Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Power’s GIANNI PAOLO: Ice, Camera, Action!

Episode Date: July 12, 2022

Gianni Paolo (Power, Ma) joins us this week and shares his story of going from a world class hockey player with a trajectory for the NHL to leaving that all behind and pursuing his passion for acting. Gianni talks about how his improv skills gained him more time and spin-offs in the Power universe on Starz while also gaining the props of its creator 50 Cent. We also talk about growing up humble after his father lost tens of millions of dollars in the dotcom bubble, his business venture with Keenan Thompson, and the switch in his life after being caught dealing as a teenager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget Online Casino is live, bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment

into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling problem call Connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over, physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details.

responsibly. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, but my voice sounds a little bit sexier or a little bit constipated. It's because I'm still jet-lacked, and I'm still like, oh, my lord, that flight from Australia has killed me. We're doing so. Sometimes we do intros for two weeks. So we have, you know, this episode, we had done this intro for, we did this intro last week.

I'm boring myself right now. Is that even possible? We have to, yeah, we're all jumping around the world. We're globetrotting. Yeah, we're going to stockpile some stuff. Yeah. Also, sexy and constipated at the same time? Yeah.

Is that possible? I mean, if one man can do it. Let me see if I could do it in the scene. Watch. Hey. It's basically Clint Eastwood, isn't it? How are you? Well, I've had a long flight.

I've taken my X and it's clocked me up. Guys, thanks for listening to the podcast today. Welcome. Hopefully you'll enjoy today's podcast. I've got a youngster on today. Love this guy. He's his career is booming. And he's a friend of mine. We play hockey together. And it was good to have him in the studio. He was really fun. He was he's so full of life. I remember what that was like to be so full of life to have just everything seems so possible. Where did that go? good lord son where did it go where did it go I'm serious man before we get into that big reminder everyone

tomorrow is the launch of Talkville that's right the Smallville rewatch podcast that Tom Welling and I are doing if you loved Smallville and you want to have a little revisiting where this all started

make sure you tune in Wednesday July 13th to wherever you get your podcasts and to get to see more cool stuff we're doing, head over to Talkvillepodcast.com. That's T-A-L-K-V-I-L-E podcast. Talkvillepodcast.com. Don't miss this, folks.

Mark it down. This is going to be an adventure. Ryan will be there. I will be there. Talkville podcast. All right, back to the Inside of You podcast now. I just wanted to promote that. I've got a great episode today.

You know, this guy's career is really blossoming. That's all I could say. I'm excited that he's on the show. I think he was a really fun guest. I think you're going to have fun with him. He's charming. I love the stories about his family or his dad would just look his ass.

I don't forget stuff like that. And the hockey stories where he sounds like he had a promising, like he could have made it as a hockey player. And shows the dark side acting without further ado. Oh, before we get into that, let me give you the handles. If you like the podcast today, you want to follow us at TalkVille podcast. I'm sorry. At Inside of You podcast on Instagram and Twitter.

At Inside You Pod. No, at Inside of You podcast on Facebook and Instagram. At Inside You Pod on the Twitter. See, I told you. Just what can you do? Also, if you want to join Patreon, Patreon, if you don't know what it is, it's a place where people give back to the podcast. So it keeps us running. keeps us afloat so if you love the podcast and you want to support it in any way go to

patreon.com slash inside of you p a t-r-e-on dot com slash inside of you you can become a patron i'll message you back thanking you right after you do it there's all different types of tiers you can be the top tier which gets boxes and sign stuff from me every four months and get your name shouted out on the podcast at the end so it's a it's a lot of fun patreon.com slash inside of you um and without further ado i think oh by the way the inside of you online store has tons of great merch if you want merch we've got so much new stuff inside of you glasses uh mugs tumblers smallville stuff check it out the inside of you online store without further ado let's get inside of giani peolo it's my point of you you're listening to inside of you with michael rosenbaum

Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. Favorite horror movie you asked me, huh? Mm-hmm. You know, I came in with the burning hot questions. Burning hot. I love how the first question is for me. You like that? Yeah, it's fine.

I'm actually taking over, so. You could totally take over. Believe me, I'd like you to take over. I wish Ryan would take over sometimes. Ryan, take over, dude. Yeah, what's your favorite horror movie, Michael? I'm going to go with an easy one. You could say Ma is fine.

I mean, Ma is a great, scary movie. I mean, it is. It's not really a scary movie as much as it is a thriller. Yeah, it's a thriller, yeah. But The Shining. I'm throwing out my credits immediately. What? I said, I'll throw my credits the second I sit down.

Gianni immediately goes, Ma, Ma's a good horror movie. I'm like, all right, take it easy. Take it easy, Octavia Spencer. The Shining, yeah. Jeez, man. Here's the thing. I know this is going to be very controversial to say. I watch The Shining, and I watch the Shining,

and I was not impressed. Maybe because there's so much hype behind it. It was just slow. It's supposed to be. It's that slow burn. You're in this giant castle-like hotel. And yet you still feel claustrophobic. And it's dated, but it's still, I think it's so nostalgic to me.

That's why it's so good. But The Exorcist is a great one. Did that hold up for you? It did, a little more than The Shining. I love how I'd lost your entire audience within. No way. No, you did. I hate the shining.

No, no, no, it's a different, like, how old are you, 25? 25, yeah. You're 25 years old. This thing, this movie came out, uh, how old were you? 40 years ago. How old were you when it came out? Um, let's see, I was probably, I was a little boy, but it came out 1980. Yeah.

So I was eight years old. You were negative 25. Yeah, that's crazy. It's a, did you, have you seen the shining, Ryan? You haven't seen the shining? Wow. We gotta have a screening at my house. Well, what's your favorite horror?

movie. I'm a scream fan just because I love like I just love the comedy aspect and because that's just you know who I am too so I love I love scream yeah I'd have to go with that scream scream's a great horror movie but you can tell it's generational

yeah but I think across the generations because I think most I mean that was a huge movie successfully through every demographic I think from like 15 to like 60 people are loving that freaking movie you know what's crazy is I'm looking at you and I'm like this punk I've known you we played hockey together yeah and then like what five years ago something like that and then you're working for Theo von on his podcast and the next thing I know you have more followers than I have I mean you just like took off you got this power book two ghost on stars that just like it's it's like one of their most popular shows it just took off we have this huge ratings and like millions of followers like i don't even know where to begin with you so i was like you know he hasn't been working

that long you haven't done that much stuff yeah i mean you've been doing a lot lately but i look at you i'm like how do you you're 25 years old and when what was the first thing you that hit the first the first thing i the first thing ever booked was a hulu show called chance was my first guest right right right and then i did a couple guest stars guest stars um and then ma was like kind of the big um one that i that i booked but i actually booked ma and then i booked my and then i booked my first co-star on power like a week later so and i was hanging out for a month before i even went them so i had two jobs in the can before i even went and shot any of them wow yeah and this happened when so this was december of 2018 i i booked i booked my december what the gardeners they come

they came at this exact i thought it was your dog i thought it's your dog i was like you well that is my dog yeah but the gardeners are outside but go ahead yeah so So December 2018, I booked Ma and I booked Power right back to back. I went and filmed my first co-star, not my first co-star, but my first day on power, because originally I booked it as a co-star. Right. And then- So you had no idea that they were going to keep you around. No, so basically what happened is I booked it as a co-star and I had two scenes.

And it was just an asshole, like, rich white CW character. Right. So it was like a skeleton crew. I worked as a local hire, so I lost like $2,000. I flew myself in because they shoot that in New York. I obviously live here. But my family is from Rhode Island, so I was like, I'll make a trip out of it. Yeah.

Providence, right? Yeah, Providence, yeah. So I went to New York and we shot it. And thank God the director, because, you know, the sides where I was trying to buy pills from Tarek, my roommate at the school show, but it was one scene. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, let me buy pills. And it was just an asshole wearing sparries, this and that. What are sparries?

it's like boat shoes it's like what every rich asshole from nantucket wears you know what I mean are those those actually in fact yeah he's wearing sparries oh those are the sneakers these are they're not like boat shoes they're not the boat shoes oh I know what you're talking about no laces yeah it's terrible right right so I was gonna say I'm wearing parries but no the ass just kind of came off the bottom yeah no those are cool those are sneakers yeah those are all right I like those yeah so the director was like okay the next two takes are yours because I knew what I was there for Like, I'm not trying to make it about myself, this and that. I go there, I do what I was supposed to do, and whatever.

So she's like, next two takes years. So I just improv, like crazy. I totally changed the character. I made him funny. I didn't make him an asshole, you know, white character, this and that, which kind of is the way it was written. And I just changed it. And then, you know, a couple months later when the show came out, that's what made the cut. And nothing that was originally written made it.

