The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Shannon Woodward

Episode Date: December 15, 2020

Actress Shannon Woodward talks with Andy Richter about getting started as a child actor, stories from filming Westworld, and her answers to the Inside the Actors Studio questionnaire.

All right. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the three questions. I'm Andy Richter. And today I am lucky enough to get to talk to Shannon Woodward, the nonstop actress, now full-on gamer, right? I mean, yeah. Does gamer come before actress now? No. Or actor? No, I'm still like an actor. It's just I also play games and now I just have a Twitch channel because what else was I doing in the pandemic?

Yeah, what were you doing in the pandemic? Mostly playing video games. Yeah. Well, now you're not from LA. But you've been working in show business since you were tiny. Yeah. I moved here when I was like, I was 15. And I did work when I was a kid, but we were living.

I lived in Texas and South Florida twice, both twice, because my dad worked for IBM and they kept moving their software department around when we were. I thought maybe you just wanted to live in the classiest places in the country. Yeah. My parents just wanted me to see the best of the best. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so I ended up coming here from Florida. Yeah. Yeah. And did your whole family come? Now, tell me, how do you start?

Now, you're just, there's just, you have one other sibling, right? Yeah, I have a brother. And is he older or younger? He's younger. And how do you go from being a kid in a house whose dad works at IBM to getting into movies and TV shows? Well. And why? Why? It's funny you should ask. IBM to getting into movies and TV shows? Well, and why, why?

It's funny. You should ask. It's, it's a pretty convoluted story. When I was, so my mom was a figure skating champion is, I mean, she,

she just isn't anymore. Yeah. But so when I was little, she put me into gymnastics because sports was kind of like the family business. Like that was how, you know, special or whatever. And she had bad knees and she blew her knees out really young and had to stop competing and she became a coach. So when I was like five, I basically hurt my knees learning how to do like some crazy trick on a harness. Because, you know, if you're not elite

by the time you're like 12 as a gymnast, that's it. So by five, you're like, you're really jamming. Um, and the, they had to take me to a sports doctor and they were like, yeah, she's going to need new knees by the time she's 15, but she might make it to the Olympics by then. And I was like, what? Um, and my mom was basically like, well, I mean, that's that you have my knees. Like we got to do something else with you. And I was, she was like, what am And my mom was basically like, well, I mean, that's that. You have my needs like we got to do something else with you. And I was she was like, what am I going to do with you now? And I was like, I want to live inside the TV. And she was like, that's not a thing people can do.

I was like, people are so happy inside the TV. I'd like to live there where people are happy. And so then it became like this. Now, does that distress your mother that that's your viewpoint? It should have. However, that's not necessarily in her makeup. I got you. I'm sorry to interrupt.

Oh, no, that's fine. If my kid said that to me, I would just die. That's a very fair, you're a good parent. And so then the next kind of step for this fixation came like a couple of years later or no, no, that was around the same time we, I was watching this movie, little man Tate. And I loved that movie because it was about like a tiny genius and like his mother didn't understand him, but like Diane Weiss shows up and is like, you're special. Let me take you and make you special and take care of you. And I would watch it over and over again.

And my mom was like, you know, Jodie Foster, who plays the mom that you don't like, also direct or like starred in this movie and like directed it. And I was like, oh, well, that's what I'll do then. Because it seemed like she was really impressed by that. She was like, you're going to do what? I was like, oh, I'll like direct movies and star in them. And she was like, that's very funny. And I kind of never considered doing anything else, I think, because it was like, in my head, that was what was impressive. That was the thing my

parents thought was impossible. So when I was like seven, I was doing these little children's theater plays near our house in Boca. And somebody from Nickelodeon saw me and was like, do you want to pre-audition to audition for a pilot? And I was like, finally, someone's asking me to be on television. It took so long. And my parents let me go pre-audition for it. And the reason was my dad was like, at some point you have to realize you're going to fail at this. I was like, I've really only been on about it for two years. And so I auditioned and I did get, they, they let me audition and then I got the job. And then my parents told me that if I did the job, which was a television pilot, I would probably never get to go to another birthday party again. So I had to call the

network back myself and tell them that I was not going to be doing their pilot because I'd like to go to birthday parties. I had no agent. I had nothing at the time. Right. And they were like, okay, are you sure? And then they were like, well, if we ever called you for something that would maybe be less of a commitment, would you consider it? And I was like, sure. So then a few months later, they asked me to audition for Clarice Explains It All. And I did that. And then I, so I was just a guest star and then local agents just a one one episode yeah just one i ended up doing another episode also as a different character but um then like local agents called me and then i had like a local agent and i would do like

commercials florida yeah florida yeah yeah exactly and then anytime like i'd send a tape to la or something and someone would call from la and want. and want to fly me out, my parents said no. They were like that. We see those Olsen twins and hear that their lives seem hard, like which this is correct. Like they just were like, you don't want to be a kid actor. It's weird. Yeah. But they let me finally come here when I was like 15 and then I didn't really go back.

Wow. Yeah. That's the that's the truncated version well that's really I mean I mean it it it's really says something to your talent you know that you were able to because I just I I lived I i'm renting a house now but last year i rented an apartment in in burbank and it was like a nice new fancy building and there were tons of people with showbiz kids oh yeah in it oh and they were all nice lovely people but i just kept feeling like it's dark oh what do you you know and i mean to me the thing that me is, especially the ones where their whole family, like some of them seemed kind of well to do, and they could sort of all afford to take this little field trip for their kids. But then there were other ones that did not seem well to do. Oh, no.

And the parents and the child moved here to make the child a working actor. And I can't imagine the pressure i mean it's hard to be a dad and feel the pressure of or a mom and feel the pressure of earning a living but for your family but when you're a fucking kid it's unbelievable yeah i will say like luckily you know my parents definitely like i i mean in order for me to come out here, like I had to use the money that I earned. Like my dad saved my money. He invested it for me. Like, um, my, my parents didn't want me to do this, but at the same time, it was like, it was hard to argue with me. I was like, I, I never got in trouble. I basically lived my whole life trying to earn enough credit with my parents to leave them, you know?

Yeah. And I did. And then a couple years later after I moved out here, my dad ended up moving out here with my younger brother. And I lived with them for a little bit. But I also, I have to say, I wasn't that talented. I was precocious. I was no Dakota Fanning. I will tell you my early work is like, I remember I sent a clip of it to my agent like a year or two ago, some clip of it

got put up and I sent it to her and she was like, I wouldn't have signed you. I was like, fair. Oh, that's yeah. Well, that's something. I mean, well, but I think. It was so funny. I think probably those fanning girls can look at their early stuff and probably feel the same way. They're pretty good. How much technique does a kid know? I don't know. I know they're pretty good, but still, it's like they had to learn to be good. I don't think they just came out of the womb like that. I mean, maybe they did.

Well, some kids do. I mean, but then it gets weird when they get older. I mean, listen, I call child actors haunted clothes, but no offense to them. But even I was like, you know, they're like really precocious and they're trying hard to be liked and they're working really hard and it's weird. And you're just kind of like, I feel so uncomfortable around you. And sometimes it's because you're like, I feel like I want to make sure you're OK, but it's none of my business. But hey, kiddo, see on set. That's very weird. Yes, absolutely. And I have, I would have, I would have when I lived in that building and I would

talk, you know, cause I also, because, uh, I had a dog and so I would, you know, I have a dog and I'd be at the dog run. So I spent a lot of time out on the dog road and chatting with people who also had dogs in the building as opposed to with what I would have wanted to do, which is just like come and go without saying a word to anyone. And they would, some of the parents would ask me like, are your kids in the business?

