Jennifer Fishel Meets World

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
So while we were on this road trip, we met
up with some friends.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
And one of the things my wife loves more than
anything is karaoke like singing, okay, and we have with
our friends we met up with in Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
They also sing, and everybody can sing.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
I can't sing.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
And this made me realize I have no talents outside,
Like do you guys have talents?

Speaker 1 (00:43):
No?

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Can you do other things?

Speaker 4 (00:45):
I'm not good at anything, not one thing. I can't
play an instrument. I don't speak any other languages fluently. No.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, I can play a little bit of guitar and
a little bit of piano like you can. I would
never do it for other people, Like it's just for me,
you know, it's like just a hobby.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
What would you consider writing a talent?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Sure, like performative talent?

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Like what the only thing I can do? Voices? I
mean does that counts?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
No, I'm talking about like do you go like, well,
this is an interesting question because I was also thinking
about this, like, Danielle, did you even act before you
became a professional actor? Like did you ever take an
acting class?

Speaker 4 (01:22):
Or I was in elementary school plays, but I was
not like a big part or anything. I mean they
threw me into the Wizard of Oz. They like created
a character for me. I didn't have any lines. I
don't think or maybe I said like maybe I said,
like I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Michelle, the girl that's also on the trip.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
No, but you know what, you'll see how they do.
They can't actually create a character. The the Lollipop Guild.
They added two little girls, me and my best friend Jessica,
and we were the Lullaby League. So there was the
Lollipop Guild and the Lullaby League and we were basically
like little partners to the Lollipop Guild. A song we

(02:00):
came out with like to two on and.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
You represent yeah and we like league League League and
it wasn't the second grade Wizard of Oz had to
create so many roles, so they were There was Dorothy
and like Dorothea too.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
There was Toto and then another cat that was also
with them.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Oh man, the tornado was an actual was one of
the kids acting as a tornado.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
It was great. It was so fun.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Wait wow, but yeah, no, I have no I wish
I could sing more than anything in the world.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Like I love singing, I'm just so bad at it.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
I can hold a tune.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah you can't. I've heard you sing.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
I can hold a tune.

Speaker 5 (02:37):
I would now nobody would be like, wow, that guy
can sing. But I can hold a tune enough to
where it's not horribly embarrassing. I just never sing, though,
Like I'll sing in character sometimes for voice over stuff
where it's like ron Stoppable singing something or something like that.
I do more and I sung to remember to Sir
with Love on the show, they like sent me to
an actor or a singing coach. To you, that kind

(03:00):
of stuff is weird, But actual talents, no, Like I
don't paint. I couldn't draw a straight line if there
was a guy.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
Four get it yeah either Like no, I have zero
artistic ability me too. Can you.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Know what's funny is that I've started drawing with Indy,
Like I didn't draw at all when I was a kid,
or but I love it now. I'm not very good,
but I can see how I could get better if
I just practiced, Like if you just focus on you know,
it's like anything, you just do it. But I actually
find it so soothing to draw with Indy, Like we
sit and we draw and I just and I really
love it.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
And I could see myself working on it, so I
want to get better at it.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
I definitely like sculpting.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
I'm just bad. I'm just I've never tried. I mean
like I would when we were doing Boy. I would
always mess around with like sculpting wax or sculpting clay,
just at my apartment, messing around.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
But I'd love to actually take a class and learn
how to do it.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Did you guys know that I was a magician before
I was an actor?

Speaker 5 (03:58):
What what you were the amazing the Strong Brother's Magic Show.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, we did, like, oh okay back in the day, and.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
That's when you guys started doing tricks. When when like
it's basically stealing the show When you were in another play, right,
weren't you guys doing stuff off to the exactly.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, we were in a play the Guards invent Yeah,
we were the Guards and we invented this whole like
carrot Bit or whatever. But then right around that same time,
we went to a Doug Henning magic show and like
all like we were for whatever reason, throughout the course
of this Doug Henning show, all the members of my
family got called up on stage, Like my dad got
called up, I got called up Charlotte. I guess we
were just like in the right seat whatever. And we

(04:37):
became obsessed with magic, and so we started developing their
own magic show.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
And then we used to do birthday parties. The Strong
Brothers Magic Show.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
We had like kins and and like like prizes we
would give out, and like my parents still have them,
and they says, like I believe in magic.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
The Strong Brother's Magic Show we had capes and top hats.
Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, but I'd see that.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
But I was never any good at me either, Like
like I remember, like my I was the one who
talked like I did all the like lecturing and talking
and picking people from the audience and whatnot. And I
always remember like when it came time to actually do
the trick, like when you had to like swap the
thing with the other thing or like to the sleight
of hand, I would be.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Like, do I have to do that?

Speaker 4 (05:20):
I don't want to do the actual mad I want
to do the actual magic.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
I just want to do the talking.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
You wanted to be the director, yes, yeah, you wanted
to be the director of the magic duo or the
host right right right?

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean I I'm I have like a lifelong love
for Penn and Teller. Like it was the first Broadway
show I ever saw when I was ten years old,
was pent Teller on Broadway and I.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Got the great audience for that. That's a great show.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
They were so great, And like I want to be
the penduleette.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Like he actually can't do magic, but he is also
the lesser of the magician, Like he doesn't do as
much sleight of hand.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
He does all the talking. And I'm like, yeah, that's
I could do that.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
You went to clown college.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
Yeah, I love magic.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Me too too.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
I'm upset, me too. I was a member of the
Magic Castle.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Can we go to the Magic Castle?

Speaker 4 (06:03):
Let's go.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I want to go. I just went.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
I hadn't been in years, and I just went. I
used to be a member when I lived in a
little canyon.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
I would go all the time.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
I want to go. I really do.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
I love magic?

Speaker 4 (06:12):
All right, let's go. Have you guys heard my my
on a plane magic story? No? What?

Speaker 1 (06:17):
No?

Speaker 4 (06:18):
I sat next to David Blaine on a plane.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Did you really though? Or was he not? Actually?

Speaker 4 (06:27):
The good question? Good question? But I sat next to
him on a plane, didn't know who he was, wasn't like,
wasn't like a this was a long time ago. And
he didn't say a word to me the whole flight.
And then right before we landed, I was sitting in
the window, he was sitting in the aisle. He said,
can I do a card trick for you?

Speaker 1 (06:49):
And I was like, this guy, this guy with Danielle,
I know what it can be.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Like No, I was like, oh, god, well, and I
thought to myself, at least if he's going to be annoying,
he waited until the very end of the flight, right,
that's fine. So I go sure, and he pulls out
a deck of cards and he shuffles them up and
he fans them out and he asks me to pull
a card, and I pull a card and I look
at it and I put it back in the deck.

(07:17):
And then he takes the deck of cards and he
shuffles them again, and then he throws them at my
closed window on the plane and the cards go everywhere,
and I'm like, oh, it's a fifty two card pickup joke. Click,
what is this? So he's like, oh, oh, you know.
He starts picking up the cards and then he goes,
is this your card?

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Is this your card?

Speaker 4 (07:36):
No? No, he goes, oh, well, why don't you lift
up your window shade? And I lift up my window shade,
and my card was between the plates of glass. Between
the plates of glass, I can see my card, I

(07:57):
can knock on the glass. My card is behind it,
and then there's another piece of glass behind that. It
is between the plates of glass, and it's stuck there
for a stuck. I don't know. I don't understand the trick.
I was then like, well, this is a sorcerer.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Magic. I will follow you.

Speaker 5 (08:17):
This is an important question. Was your window open at
all during the flight?

Speaker 4 (08:23):
I don't remember.

Speaker 5 (08:24):
I don't remember, because if you were looking out the
window and there was no card there and then you
shut it and then it's between the things, he is,
in fact a sorcerer.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
I don't I don't remember. I don't know. I don't
Usually he must have done this, No, he does.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
Every time he does.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
He does the flip.

Speaker 5 (08:42):
The flipping one at bars is the big one he
would do. He w'd flip it at the bar and
then the card is on the other side of the
glass of the bar.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
But it's like the other one he does.

Speaker 5 (08:49):
He has the cool when he goes up to you
in a bar and he asks you to pick a
card and write your name on it, and you slip
it back.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
Into the debt. You put it back in the debt,
and he does this.

Speaker 5 (08:58):
And then it's not in there, and you're drinking a
beer and you look down and it's wedged in the neck.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Of the bottle of the beer you're drinking.

Speaker 5 (09:07):
You have to reach all the way in and pull
it out, and there's your card with your name on it.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
I mean, it's the stuff is insane.

Speaker 4 (09:11):
Now. I have since that time become somewhat close to
a couple of magicians and have told the story and
have been like, how is it? Is it possible? And
they go, yeah, it's a it's you know, it's possible.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
Well, yeah, it's it's it's all set up before. I mean,
that's why I'm asking.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
It's just a force cut.

Speaker 5 (09:27):
But well, yeah, they're they're you know, he's he's thinking,
you draw the card, he wants you to draw correct,
and then he's already pre set it somewhere in the world.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
But I'm just curious how he gets it in between
the panes of glassar on the.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
Other correct, that's the correct thing to be wondering about
how I pulled the card.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
He wants me because again, you decide to If.

Speaker 5 (09:48):
You all of a sudden open your window during the
flight and you're like, why is there seven of clubs
and you don't know who you're sitting next to you,
then it would be ruined. That's why it's so bizarre
kind of how he did all that stuff?

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Is it bizarre?

Speaker 4 (10:00):
Okay? There it is?

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Should we talk about this no baseball? I think we should,
But I had no idea that. Apparently we say the
word bizarre a lot.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
I don't think I do. I think it's you two.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
I do all the time.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Well that's bizarre.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
You. We've gotten a lot of emails that you guys
say bizarre and.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
It does it?

