Oh, baby that’s sweet... with Jason Lewis

00:00:01
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, and I want to know, are you a Charlotte? We're here, you guys. Jason Lewis is back.

00:00:11
Speaker 2: Hi.

00:00:13
Speaker 1: It was so much fun last time. Thank you so much for coming back. We had a tremendous day together, which we're going to talk about later. But first, I asked our Instagram page. kiddos, what they would like me to ask you. And so I have a whole list of questions. And I haven't shown them to you, even though I felt like maybe I should have, but I haven't.

00:00:38
Speaker 2: Nah, more fun in the surprise of the moment.

00:00:40
Speaker 1: Okay, great. If there's something that you want to skip, just let me know. Obviously, do your Jason thing. You'll handle it.

00:00:46
Speaker 2: Hit me with the best shot.

00:00:48
Speaker 1: I'm just going to go in order. I'm sure you've probably been asked this 8 million hundred times, but I'm going to ask you, what similarities do you have with Smith Jarrett? What's your biggest difference?

00:01:01
Speaker 3: Oh, similarities and expansive and luminous soul.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:01:10
Speaker 2: What do I have similarities with?

00:01:12
Speaker 3: I think I've always tried to strive for compassion. biggest difference is I think Smith was really good about not taking things personal and I still struggle with that.

00:01:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point, isn't it? Yeah, Smith was like quite mature and.

00:01:31
Speaker 3: For his age, for my age, yeah. I definitely was not channeling that if it wasn't on the page.

00:01:38
Speaker 1: Well, I don't... My perspective, which obviously I wasn't there every day with you because I wasn't in that relationship right on camera, but my... reality of you on set was that you didn't take things that personally like i thought you were pretty good about that.

00:01:56
Speaker 3: I think i have always strove for kindness yes and so i think you know in that way but i i think the understanding was different um of course i think more than it was just about you know protecting and managing space and now it's really done with awareness i I prefer to not take anybody else's pain because if somebody's heaving something at you, that's all it is.

00:02:22
Speaker 2: It's their pain being directed at you.

00:02:24
Speaker 1: Absolutely. But sometimes in the moment.

00:02:25
Speaker 2: And so I don't care to amplify it.

00:02:27
Speaker 1: Right. That's so hard, though, in the moment.

00:02:28
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. But that's what's practiced. And that's also why I said I'm not Smith.

00:02:31
Speaker 1: Definitely, definitely.

00:02:32
Speaker 2: He had that shit down.

00:02:34
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, he, we have a question about that later. But like one thing I remember just came in my mind. I remember a lot of conversation because you had your longer hair. And I remember the hair being like this huge thing where the hair department, obviously, but then also I think Pat got in there. I think Michael Patrick had thoughts. I think John Melfi had thoughts. And I remember you just being so calm. Whereas if it was me, that would have really bugged me.

00:03:00
Speaker 2: I think.

00:03:02
Speaker 3: One of the things I've always been good at is, look, sometimes conflicts arise simply because the conflict is in place. And I think there comes a point where you realize adding another energy to the conversation isn't moving it.

00:03:20
Speaker 2: That's true. And better to sit back.

00:03:22
Speaker 3: And implement what you think and feel at a useful and appropriate time than to rush in just to be heard.

00:03:30
Speaker 1: Definitely. But the thing that I will say back, cause yes, in theory, I believe every single thing you say to be very wise and true, but like this was your actual hair on your head and they were all touching it and you had to act right. Do you know what I'm saying?

00:03:45
Speaker 3: Yes.

00:03:46
Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. But that's the take things personally. I think I've always challenged myself to be that person. I think I'm better at it now.

00:03:56
Speaker 1: I am.

00:03:58
Speaker 3: You're asked for a difference and Smith was like a, you know, a Buddhist monk with how detached she was with it. It doesn't mean there wasn't an interior.

00:04:08
Speaker 2: Monologue, but also, you know, with good cause.

00:04:14
Speaker 3: So I think that's something, you know, for me that always like, where's the person coming from?

00:04:20
Speaker 2: And so I have a lot more tolerance with good cause.

00:04:23
Speaker 3: And I knew what the storyline was and I knew how important and, and.

00:04:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, true, true, true.

00:04:28
Speaker 1: That's good. That's very good. Good answer. Okay, how much of yourself did you bring into the character?

00:04:34
Speaker 3: I think quite a bit at the time. I mean, you know, I just said I tried not to take that. I was in a very, I mean, circumstantially, it sort of worked when I came in to read from it.

00:04:46
Speaker 2: I just got done.

00:04:50
Speaker 3: Spending two weeks surfing and hanging out in a very remote part of Costa Rica. And so I was in a very, oh, just let life be. And so, again, I don't think I always practice it as well, but I've always strove for that sense of equanimity and decency and kindness towards others, whether or not I was capable of it at all times. But I think that the idea and the philosophy of it was certainly something I brought in.

00:05:23
Speaker 1: Cool so like you're you were kind of already there i believed.

00:05:26
Speaker 3: In the mindset i don't know how well i practiced it but then you probably can ask some of like my exes and they'll tell you not so well i would never.

00:05:34
Speaker 1: Go there okay who we are in our romantic relationships is a different thing all right and i am no one to talk it's.

00:05:41
Speaker 2: Just a it's a more challenging.

00:05:43
Speaker 1: Space big time i'm with you 100 120% at least. Okay. Do you think that Smith would have worked as a love interest for any of the other three women?

00:05:57
Speaker 2: Interesting question. Okay.

00:05:59
Speaker 3: So absolutely not for Miranda because she wouldn't have put up with that bullshit. Carrie, I don't think so because Carrie was looking for something else that And the challenge, I think, actually, probably would have worked with you.

00:06:16
Speaker 2: Oh, gosh. Because you, your character was very much about, like, love. True. And finding, like, which I think is, you know, what a wonderful.

00:06:28
Speaker 3: character arc you have in the end when you have to realize, oh, it doesn't come in the package.

00:06:32
Speaker 1: That you expected it to. Totally, totally, totally. I mean, I can't remember enough about, because in so many ways, and this is what was beautiful, I think, about Smith, you kind of, you had your own thing, but like Samantha really says to you, no, I'm going to make you an actor. And, you know, she kind of like, inspires you to go for it, right? Like, pushes you to go for it. But it's unclear, like, were you into being more traditional relationship-wise? Because I know at a certain point you pushed her in that way, right?

00:07:04
Speaker 3: I think the character, yes, I think he did. He definitely, like, wanted an affirmation. I mean, that whole, just.

