November 10, 2022 • 37 mins
Scott is joined by Traci Lords aka Interior Designer Natalie Zimmermann.
Traci tells Scott that he was the reason she knew about Gilmore Girls!
She reveals how Amy Sherman Palladino gave her the role and fills us in on everything about working with Lauren Graham.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in, kiss you, I am all in
with Scott Patterson and I heart radio podcast Everybody Scott Patterson. Here,
(00:23):
we're gonna bring in a very very special guest, somebody
I have known for thirty years. She was I start
opposite her UM in a little film way back in
the day, UM called Intend to Kill. It was my
first real job, paying job. It kept me in l
(00:44):
A and it kept me hanging in there. Um and
Tracy is impossible to categorize. While her early notoriety brought
her international fame, her determination, grit and talent have garnered
her respect in many areas of the entertainment industry and
wait till I read this off to very very impressive.
She has appeared in dozens of films and television shows,
(01:05):
from Roger Corman's Not of This Earth, Cry Baby by
John Waters, Blade Zack and Mirra Make a Porno Um
to Excision from Melrose Place to Roseanne Will and Grace
Gilmore Girls Uh two series regular roles on NBC's The Profiler,
sci Fi's First Wave. Her autobiography, Tracy Lords Underneath It
All HarperCollins, was a New York Times bestseller and has
(01:28):
been optioned for a mini series. Her pioneering techno album
One Thousand Fires radio Active m c A topped the
Billboard Dance Chart and was featured on both Mortal Kombat
and Virtuosity soundtracks. That is an amazing accomplishment. UM. Her
directorial debut, Sweet Pea, was produced under the auspices of
(01:49):
the renowned Fox Search Lab. She is currently a contributing
designer at pin Up Girl Clothing. Her line, Tracy Lords
for the Tour for Everybody, can be found at pin
Up Girls Clothing dot com. She lives in Los Angeles
with her husband son and their rescue German shepherd Ladies
and gentlemen. I give you the one, the only, Tracy Lords.
High Scott, how are you doing, Tracy? You look great.
(02:12):
Thank you. It's been a minute. Um, it's been a
hot minute for sure. You know. I'm sitting here reading
your bio. Your bio is so packed with so many interesting,
eclectic things, and you've been so successful at so many
things that I'm not even gonna go into that now.
I'm just gonna do a separate introduction for you. I
just want to get into this, uh, this Gilmore stuff. Anyway.
(02:36):
First of all, how are you life is good. Yeah. Year, Yeah,
knock and forth between l A and Atlanta and New York.
I'm on the East coast right now, and I did
a film and during the pandemic, which was very strange. Um,
just because I don't know how much you did during
(02:56):
the pandemic, but I think being in the bubbles as
actors and having to wait outside and not having the
connection to each other that we're used to having was
very strange. It was really strange. Yeah. Yeah. We just
kind of huddled in our house and I have a
young son and a wife and and we uh we
(03:17):
took a lot of walks when we were not allowed to.
And um, I wrote, Yeah, and I wrote a lot
of music and I created a podcast and it's pretty productive.
But yeah, I mean it was definitely not visiting people, uh,
not losing the connections that I built up at staying
(03:38):
in touch which was daily. But you know, we got
through it. We got through it. UM powered through. So
let's talk about, UM, how you got the show? Who
contacted you first? To take us through that process where
you became aware that that Gilmore Girls was interested in
you or that there was an audition? How did it
(04:00):
tell us about it um it was. I had met
Amy Sherman, how you know, earlier, not even I don't.
I don't believe it was even for the Gilmer Girls,
for something else she was doing. And you know, the
girl Gilmore Girls was really on a role and they
were looking for this character. And I was actually with
my husband and my young son, our young son in
(04:22):
Hawaii at the time when the audition came in. So
I came actually I was just cast in the offer
came in for the Gilmore Girls, and so I came
back early and I ended up one set and it
was the first time I'd seen you, I think in
maybe ten years. So we did that little HBO shoot
him up action movie back in the day, and that's
(04:44):
what I remembered you from. God that was thirty years ago.
Machine right, Yeah, Yeah, that was that was something. Yeah,
we met on a little film that you were the
bas sub you were, you were the executive producer. I
believe we're one of the one of the main producers
(05:04):
with PM Entertainment, Charles can Gannis and called into and
it was a fun little film and it was I
was headed back to New York. I had given up
hope and and then I got a phone call and
had this audition and got the part. Charlie offered it
to me right in the room and I was like, yeah,
all right, you know, um, and it was fun. It
(05:27):
was like we did big stunts in the middle of
the night on on Hollywood Boulevard with car crashes and fire.
It was just like it was kind of cool. Yeah.
I mean, we would never get to do that, not
in that way any different procedures. And I looked back
at it now and I think, wow, we weren't killed.
(05:48):
But I mean it was really I mean, especially that night,
it felt like a big budget film and like, what
in the heck is a little movie doing this all
this big stuff, all this big demolition and the stunts
and the whole thing. That's a pensive. So I don't
know how they pulled it off, but it was. It
was large. You know. It's funny because p M Entertainment
really they had a thing about that. It's they did
(06:10):
what they did, they did really well. It reminds me
of like, um, I don't know, working for Roger Corman
in the in the lumber Yard in Santa Monica, which
you know I did, so I did my first not
of this Earth was there with Jim nor Sky and
that kind of like fly by the seat of your pants,
this is happening. We've got fifteen pages today and we've
(06:30):
got to get our day one take to take. Okay,
great movie that it all worked, which I prefer, you know,
I love working that way. Um, well, yeah, it's it's
it's It's sort of reminiscent of the stage, isn't it,
because you've got to just bring it. You go out
there and you just have to bring it. You got
(06:51):
to get it in one or two or just like
that too. There's such a rhythm to the show, and
in particular Natalie Zimman, the role that I played, she
was just real fast talking, and I remember one of
the first things the feedback that I got because I
actually didn't speak to her to Amy, was that we
need somebody with Tracy Lowd's energy, because I think I
(07:13):
have a I can I had that New York kind
of fast talking, don't slow down thing, and they wanted
her to be that way. That was the note that
they gave me. And I just remember um thinking that
it was an audition and being told that it was
actually an offer, and just being so happy to be
invited to your party because I'm such a fan of
(07:35):
the show and because just what a cast, my god.
So you yeah, really, I mean every day was like,
you know, going to play with the All Stars. It was.
It was. It was a heck of a lot of fun,
but you really needed to bring your a game or
else you were going to be in trouble. Um. Yeah.
And the writing, my god, so good. With the dialogue.
It was lots of dialogue right in the big rhythm
(07:58):
and everything about that show. So it was it was awesome.
You know. It was a lot easier of a job
then I think, and I realized at the time, because
all of the heavy lifting had been done for you
with the dialogue, right. So, I mean, the dialogue kind
of told you where to go, stand and where to move,
(08:18):
I mean, if it's a ten page scene. And I
think that was the the best part of it because
we didn't really have to I mean, we had to
be open. We had to have our you know, sort
of actors process open and functioning in the whole thing. Uh.
