Ever wondered what it takes to leap from the known to the unknown and land on your feet? Alicia Lu did just that, trading the certainty of a marketing career for the unpredictable yet exhilarating world of acting in New Orleans. Join us for a heart-to-heart with this magnetic talent, where she walks us through her compelling transformation and ascent in the acting sphere.
Our conversation with Alicia illuminates the audition process as more than just tryouts for roles; they're a platform to display prowess and adaptability. We chew over the nuggets of wisdom from industry veterans about embracing these moments as career-defining rather than mere role-seeking. Plus, we touch on the synergy between interviews and auditions, unpacking the preparation and resilience needed in both arenas.
As Alicia narrates tales of the New Orleans film community's collaborative heartbeat, you'll feel the pulse of a network that puts passion at the forefront, blurring the lines between work and play. The episode also delves into the delicate balance between challenging oneself and honoring one's boundaries, offering a candid look at how actors like Regina King and Walton Goggins tackle controversial roles. Listen in for a real and riveting exploration of the bonds that tie actors together, woven throughout our exchange with the effervescent Alicia Lu.
Follow us on IG @nolafilmscene, @kodaksbykojack, and @tjsebastianofficial. Check out our 48 Hour Film Project short film Waiting for Gateaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pFvn4cd1U
Ever wondered what it takes to leap from the known to the unknown and land on your feet? Alicia Lu did just that, trading the certainty of a marketing career for the unpredictable yet exhilarating world of acting in New Orleans. Join us for a heart-to-heart with this magnetic talent, where she walks us through her compelling transformation and ascent in the acting sphere.
Our conversation with Alicia illuminates the audition process as more than just tryouts for roles; they're a platform to display prowess and adaptability. We chew over the nuggets of wisdom from industry veterans about embracing these moments as career-defining rather than mere role-seeking. Plus, we touch on the synergy between interviews and auditions, unpacking the preparation and resilience needed in both arenas.
As Alicia narrates tales of the New Orleans film community's collaborative heartbeat, you'll feel the pulse of a network that puts passion at the forefront, blurring the lines between work and play. The episode also delves into the delicate balance between challenging oneself and honoring one's boundaries, offering a candid look at how actors like Regina King and Walton Goggins tackle controversial roles. Listen in for a real and riveting exploration of the bonds that tie actors together, woven throughout our exchange with the effervescent Alicia Lu.
Follow us on IG @nolafilmscene, @kodaksbykojack, and @tjsebastianofficial. Check out our 48 Hour Film Project short film Waiting for Gateaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pFvn4cd1U
Hi guys, my name is Alicia Lu and I'm very honored to be on NOLA Film Scene. Thank you guys so much for having me on, very excited.
Speaker 2:NOLA please.
Speaker 3:Hello, welcome to NOLA. Film Scene with TJ Play-Doh.
Speaker 2:I'm TJ.
Speaker 3:And, as always, I'm.
Speaker 2:Play-Doh. Welcome back to another episode of NOLA Film Scene. We're here with our friend, Alicia Lu. Alicia, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1:Hi guys, thank you so much for having me on Great to be, here, hey buddy Long time. No see buddy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, been a whole week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3:I think you're stalking me. Thank you for it.
Speaker 1:I'm in at least 20% of your selfies on your Instagram.
Speaker 2:That would be a significant number.
Speaker 1:I know, because it's a lot of selfies.
Speaker 3:Are you saying I take too many pictures Me?
Speaker 1:Never, never. You can never have too many.
Speaker 3:If you're listening and don't know, you can follow me on Codex by Kojack on my Instagram and find out. Anyway, hi Alicia, how you been.
Speaker 1:I've been great. Yeah, I've been great. Thank you again for having me on. I do believe that I'm probably the newest actor that you've probably had on your show. I appreciate your extending the invite.
Speaker 3:No problem, it's almost obligatory that we have to say it when do we meet?
Speaker 1:The circle exercise.
Speaker 3:People are going to be so sick of it, but you should take it, buddy.
Speaker 1:It's a legendary, it's like a legend at this point you know, because of your show, because of anyone in the NOLA acting community. Hopefully they've heard about it at least. But it really is. I think should be mandatory for all actors, especially starting out, but not even like of all levels. It's just the best practice you could have as an actor.
Speaker 3:It helps you get in touch with that emotional core.
Speaker 1:It really, really does. And actually I was just telling Jim this story. But I was rehearsing with a scene partner for a class earlier this week and she was having a little bit of trouble getting deep, like digging deep into the desperation and the emotion that she needed to really like dig into for her character, and so we did a little mini circle exercise where we threw out our scripts, we used other scripts and the words no longer mattered and I was like just get to that emotion and it really helped.
Speaker 1:So, I was telling Jim that this was an example of the circle exercise in the wild and he was tickled by that. Cool, but it really is so helpful, honestly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's applicable for sure.
Speaker 1:I just realized that we probably can't talk about what it is, and I just talked about what it is, so feel free to get rid of all that We'll believe you.
