January 30, 2025 • 59 mins
From roaming the halls of high school in the cult classic "Pretty Little Liars" to patrolling the streets of Long Beach in Prime Video's new series "On Call," Troian Bellisario is crushing it!
The actor, writer, and director trades stories with Sophia about growing up and working in L.A., seeing the city come together in the wake of the devastating wildfires, their similar experiences of starring in hit shows at a young age, and cute stories of "nerdy" Troian meeting her hubby Patrick J. Adams in college!
Plus, Troian shares why she thought she would never get the role of Officer Traci Harmon in the Dick Wolf-produced show "On Call," feeling imposter syndrome on set and her revealing and honest work in progress!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello
whip smarties. Today I'm sitting down with a woman I
absolutely adore from life and also from television, who, like myself,
(00:25):
grew up on essentially a cult classic TV show. Today's
guest on Work in Progress is none other than Troy
and Bellisario, who we all fell in love with on
Pretty Little Liars and who has made such an incredible
career as an actor, a director, a writer, and now
she is starring on Dick Wolfe's newest show, on Call
(00:48):
on Amazon Prime. It is an adrenalized and visceral police
drama that follows a rookie and a veteran officer played
by Troyan as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California.
This show is so good, It is so well written,
it is so well shot, and it happens to hail
from many of the same team members that I worked
(01:10):
on Chicago PD with and I just, oh, I love
everything about it. I can't wait to talk to Troy
in about what it was like to go from high
school drama to cop show and all of her incredible
work in between. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Oh No you look amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Oh no, angel I had to do a meeting today
with like a stranger on Zoom, and I looked in
the mirror this morning and was like, oh, I've been
in storage units for three days, like gathering supplies for
friends whose houses burned down, and I need to.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Re do it all. So I actually like washed my
hair today. It was a big deal, incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And then you just look like this all the time. Yes,
it's not like you have just perfect face all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Oh no, I was thinking, you mean the sweatshirt that
I dropped my children off in school in and me
my hair up in the craziest ponytail. It's so good
to see you.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It's so good to see you. How are you, guys?
Everything's okay.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
We are exceptionally and exceedingly lucky. We're doing okay. We
were out of town for a little bit, you know,
just left and then just got back and yeah, how
are you doing.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
It's just been wild. I mean, likewise, it was weird.
I what a stupid thing. But it's like my best
friend who's my business partner, and I were speaking at
cees last week, so we were in Vegas just like
bopping around and then suddenly we were like, what's going on,
Like what is happening at home? And my parents had
to evacuate, and so we evacuated them to my house,
(03:08):
and then they had to evacuate my house, and it
was like and now we're okay, but we're all just
kind of waiting.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it's really really I don't know how to describe it.
It feels so strange to be like doing stuff like
this this week, because you know, whenever I'm listening to
the news or looking at watch study or anything online,
it's just like, okay, wind advisory, like, we're not we
(03:39):
haven't seen the end of this, and I've I just
like I don't even know how the city begins to
process rebuild, you know, we're not even through it. So
it's yeah, it's this bizarre kind of you know, awful limbo.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, and it's such a weird thing. There was that
I don't remember where it started, but someone had posted,
you know, climate change will be a series of disasters
you watch on your phone until you're the one filming it. Yeah,
and it's like I was listening to this climate scientist
interviewed at the top of the week, and he was
(04:18):
talking about how everyone in LA who's been affected by
these fires is now a climate refugee.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
And it really it shifted something mentally for me, and
I was like, oh boy, it has it really has
arrived on our doorstep. Yeah, and it's very surreal. And
then at the same time, exactly as you said, life
has to go on. People have to go to work,
(04:46):
you know. So many people I know are like desperate
to get back to work, you know, and we have
to do these things. But I do feel really lucky
that at least for the past week I was basically
able to shut everything down and just start managing, you know,
going through things. Because one of one of the girls
(05:08):
on my team, her family's house burned down. They have nothing,
and we were just like, okay, we can gather furniture,
we can gather supplies, we can pack clothes, we can
pack cosmetics, we can shuttle things to donation centers, we
can shuttle things to people we know. And it was
pretty cool to just watch everyone in our universe just
stop and serve.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, it's very special. Yeah. I don't know if you follow.
There's a gentleman on Instagram who I absolutely adore. His
name is his Instagram handle was blakely Thornton. Yes, yes, yes,
we're afraid. He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I die for him.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
He is so amazing and he it was just saying
how the beautiful thing to come out of all of
this horrific horror is the community service is just like
the LA community just wrapping its arms around everybody possibly
can and just be so well being there. Yeah, feel
(06:05):
extremely lucky and like you said, extremely grateful to be.
You know, yesterday it was just me going to Costco
and buying under our packs and socks, packs and hells
of water and just being like where, you know, where
can I go meet? And I go, So yeah, yes,
really feel extremely lucky.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It's special. And I mean you you also grew up here. Yeah,
So it's like, I don't know, I feel such pride
in the way that people are getting to see what
our city is, not what they think it is, not
what they judgmentally call it, but what it is, and
how hard LA rides for La. Yeah, I just yeah,
(06:45):
I love our I love our city.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I know, I know it's and it's something that you know,
because I'm it's obviously everybody who's in LA who's been
affected is is reeling. And everybody who's in LA who
hasn't been affected in the most dramatic ways is reeling.
And like you said, when this is your hometown too,
your you know, your heart just aches because I've never
(07:13):
seen anything like this. We've never seen LA has never
seen anything like this, like not at this level. And
so it really, like you said, it ushers in a
new era of what we have to be prepared for,
of what the city has to you know, prepare it
citizens for and take care of us for. So yeah, yeah,
(07:33):
what a wild man. I was really hoping twenty twenty
five was not gonna, yeah, come out of the gates
this hot. But yeah, if every year previously has taught
me anything, it's just don't get your hopes up.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, just stop saying this is gonna be our year.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Just enough of that, It's okay, Yeah, it's just it's.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Just enough of that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Did you love growing up here? I mean, who you
grew up here too? Right? Yeah? Yeah, so it's like, yes,
I loved growing up here. I also like didn't know
anything different, you know totally. It's like I went to
the same school K through twelve and everybody was like, oh,
(08:20):
did you love that school, and I was like, sure,
I love that school. I also had never been to
another school, so how I know, you know, it's just
this is what home feels like to me. You know,
home feels like the you know, the Ripley's believe it
or not, and the Mullholland you know drives and the
(08:43):
Topanga canyons and the beach and the mountains, and it's
like it just all feels like home. Though I don't
know what was your experience growing up same.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I think that the sort of biodiversity of this place
was a so amazing to me, and you just said it.
You know, you can be up hiking peaks and then
in the ocean at sunset. It's so it's just so special.
And that was what was funny to me is so
(09:16):
many people from outside think La just totally revolves around
the business, and for me, growing up here, LA really
revolved around nature. But yeah, the business is also so
intrinsic in it, and I think, I guess not. I
think I wonder, especially for you, because you grew up
(09:36):
in like a television family, was your childhood also sort
of experienced on set or did your parents keep you
really separate from that universe when you were a kid.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, it was funny, it was experienced on set. I
was extremely fortunate that my parents just like constantly took
me to work, so I really they did have the experience,
especially with my my older brother Michael, of like growing
up on the Universal back lot and then the Paramount
back lot and just kind of running around and those
were just joyful memories because getting to be there with
(10:14):
my parents and watch what they do and watch them
working and see how those sets functioned was just really
super exciting. But my parents, conversely were also very clear
that I was not allowed to work until I finished college. Yeah,
and which was great. You know, I was allowed to
(10:35):
do like little things, but they were just like, you're
not allowed to drop out, You're not allowed to get emancipated.
You're not allowed. I mean, I love that idea of that.
I'd be like, you can't get amancipated. Like that's a
whole effing point of a mash point. Yeah, it is
that your parents won't get to tell you that. But
but I really accepted my parents, you know, sort of
like stipulations about get a college degree, because then you know,
(10:59):
you have a plan B and C. I did get
my college degree in acting, so I don't know what
they thought about that, right, Yeah, my backup plan is acting.
My plan B is my plan A. Yeah, my Plan
B is my Plan A. That's the way I'll get
around this. But it was it was just a really
wonderful experience because it also allowed me to have a
(11:24):
very inside look at like the luckiest actors, you know,
the way I think a lot of actors who come
to LA and who maybe you know who don't have
the great fortune that I did to like experience sets
without getting the job. Yeah, I got to see the
way a set is run, and I got to see
(11:44):
the way lights are set up, and the way wardrobe
you know, the wardrobe department functions, and like all of
these key things that have to happen before and for
the actor to finally step in and like step on
a mark. And so it felt I don't know, I
just felt so lucky that I got to see how
the sausage was made. You know. It's like, yeah, like
(12:05):
kind of like growing up in a bakery. It's just like, yeah,
it's great to bake bread, you know, like I get
to see it from the inside.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, well, and I think it's so cool because there
is so much work and it really you know, the
two hundred people that it requires to make something. For
you to know that so early, and also I think
to understand the you know the importance of your crew
and all the things you never see in the finished
product is really such a gift.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
On that note, I just want to like add that
it was really because my parents were constantly on set.
Like obviously I was not on set with them all
the time, but they would come home very late, they
would leave very early because they were constantly on set.
And so I also had the experience of being the
kid who was away from my family when they were
(12:57):
at work. And then when I was working and I
saw the crew that got there and loaded in and
you know before and like we're there after the actors
wrapped out, I wouldn't know. I would be like, you've
got a kid at home, you've got a partner at home,
Like you're spending more time with us than you are
with them. So like I had a real kind of
(13:19):
like front seat appreciation for everybody on the crew and
how much time and energy it took just to be
a part of something.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And now a word from our sponsors who make this
show possible. It's such a privilege to know the ins
and outs of it. And to your point, you know,
it requires so much sacrifice, you know. I think there's
(13:51):
again from outside, much like La, there's this misnomer that
being on a set is like all sort of privileged
and fancy, and it's like no, no, it's sixteen seventeen
hours a day and it's hard, and you build.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Such a.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Kind of second family because, as you said, you're with
these people more than you're with your own family. I
know for us that was sort of gorgeous and really
tough on One Tree Hill, especially because we were all
so young. I mean, I think i'd been twenty one
for like three weeks or something when I moved out there,
(14:28):
and you know, now I think about how lucky we
are to be so close as adults who've like gone
to therapy and healed our shit and like doesn't work,
you know, and I wish we'd had some of those skills.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Then.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
How was it for you guys? I mean, I know
you were twenty four when The Pretty Little Liars started airing.
