Vikings, Music & Sobriety with Alexander Ludwig

This week we're talking with actor and musician Alexander Ludwig, known for his roles in 'The Hunger Games,' 'Bad Boys,' and 'Vikings.' Ludwig discusses his path to sobriety, the significance of personal discipline, and the importance of self-improvement and resilience. The conversation extends to his ventures in music, highlighting his unexpected rise in the country music scene, including signing with BMG and international tours. Additionally, Alex delves into the genesis of 'Their Jewelry,' the sustainable jewelry business he co-founded with his wife, underscoring their innovative approach to recycling gold from electronic waste.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I will do everything in my power so that my
daughter and my son will never see me. Loaded.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
You called this in existence. You made this, You learned manifestation.
One of the things I love about you is you're
insanely curious and you learn the art of saying I
don't know and I need help.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
You would not believe me if I told you where
I was to where I am today. I was gonna
tell you a story that I think it's hysterical.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I think you should tell me that. Yeah, you got
that gird.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
You've never told this story, and this is really funny.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to the Sino Show. I'm your host, Ciena McFarlane,
my brother from another Alexander Ludwig's. He's a wrestler. He's
a fucking Viking. Yeah, he's in Bad Boys. He was
a little independent film called The Hunger Games. And he
can sing his fucking ass off. We're gonna talk about
the album. And he's got a jewelry line with his wife,

(00:52):
and holy, if I didn't work on myself so much,
I might actually be jealous of you. And you're only
thirty two and you're a sober brother.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
So nice to be back here.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Should we just start there. What's it like to be back?
It's a little backstory on who, how we met each other,
all that good stuff. It's surreal.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
I mean it's like it's you know, this place in
specific is it holds a really special part in place
in my heart. I mean this was the first kind
of refuge I found after getting out of rehab six
years ago. So coming back is, you know, it's very bittersweet,
like I you know, even just driving around Los Angeles,

(01:28):
I mean, I have so many amazing memories here and
also so many, you know, memories that I would rather forget,
but no, I can never forget, you know. So it's
it's a really I love coming back to LA and
like I have such an amazing group of friends here
and amazing people. But it's just, yeah, all the all
the emotions come back up, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I bet, yeah, I bet.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
People always ask me, so, you know, how do you
do what you do with all the tragedies, the death
and all that. It's because I get so many wins
and almost like this and I remember where we started. Yeah,
and I celebrate you who you are. You're a father
now two yeah, two, And it's powerful. Man, it's really.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
It's real, dude. Like I say this to people, I'm like,
you would not believe like when they tell you that,
like you know, secrets keep you sick and that the
program works right, And I'm like, you would not believe
me if I told you where I was to where
I am today.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
It's like it's it's truly just I don't think people
can blind because they can't understand where you're at. I mean,
if what you're comfortable talking about, talk about your bottom,
talk about your moment of surrender when you weigh the
white flag.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
I've heard different actors talk about different versions of their
bottom and different like musicians. And the reason I bring
actors and musicians up is because those are the people
that I looked up to or that I looked to
to see that if I had a problem. And I
think when I was a when I was a kid,
like I think everybody, it's funny when you get to
AA meetings and stuff, like everybody's like, yeah, well, you know,

(02:59):
I never thought that that was me, Like I wasn't
the guy with the problem, but it seems like that's
what everybody says. Like everyone's like, yeah, yeah, I'm not
the alcoholic right, Like it's like it's the other guy,
like I can go a day without doing it. It's like, well,
it doesn't matter if you can go a day without
doing it. If if on Wednesday you're fine, but by
Friday you're an absolute mess. You have a problem. And

(03:20):
I think that that's really hard to come to terms
with for people. It certainly was really hard for me
to come to terms with because I wasn't the kind
of guy who was like I need this every day.
I was a different kind where when I went, I went,
and I was gone to the world. But like you know,
I have always been a very extreme personality, and I
think I've always had this, you know, candidly, I didn't

(03:44):
grow up below the poverty line. You know, I had
a very very blessed upbringing, and I always felt this
tremendous amount of guilt around that that I never had
to struggle the way that some of my other artist
colleagues did. And then when I had success, especially so
easily so early on, and you know, listen, I went

(04:07):
to hundreds and thousands of auditions before that and a
lot of no's, but on average, compared to the average actor,
I did get very lucky very early, and when you're
nineteen years old and a movie like The Hungry Games
comes out and you think you understand how to be
an actor and how to work, that does something to you,
especially when everyone thinks that you're there's nothing work. Jim

(04:28):
Jeffrey said this, and I just loved it so much.
He was like, there's nothing worse than being famous and broke,
you know, because everyone thinks that you made it right,
and it's like you're that nineteen year old guy who's like,
I'm buying all my friend's dinner and like they have
no idea that, like I have no money, you know,
and why did you do that? Why did I do that?
That's a great question. I think that I I've always

(04:50):
had a bad relationship with money. I always said that, Like,
I think that, and I think early on in my life,
I felt like the amount that you had is equivalent
to how happy a person was or how successful a
person was. As I've gotten older, and You've been so
lucky with the tremendous people I've met from every side

(05:12):
of the financial scale, from people who have started multi
billion dollar companies who I consider some of my close friends,
to people who literally walked on off the streets, who
I also consider my close friends. I found that happiness
and financial gain are two very, very different things, and

(05:37):
those two should never be tied to each other at all,
and that people's wins in life come at different times.
And one of the sickest things that we do to
ourselves as human beings is we put these crazy timelines
on ourselves, like, well, if I'm not here at this point,
you know. And I see it in my in my siblings,
I see it in my friends that they're like, well,

(05:59):
you know, easy for you to say, Alexander, like look
what you have at your left. I was like, guys,
it's not how the light, how the world works. I'm like,
you know, like I may have had wins at this
time in my life, but who knows what is ahead
of for me? Like I think we're all going to
have wins at different times in our life, and we're
all running our own race. It's not this is not
a competition, this is not that's not what life is,
you know. And I think that we get lost in that.

(06:21):
I mean, you look at your close friend RDJ when
he had his big wins. I mean, listen, he wasn't
he wasn't crushing at it at you know, eighteen years old.
You know that guy had to go through hell before
he did it, and thank god he did because you
look at what he has now. I would be willing
to bet and I mean, you know him way more
than I've only met him a few times, but like,

(06:41):
I'd be willing to bet that that man is one
of the most grateful men on the planet because of
what he went through every day.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Buddy and Light. Much like Robert, what you did, though,
is you put in the work though you have to,
you put in the work and you made recovery number one.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah. Now, it was so funny. I joked to my
family about this. I'm like, you know I would. I
was a classic C student, but I fucking ace to rehab.
I was like, I was like, I'm getting better, Like
I am, this is an issue and I'm getting better
and even to this day, like it's the thing I'm
most proud of. You know that that might that I
will do everything in my power so that my daughter

(07:20):
and my son will never see me loaded straight up,
you know. And and honestly, the irony is that like
I used to be so afraid of, like being organized
or like you know, not procrastinating. And now I've realized that,
like literally, discipline is freedom. People are like, Alexander, how

(07:41):
do you do it right? Because one of the greatest
advice I got from a friend about children was that
you fit them into your life, not the other way around.
So because the last thing you want is to ever
resent your kids, right. It's like, so Lauren and I
had Lenny and she was like two months old, she'd
gotten all her shots and she was ready to go,
and we were like, man, like, if we didn't, the
baby would probably be you know, because in my life,