Speaker 5 (10:23):
Do they really say it's right or I they specifically
say it's not you because I I just.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Noticed listening to the show when we at it, I'm like, oh, there,
I am saying that word again.

Speaker 6 (10:32):
Definitely.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Well, we're trying to take it out of our vocabulary.
Vocabulary vocabulary right. Welcome to bond Mead's world. I'm Danielle Fischel,
I'm right.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Or Strong, and I'm Wilfordell the Magical Will.

Speaker 4 (11:01):
Today's episode is very special to me. We often mentioned
the unsung heroes of Boy Meets World, the names of
people who don't get the type of credit given to
the on camera cast or upper level creatives molding the
script and the storylines. But still without these people, the
show would have never made it past the pilot. And
if you ask anyone who's ever worked on a TV

(11:24):
show that starred children, they will tell you just how
important the legal guardians are. As we have detailed in
the past, labor laws prevent child actors from working too
many hours or under certain conditions, but most importantly, they
require any miner to always be accompanied by an adult
on set. The protective measures are not just union rules.
They are important to make sure the child is comfortable

(11:46):
and safe, and so these adults, commonly parents, would have
their own culture on set, an environment they didn't technically
work at but still couldn't leave. They were close to
each other. They talked often, shared notes and gossip, and
even hung out offsets, sometimes all experiencing this very weird
new life together, giving up their own personal lives and

(12:06):
watching their babies grow up on a stage, living a
very unique Hollywood existence. We know that writer eventually petitioned
to become an adult himself, and Will roamed the streets
as freely as a teen like a young Robert de
Niro and taxi driver. Yeah, just live in the life.
And he only had a couple years as a miner
on Boy Meets World anyway, But I well, I was

(12:29):
always with my mom. Jennifer Fischel, her name has frequently
come up on Pod meets World, whether as the keeper
of the hair, the woman who produced full photoshoots of
me with teen heart throbs for my sixteen magazine column,
or the audition tutor who stayed up all night to
help me land the role of Tapanga. We were and
still are incredibly close, and she knew these two guys

(12:51):
very well because these are my childhood friends and she
is the mom, even if we were on TV. That's
a dynamic we all know as kids. And so we've
gotten a ton of requests from listeners to hear from
my legal guardian, and we figured it's finally time so
to tell us what it was like to raise a
child actor on the set of Boy Meets World. In particular,

(13:11):
me welcome Jennifer Fischel to the podcast Hill.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
It's so good to see you.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
I'm so good to see you. Guys. This is gonna
be fun.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think, Oh, you think, I'm so glad you're willing
to do this. I'm so glad you're doing this.

Speaker 6 (13:25):
Of course, all these friendly familiar faces.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
I'm here too.

Speaker 4 (13:32):
Happy birthday, Oh thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
I just appreciate that.

Speaker 6 (13:36):
As I was waiting for my time to come up,
I just saw that on the that Pod Meets World
had posted that.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
So happy birthday, Thank you very much. I'm forty seven.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
I know, I can't.

Speaker 7 (13:46):
Believe my god, Well you're still a baby compared to me.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Well that's very sweet. Thank you. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:52):
Yeah, if you want to feel young, just you know,
hang out with old people and.

Speaker 7 (13:57):
The way to do it.

Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yesterday my mom I had to Jensen and I took
the kids to the mall and Adler had to go
to the bathroom while we were in the mall, so
I took him into the family lounge bathroom and we're
sitting there and he's on the toilet and he looks
over and there's a red dot on the wall, like
an emergency button, and he goes, Mom, what's that what's
that red dot? And I said, oh, it's an emergency

(14:19):
button and he said, well, why would you need that?
And I said, well, in case somebody was in here
and they fell or they needed help, you could push
that button and help would come. And he said, well,
why would they fall? And I said, I don't know.
Maybe they're significantly older and not very stable. And he goes, like,
you, you're older and I went, no, not like me. I

(14:41):
don't mean me.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
I mean much older people.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
So I tell my mom that and she says, remember
how when you were twelve, all the adults on Boy
Meets World were old. Yes, your son sees you that way.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
And I was like, no, yes, yes, it's me.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
I mean I used to think people my age were
just so old, and you know, it's.

Speaker 7 (15:04):
Like now that i'm that age, like, no, don't I
don't feel.

Speaker 4 (15:08):
That at all. Yeah, I'm not old. Yeah. So I'm
going to allow writer and Will to ask the questions
they want to ask, but also I like to I
guide these little interviews. So I'm going to start with
a question for you. What do you remember thinking when
I told you that I wanted to act when I
was like ten years old, and I just decided, well,

(15:30):
guess what I want to do? This. What do you
remember thinking, what were what was your thought process? I mean, I.

Speaker 6 (15:34):
Remember thinking that it was just like when your kid
says they want to take gymnastics or they want to
play soccer or whatever. It's like, well, well, you know,
I mean, at first, I didn't really think much of
it because I figured it was something that you just
thought you wanted to do at the moment, but it
would pass. But then, you know, when I realized you
were serious about wanting to do it, I really thought

(15:55):
it was going to be one of those things you
started and you didn't like and would end up you know.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Yeah, but you know who knew.

Speaker 5 (16:04):
Well, we heard that you were the first one to
essentially tell Danielle that she was not a gymnast.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
She took gymnastics.

Speaker 6 (16:10):
Yeah, okay, I listened to these podcasts.

Speaker 7 (16:15):
I'm a little behind.

Speaker 6 (16:16):
I have to catch up on, but I listened to them,
and there are so many times I just feel like, oh.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
No, I want to jump in.

Speaker 6 (16:21):
I want to correct that, because you know, that was
a fact. It was like when she said she was
a gymnast, you're really not a gymnast.

Speaker 4 (16:32):
No one's arguing with you. This is my favorite thing
about my mom, She'll go, you know, I wanted to
jump in and correct you. And then the way she
corrects me, she goes, that's a fact.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes it was a fact, but you were just doing gymnastics.

Speaker 4 (16:46):
It was a knowledgemnist.

Speaker 6 (16:47):
I think when you're hearing things being said about you,
like I think, okay.

Speaker 7 (16:51):
People don't know me.

Speaker 6 (16:52):
Like the one thing, can I just say one thing
that haunts me is when you were talking about the
time that we were in the car and you were
singing like Selene.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
And I thought, that.

Speaker 6 (17:04):
Makes me sound like the meanest mother ever. But because
she didn't preface it by saying our family just had
this this sarcastic sense of humor with each other.

Speaker 7 (17:15):
So I don't remember that.

Speaker 6 (17:17):
Yeah, I don't remember that, but yeah, that's probably something
I absolutely said.

Speaker 4 (17:22):
Again, does not mean spirited, just right, Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Think I think we all know that you are incredibly
supportive as yeah and yeah, just yeah. Danielle's every other
every story has supported the idea that Jen Fisher is
responsible for this amazing person.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
In so many ways. So yeah, I think that that's
that's clear.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Okay, So I think you're being honest with her about
her singing was probably also a healthy side of the
same coin, totally.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
You know, trust me, We've all been around kids whose
parents have told them they're good at everything and they're
just not and those children are insufferable. That's true.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
We wouldn't have American Idol without it.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
That's true.

Speaker 6 (18:06):
And I mean, I can't sing, and I'm the first
person to admit I absolutely nobody wants to hear me sing.
But you know, that would have been a playful comment
that I that I would have made. But when I
heard it, I'm thinking, Okay, all these listeners don't have
any idea like who I am or what I'm like,
and they certainly didn't understand our family's sarcastic sense of

(18:26):
humor with each other.

Speaker 4 (18:27):
So okay, So.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I want to know when did it actually change for
you from the hobby the activity to like, oh gosh,
this is this is actually going to be a huge
part of not only my daughter's life but my life
as well. Was it before Boy Meets World or was
it boy Meets World?

Speaker 4 (18:45):
Was it? No, it was Boy Meets World.

Speaker 6 (18:47):
It was it was that phone call that we got
in the car that she has talked about that I mean,
not that I knew that that it was going to
end up turning into like a regular character, but isn't yet.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
That's the problem is you were season three and it
still hasn't yet.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Still not every episode season, not even close at this
point before I'm barely in the show. I'm barely in
the show in season three?

Speaker 7 (19:13):
How have I forgotten so much? Because she's like, yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
The writer always knew. Writer has said he always knew.
He he's remembered that he felt it.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
It was a.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Transition to Judy Savage when you went to the Savage
Agency and you got an actual.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
Contract with the show.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
I mean it was all it was like very nuts
and bolts work stuff, you know, like you're not a
regular until fourth season. And that season.

Speaker 7 (19:36):
Three was when she was in every episode.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
I thought it was two.

Speaker 5 (19:42):
I thought starting season two on, you were a huge
part of the show. And so did to get that yeah, step.

Speaker 7 (19:46):
Oh, So, like I said, I'm I'm behind.

Speaker 6 (19:49):
I have several episodes I need to catch up on,
and I don't always watch the episode well you know
before I listen to the podcast. But I remember most
of the episodes, and I thought season three you were
in everyone.

Speaker 4 (20:01):
No, finally Wow. But so what was it about Boy
Meets World that made you feel like this was a
life changing thing?

Speaker 6 (20:08):
When we got that call, it was, it was life changing,
partially because we knew that was kind of intended to
be at least a recurring role, not a series regular.
But then of course when you did become a series regular,
that was like a whole new thing. And then it

(20:29):
was just of course, you know, wondering at the end
of every season as you guys, well remember not knowing
if you guys are going.

Speaker 7 (20:35):
To be picked up or not. But yeah, I mean, I.