Was it also kind of a jumble of you know,
closeness and like total Shenanigans.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Oh absolutely, It's interesting really that you that you say
that your experience on Montree Hill too, you guys were
you weren't on location because the entire show was out there,
but you were on location you were. Yeah, we were
away home and away from your families, and that is
really you know, that was Lucy's experience, that was Shay's experience.
(15:18):
But Stasha who had her parents in La, Ashley who
had her parents in Orange County, and me who had
my family in LA like the fact that we were
we were all different ages and different experiences. And I
wonder if this happened too with you guys, Like because
I was twenty four and I had gone to college.
I finished high school and finished college, and a lot
(15:40):
of the girls had you know, gotten their GEDs, or
had been homeschooled, or who didn't go to college, and
so there were a lot of in the very beginning,
I would say, like a lot of high school experiences
literally that like they were getting to go through in
high school. You know, we were shooting in a hallway
(16:00):
and that was not their high school experience because they've
been homeschooled, you know, or like we were going to
a prom and it's like I had my prom experience,
you know, but like they didn't, and so there were
a lot of like definite shenanigans going on. But I
think I always felt like the older sister, you know that, like, yeah,
(16:24):
got to go away to college and now was like
coming back on Thanksgiving break and I was like, oh, okay,
I see what you guys are up to. Yeah, but
I'm good. But it was It was also really fun because,
as you say, they become your second family. Like we
really felt like sisters because you're spending all this time
together and you're not always going to be best friends,
(16:45):
but like a sibling. If anybody has a sibling, you know,
doesn't matter if you're not best friends, it doesn't matter
if you've got in a fight the day before. You're
like you're still at dinner together, You're still hanging out.
You know, It's it's fine because you know, like it's
just the these are your it's like your second family,
you know. As you said, does that make any sense.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Absolutely, because it's real life dynamics. It's not a rom com.
It's like, you know, we talk about it a lot.
We were together for ten years and none of us
had any idea how to be adults when we first met,
and we went through all of our shit together, where
we loved each other, we hated each other, we were
obsessed with each other, we were fighting, we were doing
all the things that you do in your young life.
(17:29):
But if anybody from outside our little circus family had
anything negative to say about anybody in it, it was
like hell no, like of course, you know, and that's
that's such a special thing, and it's like it's it's
the real dynamic of something like that. And I think
for me, I think Hillary was probably more in the
position you were, because you know, she'd been in college
(17:52):
and then was working at MTV and was really like
involved in that whole world. And I went to an
all girls, like fifty five girls in my graduating class,
small prep school. I never had a traditional high school anything.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And then I'd done three years of college, and you know,
it was like the philanthropy chair of my sorority, nobody's
shocked there. And then I got on set and was like,
I don't know what it's like to go to high
school with boys.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I don't know any of this so in a weird way.
Even though I was such like a book smart kid,
I had no real life experience. And Hillary was definitely
even though we're only a week apart, like my smarter
older sister who was like, Oh, you're going to make
all these stupid mistakes and I'm gonna say I told
you so, but I'm going to be the person who
(18:40):
like catches you also when you fall, and it was
absolutely ridiculous and amazing, and yeah, it's like such a
weird It's just such a weird journey. And I think
especially on shows like both of ours, they hit the
zeitgeist in a way that you just can't be prepared for.
I mean, was it so so real to you when
(19:01):
suddenly it was everywhere? How did you how did you
kind of process such fast fame and the fandom that
came along with a show like that.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Well, I mean I kind of would to flip it
around and ask you because how long were your How
long were you in was it North Carolina? Yeah? Yeah?
How long a year were you in North Carolina?
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Ten months? Like nine to ten months, and.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Then you'd come home for a little bit, And what
was it like when you came back to LA.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I don't totally know, because I wanted to work so
much that, like any movie that happened to have its
shooting dates on my hiatus, by the way, some which
were not good, I still wanted to go do just
to experience or something else. I think I would probably
make choices slightly differently from my adult perspective now. But
(19:55):
there were years when I barely came home, like I'd
come over a weekend, fly back, you know, to try
to see my friends for one night, and then I'd
go back to Wilmington. That that was the weirder part
of it. I think was never really feeling like anywhere
was home, because if I was totally invested there, I
(20:15):
was missing so much here, and if I'd fly home here,
I'd miss weekends with friends there. I kind of felt
like I could never get the balance right, which I
mean I think women feel in every way between life
and work, like what's life work balance?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (20:31):
But I think what was weird for us was being
in such a bubble Like even now, sometimes my best
friends will be like, you do know you're a famous person, right,
And I'm like, but I'm not really like right, And
I'll fill in the blank, like so and so is
really famous, and they're like, you're not paying attention to
what's happening in this room since you walked into it.
(20:51):
I don't know what that is. Why we I don't
know if you experienced that. I think I think we
were very much always told that our show wasn't such
a big deal. Probably I never wanted anyone to ask
for a raise, because when they sign you on a
six year TV contract, no money, they don't want to
pay you more money and they sadly don't have to.
(21:15):
But like you know, I still don't quite know how
to process it.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah, it's still still is like yeah, for sure, I
mean I feel, hmm. It's interesting because my experience, you know,
like you said, well, because we shot in La So,
and because I was dating Patrick throughout throughout all of it,
and he was shooting throughout all of it at the
(21:41):
same time. But in Toronto, it was most of my
weekends were flying to see him or him coming to
see me. So it was interesting because like I would
have my poll experience during the week and then I
would like go to camp or like you know, he
would come here and I would try to like see
(22:03):
as much of him as possible, and but then I
was very lucky in that, like so many of my
friends that I grew up with, like we're in LA,
you know what I mean, and so I would get
to see them, but I never experienced the like shock
(22:24):
of fame, you know. I guess like I've had those
experiences when I've gone to some place that's outside of America. Yeah,
you know, I feel very fortunate and that like Los
Angeles people like really don't care that much, you know,
and they're like okay. But also because I don't I
(22:45):
don't know how to like do this the way that
it is done. When I'm on a show like pl
I get a lot of when I'm outside people are like,
oh man, you look so much like that girl, you know,
or they're like, oh, have you seen Pretty Little Liars?
And I'm like, yeah, I've seen a couple episodes. Yeah,
totally get that all the time. That's that's my experience.
(23:07):
But but then it's lovely because then when people do
recognize you there, our fans have always been so kind
and so gracious, like, yeah, you know, I feel like
so fortunate in that we have a very rabbit and
passionate fan base. But they are the sweetest and kindest
and gentlest of souls, you know what I mean. Like
(23:29):
you don't have like fans that are like mean or
you know, expect too much from you. You know. That's like, yeah,
it's great. I would say I feel very lucky. Patrick
and I always say like we're the luckiest amount of
famous because like, yes we're you know, we get invited
to cool things or we get to like have wonderful
(23:52):
experiences with other celebrities, but we can still go grocery
shopping and like who cares go under the.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Radar and semblance of a normal life. Now, Yeah, I
don't remember because fun fact for the for the friends
at home, Patrick and I were in the same class
at USC.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I know, it's so crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
One of like my oldest, sweetest friends. And I can't remember.
Did you guys meet at sc or after?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So we met after me? Okay, yeah we we There
were actually moments when we met we found at USC,
Like no was a moment, yeah, he you would have
been already gone shooting, but he did. Uh. Mauraz Saud
that like do you hear about the production of Matzad?
It was like so many of your classmates. Okay, so
(24:44):
right after they graduated, your class graduated. He in that
summer like put together a big production of Matsad that
like kind of went into the ball I guess, or
I don't remember when it was, but it was we
met Benn and because a bunch of seniors that I
was then doing a play with were like, you have
to come see this this class and like this class
(25:06):
is amazing, and so we discovered that we actually met
like then I think, I, you know, I was like
a nerdy freshman and they were like, this is Patrick.
He directed it, and I was probably.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Like like cool, it was really good man, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I was like it was amazing, it's so cool. And he,
you know, in my memory like was standing underneath the
streetlight with like a cigarette and he was like cool,
you know, like it was like a whole Goodard film.
And I was just like a full arcle in response.
And then he came back to school my junior year
and he gave me and Brian Jordan Alvarez the Jack
(25:40):
Nicholson Award because he had won it, I guess his
junior year. So we met then, but then after school
when I graduated, being at the Geffen was my first
job and that was the play that we met, So yeah,
that's occur. Wow, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
And then you went and did something on suits and
he came in and did something on PLLL.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Like, were you guys.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Just sort of game to play because you were in
this back and forth of travel and long distance and
all the things and just wanted to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, it was. There were actually two very funny, very
different stories, and one of them was it was the
first season of Pretty Little Liars and we actually broke up.
I broke up with him, and like the morning after
we broke up, he got the audition for something for
(26:33):
Pretty Little Liars and he knew Gail Pillsbury, our casting director,
and he like prepared the crap out of it and
went in and was just like did the audition and
Gail was like you're amazing. I love you, and he
was like, okay, but like I really want this role.
And then he called his agents at the time, the managers,
(26:54):
and they were like, okay, like you're coming in really
hot for like an ABC Family like guest star role.
Like I don't understand, you know, cause they were like
we're trying to get you like your own show right now,
and he was like, yeah, but I want this guest
star and then he got it. And then he called
me and he was like, Okay, well, I know that
we just broke up, but like I'm going to be
at your table read and I'm going to be on
(27:15):
your set, so you know, we should probably like talk
or something like that. And then we fully talked, which
I think you know what that means, and got back
together and then the mo phone wasn't even at the
table read. We never shot the same day like it was,
but it is a hilarious, like you know, part of
(27:35):
our history that he then is like he put in
the work. He put in the work. And then by
the time, I was always on the set of Suits
because when I would get a day off, I would
fly there and so I was just like a fixture
at their craft service table and at behind the video village.
So obviously I knew, you know, the writers, and I
knew the showrunners and all of that, and so when
(27:57):
it came time when they had a character, you know,
they're absolutely amazing. Casting director Bonnie was just like, oh,
this is Troyan's role, and so we got to work
it out. So it was like joyous because it was
a you know, work vacation where I got to see
him and like actually work with all of the people
(28:18):
that I had just been like sneaking around getting snacks
for in between takes, you know, and trying to get
a little set mouse. Yeah, so that was.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
How that It's really really nice And now a word
from our sponsors.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It's so cool to me to.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Watch all the things that you've chosen to do, you know,
not just as an actor, but as a writer and
as a producer. I mean from from feed to all
of these like incredible films and projects you've gone to
work on. How have you tried to cultivate all of that?
