Shareen Mitchell Meets World

We’ve talked to Shawn’s dad, and now it’s time to hear from mom (until a later season at least)! Shareen Mitchell, who played Virna Hunter, is hanging out with the gang to talk about her experience on Boy Meets World.
 
Shareen and Rider reunite, only to realize they didn’t actually share that many scenes together! But she does vividly remember struggling not to crack up when her “husband” Blake Clark delivered lines.
 
So enjoy the motherly love before she takes off with our trailer… on a whole new episode of Pod Meets World!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
This is going along the same line since you guys
not knowing I had opponent.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Bomb animals, I know what mombell are you about to drop?

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I don't think you guys knew this, because I think
it might have already been gone by the time you
came up there. But so I totally forgot about this.
This is this is really this presecharch chatter is just
appreciation for my parents, my dad in particular, king strong,
unbelievable father. And it struck me how amazing he was.
When I was sitting with Indy and I was dropping

(00:51):
him off at a class and we were sitting across
from Amazon Fresh and he's like, there's an Amazon Fresh
and I was like yeah, He's like, what's that?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Am I?

Speaker 1 (01:00):
And then this leads to, you know, Jeff Bezos has
so much money. I'm like, how do you even know
who Jeff Bezos is? But okay, and then he's like
Elon Musk and so I'm like, all right, let's pivot
this into like a real conversation. I'm like, so what
would you do, Like, what would you do if you
had all the money in the world?

Speaker 4 (01:14):
Right?

Speaker 1 (01:14):
And it was like we get past, like well, I
just buy every toy. I was like, yeah, okay, but
then you know, what would you do? And you know,
this is.

Speaker 5 (01:21):
Indy you're talking for some reason, I thought you were
talking to your dad and you didn't know what you
would buy every like serious, because that's.

Speaker 6 (01:32):
Your dad.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Know who Jeff, what would you do with all the money? Daddy?

Speaker 6 (01:36):
Gotcha? Okay, I'm on board.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
And this is one of those like fun parenting conversations
that you know you want to hear, like what your
kid thinks about the world. And to India's credit, he
pretty quickly got to like, well, I would help people.
I would I would give it, you know, I would
want to give some money to people that you know
are homeless. And and I was like okay, yeah, well
what you know you have to pick a cause and
you care only about Americans or you go international. We're
talking about philanthropy. And then I was like okay, but

(02:00):
beyond like what would you what would you want to do?
Like and he's like, what if we had another house.
I'm like, yeah, that would be that would actually that
fits like my dream too, having a second house. He's like,
oh my god, dad, what if we could have a
water slide? And I remembered, my dad built me a
water slide. Did you guys know this? No, when we

(02:20):
were kids, when we were like eight or nine, we
realized we had this so one a tree that they
had chopped down right in front of our pool. It
was like like a stump of a redwood tree. But
then it started to regrow so it was actually like
thirty feet tall and it had this like big stump section.
So we had a treehouse in there and had, you know,
a platform of wood and a ladder to get up

(02:41):
to it. And at some point, at like eight or nine,
we realized like, oh, you could actually from the top
of this treehouse go down ten feet or whatever fifteen
feet to the pool. So my dad and my grandfather
took a couple of months and built a full on,
half pipe water slide wow out of fiberglass.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
It was crazy, and Pump figured out how to get
water up there. So we had like we would go
turn this little thing and it would shoot water down
a full on water slide, and then he put roller
skates on the bottom of it so you could push
it out of the way so it didn't block the
whole like the pathway around the pool. So yeah, by
the time it was gone by the time you guys
ever came up to roade a chart because I think

(03:22):
we ended up that tree is no longer there, like
the treehouse, you know. So it was only between like
eight eight or nine and like probably right around Woman's
World thirteen fourteen. But it made our house the coolest house. Like,
you know, when we had soccer games, we would have
like the after party at our house because everybody wanted
to come to the water slide. It was so much fun.

(03:43):
But the best part was the discovery. We realized, like,
you know, you could go you would go fast down
this little water slide. But then we were like, we
want to go faster, and we realized that if you
were naked, you could slide down this street because your
skin on this fiberglass was just like wow, it was
like slick and so yeah, so we would always be

(04:05):
like all right, and we just pull our bathing suits
down and go bare butt. It was like going bare
butt and you would haul ass literally down the water slide.
It was so so much fun.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, how fast did Susie go down?

Speaker 1 (04:19):
We rode Susie to the top of the water slide.
Oh my god. But I mean, it was just like
I mean think, I just can't believe the commitment that
my dad had, Like I mean, and I totally forgot
about it until I'm sitting there talking with India and
his like dream. He's like, we could have a water
slide into our own pool, you know, and I'm like,
that would be amazing. Oh my god, my god, I had.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
That did that?

Speaker 7 (04:38):
Yeah, I know, there's recently been a thing going around.
It's not you know, it's not like novel people thought
of it, thought of it and said it over the years.
But there's a thing recently going around on social media
about like ways to make your house the cool house
when your kids are young, so that they always they
want to bring your friends around you, that your friend
that you're comfortable with their friends, that their friends feel

(04:58):
comfortable around you. And there was a woman who said
they only have one rule. They have like over every
weekend they have a kid party, but the kids have
to turn in their phones when they walk in. So
they turn in their phones into a thing and then
they can do anything they want for the rest of
the day. They provide food and drinks and games and.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Cigarettes and booze and yeah, just.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
No, I met like juice boxes and stuff.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
But my parents. My parents have told me that they
made that conscious decision. They were like, we want to
be we want you your friends to come to our house.
And it totally worked. We still go to my parents' house,
like we make a mass exodus every summer with all
of my friends because my parents made such an effort,
and like, yeah, I don't think I'm gonna be able
to build a water slide, but I definitely want to.

(05:46):
You know, I want my house to be that because
I think it's so important. It's like the best way
to have a relationship with your kids and your kids friends.

Speaker 7 (05:53):
And that's why Will has made a ban on all
fun in his house. He said, I don't want any.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
For me, but they got I were like Halloween comes,
the lights are off. I have razor wire that goes
across everything.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, kids away.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
I actually have the least kid friendly home I know.
You could essentially have been.

Speaker 6 (06:14):
You have to walk over stone and a pond to
get into my house.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
The backyard is one giant toys.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
Yeah, but there are toys that kids are not allowed
to play with because they're still there in the package.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
So you really keep everything in the package.

Speaker 5 (06:29):
Still, it depends on what it is if So, first
of all, the only toys that I have are toys
of characters that I've done.

Speaker 6 (06:34):
Okay, so I usually when they.

Speaker 5 (06:37):
Exactly sorry, do you have any toys and water slides?

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Growing do you actually have? Do you have any that
you could like push a button and you hear your
own voice?

Speaker 5 (06:44):
Oh yeah, really good? Of course a ton of those,
Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
But do you keep them in the packaging? Because Indy
would love that if you if you showed up with
a toy that had your voice, you would just think
that's I would.