Speaker 6 (20:39):
Don't know because I felt like I remembered every last
detail of that whole thing.

Speaker 7 (20:46):
But I realized how.

Speaker 6 (20:47):
Much I've forgotten listening to you guys talk about it.

Speaker 7 (20:50):
Yeah, I have forgotten a lot.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
It's funny because I remember leaving my first commercial audition
and walking out and my mom being so nervous for me,
like that was the first time she had ever sent
me into an audition room. She had no idea really
what was gone, you know, what went on in there,
Not that it was a problem, but just like what happened.
And I came out and she was like, yeah, you

(21:14):
just send your kid into a space and now they
have this this experience that you're not a part of.
And I remember walking out and her being like, so,
how was it telling me? And just right away I
was just very like, yeah, well I got it. And
I remember just seeing in her face, Oh, I have
failed this child, like this is going to be bad

(21:35):
because where did you get this false confidence? We did
not prepare you enough for this. You're not going to
get this like Danielle, you get far more nos then
you're going to get yeses, and her like a large
part of the drive home was her saying, well, did
you know did they tell you that? No, they didn't
tell me that. Okay, then why do you think that?
We just felt really good. I did a good job

(21:56):
and I got it. Yeah, and her being like okay,
all right, And then later that night getting a call
back and her being like, okay, well guess we'll back you.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Got she's reading the room.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
But it is just a callback. It's still not getting it.
And then going back to that same exact audition place,
walking in, walking out of the room, seeing my mom's
same face, how did it go? And me saying, yeah,
I got it, I got it? Did they tell you
that now. No, they didn't tell me that now. They
just and her being like okay, well no, and then
I booked it, and and and her being like.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Okay, that's really remarkable. So you actually didn't have that
much rejection.

Speaker 4 (22:40):
Because the first commercial audition I had that I booked.
Then after I did that commercial, I ended up doing
multiple commercials for the same people without having to audition anymore.
It was like Mattel, I just became still audition. Oh
did I Yeah you did.

Speaker 7 (22:54):
You still had an audition.

Speaker 6 (22:55):
But of course once you got in with Mattel, it
was easier to you know, loved it when you got
a matel audition.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
One of the girls was ATel and just walking around like, Wow,
this child actor thing is super easy to do this.

Speaker 6 (23:11):
And that was my fear, is that I didn't want
her going into it, like I didn't want her to
feel beat up.

Speaker 7 (23:16):
I mean, she was ten, you.

Speaker 6 (23:17):
Know, I didn't want her feeling like, you know, being
rejected for a part was you know, like, I don't
want you feeling bad about yourself. It's not you did
anything wrong, it's just that there are a lot of
kids out there that are really great at what they do.
So yeah, I kind of felt like, oh boy, this
is giving her kind of a false sense of security.

Speaker 7 (23:36):
But I mean, I think really what it.

Speaker 6 (23:37):
Boiled down to was the whole industry terrified me, you know,
on so many different levels. And then at some point,
you know, when it kind of evolved into more like, okay,
this is what she's going to be doing, it was
it really was just kind of like wow, what did
we get into? Yeause, you know, and there was always

(23:59):
a fear of having to kind of stay ahead of
things as a parent, because I was very fearful, and
you know, I was a very protective parent. That's just
my parenting style. I was very protective, and so there
was this fear that if you don't stay ahead of
it once, once it goes sideways, you've lost control then,

(24:23):
you know, and we've all seen it with a lot
of people that kind of alive by the industry. So yeah,
it started out as something that we were just gonna
let her try, Let's see how this goes, and she'll
probably do it for a while and get bored with
it to all of a sudden like oh is this
really what you.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
Really want this?

Speaker 3 (24:42):
Did you did you feel alone in those moments?

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Or did you know, like, did you have allies, like
who were the people that you could trust to be like,
am I doing the right thing by my daughter? Or
did you feel completely isolated?

Speaker 6 (24:56):
I didn't really have any friends or anything that had
kids that were in the industry. So, I mean, writer,
your mom was just a huge confidante. I mean, and she,
you know, we would talk so much, not only about
the business, but you know, of course even just you
guys as teenagers. We were raising teenagers with which is
a challenge in itself, so you know, and then also
Lee's mom, you know that first season with you know,

(25:18):
kind of the touch and go with the whole topanga thing.
You know, the other moms were huge support.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
I was going to ask how auditioning affected her career
as a gymnast, but I think.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
What pretty amazing.

Speaker 5 (25:38):
What I really am interested though, is do you remember
the first call for fish Girl for Boy Meets Old?

Speaker 1 (25:46):
I mean, before it.

Speaker 5 (25:47):
Was even the possibility of tapanga. I mean, this was
probably just another random audition.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
Yeah it was, And.

Speaker 6 (25:53):
No, I don't remember really like going to that audition.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
It was just another audition.

Speaker 5 (26:00):
But then we're also driving from Orange County at this point, right,
so you're in just a regular audition?

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Is what an hour and a half in the car
each way?

Speaker 6 (26:07):
Yeah, Well, let's see when she was on boy Mee's World, Danielle,
were we already in Calabasas at that time. I think
we had moved to Calabasas right before.

Speaker 7 (26:15):
Boy Mes World.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
It was right before boy Yeah, it was so. But
even still from Calabasas is no small feat either.

Speaker 7 (26:21):
Yeah, a little bit better than Orange County, but.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
Yeah, not did moving closer have anything to do with
Daniel's career?

Speaker 1 (26:28):
No, no, it wasn't.

Speaker 4 (26:30):
My dad. My dad got a job in our Lida
and our Leita is very far from Orange County and
is also very far from where we moved to Calabasas.
But it was kind of like they they literally just
picked a neighborhood based on where good schools were. Calabasas
has like Blue Ribbon areaals and it was close enough
to our Leda that my dad's commute was only going

(26:50):
to be like thirty minutes a day or forty minutes
a day rather than two hours from Orange County. So
it just and it just also then just so happened
like and we'll be closer for auditions. But you know,
one of my favorite things thinking now, of course that
I have kids, and you think about all the things
parents sacrifice for their children. But like when I said
I wanted to be an actor, no one in our
family had been an actor. UI had no idea. The

(27:13):
internet didn't exist. How you actually even try to become
an actor is not wasn't like readily available. My mom
went to the bookstore and bought a book on like,
so your kid wants to be an actor, basically like
you want to be an actor for dummies. And then
she read that and they said, if you want to

(27:34):
do this, what you have to do is you have
to take pictures of your kid on a camera, a
regular camera, film camera, print him out, write how it's funny.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
I wrote a book too. My parents had a book too.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
It was yellow.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
There was a profile of the kid who I think
was in like the Stuart Little movie, like the old
Stuart Little movie, like or nod wasn't Stuart Little, it
was another It was like Ralph the Race car Mousers.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
I don't know he had been in like one movie.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
And but they we had a picture book like literally
followed him around through his career that explained how to
be an actor, and like, my mom got this at
the library and we all read it as a family
and it was like, this is what you do. You
have to have an agent, take acting classes.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
You got it.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
And it was like you get a headshot because we
didn't know what to do, like none of that, none
of that information was available.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Yeah, And so she read a book and then was
just like, all right, let's do it. So she took
her she she took the photos of me, wrote my name,
my age, the color of my eyes, my hair color,
like what would go on a headshot, a description, and
then they're in the book was a list of agents,
a ton of agents, and we picked. How many did

(28:39):
we pick?

Speaker 7 (28:40):
I don't know, maybe maybe ten.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
I'm thinking we sent maybe ten and I think we
heard back from maybe six or seven.

Speaker 4 (28:47):
Yeah, So she sent those out, good photos and by
the way, how do we how do we even pick them?
Just like a Meani mini mo the pictures?

Speaker 7 (28:55):
No, the agent agents?

Speaker 4 (28:59):
Yeah, I think.

Speaker 7 (29:00):
So pretty much.

Speaker 4 (29:02):
These guys these again, I don't.

Speaker 6 (29:04):
Really remember that clearly, but how else would we have
done it?

Speaker 4 (29:07):
I know, did you you just go all right?

Speaker 1 (29:10):
I like the name of the address you mail it in.

Speaker 4 (29:12):
So she mailed a group of pictures. We heard back
from six or seven. Did we meet with all of them? That?

Speaker 6 (29:17):
I think we met with three and I don't even
remember who they were.

Speaker 4 (29:20):
That's a big that's a big my parents thing that
I still to this day do when you're getting quotes
or estimates, you pick three and you get and then
you go with the middle one. Someone's way, Yeah, you
go with the middle, the middle I probably you know safe,
You're safe.

Speaker 6 (29:37):
There pretty much my standard philosophy when you're getting quotes
on things.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
Yeah, I still do more the cheapest.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Or the cheapest, right.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, that's the other thing.

Speaker 5 (29:46):
But when you think about it, that is an interesting
thing about Boy Meets World because you obviously had Ben Savage,
who was part of the Savage family, so they well
knew what they were doing, they knew the industry, they
had a clock. But then there were the rest of
us who, Yeah, my dad had a friend in New
York City who sent him Yellow Pages, and we went
through the Yellow Pages after taking pictures in the back
of his office and just mailed them to random managers

(30:09):
in New York City.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
I mean we so when you didn't know what you
were doing. It's just that's all you.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Do, like there's nothing, because it's one thing to do that.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
For your own career, right, which takes a certain amount
of courage to just be like, I want to do this,
But when you're doing that on the on behalf of
your child, it just seems so fraught, like exactly what
you're saying that I would just be so scared that
I'm going to hurt my kid in some way that
you know that they're never going to be able to
recover from this rejection or whatever the industry is gonna,

(30:41):
you know, choose.

