Philip Anthony Rodriguez: Cherishing Each & Every Day

Lisa chats with veteran actor Phil Rodriguez about his origins in NYC, his journey to Hollywood, and the life lessons learned along the way.  A true family man with a heart of gold and faith that humanity will prevail, Phil talks about his most important role as a father to his young son and pays homage  to his own dad and the positive influence he had in his life.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez was voted as one of LATINA Magazine's 25 Most Beautiful Latino Men. He is an accomplished and versatile performer, host and coach from Brooklyn, NY.

He has joined the casts of many Hit TV series. Including: “The Morning Show” on AppleTV- executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, NBC's popular Grimm as sinister royal henchman, Marcus Rispoli, CBS’s Tommy,  hit CBS All Access show, “Why Women Kill”, starring Lucy Liu, Freeform’s hit “The Secret Life Of an American Teenager” as Ruben Enriquez and CBS' Seal Team as CIA Operative Greg Smith. Other credits include Modern Family, S.W.A.T. Magnum P.I., Shameless, 9-1-1, Good Trouble, The Mentalist, Madame Secretary, Queen of the South, ”24”, NCIS: New Orleans. 

He's also the voice of Sith Inquisitor Fifth Brother in Disney's popular animated series, Star Wars: Rebels, for which he's ALSO proud to be an action figure!

Philip made his Broadway debut as Ritchie Valens in “BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY” for which he was honored by the New York Drama League. He returned to Broadway in Tennessee Williams “NOT ABOUT NIGHTINGALES” directed by Tony Award winner Trevor Nunn. 

He has numerous voice over campaigns--including: UFC, Lincoln Motor Co, Gatorade & Ralph Lauren as well as many popular video games. He is the Spanish speaking & singing voices of ELMO and TELLY MONSTER on Sesame Street Beginnings.

@philAnthonyRod

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Transcript

Lisa Hopkins: 0:23

This is the stop time podcast. I'm your host, Lisa Hopkins, and I'm here to engage you in thought provoking motivational conversations around practicing the art of living in the moment. I'm a certified life coach, and I'm excited to dig deep and offer insights into embracing who we are and where we are at. So my next guest was voted as one of Latina magazine's 25 most beautiful Latino men. He is an accomplished and versatile performer, host and coach from Brooklyn, New York. He has joined the cast of many hit TV series, including among others. The morning show on Apple TV, who produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, NBC is popular grim and sinister royal henchmen, Marcus responded CBS is Tommy,the hit CBS All Access show why women kill starring Lucy Liu free forms hid the secret life of American teenager as Reuben on Rica's and CBS his SEAL team as CIA operative Greg Smith. other credits include modern families SWAT Magnum PI shameless 911. Good trouble, The Mentalist Madam Secretary, tweeted this out 24 NCIS New Orleans.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 3:12

I'm going on now. 4040 plus years of being in the entertainment industry as as a professional. So clearly, if I don't like it by now I have issues. Or love it, I should say right now, there are many things that that feed my soul that I have a real passion for that I absolutely love doing. And being a show businesses is by far one of them. So

Lisa Hopkins: 3:35

yeah, what do you think it is that you love about it? What stuff means to one person is, you know, means means something different to another? What is it for you? And maybe that's changed? I don't know.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 3:45

No, I mean, the one constant. And you know, again, I my origins, my beginnings were in theater. And I know I probably sound cliche, but it's that rush that you get from being able to connect with an audience and have them and yourself as an actor, performer. Just escape for like, a couple of hours each night and take the audience away to a different place. And then as an actor, performer, feeling that satisfaction when they plot at the end of the show, which is essentially saying not just great job, thank you for taking me away, but helping me think about things in a different way beyond just entertaining me. Because let's face it, we're out there for escapism for entertain people, that people have long days. And you know, they have stressful days sometimes. And it's like they want to go see a movie to get away from it all I need to unwind, everything is unwind. It's a human necessity. And without it, I think I think we're in trouble as a society. You know, it's part of our therapy, and it serves its purpose. And that's that's it, among other things,

Lisa Hopkins: 4:57

actors, provide that platform that permission for the people that are taking in what they are giving to feel.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 5:05

Yeah. And oftentimes people forget, you know, whether we're talking about theater or dance or opera or television or film. You know, it's a collaborative effort. There are many people involved with bringing that, that entertainment that satisfaction to the individual to the audience. So It's like I may be the actor, I may be the the catalyst, the, the tool that's actually out there on the stage or in front of the camera performing. But let's not forget the director, let's not forget the lighting designer, and let's not forget the writer, the lyricist, the composer. It's a team effort. It's a team effort. And that's also another aspect of, of our industry that I love on the whole, that sense of family of unity of like, a, you know, we're all bringing something to the table here. And it's always hopefully you hope something special, can you can you paint a picture for us of what the rhythm of your days is, like, at this moment, in being an actor and having that be my career, it can be pretty erratic, or it changes from one day or one week to the next. But by and large, especially with the fact that you know, Cindy, and I have I have a four year old little boy, it's getting him up in the morning. And you know, Monday through Friday, waking him up, making sure these all cleaned up, brushing his teeth, going potty and all that stuff, getting his breakfast and lunch and off to school. And then I go about my day, the way I go about my day, a side effect of the pandemic has been the uptick in at home. You know, self tape auditions, because casting offices just aren't seeing people anymore. That's become the status quo. And there's pluses and minuses to that. So there'll be days when I do that, but there's nothing. There's nothing even remotely routine about it. If that makes any sense. I don't know. It's it's routine. But it's not. Because every day I wake up, I'm just I'm just happy to be alive. First and foremost. And I know it sounds corny, but you know, I'm blessed. Because I have like a wonderful family. We're all healthy, knock on wood. And and that's another thing that that many of us do, or don't take for granted these days, obviously, with the circumstances being they would the way they are with this pandemic.