(08:03):
like we we can't plan vacations or we can't plan
like trips because like tomorrow I could literally get a
call sitting You're in South Africa for three and a
half months. So we're like, well, we'd probably be in
Spain right now or something right so we're like, let's
go to Spain about the baby. And it was amazing
and it was an incredible experience. And and now with
two we do the same thing. And it's listen, traveling's

(08:27):
ruined forever, but once you're there, it's it's an incredible,
incredible experience and like something that I'm so grateful to
be able to share with my kids. So yeah, you
got to put in the work and you have to
really want it. And that's the craziest thing about it,
is like all we can do, you know, And we've
seen tragedy together.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah, I mean, you know, if you're comfortable saying it,
talk about it.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
All you can do is all you can do. And
for us, the best thing we can do for others,
I think is living a life where you're in constant
consultation and you're living the life that you preach. You
practice what you preach, you know, And I'm I'm never
going to put myself on a pedestal because I have
been through everything that anybody who walks into these rooms

(09:14):
or anyone on the street has probably been through. Like
we all are sharing that a similar story, very different circumstances,
but we're all we all have our crosses to bear,
you know, our burdens to bear. And you know, my
my sponsor here had relapsed and to date, I think
has gone to the wind, and and you know, there's

(09:36):
only so much we can do. Like at that point,
you have to leave it to that person to want
to get better. And all we can do is serve
as an example of like how great it can be,
you know, and listen, we all have bad days, but
like God, am I grateful beyond grateful to you know,
to be where I'm at and to be sober. And
you know, one of the saddest stories we had together,

(09:59):
and and there's so many more that we've all experienced separately,
but together, you know, we had there was a young
guy named Marcello, and he was this incredible, incredible light,
this incredible human being. He was a family friend, and
uh wanted to be an actor, and he was really
really struggling with his own addictions. And you know, I

(10:20):
bought him in here, and you know, we did our
we did what we could, and he became a part
of the community. I think he even lived here, and
and sadly it seemed like he was going on a
really good path and then out of nowhere, uh, he
passed away. And I wasn't like super close with him personally,

(10:41):
like we we had friends that were that we were
close to, but I just, uh, yeah, that was a
really hard one. You know. That was a young, amazing
kid with so much talk for the world, and yeah,
that that sucked. And you know I've had you know,
my writing partner, uh you know died from an overdose,

(11:02):
and and my cousin, and it it's it's everywhere. And
I guess what we can do is just serve as
an example of like this is where you can go,
and you just you got to love yourself enough to
give yourself that we're going to talk about.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Well, yeah, you know about our beautiful brother, Marchelle. He
was such a beautiful cat. Such we would always we
love swimming the ocean, so I went out and swam
this morning. I said that this show's for you today, brother. Yeah,
we're going to dedicate this one for you. Yeah, but
let's talk about this. You're you got sobered at a
young age. What are techniques for would you recommend for

(11:41):
young people? Young artists that you know that have helped
you stay clean, maintain a life, Meet an extraordinary person. Okay,
marry that person, Okay, be happy in that marriage. Could
you talk about some of the techniques you've learned over
the years.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
One hundred percent? I mean, and I just as a
caveat just say like, like I think I'm always growing
in my sobriety and as a human. So I'm not
about to sit here and be like I've figured it out,
because I certainly haven't, and I don't think I ever will.
But my favorite author in the entire world is a

(12:20):
guy named Ryan Holiday. And Ryan is a friend of mine,
and he lives in Austin, Texas, and we've become friends
since I did his podcast he started a He basically
modernized stoicism in these books and really special guy. I've
told him how special he and how much of an
impact he's had on me, but I don't know if
he'll ever really understand. And and I've and I've had

(12:43):
people reach out to me who are trying to get sober,
and I've recommended his books and they were like, whoa,
because we're all I think shame is a huge part
of addiction. We all carry this immense amount of shame
and guilt and and just like it's like I'll never
be enough or you know, somebody did something to me

(13:05):
at a younger age and I'm just like never gonna
get over this and I'm not worthy or whatever it is,
especially Nowaday is like it is so tough for young
men especially and women. But like you know, with social
media and everything, everyone is posting their highlight reels and
and you're just looking around just being like, wow, maybe

(13:27):
I didn't figure this out, maybe I didn't get life
right right. And that's just like when you read these
books about Stoicism and about how these people lived. Discipline
is freedom and.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Say that again, discipline is what is freedom, straight up.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
And Aristotle said this, he said, you know, freedom is
obedience to self formulated rules, and they figured it out.
I really believe that these guys did these old stoics,
because yeah, the world will change and everything, but these
guys were like it. There's such a similarity I found

(14:03):
to stoicism and sobriety, and for me at least, that
it's about what are the things I need to do
every day that make me the best version of myself?
And I see you every day. You're jumping in the ocean,
you know, you're working out, you know, and you are
just a light every day.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Oh thank you brother.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
The first thing somebody would say is let's just see now.
It's like no, no, no, no, no, Sino has to
work at that straight up. And that's why you're you're
the guy. You are right and and and that's the
same for me. Or you look at anybody in their life.
And I found this a lot in like, you know,
successful people everywhere. And when I say successful, I'm not

(14:48):
talking rich because to me, like that's not success. I'm
talking about successful people in their life. They have children
that love them, they're free, they're free, right, They're high frequency,
and in fact they're not They're not wanting for more,
you know, or or needing for more. I don't think
there's anything wrong with with with you know, wanting to

(15:09):
achieve or build or any of that. That's fine, but
they're not living in a place of lack. And that
takes a lot of work. And I have totally and
I believe this fully. If you go within and you
focus on building, and I says to my brother all
the times, building your armor, you know, nothing can phase you.

(15:31):
I live in a I live in a in a
business that that is filled with rejection. Uh. And that
rejection can breed shame and it can it can breed worry,
and it can breed lack. And no matter how big
you get, this is just to dispel whatever you people think.
You know, a life of an actor is. And I've

(15:52):
talked to some of the people that everyone in the
world knows their names. I am telling you this does
not change. And that was a huge moment for me
when I talked to some of these guys and they
were like, oh, dude, Like, you know, I still lose
the occasional job to the other guy just gets a
smaller pool, Right, But that feeling is always there, And
the only way to dispel that feeling that I have

(16:14):
found is doing the things that make me the best
version of myself every day. So if I want to
get up early, I have to go to bed early, right.
If I want to feel good, I need to eat good.
You know, I need to exercise, you know. If I
want to get my mind straight, I need to meditate.
And it doesn't have to be for an hour. It
can be for ten minutes, be for five minutes, living

(16:34):
in constant consultation, you know, showing up for myself so
that I can show up for the world, and it
doesn't work the other way around. Right. It's like I
always thought it was such a stupid thing they did
on planes where they were like, make sure you put
your mask on first, and I was like, why, Like,
what kind of hero does that put your mask on

(16:55):
your kid first?

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Right?

Speaker 1 (16:58):
And only now do I understand it. Right. You got
to put your mask on first so that you can
take care of everyone else. And and it's sad when
some other people don't want to do that or don't
realize that they haven't done that yet. The worst one
is when you see people that have put their mask
on and then taken it off. That's the hardest one, right, Let's.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
Talk about that. That's that's a great metaphor.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, because yeah, your addict is always doing push ups
in the parking lot, you know. And I will say
it's gotten a lot easier for me over the time.
Like I've I've I genuinely and I've been around the
stuff that I used to just you know that has

(17:43):
it has shown itself to me. I've been at an
event or a party or or something where the drug
I used to do, or the you know, the drinking
and all that stuff is around. And granted I don't
really go out as much anymore, that's not really what
gets me high like in life, but I've been around
it since and nothing I remember, I without getting too crazy,

(18:08):
I remember the specific situation that happened not too long ago.
I was I was at some event and somebody had
something and they were doing it in front of me,
and I looked up to the sky and I remember
and I literally said, I know what you're doing. I
was like, that's a good one, and I and I left,
and I left, and I was just like, this ain't this.