You know, how were you leaning into these other aspects
(29:06):
of your talent while you were making this massive TV show?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
I mean, I mean, first of all, thank you for
saying that. It was always like because my parents are
writers and directors, they always told me when I was
watching the actors on their sets, they were like, you're
watching the luckiest point zero zero zero one percent of actors.
(29:31):
You know, these are talented right outside that gate. They
are equally talented people. It's they just didn't have the
same luck that these ones had, you know, and so
they put into me at a very young age that
you got to work your ass off, you got to
you know, be as good as you can. But also
like a certain element of it is just luck, and
(29:52):
there's nothing you can do to change that. But they
did tell me that, you know, while acting is a
very uncon controllable thing, something that is controllable is writing
and directing. So if you need a creative outlets and
you can't like, you know, there's only so many monologues
I can do by myself in my office if I
(30:14):
have like the urge to be creative, you know, but
I can sit down at my desk and I can
write and you know, come up with new worlds, which
is you know what my parents do so well. So
I I remember being on you know, waiting for the
Geffen Show to begin when I was just out of
(30:35):
college and I had a month before rehearsal started, and
I was like chomping at the bit, you know, but
I couldn't get like a job, even for a month,
Like I couldn't I was working at coffee bean. I
couldn't go back to coffee because I'm like you guys,
are I'm gonna leave it in a month, you know,
so so I but I started writing because I didn't
know what else to do. And then that script became
the first feature, which was Feed. And then I remember
(30:58):
all of my shorts being on set on Pretty Little
Liars and feeling feeling creatively like stifled, because as you
know from those ten months shooting schedules, you know, there
are stretches of time where you're working on amazing stuff
and you're like engaged and all of that stuff, and
then you have like a week where you have a line,
(31:20):
but you're on set all the time and you're like, ooh,
I have nothing to do. And so I would sit
in my chair and I would write, and it was
really helpful because then when I got off the show,
and especially when I got pregnant, and my agents were
basically like, see you when you're you know, your stomach
(31:42):
doesn't take up an entire frame of the camera. That
was when I really was so grateful that I knew
how to direct. And I you know Joanna Johnson, who
was just she had just left the Fosters had just ended,
and she was just making good trouble and she was
incredible and She gave me my first job outside of
(32:04):
the PLL family while I was like eight and a
half months pregnant, and then like just kept on hiring
me through you know, both pregnancies and breastfeeding and all
of that. So it was it was just a really
fortunate like way for me to continue to have a
job and be a mom.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Hyeah is awesome. Yeah, definitely not easy. How do you
how do you approach directing? Because you know, to direct
to show that you're on I think is an easier transition,
you know it like the back of your hand. Yeah,
But to go onto something like good Trouble, where do
you like to start when you get a script and
you have to learn a world?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Well, I was very fortunate in that I in order
for me to start directing on Pretty Little Liars, the
studio actually stipulated that I would need to go through
the Warner Brothers Director's TV program. Well that's so cool, yeah,
which was I mean, like it sounds like it was
a big hoop that they made me jump through, but
(33:06):
like I didn't get to go to film school, so
it was you know, you can shadow directors all day long,
but like until somebody teaches you how to actually like
make a shot list, you know, this is all stuff
you're learning on the fly, yeah, and or break down
a scene. And so I was so so grateful that
they they said that I had to do that if
(33:29):
I could, you know, in order for me to have
my episode. And it was awesome because I would shoot
Monday through Friday on the show, and then on Saturdays
I would go back to Warner Brothers and there would
be six hours where I was with a group of
people and we were using the pretty little liar sets
or class So it was like the most perfect setup
(33:53):
for me to like imagine, Okay, now this is how
I'm going to talk to our amazing DP or this
is how I'm going to talk you know, like practice.
And then, like you said, the big step out of
that is when you go to another show. So then
the next show that I did was Famous and Love,
which was really great because it was the same crew
(34:15):
and it was the same studios but in different sets,
different actors, but the same you know. Marlene was still
a producer, Lisa Cochran, it was the creator. Lisa Cochran
was our producer, and so it was still like within
the family, and that was really wonderful. And then when
Joanna hired me, it was great because it was in
(34:35):
the first season of Good Trouble. So I got to
be there, I think for the second and third episode,
which were amazing and created by the other showrunners Brad
and Peter, and so I got to like absorb. I
was like, oh, this is their visual style, and I
got to watch them communicate with the most incredible DP mark,
(35:01):
and I got to see how the set functioned and
like from the very beginning, see the characters like go
through their first three storylines, you know, and that's, like
you said, it's if I go to another set, I'm
extremely nervous. It is. So it's so overwhelming because, like
(35:21):
you said, especially when you're stepping into an established show,
like nobody knows the characters, like the actors you're speaking with,
you know, the crew has been here generally from the
very beginning, and so you really are the odd man
woman out who comes in and who's like, I think
we should put the camera there, and you know, you
see them be like, oh my god, we'd never put
(35:43):
the camera there, and you're like, I'm like, it's you know,
it's a lot of juggling but the best you can
do is I just try to absorb as much of
the show as I can, you know, watch, try to
make notes about the visual style. Yeah, if I can
shadow another director, do that, get other scripts, and just
(36:05):
really get in the practice of Okay, here's how I
would break down this, you know, this scene if I
were doing it, or like, oh, I see how they
played out that scene. And that makes sense because sometimes
when you're coming onto a set, you don't have a script,
you know, as you know, you have an outline, or
you have like a general gist of the scene, and
(36:27):
so it's yeah, it's and then the biggest thing that
I do is just lean so hard on the crew
that has been creating the show up until then, you know,
really just stand next to the DP and the camera
operators as much as possible, and I'm like, okay, I'm
really thinking this for this shot, and they're like, yeah,
(36:48):
that that seems great, and I'm like, okay, good, good.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah, So totally. I mean it's exciting. It's like it's
I love, I love you know, when I get to
talk with other women that I really admire, particularly about directing.
I just want there to be more of us everywhere.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yeah, well what is your Have you directed a lot
on other shows as well?
Speaker 1 (37:11):
No, so we I directed the last three seasons on
One Tree Hill, which I loved, and then the show
that I did after that, there was like a our
actors don't direct policy, which I think now has begun
to shift in that space, but at the time was
like very firm. And then what I've mostly done since
(37:31):
then is like really start developing and producing, and so
it feels exciting, you know, having I really wanted to
understand production because I have such a natural inclination for
it on set anyway, and it was so nice to have,
you know, the mentors that I had in some of
(37:51):
our on site producers in Wilmington, who were like, you're
a producer, like you just do that naturally. It's been
nice these last few years to lean into that. But
I'm really starting to get the directing itche again, and really, yeah,
I just love it. I love being able to look
at the full picture of what's happening on a set,
(38:13):
and I always really enjoy working with other actors as directors.
I just think that it's it's great, It's like a
great niche for us particularly.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel I also think something
that feels so good for me about it is the
ability to be creative and inhabit like an emotional moment
or a story, but not have to deal with the
insecurity of my face or wondering what it's doing, or
(38:47):
the frustration of, like, I don't know if this happens
to you, but like all the time when I prepare
for a scene as an actor, there's a way that
I expect the scene will go, the way that I
hope the scene will go. And then there is what
I view is my own limitations and like the frustration
(39:07):
of like I wanted it to be here and I
imagine being here, you know, but there's that frustration of
my own instrument and like not really occupying that. And
there's just a freedom when I'm watching somebody else, you know,
find their way in that I just feel so excited
to like be in service of them, you know, because
(39:29):
you can see it from the outside, You're like, oh,
oh my god, they totally have it. I just need
to like free them of that or give them that
permission or have them move over here. And like being
a part of that collaboration is so fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
You know, Yeah, it's lovely and I think it's interesting too,
because you the way you talk about watching other people
do it. You know, you you make space for people
to have their experience, and it can really be hard
to give yourself the kind of space that you'll give
to others. I think, by nature as performers, were so
(40:06):
hard on ourselves. And yeah, I think there's something it
feels nice to be artistically free.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
How did you decide on the new show? Like, what
was it about on Call that made you go, that's
my next gig? For sure?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Well, I certainly did not do that at all with
on Call, like and not like to knock the show,
but like, I've never ever had an experience of being
like that's my next show. Like all of my experiences
are like, oh my god, I so desperately want this job,
or like this will never happen. Like it's just like
(40:51):
I've never had a moment of, you know, feeling that
like confident, and even especially with this show. So I
hadn't been on a you know, I hadn't been a
series regular since Pretty Little Liars, And a lot of
that was because my girls were so young and and
(41:12):
so it was really like, you know, for the past
let's see it were was six so for the past
six years or seven years, the counting of the year
that I was pregnant with her. You know, it was
like would I be in the right like literally, like
would I be not pregnant enough to shoot this in
(41:34):
the window? Am I too pregnant? Am I breastfeeding? The
other difficult thing is, you know, our home base being
LA I really did not consider taking work outside.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Of LA and that's really hard.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
And as you know, from where the industry is right now,
not a lot shoots in Los Angeles. And so it
was you know, like I hate to talk about like
gender dynamics, but it was so much easier I think
for the place that Patrick was in in his career too.
He did a lot of like limited series. Yeah, and
(42:14):
so even when it was a limited series away in Scotland,
it was like, oh, you're going away to Scotland for
this said amount of time, Like that makes sense. The
things that I was being offered to audition for were
not limited they were longer series, and they meant completely
relocating our family. And that is just a really big
(42:37):
decision to take on and there's this real big toss
up of things where it's like you don't even have
the job and you have to consider this, yeah, you
know what I mean. Like I kind of for a
while did that thing where I was just like, just
pursue a job, just any job, and it ended up
almost making us move to Albuquerque, and which was like
(42:59):
the was awesome, but then like I was getting down
the line and I was going to do a studio
test and I was like, oh my god, what am
I Like, we are not prepared to if this goes
my way to do this, And so after you know,
pulling out, you're you don't want to like waste people's
time and you don't want to you know, tell people
(43:20):
you want to do something when ultimately you can't. So
so when on Call came around, it was truly like
one of the first auditions that I had where it
was like, oh wow, this is going to be shooting
in and around the Los Angeles area.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Absolutely dream come true.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
A total dream. But then at the same time I
read the script and I was like, I'm never going
to get this role, like never, I had never played
a cop. I just was like, you know, she was
like I'd never played my age. That was the other
thing is like she's in her early forties and I
had never even played somebody who was in her late thirties. Yeah,
(43:57):
so I was just like, they're not looking for me.
