Podcrushed - Brittany Snow

Episode Date: July 3, 2024

Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, Hairspray) joins the gang and shares stories from her decades-long career in Hollywood. Brittany shares details about the extreme lengths she went to in order to succeed as a child actor, and how her own struggles with relationships and body image influenced her directorial debut, Parachute. She and Penn dish on the John Tucker Must Die sequel rumors, and share their favorite memories from set.   Follow Podcrushed on socials: TikTok Instagram XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada So I was already sort of an emotional kid that just really liked to cry. Sometimes I would, for fun, just stare at myself in the mirror and cry. I don't know why. I can cry very easily. It is a special skill. It's like rollerblading accent, crying in the mirror. Yeah.

Welcome to Podcrushed. We're hosts. I'm Penn. I'm Nava. And I'm Sophie. And I think we could have been your middle school besties. Penn, would you have let us braid your hair? If my wife doesn't make me cut it.

Oh. Oh, God. No, but this is in middle school. I was married in middle school, David. Hello, and welcome to Podcrushed. Hello, everybody. Hello. I have to be transparent.

I've had so many technical difficulties today. Yeah. What's new? Completely frazzled. Listen to orange cable. That's true. Listen, one cord to unplug and I unplugged it. And I'm doing it without Wi-Fi.

I'm doing it on a hot spot in my toddler's room. It's remarkable. Yeah. What's up, guys? Well, I was just thinking how I really wish that the pod crushers could be in our group chat. I think they wish that, too. Actually, which Penn could also be in our group chat. Yeah, that'd be great if we could join.

I am, but I just sort of opt out. I opt out all the time. We're muted. When Penn opt in, it's the best. It's so exciting. All of us are on our phone. Quick reply. No, but some funny stuff happens in that group chat.

Like the other day, Navajo was just telling us that she almost ate her dog's dog food. So, Maeve is a sponsor of the show this season, and they have incredible dog food. sent us free samples to make sure that we liked it before we endorsed. And one of the samples that they sent us were these like peanut butter sesame bars that look and smell like regular human breakfast bars. And I texted the group like, they smell so good. I might try it. And so if we was like, put down the bar and have up, put down the dog food.

For reference, that's when I'm looking at the chat and I'm just like, I know. So you see it all. I do see it. Yeah, I do see it. I just choose not with these humans. Yeah. Okay. but I have a fun follow-up to that, which is that I went on a trip to Big Sur with my dad and the dogs and some cousins and packed the mave dog food, including the bars, and had given my dad some of the stash because he has a dog, too, and anyway, we saw dogs, whatever, this whole thing.

And as I'm, like, feeding both dogs, the peanut butter bar, which they absolutely love, they, like, devour. I'm telling my dad, like, it just smells so good. Like, it might be peanut buttery, and my dad's like, yeah, it's pretty sweet. And I look at him, and I'm like, it's pretty sweet. sweet or you think it's pretty sweet and he just looks at me and his eyes go wide open and he covers his mouth and he starts laughing and I'm like you ate one of the dog food bars and he's like it's not even an apocalypse no it's not human grade guys human grade dog food so Tommy tried it and stands by it good enough for humans Tommy oh my god is a ride or die yeah yeah I'm not gonna

like no I like I've I've thought about it yeah I might do it because it might be one of things where I update you on the flavor. Yeah, please. But I haven't yet. Yeah. Well, if you want your life to be easier, I've always said, don't have dogs. That's been my policy. God.

This isn't a long... I have to say that's true. It's actually true. No, it is true. Sophie knows what we're talking about. Don't ask me what happened to my dog. Tell us you got rid of your dog without telling us you got rid of your dog. Let your co-host do it for you.

No. I write around the dog. the time that Maeve sent us the first shipment, one of my dogs got really sick, which is, which is terrible. We really thought he was maybe close to death. And he has bounced back. I can't give all of the credit to Maeve, obviously. That would be crass. Some to Maeve, some to God. Is that sort of that? Yeah, right, sure, sure. But I know the switch to raw, he's eating food more consistently than he ever has. He's a husky, and he's just super picky, like super, super picky. It's really frustrating actually getting him to try to eat kibble was nearly impossible yeah but it's like i don't know

it's it's it's unclear to us has his owners for five to six years now what it is that he likes unless it's basically been bleeding recently like he just loves eating live animals he's a husky he can do that yeah so he's just he's been loving it that's cool that's exciting to hear big ups yeah yeah big ups mave thanks for sponsoring us this season we love you mave speaking of people we love We got to work on this transition. We got to work on that. No, that was good. That's great.

I dare say our guest loves me because we've known each other for a long time. The esteemed actor and director, Brittany, Snow. You might know Britney Snow from her roles in films like X or hairspray or pitch perfect. There's also almost family and American dreams. That's a bit of a throwback, but she was amazing in that. We were together in a little film called John. Tucker must die.

Acting is not her only endeavor. Her directorial debut was at last year South by Southwest with a film called Parachute. Just as an aside, if you haven't seen it, I really loved it. I'd recommend it. Brittany is a delight. We caught her in a rare moment off.

