Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Kristin Kreuk

Episode Date: June 12, 2019

Smallville week continues with a bonus episode! Kristin Kreuk discusses her upbringing with practical, goofy and supportive parents, the extra efforts she made to be unattractive from a young age, and the way a woman’s age is perceived today. Kristin divulges her first impression of me on the set of Smallville, the dynamic between Lex and Lana on the show, and the moment she realized the show was changing her life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hooray! Hooray! Array! The Conjuring, last rites. Only in theater September 5th. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Rob, we just Skyped with this guest. Yes.

From Toronto. We did from Toronto. I've wanted to interview her for a while. She was a co-star of mine for many, many years. You know where is Lana Lang. She's in Beauty and the Beast. She has the new show out now. Burden of Truth.

And she's a pretty dynamic woman. And I've known her a long, long time. Yeah. since I was she was 17 and I was like 26 she's very well spoken much more well She's so articulate I sound like such an idiot when I'm talking to her but um you know she was really open about things She was really open about her life growing up um you know she was her parents are introverts she's an introvert We get in all that and much much more I think that you're gonna really like this young lady Yeah this is still young lady this is the rest of smallville week this is the rest of smallville week but we've got more next week

that's right we do have more next week we got two more next week two more what two more interviews from one from smallville yes we do that i have not seen yeah that's why i'm looking at i'm like he's never seen it but we got two more great guests but right now let's get inside christend crook 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. Wow. Rob just threw a chip at me to start this interview. It's a good start, Kristen. That's a lovely start. Keep it light. Keep it, you know, fluid. Yeah, that's what we like to do. You know, well, I always wanted you on the show and we talked about it, but you don't live here. You don't come out to Los Angeles. I'm not going to put words in your mouth. I'm not going to say, Kristen, you don't like Los Angeles. But you're not a big fan of Los Angeles, let's say. Is that sort of true?

That would be correct. Yes. I mean, there are parts of L.A. or aspects of Los Angeles that I love. But, like, as a whole, it's never felt like a place that could be home for me. Right. Where are you right now? I'm in Toronto. And you were born in Vancouver, as we know. Twas, yes. You were. Look, from knowing you for so many years, I've known you since, what, 2001? 2001. The year after I graduated high school.

Oh, my God. Such a creep, Michael. Like, because I met her on a show. Yeah. Because she happened to work on her show. And I'm sorry that I bumped into you. Yeah. I always felt like, you know, you were always, I wasn't intimidated by you, which would be weird for an older guy.

You know, I'm, you're 36 now, I think, right? I am, yeah. And you don't, you're not one of those women or guys who worry about their age and say, I won't tell you how old I am, obviously, because you just told me. No, absolutely not. I think that we, we, yeah, you already said it, A. But also, I think in our society, we've really. you know, valued youth over growing older.

And it'd be good if we could change that, no? Yeah, well, yeah, it's funny because my mother, thank God, Rob, you didn't meet my mother, but she's in her 70s and she will not tell her age. I remember when we were younger, her first two kids, she'd say, hey, make sure nobody knows that they exist. I don't want anybody to know that I had two kids in my former marriage. I'll know how old I am. I'm like, you, what the, it's kind of, it's sick, isn't it?

When you think about it? Yeah, but it makes sense, right? when, especially for women, we're most valued for our sexual years, the years we can have children, and that's based on how much people find us attractive. And so if we don't change what we value in people, and especially in women, it's going to constantly be a thing where it's like all about how young you are, how young you look, or, you know, how attractive you are. Wow. That was really articulate. And like, the way you said it made absolute perfect sense to me for like not for the first time but like I mean I just never understood

I was like well don't lie about your age if you're on a dating app don't say you're 30 when you're 40 don't you know there's like this lying thing but now I mean I I I do understand I do understand the way how you put it is is different but I you know I always think like hey this is me this is way am but I'm also not a woman so I can't understand what it possibly what it's like to it's a completely different system like generally especially in the West a man's value is not placed on his you know his It's like youthful-looking body or his ability to carry children because he can't. So you kind of have a lot more freedom in that sense.

And therefore, it's harder to grasp why women would feel that pressure. Yeah. How old were you when I met you? I think I was either, I think I was 19, I think. This is a scary question. What was your first impression of me? Jesus. That's like, why did I go down that rabbit hole?

The first time I remember meeting you, we were, I think, in the hair and makeup trailer. And you are very much the same as you were then, although I think now you're a little more, you're more chill. You're a little more chill and wrinkly, yes. Thank you. But you were very outgoing in a way that I found terrifying, being, especially then when, as you remember, I was such an introvert. which I think is why people sometimes found me intimidating, but I was so quiet and a little judgmental. You were just so you and so expressively, loudly you, that I was like, la.

