Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - GATEN MATARAZZO: Stranger Things Growing Pains, Saying Goodbye to Dustin & His Dream Come True!

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things, Sweeney Todd) joins us again this week to share his perspective on Stranger Things coming to and end… how he’s preparing to say goodbye to Dustin after a eight years… and the lessons he’s learned after landing a hit show at the age of 12. Gaten starts the episode talking about his dream come true of performing Sweeney Todd on Broadway and the highs and lows that came with its seven month run. We also talk about the unique experience of literally growing up with his cast mates on a hit series, how he’s managing his mental health today, and being at peace with the reality of coming off one of the biggest series of all time. Thank you to our sponsors: 🦰 Nutrafol: https://nutrafol.com + "inside" 🚀 Rocket Money: https://rocketmoney.com/inside 🏈 PrizePicks: https://prizepicks.com/inside 🛍️ Shopify: https://shopify.com/inside __________________________________________________ 💖 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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I really appreciate you spending time with us. And, you know, we're sticking around, Ryan. We're here. We continue to do podcasts and hopefully podcasts people listen to and enjoy and learn something from. And I appreciate it. So if you're here for Gaten, Montarazza, who I adore, and you like it, write a review or at least follow us and listen to other podcasts. They're really interesting

sometimes. Most of the time. I try to make them interesting. We've been on a good run. I think there's a lot of interesting ones coming out, especially. A lot of interesting ones coming out. And like even today, we're interviewing someone. And I, the person just got really open and talked about their life. And I was like, whoa, I didn't know any of this sort of happened. I didn't know you were abused. I didn't know. And it's, it's nice. And it's comfortable. to know that we're not alone in this world and that's sort of what the podcast is you're not alone and um yeah i continue to go to therapy ryan i'm still doing it um sometimes i want to cancel it and then i'm like don't and then of course 20 minutes in i'm like thank god i didn't cancel this

i feel so much better and relaxed that i talk to someone about anything about anything really so it's pretty incredible uh just a few things to get you excited about um we're doing a smallville in New Jersey. Get tickets now. It's on my Instagram. Go to my link tree. So at the Michael Rosenbaum, go to my link tree. Cut them to the smallville con in New Jersey. It's going to be a blast. I have some other cons. I'm going to Nashville, the weekend of June 2nd. I'll be there at the Nashville Comic Con. And then Tom and I are going to Washington State Comic Con, which is a few weeks after that. So go on my link tree and get tickets. Tom and I do a smallville nights and do a bunch of stuff, pictures and autographs, all that. It's a lot of fun. And my book is on pre-order. It's called

The Talented Fartre. And it's a sound book and beautiful illustrations. And I'm so proud of it. And Simon & Schuster is putting it out and it's going to be everywhere in September, October. But you can pre-order now. So do that, if you will. And thank you for everybody coming to our Sunspin show. If you want to support the band. Sunspin.com. There's merch, cool, cool merch. Our tumblers are to die for. And inside of you online store, we have a lot of great stuff.

A lot of Smallville signed scripts and ship keys and tumblers and, oh, hats, just a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff I've given Ryan here. I have a lot of tumblers. You have a lot of tumblers. I have a couple tumblers. You have a couple tumblers. It feels like a lot. I have a couple.

Yeah. Well. You go to tumblers. You know, they're going to be. good they've gotten better i think you know they're they have improved um but i just want to say again uh thank you and at this point um i want to say thank you for coming to the live podcasts it was fantastic we had a lot of fun and i really appreciate everybody coming to see me and tom welling and uh ryan you were there almost there it's great to have you two nights it was a lot of fun

it was really fun and uh we introduced you we talked to you yeah yeah yeah nice seem very uh it was fun it was i love the video that bryce put together it was just it was a knockout it was uh really fun and hopefully we'll do it again um and once again we'll get into this episode uh join patron if you want to support the show really helps patreon dot com slash inside of you let's get inside of the super talented uh always fun to just hang with he's so full of life we talk about broadway we talk about uh stranger things of course. We talk about a lot of stuff, and he's just, he's a good soul, and I think you're going to really enjoy this conversation. Let's get inside of Gaten, Matarazzo. 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. Inside of You is brought to you by Quince. I love I love Quince, Ryan. I've told you this before. I got this awesome $60 cashmere sweater. I wear it religiously. You can get all sorts of amazing, amazing clothing for such reasonable prices. Look, cooler temps are rolling in. And as always, Quince is where I'm turning for fall staples that actually last. From cashmere to denim to boots, the quality holds up and the price still blows me away. Quince has the kind of fall staples you'll wear non-stop

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really came true i mean your dream of being in sweeney tauty i mean your dream of being in sweeney tauty since you were a kid. Yes, that was a lifelong dream of mine. How did that happen? It was just the most basic of auditions. I thought that they were, so I got a call. I was very excited. I was really hopeful for an audition because I knew that Alex Lackamore,

the music supervisor for Sweeney, who also orchestrated Dear Evan Hanson, which I was in at the time. I was doing that, so I had been working with Black and not, Not too often. He's a very busy guy. He writes a lot of incredible stuff. And so he bounces around to shows. And so I'd see him every now and again. But I was hoping that my name might be in the mix audition wise. But they were seeing everybody. And I just did like a self-tape, like right when I started, Dear Evan Hanson. And my voice was not up to shape as it should have been. And I didn't like the tape. And I didn't hear back for months. And I was kind of okay. I was like, they're probably just going to go a different direction. I feel like sometimes they're like, Avoid casting names in certain roles because sometimes it can just be like off-putting and distracting where it's just like I don't necessarily see a character more than I do see this person who I know from other work, which is like very fine.

So I was like kind of just settling into that. And then months later they wanted a work session in person. And I was like, oh, now I got to really start making sure that this is really thought out because this is like the dream. I got to put everything I have into it. So, like, just to even, of course, even if I don't get it, just to be in the room with a group of people. Were you nervous? Were you really nervous? Yeah, it was, that was probably the most nervous I had been for an audition in a long time. Because the material is very hard musically, it's sometimes always just going to, it's going to kick your ass, no matter what you're doing.