Let's just get right to it. Brittany. Does anyone else ever get that nagging feeling that their dog might 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-Num does this with food that actually engages your pup senses with a mix of tantalizing smells, textures, and ingredients. Nom-Num offers six recipes

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Louis. Louis is my bait. Louis, you might have heard him growl just now. Louis is my little baby, and I'm committed to only giving him the best. I love that Nom Nom Nom's recipes contain wholesome nutrient rich food, meat that looks like meat and veggies that look like veggies because shocker they are. Louis has been going absolutely nuts for the lamb pilaf. I have to confess that he's never had anything like it, and he cannot get enough. So he's a lampy laugh guy. Keep mealtime exciting with NomNum, available at your local pet smart store or at Chewy. Learn more at trynom.com slash podcrush spelled try n-o-m.com slash podcrushed. Why do we do what we do? What makes life meaningful?

My name is Elise Lunan, and I'm the author of Honor 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. Really excited to meet you. I used to watch Guiding Light with my sister, so I feel like I've known you forever. Yeah. We would watch it when we came home from school. And I remember you. I remember you on Guiding Light. Yeah. So how old were you on guiding light? I started when I was 12 and then I was till I was 15. Because I was on Young and the Restless

when I was 14, I think, for like a year. Oh, you work? Yeah. Yeah. And it was like a recurring role. I didn't, I didn't, I worked enough that it was formative or whatever, but were you, were you like a daily kind of thing or were you popping in and out? I was a daily type of thing. I was, I was a main, I guess I was the kid character, but I was supposed to be the rebellious character, which was, you know, looking at me, I look exactly the same. It was really funny. But like my antics were overdosing on cough syrup and causing tiny fires, you know, things like that. That's such a 90s style of rebellion for kids. Yeah, I don't even remember why I overdosed on cough. but um everything is is is a little fuzzy around them because i was going to school at the same time as i was shooting the show in new york so i didn't even live in new york i lived in florida and

i would fly to what new york to do the soap opera and then i would fly back and forth it was so wild did you like that at the time i didn't really have a choice since i was a child um and and i I think, you know, my parents probably came at it from the viewpoint of we wanted to keep her normal and going to normal school, which seemingly is a good idea until it was not because I would go to two or three days of the soap, two or three days of school. And then I would fly to New York and do a day or two on guiding light. And then I would fly back to school. And I did that every day for three, three years. So, yeah, no summer vacations, no off time. All right, yeah, so, okay. Do you remember ever protesting that? No, because I loved it so much, and I, that was sort of this safe haven part of middle school for me was the going to work. And I always had this sort of sensibility that I wanted to work more that I wanted to go to school.

So I don't know where that came from, but I think it was innate. And I liked that a lot more than my childhood. well let's dig into where that came from you know you never figured it out yet but did you get bullied in school because guiding like I mean that would have just come out every day like there's not a long there's not a long lag between when you film and when you release right so it would have been current while you were in school yeah it comes out the next day pretty much so it was it was such a strange thing to to film something and then to see your work right away and as a kid getting that sort of validation and reward center coupled in with going to school and knowing that there

were other kids looking at your work in that way, work. I don't even know what it was. But yeah, it was a lot. And I guess we're diving right in to that. Well, you know, hold up. Before we get into like, because there is stuff about that that's tough. I mean, you know, yeah, that's part of what we do on this show. And what I've done a lot, you know, I've talked a lot about maybe the difficulties but i think like before that let's let's um like who were you you know you were you were performer at such a young age right like so i i guess what we want to know is you know who is the brittany growing up who loves this this performance this craft maybe this you know this art form and then you know as you're getting into 12 this is the reason this age is so special

because that is the first time you could conceivably see yourself and feel like, I think, as a quote-unquote artist or performer or, you know, you have more agency, you're more conscious, you're more, all these things, you know? So just give us a snapshot of like, maybe at 12, how you were seeing the world, you know, what you were thinking, what you were doing. Oh, God.

I feel like I'm about to go into therapy. Well, I'll preface. with I was always a really sensitive kid. I also had tendencies of just out of, out of the gate being born. I was just a perfectionist through and through. I was really empathetic and emotional. I would cry all the time. I would not be able to go to school, elementary school, if I had a wrinkle in my sock. My hair had to be perfect. Everything had to be perfect. And I think a lot of people might see that as like a nurture versus nature thing. I kind of feel like it was sort of, I was born like that in a weird way.

So I was already sort of an emotional kid that just really liked to cry. Sometimes I would, for fun, just stare at myself in the mirror and cry. Oh, wow. I don't know why. That's so funny. I can cry very easily. It is a special skill. It's like rollerblading accents.

I'm crying in the mirror. Yeah. No, but I think it's because I'm just so, my sensitivity, and I'm so sensitive even now to, to food, to medication, to men, to any, like, life. Anything kind of looks in me the wrong way, and I'm like, I just start crying. And I kind of see it as a superpower now, but as a kid, I sort of knew that that was something I could do to get out of things or to, to, to, to, to, to, navigate my way of life. And so then when I was, I was 12, I was just really good at at accessing

those emotions. And I also had really, really strict parents when it came to achievement. And I love my parents, but they were very high achievement. And I mean, you know my mom. I do, yeah. A little bit. Yeah. We'll get to do that later. But, you know, as a kid actor, there's a lot of pressure on making sure that you get the part and you're the best and I really had that sort of built in. So when I was 12, I have this really particular moment

that I actually directed and wrote a short film about. It's called Milkshake. And it's my first sort of foray into directing and writing. I did it in 2015. And it's about the moment when I realized I wanted to be an actor because I was just, doing this scene where I got to, I'm on soap opera on Guiding Light.

