Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - PAUL WESLEY: Vampire Diaries Ups & Downs, Brotherly Bond with Ian Somerhalder & William Shatner Advice

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) gets candid with his experience on Vampire Diaries from the stress filled, frantic auditions to the burn out of the CW hit show spanning nine years. Paul talks about the importance of therapy and opens up on the lowest point in his life, despite being at the height of his career. He also talks about receiving advice from William Shatner for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, his brotherly bond with Ian Somerhalder, and his good boy Greg. Thank you to our sponsors: ❤️ Betterhelp: https://betterhelp.com/inside 🍽️ Factor: factormeals.com/inside50 🟠 Discover: https://discvr.co/3Cnb1V8 __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou 👕 Inside Of You Merch: https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🤣 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod 🌐 Website: https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. I hope you're enjoying the episodes. I've got a lot of people coming up to me and, you know, tell me how much the, you know, episodes sometimes mean to them. And, you know, it's really nice in hearing from other even celebrities or my peers that are enjoying it. And really, it's awesome. If you're here for Paul Wesley, I hope that after this, if you liked it, you'll subscribe, give the podcast a chance. We've had some great interviews.

I'll continue to give you guys some. great interviews i hope um and uh it's different than other podcasts we really talk about mental health and life and all these other things so if you're listening to paul wesley uh hopefully you'll dig this you'll subscribe spread the word our socials ryan at inside of you pod on twitter or or or whatever it's called now x it's called x and at inside of you podcast on instagram and facebook that's right you watch on youtube you can listen pretty much anywhere uh if you subscribe and write a review that really helps with the algorithms and all that stuff so we appreciate that also the inside of you online store has awesome merch if you want you know smallville merch or

whatever tons of stuff on there and including inside of you um mugs tumblers and uh the biggest thing is patron p a t r e o n patreon patreon patreon patreon dot com slash inside of you if you want to join patreon um become a patron there's so many perks i do youtube lives with everyone we i do some zooms with the top tier as I read out your names at the end of episodes. Lots of stuff. You get merch discounts and no one else does for the most part. Usually you get first dibs and all that stuff. Also, I'm going to be doing a lot of cons. So check my link tree on at the Michael Rosenbaum. Tom Welley and I will be doing some cons and some evenings with Michael and Tom. Anyway, we got a great episode today. It's Paul Wesley. Vampire Diaries. He's done a ton of stuff. He was actually in Smallville.

and we had a good time. And just I was surprised how much he's, I guess we've both grown up. He's just really mature and just carries himself very confidently and earnestly. You know, he just seems like he's got it together. Yeah. And seems happy. I like that.

He's got a lot to talk about. We talk about all of it. Thanks for being so open, Paul. And hopefully you'll come back. And without further ado, let's just get into it. Let's get inside of Paul West. It's my point of view You're listening to Inside of You

With Michael Rosenbaum Inside of You Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum Was not recorded in front of a live studio audience Hey folks Wanted to highlight something important Before today's episode In case you weren't aware

Myself and many of the guests are on strike alongside SAG after NWGA. Today's episode and any we air before the strike ends were recorded before it began. So this is just a heads up in relation to some for the topics we may discuss. If you want more info on the strike, visit sag afterstrike.org.

Now let's get into it. Is it possible that the last time I saw you was on the set of Smallville, probably in 2002? Oh, three or four? So I've been trying to figure that out myself because I just can't seem to fathom the idea that you and I have not run into one another at one point or another. I don't know how. You were doing a CW show. I was doing a CW show. But you were filming in Atlanta. I was filming in Atlanta and I was there. And you live there. Pretty much. Right. So you're there. You became a big star. I was doing the Smallville thing. So it was probably, it makes sense that we wouldn't see each other. I guess so. And then you know, you were doing 22 a year as well, right? Yeah. Do they still do that? I don't know if they do it anymore,

but I feel like we were the last, if they don't, I feel like we were the last wave of that, you know. Could you imagine doing that now, 22 episodes a year? It's all right, Greg. His dog, Greg is here. He's got a little separation anxiety like I think my puppy has.

And he's really chugging the water right now. A lot of water drinking. But he's adorable. He is Greg, Greg, Gregie. Gregie. Why Greg or Greggie? If you hear water licking, guys, just bear with it. Just know,

The water's almost gone. It'll stop. And then you'll hear a bull hitting the hard work floor. Yeah, exactly. You know what? We got him during COVID, my ex and I, and it was just like he was a foster puppy, and there was three of them. And we gave them kind of ridiculous names because we thought they would be temporary.

So we ended up keeping him and his name just stuck with him. It was two girls and one boy, and we gave them all boy names. I mean it was just like it's it was kind of like this arbitrary yeah it was like Greg chuck and then my dog my new puppy's Charlie but your new puppies Charlie there you go I love human names for dogs I too my my yeah my girl is Blanche yeah I love that I love it too and it's all always they're named after people I love right my grandfather Charlie Blanche uh Blanche is my grandma who is still alive thank God she lives in Fort Laudette she's she'll be 95 oh wow yeah Do you have many grandparents left?

I have a grandmother left. Yeah. My grand... Sorry, man. I'm just going to... To get comfortable. I'm getting wild. It's real stuff here, folks.

You're seeing someone get comfortable. We're not editing this. This is the real deal. You'll even see that I had a blood draw if you see the video. Yeah. I'd pretend that I donated blood like I did something good, but I didn't. I just had blood taken because I'm, you know, standard. Standard.

Standard blood every year. Blood every year, but also like I feel like I've been having a ton of allergies. My allergies, you'll hear me, I Smith. Yeah, I just can't deal with it. I constantly have problems. So I'm like doing an allergy, blood allergy test as well and, you know, whatever. Maybe I should do that. Bougy L.A.

You know, I'm going to do that too. Ryan, can you make that note to remind me? They do this thing where they prick you on the back where the allergy test. With different things. Yeah, and it's, but like, I don't, I'm sure it's accurate, but I want it to also try the blood one. Anyway, this is really. No, they do that with shellfish because they prick me, yeah, stay away from crabs. I go, well, I had them in college once.

Right. But, uh, you know, uh, but it swelled up a little with the crabs. Right. So they're like, it was like, yeah, still steer clear and there was a couple other things. Yeah. But yeah, it's, it's a little hocus pocus shit. It's focus. But at the same time, it's like, I want to find out what something's causing this.

Right. Something, you know. Something's going on. Yeah. But now listen, you, you are, so we met on Smallville. I remember you played my brother. Yeah. Lucas.

right? Yeah, it's kind of crazy to me that I played your brother and I was only on for one episode. Yeah, I thought you were going to come back and then it just left that story. I think you complained about that. On the episode, you're like, why did, and now he's gone? He's in some place. But you know what's weird is like when I, when I originally got that part, if memory serves, it's been like two decades. It was supposed to be a multi-episode arc. And I don't know if I just did a shitty job and they were just like, oh, that's not bringing back. But I, I think I did a pretty good job right so i was surprised i don't know what happened but for whatever reason that was it i but i we talk about this all the time here's the trend was in the first couple seasons until they got it together

um is that every show unlike today the streamers they have cliffhangers and we keep they wrap everything up in a nice bow right and moving on right and it just irked me right and so that was the what wasn't evolved and now we've evolved into this right um but do you remember anything at all on that show? Oh, gosh. Because you worked with me, you worked with John Glover, who was like our father. That's right, yeah. And then I do remember the director.

And I remember- Who was it? Beeman. Greg Beeman. Greg Beeman. And I remember the scene where there was a rain tower and something happened

and I, you know, I don't know, there was a shootout and then you grab me and you go, I'm your brother. And for whatever reason, there was a lot of drama, not drama. There was like, we were really struggling getting that moment. I don't know if it was like Greg wasn't happy or you weren't happy. I remember it now. I remember, I remember what it was.

And I complained about it on the show, if you recall. We go out and I go, I'm your brother. Let's go. Right. But I think what happens is you come with me and then we stop at the doors of the car when these guys are shooting us. I go, look, I'm your brother. I'm like, dude, we wouldn't do that.