(18:29):
This isn't me, you know, like I have too much
in life that I want to do and too many
things I want to build, and too many people depending
on me to ever put myself in that situation. But
I need to constantly remind myself that it's right there.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, let me add to that great thing. Buddy, going
back to the Stokes, going back to preparation, had you
if you're not committed to the daily work, which I
know you are, that might not be a oh God,
I see what you're doing. That might be do you
have enough right now? For both of us?

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Totally totally this saying yeah, absolutely, you know you.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Can't because you never know when the darkness gonna come,
because it's very patient.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
I think the daily work is you need to define
what that is for you, right Like it's not like read,
you know, read an AA book and be like that's
all right. I gotta follow those steps every single day.
I think it's like that's the part of like living
in consultation, like what is your daily work? And then

(19:27):
it gets really fun because you're like, oh, this is working,
and then you're like how do I find tune this?
And then you're like how do I supercharge this? You know,
it's like you're constantly just like getting better, and that's
what I'm excited for. I always go like, man, in
six years, six years to date, you know, I mean,

(19:50):
it's it's mind boggling when I heard. I mean, it's
it's kids, it's homes, it's my beautiful, incredible wife. It's
a gold and silver recycled jewelry company called there that
we started. It's that that uses all recycled materials. You know.
It's my relationships with my family and my friends and

(20:14):
that they look to me as somebody who shows up
and who is there in six short years? And all
I'm thinking is what is six more years?

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Let's go back a little bit because I want to
make a point that you've made, and it's very important
the listeners hear this. These things that you have in
your life, these films, your beautiful children, that that wasn't
on the radar when we started, and you would get
overwhelmed sometimes and right, but you called this in an existence. Okay,

(20:47):
you made this, You learned manifestation. One of the things
I love about you is you're insanely curious and you
learn the art of saying I don't know and I
need help, and you got really good at I'm just
going to do my fucking work right now. I'm gonna
stay in my lane and let's see what drops in.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And once you really when I saw you kind of
really master that, and then it was it could stop.
Can we talk more about that about the visualization the
manifestation when you stop trying so hard, when you just
focused on get my ass in the best shape that
I can doing the best project I can do what's
in front of me, not worrying about what's gonna happen next.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
That is the hardest thing I still struggle with today,
Thank you, brother. Like it's so that is if anything
you hit on the nose, dude like that. If there's
anything that I'm working on like so much, it's that,
it's that. Because manifesting is a very funny, funny term,
like it seems I know it exists, like I felt it.

(21:51):
I believe it, like it has happened for me, and
I've seen it happen for people, Like I know, manifesting
is a real thing, but it sounds like fairy dust.
It sounds like this can't be real. But I think,
including myself, people mistake what that is. And it's not.
If I sit here and I want a million dollars

(22:14):
and I just think about it and I visualize it happening,
it's gonna just I'm gonna open my eyes, just be there,
you know, and say, that's not how it works. It's
like we're not we're not wizards here.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
That's called magical thinking.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
That's magical thinking.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, that's junkie talks.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
Junky talk exactly. Like like what I've learned. And this
is the hardest one is like when you audition for
a project or you are offered a project, and both happen,
you know, at different times, like usually like the huge ones,
like a bad Boys, like everyone is auditioning for that.
Usually it's very rare that you would be offered something

(22:49):
like that. Every once in a while, it you know,
I'd be very lucky and I'll get a straight up
offer for a big studio thing. But you know, more
often than not, the things that you want you fight
for the problem is that you you start dreaming about
what it's going to be and what it's going to
be for you and your career and for everyone else

(23:10):
around you, you know, and you've got this whole vision,
and then suddenly you don't get it, and not only
have you lost that job, you've lost the entire narrative
and story that you've told yourself that this jobs that happened.
The irony in this is that, I kid you, not
every single job I have ever not gotten in my

(23:30):
life I have looked back and this has just taken
time for me to realize and been like, thank God
I didn't get that job, because not one of them,
not one of the ones that I was like so
close on that I was like, this is the one,
you know, You're like, the one I can feel it.
Not one of them was was good or life changing

(23:57):
or anything. It's always the ones you don't expect. And
the reason it's the ones that you don't expect is
because when you're going for that job, you had let
go of the outcome. And it's ironic because for me,
like it's the ones where I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna

(24:18):
go I'm there to give a performance, not to give
it get a job, and I'm gonna let go of
you know, if it's meant if it's meant for me,
it's meant for me, and if it's not, it's not.
I have met guys who have gotten incredibly lucky, and
the most successful people in the world will tell you
that they got it through a lot of persistence, consistency,

(24:39):
and luck. Guys who have success and claim that it
was all because of them and what they did all them. No, no, no,
I did it all. It's all mine. Like that ain't lasting, right.
I do believe even making your own luck. I believe

(25:01):
in and being consistent and persistent, and I believe that
that happens too. But I think it's kind of toxic
for people to look up to these sort of people
who have just claimed that everything that happened that was
so blessed in their life is purely based on them

(25:22):
and only them.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
I think making your own luck is manifestation.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
One hundred percent. And this is why I always go
back to building your own armor, because if I feel
good and I'm eating well and I look better. I'm
more confident. I train, I study, I prep when I
go into that room or that meeting or whatever it is,
I'm They could tell me I'm the worst actor they've

(25:51):
ever met in their entire life, and I would not
be faced for a second because I know what I'm
doing and I feel good and I'm confident. I think
that there's a power in just focusing on what you
can control and let go of the things that you can't,
and the things we can control is the things we
can control. There's a great scene in The Bruce Almighty.

(26:12):
I love this movie. Do you remember when Jim Carrey
he's God right, right, and he's looking at Jennifer Andison
he's got the powers of God and he's like, love
me right, and he's like, right, and that's not up
to you, Yeah, right. And I love that because I
think that that's life. And the irony is that when
you when you let go of that of what other
people think of you, or or trying to control some

(26:32):
certain outcome that you think is meant for you, the
universe will surprise you in the most magical way, in
the most magical ways, and at the end of the day,
like if you are healthy, Like you're the luckiest person alive.
Like if you have your health, you truly have everything.
So like anything else, like realistically is is just a bonus.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
I want to talk about your heart because it's your
heart's magical brother. You've always struck as somebody who's very
kind and one of the things I love about you.
And I'm going to continue to say it's a long
list you do. You'll meet people randomly somewhere at a
fucking getting ready for your uber, and they'll just talk
and you listen to them, and then you hear their story,

(27:16):
and then you broadcast their story. You want to raise
awareness or money for them, and it's it's all because
you care about people. You actually give a shit. Where
did that come from? Talk to me about that part
of you. It's also I think why you're such a
fucking great actor thanks to.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
Well, well, honestly, like the truth is, like I don't
know how you cannot be that person and be a
great actor because like I am so interested in the
taxi driver's story, right, you know, Like there's the girl
who runs ads for us on or one of our companies.
And I was listening to a story the other night

(27:53):
like her her mother was in a legal immigrant and
her story is insane. It's like, and I'm just going
holy shit, like like just you know, I thought I
had a crazy story. And it's like people, people all
over have so much to offer, you know, and we
are all here for a reason and a purpose. And