It's my initial scene. It's my first scene that I've ever done. And I get to yell at my mom on the soap opera. And I remember being 12 and I remember it's the pressure. You know this from Young and the rest is like, you only do the scenes maybe once or twice. So the adrenaline is going. I'm 12 years old.

And somehow I realize I'm yelling at my mom. in real life, even though I'm on set and I'm doing this sort of scene and I lose myself and I completely get into that sort of fuzzy feeling of dopamine and that high druggy feeling that I had never felt before. And I start crying and obviously because it's, you know, the only thing I know how to do. And and then everyone in the studio starts applauding. And I get that dopamine hit of, oh, this is, this is, this is how I get achievement. This is how I get validation is using my sensitivity and my emotion.

I'm going to do this shit for the rest of my life. Wow. The way you just described that is like a psychedelic state. Yeah. It was kind of. I mean, I tried to encapsulate that with the short. I don't think I did it right.

But it's called milkshake because my mom would really, and I, you know, I preface this with she, like many other parents did this, where you do a good job, you get a reward. So you do a good job, you get a milkshake. If you don't do a good job on the audition, you don't get a milkshake.

And so the milkshake was really sort of this symbol of my relationship with my mom and wanting that validation. And also my addiction to milkshakes now. I love it. Yeah. There's so much there, Brittany. I feel like I don't know which direction to go.

But since you just shared your memory of kind of a first high on. Do you remember your first low on set as a kid? I remember when I was unable to get there on set in terms of getting myself into a state of panic, I remember asking the stage manager. I don't know if I should share this because this is really sad. But I remember asking the stage manager to tell me that I was doing it wrong.

Whoa. And so I would get sad and then I would be able to. To use that, yeah. So I don't know. I think I've maybe I've also taken little bits of that into even now. I don't ask people to tell me I'm doing things wrong, but I think the awareness is still there of what to use. You know, I can't help, but I do remember in this scene in,

we were going to mention at some point in John Tucker Must Die, where I as a character am, it's always stick out to me. Oh, God. When my character, I don't remember. what I'm saying but and I don't really remember I don't remember what's happening frankly I can't remember there's a trend but I know that I know that my character is saying to yours he's basically like he's kind of shaming you he's like saying I thought you were different something along those lines oh yeah because the whole arc of your character is that you're trying to you know she's

what is she doing she's she's trying to like out this guy but then she sort of falls for him and then she realizes maybe she's not better than any you know it's like this humbling thing and then i just remember in that scene you um you got to a place of such vulnerability um when i because i also in order to you know what i'm remembering in order to make you feel we must have had some kind of understanding here but i was trying to help you you know get there and so i ad lived a little bit and said worse things than are in the script. Oh my God, I don't I don't remember this at all. No.

So anyway, maybe I've locked it out. Yeah, and I mean, just a little. I mean, I'm not like, you know, I wouldn't have done anything like really out of pocket, but I'm just kind of, you know, there's an interesting, I don't know, degrees mirror there. I don't know.

I have really interesting memories of doing that movie because I always kind of felt like we were very similar to our characters. All of us were. Everybody. It's sort of true, yeah. Yeah, and so I did sort of feel like we were sort of the indie sensitive weirdos of that. Of that bunch?

Of that bunch, yeah. Do you remember that she's the man was shooting there at the same time? Oh, wow. I do. Yeah, so we were all in the same hotel. Wow. That's a fun. Yeah, and I remember thinking that that movie was going to be just so big.

and ours was going to be terrible. And then, you know, what do I know? So, yeah, both were. That one was big at the time. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, both are really well.

Yeah. We'll talk more about John Tucker must die probably. But just bring it back a little bit to middle school and ask you what your first experiences were around crushes. Because that's a unique situation. You were going to school a couple days a week, going to work a couple days a week. What were you, what were your feelings around like romance at that age? I was not very comfortable in myself when I was in middle school, obviously, who is really. But I went through a pretty hard time during middle school because I was being bullied.

And I'm very open about this, about a charity that I started a long time ago. And I was on Guiding Light. And I was also going through some sort of, I didn't know what being pretty was, because there was sort of this juxtaposition of what I saw in the soap opera of these women who were so beautiful and then I would go back to middle school and that was a different type of beauty

and so I was all mixed up. And I remember that my first boyfriend ever was this baseball guy named Chris and sorry Chris, but I wasn't not to out him, but it was I wasn't into it. So I just kind of, I kind of did the going through the motions of what you're supposed to do in middle school.

And my first year of high school, I only went to one year of high school, my freshman year. And then I moved out to L.A. and met Penn and a whole group of people that we sort of... We're like, we don't go to school here. Welcome. Yeah. We just sort of like live at these weird apartments. We write our own rules. And go on audition sometimes. And hang out at Starbucks. Like, what were we doing? But no, yeah, my middle school was not really filled with any. I didn't have time for that.