00:07:13
Speaker 2: Hold my hand.

00:07:14
Speaker 3: Right. But I don't think it was so much about boxing her up as making her, feel capable or giving her the space or, or even making the demand of her to express that she cared, you know?

00:07:29
Speaker 1: Right.

00:07:30
Speaker 2: Right.

00:07:30
Speaker 3: And I think for that character, that was something, you know, the popular word is we were talking earlier with the kids today is authenticity. I think for him, especially with the backstory of it all, having, you know, been a, you know, if you, if you're an alcoholic, there's probably a reason you got there.

00:07:48
Speaker 2: Yes.

00:07:48
Speaker 3: And so I think authenticity of emotion was important to him as a character.

00:07:52
Speaker 1: Most definitely. Most definitely. That's so interesting. Yeah, he's a very interesting, very interesting character. Okay. Especially in hindsight.

00:08:00
Speaker 2: In hindsight.

00:08:00
Speaker 1: We can really spin this up.

00:08:02
Speaker 2: Right?

00:08:03
Speaker 1: How do you feel about the way the relationship ended between Smith and Samantha?

00:08:10
Speaker 3: I actually think it was understandable because, you know, What he wanted from her was not who.

00:08:19
Speaker 2: She wanted to be. And whether or not.

00:08:25
Speaker 3: She was ever going to make that change should have been something for that character's journey alone. And you can't force anybody into a space they're not ready to occupy.

00:08:36
Speaker 1: That is so true. Hear that, everybody.

00:08:38
Speaker 2: Golly, that's some truth.

00:08:40
Speaker 1: You can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. And sometimes, in like a very Charlotte way, I do share this with Charlotte, you know, you can see the possibilities, right? And so you're kind of living in what could be, but that is just wasted.

00:08:55
Speaker 3: It is, but I understand the compassion of that.

00:08:58
Speaker 1: Me too, me too.

00:08:58
Speaker 3: You know, like you want to see people for the best they can be.

00:09:02
Speaker 2: Yeah. But I think the balancing act is hold them as they are.

00:09:09
Speaker 1: Absolutely. That's tough if you have the kind of personality type or whatever that wants to be in this. Everything is beautiful.

00:09:19
Speaker 2: You know what it is? What is it? It's the difference between empathy and sympathy.

00:09:22
Speaker 3: Oh. Empathy is a deep imaginative understanding of another person and their circumstances.

00:09:28
Speaker 2: Right. Sympathy is feeling what they feel. Right.

00:09:32
Speaker 3: And so you are... we end up making it about ourselves. And I've certainly done this once or twice.

00:09:37
Speaker 2: In my life. There ain't no lecture coming here. But it is the line I try and understand when I'm communicating.

00:09:45
Speaker 1: That's very good. That's an interesting frame to be looking at it through. Yeah, that's interesting. I'm going to mull that over.

00:09:51
Speaker 2: Like you're over there in your space. And the more I think you do that, then you see what that.

00:09:55
Speaker 3: Space actually looks like. And then you're like, I don't know that I want to be there.

00:10:01
Speaker 1: That may be true. That may be true. That's good to, to think about it that way. I like that. That's good. Let's keep going with our, our, our fan questions. Cause they're pretty interesting. I have to say the fans did well. Okay. How do you see Samantha and Smith? Oh, Do you see Samantha and Smith getting back together? And do you think that they were each other's endgame or could have been? I know someone in my world had a lot of thoughts about this, was devastated that they didn't end up together because felt like the kind of energy and vibe of you two was so interesting and different and strong, you know, that that could have really... just been kind of just a magical pairing forever. I have my own thoughts about why that didn't happen, but what are yours?

00:10:50
Speaker 2: You mean within the fictional world of that? Yes.

00:10:55
Speaker 1: Sorry, we talk about it.

00:10:56
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no. I just wanted to make sure that's where I was at. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:10:59
Speaker 1: No, I just have a friend who felt strongly.

00:11:01
Speaker 2: I think they both were offered a healing journey.

00:11:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:11:05
Speaker 3: So she gave him a sense of validation and wanting to see himself as more. Yeah. And he sort of did the same thing for her, for her emotions. I don't know that those relationships are forever.

00:11:20
Speaker 1: That's a good point.

00:11:21
Speaker 3: You know, sometimes they help move each other into new spaces.

00:11:26
Speaker 1: Right.

00:11:27
Speaker 2: But then they were in new spaces. Right. That's good.

00:11:30
Speaker 1: That's so good. We're going to tell Amy that.

00:11:33
Speaker 2: Hi, Amy.

00:11:36
Speaker 1: So my question now is, because I might have asked you this before, but I can't remember what you told me. What did you think? Like, remember when we ended the show, did you think that was the end of you as Smith?

00:11:50
Speaker 2: Oh, you mean in the sense of like in the movies? Yeah.

00:11:55
Speaker 1: Did you, did you know of our plan?

00:11:57
Speaker 2: No, I had no, no concept of it whatsoever.

00:12:00
Speaker 3: So it was a surprise and a lovely surprise, you know, I've always sort of operated in as much gratitude as I can cobble together. And I just looked at it like it was such a gift to be included in something that was so wonderful already. And so I didn't have expectations or any embitterment like not to be included or like the end was the end. I was like, what a great. ride that was.

00:12:29
Speaker 1: Got it, right.

00:12:30
Speaker 2: But when it came around, I was like, oh, wow, bonus wonderful.

00:12:33
Speaker 1: Definitely. Definitely. That's how I felt, too, for sure. Except I really, I did believe we were going to do the film, and then we didn't do the film right away, and then that was so frustrating and mysterious, like, what's going on, and when will we ever get to do that? I was very wrapped up in all that. Obviously, it was a big deal. And then when we did, it was amazing.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, especially for you ladies, because it was really ultimately about.

00:12:56
Speaker 1: And I mean, we talked about this before, but, but just in case people didn't listen to that one, you know, how did you, I mean, you came in kind of towards the end, right. And you had such a great attitude. I remember at the time, some of the guys, I'm not going to name any names, some of the guys would occasionally feel frustrated, you know, that it was about us. Right. And that they kind of, sometimes they didn't know what was going to happen with them. And I think that's a hard place to be in as an actor. Right.

00:13:26
Speaker 2: Yes and no.

