Podcrushed - Brianne Howey

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Brianne Howey -- the actor you know from Ginny & Georgia, Dear Santa, Batwoman, and now her new film Kinda Pregnant -- regales the hosts with stories of growing up as the artsy one in a family of athletes, and spills the details of her mom's illicit (albeit cheeky) Crate & Barrel heist. Sorry, mom.   Follow Podcrushed on socials: Instagram TikTok XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada Yeah, you're hanging out at the old boys' school. My mom didn't want, you know, practice goes late. She didn't want to pick me up. She was a single mom. So I'm getting rides from the older boys going home, and I was fairly happy. It was really fun, yeah.

I didn't have many complaints about that. I was having a great time. You're like, Mom, that's fine. No pick up. I love theater. I'm going to do this the rest of my life, Mom. Exactly. I love these beats great. Welcome to Podcrushed.

We're hosts. I'm Penn. I'm Sophie and I'm Nava. And I think we would have been your middle school besties. Spending our Saturday afternoon watching the 16 and pregnant marathon. Oh my God. Did you guys see it? Did you see it? Welcome to Podcrush. Welcome to Podcrush. We've got a good show for you. Dabda-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dum. Dumb-dum. dumb I feel dumb I feel dumber for that

That you're singing pen Is it? Because our guest said something today Brianne you already know because you clicked on this episode okay We try to pretend like it's a surprise I know why we do that makes no sense I don't know why Breanne told us about how her mom was really intent on her getting into a good college

And she did some things I'll save it for the episode She did some things for Brian to really Inspire her to get into a specific school. And I was reminded that my dad was the same way. He was really into college and really, really inspired us and encouraged us. And he came up with a song for me to inspire me to only go to an Ivy League school, which I didn't. Spoiler, I did not go to an Ivy League school.

But he came up with a song and his song was, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale. Our little girl will never fail. What? Whoa, that's a little crazy. And then during our break, I actually sent him a voice note because I know there's a second part of the song, which was like, just in case I don't, he made like a second part that was about like the second string schools that would be okay. I really want me to go to. I really want me to hear that once.

Well, I forgot what it was. So I asked him to send me a voice note, which I want to play. I haven't listened to it yet. I really want to know it. ASU or NYU. If you fail, we'll love you still. or no it was if you fail we won't love you I mean that's catchy

that's catchy yeah that's catchy there's two let's see what this is I only remember the first part of it which was Mullenburg Gettysburg Bentley Beats Our little girl Oh shoot

Our little girl has other traits When you talk about this That it was tongue and cheek that we really, you know, and I don't think we pressured you or really He's backtracking now. In the direction of the Ivy League.

I'm not letting him finish that because he's not getting away. That's hilarious. Are Gettysburg and are those schools? Are those the locations of famous schools there? And you've never heard of them because their second string, maybe third or fourth.

Yeah. Of course it was tongue-in-cheek. an incredible school. Actually, just like Trish, right? Yeah, yeah. The school she went to. You mean, yeah, Brienne went to Tisch. She went to NYU.

That's incredible that Sophie and, actually, Sophie and Brian both ended up at NYU. Yeah, so let's just get to it. Our guest today is Brian Howie, who you probably know from her breakout role on the acclaimed Ginny and Georgia series on Netflix. I've never heard of Netflix, though. That's weird.

I've heard of Ginny and Georgia, but Netflix is not ringing a bell. She's also been in films like Dear Santa and Batwoman. You know, speaking of Netflix, she's got a new film Kind of Pregnant that is streaming now. She stars alongside Amy Schumer and Will Forte. There's a whole like pregnancy fake pregnancy thing. It's actually quite funny. It's more than kind of funny, but she's kind of pregnant.

We loved having Brian on the show today. Don't go anywhere. We will be right back. Does anyone else ever get that nagging feeling that their dog might be. be bored. And do you also feel like super guilty about it? Well, one way that I combat that feeling is I'm making meal time everything it can be for my little boy, Louis. Nom Nom does this with food that actually engages your pup senses with a mix of tantalizing smells, textures, and ingredients. Nom Nom offers six recipes bursting with premium proteins, vibrant veggies and tempting textures

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What makes life meaningful? My name is Elise Lunan, and I'm the author of Oner Best Behavior and the host of the podcast. Pulling the Thread. I'm pulling the thread, I explore life's big questions with thought leaders who help us better understand ourselves, others, and the world around us.

I hope these conversations bring you moments of resonance, hope, and growth. Listen to pulling the thread from Lemonada Media wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so we'll start at 12. From what we gather,

you grew up in Pasadena. You do have a lot of siblings, but of course every family's configured differently. Just give us a snapshot. Who was 12-year-old Brienne? So, yes. I mean, you almost beat me to it. Very modern family situation.

My parents got divorced when I was around 10 years old. They were a little bit on and off again throughout that process. By the time I was 12, living with my mom. My mom was a single mom, worked super, super hard. My sister was probably seven at the time. And I think my whole world was, my mom was so worried about me getting into a really good college. And it was just all about doing really, really well in school. Yeah, I had to have, like, she made my AOL screen name.