But when you just went through a couple of paces
in rehearsal, you know, the writing guided you where you
(08:39):
needed to go. It was all kind of logical, and
it wasn't hard work, you know, it just wasn't hard
figuring it out. It was all sort of like a
roadmap right in there with a dialogue. So from the
very beginning, did you feel that way from the very beginning, Yes,
from the very very beginning, because they threw it right away,
and I told the story before they threw it. I
(09:02):
think it was the first day or the second day.
We're in production at Warner Brothers on season one, and
it was six am or five hours. Lauren and I
were in the makeup chair and they threw a ten
page scene at us. It was just hot out of
the writer's room. We had to memorize it and go
shoot it right then, and we were terrified at the beginning,
but then we did it because the rhythm of the
(09:22):
writing is just sort of song, you know, emotionally logical
that you you just sort of remember it. You know
that it just makes sense. So we went and did it,
and we gained the confidence that we could do that
sort of thing on that show because because of the writing.
Um so let me ask you, Um, you were let
go as Emily's designer because of all that controversy and
(09:47):
being pulled in different directions and all that. It was
a great episode, by the way. You were great in it.
Um Um. You had a lot of scenes with Lauren Graham.
What what was she like to work with? Absolutely her,
she was completely a pro. She um really giving as
an actress, and she was just really lovely. I mean,
(10:08):
obviously you guys had the benefit of just living in
those characters for so long, and I find you know,
walking onto a set where you're a guest actor can
be really intimidating because just you've you've got it all
on your bones and you're having a couple of coffee
and here's new new new words or pages or whatever,
and you're like, yeah, whatever. And it's the guest stars
(10:31):
that really sweat it because you got it just somehow
immersed yourselves and find that reality really fast. There's no
room to to get comfortable. There really isn't. But she
was really lovely and that she she made me comfortable,
She made me feel welcome, and she was just really giving.
So I really loved it. I loved that I got
to work with her. What was it like you remember
(10:52):
that first scene you did with her in Luke's diner.
Do you remember that day in the diner? Yeah, where
I'm I'm sort of way some poetic about different types
of wallpaper, So anything else you can remember about it. See.
The downer was when you came in and you were
going on about um about uh you know, when you're
(11:18):
some You had some smartass remark that you said about, yeah,
making things pretty when you girls are done making things pretty,
and you started just right right away, you know, in
on me trying to blow my job. I don't know,
he was he had his moments, didn't he ult right? Yeah,
(11:40):
that was a Yeah, that was a character. Yeah, that
was that was the guy. I don't know. I just
I just figured he needed to be. Everybody was so
um sunny in that cast. There just needed to be
one for you. Well, I mean I think I think
I think Emily and I uh provided some a much
needed counterpoint to all that sunshine. Maybe you know what
(12:05):
I mean. Yeah, I just anyway, um charming, kind of sexy.
Think about your character too, you know, he he was
a little bit crusty, he's a little bit salty. He
liked to kind of poke at things, and it's got
to be this way. But there's still something really charming
and kind of sexy about him too, which is I
think why it worked right right and great chemistry with Lauren.
(12:28):
I mean that that we just had that from day one.
You know, you can't act that. You can't you can't
fake that. It's either there it's not. As you well know,
you have enough experience um to know. You walk on
a set, you either feel it or you don't. You know,
it's just it's either there it's not. And you you know,
you could be getting along with a person wonderfully and
then you could end up their best friends. But on camera,
(12:49):
something doesn't click. You know what I'm saying, Yeah, there's
just that thing that isn't that's missing, and that's you know,
now that we're talking about the diner, I remember that
you didn't look at me once we're standing over us
at the we were. You came up behind us and
we were I was showing her different swamps, That's what
(13:11):
it was. I was showing her different watches for the wallpaper,
and I was going on about it, and you came
sort of like brooding up behind us. It was like,
what's going on? And you said, this is a diner.
You know, people need to be eating and you're taking
up this table and what's all this stuff? And you
started just pitching about like what was going on? And
(13:31):
I was kind of looking at out of the court
of my eye, and you just never once looked at me.
You were directing all of this to the back of
her head. I didn't you didn't have a choice, I swear, officer.
I didn't have a choice. That's what they paid me
to do. And they said you gotta be this way.
You know how many days were you on set? Do
(13:52):
you remember on that on that episode? It was fast.
I think I was on like three days. Okay, okay,
three days? Huh. Well, you know, did you get a
plenty of photos? Did you get? It wasn't really like
people weren't selfie crazy back then, were they? Yeah? One
picture from that set. Gosh, can you imagine today being
(14:14):
on that set all the selfie but that you know,
Warner's Warner brothers probably trying to keep a lid on it,
you know, umd memos like don't don't, don't put this
stuff on the socials, You're gonna mess up our PR department,
which you know, yeah, well that's what's happening everywhere right
now and I'm finishing a show here and I can't
talk about it. There's the social media block out for it. Um.
(14:36):
They even now put different names on the top of
the script. You've got the working title to the name
of the film doesn't come out, and it changes always.
It seems change, you know, during the last couple of years,
just with lockdown, not lockdown. We're working, We're you're in
this You're in the zone, You're not in this center.
I don't know, it's been kind of cookie, it's been.
(14:57):
It's been really a trip, it really yeah, it's it's
definitely times have changed, that is for sure. I was
wondering if the podcast was born out of you being
at home and needing a creative outlet, and it sounds
like that's what happened. Yeah, well yeah, yeah, I just
(15:18):
I thought what could I do, because you know, I'm
a doer. I can't sit around, you know, I always
have to be working at something, um, and my days
have to be structured and I have to have goals,
and that's just sort of how I grew up and
how I've always been. So yeah, that's that's what it
came out and said. Okay, now, I'll build this, you know,
let's build this. I'll make a phone call, let's build this.
(15:39):
See where that goes? You know, complete madness for an
actor to want structure because our business is so all
over the place. I don't know. I mean, that's kind
of how I approached uh uh studying in New York.
And the whole thing is that it was it was
my whole day, it was all of that. My whole
day was structured around that. You know, Um no, I sure,
(16:04):
I mean chaos within the work um, and you know,
all of those creative juices flowing shore. But in terms
of my approach to the business, it's it's very very
structured and disciplined. Um. And so I figured let's apply
that to the podcast where And the funny part of
it is tracy that I thought I had an original
(16:24):
idea of a rewatch podcast because I've never seen an episode.
I found out it wasn't terribly ritual that they already
had about ten of them. Um. Had you seen the
series before you came to work or got the offer?
Were you were aware of Gilmore Girls? You watched the show? Yeah? Yeah, um,
(16:48):
mainly because I noticed you want it and if the
film that we did, and I was like, it's not
doing and I was like, wow, I mean it's it's
this is what actor we wait for the day when
we have this, what you have, what you have? Um,
those those jobs, those moments where the writing is amazing
(17:10):
and you've got this, you've got this in your bones
and you go there and it install clicks and comes
together and you you book it and you're there and
you're doing it and it's like that big score. It's
so wonderful. And I just remember thinking, wow, I mean
just across the board, as you said, the chemistry, that
just everything about the show and the fact that you
(17:32):
know you made it there it is and being so
happy for you, well, thank you. And it was just
a guest star in the pilot. That's all started out.