So, yeah, it was really interesting. Well, how do you learn, where did you learn to improvise? I did on stage at UCB in Groundings for years. years. I did, I was, I performed pretty much at every indie improv show in LA for three years. So when she said the next two takes are yours, I was like, got it. I know what I need to do. But now, are you improvising with someone who knows what they're doing as well? I'm in, uh, my friend Michael has been on the show since he was 11 years old. So he never had to do any of that. Um, so he, he knows how to improvise, but like I, I, I knew what I was bringing to the scene. It's not about, you know, a lot of

people when they improvise on set, they're like, how do I give myself more lines? And I know that that's the downfall. That's the pit of death because then they're like, oh, it's like, how do you make this scene and this character better? How do you make the show better? So that's the way I approached it. Ah. So then I got to- Sure. Way beyond your years, my friend. Yeah. And I was 21 at that 22 when I shot that. So then whatever, a couple months go by. I saw it. And then they call me, they said, oh, we wrote you a whole storyline for season six. So I was like, oh, dope. So I come back and they're paying you more they're flying you out now fly me out they're putting you up all right all right good so they wrote me a whole storyline and i show up and the first person i see is 50

cent at breakfast and he comes up to me and he goes um uh we like keep doing what you're doing we we loved you you killed it and i was like holy shit like 50 because he's yeah he's one of the executive proof of the show he was a main character on it for five seasons four seasons um so it was just i was like oh my god that's crazy and then the showrunner came up to me me at the table read um which i was so nervous for and because my first table read she came up to me and she's like keep doing what you're doing improv whatever you want add whatever in um i know you know what you're doing and that kind of gave me permission to just go because if the showrunner's coming up to you and say that so it just became this whole thing and you do you improvise every

episode you're in every scene you're in not no no no not every scene i'm in because some of the more serious scenes are like exposition yeah you don't need to do that you don't need it and i'm not like that where I'm like, I need to do this. Maybe sometimes in a take, I'll, like, switch a couple words around to make it feel a little fresh because our writers are very collaborative like that. But if it's comedy, which my character does have a lot of that, I will have four or five different jokes ready to go to switch, switch, switch each scene. And they eat it up.

Eat it up. Love it. They don't tell you to back off. They just keep it coming. Never because I'll always do it as scripted at least one time. And then they have it. And then I want to go. Do you have a lot of lines for the most part?

In ghosts? yeah yeah a lot i mean season one it was um you know the biggest work workload i've ever had season two it got you know a lot bigger i was like wow and now season three it's like working every day how do you uh what's your work ethic i mean how long does it take you to learn lines uh in the beginning in the beginning um i i i run it like i used to run it like crazy you know when you first get on a show you're like i need to show up with every single line i need to know this like but and now you're like three seasons in you're like okay let me do it a couple times and i'll play with it when i get there right so i'll just

face time a little brother at night and he'll run it with me two or three times so you still run lines with someone you're yeah you run lines every night with your brother yeah my little brother how old is he he's 22 and what does he live providence no uh me and both my brothers live uh uh all together here in l a you live with your brothers yeah well i i should when i shoot new york i'm there um so what kind of place you guys you have like this palatial you know yeah it's nice i mean we're we're about to buy my house. So that's going to be a thing where it's going to be like a, you know, a pad. But right now it's just like it's a condo that we all are in right now and one of my best friends lives with us too. So it's us four. And we have literally the most fun. Like when I get

home from set, I just sit on FaceTime with them for like an hour, two hours at night if I'm playing video games. Sometimes we won't even talk for like 20 minutes. But I just like want to feel like I'm there like when I get home and I'm tired. You know what's funny is I always, I love FaceTiming. It's the best. You know, and sometimes, in fact, when I meet a girl online in a dating app. I'll say, let's FaceTime immediately. I don't like FaceTime. I want to get to, I want to see if I want to go out with you.

Yeah. I don't know you. Yeah. I don't want to just take a chance of going out with someone I don't know. Yeah. And I like FaceTime. Why are you FaceTime? I'm like, yes, I faceTime with my grandma.

I FaceTime with my friends. I face time with anybody. I love FaceTiming. I find it weird, though. I find it weird if you FaceTime someone you've never met. I don't, I don't think so. It's just like an action. Hey, how are you?

Oh, cool. What do you do? I make people feel comfortable. And then afterwards, I'll be like, no, I'm not going to go out. Or I'm like, hey, she seems really cool. Yeah. I'm going to go out on a date with her. I mean, it's one of the greatest things Steve Jobs ever did.

You know what I mean? FaceTime. I mean, whoever thought we would be able to FaceTime? It's pretty crazy. It's pretty crazy. But you don't think it's that cool to do it like in the first meeting. I don't know. I think it's like a Zoom or an interview.

Yeah, it's like interviewee and you don't really know them. So like me, I could talk to anybody. Me too. So that's why I don't think it's bad because I'll make you feel comfortable. Exactly. but a lot of times you can tell that they don't know what to say and then you have to keep talking to like you know keep the conversation going and then I'm searching for stuff and then it's like okay well this was fun it's just like weird yeah yeah I like meeting someone and getting their

energy um and like because I feel like you don't get people's energy on face time there's no energy yeah it's hard it's hard to get their person or sometimes you do sometimes their personality doesn't shine through because it never will yeah yeah you know what I mean that's you know sometimes I'm like, I'm not going to, this is like, I just can't do this. Yeah. You know, it's like, yeah. Are you a big dating app guy? I mean, I'm trying.

I'm just trying to put myself out there. I figure the more conversations, the more FaceTime, the more coffee dates, I don't go out in a dinner or anything unless I like someone. Never. Are you ripping Raya or what? I'm on, I'm on some of the dating sites. You're a fucking legend over there. But you know what?

I saw that girl just leave out of the theater. Yeah, you wish. I wish it was that easy. No. I, uh, I went out on a coffee date with someone and, uh, you know, I, I, I, she doesn't look at your pictures. She just, I just, I just, it's so easy to edit yourself now. It's so easy. And I get anxiety. I look out as fuck on social media now. It's so easy to just edit yourself. I mean, are you in a dating app? I mean, I'm on Raya, but I just feel like it's. Do you have shots of you that

look like you? See, you're one of those guys that every picture you take looks like you because you're a good looking guy. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I don't not like that. I'm the one that's got like, just try to take good shots. Because they're not every shot. a good shot. Nah, you're a trip. No, I'm telling you, I'm getting old, and it's just like, fuck. 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. And as always, Quince is where I'm turning for fall staples that actually last. from cashmere to denim to boots the quality holds up and the price still blows me away quince has the kind of fall staples you'll wear non-stop like super soft 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters

starting at just 60 bucks yeah i'm gonna get you one of those i think i like to see you in a cashmere maybe a different color so we don't look like twins their denim is durable and it fits right and their real leather jackets bring that clean classic edge without the elevated price tag And what makes Quince different, they partner directly with ethical factories and skip the middlemen. So you get top tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands. These guys are for real. They have so much great stuff there that you just have to go to Quince. Q-U-I-N-C-E.

I'm telling you, you're going to love this place. Keep it classic and cool this fall with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to quince.com slash inside of you for free shipping on your order. and 365-day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash inside-of-you. Free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash inside-of-you. Inside-of-you is brought to you by Rocket Money.

I'm going to speak to you about something that's going to help you save money, period. It's Rocket Money. It's a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your sales, savings. This is just some wonderful app. There's a lot of apps out there that really, you know,

you have to do this and pay for and that. But with Rocket Money, it's, they're saving you money. You're getting this app to save money. I don't know how many times that I've had these unwanted subscriptions that I thought I canceled or I forgot to, you know, the free trial ran at Ryan. I know you did it. That's why you got Rocket Money. I did. Yeah. And I also, I also talked to a financial advisor recently and I said I had rocket money and they said that's good this will help you keep track of your budget see see it's only we're only here the pros we're only trying to give you you know things that will help you so rocket money really does that rocket money shows you all your expenses in one place including subscriptions you forgot about if you see a subscription you no longer want

rocket money will help cancel it rocket money will even try to negotiate lower bills for you the app automatically scans your bills to find opportunities to save and then goes to work to get you better deals. They'll even talk to the customer service so you don't have to. Yeah, because I don't want to. Press one now if you want, oh, get alerts if your bills increase in price, if there's unusual activity in your accounts, if you're close to going over budget, and even when you're doing a good job, Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions With members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features,

cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum.

Rocket Money. Inside of you is brought to you by Rocket Money. If you want to save money, then listen to me because I use this. Ryan uses as so many people use Rocket Money. It's a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions. Crazy, right? How cool is that? Monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

And you know what's great? It works. It really works, Ryan. Rocket Money will even try to negotiate lowering your bills for you. The app automatically scans your bills to find opportunities to save and then goes to work to get you better deals. They'll even talk to customer service. Thank God. So you don't have to.