And even when Patrick and I made the tape for
the audition, I was like, what do I do? Like
do you have any notes? And he was like, you're
not going to get this job, so like just do whatever,
like like it was so like we but we both
It wasn't like a knock. It was just like, you know,
this is never going to go my way, And then
(44:18):
when it did, it was this like absolute shock and
this amazing thing because I thought the writing was just
awesome and I was so scared obviously going to set
every single day just being like when are they going
to look up at the monitor and realize they've made
a horrible mistake, you know, like I just had imposters.
Oh you're so good at it, thank you. But I do,
(44:41):
and I bet I'll have imposter syndrome if we get
a season two, Like I just you know, I don't
know when I'll be comfortable with this character. But but
it is funny because I've I've had that question recently
where people are like, what about this job made you
say like, that's you know, yours, And I was like, true,
really it was. It was Sarah Isaacson, the casting director,
(45:04):
it was you know, Elliott Wolf and Tim Walsh, and
it was you know, oh my god, I mean it
was Dick.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
Wolf is just like an absolute icon. I loved I
loved working for that man, and Tim is such a
good writer, and so to see that you guys were
all doing this together, just like, I was so tickled
when I read about it.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
I was like, oh my god, it's going to be
so good, and it is.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
I just I really enjoy the pacing of the show
and the edge of it, and it just feels so
gritty and honest. You guys have done such a such
a phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Job with it. Thank you. Yeah, I feel extremely lucky
to be a part of this show and this crew.
And also, like you said this, I think this is
a real like kind of shift for Wolf Productions, you know,
Wolf Entertainment, because especially because it's for Amazon, like, we're
(46:08):
able to do things that I think, you know, so
many other shows have probably wanted to do, but we
get to occupy a different footprint, and I know, you know,
I know for me like being in the PLL that
was on free Form and then seeing the Pretty Little
(46:31):
Liars that was on HBO Max, Like you really see
when you like walk so somebody else can run, you
know what I mean, that kind of thing. And so
I feel extremely grateful because I understand that I'm standing
on the shoulders of Dutch a legacy with Wolf Entertainment
and so many amazing shows that have just like I mean,
(46:55):
they're just juggernauts. So it's like to be the new
little kid on the street. It's like kicking rocks and
trying to make some noise. I feel very, very fortunate.
It's so great.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And now a word from our wonderful sponsors.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, what are you up to these days other than
hosting an amazing podcast. I mean, this is.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
Like such a wonderful constant that's so fun. It's really
wild because this this is the first, well, I guess
technically the second. Now, like twenty twenty four, coming into
that year was the first year I was not attached
to a TV show in my entire career, like in
(47:46):
development on something or you know, a pod deal somewhere
or whatever. And I really wanted to take a breath
and just see, like, wait a second, what do I
really want to do next? So I went and made
this great movie last year that is an adaptation of
a thriller from a big best selling book in the
(48:07):
UK that was so much fun.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
When will that be coming out?
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I don't even know yet. We're just doing key art now,
and everyone always asks me these questions that I realized
I should know the answers.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
To, and I'm like, I don't know what you don't
because nobody ever tells you. I ever think, Well, that's
the thing.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Our job, our world is so weird. I don't get
attached to the details because I've realized that the more
attached to details you are, the more anxious you'll be
as a human.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, so I'm kind of like, hey, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
And then there was another film we were supposed to
shoot in New York and then we lost our location,
which was an absolute nightmare for us. Real estate moves
in New York can really up independent film. So now
we're trying to figure out, like how we put it
back together, and we will. But it was supposed to
(48:56):
be a twenty twenty four and now it looks like
it'll be a twenty twenty five, and it's just it's like, yeah,
I don't know, it's wild. I feel I definitely needed
a beat because doing network TV for fifteen straight years
just exhausted me. But I now I'm like, oh, I'm
starting to get the itch, like I'm ready to be
(49:16):
back at work in that consistent way. Because while I
love making films, the for me at least as an actor,
and I wonder if you feel this, like the ability
to spend day in, day out with someone and really
build a life. That's the thing I love the most.
(49:36):
I mean, movies are a dream, but it's like summer camp.
It goes by so fast, and I really love I
love the development we get to have in TV.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
It is a real like yeah, it's really really just
such a different experience. And like you said, when you're
doing especially network network seasons, you know, you have ten
months of being day and day out with this character
and with this crew, and it's you know, really awesome.
(50:07):
I'll be very excited because our order, initial order was
like just eight half hour episodes, so it was supposed
to be three and a half months. And then with
the strike, and with the holidays and then the wow,
how long it took to come out? It was actually
two years. Yes, it's like I'm very excited to hopefully
get back to some sort of like regularity.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
I totally know how that feels. We went through the
same thing. The last show that I did we only
did one season of, but was the show called Good
Sam and I signed onto it at the top of
twenty twenty, and it was and I started reading scripts
in twenty nineteen. So it was really like a three
year process because of the pandemic and lockdowns and all
(50:50):
the things. For us to make a season of television.
It was so surreal, and so it is really weird
when you've when in the before times a year was
a year, but in the like times of pandemics and
strikes and things like a year takes three years. It's
so insane, it is it is really wild.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
And I think I was just listening to something else
that was one Oh my god. But Francis Ford Coppola, right,
he made The Godfather part He made The Godfather and
the Conversation and like the same calendar year and maybe
it was maybe it was Godfather Part two and the conversation.
(51:34):
So he was up for both Academy Awards in the
same year for those films. I think I'm saying that right,
but like that kind of like that kind of timeline
just does not exist. It doesn't exist, said you know,
especially now that you're in producing as well. You're signing
on to something and then it's getting development, and then
it's finally going, and then wild things that you can't
(51:57):
control are happening, and then all of a sudden, it's five, seven,
eight years down the line. And that's why you said
you can't get caught up in the details, because you're like,
I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
I'm like, I'm not even going to stress about it.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
And I've learned that for people who don't work in
the circus, that's very hard, like friends, family, loved ones
that are like, how do you not have more details?
Or they'll be like, what do you mean? We had
one conversation about this and now the whole thing is happening,
and I'm like, I don't know. We made a plan
and so it's the plan, right, Like yeah, and I
(52:31):
realized not everybody's nuts like us, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (52:36):
But here, we are, here, we are Oh my gosh,
it's wild.
Speaker 1 (52:41):
Well, I mean, I know you're waiting to find out
if you get another order. I certainly hope you do
because I'm loving the show. What was it like to
prepare for it? Because you said you know you had
imposter syndrome. I guess that's just something we all have forever.
But how did you did you wrap your head around it?
(53:02):
Because I know what a preparer you are. You are
such an organized professional person, so I would imagine you
did a lot of prep ahead of shooting. What did
that look like for you?
Speaker 2 (53:14):
Well, it was interesting because when they told me I
got the job, we were actually starting to shoot. I'm
not kidding it a week and a half later.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (53:26):
So it was. We were incredibly fortunate in that we
got to uh work. Did you work with Luch? Yeah? Yeah,
So Luch was so great. He came out, he worked
with us for I think we got like two and
a half days of just dollid training with him, and
(53:50):
that was amazing. And then you know, they were kind
enough to set us up with some ride alongs in
Long Beach so that we could meet some people from
West Division and also just get out in the community
and start to learn Long Beach as you know, a community.
And then we were in it, and we were fortunate
(54:12):
to have really wonderful texts on set with us because
it was so not natural. And it was really frightening
for me because I was supposed to be playing a
twelve year you know, veteran member of the Force. So
I was like, this shit needs to look intrinsic, like
it needs to just be absolutely not thought about. And meanwhile,
(54:35):
like I might have learned, you know, five minutes before
the take that they were like, oh no, no, no,
you're not you know, bringing your baton with this one.
And You're like, do you just throw the car in
gear and this is what you're doing. And I was
just like, uh huh okay. And so we did that
and we were kind of moving along, kind of finding
our pace. And then when we went down for the strike,
(54:56):
as you know, a lot of shows did not come back. Yeah,
and it was six months of waiting to find out
is stressful. It was so stressful and and so I
did I, you know, I would go to the scripts
because we were about a little bit less than halfway
through shooting the season and I would sit down with
(55:17):
it on the strike and say like, I have this time,
why don't I work on it? And I would find
that it was just like sometimes supremely painful. I was like,
what if what if I don't get to go back
on this, you know, And so yeah, I kind of
would like throw them, you know, in my book bag
and like shove it under my desk. And then of
(55:38):
course when they were like okay, great, like around they
were like see you after Thanksgiving, I was like, oh bother, like,
oh my god. And so it was great to be
back on set, but it also felt like getting up
and running again and remembering how your legs work and
remembering how to approach you know, leave the car and
(55:59):
what the protocol was so it you know, the most
I could do was really deeply just get involved in
the the emotional through line of the character. Yeah and
uh and really just like like like I said before,
with directing, just like really lean on the tech advisors
(56:21):
just to be like I need you behind the camera
and I need you to tell me if my right
shoulders up or if I look tense, or if something
it looks out of place, and just trusting them to
make sure that I was being honest and yeah, that
was That was mostly And then you know, there's a
bunch of really great documentaries and honestly quite a bit
(56:41):
of footage online. So I did a lot of that,
a lot of watching that.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (56:47):
I'm so glad you got to work with Louch. He's
the best, He's the best, the so lucky.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
Well, I know you're waiting to find out what happens
next the limbo of this crazy life. What feels like
and it doesn't have to be about work, by the way,
it can be any any sort of facet of your
life right now. What feels like you're work in progress
at the moment?
Speaker 2 (57:12):
Oh my goodness, gosh, so many things I feel. I mean,
I guess that's what living is, which is so great. Right,
It's like a constant work in progress. I feel like
I'm you know, with regards to work, I'm a work
in progress because I'm constantly figuring out how to navigate.
You know, I've got a TV show that I'm going
(57:35):
to be going out with that I've been working to
create for a while, so like learning how to pitch
and really, like you said, like you're doing produce, like
that's a work in progress for me, a work in
progress with my marriage right now, because Patrick's been like
shooting on location for the entire year, So figuring out
how to fit back, welcome him back in, you know,
(57:58):
and make sure that he he feels home again, like
it's such a long time to be away from home.
And then the girls are growing every day, so like
mothering as a total work in progress, you know, and
like figuring out how to relate to them and what
they need and what they want and how they're changing
(58:19):
and how I'm changing in response to them. And then
you know, like like we talked about when we first
got on, like the work in progress of how to
be part of the larger community. And now that I
just being so grateful that right now as the shows out,
as I'm in this limbo waiting to find out I
have some time, and so it's like, how can I
(58:42):
be the most helpful? You know, who can I be
checking in on? Who can I be reaching out to?
