Kristin Kreuk
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00:35tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfortof your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden NuggetOnline Casino. Gambling problem call Connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over, physically presentin Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly.The Conjuring Last RightsOn September 5thI come down here in your houseArray!
01:15Hooray!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.
01:36From 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.
01:51And 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 wellShe's so articulate I sound like such an idiot when I'm talking to her but um you know she was really open about thingsShe was really open about her life growing up um you know she was her parents are introverts she's an introvertWe get in all that and much much more I think that you're gonna really like this young ladyYeah 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
02:25that's right we do have more next week we got two more next week two more what two more interviewsfrom one from smallville yes we do that i have not seen yeah that's why i'm looking at i'm like he'snever seen it but we got two more great guests but right now let's get inside christend crookit's my point of you you're listening to inside of you with michael rosenbaumInside 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?
03:25That 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.
03:54Oh, 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.
04:09You 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.
04:28And 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 knowsthat 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?
04:50When 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 havechildren, and that's based on how much people find us attractive. And so if we don't changewhat we value in people, and especially in women, it's going to constantly be a thing whereit's like all about how young you are, how young you look, or, you know, how attractiveyou are. Wow. That was really articulate. And like, the way you said it made absoluteperfect sense to me for like not for the first time but like I mean I just never understood
05:27I was like well don't lie about your age if you're on a dating app don't say you're 30 whenyou're 40 don't you know there's like this lying thing but now I mean I I I do understandI do understand the way how you put it is is different but I you know I always think likehey this is me this is way am but I'm also not a woman so I can't understand whatit possibly what it's like to it's a completely different system like generally especially inthe West a man's value is not placed on his you know hisIt'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.
06:03And 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?
06:25The 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 littlejudgmental.You were just so you and so expressively, loudly you, that I was like, la.
07:09Yeah, 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'tlike you if that's just not who they are if they're quiet it doesn't mean if you're loud they don'thave to be loud well that probably made you push harder too probably i mean i always you know want someone
07:31to like me if it's a one person who's not laughing in the comedy club i'm like who is that jerkbut it's you know it's not but we're also different we were on a different page in life i was a littlemore experienced in terms of work and you hadn't really acted all that much really you did youyou did a show called edgewood close edgemont edgemont yeah i did done the show calledwhich was a CBC series and I'd done like I played snow white in a TV movie that's itthat's all I had done I mean apart from like high school crap but yeah so are you a nervous wreckwere you like coming on to this show that you know it was the biggest show any of us had ever doneand were you I mean I could tell you were a little nervous but you kept it into how did you deal
08:13with that I mean especially as like a 17 18 year old I was more than nervous I think I mean yesnervous about wanting to be good at what I did. At that point, I felt comfortable, at leastwith the technical. Like, I knew I could hit a mark. Yeah, what's important. Better than I waswhen I started, you know, when I started Edgemont, I didn't even know what a mark was. So I thinkfrom that side of things, I was scared in that way. And then the other aspect of it was it was such awhirlwind, 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 wasreally hard for me to transition from going to school to going to a job I didn't have a car
09:02transpo never drove me my dad drove me to work when I couldn't take the bus and it was like my lifewas in this massive transformation and I dealt with it by reading you were always reading I wish Iwas always reading your focus perhaps would not allow you to do that fully squirrel but i alsowrote a lot and walked around a lot and just tried to process what i was going throughbecause it was a really strange period in my life as affected as it sounds like you probably werein ways that we don't understand like to me it felt like god i'm you know 10 yearsolder than her. I wish I wasn't as affected. You know, I, you look so together and I was, I've neverbeen together. It's amazing, but now looking back, I think, how could she have possibly taken it in
09:58stride? 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 likeoh my god they want my picture and well you'd also been in the business longer i think you hada better understanding of what it was that was happening so you'd done shows you'd been on tv showsyou'd like been on things that hadn't worked things that had like you just had a body of experiencei hadn't had that so this thing just happened and i was obviously hired in part
10:43because 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 whenI turned 21.But before I turned 21, I made every effort to not look attractive.Like, we went to Television Critics Association press stuff.
