The Three Questions with Andy Richter - LeVar Burton

Episode Date: October 29, 2019

Actor, director and author LeVar Burton joins Andy Richter to talk about transplanting from West Germany to Sacramento, getting cast in Roots right out of college, and engaging kids with literature on Reading Rainbow. Plus, LeVar discusses his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, his podcast LeVar Burton Reads, and the one piece of advice he’d offer his younger self.This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp (www.betterhelp.com/threequestions code: THREEQUESTIONS) and Bombas (www.bombas.com/threequestions).

Hello, everyone. You have stumbled upon the three questions with Andy Richter again. And my questionee today is beloved LeVar Burton. He's, no, I mean, you really, you have a special place in the hearts of so many people for like the roles that you played and also for what you do for kids. You know?

I didn't intend to blow smoke up your ass right off the bat. Before we get to the questions, let's get to the smoke. Is that your strategy here? That's right. That's right. That's right. Well, thank you so much for coming on.

I'm thrilled. I'm a fan. Andy Richter. Thank you. Yes. And it's lovely to be here. I'm a little nervous about the three questions. Really?

I don't know what they are. Well, have you heard? No. Well, they're just, where do you come from? Oh. Where are you going? Yeah. And what have you learned?

What? They're always the same. Are you kidding? Yeah, yeah. I really should have done my homework, but this is great. I love those questions. Yeah. And I ask-

Where are you from? Yeah. Where are you going? Yeah. And what was the third? And what have you learned? What have you learned? have you learned where do you come from yeah because those are i think the the reason i came i just wanted to have i like it

conversations that were just a little deeper than than what people normally get to and to sort of have that up front i mean i don't always like they're not always explicit. Like I go, where do you come? Okay, now where are you going? You know, but it is like. That's the intention. Yeah. That's just sort of. The backbone.

To set the tone of what we're going to be talking about. I love it. Good. So you. Yeah. You were born overseas, were you not? I was. I was born in what used to be called West Germany.

It's all just Germany now. And you were an Army kid, right? Army brat. My father was in the Signal Corps, 3rd Armored Division. Career? Was he there as— Career military man, yeah. That was—and then he retired, and then he had another career, because I guess he retired early enough to have a second career.

I think the military allows you that. Yeah, yeah. a second career. I think the military allows you that, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And,

uh, so I was born in, in, in, in that American army hospital in, in, uh, launch tool near Kaiserslautern, um,

where, I mean, you've probably seen it on TV before when they, they bring like Boberg doll to debrief. Right. You know, when, whenever somebody is coming out of a major situation,

I mean, it's, it's, it's the best hospital in the Western European theater. And it's, yeah, because it always seems like, I remember when the hostages were brought out of Iran. That's right. They went to Germany. They went there. They went there.

Yeah. And that's where you were born. That's the hospital I was born in. Wow. And debriefed immediately? Upon birth, I think. Yes. All right. Tell us what you went through.

Who are you? What do you know? What have you learned? Where have you been? How long were you in Germany? We came back to the States before my first birthday and then went again when I was in the third grade for another tour duty. So it's the second tour that I really remember. Right. I did third, fourth, and part of fifth grade in Germany. And is that, I mean, is that, how formative is that to sort of grow up somewhere where, you know, it's, it's like, well, I think, I mean, you know,

it's, I'm speaking from a white American and black American perspective of living. You're used to living in a place where your language is the language. Yes. You know? Yes. So, but to grow up where you're surrounded by something that's not your language, especially at an early age. Well, here's the perspective that I want to share with you. I'm here for it. So growing up in America was growing up in a country where I had a

language in common, but not a culture in common with the dominant population. And neither did I feel welcome to join the dominant population's culture. Really? You mean white culture? Yes. Or do you mean? White American culture. White American culture. Okay. Because I thought you meant as opposed to German. Oh, well, see, then I went to another country. And even though I didn't have a language in common with them, they didn't have any issue with my skin color. Oh, I see. Yeah. So there was that.

I understand. Yeah. There was that. Yeah. Yeah. So it was very formative. Yeah. Right.

And informative. And so when we came back to the States, it was a real adjustment. Yeah. Right? And informative. And so when we came back to the States, it was a real adjustment. Yeah. To slip back into that skin, so to speak. Yeah, yeah. Where were you? Sacramento. In Sacramento, yeah.

And is Sacramento a fairly racially divided town? I mean, you know, as much as anywhere is. Well, the neighborhood I grew up in, Meadowview, people call Ghetto View. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's sort of, that's what happens. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. But that's America. Yeah. Andy Richter. And was your, what career was your dad in at this point? Was he still?

He was still in the service. He was still in the service. He was still in the service. But it was during that tour of duty that my parents' relationship exploded or imploded. It was violent, but it was not, it was not, it was explosive and violent, but it, well, maybe it did explode. Yeah. On second thought, it did explode.

Yeah. Yeah. And what did your mom do? She was, at that time, she had, when she met my father, she was a high school English teacher. Then she, contrary to her nature, during the time we were in Germany, she was a housewife. And that was hard for her. For my mom? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Were you aware of it? I was aware of her, you know, being home. And that got to feel fairly normal. But could you sense the unhappiness? Yeah. Yeah.

Well, there was a real tenor of tension in the house in those days. Because they were fighting. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Now, when they split, did you go with your mom? Oh, yeah. Yeah. My mom and my two sisters.

And was that – because I know from going through two divorces as a kid, there's also the relief of it being over. I mean, was there the sense of that with you? I'm certain there was a part of me that sensed the sense of that with you uh i'm i'm certain there was a part of me that sensed the sense of relief in my mom yeah yeah yeah yeah um and i certainly felt her when we got back to the states yeah um in terms of how she picked us up and just got it done. You know, she went to work as a social worker immediately. In Sacramento? In Sacramento for the Sacramento County Department of Social Welfare.

And then held down that job while going to night school to get her MSW. Oh, wow. While putting three kids through Catholic school. Wow. By herself. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's right. You were Catholic.. Wow. By herself. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's right.

You were Catholic. Yeah. I read that. Yeah. I was Catholic. Were you full bore altar boy? I was. Yeah.

Yeah. Couldn't wait to be an altar boy. Couldn't wait to be confirmed. Yeah. Couldn't wait to join, to, to, to enter the seminary. Oh, really? You were going to go to the priesthood? Yeah.

Oh, wow. Yeah. And what happened? I don't know if you know, you're not a priest. You know, you're right. But some days

I feel like one. And have I played, I haven't played one on TV. Oh, really? That's interesting. I have not played one on TV. I am not a Catholic. I have played a priest

at least five times. You've got the face of an Irish Catholic priest. I guess that's what it is. You really do. You've got the face of an Irish Catholic priest. I guess that's what it is. You really do. You've got the face of an ex-alter boy turned alcoholic. People want to confess to me. That's why I'm here in this room right now.

Yeah, I entered the Catholic seminary at 13. Wow. Yeah. How do you do that? How do you get into the seminary at 13? I mean, I'm not aware of, and you're, so that's like a priest track at age 13. Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. It was high school and seminary studies. Wow. Simultaneously. Boarding school. And your mom was- All for it. All for it.

