Berner Phone - Max Ehrich: Fame & Toxic Masculinity

Episode Date: March 6, 2019

Hannah makes fun of Max for being "so LA". Max never felt like he belonged in his small town of Marlboro, New Jersey. Fast forward a couple years and he has dated some of the coolest girls in Hollywood, has a million followers, and is a successful actor. Breaking into the industry hasn't been easy and after some success, he believes fame is a dirty word.  Follow Hannah Berner on Instagram and Twitter: @beingbernz Follow Max Ehrich on Instagram: @maxehrich --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/berninginhell/support Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm your host Hannah And welcome to the dark, dark, dark, dark depth of hell. I'm actually with my first ever actor slash singer. Oh, wow. Probably more slashes because you're from L.A. It's a lot of slashes. Yeah. he's here because he's doing a little press tour which is pretty cool for his new

Netflix movie coming out on March 8th walk period ride period rodeo period that's what I was just going to say are you pumped I'm so pumped I'm really pumped because the story behind it is a really inspiring story and if we want to get right into it it's about Amberly Snyder who is a professional rodeo rider she's barrel racing and when she was a teenager she got in a car accident and is now cannot feel from the waist down. She's overcame an obstacle where she now rides on a horse with a seatbelt. And she has broken her record after, like, races faster than before the accident. So I play the character in the movie that really pushes her and inspires her to get back on the horse and she finds it within herself and her faith. So I think we can all relate.

We all go through shit. I feel like there's a lot of metaphors about getting back on that horse. Yeah. And also the fact that someone is so passionate about something, like, I feel like when you become an adult, you're like just like checking off lists all the time and you forget to have that fire. But that's why I like talking to creatives. Because you grew up in Marlboro, New Jersey. Did I say it, right? It's so hard. Marlboro, New Jersey. So you are an East Coast boy. I am, yes. When did your passion for like acting and singing start? Always. Like my earliest memory is being on my grandma. lap in a very non-creepy way playing the piano and that was the first thing I was drawn to and then I got really into community theater like the Marlboro players I was in like a bunch of plays there you know it wasn't the easiest thing I think during the time that I had my schooling experience being an actor singer dancing it wasn't technically cool it's probably because just before the

high school musical things came out so you're like you're like my age no I was treated honestly Okay, side note, Max was a loser, but he's also dated, like, the hottest girls in Hollywood. But we'll talk about that later. He, New Jersey is, like, full of toxic masculinity. Let's be honest. Like, you've seen the Jersey Shore. 100%. That was my high school.

That's crazy. I didn't need to see it. I lived it. So it's crazy for you to, like, see that you were different, but still know that you needed to continue that path and not conform. For sure. Yeah, and I stayed authentic, and it got to a point when I was, like, 15. you know my high school experience was so bad that I kind of gave my parents an ultimatum and um not to get really deep really quick but I kind of told my parents like if you don't let me go

like I'm gonna I'm thinking about killing myself and what do you what do your parents say that this is going to be a good ass podcast I could tell it right was it an empty threat um I was hurting really bad I was I felt really alone and you know it's it's a really vulnerable time and um I don't blame anyone that kind of ditched me any friends that I had that kind of kind of turn the other way because everyone's in survival mode in high school in the beginning. So you got kind of dark and you isolated yourself? Yeah and you know what I really turned to was music. That's when I started writing lyrics. I started you know really diving into my craft and then I told my parents I want to go to this performing arts high school New York City professional performing arts school and so I

auditioned and I got in and I left and I never turned back and in that moment there I met so many people that have synchronistically led me to different things and I started working I auditioned for an agent auditioned for high school musical three and I didn't get the role that I auditioned for but Kenny Ortega said to me I'm not making this film without you in it so that was my first experience on set and then from there I did a few episodes of Ugly Betty and I was either going to go to NYU or UCLA and I was like I'm just going to keep going with this fuck yeah but you know through that that pain that I feel like everyone can relate to I think everyone whether you're an actor or singer whatever it is i think we can all relate on feeling a bit outcasted yeah and sometimes you're kind of just in

the wrong clan yeah sometimes you get born or the wrong town in the wrong town yeah and like even like i was a tennis player and it was a very like strict competitive environment and i'm competitive but i'm also like a goofball and my jokingness wasn't always like looked as good like i've gotten yelled at multiple times by coaches for being like get serious when like I was very passionate but then I go into the comedy community and my goofiness is glorified exactly so it's kind of it really is perspective that was like when I transferred to the performing arts high school all of a sudden all these things that I was made fun of all these talents that I had been honing in on were now praised and were and people opened my eyes to know like do not stop doing that because I was like this is