For you workshop, did you workshop? Like on your own? Yeah, I did. I did. Yeah, there was like phases of like what I wanted this to be. Because also, Toby's a weird part. Toby's, a lot of people have, there's a lot of freedom as to what you can decide to do with him. He can be like 12 years old, but he can also be like 30. And that's a very, it's kind of ridiculous. But it's true in like a lot of time because I'm kind of in that like middle ground of like,

am I going to play him as a kid or am I going to play him as as quite a damaged adult individual. And I think like I wanted to find more of the gray area there. I wanted kind of the people on stage and in the honest. not to quite know what was up just for it to kind of be lying that like uncanny valley type of situation and so that's kind of where I wanted it to be what did you sing what did you sing uh so they had me sing of course I may sing not while I'm around which is like a very classic song that he sings with this as well that towards the end of the show is very heartfelt it's not as vocally challenging or like musically difficult as the other ones but then they had me sing

Pirelli's miracle elixir, which is basically rapping. It's so hard. And it was always the most nervous. And thankfully it's in the beginning of the show. So you get that out of the way and you get all the jitters out. And then you can just enjoy the show and do a character thing. But that's like running a marathon. Take me to opening night.

And it's a pack crowd. It's Broadway. It's the show that you've dreamt of your whole life. Yeah. And what are you going through that day? Are you not eating? Are you just so nervous? That's a big thing is that I actually, I'm, my diet schedule is so much better when I'm not doing theater because I always feel I have to eat really, really early in the morning.

And I usually like to eat a lot because I don't eat throughout the day leading up to a show because it really does just make me feel sluggish and tired. Even no matter what, like I try, like no matter what I eat for some reason before a show, I get like burpee. and gassy, and then I freak out, and it makes me very anxious. So I always eat very, very early. But that day, I was like, I think I probably forgot to eat, which is not good because he needed energy to do that. But I remember my brother had done Sweeney only about a month prior, and he played the same part that I did.

Wow. He played Toby. And so the majority of the show, I'm like, I wonder what he's going to think of this. I was always like, I wonder if he's going to like this choice comparatively to his. And for some reason, I think that tunnel vision made it a lot easier because there were a lot of really cool people there, people who I really want to work with admire. It's like so much pressure. Thankfully, we have a month of previews leading up to opening night, which are basically like invited dress rehearsals for about a month. That, um, you can like, they're still like working out all the little things that don't work. And the reviews were good. The reviews were good, which I was very, very excited about. Um, I think everybody was, everyone's always in our. but the show kind of speaks for itself and I think that was kind of the point of the production as large as it is as big of a cast

which hadn't been done in a while a big trend had come around that Sweeney was quite a small show like in a lot of the productions that had been on Broadway that were on Broadway prior there was one that they called Teeny Todd because it was really smallest in the circle and the square they were all very good

there was another production in I think 2007 that was with Patty Lepone and Michael Cerveris my friend Mono Felciano who is in Dear Evan Hanson with me he was Toby and they're all very small productions so I think that like people were like refreshed with the the scale that we brought it back to that it had originally thrived in so I think it's it's a show that like people will like it's it's one of Sondheim's best how many shows did you do in total so I did the show

for um I did the show for seven months and we had seven shows a week oh so it was quite a few. And I mean, there were periods where I wasn't able to, I had COVID twice during the run, which was, uh, pretty crappy. Uh, so I would have to be off for like a week, uh, for those two things. And then there'd be days here and there where I just like didn't feel locally good or, or physically good to, to go on that night. Thankfully, the, um, incredible covers in the show are just spectacular and had been, had been doing it for a while now, uh, as new people have cycled in. Right. Um, what, you know, my favorite song, I, I, I, you're going to laugh is with joanna oh why you why would i laugh it's incredible i love that song it's so simple but it's beautiful it's beautiful it's so simple it's perfect it's a perfect song give me give me a little and so i love that one well you say what give me a little bit of that fuck that give me a little bit come on what's the words i love you i feel you joan joanna yeah that's such a good song i i love that song specifically

because it's the only part of the show where like truly nothing really bad is going on yeah yeah it's like he's he's the one anthony's the one character where it's like nothing crazy nothing weird he's just a guy with a crush and like it's just like this like nice like young sailor guy like pining after some girl he likes and that's of course joanna has all of her stuff going on that is very very not happy but uh well that's great it's like a breath of fresh air it's quite nice I'm glad you did it. I'm glad that it went well. I mean, that's, and it gives you, you know, when you do these things, it, well, it's supposed to give you the confidence to whatever it comes next, right? Do you feel like you can do anything now? I rarely feel like that. I feel like it takes me like a week, like, a week. I feel it takes me like a few months of doing one show to even feel confident in doing that specifically. But I honestly, I don't really like going into things with much confidence. because I feel like if I'm too sure of myself and I won't really put the work in, you know what I mean?

So you were working every day. You were working every day on that. I was working. It was every day. And that's what I loved is because the schedule is just, it's predictable. And I love a predictable schedule so much. I knew when my day's off where I knew when I was going into the theater every single day.

There was no changes for seven months. And I live in New York City, so I got to be home, which was absolutely incredible. Yeah. Are you saying that on like stranger things? It's not predictable. Is that what you say? It's never predictable. No, no, no, no. Because it's so hard to figure out because there are so many things that they schedule in advance. And then oops, it's raining today. So we have to work everything around the fact that it's raining. We can't film outside? So next, you're coming in tomorrow or we're pushing your stuff to next week. And so that's why it's also so hard to be like, hey, can I go home for the weekend? And they're like, ooh. Yeah, they never. Maybe. Yeah. So it's always maybe. I don't know. it changes or it look it's looking good but i don't and it never is good yeah yeah we need you yeah i've had a very particularly on predictable schedule recently where i've been uh trying to figure out how to fill my time in the uh sudden days off how's how's your mental health right now how's

uh what are you doing to sort of stay grounded to sort of uh do you go to therapy i have gone to therapy. And it's something that I'm always like, people have asked me this before. And I'm like, yeah, I go to therapy. I'm like, I can't count that I went to therapy like a year ago. Like, that doesn't mean that I go to therapy. I'd like to. I highly recommend it for, for a lot of reasons that people would not necessarily think that they should go. And I should, uh, walk to walk if I'm going to talk to talk. And yeah, it's definitely something I should, especially in this type of situation where I'm spending a lot of time away from my friends and my family at home because we're in Atlanta and everybody I know and love and spend most of my time with is up in

New York. Thankfully, like, I'm super tight with a lot of the people here in the show. And we're spending a lot of this time because it's our last one. You know, we're. I can't believe it. This is the last season. Are they sure they're not going to do another one? Are they sure this is the last? I'm pretty sure.

I keep on grilling them about it. And they're like, guys, we're done. I'm like, oh, okay, okay. How many episodes? I remember they had, I don't know if I'm allowed to say. Is it at least 10? I don't know. All right, well, you know, whatever, whatever.