We have to go in the car And then we get out of there And then I'd say that We can't do that We're like oh fuck all right This is unrealistic Greg He's like you know Yeah

I also remember that day I won't say who it is But one of the crew guys pissed their pants They just had to go to the bathroom And one take and I heard him going Oh God God And he's like fuck And he left

And he's like what happened He pissed himself I don't think I was privy to that as a guest star I think the series regular Pissed him right off on that thing. I think it was on. You used to do this thing. All right, this is what I do remember. And you're going to be like, really, that's what you remember. And I stole this from you on my show. Good. So you used to do this thing where, and you would do this in like a very obviously joky way and everyone loved it.

Someone would say, no, no, you would say, go fuck yourself. Like literally somebody, somebody would say, hey, Michael, can you stand on your mark and you'd be like, yeah, go fuck yourself. And I just thought it was so funny and then the crew would do it with me i'd say hey can you make sure that yeah fuck yourself let's just yeah yeah it was a thing we all did it and i just thought you do it you did it on vampire so i became known as the go fuck yourself in fact there was a it's okay yeah there's uh there's gregg they even as rap gifts they gave the crew g f y hats from me which was and you never called me go fuck yourself hats i literally stole that from you did you ever tell anybody you Nobody told any, I never told anyone until this.

You stole it without giving credit. But I'm on a podcast right now telling the world that I stole go fuck yourself from you. So at least I, at least I finally, you know, took me some time. I'm glad you did that. I remember, I remember you laughing. I remember you just going. I just thought it was great. I just thought it was fantastic.

Because I just, you know, it's like I was, it just kind of relaxed. You just go fuck yourself. I would say it even when I fucked up, like a ball, what's the line, fuck, go fuck yourself. Yeah, right, exactly. And it was just, it made me kind of comfortable. Well, it just, I think also. and you would know like when you're a guest star you know when you're a young guest star and you're coming into this show that's like nerve wracking it's nerve wracking and it's like a big hit show and then you know

sometimes when you have the series regulars who take themselves too seriously you it makes you even more stress you don't want to mess up but then when you have somebody who's you know one of the leads on the show saying go fuck yourself and everyone's laughing yeah suddenly you're like oh okay I can loosen up a little bit and I can have some fun yeah I was compelled I felt like I've oh I've always been like an entertainer in the sense that I always want to make people laugh. I want everyone to have a good time. And it's great because the crew loves you and everybody's laughing all the time. Right. But the converse to that is you're exhausted. You're just giving everything. By half the day, you're just want to. Right. And then you ask yourself, why do I do that? And then you go home and you're exhausted. It's a clown that, you know, you painted smile and you go, right. Oh, my God, I'm a loser. Yeah. It's funny. I often, you know, because it's such a grind, uh, doing a show for so long. And I remember, like, there were days where people, I just got very, you know, I did the opposite. I just wouldn't, I just wouldn't interact. I was just so tired and so exhausted. I would do my job, say my lines. I always knew what I was doing. I always knew my

lines, but I didn't interact as much. And that's something I regret. I wish I was a little bit more like, you know what? We're all here. We're all family. And I didn't take it as seriously as I did. That's the one thing that I kind of wish on the whole run of vampire diaries. No, towards the end because I was just so exhausted. Yeah, well, that's understandable. I mean, you know, I think there's only so much you can do. There was days where I walked in and I just, you know, wasn't a good mood. And they're like, hey, and I go, what's going on in all right?

And just kind of in my head or whatever. And that's called humanity. Yeah. You know, I mean, we have bad days. That's why when I hear things like, you know, so-and-so, he's an asshole. And I'm like, who? Right. And they're like, John.

And I'm like, why? Why? My friends, friends, girlfriend's cousin saw him at some screening and she went up to him and says, hey, I'm a big fan. I like you. And then he was just kind of like, oh, thanks and just kind of walked up to kind of standoffish. Like, do you ever think that someone's having not a great day or someone died or right? I don't always, I give the benefit to, look, if you hear it consistently like this guy isn't a half guy hasn't asked. Then the truth kind of follows. Right. You know, it's sort of like it's obvious. But. right i wouldn't feel guilty i think a lot of actors do that where they just want to get on do their work yeah they're not there to like you know entertain they're there to do the work yeah and that's that's okay yeah you know as long as you're not christian bailing on right right i'm not always like that but i dude i did sort of get that sort of like oh man i was just like by season eight you're just like dude i can't holy shit what the what the fall yeah with the following you have because it was way bigger than smallville right vampire diaries was just

like holy shit you had that whole i mean that fandom is insane right good way like they're just so supportive so and um you know when you're first doing the show it's exciting you have a hit yeah but does there ever come a time where you know you're young and you're like maybe we're cocky maybe we think you know you know this is cheesy or this is this right we be more serious can't we and you sort of go in that phase of like i just want to do something else i want to do Oh, totally. Oh, absolutely. Because we all do. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, when you're, by season three or so, you're going, oh, shit, you know, I need to do some other stuff. I mean, I started to, like, really get into the whole, like, I need to, you know, be a fespian. And so I started to do, like, New York Theater. Yeah. That was my thing during hiatus. I was just, like, going off and doing, like, off-broad, obscure, off-Broadway plays. How did you have the energy to do that? I think I had the energy. You're younger. First of all, I was younger, but also it's just sort of, you're so, you know how it is.

Look, I'm not knocking the show, but at the end of the day, you're doing a one-hour, you know, CW drama. Inside of You is brought to you by Quince. I love Quince, Ryan. I've told you this before. I got this awesome $60 cashmere sweater. I wear it religiously. you can get all sorts of amazing, amazing clothing for such reasonable prices. Look, cooler temps are rolling in.

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you started feeling like, you know, I want to do other things. I need to be challenged more. I need to, you know, mix it up. I don't want to be just this guy. Well, you don't want to be, you don't want to be typecast, you know, and also you're like, okay, you know, I have this pop culture thing. to a degree, but am I respected, and I want to be respected by, you know, fellow actors. And so you're, you know, you're striving to do different kinds of things. And, you know, but that's natural. I think everybody, you know, those are always, always. I mean, you always want to challenge yourself, prove yourself, that I'm not just this guy. I could do a lot of other stuff. I study theater. Right. I do off-broadway. I'm not just that. And it's more like we're, like, we're

thinking too much. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I do think like, for example, man, like it's, it's this very interesting thing where, you know, there is like this Run Lola Run thing where it's like, you know, I remember, I auditioned for the Vampire Diaries. They said, you know, you're not right for the part. I said, okay, cool, different role. And I went and tested for like two other shows that were very mature, very adult, you know, it would have put me in a completely different category. Right. And, and, and, but then Vampiretires called and suddenly I got that part. And I always think to myself, like, what if I'd gotten one of the other roles? It's funny how, like, it's just you sort of, whatever you get cast in that makes you sort of, you know, you become known for

that. And so it's this funny thing where it's like they're, you know, what's his name, Pedro Pascal is a great example. He screen tested for the Vampire's Spinoff, the Originals, and he didn't get the part. And now he's on, and by the way, he's a wonderful actor. I love him. I love him. And now he's on This Is Us. He's not Last of Us. Last of, they should combine those. Family. It's a spinoff of This Is Us, actually.

But it's, no, but he was great on Narcos and now he's on that show. So it just turned that way. But it's funny how I think to myself, like, what if Pedro Pascal got the Vampire Diaries spinoff, you know? And it's just like, so you're always thinking to yourself like, did I make the right decision? And I am very happy with my decision. I think it's incredible, you know, but it's, it's you're as a young actor you're always questioning yeah no I agree I think that it's funny

how the and maybe it's different now because I think you know film is kind of merged you know film merges in the TV vice versa and you can do whatever you want now and right cares right but there's this sort of this um there's this there was this mentality and maybe there is still that mentality where for some reason they think you know if you have a smash hit like this is us and great actors on that show I have friends on that show but if someone in vampire diaries or smallville or some other show that happens to be on a different network cw or superhero or whatever yeah they don't think some of these actors aren't capable of doing what those guys are doing like they does that make sense of course yeah yeah yeah yeah it's like

you know just because we're on a show that deals with all this you know whatever right doesn't mean we don't have the chops right if we were on a different show with the writing and directing and the creating and everything, you just be just as good. Of course. Because you're only as good as the writing and the production. Of course. It doesn't matter how good of an actor you are. If you're a great actor and you're on some okay show or some fluffy show or whatever the show,

and I'm not saying vampire or small or that, but you know, the CW thing. You know, it doesn't mean you don't have the chops. Look at Malcolm in the middle and look at fucking Cranston. Yeah, of course. He's a fucking genius. I got a great Brian Cranston. He's a buddy of mine. So Brian, uh, so I was.

the lead of this show. This is before the vampire. I was the lead of this ABC family show called Fallen. Oh, Fallen. Yeah, yeah. And it was this show about this, it was a great mini series about like this guy, it was based on a book, this boy who's a young kid who's like a fallen angel. And he figures out that he's actually like the son of the devil. And it was going to be this huge stunt casting thing at the end of episode five where we reveal the devil, Lucifer. And there We're like, we're going to cast someone amazing. We're going to cast one amazing. And I was waiting, I was waiting, waiting, waiting for who they were going to cast.