Yeah, because I think, you know, look, I've always had that personality where I'm like, I want everybody to like me. I'm a good guy. Look at me. And, you know, you were just shy and introverted. And I was like, you know, if you think about it, just it doesn't mean someone doesn't like you if that's just not who they are if they're quiet it doesn't mean if you're loud they don't have to be loud well that probably made you push harder too probably i mean i always you know want someone

to like me if it's a one person who's not laughing in the comedy club i'm like who is that jerk but it's you know it's not but we're also different we were on a different page in life i was a little more experienced in terms of work and you hadn't really acted all that much really you did you you did a show called edgewood close edgemont edgemont yeah i did done the show called which was a CBC series and I'd done like I played snow white in a TV movie that's it that's all I had done I mean apart from like high school crap but yeah so are you a nervous wreck were you like coming on to this show that you know it was the biggest show any of us had ever done and were you I mean I could tell you were a little nervous but you kept it into how did you deal

with that I mean especially as like a 17 18 year old I was more than nervous I think I mean yes nervous about wanting to be good at what I did. At that point, I felt comfortable, at least with the technical. Like, I knew I could hit a mark. Yeah, what's important. Better than I was when I started, you know, when I started Edgemont, I didn't even know what a mark was. So I think from that side of things, I was scared in that way. And then the other aspect of it was it was such a whirlwind, you know, the amount of press that we were doing, the people who would, you know, notice us or pay attention to us in the photo shoots and it was like this constant thing and it was really hard for me to transition from going to school to going to a job I didn't have a car

transpo never drove me my dad drove me to work when I couldn't take the bus and it was like my life was in this massive transformation and I dealt with it by reading you were always reading I wish I was always reading your focus perhaps would not allow you to do that fully squirrel but i also wrote a lot and walked around a lot and just tried to process what i was going through because it was a really strange period in my life as affected as it sounds like you probably were in ways that we don't understand like to me it felt like god i'm you know 10 years older than her. I wish I wasn't as affected. You know, I, you look so together and I was, I've never been together. It's amazing, but now looking back, I think, how could she have possibly taken it in

stride? I mean, you're probably doing the best. You could, but when photo shoots and this and that, this was, it started, and it was also like, you're a gorgeous person. So it's, you know, on top of that, that's nothing that you ever want. It's like, it's not look, we all want to be good looking, right? but that's not something you wanted to be noticed for that that again like for me i was like oh my god they want my picture and well you'd also been in the business longer i think you had a better understanding of what it was that was happening so you'd done shows you'd been on tv shows you'd like been on things that hadn't worked things that had like you just had a body of experience i hadn't had that so this thing just happened and i was obviously hired in part

because of the way that I looked. And it was something, you know, that I really fought against. I don't know. You probably don't remember this. But before I turned 21, I spent, because there was a distinct shift in my awareness when I turned 21. But before I turned 21, I made every effort to not look attractive. Like, we went to Television Critics Association press stuff.

And I didn't even have clothes that I could. wear and we didn't have stylists back then that was not a thing that we did like hire stylists so like susan gomez had to like find me scrounge up clothes for me to wear because i was not someone who bought clothes i wore things until they were destroyed i remember steve oben took photos of my shoes and put them in yeah yes our wardrobe guy sorry took photos of my shoes because they were completely destroyed but i continued to wear them with like complete stubbornness see but you know i will say it was funny no matter what you did or try to ugly yourself up you couldn't succeed however i would do

everything i could to look better looking and be in the same room with you guys please zits don't come out please nicks on the head please like i just like oh god i'm not as handsome i'm always i was always trying to be like i'm doing what i can where like you and tom really didn't have to do anything you're lucky you were natural beauty and maybe you know what rob well and you're you had to be bald and i had to be bald so i felt you know it was just like oh my god got this weird nod on my head so it's funny that you're telling me that you were trying to ugly yourself up and i'm trying to get better looking here uh we're ridiculous we're ridiculous all insecurity and that's what this like this business you know does to people but um you had a pretty good upbringing yeah absolutely

i mean my parents were both landscape architects they were you know they're supremely practical people, which is probably why I am fairly practical. They were really supportive of most things. My parents put me into everything. So I did. I was in classes like almost every day of the week, you know, swimming, gymnastics, karate, singing, dancing, acting. You were a gymnast. You went to the national level in gymnast, right? In gymnasts. No, no, no. I was not that good. I am I am not ambitious generally. So I never was that good and I started kind of late. My sister went much farther than I did and competed.

I believe at the provincial level. But I competed more regionally. And I was never great. But all of those things have come in handy as I've gotten older. But they also kept me structured. So they kept me focused and they gave me community outside of school. So for whenever school was awful and it was hard. And I felt really weird and outside of everybody.

I had a group of girlfriends that I could hang out with. And I saw them three, four times a week training and then more if we were hanging out outside of it. Where do you get your personality, your mother or father? Because, I mean, your mother's of Chinese descent, right? Yeah. My mom was born in Indonesia and is of Chinese descent. My grandmother's side of the family is diaspora Chinese. Chinese. They are from the Caribbean. So my grandmother was born in Jamaica. And my, and that family

goes back many generations in Jamaica. And then my grandfather was from Hong Kong. And my mom traveled a lot as a kid. So they started off living in Indonesia. But during that time, both communists and Chinese people were being persecuted in Indonesia. If you've ever seen the documentary, the act of killing is an amazing documentary, but that's what was going on at the time. So they left. And they lived all over, like Singapore, Solomon Islands, all over the place. And then eventually came to Canada. When she was around 12 or 13, she came to Vancouver. And they met, my dad was born in Ontario, so the province I live in now, to Dutch parents who immigrated from Holland. And he also moved to Vancouver after he got his degree in landscape architecture.

And then they met and, you know, accidentally had two children. Accidentally. Is that true? Oh, yes. Well, first of all, how did you, usually your parents don't tell you. They're like, hey. Oh, right. How did you know you're an accident?