Like, do your kids want to be in the, and I would start to tell them my standard, which is, oh, no fucking way. Yeah. No fucking way. I'd let my kids do this for a living. I just, I, I, I might as well, like, you know, signing them up for exploitation and, and mental distress. No, thanks. And, but I'd have to kind of like, oh, nah, it's just not for us, you know?

Cause I feel like insulting him. Well, I mean, it's so weird. Cause I mean, again, like I was here so young that like, listen, a lot of the kids, like I lived at the Oakwood for a month when that was a thing, you know, before I like got an actual place. Um, but a lot of those kids that were here when I, a lot of them are really famous, you know, like actually a significant amount of them are successful and it doesn't mean we're all not weird. Oh, my, my cat says, hi, hi bud. Well, when you said we're all not weird, the cat said, and I'll,

he's like, he's like, she's helped me. And some of those kids, they really, you know, their parents were getting them into it. He's like, she's helped me. Someone help me. And some of those kids, they really, you know, their parents were getting them into it. And a lot of my friends that are still working actors, like did it because their parents wanted to make money off of them. And then later on, they were like, I mean, now I have, I didn't go to college and I get paid pretty well doing this. So I'm still doing it.

You know, when you came out here at 15, did you live alone? Well, my mom came out with me at first and then I was here alone for a little while for like a month and a half. And I think it wasn't really supposed to be that long, but what happened was September 11th happened. Oh my gosh. And I was here by myself and then my mom couldn't get back. Right. And maybe it was even longer than a month and a half. I don't know. But I was living on my own there for a while. But again, like I was such a like goody two-shoes little kid.

Like I could drive. By then I was 16 and I had like an old minivan. And I was like, you know, driving to rock and roll Ralph's to get food and then like to auditions. And then I was at home watching blockbuster videos. Actually, that night of September 11th, I watched American history X for the first time. And it scared me so bad that I was up till dawn till the sun came up and finally fell asleep.

And like 30 minutes later, my mom calls me panicking on the house phone and was like, turn on the TV. I was like, I just went to bed. And then things got bleak from there, but yeah. Yeah.

Wow. What a fun day that was for you yeah yeah yeah um now uh while you were here and when you're young like like do you have regrets like do you ever get to be like 18 or 19 and think like oh maybe i didn't do the right thing or. Oh, no, I think. I think for a lot of reasons. Well, first of all, I didn't really reconsider that until I was a little older than that and I was working a lot. I didn't start working a lot until I was like, I guess like 18. After I was 18, I started working a lot. It took me a while to kind of like figure out who I was as an actor and like you know settle into like

being grounded and figure out how to do everything right auditioning is its own art too yeah um and and it wasn't until I was like getting up at like four in the morning all the time to go to work and like driving and I was so tired that I was like how did I end up doing this and I really thought back all the way to I was like because I was like like, how did I end up doing this? And I really thought back all the way to, I was like, cause I was like, I don't think I ever really considered doing anything else. And then I realized like, oh wow. Yeah. I never really did. And I don't know that I regret it to some extent acting is, it's the only part of my life where I can't control it.

Like I never plan what I'm going to do. I kind of go into like a flow state and it's good for me. Like everything else is really intellectual that I do in my life. And I have a lot of control over that. And I have a lot of intellectual control and like, to some extent acting is maybe the healthiest thing when I'm actually doing it. It is like a form of artistry that like I lead with

something else rather than with my head. Whereas like, you know, I've read like every medical preprint about COVID since March. I know fucking so much about COVID and like, and, and, you know, and then I'm like, maybe I should have gone to med school. Maybe I should have been a doctor. Maybe I should have, you know, I'm really good at like understanding information and teaching myself how to learn new things. And, but I don't know if I would have been a better person for that yeah there's a lot of challenges too you know yeah that's true I mean yeah but you know I was just in New Zealand shooting for like five weeks and it was fucking incredible I was so happy and like working with people that I loved and like and I you know re-remind myself that I like, I do love my job when it's actually doing my job.

There's a lot of other bullshit. I don't enjoy that much about it, but when I do it, it's really fulfilling. Yeah. So just now going away. Cause you, well, I mean, you've been doing this now professionally as a full-time gig for, it's like 20 years ish right yeah yeah like a 20 years yeah that's and see that's have 20 years of show business under your belt at your age is it's pretty wild it's pretty amazing yeah i will say at least i understand what it is that like it doesn't inform my self-worth like i'm not yeah i i'm old enough now to realize like who cares and doesn't care about anything i do and that's it's no one i'm

the only one who cares about myself or like you know i'm not worried about what other people think of me i'm like people aren't thinking about me and if they are it's because they're obsessed with me otherwise people are worried about themselves yeah yeah. Yeah. And I think, well, that is something that I mean, you know, we've known each other for a while, but I don't know you that well. But I've always gotten that sense from you that you're not living and dying for the showbiz part. Like you have a job and it's your job. Yeah, it is. It's my job. And I like it. And like there's some fun and mystery about it in in that sense like there's still a lot of smoke and mirrors it's like working

at the north pole or something you know yeah yeah it's kind of fun but you know you see how this sausage is made and but it's fun when you see it all put up together and you're like oh wow it looks really fancy yeah um but yeah it's it's it's a it's a job. And it has its ups and its downs. But it's good work when you can get it, you know? Absolutely. And you just got, like you say, you just got back from five weeks in New Zealand, which is how much quarantining is that? Two weeks quarantine?

Two weeks, yeah. And then three weeks of work? Yeah, basically. Yeah. And now, A, I'm, like like ridiculously envious of that right now i know because it's like you got to fucking get on a plane an empty plane ride first class because of guild rules yeah fly all the way to auckland i'm imagining auckland yeah yeah and because i got i worked there once on oh you did yeah I worked there once for about, I was there for like over three months.

Oh, wow. Where were you in Wellington? I was in Auckland. I was in Auckland and then we shot, it's a movie called Aliens in the Attic. Okay. Which was like kind of a kid's movie with little CGI aliens that were attacking Earth. The great gimmick of the movie was that they had mind control that only worked on adults.

The kids in the movie had figured this out. They had to shoot a dart in the back of your head and then they could control you. The kids figured this out so they had to keep the adults in the dark about the presence of the aliens as they fight them all over this giant house that used to be a I think it was originally opened as a as a brothel and then it was a Maori women's home

for a long time oh my god and now it's just this weird old house that somebody carted from Auckland and plopped it down in the country. And we shot in this beautiful old house. And the people that lived in it moved into a trailer next door while we were shooting there. Oh, my God. But the great thing about that gimmick was all the special effects, no adults were in the special effects scenes. So the kids had to do all the work. Like this, for people that don't know, the special effects things are So the kids had to do all the work like this for people that don't know the

special effects things are tedious. It takes forever. It's like, and the green screen stuff, like you have to light the green screen really specifically. And like the camera moves, like it looks like it should be the easiest part, but it just like eats up your day.