Speaker 6 (30:42):
I'm so glad to hear you having like fearful thoughts
as as a parent now that you're a parent, because
I used to always feel like you had such strong
opinions about.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
My parenting stuff.

Speaker 7 (30:55):
Really really, like I say.

Speaker 6 (31:03):
I was such a protective parent. I mean, and I
was not one of these parents that just felt like,
you know, let kids make their own mistakes, no, no, no,
I was, well yeah, and it worked great for you,
you know, I mean, your parents' parenting style was completely
different than mine.

Speaker 7 (31:23):
Worked great.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
You and Shiloh are awesome, But me being the fearful
control freak that I am.

Speaker 7 (31:31):
That was just polar opposite.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
So I always felt, you know, Danielle and I would
have an argument about something, and I could always tell
when she talked to Writer, because then.

Speaker 7 (31:39):
Danielle would come back with her with her opinions.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
I'm person and you're being incredibly superficial and holding me back.

Speaker 7 (31:48):
And I.

Speaker 6 (31:53):
Remember one time Danielle and I don't even Rember what
it was about. We had a big argument about something,
and you know, then she came back and she had
her you know, whole new set of opinions that I'd
never heard her have before. And then we were passing
you in the This was when you guys were at
Radford and you know, like the outside like balcony hallways

(32:13):
type of things, and we were passing and Writer, I
swore you gave me a dirty look.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
I'm sure I did. I'm sure I was so self righteous.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Yeah, just stifling your daughter and not letting her be
her own self and your she's not going to be
a great artist unless you let her free.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yeah, I'm sure I was a I'm so sorry, so sorry, sorry.

Speaker 6 (32:34):
I mean it was great because I always saw you
as being like a forty year old man and a
you know, sixteen year old body, and you had your
belief system and it was like, great, So I have
like a fourteen year old and a sixteen year old
who disapproved of my parents.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
Exactly, do you feel better?

Speaker 2 (32:51):
I highly disapproved of my mom's parenting too, so and
she felt, trust me, she felt that all the time.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
She couldn't have been more free or like.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Just disapproved of parents anybody who had any authority.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, you were you were an adult, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
Yeah, you wanted to raise yourself.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yes, one of the things I have to ask, that's
very important.

Speaker 5 (33:22):
So obviously we've Daniel's told us the whole story about
you know, getting the part going from fish Girl to Tapanga. Yeah,
and then everything that entailed that first week.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
How tough, How tough was that week on you?

Speaker 5 (33:35):
We know how tough it was on Danielle, but how
tough was seeing what she was going through on you
that week?

Speaker 6 (33:41):
I think as a parent, in some ways, I mean,
I'm sure daniel would disagree with with me, but I mean,
as a parent, I kind of wonder if in some
ways it was harder because you know, you have that
Mama bear come out. You don't want anybody or anything
hurting your child, and to see her under that much pressure,
I think that's when I started questioning, like.

Speaker 7 (33:59):
What have we done? Like is this even what I
want for her?

Speaker 6 (34:03):
And that run through was the most nerve wracking run
through ever, and then Michael called us down.

Speaker 7 (34:10):
Afterwards. We were sitting at the kitchen, the set kitchen.

Speaker 6 (34:12):
Table, and he was going over no, this was before
before that run through where he was going over everything
that he wanted to see from her, and we were
both listening to it and we were both working on it,
and oh my god, that was stressful.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
I remember you and me and Michael sitting in that
kitchen set at that table going over those those notes.
And then we had yeah, and then we had that
night and we stayed up. Literally you stayed up with me.
I mean yeah, you know.

Speaker 6 (34:41):
And it was funny because I was listening to Michael's
notes and knowing these notes are this is these are
extremely important notes, and then we're working on it and
I'm coaching you and like, what do I know. I've
never been an actor in my life.

Speaker 7 (34:56):
I don't have to coach somebody for it.

Speaker 6 (34:58):
But just based on what he was saying, and I
knew the most difficult thing for you, especially when you
were nervous, was going to be slowing down down the
way he wanted you to slow down.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (35:10):
So and it felt very unnatural. I thought, I thought
it sounded really unnatural, like who talks that slow?

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Yeah? Well, and because you talk fast too, so I
you know, you're helping me do something that was hard
for both of us to do.

Speaker 7 (35:24):
Because you I kept saying slower, yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Slower, flower, slower, no matter what.

Speaker 6 (35:29):
Exactly, I was doing my coaching job by just.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
Slower, slower, slower, slower. And I do remember it being
a big help that you had been there for all
those notes, because obviously, when you are the person getting
all the notes and it's hard to take them in
you're you're.

Speaker 5 (35:43):
Especially when you're twelve, your brain come on.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Of course, not you're just trying to please you ever
sitting in front of me, and it was.

Speaker 6 (35:51):
Like you guys have said before, like you know, page
by page.

Speaker 4 (35:54):
Of page one line one exactly. Yeah, page one line too.
I had notes for every single one of them, and she,
you know, wrote them down and had them there for me,
and then we stayed up until three or four o'clock
in the morning, and then went to sleep for a
couple hours. You know, I probably had to be on
set at seven or seven thirty for school school. You remember.

Speaker 6 (36:12):
The timeline of that was that on Friday, and then
we know the weekday.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
Was when I got the part. Then on Monday we
would have first run through and so I had just
that night, so we did have.

Speaker 7 (36:24):
To be up early the next morning.

Speaker 4 (36:26):
Yeah, we had to be well.

Speaker 6 (36:27):
That was That was extremely I would say, equally as
stressful for me as it was for Danielle.

Speaker 4 (36:36):
Being a parent, it was more stressful for you as
stressful as it was for me. It was more stressful
for you.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
Was there ever a moment of We're not doing this?

Speaker 5 (36:44):
Was there ever a moment of walking, you know, with
the notes and everything, being like this this, we're not
We're not I'm not putting my daughter through this that ever.

Speaker 6 (36:50):
For that that particular time, Yeah, I.

Speaker 5 (36:53):
Mean, was there ever an idea that you were like,
we're we're ending this. We I'm sorry, I'm not gonna
I'm not this is too intense.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
Oh, I don't think any of us in our family
are quitters. I think, you know, at that point in time,
it's it's you know, literally I just wanted her to
survive the next run through, and it was kind of
like a I don't think I really thought beyond get
through this run through and you know, make sure you
give him what he wants to see, and then we'll

(37:20):
deal with whatever happens.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
You're either going to.

Speaker 6 (37:22):
Still be on the show where you're not, we'll deal
with it then. But I don't think either one of
us ever entertained let's not do.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
This no, And had that moment come later in life,
like later in the career where you were like, maybe this,
maybe Danielle, we should not be doing this anymore.

Speaker 6 (37:37):
Or the only thing that would even come close to
that what would be and Danielle would remember this vividly,
is that in poor Danielle. Because she was my first child,
I was protective and like when I became a mother,
it was like.

Speaker 7 (37:50):
Don't screw this up, don't screw the SEP, don't screw
this up.

Speaker 6 (37:53):
So I would always anytime, you know, when she was
twelve when she started the show, which is like right
around the time you guys get into your icky teenage
years and you start rebelling a little bit and stuff
like that. So whenever I saw some of that coming
from her, I didn't just think, yeah, she's a teenager,
al right.

Speaker 7 (38:12):
I thought it was Hollywood. She's a Hollywood, she's training
into a Hollywood bread. Can't let that happen.

Speaker 4 (38:17):
Can't let that happen.

Speaker 6 (38:19):
So she was threatened all the time that the day
this isn't good for you anymore. And I meant getting
into the wrong things, hanging around with the wrong people,
you know, becoming yeah, like you know, too full of
yourself or whatever, not just the stress of you know,
like with her becoming topanga, but like the more serious things.

(38:40):
I always threatened, it means nothing to me. We're doing
this for you because this is what you want. So
if ever I see that it's not good for you anymore,
we'll pull the plug.

Speaker 4 (38:51):
Had I ever even remotely expressed to my mom I
didn't want to do this anymore, I would not have
been doing it anymore. Yeah, I was the opposite. I was,
don't lose this for me. Every negotiation was I'm willing
to do it for free. Literally every negotiation was please,
whatever you do, just don't you know. I and I

(39:13):
bought into hearing, you know, people in power on the
show say like, Danielle, you know, if you don't need
your agent's asking for too much, they're not going to
give it to you. You know, you could just get off
the show. The minute I would hear that, I'd go
right back to my dad, who was working with Judy
Savage or whatever my agent whoever my agent was before that,
and be like, don't you dare lose this for me please?

Speaker 8 (39:31):
I would do it first, which is why they would
tell you that, which is exactly.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
Why they tell you that, because you know you would
they would.

Speaker 5 (39:37):
You would run to your parents going, no, you're making
this too Dard, you're making this too hard.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
It's they told me I could be fired. Yeah, And
so if anything, it was the opposite where my mom
did use it as like a threat. For you know,
if I was like, I'm tired, I don't want to
do my chores. I've been working all week, my mom
was like, yeah, you know what, You're probably right, having
a full time job and going to school is probably
too much for you. I guess that means, well, we

(40:03):
just won't do this because I don't want to do it.
Do you think I want to be the one driving
you every single day to a set, sitting there like
do you think I want to do this? What am
I getting out of this? Yeah?

Speaker 8 (40:12):
Yeah, who came up with the idea for the hair?

Speaker 6 (40:26):
Oh that was Michael, trust me, I want to be
braiding her hair. Yeah, that was his suggestion, and that's
how that started.

Speaker 7 (40:35):
It's so funny for her.

Speaker 4 (40:36):
I have a suggestion for you. Have you thought about
spending two and a half hours every night before a tape?