If you're not supposed to say, then, you know, whatever, whatever. They're always watching. I feel like they've installed cameras in this house. You know, this is a weird, this is a weird quote. But mental health, we'll stay in there for a second. So you do, you have gone to therapy. Like everybody, I'm sure you get anxiety sometimes. I mean, some people.

Oh, it's, yeah. and it's like what do you do do work out do you go for a run do you put on headphones do you vegetate do you meditate i've been i've been pretty active recently i kind of um it's funny because i know a lot of people like feel quite anxious when putting themselves out there but i i tend to feel more anxious when i sit in like when i don't like rainy days very very much because when i sit at home especially by myself i get too introspective and then I get in my own head and then like my mind starts to race. So I think the way I actually tend to blow off steam and kind of probably push aside the anxiety rather than like confront it

is to spend a lot of my time out of the house. I'll just find like random hobbies and even just I walk quite a lot, which is quite quite nice. But I think the healthier thing to do is not necessarily to find what distracts you from your anxiety, but to kind of face it. head on so you can learn how to deal with it in real time because that's a skill that I think is taken for granted first off but also takes years of practice and and time and sometimes medication to to develop properly and it's a journey I'm sure that I'm on the verge of taking quite soon right yeah I think many my age are I think that it's something thankfully that should be normalized you know what I mean I think it's something that everybody goes through

sometimes it's crippling sometimes it's diagnosable by a doctor and there's so many there's so many options and i think it's i just so sick of the stigma yeah at this yeah at this point do you feel like you you still get the nerves when you're going to do like stranger things i know that your nerves were crazy on on the show and sweetie todd and dealing with that but like something that is like in its last season you figure most people think oh you got this you know what you're doing now but uh you know and the and the cast is bigger right yeah we had a lot of people pretty much every year and so like it just it's a family that grows and grows and grows and I've always been nervous on that set I think increasingly so I think is as you get older you become more

aware of the eyes that are on you I think that's kind of what's so special about um seeing our performances when we were younger not necessarily because I mean of course people uh the more the more practice you do the better you get and stuff like that I think the the better performances in my part are in the later seasons but there is something that's It's just so, like, loose and uninhibited about those earlier seasons and kind of the way that I kind of went about being there because it really felt like, because when you're that young, you kind of normalize everything around you. Because when it's in those formative years, it's kind of like everything that's around you is kind of just your situation. And you don't really have much references to otherwise as to like, oh, this is kind of crazy. So it's kind of just like, yeah, I guess I went to set that I around home with my friends.

and I did it on camera. That's just normal that age. And I think that kind of like elevated the charm quite a bit. And as you get older, it's kind of like,

oh, people are watching this. Do you think that, and maybe this is something you talk about with the original cast or the cast that's been there the longest

when you guys were there since the beginning. As more cast members come in in seasons, do you guys ever go, gosh you know there's too many cast members now it used to be about it used to be about us only and now i've never had i've never had that issue just because like i've been able to work with like um i never had a lot of interaction well actually no that's i guess that's not true like i i had a lot

of stuff with mya when she joined i think it's a little bit different though with the later seasons because we kind of got those first three and like pretty back to back they were pretty quick and so like it was it's kind of hard for me to discern like how much time was between seasons like one and three and then the pandemic the strikes the longer seasons like then we started taking quite a long time between them and I think so it feels as though the newer members have been here since the beginning because it has been quite a long time since we've been working with them and I think they bring such I think every time they add somebody new there's like a distinct reason as to like there's like a something at least in the mind of matt and ross who are our

creators that there's like something that's not fitting that we need to kind of expand here and i think it's worked very very well and i think it will continue to work well i'm really stoked yeah that's awesome it's good way to think i don't necessarily believe everything you just said but uh i'd be like dude what the fuck why are there so many my screen time one more screen time um Yeah, exactly. Inside of you is brought to you by Rocket Money. I'm going to speak to you about something that's going to help you save money, period. It's Rocket Money.

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Rocket Money. Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know that I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show do you feel like you're as you get older and you get more mature and everybody starts to develop you know psychologically physically all these things do you think that you guys aren't as close or just as close or it's just

different different that's the thing because like it's when you're with these people for so long, especially how old we were when we started working on it. How old? How old were you? I was 12 when I booked the show. I was, I just heard, it was like right after my 13th birthday that we started filming. And the first season released in July of 2016. So it's been quite a big chunk of time.

And I think when like you have like five kids who were from completely different parts of the world pretty much, I think like when you like force those kids to be together at like 12 when like kids are like antsy and brady and like everyone's like kind of like at each other's throats that like sets a foundation for like wasn't that hilarious in a weird way you know what I mean where it's like when you're stuck with the same people you tend to like bicker and stuff and that just kind of makes it so much better now when you can look back and be like that's so great that we have like that outlet and that we were that we've all remained so so close uh going forward and now seeing uh i always think that we look the same weirdly enough like because

we've grown up around each other and have not really had that like it's not like we've had enough time away from each other to kind of come back and be like whoa you got tall like that type of thing right yeah we always hear that from like you it's like when you have it's like having a dog it's like i no he's still the cute little thing no he was eight pounds when you got him now he's 58 pounds he's a different dog I'm like no yeah he's my puppy it's the same dog yeah like nothing's different but now like we get to like have uh really great like friendships and relationships outside of um outside of set like with like some of like the older actors in the show which has been really great because before it's like you're 12 it's like it's inappropriate like you can't go get

drinks of people after the show and like after their day on set and be like oh and talk about the day it's more like how's homework like that's the conversations you have with 12 year olds right and now that we're like now that we're 21 it's like you're like you're like you're old like yeah fully old and they're like whoa like and that watching people like have their mind blown at that it's quite funny and that happens pretty much every day yeah and i could tell it's like you i just just from knowing you a little bit and you know talking to you before and seeing you on instagram and seeing your kind of vivacity you know you your lust for life and like it's it's it's almost like i feel like you know people do change

people get in their heads people you know become a little more introverted um do you find that like guys people that you know specifically but do you think now it's like everybody has sort of their own personality and uh did anybody did it go to anybody's heads did it go to your head at all of course it probably it definitely went to my head in ways that like i will probably not like on for a while. I think that's kind of just like how that goes. I think I do, I actively do my best to ensure that like the decisions that I make, the way I interact, I let that type of it kind of not really affect. I think it's like the actively working towards making sure that you're not an asshole is what makes you not an asshole. You know what I mean? If you can like,

say, if I can be like, what's the better thing for me to do here? Yeah. I think that's what's most important um and yeah i think like there's going to be things like in the future i look back i'm like oh no why'd i do that right or like that's life that's life you'll always do that i'll tell you that right now which is you know how many times i look back and go what an asshole look at this picture of you at some premiere with these sunglasses and this freaking shirt that says boner or what i i didn't have a but like what are you doing and at in the moment you think this is funny I'm cool. It's cool, man.

