Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - BARBARA CRAMPTON: Horror Queen Roots, Family Fractures, and Speaking Your Truth

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond) joins us this week to open up about her journey from cult horror icon to truth-seeking storyteller. Barbara shares what it was like growing up in a carny family, the fractured reality of her parents’ marriage, and how she eventually found closure with her father. We also talk about her early soap opera days, her breakout in horror classics, and her reflections on vulnerability, meditation, and balance. A deeply personal and inspiring look at a career built on truth and resilience. Thank you to our sponsors: 🥗 Prolon: https://prolonlife.com/inside 🛍️ Shopify: https://shopify.com/inside ❤️ This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/inside and get on your way to being your best self __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou 👕 Inside Of You Merch: https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🤣 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod 🌐 Website: https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-draining tread plus at OnePeloton.ca. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, if it looks like I just woke up, I did.

So Ryan came over to do some ads. Yep. And to do some intros. and introduce the show. Ryan, great having you here. Happy to be here. I just got back from Universal Horror Nights and Delusion. If you haven't gone, if you live in L.A. or anywhere near that area,

you have to go to Universal Horror Nights. It was so good. The mazes were amazing this year. Amazing. The poltergeist was my favorite. And delusion. Scary, creepy. It's off the beaten track.

You got to check out Delusion. Go online. Get tickets. delusion um thanks for listening thanks for supporting this podcast we got a great one today especially it's the horror season it's uh so we've got barbara crampton i'm big fan she'd be became friends reanimator but she's done so many movies and um she's been around for a while and she looks fantastic and she's sweet as can be and she got me a birthday gift to reanimate her new edition 4k oh yeah so i'm really pumped about that

a few things before we listen and if you don't know or you should listen this is a veteran who's been around the business and i think you're going to really uh find find it interesting if you want to join patron and support this podcast which is always welcome it's a little podcast and without your help uh it's difficult to produce a show so if you want to join patron p a t r p atr oen dot com slash inside of you patron dot com slash inside of you become a patron you can get your name shout it out at the every episode you could be on this show you could uh have youtube lives with me zooms you get boxes for me every three months there's tears so check that out also my instagram at the michael rosenbaum my link tree cameos i do the cameos all the cons i'm doing

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But, you know, but it's going to be a blast. And I'm doing this pajama party slash karaoke night. So you have to sign up and come to my night. It's going to be great from like 9 to 11. We're going to kill it. at the VIP packages and everything is available at cruisville.com. And, um, yeah, let's just jump into it. Hope you're having a great week, taking care of yourself, doing something, um, positive

for your life, changing bad routines and the good routines. Um, I know I need, there's a lot of stuff I need to change. Um, but, you know, if you don't start, if you don't start, you, you're just, you're never going to start unless you just do it. Every day you're thinking, tomorrow. I'm going to, I'm going to have AG one in the morning. I'm going to get therapy or I'm going to go for a walk or I'm going to do that. Do it.

Just if it's one thing, add to your routine and then slowly two things. Because what happens is your mind, what I've learned, Ryan, is you start to go, that's an accomplishment. That's an accomplishment. I did these two things today. Instead of doing the same thing, this cyclical, bad routine. shit truly helps but right now uh thanks for listening and thank you for making this podcast your podcast and um oh last but not least sunspin our new single is out starry eyes go to spotify please and and go to spotify and listen to it and then put it on repeat and turn the volume down

and let it keep playing over and over because it really helps and i think you're going to love the new single the video a music video a fan did comes out next week for it so and if you love the album you want the vinyl and the CD and the behind the scenes book go to sunspin.com sunspin.com but check out the new song on spotify or wherever you listen to music starry eyes off the new album welcome welcome to this life all right let's get inside of barbara crampton it's my point of you you're listening to inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. Yeah, I'm supposed to be a horror aficionado.

I should know my. Yeah, the first thing you did was looked here right and you said, oh, Freddie. Yeah. They all run together after a while. Yeah. I mean, do you like horror? Do you love horror?

You have to love horror. Yes. But it was an acquired taste for me. Really? Because when I first started, I didn't know that I was going to be in horror movies. So I just started working and acting. And then all of a sudden I was in one. And then I went, oh, that's cool.

And then I did another one. And that was cool. But it wasn't until I did your next that I went, oh, yes, that long after I started that I went, oh, these are my people. This is what I do. it took you that long it took me that long well i took a break from acting so for years for years because i did reanimator from beyond my famous shopping mall puppet master puppet master blah blah blah and then um i got married and had kids and moved to san francisco and then i got a call out of the blue to do your next and i worked with adam wingard and amy simits and tie west and every person that's a good movie

that's a good movie that's a good movie and every person on that set was more talented than the next. And so I was just in awe and inspired by all of them, because they could do every job, too. All of them were like, when I, back in my day, it was like, if you were an actor, that's what you did, an editor, director, writer, whatever. Now they do everything. Now they did everything. And it was so inspiring to me and they were so lovely and wonderful. And I had such a great time that I said, oh, yes, I understand who these people are. I understand what I do. This is what I do. But I, but honestly, you know, everybody says like, oh, but I really want to direct or whatever. I'd love to do more comedy. So yes, I am a horror movie actress, but I'd love to do more

comedy. Well, you're very funny. I think you're very funny. You have a great energy about you. Your aura. Thank you. Yeah, I just noticed that about you. Now, I mean, I have so many questions. There's so much about you that I want to get into like how it all started but I also want to talk about you took a break to sort of raise kids and have a family coming back must have been nerve-wracking to be in your first movie in quite some time I was so scared I was actually I was on the set and I was so nervous like I don't get nervous performing at all and when I was younger I did a lot of soap operas and that's very in the moment and you have to be performance ready

and there's so much dialogue and it was like, whatever. Because I hadn't really worked in about six years, I did that movie and I just thought everybody was so talented that I hope that I was as good as they were. That was my feeling at the time, you know?

And yeah, I was quite nervous, but it worked out. You know, the movie was a good. very good. Does it sort of that feeling sort of dissipate after like the first few takes or the first scene? And then you start to go, okay, I remember how to do this. I mean, truthfully, yes. Obviously, you're an actor and you know, it's like on every project, you get a little nervous. And then once you get that first take out of the way, you can kind of relax. And that's very true. But I think I was nervous the whole movie on that movie. Also, because they did a lot of, you know, that was part of that wave

of mumblecore. And so they were saying lines that weren't in the script. And then I was like, what is going on? And Simon Barrett came up to me and he said, do you like what you're saying in this scene? And I said, yeah, man, I guess so. And he said, because you can say anything you want. And I went, oh, that's what we're doing. And you haven't, you weren't. I was a part of that group. You didn't know how to do that. No. But did you do it? A little bit. Yes. But you were nervous you're like I just know to say these things yes I'm going to say something and let's see how it lands and it was awesome and there's a guy named joe swanberg that was on the movie and he really is like a mumblecore guy and he mumble core yeah have you heard that tim before have you heard that

right yes I just thought like improv I just think of you know it's kind of improv yeah off the cuff kind of thing right it's like people that write scripts or have stories but it's not written in stone So you can kind of riff off the other person and say whatever you want. I love that. It was super fun and freeing because I've also worked with directors that were very heavy-handed. By the book. By the book and the script is everything. And you say to them.