(28:14):
and I and I believe God or the universe or
whatever you believe in it has put that inside of you.
And I'll tell you I have amazing I have an
amazing family, I really do. Like they love the shit
out of out of us, and I love the hell
out of them. Like every family, we are complicated, you know, no,
there's no We're certainly not perfect, but man do we

(28:37):
have a lot of love. And the one thing I
always I'm so grateful that I have my parents for
is you know, they always taught me to treat the
janitor the same way you treat the CEO and the
beauty about my business and I love it so much.
Is that that assistant over there that's grabbing me coffee

(28:58):
on the set that I'm the star of could be
my boss in five years, amen, you know. And by
the way, that's not the reason to be nice. But
like I love that that's a very real possibility. You know,
that's awesome. And everybody in Hollywood, for the most part,
has to start at the very bottom. And we and

(29:22):
it's your job to not forget that we're also just
human beings, you know, like I just and kids. I
think also is a huge part of that. Like it
really wakes you up to like what actually matters in life.
The things I cared so much about as a young
kid is like, m just not what I could now.

(29:43):
And I have met enough of my heroes to know
they shit like you and me. You know, there's just
amazing people, amazing work ethic, very lucky, and very persistent,
you know, and humble. A lot of them are very
very humble people. Not everyone, but a lot of it.

(30:06):
It's always the one SI tracks. But I will say
that I've met enough people now in my life to
realize they are just that, a person with their own
issues and insecurities like all of us.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
But how do you deal with negativity? With negativity negativity
your brain or people you see in the world. Of course,
you know there are people not kind in your industry,
like the air a part of the world, or people
cut you off. What's your how do you deal and
not let that land on you.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
I was gonna tell you a story that I think
it's hysterical. I think you should tell me that you
got that guy. You've never told this story, and this
is really funny. Every actor has like their worst audition story, right,
and it's one of my favorite things to hear. I
ask a lot of actors like tell me you're like
worst audition story. And like years ago, years ago, I

(30:55):
was asked and I can't say his name because he's
a very famous director who's sadly passed the way. But
I was asked to go to this huge director's office
because he had seen my tape and he wanted me
to play him in a movie about his life. And
that was a huge deal. Like this was a very

(31:15):
famous director and like made movies that I loved growing up.
So I prepare my ass off. There's like eight producers
waiting in the in the room for me to walk in.
And it's a musical. It has a musical element to it. Okay,
call my agent. Do I have to prepare a song?

(31:35):
Do you have to No? No song, there's no singing nothing,
you know this is I'm like, Okay, be sure. Yep, Okay,
show up, show up to the office and to meet
the casting director who you actually know as well, amazing person,
love this person so much and have my back. And

(31:56):
he said, okay, let's go into the room. Do you read?
And I get stopped and they go mister director wants
to speak to you quickly in his office alone. So
that's that's odd. Okay. So I'm trying really hard not
to say his name because I've told the story a
few times and I have some So he brings me
to his office. This is behind the desk, and he

(32:18):
goes and this is a comedy by the way, I'm
about to go do a comedic reading for music a
musical movie. And he goes, I just want you to
know your audition was bad, which, by the way, honestly,
like looking back, he's not wrong, like and I actually
knew that, like this was so long ago, like I

(32:39):
remember this so like I totally respect that. But I
was like, dude, I'm about to go in and read
like sixteen pages like this is like a big audition,
Like what the fuck is this guy doing? And I
was like, okay, appreciate that. What are you looking for?
And also like, why the fuck am I here? Like
if you didn't like it, why did you call call

(33:00):
me into?

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Did you say that to you?

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Thinking that I said not why the fuck are mean?
But but also like I was like, but you called
me in, So like, what what is it? You clearly
see something? What is it you want? You know? I
was let's collaborate on this. What are you what are
you looking for? He's like nothing, I just wanted you
to know it's bad. And I was like, oh damn,
this's gonna be fun. He's like, let's go do it.

(33:24):
Like I don't know if this person's having a really
bad day. I've heard that he's remarkably hard to work
with and like just kind of an asshole. So I
took it, and I knew this kind of going into it,
but I was like, wow, that's savage. So I go
into the reading all the producers there, thinking we just
had some great meeting in the office. He's like, all right, start.

(33:45):
I'm like, damn, so I do this comedic movie scene?
No laughs, he just go He just goes, huh that
was it? And I was like, fuck, this is a disaster.
And then I'm like all right, guys, well thanks for
your time. It was great. I'll see you later. Go
walk up. He's like, what about the song? Oy, what

(34:09):
are you talking about? He's like, did you prepare a song?
I'm like no, I actually genuinely I was like. I
called my agent asked him if you guys want a song?
And I figured you would, but like, no, see that's fine,
just saying, uh, you are my sunshine, Oh my god.
And I'm like, oh shit, Oka my god. So I

(34:32):
just stand up there.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
You just said you are my.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Dude. I left that room and I called my agent
bursting out laughing, oh wow, because he was like, how'd
it go? And I'm like, I can tell you what.
We ain't getting the fucking job. And it was the
worst thing that I ever had happened to me. But
I was like I finally got my story and I
was like, I love this. It was so fun and
also like the movie never happened. Movie never happened, nothing

(35:01):
ever happened with it. But I already reached the place
in my career at that point where like I had
started to gain that confidence. I'd done it enough that
I felt like this big time director wasn't going to
penetrate my soul, Whereas early on it's a lot. You know,
you're more vulnerable now as an actor, it is so
much more of a collaborative experience. I know that I've

(35:22):
been chosen to play this role because I'm a professional
and I care so much about what we do, and
I show up ready to go, and I don't care
if you're making twenty million dollars more than me on
a film. We've both been hired to execute this project.
So we're colleagues and we're a team, and that's how
we operate. And we treat the crew just like we

(35:45):
would treat any other actor, like that's how you operate.
And yeah, I mean, I love that story so much.
I like to tell it. It's like a great dinner
time story and a you know, it was as wild,
but it didn't. It didn't penetrate my soul.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
Well most most people that would have crushed them it
would have. And but again, you found the humor in it.
And it's so important to laugh move on ourselves.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
You have to make fun of yourself, right, And that
was the thing, is like it wasn't always like that,
Like I think that the negativity that how do I
deal with it? It's like from years of not being
able to deal with it right and and being like
I need, I will not survive in this business because
there are so many tremendously talented, incredible, passionate, lovely, humble

(36:33):
people in this business. And there are also fucking assholes
as well. Like any business, like, you're gonna run into
people that suck, you know, that haven't figured it out,
and that and that and that feel like putting somebody
down is the way to live their life. And that's
fine for them, but you can't let that get to
you or they win.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Amen. And that's about building your armor and or as
we like to say here, not let anybody blow your
light out. Don't let anyone blow your light out, right, brother,
And that takes training, and this it does. You know,
you're not going to be the Michael Jordan of that
right off the bat. No, it's not gonna happen, you know,
but but you can work your way towards it. And
it's a daily practice. It's a daily practice. Let me

(37:12):
go with this, then, I want to talk about your
amazing fucking career, buddy. What you just said. You know,
I was blessed to early on work for Jeff Golblum.
He's such an amazing teacher. To me, he's amazing. He's
such one of the kind. He's the most repaired guy
on the set. And he taught me the art of
you have to see, you know, whatever is in like,
particularly around acting at the time, you have to not

(37:32):
want it. Yeah, yes, you have to not want And
then something you know you probably you know I've preached
to you forever. I would always say to people, do
you trust God and all your affairs?