I'm getting out there. Yeah. And then you're like, what an asshole. But everybody has those growing pains. It's just kind of crappy. Not crappy. Because I'm sure I'll be very grateful for it in the future. But it's interesting when all those growing pains are kind of just filmed and released to everybody for people to watch forever.

Yeah. In a weird way. Like all those interviews and stuff when you're quite young, like when you're 13 and you're like, I don't know what to do this. yet and you look back it's like the cringiest stuff in the world and at this point it's getting to the point where I can look back and think it's it's endearing and it's cute and we

were 13 you know we were children and but like still I feel like everybody can think back to like eighth grade and be like oh goodness gracious I hope no one like you look back to your yearbook in eighth grade and you're like ooh what was I doing

oh my God and I was the biggest geek when I look back I remember my my senior picture they called me Spock I looked like Spock they were just like what's what the haircut I was not I was no I was not a popular kid I was the least popular I was the shortest kid in my high school very insecure and I think that's why I got in acting is because I just like I just I wanted to pretend I was someone else huh what I did but also I think go ahead no I'm saying like I think what's so interesting is that so many actors like even like, like, real, real big, like, movie stars out there, like the Brad Pitts and stuff.

I feel like a lot of them grew up, like, feeling quite similarly to themselves, where they had never really been taken seriously or had kind of just been, you know, uncomfortable in themselves. And so they look for outlets outside of it and kind of feel comfortable expressing those things through the outlet of other people and it tends to build such a self-seriousness in so many actors that I see and I think like the cure to like dealing with like all that change all that growing pain all those growing pains is just to not take yourself so seriously and I think that's what's like I'm starting to learn a little bit better it's like if you want to do the stuff you have to be okay with looking like an asshole sometimes or just looking dumb for a while because it's

kind of what you do for a living anyway. Yeah. So you're fine. Like it's going to be fine and learn to laugh at yourself. Do you know how lucky you are that you're figuring this out now? Because I didn't figure it out until I was probably 35 or 40 when I started figuring it out. I was like, you're an asshole. You're an idiot.

I mean, you know, and I look at it like, what if, you know, in high school I did get laid? What if I did get laid? And I got the girls. And I was popular. And I was really smart. And I was, you know, selling. Maybe I wouldn't have been an actor. Maybe it wouldn't have gone this way, which should have been fine. Were you popular? I think we talked about that a little bit, but were you

sort of, did you fit in at all? I did fine. I think that's because I started acting when I was, like, I don't know if it's just because, like, people at my school were like, oh, shit, let's drinker things, kids in school. And so I don't know if, like, people were nicer to me. Like, sometimes I remember, like, like, should I ask me with you a people person. I'm like, yeah, people are and i love people people are super super rad people are super nice and then like certain people have been like hey it's because they're nice to you because they know you from the tv true true oh true that's what that is where they're like walking down the street and people will look and be like hello and i'm like see people are great but like most of the time you're like fucking move yeah get out of the

way and i'm like okay cool that that's good to reflect on and be aware that's that's got to be difficult because you've been famous from such a young age and so like you got to think when you're a kid once you these people are paying attention to you it's like oh they want something for me every time they're talking to you sure they want something from me just like a lot of people do have that like what can I gain from this interaction what can I give you the situation and like I have like a really cool combo and at the end they're like hey so can you get me in touch with your agent I'm like ah I thought we were just chilling I thought you liked but also there's kind of like the majority of people it's not necessarily gaining something from it

it's not always that like uh like mastermind like oh i'm gonna get in with with this guy and like and really sore it's more of just like uh you know it's just a different vibe it's like they're not super conscious of like changing like a certain behavior and like cadence to a conversation but like it's something i've grown to not necessarily be too aware of and it's something i'm relatively fine with because the people that i that i know are real and close i remain close than the people that aren't i don't and that's that's fine yeah this is a weird question but i only have this it's it's sort of rhetorical but it's something that i can relate to and you probably on a bigger in a bigger way maybe is that when when i was on a show smallville and when it

came out it was huge it was everywhere yeah there wasn't such social media but for the first couple of seasons you felt like you're in top of the world and for sure you guys were catapulted on a bigger scale than smallville ever was and you were just thrown into the huge show it was but it wasn't stranger things strange great show thank you but stranger things was just you go true too it wasn't strange but look it was it was way to the masses it was just the bigger stranger things was everywhere and um boom season one season two season three you're in the covers you're on this you're in every talk show everybody wants you and now towards the end you know ultimately what happens is the writers and everybody go oh next show oh there's the next show it's always the next show and the next show

and the next show and so after like a couple of seasons did you feel like oh we're not as big as we were or people don't care as much as they used to did you ever feel like that you felt like that If I did, it was nothing but refreshing. Really? Weirdly enough. Yeah, I think I never necessarily, it's not what I did it for. It's not what I necessarily ever really liked. Of course, I understand all the wonderful things it is done for me and my family.

And when it comes to financial security, of course, like, that's just something that, like, growing up, it was always a real struggle. And then suddenly it's not. And that's like, well, when you're that young, it's not really like you can really reflect and understand how, credible that is for your family and for you. But then, like, also there's like a part of it where you're like, you're that young and you're suddenly the breadwinner for your family when you're, you know, 12. And that's not something that like is normal at the time. And even now, I'm like, absolutely. Of course, I would love to do that. But it's not like when you are 13, you have the ability to reflect and be like, is this something I'm okay with going forward? And you don't have

those skills yet. You're not developed enough to really get what people are asking of you. thankfully things worked out um but i think now i just like i honestly look forward because i think those careers are always about peaks and valleys and i think with this show it's quite clear like i i'm very well aware of it i would like the people in my team like my managers and and uh my agents to understand that i'm very okay with understanding that stranger things will beyond very likely be the biggest thing I will ever do and will most likely be the thing that I am remembered for, even if I consistently work after this. And I am so cool with that. As long as it facilitates happiness going forward, security, and more work going forward, what the hell else could

I ask for? I don't really want to maintain a sense of relevancy at this point when, if I'm going to put so much stress into that to maintain this level, when it's not even something I've particularly enjoy that much. And I could focus my time and effort on things that I actually like doing and I can use this to make myself happy. What the hell else what I want to do? Who are you? Who are you, Gaten? Listen, you are more mature than me now, right now. But more importantly, that is like, you know, I used to be so consumed with, well, he's saying grow my hair out. I'll do this. I'll do this. and then it dawned on me the the it is so difficult to get work as an actor then to get on a show that is airing then to get on a show that people really like then to be on a super hit that everyone knows about and you you're thrust into this it's such a rarity it's not it's not an industry that's designed to facilitate long-term work in any situation

Right. Because think about all, like, the really famous people on famous shows that just, like, aren't working much now because, you know, it's all about what's new. What's next? What are we moving on? Right. Right. That's, it's just, you got to find your niche. You got to find what makes you happy.