And one of these is Stuart Gordon, by the way. I was going to say, Stuart Gordon. Yeah, because he came from the theater and I would say, you know, I'm not really sure about this line. I'd like to maybe change it to this or change this word. And he'd say, no, you can make it work. And say, yeah, but I don't know, it sounds a little more natural if I'd say like, this. And he'd say, no, I know you can do it, Barbara. I'd be like, yeah, I can do it, but it's going to sound better if I say it a different way. But it's just, did it end up working

out or you're like, no, I should have done it my way? Listen, I always feel like if you work for a director, you're in that person's movie. And you just got to go with how they work. So I don't really know how to answer that question. Yes, I still feel like if I had been able to say what I wanted to say for me it would have made more sense but for him he's looking at it from a different point of view and for him it made sense right yeah now growing up your dad was a carney now that now i can't even imagine what that's like what was it like go i mean because you were all over the country right well we traveled with a certain fair circuit that was like through pennsylvania ohio and virginia and it was called ken pen amusements and so they had their

spots mapped out. And it was super fun. Let me tell you. I mean, I grew up with five kids in the family. I'm the youngest. Everybody manned a different game. My father had the crazy ball birthday game, a basketball joint, a balloon dart game. And I could ride the rides all day long. Well, they're weird shit like, beware, the two-headed cow. Yes, exactly. There was a two-headed cow that traveled with us and a bearded lady and a tattooed person. It was really a two-headed cow. it was really a two-headed cow that traveled with us yes how did you know that two-headed cows i mean they really existed i remember being at fairs up in orange county in new york and going once and it was just like i'm this little boy and i'm seeing see the two-headed cow and see it was

frightening it was like oh my god frightening and there's like a fetus like that's inside of a jar with formaldehy yeah it's all real stuff yeah did that freak you out or you just kind of got used to it pretty quickly. I got used to it, I guess. It didn't scare me at all. That's probably why I did do horror movies and did do like freaky things. Because nothing really ever affected you. Nothing faced me. Like I still today, I don't get phased by things. Are your folks still with you? No. No. Is it recent or has it been a while? It's been a while. My dad passed away like 20 years ago. I mean, being being part of that whole, you know, they called him Whitey and they said he was the best Mike Man in the business. And, you know, he, he was great at card games, card tricks. He was great at

calling people in to, you know, hey, Chastine, come on in here. Let me show you how to win one. Chastine? Like, what is that? What is that? I don't know. He's a little rude. But, you know, he was. Hey, back then. Back then, you could get away with you. You got away with everything, right? He was a big drinker, big gambler. I mean, you have to be a gambler to do that kind of life and have five kids. How was their marriage, though? Oh, okay. Now you're getting into some personal shit. Yeah, my dad was like forever having affairs with different ladies on the on the road on the road all the time. And your mom knew it? Sometimes, sometimes no. And she stayed with him. Yeah. He would leave and have an affair with a woman and then come back to

my mom and then leave and come back. So sometimes we were on the road. Sometimes we weren't. It was it was a very fractured childhood. Did you see him on the road with women? One one woman in particular. Yes. That, yes. That stayed with you. Oh, yeah. Because you hadn't seen it before. Yeah. This is like Barbara Walters' moment. Yeah, I could start crying.

Really? Oh, yeah, it was terrible. That's horrible. You know, it's funny because when I was a kid, I always thought my mom was having an affair. Really? I come home from school walking up the street and thinking if there's someone, a man in the house, I'm going to kill him. I'm thinking of a way to kill him. Was that just a fear you had?

No, she was really flirtatious and very, you know, all over the place and you know she would flirt with men in front of of the kids and i just think that was her nature and she didn't realize how it was affecting those around her and she was just a people person a people pleaser and you know and so i always had that fear i remember going to my grandmother as a little boy my brother went with me and when we were staying at my grandmother's house during christmas and we both went up to my grandmother and said I think, you know, mom's having an affair or, you know, she or, I'm like, what do you mean? Well, and she always flirts with men in front of us and it makes us uncomfortable.

That's weird. Well, what does she say? My grandmother said, what are you doing? You know, Michael and Eric just came up to me. And she's like, oh, they're crazy. I don't know why they would think that. And so she just always. Well, what about your dad?

Where was he? I think he noticed it that she was a flirt and she was this. And, you know, it definitely. I'm sure it emasculated him to some degree. You know, he's working hard and, like, you know, he's like, is my wife. And they were, you know, he was crazy in love with her. But, you know, and to this day, I don't really know. I never saw her have an affair.

I don't know. So. Do you think she was committed to your father or was that? I don't know. Because when people do things like that and I've had boyfriends like that that were very flirtatious with other people and they'd be like, what is that? It's a way for you not to connect with your person because you're, they call it something like avoidant attachment or something where they can't really, really

have a close relationship with somebody. And there's marriages like that for sure. Maybe. I guess I can understand. And maybe my mom had that too because my mom, my mom's father was an alcoholic. Jeez. And, you know, and her husband. And her husband. And so of course you go for somebody that's like what you know, you know, for a similar situation. So it could be that. It's the matcha or the three ensemble Cado Cephora of the FACC that I've been to deniches who energize all the time? Mm, it's the ensemble.

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Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Did you ever, like when that happened, when you saw your dad with this woman, did it trigger like any sort of anxiety or depression in you? Did you suffer from anxiety as a kid?

No, not really. Not anxiety or depression. Not that specifically. But I do remember getting really sick to my stomach and not being able to eat for many days when I. I realized what was going on. And now when I have an upset moment in my life or something, I have such an upset stomach. It just goes to my stomach. So it's just that.

But I'm not an anxious. Not an anxious person. No, not at all. Really? You just go with the flow. I pretty much go with the flow. Do you sort of let it kind of fester, like things build up and you're like, I'm fine, I'm fine until you blow your lid? No, I'm not one of those people.

No. No. You speak your mind pretty quickly. I do speak my mind. Yes, I talk it through with people. If I'm concerned or upset or I have an issue about something, I always talk to people about it. Do you raise your voice? Not so much.

Are you a yeller? No. See, I don't see that in you. Yeah. No. I'm pretty calm, but I don't, I don't know, friends of mine who follow astrology, I'm a Capricorn. I'm a cancer. I'm a cancer moon. Yeah.

We're very sensitive. We're very sensitive, but with a Capricorn that's like mental and cancer is very heartfelt. And so people have told me I'm very balanced because I'm, you know, if my moon is in cancer and my son's sign is in Capricorn, those are six signs apart. So six signs apart, having that strong of an influence makes me have a good foundation and balanced. Did you ever tell your mom about it? Yes. Yes. I mean, at the time my dad was like seriously considering leaving my mom for probably the eighth time with this woman who worked for us. And I just saw it going on. And, you know, I mentioned it to my dad and to my mom. And, you know, I think I was probably 10 at the time. So they didn't really want to talk to me about it in any sort of intelligent way. It was sort of like I was pushed to the side. But years later, Later, when I was probably in college, I tried to talk to my mom about all the stuff.

But I'll tell you another good story about my dad, but I'll get my mom out of the way first. And I tried to talk to my mom. And I was like, Mom, I need to talk to you about what happened in our childhood. I mean, this is insane what you went through and what dad did to you and how you let it happen. and how that's affected me and I want to talk to you about it and she started crying and she couldn't discuss it with me

she just too hard it was too hard for her and so we didn't talk about it and then I think I tried again a couple years later and she cried again and you know my poor mother I you know just she just wasn't capable of it so we never really got into it

You don't want to address it. No. She tried to just keep it like it wasn't real. Just she knew. She was smart. She knew. She knew, but she just focused on other things. And she stayed with him.

She stayed with him until when I moved to Los Angeles and I got my first big job and I made a lot of money, I went to my mother and I said, you need to get a divorce from this man. You said that. Yes. And I said, because I can't take it anymore. And she said, okay, and I paid for her divorce from my father. Did he resent you for that? No. He knew that you kind of instigated that whole thing?

Yes. And so the thing with my dad was he would leave and come back, leave and come back, leave and come back. So I thought, well, that'll be it. He won't be able to come back to my mother anymore. You know what I mean? And but years later, he tried to again. I was like, you guys are divorced, so you're not coming back. Did she take him back?

No, I told her not to. Like, I was the strongest voice in our family of, you know, you need to put up a boundary. My dad was not a good guy. He was fun. He was a really fun guy, but he wasn't a good guy. Just wasn't a good husband. Wasn't a good husband, really wasn't a good father. So on his death bed, yeah, right?

