Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Ep 3: Emily Kinney

Episode Date: May 18, 2018

Walking Dead star Emily Kinney is our guest on the podcast this week. You know Emily from her role as Beth Greene on the biggest show in the world, The Walking Dead, and for her beautiful music. We start off by discussing what it was like growing up in Nebraska and how she always wanted to be a singer, her relationship with her parents and how it’s changed today, and working at the Red Lobster in Time Square. Then we get into her career - her big break getting cast as Beth in the Walking Dead, how Steven Yeun invited her to brunch the first weekend to help her feel like a part of the family, plus stories from Masters of Sex and The Knick. Listen to this week’s episode as I get into the incredibly talented and beautiful, Emily Kinney! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen closely. That's not just paint rolling on a wall. It's artistry. A master painter, carefully applying Benjamin Moore-Regal-select eggshell with deftly executed strokes. The roller, lightly cradled in his hands, applying just the right amount of paint.

It's like hearing poetry in motion. Benjamin Moore, see the love. Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup. Pick any two breakfast items for $4. New four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Hi, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're having a good time. We've got a special guest today. Every week's a special guest. But Rob, you ever see a show called The Walking Dead? yeah i've seen yeah of course you've seen it rob every episode yeah you've seen every episode so as most americans or foreigners that pretty much anyone in the world has seen the walking dead you know it's funny because like smallville back in the day i felt like for a while everybody watched us but

we weren't around with social media well this show came about and it is a social media storm you cannot comment without hundreds of thousands millions of people commenting on the walking dead well our guest today is Emily Kinney. She was Beth Green on Walking Dead, Nora from Masters of Sex, but it was a lot of fun talking to her. It's weird because I was watching her for all these years and I'm like going, oh my gosh, it's Beth. And a lot of cool questions. But more importantly, I got to really know who she was where she comes from and how she got in the whole business and working at Red Lobster in Times Square. Emily loved that. Her adoption of the comic book world when she first started the show and how uncomfortable it was. It is uncomfortable because

I was thrown into like comic book world land like with Smallville and I didn't really know anything about comics and you sort of have to learn and respect the fans and understand where they come from and know what you're doing. You have to do the research, Rob. You do the fucking research? No, because I wasn't on a comic book show ever. Thank you, Rob. Thanks. How amazing it was to work with the cast of The Walking Dead. She talks about that. Her musical career, which is taking off and I tried to get her to play a little music for me. You'll hear that. But I'm very excited. Let's get inside of Emily Kinney from The Walking Dead. It's my point of view. 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. You know what? I'm not even talking about The Walking Dead.

Smallville would have been that big if we had social media then. You think? No. Yeah. Yeah. It probably would have been up there. Yeah. We had millions and millions of viewers.

I mean, social media definitely makes things like an event. It does. Oh, tune in and live tweet and all that stuff. Do you think it really matters? What? Like what exactly what matters. So let's say, give or take, you have a million followers. Uh-huh.

How many do you think retweet something, the most you've ever had? I feel like it's been in the thousands. Okay. Like, it's hard for me. I don't know about retweets, but I feel like on Instagram is where I'm most popular. And depending on the photo, sometimes I'll get like 100,000 likes. So I feel like that's pretty good return. A hundred thousand likes.

Yeah. I mean, it depends on the type, if it's something to do, like, to be honest, if it's more of like a selfie or like or a something having to do with Walking Dead, then I tend to get more. Really? I understand that. Rather than my poetry. For some people, I'd rather look at my face than read my poetry. As long as you like your poetry, I think a lot of people probably like your poetry. No, I think they probably like it.

But I think that's pretty good. That's 10%, right? 100,000 out of a million. At a million, that's 10%. Well, wait, no, now I have 1.8 million. Oh, bragger. I'm not bragging. I have 1.75 million less than you on Twitter, okay?

And I'll say this, that I think my percentage of people that retweet are probably equivalent to yours. Oh, yeah? I mean, who cares if you have 1.8, if only 10%. I'm kidding, it means a lot. There's a lot of people who adore you. They adore you. Thank you.

This is the show. I mean, we're starting. Oh, okay. This could be. Okay. I wasn't sure when we were starting, but thank you. Emily Rebecca Kinney. Did I fuck that up?

No, that's it. That's my name. Thank you for allowing me to be inside of you, too. Are you glad you're here? Are you comfortable? I think so. I'm kind of nervous. Why?

I'm nervous, too, because, you know, we met at a convention. We go to these conventions around the world. We're lucky enough to have wonderful fans that talked about this. And you go and you meet them and you talk to them and spend some time and do Q&A's. And so in the green room, like three or four times a day, you're in the green room where a lot of the other actors are. And you're like, oh, there's the mountain from Game of Thrones. And there's a, you know. And so we get to sometimes meet each other and go, oh, hey, how are you doing?

Oh, yeah. Oh. And we start talking. And we just kind of laughed and we were talking. I was actually talking to you and Alan Tudick and the eyepatch guy. David. David. Yeah. David. Who played the governor.

David, what was his last name? Morrissey. Right. Yeah. And... Great guy. Yeah. So awesome. What do you think of conventions? I like them. I feel like when I first started going to them, I wasn't a part of necessarily, like, comic book culture.

And so it was a new thing to me. I didn't even know they really existed until I started getting offers to go to them. It was interesting at first I felt a little bit maybe uncomfortable, because even though I'm a performer, an actor, and a songwriter and stuff, I definitely can be more introverted or at times more shy, I guess. So just meeting a lot of new people,

even though to them, I was super familiar. They're strangers, essentially. They're fans, but new people and new faces. And so at first I found it a little bit overwhelming and more exhausting than I thought it would be. And then the more I've done them, the more I start to really, really like them. I love getting to travel to different cities,

I like actually getting to hear what fans have to say about the show. It's interesting to me to see what things come up over and over again. It's been great for me and my music. A lot of times at conventions, I'll play shows with my band. So I've had really cool opportunities because of them. And like I said, it's just like it is really cool to meet people one-on-one. I feel like then they're invested in you and your career in a different way. Then if they just saw you on TV, it's kind of like the equivalent of touring.

You know, a band that came through your city as a kid. kid you like attached to you know like i can still remember certain bands that came to nebraska and then i like followed them closer what bands well the spin doctors was one of my first i hate that one song fuck what is it which one the biggest hit they ever had i used to be a dj in college and no one was uh prince yeah that uh uh grentinstraws you don't like that prince um spin doctors There's, I'm trying to think, I went to Chicago and the Beach Boys in Sioux City, Iowa. Ooh. Counting crows, maybe?

No, counting crows. I didn't go to counting crows, but they spent a lot of time in Omaha. And so I remember, like, I remember certain girls that, like, oh, they got to go and hang out with that band. They got to hang out with them. You heard about them? Yeah, I heard, like, these random things of, like, like a senior girl in high school, like, you know, hanging out with the counting. Crow's band or something like those girls are hoars the counting whores one two three whores you're not just hanging with them um Wayne Nebraska yes that's where I went you are

were you a good student I yeah I feel like I was in like the top 10% of my class I got like all how many people were in Wayne though in Wayne high school that's true I only had 72 is that true but still top 10% I wouldn't have been I was were you a good student oh no No, I was, I had issues. I had attention deficit disorder. Did you see that flying a little over there? That's so cool. No, I did.

I just, I don't think anybody diagnosed me then. They just thought I was the asshole kid. Hey, Rosenbaum's huff and gas in the garage. I was just kind of a weird kid and I thought I was, I like to say I was ahead of my time. I don't know. People just didn't understand. Where were you from? I grew up in, I was born in New York, but I grew up in a small town of Newburgh, Indiana.

Okay. Were you a- You just wanted to get out? You wanted to get out of there. And maybe you just, you didn't belong. No, I don't know. I just wanted to figure it out. I wanted to figure out, look, what am I doing?

What do I, I thought I was the only person who thought this. Many people out there, maybe you guys are thinking this. Did you ever think, like, in high school, you're like, I don't see myself, like, getting through, like, going to college, getting through high. I felt like one of those kids who was like, I don't see myself living that long. It was like a dark, weird thing. Like, not like I was suicidal, really, but I just felt like, I don't know if, I don't see myself as an adult. And I was right, look at me. Yeah, no, I actually, I feel similar.

