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1:00

Technology Company. And you can find

1:02

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In So today and join the .com slash

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today Cummings podcast. slash Do it

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now. Podcast. Do it now.

1:37

How What are you doing out there? It's

1:39

me, Tigger, I am Duck, Wayne Duck. It's

1:41

me, It's me, Bobcat. All

1:43

y'all, right, y 'all. Your favorite

1:45

your favorite desire, hold the old knocker.

1:47

My is My name is

1:49

Jim Cummings, and welcome

1:52

to Welcome back, everybody, to

1:54

another back of to another episode

1:56

of tuned in with Jim

1:58

Cummings. Today we have Magdube joining us.

2:00

Thank you very much for being

2:02

here. Yes. And the crowd went

2:04

wild. Yes, they are. See, there

2:06

they are now. They are. Thank

2:08

you for being here. Thank you

2:11

for having me. Thank you. Thank

2:13

you. Thank you. We were in

2:15

the neighborhood and luckily for us,

2:17

you were too. I was, I

2:19

was, I was, when I got

2:22

the emailers. Who's this guy? Wait,

2:24

wait, wait. I don't know. No,

2:26

I was like, yes. Yes. Yeah.

2:28

Well, we're glad you made it,

2:30

man. Thank you very much, very

2:33

much. Thank you. Thank you for

2:35

inviting me. You are in the

2:37

process now of, I mean, when's

2:39

the next big debut? We've got,

2:41

so, so Sonic 3 comes out

2:43

December 20th. And we just had

2:46

the trailer, trailer came out, yeah,

2:48

a few days ago. Oh, yeah.

2:50

people are loving it, it looks

2:52

great. I bet. Yeah, yeah, oh

2:54

man. That is wonderful. Very exciting.

2:57

Be there folks, and I don't

2:59

think you're gonna have any trouble

3:01

with that. No, no, no. Yeah,

3:03

right? It's gonna be great, isn't

3:05

it? Yeah. And you're still Agent

3:08

Stone? I'm still agent Stone. Yeah.

3:10

I'm still loyal to the Doctor

3:12

Robotnik. Yes. By Jim Kerry. Yeah,

3:14

who Agent Stone is kind of.

3:16

infatuated with and and worships and

3:19

who can yeah who can blame

3:21

him yeah exactly when you're that

3:23

evil there's just something about that

3:25

purity it's you know it's it's

3:27

like he's he knows what he

3:29

wants he's active about that and

3:32

all he wants is everything exactly

3:34

why wouldn't you yeah if you

3:36

can yeah if nice work if

3:38

you can get it like they

3:40

always say yeah and and and

3:43

you know I have to ask

3:45

you because everybody out there You

3:47

know, they're going to say, well,

3:49

you should ask him, what's Jim

3:51

Kerry like? What was he like?

3:54

Is he, is he, is he,

3:56

because he's very calm, very late.

3:58

back in public you know you

4:00

can't get a rise out of

4:02

him he's nuts but but but

4:05

he seems like a great guy

4:07

yes you know he's I mean

4:09

I can't I can't say enough

4:11

like I yeah I You know,

4:13

I grew up with a spenterer

4:16

and all that. And I told

4:18

them all of what I'm about

4:20

to tell you, but when I

4:22

was a kid, like growing up

4:24

in Ottawa, I got picked on

4:26

a lot, I got bullied a

4:29

lot. And I was always like,

4:31

you know, hyperactive, super energetic, really

4:33

tough to focus, younger than everybody,

4:35

tiny for my age, so easy

4:37

to pick on. But then why?

4:40

Well, we do have a few

4:42

things in common, don't we? Yeah,

4:44

we do. High-5 bowling, you know.

4:46

Take that. Yeah, great. Bestages. Yeah,

4:48

but we're rich now. How about

4:51

that? You know, okay. I'm almost

4:53

rich. Yeah, I'm working on it.

4:55

This is rich. I'm working on

4:57

it. Okay, I made part of

4:59

that up. Anyway, Suez. We're lying.

5:02

So yeah. So then when Ace

5:04

came out. Ace Ventura Ventura came

5:06

out. You know, it was the

5:08

first time I saw like a

5:10

leading character be kooky, be hyperactive,

5:12

be off the wall, and I

5:15

started doing impersonations of them, and

5:17

it kind of started to diminish

5:19

the bullying in school, like not

5:21

fully get rid of it, but

5:23

it kind of calmed it down

5:26

a little bit. And then, you

5:28

know, the mask, and I started

5:30

doing impersonation of the mask, and

5:32

then, you know, the characters and

5:34

dumb and dumber, and so yeah,

5:37

really kind of. felt like, oh,

5:39

I do have a place, I

5:41

do have a space, like it's

5:43

okay to be, to bounce off

5:45

the walls. And I told him,

5:48

like he opened up that space,

5:50

like it was so easy to

5:52

work with him and he was

5:54

so welcoming and collaborative. Well, he's

5:56

an amazing actor. Yeah. People, you

5:58

know, he's so outlandish and so

6:01

over the top that you end

6:03

up focusing on that. And then

6:05

you realize, wait a minute, and

6:07

then he turns around and does

6:09

the Truman show. Oh, the Truman

6:12

show. Whoa, man on the moon.

6:14

Holy yeah. I mean, eternal sunshine

6:16

of his faultless mind today is

6:18

one of like the most heartbreaking

6:20

films to watch. Yeah, I agree.

6:23

Well, yeah, I'm a huge fan.

6:25

Yeah. And he's, he's, he's incredibly

6:27

like. So meticulous and so specific

6:29

and so prepared. And that's something

6:31

I learned too is that it's

6:34

so easy to assume like just

6:36

as an audience member like, oh,

6:38

he probably shows up to set

6:40

and it's just like off the

6:42

cuff, figure it out as we

6:45

go. And what I learned is

6:47

like, oh, in order to be

6:49

that free, you need to be

6:51

so prepared. And that makes perfect

6:53

sense. Yeah, yeah, and I mean,

6:55

you have to. I think, I

6:58

think, I think. Preparation allows you

7:00

to then let go and be

7:02

free. But I don't think you

7:04

can if you're kind of just

7:06

like, you know, throwing everything at

7:09

the wall and seeing what's next.

7:11

Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, well, he's

7:13

got a lot to throw. Yeah,

7:15

yeah. Even with that preparation. Yeah,

7:17

well, that's great. You know, I,

7:20

I almost met him. Okay. He

7:22

was there and this is. 30

7:24

years ago. Okay. A long time

7:26

ago. It was before he exploded.

7:28

It was, I mean, it was

7:31

right before he exploded because he

7:33

was coming off the, oh God,

7:35

what was the first big TV

7:37

show? Oh, in living color? Yeah,

7:39

in living color. Yeah, and he

7:41

was insane. And Roger Rabbit had

7:44

become kind of a famous movie

7:46

at that point, like a year

7:48

or two later. And so Disney

7:50

said, well, let's try and do

7:52

a character that's a character that's.

7:55

kind of Roger Rabbity, it's all

7:57

going to be animation, but some

7:59

of the animation will look a

8:01

little straight and square, but Roger,

8:03

you know, bonkers in this case,

8:06

is the new bonkersty bobcat. He

8:08

will be the tune and he'll

8:10

be all over the place. He'll

8:12

be bouncing off the walls and

8:14

this and that Was that how

8:17

they develop bonkers? Yeah, that that

8:19

was the template. Oh, that's cool.

8:21

The idea behind it and so

8:23

They auditioned I have my friend

8:25

Andrea Romano. She She said they

8:27

they did it for months And

8:30

I auditioned, I mean, everybody, every

8:32

comedian in Hollywood audition, that I

8:34

know, and every voiceover person in

8:36

Hollywood audition, that I know. And

8:38

so, you know, I did the,

8:41

I did my audition and blah,

8:43

but they said, well, you know,

8:45

we'll let you know, we'll let

8:47

you know. We'll let you know.

8:49

And then you never hear from

8:52

them. But they called me back

8:54

and they said, well, we're just

8:56

gonna hold on. I've had this

8:58

kind of happen before. And so.

9:00

I was like, okay, well hold

9:03

on till we just have a

9:05

handful left. Then we're going to

9:07

grab all of you and bring

9:09

you in here and force you

9:11

to arm wrestle each other for

9:14

the way. Yeah, yeah. Well, okay,

9:16

I guess. As bonkers. Yeah, as

9:18

bonkers. Method. And, and so I

9:20

showed up and there was Jim

9:22

Kerry. And there was Matt, Matt,

9:24

Matt, Matt Frewer, and he was

9:27

a character, Max Headroom. He was

9:29

the first 3D digital character, whatever,

9:31

I don't even, can't remember what

9:33

I did. I can't remember what

9:35

I did. I can't remember the

9:38

show, but I remember Max for

9:40

sure, yeah. But I remember, pop,

9:42

pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Oh,

9:44

you know, that digital guy. So

9:46

we're all sitting there. walked in

9:49

right like that and you know

9:51

15 20 minutes later he came

9:53

out and he looks at she

9:55

goes gentleman he reaches down and

9:57

grabs his briefcase you may leave

10:00

Just kicked our ass. That's pretty

10:02

good. You know, and I was

10:04

feeling good about it. I made

10:06

it to the top three and

10:09

then Matt went in and then

10:11

I went in and then somehow

10:13

I ended up with it. I

10:15

was probably cheaper. You know, I

10:17

mean, that was probably it. But,

10:19

I mean, was, was j- like-

10:21

Did everybody know of Jim at

10:23

that time? Like a journey? Well,

10:25

yeah, I did. Right, right, right,

10:27

right. You know, fireman. You know,

10:29

fire marshal Bill. Fire marshal Bill.

10:31

I don't even know how. Yeah.

10:33

Then you realize he wasn't marrying,

10:35

wearing makeup. He did that to

10:37

his face. It's still, it's still,

10:39

it's hard to look at a

10:42

little bit. Yeah. And, and, and,

10:44

and, uh, and witness it in

10:46

person in person. You know, if

10:48

he went like this, I wouldn't

10:50

be surprised and pulled something off.

10:52

He probably could do something that

10:54

made it look like he pulled

10:56

his own face off. Yes. And

10:58

there's another face under. Yeah. And

11:00

there's the Grinch. Yeah. Which he

11:02

can do. It's incredible that that

11:04

smile, that grinch smile, it's just,

11:06

it's like no prosthetic help. It's

11:08

him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I read

11:10

that. And it was hard to

11:12

believe. I'm going. He did it

11:14

during an interview for Sonic One

11:17

or two and they were talking

11:19

to him about about the grinch

11:21

and he just looked the camera

11:23

and slowly had the Big bridged

11:25

out. Yeah, ooh and it's it's

11:27

still like you know, it's one

11:29

of those things where you become

11:31

you become co-workers you're working together

11:33

you get to know each other

11:35

and still there's these moments of

11:37

like having to take a step

11:39

back whoa feeling like that kid

11:41

watching it. You know, this is,

11:43

it's insane what we get to

11:45

do and what you've been able

11:47

to do and how so many,

11:50

like, I don't know how he's

11:52

affected so many people. You've affected

11:54

so many people, how what we

11:56

do affects them. Oh yeah, well

11:58

you too. You're in the mix

12:00

now. You're stuck. You're in that.

12:02

Yeah. Yeah. Do you end up

12:04

doing a lot of conventions now

12:06

these days? I'm starting. I'm starting

12:08

to. I would imagine. Yeah, I

12:10

did a Sonic, one called Sonic

12:12

Expo recently. Hmm. And. It's I

12:14

engage with fans quite a bit

12:16

on social media. Oh good. And

12:18

I mean, for me, it's not

12:20

just sonic related. I tend to

12:23

try to focus on kind of

12:25

like everything I needed to maybe

12:27

hear when I was younger or

12:29

as an artist starting out. So

12:31

it's always it's always talking about,

12:33

you know, mental health, the challenges.

12:35

If you have a dream, just

12:37

keep pursuing it. No matter how

12:39

many times you hear no. If

12:41

your heart's still in it. You

12:43

know, one thing I was told.