Yeah. I like this. I said my kids were really little at the time. And I said to my friend, Shanti, Shanti, if you're listening. I said, oh my God, my dad is like in hospice and he's going to die and what should I do? And she goes, Barbara, you get on that fucking plane and you go talk to that man and you say everything you ever wanted to say to him. And I'm like, and I started crumbling like my mom. No, I can't do it.

She goes, you get on that fucking plane. You get on, you get a reservation tomorrow and you get on that plane and you go talk to him and you say everything you ever wanted to say to him that you have been. You know, bottled up inside of you for years, and I went, and I know Shanty to be a very smart person, and she actually went through the same thing with her family, like there was an issue in her family. So she did the same thing, and I said, and she know my whole history. And I said, okay, I'm going to do it. So I got on a plane, and I went to Pennsylvania, and he was living with that woman who worked

for us, but he was not living with her because he was in hospice. And they had a son, and, you know, I saw him from. minute he's fine you know whatever I don't have any right grudges against him no and so I went I went and talked to my dad and he was like oh it's so happy I was there and everything and I said you know I just want to let you know that I'm here to see you but I'm also here for a selfish reason because I have some things that I want to say to you what was his reaction right when he knew it was coming didn't or did he not no my father I think was really a narcissist because he went oh yeah what is it And I said, well, I'm really angry at you for like leaving, come back, leaving come back, you know, all the time when you weren't with us, you weren't even supporting us. We had no money from you. And you kept, you know, just having affairs and coming back to, you know, my mother.

Were you crying? I'm sure I was at the time. Yeah. Yeah. And I said, I have a lot of anger towards you. And I think it's really affected my relationships with men in my life. and just you know my family relationships and you and I have a lot of anger and I just feel like you weren't there for me and he said I don't know what you're talking about I was there for you I did everything that I could for you and I don't know where this is coming from and I don't know where you get off saying this to me complete narcissist and I and you know what though Michael in that moment I was released because I had an epiphany because there was so many times that he wasn't around for like a year period, six months, two years that I went, you know what? I'm glad you

weren't in my life because you're a bad person. Did you say that? I don't think I said that, but I thought it. I was like, because you weren't there and because you are such a bad person, I think that the influence of you isn't as present in my system as it would have been had you been in the house all the time and acting like a jerk, acting like the jerk that you are. My mother was, you know, a lovely, sweet, dear, dear person. So I think my, I hope my energy is more like her and not like deceitful like my dad. But I had the epiphany. And I'm so glad my girlfriend said to me, go talk to your dad. Because then I, I hope, I'm I really felt released from him. When he said that to me, I was so honest with him, and he was so honest from his own truth with me that I went, yeah, you're a fucking bad guy. That's intense. Yeah.

Did you, when you left, was there like, all, I love you, dad? No. You just kind of were, you were almost, it was sort of out of body, sort of like, I can move on now. I can move on. And I think. That's awesome. And, and, you know, probably from that conversation, I learned that you have to be honest and speak your truth with somebody. Yeah.

And no matter what. No matter what. And it's okay what they say because it's not about you. It's okay if what they say isn't what you want to hear. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yes, exactly. Yes.

Because I have relationships where I'll never get what I want, which is so simple. which is so easy, that I would think that why can't you just sort of acknowledge, acknowledge what I experienced? Yeah, but it wasn't from his truth. He couldn't really acknowledge it because from his truth, it was something else. And all you can do is speak your own truth. And however people treat you is not your fault or it's not because of you. It's because of them.

And, you know, it's part of that Zen Buddhism, if anybody studied that or know about that. like non-attachment to outcomes or to what other people say about you or feel about you. The only thing you have is what's in your own heart and your own truth. And you have to speak that as much as possible and without any attachment to any sort of outcome. Were people surprised by your success by, I mean, I say that because I, you know, I was in a small town. Nobody knew my name. I wasn't supposed to go anywhere.

I was supposed to work at the grocery store. and somehow I made it. Sure. Somehow I did it. So were people, including family members, sort of like, what? Yeah, I think surprised, I guess. I don't know. I wanted to be an actor from the time I was really little, like a lot of people do.

You know, you play pretend. And when I was 11, I think I stated I want to be an actor. And everyone was like, oh, okay. Good luck. Yeah. Oh, that's nice. I think my mother said take typing lessons or something, just in case. but I always knew I wanted to do it

and I was in school plays from a very early age and went to college and then basically moved to L.A. right away. So I just did everything that I wanted to do. I wasn't afraid. I just did it. So I think people were maybe surprised to a certain extent. I mean, I come from Long Island. I was born in Oceanside. Yeah.

Nassau Community Hospital. Oh, I was born in Bethpage. Oh, nice. Was that the small town that your family lived in? No, we moved to Indiana. Oh, Indiana. Oh, see, we moved to Vermont, to a small town in Vermont. So that's where I went to high school and college.

So I think, yeah, surprise. I guess it's like, it seems like a lofty dream, right, to be an actor in Hollywood. It's weird how people perceive you after you've done something, you know, whether, you know, when you've had success. It's interesting because they, especially for me when I go, go back, I could just see that people, you know, treat me different or talk to me different. Whereas, you know, if it was the me before, it would have been like not paying attention to not really giving a shit. And there's always, you know, so you're not, you're never sure what's real. Oh, well, it's very exciting what you've done. Yeah, it's exciting what we've done. It's exciting when you've had any success in life and, and you're able to, you know, I mean, I think for me, though, I did, I was doing it to get approval. for a long time from your parents it's not that i didn't like it sure but it's not that i didn't like what i was doing i found something that i was good at that i enjoyed but um i think for a while

it was like adoration or you know somebody paid attention you're finally you're finally accepted you're you've done something good with your life and people treat and you start to you enjoy that You're like, wow, I'm around people who like me. And then you realize, no, no, that's not what it's for. That's not what this isn't healthy. No. So then, of course, then you start to realize you have to go through all the demons, you know, check in and sort of go, where does it come from?

What didn't you have as a kid? What, you know, and fill in those gaps with real, real things, things that have value, you know. Yeah. But did you want to be? an actor from a young age or? I was always doing crazy shit. I was always like, uh, doing impressions and, um, reenacting scene, memorizing stuff. I used to take my parents VCR and bring it up to my bedroom and hook it up to my VCR and just copy horror movies.

Oh. And just spend my weekends doing that. I never went to a high school dance. I never went to prom. I never was on real dates for the most part. I was kind of in my own little work. world. And so it took me, I really didn't grow up, I think, till probably mid 30s is when I started to, you know, really address all these things that had to be addressed and, you know, therapy and

really, really getting to the bottom of things and then understanding and saying, hey, this happened. This isn't your fault. You know, you deserved better. Forgiving. All these things that if you don't do that it's you're living a lie you're completely living a lie did that went after you did that did that did that change your approach to your craft yeah it did it just it it sort of made me feel like do things because you wanted to you want to do them not because you think people will give you adoration not because your agent's going to be happy not because you'll get attention do things because you want to do them because there's a passion for it yeah it gives you purpose you know if you can do that that's that's the closest thing you get to happiness right you know so

i i don't think i was i just don't think i was very happy i think i was as a kid you want yeah i think i was well i mean i had fun with my friends if i look back and but i remember i was always with my friends at their house with their parents i'd stay a week at david idleman's a week at danny cutters i'd be over the shepherd's house i'd be at the camacho's house i was never home I just didn't want to be home right and where was your brother and all this uh my brother my younger brother well i had an older brother who ran away from home when he was in high school he just like you know he didn't he and my father didn't get along so my sister uh it was from my mom's first marriage so my sister called my mom's mother my grandma and said you got to get him out of here and one day my brother

just wasn't home when i came home from school he just had left to new york and he stayed there How old was he when he left? 16. Oh. And, you know, my sister graduated and eloped and all that. But back to you. So there was a lot. So you're getting inside of me now.

No, there's a lot going on in all of our families. Yeah. So I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone. I thank you. I appreciate that. And as you were talking about it and why you became an actor and looking for somebody to give you some acknowledgement and attention or, you know, saying let you know that you were okay.