I feel like I never knew, like I can remember graduation from high school and me still telling people I wasn't sure if I was going to go to any of the colleges that I had been accepted to or I just felt very much like I wanted to get out of Nebraska and do acting. And I also, in a similar way, like, I never really thought past like wanting to do acting and wanting to do music. Like, that's one thing that I deal with now is I'm like, oh, okay. will, there's so many other things to do with your life, like, just even the things of like, oh, I guess maybe I would like to maybe have a kid or like maybe get married today or all of these kinds of things. You want to have a kid right now? Are you thinking maybe? Not right now. Not the second. No, right now. But I mean, I guess I never really thought past myself in like my 20s and just trying to like get to a point where I was like taking care of myself. Sure. I didn't think like past

that. The thing that anchored me was, okay, well, I want to do. Honestly, it was I want to do acting and music. How do I do that? Well, I can move to New York City. I mean, and then my friends became musicians and my, you know, like, I, that was sort of my anchor. How did you do that? How did you do that? But how did you, I understand that, but you're in Wayne, Nebraska.

Right. Right. And how long are you living in Wayne? From the time I was in, I think, fourth grade, until I graduated high school. Fourth grade. Did they have plays and things? They did, yeah. There was only 72 kids.

kids here um in my class in your class so in the high school there was like i feel like there was three to four hundred kids like in the whole high school okay that's about what i had um but yeah so everybody yeah there were plays and musicals and um i did some sports but i also did like one acts and then i also did uh where you remember your first audition what it was for i don't remember for the plays or musicals you know what i remember most is auditioning for swing choir. What the hell is swing choir? So it was like the select choir.

Like you guys all make out with different people. Like they're really... What the hell happens to swing choir? I mean, we're in Nebraska. I don't know. Yeah, no, I wouldn't be allowed there. I auditioned for swing choir and I remember that one because, like, usually it was seniors who got in.

It was like the select choir. What did you have to do to get in? You had to like learn a song and sing by yourself. What song? And I don't remember the song. You don't remember. I remember everything about high school because I was so miserable. I remember like the play and the audition

I remember the the lines You don't remember what song it was You don't remember what you said You probably because you were singing So many songs at that time He just chose one Like I did a lot of talent shows when I was little Like seven, eight years old

I would go to like county fairs My mom would drive me to county fairs And I would go to I would go to the Lions Club Talent Contest I remember the song I sang For all of that stuff I sang my favorite things That was when I was seven

It's from the sound of music How does it go? I'm not singing for you. How does it go? I'll sing it. Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright color and warm fun and mittens. You have perfect pitch. Is that what they say? Have you been told that? I have been told that. Yeah, I don't.

You're a good singer, though. No, no. I love to sing. You're a very good singer. Sometimes people say, hey, you could sing. And sometimes people say, hey, you can't. But when you sing, you could always sing because you're trained and you just have that. I don't know when I'm off a little. It'd be like, ooh, I get the, ooh, ooh, ooh. You have your guitar, you make sure you're in the right key and everything.

I try, I try. I do love music. So back in high school, you're doing all these little shows, like, where your parents sort of like, oh, and I want you to do this. Or you just loved it so much that they had no choice. It was sort of from, they liked it. I mean, I definitely, like, my mom, I can remember my mom being, like, you know, at family gathering's like, Emily's going to sing us a song now, you know, like everyone gather around.

Like it was definitely a thing. Like they, I wouldn't say they discouraged it at all. Did she critique you after it? Like Emily, that was terrible. No, no, no. No, she was a good mother. My parents never critiqued me. My dad, I remember used to leave. And I'd be like, dad, why, like, if I had a talent contest, I remember him just disappearing. And he'd be like, because whenever I would practice at home, he would look at me and I'd start laughing. And he was like, I was nervous to you're going to look at me and start laughing. I thought you were going to say he left the room and it just started crying. Oh my God, I'm so, she's so talented.

No, he was afraid he was going to make me laugh. So he would, like, leave the room. Yeah. Yeah. So they sounded like proud parents who just allowed you to do what you wanted and supported you, but didn't push you. I mean, I don't think they necessarily, I mean, to be honest, we're excited about me wanting to, like, leave Nebraska and go to New York City or go

to L.A. but it was something from the time I was maybe even four or five. It was like, I like to sing. I'm going to be a singer. I would sit in front of their record player and listen to the Carpenter's. What's your favorite Carpenter's song? Well, the song that I loved when I was little to sing, was that sing, sing a song. Sing it loud.

Yeah. Sing it strong. Don't worry. Don't matter if you're not good enough for anyone else to hear. Oh, so those songs touched you as a child. Yeah, I would just. literally sit in front of them learn them i would tape like i remember the ductails theme like taping it so that then i could learn it like i was really obsessed with learning a song like memorizing

the song and this is even before i could like really read or anything so yeah are you really good at like hearing a song and then learning the lyrics pretty quickly i think so it depends and your lines if it's written well it's sort of like you know yeah i feel it's it's funny i feel like it takes me a minute to learn things, but once I have it, I really do know it for, it's like really in there for a really long time. Like, I feel like lines, I know other actors who seem to just be like, oh yeah, I'll just learn. And they just seem to like pick it up so quickly. I do feel like I have to, like, it has to like sink in. I have to really work at it. I have to like, I mean, I'll set aside time to just like say the lines over and over again to all. And like,

do you like, I mean. Do you ever have your friends face time with you and do lines? I have done that. I have a really great friend, Haley, who for whatever reason just will do lines with me any time. Not cocaine. We're talking about scripts. We're talking about auditions, folks. Don't go there with Emily, Kim. So I have a couple good friends who seem to not mind running lines with me, which is really awesome of them.

Because I feel like it must be boring. It's really boring. And my friend, my friend Tom does it sometimes And he's so bad Because he'll start doing a character And he's not an actor He'll go, I'll go, what do you want me to do? He'll go, what do you want me to do?

Why are you acting like a dumbass? He goes like, I'm reading the fucking lines here. I'm like, well, just read them. He's like, okay, what do you want me to? And he just does these kids Like he's going to be found Like all of a sudden someone's going to walk through the front door and go, oh, that guy's a good actor.

It's like really this weird thing. He makes fun of the whole thing. But so good childhood, you're a smart kid. So far, you're the opposite of me. That's what I realized that. I don't know. Well, I had a dysfunctional family. You don't, which is great because I love to hear that because it's nice to hear.

And I think that's one of the things that concerns you for this podcast. You're like, I actually had a good family. I actually. I mean, there was definitely stuff. My parents were 19 and 20 when they got married. So I feel like there was definitely a lot of stuff to figure out. But generally speaking, I mean, I think now I have a really good relationship with my parents just because when I moved to New York,

I definitely, like, separated myself and didn't, I wasn't as close to them for a minute. And then when we reconnected, I feel like now I see them more as just, like, people rather than, like, I, what I'm trying to say is when I was little, I feel like I, like, I, like, got mad at them and judged them a lot more. And now I'm like, oh, I mean, just whether or not they were, like, good parents or this or that.

I mean, now I look back though. Who is the disciplinarian? I mean, you weren't spanked. No, I mean, I feel like we were threatened. My dad had a really bad temper. Yeah, my dad had a temper, too. But I also now, and when I was younger that, like, not only scared me, but I was like, oh, dad, like, he's just, like, I really judged him for it.

And now I think back, and I'm like, man, he was, like, in his 20s with three daughters. Same thing with my dad. And I think of, like, my guy friends now, who I'm in bands with and they're, like, in their 30s. And I'm like, oh, my God. my dad was like this dude with like all this responsibility and like my friends like I I mean I love my friends but I can't imagine them with like three daughters and like how they would respond and of course they would have a temper and you know so I think of like wow I I look at them differently now were they drinkers or anything you know sort of were you a drinker

in high school did you party I was trouble I honestly was so good in high school I feel like my freshman sophomore year I sort of got into Pot, cocaine, heroin. None of those. You're really looking for something. I'm just curious if in Wayne Nebraska, there's, you know, people powder their noses. I mean, there are people who smoke a little weed, I think. Sure, sure.

But I feel like that was even like, oh, we got some weed from the college, from Wayne State College kids or something. It wasn't anything that bad. Right. Yeah. But people drank, but I didn't drink. And I definitely, there was a shift that happened, like, sophomore year, freshman sophomore year, where I just started, like, I feel like freshman sophomore year, I would, like, got to do, like, all the prom server things.

And, like, I was, like, really in this certain crowd. And then I was just like, I got to get the fuck out of here. And I didn't drink because I feel like I associated people getting, like, drunk in, like, cornfields. And then I'd, like, see all the parents at, like, the count. I mean, now I feel like I'm, Wayne was a great place to live. No, I said the same thing as Indiana. But, you know, I would sort of have these moments of, like,

if I, I'm never leaving. Look, they all, then go to the Wayne County Fair and I'll get drunk and hanging out in the cornfields drinking beer and not if there's anything wrong with drinking beer. But you just don't want to do that your whole life. But I was like, fuck, I feel like I'll get stuck if I get, so. Children of the corn of Wayne Nebraska. I felt like drinking and that was like, like I said, there was this thing of like, I want to do this, that sort of started to guide all of my decisions.