And suddenly they're like, we got the dad from Malcolm in the middle. And I was like, wait, what do you mean? You got the, I was like, the dad from Malcolm in the middle. How is he going to play Lucifer? Like, I don't see how this is going to work. He's, it's comedy. And Brian came on the show. And I remember being like, I don't know that Brian can play the devil because I only knew him from

Malcolm in the middle. Of course, goofy, his pants off all the time. Right. Goofy over the top. And I was like, I don't see that. So anyway, Brian, of course, nailed it and was brilliant because he's Brian. And then he went on to get Breaking Bad and then went on to then, you know, be who he is today. But it's this funny, even I, even I was guilty of judging Brian Cranston, who's, you know, arguably one of the greatest actors right now, period, that's working. and I was judging him based on Malcolm in the middle.

See? We all do it. Yeah, yeah. You know, I'm sure they would say this. I don't know if they'd say it because I have hair. I mean, they'd say, oh, Lex Luthor's playing this role. I don't think they would. Do you?

What now? Now. I'm a completely different person. You are completely different from Lex Luthor. That is true. I think enough time has passed too. I was looking right. Ryan, tell me what I want to hear.

Yeah. Tell me what I want to hear. Let's talk about this. So you come from a. Polish family. Yeah. I had no idea. I knew nothing about you. I started looking. I'm like, you speak Polish? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, fluidly. Without skipping a beep, do you talk to your parents? So yes. The answer is yes. When I was younger, that was my first language because my parents didn't really speak English very well. And my grandparents only spoke Polish. So that was it.

Growing up, I was living there for a short time when I was a kid, back and forth, going there all the time. And then, you know, as you get older, you move out of your parents' house. And you're, you move out of your parents' house. You start speaking English, you know, exclusively. And suddenly you start speaking English with your parents. My parents are very thick accents. But now it doesn't come as easily to me anymore. I'm fluent. I understand everything. But I have to search for words. My accent is still really good. It's there. But I've lost that, that sort of natural rhythm that I always had as a child, which drives me crazy. Does it drive them crazy? Drives me crazy, drives them crazy. I also, So my dream is to get cast in a, like a Polish role so that I, and so that I, it forces me to, to go back.

Yeah, get back in the groove. Stella did it. Who did it? Stella? Stella? Stella got her groove back? Yeah. Took me a minute.

I was going to let you find it. It took me a minute. So if I, I mean, you'd probably hate to do it, but like, you just start talking to me in Polish. It's Polish, right? In Polish, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm name Pavel, what I'd say should I should have been I'm a dog is PES PES my puppy POS is all over the place exactly

That's why that's why we got it from Piss Pius yeah no yes but yeah I love that can you do other accents Like Borat You can do borat nice I can do borat That's good I like him yeah that's good Could you do pretty much any accent if you were asked with German?

No. Well, it's funny because my girlfriend is German slash Brazilian, but she speaks fluent German. My grandfather spoke fluent German. But anyway, that's her first language is, I mean, I guess it's like Portuguese German, but German is such a specific language. It's terrifying, first of all.

Everything sounds like, hajtz moz. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Just copying the hosengamak. Yeah, exactly. It's like, it's like that you literally, Or if you're in Germany, you just feel like you're in trouble all the time. But maybe that's just me and my Polish roots. I'm just, it's ingrained in my DNA to be terrified of Germans.

Yeah, well, they took over Poland. Right, well, that happened. I'm a Jew, so I kind of relate. That whole thing. But, you know, I have a lot of German friends and, you know, they don't want to hurt me. Yeah, but yeah, but I know a little German, but you know, is Khabi in the Chosenkermach means. I have no.

I shit my pants. I, okay. Well, that's good, because I'm going to need that one. You're going to tell your girl from the German, she goes, well, I'm going to need that. Paul, that's disgusting. Vavo Gavotrys. Nine, nine. Nine.

But isn't Shiza shit? Shit. Shiza, I'm tired. Okay. How do you know all this? When I did this, we talk about it, I did a horrible movie in Germany, a year, so many years ago before Smallville. What's it called? Yeah, it's called Rave Macbeth. Rave.

I hate bringing this up. Okay. Well, here's why it got so, it was so bad. It was Macbath in a rave. Okay. We had Kirk Balls from Reservoir Dogs. He's got his ear cut off. uh-huh okay sure yeah really great actor okay but we had to redo all the audio we had to do

ad for the entire i they lost it and they just like literally lost the cassette tape well it was gone and there was completely damaged okay and we had to loop the i was miserable for wow days it was a lead all my dialogue oh my god oh my god when i scream yeah it's like it's like you're watching some, you know, like a Bruce Lee, Asian movie in English, you know, or whatever, vice versa. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, yeah, that's how I learned. I had a guy named Nico who picked me up. Mr. Michael, what? Good morning. I'm like, good morning, Nico. How do I say I shit my pants? Michael. How do you want to know these things? I love that's the first thing you ask. You're like, how do I say I ship my pants? That's, you need useful, you know, useful communication.

Yeah, but I know like cop shnards and I have a headache. I know mouth. I know. I'll Heitzmau shut your mouth. I'll naze, a ogen, you know, things like that. Right. But yeah, I do that. It's so funny, too, because my whole life,

I was always doing impressions and I was always doing watching movies, like, because I never went to a high school dance or anything. I always stuck in my room and copied movies from one VCR to another VCR. And never went out. I mean, I was not a popular guy. And I just always thought I would use these. I used them in real life. for my friends and we joke and fun but i've never gotten a role what's up with that where i have

to do some accent except uh ever one role i had to do like a southern accent and midnight in the garden good and evil and i did a little something for this show breaking him where i just kind of had this thing man a little mccani in a way but it wasn't like all right man here's one whatever but um pretty good not not a ton yeah easy i think anybody could do mccani he can't they give me one ryan uh all right all right all right all right how about you can you what's that uh uh They just, oh, I just keep getting older. They just stay the same age. That's what I like about these freshman girls, man.

That's right. What is that, what is that from? They stay the same age. Days and confused. That's right. Hey, why don't you get rid of these little dorks and head out with me, man? I don't know. I don't do my connie.

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reveal the grim we are wicked and grim follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform but um so you got you were raised in new jersey yeah were your parents like they wanted you to become an actor no or was it completely like what are you doing i think it's funny i was reading that book uh out what is that malcolm gladwell book where he keeps talking about like time in a place and you got to be lucky because you're in, you know, a lot of times like, you know, he was talking about like Bill Gates and his success because he had a computer in his school and it was like a dime, a needle in a haystack to have a computer in a school at that time. I think it's one of those things where I don't think I would have been an actor if I didn't grow up in close proximity

of New York City. I grew up 45 minutes outside of New York City and I don't think I would have been an actor unless I got kicked off the hockey team, which I did. I kicked off the hockey team. I was bored out of my mind. I had nothing to do. Why did you get kicked off? Fighting. Isn't that You're supposed to do hockey? I play hockey. But like fighting with a coach. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's different.

Yeah. I started doing theater in high school and I fell in love with it, man. I just thought it was so great. And I told my parents I loved it. And then I started doing these acting classes in the city because it was right there. An agent saw me and said, do you want to audition for stuff? That fast. Boom.