I was missing working. So it wasn't until I was 16 that I had my first real love or relationship with a friend of Pence. Oh, Kyle. Yeah. You know what? I'm just remembering all this. Thank God you came on, Britney, because. I did not remember that.

Yeah. Yeah. You were there. You were like in the crowd. I remember. Yeah, yeah. I have very, very clear memories of seeing like you and Kyle and Dan and, you know, all these guys are like, why are you bringing me up in this podcast?

But it was my little community. I loved you guys. I was 16. Yeah. Do you feel like you generally have a really good memory? I feel like you and Penn are on different ends of the spectrum right now. I think, I think when it's tied to emotion, I can remember it, which I think when I've researched this is, I think a lot of people have

this where if it's tied to something that made you feel something, obviously it's going to be stored differently. But when I don't have an emotion tied to it, I can't remember shit. So I have the worst memory. I remember when I was going through a bad breakup in my early 20s, I thought that I had this thing called H-SAM, which is a highly, I don't even remember what it's called now, Highly sensitive, something memory. Analog memory.

Oh, yeah. Is that what it is? Are you making that? No, I don't know. Okay. Well, something like that. And I was like, I remember every single detail, catalog at all. And then I moved on from that breakup and I cannot remember anything ever in my life. I'm like, oh, no.

It was just because I was really struggling. You're like heightened. Yeah, yeah. That resonates. We have another question that we ask every guest, which is to share an embarrassing memory from sort of tween. anything that you think back on it and it makes you just like cringe or you're like that was so awkward so there was an eighth grade dance and at this point I am not cool I am getting picked on a lot I don't really have this this sounds like such a sob story and so many people have gone through

this so you know I'm pulling out my tiny violin but um but I didn't have any friends and so there was this middle school dance and I don't know if you guys remember this or if you're in my well, pen, you're at my same age bracket, but do you remember what glow sticking was really cool? Like, you would take, like, like, what would you do with the glow sticking? Using them at parties. You like move them around. Right. But like it makes great.

Yeah. No, because I think it was happening at real raves, but then like younger kids were like, yeah, we're kind of doing the same thing. Yeah. You know, yeah. So a lot of people were doing that and I remember having the thought, oh, that's how I'm going to be cool. so I went and I got glow sticks and I went home and I started learning how to do it and so then I would I would too close stinging at parties

it's still a skill that I have and I've gone now I've gone on talk shows and done it like wow I don't know I don't know why I continued to make sure that I was in this hole of shame yeah like just making sure that people knew that I was in a door stop bringing it up snow I um yeah so So I think that is probably my most embarrassing thing because people still remember it when I go back home to Tampa. They're like, you got really into like glow sticky.

Cool. Did it make you cooler? Like, did people at the party want to like be near you? No, it doesn't sound like it. Absolutely not. No, no. A skill that is useful to no one. That's amazing.

Yeah, I don't really, I don't really remember much else. I mean, I wasn't really. in school very often, which was strange. And when I was there, I was trying so hard, desperately to keep up with the girls and make myself fit in again. And then I would leave. And there was this one girl who every time I leave would turn all the other girls on me. So then I had to, when I got back in town, I found out all these secrets that weren't true that I had to undo. And it was very dramatic. and 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 dates me doesn't it um but no real talk 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 two children and two more on the way, 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 to sleep and I'm not getting nutrition, when my eating's down, I want to know 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 turn 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 I really really liked and enjoyed and could see the differences with the three that I use I use the what is it called 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 use 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. Do you want to try them out? Go to symbiotica.com slash podcrush 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 challenge 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 on desktop or mobile whenever and wherever

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As we were talking about this and also as I was watching Parachute, which is a beautiful film, by the way, very moving. I am thinking like, when was the first moment I remember thinking about my, body because you don't you're not born thinking about your body I think it you you are told things about your body and then you start to become aware of it and you start to think about it and I was thinking one of the this is maybe the first not the first memory but one of the early memories is someone telling me when you laugh that's like a you're naturally tensing your abs and so if you if you think about it as you laugh eventually you'll you'll get abs your stomach you'll lose stomach fat. And it's like such a, such a, I don't think that's true. Anyway, but I remember then

now all of a sudden this thing that is, that should be like carefree, laughing. The most like at ease you can be is now an opportunity for me to think about my body and changing my body. Wasn't that your sister? She was trying not to ask you. I was like, you've already told the story on the podcast and in Syria. Oh, wow. Sorry, Syria. Sorry to my sister. Well, I remember a lot of early memories about just like becoming aware of my body. And I'm wondering if you feel comfortable sharing what were some of your early, what was maybe one of the earliest memories where you became aware?

It was definitely on Guiding Light. It was, I remember the distinction because I remember the year that I didn't care when I was 12. And then I was, I was hitting puberty and I think that I gained weight as you do. and I just remembered not feeling in control of what was happening to me. And that was the first marking of why do I feel like I need to contain this and make it, you know, and I think it's also tied to being, I mean, if you want to get psychological, I guess, I definitely had an understanding that being a talented little cute actress was working for me and I wanted to stay very small in terms of being like a cute little girl.