You know, how can I be talking to my kids?
You know, like figuring out that what's the best way
to to talk about it? And yeah, so so life,
my life is the life is my work in progress.
Speaker 1 (59:05):
Right, yeah, I feel it.
Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello
whip smarties. Today I'm sitting down with a woman I
absolutely adore from life and also from television, who, like myself,
(00:25):
grew up on essentially a cult classic TV show. Today's
guest on Work in Progress is none other than Troy
and Bellisario, who we all fell in love with on
Pretty Little Liars and who has made such an incredible
career as an actor, a director, a writer, and now
she is starring on Dick Wolfe's newest show, on Call
(00:48):
on Amazon Prime. It is an adrenalized and visceral police
drama that follows a rookie and a veteran officer played
by Troyan as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California.
This show is so good, It is so well written,
it is so well shot, and it happens to hail
from many of the same team members that I worked
(01:10):
on Chicago PD with and I just, oh, I love
everything about it. I can't wait to talk to Troy
in about what it was like to go from high
school drama to cop show and all of her incredible
work in between. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Oh No you look amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Oh no, angel I had to do a meeting today
with like a stranger on Zoom, and I looked in
the mirror this morning and was like, oh, I've been
in storage units for three days, like gathering supplies for
friends whose houses burned down, and I need to.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Re do it all. So I actually like washed my
hair today. It was a big deal, incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And then you just look like this all the time. Yes,
it's not like you have just perfect face all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Oh no, I was thinking, you mean the sweatshirt that
I dropped my children off in school in and me
my hair up in the craziest ponytail. It's so good
to see you.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It's so good to see you. How are you, guys?
Everything's okay.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
We are exceptionally and exceedingly lucky. We're doing okay. We
were out of town for a little bit, you know,
just left and then just got back and yeah, how
are you doing.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
It's just been wild. I mean, likewise, it was weird.
I what a stupid thing. But it's like my best
friend who's my business partner, and I were speaking at
cees last week, so we were in Vegas just like
bopping around and then suddenly we were like, what's going on,
Like what is happening at home? And my parents had
to evacuate, and so we evacuated them to my house,
(03:08):
and then they had to evacuate my house, and it
was like and now we're okay, but we're all just
kind of waiting.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it's really really I don't know how to describe it.
It feels so strange to be like doing stuff like
this this week, because you know, whenever I'm listening to
the news or looking at watch study or anything online,
it's just like, okay, wind advisory, like, we're not we
(03:39):
haven't seen the end of this, and I've I just
like I don't even know how the city begins to
process rebuild, you know, we're not even through it. So
it's yeah, it's this bizarre kind of you know, awful limbo.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, and it's such a weird thing. There was that
I don't remember where it started, but someone had posted,
you know, climate change will be a series of disasters
you watch on your phone until you're the one filming it. Yeah,
and it's like I was listening to this climate scientist
interviewed at the top of the week, and he was
(04:18):
talking about how everyone in LA who's been affected by
these fires is now a climate refugee.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
And it really it shifted something mentally for me, and
I was like, oh boy, it has it really has
arrived on our doorstep. Yeah, and it's very surreal. And
then at the same time, exactly as you said, life
has to go on. People have to go to work,
(04:46):
you know. So many people I know are like desperate
to get back to work, you know, and we have
to do these things. But I do feel really lucky
that at least for the past week I was basically
able to shut everything down and just start managing, you know,
going through things. Because one of one of the girls
(05:08):
on my team, her family's house burned down. They have nothing,
and we were just like, okay, we can gather furniture,
we can gather supplies, we can pack clothes, we can
pack cosmetics, we can shuttle things to donation centers, we
can shuttle things to people we know. And it was
pretty cool to just watch everyone in our universe just
stop and serve.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, it's very special. Yeah. I don't know if you follow.
There's a gentleman on Instagram who I absolutely adore. His
name is his Instagram handle was blakely Thornton. Yes, yes, yes,
we're afraid. He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I die for him.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
He is so amazing and he it was just saying
how the beautiful thing to come out of all of
this horrific horror is the community service is just like
the LA community just wrapping its arms around everybody possibly
can and just be so well being there. Yeah, feel
(06:05):
extremely lucky and like you said, extremely grateful to be.
You know, yesterday it was just me going to Costco
and buying under our packs and socks, packs and hells
of water and just being like where, you know, where
can I go meet? And I go, So yeah, yes,
really feel extremely lucky.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It's special. And I mean you you also grew up here. Yeah,
So it's like, I don't know, I feel such pride
in the way that people are getting to see what
our city is, not what they think it is, not
what they judgmentally call it, but what it is, and
how hard LA rides for La. Yeah, I just yeah,
(06:45):
I love our I love our city.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I know, I know it's and it's something that you know,
because I'm it's obviously everybody who's in LA who's been
affected is is reeling. And everybody who's in LA who
hasn't been affected in the most dramatic ways is reeling.
And like you said, when this is your hometown too,
your you know, your heart just aches because I've never
(07:13):
seen anything like this. We've never seen LA has never
seen anything like this, like not at this level. And
so it really, like you said, it ushers in a
new era of what we have to be prepared for,
of what the city has to you know, prepare it
citizens for and take care of us for. So yeah, yeah,
(07:33):
what a wild man. I was really hoping twenty twenty
five was not gonna, yeah, come out of the gates
this hot. But yeah, if every year previously has taught
me anything, it's just don't get your hopes up.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, just stop saying this is gonna be our year.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Just enough of that, It's okay, Yeah, it's just it's.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Just enough of that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Did you love growing up here? I mean, who you
grew up here too? Right? Yeah? Yeah, so it's like, yes,
I loved growing up here. I also like didn't know
anything different, you know totally. It's like I went to
the same school K through twelve and everybody was like, oh,
(08:20):
did you love that school, and I was like, sure,
I love that school. I also had never been to
another school, so how I know, you know, it's just
this is what home feels like to me. You know,
home feels like the you know, the Ripley's believe it
or not, and the Mullholland you know drives and the
(08:43):
Topanga canyons and the beach and the mountains, and it's
like it just all feels like home. Though I don't
know what was your experience growing up same.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
I think that the sort of biodiversity of this place
was a so amazing to me, and you just said it.
You know, you can be up hiking peaks and then
in the ocean at sunset. It's so it's just so special.
And that was what was funny to me is so
(09:16):
many people from outside think La just totally revolves around
the business, and for me, growing up here, LA really
revolved around nature. But yeah, the business is also so
intrinsic in it, and I think, I guess not. I
think I wonder, especially for you, because you grew up
(09:36):
in like a television family, was your childhood also sort
of experienced on set or did your parents keep you
really separate from that universe when you were a kid.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, it was funny, it was experienced on set. I
was extremely fortunate that my parents just like constantly took
me to work, so I really they did have the experience,
especially with my my older brother Michael, of like growing
up on the Universal back lot and then the Paramount
back lot and just kind of running around and those
were just joyful memories because getting to be there with
(10:14):
my parents and watch what they do and watch them
working and see how those sets functioned was just really
super exciting. But my parents, conversely were also very clear
that I was not allowed to work until I finished college. Yeah,
and which was great. You know, I was allowed to
(10:35):
do like little things, but they were just like, you're
not allowed to drop out, You're not allowed to get emancipated.
You're not allowed. I mean, I love that idea of that.
I'd be like, you can't get amancipated. Like that's a
whole effing point of a mash point. Yeah, it is
that your parents won't get to tell you that. But
but I really accepted my parents, you know, sort of
like stipulations about get a college degree, because then you know,
(10:59):
you have a plan B and C. I did get
my college degree in acting, so I don't know what
they thought about that, right, Yeah, my backup plan is acting.
My plan B is my plan A. Yeah, my Plan
B is my Plan A. That's the way I'll get
around this. But it was it was just a really
wonderful experience because it also allowed me to have a
(11:24):
very inside look at like the luckiest actors, you know,
the way I think a lot of actors who come
to LA and who maybe you know who don't have
the great fortune that I did to like experience sets
without getting the job. Yeah, I got to see the
way a set is run, and I got to see
(11:44):
the way lights are set up, and the way wardrobe
you know, the wardrobe department functions, and like all of
these key things that have to happen before and for
the actor to finally step in and like step on
a mark. And so it felt I don't know, I
just felt so lucky that I got to see how
the sausage was made. You know. It's like, yeah, like
(12:05):
kind of like growing up in a bakery. It's just like, yeah,
it's great to bake bread, you know, like I get
to see it from the inside.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, well, and I think it's so cool because there
is so much work and it really you know, the
two hundred people that it requires to make something. For
you to know that so early, and also I think
to understand the you know the importance of your crew
and all the things you never see in the finished
product is really such a gift.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
On that note, I just want to like add that
it was really because my parents were constantly on set.
Like obviously I was not on set with them all
the time, but they would come home very late, they
would leave very early because they were constantly on set.
And so I also had the experience of being the
kid who was away from my family when they were
(12:57):
at work. And then when I was working and I
saw the crew that got there and loaded in and
you know before and like we're there after the actors
wrapped out, I wouldn't know. I would be like, you've
got a kid at home, you've got a partner at home,
Like you're spending more time with us than you are
with them. So like I had a real kind of
(13:19):
like front seat appreciation for everybody on the crew and
how much time and energy it took just to be
a part of something.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And now a word from our sponsors who make this
show possible. It's such a privilege to know the ins
and outs of it. And to your point, you know,
it requires so much sacrifice, you know. I think there's
(13:51):
again from outside, much like La, there's this misnomer that
being on a set is like all sort of privileged
and fancy, and it's like no, no, it's sixteen seventeen
hours a day and it's hard, and you build.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Such a.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Kind of second family because, as you said, you're with
these people more than you're with your own family. I
know for us that was sort of gorgeous and really
tough on One Tree Hill, especially because we were all
so young. I mean, I think i'd been twenty one
for like three weeks or something when I moved out there,
(14:28):
and you know, now I think about how lucky we
are to be so close as adults who've like gone
to therapy and healed our shit and like doesn't work,
you know, and I wish we'd had some of those skills.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Then.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
How was it for you guys? I mean, I know
you were twenty four when The Pretty Little Liars started airing.
Was it also kind of a jumble of you know,
closeness and like total Shenanigans.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Oh absolutely, It's interesting really that you that you say
that your experience on Montree Hill too, you guys were
you weren't on location because the entire show was out there,
but you were on location you were. Yeah, we were
away home and away from your families, and that is
really you know, that was Lucy's experience, that was Shay's experience.