As it sort of grew into that and um still
it's like, no, hey, however, you can get in the
door what you know? And I had to I had
to tell you I took the easy route because there
was there were no network auditions or real you know,
(17:54):
hoops to jump through except that initial meeting with Amy
and the Gavin and the direct and the casting people,
and that was it. That was it. I read and
that was it, got got the guest star role and boom,
next thing. You know, I didn't have to go to
uh five six rounds of auditions and all that. You know,
I've been through that and that's actually got a couple
(18:15):
of jobs that way. But it's nerve wracking. God, you know,
I know you've been there. You know what it's like. Yeah,
I mean I think about those days, and I think
about in particular in the nineties. I don't know what
it was like right in the nineties, and it was
it was like Paramount Pictures. It was the WB the
(18:35):
Fox lot, and you would go and you would be
waiting to go to network and you know, it was
usually like three people, was how I found it. You
would be and I didn't know this at the time.
I found out later, which I wish I didn't know,
because it was complicated and they would put you in
the zone. So if you were the first actor, you
were you were. It was. It was known that you
(18:56):
were supposed to set the tone, and then the second
one and then maybe the third one that they'd compromise
and higher if they didn't like the first or the second.
Absolutely maddening, So you would go in there and you
didn't know which is zone you were going to be in.
You remember this and if your your deal would be done,
and you're thinking, in all of this pressure, everybody telling
you to relax, don't worry about it. There's all this pressure.
(19:18):
There's just nothing but people just crashed and burned. But
that's that's an important point that you bring up. And
I don't think the audience knows that. It's a nice
piece of behind the scenes information. Before you go to
network on these things to the final round of auditions,
there could be too, right. I mean, before you go
(19:39):
in your deals are done, you know how much money
you're going to make per episode, and if it's a lot,
you know, the pressure is greater to go in. And
if it's just such because it's like you know, you've
got all this money on the line and it's going
to change your life and it's going to change your career. Um. Oh,
(20:00):
it's excruciating. God, it's excruciating. But then if you hit,
you get one. I did this with profiler. Um I
just remember that feeling right. It's as an actor, anytime
your phone rings and your agents says you booked it,
(20:21):
it's that there's no feeling like it. It's such a
high with all that build up with television. Um, it's
just absolute insanity, truly, because it's like, you know, I
can move out of my car and I'm kidding, but
it's pretty it's pretty amazing. So let me ask you this,
(20:44):
how long has it been since you've seen an episode
of Gilmore? Um? Well, this morning I went on to
YouTube and I did a little perusing just to kind
of refresh myself, and there was a lot about it
that I forgot. But you know what I noticed my
in this how many guest stars from like all walks
of life that you had on that show. Everybody was
(21:06):
on that show. You know, I saw different friends and
different things, And oh I forgot that was you know,
shery Lynn Finn and this and that, and I mean
there were all kinds of people on the show. Yeah.
We even had Norman Mailer on. We had we had
Madeline Albright, We had all kinds of people. It was
just it was you never knew who you were gonna
(21:27):
see on set that day. You know. I Brian de
Palmer came to set one day just to watch, you know,
because his daughter is a fan, and so she came
by and it was just like in gail En Heard's
there and it's like what is But I was on set.
One day that I was on set, came by from
friends planning, and he came and said hello, he was
(21:48):
hanging out with Laurence. Right. I just attended that he
wasn't there, but it was very distracted. I'm nervous that
I'm either going to be in his book or I'm
not going to be in his book. So I hope
I didn't do anything to make the pages of the book. Um. Um,
(22:09):
let me ask you, do you think they should have
given Nicole more of a shot? And do you also
think they should have brought you back more for more episodes?
Did you want to come back for more? Well, you
know what, I would have loved to have come back.
It seemed like, you know, where could they really was
the problem? Where could they go with the character of
(22:29):
what was going to happen? Um? What could have happened? Well,
I don't know. There could have been something with Luke.
There could have Why not? I mean, can you imagine
I can that would have been That would have been
a blast, right, you would have had to maybe retrain
(22:51):
your your your gaze at some point. But other than that,
one small technicality, yeah, just just could totally be a theay,
the fans may might have turned on me and you
at the same time if that had happened. Um, well,
you know, it's funny you can say that because in
all the rooms, because there's so much about the Gilmore
(23:11):
Girls all over the internet right and on YouTube and everything,
and the fans of the Gilmore Girls they're they're hardcore, hardcore.
They love the show, they know everything about Oh they
have different teams, which one they root for and all
of this stuff. Um, it's really it's really something that's
really something. It's really you find it like across like
(23:34):
everywhere everywhere I go, everywhere I go, it's madness. Yeah,
I get approached. I mean, I mean even in in
my neighborhood where I am now Halloween because we moved
here about a year and a half ago, but it's
our first Halloween with our son in this area that
(23:55):
and we went to this place where it's uh, um,
they really do Halloween like I've never seen it. I mean,
it was like being at a music festival. It was
it was amazing. Um, And yeah, we had to leave
because there were too many people that were you know,
my son was like, Dad, why is everybody? Why does
everybody want to take a photo with you? You to
(24:19):
wear a mask? No, no, we weren't in costume. The
kids were, but we weren't. But anyway, UM, so let's talk.
I want to talk a little bit more about your
very diverse uh, film, TV, music, directing, and stage acting
career at New York Times best selling author Fear Memoir.
What are you most proud of? What am I most
(24:39):
proud of? Um? I'm most proud that I'm all working
actor and I'm still a working actor. And maybe that
sounds a little hokey, but it's really true, because you know,
there's upston downs in the business. Longevity is something that
is rare. You know, you get your a little shot,
(25:00):
maybe you and then you fade away and that's that,
or you're going to do something else. I was a
paper girl when I was twelve years old. That's the
only other job that I've really had. But I've had
many jobs in the entertainment industry. I am a singer,
I am a writer. I have directed. UM, I have
a passion for I do a lot of voiceover work now.
(25:23):
I just built a booth in my house, which is amazing.
That was what I did during the pandemic. You did
your started your podcast. I started recording again and doing
snippets and writing and and doing a lot of voiceovers.
Uh I. I I started years ago doing voiceovers, about
ten years ago, and I've voiced about sixty two different roles,
(25:45):
wacky roles, all from you know, shopkeepers to this and
that in Hitman. So I've done a lot of video
games and things like that. Uh. You go into the
booth and you've got clients all over the world, and
it's just it's really fascinating. It's been really fun. It's
um you stay sharp that way as an actor because
it's so fast. You know, it's right away, here are
(26:07):
the new lines, and here's the thing, and you know,
something blowing up in this and you know, I have
a ball doing it. It's been an interesting trip, so
you know. And and this year it's like I have
three pictures coming out, with three films in the camp
so that's nice. I did the one in the Pandemic,
which was very strange, staying in the bubble, like the
tent that they put the actors in and you stayed
outside the outside the set. When they called you on,
(26:31):
they texted you and you had your temperature taken and
then you went in a little bubble. And we did
this movie and it was so strange watching it now.