00:13:27
Speaker 3: I think, you know, we were talking about this earlier, just about story in general. And I have always maintained, I love story. The only reason I got into acting in the first place is because I love stories. I think story is one of the most important and wonderful traditions of any society. And it's certainly played a huge role in my life. And so I didn't look at it as mine. I never looked at it as mine. I'm in service. As an actor or a writer or a director, we're all in service to the same damn thing, and that's the story. And then the story is there for the audience. And so we are, in.

00:14:09
Speaker 2: A way, servants.

00:14:09
Speaker 3: As much as you get lauded and you're put up as the really most important thing, it's kind of like the lead singer of a band. You know, he's getting all the attention, but did he write it?

00:14:19
Speaker 2: Some do, some don't. Right, right, right.

00:14:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

00:14:24
Speaker 2: So that was never an issue for me. It's never been an issue.

00:14:26
Speaker 3: I'm always kind of just enjoying when it does come around.

00:14:29
Speaker 1: Amazing. I love it. Okay, very good, very good. Let's see. This is interesting. We are deep into the this is real now, so just roll with it, okay?

00:14:39
Speaker 2: All right, hit me.

00:14:40
Speaker 1: This is funny. Do you see Samantha and Smith getting back together?

00:14:46
Speaker 2: They've maintained a friendship. There you go. Okay, great.

00:14:48
Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us that gift. That's a nice gift.

00:14:51
Speaker 2: To think of. I think that there's, because they did move to different spaces, but I think that was one of the things about Samantha's character is she's a brutally honest person.

00:15:01
Speaker 3: Yeah. Whether or not she understands what she's talking about was always, like any character, the conflict of self-awareness. But I think that they probably maintained a really great friendship.

00:15:14
Speaker 1: That's nice. I'm so glad. I would totally picture that. Okay. Well, what was your reaction when you found out you'd be shaving your head?

00:15:22
Speaker 3: Well, again, that goes back to the story thing. And when I, you know, cause they didn't just say, Hey, we want you to shave your head. You know, Michael Patrick held on to what was coming down the pipe.

00:15:38
Speaker 2: Like it was a vault.

00:15:40
Speaker 3: So I had very little like, understanding where things were going to go. But they shared that with me, and it was such a beautiful story.

00:15:49
Speaker 1: So amazing.

00:15:50
Speaker 3: To get to participate in a moment like that where you're having an impact on people.

00:15:55
Speaker 2: And it did too.

00:15:56
Speaker 3: I remember shooting that episode, not just that scene, but when she whips off the wig in that room full, because they had.

00:16:04
Speaker 2: Cancer survivors there.

00:16:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:16:06
Speaker 3: And you got to see in real time how impactful a story can be for people.

00:16:10
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:16:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, beautiful. So when they told me, I was all in. I thought it was, wow, cool. Okay.

00:16:17
Speaker 1: That's amazing. It's such a great scene. Oh, my God.

00:16:21
Speaker 2: It's the only time I had any real control on set. Really?

00:16:25
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:16:25
Speaker 3: Because, you know, Michael and they were all figuring out when to roll cut. It was like, it came down to it. Really, I have to take my own cue.

00:16:33
Speaker 1: Amazing. Amazing. Take it where you can get it.

00:16:38
Speaker 2: I got to call action on that one. I love it.

00:16:40
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. Okay. That was a good question. What was your favorite Smith and Samantha moment in the show? Maybe it would be that one, but let's say other than that.

00:16:51
Speaker 2: Oh.

00:16:53
Speaker 3: Honestly, for me, and this is less to do with the character, but more to do with. acting is in and of itself kind of a personal journey because you have to ask questions. It was waiting for her when she went up to see Richard.

00:17:10
Speaker 1: Wow. Fascinating.

00:17:12
Speaker 2: Because that was hard for me to understand. For sure. And I had to find a way to understand that.

00:17:19
Speaker 1: Got it.

00:17:20
Speaker 3: In that way, there was like a growth of like, oh, that seems beautiful because it's a statement of love isn't about.

00:17:28
Speaker 2: What you want. That's true.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:17:31
Speaker 2: Love is about the consideration and care of another.

00:17:34
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Good one. Good answer. I like that.

00:17:38
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:17:40
Speaker 1: Fans still argue that Smith was the best boyfriend on the entire show. Do you think Smith was the best boyfriend on the whole show?

00:17:50
Speaker 3: I think Smith had the benefit of a lot of practice swings before he got there.

00:17:56
Speaker 1: Really?

00:17:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, he articulated a lot of dysfunctional relationships. So finally you gave a character who could offer up a little, you know.

00:18:04
Speaker 1: That's true.

00:18:04
Speaker 2: Functionality.

00:18:05
Speaker 1: Also, it makes me, because obviously I look at everything differently now from all this time passing and You know, when I watch it back, I see things differently. I'm so curious who you are based on. Like, like for me, and I think I've said this before. I think it's okay that I'm saying this. I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure Harry is based on Michael's husband, you know, because this is about when he came into life and there's a lot of similarities. It's like the sweetest, sweetest man ever. And it was part of how I knew in my gut that Harry was going to work out, right? Because I can't exactly remember everything that Michael told me in the beginning. I remember that the contradiction between... what Charlotte wanted versus what Harry presented on the outside, but was what I wanted on the inside.

00:18:53
Speaker 2: I never thought about it because I just looked at it from story and structure.

00:18:57
Speaker 1: Right. Well, I know the writers, right? So like sometimes over time, and I don't think I thought it at the time when Harry first shows up.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: Who had that relationship? Right.

00:19:07
Speaker 1: Who had, yeah, I want to know because I do feel like Smith is very, it's like a whole creation, you know, very much so.

00:19:15
Speaker 2: It was in place before I got there. I think I just. shoot in.

00:19:19
Speaker 1: Well, you were the viewer. Absolutely. I think you shoot in. Well, even more than that, I think you brought a deeper layer because I do believe as much as I totally agree with what you're saying that we are in service to the story. I also think that, you know, actors are working in an energetic way.

00:19:37
Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.

00:19:38
Speaker 3: Just being in service story doesn't discount the fact that the actor showing up and bringing something to, we're, It's a collage.

00:19:45
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely. And it's like sometimes just a happy, happy you. Yeah. You know, where everything just comes together and fires all in one. Yeah, which I think you absolutely were as Mr. Smith. Okay. Okay. Oh, did they actually put a real gigantic billboard in Times Square for the Absolute Hunk episode?

00:20:05
Speaker 2: No, actually they didn't. That was one of the early uses of CGI. No way!

00:20:10
Speaker 3: Amazing!

00:20:11
Speaker 2: And I think it came down to, if I remember correctly, it was stupid bureaucracy. They wanted to.

