Actor & Activist John Leguizamo

The guys are joined by actor and activist John Leguizamo to discuss his new documentary, making waves in Hollywood and the classic movie The Pest. Plus Marshawn gets some acting advice and John drops some knowledge.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I pitched stories for three decades, and I kept thinking
my writings suck.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
But it wasn't my writing.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
I'm winning awards on Broadway, I'm winning Tony's, Obie's Drama critics,
but I can't sell a script because they were Latin stories.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Man, what's handed? Man? You got mar Shin, Besmall Lynch.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
Doug Hendrickson and Gavin knwsome and you're listening to politicals.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
You're going to be, you're known to be. So look, man,
I'm gonna tell you like this. I had an interesting
conversation with this very smart gentleman, and he told me
not to be speaking on shit and just let shit

(00:41):
happen organically. And then all of a sudden I heard
I'm being what is that ship called endorsed? I'm being
endorsed by the fucking governor of California around for mayor
of Oakland. So you know, I don't know if how
this how this uh, how wise this wise man is
who told me to let this shit happen organically?

Speaker 5 (01:03):
I told you.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
I got a bunch of people called me, their potential
opponents of yours, saying is this real?

Speaker 3 (01:10):
What the hell's going on?

Speaker 5 (01:12):
This is BS? I love mar Sean, but what the hell?
You can't be serious about.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
This like that? But I am, though, you know what
I mean? Like, so, man, I be listening to these uh,
these politicians and shit, man, and you know I ain't
I ain't into all of that shit. But you know
when I be listening to them talk and they be
saying all this shit, and I be wondering, like, well, well,
how much of that is gonna you know, I mean

(01:37):
benefit people of color that look like me, like I
don't never hear no plan on how that shit go.
And then they say a lot of bullshit that don't
really mean nothing, but it sound good because they could
formulate a sentence with all these big ass words that
don't nobody understand. And I really just be looking at
him like bitch ass y'all.

Speaker 6 (01:58):
Well, gap, here's the deal. Remember we saw the guy
in San Quentin. There's nobody better in Oakland to start
with the youth of the city, in all parts of Oakland.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
I mean the guy, the guy from Oakland that we
met in San que Yes, that's.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Yeah, twenty five to life, two different paths, correct.

Speaker 6 (02:15):
But my point is for Marshawn, there's nobody I know
on this planet that can step into Oakland and know
the soil and know the blocks, and know every corner
store and every restaurant and every shop and every building
in every high school than Marshawn. And what's better to
start with having someone who knows everything about the city

(02:38):
to fix the city.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
What about figuring out the tools which you fix the city.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
Understanding how government and governing work.

Speaker 6 (02:47):
Well, that's that's part of your job.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
As his campaign, I got a mother Yeah, I'm saying,
I got a motherfucker who's sitting right across from me
right now, who got the blueprint to this shit. It's like,
come on, bro, you gotta quit selling me short.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
Though I'm not selling you short. I'm just I'm just
I'm playing devil's advocate. I'm just telling you what your
opponents will. They're gonna come after you on this point.
He has no governing experience. What the hell are we
doing with an outsider, even if he's from Oakland and
he's the insider as it relates to everything happening outside
of city.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Hall, but not you know, I answer that question, yes, sir,
teck me. I got the governor on my side. What
you're talking about.

Speaker 6 (03:27):
You know, it was our partner here's birthday the other
day and we had some good.

Speaker 5 (03:31):
Ye years old forty nine years old.

Speaker 6 (03:35):
We enjoyed a good little boozy lunch. More Sean, we
had a few drinks at tequila for you since we
know you're on set in New Mexico and you can.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Man, I put one up for you. I had him
bring me in a bottle specifically after I sent you
to the happy Birthday, I went and had me and
shot for you, big dog. You know what I mean,
I really appreciate it, but I will tell you this much. Yeah,
I mean on a more serious note. And y'all know
how I don't like to be too seriou is. But
you know that whole thing with the mayor ship and

(04:04):
all that, like you know, I mean, I got, I
got excited as fuck, and I'm like, damn, you know what,
you know, I might be able to make a change
and do something you know, really uh really exciting for
you know, for my sitting and ship. And I was
thinking to myself like, damn, you know what, man if
I could get you know, the support and the love
you know, I mean from Gavin and you know, really,

(04:26):
you know, sit down and really get into this ship.
But then when I seen you come on set today
and I seen that you had on some panda dunks,
I was like, if that motherfucker was to come and
meet me with them shoes on, before he could open,
before he open his mouth, I would send that motherfucker

(04:47):
right to god Damn shoe palace, uh pay less shoe store,
Marshall's Ross and we would have to go and give
a fuck if you came in some water marcuss. But
we gonna get you up out of the pandas thought,
my boy.

Speaker 6 (05:01):
What about what about my Snoop? What about my Snoop
sketchers with the with the dope smoke in the box.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
You don't even have to tie them, you know what,
I'm gonna just say like this, my boy fresh, you
know I love the ship out of Snoop, But I'm
gonna just say them, uh them are for health reasons.
To the reason, and why you keep stepping in them
like that? You got some you got some ship going
on with your feet and your ankles and everything, so.

Speaker 5 (05:23):
You can't bet down, You can't help you use fingers anymore.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
You get a pass with those What the hell?

Speaker 5 (05:29):
By the way. I'm serious.

Speaker 4 (05:31):
I'm a little offended on behalf of Nike, my sponsor.
What is wrong with these shoes?

Speaker 3 (05:35):
What is wrong with It's not nothing wrong but the
pandas though there. That's like, that's like, that's like a them,
a one and done. You throw them on one time
and then you you throw them motherfuckers away, donate them
Salvation Army, uh Buffalo exchange, good will one of them
type of ones like that. So after this you retire

(05:56):
the motherfuckers. And then what we do is you let
me know what's and then we get you on some
right feats so you could be official.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
My boy, what are you wearing right now? You're talking
a big game. I want to see your damn shoes?

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Man, Man, I got the I got the Baltimorees on
right now.

Speaker 5 (06:11):
I don't even know what the hell that is?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
What is that?

Speaker 3 (06:15):
You know? Some slight?

Speaker 5 (06:16):
Damn I didn't know those are legit? Are you gonna
wear those once twice? I'm seriously no.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Bs, No, I actually work out in needs all right.

Speaker 6 (06:30):
Bill Moreshawn, real talk. We're gonna get our ten point
agenda together. We're gonna have a meeting ten points tomorrow
or Monday with me and the governor here and we're
to get our ten point agenda talking points.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
Childcare, healthcare, education, public safety, UH, redevelopment.

Speaker 5 (06:49):
I'm talking about.

Speaker 6 (06:49):
Parks and Rex and reck. I mean everything from just
getting the hoops up with nets and refurbished to start there.

Speaker 5 (06:57):
There should not be a basketball hoop that doesn't have
a brand new day.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
Well, there is an opening, right If you don't have
a net, that means you don't give a damn about
the community. You got to keep it.

Speaker 5 (07:05):
I mean to me, it's a symbol, simple thing.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
Something As I going to school and I don't see
basketball net, I'm like, this is not a well managed school.

