Christy Carlson Romano with Mara Wilson! ONCE UPON A TRAINWRECK!
[0:00]Ren and Kim Possible both are very intelligent, capable women.
[0:09]So I think the first question actually that I want to ask is, do people think that you're Ren?
[0:15]Yeah, I think so.
[0:16]Yeah.
[0:17]Yeah, I think after this book, they may see me a tad differently.
[0:22]But I think that was like the whole point of it, was just to kind of pull back the curtain on that and showcase what it was like to kind of live with that identity crisis.
[0:31]Yeah.
[0:32]Yeah.
[0:32]I mean, I think you can relate with your book.
[0:34]No, I definitely can.
[0:35]I mean, we were talking a little bit about this before, about how do you know who you are when you've spent all your real life being somebody else?
[0:43]And the thing is also, I often felt like people liked Matilda more than they liked Mara.
[0:48]Oh, yeah.
[0:49]And that was a pressure.
[0:51]But I think the most interesting thing for me in your book is that you say that you actually related a lot more to Kim.
[0:57]Oh, I do love Kim.
[0:59]I mean, Kim is so inspiring.
[1:02]She was always sort of this voice in my head that was like, you can do anything.
[1:07]And when times are tough, she was just very, very positive for me to have that legacy.
[1:13]And she means a lot to me, for sure.
[1:17]Even though it's just, and I know you can relate, we've been in this, we've been in Big Hero 6 together.
[1:20]We are in Big Hero 6 together, actually.
[1:23]We are both Disney villains.
[1:28]Do her laugh?
[1:29]Honestly, my character's evil laugh is not that much different than my usual one.
[1:33]So it's probably something like Which, yeah, which honestly isn't that different from my regular one.
[1:42]I love that.
[1:43]I know.
[1:44]So we got to be Disney villains together, which was awesome.
[1:47]Do you remember how we first met?
[1:48]Was it at 90sCon?
[1:49]How did we first meet?
[1:50]I don't know.
[1:50]Probably at 90sCon.
[1:51]Okay.
[1:52]But, I mean, I saw you around when you were a kid.
[1:55]Like, I think I was a little too old for Even Stevenson when...
[2:04]When Kim Possible was on TV, I had just gone away to my boarding school and we didn't have TV there.
[2:10]So I probably would have watched it if I'd stay at home because I was the kind of girl that pretended not to watch cartoons but totally did.
[2:15]Yeah, of course.
[2:17]Yeah.
[2:18]But I always saw you around and I remember being like, oh my gosh, I'm so jealous of her because she's so good at musical theater.
[2:24]And that was what I wanted to do.
[2:27]But you have to be a triple threat to do musical theater and I'm one and a half on a good day.
[2:31]So yeah, I'm like karaoke singer.
[2:33]I'm not like actual Broadway singer.
[2:35]Yeah, I mean, that's how I started and that's kind of just how I cut my teeth.
[2:40]And I mean, you cut your teeth in a totally different way, but it was- Very
[2:44]West Coast, East Coast.
[2:45]Yes, there was a big difference.
[2:47]And that was sort of highlighted in the book about how the West Coast was more of an on-camera sort of, The function of it was more for the cinema.
[2:55]And then on the East Coast, it was much more like that's how you got in the door.
[2:59]It was not necessarily a commercial, but it was in the theater.
[3:02]Yeah.
[3:03]Do you still prefer doing theater,
[3:04]do you think?
[3:05]I think so.
[3:05]I think theater is a high art form.
[3:09]And if you can actually accomplish eight shows a week and you can really bring yourself to be fully engrossed in what you're doing and be present and be a part of a team, it's so much more Then, you know, flubbing a line, doing it over.
[3:25]You know, there's something magical about the theater that I had somebody tell me earlier today, like, you know, when AI takes over, like, that's what makes people appreciate the theater even more because live performance will be Kind of what's left for us to enjoy.
[3:39]Yeah, I mean, knock on wood, that doesn't happen.
[3:41]Knock on wood.
[3:41]Yeah, but it's true.
[3:42]I mean, no, it's true though because theater, it all goes back to theater really.
[3:47]And I love theater as well.
[3:49]I feel like you also get such a connection with the audience and you don't really get that in film.
[3:53]In film, you kind of have to be happy with Your own performance and that can be hard to do.
[3:59]Yeah, you have to leave it behind.
[4:00]Yeah, you have to leave it behind, whereas in theater it's all about connecting with people in the moment.
[4:05]It's all about being in the moment.
[4:06]Yeah, it lives within you.
[4:07]Yeah, which is really fun, I think.
[4:10]Yeah.
[4:11]I'm trying to remember.
[4:12]How old were you when you first started?
[4:13]Six and a half.
[4:14]Six and a half.
[4:15]Okay.
[4:15]Yeah.
[4:15]I was five, I think.
[4:17]So we were about the same age.
[4:18]Yeah.
[4:19]Which now, I mean, you have daughters who are approaching that age now.
[4:21]Oh, yeah.
[4:22]They're seven and nine.
[4:23]Oh, yeah.
[4:23]They're older now.
[4:24]Yeah.
[4:25]I look at them and I'm like, there's no way that I could make them do the things that I did.
[4:29]There's just no way.
[4:30]I don't think.
[4:31]It takes a certain kind of parent to be able to navigate that.
[4:35]It does.
[4:35]Our parents were different, I will say.
[4:37]Yeah.
[4:37]I think you had a different experience with your stage parents than I did.
[4:40]There are different kinds.
[4:41]People often say stage parents, and I'm like, they're not all one thing.
[4:45]They're not all Mama Roses.
[4:47]There are ones who are like, I loved doing this, so I think you will love doing this.
[4:51]There are ones who are, I think my mom was the kind of woman who, if she hadn't passed away, probably would have moved into producing.
[4:58]Oh, wow.
[4:58]I think my mom was kind of a born producer.
[5:00]Oh, cool.
[5:01]And that was, I think, what, because I remember her being on sets and being like, And being like, are you really sure we should be doing this?
[5:07]And we were like, mom, you're not a producer.
[5:09]Calm down.
[5:10]But it was good because it also meant that she advocated for me and for the other kids.
[5:14]And so friends of mine have told me things like, like Kiami, who is Matilda with me, said, she's like, yeah, I think the reason I got cast was because of your mom.
[5:22]Because your mom met me and she really liked me and she was like, oh, that's your lavender.
[5:27]And like told Danny that.
[5:29]But, you know, I think that there's, but you know, there still was a lot of pressure and there still was, and there are still things that your parents can't protect you from.
[5:37]That's true.
[5:37]You know.
[5:38]That's a really good point.
[5:39]Yeah.
[5:39]What do you feel like those things are?
[5:41]I mean, I think that it's sort of like three things.
[5:44]You have to have a really good supportive family that loves you no matter what and is happy and healthy.
[5:51]And I mean, my parents were.
[5:54]Maybe some of our other relatives, not so much.
[5:57]And that, unfortunately, you know, was something that we had to deal with.
[6:01]And then I think you have to have, you know, a family and friends, like a supportive environment.
[6:06]Right.
[6:06]And then you have to have a good onset or on, you know, behind the scenes representation.
[6:14]Yeah.
[6:14]And stability there.
[6:16]And then the third and the hardest is you have to find good ways to work with the press and the public.
[6:23]Because there are going to be people out there who are lovely and are wonderful and love you.
[6:27]And then there are people who are going to be really cruel.
[6:29]And there are people that are going to love when you fall down and make YouTube videos about how terrible you are.
[6:36]And like, you know, which like, and, and, you know,
[6:39]yeah, I mean, they do too.
[6:41]Yeah.
[6:42]And like, and like start, you know, long threads on Twitter or threads or whatever, where I'm just like, okay, guys.
[6:49]Yeah, exactly, exactly.
[6:51]And like at the end of the day, look, I'm just a tryhard, which is a phrase that comes up in your book.
[6:56]And I burst out laughing when I saw it because I literally have in a lot of my social media.
[7:02]Yeah, anybody here, anyone else here identify as a tryhard?
[7:06]Come on, be honest.
[7:07]Okay, okay.
[7:09]There's at least, there's definitely several of you out there.