Sure. you know well what was it that you said not only do you feel it inside you felt like other people thought this girl's talented this girl can sing she can act right like when was that the moment you said

because that's probably the moment you wanted to go to New York right um I don't know if there was like a moment it was just sort of like that's what I'm gonna do like since I was little it was like and then I would like listen to people on the radio and I'd be like yep want to be a singer I mean I would tell that I was like

that's, you know, what I'm going to do. Like, career day, it was like, what job do you want? Well, I'm going to be singer. That's all it was. Well, weren't your parents like, sweetheart, no one is successful at that. You're a one in a mill. You're a lottery ticket. Stop it.

Did you ever get that conversation from people? I would. I can remember I didn't get the part I wanted in this play. And I remember one time my dad saying, well, you know, and so then I quit because I didn't get the part I wanted because I don't know. I was being kind of a brat. Brat. And I was like, oh, I'm going to work and save money. I'm going to work at this coffee shop, and I'm not going to be in the play this semester or whatever.

And I remember my dad being like, well, you know, I think it's okay to start, like, focusing on other things or whatever. And I was like... Hey, you did real good in chemistry. Yeah, this was when I was at West. I had started going to school at Wesleyan. And then I was like, oh, no, no, no. No, no. I'm not going to be in this play because I didn't get the part I want.

and I'm going to work at this coffee job and save money for my move to New York City. I ain't shit his pants. Like, no, I mean, ever since I was little, I was, like, telling my parents I was going to do this. I think they would have been just as proud if I would have been like, oh, I'm going to be a music teacher and be in the community theater plays and be in the, you know, and I would also be in some ways happy doing that. Like, I just love acting and music. And I think even if it hadn't turned out into this amazing career, I would just. Like, let's say something had happened. Let's say I had like fallen in love with the love of my life and he lived in Iowa or whatever.

I feel like I still would have gone into that community and then been like, oh, where's the theater? Where are people playing music? Like, that's just what I, that's the guiding thing of how I'm going to spend my time. So, yeah, I think they would have been honestly probably just as happy, if not in some ways more comfortable if I had stayed in Nebraska and just been like, like, you know, in every. Omaha theater thing or... Ladies and gentlemen, our little own lady of Wayne, here's Emily Kinney. No, I really think they...

They would have been happy with it. You know what I mean? Like, I think they would be just as proud. Because I think that, you know, in these smaller towns, it's almost like its own world in a certain way. Like, in a way New York and L.A. were like these different, almost like different countries, I feel like.

Like it was... You could be like a star in your own little world of Nebraska. Do you know what I'm saying? Have you asked anybody from Wayne Nebraska who knew you and they said are you shocked that Emily Kinney has made it how many people or did you just I didn't really think about like what other people thought I mean good thing Emily that's a good thing I mean I think I was I don't know if people thought I was really going to do it or not but I never really said I was going to do anything else if you you ask people honestly go into their head do you think Michael Rosenbaum will become an actor or do anything with his life what would they have said

Who? No. Michael who? And those who knew me would probably go, he's just kind of weird. I don't think so. I don't even think it either. I was going to work at Wesselman's Grocery or work at Sonoco pumping gas. I worked in the car track.

You know, anyway, this is inside of Emily Kinney, by the way. Oh, oh, sorry. No, no. I keep asking turning around on you. You can get inside of me. But you're going to have to be gentle. You're going to have to ease up here, Emily. I just, I was taking drama classes because I was kind of a clown.

Yeah. And then I told the story already. Anyway, I ended up auditioning for a play because I had to take advanced drama. And I got it. And people started noticing me and going, oh, you're actually kind of funny. And so that gave me enough confidence in college to finally audition for a play. And then from there, people started, you know, again, I've talked about this, but me not being me. So if I was someone else, I was secure, I was comfortable.

But you asked anybody I grew up with, they would have been like, no. I have a feeling with you. They go, oh, yeah, she was a good singer. She acted in all the plays. I could see it. It makes sense. I don't know what other people thought about it. I do think that other people didn't see those things as options.

Like the idea of someone being like, I'm going to New York City. The idea, though, instead of, like, going to U.N.L and I'm going to be in the theater program at, like, U.N.L. Branson, Missouri is like that you can get jobs as an actor there going to, like, Minneapolis, and, like, they had a good theater scene. So I remember certain things being sort of like, oh, that's, like, in reach, you know? And so I didn't actually even really know anyone who had moved to New York City. Who drove you to New York? Did you take a Greyhound? No, I took a plane.

But my mom took... That's probably the easiest, right? Sorry to like, I feel like I'm ruining your image of, like, me showing up on the bus with, like, my suitcase. Yeah. I just, you know, I thought maybe she took a gray hound, or dad drove her over there. There was this emotional moment. No, I took a freaking plane. I got on a plane.

Well, first, so first I actually went to NYU first for a semester. I got into this program where I didn't have to, I basically, it was almost like an exchange sort of thing. Well, I studied with their sophomores. in a studio. So I studied at Playwrights Horizons for a semester. I auditioned for a play there. You did? Yeah.

You didn't, did you get in? No. No. Sorry. Continue. So, so I get in. I leave Nebraska, go to that. And then towards the end of the semester, I'm, like, panicking because I didn't have enough money to actually go to NYU.

Because you could, the idea was, I think they were trying to get people to, like, transfer so that the people that leave after their freshman year, it's like filling in that class, you know, that, those people or whatever. And so I was like, fuck, well, I'm not going to like. be able to keep going to NYU because I don't have any money. So I started auditioning for plays whenever I had free time

and I ended up getting an equity play that rehearsed in the city and my friend Kelly said I could move in to her apartment with her. It was a studio apartment. Not Kaylee. Not Kaylee. Not Hayley.

This girl Kelly. Kelly. Not Hayley is my line reader. My band, good friend here in L.A. Kelly is someone. I met in the laundry room at NYU. Creepy. Anyway, she, somehow we, oh, we became friends.

And then she, I had said, I got this play. I don't know where I'm going to live. And she's like, live in my studio. And I was like, sure, it was like the cheapest option for me. So, and then I didn't realize she had also told her girlfriend, Ashley, that had gotten an intern that she could also stay there. So it was three girls in a studio apartment in Midtown East. And girls are fucking messy.

They are. They're messier than boys. We. You get a bad rap, but you girls were messy. We had, we put up shelves for all of our clothes, and then it was, we had a futon and a bed, so we would alternate, like, who got, like, their own bed at night. So that's how, it was, yeah. Decided who sleeps in the bed, who sleeps in the...

Yeah. Wow. Or it was based on, like, who was actually there that night. How much was the rent? Do you remember how much rent was for you? I think I paid her, like, $400. And where'd you work? I worked at a few different places, but I was getting paid for that play. So it was an equity play, and it was, like, my first...

kind of like real theater gig we rehearsed in the city at Wings Theater and then we took the train out once we started doing previews in the play we took the train out every night to New Canaan, Connecticut it was like a big outdoor theater

and the owner of this theater company would have these like huge parties at their like awesome house and we'd all get drunk and stay overnight So you were getting drunk at this point. You left Laine and now you started, it changed Emily. Yeah, I started. I mean, just when I got to New York pretty much.

Right. So you're drinking. You're making money. You're living in a studio with three girls. I mean. This is really fun. Okay. But so I did make somebody doing that and then I worked, I would work like a couple days.

Like, I think I mentioned this to you the other day that I like worked at Red Lobster in Times Square for like a few shifts. And then like I just, I remember one day. Go ahead. One day after theater rehearsal, someone was like, hey, we're all going to Union Square to get ice cream and hang out. the park, and I was like, oh, I'm supposed to go host this at Red Lobster. And then I was like, I'm not going to go. So you just quit? I just never showed up.

Yeah, you did three shifts or something? I did more than that. Ew. But I just never showed up again. No one called me. No one noticed I was gone because this place is huge. And there were so many people working there. A giant red lobster.

Yeah, giant Red Lobster in Times Square. I couldn't work. They were like. I'm allergic to crustaceans. Oh, no. Yeah, no lobster for me. It wouldn't be a good thing. That wouldn't be a good.

It sounds like now you move to New York. You're getting a little rebellious. It's like not, I mean, just a little. Yeah. You're drinking now. You're quitting red loft. I mean, this is anarchy, Emily. Yeah, that's when I got really wild.