It's been playing the festivals. It was released about six
weeks ago, and to see this and really know what
what was going on at the time, it just it's
pretty bizarre. So there's that one. And I had a
horror film that just hit with um with Halloween, so
(26:53):
that was really great. And I've been down here in
the South working on a very dark comedy with some
predible people that actors that I wanted to work for
were a very long time and an amazing director. And
I wish I could tell you what it is. I
can't because of the social media. I'll look on I'll
look on IMDBA, see what it is. It's probably listed there. Yeah,
(27:16):
it's called Now then I didn't say any I'll find out.
I seem to have found my way into dark comedy
and I'm playing women of a certain age that are
slightly homicider me. Whatever gets you the job, man, hey,
But it all started with the Guilmarkers. I want to
(27:40):
talk about John Waters a little bit. Let's talk about
cry Baby, which was an iconic teen a breakout comedy
that also featured Johnny Depp thirty two years ago. The
fans still come up to over that role. Yeah, so Halloween, Um,
every Halloween, I have people that dress up as Wanda
(28:01):
for whatever reason, you know she's and sometimes groups of
friends that will be the whole gang, somebody's the Johnny character,
or somebody's you know, Ricky Lake, all of them they're
they're the drapes and they post them to Instagram in
different places and I love seeing, you know, just what
they do with it at shows and conventions and those
(28:21):
types of things which I know you've you've been to
for Gilmal Girls and etcetera. Little tiny girls come with
their mothers, like five or six, dressed like Wanda, and
then you get the mothers that are to the grandmothers.
So it's everywhere from five years old to sixty five
years old. Interesting that after all this time that it's
(28:43):
still you know, it made such that movie made such
an impact on various generations. Uh time, it was a
bomb at the box office. It was Johnny's first big,
you know, mainstream um leading role. He'd been in Nightmare
in the Street, but this was his first lead, and
you know, it just it came out with a lot
(29:04):
of hope and expectation and it just kind of it
didn't find its audience. But years later it just did
and it's become kind of well, it's iconic in a way.
It it it has, it just keeps bubbling up. It's
part of I think that's happened a lot actually with
John Waters movies. Next year he's going to get his
(29:25):
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which I'm wildly
excited about because he's me six years old and the
man of them so much great stuff and it's just
such a great person. I don't know if you've read
any of his books, but pretty amazing after all this
long hiatus. He Um, I was just reading a few
weeks ago that he's he's making his next movie, which
(29:46):
is in development. It's Liar Mouth, based on his book.
I'm obsessed with his books. So we've become, you know,
we became dear friends throughout the years, and um, you know,
that was something that was really pivotal in my life,
my career and my god, I never realized how much
impact Wanda Woodwork that character would have on me. Maybe
(30:08):
you feel like that about um the Gilmore girls. I
don't know. You just never know which role the fans
will really identify you. As you know, the John Waters
films when I was growing up were the there was
sort of this urban, artistic, alternative lifestyle consciousness that that
(30:29):
was seeping out into the suburbs and shocking all of us, like,
just like, what was that? Didn't we just watched We're
talking about my desperate living and pla pink flamingos and
you know that kind of stuff that the character divine
and the whole thing. I mean, nobody in the uh,
nobody in the suburbs had really ever experienced anything quite
(30:51):
like that. Um um, tell us a little bit about
what it was like working with Johnny Depp back then.
He was really um, really quiet. He was a total gentleman.
He was I never saw him be unkind to anyone.
(31:14):
John Waters once described Johnny as the best looking gas
station attendant that's still pumpter Gas. And I love that
he put it that way because it was true. He
had that kind of very laid back thing about him.
Not to say that he wasn't serious about his work
because he definitely was UM and I liked him. He
(31:35):
was funny, he was charming, he was always a gentleman. Um.
We we didn't none of us knew each other before that,
and we had to walk in. We had a brief rehearsal,
dance dance rehearsals and did all that because it was
obviously a musical, and we really bonded during that time
and it was just a lot of fun doing that.
(31:57):
You have over acting credits, what's your favorite? All uh,
different ones for different reasons, you know. I remember my
time on Blade was was actually was on set for
weeks doing the opening, but it was just really that
one scene. But my time on Blade was amazing, just
(32:19):
the stories and what was going on in the fact
that it was you know, it was Marvel and they
were doing this and it was, you know, the first
of those types of movies that were happening. And Stephen
Norington directed that film and he had UM He just
really had it in his bones. It was the only
time I ever worked with the director that he actually
(32:39):
directed with headphones with music UM on while he was directing,
and I just thought, what what is this about? But
if you Watch Blade, the Original Blade. Um, you know
there's the big rave, the blood scene and the whole thing,
and the music goes crazy and it's just like all
this stuff, it has a rhythm to it. The musician
(33:00):
maybe you understand when I'm talking about that that movie.
It's like the everything that it has a beta has
a rhythm to it. And I think it was really
because Norrington was so connected to that. He was literally
so in sync with it that the characters moved that way,
and and so that was an amazing experience. Playing Wanda
(33:20):
was an amazing experience for for many reasons. I didn't
know at the time that she would become like a
style icon in a way and that the rockabilly community
would embrace her as like, you know, sort of their
mascot in a way. So that, Um, that's really delicious.
I love seeing that makes me happy. Um. But personally
(33:40):
that was a great experience for me because I met
my first husband, or that was my practice marriage, I say,
and so joking, but we're still friends. And you know,
just John and that whole community of people and what
he was doing then, I had so much respect for it,
and it just was very cool in that way. And
so I think there were a little there were pieces
(34:01):
of different roles that um just fed my desire to
be an actor because you get those little winds, do
you know what I mean? It makes you suffer through
to the next level, right, It prepares you, know, well,
what a journey? Yeah? All right, We're gonna play a
(34:23):
little game called rapid Fire. Okay, I'm wanna ask you
some questions and you have to answer them, uh rapidly,
hence the name rapid Fire. Here we go. Are you ready?
Here we go? How many cups of coffee you have
in a day? Are your team Logan, Team Jesser, Team Dean?
What is your favorite Gilmore Girls character? Uh? Will you?
(34:48):
Of course? Thank you very much. What would you order it?
Luke's Diner, the Cheeseburger? Would you rather go on a
road trip with Taylor or Michelle? Michelle? Finish the lyric
and where you lead, I will follow dot dot dot? Uh? Okay,
I failed? Okay, Jackson's Vegetables or Suki's Baked Goods. Would
(35:16):
you rather listen to Drella's Harp or the Troubadours cover
songs Chilton, Prepper Stars, Hollow High. Alright, listen, it's been
great catching up with you. We hope you come back
on and hope you had a good time. Um, and
keep on keeping on, you know you Uh I used
(35:36):
to say, uh, you know, never stand between a Frenchman
and his desire. Well, the same goes with what Tracy
Lords wants to accomplish in this business. She's done everything, um,
and she will continue to do everything and has graced
us with her presence here on the I Am All
In Podcast. Thank you for your time and thank you
for coming by Tracy all the best too, good care
(35:59):
of all right you too, by all right byetta Hey everybody,
(36:32):
and don't forget follow us on Instagram at I Am
all In Podcast and Emailie at Gilmore at I heart
radio dot com. Oh you gil More fans. If you're
looking for the best cup of coffee in the world,
go to my website for my company scott ep dot com,
s c O T t y P dot com, scotty
p dot com Grade one Specialty Coffee O
I am all in, kiss you, I am all in
with Scott Patterson and I heart radio podcast Everybody Scott Patterson. Here,
(00:23):
we're gonna bring in a very very special guest, somebody
I have known for thirty years. She was I start
opposite her UM in a little film way back in
the day, UM called Intend to Kill. It was my
first real job, paying job. It kept me in l
(00:44):
A and it kept me hanging in there. Um and
Tracy is impossible to categorize. While her early notoriety brought
her international fame, her determination, grit and talent have garnered
her respect in many areas of the entertainment industry and
wait till I read this off to very very impressive.