Speaker 6 (07:23):
Marshaun, I got a specialist rate for you. Born in Bogata, Columbia,
grew up in Queens. An unbelievable comedian, actor, producer, activist,
icon from some incredible movies like Mulin Rouge and John Wick,
one of your favorites. Let's welcome in the incredible John Leguizamo. Hey, Hey,

(07:48):
he's happy about the Mets right now, isn't he?

Speaker 1 (07:51):
John? Who is not happy about the Mets?

Speaker 6 (07:54):
Were you there the other night?

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Nah? I'm in DC putting up a play doing with
some theater to what I'm doing theater. Yeah, I wrote
my next theater pieces here at Arena and DC.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Gang as tight as.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
John is not just like writer producer, I mean theater.
That's where real actors come from.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Look, hey, Gavin, don't be bro. You ain't got to
be a hater all your life. Gavin's okay, let it
bring right.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
I like hater. I like haters. They keep you fresh,
keep you on your toes.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
John Marshawn thinks he's like a celebrity actor.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
Now he's like, he's like he's getting into this.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
He's filming right now in New Mexico, not California, which
is all another conversation around.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Have that conversation. Have that conversation, right, business.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
I know I'll watching on that.

Speaker 4 (08:46):
Stay tuned in January, I'll be doing some good things.
Get you back from New York, get back to California.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Hey, big dog, can you just tell me how to
pronounce your mass name the right way?

Speaker 1 (08:58):
No, No, don't try. You're gonna get and it's gonna
hurt you.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
That's all right. I'm here, all right.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
If you're willing to take the risk.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, let me turn off speaker up directly ahead.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Leg LEGI, this is good, that's perfect. Ten minutes it
goes away. It fades, all.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Right, I put it out there, I put the demo down,
so I'm all good with that.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Well, you know, John, one thing that hasn't faded is
your career, which is next level.

Speaker 5 (09:27):
I mean, it is no BS like I thought.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
We all kind of feel like we know you, uh
anyone obviously that has been around for the last few decades.
But it is a hell of a thing when you
start adding up the number of movies, the incredible work
you've done on Broadway one man shows and all these
Netflix series, the thing you just did to MSNBC last year,

(09:51):
and now of course we'll talk about PBS and this
extraordinary work you're doing.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Gavin, I'm a big.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
Hell of a career, brother, hell of a career.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
So it wasn't easy getting here.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
You know.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
I was a problem child in Jackson and I's Queens
during White Flight, which wasn't easy either because every white
group that was leaving beat me up. But then all
my Latin people came up and they beat me up too,
so I could never get they must be maybe I'm
the problem, you know, I could be the missing link,
you know. And it was tough. This industry was not easy, man.

(10:25):
It was not easy to be a Latin man in
this industry, and I'm sure it wasn't easy being a
black man either. But you know, I persevered and I
went to places that did accept me, which was performance
ard in theater and comedy clubs where there was a
little less systemic racism going on. Because Joe, when I

(10:46):
when I started up, uh, there was a thing called
the casting breakdown every Monday, and it would tell you
what rows were available. It was like Jim Crow a
little bit because it would be white lead, white romantic,
white doctor, white lawyer, Latin drug dealer. And even if
you asked your agent, even if you had a big agent,
and you asked, can you please let them let them

(11:08):
I want to do my monologue ball them, Well, they
won't see you. They won't see you because they said
white guy. So you know, it was it was like that.
So you know, I knew this system was rigged against me.
So I was gonna have to try to find my
opportunities wherever I could find them.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
But John, you've been calling out, I mean for as
much as changed, not a lot has changed, right or
do you feel like that's it's beginning to change. I
mean you've been you haven't been shy calling this out,
the lack of progress as it relates to representation, as
it relates to opportunities.

Speaker 5 (11:42):
I mean it's it's you know.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
For as for as much progress as we've seen, I
think people are surprised to see how few lead roles,
particularly for Latin and latinos.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, I mean, Gavin, that's a great question because things
are better, but did not better enough, because Latin people
are twenty percent of the population but with less than
five percent of the leading roles, with thirty percent of
the US box office sometimes even more on the big
hits for almost forty percent. Sometimes that's a huge amount

(12:17):
of money that were given the industry and only getting
five percent of the leads, one percent of the stories
being told, less than points zero something of the executives.
That's not parody, that's not equity. That's not fair, and
it's not like we land people just got here. This
has been going on forever. Man. When the founding fathers

(12:37):
of Hollywood got to LA in the early nineteen hundreds,
it had just been Mexico seventy years prior. They walked
into an almost Latin city, almost completely Latin city. Of course,
it was kind of apartheid because Latin people and Black
people were segregated, We were redlined, We were being experimented on.

(13:00):
Latin women were being sterilized against their will and not
against their knowledge, lynchings against Latin and black people. You know,
Latin people are being shot, burned alive. I mean, there
was a lot of terrible things going on when the
founding fathers came, but they didn't even think of, oh,
let's include the culture that's right here. They didn't, and
it didn't you know, it's been going on for you know,

(13:22):
for the beginning, since the beginnings of Silent Film.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
And John I'm curious, I mean, in your own exploration
of all of this, and as you dove much deeper
with so many of these projects in the last few years,
were you even surprised at how bad that history was
to uncover it. I mean, you talk about lynchings, we
don't typically connect that to the Latino community.

Speaker 5 (13:45):
You think about the African American.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
Beauty sterilizations, as you say, and the redlining, which is
so sort of dominant in our least culture that it's
predominantly an African American issue. Were you surprised to the
depths of that kind of discrimination.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean, obviously black people have had it much
worse than Latin people. You know, it's not a competition,
and I'm not trying to make it that over nine
thousand black people were lynched more for us, it was
six thousand Latin people, So you know, it's lesser numbers.
But you know, you know, the second most brutalized by

(14:22):
the police are Latinos. The second largest ethnic group in
jails are Latinos. You know, the lowest paid worker in
America is a Latin woman. You know what I mean? Yeah,
you know, finding out these facts of the horrors that
happened to Latin people, because you wonder, we've been here forever.
It's not we just got here, the smith that we've

(14:44):
just got here. No, we keep coming, but we've been
here forever. And why aren't we at a higher place?
Why and we are at top of the pyramids somehow?
Well because of all these things, you know, our land
wealth was taken from us, our political power was taken
from us, you know, and we were segregated.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
You know.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
The first case bought in America against segregation was the
Latin family, the Maestas family in Denver, Colorado, in nineteen eleven.
The first young boy lynch in America was a Latino
boy in nineteen fourteen, a fourteen year old Antonio Gomez,
for respecting a white man in Texas. The first woman
lynch in America was a latinas Joseppa Segovia during the

(15:26):
Gold Rush in California, because a white minor raped her
and she shot him, but because she wouldn't show remorse,
they lynched her. So yeah, we let people have experienced
a lot of oppression, and that's probably why. Also it's
not in history textbooks, because you put that in history textbooks,
then you've got to give us political power. You gotta
respect us, You got to give us something back for

(15:47):
our contributions in making of America.