My, she made my password Harvard. Like, she was just really all about, because right, we want for our kids all the things we didn't have. So she, my mom came from nothing, really, she became the CEO of a software consulting company by the time she was, 30 she was really successful but really put a lot of pressure on all of us to really succeed and try really hard and work ethic and school was so important so there was it was a lot of pressure well you say all of us I think what I'm interested in is so I have I have a half sibling who I did not grow up with who was 17 years older I I have a stepson and a son so they're 11 years apart there's all kinds of ways that, you know, stepfamies can exist and siblings can be.

Yeah. Were you guys under the same roof or were you, were you, like, what was that like? So I'm technically the oldest of five. So when I was 12, they weren't all here yet, right? It was just me and my one sister and we had the same mom and dad. Then our parents divorced. My mom remarried and had one more. He's now 18 and he lives in North Carolina with his dad.

Then my dad had two more and they're now 22. and 20. One just graduated college and he actually, I'm so proud of him. I'm going to brag. He just signed with the Detroit Tigers. Wow. That's incredible. Yeah. It's so thrilling. He worked so hard. You know, that little league culture is so intense. And then my sister who's 20, she's still in college and she plays softball. So my siblings are all very, very athletic. My sister, where we have the same mom and dad, She played lacrosse in Santa Barbara. And my brother, North Carolina, is an amazing swimmer. And then the other two are softball baseball.

So huge sports family. And that's kind of how I found acting was because I was so bad at every sport. I never made a team for anything. So I had to go to like, like, I remember my mom making me do these UCLA volleyball camps in seventh grade. And I would just cry. I would just call her crying being like, please pick me up. I can't do this. I'm so bad at this.

And it was the same. It was like tennis, basketball, all the things. Because I was tall, and my family was so athletic. And everyone was just like, you have to play sports. And I just was terrible. And then I finally in, this wasn't until ninth grade, but then I tried out for the improv team. And I made that team.

And that's when I was like, oh, I'm a Fespian. These are my people. And then I started auditioning for the plays in high school, and it all carried away from now. You talking about the UCLA sports camps just brought back a memory of, you didn't? Yes, a tennis camp at a summer tennis camp at Amherst College. My mom made me join, because my sister was joining and my sister's really good at tennis. I have absolutely no tennis skill. The first day, you know, they had us, they like assessed us so that they could

split us into groups and tears and stuff. And then I had this like private group with a coach and I realized later it was because there was no one at the camp, like out of over a hundred kids, There was no one as bad as me. So I had to be with the coach the whole time. If I was there, I would have been with the coach with you. I would have been your friend. I too would have sucked. That's sweet.

I cared that I was bad at it. Right. I didn't care that it was sports. I cared that I was bad at it. And I think all of that pressure inadvertently created, it gave me some perfectionist tendencies, whereas I've gotten older, I'm really been trying to unwind, though. right like it's not that's not great for us and I think yeah being 12 it was just a lot of pressure about it was for the resume so I could get into a good college that's more what it was

yeah right right okay okay so when did so it sounds like you you discovered improv in high school how late into high school me like freshman or sophomore year okay a little bit early on yeah and then I continued that's what got me into doing the plays like our coach of the improv team was the one who recommended he was like you should try out for the plays but the first play was a musical and i can't sing or dance um and i went to an all girls high school and so i auditioned for the all boys play that was just a straight play because it wasn't a musical you could do that was the first yeah because they needed girls so the boys auditioned at our school and we auditioned at their school wow how cool was and what was that like

Like my picture of being at an all-girls school and then like being in the play at the all-boys school, I feel like that's just like a perfect setting. It was the best. It was trouble, trouble. Yeah, you're hanging out at the all-boys school. My mom didn't want, you know, practice goes late. She didn't want to pick me up. She was a single mom.

So I'm getting rides from the older boys going home. And I was fairly happy. It was really fun. Yeah. I didn't have many complaints about that. And I was having a great time. You're like, Mom, that's fine. No pickup.

I love theater. I'm going to do this the rest of my life, Mom. Exactly. I love these. It's great. I mean, I really, I mean, that was more high school, not junior high. But yes, once I found what, like, my community and my people and what I enjoyed doing and kind of coming into myself was definitely, yeah, later on in high school, doing actual

place. That's for sure where I started to fall in love with it all, and like the collaboration. And but I didn't, even though I grew up in L.A., no one in my family necessarily worked or works super directly in the entertainment industry. So I never really viewed this as a career. And to be honest, because my mom was so hard on me about getting into the right college and doing all of this, she didn't necessarily love the idea of acting. She was like, you're not going to make any money. And like, it's a numbers game and those odds are so slim. And my mom was a real left brain numbers woman.

I'm curious, Brian, what your dad was like sort of at this time in your life and just in general, like his vibe. Yeah. My dad, so at this point, I guess Preston and Morgan, so my dad had two more kids. They were really,

Morgan was probably just born. And then, so they were really little. Maybe only Preston was around and he's probably a toddler. That actually, I think, so my dad getting remarried and having more kids brought us even closer. I think we weren't as close prior to that.

But watching him, because again, so my parents had me really young. My mom was 21. My dad was just a touch older. Nobody knew what they were doing. Everybody had a lot going on, you know, figuring it out as you go. And so watching my dad and his second marriage and with the kids, I loved it. And they were in Pasadena, and I was living in Loch Nott at the time. And it brought us a lot closer.

