Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Sarah Chalke

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

More of my interview with 'Scrubs' star Sarah Chalke. We get into our Taylor Swift fandom, how her daughter may be her acting coach, and her personal connection to a ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode that she starred in. This episode was recorded at Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles.More of my interview with 'Scrubs' star Sarah Chalke. We get into our Taylor Swift fandom, how her daughter may be her acting coach, and her personal connection to a ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode that she starred in. This episode was recorded at Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit ADT.com to learn more. Hi, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. And here is your little side dish of this week's episode of Dinner's On Me. This week's guest was the wonderful Sarah Chalk, who you know from Scrubs, Roseanne, and Firefly Lane. We sat down at Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles, just a stones throw away from where she first lived in L.A., And we get into starring on hit sitcoms, the longevity of her career, and what it's been like growing up in this industry while continually reinventing herself.

So the last time I saw you was in Vancouver. Yes. At the Taylor Swift concert. Her last performance. Last show. I had seen her concert in L.A. at the beginning of her tour. And then Justin was like, should we go to the last show? I was like, yes, we should.

Of course. We stayed in the hotel like literally right next to that venue and the first night we were in the hotel and she had been doing like a, you know, it was like a five-night run there. Our hotel room window looked into the venue and we could basically see sort of like

a slightly obscured, but you could see the show and like feel the reverberation of the concert through our walls and then the next night went to the show and yeah, Did you take your kids with you or did you go with girlfriends? Yeah, so we actually went in Seattle.

With, oh, so we went both. So we went to Seattle because, so I have my daughter at the time in Seattle was seven, I think. And then I have three nieces and my nephew's girlfriend and my sisters. And so we were like, how are we possibly going to find a way to get 10 tickets to this concert? But what happened was is my niece comes walking down the stairs when it got announced. and she can't breathe. And she was like, Taylor, Swift, is going on tour?

She's falling. Just from it being announced. Yeah. So we got the tickets because everybody all registered for the lottery and one of us got the lottery of six tickets and then I was able to get four more tickets and, you know, it was in Seattle,

Lumen Stadium, it was probably, I don't know what, 80,000 seats there. Yeah. We got the tickets in the row right behind So we had six. We had ten seats together. It was like a Taylor Swift miracle. And I can't, like, when that clock starts counting down from two minutes, it's like any other concert I've ever been to.

The whole stadium is like there's an energy to it. Everybody is screaming. Everyone is crying. Everyone's trading bracelets, which was like the coolest thing in the world. We live in a world where nobody talks to anyone they didn't come to a show with. And everybody's like interacting and there's like people coming down the. stairs with arms of bracelets that they're just giving to all the kids. It was like this incredible feeling.

Incredible energy. Incredible energy. That's what it could be, like such positivity. Such positivity. It was so cool. And my, I mean, I just remember, like, I just walked kind of, like, in front of these two rows of my daughter and my nieces. And I just watched their faces for that whole first song. And they were just, like, it was like, they were elated.

Like, it was incredible. So cool. You gotta give them that. So cool. And then so when it was in Vancouver, I took my nieces and my daughter and it was, yeah, it was insane. It was the last concert.

It had this like even crazier energy to it. I know. I know. I was like, is she going to just go on for like three more hours? We could have stayed there if she had. Yeah. There was a piece to me that was like,

I get so tired so fast. And concerts already started after my bedtime. Yes. Remember when Jamie Lee Curtis was doing like her Oscar campaign for everything everywhere all I once? And I remember her like, God, I loves her Oscar campaign because she would just be like, I'm going to tell you how it is. She's like, concerts need to do matinees.

We need a cold play matinee. And I was like, she's just speaking my truth. Yes. But that's why I felt. Like, this is starting way too late. I'm getting out like a quarter to 12. Guess who I helped get Taylor's tickets for? You're never going to believe.

Lori Metcalf. No. Oh, my God. Yeah. Oh, my God. Amazing. Yeah, your TV aunt. It was amazing.

She, it was actually for her daughter, and her daughter was like, I want to see Taylor Swift in Ireland. I don't know who to, how to get tickets. And Lori was like, I think Jesse has maybe some sort of an end. And so I called Taylor's publicist

who is a friend of ours, and I was like, look, zero pressure, but can we do a solid for Lori Metcalfe and help her get her daughter? and they pulled through. They pulled through. Which was the hardest? It was the hardest pulled through.