Speaker 1 (40:41):
Night?

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Bid?

Speaker 7 (40:45):
Not my idea. It took forever braiding her hair.

Speaker 6 (40:48):
And it's so funny because again I think I have
such clear memories back then. But then Danielle and I
as we were watching like the first season, it was like, yeah,
that death was not braid, that was cramped or that
was curled or whatever.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
I felt like I.

Speaker 6 (41:04):
Had been braiding her hair forever.

Speaker 4 (41:09):
Oh that's what it felt like.

Speaker 7 (41:13):
And when when Michael finally gave in and like allowed
it to be I.

Speaker 6 (41:17):
Think first crimped and then maybe curled, I was so happy.

Speaker 7 (41:22):
It was like, oh thing.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
I remember my mom saying to me and thinking, oh,
look at her, like can't wait to see how this goes.
When she was just like listen, I'm going to tell
them that I'm either not going to do this anymore
or they're going to have to pay me because all talk, yeah,
and all you really wanted is just to not have
to do it anymore. But she was like she you know,

(41:45):
it was like as if this wasn't already enough of
a strain on the whole family that, like, you know,
my dad was working full time. Now I have a
full time job. My mom also has another child. She
has my brother who's four years younger than me. So
she has an eight year old and a twelve year
old and now on at least every Tuesday and then
possibly Wednesday night then too. How did we have the

(42:07):
crimped hair? Did we night? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (42:11):
Because once she slept on it, it was just frizz
It wasn't like you know, yeah, no way to do
it both nights.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
And so now I have to washing that long hair.
Took a long time. Then I have to blow dry
that long hair, which also took a long time, only
to about ninety five percent dry. And then the minimum
of how long would you say it took to braid
my hair?

Speaker 6 (42:30):
Oh my god, I'm going to say two hours just
braiding it, because it was a bunch of time you
saw how crimpy that that was tiny braids? Yeah, trust me, Will,
I would have never suggested.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Ooh man, wow.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
All right.

Speaker 5 (42:46):
So I want to get into something that I think
is going to be pretty important at some point, which
is young Danielle's teen bopper dates.

Speaker 4 (42:57):
Oh my god, as.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
We've seen, uh, basically all you have to use.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
Tiger magazine and she did my single one of them.

Speaker 7 (43:10):
Do you writer who she had a crush.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
She tried, who she had a crush on?

Speaker 4 (43:14):
You would have never dated me. He didn't approve of
my mom, forget the way she was.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Really just held back.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
The way you were raised is just not right. Can
you did you?

Speaker 5 (43:26):
Were you all for the Jonathan Taylor Thomases and.

Speaker 7 (43:29):
They loved Jonathan?

Speaker 4 (43:31):
Yeah? I did.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
They were all good guys, by the way, like literally
everybody like Andrew Keagan was a good guy. Yeah, Matt
Lawrence obviously was a great Like. I feel like all
these people that she's that she dated were really.

Speaker 7 (43:44):
They were all Yeah, they were all really good guys.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
What did you think when she brought home Lance?

Speaker 6 (43:51):
I loved Lance too, of course great guys. Give anything
for him to be gay at the time. I loved him.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
They were all did you have an inkling? Did you
have an inkling?

Speaker 4 (44:03):
I did, Danielle.

Speaker 6 (44:05):
I said that to her because I said, you know,
I just said, you know, I'm just going to throw
this out there, but do you think there's any possibility
that maybe he's gay?

Speaker 7 (44:14):
And She's like, yeah, no.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
No, it's definitely not that I can read a person.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Mom, he's just religious.

Speaker 8 (44:21):
It's just Jesus.

Speaker 4 (44:22):
Yeah, yeah, but no.

Speaker 6 (44:24):
I mean I loved all of them. They all had
spent a lot of time at our house hanging out,
and I got to know them on a very you know,
personal level, and they were all very very polite and
sweet and good to Danielle and.

Speaker 5 (44:39):
So beautiful young man. Who was your favorite? Who was
who the bopper or tiger beat one that got away?

Speaker 6 (44:51):
For Danielle, I would have to say that would be
a toss up between Lance and Jonathan.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
I was going to say, you would say Jonathan because
Lance I didn't have a chance Lance.

Speaker 7 (45:01):
No.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
But I really liked Lance a lot too. He was
like and I knew Lance was was different in such
a good way, like you know, his southern upbringing. She
was so polite and just so you know, respectful of everything.
And I had met his mom on the phone prior
to him coming. When you know, he actually stayed at

(45:24):
our house, you know, in the downstairs room, and I
wasn't you know, I almost didn't even let that happen.
And then I actually talked to a friend of mine
and she's like, you know, he's in hotels all the time,
and you know, like, what's wrong with it if he's
you know, So it's like okay, And so I told Danielle, Okay.

Speaker 7 (45:43):
We're going to allow that, but these are the rules.

Speaker 6 (45:45):
And then I was still uneasy about it to a
certain extent, and once I met him, it was like, no,
he will completely.

Speaker 7 (45:52):
Respect the rules.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
So yeah, but no, I.

Speaker 6 (45:55):
Adored I adored Jonathan. He was just so he spent
a lot of time out of.

Speaker 4 (46:00):
Time at our house. Yeah, yeah, I was all. I was,
you know, super close to my family, like we my
idea of fun involved friends coming over. It didn't involve
like friends and then leaving my family's house. It was
like having my friends come over and and just whatever
we wanted to do, whether that was watching TV or

(46:21):
messing around. I mean we used to swim a lot,
Like I don't really even know what we did, but
it was just we spent a lot of time with
my family and so, I mean, Jonathan was a staple
in our house, Like Jonathan was at our house all
the time. And Jonathan was Jonathan was too sweet for me.
Jonathan was Jonathan was he really was? Yeah, no, Jonathan,
Jonathan was too good for me. Let's put it that way.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
Okay, you still even at that age, like the touch
of the bad boy.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Yeah, I needed a little touch of a bad boy. Also,
Jonathan was so mature for his age, like he really
wanted a like I still to this day, as you
guys know, love a chain restaurant. I just wanted to
go sit in a red robin and sit cross legged
in a booth and order French fries and chicken fingers.

(47:05):
And Jonathan's idea of going on a date with me
was like, I've made reservations at seven pm, I'm going
to be wearing a suit, put on a dress. I'm
going to come and have a car pick you up.
And I was like, is this supposed to be fun?

Speaker 7 (47:19):
Like I just I just sat her.

Speaker 6 (47:20):
Do you have any idea?

Speaker 4 (47:24):
Was to say, some day you're going to that at
this and I was like, I just want chicken fingers.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
So, yeah, Jonathan, you're four thirteen, fourteen.

Speaker 4 (47:35):
You guys.

Speaker 7 (47:38):
Well, and no, because yeah, fifteen for sure.

Speaker 6 (47:42):
Because I remember you guys were getting your permits. And
Jonathan drove my car one time. We were driving down
Bureau and he was going so slow and people were
getting so mad behind her honk and her horn and
casting us.

Speaker 7 (47:56):
You know, it was so funny.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
I remember Jonathan saying he wanted to to get matching minivans.

Speaker 8 (48:03):
Oh wow, yeah, mother, you can see why.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
I'm like.

Speaker 7 (48:13):
Perfect.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
So we recently talked about celebrity sightings, specifically because I
mentioned her co Jason and how you were also very
active on the message boards. What was it like reading
criticisms of me, or of the show or anything online.
Did you ever take it personally or or respond.

Speaker 6 (48:36):
I never liked reading anything negative. I mean, it's again,
it's that Mama bear kind of thing. And then, of course,
especially because she was linked and photographed with some of
these popular boys, she would get some hate mail from
that was absolutely vicious.

Speaker 4 (48:55):
People would send me pictures of me and Jonathan but
where my eyes were gouged out.

Speaker 3 (49:01):
Serial killers that is.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
Yeah, that is, that's not a vicious letter.

Speaker 5 (49:04):
That is there's an embarrassing press conference in that person's future.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
Yeah, that's very bad.

Speaker 6 (49:09):
So no, that was I mean, I don't remember a
lot of like negative stuff on message boards on the
celebrity sidings, because people were there because they were fans
of yours or whoever's. But it was more than the
fan mail that Sometimes it would be you'd get some
that were just so nice and sweet that it would
be the two or three that were just vicious that
would stand out.

Speaker 5 (49:29):
Of course, that's always the way it is. You always
it's just the negative comment. It's not the fifteen hundred
positive comments that that yeah, so yeah, that's normal.

Speaker 6 (49:37):
Yeah, so yeah that I didn't I never liked that.
But well they just didn't get a signed a picture.

Speaker 4 (49:45):
I'm not sending you a sign, headeo.

Speaker 5 (49:46):
So we we ask most of our guest I'm taking
over by the way, Danielle, you're you're too close.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
You're too close to this interview.

Speaker 5 (49:54):
We asked most of our guests when they come on,
what were your first impressions of the rest of us.

Speaker 4 (49:58):
I was curious.

Speaker 6 (50:00):
I adored all of you, will my you know, my
memories of you are all very consistent, not any one
specific conversation or memory. But you always were in a
good mood. You always had a smile on your face.
You were always very very friendly and saying hello to everybody,
and you know, and all of that that I mean,

(50:21):
that's that's my impression of you.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
Writer.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
I was a little afraid, always in a bad mood,
always in a bad mood.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
Parenting. Maybe in a corner crime.

Speaker 6 (50:37):
No, no, Writer, I just always thought you, like I say,
you were so much more but sure than your years.

Speaker 7 (50:43):
Like you literally you.

Speaker 4 (50:44):
You were intimidated by Writer a little bit.