Lisa Hopkins: 7:17

You don't strike me as it'd be needing to be very rigid and organized. And when it's not, you feel like oh my god, I have to fill it. I'm not hearing that at all. I'm hearing sort of a trust, trust the process. You know, things come in and come out. This is the way it is. And so I'm gonna flow. I mean, it sounds like flow to me.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 7:34

Bullseye, Bullseye. It's you know, every day is every day is different. And like I said, I'm doing this meaning, like the way I approach and let them look, don't get me wrong. I mean, it hasn't been like all you know, Rosie, for those 40 plus years of being in the entertainment industry, I've been, by and large, blessed enough to say, Okay, I've made this my career haven't really needed to get those side jobs or think about a different career path, or, you know, I've had those moments, I've had those really dark times, and those in the valleys that come alongside the peaks. You know, make no mistake, but by the same token, by and large, I've been lucky and blessed enough to say, All right, you know, this is good. And, you know, I socked away enough cash that even though things are pretty tough right now, we can weather the storm. Yeah, every every day is is you know, aspects of it are routine and other aspects of it are like, yeah, not routine. And sometimes, as you know, sometimes we get thrown curves, where it's just like, oh, well, I wasn't expecting that, or that was very last minute or Okay, I need to do that. And, you know, adjust accordingly. I used to get bent out of shape with that kind of stuff, and get frustrated. And it's like, Are you kidding me? They want this do now and what? And it's like, alright, rewind a little. Let's take it let's take it a step back. And I've learned to do that I've learned to not get so heated or upset or bent out of shape when something happens, that isn't the normal way of things happening, you know, last minute audition. Or, you know, hey, this is we're auditioning you for a series regular on a major television show. Here's 10 pages of size that you need to learn and it needs to be dude by tomorrow, Mike. What? Yeah, how's he How inconsiderate don't tell these casting directors, and people think about that. And then it's just like, Excuse Excuse, Excuse Excuse? And it's like, you know, I mean, damn it. I'm a professional, in spite of the fact that those things would hurt me. But again, I've learned to say, hey, you know, if I react that way, there's going to be somebody else who was auditioning for the same thing who's going to look at it and say, here's what it is. Just got to do my best. I just got to do my best. It's not ideal, but I'm going to do my best because getting all bent out of shape and then flipping out serves nobody It serves no purpose except to just make you all flustered and frustrated. And that's the last thing you want to do when you want to prepare for something and be your best. You know, So,

Lisa Hopkins: 10:23

oh, yeah, well, 100% percent. I mean, and that's, that's like the heart of the work that I do, which is about where we choose to respond rather than react, how we choose to respond rather than react and that it's by choice, not by default. Right? And that we understand that all those voices that rush in, you know, give ourselves a little grace, because we're hardwired, that's fear that's going, you're not going to be ready, you're not going to be as good as you can. But what it does, what it does is it holds you back. Yeah, takes energy away from the fact that, you know, you're gonna do it anyway. I mean, one thing, if you if you just gonna make the choice to not do it, no, I choose not to do it, because I cannot present myself in the way. But if you're going to do it anyways, then why on earth, divide your energy? Sure, you know, what, actually, you need? You need all that support?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 11:12

Yeah. And I think one of the things that I, you know, again, this is, this is, this has a lot to do with with, you know, age experience and maturity factor, if you want to even talk about that. But, you know, when you say something like, you can make the choice to not do it, you know, there's one way of approaching it, which is like, well, I, I don't have the time to prepare it the way I want to. So I'm going to politely decline. What I used to do was a no, no approach to it, it's like, I'm going to stick it to them. So I'm not going to do this, the hell with them. Which is like, that's just, that's just childish. But I would do that, that would, that would be my thought process. I wouldn't say it out loud. But that would be my thought process, like FM, I'm not going to go about it this way. And, again, what purpose that set serves, it's a learn, just not be in that mindset. And honestly, I got it from from all sides to say, you know, you need to, you need to kind of change your, your thinking about this. And even my manager to some extent, you know, who I who I've known for just as many, almost as many years as I've been, you know, a professional actor. You know, she pointed that out to me, too. She's like, listen, that's the way these things are. So you have to either accept it, roll, you know, ride that wave, and roll roll with the punches, or you can be flustered and upset and irritated by this as much as you want, but see how far it'll get you. And once I flipped that perspective, you know, it was, it was a straight shot, everything was going up, up, up, up, up, up, up. Yeah. So