Because like my, you know, some people would cover it up and say, hey, you weren't an accident. We didn't want to get married at the time. And then we wanted to get pregnant. And we had you. And then we're like, oh, let's get married. They could have faked it. No, my parents certainly did not do that.

They basically, what I remember them saying is, don't get married only get married if you want to have children and they were very clear like they got married because they got pregnant and my parents are still together

and they love each other they're like a you know a funny little match they're very different people but they're still together and happy so it was fine and it worked out okay that sounds pretty practical I could see where you're

you know it's like you know what don't get married if you want a family then get married but I've heard that before and like it's like it's it kind of makes sense it's like you want this uh what's the word security no when you with your kids you want them to have this union or this whatever team yeah well maybe team team is not really the word i was looking for but neither of you for structure no but by the way where do you get uh your personality from is your father more out going is

your mother more out going um they're i would say they're both um introverts but my dad is much more social. He likes talking to people. He likes hanging out with people. And my mom's a lot more kooky. So my death, like my goofiness, I think, comes more from my mother and my practicality comes more from my father. And then I have like a constant like conflict between like practicality and perhaps a little bit more like the flexibility. Who is the disciplinarium? My mom I was more scared of growing up definitely she I was very scared of her we got in a lot of fights

she didn't want me to go out she didn't want me to be out in the world at all I took karate in large art because I was told I had to protect myself back then it was like the white van the you know we were scared that someone was going to kidnap us out of a white van so I

had to take karate to protect myself I'm sorry I looked at Rob and shook my head saying don't say it because I have a white van I wasn't going to say that. I've had a van for a lot. First of all, fuck off, Rob.

And fuck you too, Kristen. But I have a van because my parents were never the kind of parents that, you know, my friends, their family would have vans and they'd go on trips and they take all the kids and their friends to baseball games. And my parents never had it. So I said,

you know, one day, I'm going to get a van. And so it's a conversion van. It's got like stereo and TV in it. And my friends and I load up and go to concerts and stuff. Exactly what you were describing. Yeah.

Just go to hell. Yeah. It sounds like you were. is probably not as terrifying as the one that... No, I would hope so. It's pretty creepy. It's pretty creepy. It's not creepy. It's just playful. It's like a 90s.

It's inviting. Where did you grow up, though? Vancouver, it was Vancouver. So that was the luxury you had. At least you were, you know, when we were filming, you were on set. Like, you can go home and you'd be home at a half an hour. I would be a 45-minute drive to the airport. You know the deal.

I live in Illinois. But, Michael, you made a concerted effort to constantly not make Vancouver your home. Well, I tried in the first two seasons. Yeah. You know, I got a houseboat. That's true. You did.

Look, I like Vancouver. You know, when I go back now, it's funny, because like after I was done with the show, I was like, you know, I'm not going back. I did seven seasons there. I'm not going to Vancouver. What do I do? My next series. Go back to Vancouver.

And that's what I did. But I get it. It's hard when you're pulled away from your home. That's what we do, though. That's our life. That is what we do. And we're lucky to be able to do that. And Vancouver's not a bad city, but it just, I, like, I just remember every Friday night or whatever.

Michael's like, come on, finish. I got a flight to catch. I'm going home. Yeah. Do you remember when you were cast? Do you remember the day you got the news? Sort of. Not the exact day, but I was the first one cast in this show.

You were the first one cast. You wouldn't think that. You go, got to hire the Superman or the villain or. I think they had enough. money that if Tom and I had no chemistry, they could just buy me out. They were like, this is terrible and is totally wrong. But I had another project that was like wanting me to sign on. So they had to make a decision.

You auditioned, right? Yeah, yeah. I auditioned in Vancouver. And then I came to L.A. to test. It was the first time I'd ever been to Los Angeles. Me and my agent went. And my mother watched as he pulled up in his Porsche. and gave him the death glare as he took her 18-year-old daughter off to Los Angeles with him.

But I remember meeting everybody and David Nutter making me feel very comfortable and at ease and meeting Alan Miles and going into Warner Brothers and testing for all those guys. I remember Peter Roth. It was just a really actually really nice experience because I didn't care one way or the other. I wasn't particularly nervous. God, I wish I had that. I wish I had that. Yeah, it's like Nyatay.

I think, look, I think you get nervous. I think you care like a normal person, but I obsess. I get so nervous because I want to be so great at things. I'm like to have that, to take your personality, I would take half your personality. I get very nervous now. I haven't gone into an actual audition in years because I get really shaky and scared. But back then, I didn't know. I didn't know one thing from another.

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you heard about them from my show inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Rocket Money. What scene did you read? Do you remember which scene it was? Yeah, I did. The barn scene, I bet. The graveyard scene. I don't remember the other one, but that was that was the scene i remember doing that scene so many times because it's it was in every audition and you

did it with tom at the end in the i did it with tom yeah and then i came back in the new year so that was before the new year and then that was december and then i came back the next year and tested with tom and jensen did let me ask you the truth when you first met tom are you like oh my god he's hot no he's the most beautiful man i had ever seen i mean it was funny because jensen is also a very attractive man yeah which pisses me off because all the hottest guys in the world were surrounding me i was tortured rob i feel like you're placing far too much value on the way people look i'm just saying it was hard to be like well you know again it stems off from childhood i get it i'm just saying bald average looking with some charm surrounded by beauty michael yes i think you don't give yourself

enough credit well i do i'm just i'm hard to myself but look look what i'm saying is um she's shaking her head oh yes but did you so when you first time you saw he was that he was a beautiful most beautiful person you ever and and he was really kind he was warm yeah tom was nice i don't know he was an adult i was a kid i like well you were 18 he was like five years older than me 23 yeah but it at that age i hadn't hung out with like 20-something year old men yeah this is the first time i'm sitting in rooms by myself with like adult males God, gross. Well, it was terrifying for me.