00:20:18
Speaker 1: I thought they wanted to and did.

00:20:19
Speaker 2: They did. No, it ended up like, It was weird. I remember that.

00:20:24
Speaker 3: That was, I forget who was mayor at the time, but they were being so weird. Yeah, they were being so crappy about it, the administration.

00:20:32
Speaker 1: Wait, what year was it?

00:20:33
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was. No, it could have been Giuliani. I don't think it could have been.

00:20:36
Speaker 1: Giuliani.

00:20:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's go pick on him. He's easier to pick on.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: I do think it was Giuliani. I think Bloomberg was the movies because he's in the movies.

00:20:41
Speaker 3: But the only reason they chose to do a CGI is they made it so prohibitive for them to do, like they made it near impossible, which I remember thinking, that's not cool. This is like, this has got to be one of the best advertisements for New York city.

00:20:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right now. You weren't aware of Manhattan before you're.

00:21:02
Speaker 1: Aware of Manhattan now and worldwide.

00:21:05
Speaker 2: Like, yes. And so I was like, you should, you should give it to this show.

00:21:09
Speaker 1: Definitely. So we had to CGI that. Oh, that's interesting. Good question. Whoever wrote in this one. Cool.

00:21:15
Speaker 2: Cool. Okay.

00:21:16
Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit about the process of filming the intimate scenes?

00:21:21
Speaker 2: Ooh, yeah, double-sided tape.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, okay, interesting.

00:21:27
Speaker 3: That little pretend barrier of decency. Look, you're there to do a job, and I was certainly working with somebody who had to go through that plenty, so there was a level of professionalism on set before you ever got there.

00:21:47
Speaker 2: Is it ever comfortable? No, God, no.

00:21:51
Speaker 3: But I think if, you know, a little good, clear communication and everything, but no, yeah, no, it's like.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: A little, a lot of double-sided tape.

00:22:01
Speaker 1: So obviously we didn't have intimacy coordinators.

00:22:04
Speaker 2: No.

00:22:05
Speaker 1: So in terms of, I mean, we had different directors, you know, often would you and Kim talk about it before you went on the set or would you just get there, see what the director wanted everyone discuss?

00:22:18
Speaker 2: It would depend on the day.

00:22:19
Speaker 3: Um, One of my favorite memories because of just being esoteric and weird, Michael Patrick was directing the scene. It is the wild sex scene where, you know, we try.

00:22:32
Speaker 1: That's very good. It's very good.

00:22:34
Speaker 3: It was fun. And trying to coordinate it. You know what the answer was? Do you remember back in old Manhattan? There was like this. stupid diagram that people would sell on the streets for like a dollar that had all the Kama Sutra possessions.

00:22:54
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah. That's funny. It was like the honey roasted peanuts. You just saw it out there. Right, right, right. And I think the internet killed that.

00:23:03
Speaker 1: Yeah. I forgot about that.

00:23:04
Speaker 3: Somebody went and got one of those and literally it became pick from the menu.

00:23:09
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah. I didn't know that. That's interesting. That's a good... I like that montage because... It's fun. It's funny. Also, it's also, um, there's something like weirdly realistic about it. I don't know how to put it, but like, I don't know the vibe, you know, it's not in a gross way in a, like a fun way that you're like, Oh yeah, sex can be so much fun.

00:23:37
Speaker 3: Which honestly was one of the great things I think about that shows it brought up the uncomfortable topics and made them less.

00:23:44
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, sex should be fun folks.

00:23:47
Speaker 1: Right.

00:23:48
Speaker 3: And, you know, you got to give credit to Kim because, boy, did that girl have to put up with some stuff.

00:23:54
Speaker 2: And she did it well. Like, you know, she more than me, I think, made that scene work.

00:24:02
Speaker 1: I mean, I'd have to look back on it. I felt like it was both of you guys.

00:24:05
Speaker 3: I did some good athletics before she sold them.

00:24:08
Speaker 2: Well, for sure.

00:24:09
Speaker 1: For sure.

00:24:10
Speaker 2: I mean, it takes two. She made me look good. Let's just say that. I mean, definitely.

00:24:14
Speaker 1: I think that's always true. That's always true, right? Because, like, to sell pretend sex, you're both going to have to... Give it your all. And definitely she did so many incredibly brave things with the body. I mean, I could never have pulled it off. Like I do not know how she did it. Right. It was a lot. It was a lot. And she did it well. And then you came and I think it was for me. I mean, maybe there's a guest star here and there where I was like, oh, yeah, they were good. In the sex part, I mean. But, like, you were just so much equals in it that I think that's what made it so much more kind of interesting.

00:24:53
Speaker 3: I think, you know, for me, part of it, too, is, man, I spent my life near naked in board shorts, so I was.

00:25:01
Speaker 2: Comfortable with body.

00:25:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's important.

00:25:04
Speaker 3: Yes.

00:25:07
Speaker 2: And I'd done this.

00:25:10
Speaker 3: I started in fashion, and I learned very early on how to coordinate that space.

00:25:18
Speaker 1: Got it.

00:25:18
Speaker 3: To make somebody feel safe, to make them feel seen.

00:25:22
Speaker 1: Got it.

00:25:22
Speaker 3: To know that this is not always going to be supported by the director or photographer.

00:25:27
Speaker 1: Right. That's important. That's really interesting.

00:25:31
Speaker 3: All the tongue-in-cheek aside, I've always checked in with the person in front of you, And the safer that somebody feels, then you can perform.

00:25:43
Speaker 2: You know, because it is an.

00:25:44
Speaker 3: Uncomfortable and strange event. So you acknowledge that and you move on from there.

00:25:49
Speaker 1: Definitely.

00:25:50
Speaker 2: Definitely.

00:25:50
Speaker 1: You did a great, great job. What was the most challenging part of playing a smith?

00:26:06
Speaker 3: I didn't really look at it like that.

00:26:08
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:26:08
Speaker 2: Since I, everything, I think the.

00:26:13
Speaker 3: Initial challenge was just feeling comfortable and fitting in, but that I was so well invited. So I didn't really experience terrible challenges for it.

00:26:23
Speaker 1: Good, good, good. That's good. So I guess, I guess one thing like sometimes like for me, you mean.

00:26:29
Speaker 2: For finding the character or any way you.

00:26:31
Speaker 1: Want to look at it. One thing that I would think, I mean, I do think coming onto a show that's already established is awkward and weird in the beginning for everyone, right?

00:26:40
Speaker 3: Well, what we just talked about, the most challenging thing is I was de-robing all the time.