You just started. Yeah, I think I was like 20. You were 20. Yeah, I wasn't legal to drink. So I remember the, I had started dating this guy and I remember it was always a thing of like, well, we got to go to a bar where they're not going to card you because he was older than me. Right.

How much old? Not that much. I think he was like 25 or 26, and I was like 20. I think he was like four or five years older than me. He wasn't your first, was he? First what? He was my first kiss. No, he wasn't my first boyfriend.

First thing. He was my second. Oh, all right. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I wasn't. I didn't F until I was 18. Yeah, I remember. She backed up on the couch.

She doesn't want to talk about this. She doesn't want to talk about it. She doesn't want to talk about her. Thanks for letting me know. I mean, I mean, I don't want to talk about her. First F. You know, Henry Winkler was taught. I had Henry Winkler with the Fons on, and he was talking about his Fs. I didn't ask who the F was. I mean, it was great. I was in love. The F was great. The first one. Oh, the first. Oh. Okay. So when I first started drinking, I never knew what to drink. When I was with this guy, I remember he would take me to this place called Sweet Ups. Jesus.

It was in Brooklyn. I loved that. that place actually it was great i remember i didn't know what to drink and he would be like you should get a gin bramble it's really good what's in a gin bramble i didn't know i don't know it's like gin and club soda bramble bramble a little bramble in there yeah just easy on the bramble please but so then like i never knew what to order so i would just like for like all summer i would drink we're like gin brambles like that was all i was like oh that's what i want because i didn't know what to order Sounds fancy. Or I would order, like, beer or something.

Yeah. All right, so you're doing this play. You live in a studio. You're starting to date a guy. You quit Red Lopster. You're drinking a little. You're getting more seasoned. You're getting some, you know, you're getting more confidence.

Going to rooftop parties in Brooklyn. So the play ends, but I, right, had quit my Red Lopster job and any other job I had had. And I was really broke. And I really didn't know what to do. So you moved in with four girls in the studio. And I had started, like, charging, like, Jamba Juice on my credit card. Like, like, I had started charging small purchases on my credit cards. credit card.

Sure. Like walking, and I didn't know how long I was going to be able to stay in the studio with two of their girls and all of this. So then I actually moved back to Nebraska for about a year. So maybe less than a year. And I, like, just saved money. And I worked at a coffee shop. Were you miserable?

Were you miserable? Because you want to be back in New York and you were just there? I did. But I also enjoyed, it's that thing of, like, now I was like, I'm going to go back. And I sort of, like, enjoyed the time. I was in a play and stuff. And I started working all the time. I worked at a coffee shop at a coffee cart at the hospital,

so I would get up really early at like 5 a.m. Go to this coffee cart. Then I would also work at this other place called Mo Java. And I just... This is in Nebraska. This is in Lincoln, Nebraska. And I saved my money. How much money did you save?

This is what's funny. I went to New York with like a thousand bucks. And I was like... I didn't work a whole year. But like I also had to pay off like my credit card. And I remember it was around a thousand. Maybe I had like $1,500, but I feel like it was around $1,000 because then when I moved back to New York, I remember going to Washington Mutual with like my cash and my checks and like opening an account and being like, okay, I have to find an apartment. I have to find a job immediately.

So like two days later, I didn't go back to a little. I realized I didn't mind coffee shop. So I found a coffee shop job. And then a few blocks away, I found this really sketch apartment. but again with this girl Kelly and it was $1,600 a month so my half was $800, perfect and we didn't have to put down a deposit or anything

because it was like a really shitty building and the owner was a little creepy, a little creepy but he was like, yay, two girls, I don't know what he thought. I know, it was creepy, but I was like, I thought I was like, perfect, 800 bucks now I'm going to start working at the place so I can make my rent for the next month, you know.

So now you're auditioning for things, things are starting to, you have an 8,000, agent? I don't have an agent at this point. So you're just going on cattle calls? I would go to backstage and go to theater auditions, and then eventually, like, casting directors started bringing me in for TV stuff, and then eventually I got, like, a commercial agent who then recommended me for the TV department. What was your first commercial?

I didn't really end up doing that many commercials. What did I do? I did these promos for Comedy Central, I remember. They had some Halloween special, and you know what's funny? It was with zombies. I was a girl who hung out with zombies, and it was like stay tuned to Comedy Central's like whatever uh what is that Sean of the Dead like marathon something or and you're like 23 i was like yeah 22 by now you had no idea that just a few years later i know it's crazy okay so so get me there oh you wanted to know about spring awakening yeah i want to hear about that because that was a huge hit yeah it was and i had seen it um at christmas i auditioned for it many times i think it ended up being like seven auditions

when you start with the very first audition. Like the first audition I got was to be like a vacation replacement. At the time I was in another show at signature theater, like an off-Broadway show. And then it was just over the course of months. Then they would bring me in for, you know, for the whole creative team. Then it was like, oh, can you learn a song? And then come in again. And then they did like this big group movement call because they were also trying to cast the national tour at the time, plus replace people in the Broadway cast. And then finally, Yeah, I got an offer to play Anna in the Broadway cast. And so I replaced Phoebe Stroll and, like...

And how long did you do it for? I think eight months. Do you like doing plays? I love it. Because I hear you talking about it still. You still have that light in your eye. That's sort of when you hear there's a play. Yeah.

Now, to me, it's more work than anything. Because you're doing like eight shows a week. And that sounds... Like, I used to do plays. I did like 20, 25. And I go, oh, I'm an actor. I'm in the theater. And then all of a sudden I was like, man, I don't know if I could just physically do it, like, every night.

And, you know, it's just, it's a lot. Yeah, I, I feel like if it's a show you really love, I guess that would be my requirement now is I feel like it has to be something that I feel passionate about that I would want to give. Would you do Wicked? Basically your, ooh, I do love Wicked. I've seen it like five. Do you have a voice for Wicked? I feel like I could do Wicked, maybe. Galinda.

Oh, I love Galinda. Galinda. Galinda. With a g. That's what she says. With a g. I love that. I don't know, though.

I mean, I don't know if I would do Wicked. But I would do a play if it was the right time and the right story and the right character and everything like that. I would totally do it. But it is exhausting. And even more so than the eight shows a week, there's like the, as I'm getting older, I'm starting, you go like, oh, time really is passing by. Oh, maybe I don't want to miss, like, my friend's wedding. And my, you know, like the first five, ten years of my acting career, it's been like, oh, congratulations on your baby. No, I won't be back to see it.

Oh, my God, I'm missing my best friend from high school's wedding. Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I get really sad about that. That's happened a lot. I'll get super bummed where I go, like, life is passing by. And like, with TV, even though it's still unpredictable when you're going to get gigs and all of this, there is somewhat of like, usually you have like some weekends off. It's flexible. You have, yeah, they're not going to shoot.

on Christmas probably you know like you can you can figure out ways to like see your family and see your friends if you're doing eight shows a week you can't you're doing a show on Christmas you're doing a show on holidays because that's when people go to see theater and travel and like I miss so many weddings I've missed so many things and people just don't understand it you miss this you miss so you're doing plays you're doing all this and you start doing you're I guess you start doing TV appearance because Walking Dead wasn't the big one I mean it was the big one but it wasn't like my first ever gig right what was the first one I started uh I feel like one of my first one of my first TV things was like Law and Order. Oh, I know. Law and Order Criminal Intent. I remember my name

was Jeannie because I've played a lot of jeans and her brother gets murdered and so the rest of the show is like they interview me a lot trying to figure out like what happened to him. Was it your first TV sort of experience like a TV show and the biggest role for a TV show? Yeah because I was like one of the like I was of, you know how like in criminal intent usually or like in Law and Order there there's usually like one kind of main person. Was it? Was it DeNoffrio? Was it DeNoffrio who's in that? Vincent DeNofrio? Was he in criminal intent? No, I had, um... I had Mr. Big was in the one that I was in.

He was interviewing me a lot. Mr. Big? Yeah, Sex in the City. Mr. Big. Oh, I thought Mr. Big was that band from the 90s. Hold on little girl. Show him what they've done to you. You know that song? Yes, I do know that song.

I'm the one who wants to be with you. Yeah, you know that. Inside of you. That's my show. That's my podcast right now. Emily Kinney. Okay, so. Anyway, that was the first.

And then I started doing like lots little guest stars, you know. Like I was on the big C and I had like a recurring part on that. And then I, yeah, I went on a big national tour with August O'Sage County. Oh, yeah. That was a big one. Oh, I loved that character. I had actually, that was one of those where I read it when it was in Chicago. And it was at Steppenwolf and they said they were going to bring it to Broadway.