12:45

that really helped me along the

12:47

way was if your heart is

12:49

in line with it and you

12:51

work hard it's not a matter

12:53

of if it will happen it's

12:56

a matter of when it will

12:58

happen as long as you just

13:00

stick with it long enough that's

13:02

a good one something will work

13:04

out and so wait would you

13:06

say that again I'm gonna write

13:08

that if when but yeah that's

13:10

a good one man you're gonna

13:12

get there one day Yeah that's

13:14

a good way to put it

13:16

that's well said well that really

13:18

that really helped me and so

13:20

I just tried to spread that

13:22

on social media and then getting

13:24

to know the sonic fans and

13:26

meeting them in person and you

13:29

know there was there was one

13:31

family that said they had driven

13:33

from San Antonio to LA to

13:35

have his daughter meet Agent Stone

13:37

he's like all she wanted to

13:39

do was meet Agent Zang I

13:41

was like that's a I'm drive

13:43

he's like You know anything from

13:45

my family and she she doesn't

13:47

ask for much and wow the

13:49

one thing You know when I

13:51

asked her hey, you know like

13:53

we'd like to do something for

13:55

you. What do you want to

13:57

do and she? It shows like

13:59

there's this thing, he's gonna be

14:02

there. Can we go? He showed

14:04

up. And it happens a lot,

14:06

but you know, had people dressed

14:08

up as Agent Stone and I

14:10

think it's easy to forget. That's

14:12

amazing. Like at conventions, something people

14:14

dressed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or the

14:16

people dressed as robotic would see

14:18

me just walking around and they'd

14:20

be like, oh, that's wonderful. It's

14:22

incredible and that's got to be

14:24

a little bit surreal for them.

14:26

It is. I mean it's for

14:28

you to just I think the

14:30

and I don't know if you

14:32

go through it but it's easy

14:35

for me sometimes when things slow

14:37

down it's easy to feel like

14:39

oh wait hold on this is

14:41

it or I'm never going to

14:43

work again or oh maybe I've

14:45

been lied to maybe there's no

14:47

traction no momentum no such thing.

14:49

And then, you know, I interact

14:51

with people and get reminded of,

14:53

oh, right. No, this affects me

14:55

in such a large way that,

14:57

you know, I'm okay. Yeah, I

14:59

would think so. Yeah, that's the

15:01

last thing I've ever done. Yeah,

15:03

I'm good. I thought the same

15:05

thing when I did dumbo circus.

15:08

Well, at least I could say

15:10

I did this. Right. You know,

15:12

but coming from you, it sounds

15:14

like, yeah, Tom Hanks, poor you.

15:16

You did that one movie and

15:18

don't know if it's gonna work.

15:20

Yeah, we're worried about this guy,

15:22

aren't we folks? Yeah, too bad

15:24

you're not a good looking cuss.

15:26

But no, that's all fake. This

15:28

is hours and hours and hours

15:30

and hours and work. Yeah. Okay,

15:32

now you're the one that's gonna

15:34

go. Oh man, that's wonderful. Dumbo

15:36

Circus, was that before the film

15:38

or after? Oh, well no, the

15:41

film I think was 1942, so

15:43

that one, oh my gosh, yeah,

15:45

the movie was. It's so easy

15:47

because I watched them as kids,

15:49

so it's like the time. I

15:51

know. Yeah. Oh, I know. Well,

15:53

that's one of the cool things

15:55

about Disney Plus coming back, all

15:57

this stuff that I did watch

15:59

when I was four is on

16:01

there. Or five, you know, I

16:03

mean, and so. One of the

16:05

first things I watched was Dumbo.

16:07

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I think everybody,

16:09

yeah. Well, those movies, and I'm

16:11

sure, well, plan that, they never

16:14

really get old. No. And I've

16:16

said this about like. the Winnie

16:18

the Pooh and Tigger franchise, they're

16:20

making new poo fans every three

16:22

years, you know, fresh crop. But,

16:24

you know, it's because the story

16:26

just makes so much, like, the

16:28

stories that get told in Winnie

16:30

the Pooh are just, they're ageless.

16:32

It's, everybody goes through, there's a

16:34

little parable in there, too. Yeah,

16:36

and everybody wants those friends and

16:38

everybody has little challenges. And it's

16:40

like, you know, just get after

16:42

it, you know. Just keep on

16:44

bouncing bouncing. Keep up. That's what

16:47

you've got to do. I wanted

16:49

to, I wanted to, I wanted

16:51

to, I wanted to copy you,

16:53

but I can't do the Tigger's

16:55

voice. So I gave up immediately.

16:57

I'm not coming for you. I'm

16:59

not coming for you. Thank you

17:01

for that, ladies and gentlemen. We

17:03

could cross that one off the

17:05

list. That was a question. Are

17:07

you coming for you? Are you

17:09

coming for me? Yeah. That's wonderful.

17:11

Do they send you on junkets?

17:13

Should we be, look, you know,

17:15

like, so I, on the, on

17:17

the first one I didn't, because

17:20

initially Agent Stone wasn't much of,

17:22

of a character. And he grew

17:24

while, like, it was, it was

17:26

meeting with Jim on set and

17:28

Jim took a liking to me

17:30

and we started to work really

17:32

well together and come up with

17:34

ideas and with the director, we

17:36

just started to kind of. come

17:38

up with more for that team

17:40

of roboticic and stone and give

17:42

them more of a personality. And

17:44

so in Sonic 2, I got

17:46

to do a junket, but I

17:48

think it was just because it

17:50

was post-co- So they had some

17:53

people in LA. I was here

17:55

doing it virtually. So, I mean,

17:57

fingers cross, hopefully I get to

17:59

do it in person with everybody.

18:01

Oh yeah, yeah, that'll be nice.

18:03

It's still a bucket list thing.

18:05

I haven't done a proper junket

18:07

yet. Oh, there you go. Yeah.

18:09

Were you a fan of Sonic

18:11

growing up? Yeah. Yeah, I mean

18:13

Sonic 2 was the first game

18:15

I I had personally that was

18:17

like my own it was the

18:19

Sega Genesis was the first console

18:21

and on sale And Sonic 2

18:23

came with it And yeah, so

18:26

it was the first video. Sonic

18:28

2, meaning the video. Yeah, the

18:30

video game Sonic 2. Yeah, was

18:32

one. You know that little, that

18:34

little, I can't, I can't, now

18:36

I can't remember the damn tune,

18:38

but you know the one. For

18:40

a bit, beat a bit, beat

18:42

a bit. All the, Sonic one?

18:44

Yeah, they always have, yeah, what

18:46

was little background music, right? I'm

18:48

trying to remember it now. I'm

18:50

trying to remember it now. I'm

18:52

just like, now I'm hearing what

18:54

you're saying. I'm just like, hold

18:56

on. I'm like, there's so many

18:59

different notes now, and I just

19:01

heard it recently, and I'm like,

19:03

yeah, now I'm stuck. Now I'm

19:05

like, my brain's glitching. Like, I

19:07

remember the title screen and the

19:09

start and sonic and with the,

19:11

yeah, I think I always defaulted

19:13

Don Qu con, damn it. Yeah,

19:15

that might have been, it might

19:17

have been a, how dare you,

19:19

sing a Nintendo song to a

19:21

Genesis, a Sega Genesis first, no.

19:23

But yeah, yeah, it was the

19:25

first video game that was mine.

19:27

And funny enough, I've never been

19:29

good at the Sonic games. I'm

19:32

a big, I'm an avid gamer.

19:34

I love video games, I play

19:36

a ton of video games. During

19:38

COVID, I was doing live streaming

19:40

on Twitch. Oh yeah, and everything.

19:42

And did you, did you play

19:44

Sonic? Yeah, I played Sonic going

19:46

up. I had the Second Genesis

19:48

as well. Yeah. Yeah. I don't

19:50

remember much about the game. I

19:52

need to replay it. I

19:54

just remember like

19:56

the they had

19:58

like the loop -de

20:00

-loops. I just

20:02

remember button I just him

20:06

having him spin. Me too. Yeah,

20:08

that was that was him spin. was

20:11

the five was that so much five

20:13

launched. Yeah time. I don't

20:15

remember go off a ramp and

20:17

then bounce off of like

20:19

trampolines a ramp and all your rings like

20:21

trampolines and lose all the rings. I

20:24

can hear that noise. hated losing the rings.

20:26

I can hear that noise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sound of

20:28

dismal failure If you're a

20:30

you're a fan of everything

20:32

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20:34

Cummings, you could support the

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join the Tuned In family

20:51

today tuned-in .com at Jim Cummings

20:53

podcast. Do it now. Do it now.

20:55

What What about the cartoons? Did you

20:57

watch the cartoons? you I watched a

20:59

bit of the Saturday a bit cartoons. morning

21:03

cartoons and Yeah, they were they

21:05

were they were quite random, I

21:07

remember. very not very with

21:09

with the video games But yeah

21:11

predominantly was was the

21:13

video games and kind of like, oh, if I

21:15

caught it. oh if I time, on time on

21:17

like morning, I'd watch it.

21:20

watch it. heard that you had had Been

21:22

a voice or voice or original?

21:24

Well, I was to to

21:26

mention that. you should bring it up

21:29

Segue yeah, no, should bring it

21:31

up. sonic. I mean I played robotic

21:33

but I wasn't I mean,

21:35

I played right and I was glad

21:38

it wasn't came out with the I was glad when

21:40

they came out with the movies that

21:42

they didn't call him eggman. Yeah because I

21:44

was like, oh like, oh now I

21:46

can't say I was that guy.

21:48

guy. Right. But, but I can't believe can't believe

21:50

Jim's still following me around after

21:52

all these years. I know. But he

21:55

told you back then you can go. Yeah, yeah. What is,

21:57

what is is the difference between Eggman

21:59

and Robotnik? I think I need to

22:01

know I and for all know think

22:03

and same all. isn't it? Is

22:05

it not the same character? I

22:07

think it's the same character. it

22:09

same the same If I'm not mistaken. the

22:11

same image? If the fans

22:13

are gonna riot if I

22:15

get this right are gonna riot

22:18

if I get this right now, they know.

22:20

like, one is like I

22:22

think, I the translation. and

22:25

then one is American or

22:27

North American used. And I can't

22:29

remember if it was, Eggman

22:31

came from the Japanese iteration. from the

22:33

Japanese iteration I think it

22:35

was Robotnik, I Because, was I

22:38

remember Because I remember years

22:40

did. they did, I I think it

22:42

was was a 65 episode series, but but it

22:44

was done in Canada and he

22:46

was and he was Eggman. Okay. And everybody said, and

22:48

everybody at they'll see the picture.

22:50

I didn't know you were Eggman.

22:52

see the I I of am, but

22:54

not really, eggman. I was I kind of

22:57

am, but not I was really glad

22:59

when Jim Carrey came out

23:01

and was was really I when Jim Carrey came

23:03

out and good. roboticic. we have a

23:05

couple of little like Okay, wink

23:07

jokes a it's like of will

23:09

refer to Robotnik as refer He'll

23:11

be like, hey Eggman. as Stuff

23:13

like that. there's a reference to it. I

23:15

didn't catch that. a because I think. to it. I

23:18

I think like you said, it's the

23:20

same character. I just wonder if it's I'm

23:22

wondering a it's just a different name

23:24

different association. I've always wondered. wondered. Yeah.

23:26

yeah, every time. And I've looked it up.

23:28

up. I know, looked it up and

23:30

I up and I forget there's like a

23:32

different explanation every time a different there's

23:35

like three or four explanations. every

23:37

original design was an egg, there's like

23:39

three or four no idea. I

23:41

Well, it was Eggman was actually an insult,

23:43

it was a slur. egg. I know. Yeah. I

23:45

so they had to change it

23:47

for censorship reasons in certain countries. Back

23:49

in the day insult. It someone an A.

23:52

I'm pretty sure that's why. to change it about,

23:54

right? Yeah, that's why. Oh, Oh. we're not joking.

23:56

Wow. I got you. got you. You do

23:58

get me. robot. robot. robot. That's the

24:00

slur. Yeah, well, probably, because that

24:02

was me. Robot Nick. Yeah, but

24:04

yet another similarity that Jim Carrey

24:06

and I have, besides our initials.