I think for me, there was a lot of things that were unspoken in my family and things that weren't addressed. And maybe that's why I became an actor too, because when people ask me, why do you act? I mean, what is it about it that you love? And I always say, it's because I want to illustrate the human condition. And I, and that's it for me. It's like, I want to tell the truth. I want to tell the fucking truth every time, no matter. And that really speaks to me. No matter what role I do. And I think that that I'm realizing that in this moment, that that's why I became an actor. Because I want to speak the truth.

That's brilliant. I think that's true. That's important. It's like you're doing it because you want to, I love becoming different characters. I love doing something. And, you know, I always felt like when I was younger was like, oh, I get it. Not being me is good. Being someone else is better.

People want to see someone else. they don't want to yeah yeah i think that's what i'm sure a lot of people go through it but um when you started working you did soap operas and this and that and you were making money and things were going well um you loved it you were enjoying it you're enjoying your life this you're i mean imagine you were on the road you were working you know with your dad at these carnivals or whatever these fairs and next thing you know you're on a soap opera and how old are you when you're doing this well i was on the road until i was about 16 and then i went to college for theater and studied theater and then i think my first job i got when i was probably 21 i had

auditioned for oh no 22 because i moved to los angeles right after college and my first audition was for the soap opera days of our lives and i tested for it and um like sand through the hourglass Yeah. So are the days of our lives. Yeah. And I got the job. Wow. My first job I auditioned for.

So I did that. What year was that? Like 80. I want to, let's see, I graduated 82. So probably 83. Was Stephanie? Around then? Yes.

He was? I think he was. Was he the Salem slasher? I got killed by the Salem slasher after about a year. Wow. I worked opposite John Delancey. He was my boyfriend. Wow.

Was he sweet? He was so nice. Yeah. He was a great actor, really kind. He did all the Star Trek stuff, right? He did a lot of Star Trek stuff after that. That's amazing. I mean, when you started your first movie, your first movie wasn't reanimator, was it?

No, I think it was body double. Body double. Yeah. How was De Palma? Amazing. Was he? Because I hear such horror stories. Really?

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seven-time winners, champions out again. Fly the seven-time world's best leisure airline champions, Air Transat. You didn't experience that. He was nice to me. I mean, I had three scenes in the movie, if anybody's seen the movie, and one of them was a sex scene and two of them were dialogue scenes. And the dialogue scenes were cut.

So I only have like a sex scene in the movie where I'm cheating on Craig Watson. And then supposedly that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Like he goes crazy and flips up. But you didn't experience that, though. With him? No, he just kept asking for more takes and more takes and more takes all the time. you know and he didn't give a lot of direction to me but he would just yeah just try it again or you know let's see a different angle was it weird being doing a sex scene for the first time

were you you had to be nervous yes of course back to the nervous yes of course it was my first movie and it was a big Hollywood set obviously you know and and and I had only been in Los Angeles for a year and I got that part and I was like what wow this is did they have to like back in the day they could ask for nude shots could they do that or no does that how does that how does that work like yeah they did because they can't ask for we want pictures to see how she looks naked yeah they did that at that time they did so you had to send a picture I think we took a picture yeah isn't that something and that movie was all about sex too yeah yeah so I think they did that for a lot of people Yeah.

I mean, and then you went on to do more and more stuff. Then I did a movie called Fraternity Vacation. Well, then I did. Fraternity vacation? No, actually, I think I did Reanimator. And then I did fraternity vacation after that. And that was with Tim Robbins. Wow.

How was Tim Robbins? Amazing. I thought to myself working with him, he's really good. That guy's good. You know? It's a nice guy, too, as far as I've met him a few times. But when you did Reanimator, obviously you've talked about this ad nauseums. But when you're doing...

What is the 40th anniversary this year? It's the 40th anniversary. So, yes. I mean, the thing was a phenomenon. Um, Jeffrey Coombs. Combs. I always say Coombs. Yeah, it's like Combs.

It's like comb your hair. Yeah, Combs. Jeffrey Combs. He's a genius, though. Yeah. He's really just out there. I loved him in Frighteners and... Uh-huh.

What was that working with him? Did you have any idea that this movie would be nearly as big as it? Did you think it's going to come and go? it's another movie I'm working move on well it wasn't really move on it was it was actually a big deal for me because it was a big part and the first young gal who had the role her mother read the script and then she said oh no you're not doing this movie because there was some kind of yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and you know I read it and I was like I don't I mean yeah there's that but it was also not something that I was afraid of and my part was a good part and so I didn't think that

it was anything that I couldn't do and it was also a time when movies were very exploitative for women and in my mind I thought this you know this is what this is what they want us all to do all the time they keep asking us for this you know was there a lack of respect you think no no you never felt like that when you're doing these movies they made you feel comfortable No, yes. They're professional. No, people always say, how did you do that scene? And I say, it's a scene like any other.

Every scene is hard. A crying scene is hard. A yelling scene is hard. You know, running. A really intense acting scene is hard. It's not that a scene with nudity is harder than any other scene. In every scene, you have to be vulnerable, open, and approachable. And so what?

later on in my career, I have, when I've been a producer, I've said, you know, equal opportunity, nudity. So, you know, if I'm naked in something, the guy's got to be naked too. It's dong time, folks. Let's come on. And you see that more now in movies and in television. You see it all over. Randomly, random donks. Just a show.

I'm like, do we need to see your don't? Yeah. Yeah, maybe you do. Maybe we do. Do you like to see, as a woman, do you like to see men's penises in movies? I don't mind it if the scene calls for it or, you know, like a little butt action or a shirt off or whatever. I guess, you know, like, you're not looking inside of my vagina either. Yeah.

You're not, right, okay, it's not that. Right. No, so I'm not, I don't need to see the dong like right there in front of my face. But, you know, something, it's sexy. Sure. Why not? Yeah. Hello?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like, be seeing boobs. Yeah. I'm still like I watch these old movies and like, whoa. Well, what's the most sexy part of a woman that you think looks pretty on screen? Is it the boobs or is it, you know, down below or what is it? You're asking me?

Yeah, I'm asking you. I definitely love a good pair of boobs. I think that's what it is. And I love a really nice butt. Yeah, sure. Sure. I mean, yeah, I love all that. And if a movie's good on top of that and they add a little nudity and obviously they don't do

a lot of it now. Do you think that, go ahead, you're going to say something. I think it's just, it's about taste and it's about nudity, not for nudity's sake. It has to be, but it was back then. It was nudity for nudity a lot. But I always, whenever I had to do it, I always made it, it had to be part of my character. It wasn't like, oh, here I am. Oh, look. No. And I would never really do that unless I had a part that I felt was smart or had some other foundation underneath it. It made sense. And it made sense. And, you know, but years later, I did, I was, oh my God, I was having lunch with my friend Shanti. Shanti. At Houston's at the Century City Mall, when there used to be Houston's there, it's now something else. And we're sitting there having

lunch. And a safari jacket walked up to me. And I looked up and it was Brian DePont. And so we had a lovely chat and, you know, I said, you know, I did this part for you in this movie and, you know, I had those other scenes and I thought, well, you know, that's okay because Brian like hires the same people all the time and whatever. So I'll get another chance. And so I said, I'm still waiting for my chance to work with you again. So what do you say? He's laughed and he was very nice and very friendly. Yeah, that's got to suck. Did anybody tell you your scenes were cut or you just watched and go, oh. They told me. Thank God, because they don't do that a lot. People will not be in a movie anymore. I love when a director will call you and just say, hey, just want you to know it didn't work out for whatever reasons we cut these scenes. A lot of directors have, you know, I haven't been cut out much, but when I have had scenes cut out, they've told me. Yeah, me too. I had, I did this one movie and believe it or not, the late Rowdy, Rowdy Piper was in. Oh, yeah, I know him.

