Jack Griffo: The Thundermans Return, Funny Auditions, Kid Baron, and The Ups and Downs of Hollywood

This week on Grounds For Success we have Jack Griffo, best known for his role as Max Thunderman in the hit TV show, The Thundermans, but is also the front man of his band, Kid Baron. In this episode, we explore his career trajectory, from his early acting days in Orlando to a recent movie shoot in the midst of the pandemic, and filming the new The Thundermans Movie. Jack candidly sheds light on his auditions, some of which are hilarious as hell, friendships with Ariel Winter, Lue Benward, Sterling Beaumon, and his decision to keep a low profile on social media, as well as his decision to move to LA at 13 and how he navigated his way into the acting scene in Hollywood.

Our conversation deepens as we dive into Jack's upbringing, his parent's separation, and how that affected him at an early age. Jack opens up about his journey through uncharted territories as a kid from Orlando moving out into the big world of Los Angeles where he didn't know many people. The discussion takes a successful turn as we reminisce about his audition for 'The Thundermans', and how having been friends and classmates with Kira Kosarin, who plays Phoebe Thunderman, worked in his favor. The richness of my conversation with Jack shows that being a professional in this industry for as long as he has gives you certain wisdom that only time can.

We then talk in-depth about how Jack got into music, how he and Kira had created a version of the Thunderman's theme song that was never released, and how he eventually formed the band "Kid Baron" as a way to invite the world to understand himself more deeply since he doesn't like to post his life on social media.

To cap it all off, Jack recounts his unique experience of filming "Don't Log Off," a film that I was also a producer on, at the height of COVID-19, and dives some into filming the brand new The Thunderman's Return movie. Through the highs and lows of his career, Jack offers fascinating insights into the world of acting, the importance of relationships, and the essence of staying grounded amidst success.

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Transcript

Austin Seltzer: 0:01

Welcome to the Grounds for Success podcast. I'm your host, austin Siltzer. Together we'll unveil the keys to success in the music industry. Join me as I explore my guest's life stories and experiences to uncover practical insights to help you align with your goals more effectively. Hey coffee drinkers, welcome to the Grounds for Success podcast. I'm Austin Siltzer and I'm a mixing and mastering engineer with over 10 years of experience in the music business. Today on the show we have Jack Riffo.

Austin Seltzer: 0:38

Jack is best known for his leading role in the TV show the Thundermins. On Nickelodeon he plays Max Thunderman and you know, today we're going to talk about not only acting but also his music career, where he's the frontman of Kid Baron. Jack has won several Kid's Choice awards and he's also been nominated for some teen awards for his role as Max. I met Jack while I was producing a film called Don't Log Off, directed by the Bear Brothers. Sterling Bowman is the one who brought me on to that, and I got to meet Jack through this experience, where he's playing one of the lead roles of this film. Can't wait for you guys to see it one day.

Austin Seltzer: 1:19

In this episode we're going to cover so many things, so many like wise little nuggets, but a couple of little highlights that we're going to talk about is how did Jack get the audition for the pilot in the Thundermins? I think that this is a really cool story and it shows a lot of insight on maybe how you, as either an actor or some other creative, can use perseverance and just being in the right place to get a job, and then, of course, you have to deliver with talent. We hear how Jack met many of his friends, like Ariel Winter, luke Binward, sterling Bowman and I got to know all of them on Don't Log Off, but we learn about how they all kind of came up together and were in a friend circle. We also learn about how Jack just doesn't post everything going on in his world on social media, kind of like why he distances himself from that. But we learn how he's going to use his band, kid Baron, to really spread like who he is with his fans and those around the world.

Austin Seltzer: 2:21

Ultimately, we hear from someone who already has reached great success. I mean, the Thundermins is a huge show, but how does somebody like that continue to persevere, to become the best version of themselves, like how does somebody like that continue to try and achieve more and still be authentic to himself. I think that that's a beautiful lesson from this episode and I can't wait for you to hear it. Alright, let's get caffeinated my brother and caffeine Dude, this is really delicious.

Austin Seltzer: 2:54

Hell yeah.

Jack Griffo: 2:55

Cheers, cheers. I mean, can you do that without alcohol?

Austin Seltzer: 3:00

There's alcohol in it? There's not much.

Jack Griffo: 3:04

I've heard it's like bad to cheers without alcohol.

Austin Seltzer: 3:07

Is it?

Jack Griffo: 3:07

Superstition, I mean you must be into the superstitious. I mean, look at this place.

Austin Seltzer: 3:12

Yeah, this place definitely looks like I am deep into superstition. I actually wear the same you know pair of socks every single time that I do a podcast.

Jack Griffo: 3:20

I thought you were about to say every day. I was like that's cool.

Austin Seltzer: 3:25

That would be so rank. Yeah, holy crap. No, but is that actually a thing they are not supposed to? Cheers without alcohol.

Jack Griffo: 3:34

It is a thing, yeah. Dude whatever, bad luck that brings.

Austin Seltzer: 3:39

I have been doing it forever.

Jack Griffo: 3:42

No wonder, look, none of this place is haunted yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 3:45

People say that they see a phantom in that picture up there.

Jack Griffo: 3:50

Get out of here bro, get out of here. I just saw it up there yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 3:54

You did that.

Jack Griffo: 3:55

I wish that I could be in to that. You did that. Oh yeah, I'm like no way.

Austin Seltzer: 4:00

There's a remote, you know.

Jack Griffo: 4:03

You got me for a second. I thought there was not a phantom there. I mean, there is not now, but it's you, it's Austin, it is Now. Do you do the check? When you have a beer? Do you check it on?

Austin Seltzer: 4:17

Oh yeah, yeah, you do that, yeah, definitely.

Jack Griffo: 4:20

I only picked that up like a few years ago and I'm 26. So I feel like I was a little late to the game. Everyone's like checking their drink. I'm like, what are you doing?

Austin Seltzer: 4:31

Well, especially with a shot. If you don't do that with a shot, that's bad luck.

Jack Griffo: 4:35

I don't really take shots, I'm such a pussy.

Austin Seltzer: 4:37

I don't really either, but I've taken more than you know I probably should. I'm taking a whole lot of shots.

Jack Griffo: 4:44

I don't know. It feels great but it's so bad, it tastes so bad and it's not worth it to me. I mean, like I guess the past 10 years, like I would much rather get a little high than drink because I feel like it just the next day is better. I like the inebriation better. Yeah, I'm not the biggest drinker.

Austin Seltzer: 5:13

Yeah, and I think that's awesome. Honestly, I love smoking. I would say that I don't smoke a ton, but I don't know how you quantify that.

Jack Griffo: 5:24

Like I'll right.

Austin Seltzer: 5:26

Like I legitimately will take a hit because I feel like it hits me more or harder than other people. And then I'll play, like right now I'm playing Diablo 4. I'm just having a fucking blast with it, so I'll mix. You know, I'll be working on a track and then, whenever I'm printing it down which for those listening just means like I'm taking out of my computer and putting on a dropbox or whatever so we can listen on the phone or speakers and then I'll go up and I'll play some Diablo, I'll kick some shit out of demons and but, not, and then I'll go back.

Jack Griffo: 5:57

But when I came here when I was 13 and never smoked, you know which a lot of people at 13 haven't smoked, but that changed very quickly. You know, when I got to know people and you know kids, teenagers, running around like they're smoking weed you know, right and and right away I was just like this is what I can't believe, that I've been missing out on this. You know, and so for seven, eight years it was.

Jack Griffo: 6:25

You know I was sneaking around trying to do it and it created a whole part of my life that if I could go back I would. I would not do truly. And that's one thing that people ask me. When you know if you could give advice to younger self, I would say I would never have picked up weed, to be honest, yeah, because it's. It really took away a lot of my ambition as a youngster. Yeah, and now that I'm older, I, you know you can think about what, what if going back and what, what then, but you really, you really can't. You know you got to get a look forward, but when I do, what's the word? Not recollect, reminisce, recollect, reminisce, same.

Austin Seltzer: 7:18

Is it recollect?

Jack Griffo: 7:19

On the past, I'm like, wow, I did. I wasted a lot of time and so it, but it's inspiring now for the future. You know what I mean. I feel like when I turn 25, like it's true what they say about, like your frontal lobe cortex, so what it even what it is when it develops, like fully, like my decision making, my worldview, like everything I thought about everybody and I think slowing down on the weed contributed as well but also, just turning 25, brain developed. Everything changed last year. Like I started thinking about the future.

Jack Griffo: 7:57

I started thinking about what I really want, which is such a big thing in life. Like what do you want? Like I started this life coaching thing and the like. Second session maybe this is the first session. He was like five years what do you want in your life? Like no, nothing is too big, nothing's too unachievable. Like what's Jack's perfect life? And I started doing that to my friends.

Jack Griffo: 8:26

You know I started like life coaching my friends when I started life, like bleeding into my life, and you know I'm just a big believer in like whatever you want in life is, is available for you, it's real, you can touch it, you can feel it, you can taste it, literally whatever you want, even if it's not happening to you yet. If you want it and you are, you know you're doing the proper things you need to be doing to achieve those goals daily Then you, like, you are that thing already. Like one of my friends just the other day was was telling me he just turned 23 yesterday and I was just telling you I was DJing his little party at the studio, yeah, and he was telling me like, oh, like you know, he just got out of a relationship and that was a big, you know, burden off of his shoulder, as I feel, and he was saying I just can't wait to to be like, full functioning, I can't wait to like, you know, be that guy, you know, I feel like I'm going to, I'm going to get there and I'm like just be it, like stop trying. Like, when people tell me like, oh, I'll try, I'll try to do that, it's like there's no try, like it's just the exact same person.

Jack Griffo: 9:45

You know what I'm saying.

Austin Seltzer: 9:46

I have this conversation all the time. It's only do and be.

Jack Griffo: 9:49

Yes, I, and if you're in that, if you're living out of there, fruit will begin to pop up in your life.

Austin Seltzer: 9:57

Yes, Wait, I have to pause this real quick. We have to go back because there was so much information there but I just spewed. But but it was great. There's so many great nuggets already. Dude, I'm I resonate with that so hard. There are so many people that I talk to that, yeah, they'll just ask for like simple advice. Like you know, how do I make it in the music industry, how do I become a mix engineer? How do I? I'm like you, just do it Like literally today start telling people that you're a mix engineer.

Jack Griffo: 10:28

Right.

Austin Seltzer: 10:29

Or, if you want to be an actor, start telling people I'm an actor, and, of course, there are so many things that you have to do to become the person that's on screen, especially something that will resonate with people, and will be seen by people, but starting today, you are that thing.

Jack Griffo: 10:47

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 10:47

And now, every single day after, you are that thing and you are going to put in the time and effort it takes to become that version of this thing, but you are already it.

Jack Griffo: 10:59

Of course, and it starts with you. I think a lot of people that same friend I was just talking about who had a birthday we were talking about our other friend, our other mutual friend, and we were like, yeah, he's kind of struggling right now, like it doesn't know what his direction is in the industry and this, all this kind of stuff. And I was thinking about him, our mutual friend, and thinking about his life and his sort of worldview and I was like I think his problem is just that that he's thinking too much about what his direction is in the industry instead of what is his direction as a person. Like it starts with you. Like if you start taking care of yourself you know, getting sleep, being healthy, all the things that you want your life to look like on the outside will start to grow with you. If you start with you, you know what I mean. Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 11:51

I just know too many people that constantly smoke and they tell me the things that they want to do. Yeah, but I see them not doing it. So that was great, but I want to. I want to ask, because I've always been interested in this, when and how? When did you get the life coach and how did you find a life coach and tell us a little bit about what that's like?