It's like you do one establishing shot on a green screen where you like, you have to like, I was actually just shooting a bunch on a green screen where you like, you have to like, I was actually just shooting a bunch on a green screen while we were there. And it's just like, you know, it's, it really, it eats up your time because it's really,

really tough to light it correctly so they can do everything in post. And then you end up there. You forget what you're supposed to be feeling. And what's hard. Working on green screens is hard. You have no stuff around you and you're trying to imagine it and everybody panics because they're like,

I don't have any props or I don't have any stuff. And they're like, get over there and the dragon's flying and you're shocked. And you're like, they're like,

great, now do it again. Now the dragon is actually over here. Like that's its tail that you just screamed at. Sorry. Sorry. I mean,

I don't know. Yeah. Well, this movie was great because i just got to hang out in new zealand amazing which was great but not great at because i was there for six weeks without six to eight i can't remember so six or eight weeks without my family yeah which my i mean my kids were eight and three at the time, I think. So it was it was rough. It was rough on my ex-wife at the time having to do that. And one of the cast members and I, on like the second or third day, asked one of the great Kiwi ADs. Like they just all everybody was just so fun and so laid back and nice. And I asked them, hey, could we get

some weed? And the AD was like, oh, sure. I said, yep. And the next day she brought me and this other cast member what had to be over three quarters of an ounce of weed. Basically like a coffee can full of weed. And me and the other guy split it. We're like, we'll never finish this, but we had enough time off. Yeah, we did. We did.

We ended up like just walking around Auckland high. And then I would have days off and I would just drive out into the middle of nowhere, you know? But I, it was, I did find, and I don't know whether it's just because I,

you know, my kids were young or something, I often wondered, because I never had to do that much kind of long-term location work, and I often wondered how would I be suited for that? And I wonder, is it hard to have a personal life when your life is so kind of compartmentalized into your own sort of little universe and then it goes away and it disappears it's weird like to some extent it's there i mean there's wonderful things about it but like i don't have children i think like that's the big thing too is that like it really i think starts to take a toll on people when they have kids and um and especially like if both parties work in the industry that's

really tough too yeah um but i mean it is weird i will say one of the weirder things too is like even you know doing television shows where like i mean that's even in in town like i've been lucky enough that all of the shows i've ever been on all shot in Los Angeles, which is crazy because people are always like, Oh, I'm stuck in Vancouver or whatever. But right. Even, but even that,

you know, doing like 16 hour days, like at least four days a week for 10 years for a while. I mean, honestly, you might as well move away. Time just, you just lose time.

Like, and so all of a sudden it's like, you realize you've been gone for six months, but even though you've only been up the road and you haven't seen your friends and you've lost touch with people or people have kids. And then, so between those two things, between like time going by

and then like all my friends having children and like, it does start to be like, oh, suddenly you're like, oh, I feel like I haven't done anything except for work. But oh yeah, like six months went by and I haven't talked to anybody. Yeah. It is, it's weird, but.

Now have you made, do you just kind of go like, oh, well, that's weird. Or is there some way that you've kind of adjusted as you've gotten older where you're trying to, or is it just, have you learned to just kind of. Well, I think. kind of inhabit your life? I think it's two things. I mean, I think it's also just generally getting older.

Your friends start to, you know, they're not as much of a part of your life as they were when you're 25. Yeah, you don't care about it. And I do care about my friends. I miss them. But, you know, it's even weirder now because we can't really see each other, especially my friends that have children, you know, like they're not going to, nobody's trying to like risk their kids getting sick or like, if they're going to pod, they're going to pod with their grandparents or, or whatever, which is totally fair. But so now it's, you know, I really miss my friends, but it's, you know, it's, it's a combination of like, it's, you're getting older and also trying to prioritize making plans. But, you know, when people have kids, combination of like, it's, you're getting older and also trying to prioritize making plans.

But you know, when people have kids, you're like, all right, let's plan to have dinner three weeks from now on a Saturday. So you can get a sitter and like, you know, it's just, but yeah, you just do the best you can. Yeah. But I don't know how much of it is really just my job as much as it's also just time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, like, you know, it's been 20 years of working this particular way i mean i had you know i that's the one thing i mean among not the one thing among many things that were like going back to work for conan when he got on the tonight show i mean a i was just ready to make television that that had some immediacy to it.

Like go literally have an idea in the morning and put it on TV for that. Yeah. Was something that I had grown to desperately miss out here because everybody's. Takes forever. Takes for fucking ever to get anything done or just to get an answer. Hey, here's the script you guys paid for. It's been two weeks,

you know, that kind of thing um but i i was able to kind of i you know from 2009 until now i've been able to be in one place which has been you know there's times when i watch like a new comedy movie that has, that I know virtually everyone in it. And, and just, you know, you're, there is,

you know, we're competitive actors are, are, there's not an uncompetitive actor. And I'm probably less competitive than most. But when I see that one, I'm like, why the fuck am I not?

Why am I not in that shitty comedy that no one wants to see? And they're like, you were unavailable. I know. Yeah, exactly. And I mean, and you know, it's not like my agents and managers are trying to look out kind of for niche work for me. It's like, oh, he's got a job. And I got, and I have a job and I have a really nice life.

But I do, there are times when I do like i hear about you going to new zealand and i'm like god damn it that was like wild to be fair it was like that was like a lottery win yeah because it was not a job that i mean it was something we were shooting here and it moved there after the pandemic so it was just like aha you're stuck with me. You have to bring me to New Zealand. Yeah. We found a place in New Zealand that looks just like Pacoima. Exactly. Lucky us. This soundstage looks exactly like the soundstage we rented in Los Angeles. Can't you tell my loves are growing?

Technique-wise, when you start out are you do you have acting technique that you've learned or do you just kind of it's funny when i was like when i when i came out here i remember i mean i had taken a lot of acting classes when i was younger and like you know i would i would enroll in like adult acting classes so i didn't have to be with other kids because i was really like i don't want to like be in a i was a real snoot i was like i don't want to get bad habits but um such a fucking annoying little piece a lot of these kids have the wrong instinct i'm just embarrassing. You know, you don't want to get bad habits too early. You're just indicating, Monica. Way to anticipate, Chad.

No, but I remember when I came here, I was, I guess, reading for an agent who signed me or whatever. And I remember she was like, I have a question for you. Have you taken a lot of acting classes? I was like, yeah. She goes, what happens if you just forget all that? Like maybe you should forget everything that you learned. And I was like, okay. And she was like, maybe try that for a while because I bet whatever you think is probably better. And I kind of like basically did that for a while. And after about a

year and a half, then I started working all the time. And I think it was really just like, she was really just teaching me like, like she was like, it looks like you're hearing other people's voices in your head. And I was like, oh, that's true. And what she meant was just like, I wasn't grounded. Like that it was just like, I was trying and like the beats I was hitting were all right. They just like, didn't feel like my own. Right. You know,

and I kind of did that for a while and then you know i i after i started working a lot i experimented like working with different kinds of coaches like method people and there were certain things that i found interesting about that and certain tools i kind of like took but i mean honestly what i do now is is totally easy And it's really that I can't prepare for what other good actors are going to do. Right. And that informs the scene, you know, there I'm not the whole scene. I'm just part of it. And how I respond to the material or what's happening is how I respond to them is going to be completely unique to their performance.