really hard do I should I just try and conform should I spike my hair up and be a guido like all the other kids in my town what do I do I mean there's gel everywhere you could have easily done it yeah I'm happy I didn't it's good and people can like sense authenticity I think when you're younger you don't realize how the balls it takes to be different that it's actually the cool thing to be different and it's the harder thing yeah but bullying can affect you your entire life sure it stays with you do you still deal with insecurities at times from that like traumatic high school or middle school experience definitely anyone that puts themselves out I'm sure you you can relate that puts themselves out there and is vulnerable and pursues their dreams you know there's so many

setbacks that happen all the time and there's a lot of obstacles and then all of a sudden you you it's 10 years later but you still feel like that that 15 year old kid who is being like fully it's interesting how yeah those things don't leave and that's why i i do think school systems are definitely implementing some other ways to get through to kids to be kinder to each other but i don't think it's talked about enough mental health of kids it's one of like the the highest forms of like losing the youth in america's to suicide because people just don't think that they're enough and they think that because of the way they are yeah they think that they don't deserve to be here and it's couldn't be more so from the truth you're what makes you different is what makes you beautiful it's so true so you're

dancing and you're singing and you're acting and you're being passionate and there's probably like just douchey dudes making fun of you oh for sure so you make the trek to L.A. These are just rumors. I'm just spreading your news here because I was looking at the papers online. The papers. And it's set the papers. The papers. And apparently you were dating Sarah Highland.

You may have been involved with Summer Ray. You may have been involved with Bella Thorne. Probably every one of those Guidos would want to fuck them. So that's like I feel like you won. I mean, sure. I feel like, you know, people come into your life at certain times in your life and they, you know, you inspire each other to get on your path. And I'd say that all three people that you named are both beautiful people or all beautiful people and all were great experiences. Terrible on the inside, though. Terrible. I'm just kidding.

They're all really, really, really, really kindhearted people and actually really talented at what they do. So I've dated a comedian before and it didn't end well. How was it being in a relationship with someone else who's in your same field? Not easy. It's not easy, right? No. There was a quote, and I don't know if I believe this yet, but they said there's only room for one headshot in a relationship. Yeah, I don't want to believe that.

I think, you know, a healthy relationship is when you both like lift each other up and are excited for each other, celebrate them when they do well and are there for them. It takes a lot of self, like, confidence on both ends. And if one person is lacking, it could, like, add toxicity. For sure. It's an internal thing. Yeah, I think it depends on how woke you are. Let's this is the young kids like to say. Yes, the kids like to say. So you were also like starring Emmy nominated daytime Emmy for Young and the Restless. What was it like going to LA? What's like the real story? So my story is, so I actually went to high school. I don't

like to use people's names, but I did go to high school with Sarah Highland and we actually did move out to Los Angeles together. Cool. And that's when she got Modern Family. Wow. Yeah. And, you know, she's been in this industry for such a long time, and she's such an amazing talent, and I'm excited to see, like, where a career takes her, and she's been

doing already incredible things. So, you know, it was for me personally, like, I remember I went out for what's called, like, a pilot season. And I got was up for a bunch of things, but nothing, like, came through. And then, yeah, then I got this Lifetime movie called The Pregnancy Act. that ended up being this thing. Lifetime movies have like made my weekend before and I'm like this is the darkest fucked up shit ever and I'm loving it. It's kind of like before Netflix true crime you'd watch those lifetime. So it got some traction. It got a lot of traction because it's based on a real story of these girls in Gloucester, Massachusetts who made a pack to get pregnant. And so I played the guy like the main boy who. Did you get them all pregnant? Just one. And ironically, her name was Sarah in the movie. Okay, okay. There's some mirroring happening.

Yeah, but that was a great experience because I was like the, that was like a male, like, that was like the male lead of the movie. So it's cool to like, I haven't learned. I feel like my career has really gone in this like steady trajectory where I've gotten to learn and grow as opposed to like being like throttled into just like starring in something and then like not knowing where to go. It's been like this like uphill. Then, you know, the young and the restless is really taught me a lot. A lot of people don't realize that they film an episode in one day. So you do a scene in one take. You have to learn 60 pages of dialogue.

Are you good at memorizing lines? I became really good. Because I'm shit at it. Like, I just tried to record an advertisement for this podcast, and it took me 30 minutes. Because I kept muffling up the lines I was supposed to hit. I'll go over them with random people. I'll ask my friends. I'll call my mom and be like, hey, can you run this as me as I'm driving home on the 405?

