HOW TO: Self-Start as an Actor (w/ Natalie Ortega)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Acting. Only in the past hundred years has it been like a I audition and I show up and I'm like, the golden age of Hollywood made it that like a movie star or like whatever, who auditions, who shows up, who does a job, who becomes famous. But before acting was on screen in a big way. Theater has always been a collaborative art form. Yes, somebody wrote the play, but then everybody builds it from the ground up. Like that's creating. So being like, I'm an artist, I'm not creating my own stuff. I'm an artist, I'm just an actor. I'm waiting for someone to give me a job. It's like her qualm was like, you know, jobs are going to people who have Internet presence or whatever. And I know that that's really frustrating and I think it's different with influencers. But when you're talking about comedians or people who are making short films or people who are putting their photography online, it's like, why would they hire somebody whose only portfolio they see is a 3 1/2 minute self tape when somebody else gave them a self tape and then also has a portfolio of work on their socials? Like you're gonna hire that person. [00:01:01] Speaker B: I'm Luke Steinfeld. [00:01:02] Speaker C: And I'm Wyatt Sarkisian. [00:01:04] Speaker B: We made the 5050 podcast to support you on your filmmaking journey. [00:01:07] Speaker C: 50% business, 50% creative. [00:01:10] Speaker B: Every Tuesday, a new how to. [00:01:11] Speaker C: This week we talk with the incomparable actor comedian Natalie Ortega. You may know her from her ultra viral Instagram comedy series Partners with Cam Govinski racking up millions of views. Or perhaps the soon to be released movie Office romance alongside JLo and Brett Goldstein or on Broadway. Ever heard of it? But I must say what stands out about Natalie most is her hot takes. Why actors should never just be waiting by the phone, why representation is a two way street, and why standup is the best career booster out there yet. She still hates it. It's Natalie Ortega, everybody. Enjoy. Do you know, are you, are you familiar with like met her at a bar and those places that like have the name. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Talk about this. It's so, so la. It's so disgusting. Go get em tiger. [00:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah, we should go to. Go get him tiger. It's like that's a, that's a sentence. That's not a title. [00:02:10] Speaker A: It makes me want to buy a gun. It makes me want to buy a gun. And I do mean that in a violent way. It makes me so angry, like nasty. [00:02:22] Speaker C: It's, it's pretty awful. Like I actually like someone asked me to Go to drinks at. Met her at a bar. Met him at. Like, they're right next to each other. Of course they're right next. [00:02:30] Speaker A: Across the street. [00:02:31] Speaker C: I was like, I'm sorry. I don't go to places like that. [00:02:34] Speaker B: I don't do that. [00:02:35] Speaker A: Hey, you guys want to do happy hour? And I called Sarah last Tuesday, and it's like, what are you talking about? Like, I hate it. I hate it. It makes me so mad. That's how I know I'm getting older, is because that stuff makes me, like, so mad. [00:02:47] Speaker B: For sure. I guess. [00:02:48] Speaker A: Kids on my lawn. [00:02:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, you got to have opinions about this stuff. [00:02:53] Speaker B: You know, Kids on my lawn would be a great name as well. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Kids on my lawn. I always thought Soup for Breakfast would be a really good restaurant name, but no Soup or like a coffee shop, but it would be called Soup for Breakfast, but it's just coffee. [00:03:05] Speaker C: Yeah, that's cute. That's really cute. [00:03:07] Speaker B: It's like coffee in a bowl. [00:03:08] Speaker A: I did say. I always thought that. I just thought of that, but. [00:03:11] Speaker C: But you seem to have a lot of thoughts on the restaurant business. Is that something you would ever go back into? Like, would, you know too much? [00:03:20] Speaker A: No. Well, no, but only because I would go to a restaurant. I love going to a restaurant. [00:03:26] Speaker C: Sure. [00:03:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:27] Speaker A: I go to all time. All the time. I love being there. But my thing is just like, I. The only job I've ever liked in a restaurant is serving, because it's so social and you can make great money, but it's not the job. And I think some, like, some people do want to do that for their whole lives, and that's awesome. I do not. And so, no, I think I've graduated from that time in my life, and I'm so grateful for it. And if I ever needed to again, I would be on my hands and knees begging for all time to take me back because there's no place I would work other than there. [00:03:58] Speaker B: Wow. [00:03:58] Speaker A: Just as far as, like, quality of life and how much money you can make. [00:04:01] Speaker C: And the people go to Alta Culture over there. I love that. I love. [00:04:06] Speaker A: If you're a. If you're a decent. If you're a decent person, go to all time. [00:04:09] Speaker B: I'm gonna go to. [00:04:10] Speaker A: Oh, you should go for dinner. People only. [00:04:13] Speaker C: We gotta do some introspection before we go now about just our. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Yeah, no, no, no. That's real. Like, fix your shit. Fix your shit and then go. [00:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah, fix your shit and then go. Yeah, grow your hair out. Do your thing. [00:04:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:04:23] Speaker A: Don't Be crazy. Don't be crazy. Yeah, don't be crazy at all time. [00:04:27] Speaker B: I won't. I'll try. I mean. [00:04:29] Speaker C: Well, I want to do a quick intro for you just because we're all still familiarizing ourselves with each other and. [00:04:38] Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure. [00:04:39] Speaker C: It's. It's good to see your face. And I saw you perform at Linda, which is Johnny Marks and Bebe Katsinas monthly show, which we've referenced so many times on this podcast. And yes, Angels and the Best. And they've both been on the show and big supporters of 5050 in the film festival. And I know I chatted with you, Natalie, last week, I think about the festival and all that, but yeah, really appreciate having you on and, and your set was so great. And I try to go to Linda as. As just a fan of them and Fan. They're so good at curating. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Yeah, they're great. I was going to say their lineups are always so fantastic. [00:05:20] Speaker C: They're so great. [00:05:21] Speaker A: How they set them up, how. Yeah, everything's so. They're very good at it. [00:05:25] Speaker C: Exactly. And it's a sort of like, I like kind of getting into talking about Linda through this. It's sort of like a mix of a sketch show and a stand up show, you know, which I find to be really fun. [00:05:35] Speaker A: Yeah, they do the whole thing in characters, which I love. [00:05:39] Speaker C: I know, so fun. And once actually Bebe went up as Linda and did like a stand up set as her Linda, which was great. Good, good. But I wanted to sort of reference that to you because I know you do do UCB stuff and improv sketch and stuff like that. So I wanted to know like where you're at with all of that and how you sort of got into the person you are at this point in your career. [00:06:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean this, my comedy journey is so indicative of like how my views on being part of this industry have changed over the last five years. But I started doing stand up in 2020, which I know is an insane time to start doing stand up. [00:06:21] Speaker B: Like, what even was that? Was that like before COVID or is [00:06:24] Speaker A: during COVID No, no, it was in like the heart of COVID I would happen was I like booked a few theater jobs and then they all obviously got canceled and which means I was like, oh, I'm gonna have no health insurance. Which obviously stand up didn't give me health insurance. But I was just like, oh man, I have nothing coming up. And I went nuts. And so I was like, maybe everyone needs to know how I'm Feeling let me start doing stand up. And so it was literally like rooftop mics, Central park, like a bunch of park parks in like Brooklyn. And like, we would like do a Black Lives Matter protest and then like stay after and do a stand up mic. It was like, actually disrespectful. [00:07:01] Speaker C: It's quite a time. [00:07:04] Speaker A: Insane. Just truly. But it felt really normal then. [00:07:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:07] Speaker A: And so I started doing stand up in New York and then when I moved to la, I really hated stand up. I hated stand up. It made me really. [00:07:16] Speaker C: Was there something about LA that made you hate it? Like, was it. Did you feel I hated it in New York. [00:07:22] Speaker A: I hated it in New York. And I ran a monthly in New York at this. At this club called the Stand, which is a great comedy club. And it was such a great, like, way to cut my teeth, but it was just like producing. I hated. That's why I talked to BB and I'm like, you're so good at this. And she likes doing it. I was like, I wish I liked doing that part of it. [00:07:41] Speaker C: It gives me so hard. It is so hard talking with Johnny and Bibi. Oh my God, it's, It's. [00:07:47] Speaker A: But they're so good at it. [00:07:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:07:50] Speaker A: It. Every time I like, schedule a show, I'm like, I wish I were dead. But so when I came out here, I was like, I want to do like a more collaborative stuff. And so I auditioned and I got onto like a sketch team at ucb. And so that's how I kind of got into my comedy group. And now when I do stand up, it's like what you guys saw, what you saw at Linda, which was like, I do like musical stand up. Like an Adam Sandler or a Bo Burnham kind of thing, which to me is more fun because it's like. I don't know. You know what I think it is? I think it's genuinely like, it takes a little bit of pressure off of me because when you rhyme and sing, like, decently, people are like, oh, like, it doesn't have to be that funny. And people are like, kind of amazed by it. [00:08:28] Speaker B: Right? [00:08:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:28] Speaker A: And then if people hate it, it's because they don't want to see somebody playing guitar. Which I get it. [00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:35] Speaker C: I guess it. I guess it is like, just because someone is going up there and is able to rhyme and sing and play the guitar and play an instrument and like, and sound decent, like, that's. That's impressive already. So they're like, even more ready to laugh. Right. [00:08:48] Speaker A: The bar's Lower. The bar is lower. And I thrive with a low bar. I thrive with a low bar. And so now I hate stand up a little bit less because I do that, but I do. I also, like, I have a show tonight and I'm like, kill me. Like, kill me. But not because I don't want to do the show, but because, like, stand up is just. I think it's ultimately terrifying for me, but it made me a writer and that's. That's, like, now I'm doing comedy, writing for work, and that's like. I think that wouldn't have happened without stand up. So stand up is the thing that, like, changed me from an actor that was like, auditioning and waiting for jobs to happen versus just being like, all right, I gotta do something before somebody allows me to do something, you know? [00:09:31] Speaker B: When. When did music or songwriting come into the set? [00:09:37] Speaker A: Oh, well. So I've been playing guitar. Not well, but, like, playing guitar since I was like, 11 or 12 because I wanted to be Taylor Swift so bad. So I was in legitimately. I'm not with you. A, like, teen pop band put together by Radio Disney when I was 14. [00:09:54] Speaker C: You're actually not the first person on this podcast to be put together in a team. [00:09:58] Speaker A: Really? [00:09:58] Speaker C: Yeah. We've had actually two other people to be sort of planted together. [00:10:03] Speaker A: That's several. That's almost several. [00:10:04] Speaker B: I know. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Three of us together are several. [00:10:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it's crazy. [00:10:07] Speaker A: That's crazy. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:10] Speaker A: I feel less embarrassed because the videos are out there and I can't get rid of them. [00:10:14] Speaker C: Our listening is at this point. Yeah, we're really. Yeah. [00:10:18] Speaker A: But I was really bad at earnestly writing songs, which has never stopped me. But I, like, it was like, that was. I knew that wasn't my calling. You know what I'm saying? And so I think, like, it entered the chat, I saw Kat Cohen special, the Best. And I. And her whole thing is musical comedy. And I was like, oh, that is so. [00:10:37] Speaker C: You're like, I can do this and be legit. [00:10:39] Speaker A: Well, I was just like, I have this skill and I have this skill, and I wonder if I could do them together. And then it turned out both of those things. I am better at both of those things when I do them together. And so I just started, like, slowly integrating, like, a song at the end of, like, a 20 minute set or whatever. And then I was like, wow, Nobody laughed for 14 minutes. And then in the last six minutes, they were dying. And I was like, so let me, like, let me, like, make this my whole thing. So I spent like, I think it took me like two or three years to like, I have like a catalog of like 20 songs I can pull from. But that one that you heard, the step stool one, right? The Short Boyfriend song. My Boyfriend is such a good sport. That one is like, I'm so done playing that song. I've played it for years. I'm so done playing that song. But when I don't, like, people ask me to do their show and ask me to play it. [00:11:26] Speaker C: Do the show. That song. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Well, it's just like I realized that people don't like nobody unless you follow me on Instagram. You haven't, like, listened to that song. You don't know that song. So, like, people want to hear it. Or the people who have me doing their show are like, can you do that one? And so I'll do it. I'll do anything for a laugh. I'll do anything for attention. [00:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:42] Speaker C: So the answer is, what was your first song that you put on stage? [00:11:47] Speaker A: My first comedy song that I put on stage was a song called Pete Davidson. And it's a song or like, the first verse starts and I'm just like, I'm tired of fighting with my boyfriend. He doesn't understand me. All because I want to fuck Pete Davidson. And my favorite, my favorite lyric from that song is 911 was super fucked up. But Pete Hodder, because he's sad, that really sucks about his dad, though. And that's true. I wish it never happened. Hot take. Wish it never happened. But Pete's sadness is pretty hot. And so I wrote a song about that. And again, I will say, my boyfriend is a fantastic sport. He's been here through this whole musical comedy journey and a lot of it's at his expense. [00:12:27] Speaker C: Wow, amazing. [00:12:29] Speaker B: So this integrating music, the musical comedy, you know, into your stand up, was that happening in those. I know you said it like, slowly started to take