I loved him. He was great. He was so great. And he brought his kids and his family to the movie and he had a bigger part. He wasn't in the movie. At all? at all. So he came to the movie. No one told him with his family. And so we talked after. He's like, yeah, it was kind of bullshit. But hey, man. What movie was that? It's, it was this movie

called kicking it old school. It was like this comedy. And, you know, I just felt so bad. I felt bad that he was cut out. And then I said, oh, maybe they did you a favor, brother. Well, how was the brother? I don't know. Some people love the movie, you know. You know what it was. Some movies just, don't turn out the way you planned that you hope for like if i feel like this movie was shot really well like if the um cinematography was really good i think it would have been a different movie i felt like it just looked really cheap at times that's why but but i think you know the script was funny the actors are all funny who directed it his name was harvey glazer um great guy and it wasn't it wasn't that it was directed poorly it was just the way it was shot i just didn't like the lighting and the things

like that that's what i was focused i was like this doesn't look great this should look better this should look more like a movie polished or something yeah that's all but you know it's like i work in a lot of the arena where movies maybe don't look like movies they they don't look as polished because you know they don't have time or money to do color correction and things like that so you know and a lot of people shooting on video and it just doesn't look as clean and crisp and yeah you know it it it definitely has um it it it's it it impairs the viewing experience sometimes when you have a movie like that but but what you said though you said oh the movie doesn't turn out the way you think it's going to i don't know if i've ever done a movie where i've

watched it and gone oh that's exactly what i pictured every movie i've ever done yeah i feel like is a little bit different than what i saw in my head yeah you know some some better than i thought some worse than i thought um some i'm just like wow this is great you know i did a movie recently called The Last Stop in Yuma County. Yes. Did you watch that? Yes. Fuck, man, that was so good.

That's intense. And I read it and I thought, well, this seems pretty good. And I loved all the people that were in it and some of them are my friends. And I, after I saw the movie, I was like, this movie is amazing. I can't believe this movie turned out this great. And that rarely happens, too, where it really over delivers. And that movie overdelivered. Oh, like Jacob's wife.

Oh, thank you for. saying that. I love that movie so much. It's really well shot. It's really well acted. It's got some gore. It's got some great shit. So it's like, it surprised me. I didn't expect for it to look and feel as good as it was. Thank you. I don't know the look of it. Like speaking of time and money to really make something look polished. I don't think we had that on that film. But I do think we had moments of it in certain scenes. And I'm very proud of the work that everybody he did on it. And it besides, I will have to say from beyond and Jacob's wife are my two favorite movies that I've acted in as far as like a great character for me over reanimator because

reanimator my part, you know, is really Jeffrey Cohn's movie. Right. But from beyond it was much more my movie and Jacob's wife much more of my movie. And just Jacob's wife meant something to me. That's when you really, I mean, that's, you had the chops for that one. Like you, you know what I mean? Yeah, thank you. Well, it was sent to me. It won a screenplay contest at Screamfest here in L.A. And Denise Gossett is the head of that festival. And so she mentioned to the writer, the original writer, I think this is a good vehicle for Barbara Crampton. And she produces now, you should send it to her. And he sent it to me. And I went, oh, man, I love this script. This is so good. I love what the movie's saying. You know, it's about a vampire. But it's really

about how you keep a long-term marriage going after one person changes, a la becoming a vampire. But when one person changes or does something different, can you keep the love between you? Even though it's, yeah. Are you going to bite the guy and turn him into you? Yeah, an exaggerated version of that. Yes, can your partner let you be who you want to be? Right.

Yeah. Do you want to take them on the journey with you? Or do you want to leave them? I mean, all of those questions come up in the film. And I always feel like the best horror movies are the ones where you take away, the blood, the gore, the sex, whatever it is. And you need to have a good story and you need to have characters you care about. Take it away. If you have that foundation, you've got something.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, you say 40th anniversary of Reanimator, are they coming out with the Blu-ray? Uh-huh. It's out now. It's just, well, they just got mail to people. So people are getting them now. I'm getting it. But, yeah.

What is it? I'll get you one. I'll get you one. Really? Yes, I'll get you. Signed? $40. No, of course, I'll give it to you.

But let me, yes. Yeah. I know you have a big collection of things. I know, look at all this. But what's added, what's in this 40th edition? Okay, well, there's a bobblehead of Dr. Hell. There's a needle, like a hypodermint needle, but those box sets, those, those, it's not really a box set. No.

They come from China. so they're a little delayed because of the tariffs so they have the regular ones that have um there's a really wonderful interview with myself brian usna because steward's no longer with us brian usna is the producer of the movie and he owns all the soul rights to it and geoffrey combs and myself and then there's another interview with uh bruce abbott and then there's a little booklet and katie rift did it did an interview with me and she wrote a whole thing up and then i think uh deleted scenes at all there i think there's some deleted scenes in there or added scenes or yeah there's there's all of that we're also watching the movie and doing a commentary on it so there's a little bit of that going on

too you ever get starstruck yeah you ever see someone at a party or whatever and you're like oh my god well one time i was going into an office in um at warner brothers i was going to to meet Phyllis Huffman who was a castor director she's still around I don't know but it's been a while since I've auditioned for her she's cast me and stuff I think yeah yeah so I had a general with her and I'm kind of waiting and waiting waiting in her office and it was a long time that I was waiting I think I waited like a half hour and I'm like what is going on why this is taking so long so the door opens and out walks Clint Eastwood well and I'm like well that's why I was waiting what Eastwood was talking to her

And he has an office there, I guess, or he did. I think he still does, but he had an office there at the time. And he walks out. And, you know, I think I just stood up and I was like, oh, my God. You know. You did? Something. I don't think I said, oh, my God, but inside I was saying that.

But I'm sure that I stood up and I went. And then he walks over to me and he goes, hi, I'm Clint Eastwood. And I said, I know. And that was it? I think we chatted for a few minutes. He didn't get your number? No. Well, I'd love to call you.

Maybe have a cup of Joe or something. Yeah. Man. One time I was in. I worked with him too. You did? I did a movie with him. Yeah.

My first movie. What was that one? It was called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Yeah. And his direction was so. He directed you? Yeah. He was so.

Come on. He just like after a take would go, well, Michael, how'd you feel? I go, I felt great. How'd you feel? He goes, it felt great. You want another one? And I go, do you? He goes, well, I just do one for fun.

Maybe on this time, just acknowledge the jury. But he was awesome. He was so cool. We talked every day. It was a dream. I met one of my heroes and it was a dream. It was a dream. It was, but I was definitely starstruck.

I was, you know, I've definitely been starstruck when I seen, like when I met Morgan Freeman at the Golden Globes. He would be the person. person I really want to work with. I would really, I mean, there's a few people, like Gene Hackman I would have wanted to work with, May rest in peace. I mean, obviously, he's like my favorite actor ever. I love Gene Hackman.

He was amazing. But Morgan Freeman is my other person that if I ever got to work with anybody, if I could choose, Barbara, who do you want to work with? You're going to do a scene with Morgan Freeman. Well, I do like you. You're a good actress. Oh, my God. You're so good at voices.

Barbara. Hey, if you're loving inside of you and you want to keep the show going, I encourage you to check out our community at patreon.com slash inside of you. When you join, you get access to bonus episodes, early sneak peeks, and a real spot in our inside of you community. It's really awesome. We're talking episode discussions, exclusive Q&As, even a chance to help shape new segments on the show. Plus, if you're all in, you'll get shoutouts and. some special care packages sent your way from yours truly with little notes that I personalize. And most importantly, your support, it makes a huge difference.

So join the community, and let's keep this thing going together. Tim's new Cravable Raps are made for the times your boss said the what now? Or your teacher mentions that thing I'm a bob. Need to pick me up. Snack back to reality with Tim's new Cravable Raps, available in Chipotle or Ranch. Plus, tax at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. All right, folks. I'm really excited. You know how excited I get. Now it's time for a segment we're calling Inside of Us. Yes, we wanted to find a way to connect even more with our community. So we're starting something special here where we check in with listeners and hear what's going on in their lives, not just actors and directors and, you know, Hollywood people, but you guys. This is a space for honest conversations about mental health, day-to-day and whatever else is on your mind.