But I could see if I was your girlfriend, I get really annoyed. I'm like, no, I don't want to do the stupid scene again. But I'm more like an ad lib person. Yeah, I feel. Some people would get scared and I'll be like, oh, I'll talk shit for five minutes about nothing. But then someone's like, can you repeat these two sentences? And I'm like, no. It's not easy.

It takes, acting takes a lot of discipline. Oh, yeah. It's a lot of work. And yeah, that show, especially because my character started out very innocent. And then all of a sudden I'm like, played a drug addict. Then he went to jail and I beat someone up and was killed some more. I like did everything, everything and more. It means they like you if they keep coming up with crazy shit.

They came with a lot of crazy shit. Once they saw that I could go there, they went there all the time. And it was cool. You know, I grew a lot. has been like very steady you have over a million followers on instagram now you're getting heat netflix movies are the new thing but it was it crazy to see your friend sarah highland go from like not famous to immediately that much fame it's interesting because she actually a lot of people always think that like even like i remember no jennifer lawrence is on the bill engville show with my friend graham

and um so she was on a sitcom before she was what people now know her as jennifer lawrence you'd be surprised if you look at sarah highland's im db she's been doing this forever she's she was in she's been on Broadway she was in gray gardens she was in lipstick jungle before she took off like with modern family she was already highly respected actress so a lot of people don't know that like a lot of people have that story where it seems like they came out of nowhere but she's been working so hard and she deserves all of it it's true is it weird to see like because you're in an industry where your friends get famous all the time lose their fame do you say lose their fame like well I think family lasts for so long like stuff

Oh, lose their family. Oh, no, lose their fame. I mean, because I've seen that too. I'm like, you see people die. Yeah, I have. And I've seen friends, I've seen friends fall off the bandwagon also. Fall off the bandwagon. Yeah, I've seen a lot.

What advice do you have for people, like, with fame in terms of for them to, like, not lose their fucking mind? Fame is a dirty word, I think. I think, you know, if you're given what people call fame, I like to use the word platform. And I think if you have an intention behind your platform, you get a platform, if you have an intention as to why and what you want to do with it. It should have positive intention behind. If there's things that you stand for, things that you want to represent, that is sustainable. Just trying to seek fame means that you're just trying to get attention. And then

you all of a sudden, like if you're not getting attention, you'll do anything to make sure that you're getting photographed or the people are talking about. And you should probably ask yourself focus on the work. Yeah, why you want that attention so bad. Is it because you're insecure about your work and you want external validation? Exactly. I mean, I think a lot of of these celebrities are obsessed with external validation in an unhealthy way but then it gets glorified when they get it yeah but i've been on both here's the thing like i've had so many ups and downs in this in this crazy circus of an industry where i have had to turn inward for my validation and i and i choose to you must deal with so much rejection all the time and so with every like with every

like thing that i get like there's a lot of things i've been told i was going to get and then things happen and just I've really turned it's going to sound so LA but kundalini yoga meditation and finding a community completely outside of the industry and finding a sense of self that is not identified by my success or my relation to the industry or the media or Instagram finding that and detaching from that has saved my life I actually love that because I've heard kundalini yoga has saved lives it does And it teaches you to, like, go inward in a way that just normal vinyasa wouldn't do. I love yoga. It helped change my life because after tennis, I didn't want to go to, like, a Barry's boot camp

and get yelled at. It was, like, traumatic for me. And I was like, I want to move my body, but in a non-judgmental form. Kundalini, I think, is something I have to try. But also, I was, I think balance, you were kind of hinting about balance, that, like, with tennis, I was so obsessed with it that, like, when I lost my world. world when crashing down. So like if you have an audition or your agent says you're going to get this role and last second they drop out, you have to have a place that gets you away from it and

reminds you that like acting isn't the end all be all. And that was hard when I first entered the industry. I would take everything so personally. And you know even this movie. And it's so attached to your ego when you're young. Oh yeah. You were so badly bullied also. So like this was like when I first entered the industry there was a lot of you know I'll show them. Oh yeah. You got chip on your shoulder exactly and now I've matured and grown and like I've really spin through enough life to to be able to change my perspective whatever you want to call it the universe god whatever's meant to be just like let it whatever's for my highest good let it unfold and I think that also we don't understand like when we're up against the wall how we actually do naturally figure it out

like friends who've like quit jobs and been all worried I'm like you're gonna figure it out you don't know how it's going to happen yet but like have some face And like that little bit of faith goes a long way instead of spiraling in like all the things that could go wrong You're preaching to the choir. I like yeah, I remember specifically One of my favorite jobs I've ever done is was a TV show called Under the Dome and it was something that Steven Spielberg and Stephen King were attached to Wow and like that was one of the best emails I ever got was like Stephen Spielberg is casting your tape and chose you and that was like such an iconic moment for me But it's so funny because two months before that I was up for this movie that was about to be it was based on an action figure and it was going to be like the biggest thing so hyped they were talking