She has appeared in dozens of films and television shows,
(01:05):
from Roger Corman's Not of This Earth, Cry Baby by
John Waters, Blade Zack and Mirra Make a Porno Um
to Excision from Melrose Place to Roseanne Will and Grace
Gilmore Girls Uh two series regular roles on NBC's The Profiler,
sci Fi's First Wave. Her autobiography, Tracy Lords Underneath It
All HarperCollins, was a New York Times bestseller and has
(01:28):
been optioned for a mini series. Her pioneering techno album
One Thousand Fires radio Active m c A topped the
Billboard Dance Chart and was featured on both Mortal Kombat
and Virtuosity soundtracks. That is an amazing accomplishment. UM. Her
directorial debut, Sweet Pea, was produced under the auspices of
(01:49):
the renowned Fox Search Lab. She is currently a contributing
designer at pin Up Girl Clothing. Her line, Tracy Lords
for the Tour for Everybody, can be found at pin
Up Girls Clothing dot com. She lives in Los Angeles
with her husband son and their rescue German shepherd Ladies
and gentlemen. I give you the one, the only, Tracy Lords.
High Scott, how are you doing, Tracy? You look great.
(02:12):
Thank you. It's been a minute. Um, it's been a
hot minute for sure. You know. I'm sitting here reading
your bio. Your bio is so packed with so many interesting,
eclectic things, and you've been so successful at so many
things that I'm not even gonna go into that now.
I'm just gonna do a separate introduction for you. I
just want to get into this, uh, this Gilmore stuff. Anyway.
(02:36):
First of all, how are you life is good. Yeah. Year, Yeah,
knock and forth between l A and Atlanta and New York.
I'm on the East coast right now, and I did
a film and during the pandemic, which was very strange. Um,
just because I don't know how much you did during
(02:56):
the pandemic, but I think being in the bubbles as
actors and having to wait outside and not having the
connection to each other that we're used to having was
very strange. It was really strange. Yeah. Yeah. We just
kind of huddled in our house and I have a
young son and a wife and and we uh we
(03:17):
took a lot of walks when we were not allowed to.
And um, I wrote, Yeah, and I wrote a lot
of music and I created a podcast and it's pretty productive.
But yeah, I mean it was definitely not visiting people, uh,
not losing the connections that I built up at staying
(03:38):
in touch which was daily. But you know, we got
through it. We got through it. UM powered through. So
let's talk about, UM, how you got the show? Who
contacted you first? To take us through that process where
you became aware that that Gilmore Girls was interested in
you or that there was an audition? How did it
(04:00):
tell us about it um it was. I had met
Amy Sherman, how you know, earlier, not even I don't.
I don't believe it was even for the Gilmer Girls,
for something else she was doing. And you know, the
girl Gilmore Girls was really on a role and they
were looking for this character. And I was actually with
my husband and my young son, our young son in
(04:22):
Hawaii at the time when the audition came in. So
I came actually I was just cast in the offer
came in for the Gilmore Girls, and so I came
back early and I ended up one set and it
was the first time I'd seen you, I think in
maybe ten years. So we did that little HBO shoot
him up action movie back in the day, and that's
(04:44):
what I remembered you from. God that was thirty years ago.
Machine right, Yeah, Yeah, that was that was something. Yeah,
we met on a little film that you were the
bas sub you were, you were the executive producer. I
believe we're one of the one of the main producers
(05:04):
with PM Entertainment, Charles can Gannis and called into and
it was a fun little film and it was I
was headed back to New York. I had given up
hope and and then I got a phone call and
had this audition and got the part. Charlie offered it
to me right in the room and I was like, yeah,
all right, you know, um, and it was fun. It
(05:27):
was like we did big stunts in the middle of
the night on on Hollywood Boulevard with car crashes and fire.
It was just like it was kind of cool. Yeah.
I mean, we would never get to do that, not
in that way any different procedures. And I looked back
at it now and I think, wow, we weren't killed.
(05:48):
But I mean it was really I mean, especially that night,
it felt like a big budget film and like, what
in the heck is a little movie doing this all
this big stuff, all this big demolition and the stunts
and the whole thing. That's a pensive. So I don't
know how they pulled it off, but it was. It
was large. You know. It's funny because p M Entertainment
really they had a thing about that. It's they did
(06:10):
what they did, they did really well. It reminds me
of like, um, I don't know, working for Roger Corman
in the in the lumber Yard in Santa Monica, which
you know I did, so I did my first not
of this Earth was there with Jim nor Sky and
that kind of like fly by the seat of your pants,
this is happening. We've got fifteen pages today and we've
(06:30):
got to get our day one take to take. Okay,
great movie that it all worked, which I prefer, you know,
I love working that way. Um, well, yeah, it's it's
it's It's sort of reminiscent of the stage, isn't it,
because you've got to just bring it. You go out
there and you just have to bring it. You got
(06:51):
to get it in one or two or just like
that too. There's such a rhythm to the show, and
in particular Natalie Zimman, the role that I played, she
was just real fast talking, and I remember one of
the first things the feedback that I got because I
actually didn't speak to her to Amy, was that we
need somebody with Tracy Lowd's energy, because I think I
(07:13):
have a I can I had that New York kind
of fast talking, don't slow down thing, and they wanted
her to be that way. That was the note that
they gave me. And I just remember um thinking that
it was an audition and being told that it was
actually an offer, and just being so happy to be
invited to your party because I'm such a fan of
(07:35):
the show and because just what a cast, my god.
So you yeah, really, I mean every day was like,
you know, going to play with the All Stars. It was.
It was. It was a heck of a lot of fun,
but you really needed to bring your a game or
else you were going to be in trouble. Um. Yeah.
And the writing, my god, so good. With the dialogue.
It was lots of dialogue right in the big rhythm
(07:58):
and everything about that show. So it was it was awesome.
You know. It was a lot easier of a job
then I think, and I realized at the time, because
all of the heavy lifting had been done for you
with the dialogue, right. So, I mean, the dialogue kind
of told you where to go, stand and where to move,
(08:18):
I mean, if it's a ten page scene. And I
think that was the the best part of it because
we didn't really have to I mean, we had to
be open. We had to have our you know, sort
of actors process open and functioning in the whole thing. Uh.
But when you just went through a couple of paces
in rehearsal, you know, the writing guided you where you
(08:39):
needed to go. It was all kind of logical, and
it wasn't hard work, you know, it just wasn't hard
figuring it out. It was all sort of like a
roadmap right in there with a dialogue. So from the
very beginning, did you feel that way from the very beginning, Yes,
from the very very beginning, because they threw it right away,
and I told the story before they threw it. I
(09:02):
think it was the first day or the second day.