If you want to join us and be part of a future segment, just head over to patreon.com slash inside of you. And let's get started and see how you're doing. Well, well, well. Raj is here. Our lovable friend, patron. Welcome to Inside of Us, which, by the way, you came up with.

I did. You know, I try to help where I can and I figured, you know, inside of you, for people that don't know, there's a patron special thing that we get called inside of me. It's been around for such a long time. And I figured this is inside of us. I want to kind of to make it, well, my perspective was that you're talking to someone like me. We're talking to real people.

That was the whole idea. I'm a person. Yeah, the whole idea was talking to real people. And I said, Raj, if you have, I think you just sent it go, well, if you're thinking of some names, I'm like, I like inside of us. Let's just use that. See, I'm, I'm, uh, what's the word? I, you know, uh, malleable or maybe just I like ideas. I, I, if anybody has an idea, I'm always like happy to explore it. But look, let's talk about you. This is about you. Um, you live in Washington, DC. I live in Maryland. Maryland. Yeah, I live, I live kind of in

Between Baltimore and D.C. Right. In D.C. Right. To describe it. Yeah. And what do you do, Raj? For those of you who don't know, those that don't know, what do you do,

Raj? There's another question. What do I do? I'm an IT consultant for a public accounting firm. So I do consulting stuff, which the best way to describe that is just, you know, help companies solve problems that relate to IT stuff. Is it stressful? It's super stressful, right?

So I think that's one of the. of things, you know, and thinking about what we would have potentially talk about, work is one of my biggest stressors. Why? So one of the things that. So with what I do, it's, and the level kind of my, I'm at is, is just one where you're, you're managing multiple things. You're managing people and teams for, for specific projects.

And then what I do is, you know, you work with clients, like people that are in these companies that have a problem they don't have the people inside their companies to solve them so they're engaging you so you are considered sort of a specialist or an expert so there's there's multiple things you're trying to manage multiple groups of people they have a project they think that you know all this stuff and you're trying to manage like are you the person that knows this stuff you ever drop you ever drop the ball oh yeah i mean everybody makes mistakes and and actually there was a time it all kind of got resolved and figure it out but like one of my biggest things and this was last year I started my own personal therapy and like before that I did couples therapy we can talk about

that but like imposter syndrome was like big with me kind of everything about like two years ago and like trying to just manage that and then I finally like talking to my wife and and we kind of came to this conclusion together I mean me just getting her input but I was like I I think I just need to really just start talking to somebody personally. Because I hadn't had to do that before. I felt like I had systems and tools in place, like personal things that kind of helped me sort of manage that. But it was weighing on you.

It was, it was tormenting you. It was one specific project that took a long time to, like, get through. And there was like a lot of personalities that were hard to deal with. And so that was where I really was starting to like strongly question, like, is this the right thing for me? like yeah what do I do here and so that when I started kind of like I found a good therapist and we set our goals and what we wanted to talk about and and our recent conversations have been like she really thinks that I've kind of come to the end of like hitting some of

those goals and having other things in place so so it's a good it's a good feeling yeah and I can tell you like that's a big difference in me personally well well well I love ask me like what do I The answer is here. The answer is yes, but like right now the way I am, it's manageable stress. It doesn't like eat and weigh on me anymore. Did the podcast help you in any way? Yeah. I mean, to go through what the podcast helped me with, I wouldn't have done that.

I don't know, right? The podcast, like backing up with my story is what really got me to think about couples therapy. And there wasn't anything wrong in my relationship with my wife. But together we were, it was during the. pandemic and we were like, maybe this is something we should do just to like learn more. We're talking to real people. That was the whole idea.

The whole idea. I started listening in 20. 18. I was to say, I think you just sent it. I started with like, thinking of some names and I'm like, I think you were doing up that time. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, that's when I kind of went back, you know, I think it was probably or maybe just probably John Glover where I kind of saw how you were sort

of talking to people, but look, let's talk about you. But that's what I went back. And I started listening to all the other episodes. And I think it was Jennifer Love Hewitt that stuck out as like one from your early episodes. And then you did the right in love you see right. That was the bigger one for me personally with Chris Sullivan. Yeah. Now with those that don't know went on this whole thing of let's just do couples therapy just like be more preventative about stuff.

So that all kind of plays into what I'm just talking about like work and stuff. I don't know if that journey leads to, like, feeling comfortable on, you know, finding a therapist, going to personal therapy, coming and talking to you about it. Like, who knows? Like, if we had gotten to this point without, you know, going back and time. But that's, I think the periphery, I think, you know, if you're, you know, if you're from, you know, the Midwest where a lot of my, none of my friends get therapy, you know, where they, where I'm from. but I think your surroundings have a lot to do with it. If you're talking to people and they're saying, you know, I went to a therapist and it actually really helped me or I got on this medication. It really helped. I started doing this and it helped.

If you're not hearing those things, you probably won't try, you won't do them. What the hell's going on to? But so it's like, I never thought this podcast would be, you know, about a mental health aspect. And it kind of turned into it because it was, I think, what I was craving, what I needed was to hear about other people's problems, too, and see that we're all human and we all have things and how do you fix them? And what I found was a lot of people, many people do many different things. And so I usually write them down after an episode or you'll hear me say, Ryan, write that down. because i want to try it i'm like oh they do this for this back pain or they do this this really helped them um and so it's you know and then just talking about myself and being honest and as open

as i can um and i'm still closed off about a lot of things but um i'm definitely more open than i used to be so i'm glad that you know the podcast helped in some way um and that you're managing things because that's what it's about it's about stress management management, right? It's about, hey, I have this issue. I'm not feeling a certain way and I don't like it. Well, what do I do? Do I just sit in it and it will go away? Well, probably not if it's eating at your brain and your stomach and you're, you know, if you're feeling this, it's in you're feeling this anxiety. It's like, all right, this has to go away. I don't have the tools to do this. I need someone to help me. So that's, that's great that you've done that. What else do you do for, for mental health or, you know, physical health? What do you? do what helps you do you go for a run do you do something with your wife uh you sex it up what's going on rage yeah well i'm on medication so i take i have a dh i love that i think a lot of that was what kind of came out of that personal therapy it's like well you know going through some of those things it sounds like those behaviors are the podcast helped struggling with attention and stuff and

it's one of those things that you just don't think about i know it's kind it's much more in the in a conversation now, but I did medication for it, and I meet with a, I go through med management sessions every month. Is it the, this is the right stuff? Does it the, the dosage seem right? So that in combination with, like for me, like with all the work stuff, it's like, it's like lists, calendar, like all of that like organizational tools. Yeah. Yeah. You got, you got like for me, like, if, if you don't, don't do that. You have to, I'll lose track of things. So that's kind of like the work stuff that we, I talked with my therapist about. And then help. Like I don't think like with work and like sometimes

traveling and and kind of moving around or like sitting at a computer for a long time, you, you don't focus on health. And so as I was trying to like figure out the work stuff, I was like, you know, I've really not focused on health. So like now that I've kind of gotten some of these things in place for my own organization with course i'm now feeling like i can i've incorporated help into it a lot so like exercising like eating right because you as sleeping right like making sure like i get the right amount of sleep and tracking my sleep like those are the things that i that i do i do like tracking i you know i i i don't know why this i thought about this but i think i punish myself i think a lot of times we punish ourselves by you know we have a feeling of like you know i've talked about this but

maybe you're not sleeping well but if you really looked at it and dissected why you're not sleeping well and the kind of movies you're watching before or you're on your phone or your phones charged in next to you like they say it's not a good idea or you're eating before like loads of popcorn and you wake up feeling like shit and you continue to do that you're not going to to change. Your sleeping is going to be shit and continue to be shit. But unless you do something about it, and that goes with your mental health. That goes with everything. It's like you have to take a step in the right direction. That's why I always talk about like, you know, waking up and I, you know, not to promote it again, but like AG1. I'm like, start with a healthy routine. Like do this.