[7:12]Because, yeah, and that's one thing I loved in the book is I was like, oh my gosh, she's a tryhard.
[7:15]Because I've written, I wrote something recently about how my sister made me watch the Taylor Swift documentary.
[7:22]And afterwards, I was like, oh, Taylor Swift is a tryhard.
[7:24]I get her now.
[7:27]And we're different kinds of tryhards.
[7:28]But, you know, I was like, I feel like I get her now.
[7:31]It is.
[7:32]It is a species.
[7:33]It's different.
[7:34]You know, you're like the East Coast variety.
[7:35]I'm the West Coast variety.
[7:36]I love that for us.
[7:37]That's why you have like different kinds of blackbirds or whatever.
[7:41]I love that.
[7:41]Yeah.
[7:42]I love it.
[7:42]And I love that, you know, you frame this book in a really beautiful way where you're writing letters to your daughters.
[7:49]Yep.
[7:49]And I will tell people a lot.
[7:50]I'm like, you know, there aren't very many second generation child actors, you know?
[7:55]And if they are, they are very, very, very protected.
[7:59]Very protected.
[7:59]Very protected.
[8:00]They're only working with their families.
[8:01]Well, I feel like that's why Nepo babies have a leg up in this whole conversation.
[8:05]Yeah.
[8:05]Yeah.
[8:06]Because not only do they have...
[8:08]The resources, but then they also have the parents that, yeah.
[8:12]Yeah, it's true.
[8:14]And I mean, there's a lot of them working with their families or them not really doing very much at all.
[8:22]And so I think that that's interesting.
[8:24]The children of child actors don't usually become child actors themselves, or if they do, they're very controlled.
[8:29]But your book, what made you want to frame it as a letter to your daughters?
[8:32]Do you think because they were reaching that age that you were?
[8:35]Yeah, I think so.
[8:35]I think my daughters were kind of coming of the age where I started...
[8:40]I did have an accident where I got shot in the face.
[8:51]When that happened, I was already about a year into framing the book and there was a book proposal.
[8:57]The Dear Girls letters were kind of an idea that we had.
[8:59]It definitely differentiates the memoir.
[9:01]But then it really became an anchor point for this book because it was like, no, no, if I were to die tomorrow, this is a book that I could leave behind for them.
[9:10]And this is like a Bible for them.
[9:11]And it really is so, it was the easiest part of this book to write because it was like, this is what I need to say to you.
[9:19]I need you to hear this.
[9:21]When you come of age, like this is, please just take this for what it's worth.
[9:25]Yeah.
[9:26]Yeah.
[9:26]Yeah.
[9:26]I mean, I love that.
[9:27]And I do think that, yeah, the funny thing about writing is Writing a book about your life is how much changes.
[9:33]I mean, I wrote so much in there about how I love New York and I was never going to leave New York.
[9:37]And then, you know, a few months later I was like, I never thought I'd say this, but I miss California.
[9:41]And I moved back.
[9:44]But I do think, you know, I do love that because, you know, you were at such, it is such a vulnerable age and it is such an interesting age.
[9:52]And you do talk about the, you compare and contrast like the way that Your parents treated you when you were performing and the way that you've learned.
[10:04]And I think in some ways it's kind of our job to succeed where our parents failed or maybe fill in the gaps that our parents did not.
[10:11]And that's definitely something I got from your book, especially the way that you bookend it with the last letter.
[10:16]Oh, 100%.
[10:17]And then there's a last letter to my mom in the book that's really kind of critical because it kind of frames exactly where our relationship is now.
[10:27]And how we've been even managing with the book coming out, which was its own kind of journey.
[10:32]And so, yeah, I think that the letters speak for themselves in some ways.
[10:37]And I definitely am proud of them for the book, for the book's sake, yeah.
[10:42]So there are so many things in this book that felt very familiar, like the idea of flippers.
[10:47]Do you want to explain what flippers are?
[10:48]Because I had a flipper at one time.
[10:49]Yeah, flippers are when you lose your teeth as a little kid, and then you need to wear dentures because you need to have a perfect smile.
[10:56]And so you have to wear, you use denture glue and they stick it up there.
[11:01]Do you remember that?
[11:02]It's like they stick it up.
[11:03]See, we got it made and everything.
[11:05]And then it turns out that I had no closeups after I'd lost my tooth.
[11:08]So they said it didn't matter.
[11:09]Okay, good.
[11:10]So we got a flipper, but I never used it.
[11:12]Oh, man.
[11:12]They were the worst to use the periodontal grip stuff and then shove them in there and then they would pop off and it was nasty.
[11:19]Yeah.
[11:20]Flippers.
[11:20]That's what a flipper is.
[11:21]You're not allowed to lose your teeth as a child actor.
[11:24]No.
[11:25]Well, I lost one on camera, actually.
[11:29]And people now look at it and I got really scared because I was like, did I ruin the interview?
[11:35]What do I do with this tooth?
[11:36]Also, I'm from LA and I'm in New York right now.
[11:38]Is the tooth fairy going to find me?
[11:39]So people see me, I tear up and I go, oh no.
[11:43]And people are like, oh my gosh, she must have been so traumatized.
[11:46]And I'm like, I was a child and I was just like, oh no, I lost my tooth.
[11:50]What do I do now?
[11:51]It's such a good I know.
[11:53]My mom was right off camera, though, and she was like, you're OK. You can finish the interview if you want to.
[11:58]And so I just went back, and I was like, well, I'm staying in a hotel.
[12:01]Should I order room service for my tooth fairy?
[12:03]Will they let me?
[12:04]That's so good.
[12:05]Yeah, so, but yeah, there's, you talk about meeting somebody named Maui Steel.
[12:10]Yes, her name actually
[12:11]was Maui.
[12:12]I didn't change that name.
[12:14]Yeah.
[12:14]But yeah, there was like a little girl, and when we were young, do you remember them always having like a brunette
[12:20]choice, a blonde choice?
[12:22]Yeah.
[12:23]And like some other choice?
[12:25]I didn't get chosen once because I was, because the rest of the family in the movie were all blondes.
[12:30]Yeah.
[12:31]And I was like, well, could they dye my hair?
[12:33]And mom was like, I'm not going to do that.
[12:35]Yeah, they're not going to do that.
[12:37]It's easier just to get a blonde kid, which makes you realize.
[12:39]I was really big in commercials, though, where they're like, well, we have a blonde choice, we have a brunette choice.
[12:44]And so from early on, I was already kind of objectified.
[12:47]And it felt really odd because your efforts are sort of your efforts, but they don't think it like that.
[12:55]They're not thinking, oh, we could dye her hair.
[12:57]No, I mean, we talked once about, and you describe casting as basically like middle school bullying going on forever.
[13:05]Yes.
[13:05]Because it's people taking the things that you are most insecure about and being like, well, that is your problem.
[13:12]Yeah.
[13:13]A hundred percent.
[13:14]Casting is like living in middle school for the rest of your life.
[13:16]Yeah, you're too tall, you're too short, you're too chubby, you're too flat-chested, you're too this, you're too that.
[13:21]It's a nightmare.
[13:22]Yeah, your insecurities are fed well in the
[13:25]industry.
[13:26]People ask me now, they're like, well, do you want to do film again?
[13:29]And I'm like, well, I don't want somebody always telling me you need to have this plastic surgery, and this plastic surgery, and this plastic surgery, you know, ones that I, especially if it's ones I don't particularly want, and you know, and you have to lose 30 pounds, and you have to do this, and you're too short, and you're too old, and you're too this.
[13:44]I'm like, I don't want to have to deal with that.
[13:45]Yeah, the feedback is, the feedback's not good.
[13:48]No, it's not.
[13:49]Because I auditioned, I remember telling you when we first met, and I think it was at 90s Con.
[13:54]It was at that convention.
[13:55]Long time ago.
[13:55]Yeah, I auditioned for a show called BS, which you were on, right?
[14:00]I got that.
[14:01]Yeah, you got that.
[14:03]And I don't know, I think we were different roles.
[14:05]I think we were different roles, but they had me go out, and this is so 2000s for like the fat girl.
[14:10]Oh, yes.