It was really scary. I get it. You know, I don't want to get into this whole thing because it's another story. But the whole Me Too movement was so important. And it was. And like, if you think about it, if you're a guy and you're out there, how many times do you just, it's easy for you to talk to the other guys and talk about whatever and fit in? And like, but for a woman, you're, it's a different feeling. You're viewed.

You're, it's, it's, go ahead. You want to talk about that. Yeah. It's, I don't know what every. women's experiences. And I've obviously just spoken to a select few of women in my life. But from my own experience, the time you hit puberty is the time where you get the most attention for men ever. So around 14, 15 years old. So suddenly it changes. And especially in my experience, I became like an object. Trucks would honk at me. Men would stop their cars at the side of the road

and talk to me, a child, a 15 year old child. And I didn't look like an older person. So from, I mean, I'm just talking about one aspect of this. And Me Too is obviously much more. We're talking about power structures, power dynamics. But I'm just talking about a small aspect of the female experience and my personal experience. But that was, I had spent all of my teenage years trying to avoid that kind of attention. And so I just didn't have the skills to be able to feel competent in. in a room with a bunch of adult men. Well, not only that, but how many, how many women, uh, grown women stop their car at a 15 year old boy and whistle. I would think that's highly rare. Very rare. Your mom might do that. My mother.

No, she would not do that. It just puts things in a perspective, different perspective, especially when you hear, you know, imagine being an actress in Hollywood. And that's how this whole movement started, but it happens everywhere. I don't know. I don't want to get into it, but I, you know, I'm, I'm thankful. that this whole movement came out because I think it puts awareness and it puts like, hey, you can't act like this.

And it's more than that, though, it's calling out systems and structures and finding ways to change those structures and analyze them for what they are. And set is a structure that I think is very or has been and continues to be in many ways a male-dominated system. Like our camera crew, we had on Smallville, we had what a few. you women that came through in the camera department? Mersey would direct and AD. Yeah, we've got like ADs and stuff.

Not a ton of females, yes. No, it's like a very male-or-a-anted environment. And that goes all the way up to executive positions. So it's just, I don't know, it's structural and the movement is helping to shift those structures. And I think that it is moving from just our business into all fields because it's a systemic issue that will take a long time to shift. Because it has to, we have to shift our own

mentalities, which I think is really hard to do as people. You know, and I think about being on sets. People don't realize, you know, that when you're on a set, it's like a family. It's like, you know, these people you see them more than your own family, especially I did, you know, that me, I wasn't around my friends or anything. These were

the people I knew. And so you get to a point where you're so comfortable where you're talking about everything and anything and you say stupid things and you're playful and you're, you know, and it's hard to articulate. what a set is like but it's not to say you can't still have fun but there's there's a there's a line that you can't cross well like fun and abuse are totally separate things and every person is different

boundaries so it's all of i think about especially if we're just talking about set and how you talk to or engage with people on set it's about finding out where people's boundaries are it just takes more effort yeah you know like is this okay is this kind of joking okay is this like you Is this making people uncomfortable and making them feel like they don't have a voice or is it like stifling them? You know, that's just about consent, though, and finding ways to engage. Is that okay with everybody? Is that okay if I say... You gain agreement from people without being explicit sometimes.

I think as long as you maintain critical thinking, I don't imagine it's problematic. I think that's true. It's all about respect. Or checking in with someone afterward, if you do something and you notice that, Maybe it wasn't okay to just check in, get a sense. But you shouldn't have to stop having fun. Exactly. Like, cancel each other out.

Yeah. When was it that you just felt completely like now I'm someone. I'm on the show. This is changing my life. I was walking down Barard Street one day, probably going to the record store. And I had someone run up to me. Say my name. like Kristen, and want a hug. And I was so terrified. And I realized that I was no longer anonymous.

Even in my own city, my life had shifted. And I mean, another time that was really distinct is like going to Paris and being in a museum and having a whole like swarm of teenagers start to follow me from room to room in a way that I was like, okay, yeah, this show is very popular. That little girl in Vancouver on Burrard Street going into that record store, after the hug and you were terrified, was it sort of like that, it was scary? It was a moment where it's like, oh, my God, that was uncomfortable and a moment of like, that was kind of cool? Were you kind of excited that you're like, you're doing something that's making such an

impact, or did that take some time? That took time. I wish I could say that I had that clarity then, but I didn't. Now, like, going to the, you know, Comic-Conns or fan expos or whatever with you guys and seeing everyone and talking to them, I can feel moved and I can feel their experience. I think when I was like 18, 19, you know, whatever, I was only feeling my experience and not their experience. And it was completely self-centered. So that's completely shifted now.

