Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Supergirl’s AZIE TESFAI: Self Worth

Episode Date: December 14, 2021

Azie Tesfai (Supergirl, Jane the Virgin) joins me this week and has a wonderful conversation on the value of self-worth and finding your voice within the “Hollywood” setting. Azie and I discuss her journey in becoming an actor after pursuing a career in law and why acting is so important to her. We also talk about Jane the Virgin, wanting to be a clown, the importance of therapy, and Azie’s time working and eventually writing for the CW’s Supergirl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Thanks for having me be part of your life. I'm sure you're driving to work right now, or you're just listening in your house. And Ryan, do you ever listen to the episodes? Long pause, indicating. Probably not. But you're here for them. I am here.

So, I mean, you've already listened to them because you're sitting there. I am here and I take notes. present in the moment. You are. We have a, we have a great episode. We've had some really great episodes, some people. In fact, there's some good episodes coming up. I urge you, if you're here for Ozzy to Svi, stick around because we've got a lot of great guests coming up and, I mean, talk about like the episode we had that we just recorded. Yes. One actor talking about, you know, really like almost giving up completely and like letting go of this world. And that was pretty intense.

It came from someone you would not expect it to come from. Yeah. Somebody you think that, you know, they have it all. Life, they got life by the balls. Career is great and they're just not happy. It comes to show that, you know, it doesn't matter how much money you have or success you have. I mean, look, we're all here.

We're all doing this thing called life. So I urge you if you're in trouble or anything to just get some help and know that there's there's a light at the end of the tunnel there is, there is. But the good kind, not the kind you see when you're dying. Yes, the good light, Ryan. Let's clarify.

Let's clarify that. What is Rosenbaum saying? Who fucking knows? And who cares? If you want to follow us, please do it. Ryan, tell them where to follow the podcast on the handles.

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And I want to thank my patrons. Those people that are on patreon.com slash inside of you who give to the podcast more. Keep us afloat. Thank you. Thank you, Jason, my editor. Thank you, Ryan, my engineer, and my partner in crime here. Thanks, Bryce, my producer. Thanks, cumulus.

Thanks, everybody. The holidays are here. Ryan, are you going anywhere? Yeah, I'm going to Hawaii. Oh, yeah, you're going to Hawaii with family. Holy shit. Yeah. Well, that will be fun, though.

Yeah, we'll be there for a while doing Hawaii things. Hawaii are you doing it with your family? Doing it, well, doing it with Amanda's family. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, you get along with them. Yeah. So you'll be great.

It'll be gravy. And then we're going to a wedding at the end of it. So one of my, two of my friends are getting married. No, they're a fucking wedding. In fucking Hawaii. So original. Well, if you're going to get married, go to Hawaii and get. get married folks um hey as many of you know i volunteer and a supporter for a non-profit uh that is near

and dear to my heart food on foot is an organization that helps fight homelessness in los angeles food on foot helps up to 300 people each week seeking food clothing jobs and housing please join me this holiday season by making a gift to food on foot your holiday donation will be matched by food on foot's board doubling your impact so if you donate 25 food on foot will receive 50 please visit food on foot.org for more information i appreciate your help and also echoes of hope can't forget foster youth and uh you know go to echoesof hope dot org i've been with that organization for a long time and they do so much amazing work for the youth and for uh just go to echoesofope dot org i think you're going to learn a lot by it and uh help help someone out during this

these holidays you know what i'm talking about ryan i know what you mean it's good to give back It's good to give back. And I appreciate everybody here. Also, the inside of you online store, we've got brand new smallville lunch boxes. Just got a shipment of smallville lunch boxes. So if you want one autograph for the holidays, you better go to the inside of you online store. Got some great stuff and some holiday specials coming up. And also sunspin.com if you want to book a Zoom with me.

And if you want any cool swag, I see Tom Welling and Stephen and Mello was wearing these Sunspin shirts that I'm wearing and hats. And I love it. I love it. And also, if you want to join Patreon, patreon.com slash inside of you. And, you know, we've got a great episode today. Ozzie to Sfi talks about working on Supergirl.

She talks about writing an episode. She's like the first actress or actor that's written an episode of one of these, these shows, especially Supergirl. And she talks about wanting to be a clown when she was younger. And not like, I mean, like a real clown.

Like clown school. Like clown school. Like legit. Like, like, like, yeah, she was nice,

she wasn't clowning around. Uh, fantastic episode. I really, really dug her. Can I say that? Can I say I dug her? Yeah.

I just really enjoyed our conversation. And I think you will too. Let's just do it. Let's get into Ozzie Tesfi. It's my point of view. 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. Ozzy to Svei.

Is that right? Yeah. I did it right? Yeah. It sounds like such a Hollywood name. Really? Not Hollywood, like, oh, she's so Hollywood. It just sounds like a, like you're a star.

Oh, that's, I've never heard of that. You know, it's like, Brad Pitt, Ozzie to Sveye, Michael Rosenbaum, doesn't fit. Which one of these names. doesn't fit. I see your point. Can you put the, maybe the microphone a little closer to you, like almost like right to you? How's that? That's pretty good. Thanks. What do you think, Ryan? Good. Yeah. Yeah. How often, yeah, of course. People have been harassing Ryan lately. Aw. Yeah. Well, harassing you. Anthony Michael Hall, Bobby Lee. This is just so obviously close to everybody. It's like kind of out of the way, but it's just like, I'm very much in the priff.

Do you think that Ozzy, after this interview, is going to say, yeah, the guy to the left, I forgot his name. But was he a little close to me? No, there's multiple pillows between. There's pillows between you, you're fine. There's a pillow for it, yeah. How many people mess your name up? 98% of people. What have you heard?

A Z. Mm-hmm. A Z? A Z. The last name is always really bad. Test, I've heard Testify, which I was like, how did you? A-Z Testify. Testify.

Do you get annoyed? I've been dealing with it since the first day of kindergarten. Every time my name was called in school, so I'm pretty used to it. And my full name is actually Azeb. Azeb-Tes-Fi, so I've had it my whole life. Azeb-Tes-Fi. Do you have a middle name? Goitum.

Azeb-Goytum-Tes-Fi. Yeah. That's a lot. It's a lot. But maybe where you're at the, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, Where are you from? I'm Erie Tran. Eastern African, right?

And is that a typical name? So people wouldn't even think twice hearing it over there. Yes. And Ozzy is the typical name for Ozab, nickname for Ozab. I didn't come up with that. Really? Yeah. Yeah.

I got lucky. But that's a cute name. Ozzy's a cute name, right? I feel so validated in the first. Yeah. Did you notice that I had what I call, because I'm from the Midwest, we call them shitters? Did you notice that there was a porta potty outside? I did.

You did notice that next to where you park. And you're like, why does he have a porta potty outside? Not just because I'm from Indiana. I didn't know if that was for your guests. And you're like, this is where you go to the bathroom. That's exactly right. It's where the guests perform their duty. No, it's because I had some work around the house.