[14:12]Okay, I remember this.
[14:14]And I remember being like, okay, well, I am probably a little I'm still overweight, but I've never had anything like this before.
[14:22]How are they going to do this?
[14:23]And it was so cruel.
[14:24]Yeah, it was really bad.
[14:25]So this was a pilot that the creator of Friends was doing, and it was a really high-profile thing.
[14:31]Right after Even Stevens, I had booked this pilot, and it was either, oh, the pilot goes, or I go to college.
[14:37]And so I was at a crossroads.
[14:40]And they, it was frocks, of course, and they gave us all push-up bras.
[14:45]And they were like, we all need you to wear these push-up bras and wear schoolgirl uniforms.
[14:49]And the character that I played fell in love.
[14:53]They went, they stole.
[14:54]With her, yes.
[14:55]So we stole IDs.
[14:57]We went out to a bar and then she ends up falling for her teacher.
[15:01]And I was like, where is this going?
[15:03]Like, where?
[15:03]The most 2002.
[15:05]Totally cancelable.
[15:06]Yes.
[15:07]There was no future for that.
[15:09]It was really awful.
[15:10]And I remember thinking like, oh, this is kind of funny, but it's also really disturbing.
[15:13]It was a very disturbing pilot.
[15:15]Yeah.
[15:16]It would have been very weird to go from Aiden Stevens to that.
[15:19]So I think God's protection is the things that you don't get.
[15:22]Right.
[15:23]I mean, there are certain things that I've missed out on.
[15:25]Like, I could have done Arrested Development, but then I ended up going to my art sporting school instead.
[15:33]But at that time, I mean, sometimes it would have been fun.
[15:37]But I also know that right then what I needed was to get away from everything.
[15:40]Same.
[15:41]So that's what happened to me with With college and sometimes I look back and I'm like, OK, I guess I could have deferred a year.
[15:48]I could have tried to stay in LA after even Stevens and been like just like camped out until the next opportunity came.
[15:55]But I think we've been pushing.
[15:57]I don't know about you.
[15:57]Were you pushing your education really big like throughout your high school experience when you were
[16:02]like pushing it, pushing it.
[16:04]Were you wanting it and wanting to go to college?
[16:06]Yeah, I was definitely for you.
[16:07]Yeah, it was.
[16:08]It was for me, too, which was kind of rare.
[16:11]A lot of child actors don't primarily focus on their educations.
[16:15]No, there were, I mean, I struggled a little bit in school.
[16:18]I had undiagnosed ADHD, so I sometimes had trouble focusing.
[16:23]But one thing I noticed was when I was on film sets and I had studios teachers that were really kind and paid attention to me, I did really well.
[16:31]Okay.
[16:32]You know, I was like an A student when I had the right kind of attention.
[16:35]The one-on-one.
[16:36]And the right kind of structure and the tutoring.
[16:37]That's good.
[16:38]But when I went back to school, I just felt like, and this is one thing that I've found a lot with child actors, is we thrive with structure.
[16:48]Yes.
[16:48]Because we have spent our whole lives being told, go here, go here.
[16:51]They're ready for you.
[16:52]They're not ready for you.
[16:53]This is what you're going to do.
[16:54]At this time, at this time, at this time.
[16:57]And so being in school, you know, it...
[17:01]There is something nice about like, okay, I'm going to be here at this time and right here, but you also don't feel like you're understood and you don't get the individual attention.
[17:09]Yeah, absolutely.
[17:10]But I knew I wanted to go to college.
[17:12]And my parents, I came from a family that was a very important thing.
[17:17]Yeah, same.
[17:18]They were like, you're doing this.
[17:19]Absolutely.
[17:20]So sliding doors, though, because it's like you could have been on Arrested Development.
[17:24]Yeah.
[17:24]Yeah.
[17:25]Do you ever regret that?
[17:26]Sometimes I do, but I mean, I never auditioned for it, so it's possible that I could have auditioned and not gotten it anyway.
[17:32]Same.
[17:32]Same with Princess Diaries.
[17:34]Yeah, right?
[17:35]Well, that's actually...
[17:36]It comes up a lot.
[17:37]There's a lot of people in this that, you know, you talk about losing parts to Emmy Rossum.
[17:42]Oh, yes, to Emmy, yeah.
[17:43]Yeah.
[17:44]And I always lost parts to Kristen Stewart.
[17:49]Oh, really?
[17:49]Yeah.
[17:50]Okay, I can see this.
[17:51]And if not her, Mae Whitman.
[17:52]Oh, Mae Whitman's great too.
[17:54]Mae Whitman is a good friend of mine.
[17:55]I don't know Kristen Stewart, but I do know Mae Whitman.
[17:57]And we would always tease each other whenever we saw each other, like, you got my part, you know, you got my part.
[18:02]Yeah.
[18:03]Mae Whitman's amazing.
[18:04]She actually replaced me as Yuffie in Kingdom Hearts.
[18:07]Did she?
[18:08]Yes.
[18:08]Wow.
[18:09]Isn't that wild?
[18:10]Yeah.
[18:11]It is such a small world.
[18:12]Yes, it really is.
[18:15]And Chris Marquette.
[18:16]I also know Chris Marquette.
[18:17]He was a sweetheart.
[18:18]Chris is a sweetheart.
[18:18]Chris was, I don't know if you guys know Chris, but he's done a lot of different things.
[18:25]He was right before they tested me with Shia.
[18:30]They tested me with Chris Marquette, and Chris was an actor that we knew from New York City, and I grew up with this kid because he had done Broadway, and I was really gunning for him to do it, and then he's such a well-behaved young man, and he ended up being
[18:46]best friends with Shia for a long time, and then I think they had a falling out.
[18:48]I was going to say, I don't see that happening for very long.
[18:52]It happened for a minute, and then it didn't.
[18:54]Yeah, Chris is a very...
[18:58]Chris is a very, very well-behaved boy that didn't really like to push the boundaries.
[19:03]And from everything that I've heard about Shia, from you and other people, pushing boundaries is kind of what he does.
[19:08]And that was another thing in this book.
[19:09]I don't want to get into it too much.
[19:11]But the idea of like, I think that people probably were like, maybe it was like, oh, well, was she really close with Shia?
[19:18]Or did they hate each other?
[19:20]And it seems that like the truth is more like, you just weren't close.
[19:24]Right.
[19:25]Right.
[19:25]Yeah.
[19:25]Right.
[19:26]And that happens sometimes.
[19:27]Right.
[19:27]Yeah.
[19:28]Right.
[19:28]I mean, I say that it's the same as like when you go to high school with somebody and you don't see them anymore, but you look on Facebook and Or in my case, the internet.
[19:37]And you look on Facebook and it's like, oh, they're married now.
[19:40]Or, oh, they work at a bank.
[19:42]Or, oh, now they're divorced.
[19:45]It's weird to have.
[19:47]But here's the thing.
[19:47]I think we did such a good job of maybe making people believe that we were actually related.
[19:52]Like the people that grew up with us just at the right age for us to see.
[19:56]And I think we really did have sort of this, I think we had a creative bond.
[20:00]I do think that when we worked together, something sort of lit up the screen for us to be able to like Work together.
[20:06]And so that must have been it, which is why it, you know, it works.
[20:10]But I still to this day, I'm kind of, I'm, it is curious that people really still kind of believe or hope that we have this like, you know, We come back together or something like that.
[20:22]And I've thought about it.
[20:24]And I'm just kind of like, I guess maybe I don't want that or I don't care if that happens.
[20:28]I don't know if I need that kind of chaos in my life.
[20:30]Life's kind of short.
[20:32]But it's one of those things in terms of my relationship to that where it's like when he's doing well, I'm happy for him.
[20:39]And if he's doing bad, I'm praying for him.
[20:42]But that's it.
[20:43]There's nothing I can do to control that.
[20:44]And yeah.
[20:46]Yeah.
[20:46]I think a lot of being in this I definitely feel like a lot of child actors grow up to be people pleasers.
[20:56]Oh, yeah.
[20:57]And I think a lot of us have kind of a control freak streak, too, because we were never in control.
[21:05]I'm so glad she's here, guys.