And I wish I had had that lucidity then. but I but I didn't it just was like blah it was you know and what's amazing is and I asked Jay said hey come to these conventions you're like ah you know and you're unsure and you know I said look Tom and I're going to be there it's going to be like old times I think you're going to really have fun and I really noticed that once you were there and you got what it was and seeing what an impact we had and fans getting to to meet you or um and it was pretty crazy how it's not only sincere but they're pretty respectful, you know, and for the most part, there's on a few occasions, but you seem to be like taking it in stride and having a good time with it. Because, yes, you

have always been an introvert. So I enjoyed watching you sort of enjoy it in a way. Yeah. Well, it becomes not about, I mean, let's be honest. It's about me, obviously, in some ways, but like, it's about them. When people come up and tell you about how you were the first Asian representation they saw on screen or you you know that the show gave that their family something that found them together or gave them hope or was you know that family whose father had passed away and they were all connected to him continuously through our show like it's not about us it's about us as a like placeholder for them something they can use to like reflect themselves or build closeness with each other and so being there I kind of just

get to be a trigger for that and I get to feel that, which is sometimes intense, but that is also really gratifying. I remember, again, you were young and there was this like, I should have known. I was like, she's young, of course. I'm a weird, you know, I'm older than her. I'm, you know, even though I was still young, 25, 26, I was still like, you know, like energy and weird and, you know, a goofy guy. And but I noticed it took a couple years.

And then when we started really working together, we built this bond. like we there was I remember specifically it could have happened before but it was in an episode called lexmus I think it was one where there was this dream sequence where what if and you and I could have been married and there was just like this mutual respect and this cool thing where we were on set almost all the time together it was fun and I could see like you opening up like in a in a way I'd never seen like I saw this young girl that I had worked with but didn't work with very much and kind of came into the trailer like oh hey christin you're leaving i'm coming on to do a scene with john glover or an adult scene and now you were this woman like i felt a connection and it was

it was really nice do you remember that absolutely i i loved working with you especially as the years went by and we had more substantial work to do together it gave me an opportunity to play dynamics that were complicated because lex and lana were constantly lying to each other they were hiding shit they were secretive they were so they was all for an acting for acting it was fun because we got to play all these things and and you're a wonderful actor so it was great to come on set and do that with you i had so much fun and lexmas was a light episode for me not screen time wise but like i got to just embody lex's imagination of what lana was yeah which was like pure goodness and fun and a great mom and like all these lovely traits and qualities that I really enjoyed additionally when it comes

to just me as a person once I trust and feel safe with you is when I am most authentically myself and and I am like a little strange and a little goofy but like along with my seriousness but that takes time and and I think we got to that point as it should you know maybe I don't know but that's just the way I am it takes a while and if you open up and you really get you take your time to get to know someone to see if this is somebody you want to open up to someone that you want to share something personal with or be honest with and we also for the fans we get we had to kiss yep but you had to kiss tom first yeah then you kiss jensen who is no don't ask her who's a better kisser between the three i'm sure tom's most beautifully had the softest

lips in the world but i don't think i was terrible oh my god why are you obsessed with this Well, what, James Ben? I just said it. James Dunn said you had a smelly breath, right? Was that right? Me? Or you're a close talker? I was never a close.

He was joking with me because he knows I hate close talkers. So he gets fucking with me. I hate close talkers. You had never kissed someone before Tom, right? On set? No, I had. Yeah. Because I, as a female, you're always playing a love interest.

That's been my whole career up until now. How do you feel about those kind of scenes where you have to, you just kind of go with it now? You know the routine. You know the, deal this is it at this point in my career it's just another scene unless there has to be um like simulated sex i find bizarre the rest of it is just i don't know it's not it doesn't feel real to me i mean it's very different than life but what i'm saying is is there ever a moment where you're looking at your pain oh my god where are you going at

look i'm i'm i'm just asking a question like for some reason Like sometimes you're on set and there's pages and it's like, oh, I have to kiss this person. And why do you go, oh, God. Or do you go, oh, okay. Or do you go, oh, that'll be fun? I think I'm more on the spectrum of if there's someone I don't like, I'll feel uncomfortable. Yeah, but everybody else, it's just what it is. How did your parents feel about Smallville?

Did they watch it? I don't know. You don't know? Come on. I think they might look it was a lot of episodes of TV I think they watched some of it at the very least maybe they watched all of it we've never really talked about them watching it wait a minute wait a minute your parents who are supposed to support you emotionally and you know they didn't watch your work and say hey you do a really good job I love you I'm proud of you I mean yeah

of course they say they love me and they're proud of me but I think they make they make They make a point of ensuring that I don't feel that that's tied to what I do. Honestly, what we do is we tell stories and pretend. And I think that that's something to be proud of, but it's not like we're saving the world. So my parents are pretty wonderful and supportive, but they're not overweighting it. They don't love acting so much. They don't love the business so much, do they? They're not moviegoers.

They don't go watch movies. To the movies, yes, please. They love going to the movies. They like watching movies, but it's not their life, you know. They love books. They love movies. They love, you know, gardening and all that kind of stuff. But it's not hugely important to them.

Superman shows probably not their demo. Probably not. Do you like a Robb just every once in all come in with a dig? It wasn't meant to be a dig. It was... To be clear, my parents are very supportive. I didn't say they want. I'm just saying, you know, I had this very different, like, idea of your parents.

I'd love to meet your parents one day. That would be hilarious. I mean, why do you say that? Because it wouldn't work. You'd make them very uncomfortable, probably. Imagine me when I first met you. My parents are adults, so it's a little different. I think it would be fine because you're very warm.