Mix water and vitamins and drink it and say, hey, I started with that. Maybe take a 10 minute walk. it's not like you know you have to yeah so that's that's that was one of the many different things that I kind of so I think I usually write them down and like weight or like help say Ryan write that down not unique to me it's like everybody we yo yo yo a lot so I will like they do this super focused and I'll be on like some crazy diet like you know jump into keto and like be on keto for three months and then lose like a bunch of weight and you work out hard and I'm still closed off. What is that transition plan? I think I did that a lot. I'm definitely more open. And then like working out. I'm glad me working out was a lot of like, I have to have 30 to

60 minutes dedicated to it. It's going to be cardio warm up. It's going to be like lifting. It's going to be a heavy lift. I'm feeling a certain way. I don't like you know, like now with the way life is and and it will go away. A family and not and like balance and all that. Yeah. You know, you have feeling this. It's be able to forgive yourself. Right. 10 minutes. And it's something is better than I don't have nothing. I don't think that like I don't have 30 minutes now. I need someone to help me. So I do that.

For instance, like I'm on a work station. What else do you do? This is something that now I figured out how to manage, right? I would feel so uncomfortable having to like do some work. And I try to be on vacation. I'll be like I have to be home to do this. But like now I'm at a point where we're on vacation.

We're doing things at parks. But I'll wake up earlier and just walk around, right? Do it for yourself. I think that's that's the best advice I think you've given is we're worried about our wife, we're worried about her son, we're worried about work, we're worried about, we're worried about everything else except ourselves. And so if you don't take that time for yourself, you're hurting everything else because you're less of a person, not less of a person, but you have less energy, you have less, you have more anxiety, you're tired. So I think that's

really important. And like I always say at the end of every episode, good to yourself. And that's sort of what I mean. It's like, hey, you know, you don't have to work out every day and this and I have to do this and this diet and kill this, not do this, not just start out with a nice walk every day, five, 10 minutes and work your way up and have something healthy to eat and go, hey, because what it is is your perspective at the end of the day, you're like, you know what, I ate well today and I went for a little walk. That's a success. Those are successes. And so I think that's really important. important. Look, Raj, you're amazing. I love having you here. You've always been such a huge

supporter. I'm going to see you in Chicago. I hope I'm going to see you on the cruise next year in 2006. I'm trying to make that work. If I just do it, you can again. Take care of yourself. Take care of your family. If you could do it, you do it. If not, I have no doubt that I'm going to see you. Keep texting me things to watch. And I adore you. Give love to the wife and child for me. and thanks for being here i of course i i i thought about this but i think i punish myself i think a lot of times we punish ourselves by you know we have a feeling of like you know i've talked about this but maybe you're not sleeping well but if you really looked at it and dissected why you're not sleeping well and the kind of movies you're watching before or you're on your phone or your phones charged in

next to you like they say is not a good idea or you're eating before like loads of popcorn and you wake up feeling like shit and you continue to do that you're not going to change your sleeping is going to be shit and continue to be shit but unless you do something about it and that goes with your mental health that goes with everything it's like you you have to take a step in the right direction that's why i always talk about like you know waking up and i you know not to promote it again but like age you one i'm like start with a healthy routine like do this mix water and vitamins and drink it and say hey i started with that maybe take a 10 minute walk it's not like you know you have to yeah so that's that's that's that was one of the big things that i kind of work through i think

with me and like weight and like health which is not unique to me it's like everybody we yo yo I yo-yo-o a lot. So I will, like, be super focused and I'll be on, like, some crazy diet, like, you know, jump into keto and, like, be on keto for three months and then looms, like, a bunch of weight and you work out hard, but then what is that transition plan? And I think I did that a lot, like, growing up. And then, like, working out. Like, for me, working out was a lot of, like, I have to have 30 to 60 minutes dedicated to it.

It's going to be cardio warm up. It's going to be, like, lifting. it's going to be a heavy lift. And, you know, like now with the way like life is and kids and a family and work and like balance and all that, you have to be able to forgive yourself, right? 10 minutes of something is better than nothing. You don't think that like I don't have 30 minutes now. So I do that.

For instance, like I'm on a workcation. I'm in Orlando right now. This is something that now I've figured out how to manage, right? I would feel so uncomfortable having to, like, do some work and then try to be on vacation. I'd be like, I have to be home to do this. But like, now I'm at a point where we're on vacation, we're doing things at parks. But I'll wake up earlier and just walk around, right? Do it for yourself.

I think that's the best advice I think you've given is we're worried about our wife. We're worried about her son. We're worried about work. We're worried about everything else except ourselves. And so if you don't take that time for yourself, you're hurting everything else because you're less of a person, not less of a person, but you have less energy. You have less, you have more anxiety. You're tired. So I think that's really important.

And like I always say at the end of every episode, be good to yourself. And that's sort of what I mean. It's like, hey, you know, you don't have to work out every day in this and I have to do this and this diet and kill this, not do this. and not just start out with a nice walk every day five 10 minutes and work your way up and have something healthy to eat and go hey yeah because what it is is your perspective at the end of the day you're like you know what i ate well today and i went for a little walk that's a that's a success those are successes and so i think that's really important look raj you're amazing i love having you here you've always been such a huge supporter i'm going to see you in chicago i hope that's right i'm

to see you on the cruise next year in 2006. I'm trying to make that work. If I can make that work. You just do it you can again. Take care of yourself. Take care of your family. If you can do it, you do it. If not, I have no doubt that I'm going to see you. Keep texting me things to watch. And I adore you.

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Void were prohibited. Terms and conditions apply. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact ConX Ontario and 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. All right, this is called shit talking with Barbara Crampton.

This is the top tiers. If you want to become a patron and support, this podcast please do it pay at patreon.com slash inside of you and uh in fact some patrons you could even be on the show so look at the tears and come on but here we go this is a rapid fire or if you really need to answer it slowly you can okay Raj that's his name Raj he's asking the question oh okay tell me about a time you felt pushed to your limits time that I felt pushed to my limits like I can't fucking do it anymore like oh my god do we have it maybe it's a take maybe it's a maybe it's a relationship oh yeah

i mean definitely that scene in reanimator was definitely pushed to my limits that scene i have to say that on the table yeah yeah yeah i mean that was definitely it's not like i had to do it so many times or anything but it was tough it was pretty tough everybody was awesome and so nice really nice i mean i love that i love that like everybody was so sweet and kind to me but yeah i mean for Sure. Jessica B, if you had to lose one of your senses, sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell, which one would you choose and why? Well, smell, because I've already lost it because I had COVID like four times and, you know, I mean, I lost it for a year. That wasn't so bad. The worst thing for me would be, I could be okay with going deaf, but I don't think I could be blind. Yeah. What do you think about that? Blind or deaf. I would definitely rather see if possible. Yeah. Um, yeah. I mean, if you can't hear something, you could at least write it down or see where you're going. I think maybe smell if I had to choose one.

Yeah, smell is like, I mean, the only thing is is smell. Yeah, I mean, they're all tough. But anyway, Kareem, Barbara Crampton is a real one of the Stuart Gordon film she was in, which is your favorite? Yeah, I mean, it's from beyond because I had the really great role in that. what would you say about Stuart Gordon like how would you define him or describe him he was very funny and um very loving and not intense not intense at all no but very much it's this is my movie and this is how i want you to do the scene and this is how i want the movie to look and i think his style is very

operatic. So I feel like, I mean, a lot of the movies were big and bold and like even Evil Dead back in the day was around the same time. Some of it feels like overacted in a way and playing to the back of the house. And I think Stuart coming from the theater always wanted that. He wanted us to like really fill up the space and really do something big and bold. I did, I did space truckers and Dennis Hopper was in that movie and I had a few scenes with Dennis Hopper Wow and that was the first

and Stuart had had a long career by that time and I remember him giving some direction to Dennis about you know doing something bigger or whatever and Dennis said to him it's there man you got it to do Dennis Hopper can do Dennis Hopper. I've never tried

yeah it's kind of nasally he was a good man Wait, yeah, he had dreams. Yeah, that's pretty good. Heineken, fuck that shit. Papp's blue ribbon. I don't know. That's pretty good though.