And that's something that I've had to really undo in therapy, too, is that you're older. I'm 38 years old, like this sort of idea that being small and being a little girl has to change. You can't use that anymore. But I think I was getting such a reward system of being like, oh, she's so cute. And so I think that when I hit 13, I remember it wasn't even that I wanted to be skinny. I just wanted to be small. And so I started to realize that I could do things to my body to keep it that way. And I think that that was the beginning of trying to control a lot of things.

I was completely out of control in terms of my life. and I was teaching myself math and science when I was on a soap opera set and it made me feel like I had a best friend to also count all of my calories and go to the gym for two hours. And I felt like this is my new best friend. And I felt not as alone when I was doing that.

When you say, this is a little bit of a therapy-style question, so forgive me. And if you don't, you know, it's like whatever. when you say this is my new best friend who is that it was this sort of feeling that whatever i was doing it could occupy that part of my mind that felt alone so when i felt alone sitting there in new york about to go on set teaching myself math and i just felt like who are my friends what am i doing i'm 12 13 years old this obsession that i can do to make myself leave my body and leave the space I'm in is comforting. And that was, that was really addictive to me.

Brittany, did you have friends? I did a little bit. I had one best friend who moved away. She's still my best friend to this day. She was my maid of honor in my wedding. And we were friends our whole lives. But she moved away to, I was from Tampa. She moved away to Orlando. And I couldn't see her. And, you know, there's no cell phones at this point. So, so old but I I just remember having to go to school and

trying to make friends again and then going to guiding light and losing them and sort of that that sort of like losing and getting and losing and getting was sort of tied to the dieting as well it was all sort of interesting

how that winning and losing was very much that duality was existing at the same time. I do think that you, you know, the first moments of parachute, you have your protagonist, a young woman scrolling on Instagram, but from what I recall,

the first shot is like just her eyes. It's just like a very, very close shot of her eyes and with an expression that really captures this. And I have to say, you know, we live in a media-saturated age where there are a lot of stories about, that contain this dimension, I think, but I've not seen anybody capture it like this deftly, honestly,

that anxiety, which is like a profound injustice in a way, you know, like all just bearing down on this one girl's, like, head and shoulders. So just want to commend you for that, that you're taking all this awareness and channeling it into what you're making. Thank you. That's really, that's really nice. And I think that, you know, I have over 15, I have 15 years of recovery from what the movie is about. But what I think is even more interesting now is that thankfully I didn't have to deal with the Instagram comparison obsession world. But I really wanted to build that into this movie because I think it's all such a indication of how people with addictive, personalities or people who have a disease in this way are so tied to the obsession. And sometimes that is the thing that's making you feel less alone. And so the close-up shot of her eyes and like

looking into this world is I think topically maybe about comparing herself to women, but really underneath it all. It's she feels alone. She's outside at this rehab center for the first time where she's alone. And the first time that she's not with a crowd of people and she's not with her mom. she's not with anybody and the only way to feel less alone is to obsess and to look and to compare and to make sure that that's and I think that that so many people are doing that even now right in terms of social media it's like you feel alone you feel uneasy go on Instagram go on TikTok obsess about something and I think I've tried to actively separate myself from that yet also show it in a way of how it's very human and normal

Since we're on the topic of Parachute, maybe you can explain a little bit for listeners who haven't seen it, sort of what the theme is, what inspired you to make it and just maybe summarize it a little bit for people who aren't familiar with it. Right. So Parachute is about a girl who gets released from rehab for codependency, eating disorder, and depression, and love addiction. And she meets a guy named Ethan on her first night out and he has just been released from jail and they are not allowed to be together because the first year of recovery you're not supposed to be in a relationship yet they form this codependent relationship where they really see each other and love each other and help each other

but it becomes sort of codependent in this way that they realize is toxic and um it's sort of a love story told in a way where I wanted to tell a story about altruistic type of love and and what you do for someone who can't love themselves. It's beautiful, Brittany. It's also really well summarized. I'm interested in hearing actually backing up a bit, like, what drew you towards directing, you know, because did you always feel it, you know, like when we were teens? Like, was it something that was on the horizon for you clearly or when did it emerge?

It wasn't a part of the plan. No, but I think that I started to realize in my early 20s that I was seeing things a lot more from the collaboration and the building blocks and the puzzle pieces of it all. And I really liked that. I really liked feeling and maybe this is my control thing. But I really liked getting that sort of sense of every little thing comes together in a really beautiful way when you put together people who are very talented and what they do. And sort of that collaboration was really exciting to me. But I never thought I could do it and I never thought I would be good at it. So I, when I wrote this, I kind of set out for someone else to direct it. And then COVID happened. And I thought to myself, girl, you're too much of a control freak to let anyone else tell your story. What do you, what are you nuts? So I put myself through like a mini film school in a way and during COVID read a bunch of books and watched Felini and, you know, all the movies that I probably should have watched when I was younger and... Still losing Philei.

Shut up. No, you have. No, I haven't. No, I definitely haven't. Well, I'll give you a list. It shows. I did all the, I did all the boring, you know, good stuff and also. Did lame, not lame, but I did even like masterclasses.

You know, I just tried to do it all to the point where I felt like if I got there on set and someone asked me a question, I would have some sort of wear for all of annoying. And then once I started doing it, I just realized, oh, maybe you were supposed to do this. Maybe you're supposed to do this because I felt like I had a hand and I knew what I was doing in a way. Let's go back to John Tucker Must Die. I have a hot, hot question for both of you. Jesse Metcalf has very recently, as of like yesterday, talked about a script that's in development.