Wow. Yeah. And she was- Well, I had been talking about being a priest since I was eight. Wow. What was it about it that appealed to you? I suppose on a real basic level, it was structure in my world, where my world felt like it was falling apart. Yeah, yeah.

The Catholic mass, the liturgy itself is really theatrical. You know, the vestments, the raiments, what the priest wears. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. There's a famous hymn. The old Latin mass, there was mystery and circumstance for high ceremony, for, you know, the incense and candles. And there's just a lot that I was drawn to in terms of the showbiz. Yeah, absolutely. I was attracted to the play.

Whenever I've been as a tourist in Europe. You go to churches, right? You go to churches and you look and you think this church is whatever, 400 years old. And you think there was literally open sewage in the street. Right. And then you could come into this magical place. Right. That was, by the way, built, designed and built in order to put you in a state of awe and reverence.

Right. Showbiz. Showbiz. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And it takes you out of your life. You go in there and you're transported. I think that showbiz and religion have a lot in common in that they are essential and elemental to the life and health of a community. Right? You have to have art and you have to believe in something.

Yeah. And a lot of people believe in, a lot of people put that, put religion in charge of that aspect of their lives. And so I had an opportunity to really examine organized religion from an inside perspective and then walk away from it. Yeah. Having felt like I got everything I needed from it. Yeah. And you just became disillusioned with sort of the absoluteness of it, maybe? I was not disillusioned as much as I felt like I was becoming educated.

Yeah. More aware of the possibilities that existed in the world beyond Catholic dogma. Yeah. And belief. Yeah, yeah. There's just more out there that I felt like I needed to check out. Yeah. That's always, I mean, I remember from confirmation class,

and we had a very, it was congregational church, which is very sort of, for the small town, United Church of Christ, for the small town I went to, it was a very kind of liberal-ish dogma where'd you grow in yorkville illinois yorkville illinois and how far north of it's west of chicago it's about oh is it really yeah it's about an hour west of chicago in those days it was rural and now it's kind of been swallowed up by the sort of metropolis it's more sort of now a bedroom community for the city of chicago of chicago it's that close like kankakee close uh closer than kankakee actually

yeah yeah like i say it's about an hour it's about if you get on the highway it's about an hour into the city right and but when i grew up there wasn't anybody commuting into the city and now i think there are people that commute into the city from there because as you know it was cheap real estate estate and people started buying, yeah, people started buying houses out there. And, you know, there were literally three stoplights in town when I was a kid, when we got a McDonald's people, there were, there were a hundred people waiting outside for it to open because we finally had a McDonald's, you know, it was exciting. When our local McDonald's opened in, in, in Sacramento, South Sac, it was, it was big news. It's a big deal. It was a McDonald's. I remember when our local McDonald's opened in Sacramento, South Sac. It was big news. It's a big deal.

It was a big deal. And that was sometimes, as a high schooler, Saturday night was go sit in the parking lot of G.D. McDonald's and just sit around, you know? It was something to do. That's small town life. But, yeah, I remember in my confirmation thinking, wait a minute, this, how do you know that this is the, you know, that just like, oh no, our particular brand of this, which to me was so obvious, trying to figure out the universe, a very sort of human kind of mechanism to impose order on this and to impose like, well, there's got to be somebody in charge. I think most religion is an attempt at that.

Yeah. Unitarianism is actually very ecumenical. Right. And it's like, that's their point is everybody. Everybody's got a point. Yeah. That's right. Yeah.

I love that. Yeah. I love a religion that doesn't claim to be the only one that counts. Yeah. Yeah. Whereas like Catholicism is the opposite. The opposite. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I do too. I love a religion that doesn't claim to be the only one that counts. Yeah, yeah. Whereas like Catholicism is the opposite. The opposite.

Yeah, yeah. It's like my way or the highway, you know, so. Pretty much. Yeah. And the rules are strict. Yes. I mean, no meat on Fridays. Yeah.

No meat on Fridays. I know. I know. Wait, come on. I mean, I like a cheese sandwich as much as the next guy. Right, right. But really? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Okay. And especially, well, you know, are you getting good fish in Sacramento? No, because fish on Fridays meant fish sticks. Yes, yes. Yeah, in Illinois, it was like, what are we going to get? Well, there was the lake fish, but, you know, but it wasn't, it wasn't, there's not good fish. Or there wasn't in those days. Well, now how is your dad?

How did he feel about, about your seminary experience? Oh, he wasn't a part of my life at that point. Oh, he wasn't. Oh, when we came home from Germany, that was basically the last time. Oh, he stayed, he stayed. No, he, he moved to Florida. He came back to California very briefly, but then he sort of disappeared for a while. And was he gone in your life at that point?

Yeah. Did he ever reconnect? He reached out after Roots. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That happens, doesn't it? Yeah. And was that tough?

It has been. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And how did you... We're jumping around. I'm in the process with it. Yeah, still. I go in and out. Yeah, yeah. I. And how did you, we're jumping around. I'm in the process with it. Yeah, still. I go in and out.

Yeah, yeah. I go in and out. It's hard. It's not easy. It's hard, yeah. It's really not easy. Yeah. Because you want to forgive, but it's hard to forget.

Yeah. And you got to protect yourself. I mean, I, you know, I have a very problematic relationship with my father and we haven't spoken in about 10 years. And it's just sort of is what it is. It is what it is. And you think, oh, all kinds of contingencies of, well, what if this happens and what if that happens? But it comes back to, yeah, but there's still a basic conflict that is not getting resolved. And that every time I check in on it, it's not getting better.

So it's sort of like, well. Sometimes acceptance is the pathway to peace. And you have to, I mean, at a certain point too, depending on the fathering that you got, as a man, you have to be your own father. You know, you have to kind of... I think that's true. If you don't, I mean, unless you're, but I mean, parenting is a tough thing. And if you're lucky enough to have a mother or a father

that really, really... Loves you. Loves you. Loves you. And invests in you. And does it the right way in good faith where, because to me, the whole thing about parenting is that you're working towards your own obsolescence. Sure. And it's really, it's really a difficult job. And it's hard.

It's hard. Like I always say, my mom was really great with me and my brother oh i have she has two sets of kids my brother and me are from her first marriage and then she had my brother and sister who are twins nine years when i was nine wow so with my brother and me she was very sort of go out and live your life and do whatever you want to do. And then as my younger brother and sister were kind of getting to the point where they're out of the house, I feel like she's like, whoa, wait a minute. Where are y'all going? Somebody get back here and stick around.