And I was like, this has to, I mean, it didn't end up being my Broadway debut. Spring Awakening did. But when I read it, I was like, I have to be this part. This, I know, I know this girl. And you got it in the first try? I didn't get on the first try, actually. How many? I got off.

I got it on the second try. Because the first try, so I auditioned for the Broadway one. Like, basically, they ended, they said, like, oh, we loved Emily. We decided to go with this other girl who was on a TV show. And you quit and went back to Nebraska. No, and then I was like, fuck this. And then I left. Now, then they said, so they went with this other girl, but they'd love for you to be the understudy.

And my agent said this to me, and I'll never forget it because I love her. She was like, she was like, you should not be an understudy. You are a star. What? And you went. It stuck with me. Well, at first I was like, well, right now I'm working at a coffee shop and I got to make some money. So maybe being an understudy on a Broadway show would be incredible.

Like there was a part of me that's like the actor mentality of like, oh, you just want to take you anything at this point, right? Because I was still like, I'd gotten gigs and I was doing well. but it wasn't like I was like, you know, I was still like once, I don't know if I was looking on a coffee shot. When you heard your agent say that, you believed it. Well, I said, I think you have to. I was, I remember being like, because I had been getting like a lot of callbacks and a lot, I'd been getting like close and a lot of stuff. And I was like, you know what?

Okay, you're right. I'm not going to take this. But it stuck with me. She's still my agent, Rachel. I just love her. Emily, my agent. She's my favorite person. I'm not my favorite person, but my favorite, one of my favorite people.

My agent once said, Michael, you're the next Will Ferrell. And I fired him. Right down. I fired him. I said, that's just ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous. You're a liar. That could never happen.

You're the next you. Yes. That's what my grandpa always said, what do you got to be the next whoever? There's already that guy. Why can't you be this guy? I'm just trying to figure out that guy. But anyway.

It stuck with me and it was very nice of her to say. And I was like, you know what? I really want a job. But I also, I feel like you've got good instincts. And then it came around again, and then I got offered the part. Wow. Aren't you glad you weren't the understudy?

I am. Not that there's anything wrong with being an... There's obviously nothing. I mean, it's a great gig and like... I think it's harder than actually the park because you never get to go on. Yeah, because then you never know for sure and you have to always be prepared and like you don't... Yeah, you know the part in and out, but like yet you never get to perform at each night. And you have to be...

And a lot of times they understudy a couple parts. This one wouldn't have been, but like a lot of the swings that were in Spring Awakening and stuff, they had to know a bunch of parts just... Yeah, at the time, I was like I should hold out of for something else, maybe. All right. Anyway. Let's get to the big one. Okay.

Wait, you wanted to know. SVU. SVU. Special victims unit, law and order. I mean, that was a good one. I'm kidding. I enjoyed myself. The good wife.

These were all before. They were actually after, weren't they? Actually, Goodwife was before. After. It was before. It was before. Walking died. Masters of Sex?

Was after. That was after. The Nick was after. By the way, Rob's a pervert because I hadn't seen it and he said you were nude in it. I get very naked. I didn't know that. My parents were not happy.

Did they see it? My mom was pretty mad. I've never been naked. I mean, I'm naked every day. You've never been naked. No, my friends, I get naked in front of my bed. You've never been naked on television. You know, I took a shower, but it was like a rather opaque or trans lucent.

Got it. That's the middle one, right? Curtain, so you couldn't see my genitalia. Okay. Um, there was, there's probably something where you could see, you know, maybe my, definitely my ass. I show my, I'm essentially showing pastor. I showed my ass a lot. I love showing my ass.

Yeah, I don't want to show my balls and beans. Okay. Yeah, some masters of sex. So you did that. By the way, weren't you nervous like, or you were like, fuck yeah, I'll get naked. I really liked the part when I read it. Like, I did, I did have to get naked, but I also had, like, really great, like, speeches and really great scenes and really great. Like, I loved the character.

so I was just sort of like, sure, I'll do it, whatever. Like, I was just like, I want to do the part. Sure, I'll show my boobs. I don't care. Whatever. Emily, I want to say something to you right now. The first time in this interview, I'm actually looking at you going, you're an artist. You're like, you love the material so much that you're like, I want to do this part.

And I don't care. Because that's, most actress will say, no nudity, no tits, no whatever, stunt double, whatever, body double. If I thought it was a stupid part and they were just showing boobs to show boobs, that would be different. Then I'd be like, I don't want to do that. But it was like a really good part on a show that I loved. And I was like, I don't care. And I'd seen the show before and everything's like very tasteful and like real, real. And like.

How much nudity were you? I mean, you haven't looked at. I mean, you can check it out. I swear on my life. I have not. You know, I'm not going to. It's okay. Now I feel like a pervert.

Now that I feel like I show like. I don't want to do that. Well, no, it's a show inside of you, Mike, I don't want to do that because I feel it's inappropriate. So I don't want to watch a show that maybe you can just, email me the scenes you weren't naked in. And I'll watch your wonderful speeches. No, but seriously.

So you were on set, do you remember being like naked the first day or going on set and you're doing the scene? And you're like, close set. It's always a close set. Have some respect for the actor. Yeah, you know what? Because they're, I mean, it is Masters of Sex and they've had these scenes before. So they had like basically a system for these scenes where you, there was more nudity. And like everyone was very respectful and everyone was, as soon as the scene was, as soon as they called cut,

someone came over with a robe and all of this, you know, and, um, but. Do they make you look better? Do they make you? They did say, they were like, if you want to get a spray tan, you can't, like basically. Did you do that? Did you do a spray tan? Yeah, I mean, why not? I guess if it, if you feel, yeah, you don't, I mean, it makes you feel like there's, like,

somewhat of a, like, I don't know. If it gives you confidence, but some people like the Julianne Moore milky white skin. Yeah, I mean, but I just. You don't want to do it. Yeah, if I was going to be totally naked. I mean, because I'm pretty much, pretty much all naked. And I wanted... All naked, like front and back?

I mean, you see... In different scenes, you see different things. My God, what is this show? Is it on Cinemax? What is this show? Should I have known about this show? I can't believe you don't know about this show. I swear on my life, I'd never...

I think I might have heard of it, but I didn't... I don't know there's so much nudity in it. I mean, it's not... Are guys nude, too? Do you see... You see guys nude? I don't know if you... I don't think it's fair.

I don't think if you're going to show your V squad, you got to show the D squad. Right. No, I don't... Show my, I don't show like my... Rob, my producer, just says, yeah, they show dong. Oh, yeah, I feel like they do. Yeah, there's like a point when I remember like a scene. Yeah, they do, but no, they just showed like my butt and like...

That's nothing. I mean, your butt's not nothing. I mean, it's just not nothing. Yeah, okay, thanks. You showed your boobs. But they didn't go like, okay. Yeah, I mean, there was some stuff, you know, off limits. All right, so you're doing all this stuff, but your big break, really, as we know,

thus far, as one of them is AMC's The Walking Dead. Now, when I was young, I'm not that much older than you probably 12 years or so but I remember AMC showed movies right they just showed movies and then Mad Men they did a TV show became huge and then pretty much walking dead right after and that sort of just Yeah, the network exploded. So tell me about Auditioning for that how it came up how the what your agent called you and what you were expecting and you're like you know I want to be honest did you want to do this zombie show? Were you not interested at first? No, I I hadn't seen the show but I remember what friend was it that I was talking to, and he was like, oh, I love The Walking Dead. That's going to be awesome. And I remember reading the scenes.

They didn't give you, like, the full scripts. Why did you come in? I came in season two, the beginning of season two. Okay. So the first season was just six episodes, but I hadn't seen them yet. But I read the sides for this character, and they were actually, originally I read Maggie sides. I was auditioning for Beth, but they gave you kind of like dummy sides because they didn't

want to reveal, like, storylines. I didn't realize there was this huge, like, comic book following. Like, I really didn't, I knew of the comic books, but I wasn't, like, I wasn't reading them myself necessarily. But I just remember being like, oh, these are great scenes. Like, I judge a lot of stuff just by, like, the writing. And I thought that it was really well written. And I was like, oh, yeah, of course I'll go in for this.

This looks awesome. It's like a drama. Like, the scenes weren't about zombies. We were talking about, like, life and survival. And one of the scenes, it was never in the show. But, like, one of the scenes I was with, like, my boyfriend. and we were talking about, like, oh, maybe we would, like, kill ourselves in this world and, like, all these, like, it was a, it was, it, they were really cool scenes. Yeah.

