December 4, 2024 • 29 mins
Join Kate as she chats with Jackie Tohn right after their run. In this episode, Jackie shares her journey from growing up in a Jewish family in Oceanside, Long Island, to starring as Esther Roklov in Netflix’s hit show Nobody Wants This. She opens up about her early start in acting, her experience on GLOW, her role in NCIS, and the challenges she’s faced navigating Hollywood. Jackie also reflects on how her Jewish upbringing influenced her portrayal of Esther and shares heartfelt stories about her close friendships with Kristen Bell and Jessica Biel.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up, guys, Welcome back to Post friend High. I
am so excited for you guys to watch or listen
to today's interview with Jackie Ton. Jackie is one of
the stars of Netflix's Nobody Wants This. Season two is
coming out in February, so I was super excited to
be able to sit down with Jackie, learn all about her,
(00:23):
hear about the filming of the show, and I really
think you guys are going to enjoy this episode. A
few months ago, when the show Nobody Wants This first
came out, I watched it in one sitting, binged the
entire show in one night. And I think it's because
I relate so much to the characters in the show.
For those of you who don't know, my fiancee, Jeremy
(00:44):
is Jewish and I'm Catholic, and Jeremy's family is just
full of so many characters. I'm really really close with
Jeremy's grandma, Grandma Bee, and Grandma Bee is just such
a stereotypical Jewish grandma, if you know, you know. And
so when I was watching Nobody Wants This, I just
(01:05):
felt like I was almost watching my own life on screen,
Like I connected so much to the characters in the show,
so to be able to a few months later sit
down with Jackie, it really is just a dream. Anyways,
I don't want to ramble, so I just want to
say thank you so much. It's absolutely incredible that we
have gone from running on the streets of New York
(01:27):
with a tripod in hand, asking strangers to run with
me in exchange for a pair of sneakers, to now
being able to sit down with our guests after our
runs and just go even deeper. Your support really does
mean the world to me. So make sure you follow
this podcast, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and without further ado,
let's get this. Let's us Jackie what welcome to post
(01:55):
run High.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Thank you very much. I asked Jeremy as we were
coming in from the run. I was like, is, so
this is what exercising feels like. Like my heart's pounding
and I'm like in a really good mood. I feel
like a little bit geeked. And then it's literally, that's
what a post run high actually is. I was explaining
your show to him exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So Jackie and I, for reference, for those of you listening,
we just did a running interview you're coming from my
running interview show. Welcome Jackie, and I just ran a
mile and I think it was your first time running
in a minute. We love encouraging.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
It was only a mile.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
We've probably fell it a mile maybe a little under.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh that's so disappointing. I was so proud of myself,
Like I thought we were like bolting for ages. We were,
and we were like lightly jogging for a brief time.
You were saying, Okay, I was proud of myself. I
did good.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Wait, is it true that your parents were PE teachers.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Both of my parents were fully PE teachers, incredible athletes.
Both my mom was an amazing they're both around, but
they don't aren't PE teachers anymore. So when I say
was my mom used to be like an incredible field
hockey player, ball, played everything. And my dad, who was
a gymnastics coach in Brooklyn and he trained my brother
(03:05):
and my like he was there my brother's coach for everything, soccer, baseball,
I want to say basketball. I mean it's insane, that's amazing.
And I can't kick, throw catch.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So you grew up with two pe parents that were
physical education teachers and you it was.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Just like had tap shoes on from the day I
was born, right, I just was jazz handing from birth,
and everyone else was an athlete.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Did you ever to play sports like soccer as a
little kid?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I played soccer, and I think I only remember the
story as opposed to remembering does he experience. But my
mom used to do my hair either half up or
two half ups, so I used quarter ups. Yeah, and
so in my soccer picture I'm in I think my
team was stride right. That was a shoe store and
ocean side Long Island, and there's a picture of me
(03:54):
in a yellow shirt holding a soccer ball with like
one leg up and the fake stands in the background
with my quarter ups. And apparently that was the only
time I ever played soccer. And while all the kids
were running around, I had undiagnosed adhd yeh obviously, and
I picked all the grass.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I was literally just gonna say, you were picking grass, baby.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I picked a handful and then I would throw it
in the sky and then I would count it while
all the kids ran by me.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Okay, but what I got out of that story also
was that you were one of the little girls growing
up that always had a specific hair style. I love
that always I never had that. They are always the
girls that had like the little pigtails, and they.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Were kind of no, no, no, no, that wasn't me. Okay, deeply,
deeply not me. My hair was always parted in the
middle and straight down, always and forever. I'm so independent
and fiercely self sufficient because my mom is that way, right,
Like I wore a tuxedo to my bot mitzvah wait.
I love that we like went to Ocean Side Talks.
We rented it for the whole.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Thing that is iconic, and you had a Hollywood theme
to butt Mitz. But I saw that in a podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I'll have to show you the pictures of of the
butt Mitz tucks. I just got a couple of My
mom just texted me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Okay, so you didn't love sports growing up, but you
were a child actor. You started acting when you were nine,
so I'm sure that took over your life in a
way that sports would have.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I started acting when I was nine, but even before that,
I can't think of a time when I didn't want
to do this, right. It's really wild when I really
think about it, Like when I was getting on the
train walking to Harold Square, and I'm just being like,
what the fuck you made it? It's not even nah,
I mean it is. It is actually exactly that, And
(05:20):
I guess I maybe part of my like insecurity is
even like admitting that to myself.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You've been in the industry for so long, since you
were nine years old, and to now have a show
you've been in so many shows, you've been acting your
whole life, and to now have this one show that's
the top show on Netflix for anybody listening, we're talking
about Nobody Wants This for reference that Jackie just started.
When I tell you this is the most full circle
moment for me, because I was telling Jackie before we
started recording. But I binged the show in one night,
(05:46):
and I also worked with Netflix to do a lot
of promotion for the show. I was obsessed with your character.
You were so iconic in it. It makes so much
sense that you were casted for the role. So I'm
so excited to get into everything about Nobody Wants This.
But it's amazing that you are part of a show
that's such a phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Thanks dude. That's you know, it's sort of exactly how
I feel like I'm just like you know, you make
a lot of things and you hope anyone sees any
of them, and then you do a thing and then
a lot of people see it and it just feels good.
It's just like, oh, this is definitely different.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Right, But let's back up and like talk about the
growth as an actress, because what you kind of just
explained is so common for so many actresses.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It's definitely the most common scenario, undoubtedly, right, Like, I mean,
if you're lucky, you get a couple guest stars a year.