Speaker 5 (15:50):
Marshaw. And I imagine a lot of that resonates with you.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
Huh, Yeah, dude, considered in our history. And I mean,
you know, and I think especially in California. I mean,
I'm not sure it is all through California, but I
know in northern California, like I fucked with my meagles, Like,
I got a lot of a lot of uh fucking
primos that I just I resonate with that I fucked

(16:13):
with like so I mean, and then you know, they
grew up in the same neighborhood with us. It's like
where I lived out on fifty fifth and foot Hill,
it was what they called it, uh, the Green Apartments,
which was where the Blacks was at, and then right
next door it was the Mexican Apartments. And I mean,
you know, the same struggles that that we were dealing with,

(16:34):
they was dealing with it as well. And I mean
just that area alone, it was it was the ship
was tough, but it was also you know of hard
workers and individuals who you know, I mean held family
to a standard where you know, I mean, and we
started to see like when they called the fucking police,

(16:54):
they would come to both apartment buildings, and that ship
was young. I mean, it was something that you know,
I mean our witness growing up and I've seen. But
you know, when you start speaking to the you know,
the history of Latin culture, like you know, they don't
teach that in schools and they don't tell us too
much about that. And now you start to see like

(17:16):
they're even starting to erase, like you know, the black
the black history of all of that ship in school.
It's crazy to me because we're sitting here with the
governor and it's like, Bro, you act like you don't
know that that ship going on, Like who the f
I know them? Ship has come across your desk. When
you see that ship, I think you got to think
in your mind, like, oh ship, John and Marshan wouldn't

(17:37):
approve of this ship. We can't let this we.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
Got I mean, it's as John was just saying, it's
c rt uh ESG, it's d e I.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
Anything with three damn letters.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
It seems to yeah, man, the alphabet boys.

Speaker 4 (17:50):
Man, no, it's but man, no, this is but it's
a real it's a real thing.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
You're right.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
They're trying to rewrite history, censor historical facts. They were
John's well aware, and in Florida a couple of years ago,
they actually had textbooks that were changed as it relates
to the civil rights movement with Rosa Parks, and they
took out her race as if her race was relevant
in the context of the civil rights movement. But John's

(18:15):
going a deeper point which is it's one thing to
censor those historical factor to rewrite history, but a lot
of the Latino history was never even written.

Speaker 5 (18:23):
There's not even a lot to a race.

Speaker 4 (18:25):
And I imagine a big part of what you're trying
to do with American historia and others is really start
to tell that story so that we can get our
history straight.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Johns Hopkins University and you need those US did a
study and found that eighty seven percent of Latino contributions
into the making of the US are not in history
textbooks and the thirteen percent that is gets the less
than five sentences. So yeah, what I was trying to
do with my show, The Until History of Latinos on

(18:56):
PBS was to correct that, to stop the erasure, the
crossing out, the deletion of our contributions, because you know,
it's systemic, and when we Latin people don't know what
we've contributed, we have less power. When other people don't
know our contributions, they have less respect for us, and

(19:18):
then things can happen like being demonized, like Trump demonizes
us and says he's going to deport ten million or
more Latinos. That's a horrible that's a horror thing for me.
I mean, because how you're going to police that, You're
going to profile all Latin people and even American citizens,
which has happened in American history. It's not the first time.
The Repatriation Act in the nineteen thirties deported two million people,

(19:43):
more than half were American citizens, and they sent them
to Mexico. And these people had never grown up there
been there. They didn't even speak Spanish, but they were
all Latino. They were profiled. And then happening in the
wet Back Act in the nineteen fifties to the seventies,
a million Latinos would deported and half of those were
American citizens.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
So I'm afraid the same thing's gonna happen if Trump
gets elected.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
If I make sure they really they really had an
act called the Wetback Act.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, can you believe that shit? They have the audainy.
It could have been the Greaser Act, it could have
been the Spick Act. I mean, it was horrorful.

Speaker 6 (20:17):
What year was that, John, the Wetback Act? I can't
even believe that.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Nineteen fifties governmenteen fifties.

Speaker 6 (20:23):
Okay, Yeah, So John, go let me ask a question.
Growing up in queens. You're a fighter, it's been it's
been known. You had to go fight, you had a scrap.
Were you always the guy to your friend group that
had the voice?

Speaker 1 (20:33):
You hit?

Speaker 3 (20:33):
You do? Now?

Speaker 6 (20:34):
Did you realize back then you were the guy that
obviously threw the fist, which I appreciate, But did you
also have the voice to get your crew together to
try to fight against what you dealt with?

Speaker 1 (20:44):
No, let me let me make you a little correction.
I wasn't a I was in a lot of fights,
but I was on getting beat up.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
I want a few of them, but I didn't win
a lot of them. I got beat up a lot.

Speaker 6 (20:57):
Well, by the way, By the way, John Gavin did too,
he got bullied. He had to move. So haven't got
beat up too. Marsham Marchean might have been doing the Marcia.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
He didn't understand what the hell we're talking about.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
And they share they share some uh some I think
junior higher stories when they was a victims of bullying
and they didn't fight back. No, I thought that.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
I thought that's why I got beat up, was because
I fought back and I never backed down. I don't know.
I guess I was looking for I guess I was
looking for for for not shutting up or saying sorry
or whatever. I never I never backed down. But yeah,
you know made me strong. You know, if I hadn't
grown up the way grew up in Jackson and Ice Queens,
which was all white flight, but all Latino populations were

(21:45):
there and black people, and we all grew up together
in the same kind of problems. It made me strong.
And I had community, you know, I black and Latinos.
I felt, I had joy, I had laughter. I had
problems as well, But yo, it's shaped me, and Hollywood
can't hurt me. It cannot hurt to begin to hurt me,
you know what I mean. So that's why Hollywood to me,

(22:07):
it has always been hollywooden. But I've seen the problems
in Hollywood. I've been in this business for four decades,
and I saw what was going on. I saw what
was going on, you know. I mean it wasn't okay.
I mean, I pitched stories for three decades and I
kept thinking my writings sucked, But it wasn't my writing.
I'm winning awards on Broadway, I'm winning Tony's Obie's Drama critics,

(22:30):
but I can't sell a script. Because they were Latin stories.
And no matter if I wrote like William Goldman, if
I wrote like Tony Kushner, they were not going to
green light a Latin project, you know what I mean.
They were just never going to They never saw the
value of Latin content. But now, luckily, with data and

(22:50):
this digital revolution that we're in, is the best time
to be a Latin person because now we got metrics,
and when we have metrics, we Latin people win because
you can't deny us, you know, facts, like like in baseball,
you know, you see all these lad folks playing because
you can't deny stats. And music we killed because you

(23:11):
can't deny sales. But in show biz and in corporations
and in tech industry, they can do that for jobs.
They can do that because they can say it's it's
all opinion based, it's all bias based, it's it's not
based on fact.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
Was there a moment where you really found your voice?
I mean, was it, uh, you know it was years
ago or there was there.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
Sometimes a lot of shame and regret that you didn't
find that voice earlier.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Well, I don't have shame and regret because I didn't
know what was going on. I just assumed that if
you're a Latin man or a Latin person in America,
you weren't going to get very far. You just score.
And I mean when I was in NYU and I
was a student paying the same tuition as Andrew McCarthy
and dB Sweeney, they were going to five editions a day.
I was going to win every five months for a

(24:08):
drug dealer or a murderer or janitor. I knew. And
I was idealistic, young man. I believe the meritocracy. I
believe talent would win the date. But it wasn't. So
no matter how talented I was, I could have been
as good looking as Brad Kidd, I could have been
as talented as Brandea, I was not going to get
a job because I was a Latin man. And that
I became very apparent, you know what I mean. So

(24:30):
I had I didn't want to give up. But I
know a lot of people gave up. I saw a
lot of dreams that got wasted and thrown away, and
people's lives that derailed because they believed in the American
dream that wasn't for them.