about all this stuff and I was pretty much told that I was going to get the role and then I didn't and I was devastated and then two months later under the dome did went on and it gave me a job for two years and that that movie didn't really pop off the way they said it would I'm sure it was amazing I haven't seen it but you know things have a funny way of working out sometimes rejection actually gives you the best opportunities yeah I agree and you don't see it in the moment in that moment because immediately your ego's hurt oh yeah for sure the universe whoever the fuck is up there they know best whatever it is and i know that god is a really touchy word i personally do believe in a god in a higher power but i know it's a very touchy word but my god

just to clarify like loves and accepts every single kind of person no matter what your preferences are to matter what your your orientation what gender your social class anything so when i use that word it's not to be it's not it's not it's not a god that is a judging do you still talk to your parents i do a really great relationship. I slept at their place last night. Oh, that's so cute. Because I know that when you were 15 and you were rebellious, you're like, fuck you guys, I'm leaving. Well, they let me go.

That's very loving of them. Like, letting someone go is love. It's scary, and I'm sure they were terrified to send their kids. Well, we had a deal. The deal was that I was going to take the train in every day to school. And then I made friends. And I ended up staying in my friend's place in Soho at this loft. And, like, I'm awesome.

It sounds pretty nice. And then I ran away to L.A. with Sarah. But they were supportive, and I thank them all the time. Do you find the community is extremely competitive out in L.A.? Or is it like just certain people you can bond with and certain people you can't? I think everyone in L.A. thinks that they're really famous. I'm so intrigued by L.A. I've never been to L.A. I'm such a city hick. I mean, it's beautiful. I love the environment because I love the water.

So I lived in Malibu actually for like a year. And that was like a dream come true because I, that was my child to dream was to live in Malibu and be on the beach and surf. All I know about Malibu is there was a Malibu Barbie. There was a Malibu Barbie. No, but the water is very calming. Even the color blue is just calming. So calming. And so I loved, I always had to dream of living in Malibu.

Was it nicer than New Jersey? Sure, but I would say that, yeah, it was definitely aesthetically nicer than New Jersey. But I spent a lot of time in New York the past few months. And I got to say, like, the culture here is undeniable and the art here is undeniable. And I think it comes from a much more organic place in L.A. I think it's a lot about the results in trying to be someone. And a lot of people are trying to find, like, write that hit song. That's why I go to Nashville to record my music because I'm not looking to like...

Is it true that in L.A. when you go into Uber, sometimes they ask you for your Instagram handle? I've never heard that happen to me. That's creepy. I just heard that L.A. is, like, very aware of Instagram. Oh, L.A. is the most Instagram. Because in New York, it's like people, even if they do care, it's like not cool to care. Yeah, of course. Where L.A., they're a little more up front about it.

Oh, they are shameless. They say a verification, like a blue check is like a Harvard Business School degree in New York. Yeah, honestly, people are shameless in L.A. with the photos. Speaking of L.A., you're also vegan. I am. So, vegans get so much shit. I know. but I think because I'm actually not just vegan so I'm people I love that you're laughing at

yourself because it makes you so much more likable people like I've gotten yelled at by vegans because I'm actually eat good fish like all like sugar fish like nobu which makes me sound so bougierian I'm pesca vegan oh shit vegan plus fish and I'm also gluten-free I've just become LA I've been living there for 10 years so like they definitely really got me with that it's it's funny in the meme culture like people shit on a vegan so much they're like do you know how to know if someone's a vegan because they'll tell you in the first five minutes yeah literally but i'm not preaching about it i'm all about like i love you haven't forced me to not eat meat once since we've been here anyway i don't judge anyone and like i've dated people who aren't i've dated

any girl of dated has not been vegan and i doesn't i don't care it's all about i went on once again so l.a i went on a yoga retreat I love how self-aware you are That's why I'm laughing so hard So I went into a yoga retreat And for a week I was vegan And I felt really fucking good And so I was like whatever I'm doing here

I want to feel like this forever It's like you're Marie Kondo in your life If it sparked joy, keep doing it Sure She like cleans people's homes And she throws away anything that doesn't spark joy Okay And it like purifies your life

Cool And I'm always like I think you should marry Kondo your phone I think you should Marie Kondo your relationship Oh, yeah. I think even like the screenser, I just change my screensaver in my phone. I think it's important what you, what you, because you have more control over to what you can see. You know, your parents, like, filter your life when you're a kid. And the part of adulting is really filtering for yourself, like the kind of people you want to have in your life, the kind of things you want to be exposed to, like, I don't watch the news.