Lisa Hopkins: 12:56

how did you do that? Do you remember what sort of was there a pivotal moment, or

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 13:00

I had people I had people call me out on it, you know, just they like, like, my manager was just like, you know, you're, you're being an asshole, you're being an idiot, you know, that or, you know, okay, I get it, you're pissed off, you're, you're frustrated and things like that. But, but here's the thought I don't, you know, from this perspective, or I would talk to other friends, and express how I felt about the whole thing. And they would say the same thing. They'd be like, so what, so what, oh, but what they said to you last minute, what are you gonna do not working in a unit just like, Not accept things or, or bitch about it. And you know, just to satisfy a point that you're trying to make, and then then where are you going to be at after that, we're going to be jobless, and without an opportunity to show that you can do so. It's just, it was just good friends, you know, family members calling me out on it. And that's, and that's what friends and family are for that the good ones, the ones that are that that will, you know, be brave and strong enough to say, I'm telling you this because I love you knock it off, or whatever. You know, it's like an intervention II type thing.

Lisa Hopkins: 14:07

I love that. But that's an amazing distinction because I was gonna ask you and you kind of almost clarified it for me just then that I'm so into distinctions, but the distinction between like, the reason why you did I understand that, you know, somebody could be told Listen, you're being an asshole, you're not going to work. And then you could go shit, I'm not going to work I better change my attitude. That's one thing. But I heard you loud and clear your value and connection to the people you love and showing up as a as the human that you want to be with the people that you love, which yes does allow you to work but but it was only that if they came to you if somebody you know, some random person came to you and said, if you're an asshole, you're not going to work. I don't think you'd be is it wouldn't be sustainable. a mindset shift.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 14:53

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I mean, like I said, as as old as I am right now, it's, you know, we all do as at least as if we accept the fact that we're always learning and changing and trying to adapt and adjust and improve till the day we leave this earth. Yeah, that's another perspective that I have. I don't, I don't claim or I put myself out to be a no at all because of my age and my experience and my maturity. Like I said, you know, you know, Cindy, and I have a beautiful four year old, healthy little boy. And there's so many things that that little boy teaches me teaches us about like myself about life. And, you know, I try to be a good dad, you know, I know this sounds corny, too. But I know I'm not all there. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. But, you know, I want to learn from those mistakes so that I can be the best dad for impossible. And, and I had a great dad, I had a fantastic dad who, you know, he had a great life, you know, cancer took him away, almost was like 2022. So we're talking like, seven years ago, but he lived a good life till he was 80. And he probably got a bit a lot a lot longer where we're at now for stage four brain cancer. And he fought you fought really hard, but I love that guy. Because I, I learned so much from him. And he was tough on me. And he called me on my shit when I was a spoiled No at all teenager with a real attitude. And he would call me on it night. And in hindsight, I respect him for that, because I so was glad that he did that with me. Because it's it straightened me out, it straightened me out. And, you know, I just tried to emulate him as much as I can, all those positive things, you know, I cherry pick, there's some things that I hope to that my dad did. We knew he loved us. So we knew in our own heads, even when we were young kids that he loved us, you know, and he would say that card, he wouldn't be comfortable, like necessarily saying out loud. But you know, that's the one thing that I sort of, like, different from my dad, you know, I say, hey, Zane, I love you. Daddy loves you very much, you know, say things like that. I love you to dad. And it just makes my day that just everything all the negative, yucky. I had a shitty day or whatever. And he says that I'm done. It's like, that's all I need. So, yeah, it's a challenge. It's a real challenge. And sometimes I'm just like, oh, man, am I doing this? Right? And I'm like, you know, I just get worried. And sometimes they get a little bit helicopter re you know, helicopter parent. Am I doing too much? Am I being too safe with him? And my Am I being too lacks, and it's like, oh, man, it's the ultimate like, mind. App, you know? Yeah,

Lisa Hopkins: 17:55

I do know.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 17:56

Right? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Because we're both parents and no, crazy. So it's

Lisa Hopkins: 18:03

so interesting. I'm just curious from minute to, to see what that family makeup was with your wonderful dad and your siblings, How many siblings?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 18:12

I'm the youngest of five kids. I have three older brothers. And then my sister is the oldest out of all of us. Okay, about a 20 are different than not about there's a 10 year difference between my oldest sister and the end of the youngest, like I said,

Lisa Hopkins: 18:24

okay, and were you the only one that pursued the arts of all of you? Or,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 18:28