Speaker 5 (06:55):
Usually get two back in the day, so I get
one to display and one that I just keep in
a package in a box if it was ever worth something.

Speaker 6 (07:01):
So I have what you know, But yeah, I mean
even I think behind me, I don't.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
I don't think that.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
Yeah, I have a bunch I'd say like I am Batman,
or this is totally cool, or and there's a bunch
of ron stoppable one you press a button and it's like
oh boo, yeah, like stuff like that. So but then
what started to happen in the industry get every time
you know, and what's worse sigil check.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
What's worse is in the industry.

Speaker 5 (07:26):
What started to happen was they started to hire non
union actors to do to record the toys because they
didn't want to pay us anymore to do the toy stuff.
And I remember one recording session that I had to
do a Batman watch and you had to record for
every time. So I would sit there going it's one,

(07:49):
two three, and then you'd finish and go one oh one.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Wow, wow, two one.

Speaker 5 (07:57):
So it's like a six hour session to make sure
that when you press the button it would go it's
one thirty four.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
See now that's just pull your voice from the internet and.

Speaker 6 (08:05):
Like, yeah, now they just.

Speaker 7 (08:08):
Exactly, let's make Pod meets World figures. What would our
Pod Meets World figures say?

Speaker 6 (08:16):
Mine would say bizarre?

Speaker 3 (08:17):
I think.

Speaker 6 (08:20):
Like Daniels would say wow.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Like mine would just ramble in coherently and then like
make the like you know what I mean that or
it would be good.

Speaker 6 (08:31):
Yeah they press the button, it would just go God.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
I hate toys.

Speaker 6 (08:34):
Hate being a toy.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
This is the worst.

Speaker 6 (08:37):
And who even likes toys? Toys are commercial?

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Pony a little Susie and what about yours?

Speaker 6 (08:46):
Danielle what would your toy?

Speaker 7 (08:48):
Mine would ask a question and then just talk. Mine
would say, what do you like to do on a date?
Because what I like to do on a date is
I like to go for a long walk.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Will scream merch but like keep a variety of different
merchant or I would explain why I'm like, I'm sorry,
I no longer do the Phoenie call.

Speaker 6 (09:06):
I gave it to this girl throwing you know something
like that.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Too, like to be a long description.

Speaker 5 (09:12):
Yeah, toys that would actually finish the other one.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
But all anybody would want is a doll of you
doing the Phoenie call. That's the phony call for a doll.
Would you do it?

Speaker 6 (09:22):
It depends on where the money would go. If the
money would go to a good place, like to me.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Then like your bank account, right, If it would go to.

Speaker 5 (09:29):
My account or to help other people that would give
me money, then yes, right right.

Speaker 7 (09:34):
Yeah, if other people to help would give you money,
I like this idea.

Speaker 5 (09:38):
Well, oh you're still see I was just the perfect
what I was gonna say. I was gonna say, when
all three toys got together, they just talk over each other.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
It's so weird to push all their buttons together.

Speaker 6 (09:49):
At the same time and they just start talking over
each other.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Welcome to Pond Meets World. I'm Danielle Fischel, I'm right
or Strong, and it is one thirty four.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
I'm not Wilfred.

Speaker 7 (10:12):
Through the whirlwind that has been Season four of Boy
Meets World, it sometimes feels like the hits just keep coming,
whether it's classic episodes, iconic lines, or punchlines that have
survived almost thirty years. Take your pick. We're in the
midst of true sitcom sicko mode. And if we were
to write a list of impactful new regulars that this
package of twenty two episodes brought us, this week's podcast

(10:34):
guest would be right up top. The often mentioned Verna
Hunter was commonly referenced in seasons prior, but it wasn't
until Fishing for Verna that we put a face to
the name, and forever helped cement the backstory of Sean
and give his character the depth that deserved to move forward.
We'd see her again in Janitor Dad, then Turkey Day,
and then she'd unceremoniously disappear as quickly as she arrived,

(10:56):
without explanation until she's talked about during season seven with
a revelation that was emailed to us as a spoiler
maybe two hundred times.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
After leaving the trailer.

Speaker 7 (11:07):
Forever you'd see her pop up on shows like The Practice,
X files Er and Charmed, but she'd soon after take
her talents and passion to a field I personally love
vintage clothing. She's a designer who has curated and morphed
older pieces into her own, seen on clients like Kirsten
Dunst and Katie Holmes, and she even had her own

(11:27):
reality show called d Rescue Me. She now focuses on
building stunning bridal dresses and eveningwear from repurposed materials. And
now we are thrilled to welcome a woman of many
talents to Podmeets World. It's Verna Hunter herself. Scherene Mitchell.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Hi, Hi, it's so nice to see you guys. Thank
you good to be here. I am. I watched all
three episodes that I was on last night, and you know,
I was struck by what a beautifully written show it was, right,
you know, the intelligence of the writing really is classic.

(12:09):
You know, it's it stands the test of time, and
a little bit sad that so many of the social
issues that were being discussed on those episodes are still
relevant today. You know. It's like humanity really doesn't change,
you know.

Speaker 6 (12:25):
Fashion, the fashion does that's about it.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
That's about it exactly, hairstyles and hair color and ages.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
Was that the first time you had seen the episodes
since you did them.

Speaker 8 (12:36):
Since I've done them, I'd seen videos, you know, I
got to tell you, guys, I've done I did a
lot of work, and I'm about and I'm doing a
lot of work now, which is interesting and i'd like.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
To talk about that. But when people ask me about
my career and I tell them the things that I've done,
although I have done bigger parts than this and kind
of more notable projects, notable as in for me, because
I had a three episode dark, I wasn't like a
regular or something. People women, especially lose their minds. They're

(13:10):
just they start screaming. They can't even believe that I
was Sean's mom.

Speaker 9 (13:16):
They're like, you know, they get so excited. It's very
sweet and it tells me how. You know, you guys
raised it more than a generation. I think you raised
like two generations of young people.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, it's weird, right, like we we kind of had
no idea either. That's what you know, That's what so
much of this podcast has been about, is like us realizing, Oh,
this thing that was, you know, in our minds, like
just a small part of our lives or the beginning
part of our lives, has you know, really had a
resounding effect on so many people. It's so interesting.

Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (13:49):
I mean if you think about the shows that you
came home from school and watched or watched in the
evening with your family, and they have an impact. I
have to say, you know, Michael Jacobs, I was reallyledging
him and I know there's another creator and I I
didn't ever interface with her. You know she got yeah, yeah, okay.

(14:10):
I mean he created a beautiful show and it has
tremendous emotional integrity and every episode without being corny, and
I guess, guess again, it's the writing. And you know,
you guys really carry a lot of talent, and that
talent is still with you. I watched you all work
yesterday and I was just like, God, they're so talented.

(14:32):
They're timing their deliveries, the level of freedom in your performances.
You know, I've learned a lot more about acting and
actors as I've gotten, as I've grown up. When I
was doing it then at that point, I really still
was kind of new.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
You know, well, let's talk about that.