I don't like the idea of everybody clearing out. Yeah, wait, wait. Yeah, when I said go do what you want, there were still a couple around. No, you know. Yeah. So, well well then what happens after do you think that that that your your shift from seminary and to show business is just the natural one that i would that it seems to be kind of it is it was for me yeah it was for me i i remember very distinctly uh being at saint pious and and really questioning

um my vocation yeah which i which i honestly believe i had had since a very early age eight eight years old yeah and trying to figure out what so now what now that now? Now that the bloom is off the rose. And what age is this? I'm 15. Yeah. Now what do I do with the rest of my life? What a question for a 15-year-old to be asking, but that's where I was. And theater arts was the answer. Now, I also, because it occurs to me, at 15, how much does the notion of a life of celibacy well that was one of the

sticking points what does that mean when you're 15 I will not lie to you I'm going to be absolutely honest I was really having a difficult time with that it just didn't make it was making less and less sense.

It doesn't make sense. To the point where it makes no sense at all. Yeah, yeah. It still doesn't really make any sense. Right. It doesn't. And I don't, you know, I haven't done the research, but I know it was some Vatican decree based on some guy's idea of what would be a good idea. Yeah.

And now it's, you know, almost inviolate. I always think about like sort of the, like the religious restrictions on eating pork was like, yeah, at a time when- Yeah, you would die. You would notice that people would eat pork and they died. They would die because there was no refrigeration. Hey, you know what?

God says we shouldn't eat that thing, you know? And I also assume like at some point, because I'm sure it was like venereal disease and pregnancies. And it's like somebody at the Catholic church is like, you know what? Let's just eliminate that in the bud. Yeah. And just say, God wants you to keep it in your pants. I think that's how they put it. You know what?

I wouldn't be surprised. And we see how successful that's been. Keep it in your vestments. So when do you start? Were you doing plays in school? Yes, I was. Immediately. From freshman year on, I was bitten.

I was bitten. My first role was a character called Reber in Mr. Rogers. I had one line. Oh, wow. I had one line. But I was hooked. Yeah, yeah. I was hooked.

Did your school do sort of more highbrow productions or kind of more silly stuff? No, we did a combination. We did a passion play every year. Oh, wow. And then we did a comedy. I love that. We did a passion play every year. Oh, wow.

And then we did a comedy. I love that. Like I say, I'm not religious, but I am a sucker for the passion play for every Jesus movie. I love that story. I could hear that story a million times. It's a pretty good story. It's a fantastic story. Right. Yeah.

Carpenter becomes savior of the world. Revolutionary. Comes back from the dead. Right? What? It's good. That's, I mean, talk yeah talk about superheroes yeah and says there's one god you know i mean you know judaism had monotheism but it's like this was a new version with a human representative like wowie definitely revolutionary yeah yeah very very revolutionary um. And so did you go to college then for?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I left Sacramento in 1974 to come to Los Angeles. Okay. With a full scholarship to study theater at USC. Nice. Yeah.

Wow. Yeah. That's great. It was. Now, did you have to audition for that? I did, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I had to audition to get into the program, which I did.

Yeah. And off I went. which I did. Yeah. And off I went. That's fantastic. Now, did you, was it just theater, theater, theater? Theater, theater, theater, theater, theater. Alex, some kind of, do you have to take some math? Well, in order to carry a full load, which was a requisite for me in order to maintain my scholarship, I had to take a certain number of credits. as a requisite for me in order to maintain my scholarship,

I had to take a certain number of credits. I had five drama classes for nine units, and a full load was 18. Wow. Yeah. So you had to fill it in. I had to fill it in with history. Five PEs. If only. Yeah.

P-E's. If only. Yeah. No, it was humanities, English and history, philosophy. Yeah. Yeah. And was, from going from a seminary school to going away to college. Not just college.

Yeah. University of Southern California. Yeah, yeah. Blonde Central. Yeah, yeah. USA. Yeah. It was like, what? What foreign planet have I dropped into?

Now, did you feel some sense of acceptance or was it a continuation of the still kind of feeling it othered? By the time you get to college, you really have become adept, I think, as a human being at finding your tribe. Yeah. And in the theater world, I found my tribe. Yeah, yeah. tribe yeah and in in theater in the theater world i found my tribe i found people who were liberal minded people who were artistically inclined yeah people for for whom you know the the endemic racism sexism and classism that is america really it wasn't a part of our daily discourse yeah it wasn't even a part of how we related to each other right exactly what i'm saying yeah yeah so it was

a real respite it was you know college is meant to be a bubble in which you can find yourself. Yeah. And that's exactly what it was for me. And that is too. It is like, especially at that age, I mean, depending on your personality, you can be aware of injustice, but you're trying to live your life. Yeah. So it's like, find people that just aren't practicing that. Which is not to say that I didn't have a political consciousness.

No, I know. We're talking about the Vietnam War era, civil rights. What year is this? When you start college? I started college in 74. Oh, okay. So we had just, I mean, when I was in school, it was, when I was in elementary school and junior high school, well, going back to elementary school,

elementary school, Kennedy was shot. And in middle school, King was shot and then Kennedy. Wow. Again. Yeah. And that was, that was normal for a while. Yeah. Yeah. That was normal. That was my normal. Yeah. Yeah, I'm 10 years younger than you. So I was vaguely aware of all of that stuff. But it was like, you know, like I remember, I have a distinct memory of watching helicopters being pushed off of aircraft carriers on the news at the end of Vietnam. And that to me was like the notion that, and what was that, 70? It was.

70, what? No, it was 70, let's see. Nixon was reelected in 74. The fall of Hanoi, yeah. Right. So that was 76. 76? Oh, okay, yeah.

Yeah, 75, 76. Yeah, so I was 10, I guess. Yeah. And just realizing, okay, there's an end to this war that I've heard about, but it wasn't real to me because I just was young. It was real to me because I had friends who had brothers who were there or had come home, and I was staring down the barrel at the draft myself when the war ended. Wow. Yeah. And college.

Actually, you know what? No. The draft myself. Oh, wow. When the war ended. Wow. Yeah. And college. Actually, you know what? No. So when I graduated, the war, when I graduated, yeah, I remember graduating. So the war was over in like 74. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm terrible at this. But that makes sense. Then we had the election and then Nixon resigned in disgrace. But that whole thing, the unwinding of Watergate, that took a couple of years. Yeah. It took a couple of years. So you go through school. Yeah.

Well, no, I'm a sophomore. Oh, really? At USC. Yeah. Yeah. And? One day a bulletin is posted on the call board and an announcement was made.

I remember being in a classroom in the drama department building and one of the professors came in and made an announcement that a friend of his was involved in the casting. They were looking for young black men to audition for a mini series called Roots.

And there were three of us, three young black men in the department at the time, in the drama school. Well, your chances are good. One was a dancer, Bill Brown, who was out and proud. And so there were two. And we went down and I got asked to come back. I got a call back and then I read a couple of times. I read for the director, David Green, as a part of the process.

March 27th, 1976, I was screen tested. March 27th, 1976, I was screen tested. And then the screen test went back and forth from the offices of ABC in Los Angeles and New York. And no one wanted to pull the trigger on casting the kid who was in college who had never acted professionally before. Right, right. Had you had auditions at this point because you're in L.A.? No, Roots was my first professional audition. Wow. I mean, because I was in L.A.? No, Roots was my first professional audition. First, wow. I mean, I was, because I was, you know, in college.