Yes, that really, really pursued it. My, one of my older brothers, my brother, Andy, he's, uh, you know, the crazy thing about it, that he's the most artistically gifted out of all of us. He's a self taught musician. He's an excellent artists, like he can paint and sketch and do all these types of things. He's very creative. He's got major, major right brain thing going on way, way, way more blessed and artistically talented than I am. But I was the only one in the family who, you know, went that route to was the rebel for lack of a better word. But I got support, you know, I got I really got support from from both my parents. They were never like, oh, no, that's, that's crazy. You shouldn't do that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They were very supportive, I'll be it a little bit apprehensive and concern as with any therapy, you know, so did you just want to make sure that I'm okay that I have a way to, to make a living and that I'm not struggling financially and all that stuff. So but, you know, there was a little bit of like, my father living vicariously to me because he wanted to be an actor, performer and all that stuff. And he couldn't do it because he had five mouths to feed. And he made a conscious decision to say now isn't more important, can't do it anymore. So any of my successes, he absolutely adored it, absolutely like and that just made me even more happy. The fact that he was able to appreciate what I was doing my successes as well as my failures in showbiz in general. And, you know, thank God I mean, he was able to see a lot of like, my major, major peak moments my my successes before he did pass away, he got to see me on Broadway, he got to see me on TV numerous times. And he would always ask, you know, how did that audition don't Oh, you didn't get an ad. It's okay. Those those areas don't know what they're thinking they're their laws, and he would have that mentality It's like, what? You'd have been perfect for that. And then, you know, if I booked it, he'd be like, Hey, I knew what I knew you're gonna get and stuff like that.

Lisa Hopkins: 20:29

That's brilliant. How old were you when you left New York because you were there for a bit on Broadway. And then

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 20:37

when I went, I went away to college and went to SUNY Purchase. And I was in there for like, my first two years. And then I dropped out in my sophomore year, you know, basically, after my spring semester, sophomore year, so I did a full sophomore year before I decided to hit the road hit the pavement, you know, hit the ground running. And a lot of that was just like, you know, me having the feeling that what I was doing, there wasn't really right. For me, I wanted to I wanted to really hit the pavement, I was already a professional actor at that time, you know, working, not not doing big gigs and stuff like that. But I was a working actor. So I made that decision that I was just like, I just want to delve into this, you know, full throttle. And as soon as I left, it was a struggle, you know, I had saved up a pretty good amount of money with the money that I was making, from commercials and bookings, as a young kid, to, to sock away to get me out to the West Coast, the first time I came out was really horrible. Not a lot of stuff going on here. There was an earthquake that happened in LA, which, you know, really threw things out of whack industry wise. And it just kind of hit a brick wall, when I came out here wasn't ready for it came back to New York. And as soon as I did within, like, two or three months, I got the European tour West Side Story, which was my first kind of grown up professional on my own gig that I got. And that was, that was an experience that was that was probably to this day, one of the best most fulfilling experiences, life experiences that I have had in my life, not just a life experience, not just from from my own perspective as as as a person, but professionally as well. I was I was just turned 20, it was 90 and it just turned 20. So I was a baby, you know, I was a baby. And then I did that for about a year I was thinking about staying for a year and my manager said absolutely not get back to New York, you know, you're gonna you're gonna do more stuff here. And I was like, but really, I'm making good money and you coming back to New York. And it was the best advice she had ever given me. Because like two months after that, I got Richie Valens and Buddy, the Buddy Holly story. And then after that, it was just pretty much like, up and up, you know, just pretty good roller coaster ride from from from then on.

Lisa Hopkins: 23:02

So curious to know, pre pandemic, there were certain systems that we had in place, right? What systems did you have in place that you still take with you? What systems did you discover that you're going to now extract and continue on? Which ones don't serve you anymore? What shifted for you?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 23:19

Oh, boy, the one thing that sticks out to me the most was that the pandemic forced me to be not forced me, I shouldn't say that. A side effect of the pandemic was that it made me more resourceful. Obviously, things were rough, because there wasn't anything going on show business wise, and pretty much just in general. That, you know, like, oh, god, how am I going to make money? Do I have enough to cover my back, thankfully, you know, I was working so much pre pandemic, that I was able to collect unemployment and things like that. So those things help. And then you had the pandemic relief. So that really, like gave me that even better cushion from the max that I was getting paid from, from unemployment. But it really just just forced me to say, All right, I don't have much here. How am I going to, you know, keep the cupboards full of food and things like that, and how am I going to pay all these things just really made me more aware and self aware? And more proactive. I was getting, I was in that mindset of like, well, if I don't do these things, right, nobody gonna do them for me. So I think there was a certain comfort level, a certain auto pilot mode that I speak for myself that I was enjoying or living through that the pandemic then made me say, alright, you really got to stay on top of yourself and watch your health and and do these things because nobody's going to do them for you. Nobody's going to come to the rescue and things of that nature. But there was a there was a real kind of like self awareness that I was really experiencing enjoying discovering And the self awareness was gratitude for being healthy. And gratitude for what I already have in life and that the things that I love and people that I love and care about, we're all doing well. And that we would check in gratitude for that connection that I had with people that we were caring for each other that you know, and you could probably relate to this because it's not unlike New York, how it was when 911 happened. Everyone was like this. And everyone in New York was like, are you okay? Are you okay? Whatever you need, I got your back. Okay. It was a sense of community. Again, it was a sense, a sense of, like, let's all take care of each other. Because if we don't take care of each other, who is so the pandemic and a lot of ways brought about those same emotions, those same dynamics. And it was great. It was it was really refreshing to know that, that our humanity was becoming apparent again, that if nothing else, I mean, as horrible as it was, what the pandemic did for me, again, speaking for myself was bring about that sense of humanity. Yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 26:33

What you described sounded to me like, it's not that you weren't going that you were going through life being ungrateful. But you were going through life go so quickly, probably, because things go well, that you didn't take the moment to savor it. It's like it until something's taken away from you.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 26:50

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That that happened that happened in spades with with everything that I was experienced. And then I think that that's a good point that you that you brought up because you lose sight of the fact that what you've got already and it's like, you don't want to lose that stuff. And, and, you know, things got really scary. They're really scary sketchy. Definitely those those feelings of hopelessness and oh, is this it? And this is, this is very Twilight Zone, a very black mirror stuff going on right now. When things did get skips there you do you do focus on the things that you have in you, and you cherish them, and you don't want to you don't want to lose them. You don't want to lose them.