[21:08]Yes.
[21:09]No, when we first met, we were like, oh, we get each other.
[21:11]Oh, 100%.
[21:11]Okay, we get each other.
[21:12]Yeah.
[21:13]And that's, I mean, I don't know, but I find that with a lot of child actors, although I feel particularly akin to you, But we're 1% of 1%, and we have this very unique experience.
[21:27]And so looking across the room, you can have this silent conversation without even talking.
[21:32]And unfortunately, there's not a Facebook group for former child actors.
[21:36]It's kind of just like, we're very dislocated.
[21:39]We're not very tethered.
[21:41]We're tethered, but we're not together.
[21:42]And I think we would love to change that.
[21:45]I know that it would be so awesome if there was some way for everyone to opt into something.
[21:51]But there wasn't anything before, so there's not going to be anything after.
[21:54]That's the thing.
[21:55]Yeah.
[21:56]I mean, we're trying.
[21:57]We are trying to change it, for sure.
[21:58]I would love to.
[22:00]I mean, yeah.
[22:01]You were just saying that, you know, somebody's been, a journalist has reached out to you about doing a piece about what to do and things, good ideas.
[22:09]And if that's brewing on the level that you were talking about, then that's fantastic.
[22:14]Because then it means that, like, the books that we're making are actually changing something in the world, you know.
[22:20]And there's Jeanette's book and Allison's book.
[22:21]And, like, this is its own, like, subgenre at this point.
[22:24]Yeah.
[22:25]Well, I also think, I think the narrative, you know, it's interesting because you talk in there about...
[22:31]You know, a tutor who was really horrible saying like, okay, but what have you done for the world?
[22:35]And you're like, well, I did a lot of charity work and I do a lot of, you know, I do a lot of volunteer work and them being like, yeah, but that's for yourself.
[22:41]That's not for you.
[22:42]Right.
[22:43]And in the late 90s and early 2000s, the narrative was that we were all spoiled brats.
[22:47]Right.
[22:47]It was like, oh yeah, you guys are all rich and you guys are all, which didn't take into account that a lot of our money is either put away or supporting our families, you know, and so...
[22:58]There's a lot of like, you guys are just spoiled brats.
[23:00]You don't really work hard.
[23:01]You don't really do this.
[23:02]And then now I feel like the narrative is like, oh, you poor thing.
[23:05]Yeah.
[23:05]And I'm like, well, it doesn't feel good to be pitied.
[23:08]Yes.
[23:08]We do want understanding as well.
[23:10]Like, yeah, we went through a lot of really tough things and we do want people to understand us.
[23:14]Right.
[23:14]But I think, you know, a lot of people read Jeanette's book and after that they were like, oh my God, you must have had horrific people on set.
[23:20]And I'm like, well, no, being on set actually was pretty good.
[23:22]Right.
[23:23]For me, it wasn't for Jeanette.
[23:25]Right.
[23:25]But Jeanette's experience isn't my experience, that's hers.
[23:27]And I think a lot of what she said is very honest and, you know, but it is also her own experience.
[23:33]But you also suffered from other things
[23:36]that caused anxieties.
[23:37]Yes, I did.
[23:38]That were somehow...
[23:40]Somehow they were intertwined into the experience as well.
[23:45]Yeah.
[23:45]You never know where you're going to get it from.
[23:47]Yeah.
[23:48]I mean like there's genetic predisposition in my family to things like OCD and depression and ADHD and bipolar disorder and like It was kind of just a roll the dice if I was going to get one of those.
[24:00]But then if you take a perfectionist and then you tell her, okay, try to get it right the first time on a film set, that's reinforcing something in kind of a negative way.
[24:10]Exactly.
[24:10]And that goes back to when you were talking about, are you your character?
[24:14]I feel like that became sort of this narrative for me to kind of play into in order for me to feel like I was...
[24:21]Getting that approval from my mom and just in general, the whole cast and crew.
[24:27]And it was like, there was not a distinction between me and Ren as long as I was doing anything that had to do with Disney.
[24:36]Granted, it was three seasons, but it was also pretty formative years.
[24:39]I mean, from 14 to 18, 19.
[24:43]And it was definitely a big chapter.
[24:46]And in here, it's really only one chapter.
[24:49]So I don't know if people realize that this is not an entire book about tea and tea dropping, it's much more about what happens before, during, and after.
[25:01]And the after can be a little daunting.
[25:04]At least for me it was.
[25:05]I mean, I think, I don't know if you remember, I think last year I was in New York and my friend did a show at a gay club and they were showing Even Stevens.
[25:12]Oh, they were.
[25:13]On the TV.
[25:14]Yes, I texted you.
[25:15]I texted you.
[25:16]And you and Brendan sent me back and you were like, Even Stevens, not Cadet Kelly at a gay bar?
[25:21]Yeah.
[25:24]And you texted me back going like, Videos of you just being like, what?
[25:29]Or pictures of that?
[25:30]Yeah.
[25:31]And then I sent one back of me and my friend just being like, you don't know.
[25:35]I love this for us.
[25:37]I know.
[25:38]But I watched Kim Possible for the first time last night because I missed out And I've been friends with Bob and Mark, you know, the creators for a long time.
[25:47]Even before, we were just friends, Bob and I were just friends on Twitter before I even knew that he created Kim Possible.
[25:52]And I just thought he was a cool guy.
[25:53]And then I was like, oh, he made this.
[25:55]But one thing about Kim is that there's no real secret identity.
[25:59]Right.
[26:00]Yeah, everybody knows who she is.
[26:01]Yeah.
[26:02]And I was like, well, no wonder Christie related to her.
[26:05]Yes.
[26:05]Because you can't get away from it.
[26:07]Yes.
[26:07]Because, I mean, I remember thinking, like, there's no such thing as a secret star, Hannah Montana, which Gen Zers have informed me is kind of the point.
[26:13]LAUGHTER But yeah, but I remember thinking, like, I was watching this and I was just like, oh, I get it.
[26:19]Because it's someone who's trying to live a normal life.
[26:22]And I was like, no wonder this character means so much to Christy.
[26:24]Yeah, that's true, actually.
[26:27]I never thought about it that way.
[26:28]And The Princess Diaries, too, I can imagine.
[26:31]Like, I loved the books because people would talk to this girl and they'd be like, you're the princess, you're a nerd.
[26:37]And that's how I felt.
[26:38]You know, like, you're a celebrity, but you're a nerd.
[26:40]Yeah.
[26:41]Yeah.
[26:42]There's a lot of misconceptions.
[26:43]Yeah.
[26:44]Definitely a lot of misconceptions, but yeah, I mean, you talk in there about how, and this is a difficult subject, but it's about how when you spend your childhood being rewarded for compliance, for never complaining, for being professional and easy and grateful, You lose the ability to recognize when someone is taking advantage of you.
[27:05]That muscle never develops, and the world is full of people who can spot that from a mile away.
[27:09]Right.
[27:09]I think that you do become a little bit at risk for when you're just sort of underserved in the autonomy world, and you're not really learning to make your own decisions, and a lot of decisions are made for you, and so you're kind of You're not flexing that muscle of like, okay, I know what I want.
[27:29]I'm going to have my own opinion about this.
[27:31]And I think that that creatively kind of stunts the growth as well.
[27:35]I think that's why when you do see, so I was just recently on Tish Cyrus's podcast and we talked about how Miley, I straight up just asked her, I was like, do you think that Miley did have like a breakdown moment or was that a calculated thing when she sort of Quote, unquote, people perceived it as she went off the rails.
[27:55]And she was like, oh no, she knew exactly what she was doing.
[27:58]And it was like she was so brave to take the image that she had and turn it around on its head.
[28:03]And that's so rare that somebody would actually be able to do that who was in her position.
[28:08]But again, I think she is a little bit of a Nepo baby because of her dad.
[28:12]And that's not saying anything bad about her.
[28:15]It's just that when I talk to Tish, she's like, well, you know, we knew how to manage her money.
[28:19]Dolly Parton gave us her first manager.
[28:22]And we just kind of knew what we were doing beforehand.
[28:26]And I was like, well, that's helpful.