Yeah, yeah. And the chairman of the department at that time, a man named Alex Siegel, who came from directing live TV, was adamantly against actors in drama school. Getting jobs. Even auditioning. And for television film. I mean, you know, theater is theater and that's something else. I see. He came from television, I guess.

So if in the summertime you wanted to go do summer stock somewhere, that would have been okay. That would have been great. But he really frowned upon all of that stuff. Yeah. Getting an agent, having pictures taken, you know, all of that stuff that this town is about. Of course. Right? Anyway, they finally—

How old are you? Are you 19? I'm 19, yeah. Wow. So we were doing—so I had a lead in the spring musical at USC. We do a musical every spring, and that year we were doing Oklahoma. And I played Ali Hakim. Oh, yeah. The Persian rug dealer Ali Hakim. Oh, yeah.

The Persian rug dealer. The Persian rug dealer, yeah. And the director, Andy Tennant, played Will Parker, and Madeline Smith, who starred opposite John Travolta in Urban Cowboy, played Edo Annie. Oh, wow. Yeah. Kind of wacky.

I just saw the New York production of it. Yeah? Yeah, it's fantastic. It's a really, it's a great show. Yeah. You know, when they did a revival, I saw it in London when Hugh Jackman did it. It was many years ago, like 15, 20. Yeah.

It holds up. I mean, it's, you know, it's Americana. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, this new production, it's, I was surprised because I had well i mean this new production it's i was surprised because i had only seen the movie i've never seen i've never seen a production of it right and i thought they must have made some changes to the book about just because how complicated it is and how like morally complicated all of the characters are and i thought i i just felt like well when it was written it was it meant to be so morally complicated?

It's dark. Or was it kind of simplistic? Oklahoma is dark. Yeah. I mean, there's a Surrey with a fringe on top. Right. But there's poor Judd is dead. Yeah, exactly.

And the hero goes to talk to the peeping Tom weirdo and says, be ashamed if you hung yourself. Hello. Hanged yourself. Like, that's not very heroic. Let's sing a song. Yeah. And at the end, he gets killed, and it's like, who's going to stop these kids on their wedding night?

Just who's going to let a little murder get in the way of, oh, it's a weird show. But anyway, that's our Oklahoma sidebar here. But so what happens? Do you have to drop out? No. Or do you just schedule routes around? This is April.

Yeah. I left for location in May. The term was out in June. Which is Georgia? Is that where? Georgia, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Right.

Yeah. So that term was out in June. When we finished shooting over the summer, I went back in September. Then the press machine started up. Yeah. And then. Oh, that must have been just. It was thrilling. Thrilling, but also stressful, I would think, to try and be in school. Oh, really? You're just so young and happy. Yeah, yeah.

At that point, I wasn't too much focused on school. Okay. I'm going to try and be in school. Oh, really? You're just so young and happy. Yeah, yeah. At that point, I wasn't too much focused on school. Okay. I'm going to be honest with you. Right, right, right. This other thing over here in my life was really, it had all of my attention. Wait, I want to go back to you going, 19-year-old, showing up on set with Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou. That was my first day of acting. How do you, I mean, are you scared shitless?

Yeah. And? Do you feel like a phony? Do you feel like imposter syndrome? Yes. Well, that's been my whole life. Well, don't tell everybody that now. Well, it's true.

Yeah, no, I know. I have noticed. I have the same thing. I constantly am like, how did, wait, they're paying me to do this? Okay, I guess, you know, but here we are. One of my very early lessons in show business was I was in a very silly show. I got to meet an agent in New York City based on this dumb show that I felt was like, just, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't Moliere, you know. Okay.

So, but it's like, you should go see this agent. And I went and sat across from her and talked to her for about an hour. And then she said, let me get on the phone. She started calling network casting people, New York casting people and telling him, oh, this kid's fantastic. No, he's not just a funny guy. He can do it all. And I thought, oh my God, it's all horseshit. It's all just like, it's all fronting. It's all, and I had this feeling. And from when I started going on auditions and feeling that completely illegitimate as I go in there, like, I do not deserve to be here.

Aren't they going to figure out, I don't know what I'm doing? I'm just winging it. And then I thought, no, they don't know that. They don't know that. So why not just, you know. Act as if. Yeah. It would be, I felt at the time, almost rude to not match their expectations of me being legitimate.

Like, look, if you're going to think I'm legitimate. And I'm going to rise. I'm going to step up. I'm not going to deny you your opinion of me being legitimate. Like, look, if you're going to think I'm legitimate. And I'm going to rise. I'm going to step up. I'm not going to deny you your opinion of me. I'm going to say, sure, why not? You know? Yeah. Yeah.

So what is that like on that first day? Are people aware of how green you are? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody is. Yeah. Yeah.

And they're nice. Oh, very. Well, I mean, and there was a certain amount of, he must be okay. They cast him. Yeah, yeah. New York and L.A. both said yes. New York and L.A. both said yes. I mean, the process was they began in L.A. and then they went on a road tour.

They went to Chicago, they went to New York, and then they came back. And they hadn't found their Kunta yet. And you're just sitting there waiting. This was before they even got to me. Oh, I see. The reason that announcement was made in that class that day at USC is because they had exhausted all the means of finding professional talent. And they were really, they were beating the bushes. Yeah, yeah.

Right? I think they put the call out to all the local colleges, UCLA, CalArts, and USC, to those three programs. And that's where I came from. That's fantastic. Yeah. Now, does that cause unreal expectations of like, oh, this showbiz thing is a breeze. And you probably find out that it's not. It's not.

Yeah. Right. When does that, like, what happens that that, i imagine there's a root there's a fervor yeah and there's a juggernaut that goes on for a couple of years yeah so so so the fall semester started um i registered and then the promo machine sort of wound itself up. And through October, by November, I was in full on Roots promotion mode. When did it air? What time of year? January of 1977.

Oh, so it wasn't even out yet. It wasn't out. Wow. No, no, no, no, no. Wow. It wasn't out yet. Yeah, yeah. But the book. It wasn't out yet. Yeah, yeah. But the book had been released by that time.

Oh, so the book wasn't out before you were auditioning. So you didn't even know what it was about. I knew who Alex Haley was. Yeah. I had read the autobiography of Malcolm X the year before. Yeah, yeah. And Alex co-wrote that book with Malcolm X. Yeah.

So I was, I knew who he was, which is another- Fantastic writer, yeah. And Alex co-wrote that book with Malcolm X. Yeah. So I was, I knew who he was, which is another- Fantastic writer, yeah. But throughout my life, I've been able to look back now that I'm where I am and really see the road and the forks and the events that have really shaped who I became. have really shaped who I became. And all along the way, when I look back, I see these moments that seem randomly coincidental that I interpret as being absolutely essential and important, meaningful, not to be overlooked moments, like auditioning for Roots, finding out about the project and that it was written by Alex Haley and knowing who that man was. You know, when I look back on that, I think that's a sign. That's a sign that I was in the right place at the right time.