So I went in, auditioned, and then I had one other audition that was, I guess, like, Skype with, and then, like, that Frank saw, Frank Darbonne. And then found out I got the job, like, maybe a few days later. How was Frank Darabond? I didn't, yeah, yeah, he's great. I've always thought he was super nice, yeah. So then I flew out, like, a week later and started working on the show. In Atlanta. Yeah.

And I didn't know, at first it was a recurring role. So at first, I wouldn't know really for sure when I was. And they tried to keep things fairly secret. You thought you might die. Yeah, I kind of assumed that I would die. They told me they would never be like specific. It was always like, well, if you do, you know, nothing was ever like, yeah, you're going to have five episodes and it'll be this and this.

It was like, well, it'll probably be around like five episodes. Like I thought it was supposed to be like a shorter arc. And then it just like kept going and it kept being like flown out like every to like, keep working I watched it for I probably think I think for four seasons or so yeah I enjoyed it I have a short attention span so with anything and I think it's very hard for a show to continue like success and keep you know everybody always wants that there's very few shows like that just are every episode like Breaking Bad or a Game of Thrones and and you're talking about a zombie world and it's like you have to write episodes that are like engaging and you know

you scares and relationships and all this so I always said you like That's got to be the hardest thing to write these episodes. And it's probably just as hard to act in them. I mean, you're in the middle of nowhere. It's probably hot, you know, and, you know, the first day you came on set, was everybody really welcoming? Yes. I feel like I just really got so lucky being on that show. When I first showed up to set, everyone was so nice.

In particular, Stephen, who plays Glenn on the show, I remember him just being like, because I got in on, like, a Thursday or Friday to do the, to do costuming and all this stuff. And so then I was going to have to be there through the weekend and we weren't filming or anything. So I was just hanging out in this hotel at the Wyndham in Peachtree City. I remember him being like, what are you doing this weekend? Like, can I take you guys out to brunch? Can I, like, I remember him in particular being so welcoming.

But everybody on set was really sweet. And Lauren, who played my sister, was coming out at the same time. And like, immediately, like, I just was like, oh, she's, yeah, like, we're going to be great sisters like we're going to be great you know and it was so um it was kind of it was kind of magical it was awesome Andrew Lincoln I saw him in the airport once and honestly he was one of the nicest human beings he walked out and I walked and um there was all these photographers and and people come and they all fled to him and he I'm not kidding he sat there and signed while he was waiting at baggage claim.

I watched this. I watched it from the other side, probably 50 autographs and signed everyone and took pictures with every, and he was tired, he could tell he was a little tired, and he did every last one. And I said, bravo, dude, bravo. Yeah. You know, I thought that was wonderful. Yeah, he's so great and he always gives 100%.

Like, he's kind to the people around him. He works his ass off and, like, always. always does his best and and since he's you know the lead of the show it filtered down to everyone then every you know everyone in the scene gave their all then everyone you know like he just the way that he is and the way that some of those first uh first cast on the show like spread to everyone else and so I feel so lucky that I got to be there with them because they the work ethic and like the kind of um focus that they had was really special and it was fun like I that's what I I I it's fun to be good you know what I mean yeah it's fun like sometimes I feel like

I'll be like oh god I'm no fun because I'm just sitting here like working on my like trying to stay in my world like be in my world with the lines or whatever but what was cool about that show is like yeah of course sometimes there's jokes or this or that but we also focused and then when it was good it was like yeah that take was fucking awesome and like it's fun to be good sure no I'm like and I think that There was that kind of understanding. I know. You know, because you're great. I am so great.

I know what it's like to be good, Emily. I mean, it's not like we're all just sitting there like, like so whatever, folks. But some days it was like that. If it was a serious scene, if it was. I want dirt, Emily. I want, I want, I want, I want to hear a story how Norman Redis walked in and he was shit canned. And he just said, fuck everyone. That didn't happen.

That never happened. He's just a nice guy. I met him. He was nice. So nice. The sweetest. Come on. Michael Rooker, who I wanted.

worked with in Guardian. Oh my God, he's so sweet. He's the most amazing, intense guy, hilarious. I mean, sometimes he packs a gun. He also is one of those people who's like the endless amounts of energy. Like, he'll be next to me at a convention and I'll feel like, oh God, they're going to be so disappointed to meet me because he's like a show over there being like, hey, you, da-da-da. Hey, Emily, what are you doing over there? Yeah, and I'm like, hi. And then I feel like people come up to meet me and I'm just like, hi, like, I don't know, like I give him a hug or, you know, whatever. And I'm I'm like, I hope they're not disappointed that I don't have more of, like, a routine or something. Did you ever have an argument on set?

Did anybody ever see anybody? You don't have to say, was there ever a scene where it just got a little ugly? A director wasn't? I mean, people would be passionate about, like, no, I really think we should do things this way. But there was a lot of respect on that set, you know? So I feel like people get passionate on the set. But you wouldn't call it anger. But I wouldn't call it like someone being an asshole, or I wouldn't call it like someone being

like someone being mean like there's no mean spiritedness like everyone's very kind and respectful to the crew and to but maybe I've noted like there have been times when I've been like oh someone got worked up because they were like passionate about doing the scene a certain way right you know and I think that's kind of cool how long were days on that set it really depended but um because a lot of times we had outdoor stuff it could only be so long you know but they would it really depended on the episode. Because, you know, the zombie days, it's like, how long does it take these guys to get in the makeup? Yeah, it takes them a long time. The days for the zombie guys, it's the worst. Did you feel sorry for them? Sometimes just because of the heat, and I feel

like being in all that zombie makeup, and they had to get there at, like, you know, three or four a.m. or whatever it was, and get all of this makeup on, and then you're, so you're tired all day, and then you're also, like, in the sun. Do you ever see a zombie flip out? Like, I'm not fucking doing it again. I'm not dying. I mean, I'm too hot in here. The prosthetics, it's too much. I'm done. I'm not doing anymore.

You're paying me shit. Because that's what I would have done. I think if I was a zombie after a while, I would have flipped the hell out. Yeah. I don't remember any of that. I always remember thinking it was interesting, like, just seeing the zombies, like, hanging out. Like, all the actors that are playing zombies just, like, sometimes I would take pictures of them, like, playing on their phones or eating Cheetos and stuff. Because I just thought it was really, like, kind of funny to me.

And I'd be, like, sort of, like, bizarre life. that like incredible life that I'm living where I'm like I have a picture of the old planet of the apes movies where one of the apes is just having lunch and somebody took a candid picture of him and he's just eating in his you know his full makeup and everything and I just

I always just found it really interesting so I know what you're saying about that but yeah I mean that's really I mean being an extra I have one of my close friends his name's Troy Rudolph and he lives in Vancouver and he's an extra in like everything he does extra and stunt work they call it background sorry if I offended anyone

And they get bossed around. Move here. Come here. Do this. I want you crossing on this line. And they don't really, some of them don't get a lot of respect. And it's a really difficult thing. And I couldn't imagine being a zombie with all these prosthetics and being yelled at and told

what to do in this Atlanta heat in the middle of the summer or whatever. It's probably a touch up. It's actually a lot of work. Yeah. I actually was an extra a few times in New York. Before I had an agent and stuff, I would submit myself to like central casting and, or was it called central casting? I don't remember these like.

casting agencies that do so i i used to do background work once in a while that's not easy right well it is long days it's long days you don't get paid a lot yeah but some people he's made a career out of it he's made a living he's uh wow he's done some you know some work he's had some role small roles but he's you know he's just one of those guys who's like i enjoy doing this and that this is all i do for the rest of my life and to me that's passion yeah he has passion what he does he loves acting yeah and i always respect him for that i think that's really amazing but uh i don't think people realize the amount of work that goes into like one hour dramas a lot of times the half hour shows are you know they're a lot easier but the but you guys have probably second unit

we would by the end of the season you know it was doing catch up days on things we didn't quite get or um yeah sometimes yeah a second unit what's a question you were never asked that you're like why don't people ask me about that oh man did ever hook up with anybody on the show well i mean it's not I dated. I mean, no, no, I, I, yeah. The answer is, yeah. Does everyone know about that? Should we just say yes?

And, well, I mean, for one of my, like, longest boyfriends that I've ever had was from the show. And that's, um, he played Randall in season two. He fell on a fence and then you can't, if you remember that scene. He was in a few, I don't know how many episodes he was in. But, um, yeah, that's one of my, like, I, I usually don't date people very long, like, maybe three or four months or something. In general? In general.