So the guys brought their own porta potty. That's thoughtful. Isn't that thoughtful? I think so. Is it better than having them come inside to go to the bathroom? They didn't assume. They didn't assume. They were like, we came with our, just like I came with my own like waters and I think

it's very thoughtful to not assume. Yeah, you came, your, your, uh, publicist, Morgan brought you coffee. She's over there giving a thumbs up, but she didn't ask me if I wanted to coffee. We didn't consider that, but you do make your own. Yeah. So look at this. Kelly Olson, a Supergirl, Nadine and Jane the Virgin, Silicon Valley, Melrose Place, million little things. You're recurring a million little things. Yeah. So you're like, are you someone, are you an actor that always has to work or you go crazy? Yeah. Talk about that. Because that's, that always baffles me how someone has to go from one project to the next project to the next project because what happens

and then tell me what happens to you when you're not working. It's funny. A castmate of mine on Jane the Virgin, Justin and I are very similar in this way and we've unpacked this a lot together. I think it's probably tied to worth and like always feeling like there is identity based in working. Validation. Yeah, and maybe not so much from other people but for myself. Like I challenge myself and I'm like, oh, I could do that, or I'll be able to get another show quickly after this. So it's all self-inflicted. Right. So if someone's going out with you, dating you, do they feel the, okay, they feel the pressure

that you feel because you're like, I have to work, I have to do this, I have to self-tape, I know how this business can be. It's very internal. Like, I don't put it on very many people around me. It's definitely, it's a wild place in my mind. Really? Yeah. I have a, I say there, but.

once a week, which is also there. You do? I do. You see that, Ryan? You see how she just comes out with that? Ryan's been going to better help. Yeah. And, you know, and I love that. He tried it. He gave it a shot. And I have friends that call me and go, this is better help work, you know, because they're a sponsor. But like therapy has changed not only my life, but millions of people's lives. And I know David Harwood, who's on Supergirl, he came on the show. And he was so forthcoming and so open about his, his history of like with mental illness and all these things and I just was in the first thing you said is I go to therapy which not all actors do they kind of want to hide that yeah yeah I mean but most actors go I just think is that true yeah I think so they just don't maybe share that they do but it's important and for me I started seeing someone weekly because I've got been on and off but pretty much right right when the pandemic started I was like okay because I had to sit still. I couldn't work.

Right. We were forced to just stay at home. Yeah. But that's when you started. I found things to do. What did you do? I started writing. Is that and that's how it all happened?

Yeah. See what happens. You're forced to write at home. Yeah. And then you end up writing an episode for the series final season of Supergirl for an episode. That's crazy. It's like, oh, you know what? I'm going to start painting and then I'm going to be in a museum next year.

Look, I also cried and was. scared and did all the things everyone did during the day, I just would carve out a couple hours to channel that into something. And you had never written before? No. I had written, but not like a structured script. And I got a teacher. You hired a teacher. I did. I hired a writing person. How do you find a teacher who will teach you how to write? I mean, where do you find these people? I had a friend. Well, I asked a refer. I'm going to be really honest. I worked with someone who felt really intense who was an actual writing coach

who wasn't a working writer and the energy was really off and it gave me a lot of anxiety. I called a female showrunner friend of mine and said, hey, do you have any writers that want to make some money and are off right now? And she's like, actually the perfect person for you.

And it was a staff writer on one of her shows and we zoomed and it was like we got along really well and then two, three days a week we hop on. So what was the first conversation you have? So Ozzie, have you written? what do you want to write? Why do you want to start writing?

Yeah. Here's from the, do you just start from a, where do you start? Where do they tell you to do? Just write? I, I want, I had an idea for a Supergirl storyline for Kelly. For your character. Yeah, yeah, because we had kind of touched on her being a war vet, but there was so much of PTSD and how we as a country treat veterans when they come back home and we hadn't

really looked at that. and we had Sean Aston on who played like an old... I love Sean. How much do you love working with Sean? He's the best. They always say like Henry Winkler is the nicest guy in the business. And I think Sean Ashton's like number two. He really is.

And his daughter is a big fan of Supergirl. So he's seen every episode. It's their bonding thing they do together. Are you kidding me? No, he's seen every. And there's over 100 episodes of Supergirl they've watched. How many have you been in? I don't know, like 40 or 50.

And so you got the idea. And I'm going to get into this. Yeah. But I also want to go back to something you just talked about. You said therapy. Yeah. Did you get into therapy just during COVID? Was that the first time or you had been going for years?

I had done it before off and on, but I hadn't consistently. And I had, I had like my dog passed. Me too. When did your dog pass? March. My dog passed five months ago. Oh, I'm sorry. So what was that?

It's about the same. Yeah, it was hard 13 years. Oh, my gosh. It's brutal. And I was, you know, alone in Vancouver, you know, my dog was like my other half. It's your companion. Yeah.

So, and then a friend of mine had suddenly passed. And then, and then a week later, COVID and our show got shut down. So I was like prime, I'll tell you something. I have a really good girlfriend of mine when all that stuff went down who was like, I didn't know how to support you. Right. And so what I'm going to, what I did was I called a bunch of trauma therapist in Vancouver. and I narrowed it down to two and I went ahead and booked sessions with them and told them

everything you've been through so you don't have to. So here you go. And it was like the most thoughtful and credible. What? I know. She's a really good friend. Wait, so this person called up a therapist and said this is what they've gone through. They lost a dog. They'd been dealing with this. Told as much and this person knew you inside out. She like, yeah, and talked to a couple and was like, she's not going to like that person. These two women feel like a good vibe. And then, yeah, and then talk them through it so that I didn't have to, you know, rehash everything. So you just went right into it? Did you have what's called, I had, you know, when I went through a breakup, they said I had

what's called situational depression, that it was just, this is the situation. You went through a breakup and that's why you're depressed. You're not really a depressed person per se. Little did they know that, you know, it's not, it wasn't just that situation. But was it just a situation for you? Was it just like a sort of a time that you were just having a tough time getting through? I think it's a little of both. I definitely can. I don't know. It's really hard to assess coming out of three and a half, four years in Vancouver, I think, too, because they're so isolated

and I definitely have seasonal depression up there. And so, and the winters are so long. I'm just not sure. I've got to reassess where I land now that I'm, I'm back. But it was, it was hard again because my situation bled into a two-year pandemic. So it wasn't like, you know, my dog passed and then I was getting out of it. Then there was like all crazy fires of the world going on. And I don't know. So to be determined, maybe I'll get back to you on that. What helps you?

What helps you? What helps you? Do you have a regimen? Do you have something that you do? What is that? I wake up and make coffee. This is like my favorite thing to have. The simple things, right?

The simple things, the routine. making like frothing the milk and I find all that uh relaxing and then I journal for me like doing um morning pages I guess they're called uh from the artist's way but doing three pages and just letting everything kind of come out helps a lot if I wake up with anxiety um and then I do breath work sometimes what kind of breath work uh Wim Hof Wim Hof is that the deep shit that's like the you it's apparently alkaline your body but you there's an app you can follow and uh um I'm breathing now. I'm like, you hold it, and then you, it almost feels like you're going to faint.

I mean, but you, it's pretty incredible. And years ago, McCod Brooks, on. Who's Jimmy Olson, James Olson, right? He really tried to get me into it. And I just wasn't into it. And then cast made on My Little Things, Alison Miller, she got me to do it. She got on FaceTime with me. I was like, we're doing this together.

And I've been, because I wasn't sleeping. post dog dying and then I slept like fully that night well and I was like all right this works for me were you one of those people that would take any medications like you know because for a while there I would take Xanax or Ambien and they say it's the worst and it was the worst

I think it messed me up pretty good right when all of that went down at the same time I did take something for anxiety but I think it was like a day or two and then not really I'd really like to feel the pain and so it helps with your acting It does. No, I don't. Yeah, I don't know. I try to find natural as much as I can ways to, especially because it was something that I felt like I had to work through. Right. Yeah. What are some natural ways? Like, obviously the breath work.

I mean, it's true, like sweating and getting active. I'm a big Stanley Park loop bike rider in Vancouver. Stanley Park guys is in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was there for seven years for Smallville. And I know about Stanley. And when she talks, look, it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Yeah. But during the winters, it's gray and it rains for seven months. And as beautiful as it is, it can be taxing. So that, with COVID, with your dog passing, with all these things, you have to have this regiment.