00:26:44
Speaker 1: Totally, totally, totally. Because you de-robe a lot. Yeah. And in very, like, for prolonged periods of time. So, yeah, let's just go with that. But the other thing that I would have said, and I would be curious your thought on it, So, you know how for a long time you, well, actually, when we first meet you, we're all there at the restaurant, right? As were all those other women who are trying to, you know, get your attention or whatever, which apparently you had been a waiter before. So, you know, this, this was not.

00:27:09
Speaker 2: With a little less objectification, but yeah.

00:27:11
Speaker 1: Well, that you know of.

00:27:12
Speaker 2: That I was aware of, yes.

00:27:14
Speaker 1: I bet not, but that you were aware of. But I remember that day. And I remember that day because I feel like, first of all, we had to try to say a moose boosh, which we'd never heard these words before. Don't ask me why. But we hadn't. We were like, how do we say it? How do we say it?

00:27:27
Speaker 2: Because the internet and social media didn't exist then.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: Exactly. That's why. You're so right. And veganism was new. It was like, what?

00:27:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, there certainly wasn't vegan restaurants at the time. Right?

00:27:36
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:27:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:27:38
Speaker 1: I remember because I also feel like there was a lot of built up excitement about you and your character, right? Because we've been looking for you. We'd heard about that. We were looking for you and we found you and they were so excited about you. But that's a lot of pressure to walk into.

00:27:52
Speaker 2: Yes and no.

00:27:54
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:27:54
Speaker 3: Because that was happening more internally. It wasn't bleeding out into my day and day because I wasn't in your conversations.

00:28:00
Speaker 1: You couldn't feel it from us?

00:28:02
Speaker 2: Oh, no. That's why I said yes and no. Okay. Walking in, it was like walking... I think I told you the.

00:28:09
Speaker 3: Story of the cafeteria and how inviting you guys were.

00:28:12
Speaker 1: Yes, yes.

00:28:12
Speaker 3: But yeah, I was walking, I was a kid who just moved into the small town and first day at school and everybody knew about it.

00:28:21
Speaker 2: And yeah, you feel that when you walk in the room.

00:28:23
Speaker 1: For sure, for sure.

00:28:25
Speaker 3: Again, it was a, like the crew, from the crew to the cast, to the producers, it was a wonderful work environment.

00:28:33
Speaker 2: It was lovely to be inside of it. That's good.

00:28:36
Speaker 3: That's good.

00:28:36
Speaker 1: Because I know everyone was just so excited. But sometimes that's like blood pressure, you know, because you don't really know us. Right. And then you're having to live up to some.

00:28:44
Speaker 2: Well, I remember one of the first people I met was dear Miss Amy Harris. Oh, we were.

00:28:51
Speaker 3: It was like at the kickoff party at a bar. And she was just neat.

00:28:56
Speaker 1: She's great.

00:28:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was like, oh.

00:28:57
Speaker 1: You know, she has this whole show on Amazon now. She's like a showrunner.

00:29:00
Speaker 2: What's she running?

00:29:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's it called? The Lake, the something, the, someone look it up.

00:29:05
Speaker 2: I will look it up.

00:29:06
Speaker 1: She was just on it. And I'm going to watch it just because. It's a YA thing.

00:29:09
Speaker 2: Oh, good.

00:29:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, they got a second season.

00:29:11
Speaker 2: Oh, good for her.

00:29:12
Speaker 1: It's very exciting. Yeah, it's really, really amazing.

00:29:16
Speaker 3: Decent as the day is long exactly yeah she's a great i think if i remember correctly she's like you come over here and have a drink.

00:29:21
Speaker 2: With me oh i'm sure i was like i will come over there and have a drink with.

00:29:25
Speaker 1: You yeah yeah yeah that's a great first person to me that's a great first person to me good okay good that's a great answer okay good all right uh but do you do were you ever surprised by how much the audience sexualized smith especially given that the show was so much about women being sexualized? I would kind of twist this question, but go ahead. You answer it.

00:29:44
Speaker 2: I want to hear your twist.

00:29:45
Speaker 1: Well, my twist was I didn't feel that the show was about sexualizing women.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.

00:29:52
Speaker 1: Right?

00:29:52
Speaker 2: No, no.

00:29:53
Speaker 1: Yeah. I felt... And this was a question in the beginning that was not clear, right? Because there was no show like us, right? It wasn't like you could look at something and go like, oh, we're like that, or we're like that, or we're like that. But there were questions in the beginning about how we were going to film the sexual stuff.

00:30:09
Speaker 3: Sure.

00:30:10
Speaker 1: Was it for the male gaze? Was it for the female gaze? My thing was... I didn't want to make the women watching feel uncomfortable, right? Because, you know, sometimes in the olden days you'd watch a sex scene and you'd be like, ew, gross. You know what I'm saying?

00:30:24
Speaker 2: This is from a male's perspective.

00:30:25
Speaker 1: Yes.

00:30:26
Speaker 2: And they're really, like, closeted and don't spend a lot of time with women.

00:30:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. And, like, that woman looks uncomfortable.

00:30:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know all the things. The objectification.

00:30:35
Speaker 3: I just saw the most horrible thing, like, from flashback where men were fishing women out of a pond in an old, like, 30s film.

00:30:42
Speaker 2: Oh my God. Insane. Wow.

00:30:45
Speaker 1: Like that. But like in my mind, I think like 80s and 90s film sex scenes were a lot.

00:30:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you.

00:30:51
Speaker 3: I don't think, or Smith, I think, you know, look, folks, entertainment is about sensationalism. It is about entertaining you. So is the sex there as.

00:31:05
Speaker 2: Part of the entertainment?

00:31:06
Speaker 3: Sure. But it was also, wasn't the only thing and it was never outside of the conversation.

00:31:13
Speaker 1: It wasn't sex for sex sake and we were driving the fact that the women were driving and.

00:31:19
Speaker 3: So it was never like just there for the exhibition of it alone it had to do with these like conversations being had right and the characters.

00:31:29
Speaker 2: Yeah where it.

00:31:32
Speaker 3: Was a device almost to expose vulnerability and how these people felt and communicated about themselves.

00:31:38
Speaker 1: Absolutely and We were, like, one of the things we wanted to do was to bring into the light things that people were afraid to talk about, mostly women.

00:31:48
Speaker 3: Usually so, especially with women. Again, you have to remember context of time. Like, what was the only old, like, all-women show at the time was the Golden Girls.

00:31:59
Speaker 2: There was nothing that spoke to a modern and practical and realistic conversation for women about women.