Speaker 6 (24:45):
So John, one of my favorite movies of all time,
Carlito's Ways. She kind of went from a stand up
comedy right, and you got that? How did you get
the role in Carlito's Way from being doing stand up comics?

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, my manager at the time, who was a horrible
human being.

Speaker 6 (25:00):
Hey, Marshawn never by the way, Marshawn never called me
as your main agent at home.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
No, he was a horrible crook and a harble person.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
But he met well and uh, you know he he
he saw me, and they saw me do my comedy
stuff and then on on HBO, and they offered me
the role and I turned it down a lot because
I was sick of playing drug dealers and I didn't
want to denigrate with my people.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
But then when they offered it to Benicia, I took it.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
Interesting hold on so because the past, ah, the past?
So was that one? Was that before this? Or was
that after that?

Speaker 2 (25:38):
Was that was after?

Speaker 3 (25:39):
That?

Speaker 1 (25:39):
Was after? That was ninety seven and and Carlos Wave
was ninety three.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
Man, I look, I'm a look, I'm a fan of
a girl in min She she turned me on to
the past, and I'm like, what the fuck? Like this
ship is like, this motherfucker is crazy. But then I
so like from The Pest to fucking to the Menu,
just like the range that you have and when you

(26:06):
speak about you know, the talent, and it's like there's
there's no denying that. You know, you're a talented motherfucker.
But you know what i mean from from me, like
watching that and then seeing uh the Menu, I'm like, god, damn.
But then I remember what was that? I think spawn
and I'm like, oh yeah, yeah yeah, So I'm like damn,

(26:31):
you know, I mean, you know, I don't know if
you would call it like uh, I mean, I know
it's a superhero movie, but uh like to see you
in that kind of role, like there's no denying your talent.
Uh well special you are. Like. But I mean, once
I've watched The Pest, then I'm like, oh, yeah, he
got me hooked line and sink, like you know what
I mean, where else where else can I go and

(26:52):
watch this motherfucker? What else can I see? You know what
I mean? See him doing this thing? Like that ship
turned me up and I'm like this is some there's
some there's some some some some good ship.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah that was some crazy ship. I didn't that, I mean,
I was I was mad caffeinated because I don't do
drugs anymore or you know, so I was it was
all just capping soda, coke, sugar. I had to keep
my energy level so high to keep that that that thing. Basically,
the Past is the big Game where a great White

(27:25):
hunter is looking for a trophy animal. But we made
it this great White Hunters looking for a Puerto Rican
to put on his mantle.

Speaker 3 (27:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (27:34):
No, I mean it's a fantastic movie.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
I agree with sew Hey, John, did you do?

Speaker 4 (27:39):
You started out and it was comedy the goal, and
then all of this was sort of an evolution from the.

Speaker 5 (27:45):
Comedy or what when you were a kid? I mean,
what what was the what was the pinnacle of success
for you?

Speaker 4 (27:50):
I mean, did you see yourself as a comedian, as
an actor, as a direct I mean, you know, you're
you're filling the blank right now and every every single
way you've you've done it produce, Seen the and the like.
But was comedy the bedrock?

Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Comedy was what got me through my you know, painful childhood.
I come from a lot of uh you know, uh
child abuse and and whatnot, just violence, and uh, you know,
comedy helped me, you know, watching Richard pryor watching Evident Costello,
Martin Lewis. I ate up all the comedy and I
would go like I was. I was a ghetto nerd.

(28:26):
So I would go to the library, the the Museum
of Television Radio and watch Flip Wilson, watched the old
Ernie Kovacs, and I studied them all man. And and
to me, that was when I got freak on Broadway.
That was it, man, That that to me was the
pinnacle of my life in so many ways, because I

(28:48):
felt like I helped change comedy in America, because the
comedy at that time was kind of light and kind
of glib and kind of shiny, and I brought a
lot of pain and uh and sexuality, and you know,
I introduced the jizz comedy, that something about Mary you
saw that an American Pie and all that. But I
was doing all that on stage, you know, put in

(29:10):
my imagine every dick and Sandwiches playing with spooge all
over the place. So there was a lot of stuff
I was doing in this crazy show. But there was
everybody was coming to the show, you know, Michael, you know,
Michael Mayer, Robin Williams, rest in peace, you name it.
Everybody was at that theater. It was incredible on Broadway

(29:32):
and I was Tony nominated for a Writer and Performer.
I lost.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
So you kind of win it and carved your own lane. Yeah,
you had to had to respect.

Speaker 6 (29:44):
There were the ages back then. I know you called
your manager a horrible manager? Were the ages back then?
Did a lot of them? Pigeonhole? Like, did you guys
have like a subset of managers that dealt with latinos
and and this and that?

Speaker 3 (29:57):
Or was it?

Speaker 6 (29:57):
Did you have a lot of people to pick from?

Speaker 2 (30:00):
I think I had had a good group to pick from.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
I did. I mean, I got a great manager now,
but the one I had back then was his fingali uh,
you know, like a trickster. You know, he did a
lot of underhanded stuff, like taking fifty percent of my
HBO salary for my one man's shows and telling me that,
you know, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have
gotten never got it. And so like I was young

(30:25):
and stupid, so I was like, yeah, okay, yeah, I
guess that's a trade off.

Speaker 3 (30:28):
Fifty dug my age alone, and I was I was
fucking head over. He was like, why you get three percent,
like what you're really doing, like saying you I ain't
even ever even seen you throw a dn bood alone
catch run, Like why are you getting so much? How
are you getting so much? Doug Hey, we gonna have
to go and talk about this. And Danny then he's

(30:50):
sick that will from me his wife and she had
to break some ship down for me. And I'm like, uh,
you know, I like you a lot, you know what
I mean, I got a lot of respect for you.
But three percent, God damn. And to hear that you
was getting hit to here, you was getting here for
fifty life.

Speaker 6 (31:07):
Oh the entertainer b business is different. They pay way,
they pay way too much, right John, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
I mean you know, I mean most of us, all
the big timers. You know, you only get about a
quarter of your salary because you've got ten percent agent,
ten percent, manager, five percent, lawyer five percent for a
business manager, and you know everybody else on on pay roll.
So in taxes, I've had fifty percent tax brackets so

(31:35):
in New York. So yeah, I get about twenty five
percent of everything I make.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Well, we like to blame a lot of shit on gas,
so you can blame put.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
Too.

Speaker 5 (31:46):
Yeah, not just yeah, New York and California.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
We share a little bit of that in comment on
the at least for you two that are on screen, well,
with all three of you hold out, I'm the only
I'm the public servant on this podcast.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
I'm kind of like a public service.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
Really really sorry, John, I don't buy that.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
No, No, I get paid.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
I get paid.

Speaker 5 (32:05):
You doing all right?