Speaker 2:We'll go back and listen, but I don't think there was anything too detailed about it.
Speaker 3:One last sense of belief. Don't wonder what you're talking about. We always like talking to actors about what inspired them on this journey. So some people it was high school, some people grandma school, some people, like me, it's later in life, just having that opportunity and, oh, like a duck to water, boom. So what started you on this road?
Speaker 1:It's definitely something I've always been interested in as a kid, but never really viewed it as anything more than a pipe dream. But as a child I would fantasize. I would basically act out this fantasy life every night when I went to bed. So I didn't really have a lot of friends growing up.
Speaker 1:I was kind of a loner, so I would tap into this fantasy world and I actually was a Hollywood actress. It was my dream life and so I think it's always been in the back of my mind that this is the ultimate dream. But that's what it was for a very long time in my life a pipe dream and having very practical Asian parents who obviously wanted me to go the path of something stable, something reliable, something with health benefits. I kind of just pursued the normal, quote, unquote, normal corporate life for a long time and ended up in marketing, and that's where I've been for the last many years. And then I moved to New Orleans. It was a pandemic decision.
Speaker 1:My husband and I moved to New Orleans at the beginning of 2021. I think it was here that I started to really want to start pursuing more creative outlets. It felt like just a more welcoming city to do that. I came from New York. I should say I was in New York City for 15 years and it was definitely intimidating there. So when we got here, I started looking up Acting Studios. I found Jim Gleason and I think it was almost exactly a year ago to this day that I started taking classes there. It was right after Halloween, so yeah, almost exactly a year ago, and I never looked back. I've been taking classes consistently since then and I find that every month I'm growing and improving exponentially and after, I think, three or four months, I graduated quote unquote to the intermediate level.
Speaker 2:And I was like maybe I'm not terrible at this, Maybe there's something here.
Speaker 1:And then that gave me sort of a boost of confidence and I started auditioning on Actors Access and I booked my first lead role a month after I started auditioning. I was like this is crazy. I never, ever thought that this would happen. And it was a lead role in this student film by SCAD. So we shot in Atlanta. It was a great sort of entry point as a beginning actor to see what it's all about To be on set, to get to know all the different roles, everyone from how the director works with you, getting feedback, doing multiple takes, seeing how the DP sets up his shots then you know how many takes or how many shots you're going to get of each scene, and then the grip working with makeup. Hey, you know, it was a fantastic experience and there's really nothing like getting hands on you know firsthand experience actually doing the thing right. So it was fantastic.
Speaker 1:And then since then I've just been kind of juggling my marketing job. I work at a certain house of mouse. I've been working at Disney in marketing and it's quite a busy job. So I didn't really full on start auditioning until quite recently. Because I'm wrapping up, you know, my marketing role and I've been. I booked two other short films since the first one and a print ad, and so I feel like, for someone who hasn't really been submitting a lot and I really just only started in April, it's been pretty steady and I feel optimistic that I can make something of this. So yeah, here's hoping that it just only grows from here. So that's been my experience so far.
Speaker 2:Nice. What about your other ones? Were they in Atlanta or in New Orleans or where else?
Speaker 1:One is so both of them I haven't filmed yet. One is later in November and then the other one is in December. The one in November is here, it's local local director, and then the one in December is filming in Memphis. So all kind of like in the Southeast region. Yeah, very, very excited, yeah. And I think that, honestly, part of the reason why maybe I've had a little bit more success than I expected I certainly did not expect to book so many so soon is because they're probably not as many roles for Asians in this particular region and they've all been Asian roles, you know, not like open ethnicity roles, but specific Asian roles. Some of them have required Mandarin and I'm fluent in Mandarin, so I think that's also something that really helps kind of weed out the competition a little bit.
Speaker 1:So I do see myself I am an Asian American actress. I see myself lucky in that respect. Where it could be seen as a disadvantage, I sort of see it as an advantage, because this community is it's not like New York where I'm auditioning with thousands of other Asian actors. There's probably a handful here, right, and like that's not to say I hope it doesn't grow but like for now, I'm glad that I don't have a lot of competition.
Speaker 3:Take advantage.
Speaker 2:I think that's a really good advantage for you, because you have that ability to play the Asian character, particularly if you have to use Mandarin, but then you can also play a role that doesn't specify an ethnicity or race.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, and actually the one filming locally here. It's not an Asian actor, it can be anyone. So, and that's actually something that I've found to be sort of a how do I say it? It's like a sign of progress in this industry that I've noticed a lot more roles going out to Asian actors taking on roles that are not specifically Asian. Right, they just happen to be Asian. It's a character like any other character, but they just it just happens to be played by an Asian actor, and I think that's a really good sign for where we are in Hollywood and the progress that we're making. You know, you look back at, you know, obviously this is a long time ago, but there was a time when white actors were playing Asian characters and it was horribly stereotyped and offensive and, just you know, plain racist and then you know roles started opening up more and more for Asians in Asian stories.