Speaker 7 (14:52):
Actually, do you remember your audition for Boy Meets World.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
I do. I can still see myself going.

Speaker 7 (14:58):
I think that was at Gower Okay, yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:03):
It might have been there. And you know, at the time,
I had just finished a series with Tony Danzas, so
I had been a series regular on a comedy, and
I had become aware by that point too that doing
a sitcom is really the best gig in.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
The business path.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
It really is, and it remains in my mind and
in my heart that that remains the truth. But so
I was excited, you know, about going up for this part,
and I also thought that Verna was an opportunity for
me to be a little to explore kind of the
wackier side of my personality. It's funny. I watched the performance,

(15:43):
and you guys will relate to this yesterday I was like,
I could have done that better.

Speaker 6 (15:50):
Of course, that is also what this podcast is.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
It's the three of us watching going man, we could
wish we could go back and do that over again.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
And then we say it on the podcast and then
everyone writes this emails being links. I mean, it's so
hard on yourself. It's like, but we can't help it.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
It's not hard on ourselves, but it's more recognizing as
you learn more about comedy, how I could have made
her funnier. I definitely she was quirky. So in any case,
I remember the audition and I remember getting the job.
I remember my agent calling me and telling me that
I've gotten it, and you know, I was delighted, of course,
because I thought that she was a really sweet character.

(16:26):
And I think that's the funny part now too, is
that she would have been more comedic if I had
made her, if I had made her a little harder,
a little tougher. But she ended up just being a
little zany, which is appropriate for me and for the
way that she's described.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
So yeah, well that's what I was wondering, because that
first episode is actually more dramatic. Yeah, you know, and
when we watched it, I was like, gosh, this is
like a one act play, you know, like the I
called it like Sam Shepherd light, you know, It's like
I mean, and it was interesting. I was thinking, like,
I wonder if sure he knew like when you were
cast that you would end up having to do actually
more comedy, like by the second and third episode, Verna's

(17:08):
mostly there for laughs.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I honestly mean, just to
be honest, I don't remember what I was told. I
do remember realizing that there was a dramatic element to
her role. There would have to be, because you know,
Ryder was without a mom, right, which is like wow
kind of and I was confused, and I'm still a

(17:31):
little confused. Maybe you can enlighten me where who was
he living with Chet or not? Before these episodes, who
was he living with?

Speaker 1 (17:42):
So in second season I was living with mister Turner,
the teacher because Chet leaves to go after you to
chase you down. And then the end of season three,
right end of season three, Chet comes back and takes
me into his life. And it's sort of this bittersweet
thing because because you actually can kind of tell that

(18:02):
that Chet's not a great father and that he is not,
you know, super responsible, and there's there's a sinuation of
like alcoholism, and but it's never like really explicitly stated,
but you get the feeling that Sean might have been
better off with mister Turner, but mister Turner wasn't ready
to take him, so he goes back to Chet. But
then we don't really develop the home life with Chet
until you came until this episode. That's the first time

(18:25):
I think we saw the trailer and we see where
the home life is, and so it's really you know,
I mean, that's the thing about these sitcoms, right, It's
like one episode can sort of rewrite history or like
define the characters. So I think your episode, that Fishing
for Verna episode really established the Hunter family dynamic.

Speaker 4 (18:42):
Yeah, and you know so. So the backstory for me
about the third episode is that I don't know if
you guys know this or if you remember, but Blake Clark,
who played Chet, yeah, plays my husband is his hysterically
funny person. Yes, And I don't know if you can tell,

(19:05):
but in my takes, it's sort of the way I'm
speaking now. I was on the verge of hysterical laughter
and I begged him. I leaned and I said to him,
I am begging you please dial it back because I'm
I couldn't keep it together. And Michael Jacobs called me
off stage and he was like, sharene if you fall

(19:27):
apart one more time, I am sending you home, and
I was like, and then I burst out laughing, because
you're serious.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
I couldn't help it.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
I was so First of all, I'm an easy laugh
you know. I love to laugh, and I had a
really easy funny bone, you know. So I'm more a
good laugher than I am necessarily funny. I'm funny because
I can create humorous characters, you know, but uh, what's
his name? Blake Clark is a comic, you know he is,

(19:58):
and he knows how to get you. And he just
knew that I was sensitive to his sense of humor,
and I could barely look at him without falling apart.
Betsy has this line she says something about he was
my biological father.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
And I mean it was all I could do, because
it's like she just kept upping the ants. He was
all I could do not to fall apart again. And
so I really I would say that if Verno didn't
come back to remain in Sean's life, it is entirely
mind fault, you know.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
I don't think so I break all the time. We've
been watching episodes where you can see me just losing
it and they just had to keep it in, you know,
like I. So I was all, I'm exactly the same way.
And that's funny because I actually remember us just losing
it all the time with Blake. And you know the
tension of an audience too, when you have a live
audience and the pressure to get through it. You know,

(21:01):
if you get the giggles, it's over.

Speaker 6 (21:03):
Yeah, but it's just that's Blake.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
That's Blake too as the as the comic exactly like
you're saying, Sreen, It's it's that if he sees something
that makes you laugh, he's reading his audience and he
is going to continue pushing that button because it's to
guaranteed laugh and that's what you're going for as a comic.

Speaker 6 (21:19):
So he was phenomenal at doing that.

Speaker 7 (21:21):
He also would know, like if that he had given
you a delivery of something that was really funny and
you laughed at it, and now you're expecting it, so
you're going to be able to keep it together because
you know what to expect. So then he would just
do something totally different it's equally as funny, and you
were like, wait, I had been able to get myself
to a still place because I thought I knew what
you were going to do. Yeah, it was that anytime

(21:41):
we worked with Blake, I remember it just it being
hard to keep it together. And I wasn't even in
a lot of scenes, if any scenes with Blake, but
I remember watching run throughs and just seeing everybody lose
it with him all the time.

Speaker 4 (21:53):
That's another thing I wanted acknowledge the show for, which
is that all the supporting rules, all the guest stars
are terrific.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (22:01):
I mean those two boys, the brothers that crossed the Frankie,
Oh my god, They're so funny, and the writing for
them is so intellectual. You know, that's funny. I really
admired that. And then the guy that comes into Will

(22:21):
he worked in a scene with you and your dad,
who He's like, I come, I come here from the
backwoods to Yeah, another great character.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yeah, yeah, so the burly mountain man.

Speaker 4 (22:37):
The burly mountain man. But yeah, the casting was really terrific.

Speaker 7 (22:41):
What we talked about Blake and what it was like
working with Blake, what were your impressions of a young
wright Strong and what was your relationship Do you remember
working on your relationship or did you guys try to
keep some distance because you were supposed to be estranged.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
What was that relationship?