That's what I always say. I always say, um, find your purpose through, you know, your friends, your family, your, you know, your passions. But more importantly, I feel like small was the biggest show I've ever been on. and it probably will be the biggest thing I'm on it may be i don't i don't know and that is fine i'm fine with that i go to cons people like the show they're big fans are great that's also a thing is that it will main people the people who love it will always love it yeah and so you know it's it's like you got i love that you embrace that you embrace the reality of hey this was the biggest thing i'll ever be on and to be on something this big again is such a rarity and it may happen

it could very well happen you're a super talented guy but it's not always about that like we talked about and so i think that's such a healthy healthy way well thanks but also i'm sure i'm like trying to like save these things and project these things out into the universe so that like when inevitably happens i don't take it too harshly like i'm sure there's also a part of it's gonna be like no but you're already doing broadway and you're already you know and by the way when you guys renegotiated did you guys go in as a team all the all the all the all the all the all the original cast did you or did you go everyone go in separate i think relatively everybody has like what uh those little specific things that like uh that they'd like to see going forward but you know it's a pretty collected effort right so when you when you when you in the early seasons we're like oh we're making pennies in the beginning and now we're going to make more money you sure we didn't go in as a team tom went by himself i went by myself and i went by myself and i'm like this sucks so they're going to wait till i got to wait till tom's done with his for negotiations. For sure, it's there.

So then, like, then you can, like, they can work out what's going on with you. Sure. Yeah. I think that's like, yeah, I think we're pretty grateful. Like,

you know what? It's also interesting is that, like, all of our parents pretty much we're talking about, like, what can you do us for all of us collectively going forward? Because that's kind of like what, who was the one, who were the ones negotiating before we turned 18.

And even now we're like, I don't know what the hell all of this means. Like, we're still like the age of like college, like, juniors who like for the most part are still living off of like ramen and Oreos like that that hasn't changed yeah um so like there's still so much that we're that we're learning that I'm learning from my parents day to day and it's really good that

they collectively were like all quite close with each other and they could talk about what they thought they could say going forward that would be best for all of us you buy a pair of socks that's two socks you buy a pair of bomba socks that's four socks Because one purchased is one donated. Sox are the number one most requested clothing item in homeless shelters. So when you buy a pair of super comfortable Bombas socks, you're also donating a pair. Bombas customers have powered over 150 million donations. So Bombas would like to thank you 150 million times, but we only have like 30 seconds.

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We are Wicked and Grim. Follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform. were your parents always like i'm so proud of you i'm so proud of what you've achieved i'm so yeah you know i'm honored you know just all these things you always got that right i did always get that but it was never about things like i'm so proud of the success they were more just they told me always that they were just proud of the way that i handled it like they were proud of the way that like i would i um go about my day to day and uh the way i look at like the industry and stuff and how you treat people I don't know I think sure I think I think

I do my best to try to treat people the best of that I can I think that's something that like I go about consistently doing my best in and that's something that they've been very proud of me for and they're always I remember when I was younger they always were like like kind of weekly they would be like hey are you still enjoying this at the time I was so frustrated I'm like yes I am you ask me this all the time and you're like are you having fun are you enjoying this and And they would even, as I got a little bit older, start to ask me questions, like, is this something you're okay with career-wise? Is this something that you want to do going forward? Is this like what brings you, like, love and passion that you think you'll enjoy as an adult?

Because most people decide what they're going to approach and pursue around, like, college age. Like, that's when they decide, like, what's next. And they can, like, start worrying about those things. But when you're that young and, like, this is presented to you. they just want to make sure because like what if I hit like 21 and realize I'm like oh I've never really loved this I want to do something completely different and I know that they would always be like great well then we'll do it like I know that they would always just fully support that 100% which is rare and very nice do you think honest think about this for a second do you think when Dustin Henderson his last take on the show straight change your things. It finishes. That's a wrap on Gate Montarazzo. It'll happen. Do you think you will become very emotional? I don't know. Of course. I, but I've always said this. I've done this with every project I've ever done. I don't cry on

closing nights. I don't know why. I cry opening nights. I cry on random days in the middle of the run. I'm a pretty emotionally expressive person. I'm not upset about crying in front of people at all. I'll do it all day, every day. Movies, go for it. I don't cry on the last day of things. I just kind of, all right. Who does? What happens today?

Who does? Who can you expect tears from on that very last day? Most people, I can imagine. I would expect most people. I'm trying to remember who, like, cry. Because people cry at the end of seasons, like, even when we have more coming up. And I just never have. I cry afterwards, like, in the days after and, like, weeks after. When you're by yourself.

I'm like, can I tell them this? Yeah, but I'm not. myself in my room. But like any of the adults or Millie or any, do you think they're just going to lose it? Yeah, I think most will. I think that's kind of healthy. I think more than kind of healthy. I think it's very healthy.

I hope to. That's my answer. I hope to be outwardly emotional so that in that moment I can accurately express to people in real time how I feel about what they've done for me. And I don't want to have to like send them an email a week later. yeah you know yes i know exactly what you mean it's like maybe i didn't emote enough maybe i didn't emote enough and like really because i don't want to be like this was fun you seem like you seem like the kind of guy that would come on set to watch another actor

work if you really respected them and learned from them are you that guy i think so but i also don't want to invade people's space you know what i mean like a lot of times like of course set is full of a lot of people like there's a lot of people watching you perform on stage age and on set. But there's kind of like a, I don't want to get up on anybody's grill. You know what I mean? That's why I'm really honored to work with like the collective group whenever we get those opportunities. There's always a few scenes here and there in every season where everybody's working together. So you can observe every individual that you've been doing the show with. And that's always really special. Because it's quite

rare for my character and Winona's to to over. laugh. We don't have much scene work together. Never really have. I think I've spoken maybe like three words to her in this entire four or five season show. So when we are in the same room, I'm like, this is great. This is a cool opportunity. Same with David. Same with, um, even same with, uh, same with Millie. Like our characters have never really overlaps like since season one very much at all. And so like any time that she's on set, I'm like, great, this is really cool. This is always something to like mentally clock and remember. Yeah. Who makes you love? laugh the most the one person that you think this is the person that makes just i just get a kick

out of that just makes me laugh the most on set it's Caleb Caleb always been Caleb hasn't it it's always been Caleb it's always been Caleb um but oh man he's so funny on camera and he's so funny off camera and i don't he's so funny when he doesn't even try to be and he but he knows he has like this there's like a nuanced touch to like how he knows exactly how to make every individual he's like perfected his humor and shaped it around all of us he's like i know it's going to get gaiton right now because of the many years that i've been working with him and uh just the last day i had on who's the hardest to make the hardest to break yeah between takes i do not break much really on i don't and it used to be quite a skill of mine where we could be joking around and laughing quite a lot

and then they could yell action and then I could just and just be in which was really fun to do early on I think that might have had to do with me doing a lot of theater beforehand because you can't because you just