Speaker 1:you know specifically Asian stories like Joy Luck Club, for example. But now you see all these, you know shows and movies and all kinds of productions that are just stories. They're just fun, compelling stories and they happen to be starring an all Asian cast, but it's not about being Asian. Their identity maybe plays like a minor role, but really not. You know, it's not the point of the story. So I think that's really refreshing the way that we're headed, yeah, so I'm hoping that also obviously helps me, you know, as an actor.
Speaker 3:Well, you can have my roles.
Speaker 1:That's something we won't have to worry about.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll never be competition we were in the last one the same time and you got it and I was upset.
Speaker 1:And I was playing biker number three. I was very surprised.
Speaker 3:Just as surprised as you that I got the role, Probably because you could ride a bike. Connect See. Ok, we were playing.
Speaker 2:Some advice I heard recently is don't let a breakdown description hold you back from submitting. Obviously, if it's completely contrast, don't submit for something that you can't do. If you don't speak Mandarin and it asks for someone that speaks Mandarin, obviously don't submit for that Right, but don't let a physical description hold you back. I've always kind of limited myself. I know I have a particular look and I know that I can't play traditionally clean cut roles. I got an audition a while back. It came through my agent for a commercial and I thought they don't want some money that looks like me Long hair, long beard. I think they want more of a clean cut guy. I submitted anyway because doing the self tape it's still experience, it's a practice, it's absolutely good to at least try.
Speaker 2:And they didn't book me for that role, but they liked me and they offered me something in a future project for a commercial and it just it really surprised me that they liked my look enough to book me in that. So that just kind of goes to show you.
Speaker 1:You never know, don't limit your right.
Speaker 2:That's right. Don't limit yourself just because the description says a certain thing. They may not know what they want. Exactly they may have a particular thing in mind on what they want, but then they see your submission and think that could work.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. They probably, and that's probably exactly what happened. They may have not had your description in mind, but they saw your headshot and was like you know what. This actually is a much better direction that we could go in, Much more interesting.
Speaker 1:So, I think I saw the same thing that you did on. Was it on social media? Yes, yeah, I think I saw the same thing and yeah, it's an interesting tip, because it's like where do you draw the line? Like you were saying, can I go for something you know? Like, obviously, don't say you, can you have skills that you really don't, because you're going to get found out.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also like what age you know limit, can you really push? Can I? Can I play someone 70? If you know I bring makeup, I don't know. It's a very interesting like where does that line, where does that line get drawn?
Speaker 2:Right, that's right. I just recently updated my my casting stuff online. I took a hard look at myself and I thought, okay, no, I can't pull off 38 anymore, but I can pull off, you know, 40s, 50s and I. I tried to put in for something and was told by casting no, you're a little bit too young for that. Kind of made me feel good. I I saw myself as being able to play an older character, but they didn't seem to think so. So that's good, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like the best kind of rejection. It's like being charged for alcohol.
Speaker 3:You want to see my video.
Speaker 2:I couldn't get my ID out fast enough here.
Speaker 3:You got to act like you're a teenager, what I don't know. I don't know where my ID is and also I had heard someone saying I can't remember and it's probably said by multiple people don't audition for the job, audition for your career, so you may not get the role, but like, just for you, I like that guy. I remember that.
Speaker 1:That's very good advice.
Speaker 2:That's from Tim Phillips book.
Speaker 1:That's very good advice and every audition, especially in-person auditions, which I know are a little bit more rare these days, is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to get to know casting. I saw this really great. I think it was an Al Pacino quote or something where you said you know, go into an audition, never go into it expecting you'll get the role. The disappointment is just too great. Think of it as just having an audience, getting the chance to have an audience to get to see you act.
Speaker 3:And that's it.
Speaker 1:I took that to heart. That's how I treat every audition.
Speaker 3:It's a chance to play. It's a chance to play.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:I think it was a quote from Brian Cranston that I saw recently. I could be wrong. I watch a lot of those clips that people put up on social media motivational things Same. And it's usually pretty good advice. You're not going in to get a job. You're going in to showcase what it is that you do. That's what an audition is is showing them what you do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think Cranston also said, they're not going to give you the role because you need a job, because you need it. They're going to give you the role because you're solving a problem for them. So go in there with the attitude that I can solve the problem that you have. I could be the answer, the solution, and just you have to have that kind of that level of confidence, I think not going there like I really need this, I really need that. That's not why they're going to give you the job.
Speaker 3:You know right, and if your mind is full of I need this, you're not the character, you're the actor.
Speaker 2:That's right yeah exactly.
Speaker 3:Even if you're not saying it, it's that little spark of neediness is in your eyes, instead of the spark of love or hatred or whatever the character is feeling.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And it's just the same with job interviews, I think, because I've had so many job interviews in my life, just working in you know more kind of corporate capacity. For when did I graduate? Oh my God, I'm so old, like more than 15 years now, old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll let that go.