It was just like, it was impossible. Listen, on her to do anything for Lori McCath, that woman is a national treasure. She's a national treasure. I was literally, like, brand new to this business,

had no idea what I was doing. And I remember just sitting on set with her watching her, every take was different, every time she read it was incredible. One of those people you watch you're like, oh, nobody would have read it like that ever. I still think about the scene.

I don't know if you were in this season. I do want to talk a little bit of around what I'm saying. You can talk about it at noxia. But there was a scene where she's saying that someone's dead. Someone's passed away. He's no longer with us. They can't hear. He's no longer here.

He's dead. He's dead. He has passed away. It's just so good. So good. No, she's unbelievable. And I had no business being there. I was brand new.

I was like, I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, I learned a lot when I was doing my first sitcom was called The Class. And I had a great cast. And we were, two of my castmates on the class were dating actors from friends. Andrew Anders was dating Matt LeBlok at the time and Lizzie Kaplan was with Matthew Perry and they would get advice from their boyfriends be like, don't do anything crazy in a shoot

because that's just like all of a sudden it'll be like... Yeah, and like, you know, they were telling stories about like, you know, when we were splashing around in that fountain, like, you know, doing the opening credits for friends, like, we didn't know that that's like the thing that would like live on for 10 years, you know? Oh, that's interesting.

I don't know that story. Yeah. They were just having a good time. They were just having a good time. And I remember when we were doing the shoot for Modern Family, I, season one, I did this, like, crazy. They had us, like, and, you know, it's, like, broad strokes at the beginning when they're putting, we play experiences with scrubs.

Like, no one knows these characters. We have to, like, really, like, nail home, like, who these people are so that the audience understand. And so like on the promotional materials for modern family, it was all of us, the whole cast, but like, you all had like props that like sort of like Julie was like, you know, looking very stern. And Phil was like wearing headphones, being goofy. And like Gloria was putting lipstick on. And Mitch and Cam were holding a baby and I was holding a cream puff because I was one of the lines in the pilot.

And I, for one shot, like went. that's the shop they used. Me looking gayer than I've ever looked in my entire life. And that was the shot that they used. And like, I'm not even kidding you, like, boom, in Times Square. Like, I see it in on the billboard in Times Square. I'm like, this is not how this was supposed to go. I, I've told this story before.

I don't know if you've ever put on here, but like I got that, I got them to change that photo. How? I think nobody's ever done that in the history of time. I don't think everyone, I don't know. I said, we got to tone that photo down. Like, there are other options of me, like, not looking like a crazy person. I know we're not going to be able to, like, change the fact that I'm holding a cream pop,

which I probably should have said no to. But, like, we got to, like, the face has got to be toned down a little bit. And sure enough, they, like, they calmed my face down, put another shot on. I mean, it still existed in Times Square for, like, three months. But, like, we got a different picture. But good for you for speaking up and saying something. I was like, look, I'm so excited about this, like, gay couple. They have a kid.

Like, it's a gay couple representing, you know, a family structure on network television for, like, I don't know, since when. And, like, we can't, this can't be the photo. This can't be the picture. And my fault, my bad for doing it. Listen, I made the face. But it's like you want to also have freedom in those photos used so that there can be something fun and organic that happens. But then, like, you're right. Yeah.

So now at these time, like, I'm just something crazy. I'm always saying, you can't use that one. Can't use that one. Right, right. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it's insane. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sarah opens up about navigating her son's Kawasaki disease diagnosis

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And bought. No better feeling than when everything just clicks. Buy your car today on... Delivery fees may apply. And we're back with more dinners on me. It's really comforting that it's back. I love that it's back. It was very...

I'm so lucky I got to sit the first few episodes. But, like, you've just heard the theme song come on again. I was like, ah, this feels so right. The music, I love the theme song. The music was such a big part of the show, too. Like, I feel like Krista Miller, who's Bill's wife, and obviously Jordan in the show, she was the music supervisor. Yeah.