In twenty twenty one, after Glow got canceled, I lost
my health insurance. Then we had COVID for three years,
and then we had the strike and we are coming
out of like the darkest time in decades to be
in this business. I mean there were no opportunities and
(06:45):
if that, yeah, we couldn't do anything and nobody wants
This was even on hold because of the strike. I
mean everything was on hold, right well yeah, a lot
of yeah, and a lot of things died during the
strike and then didn't come back after.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Did you film anything that never came out? No?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
No, no, no, I mean that happened with Glow because
with my show before nobody wants this. We got picked
up for a season four, so people are always like, oh,
bummed you didn't make season four. I'm like, oh no,
we wanted to let me, Oh no, we start. We
were two episodes in. We got shut down because of COVID,
and we were supposed to come back and supposed to
come back, and then we just never did.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So what was your life like during that time? Was
it like, did you feel like it was very uncertain
or were you kind of in like a comfortable spot both.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I was in an unbelievably lucky place because I had
just hosted a Netflix cooking show called Best Leftovers Ever,
which also died during COVID because the last thing anybody
wanted to do was think about how to like repurpose
food from that was all just like everything needs to
be sanitized and fresh and clean, and we were purelling
(07:49):
our groceries and x y Z. I had a really,
really unbelievably like probably the best career year of my
life in twenty nineteen, which was Glow and my cooking
show and my cartoon Dora and Me, which is an
animated preschool musical series on Amazon. But then COVID and listen,
(08:10):
it's undoubtedly worse to have never gotten those things than
to have gotten them and then literally lost them all
because of COVID, but also sucked. And so it's like,
I always feel weird talking about how much it sucked
to lose those things, because I obviously, as an actor
who had so little opportunity and so little for so long,
I understand that that is objectively worse. But I was
(08:32):
lucky because I wasn't I wasn't financially screwed. I mean,
I wasn't rolling in the dough. But I was like,
I'd be okay, where a lot of people I knew
were like literally not going to be okay. And there
were no jobs to get in the business or out
of the business. You could barely leave your house. So
I was lucky in that regard. And as far as
your question of like, what was my life like during
that time, I was, like the rest of us, more
(08:55):
concerned about getting COVID than I was about getting an
acting job because there was no vaccine. You were hearing
these terrible, these horror stories, and so I was just
pretty much staying inside and felt lucky to have worked
the year prior.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
What did you do to keep busy, Like, are you
a writer at all?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Do you like it? Am my writing partner Rachel and
I we uh, we wrote a feature and a musical feature,
but which we're going to try and take out.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I love that you have this musical theater side of
you too, write like you love singing. And I know
you auditioned for American Idol, but you were on American Idol. Yeah,
but I want you to back it up and tell us, like,
what was the first show that you were on when
you were nine?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
When I was nine, I was doing like I was auditioning.
Can you imagine? I wish I saw a video of
me at nine on an audition. I remember when I
was younger, people would say to my mom, like I'd
be on audition. They'd be like, oh, she's always on huh.
We didn't know that I was, you know, I mean,
we assumed, but that was like before they were diagnosing
girls with ADHD and so I it just was like,
(10:01):
I am an absolute internal combustion engine. This is just
sort of what it is. And when I go to sleep,
I go to go to sleep.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Do you feel like that energy level has helped you
with acting?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, I have so much energy. I was like,
I need to do stuff. So I was like touring
and I was like a musical comedian and I was
on the road for it. And so I think the
energy definitely helps with things like that where I'm just
like planning a tour and going on and doing every
single thing myself, going to these college conferences and trying
to get booked and then flying to Carney, Nebraska and
flying to South Dakota. And it definitely helps in those regards.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
But it's so interesting how much you've done, So can
you give us like kind of a career path and
like how you got to where you are today.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah. So when I was a kid, I was very
lucky because my mom had a close friend named Aggie Gould,
who ran a company out of Baldwin, Long Island called
Fresh Faces Agency. She represented me, and I always wanted
to be a TV star. Always cannot remember a time
where I wasn't like in the back doing impressions of
(11:01):
commercials like it's just for this forever. And my mom
is deeply sickly funny, like she was beyond. My dad's
really funny too, but he's very musically gifted. He writes,
songs and sings and plays piano and he taught me
how to play guitar. Yeah, he's unbelievable. And so I
came from a very artistic family, but nobody was pursuing it.
(11:21):
And then when I wanted to be an actor, my
mom quit her job, and I mean she, I think
she was already substitute teaching because she was raising me
and two brothers, and my dad was working full time.
He's also a postal historian, so he was insane, so
he was like doing these trade shows on the weekend
and working five days a week, working thirty something weekends
a year. And so my mom was raising me and
(11:44):
my brothers and substitute teaching at that point. And so
then I think she stopped doing that to take me
on auditions. And when I think I got my first
gig on The Nanny when I was like twelve, and
then they were really few and far between. I did
a bunch of stuff for Nickelodeon. I had like a
development deal at nick They were trying to make me
like a kid's show. I tested for all that, you know,
(12:06):
four or five seasons in a row, and then they
made me my own show called and now This, which
was a spin off of all that, All That and
now This, and then we only did a couple episodes
and then I probably was fifteen at that point. And
then when I was then I went to university to Delaware.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You were setting like to be an elementary school teacher,
right or something like that.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Listen, Yes, the University of Delaware is the reason I
moved to LA because we had such a long break.
There was a mini mester between December and February, so
all my friends in BacT school in January, and since
we had such a long break, my agent was like,
go to LA. It's pilot season. It's like the young
(12:45):
adult year of the you know, Dawson's Creek had just
come out, and she was like, go to LA. Let's
try it out. You have like practically six seven weeks
to be out there. So don't think we went out
for quite that long. But we went out for a while,
me my mom and my agent. And then I was
getting so many meetings and so many things. And then
this guy, Danny Jacobson signed me to a development deal
(13:07):
and he was gonna write me a show. He show
ran Roseanne and Modern I'm not I'm mad about you,
and I was like, well, I guess I'm robbing out
of school. And then I was still on the fence.
And I went to the TV Guide Awards with my
friend Ben Salisbury, who had been on The Nanny with
Many many years ago, and I met one of my
favorite actresses who yes, I had posters of on my wall,
Jessica biel Oh my god. We became good friends at
(13:30):
the TV Guide Awards. We literally met and were like
what very similar vibes, deep voices, very like tomboy energy.
She drove like a super fucking old like Bronco, just
like she's such a badass. We met, we were like, okay,
game recognized game. Not that I'm nearly as cool as her,
but you get the point all of this. I was like,
(13:51):
I gotta go back to college and she was like, huh,
how old was she? Like was she she was seventeen?