Speaker 1:You know, I think that that was a good. It was good practice because you have to have the same kind of confidence. You can't really show weakness or fumble in any way. You kind of it kind of in a lot of ways is an acting gig. You have to play the role of someone reliable, who knows what they're doing, have a certain script down and then convince them that you deserve this job, this role. So I think that's really helped. And also, I have to say, as much as I hate zoom meetings and being on zoom meetings all day long, that's also really helped in self tapes, auditions, reading the room, talking to casting directors like they're the VP of a company, you know, just showing that same kind of respect. And, yeah, just being able to have an audience, like it's almost like public speaking and presenting a 45 minute presentation to a CEO in a lot of ways is way scarier than auditioning for a two minute scene in front of a panel of casting directors. I'm grateful for all those years in the corporate corporate world.
Speaker 3:That strikes something with me when you said that we have a friend and we invited him on the podcast and he's an actor and he's sad, he gets roles and he's like, oh, I'm not good at interviews, I don't want to do that. It's like huh, so like you're speaking in zoom meetings and speaking to corporate CEOs has given you a confidence and an experience. We are getting that with the podcast. You know what I mean. So, growing a skill, even if you don't think you're growing a skill, yeah, so the guy would be fine, and we don't buy it.
Speaker 3:We'd bring him a. We got him through it, but that you rang a bell in my head when you said that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so true that you could be the best actor in the world. You could cry on cue, you could, you know, be the next Pacino. But if you don't know how to audition, then no one's going to get to see that. You know, like it's just. The reality is that that is the gate that you have to cross in order to showcase your acting chops, to like an actual audience. Like a real audience. You have to get through that audience first.
Speaker 2:That's right. Yeah, that's well put. Brian and I started talking about doing this podcast. One of the things that made me think about it was doing interviews.
Speaker 2:I've done a lot of job interviews, like yourself, and I feel like you go into that prepping yourself for the types of questions that they might ask for that particular job. I did an interview for a particular thing in the military way back when and that was a three hour panel with people that were much more senior than myself, and you have to keep it together and exude confidence and take your time and answer those questions. I've never felt fumbly in that type of interview, but then the first time on set filming a feature, they were interviewing different cast members about their character and what got them into acting. I felt like I wasn't prepared. I'm asking those questions and I feel like my answers were like oh, oh, oh, oh, and just didn't walk away feeling very good about the way that I answered and I thought, well, talking to people in the same community might help with those speaking skills, because that's a different skill set Answering questions.
Speaker 2:There's no way to prepare for those In the corporate setting. There's types of questions that you can prepare for, depending on the industry that you're in but that you never know what they're going to ask and I don't know. I just didn't feel very good about it. And this last film I was on the same thing. They interviewed me while I was getting into my special effects makeup and they're asking the questions and I'm thinking I know how to answer that, but how do I answer it where I don't sound like?
Speaker 1:Well, if it makes you feel any better. You know, when you see Hollywood actors they're so articulate, eloquent, answering all these interview questions. They have whole teams media training them. They get hours and hours of media training. So like you were thrown in there blind. So good for you. You know that did it and I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think it was.
Speaker 2:We're always our own worst critics. Anyway, though, right Bruge, I feel like that would be a great class for somebody to put on for, especially newer actors. Media training, just in general how to answer questions and how to be poised that is like that would be a good class.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like that idea.
Speaker 2:Maybe somebody with a marketing background that is good at that sort of thing.
Speaker 1:The gears are turning.
Speaker 2:The gears are turning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's actually. I think it is important for actors to have some sense of their own brand, right, like how they're being marketed, how they want to market themselves to agents. If they're looking for representation managers and, obviously, casting directors, like do they have something going for them that they need to lean in and lean in on, or are they more of like a jack of all trades? You know, like. I think having some sense of like how you're perceived or how you would be perceived by an audience of millions, I think that's a really good foundational knowledge to have. So, yeah, I think marketing is important, even though it's not directly, it's not the actual skill of acting. It helps because it's a business at the end of the day. That's right, it's show business, it's show biz baby.
Speaker 2:That's right. Sometimes, I think, we forget the biz part, don't we?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes yes. Yeah, I think that would be a good class. Oh, cool.
Speaker 3:I try not to ask the same questions every time, but there's one I like and I'll let you choose Either what would be your dream role or your favorite actor or actors to work with.
Speaker 1:I like both of those questions. My dream role would be I think that I'm a little bit more well suited to drama than comedy. I think I'm often funny unintentionally, so it's not conducive to having a script. But I guess if I were to say, pick a movie star whose career I would like to emulate or have something close to, I guess it would be Angelina Jolie. I know I look nothing like her, but she has done some absolute badass stuff. Am I allowed to say that word? Sure?
Speaker 3:Okay, we can go express it, feel free.