I don't know how many times we talk about this, but like, you know, you got it and they helped you in so many ways. And with these subscriptions that you think are like, oh, it's a one month subscription for free and then you pay, well, we forget. We want to watch a show on some streamer and then we forget and now we owe $200 by the end of the year. They're there to make sure those things don't happen, and they will save you money. You know, Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Get alerts if your bills increase in price, if there's unusual activity in your accounts, if you're close to going over budget, and even when you're doing a good job.

How doesn't everybody have Rocket money? it's insane cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with rocket money download the rocket money app enter my show name inside of you with michael rosenbaum in the survey so they know that i sent you don't wait download the rocket money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show hey what you grew up in providence yeah and were you were your mom and dad together growing up yeah they're still together they're still together actually funny my mom's out here now she flew in last night and my dad flies in friday so we're all how old's your mom my mom is 55 yes your mom's five years older than me how old your dad uh my dad's 52 or 51 wow yeah

that's like my mom my mom's 75 my dad's 70 nice so mom went after a younger guy nice now did so did you have a pretty good upbringing yeah I mean so we weirdly like I grew up when I was real young my dad had like a hundred million dollars he was huge wait wait wait wait wait when you were young your dad had a hundred million i was like three my dad was worth like a hundred million dollars is this before the big crash yeah yeah so he he he i think he's still like one of the top five um biggest largest IPO openings on wall street ever um he he was like in the dot com boom like it was a company called log on america holy shit by the time i was six he was worth absolutely nothing. Nothing. When you say nothing, not a dime. How do you lose everything? I'm not a hundred

percent sure, like, because it's still, I've never really had, you know, that in-depth conversation about it. From what my understanding is, the company's stock was going down. He was 28, 30 or something like that. So he's that, the company stock was going down. And I think he was using his own money to buy more stock in the company to keep it up, which is legal, but it's not smart because you're buying your own business that's tanked. Right, right. So, yeah. So I never, we had like a, you know, we had things like we lived in this big house. But by the time I was six, the lights were getting shut off. There was no, like the cars were getting repossessed.

Like I, we were dead broke. We couldn't even eat dinner. So, how old are you? I was, so six to 12, we were pretty destitute. Really? Yeah. And then when I was 14 to 18 in high school, he had money again. He's like an entrepreneur.

So he'll have a business and it'll be going well. But he became a millionaire again? Not a millionaire, but we were comfortable where, where I, where I was like, you know, we had vehicles, like he was able to get me a car, like, stuff like that. So I'm super grateful by the way I, uh, from the way I grew up because I experienced absolute poverty and I experienced, you know, uh, you know, going. So you're humble.

You were humbled as well are your parents. And I'm so, so, so grateful that that's what happened because if my dad had a hundred million dollars when I was in high school, I wouldn't be here. You'd be a wreck. I'd be a fucking nightmare. Were you a nightmare in high school? Were you kind of like a partier or party animal? So I...

You played hockey. Yes. Yes. So basically what happened was when I was 12 was my 12 and 13 were my rebellious years. I got cut from this hockey team because... So I went to Long Island to play. I would drive up every weekend and I played for the team called the Long Island Gulls. We were like third ranked in the entire world.

Are you serious? Yeah. And... You were that good. So my summer team when I was 12 was Connor McDavid, Daniel Sprong, you know, Jack Eichol. You play with the... these guys? Yeah. Oh, insane. Like Samuel Blair. Like I go... Were you one of the good players, too? Yeah, it was top four, top four defensemen on this team. Um, I've literally, I think I played with almost

one person on every NHL team right now. Um, what? Yeah. So that was, that was anybody in the Rangers? Uh, Vittrano. Franki, just got traded to the Rangers. Yep. Sorry if we're boring you with hockey. Yeah. Yeah. This is pretty intense. He's obviously, he's playing with elite players. So we're going to have to get to the question of why didn't you, you know, you get there. Yeah. So Jimmy Veezy, he obviously, he was my ticket plug before. Brennan Lemieux was my ticket plug before. He's one of my closest friends in the world. So he just got traded to L.A. So, yeah, there was a lot of guys that on the Rangers. Yeah. And so what was it like in high school? So you were like, so when I was 12, I started selling weed and I got cut from this team and I was like, why did you get cut? Because I didn't live there. But then they did, I didn't live on Long Island. So I didn't go to practices. I was, I lived in Rhode Island. So for. some reason that the coat there was a new coach that came in he just cut me and he's like i don't even care i don't care who this kid is i want to make my own team so he just caught me like a week before the season started how old are you uh 12 or 13 oh my god so then that's when i went through my

rebellious years i started hanging out with the wrong kids you know selling drugs doing this so this was all sort of preparation for the role that you're playing yeah yeah exactly that's why i feel like i play it so well because i've experienced all this um so that and then i did all my parents caught me i got caught smoking weed i got caught doing all this stuff and i remember seeing the disappointed my my dad my dad took me out the lunch and i remember him being like like he didn't want to bring up he was like what are we going to do about this and i remember thinking all because two years prior i'm playing with connor macdabre we're going to all these tournaments i'm you know one of the best ranked teams in the country and then two years later you're dealing drugs so i'm like

fuck like did you say what are you doing you lost millions of dollars yeah yeah you lost 80 mil what the I'm trying to sell weed to keep this family aflo. I'm trying to make 80 bucks. You lost 80 mil. What the fuck is this? Jesus. But, okay, so you have this conversation, which it would never be with my dad. My dad would have been just, you're going a halfway house.

You're out of the fucking house. Yeah, but usually my dad would beat my ass because he's punched me in the face hundreds of times and I've deserved it. But your dad has punched you in the face. Oh, yeah. But like, not in like a, in like a, you fucking know you deserve that. And I'm like, yeah. Like kind of like a smack.

Not like a punch in the face. Like I beat the shit out of my little brother one time. I don't remember what happened and I'm just way bigger than him and I shouldn't have done it, whatever. And then my dad just came downstairs drilled me once the face. My nose is bleeding and all this stuff.

And I remember him walking upstairs and I was like, yeah, I fucking deserve that. Really? Yeah. So, I mean, I had great parents growing up but I just, you know, you just fall into the wrong crowd sometimes. Like, it's your surroundings.

Was your dad a tough Italian guy that were getting fights at bars or getting... Not really because he was a known businessman in Rhode Island, so he wouldn't really do that. But, you know, he's got a lot of friends and people and, Providence, Rhode Island, et cetera, et cetera. So, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what conversations did he was just like, hey, did you step up after that? Did you change the way? I 1.80 because I saw how disappointed he was. Hold on a second. See how loud this is now? Yeah. But honestly, it's so weird because that noise brings me happiness because it reminds me

of being home. Oh, really? I love the leaf blower. You love the leaf blower? Well, we'll keep it in then, huh? Let's keep it in. But so you did a 180. Yeah.

You listened to your dad. unlike a lot of other 14 year olds or whatever if he was it if he was like you don't fucking this and that I wouldn't have but the way he did it I was like like did he do it where you disrespected me or you hurt my feelings none of that it was just I'm hurt I'm disappointed like I just like I can't believe where we were two years ago and now this is what you're doing like this and that and I was like did you cry I didn't cry but I was like did he cry uh no no did your mom cry it wasn't that serious no no one cried no one cried I'm my mom my mom was pretty upset but like I don't think she ever cried uh all right so you do a 180

you turn your life around yeah because you have this conversation with your mom my dad your dad so what happens what you just become a good poster child for uh don't do drugs so i went to a new school and then i joined a new hockey team so i was 14 playing on a junior uh hockey team most of the guys on team or 2021 um really yeah 19 to 21 19 20 21 was like and you're 14 i was 14 i remember my first day everyone was talking about this guy brian suey brian suey he just got out of jail he's our fighter and i'm like what the fuck like i'm 14 this guy just got out of jail but you dude did just deal yeah yeah true you're not like true you're right so i get to the rink and we have a um a preseason game the first shift this kid goes out and fights three people he's insane and I'm like this league is crazy

and it was like such an eye open experience I'm like holy were you like I got to get out of here no no no I loved it because I was fucking crazy like that I mean I was up by the time I was 15 I was fighting everyone in the league and I was fighting 20 year olds so wow you are you're fearless yeah in that sense like I was I was the fighter Reading, playing, learning. Stellist lenses do more than just correct your child's vision. They slow down the progression of myopia. So your child can continue to discover all the world has to offer through their own eyes.