Speaker 4 (32:06):
By the way, just you know what was the you
know it's and I've just watched a lot of but
a lot of the episodes of the MSNBC you did.
I guess it was a year ago. Feels like right
right yesterday and now with PBS, what did you I
mean you wake up and say, you know what, I
got to take this to the next level and just
start educate people at a broader a in a you know,

(32:28):
more broadly. Or is it because the politics of the
moment that has sort of shaped your desire to do
these projects or was this sort of again a natural
part of your journey that for decades you've been expressing
uh and understanding or a desire for other people to
understand the history of Latin culture.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, Gavin, I think it's a confluence of both things.
You know, am I getting to be sixty years old?
You know, you get to a point in life where
you go, what what am I doing? My Life's what's
the point of my life? And I feel like at
the point of my life is to make this place
a better place than when I came into it. And also,

(33:08):
you know, all the things that happened in Black Lives
Matter and and COVID and all that. You know, it
just like it took it took me years to get
the PBS, five years a little bit more than that
to get it to this place. You know it it
wasn't easy. But I felt when I read these facts.
When I read these facts, it just blows my mind
that and I felt like, oh my god, I can't

(33:30):
be the only person who knows these facts. The world
needs to know that we Land people are the only
ethnic group that's fought in every single war America has
ever had. Ten thousand unknown Latino patriots fought in the
American Revolution. We helped fund the American Revolution. Two million
dollars were given to George Washington from Cuba, Mexico and Spain.

(33:51):
So we are we Land people as sons and daughters
of the American Revolution. Twenty thousand US fought in the
Civil War, one hundred and twenty thousand of US fought
in World War five hundred thousand Latinos fought in World
War Two.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
That's a huge.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Sacrifice to the making of this country. We have sixty
Medal of Honor honorees. That's the most of any ethnic group.
But do we get credit for that? Do we? Do
you see us in movies?

Speaker 3 (34:17):
Do you?

Speaker 1 (34:17):
I mean, it's crazy how erased our contributions are.

Speaker 6 (34:22):
It is amazing. Hey, Hey, John, your Emmy speech a
couple of weeks ago is incredible in Hollywood? Do you
feel that it seems like every Oscars or Emmys or
award show people stand up and say something. But do
you see the other three or sixty four days a
year people fighting and doing what you're doing, or just
giving their speech? Not you, but other people giving their

(34:43):
speech and saying what they have to say? Are people
living it daily? To help out with what you're doing
now and other causes for other people?

Speaker 1 (34:50):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (34:51):
You know?

Speaker 3 (34:52):
Uh? That? So how do we know?

Speaker 6 (34:59):
And John, how do we make that change? We've got
more Shawn as an actor, now, how do we make
that change?

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Well, you know, it's hard.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
I mean, when you when you start speaking up there,
it's not consequence free. There are when I started getting political,
you know, I lost half my followers and it's got
so much hate. You know, people go back to they say,
go back to Mexico. If you don't like our country,
go I gladly go back to Mexico. I'm not from
Mexico and I love to visit. But you know, they

(35:26):
say all kinds of crazy things that tys telling you
you suck as a comedian. You're boring now. I mean,
whenever you start doing that, they hate and you lose
the followers. So there is a consequence. So I understand
why other people are reserved. It makes you know it's
they're tend to tain, you know. And but you know,
I feel like I'm older. I'm an elder. I see

(35:46):
what's going on, and so what was going on? I
can't you can't pull the wool over my eyes.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
I know.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
I know what the stats are, I know what the
reality is, and I'm not going to shut up till
I have parody for my people. You know, till till
twenty percent of those were Latino, When twenty percent of
those executives when twenty percent of the stories. I don't
want thirty percent, which is what we over indexed at
the box office. I just want we're twenty percent of
the population. I just want twenty percent across the board.

(36:11):
And I don't want it just in Hollywood. I want
to in tech. I want it in banking. I wanted
in corporations. I talked to a lot of executives across
America and Latin. People tell me, yo, I'm good enough
to train somebody who then gets promoted over me, but
I'm not good enough to be promoted. I hear that
all over the place.

Speaker 5 (36:39):
Joe, when did you start getting political?

Speaker 4 (36:41):
When did you really when you started getting that negative feedback,
when you really started realizing this is going to come
in a price.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
You know, I was always socially conscious, but I wasn't
politically activated until I think. I think it was Al
Gore when I started feeling like, oh my god, I
got to start. When he lost and his peasants he
was taken from him, I was like, I can't, I
can't be quiet. Democracy is not a spectator sport. You

(37:08):
got to participate, and you got to put out tons
of effort to keep it a democracy.

Speaker 5 (37:14):
Amen, Justice Brandeis.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
I love the way you described said the most important
office in a democracy is the office of citizen. This
notion of active not inert citizenship, man, active participation, which.

Speaker 5 (37:30):
I just love that.

Speaker 4 (37:31):
It's not just about election days. It's what happens after
and what happens before. It's everything in between. What you
know right now though. Man, with an election, I don't
want to get hyper political.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
But man, it's then you get it.

Speaker 4 (37:44):
But but we're talking about but Marsia, you're talking about
history repeating itself. Man, back in Hoover days, about everybody
being kicked out. You got the Wet Back Act, You've
got all and now here we are. We thought we
made all this damn progress in this country Californi, Marshawn.
We're almost forty percent Latino California. It's a majority minority state,

(38:06):
the most diverse state in the world's most diverse democracy.
It's a deep point of pride and it's a principle
which we're founded on, which allows us to thrive and
be the fifth large damn economy in the world. Latinos
in this country, by the way, about the fifth largest
economy in the world just from a GDP over three
point six plus trillion.

Speaker 5 (38:24):
Damn do cap T T.

Speaker 4 (38:29):
But right now there's another guy with a capital T
that's scaring the hell out of everybody in this election.
And we're talking about mass deportations, We're talking about mixed
status families that are scared to death, we're talking about
poisoning the blood of this country. And vermins the language. Man,
I mean, you're you're kind of a mini historian now

(38:51):
with all these there's documentaries you've been doing and all
the work. I mean, this rhetoric is about as bad
as it's ever been.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Right, and hate crimes as Latinos are up a big
surprise when he says stuff like that. I mean, you
see veterans getting beat up in bars and stuff Latino
vets because they tell you don't belong in this country.
And then you know the vet is going on. But
I thought to you and then pow pal. You know
it just it's he brings so much violence into our country,
so much hate that's unnecessary. I mean, decency is what

(39:22):
we all want, pieces what we want. Togetherness is what
most people want. But they're sold because he's a big liar.
He's such a liar that people believe what he says,
and he says he's going to bring jobs back in
production backs, and he's making all this stuff up. He
doesn't care, he wasn't doesn't want to be fact check
because he's making it all up. It's all bullshit, but
people buy it. People believe it. People believe the bullshit.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
Which is you know, begs the question, you know we
talk about I mean, there's books now being written about it,
and let's hope history is not going to be written
about this in a few weeks. But talking about the
fact that Trump and trump Ism is somehow and.