11:10And 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 didlike hire stylists so like susan gomez had to like find me scrounge up clothes for me towear because i was not someone who bought clothes i wore things until they were destroyed i remembersteve oben took photos of my shoes and put them in yeah yes our wardrobe guy sorrytook photos of my shoes because they were completely destroyed but i continued to wear themwith like complete stubbornness see but you know i will say it wasfunny no matter what you did or try to ugly yourself up you couldn't succeed however i would do
11:51everything i could to look better looking and be in the same room with you guys please zits don't comeout please nicks on the head please like i just like oh god i'm not as handsome i'm always i wasalways trying to be like i'm doing what i can where like you and tom really didn't have to doanything you're lucky you were natural beauty and maybe you know what rob well and you're you had to bebald 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 soit's funny that you're telling me that you were trying to ugly yourself up and i'm trying to getbetter looking here uh we're ridiculous we're ridiculous all insecurity and that's what thislike this business you know does to people but um you had a pretty good upbringing yeah absolutely
12:36i mean my parents were both landscape architects they were you know they're supremelypractical people, which is probably why I am fairly practical. They were really supportive ofmost things. My parents put me into everything. So I did. I was in classes like almost every day of theweek, you know, swimming, gymnastics, karate, singing, dancing, acting. You were a gymnast. You went to thenational level in gymnast, right? In gymnasts. No, no, no. I was not that good. I am I am notambitious generally.So I never was that good and I started kind of late.My sister went much farther than I did and competed.
13:21I 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.
13:47I 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
14:21goes back many generations in Jamaica. And then my grandfather was from Hong Kong. And my mom traveled a lotas a kid. So they started off living in Indonesia. But during that time, both communists and Chinesepeople were being persecuted in Indonesia. If you've ever seen the documentary, the act of killing is anamazing documentary, but that's what was going on at the time. So they left. And they livedall 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 inOntario, so the province I live in now, to Dutch parents who immigrated from Holland. And he alsomoved to Vancouver after he got his degree in landscape architecture.
15:11And 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?
15:25Because like my, you know, some people would cover it up and say, hey, you weren'tan 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.
15:38They basically, what I remember them saying is,don't get marriedonly get marriedif you want to have childrenand they were very clearlike they got marriedbecause they got pregnantand my parents are still together
15:52and they love each otherthey're like a you knowa funny little matchthey're very different peoplebut they're still together and happyso it was fine and it worked out okaythat sounds pretty practicalI could see where you're
16:04you know it's like you know whatdon't get marriedif you want a familythen get married but I've heard thatbefore and like it's like it's it kind of makes sense it's like you want this uh what's the wordsecurity no when you with your kids you want them to have this union or this whatever teamyeah well maybe team team is not really the word i was looking for but neither of you for structureno but by the way where do you get uh your personality from is your father more out going is
16:34your mother more out going um they're i would say they're both um introverts but mydad is much more social. He likes talking to people. He likes hanging out with people. And my mom's a lotmore kooky. So my death, like my goofiness, I think, comes more from my mother and my practicalitycomes more from my father. And then I have like a constant like conflict between like practicalityand perhaps a little bit more like the flexibility. Who is the disciplinarium? My mom I was morescared of growing up definitelyshe I was very scaredof her we got in a lot of fights
17:15she didn't want me to go outshe didn't want me to be out in the worldat all I took karate in large art because I wastold I had to protect myselfback then it was like the white vanthe you know we were scared thatsomeone was going to kidnap usout of a white van so I
17:31had to take karateto protect myselfI'm sorry I looked at Rob and shook my headsaying don't say it because I have a white vanI wasn't going to say that.I've had a van for a lot.First of all,fuck off, Rob.
17:45And 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 andtheir friends to baseball games.And my parents never had it.So I said,
17:58you 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.
18:07Just 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.
18:18It'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.
18:35I live in Illinois.But, Michael, you made a concerted effort to constantlynot make Vancouver your home.Well, I tried in the first two seasons.Yeah.You know, I got a houseboat.That's true.You did.
18:48Look, 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.
18:59And 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.
19:15Michael'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.
19:32You 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.
19:53You 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.
20:15But I remember meeting everybody and David Nutter making me feel very comfortable and at easeand 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.