Speaker 1 (37:44):
That is sput on though you talk about that, it's
because like and that, by the way, they have to
not want it thing is such a hard thing, yes,
especially on both artists, because it's like you telling me
not to want to do this project. Is you telling
me not to be an artist? Because when I read
something that I love that I want to be a

(38:06):
part of because I love this, It's like that is
the hardest thing for me to understand, because it's like,
because I agree with you, you have to not want it,
but like, I want to be an actor. I want
to tell this story, of course I do. So it's
a really really fine line. I think the important thing

(38:26):
to remember is that and again this goes for everything
in life, Like, if you want it to be the
best it can be, then trust the people who made
this project to make because this isn't yours, this is theirs, right,
trust them to make this project the best because just

(38:49):
because I want to tell the story for me and
with me in it, doesn't mean it's the best version
of the story. Maybe the person who wrote it wants
it to be, you know. And I think that that
was a that's always been a struggle for me, right
because like and I mean, you talk to any big
actor you know with a name far bigger than mine,

(39:11):
and I talked to this, talk to them about this too.
It's like it is a very fine line. But he's right,
He's one hundred percent right. You have to not want it.
And Brian Cranston wrote that in a book and I'll
say it again. It's like, when you're auditioning for project,
you're there to give a performance, not to get a job.
That is your job. Just give your performance. And I

(39:32):
always say the job is auditioning, Like it's not. It's
not getting the role, Like that's the fun thing, you know,
And but the letting go and trusting God in all
your affairs is the way. And I know this from you.
I know this because Oprah has talked about it. I
know this because every person I have ever looked up

(39:54):
to who has done something, even in the realm of
what I want to do, has said the same thing,
that there is an art form and a practice to
letting go. And I don't know about you, and I
would be so interested to know, because I'm basically getting
a free therapy session. Man. You know, I haven't had
a relationship with money, So let's thank you.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
You're the best. But I love that U K And Indians.
I love it. You're the best. That's great.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
How do you let go? What is the best way
that you have found to do it?

Speaker 2 (40:26):
First? By doing it wrong a thousand times? Yeah, But
I always come back to something I always talk to
with you is if God could give me the gift
of sobriety at twenty two years of age and somehow
wake up and never want to put drugs in my
system ever again, why not help me out with the
rest of my life? Okay? And then, like you, I've

(40:46):
practiced the art of I'm not doing this podcast to
be famous or to make money. I'm just showing up
and seeing what happens. I have years and years of
I'm going to be the most prepared person, whether it's
a therapy session or whatever it is, and it's going
to land the way it's gonna land. And by doing that,
I can celebrate that I don't know, and I constantly
get surprised. I just came back from two weeks in Europe.

(41:10):
I sang this trip in the existence, Okay. I met
some of the most extraordinary people I couldn't imagine. Like,
for instance, I was on my way to go to
the film festival and the art festival in Venice with
a Nello gentleman that was hosting me. It was a
fundraiser for Minute It come on Betch and his lovely wife,
and they didn't book my reservation on the fight and

(41:32):
it was completely sold out, and I'm just fucking laughing,
all right, whatever, Somehow I got on it, and the
woman that was supposed to do was so embarrassed she
sat back in economy and I had a two hour
powout with this guy that changed my life. And I
can give you a thousand more like that, Okay, But
had I been what the fuck you don't have my ticket?
I came all the way out here, guy. No, I

(41:55):
was more about, don't sweat it. If we don't go
it's cool. What can I do to make this it's
easier for everybody. That always works for me. But I
constantly get surprised that's it.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
But would you say that that's uh, that sort of
temperament is something that you had to work on.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Of course it is, No, that didn't that that's not
just sino.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
What's something that that's something that you've built.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Yesino just didn't happen where and okay, no, no, my god, dude,
you know, I mean it's it's it's it's faith. It's
real faith, and it is service, and it is gratitude,
and it's not forgetting where I came from. Okay, but
it's also have a track record.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Now yeah, that's that's exactly right. Yeah, because that's exactly it.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
You don't wake up in faith, no.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
No, one hundred percent that it's like the track record
helps inform you being like no, no, this this doesn't work.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Well, the system works.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
It's a system.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
I have empirical data.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Yeah, exactly, you're like you look at my look at it.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
It has to work for me because I I be
too fucked up.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
No, you me both right, And that's exactly right. It's
like people, it's funny because people like six years, been
sober for six years. I'm like yeah, but like it now,
the idea of ever going back is so fucking insane.
I can't imagine even imagine, like, who is that person?

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Right, Well, it's not acceptable. It's unacceptable for you to
for your children never see loaded. It's just fucking unacceptable
ever happening. It's straight and that's what it takes.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
And I will work every single day word for that
to never have.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
That's how we in the generational trauma. Well, you have
a toolkit to know how to deal. People will say, well, seeno,
do you still get triggered? So of course I do.
But they're not elevens anymore. They have her around three
or four. I can live with threes and four, yes,
but my tool kit allows me to tie sheet with
the world.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
But dude, when I was first out of rehab, like
it was like they were they were sixteens?

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Was they were sixteen?

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Oh my god, oh my god, can't go there, can't
go there, can't go there? Oh So what I felt
like I had just come out of like like a
spaceship or something, because like also I went to like
an all guys facilities. It was all men, so I
I hadn't seen like a woman for like fifty days,
and it was just like it was surreal. I feel
like out of prison and I wasn't even there for
that long. I mean it felt long, but it you know,

(44:04):
it was fifty days. And I actually got out a
little bit early because of good behavior. Not really sounds
like a prison. I got it early because they were like, no,
we really feel like you're we can sign off on you.
You were ready to take on the world. Let go.
It's sad, man like. I talked to people from there,
and a lot of them didn't stay sober, you know,

(44:27):
and a lot of them and some of them died, Yeah,
some died. Yeah, Like it's like it was so real,
and some of the.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
People that helped you find God, that helped you wake up,
are currently in prison. You know you're talking. You were
talking about a beautiful brother, John Eric.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, well I didn't know if this is something that
was like spoken about.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
No, no, we can speak about John. John Eric was
a guy who was my right hand man here at
Shell He was beautiful brother. He was six foot six, stunning,
helped so many people get sober, but forgot was keeping
secrets about sexual addiction. I'm not here to shame him
because he would he would say please to about that,
because he's currently in a prison cell right now.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
I didn't know he was in jail.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, and I and what happened.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
What happened?