(15:18):
But Stasha who had her parents in La, Ashley who
had her parents in Orange County, and me who had
my family in LA like the fact that we were
we were all different ages and different experiences. And I
wonder if this happened too with you guys, Like because
I was twenty four and I had gone to college.
I finished high school and finished college, and a lot
(15:40):
of the girls had you know, gotten their GEDs, or
had been homeschooled, or who didn't go to college, and
so there were a lot of in the very beginning,
I would say, like a lot of high school experiences
literally that like they were getting to go through in
high school. You know, we were shooting in a hallway
(16:00):
and that was not their high school experience because they've
been homeschooled, you know, or like we were going to
a prom and it's like I had my prom experience,
you know, but like they didn't, and so there were
a lot of like definite shenanigans going on. But I
think I always felt like the older sister, you know that, like, yeah,
(16:24):
got to go away to college and now was like
coming back on Thanksgiving break and I was like, oh, okay,
I see what you guys are up to. Yeah, but
I'm good. But it was It was also really fun because,
as you say, they become your second family. Like we
really felt like sisters because you're spending all this time
together and you're not always going to be best friends,
(16:45):
but like a sibling. If anybody has a sibling, you know,
doesn't matter if you're not best friends, it doesn't matter
if you've got in a fight the day before. You're
like you're still at dinner together, You're still hanging out.
You know, It's it's fine because you know, like it's
just the these are your it's like your second family,
you know. As you said, does that make any sense.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Absolutely, because it's real life dynamics. It's not a rom com.
It's like, you know, we talk about it a lot.
We were together for ten years and none of us
had any idea how to be adults when we first met,
and we went through all of our shit together, where
we loved each other, we hated each other, we were
obsessed with each other, we were fighting, we were doing
all the things that you do in your young life.
(17:29):
But if anybody from outside our little circus family had
anything negative to say about anybody in it, it was
like hell no, like of course, you know, and that's
that's such a special thing, and it's like it's it's
the real dynamic of something like that. And I think
for me, I think Hillary was probably more in the
position you were, because you know, she'd been in college
(17:52):
and then was working at MTV and was really like
involved in that whole world. And I went to an
all girls, like fifty five girls in my graduating class,
small prep school. I never had a traditional high school anything.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
And then I'd done three years of college, and you know,
it was like the philanthropy chair of my sorority, nobody's
shocked there. And then I got on set and was like,
I don't know what it's like to go to high
school with boys.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I don't know any of this so in a weird way.
Even though I was such like a book smart kid,
I had no real life experience. And Hillary was definitely
even though we're only a week apart, like my smarter
older sister who was like, Oh, you're going to make
all these stupid mistakes and I'm gonna say I told
you so, but I'm going to be the person who
(18:40):
like catches you also when you fall, and it was
absolutely ridiculous and amazing, and yeah, it's like such a
weird It's just such a weird journey. And I think
especially on shows like both of ours, they hit the
zeitgeist in a way that you just can't be prepared for.
I mean, was it so so real to you when
(19:01):
suddenly it was everywhere? How did you how did you
kind of process such fast fame and the fandom that
came along with a show like that.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Well, I mean I kind of would to flip it
around and ask you because how long were your How
long were you in was it North Carolina? Yeah? Yeah?
How long a year were you in North Carolina?
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Ten months? Like nine to ten months, and.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Then you'd come home for a little bit, And what
was it like when you came back to LA.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I don't totally know, because I wanted to work so
much that, like any movie that happened to have its
shooting dates on my hiatus, by the way, some which
were not good, I still wanted to go do just
to experience or something else. I think I would probably
make choices slightly differently from my adult perspective now. But
(19:55):
there were years when I barely came home, like I'd
come over a weekend, fly back, you know, to try
to see my friends for one night, and then I'd
go back to Wilmington. That that was the weirder part
of it. I think was never really feeling like anywhere
was home, because if I was totally invested there, I
(20:15):
was missing so much here, and if I'd fly home here,
I'd miss weekends with friends there. I kind of felt
like I could never get the balance right, which I
mean I think women feel in every way between life
and work, like what's life work balance?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (20:31):
But I think what was weird for us was being
in such a bubble Like even now, sometimes my best
friends will be like, you do know you're a famous person, right,
And I'm like, but I'm not really like right, And
I'll fill in the blank, like so and so is
really famous, and they're like, you're not paying attention to
what's happening in this room since you walked into it.
(20:51):
I don't know what that is. Why we I don't
know if you experienced that. I think I think we
were very much always told that our show wasn't such
a big deal. Probably I never wanted anyone to ask
for a raise, because when they sign you on a
six year TV contract, no money, they don't want to
pay you more money and they sadly don't have to.
(21:15):
But like you know, I still don't quite know how
to process it.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah, it's still still is like yeah, for sure, I
mean I feel, hmm. It's interesting because my experience, you know,
like you said, well, because we shot in La So,
and because I was dating Patrick throughout throughout all of it,
and he was shooting throughout all of it at the
(21:41):
same time. But in Toronto, it was most of my
weekends were flying to see him or him coming to
see me. So it was interesting because like I would
have my poll experience during the week and then I
would like go to camp or like you know, he
would come here and I would try to like see
(22:03):
as much of him as possible, and but then I
was very lucky in that, like so many of my
friends that I grew up with, like we're in LA,
you know what I mean, and so I would get
to see them, but I never experienced the like shock
(22:24):
of fame, you know. I guess like I've had those
experiences when I've gone to some place that's outside of America. Yeah,
you know, I feel very fortunate and that like Los
Angeles people like really don't care that much, you know,
and they're like okay. But also because I don't I
(22:45):
don't know how to like do this the way that
it is done. When I'm on a show like pl
I get a lot of when I'm outside people are like,
oh man, you look so much like that girl, you know,
or they're like, oh, have you seen Pretty Little Liars?
And I'm like, yeah, I've seen a couple episodes. Yeah,
totally get that all the time. That's that's my experience.
(23:07):
But but then it's lovely because then when people do
recognize you there, our fans have always been so kind
and so gracious, like, yeah, you know, I feel like
so fortunate in that we have a very rabbit and
passionate fan base. But they are the sweetest and kindest
and gentlest of souls, you know what I mean. Like
(23:29):
you don't have like fans that are like mean or
you know, expect too much from you. You know. That's like, yeah,
it's great. I would say I feel very lucky. Patrick
and I always say like we're the luckiest amount of
famous because like, yes we're you know, we get invited
to cool things or we get to like have wonderful
(23:52):
experiences with other celebrities, but we can still go grocery
shopping and like who cares go under the.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Radar and semblance of a normal life. Now, Yeah, I
don't remember because fun fact for the for the friends
at home, Patrick and I were in the same class
at USC.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I know, it's so crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
One of like my oldest, sweetest friends. And I can't remember.
Did you guys meet at sc or after?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So we met after me? Okay, yeah we we There
were actually moments when we met we found at USC,
Like no was a moment, yeah, he you would have
been already gone shooting, but he did. Uh. Mauraz Saud
that like do you hear about the production of Matzad?
It was like so many of your classmates. Okay, so
(24:44):
right after they graduated, your class graduated. He in that
summer like put together a big production of Matsad that
like kind of went into the ball I guess, or
I don't remember when it was, but it was we
met Benn and because a bunch of seniors that I
was then doing a play with were like, you have
to come see this this class and like this class
(25:06):
is amazing, and so we discovered that we actually met
like then I think, I, you know, I was like
a nerdy freshman and they were like, this is Patrick.
He directed it, and I was probably.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Like like cool, it was really good man, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I was like it was amazing, it's so cool. And he,
you know, in my memory like was standing underneath the
streetlight with like a cigarette and he was like cool,
you know, like it was like a whole Goodard film.
And I was just like a full arcle in response.
And then he came back to school my junior year
and he gave me and Brian Jordan Alvarez the Jack
(25:40):
Nicholson Award because he had won it, I guess his
junior year. So we met then, but then after school
when I graduated, being at the Geffen was my first
job and that was the play that we met, So yeah,
that's occur. Wow, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
And then you went and did something on suits and
he came in and did something on PLLL.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Like, were you guys.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Just sort of game to play because you were in
this back and forth of travel and long distance and
all the things and just wanted to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, it was. There were actually two very funny, very
different stories, and one of them was it was the
first season of Pretty Little Liars and we actually broke up.
I broke up with him, and like the morning after
we broke up, he got the audition for something for
(26:33):
Pretty Little Liars and he knew Gail Pillsbury, our casting director,
and he like prepared the crap out of it and
went in and was just like did the audition and
Gail was like you're amazing. I love you, and he
was like, okay, but like I really want this role.
And then he called his agents at the time, the managers,
(26:54):
and they were like, okay, like you're coming in really
hot for like an ABC Family like guest star role.
Like I don't understand, you know, cause they were like
we're trying to get you like your own show right now,
and he was like, yeah, but I want this guest
star and then he got it. And then he called
me and he was like, Okay, well, I know that
we just broke up, but like I'm going to be
at your table read and I'm going to be on
(27:15):
your set, so you know, we should probably like talk
or something like that. And then we fully talked, which
I think you know what that means, and got back
together and then the mo phone wasn't even at the
table read. We never shot the same day like it was,
but it is a hilarious, like you know, part of
(27:35):
our history that he then is like he put in
the work. He put in the work. And then by
the time, I was always on the set of Suits
because when I would get a day off, I would
fly there and so I was just like a fixture
at their craft service table and at behind the video village.
So obviously I knew, you know, the writers, and I
knew the showrunners and all of that, and so when
(27:57):
it came time when they had a character, you know,
they're absolutely amazing. Casting director Bonnie was just like, oh,
this is Troyan's role, and so we got to work
it out. So it was like joyous because it was
a you know, work vacation where I got to see
him and like actually work with all of the people
(28:18):
that I had just been like sneaking around getting snacks
for in between takes, you know, and trying to get
a little set mouse. Yeah, so that was.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
How that It's really really nice And now a word
from our sponsors.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It's so cool to me to.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Watch all the things that you've chosen to do, you know,
not just as an actor, but as a writer and
as a producer. I mean from from feed to all
of these like incredible films and projects you've gone to
work on. How have you tried to cultivate all of that?
You know, how were you leaning into these other aspects
(29:06):
of your talent while you were making this massive TV show?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
I mean, I mean, first of all, thank you for
saying that. It was always like because my parents are
writers and directors, they always told me when I was
watching the actors on their sets, they were like, you're
watching the luckiest point zero zero zero one percent of actors.
