's why that is actually important. And then you feel like, oh, I'm a business woman, you know? I've got options. That's all I'm saying is that these TikTokers

is like they may not feel like they have options and it's good for them to feel like they have more worth than just what they did. Did you care more about being famous or being, talented and respected okay so real talk I was talented and I was respected yeah and I loved that yeah and I wish I could get that back but I don't care about getting that back because I know I'm talented and I don't need to be at like prime talent like if I was going to be prime talent where I am right now I would be in voice classes all the time and like I would be like in acting classes and I would be

doing that I can't be doing that right now I'm very very fully present as a mom and like I'm doing that like as women we have many chapters in our lives and how we apply ourselves on those chapters you have to prioritize it's a choice like I wouldn't if if if you didn't want to be as present as a mom and you still wanted to be a comedian but you wanted to have kids I would not judge you for that like I'm not the type of parent um that's going to judge anybody for anything just don't fucking molest your kids don't exploit your kids keep them safe make sure they have love if it's not you make sure it's from somebody else but like everything is a weird balance it's complex like do you do you like fame do you like being famous i like the money

that i'm able to make from my influence i can i can i can because it's good money yeah i can tell i feel like as this through his analysis i feel like you care about creating you're actually an artist and you also want to be successful and create amazing like home and stuff no i didn't get to cash in for the longest time and if i have to cash in now i'm okay with it let's go okay let's go like that used to be a bad thing. Fame enables you to make that money. So it's all kind of intertwined. But yeah, you just have... Like, why do people hate on people doing sponsored content? Like, okay, so I'm just going to work for Disney and they're going to make millions off me in my childhood, but I'm not going to cash in. Yeah, and also it's like, you want me to make stupid videos all day.

I need to occasionally make some money. Come on, just be realistic. And also, some of these products are cool. Yeah, that's true, actually. And that's why you should... No, for real. What do you want to throw out here? I got a box right there, equilibrium. What up? Okay, final question. okay who was your of all of Disney all the Disney shows who was your crush back in the day I dated my crush for a minute um so the what do you do to me oh my god because you're like this is girl talk but this is also the public guy this is a microphone but like I want to tell you really bad no I can tell you I think I might have mentioned it in this kid at Kelly video but you remember

the guy who played um brad from connect kelly i don't off the top of my head but if his name was brad shan ashmore then he was the hot one yeah he played every guy in disney movie's name brad yeah the hot like blonde dude yeah and that's kind of who i ended up marrying was that type it's like totally my type and that's just because i'm brainwashed from the disney princes see we've did a full circle full circle final question for burning in hell what advice would you give to my little devils the listeners on what to do to cope with your hell when you're going through it when you're in your darkness what do you do definitely don't go to a psychic okay you go to psychic when will I make more money and then you're just like okay I've spent 10 tons of dollars I am bankrupted when will I make more money yeah don't

don't do that um who shit there's so many ways to answer this question god damn it you're a good interviewer oh my god thank you like this I'm like shaking from all the truth I've had to tell you it's funny because I literally is like I don't it's more of a privilege just to be here I don't care for any tea and you're like bitch I will give it to you and I'm like okay fine well because I want to give you the tea because you're so respectful but I also like really love understanding people and like what they're what they're actually coming from and like I don't care about all the bullshit of like yeah the headlines and shit like I actually want to get to the feeling of it all 100% and like you're one of the first people that will tell tell that story or at least the lens of that with you and you're brand like I trust that so like that's why that that that means the world to me but it's also funny you went very with your gut like we didn't face time we didn't phone call we were just like texting she's like I'm like where's your address and New York in me I was like this bitch is crazy this bitch is crazy but I like but I liked it okay good okay we need a handshake before you leave are you kidding me whatever you want okay so what would I tell your people's when you're

going through your dark time yeah yeah yeah have two beautiful beautiful children oh man wait it out sounds like a shitty piece of advice but you got to be resilient enough to wait it out that's not fucking helpful oh my god no but it's but resilience okay so like i'm a new yorker at heart and like they say like hey leave new york before it makes you too hard leave l.A. before it makes you too soft maybe it's a matter of finding your neutral place okay because like i'm telling you i've been on i've been on so many sides of the spectrum of life and I'm in a really good place finally at 38 years old I'm finally sober I have two kids I'm present and I can choose to live in the past or I can try to find value from the past coming from a

really neutral place so just try to meditate on what neutrality looks like for you and then you can create value from that from a neutral neutral place when you're like clear so everything in moderation yeah and it's very hard to do that i'm not saying especially when your life is so crazy that you almost are just in survival mode exactly running around and that's the thing is you're not going to get the gift of that if you have a crazy childhood no one's going to give that to you so however you have to try to seek out neutrality that's the goal is that neutrality don't try to be high don't try to be well i love that so much it reminds me of it's called like the art of there's a word where you just are kind of moderate where you're just eh which no one teaches you about

everyone's always just like highs and lows i love i love you so much i'm obsessed with you in so many ways where can people follow you listen to you watch you give me all the goods okay well i have these two podcasts um i had a couple of them on my like youtube channel basically go to my youtube channel i've got tons of cool shit if you like me i don't swear as much i'm very like family friendly but i was my here and so you let it go let it go um it had fun and um but yeah like i have a really fun channel and there's lots of stuff to see there's like cooking stuff from you know before covid and during covid and then there's like uh the podcasts that are going to be you know continued on spotify and apple and stuff and they're doing really well by the ways i'm obsessed so they're like

one is number one and like tv and film category well you have the perfect voice for it you have such interesting things you're speaking about and everyone misses you Thank you. And it's the guests, too. You know what I mean? You know, it's like about getting good guests. So I have great guests and great friends that get to come on. And I'm just looking for more and more great experiences with that. So check out the podcast. They're like growing and they're happening. And I'm just trying to think TikTok, you know, I'm trying to get to a million. Please. We need it. Please. Once we get there, we don't need anything else. But you don't need to follow me on Instagram. I do like. Don't worry about that. If you want to give a bitch a like and like, that's fine. You know, you could do that. But yeah, no. I'm, I'm a, I'm around and just you know yeah that's it you fit right in with the burning in hell community we love you so much thanks for coming to hell we'll talk to you guys later bye