20:39I 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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24:46you heard about them from my showinside 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'tremember the other one, but that wasthat was the scene i remember doing that scene so many times because it's it was in every audition and you
25:07did it with tom at the end in the i did it with tom yeah and then i came back in the new year so thatwas before the new year and then that was december and then i came back the next year and testedwith tom and jensen did let me ask you the truth when you first met tom are you like oh my godhe's hot no he's the most beautiful man i had ever seen i mean it was funny because jensen is also a veryattractive man yeah which pisses me off because all the hottest guys in the world were surrounding mei was tortured rob i feel like you're placing far too much value on the way people look i'm just sayingit was hard to be like well you know again it stems off from childhood i get it i'm just sayingbald average looking with some charm surrounded by beauty michael yes i think you don't give yourself
25:54enough credit well i do i'm just i'm hard to myself but look look what i'msaying is um she's shaking her head oh yes but did you so when you first time you saw he was thathe was a beautiful most beautiful person you ever and and he was really kind he was warm yeahtom was nice i don't know he was an adult i was a kid i like well you were 18 he waslike five years older than me 23 yeah but it at that age i hadn't hung out with like 20-somethingyear old men yeah this is the first time i'm sitting in rooms by myself with like adult malesGod, gross.Well, it was terrifying for me.
26:31It 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.
26:52You'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. Butfrom my own experience, the time you hit puberty is the time where you get the most attentionfor 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
27:26and 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.
28:12No, 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.
28:32And it's more than that, though, it's calling out systems and structures and finding waysto 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 waysa 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.
29:02Not 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 thosestructures.And I think that it is moving from just our business into all fields because it's a systemicissue that will take a long time to shift.Because it has to, we have to shift our own
29:26mentalities, which I think is really hardto do as people. You know, and I thinkabout being on sets. Peopledon't realize, you know, that when you'reon a set, it's like a family.It's like, you know, these people you see them more than your ownfamily, especially I did, you know, that me, I wasn'taround my friends or anything. These were
29:41the people I knew. And soyou get to a point where you're so comfortable where you'retalking about everything and anything and you saystupid things and you're playful and you're,you know, andit'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 linethat you can't cross well like fun and abuse are totally separate things and every person is different
30:08boundaries so it's all of i think about especially if we're just talking about set and how you talkto or engage with people on set it's about finding out where people's boundaries are it just takesmore effort yeah you know like is this okay is this kind of joking okay is this like youIs 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.
30:43I 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.
31:03Yeah.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.
31:36Even in my own city, my life had shifted. And I mean, another time that was really distinct is likegoing to Paris and being in a museum and having a whole like swarm of teenagers start to follow mefrom 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 thehug 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
32:17impact, 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 guysand 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.
32:47And 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 askedJay said hey come to these conventions you're like ah you know and you're unsure and you know I said lookTom and I're going to be there it's going to be like old times I think you're going to really have funand I really noticed that once you were there and you got what it was and seeing what an impactwe had and fans getting to to meet you or um and it was pretty crazy how it's not only sincere butthey're pretty respectful, you know, and for the most part, there's on a few occasions, butyou seem to be like taking it in stride and having a good time with it. Because, yes, you
33:30have 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 Asianrepresentation they saw on screen or you you know that the show gave that their family somethingthat found them together or gave them hope or was you know that family whose father had passedaway and they were all connected to him continuously through our show like it's not about us it'sabout us as a like placeholder for them something they can use to like reflect themselvesor build closeness with each other and so being there I kind of just
34:19get to be a trigger for that and I get to feel that, which is sometimes intense, but that isalso 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 energyand weird and, you know, a goofy guy.And but I noticed it took a couple years.