Jack Griffo: 12:11

Well, it's a new thing, it's not something I've been doing for a while, and I got connected to this company through a church pastor. Actually, it's not like a Christian company or anything, but this guy who used to be a pastor at this church here in LA, I know him, I have a relationship with him and and I and he basically connected me to this company and I have this, this, this kind of young guy he's like my age but he's super great and you know it's just taking inventory and really of your resources, your goals, ways you're getting in your own way and how to get out of your own way. You know we're so powerful. You know like we have, we have free will, we have these space suits that we got, you know, however, some years ago, and we're spinning on a rock in space paying taxes. It's, it's, it's quite it's. It's an anomaly. Maybe. I mean, I think there could be other planets out there. That's how the one thing that he said was taxes.

Jack Griffo: 13:30

I mean it's, it's crazy that we have this structure, you know, and we get to be here Totally. We should talk about school field trip. There's been a couple of times already that I've kind of almost gotten in there.

Austin Seltzer: 13:42

Please. So for those just listening, I have a chalkboard always behind the guest and and they write down, you know, anything that they want. And Jack wrote school field trip and what looks like definitely the best chalk drawing you've had so far. Thank you so much. It's, it's quite beautiful.

Jack Griffo: 14:00

I was telling you. I'm not even like a visual artist, like I really struggle drawing and painting. So it's funny you say that I mean pretty good. I put my own into it. What do you? How do you interpret it?

Austin Seltzer: 14:12

Field, a school field trip, oh God.

Jack Griffo: 14:16

What, what, what does that make you think of?

Austin Seltzer: 14:20

Hilariously. The first thing that came up into my mind was Magic School Bus.

Jack Griffo: 14:26

Little before my time. I know of it.

Austin Seltzer: 14:32

Damn it. I just showed my age, which I feel like I'm still stupid.

Jack Griffo: 14:36

I could have watched it. I feel like there's some things that I could have been on, but I just kind of missed the bus. But don't, yeah, no pun intended, what does it bring up other than Magic School Bus?

Austin Seltzer: 14:51

I mean, it brings up really whenever I was maybe in daycare and we each week would have a couple different activities. But there was the one day during the week that we would go do a school field trip, and sometimes that would be to a gymnastics place or sometimes that would be to this little, really shitty theater, this dollar theater, that your feet would stick to the ground like because people spilled soda and they never cleaned the ground. But it was so fun because we got to go out and explore and do something and there was no rules that it was just like.

Jack Griffo: 15:29

That's perfect. It's so fun. You get to go out and explore and do things, and there's no rules. That's exactly it. So I just heard this this morning. I wish I could take credit for this. This is not my idea, but it's the first thing that came to my mind when you told me to write something down, because it was powerful and impactful to me.

Jack Griffo: 15:50

This guy was on my Instagram feed talking about how people can't get up in the morning. It's so hard to get out of bed, and it's something that I can relate to. Sleep has always been a thing for me. I always want to sleep, love to sleep the day way, and it's just terrible. It's half your life just in the bed and I get so much more done when I'm up in the morning, but it's still hard. At 26, I'm going to be honest, it's still hard. Sometimes I still sleep till 10, 11, and it's just like, what am I doing? And this guy said this on my feed and I was like wow. He said people have so much trouble getting up in the morning because of the routine, the mundane-ness, the cycle.

Jack Griffo: 16:40

Do you remember what it was like when you were in elementary school, though? In school and going on a school field trip. And he said you were up, you were up out of bed, ready to go, you were ready to take on the day, you were ready to do something exciting because there was something unexpected about to happen. And you need to live life like that unexpected thing is right around the corner. Expect the unexpected and you will start to be able to have motivation to get up and seize the day. I was like wow, like school field trip, that's a cool kind of motto Because I loved my school field trips. I can remember going to the Renaissance Fair and I can remember going to the Science Center and I love adventure, I love the unexpected. And when he said that, I was like wow, I can see that Getting out of bed and trusting and knowing that there is adventure out there for me and I should expect the unexpected and I should go forth and leave the house. Really, I mean, you got social media and there's a lot of things, but really it's out there.

Jack Griffo: 17:49

I was just talking to my friend, not my friend, this girl I met at the birthday party last night and I was like what's your deal? What are you doing here? And she's like well, I just moved here a year and a half ago and I always like asking people what their dream is and it's pretty straightforward, but it's like there's not a reason to be out here if you don't have a dream. It's too hard, it's too expensive, difficult, people can be bad and you have to have big goals. And she was like well, I want to be in entertainment, I want to do it all. I'm like, do you want to be an actress? And she's like, well, I don't know. And she basically just kind of culminated it too. I just want to be independent enough to travel.

Jack Griffo: 18:38

And I resonated with that big time because, especially here in America, we like our things the way we like them and we don't like to deviate, we don't like change and we don't like to kind of see any other way of doing things.

Jack Griffo: 18:59

And when you go out and go forth, like we were just talking about, there is so much perspective to be gained that is only going to make you a better, more well-rounded individual.

Jack Griffo: 19:16

And that's why I'm so grateful to Nickelodeon and the show and the fans, because I did get to travel the world a good amount as a 16, 17, 18-year-old and those experiences I've had a lot of crazy, awesome experiences, but those experiences, still to this day, are the ones that I really accredit. Is that a word To who I am? Even those short little trips, whether they are a week or two weeks, in South America or the UK or Australia, and just seeing a different way of life and it's obviously similar to ours, but it is very, very different the way that they treat each other, the food that they eat, their religious practices, the respect and America is amazing. We have so much freedom, and I love this country, but as well the freedom also comes at a cost. We get carried away. This is an amazing country and I don't know if I would want to live anywhere else. To be honest, I haven't spent enough time anywhere else.

Austin Seltzer: 20:39

Yeah, I've done a whole lot of traveling as well, and every time that I get outside the US I gain so much creativity and new experiences that I can channel into things that I love back here. Makes you so excited to come back for work, right, absolutely yeah. But yeah, school field trip what a nugget. Whenever you were telling me the story of this guy explaining why don't we just become closer to our inner child, whenever we did have field trips, I immediately saw myself as a kid jumping out of bed because I knew that that day I was going to like some kind of science exhibit thingy or going to that skating rink. Dude, I mean, I used to skate like crazy, like roller-coaster, no shit, yeah, I mean I was very into that, but that was my favorite field trip.

Jack Griffo: 21:32

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 21:33

It was whenever we'd go there, because I just love that. I loved little races that we would do. I loved randomly you could get pickle juice on ice there and I loved that. What?

Jack Griffo: 21:44

No way.

Austin Seltzer: 21:45

Very Dallas thing, Wow. But whenever you said that I was like, damn, I need to think of my life more that way and just do little novel things in the morning.

Jack Griffo: 21:56

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 21:57

Can't always be like I meditate and I go to the gym and whatnot, but then that becomes not novel if that's all you do, exactly.

Jack Griffo: 22:05

And it brings up this other point of like this kind of has to do with like art in any medium and feeling inspired and being excited for your day and like how do you get yourself in that position? Well, you got to find the things that make you tick. You know what I mean. You got to find the things that excite you and, for example, like I've only been songwriting for three years, I loved music. My whole life Did musical theater, growing up in Florida, even through Thundermins. I played my guitar and sang all the time, but I just didn't have anything to say really and I knew I wasn't really ready.

Jack Griffo: 22:43

And now that I'm starting to songwrite, I love it so much. It's just transformed my life completely and it's making these bad experiences in my life into something great. And that's just what I feel that art is all about now and inspiring people that they can do the same and hopefully, putting out something that resonates and that you know it's a free gift. I'm tangening now, I'm going off tangent, but I view it as this gift because it's so hard to you really have to have to dive deep when you, when you're writing stuff about something painful and and it's a gift because it's, it's putting it out there and it's saying, hey, this is what I went through and this is a work that that I've done and I could just keep it to myself because it helps me and I listen to it myself. But I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to risk it, I'm going to put it all out there.

Jack Griffo: 23:39

And I don't know you, I don't know if you're a good person, if you're a bad person. I don't know what you like to do and you're in your, in your free time. I don't know your sexual orientation, I don't know your religious beliefs, I don't know any of that. But here it is, it's for you, it's, it's such a pure way of of living life and expressing yourself and create in creation, you know, and making something that is for you and for other people. I had a really interesting point before I went on that tangent. I forget what it was anyway.

Austin Seltzer: 24:12

Yeah, it might pop back up. But on the point that you just said, I think that Early on, whenever I started music, I really really wanted to be an artist and I learned producing and I was producing my own stuff and whatnot. But I have to say that I I thankfully lived a pretty privileged In childhood. I had my parents really took care of us. I didn't really have any hardships.

Austin Seltzer: 24:40

I maybe went through some bullying here and there but just like just like nominal things, and I didn't really have, I don't know any, I didn't have experiences that I think really resonate with others, and so on my journey in music, I realized that I'm not meant to tell stories. I might. I am very, very, very good at lifting other people up, and so mixing really became a thing for me where I took people's genius and their hardships and their messages and I just made them sound as good as possible to help resonate with more people.

Jack Griffo: 25:18

That's cool.

Austin Seltzer: 25:20

I found that out early. Like I don't wish that I went through difficult things to tell messages. I know how tough that is, but I'm just thankful that other people trust me with their babies like that.

Jack Griffo: 25:33

That's so cool. I can't wait to trust you with my baby bro. We're about to work together. I know we are.

Jack Griffo: 25:39

It's been a long time coming, and it's funny that you mentioned that, because I didn't either really Like I didn't go through any any crazy shit as a kid at all. I had everything I needed. You know, my parents were pretty well off and I got to move here with my mom when I was 13. And you know, we never struggled and I thought that, like you said, I thought I didn't really have experiences that related to people with with struggle, and it kind of was an insecurity almost and it's like well, why is that insecurity? And it's basically that did happen. Like that. It all kind of happened Like as it was meant to, obviously, but, like I said, I never really had anything happen.

Jack Griffo: 26:21

But in 2019, my parents broke up and that was like the thing. And sometimes it can sound like I know it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it was and it was very hard and they were like my best friends never thought that I'd have to go through it I was already 22. But I wasn't like a true 22. It's true what they say about people that get famous as a young person. It kind of like stunts your growth. I've heard that you kind of for a few years you kind of stay that age that you were when you got known.

Austin Seltzer: 27:00

Is it because everything goes into autopilot?

Jack Griffo: 27:02

Yeah, because you've like achieved this thing that's so taboo and that nobody really understands unless you have it, and even if you have it, you don't really understand it. It's really weird. So, 22, not really 22, more like 18. And all of a sudden, I had been writing for a couple years after the show ended, in 2017 or 2018. After the Thunderbirds ended, I was just writing because I was beginning to feel like it's something that I wanted to do. I love music and I was like, well, I should try to do this, but it was only me, like in my room, and over two years, I probably wrote like 20 songs Nothing that really like set my soul on fire, though, that I had to share and I felt really passionate about, but they were just songs, you know. Yeah, because I loved it. But now, when this shit was going down and everything was flipped on its head and my whole world of like we were talking about, of easiness and not really struggling, all of a sudden, the person that I loved the most my mother was spiritually dying and I had to carry that weight for a long time.

Jack Griffo: 28:33

And this hard thing. I feel like it's a big turning point in people's lives when they go through something that's unlike anything they've ever experienced, whether they're going to let it consume them and let it dictate who they are, what happens in their life in a negative way, or they buck, they double down on what they believe, who they are, how they're going to make something good out of it, because everything happens for a reason and you hear people say that and sometimes it sounds like how, like, why, like, what reason could it be? You just you got to find the reason, you got to go deep and you got to let it inspire you to be better. You know whether it's in art or just who you are as a person, or anything like that. But basically that happened and Tristan, who you know, my bandmate I had wanted to play music with him for a while and this was in this, you know, 2018, 2019, 2020, even time Happened with my family. I'm going through it and I just called them up. I was like I think I need to like write a song and it was the first time that that kind of feeling took over me.