Speaker 2 (45:07):
He had lost his way and darkness overtook him and
he got back on the streets. And then one day
there was a knock on the door here two detectives.
Is never good sign when two detectives come here and
they say, is John Eric's still a resident here? And
I said, no, officer, he's not. What can I help
you with? And they said, we're actually from the victims Unit.
We're here falling up on a case he was assaulted

(45:28):
at MacArthur Park. And they had a file and they
were looking at it and I said, what's in that file?
And they go there are pictures of him in the
emergency room. And I said, Officer, he said, okay, if
I look at these, and it's still haunting. He got
so badly abused, it's amazing. He got his face kicked
in his face is still swollen inside. And he got

(45:49):
sober for a little bit and he overtook him and
he went back to Robin Places and he's he's currently
in prison.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
He paces.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yeah, And this is a guy.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
Who he was the first he was my first sponsor.
When I got out, I.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Lived next door and just helped so many guys and
that's what happens secrets.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, but like so this was the saddest thing about
I mean, other than the fact that I fucking love
John and like I want nothing but the best for him.
And it's like heartbreaking the year that I Even sadder
than John ending up in prison and everything that happened
there is what happened to the people he was sponsoring.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Let's talk about that buddy had land on you.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
It really pissed me off because I was like, and
it pissed me off at I can't remember the guy's name,
and I wouldn't even bring it up because this is
a no name thing. But like he one of his,
like the New League guys that he was sponsored, and
John had sponsored me for maybe a year or maybe more,
maybe more, maybely two years. I can't remember. He's like, well,

(46:50):
fuck if it doesn't work for John, right, I said,
what the fuck are you talking about? If it doesn't
work for John, I'm like, is it working for you? Like,
is it working for you? Like you're telling me that
this is your excuse to just go back and just
live that life, like that's that's ridiculous. Like for me,
I'm like, no, no, you know, John has had had
a secret and he's and he's kept that and that's

(47:10):
on John. But but I'm not letting that take me.
You know. In fact, I'm going to be here ready
and able to help John when he gets.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
Out, and I know you would be. And I hope
he does get out.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
And I hope he does, and I hope he's and
and I hope he's he's ready to like look at
his life and come back.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Because I hope he's a beautiful So he always has
a homewhere. People always have a home.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
One hundred percent. Yeah, but like time, but I really
just like I was like, damn, man, Like that's such
an addict thing to say. And the reason I think
it upset me the most is because a part of
me was thinking it. Yeah, I'm sure of course that's
why it upset me. Was like oh man, maybe this
doesn't work. I mean, it was early on enough that
I was kind of like, huh, you know, and then
I was like, no, that ain't my way out. You know,

(47:56):
I'm not going to use that as my excuse to
be some irresponsible mess. I was like, and I say
this to everybody who's getting sober, is like, it is
not your fault that you were an addict. Right, It
is not your fault that whatever happened in your life
happened to you. It is one hundred percent your fault
if you do nothing about it.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
Amen, brother, right on, that's on your necklace.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
With every trauma anyone has. Life is not fair. People
have shit. Like I was. I rented a This was crazy.
I rented a house for my ex girlfriend's family over
the Christmas holidays and years ago. And we were on
a frozen lake and this beautiful cabin on this frozen lake,

(48:40):
like we'd actually like cut into the ice and like
we went like ice plunging with like ropes attached to
us so we didn't get dragged in the waters. Our
version of safe we're Canadians were psychoist. But the next
morning I had woken up and we had just stayed
up really late that night, so I think it was
like eleven am or something. I had woken up and
I heard this like loud like by my window, and

(49:04):
I guess one of the girls that were there. Her
boyfriend took a snowmobile on onto the ice. Like the
ice now in Canada. That's that's actually not like a
crazy thing to do. Like it can be cold enough
that that's fine, but this specific season, the ice was

(49:25):
not thick enough. And you can look this stuff up
online to find out the thickness of the ice. It's
not thick enough to hold this snowmobile up. So what
happened was he was going and it's insanely fast over
the ice, and the ice cracked and the snowmobile hit
the crack and started to just tumble on itself with

(49:45):
him on it, and then flung him like fifty feet
away from the snowmobile. I'm in my boxers. I sprang
out onto the ice and I finally arrive at the snowmobile,
which just looks like it's been exploded. And him him
that looks like he's been attacked from by a bear.
His ear is ripped off, there's blood. I mean, it

(50:06):
looks like a scene from Vikings and blood everywhere, and
that was a crazy Another crazy thing was that it
really didn't affect me. And I'm one hundred percent believe
that that's because I've been around so much makeup that
looks soy, and I was like, OK, this is another scene.
But anyways, there was blood everywhere, and and I was
just like, holy shit. And then my ex's brother came on,
who has he's a He worked on the oil rigs,

(50:29):
so they have to get like your first responder thing.
I guess to work on the I can't remember what
that's called, but you know, he learns first aid and
stuff like that. So like he arrived too, So it
was me and him and this guy's unresponsive and he
starts to like move a little bit, Like holy shit,
we need to build this guy a stretcher, Like he
can't be out here bleeding out on the ice. Call

(50:52):
the obviously ambulance immediately. It's going to take them an
hour to get to here, but like this guy isn't
gonna make it an hour. They send a helicopter and
the pilots like, we can't land on the ice, it's
too thin. Like the helicopter will go through the ice.
So one of my extra stepbrothers end up painting like
an h by the right beside the cabin and the ice.

(51:15):
I mean they had literally we had about two feet
I'm not even joking for air like they they had
to land perfectly, and these pilots are so incredible they did.
By the time the helicopter had landed, there was already
an ambulance that finally made it there. So he was
being worked on. He got airlifted out, then took a
plane from this area and kamlps that we were at

(51:36):
back to Vancouver, Canada, where they worked on him and
he survived, but is now a quatripolegic. Wow. I mean,
I guess technically is a parable because he can I
guess he can move his arms a little bit, but
his hands are like And through that experience, I barely
knew this guy. Like we talk often on WhatsApp and

(52:02):
I always messaged him every Christmas. And you know, he
had tried to take his own life at one point,
which I completely understand and and I recommended, you know,
Ryan's poke said it and I said to him, listen, man,
like what happened to you is just beyond unfair, Like
I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. This is

(52:23):
an outdoors man like he loves being there, you know,
And I'm like, you need to do everything you can
to find purpose in this. You have to you have
to fight like your life depends on it to find
meaning in this, because your life does like he does.

(52:44):
Like and dude, like I can't even fucking imagine, Like
I cannot, but like after experiencing that firsthand, but watching
somebody lose their ability to move, It's like, what are
you complaining about, d.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Amen, right, because you and I both know we could
have sull sleep been.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
That guy within a heartbeat, right, I mean, and we
still can be one hundred. I mean we were talking
about the other day like I was like literally jumping
off of cliffs in Hollywood, like like like a psychopath,
like not even thinking that, Like it was a twenty
foot drop and I would be rolling around in the
dust and the dirt and the blood just because I
was so messed up out in my mind, not even

(53:27):
realizing it. It's like, you're that so easily would should
have been me, snapperneck.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
It's done, yeah, right, I.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
Mean, And then my other friend like had an overdose
and I'm and I'm like I remember, like I remember,
you know, using with this guy like I that that
should have been me, you know. And it's just for
anybody out there who watches this, Like I had made
a promise to myself that like, once I got clean
and sober, like I was, you know, God like help

(53:56):
me get clean and sober, and I will do everything
I can to help the next people. And that's what
this is for. Really. It's like and I know you
live your life this way too. It's like, you know,
you truly aren't alone. There's so many people that deal
with it, and there truly is a light at the
end of the tunnel. You just need to start and
you need to ask for help, and there's a lot

(54:17):
of courage.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Let's talk about your career. By the way, I watched
Bad Boys again on the flight back. You are so
fucking good in that I was crying my eyes off
from that movie. And I forget how your comedic talent.
You're really fucking funny. I'm never like tell my wife that,
I'll tell that director that too.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
They're amazing. Those directors are incredible, and like that movie
is like that the best thing about what I do
is I get to work with my heroes. You know,
I grew up on Bad Boys, you know, I know them.
Like I ran into Michael Bay when we were in Spain.
He was staying at the same hotel we were saying
at and I was like, Michael, like, I tell you,

(55:01):
you're the reason I got a job right now, and
he was like, you're in Bad Boys, Like yeah, I
was like and and we were just talking about the yeah,
and we just ended up sending Will like this video
of us together, like this little joke video of me
trying to convince Ba to do a cameo in the movie.
And he ended up doing cameo in the movie the
second time. But the fact I'm even just telling you
that story now, like or that I get to work

(55:22):
with Jerry Bruckheimer, and Jerry is like the Spielberger of producers,
you know. And I look at the whole team, Chad
Omon and and Will and Martin, and they're just so
lovely to work with. They truly are amazing human beings.
And it's a really and you know, Vanessa is incredible
as well. And I've made a lot of really really

(55:42):
close friends on that set and It's a movie that
I grew up loving and getting to be a part
of it is just surreal. And that's the beauty of
the business is every once in a while, you know,
you get to work with your heroes and you have
to be a part of the things that you know
you were like if only you know.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
And the movie where you're like, there's a rat and
no one knows who the rat is right in the
division and you go, full disclosure, I'm just not the
red that.