I mean sometimes you inevitably do you inevitably have never had moments but you have to be really good at just like not giving in don't let those thoughts there's like a weird saying where I was doing a bit with a friend of mine backstage and I thought about that bit on stage

and I was like oh my god i'm i'm going to start pissing myself i'm going to start laughing on stage right now and he says don't ever let those thoughts into your head and i don't know why that stuck with me where anytime i think about that i'm just like all right i can't let that thought into my head's like pick it up and i just put it away just for a second i can't you know i'm i'm okay with it i'm pretty you know but when i was doing theater there's one time we were doing it of all shows macbeth and my friend roger goes such a funny one my friend a real new slapper I know, but my friend goes,

The horror! And the way he said it, I just thought it was so ridiculous. And just the way he said it, I go, I go, I looked at him like this, and I went, and he goes, he goes, don't do it. Like he said, don't do it, man. And it's a lot of audience. And I go, and I turned my head and I looked around for a minute, I got my composure, and I go, just call.

That's what you do. There's always, you can see that head turn. Yeah, just call the evil, the most miraculous work of this good king. and i went on with my speech but um how much shakespeare have you done no i only did i only did me bath i did some check off and stuff in college and you know off that's so cool i'd love to do stuff i've never gotten i've never done shakespeare um i never got to really sink into those classics yeah you know what i love to do some time well i don't know my friends are doing roads and cranson guilden's turn or dead i think it's tom stoppered uh that's a good one uh who's the hardest to break

you said, besides you? Hardest to break. I feel like David. I don't, yeah. Well, sometimes he has his moments. I mean, like, I've seen like there's a lot of blooper reels of him, like, and enjoying a good chuckle. But I think that's like if the scene necessarily calls for it.

There are some scenes in which, like, if it doesn't call for it, like, oh, it's so fun to break on camera. But there are some days where like, if it's happened too much or if it's just not the right vibe on set, it cannot look good. So there are times where, like, I've had situations. we're burping of course um where i will just like really have usually a long days where you know you're so tired the dumbest things are funny oh yes we're like you're just slap happy we have those all the time where

it's like we're doing really intense work and i'm just giggling and we're lose and we're about the son's about to come they get mad they don't have time for it they're like come yeah and like there's times where like it's not fun where it's like dude you have to get it together and you have to do this i got we got spoken to by one of the um producers came up to us came in our trailer and said hey i want you guys in the trailer i go like hey you uh yesterday um you know we're shoot we were shooting film and they were like there's like 20 minutes of just like you guys just falling apart not focus this what's going on and i go i always know my lines man i i mean i just couldn't stop laughing i'm you know i'm sorry

and you know and then we started laughing we're like no no no but we'll we'll make sure we don't do it Um, what is the longest day you could ever recall on, on stranger things? I think it probably approached 14, 15 hours, which is a pretty, that's a pretty solid day. Like, I know that there, like, there are a lot of people, though, like, because thankfully, because of, uh, we're working on the side after and stuff, there are just requirements. Like, we have, uh, a mandatory. I think it's a, a 10 or 12 hour turnover, which is really really nice. So like, we get that time. But there are people in different, under different unions who only have like a nine hour turnover there's something don't have a turnover at all which like for those

watching it's just like how much time you get between the end of one work day and the start of another um so i know people who have worked on sets a lot of times ads or pas who have worked like 21 22 hour days sometimes over 24 hour day i did 24 hours on my last day of small book ever they had me for on your last day they made it like that because i came i came back just for the serious alley and they gave me a ball cap and all this stuff and it took a lot of time and I was there for 24 hours they had me one day I told them you guys got me one day so they used me 24 hours they switched crews they like they did and I was like fine I was like you got me one day use me I don't care I was exhausted how'd you like it though I don't know that I mean I didn't I don't

no one likes working 24 hours but for that my adrenaline and like knowing it was the end and this is it I was kind of there to say goodbye and hang out with people and it was kind of fine um yeah i those days feel like i the night shoots are crazy that's when i like get like a little bit like it starts slap happy and if you get too slap happy too early you know that it's going to turn to be grumpy that's just like the progression of things so if i'm like if it's like 2 a m and i'm like giggly i'm like fuck because i know once five comes around i'm not going to be feeling very very good right now have you ever just lost your shit on set. We're like, guys, come on.

No. No, no, no, no. I've, I've had moments of frustration, but like, you just always have to remember that, like, as frustrated as you are, everybody else is equally as frustrated. So if your grips can't lose their shit, why do you have the right to lose your shit? Keep it together. Like, that's just my thing. I have lost my shit, but I do it in a funny way where I'm like, oh, I've had, I've had times where I've like, I remember I, I went to a corner and I punched a chair. But it was more, but it was like right there. I just went like, boom.

And it was funny because like, there was anybody really there except Nick R. stay came up. And he's like, you good? And I was like, yeah, I'm fine. That hurt. It did not come across as badass. It more was just like, fuck. I remember one time I was doing this close up or it wasn't close.