Jack Griffo: 29:58

And now it's happened a lot, and maybe it hasn't happened to you, maybe, like we were saying, like you live a pretty easy life, nothing really bad. You haven't really experienced loss, like and maybe that is you lost, maybe you haven't really in your life Like I'm telling you like it will, it will happen and it will happen to you out there. If it hasn't, and you have to like be ready and you have to be vigilant and to be prepared. If you're going through life and kind of saying yes to everything and kind of really don't have your shit together, it will turn for the worse when this thing happens. So it's all about kind of preparing. Really, I feel like in setting yourself up for success when the when the storms of life do happen, you want your house on the rock, not on the sand.

Austin Seltzer: 30:48

Love. That that's a great analogy. Yeah, Great way to wrap that up. I have dealt with some hardships, but they're later in life and also after I chose my path. But yeah, I mean, there will always be things that come and it is how you whether that storm. I do want to take this back to the beginning of, like childhood and stuff. But I do have one question, because you were talking about social media. I help me understand. I do not like because clearly I don't have the platform visually that you do what the fuck happens whenever you guys post and I mean you guys, like anybody like that has a big following whenever you post. I just felt this for the first time with Kira Kosteren's post. We did a collab and there's literally like thousands of likes that come in and like mere seconds. What is that? Are those bots? It's the machine.

Jack Griffo: 31:47

And I mean I don't know. I've never paid for followers or streams or any of that, but I can't speak for other people. But it's the machine of Disney, Nick Like.

Austin Seltzer: 31:59

But I mean you get a serious amount of likes on your posts. So I'm guessing, like it's, that, but it's Disney, nick.

Jack Griffo: 32:06

It's not really I mean it is us, but we were put on in, you know, 50 countries, you know, and I mean like it's worldwide, you know, and that's why I'm so grateful to the show and I had the best experiences of my life on Nickelodeon. To be honest, like I still know a bunch of people that I met and when you do a hundred episodes of a television show, like you meet so many people and they're all great people. But, yes, this fandom online it's from that. And I think Kira has definitely worked it more than I have and kind of built her audience even more because she's really good with it.

Austin Seltzer: 32:43

She's a social media with.

Jack Griffo: 32:44

She's a guru, you know, and I'm just not that way and I've, you know, I knew that like we were just kind of just talking about a few minutes ago, from the beginning that I kind of had a weird disconnect with it and I felt like I couldn't really be myself. And maybe it's insecurity, you know, maybe it's not wanting everyone to really know the real me and that's, you know, I feel like that's a normal kind of acceptable place to be, you know, and I feel like, as I'm getting older, even doing these podcasts, like I kind of resisted when podcasts first came, because I think it's a big deal to talk as your true self, you know, and how we were talking about, how my growth I feel was kind of stunted, being on television, being a known person as a youngster. I felt like I wanted to kind of give myself a few years after the show to really know myself in a more fulfilling way and what I really thought about things. Because back to the growth thing and being on the show and being a known person, your age is kind of stunted, I feel, because you're so involved in this thing. Like, for me it was the show, for some kids it's music, for some kids, it's whatever they're doing, whether it's sports or whatever, that the rest of the world becomes not real, you know, and you don't pay attention to the news and you don't pay attention to what's happening and you're so sucked into this thing Like for me, it was just auditions, auditions, auditions, the show, the show.

Jack Griffo: 34:35

The show table reads you know run-throughs, you know little things here and there, little promos and stuff, and that is consuming for a child. And when it was over, when I was 20, I realized that I missed a lot of stuff, like when I would have been in high school and I would have been in college meeting people, and I missed a lot of stuff. While I gained a whole lot too, a whole lot of perspective that other kids my age didn't have, I kind of had to start from the ground up of like who I really was, you know, and I'm in this acting class right now, anthony Mandela Studio, shout out, tony. He's an amazing coach, amazing teacher, and I'm in this class and I'm kind of realizing that I played this character for so long and I'm this kind of clean cut kid who doesn't swear, do drugs, you know, sleep with girls, you know. And that is on me too.

Jack Griffo: 35:47

That's not something that Nickelodeon, like, put on me, I just wanted to fit this mold. You know, I wanted to be. I wanted kids to look up to me and I wanted to inspire kids to be more than the average mundane kid and really go for their dreams. You know, max was like this crazy smart scientist kid and he created these gadgets and he wanted to be evil and then he turned good and he had this whole arc and it was really cool to play a character that really went somewhere. You know, I feel like a lot of the roles that I was auditioning for at the time on Disney or Nick, really kind of all the characters kind of just did one thing.

Austin Seltzer: 36:25

So, if we go all the way back to like your childhood, I would love to figure out, you know, what early life was like, what your parents were like together, what their relationship was like that broke you so hard whenever they separated. But what were like the founding things going on in your life that created Young Jack?

Jack Griffo: 36:51

It's a good question. I would say my family like mainly my siblings. So it's kind of interesting. I'm like kind of an only child but I have four half siblings and they're all older. So if you know what I mean, like I was the only kid from my parents but they both had kids before they met each other. I see my parents met in Virginia Beach and they moved down to Orlando and that's where I was born and Orlando is a great place to grow up. Man Like so much art, so much stuff to do as a kid. You know we have new amusement parks going up every year. There's just these little things all the time and things being renovated and it's just a great place.

Jack Griffo: 37:33

And my but basically my brothers on my mom's side lived with us because they lived with their mom, but my brother and my sister and my dad's side stayed in Virginia with their mom and so I was growing up.

Jack Griffo: 37:49

I was definitely a little closer to my mom's kids because they were in the house and they were just like really fun, funny, charismatic, artistic kids and I love them so much for it. They just inspired me to sort of not go with the status quo and think outside the box and, you know, not really carry what other people thought and be goofy and you know, with just accents, and you know they were theater kids, you know. So basically, there was this, there still is this theater school. It's not a theater school, it's a regular high school called Dr Phillips in Orlando, but there's a big theater magnet program and I just have like these great memories of going and watching my older brothers perform, whether it was like Greece or Oklahoma or you know whatever. How much older are they? They're like 10 and like 13 years older than me, okay, cool. So when they were in high school, I was like really little, like maybe like six or seven or something like that.

Austin Seltzer: 38:56

So old enough to be-.

Jack Griffo: 38:58

Conscious.

Austin Seltzer: 38:59

Relentless, for sure.

Jack Griffo: 39:00

Oh yeah, and I was old enough to like remember. You know Some of my earliest memories for sure. That really made an impact and that's why I love it so much, because when you're that young, you're just downloading information you know, and when there's I'm not filtering it, it's just like all hitting you with love, yeah, yeah.

Jack Griffo: 39:19

That's why it's so important we were talking about earlier to kind of remain in your childlike state, you know, and you're not clouded by all this wisdom and knowledge and bullshit. Anyway, they ended up going to New York for college and that was my plan was to do what they did. All of a sudden, I was doing, you know, I wanted to start really early but my parents didn't let me. I did some like print and commercial work and stuff, but my parents wanted me to like be a normal kid and like go to school, and I'm really grateful for that, because I feel like a lot of kids this is a tangent, but I feel like a lot of kids will come here or like go to New York or even in their hometown and just be consumed with what we were talking about earlier, how it was like the show and auditions, and especially here in LA, I feel like kids come here and they really young, like five, six, seven and I think it's just so bad, like to be honest, like I think they, I think being on set and being even a known person at that young and impressionable of a time in your life is just damaging.

Jack Griffo: 40:38

I just do so to go back like I was going to regular school, but then at age like 10, 11, I was really wanting to do it, to go in community theater and to perform. And so I'm like asking my parents and they're letting me, and I'm doing like classes, acting classes, like film and TV classes, downtown Orlando, doing a couple productions here and there. I took some time out of school to do a production of a Christmas story at our like professional preparatory theater and that was like my first time I like got paid to like do anything. Wow, at 10?, 12?, okay, well, 11, 12.

Jack Griffo: 41:14

And I wasn't even the lead, I wasn't Ralphie, I was Schwartz who, like you, know, triple dog dared the kid to put his tongue on the pole, and, and that totally fits you.

Jack Griffo: 41:28

I know right, I know it's funny, I wanted to be Ralphie so bad. And it was a great production. I still can remember the lights and the actors and just fond memories, you know. And, like I was saying, I was doing classes downtown and that was where my whole plan changed from going to New York and being, you know, a theater person to, oh, like, maybe I'll go to LA. Basically, I was 12 or 13 and my teacher there at the school told my mom that I had some talent and, you know, potential and there's just really more happening in LA than anywhere else, for, especially for this age, you know, new York is very competitive at that age there's it's just less going on. So basically, she suggested that I come to LA and I kind of asked my parents. I was still in New York and I've asked my parents. I was still in seventh grade, so my grades really didn't count yet and I just sat them down and basically my outlook was this Like my older brothers were in college in New York and, to be honest, like they just weren't doing it like big, you know, they were, you know, not struggling, but it was just hard for them, you know.

Jack Griffo: 42:51

And I saw the opportunity to go to LA. And I was like I just told my parents like I don't want to wait till I'm out of high school going to college, like I think I want to, I want it now, like I want to go now and see if I have what it takes. What a conscious thought. And they were exactly. They were like well, what do we, what can we say to this kid? You know, like he's right, you know we had the means and my dad stayed and he would come visit, put my mom out. And I'm so, so grateful, like I just I know for facts, like I wouldn't be where I am today without them you know, wait, I want to pause this story real quick.

Austin Seltzer: 43:30

All this has been like super fascinating and I want to. I want to figure out a little bit more about the beginning, like, tell me a little bit about your mom and dad.

Jack Griffo: 43:39

Sure, my mom is a super creative person and she's super caring and very selfless, super faithful Christian woman. She's like a prayer warrior man, like she's so fierce and I just admire her so much. My dad very business savvy, very much a numbers guy, but he liked sports. He loves golf. You know that's kind of what I spent my time with him doing, when we would spend time together, won a bunch of amateur tournaments, like he's really good, and so that was kind of the dynamic and but as far as their relationship it wasn't super thick, like you know what I mean.

Jack Griffo: 44:26

Like my dad just wasn't a super emotional, feely, touchy guy, like I can't even really remember them holding hands or kissing, you know, like it was very much like I knew. You know the love is there and it's like that's a lot of boomers, you know what I mean. Like I feel like that generation was very much. We're going to work, we're gonna provide and that's what it is, and we're not gonna cry, we're not gonna get emotional. I go work in the morning, you know, and I feel like that's pretty normal and so growing up I didn't really have a male in my life that showed emotion you know I think I saw my dad cry like one time, like at his mom's funeral, like that was it, and but how touching.

Jack Griffo: 45:11

you know, like when you see your dad cry remember seeing your dad cry and you're like, oh my God.

Austin Seltzer: 45:15

Well, I mean, your story is actually so parallel to mine.

Jack Griffo: 45:18

Really.

Austin Seltzer: 45:19

Actually that I'm resonating with what you're saying. My dad, maybe my mom, cried a little bit, but not touchy feeling, not overly lovey, but I knew that they loved the shit out of us and they were great parents.

Jack Griffo: 45:30

But the it's more like a partnership with that kind of marriage.

Jack Griffo: 45:35

That's actually a perfect word, and I'm sure they don't know about your situation, but for me I knew they loved each other, but it was more like a partnership and it kind of now, looking back at it, it definitely like we talked about earlier. Everything's downloading information at that age and it definitely not seeing a super lovey-dovey relationship in your parents creates I wouldn't say problems, but it creates dynamics in your love life. You know, I'm not a super romantic person. I have to kind of put it on a little bit.

Jack Griffo: 46:07

You know a lot of girlfriends that I had when I was a teenager. They were like why aren't you doing things for me? You know what I mean, and not that I should have been, but girls and guys are so different, you know, and I didn't really see growing up my dad never got my mom flowers. You know what I mean. My dad never said stuff like that and he's a great guy, you know. It's not saying that he should have, it's just that's what he learned, you know. And it reminds me now of breaking the cycle of generations. You know what I mean. I feel like systems of dysfunction, systems of poverty, systems of laziness, like they get passed down because we're so impressionable as young kids, and so I feel like a big part of life is taking the good things from the parents and breaking the cycle of the bad things.