So you're doing breathwork. You're going to Stanley Park. You're exercising. Well, the good thing, good and bad, but we shut down. So I was able to come back here right after all that happened. And so I was around friends and family in a safe, in a safe environment. but therapy really is is big and you go every week every week I'm standing yeah for the last year I think I make the mistake of like going to therapy

and then I go oh I feel okay and then I don't and then I go down down down until I need therapy again and it's something that I think you need to have upkeep is that what's called you have to just be on top of it I looked at Ryan Ryan just started going to therapy I just love the silent nod of like I'm just here to support you yeah yeah Yeah, I've fallen off before. I just haven't maybe honestly felt like, okay, yeah, I'm good stopping just because it's been a big transitional time. And then when we went back to shooting, the border was closed.

So we were locked down hardcore, only interacting kind of with your castmates. No one can come in or out of Canada for us. The last season was, what, 11 months? 11 months you were there? I think so, September until August. Now, you had to, I know you're not going to tell me this, but you had to get sick and tired of your castmates. Yeah, I'm not touching that.

No, but Jesus. I mean, look, you hang out with anybody for 11 months or 11 hours. Yeah. You're going to be like, okay, you need to have a different change of scenery. The good thing is, is because there's so many shows that were locked down, like I had friends on other shows, and I, so there was community where you didn't have to hang out with people you worked with necessarily. not for any other reason than you're with them all the time and a lot of people had family so

I didn't have I didn't have anyone up there but most people like you know Kyler has a husband and kids and they had their own worlds so you didn't have anybody except your dog yeah and when did the dog pass in March March and then I ended up rescuing when I came home to join the writer's room I rescued a pop in December what a damn treat what kind of dog she's some sort of poodle mix her name's Daisy. Somebody told me recently she was my teacher. I was like great. Really? Yeah. Isn't it amazing how just having an animal in the house, it just elevates your your whole disposition, like your whole feeling. Like I could be really sad and I walk in and there's this unconditional little thing that just kisses me and loves me and wants me to take her out.

You met Blanche. She jumped on your publicist. geez I don't know what the hell that was but she Blanchegate I felt I felt very supported and secure and loved and it was like solid she was like this is where we're going yeah exactly she led you the way she led you to the podcast room

so Daisy you feel like Daisy really helps you out yeah I mean she's tricky she had I didn't you know she came with a lot of issues what were the issues she's really loud like in the streets you know she like barks at every like a paper bag and it's you know I'm like, you got to chill out.

She's very attached because she was abandoned multiple times. And she was actually a China Kill Shelton Meat Dog. So I had her recipe. Yeah. So that's like dark to be almost eaten. Did you barely get her in time? She's really cute. I feel like it was only a matter of time for someone to get it.

Someone was going to eat that little thing up. Yeah. Yeah. But now I tell the story in front of her and she has a reaction for sure to it. She understands. She's like, it's too soon. I'm not ready to. to unpack that with you, yeah.

But yeah, it's so funny. I didn't, and I've never talked about this, but I also didn't, I was very social media heavy with my last, with George, the dog that passed. And I didn't with Daisy for a long time. And I felt like she knew. She's like, what about me? Am I not pretty enough?

Totally. I would do like lives and she would all of a sudden start pacing in a place she's never paced that happens to be in shot. She's like the girlfriend that's like, I know you posted pictures of your ex and like, we've been dating for a while. I don't know what's going on. Yeah. I need more people in Vancouver, clearly. This is what I'm psychoanalyzing.

Obviously. Well, it's hard. It's like you have to have. I'm sure you have some you people. Yeah. You know, those friends that you face time constantly that the one or two that you need to help get you through things. Just seeing their face, makes you smile. Are you close with your family, with your parents?

Yeah. My mom and I are really close. Where are they? In L.A. In L.A. Yeah, but my mom, you know, she is not married. So she was also in it alone and older. So it was a very different experience of fear for her.

So it was kind of supporting her more than, you know, just wanting her to feel good. I still got to be around people. My nervous system got resets of being around energy on set. I wasn't isolated. And again, there really is a community like of people that I'm really close. with on some of the other shows that I hang out with all the time. Who are some of these people that you have? Candace Patton and I are really close.

And Javisi and I are really close and cameras on Batwoman. Wow. Yeah, we have like a, we, you know, Cam does, we do game nights. What kind of games do you guys play? Taboo is a big one. Taboo. What's taboo? Taboo is the one where you write an answer in there?

There's a fake answer. You get a word and you can't say like five words underneath it. And then there's someone with a buzzer by your ear, which gets very loud with a bunch of them. So like it's Kennedy, for instance, John F. Kennedy, and you can't say shot, you can't say head, you can't say president, you can't say junior, Maryland Monroe, can't say Marilyn Monroe, something like that. That's fun. It's fun. We should play some taboo.

And then there's some, there's like a game with like dice. I don't even know what it's called that was introduced into the group. Left, right center? Yes. Is that the drinking game? But we do it. With money. We do it with money.

So you bet money. You know who tends to win this game, which is very frustrating. Who? David Ramsey, who doesn't need it. Yeah. And I'm like, you are the last- Why do you say David Ramsey doesn't need it? Is it because he's just been working for so long?

He's been working for so long. He was like on the OG show of Arrow. And he's like directing everything and he's like nonstop. He is. He's coming on the podcast too. And he keeps texting me. He says, Hey, Rosenbaum. I'm just, I'm busy.

I'm doing this thing. I want to come on. He's great. I know you worked closely with him. Yeah, he directed the Supergirl episode. Yeah. Um, what was it called? Blind spots.

Blind spots. I knew that. Yeah. 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.

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Rocket Money. So go back. Did you always want to be an actor? Did you, since you were a little girl? because I read somewhere that you wanted to be a clown. I did. Is that true? Yeah.

How old were you? Not like a cool. I just, I feel like people assume that it's like a cool cirque to someone like clown. Like I wanted to do kids' birthday parties. You really were aspiring to something. I did. I remember in kindergarten pulling a clown aside and being like, listen, just give it to me straight.

Like, how did you get on this path? What do I need to do to set myself up to win? And she was like, you should not be a clown. Is that what she said? Yeah. You do not want to do it. You do not want to do it. It was all that squeaks, though.

It wasn't like actual. She had just done like a balloon animal and I was like, listen, lady, you learn that somewhere. Can you fast track me? Yeah. And I think you have to really love children. Mm-hmm. Do you love children? I don't think that that was a consideration for me.

Because you were a child. I was a child. So you didn't think about those things. I think it was like clown clothes, balloons, build your own schedule. Feels like fun. Yeah, fun. You make people happy. you, like, there's, you know, you're mobile.

Everything's just in your car, and then you can, like... When did those dreams fade? Third grade. Third grade. All right, so you were really young. I mean, I don't remember wanting to do anything except the moonwalk when I was in third grade. But I wanted to be a clown from, like, preschool to third grade. So it was a good five years of my life.

And I pursued it heavily in that time. But no, third grade, I was like, okay, this isn't... Were you... This isn't kind of perk. There's some solid perks, though. I'm kind of getting sold on clown. Right? Yeah.

Getting sold. on clown. Sold on clown. There's the name of your next album. Sold on clown. Sold on clown. Yeah. Well, what did the passion, where did it go to?

I mean, I'm the child of immigrants. I'm a first-gen kid. So then it was, you have to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. Those are, we've escaped war for you to have opportunity. Jesus. So these are the things that we know you can do and be successful in this country. So I truly thought, like, I'm not good at math. So I'm not going to be a very good engineer.

I don't like the sight of blood. I'm not going to be a doctor. And so I was like, okay, I guess I'll be a lawyer. And then that kind of carried me through college. Through college. So you went to high school and then you said, I'm going to be a lawyer. Yeah. You went to college.

Did you start taking classes to be a lawyer? I was planning. I studied business, but I was pre-law, yeah. Like, did you take constitutional law, con law? Did you learn all those dates? CBS Radford, 1973 and have to learn all those. I did, yeah. Really?