Light the path to a brighter future with stellus lenses for myopia control. Learn more at SLOR.com. And ask your family eye care professional for SLOR Stellist lenses at your child's next visit. Ever wonder how dark the world can really get? Well, we dive into the twisted, the terrifying, and the true stories behind some of the world's most chilling crimes. Hi, I'm Ben. And I'm Nicole. Together we host Wicked and Grimm, a true crime podcast that unpacks real-life horrors one case at a time.

With deep research, dark storytelling, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, we're here to explore the Wicked. And Reveal the Grim. We are Wicked and Grim. Follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform. But by the way, there's something. to be said about wearing all that equipment, having a helmet, having all these things, and you get in a fight, you're thinking, I'm padded mostly. Yeah. You know, people think it's so gruesome in this and you punch in the face and stuff, but you are protected in a lot of ways and they're going to break it up. I mean, not in that league. They let them fight? Yeah, fighting was, it was, it's junior. So fighting's five minute fighting. Take your helmets and gloves off and these guys would just go at it. And I was, I came from youth hockey to that was my next year. I was like, oh my God. But then once I was there for like a month, I was like, okay, this is like, second. you know you were playing with the big boys and you're doing well are you scoring i'm doing well uh i don't think i played every game that season i think i got i think i only got scratched from like four

games because we were playing there was this team that i never played against because it was all 21 year old fighters right and the coach was like i'm just not going to play him because it's just not worth it um so but i had a good year like that was my one of my best years of hockey and then the following year was another one of my best years and that's when i got drafted in the quebec major junior hockey league so then that's when i was like Quebec midget major because there is a midget league yeah yeah yeah but the major was like just so people didn't think I was throwing out the word midget yeah no no no no there's a midget yeah not for midget

yeah midget yeah I'm getting myself in a hole here but it's true it's still called midget it's still been called midget yeah yeah it's like 18 or right 18 but go ahead so you get drafted in this Quebec major league Quebec major junior hockey league so that's where like Crosby came from like all these guys who who played um it's it's like the oh HL it's that the WHL and how old are you I'm 15 at this point. Wow. Yeah.

But so then that's when I start, you know, taking it really serious. But the acting kind of came in, you know, I always was the funny guy in the locker. I was the locker room guy. I just wanted to make everyone laugh. That's all I cared about. I obviously loved playing hockey. But I just remember being like I loved before and after. So when I was 12, the first thing that ever got, you know, put in my head when I was on that team in Long Island, right before I kind of, you know, went off the deep.

The Long Island goals. Yeah. this one of the coaches said to me um because i would make jokes and the kids wouldn't understand my jokes but the coaches would like swivel their head and go what did he just say because i had older brother is that you know right and i remember he said to me he's like you should do some type of acting or entertainment and i was like my thought process was he didn't want me to compete with his son so i remember shunning the acting and the entertainment for years because of that one thing he said i was like oh they want me to do this so i don't compete with their kids and it was just like

this strange narrative that I had in my head that I was like, I'm not going to do that because they don't want me to be objected because I was good when I was, you know, when I was younger. So then cut to 16, I moved to, um, Pennsylvania and I'm playing on a junior team there. Um, and I went to high school in Pennsylvania while I was playing. And that was my like kind of first acting class I took was at that school. It was just a beginner course. Yeah, because I didn't know anyone and I just hopped right in. I was like, oh, they're like, who's this? His new kid. Yeah. I think he's an athlete. Yeah. He's like, you know, what is he doing here? But weirdly enough, this school, this one school is called Holy Cross High School in Pennsylvania

and Scranton, there was like 20 Russian kids that went to the school that played hockey because the youth team, the U-16 team, there was no law on how many imports you could have. So the entire, yeah, yeah, it was there were literally the entire U-16 team was Russian. And this whole, every, you know, the high school halls were just filled with Russian hockey players. And they're all good. Oh, insane. I mean, Ivan Provarov, who's playing for, you know, the flyers like, all these guys who were who were top guys just went to this small school in pennsylvania it was

such a weird experience um so then that year and then the following year was when you know i really kind of got into acting they had you know you were good were people commenting on how how good you were your parents that was just kind there was no like scene work or anything like that it was just kind of like fun like playful you know like the zip zapsaps up like games like that and people were you know always thought it was funny but then when i really got into it was when I was still playing junior hockey all these years. So once you graduate from high school, you play four years, you know, you can play four years.

You still have two more years eligibility before you go play NCAA hockey. So I had two years of not being in high school, not doing anything, just playing hockey. That's when I went to, you know, Providence Performing Arts Center and, you know, Trinity rep and Providence Improv Guild, like all stuff like that. And that's when people are like, you're like good.

Did you love it immediately? Immediately. Because that first year out when I was playing, when I wasn't in high school was the worst year of hockey of my life and acting and comedy and improv became my like escape from how

terrible everything was going because two years before that I was trapped in the Quebec League I had all these you know colleges looking at me I did a official at Brown Princeton Yale Harvard all these places Were you training too hard and like doing acting wise or hockey hockey?

I was training insanely I would wake up at 5 a.m. I would go to the rink there was this guy who would open the the rink for me and then go home and sleep 5 a.m. I go to the rink and I do sprints. I do sprints. I did this like sprint workout and then I go, that was before when I was in high school my senior year. Jesus. And then I would go to school, go to practice afterwards, lift and then I would stay after the rink after and shoot like a thousand. So you wanted to be in the NHL. You wanted to get drafted. You wanted to do this. But in the back of my head, I didn't. I remember being

that one thing. That one thing that I think if you really want something, you got to go 100 million And that's the way I was with acting once I totally knew I didn't want to go hockey. So I had that little thing in the back of my head like, I want to be an actor. Do you ever regret it? Do you ever think for a second like, God, I would have loved to play in the NHL? Not a second. Not a second. I am so happy with the decision that I made.

Sometimes I have like, I have a recurring dream every like month or so. Let me guess the dream. Okay. That you're in a movie playing a hockey player. No, no, no, no. But I still want to do that. Yeah, yeah. to do that but it's um that i'm trying to be an actor but also juggle um playing junior hockey

and i'm like how am i going to make auditions i have practiced later i have this dream once a month it's insane still still wow how often do you play hockey still um when i'm in l a i'll play um you know thursdays with nat nat faxton on on the culvert 10 oh you got to let me know the next please do please do i'll play with you guys um and then when i'm in new york i play roller um on Monday night so I'll play a little roller um but yeah I play once a week wow yeah all right so all this you're playing hockey acting's in the back of your mind you're like that this is what I'm gravitating towards I this is this is what it is when was it that you felt like that that's it I got it I've got it like what was the one thing I hurt my shoulder my second year out of um of playing junior hockey

and I officially was like I'm done I'm done I'm done but I told my dad I was going to L.A. to my shoulder. I was like, oh, I'm going to rehab my shoulder in L.A. And he knew I was in, yeah, but he had no idea, like, what I really was going to do. I legitimately had, like, colleges that were wanted me to go there in schools like Princeton and stuff like that's my dad. That never even crosses mind that I would. You could have gone to these schools, too. Yeah, if I played one more year, you know, you were good enough. You would have excelled. Yeah, 100%. Right. Um, so I go, I moved to L.A. with my older brother. And I found an agent within, like, the first week I was here. And I was like, I'm not going back. How did you meet an agent? I set up in, how does one

meet an agent. I set up an LA casting profile and this guy reached out to me and I immediately started auditioning. I mean, I wasn't. What was his name? His name was Adam Park. And you just went to his office. I went to his office. I remember I did a self tape in like this, uh, it's like the seedy outdoor area. He like didn't have, he was like a smaller agent. Right. Um, yeah. And then he was like, yeah, you need acting classes and work, but I definitely think you were, um, you know, you could do well. And I was like, okay, great. So you went in acting classes? Yeah, I, I went hard in acting classes. I went. I was taking seven classes a week. I was doing five scene study classes, two improv classes. I was performing indie improv shows. I went insane. I was doing writing.

I had no idea you worked this hard. I thought you were just like a, you know, what do they call him? What do they call them? Influencer? No, a ticket. A ticket. A, you know, a good, you know, a, what do you call it? You just get the golden ticket. He just, he just, he just was. No, I grinded every second, every day. I wake up at 5 a.m. I go to the gym. Then I go open the restaurant that I work that. Then I would go to acting class at night. Then if I had, you know, an audition, I would read sides at night. Like, I was crazy. Everyone who knew me in acting class would, you know, would say this kid is insane. I had teachers telling me that I was working too hard. I was burning myself out. And I just remember being like, nope, I'm just going to get as good as I

possibly can. So you would do these scenes and know the scenes inside out and given a hundred percent and like, you know, just like, you could see that other people were giving maybe 20 percent, 50% 70% where you were the hardest working one in there by far and you you stand by that that's the that's and so that's kind of what made me show up to auditions and being like I deserve this more than everybody else because I put in 20,000 times of work any every that's your mentality even today going to audition you're like I deserve this I'm going to get this role you're not everything yep it's a competition yeah you don't get nervous when you go into audition I'm I used to a little bit but now I love it I love auditioning you are you always

prepared yes always always always always know your lines off book no matter what i one time i wasn't off book because i i was too obsessed with being off book and then um one of my friends was like go into this audition and don't remember matters anything and just just show how much it doesn't matter so i was like okay cool like i you got it no i didn't get it was for it was the one show that i shouldn't have done it for it was for um general hospital which is like you have to know the lines there 70 pages a day. This guy can't be off book for this one audition. But it did teach me something like it really didn't matter.