Austin Seltzer: 47:11

You know, I very much think that that's our generation.

Austin Seltzer: 47:13

Like that's kind of our mandate Is that let's figure out the things that have been passed down to us and actually figure them out so that we don't pass them on. But, dude, literally everything you're saying is dangerously close to me. That's crazy. I'm sure that that means that there are a lot of people watching and listening who are gonna resonate with that as well. But I see the things that I want to do, I can imagine them, but they don't come out of me. I have to really really work to make them happen. But it's really sad because I want them to happen but I'm just like programmed to not show that. I do love holding hands and I do like huddling, but I don't. There's I don't know. There's a point where it's just like too much and I wish that weren't the case, but I know that that's because I did not receive that, so it feels unnatural.

Jack Griffo: 48:02

Yeah, and it also has to do with like your relationship history, to like how much you've been in relationships, what kind of relationships you've had and like for me, I had a lot of girlfriends from 16 to maybe like 23. And just these past couple of years of like taking a step back and I'm not so girl crazy anymore, and that's when you like really can think about what you want and think about who you wanna be as a partner. I feel like I'm ready to like find my person.

Austin Seltzer: 48:45

Yeah, and back to parents. So in our timeline of your life we're 12 or 13.

Jack Griffo: 48:55

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 48:56

And you were having a conversation about moving to LA.

Jack Griffo: 48:58

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 48:59

So what happened whenever they said we can't turn this kid down?

Jack Griffo: 49:05

Well, my mom and I drove out.

Austin Seltzer: 49:11

We drove out. That's a long ass drive, yeah, yeah, from Orlando. I don't think it could get any further. It was like five or six days yeah.

Jack Griffo: 49:15

It really can't. And it was great, Like it was 2010, simpler times, and we got a place in Toluca Lake. It's a little apartment, just me and my mom, and it was some of the best times of my life. I started going to acting class at John D Queenow School Shout out, John D Queenow, If anyone wants to come to LA and be an actor, he's a great coach for kids and, yeah, like I just started thriving. You know this was my place. You know I got made fun of in school for sure for being an actor. Like I told you, like I was doing some little like productions here and there in school and out of school. You know people call me a homo and like, and it's not even saying anything's wrong with being gay, but at that age that means that you're like an outsider. You know that means you're looked down upon.

Austin Seltzer: 50:10

Yeah, also somebody's using that derogatory.

Jack Griffo: 50:12

Derogatory, yeah, and. And that's gay, yeah, and nowadays you know I'm so secure with my sexuality, whatever. But as a kid I definitely got made fun of for sure for being artistic and I think that's so important for kids to know. That's why I'm involved with this thing boot-a-booleying. We've done some events. We made my band have played for their cause and it's so important for kids to know that whenever someone makes fun of you, whenever someone makes you feel stupid or bad or like you don't matter or your opinion doesn't matter, it has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with them.

Jack Griffo: 51:07

We live in such a broken world and kids are hurting. Kids are killing themselves. You know kids are killing other people. Like kids will do anything to feel good. Like we were talking about earlier. We gravitate towards the light and even if the light is at expense of other people. At kids you don't. At a child, you don't understand that. So whenever someone's making fun of you, calling you names, it's because that kid's hurting. And what they say hurt people, hurt people is 100% true.

Austin Seltzer: 51:42

I'd love to extend that to literally any time that somebody does that. I mean kids, especially because they're very vulnerable to that, but adults. If anybody who's spewing shit online and saying some negative things to somebody else, to your face or behind your back. It's always about them and not about you.

Jack Griffo: 52:02

It always is.

Austin Seltzer: 52:04

And it's very tough to not let it affect you. But if you can stop and just think for a moment this isn't about me, this is about them I think that will help a little bit. But yeah, it's tough, it's just something you have to get used to. This world is rough.

Jack Griffo: 52:20

Yes.

Austin Seltzer: 52:22

So you and your mom move out here and do you go into a normal school or do you go into one of the schools that allow you to also be on set?

Jack Griffo: 52:36

Yeah, so, right away, I did Florida Virtual School, I did online school and I was never a good student, to be honest. Even in Orlando, I would miss up my homework, I wouldn't get the information, I'd need to call my friends and, like, I had this thing called auditory processing syndrome, which I don't know if I still have. Some people tell me that it's not real, but I think it very much is real. It's just a matter of whether your brain moves slow or fast, and for me, my brain moved really fast, so when information would be told to me, I'd already be thinking like four steps ahead and not receiving the information, and that has now bled into being on set and directing. And when I get notes and when I get rewrites or whatever, I really have to clarify and make sure that I'm getting the full information.

Jack Griffo: 53:32

But anyway, going back to being out here, no, I didn't go to a regular school for a while. Seventh, eighth, ninth grade I did online and those years were all spent really getting to know kids and going to acting class. Kids that I still know today have great friends out here. And it was 10th grade, my junior, my sophomore year that I went to Brighton Hall, which used to be called San Fernando Valley Professional School and it was kind of like an actor school, like very small class, and I did a year of that school and that was the year I booked the Thundermins. So that only lasted for about a year and then I left to do set school and set school last until I graduated.

Austin Seltzer: 54:21

So I wanna figure out how long the period was from like you, moving to LA and doing acting till booking the Thundermins. And then we'll. I wanna dive in a little bit on how you got that gig, cause obviously that's how most people know you, but I think that there's a lot to learn from it. And yeah, so how long was the gap?

Jack Griffo: 54:43

So three years, and I will say it doesn't sound like a long time now, but when you're that age it is a long time when you've only lived 13 years.

Jack Griffo: 54:53

So true actually you know so, and the thing to learn there I would say is that things take time. I saw a lot of kids come and go as a teenager here in LA. I got friends that would we'd get close and they would see how hard it is and that it doesn't just happen overnight and they would go back home because it's hard. It's expensive to be out here too, and I think a lot of people don't see the work it takes to get to where people are you know, that's actually what this podcast, I hope, highlights with my guests.

Austin Seltzer: 55:28

It's fucking hard, takes a lot of work. It's not so much about the talent, it is the hard work and talent is-.

Jack Griffo: 55:35

Cause. A lot of times in the rest of the world, you only see the finished product, you know, and it can seem like it did happen quickly. And like I will say, like there are some cases that it does happen quickly. Those people are very rare and those people are very, I'd say, gifted at being natural. Because that's really what we want in entertainment is. We just want realness, we just want our imitating life, you know.

Jack Griffo: 56:02

But it's so interesting, like when you press record on anything, whether it's a camera or a microphone, psychologically and subconsciously it changes things for the performer and like we were talking about being in that space of being inspired.

Jack Griffo: 56:18

Like for me, recently, with recording. I haven't done much recording in my music, you know, like for a whole year when I did the band, when it was like a different band, we didn't even hit a recording studio that whole year, like we were just playing, you know, getting a live sort of feel, getting a sound, you know. And now that I've been recording for the past couple of years, I'm like how do I make myself believe that I'm alone right now, you know, because you sing so much differently, alone or just for someone? You know, I can remember being on like a boat and like people. These group of people I didn't even know were like oh, you're in a band, like you're singing us a song. We had a guitar and I just felt like I was just saying, like the best ever, you know, like when you're meeting new people, when you're really performing for an audience and there's no cameras rolling, and it's a special thing that you're sharing with only those people, yeah, but anyway, we were talking about other shit.

Austin Seltzer: 57:14

Yeah, but Hilaris, a little bit there, yes, oh well, if you want to dive back in.

Jack Griffo: 57:19

Moving here. It took three years and it takes a long time. So, yeah, anyway, it took three years and exactly what my agent at the time said happened. Basically, she said you know, like nobody knows you yet this year it's going to take a couple of years. It's kind of like being in high school, like you're a freshman, you're a sophomore, you're a junior and you're a senior, and it happened like that. Like it happened like the first year I'd get auditions but no one really knew me and then in the second year I was starting to get callbacks and stuff and getting better the whole time going to class.

Jack Griffo: 57:51

That's another thing too. You can't just like, you can't just like start going for this thing and not training. Like like I'm saying, it's very rare for those people to move here and get famous overnight and get a big job. It's like those people are rarities and it's like anything. You need to be in a structured training course, you know whether it's school or doing your own at home. Like I would suggest against doing your own at home, because it's really hard to create your own curriculum. I mean, there's, you know, youtube, university and all that kind of stuff, but with something like art it's so nuanced and hard that you need people who have done it and know it and are not even necessarily great themselves, like they say. A lot of people who can't do teach.

Jack Griffo: 58:43

And it's true, like it's even for me when I'm, like you know, helping a friend with a scene, like I can, when you're not in it, you can view it differently and really assess it. Just like a same life situation when you're giving your friend advice. It's like for being a fly on the wall, outside of perspective, like you should listen to your friend because they're not biased, they're not in the situation you know. Like when you're in something with a relationship and you feel like you can't leave, you know you feel like. You know like when you're in it, like it's hard to have the perspective of how to be out of it For sure.

Austin Seltzer: 59:22

But also with that to go along with your point. Still, the perspective is necessary, but you're only gonna listen to them if you know that they are going to have solid advice on that topic. So, choosing a class to learn in, you need somebody who's done the thing and has a perspective. But one question on that, because I'm sure people wanna know who are watching and listening. How often should you go to acting class? At least once a week, Okay, but what's the optimal?

Jack Griffo: 59:57

Right now I'm in class once a week. I've done two a week. It just depends on how much you want. You know how much you can afford and how much you want it Like it really comes down to if you're trying to at least be in this world. There are so many people here that want it so fucking bad and will do anything.

Jack Griffo: 1:00:19

And one of my teachers told me at a really young age they might out-talent you, jack, they might be better, but don't let them out. Work you. And it just stuck with me that when I have an audition and I have an opportunity, I gotta think about all the other boys that are having the opportunity and what they're doing. You know, and if there's even a question of whether they're doing more, you're probably not gonna get that part Like you. Just probably not. Cause some people say that oh, if you're the guy, you're the guy, it doesn't really matter. I disagree. I think there's a lot of work that comes into it. I think you gotta look the part for sure, but most of the time they're gonna go with someone who is skilled, obviously.

Austin Seltzer: 1:01:12

So skilled and then, I'm guessing, put in time to either read the full script, understand really deeply who that character is and not just give a performance but really encapsule the character that you're auditioning for the world. It's more than the character.

Jack Griffo: 1:01:28

It's really the world. Like a lot of my some of my friends who are actors will not read the script, and I'm just not saying I read the script every time. I'm not the perfect student actor but if I really want the role and it's obviously really deep, I will, and most of the time I do. But some people don't see the. This is a good point, that's conjuring. Some people don't see the value in world building, like literally right now, real time example, I'm in a scene right now in class where I have to cry and it's always hard for me. It's always hard for me even going back to like my dad, you know, not having someone who is emotional and not seeing that. It's really a superpower as a man to be able to be that in touch with your emotions and then control it. And it's something that I'm working on, especially being in the whole Nickelodeon space for so long, like I didn't have to ever do that, didn't have to ever cry on the sitcom, obviously, and world building. So basically, the first week there was a lot there for me. Basically, with our class we get a new scene every week, we get assigned a scene partner and we, with our scene partner, get to pick a scene. And tonight is gonna be week four on this scene.

Jack Griffo: 1:02:52

Week one, I was actually out. Week two my first time on the scene was really good. I kind of went in it with no expectations and there was a lot there for me. I wouldn't say I was, I pushed the weeping a little bit but I got kind of glossy eyed and I felt it, you know, and I felt I looked at that as a victory. You gotta give yourself pads on the back. You gotta look at things at victory. It's not vain. You gotta give yourself credit where it's due. And then last week it was the opposite. I kind of had expectations. I wasn't really feeling very open and nothing was there for me.