None of it is stuck, but yeah. Because I, and, you know, to my own fault, I didn't intern with an entertainment lawyer until my senior year. And then I interned with a corporate lawyer. And I was like, this is not what I want to do. Why didn't I do this earlier? So you're really smart. I'm okay. No, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.

You got good grades in college? I did. I was one of those. You made the parents proud. AP classes and. God, I never took those classes. Yeah. I mean, even chemistry, chemistry one-on-one I got out of because I couldn't handle.

it. I just couldn't handle school. I don't know how I got through it. I probably cheated a lot. I'm not kidding. I probably cheated a lot. In fact, probably I did. I remember cheating on certain papers and I just was slower. I just, I couldn't, I had ADD. I was all over the place. It was very hard for me to concentrate. Were you, it sounds like you were really focused in college. Yeah, I was pretty type A. And you didn't do any acting in college. No. My best friend growing up was a very successful. teen actress. And I got to witness it through her and not the best one. Her unmarried name was Lili Sobieski. I know that name. She's done she was like the teen. She did a movie called the

glass house. Yes. Blonde hair. Yes. Yeah. See, I remember that. That's crazy that you remember that. Yeah. So I got to like see through her kind of the chaos of it. I was like, I don't, I have no desire. I get to go to like the teen choice awards with her, but I don't have to do any work. It was the best of And you grew up in L.A.? Yeah. And so you got to see Hollywood firsthand growing up. Yeah. And live sort of, I don't know, I don't want to say vicariously through her, but you got

to see Hollywood through her. Yeah. Yeah. And you had no desire. None. Yeah. That's crazy because all the attention she's getting and the people and the free shit. Don't you love free shit?

But I kind of got it by association. So again, I got the best of it without having to do it. And I went to this weird, not weird, it was great, but a very small French high school. here in L.A. And so there were a couple other actors that went to our school. Who's that? We're just going to name. I love the name drop. We have a game we play that when you name drop, you have to drop something like drop a pen. Oh yeah. So I work with Clint Eastwood. And then you just drop something. I had no choice in who I was educated next to. But we had Claire Danes went there and Jessica Beal and that was really it. Big names. And it was a French school?

Yeah. International French school. So there were kids from all over the country. Do you speak French? I used to really fluently, and now I'm okay. I'm okay. How do you? That's it. Okay. I just say I love you. How are you doing? Como seva? Como seva? Yeah. Well, see, so you know some. You can understand. I'm okay. Yeah. So when was it that you sort of go, I'm going to try this? I don't think I've ever said, talked about this, but my senior year of college, I went through a crazy break up and I just want I was at I went to school in Northern California I went to Cal Berkeley and I my my friend there was like an opportunity for the show and I didn't I just wanted to get

out of Berkeley pretty much I was like I'm going through this breakup I need to get out of town and that was when Southwest had their like flight from the one hour flight you could take anywhere pretty much yeah and so I just came home and then I auditioned for this like weird Nickelodeon thing. What made you even know that there was a Nickelodeon thing? So my friends, my best friend was still kind of acting, but like her man, there was just something that was like physically very specific that worked. I don't remember what, it was pretty much like surfer girl number five, but doesn't need to surf but can wear a bikini. Perfect. And I was like, I'll do it. And so I came down auditioned and then and they were like,

Oh, actually, we're going to make this a regular. And you got it. And you had lines? Yeah. What did you say? I don't remember your lines? No, I won't go over there. Yeah.

Something like that. That's a really cool wave. Yeah. Something like that. That's a really cool wave. Yeah. You're a really great surfer. Yeah.

It really wasn't about the acting. You were just a beauty. I think they just, it was not a deep. Not demanding. No. And my mom was like, you're not. dropping out of college for something you don't even want to do, but then it was enough for me to kind of be like, oh, maybe I'm interested in this. So you enjoyed it. You're on set and you

started to enjoy this? I didn't. I just kind of was curious. But then my first real thing I got right after college was one of those telenovela My 13 soapy shows. Right. And it was filmed in San Diego and that I loved. Like I was like, oh, I did I think 60 episodes of that. How did that come about? I came back. She was also a surfer party girl. So we're getting tight cast early on in our careers. I think we all got, we have that. Yeah. And it was great. It was one of the best experiences, and then I fell in love with it working. Really? It was very, and even then, I was like, oh, maybe I'll still go to law school. Like, I hadn't committed until I was well into a TV show. How pissed are your parents at this point? Well, I think they were pissed. I think becoming a superhero helped,

Because that's just cool. And seeing that one sheet, I think they were like, oh, and no, I'm the first from my country to ever be a superhero. So. Not on the telenovela show or whatever. No, Supergirl, supergirl. Exactly. But that was years later.

Oh, then they were pissed. My dad would take. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But they just didn't understand that you could, they thought it was a hobby. And so they're like, why are you spending so much time on a hobby? They didn't understand that you could actually have a career in it because there were no examples of that. But you're saying, Mom, I'm making money.

And how much are you making at that time, like, an episode? I don't remember. I think it was like a soap opera salary. I mean, good, probably like. A couple thousand a week? More than that. Really? Like 12 grand a week?

12 grand a week. Yeah. For a soap opera? Yeah. That's pretty good. I was straight out of college. So. Oh, my God.

Everyone else was like, yeah, I was like this. They're like screw being a lawyer. Screw being a doctor. Look at all this money you're going to make. And all I have to do. I was in a bikini and make out with random people. But didn't you have a lot of lines on that soap opera? Yeah, we did like an episode a day.

Okay, we'll see. Let me ask this then. So if you're doing, you go from really nothing, going from Surfer Girl to having all this dialogue. Yeah. It sounds like you don't, you don't just fall into that and learn lines and memorize them and you're off to the races. Don't you have to get training or don't you?

Yeah, I did that. Once I realized that it was happening, I got like, I had a coach and I, I worked. It worked at it a lot. How hard was it to learn all those lines? Really hard, but it's like a muscle memory for whatever reason. I also just come out of college where I was like writing thesis statements and like my mind was so exercised that it was weirdly probably not as hard as it was for other people on the show that hadn't just come out of school.

You have a really high IQ, don't you? I don't know what my... I bet you do. I like that I just look at you as if you would know. I would guess it's probably in the one-thirties, one-forties. I'll take it. I'm probably 108. Have you ever taken your IQ to us?

I think a long time ago, but I don't remember exactly what it was. Or maybe I'm just not telling you because I'm embarrassed. Ryan, do you know what your IQ is? No idea. Do you know I was at a party once? And Sharon Stone. Drop the, drop the. Just drop, name drop.

She was at the party going, my IQ is through the roof. And I'm like, oh my God, shut the fuck. Are you serious? She was going to everybody. She's just, oh, no. Like, they have told me my IQ is, like, genius off the truth. Is that something you go around saying? No.

I don't, yeah, I don't even know. I guess if you're Sharon Stone. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. So your parents at this point, you're making money. You're making someone of a living. You're doing things. Are they at this point, like, going, hey, we're proud of you.

Like, continue this? No. Not yet. But I also then didn't work. Then I hit, you know, like, it's, it's, it's, they were like, okay, we'll back off a little bit. But then when I wasn't working for years and just auditioning, and once I fell in love with it, it went away, which... So you hit a lull. Yeah, then they were like, okay, so are we done? And did you think maybe you were? I've had moments. I will say my mom came down to

visit when I was shooting that show and saw the spark of passion and bless her. She pushed me through a lot of the I might want to quit. Because once she saw that I was really passionate about it, She was like, you can do anything, so I'm going to support you in doing this. Why were you so passionate? What is it about acting that makes you passionate? I mean, I am very indecisive of what I want to do with my life. So the fact that you get to have many different lives by playing different characters feels really cool.