Speaker 6 (50:47):
Yeah, a little bit, just because I did feel without
him ever having a conversation with me about him not
approving of my parenting, so I couldn't defend myself. So
I always felt like I always just kind of felt like, yeah,
he hates me, pretty.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Woah, didn't I have such only positive memories that I
don't remember that. But I judged all the adults. I
definitely did judge all the adults, Yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 3 (51:13):
Across the board. I was that guy, I was that teenager.

Speaker 6 (51:16):
Well you know, you were more serious to so I
mean maybe sometimes like your seriousness. Maybe I interpreted because
I knew every argument I had with Danielle went right
to you. So maybe some of it I interpreted as
being directed towards me, But maybe it was just you know,
you were you were just very more serious. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
Yeah, you also, as you can tell by the fact
that she had to come on the podcast and immediately
clear up those misunderstandings were what she said was actually
those are all true. She also doesn't like not being
able to have her side of the story told, and
so she knew we would get into an argument and
I'd go immediately to my best friend, right or strong
and tell her everything from my POV and she'd be like, oh,

(51:56):
what is she even saying? This is such a skewed
I will say this.

Speaker 7 (52:01):
I guarantee you you didn't get the full picture.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 6 (52:06):
He's definitely got Danielle's perspective.

Speaker 7 (52:09):
I guarantee you she didn't share mine.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
So okay, wait, with among my friends, like in every
friend I had in my life, it was always us
against our parents. Like that was a dynamic that really
operated from within.

Speaker 5 (52:22):
Yes, dude, you were so close to your parents, at
least that's how I saw it.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
That I never noticed that.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
I yes, I actually you know eventually, but my mom
and I struggled from fourteen through sixteen. It was awful,
and I'm sure Jennifer can remember, like when I was
driving my permit and Danielle was probably in the car
for some of that. It was awful and like I
needed to get my own apartment, like I needed to
get out of my own like but but I when
I think about it now, like a lot of my friends,

(52:50):
that was a big part of our dynamic was like,
you know, our parents are or their parents were. Always
they would come to me to complain about their parents
and I'd be.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Like, yeah, they don't get us.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
I don't understand them.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
We're so awesome and them.

Speaker 4 (53:03):
Like you can just do something. No other teenager has ever.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
Gone the world.

Speaker 3 (53:08):
Have teenagers been in love?

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Like me felt as you know everything the first feel
this because my license before.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
The age of sixteen was unfair. That is like that.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
It was like, wesh, I can't wait to change the
laws now, Oh my god, people should kids should not
drive until their twenty five, no doubt, And I like,
nobody should drive until the twenty five years old.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
But yeah, no, back.

Speaker 6 (53:33):
Then, I love that now though you see things more
from you know, a parent's perspective, but you can still
also you'll be able to as Nandy gets older, you'll
also be able to understand, you know, his perspective of things,
because I do feel like with with my kids, I
do feel like I tried to always stay one step
ahead of them as far as like avoiding them getting into.

Speaker 7 (53:56):
Too much trouble. But a lot of that also came
back to I remember.

Speaker 6 (54:00):
What it's like to be your age, you know, so
you know I'm not stupid like you know, I know
how to get around things, and so I would always
look at it like I'm going to beat them to it.
I already, but you know when I was that age,
this is what.

Speaker 7 (54:16):
I would have done.

Speaker 4 (54:16):
I told you, guys this, I don't know. The phone
call such an absolutely genius. When my mom would ground us, brilliant,
she'd leave the house. You'd go, I'm not grounded, you're grounded,
so I'm leaving. I've got stuff to do. But part
of your grounding is that you're not supposed to be
on the phone. So I called a number that you
don't know, and when I come home, so clever and

(54:38):
when I come home, I'm going to make sure and
then i'd hit redial to see if I could. I'm
gonna what is this number? And it would be hello
the current time. You'd be like, what is this There's
a number you can call for time, and I never
to know what it was, and we didn't have the
internet to google it. I had no idea what it was.

(55:00):
So she would be like, audios, I'm out, and she'd
get to go do whatever she needed to do, and
I'd just be stuck inside the house.

Speaker 6 (55:07):
You know what, you weren't grounded a lot, like I
kind of save that for the big things. I can
really only remember two times you were really grounded, other
than maybe when you were younger, and it would be like, Okay,
go to your room, a little calm down kind of thing.
But I only remember you being grounded twice, and I
wanted to ask.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
You about that.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
So your perspective, your perspective.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
You're sitting at home, it's now ten, ten thirty and
she has not come back from Disneyland yet, with that
good Mormon boy, with that good Mormon boy.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
What is going through your mind at this point?

Speaker 6 (55:44):
A complete fluctuation between so angry and so scared because
I just I mean, I felt like we had a deal,
you know, and I felt like and right before she
left that more because she was going to Disneyland straight
from school. She wasn't even coming home first. So I
said to her before she was leaving, now, remember we

(56:07):
have a deal. You will be home at midnight, because
I think Disneyland was open until midnight. And I told her,
don't stay until it closes and then come home. You're
home at midnight, and that's the agreement we have. If
you're going to be allowed to go, that's our agreement.

Speaker 7 (56:23):
She's like, oh, yeah, no, I love you, I love you.
Thank you for talking to dad until four o'clock in
the morning.

Speaker 6 (56:28):
And she leaves. And then and again, Jeff. I loved him.
He was such a nice, nice kid. Had spent time
at our house. I had lots of conversations with him.
She was so love struck. She would come home from
school and she'd say, oh, look at this note that
Jeff wrote me. And you know what I mean, I
just really liked him. And I thought, Okay, he's older

(56:49):
than her, but I trust him more than I would
trust most fifteen year olds.

Speaker 7 (56:54):
So I'm making.

Speaker 6 (56:56):
This decision based on the person, not based on you know,
his age. She could have been with a lot worse
who was you know, more her age. And so when
the clock was ticking and it got to be after midnight,
I'm thinking, Okay, there's no way, there's no way that
she did not understand our deal.

Speaker 7 (57:17):
And I'm paging her.

Speaker 4 (57:18):
That was in the days of.

Speaker 6 (57:19):
Paging, and she's not replying. So then I'm thinking, how
well do I really know this guy? I mean, maybe
she's dead in the ditch somewhere, maybe you know, maybe
she's been raped, maybe they got in a really bad accident,
you know, But I'm still thinking, I just can't believe
she would betray me this. So when she walked in

(57:43):
the door, I literally it was like relief.

Speaker 7 (57:46):
And then I wanted to kill her.

Speaker 4 (57:47):
I mean she did she literally it truly is that
thing because now I'm going to kill you. And she
did say that. I said, that is exactly what she said.
She said, and I could see if if her eyes
could have been laser I would have been lasered in
a thousand pieces. She said, I am so happy that
you are alive, and now I am going to kill you,

(58:10):
and then my dad opened the door from above the
stairs and from the dark said, is she just now
getting home? And she's locking eyes with me as she
turns and looks up at him and goes yes. And
I was that's it. I was dead, mate. I was
not going to see another day. At that point in time.

Speaker 6 (58:32):
It was completely it was personal. This is personal between
Danielle and I. So when her dad is up there
and he's furious, it's like.

Speaker 7 (58:40):
Oh, no, no, don't you don't you.

Speaker 4 (58:44):
H I've got this. I will bury her, thank you
very much.

Speaker 6 (58:48):
Yeah, And then that was the only time I took
everything out of your room. She had driving class the
next day. She had to get up early to go
to her driving class, and when she got up, I
took her tea, TV out, I.

Speaker 7 (59:00):
Took her phone, stereo.

Speaker 6 (59:03):
Everything was that, And I said, all you're allowed to
do for the next month is read. You cannot watch TV,
you can't talk on the phone, you can't do anything.

Speaker 7 (59:11):
You can read.

Speaker 4 (59:12):
That's that. And just wasn't allowed to come over. Nohing,
I mean, I don't.

Speaker 7 (59:16):
I don't know if I've ever been that mad.

Speaker 4 (59:19):
That was also the grounding time that cracks me up
because I just love your commitment to a bit of
the bit of grounding. I know at the end of
that month, we were leaving to go to Hawaii, and
there was like three days of my grounding that we
were in Hawaii, and my mom said, why is not
exactly grounding? So when we come home, you'll make up
those three days.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
You banked hours.

Speaker 6 (59:47):
I was wait glad that she wasn't like picking up
the phone and calling you.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
Maybe maybe she did. It was it was just remarkable,
and I was like, Okay, she is going to get
over this by the time we got home, But she didn't, I.

Speaker 6 (01:00:04):
Know, And truly what made me more mad rather than
not even so much that she blew off, you know,
getting home by her curfew, but the fact that I
literally stayed up. I think Dad and I were up
until like four o'clock in the morning trying to convince
him that Danielle just was trustworthy to be trusted, and

(01:00:27):
that Jeff too that you know, my whole theory of
I'm basing this on the person, not on the age,
and I think we need to trust her. She's never
gotten into any trouble literally, and he is not an
easy person to talk into anything that he doesn't believe
in So after all of that, I just it was

(01:00:47):
such a betrayal.

Speaker 4 (01:00:49):
I couldn't believe she did that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
Yeah, I mean, having like done this podcast, I've been
talking to Danielle so much about our childhood and and
her upbringing. I'm so impressed with your ability to have
a relationship with her that is really a true friendship
as well as a great parent, you know, Like I

(01:01:12):
just think that that I admire that so much, and
that's like, like I am aiming for that because like
I didn't really have that with my parents. I always
had a great relationship with my parents, a very loving relationship,
but like you know, my mom and I were antagonistic
until I got on my own and then we like
kind of became like adults together even at the age
of sixteen, Like and that made our relationship better.

Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
But you guys had like a real Like I didn't talk.

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
To my parents about who I was dating or what
was happening, but you guys were able to share all
of that, and yet it sounds like you still had
enough authority and trust And I just that's like so
admirable to me, and like, thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:01:49):
I am I'm emulating that in.

Speaker 7 (01:01:51):
My life compliment.

Speaker 5 (01:01:55):
It turns out you didn't know what you're talking about
at sixteen, right, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:02:03):
Ago i'd ever be hearing this from writer crazy.

Speaker 7 (01:02:07):
But you know, I do think it was it was
kind of interesting.

Speaker 6 (01:02:10):
I even realized that it was kind of different at
the time. Was that neither Danielle or I ever there
was like no gray line. It was like we could
be the best of friends. We could talk about everything,
we can, you know, have great conversations and laugh and
all that. But when I need to be your parent,

(01:02:30):
not your friend, it's not even there.

Speaker 4 (01:02:33):
There's no Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
But that's the balance though. That's what you want, you know, Yeah,
that's what you want. So that's that's great. Yeah, I
had that with my I have that with my parents
as well.

Speaker 5 (01:02:41):
So it was always the kind of like that what
we've talked about where it's the the worst thing in
the world you can do is disappoint them. Where it's
just like that's that crushes you, where it's like, oh
my god, I disappointed my parents.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
It's the worst thing ever. So yeah, it's Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:02:57):
My mom was really like from the time I was little,
she used to she was very consistent with what she
used to say to me, which was, there is nothing
you can't tell me that we won't then be able
to work through together. The only thing I cannot handle
is you lying to me. Once you lie to me,
I have no I can't trust you anymore. I can't

(01:03:18):
take anything you say at face value. So I'd rather
you come to me with a thing you think is
going to blow up the entire world. And as long
as you're up, as long as you're telling me the
truth about it, we will solve it together. There's a solution,
there's a There is a thing for everything, no matter
what it is. And I remember being like, okay, and
as a teenager or as a however old you are,

(01:03:38):
when you hear that, you test it, and so you
test it with small things, you test it with like
this little bit. And she never, she was never. That
was not a lie. I could tell her truthfully anything,
And even if I could tell where she was like gulp,
don't gulp, Yeah, she would then she would then go, Okay,

(01:03:59):
let's let's talk about it. Let's And so we did
have a relationship where I felt very comfortable coming home
and letting her read the notes from the boys I
had crushes on and telling her exactly what I was
thinking and feeling about all of them. And she knew
that she could trust me because she did know that
I was being There wasn't anything I was hiding. So,
like writer said, I also just be like Jen Fischal,

(01:04:23):
that's all I want.

Speaker 6 (01:04:24):
Be like, Yeah, of course, I always say, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:04:32):
You know, parenting is. Parenting's tough.

Speaker 6 (01:04:34):
It definitely is, and you know you just kind of
have to figure it out as you go along. And
you know, obviously I've made mistakes and I have things
I regret too. I mean one of them being I
feel like I was probably harder on Danielle. One she
was my first and two I had not only teen
years to deal with, but the fact that you know,

(01:04:56):
by the time she was a teenager, she was you know,
people recognize her, and she was exposed to a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:05:01):
Of things and all of that.

Speaker 6 (01:05:04):
So I I probably was harder on her, honestly. I
mean I've told her that when you.

Speaker 4 (01:05:08):
Say that, maybe one of your regrets is that I
should have been allowed to watch nine O two one
oh when I was twelve.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
She can't go.

Speaker 4 (01:05:19):
I don't even watched it now. It was only cool
when you were twelve.

Speaker 1 (01:05:23):
It was only cool when you were.

Speaker 4 (01:05:24):
Twelve, you know.

Speaker 6 (01:05:24):
And you know that was another thing too, is like
I never understood because when we lived in Orange County
before we moved to Calabasas, it was literally like we
might as well have moved to a different country as
far as how different.

Speaker 4 (01:05:36):
Orange County was much more conservative with their parenting. I
actually grew up around a lot of my friends were Mormon.
They had very strict rules, and so no one in
Orange County at twelve was watching nine O two one.
Oh but no.

Speaker 6 (01:05:47):
And we moved to Calabasas, and like she's, you know,
her friends are going to R rated movies, and it's like,
what in an R rated movie does a twelve year old.

Speaker 7 (01:05:55):
Need to be seeing? No, you can't go.

Speaker 6 (01:05:58):
I knew when we moved to calib Bassis I was
not going to be the popular parent, that's for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:06:05):
Yeah, but you know.

Speaker 6 (01:06:06):
But I mean, those are the things that I really
don't regret. I think if I had to raise kids
all over again, it would probably I'd probably do a
lot of the same things, if not even more protective.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
Because so then what do you regret you just said
one of your regrets you want to regret.

Speaker 6 (01:06:24):
Being because I think sometimes I was literally looking for
should I be worried about this?

Speaker 7 (01:06:32):
Should I be worried about that?

Speaker 6 (01:06:33):
I mean it was I was like, but you know,
I was a nervous nelly, And so I think a
lot of times I would look for things and maybe
read between the lines. Rather than giving you the benefit
of the doubt and maybe asking questions, I would be
more like, well, suspicious, thinking you had an attitude yeah,
or very suspicious. But I don't know, because I mean,

(01:06:53):
we are who we are, So I think my my
protective instincts as a parent, I don't think that would
go if I was doing it all over today, and
I think it would be worse because you guys have
the Internet and social media, and that scares me.

Speaker 7 (01:07:08):
I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that.

Speaker 5 (01:07:11):
Yeah, and her getting recognized a lot as a teenager,
I mean, luckily that doesn't happen at all anymore. Danielle
never gets recognized anywhere, which is great. Traveling with her
is just the easiest thing in the world.

Speaker 1 (01:07:22):
It's awesome, no problems at all.

Speaker 4 (01:07:25):
She looks exactly the same you all do.

Speaker 7 (01:07:30):
You all do it's so weird.

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
You now have grandchildren, you have Adler and Keaton. What
would you say if Adler or Keaton wanted to get
into acting.

Speaker 6 (01:07:51):
I mean, obviously I would. It's none of my business,
so do you whatever you and Jensen decided, I would
fully respect and support. If it were my choice, I
would say no.

Speaker 4 (01:08:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:08:02):
Wow, that's a solid answer, though, that's a solid answer.

Speaker 6 (01:08:06):
Yeah, I mean I felt that way sometimes with Danielle
even was like, if I had to do this all
over again, knowing what I know, not that not that
I think after she was on the show, you know,
even hearing stories about a lot of the other kids.
I mean, you guys kind of went through a time
where there were a lot of teen celebrities kind of

(01:08:29):
really going.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
You know, going off the rails.

Speaker 7 (01:08:32):
Yeah, yeah, really bad.

Speaker 6 (01:08:33):
So those times I would kind of think, I don't
know if I would do it all over again, Not
because her experience was bad, but because just because.

Speaker 7 (01:08:42):
Of the fear of it.

Speaker 4 (01:08:43):
Yeah, risk, it does scare me.

Speaker 6 (01:08:45):
I mean, there's there's a lot and as a parent,
you can't control as much as you can when you're
a kid is just going to school and you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:54):
Know, hanging out with their friends.

Speaker 6 (01:08:55):
I mean, there are a lot of things that you
guys were exposed to, and like a lot of adult
that saw you guys as their friends and their peers.
And you know, it's why Danielle had adults giving her cigarettes.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
Which who did that? I never wanted it.

Speaker 7 (01:09:14):
To be you because and Danielle will probably regret this.
She'll probably be like, darn it, why didn't I tell
her it was Will?

Speaker 6 (01:09:20):
Because when she came home that day, and David Combs
was the one who told me she'd been smoking. So
when she came home, you know, of course I'm making
her like, dump out your purse because she she met
me cigarettes on her. It's like, who's giving you cigarettes?
She did not want to tell me. She did not
want to tell me we were so you're gonna tell me.
You know, this isn't over until I know who's.

Speaker 7 (01:09:38):
Giving you cigarettes.

Speaker 6 (01:09:39):
And if she would have said Will, I would have
been like, all right, Will is her peer. I can't
hold that against you too much because that's what friends do.

Speaker 7 (01:09:48):
And I probably would have said you.

Speaker 6 (01:09:49):
Will, don't do that. Don't make it easy on her.
She's gonna be stupid enough smoke.

Speaker 4 (01:09:53):
Let her do it.

Speaker 7 (01:09:54):
On her own.

Speaker 6 (01:09:55):
But when I found out it was two adults that
worked on the show, I was just like, no.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
That's not okay with me.

Speaker 7 (01:10:02):
That's just not okay.

Speaker 6 (01:10:04):
And then she's just begging me, please, please, please please,
I don't call them.

Speaker 4 (01:10:08):
And it's like such a terrible feeling to be a
kid and you're going to get an adults you should
not have involved want them to get.

Speaker 1 (01:10:17):
Giving cigarettes to it.

Speaker 4 (01:10:19):
They're clearly the ones, Yeah it's you call?

Speaker 1 (01:10:24):
Did you call?

Speaker 6 (01:10:24):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (01:10:25):
Yeah I did? Yeah, absolutely I did.

Speaker 6 (01:10:27):
There were two of them, and yeah, they they got
a piece of my mind. And because I just felt
like and like I were you, I wouldn't have done
that to you.

Speaker 2 (01:10:37):
I also wouldn't share breaking the law like you know,
like that.

Speaker 1 (01:10:44):
Smokes. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:10:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:10:45):
And as a parent, and now Danielle and Wryter, you
can probably relate to that a little bit.

Speaker 4 (01:10:49):
It's like, if your.