Jack Griffo: 1:03:30

When it came to that point and my teacher told me this is back to the world building thing In the talk back which is after we do the scene, I was really focused on the fact that I couldn't get there, that I couldn't cry. And I love this school so much because it's kind of a different technique than anything that I've worked on before. It's like the opposite of the method Method acting like being so consumed with the character, knowing that person's life and knowing what that person's going through and it's not really you. And this technique is very much like you in finding the substitution. You know finding what makes you tick. You know Knowing yourself the best so you can share yourself the best. And basically, all this to say that I was so focused on what I had to do in the scene, the place that I had to get, that if you think about that at all leading up to that point in the scene, it's not gonna be there. And if it's there, it's probably pushed and not real. So what my teacher told me was that you know you gotta focus on the world building. You know you gotta focus on the context. You know and this is what we were talking about with you know reading the script to know the character. And it's even more, you gotta read the script to know the world. You know A lot of people think that you know, for example.

Jack Griffo: 1:04:54

For example, a lot of the scripts that they'll give you for like an episodic for a TV show are a couple episodes before your episode, and a lot of people are like, oh, like, it's not my episode.

Jack Griffo: 1:05:08

Sometimes your character isn't even in it and some people will be like, well, you know it's, I'm not in it so I don't need to read it, and it's like there's gonna be guys that are getting that perspective, that worldview, and that know more about the world, and there's just so much that goes into it. Like I love acting because it's something that you can learn for life. You know, and this school that I'm in, I learned very quickly that you have to have a mindset of I know nothing. You know, that's the beginning of wisdom, really, I think, is when you can truly be at a place of I'm a student, I'm trying here to learn, I'm here to get better, I'm here to fail Like there's so much value in the fail. You know people when they cap themselves and think, well, I'm good at these things, so I'm just gonna keep doing these things, if you're not failing consistently, you're not trying hard enough. You know, and I think when people are afraid of that is when they've plateaued.

Austin Seltzer: 1:06:21

You know, they've peaked and you know Failing is definitely a key to success.

Jack Griffo: 1:06:26

Yes, no doubt, if you're not failing.

Austin Seltzer: 1:06:28

You are not trying hard enough. Exactly.

Jack Griffo: 1:06:30

Yeah. And having people that disagree with you too, not to cut you off, but like having people that just tell you yes, and if you're working a part of a team that everyone agrees. Rick Rubin said if you have people that are just constantly agreeing with each other, you got something wrong. You don't have enough differentiating opinions to get a full spectrum on things. You know what I mean. You can't have a bunch of people thinking the same way.

Austin Seltzer: 1:06:52

Right, yeah, and then the thing that I also love about him is he also says that you should just listen to yourself. It's great to have input.

Jack Griffo: 1:07:04

Yes, exactly yes.

Austin Seltzer: 1:07:06

I mean, at the end of the day, you're the one wearing whatever the choice is.

Jack Griffo: 1:07:10

so yes, and I will touch on that, because earlier I was saying take advice from people, and I think it's a yin and yang. I do, and what you just said, I think, is something that I've been kind of articulating too in my life of it's very important to have support and take advice from people and listen to people's perspective, but you're the one driving the car. No one knows what to do, what the best thing to do is, other than you, because no one has your experiences. No one's lived your life, no one knows the relationship you have with that person other than you. Everyone has their own experience in this life. It's the Rex put out that song, saundra and that's what it is everyone's unique experience.

Jack Griffo: 1:07:49

We're not kind of in. You're not the only one here. You're not living in a simulation. Other people are real, living the exact same thing that you are, and if you believe that it'll change the way you treat people, that you, sitting here across from me, are having the same experience, that it's not all about me. It kind of goes into that whole theory of which I never really understood. Maybe we can figure this out.

Jack Griffo: 1:08:18

Of like okay like this book right here, like I see that book as red. But who says that you see that book as red? Someone has told me that before and I'm like well, it's red to both of us, so it's red, but there is something there of like I mean you see red.

Austin Seltzer: 1:08:40

Yeah, I mean, I see what you're saying. I see reddish oranges Like I could go into, like it's almost a burnt orange but it's like a little bit more red than orange yeah. Yeah, yeah, like but yeah yeah, we all see things in a different perspective.

Jack Griffo: 1:08:59

A lot of certain things that you. There's certain things in life that, depending on what kind of person you are, you can't just take someone's word for it. You got to find out for yourself. I've been there so many times.

Austin Seltzer: 1:09:08

Yeah, it's part of growing for sure. Okay, so three years of acting, after you come here, you land the Thundermen's. So I want to know, tell us all. I guess it's public knowledge, but since I think the people at this point watching and listening, I think many episodes will be out. I'm not a deep researcher. I want to have an organic conversation where these topics organically come up and I can poke at the ones I want to poke at. So tell us the story of the pilot of the Thundermen's and how you got the opportunity to audition for it.

Jack Griffo: 1:09:45

Sure. So I was 16, I was in 10th grade at that kind of actor school we were talking about right in Hall and Kira went there too. Kira plays Phoebe on the show and we had a relationship before the show. You know, we were friends and we were both in that school together and she took time off to go shoot the Thundermen's pilot, so that is to say I was not a part of it. The first Thundermen's pilot, which is it's common knowledge. I mean it's but not a lot of people know. And it's funny when I think back. I remember hearing the word Thundermen's and I it's kind of funny because I thought that it was Thunder Mint, as in like mint.

Austin Seltzer: 1:10:33

I don't know why. The first time I heard that's where my mind went.

Jack Griffo: 1:10:36

What would those be? Those would kill. Honestly, we should yeah, we should patent that. And then obviously I knew that it wasn't that and Kira took time out of school and I remember getting the audition in my email, which is so cool that that is kind of it's not cool. It's just like that. Some things are just the way they are and that's the first time you see projects.

Austin Seltzer: 1:11:04

They're just in your email and like it's like audition project name like whatever, so it went to you and not your agent.

Jack Griffo: 1:11:10

Well, my agent sent this to me. Okay, my agent sent it to me Also.

Austin Seltzer: 1:11:13

I just figured out the tagline for the mints.

Jack Griffo: 1:11:14

It'd be shockingly good, but let's go, let's go, oh, we're going to, we're going to.

Jack Griffo: 1:11:18

Shockingly fresh, let's go. And so, yeah, my, I was already on a Nickelodeon pilot at that point. It was supposed to be like the new all that. It was supposed to be like a SNL for kids with sketch comedy. I played like I played like Justin Bieber and I like sang and all this stuff and it didn't go and that was hard. As a 15 year old, For sure that was one of the hardest things at that point. But you know, it was fine and I got.

Jack Griffo: 1:11:47

The audition for the Thunder Mints came in my email and the first thing I thought I was like that's Kira show and why is it in my email? And it turns out they were doing a new pilot and they were adding this character of Max. Max was not in the original pilot with Phoebe. It's pretty much about all about Phoebe. And I remember texting Kira immediately because we were friends and of course in my little you know teenager mind like, oh, maybe I'll have a leg up, since I, since I know her, you know, and you know it's funny because I had been in situations before like, for example, on dog with a blog I was testing for that with G Honellius and Blake, Michael and Blake had a relationship with G and I didn't, and I just remember being on the opposite side of that, of that of that end, you know, being like they were literally in the Disney casting room, like kind of running it together because they know each other, and I was like kind of you know, with my dick in my hands like well, okay, that makes sense.

Jack Griffo: 1:13:00

And now I'm on the opposite end, where I have the relationship with Kira, and it just ebbs and flows that way.

Austin Seltzer: 1:13:05

So well, I'd like to highlight something real quick for everybody watching and listening. This is one thing that kind of threads all these episodes together is finding what makes somebody successful. But what are the things that they did and so many things like already, and then we'll get back to that you did all of these years of class right. You did all these things to get ready for this moment, but also just by coming to LA and enrolling in that school, you met Kira, and I'm sure that you met so many other people.

Jack Griffo: 1:13:39

Yeah, but it was actually not even in the school. School, it was an acting class. I met Kira. We go even farther back.

Austin Seltzer: 1:13:46

There you go, yeah, so I mean, if you didn't go to that school, you wouldn't have that relationship.

Jack Griffo: 1:13:52

Yeah, you know it's going into this.

Austin Seltzer: 1:13:54

So I mean, just like, it's the work that you do before the opportunity that counts.

Jack Griffo: 1:13:59

Yeah, it's the work and it's the relationships with people. You know it's really a people business, absolutely, and it's really important to have good relationships with others. So, long story longer. I got the audition I'm texting Kira about it and I think I went right to producers because I had the relationship with Nickelodeon.

Jack Griffo: 1:14:23

So I did that pilot like the year before and I think at that point I had like guest starred on a few things. That's kind of how it happens, like like first year you don't really get many, you know callbacks. Then you start getting callbacks and then you start, you know, getting little bookings, maybe a guest star, and then you get you start testing for series regulars, and that's kind of how the process went. And by the time I was testing for Thundermins I had done a Nickelodeon pilot. I had guest starred on a couple Nickelodeon shows and that's kind of how they kind of like test you out, kind of see how you'll do you know how, with the pressure.

Jack Griffo: 1:14:58

And at that point there was a lot of live audiences and I had my kind of background in theater, so I was very used to that and I thrived off of that. Live audiences are kind of going away these days. It's kind of sad. It's a dying art form, the whole multi-camscom for a live audience. But anyway, I was really prepared. I was ready, you know, and I'm a big believer in like you get what you're ready for, you know, and you don't get what you're not ready for. Like there was a lot of roles, let's say Spider-Man. I auditioned for Tom Holland's Spider-Man and I wanted it so bad and I did everything I could and I really prepared.

Jack Griffo: 1:15:38

But if I had gotten that role I really don't believe I would have been ready and at the end of the day I wouldn't have wanted that. You know I don't want to get something and fall flat. You know Tom Holland's amazing. He's a better actor than me, just like, put it there. And it's just important to kind of know. It's important to not want to get too ahead of yourself. You know, like in music for example, like someone would be like why aren't you playing bigger rooms? You know, why aren't you playing like 800, like 1200? And I'm like, well, like I can't sell that many tickets and even if I could, like I'm in the like two to 500 range right now It'd be really intimidating for me to be in, to be commanding that big of a room and I'm really not ready. I want to work myself up to that so I can really kill it.

Austin Seltzer: 1:16:26

Yeah, so it's hard for probably listeners to understand if they're not deep in the music space, which I'm not a performer. But I do understand how you really have to grow up, into how big the stage in the room is.

Austin Seltzer: 1:16:42

You have to be able to command a larger room. It has so much to do with your stage movement and, just like the overall sound of the tracks that you're playing, I don't know the leads ability to resonate with everybody in the crowd and make them feel special, like there's a. You have to grow up into that.

Jack Griffo: 1:17:01

So that's Absolutely. We're about to play the Troubadour in 11 days. Oh yeah, and I'm so excited. I'm so excited to be in that space. I've seen a lot of life changing shows there.

Austin Seltzer: 1:17:13

Absolutely Same. Yeah, and that will be a step up for you.

Jack Griffo: 1:17:17

Exactly, exactly. We did the Viper Room last summer and it's definitely a step in the right direction. So anyway, back to Thundermans. I, like I said, I had worked a little bit on these shows, like guest stars and stuff, before I got the test and at the time I was testing for a couple Disney shows that Dog with a Blog, one that I mentioned, there's one called I Didn't Do it that my friend Austin North and Olivia Holt ended up doing, and at the time I wanted those, I really wanted the Disney shows. Like and I've said it before like I I you just kind of have an idea coming out here I wanted to do the wand, you know, the ears, the mouse ears, and I wanted those. And kind of in retrospect now I'm like gosh, like I'm so glad I got the Thundermans, you know, like it was just the best show.