That feels exciting to me. There's few moments where I felt like there's nowhere else I want to be. Usually I'm like always thinking ahead or trying to do or I just feel really aligned. And those have been in acting situations when they've happened. Yeah. Like in the show I'm doing now, I've had, it's been so great. And I'm like, oh, I forgot how much I love acting. What million little things?

Yeah. Yeah. Is it a lot of dialogue for you too? A lot of dialogue. And it's just two people having a conversation. There's no one flying over you. There's no explosions. And I love that.

So you're saying Supergirl was easy for you. It wasn't easy because I, it looks cooler being a superhero than it is when you're doing it. You're like, oh, this is really hard and uncomfortable. And so it was challenging in a different way. Right. And honestly, Kyler's a great actor. So for working with her was always amazing because if I ever got comfortable, she would throw something at me to get me like back on my game in a scene.

Right. Is Supergirl the first, is the biggest show? you've gotten or do you think um jane the virgin was that was probably your first biggest show and that was a popular show i mean didn't the cast or something get nominated for golden globe and that yeah our first season right so it was something that people did you ever watch it ryan no i never saw yeah yeah but a lot of people did yeah and so that was your first big break because that's something that your your mom and your dad sort of like their eyes open like oh wait a minute our little girl is is doing something big now mom yes dad still wasn't sold still wasn't sold still wasn't

get there. But I think Jane was so unexpected in that I came on episode two right after the pilot. And then by our, by episode nine, we were at the Golden Globs and Peabody Awards and People's Choice Awards. So it was, it was very jarring in an exciting way. But it bonded a lot of us, I think, because we were like, what are we doing in this? Well, it had to be exciting going from what are they called telenovela? Yeah. Was that right?

Telenovela shows, soap operas to Surfer Girl. you know, to Jane the Virgin and being at the Golden Globes. Yeah. That had to be like an eye opener for you, for the people around. You're going, hey, she's, because a lot of times, you know, we do not great work. Yeah. Or we do great work and something that's not great. Yeah.

It was the first time people really, like, were fans and watched. They paid attention to you. Yeah. They're like, she's something to look at. She's something to take. And more the show. Like, I think people have a very intense emotion. emotional attachment to it. I was at this book story in Vancouver that I go to a lot. And the woman that was working out front came up and was like, I just want you to know. Like this Jane the Virgin was my pandemic. Like my brother passed and she started crying. And it was like very, but like that's really common for that show because it's a feel good. And people, it's like their safe place. Wow. So it was the first time I'd had that where people were sharing very intimate information because I was a part of something that was special to them.

do people come up to you and recognize you? How often do you get that? It depends. In Vancouver much more, I think, just because we're all there and people know. In LA, no one gives a shit because it's like, actors are everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And still, I think Jane is the one because it feels personal. I think it's like when someone shares something about themselves that's vulnerable and someone's experience that, then you want to come up and share that with that person, whether it's your mental Hall struggles or, you know, a million old things deals with suicide as a storyline. Then you get people that come up to you and want to share that. And so I think with Jane specifically anywhere, whether it's like immigration storylines, they want to tell their story. They want to tell

you their story. Right. How do you, because like the thing is you're having a bad day, you having whatever kind of day and people come up to you, you sort of have to give them that attention. Are you someone who could just turn it on really quickly and and be like, hey, great, thank you so much or fuck off there are some people that can easily just be like you know i met so and so and that rosembaum is just an asshole and i'm like i was having a fucking bad day i lost my dog people don't know what you what you're going through or what you went through but do you how do you feel about that do you i always i try i think sometimes maybe i've not been as connected and warm if i'm having a bad day but i always i always try um and i think with super girl specifically it's

Usually girls, and they look up to so many of us girls. And so for me, that always, they're so sweet. And it gets me out of a bad mood, weirdly, meeting them because they're so excited and kind. And, yeah. Inside 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 can.

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Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know that I sent you. Don't wait, download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show. 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 stellar lenses for myopia control.

Learn more at SLOR.com. And ask your family eye care professional for SLOR Stellar. lenses at your child's next visit how many episodes of supergirl did you do before before covid i guess there was quite a few right yeah i guess two seasons two seasons of that so it wasn't until then covid hit where you started to want to write yeah and that's when you got into this whole thing where you had this about racial injustice and all these thoughts for supergirl and um how did that so so you you wanted to write an episode. Is that what you ultimately wanted to do was to write an episode of Supergirl? Was that what got you into the writing? Or you, that kind of came about?

So I think, you know, it was also the COVID and Black Lives Matter and it was this really activated time. And I think just even having gone through what I was saying, I went through with loss of a close friend and my dog. And I was unpacking a lot of stuff and realizing within and myself, things that I pushed down and said was okay that weren't and trauma. Things were coming up for me. Again, I was doing a lot of therapy. And so I started to write more for myself.

And then stories that I was like, I wanna tell these stories and I have, why can't I? More as like a producer. Like I wanna get someone to do this. And I think I realized if I can't write, it's a disadvantage and it would only help me to learn how to. Right.

And for the upcoming season of Supergirl, I really wanted to tell a war vet story and go a little deeper in the Sean Aston, kind of where we started, but like really explore it. And how do you do that? Because it sounds so daunting that, you know, you get the show going on for so many years that you want to just jump in and write an episode or because where does it fit? Because you've got to think there's arcs and there's episodes that lead into other episodes and they're crossing into each other. And then they have the multi-universe or whatever, the Aeroverse and all these things. So, I mean, it takes a lot of chutzpah, as the Jews say. Hutzpah, I'm a Jew, I can say that. Because if I said as the Jews say, and I was like, if I was black and I said it or if I was, you know, not Jewish, I'd get in trouble probably nowadays, wouldn't I?

But you're like, I'm good. But I'm good because I'm a Jew. So the Jews say. I think, I think you're good. I think anyone's good. Anyone's good saying that? Yeah. But where, the chutzpah of like going in and like writing an episode, because that's, you sort of wrote a piece, right?

Yeah. You wrote an episode? Yeah. But again, it was my version of it had nothing to do with the storylines on the show. I knew what was happening with my character because our show owners really did end of season, beginning of season, told you you're pretty much a whole arc. So we had a really good idea. Right.

Okay. That's good. But again, so I wrote this with that idea of that. Also, I was finding my voice a lot because I've always been someone that never wants to be difficult. and to the detriment of myself and I was starting to realize that speaking up for myself didn't make me difficult

and asking for things that I want was something I had never really done I just like I'm just happy to be here I don't want to and I started realizing that if I didn't do that that it wasn't going to go well and anyone could call you anything

like no matter what you're doing so you might as well like stand in stand for yourself and I started asking for things And what were you asking for? I had called the show winner and creator of Jane the Virgin, Jenny Ehrman, and I was talking through some stuff with her because I'm still very close with her. And I was like, I want to make these shows.

And these are my ideas. And she loved one of them. And she was like, let's start developing it. So at the same time, we had brought in a writer that was a friend of mine from Jane. And we were doing these mini rooms. And so we were creating something based on a time in my life while I was writing this supergirl thing with this writing coach. So it was very serendipitous in that by the time they were like, we want you to write an episode, likely the storyline that I had written. I was like, okay,

I just worked with this genius woman creating something from nothing. I think I could, I know these characters so well. I've been on this show for a couple years now. I feel like I. So you pleaded this case to them. No, no, this is all in my head. My head is the wild play. On the outside, I was Like, here's the sample. I'd love to explore this. I love writing. I've been working on it. And then they really loved it.

They were like, we'll send this off. And then our other producers in the studio loved it. And then that was it pretty much. Yeah. And then life got complicated and then COVID stretched out longer. Melissa was having a baby. And then we found out it was our final season. And so they had to scrap the storylines and start over.