24:08

Yeah, yeah, I did a bad

24:10

cartoon version of him. Thank you.

24:12

That was, for the audience, that

24:14

was a realization I had. I

24:16

was saying this earlier, was that

24:18

I, I, just before we started

24:20

chatting, I had the realization, like,

24:23

oh my gosh. I'm associated with

24:25

two of like the greatest JCs.

24:27

Oh yeah. Jim Cummings and Jim

24:29

Carrey. Oh yes. Well, Jesus Christ

24:31

is. Jesus Christ. Couldn't care less

24:33

about me. So I hope he

24:35

cares. Yeah, I'm sure he cares

24:37

about you. He hasn't visited me.

24:39

Well, that's good. Well, that's good.

24:41

It's good. Yeah, I'd love to

24:43

work with him someday. Don't go,

24:45

I'll be, I'll be up eventually,

24:47

eventually. Yeah. But not today, knock

24:49

on wood. Knock on wood. Knock

24:51

on wood. Yes. Yes. So what.

24:53

So it was my favorite video

24:55

game because like nostalgia-wise it was

24:57

you know It was near and

24:59

dear to me because it was

25:01

like the first one I because

25:03

that's got to be cool as

25:05

hell. Yeah, you know you have

25:07

your favorite video game and then

25:09

you grow up and go would

25:11

you like to be in a

25:13

movie or three? Yeah I never

25:15

would have imagined I had I

25:17

had a moments I remember my

25:19

first day on set it was

25:21

Jimminized first day and get to

25:23

set. Everybody's amazing. Jim's not there

25:25

yet. Meet the director and the

25:27

producers. I had just auditioned in

25:30

town here and got booked off

25:32

tape. And yes, I didn't meet

25:34

anybody until I got to set.

25:36

Well, you crushed it. I tried.

25:38

Put them. You should be a

25:40

soundtrack. Pet them. Yeah. So yeah,

25:42

I was gonna I was gonna

25:44

come up with a noise and

25:46

then I didn't. So that's how

25:48

good I am improvising in the

25:50

moment everyone. Team hey. That's incredible.

25:52

Right? That's pretty damn good. Yeah.

25:54

So, so met everybody on set,

25:56

Jim shows up. And yeah, you

25:58

know, most of my prep for

26:00

Agent Stone was mainly just kind

26:02

of like meditation and everything. It

26:04

was just more of like, you

26:06

know, be calm on that set.

26:08

Just, you know, be calm on

26:10

that set. Just, you know, you

26:12

don't have that much to say.

26:14

So like, don't worry about that.

26:16

Like you're memorized. It's all good.

26:18

Just. Go grounded as grounded as

26:20

you can be you and nervous

26:22

I was I was nervous, but

26:24

I don't know like there's something

26:26

to be said for You know

26:28

as my career was was moving

26:30

forward and going through the steps

26:32

and the ups and downs, you

26:34

know, it's so easy to be

26:36

like oh, well, I wish I

26:39

would have booked that thing I

26:41

wish I would have booked that

26:43

thing Yeah, and when I got

26:45

to Sonic it was just like

26:47

right time because of all the

26:49

experiences I had up to that

26:51

point, I felt readier than I

26:53

had ever been. So I kind

26:55

of, it was one of those

26:57

first times where I looked back

26:59

and I was like, no, you

27:01

know, things take the time that

27:03

they take for a reason and

27:05

you're not in control of that.

27:07

And so, you know, I had

27:09

had experiences on different sets where

27:11

because of anxiousness, I had dropped

27:13

lines. So yeah. So then it

27:15

was learning like, okay, don't let

27:17

my anxiety get the best of

27:19

me. Like it's there, it's going

27:21

to be there, I got to

27:23

accept it. I got to accept

27:25

it. I got to accept it.

27:27

but I can't be in an

27:29

anxious state while I'm trying to

27:31

memorize, while I'm trying to get

27:33

off book. So that was my

27:35

main focus and got to set

27:37

and met everybody and we didn't

27:39

quite know what route Jim was

27:41

gonna go with. Was he gonna

27:43

go super dark? Was he, you

27:46

know, we just didn't have any

27:48

idea and we met up, we

27:50

started to rehearse and I remember

27:52

during rehearsal. I had this moment,

27:54

he did this thing where. He

27:56

kind of like... He was talking

27:58

to the major and he asks

28:00

him what his name is and

28:02

the major says, oh, major, and

28:04

he's like, it doesn't matter. It

28:06

doesn't matter what your name is

28:08

kind of thing. And I had

28:10

this out of body experience where

28:12

it all kind of hit me

28:14

at the same time where I

28:16

was like, oh my gosh, I'm

28:18

watching Jim like do what I

28:20

watched him do as a kid

28:22

and growing up. and live genius

28:24

live genius and oh that's that's

28:26

what he's going like that's what

28:28

he's doing with the character okay

28:30

and then the realization of like

28:32

oh my gosh I'm on a

28:34

big studio picture for the first

28:36

time in my life oh my

28:38

gosh yes you were oh my

28:40

gosh this was like a childhood

28:42

game of mine and and my

28:44

line came yeah and I flubbed

28:46

it of course right it was

28:48

like It was like this old

28:50

line that they gave me and

28:52

this rewrite and I kind of

28:55

mashed them together by mistake. Well

28:57

that that could have been the

28:59

stuff of genius probably was. It

29:01

made no sense. I'll tell you

29:03

that. Whatever came out of my

29:05

mouth made no sense. Nobody cared.

29:07

It was just a little whatever

29:09

line and we just kept going

29:11

and you know I felt that

29:13

that excitement and everything. Rehearsal ended

29:15

Jim went to get into wardrobe

29:17

and I was like, okay, nobody

29:19

cared. It was just rehearsal. I'm

29:21

gonna go to the little tent,

29:23

I'm gonna put in some relaxing

29:25

music, I'm gonna breathe for 10-15

29:27

minutes, and then I'm gonna save

29:29

these three little lines a hundred

29:31

different ways just to make sure

29:33

it comes out of my mouth

29:35

instinctively. rather than having to say

29:37

about it. Yeah. Yeah. Is that

29:39

what you do too? Because I've

29:41

been known to do that. I

29:43

don't even have to memorize because

29:45

I can read them. Oh, really?

29:47

Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. Of

29:49

course, like with VO, you can.

29:51

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, piece of case.

29:53

That's one of the things I

29:55

love most about it. Saving grace.

29:57

It's the only reason I'm here,

29:59

only reason I made it. I

30:02

don't. have to memorize? Yes. I

30:04

know it's it's one of my

30:06

favorite favorite things about about yeah

30:08

voice voice acting it's just that's

30:10

one other thing I've been I

30:12

still say you know pursuing and

30:14

trying to really kick the door

30:16

down in and I've gotten some

30:18

jobs but I'm still like learning

30:20

and trying to absorb and voice

30:22

over yeah but with memorization it's

30:24

like yeah I try to do

30:26

it as many different ways in

30:28

doing it impersonations, accents, like just

30:30

as many different ways as I

30:32

can, so it glues down to

30:34

my brain. Yeah, yeah. So yeah,

30:36

that's a pretty good method. Yeah,

30:38

yeah, so then that way it's

30:40

just, you know, and I find

30:42

like when I try different accents

30:44

on, I find different character traits

30:46

too. So it's like, sometimes, you

30:48

know, I'll go into like a

30:50

Jason Statham, right, but then I'll

30:52

find this like kind of groundedness

30:54

to the guy. Yeah, I'm like,

30:56

okay, he doesn't have a British

30:58

accent, he doesn't have a British

31:00

accent. He doesn't talk like this,

31:02

but he feels right. Right. So

31:04

then, how do I switch it

31:06

over in my voice? By the

31:09

way, that's a pretty damn good

31:11

thing. Yeah. I was like, I'm

31:13

right behind you, Jim. Yeah. Oh,

31:15

perfect. Hello, bro. You're looking for

31:17

me. Yeah. You're looking for me,

31:19

lad. Yeah. That's good stuff. Yeah.

31:21

Wow. Wow. Wow. method is Jason

31:23

Statham's. Yeah, no, no, I'm coming

31:25

for Jason. Yeah, he'll be there

31:27

unfortunately. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow,

31:29

good stuff. So you've done voice

31:31

work, you've been obviously in movies

31:33

and TV shows, you've been in

31:35

plays too as well, right? Yeah,

31:37

yes, I've done some theater. A

31:39

lot of my earlier training I

31:41

got was at the groundlings in

31:43

LA. So like with improv and

31:45

everything and everything when I got

31:47

out here. It was funny, I

31:49

always wanted to... to do video,

31:51

but it just felt like it

31:53

felt harder to get into video

31:55

than it was to do To

31:57

film and TV because you know

31:59

I always heard like it's a

32:01

really tight-knit circle It's tough to

32:03

get your foot through the door.

32:05

Yeah, I heard that too. Yeah,

32:07

after I was in yeah, I

32:09

didn't know there was Gordon Hunt

32:11

wrote a book and He was

32:13

the king of Hannah Barbera Helen

32:15

Hunt's dad. Yeah great great great

32:18

guy and I read it after

32:20

after I was already in the

32:22

business, I've told this before, I

32:24

don't, I'll be brief. But the

32:26

fifth chapter was how to break

32:28

into voiceover in Hollywood. Don't bother,

32:30

it's done by like six or

32:32

seven people and you're not one

32:34

of them. Okay, next, now page

32:36

six, how to be a tap

32:38

dancer or so, you know. Yeah,

32:40

yeah. And I was like, man,

32:42

I'm glad I didn't read this

32:44

a couple years ago. I was

32:46

already in. Like, like, it's like,

32:48

it's like, it's like, I can

32:50

understand that. I can understand that.

32:52

I can understand that part of

32:54

part of part of part of.

32:56

That shouldn't stop you from trying.

32:58

No, because there's, you should still

33:00

go for it if, if that's

33:02

what your heart desires. And the

33:04

old expression, there's always, there'll still

33:06

be room at the top. Yeah.

33:08

So shoot for the stars. Exactly.

33:10

100%. Yeah. And so I was

33:12

doing like early, I was three

33:14

years into doing film and TV

33:16

and I was doing this like

33:18

pitch, like pilot pitch project with

33:20

another actor. named Kirby Morrow. And

33:22

Kirby was a huge, huge voice

33:25

actor in town. And I don't

33:27

know who he was. And I

33:29

remember he heard me doing accents

33:31

and voices and everything. He comes

33:33

up to me, he's like, you

33:35

know, you should really consider it.

33:37

And I think this guy doesn't

33:39

know what he's talking about. Right.

33:41

And I'm like, okay, yeah, thanks,

33:43

dude. You don't get it. Yeah.

33:45

So a year later, he and

33:47

I run into each other. And

33:49

he was like, you know, I've

33:51

been thinking about you and yeah,

33:53

and he's like, I was serious.

33:55

I still don't know. who he

33:57

is like he's been at that

33:59

time he had been in in

34:01

the voice industry for like 14

34:03

years he had done an iteration

34:05

of Goku Z and he was

34:07

huge in Nijago and so many

34:09

other oh yeah yeah yeah and

34:11

so I told him I was

34:13

like dude I don't know if

34:15

you if you know how hard

34:17

it is like I appreciate it

34:19

and he was like I've been

34:21

doing it for 14 years I

34:23

was like I have an inkling.

34:25

Yeah. I was like, what? He's

34:27

like, yeah. Like, do you know,

34:29

do you know, go-koo? I was

34:32

like, shut up. And then he

34:34

went through and then I was

34:36

like, oh my gosh, I'm an

34:38

idiot dude. I'm so sorry. And

34:40

so he opened the door. He

34:42

was teaching and he blessed his

34:44

heart. I miss him so much,

34:46

but he opened his classes up

34:48

to me. He was like, come,

34:50

sit in. Sit in on my

34:52

classes, learn. learn he would throw

34:54

me into the booths and he

34:56

would just like try this try

34:58

this try this help me put

35:00

a demo together help me get

35:02

an agent and then I started

35:04

to get out there you know

35:06

it's tough yeah yeah incredible incredible

35:08

I mean I don't think I've

35:10

met anybody in in my life

35:12

that hasn't like I firmly believe

35:14

that I and I can only

35:16

speak for myself I Could have

35:18

never gotten to where I am

35:20

and don't think I can continue

35:22

to move forward without Support from

35:24

people. I could never do it

35:26

alone You know, I think it's

35:28

it's yes my perseverance. It's you

35:30

know. It's my hard work But

35:32

it's it's having people around you

35:34

when you need that little nudge.