Speaker 4 (22:56):
Like, I feel like I got closer to Corey his
character to Ben because he kind of led the way.
And I will admit that I've changed a lot since
those years. I was actually very shy when I was
on a set. I don't know if you know your

(23:16):
listeners understand, but you know, when you're a guest and
you're coming into a core group of regulars, Yeah, the
regulars are under a lot of pressure to deliver the show,
and the guest is really just a small part of
the whole episode. And so and I know this too
because when I was a series regular on a series

(23:37):
with Tony Danza called Hudson Street. We had a year
and I was, you know, on the show that full year,
and I remember being under a lot of pressure, you know,
to deliver an entire episode and to just really deliver
the comedy of my role and so on. And when
guests would come, you would want to be welcoming and
inclusive and make them feel comfortable. But same time, you know,

(24:01):
you had your own life and stuff to deal with.
So I don't recall really getting very close to you
because there really wasn't room. And then also there's just
even the pressure of kind of not the pressure, but
the importance is the value of taking seriously my own
lines and my own moments that as I recall it,

(24:24):
also at the time, I likely had my own dressing
room or even maybe small trailer. And you know, I
just finished an independent film and I'll tell you guys
about it. It's a beautiful movie, and we put my
sister and I have started a production company, and so
this is our first We produced it, which I'm sure
you might know is like going through a war. Oh yeah,

(24:47):
it's an independent film and I acted in it, you know,
but there was no trail, there's no dressing rooms, and
like you're just like working the whole. You know, you're
literally calling quiet on the set and delivering a deep
performance all in one go. Whereas when you're when I

(25:07):
was doing shows like this on television, there's a lot
of protection. The actor is protected a lot, you know,
a PA or an ad Generally, a PA will take
you to your trailer, take you to lunch, bring you
to the set, and then again break and you go
off and the regulars study their lines or they're getting

(25:27):
notes I mean it looks easy, but comedy is actually hard.
And the writers especially, I'm sure the writers of this show,
because the writing is so keen. You know, the writers
are giving you notes between takes and helping you hone
the comedy, and so I really don't recall socializing. Also,
you guys were young.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we would have been going off
into school. I mean, what's amazing is that we actually
don't have that many scenes together. It's funny because when
you showed up on screen, I was like, oh my god,
it's Sharien and I totally remember. And then I was like, well,
Ben gets the big scene with her, and I remembered
that scene as if I had been in it, because
I must have been there for the run throughs watching it.

(26:08):
But then I was like, oh, then you show up
in the trailer at the end of the episode, and
that's kind of it. And then and then the.

Speaker 7 (26:14):
Janitor Dad, it's you and Blake at school right more
so than you know, So.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
You don't have that many interactions.

Speaker 5 (26:22):
So strange though, because it really works well for the
character that there's something about the idea that Sean's mom
gets along and gets closer with Corey and other people
around everyone but Sean. For some reason, there's some disconnect
with her and her own son that actually really worked
for the characters. As you're going, you know, Blake is

(26:42):
obviously overcompensating as trying to be the funny dad and
doing everything you can, and and Verna feels the disconnect,
and it did.

Speaker 6 (26:51):
It just worked for the whole family dynamic.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
Yeah, And I mean I even yesterday I was like, oh,
I see it almost maybe I feel it even the
other way, which is that she I wrote to him
every day, and so perhaps I didn't have to work
that relationship because we felt connected. We were connected, But
the relationship that had to be written and sorted was
the one with Blake, you know, with check because he

(27:17):
was sort of blamed for me, oh my god, abandoning
my son. I mean, you know, it was kind of
a courageous move on the part of the writers, you know, yeah, right, well, and.

Speaker 7 (27:30):
So brilliantly played, because as we talked about when we
did the recap of your first episode, we were primed
as an audience to not like this woman because who
could abandon her child? And then you come on and
you're just like, you love her and she's kind and

(27:51):
even though you still have a hard time understanding how
she could just pick up and leave her son and
by the way, take his home because.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
You left the rail huge problem with that.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, but they did.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
What did I do?

Speaker 4 (28:04):
I took his home.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
You took the trailer.

Speaker 7 (28:07):
You left in the trailer the family lived in, so
he didn't have a space to live. No when you left,
when you left it, there was no trailer. And then
and then Blake. So yeah, you you left your family
and then your husband homeless.

Speaker 4 (28:23):
You guys, that's a nightmare.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
Well it's funny because it actually isn't really addressed. I mean,
they they sort of they sort of do this sleight
of hand where you show up in that hotel room
scene with Corey and you are so sympathetic because you
you you sort of emanate a sadness and a like
and and a fragility that is like, oh this poor woman.
But in reality, like they don't really ever address the

(28:47):
fact that you you did a pretty awful thing, and
that's what Will couldn't get over. Will was kind of
like this, Yeah, it's again, it's it's a tricky thing,
you know. I think they kind of had backed themselves
into this backstory and then they wanted to, you know,
entered use your character, and they kind of had to
ignore that in order for you to stay to remain likable,
which you are likeable completely. It's a little bit of

(29:07):
a yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
But I have to say though, that I wonder what
the intention was for Sean, meaning that Sean would end
up being this young man who I guess would be
well wanting to connect a lot to other people, especially
perhaps h Cory because he doesn't have a tight family

(29:32):
of his own. I guess that would have been the intention. Maybe, Yeah,
that would have been the result is that it might
have created a young boy, you know, a young man
who needs contact, needs inclusion.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Yeah. I mean one of the biggest themes of the
show that you know, it's explicitly stated in one episode,
but then it's it is an overriding thing, is that
you don't have to be blood to be family, and
that you know, it plays out in Shawn's overall storyline
that he essentially needs Corey to panga the Matthews family
to compensate for what he's not getting at home.

Speaker 5 (30:09):
But there's also something interesting that I'm just thinking about
now as we're discussing this where Sean has a much
easier time connecting with men and boys than he does
with girls or women. Like even Topanga, they have, you know,
kind of an ongoing problem. They go, they fight against
each other a little bit. The girlfriends. We don't get
a steady girlfriend until Angela. So there really is Yeah,

(30:32):
he's got yeah, he's got a it seems like he's
got a trust.

Speaker 6 (30:36):
Yeah when he comes to women. I mean, he definitely does.

Speaker 4 (30:40):
When you have abandoned man issues.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
Sure, yeah, sure.

Speaker 5 (30:43):
And I'm curious when you came into audition for the role,
were you given any of the backstory that they had
set up originally for the character or No.

Speaker 4 (30:52):
Again, I don't fully remember, but I do remember knowing
that this was his long lost mom who had gone
away and left the family, and that there was some
kind of dark past and that she's returned. Okay, and
that's it, and just that through. You know, I didn't
know the entire arc because I only probably had the
one episode when I auditioned. They hadn't created either a

(31:15):
victim in Vernon nor a kind of hard mean woman either.
She's kind of had her reasons. I mean again, they
wrote an interesting character.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
She's complex.

Speaker 7 (31:40):
Can you talk a little bit about what it was
like working with Rusty and Betsy in the Turkey Day episode.
We were talking about how that it was never it's
never mentioned that, you know for a while when Shawn
before he went to live with mister Turner, he lived
with the Matthews, and then we do this Turkey Day

(32:02):
episode where the families are spending time together, and similarly
to the way they kind of had to ignore that
you had abandoned your son and stole his home, the
other characters also kind of had to ignore the idea
that we're just going to go to this woman's house
for Thanksgiving, even though we almost had to adopt her son.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
So what was that like for you working with Rusty
and Betsy?