But because they committed to an episode, they kept their word. And did you have to rewrite it? rewrite it? Oh, I started from scratch. So I had to join the writer's room. So I had to wait a minute. So they scratched the episode that you were going to do. The whole season because it's all changed. It's the final day to redo everything for the third time. And so that had to be a little disappointing since you wrote something you were really happy with. But now you had to start from scratch. But they still were interested. I was like, this isn't going to happen anymore. It's fine. In my mind. This is their way of saying, we like you. You're so sweet,

but no thanks. And I would get, I would get, you know, it's the final season of a show that's, been on for a long time. But there was a three or four episodes that I didn't do because I joined the writers. I really feel like I just kept showing up and Were they annoyed?

No, I think they were like pleasantly surprised. You just kept showing up every day. Would you be quiet? I did a month. Or would you be assertive and go, I have an idea. What if this happened? Yeah. And they were cool with that.

They were like this fucking actors in the room. I would wait. I would wait until. I would wait until there was like a stall and then I would really think about what I was going to say and then I would I would only try to offer solutions or with my character or Kyler's character I felt comfortable speaking up with representation and certain things like you can't do that or you know for this arc storyline let's bring in guest stars you know to make it more authentic we and and things like that

and they were really well received but I'm really close to their right I've always been closer with our writers than than anyone on the show so a lot of them were my my friends so then kept just pitching these story ideas. Yeah. And they said, we love it, write it. Yeah, well, we did, I was in the room for months. We did three episodes, but broke the arcs for three episodes altogether. And then as we were doing it, people were going off right in their episodes.

And then we broke blind spots pretty roughly. But they gave me a lot of leeway. And I went off and wrote it with Jay, who was the co-writer of the episode. And, wasn't that, were you nervous? I think I, here's the thing. I do something and don't think about how hard or scary it is until I'm like I wish I was you 85% in and then I have a panic at 85% but I've usually committed I have to do it and so I'm like I'm almost there I've got to just buckle down and then I push past the last

and what was the most important thing when you were writing this that you were thinking of that this is what I want to come across this is what I want people to understand because I felt like it was it was really cool how you said something about the superheroes that they that they they're part of the problem, that Supergirl and all her Justice League, they were part of the problem with racial injustice and all these things. That's a difficult subject. That's hard to tackle for anyone. Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you're doing notes calls and in rooms and this character has been built up as the hero that's the best of everyone. And then you have to, you know, it's interesting to watch how people react to those scenes when they're reading them.

because people get very defensive. It's almost like it's them that is being attacked. But I... You bear down. I did. You just said, F it, I'm going to do this. Yeah. Yeah.

And even with our fans, I find a lot of them, we were lacking empowerment of oneself. And it's like they're not, superiors aren't going to save the day. Like the whole point of this is that hopefully you take some of that for yourself and empower yourself that you can. We all have a superhero in us. Yes. We all can be superheroes by being good people. Yes.

And not relying on someone to rescue you in your everyday life. This can be translated to so many things. Wow. And so what does it look like when you expect someone to rescue and they fail you? How painful is that how do you step up for yourself? How do you show up from yourself? So I think there were themes in it that hopefully people that watch the show that are like, oh, I'm not that so I can't.

It overwrote that. You know, I read somewhere where David Ramsey, who was going to direct it, who directed it, blind spots, you worked very close with him. And you also worked closely with every department, from props to them saying to the set design, to whatever. I mean, you weren't just writing. You were designing. You were an integral part of the whole process. Yeah, they really, later I asked one of our showmeners, Robert, I was like, what? Did you, was that intentional or did you just not realize that, and he was like, I knew you'd sink or swim and I knew you'd swim. And they just, yeah, like casting decisions.

I got to cast it. I got to go on location scouts, which I know writers don't normally do, and go over all the locations, approve prop guns and little knickknacks table, like my, the restaurant. That's a lot. You might as well have directed the episode. But like my type A controlling personality thrives. I was like this, I loved it. I've never been more engaged.

It was hard going back to just being an actor, honestly. I was like, everything was so personal. I had a sign of a restaurant I came out of that had my mom's name on it and was Ethiopian food because she always wanted to have an Ethiopian restaurant. So our first location I built out was a restaurant. And she, when they sent me the approvals, and I don't even know if I told my show on this, but I texted my mom. So she actually picked out everything for her restaurant that was on TV.

Are you serious? Yeah. So I got to make it personal. Oh, man. And I think you could feel that energy. And then talk about therapy. A lot of those speeches I would voice record. And so I'd be in my apartment with Daisy just sobbing as I'm like yelling.

You know, it's like what you do in the shower, but I essentially just were recorded. Wow. And then write it out and yeah. So it's real emotion. Yeah. Yeah, it was real. That's crazy. Everything that was said was something I felt.

So at this point, when this episode comes out, you've made Dad proud. Has that happened yet at this point? He was like, come on. I think when the superhero, when the Guardian one sheet came out, a lot of young Eritrean girls that were like friends of kids. My dad's friends' kids were so excited to see someone that look like them be a superhero. I think that he was like, okay. And to be the first of something. Because you're a vigilante, right?

Yeah. Ultimately, James Olson, your brother, he was a guardian. And then he skips town and then you become a guardian. Yeah. See? You see how I put this shit together? Yeah, that's impressive. That's impressive.

Yeah. I didn't look at that. I don't have that written down. It's true. Yeah. It's true. Yeah. So, but dad was pretty pleased.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That made you feel good. Yeah. It did. I got it. I'm proud for you.

Of you and that made me happy. I like that. Yeah. What's it like, had you ever kissed another woman before you got this role? Before you got. Yeah. You had? Sure.

Yeah. I don't think this is, yeah. I'm sure. On a show? Are you talking in real life? We're going to skip through this. Well, no. What's it?

Why are we going to? Morgan's like, hang on a second. No, but I'm just wondering, on a TV show, have you ever had to kiss a woman? I think so. You think so. I would remember that. If I had to kiss a man, which I have, it got cut. I don't know.

Maybe I was a bad kisser. I don't know why, but it was Jason Isaacs in Sweet November with Kenna Reeves and Chuck Lerleast Throne. And I made out with him in a scene in the background and they cut it. And the director was so like, oh, that was great. If you could do it again. See French? No, shit, man.

I sounded French. What is he? Let me do it again. Okay. Michael, Jason, that's really great, but... Scottish? Close. What are you guessing?

Irish. I don't know. I wasn't doing a good job. I wasn't doing a good. It takes me a little sheep stealing hood and bastard just the words I used to try to get to the flow of things like that, you know, it's like off the lilt. But I remember it, it got cut. But anyway, you know, I remember that. moment when I kissed a man. I wonder if it's more memorable for men than it is for women. Yeah, because women are supple and beautiful and sweet and men are hairy and...

And I think there's like societal, weird. I feel like straight men will get very uncomfortable or weird. And I don't know. I feel like women are more like... I don't get uncomfortable at all. I'll kiss a dude. Did you just get uncomfortable? Well, no. I'll kiss you. Okay, that's fine. I mean, unless you wanted me to or, or, no, if I had to, if we were acting in a scene together. If a situation called for it, sure. Of course. Situation called for it.

Yeah, I'm not scared like that. I'm a thespian, for God's sakes. Yeah, I don't, I don't know what that says about me, but yeah, no, I don't, I don't remember. I think I, like, block out chunks of my life, honestly. But those kissing scenes, so they don't even affect you at all. Like, oh, I have to make out with Kyler. Great. I like Kyler.

I love working with her. It's going to be fun and comfortable in a great atmosphere. And do you enjoy it? Yeah. I mean, her and I, it's great. She's a babe. I love it. She's a babe.

She is a babe. We were such a team. You know, these shows are like chaos. Chaos. There's three units going at the same time. You're being shuttled between multiple episodes. So her and I had a really fantastic work relationship and were like work wives. So like we would order each other lunch every day.