But my dad was way chiller. Like he was the one, like, if I got a bad grade, it didn't matter. He liked that. Like he liked being the guy who was like I don't care if you don't do well in math Whatever You can change your password Yeah exactly

Like Brown or Yale is okay Dads are always undermining Always Speak yourself I'm the one So with my toddler When I walk into the room And he's like eating chocolate

He like looks to his mom And he's like And he goes to me he goes I need space Give me space Like if he's watching If he's watching something Or if he's eating something sweet

and I walk into the room. Like, if I've been there and he knows that I know, then it's fine. But if I walk in and he's doing, he literally, he's like, he's scared of you. Yes. My daughter doesn't have. She's only one and a half. So she has a lot of words, but not as many words.

But we're working on it. But if she's doing something, she knows she shouldn't be doing. And I'm, my husband or I walk anywhere near her. No, no, no, no, no, no. And she's just like pulling all the wipes out of the white bag or something like that. But, yeah, and we're trying to work on. I'm trying to teach her. I'm like, do you want pride?

like when she's going to the bathroom or something like in a corner and if you start to walk near her to go change her and pick her up she's like no no oh sweet that's really sweet brian so brian you obviously you went to this all-girls catholic school yes um had some fun at the school plays what got you into improv what got you into theater besides not excelling in athletics what drew to that sadly that was literally it i just i was trying out for everything and i didn't make any teams i made like i barely even made the intramural teams in junior high. I just, I don't know, it just was not my thing. And then finding improv and doing the plays in high school,

I still wasn't viewing it as, oh my God, this is my future, this is my career. It was just, this is great for my college resumes right now. So I worked really hard at it. And it was more, I think actually in junior high, I did, my mom took me to New York for the first time, went to New York City, I fell in love. I remember seeing a woman, I don't know, she would. she was like in a ball gown standing in front of a hotel and it was the most glamorous thing I had ever seen and um I was just obsessed with New York so I fell in love with NYU and then by the time

I was applying to colleges I thought if I could get into Tisch I'll take this seriously maybe I'm meant to be an actor and maybe I'll do this but if I don't get into Tisch I'm not I'm I'll just do something else I mean I was like minoring in journalism or something and right in child psychology actually But I ended up getting into Tish. And then I was like, holy shit, okay, I guess I'm going to go, I'm going to go do this. That's amazing. And yeah, I loved it. And then I did my first student film freshman year.

And that was really the game changer. It was like I had never felt that type of community and collaboration. And it was just like a bunch of college kids from all these different departments and walks of life creating something together. And nothing felt better. so so can we just rewind a little bit because we're going to get i'm really interested in that transition that's like that's a really rich vein uh not only do we have a few classic questions about adolescence like first crush first heartbreak first you know and any kind of embarrassing stories i am curious like you know part of our premise is this idea that at 12 13 14 you know

your mind is you're obviously the body's developing but your mind is really developing and you know and your capacity to feel, your capacity to, like, look out into the world and see patterns that you couldn't see before, to see, to think about, like, I don't know, even literally, like, you know, aspects of society. What, if you could have, if you think, what would your 12-year-old, 12-year-old or 13-year-old self

might have said if you ask, like, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? Would you have had an answer? You don't have to because that's so young. I had, like, work answers. Like, I wanted to be a photographer or an architect, Yeah, I don't know why. But again, my mom was like,

you're not going to make good money being a photographer. She was just really all about, like, you have to take care of yourself. And again, that's just parents projecting from their own upbringings and all the things you want for your kids. But I, what was I? I was also, I'm really sensitive, still am,

but more so I was a pretty sensitive. And I stayed in my lane a lot. I think I was kind of afraid to take up a lot of space, to be honest. Just being the older sibling, I really took care of my younger siblings. I had to grow up kind of fast.

And I was really independent. Again, like my mom worked a lot. I was kind of raised by, because my mom had me so young, I was raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies. And then I was kind of that kid who really, really gravitated.

Like, you had those best friends and, like, their parents were still together and you'd go to dinner at their house and they would take you on their family vacations. Like, I was that kind of, a tabalong friend to some of these families growing up who are still, those are still my best friends to this day and their parents are still such a huge, huge part of my life. You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about how independent you are because every time

you name like a possible career, like journalist or photographer, architect, I can picture you in all of them, which isn't always the case, you know, but I'm like, oh yeah, Brianne just seems like she would have been excellent at everything she's naming and I don't know why, but you just have a quality about you that seems like you would have excelled at whatever path you chose. Thank you. I guess that's what's kind of cool about acting. You're you then kind of get to take on all these different kinds to. Yeah, two things. And you don't have

to do any of them. Yeah. You don't actually have to be good. At any. I learn anything about anything. They're doing it all for you. And they make you look good. Stick around. We'll be right back. All right. So, um, let's just, let's just real talk as they say for a second. That's a little bit of an aged thing to say now. That, that, that, that dates

me doesn't it um but no real talk uh how important is your health to you you know on like a one to ten and i don't mean the in the sense of vanity i mean in the sense of like you want your day to go well right you want to be less stressed you don't want it as sick when you have responsibilities um i know myself i'm a householder i have uh i have two children and two more on the way um a spouse a pet you know a job that sometimes has its demands so i really want to feel like when i'm not getting the sleep and I'm not getting nutrition when my eating's down. I want to know that I'm that I'm being held down some other way physically, you know? My family holds me down emotionally, spiritually, but I need something to hold me down physically, right? And so honestly,