00:32:06
Speaker 1: Right. So I would not say we were sexualized. We were running the show about taking it on. We're going to talk about this. We're going to uncover it. We're going to investigate it.

00:32:18
Speaker 3: What I had seen and have seen, the amount of female empowerment that came out of that show to own that conversation for self.

00:32:28
Speaker 2: I don't think that's sexualized at all.

00:32:30
Speaker 3: Right.

00:32:30
Speaker 1: Me neither.

00:32:30
Speaker 2: Me neither.

00:32:31
Speaker 1: But then the next question would be, as a guy on the show where the women were kind of in charge, did it ever feel uncomfortably?

00:32:38
Speaker 3: Again, I was within the bubble of my own experience. And it would be wrong to say that it's not uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable thing.

00:32:47
Speaker 2: Right.

00:32:47
Speaker 3: Even if you're good at giving a speech, going up on stage is an uncomfortable thing.

00:32:52
Speaker 1: You mean the naked time?

00:32:54
Speaker 2: The naked times were like... Very uncomfortable.

00:32:57
Speaker 1: I was dying for you. Dying, dying.

00:33:00
Speaker 2: Deep breaths and get in there. You can do this.

00:33:03
Speaker 1: So brave.

00:33:04
Speaker 3: But I never felt like the conversation was simply about that.

00:33:09
Speaker 2: Right, right, right. We certainly weren't shooting soft porn.

00:33:12
Speaker 1: No.

00:33:13
Speaker 2: You know, it was... Like everything had to do with character development and story arc. And so did I feel like I was sexualized in this space of what I was doing?

00:33:25
Speaker 3: No, I got to be with the sex pot. So of course there was going to be a lot of sex. But her character being the sex pot wasn't just, oh, I'm horny because a woman needs sex. It was about individualism and taking on a role that she was told she wasn't. It was a declaration of.

00:33:44
Speaker 1: Expression.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:33:45
Speaker 1: Expression. Absolutely. But then you and I have shared a few little tidbits about fan reaction to you. So maybe that was maybe more where.

00:33:55
Speaker 3: Oh, in real life, I've been sexualized because of the show.

00:34:00
Speaker 1: And that must be interesting as a guy. I mean.

00:34:03
Speaker 2: Yes and no.

00:34:04
Speaker 3: Again, like I said, I'd started in a space and I think it is interesting. Interesting is a good word for it. I think things happen to you in life and you can take them as you will. And I think for me, it was actually a good thing because to see how women are treated in the same way that women are treated is I think it was great for my empathy and understanding.

00:34:34
Speaker 2: Amazing.

00:34:35
Speaker 3: To be treated as an object to somebody else and not seen as a person in front of them.

00:34:40
Speaker 1: Right.

00:34:41
Speaker 2: Is a very shitty thing to do.

00:34:43
Speaker 1: It is.

00:34:44
Speaker 3: And men, I think generally have very little understanding of how much women have to face that.

00:34:51
Speaker 2: In every moment of their day.

00:34:52
Speaker 1: It's so true. Yes.

00:34:54
Speaker 2: Just, just being.

00:34:57
Speaker 1: Yep. So. That's amazing.

00:34:59
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:34:59
Speaker 1: That's really well put. And, really interesting. And would it have been something that you would have been aware of before the show because of your modeling?

00:35:08
Speaker 3: Yes. And also I, um, I just always liked girls, not like in the sense of, I liked them as the objects of my, you know, useful lust, but like I had a lot of girls as friends. And so I think I was aware of the female conversation from a very young age and, you know, certain things like girls talk in way more details, guys. So, they know what you're doing.

00:35:30
Speaker 1: It's true. Yeah.

00:35:34
Speaker 3: Um, but yes, I think it was definitely honed and got, I had a chance to practice it because, you know, again, there were no intimacy coordinators and unfortunately at that time, you know, pushing the envelope sometimes does not take into consideration what's right or wrong.

00:35:53
Speaker 2: And I remember once, uh, I had.

00:35:56
Speaker 3: A fiery temper putting a photographer up against the wall because he was over-sexualizing this young girl. And she's literally shaking my arms. I'm like, this is not for her. You're trying to sell sex and you're trying to ramp this.

00:36:10
Speaker 2: Up to a level.

00:36:11
Speaker 1: At a photo shoot.

00:36:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:36:12
Speaker 1: Got it.

00:36:13
Speaker 2: At a photo shoot.

00:36:14
Speaker 3: And for a campaign for something. And you've got some vision and.

00:36:18
Speaker 2: You are not seeing what's happening in front of you.

00:36:21
Speaker 3: Awful.

00:36:21
Speaker 2: And, you know, to see that girl's fear and trepidation.

00:36:26
Speaker 1: And the pressure she probably felt to do what he wanted even if.

00:36:29
Speaker 2: She didn't want to at all.

00:36:30
Speaker 1: It's awful.

00:36:31
Speaker 2: From both sides.

00:36:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:36:33
Speaker 2: You know, being done to young men and young women.

00:36:35
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I luckily had, I don't know, enough acumen of holding space to create a different sort of environment for myself and treat it as business.

00:36:47
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:36:47
Speaker 2: But I'd been aware of it for a long time.

00:36:50
Speaker 1: That's amazing. That's really interesting. That's good. That's suited you well in our world. I mean, I do feel like people are respectful, but I also feel like because of who they wanted Smith to be in our world, like within our world, you know, it asked a lot of you. Yeah.

00:37:10
Speaker 2: It wasn't a walk in the park. No, right.

00:37:12
Speaker 1: Exactly.

00:37:12
Speaker 2: It was a naked walk in the park.

00:37:13
Speaker 1: It was a naked walk in the park with a lot of people watching.

00:37:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:37:17
Speaker 1: But you handled it really, really well.

00:37:19
Speaker 2: All right.

00:37:19
Speaker 1: This is the last one. When you watch Sex and the City now, first of all, do you watch Sex and the City now?

00:37:25
Speaker 2: I have.

00:37:26
Speaker 1: I don't.

00:37:26
Speaker 3: I'm not.

00:37:27
Speaker 1: You don't seek it out.

00:37:29
Speaker 2: I don't tend to do that with any story.

00:37:32
Speaker 3: Sure.

00:37:32
Speaker 2: I mean.

00:37:34
Speaker 1: You don't want to relive. Yeah.

00:37:35
Speaker 2: I don't.

00:37:36
Speaker 1: I get it. Listen, before this podcast, I didn't either.