We would, you know, she did the morning coffee run. I would do the afternoon. We had our same drinks that we got. Like we really were like work wives in that way. And when things were bad, we would. kind of cocoon. And so we had intimacy in our, in our real relationship. And so the more that grew, it just felt more and more comfortable. It got tricky with COVID, too, because we weren't really supposed to as much, which was unfortunate. Do you work out a kissing scene? Like, I remember

having to like, like, oh, if I do this and I do this and that you choreograph things, is that how you do it? Like, what if I kissed you on the neck and then I kissed your lips? Only if cameras, like, that doesn't work for us. But we, we were so comfortable with each other after a while that We didn't even, which again, COVID officers were like, you have to tell us. We would just kind of feel out scenes and do it. Wow. We were lucky. You're a pro.

I think if I didn't like who I was working opposite of, it would be hard. I'm sure there's been guys you've had to kiss and you're like, I didn't like that. I don't want to have to kiss this guy. You know what's weird? What? And I just did not happen with Kyler and I've talked to her about it because I remember our kissing scenes very clearly. But with men, like when I was on Jane the Virgin, like I would. black out kind of the male kissing scenes. Like I would like remember starting it and then just

kind of like not remember. Were you just method acting or you just weren't like, I don't know, maybe a coping mechanism. I'm getting paid to do this and it's weird. Right. But I wouldn't, I wouldn't remember. And poor Brett Dyer who I was office at was always like, I don't know there to be offended by that. I'm like, oh, it's not personal. I do this all the time. But but not with women. You just kind of zone out. But with women, you feel more comfortable. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. I haven't unpacked that yet. I'll tackle that in therapy tomorrow. Well, maybe tackle that in therapy

and then we can talk about that again. Yeah, yeah, we'll do follow up. Because that's interesting. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. I want to talk about that more, but we won't. This is shit talking with Ozzy Tesfi.

Yeah. I said it right. Yeah. These are my patrons, my lovable patrons. Go to patreon.com slash inside of you, and you could ask questions to the guests and help the podcast. But so these are some questions. You could go rapid fire.

Great. Were you going to say something? I just, these are questions from you or from my your questions from fans. Okay, great. From patrons. Oh, I'd never heard patrons used it. Yeah. Patreon is a place

where people can go online and they support the podcast. Awesome. So they support the podcast in many different ways and so these are patrons that had questions. Great. Let's do it. Little Lisa, who is the prankster on the set of Supergirl? I don't. I don't, there was...

You kind of prank, don't you? no I don't feel like anyone really does prank not David David seems like he'd prank no definitely not she's like no David does not no maybe maybe Nicole I don't know everyone's an adult and just kind of to get their job done so I don't know about pranks yeah I didn't say they didn't get their job done I mean like still go on set and get your job done well true true maybe like one of our one of our camera operators Rosie likes to do like during soccer term he'll do fun teasing things so maybe more crew than cast all right yeah michel k what's one thing people would be surprised to learn about you um can you sing no can you dance

no i mean i did not what not like professionally pretty untalented um i don't believe that for a second uh i don't know i'm an overthinker i'm a major overthinker are you which i've shared now i think Yeah, my head's a lot of it. You think about things too much. Yeah. Things that haven't happened. Yeah. But that's what I do. And they always say if you're thinking about the future, you're having, it's anxiety and you're thinking about the past, it's depression, right? If you're focusing on that. I live in those spaces. I kind of do too. Yeah. Yeah. We got to be more present, don't we? Yeah. I feel like I'm the duck with the feet, but like maybe it looks a lot calmer, that I'm overthinking everything. You know what? I think, I think a therapist once told me

this, if you can't control it and you can't change it, shelve it. So if this is the situation, I can't change this right now. I can't control this. Let it go. Let's shelve it to when I can deal with it. And that does help me. That's really great. Also, get out of my mind! I scream at my stuff sometimes. Just in the middle of the street. Yeah. Leanne, who has been a positive influence in your life and helped shape the person that you are today? Whoa, these are, these are not rapid fire. They're going for it. They could be rapid fire or they could, be thoughtful. You know, you kind of take your time. I'm my mom, you know. My mom, I grew up with a single mom and she told me I could do anything. And when I went to quit, she's like, you just keep

pushing. So my mom. But not dad. Not so much dad. My dad and I have a better adult relationship. Does dad say I love you? Not a lot. I'm proud of you. Not a lot now, but not as much growing up. It was definitely my mom. Yeah. We need that as kids. Yeah. And I think there's something. cultural with that with being East African or you know areas between Saudi Arabia and Yemen like East African Middle Eastern culture where kids are kind of like seen and not heard and there's not as much like words of affirmation it's like I love you because you have a home and I feed you and I pay for your schooling you know and my dad used to say that who puts a roof over your head I'm not a good father yeah I don't have a meal on the table yeah I go oh so parenting is just about it putting a roof over

my head. Is that what you're saying? I think the most important thing is emotional connection. I think it's mostly about I'm proud of you son. I love you son. Things like that connecting, but I think that's a, it's just it's a different time period where they grew up in. It's how they were loved and raised, you know, what they were shown. What they define as as being the head of a household or taking care of their family is different than what we think now. So yeah. Yeah, Dev Nexon. Dev. Do you personally think it's essential or at least helpful to know a bit about comics for playing such a character or not?

I did. Also, they let me, I had a say in my designing my super suit, which was great. I think people just lost their mind the last year and we're like, yeah, it's fine. She'll figure it out. So I do love the comics. I'm a big. bumblebee fan and Mal Duncan who's a version of the Guardian and I just we co-designed the suit with a lot of that intention.

Jeez, what didn't you do? I did a lot this last year. It was great for my. That's going to be great because I could see you now. I could see you as a director. I don't want to direct. I have zero desire to direct. I bet you eventually you will.

The thought of being in pressure and having to manage a lot of people sounds like my version of health. Well, create them. Just create right. If I can do it in my bed. that's like the sweet spot getting to if you could do it in your bed yeah right oh yeah

you can't you can't direct in your bed right you can't direct in your bed so there's that's a no go for me this is now how I look at my green lens of deciding what I want to do I can write in my bed zone Dana S I loved your episode of Black Lives Matter made me cry and feel included in the discussion

gave all the correct things to say to our allies such a heartfelt episode thank you I was hoping I was hoping that it would help with conversation. Wow. Are you getting offered to write more things now? Yeah. You are.

Yeah. So you got some things in the works? Yeah. Can't talk about it. No, but I'm excited and it's exciting. I like, I don't know. It's hard going back to not to just acting for me. Well, we need more female voices.

Yeah. We need you to do it. keep doing it you're good at it i love it and it makes me really happy and and and there's there's a lot of stories that haven't been told and so i'm like okay let's let's do it and and again i just collected kind of great people from different shows and writers and partnering with them on different ideas and trying to get that stuff made but but supergirl is special because it was um when do you get to write your superhero coming out story like never you're the first aeroverse actor to have a writing credit in Aeroverse

series. Yeah. I think I think first for Berlanti ever and then second for the network. Are you glad the season? After Justin. Oh yeah. Yeah. Who I ran into recently and told him I was coming on your podcast because I know his wife. She was on Jane the Virgin. He was like he's the best. He was like, come over and have some tequila with me and his wife after we talked about it.

Nice. This has been a real treat. By the way, is the where did you cry at the the, you know, that it's the last, you're done, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you cry in the final episode? Like, this is it? So the finale, the series finale is, is Kyler and I's wedding.