We're in production at Warner Brothers on season one, and
it was six am or five hours. Lauren and I
were in the makeup chair and they threw a ten
page scene at us. It was just hot out of
the writer's room. We had to memorize it and go
shoot it right then, and we were terrified at the beginning,
but then we did it because the rhythm of the
(09:22):
writing is just sort of song, you know, emotionally logical
that you you just sort of remember it. You know
that it just makes sense. So we went and did it,
and we gained the confidence that we could do that
sort of thing on that show because because of the writing.
Um so let me ask you, Um, you were let
go as Emily's designer because of all that controversy and
(09:47):
being pulled in different directions and all that. It was
a great episode, by the way. You were great in it.
Um Um. You had a lot of scenes with Lauren Graham.
What what was she like to work with? Absolutely her,
she was completely a pro. She um really giving as
an actress, and she was just really lovely. I mean,
(10:08):
obviously you guys had the benefit of just living in
those characters for so long, and I find you know,
walking onto a set where you're a guest actor can
be really intimidating because just you've you've got it all
on your bones and you're having a couple of coffee
and here's new new new words or pages or whatever,
and you're like, yeah, whatever. And it's the guest stars
(10:31):
that really sweat it because you got it just somehow
immersed yourselves and find that reality really fast. There's no
room to to get comfortable. There really isn't. But she
was really lovely and that she she made me comfortable,
She made me feel welcome, and she was just really giving.
So I really loved it. I loved that I got
to work with her. What was it like you remember
(10:52):
that first scene you did with her in Luke's diner.
Do you remember that day in the diner? Yeah, where
I'm I'm sort of way some poetic about different types
of wallpaper, So anything else you can remember about it. See.
The downer was when you came in and you were
going on about um about uh you know, when you're
(11:18):
some You had some smartass remark that you said about, yeah,
making things pretty when you girls are done making things pretty,
and you started just right right away, you know, in
on me trying to blow my job. I don't know,
he was he had his moments, didn't he ult right? Yeah,
(11:40):
that was a Yeah, that was a character. Yeah, that
was that was the guy. I don't know. I just
I just figured he needed to be. Everybody was so
um sunny in that cast. There just needed to be
one for you. Well, I mean I think I think
I think Emily and I uh provided some a much
needed counterpoint to all that sunshine. Maybe you know what
(12:05):
I mean. Yeah, I just anyway, um charming, kind of sexy.
Think about your character too, you know, he he was
a little bit crusty, he's a little bit salty. He
liked to kind of poke at things, and it's got
to be this way. But there's still something really charming
and kind of sexy about him too, which is I
think why it worked right right and great chemistry with Lauren.
(12:28):
I mean that that we just had that from day one.
You know, you can't act that. You can't you can't
fake that. It's either there it's not. As you well know,
you have enough experience um to know. You walk on
a set, you either feel it or you don't. You know,
it's just it's either there it's not. And you you know,
you could be getting along with a person wonderfully and
then you could end up their best friends. But on camera,
(12:49):
something doesn't click. You know what I'm saying, Yeah, there's
just that thing that isn't that's missing, and that's you know,
now that we're talking about the diner, I remember that
you didn't look at me once we're standing over us
at the we were. You came up behind us and
we were I was showing her different swamps, That's what
(13:11):
it was. I was showing her different watches for the wallpaper,
and I was going on about it, and you came
sort of like brooding up behind us. It was like,
what's going on? And you said, this is a diner.
You know, people need to be eating and you're taking
up this table and what's all this stuff? And you
started just pitching about like what was going on? And
(13:31):
I was kind of looking at out of the court
of my eye, and you just never once looked at me.
You were directing all of this to the back of
her head. I didn't you didn't have a choice, I swear, officer.
I didn't have a choice. That's what they paid me
to do. And they said you gotta be this way.
You know how many days were you on set? Do
(13:52):
you remember on that on that episode? It was fast.
I think I was on like three days. Okay, okay,
three days? Huh. Well, you know, did you get a
plenty of photos? Did you get? It wasn't really like
people weren't selfie crazy back then, were they? Yeah? One
picture from that set. Gosh, can you imagine today being
(14:14):
on that set all the selfie but that you know,
Warner's Warner brothers probably trying to keep a lid on it,
you know, umd memos like don't don't, don't put this
stuff on the socials, You're gonna mess up our PR department,
which you know, yeah, well that's what's happening everywhere right
now and I'm finishing a show here and I can't
talk about it. There's the social media block out for it. Um.
(14:36):
They even now put different names on the top of
the script. You've got the working title to the name
of the film doesn't come out, and it changes always.
It seems change, you know, during the last couple of years,
just with lockdown, not lockdown. We're working, We're you're in
this You're in the zone, You're not in this center.
I don't know, it's been kind of cookie, it's been.
(14:57):
It's been really a trip, it really yeah, it's it's
definitely times have changed, that is for sure. I was
wondering if the podcast was born out of you being
at home and needing a creative outlet, and it sounds
like that's what happened. Yeah, well yeah, yeah, I just
(15:18):
I thought what could I do, because you know, I'm
a doer. I can't sit around, you know, I always
have to be working at something, um, and my days
have to be structured and I have to have goals,
and that's just sort of how I grew up and
how I've always been. So yeah, that's that's what it
came out and said. Okay, now, I'll build this, you know,
let's build this. I'll make a phone call, let's build this.
(15:39):
See where that goes? You know, complete madness for an
actor to want structure because our business is so all
over the place. I don't know. I mean, that's kind
of how I approached uh uh studying in New York.
And the whole thing is that it was it was
my whole day, it was all of that. My whole
day was structured around that. You know, Um no, I sure,
(16:04):
I mean chaos within the work um, and you know,
all of those creative juices flowing shore. But in terms
of my approach to the business, it's it's very very
structured and disciplined. Um. And so I figured let's apply
that to the podcast where And the funny part of
it is tracy that I thought I had an original
(16:24):
idea of a rewatch podcast because I've never seen an episode.
I found out it wasn't terribly ritual that they already
had about ten of them. Um. Had you seen the
series before you came to work or got the offer?
Were you were aware of Gilmore Girls? You watched the show? Yeah? Yeah, um,
(16:48):
mainly because I noticed you want it and if the
film that we did, and I was like, it's not
doing and I was like, wow, I mean it's it's
this is what actor we wait for the day when
we have this, what you have, what you have? Um,
those those jobs, those moments where the writing is amazing
(17:10):
and you've got this, you've got this in your bones
and you go there and it install clicks and comes
together and you you book it and you're there and
you're doing it and it's like that big score. It's
so wonderful. And I just remember thinking, wow, I mean
just across the board, as you said, the chemistry, that
just everything about the show and the fact that you
(17:32):
know you made it there it is and being so
happy for you, well, thank you. And it was just
a guest star in the pilot. That's all started out.