And then I got a soap opera. Guiding light. Yeah. Yeah. No, my first one was another world. and I was so excited I signed a series regular contract and then it got canceled three months later which was after after being the longest show

all it took was me getting on the show it was literally by the way it was the longest show in the history of television it started yeah it started on radio and it moved into transition from radio into television and then I get on the show and it gets canceled so what's the story but it's a blessing in disguise

it's a blessing in disguise because then guiding lights on me. They threw me on their show. Do you remember the theme song for guiding line? I have no idea. Or another world? No idea. It wasn't a whole new world. It may have been. That was a movie. But, but so, so then you did guiding light and then, so you dropped at a high school or college, college, Rutgers, went to Rutgers. Well, yeah, I was in high school doing Guiding Light and I, but I, and I barely graduated. And I went to Rutgers for like a semester thinking, oh, well, this acting thing isn't going anywhere, which is what we all do. And then I was Like, because my dad is, you know, he's a computer engineer.

My mom's, you know, a psychologist. And I was, my sister's a lawyer. Like, everyone's pretty academic. Right. And so here I am like goofing off doing some soap opera. And I thought this isn't going to last. But then it just kept, I kept doing stuff, kept working. And then I dropped out of Rucker's thinking, I'll just go back.

I'll do this for another year. And then I'll go back to school and get a real job. And then I just never went back. And here I am with Greg in Laurel Canyon. Oh, Greg. You know. Let's not get his attention. Yeah.

By the way, he's doing well. He's doing really well. My dog, Blanche should be right. I think Blanche should be all right. He's good. He just needs to like understand the environment that he's in. He's like, okay, we're going to sit here for a little. Yeah.

Takes a minute. My puppy has just driving me crazy. 16 days. I don't know when this will air, but 16 days. And it's like, take him out 25 minutes, every 25 minutes, regulating his water intake. And he'll come right back in the house after pee. Look at me and just piss.

What's the, I don't know what to know. I'll tell you what I did with him. The bell. No, the crate. training. I am. He's in a crate and I leave for an hour. He's in the crate after he's already shit. Interesting. Every time I leave. Interesting. So I don't know what to do. You know what I'm doing? I'm sending him away. Really? To a boarding school for six day, seven days or maybe two weeks. Okay. Yeah, he has to get some more shots and then I'm going to do that. I'm going to have him.

Just make sure you pick a good one. Oh yeah. This one's highly recommended. My friends are, deal with a lot of rescues. Okay. My friend has a rescue Shira, um, animal rescue mission and yeah, all that stuff. Okay. And I know you're involved with the Humane Society. You've been raising money for years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have. That's amazing. Thanks, man. Yeah, I'm a huge animal rights advocate.

And now, you know, like even just rescuing Greg, who was, you know, left in some, like, the middle of the desert or whatever, some crazy, as all these puppies are. And rescuing him just made me even more empathetic. And so, yeah, I've been working with organizations a ton. Yeah. Yeah. I just find animals to be in many ways so much more interesting. in humans. Like, they're so funny. Greg is, my dog, like, he will sometimes surprise me so much

with his intelligence. Other times I think he's, I'm like, how do you not know this? Yeah. And then other times he just, he just, I marvel at his, at his, at his, had his mind, you know, and I just find animals to be so interesting, you know, so they are. And they're wonderful, you just look at, you know, my dog was being brought to a kill shelter and this rescue intervened and stopped. And they were called L.A. Pets. alive and a small little rescue and just this old guy named John and I happened to walk into some pet store and where I never would go because my friend wanted to go and I saw this little puppy in a cage and I go I got to take him and I don't know what the fuck I was thinking right it's

but I love him yeah and it's but you know I good for people who are a rescue animal yeah you know I we can get into that all day but you know you so you work closely with humane society you're you're a vegan yeah is that hard yeah that's got to be hard if you had a hamburger right now would you throw up i haven't had a hamburger i it's funny not really first of all no i would throw up um but i also haven't i didn't eat hamburgers when i was a kid so it's like it's more what about polish sausage well that i did eat there you go that i did it's irresistible but what it's about what's it about you know it's just like i um yeah i don't i don't crave meat i don't crave meat i will say when I'm traveling, it's a pain in the ass.

Yeah. You know, it's, and then you end up eating like shit. So I think it's just like, you know, and then, and then, you know, there's moments where you slip up and, you know, it's like your plant base because, you know, you eat something. You don't even know what it is. And then you're like, oh, shit. And then, you know, but I haven't had, you know, any type. I wasn't eating beef for, I haven't eaten beef in 15 years, man.

I just don't even, yeah, I don't even think about it. I think honestly, I would probably, the thing. is I'm a thin guy, so are you, but like I know that if I stop eating meat, I'm going to get really bored with my meals. I mean, I can go impossible burger, right? But there's a lot of stuff in there that kind of is more, a lot of stuff that's not great. Right. Well, it's, it's this, uh, I don't really eat, I eat, that's not true. I eat some impossible burgers and beyond burgers once in a while, but I think it's more like I'd rather have the, the stuff, whatever stuff is in there than some the shit that goes on in the middle. Oh, yeah. You know, so. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I understand that.

I'm trying. I just, yeah. My problem is, and I got to stop this. Like, I was smoking a little bit and I stopped that. It's like 23 days now. I'm done. I'm fucking done this time. That's it. Smoking. Dude, I mean, it's the worst thing in the world. It's the worst thing in the world. I fucking love smoking. Oh, yeah. I don't smoke. I don't smoke, but I enjoy the, the feeling. I enjoy the habit. I love the ritual. I know. Going in. I'm going to go outside now, I'm going to sit there, I'm going to have a smoke. I have a smoke, think about you. But you smell like shit.

Smell like shit. And then you, I'm trying to get Nicorette as a sponsor. Because honestly, Scott Calm was on the podcast. Yeah. Afterwards, we went in the back and I had a smoke. Yeah. And I go, you don't smoke? He's like, no, no, I quit many years ago.

Yeah. And I go, I just can't do it. I can't kick it. Yeah. I don't know why I've been so stressed. I'm smoking. I just, I don't know what. Right. And he goes, he literally had this right here, this Nicorette thing.

Yeah. And the lozenges, low dose 2 milligram, he just went and he put them on the table, he goes, take these. Really? And now? Since I took the first one, I haven't touched a cigarette.

Wow. I texted him yesterday and told him, since you left me, I have not smoked a cigarette. That's amazing. I want, what I want to do is like stop eating chips at night. Yeah.

And all this shit. And then I'm like, you know, it's okay. How about I'm going to have a fruit salad before I go to bed? They're like, no, the fruits are really hard. Right. It gives you all this energy.

I'm like, oh, even have fruits and I just get so upset and the thought of like I don't know I just got to stop it because of health health reasons I don't have health reason dot I would but I'm going to have them I just think about like how do I not want to die and then like the the thought of just not being able to use my lungs by the way I smoked for years and like just the thought of it is what is enough for me yeah you know what I mean I mean you and you have kids no I don't kids you don't two dogs really yeah i don't have kids i don't have kids either thank god i'm not for you for me thank god

you don't have kids no you have kids no just dogs you should just shut dogs yeah listen right away i was i'm sorry i don't know why i thought you had kids no no kids i mean wow i once got a girl pregnant right right but she didn't have a kid right her choice right right but i you know but that's much different yeah yeah wow okay so you're not a kid's guy no i love kids do you want to have kids one know it's nice to see a cute kid and one of my friends kids and I play with him for 20 minutes and I go, all right. Do you want to have kids? No, I don't think so. Really? I'm 50. I could barely deal with a pop. If you saw the text messages to my friends, right, I can't do it. I got to send him back. Right. He got all his shots. I'll take care of whatever. I'll find him a family.

This is this is too hard. The other two dogs were easy. And they're like, just calm down. And everybody knows everything about dogs. Right. Listen, have you tried this? I'm like, fuck you. Yes, I've tried that have you taken them out every hour every 25 minutes and they go on everybody's a money morning quarterback so whatever right but anyway back to you yeah so uh you start acting you do guiding light all these things they start happening you move out to la mm kind of kind not really what do you mean well i didn't i never wanted to leave new york i got a new york city i got a little place in new york city and then i got a pilot that took me to vancouver and i was out in vancouver and then my eight and said, well, why don't you come to L.A. for a month? And I was like, all right. I went to L.A. for the

pilot season bullshit. You know how that is. And I was out in L.A. and I hated it. I just hated it. And I kept telling myself, okay, two more weeks. Another week. I got a pilot. I ended up getting some show. It's shot in L.A. I was miserable. And then I just hated L.A. for years, man. And now I just think it's the greatest place. That's what happened to me. I moved from New York. I said, I'll never leave New York. I moved out there to do a show. It wasn't a great show. And I was miserable. I didn't find my group yet. People.