I was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And she was like just moving with me, like the
guys are.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
So young, literally, Jessica bielle children.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Maybe she was like she was like, move in with
me and my parents in Calabasas. I was like, I
don't have a car. She was like, use my car.
And now because I wasn't moving into nowhere. My parents
were like, okay. Her mom called my mom. Her mom,
Kim is like still close to me to this day,
and she called my mom, was like, hey, I'm Jesse's mom,
and my parents came out. They met Jesse's parents, and
(14:23):
my parents were like, okay, I mean, if you're going
to be moving here and living with a family in
a gated community, I mean best case scenario. And of
course I couldn't stay there forever, and so then I
moved out. Then a girl named Brie, Brie Blair, who's
still one of my closest friends to this day, who
was Stacey in the original BABYSITTERSS Club movie. She tested
for a pilot I did when I was fifteen. Brie
(14:44):
and I stayed friends, and then she dropped out of college,
and then after I moved out of Jesse's, I moved
in with Brie.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Okay, and then the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And the rest is history, and I never left LA
except to do a play in New York for a
couple of years.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
That's amazing, And your career just kind of took off
from there.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Kind of you to say, no, my career took off
very few years ago. My career took off at glow.
I was I was like between organizing jobs and touring
and making a couple hundred bucks to play a gig
here and.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
There for Depth Cloud. What is it like auditioning and
then like facing rejection.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean my closet was provided by Kristen's hand me downs. Truly. Yeah,
it was cool. You know, I was really lucky because
I always had like something I was by no means
on like hit shows and working all the time and
killing it as an actor and an enter. But I
(15:47):
was like getting a commercial here and there and touring
if I needed to, And so I was like staving
off having to get a nine to five or do
you know a lot of the jobs that I took
were by no means glamorous, but they were at least,
and I feel grateful for this, they were at least
in the direction or career I wanted them to be.
(16:09):
And like when I talk about my college touring, it
was rough. Like I was in motels right, and like
sometimes I had to change the motel because it was
like genuinely concerning and I would call the front, like
I had this one time I called the front desk
because I was like the guy the people staying next
to me are banging on the wall and like screaming
things through the wall, and she was like, those guys
are really drunk and I saw them come in. If
(16:31):
you'd like, I can escort you back to your car,
and I don't think it's a bad idea for you
to And the woman at the front desk helped me
find somewhere else to stay and like escorted me out
of it. That was like I was young and I
had a guitar on my back and I was in
these random small towns across the country, which so many
of are beautiful, but they were like shady situations all
(16:52):
the time. This wasn't the erastour mom. This was like
me alone in a Yaris rental car that the guitar
had to be like out the window of it was
like wild.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I have so much respect for it because it's so
amazing and it's such a testament and it's so amazing
for people to hear that want to get into acting,
and it's such a testament of you keep pushing for
something that you want and eventually it will come into
fruition as long as you believe in yourself, you know,
and then it's like the perfect part comes along. Nobody
wants this.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I feel so lucky.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
When did you first audition? And I know you're really
good friends with Kristin Bell, right, you guys have been
friends for twenty years, which is amazing. So I have
so many questions about kind of the relationship in the
show that you guys got to play.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
When I think of my dog Glenn and I think
of Kristin and my boyfriend Joe, the same thing happens
to my face. It turns into like you get.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Like excited, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Wow, I love those I love those ones. Like it's
like I almost feel like yeah, like they're my like
they're my babies.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
How excited was Kristin when she found out that you
were auditioning for the role.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think she was pumped, But I think I don't know.
I mean never, I never asked her. I mean, I
think it's very rare in anyone's career for them to
try out for something that they're so dead right for,
Like it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
A lot like Mell's so right for it.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But Melrose that I played on Glow, they were not
looking for me. They were looking for like a Paris
Hilton type, like she was the party girl and she
was this interesting. But then I came in and I
was reading for Ruth originally, which was Ali Breeze Roll,
and I was like, coming back for it, coming back
for it. I think that they loved Ali for Ruth
because she's brilliant and perfect for it. They wanted to
put me somewhere, and I was. I tried out for
(18:27):
Shila the Wolf, and I tried out for the cheerleader,
and they were like, what is And then what I
brought to the Melrose character was completely different than what
they had in mind. And so it's not like I
walked up to that audition and I was like, Bam,
let's go. But when I read esther, I was like,
oh my god. I mean, if you think about it,
(18:50):
the odds does an actor that you're ever like just
dead right for something. It doesn't come along that often right,
especially if you're kind of particular like me. And then
also your good friend is working on that show. It's
really a marriage of things that is like so divine
it is that it's really hard to wrap even my
own brain.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
No, it literally gives me chills peak roll was so
meant for you. And I know you grew up in
a Jewish household, so I'm curious, like how much influence
were you able to draw from your up?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I mean all it was funny because for the bot Mitzvahcine,
I wore this black dress and I called my mom
and I was like, Jewish women don't wear black to
about misfits. She was like, well, Orthodox probably don't because
we wear black for Shiva and for funerals. But she
was like for a reform, and then she like checked
with some people and she was like, no, a black
dress is okay for reform. So sweet.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you were calling your mom being like is this
is yes?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Right? Like are you a too resultant? Because the dress
we liked best and Noigar our costumer, who's incredible, We
all love this black dress best. But I was like,
let me just call my mom and make sure that
like black is okay. I mean for most people it is,
but for like mother of the butt mytz, I was
just double checking.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Absolutely. Oh my god, the butt Mitzvacine was so cute.
Thank you, But the girl that played your daughter and
you guys cutting the dress, oh, I was just like,
genuinely so obsessed with your character, and I'm curious because
you and Kristin are such good friends. I think the
funniest part about it was obviously you have so much
love for Kristin, and I feel like that underlying theme
throughout the show is like you actually kind of like
her in the show esther.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Ends up, I mean falling for Joanne the way everybody does.
She's funny, she's huge, charming.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
But what was it like playing a character that had
to all of a sudden act like they didn't like
your best friend? Like, was that funny for you?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
It was funny, But it's also like acting is so
it's so fun and silly, and obviously it could be
challenging at times, but like playing like you don't it's
not you know what I mean, I'm not Anthony Hopkins.
It's like it's fine, I just pretended I didn't, you
know what I mean. It's like it was it was
really fun and afterwards we would always laugh, and I
(20:49):
think I was trying to with most of the other
characters anyway, insert a little bit of levity, like because
I obviously didn't, I don't want her to have the
same relationship with every person on the show, and just
you know, she's scarcely loyal and she loves her husband
and her daughter. She's not so thrilled about this new kitten.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I feel like I really connected to the show because
Jeremy's family and his grandma they are like, they're very
religious Jews, and I grew up Catholic, Roman Catholic. I
went to Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school. But it's
funny because I like called Jeremy's grandma and I'm like,
so would you consider me a shitzva? And like keep
in mind, Oh my god, you guys, what do you say?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I love you so much, not even close shiksa? But
what's so cute? Wait, god, it's so cute. Everyone at
homest I know this. So when we were on our run,
Kate was like, which one of us do you think
is Jewish?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
H huh?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And I was like, not you. Yeah, it's just really
cute because like, no, right, you're too, I mean, not you.