But he was like, we were together for like over a year and I mean, we're still friends. I think that's the most important thing. It's like people say, you can't be friends. Why not? I always say 99% of the time it doesn't work out. And the 1% it does work out, 50% of just end up in divorced. You have a half a percent chance. So just enjoy it.

Enjoy what you have. Enjoy the moment. Yeah. And see what happens. I've learned that. Am I wrong? Am I wrong about that? I think you're right.

Really? Enjoy, I think it's good to enjoy the moment, for sure. Your music, you also got to do some of your, because you love music, and we haven't really talked a lot about your music, but you have, I mean, you have albums, and you actually did a song on The Walking Dead. I did a few songs on The Walking Dead. Well, I know one, the parting glass. Okay, yeah, so that was the first one that Beth sing and that sort of like established her

as like a singer, which was a rad. What was the song? Parting glass? Yeah, how's it go. Of all the money The air I had I spend it in good company Isn't everyone watching you when you sing that?

Yeah, they're around the campfire It's one of my favorite scenes we've ever filmed And I remember that night Only because I It felt like I was like at camp You know, we were all like Had just had like this really long week All together

That first episode of season I think that was season three and before everybody really died before we find the prison yeah right so the whole episode well no what's his name died the old guy not not not Herschel Herschel died later the other old guy who was on the top of the bus a lot and hanging out with the gun oh yeah Jeffrey he was one of the first big ones to die right yeah well he died in season one though right or no season two he didn't so this was yeah so season three but this is like as we're finding the prison. And that whole week before we had shot all these scenes all together as a group,

just kind of like going through the woods and like fighting zombies. And it had just been like a really long first week. And then we shot this scene at night on a Friday night. And I just remember being like so happy, you know. It was like one of those moments you like put in your head as like a picture. We were like, this is so fun. I love all these people. This is really fun. It's a great feeling. Yep. Do you miss it? I miss it, but I don't feel like, oh, I wish I was still there, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, I miss working on the show for lots of different reasons.

I miss the people. I feel like I did some of my best acting work on the show. Like, it really made me do my best work because of the other actors I was working with and I was so comfortable. And I feel like that's one of my things where it's like, it takes me a minute on set to sort of like feel comfy. Like, I have to get better. at that. You know, because I'd been on the show for so long, it was, like, in a way, easy.

So far as, like, acting, I miss having, like, a steady gig and a character that I loved. I really trusted the writers. They always wrote really amazing stuff for Beth. Like, I, yeah, I miss the show and the gig. But, you know, I don't want to play Beth my whole life. I want to play all kinds of characters. I think as an actor, that's one of the reasons. You feel like you have all these different kinds of people inside of you, and you want to sort

of, like, key into, like, these different aspects of your song. And you do that. You do that. You're one of those actors, an actor's actor who, you know, you don't wait for things to happen. You make them happen. You're like, hey, they want you for a role on the flash. Like, great. They want your role on the arrow.

Great. That sounds like fun. And you do it and you have fun and you do whatever and you explore and you get out. And you're not, it's not beneath you to take a recurring role or whatever, especially if they're a hit show. No, yeah. And, like, it's fun. Like, I just think it's fun.

And it's fun to do something different. So, like, I do miss the show. but like it's been so fun after the show like even like i was in smallville it was yeah it was awesome i could always say it's great but it's like yeah did you get tired of it well sure after 160 episodes you know right it's not like you don't love it it's not like you don't cherish those moments like you don't miss those moments have fun but you know there's a point where in life you do this you move on everybody moves on you know talking dead you've been on that a few times yes i have been asked to be on it and i honest they should call it fear of the walking dead because i felt like i would go on

and they'd quiz me and I would need to know stuff and I love Chris Hardway but I wouldn't go on because I was like I'm not a diehard fan but these fans would kill me they probably hate me I think I think I could name the dude who got killed on the freaking bust uh Henley what's his name Don Henley this is what scares me at conventions because it has been a few years since I've been on the show and people will be like you know blah blah but like they asked me questions and I'm like I really don't remember I don't watch it after I was killed because I don't remember this huge this thing that's been such a huge part of my life and still is a huge part of my I mean, I'm still going to conventions.

I still go to, like, walking dead events. But why would you, like, why would I watch Smallville, season eight when I wasn't on it? Yeah, yeah. Oh, let's just see what they're up to. No, there's no reason for it. That's gone, although you did come back for one thing. Yeah. So, your music.

Music. 2011, that was the Bluetooth brush time. Yeah, I want to say, like, 10, 11. Yeah. But that's when I was playing. So around the time. that I got Walking Dead, I had started playing shows in New York, like a lot of, like, club shows, mostly Rockwood, pianos, like really random bars. But, and then it was that summer that I was

working on Walking Dead that I started these, I had been all finished with this album, or not album, EP, and had started writing the next album. And yeah, so Blue Tooth Brush, but that was a much more like jazzy sort of, I worked on it with my friend Conrad and, um, I would say my sound has definitely changed since then. It's still lyrics and poems. A lot of my songs start out as poems. You have a lot of words in your songs. Yeah.

You really tell stories. And I know one of your idols was Tom Waits. Like, or is Tom Waits. He's alive, right? Yeah. Good. Thank you. Thank you for that.

I just, you know, you like to write lyrics. And I think when I'm listening to them, I'm like, wow, that's really beautiful voice. And the lyrics, I'm like, how does she remember these songs? they're just like the but I guess if they're a part of you every song is a part of you and you're telling a story and it feels like have you had a lot of heartbreak I you know what now that you're asking me that I actually I don't know if I have had any more than any other person but I do feel like I've had a lot of heartbreak I mean I've had a lot of relationships that have been you know how you were saying just enjoy it for what it is I feel like have been disappointments really or not disappoints appointments, I do, I also feel like I do write about that because it feels like something that when I went to New York, I started dating a lot of different kinds of people and it's interesting to me. Like, I do find dating and like, like, love quickly. Um, it depends on the person. But I think I do. I like people. I mean, I'm an actor. So, like, I guess I do kind of fall in love

quickly. But also, like, I have this job like you do where, like, your life changes a lot. lot. So I think I've had a lot of heartbreak because, like, you know, what was working for a few months isn't going to work when I'm out of town doing Walking Dead. Or what was working while I was working on Walking Dead isn't going to work now that we're back in LA and for some reason it just doesn't translate. Or what was working as a long distance thing doesn't really work day to day. And I also feel like because I get so emotionally invested in certain projects, sometimes I only have so much bandwidth as far as like emotional availability and I feel like sometimes if I'm really into a part it's hard for me to then also be really available in a relationship type way

do you know do you relate to that I do I'm not the greatest that relationships I've had I've tried yeah I just I was in one for I guess almost a year yeah we weren't on the same page I think that's the problem a lot of times and you know you try to work it out but it's not like the person's bad or you're bad or right as long as you're honest and you're open it's like hey this is what i'm doing uh you know it's just like you can't hate the person you're like hey no of course not so i always try to be just honest and you know sometimes you become friends with the person and sometimes hey they can't be friends or you can't be friends yeah and i think uh i think relationships it's tough that's why it's tough and i think that's why it becomes something that i write about because it's

like it's a mystery to me it hasn't really worked i mean there've been times i would say the one with zegan that was a very successful relationship that was really the randall from walking like the year i would say that was like even though it didn't last i would say that was like a very successful relationship well look him up i want to see a picture guy look up zegan um i i would say that was very like successful in like for whatever reason like in our communication like it was just or you're just growing as a person It helps you grow as a person. But other ones have been, I mean, even to get to that point, that took how many years

of, like, meeting different people, it always felt a bit like a mystery. Like, how is this going to work? How, like, the communication or feeling, like, one of my first boyfriends in New York City, oh, this is good. He was an actor and was going back and forth. And he actually had another girlfriend in L.A. And, like, I had never had someone do that to me. So I feel like there was something about New York City

When I moved to New York City The people that I dated in Nebraska Like I'm not saying that No one cheated really No one did anything like that to me No one was like tried to trick me And I feel like in New York Wait did he was he and ever like you thought you were in a relationship

He was like I love you We were in a relationship like he was staying at my place Every time he was in New York Yeah it was definitely like he had another thing here Well that yeah that's cheating and that's bad That's dishonesting And then it was like when I would bring it you know, he, like, definitely straight up lied to me about it.