Speaker 4 (32:26):
You know you guys Again, I think I learned more
about the episode that I participated in by watching it
again than maybe by being in it. Sure, because again,
when you're a guest, you mostly focus on your scenes,
and I will I have a very vivid memory of
the entire Thanksgiving scene in the trailer because it was

(32:48):
so funny to me and Blake was funny. The whole
idea of me serving the cheese and wanting to make
the same green out of the wine and how completely
sort of you know, Verna was a bit guileless, you know,
she didn't really know any better. And there's this heartbreaking

(33:10):
moment when Betsy hands me that beautiful casserole dish and
I noticed in my own work. I was like, oh, wow,
look at me. I just sort of touched the dish.
I mean, it makes me want to cry now, you know.
She She's like, oh, the realization that you know, and
that and that's what the episode was about, and it
was so beautifully handled, this idea of disparity, you know,

(33:34):
income disparity or income inequity, and it's being handled right
there in their lives, like oh, and then it was
fascinating too, this what happened with these guys, you know
in the trailer park who were a little bit like,
who is this family coming here from the other side
of town and you know they're going to make fun
of us? And how beautifully kind of there was a

(33:55):
resolution at the end, but my memory of that, first
of all, all you guys, all of you are terrific comedians,
terrific actors, and you know they were no exception. You
know these are you guys were consummate even at a
young age. It is not easy to pull off that

(34:15):
kind of comedy and week after week after week, and
so yeah, they're terrific actors. And again I was like
an innocent with I was surrounded by comedy sharks. You know,
I just we're gonna get singing me. You know, I
really had a rough time keeping it together. I was

(34:37):
having too much fun. I know you the way around.

Speaker 7 (34:40):
You made the joke that the reason we don't see
Verna again is because you couldn't keep it together.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
But did you know then that Turkey Day was going
to be your last episode?

Speaker 7 (34:50):
We were shocked when when that episode came around and
I read this is Sharene's last episode, we were all shocked.
Wright or fully remembered there be more.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Of course he got to do with you. He was like,
there's no way that's the end. Did you know that
this was going to be your last episode?

Speaker 9 (35:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah, I was from the original booking. I was booked
for a three episode or wow, that was that was
the book. I mean, of course, you know, every actor
is like, oh my god, it would be so fun
if I could go back, or oh my god, it'd
be great if they decided to write her in or
you know, maybe he'll need kind of stay in touch
with his mom. And I'm not sure it was fully
ever explained, Like do you guys know what happened to?

Speaker 2 (35:28):
No closure would have been nice.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, we're gonna we do find out, you know, the
spoiler alert, spoiler alert that you are not my biological
mom that ends up becoming revealed, that.

Speaker 7 (35:41):
Is revealed in season seven that you're not actually his
biological mother, right, And we haven't gotten to those episodes yet,
so we did not remember that. Like that was completely
a shock to us, but about two hundred people emailed
it to us.

Speaker 5 (35:54):
Do we does do any does anybody here remember if
we find out who is biological mommy?

Speaker 6 (35:59):
Does chet even know who is? I mean he mustn't, right,
It's not like a guy.

Speaker 5 (36:03):
It's like, you know who the mom is, so it's
I mean, you got it, but it's never mentioned, right,
It's just like she's not your biological mom, but we're
not gonna talk about who.

Speaker 6 (36:12):
And it's not Jack's mom, I guess.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
I mean I know that what Blake has to come
back for. Obviously he comes back and dies, right, But
I feel like he must have come back for another
episode in between there, and at some point, isn't it
explained like where Sean is living what.

Speaker 5 (36:27):
I think he comes back for a lot more because
there's a whole storyline with Jack two. I mean, I
think there's I think you guys do a few episodes
ago and then he does a couple as a ghost.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Right, I mean it's like it comes back as a
good Yeah, but there's there's I'm pretty sure that we
introduced Jack without Blake coming back, right, and then Blake
comes back for the episode where he dies. It's called
like we'll have a good time then, Like it's just
it's just one really, I think so, because the whole
point of that episode is that like he and I
come to terms, like we we kind of like find

(36:57):
a new relationship now that he's back in town after
being away, and then he dies of a heart attack.
It's it's a tragic episode's weirdly dramatic.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
Scharene, so much happened after you left.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
Us, and clearly Chet was kind of, you know, like
a wild man. I mean he obviously had a baby
with somebody else, and then maybe that's why Erna left him.
You know, just the kind of you.

Speaker 6 (37:17):
Know, yeah, maybe she didn't know. Sean wasn't hers.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
I gave birth to that baby.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
For a couple of years of her life, she doesn't
quite remember.

Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yeah, Chen, do you do you? Did you start acting
at a young age? Did you did you start in
New York? How did you get into the industry.

Speaker 4 (37:39):
I went to a very good college and my parents
wouldn't let me study acting, and so I was pre
met for three years.

Speaker 3 (37:48):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (37:49):
My dad had been the doctor, and I think I
thought I would okay, fine, if I can't be an actor,
I'll make dad happy. Of course, I went to work
at a hospital during a winter break and was literally,
you know, dizzy at every turn because I was so
overwhelmed by the amount of you know, pain in the hospital.
And I remember thinking like, this isn't kind of the

(38:09):
hospital I was expecting. I was expecting bright lights and
a white flat. You know. I was the acting version
of Ali. And once I graduated, I went and worked
in fashion, because which was my second love to acting,
was fashion. I was I went to Mademoiselle magazine. I
was in the fashion department, and then I got a
job at an American Vogue here in New York and

(38:30):
I was in the fashion department and I did that
for about three years, and then I became the national
scout for a top modeling agency called Elite. I was
twenty four years old. They sent me to Paris and
I ran around with all these supermodels. It was an
extraordinary time. But while I was there, my family hit

(38:51):
a really hard bump. A lot of really tough things
happened to my family, and my fiance had an affair
with the model from the agency, and I was not
only devastated by what was happening to my family, but
I was heartbroken for the first time in my life.
And I was living in Paris, away from my family

(39:13):
and especially from my younger sisters. So I came back
to New York and decided to live my own life.
And I took my first acting class with a wonderful
acting teacher named Warren Robertson in New York, and within
two years I booked a small independent film, and in
the third year, I became a member of the Actress

(39:34):
Studio after one audition, and I booked my first feature,
which was a feature with Steven Segall called Out for Justice.

Speaker 6 (39:44):
Yeah, I didn't see anybody seeing Richie.