Speaker 1:Great. She's played badass roles like Lara Croft. She's an action icon. There's something about a female action star I just love. I love that stuff. I will watch anything like Black Widow, angelina Jolie stuff, kill Bill. Those are some of my favorite characters. I would love to do an action movie. I've taken martial arts on and off for many, many years, most recently doing Muay Thai here locally in New Orleans. I'd love to showcase some of that. I've done gun training, knife training, stuff like that, so I think that would be really fun. But then again, she's also won Oscars for dramatic roles. I think what was it Girl interrupted? She's been in stuff like the changeling and she actually has the acting chops as well. So I think that kind of career would be really ideal. In terms of actors that I would love to work with, she's definitely up there, but I think Gary Oldman is just every performance gives me chills, Like when I first saw him.
Speaker 1:I think the first movie I ever saw was the professional and was the scariest villain, because he's so calm and he's just like the calm before the storm kind of thing.
Speaker 1:We're like, you know, the sky is going to blow his lid at some point and it's going to be really scary. That tension is what makes it so compelling. And then in true romance that's just like that's the definition of a chameleon actor, you know, and you can't picture that character as anyone else, Like nobody else, could have played that the way that Gary Oldman did. So I think he would be an absolute dream to work with. That's like an aspirational, like if I get to work with him someday, then I've that's it, Like I may as well just retire Nice.
Speaker 3:You're talking about Marshall Oz. I may have to talk to you after this about. I thought about getting to that, especially just to get me and my old bones and muscles limber. I know it's more stretching than, but also let's chat yeah.
Speaker 3:There's another theatrical combat class coming up. I think it's going to be on the North Shore this time, which I can't make because I'm taking a vocal gymnastics class. Thought you were in January spending a good amount of money but you took weapons training. You may want to take that. So we'll exchange some ideas after this.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I want to take all the classes and meet all the teachers and do all the workshops because I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in this community. The NOLA film scene, you know, shout out to the name, thank you. It's so welcoming and so so tight in it and I just love it. Everyone I've ever met has been nice and supportive, collaborative. Everyone is always like let's work on something together. You know like no, it's nothing is like transactional. You know, like in bigger cities, like honestly, I felt that way a lot in New York. I love New York for many other reasons, but it just wasn't, obviously wasn't tight knit and wasn't a close community. I loved it. I've loved every minute of it.
Speaker 2:I think you touched on something really good there when you said transactional that it's not transactional here in the Southeast market. I've heard actors from the LA market talk about finding another actor to do just to do a self tape with, and they're charging each other for the time to do that self tape.
Speaker 1:Yeah, come on, like we're we're starting. We're both starting out like we should all be lifting each other up. It's a virtuous cycle and it's karma. You know, like I've always believed if you help other people it's going to come back. It's always comes back. And like I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the connections that I've made. So it's connections and relationships are so important, especially in this industry. Like, come on, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, stephanie kind of talked about that and I didn't understand that anyone in Corrections like we all help each other. I don't understand. I let that go. So I understand what you mean by transactional, but also, like I've been working on a movie called Death Trip and we have one FX shot left. We've been working on it for years but like we needed a crowd, so I talked to my actor friends like guys, there's no money. You know I can use the help, and some did some. I don't want to work if I'm not getting money. I said it was fine, but then there's like three or four people who were like yeah, something came out multiple times.
Speaker 3:Those people we will remember because they help not a transaction but like I want that kind of person on my set when I'm paying money, because I know for the love and they want to help us love of the craft and helping us and maybe even loving us too.
Speaker 1:But you know it's it's the passion, yeah, and you know that the passion is there, with or without the money, and so it's like you can't buy that kind of thing, you can't buy someone. Passion that doesn't doesn't work that way. So, yeah, absolutely, I think, like in the spirit of collaboration I think that's what I've seen in this community is that everybody just wants to support each other, collaborate, have fun, you know, and then all each get better individually along the way. That's right Sort of, like all boats, rise when, when we rise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go, thank you, I'll finish that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love this community so much I couldn't imagine living in another market. I have a late aunt that lived in New York. She was an actress, did a lot of theatrical acting as well as film, and she had lived there for decades and was used to that. But I'm from the South. I've lived in California before and it's different. Like I remember in the early days when I lived there, when I couldn't afford to fly to come home for a week or so, I would drive and I could tell when I was getting closer to home because the people in the gas station and restaurants just started getting nicer.
Speaker 1:The closer you got to Louisiana.
Speaker 2:People just got nicer and speak to you. Hello, just fold the door for you. I feel, like some of those other places not so much, and in our community I feel like we do need to be lifting each other up. I don't experience a lot of toxicity, I don't see it. I see people being complimentary and resharing people's posts and complimenting and hey, look, what my friend did, congrats to them and I love that. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not used to it, but I just don't have any desire to live in a market where people are unfriendly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I have not seen an ounce of toxicity here at all and I don't mean to like goop who on New York, because New York has New York love. You know, there's a different kind of love. Especially, I was in Brooklyn all 15 years and like spread love and I think that's a broken way, right, and there's, it's a different kind of like. Everyone's in a grind, everyone's so exhausted and broke and tired, so there's a bonding kind of like in that sense, that way. But it's just, it's different here. It's just the pace of life is slower, the quality of life is higher, the weather is nicer. So I think it allows us to just take better stock of what we have and appreciate it more, rather than constantly in a grind and got to make my next rent check, blah, blah, blah. That helps a lot with people being nicer here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think to say there are towns that they post signs, keep it weird, such and such, and it's like you have to tell people to keep it weird.