Speaker 1 (56:13):
Okay, you're gonna You're gonna kill me. I haven't seen
it yet.

Speaker 2 (56:16):
Oh are you serious? So why on purpose?

Speaker 1 (56:19):
No, I need to watch it now. They were so
they had the premiere in la which is when I
was going to see it, but I was in the
middle of shooting a show for MGM Plus and Amazon
Prime called Earthabides in Vancouver, so I was in my
schedule for that was so insane, like I was literally
working every single day. There was no way I was

(56:40):
gonna be able to make it to the premiere unfortunately,
so I still haven't been able to see it, but
I've seen clips from it because when we flew over
to LA a bunch of people were watching the movie
on the flight. So I was like like kind of
like watching it from like this.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
It's fucking You're unbelievable in it. You're really Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
It's so much fun. And I also feel like those
those kind of movies like listen, dan Aud, here to
win an oscar, they're here to entertain. Like those movies
are like the kind of movies that like people need
right now and love, like to laugh, they get to
just have a fun summer movie. So to be a
small part of something like that is.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
That's super fun. Yeah, it's magical.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Let's talk about and our boy. Eric did a really
good job. Eric.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Eric place a bad guy in this movie.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
Yeah, he's Eric Dane. He's a great bag.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
He's a good bay.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
He's a great guy. Yeah, but he he.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Did love you Eric, if you're watching the show, which
I think you might be, but he Let's talk about Vikings.
Did you do you guys? Film? It is that film
in Dublin.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
We filmed that in Dublin for six years. Yeah, I
don't know Ireland.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Did you like? I just got back from Dublin.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
I loved it. But a special place, very special place,
incredible people, right, not a great place if you're an
at it. There's a lot of listen. I mean, it's
it's a it's a cold climate, it's gray a lot
of the time. There's a huge drinking culture and it's

(58:06):
easy to get roped into that. But I have so
much love for Ireland. And it's also like where my
wife and I reconnected in Dublin, so like I looked
at that place so fondly and I just I miss it.
I cannot wait for the day. But I got offered
a movie in Dublin and I get to work with

(58:26):
that crew again. I truly will never have an experience
with a cast like I did on that show, because
everybody moved there, so it was like we were at
some we were like we went to college together. You know.
I ran into Catherine, who played Lagatha, my mother, who
literally looks like she should be my sister. Showed up

(58:48):
to the pop up we did for their for the
Jewelry Company yesterday and I hadn't seen her in years,
only just because our schedules and you know, I live
in Austin now, so we don't get to see every
buddy all the time. But like, not a single moment
it passed like I was just like, oh my god,
hugged her. We were just you know, we're just joking

(59:08):
and just like nothing ever changed. And I have so
much love for that cast and for that show, and
I'm so proud of that show.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
You should be.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
And my twelve year old self would have just lost
his mind if he knew that that he would get
to do that. You know. It's one of those shows
that I'm just like, and it has stood. It is.
It's crazy to me how relevant that show has stayed
over time. It's almost like the fans, it's it has
grown over the years. And I've been off it now

(59:38):
for like five years.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
Oh wow, it's it been that long.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
I know, but like Netflix had just bought it a
couple of years ago and re released it, and so
it's just it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (59:47):
You created an iconic character.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
Brother, I'm blessed I got to play an iconic character. Yeah,
I get it, Yeah, I get it, But no, I
appreciate that, like I'm you know, and he was he
was a real guy. He was the first king of
Sweden and it's uh, is so special. So I'm not
talking about but this goes to go the things you
can and can't control.

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Yeah, I wanted to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
I want to bring up how this happened, because when
I got The Hunger Games, I knew, and funny enough,
ran into Josh who literally two days ago out of
an Emmy's party and I haven't seen him for ten years,
and I was like, dude, what are you doing? How
are you? Wow? It's amazing. But like when I got
that movie, I I knew, and it's the only movie

(01:00:30):
to date where I knew it was going to be huge.
The books were massive. You already felt it like this
was gonna be the energy. When I did Vikings, it
was some small show on the History Channel, like my
cousin thought my career was over, Like what are you
doing taking a movie on the History Channel? And this
huge choice? And it was TV wasn't like it was

(01:00:52):
just at the beginning of like the what I would
call the Golden age of television, like when TV was
really becoming synonymous with film, right where you could I
feel like you were watching Braveheart on a television screen
as opposed to in the theaters.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
Right, And.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
I was like, man, like should I be doing this
six year commitment? I'm twenty years old? Like I don't know,
like you know, you know, movies were always my thing.
I've only ever done movies, Like, should I do this show?
You know, will I be able to go back to film?
Like I don't know what that looks like. And I
was like, I'm an actor, you know, I've it's all

(01:01:28):
about playing great characters. And what I've been offered here
is a phenomenal character. Phenomenal character. That's all that matters. Right,
I can't control who sees it, how well it does.
I can't control that it's not on HBO, surely enough.
It is on HBO all over Europe, It's on Netflix

(01:01:52):
all over the other parts of Europe, and the second
most illegally downloaded TV show and history with three hundred
and sixty million illegal downluts. So if you went to
like Ghana, or like you went to some random place
in Africa, like they know you. And I felt that
when I went to Uruguay. I went to Uruguay. I

(01:02:13):
swear to god, dude, it was the most insane experience ever.
Like it was just like, you know, you're chased by
eight paparazzi cars and they're calling the cops to pull
you over on your vespa because your license plates all
fucked up just so they can take the fun. It
was so insane and then like fans were going nuts,
and I was just like, wow, this show has really traveled,

(01:02:34):
but it was some small show on the History Channel
that never should have How about that? So I just
think that, like, and that's how I operate with everything
I do. Now, It's like for me, it's like I
can't control what's going to be bigger was not. Nobody can. I.
Of course, you want everything that you do to be seen.
I love that, Like it makes me happy to know
that my characters have you know, had a small part

(01:02:55):
in helping people or you know, filling people's time, you know,
But like I have no control over that. All I
care about is telling great stories, great characters.

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Let's talk about two more things. Let's talk about your album. Yeah,
and let's talk about your project with your your wife
and this incredible jewelry line and the messaging behind it.
The thing about your album, I remember where you're saying,
like I'm going to Nashville, Like what are you doing
out there? We go, I'm gonna learn about songwriting. I'm
gonna learn. I'm gonna That's what I People don't understand this.
I think you were on a movie then, and on

(01:03:27):
weekends you would fly to Nashville and just take meetings
with people. Do I have that right?

Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
Yeah? And I knew nobody. I didn't know anybody, right,
I knew nobody. I just started taking flights on like
Southwest and Delta and for eight months just started going
to Nashville. It just was like, fucking, I'm just gonna
figure this out because I love I love songwriting, and
this was purely it. People keep asking me like what
are you doing, Like what's your next album? Like what

(01:03:53):
do you do? I'm like, you have to understand, like
this was you doing this podcast? This was is I
am doing this because I love it? Right on, I
am not here, like I Am not about to tour
for three hundred days out of the year, like I'm
going to be an actor and a country sensation at
the same time. Like that's what, No, That's not what
I'm doing. Like I love it, I'm going to keep

(01:04:15):
doing it. I'm going to release music on my time
when I can, and I'm gonna keep writing because I
love writing. So I started taking these flights and sure enough,
on one plane, all these guys dressed in black, come me
to come up to me to say we love Loan Survivor.
We're huge fans. What are you doing going to Nashville?
And I was like, well, writing, I love writing. I

(01:04:37):
have the time right now. I'm just want to keep
coming back and forth. He's like, dude, we produce and
play with Jason al Dain. I was like, Jay Thing's
one of my favorite country artists. They're like, send me
your stuff. I was like, wow, I have like three
like songs I wrote, and you know, we have a demo.
I'll send it to you, send it to them. We
need to work together. Next thing you know, we're in
a studio together independently making this record. Next thing you know,

(01:04:59):
Jason's like one of my col buddies. Next thing you know,
I'm signed by BMG. And I was just like, what
the hell is happening? Like I just did this because
I love it and I have no control over what happened.
Then next thing you know, we're into a huge radio
tour and we're gonna promote this album album released COVID
no radio tour, and I was like, it doesn't matter.

(01:05:20):
Like I got when I when I came to do
you know, like I listen, if a song popped off
and was great, great, I would play festivals and I
would go do that and I still plan to you like,
I love doing that. We did a sold out tour
in Germany and that was a blast, Like I love it.
But like again, like I think because it came from
a place of just love and respect for that that

(01:05:41):
art form and that way of life is truly Like,
there's so much about country music that I that I
connect to and I love, Like I grew up loving
the outdoors. I'm from Canada, like you know, we actually
listened to a ton of country music over there. There's
a huge country festival we having Calgary cult Boats n Arts,
which I absolutely will play. I played Watershed Festival, which

(01:06:02):
was at the Gorge. It was like the Gorge is
like the most stunning look that in Red Rocks, like
the two most stunning locations. And I played there and
it was just the most spectacular, magical experience. And I've
made so many friends in that world, uh, that I
otherwise never would have met if I had not just
started hopping on flights going there and knowing nobody. Uh.

(01:06:23):
And I just think that's that's the manifesting. We're talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Straight up exhausted beat, probably a little scared. How in
the fuck am I the what am I doing?

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Yeah country singer? Really yeah, Like dude, I'm just that's
who you are though, Man, that's your determination, that's your fierceness. Nice,
a lot of fierceness. Jewelry line with your wife. Yeah,
how did that come about? Stuff is beautiful? Talk about
the cause, talk about the background on it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:48):
Please. Yeah. So there is what it's called online, it's
ww dot. There is hours dot com. There is that
name for the jewelry company. Came from the idea that
what was somebody else's is mine now and it will
be somebody else's after. So what's ours today is there
is tomorrow. And realistically, we did so much research and realize, like, dude,

(01:07:14):
why are we mining for gold for retail Jalie, This
is stupid. We don't need to be doing this anymore.
There's enough gold in the world and in circulation to
never need to do that again. So what we do
is we take your computer ships from old computers and
phones and all these things that are four hundred times

(01:07:34):
more dense than gold, or so those gold chips in
your phones are four hundred times more dense than gold
or Wow, those are melted down through a manufacturer. We
don't actually personally melt it down. They're melted down. And
with our certified manufacturer, we send them cads, they make

(01:07:55):
the pieces, and we sell them. And the goal long
term is to do this with a lot more things.
But right now, jewelry made the most sense to start with.
And Lauren is such an insanely talented designer, you know,
she worked at a jewelry company before that. And we
bootstrap this with their own capital and have since gotten

(01:08:16):
incredible investors involved who really believe in the vision and
what this is about. And uh, you know, electronic waste
is spring it three times the raad of the human population.
We we need this to be the new normal, and
I think honestly people want this to be. We don't
need we don't need to just be digging shit out

(01:08:37):
of the ground that we can where it already exists
here either. The biggest gold mines are in our pockets
and in our computers. You know what, I realize it powerful.

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
So that's just done.

Speaker 1 (01:08:45):
We just repurposed the stuff that's already been that's already there,
and it's still obviously one hundred percent gold. We have
one hundred percent solid gold. It's just all recycled. And
we had a great meeting at Goop the other day
and their buyer came to her pop up and they
want puts in stores. We had a really nice meeting
with one of the other editors from El magazine came

(01:09:05):
by and it was really fascinating by what we're doing.
And the business itself is doing really well, like we
you know, we doubled our sales since last year and
we're looking at amazing the year after. So again infancy
of the company. It's very small, and Lauren is working
her damn ass off and I'm so proud of her.

(01:09:26):
The other beauty of this is that we're very blessed
that this company doesn't require her to be in one place.
So that also means that if I have to go
away for three and a half months, we bring the
family and Lauren can do all the work from there.

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
Wonderful man, probably you guys.

Speaker 1 (01:09:43):
Yeah, So it's been it's been really special and I'm
really proud of it. And I've been doing my best
to just pump it out, and you know, we're doing
a bunch of photo shoots here this week, and and
but I said that, listen, at the end of the day,
like I want to get to a place and we are.
We are in a lot of aspects where like who
cares if we don't make the most margins? Who cares?

(01:10:08):
You're making it right, Like we're making a difference. And
of course we want this to be a successful company.
Of course we want it to grow, duh. But at
the same time, like I don't want to compromise our
initial values, which is like why do we start this
in the first place? To make to make the world
a better place in one small sector, and then we

(01:10:28):
can grow from there.

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
Okay, buddy, we're coming to a conclusion. Final thoughts ideas, what.

Speaker 1 (01:10:37):
Do you want to say to everybody this I just
I'm so blessed in honor that you would that you
would consider me to come do this with you. And
I'm such a I just think that you have helped
so many people in your life and including me, and
it means everything. And what I think is the most

(01:11:02):
admirable out of everything is that you help people. And
it's not for any other reason but helping people. And
I think everybody, including myself, can do that. It only
has to be one person. You know you can you
help somebody about just being kind on the street, or
you know me somebody, And I'm so blessed to know you,
and I'm so honored to be here, and I'm so

(01:11:24):
proud to be sober. It's the thing I'm most proud
of in my life. And I want anybody struggling with
addiction or depression or anything, I want them to feel
the way that I feel today and know that I'm
no better or any or different. In fact, I'd be
willing to put my money on the fact that I've

(01:11:45):
probably done a lot of worship than a lot of
people too. But through consistency and just starting, I promise
you'll look back and go, holy shit, I'm so grateful
that I took the first.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
That amen, buddy. Well, thank you, buddy for your trust
and your faith in me and taking the playbook and
went in a few Super Bowls. Is the fucking best,
You too, dude, godspeed, brother, you too. All right, man, man,
all right, thank you man. The Sino Show is a
production of iHeart Podcasts hosted by me Cina McFarlane, produced

(01:12:22):
by pod People and twenty eighth. Av Our lead producer
is Keith Carnlick, Our executive producer is Lindsey Hoffman, Marketing
lead is Ashley Weaver. Thank you so much for listening.
We'll see you next week.