I turned to symbiotica, these vitamins and these beautiful little packets that they taste delicious. And I'm telling you, even before I started doing ads for these guys, it was a product that I really, really liked and enjoyed and could see the differences with. The three that I use. I use the, what is it called, the liposomal vitamin C, and it tastes delicious, like really, really good. Comes out in the packet, you put it right in your mouth. Some people don't do that. I do it. I think it tastes great. I use the liposomal glutathione as well in the morning, really good for gut health, and although I don't need it, you know, anti-aging. And then I also use the magnesium L3 and 8, which is really good for, I think, mood and stress. I sometimes use it in the

morning, sometimes you do it at night. All three of these things taste incredible. Honestly, you don't even need to mix it with water. And yeah, I just couldn't recommend them highly enough. If you want to try them out, go to symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping. That's symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping. As the seasons change, it's the perfect time to learn something new. Whether you're getting back into a routine after summer or looking for a new before the year ends, Rosetta Stone makes it easy to turn a few minutes a day into real language progress. Rosetta Stone is the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Their immersive, intuitive method helps you naturally absorb and retain your new language

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I do want to ask about your first experiences around love and heart. break around junior high, high school, whenever it was for you. Yeah, you know, it's so funny. I, um, now that I have a daughter and she's only one and a half, I swear to God, she's so boy crazy and we're all like, where did this come from? What on earth? Like, she's so young. Oh, my God. And then the more I think about it, I'm like, oh my God, I think it was me. Um, yeah, I like always had boyfriends and crushes and I had a very, very serious boyfriend throughout all of high school for four years. And then we broke up when I went to NYU. And it was so dramatic. And he was two years older than me throughout high school. So my mom wasn't thrilled. And we definitely

got into, like he got me my first fake ID. And I snuck out all the time. And he would sneak in. And it was bad. Bad now that I am a mother and I have a daughter. I'm like, Jesus Christ, this is all going to come back to me. But seeing it now, do you feel like you had, I mean, you were together for nearly four years? A long time. I mean, that's a long time for that age. That's like a, that's a marriage, you know. And I've kind of had, yeah, I've had a couple of those.

Then we broke up and I had, you know, my fun in college and then the end of college and the four years after college, I had another boyfriend for like four years. And then we broke up and then I was single for a little bit doing my thing. and then I met my husband. And now we've been together for a very long time. You have a sweet story of meeting your husband, so we'll circle back to that once we get to your adult's ears, if that's okay.

Of course, of course. So another question that we like to ask is if you have an embarrassing or awkward sort of middle school memory. I mean, so many, you guys. So many. The one that always comes to mind is I was trying out for the volleyball team. And I was like a little bit late

and everybody was meeting up in the parking lot and they had already done the warm-up, I guess. So the coach is like, Brian, go, you know, run a couple laps around the pool. And there's the pool. And then like an enormous, enormous gate around the pool. I don't know what I was thinking. I entered the gate and I literally ran around the perimeter of the pool,

not the gate of the pool. And the junior water polo team was practicing. and they all of a sudden I just hear go oh oh my god they told her to run around the pool like I didn't get that I was supposed to run around the gate and it was it was the most mortifying experience because it was all the boys I think I probably did yeah I think I'm committed I'm committed I took yeah my like short cut because I was like god that would be way too much to run all the way around that big gate I'm just literally going to run around the perimeter of pool and it was just super embarrassing.

But I think I probably finished it, yes. I don't think I quit. It doesn't sound like you. You wouldn't quit. My passwords, I'm not a quitter, you guys. Yeah. I heard that you had an extremely close relationship with your mom growing up, like to the point where maybe you called yourselves the Gilmore Girls a little bit.

It's true. It's very true. Yeah. That paints a good picture, I feel like. Yeah. It's just so. It's like the one that then when I got cast in Ginny and Georgia, it was just felt, I mean, that's what the show is about. It just felt like it was a very full circle moment. And yeah, like I remember my mom and I, we would call ourselves a Gilmore Girls. We would watch the Gilmore Girls. My mom at times was more of a friend than a mom. How did that relationship evolve throughout teenhood and then into adulthood? Do you feel like you ended up finding like a nice balance of friendship. and parent, or how did that go?

So it's complicated. My mom actually ended up passing from cancer a long time ago there now. Thank you. It was like 15 years ago. So I was 21, 14 years ago maybe. And so our time got a little bit cut short, but we, so while when she, she got diagnosed when I was in high school. And it was also the same time that she met her husband.

So she actually moved to North Carolina. um to have another baby with her husband and i because it was my junior going into senior year of high school i just wanted to finish out the year so my aunt and uncle actually moved in with me into my house in la canada when my mom was in north carolina wow so i mean it's hard to explain we were i don't as far as i guess the balance goes yeah we were really really good friends and i mean she mothered me of course but like then when she got really sick, the role, your roles change a little bit, right? And, like, we were so close and I would, like, fly to New York a lot for all of her

treatments. I know, I'm sorry. I feel like this is pivoting to, like, a sad, sad story. No, it's not at all. Is that okay? We welcome that here. It's okay. Okay.