34:44And 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 episodecalled lexmus I think it was one where there was this dream sequence where what if and you and Icould have been married and there was just like this mutual respect and this cool thing where wewere on set almost all the time together it was fun and I could see like you opening up likein a in a way I'd never seen like I saw this young girl that I had worked with but didn't work withvery much and kind of came into the trailer like oh hey christin you're leaving i'm coming on to do a scenewith john glover or an adult scene and now you were this woman like i felt a connection and it was
35:28it was really nice do you remember that absolutely i i loved working with you especially as the years wentby and we had more substantial work to do together it gave me an opportunity to play dynamics thatwere complicated because lex and lana were constantly lying to each other they were hiding shitthey were secretive they were so they was all for an acting for acting it was fun because we got toplay all these things and and you're a wonderful actor so it was great to come on set and do that withyou i had so much fun and lexmas was a light episode for me not screen time wise but like i got tojust embody lex's imagination of what lana was yeah which was like pure goodness and fun and a greatmom and like all these lovely traits and qualities that I really enjoyed additionally when it comes
36:22to just me as a person once I trust and feel safe with you is when I am most authentically myselfand and I am like a little strange and a little goofy but like along with my seriousness but thattakes time and and I think we got to that point as it should you know maybe I don't know butthat's just the way I am it takes a while and if you open up and you really getyou take your time to get to know someone to see if this is somebody you want to open up tosomeone that you want to share something personal with or be honest with and we also for the fanswe get we had to kiss yep but you had to kiss tom first yeah then you kiss jensen who is no don'task her who's a better kisser between the three i'm sure tom's most beautifully had the softest
37:09lips in the world but i don't think i was terrible oh my god why are you obsessed with thisWell, 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.
37:22He 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.
37:36That'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 beum like simulated sex i find bizarre the rest of it is just i don't know it's not it doesn'tfeel real to me i mean it's very different than life but what i'm saying is is there evera moment where you're looking at your pain oh my god where are you going at
38:09look i'm i'm i'm just asking a question like for some reasonLike 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?
38:37Did 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 veryleast maybe they watched all of it we've never really talked about them watching it wait a minutewait a minute your parents who are supposed to support you emotionally and you know they didn'twatch your work and say hey you do a really good job I love you I'm proud of you I mean yeah
39:10of course they say they love me and they're proud of me but I think they make they makeThey 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.
39:41They 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.
39:57Superman 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.
40:16I'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.
40:35And 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.
40:51I 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.
41:06No, 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.
41:26I 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.
41:43And 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 spiralin the way that other people seem to not be ableto stop the thought spirals.Like, have you ever thought of diagnosing me?Have you ever looked at me and going?
42:00I thought Michael has.At one point, probably.Probably when I was like 20,when I was trying to figure you outand 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 understandi think that's what most people say my assistant jess rob my producer my friends my fansthey're like they don't expect lex luther when they see him they're like what the what who are
42:26you what are you i go i don't know i'm still figuring it out christin no it's an ongoing processBut 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?
42:54Yeah.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
43:05and 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.
43:19I'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?
43:49No, 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.
44:02it'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 Idon't believe anything they're saying sometimes i go i can believe half of that honest to godevery conversation i feel like i don't so i think it's very important when you're talking to someonelike i'm talking to you i know you're going to be honest i know you won't up i know rob's prettyhonest you know you're honest thanks but i think that's important that's why in my life it's it's sohard for me believe it or not to trust people even though i want sometimes i feel like i wantattention or I want these things I think what I want is someone that just loves me for me of courselike we all want that's someone who is just honest with me you know and maybe that's why I'm not
45:09married I don't know I've tried I mean I've had long relationships but how has that worked for youI mean it sounds like wow just turn that right over well you well you've had you've been you don'tyou don't have to talk privately but you've been in a relationship a while yeah I have yeahI love being in long term relationships yeah you've mostly been in them yes I'venever really dated. I dated once briefly for like a few months. I love being close with peoplethat I trust and long-term relationships are like that. And I'm not a super romantic person. So I don'thave expectations that things need to be a certain way. I just want to be with someone who wantsto share themselves fully and who I can feel that I can share myself fully with and who doesn't
45:57have a lot of demands and who shares values and I love I love that do you see yourself ever gettingmarried I see I don't see like a wedding ceremony in my future and I the idea of putting likea ring on my finger makes me kind of sick I see my future as being with this person and I don't knowthat I feel it needs to be tied to the tradition that everyone has kind ofsubscribe to for the most of recent history but I don't know who knows something could happenmaybe he really wants to get married and and I eventually am like why am I being such a dickI don't know or you accidentally have a kid yeah or that or like I just follow my parentsyeah like your parents have a couple kids get married yeah that'll be great um what do you what
46:51your fondest memories of working on smallville and what do you're fond of like the scenes thatyou remember you're like oh my god i really remember that scene and that was a special momentwith michael no not with me it's funny because we've talked about this a little bit in passingbut i don't i don't remember a lot from the show uh it's really a blur but i remember shootingstuff from season eight because it was the most recent season you weren't there um yeah butuh the scenes that i shot with tom the like lana and clark's final scenes werereally, I mean, they were devastating, but I had so much fun, basically just bawling my eyesout for eight hours a day. It was such a fun, sad in a scene. And then what else do I'm
47:40riding horses? I remember that. I just ride horses all the time. And I fucking loved it. I wouldjust, like, they would have me booking it through those fields in Langley and they'd have likea 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 loveddoing. And what else? What do you remember? I just love making you laugh. I remember beingon set with you in terms of us. But I remember always making you laugh and like you busting up orme messing a line up. And you just had that look where that face where your lips would go likethis, you know, tight. And then you do that laugh. The Kristen laugh. And I remember a lot of those.