Lisa Hopkins: 27:34

Yeah. What's your definition of living in the moment,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 27:37

I really try to focus on the present, it's definitely a struggle for me, but I try to live in the present and just focus on what's going on right now. What I can not necessarily control, but what I can see what's tangible in my life for now that that for me is living in the moment. You can plan for the future, you can dwell on the past, however, positive or negative it was and also, I wish I had done that better. You know, but having, you know, learning a lesson from your past and dwelling on it are two vastly different things. That's why I like to just be as present and aware and as, as self aware, in the present as much as possible and enjoy that moment or savor it or, you know, trudge through it if the, if the present is not so great.

Lisa Hopkins: 28:35

Let me ask you this. Think about somebody that that truly admires you. And if I asked this person, you know, what they admire about you? What what would they be telling me

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 28:46

my humor, sense of humor. I kind of have like a, you know, goofball, sense of humor, this person that just came to mind that if you were to ask them, it's like, oh, he just, he makes me laugh. And I can be having the shittiest day and he'll say something that will make me laugh. And that makes me feel good, that I'm able to provide that to just even one person, you know. And, you know, I like to be kind, Zane, and I were at the market. And, you know, anytime Zane and I are out, we're always like, playful, and we goof around. And we do all kinds of fun stuff that, you know, a lot of fathers and sons do with the same, you know, times, and we're about to leave, and I've got the bags, you know, with Zane and tau. And this woman just randomly comes up to me and she just came out of out of nowhere and just said I don't usually does, I just want to say, you're just, you're just so lovely with your son. Because I guess she was watching me the way we were interacting with each other while we were just waiting in line. So she was about two people behind me or something like that. Unbeknownst to me, she was watching how I was with him. We were playing with each other and he would say things and I would laugh and I would say something and he would laugh. I'm paraphrasing here but she said something to the extent of like, if you're if your son ever becomes the father you are you know you've and I exactly I mean I was just like like, that's The most beautiful thing you've ever said, or that I've ever heard, but I mean, at least it came out of nowhere. I was just like, this, this doesn't happen. How random is that? But I'll tell you, it just it just made my day because I wasn't expecting it. And it was just so nice for someone to just come out of left field just just out of out of sheer desire. Just share that with me. And it was great. And I was like, Faith restored to humanity. I mean, that not only that, it just felt good hearing that, but it was really nice that it was genuine and it was heartfelt. It was sincere, but it made me feel good. And even even Zane was just like, what was that? Like? I don't know, saying but I just am.

Lisa Hopkins: 31:09

But daddy, she made you cry? No, no.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 31:12

She made she made you she made a single solitary tear like Allah, Denzel Washington come down your face like. So. It's beautiful. Things like that. Yeah, exactly. You know, just, you know, you hear stuff like that, it just makes your day. And it's not that I was having a particularly shitty day that morning. Nothing like that was like, I was having a horrible day and this lady come up and said something like that. It just, it just adds to what is already there. You know, this. One is

Lisa Hopkins: 31:43

totally, and you know, what's really cool about that, and I love that you're, I don't know that you're overlooking it. But it says a lot about you and how generous you are, you know, just just receiving this moment and it bringing you joy, which is is gorgeous. But you know, you you created that you created that joy by being joyful with your son. Yeah, yeah. So you are seeing and so it's just literally the co creation of, of that of connection of joy of the essence of humanity. Right. I mean, that that was a moment.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 32:14

Yeah, yeah. It's, and again, it's just, it's just in my nature to be that way. It's, there's, there's no, there's no pretentiousness. And then that interaction that I have with Zane or anybody else for that matter. You know, again, with with age, and with time, I've learned to just accept with, you know, being myself and being comfortable with that, you know, I, I am who I am. And it's like, take me or leave me all my pluses and minuses, this is me, you know. And you, you hope that by and large, it's something that the people around you that, that love you or are around you. It's it's it's positive enough that that they enjoy having you around. That makes any sense? Oh, yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 33:07

No, absolutely. You know, I asked you on the preform, I asked you, what stands between you and who you want to be? How does that manifest