And I just loved it because I don't know what
it is about about like my like Judaism radar, but
like it's pretty I don't know if I've been I
don't think if I've been wrong. I mean, maybe maybe,
but today I wasn't. Yeah, I wonder what it is.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I recently did a play reading with Jason Alexander in
la and you want to talk on bench what just
an absolutely delightful human being. But what was really interesting
is like I was a little hesitant to say it,
but once I said it, I was relieved. I was like,
do you not feel like we're related? And he was like,
I feel like we're related. It was immediate. The second
we met, it was like you you hi, Hello up.
(22:26):
The second we walked in, He's like, well, part of
Long Island you from, and I'm like, ocean side you.
He's like, well, no I'm not, but my wife is
from myself. And I was like, again, I can't really
explain it. To be honest, I wish I could. Yeah,
but I just think it's like it's a cultural connection.
I think it's anybody of the same culture, you know.
I remember in high school I had friends who were
Greek Orthodox and we went to another town and there
(22:48):
was like one of my good friends. Funny enough, on
two of my good best girlfriends were dating Nicos and
they're from different towns, and when the two nicos met,
it was like they were from the same family.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
It's just me.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
You just get it, and I think, you know with Jews,
we have that same thing.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So nobody wants this. Do we know yet if there's
gonna be a season two?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yes, we do. We found out two weeks after we aired.
I had no We've known there's gonna be a season
two for like a month.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Okay, so nobody wants a season two. Have you guys
started filming? When do you start filming?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
We start filming, I heard, but I don't know, so
hopefully I'm saying this right, but I heard February. But
also like, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And how much time do you need to prepare for
the role?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
None? Really, I mean whenever we get the script, so
you know, like a few days prior. You just memorize
each scene as you're gonna film it, so and you
don't film and you film the episodes in order, but
you don't film the scenes in order, so you'll just
see what's seen you're filming next, and you'll memorize that,
hopefully a couple of days prior. But you get really
familiar with each script beforehand, depending on how long before
(23:48):
you shoot you get them, but generally that's not very long.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
When you're acting out the scene. How much of it
is memorization from the script as it is also like
are you doing any improv.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
So it depends. So like I did an episode of
I was in the season premiere of NCIS, I played
a divorce attorney, and it was like a very intell
like zero, like you need to memorize exactly word for
word what is on that page. You do not deviate,
you do not make it your own. No, baby, you
show up, you do the job, you go home. On Glow,
(24:19):
the writing was so unbelievable and similar to nobody wants this.
But a lot of times on Glow people thought I improvised,
Like in this episode where Ruth shows up and she's
wearing cute little rebox and I forgot my exercise shoes
because I'm out from being out all night, and I
see her rebox and she's like, oh, I have these
(24:40):
other shoes. They're like these brown nursing shoes. She's like,
for my other job, waitressing. And I look at them
and I'm like, where did you waitress a nursing home?
In Poland, and everybody texted me like, oh that's so you.
Oh my god, I love that you made that up.
Yeah I didn't.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Those were our writers. They heard me, and they heard
how I deliver information and how I deliver jokes, and
then catered the writing to that. So then I looked better,
The show looked better. Everything, all the puzzle pieces fit
together better because everybody instead of like working again. Obviously
(25:15):
wouldn't be any service to anyone to work against your strengths,
but they took who we all were. And then there
were some things in Glow that you said, but it
was mostly all written now on nobody wants this again,
almost exclusively written. But there are bits and pieces like
we were in this panel yesterday and I found this
because I wasn't in that scene. But like where Tim
(25:38):
who plays Sasha, says that when he looks at old
pictures of Mandy Bittank and he gets a half sandwich.
Apparently he completely improvised that, and then Kristen popped in like,
oh yeah there was a woman there was Oh, I've
been to this corner a woman got hit on a bike,
Like he's such an idiot. Yeah, so he's improvising a
lot and saying a bunch of different stuff, and when
he and Iron scenes together, all bets are off. So
we definitely do everything that's on the page. But then
(26:00):
if there's a little moment where we additionally want to,
like he says, what are you doing when he comes
in the room, we like improvise that. So the scene
started just after, but they were like, oh, Tim, you
know what, let's have you enter. So he comes in,
He's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, pairing
your gargantuan socks? What does it look like? So we're
just making things up and talking to each other in character,
and then the scene starts. We do the whole scene,
(26:23):
and then he leaves and he's like, so these shorts
do nothing for you. I'm like, it's the mesh. Like
everything we're saying as he's exiting is improvised as well.
Interesting scene, but it's just like we didn't know when
we were doing those things. Is the scene going to
start where the page starts or is it going to
start with our little moment?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And then subsequently is it going to end where the
page ends or is it gonna end after our little
So yeah, they were very open to our to having
us play and make the character as our own. But
also the show is so well written, so we obviously
said everything that was on the page in addition to
adding our own little.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So season two, you guys are going to start filming soon?
Anything else coming up that you're excited about?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I mean, it's so soon. It's already November. We're starting
in February. So it's like I'm hoping to have it's
been a crazy The show came out September twenty sixth.
It's November.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I can't believe it was so recent, Like I can't.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Believe it was so recent or so long ago. In
this weird way where like somehow it's still in the
top ten, and with Netflix, because everything comes out at
one time.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Thank god, I was able to binge one stop the
best five hours of your life.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
But like it's because it all comes out at once.
It's hard with a show that comes out and is
only ten episodes, right to keep the excitement going because
everyone saw it already in September, And so we're in
this really cool and exciting and rare place where it's
November and we're still able to talk about it. Which
(27:51):
makes me happy.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
That's for sure, Absolutely all right. I like to end
my episodes with a special kick. With a special kick, okay,
And one final question, which is a manifestation. I want
you to let us know what are we manifesting for
twenty twenty five? Let me hear it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Health for my family, health for me and my boyfriend Joe,
love for me and my boyfriend Joe, health, and twenty
eight more years of life for my baby son, Glenn,
so Glenn will live till twenty sixty five. And that
nobody wants this season two is so fun and delicious
(28:29):
to make, and that some cool other things I don't know,
maybe that Nanny Broadway show happens. And someone says, does
Jackie want to read for this? And I say yes,
missus Chamfium, Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
My gosh, well, I am absolutely rooting for you in
every single thing you do.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Thanks, I'm rooting for you, the cutest, brightest, angelest person.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Thought you were going to trick me thinking you were Jewish.