I don't even know what to believe anymore. I don't even know which channel is selling the truth. I don't, I don't care. All I know is I'm just going to do my part in. All you know is the energy you feel, and you can control the energies. That's why, like, I try to say on Instagram, if someone's giving you bad vibes, unfollow them. And it's okay. Because that's where your eyes are a lot.

Or, like, if you have a friend that you've been friends with forever, but, like, they always make you feel bad about yourself, it's okay to move on. Yeah, and maybe at some point, you know, they're just, they're not serving your highest good at that point. But at a certain time, you know, maybe they're going, maybe they're hurting really bad. And at a certain time, you guys might come back together and be friends. They've done some inner work, but it is, I think you got at a certain point, do what's best for you. Get them a coupon to Kundalini Yoga, give them a couple months, and then circle back. Exactly. So you're single now.

I am. Why do you think you're single? You're like handsome, you're like on Netflix movies, why do you think you're single? I hate that question, but I'm going to ask it. Well, I'm choosing to be single at the moment because, first of all, I'm really focused on what I'm doing, and I don't know that I can fully give someone the attention they deserve because I'm in a period of my life where I am traveling from city to city and I'm you know I have a lot that's going on right now like I go to Dallas and Saturday in LA then I go back to Austin for South by Southwest then Nashville to record songs I don't know where

I'm going to be living next and you don't want to be looking down at your phone and feeling like I don't want to hurt someone I do not want to hurt someone's heart and I you know yeah I've I've done it before and I don't like hurting people and is summer raise ass real Yes She was a giggle after Yeah Definitely is really She's a beautiful girl

Yeah she's very beautiful Yeah we had a great relationship But we're still friends And Was it weird dating someone Who has so many male eyes On her Instagram? Yeah

For sure Did you get jealous? You know When you have I'm not going to like say who But when you have like Huge people Reaching out to your girlfriend

To try like date them or go out with them like yeah it's pretty intimidating yeah i could see that um no matter how confident you are it's crazy that like anyone could reach out to her yeah and try to you know yeah i think you know insert themselves no pun intended yeah i think one one thing about her is like i do have to say that like she's i know like she has like what she portrays on social media but she is she's a really good heart and has good intentions yeah we that's why we remain friends and to this day and we actually so you believe in being friends with your ex no not always i mean i'm not friends with all my exes it's unfortunate i wish that that it was always like a happy ending

and that everyone could just like it's it's hard because you you still i love all of my exes i'm not i'm just not in love with them anymore yeah but i love them all and some of them i need to just love from a distance and not... Yeah, like some of their personalities might have been more toxic. Some of them might have been like really great... For that time period. And now it's not right, but you don't want to... I actually got really emotional once because I broke up with my boyfriend of like three

years and a couple years later, I like started crying because I'm like, I feel like I'm treating him like he died. And I'm like, I don't want him to be dead. He's not dead. So why am I ignoring him and like putting him out of my life like that when he's such a special person? I mean you need to do that I believe in cold turkey to like get over someone but it's like sad to just because you're not dating them anymore treat them like they don't exist yeah and I think that that it hurts when you when you do that and I think sometimes when especially like a three year relationship like you were just saying sometimes if it doesn't end badly it will never end and I think sometimes you almost push it to that point and yeah from there I think just time and space so it's like don't just break it. break up peacefully wait longer so you can end it violently no that's terrible advice

breaking up it's just a hard thing when you're especially when like you're living together I've been there I was in a in a three-year relationship we're living together it's it's hard it's not and then like on top of it being in this Instagram culture where you're when everyone knows you're in the relationship oh my gosh or when you're in Hollywood and you're walking carpets together and everyone's like it now your private life has become like like your breakup has become like a thing and definitely been through the ringer of like being in open public relationships and that might also be why i'm choosing right now to be single i also don't know that i want to date anyone in the industry i think it might be nice to to date someone that

that's not affiliated because i've just just been through interesting situations yeah that have kind of led me to want to maybe explore something different and i think life is about exploring different things um before we play a very intense game okay i want to ask an intense question go for it when was the last time you were depressed hmm like in what sense like what do you consider depressed it's funny i would say just feeling like a little hopeless yeah i'd say for an extended period of time um last you're like i feel hopeless about every morning from like nine to nine 15 yeah right now i I'm choosing to live in a really positive headspace and using the tools I need to to stay there. But I'd say last year...