It made me a medium shot. And there was so much smoke coming in the. room and i could see from my peripheral i saw russ who i love guy rest of soul big burly guy with a beard and he's wafting the smoke and and i just go like this i was going i was talking and i was like going this i was like listen i go russ enough with the fucking smoke and everybody laughed he was just doing my job michael i'm like i know somebody telling not to do his job what is the scariest moment in all of the four seasons

Demogorgian Vecna shooting with effects etc which is not scary but were there any actual moments where you were kind of scared if I'm never kind of scared it's usually because like

if something like doesn't necessarily go right effects wise if like there's like a rig that like goes off and it's like a little bit like it didn't feel too right which has never really happened very often at all

and because that's the thing is like you're never scared in context of the scene you know what i mean like all the demigrants especially when like all of that stuff is uh is the effect you're not looking at anything like i'm seeing like a guy in shorts like with like a stick and a tennis ball i'm like i'm like oh do you ever look at it later and go god i should have reacted more i didn't know it was going to be that big yes well thankfully i think um the animators are very keen on on like understanding like how much have they reacted and then like animating based off of that weirdly enough

which helps but there are times I'm like I didn't know what I was looking at I've done that role like what did you tell me it was going to be this big oh my god there's a fucking spaceship up there I just went hmm oh no all right this is called shit talking

with Gaten Matarazo these are top tier patrons patron dot com slash inside of you join and support the podcast we need your help we love you and without you we couldn't do it so these are the questions here we go stone age gaiton i met you a few times before at some cons you were a real asshole no they didn't say that i've been waiting so much i've been waiting so much you would have loved it i would have loved it do you have any funny stories for meeting fans at a con funny is a way to say it there are some that are a little uncomfortable like i remember just i did

one very, very recently, um, where this is not very funny, but it's the reactions around that were quite funny. Okay. Um, where this like, uh, woman in her 40s, like said straight out, she goes, I've had a crush on you since you were 13. Oh, boy. And I was like, that's upsetting. And like, I, I just, I knew I was like, I'm sure she just meant like, oh, this kid's

cute. Uh, but it didn't come off that way. But then she doubled down. I'm aware of the age difference and then I was like all right and her daughter was with her and her daughter goes

mom what the fuck I swear to God this girl must have been like circled oh my she goes mom what the fuck did you start laughing

I couldn't I could I was just like you got to like I'm like oh thank you guys for coming I appreciate it my gosh and then i had to look over my mother and my mother was right there my mother was sitting next to me that was insane that was the funniest reaction i've ever heard to because i was next and it's like yeah that was that was rough i think the i mean i have had so many funny

interactions where i'm taking pictures and uh you know you're in that room the photo photo room and and you know someone oh the photo off because that's so rapid fire they'll grab my ass they'll grab my ass and then christie who's like just fucking she's my handler and she like my agent over there and she'll go hey hey get out get out and i'm like oh i she's the bad guy you know she'll yell at yeah um but also like if someone's grabbing your tush you should be able to be like hey fuck off yeah or thanks like it like it that's where you want charlene a will you be doing more Broadway shows. Would you like that? How was working with Josh Groban? Josh is a fucking Jim. Josh is really so kind and very talented of course. But I've been a fan of his since I was

very young. He's the reason I sing and I didn't want to like tell him that straight up. Like I didn't want him to understand how much his work formed what I do. And thankfully like I was able to just not be like a weird little fan boy throughout the process. Because you know, we worked together for seven months. Yeah. And, uh, and he's a, he's a good friend, which is great. He's amazing. I would love to do more theater, especially like, I love being on stage. I like the process. I like telling a story, like in real time. And I like finding new things in that same work. Like, once you get one take of something, then it's like, all right, you got to deal with the fact that that's what you decided to do. But then one day I could just be like, that didn't read well. I'm going to

try to explore and find something else tomorrow. And also, like I said, I love working at home. I love the schedule. It just, yeah, it sits right with me. What do you choose TV, theater, movies, or just all of it? It's theater. If I had to choose one, it's theater. But like, I have never done much film. I've done like two, two or three films.

A few of them just cameos. So I want to see if that's like the sweet spot because TV is really hard because it's such a long term commitment, such a long shoot. You go back for many years. You work on one thing for a long time. um so maybe film is like that like add like that little like perfect thing where it's like you work for a month and it's like great this was fun i'll do a different story later yeah that's that's me i think i mean i used to love theater i don't want to do anything else and then well i don't know

if that's true but then you know movies are great because it's like two and a half months or whatever or a month or whatever and then you're done and then moving on because i get bored and like maybe you'll promote for like a week yeah i'm like it's just like yeah i did it because being on a show you're like, you know, still Lex Luthor. All right. It's been, it's month five. Still, Dustin Henderson here working on season what? What Tasha asked, what are you most grateful for in life?

And what is your, one of your biggest regrets? Grateful for my people. My, my family, my friends, my, my lady person. I know that's crazy, but we've been together for about six years. That's a minute. You're going to get married? Quite a long time. You're going to get married?

No, I don't know. We don't want to get married. for a very, very long time if we even will do it all. Good call. Good call. And that's the thing, is that like, we're grateful to have been together as long as we have at this young age, which is great. So I just, I really lucked out with the people in my life. Biggest regrets, not necessarily being very honest with my team about the things that I want to do because I thought that it would be beneficial for my family. I've done a few things where I'm like, uh, that like had some good money behind them, but I thought were really

quite dumb and really, really, really bad experiences on those sets where I'm like, you know, on paper, this is fine. I just want, like, I remember, uh, I watched the video. I think it was Jeff Patel, who's had a, a thing we're just like, there's a real power and just saying no. And I'm like, yeah, I wish I could be a little bit better at a, just upfront saying what I think and not being afraid of people are upset with me about it. Jam and Jenny, what's your favorite scary moving oh it's a really good one and i understand that there are more there are more quality scary movies than this one but this was like a formative one for me because it was one of the first ones i watch was insidious oh oh i loved insidious i think it's great i think that first

one is primo the first two acts are scary as shit yeah dude i liked it a lot and i think like patrick is really great in them and uh yeah i think they're great uh little lisa Love Dustin, Eddie's friendship. Can you share any behind the scenes of your scenes with Joseph Quinn? And what is your favorite scene with him? Favorite scene with him is when we run back into the trailer after we lure the bats to, like with the big guitar solo is like after. And we like jump up and start screaming. I just remember how he's just a very, he's a big theater guy.