over the set, but if we're just looking at your stand up career so far, it's like you had those first few years in New York and like those first few times you said you just wanted to kind of speak out loud, like talk about how you're feeling. Were you singing already? Was it like, not. You already were? [00:12:55] Speaker A: No, no, I think I was like. I also, like, the New York comedy scene is like very different from the LA stand up scene. It's so different. It is. Like, if you think it's a boys club here, it's a boys club in New York. [00:13:09] Speaker C: Wow, interesting. [00:13:10] Speaker A: So if, if you're. I Don't want to, like, overgeneralize. But in my experience, and coming up with the girls that I came up with, there is this thing of, like, you either have to, like, if you look a certain way, you have to do Nikki Glaser comedy, which is the, like. And I love it. I laugh so hard at that comedy. But it's like the. I'm a girl, and I have a vagina and I fuck and I. You know. Or you have to, like, be a. Like, a guy's girl. And it just, like, none of my comedy was that. And I had a really hard time finding, like, a voice that fit into that scene. And then when I started introducing music. Cause at that point, I was just like, God, I fucking hate this. I started introducing music, and it kind of transcended those things. Cause like we said earlier, like, people are like, oh, you're rhyming and you're playing an instrument. Like, I'm listening. Like, that's kind of funny. Impressive. And I think it tricks them into thinking the content's funny, even if they don't think it's funny. And so I would say it was like, I did, like, six or seven months of, like, just straight stand up, wishing I were absolutely dead. And then I slowly started, like. I would say, like, yeah, I pretty quickly started, like, transitioning my whole set into music because I started, like, singing. So, like, I'm a. I did stand up. Then I moved here, and then I immediately moved back to New York to do Broadway for a year, where I did almost no comedy because the only nights we have off are on Monday nights. [00:14:30] Speaker C: Wow. [00:14:30] Speaker B: And before. Before I was gonna say before we jump to Broadway, because that's going to be a whole conversation, too. But please, in those six or seven months where you're. I mean, I don't want to say bombing, but, like, having a tough time on stage. Right. I mean, from what it sounds like, it's like, it was very difficult. You were like, I do not want to be here. I don't want to keep doing this. Why did you continue doing it? [00:14:52] Speaker A: Because I. I'm like, I really go down hard. Like, it's really hard to take me down. Like, I. I am somebody who is decent at almost everything at first try. And so when I started something that, like, my peers were decent at that I was, like, having a really hard time finding my voice. I was like. It was just, like, I was frustrated, and I was like, well, I have to crack this. I know I'm capable of doing this. [00:15:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:17] Speaker A: And so it was just like, I don't want. I've done this thing before when I'm, like, when I was younger where I would, like, not be great at something right away and just completely reject it because I'll be like, well, I'm decent at everything usually, and so if I'm not good at this thing, I'm not wasting my time. And that was obviously, like, a defense mechanism. But when it came to stand up, I was like, so many of my friends do this. It's such a way. It's like the new way that writers rooms get staffed. It's the new way that SNL casts, you know, like, it's a thing that, like, matters. And if I. If I tried for longer than six months and I really couldn't figure it out, I would have just been like, fuck this. I'm not wasting my time. But I had felt like I hadn't put enough time into it, and my team and my team wanted me to do it, so I continued. [00:16:03] Speaker C: You saw that as, like, a career opportunity in a way. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:06] Speaker A: Like, if I did, and I was just like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:16:10] Speaker B: So was that, like. Is what Wyatt is saying of, like, the career opportunity thing? Was that what. You know, when you go back after another set and you're like, oh, my God, like, there's no way I'm doing this next week. Would you think about. Would you have to, like, pull yourself out of, like, wait, this is a career thing? Is a career thing? Or it's like. Like what? [00:16:28] Speaker A: Like, yeah, it's like a battle. Yeah, it's like a battle between the ego and the. And like, my rational brain, which was like, everything. And I totally understand why I was being told this at the time, but you're being told by people in charge of, like, you need to be doing live comedy frequently, and you need to. And UCB wasn't a thing then, or I probably wouldn't have started because it was the pandemic. So nothing was happening at ucb, or else I probably would have joined an improv team, and I would have never done stand up. They're telling you you need to perform regularly if you're a comedian and you need to make Internet