But I think that that was this, not the start, but yeah, kind of like where I was like, oh, wow, I can't believe someone could do that to someone else. And you know what? Thank you for my second EP, expired love, because that fucking guy got expired love written. And then you started writing, I guess you did, it wasn't that long ago, 2015, you did the first full-length album, This Is War, right? Yeah. I mean, expired lover was pretty much, or expired love was pretty much a full,

I don't think it was like nine songs. But I just called it an EP because I felt like it was like, well, this isn't like my, there's more kind of thing. Like I want there to be something more complete later. When you play at the troubadour, when you play all these like sold out shows, how many are fans of yours from the show? A lot of people show up from the show. Are they really supportive of your music and their fandom?

Yeah. I think there's both Walking Dead fans. And then there's also like people that are truly like music fans and whether they found it because they were like oh beth sings i want to look up her music yeah if you suck they're not gonna follow yeah so and then and i did have like a little bit of a following from like playing those shows in new york and like my stuff had been on especially expired love like got some a little bit of like radio play in a couple places and like and like i remember someone saying they found my music on pandora and like different um so like there's definitely a mix of fans but there's also a lot of walking dead fans

too which is awesome and back in love back on love yeah do you love that song sometimes it's a fun song it um yeah it was it was a it was a well when i was writing it wasn't fun i was like crying my eyes out but i remember being like this is going to be good because it was just real it was visceral um yeah it felt good to write that song it's kind of about like when someone makes it into like an addiction like they like play with your mind so then you feel like you're always like and they're in control A little bit. Like in the words, if you listen, I mean, it sounds like it should be sweet like you back on love,

but it's like, I talk about how like, oh, he said that my ex-boyfriend was boring. He says that the moon is the sun, says the anxiety can be the source of lots of fun. Like all of these, like sort of a little bit manipulating like me. And it's more of an upbeat song. It's an upbeat song. So I like how you have this darkness in an upbeat song,

which is like the juxtaposition is. Well, that's cool because like, you know, mostly these sad you're usually slow melodic songs and they're sad it's like this upbeat songs and you go wait man but listen to the lyrics it's kind of fucked yeah it's a little dark yeah so you're a little dark see we started when way in Nebraska with you doing these little shows and everything and then we got to new york and through it we've seen some some broken hearts and some some some some drinking the the bramble the gin bramble yeah the gin brambles the gym brambles sweet ups and it's like so you're you know you're we have And this is what's happened.

I think sometimes we have to get our feelings hurt, our heartbroken to write good songs, to make people feel to be a better actor, to be a better artist, to be a better person. Fan questions. You like fan questions? Yeah, I saw that you Instagram, I was like, oh, I wonder what people will ask. Ask you or send you to ask me. There were kind of cool questions.

Okay. This wasn't a question. It's my question. Would you ever go back to Walking Dead? But they said, hey, come back for two episodes. because it's maybe yeah I mean I love playing Beth People have asked you that right

Yeah I think if it was the right Situation maybe Come back so you could Well I guess you I mean you died So it had to be a flashback I should be like a flashback or something Yeah I mean Or just come back as a zombie for one second

I don't know if I want to be a zombie anymore It's funny when I was first on the show I was like I want to have the whole Walking Dead experience I want to do the whole thing Yeah no I was like so pumped And then by after four years I was like I don't want Beth to be a zombie. I just don't really.

Okay. I'm good. I've had enough. No, well, I just had been around zombies so much. And I was just like, you know, I'm good. Yeah. Maybe that's boring, but. Sunny Moraine.

Beth was one of my favorite characters on TWD. That's The Walking Dead. Okay. If you didn't know that. And I think it's so sad that she never got a funeral. Do you wish the group had given her one? Well, she didn't get a funeral. But if you remember at the end of the episode,

It was like this very epic, like, slow-mo, Norman. Darryl carrying me. And that became such an iconic thing that I almost singed. And then, like, my sister just, like, Lauren, just, like, crying your eyes out. Like, I was like, I feel like that was enough. I mean, if we had a funeral, too, it's like, what even, you know. E.Kinney.com.T.W.D. Yes.

Out of all your songs, which is your favorite to perform? It changes. That's a great title. Oh, that's not the song. Yeah. It changes. It changes depending on how I'm feeling. I always love playing expired lover because...

Love. No, the name of the album was expired love. Expired, because it's interesting to me, that song was meant to be such a downer, and then it's interesting to me when the audience laughs at certain points, and it's always a little different. That song I love to play because I feel like there's a conversation happening between me and the audience.

Like, they listen in really close, and I feel like that's when I know if everyone, one's with me if that makes sense yeah green gibbons what's your favorite favorite walking dead episode you were in and why that i was in i think i really liked doing the one with norman because i i think it's called still just because that was for me a chance when i got to know beth really well like sometimes on the show they didn't necessarily tell you much about your characters or didn't want to give you any idea of where it was necessarily headed um which is fine it was just like they wanted things to be like a surprise or like secret you know but um that episode beth talks

about her childhood she talks about like how she feels about everything going on around her she says like oh when this happened you know to maggie or like when i lost my dad you know my dad or this is what i imagined my future to be like i loved that episode because i got to finally like really i got to know beth even more i loved that one i also really loved doing in season two there was an episode where like I try to commit suicide and I just like for whatever reason I just like I really loved that one I think it was because of one of my first chances to really get to do stuff on the show and so I remember just being like really excited and nervous you are a great singer songwriter you do musicals plays TV shows movie I mean you do every you really do everything

I would think, and my advice to you is to write a musical because I think it would be an amazing musical. Thank you. I'd love to. I think you should because I think you've got some good music and it's, you're, you just seems like you love it. You get the best of both worlds, you know?

Yeah. Yeah, that'd be really fun. You're not the first person to tell me that. Oh, great. So I, but I can say that you were the one to guide. I don't know. Yeah. It's not advice.

I just thought. No, yeah. Yeah, it's a good idea. I mean, it's definitely in my brain and in the atmosphere somewhere. For me, you know, I guess finding what that story would be that I'd want to tell would be important to me. Like with songs and short stories, like I write a lot of short stories. You know, there's like usually some sort of spark or something happens during the day or I have this phrase bouncing around and I feel like a need to sort of expand on it and sit down and actually do the thing. And I feel like for musical theater specifically I'd have to there'd have to be that spark there'd have

to be that drive to be like especially because like to write a full link musical of course is a lot of you know work um so I won't be in it because I won't do eight days a week okay I just want you to know that well what if I wrote like this amazing part just for you well talk about you could play guitar in the show no I think I could come up with an idea it just hasn't been on you know I'm I'm I'm trying to do, like, a lot of different, I have, I feel like I have a lot of projects in my brain. It's good. Like, that's one of the things when people are like, oh, don't you want to start this kind of class or that, whatever. I'm like, I have so many projects in my head that I just need to get to those first.

Because it's all my hair. Like, before I take on another hobby, you know, or something. Also, you saw that scooter I have down in the basement. Yeah. Yeah, they gave me a scooter, fat scooters. So I want, I want you to get one. So I hopefully they'll listen to this because how fucking dope are. are they?

They're not even like, they don't even, they're not giving me money to say this. They're just awesome. No, they're really cool. They're like, they go like different. I saw your Instagram post and I was like, I want that scooter. Fat scooters, man. They're awesome. They really are.

Well, look, this has been fun. Was this good enough? I wasn't sure if I was going to be good enough for your show. No, I mean, I'm honored to have you on my show. It's been a pleasure being inside of you today. Did you have fun? It was so much fun. You know what happens?

You say that again, a little louder. I'm trying to say that. In this ear, William Wonka. something else. But it's been a real treat. I got to know you. And it's interesting coming from Wayne Nebraska and the whole, you know, going to New York and then going back to Nebraska and saving up money and then coming back and then doing plays. And getting cast is so hard, let alone plays to movies, to TV shows, to all this. And you just, you work nonstop. Walking Dead is a fan favorite. And I think actors around, you know, Los Angeles, they also, I mean,

everyone loved that show. I'm a huge horror movie fanatic. We didn't really get into that. I know, yeah. So I love zombies. I was really upset when Romero died. And, you know, it was a fantastic show. It's still going. So it's not like it's over. Yeah.

But I really enjoyed this. This was fantastic. Yeah, thank you for having me. And what's your Twitter handle and your Instagram? Oh, it's all Emmy Kinney. So Instagram is Emmy, M-E-N-E-Y. And then Twitter's the same. Maybe we'll write a song sometime.

Me and you? Yeah. Okay. It'll be like an endless love song. Like Rana Rich, and DeHan-N-Han-R-H-R-R-E-R-R-E. I'll write a song with you. This has been fun. That'll be really fun.

I'd love that. Yeah. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you for having me. Believe has the podcast to enhance your football experience. One of the most interesting quarterback rooms To college Michigan is set at eight and a half wins

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