Speaker 1:I don't understand that I'm from New Orleans.
Speaker 3:We just we put weird on the front porch and dare you to say something we created down the street. We're the OG weird, not even weird. To us, that's normal bitches.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, I'm like I'm maybe three, almost three years in into my New Orleans life, so I'm by no means like a OG. New Orleans, New Orleans, Linnian Right.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I struggle with that.
Speaker 1:but I've never felt more welcomed into a city. It's not like oh, you're not from here, oh, you're new here, You're not really like one of us yet. You have to earn it. You have to be here at least 15 years. It's.
Speaker 3:I don't feel any of that here, it's just like you're here and you're here, you're one of us. My mother was from Maine, so we said she was naturalized into the city. And so many times, people who have moved from out of state. You sound like yours was more for work, but people like oh yeah, I came here for a visit and the city got into my bones and I couldn't so much.
Speaker 1:We know, we know, that's actually my story, yeah, so I didn't come here for work. We were just sort of like it, stuck indoors during the pandemic. And there's nowhere worse to be stuck indoors in New York, where it's expensive, it's cold, you don't have outdoor space, new York, you live there for all the things it has to offer, right, and you pay high rent prices because of all the different things you can do In places you can go. Well, when you can't do any of that and go anywhere, why live in New York, especially when our jobs were all remote because of the pandemic?
Speaker 1:So we took a road trip through the south and New Orleans was one of our stops and we had some friends here and they showed us around and they really showed us such a great time. We fell in love. We just fell in love with the city, like the foliage, the plans, the fact that it was really warm I think it was winter time, maybe fall but like the weather, the architecture, the food, obviously, and music. So, like a month later we spontaneously decided to move here into an apartment site, unseen, and We've been here since, so it was sort of a similar thing where we visited, fell in love, it got it.
Speaker 2:The city got it to our bones, and then we came here where did you live, where, where did you grow up before New York?
Speaker 1:So I was born in China and lived there until I was five, unfortunately didn't get to learn how to read or write the language, but I can speak a little bit of it because of living there and you know my extended family is still there. Then my dad moved us to Pittsburgh because he got into a master's program at Carnegie Mellon. So I grew up in Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, steel town, ghost illers, until I was. I went to college there. I also went to Carnegie Mellon, which actually has a fantastic drama program, but I think I was just way too scared to go for that at that time. Sure, in hindsight Maybe I should have. And then I moved to New York. I was in LA for two months after graduating. It scared the heck out of me With the traffic and, being in my early 20s, not knowing anyone there. So I got out of Dodge and I moved to New York and then I was there for 15 years.
Speaker 2:Well, cool, interesting, been all over. Kind of do you miss the snow, the cold winners absolutely not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a hard. No, I love warm weather, like if I never. I mean I miss like the snow, like on the first day. Well, it's all pretty and it's like all the first snow of the year, but then it turns into like slush, and then you have to deal with that like walking, commuting to work, like that. Yeah, no, if I never saw snow again, I don't think I would be too sad yeah.
Speaker 2:I think I'd like to see it once a year. Being from the south, I can count on two, maybe three hands the number of times I've been in the snow. Really, yeah, I mean it happens here once every so often and I had full times when I was traveling. I was away at a school in the military in Virginia and it snowed and there was like a foot of snow and I didn't grow up knowing how to drive in that. So driving leaving the base, going anywhere, I wasn't real comfortable. That I mean people that live there are used to it, but here it rains and people freak out and over the place yeah, I cannot imagine Drivers here already so crazy.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine, if it snowed like actually snowed, like more than a few inches, how the city would react. That's very scary.
Speaker 3:Well, we've talked about how much I love snow, but that time it snowed in the 80s I'm driving home treats were iced and people at the red light smashed the gas pedal and their back end was just fish tailing. Now, just like, nope, I'm gonna sit here. You go right at no, I'll wait for the next light. Just dumbass yeah. They're not good driving on dry streets.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wet ice, but I still love snow, because we get maybe an inch of snow, maybe two, and then it goes away and that's all you need, exactly that I'm fine with that.
Speaker 1:I just don't want that persistent mound. You know that, man, I don't know. Like growing up in the north, there would always just be that mound that would turn more and more black, like every day. Hey, and it would just stay there for like two weeks and you'd have to like climb over it and like walk around it to get into the subway and then, like dogs, would pee all over it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I think of Winter. No, no, no. And speaking of bad drivers, I have a funny story. I got my driver's license renewed here because I didn't need it, you know, living in New York side, it let it lapse for more than 10 years. When I took my driving test here the written portion the teacher was like who here is already driving out on the streets regularly without a license? 95% of the class raised their hands.