The guy didn't care. I was just, it just wasn't a good audition. When you, yeah. But, uh, yeah,

that's the one audition you should be off book for it. Well, when you are off book or when, let's say when you're reading off script. Yeah. When you're reading on an audition, are you not reading off the, your sides very often?

Not once. I don't look at it. Because if I, if I look at it, I'm out of the scene. That's what, that's what I think the casting director thinks so I never look at it one time. I don't think I've ever looked

at my sides once. I feel like if I had a teleprompter or an ear plug. Yeah, like S&L where they have the things up. Then I could, then I would excel. Yeah. I think I'm just too tired to audition anymore. Yeah. I mean, you get to that point where you're like, oh, I'm not I'm not, look, I'm not going to learn 10

pages of dialogue so they consider me for something. When's the last audition you went on? Do you still audition? I actually did. I auditioned for this movie with Jessica Chastain. Nice. Love it. I was in the running for this and um so i auditioned for that and that was like a month ago so nice nice um but i don't really yeah i mean but look i appreciate the work i mean you're 25 you're hungry you're going out there you're going to get it what do you where do you see yourself do you do you want to be

the guy who's at the academy awards you want to be considered a serious actor what do you what do you what is it you want i like i like are you just having fun and go hey i just have fun and i love being an entertainer and you know it's my passion this is the funest job and the world that I could possibly think of like I have fun every day I get on set I try and make everyone laugh the crew like it's the best job in the world yeah it's also the hardest because everyone wants to do it um but when you book a job like it's everything's so so fun yeah I see myself a little bit more like you know mark walberg as I could see that can't you I can totally see that like I want to do serious stuff but like I don't need to be the guy that's like oh you know I work you know

at the Academy Awards that's not me I'm not like a Hollywood type guy like I just you're a guy you play hockey yeah I like having fun hang out with your friends you hang out with your brother eventually I I see myself at that level of Mark Wahlberg you know of being that but not at a place where like I'm walking Phoenix or Christian bail and I'm losing 900 pounds for a roll it's just like that's just not fun for me do you I follow a fun and that's not fun for you do you still get starstruck at all um I'm trying to think the last time it's weird because I sadly like haven't Octavia Spencer you You had to get a little, maybe, a little bit in the beginning, right?

When you did, Ma? Yeah, when I first went in for that chemistry read, I was so nervous. And there was like eight people. And I remember walking in the first thing she said to me was, oh, damn, we got a young Tom Cruise. And I remember being like, oh, I'm good. Really? Yeah, I remember. You knew she liked you.

Everything went away, which I still, like, she literally texted me yesterday, screenshot Marlon Brando. She goes, this is literally you. You do have a resemblance to Brando. Yeah. And I was like, let's do this movie. she's like say less let's get it going so um i would love to do a marlin brando biopic that'd be so cool i could see it i could see look at him you know yeah i bet that would make your parents happy too yeah do they love what you're doing do they love it it's so funny because at first my dad

hated it he was like no this not my mom was like more the type of go chase your dreams and then he was on a red carpet with 50 cent he's like all right this is pretty cool it's like he was he was up he was for it immediately yeah he knew 50 cent No, he knew, yeah, he knows me 50 cent. I mean, I grew up, like, since I was real young, I actually posted a picture on Instagram, like, a couple weeks ago. It was me six years old at a hockey tournament in Las Vegas, and I have a G-unit T-shirt on.

Six years old. I listened to Eminem when I was like five, six, seven, eight. I think that's why I was so crazy because all this music and, you know, I was listening to NWA and, you know, method band, like all these people when I was that young. Public enemy. Everything. Fight the power. Yep.

Remember that song? Yeah, all right. Do you have a text with 50 cent? Sometimes, I mean, he's a little bit more. He's kind of in a tiff with stars about what's going on with his shows. Really? Yes, because he, I don't really know the logistics of it. So he doesn't come to set like he used to.

He used to come all the time. But right now, you know, he's got his other stuff going on. So we used to talk more. But, I mean, he's so supportive. He's always so nice. he comes to set um he's like make videos do whatever like we have so much fun but yeah i wish i wish the relationship was like it used to be when i was power season six because he was happy as a clam he had four spin-offs with them this and that um yeah what is this it's power book there first it was

power was on power originally and then power book two and then power book two is just a continuation of power book three power book three raising canaan is a prequel of 50 cent character because he died it's a prequel of him growing up and then power book for force yes that's um that's uh my buddy Tommy Tommy Tommy was just in the podcast was he yeah it was great I don't fucking do this through these rosy but I'm gonna do it for you I love him so much he's so fantastic you worked with him no but I'm just a huge sons of anarchy fan yeah he's great um so yeah that's that's four so that's a character that was originally in power he escaped the feds

and went to Chicago and that's his story there wow so how many episodes is this have you done since power and then power book i did probably 35 at this point 35 yeah how many more i mean they wanted to go for a long time like i how long did you sign on for seven years i think but i mean they just get you they sign you off at any time yeah but they sign you on yeah forever yeah i mean that's a long time but nowadays you're only doing what eight to ten episodes a season yeah it's 10 episodes and you work like what four months six months six months yeah six because it's our our drama in new York. It's not easy. Is it hard work? It's hard work. Are you exhausted by the end of the days?

Yes. I'm exhausted middle day. I'm like, oh, fuck. I'm not going to get it. Because I'm also like high comedy and this and that. And then some scenes I'll have this. There's a lot of physical stuff you need to do running, fighting, like whatever, crazy shit. So that's a lot of work. But a lot, like since we're dealing drugs, we'll shoot in, you know, bad areas and in Brooklyn and Queens, night shoots all the time. It's freezing cold. It's hard. It's always fucking cold in New York. It's hard work. Sorry for the F-bomb. It is my dad lives there and I'm like, Dad, it's either too freaking hot or freezing for seven months a year. Anybody who loves New York, I like to visit now every once in a while, but I can't live there. And I used to live there. And I'm from New York.

So don't bad mouth me. I'm a big fan of the Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Giants, but I'm telling you, New York's always effing cold. Yeah. Always. And it used to be, our schedule used to be October to April, but since COVID, it's now pushed to January to July. So you still get some warm months. but yeah it's it is hard work sometimes i'm like oh my god like and then i talk to people who you know i have a friend who's on the conners and she's like yeah we shoot on the stage and like cbs like it's warm out it's hard it's like you're a sitcom you go in you do one you know what i mean you do a day of rehearsal and then you shoot the live show like we're shooting from six o'clock at night to six in the morning night shoots in snowing weather oh god and what do you and at the

same time don't you train every day yeah i go to the gym at every single For hours. And you box. Yeah, I box. I do Jiu-Jitsu. I do Muay. I love it. Is boxing, does that keep you in shape more than any other sport, you think?

Um, it doesn't keep, I think it would help your cardio. But for me, when I boxed a lot, it made me look, um, too small. And now this season, you know, my character is getting even more and more darker. So I want to look big. I want to like be able to be menacing and be strong and be tough. So I had to actually stop doing a lot. of my, you know, boxing, Moitai Jujitu, because I was doing too much cardio and I had to lift weights more.

So that's what you're doing now? Yeah. So you're lifting weights. Yeah. Every day. Every day. Two hours. Legs.