But to get those tools, you must have had to be a little dark. 100%. So in last year, I think, yeah, after Summer and I broke up, I was in... That definitely played a factor, but it also just had to do with... I had just had a lot of stuff happen. I had a really crazy year, the year before, where a lot of my personal life that was supposed to be my person, life all of a sudden people were texting me all across you feel violated and I feel like I was felt very exposed and very vulnerable and like I had never looked at the articles about anything and

people make assumptions like like oh if you're hanging out with them you must be doing this or that and it's like you're not like but then if you were to respond to them you sound offensive and then you're like in their toxicity 100% and if you respond to the media like it just it's like this ripple effect and so that year of 2017 I think it was there was just a lot of stuff in the press that I necessarily I want to be seen in if I'm going to be in the media I want to be for the reasons because I'm promoting a movie a TV show that's like what I signed up for I didn't sign up for every time I'm seen out and about with someone all of a sudden I'm dating them and if that person looks like they're doing bad things all of a sudden I am because like there's not

it's not the truth and so when there's non-truths being assumed and written about you and you see your personal life out there and you know internally what your truth is you don't want to add more fuel to that fire so you don't say anything about it but at a certain point it caught up with me and it definitely put me in a place where I removed myself and I moved to Malibu and I was completely away from the Hollywood scene. It's good that you made a change yeah and I really went inward and really did a lot of work on like like I was saying like detaching I would go I would go surfing every day I would do whatever I got to do to just, like, just really detach, and I wouldn't just not. It's funny, they say, like, I isolated a little bit.

When you detach or when you, like, close your eyes, sometimes you actually, like, get more in touch with yourself. For sure. Instead of looking outward for stuff, look inward. Yeah, I didn't post for two months on Instagram. People thought. Well, speaking of Instagram, this is a question I would have never asked, like, two to three years ago. You have a million followers. Do you ever get paranoid in L.A. that people are using you for followers?

I mean for sure Yeah I feel like that's such a weird thing Like I know like growing up Like people might be rich And you're like oh they're using me for money Or fame But now it's like followers

Or like an actual Like a quantity of fame That people want to latch on to And this is the funny part about That whole game Is that first of it's really clear When people are trying to do that But second of all

If someone follows someone Just because they tag you in a story Or post you those followers follow that person because they're a fan of that person if that person posted you every single day it doesn't mean that you're going to get followers so people like

people think there's a quick fix I have like I have a lot of people with big followers on this podcast and they're like oh you must have blown up and I'm like look honestly I'd rather have someone with two followers who has incredible chemistry with me 100% like even today like you work with this incredible management company

that I'm connected to and they were like do you want Max? and I was like, is he going to be open with me? Yeah. And they were like, oh, he will. And you have been. But it's like, that's a kind of mentality. I think people have to have, don't try to get a quick fix.

There is none. And people, and then once you try to get that quick fix, and let's say you get a tag in like a big account, it's like, nothing's change. You still hate yourself sometimes. Exactly. Instagram is not you can't face two in your life. So.

I love that quote. I'm going to put that up somewhere. Also, this is because I have ADD. I notice you have a tattoo of a rose. It almost looks like the, falling rose emoji it looks like falling rose or it looks like beauty and the beast rose yeah what is it what's going on here um i don't know i've always had this like thing for dead roses i know it sounds you're so morbid you're were you emo yeah

did you have your hair like you know the emo llama that you see online yep you had it over one eye i've done that yeah fuck yeah did you wear vans i did you go to hot topic i did i still do Yeah, I get you. I still go to a hot topic. You still do. You're adorable. Okay, it's time to end with a final game. Seven Deadly Sins.

You're doing amazing in hell, considering you're from L.A. I'm just kidding. What are you greedy about? Being vegan? You're like clean fish. I'm greedy about my time. I think, you know, I have a lot on my plate right now and like one of my biggest pet peeves, and I don't know if I'm diverting, but like biggest pet peeves is if I make plans with you and like

I set aside time, like I'm in a really pivotal time in my life where I have a lot of stuff that I'm doing and I respect that other people do, but people flake so much and I find that more so in L.A. People say they're going to grab lunch and you know you're not. Like, people are like, oh yeah, I'll see you at lunch or dinner. Like, and it just doesn't people flake all the time. And so I'm greedy with my time because I respect other people's time. So I just, I expect that other people respect my time. And it's not always the case.

Back in the day, people couldn't flake the way they do. Like I could easily like 10 minutes before a coffee date, just texting and be like, oh, no, a meeting came up. Exactly. Or back then, if you called someone and said, I'm going to be somewhere. Yeah, you have to step up. You better be there. I want to say like someone like the Dalai Lama who like seems to just like be so living this whole like spiritual path that like I really try and stay on but like I'm still caught up in in an industry and a material world that I'm passionate about. Yeah, you go in between this like kundalini pure lifestyle to then when you're not doing your art it's about like making money and getting eyes and like getting followers and getting people to watch your stuff and it's like.