Speaker 5 (39:46):
Anybody know what Richie did Bobby Lupo, Oh yeah, chomping anything.
Of course, of course I know. But I could do
Out for Justice Backwards, sidewards and foremast.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
That was my first big role. And it took me
out to LA And once I got to La, I
was like, it's January. It's freezing in New York. It's
gorgeous here, Like, why would I go back? So I
stayed and one of the agents. You know, at the time,
you could kind of be hip pocketed by a couple
of agents. So one had gotten me this role, but

(40:22):
another one had wanted to represent me, and so she
finds me through finding my mom and she says, have
you ever what are you doing? Are you working with
anybody out there? And I said no, and I said
I had just wrapped Out for Justice, And she said,
I want to send you up for this guest star
on Who's the Boss, because Who's the Boss was a
big show at the time, And went up for the

(40:42):
guest star and I booked it and it was was
called Tony in the Mafia Princess, and so it was
about Tony Danz's character has to domesticate the daughter of
a mafioso, and she is, you know, just kind of
a spoiled little girl. Basically, it's a great episode. It
was a guest star and so I do that. And

(41:04):
then Vicky Rosenberg, who was the casting director of that series,
said who's representing you out here? And she sent me
to another wonderful agent, Roe Diamond, And within about a
few months, Roe sent me up for American Heart, which
was a movie with Jeff Bridges and Jeff This was
based on a documentary. So answer short answer, No, I

(41:29):
was in my mid to late twenties when I really
started acting and got my first break. And this leads
me to just say to you, like I tell people
all the time, if there's a dream in your heart,
if there's some gift there that's being carried within you,
it's not an accident. It was placed there by something
bigger than you, and there will be a way made

(41:52):
for it if you address it, if you go to it.
And I have to say, I was really lucky because
I never believed in no, and I still don't. I
don't believe in the limitations that we often hear about.
Oh it's harder, you know, it's very hard if you're
too old, if you're to this, if you're too that.

(42:13):
I don't buy any I never bought any of it,
you know. I just believe that again, if if the
yearning is there, a way will be made if you
address it. So I was very positive about my career
all the way through. So I did. So. I did
American Heart, which is a beautiful movie if you've never
seen it. And then I did and then I and

(42:35):
then I booked. I went up for the Tony Danzis
series Huts History. I wasn't supposed to get it. In
the last minute, I go up to tests and I
booked this thing, twenty two episodes on air. It was,
I mean, really nothing, sort of America, but was my
first series audition. I never asked before. I know, it

(42:55):
was kind of the luck of the innocent. I've never
been into test before. So I woke into this room.
There was like thirty five ABC executives, and I was
just like, hi, I was just so happy. I was
completely delighted to be there. I just booked that. And
then after that was when Boy Meets World came along,
and a lot of other guest stars and recurring roles,

(43:18):
and that was at a time when a good working
actor could get a lot of guests and recurring roles.
And then, I don't know what you guys might remember.
What happened for me, just to bring you up to speed,
was in two thousand and one, there was a writer's strike.
Two thousand and one, just near the end of the
resolution of the writer's strike was an actor's strike, and

(43:41):
so all of us who were solid working actors go
out of work for like a year and a half.
And frankly, I wasn't prepared for it financially. I just
hadn't you know, your viewers might find it interesting. I
don't know. But when you were an actor, you know,
in you're earning, you have you come off of a
long period of not earning, so you begin to earn

(44:04):
and suddenly you're paying down debts and you're you know,
you're living. You try to live a little better than
you have, and you know, maybe you let yourself enjoy
life a bit more than you did, and suddenly you realize, oh,
it might be another minute before I work again. And
I just didn't have that savvy you know, to kind

(44:25):
of figure out like, oh, wait a minute, you know,
I've just come off a series. Let me save this
portion or invest that portion, you know. I just didn't know.
And so a year and a half go by, and
I'm going through my savings, and by two thousand and two,
two thousand and three, I was in a panic. And
I also don't know if you guys remember, but that
was the beginning of reality programming.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Yes, yes, killed the industry.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
Did and it made it a lot harder change the industry.
It did change it, and not necessarily for the first
for the worst, or it was harder, but then it
became easier because a lot of other platforms developed for
us all to work on and creative. But by two
thousand and three, I was like and I spent a
year auditioning. I was put on a veil fourteen times,

(45:11):
oh my, and I was losing the parts to name
actresses who were bigger than me, who had been waiting
that same period of time for a job. And so
I began to panic, and I began to seek out
alternate ways to make a living. I also became very

(45:33):
humble about finding alternate ways to make a living. You know,
it's so important, and I didn't know this then. To
keep working and to keep serving other people in any
way that you can, so that you're not just earning
and having a second income source, but that you are
engaged in a meaningful way with other people, be they

(45:55):
creatives or non you know, and thankful. It took me
a really tough year of babysitting and just barely getting
by to stumble upon an idea, which was to take
used clothing and rework those pieces of clothing into fashion.

Speaker 7 (46:14):
You were upcycling before upcycling was a buzzy word like
it is right now.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
I was a big part of that trend of upcycling,
or you know Zach cool reworking. And I started out
in a fleeting market, in a little ten by ten
booth in a in a parking lot, And in the
third month of my booth, I got offered a warehouse
to build a store in. In the second month of

(46:41):
that warehouse, the New York Times wrote about it.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
This is a Fairfax trading post you were at, right.

Speaker 4 (46:47):
I was at Fairfax, And because it was Fairfax in
West Hollywood. Here I have humbled in a way I've
become humble. I've I'll be honest. I spent a year
babysitting at I cried every day what had happened to
my life? All I knew was I had to start
earning money, and I had to stop using credit cards
to get by, and I had to stop waiting for

(47:09):
residual checks. I had to get to work, which really
means get engaged with other humans and find a way
to serve them. And what I stumbled upon was I
had a talent for dressing women and a talent for
style because I had had a background in it. Sure,
so here I go to the trading post. But my
eyes when I go to these vintage stores, I mean

(47:30):
to these thrift shops is for fashion. I'm like, well,
Mark Jacobs is doing nineteen fifty and Louis Vuitton is
doing nineteen sixty. And I could see that because I
had the background. And so all the coolest girls in
Hollywood are walking into my booth going like what are
you doing? Like what is this? And I attracted this

(47:51):
really cool group of celebrity young celebrities. They were all
just about to break through into celebrity status. I'm being
without tossing out names, really like the coolest it girls
became my clients. I ended up with this warehouse store.
I ended up getting covered by the press. But like crazy,
I ended up working, you know, trend forecasting for all

(48:13):
these huge designers, because girls who wear vintage clothing are
always on the fringe. They're always the girl who wants
to look different than everyone else. Fashion is created by
from the ground up. Fashion is created by the people
who really don't have the money to go into the stores.