I don't do legs because my legs can't fit. Because I played 20 years of hockey. So your legs are just already in shape. Yeah. My legs, I already have to get custom pants at wardrobe. Like wardrobe has to make pants for me because I can't fit my legs in normal pants because of hockey. are you serious yeah it's crazy you're lucky i have the skinniest fucking legs ever and i played

hockey most of my life in other sports i just had skinny legs about you ryan what i'm i got skinny legs no but he's like i got spary jeans i got spary jeans i got spary jeans uh people got some questions for you this is called shit talking with giani paolo it's paolo right paolo though but here's the thing but it looks paolo here's the thing it's payolo it's been payolo for two you know my grandfather my dad um so i've always said paolo my older brother says paolo now for some reason but he also goes to subway and's like muzzarel so i'm like uh i'm not going to take what you say serious ever you know what i mean he'll call me but he's like paolo i'm like it's palo i'm like it's paolo yeah peyolo yeah did you have a

big upbringing like a italian upbringing like big italian family huge talk about that for a second what's it what's that like was it fun oh it's the most fun i mean my whole family's insane like if you met my dad you would go this guy it's fucking how does he talk he's just very Rhode Island and animated and he's very similar to me like we're similar people um but yeah he's my mom's crazy my whole family's fucking nuts well would he admit i'm sorry we're not supposed to wear you said sorry no no no no but what he no you i try not not to f bomb just for because it's i hate always i just yeah i don't give i don't give it s yeah yeah i don't really eff and care about i don't eff and care you can go s a d for all i

at um no but like if you asked him like is he is he very like uh you know does he like talking about like the past you're dad remember punching me in the face he will he will he remembers things like that yeah he'll talk oh yeah he brings it up because yeah you were pain in the ass it's one story my older brother was he my older brother had this mustang when he was 17 he would you know whip around the streets with this and that one time my dad saw him on the road going like so we had you know what a billet kid is no so when i was 14 we had a had a kid from um i had a kid from russia i had a kid from connecticut and a kid from massachusetts come and stay at my house in rhode island and live with our family to play in the junior

hockey yeah i was on the junior b team so i was 14 and he was on the junior a team which was like jimmy v z like all these kids who are nchl players now charlie coyle so these kids played on uh two were on my team and one were one was on the junior a team so it's the kid's first day staying with us my he gets in the car my older brother and my older brother's whip into the streets whatever it's nighttime so my brother didn't really see my dad so my dad starts following him through the streets and he's flashing his lights flashing his lights to my older brother my old brother's like who the hell is this so he stops at the stop sign he puts car in parking he gets out and he turns around and he's like what the fuck and it's my dad and he just punches him square in the face don't ever drive like that

on these streets this and that punch him square in the face he's bleeding he gets back in the car I'm really close with the kid who used to live with us so I remember him the kid's like he's like horrified he's like I have to live with his family for the next eight months oh my god he was like silence in the car and my older brother's like just bleeding all over the place I love how you like Italians I haven't a friend Tommy Caprio and he always talks about oh yeah we used to get beatens all the time yeah you know my dad would beat me beat my little brother Joey it's like we deserve it we got beat 100% and people are like you know nowadays you don't touch your kids you don't hit your kids I disagree with that because yeah you do yeah I disagree that I mean I just but do you think you you the father should punch us son square in the face. I would say every situation is different. But for us, 100%, we were little assholes. And you could take a punch. Easily.

Was he a big guy? Yeah, my dad's, my dad's pretty ripped. Like, he's pretty big dude. And he'd go full punch? Full punch. Did anyone ever stand up and punch him back?

No. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Even to this day, you wouldn't do it. That'll be it. Nope. Never. He'd kill you? Yeah, he'd kill us. Never.

But you think that... And now he has a carry, so he's always got a gun on him. I'm like, I'm good. He carries a, a gun yeah because he does security now he does like security um uh he has his company called skypath security where they go and they do threat assessments and like schools and stuff like that right so he always has a gun and i'm like i'm good you think that like in a childhood like this i mean you you you're you seem pretty freaking normal with all stuff you did but i think that's why i am

normal it's like the kids who had like hollywood childhoods like they're fucking insane yeah they're like they're like they grow their hair out so they yeah like brad pit or something and they and they just give them a skateboard and they all act like assholes yeah i don't really I don't even care, Mom. I don't even care. I'm not listening to you. And they're smoking pot at like nine. Think about the economic state of the world.

Like, just stuff like that wasn't me. Garbage. Garbage. Yeah. So you really like appreciate your parents. Oh, yeah. And your mom, she was loving. I love you, son. Your dad too, I love you.

Give me a hug. Give me a kid that used to give you a kiss. Yeah. My dad wasn't really affectionate, but my mom was very affectionate. And for some reason, I was never affectionate until I got an acting class and like had to like submit to being like vulnerable and open. So my mom used to call me her prickly pair when I was in, I remember I was young. I was like 11, 10, 11, because she would like give me affection.

I hated it. I hated it. I don't know what it was. Really? And then now I'm like a little more open to it, but I'm still like. What about with women? Like when you date a girl, are you, are you affectionate? I don't really, I don't know.

Like, PDA is like the worst thing in the world to me. You will knock your public display. I will never, ever, ever, like, hug or kiss my girl. You won't hold a hand? Uh-uh. It's like. And they hate it because you won't. Yeah, I just do not like it.

I want everybody to know I'm your. girl yeah yeah and i struggle and i'm not a relationship guy at all i struggle well you're 25 you don't really need to think about that right yeah i fact i would i don't think you need to worry about it for 10 years yeah agree just don't agree like focus on your life focus in your career do you get any anxiety ever do you ever get anxiety or any depression or you've never really experienced you seem like such a happy guy that nothing really affects you obviously i do like i go through it but i'm just so motivated and i have so much fun i'm grateful for my life so and every all the work I put in everything I just know it's going to work out so I don't really

stress like that like sometimes stuff creeps in where you're like okay like when the show's over like stuff like that sure but I don't that's gone away now because I'm like I know what my path is and I'm not worried you know and you're starting a business now yeah I read this with your with your buddy from power yeah my co-star I'm like a rainy junior we just started a production company with Keenan Thompson with Keenan Thompson yeah how did you how did that happen I have a buddy who's from Rhode Island who's his business partner as well and we just linked up one time and we just honestly like Keenan really messed with my vibe and you know we had a conversation he's like yeah they're like this is like this kid I want to be in business with so I love him

I think he's one of the funniest coolest guys I go to like every S&L now and I kick it with him all the time like he's the cool are you serious could you get him on the podcast yeah I'll talk to yeah he do it yeah he do it because he has a podcast too and with the same network that we're we're doing ours with and he um yeah he would love to Dude, I would love Keenan. I think Keenan's brilliant. Yeah. He's a legend.

He's done a thousand skits or something like that. Yeah, I think he's the longest running cast member by like six or seven years. Did he ever say, I'll get you on the show. I'm going to get you on the show. I mean, I want me and Michael to host one day, but it's weird because the mainstream networks don't pick up power stuff, even though we're like the third most stream show in the world. It's like the stuff that we get picked up is like, you know, hip hop stuff. double xl magazine like which is dope like that's everything i love growing up but i'm like i wish

these mainstream like networks would you know mess with us you know what though you end up doing a different show yeah and then you appeal to those people and you get everyone and then the other people yeah you're appealing to everybody that's kind of the goal yeah get on something a little more commercial but in it with a different audience agree i'm already i agree i that's how you do it all right this is called shit talking with giani paolo as he calls himself not his brother that's a way to do it uh these are my patrons my lovable patrons who support the podcast to give back to keep the podcast to float i love you guys uh go to patreon dot com slash inside of you uh so little lisa says who's on your bucket list to meet connor mcgregor connor mcgregor yeah i don't like those

commercials he does the irish risky ones yeah he looks he's nervous yeah he is there he probably is yeah it's funny because he someone like that goes into a ring with someone and has no nerves at all and then they get on camera and they're like Isn't that something so twisted? Someone could kill you. What would you say to him if you met him? I don't know. Like I don't really have any Starstruck people with like music or acting much anymore.

But I think him like that, I just, I've looked up to my whole life. He's just a badass. He's just a badass. He's cool. He's made so much money doing what he loves to. And I don't know. He doesn't give a. He doesn't give a shit.