As it sort of grew into that and um still
it's like, no, hey, however, you can get in the
door what you know? And I had to I had
to tell you I took the easy route because there
was there were no network auditions or real you know,
(17:54):
hoops to jump through except that initial meeting with Amy
and the Gavin and the direct and the casting people,
and that was it. That was it. I read and
that was it, got got the guest star role and boom,
next thing. You know, I didn't have to go to
uh five six rounds of auditions and all that. You know,
I've been through that and that's actually got a couple
(18:15):
of jobs that way. But it's nerve wracking. God, you know,
I know you've been there. You know what it's like. Yeah,
I mean I think about those days, and I think
about in particular in the nineties. I don't know what
it was like right in the nineties, and it was
it was like Paramount Pictures. It was the WB the
(18:35):
Fox lot, and you would go and you would be
waiting to go to network and you know, it was
usually like three people, was how I found it. You
would be and I didn't know this at the time.
I found out later, which I wish I didn't know,
because it was complicated and they would put you in
the zone. So if you were the first actor, you
were you were. It was. It was known that you
(18:56):
were supposed to set the tone, and then the second
one and then maybe the third one that they'd compromise
and higher if they didn't like the first or the second.
Absolutely maddening, So you would go in there and you
didn't know which is zone you were going to be in.
You remember this and if your your deal would be done,
and you're thinking, in all of this pressure, everybody telling
you to relax, don't worry about it. There's all this pressure.
(19:18):
There's just nothing but people just crashed and burned. But
that's that's an important point that you bring up. And
I don't think the audience knows that. It's a nice
piece of behind the scenes information. Before you go to
network on these things to the final round of auditions,
there could be too, right. I mean, before you go
(19:39):
in your deals are done, you know how much money
you're going to make per episode, and if it's a lot,
you know, the pressure is greater to go in. And
if it's just such because it's like you know, you've
got all this money on the line and it's going
to change your life and it's going to change your career. Um. Oh,
(20:00):
it's excruciating. God, it's excruciating. But then if you hit,
you get one. I did this with profiler. Um I
just remember that feeling right. It's as an actor, anytime
your phone rings and your agents says you booked it,
(20:21):
it's that there's no feeling like it. It's such a
high with all that build up with television. Um, it's
just absolute insanity, truly, because it's like, you know, I
can move out of my car and I'm kidding, but
it's pretty it's pretty amazing. So let me ask you this,
(20:44):
how long has it been since you've seen an episode
of Gilmore? Um? Well, this morning I went on to
YouTube and I did a little perusing just to kind
of refresh myself, and there was a lot about it
that I forgot. But you know what I noticed my
in this how many guest stars from like all walks
of life that you had on that show. Everybody was
(21:06):
on that show. You know, I saw different friends and
different things, And oh I forgot that was you know,
shery Lynn Finn and this and that, and I mean
there were all kinds of people on the show. Yeah.
We even had Norman Mailer on. We had we had
Madeline Albright, We had all kinds of people. It was
just it was you never knew who you were gonna
(21:27):
see on set that day. You know. I Brian de
Palmer came to set one day just to watch, you know,
because his daughter is a fan, and so she came
by and it was just like in gail En Heard's
there and it's like what is But I was on set.
One day that I was on set, came by from
friends planning, and he came and said hello, he was
(21:48):
hanging out with Laurence. Right. I just attended that he
wasn't there, but it was very distracted. I'm nervous that
I'm either going to be in his book or I'm
not going to be in his book. So I hope
I didn't do anything to make the pages of the book. Um. Um,
(22:09):
let me ask you, do you think they should have
given Nicole more of a shot? And do you also
think they should have brought you back more for more episodes?
Did you want to come back for more? Well, you
know what, I would have loved to have come back.
It seemed like, you know, where could they really was
the problem? Where could they go with the character of
(22:29):
what was going to happen? Um? What could have happened? Well,
I don't know. There could have been something with Luke.
There could have Why not? I mean, can you imagine
I can that would have been That would have been
a blast, right, you would have had to maybe retrain
(22:51):
your your your gaze at some point. But other than that,
one small technicality, yeah, just just could totally be a theay,
the fans may might have turned on me and you
at the same time if that had happened. Um, well,
you know, it's funny you can say that because in
all the rooms, because there's so much about the Gilmore
(23:11):
Girls all over the internet right and on YouTube and everything,
and the fans of the Gilmore Girls they're they're hardcore, hardcore.
They love the show, they know everything about Oh they
have different teams, which one they root for and all
of this stuff. Um, it's really it's really something that's
really something. It's really you find it like across like
(23:34):
everywhere everywhere I go, everywhere I go, it's madness. Yeah,
I get approached. I mean, I mean even in in
my neighborhood where I am now Halloween because we moved
here about a year and a half ago, but it's
our first Halloween with our son in this area that
(23:55):
and we went to this place where it's uh, um,
they really do Halloween like I've never seen it. I mean,
it was like being at a music festival. It was
it was amazing. Um, And yeah, we had to leave
because there were too many people that were you know,
my son was like, Dad, why is everybody? Why does
everybody want to take a photo with you? You to
(24:19):
wear a mask? No, no, we weren't in costume. The
kids were, but we weren't. But anyway, UM, so let's talk.
I want to talk a little bit more about your
very diverse uh, film, TV, music, directing, and stage acting
career at New York Times best selling author Fear Memoir.
What are you most proud of? What am I most
(24:39):
proud of? Um? I'm most proud that I'm all working
actor and I'm still a working actor. And maybe that
sounds a little hokey, but it's really true, because you know,
there's upston downs in the business. Longevity is something that
is rare. You know, you get your a little shot,
(25:00):
maybe you and then you fade away and that's that,
or you're going to do something else. I was a
paper girl when I was twelve years old. That's the
only other job that I've really had. But I've had
many jobs in the entertainment industry. I am a singer,
I am a writer. I have directed. UM, I have
a passion for I do a lot of voiceover work now.
(25:23):
I just built a booth in my house, which is amazing.
That was what I did during the pandemic. You did
your started your podcast. I started recording again and doing
snippets and writing and and doing a lot of voiceovers.
Uh I. I I started years ago doing voiceovers, about
ten years ago, and I've voiced about sixty two different roles,
(25:45):
wacky roles, all from you know, shopkeepers to this and
that in Hitman. So I've done a lot of video
games and things like that. Uh. You go into the
booth and you've got clients all over the world, and
it's just it's really fascinating. It's been really fun. It's
um you stay sharp that way as an actor because
it's so fast. You know, it's right away, here are
(26:07):
the new lines, and here's the thing, and you know,
something blowing up in this and you know, I have
a ball doing it. It's been an interesting trip, so
you know. And and this year it's like I have
three pictures coming out, with three films in the camp
so that's nice. I did the one in the Pandemic,
which was very strange, staying in the bubble, like the
tent that they put the actors in and you stayed
outside the outside the set. When they called you on,
(26:31):
they texted you and you had your temperature taken and
then you went in a little bubble. And we did
this movie and it was so strange watching it now.
It's been playing the festivals. It was released about six
weeks ago, and to see this and really know what
what was going on at the time, it just it's
pretty bizarre. So there's that one. And I had a
horror film that just hit with um with Halloween, so
(26:53):
that was really great. And I've been down here in
the South working on a very dark comedy with some
predible people that actors that I wanted to work for
were a very long time and an amazing director. And
I wish I could tell you what it is. I
can't because of the social media. I'll look on I'll
look on IMDBA, see what it is. It's probably listed there. Yeah,
(27:16):
it's called Now then I didn't say any I'll find out.