Thank you so friend,
What's up, guys, Welcome back to Post friend High. I
am so excited for you guys to watch or listen
to today's interview with Jackie Ton. Jackie is one of
the stars of Netflix's Nobody Wants This. Season two is
coming out in February, so I was super excited to
be able to sit down with Jackie, learn all about her,
(00:23):
hear about the filming of the show, and I really
think you guys are going to enjoy this episode. A
few months ago, when the show Nobody Wants This first
came out, I watched it in one sitting, binged the
entire show in one night. And I think it's because
I relate so much to the characters in the show.
For those of you who don't know, my fiancee, Jeremy
(00:44):
is Jewish and I'm Catholic, and Jeremy's family is just
full of so many characters. I'm really really close with
Jeremy's grandma, Grandma Bee, and Grandma Bee is just such
a stereotypical Jewish grandma, if you know, you know. And
so when I was watching Nobody Wants This, I just
(01:05):
felt like I was almost watching my own life on screen,
Like I connected so much to the characters in the show,
so to be able to a few months later sit
down with Jackie, it really is just a dream. Anyways,
I don't want to ramble, so I just want to
say thank you so much. It's absolutely incredible that we
have gone from running on the streets of New York
(01:27):
with a tripod in hand, asking strangers to run with
me in exchange for a pair of sneakers, to now
being able to sit down with our guests after our
runs and just go even deeper. Your support really does
mean the world to me. So make sure you follow
this podcast, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and without further ado,
let's get this. Let's us Jackie what welcome to post
(01:55):
run High.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Thank you very much. I asked Jeremy as we were
coming in from the run. I was like, is, so
this is what exercising feels like. Like my heart's pounding
and I'm like in a really good mood. I feel
like a little bit geeked. And then it's literally, that's
what a post run high actually is. I was explaining
your show to him exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So Jackie and I, for reference, for those of you listening,
we just did a running interview you're coming from my
running interview show. Welcome Jackie, and I just ran a
mile and I think it was your first time running
in a minute. We love encouraging.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
It was only a mile.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
We've probably fell it a mile maybe a little under.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh that's so disappointing. I was so proud of myself,
Like I thought we were like bolting for ages. We were,
and we were like lightly jogging for a brief time.
You were saying, Okay, I was proud of myself. I
did good.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Wait, is it true that your parents were PE teachers.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Both of my parents were fully PE teachers, incredible athletes.
Both my mom was an amazing they're both around, but
they don't aren't PE teachers anymore. So when I say
was my mom used to be like an incredible field
hockey player, ball, played everything. And my dad, who was
a gymnastics coach in Brooklyn and he trained my brother
(03:05):
and my like he was there my brother's coach for everything, soccer, baseball,
I want to say basketball. I mean it's insane, that's amazing.
And I can't kick, throw catch.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So you grew up with two pe parents that were
physical education teachers and you it was.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Just like had tap shoes on from the day I
was born, right, I just was jazz handing from birth,
and everyone else was an athlete.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Did you ever to play sports like soccer as a
little kid?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I played soccer, and I think I only remember the
story as opposed to remembering does he experience. But my
mom used to do my hair either half up or
two half ups, so I used quarter ups. Yeah, and
so in my soccer picture I'm in I think my
team was stride right. That was a shoe store and
ocean side Long Island, and there's a picture of me
(03:54):
in a yellow shirt holding a soccer ball with like
one leg up and the fake stands in the background
with my quarter ups. And apparently that was the only
time I ever played soccer. And while all the kids
were running around, I had undiagnosed adhd yeh obviously, and
I picked all the grass.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I was literally just gonna say, you were picking grass, baby.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I picked a handful and then I would throw it
in the sky and then I would count it while
all the kids ran by me.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Okay, but what I got out of that story also
was that you were one of the little girls growing
up that always had a specific hair style. I love
that always I never had that. They are always the
girls that had like the little pigtails, and they.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Were kind of no, no, no, no, that wasn't me. Okay, deeply,
deeply not me. My hair was always parted in the
middle and straight down, always and forever. I'm so independent
and fiercely self sufficient because my mom is that way, right,
Like I wore a tuxedo to my bot mitzvah wait.
I love that we like went to Ocean Side Talks.
We rented it for the whole.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Thing that is iconic, and you had a Hollywood theme
to butt Mitz. But I saw that in a podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I'll have to show you the pictures of of the
butt Mitz tucks. I just got a couple of My
mom just texted me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Okay, so you didn't love sports growing up, but you
were a child actor. You started acting when you were nine,
so I'm sure that took over your life in a
way that sports would have.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I started acting when I was nine, but even before that,
I can't think of a time when I didn't want
to do this, right. It's really wild when I really
think about it, Like when I was getting on the
train walking to Harold Square, and I'm just being like,
what the fuck you made it? It's not even nah,
I mean it is. It is actually exactly that, And
(05:20):
I guess I maybe part of my like insecurity is
even like admitting that to myself.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You've been in the industry for so long, since you
were nine years old, and to now have a show
you've been in so many shows, you've been acting your
whole life, and to now have this one show that's
the top show on Netflix for anybody listening, we're talking
about Nobody Wants This for reference that Jackie just started.
When I tell you this is the most full circle
moment for me, because I was telling Jackie before we
started recording. But I binged the show in one night,
(05:46):
and I also worked with Netflix to do a lot
of promotion for the show. I was obsessed with your character.
You were so iconic in it. It makes so much
sense that you were casted for the role. So I'm
so excited to get into everything about Nobody Wants This.
But it's amazing that you are part of a show
that's such a phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Thanks dude. That's you know, it's sort of exactly how
I feel like I'm just like you know, you make
a lot of things and you hope anyone sees any
of them, and then you do a thing and then
a lot of people see it and it just feels good.
It's just like, oh, this is definitely different.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Right, But let's back up and like talk about the
growth as an actress, because what you kind of just
explained is so common for so many actresses.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It's definitely the most common scenario, undoubtedly, right, Like, I mean,
if you're lucky, you get a couple guest stars a year.