Yeah. Right? Those moments are so important to all of us. And it's just whenever we can acknowledge them, right? Because I think we're all looking to be on the path of what our destiny is. And I believe we all have a destiny. We all have something that we're here to accomplish. And as soon as you can align yourself to that, discover what it is and then align yourself to it the better yeah right so i was i i was certainly young um but confident in my abilities i you know

i i felt like i knew what i was doing I felt like this was a character that I understood. Absolutely. Without question. And so I had a sort of confidence that helped me sell that I belonged. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? And it helped quell that voice in the back of my head saying, you're an imposter. Yeah. You're going to find out soon.

How important is it to you to get the affirmation of like the director and the other actors? I mean, it's feedback, important feedback, critical feedback that lets you know, informs you that you're on the right path, that you're in the right place. Yeah, yeah. That you're doing the right things. We're all looking for positive biofeedback. Yeah. I find it so vital because I just feel like I can't, I almost, in some ways, when it comes to...

Your own work? Yeah. I feel like I trust other people. More than you trust yourself? Yeah, yeah. Because I'm too close to what I'm doing. So when somebody says, you're doing a good job, I have to go, okay. I trust you.

You know, it depends on the person, too. I have to trust the person's judgment. But I always find, because otherwise I just don't, it's too hard to, especially when you're the product. You're selling this product and you are the product. It's always weird, too too when people direct themselves in something i'm always like how do you how do you compartmentalize yeah because i i've done it have you done i do it i do it all the time yeah yeah um i can do you get notes from other people like on your performance or do you just kind of at this point know yourself well enough to know i

know myself pretty well yeah pretty well now now the the times when i've directed myself um have been in star trek so that's a character that i know intimately well and i don't need notes or adjustments maybe a suggestion or an idea yeah but you know i know who that guy is sure um so it makes it easy to compartmentalize yeah yeah yeah yeah i just i feel like i'd need somebody i trust yeah to be watching and say an objective eye yeah do that again yeah you know you can do better you're right if i were if i were to to step into a completely unfamiliar character i would want an objective yeah yeah can't you tell my loves are growing now what happens when roots comes out i mean it's you gotta it's i mean how soon before you can't go to the grocery store i

was actually in the grocery store when it happened the first time. Wow. Yeah. And there my picture was on the cover. Here in LA? No, this was the day after night one. No, it was the day after night two. Yeah. Because I watched night one here in Los Angeles, then drove up to watch night two with my family in Sacramento. Oh, that's nice. That must have been.

Oh, it was awesome. Oh, my God. It was awesome. I can only imagine. Yeah. And so it was the morning after night two. And I'm in the grocery store. My picture is on the cover of TV Guide magazine.

And the checker recognizes me. And pretty soon there's a crowd. Wow. Yeah. And is it exciting? Is it weird? Is it scary? Yeah.

All of that. Yeah, yeah. All of that. All of that all of that yeah yeah it is strange to be to feel looked at you know to be to go through your whole life just being another person and all of a sudden you feel you can see the heads turning and stuff and i mean you know and like the amount of it that i get is very manageable and very nice and very comfortable because you know people if people know they obviously, they probably like me. You know, they.

I think that's universally true. Yeah. And known about you. Well, thank you. But I mean, but it's not, I'm not like, you know, Tom Hanks, who just like everybody knows Tom Hanks because he's part of the culture. Right. You know. That's right.

And everybody loves him. Yeah. Yeah. But at that point, you're part of the culture. Right. You know, that's right. And everybody loves him. Yeah. Yeah. But at that point, you're part of the culture. Well, immediately. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Because that was the biggest television event. Yeah. Ever. Yeah. At that point. Yeah. Wow.

And are you aware of that? Yes. Immediately. Immediately. Yeah. I'm acutely aware. I mean, but, but I mean, yeah, its impact was immediate. Its impact was instant on the nation.

It grabbed America by the throat and it didn't let go for eight nights. I remember, yeah. And then it was the national obsession. And then genealogy became the big pastime. The word roots took on a different meaning in the lexicon and language. It just was, it was a moment. Yeah. I like to say about roots, it was the one time I can remember when there was one America.

Yeah. Wow. I think so, yeah. There was one America. We were all engaged in the same thing at the same time, and we were all impacted. Some of us differently than others, but we were all in the soup together. Yeah, yeah. And also it's for what it represented culturally in the depiction of slavery.

Well, see, that's the thing. You know, before that, it's all this romantic gone with the wind shit, you know? Yeah. And all of a sudden it's like oh no it was time to take the blinders off yeah like this is this is what this is this is what it was this is what we're built on right you know people still can't fucking accept people still have a difficult time wrapping themselves like why do you have to bring that up well because because it's pretty fucking formative yeah why are you still crying about what happened, you know, 200 years ago?

Yeah. Because it's still happening today. It's still happening. Yeah, yeah. It's a continuation. And it's not crying. Yeah. It's not crying.

Yeah. It's, yeah. It's just, yeah, noting a problem for a lot of people. You know, being honest about a situation for a lot of people, you know, being honest about a situation for a lot of people. I think the pushback stems from the acknowledged or unacknowledged truth that deep down inside, you really don't feel that the other people of color or women or immigrants, you don't feel like they deserve what you deserve. That's the bottom line. Absolutely. No, it's, well, and I mean, this isn't anything that, you know,

I didn't invent this notion, but, you know, racism has been a wonderful way to keep poor white people from getting angry at rich white people. It's really. It's a very effective tool. Really. Wielded by. Really handy.

It was developed and implemented by people in power looking to. Yeah. Maintain. Yeah. That, that, that their hold on power. Right, right. Well, anyway. Yeah.

Racism. Yeah. It's a bummer. There's that. Yeah. Now. How. What. Yeah. It's a bummer. There's that. Yeah. Now, how, what, what, what is your life like after Roots? I mean, after it sort of dies down a little, I mean, what?

Well, that's when, that's when the real living is crazy. No. Was there, are you not that type where you, it was wine, women and song? Oh, that kind of crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I that kind of crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I went a little crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, you're 20, right? Yeah. Yeah. I'm 20. I'm on the cover of Time magazine. You can't even drink legally. Right? Oh, my God.

That's hilarious. Yeah, yeah. But I bet you could get served. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Who's going to turn down Kunta Kinte? Right. Well, I had ID.

Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Who's going to turn down Kunta Kinte? Right? Well, I had ID. Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. See, that's a fake ID. My kid has one. Right? I mean, if you're clever enough to get one and ballsy enough to have it work.

Yeah. There's actually, I've heard there's a, there's, I think there's, I think it's a couple in Los Angeles that like they're living for years has been to provide high school students making fake IDs

for LA high school students that's a series I know I want to see that show on television absolutely and they're they're pretty good

I bet yeah I bet you don't make a living on it by sucking at it no you don't so yeah yeah

no I actually man that'd be fun it would be fun to sort of like find those people You don't make a living on it by sucking at it. No, you don't. Yeah, yeah. No, actually, man, that would be fun to sort of like find those people. Now, that's a podcast. That's right. That's a podcast. Talk to those people. Right. So, I mean, what kind of work is happening after?