He's read it. He loves it for a sequel. And then I read an article on E online that said that all of the original cast members are meant to be involved. So I wanted to ask you guys, will you be part of a genre? Does that include us? It said all the OG cast. And it says Penn Badgley, Brittany Snow, Sophia Bush, Jesse Metcalfe.

It's on E Entertainment News. True or false. Are you guys potentially part of a sequel for John Tucker Must die if it gets greenlit? Are you allowed to say? And I don't know if you've had a call, but I've gotten no calls. Yeah, I've had no call. I mean, it's maybe possible in like the superpositioned quantum physics, like everything is potentially within the realm of like maybe this apple will fall up.

I actually can't say with certainty. Interesting. Yeah, I don't know that I've, I mean, look, I'm, I've got the smallest role in the movie. I don't know that I would belong in it anyway. But, I mean, Brittany... I'm not doing it if you're not doing it. You heard of your first. You heard it first.

No. I mean, never have I even thought of that as a potential thing. But I guess if there was a script, I would read. There is a script, and apparently it's funny, according to Jesse McHouse. Really? Yeah. I want to send you this article. I have been talking to Ariel about this for years.

because she was trying to get it off the ground. But I didn't know what happened, and it kind of just, I was like, go forth, you know, go forth with that. But so that was the last I had heard of it, was that she was trying to make it happen. And so I guess she did, question one. So I will. Okay.

So I will, yeah, I will read whatever people, They've worked really hard. Yeah. What are your first memories of each other on set? On set? Well, yeah, we didn't know each other. Because you were dating his best friend or you were dating his friend. Is that how you knew each other?

Not a best friend. Yeah. It was like we were in the same. Yeah, there was like concentric circles. We were not squarely in the same group, but we were, we belong to a lot of the same groups. You know what I mean? So we were very much aware of each other. And then years later, you know, our mothers would be.

band together for a little bit. Oh, yeah, tell us about that. Yeah, they started, they started a company, like a manager company, a management company for kids for whatever. Oh, whatever. Oh, God bless. Yeah, I think, I think both of them had a good eye for talent and for the young actors. And I don't really know what happened there.

But I do remember texting you and being like, our moms are in business together. Yeah, and I was like, I certainly tried to be supportive while never encouraging because managing children to me is, you know, like, you know, to my mom's credit, and I don't know what your mom ever said about it, but I know that my mom actually sometimes encouraged children and their families to stop doing it and go home. Hmm. There it is. Because it's like, look, you know, the numbers are not on, in anyone's favor. And there's like, it's not so much like, oh, you're not cut out for this, but I think there's a certain thing.

Like, not, you, chances are you shouldn't be devoting your life at 12, 13, 14 years old to this. You shouldn't be potentially separating parents and other siblings, you know, you should try to stay intact and, like, not just go live this dream. in Hollywood that is that is more than likely far more than likely going to fail you know at the same time you don't want to dissuade anybody from pursuing this like i don't know this conviction the passion they might have for a genuine art form but i think you know i think i think my mom did what she could to to be pragmatic is what i hear i think that's that's very that's probably the better way of going about it to be honest because also i think that it gets really confused confusing for the kid of are they doing it for them? Are they doing it for the?

Of course. Yeah, I know. It's, it's really, let's get back to you don't talk. I must die. Yeah. Well, do you have any sort of memorable sort of memories on set working together? You said, Brittany, that you felt like you and Penn were kind of like the indie weird kids would love to hear more about that. Well, Bridie was working all the time. And I was like just in a hotel room, like hanging out with, she's the man cast. Really? Yeah. Yeah. And then like going out a few nights with Jesse. and just feeling like, oh, my God, I'm such a child. All of these people are partying so hard. Yeah.

Not necessarily the cast members, but I just mean, I mean, going out to clubs at 17 years old in Vancouver. Did you go out that one night with us when we went out to like a club club? Were you there? I don't know. There was one night. You would remember. Yeah, no, then I don't think I, I don't think I was. I was drinking bellini's, you know, it was not exactly such much.

I remember that. Yeah, I remember the girls all drinking bellinis and me thinking that seems so cultured. There's a really dumb story I've told in this podcast, but just about the first time I've ever had at Amame was was we were all out at this like fusion chain Japanese place. Was I there? No, I'm pretty sure.

Actually, you know what? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I think you were. I'm almost positive you were. but everybody had already eaten all of it and I didn't realize and so I was trying to get edamame beans

out of the eaten shells. I think about that every time I have edamame in front of me then. I think about every time. I'm sorry. And I just remember like being really embarrassed and like looking around the table and seeing if anybody noticed

and I don't think anybody did. Sweet pet. Very sweet. Do you remember, did you ever meet Nelly when Nellie was there? What did you mean Nellie? Yeah. He must have been visiting Ashanti.

He was visiting Ashanti and we went out to dinner. And I just remember at this point, Nellie is, Nellie and Ashanti are the king and queen. It was crazy. I remember being so nervous that I was like shaking because Nellie was sitting there. That's crazy. No, I definitely. He was so nice and so genuine and loved her. And they were just the cutest thing.