35:36

Yeah, yeah, go on. You got

35:38

this. Yeah, yeah, you learn the

35:41

yeah Here's you know I always

35:43

I always say it's it's the

35:45

universe giving you a little nugget

35:47

of gold when you feel like

35:49

you know I'm lost I don't

35:51

know what to do what's the

35:53

next thing it's like here you

35:55

know I had that with a

35:57

teacher at the grounding told me,

35:59

you know, I was having a

36:01

particularly bad week and he was

36:03

like, don't, don't ever quit. He's

36:05

like, I was moving to Canada

36:07

and he was like, don't quit,

36:09

you have something, don't quit. I

36:11

just, if anything, if you forget

36:13

everything, we talked about just always

36:15

have that in your head. That

36:17

is an amazingly good piece of

36:19

advice. And it was told to

36:21

me in a long way. He

36:23

said, you know. you can have

36:25

100 failures, but you're not a

36:27

failure. Right. You know, because you're

36:29

still going. Oh, wait, you're not

36:31

over yet? Oh, yeah. Oh, you

36:33

didn't quit yet? Oh, go. Go,

36:35

go get that. Because once you

36:37

get the brass ring, once you

36:39

get in, you know, whatever, however

36:41

that looks, a sitcom, a cartoon

36:43

show, a radio commercial, you know,

36:45

it's like, okay, I guess I'm

36:48

viable. So I did it then,

36:50

hmm, what else you got? Let

36:52

me take a swing at that.

36:54

And you don't lose until you

36:56

quit. Was there, was there, did

36:58

you find that for yourself as

37:00

well? Like were there, were there

37:02

times career wise where there was

37:04

like someone or? many someone's that

37:06

kind of helps you in a

37:08

moment where you felt oh man

37:10

I don't know what the next

37:12

step is or I'm feeling a

37:14

little bit like oh yeah sure

37:16

you know and it's hard you

37:18

know I will say that I

37:20

was knock on wood I was

37:22

very fortunate because I I didn't

37:24

I didn't have a huge gap

37:26

between I was total before I

37:28

worked at a video store okay

37:30

Anaheim Hills and made my first

37:32

demo tape in the video tape

37:34

in the first demo tape in

37:36

the video tape in the first

37:38

demo tape in the video tape

37:40

And so I fortunately there were

37:42

a couple of our customers who

37:44

were in the Biz and so

37:46

they knew this person and that

37:48

person and I passed out my

37:50

my audio tape it was cassette

37:52

way back and I got the

37:54

attention miraculously of some folks who

37:57

were getting ready to. TV had

37:59

just started, that's how long ago

38:01

it was. I just, I mean,

38:03

I lucked out in the sense

38:05

that, you know, I was, it

38:07

wasn't really right place, right time,

38:09

but kind of, you know, and

38:11

I got a job that one

38:13

of the first audition for, and

38:15

my luck came in the fact

38:17

that it was a 65 episode

38:19

series, which they don't come along

38:21

every day. And so by the

38:23

time, and I got a. I

38:25

got a job out of that.

38:27

And at the time, you know,

38:29

it took, I don't know, almost

38:31

a year and a half. And

38:33

I lucked into it without an

38:35

agent. So that gave me a

38:37

chance to work in the business.

38:39

And then I was very sellable

38:41

to agents then. You're already working?

38:43

Well, yeah. What do you do

38:45

for a living? No, this is

38:47

it. This is it. And I'm

38:49

never going back. You know, I

38:51

was like, I am not going

38:53

to go back to the video

38:55

depot. It made you know that

38:57

you wanted to go into like

38:59

voice. Oh, well, this, well, that

39:01

I. You know, I've

39:04

said it before so I feel

39:06

like I don't want to over

39:08

repeat it But I was five.

39:10

I swear to God I was

39:12

five years old and I was

39:14

sitting with my dad watching a

39:16

Jack Benny program way back when

39:18

Black and White and Mel Blank

39:20

was on there He was a

39:23

regular on there and he was

39:25

playing side the the sombrero wearing

39:27

Toriador or whatever and he and

39:29

my dad says You see this

39:31

guy right here, see this master?

39:33

And I go, yeah, he goes,

39:35

he does that bugs, bunny, and

39:37

that deaf and duck and that

39:39

taz. He, he's a guy does

39:41

the voices. And I'm telling you,

39:44

I thought, well, he doesn't have

39:46

to stand in the corner. He's,

39:48

nobody thinks he's an obnoxious little

39:50

weasel. Everybody likes him, shit, I'm

39:52

going to do that. Yeah. And

39:54

so, you know, and I grew

39:56

up, I grew up, I don't

39:58

know, I was about 30, I

40:00

was about 30, I was about

40:03

30, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe,

40:05

maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe a demo

40:07

tape, and, and, and, and, and,

40:09

maybe a demo tape, and, and,

40:11

and, and, and, and, and, and,

40:13

and, and, and, and, I, I,

40:15

I, I, I, I, I, I,

40:17

I, I, I, I, I, I,

40:19

I, I, I I got that

40:22

job and it lasted long enough.

40:24

for me to get an agent

40:26

and then I could get other

40:28

yeah you know and that was

40:30

80 something 84 or 85 so

40:32

well so now I get to

40:34

be here yeah so wild yeah

40:36

now it's your turn yeah yeah

40:38

working on it I'm yeah I

40:40

love it I love it I

40:43

love like we were saying I

40:45

mean I love I love I

40:47

love the whole industry I love

40:49

being you know just being creative

40:51

and and letting loose and letting

40:53

loose and What I love most

40:55

about voice is just, I find

40:57

that I can really physically let

40:59

myself just go and not be

41:02

judged. Sure. And, you know, in

41:04

exchange for finding that right sound

41:06

or being committed to a moment

41:08

and, you know, tweaking your face

41:10

enough in a way that works

41:12

for voice that, you know, in

41:14

film and TV, they might be

41:16

like, yeah, don't do that. Yeah,

41:18

don't do that. Yeah, we like

41:21

the sound of that. That's right.

41:23

It doesn't look good. Yeah. But

41:25

what your boy Jim Carrey doesn't

41:27

have any problem with that, does

41:29

he? No, he doesn't. But he

41:31

couldn't have done it with, you

41:33

know, eternal sunshine. It depends. It

41:35

depends on what you're working on.

41:37

But yeah, to your question, yeah,

41:39

I've been involved in like theater,

41:42

film TV. Which one do you

41:44

prefer for? They've all got their

41:46

advantages and disadvantages. I think, not

41:48

as many disadvantages, but they're all

41:50

different. I think what's, you know,

41:52

what I just spoke to with

41:54

Voice is, you know, really letting

41:56

loose and not having to be

41:58

off book, you know, memorized. Film

42:01

and TV's a quicker. moving beast

42:03

than theater is, but the rehearsal

42:05

process of theater I've learned to

42:07

love. I really had a challenge

42:09

because I started off and film

42:11

in TV first. Oh, really? Yeah,

42:13

and then. Wow, usually it's the

42:15

other way around. Yeah, good for

42:17

you. Yeah, so it was. So

42:20

you wound up at the goal.

42:22

Then you thought, well, I should

42:24

probably go and pretend like I'm

42:26

doing calisthenics over here or something.

42:28

Like at that point in my

42:30

life, I was quite ego driven,

42:32

you know, with whatever I was

42:34

going through in life was ego

42:36

and and so I was like,

42:38

you know, theater, this, that film

42:41

and TV, I'm gonna be a

42:43

star, I'm gonna be like, whatever.

42:45

And that didn't work out work

42:47

out as quick as quick as

42:49

quick as quick as I expected

42:51

as I expected as I expected

42:53

as I expected as I expected

42:55

it too. And then, you know,

42:57

had some rude awakenings and needed

43:00

to work on myself quite a

43:02

bit, like on the personal side.

43:04

And then, you know, I was

43:06

chatting with a friend of mine

43:08

and he was like, look, I'm

43:10

not saying that this might work

43:12

for you, but he also hadn't

43:14

done theater, he had done film

43:16

and TV first and then went

43:19

to theater for a while. And

43:21

he was like, I didn't feel.

43:23

Like I could call myself an

43:25

actor until I experienced theater and

43:27

then he was like, oh Now

43:29

I feel like I can call

43:31

myself an actor because of that

43:33

memorizing a play from beginning to

43:35

end that rehearsal process and so

43:37

I was like, okay, and I

43:40

put it out put it out

43:42

there that I wanted audition for

43:44

for theater and I got my

43:46

first play I did I was

43:48

a two-handerer which means like two

43:50

people in the play I play

43:52

five characters. Wow. And that was

43:54

like a test of, you know,

43:56

physicality. How do you change your

43:59

physicality? How do you change your

44:01

voice? Enough that it's not a

44:03

distraction. But yeah, the rehearsal process

44:05

at the beginning was really difficult

44:07

for me because film and TV

44:09

come as ready as possible because

44:11

you're fortunate if we're going to

44:13

give you three takes. Unless you're

44:15

working on a production the size

44:18

of Sonic where... you know, you're

44:20

gonna get a lot more takes.

44:22

Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but the

44:24

rehearsal process. was like, learn to

44:26

love that. But yeah, the one

44:28

that I'm still, still I have

44:30

a big target on is voice

44:32

industry and you know, love it.

44:34

Just, you know, still like one

44:36

of the bucket list is getting

44:39

to be on an animated series

44:41

of some sort. got to do

44:43

a video game, which was the

44:45

Assassin's Creek Mirage video game player.

44:47

Was it a challenge for you

44:49

because I've done some of those,

44:51

not nothing like that, but as

44:53

big as you, but acting to

44:55

somebody who isn't there. Is that

44:58

any curveballs there or do you

45:00

have a reader? Because I remember

45:02

once I had a... a person

45:04

reading for me and it was

45:06

a video game? It was, yeah,

45:08

I can't even remember the project

45:10

a long, long time ago. Oh

45:12

no, look out, now we have

45:14

to run. Oh no, oh no,

45:17

they're firing. You know, you're like,

45:19

oh God, okay. Can we not

45:21

have the right? I'll take it

45:23

from here. Thank you. You know

45:25

what, I'll read the other one's

45:27

lines also. Yeah, yeah, it was.

45:29

And it was just, and I

45:31

just wanted to hold up a

45:33

crucifix. It's definitely a challenge. I

45:35

think what I, what I'm quite

45:38

fortunate with is that with. like

45:40

filming TV self-tapes or like going

45:42

into the room. Like sometimes the

45:44

readers aren't really... Like for auditions

45:46

and such? Yeah, yeah. Sometimes the

45:48

readers aren't actors or they're not...

45:50

They haven't had much time right?

45:52

They're getting the sides. Yes. And

45:54

that moment they're doing a cold

45:57

read and you just happen to

45:59

be the first one coming in

46:01

the room and you know, so

46:03

that was fun. So I had

46:05

to learn to... And this is

46:07

with regards to like the audition

46:09

process and everything to, oh, okay,

46:11

if they flub a line or

46:13

if I'm not getting what I

46:15

think I need, how do I

46:18

use that in the scene? So

46:20

there are moments where. It's like,

46:22

oh, you know, you're really flat

46:24

in your delivery. That doesn't mean

46:26

I can't respond to the fact

46:28

that you're flat in your delivery

46:30

and use that in some sort

46:32

of care. That could be just

46:34

as legit as anything. And so

46:37

I think that helped me when

46:39

we were recording Assassin's Creed. But

46:41

it is, it's definitely a challenge

46:43

because I had, I had, so

46:45

I was recording in town and

46:47

then are the. you know the

46:49

the the ubsoft team was split

46:51

between Montreal and France and then

46:53

our director I think was in

46:56

Ontario so everything and you know

46:58

I had my sound engineer there

47:00

but yes it was all like

47:02

you know on was that due

47:04

to Covid or such it was

47:06

it was it was post-covid but

47:08

I think it was like we

47:10

had to move quick in the

47:12

like the casting that we had

47:14

been running behind so then when

47:17

I came on board they were

47:19

already deep into the process So

47:21

I think had everything worked out.