48:22I 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.
48:33Yes.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.
48:46Do 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 sleptwith the little one back in the 70s.Yeah. Yes. I do remember that.But again, you and I weren't in the trailer all thetime together. Although you were always getting spray painted
49:08essentially. With the mask on, they have to spraymy head too late. You know, that's the biggestthing. The thing that pisses me off the most is when people say, did youshave 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.
49:31Fewer 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 onand be a teacher.She's going to go on and do something abroad, helping people.
49:52I 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.
50:37So 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.
51:22And 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.
51:39That 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 cando a lot of good with it even if it's entertainment I think people need that in their lives theylive hard lives and being able to go home and smile is the best thing in the world or cry catharticallywhatever it may be but additionally I think that we can bring to light certain issues or help peoplefeel empathy for groups that they wouldn't feel empathy for normally we can represent people more
52:16deeply and I think that helps and it is in in a field where I actually have some skill and everywhereelse I have no skill which you know in part is why I went back to school right you just got anotherdegree or just got a no degree I'm working on my degree you're working on your degree take meforever well how long well it depends if I keep working I think it'll I'm about halfway throughI've got like 40 something credits and I need to get 40 something more what kind of credits you takewhat degree? I'm getting my bachelor's degree because I went to university onSmallville. 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
53:05classes 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 myclass you're that girl from smallville or beating in the bees um remember these people are veryyouthful they're oh yes that's true they're kids they don't know you they are way too young forhave you ever had a college kid hit on you no i don't go to class i am on my computer i wouldn't gointo like oh i was hoping you got a class that'd be so cool this is this a lot easier than youthought it would be? I have noidea what we've spoken about over
53:48the span of this interview, and I hopethat you have something interestingto put in your podcast. Rob. This has been a great.This has been great. Are you kidding me? You reallydon't know what we've talked to? I don't know. It's weirdbecause I know you, so we're kind of just talkingrehashing some things, butyou know. Yeah, I'm just saying it's easy, right? It's easy.
54:05It's easy. Yes, Michael, it's easy. But I was nervousbecause, not because it's you, I really wasexcited to have, you know, butto Skype this.right you were the technical side of things you were never saying oh my god and I'm likeif I was just if we were just video helped video really helped doesn't it yeah the Skype is thisSkype's working really well for us today too because I sometimes hate Skype sorry Skype because itcuts out constantly but that we've had a pretty great connection this is the entire time so what else
54:33you know I know the acting thing but what what other things are you doing because you're alwaysdoing something like I said philanthropic but you're always I know you always when we wereyounger you used to work with young girls and yeahI, 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.
55:14Jets play there, the Winnipeg Jets.They are a very big hockey town, but they're also a city that's steeped in history and Canadianhistory 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 thenorth 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 themAnd 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.
56:01They 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.
56:24And 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.
57:26You 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.
57:44That'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.
57:58Yeah.I strive always to be better and I'm the kind of personwho 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 isThis 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?
58:46We 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.
58:57Now 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.
59:13We 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.
59:31I 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.
59:55Yes, 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.
01:00:08I want to meet the man.sometime I want to meet the boyfriend yeah you can he's wonderful I think you'd like himwell how about Toronto maybe bring him to Toronto oh yeah he'll probably come yeah as long ashe's he's there as long as he's in Toronto he'll come by Kristen thank you for allowing me to beinside of you today it's been a real treat yes thank you Michael yes thanks for being a part of thisand I love you love you too I just wanted to hear that and so wasn't that niceRob you love him too love you too RobThank you.
01:00:40All 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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