TV movies. TV movies. A lot of stuff. Movies of the week, yeah. Do you finish school no or you just stop I I got on the surfboard

and I was determined to ride it and kill the wave petered out yeah well and if the point is to become a working actor

you were a working actor I was a working actor yeah and that was the point I mean my plan was to graduate with a BFA

and then move to New York and hustle my way on the stage yeah but I'll take the path that was to graduate with a BFA and then move to New York and hustle my way on the stage. Yeah. But I'll take the path that God's put in front of me. Have you done a lot of stage work? A little.

Since then or not? Yeah, yeah. Not a whole lot. Not a whole lot. I mean, theater's not for sale. Is that a regret or is it okay? I'm not done. Okay, no, no.

I've got time. No, I know, I know. But I mean, but you know that because especially for someone that's coming so much from that theater background to then work so heavily in film and television. Yeah. You know, I just. I just found it a satisfying medium in terms of being able to make a difference.

Yeah. Oh, that's true. Yeah, that is true. As a, I recognized. The reach is so much greater. The reach is so much greater. The reach is so much greater. And so broader, yeah. Then the impact is so much more broad.

You can have some impact being in the pulpit every week or being on a Broadway stage eight times a week. But when you have a camera and an audience of millions, that's a powerful potential ministry. Absolutely. Absolutely. No, and it's not to be squandered. No, I don't see, exactly. I feel very strongly that it is not to be squandered. Yeah. That it is an opportunity to really lean into and cherish and to have a very significant sense of responsibility around. Right. While still entertaining.

Oh, God, that's the job. You can't be a preacher. No, no, no. You've got to be sneaky. You can certainly infuse messages. Yeah. Well, that's, you know, I have Twitter followers, you know, and I talk about politics on Twitter. And people are like, why are you, you know, it's usually people that disagree with me.

Why are you potentially alienating half of the people? It's like, well, because I got people listening and I think there's some important things that need to be said that are at least, you know, and, and it's all my opinion. It's my, it's my goddamn Twitter feed. I'm going to do with it. What I want being in show business does not mean I said surrender my citizens. That's right. That's right. That's right. And yeah,

and I got to live here and I got kids. And I have to live with myself. Yeah. And it's, and it, yeah, and there's a lot of,

a lot of fucked up shit going on that needs to be. That needs to be talked about. Yeah. It needs to be. And just talked about. Yeah. So many people just don't even

want to talk about it. Yeah. Not only does it need to be talked about, it needs to be challenged. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Now, now when does does reading rainbow happen before star trek yeah yeah how does reading rainbow come about i had done a television series for pbs for kids called rebop that was produced by uh gbh wgbh in boston yeah um so i'd had a little experience as a PBS children's series host. Yeah.

I was in New York. Was that a reading show? No, it wasn't, actually. Rebop was a show, a terrific little show. It was two profiles in every episode of children. Let's say a kid growing up on a ranch in Montana and a kid growing up in Florida who is a diver. Oh, wow.

And so the idea is by, by, by exploring their daily life, you know, you get a sense of, of kids in different places from where you are, but the similarities between them and you and the, and the differences. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's great. Yeah.

Yeah. So I did a couple of seasons of that. And apparently they were, they were putting the show together. They were at the point where they were looking for a host. They were going to shoot the pilot. They had a plan to shoot it in the near term. I was in New York on my way to Africa and there used to be a show on, on NBC in New York called Live at Five with Sue Simmons. Yeah. And we were across the hall from them. That's right. You were.

Yeah. So it was a celebrity interview in the middle of the five o'clock news. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the producers saw me and thought, let's see if we can't find him and talk to him.

And so they tracked me down to my hotel. I was on my way to Africa and they pitched it to me. To work or just? I was on my way to do an American Sportsman. Oh, cool. And they pitched it to me over the phone and I said, yeah. So I literally landed about a month later and then went straight to the set. Wow.

To shoot episode one. Is it in Boston? No, we shot in New York City. In New York City. Yeah. That's where the production company was. Okay. Now you have become sort of a evangelist for reading. Was that a preexisting condition or was it something that, yeah, yeah. You were always a reader. My mother was an English teacher. Yeah. I grew up in a house where reading was mandatory.

Yeah. And, and once I cracked the code, I was like, I was off and running. Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't get enough. Yeah. Couldn't get enough. And, and, and so then it was just sort of a natural and then it just kind of. So here's the thing, Andy, you know, the roots experience was one that really opened my eyes in terms of the power of the medium, the sheer power that we have in our hands when we tell these stories. And if you tell a powerful story and if you tell it well, you know, it can have impact. It really can. So that information, that experience really informed when, when I had an opportunity to, to use the medium for something that I really believed in, which was to use the opportunity of engagement, television,

right. And children, it's like they're magnets, right. And use that opportunity of engagement, television, right? And children, it's like they're magnets, right? Yeah. And use that opportunity of engagement to actually promote literature and reading during a time in their lives when it's really critical, when a child is just learning how to read. And then they take that summer vacation and the reading and comprehension skills suffer. So, Reading Rainbow was designed as a summer gap sort of exercise to keep kids engaged with the literature during that three-month summer vacation. That's really ingenious. It was.

And it was really counterintuitive because at the time in the educational community, television was really being discussed solely as the evil empire. Right? To sell cereal and toys. Right. Yeah. Right. But PBS was different. PBS was this island of safety and ser and toys. Right. Yeah. Right. But PBS was different. PBS was this island of safety and serenity.

Right. And so I liked working in that environment. Yeah. That was absent commercial interest and selling shit to kids. Yeah. And you get to feel good about it. I, you do because. Because a lot of times you don't get to feel so good about what you're doing in show business.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because you take a job and it's a job. Because you got to eat. You got to, you know, you got to pay the rent. Yeah. And that was how many seasons was?

26. Wow. Over 26 years or? Wow. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. That's fantastic. Third longest running show in the history of PBS. Wow. Over 26 years? Wow. That's amazing. That's fantastic. Third longest running show in the history of PBS. Wow.

Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, then Rating Rainbow. That's amazing. That's really got to, among your accomplishments, feel, that's got to be up there. Yeah. Like, yeah. Yeah. It's important. For the son of an English teacher. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's important. For the son of an English teacher? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. Oh, I didn't even think about that.

Boy, that was probably scored a lot of points with mom. All of the work that I've done in the field of literacy is in honor of my mother, Irma Jean. Yeah. All of it. Yeah, yeah. She was my first teacher. It was her example that turned me into a reader. It was her.

She was a powerful influence. Yeah, that's beautiful. Yeah. Now, Star Trek comes along. 1987. 1987. Now, are you married, having kids during this time? I had a son at the time, but I wasn't married.

Yeah, okay. Yeah. And so, was your son around when Reading Rainbow started? No, not when it started. Okay. Not when it started. But I mean, I imagine when you're doing that and all of a sudden there's a kid involved, then it becomes

the attachment to the project. Well, yeah, then, you know, at a certain age, I began talking to him when I was, you know, doing the show. Yeah. It really helped me focus was uh you know doing the show in the show yeah yeah yeah it really helped me focus on on you know talking to one it becomes real yeah yeah yeah connection yeah so star trek comes along yeah and that's that's another yeah you're you know you're another another uh bust of you in the history of television. Well, you know what's cool about Star Trek is there are two things.