47:23

Ideally, I would have gone to

47:25

Montreal and been there for a

47:27

while. But yeah, so we recorded

47:29

here and, you know, and so

47:31

the director was reading opposite me.

47:33

But I think again, it's one

47:36

of those things where everything happens

47:38

for a reason, it takes as

47:40

much time as it takes. So

47:42

I had talked with enough people

47:44

that had done video games and

47:46

had enough experience, you know, with

47:48

little bit rolls on on video

47:50

games that... I now knew what

47:52

questions to, and because I'm so

47:55

familiar with video games, and that

47:57

world. You know it from the

47:59

other side. Yeah, I was, I,

48:01

I was, I was, I asked

48:03

a lot of questions, and I

48:05

know that it was, it was

48:07

annoying, it was annoying, every session,

48:09

it was like annoying, it was

48:11

like annoying at the beginning of

48:13

the session because they were like,

48:16

oh my gosh, we're running behind.

48:18

And I was like, you know

48:20

what you know. I'm like, have

48:22

you guys recorded the other character

48:24

yet? Oh, we have a couple

48:26

of lines. Can I hear them

48:28

just so I know like, what's

48:30

the difference? That helps. You know,

48:32

what's the space that we're in?

48:35

Because in the description, they'd be

48:37

like, oh, you know, they're walking

48:39

through a market. And I'd be

48:41

like, okay, well, is it a

48:43

busy market? Is it not a

48:45

busy market? Do I need to

48:47

project? Is she standing in front?

48:49

Is she walking in front of

48:51

me? Is it haunted? Exactly. Do

48:54

I need to be looking over

48:56

there? Like, who knows? So it

48:58

was good to know those things

49:00

going in. And even then, you

49:02

know. when they'd be, after we'd

49:04

record, we'd come back and do

49:06

re-records because they're like, oh, okay,

49:08

we thought they were gonna be

49:10

two feet away, and now they're

49:12

six feet away. Oh, sure. Yeah,

49:15

that's right. Or someone's performance was

49:17

way more projected than mine. And

49:19

so to match, you know, which,

49:21

yeah, that's, now, do you have

49:23

occasions where you can do recordings

49:25

on camera, off camera, with the

49:27

cast, with a group? You know

49:29

the whole because boy I think

49:31

that's so much easier. I've I've

49:34

better I've better I've always wanted

49:36

that have I yeah I don't

49:38

know if I I I mean

49:40

we did a little like like

49:42

fun little indie kind of podcasty

49:44

like radio play is like the

49:46

Pokemon no no you know about

49:48

the Pokemon thing you know about

49:50

the Pokemon thing yeah this is

49:53

like this was just a few

49:55

years before COVID But a group

49:57

of us in town, just voice

49:59

actors, kind of got together and

50:01

had just fun doing accents and

50:03

kind of creating this like radio

50:05

play together. And there is a

50:07

vibe when you're in the room

50:09

with someone. Oh yeah. And can

50:11

be like, oh, that's what you're

50:14

doing. That's how I can respond

50:16

to that. Or, you know, have

50:18

the director in there at the

50:20

time or see in the moment,

50:22

someone kind of. trying to stifle

50:24

a laugh because of something you

50:26

said or and that we didn't

50:28

think was gonna be funny. Yeah,

50:30

yeah, I love that stuff. It's

50:33

it's nice. I miss it. I

50:35

haven't had too many opportunities at

50:37

it, but yeah, it's definitely like

50:39

seeing group records or those things

50:41

of like, oh, I want to,

50:43

I want to, yeah, they're not

50:45

doing that anymore. Well, they're getting

50:47

back to it, bit by bit.

50:49

One of my favorites lately has

50:52

been Star Wars clone wars and

50:54

Star Wars Rebels. And one of

50:56

my things that I was so

50:58

proud of and I enjoyed doing

51:00

was cracking up Steve Bloom and

51:02

ruining a take, you know, and

51:04

I said, okay, don't start laughing

51:06

until after I stop talking, because

51:08

then I have to do it

51:10

over again. And I'd rather just

51:13

you, you know, you know, I

51:15

loved your character. Oh, Hondo. Hondo.

51:17

Yeah, he's my buddy. Thanks. If

51:19

you're a fan of everything we

51:21

do here at tuned-in with Jim

51:23

Cummings, you could support the show

51:25

on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts,

51:27

as well as early and ad-free

51:29

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51:32

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51:34

difference. So go ahead and join

51:36

the tuned-in family today at patron.com/Jim

51:38

Cummings Podcast. Do it now. They

51:40

let me get away with murder.

51:42

I never said... I'm lying. The

51:44

first take I always did what

51:46

they wrote. That's like my own

51:48

personal rule. That way they can't

51:51

say that you're being obstinate or

51:53

uncooperative. And then I do it

51:55

right to work with, you know,

51:57

and then I just change it

51:59

around. So, you know, and then

52:01

I just change it around. So,

52:03

you know, and it's a lot

52:05

of fun. You know, I mean,

52:07

I just, you know, because I

52:09

think if you're keeping yourself happy,

52:12

that translates that translatesates. I always

52:14

tell people to find the fun,

52:16

whether it's in an audition. I

52:18

mean, they're always figuring out ways.

52:20

These, these. The gardeners, lawn mowers,

52:22

leaf blowers. They've got it out

52:24

for us. They've got it out

52:26

for us. They are. And this

52:28

is an actual leaf blower. It's,

52:31

it's, it's, it's, I don't know

52:33

if you guys have those. It's

52:35

not humid. It's just a hovering

52:37

leaf blower. Is that door open?

52:39

They're going to bring in the...

52:41

After these messages, we'll be right

52:43

back. Yeah. After these messages, we'll

52:45

be right back. I remember that.

52:47

I remember that so very well.

52:50

And I used to walk around

52:52

doing that, trying to perfect that,

52:54

because it was very stentorian, bup-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah.

52:56

It was like a cartoon Orson

52:58

Wells. Would they... Would they... have

53:00

different characters sing that song? Or

53:02

did they just really have? Oh,

53:04

well, I was trying to remember.

53:06

It was just a bumper. Right,

53:08

right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Between, I

53:11

can't remember if they had like

53:13

different sugar pops. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

53:15

Or something. Anyway, we're back after

53:17

that. Rockus cacafony. I mean that

53:19

leaf blower did not want to

53:21

hear about Hondo. No, no. Yeah,

53:23

that's true. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's

53:25

right. We were talking about me.

53:27

I'm sorry, that's a horrible Hondo.

53:30

I sound more like, what's the

53:32

character's name from Phantom Menace? That's

53:34

like the, that's like the, Andy,

53:36

how are you doing? Like, just

53:38

the flying little, Phantom Menace. That

53:40

was George, John. He was the

53:42

guy that owned Anakin and his

53:44

mom. He worked at the auto

53:46

shop. Yeah, yeah. Oh, right. Yeah.

53:49

What's the good looking guy? Yeah.

53:51

Super good looking. Anyway. And he

53:53

had the rings. The rings. Yeah.

53:55

Just a little flying big-faced thing.

53:57

Anyways. So back to Hondo. Oh,

53:59

yes, by all means, back to

54:01

Hondo. No, I'm just kidding. Well,

54:03

I can tell, I'll give you

54:05

a little tip. This is like,

54:07

what I accidentally fell across years,

54:10

years ago. If you do a

54:12

terrible impression of somebody, a famous,

54:14

nobody knows who it is, you

54:16

can call it a new character.

54:18

Yep, fair. And if you do

54:20

a perfect impression of one of

54:22

your relatives, aunt or uncle, nobody

54:24

knows who that is, new character.

54:26

And, and then you can put

54:29

two people together, like Hondo, since

54:31

we're talking about him, is Charles

54:33

Bronson and Yule Brenner and Yule

54:35

Brenner. Okay, put together. Now that

54:37

would be a really ugly person,

54:39

but it makes for an interesting

54:41

character voice. Could be very attractive.

54:43

I mean, they cancel out. Yes,

54:45

and you get Brad Pitt. Yeah,

54:48

or not. Yeah, or Hondo. But

54:50

yeah, but that's, that's my story

54:52

and I'm sticking to it. Damn

54:54

it. So was that the, so

54:56

that's where the kind of like

54:58

the the accent for Hondo also

55:00

came from? Yeah, and I found

55:02

out years, years before, the Yule

55:04

Brenner was Chinese and, damn it,

55:06

Russian. Really? One parent was Chinese,

55:09

one parent was Russian, hmm, wow,

55:11

yeah, did not know that, yeah,

55:13

interesting, but you get an interesting

55:15

accent. Yeah. when you, when you,

55:17

which made me think about the

55:19

blending of the, the accents and,

55:21

you know, coming together. It's really

55:23

fun to play around with accents

55:25

and CEO, if I merge this

55:28

and that, what do I get?

55:30

That's the lovely thing with, with,

55:32

with voices we were saying. It's

55:34

just like, I feel like there's

55:36

so much more opportunity to play.

55:38

You speak a few languages, correct?

55:40

Yeah, I speak Arabic and French.

55:42

Yeah. Do you think that contributes

55:44

to your creation of voices, mannerisms

55:47

or voices or anything like that?

55:49

I mean, I know it for

55:51

sure, because we moved around a

55:53

lot in my childhood, so my

55:55

first language was Italian. Wow. Yeah.

55:57

No kidding. Yeah. And then we

55:59

left Italy and moved to Switzerland

56:01

when I was like four and

56:03

a half. And so, you know,

56:05

I started to, I mean, I

56:08

stopped speaking Italian and we were

56:10

in the French part of Switzerland.

56:12

So that's where English and French

56:14

kind of came in at school,

56:16

Arabic at home. And then, yeah,

56:18

what a gift. I mean, all

56:20

these languages. And so because also

56:22

moving around a lot, I ended

56:24

up just spending so much time

56:27

with action figures. and creating voices

56:29

for all these action figures and

56:31

then I would like play soundtracks

56:33

to like the action sequences and

56:35

yeah so I think it was

56:37

like speaking the languages I really

56:39

have I think a good ear

56:41

for accents as well so I

56:43

can automatically just with playing around

56:46

figure out oh this is where

56:48

my tongue should go or this

56:50

is where the voice sits. would

56:52

always ask me, oh, can you

56:54

help me with this accent? Like

56:56

I got to do this for

56:58

an audition. And I just would

57:00

never know how to explain it

57:02

to them until I started to

57:04

watch someone who focuses on dialects

57:07

in the industry. Like I was

57:09

watching his YouTube videos. And he

57:11

was talking about the technicality of

57:13

like where your tongue's located. And

57:15

so then I was like, oh,

57:17

that is where I, it's like,

57:19

it's in the mask, so to

57:21

speak, right? Yeah. That is where

57:23

my tongue is located when I

57:26

do that. Oh, okay. Yeah. That

57:28

might be a better way to

57:30

explain it to people that don't

57:32

like hear it and know how

57:34

to mimic it. I think I'm

57:36

a great mimic. Yeah. Well, that's

57:38

good. And typically when I'm working

57:40

on new accents, I always start

57:42

like I tell people I was

57:45

like, don't. Don't worry about starting

57:47

off like very stereotypical. It's a

57:49

great starting point. And then start

57:51

to like tweak it. Yeah, that's

57:53

right. Yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. And

57:55

bring it down. That makes perfect

57:57

sense. That's good advice, I think.

57:59

Yeah. Have you ever taught, do

58:01

seminars or anything like that? Because

58:03

what's the blue monogat tapped and.