Speaker 6 (01:10:50):
Kids are going to make mistakes and they're going to
do stupid things like start smoking, that's on them, But
I don't want adults making it easy on them.

Speaker 7 (01:10:58):
These are adults that you.

Speaker 4 (01:11:00):
Know, you trust.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
You're trusting the work environment to be a space where
that kind of stuff doesn't happen.

Speaker 6 (01:11:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can't wait to get off
Mike and find who it is.

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
But you could see how how those lines can be blurred. Yes,
I'm mature, Will smokes, you know, and it's obviously now
as an adult myself, I go, oh my gosh, how
do you do? I would never imagine any of us
on Girl meets World giving those kids cigarettes exactly.

Speaker 6 (01:11:37):
And I think, like, you know, when I found out
that it was too adults, and I just I was
more mad after learning who it was than I was
in the you know, to begin with. But you know,
you kind of gauge things by like how would you
be in that situation? And there is no way I
would have ever, ever, ever considered somebody younger that couldn't

(01:11:58):
buy cigarettes or alcohol asking me to buy it for
him and being like sure, yeah, no, right, So I
couldn't even comprehend that that was a choice that they made.

Speaker 4 (01:12:07):
And that's another.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
Thing, though, you this business does that.

Speaker 2 (01:12:12):
Well, wait, Will, how were you getting cigarettes? Because you
were sixteen when.

Speaker 5 (01:12:15):
I started buying I started buying cigarettes at eleven, and
know when you were buying cigarettes on Boy walking into
a store and buying.

Speaker 3 (01:12:21):
Them, they just weren't checking your ID. No, of course not.

Speaker 5 (01:12:24):
And again it was strange because I never I didn't
start drinking till I was like twenty five, so I
wasn't like trying to buy alcohol or doing this stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
But nobody ever batted an eyelash. But with selling what ever? Ever? Yeaheah,
different time. But it's also not only is at a
different time.

Speaker 5 (01:12:39):
It's what we've talked about about being on a set
where it's like, oh, you're a professional actor, so you're
not twelve. It's like, no, you're a professional actor and
you're still twelve.

Speaker 3 (01:12:49):
I mean, but.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
Smoking was way more in the culture back then. I
mean think about it with smoking bars, you know. Yeah,
so like in the nineties, the idea that like a
teenager would be smoking wasn't Now that like now it
seems so black and white.

Speaker 5 (01:13:03):
Yeah, dude, when you're eleven years old walking the streets
in New York City smoking a cigarette.

Speaker 1 (01:13:06):
There is nothing better. Let me tell you, I believe
you will.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
I believe you.

Speaker 1 (01:13:10):
It's so crazy, that's the greatest.

Speaker 4 (01:13:13):
My last question for you is something I actually want.
I want to brag about you for a little bit.
Since you spent almost a decade of your life being
my guardian on set, and in addition to raising a family,
you have my brother who is four years younger than me.
Later in life, in your fifties, you decided to follow

(01:13:35):
your own dream of being a makeup artist, and you
went to makeup school and you have started a bridal
makeup business, Melamichi Beauty, And for over a decade you
have been a professional makeup artist. Yeah, can you tell
me a little bit about that and like why you
wanted to do that and just what your day to

(01:13:57):
day is like now.

Speaker 6 (01:13:58):
Well, I always probably remember me saying this, but like
I always loved makeup first of all, but like even
when you were working on Boy Meet's World, I loved
being in the hair and makeup room.

Speaker 7 (01:14:09):
You know, I just loved the whole process.

Speaker 6 (01:14:12):
And I always said, if I was ever going to
have a job outside the home, that's what I would
want to do. And then when I was trying to
figure out what I was going to do in my
early fifties, fifty to fifty two, whatever I was, you,
Danielle were the one. You're probably the reason I'm doing it.

Speaker 4 (01:14:32):
You.

Speaker 6 (01:14:33):
I think I threw it out to you, like you know,
it's kind of sort of considered going to make up school,
but who does that at my age? Like I felt
almost silly wanting to do that. And then I thought about,
like I had this whole mean girl's vision about going
to school with a bunch of you know, young people
learning to do makeup, and you.

Speaker 4 (01:14:53):
Were so supportive of it.

Speaker 6 (01:14:55):
You were so encouraging, And you actually are the one
that found the school I went to, which happens to be,
in my opinion, and I think a lot of other
people's opinions, one of the best schools out There's.

Speaker 4 (01:15:08):
Say the name of the school, give it a plug.

Speaker 7 (01:15:10):
Well it's no longer she knows the school.

Speaker 6 (01:15:12):
Yeah, now she just kind of travels all over the
world and does boot camp. You know, she still teaches,
but she does boot camp. So I would give it
a plug, but it no longer exists. But anyway, so yeah,
and it was the best decision I ever made because
the school process.

Speaker 4 (01:15:28):
Was so much fun.

Speaker 6 (01:15:29):
I mean, I'm still in touch with so many of
the people I went to school with. And yes, I
was the oldest one in the class, but nobody held
it against me.

Speaker 7 (01:15:36):
Yeah, and I love what I do. It's just so
much fun. So yeah, so I do.

Speaker 6 (01:15:42):
I work mostly with brides, love it, and I am
with them on the biggest day of their life. And
I don't get bridezillas. That's what everybody.

Speaker 4 (01:15:51):
Always asks me.

Speaker 6 (01:15:53):
Yeah, I mean it can be, but honestly, I'm really
lucky because I have had such great brides and and
you know, and then of course I'm very organized and
so the morning everything goes smoothly.

Speaker 4 (01:16:05):
But I love it.

Speaker 7 (01:16:06):
It was the best decision I ever made.

Speaker 4 (01:16:09):
So where can people find you? Where can people find
you if they want to hire you for their wedding?
Where can people find you? Okay?

Speaker 6 (01:16:15):
So I'm on Instagram at at Jenfischel, and my website
is bellami chie Beauty and it's Bell not Bella Bell.

Speaker 4 (01:16:25):
B E l l E and then M E B
E l l E A M I C I dot com, Yes,
beauty dot beauty dot com o beauty. Okay, we'll get
write it in the caption.

Speaker 7 (01:16:36):
Okay, very good because I clearly don't spell. Were well
on the spot.

Speaker 4 (01:16:43):
Well, mama, mommy, thank you so much for being here
with today.

Speaker 6 (01:16:49):
Always great to see you, know both of you guys,
well you too, yell, But I.

Speaker 7 (01:16:53):
See you more off, I see you all the time.
These two, I don't see you all the.

Speaker 5 (01:16:57):
Time, usually only see in the in the midst of
a three four year old birthday party.

Speaker 1 (01:17:05):
And doughnuts and all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:17:07):
Yeah, I couldn't make it this year.

Speaker 4 (01:17:09):
Next time.

Speaker 6 (01:17:10):
I think Andy was sick this year. But yeah, it
was always good to see. It was fun talking about
old times and and writer. I'm glad you donate me.

Speaker 3 (01:17:18):
Don't appreciate it so much.

Speaker 4 (01:17:25):
I love you guys. Bye. Oh man, I love that lady.

Speaker 1 (01:17:32):
Oh that's good because she's your mom.

Speaker 4 (01:17:34):
I know, right, it's a good thing that I love her.

Speaker 1 (01:17:36):
She's got some great insights.

Speaker 4 (01:17:38):
Yeah, yeah, she's pretty awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:17:40):
I just by the way, Danielle, she used to buy
me cigarettes all.

Speaker 6 (01:17:47):
She did.

Speaker 4 (01:17:48):
For the record, she want to jump on the podcast
and clarify.

Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
They must have been a period we didn't get into this,
but there must have been a period where she was
actually the only parent left on set, right because.

Speaker 3 (01:18:03):
Linda Bridge mom.

Speaker 4 (01:18:04):
Right. Yeah, so but.

Speaker 2 (01:18:05):
Yeah, like and and and then yeah, I'm trying to
remember like because I have such clear memories of the Moms,
right that first season and then second season. It must
have continued, But yeah, I mean my mom stopped coming
by third season.

Speaker 4 (01:18:20):
There at a certain point my mom did there there
is a rule where you can sign your child over
to another adult. There still needs to be two adults.
The teacher is responsible for the child and the and
and then there needs to be a guardian. And I
don't I don't remember who the guardian was that my
mom would sign me over to. But there were days
when my mom couldn't be there because she needed to

(01:18:42):
do something for my brother, or she needed to do
something just with her own life where I would be
signed over. So she wasn't there for like every single
day all day for you know. And then obviously, as
we've seen, she's only there every so often because I'm
only in like what eight episodes in season three, So yeah,
but still, I mean, talk about a commitment for a

(01:19:04):
whole family, you know, it's real commitment. Anyway, she is
truly the best. So anyway, thank you guys for joining
us for this episode of Pod Meets World. As always,
you can follow us on Instagram pod Meets World Show.
You can send us your emails podmeets Worldshow at gmail
dot com, and we have merch.

Speaker 1 (01:19:21):
I'm glad you bought the merch and now I'm gonna
kill you.

Speaker 4 (01:19:27):
Podmeetsworldshow dot com writer send us out.

Speaker 3 (01:19:30):
We love you all, pod dismissed.

Speaker 2 (01:19:34):
Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast producer and hosted
by Danielle Fischel, Will Fernell and Ryder Strong executive producers,
Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman Executive in charge of production,
Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara Sudbox producer, Jackie Rodriguez,
engineer and Boy Meets World super fan Easton Allen. Our
theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. You can

(01:19:54):
follow us on Instagram at Podmeets World Show or send
us an email at Podmeets World Show at gmail dot com.

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Hosts And Creators

Will Friedle

Danielle Fishel

Rider Strong

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