I was hanging around some folks I shouldn't hang out with. I was just young and stupid and just trying to figure it out in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. And, you know, I didn't have much money. And all of a sudden, after I started to get the right people, the friends, the things, playing softball, playing, doing fun things, I never want to go back to New York. Ever. I never want to be in that miserable cold again. I never want to be in the miserable heat with the, sorry if you're New Yorkers. I'm a born New Yorker.

My whole family's from New York. I like to visit for a couple days, maybe see a show. But yeah. It's funny, you know, I feel, it's funny because I'm getting a place in New York as we speak. But I, my family's there. I can go to New York. Like, I love landing in New York and being there for the first 24 hours. And then it just drains me.

Oh, yeah. L.A., I live on the west side. and I just, what I love, but I love the culture in New York and I love being able to see my family. That's the reason I'm getting a place there. And, you know, it's like, it's just fun to get on a skateboard or a bike or something and just like, you know, run around the city and stop by various spots. But man, the west side for me is where it's at. Like just the hiking, hiking with my dog, surfing, riding my motorcycles. I just love, I love nature, man. I crave that shit. I envy you. I always talk about this.

I'm sort of like a hermit, man. Look, I like playing ice hockey on Mondays, tennis on Tuesdays, softball on Thursdays, an occasional hike. But I'm not a big nature guy, I think, because partly I'm colorblind and everything's kind of muted. Nothing looks as pretty as everyone thinks, you know. What do you see? Just like red, green, like I can't differentiate.

You're kidding me. You know, traffic lights look white. And it's funny because I ask my cousin who's colorblind, my brother. I'm like, what color do you see in a traffic light? He goes, well, the red and the yellow. kind of merge. If they weren't in order, I wouldn't know. So you don't really know what red and yellow is. I can see a real red and go, that's red. Sometimes people say, well, it's more of an orange, but yeah, well, that's actually a, but I mess up colors all the time. Wow. But, uh, yeah,

it's just, uh, you know, I'll say, what color do you see? And they go white and I go, that's what I see. Right. You know, I've taken all those colorblind tests. My, my friend Tom still thinks he, I think he fucks with me, but he's always like, you're not colorblind blind. Right. Like, what are you talking about? I mean, I, I, I don't know if it's the colors. I just, I don't I never get it sounds I say I hate myself for like talking about this in this way but like I never get like bored when I'm like walking with my dog and there's like trees and like little sounds and birds and shit I'm always like and it sounds so lame and maybe it's no it's not lame but I'm just like I don't give a shit about anything I don't care I'm just like

it's your time yeah I just love it man what movie is that from you're absolutely right Mr. Spicoli, it is our time. Oh, it's, uh, it's Ferris Bueller. No. Spicoli? Oh, fast times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spicoli's, uh, Sean. Spicoli's Sean Penn, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which he doesn't like to talk about. He doesn't like to, you know, whatever.

He, he, he's the guy that originated the sort of West Side Surfer. Whoa. Yeah. What's up, bro? That's, he's the guy that, like, invented that. Rives and tasty waves. Yeah, he was awesome. You knock when you enter Curtis. Entree. I love that. All right. So I like that. I like that.

You know, you love L.A. Now you still love New York. You have that ability to do that. Did. So you started getting pilots and stuff. Do you remember the audition for Vampire Diaries? Oh, dude.

It was hell. How many auditions? Dude, I'm not exaggerating. I've been doing this for a while. I've done a ton of, you know, TV pilots and it's always stressful. You know how that shit is, screen testing and doing the network and the studio like crap. It's brutal. This was the worst.

experience of my life. I mean, I read for Ian Summerholder's role first, and I got a call back. Then I didn't hear from them. I told you, I tested for some other shows. And then I get a frantic phone call. They've done three rounds of testing. They can't find anybody for this role of Stefan, the younger brother. They'll bring you in, read for it. I went in read for it. They said, great, you're testing the next day. I went and I showed up. And because it started shooting in a week, they were testing, I think, 14 guys. I'm not exaggerating. They were all there?

All there. It was a, uh, they flew two out from Australia, one out from New Zealand, a few out from England, anybody that we would know? Oh, yeah. Because I can name so many people that I tested with that got the roles that I didn't. It's so funny because I actually like at the time was pretty oblivious to it, but I remember Julie Plack, who was a co-creator of the show, ended up telling me one day all the actors that read for my part.

And it was this, like, incredible list of, you know, A-listers and all these people. And anyway, so I go in there and I swear it was like, I mean, it was like, you know, you'd go in, you'd read for it once. Then they'd be like, okay, wait outside. Then they'd come out with like a clipboard and they'd be like, you go home. And then some guy would go home with his bags. And then they'd go and, okay, read again. And they would come out.

Okay, you two go home. Boom, those guys. And it like, it was like this, like, I felt like I was on Survivor. and it was like dwindled down and suddenly it was down to like me and just like one dude and then there was the final I mean I think I read for it like six or seven times

the one good thing about that is that there was no network it was just studio and then they decided to film the audition and send it to the network because they just couldn't they had to get you know everyone to Vancouver to shoot

but I'll tell you I I had a real specific approach which was Nina, who was already cast as the lead girl, was there, and everybody in, uh, in that audition room during that process was kissing her ass because she was in the hallways and she was like, everyone was like going up to her and saying hi and kiss her ass thinking, you know, if they asked her, who did you like, you know, maybe she'll like me. And I was like, fuck that. I'm not going to look her in the eye and I'm also not going to introduce myself and I'm not going to, I'm just going

to sit in the corner because, not because I was trying to be rude, but because in the scene, we were supposed to not know who one another. We were supposed to be a mystery. We were supposed to meet. I know. It's very methoding. No, I like it. Fuck.

Use what works. We were supposed to meet in that exact moment. And I thought, well, fuck that. I want our moment to be really special. I want her to get to know me in that moment. And Nina remembers this. And I just remember her, like, looking over at me, wanting to say hi to me and introduce herself and I just turned away.

And I think she thought initially, like, who the fuck does this guy think? think he is. But anyway, I went in there, and I just remember our audition, the audition. And the first time we ever met in real life was actually in that audition room. And it was just a very magical moment. And I felt it. And she felt it. And I know all those studio executives felt it. And I think that's what landed me the part, actually. And then afterwards you say, you know that I was doing this for a reason. Yeah, of course. And she was like, and she talks about it in an interview. She even says, like, Paul was so dismissive and rude. And I didn't know what to make.

of it but then in the in the in the in the audition it totally worked wow but then you left her wondering god is he going to be an asshole on the side right exactly and then surprise i was surprise i'm not talking anybody in my i'm in my head that was later on in the show right um how soon after a how soon after did you know we i think we have a hit on our hands or b did you and b did you ever think is your job in jeopardy do you think you're going to get fired oh dude i thought i was going to get fired for the first three to four years of, of, you know, doing the show. Why? Because they actually made us, so it was actually kind of something that they did that was somewhat unfair. So a lot of young kids on the show, a lot of party kids, a lot of like, you know, without, you know, everyone was in their

like early 20s, you know, and they're all just like going out and getting hammered and, you know, screwing around with each other. Yeah. And so the first, you know, season, you know, was like a lot of people are showing up to work late, a lot of like, you know, things of that nature. And I wasn't, man. I was taking the shit so seriously. I was literally sitting at home studying my lines and trying to and working out and getting in shape for the role and all that crap. But they said from the beginning, you know, they brought us all in and they said just so you guys know, you're all expendable. Every one of you. They said that. Yeah, every single one of you. This isn't the, this isn't the, my character's name was Stefan. This isn't the Stefan diaries. This isn't

the Elena diaries, this isn't the, you know, this is the vampire diaries and any one of you can go. And they, they, and so I was, we were all petrified that we can get fired. That is the worst thing to do. Yeah. And it really put this. That's what they do though. Yeah, it is something they want you not to, we don't know if the show's going to get picked up. Yeah. What do you mean? The numbers are outraged. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Hey, renegotiations. Exactly. This means I'm a part of an integral part of it. So I'll make some more money. Well, this show is paying for a lot of our shows that are failing. So what are you talking about? In the real world, if you're part of a business and you know, you're an integral part, yeah, hopefully it doesn't always happen,

but yeah, that's that's kind of shit. Yeah, no, I mean, it was a way, and I will say it worked because people started to not, to not show up late, et cetera. But for myself, I was a little bit like, man, like, you know, I was already taking it very seriously. But in any case, so yes, I always felt like I was going to get fired. As far as the question, you know, did did I know we had a hit. Like, this was before Twitter and Instagram and all this crap. So you don't know, yeah, you know. So it's not like you can like go on and see that it's a trending, you know, show or

whatever the hell. And so I just remember being like, just people are watching this. I don't know. And, you know with the overnight ratings and all that. Like you never know. You hear about the ratings like a few days later. But I remember this very distinct moment. I was in Atlanta.