In twenty twenty one, after Glow got canceled, I lost
my health insurance. Then we had COVID for three years,
and then we had the strike and we are coming
out of like the darkest time in decades to be
in this business. I mean there were no opportunities and
(06:45):
if that, yeah, we couldn't do anything and nobody wants
This was even on hold because of the strike. I
mean everything was on hold, right well yeah, a lot
of yeah, and a lot of things died during the
strike and then didn't come back after.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Did you film anything that never came out? No?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
No, no, no, I mean that happened with Glow because
with my show before nobody wants this. We got picked
up for a season four, so people are always like, oh,
bummed you didn't make season four. I'm like, oh no,
we wanted to let me, Oh no, we start. We
were two episodes in. We got shut down because of COVID,
and we were supposed to come back and supposed to
come back, and then we just never did.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So what was your life like during that time? Was
it like, did you feel like it was very uncertain
or were you kind of in like a comfortable spot both.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I was in an unbelievably lucky place because I had
just hosted a Netflix cooking show called Best Leftovers Ever,
which also died during COVID because the last thing anybody
wanted to do was think about how to like repurpose
food from that was all just like everything needs to
be sanitized and fresh and clean, and we were purelling
(07:49):
our groceries and x y Z. I had a really,
really unbelievably like probably the best career year of my
life in twenty nineteen, which was Glow and my cooking
show and my cartoon Dora and Me, which is an
animated preschool musical series on Amazon. But then COVID and listen,
(08:10):
it's undoubtedly worse to have never gotten those things than
to have gotten them and then literally lost them all
because of COVID, but also sucked. And so it's like,
I always feel weird talking about how much it sucked
to lose those things, because I obviously, as an actor
who had so little opportunity and so little for so long,
I understand that that is objectively worse. But I was
(08:32):
lucky because I wasn't I wasn't financially screwed. I mean,
I wasn't rolling in the dough. But I was like,
I'd be okay, where a lot of people I knew
were like literally not going to be okay. And there
were no jobs to get in the business or out
of the business. You could barely leave your house. So
I was lucky in that regard. And as far as
your question of like, what was my life like during
that time, I was, like the rest of us, more
(08:55):
concerned about getting COVID than I was about getting an
acting job because there was no vaccine. You were hearing
these terrible, these horror stories, and so I was just
pretty much staying inside and felt lucky to have worked
the year prior.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
What did you do to keep busy, Like, are you
a writer at all?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Do you like it? Am my writing partner Rachel and
I we uh, we wrote a feature and a musical feature,
but which we're going to try and take out.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I love that you have this musical theater side of
you too, write like you love singing. And I know
you auditioned for American Idol, but you were on American Idol. Yeah,
but I want you to back it up and tell us, like,
what was the first show that you were on when
you were nine?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
When I was nine, I was doing like I was auditioning.
Can you imagine? I wish I saw a video of
me at nine on an audition. I remember when I
was younger, people would say to my mom, like I'd
be on audition. They'd be like, oh, she's always on huh.
We didn't know that I was, you know, I mean,
we assumed, but that was like before they were diagnosing
girls with ADHD and so I it just was like,
(10:01):
I am an absolute internal combustion engine. This is just
sort of what it is. And when I go to sleep,
I go to go to sleep.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Do you feel like that energy level has helped you
with acting?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, I have so much energy. I was like,
I need to do stuff. So I was like touring
and I was like a musical comedian and I was
on the road for it. And so I think the
energy definitely helps with things like that where I'm just
like planning a tour and going on and doing every
single thing myself, going to these college conferences and trying
to get booked and then flying to Carney, Nebraska and
flying to South Dakota. And it definitely helps in those regards.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
But it's so interesting how much you've done, So can
you give us like kind of a career path and
like how you got to where you are today.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah. So when I was a kid, I was very
lucky because my mom had a close friend named Aggie Gould,
who ran a company out of Baldwin, Long Island called
Fresh Faces Agency. She represented me, and I always wanted
to be a TV star. Always cannot remember a time
where I wasn't like in the back doing impressions of
(11:01):
commercials like it's just for this forever. And my mom
is deeply sickly funny, like she was beyond. My dad's
really funny too, but he's very musically gifted. He writes,
songs and sings and plays piano and he taught me
how to play guitar. Yeah, he's unbelievable. And so I
came from a very artistic family, but nobody was pursuing it.
(11:21):
And then when I wanted to be an actor, my
mom quit her job, and I mean she, I think
she was already substitute teaching because she was raising me
and two brothers, and my dad was working full time.
He's also a postal historian, so he was insane, so
he was like doing these trade shows on the weekend
and working five days a week, working thirty something weekends
a year. And so my mom was raising me and
(11:44):
my brothers and substitute teaching at that point. And so
then I think she stopped doing that to take me
on auditions. And when I think I got my first
gig on The Nanny when I was like twelve, and
then they were really few and far between. I did
a bunch of stuff for Nickelodeon. I had like a
development deal at nick They were trying to make me
like a kid's show. I tested for all that, you know,
(12:06):
four or five seasons in a row, and then they
made me my own show called and now This, which
was a spin off of all that, All That and
now This, and then we only did a couple episodes
and then I probably was fifteen at that point. And
then when I was then I went to university to Delaware.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You were setting like to be an elementary school teacher,
right or something like that.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Listen, Yes, the University of Delaware is the reason I
moved to LA because we had such a long break.
There was a mini mester between December and February, so
all my friends in BacT school in January, and since
we had such a long break, my agent was like,
go to LA. It's pilot season. It's like the young
(12:45):
adult year of the you know, Dawson's Creek had just
come out, and she was like, go to LA. Let's
try it out. You have like practically six seven weeks
to be out there. So don't think we went out
for quite that long. But we went out for a while,
me my mom and my agent. And then I was
getting so many meetings and so many things. And then
this guy, Danny Jacobson signed me to a development deal
(13:07):
and he was gonna write me a show. He show
ran Roseanne and Modern I'm not I'm mad about you,
and I was like, well, I guess I'm robbing out
of school. And then I was still on the fence.
And I went to the TV Guide Awards with my
friend Ben Salisbury, who had been on The Nanny with
Many many years ago, and I met one of my
favorite actresses who yes, I had posters of on my wall,
Jessica biel Oh my god. We became good friends at
(13:30):
the TV Guide Awards. We literally met and were like
what very similar vibes, deep voices, very like tomboy energy.
She drove like a super fucking old like Bronco, just
like she's such a badass. We met, we were like, okay,
game recognized game. Not that I'm nearly as cool as her,
but you get the point all of this. I was like,
(13:51):
I gotta go back to college and she was like, huh,
how old was she? Like was she she was seventeen?
I was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And she was like just moving with me, like the
guys are.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
So young, literally, Jessica bielle children.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Maybe she was like she was like, move in with
me and my parents in Calabasas. I was like, I
don't have a car. She was like, use my car.