And I just remember thinking, what is my life right now? Yeah. So random. Yeah. Stick around. We'll be right back. Fall is in full swing, and it's the perfect time to refresh your wardrobe with pieces that feel as good as they look. Luckily, Quince makes it easy to look polished, stay warm, and save big, without compromising on quality. Quince has all the elevated essentials for fall. think 100% mongolian cashmere from $50. That's right, $50, washable silk tops and skirts,

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and public systems can work together, where the schools went is a story you need to hear. From the branch, in partnership with the 74 and Midas Touch, where the schools went is out now. Find it wherever you get your podcast and start listening today. You were on Gossip Girl, briefly. Young Lily, right? Shaking your head. I didn't mind the question. I didn't know this is there.

Well, to be honest, I wasn't supposed to be, I think it was going to be built in. into the show, but it was also a pilot for it being a spinoff. Yeah. Yeah. With Shiloh and who else was in. It was actually really fun, but it was so specific of a pilot. It was great. Got to meet no doubt.

That was cool. But I do remember thinking, we're in gossip girl, but we're also not. So I was so close. That's what I was going to ask was if you had any memories of the main cast, because it was such a like it show but then yeah pen mentioned that it was really for a pilot so you guys didn't actually interact was it in wait brittany was it in because i you know forget me with the whole gossip bro thing there's there they're there full people that i've met and should remember i'm like yeah that was season five i just don't i don't remember i can't imagine was it a part of the show

or was it only a pilot it was both they was a part of the show yeah they did so they did have like a Flashback episode? Mm-hmm. Is it? Okay, I remembered the pilot. I remember the whole that thing, you know, Josh is nothing talking about it. And okay, okay, okay. But it was definitely in our show, too.

Right. And I remember, I mean, you guys were the pinnacle of people that were really doing it. And I remember coming to visit Blake, maybe. I was visiting someone on set, and you guys had these trailers and you were filming in New York City. And I remember being like, oh, I just want to be on Gossip Girl. You know, it's funny that you remember, because our trailers were not, they were just like the same trailers, you know, everybody always had us. But you guys were filming in New York City.

Yes, they were. They were parked on Fifth Ave, maybe. Yes, and it was in this grand ballroom. And I just remember feeling like, wow, they're really doing it. They're really, you know. So when I got the call to do the spin-off, I thought that was very, very cool. Yeah. So I was really excited.

When you were out partying with Nellie, that's what I was thinking about you. I cannot believe she's out there doing it. And with Nellie. Nellie would never remember me. If someone paid him a million dollars, he would not remember me. It's not like I made a lasting impact or anything. I was just going to say you have been part of many iconic projects. Yeah.

Your one pitch perfect. Let's go there. Yeah. What was it like? What was the process like getting cast, starting filming? Can you tell us a little bit about it? Yeah, I've been really lucky that I think everybody wants to see me in a girl power movie. If I'm not in a girl power movie, then I'm not working.

That's not true. No, no, no. It's really nice because it does make it makes it seem perhaps that I am one of a collective, you know, United Girl empowerment thing. I, with pitch perfect, I was really scared because I don't like singing. And I've been really vocal about that. And so my audition for pitch perfect was awful. I was so nervous. And I think they gave it to me anyway, just as a pity sort of thing.

And because they had seen hair spray. I was the first person who met on it and I was the last person cast. Wow. They got everyone together. And then they were, I think, like, we'll throw snow in there. I think that it was really exciting to get that because I read the script from K. Cannon and I remember thinking, this is the funniest script I've read in so long in terms of it being intelligent humor. And it was a world that I'd never seen before. And so I was begging to be in it. And so I was very, very grateful that they finally put me in the mix. And yeah, it was so much fun. I still have some of those best friends today. You guys had to go to boot camp, right? Is that true? every movie we did about a month of i mean they call it boot camp it's it's theater boot camp it's not exactly digging holes out in the parking lot but it's it's um but we didn't think

you know i didn't think i didn't think you did um but it's you know vocal training and dance training and then there's rehearsals and it was really fun and it's sort of like this summer camp where you got to live with everybody and go to camp during the day and sealed the camaraderie that we still have today. I was going to ask, do you feel like that affected having, like, deeper friendships with cast members than in other movies or kind of comparable? I think so. We were together for so long.

And I think when you're at that pivotal age of in your early 20s and you're going through breakups and heartaches and having to go to work and dancing through your tears and then going out and drinking because you don't get hangovers yet, I mean, it really. really was this sort of perfect storm of really solidifying a lot of us being best friends. Yeah. That's really nice. Okay. So there's a lot of things.

You have a premiere tonight. I want to be respectful of your time. But red, white and blue, short film. I mean, that film is stunning in like the truest sense of the word. I was, I watched it and I was just like weepy. It's hard to talk about the film because there's a twist that I don't want to spoil for people. But I did want to ask you about that process, about that film, and maybe who you hope that it reaches. Sure. So it's a short film called Red, White, and Blue, and it's about a woman who has to go through an abortion scenario.