00:37:39
Speaker 2: I love the novel experience. Sure, sure, sure.

00:37:43
Speaker 1: And when you did rewatch, was it how you remembered it or was it different?

00:37:46
Speaker 2: Very much so.

00:37:48
Speaker 3: I think, again, having rewatched it recently, and I didn't watch all of it, but it was nice to see because we form impressions and our memories are imagination, really. And it's nice to see that there is. real substance and real, like it's a lovely, lovely piece of work.

00:38:09
Speaker 1: I feel the same way.

00:38:10
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:38:10
Speaker 1: And there's so many things I've forgotten.

00:38:12
Speaker 2: So it's like a discovery.

00:38:14
Speaker 3: I should probably go through, like start with your podcast and go all the way through this.

00:38:18
Speaker 1: You don't have to do the whole thing. Only you, you need to finish your books. Okay. You got a big task.

00:38:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:38:26
Speaker 1: And then the second part of that question was, do you see Smith differently now than you did when you were playing him?

00:38:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, that kind of goes up to what we were talking before.

00:38:36
Speaker 3: I think I have a better understanding. Like if I could go back and just drop me into his, I think I could have played it with more depth and more.

00:38:45
Speaker 1: I think this all the time about Charlotte, but people tell me I'm silly and I should be quiet.

00:38:50
Speaker 2: I think you did a wonderful, I think you did a wonderful job, but there is a different contextual understanding. There's things that, You know, look, sometimes.

00:39:00
Speaker 3: You just do your best and it works out. And so I think there's moments that that was true.

00:39:05
Speaker 2: Definitely.

00:39:07
Speaker 3: Where now I could, with deep and compassionate understanding, know why I was doing those.

00:39:14
Speaker 1: That makes sense. I mean, I think, too, for us, like it's been so long and we forget because the writing is so good and it holds up. Right. But like we were who we were at the time and we were products of that time. So when I watch, especially the early seasons of Mr. Big, now I'm like, he's so awful! But at the time, that never entered my mind, because this is what we were used to.

00:39:39
Speaker 3: Talk about a great exploration of characters. That was very much an acceptable relationship dynamic, not just in entertainment, but in life.

00:39:49
Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah.

00:39:50
Speaker 1: That's what I mean. Used to in life.

00:39:52
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.

00:39:52
Speaker 1: Right. Like there was nothing weird about him.

00:39:57
Speaker 2: Like it's interesting.

00:39:58
Speaker 1: It's very interesting.

00:39:59
Speaker 2: It looks like the most toxic dysfunction.

00:40:01
Speaker 1: Exactly. Which is, you know, hopeful. That's a hopeful sign. Right.

00:40:05
Speaker 2: I think so.

00:40:06
Speaker 3: I think, you know, look, I think we, you know, generalizations being generalizations, I think we've never been a more informed world.

00:40:14
Speaker 2: True. True.

00:40:16
Speaker 1: For better or for worse.

00:40:17
Speaker 2: For better or for worse.

00:40:19
Speaker 3: But the conversations and emotional insights, especially with men, like you got to remember, like basically it's kind of like the madman era. When you look at that show, I thought they handled it really well. We had Gemini's meaning we created a singularity of how to think that didn't necessarily exist in the world before in the advent of post-World War II advertising and, and, and, That's when men don't cry became so prevalent. And so men were taught since the 50s to bottle up them emotions and shove them down and ignore it.

00:40:56
Speaker 2: And that's healthy.

00:40:59
Speaker 1: Right. So sad.

00:41:00
Speaker 3: I think now we have a lot more understanding and context. And so when you're looking at the Mr. Big relationship, that was more of a paradigm of what men were like. Men didn't deal well with their emotions and feelings.

00:41:13
Speaker 1: Well, how could they? They were not taught or allowed, really.

00:41:16
Speaker 2: Which, again, one of the bravest.

00:41:18
Speaker 3: So you were talking about sexualization of men. No, I mean, when you look at the different men that were there, whether it was Aiden or Berger, Berger's whole thing is performance anxiety and adequacy. That's a man who hasn't learned to face himself. Where on the inverse of it, you have like Aiden, who's a man who's like, you need to face yourself to be with me, you know?

00:41:45
Speaker 2: Right, that's true.

00:41:46
Speaker 3: And so it exposes like different types of male dynamics as well.

00:41:50
Speaker 2: Definitely.

00:41:51
Speaker 1: I hadn't thought about it that way. But yeah, and then also like I've just gotten to the part where Harry comes, you know, and I mean, what a great character.

00:41:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:41:59
Speaker 2: Totally like the most emotionally intelligent man in the whole world.

00:42:02
Speaker 1: Right. And also like, he's just so like, this is me. I'm here, you know? And then I, I kind of tried to order him around. Cause Anthony tells me that I should. And he's like, okay. And I'm just like, what's happening. I've never had a man be like, okay. Do whatever I say. Like, it's really interesting. And not in a weak way. Like that's just, he's strong.

00:42:22
Speaker 2: He was showing you love.

00:42:23
Speaker 1: And he's grounded.

00:42:24
Speaker 2: He's, you know what he is?

00:42:26
Speaker 3: He's Wesley from, uh, uh, The Princess, is it The Princess Diaries? What am I forgetting? The Princess Bride.

00:42:34
Speaker 1: The Princess Bride. I haven't watched that in a long time.

00:42:36
Speaker 2: As you wish. As you wish. As you wish.

00:42:39
Speaker 3: Where she learns at first that he's saying, he's saying that she thinks it's capitulation. He's saying, I love.

00:42:47
Speaker 1: Right, that's good. That's so good because he's so grounded that he can do that.

00:42:51
Speaker 2: And eventually she realized the strength of it.

00:42:54
Speaker 1: That's so right. Oh my gosh, that's good. That's very good. It's so interesting to look back. But again, like we talked about earlier today, it's because of the writing being so strong that it connects us as people to the characters and to each other and our own lives.

00:43:09
Speaker 2: The styling will change. Right. The.

00:43:14
Speaker 3: Socio-political events will change.

00:43:16
Speaker 2: Definitely. The humanity won't. Right. And that's what it held, such humanity. So true. So true.

00:43:23
Speaker 1: Now that brings me so well to our day. We had a day.

00:43:29
Speaker 2: And thank you for inviting me into that. Thank you for coming.

00:43:33
Speaker 1: It was so beautiful. We got to go to this event called the Hyundai Hope on Wheels event. Handprint ceremony. I didn't really even understand what we were going to. It was so amazing.