It's hard, like, you know, I really try and not even, like, look at them. I really try not to look at the money aspect, because it's like... And the results. And the results, you have to just focus on your craft. Because the results won't come if your craft is shit. And if you're focused on, like, the results and the money in the end and people liking it, then that's just your ego and then your work will suffer. Do you find yourself anxious about, like, the next project?

Do you feel like you're only as good as your last project? No. That's good. Yeah, I feel, like I said, I feel pretty detached from everything. That's awesome. Do you do a lot of drugs to detach? Nope. Good.

What are you gluttonous about besides kundalini yoga? You have to have some of those days. What's your like thing? This new weighted blanket I have really gluttonous about it. I don't want to get out of bed. I just want to hold it with me all the time. They say that those blankets are like what they put on animals and airports when they get stressed out. Does it help you sleep?

Oh, for sure. Did you have trouble sleeping? Yeah, that's been something I've, my whole life, like especially when I'm working on projects. But the past few nights that I've had this weighted blanket, it has saved my life. I've had the gnarliest dreams in a good way. And I've felt just like... When you dream when you're doing projects, do you like dream about your lines and you're just like, like, what are you dreaming about when you have a lot of projects going on? I don't even know.

Or like forgetting your lines. I've had one dream where there was like a forgetting. Oh, last night I actually remember the stream. I was jumping. I somehow went in the ocean and my whole neck tattoo bled, like not like bled ink. so it was like all messed up and so I was like oh what do I do now maybe there's a transformation happening for you we'll see I'm becoming a psychic reader since my other episode was with the psychic when was the last time you experienced extreme wrath okay I had an experience where I had a friend

who um I was helping out um who I really cared about and then they kind of tried to pull on me and pull, use my contacts and go behind my back and do a lot of things and uh thought they and then kept compulsively lying and I caught them in the lies and like I knew that they were lying and they kept lying and I was like I literally know I've been speaking to this person that you're telling me and that set me into a state of complete wrath because I have worked literally so hard to get my platform and to get access to working with these like producers that I work with and directors. It takes years and years and years and blood sweat, tears, lots of tears.

Do you cry? Of course, yeah. I love guys who cry. So it took a lot. So for someone to then just think that they do that and then to not be like grateful about because I'm all about giving. Like if you have it, like I'm all about spreading the love. There's a balance.

People fuck up. When people try to lie, it really irks me. Trust is broken. What trust is gone? What do you do? Nothing. You go to Condolini and you try to rub. that shit off. You have to get them out of your life

unfortunately and it hurts. It hurts. When you wake up? When? Um, depends on the day. Like, are you one of those early morning risers who like meditates in seven of the morning? Yeah, I do meditating in the morning. Yeah, I do meditate in the morning. When was the last time you were a sloth? Like when was the last time that you had a day that just was not productive? And not like flying cross country. No, no, no. I'd say honestly during that time period of last, the beginning of 2018 and you know, after like a lot of stuff was in the press. And it,

It wasn't even just the breakup, like I was saying. It was just a lot of having stuff publicly out there that I necessarily didn't. That was false and I didn't necessarily need out there and want out there and assumptions made. And yeah, so I just, I look at that period and at the time, I thought it was never going to end. And that was like one of the biggest growing periods ever. And right after that is when I got this amazing TV show, American Princess, and then I got Walk Ride Rodeo. And all these amazing things came together. And I'm grateful for that time period because.

it humbled me a lot and it taught me a lot about who I was and you also learned that it's not forever and it's all and and neither is the ups also so I'm not going to like be delirious and think that it's always going to be like on top of the world and it's okay to ride that middle wave and it's okay to like I always used to assess like am I happy today am I sad today am I doing well today am I doing bad today except whatever you are it's like stop with the results and just be like we're existing we're riding ways we're surfing we're in Malibu we're having fun or we're in traffic on the BQE, but regardless, we're going. And as long as you keep going, nothing is stagnant.

As long as you keep chasing after, like, not chasing, it sounds like, as long as you're pursuing, like, your heart's desires, I think, whatever way it unfolds and it unfolds, but as long as you're trying to be the best version of yourself, and some days it's not good. Some days it's not a good day, and you will have bad days, and I've had many, many days that aren't my favorite, but I'm still... Do you want to act and sing for the rest of your life? Like, do you see yourself like 60, you know, playing the dad or something or the ground, Honestly, yeah, I see myself doing this forever.