He'll still show up places. And he's probably still like fights people. I don't know. I just. In pubs. Yeah. Like he doesn't let. any type of Hollywood stuff phase and i don't know i just think he's cool fearless yeah uh

mary b would you rather have a leading role in a romantic comedy or a horror film i did a horror film so i want to do a romantic comedy at this stage of my life do you want to be the leading guy yeah the leading guy in a romantic comedy yeah i want to be that matthew mccano but you have to be affectionate and shit i'd do it on screen all the time all the time on but just not in real life yeah yeah yeah i can get it out and screen were your parents affectionate yeah uh to each other yeah they would kiss in front of you yeah every day will go get over here yeah every day before work this and that so i mean this is crazy well sometimes my dad like i would get home at like three a m you know me and my friends are out because my place was like the hub in high school

where everyone hung out right and you know we'd have girls over this and that my parents let us do whatever we wanted because they trusted me because in high school i didn't smoke or drink one time from 14 18 not once um so my parents trusted me so everyone would just come over the girls would leave whatever we'd all be in the kitchen heating up food from the night before my mom would always cook a lot and then my dad would come in the kitchen like three four a m and go look at me just just bang your mom i'm like what though what yeah he goes you think you're only one getting some of this house he goes just bang your mom i'm like okay bro i didn't need to hear that i just banged your mom oh that's the shit he would say to me i mean but that's like the relationship that we have

and you were how old i was probably 16 17 16 so this is 10 years 10 so this is 10 years ago so he was probably 40s yeah early 40s yeah i just banged your mom like like do you say dad i don't want to hear this that's i'd be like dude and my friends are eating it up also my dad's like he's like he's milking he's putting on a little show my friends my friend my friends my friends what's his name you dad dave your mom's always like dave literally yeah dave oh they've been together how long um 30 years 1992 they got married i think 82 it's that's oh 2 12 20 30 years yeah 30 years dana s are you a fan of your own show power and the book of ghost if so how crazy were the major deaths in the show they knocked me out i i didn't watch us any power before i was on it

and then i finished um shooting the original power and then i watched it all in like four days and i was like i'm on the show this is everything i've ever wanted to do it's insane it's like guns drugs you know murder this and that like everything i wanted to do the way i look i'm like i'm like i'm going to be a vampire forever you know what i mean so i'm like oh no this is great and yeah ghost i mean it's it's it's everything i've ever wanted to do wow i love that it's so great to be on a show that you really love every script comes in i'm like oh my god there's nothing worse there's nothing worse to being on a show that you're like have you experienced that yeah i've been on shows that i just feel like people don't care as much around you there's not much

enthusiasm um you know it just feels like it's not as exciting but then i've been on things that are really exciting yeah i've been on a couple of things the scripts come out and and everyone's like oh my god like i read it the second i get it and everyone's like who dies who dies who dies like that's the way it is so everyone's always enthusiastic i've never been on a show where you know i'll probably get there but like where i'm just like i don't really care i love it like i love being on on power I love it. Raj, are there specific movies or TV shows that inspired you to pursue an acting career? What I was watching when I did move out to L.A., I was Sons of Anarchy.

I was like, I thought I was Jack's Teller. I was got a motorcycle when I got here. Like I... I don't like motorcycles. I don't either. They're so dangerous. I know I sound like a grandpa, but it's like it's not you I'm worried about. It's like the people around you when you're riding motorcycle.

You know, I don't want to have to worry about the things that I can't control. Exactly. And it always freaks me out. Yeah. You always hear about these apps. accident. I know. It's scary. People always are getting hit. My dad just got a motorcycle like a month ago. Are you serious? He's 55 and he just got a one. He got a Harley. Yeah. What do you say to him? Dad, be careful. I'm just like, why? Like, there's no, why do you need a motorcycle? He's crazy.

He sounds a little crazy. He's like 25 stuck in a 55 real guy's body. My God. He must love what you're doing now. Oh, yeah. He just loves it. We went to the Ranger game. They put me up on the I saw that. Yeah, they put me up on the thing, and he was, like, trying to, like, get in. I'm like, like, he had his SkyPath security hoodie on, and he's, like, trying to get it in on the thing. Are you sure?

Yeah, he's crazy. You go to as many Ranger games as you want? Oh, yeah, they give, they give us tickets. Why is that? So power is, like, a staple New York show. Like, when I'm in L.A. So when you're in New York, people recognize you. Insane, I can't even walk to the gym in the morning.

Like, I work out, you know, kind of 10 blocks from where I am. It's insane. I can't walk down. Are you serious? Put a hood on because I'm, Like, this is crazy. When I get in L.A., no one gives shit. I mean, it's still a huge fan base, but it's also L.A., so no one cares anyways.

But when I'm in New York, like, I can't go anywhere. Your sign autographs constantly. It's literally, it's just such a New York show, so everyone in New York watches it. Jesus. Everywhere we go, we get comped. I don't think I've ever paid for anything in New York City. It's crazy. Wow, dude.

That's amazing. Yeah. Leanne, what's your favorite type of role to play and why? Or maybe you haven't even played that role yet. Yeah, what I'm doing right now, I like. being like a badass like I like it's just cool I mean I eventually get to a place where that'll change and I want to do something else because everyone always gets there as an actor where the grass is always greener but right now it's what I'm doing now which Andy T when did you know that you

wanted to pursue an acting career we talked about that yeah but you were playing not you were playing hockey yeah and you you thought I gave you the smaller the smaller version but yeah when I was around like 10 or 11 Jesus man what about you when how old were you when I think I did my you know i started liking it in high school yeah i took a drama class did you do it for girls because that's what a lot of no i just i just didn't fit in anywhere else and then i remember i was in drama class and i was drama it was drama it was just drama class so freshman year you took drama sophomore year you took drama third year you took drama finally my teacher said listen i'm not going to allow you to take drama your senior year unless you auditioned for a play

oh i see and i said oh i was too nervous yeah so finally i go okay and i auditioned for vince fontaine in greece did you get it and i got it nice and that's what that's what that's what did it for me but to this day i still never i'm always been nervous always and i think you know part of that helps me yeah part of that hurts me yeah but it's like you get that nervous energy you get that like but when i'm in the zone yeah when i really know something i really love something i really feel like i that there's no feeling like that yeah see i struggled my first year auditioning because everything i went in for was confident jock good looking guy this and that and i always struggled because i wasn't confident in auditioning i was confident in life but when i would

go in the auditioned so i never embodied the confidence because that's what i had to play so i'm like what the fuck they're always giving me confident confident confident confident give me something i'm not confident and i'll kill this right now but then i got better at auditioning i was like okay cool like I can do this now. How many followers do you have now? I don't even know. Like 600,000 or something. And what's, what's your Instagram. It's at Gianni V. Paolo. I'm telling you, I looked on there one day, and it was like you had

30,000 followers, and it seems like the next day you had 600 and some thousand. Yeah, it was after season two of Ghost when I just started, you know, really being... Were you just going crazy? Like, oh my God, look all these people following me. Yeah, I mean, we also had like this little back and forth where with you know, that guy, that went crazy

viral. It's the 50s other show called Black Mafia Family BMF. It's on stars. And all those guys were shitting on our show so we started shitting on their show on social media so then the shade room picked it up like what do you mean shitting on your show like they would just be like oh uh we have the number one rated show which isn't true we have the number one rated show on stars um but so they started like tagging us and all this stuff and then everything just went crazy viral like the shade room picked it up entertainment tonight picked it up like all this stuff picked it up and

i remember like i got i think i got like 100 000 followers that day or something like do you have anybody offer you like uh to post things for money yeah yeah all the time but I'm pretty, like, picky about that stuff. I don't want to align myself with brands that I don't like. What's the most money you've been offered to post? I mean, so we do booking. We do club bookings. Like, that's what I'll do.

So me and my co-star will go to a club, and they'll pay us, like, you know, 20 grand. And we'll just literally go to, like, a club and party for an hour. 20 grand for you to just hang out at a club. Ryan, are you hearing this? Yeah, it's pretty. Nobody asked me to come to a club for 20 grand. It's just our show. Like, they'll come out and see us because people are, it's like hip-hop culture, this and that.

And you get mobbed in there? It's insane. I've never. They give you a table in the back. We have armed security guards with us at all times. Like it's crazy. So that's like what I'll do like for extra money. Like I won't put the stuff posting on Instagram.

I'm like I just I could care. What about being on a show like stars? Do they pay you well? Yeah. They do. Yeah. Was it good pay right away or did you have to negotiate for that? Um,

because they probably tried to take advantage of you in the beginning. They did. But I knew, um, I knew how I was already written in the storyline. So I was like, I'm going to stay. That was the mistake they made. Yeah, I'm going to stand firm. Jesus. Yeah.

Who else do you know for the podcast? You know me. If you ever text me like, I will, I will. You know everybody. Because you're a likable, good guy. So that's how I got hooked up with. You've hooked me up. Yeah, of course.

I forgot who we've had on inside of you. But that's how I got hooked up with Theo because I was in Mississippi filming Ma. And one of the PAs, I was in my dressing, listening to this past weekend. And at this point, I was. it was six months before you even came on so no one was listened to it i think he had like 20 or 30 thousand listeners he had like 40 000 followers on instagram yeah so it was very very very small show so the pa who came to my dressing was like we just listened to theo vaan i was like yeah so was like a niche thing and he's like i know him and i was like oh really like i'm a big fan of him i'd say him

seen him at the comedy store a bunch of times i was like hook me up with him um when i get back to la he's like no problem so i went back to la i shot this movie i had enough money in my pocket where I didn't need to work a restaurant job anymore. And he, that's when I started working with Theo and booking and doing this and that. So I was acting and filming stuff while I was working with Theo.

Did you like working with Theo? He's one of my best friends in the entire world. I love him. He's the funniest person. He really is hysterical. He's got such a unique, there's very few comedians

that are so unique. They're in their own little place that he just, it's off the cuff. It's just like innately part of him. The things he says, the things he does. It's insane.