Speaker 1:It was like 30 people in that class and it's like, that's okay, that's why you're here. I was like no no, no, no, no. How is that okay, but it does explain a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my teenage son just finished driver's ed. You know Louisiana. You have to pay a private company to do driver's ed. They don't do it in the school for some reason. And the driver's ed instructor was like yeah, just have your parents take you out on the back roads in the country and let you drive before they took their test and got their permit. I'm like I was a teacher saying that that's the craziest thing to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very, very lax here. I mean we have drive-thru daiquiris and I asked my driving teacher is like what do you think of these drive-thru daiquiris? And they're like what about them? Yeah, well encouraging people to drink and drive.
Speaker 3:It's illegal to put the straw in the cup till you get where you're going.
Speaker 1:Is that? The I'm sure everybody follows that too.
Speaker 3:And definitely the passenger can't drink. It used to be the people in the back seat, could I think? They figured out because you just, oh, I'm being pulled over, let me hand my drink back. Yeah, all this, they used to teach drivers in school. Of course that was in the 80s, when I was in high school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he said as his bones, yeah yeah, it's wild, but sorry, I didn't mean to go on a huge tangent that has nothing to do with acting.
Speaker 3:We can go back to acting. It's a little flavor for the story, a little sous-saint, a little your experience. We love snow that we don't have to deal with all year.
Speaker 1:But listen, if an acting job required me to go to Antarctica, I will go to Antarctica. You know it's required me to go to the North Pole, I'm going to the North Pole. It means getting in front of a camera and doing what I love most.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'll go anywhere, as long as they're paying travel and providing somewhere where you want.
Speaker 1:Yes, as long as my trailer had nice heat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, then your wardrobe is not a bikini in Antarctica. Although I would do it for the right money.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly. Oh, that's actually an interesting. I don't know how much I can talk about this, but like, what jobs would you guys turn down? Like, do you have a limit? Do you have something where your moral code comes in and you said, no, I can't do this?
Speaker 3:I don't want to do political or propaganda commercials, and that's for any organization. You know what I mean. We try not to talk about religion, but I would do a faith-based film. But there are certain things, like I can't think of the guy's name, but during the pandemic it was oh, the 5G is coming to get us, and I'm showing you the truth. When it was, it wasn't. So I don't want to get involved in that.
Speaker 1:But a film that shows it's conspiracy theory stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it's not serious, it's just something I think was false information. I'll put it that way Someone might believe it, but I did. But if it's a faith-based film where it's showing the goodness and it's showing what a spiritual life could bring, I'm all for it. And I don't want to take off my shirt. It's like that's why I have a body. It's just in a big belly. I don't. Nobody wants to see that, neither do I.
Speaker 1:You never know, Brian.
Speaker 2:You don't-? Bart Kresscher's made millions of dollars doing that.
Speaker 1:There are people out there who think your body is the ideal body, like. I'm not joking, like you know, you just never know. There are all different kinds of people out there and I think you look great, thank you.
Speaker 3:I'm blessing. Now there was a movie filmed here recently, which of course we can't say, and there was a sequence where they wanted two guys wrestling on a beach and it was background. I had stopped doing background but my friend said you need to apply as duos. Can you apply this? I said, sure, let's call casting. And I told him my concerns. He said, yeah, you can leave the shirt on. And I told him, but for a chance to be sag, that shirt's flying off. So yeah, I'd make the sacrifice. I'd be like one, two, but all right, fine For your career.
Speaker 1:Think of your career. Yeah, I do it.
Speaker 3:Don't wait, you're right, maybe somebody would like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tj, what about?
Speaker 2:you? Yes, I do, I have my line in the sand. Also, the political. I've been asked to put in for political commercial for both sides and I just don't want to be attached to a propaganda campaign for either side. I just don't want to be involved with that. If it's a film, I'm thinking like Black Sheep, you know, comedy back in the day, something like that is different. But for commercial, spokespersoning for that's where it works, spokespersoning- I don't want to be involved with that.
Speaker 1:Like a campaign commercial or something.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I don't want to be involved with that and my line in the sand. As far as a film or TV, I wouldn't play a witch, I wouldn't portray witchcraft. If it was a project where maybe I was fighting against that, perhaps, but I would not be comfortable doing witchcraft on film.
Speaker 1:So interesting Nothing wrong with it? Well, yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. I'll take the role if you don't want it.
Speaker 3:Well, and Jim Gleeson, he had talked about things that he wouldn't do, and so it started me thinking. This is years ago, and there are certain words a curse up a storm, but like the N word, the R word, the C word and the F A word yeah. You know, I don't even want to say them here.
Speaker 1:I don't even say them yeah, let's not. Yeah, we don't need to.