(48:33):
Once it's in the stores, it's on trend, it's already
everybody wants to know what's coming. It's going to be
that girl who's got the courage to look like nobody
else and buy something in a thrift store and make
it cool. And so those are my girls, and so
everybody wanted to study them. And I did this for

(48:53):
about twelve years, and it began to morph into another
form of making clothes, and I began to make wedding dresses.
And yeah, it's an amazing story, and I will tell
you that now. I came back to New York in
twenty sixteen. I went back to the Actors Studio. I
began writing that story because this is a story of

(49:16):
humility and transformation and purpose. I'm sorry, it makes me
very emotional. Great because I learned when I stopped acting
in that period because I couldn't get the work that
I had growth to be done. I had growth to do,
and that that would teach me what my purpose was,

(49:37):
which was really to speak into the hearts of especially
young women, and to encourage them to have a sense
of self esteem and to have a sense of compassion
for the self esteem and a commitment to their individuality.
And this was the beginning of many designers designing and

(50:00):
merchandising for authenticity, and it was the beginning of this
trend of like, you don't need to be like it,
you aren't like anyone else, and so claim your authenticity,
which is a tremendous, really gift right to a human
being to go like, oh, the coolest thing about me
is me, you know it said, I get to be

(50:21):
entirely authentically me. And that was a big part of
my messaging as I worked with every little girl who
was and they were all mostly very young girls who
came to me for their prom, their first prom dress
or their first important dress, their butt mitzvah dress, their
prom dress, whatever, and I'm yeah, and I look at

(50:42):
them and go like, oh, you listen to me, you
are such a beauty here, let's choose you something cool.
And I moved into the space of like really loving
and supporting them, and they changed my life. So I
in twenty sixteen, I come back to New York and
I begin writing about this. And in twenty twenty, it
was before COVID or after. It was just after COVID

(51:04):
I the plague was ready. It was called Who Are You?
It had six songs about girls and their moms and
me and about really a form of faith, like what
happens when you give your life over to something bigger,
higher than you, and what will that thing do with you?
It'll make your life a lot bigger than any life

(51:25):
you can make for yourself. And I wrote this story
and the first producers who heard it are developing it
now for a big musical.

Speaker 6 (51:33):
Yeah, that's great, congratulation.

Speaker 4 (51:36):
It's extraordinary and it's moving because well, I don't know,
I guess it's kind of full circle. But Who Are
You is now being developed into, you know, a musical
with sixteen songs instead of six and I'm you know,
I'm working on it. I literally you're meeting me at
a very interesting moment, and I'm going to say this

(51:57):
for you guys. You know, this business can discard you
at different intervals of time, and I'm starting to realize
that there is a gifting in it if you don't
experience it, experience it as a rejection, but instead as

(52:19):
an opportunity to look inward and figure out how you're
changing and where your voice, what it is that you
actually are starting to learn about life and how you're
going to use that in your art, which is different
than just being an actor. It's like, what are you
here to say and do and give to this world?

(52:42):
And when you've been given a unique opportunity, as you
guys have been and I have in my own way,
to address a larger audience, it becomes it is incumbent
upon you to refine your voice, your messaging. What are
you saying? Because people are listening to you, and they care,

(53:04):
they and they value you, you know. And so I
see now that in those ten years that I left
the business, and I did leave it, I was refining
another another understanding about life that I was going to
then come back now years later. When many actors would

(53:26):
feel that their value has diminished, I instead know that
my value has actually increased. There I believe our society,
there's almost a conspiracy against aging and against people who
are artists who are aging or let's say seasoning or

(53:48):
I don't know, marinating in life. I think that we
become more powerful and more valuable. I know that what
actually has happened is you become more potent, just as
society or the industry might want to inhibit you. And

(54:08):
I'm telling you, I'm here to tell you fight that
urge and fight buying it. Don't believe it. You are
arriving into this new period in your lives where you
will produce, You're going to write, you're going to develop projects,
and it's really critical that you maintain a sense of

(54:29):
commitment to what you know, you carry, you know, and
so yeah, here at this moment, you know, I've just
written an adaptation of a one act play into a screenplay.
We just shot it and it's beautiful. It's called a
Tantalizing and it's a base on a William Master simone
one act and I'm starring opposite John Cullum, who's a

(54:50):
two time Tony winner and a five time Tony nominee
and an Emmy nominee. And he's he's celebrated his ninety
fourth verse birthday before we round stunning, stunning work. And
I'm working on the musical which I can't tell you
the new title, but it was called who Are You?
And you know, again, my nature tells me who I

(55:14):
am and tells me that I have no doubt that
it'll occur because it's part of something bigger. It's a
part of a bigger message that will have value and
go forward. So I'm working on that. And I've written
a play, an eight character play about financial inequality and

(55:34):
what is fair? Is it fair for some people to
have so much when so many people are suffering and
have so little? And I say, it isn't It's not fair,
you know, and the system isn't set up fairly, and
that's something i have a lot of compassion for and
I'm committed to articulating those messages. And it happens to

(55:55):
be a comedy, so that's good. You know, a bunch
of really like greedy people and how desperately they all
want to find fairness, you know. So that's what I'm
doing and that's what I'm up to, and it's also
what I believe, and I want to encourage you guys
to to own in your own careers, because you clearly

(56:18):
came into this business to deliver something really important that
impacted a lot of young people. And I'm pointing to
that room because I still see bridal clients and much
less than I used to because I am busier with
creative ventures now. But these young women, especially those in
their late twenties and thirties, when I tell them that

(56:40):
I was sure, girls run out of the room screaming
like like they it's almost like something that they didn't
know has come to life before them, right, yes, because
they it's because they loved you guys so much, and
they loved Boy Meete's World so much.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Well, thank you for sharing all of that with us.

Speaker 7 (57:03):
I stories, I really enjoyed doing my research on you
last night and learning about I'm a vintage clothing fanatic
and so learning about you and just doing some research
on that.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
I mean, you were a pioneer.

Speaker 7 (57:16):
You are a pioneer, and so thank you for sharing
all of that with us. Finally, looking back now, it's
been almost thirty years since you made your appearance on

(57:39):
Boy Meets World. If you could look, if you could
give a message to that Charene that Charene we met
on Boy Meets World.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
What would your message to her be, Well, it's.

Speaker 4 (57:51):
A big part of what's in the play the musical
is that message. And it took me so many years
to learn it. But I you know, I speak to
men and women, to all people. But I really couldn't
see myself then. I didn't know the value of my presence.

(58:13):
My shyness was really fear of connecting, of connection. I
didn't know that when people would meet me that they
would actually want to keep knowing me. I just assume
that it was, you know, because I had done the job,
that they were all being nice to me, instead of thinking, no,
they care about me because I care about them. My

(58:34):
message to her then would be tell everyone the truth.
Give up your addictions. I was still an addiction at
that time. I was struggling with a few things. And
you know, addiction is tricky because it can be invisible
to others. But if you suffer with addiction, it is

(58:54):
inhibiting your sense of purpose. It is when you surrender
your addictions, you move into the truth. And I wasn't
yet living in the truth then because I was afraid
to ask for help. And so again you know nineteen
ninety six. Yeah, I wasn't yet entirely free. So that's

(59:18):
part of my message too, is tell people the truth
about everything. Tell everyone the truth. Human beings, we are
wired to understand one another in the truth we are.
We actually are wired to be compassionate and people will
help you if you tell them what you're struggling with.
And so I would say that I didn't know that