Yeah, very much okay. I mean, it isn't all sad. She's still, like, I don't know. Now that I'm a mom, it definitely shines a spotlight on all of these things. And I, I almost feel closer with my mom in a way. even though she's gone now that I am a mom because I just can't stop thinking about her and thinking about how I was raised

and what I want to take with me and what I don't want to take with me and how that's okay too. Yeah. But I mean, yeah, I loved our relationship. But it, of course, what, I mean, it was Gilmore Girls and it was Ginny and Georgia. Like, I get, the reason Georgia resonates with me so much

is there weren't a lot of boundaries. My mom shared everything with me. I shared everything with her. like I got my mom caught me sneaking out and I didn't even get in that much trouble because she just felt so bad that she was living in North Carolina at the time and couldn't be there for me

but she really wanted to have this family and it's hard. Yeah. Yeah, thank you for sharing. Of course, sorry it's a lot. No, no, no, no. No, I mean, look, we actually we talk about death and loss and grief quite a bit on this show more than our distributor is with.

like, I think. No, they don't care what we want. So you entered, you know, like mature youth, like 21, having lost your mother. And then it just feels to me that finally having the opportunity to play Georgia could have at points felt like, I don't know how to put it. I just know I've had this a few times in my life playing certain roles. you're like this is so on the nose that um you know it's like you is anything i'm saying resonating yet like it's like there's there's you know it's like it's like it's like it's like it's please cut me off

it's just so meaningful yes i'm sorry i didn't want to cut you cut him off please it feels so meant to be like i don't there there's just so much i feel like my mom like met was meddling up there and like brought me this because it feels so it's so much of my story obviously not I'm not on the run or a murderer but so much of the other stuff like my mom was so cool and savvy and like was this crazy successful software consultant

but a single mom and like when we were moving wanted to furnish her house with all crate and barrel furniture but it's so expensive so she worked for crate and barrel I mean I probably shouldn't be saying this but this was so long ago she worked at crate and barrel for like two weeks just to get the 30% discount furnish our house and then quit. So smart.

It's Georgia. Like she had to survive. My mom was true. Like she just had to survive. And that's a lot of what, yeah, these roles in characters are. And like before Ginny and Georgia, I did a lot, kind of a lot of dark stuff. And that's not really what I thought my trajectory was going to be here. Like when I first signed with my team, I was like 21 and it was all like, let's take on rom-coms.

And this is going to be so fun and light and funny. and then for whatever reason, it might have been, I think, probably because I was hurting and grieving that I was kind of just attracting darker stuff. I think about that a lot truthfully. You know, it's interesting you said that because I was wondering, obviously, this comparison is frequently made, but speaking to you, it is really palpable this sort of Julia Roberts comparison. And she was like the queen of like romantic comedies and one of the best to ever do it. So I was wondering, like, why was Brian, knowing that you started an improv, you have this actress who there's i can't think of anyone else who resembles her so much even in the way that she speaks

you know the way that you do um yes i was curious like why was brian on this sort of like drama path and you you're funny uh so that's interesting to hear yeah i don't know being an actor is so weird and like i feel like i used to get questions about like what do you want to do next and it's like i whatever they put me in like whatever i look i don't i don't have a choice it's like what am i getting a call back for who where where who's where am i testing But I do remember at one point in time, I think I was testing for The Exorcist, which was this dark show on Fox. Gina Davis played my mom.

Alan Ruck played my dad. It was so cool. But at the same time, I was testing for that. I was also testing for a comedy. And I had to pick which one I wanted to put in first position. And the comedy was amazing. But I remember having a talk with my team just about kind of the state of comedies in the industry at that time.

And they weren't getting picked up as much. They weren't getting as many seasons. And I don't know. The other script was just felt like, it a little bit, it felt like it was going to have more legs. But because I did exorcists, it did kind of change things. Then the next couple things I did were dark sci-fi shows. But I love them and they were great.

But they didn't, yeah, I love it. Do you by chance have, I typically do not ask questions like this at all that can testify to this. There are so many superstitions around people who've been in the Exorcist. are you aware of these? A little bit, yeah. Like, I'm not, I'm not. Are you guys not?

No. I went into a Wikipedia hole and discovered that there's all this stuff around like this strange circumstances of many actors and actresses like dying prematurely after having been in it. But anyway. We had one, we had one freak accident on set. And it did involve one of the actors playing the priest, but it was his stunt double. And it was a scene where we were. we're all in a living room huddled around this coffee table and I played I played um what was my joke I would make oh I was I was depressed not possessed so I wasn't the possessed one but I was

the sister of the possessed one and I was just like a really sad ballerina girl um and the stunt double so we're all gathered around the coffee table mom dad sisters and the stunt double is the priest and he's being exercised I suppose in a way and he gets thrown from one corner of the room to the other corner of the room. So he's on, he's on ropes. And as he, as they start the stunt, he goes, the cable breaks and he falls on the coffee table on us, shatters the coffee table, breaks his ribs. Oh my God. It was terrible. He's okay. But it was like a horrible, horrible accident. Brian, that's traumatizing for everyone. For everyone. How did you guys recover? Wow. We took the night off. And then I, that was also pretty deep into, yeah, it was deep into night.