and the pilot or the season it just started airing and I just remember I was staying at like the W hotel for some bizarre reason and I walked down to the lobby and someone goes oh you're the guy from the Vampire's

and I just remember being like oh wow no way you watched the show I was so excited it was my first time getting recognized from the show and then I go to the and I was super happy and I go down to the valet and the valet's like you're the guy from the vampire

and then I pulled up to some other place because you're the guy and I went oh shit like five people just recognizing like within the span of like seven minutes and I thought okay maybe maybe people are watching this and then after that that was that was when I knew we had a hit that's that's amazing you know my reality was then was I always felt like the poor me but I always felt like um I just wasn't important I wasn't anybody I wasn't and so when I started getting recognized

that people came up to me I felt like oh wow I am somebody right I'm somebody I'm someone They noticed me. Someone notices me. Yeah. It was kind of a... And you had such a distinct because you shaved your head. Yeah.

You know, you commit... It's not like you put a one of those... No. Thank God, by the way. I begged for one and thank God. And you look great with a shaved head. I think you. You know what I mean?

So, but thank, thank you. Well, because it could have gone south. You could have just shaved your head and you look like... Everybody had to look good. Right. I was always scared I was going to get fired. I've told this story before. But like, I always felt like, you know,

I have a bump on the back of my head. I'm not as good looking as the other cast members. I'm kind of awkward. I'm like the, I don't know. I'm not a natural beauty. You were the best thing in the show. Oh, thank you.

Well, thanks for saying that. No, I really feel that way. Really? But I think a lot of people felt that way. You know, it's funny.

I didn't hear that until I think, really the show ended. Really? I mean, I heard, oh, you're great, you're like, but it was almost like years after the show. Now it starts to,

I hear it more, like people at conventions and people that are, but I didn't hear that you're the best. I remember. I remember. I remember. remember like a very specific I I don't remember I look it's been a while but I just remember like having that sort of like impression when I got on the show. I was like oh he's like the you know with all due respect to all the other cats I was like he's like the interesting like I thought your choices were interesting your style was interesting things you were doing were interesting it was like much less sort of CW right and it was a little more sort of like um

a different approach, which I really respected. Thank you. Yeah. You know, honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with also the writing, you know, giving me things that are interesting. Right. Different scenes with more mature people. Right.

But look, at the end of the day, yes, nine out of ten girls, favorite character, they're going to go Clark Kent. Yeah, right. And that's the one cool, cool chick. Yeah, of course. That's like, hey, I like the freaking Lex Luther freak, which I love. Yeah. It's funny because on my show, I mean, it's, you know, it was like,

like everyone loved the bad boy, everyone loved Damon. And then there's like the occasional like, I like Stefan in the back, in the back, like, you know, everyone, she gets booed and there's tomatoes thrown in her. Did you, when did you really start becoming close friends with Ian? Was it immediate? Yeah, it was pretty immediate. Ian and I are like, we're totally different human beings.

I mean, like you could not, we are like oil and vinegar in that sense. And I think, I think, but that, worked well for us in a yin and yang way it worked great for our on-screen chemistry it worked great for sort of having the two brothers being polar opposites yin and yang energy and we just really kind of understood immediately that we would work well together and that we could create a really good dramatic television series with our different personalities and i think that lended itself lends itself to our relationship off screen which we sort of are very similar now we have a business together and it's like you know brothers bond bourbon brothers bond bourbon where can they get that

in stores anywhere anywhere amazon yeah actually anywhere yeah brothers bond bourbon and it's doing well it's straight bourbon whiskey yeah we have we have uh you can get brothers bond i'm gonna get a bottle you should i am i'm gonna buy a bottle i mean you can literally go down to whole foods and grab a bottle um how about the country store maybe they might have it i don't know so it's it's some of the some of the smaller shops, it's like, it's like hit or miss. But we're big online and more, more so in getting more and more into like restaurants and bars and stuff. But this, like, you know, the business that we started, it's doing really well. And it's like, we approach it completely differently. And that's what's great about it. We have a complete yin and yang approach. Ian's like,

oh my God, optimism, positive, positive. And I'm like, here's the worst case scenario and which is most likely to happen. Yeah. This is, you know, this is we're all going to, you know, we're going to go bankrupt and then so we we meet in the middle you know i do that with my my friend tom where we're doing some kind of product i won't say what it is yet but we just met the guy who's the manufacturer and i'm like so uh he's like going it's easy you just we you buy this many at this month they it's all it's all done oh and i'm like all right insurance wise right how does this work right and i'm like wait a minute wait a minute we can't get sued no no it's on the manufacturer oh can you give me that in writing my business manager's on the phone i want this to be legit

All right. So you and Ian have been friends for many, many years. You still have this friendship. You have this bourbon. It's incredible. You talk how often? Oh, my God, dude. I mean, it's a full-time job. It's like, it's absolutely insane. I mean, every day emails, threads, text messages. We have employees. We have, you know, we have an office. We have, I mean, every single day. We have, well, Ian and I have like a little office in Malibu actually that we share is just like. You know, we have an office. We have, I mean, every single day. We have, well, Ian and I have like a little office in Malibu actually that we share is just like, like our little studio, we'll do, you know, tastings or zooms and things of that nature. And, you know, but then our, our, most of our team is in Texas and believe it or not, Canada. But, man, it's a whole thing. It started out as this COVID project. We were like, okay, cool.

Well, we talked about it. I don't know if you ever saw Vampire's, but all we did was drink bourbon. I mean, it was like a thing. It was like, so we wanted to do it for years. It makes perfect sense. Well, that, by the way, so all the fans would say, like, you know, when we would do these like conventions or something, they would say like,

you know, why don't you guys have a bourbon? Why don't you guys have a bourbon? And so many years, they were saying that. We kept saying, why aren't we doing this? And we finally did it. So it was like one of those things we've been talking about it for everyone. We've been drinking bourbon forever. You know, we shot in the South. Wow. We shot the pilot in Vancouver and then we move the series to Atlanta. It's all bourbon down there. I love it. I love it. Well, look, there's tons of stuff. I mean, you went on to direct and produce. She directed. an episode, you directed like Shadowhunters, you had a four television show deal with Warner Brothers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have, you do all these things. Do you still like, look,

protissorially, is that your thing? Like, you want to more produce and create? Do you still love acting or do just want to do it all? Yeah, it's funny. I mean, it's, uh, when a great role comes around, like right now I'm doing Star Trek. James T. I know, man, Paramount series, Strange New World. It's just, that's a lot of work. it. Oh, beyond, man. Is it hard? Do you, like, are you, were you nervous? Because it's only done one season, right? It's only done. Yes, it's only done one season. We shot season two. It hasn't aired yet. How well is it going? Well, I'll tell you, I could not ask for a better cast. I mean, these people, and, and again, I'm not a series regular, right? So I come in, I'm a recurring. And they welcome me with open arms. They are so awesome. The showrunner, Akiva Goldsman is just the best. I just adore him. I just adore him. and Henry Alonzo Myers. And they're just like the nicest. And Anson Mount, who's the lead.

I love Anson. I just, yeah, I've had Anson on before, but I want to have him again. He's just, he's just such a good dude. Yeah, he's really a great dude. I mean, Ethan Peck, who plays Spock, is such, he's a good friend of mine. I got to watch this. I actually want to watch this. It's a great show.