I've never tried to do it. I think of it's more nasally, maybe. Yeah, I've never done one. But on that movie working with Dennis Hopper, he learned to just be okay with like, you know, the camera's visual and it sees everything. You don't have to do much. Just, you know. Yeah, when Dennis Hopper says, yeah, yeah, I think he got it. And Seward said to me later, that's when he really realized that, you know, he didn't have to do this grand thing. But also, you know, taste change. And, you know, it's just the style of the movies that he came into. They were, and that's what made Reanimator great. That grand feeling of an opera. And then, you know, later in his later movies that he did, they were much more relaxed.

Yeah, Leanne, what is the one nice thing you do for yourself to prioritize your mental health? I meditate. You do? Yeah. Does it really work? It does. I have a mantra. Yeah?

Yeah. I think it works. Yeah. It's worked for me. I need to get back into it. Yeah. I did transcendental meditation. And I have that word.

You have your word. I have my word. Yeah, I have it too. It's probably the same word. I don't know. Is it the same word? But you can't tell anybody. You can't tell anybody.

So we don't know. I can tell you after. See if it's the same. It's two syllables. Mine is two. Well, that could be a lot of things. Does it start with an H? No.

Okay, good. It starts with a K. Okay, good. Good. So it's different. It's different. We don't have to tell each other our secret words. Little Lisa, what makes you feel a piece?

Being with my children. That's a great answer. Jen T. Considering you've been in a lot of body horror films, what is one truth about the human body that scares or fascinates you? You don't have as much control over it as you think you do. As you get older, especially too. As I get older, I'm like, what's going to happen to my body?

That's a good answer. Yeah. And I'm taking care of myself. Yeah, you look fantastic. Thank you. I'm doing the Mediterranean diet and I've done it forever. Does it really help? I think so.

So it's fish, rice. It's brown rice, fish, brown rice, chicken, not too much meat, not too much dairy, a lot lot of vegetables. I need to start doing that. And you can't have potato chips and corn chips and things like that. So for snacks, you eat nuts. How about popcorn? Popcorn's the worst. What about it's not butter. No, corn is not good food. I eat popcorn almost every day. Oh, can you find something else? How about some nuts? When I drop off the reanimator tape, I'm going to bring you some really good nuts. I'm going to drop the wrong. You're nuts. You've done so many things. It's just like, it's like endless. Do you have to always be busy to function?

You don't like sort of like a lull? No, I don't mind a lull. I mean, I like hiking and I like going on trips and I like doing other things. My husband and I just got an apartment in New York City so that we can be more bicostal because my husband retired and he doesn't love being in L.A. all the time. And he loves New York and he's from New York. And I said, okay, let's just get a place. We'll just rent a place for a year.

We just got it. So I'm going there soon. Did he just retire? He just retired. Did that help? the marriage you think um i don't think that had any because there's more time with each other is why i say that no because when there's more time with your spouse you're like really get the fuck out don't you have somewhere to go no it's not that you know but more quality time yes i mean the things

we do are more fun more fun what um anything coming up that i should know about to look for because you're always doing something i have like five movies that i've done and that They're all have been submitted to different film festivals, so we'll hear about them soon, I'm sure. I'm on a film festival tour with Reanimator this year, so I'm going to, even though it hasn't been announced, I'm sure it's okay to say, but I'm going to go to Fantastic Fast in Austin and show Reanimator. And do you know about the C-Jez Film Festival in Barcelona? No. It's a really nice one. I want to go there.

You should go. I don't know if Smallville's big in Spain. By the way, I love Smallville. I just want to say. You watched it? I didn't watch every season, but I watched a few seasons of it. I'm honored. Yeah.

It's awesome that you had seen it. Well, a lot of people saw it. A lot of people saw it. It was a pretty big deal. But there's my guy right there, Gene Hackman. See, that's autographed Superman poster. Where did you get that? My friend was doing a private signing with him.

Oh. And it was just him. And he said, well, he didn't surprise me. I said, yeah, can you have him sign my Superman poster? Yeah. So I sent it to him, but I didn't know what he was going to say. to the second best Lex Luthor, love Gene Hackman. So that was pretty cool.

Oh, my God. Yeah. That is so cool. Do you do conventions and things? I think you do. Do you do Gene Hackman? No, can you do Gene Hackman? No, not really, but I remember in, in, um, he's probably a hard one to do.

Postcards from the edge. Yeah. When he says to Merrill Street, he goes, if you fuck with my movie, I'm going to fucking kill you. Do you understand? He does something. He gets really intense. He goes, I'm going to fucking kill you. You understand me?

Oh. You do your shit. I'm trying to remember, but he has that ferocity, that, like, energy that I just love that an actor can explode. I know when an actor can be- I love that. I love exploding. He was so soft-spoken a lot of the time. And then, you know, and then when it explodes, like when he said that line in that movie,

what's that movie called where he goes? Cribs and Tide. No, no, no, where he goes, yeah, because you made a phone call. What movie was that? You made that phone call. That's with, you know, when... You know, it's his most famous movie. French Connection?

No. No. No. His other famous movie, you know, with that actor, Will Smith. Oh, maybe Enemy of the State was he in? Enemy of the State. Enemy of the State. Was that it?

Yeah. I hope we're right. Yes, we're right. This has been an absolute treat. We got a little personal. We talked about life. Yeah. We talked about Reanimator.

We talked about family closure. This has been awesome. I didn't know where it would go. I mean, you know, and like the fact, that's what happens. All of a sudden, you start talking about the corony and your family and you know i think people can relate in some way so someone out there's listening and you know there's a lot of fractured relationships and we all have them every single person has we all have them and it's like how you deal with it and well that that's it your life is your life

but how happy you are is the story you tell yourself about your life yeah so the story i tell myself is that there is no finish line i'm going to keep going and i'm just going to tell the truth. I think that's well said. I loved having you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. This has been a real tree. Thank you. Thank you. We are the musers on the pod so far. We've discussed people we love. I didn't tell you guys. Cuban email. What are you wearing? Well, no, that's not things we love. Got way into typewriters. How many typewriters do you own? Let's not podcast anymore. Just to be just to be. It's time to get really down and dirty. You're great ideas.

Start a podcast and didn't forget to promote it on social media. So what is our podcast about? Yeah, whatever we feel like. The Musers, the podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Everyone knows the legend of D.B. Cooper. But what if I told you there's an even better story out there? One with multiple aircraft hijackings, prison escapes, and so many twists and turns.

I'm talking about the hit podcast, American Skyjacker, which is now an action-packed documentary coming to theaters and streaming this fall. Find out more at www.w.com and listen to our bonus episode of the podcast coming soon. American Skyjacker, follow and listen on your favorite platform. I loved her. I loved having her here. And I can't believe how great she looks. And her attitude, I think, you know, she works a lot because she's talented, but she's also,

she looks like she's just a lot of fun, a lot of fun to work with. And thank you for all the end. inside scoop about your life and who you are and what makes you so great love you Barbara and hope you hope you like this podcast so send messages to the YouTube channel whatever write a review do all that stuff and tell Barbara how much you loved her uh I think that's it I think that's all I got for you today I don't like to bore you with just hours of endlessness so um why don't we read The top tier patrons.

These folks give back to the show like nobody else, and they're the reason we are afloat. I can simply not do it without you guys, so I can't express that. It's not a bunch of BS. I think podcasts live and die by their audience, but this one, especially my patrons who support this show, I don't think I could do this podcast without you.

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I have been Ryan to his. He has been. I have been Ryan. A little way to the camera. We love you guys. You know that. We're a family here. So yeah, that's about all I got.

We'll see you next week. Be good to yourself. Try to add something in your life that's positive. Add a little routine, even if it's something small, just to, it's a success. Little successes, little success stories. Build brighter futures, I think. Build better days. So love you.

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