And it's about listening. And I have ideas about things and things that I kind of like think about or write down, like when I'm reading, like, Oh, that that's an interesting thought but I kind of throw it all away you know once I'm there and I'm rehearsing I really like learn the scene with the furniture and the other actors and kind of figure out like because they're informing what the scene's about to me then too I mean we can talk about it but that's like the director's job you know is to like decide what the scene is and I'll present ideas and be like there's a version of this where i could kind of go in this direction but whatever you want um yeah so i kind of am technique list now but yeah but in a way that

it's just like i've worked for so long that i kind of it's like i i call it magic eye you know like acting is like doing magic eye where it's like you have to totally unfocus your eyes in order to be able to focus on what you're seeing. And if you try too hard to focus, all you'll see is a big old mess. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's like that someone that I worked with years ago in Chicago. We got on the topic of religion and they were literally, and it was a white guy, but he was a Buddhist. And I was like, I was like, how does that,

cause you kind of touched on it, that whole thing about trying not to try, you know, like, like leaving yourself open, but working really hard at leaving yourself open. And I always was like, that's a conundrum to me. Like, how do you work hard at just being an open vessel? And he said, he said, well, you know, the accomplishment of it isn't the point. It's the attempt. Like you might never, you might never, you never get there,

but you're always making that attempt, which. Yeah. I'm never like, oh, I did it. Yeah. But I do think that like, I mean, for me, it's about like not letting my brain get into the part where it tries to control anything. You know, so if I hear myself while I'm working like, oh, that was good. I'm like, why am I thinking I shouldn't be thinking right now? I should be thinking just like with the part of my brain that's like you drop something, I'm picking it up. You know, like reactiveness is like not cognitive.

And yeah, I mean, once I started really being able to like just kind of be present, then, you know, then everything got easy. Then everything was a flex. And I was like, oh, I can cry for 10 hours now. I look cool. You know, and people are like, how do you do you do that i'm like i don't know yeah the same muscle that people use to like masturbate we're just doing it with crying and

emotion it's the same fucking thing you know you can really take yourself somewhere right right but you can only do one on the bus um righting. Yes. You can cry on the bus. Uh, yeah, I just, I actually, just a friend of mine teaches at a film, actually the film school, Columbia college that I went to in Chicago. And I just did a, a zoom talk with his directing class. Like it's kind of, I don't know if it's directing one or what, but somebody was kind of asking me a little bit about my acting technique. And I was like, technique and I was like I don't know I don't know what I'm doing yeah I mean I started out doing improv which is just being on stage and thinking stuff up and being funny I said but then when I started getting hired

I just said the words like I thought that you know this is a this guy plays a sheriff's deputy and he's from this town and this is how he'd sound and this is how a person saying those words and that's all i've ever done yeah um and but you know i also have watched other people and been like oh you know just in terms of like you know like you don't have to talk so loud you don't have to be so big you know and yeah eye line's a big thing too like that's a big thing you start work learning from like movie so big, you know? Yeah. Eyeline's a big thing too. Like that's a big thing. You start learning from like movie stars where like, you know, in person it looks silly, but then you're like, oh, but it looks so good because they're like, can you put an X on the right there?

And then they never move their eyes. And you're like, oh, that's why you look like you're really good. Really intense. Yeah. But you know, like those are the things that like you don't teach, you learn at work. And it's why you can watch people's careers you can watch like actors became movie stars like kind of just like really raw at the beginning and then later all of a sudden they're doing the movie star thing you're like because they learned about all the eye lines bro

yeah yeah they learned where it looks good when you look and like all those little all those little secrets i was in a movie um and it was right as I was leaving Cullen, the first time I did a movie that Richard Gere was in. And we had a scene where we were hunting, me and two other guys. You were hunting two? He was hunting you? No, no, no, no, no. We were his pals.

We were his hunting and golf pals. Yeah, I know, I know. It did sound pretty good. Yeah, we were hunting other guys. were his hunting and golf pals. Yeah, I know. I know. It did sound pretty good. It would be pretty funny. Yeah, we were hunting other guys. Yeah. Richard Gere was hunting me. Yes.

A lot of weird rumors about Richard Gere. I wish. But we were at opposite ends of a log. We were sitting on a log, and we're having a scene that's kind of know, more kind of emotional, serious, confessional kind of scene. And I could not hear a word that he was saying. Like, I could just kind of hear the bare mumble. And I couldn't hear a word he was saying. And I would say, like, I can't hear him.

Like, to the script person or something. And I would just wait until he was done talking. And then after a while, I just was like, all right, I'm going to wait till he was done talking and then after a while i just was like all right i'm gonna wait till he's done talking i'm gonna say my line but then of course when it's the scene is when we see the dailies he looks like richard gear you know yeah he's rich we gotta move this log he's saying yeah he's saying it exactly and i'm yelling you know like i'm at the other end of the log yelling because i'm gear yeah because i'm treating it like i'm sitting on a log i'm talking it's like no i'm not sitting on a log i'm in a movie like i can't play this as if i'm talking to a guy at the other end of the log i have to play it as if i'm you know

anyway that's my acting lesson yeah no there's a lot of little things like that where like when it cuts together that's that's the other thing too is you know we were talking about how it's like you know i'm never like well i did it that you know when especially when i was younger i'd get like really worked up and think like, no, that wasn't it. And I didn't. And the director would be like, honestly, we got it. Like, it's great. And like, the idea is that like, you know, if you think you have an idea about what you want to do and you're just not quite getting there, like you're often just wrong. So it's like, once you kind of learn that you're like, all right, well, yeah, if you, if you have it, you got it. Yeah. The other thing that I just trust, I, from early on, like when I started getting work, the whole notion of like, am I good at this?

Do I deserve to be here? Should I be making a living at this? I don't know. I can't answer that question. But the people that sign the checks can. Yeah, none of those are real questions. Yeah. When they started paying me things, I thought like, okay, I guess they're saying, you know, I belong here and I can do this. Yeah. None of those are real questions. Yeah. When they started, when they started paying me things, I thought like, okay,

I guess they're saying, you know, I belong here and I can do this. Yeah. And when the director tells me at the end of a few, you know, you do four or five takes or however many takes and he goes, okay, good. Even if I'm not feeling like, if I feel like, I don't know, I don't feel like I really, if he says good or she says good. All right. Yeah. I believe you. You're paying me out. You know, it's your deal. So go ahead. And, you know, it's, it's freeing in a way. Other people that like have all these kind of like. Well, it's a self-worth thing. Yeah. Yeah. You got it. It's like's a self-worth thing yeah yeah you got it's like having your self-worth wrapped

up and your fear of failure is regardless of what you do for a living i think is what makes people really miserable and you know listen i'm not saying that like i've got it all figured out like it's a constant struggle to like recognize those things in yourself and be like all right well that what am i angry about here like what I afraid of? Like usually anger for me is fear, you know, like, and it's a way I can control fear is by getting mad. Yeah.

I don't ever, I'm a strong believer of there's no room for emotionality at work. Like it's on a set. Like, it's just like you either figure it out, go talk to the proper, you know, figure it out and then go back to your job.