(59:41):
I was beautiful. I'd say today I'm an attractive woman,
But then I was a beautiful young woman, and I
didn't know. I felt insecure, I felt not good enough.
I felt that my value was based on my business
appear I remember one day walking across a lot and

(01:00:04):
some guys whistled at me, and I thought, Sharen, how
many years is it going to take you to find freedom,
you know, in your physical self? And honestly, I never
really came to it until I gave up needing to
have and I gave that. I began serving three young women.
I began working with women, and I thought. I used

(01:00:26):
to drive to my vintage store every day and say,
I surrender my face because I know that nobody cared
what I look like, and nobody cares what we look
like also, you know, giving up a notion about my future.
I was so desperately attached to being an actress that
I couldn't see how many gifts I had that I

(01:00:48):
could draw from, and that maybe I would go down
other parts of the river, you know, into other little
tributaries of my gifting and then come back, you know,
into a richer But I couldn't see that. So I
was holding on some tight gender that I had, not
realizing that there was a latent talent, which was this
talent for design and styling that would bring me back

(01:01:12):
with even greater hits. But you know, I don't know.
Life is perfect, you guys. It's painful and it's perfect,
and it's heartbreaking and it's joyful and you just got
to stay in it and tell people the truth, ask
everyone for what you need, Like, tell people, you know,

(01:01:33):
I'm working on this thing and I don't know who
to talk to you, and I'm wondering how to do this.
I didn't know how to do that. Then my community
got smaller and smaller and smaller till I was completely isolated,
going broke. But even going through that, now I see
it was perfect for me going into the darkness, coming
back out again as a whole person, as a healed

(01:01:54):
person who was free of addiction. You know.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
So yeah, what a story.

Speaker 7 (01:02:00):
Thank you so much for sharing, and thank you for
spending your time with us here today and telling us
all about the wonderful things you're working on now. And
what a fascinating, interesting, beautiful life.

Speaker 1 (01:02:11):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:02:11):
And I want to tell you also thank you for
having me on and thank you for that you're doing this,
not you know, for me, but I mean for the
people that are hearing you. I think, bringing people back
and talking about your experience again, You're sharing the value
of your own lives. People want it, you know, they
they need to know from you. So I hope that

(01:02:33):
you all can doing other projects and keep expressing yourselves
the way that you are so generously.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
So thank you. I appreciate you so much. So great
to see you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:02:44):
Good luck with all of your projects.

Speaker 4 (01:02:46):
Thank you, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
What a story, what a life, My.

Speaker 5 (01:02:52):
Gosh, I want I wanted to ask her something, but
it was I was so rived.

Speaker 6 (01:02:56):
I wanted to ask her who.

Speaker 5 (01:02:57):
She thought was the better actor, Jeff Bridges or Steven Seagall.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
But Yeah, that's a tough debate, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:03:03):
Seriously.

Speaker 5 (01:03:04):
I didn't want to go for the joke because I
was so rivetted by what she was saying.

Speaker 6 (01:03:07):
I was like, this is not a time to joke.

Speaker 5 (01:03:09):
But everyone knows Steven Sagall is the better the two actors.

Speaker 7 (01:03:14):
It's so interesting, like her, her incredible life. It reminds me.
I've talked about it before when we've done Q and
as and people say like, what's your advice to somebody
who wants to get into acting? And I always feel
like a buzzkill saying, know what your plan B is

(01:03:34):
because I don't necessary. I don't mean because you're probably
gonna end up having to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
But like, I didn't truly feel.

Speaker 7 (01:03:43):
Free to be creative until I knew if it doesn't,
if somebody isn't going to give me a chance, if
I'm not going to make it in acting, I have
something else I love just as much I have something else.
And for her, you know, she was holding onto it
so tightly. I need to be an actor. I need
to be an actor. I need to be an actor.
She was going broke, and then she said, wait a minute,

(01:04:04):
I have this fashion background, and she pursued this whole
other part of her life that exactly like she said,
ended up giving her so much more value in then
the entertainment industry because she had that life experience. So
it's just, you know, like she said, life is perfect
the way it works out, even when you think it's

(01:04:24):
a disaster and you're falling back on your Plan B. Like, yeah,
it's just it's so great. How if you just let
it unfold?

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
Yeah. I think the key is, like, you know, the
problem with acting or the challenge. The biggest challenge of
acting is that so much of it is out of
your control and you're constantly you know, being rejected. You're
constantly not getting parts. So that's part of the job, right.
It's like, you know, you're swinging and missing more often
than you're actually hitting. But that's okay. But the problem

(01:04:52):
is you start to feel like that's not okay, that
you're being pushed out of the industry, that you're being
told well, you're not really talented, you're not actually you
don't belong here y. And so I think having a
Plan B is exactly right. But it's not even that
it needs to be a career. It just needs to
be a passion or a sense of self. It doesn't
is not tether to the your status within the industry,
because your status within the industry is a nightmare. And

(01:05:15):
if you if you're looking to that to give you
a sense of self, you're never going to be satisfied.
You're never going to be happy, you know. And I
think it took me way too long to realize that.

Speaker 6 (01:05:24):
You know, well, it's also when you're younger, an actor
is what you are. When you're older, an actor is
what you do.

Speaker 5 (01:05:30):
Yeah, and those are two completely different things. I'm an
actor and that it's what I do. It's no longer
who I am. But when you're when you're seventeen, eighteen
years old, it's who you are.

Speaker 3 (01:05:39):
I'm an actor right now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
It's like, well, you know, you want to be categorized,
you know, especially in high school age, Like that's what
you want, right It's like a sense of identity and like, oh,
this is this is I found who I am. And
the truth is, you found what you're going to do,
maybe for the next couple of years, maybe for the
rest of your life. But yeah, yeah, I gotta I
gotta remember that to like encourage INDI you know, because
I feel like there's a tendency as a parent and

(01:06:02):
as a friend, as anybody to look at somebody be like,
you're this type of person, and you just it's so
much better to be like, you're you're having fun doing that,
You're doing this really well, keep doing that maybe for
a while, but it's not gonna be like, it's not
your identity, it's your occupation.

Speaker 5 (01:06:17):
That's it, and that's the need to passions, right, that's
do it.

Speaker 7 (01:06:23):
So yeah, well, thank you all for joining us for
this episode of Podmeets World. As always, you can follow
us on Instagram Podmeets World Show. You can send us
your emails podmeets World Show at gmail dot com.

Speaker 6 (01:06:34):
And we have merch like wow, bizarre merch.

Speaker 7 (01:06:39):
Podmeets Worldshow dot com will send us out.

Speaker 6 (01:06:42):
We love you all, pod dismissed.

Speaker 5 (01:06:45):
Pod Meets World is nheart podcast producer and hosted by
Danielle Fischel, Wilfredell and Ryder Strong.

Speaker 6 (01:06:51):
Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman.

Speaker 5 (01:06:54):
Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor,
Tara Sudbacks, producer, Maddie Moore, engineer and Boy meets World
super fan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle
Morton of Typhoon, and you can follow us on Instagram
at Podmets World Show or email us at Podmetsworldshow at
gmail dot com