Number one, I'm a huge I Love Lucy fan. And I followed the career of Desi Arnaz because he was such an innovator. I mean, Desi was responsible for the three cameras set up for sitcoms. He ran the production company, Desilu. Yep. He was a real role model. Innovator. Innovator.

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And minority, right? Person of color really making things happen in America. Yeah. And it was Desilu that produced Star Trek. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. I didn't even know that.

Oh, when Star trek was was trying to get up and going they stepped up even the original they had a deal with gene roddenberry yeah yeah yeah that's the one that they backed i was not aware of that i guess it's in the credits it is that's that's why it was shot at paramount because that's where their deal was yeah yeah that's where that's where desi lou was yeah when i when i i did my first sitcom andy richard controls the Universe was there. And I used to love that I were doing Star Trek there. I think it was the next

one. Voyager? Yeah. And Deep Space Nine? But just to see Klingon smoking cigarettes and talking on cell phones was just the fucking best. It's the best. Yeah, yeah. So there was that. There was the Desilu connection to my childhood. But also I was a huge Star Trek fan. Yeah, yeah. Gene. So there was that. There was the Desilu connection to my childhood.

But also I was a huge Star Trek fan. Yeah, yeah. Gene Roddenberry's Vision of the Future was one that I totally embraced because it embraced me. Yeah. So. It's such a unique show. Yeah. It's just like it's so its own thing.

Yeah, it is. And so I was thrilled. Yeah. I mean, to work with Gene Roddenberry on a new incarnation of Star Trek? Yeah. Are you kidding me? How many years was there between the next generation and the end of the original? Let's see.

The original series was 68, 69, and 70. So it was 17 years. Wow. Right? It's amazing it took that long. Yeah. You know? Well, I think one of the things that helped was the,

they had done Star Trek, the motion picture, and that had done pretty well. And I think they were shooting the voyage home when we were just getting up and going. Yeah. So there had been some successful Star Trek movies. Yeah. And I think that gave them a lot of comfort

in trying to relaunch the franchise. Right. And then they just went crazy. For people to open the wallet and let it happen again. Yeah. And that show was a syndicated show, was it not? It created first-run syndication. Yeah.

Star Trek, The Next Generation. It did. Wow, I didn't realize that. It created first-run syndication. It was Star Trek, The Next Generation. It did. Wow, I didn't realize that. It created first-run syndication. It was the first time that Paramount was able to put together sort of an ad hoc network by selling all of the ad time for this programming that they created. They deficit financed it, and they made, well, they created a new business. Yeah, yeah. Xena, Hercules, all of that came after Star Trek.

Right, right. All of it came after Star Trek. Yeah. First run syndication. That's amazing. Yeah. And how many years did it go? We did seven seasons and four movies.

That's great. Yeah. That's so cool. Been very, very good to me. I bet, I bet. Do you do the fan things? Uh-huh, I do. Do you do a lot of them? I do some. I don't do a lot. I like doing them when there are a couple of my cast. My cast is very, we're very close.

That's nice. So I like doing it when we can, at least two of us are together. Yeah. Because we don't get to see each other as often as we used to. It would be weird and lonely, I think. It can be. I mean, I've done them where I was the only member of my cast. And I've made friends and had an opportunity to develop relationships with people that I really love and admire over the years. But it's nothing like doing it with your best friends. Yeah, yeah. I can imagine. Because you have all that history together and all the shorthand.

And we just make each other laugh. Yeah. You know, we really do. We spend most of our time laughing when we're together. Yeah, yeah. Now, tell me about your podcast. LeVar Burton Reads. Yeah.

I love it. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. In every episode, I read a different piece of short fiction. And the only thing the stories have in common is that I love them. And I hope you will, too. Do people pitch you stories? All the time. All the time. I solicit. And I hope you will too. Do people pitch you stories? All the time. I solicit.

Oh, that's fantastic. Suggest a short story. Yeah, yeah. I love the form. I love the genre, short fiction. I lean heavily into science fiction and fantasy because that's what I like to read. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When I'm reading for pleasure. Yeah. And I have a great time. And I get to introduce the audience that grew up on Reading Rainbow who are adults now, right? All of those people, 105,000 of them donated to the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter back in 2014. Yeah. That entire generation, they're adults now. And I get to maintain a relationship with them around literature and storytelling.

And I'm introducing them to new authors the way I introduced them to new books when they were kids. And I just, I like maintaining that relationship with this audience that, you know, I've been involved with for over 30 years. Yeah. When I was in speech team in high school, I did prose. Yeah? Yeah. I read. I can see that easily. Yeah, I did. You have a very sonorous voice.

Well, thank you. Yeah, although I can make it sound better. Most of the time when people want to make fun of me, they do this kind of thing. Well, that's the Midwestern. Yeah, it's the Midwestern. It's like, you know, it's all versions of Roseanne Barr, you know, one version of it. Well, I mean, well, you said, like, you have just such an amazingly diverse career and so rich and with so many different things going on. Is there something that you would want to change for the future?

Like in terms of the, you know, the where are you going part of the questions? I mean, is there something that you feel like you'd like to do more of? Yeah. Something different that you want to explore? I have set my cap for this, you know, this next act, this last act of my career. Well, I mean, is that confronting that? I'm 62. Yeah.

I mean, I figured because, yeah, but I mean, does that? Oh, I'm thinking about it. I'm consciously slowing down in my life. I recognize that I've been living my life like there's been somebody chasing me for the last 40 years. Oh, really? That's not really sustainable going forward. Yeah, yeah.

I'm slowing down. Yeah. And it's not easy, but I'm really making myself. I'm becoming aware of the need and necessity to just. Do you feel like you're a stressed person and that you've been a stressed person? That was what was known as a deadpan look is what I just got. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Showbiz is a little stressful. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have coping mechanisms that you use to kind of? I do. Yeah. Yeah.

Which are like? Stretching, breathing. Yeah. I spend a lot of time in water. Uh-huh. Yeah. Deaton, I mean, are you a person who like kind of lays in bed and just brain going and you can't? I love a good nap.

I can shut it down. Oh, you can? I can shut it down. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can shut it down. But I have this overwhelming compunction that when I'm awake, I need to be doing something.

Yeah. I should be doing something. Yeah. Right. Yeah, that can be hard because it just like. Yeah. You know, I. You got to work at being okay with just kind of being chill.

You mentioned it earlier, and I agree. At some point, we have to reparent ourselves. We have to become our own parents. We have to stop blaming our parents for who we are and begin to take responsibility and ownership over our lives. And when we do that it begins to i think it gets better yeah you know at least you know who's responsible yeah you know and you you know who to complain about and you can yeah and you can you take responsibility but on the other side of taking responsibility is also cutting yourself some slack, you know, like the sense of parenting yourself. It is like it's also loving yourself and being understanding and understanding your own shortcomings and not just yelling at yourself about it.