Like mostly just because I think sets can be, figure it out and then go back to your job. Like mostly just because I think sets can be, they can get emotional because there's emotionality that happens at work, you know, in terms of like, that's the actual job. But like when people, I'm just saying like,

I'm not, I'm very straightforward at work. Like if I'm worried about something, I'm pretty pragmatic. I'll be like, Hey, so this is concerning me. But you know, at home, like if I'm upset about. I'll be like, Hey, so this is concerning me. Um, but you know, at home,

like if I'm upset about something or angry or has something to do with my work, like it usually after an hour or two can unpack that. It's like, okay, well I'm afraid of this. And this is scaring me because, or like, you know, it'd be like, yeah, I got to make a tape for something. Like I can't fucking do this. I'm not ready for this for this what the fuck i can't wait why and it's just like oh i'm afraid i can't do it yeah yeah you know and then often the elation from like doing something and realizing like oh i can do that is it's you know that's part of the challenge it's part but the self-worth thing getting wrapped up in those those fears of like did i do it i don't know what i mean you know it was it was we didn't give me

enough time or like you know the other actor was like a piece of shit and it was like they weren't in their marks we wasted all our time over there and it's like i really could have done it it's all fear you know yeah but now the industry this industry the showbiz industry, is pretty shitty to women. And you got into it young. Yeah. And kind of, you know, unprotected. I mean, you did jobs when you were a minor, but, you know, when you were 16,

was your mom coming to set with you? She was at first, yeah, for a little while. And then after that i uh i took a proficiency test so i wouldn't have to do school at work and then your parent doesn't have to be there right um but by then i was almost 18 anyway so it i didn't really work that much before that anyway yeah yeah once i was 18 then like i went away to do a movie for a while and i was on my own and like right but you know i was lucky that i i don't have any like dark stories or anything nobody was weird with me nobody tried to be weird with me like you know for whatever reason like i just was fortunate in that way that that didn't really happen. I mean, I've had like other kinds of wild things,

but you know, in general, the big thing is just like something like 12% of speaking roles are for women. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just like, it's just more that like most every guy I know that was a peer of mine,

they're pretty much all movie stars now that came here when I, just because of the sheer availability of of roles yeah there are just never enough young men just constantly running out right it's a meat grinder for men well i mean i but i mean but it's still it's like it's hard just in terms of like you know the judgment that's put on you and sort of for sure sort of unreal standards. And I mean, how do you kind of boy yourself against that? Or how did you or didn't you? I mean, I still I feel like I deal with it more now than before.

I mean, I don't know. I think, again, everything you got to take everything a day at a time and a minute at a time. And like like you know you'll go through I mean I thought it was funny even when I was younger it's like I I never had like severe body dysmorphia or you know any kind of I always like knew I was like a cute lady but I wasn't like I didn't ever think I was Megan Fox you know like, I remember one time I did go read for transformers and like, Michael Bay was there. And I remember he just didn't look up while I was

reading. And I thought it was so funny. Like I truly thought it was funny, but I was also sitting next to like Victoria's secret models in the, in the waiting room. And I was like, LOL, it's an honor to be nominated. It's just like, I knew that the only reason I was there is that they thought I was a good actor and that's good enough for me, man. like that's a win yeah yeah i you know it's just you gotta be easy on yourself and it's a day at a time and you know not i definitely was never ever gonna be an actor who was like well we have the list of the hottest ladies in Hollywood. And at number seven is Shannon. That was never

the bit, you know, but I will say like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm definitely in the top 50 of actresses that can save your assimilitude, believably, you know, you take your wins where you can. Right. Right. I'm going to, if I ever get Megan Fox on here, I'm going to get her to try and save her similitude. By the way, she definitely can. That's so funny. We came out from Florida with the same manager. We were friends when we were teenagers.

She's awesome. Oh, wow. But she's also very beautiful. Yes, she is. She is. Do you ever, have you done stage work? Do you care about stage work? I really want to.

I was actually, right before the shutdown before i was filming on this show i was like in new york like trying to get a play i i really want to do theater oh wow you just went out there to say like so i was reading a bunch of stuff oh my god trying so hard i mean it's really tough to crack into that circle and like yeah i really want to um and i'd like to when when theater is a thing again, but you know, I don't know if anyone will ever hire me, but I would really like to. I would think that because you have so many credits and have been working so long and they're always looking to cast people that people read me, average people know, you know what I mean?

I generally, the problem that I have right now which is also you know not is is also a compliment i'm sure people would say i mean you know i'll be 36 next week and like i look 27 on stage particularly yeah yeah um happy birthday by the way thank you so much but so it's like you know roles that i'm interested in or that I want to play. Like I just kind of don't I'm a specific kind of human body. So, yeah, yeah. But I'd like to. Have you done stage? Well.

I mean, lots of lots of improv, you know, lots of that kind of stage kind of sketch improv kind of stuff, which is different than being in a play and i have been in a few plays and um i i they're not for me really just yeah i'm very different they're very different it's a very different skill the acting is much bigger and i don't like to act that big you know i just i think it is you know it's, it's a different kind of big, you know, it's also weird because it's like you have to project, but not make the performance different in certain ways. Like you're yelling. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's kind of like ventriloquism, but the opposite,

you know? Yeah. But I always do when I go see plays, I'm often, I've said this on here i like i get embarrassed like i get embarrassed at people emoting like that oh yeah you know what i mean it can be dark but when it's in that's the thing i used to think this and then i started seeing a lot of theater in london like this was like 10 years ago um because I remember I had a really broad opinions about theater at the time. And my boyfriend at the time was like, you're wrong. Like, I'd be like, I think theaters dead medium. And he was like, that's embarrassing. And you can't say that.

And I was like, Okay, well, I mean, prove me wrong. Like, I just like, I don't know that the story like it's just it's. And then I started seeing a lot of theater in London. That was incredible. And it was unlike anything I'd ever seen and the performances were unlike anything I'd ever seen and I was like okay I've never been more wrong about something in my life and like I really want to do that and I still do you know um but yeah it's it's it's very different but the performances that I've seen on stage that deeply moved me like live with me forever in ways that like films don't that thing about being so close and in the same room that's like arresting yeah um but it's like you know there's something meditative about I mean I've done theater

just never in New York and like but that being able to you know you can't what I was saying about how I perform usually is i never know what i'm going to do and like those things but when once you're locked into a production once the the direction is finished like you're meant to continue to do the same thing right you can't make new choices you're not you're not like i'm gonna spice it up this evening like yeah it's not your job so i i think i would like to do it because it does scare me because i am like it oh well i wonder what happens like you know six weeks eight weeks in like finding new things within the same performance see that's the part curious about it that's another part for me you

know especially from coming from improv right and having such a severely crippled attention span that I don't know that I could do the same thing every night and not be just feel like it was drudgery after a couple of weeks. Yeah. I, I, I think that is, that's definitely part of what interests me about it. I, because I mean, the times that I have done plays, I've been like counting down the performances and I was like, it's really, and I was, I haven't done it since I was much younger and really interested in that because now I'm like, oh, I wonder if like I leaned into that in a way,

what I could gain from that as an actor. Like I bet, I bet I would grow a lot. Yeah. And that's, you know, exciting. I saw,

I just, I'm cause I'm just thinking you're making me think of theater things. And there was a very formative moment for me in terms of like theater was I got to see, I think Kevin Spacey was the star of The Iceman Cometh on Broadway. And a friend of my ex-wife's and mine had a smallish part in it, but we got to go. And Paul Giamatti is in it. And he has a he has a you know there's like all these characters in this bar and and paul giamatti has a huge breakdown like

has a huge emotional sobbing seething snot running kind of breakdown and when it came it was just incredible and amazing and then when it was over i was like fuck and amazing. And then when it was over, I was like, fuck, it's Thursday. He's got to do that twice tomorrow. Yeah. Or twice on Saturday. Yeah. And I just was like, I don't know if like, if I could do that once, that's all I'd want to do that, I think. I don't know if I'd want to get to the point where, you know.