[28:27]That's helpful because, I mean, it gives you a leg up.
[28:32]I think like with my mom, she kind of preached and role modeled compliance and passivity, and I kind of just was following along with whatever she said was gonna be in my best interest.
[28:41]I just was like, well, this is in my best interest, and this is how we're spending money now, and I didn't really ask a lot of questions.
[28:48]So for me, the passivity wasn't just creatively being like, I'll say yes to everything that Disney throws my way, but it was also like in life as well, which was unfortunate, and it's my situation.
[29:01]But it definitely, like you're saying, like if your thing was the perfectionist thing, my thing was like the compliance thing and just like really just throwing my hands up and being like, okay, what do you want?
[29:13]Because I don't want to deal with the repercussions of saying no, because it was terrifying to like, like with the people pleasing, it was like, if I don't say no, what's on the other side of that?
[29:23]I remember thinking like, I was a people pleaser, but I was a very resentful people pleaser.
[29:28]So I would be a people pleaser and then I would be really passive aggressive and angry about it and people would be like, wow, what a word I'm not going to say because there's a child here.
[29:38]I got that a lot, you know, and I remember thinking like, and it's funny that Hilary Duff comes up in your book because she was also somebody that I knew.
[29:46]And I remember us being like, we were in a charity group together.
[29:51]Oh.
[29:51]Because this is a thing that nobody thinks about, nobody realizes about child doctors how much charity work we did.
[29:56]Yes, it's true.
[29:57]And they still do.
[29:58]Yeah.
[29:58]Yeah.
[29:58]It's true.
[29:59]There's so much.
[30:00]And that was kind of like, that was sort of like, For us, I think it was a little bit like, you know, church youth groups or like Girl Scouts.
[30:08]I mean, I went to regular Girl Scouts too, but it was kind of like the thing that you did on the weekend with your friends.
[30:13]And then when you got older, it was like where you met people that you would hook up with and date.
[30:18]Because that's how I met my first boyfriend, was in one of these charity groups.
[30:23]So it was a charity group that you guys met each other in.
[30:25]That's so great.
[30:25]Yeah, we did.
[30:26]And I was like, we should hang out sometime.
[30:28]And she was like, yeah, sure.
[30:29]And then she got super famous.
[30:33]And I also met Scarlett Johansson, and I also had the experience.
[30:36]Because in your book, you write about how you're like, man, Scarlett was just too cool for me.
[30:40]She was staggeringly cool.
[30:42]I don't think that there was a way to reach her.
[30:44]That's kind of very aloof and...
[30:48]And I will say that like from what I know of people that went to high school with her, she kind of, she was a bit of an alpha.
[30:55]Yeah.
[30:55]We'll just put it at that.
[30:56]Like she was a bit of an alpha and a lot of people felt very similar.
[31:00]And I mean, I think she had that star power, that confidence that is just something that you can't deny.
[31:07]And like Shia had it too.
[31:08]I mean, he was driven, very ambitious, very driven.
[31:12]Nothing was going to get in his way.
[31:13]It was life or death for him.
[31:15]And everybody's got a little bit of a different case, but it does seem really interesting that we all sort of do and we do endure a lot of the same things.
[31:25]Yeah, it's true.
[31:26]And I mean, I do think that there's, you know, a lot of times it's like, how much of a star do I want to be?
[31:32]Do I have that star power?
[31:33]There's a lot of that.
[31:34]I've done a lot of evaluating that in my life.
[31:36]Like, I don't know if I'm meant to play Juliet.
[31:37]Maybe I'm meant to play nurse, you know?
[31:40]Maybe I'm not the lead singer.
[31:42]Maybe I'm the bassist.
[31:43]It's so
[31:45]healthy though.
[31:46]It is and I think that that's kind of where I've landed in my life and I feel happy with that.
[31:52]That's good.
[31:54]I think where I've landed is in the autonomy part of it is like how do I pivot to make me sort of the The narrating force of my life.
[32:04]How do I make sure that this isn't me waiting for the phone to ring?
[32:08]And for a while, I was really struggling with finding work and figuring out that I was even going to be in the industry.
[32:15]I was going back to college and just kind of hurting for money.
[32:20]And so then when I finally started doing content creation, it totally turned my life around.
[32:25]And I've made more money doing that than ever with Disney because they just don't pay well.
[32:31]It's what people think, but she's seconding it.
[32:34]That's why I don't like it.
[32:36]There's the Simpsons joke, you know, oh, you know, wow, an award, oh, it's a Grammy.
[32:43]Oh, a residuals check, oh, it's a Disney.
[32:47]I mean, it is cool to be a Disney villain, don't get me wrong, and Disney hero and Disney villain, but I do sometimes wish that, you know, those checks were a little bit bigger.
[32:55]Yeah, exactly, knowing how much they're making, yeah, over the years.
[32:58]Yeah.
[32:59]Yeah, yeah.
[33:01]But yeah, I mean, it feels like you have a creative outlet, though, and that's really what's most important.
[33:05]And that's what I feel like you get at the end of the book.
[33:08]And also, you found, you know, somebody that really loves you and knows who you are, you know?
[33:15]And he's right here.
[33:16]Give him a hand.
[33:19]How are you, brother?
[33:24]Everybody loves you, Ren and Seeley.
[33:26]No, we do.
[33:27]I remember meeting him.
[33:28]I remember meeting him at a con and like, I gotta say, don't always like my friends, boyfriends, and husbands, but I was like, okay, I like him.
[33:35]I like him.
[33:37]It's because he's got the truest intentions and like, he's always had my back.
[33:41]And like, when we met...
[33:44]He's sincere.
[33:45]Very, very sincere.
[33:47]And it's his, you know, his greatest strength is his heart.
[33:52]And when we met, I was in a
[33:55]pretty dark place.
[33:56]And you can read it in the book.
[33:57]And then I was just putting it all out there for this guy.
[34:00]And I don't know why it was trauma dumping because we had really just met.
[34:04]But he just sat there and he was kind of unfazed.
[34:06]And he was just like, cool, okay, I've been to war.
[34:08]Cool.
[34:12]Your child actor problems are, you know, they are what they are.
[34:15]We're gonna work through it.
[34:16]You're crazy, but you're cute.
[34:19]And so we worked from there.
[34:22]And it's an everyday battle.
[34:24]It's an everyday thing.
[34:25]And I mean, I had recently wrote an article for Elle magazine that was right after our passing of Hayden Panettiere.
[34:34]And it's been really, it was really shocking.
[34:39]Do you remember hearing about it?
[34:40]Were you like shook up?
[34:41]Yeah,
[34:41]I was, I burst into tears because I was, I had never met her, but I remember thinking when I was young, like, Because I had such a, I think the competitive streak was encouraged in me at a young age.
[34:53]And so I remember thinking when I was young, oh man, like she seems really pretty and really talented and I wish I could be like her.
[35:00]And then just seeing her in the past few years being like, oh God, yeah, okay, she's a person like me who struggled like me and this is really hard.
[35:07]And I really do feel like there are so many child actors that I've reached out to.
[35:10]I know Anna Paquin has said, like, literally just DM me.
[35:13]And I've done that, too, where I've reached out to Jeanette and was just like, hey, I hope that you're doing okay.
[35:18]I read your book.
[35:19]It's very good.
[35:19]Did she get back to you?
[35:21]She did, yeah.
[35:23]She recently just DMed me, too, about my book.
[35:25]Yeah.
[35:26]And I feel like, you know, an Alison Stoner and so many of these people.
[35:29]And I was just like, and I felt this, like, I wish that I had reached out to her.
[35:36]And I don't know if she would have known who I was or anything, but I wish that I had just told her, hey, you're not alone.
[35:41]I wish we had a support group or some kind of thing where we could have supported us.
[35:46]And I know realistically there was nothing I could do, but it was hard, and especially with that and Davey Chase.
[35:54]I wanted to write something that at the time I was like, I don't have any words right now.
[35:58]Because this is just too hard to think about, and I want to just give her Respect and you know at some point maybe what I'll do is I'll put it into Like making sure that this doesn't happen.
[36:10]Yeah, I feel like you're really motivated to do this.