58:06

I don't know that I'm I

58:08

don't know that I'm good at

58:10

teaching. Yeah, you know, it's just

58:12

I've I've had it I've like

58:14

talked to a few classes. Yeah,

58:16

but the focus is typically more

58:18

on like, you know, Q&A and

58:20

which is what I prefer. I

58:22

don't yeah, I don't want to

58:25

sit and tell you my story

58:27

and then I take up some

58:29

of your time and you don't

58:31

get a chance to ask me

58:33

a question that, you know, might

58:35

be really important to you. I

58:37

like to come more from a

58:39

place of like, hey, you know,

58:41

this was kind of my journey.

58:44

This is how long it's taken.

58:46

There's no same exact way for

58:48

anybody. What are your questions? Yeah,

58:50

right, right. Yeah, not that quick,

58:52

but yeah, no, I agree. Yeah,

58:54

I've, I've. I've had people tell

58:56

me this because they must have

58:58

read something in the bio. So

59:00

it looked like this one kid

59:02

stands because. So if I want

59:05

to be like a really good

59:07

video guy, should I move to

59:09

New Orleans and paint Marty Groffloats,

59:11

then get on a tugboat, then

59:13

move to California and make a

59:15

demo tape. And I go, yeah,

59:17

that's the path. That's what you

59:19

did. That's what I did. And

59:21

I was thinking, OK, well, somebody's

59:24

been on the inner webs. And

59:26

I was thinking, yeah, yeah, uh-huh,

59:28

that's clearly, that's how Mel Blanc

59:30

did it up. That's how blueprint,

59:32

yeah. That's where I've messed up.

59:34

Yeah, I gotta go to New

59:36

Orleans. I forgot to design and

59:38

paint Mardi Gras floats. I'm gonna

59:40

tell my team. Well, I need

59:43

to take a break from acting.

59:45

I need to go to New

59:47

Orleans, design some floats. Yeah, don't

59:49

forget to play drums and a

59:51

bunch of strip bars and stuff

59:53

like that. Okay, cool. I can't

59:55

play drums, but hey, who cares?

59:57

That's okay. Well, you are, you

59:59

could sing. That's right. Yeah, you

1:00:01

could sing. That's right. And I've

1:00:04

got a tambrene. Look at that.

1:00:06

I'm getting ready to launch my

1:00:08

career in the book. Yeah, well

1:00:10

I don't think we're worried about

1:00:12

you. I appreciate that. We are

1:00:14

not worried about you. So what

1:00:16

is exciting for you? What is

1:00:18

the goal, if you could say,

1:00:20

well you know what I'd really

1:00:23

like to do is do a

1:00:25

movie with, or what I'd really

1:00:27

like to do is write a

1:00:29

song with, do a play with,

1:00:31

do a TV show with, or

1:00:33

for, or at, or there's too

1:00:35

many, huh? It is. I mean,

1:00:37

you know, you know, like you're

1:00:39

right in front of me. So

1:00:42

it's really easy to say that

1:00:44

working on something with you would

1:00:46

be an absolute dream. I'm in,

1:00:48

you know, finding some animated project

1:00:50

or feature or whatnot and having

1:00:52

the opportunity to just like be

1:00:54

in the booth with you and

1:00:56

play that like, you know, I

1:00:58

was telling you earlier, like, you

1:01:00

know, Winnie the Pooh that The

1:01:03

Tigger to me is, I don't

1:01:05

know, what did it, maybe again,

1:01:07

because it's the energetic, I always

1:01:09

saw myself in Tigger. Well, Tigger,

1:01:11

they're wonderful things. Toss them made

1:01:13

out of rubber. They're buttons, they're

1:01:15

made out of strings. They're bouncy,

1:01:17

bouncy, bouncy, fun, fun, fun. The

1:01:19

wonderful thing about Tiggers is, you

1:01:22

could be one of them too.

1:01:24

Oh! Oh, nice. Do

1:01:26

they have someone do the growl

1:01:29

for you? No. No. Get up,

1:01:31

but Paul, went to God rest

1:01:33

it so he could sit there

1:01:35

and he would just do it

1:01:37

all day long. And I was

1:01:39

like, and I'd look at him

1:01:41

and I said, I cannot tell

1:01:44

how the hell he's doing that.

1:01:46

You know, because, you know, I've

1:01:48

had people stare at me, one

1:01:50

particularly annoying person whose name I,

1:01:52

well, I will say, you know.

1:01:54

Say it later. He's never my

1:01:56

kid. But but it was like,

1:01:59

you know, And people say, okay,

1:02:01

well, do that, do that. Oh,

1:02:03

so that's how you do it.

1:02:05

And it's like, wait, what? You

1:02:07

can't see anything. I don't think,

1:02:09

you know, but I get it,

1:02:11

I get it, you know, just

1:02:14

seeing Paul Winchle stand there and,

1:02:16

and he did that. And I

1:02:18

was like, and his face didn't

1:02:20

move. So you do it with

1:02:22

your tongue, I do it with

1:02:24

my throat. I have to, like,

1:02:26

like, I have to have some

1:02:29

salivava ready. Yeah. Yeah, see, I

1:02:31

just go build up a. Yeah.

1:02:33

Yeah, it sounds like emphysema or

1:02:35

something. Yeah, yeah, that's not it,

1:02:37

Jim. That's really bad. That's a

1:02:39

cat. That's not a tigger. Yeah.

1:02:41

Anyway. Yeah, so that's really embarrassing.

1:02:44

That would be an absolute dream.

1:02:46

Well, I'm in. We're not waiting

1:02:48

on me. Maybe that world. That's

1:02:50

right. You're that world. Let's put,

1:02:52

let's, let's, let's put the vibes

1:02:54

out there. I'm feeling it. I

1:02:57

can feel it. That was a,

1:02:59

that wasn't Jason Statham, that was

1:03:01

a trailer guy. Yeah. Oh, coming

1:03:03

to a theater near you. Jean

1:03:05

Clode. No, I can't do the

1:03:07

trailer. It's like, it's like, one

1:03:09

man, one desire. Oh. It's different.

1:03:12

Yeah, that's right. It's got a

1:03:14

quality, but it's not. It's not

1:03:16

the guy. No. Can you do

1:03:18

the point? Yeah. Well, I've done

1:03:20

a lot of movie trailers, but

1:03:22

I haven't done them in a

1:03:24

while. No? Yeah. They got away

1:03:27

from it. It's not really a

1:03:29

thing anymore. Yeah. I wish they

1:03:31

would bring them back. I feel

1:03:33

like, I feel like they don't

1:03:35

need them on everything, but I

1:03:37

feel like there's certain movies. Yeah.

1:03:39

You know, like I feel like

1:03:42

a John Wick could have a

1:03:44

trailer with it. Oh, yeah. Stars

1:03:46

with Jim Kerry. Yes. Yeah, oh

1:03:48

man. But yeah, and I just

1:03:50

want to keep going, you know

1:03:52

what I mean? For me, I

1:03:54

think ultimately the dream is to

1:03:57

be at a point in my

1:03:59

career where, and this is something

1:04:01

that you just never know as

1:04:03

an artist, is like, is your

1:04:05

name, you know, making the rounds

1:04:07

when they're discussing, you know, oh,

1:04:09

our top 10. names for this

1:04:12

role on a project or whatnot.

1:04:14

But ultimately for me, it's not

1:04:16

so much, you know, fame or

1:04:18

money or whatnot. It's longevity, consistency.

1:04:20

I would love to just be

1:04:22

able to work continually. You know

1:04:24

what I mean? I go through

1:04:27

those long droughts and then, you

1:04:29

know, done a lot of work

1:04:31

on myself, but still, there's times

1:04:33

where it gets the better of

1:04:35

me and I start to, I

1:04:37

don't really, I don't. You know,

1:04:39

and then my I find that

1:04:42

Like my own self-worth is reliant

1:04:44

on Like the phone call. Yeah,

1:04:46

the opportunities coming. Yeah, a little

1:04:48

of that's okay, but you don't

1:04:50

want to over yeah, no, you

1:04:52

don't want it to rule your

1:04:54

days and cause you to fall

1:04:57

into a depression. Yeah, the fact

1:04:59

that they don't have good taste.

1:05:01

Yeah, calling But yeah, just to

1:05:03

be in a place where it's,

1:05:05

you know, consistent, there's longevity and,

1:05:07

you know, ideally if I was

1:05:10

a fly on the wall to

1:05:12

know that, oh, hey, is, am

1:05:14

I in the mix? You know,

1:05:16

is to be in the mix.

1:05:18

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, where am

1:05:20

I in the discussion for that

1:05:22

role? Like, am I even in

1:05:25

a discussion? Right. But again, that's

1:05:27

a great example of like, I

1:05:29

can't let that be. The end

1:05:31

all be all of how I

1:05:33

feel about myself. Right, absolutely. never

1:05:35

gonna be in those rooms. You

1:05:37

know, I'm never gonna know if

1:05:40

I'm being discussed or not. But,

1:05:42

you know, I think it's a

1:05:44

pretty good, odds are pretty good

1:05:46

at this point here. Hopefully, you're,

1:05:48

you're, knock on some more wood.

1:05:50

That's your agent's job. Yeah. Well,

1:05:52

I've got, I've got a great

1:05:55

team. I've got a great voice

1:05:57

agent and I've got a great

1:05:59

agent out here for filming. Should

1:06:01

we say who they are? Yes,

1:06:03

so Samantha Jewell is my Voice

1:06:05

agent. Uh-huh. My film and TV

1:06:07

agent is Deb Dilla Stone. And

1:06:10

my manager out in LA is

1:06:12

Gary. Good old. He doesn't have

1:06:14

a lot. He doesn't have a

1:06:16

last thing. He's just Gary. Yeah,

1:06:18

that's that's when you're the first

1:06:20

one. Yeah, yeah. Wow, he's, he's,

1:06:22

does he knows Stephen. Gary knows

1:06:25

Stephen. Oh, yeah. No, okay. It's,

1:06:27

why are you getting me? Okay.

1:06:29

All right. Yeah. Yeah, I know,

1:06:31

but I call him just Gary.

1:06:33

Just Gary. Hello, just Gary. I

1:06:35

don't know. I've never served. So

1:06:37

I think I'm gonna send him

1:06:40

a voice. Hello, just Gary. Yeah.

1:06:42

It's just me. Who's me? Take

1:06:44

a guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh,

1:06:46

man. Well, that's good stuff. It's.

1:06:48

Again, you know, it's great to

1:06:50

have people in your corner and

1:06:52

believe in you and and and

1:06:55

hustle for you. I think that's

1:06:57

that's the most important thing. What

1:06:59

what have you got any bucket

1:07:01

list things you're aiming at specific?

1:07:03

You're pretty young guy and you've

1:07:05

been pretty successful. So I know

1:07:07

you've knocked a few buckets over,

1:07:10

but is a bucket list. Like

1:07:12

you don't want to be a

1:07:14

tap dancer or anything like that.

1:07:16

No, I can't, I can't, I

1:07:18

can't dance very well. I mean

1:07:20

I've got rhythm but I'm not

1:07:23

like I can't, I'm not a

1:07:25

pro dancer. No. I'd actually love

1:07:27

to learn to sing. I don't,

1:07:29

I don't know how to, I

1:07:31

don't sing well. I think I'm

1:07:33

good at mimicking. Again, it was

1:07:35

like, you know, I can, I

1:07:38

can mimic metallic. but I can't

1:07:40

yeah but then you want me

1:07:42

to sing in my voice I

1:07:44

can't it's it's I'm like flat

1:07:46

and pitchy at the same time

1:07:48

well you know I can I

1:07:50

can't believe I actually have a

1:07:53

thought on this because it's very

1:07:55

specific but you know when I

1:07:57

was a little kid and I

1:07:59

mean little we got transistor radios

1:08:01

mhm and I kind of learned

1:08:03

to sing by imitation right I

1:08:05

was imitating people who were singing.

1:08:08

And I can remember there was

1:08:10

one, God, I can't think of

1:08:12

who it was, but the gypsy

1:08:14

cry. And Papino, oh you little

1:08:16

mouse, why don't you go away?