content. [00:17:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:07] Speaker A: And both those things made me want to buy a firearm. So I was just like, if I can. But, but. But I had for years and years and years been like, well, I'm an actor. Like, I'm an actor, and I'm going to audition and I'm going to go to class and I'm going to go to class and I'm going to go to class, which is really important. But I also think at a certain point, class really sets you back. It makes you think you're doing things and make you. Makes you think that you' a craft when you're. And then you're in this class for three years and you're like, wait, I haven't booked a job because I haven't felt the need to apply myself. [00:17:43] Speaker B: So you're not. [00:17:44] Speaker C: You're not desperate because you haven't. Like, you're doing a lot. Yeah, right. [00:17:50] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. Which is great. But if that's what you want, you know what I'm saying? But it just wasn't what I wanted. And my sister is also an actress and also a comedian, and she was just gaining traction more quickly than I was. And I had been doing it for longer. And I remember asking her, like, what am I doing wrong? And she was like, you have to do the shit you hate. She's like, you have to make Internet content. You have to. You have to go do stand up. [00:18:15] Speaker C: She's like, you have to worse people than. [00:18:17] Speaker A: You do it all the time. [00:18:18] Speaker C: It's very applicable to, you know, on this podcast, we talk to a lot of people who have been assistants and been, you know, been like, just done. Put in the work for a couple years, you know, even the stuff you hate, even, you know. [00:18:31] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:32] Speaker C: Because you see it as a path to the job you want someday. [00:18:35] Speaker A: You know, it's also any industry. I. And I. And I feel like I can say this because I had this mindset for so long, but I saw a TikTok literally the other day of this girl who was like, I don't. I. If I hear. And I get. And I get the sentiment, but she's like, if I hear one more time, you need to create your own stuff. You need to create your own stuff. And she's like, I'm not a writer, I'm not an editor, I'm an actor. And it's like, okay, well, the problem is, like acting only in the past, I would say, like hundred years has. And this is going to sound so textbook and so annoying, but acting as its, like, own craft. Only in, like the last 100 years has it been like a. I audition and I show up and I'm like, the golden age of Hollywood made it that like a movie star or like, whatever, who auditions, who shows up, who does a job, who becomes famous. But before acting was on screen in a big way. Theater has always been a collaborative art form. The Theater has always been, yes, somebody wrote the play, but then everybody builds it from the ground up. Like that's creating. [00:19:38] Speaker C: You're part of a theater company. Right? [00:19:40] Speaker A: Company. [00:19:41] Speaker C: Where you're all writing stuff and you're all producing it and you're traveling around and. Yeah, right, absolutely. [00:19:47] Speaker A: So being like, I'm an artist, I'm not creating my own stuff, I'm an artist, I'm just an actor. I'm waiting for someone to give me a job. It's like, well, that's actually fine, truly. If you don't enjoy it and you're okay to wait, that's fine. But I don't get the, I'm complaining about not getting work over people like her. Her, her qualm was like, you know, jobs are going to people who have Internet presence or whatever. And I know that that's really frustrating and I think it's different with influencers. But when you're talking about comedians or people who are making short films or people who are putting their photography online, it's like, why would they hire somebody whose only portfolio they see is a 3 1/2 minute self tape when somebody else gave them a self tape and then also has a portfolio of work on their socials? Like you're gonna hire that person. [00:20:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:33] Speaker A: And I think that speaks to art being collaborative. They want to hire somebody who's going to bring something to the job. But it took me a very long time to realize that. [00:20:42] Speaker B: I mean, I think it takes everyone a long time to realize that. And I do think just to say it, I think that everyone is on their own path and the path of I'm an actor and like I'm just going to focus on my craft and when it's time I will get found, basically. Like that still is a thing for sure. Like there are acting showcases, there are, you know, like these, these wonderful MFA programs that like have clearly, you know, we see big time actors coming out there. But I think in the comedy realm of things, like you're saying like, like even you, like you're a musician, you're a stand up, you're a writer, you're like, I'm sure you also have thought about directing maybe, or not, I don't know. But like, I think comedy is like that company feeling of like it makes sense that like you need to be putting yourself out there. Like it only hurts you if you're not doing that. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Totally. And I also think this, like this, I mean everybody loves because it's, it's so inspiring as much as it Makes people jealous. It's so inspiring to like see somebody who apparently appeared out of nowhere overnight. Like the current conversation is around these two boys in heated rivalry of being like, they're overnight famous. They were waiters eight months ago, right? And it's like, sure, they weren't just [00:21:54] Speaker C: waiters, like, you know, like, fuck off now. [00:21:57] Speaker A: But if you look online, each of them have like 15, 10 minute short films that they've been making with their friends for five years. It's like these people weren't just waiters who wandered into an open call and got plucked out. You guys have been like, absolutely working and making stuff. And it doesn't have to be comedy. That's the thing too is like, it is especially, like you said, especially useful in comedy because comedy is so collaborative. But it's. These guys are making dramatic short films for probably under $1,000 with their 22 year old friends. And it's like that's how, that's how you get connected and that's how people see your work. And it's, it can be really frustrating, especially when you don't come. Like I've had this conversation with my family so many times is like, it's very frustrating to not come from money in a industry where, I mean, every industry, it's easier if you come from money, but especially this industry. But it's not impossible. And you just have to like, if you don't come from a background like that, you have to work harder. You have to work harder. You have to spend more time doing things that other people might not have to do. [00:23:02] Speaker C: Yeah. And it sucks. But we've touched on this a couple times, but I think it's worth nailing it down of the idea that you. In other industries, we think we're very special in entertainment, that we go into it and we're like, oh my God, as an actor, I just get to eat crafty and be performing and impressive and impressing everybody. Like in other industries, people actually don't like their jobs like 75% of the time. [00:23:30] Speaker A: You know, I literally was talking about this with my boyfriend the other day where he was like, can you believe that people just get a job anywhere, right? Like if they get a degree in marketing, they just get a marketing job at any company. [00:23:44] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:44] Speaker A: Like any company. And I was like, because I was talking, I was like my best friend. Yeah. I didn't know what she did. For years she worked for, in marketing or in PR for a construction company and now she works in PR for like Ralph Lauren. And it was just like, chris is like, my boyfriend was like, how does she make that jump? I was like, they don't care where you worked before. It's. She's in marketing. [00:24:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:04] Speaker A: That's just what they do. And she doesn't like her job. But it's just like most people don't. [00:24:09] Speaker C: Right, Exactly. Or they are passionate about those few moments every day that they get to do the thing that they love or be creative or whatever they want to do. Maybe it's the math, I don't know. You know, but we just are like, we go into entertainment so that we will love 100% of our job all the time. And it's just like, that's so. It's so unrealistic. And I think there is something to that. [00:24:32] Speaker A: I think the other thing that's important to note about that is I think that people in the entertainment industry have this, and I think this is a real privilege. But it's also horse blinders sometimes where it's like, our passion is our job, is our work. And it's like, zoom out, babe. Some people's passion is like having a family and having the reliable income to be able to travel or have. You know what I'm saying? [00:24:59] Speaker C: Like, yeah, yeah. [00:25:01] Speaker A: Not everybody. And I think that if more artists had more balanced lives and had more priorities outside of like, not like instead of, but in conjunction with their work, people would be a lot less nuts. [00:25:16] Speaker C: We'll be right back. [00:25:19] Speaker B: Are you sick and tired of spending months on short films that get seen by just your uncle? Are you sad and bored of editing all the time and all that footage for just 10 views? Well, now's the time to change that. Submissions for the 5050 Comedy Fest are open now. Get your work seen by professionals who can actually advance your filmmaking career. Not your uncle, unless your uncle happens to be at a top tier talent agency like caa, UTA or wme. Check out the episode description for the submission link or head to filmfreeway.com and search for 5050 Comedy. 5050 Comedy is on May 3rd. Submitting to 5050 Comedy may lead to money, fame, fast cars, boats, planes, helicopters, cybertrucks and life, lifelong friendships. 