And my mom responds very well to warm people. So it would be fine. My dad would find you amusing. He'd find me amusing. Yeah, I feel like I've always like, you know, I want to meet Christmas parents. I bet. I bet they'd like me. I bet they would.

I bet you think that. I bet we'd have a good time. I bet she was like, yeah, I don't know. It'd be a little uncomfortable. No, I make people feel comfortable. That's what I like to do. Is there anyone's parents you don't think that would like you from the cast? No.

No, for a while, I was like, oh, my God. I bet Kristen's parents would hate me. I think maybe because I think she hates me early on in the show. But then as we got, you know, there was always that my mind goes to weird places. It's all, I don't know. It just goes there. It just goes to like, oh my God, what am I doing here? Like I wake up with stress sometimes.

I wake up with it. Do you get anxiety? Have you ever had it? Like, people say, oh, I get anxiety. But like, do you, have you ever really got, had an anxiety attack? No, I've been very lucky. For some reason, I have this ability. when I start feeling really anxious to stop.

And I'll have to ride it for a little while sometimes, but I never, like not like I think that you get pretty anxious. I don't let myself thought spiral in the way that other people seem to not be able to stop the thought spirals. Like, have you ever thought of diagnosing me? Have you ever looked at me and going?

I thought Michael has. At one point, probably. Probably when I was like 20, when I was trying to figure you out and understand why you were the way you were. like why what is who is this human why does he behave like this i don't understand i think that's what most people say my assistant jess rob my producer my friends my fans they're like they don't expect lex luther when they see him they're like what the what who are

you what are you i go i don't know i'm still figuring it out christin no it's an ongoing process But I bet you there was some point in some journal somewhere that I have a full write-up about you. Oh, my God, really? Yeah, I was horrible, just thinking that I could figure people out. Well, I hope, yeah, well, later on you figured it out. You're like, oh, you know what? I like that you called me warm. See how I remember things like that?

Yeah. My mom would find you warm. She meant body temperature, I think. Well, no. I think she would find me warm. You know what? Next time I come into Vancouver, if you're there, we should have lunch

and we should go by and meet your parents. We will see. I think that could be a meet. I'll ask my parents if they would like to. Do you really need to see? Mine, I can just walk in and like, first of all, I'd never want you to meet my parents. I would really want to meet your parents.

I've heard so much about them over the years. I would. I feel like it helped me to like have a deeper understanding of you. I mean, I've heard you talk about them. I promise you that if you met my mother, you would immediately grab me, hold me, hug me, and say, oh my God, I'm so sorry. That's what I, that's what I think was, it'd probably be true. Does your mom listen to your podcast, Michael?

No, I hope not. No. She doesn't. She wouldn't know how. She could barely text. My father asked me, what's the best episode to listen to? I said, none of them. I just, I don't want him to listen to them.

it's not like I say horrible things like I'm not like somebody who just said I don't bash my parents it's more like hey my dad did the best he could he was 18 he adopted two kids that my mom had already a 23 year old woman who's a little low over the place he tried to work and you know what it was there was just like in your family I think there's a lot of honesty straightforward this is it we're going to say how we feel and what my parents is when I talk to them I honestly I swear to God I think is this a true story I don't believe anything they're saying sometimes i go i can believe half of that honest to god every conversation i feel like i don't so i think it's very important when you're talking to someone like i'm talking to you i know you're going to be honest i know you won't up i know rob's pretty honest you know you're honest thanks but i think that's important that's why in my life it's it's so hard for me believe it or not to trust people even though i want sometimes i feel like i want attention or I want these things I think what I want is someone that just loves me for me of course like we all want that's someone who is just honest with me you know and maybe that's why I'm not

married I don't know I've tried I mean I've had long relationships but how has that worked for you I mean it sounds like wow just turn that right over well you well you've had you've been you don't you don't have to talk privately but you've been in a relationship a while yeah I have yeah I love being in long term relationships yeah you've mostly been in them yes I've never really dated. I dated once briefly for like a few months. I love being close with people that I trust and long-term relationships are like that. And I'm not a super romantic person. So I don't have expectations that things need to be a certain way. I just want to be with someone who wants to share themselves fully and who I can feel that I can share myself fully with and who doesn't

have a lot of demands and who shares values and I love I love that do you see yourself ever getting married I see I don't see like a wedding ceremony in my future and I the idea of putting like a ring on my finger makes me kind of sick I see my future as being with this person and I don't know that I feel it needs to be tied to the tradition that everyone has kind of subscribe to for the most of recent history but I don't know who knows something could happen maybe he really wants to get married and and I eventually am like why am I being such a dick I don't know or you accidentally have a kid yeah or that or like I just follow my parents yeah like your parents have a couple kids get married yeah that'll be great um what do you what

your fondest memories of working on smallville and what do you're fond of like the scenes that you remember you're like oh my god i really remember that scene and that was a special moment with michael no not with me it's funny because we've talked about this a little bit in passing but i don't i don't remember a lot from the show uh it's really a blur but i remember shooting stuff from season eight because it was the most recent season you weren't there um yeah but uh the scenes that i shot with tom the like lana and clark's final scenes were really, I mean, they were devastating, but I had so much fun, basically just bawling my eyes out for eight hours a day. It was such a fun, sad in a scene. And then what else do I'm

riding horses? I remember that. I just ride horses all the time. And I fucking loved it. I would just, like, they would have me booking it through those fields in Langley and they'd have like a helicopter flying and catching me like just riding that horse as fast. as I could. And that was so much fun. I loved it. And, you know, stunt stuff I always loved doing. And what else? What do you remember? I just love making you laugh. I remember being on set with you in terms of us. But I remember always making you laugh and like you busting up or me messing a line up. And you just had that look where that face where your lips would go like this, you know, tight. And then you do that laugh. The Kristen laugh. And I remember a lot of those.