And it's really interesting. We play with Timeline. So we haven't actually met James T. Kirk in his real, like, we met an ultra. version of James C. Kirk. We haven't met James C. Kirk as we know him from the original series, which we are, which we will in season two. And, um, you know, I just, uh, it's daunting. I've gotten to know William Shatner. You talk to him about the role and everything? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you say? Like, congratulations. You're playing this role. Well, it's funny. It's, and I said this story. I've, I've told this story before. I hope Spock doesn't hate you like he

hated me. The most bizarre, bizarre thing happens. So, I shot the first episode of Star Trek. They told me, they haven't announced that I, they hadn't announced that I got cast. And they said, don't tell anyone. Whatever you, don't tell anyone. I said, okay, cool, I won't. I'm flying from Chicago to LA.

And I get on the plane and I had just binged every episode of the original series. I've watched a lot as well, right? So I, and I look up, I'm like, is that, I get on the plane, I'm like, is that William Shatner? I was like, it can't be. And he had just gotten back from space with Bezos. And I guarantee he was reading a book.

Always reading a book. Yeah, he was reading a book. So, but anyway, so I get on the plane and I look and I see the seat next to him is empty. I look at my ticket and I, and it's, I'm the seat next to him. And I'm like, this is, this is just like, destiny? Well, is this a candid camera? Right. Is this like, you know, Paramounted some thing and it's like set up and it's, you know.

You've got something you can say. Yeah. It's not just want to let you know I'm a big fan. And also, I'm playing the new James game. So I sit on the, I get on the plane, I start, I'm so fidgety. And we had actually met, spoken on the phone before because we were neighbors and there were some thing. And I was like, oh, I don't know.

I'm Paul Wesley. I don't know if you remember. And he was like, oh, yeah, right. Uh-huh. But it kind of like, it was just like reading his book, as you said. Right, right, right. And doing his thing. I don't want to bother him.

And people, even some woman was trying to take photos of him. And anyway, and I were flying. And I'm like, trying to allude to the fact that I, playing this role without saying it and I honestly think he thought I was like some deranged like I yeah some like making I was stuttering I was just in between you know it was just it was a disaster I asked him for a selfie and he was he was kind enough to to do it I felt terrible but I said I got to capture this moment anyway I get the part I mean I it's announced that I got the part and then he you know went on Twitter and just like

tweeted me like the sweetest thing you know just like this this this this this supportive tweet and just said take care of my ship you know and it was just like i it was such a beautiful moment and but i but it was like i felt redeemed because i i really for the for those few months thought he you know he thinks i'm this deranged lunatic who's like a hardcore trekkie who couldn't find his words and then so when he tweeted me i was pretty thrilled and then i saw him and they invited me to do um uh give a given opening talk at his handprint ceremony in San Diego at Comic-Con. And I went over there and we chatted for a while and he was so lovely. How many people have played James T. Kirk besides him?

On television, just him. So you're the only one. Other than Chris Pine in the movie in the movie. Right. Yeah, yes. But is there some kind of thing where you're like, I need to talk like this a little bit? It's fine. I thought I had a conversation with the, I had a conversation with the showrunners.

and it was they you know they very specifically said do not do an imitation of of the original you know and it's just you know we kind of laughed about it but I wouldn't want to I wouldn't do that anyway I just felt like and by the way I mean I watched the series and I do think that there's this stigma that you know that is slightly exaggerated absolutely exaggerate because if you watch the series He's actually pretty, and he's cool. Very much so. And in the, yeah, he's cool, he's smooth. He's very charming and it's just like, it's pretty effortless if you watch the original.

It is. I love the original. I really love it. I think there were 78 episodes. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure the exact number. There was, uh, there was the one when the Rath, the Khan guy.

What was his name? Oh, uh, old school. I met him. Yeah, yeah. What was his name? He was, uh, Fantasy Island. Yeah, yeah. What's his name, Ryan?

Fantasy Iron lead guy The plane boss And he goes It's no I have it I have his name Right Everybody's saying it right now I don't want to do without

It's like a long name No I know I know it's like Rick Ororic Montal Montauvue Montevue No Montal Bonnaccaro Ricardo Montaubu

No Montalban Ricardo Montabon Yeah there you go That's it I met him once And I go I'm a huge fan he was older he was in a wheelchair it was at this restaurant um and you know there's no one there

except him and whoever he was with and i it's like oh my god he's like oh thank you nice to me oh that's awesome he was really sweet that's awesome that's always nice when you're kind you're kind oh my god and you grew up with yeah and they're kind uh this is called shit talking with uh paul west this is rapid fire these are my top tier patrons they're gonna fire step that you can rapid fire them just quick answers uh go to inside of you uh it's like a myzner class yeah right yeah Patreon.com slash inside of you become a patron, support the podcast. Without patrons, I couldn't do this. Here we go. Ashley R. When you and Ian did vampire diaries, did you know each other had been on Smallville. Both had been on Smallville. No. He was on Smallville. I know that now. But I didn't know it at the time. You mean now today? No. I know it now. Yeah. How was he? He's great. Yeah. Would you talk shit? We didn't have much together. If you had anything that would you think you talk shit? No. No. No. Oh, when I talk shit. No, to me, like if you, if he pissed you off.

Oh, yeah, if he was a dick and I remembered him being an asshole, I'd probably go, eh, he was a little bit of a dick. He was very into his work. Yeah. But, you know, what I do know is this. I saw him years later. And he was a dick. No, he couldn't have been a greater guy. The man he's become is just like, like, we're all young.

We're all doing our thing. I didn't know him and he was nice and they go by fast. Yeah, yeah. You come in, you go, you know, you leave. I had barely had anything with him, maybe one scene. And he was really cool. No. But then I met him and we talked for a while and I was like, this guy's great guy. He gives. He's charitable. He's very giving.

You know, we have the same lawyer. Nice. Lay Lonnie. Todd? Yeah, Rubenstein. I love Todd. He yours too. No, but I love him.

Todd's the best. I love Todd. He is the best. On Smallville, your credit is Paul Wassilowski, Wazelouski. Was it your idea to professionally change your name or your agents? Side note, love your bourbon. Love your suit. Sounds of lambs. I love that moment.

Love you, um. Uh, my idea. I wanted to change it because my real last name is Vasilevsky and the Americanized pronunciation Wazelouski was driving me crazy. So I wanted it to start with a W, and end with an E. And I like literally arbitrarily chose, uh, Wesley. You know, if you were a hockey player, you can keep it. I know. It would have made me a better. Yeah. Over a little mew, back to Vajalewski. By the way, what's that one actor's Mia Wasekowska or something like that? Yeah. I know who you're talking about it. You know, she made it work.

She should have changed it. Jessica, oh, Benjamin Jay, congratulations of being cast as the new James T. Kirk. Can you leave anything for the second season, tease anything about the second season of Strange New Worlds? Can I tease anything? I mean, I guess I can tease the fact that we will meet Kirk as we know him in the time frame and in the canon that we know from the original series. Yeah, because we have yet. that's exciting yeah i think that will get more of yours yeah that they know that there you go you're smart you're smart man jessica b where is your happy place nature nature i just said i know the answer to that

yeah thanks uh raj walk me through your typical morning routine working on a tv film as quick as you can like what do you wake up obviously oh on on a tv series yeah yeah you wake up hopefully um wake up hopefully um no you get in hair and makeup these guys know how it is get in hair and makeup uh which you know if you your Ian Summerholder takes three hours. If Paul Wesley takes 15 minutes. But do you do any kind of routine like working out, meditation. Man, by season, you know, four, you're not working. That's why I said no shirtless scenes.

I'm not working out. I can barely even get out of bed. But yeah, season one, too, you're working out. You're doing the diet. You're doing this, you're that, you know, all that shit. You wake up, you go read the scene. Oh, my God. You come back, finish.

They call you in. You do the scene. That's right. You always block it. And then you always get, what, two to three takes on a, on a network show. and then you've got to move on. You don't have time. Cable series, I'm sure you can do plenty more.

I hope. Marisol P. What would be the role of a lifetime for you? James T. Kirk, frankly. And I'm not kidding. One of the most iconic TV characters in the history of television, if not the most iconic. Truth.