So, and they built out a full wedding. I mean, it was this gorgeous estate that they took over. I mean, you walked in and you were like, oh, this is somebody that has a lot of money is getting married. It was beautiful. And so, and every cast member from the beginning pretty much was there. and and McCodd walked me down the aisle and so there was a lot of it was very it was an emotional experience to have a wedding scene and then I think that environment created a lot of

extra emotion but not not until I was pretty solid and um Katie McGrath said that when they did like my final goodbye I was smiling she's like you didn't look very sad I was like was I smiling she's like it was disturbing it was like a plastered smile on your face But I was like ready. I was ready to move on. And then I said by to a couple of crew members. I'm really close with like our first AD Bob. And I was giving them very personal gifts and notes.

And I burst into tears. Really? Yeah. Isn't it always the crew guys that you're just like, you feel so at home with? Yeah. They're protectors too. We have like. Did you have any of those guys like JD, the JD film Supergirl or did you work with Glenn Winter at all?

Yeah. Glenn's the best. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then we had, and you know, Rosie was really. from the Flash and Paul, our B cam operator and our ED's, like those guys were very, they're protectors in the best way.

And so the show is, it's a lot. And when you're on location, it's a lot. And they just were, for me personally, I had different experiences on the show. Some were good, some were bad. But they were always like a solid, stable, kind place to land. And so saying by to them was the hardest. Will you miss it?

Do you miss it? I'm going to miss being a superhero. I miss the crew. I think it felt right to be done. The fear and you always want to do like one more season. But it was done. And you could feel it. And a lot of people were already mentally done.

Like I came on later. I wasn't on since the beginning. I can't imagine doing 100-something episodes of television. But it felt right. Yeah. Well, I loved having you on. Did you enjoy it today? I did. This was, like, really easy. I could do this all day. Yeah. I really had fun.

Yeah. I don't like to talk too much, but like, you know, an hour to me is like it's, it's, it's, did we do an hour? Probably. Did we do an hour, Ryan? Yeah. Wow. Look at that. Isn't that just fly? You're so good at this.

Oh, thanks. I, you know, I was a little nervous because I, we don't know each other. I know. And we don't, you know, it's just like, I, and it's not like I watch Supergirl every day. Yeah. And so you're like, what do you do? And you're like, what would you do every other? episode you just talk to human being so hopefully you know and we're both big on therapy i feel like that's like it's important it's important and you opened up and you opened up and you shared with the audience and they're gonna they'll gravitate towards you because they like that they like when people open up and they just if they learn something from you which i learned something from you and um so thank you thank you for having me

and blanche wait i had you and blanche and ryan sorry that i said blanche first but it's it happens Yeah, pretty fantastic dog. She's pretty cute. Yeah. She has a cute dog, you know, too. All right. Thanks again for being here. Thanks for having me.

Thank you, Ozzy Tess Fai. Great interview. Just really humble and sweet and easy to talk to. And I didn't know her. I didn't know her at all. And, you know, a lot of times when you don't know someone, I get a little nervous. I get a little, oh, my God, I want them to like me.

I want them to enjoy themselves. I want them to maybe come back. And, you know, you can only control what you can control, Ryan. Can I say those have been the best ones recently, the ones where you're like, I don't know this person. I don't know what we're going to talk about. And then you guys talk and it's fine and it's, they turn out great. I think you're right. Because you learn about somebody and that's kind of what this is about.

You want to learn. I want to learn. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I learn about somebody either way. But when I don't know them at all, I learn a ton. And so do you. So thank you, Ozzie to Sify for coming on the podcast.

You're welcome back whenever you want. Uh, remember to follow us on the handles at Inside of You podcast on, um, Instagram and Facebook at Inside of You pod on the Twitter. And, uh, what else? Um, make sure you, uh, listen, watch, uh, tell your friends to do the same. And if you want to join Patreon, the lovable, loving patrons that I have, patreon.com slash inside of you. Is that what it is? And they're fantastic. They've become such great friends, such a great community. They give back to the podcast. They help to keep the podcast afloat. And I'm going to read those names off now and be sure to, if you're in the giving spirit, echoesof hope.org for foster youth, foodonfoot.org

for the homeless situation here in Los Angeles. Tell them I sent you. And also the Ron McDonnell House, you can't do wrong by donating to those guys. Yeah. And food on foot, if you give $25, they'll receive $50. They get $50. So go food on foot.org. for more information right now we're going to read off our lovely patrons uh these are the top tier patrons they get boxes from me every couple of months because they give the most that you can give on the podcast on the on the patron thing are you still doing your uh your better help i am you still working with better help i am uh yeah i have a therapist right now who's really stuck and she's uh really uh hands on really yeah so you did

I'm digging it. I am. That's good, man. I just got a new therapist too and it's helping me. In fact, I told her, she goes, what are you thinking? I go, well, I thought that I just didn't want to be on this conversation and I'm having anxiety talking to you and then all of a sudden 20 minutes in and I feel really comfortable. So know that even myself, when I'm talking to a therapist, I get nervous, I'm anxious and

then all of a sudden it starts to dissipate and I start to feel comfortable and let go and that's when the real work comes in, you know, comes through. Here are the top tier patrons. So here we go. Nancy. D. Leah. What?

S? Yes. Sarah. V. Lisa. Lisa. Kiko. Jill.

E. Brian. H. Mama Lauren. G. Nico. P. Jerry.

W. Robert. R. B. Jason. W. Kristen. K. Amelia.

O. Allison. L. Raj. C. Josh. D. Joshua.

Emily. F. S. Yes. S. C. C. C.

Samantha, M, Jennifer, N, Stacey, L, Jen, Z, I forget. Take a guess. Jen, C. S, you got through quite a few of them without messing up. Jamal. F. Yes, Janelle, Kimberly, E, Mike, D, E, Eldon, Supreme.

99 more Rha Mera San Diego M Chad W Leanne

P Janine R Maya P Madie Madie I

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Jesus H I'm out Spider Man Chase Sheila G Brad

D D Tabitha. T. Mr. Ed. Mr. M. Liliana A. Michelle K.

Michael S. Talia M. Betsy D. Lori L. Chad L. Rochelle, Nathan E. Marion, Meg K. Janelle P. Dan and Big Stevie.

W. Angel M. Rian, and C. Corey K. Super. Sam. Coleman. Coolers. Coleman Coolers.

Coleman Goolers. Coleman Goulers. Dev Nexon. Michelle A. Liz I. Jeremy C. Andy T. Cody R.

Sebastian K. Gavinator, David C. John B. Brandy D. Javore. Camille S. The C. Getting down to the nitty goody here. Joey M. Willie F. Christina E. Adelaide and Jeffrey M. Omar I. Lena N. Eugene and Lee. Hello guys. Chris P. Nikki G. Corey KT.B. Patricia Heather L. Jacob. Thank you, patrons. Thank you all patrons for sticking with Inside of You podcast and with me. It means a shit ton that you guys give so much to the podcast and you support me so much and I will never forget it and I'm going to

keep doing this podcast until you stop supporting me I guess right? Yeah sure. What else can I do? Happy holidays. We've got a couple of great episodes coming up so do not miss them. Put them in your calendar every Tuesday I'll be here with you or whenever you decide to listen to the show from the Hollywood Hills in Hollywood, California. I am Michael

Rosenbaum. I'm Ryan Taylor. That's Ryan Taylor's right over there. A little wave to the camera. And thanks for allowing me to be inside of each and every one of you today. And I hope you have a glorious freaking week. Be good to yourselves, guys. Hi, I'm Joe Sal C. Hi, host of the stacking Benjamin's podcast. Today, we're going to talk about what if you came across $50,000. What would you do? Put it into a tax advantage retirement account. The mortgage. That's what we do. Make a down payment on a home. Something nice. Buying a vehicle. A separate bucket for this addition that we're

at you. $50,000, I'll buy a new podcast. You'll buy new friends. And we're done. Thanks for playing everybody. We're out of here. Stacking Benjamin's follow and listen on your favorite platform.