Speaker 5 (39:59):
He's making roads in the Latino community.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
I mean, is it because you just think just the
rank lies or do you think get a combination of
that and just economic issues, which are bread and butter issues.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Always I think it's a common way for some reason,
this inflation of the prices of goods, food and gas
and housing. It affects Latin people because we're kind of
at the bottom of the economic food change, so they're
very effective by it. And Latinos care about, you know,
feeding their families, and Latin women care about that. So

(40:32):
who do they blame the person who's in office, you know,
and Trump, you know, with all his magical speak, his
magical thinkings speak of how he's going to fix everything
and cut taxes. Everybody believes that that he's going to
bring production back and bring jobs and stop China this,
and you know, it's it's they believe, they buy it,
they believe it. So it's kind of tough, man. I

(40:54):
don't I don't think Latin people are really flipping totally Republican.
But he gets them, you know, obviously they We're not
a monolith, and there's a lot of a Christian Latinos,
Evangelical Latinos, conservatives that we have them, you know. But
from his rhetoric, you would think everybody would be just
against him, but they're not. You know, the black community

(41:16):
is aw some somehow moving up towards him too.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Yeah, they split. I think they could. They got they
got turned on from out of the edd, the PvP
and all of that shit.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
All.

Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah, Trump, don't give us some money.

Speaker 1 (41:29):
Yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (41:31):
We need to get Trump back at office so he
could give us some money.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Uh huh.

Speaker 4 (41:34):
When he started putting his name on those checks, people
thought it was from him.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
And they believe that I've heard that people say, oh,
but when he gets to be in office, we're going
to get more of those checks that he signed.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
They really believed that his scams are sometimes they do work,
they don't always work.

Speaker 5 (41:49):
But something there, John, you buy one of those hundred
thousand dollars watches? You got one of those?

Speaker 1 (41:54):
I'm saving up for the Bible Trump.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
Also, somebody just sent me a picture of that. He
got a watch and some and some shoes or some
hundred K for the watch. Brother, What the fuck is
that about.

Speaker 5 (42:10):
I've got my pandas on right now. But if I
come in with some Trumps.

Speaker 3 (42:14):
Then I might sparkle kick your ass right in the chest.

Speaker 4 (42:20):
Hey, John, I was down in Mexico for the swearing
in of the first one. And you know, I mean
the Western we haven't had North America. We haven't had
a woman sworn in. And I was with a good
friend of yours, Rosario Dawson, who was down. She was
down there film in a couple of days. But you
you were one of the early founders of Voda Latino, right,

(42:41):
were you there in the beginning.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
I was, I was helping, I mean I was I
was always an ally to Rosario and my interest to
Kumark for what they're doing, because they're brilliant, man. I mean,
they really do the real work and very little of
the money goes to them. It all goes right into groundwork,
a grassroots organizing. You know, it's amazing. It's amazing what

(43:05):
they do. And this woman is incredible, man, I mean,
this woman president, she's I just find her so exciting,
so progressive, lifting Mexico into the future. Mexico is doing
incredible economically. Uh. And then you know, she called out.
It was amazing. She asked Spain to apologize for the

(43:26):
destruction of the aspects, the Incas and the Mayas. It
was a amazing that And you know what the I
think it was a Minister of culture. I can't remember
exactly the dude who wrote the letter and said, you
are an illiterate. We will never apologize for those horrific tribes.
Now they always two apologies, one for that fucking letter

(43:47):
and then one for the conquest.

Speaker 4 (43:50):
And by the way, the conquy, I mean you going
back just you know the PBS series, which, by the way,
you have a bunch of great you know, people like
Rosario doing some of the narrative work, Edward Daman almost
some others.

Speaker 5 (44:03):
Next level. I mean you go back to that. You
go back you're walking down.

Speaker 4 (44:07):
Tunnels, You're finding all this gold and all this poisonous
you know, mercury or something. You know, this was a
hell of a like you said, five years, I get
why it may have taken you five years. It was
a hell of a journey you've been on with this thing.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
Oh yeah, you know, it's incredible.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Man.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
I went to you're talking about Tao t Wakan.

Speaker 5 (44:27):
Yeah, it's easy to pronounce, man, last name bro.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
I had a practice, had a practice. It don't come
that easy, you know, we're talking about this. This tunnel
was the first one. It's just been discovered. It's it's
over two thousand years old. And they found, you know,
turquoise from Arizona. They found jade from Central America. So
we were doing trade all up and down South America
and the Americas. These were these were incredible empires, man.

(44:54):
They were bigger than European empires. Thirty three million Incas,
thirty million aztect million Mayas. They had running toilets with water,
water flushing toilets before any country in Europe they we
invented rubber, which in galvinization, Goodyear took credit for something

(45:14):
he ain't do. And the Incas had binary code. That's
how they kept their senses before computers. They had suspension bridges,
they had anesthesia. They had brain surgery that was more
successful than anything until a Civil war.

Speaker 5 (45:30):
I mean, who knew, Marshawan you know all that stuff?

Speaker 3 (45:33):
Man, Hell no, Look, I'm sitting over here like I'm
watching the Discovery Channel right now. This motherfucker dropping so
much motherfucking game, Like, God damn, this is an opportunity. Shiit,
Just just give him a mic and lett him go,
because Shiit, I feel like I'm gonna be at least
five to ten percent smarter after this, after this show.

(45:53):
So she keep going, big dog, it's any more facts
you want to say it out, I'm here forward, man,
She had keep educating. So now of your work, not
I'm a fan of your work, but.

Speaker 6 (46:04):
But what I appreciate about you, John, And it seems
like the guests we get on the show are very
similar to you and Marshaun because you've always led, You've
gotten it. Marshawn has been the same way your vocal
you stand and again life is We always say life
is short. We're on barrow of time. And if you
don't speak your voice, John, then what are we doing? Gavin?
I just had to hit a birthday. We're not as
old as you yet, but we almost there.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
And so oh thanks a lot for that shout out.

Speaker 5 (46:29):
Yeah, hello the two.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Brother Yeah, I'm sixty four.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
You couldn't you couldn't look at him.

Speaker 6 (46:39):
But anyways, the point John's we're on bar times. I
love the way you're living. And let me ask you a question.
What's next for you? I mean, the PBS stuff is
so next level? Are you back into acting? Are you
on Broadway now? But I mean, what's the next steps
for you? The next few years?

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Uh? Yeah? I got an amazing movie coming out in
April called Bob Tabbino Likes. We won the south By
Southwest Audience Prize and Jury Prize. It is such a beautiful,
feel good healing film. Roman crying oh my god at
every screening.

Speaker 6 (47:14):
A little different than John Wick John, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
John Wait makes you crying a different way. This was
a healing movie. There's no beating up, there's no hitting.
And then my play, My play is the biggest thing
I've got right now. You know, I wrote this hoping
this will be an American classic based on a true
crime that happened in Long Island in the nineties.

Speaker 5 (47:35):
And what and you're you're literally in the middle of
that right now, right.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Yes, sir, we go up. October eighteenth is my first performance.

Speaker 5 (47:42):
And what is it?

Speaker 4 (47:43):
I mean, is is there any having made it in
your life or career? Are you just gonna be You're
gonna you're gonna You're gonna run this thing through the tape?

Speaker 5 (47:51):
No ninety yard dash here, huh.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
No, man, I mean the lovely thing about acting is
that you can go on till.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
Till they pull they take it the hook and they
pull you up.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
You can.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
People have died on.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Stage, you know. I mean, I don't want to die
in the dage.