She is on shrinking as well, the music supervisor. Also great, yeah. So good, and the music is so good. And I feel like there's so many moments in scrubs where, like, this song made such a difference. Yeah, I remember so many. moments like that with your show. And then Grace Anandemy kind of like also is the same, like the drama version of that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I found so many great artists who are like... Totally. Totally. Yeah, that's so true. Grace did such a great job. Yeah. Did you ever do a Grace?

I never did a Grace anatomy. I know you did. Very special episode. Did, yeah. It did. Yeah, it was a really... I'm so grateful to Shonda for doing it. My son had Kawasaki disease when he was

15 months old and I never thought I would speak about it publicly and then I was talking at a fundraiser and I had all these women come up to me and tell me their stories and they had had a far worse outcome than we did and I immediately got into my car

and I called Billy Lazarus who know very well and my agent and I said like what could I do to raise awareness because it's so visual and there's actually a treatment and he said let's go tell Shonda and he sat at the meeting for like the next day.

And I went in and told her the story and she was like, we're going to do this and we're going to put it on this season and you're going to play the mom. And I was like, thank you so much for doing this. You're going to save so many lives by doing it. Give me 24 hours to think about playing the mom because it's the hardest thing that I've been through and I'm not sure that I didn't do that.

And I hadn't had a lot of space from it. And I hadn't had a lot of space from it. That was the biggest part. And so I decided, I thought, no, I do actually need to do it. And so I called her back and I said, I'm in. And then it was so interesting because usually before first day, I'm excited and I'm like looking forward to it. And the morning of I was so like, how is this going to go?

I can imagine you regretting it all of that. I was kind of like, I had to cry in a scene and I thought like, usually as an actor you're like hope I can cry at the right time. This is like how come I can stop. Like how do we turn this off? So I found out that the kid they had cat. to play my kid, was one of triplets, because usually twins are triplet,

and he was five years old. And when he auditioned, he didn't know what they didn't know what they were auditioning for. It was like, you know, draw a picture and say, I made this picture for you, Mommy. And the mom of the kid didn't know what the storyline was. And then when she found out he got the job

and she found out what the storyline was, he had had Telosat. He diseased months before. Did they not know that? And nobody knew. And so I had this moment of like, okay, this is, this is like, we're meant to do this is the right decision. And I, um, I always thought like if it could help one parent see it and go like, okay, we need to go now into the ER. And I got a couple months after it aired, I got a letter from this mom.

And she basically talked about having seen it. And she said, I kept getting turned away from the ERs and it gave me the confidence to go back in and you guys save my kids' life. And it was like, okay, it was worth it for that reason. But it was, yeah, I was just super grateful to Shonda for doing it and putting it on and kind of like, you know, they do those things at the end of Grey's Anatomy where they'll say like for more information on this and they'll post some. And they did one of those. So it really is one of the cool things, like this cool thing about medical shows and others where you can actually slide in ways to like get a message across or teach someone how to identify something. I mean, I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for you to do. Stuff with my kids, like, it is so on the surface.

I don't know how you did it, honestly. And it must have made that performance. Actually, I haven't seen this episode. I'm going to go watch it. But it must have made that performance just so up on the surface, you know? Well, they re, kind of obviously it's different in the episode than what happened, but there are a lot of similar elements. which was the element of fighting for your kid

and kind of giving parents the message, like, go back. If you've got a gut, like, just trust that gut because I went back every day and every day I was turned away by doctors, ERs, just saying, no, it's not. Palosagia disease. And I was like, but what if it is?

And you have a 10-day window. So it's like you're kind of under a ticking clock, which is, yeah, so it was totally a crazy experience. An opportunity now. I mean, a way to turn something into, like a gift for other parents, like you said. I mean, yeah. It was super, it was lucky.

It felt lucky to get to do it. Yeah. You've had a remarkable career this far. So have you. We both have super lucky. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sarah and I swap stories of our kids showing a knack or interest or disinterest in the business we call show. Okay.

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Availability and coverage vary by. state and insurance plan. And we're back with more dinners on me. Wait, so how old are your kids now? They're five and a half and three. Oh, I'm jealous. Those ages were amazing. They are.