nights shoots. And I think we all agreed, we were deep in the season, deep into night shoots, and that's a change needed to be made. So I think we took a little mini break and had to pivot. But yeah, I mean, these things, yeah, these things happen. It's horrifying. Wow. So let's pivot from exorcisms. Okay. Okay. Are you sure? We don't have to. Wait, actually, maybe a segue? The other day,

yesterday, my daughter, she's nearly one and a half. So probably similar age to your daughter. Yeah. And she would not go to sleep. She would not take a nap, which hasn't happened in a long time. And finally, like, last straw, my husband was like, I'm just going to take her on a drive because that will just, like, that will do it. But he took on a drive and he said, he texted me.

He was like, she has her eyes closed. Like, she wants to sleep so bad, but she's moving her hands, like, trying to keep herself awake. I was like, we need an exorcist. I know that feeling. So well. They just fight it. so hard. Yeah, sometimes she does seem possessed, but that

I feel like to bring us maybe to kind of pregnant. I watched it last night and the prenatal yoga class made me laugh out loud. Oh my God, thank you so much. I'm so glad. It's so ridiculous. That was, that scene was hard to shoot.

They were doing the farts in real time and we had to do a couple takes with no farts because we couldn't get through it. And it was like, please just put it in in post. Like, we got to get through. the scene. They were playing like what like a fart machine kind of with the, of course. Yeah, it's happy Madison. Wow. So many farts. Um, but I, I was curious what you, Brienne, your experience was like pregnant. My experience. So look, I actually had, I had a, I had a pretty wonderful experience as my doctor would say boring, which is good. But that doesn't mean I was a

trooper throughout it. I complained quite a bit. I didn't love the experience. But, um, Um, I mean, it's a freaking miracle. I felt like a science experiment and, um, I was, I was having a really hard time not knowing what it was going to look like with work and that it was really hard to navigate. And I actually, I shot a movie in my third trimester. Oh my gosh. Um, because I didn't, I did this Jack Black, Fairly Brothers movie. Um, and I just, I didn't want to say no.

And I, my team and family were very supportive. as was the project, so I was like, okay, I didn't think I'd be doing this, but let's go do this. So I got really lucky in a lot of ways. And then to go back to kind of pregnant, I actually had a pretty easy labor, all things considered. But the scene in the bathroom floor and kind of pregnant is actually my real birth story. So the night before we shot that scene, I don't really remember. It was just a much simpler scene before that. Amy called me and was like, hey, we're going to do something crazy tomorrow. Let's go tell our birth stories.

And I was like, what? And she was like, do you, like, would you be open to this? And I thought, you know, when a door opens like that, let's walk through it. It was like a little vulnerable and scary, but I felt safe with the people around me. And we just kind of went for it. And so, yes, after I had her and everything was fine. And then afterwards, that actually did get pretty scary. And I bled out a lot and I had no idea what was going on.

And that was the first time. I've seen my partner so scared, and that was really scary. But the baby was so perfect and happy and healthy, and she was. She was just on my chest the entire time throughout all of it. And it really, I was okay. Yeah. What was it like to have to act that to sort of relive it? Yeah, it was vulnerable.

The fun part of the story, I was watching the real housewives of Orange County in bed, and my water broke. And I didn't know what was happening. I thought I just peed myself. my husband kept looking at it was like late at it was nine p.m. And he was like, what's happening? And I was like, oh, nothing, nothing, nothing. And I like went to the bathroom and I came back. And I was like, I think something's happening. Like this, I think this is happening. So I call the doctor. They're like, yep, come on in. Um, I started having

contractions right away at the hospital. We got there at 10 p.m. And then my daughter came at 10 a.m. So we're there for 12 hours. Um, my husband actually did almost miss the birth because he went to go get food. He went to egg slut across the street from Cedars. And they, Then they check and they're like, oh my God, you have to start pushing. They're like, where's dad? And I was like, he's getting food. He's in the hospital. He's always at egg sluts.

He's at egg sluts. And I was like, no, no, no. He left the vicinity. Like, this guy's gone. And then he came back in and I, you know, it was legs open. It was happening. He walked directly in. He's holding tater tots and egg sandwiches.

And he goes, do you want a tater tot? And I just said, Matt, it's happening. She's coming. And he said, what do you mean? And I was like, it's happening right now. And then he, the doctor just said, grab a leg. So then he grabbed the leg. And then it was 20 minutes later.

She's out and we thought everything was fine. And then my OB got her cell phone. And I thought that was really odd. She was panicked. She started making calls. And I'm just in love with the baby at this point, on my chest, in love, in love, so many endorphins. But I do notice more and more people are entering the room.

More and more people are on cell phones. Wow. And that's not right. and then I saw Matt really worried and I mean I was panicked but I had my daughter and she was okay and they basically I um they thought a portion of my placenta was still inside of me they kept doing the ultrasounds and they kept seeing something and in the process of trying to get it out it created more and more blood leaving um so then they and unfortunately this happens to a lot of women. So we didn't, but then they, they were able to stop it. So it was only a couple hours.