I remember a lot of, a lot of laughing. A lot of laughing. A lot of laughing. Do you remember the music in the trailer? Do you remember the music? Not a lot. I remember your music.

Yes. What was it? Yeah. I mean, you liked your Beegee's things. My Beegee's things. His yacht rock? I mean, it was Yacht Rock 80s, you know. Yeah.

Do you remember when John Glover, I told this story, but John Glover goes, Michael, who's this? And I go, oh, that's, hauling out. He goes, hmm, I think I slept with the little one back in the 70s. Yeah. Yes. I do remember that. But again, you and I weren't in the trailer all the time together. Although you were always getting spray painted

essentially. With the mask on, they have to spray my head too late. You know, that's the biggest thing. The thing that pisses me off the most is when people say, did you shave your head for that show? I want to go, fucking kidding me. Of course I did. I spent two hours a day. And half an hour after everybody left to take it off. Yeah, but you're right. We laughed a lot, especially as the years went by and everything got more and more casual.

Fewer people were watching the show. The network didn't care as much. We kind of just did her own thing. You know, I remember, you know, I would have honestly, if somebody, if this was a Vegas bet, and they said, well, Kristen, act after Smallville. I wasn't sure you loved it enough where I was like, you know, she's probably going to go on and be a teacher. She's going to go on and do something abroad, helping people.

I just felt philanthropic, if you will. And so when I heard, oh, she's on this show, Beauty and the Beast now, she's a star of, and she's now doing her own show that she's producing, Burden of Truth. And I'm like, wow, she's really, has acting something that you've slowly kind of fallen in love with, or is it something you're like, you know what, I'm going to, I'm going to do it while the strike while the iron's hot kind of thing. Okay, I'm going to go back in time first to answer this question. So when I was a younger person, so in high school, my family, they're wonderful, but they're not a very emotionally expressive family. So it's not a family where I felt safe or open to just like feel feelings.

So I turned to acting to express emotions. And that's why I loved it, that and the psychology aspect of it. And so when I started working professionally, I also wasn't sure that I would keep doing it because I didn't find this. as I did when I was doing it, you know, on the stage or for fun or whatever. So Smallville and a lot of my acting choices were around feeling like I would never work again, you know? Like I took these jobs and it worked out for me and it was crazy and I was like, wow, this is amazing. I can't say no to this. And then when Smallville ended when I left, I had to make more conscious decisions.

And I didn't have any other skill sets. So when did I finish Smallville? I was probably 25, 26. 2010? 2010 maybe? Yeah. So I just didn't know how to do anything else. And it was the easiest path for me to keep doing it.

That being said, at this point in time, I know we talk about this whenever we talk, but I am trying to phase out acting. but I love storytelling and I think that storytelling is a powerful medium and I think that we can do a lot of good with it even if it's entertainment I think people need that in their lives they live hard lives and being able to go home and smile is the best thing in the world or cry cathartically whatever it may be but additionally I think that we can bring to light certain issues or help people feel empathy for groups that they wouldn't feel empathy for normally we can represent people more

deeply and I think that helps and it is in in a field where I actually have some skill and everywhere else I have no skill which you know in part is why I went back to school right you just got another degree or just got a no degree I'm working on my degree you're working on your degree take me forever well how long well it depends if I keep working I think it'll I'm about halfway through I've got like 40 something credits and I need to get 40 something more what kind of credits you take what degree? I'm getting my bachelor's degree because I went to university on Smallville. Yeah, so I'm working my bachelor's degree in arts history specifically. So my classes are, I've kind of split them pretty evenly between history classes and psychology

classes and then, you know, some other stuff here and there. But yeah, that's what I do. Do you love it? Oh my God, I love it so much. It's like one of my favorite things to do. The people still go, hey, you're on my class you're that girl from smallville or beating in the bees um remember these people are very youthful they're oh yes that's true they're kids they don't know you they are way too young for have you ever had a college kid hit on you no i don't go to class i am on my computer i wouldn't go into like oh i was hoping you got a class that'd be so cool this is this a lot easier than you thought it would be? I have no idea what we've spoken about over

the span of this interview, and I hope that you have something interesting to put in your podcast. Rob. This has been a great. This has been great. Are you kidding me? You really don't know what we've talked to? I don't know. It's weird because I know you, so we're kind of just talking rehashing some things, but you know. Yeah, I'm just saying it's easy, right? It's easy.