1:08:18

It was a novelty song in

1:08:20

the States. Probably not even all

1:08:23

over the states. But just mimicking

1:08:25

those guys. And then the Beatles

1:08:27

came along and I was like,

1:08:29

oh, I'm going to mimic these

1:08:31

guys. And of course I. can't

1:08:33

do any of them, any justice,

1:08:35

any good whatsoever. But I, you

1:08:38

know, you kind of put your

1:08:40

talk of things together and yeah,

1:08:42

and you kind of take it

1:08:44

from there. But I think, you

1:08:46

know, and I've always said if

1:08:48

you do a bad impression of

1:08:50

somebody, it's a new character. Right.

1:08:53

So, you know, same with singing.

1:08:55

Say anytime they need someone to

1:08:57

sing in a movie. I'll be

1:08:59

like, that's a character choice. They

1:09:01

sing it horribly. Yes. Right. They'll

1:09:03

sing their hearts out, but they

1:09:05

won't do it well. Yeah. Who

1:09:08

was it? Well, it was my

1:09:10

fair lady, right? Rex Harrison. He

1:09:12

couldn't sing. And was happy to

1:09:14

prove it. And he was there.

1:09:16

There's something amazing about that. Went

1:09:18

in and did it, and the

1:09:20

other one was Tommy, the Who.

1:09:23

Tommy The Who. And who was

1:09:25

the Oliver Reed? God, I'm showing

1:09:27

my age here, but, and he

1:09:29

couldn't sing at all, so he

1:09:31

didn't, but he's still sang. And

1:09:33

Clint Eastwood, in Painter Wagon. Did

1:09:36

Clint Eastwood sing? Oh, no. But

1:09:38

he thought he was. Right, right,

1:09:40

right. Right. But he could have

1:09:42

fooled him and he didn't fool

1:09:44

anyone. But yeah, he was, and

1:09:46

then Lee, was it Lee Marvin?

1:09:48

Was born under a wand or

1:09:51

in star. And it's not just

1:09:53

like the drunken bears at Disneyland.

1:09:55

Oh my God. Country Bear Jamboree,

1:09:57

that's what it sounded like to

1:09:59

me. And I go, he's drunk.

1:10:01

You know, or something, it was,

1:10:03

you know, just as flat as

1:10:06

you could be. Yeah, fun things

1:10:08

to know and tell, so don't

1:10:10

try this at home, kids. Or

1:10:12

go ahead. Yeah, I mean, give

1:10:14

it a try. Why not try

1:10:16

to sing, learn to sing. But

1:10:18

I do, I do think, yeah,

1:10:21

like, stuff like that is the

1:10:23

way to go, is hear it,

1:10:25

mimic it, hear it, mimic it.

1:10:27

Yeah, same thing with like accents,

1:10:29

same thing, you know. You've got

1:10:31

your phones and you can just

1:10:33

record, like. Play something back, record

1:10:36

it, does it sound similar? No,

1:10:38

okay. Can you tell what the

1:10:40

difference is? Oh, okay, maybe I'll

1:10:42

try this. Or I sound too

1:10:44

sharp or whatever. I'm like obsessed

1:10:46

with stuff like that. Yeah, with

1:10:48

me, it's like, well, the other

1:10:51

guy was better, that's a difference.

1:10:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, fine.

1:10:55

Well, I clearly suck. But Jason

1:10:57

Statham doesn't, so, no. You'll always

1:10:59

have him. Yeah, to pull him

1:11:01

out. I didn't know I'd ever

1:11:03

be able to do that voice

1:11:06

and I just kind of like

1:11:08

kind of fell into it as

1:11:10

a works. It works. If you're

1:11:12

a fan of everything we do

1:11:14

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1:11:16

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1:11:33

now. I find that too with

1:11:36

voices. There's physicality that I need.

1:11:38

There's like, yeah, there's like squinty

1:11:40

like squinty eyes brings some sort

1:11:42

of intent. Oh, it does. Yeah,

1:11:44

Clint Eastwood. Yeah, Clint Eastwood. You

1:11:46

can't do Clint without. Yeah, yeah.

1:11:49

Well, I noticed that too and

1:11:51

Body Language helps in voiceover or

1:11:53

singing. We were talking about it

1:11:55

the other day. I remember entertainment

1:11:57

tonight came out to the studio.

1:11:59

when I first started doing Winnie

1:12:01

the Pooh and Tigger many many

1:12:04

years ago and they taped me

1:12:06

on the mic on mic and

1:12:08

if the sound was down I

1:12:10

would still be able to tell

1:12:12

you if I was doing poo

1:12:14

or Tigger because Tigger would stand

1:12:16

like this and he would ready

1:12:19

to bounce and poo. I sloped

1:12:21

my shoulders down and my stomach

1:12:23

went out and it was like

1:12:25

oh that's poo. I mean so

1:12:27

I guess there's something to that

1:12:29

the body language. Goes into the

1:12:31

Language language language was there was

1:12:34

there a way that you came

1:12:36

up with those voices like do

1:12:38

you remember if there was like

1:12:40

you just kind of played around

1:12:42

you're like oh, I like the

1:12:44

sound of that well those those

1:12:46

those two were Probably the first

1:12:49

two biggies that I was ever

1:12:51

associated with in fact. No, they

1:12:53

were but they were established from

1:12:55

the early 60s when I was

1:12:57

in the audience because they made

1:12:59

those first three Shorts, there were

1:13:01

20 minutes, 22 minutes, Winnie the

1:13:04

Pooh and Tigger 2, Winnie the

1:13:06

Pooh in a day for Eor

1:13:08

and I think it was just

1:13:10

Winnie the Pooh. But they put

1:13:12

them together, Disney did, and turned

1:13:14

it into a feature. So now

1:13:16

it's like 66 minutes long. I

1:13:19

think it has to be 59

1:13:21

or 60 minutes to be called

1:13:23

a Right, a feature. And then

1:13:25

they won the Academy Award for

1:13:27

best animated feature. And then they

1:13:29

went away for 20 years. They

1:13:31

didn't do it, which I don't

1:13:34

know why. Yeah, that's weird. they

1:13:36

didn't because it gave me a

1:13:38

chance to grow up and then

1:13:40

I could audition and then I

1:13:42

was okay good. So they were

1:13:44

kind of looking for a match

1:13:46

to what they had in the

1:13:49

60s? Yeah it had to be.

1:13:51

Yeah and I appreciate that too.

1:13:53

Yeah yeah yeah. You know Warner

1:13:55

Brothers who I love they they

1:13:57

will have a character I don't

1:13:59

know Yosemite Sam or a secondary

1:14:02

character and you know we'd be

1:14:04

doing an Animaniacs or a Tiny

1:14:06

tunes or a Buster and Babs

1:14:08

bunny. And they'd have a cameo

1:14:10

for fill in the blank. Yosemite

1:14:12

Sam. Right. Anybody got a good

1:14:14

Yosemite. Oh, that rabbit. Okay, you're

1:14:17

him. You know, and there's no

1:14:19

consistency. Even right. I mean, certainly

1:14:21

in the bigger characters. But I

1:14:23

mean, even now there's a couple

1:14:25

of guys that do bugs. You

1:14:27

know, and I don't get that.

1:14:29

I think it's and they're both

1:14:32

great. But it should just be

1:14:34

one guy. Yeah, because you know

1:14:36

and I know I mean I

1:14:38

have a ear that listens in

1:14:40

hears and seeks that out But

1:14:42

I don't think you have to

1:14:44

have that kind of discerning ear

1:14:47

in order to go wait that

1:14:49

wasn't bugs from last month. Yeah,

1:14:51

or you know I remember even

1:14:53

even as a like when I

1:14:55

was younger you I think I

1:14:57

could tell sometimes where I was

1:14:59

like Hold on, something sounds different

1:15:02

about Yosemite Sam, or something sounds

1:15:04

different. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

1:15:06

yeah, yeah. Foghorn, leghorn, like it

1:15:08

sounds like something. Right, yeah, right.

1:15:10

You know, it's still the same

1:15:12

accent and like, right, but you

1:15:14

could tell that there was like

1:15:17

a vocal quality that was different,

1:15:19

even as a kid. Yeah, I

1:15:21

think kids pick that stuff up.

1:15:23

Oh, yeah. A lot of times

1:15:25

we think, we think, we think

1:15:27

they're, they're, they're not as smart

1:15:29

as they're not as smart as

1:15:32

they're as they're as they're as

1:15:34

they're as they're not as they're

1:15:36

as they're, as they're not as

1:15:38

smart as they're, as they're, as

1:15:40

they're, as they're, as they're, as

1:15:42

they're, as smart as they're, as

1:15:44

they're, as they're, as they're, as

1:15:47

smart as they're, as they're, as

1:15:49

they're, as they're, as they're, as

1:15:51

they're, as they're Yeah, unless they're

1:15:53

obsessive little weasels like I was.

1:15:55

You know, they all, they all

1:15:57

pick that up. Yeah, yeah, meaty,

1:15:59

like, pay attention. me. Yeah. Did

1:16:02

you ever have any any naysayers?

1:16:04

Because that's kind of all I

1:16:06

had. I mean, I had a

1:16:08

lot of naysayers. Yeah. Well, what

1:16:10

are you going to do for

1:16:12

a living? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But

1:16:15

how are you going to make

1:16:17

it by? Exactly, exactly. I mean,

1:16:19

I remember, I remember even, because

1:16:21

I got in, I started taking

1:16:23

acting classes when I was 21,

1:16:25

I think. Yeah, yeah. So I

1:16:27

got into it late. Like I

1:16:30

always, I was always, you know,

1:16:32

super creative. Well, it didn't take

1:16:34

you all. Artistic and got it

1:16:36

late, but finishing early. That's fine.

1:16:38

I think I'm older than you

1:16:40

think I am. I was going

1:16:42

after a mechanical engineering degree. And

1:16:45

yeah, taking acting classes on the

1:16:47

side. I wasn't doing well in

1:16:49

school or anything. And I actually

1:16:51

initially wanted to do product design

1:16:53

because I was always like an

1:16:55

artist. I was, oh wow. Yeah,

1:16:57

sketch or painting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:17:00

What some of your greatest hits?

1:17:02

I used to draw a lot

1:17:04

of like anime. style. Yeah, yeah,

1:17:06

yeah, yeah, a lot of Dragon

1:17:08

Ball Z, a lot of St.

1:17:10

Sea. It was very anime focused

1:17:12

because that's what I watched a

1:17:15

lot of. I draw a lot

1:17:17

of like Mickey, Tigger, Pooh, Donald.

1:17:19

I love Donald Duck. That's a

1:17:21

voice I wish. I've worked on

1:17:23

so hard and then just like

1:17:25

I always like almost pass out

1:17:27

trying to do Donald. Like it's

1:17:30

just like the breath doesn't quite

1:17:32

work. And then it's

1:17:34

pretty good. That's the only thing.

1:17:36

It's like, oh boy. Like, it's

1:17:38

like, I can't, perfect. I can't,

1:17:40

like, what are you, he said

1:17:42

something? I was like, I don't

1:17:44

know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I used

1:17:46

to be able to say like,

1:17:48

oh, my stomach, but I can't

1:17:51

even, like, just because it sounds

1:17:53

so cool. Yeah. Whenever you get

1:17:55

angry and stuff. So I draw

1:17:57

a lot of that so

1:17:59

I draw a

1:18:01

lot of that

1:18:03

and I who

1:18:05

an uncle who

1:18:07

was super artistic

1:18:09

and was teaching

1:18:11

at in Center

1:18:13

in Pasadena. talking to my dad

1:18:16

and you know, talking to my

1:18:18

dad and he was like, I

1:18:20

think he should should pursue this. you know,

1:18:22

and know, dad, I dad, I understand

1:18:24

now, being an adult and us having

1:18:26

talked more. more. But at at the

1:18:28

time he was like no like, no, your sciences or

1:18:30

something else, else because I don't think there's

1:18:32

a future a art I don't think art.

1:18:34

I don't think are you gonna do for

1:18:36

a living right. Yeah, but what are you going to do on

1:18:39

we had we had a talk years

1:18:41

later, and he was like, you know

1:18:43

We've just your mother and I had

1:18:45

gone through so much just, your mother

1:18:47

our youth through so we didn't and

1:18:49

struggle. we didn't we had worked so

1:18:51

hard to provide our kids. to

1:18:53

provide our life. a life. Right.