And you go into the film thinking something because of your preconceived notions of however you view this topic. and it's a very polarizing one. But I think by the end of the movie, you've realized that it's also a human story, and it's a story about motherhood, and it's a story about what you do for people who are in need in terms of basic human rights. And I think that sort of challenges a lot of people's perspective

on the topic because we're all human and we all deserve our autonomy. me. And I think that it's challenging a lot of people's perspective. That's so, that's so vague because I don't want to give away the twist, which I think is very important. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's been really powerful that some people have reached out to me saying that they've gone into it wanting to hate it or challenge it or write to me saying, I can't believe you did this. What do you stand for?

And then that actually, after watching the film, they changed their comment on it and said that they're now thinking about it in a different way. And I think, you know, to sound really cheesy, that's why you do art in this way, I guess, is to have people change their opinions or at least think about it from a different viewpoint.

And I think that as a woman, I just hope that all women see this because I would hope that no one has to be in this scenario and have to go through these sorts of things. And I'm sure that they do. We took this from a real life story. It's based on a true story, obviously. And it just made me so, so emotional to even think that this was something that I could encapsulate and become when really there's women who have. to go through this. Right. Brittany, what's next for you?

Are you thinking more directing, sort of a walk us through? Well, I'm on a TV show right now called The Hunting Wives that is going to be on stars, and it's been really fun. It's another girl power, but in a different way, it's about these women in Texas who are sort of mixed up in the murder, and I get pinned for it because I'm a Bostonian who comes in and ruffles some feathers, and then I have to undo the murder in a way. And so that's been really fun. And then I did write something during the last few years that I want to direct that is

completely opposite of parachute. So I'm thinking about doing that. And I have a movie coming out in July called The Good Half, which I'm really proud of, and I'll be promoting that soon. A lot of stuff. So exciting for me. Yeah, so much. It's amazing.

I'm just trying to, and, and watching you season five. It's my favorite. She's a look at her nose for that. Are you kidding? I'm not kidding. It's your favorite show? You're so good on it. It's crazy.

The fine line of keeping it soapy and fun and interesting, like how dialed in and grounded you are is so hard and you're so good at it. I've been wanting to text you and I should have to be like, I can't believe you can do this. I can't believe it's happening at the same time in this way. It's all happening at the same time. You know how I do? I just keep my mouth shut and let the voice over do all the work.

This is so random. It's hard to do. Yesterday, my sister and I had this really heated conversation about you, the actor, and the show you, because I was telling her how I was like, I was at Equinox and I saw this guy who plays a villain on a TV show. And I didn't recognize him as a villain, but I knew he was too good looking to be a normal person. so I was like, that guy's famous, and I have, like, a really bad feeling about him.

Like, why do I hate this guy? And I was like, oh, he must be like a reality TV douchebag. Anyway, it, like, took me a moment to process that I was like, oh, no, he's the villain on the show. And then, so I was telling my sister that, and she's like, do you think Penn gets that? And I was like, no, everybody who meets Penn's, like, in love with him. Like, they never, like, that's a bad guy. And then we just got into this really intense argument about why. And I don't know why, but for like 10 minutes, we were like, no, it's because of this.

No, it's because of this. There are some people, there is, it is a very dramatic. minority, small group, but there are some people who are like, they're like, they're like, oh my God, I'm so, oh, and then they just kind of like, they're just sort of like grimace and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I'm like, you are having their proper response. You do it so well where you're actually rooting for you the whole time. And it's, it's really, it's complicated. Yeah. It's complicated. Well, thank you. That's really nice to hear. Thank you well we do have a last question um it's just a hard left turn back to at the beginning of our

therapy session if you could go back to 12 year old brittany what would you say or do the the emotional answer is to i would say enjoy it enjoy everything don't be so hard on yourself i didn't i look back at so much of my childhood and i was so focused on being this or achieving this or getting to the next step. I didn't sit in whatever I was doing. I didn't enjoy anything. And so I would want to enjoy life a lot more and the fact I didn't have any bills to pay at 12. But and also I would say I'm so proud of you. I would say I'm so proud of you. She's handling so much. She did so much. You know, I think you're the correct me if I'm wrong co-hosts, but I think she's the first person to say that. Yeah, you are. You are. That's very nice. Yeah.

Yeah. That's very, very nice. I am proud of her and I'm proud of me. And so, and that's hard for me to do because, because obviously we've learned through this podcast that I'm very hard on myself. But, but I think that the awareness of knowing that everything is going to be okay is really important. And we're all doing the best we can. Yeah. Now, can you just give us a little cry? Just a little. I've honestly been, I've honestly been on the verge of tears. You can go there.

Oh, so sweet. But it's a natural state for me. It's my natural resting. I really believe on that. Look, I'm like, actually, oh, it's crunch. I feel like you've got to get along with my wife. That's sort of a, that's a... It's really nice to see you, Brittany.

Nice to see you. It's nice to meet you guys, too, and thanks for having me. Yeah, thank you for making time. Yeah. Of course. No, this was fun. I've been wanting to be on the show for so long, so I'll bother you guys again soon. You can keep up with Britney Snow.

online at Britney Snow. We are so excited that you can now listen to Podcrush, ad-free on Amazon Music. In fact, you can listen to any episode of Podcrushed ad-free right now on Amazon Music with an Amazon Prime membership. Yeah, we don't have long enough to really address that, but I feel like... Or the expertise. Yeah, or the extra, well, you know, we need that.