Jack Griffo: 1:18:07

But anyway, back to the audition process and booking it. I got right to the producer session and then they called me back for the, for the test, the chemistry read, with Kira and with Chris who plays Hank, my dad, on the show, and I guess I'll tell the story Like why not, I'm gonna tear it. Oh, dude, no, I have to now. I'll make it short. I basically like before the chemistry read I get there and there's like a ton of boys, there's like there's like 15, and usually it's like you're down to like the final five or whatever. And I was like oh damn, you know there's a lot of me's around here, Some friends that I still know today.

Jack Griffo: 1:18:54

You know people that are kind of in my age range, and this is just a little part of the story. Basically, I go to the bathroom before my read and I walked in on the casting director going to the bathroom. This chick dude. She was going to the bathroom and there was not locked and I walked in and it was like, ah, it's so bad bro.

Jack Griffo: 1:19:15

I'm like 16, you know, and I see too much. I saw too much, you know, and I don't know if it was the casting director. It could have been the assistant or someone that worked for them. But anyway, I go in and you know they're in the room and I'm just trying to like, do my read, you know.

Austin Seltzer: 1:19:35

Yeah, how do you shake off that?

Jack Griffo: 1:19:37

Yeah, I had to really shake it off then, and it's just funny that that's what I ended up booking, because it really threw me for a curveball before the audition.

Austin Seltzer: 1:19:45

Yeah, I could feel like, was it just like a wave? It probably wasn't. Was it anxiety feeling or with like just adrenaline, like oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

Jack Griffo: 1:19:55

Definitely, definitely. And you're so young at that. Like you know, I hadn't had experience with girls at that point. You know what I mean. Like it's just, I was so innocent, anyway, that threw me for a curveball, but the chemistry was just there with me and Kira in the read, it was just very palpable. It was. Is that the right word?

Austin Seltzer: 1:20:18

Yeah, Also hilarious that I hear that most often about chemistry reads.

Jack Griffo: 1:20:23

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 1:20:23

Like that word. I think it's like a. That's the thing you know it's there.

Jack Griffo: 1:20:28

It's tangible, it's like you can feel the relationship and it's because of me and Kira's work in acting class, but also just because we knew each other. Like there was really nothing that those other guys could do to have the same relationship that I had with her. And our relationship was very much Max and Phoebe, like we were in acting class together from 2010. Like she was 12 or like 11 and I was like 13. And it was never more than friends which worked in our favor. It was always platonic. Like some people don't believe me, like even the Nickelodeon execs thought we hooked up Really, like literally. They like wouldn't believe it. They'd be like, yeah, right, and I don't even know why, because we didn't flirt, they, they. I think they just figured, because we were both young and good looking, that we would have done that. I don't know what that says about them, but we would swear.

Jack Griffo: 1:21:22

We'd be like. No, like we never have, and a lot of even fans are like you know. This is ridiculous.

Austin Seltzer: 1:21:28

You guys, you guys have hooked up, fans have fanfictions and all that, though. Oh, oh, yeah, oh yeah, I know that could be a whole no, kira has showed me.

Jack Griffo: 1:21:38

It's disturbing. They'll make these whole like sex stories with us. Yeah, it's not cool.

Austin Seltzer: 1:21:43

Yeah, I know fanfictions that go deep.

Jack Griffo: 1:21:45

Yeah, they go deep and we're like this little Nickelodeon show. It just shocked me. I was like wow. But anyway, I remember, I remember leaving and thinking that it went really, really well, and that same sentiment of like. Even when I was young I knew that I had like a really a really thick relationship with Kira and I knew that it showed. And whenever you get a role, your agent calls you and usually it's everyone on the team, like whether it's their other agents or their assistants or your manager, and it's either really good or really bad when they call. You know like, even when they call today, I'm like, am I crying or am I celebrating? You know like, just tell me now.

Austin Seltzer: 1:22:36

Your heart's just like yeah, yeah.

Jack Griffo: 1:22:38

And sometimes it's a good thing but it's not as good as you hoped. You know, like sometimes you'll be up for a few things and they'll call you and you'll think it's the one thing, but it's actually the thing that it's good but it's not as good. Yeah, You're like, ah, okay, cool. But yeah, I remember getting the call and just not being able to believe it at first, like you're feeling like a shock and trying to process it. I was wearing a blue shirt and I'm walking around the room and I'm listening to them tell me the deal and stuff and yeah, I just felt like it was all worth it.

Jack Griffo: 1:23:26

You know, even at that young age, like there are things that I didn't want to have to do. Like you know, get up early and work and, you know, not in sacrifice time with friends and sacrifice time in Orlando with my friends back there. You know, I gave it all of it up and it was more than just me, as my parents too, you know, and my mom was there with me and we're, you know, crying and and at that point I'm pretty sure we knew it was going to go to series, because if I really thought about it I'd be able to tell you for sure, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a pilot. At that point. When they decided to do the second pilot, I think that they knew that it was going to go to series and do a season.

Austin Seltzer: 1:24:11

Oh, interesting.

Jack Griffo: 1:24:14

Yeah, I was trying to test if having Max was going to do better than right and well, when we did the I'm trying to remember whether it was just straight to series or not no, it was, because I'll tell you that I did the pilot and they put me on a movie immediately and when I got back from the movie we started the series only like seven weeks later. I will say I'll get into this a little bit Me and Kira. Me and Kira recorded the theme song for the Thunderbirds. That didn't end up being the theme song, so I won't get into what all this means, probably I suspect.

Jack Griffo: 1:25:03

But I will say my experience and what happened. We recorded the theme song, we had shot the first season and now this is fast forwarding and we're in Kira's house with all of us from the show and ready for the premiere, and we didn't know anything. And we're getting ready and the first scene comes on and it's crazy, you know, like we're all watching our show for the first time in real time, just like everybody else, and the first scene ends and the theme song comes up with the opening slideshow credits, you know what I mean.

Jack Griffo: 1:25:42

And immediately we start looking around as the song starts and we're like this is not us, it's not our song, like it's two other people singing it, not us, and we didn't get told that at all. Like they didn't tell us and we were just like Okay, wow.

Austin Seltzer: 1:26:07

What a weird feeling.

Jack Griffo: 1:26:08

No, you'd think they would have told us.

Austin Seltzer: 1:26:10

Yeah, and you guys didn't see Final Cut.

Jack Griffo: 1:26:14

No, we didn't see any of it before, at least I didn't and it was a shock, like we were expecting to be having sung the song and possibly, you know, maybe do a little more music even and I'll leave it there. Wow, yeah, that would be shocking. Yeah, it was shocking, but I think that that was maybe I don't think I even I've realized this but that was kind of an antithesis of me really putting music on the side, because I had done like YouTube and stuff. Like before it was even a thing to be a YouTuber and I got like millions of hits, like I did like these covers and stuff before Thundermen's. And when Thundermen started I kind of just like put it to the side, like I really was doing what I what I really wanted, and in retrospect I probably wish I would have done both, but I really wanted to focus on the show because that's what I was having fun doing. And then I can't really judge myself for that.

Jack Griffo: 1:27:10

And we did 103 episodes and yeah, like got to travel the world and I'm so grateful, even with mentioning the song thing, like there were things that happened that you know it wasn't perfect and how could it be? You know, I can't expect that of a huge company like that, and but but they did so much for me that I'm humbled and so grateful for the opportunity and that's why, when they they asked me to come back, it was it was yes from the start. You know it was six years later. We just shot it in in April.

Austin Seltzer: 1:27:50

Yeah and yeah, we'll definitely get to the movie. Wow, what an interesting thing, though for two people who are vocalists. I mean, you both can sing, we both could sing, yeah.

Jack Griffo: 1:28:04

Yeah, that's what I will say, that like it was around the time that Ariana was getting really, really big and that caused problems for Nick.

Jack Griffo: 1:28:16

So I don't think they wanted to repeat history and it makes sense. You know, yeah, yeah, I have a friend who's kind of newer in the scene. You'll say, you know, and not really used to seeing like famous people or whatever. And we were at this place in Malibu and there's this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and there's this this show happening and I was actually hoping I'd be able to tell this story. On the way here. I was like I hope we get to this because it's kind of a funny story.

Jack Griffo: 1:28:48

We see this guy. We're at the bar. We see this guy and he looks dope. Like, he looks cool. You know, he's got like the black, he's got the trucker hat, he's a little bit of an older guy, his season day. We're like this guy's an artist, like we could just tell you know, this guy does music for sure in like a big way. Yeah, you could just feel it off some people. Yeah, you totally can, and it's not like they're putting it out there, it's just who they are and I knew it, he knew it, and I was talking to some other people, because I still have a thing of like when I know someone's like, I don't want to come off like I'm trying to get anything from them. You know, I hope that maybe we'll connect in a more organic way, you know, and it didn't seem right at the time for me to go up to him. Anyway, my friend doesn't have the same, same idea.

Austin Seltzer: 1:29:34

Not the social, not the same social like you, exactly. So he goes up to him.

Jack Griffo: 1:29:38

And this is all what I found out afterwards, because I was doing my own thing. And then I basically come back to my friend and I'm like, who was it, you know? And he was like, oh, bro, he's, he's like a big artist, he's from the bravery, and I was like, what's that? And he plays me the song, so give me something to believe.

Jack Griffo: 1:30:03

And I was like, no way I got such a big song you know, and and he was like, oh, bro, like I, I, I think I was like too much, you know, I think I think I was too much, you know, and I was like, yeah, dude, you got to like, you got to be chill, you got to like not give them the impression that you want anything from them.

Jack Griffo: 1:30:23

You just got to, got to play it like you just want to be a friend which is genuine, you know, just just be their friend, just connect with people and once you get to know them and, you know, get their information, eventually then you can start to talk about, oh, like we should collaborate or produce or write together. It just can't really be like that's kind of my rule of thumb, like I don't really go there for a while, like I just try to like meet people and be their friend and because having friends is awesome, you know, like I think community and friendship is so important and it can't really be about an exchange, even though that's what ends up happening and maybe what you ideally would like. You just can't make it about that because then it kind of repulses people.

Austin Seltzer: 1:31:15

You know, you're perfectly right. I think exactly what it is is if you could flip off the switch in your head. That's like, oh shit, that's somebody big I need to go talk to them. You just flip that off and like say yeah. I'd love to have. I'd love to just conversate with them. I just want to talk.

Jack Griffo: 1:31:32

Yeah, and throw them curveballs because famous people don't want to be ass-kissed. You know it'd be like I don't know, just something that they don't hear often. You know, like that's the thing about like being famous or a celebrity or a known person. It's like you get a lot of opportunities, you get your foot in the door and a lot of places that you wouldn't have otherwise. But also it creates this thing of like people.

Jack Griffo: 1:31:59

You never really know if people are treating you genuinely. You know, because anyone could know who you are and anyone could have an idea of you, and it creates a, right off the bat, a level of uncertainty in relationships. And so I have a I feel like a very keen radar of people who are trying to act like they're just meeting me. But I know that they know who I am, you know, and it's fine, you know, but people, people like people would just be rude sometimes, like someone once told me that I looked, they thought I'd be bigger in person, they thought I'd be taller. What the fuck it's so messed up. But but yeah, it kind of creates, it kind of takes away a level of like just person to person meeting people if you are like a semi known person. So it's like give and take, like there's good things about it but there's also harder things about it that you kind of have to navigate. Interesting.

Austin Seltzer: 1:33:09

You know, hopefully, hopefully people watching and listening now understand a little bit more, coming from somebody who probably gets approached pretty often and just like dude, play it cool.

Jack Griffo: 1:33:19

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 1:33:19

Just treat somebody like a human and not like a spectacle.

Jack Griffo: 1:33:23

Don't be so impressed. You know people don't want to. People don't want your praise, you know they don't. They just want to be treated like normal and also give people respect.

Jack Griffo: 1:33:34

Like you know, like when people come up to me and I'm in a conversation or an intense conversation, or I'm eating with someone, like I very respectfully, nicely like, tell them I'll be happy to take a picture and talk to you when I'm done. You know, and a lot of people will think that I'm a dick for that, but it's really asserting a level of humanity you know that, I don't know you.