1:18:56

away from struggle. can't have you

1:18:58

Can't have you, and it. you go and blow it.

1:19:00

Yeah, well, no, but was that now

1:19:02

I have a kid who's making

1:19:04

the act of decision. to

1:19:07

pursue something that's gonna be a

1:19:09

difficult life. a difficult life. Yeah,

1:19:11

you fair. you know, I'm happy You

1:19:13

know, I'm happy we had that discussion because for

1:19:15

a long time I was like, oh, I why,

1:19:17

why? oh, why, why, why, why Why can't they

1:19:19

just support me? Why can't they just? I

1:19:21

understand it now So I understand it now know, you

1:19:23

know, being grown now, I'm like, Right, like how is

1:19:25

that to, you know, work so hard? And

1:19:27

then your kids And I'm going to go choose

1:19:29

one of the toughest things gonna do. one But that

1:19:31

kind of helped motivate me a little bit.

1:19:33

And then it was a lot of like people

1:19:35

in school a like when they found out I

1:19:37

was taking acting classes, they thought it was

1:19:40

just like a hobby. in I was like, no,

1:19:42

I'm going to do it. And then, you know,

1:19:44

they'd make fun of me. acting

1:19:46

classes, they think a lot of just

1:19:48

like life, like, no, school do it. And

1:19:50

it's always been, been. Oh, you're too

1:19:52

tiny. was I was very athletic.

1:19:54

a I was never a very

1:19:56

but I was very athletic, I

1:19:58

was always smart. but I wasn't

1:20:01

like in the nerd crowd. I

1:20:03

wasn't in the, you know, athlete

1:20:05

crowd. I was always kind of

1:20:07

like other. So you know I

1:20:09

always told too small to play

1:20:11

football and then I played football

1:20:13

well I was too small to

1:20:15

to play soccer and I played

1:20:17

as a goalie and then I

1:20:19

was so slow but then I

1:20:21

was the fastest kid you know

1:20:23

wow yeah yeah in the league.

1:20:25

Do you respond well to negative

1:20:27

criticism because that's kind of all

1:20:29

I did? Yeah was that yeah

1:20:31

I mean you're not going to

1:20:33

do you but you are going

1:20:35

to be all these stories and

1:20:37

and and that made me more

1:20:39

determined than go, then, this is

1:20:41

really weird because, like I said,

1:20:43

you know, I think you're on

1:20:45

to something. You should really go

1:20:47

and pursue that. You can really

1:20:49

do it. Go get him, Tiger.

1:20:51

Yeah, go, yeah, you'd a man.

1:20:54

You know, and that would have

1:20:56

been, oh, okay, yeah. But having

1:20:58

them go, never in a million

1:21:00

years. Like, oh, hell. Now, now,

1:21:02

it's on. Right. You were gargling

1:21:04

those words. I think, negative criticism,

1:21:06

motive. motivates me or especially back

1:21:08

then motivated me, but there was

1:21:10

always the flip side of it

1:21:12

would, I would turn it inwards

1:21:14

as well. So then I would

1:21:16

take that and beat myself up.

1:21:18

And so I had a lot

1:21:20

of like, that's like one of

1:21:22

my big challenges. I have a

1:21:24

horrible negative voice that's gotten better

1:21:26

over the years and the work

1:21:28

that I've done. Yeah, I would

1:21:30

think. But yeah, so it was

1:21:32

like your resume cure you. Yeah,

1:21:34

but also like mental health work

1:21:36

and therapy and everything like I've

1:21:38

had to. put a lot of

1:21:40

time into just, you know, silencing

1:21:42

that, or not even silencing it,

1:21:44

but learning not to listen to

1:21:46

it, so, you know, fully. But

1:21:49

so yeah, I think the negative,

1:21:51

or people being naysayers really did

1:21:53

light a fire on my ass,

1:21:55

but I would also take that

1:21:57

home and kind of look in

1:21:59

the mirror and be like, oh,

1:22:01

you're not gonna amount to anything,

1:22:03

either right, or whatever. And then

1:22:05

I, so it was a constant

1:22:07

battle of. like no I'm gonna

1:22:09

prove them wrong and then be

1:22:11

like no they're right oh no

1:22:13

I'm gonna prove them wrong right

1:22:15

so I think it would have

1:22:17

been a good balance of like

1:22:19

I think ideally it would have

1:22:21

been a little bit of like

1:22:23

I don't know I don't know

1:22:25

if you can do that but

1:22:27

maybe you should try yes there

1:22:29

you know so it's kind of

1:22:31

fine that balance of like oh

1:22:33

okay well I'll support you in

1:22:35

it I don't know if you

1:22:37

do it's like All right, I'll

1:22:39

show you. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you

1:22:42

know, the idea of being talked

1:22:44

out of attempting it. Yeah. No,

1:22:46

no, no, no. I, I, because

1:22:48

you know, you know, I really

1:22:50

should have, you know, you know

1:22:52

what I should have done. And

1:22:54

I remember at an early age

1:22:56

thinking to myself, well, I never

1:22:58

want to, because you hear the

1:23:00

older guys, your older uncles or

1:23:02

neighbors or anybody, you know. Well,

1:23:04

you know. You know, I own

1:23:06

this store here and you know,

1:23:08

I sell candy and I agree,

1:23:10

but you know what I really

1:23:12

wanted to do though Yeah, you

1:23:14

know what I really wanted to

1:23:16

do and I realized at a

1:23:18

very early age That I don't

1:23:20

ever want to make that statement.

1:23:22

No, you know, I that's something

1:23:24

that like really resonates is is

1:23:26

You know, especially nowadays like I

1:23:28

think back when I was growing

1:23:30

up there was this illusion of

1:23:32

like job security like longevity you

1:23:35

were in a job you had

1:23:37

it you were you had that

1:23:39

job for 20 30 years but

1:23:41

now you look at it like

1:23:43

and it's like people that have

1:23:45

had the job for 20 years

1:23:47

just get let go yeah and

1:23:49

it's like what happened to like

1:23:51

loyalty what happened it's like well

1:23:53

there's no such thing okay well

1:23:55

if it's that volatile now and

1:23:57

there's no such thing as job

1:23:59

security anymore or as much as

1:24:01

there was like in the 60s

1:24:03

70s 80s yeah why not go

1:24:05

after the thing that oh got

1:24:07

passionate about yeah well I worked

1:24:09

in a steel mill right out

1:24:11

of high school there was a

1:24:13

Bruce Springsteen song on I can't

1:24:15

remember the name of it but

1:24:17

it was about getting a union

1:24:19

card on your 18th birthday I

1:24:21

actually did that. Okay. When I

1:24:23

was, I had, I graduated when

1:24:25

I was 70 and I remember

1:24:28

my aunt and hand, bless her

1:24:30

heart, she gave me a ride

1:24:32

down to the AFLC, it was

1:24:34

the steel mill. And I, I.

1:24:36

On my 18th birthday, I could

1:24:38

finally work there. So I went

1:24:40

down and applied and I got

1:24:42

in and I got my union

1:24:44

card and I was working at

1:24:46

a steel mill and I ran

1:24:48

into all these guys and this

1:24:50

and that and on and on

1:24:52

and on and I worked there

1:24:54

for a year, year, maybe not

1:24:56

quite a year and a half.

1:24:58

And I remember after at that

1:25:00

point I'd left Youngstown blah blah

1:25:02

blah blah blah. And then all

1:25:04

these people that were, if you

1:25:06

made it 20 years. You got

1:25:08

retirement, you got retirement, you got

1:25:10

a severance, you got a this

1:25:12

and that, and there were so

1:25:14

many people that worked for like

1:25:16

16, 17, 18 years, and they

1:25:18

just had to walk away. They

1:25:20

still milk just shut down. It

1:25:23

shut down, that was it. I

1:25:25

can't imagine that. And man, you

1:25:27

had your 19 and a half

1:25:29

years in, and all you got

1:25:31

was unemployment. And then you had

1:25:33

to keep plugging away for another.

1:25:35

I don't know, 20 years till

1:25:37

you hit 65 and then you

1:25:39

got some retirement, social security. Yeah.

1:25:41

But I mean, at that point,

1:25:43

you've been doing the same thing

1:25:45

for 19 years over here and

1:25:47

nobody cares what you did in

1:25:49

a steel mill. You know, you

1:25:51

didn't get any practical experience for

1:25:53

anything other than going to work

1:25:55

in steel mill. Yeah, besides like

1:25:57

hunkered down and do it. I

1:25:59

remember I had a conversation with

1:26:01

my dad. Has always been like

1:26:03

do whatever I have to do

1:26:05

to provide for my family and

1:26:07

you know and and figure out

1:26:09

improvising the moment and So I

1:26:11

think like you know later on

1:26:13

once career started to go a

1:26:16

little bit better for me, we

1:26:18

sat down and had a conversation.

1:26:20

I was like, you know, something

1:26:22

that's always blown me away about

1:26:24

you is that, is that, you

1:26:26

know, you've had this job, like,

1:26:28

you know, this job that he

1:26:30

had, and, you know, I can't

1:26:32

imagine doing that, like, waking up

1:26:34

every day and doing that, like,

1:26:36

and I always thought there was

1:26:38

something wrong with me because, you

1:26:40

know, I couldn't imagine being an

1:26:42

engineer and waking up every day

1:26:44

and working on the computer. It

1:26:46

was a goal. Yeah. But for

1:26:48

you, it was something to be

1:26:50

avoided. This is the only thing

1:26:52

that's ever, that I've ever woken,

1:26:54

like I can wake up without

1:26:56

an alarm to do. You know

1:26:58

what I mean? No one's ever

1:27:00

had to motivate me to be

1:27:02

artistic and a performer. And he

1:27:04

was like, oh, but I've always

1:27:06

been passionate about what I do.

1:27:09

And I was like. Oh, now

1:27:11

I get it, because I always

1:27:13

thought that there was something wrong

1:27:15

with me in the sense of

1:27:17

like, how can my dad do

1:27:19

it? How can my dad hustle

1:27:21

like this? And I can't find

1:27:23

that fire in me, unless I'm

1:27:25

doing this. And he was like,

1:27:27

no, there's a specific part of

1:27:29

the job that fires me up

1:27:31

that I'm passionate about. I was

1:27:33

like, I get it. I get

1:27:35

it because that's to be able

1:27:37

to have that conversation with him

1:27:39

and you know for us to

1:27:41

talk you know person to person

1:27:43

and and and you know be

1:27:45

in a place to to talk

1:27:47

about like why didn't you agree

1:27:49

with like my decision to act

1:27:51

and him being a place to

1:27:53

be like I was just worried

1:27:55

yeah absolutely I was just really

1:27:57

worried yeah yeah I was saying

1:27:59

I'm biggest fan and I was

1:28:01

just worried and I was just

1:28:04

worried and I was just worried

1:28:06

and I was just worried and

1:28:08

I was just worried yeah Why

1:28:10

did you tell me that was

1:28:12

you? Yeah. But again, maybe, like

1:28:14

you said, maybe, that might have

1:28:16

been the fire I needed. It

1:28:18

was concerned, yeah. Yeah. Because they

1:28:20

would say, yeah, but what are

1:28:22

you gonna do for a living?

1:28:24

Yeah, but how are you gonna

1:28:26

eat? How are you gonna make?

1:28:28

money. I go, yeah, but what

1:28:30

if I do it well enough

1:28:32

to make money? Yeah. The argument

1:28:34

that I had for people was

1:28:36

that, you know what? Okay, so

1:28:38

I can go after this thing

1:28:40

where I might not make much

1:28:42

money, but it brings me joy,

1:28:44

right? And hopefully it affects people

1:28:46

in a positive way. Or I

1:28:48

can pick this other job where

1:28:50

it allows me to buy a

1:28:52

house, I have a car. I

1:28:54

have a family, have the white

1:28:57

picket fence, and it's the ideal

1:28:59

picture of like what life should

1:29:01

be. And I wake up every

1:29:03

morning and I hate my life.

1:29:05

Is that sustainable? Yeah. Right? Yeah.

1:29:07

I'd much rather be happy to