(29:31):
You know, these are talented right outside that gate. They
are equally talented people. It's they just didn't have the
same luck that these ones had, you know, and so
they put into me at a very young age that
you got to work your ass off, you got to
you know, be as good as you can. But also
like a certain element of it is just luck, and
(29:52):
there's nothing you can do to change that. But they
did tell me that, you know, while acting is a
very uncon controllable thing, something that is controllable is writing
and directing. So if you need a creative outlets and
you can't like, you know, there's only so many monologues
I can do by myself in my office if I
(30:14):
have like the urge to be creative, you know, but
I can sit down at my desk and I can
write and you know, come up with new worlds, which
is you know what my parents do so well. So
I I remember being on you know, waiting for the
Geffen Show to begin when I was just out of
(30:35):
college and I had a month before rehearsal started, and
I was like chomping at the bit, you know, but
I couldn't get like a job, even for a month,
Like I couldn't I was working at coffee bean. I
couldn't go back to coffee because I'm like you guys,
are I'm gonna leave it in a month, you know,
so so I but I started writing because I didn't
know what else to do. And then that script became
the first feature, which was Feed. And then I remember
(30:58):
all of my shorts being on set on Pretty Little
Liars and feeling feeling creatively like stifled, because as you
know from those ten months shooting schedules, you know, there
are stretches of time where you're working on amazing stuff
and you're like engaged and all of that stuff, and
then you have like a week where you have a line,
(31:20):
but you're on set all the time and you're like, ooh,
I have nothing to do. And so I would sit
in my chair and I would write, and it was
really helpful because then when I got off the show,
and especially when I got pregnant, and my agents were
basically like, see you when you're you know, your stomach
(31:42):
doesn't take up an entire frame of the camera. That
was when I really was so grateful that I knew
how to direct. And I you know Joanna Johnson, who
was just she had just left the Fosters had just ended,
and she was just making good trouble and she was
incredible and She gave me my first job outside of
(32:04):
the PLL family while I was like eight and a
half months pregnant, and then like just kept on hiring
me through you know, both pregnancies and breastfeeding and all
of that. So it was it was just a really
fortunate like way for me to continue to have a
job and be a mom.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Hyeah is awesome. Yeah, definitely not easy. How do you
how do you approach directing? Because you know, to direct
to show that you're on I think is an easier transition,
you know it like the back of your hand. Yeah,
But to go onto something like good Trouble, where do
you like to start when you get a script and
you have to learn a world?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Well, I was very fortunate in that I in order
for me to start directing on Pretty Little Liars, the
studio actually stipulated that I would need to go through
the Warner Brothers Director's TV program. Well that's so cool, yeah,
which was I mean, like it sounds like it was
a big hoop that they made me jump through, but
(33:06):
like I didn't get to go to film school, so
it was you know, you can shadow directors all day long,
but like until somebody teaches you how to actually like
make a shot list, you know, this is all stuff
you're learning on the fly, yeah, and or break down
a scene. And so I was so so grateful that
they they said that I had to do that if
(33:29):
I could, you know, in order for me to have
my episode. And it was awesome because I would shoot
Monday through Friday on the show, and then on Saturdays
I would go back to Warner Brothers and there would
be six hours where I was with a group of
people and we were using the pretty little liar sets
or class So it was like the most perfect setup
(33:53):
for me to like imagine, Okay, now this is how
I'm going to talk to our amazing DP or this
is how I'm going to talk you know, like practice.
And then, like you said, the big step out of
that is when you go to another show. So then
the next show that I did was Famous and Love,
which was really great because it was the same crew
(34:15):
and it was the same studios but in different sets,
different actors, but the same you know. Marlene was still
a producer, Lisa Cochran, it was the creator. Lisa Cochran
was our producer, and so it was still like within
the family, and that was really wonderful. And then when
Joanna hired me, it was great because it was in
(34:35):
the first season of Good Trouble. So I got to
be there, I think for the second and third episode,
which were amazing and created by the other showrunners Brad
and Peter, and so I got to like absorb. I
was like, oh, this is their visual style, and I
got to watch them communicate with the most incredible DP mark,
(35:01):
and I got to see how the set functioned and
like from the very beginning, see the characters like go
through their first three storylines, you know, and that's, like
you said, it's if I go to another set, I'm
extremely nervous. It is. So it's so overwhelming because, like
(35:21):
you said, especially when you're stepping into an established show,
like nobody knows the characters, like the actors you're speaking with,
you know, the crew has been here generally from the
very beginning, and so you really are the odd man
woman out who comes in and who's like, I think
we should put the camera there, and you know, you
see them be like, oh my god, we'd never put
(35:43):
the camera there, and you're like, I'm like, it's you know,
it's a lot of juggling but the best you can
do is I just try to absorb as much of
the show as I can, you know, watch, try to
make notes about the visual style. Yeah, if I can
shadow another director, do that, get other scripts, and just
(36:05):
really get in the practice of Okay, here's how I
would break down this, you know, this scene if I
were doing it, or like, oh, I see how they
played out that scene. And that makes sense because sometimes
when you're coming onto a set, you don't have a script,
you know, as you know, you have an outline, or
you have like a general gist of the scene, and
(36:27):
so it's yeah, it's and then the biggest thing that
I do is just lean so hard on the crew
that has been creating the show up until then, you know,
really just stand next to the DP and the camera
operators as much as possible, and I'm like, okay, I'm
really thinking this for this shot, and they're like, yeah,
(36:48):
that that seems great, and I'm like, okay, good, good.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah, So totally. I mean it's exciting. It's like it's
I love, I love you know, when I get to
talk with other women that I really admire, particularly about directing.
I just want there to be more of us everywhere.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yeah, well what is your Have you directed a lot
on other shows as well?
Speaker 1 (37:11):
No, so we I directed the last three seasons on
One Tree Hill, which I loved, and then the show
that I did after that, there was like a our
actors don't direct policy, which I think now has begun
to shift in that space, but at the time was
like very firm. And then what I've mostly done since
(37:31):
then is like really start developing and producing, and so
it feels exciting, you know, having I really wanted to
understand production because I have such a natural inclination for
it on set anyway, and it was so nice to have,
you know, the mentors that I had in some of
(37:51):
our on site producers in Wilmington, who were like, you're
a producer, like you just do that naturally. It's been
nice these last few years to lean into that. But
I'm really starting to get the directing itche again, and really, yeah,
I just love it. I love being able to look
at the full picture of what's happening on a set,
(38:13):
and I always really enjoy working with other actors as directors.
I just think that it's it's great, It's like a
great niche for us particularly.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel I also think something
that feels so good for me about it is the
ability to be creative and inhabit like an emotional moment
or a story, but not have to deal with the
insecurity of my face or wondering what it's doing, or
(38:47):
the frustration of, like, I don't know if this happens
to you, but like all the time when I prepare
for a scene as an actor, there's a way that
I expect the scene will go, the way that I
hope the scene will go. And then there is what
I view is my own limitations and like the frustration
(39:07):
of like I wanted it to be here and I
imagine being here, you know, but there's that frustration of
my own instrument and like not really occupying that. And
there's just a freedom when I'm watching somebody else, you know,
find their way in that I just feel so excited
to like be in service of them, you know, because
(39:29):
you can see it from the outside, You're like, oh,
oh my god, they totally have it. I just need
to like free them of that or give them that
permission or have them move over here. And like being
a part of that collaboration is so fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
You know, Yeah, it's lovely and I think it's interesting too,
because you the way you talk about watching other people
do it. You know, you you make space for people
to have their experience, and it can really be hard
to give yourself the kind of space that you'll give
to others. I think, by nature as performers, were so
(40:06):
hard on ourselves. And yeah, I think there's something it
feels nice to be artistically free.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
How did you decide on the new show? Like, what
was it about on Call that made you go, that's
my next gig? For sure?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Well, I certainly did not do that at all with
on Call, like and not like to knock the show,
but like, I've never ever had an experience of being
like that's my next show. Like all of my experiences
are like, oh my god, I so desperately want this job,
or like this will never happen. Like it's just like
(40:51):
I've never had a moment of, you know, feeling that
like confident, and even especially with this show. So I
hadn't been on a you know, I hadn't been a
series regular since Pretty Little Liars, And a lot of
that was because my girls were so young and and
(41:12):
so it was really like, you know, for the past
let's see it were was six so for the past
six years or seven years, the counting of the year
that I was pregnant with her. You know, it was
like would I be in the right like literally, like
would I be not pregnant enough to shoot this in
(41:34):
the window? Am I too pregnant? Am I breastfeeding? The
other difficult thing is, you know, our home base being
LA I really did not consider taking work outside.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Of LA and that's really hard.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
And as you know, from where the industry is right now,
not a lot shoots in Los Angeles. And so it
was you know, like I hate to talk about like
gender dynamics, but it was so much easier I think
for the place that Patrick was in in his career too.
He did a lot of like limited series. Yeah, and
(42:14):
so even when it was a limited series away in Scotland,
it was like, oh, you're going away to Scotland for
this said amount of time, Like that makes sense. The
things that I was being offered to audition for were
not limited they were longer series, and they meant completely
relocating our family. And that is just a really big
(42:37):
decision to take on and there's this real big toss
up of things where it's like you don't even have
the job and you have to consider this, yeah, you
know what I mean. Like I kind of for a
while did that thing where I was just like, just
pursue a job, just any job, and it ended up
almost making us move to Albuquerque, and which was like
(42:59):
the was awesome, but then like I was getting down
the line and I was going to do a studio
test and I was like, oh my god, what am
I Like, we are not prepared to if this goes
my way to do this, And so after you know,
pulling out, you're you don't want to like waste people's
time and you don't want to you know, tell people
(43:20):
you want to do something when ultimately you can't. So
so when on Call came around, it was truly like
one of the first auditions that I had where it
was like, oh wow, this is going to be shooting
in and around the Los Angeles area.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Absolutely dream come true.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
A total dream. But then at the same time I
read the script and I was like, I'm never going
to get this role, like never, I had never played
a cop. I just was like, you know, she was
like I'd never played my age. That was the other
thing is like she's in her early forties and I
had never even played somebody who was in her late thirties. Yeah,
(43:57):
so I was just like, they're not looking for me.
And even when Patrick and I made the tape for
the audition, I was like, what do I do? Like
do you have any notes? And he was like, you're
not going to get this job, so like just do whatever,
like like it was so like we but we both
It wasn't like a knock. It was just like, you know,
this is never going to go my way, And then
(44:18):
when it did, it was this like absolute shock and
this amazing thing because I thought the writing was just
awesome and I was so scared obviously going to set
every single day just being like when are they going
to look up at the monitor and realize they've made
a horrible mistake, you know, like I just had imposters.