He just shares them with the world, the things that he thinks about. Yeah, but he is pretty insane. He, um, that was like, even in real life when you talk to him, because you meet a lot of comedians that are really funny on stage and they're just like, like Sebastian's a good example. I've had tons of conversations with Sebastian Manascalco. He's just not that guy to try and, you know, riff in person. He's very normal. But on stage, he's a murder.

Right. Theo's a murder on stage. He's funnier off stage when he can say stuff that he can't say on stage. Right. Oh, my God. Like stuff that you would not believe. leaving like this guy's insane he's so funny he's insane yeah have you seen him just uh destroy it in front of thousands of people yeah i went on tour with him a couple months ago before i started filming and

yeah i was on the god mike i was like the ova like we just have really anytime theo's has a show anywhere near i am i'll fly out and go see him like we just have such a good relationship that's great i really i have a lot of love for him i'm gonna go see him on saturday he's said that netflix is a joke festival oh really yeah so what's next you're just doing the show yeah so i got maybe three more months in new york doing the show um i am doing like a lot of my own producing for television shows and um and films that i i'm getting going and i just started a power after show podcast with my um co-star mike or rainy junior which our first episode came out yesterday and we're second on the charts right now for podcasts so what yeah it's pretty crazy we're second for tv and film

and i think top 100 in the world wait what's it called it's called the crew has it with mike erini Jr. and Gianni Paolo. And we just take all the shows, because it's such a big universe. So we're going to take all the actors from all the shows, have them come in. We'll talk about episodes, this and that. There's so many shows. It's like, why not have a little hub for it? That's the way to do it. They're doing it with a lot of shows now. Yeah. Kind of rewatch shows. Yeah. That's what we're doing. So it killed it yesterday. So I'm super excited. Like, I just, I just love doing this. I love it. You got such a great, you know, your personality, your energy. It's, there's no wonder why you have so much success. And you deserve it, man.

Thank you. I love seeing good people do good things and do things that make them happy. Yeah. So, hey, dude, thanks for allowing me to be inside of you today. Of course, man. This has been a real treat. Are you going to get inside of me after you got inside of me after this? Well, whatever you want, whatever you want, buddy.

We'll see what happens. We'll see what happened. Dude, thanks so much, man. Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it. All right, dude, it's awesome. I'm jealous. I am too.

I am too. I am. I am jealous of him. I am jealous that he's so good looking. and he's talented and he's so happy I want to be that happy don't we all want to be that happy

and sometimes we hate happy people but that's wrong you should look at that and go good for them and then of course I don't hate Gianni I love that he's happy and I root for people and I root for a guy like him

because he's got a great heart and I really mean that and I want everybody to be happy but also I think it's just that you're envious that we God I want to feel that what you're ever you're feeling I want to hang out with you I want to dress like you

I want to drive in your fancy car I just love the guy Hey man Gianni you're a good dude man I thank you for being on the show on the podcast Check out all this stuff I think you'll you'll enjoy it What else we got here? We got Talkville the big podcast tomorrow

Talkville The Smallville Rewatch podcast tomorrow Guys make sure you tune in Subscribe become a Patreon if you want That's going to be a ride it's a lot of work on this end but we're having fun Ryan you having a good time on i'm having a good time yeah it's uh watching it for the first time i know it's cool to see your perspective on things it really is cool i um it's actually cool to see my perspective on things like

now after not seeing the show for so many years and i hadn't seen a lot of episodes so i when i'm watching these episodes i have no clue what's going to happen i'm just like you except I'm in them and I'm at times going oh my gosh why did you make that choice how's clark going to get out of this one I wonder if you will I wonder the show will be over if he doesn't get out of it um anyway talkville tomorrow so tell me what you think and there's also a hotline you can call and leave messages make sure they're short with your questions and we'll try to get you on the air but we can only afford to put on a couple on without unless they're just fantastic questions unless you just ask something

that no one's ever asked before like Michael what's the size of your suit that Lex wore that would be a boring question what was the size of your suit? I don't know probably a 40 long 42 long that is boring you're right very boring see how boring we got

we won't be talking about that on smallville talkville hey guys if you want to become a patron and support inside of you podcast please do and I will message you right after you do that's patreon.com slash inside of you we've got great great fantastic merch just check out the merch on the inside of you online store smallville stuff inside of you stuff everything you can dream for we're running out of i think lunch boxes i think we only have two lunch boxes left signed by me and tom willing some scripts

lexmas scripts that i sign uh funco pops which are going out like what goes out like they're selling hot cakes that's what's what they're selling hot cakes that's what's what they're doing the kids they're selling my god cakes good lord almighty ryan is taking off he'll be gone for a couple of weeks but he'll be back and uh there might just be an episode without ryan you won't know or will you you might know in the future next week you'll know all right if ryan's not on that episode chances are he wasn't here he wasn't here uh that's it that's all i have today. I wish you all a wonderful week.

Thanks for supporting the podcast. Before we do that, I think I need to read some names, don't I? Oh, you should. Yeah. These are the names. These are the top tier patrons. Go to patreon.com slash inside of you. Get their name shatted out every episode.

Nancy D. Leah. S. Z. V. Little. Lisa. Ukiko. Jill.

E. Brian. H. Nico. Robert. B. Jason. W.

Kristen. K. Raj. C. Joshua D C.J. P. Jennifer. N. Stacey. L. Jamal. F. Janelle. B. Kimberly. E. Mike. E. Eldon. Supremo. 99. Moore. R. Mera. Santiago. M. Chad. D. W. W. Correct. Leanne. P. Janine. R. Maya. Mady. Mady. B. Belinda. Chris. Chris. H. Dave. H. Sh. Shila. Brad. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. Tom Lilliana A

Talia T T C M Fack Betsy D Chad

Chad Uh D Just remember Chad L Andra Mira No

Rochelle Chad L and Rochelle Chad L and Rochelle Marion Meg C

K Trav L Dan N M. Correct. Riannon. C. Corey. F. K. Corey K. Let's think of something you remember that. Corey K. Corey can do it any way she wants. Or he can do it with a K. Super. Sam. Dev. Nexon. Michelle. K. A. A. Just remember Michelle. A, not K. Jeremy. Jeremy. I don't know. R. C. Andy. F. T. Cody See, we're in the rum, I don't know. Cody R.

Cody R. Cody R. Cody R. Cody R. Gavid. Nader. David. C. John. Heater. I don't know what that is. B. John B. Brandy. L. D. Brandy. Just remember Brandy D. Brandy D. Yeah. Four. Camille. S.

Correct. The. Joey. Fetone. M. Correct. Willie. Nelson.

How about Willie Felsen? Will that help you? Yeah. David. And Goliath. H. David H. David H.

Just remember David Hyde Pierce. H. David H. All right. Do you hear that? I think I forwarded. Design. I don't know

O TG Eugene Levy and Leah Chris Remember Chris Pratt or Chris P Chris P

Nikki Remember Glazer Nikki G Cory Just Corey Katie B Remember Katie Barry Instead of Katie Perry

Will that help you Sure Nicole Patricia Heather L Remember Heather Lockyer Lear Is it Locke Lear

clear yeah jake b remember jake busey that's easy but all right james b maybe james bun instead of james yeah all right bob it sure megan tea uh-huh megan drinks tea megan tea uh mel s Orlando C Orlando Clum John B Yutch Caroline R Robbie

Just Robbie Paul C Christine S Sarah S Eric H Spring Jennifer R Shane R M R M Mark M

Jeremy V Andrew M Robert G's Toyci 77 Andreas N Alexandra Chris are. Those are the top tiers. Ryan, you did a spectacular job today. There are a lot more. Are there more? Yeah. There's a lot of names that I do not recognize. Yeah. Well, there's some good

names, some good newbies. Thank you for joining Patreon. I appreciate it. If you want to join Patreon, go to patreon.com slash inside of you. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Thank you for allowing me to be inside of all of you today. It means a ton. I went to Australia, and I couldn't believe the amount of love that was given to this podcast and how it helps so many people. And it gives me purpose. So you give me purpose. Thanks for sticking with me and putting up with me and all my little idiosyncrasies and faults and everything else. Thank you. Thank you from the Hollywood Hills in California. I am Michael Rosenbaum. I'm Ryan. We love you. Be good to yourself. Thank you for letting me inside of each and every one of you. And until next week, much love to you. Be good to yourself.

Football season is here. Oh, man. Believe has the podcast to enhance your football experience. From the pros. One of the most interesting quarterback rooms. To college. Michigan is set at eight and a half wins. To fantasy.

If you feel that way, why didn't you trade them? Become a better fan and listen to the football podcasts from Believe. Just search Believe. That's B-L-E-A-V podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.