But then I guess what I'm saying is I won't do the Iceman Cometh. Yeah, that's totally fair. Or Paul Giamatti can play that role. Right. Like Paul Giamatti. You can play a different one. Yeah. Yeah.

Who knows? Who knows what anyone's supposed to be. I'm so stressed out. You are just thinking about it. Was there, when you were here, did you have fear that you were going to be able to pull this off? Especially, like, what was, I think, first of all, I want to ask, what was college, the question of college, when it came up for you? Well, that was always kind of the thing, is that I got a place here when I was 16 because I wanted to go to UCLA anyway. So I figured that I used my money to get an apartment.

I bought an apartment. Things were much cheaper then. Nice. See, that's so smart. With the commercial and stuff. Yeah, my dad is financially a savvy guy. He was like, you can't just throw your money away renting some shitty apartment at the Oakwoods for $3,000 a month. That's insane.

The only way I was you know gonna be able to be here was if it wasn't gonna cost my parents money they were not into that they were like no absolutely not um but uh i mean i'm grateful they they let me do all that but yeah i think then you know the plan was always like well if it doesn't work out i'll just go to school and then when i got a movie when i was 18 when i I was applying to schools, I was like, well, you know, I can just keep doing this until it doesn't work out anymore. And then I could, you know, do something else if I want, you know, and now it's like, you know, now in the middle of a pandemic,

I definitely was like, I picked the wrong job. I can't work from home. This is insane, which is how the Twitch channel came about. But yeah, yeah. But, you know, now it's, I love acting. can't work from home this is insane which is how the twitch channel came about but yeah yeah but you know now it's i i love acting and i was so surprised to get to work so much i mean i've been working a lot the last like two months which is just crazy people are shooting but we're shooting um and uh you know but i still have those questions like in between like when i'm trying to find a job that I like that,

that I could do long-term, like, cause I'm not on a show right now that like, you know, I always have those questions like, oh shit, is this it? Like maybe I won't work anymore.

Maybe this is the end. You know, that's the thing about having a freelance gig. You're like, oh, maybe now the time is up. I heard Dustin Hoffman say that, that he feels like everybody does end of every gig that,

well, that's it. You know, like the, you know, the, what's that where you're not, where you're not worthy.

The imposter. Yeah. And the imposter syndrome police will show up. So funny. Like, I don't, I don't question myself as much as sometimes i'm just like well you know like maybe uh there's too many famous people and i'm too old to like for there to be room for new

people now you know maybe i'm maybe this is it yeah um i didn't but again like that's the self worth thing like i'm not like i deserve to work but sometimes i'm like i don't know might not roll double sixes again yeah hard to know what what was the longest stretch you ever went without working well i mean the pandemic was like from end of february till end of october yeah that's a long time yeah yeah you know there's there's there's people uh that heard you say that as the longest. No, that's not true. I mean, I didn't work for years when I, you know, like when I first started, like I was just grinding,

I was going to like three auditions a day and like, you know, not getting jobs. Like I there's, I mean, there's certainly also like times where I go stretches, just like really thinking that I'm going to get jobs and like not getting them. And yeah, it's but, you know. It depends, like it depends on what your standards are, too. Once you start to. Work, then it becomes like, well, you mean like jobs that I really liked, like how long did it did I go like not getting jobs I really wanted?

Like you get really heartbroken over things like that. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, this year in particular was definitely the one where it was super stressful, where you're like, shit, when do you think the industry emerges again? I know, I know. No, this time is just like, I just feel like, just for me, the notion of making any plans just seems like hubris. Oh, yeah. Who am I? Like, what do I think?

I can make a plan, you know, for something. I don't. Just every day I wake up and I do my chores and I go back to bed and wake up the next day. Honestly, even when I was in New Zealand where where like frankly people are living normally and i was yes going to restaurants and going places with my co-stars which is just like insane they're the first of all the the like trauma it's like it was days of crying after they let me out of isolation where i just was like sitting by myself inside a restaurant having a glass of wine doing a crossword puzzle sobbing because i was like oh my myself inside a restaurant, having a glass of wine, doing a crossword puzzle, sobbing because I was like, oh my God. Like, and I was having panic attacks because I can't be inside. This is dangerous. Like also I did the vaccine trial. I'm vaccinated. And I was like

sobbing, being like afraid. And I was like, God, this trauma of like protecting people and wanting to protect other people is just gotten so but even then even once I adapted and stopped seeing television shows and thinking like they're standing too close they're standing too close while I was in in New Zealand I started craving being at home and the lack of variables and input that it was like I wake up I exercise I shower I make some food I walk the dogs I you know what I mean like I go sit down on my computer I do emails I shower, I make some food. I walk the dogs. I, you know what I mean? Like I go sit down on my computer. I do emails. I do work.

I do some streams. It's four, four 30 time to make sure I have things for dinner. And then we will turn on NPR, eat some weed, pour a glass of wine, cook dinner, watch TV, go to sleep. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, that's, that's the, the pandemic, like kind of like cozy little nook of routine. And I realized. Yeah, imposed simplicity is kind of what it is.

I started craving it. I was like, everybody in New Zealand said, why are you going home? And I was like, well, I need to go home. But also, I have Stockholm syndrome. Yeah, yeah. I live there. All my things are there. Yeah, my routine is there. I feel safe. I know exactly what's going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. I live there. All my things are there. Yeah. My routine is there. I feel safe.

I know exactly what's going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. Were you ever as a, as a young professional here, did you ever get kind of caught up in any kind of crazy LA life, you know, when you were younger? I was never particularly crazy. I mean, I went, I used to go to clubs when I was like 22, it was a different time. And it was like, because nobody had camera phones. And that's when things really changed, you know, like, but I remember you used to go out and be like, damn, Britney Spears is dancing on the table. Like it was like that,

like everything was like a fever dream. And, and that was like, like honestly just a wild time but i was never like i've always been a bit straight-laced i mean listen i'm the one who's like i don't want to get into any bad habits andy like what's self-important like piece of shit i was just like so that chick in school who was like uh you know i'm number one in the class like just fuck off so i my version of wild was just like you know i was hung over on a tuesday oh boy but you know yeah i used to i used to go out when i was younger and and that those memories are crazy because it's just really all changed after everybody

had iPhones and it was like, anybody could end up in a tabloid at any point. Like the club life in LA was just kind of then gone, but it was kind of like going to Disneyland of Hollywood where like, if you could get into these places, it was like super famous people just like dancing on the dance floor. And you're like, what? Yeah. That, uh, I missed all that.

You didn't miss much, but it is a weird story. I mean, I was on a talk show for a million years, so I got to meet lots and lots of famous people. But what's funny is that, and people will, I don't know if they get annoyed with it, but it, but like, I won't, I don't remember. Like I have friends that will ask me, you know, did you ever meet? And it'll be like, uh, you know, Faye Dunaway. And I'm like, ah, I don't know if I did or if I'm fabricating a memory or if just Faye Dunaway's there and like the picture

people in my head and, and I'm imagining it, you know, but. But of course it's the same as like, you know, I'll flip through channels and see something like I did, like a comedy I did like 10 years ago and not remember doing it. And also not remember the joke and laugh. I'll be like, that was funny. Yeah like that oh god i have that well my family will be like what are you laughing your own i'm like to be fair i don't remember this at all yeah yeah that's another thing i like her i like her the cut of her jib good casting in this one. They did a good job. What a fantastic performance. So likable.