And then everything was okay. But yes, right after I had her those next couple hours, I was just bleeding a lot. So then that was the story that then we ended up using for that bathroom scene and kind of pregnant. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. I don't think we've ever heard anyone's worth story on the podcast and it's really meaningful. Yeah. Thank you. And that was actually that's why Amy wanted it in the movie because she basically was like have you ever heard a birth story or she's like do you know your own birth story and I was like I act no I have no idea and that was all her idea she just thought it was really important that we can maybe start talking about these things and normalizing them yeah you know it's uh I have to remember so my wife

is a doula and I read that okay and she was actually Amy's dula I did read this okay so so I I forget sometimes that, like, people don't, like, live, eat and sleep birth stories because I'm like, I like, so many people I know, I know their birth story because it's just a, yeah, I don't know, it's part of it, but it was really moving to see in that scene that, of course, which I, you know, I mean, I know societally, it's like, yeah, it's an issue and it's really interesting to delve into. So, yes. Thank you. And then it seems like in, in the film kind of pregnant,

you know, even this conversation with Amy's really telling that she called you. She wanted to have this exploration of real birth stories. And then I heard that she allowed you to bring your daughter on set and even had like a little nursery for her. I think that's not typical. I'm not sure. But yeah, what was your relationship with Amy like as a new mom and all of that? Look, I don't have a ton of friends who are actors and moms.

So it's a really amazing Venn diagram. It's if you can have anybody in that. And her son's older, so she's really already been through it all. And, yeah, she offered to have, so it was my first job back after having my daughter. Of course, again, not knowing what to expect. I was pretty scared on how to navigate all this, especially as someone who, like, takes work so seriously, probably a little bit too seriously. And I, having your family and kids there, you know, your energy is elsewhere. So it's a new version of you.

And that's why it was so awesome to do. just be surrounded by other women, especially other women who are working with kids. And they let Siggy come to set all the time. She was there all the time. It was so sweet. And she had, she had the best time. I mean, she was, so I actually, we shot kind of pregnant and then season three of Gina and Georgia back to back. Like, I rap kind of pregnant like on a Tuesday. And we started at our table read for Ginny and Georgia was Wednesday. But my daughter grew up so much over that process. So like when she was on set for kind of pregnant, she was like eight, nine, ten months old. quiet or not really moving and then by the time we're like at the end of season three

Virginia and Georgia so it's like six months later she's you know 14 15 months she's so loud she's screaming my name when she sees me on the monitor like then she couldn't be on set anymore but they were yes it it was a very positive first experience back that was a lot more empowering than I expected oh so nice you don't hear that often yeah it was cool uh I'm interested in in some connections between these characters for a moment um my sense i mean you could definitely call your your character from kind of pregnant like um she's she's the she's the emotionally stable healthy direct transparent she's like she's like very grounded she's very she's just kind of like a she's sort of like what you would want yeah and she's like the foil to the mess of

Amy Schumer's protagonist, you know, whereas Georgia is obviously, she's at least more superficially a mess, if not actually, more a mess, right? Yeah, inside and out, we're, yeah, Georgia's got a lot of issues, you guys. Yeah, yeah. So, so, right, yeah. So, so I guess I'm curious, was it like refreshing to play somebody who you didn't have, you know, you just could be more straightforward? It was really fun to, Georgia is larger than life.

sucking all of the oxygen out of the room. On set, it's like Georgia is go, go, go, go, go, all of the rhythm to all of the dialogue, all of the monologues. Georgia's two steps ahead of her daughter all the time. She's cutting everyone off. She already has a plan going. She's exhausting.

Like Georgia is so much and she takes up so much space. So playing her, yeah, it's a lot. And then to get to do Meg and kind of pregnant is just so much more grounded. She has two feet on the ground. She doesn't have time for your bullshit. she is the straight man and it was fun it was really actually fun to be the straight man as opposed to the person in the room doing all the things but because I am a little bit more

used to doing that to being Georgia I was a little bit worried I didn't know if I was doing enough so I had to kind of trust in that process that like is this enough because I I now have a muscle where it's like more more more and like a lot of times when we do Georgia they want these you know they want the biggest take. Like we're doing a lot of take and they generally use like the biggest most heightened one. So it was a completely different experience

getting to just be still and grounded and a little bit more a straight person. But hard still, harder than I expected. So I wonder if since that was the first job back after having a child and then going into Georgia, I'm curious, you know, her motherhood is such a big part of

who she is Georgia and yet you hadn't been a mother of course you know you have that potent relationship with your own mother so I wonder if there's just some kind of transfer or evolution there that happened that you noticed in season three when you went back for the first time as Georgia as a new mom yeah so look I haven't seen a couple of episodes of three I haven't seen everything yet but man

I don't know about you guys I just, my heart is, I'm just a puddle now. Like my heart is just like an open wound since having my daughter because I'm so obsessed with her and in love with her. So yes, I've always kind of been this mother hen in my life, even without having kids just because I had so many younger siblings. And then season three, yeah, it's a lot deeper. It's, there's more heartbreak.

The season is darker. It just kind of naturally unfold. that way. But actually, here's the biggest difference. I found while shooting season three, it takes you away from your family so much that I had to make it worth it. I was just like, I can't fuck around.