[36:12]And this is reigniting something inside me that I'm really excited.
[36:16]Because this is something, yeah.
[36:19]I feel like I've been very outspoken for a while.
[36:22]And there's always mixed emotions when people bring up nostalgia and sort of be like, well, this was what was really going on.
[36:30]Or, you know, let me tell you the story about this person.
[36:32]And then it becomes a whole like fueled, You know, hate train of like, well, this is clickbaiting or whatever.
[36:38]And it's like, well, no, this is my lived experience.
[36:39]So I'm just going to like do what
[36:40]I want.
[36:41]And yeah, people will be like, well, why don't you talk about Matilda?
[36:44]And then I'll talk about Matilda.
[36:45]And they're like, why are you bringing up Matilda?
[36:46]That was 30 years ago.
[36:48]You asked.
[36:49]Yeah, right.
[36:50]You can't win.
[36:51]You can't win.
[36:52]That's so funny.
[36:53]That's really funny.
[36:54]That's really funny.
[36:55]We probably wouldn't talk about it as much if we had a group, because then we could talk about it.
[36:59]Yeah.
[37:00]No, that's true, too.
[37:01]That's true, too.
[37:01]So it definitely is.
[37:04]And that's one thing that happens in the book is they say, who are the people that you feel like understand you?
[37:08]Who are your tribe?
[37:10]Who's your group?
[37:10]And you say child actors.
[37:12]Right.
[37:12]And I remember thinking, oh, yeah.
[37:14]Yeah, I feel that too.
[37:15]And every now and then.
[37:16]It took me so long to get there because I was so in denial of it even being a minority or a population at all.
[37:21]But it was like, well, duh, this is what I am.
[37:24]Why am I running from it when it's just something that I identify as?
[37:29]Yeah.
[37:29]And it's so funny.
[37:30]I feel like I tried to be like the perfect child actor.
[37:33]And I did the not like other girls, but I did not like other child actors too when I was a teenage girl, you know, and because I was insecure.
[37:42]And now I'm like, no, these are my people.
[37:44]Yes.
[37:45]1000%.
[37:47]When I got the news about her, I did write this piece and I was likening early fame to CTE.
[37:54]And the reason why I did that was because I do think that neurologically, I I think something happens with the brain that over time reflects back on this like very high adrenaline and dopamine period of your time, period of your life and like has a hard time reconciling it.
[38:15]And I think over time it kind of breaks your brain a little bit if you're not really in tune with like where you stand with Where you came from.
[38:24]And now I'm finding it really interesting, too, that you've come to some of the same conclusions, but you had a very different setup.
[38:32]No, it's true.
[38:33]Yeah.
[38:34]I mean, I've told people, I told somebody, I remember talking to a therapist, and I said, I was like, well, I'm having a hard day today, but I have to do something tonight, so I'm going to get it together.
[38:43]I always get it together.
[38:43]Maybe boasted a little bit about how I always get it together.
[38:46]And she said to me, well, do you get it together or do you mask it?
[38:50]And I was like, uh-oh.
[38:52]Oh, maybe I do mask.
[38:53]Maybe this isn't me getting it together.
[38:54]Maybe this is just a thing that I've been doing, a defense mechanism.
[39:00]Did you find your book really, like how did you find, because what I've been feeling about having this book come out is that it's been incredibly empowering.
[39:08]And I've been basically coming to a place with it where I'm like, you know what?
[39:13]F it.
[39:14]This is my truth.
[39:15]It's out there now.
[39:17]People can just read it and have opinions.
[39:19]And I really wasn't like that before.
[39:21]And I've really come to a place because of the book where I'm like, this is who I am.
[39:26]So did you?
[39:27]Yeah.
[39:27]Thank you.
[39:29]I did.
[39:30]And when I wrote the follow-up to it, which was called Good Girls Don't, which was about being a pissed off people pleaser, I definitely felt that way too.
[39:38]And it definitely feels like that.
[39:42]There were definitely some parts of this book that I feel like some people didn't They didn't quite realize what it was about or maybe I wasn't explicit about some aspects of my life.
[39:49]Although I think if you read between the lines in, say, my chapter about show choir, it might not be about show choir.
[39:54]It might be about, you know, sexual orientation.
[39:57]You know, things like that.
[40:00]But it does feel, it feels really good and it feels really empowering.
[40:02]Yeah, it does.
[40:03]You know, it really does.
[40:04]It's reclaiming the narrative.
[40:06]And I know we're going to take some questions because we've been talking a lot.
[40:10]But I did want to say, and I know it's not my place to do this because I'm younger than you and everything, but I'm really proud of you and I'm really happy for you.
[40:21]All right, so any questions?
[40:25]Yay, questions.
[40:28]If you had any, like, I know you said you're working on a piece for this, but, like, talk, like, this is what needs to happen in Hollywood to protect child activism.
[40:39]Thank you for that question.
[40:42]I think there's a range of remedies and interventions that could be done, and I have some theories.
[40:48]What are your theories?
[40:49]One of them is no junkets for kids.
[40:52]No junkets, no press for kids.
[40:55]I don't think that they should be doing that.
[40:57]I also think, for example, like what they do on the show Bluey, they don't put the children's names there.
[41:01]I think it's much easier there because that's animation, but I do think even if their face is on screen, there should be special considerations for that.
[41:08]I think in London there used to be some law that they could only do like one movie a year or something like that.
[41:14]Really?
[41:15]Yeah.
[41:16]I mean that might be a good idea.
[41:17]I think the Coogan Law needs to be put into all 50 states.
[41:20]The Coogan Law is basically Children get, is it 10 or 15 percent?
[41:27]I think it's 10.
[41:28]Yeah, and the parents get the rest.
[41:31]I also think maybe those numbers should be switched or at least, you know, like 50-50 or something like that because I do, parents do need money for, you know, gas in LA to get here or, you know, Subway Fair to get to auditions in New York.
[41:45]I understand that, but there are too many people who put their kids To make money off of them.
[41:53]And I think that that is going to lead to a lot of unhappiness.
[41:57]A hundred percent.
[41:57]And just the displacement of the family.
[41:59]And yeah, it really incentivizes when you're thinking of the 90-10 that you're splitting.
[42:06]It should be more.
[42:07]It should be more.
[42:08]It should be.
[42:09]It incentivizes
[42:10]families to make money.
[42:12]Definitely.
[42:12]I mean, maybe not totally flipped, but at least we could start with a 50-50 thing.
[42:17]We could start with something like that.
[42:19]That could work.
[42:20]That could work.
[42:20]My whole thing is that there needs to be interventions as soon as a child enters the union, because when they're entering the union, that's the only time that they would have to be something they'd not even pre-qualify for, but they would have to do it.
[42:36]Because if it was a choice, the kids that would be actually at risk Wouldn't be opted into that program.
[42:43]And the whole problem is that there's not a lot of data.
[42:46]There's just all of our case studies, which is with us sharing.
[42:50]It's these little voices that are coming to make a bigger voice.
[42:54]But I think that the union, what's messed up is that we pay the same amount of dues as an adult, but we're not getting any, well, we, I say we, but the children are not getting any real representation by their union.
[43:08]And we have Sean Astin, who is a former child actor, as the head of our union.
[43:13]So now would be a really great time to have an open letter to him or something from various people to just be like, hey man, so you realize there's a problem, what are we doing?
[43:24]Yeah.
[43:24]I mean, I think also on set, the way that you have sports psychologists, I think that there should be child psychologists on all
[43:29]sets.
[43:30]100%.
[43:30]Social workers.
[43:31]Yeah.
[43:32]And it needs to be standardized across countries.
[43:34]I know in Canada, if a child has to do a really emotionally demanding scene, they have therapists there.
[43:40]And I think that should be standardized.
[43:41]That should be standard in the U.S. as well.
[43:43]Right.
[43:43]And also, I know in the UK they have to have child chaperones on set that will advocate for their rights.
[43:51]A lot of times the child actor or studio teachers were in that role, but some studio teachers are better than others.
[43:58]Yeah, like really, really bad and really, really good from what I've heard.
[44:02]I've never experienced really, really good.
[44:03]Yeah, I was lucky.