They're really incredible ages. My three-year-old is like a total three-nager right now. First of all, it's so funny because, like, Justin, when he gets really frustrated with Beckett, we're selling our kids, he's like, all right, let's go straight to bed. It can be like nine in the morning. He's like, straight to bed. Straight to bed. That's like the worst thing that you could.

All right. Straight to bed. That's great. And if they realized it's like, you're not going to put us to bed. We just woke up. So like now they've been calling our bluff on it. The thing that we do is we count backwards from five. And usually like when we start saying five, they like snap into place.

And they've started to be like, they're going to get to one and like what's really going to happen? Straight to bed, really? Straight to bed. And so this morning I was at sponsored by Topa Chico. So this morning, I like, I started five, four, three. And he was just looking at me. And I started like accelerating my, I was like, five, four. And I was just getting angry.

Three, two. And I started yelling at him. And he got this look on his face. Like, you've never done that before. And he got so sad. It took like a three seconds. And then he just burst into tears. And it broke my heart into 900 pieces.

So I'm at that age where it's like I'm trying to like navigate that three nature attitude and also like find patience. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard. It's really hard. It is such a hard age and I forgot about the three nature part. The reason I was like, oh, is because they like you think it's going to last forever. It's a minute.

And there's something about three and five where it's like they're not babies anymore and they're becoming these people that are like super interesting in front of talk to. Yes. And impossible some warnings. Yes. But start to have like opinions and it just starts to get like, yeah, you start to see like, oh, you see like glimmers of, oh, this is who this is. Yeah. And who's going to be.

It's really incredible. I mean, it's completely, obviously changed my entire life. And I'm 50, so I'm an older parent. And I sometimes mourn the fact that I didn't start earlier and have, like, because I have kids now. I have friends now who have kids who are, like, Matt Bowmer's, like, kids are in college. And I'm like, wow, like, you're almost at the end of, like, I mean, you're never at the end of it. Like, you know, you're almost in, like, an empty nest place. Yeah.

I was like, wow, I mean, I'm so far away from that. And then I think about it. I'm like, yeah, but I had all the fun stuff at the beginning when I was young. And, like, this, you know, there's 900 ways to skin a cat. And, like, this is the way I'm doing it. But it is being 50. And, like, you know, I'm exhausted.

And meanwhile, my son, Beckett, who's five and a half, he was in his first musical school. He played grumpy and Shrek the musical, which is consolidated down to like basically an hour and five minutes. And he had to have every line fed to him. You know, probably not made for the stage. Maybe, maybe, I don't know. Oh, see young. Terrified, terrified to be honest, terrified to do it. He's seen me on stage before.

and I think he thought, like, I've seen what my papa does. Like, I don't want to do that. I'm like, oh, honey, you have to work up to that. That's like, you know, it's not going to be like that when you first do Shruck the musical. It's going to be, you know, maybe 20 pairs, and it was. But I was so proud of him, and I was like, did you have fun? That's all that I cared about. And he's like, yeah, he's like, I did.

And he's like, I would like to do it again. I don't want to do a new show, but I want to do Shrek again. He's like, one and another crop down. That's so cute and great. And, I mean, five and a half is so young. To have the guts to get up on a stage and do that at that age is incredible. Yeah. Yeah.

No, I was really impressed. My little list is nine, and I was, like, doing the dishes and running my lines for scrubs, and she was like, I'll run those with you, Mama. And so she started, we've never done that before. And she starts running lines with me, and every line had to be with a different accent, different cadence, different prop. She'd put on a wig, and she'd delivered with a same. Southern accent and then the next line of dialogue she would do.

And she was like pouring a drink and it was the funniest thing. Oh my God, I love this. It was a Sarah. I mean, she'd never, like she would come to set with me a bunch and she'd sit by the monitor with a clipboard and she would give Zach and Donald everybody notes after a take, give me notes. That is incredible. That's incredible.

That was really fun. That was a little bit more from a conversation with Sarah Chalk. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on dinner's This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles, California. Next week on Dinner's On Me, you know her from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Melrose Place, and more recently from the newest season of The Traders, it's Lisa Runa. We'll get into her iconic soap days, her reality TV reign, and what drew her to the ultimate mind game, The Traders.

Plus, she has a new memoir coming out, so I got a lot of questions for her. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music.

Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balanced Kalasney and Justin McKita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.