I really don't know what else I do. I like to make art. And so whether or not people are listening or watching, I'll keep doing it. What kind of art do you like to do? I mean, I write music and lyrics. I could just sit at a piano for literally the rest of my life and be okay. It's so funny how people are different. Like when I hold the tennis racket, I'm like, I could hit tennis balls all day.

But if you put me on a piano, I'm like, what is this? What am I doing? But it's like, your heart knows what it wants. Exactly. Selina Gomez said that. When was the last time? Keep it in your pants When was the last time

You let your pride Get in the way of something I'm trying to think recently I've been trying to really Trying to keep my ego and check If I'm the kind of person recently Especially where a lot of people are like You have so much going on

And they're like And I'm like yeah we'll see How it would have Because I don't expect I like have really lowered expectations On things Because I've been in this industry For 10 years

And I get let down all the time So I try to manage that If anything I need my ego To be pumped up I'm that kind of person That still kind of resorts back to that 15 year old that needs to kind of just be said like i need like christ jenner in my ear all the time being like you're doing amazing like you're doing great it's funny they say that the most successful

people are a little insecure for sure because you got it like you're still trying to prove something you're still have that chip on your shoulder myself and i feel like i'm my own worst critic like anything that anyone's anything that anyone could say to me i've already said it to myself and i've been 10 times meaner to myself so like i can take whatever anyone wants to say me but you've worked on that internal voice but i've worked on that internal voice yeah my voices i realized we're like a lot of it were coaches just like saying stuff to motivate me but i would like as a 12 year old be like oh he's right yeah like i'm not as good as that other girl you got to like weed out those pieces of bullshit yeah because you internalize it especially when you're a kid it's hard i had a lot of teachers

growing up especially adults sometimes are so dumb yeah uh to be honest yeah a lot of teachers especially like let's see a music teacher a dance teacher an acting teacher sometimes like you know they didn't fully pursue their paths. They're so hard on you and they take out a lot of, they project a lot onto you. And I've had a lot of people, perfectionist teachers that have definitely, I've had to silence those voices and be like,

who is saying this? And I realize it was from like my high school. And when you're young, you put them on a pedestal. Yeah, for sure. Besides Selena Gomez, when was the last time you lusted over somebody? Right now. I'd also say,

Ariana Grande. She's very in right now Yeah and you know she does a lot of I think a lot of her stuff is very Provocative and I'm intrigued Yeah she's she has a sexuality to her But then also like a cuteness Exactly and I think the cool thing about her right now

She seems like she's in this place That she's a bit fearless right now Yeah I'm always about someone who's been through a lot of shit And they kind of come back And her like you know she went through a bombing of a concert Mac Miller's death I don't know Completely what happened with this beat at her today she's trying to recover too fast like she might need a break from the public eye as someone who is in entertainment um

i think what she's doing is she's turning to her her art and for her it's her singing and her songs and that's i think that's healing her and i think that i've watched this interview that she did and i don't really watch people's interviews but i'm i respect her so much she's one of the best vocalists of our time and um or ever her voice is incredible she's been working on this forever but she was saying that like she was just finished with like james is it cordon is that name and she was like yeah like i'm going right to the studio now you should come and i i believe that she is in the studio right now healing through music and so i think that i don't know i feel like she should continue doing that yeah to wrap this up what advice would you give people who are going through hell i'd say that um everything is temporary

it's really easy in that moment to think that that's the way it's going to be forever but i'm a kid from a small town in new jersey that thought i was going to kill myself when i was 15 because of how badly bullied I was and one day I decided that I was going to convince my parents to let me go to performing arts high school and pursue my dreams and here I am and I really um I hope that I am and I hope that this movie walk ride rodeo of a girl who was a professional rodeo rider and is now paralyzed from the waist down but still rides to the stay I hope there are stories that um they continue to watch and there's a lot of music out there that is prime examples of that it does get better you just

have to keep going and never give up I'm gonna cry right now it's so beautiful and walk ride rodeo comes out March 8th and my song that's in the movie comes out a few days before What's it called? The song is called Ride and I have a music video. Is it like Nelly Ride? Not quite. It's like country pop and it's actually I have a girl that the movie is based on Amberly Snyder in the video. So cool.

So it has some clips in the movie. It has a lot of clips of her and it's I wrote it with her. That's beautiful. And what's your social? Where can people follow you? You can find me on mostly, I just use Instagram, and it's Max Eric, M-A-X-E-H-R-I-C-H. Amazing. And you guys should definitely follow me, too.

I'm really entertaining at Being Burns. You are, actually. I follow you now. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah, we follow each other. So thank you for coming to hell with me. It was pretty hot. It was pretty hot.

It's been great. Bye, guys. Thank you.