Speaker 4 (48:06):
But yeah, yeah, And what about and what about the
producing and the and the directing. I mean, is that
is that it doesn't does that have the feedback loop
that being on there one man's show and just being
out there all just exposed?

Speaker 5 (48:20):
The I mean is how do those things compare?

Speaker 3 (48:23):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Wow, wow, it's so different. I mean, being on stage
by yourself is so powerful. To have a whole entire
house about fifteen hundred people every night for six months. Uh,
you know it's quiet. You can hear pin dropped and
they laugh, especially for Lamb. People becomes like church because

(48:44):
they're crying, laughing, screaming, talking back to their home watching TV.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
It's a beautiful experience. Film is different, obviously.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Film is about, you know, hitting some acting highs. You know,
it's an acting high. You're just trying to hit these
these beats. But stage and live performances like Church.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
Because Doug won't he won't let that ship die down
at all. But I have been, uh, you know, getting
into my acting bag a little bit. Is there anything
that she would tell me, just as far as like,
I mean from my biggest thing is like when I
get them scripts and then I see all them lines
and ship like oh shit. Yeah, Like, is there any

(49:25):
advice you could give to me? Just like just like grassroots,
you know what I mean to you. I mean to
keep me going and keep my mind right.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
Yeah, yeah, man, you can make it. I mean, nobody
starts out great in acting, man. Every everybody works their
ass off to get to to this place. Brandle worked
his ass off study with the best teachers, so did
James Dean, so did Mark Ruffalo, so did Trump, and
everybody study all the great studied the near Paccino. They
studied hard, so they nobody's born naturally a acting, you

(49:55):
become one.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
So I would say, get a great coach. I would say,
read out life out as much as you can, like
get a script that you love from a movie, and
and learn those monologues and practice it all the time
until it becomes second nature, until you get used to
saying lines that that you haven't thought. You know, because
my daughter wants been actress, and I told that, beat
out loud as much as you can, get your favorite

(50:17):
movie monologues, and work on the memorizing, because then you
learn how to turn dialogue that's not yours into yours.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
So I think I'm gonna start with the uh with
the piss do it.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
I like to see a film.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
I want to see it.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
I want to see it.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
I mean I really have been uh having fun doing it.
It's just you know, I'm so competitive. So you know,
when I get to a point where it's like all
right and it's challenging, and like it turned me up,
like I gotta get on this ship. I gotta figure
this shit out like yeah, I mean, and then you know,
just the way that I've been going about it, Like

(50:55):
you know what I mean, I'll just read it, read it,
read it.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
Just drilling, drill, drill and drilling, dude. That's that's it, brother,
I mean that's the only thing. I mean, I'm older,
so I have to drill a little harder than I
used to. I used to have a photographic memory, but
it's kind of clouded now it's got a less tap
on it. So yeah, drilling, baby, there's nothing better than drilling,
doing your lines while you're running on a treadmill or
doing something else. Drilling is the only way. And dude,

(51:20):
you got a great personality, so I mean you're a
natural fulfilmed that way with shit.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
Man. I appreciate it, because Damn, sometime that ship that
shit get a little hard. Then I have to go
back into my mindset of like damn, when shit got
hard for me on the field, or when I was
at practice, or when I was working out getting ready
to go to training camp, mini camp or ohas or
any of that, knowing that I got to come in yeah,
I mean ready to perform. Like so when I get

(51:47):
out there, on on set, it's like, Okay, I got
them them same kind of nerves that I had. Yeah,
you when a good time for game time. Yeah, then
I'm just you know, focusing on shit that I don't
even know. And then it's been to a point where
it's like I can you know, uh, the actors that

(52:11):
I'm working with, like, you know, I could say their
lines and then I'm right into my ship. So I mean,
it's been it's been an interesting transition for me, but
I have been enjoying it. But just to get some
you know, some words a knowledge from you, especially considering now,
you know, just not looking at you as an actor
and seeing you as a historian with all these fucking

(52:32):
numbers and all these facts, like it makes me believe like, okay,
well shit, you know what I mean growing up you
know said he was a fighter, you know, I mean
standing on business and the ship that you represent, and
I'm like, damn, you know what, I'm walking that path
and you know what I mean, It's something that you know,
I like to say, is nothing new under the old moon,
And why not look at the individuals who laid down

(52:54):
the foundation, you know what I mean before you and
you know what I mean, walk that path like you
know what I mean, it ain't gonna be nothing new
that I'm out here doing. There's been plenty of athletes
that transition from you know, playing their sport and then
getting into uh, the industry. So man, I appreciate that.
And then you know, just from the standpoint of you know,
I've seen uh, this entertainment space eat up a lot

(53:16):
of people. Well help shit eat them up like fuck.
Like I mean, I've been somebody that pride my cell phone,
sticking to my guns, and represent who I am at
all times. No matter what room I walk in, I'm
still gonna be the same that I've always right right,
So keeping that type of mindset like and wanting to
grow in it, do you see any problem with that?

Speaker 6 (53:37):
Think?

Speaker 1 (53:37):
I think you're still right, I mean, trying to stay
to your core friends and you're keeping who you really
are because the business nobody prepares you for show biz.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
The ups and downs are are so crazy.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
Nothing prepares you for that because you go way up,
but then you got to come back down, and those
those ups and downs messed a lot of people up,
and nobody prepared tells you that you got to be
prepared for like hyper people, everybody loving you and then
everybody hating you, and everything's in public and every it's
it's it's rough.

Speaker 6 (54:23):
Well, John, that's that's that's fascinating because obviously in sports,
you know, you have the transition from college to the
pros and football leagust and you and then your career
kind of plateau is a little bit and you get
older and you kind of it's an eight to twelve
of your career for the top players, right, and you
kind of know the transition. But entertainment, like to yourself,
I mean, you don't know which ways to go. You

(54:43):
could be on top of the world one day, next
you know, you don't get college, no jobs. I mean,
how you're right, it would eat a lot of people up.
That'd be another story I for you to tell at
some point, because no one talks about the underbelly of
the people that get eating alive.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Correct, Yeah, yeah, Because I mean if you start reading
your reviews and you start believing that then you got
to believe the good. Then you're gonna have to believe
the bad. Because nobody gets consistently good reviews, you know,
so when you get a bad review, then you gotta
believe it. Then you gotta start believing that you suck.
And then how do you how do you soothe yourself?

(55:16):
You know, you find the wrong friends, you find the
wrong people of alcohol, the drugs start coming back.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
How to feel better yourself? Medicaid?

Speaker 1 (55:24):
And then then you got this you know, roller coaster
life that's not healthy.

Speaker 3 (55:29):
Well, I had a situation like that. I say, I
think like year three when I was in Buffalo, before
I had got traded uh to Seattle, and it was
more like, I'll fuck him. We always knew he was
a thug. We knew he wasn't shit. Oh he ain't
gonna make it, this, that and the third, and I'll
fuck him. He's washed up or he can't run the ball.
No more this, that and all that type of shit.