Jack Griffo: 1:34:02

You know, I know, you know me, but I don't know you. I'd happy to, I'm happy to know you, just not at this second, when you need.

Austin Seltzer: 1:34:12

That's totally fair. I don't think anybody eating dinner wants to be approached and pulled away from whoever else they're talking to to have another conversation, mid conversation.

Jack Griffo: 1:34:24

But it's also really sweet when people wait. You know like I'll be at a restaurant and I'll be leaving and like people will be like waiting outside, I don't want to wait till you're done, and that creates like, oh, like, thank you so much, that's so respectful, you know, and that creates a trust you know with people, with people that you don't know, like that, and it makes me like kind of the position that I'm in Like usually I do like it, usually it's great, but sometimes people will take advantage and kind of treat you unfairly.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:00

Yeah, I love that we captured that. That's gold, okay, so I want to fast forward a little bit. I want to tell people, whenever we met interesting, how this all yeah, all came about. But so we were filming a movie, I think it was 2020.

Jack Griffo: 1:35:19

Yes, it was. It was right at the height of COVID.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:21

Yeah, it was. Yeah, I mean we had to get tested and I mean it was like very I caused major problems with that.

Jack Griffo: 1:35:27

Well, you know who caused it. It wasn't me, it was my girlfriend at the time. Oh, okay.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:33

Yeah, I didn't, I didn't like.

Jack Griffo: 1:35:35

She was just going out all the time and she knew I was shooting a movie and I just I asked her politely and like she just wouldn't listen, and she got COVID and I had to tell production and almost shut us down.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:46

Yeah, I remember. So the movies don't log off.

Jack Griffo: 1:35:48

Yes.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:50

And still in post, but it'll be out one day. But we bear brothers and I know that.

Austin Seltzer: 1:35:57

Yeah, I know you guys are killing it. So yeah, I met so many different people on this film, but one of them happened to be a guy. So I got invited onto this film because of Sterling Bowman and my best buddy, si, was doing a short. I don't know if it was like several years before, but anyways, I met Sterling on this film. He was the lead and he knew that I did sound stuff because I did it on the short and he invited me onto this project and then I, so I met you, I met Ariel Winter, I met Luke, luke, let's see.

Jack Griffo: 1:36:31

Kara Royster, abriel Barbuzka. Oh yeah, yeah, but mainly it was Ariel, me and Luke, and oh, ashley Argata. Yes, who's great. Yeah, it was kind of a culmination of like a lot of us here in town really in this kind of same age, like it was really like the crowd that we ran with in like 2016, 2017. It was kind of the culmination of those years, I feel like that film.

Austin Seltzer: 1:37:00

Yeah, I was going to ask how did you meet all of them?

Jack Griffo: 1:37:04

Man, okay, okay. So Ariel, she's moved away now. It's kind of sad. We were really really close friends. She lives in Nashville now with one of my old roommates and one of my old best friends, luke Benward, who we just mentioned, and I actually met Ariel. I think, like before everyone we were in a chemistry read together and this is actually a really good story. Kind of like one of the really hard times of growing up here, like before I didn't get the pilot, before the theme song wasn't mine, like this was the real first heartbreak of Hollywood that I experienced.

Austin Seltzer: 1:37:44

Yeah, that's a good one.

Jack Griffo: 1:37:47

I met a couple of few girls at this chemistry that I ended up knowing for a while. Ariel was probably the main one that I became really close friends with. The other one was Stephanie Scott, who ended up being on Disney. I didn't really end up being very close friends with her, but we've known each other for a long time. And then the other was Kat Magnamera, and we became good friends as well and Kat's absolutely killing it and we were auditioning and chemistry reading for a version of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Okay Movie didn't end up doing great. Kat ended up booking it over Ariel and Stephanie. Kat got it and I didn't get it over Joel Courtney, who was in the kissing booth and Super 8. Great guy, and that was the first time I met Joel too. But I will tell the story. I met Ariel that day. It was one of my first kisses. I had to kiss three girls in one day what the heck.

Austin Seltzer: 1:38:52

Just had another day in Hollywood.

Jack Griffo: 1:38:54

Yeah, and basically the casting department told my reps that I had the role. So you know, they told me on the phone. I was all happy we're going to Bulgaria to shoot. And that weekend Super 8 came out and Joel was obviously in that. It was literally like a few a couple of days after the read and I remember watching the MTV Music Awards because I knew Joel was going to be on it and I had just done the read with him, against him rather, and I saw him on stage, like with JJ Abrams, I was like, wow, that's crazy, Like I got the role over him, you know.

Austin Seltzer: 1:39:38

Yeah.

Jack Griffo: 1:39:43

And that Monday, after the MTV Music Awards, I get the call from my agent. And I said well, actually, you know, the director really likes Joel, especially with Super 8. Just came out and I think they're going to give the role to Joel the cloud the cloud.

Jack Griffo: 1:40:02

And I was just beside my, I was. Ugh. It was terrible, bro. Like to have something seemingly like in your grasp, Like I've still yet to lead a movie. I have not done that and it's something that I'm looking forward to and that would have been a lead, and, but it's. Everything happens for a reason. I didn't do that well and ended up being fine, but it just taught me a lot at that young age of like in the industry and in life, like you really can't count anything as for sure Until it's for sure, oh yeah you know, even if I had Flown out and been in the movie like it could get scrapped, like you know to me I could get recast like it could not come out.

Jack Griffo: 1:40:51

So it taught me from a very young age to not get too attached to things.

Austin Seltzer: 1:40:56

That was something I had to learn. Also, in my my side of things, I may get tapped to mix something, or before this, I used to do like while we are on this set, I was actually composing and doing stuff for like trailer, music and whatnot, and you may be in the final cut and on the mixing room floor they scrap your track for another one and you were told you even know how much you're getting paid. Yeah yeah no, until it comes out. And you see it.

Jack Griffo: 1:41:23

Yeah, one of my friends Was basically in the idol, you know, the HBO show with the weekend and the whole thing got scrapped and they made a new, a new show you know, like, and she was very new to the to the, to the city, like just got here, and it was one of those stories that it would have been very quick. You know, I would have been crazy it would have been crazy quick and she learned a lot.

Jack Griffo: 1:41:46

You know she, after it all happened, her whole attitude changed and it humbles you really quickly. But that's just this. This industry is the way it goes. But anyway, back to meeting that whole crew Ariel, luke, sterling I ended up living with with with Luke and Sterling, and that was like a golden era for sure for me. You know I I was doing a lot of fun stuff, I was traveling, I was having like my first and second relationship and learning a lot and Shooting the show, doing the kids choice awards. You know it was a whirlwind. It was a whirlwind for sure.

Austin Seltzer: 1:42:26

Sounds like a little frat house.

Jack Griffo: 1:42:28

It was, it was for sure it was our non-college frat house and we'd have a lot of parties and you know a lot of people would come and people I still know today. It's funny, like, looking back. You know we're all in this 26, 27 age range and it's, things are just different. Things will just never be like they were. You know, like everyone's really grinding and trying to find their, their direction in life and you know, less partying, less distractions, and it's great, it's awesome, but it's just there's a lot less time that we get together and and have those those memories. You know, and it makes those times more precious when you can like plan a trip with your bros or you can just have a party or you can, you know, you go to a wedding. It's just like we're at that point in life and you know, if you're not in that point in life yet, you will be where it's.

Jack Griffo: 1:43:21

It's just not all about partying anymore, like it's about okay, like how am I gonna, how am I gonna survive, how am I gonna do this? You know, like it's, it's a it's a doggy dog world and you have to kind of Forge your own, your own path and and kind of plan for the future, and that's kind of what we're talking about earlier. Since I turned 25, like things are just different for me. I don't know, and it's kind of recent. I'm gonna be 27 at the end of the year, which is so crazy, so crazy. Like time has just gone by so fast since the show ended in seven years. That's just wild. Yeah, yeah, so it was actually two years ago when we first heard that we might do a Thunderman's movie a long time ago really, and I was at EDC.

Austin Seltzer: 1:44:09

What a place to yeah.

Jack Griffo: 1:44:10

I was at EDC. I remember walking around the parking lot like around my RV, like talking to my agent, and that was the first time I heard about it. And then it went away and didn't hear about it for a while. I Figured it was canned, you know, not, not happening anymore. And then we started to hear about it again, like later last year, and then over the holiday, over Christmas, I got the call that it was happening and we were gonna be shooting in March. That ended up pushing to April and Basically it was just Exactly what I would have hoped.

Jack Griffo: 1:44:51

I mean, there were definitely some, some hurdles that I personally had to had to get through. I got injured on set, I got sick, and I Feel like that's just par for the course, you know, like it couldn't have been as easy as it was going, like everything else was literally perfect, like the people were perfect, like the, the movie was perfect pretty much, and but yeah, so I was doing some stunts and I didn't stretch out and I pulled my groin. Like really bad, I thought I tore it, that's that is a terrible injury.

Austin Seltzer: 1:45:27

I really like soccer and and that injury it was bad.

Jack Griffo: 1:45:32

I felt like my this, I Was like letting this kick out and I felt my my, like this ball in my hip like completely slide from one side to the other, like I felt it. Yeah, it was so bad and I pulled through somehow miraculously, like I did like the whole massage gun thing and a lot of water, a lot of stretching, and I Was able to pull through and do the scene, because we have some doubles, but I want to do most of it if I can, but that was kind of one hurdle. And then the first week I I went out and I shouldn't have gone out, I think I went to like email night or something and that's exactly what I did and I got sick and I felt really, really bad and I had to like apologize and I said you know, I'm taking this really seriously, I'm really sorry, I'm not gonna go out anymore. But I didn't get anyone else sick. So that was, that was good and but just the story, I think it's gonna make a lot of fans really, really happy.

Jack Griffo: 1:46:35

We touched on a lot of things from the show. We had a lot of the guest cast back. The story just makes sense. It's funny and it feels like a like a culmination of of all the years that we spent and, yeah, just seeing the fans reactions just while we were shooting, it was incredible. The, the really outpouring of support and love and Just the fandom of the show really was was revived, and we don't even have any real Content or clips to pose like. It was just the fact that we were on set. So it was very, very cool and I can't wait to see it. I actually got an email while I was here with you that I'm gonna see a little bit of it. I have a ADR session coming up, which is when you go in the studio and Dub some of the lines that they weren't able to to get on the day. Yeah, so I'll be able to like see the screen and match my my lips, you know.

Jack Griffo: 1:47:37

Yeah, so I'm gonna see a little bit of it. I'm really excited.

Austin Seltzer: 1:47:39

Yeah, basically He'll go into a studio like a sound booth with the screen and then it pops up with the words on the screen with kind of like a Karaoke moving bar type thing, right.

Jack Griffo: 1:47:48

Yeah, you have to have to track it. I think they call it or they call it some word like running it or tracking it or basically lip-syncing it. Yeah, you know, we're making sure you're like on time, which I'm actually pretty good at.

Austin Seltzer: 1:48:02

I would be so bad.

Jack Griffo: 1:48:03

It's hard, I'd be so bad.

Austin Seltzer: 1:48:05

I'm great at like guitar hero or Something like that, but I feel like speaking. I actually did it one time. I went to UCLA producer school Just to learn some about that world and we had to do it. I was trash.

Jack Griffo: 1:48:19

It's hard. It's hard and, as you, something you get better at as you, as you do more and more. I just did some for don't log off oh it's funny, yeah, like a few weeks ago.

Jack Griffo: 1:48:28

Maybe, maybe a couple months ago actually, but uh, what is time right, relative? But anyway, thundermines is it's. It's crazy that it's coming back. I mean not only to have done over a hundred episodes, but the fact that it's still a thing like I Get kids coming up to me that are really little because they just got put on Netflix this year or this past year Mm-hmm, just the first two seasons. I think the idea is to have people go to Paramount Plus from there.