Speaker 3:I don't want to offend somebody, and if somebody wanted me to portray a racist, there are other ways to say it, like hey, boy, it's the same thing. Some people could argue oh, the other word has more power, yeah, but it's wrong. It's wrong to just keep saying it. So those kind of things I would say I'm not doing it for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I would have a hard time as well with certain words. But I've also talked to teachers about that and people that have similar opinions like how do you overcome, how do you reconcile your belief system or your faith system against a particular project? And I think, if it's for the art, if it's to highlight something systemic, something evil, something racist, to ultimately show that that character is bad, evil, wrong, if it's in furtherance of that, maybe it would come down to a case by case thing for me, depending on how it's being portrayed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I can't imagine it would be an easy, fun experience to play like a Klansman or a white supremacist, you know, a Nazi or something. I mean that's so uncomfortable and awful. But, like you said, if the overall message of the film or the project was to expose systemic something systemic, or it was a positive message overall of acceptance and it was progressive, then you're kind of like what's the expression? The ends justifies the means, or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think I could play the character as a choice of words. You know that I have a limit, like how you play the character.
Speaker 1:Can go any number of ways.
Speaker 3:I was back girl, in a Regina King movie that was talking about racism. It was one night in Miami and we all have dreams about having lines. So I was in the front row of a boxing match and you get the dream. What if they asked me to say, ok, and I had just made that decision? I will never say these words. Then I saw the movie and then somebody, a white guy, just drops the end bomb, talking to a famous black person, you know, in the scene and the actor's really great and I'm like, oh, but he didn't do it. It wasn't a comedy, he didn't do it lightly and it was like you said, it was to show the racism of that time. It's like, well, I wasn't asked so I don't have to deal with it, but what would I do?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll say about it another day, but that would be an acceptable thing. It's not like you know, it's just a comedy. I'm going to say it blah blah, blah blah. That would be different.
Speaker 2:Right. I saw an interview with Walton Goggins one time and he was talking about a particular character. I don't know if you've watched any interviews with him.
Speaker 1:He's a great actor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, incredible. Normally he plays these really edgy or downright bad guys and for one particular role where he had racist lines and it was just a really bad guy, he wanted it acknowledged and said by production that they know that that's not his personality, that he doesn't believe those things Like. He wanted production to acknowledge that before he would do that performance.
Speaker 2:And I thought that was a pretty powerful way to put that. I think if I did have to do something edgy or controversial like that, that, I would want it acknowledged that I don't believe that that's not who I am as a person. This is playing a part I'd want that in the marketing.
Speaker 3:That ain't even a great job. He's playing an asshole.
Speaker 1:Disclaimer.
Speaker 3:It's not me, but there'll still be people who don't understand.
Speaker 2:Playing a bad guy. That's one thing. I think people can recognize that that's just an actor. But if it's something where something really hurtful has to be said, I would at least want my peers to know hey, that's a line, that's not how I believe and also future casting directors.
Speaker 1:It's so hard to disassociate. If that's a breakout role for you, Imagine that's the role that put you on the map. That's what everyone's going to associate you with. So, yeah, you have to be careful there and then try to get away from that somehow.
Speaker 3:Could you imagine like Len and Nemo being trapped as Spock? You're trapped as a racist jerk.
Speaker 1:I'm glad I will never be asked to play a Nazi. That's one thing on my list that I don't have to worry about that's it. I'm writing a rule.
Speaker 3:You dared me.
Speaker 1:I mean that would be some story. But yeah, it's interesting to hear what everyone's lines in the sand are.
Speaker 3:Did we get your answer?
Speaker 1:Well, also, I just booked a print ad and I don't know if I can even say what kind of brand it is. It's like a sector that is maybe stigmatized, looked down upon. But I took an informal poll among my friends, my actor friends, like if you were early in your career, would you book this? Like 99% of them said yes, absolutely, I would absolutely do it. And I asked someone European and they really put it in perspective. No one that's an eye when they do a commercial but that's probably more dangerous for you than any other vice, and so that really kind of put it into perspective. So, all in all, all that to say, that wasn't my line. I decided I was totally fine with it.
Speaker 1:And it was a good opportunity and I'm going to do it, and I think my line would be something similar to yours Nothing political I don't want to be endorsing, especially. I consider myself a pretty progressive person, so anything like the far conservative, far right I would not want to endorse. I think that's pretty much like my biggest line. Can't really think of anything else unless it was like straight up, like crack for kids.
Speaker 3:You know like awesome, yeah, something crazier.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, something crazy like that.
Speaker 3:Real life murder scene.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, alicia, I've got bad news we're out of time. What's that? We're out of time, that's OK.
Speaker 1:It's been a great, great afternoon with you guys had a lot of fun just talking shop.
Speaker 3:I hated it. I hated every nonchalance.
Speaker 1:I love the toast.
Speaker 3:I had a lot of fun. We've been doing a lot of classes. It just happened to oh, oh, my god, Alicia's here. Oh, you're going to take this clip.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I'm so glad Jim Gleason brought us all together. He is like the glue I feel like the glue behind a lot of this community.
Speaker 3:That keeps us all in one big circle.
Speaker 1:It all comes full circle.
Speaker 3:Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you for having me have a great rest of your day.
Speaker 2:You too, thank you.