Like, this has to be worth it because it's taking me away from her so much. Like, I just really wanted to give it my all and make it worthwhile, or else I'm away from her for no reason. Yeah, I feel you there. so obviously it's a breakout role you're incredible Georgia is a delicious character and I just want to know for you personally Brian what about Georgia gives you the

ick like the most and what do you aspire to the most about her oh there's one or two things this season Georgia does that are really hard to get behind I mean she's already done a lot of things that are hard to get behind I'm like what else could she do she's already killed people. There's a pretty big one this season, but I won't spoil it yet. I think, I mean, yeah, obviously the murder, but let's see, her, Georgia doesn't have an identity

outside of Ginny. And they are, it's like there's, there is zero separation. It's almost, it's a control thing. It's like ownership and it's Georgia does not have a life outside of Ginny. And she suffocates her and she, it stops her daughter from being able to, like, grow into the person that she is. So that's probably the ick.

That's hard. Yeah. And then something I love about her, I admire that Georgia takes up a lot of space. I wish I did that more throughout my life, probably. And we'll be right back. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Asian women were often reduced to overtly sexual and submissive caricatures, the geishes of the book-turned film memoirs of a geisha, the lewd twins in Austin Powers, and pinup goddess Sunghili.

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Where is he from? He's living under a rock, I guess, on the west side. No, we've been together for like nine years. So this, right, we got together in 2015, and he had never had Boba. I don't know. What a freak. I mean, Bubble tea was like a thing like 20 years ago, but is it really that crazy? I feel like I've not, I've had Bubble Tea like twice and it was like 20 years ago.

That's a you problem. We were upset. Yeah, exactly. You obviously were hanging out in Arcadia with me. and my siblings getting boba after school. I don't even know if Penn has ever had a chicken McNugget, so I wouldn't turn to Penn. Oh, are you kidding?

No, no, no. I've had a barometer of. Are you super healthy? You're a very healthy guy? He's going to say no, but the answer is yes. No, I am. I eat all kinds of things. I just don't.

That's a lie. I don't like wheat grass shots. I think one time he had a wheat grass shot and I never forgot. Yeah. The truth is, I'll eat kind of any in all things. But growing up, not. He does take the smelliest supplements I've ever. No one around me ever has smellier supplements than Penn. It was the wellness pills.

You know what the wellness pills are? Those garlic, those teal top. Yeah. And they work. They really do keep you from getting sick. Yeah. But they're gross. Or getting married.

I was getting away. Really? But no, but growing up I had so much. I had just nothing but fast food basically. Okay. Sorry, but we pivoted on Matt. No, no, let's focus on this. Let's focus on the bubble tea.

Let's focus on fast food. How did you and Matt meet? We met the old-fashioned way. We met out and about at bars. It was I, so what's kind of funny about me and Matt, I was at NYU, Matt was at new school. We were in New York at the same time and never met. We're both from L.A.

Both were back in L.A. then at the same time, I was going out with like some of my New York friends who introduced one to their New York. York friends who of course were his friends. So I got kind of close with his group of friends without him because he was studying for the bar. So he wasn't, he wasn't hanging out. And then all of a sudden it was the end of summer and I'm with his friends. He had just finally taken the bar so he reemerged. And I was like, well, who the hell is this guy? And where have you been? And then so we ran, that was two nights. We just accidentally ran into each other.

And it was like, oh my God, this is so cute. What's going on? Then we continued to run into each other four nights in a row. Wow. Literally just out and out. And we've been together ever since then. However, cut to our wedding, and this is true. I didn't know. So during his vows, he said that of the four nights we met, the last two, he did call and find out where I was. Oh. It wasn't. It wasn't fake. You were like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. It was not.

A good old fashion planning. Oh, wait. Did he show up and say, whoa. Yeah. Oh, we played it off fully like you're here? Oh, my God. We're both here. Wow. We're at Marvin. What is this mean? Weird. Yeah. Is it phased? The dark room? That's amazing.

Yeah. That's really sweet. Brian, we have a final question. We ask every guest. Okay. Which is if you could go back and talk to your 12-year-old self, spend a little time with her. What would you say? What would you do?

Oh, gosh. I would tell her not to worry so much. That it's all going to be okay. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Less worry. And maybe I would change, maybe change my passwords. Tish.

Yeah, exactly. That's great. Oh, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for being on. Thank you, Brian. Thank you so much for having me, you guys. It's really nice to meet you, and thank you so much for your time. You can watch Kind of Pregnant on Netflix right now,

and you can follow Brian Howie online at Brian Howie. Pod Crush is hosted by Penn Badgley, Navacavalin, and Sophie Ansari. Our senior producer is David Nes. Sorry. And our editing is done by Clips Agency. Special thanks to the folks at Lemonada. And as always, you can listen to Pod Crush ad free on Amazon music with your prime membership. Okay. That's all. Bye. Brian, I just want to say, I have a dog who's been sick all night, like throwing up another thing. So if I go off camera and unmute, it's because I'm dealing with him. No worries. And I'm so sorry. I, too, have a very barfie dog. He's not sick. He just eats a bunch of shit. He shouldn't. And he's constantly throwing up.