And now because I wasn't moving into nowhere. My parents
were like, okay. Her mom called my mom. Her mom,
Kim is like still close to me to this day,
and she called my mom, was like, hey, I'm Jesse's mom,
and my parents came out. They met Jesse's parents, and
(14:23):
my parents were like, okay, I mean, if you're going
to be moving here and living with a family in
a gated community, I mean best case scenario. And of
course I couldn't stay there forever, and so then I
moved out. Then a girl named Brie, Brie Blair, who's
still one of my closest friends to this day, who
was Stacey in the original BABYSITTERSS Club movie. She tested
for a pilot I did when I was fifteen. Brie
(14:44):
and I stayed friends, and then she dropped out of college,
and then after I moved out of Jesse's, I moved
in with Brie.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Okay, and then the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And the rest is history, and I never left LA
except to do a play in New York for a
couple of years.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
That's amazing, And your career just kind of took off
from there.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Kind of you to say, no, my career took off
very few years ago. My career took off at glow.
I was I was like between organizing jobs and touring
and making a couple hundred bucks to play a gig
here and.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
There for Depth Cloud. What is it like auditioning and
then like facing rejection.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I mean my closet was provided by Kristen's hand me downs. Truly. Yeah,
it was cool. You know, I was really lucky because
I always had like something I was by no means
on like hit shows and working all the time and
killing it as an actor and an enter. But I
(15:47):
was like getting a commercial here and there and touring
if I needed to, And so I was like staving
off having to get a nine to five or do
you know a lot of the jobs that I took
were by no means glamorous, but they were at least,
and I feel grateful for this, they were at least
in the direction or career I wanted them to be.
(16:09):
And like when I talk about my college touring, it
was rough. Like I was in motels right, and like
sometimes I had to change the motel because it was
like genuinely concerning and I would call the front, like
I had this one time I called the front desk
because I was like the guy the people staying next
to me are banging on the wall and like screaming
things through the wall, and she was like, those guys
are really drunk and I saw them come in. If
(16:31):
you'd like, I can escort you back to your car,
and I don't think it's a bad idea for you
to And the woman at the front desk helped me
find somewhere else to stay and like escorted me out
of it. That was like I was young and I
had a guitar on my back and I was in
these random small towns across the country, which so many
of are beautiful, but they were like shady situations all
(16:52):
the time. This wasn't the erastour mom. This was like
me alone in a Yaris rental car that the guitar
had to be like out the window of it was
like wild.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I have so much respect for it because it's so
amazing and it's such a testament and it's so amazing
for people to hear that want to get into acting,
and it's such a testament of you keep pushing for
something that you want and eventually it will come into
fruition as long as you believe in yourself, you know,
and then it's like the perfect part comes along. Nobody
wants this.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I feel so lucky.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
When did you first audition? And I know you're really
good friends with Kristin Bell, right, you guys have been
friends for twenty years, which is amazing. So I have
so many questions about kind of the relationship in the
show that you guys got to play.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
When I think of my dog Glenn and I think
of Kristin and my boyfriend Joe, the same thing happens
to my face. It turns into like you get.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Like excited, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Wow, I love those I love those ones. Like it's
like I almost feel like yeah, like they're my like
they're my babies.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
How excited was Kristin when she found out that you
were auditioning for the role.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think she was pumped, But I think I don't know.
I mean never, I never asked her. I mean, I
think it's very rare in anyone's career for them to
try out for something that they're so dead right for,
Like it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
A lot like Mell's so right for it.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But Melrose that I played on Glow, they were not
looking for me. They were looking for like a Paris
Hilton type, like she was the party girl and she
was this interesting. But then I came in and I
was reading for Ruth originally, which was Ali Breeze Roll,
and I was like, coming back for it, coming back
for it. I think that they loved Ali for Ruth
because she's brilliant and perfect for it. They wanted to
put me somewhere, and I was. I tried out for
(18:27):
Shila the Wolf, and I tried out for the cheerleader,
and they were like, what is And then what I
brought to the Melrose character was completely different than what
they had in mind. And so it's not like I
walked up to that audition and I was like, Bam,
let's go. But when I read esther, I was like,
oh my god. I mean, if you think about it,
(18:50):
the odds does an actor that you're ever like just
dead right for something. It doesn't come along that often right,
especially if you're kind of particular like me. And then
also your good friend is working on that show. It's
really a marriage of things that is like so divine
it is that it's really hard to wrap even my
own brain.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
No, it literally gives me chills peak roll was so
meant for you. And I know you grew up in
a Jewish household, so I'm curious, like how much influence
were you able to draw from your up?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I mean all it was funny because for the bot Mitzvahcine,
I wore this black dress and I called my mom
and I was like, Jewish women don't wear black to
about misfits. She was like, well, Orthodox probably don't because
we wear black for Shiva and for funerals. But she
was like for a reform, and then she like checked
with some people and she was like, no, a black
dress is okay for reform. So sweet.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you were calling your mom being like is this
is yes?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Right? Like are you a too resultant? Because the dress
we liked best and Noigar our costumer, who's incredible, We
all love this black dress best. But I was like,
let me just call my mom and make sure that
like black is okay. I mean for most people it is,
but for like mother of the butt mytz, I was
just double checking.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Absolutely. Oh my god, the butt Mitzvacine was so cute.
Thank you, But the girl that played your daughter and
you guys cutting the dress, oh, I was just like,
genuinely so obsessed with your character, and I'm curious because
you and Kristin are such good friends. I think the
funniest part about it was obviously you have so much
love for Kristin, and I feel like that underlying theme
throughout the show is like you actually kind of like
her in the show esther.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Ends up, I mean falling for Joanne the way everybody does.
She's funny, she's huge, charming.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
But what was it like playing a character that had
to all of a sudden act like they didn't like
your best friend? Like, was that funny for you?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
It was funny, But it's also like acting is so
it's so fun and silly, and obviously it could be
challenging at times, but like playing like you don't it's
not you know what I mean, I'm not Anthony Hopkins.
It's like it's fine, I just pretended I didn't, you
know what I mean. It's like it was it was
really fun and afterwards we would always laugh, and I
(20:49):
think I was trying to with most of the other
characters anyway, insert a little bit of levity, like because
I obviously didn't, I don't want her to have the
same relationship with every person on the show, and just
you know, she's scarcely loyal and she loves her husband
and her daughter. She's not so thrilled about this new kitten.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I feel like I really connected to the show because
Jeremy's family and his grandma they are like, they're very
religious Jews, and I grew up Catholic, Roman Catholic. I
went to Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school. But it's
funny because I like called Jeremy's grandma and I'm like,
so would you consider me a shitzva? And like keep
in mind, Oh my god, you guys, what do you say?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
I love you so much, not even close shiksa? But
what's so cute? Wait, god, it's so cute. Everyone at
homest I know this. So when we were on our run,
Kate was like, which one of us do you think
is Jewish?