Jack Griffo: 1:48:58

I see, but since they got put on Netflix, like a whole new generation of kids is watching it. You know I have kids that are out of college coming up to me and saying they watch my show and, um, it's such a wide demographic. It was also really big for co-viewing with parents and kids like a lot of parents enjoyed watching the show.

Jack Griffo: 1:49:17

There was a lot of Jokes with our mom and dad on the show that were great, like we had such a talented Mom and dad duo, like they were just so funny, which, you know, a lot of nicking Disney shows have. But we were there. It was really big for for co-co-viewing with parents and kids. So just the the demographic is crazy and the reach, you know, across the world has been just insane, you know, and it's it's humbling, because I have my own little life and I Keep pretty private.

Jack Griffo: 1:49:52

I don't really put everything online like so many people do these days. It's fine that they do, but I just, I just don't. But I feel like my music is a is a way for me to Connect to fans. That that feels right to me and that feels Good to me, you know, because it's part of who I am, but it's it's still something that I feel proud of and what I want to put out there, like I just we give so much away as artists. I feel like who we are, that the other parts I could feel like at least me personally, I kind of want to keep to myself.

Jack Griffo: 1:50:36

Yeah you know, and there is something to be said for Not just not just Letting everyone let, letting everyone one in, you know, and I think that's fine people that want to do that, but it just never felt. I just always kind of wanted my own privacy. Yeah, I'm just kind of that kind of person.

Austin Seltzer: 1:50:55

Yeah, and that makes sense. Not everybody wants to be just have everything out there.

Jack Griffo: 1:51:00

Yeah.

Austin Seltzer: 1:51:00

Yeah, I think that's totally okay.

Jack Griffo: 1:51:02

And I think I think it's also that like I just, I just I can't like it whenever I do videos like that or try to talk to the camera, like I just feel weird about it. And maybe it's in security, like we talked a little bit about that earlier, but I don't know what it is. I really I really don't. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up Like saying lines that were given to me and I feel weird just saying stuff on my own. That's why this is cool, this kind of format of a show, because there is no lines, but it is me and it's all kind of off the top, which is which is cool.

Austin Seltzer: 1:51:38

Yeah, I really love this. Yeah it's a great way to conversate. So I think that leads into the final question. And yeah, what does success mean to you? What at this point in your life, what does success mean?

Jack Griffo: 1:51:53

I think success, at least to me, is Directly tied to my relationships with people, whether they're, whether they're going good or they're going bad.

Jack Griffo: 1:52:09

Success, I feel I can be tied to failing and trying a lot of new things. Like it's a kind of ironic because success and failing is kind of the opposite, but to me it's all the same. So like things like going to class, acting class and and learning and failing and getting better. So success there. I mean, I think success is also expressing myself, not holding things in, because that is what's going to create problems for me in my life. And I'm holding on to my trauma and holding on to my bitterness I Think bitterness is a big one too like success directly being tied to not having any kind of baggage or chips on your shoulders about things you know and Going Going forth in life with an open hand. You know being generous to people, because you know that nothing that we have is really ours anyway. You know it's all everybody's, you know. That's why I I Try to Give money to homeless people like a lot, like I like to always have like ones on me, because they say that giving is Just feels so much better than receiving, and I think that's really true. I think there's a lot of virtue in in being generous and I think that if you are, things come back to you anyway and not holding on to those things. Like I feel like as people meet me, especially over the past 10 years, like I've accumulated stuff. It's it feels so good and like comforting to like have stuff, but it's really like chains, like holding us down, like not being so attached to material things and being more minimal and not holding on to these possessions, you know, because these possessions can be something that Sort of control us or make us feel a certain, a certain way. Like when I buy things, it's a way to like make myself feel Important, and it's a lie. It's not. It's not real. You know the things that are important and talking about success, you know I've heard someone say that you know, when you're old, on your deathbed and about to go out, you're not going to be thinking about All those things that you should have gotten, like the new iPhone or the new Android or the, the coolest gadget, or, or, or the, or those clothes or any, anything like that. You're not gonna be thinking about those things you could be thinking. I Wish I spent more time with the people that I love, because that we, you and I are, are the most important things in this room I think we could both agree on. You know, and that's there's something to be said for that like us people are, are, are what kind of make the world go, and we need to come together, you know. So I think success is like.

Jack Griffo: 1:55:32

I think success to me is Cultivation. You know what I mean of, of, is that even a word, cultivating cultivation of, of creating communal Processes. You know, like getting together and having people that are like minded, like like thinking the same. You know what I mean. It's kind of contradicts to. I think that people should disagree we're talking about earlier too but, yeah, like not going through life alone. I think for me personally, it's family.

Jack Griffo: 1:56:07

You know, like I'm, like we talked earlier, I'm ready to, like you know, find my person and you know I think that's a big part of success for me is if I'm able to be, if I'm able to to, to get past a few things in this next few years that have been holding me back and become the highest functioning version of myself and Attract someone that is also on that level, that will be success to me. Finding a partner in life that is going to not only Motivate me to to be that version of myself that I want to be, but also Make me feel, be my best friend. If I don't want to try to say like because they say that, like when you marry someone or you find someone, it's like it's all about who do you want to To be there at the end of the day to talk to? That's it. That's kind of what it all comes down to. If you think about it, like there's a lot of planning that goes into family and business and whatever, but like when you think about it from a day to day level, you know you might not see that person all day, but you do, when you get in bed and pillow talk for the night and it's really like who do you want that person to be? And that's what I'm, what I'm looking for, looking for my best friend, you know, and a lot of people aren't focused on that and that's fine.

Jack Griffo: 1:57:38

But I think the past couple years I have gotten to the point where, like marriage, family is really important to me. I want to have kids, you know, want to be a dad, and so right now Success is kind of setting myself up for for that. Yeah, like setting getting my finances in order getting my life in order attracting that person, getting married, probably traveling a little bit together for a few years I mean, that's what everybody says, but like that's, that's that's the dream, you know, yeah, and and then you know, be, be, be, kind of we talked about working on on ourself so that everything else is kind of growing with us, like our career and stuff like that. So really doing that inner work, having everything else kind of grow with me, with, with acting and with music and with finding a partner and and having a family, yeah, that's probably my Ideal. Like world of success and also like my immediate family, right now also being like happy, healthy, you know, my parents working out their stuff, my, my siblings, like I think a big part of life is like when your, when you're a high-functioning person, you have a lot of positive energy.

Jack Griffo: 1:58:49

You kind of have a responsibility of the people you're around to to help and motivate them, and it also comes out in exchange. You know you gotta have to kind of be protective of your good energy, because when you give it, there's an exchange there. Like you like if you have people that are Bums hanging around you all the time, they're gonna, they're gonna take that that good energy for sure. So there's a level of like you want to give it but you also want to protect it. But I think, like we were talking about earlier how I started life coaching and I sort of started implementing those Theories in into my friend's life. Like, dude, what do you want? Like what's getting out of your way? Like I think part of that motivating people and get getting the people that are around you on your way, because I've heard people say like, if you're rich, like you don't want to hang out with poor friends because you can't do anything with them. You know what I mean. You can't have fun.

Jack Griffo: 1:59:38

You can't go on trips, you know, so you want to. You want to motivate the people around you to learn the things you're learning, so you can all Start killing it together you know?

Austin Seltzer: 1:59:48

yeah, so that's that's my answer. That's a perfect way to wrap this up, dude. Thank you so much for for coming on here and sharing your wisdom and having a good talk with me, and Nonscripted.

Jack Griffo: 1:59:59

Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. It's been really fun.

Austin Seltzer: 2:00:02

Oh yeah, dude.

Jack Griffo: 2:00:04

Hang loose, keep it, keep it real keep it real, all right.

Austin Seltzer: 2:00:14

So now that you've listened to the episode, you know Jack is a character. I love this dude. Every time that I run into him around LA, we're just, we always catch up and have something funny to talk about. Or, you know, he's just, he's a hilarious dude who's incredibly wise and he has Already worked so much, he has already done so much, and he's he's young. You know, there's just so much room for him to grow and I can't wait to see that happen. All right.

Austin Seltzer: 2:00:46

So an interesting point that he made and I want to highlight here because I haven't had any other guests talk about this but if you were to come in contact with somebody who's famous or somebody who is a Public figure that you want to develop a relationship with, you want to work with he gives great insight Just treat that person like a human being. You know, do not go up and put them on a pedestal and freak out about them. Don't gawk over them, you know. Don't, just don't be a fan. Treat them like a human. Treat them like you. You would treat your friend and have a normal conversation and, at the end of that conversation, ask for their contact information, instagram number, whatever it is just nonchalantly, and then you can continue to develop the relationship just through messaging or texting and Whenever that has gotten to a certain point, then maybe you could talk about wanting to work with them or you know, whatever the goal is, but develop a relationship. Don't just put them on a pedestal and freak out, because that's gonna turn them away, obviously, but Ultimately it's gonna put you in a power position where now they look at you as somebody who needs something and ultimately we want to help each other. So I thought that was an awesome point. Thanks for making that.

Austin Seltzer: 2:02:16

Jack here's kind of an actor specific Key point, but I actually really think that it works for so many other Arts and and whatever you are trying to achieve. So Jack said, if you want to receive callbacks, if you want to continue to get better as an actor, even if you have already booked some bigger gigs, or if you're just starting out, you need to be taking lessons, at least one a week. Find a teacher, a school that maybe has Created a couple actors or talent that you really love what they do and seek that out. I know this is a financial investment, but if you're trying to reach the top or if you are trying to do this for a living, it's worth the money. This could also go for production, for mixing, for anything else, like if you were starting out, or even if you've, like, achieved some great things. You can always learn from others and so just reinvest into yourself if this is the craft that you want to do for a living. And Jack said that currently he does one a week, but at points he's done too. So you know, use this and and let it help you in your craft.

Austin Seltzer: 2:03:34

Point number three is a sad but true one. Unfortunately, you cannot celebrate or you can, but do not celebrate your wins Until they're actually out into the world. We need them to be out in the world to actually know that they're gonna solidify. Unfortunately, there are so many times for me and for Jack, as you heard where you Absolutely have a gig right, everybody has said so, you have been told by this person, that person, you've got the gig. In my case, I had music that was placed in trailers and it was already cut and everybody said yes, and we already had a price, that I was gonna get paid or the publisher was gonna get paid, and then, an hour before, they swap it out and then I no longer have the placement. Jack, right before landing a gig, had someone come in and take the job because they had cloud at that moment, and so, unfortunately, this is one thing just don't celebrate your wins until they are actually Solidified and out into the world.

Austin Seltzer: 2:04:42

If you are on set as an actor on a film, then you can celebrate the win, but until then, just keep your head down, keep working, celebrate that you got the opportunity, celebrate that they loved what you have. You know that is worth celebrating and keep that momentum going forward, but until it's actually out into the world, you don't have it. It's a sad but true thing. And Ultimately for Jack, the definition of success already here is Success is being the highest functioning version of yourself. Attracting those into your life while you are at the peak version of yourself is success, and I think that's awesome. Do everything that you can to feel amazing in yourself and to feel confident and walk into a room with your best self and that's what's going to attract people into your life that are also at the peak of Themselves and it's gonna help you surround yourself with people who are really doing great things and that's gonna propel you forward to success. I loved that.

Austin Seltzer: 2:05:51

Thanks for listening to the grounds for success podcast. I want to thank all of the people who work on this podcast and help me out. My team is everything to me, and without them I couldn't bring these to you every single week. I couldn't post on social media, you know, with all the clips that we have, and so I thank you guys so much. I want to also thank all of my clients on the mixing and mastering side, because without you, I could not have grounds for success. So thank you so much. If you're enjoying the grounds for success podcast, please follow, like and subscribe on whichever platform you're listening or watching on. It helps us out a ton, and I want to keep getting this content to you, in whichever way you listen or watch.