(55:50):
And then as soon as I got up out of
that environment and I got traded to Seattle and then
went ahead and created an earthquake. You feel what I'm
talking about? So alone at the time, I remember that.
I remember that vividly. And I just because I'm not
somebody who big after like the games, like to go
watch ESPN, you know, look at my stats, this, that

(56:14):
and the third I was more a team situation, like, shit,
if we win, regardless whateverever, I had one hundred yards
or I had ten yards. If we won, shit, I'm
partying like it's nineteen ninety nine. And then if we lost,
I'm in the lab trying to figure out, Okay, what
was it that I that I didn't do that I
could do better? Or I did this pretty good, but

(56:35):
how can I do this even better? To the point
where because I you know what I mean, I don't
really like losing, but I mean I think it was
something that my mom taught me after my first game
when I was playing pop warning football. We lost the
game and I was mad as hell. I'm crying and shit,
and my mom was like, why the fuck you crying?
Like where you get to go out here and do

(56:56):
this again next week? And I'm like, oh, we got
another game. Yeah, you got about ten more games, like
why did you trip? Like you get to you know
what I mean, you get to go redeem yourself with
And the thing was, I didn't have a bad game,
but it was just the fact that we lost. And
ever since then, you know, I kind of took the
bad with the good and the good with the bad.
And I always just harped on that mindset with how

(57:17):
I grew, and no matter what, if it was a
winner or loss, I always looked at it like, Okay,
what could I have done better? I mean, how could
I have helped the team in a better way? You know,
I mean, oh, we got a sack? What could I
have done to help this offensive linement? You know, I
mean stay on that block to where the quarterback didn't
get hit or you know, I mean just little little
specific details that you know mainly don't mean nothing to

(57:41):
a lot of people, but it's just some shit that
goes a long way, and it could be the designing
factor on if you win or if you lose. But
you know, within this space, because I guess what it
feels like to me is like when you on set
and individuals know me, and it's more so like they
look at me like, oh shit, that's more shan football player,
Like they got this kind of like oh he's he's

(58:04):
beast mode and this and that. The third So, if
it's something that I'm doing on set, and if it
don't read right, like I come from a background, you're
not doing your job or what you're supposed to do.
Somebody come and tell you, hey, what the fuck is
you doing? Like, no, you're supposed to hit the hole
like you're doing all that dancing in the back, hit
the hole and get down field right now. But on
set it's like, oh no, that was good, let's let's

(58:26):
just try it again, and it's really no direction more.

Speaker 6 (58:29):
Sean are interesting And I never asked you us Are
you because of you and your personality and all that?
Are anybody on the set? Are anybody scared to tell
you the truth?

Speaker 1 (58:39):
I'd be afraid to tell you. Don't want to hurt
people's feelings either, man, you don't want to. There's also
negative feedback for acting sometimes shuts people down even more
so you have to you know, you.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
Have to nurture people into their talent.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
You know you have to.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
And then then with acting, you we all make mistakes,
so you need more sins what we have takes because
people make mistakes.

Speaker 3 (59:03):
But I'm more of a guy that's like, if I'm
doing something wrong, tell me I'm doing it wrong, so
that way I can not do that shit no more
rather than you just said, Okay, we're gonna do another take,
and if you don't tell me, I'm doing nothing wrong.
Then I think I'm I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.
But if it come to the fact where it's not
and I'm the reason why we're doing the take over,
it's like, all right, well, who the fuck who not

(59:25):
giving what they're supposed to give? And then sudden you
find out is you was like, oh shit, the well,
why the fuck you didn't tell me I was doing
the wrong shit? So then I could have did something different.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Acting is not like sports.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
You can't call people out like that.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
We don't.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
We don't do that. It'd be great, it'd be.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
Great if he could all be like that, but not
there's so many egos. People get brutales and they stuck.
I had that.

Speaker 3 (59:49):
Yeah, No, I don't have that eight more, Sean Brouh,
What the fuck is you giving me right now? We
need less of what the fuck you're giving us and
more of what we want. Okay, my bad ship?

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Yeah, been doing that.

Speaker 3 (59:59):
You ain't tell me I was doing then, rule, So
I just thought we was good. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:00:02):
I don't get any of this feedback in pology. We
know none of this.

Speaker 6 (01:00:05):
Nobody else at Gavin John.

Speaker 3 (01:00:07):
Well, I'm I'm gonna tell your ass Yevin, What the
fuck you're doing?

Speaker 4 (01:00:11):
It's universal love. That's why I'm in politics. Just universal love.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Oh yeah, I'm conditional love, additional.

Speaker 4 (01:00:20):
I'm curious, you know so many of us in life.
I mean, I'm thinking of the sports construct. You know,
we have coaches, we have mentors people. I mean, do
you still have people in your life that independent of
a director or a project that you're involved with and
you have situational partners?

Speaker 5 (01:00:36):
Do you still have do you still have coach?

Speaker 4 (01:00:38):
Do you still someone I mean, is there an old
acting coach that takes a look at your tapes and
calls and says, man, I think you're slipping here a
little bit, or hey brother, that was that was next level, dude.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
It's absolutely It's like think, I think of myself like
as a tennis player, and I got to be playing
and I got to have a coach and he's got
to keep me together and tight and I got to
keep my game up. So yeah, I have my old
act teacher, David Newer. I love him, and he keeps
me tied and clean, you know, And I'm always reading
scripts out loud, I'm doing zooms with other actors. I'm

(01:01:08):
keeping my my skills sharp as fucking because you can't
let your skills drop. You got to keep It's like
EDDI sport, you gotta keep doing it. And this, this
whole thing is a sport.

Speaker 6 (01:01:18):
John, who's your crew? Who's your crew in the business? Like,
who do you have? Who's like your main If you
got to call two or three buddies, who are the
guys you're calling for vice counsel? Kick it with with whatever?

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
I love Mark Buffalo, man, he's the most honest, caring
You talk about the Hulk, Yeah, yeah, the whole Yeah,
the hul Yeah, Yeah, he's fucking amazing. And Ethan Hawks
also like an incredible guy. You can talk about anything.
He's a great artist. Yeah, David harber Is. It's phenomenal
and I love hanging with him. Makes me laugh as fuck.

(01:01:50):
You know, there's some great folks out there, man, that's
super talented, really humble. I like the humble motherfuckers who
are talented. I don't like egos. I don't like vanity
and be like that. It's not I don't have I
don't have room for that ship.

Speaker 4 (01:02:03):
No, well, John, I mean and you know, as we close,
that's a perfect I mean, John Doug was saying something
earlier which I picked up about you and Marshawn. It's
all about authenticity. Uh, It's all about character and uh.
And I appreciate your authenticity. I appreciate who you've become
in terms of being an activist and a leader, not

(01:02:26):
just you know, one of our great and most outstanding entertainers,
but someone that's that's providing you know, meaning and purpose
and mission at a time when we need it more
than we've ever needed it in our lives. So mad
respect for you, man, Grateful for everything you're doing.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
Batman. Let me tell you something, Man. You could say
real last motherfucker you.

Speaker 5 (01:02:49):
Last motherfucker motherfucker's shoes.

Speaker 3 (01:02:52):
Marshawan, the shoes, not the pandas you can throw that
one in there every now and then. You could just
you know, I mean to switch up the game a little,
I will say.

Speaker 6 (01:03:03):
I will say, John is a realized motherfucker.

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Thank you, Big Hawks man, big Hogs, all, thank you John.
He's thank you brother much love appreciate it, Jeeve