Funny. Yeah. People don't believe that either. But I mean, there's ridiculous Conan bits that are where I'm in full drag or something. No recollection. No recollection. Whatsoever. And people are like, how can that be and

like i don't know do you if you work at a pet store do you remember every fish you know i mean yeah well especially you're coming up with this stuff like you said in the morning and then filming it at the end of the day like do you remember like when you went to a craft store 10 years ago and we're like i'm gonna make this and you bought a ton of shit and then you found it in a drawer later and we're like huh don't remember doing that. Right. Well, and half the time, too, it's happening in the middle of the day where you might be arguing with somebody or something happened. You go down, you put on the cowboy outfit, you get on the fake horse. Yeah.

You say the lines and then you take the cowboy outfit off. And then 10 years later, I'm in a cowboy outfit going like, what the fuck is that? Yeah. But what you remember about the day is like the thing you were dealing with your with your family on the phone. Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. the fuck is that yeah but what you remember about the day is like the thing you were dealing with your with your family on the phone yes oh yeah yeah definitely yeah yeah um well i wanted to ask you know as you're going through like what what kind of were the turning point gigs for you like when do you what where you hit something where it's like it kind of put you out there more it pushed your career to another level or just where you really were happy and really loved working there or not. The first thing was,

uh, I did this show called the riches that it was on FX and I played, um, Eddie Izzard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so,

you know, that was one of the first shows where like famous people were on television. It was like that and damages were both on FX and like, cause And so, you know, that was one of the first shows where like famous people were on television. It was like that and Damages were both on FX. And like because before that, even like it was like The Sopranos was really big and that stuff. And like these weren't like people weren't used to seeing people that like they saw in movies come to television. And that was like and the show was really good and they really let me do a lot. And, you know, that was like kind of what put me on the map. And then, then people kind of like would read me for big movies and things like that

where they, they weren't before, before I was like, you know, testing for like sitcoms and stuff. And then like, just wasn't getting them, um, to be fair, they used to say all the time that they were like, she's funny, but she's kind of dark for a kid. And meaning like my sense of humor was dark so like the like they'd be like i'd test for like big fox sitcoms and like they'd be like i mean it's good it's just like to play somebody's kid it's just like it's like a little dark and then like but then i ended up on the show the riches which was dark as hell right right um and that kind of got me through that stretch where i

was really young and then after that i was on this show, Raising Hope, for a while. I think that was the first place that I was aware of you was watching that. Yeah, the show is still, it's really popular. But it wasn't like an industry popular show. Like if I go to like, you know, an airport in Orlando, people are like, oh my God, Sabrina. And I warned people like before, because a lot of my friends haven't seen Raising Hope. And I'll be like, just so you know, an airport in Orlando, people are like, Oh my God, Sabrina. And I warned people like before, like cause a lot of my friends haven't seen raising hope and they'll be

like, just so you know, weirdly, like, like I remember being in an airport. I was with Evan, Rachel would. And I, and I was like, and she was wearing like a Westworld backpack even like, and I remember I was just like, FYI, I'm big in airports out here. And like somebody like people came up to us and we're like handing her the camera. They're like, will you take a picture of me? And I was like laughing. And I'm just like like she's definitely much more famous than i am um but you know this sitcom is like it was it was fun and i you know really learned a lot doing that i'd never really done comedy before and um i had a good time like it's hard like because

i i think i really succeed in kind of like a hybrid of like drama and comedy kind of like where there's room for both to exist and um i never really felt very good about myself when i was doing raising hope because i always felt like i wasn't quite getting it or something but looking back it's pretty funny i did okay but and then you know Westworld was a really big validating deal to get. That was a hard job to get. They killed you too soon. Thank you. Spoiler alert. As the only person on the show,

they had to get rid of the human. Oh, that is kind of true, isn't it? At some point, you can't have a human protagonist if the protagonists are not the humans. Yeah, yeah. Kind of adds up. I mean, who knows?

Maybe they'll bring me back one day as a robot. Isn't that show over though? No. I thought it was over. It's not. It's not over. They're doing a fourth season. Wow.

Are they shooting that now? Or are they at the start? I don't know what they're doing. I think they're writing, but I have no idea. Wow. But yeah, the third season was on and like, I think it was on in April. Yeah, I saw. I've seen every, I've watched every episode.

It's still going. Yeah. Well, I'm going to keep my mouth shut about the final season. Yeah, who knows? But, you know, what I did really like about being on that show, too, is that, like, everybody's doing very serious acting. And then I got to go in and be like, what are you guys doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's what I was going to say.

In that role, there's comedy in your character. It is, yeah. In that role, yeah. And especially with, I mean, the character, Jeffrey Wright's character, what's his name? Gideon? Bernard. Bernard. Did you say Gideon? Gideon Bartholomew

those are my guesses I know it was some cranky old name um like he is just you know he's the straightest of straight men you know to be able to just be human next to you know I remember well a couple I used to like do the rehearsals sometimes it's like the sitcom version especially when I had like a lot I always had a lot of expository dialogue. So I do it sometimes like as a bit, like in rehearsal, I'd be like, but Bernard, what are you talking about? You know, I don't get it. And my, my, one of my bosses, Lisa, all the time would like, when I would do it, she would be like, I forget you do this whole other thing. I'm like, you mean jokes? She's like, I just forget that you do jokes.

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, there was like, when we got to like the third or fourth episode, the first season, like I didn't know that Jeffrey's character was a robot. I just thought Jeffrey was making like really strange choices, but he's such a good actor that I must be the one that's doing it wrong. So I kind kind of in a rehearsal brought myself down to his level and was like started talking to him like this and all of a sudden they're like no no no no don't do that you just like you go staccato and jeffrey goes legato okay like that's how they got me to continue to like they're like just kind of keep it up here

and i was like are you sure you're human remember yeah Remember? Yeah. They didn't. Well, I didn't know that he wasn't. Yeah. Anyway, it was, that was funny. Yeah. That, that,

that it just, I, I just, I mean, I love just, just the whole, all the just conceits of that show. Just,

just because that's just everything about it. I really, I was just, I loved, you know, the initial part of it. And, and I also think it's great.

Like nobody gives a shit about Westerns anymore. So it's kind of, yeah, it was awesome. I'm such a big fan of the first movie. And like, I'm such a sci-fi freak. Like I had such a blast on that show,

especially like I'd never worked on something where they had that kind of money where like the sets are really there and it's not green screen like yeah I just would show up and be like wow cool uh I guess just roll because I believe it right right exactly I'm there and weird desert buggies and weird machine guns and Shannon you have all these robots and they're all yours. And all you have to do is swear a lot and just like talk shit. And I was like, great. Sounds good to me.

All right. Well, I'm going to do something. I just had this idea to do this because neither you nor I will ever get to be on inside the Actor's Studio. Okay. I decided I'm going to ask you the Proust questionnaire, which is invented by my mentor, Bernard Pivot.