It's easy. Yes, Michael, it's easy. But I was nervous because, not because it's you, I really was excited to have, you know, but to Skype this. right you were the technical side of things you were never saying oh my god and I'm like if I was just if we were just video helped video really helped doesn't it yeah the Skype is this Skype's working really well for us today too because I sometimes hate Skype sorry Skype because it cuts out constantly but that we've had a pretty great connection this is the entire time so what else

you know I know the acting thing but what what other things are you doing because you're always doing something like I said philanthropic but you're always I know you always when we were younger you used to work with young girls and yeah I, right now, so because of the show that I work on, our latest kind of focus in our last season of the show was, in part, some indigenous issues, I suppose. I feel weird using the word issues. But there's a great group out of Winnipeg. They're called Bear Clan Patrol. And Winnipeg, for those of your listeners who don't know, it's a town in like a city in the middle of Canada.

Jets play there, the Winnipeg Jets. They are a very big hockey town, but they're also a city that's steeped in history and Canadian history and also the site of a lot of poverty and particularly with indigenous peoples. And so there's this great amazing group called Bear Clan Patrol and they work in the north end of Winnipeg, which is kind of the, it's a little bit of more run-down area of the city. And so we featured them on our show, but we also all went out and went on patrol with them And what they do is they're a community-based group that cleans up needles, talks to the local population, ensures that people get, you know, food to eat and, you know, a group of supporters. So they aren't really related to the police, so they communicate with the police and they're not about policing.

They are about love and kindness and having people that you can go to if you're in trouble. So they monitor everybody down there and they're pretty wonderful. I love that. Yeah, I think it's really important. And the group is really, like, woven into our series. So I'm really, I'm proud of that. You know, to wrap this up, because this has been a great time. And I've been, I love talking to you.

And whenever we're together, it seems like it was yesterday. I think you even said that, like, you know, when we see each other, it's like we didn't miss a beat. And I think that's, you know, indicative of, like, great times and appreciate each other and knowing each other. And sort of like, even though we don't know each other, we don't hang out with each other a lot. But when we hang out, I really, I've always enjoyed you, except those first few years when we were weird. But no, I mean, look, um, yes, I just, I've, I've always appreciated you and when people say, you know, what was that girl like? I'm like, she was really freaking cool and she was easy to get along with. And, uh, she always knew her lines. I don't remember you never know. You always knew. You're always pretty professional. I hope so. Yeah. I think that I did. I didn't have a ton of work to do. I feel like I should have known my lines. It wasn't like I was number one on the call sheet and had massive amounts of exposition. By the way, did you watch the show? I watched, yeah, I watched a bunch of the show, mostly to critique myself and feel like a horrible, horrible actor so that I could inspire myself to become better.

You really thought you were bad. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm still very critical of myself. But now it doesn't, it doesn't feel as terrible as it once did. Yeah, well, that's called growing. Yeah. But also, like, I just think I have a limit to my capacity. and I'm pretty much okay with that.

That's, you know what? That's the biggest part of it for me is just being okay with like, I think you're just, you're okay with who you are. Yeah, maybe that's just getting older. Yeah, you still stress, obviously. You still get a little anxious. You still worry about things.

Yeah. I strive always to be better and I'm the kind of person who has an interaction goes away and runs over everything that I said. I just don't feel like it gets to the point that I feel crippled. but yeah or I go to work and I do a scene and I'm like oh that didn't go as well as I'd hoped but at this point I know that there'll be another day and that it's not worth destroying myself over yeah I think that's that's pretty important um you and I are going to be in Boston together no we're going to be in Toronto we're going to be in Toronto together so I'll see you I think I'm going to see you in August yes you want to see Tom Kristen and I signing autographs and we're rarely together this is This is like the third convention we're doing. We don't do many. Kristen's, you know, it's everybody's got their schedule with what, Rob?

We should do a podcast from Toronto with the three of you. Oh. You want to come? Maybe. I love Toronto. But this has been a lot of fun that you were the first Skype call, first Skyped in, and it sounds pretty good. And it worked.

Now you've opened up a whole new world for yourself. I don't ever have to leave my house now. You can just leave your house for it anyway. No, I barely leave my house at all. We record in your house. Yeah, we record my house, but I'm just saying, uh, no. We went to Brent Burns' house. We went to James Gunn's house.

We were thinking to go into Vancouver to do Gensman. What's your favorite show on television and your favorite movie? My favorite TV show right now is Better Things. I love it. I haven't seen it. You've seen that, Rob? Is that the one on FX? Yes, it is.

I feel like it's just wonderful. And I always say my favorite movie of all time, I suppose, is the Princess Brad, because I love it and I can watch it over and over again. It's a great movie. Additionally, I grew up with like no movies, so I don't have like a real experience of film. What's your favorite line from Princess Pride? That's too hard, Michael. My name is Niga Montoya.

Yes, I mean, there are many classics. At best a day. At least you know that one. Yeah, you've seen the movie. Yeah. God, this has been so fun. I hate like saying goodbye to Kristen. She's such a nice person. You're a nice person.

I want to meet the man. sometime I want to meet the boyfriend yeah you can he's wonderful I think you'd like him well how about Toronto maybe bring him to Toronto oh yeah he'll probably come yeah as long as he's he's there as long as he's in Toronto he'll come by Kristen thank you for allowing me to be inside of you today it's been a real treat yes thank you Michael yes thanks for being a part of this and I love you love you too I just wanted to hear that and so wasn't that nice Rob you love him too love you too Rob Thank you.

All right. Bye, Kristen. Bye, guys. Bye. Bye. Believe has the podcast to enhance. Believe has the podcast to enhance your football experience from the pros. One of the most interesting.

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