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 33:17

for you? You know, again, when I was when I was younger, looking back in hindsight at a lot of the misses, that, you know, that I've had in life, again, not not not looking at it from a regret perspective, just just a life lesson perspective. I've learned to just say, Listen, any any future successes or any new things that you're going to learn in life, things that you're going to tackle challenges that you're going to accept and overcome and all that stuff, it's all up to me, it's, you know, if I want to learn something new, or go to school, again, I'm, I'm going to be the impetus. It's not it's, it's, you know, I'm the actual one that's, that's out there making the conscious decision to say, I want to do this, I want to learn that I want to improve on that I want to, I want to challenge myself to do this, I want to, you know, be a better that, I want to be less of that, you know, less of that thing that I don't want to be anymore. It's It's me, you know, I'm the common denominator. And, and that's not always

Lisa Hopkins: 34:22

easy. What stands out to me that's really unique about you. You know, when you look at your bio, and the different different types of work that you do, talk to me about the diversity of your of your resume and all the things you've done and do.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 34:37

Oh, gosh, yeah. I mean, I want to do as many things as I can. I want to have knowledge, and be in as many different genres as I can to give myself the opportunity to not just work but make money doing so. If that makes any sense. Yep. So, so when I would start that learning process, it was early on when I was realizing that I didn't want to stand pat, you know, being like, what they call the triple threat. I could sing dance and act and that's why I was doing so much musical theater and regular theater in my origins in New York. But, you know, I knew that I wanted not just more but I really had More of a different path as much as I love doing theater and like theater and what was also feeding my soul was being in front of a camera. And then that turned into like, oh, well, you know, like, I'm really getting seen for a lot of these things that involve like action and stuff like that. And so then that would segue into me taking martial arts classes, or western style boxing and stuff like that, because it's like, okay, I'm doing a lot of this stuff, where it's actually I want to look good doing that. So I would start training with like, you know, these boxing instructors or martial arts people, it was always that desire to say, Okay, this is good. But if I learned that I can do more of this. And if I add that to my resume, I can do more of that. And that's, that's where the diversity comes from that just just that desire to just expand the horizons, the proverbial horizons with learning, and, and I still do that to this day.

Lisa Hopkins: 36:16

Hey, what do you think? If there were no arts, God forbid, in the world? For whatever reason? Yeah, what would you do? What do you think you would do?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 36:24

I don't know. Probably, you know, probably, I would do something involving like food. Because even though I'm not, I'm not that good a cook, I actually went to, you know, took take a couple of cooking classes and stuff like that years ago. So I would probably be doing something related to that, whether I, you know, I'm a chef, or short or cook, or a maitre d at a really nice restaurant, or something like that, or a manager of a food place, or, or, or a bartender or a mixologist, or something like that. Because it coincides with this desire for me to like, you know, give and, you know, what, as actors and performers, one of the perspectives of I have is when I'm performing, I'm entertaining. So that's I'm giving something I'm giving my my ability to entertain to someone, and hopefully they like it, or, you know, they, they, they're pleased that with what I do well, in much the same way, if I making something that makes people belly feel good, then that makes me feel good. Oh, you like when I cooked? You? Great. That's awesome. You like that drink? I made you. It makes me so happy here. I'll make you another one. Yep, so totally. That's probably like the first thing that comes to mind. That's probably what I wouldn't be doing if no artist existed, but thankfully, artists do exist. And I am a real big proponent of that I need to make me absolutely insane when, you know, when, you know, government and school districts and take away programs and arts programs. And Lisa, you again, you know, as well as I do, how incredibly beneficial and important and necessary Arts is for kids. So it's like when you take that shit away, it's like, Come on, man. You're really really eating away at at a core need for a society be not just a good society, but thriving, successful society. And if we don't have artists, like we're done, we're done. We're done. We're done.

Lisa Hopkins: 38:37

Well, hell yeah. So how do you how do you want to be remembered?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 38:43

Oh, boy. Well, for me, this is gosh, I guess I want to be remembered as as someone who cared, I care. I care. You know, I care about how well people did I care about how society on the whole is doing? And how generous I tried to be with, you know, my time, my love for people my propensity to want to give I guess that's how I'd like to be remembered. Yeah, Phil was generous. He was he was kind of nice, generous, you know. And loving and loving that too much.

Lisa Hopkins: 39:38

And funny. They'll say that anyways, right? Yeah,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 39:41

right. Right. Yeah. Except, you know, like it this is something that a lot of performing parents have to deal with it. It's like we could be like the funniest most entertaining person to any Joe Schmo out there. Jane Doe out there in public. Oh, my eyes I am otter, Bobby or Lars and stuff like that. And to the one person where it matters most where you try to be funny with your own child, and he looks at you like deadpan, like you have three heads, like get out of my face. You're stupid. That's not what he's saying. But that's the look that he's giving you. It's like, Hey, I'm giving you my best stuff. And it's like, Yeah, Dad, it's not funny. And there's, you know, as long as I did that, there's probably going to be more of that. It's like embarrassing that

Lisa Hopkins: 40:22

so Oh boy, you're not making it very easy for your son who's growing up with a dad who was not only voted like the most beautiful man in the world or whatever, but also has an action figure.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 40:35