00:43:45
Speaker 2: It was really beautiful.

00:43:48
Speaker 3: In this world of corporatism and celebritism, you have a lot of different charity events. They're ecosystems, and I thought the ecosystem of it was so.

00:43:58
Speaker 2: Healthy and well-run.

00:44:00
Speaker 3: Absolutely. The organizers, like the guy that heads the nonprofit, John, that you.

00:44:04
Speaker 1: Introduced me to. Yeah.

00:44:06
Speaker 3: He was as lovely as it could be, but also it's the effectiveness. Cause you, the doctor you introduced me to talking about because of the funding they're able to get, they're able to push forward therapies that traditional funding, you know, through government won't allow for.

00:44:23
Speaker 2: Because they're new ideas.

00:44:26
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:44:26
Speaker 1: Right. And let's just fill everybody in. We're talking about pediatric cancer. So one of the most horrific, uh, Difficult things for any child or family to go through. And we went to the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. And this year, they received, I think it's a total of over $ 3 million from Hyundai. Every Hyundai that's sold, and I didn't know this. I have a Hyundai.

00:44:50
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I didn't know that. I now know. I don't have a Hyundai.

00:44:52
Speaker 1: Every Hyundai that is sold, part of that sale price goes to Hope on Wheels and is given out all across the country. And now we learned today it's going to Canada now and Mexico, different countries.

00:45:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was talking with, so they've got over like 850 of their dealers and they've been doing this silently forever.

00:45:12
Speaker 1: Amazing.

00:45:13
Speaker 2: John, the guy who's heading the 501C. The Hope and Wheels.

00:45:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Hope and Wheels.

00:45:20
Speaker 2: They're independent organizations.

00:45:21
Speaker 1: Right.

00:45:22
Speaker 3: So Hyundai's funding them, but he's operating as an independent organization. And so he's really pressing for them to, Make it more aware.

00:45:29
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah. Or make more awareness of it. I had no idea. I had no idea. And it's so impressive. They've given over $ 300 million.

00:45:35
Speaker 2: Which is an insane amount of money.

00:45:36
Speaker 1: An insane amount of money.

00:45:37
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:45:38
Speaker 1: And one of the biggest things they do, they do many things. So they're working on research. They're funding research. And as Jason said, sometimes the National Institute of Health They cannot fund something if it's a brand new idea. They need research stats already in existence to fund something more. So if someone has a great idea, for instance, one of the doctors we met today is working in the field of immunology, which is the cutting edge of cancer research. And so if they have a great idea and they need money to research it, they can go to Hope on Wheels and Hope on Wheels can just say yes, because it's a great idea. And this is obviously a very established hospital with incredible track record. The other thing they're doing is efficacy of treatment, right? So if there are these new ideas... actually putting them in place for children right away so that they're not having to wait for a trial or this or that.

00:46:28
Speaker 2: That was one of the things, I think his name was Dr. Moore, who runs the Mattel. Yeah, so sweet. Yeah, lovely people. That was another thing.

00:46:35
Speaker 3: It's just nice to be around deeply human people today.

00:46:40
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so impressive. And then we got to meet Isabella. Who's a rock star at 10. A warrior rock star at 10 years old telling us about fourth grade, already survived cancer. So incredible. And she is an ambassador where she wanted to be able to inspire other children who are going through this that it can be okay, that everything can be okay.

00:47:02
Speaker 2: And she did. You saw it.

00:47:03
Speaker 3: So there was a little girl, Emily, and you can see she's racked by treatment right now.

00:47:08
Speaker 2: And that was so sweet. I wanted to, like....

00:47:14
Speaker 3: Isabella went over to Emily and just, they were two little girls all of a sudden.

00:47:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was cute.

00:47:19
Speaker 3: This poor girl who's sitting there feeling like a weirdo all of a sudden was accepted and seen.

00:47:24
Speaker 1: Nice, yeah, so powerful, so powerful. These kids are so strong and we met some moms today and, oh, just some things they've been through. And then that other incredible doctor who's in her third year residency.

00:47:37
Speaker 2: Oh, that was a beautiful story.

00:47:38
Speaker 1: Incredible.

00:47:40
Speaker 2: Tay, I forget what her last name, but Dr.

00:47:42
Speaker 1: Tay.

00:47:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, Butler?

00:47:43
Speaker 1: I think it's Dr. Butler.

00:47:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, there you go.

00:47:45
Speaker 1: The two of us, we can figure it out.

00:47:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, we got this.

00:47:48
Speaker 1: I had a good time with her.

00:47:49
Speaker 2: What a beautiful story that was.

00:47:50
Speaker 1: Incredible. So she had had cancer herself as a child, had gone to this UCLA Mattel Hospital, Children's Hospital, had been treated by Dr. Moore, who had given her a stethoscope because she asked so many questions. She still has it. She's now a third-year resident, and she is treating all the children, whether they have cancer or not, in the hospital. So sometimes she's in the ER even, and then sometimes she's on the cancer ward. So she's using her expert, you know, in terms of her schooling, but also what she's been through.

00:48:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, her personal experience and understanding.

00:48:23
Speaker 1: So incredible. So incredible. What an incredible day.

00:48:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was pretty neat. Thank you for inviting me into it.

00:48:29
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming. I mean, I just feel so lucky we got to go.

00:48:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:48:33
Speaker 1: I mean, so inspiring when you.

00:48:36
Speaker 3: Get to dip your toe in the waters of other people's dip deep wells.

00:48:40
Speaker 2: It's it's nice to get to.

00:48:42
Speaker 1: Absolutely.

00:48:43
Speaker 3: And just to know that, you know, it's so easy to get stuck in the negative stories of life. There's a lot of good people doing a lot of good things out there.

00:48:50
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And sometimes it's kind of quiet, but you got to find those stories. And it just makes me so proud to be working with Hyundai because I didn't even know this about them. And here they are doing this incredible work. Okay, so if you would like to see more of Jason and I at the incredible Hyundai Hope on Wheels handprint ceremony, go over to my Instagram where we created a video of our day. I also want to thank Hyundai for giving us the opportunity to learn more about the meaningful work Hyundai Hope on Wheels is doing for children and families facing pediatric cancer. If you'd like to learn more about Hyundai Hope on Wheels, support their mission, or how you can get involved, visit HyundaiWarriors.com. Jason, thank you for sharing this experience with me.

00:49:35
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Kristen.

00:49:36
Speaker 1: You're the best.

00:49:37
Speaker 2: You are.

00:49:38
Speaker 1: You win.