[44:04]I had really good ones.
[44:06]But I know how lucky I was.
[44:08]And they really advocated for me.
[44:10]So that's another thing is that the same way that they have intimacy coordinators now, I think they need to have this be standard.
[44:15]And I don't understand why, if this is standard practice in the UK or this is standard practice in Canada, I realize I'm just, I'm moving my hands like where they are on the map.
[44:23]But why is that not the same in all of North America?
[44:26]Why is that not the same in, you know, all of the UK and Europe and everywhere where there are child actors?
[44:34]Are you?
[44:35]We should talk.
[44:36]Yeah, I'd love that.
[44:37]Good question.
[44:38]Very good question.
[44:38]All right.
[44:39]Wow.
[44:40]Great.
[44:40]What's up?
[44:50]No, not at all.
[44:51]I have the best fans.
[44:54]I'm not over-inundated.
[44:55]I can still live my life, and yet whenever I hear somebody's ringtone go off and it's a Kim Possible or just in general, the coolest thing about y'all is that when you guys come up to me, Or Mara, I'm sure, can relate to this.
[45:11]I just feel like you guys come back to the age that you were when you first met me or saw me.
[45:17]And I just feel like there's an immediate connection with you as if we really did grow up together.
[45:23]And that matters so much to me.
[45:25]And I protect that with all my heart because, yeah, I love that.
[45:29]I really do love that.
[45:30]There's no way.
[45:31]I'm in a perfect place with that, for sure.
[45:34]Oh, wow.
[45:34]Okay.
[45:35]Let's see.
[45:36]Hold on.
[45:37]There was somebody at the back.
[45:38]Here, go ahead.
[45:38]Me?
[45:39]Yes.
[45:39]Hi.
[45:39]We've actually talked on Instagram before.
[45:42]Oh, great.
[45:45]Oh, wow.
[45:45]Thank you for doing that.
[45:48]Are you going to ask me about Mount Rushmore, though?
[45:50]Okay.
[45:50]Thank God.
[45:52]Oh yeah, Broadway kids.
[45:53]Yeah.
[45:53]Yeah.
[46:12]Yeah, so I have two Broadway Kids CDs, and I grew up listening to you on Broadway Kids, and eventually Kim Possible, and hopefully someday you'll go back to music.
[46:21]Thank you, that's so sweet.
[46:22]There are so many incredible people who came out of Broadway Kids.
[46:25]It's true.
[46:26]Along with you, there was Greg Raposo, Jesse Eisenberg, Jenna Ushkowitz.
[46:30]Ashley Tisdell.
[46:30]Ashley Tisdell, Eden Breigel, and Lacey Chabert.
[46:35]And Lacey Chabert.
[46:37]Yes, I did, yes.
[46:39]Thank you so much.
[46:41]What I wanted to know is, did you think, like, do you have an inflame in your mind when you were living in New York at that time, which would be Broadway kids, that eventually you guys would all do these, like, really cool things at some point?
[46:54]No.
[46:55]No, we didn't.
[46:56]We didn't.
[46:57]We knew that we were talented, I will tell you that much.
[46:59]I think the kids, it was like she was saying, it's like show choir or something.
[47:04]We knew that each other was already on Broadway, so it was like, okay, cool, we're all talented, but let's play together.
[47:14]And so we would play by singing these songs, and then they would record them.
[47:18]It was called The Broadway Kids, and it was really cute, but I don't think any of us knew what the next steps were.
[47:26]We didn't hatch a plan, because we were so New York-based that getting to LA was so far removed from our reality that we were like New York kids.
[47:38]That's how I feel about Broadway Kids, is that we were just kind of tucked away, little New York kids.
[47:44]I think Broadway kids are so cute.
[47:46]I love that you know them.
[47:47]I love your cover that you and Greg did.
[47:49]Hair?
[47:49]Hair.
[47:50]That's how I was first introduced to the show.
[47:52]That's so random.
[47:54]My mentor, he's kind of famous, but he was on the original Broadway tour.
[47:59]He played Berger in the original touring cast.
[48:01]Oh, wow.
[48:02]Cool.
[48:02]But when I first heard of the show, because of your duet with Greg, because I eventually met him, it changed my life.
[48:10]That's awesome.
[48:14]Oh, there we go.
[48:15]Oh my gosh.
[48:16]Yeah.
[48:17]I would have died to be a Broadway kid, by the way.
[48:19]This is a grass is greener thing because I wanted to run away from Hollywood and do musical theater.
[48:26]You wanted to be a newer kid.
[48:28]I did.
[48:29]I did.
[48:29]Did you ever tell your mom that you wanted to do musical theater?
[48:32]Yeah.
[48:34]I was taking voice lessons and I was taking dance classes right before she passed away.
[48:38]And I think after that, It was kind of like, well, we kind of have to put that aside and just keep kind of doing what we're doing.
[48:45]But, you know, but I mean, I did end up going to theater school, you know, for high school and for college.
[48:49]So, you know, and that's when I realized, OK, do I really want to be up, you know, at six in the morning for ballet class and doing vocal runs all these times?
[48:57]And I was like, yeah, I don't know if I can.
[49:00]That's why when people are like, hey, do you want to do theater again?
[49:03]I'm like, I have these little kids.
[49:04]Like it's like eight shows a week is no joke.
[49:06]Like you've got to be fully in it.
[49:09]So, yeah, it's a little tricky to get back to theater.
[49:12]I would love to get back to theater, but my kids would be a little bit older.
[49:15]I also just want you to know that, like, we're talking about that all of you guys went on to do really cool things, and I hope that you consider what you've done in your career that we all love.
[49:26]It's just as cool as some of the things that they've done.
[49:29]Oh, thank you.
[49:41]That was a fun one.
[49:45]She's got the deep cuts.
[49:47]Yeah, that is a deep cut.
[49:48]But Thomas fans are awesome.
[49:50]Thomas fans are so devoted.
[49:54]Wait, Thomas and Friends Like Train?
[49:55]Yeah.
[49:55]I love that.
[49:56]Yeah, I got to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine.
[50:00]Thomas fans are the most loyal and they are so lovely.
[50:03]So yeah, Thomas fans love it.
[50:06]So I love when I meet Thomas fans because they are so happy and they are such big fans.
[50:10]Aw, that's awesome.
[50:12]Yes, thank you.
[50:13]You guys are the best.
[50:14]All right, let's see.
[50:15]Move it around, move it around.
[50:17]Trying to move around.
[50:18]All the way in the back.
[50:19]Yes.
[50:21]Hi.
[50:23]Yeah, you were so good.
[50:37]Well, I think that for me... You were an early
[50:39]reader, right?
[50:40]I was an early reader, yeah.
[50:42]I had a good ear, I think.
[50:45]I don't think that I was a spectacularly talented actor, but I had a good ear.
[50:50]We don't agree with that.
[50:53]No, I'm just saying, I've seen other child actors where I'm like, oh, they were better than I was, but I had a really good ear.
[51:02]So that actually, like if I heard a line, like I think for me a lot of it, a lot of acting was about sort of the sound and rhythm of the way the people talked.
[51:12]So I could say a line the same way over and over again without losing the feeling.
[51:17]And I could also, I think, say them out loud and memorize them that way.
[51:24]So that was what I did.
[51:25]You know, my mom and I would run lines and I would get it.
[51:27]But I've also told people you don't really memorize lines, you memorize moments.
[51:31]Because one moment kind of goes into the other.
[51:34]If you're saying, like, I've got to go, the next line might be, where are you going?
[51:39]And somebody says, where are you going?
[51:41]You know your next line is going to be telling them where you're going.
[51:44]Or it's going to be, I'm not telling you where I'm going.
[51:47]So the moments kind of fall into each other.
[51:50]And that's something that I realized is that I wasn't really memorizing lines so much as I was memorizing a moment that was happening and another moment that was happening and another moment that was happening.
[51:58]That's just good acting, Mark.
[52:00]Yeah.
[52:00]Thank you.
[52:01]Thank you.
[52:02]And I didn't even realize I was doing that until I think I did a scene in college with a lot of lines.
[52:06]It was like a Noel Coward play, you know, a lot of big wordy stuff.