I seem to have found my way into dark comedy
and I'm playing women of a certain age that are
slightly homicider me. Whatever gets you the job, man, hey,
But it all started with the Guilmarkers. I want to
(27:40):
talk about John Waters a little bit. Let's talk about
cry Baby, which was an iconic teen a breakout comedy
that also featured Johnny Depp thirty two years ago. The
fans still come up to over that role. Yeah, so Halloween, Um,
every Halloween, I have people that dress up as Wanda
(28:01):
for whatever reason, you know she's and sometimes groups of
friends that will be the whole gang, somebody's the Johnny character,
or somebody's you know, Ricky Lake, all of them they're
they're the drapes and they post them to Instagram in
different places and I love seeing, you know, just what
they do with it at shows and conventions and those
(28:21):
types of things which I know you've you've been to
for Gilmal Girls and etcetera. Little tiny girls come with
their mothers, like five or six, dressed like Wanda, and
then you get the mothers that are to the grandmothers.
So it's everywhere from five years old to sixty five
years old. Interesting that after all this time that it's
(28:43):
still you know, it made such that movie made such
an impact on various generations. Uh time, it was a
bomb at the box office. It was Johnny's first big,
you know, mainstream um leading role. He'd been in Nightmare
in the Street, but this was his first lead, and
you know, it just it came out with a lot
(29:04):
of hope and expectation and it just kind of it
didn't find its audience. But years later it just did
and it's become kind of well, it's iconic in a way.
It it it has, it just keeps bubbling up. It's
part of I think that's happened a lot actually with
John Waters movies. Next year he's going to get his
(29:25):
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which I'm wildly
excited about because he's me six years old and the
man of them so much great stuff and it's just
such a great person. I don't know if you've read
any of his books, but pretty amazing after all this
long hiatus. He Um, I was just reading a few
weeks ago that he's he's making his next movie, which
(29:46):
is in development. It's Liar Mouth, based on his book.
I'm obsessed with his books. So we've become, you know,
we became dear friends throughout the years, and um, you know,
that was something that was really pivotal in my life,
my career and my god, I never realized how much
impact Wanda Woodwork that character would have on me. Maybe
(30:08):
you feel like that about um the Gilmore girls. I
don't know. You just never know which role the fans
will really identify you. As you know, the John Waters
films when I was growing up were the there was
sort of this urban, artistic, alternative lifestyle consciousness that that
(30:29):
was seeping out into the suburbs and shocking all of us, like,
just like, what was that? Didn't we just watched We're
talking about my desperate living and pla pink flamingos and
you know that kind of stuff that the character divine
and the whole thing. I mean, nobody in the uh,
nobody in the suburbs had really ever experienced anything quite
(30:51):
like that. Um um, tell us a little bit about
what it was like working with Johnny Depp back then.
He was really um, really quiet. He was a total gentleman.
He was I never saw him be unkind to anyone.
(31:14):
John Waters once described Johnny as the best looking gas
station attendant that's still pumpter Gas. And I love that
he put it that way because it was true. He
had that kind of very laid back thing about him.
Not to say that he wasn't serious about his work
because he definitely was UM and I liked him. He
(31:35):
was funny, he was charming, he was always a gentleman. Um.
We we didn't none of us knew each other before that,
and we had to walk in. We had a brief rehearsal,
dance dance rehearsals and did all that because it was
obviously a musical, and we really bonded during that time
and it was just a lot of fun doing that.
(31:57):
You have over acting credits, what's your favorite? All uh,
different ones for different reasons, you know. I remember my
time on Blade was was actually was on set for
weeks doing the opening, but it was just really that
one scene. But my time on Blade was amazing, just
(32:19):
the stories and what was going on in the fact
that it was you know, it was Marvel and they
were doing this and it was, you know, the first
of those types of movies that were happening. And Stephen
Norington directed that film and he had UM He just
really had it in his bones. It was the only
time I ever worked with the director that he actually
(32:39):
directed with headphones with music UM on while he was directing,
and I just thought, what what is this about? But
if you Watch Blade, the Original Blade. Um, you know
there's the big rave, the blood scene and the whole thing,
and the music goes crazy and it's just like all
this stuff, it has a rhythm to it. The musician
(33:00):
maybe you understand when I'm talking about that that movie.
It's like the everything that it has a beta has
a rhythm to it. And I think it was really
because Norrington was so connected to that. He was literally
so in sync with it that the characters moved that way,
and and so that was an amazing experience. Playing Wanda
(33:20):
was an amazing experience for for many reasons. I didn't
know at the time that she would become like a
style icon in a way and that the rockabilly community
would embrace her as like, you know, sort of their
mascot in a way. So that, Um, that's really delicious.
I love seeing that makes me happy. Um. But personally
(33:40):
that was a great experience for me because I met
my first husband, or that was my practice marriage, I say,
and so joking, but we're still friends. And you know,
just John and that whole community of people and what
he was doing then, I had so much respect for it,
and it just was very cool in that way. And
so I think there were a little there were pieces
(34:01):
of different roles that um just fed my desire to
be an actor because you get those little winds, do
you know what I mean? It makes you suffer through
to the next level, right, It prepares you, know, well,
what a journey? Yeah? All right, We're gonna play a
(34:23):
little game called rapid Fire. Okay, I'm wanna ask you
some questions and you have to answer them, uh rapidly,
hence the name rapid Fire. Here we go. Are you ready?
Here we go? How many cups of coffee you have
in a day? Are your team Logan, Team Jesser, Team Dean?
What is your favorite Gilmore Girls character? Uh? Will you?
(34:48):
Of course? Thank you very much. What would you order it?
Luke's Diner, the Cheeseburger? Would you rather go on a
road trip with Taylor or Michelle? Michelle? Finish the lyric
and where you lead, I will follow dot dot dot? Uh? Okay,
I failed? Okay, Jackson's Vegetables or Suki's Baked Goods. Would
(35:16):
you rather listen to Drella's Harp or the Troubadours cover
songs Chilton, Prepper Stars, Hollow High. Alright, listen, it's been
great catching up with you. We hope you come back
on and hope you had a good time. Um, and
keep on keeping on, you know you Uh I used
(35:36):
to say, uh, you know, never stand between a Frenchman
and his desire. Well, the same goes with what Tracy
Lords wants to accomplish in this business. She's done everything, um,
and she will continue to do everything and has graced
us with her presence here on the I Am All
In Podcast. Thank you for your time and thank you
for coming by Tracy all the best too, good care
(35:59):
of all right you too, by all right byetta Hey everybody,
(36:32):
and don't forget follow us on Instagram at I Am
all In Podcast and Emailie at Gilmore at I heart
radio dot com. Oh you gil More fans. If you're
looking for the best cup of coffee in the world,
go to my website for my company scott ep dot com,
s c O T t y P dot com, scotty
p dot com Grade one Specialty Coffee O
Hosts And Creators
Amy Sugarman
Danielle Romo
Scott Patterson
Tara Soudbaksh
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