Oh, well, you know, I worry about that too. I really worry. And I shouldn't say worry about it. Concern is a better word. So I kind of wonder how this is going to pan out. And I, you know, I'm not a celebrity. But I work enough that, you know, people will recognize me on the street and stuff like that, as it relates to Zayn. He's still too young. But I wonder how it's going to manifests itself in him when he sees that. And you know, whether it'll be like, Oh, that does that. It's cool. Or it's like, Oh, my God. This is embarrassing. You know, I don't know. That's fine. And I'll cross that bridge when I get there. But I've heard other you know, people in show business talk about that. I,

Lisa Hopkins: 41:17

you know, I'm reminded of the story you told me about the woman that stopped you in the in the store or pointed out how you were being with Zayn. And how beautiful that was? Right? And it's amazing how differently that could have gone if it was a fan. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's got to be really hard to navigate. You can't control what other people do. It's tricky. So thank god, you're experiencing some of those things with him, you know, just being recognized for being wonderful with him. Yeah, so most people think Phillip Anthony Rodriguez is but the truth is about me. Yeah. So finish the phrase, right. So most people think Philip Anthony Rodriguez is, but the truth is thought that

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 42:05

way us really good toughies I mean, man, I would, I would think I would get in this is I'm only relating it to what I do as a career and stuff that I'm self centered sometimes. And the reality is, is just like I couldn't be more like self conscious sometimes or modest. In, in being able to, like, express how more of a boastful, it's just not. That's just not in my nature to do that. But I guess it's some sometimes. My confidence, and we talked about this earlier might read is just like, well, who the hell does he think he is? When it's just like, it's that's vastly different from self love and self pride and being confident about what you're able to do? So I would say I would say, No, I'm not self centered. I mean, the complete opposite is true. Just, you know, I like who I am as a person by and large, and I like what I'm putting out there. I have a good positive energy. But I don't know, again, I know it sounds like a broken record. I don't know if if, if that makes sense. To you, sir. No,

Lisa Hopkins: 43:37

it makes it makes perfect sense. You're Yeah, no, absolutely.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 43:42

I mean, that's probably that's, that's the only thing that that I if I had like a about, I don't know, maybe about 120 seconds to really think that's the first thing that comes to mind that that's the that's the one that went okay. That's the that's the only thing that kind of pops into my head with it. Yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 44:01

Yeah. I mean, it's funny, because I don't know if you have any data to support that maybe you do. Or if it's you your perception of what you think other people might think your weaknesses are, etc. You know, like, it's funny how that

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 44:15

it's probably don't solely my own perspective.

Lisa Hopkins: 44:19

So that's not how you would like to be perceived. Right? Yeah. Because you don't feel that way at all.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 44:24

And in the past, and sometimes to some extent, I still do it on occasion. Today, I project the hell out of it wasn't thinking that Phil was like, really, I just misread you or something like that. But again, that those those instances are few and far between where I am really projecting.

Lisa Hopkins: 44:45

Hmm. That's interesting.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 44:48

And I think I get that that's certainly like, that's a personality trait that I got from my mom. And it wasn't like of epic proportions with her. But especially like in her older age, she would like get a little bit paranoid about what people were thinking or doing and like nothing could be further from the truth. Like we would all say it like, oh, man, I'm that mom does that I'm starting to do that shit. I better I better keep tariffs.

Lisa Hopkins: 45:17

Well, it's interesting because it's a defense mechanism, isn't it? I mean, we'd rather say your Thinking this so that you're facing it. Right. Yeah.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 45:26

And the thing is, is that generationally, it diminishes because my, my grandmother, her mother had that stuff and like, it was crazy. It's like, you can be like, she's out to get me. She's trying to destroy. Like, what? No, no, my sweet grandmother, nothing. My mom would my mom would tell her and it's like, and she rolled her eyes and she'd be like, she's, she's crazy. She's going on and on about

Lisa Hopkins: 45:53

oh my god, that's hilarious. So I say what makes you and I say a word and you just let me know. It doesn't have to be fast. You can do if you want. I mean, up to you. So Okay, you ready?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 46:04

I'm ready. Okay, here we go.

Lisa Hopkins: 46:06

What makes you hungry?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 46:09

Ah. You mean? Like not not busy? Oh, okay. So Well, yeah. Okay, this that ambiguous Oh, it makes me hungry. What makes me hungry.

Lisa Hopkins: 46:23

Love to be in your head right now. So is there a fight going on in there between

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 46:28

seriously, I'm swimming right now. My my, my 3% of my brain uses swimming. I say that because we're, you know, supposedly, like we only use 3% of our brains. Gosh. Oh, the unknown. And unknown. The unexpected makes me hungry. Huh?

Lisa Hopkins: 46:52

Yeah. That's cool. So, do you find that that fortifies you? Like, you know, when you're hungry? Sometimes people get hangry when they're hungry, like some people get irritated some people get so. So when you when you feel hungry for something like that? How does that how does that show up for you?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 47:14

Oh, man, I just want to I want to meet that hunger. I want to satisfy that hunger. You know, a complimentary word could be like, craving. I also crave wanting to see this project or see that movie. I crave wanting to go to this class because Oh, I could learn so much about that. I'm going to do this, you know. So I think that's what I meant by unexpected. There's a there's a pleasantness there's an excitement that comes from the unexpected. You surprised? If I know what's coming then it's like, well, what's the point when you get on a roller coaster ride? It's really scary. Okay, great. Let me find out for myself. You sure you want to get on that roller coaster? Okay, I'm gonna come hell or high water. I'm going on this roller coaster and I get on in the you know, the first two seconds, I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. And then like the next remaining 30 I'm just like this the best thing ever. So it's that. It's that joy, and thrill and rush that you get from the unexpected. I think that's what makes me hungry. And that's everything.