[52:11]And I realized, oh, right.
[52:13]I guess the way I have always done this is memorizing it by moment.
[52:16]Yeah.
[52:17]I was always stressed out about it.
[52:18]But I think that it's similar in that we were like,
[52:22]it was very much like a song that you memorized and stuff like that.
[52:25]I had a good memory.
[52:26]I do not have a good memory now.
[52:28]Yeah, it's, well, I mean, I do think also if you have a musical ear, though, I mean, that's why Danny DeVito had me doing like extra voices in Matilda.
[52:40]Sometimes if you hear a random character voice in Matilda, it's actually just me because I liked being in the booth.
[52:44]And that's why I do audiobooks now.
[52:46]Oh, yeah.
[52:47]You talked about that.
[52:48]Yeah.
[52:49]Yeah, which is really fun.
[52:50]Audiobooks are the best.
[52:51]They are.
[52:51]Yeah, a lot of theater kids grow up to do that.
[52:53]Did you end up doing an audiobook for this?
[52:55]I did, yeah.
[52:56]I did.
[52:56]So you have an audiobook for this.
[52:57]I got an audiobook for this, too, guys.
[52:58]So if you think
[53:01]that's better.
[53:03]All right.
[53:03]So let's take maybe like two more questions.
[53:09]I hate being in charge of this.
[53:10]OK, go ahead.
[53:12]Oh, jeez.
[53:12]OK.
[53:15]I think it really starstruck a lot.
[53:18]Oh, it's just us.
[53:19]Yeah.
[53:20]That says a lot.
[53:22]Chrissy, of course, I'm a big fan of yours.
[53:24]Thank you.
[53:25]I read your book.
[53:26]Oh, thank you.
[53:27]You're wildly vulnerable in your book.
[53:30]Yeah.
[53:31]There's so many vulnerable stories.
[53:33]Yeah.
[53:35]I do think there's a lot of parts that can be explained more.
[53:38]Uh-huh.
[53:38]And I really did want to ask, you know, where are the elements for just keeping Yeah,
[54:00]I probably could have been more descriptive about things.
[54:03]I probably could.
[54:04]I mean, everything that's in there, I wanted in there for sure, because everything that's in there is an anecdote that shaped me as a person.
[54:11]But, you know, I think that there were There were other things that got cut.
[54:18]Some things that I had to cut were my mom's drinking, relationships to my siblings.
[54:23]They basically came back and they were like, you can't tell our story this way.
[54:28]I was like, well, I'm going to tell my story, but I'm going to have to negotiate with my family.
[54:36]It was very difficult because it was like they felt a little exposed.
[54:40]When it came to my dad, I didn't get to Paint him as grand as a person that I felt like he was.
[54:48]And I actually pretty much know that he was in the mafia.
[54:54]So there was more of that tone with my dad that I kind of had to dwarf down.
[54:59]But for the most part, you do get the gist of the way that I was raised and the way that The stakes were super high.
[55:06]And I think that it's a painted picture.
[55:10]And I'm sure that there's always more brush strokes that you could have.
[55:14]But I am truly proud of the way that it ended up coming together.
[55:17]Because I do feel like you get the sentiment of me just opening up my journal and giving it to the world.
[55:23]So there's that.
[55:24]That's a good one.
[55:25]Thank you very much.
[55:26]That almost stumped me.
[55:28]Okay, last question.
[55:30]Oh, no.
[55:31]Oh, no.
[55:33]Okay,
[55:34]quick question.
[55:34]Go ahead.
[55:36]First of all, you guys are both talented in your own right.
[55:38]You guys got a chance to work with a lot of seasoned actors.
[55:41]You got a chance to work with Donna Pesco.
[55:43]You got a chance to work with Danny DeVito and Robin Williams, RIV.
[55:46]What was it like being around them, and did you guys get anything out of just being around them, just any advice or tips, suggestions?
[55:54]Probably the best thing that Danny DeVito ever told me was I remember telling him that I was upset about a negative review somebody had said about me.
[56:02]Mind you, I was maybe seven, and people were writing negative reviews about me in Entertainment Weekly and newspapers, and he just said, huh, don't read those.
[56:11]And I was like, we can do that.
[56:14]So yeah, and he just wanted to enjoy, in his opinion, it was like, no, just make what you want to make and make it for the people that are going to enjoy it and are going to love it.
[56:24]And sure enough, we made a movie that 30 years later, people come up to me all the time and say it's one of my favorite movies.
[56:29]So yeah.
[56:32]And Robin was just a great person all around.
[56:34]Yeah.
[56:37]Donna Pascal was great.
[56:38]She was like a second mom to me.
[56:42]She's an icon and a legend.
[56:44]She just was like a second mom to me.
[56:46]I think the thing about having mentors on set is that you can really just, you can have a little extra support with these adults that have probably seen it, been there, done that.
[57:00]And she was definitely that for me.
[57:02]And the older I got, she was actually the one that was running The Princess Diaries lines with me before we couldn't go to the audition.
[57:10]And so she was running the lines.
[57:11]And so she was trying to get me to a place with my acting that was deeper.
[57:15]And she was really big into teaching acting classes.
[57:19]And so in general, she was like my go-to for anything that felt like I needed to lean on somebody for.
[57:25]I love Donna.
[57:26]She was great.
[57:27]It was really good.
[57:28]OK, last question.
[57:29]Okay, so there's a picture of you and Shia on a bike at the Golden Music Studio.
[57:33]Yeah, we've posted that, yeah.
[57:34]Is that where you guys film Steven Stevens?
[57:37]No, I think we were doing some sort of promotion for the Beauty and the Beast DVD release, Blu-ray or something like that, and they had us like dress up.
[57:48]We were just on the lot doing something about the, it was like some weird This is the animation and the random stuff that Disney had us do.
[57:57]It was like so random.
[57:58]But then they had us dressed like our characters and then we were like supposed to like, they must have paid us something because how would we have done that otherwise?
[58:05]But I'm sure it wasn't much, but they definitely had to have paid us because we played our parts in that.
[58:12]And so that's why we were dressed up like that on the lot.
[58:14]Deep cut.
[58:15]Yeah, that is another deep cut.
[58:18]Oh, man.
[58:20]In Walt Disney World, which I'm now a convert into Walt Disney World because I just filmed a movie there, and I was just
[58:26]obsessed.
[58:27]Yep, there's a Hallmark movie that I did, and it's coming out November 28th.
[58:31]Oh, nice.
[58:35]Guys, it's so great.
[58:37]Thank you.
[58:38]It's called A Holiday Ever After, A Disney World Wish Come True.
[58:42]And it's the first feature film ever shot exclusively in Walt Disney World and the resorts.
[58:48]Oh, wow.
[58:49]Yeah.
[58:50]It was the first Hallmark and Walt Disney collaboration ever done.
[58:54]So it's kind of this big thing.
[58:57]It kind of makes sense, the two of them doing that.
[58:59]And Lacey Chabert's in it, and she's just the queen of all queens.
[59:03]I loved her so much.
[59:06]When I was a kid, I wrote a screenplay that I wanted to get made into a movie.
[59:09]Obviously, that never happened because I was nine.
[59:11]But I remember I wanted Lacey to play the main part.
[59:14]Yeah.
[59:15]Yeah, I wanted Lacey to do it.
[59:17]I've got to tell her at some point.
[59:18]Yeah, there was a bit of a girl crush on her.
[59:21]Yeah.
[59:22]Fair.
[59:23]And I think I like, you know, yes, it's called Big Thunder Railroad, but I like Thunder Mountain.
[59:28]Yeah.
[59:29]I think I went on Space Mountain last year and I was like, I think I'm too old for this now.
[59:34]My body is like, nope, this was fun when you were 14, but it's not fun anymore.
[59:38]So yeah, so Thunder is where I tap out, but I love it.
[59:41]Well, thank you guys so much for being here.
[59:43]Yes, thank you.
[59:45]I hope you enjoyed it.
[59:47]Thank you so much to Mara Wilson.
[59:48]Thank you.
[59:51]And can we get a round of applause for Christy?
[59:53]Thank you.
[59:54]Thank you everyone so much.