Oh you're so good at it, thank you. But I do,
(44:41):
and I bet I'll have imposter syndrome if we get
a season two, Like I just you know, I don't
know when I'll be comfortable with this character. But but
it is funny because I've I've had that question recently
where people are like, what about this job made you
say like, that's you know, yours, And I was like, true,
really it was. It was Sarah Isaacson, the casting director,
(45:04):
it was you know, Elliott Wolf and Tim Walsh, and
it was you know, oh my god, I mean it
was Dick.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
Wolf is just like an absolute icon. I loved I
loved working for that man, and Tim is such a
good writer, and so to see that you guys were
all doing this together, just like, I was so tickled
when I read about it.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
I was like, oh my god, it's going to be
so good, and it is.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
I just I really enjoy the pacing of the show
and the edge of it, and it just feels so
gritty and honest. You guys have done such a such
a phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Job with it. Thank you. Yeah, I feel extremely lucky
to be a part of this show and this crew.
And also, like you said this, I think this is
a real like kind of shift for Wolf Productions, you know,
Wolf Entertainment, because especially because it's for Amazon, like, we're
(46:08):
able to do things that I think, you know, so
many other shows have probably wanted to do, but we
get to occupy a different footprint, and I know, you know,
I know for me like being in the PLL that
was on free Form and then seeing the Pretty Little
(46:31):
Liars that was on HBO Max, Like you really see
when you like walk so somebody else can run, you
know what I mean, that kind of thing. And so
I feel extremely grateful because I understand that I'm standing
on the shoulders of Dutch a legacy with Wolf Entertainment
and so many amazing shows that have just like I mean,
(46:55):
they're just juggernauts. So it's like to be the new
little kid on the street. It's like kicking rocks and
trying to make some noise. I feel very, very fortunate.
It's so great.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And now a word from our wonderful sponsors.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, what are you up to these days other than
hosting an amazing podcast. I mean, this is.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
Like such a wonderful constant that's so fun. It's really
wild because this this is the first, well, I guess
technically the second. Now, like twenty twenty four, coming into
that year was the first year I was not attached
to a TV show in my entire career, like in
(47:46):
development on something or you know, a pod deal somewhere
or whatever. And I really wanted to take a breath
and just see, like, wait a second, what do I
really want to do next? So I went and made
this great movie last year that is an adaptation of
a thriller from a big best selling book in the
(48:07):
UK that was so much fun.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
When will that be coming out?
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I don't even know yet. We're just doing key art now,
and everyone always asks me these questions that I realized
I should know the answers.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
To, and I'm like, I don't know what you don't
because nobody ever tells you. I ever think, Well, that's
the thing.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Our job, our world is so weird. I don't get
attached to the details because I've realized that the more
attached to details you are, the more anxious you'll be
as a human.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, so I'm kind of like, hey, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
And then there was another film we were supposed to
shoot in New York and then we lost our location,
which was an absolute nightmare for us. Real estate moves
in New York can really up independent film. So now
we're trying to figure out, like how we put it
back together, and we will. But it was supposed to
(48:56):
be a twenty twenty four and now it looks like
it'll be a twenty twenty five, and it's just it's like, yeah,
I don't know, it's wild. I feel I definitely needed
a beat because doing network TV for fifteen straight years
just exhausted me. But I now I'm like, oh, I'm
starting to get the itch, like I'm ready to be
(49:16):
back at work in that consistent way. Because while I
love making films, the for me at least as an actor,
and I wonder if you feel this, like the ability
to spend day in, day out with someone and really
build a life. That's the thing I love the most.
(49:36):
I mean, movies are a dream, but it's like summer camp.
It goes by so fast, and I really love I
love the development we get to have in TV.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
It is a real like yeah, it's really really just
such a different experience. And like you said, when you're
doing especially network network seasons, you know, you have ten
months of being day and day out with this character
and with this crew, and it's you know, really awesome.
(50:07):
I'll be very excited because our order, initial order was
like just eight half hour episodes, so it was supposed
to be three and a half months. And then with
the strike, and with the holidays and then the wow,
how long it took to come out? It was actually
two years. Yes, it's like I'm very excited to hopefully
get back to some sort of like regularity.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
I totally know how that feels. We went through the
same thing. The last show that I did we only
did one season of, but was the show called Good
Sam and I signed onto it at the top of
twenty twenty, and it was and I started reading scripts
in twenty nineteen. So it was really like a three
year process because of the pandemic and lockdowns and all
(50:50):
the things. For us to make a season of television.
It was so surreal, and so it is really weird
when you've when in the before times a year was
a year, but in the like times of pandemics and
strikes and things like a year takes three years. It's
so insane, it is it is really wild.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
And I think I was just listening to something else
that was one Oh my god. But Francis Ford Coppola, right,
he made The Godfather part He made The Godfather and
the Conversation and like the same calendar year and maybe
it was maybe it was Godfather Part two and the conversation.
(51:34):
So he was up for both Academy Awards in the
same year for those films. I think I'm saying that right,
but like that kind of like that kind of timeline
just does not exist. It doesn't exist, said you know,
especially now that you're in producing as well. You're signing
on to something and then it's getting development, and then
it's finally going, and then wild things that you can't
(51:57):
control are happening, and then all of a sudden, it's five, seven,
eight years down the line. And that's why you said
you can't get caught up in the details, because you're like,
I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
I'm like, I'm not even going to stress about it.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
And I've learned that for people who don't work in
the circus, that's very hard, like friends, family, loved ones
that are like, how do you not have more details?
Or they'll be like, what do you mean? We had
one conversation about this and now the whole thing is happening,
and I'm like, I don't know. We made a plan
and so it's the plan, right, Like yeah, and I
(52:31):
realized not everybody's nuts like us, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (52:36):
But here, we are, here, we are Oh my gosh,
it's wild.
Speaker 1 (52:41):
Well, I mean, I know you're waiting to find out
if you get another order. I certainly hope you do
because I'm loving the show. What was it like to
prepare for it? Because you said you know you had
imposter syndrome. I guess that's just something we all have forever.
But how did you did you wrap your head around it?
(53:02):
Because I know what a preparer you are. You are
such an organized professional person, so I would imagine you
did a lot of prep ahead of shooting. What did
that look like for you?
Speaker 2 (53:14):
Well, it was interesting because when they told me I
got the job, we were actually starting to shoot. I'm
not kidding it a week and a half later.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (53:26):
So it was. We were incredibly fortunate in that we
got to uh work. Did you work with Luch? Yeah? Yeah,
So Luch was so great. He came out, he worked
with us for I think we got like two and
a half days of just dollid training with him, and
(53:50):
that was amazing. And then you know, they were kind
enough to set us up with some ride alongs in
Long Beach so that we could meet some people from
West Division and also just get out in the community
and start to learn Long Beach as you know, a community.
And then we were in it, and we were fortunate
(54:12):
to have really wonderful texts on set with us because
it was so not natural. And it was really frightening
for me because I was supposed to be playing a
twelve year you know, veteran member of the Force. So
I was like, this shit needs to look intrinsic, like
it needs to just be absolutely not thought about. And meanwhile,
(54:35):
like I might have learned, you know, five minutes before
the take that they were like, oh no, no, no,
you're not you know, bringing your baton with this one.
And You're like, do you just throw the car in
gear and this is what you're doing. And I was
just like, uh huh okay. And so we did that
and we were kind of moving along, kind of finding
our pace. And then when we went down for the strike,
(54:56):
as you know, a lot of shows did not come back. Yeah,
and it was six months of waiting to find out
is stressful. It was so stressful and and so I
did I, you know, I would go to the scripts
because we were about a little bit less than halfway
through shooting the season and I would sit down with
(55:17):
it on the strike and say like, I have this time,
why don't I work on it? And I would find
that it was just like sometimes supremely painful. I was like,
what if what if I don't get to go back
on this, you know, And so yeah, I kind of
would like throw them, you know, in my book bag
and like shove it under my desk. And then of
(55:38):
course when they were like okay, great, like around they
were like see you after Thanksgiving, I was like, oh bother, like,
oh my god. And so it was great to be
back on set, but it also felt like getting up
and running again and remembering how your legs work and
remembering how to approach you know, leave the car and
(55:59):
what the protocol was so it you know, the most
I could do was really deeply just get involved in
the the emotional through line of the character. Yeah and
uh and really just like like like I said before,
with directing, just like really lean on the tech advisors
(56:21):
just to be like I need you behind the camera
and I need you to tell me if my right
shoulders up or if I look tense, or if something
it looks out of place, and just trusting them to
make sure that I was being honest and yeah, that
was That was mostly And then you know, there's a
bunch of really great documentaries and honestly quite a bit
(56:41):
of footage online. So I did a lot of that,
a lot of watching that.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (56:47):
I'm so glad you got to work with Louch. He's
the best, He's the best, the so lucky.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
Well, I know you're waiting to find out what happens
next the limbo of this crazy life. What feels like
and it doesn't have to be about work, by the way,
it can be any any sort of facet of your
life right now. What feels like you're work in progress
at the moment?
Speaker 2 (57:12):
Oh my goodness, gosh, so many things I feel. I mean,
I guess that's what living is, which is so great. Right,
It's like a constant work in progress. I feel like
I'm you know, with regards to work, I'm a work
in progress because I'm constantly figuring out how to navigate.
You know, I've got a TV show that I'm going
(57:35):
to be going out with that I've been working to
create for a while, so like learning how to pitch
and really, like you said, like you're doing produce, like
that's a work in progress for me, a work in
progress with my marriage right now, because Patrick's been like
shooting on location for the entire year, So figuring out
how to fit back, welcome him back in, you know,
(57:58):
and make sure that he he feels home again, like
it's such a long time to be away from home.
And then the girls are growing every day, so like
mothering as a total work in progress, you know, and
like figuring out how to relate to them and what
they need and what they want and how they're changing
(58:19):
and how I'm changing in response to them. And then
you know, like like we talked about when we first
got on, like the work in progress of how to
be part of the larger community. And now that I
just being so grateful that right now as the shows out,
as I'm in this limbo waiting to find out I
have some time, and so it's like, how can I
(58:42):
be the most helpful? You know, who can I be
checking in on? Who can I be reaching out to?
You know, how can I be talking to my kids?
You know, like figuring out that what's the best way
to to talk about it? And yeah, so so life,
my life is the life is my work in progress.
Speaker 1 (59:05):
Right, yeah, I feel it.
Host
Sophia Bush
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