I think so. I don't know. Remember that? Yeah, no, I do. Okay. So here they are. For people that don't know, there was a show called, because I was amazed that people don't know remember that you know yeah no i do okay so here they are for people that don't know there was a show called because i was amazed that people don't know things like there was

uh i can't i'm not going to remember what it was but uh behind the actor inside the actor studio was a show that was on one of the cable channels and uh Lipton. What was his name? James Lipton. James Lipton was a teacher there, director there, and he would interview famous people in front of acting students. Yeah. And this was his, and his capper was always these 10 questions. Okay.

What is your favorite word? Pants. Pants. Any reason why? It's funny. No matter how you say it. What is your least favorite word? Pants. Pants. Any reason why? It's funny, no matter how you say it. What is your least favorite word? Feet. Interesting, because pants and feet, feet have to travel through pants for them to be useful. That's true. They're adjacent. Yeah. What turns you on? Duality. Nice.

What turns you off? Narcissism. Boy, that's a big one. I'm with you on that. Duality, I'm not so crazy about. Sometimes it's too much. Really? Well, I don't mean like duplicity.

I just mean like, you know, someone who's sad but funny. Or, I mean, everything. No, I know exactly what you mean. But, yeah, like there is like just in therapy sometimes it's like, can't one thing just be one thing? That's true. I do like that too. Yeah, yeah.

What sound or noise do you love? Hmm. The wind in the trees. That you love? Hmm. Wind in the trees. That is nice. What sound or noise do you hate? Like fingernails on the chalkboard, cotton being pulled apart. Oof.

Yeah, yeah. They have a weird thing, and it's usually, and I don't know what it is, but it's like the sound of ice in a glass, ice cubes in a glass. You like it or you don't like it? I hate it. It makes my skin crawl. I don't know what it is, but it's like the sound of ice in a glass, ice cubes in a glass. You like it or you don't like it? I hate it. It makes my skin crawl.

I don't know. And I mean on TV. In real life, it doesn't bother me. But there's just something about it. Next time somebody has ice in a glass, which normally, as you know, it's fake. It's not real ice. But it's just the sound of like it. Or especially if there's a a radio commercial

like where they pour beer yeah it's the sound of like asmr all of it you're not makes my skin crawl yeah that's fair just can't stand it um number seven what is your favorite curse word shit shit's a good one it's not it's not misogynist in any way like it is piece of shit you can just say you piece of shit yeah and it's so yeah and it can be so it's one of those great ones that can be you know adverb oh yeah verb now personal my my old favorite and i've had to learn to get rid of it is, is, is cocksucker because as someone pointed out to me, like, well, a what a lovely thing to do for someone. True. And B like it is, it does have a pejorative, you know, to it.

A lot of swears do. Yeah. It is the one, like I use, I, I always tell my friends, like, somebody asked me once a writer asked me from a writer's room that was for sure they were like what like kind of swear can i say that isn't like you know offensive and i was like piece of shit they're like what's satisfying like motherfucker and i'm like piece of shit you have to have the right amount of consonants right that's why you know cocksucker sounds like it feels good in the mouth, which is ironic. But it's just because it's the way the word sounds.

It's got three K sounds. Yeah. Piece of shit is not harmful. Poop has no rights. Right. I mean, it's unhygienic. But it has no rights. No rights.

It's okay to keep that right free. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I mean, I feel like I'm an amateur epidemiologist at this point. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'd like to get paid to do that. No, I'm not going to go to med school. But I really enjoy reading medical preprints now. I spend a lot of time doing it. Really?

Oh, yeah. Wow. And you can stick with it? I mean, I started doing it because like the CDC became so compromised at the beginning of all this that it was like somebody has to like be actually reading science to like tell people like, you know, because nobody knew how anything worked. And we're all like fucking washing our Amazon packages and stuff. I was like, you know, not all these things are going to be true at once. Yeah. Yeah. But now I enjoy it.

It's interesting. Yeah. Well, but I but I mean. You'd have to go to med school. I know I'm not going to do that. It's too time consuming and very expensive. So is there a secondary one? Well, I mean, I'd like to be a television director. I want to start doing that like full time within the next like five years. Like I'd like to be directing, but no, but I'd like to do that sooner than later. I mean, I had created a show that it's dead now,

but I was hoping that I could just like direct on that for the first time. It kind of like a very easy ramp into it, but you know, hopefully soon. That's great. I, I, you know, I would love to see that. Thanks. Let's see. What, what provision, what profession would you not like to do? Hmm. I feel like there's so many, I don't want to do one. What's what's one that I would hate to be in charge of other people's money. That just, my own money stresses me out. Like I find it really stressful. It means

so much to other people in different ways. People project on money and like people actually need money. And yeah, I think that, that just makes my skin crawl, the idea of dealing with other people's money. So like, I shouldn't be a banker or financial advisor or anything like that. It would just, the stress would kill me. Yeah. Yeah, that I can't, I would be, well, A, just no one would ever let me do it because I'm an absolute idiot about money. Yeah. I have to have someone be my daddy

and tell me how much I have and how much I can spend. Yeah. Or else I just, I was never, I still have a childish relationship with cash. Yeah. All right, finally, number 10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? Well played.

Gross. Well played. Why is that gross? Because God should say something less like. He can't be funny. Cliched. I don't know. Well played.

Well played. Yeah. I don't know. It's like, it makes the whole thing seem like a bit, you know? Yeah, yeah. Nice work, Shan. Hey, well done, kiddo. Excuse me?

Thank you, God. Well done, kiddo. Excuse me? Thank you, God. Well, thank you, Shannon Woodward, for spending this time with me and doing this podcast. You know, so fresh off the boat, the airboat from New Zealand. I appreciate it. Well, thank you for having me.

It was a true pleasure. Oh, good. I'm it. Well, thank you for having me. It was a true pleasure. Oh, good. I'm glad. And do you want to tell people your Twitch streams or anything else you want them to check out? I'm in a movie that's coming out soon on streaming called Happily. It stars like Joel McHale

and Carrie Bichet and Paul Scheer and stuff, which I'm excited about. What's it about? It's a sci-fi kind of rom-com thriller. It's pretty wild. Wow. Yeah, I don't really know how to pitch it, but I think the trailer's out soon.

Okay. And yeah, I'm in the last of us. It's called Happily. Happily, okay. And then I'm in the last of us two that just came out and you can check out my Twitch stream at Shannon is live. Wow.

How, uh, how long does it take to work? Like what, how many days are you working on it on, uh, a game like that? Oh,

uh, I mean, it was four years. Um, and then, but I mean, actual in the studio. Yeah.

So we filmed it. I mean, we would do like, how many days did I do i mean probably like 40 wow well because there's rehearsal days too you know and it was over like four and a half years like it was a lot wow i mean my stuff even in that it must be at least three hours of performance there and then and then like lots of days in the sound booth after that. Sure. And that was probably more like 25, 20, 20 sessions. I don't know. Um, still that's amazing. I mean, it was, yeah, it was a, it was a lot, I mean, but I love, I, I love that game and I love it. So I,

I was just like any, any time I'll be there. Um, but yeah, but it was, it was really fun. Well, again, thank you for being here and good luck. And, um, I look forward to your directorial work. Thank you. And, uh, and I hope to see you soon around campus. Yes, please. All right. And all of you out there tune in next time for more of the three questions. Although now it was 13 because I asked you 10 extra. Oops. Well played. I've got a big, big love for you.

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 Beckton. And if you haven't already, make sure to rate and review

The Three Questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. to rate and review the three questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.