Lisa Hopkins: 48:25

What makes you sad?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 48:28

Ah, oh, boy. I guess disappointing people. Makes me sad when I'm like when either through my actions or inaction. Someone saddened by what I did or didn't do. Does that make sense? Because it can be both. It's like, well, you didn't do this. So now I'm sad. Or you did this that really made me sad. And when I see that in people's eyes You know, I get really sad. When I sense the disappointment in people that makes me sad. Yeah.

Lisa Hopkins: 49:15

For sure, do you get sad when you can't fix something that you want to fix for somebody?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 49:22

Absolutely. Absolutely. Because I you know, by nature, I'm a giver, I'm a fixer. I want to be able to, you know, provide and be there for people and not at you know, risking my own self or my taking care of myself. But you know, I'm the type of person who derives more pleasure from Christmas time sitting around the Christmas tree giving gifts and seeing them open that that gift and then me opening up something that someone's gotten me know that this that's not to say that I don't enjoy getting gifts or having nice things for me. But oh, that sheer joy that I get from seeing my kid opening up a gift or wrapping something like that, and I was able to give him that.

Lisa Hopkins: 50:10

For sure. I know. Thank you for sharing that. What inspires you? Oh,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 50:16

people inspire me. It's where I get my my I power my ammunition to do what I do when I'm auditioning for something or when I'm auditioning for a role or trying to create a character, what frustrates you, for the same reason that I'm inspired by humanity, I'm also perturbed and disturbed and frustrated with society's ills. We don't have to have the climate issues that we're having right now. We don't have to have homelessness. We don't have to have children hungry, which really makes me upset. And it's because of things we can fix. And it just frustrates me that we're not taking into account our children and our children's straight up children in our future. And that's what rush means.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:02

No, absolutely. What makes you laugh,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 51:05

people who find humor, and who can find humor brilliantly, and just every day observances. You know, life's funny or life can be funny. That's what I appreciate. I can appreciate when when people see the humor and everything

Lisa Hopkins: 51:28

that well, it's healing, right. I mean, that's what I'm hearing.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 51:30

It's healing. What makes you angry, meanness I don't like when people are mean and vindictive.

Lisa Hopkins: 51:38

So finally, my friend what makes you grateful,

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 51:42

Oh, gosh. Being alive. And I think that that really becomes more apparent or more in the forefront as the older we get, because, you know, we we start coming to the realization that our time here on earth is very limited. That is finite. So I am grateful that I'm, and I'm healthy, that I'm able to get up out of bed and have a beautiful loving family and children. There's a lot there's a lot of love in this house. So grateful for that. Finally,

Lisa Hopkins: 52:22

what are the what are the top three things that have happened so far? Today?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 52:26

Hmm. Gosh, I mean, like I said, we just moved in, and we're living in a pretty nice slaving place, again, grateful a lot of gratitude for being able to live where I'm at, but just to be able to walk in here and be like, in a nice neighborhood, it's quiet, it's peaceful. You know, I love to getting up in the morning and getting you know, Zane ready for his day. And for school and stuff. I get excited about that. And then once I drop Zane off at school, that 20 minutes to a half an hour that I have and coming back home, but just to be able to say, Oh, this is great. I'm just, it's just me and myself, my car, I can do anything I want, I can listen to anything I want. I don't have to listen to like, Kitty songs or anything like that. It is my realm. This is my time. I can do with it. Whatever I want. And just to be able to have that every now and then it's just like, yes, yes. Alone.

Lisa Hopkins: 53:25

What do you most looking forward to just either today or in general? Do you have something that you said I'm really looking forward to?

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 53:30

I'm really looking forward to the next project I'm working on. I mean, I've been a just I get anxious in a good way. When there's the possibility of me doing something new and different, you know, and that I mean, specifically when it when it comes to acting, you know, and everything that comes with that, you know, again, the excitement, the unexpectedness, what's to come, you know, hopefully if it if it if it pans out, hopefully there'll be a nice you know, that financial reward because with the financial reward and then come to things that I can do for my family and for myself and all that stuff and, you know, do the things that we love to do, which is like get things for people you know,

Lisa Hopkins: 54:10

yeah. Oh my gosh. Such a pleasure. Such a pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you so much for taking the time.

Philip Anthony Rodriguez: 54:18

You take care, you'd be safe. Okay. Yeah,

Lisa Hopkins: 54:21

by I've been speaking today with Philip Anthony Rodriguez. Thanks for listening. Stay safe and healthy everyone and remember to live in the moment. In music, stop time is the beautiful moment where the band is suspended in rhythmic unison, supporting the soloist to express their individuality. In the moment, I encourage you to take that time and create your own rhythm. Until next time, I'm Lisa Hopkins. Thanks for listening