My mantra these days is protect the asset. And I'm the asset. Yeah. Yeah. the asset and I'm the asset. Yeah. Yeah. So,

but, but do you think like, how do you think, like, do you have a time? Because I'm, you know, I'm 52 and I'm,

you know, do you have like a, I'm going to stop at this point or you just going to, you're just going to keep going as long as you can. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No,

there's, there's no retirement. Right. No. I mean, honestly, I really feel like I'm entering a phase of my life that is really appropriate to where I am. I spent 26 years representing a brand that I will never own. When that really sunk in, after I had brought the brand back and reinvigorated it for a whole new generation, I realized I'm still making money for somebody else. Yeah. And we say you signed the back of the checks. Yeah.

Not the front of the checks. Right. And so that dawning realization really helped me let go of the attachment I had to being the front man for that brand. Yeah. And so now that I'm not doing that anymore, I'm focusing on the storytelling that I want to do with IP that I do. Yeah, yeah. And I'm really, really happy and excited about creating wonderful quality entertainment for families. That's what I want to do.

So that's what's going forward. That's what's going on, yeah. My new company, LeVar Burton Media, is all about that. I've got movies and television projects and, you know, my podcast. And everything that I do will now be the agency of LeVar Burton Media. Yeah. And then, you know, so I see this is my immediate future. And then finally, when I can slow down to the point where I can let go of this town, a little in my attachment to being here at the center of the communications universe.

And, you know, I have a plan. I'd like to move to an island in the Caribbean. Oh, yeah. And write and just write. Yeah. Are you afraid of getting bored? I think it's been a driving factor in my life that has kept me moving from thing to thing. My mom used to say, you have so many irons in the fire.

Yeah. And that's just natural to me. Yeah, yeah. I've had to learn how to, I've had to learn discernment and practice not having so many that none of them stay hot. Yeah. Right? Because you have to keep.

I mean, you can't give any one the kind of focus that it deserves. That it really needs and deserves. So there's been that. But I think that I'm driven by a desire to not be bored. We would be bored on a Caribbean island. That's what I mean. Oh, no. Oh, no. no oh my god because i i were i think the same thing i think i'd love to just go somewhere and plop down by a lake or by an ocean

but i just worry about well as a part of that when i think that vision when i when i when i imagine that there's always an element of i have a compound and there's teaching going on and there's a lot of young people around. Oh, okay. And, you know, passing on the knowledge and the information and just bringing others along. So you're not just solo. Not just eating fish and swimming in the sea all day. Right. And writing every now and then.

Yeah. Under a palm tree. No, I still want to stay engaged with life. Yeah. That's just me. I'm just an, I'm an energy junkie. That's great. Yeah. Well, is there something, if you could go back and tell 19-year-old LeVar something that he needs to know, what do you think it would be?

that he needs to know, what do you think it would be? I mean, because it's like when you're really starting on this professional journey, at least not, you know, I don't know. I would want to tell him you're going to spend an awful lot of time in anxiety. And as soon as you can let that go, the better. Yeah. It's true. Yeah.

It's true. Yeah. It's something that- Worrying about shit doesn't have any sort of positive impact on the situation ever. No. So it's just, don't worry so much. Yeah. It's all going to be fine because it always works out. Yeah.

It always does. Yeah. And you can worry so much. Yeah. It's all going to be fine because it always works out. Yeah. It always does. Yeah. And you can worry a little, you know, you don't want to be. Consumed, that kind of worry that, you know, that affects you physically. Yeah. Right. That's the kind of worry I'm talking about. And that also, too, creates a barrier between you and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

You can't be. And the goodness in your life. You can't be in the moment if you're in anxiety. Yeah, yeah. How long was that anxiety with you? Did it something that carried through all the way? Oh, it's, you know. It's still here? Oh, of course.

It's sitting in the chair next to you right now? It's closer than that. Yeah. Yeah. But you just keep walking. Yeah. You just, you know, you get on with it. Yeah. But you just keep walking. Yeah. You just, you know, you get on with it. Yeah.

Because the alternative is not nearly as attractive, which is allowing my fear to paralyze me into non-activity. Yeah. I don't think that's going to happen. I got to keep moving. Yeah. Is don't think that's going to happen. I got to keep moving. Yeah. Is that a fear? Like, do you think that that's a possibility that your anxiety could paralyze you at some point? Or do you think now you just got to handle on it enough?

I know what debilitating depression feels like. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. Yeah. It's a drag. It's not fun.

Yeah. Are you in therapy? Oh, for years. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a drag. It's not fun. Yeah. Are you in therapy? Oh, for years. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah. No, that, you know, it's that when you were talking about church and theater and the kind of that they both sort of serve the same need. For me, therapy is, that's church.

They both sort of serve the same need. For me, therapy is, that's church. Like that's been the thing that sort of created a vessel for my life, created a sense of progress, life-saving sense of progress. Like if there wasn't a notion, if I didn't feel the progress that I feel in therapy, I don't know what the hell I would do. Right. Because it does, I do feel like, no, I'm always getting a little bit better at this being alive thing. And if that weren't the case, if I weren't getting- Getting better at it. Involved in this process, and I love the phrase, the talking cure.

If I was not involved in that in a very active way, I don't know, I'd be stagnant. And I honestly, I can't even, I don't even want to think about where I'd be. Let's not go there. Yeah. And I mean, it's a privileged position to be in, to be able to afford it. Yes, it is. To be able to, you know, there's a lot of people too that have just a prejudice in their mind against it. And that's unfortunate.

We really do have a negative stigma in this country, in this culture around mental wellness. And everybody, everybody has a state of mental wellness. Everybody. Some of us suffer from periods of imbalance in our wellness. And talking about it sure does help. Sure does. Well, that's a good place to sign off. We've been talking for a nice long time. And it's been a wonderful talk. Thank you so much for making time in your busy, busy, varied life. I wanted to sit down and talk to you because I'm a fan. Well, thank you. Yeah, I've always enjoyed your vibe. Oh, thank you. And then when we met in person here. Here, thank you. Yeah. I've, I've always enjoyed your vibe. Oh, thank you. And then when

we met in, in person here, we're coworkers here at the, at the podcast facility. Yeah. And I just thought it's always nice when you meet somebody and they're as nice as you think they are. I, I agree. And I feel the same way about you. So, LeVar, thank you so much for coming in. And thank you listeners for listening. Did we get answers to the three questions? I think so. Well, we definitely got where you came from. Where you're going.

And what I learned along the way. And what you learned along the way. See, I told you. I snuck them in there. You didn't even realize that you were taking a test. And you passed! A plus! Alright, folks, thanks for listening. And we will, we will catch you next time on the three questions with Andy Richter. The three questions with Andy Richter is a team Coco and Earwolf production.

It's produced by me, Kevin Bartelt, executive produced by Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Chris Bannon and Colin Anderson at Earwolf. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, associate produced by Jen Samples and Galit Zahayek, and engineered by Will Becton. And if you haven't already, make sure to rate and review the three questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. This has been a Team Coco production in association with earwolf