He's a real thoughtful actor, very talented. And I was a fan of his work before he joined the show. So I was very excited to see that he was on. board um there is this really great moment where like spoilers for the show if people haven't seen it but there's a moment where uh and also if you haven't seen the show this is going to sound crazy but there's this um there's this bed sheet rope thing that's tied between two portals that are separating me and him between two different dimensions and uh i climb up into uh this portal from the sheet because apparently people believe i can do pull-ups

and he, in a brave act of defiance and not running away, he severs the bed sheet, leaving us separated to ensure that these monsters can't get into our dimension. And I have to, like, scream and, like, catch the rope and, like, notice that, like, my friend's about to die. And it's very weird. And I wanted, like, a lot of energy. And so what he did was he was out of costume, finished his day, and he comes back to set and he has this water bottle that's half empty water bottle and he just starts playing like catch with me because I was really frustrated about I couldn't really feel centered and then like

he was like well then let's just pump it up and we started sprinting around the sound stage chucking this water bottle at each other for about 10 minutes until they yelled that they were ready to go and then that's the take they used what a sweetheart he's great that's a beautiful story that's a beautiful story about friendship I love it so much and he's he's so kind very so good and you love doing voiceover too i bet you're great at you do yeah you did uh my father's dragon oh that was special do you want to do more of that do you get like auditions for that stuff yeah i actually there's a lot of voiceover opportunities that come in and i love it because it's like a really good way to like expand um like a voice work that you can use

in live action stuff like using your voice to like it's fullest potential expanding on your sound um and also a lot of it flies under the radar like because even if people are watching it a lot of people like don't necessarily know that you're in unless they like look up the cast and it's like oh just something like that's cool but like so it's kind of a cool way to be really out there and do things that like are really challenging and maybe dumb and not really have like weirdly enough like your face attached to those dumb things right oddly enough We all have. But thankfully, the voice service stuff I have done has been very good.

What do you want to do now? Now that this is coming to an end, I mean, you have a lot of filming to do, right? Yes, quite a lot. Quite a lot. So you have plenty of time to think about that. But is your team already gearing up to find you new things and doing all that? Yeah, I think that's the goal. I think they're way more concerned about it than I am, which is a good thing.

Because that's like their job is to be like, what's next? What are we going to do? And then it's up to me. It's be like, well, not good with this. This is fine. I don't want to do this. And so it's good that like they're like, all right, leading the charge to like, what's next? We got to kick into high gear and like branch off. But I don't know.

I don't want to be cringy in the way that like there's a lot of people who are known for comedic work who like feel as though they have to branch off to be taken seriously. And then they go down the route of doing something so self-serious and kind of just a little bit. a little bit cringy and uh that's kind of like what i want to avoid i don't mind doing comedy as long as i challenge myself i think yeah i think i agree i think you should i just think i'm looking at you and i think you should wait till it's the right thing or something or or something you really go i'll have a good time doing that an element of fun or good people yeah and i and i don't think there's anything wrong with because i did this is to after this long series that you you're about to take a breather if that's what happens if that happens and just sort of travel and do your

thing and then get excited again and then let's go you know yeah either way clicks and I also I want to look at things like if something comes in and like thankfully like I'm at a point of my career where sometimes people send scripts and ask if I'm interested which is not what most actors get to do most actors get a cut for an audition and they're like great your book did who cares if you like it yeah like that type of thing which is like that's how and so like to be in a position where you can look at something and say I'm not interested is like really incredible um but I want to look at something and I want to do things where I look and I say no one's ever going to make anything like this again and it's like if I say no I have to be okay with saying no to something that I'm

I'm never going to be able to do what this is telling me to do like I read a lot of scripts from like I I do this on stranger things like I don't want to go to a different production and do the same thing I've been doing I want to go and do something where it's like well if I say no I got a like let this one go and that's usually the ones i don't say no to well look i i think you're enormously talented even more so likewise of course you're a super super human being you're well ahead of your years uh you're you're so mature and you've got a good perspective on it all and i just have you know a good feeling about you i always have i appreciate yeah i do i'm not worried at all i just think like what we talked about 40 minutes ago where it's

It's like, you know, I just think that, you know, hey, I was on the biggest thing ever. That's fine. That may be the biggest thing I'm on, but it doesn't mean I can't do good work and do, have fun and all those. Most people never get that big thing. You know what I mean? Like, that's what that's like the cliche. That's what they say the big break is, which I think is a dumb phrase. Like, I don't think that makes much sense at all.

But like, it's kind of like that cliche of like what people hope to find. And I found it super early. So what the hell am I? What would I complain about? Yeah. watch you'll be in the next the lead in the next uh Nolan Nolan film he'll just be the biggest movie I could see it well dude I love you I really appreciate you love what you dude thanks so much for having me on Michael yeah thank you and uh is vertigo and easy rider those two your favorite

movies uh these came with the place that we rented okay because I was like well those are that's for 22 year old easy rider and vertigo I've never seen any one of them what's your favorite musical of all time uh company I don't know why I said that so quick but I guess it's company. What is your favorite movie of all time? Empire Strikes Back. What's your favorite TV? Or Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mine.

What's your favorite TV show of all time next to Stranger Things, of course? I don't watch a lot of TV. I watched all the Breaking Bad, but like everybody's favorite show is Breaking Bad. So if not that. It's okay if it's that. There's this show. Look this show up. To the lake.

That is in. No, I wish. Dark. I wish. Those are great. Go ahead. Those are great. I, it is so morally not okay.

It is just a real time capsule as to like something people tried that I'm like, I can't believe they agree with this. Look up Kid Nation. Kid Nation. Have you seen it, Ryan? It's insane. Kid. It's insane.

That's just my two cents. Like just look that up. Like I watched it when I was a kid. I'm like, this is awesome. And I revisited it now. I'm like, this is crazy and terrible. Please watch it. Dude, you're the best.

Thank you so much. Thanks, dude. I'll talk to you. Have we good. I'll see you. I'll see you later. I love him. I love you, buddy. You're awesome. Thanks for coming on the podcast again. Means a lot to me. You're a super, super dude. Yeah, that was fun. And thank you guys for listening. You know, I try to push things a little bit without being pushy, just kind of conversationally.

And, you know, things. And people will respond the way they respond. But usually I just like to get in a good conversation. and see where it goes. I never know where it's going to go. No. That's the fun of it. Gaten's a good time. I'm glad he came back. Yeah, he's just fun.

I want to have him in person. I know. Next time, Gaten, you're coming in person. That didn't sound right. If you want to join Patreon, I'm about to read the top tier patrons. Patreon.com slash inside of you. There's so many perks. I send boxes every three months.

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tasha s keith b hather and gregg ell elizabeth l ben b p rc and nerd octave is a new one welcome welcome all newbies to patreon i hope you enjoy it and um hope to see you soon uh that's all from the podcast for today thanks for uh listening or watching or uh just spending time with us and supporting this podcast. I appreciate it. Shout out to my wonderful editor, Jason, my wonderful engineer co-host here, Ryan Teos, and the super duper Bryce Mahlers, who puts this shit together. So give it up. All right. Thank you. And from the Hollywood Hills in Hollywood, California, I am Michael Rosenbaum. I'm Ryan Teos. I'm the engineer co-host. He is, a little wave. And be good to yourself.

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