And to be able to step in those shoes is, you know, beyond, you know, for me and honor. Yeah. Nathan Jay I wanted to say thank you Sorry I keep you doing that My friend whiskey love my friend Whitney Whiskey because I'm doing the beer bin thing My friend Whitney loved Vampire Diaries

It was her favorite show of all time She sadly passed in 2020 But she went to her grave loving Stefan and Stefan Stefan Stefan Stefan and Damon And Damon So thank you a million times For giving her an hour of peace each week

For eight years Wow Jesus thank you That is you know When I hear that And I've heard that First of all, it's so beautifully said, thank you for telling me that. But, you know, when I hear these things, which I don't know if you do any of these fan conventions and these things, I get that a lot.

People will tell me their story. They get through something or, hey, you know, I was really sick for X amount of, you know, months and I watched your show. It had helped me feel less lonely. And I am just always, I forget the power of television. I forget how powerful it is. So, you know, when you have your work affect someone in a positive way. And I'm so sorry for your loss, but I'm glad that I was able to, you know, be a part of that happiness while she was here.

Well said. Yeah. It's something that when you hear, it's just like, you can't believe it. You're like, really? Yeah. This show did. Yeah. You know, it's a cool thing.

Lastly, have you ever deal with anxiety or depression? Do you ever go through that? Yeah, dude. You do. Oh my God. Because we talk about that a lot in the show and I always deal with it. We both, Ryan goes therapy. I go to therapy.

I go to the listeners. I, my head was spinning last night. I didn't sleep. I slept for a few hours, but I'm a little out of it today because my head, I overanalyze things. I get anxiety. I start thinking about stuff. And I'm a generally very happy guy. But for whatever reason, my head spins.

I get a ton of anxiety. It's something I inherited from, you know, my mom who's very anxious. You know how that is. Oh, my God. And a lot of it, too, is like, you know, your genes can literally be affected through trauma of your ancestors. So who knows, you know, I don't know if your family's been to anything, but just even the war, my family's been to the war in World War II. And I'm sure I've inherited some anxiety from, you know, my grandparents and great grandparents. So, yeah, manic depressive, depression and all that stuff can be. And I believe, you know, my mom definitely gave me a lot of that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, it's just something that I try to deal with. But I think openly talking about it and not being ashamed of it and saying, yeah, I get a ton of. A ton of a ton of. anxiety i get depressed all the time do you go to therapy um yeah i'm in fact i'm going to therapy after this podcast you what time is it well i'm not gonna go it's just it's just like we're gonna do a zoom

that's good i think it's important to be consistent oh yeah i love therapy i think it's just so important better help is one of our sponsors by the way and it just like everyone uses it yeah like because it's you know it's like i'm just just try it i think people are scared meditation is very helpful too yeah uh yeah therapy finding a good therapist talking you know just being open what do you think your lowest point in your life was where you were just like so down that you didn't think you could turn it around but you did somehow yeah um man it was actually probably season believe it or not season two of the vampire airs which it was a huge hit show everything was great and i fell into this like crazy depression crazy do you know why it was a series of events

that led to that, um, some personal things. And I just, uh, man, I was in such a hole that my parents had to, like, fly out to like check on me. That's how bad it was. Yeah. But I got out of it, man. I got out of that. That's the thing. You have to see a light. Like I always tell people who are like, you know, even like if you do like a cameo or something like that, whatever, like my friends in deep depression and, you know, can't get out. I'm like, listen. Yeah. You're 30. Yeah. Right. I'm 50. I'm 50. I'm 50. You've got a lot of life. And it's called life. You're going to have the lowest of lows.

Everyone has it. Man, I was like 29 or whatever, 28. I don't even know. I was 28 years old. And I literally was having a hard time finding a reason to get out of bed. And I was on a hit show. I was like, you know, quote unquote famous. I had money.

I was on this thing. And I was just like, why am I alive? that's i was in a depression for whatever reason um and then just it just i snapped out of it and now i look back at it and i go oh man like if i only knew then what i know now you know and i because it was just this random depression i'm glad you got out of it thank you yeah i've been there too you know we had a guess alan rich and remember i had no idea but he started opening up and i said so have you ever been that well he goes oh yeah he's got kids and the wife and he had just gotten so depressed that he went in his attic or something and he tried to hang himself oh wow and he actually hung himself

and he says thank god that i was strong enough i he goes when they say you see your life passed before you wow is real wow a whole life passed before me and i somehow had the strength hold myself out of the whatever you know oh yeah yeah and that was just like it scares me even more because i don't think i'm strong enough wow yeah well don't don't don't don't think of that i do what i That's it, you know, but no, God forbid. No. No, but it's like, you know, people opening up about that stuff. And by the way, Greg's been great.

Yeah, isn't he fantastic? How was he doing? What's he doing there? Greg's just hanging out. He's just chilling, oh. This has been great. Yeah, man. I only, you got here a little late, so that's why we went a little over, but it's only probably an hour and five minutes.

You don't mind. Not at all, but I was making sure. Are we good? Not at all. Yeah. This is great. This is so good. Yeah, man.

It was so easy to talk to you. Thank you. I feel like, you know, I never, we never knew each other. No. We laughed. We said, go fuck yourself. But we didn't like. Well, you told me to go fuck myself.

I was a guest or I couldn't tell you to go fuck yourself. You never said it once? I'll tell you right now, go fuck yourself. Thank you. Yeah. This has been a fantastic ride. I hope you come back on some time. And you know what?

I'd love if you took, I said, hey, come on a hike. It's only like an hour, hour and a half. Yeah, man. Come with me. I'll show you some cool places. I will. If you do that, I will do it. And bring your dog.

Yeah. I'll bring Blanche. Maybe not the pup so early. Don't bring the pup. No, that could be a pain in the ass. Yeah. Yeah, you'll end up carrying the pup. But bring Blanche.

Yeah, I don't want to do that. Yeah. Thanks for coming. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. Good dude. Good dude. Really, solid.

Solid dude. I was, he was just, I didn't know because it's been so many years. And he has big fame. He's got a big following. You don't know how people are going to react. And he just feels like he's unfazed. Maybe he was more phased when he was. younger but now just seems like he's got it going on and like that song you look like a lot of

songs something's mom has got it going on Stacy's mom Stacy's mom so if you look if you're here for Paul Wesley and you really enjoyed the interview I hope you did please subscribe listen to the podcast even if you don't know every guest you'll learn something from each guest I do it helps me with my anxiety and I learned so much from these so Thank you. And, of course, patreon.com slash talkville if you want or slash inside of you. Patreon.com slash inside if you want to join Patreon and help the podcast without my patrons, I wouldn't be here. I mean, I'd be here, but I wouldn't be here on the podcast. Does that make sense, Ryan? Yes, it does somehow. Let's give out the top tier names. Okay.

This is the patron shoutouts. One of my favorite moments. I'm going to look at it this time. Yeah. Maybe you should read out some names. I can do that. We can trade off. Yeah, why don't we do it? Nancy D. Leah and Kristen. Little Lisa, E. Kiko, Jill E. Brian H. Nico P. Robert B. Jason W. Sophie M. Raj C.

Joshua D. Jennifer N. What if I do a voice, then you have to match it. Okay. Stacey L. Jamal F. Jinal B. Eldon Suprimo 99 more. Santiago M. Ch. W. Lian P. Maddie S. Belinda M.

Dave H. Sheila G. Brad D. Rhy H. Tabitha T. You're not matching my voice. You're not rolling yours. Well, I was trying to do it,

but then it came Tabitha T and Tom N and Talia M. All right. Here we go. Betsy D, Angel M, Rian, C, Corey K, Dev Nixon. Michelle A. Jeremy C.

Brandy D. Joey M. Eugene and Leah. Corey. Jake B. Angela F. Mel S. Christine S. Erica. Eric H. Shane R. Andrew M. Tim L. I'm turning to something else. Amanda R. Jan B. Stephanie K. J. J. Jorel. Jamon J Leanne J Luna R Mike F Stone H

Brian L Kendall L Keros C Jessica B Kyle F it's kind of Napoleon isn't it

No I'll do him next Kyle F Marisol P Kayley J Mickey L Brian A Ashley F

Marion Louise L Gosh Romeo B Veronica Q Frank B Gen T Nikki L gosh

Alan H April R Cassie B Derrickan J.D it's not it J.D.W. Michelle L.

How did Ryan do, folks? You let us know. Medium. We love you. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you. Oh, from the Hollywood Hills in California. I'm Michael Rosenbaum. I'm Ryan Deas. A little wave to the camera. We love you guys. Be good to yourself. We'll see you.

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