Speaker 1 (21:40):
H huh?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
And I was like, not you. Yeah, it's just really
cute because like, no, right, you're too, I mean, not you.
And I just loved it because I don't know what
it is about about like my like Judaism radar, but
like it's pretty I don't know if I've been I
don't think if I've been wrong. I mean, maybe maybe,
but today I wasn't. Yeah, I wonder what it is.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I recently did a play reading with Jason Alexander in
la and you want to talk on bench what just
an absolutely delightful human being. But what was really interesting
is like I was a little hesitant to say it,
but once I said it, I was relieved. I was like,
do you not feel like we're related? And he was like,
I feel like we're related. It was immediate. The second
we met, it was like you you hi, Hello up.
(22:26):
The second we walked in, He's like, well, part of
Long Island you from, and I'm like, ocean side you.
He's like, well, no I'm not, but my wife is
from myself. And I was like, again, I can't really
explain it. To be honest, I wish I could. Yeah,
but I just think it's like it's a cultural connection.
I think it's anybody of the same culture, you know.
I remember in high school I had friends who were
Greek Orthodox and we went to another town and there
(22:48):
was like one of my good friends. Funny enough, on
two of my good best girlfriends were dating Nicos and
they're from different towns, and when the two nicos met,
it was like they were from the same family.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
It's just me.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
You just get it, and I think, you know with Jews,
we have that same thing.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So nobody wants this. Do we know yet if there's
gonna be a season two?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yes, we do. We found out two weeks after we aired.
I had no We've known there's gonna be a season
two for like a month.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Okay, so nobody wants a season two. Have you guys
started filming? When do you start filming?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
We start filming, I heard, but I don't know, so
hopefully I'm saying this right, but I heard February. But
also like, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And how much time do you need to prepare for
the role?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
None? Really, I mean whenever we get the script, so
you know, like a few days prior. You just memorize
each scene as you're gonna film it, so and you
don't film and you film the episodes in order, but
you don't film the scenes in order, so you'll just
see what's seen you're filming next, and you'll memorize that,
hopefully a couple of days prior. But you get really
familiar with each script beforehand, depending on how long before
(23:48):
you shoot you get them, but generally that's not very long.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
When you're acting out the scene. How much of it
is memorization from the script as it is also like
are you doing any improv.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
So it depends. So like I did an episode of
I was in the season premiere of NCIS, I played
a divorce attorney, and it was like a very intell
like zero, like you need to memorize exactly word for
word what is on that page. You do not deviate,
you do not make it your own. No, baby, you
show up, you do the job, you go home. On Glow,
(24:19):
the writing was so unbelievable and similar to nobody wants this.
But a lot of times on Glow people thought I improvised,
Like in this episode where Ruth shows up and she's
wearing cute little rebox and I forgot my exercise shoes
because I'm out from being out all night, and I
see her rebox and she's like, oh, I have these
(24:40):
other shoes. They're like these brown nursing shoes. She's like,
for my other job, waitressing. And I look at them
and I'm like, where did you waitress a nursing home?
In Poland, and everybody texted me like, oh that's so you.
Oh my god, I love that you made that up.
Yeah I didn't.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Those were our writers. They heard me, and they heard
how I deliver information and how I deliver jokes, and
then catered the writing to that. So then I looked better,
The show looked better. Everything, all the puzzle pieces fit
together better because everybody instead of like working again. Obviously
(25:15):
wouldn't be any service to anyone to work against your strengths,
but they took who we all were. And then there
were some things in Glow that you said, but it
was mostly all written now on nobody wants this again,
almost exclusively written. But there are bits and pieces like
we were in this panel yesterday and I found this
because I wasn't in that scene. But like where Tim
(25:38):
who plays Sasha, says that when he looks at old
pictures of Mandy Bittank and he gets a half sandwich.
Apparently he completely improvised that, and then Kristen popped in like,
oh yeah there was a woman there was Oh, I've
been to this corner a woman got hit on a bike,
Like he's such an idiot. Yeah, so he's improvising a
lot and saying a bunch of different stuff, and when
he and Iron scenes together, all bets are off. So
we definitely do everything that's on the page. But then
(26:00):
if there's a little moment where we additionally want to,
like he says, what are you doing when he comes
in the room, we like improvise that. So the scene
started just after, but they were like, oh, Tim, you
know what, let's have you enter. So he comes in,
He's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, pairing
your gargantuan socks? What does it look like? So we're
just making things up and talking to each other in character,
and then the scene starts. We do the whole scene,
(26:23):
and then he leaves and he's like, so these shorts
do nothing for you. I'm like, it's the mesh. Like
everything we're saying as he's exiting is improvised as well.
Interesting scene, but it's just like we didn't know when
we were doing those things. Is the scene going to
start where the page starts or is it going to
start with our little moment?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And then subsequently is it going to end where the
page ends or is it gonna end after our little
So yeah, they were very open to our to having
us play and make the character as our own. But
also the show is so well written, so we obviously
said everything that was on the page in addition to
adding our own little.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
So season two, you guys are going to start filming soon?
Anything else coming up that you're excited about?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
I mean, it's so soon. It's already November. We're starting
in February. So it's like I'm hoping to have it's
been a crazy The show came out September twenty sixth.
It's November.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I can't believe it was so recent, Like I can't.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Believe it was so recent or so long ago. In
this weird way where like somehow it's still in the
top ten, and with Netflix, because everything comes out at
one time.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Thank god, I was able to binge one stop the
best five hours of your life.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
But like it's because it all comes out at once.
It's hard with a show that comes out and is
only ten episodes, right to keep the excitement going because
everyone saw it already in September, And so we're in
this really cool and exciting and rare place where it's
November and we're still able to talk about it. Which
(27:51):
makes me happy.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
That's for sure, Absolutely all right. I like to end
my episodes with a special kick. With a special kick, okay,
And one final question, which is a manifestation. I want
you to let us know what are we manifesting for
twenty twenty five? Let me hear it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Health for my family, health for me and my boyfriend Joe,
love for me and my boyfriend Joe, health, and twenty
eight more years of life for my baby son, Glenn,
so Glenn will live till twenty sixty five. And that
nobody wants this season two is so fun and delicious
(28:29):
to make, and that some cool other things I don't know,
maybe that Nanny Broadway show happens. And someone says, does
Jackie want to read for this? And I say yes,
missus Chamfium, Oh.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
My gosh, well, I am absolutely rooting for you in
every single thing you do.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Thanks, I'm rooting for you, the cutest, brightest, angelest person.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Thought you were going to trick me thinking you were Jewish.
Thank you so friend,
Host
Kate Mackz
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