5050 Comedy is on May 3rd. We look forward to seeing you there at 5050 Comedy May 3rd. Your uncle is not invited unless he works at a top tier talent agency like CAA, UTA. WME May 3rd. 5050 comedy May 3rd. 5050 Comedy May 3rd. We look forward to watching your comedic short film. Well, let's. Let's talk about. I mean, because it Sounds like we're. We're kind of building the foundation here of, like, learning about you. It sounds like you came from an acting type background and then found your way into comedy, did stand up for a bit, and then you were talking about Broadway for a year. So what happened there? What was that? [00:26:35] Speaker A: Just truly exactly how the universe is always meant to work. So I had my first final callback for a Broadway show when I was 14, and from then, I literally auditioned randomly. I just did all my school plays, and then there was an open call for Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, and my mom was like, it'll be fun. Like, let's go into the city. And I was like, yeah. Like, did not think I was gonna get it. Literally was just like, let's go audition and then go to lunch in New York. And I did, like, five auditions for that for, like, three months. Didn't get it. But then I had. There was no stopping me. I had the bug. I was like, we're going back. And my mom. No idea. Like, no stage mom training. Became full stage mom. It was fantastic. And I auditioned. [00:27:16] Speaker C: Stage mom training. I love that, the stage. [00:27:21] Speaker A: No stage on training, no understanding. No like, she, like, read stage Moms for Dummies and really figured it out for sure. And so then I literally auditioned for Broadway for 14 years and got close, close, close, close. Never got it. I auditioned for Wicked, like, four times over, like, three years. And then I moved to la, being like, all right, I'm booking more film and TV than I am Broadway, so I'm gonna step away from that. Also. It's like, I'm a terrible auditioner. Like, I get extreme audition anxiety, but not for film and tv, because I'm like, it's just talking. Who cares? That's not scary. Like, people who are nervous for filming TV auditions, I'm like, audition for Broadway. It'll literally. It'll literally take all of your nerves away. I'm like, we're just talking. Yeah, Broadway is like, if I have to, like, sing in your face and dance. Oh, my God, kill me. Kill me. [00:28:07] Speaker C: Are you by. I'm not super familiar with the Broadway audition process, but are you by yourself? And you. You go onto a stage and there's, like, eight producers. [00:28:15] Speaker A: No, not on the stage. Worse. Worse. Stage would be good because you wouldn't be able to see anybody. No, it's way worse. So you go into this small, fluorescently, lit, like, dance studio with mirrors everywhere. Everybody and everybody you've ever been intimidated by is sitting right outside the door listening to you waiting to go in next. Okay. [00:28:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:39] Speaker A: And then there's like seven people behind a desk being like, hi, we can change your life, but we probably won't. And then you sing. And my. My anxiety. My audition anxiety has always been truly so physical. So my hands shake and my throat, like, closes, so I can't sing when I get nervous. So for me, it was just literally like a shot in the dark. Someday was like my best audition of my life. If I ever did, like, a callback, I was nailing it. I needed just that tiny bit of like. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Like, we like you. [00:29:11] Speaker A: And then I was like, yeah, yeah. Then I'm like, I'm famous. But, like, initial auditions, it was like, literally, like, it could be the worst thing you've ever heard. And is there a guy understood? [00:29:22] Speaker C: I'm imagining like, a guy on the piano. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Okay, there's a guy on the piano. Almost always a man. [00:29:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:28] Speaker A: He almost always is not playing anything on the page. He's almost. He's almost always playing a song you've never heard before. Right? And then you leave and you're like, wow, I wish I were dead. I wish that was a Self tape. But I had auditioned for Wicked a few times, only in Self tapes, and so I nailed it all the time. And then I moved out to la, being like, I need to take a step away from that. I wasn't finding join it. I was only terrified and I was only angry because I was like, I'm good enough for this. But then I would get in the room and boof it. And so I came to la. I started doing comedy and they were like, hey, we're doing Wicked callbacks in la. Would you like to come in? In la? And I was like, yeah, I don't want to tour, though. They were doing callbacks for the national tour. I was like, I don't want to tour. If I was 20, maybe I would tour. I don't feel like touring. They're like, all right, well, we're auditioning for Broadway too, if you want to come in. Okay. So I went in and I remember not being nervous at all, but actually being, like, really angry because I had tech that I was late for for like a basement comedy sketch show. And I was like, I have someone [00:30:30] Speaker C: better things to do. [00:30:31] Speaker A: Okay, no dead ass. I was like, I'm. I was like texting my director, being like, I'm so sorry. And he's like, it's literally fine. It's not a big deal. Nobody's coming to the show. And I got that job and had to move back to New York. I dragged my boyfriend out to LA because I was like, let's go, come on, come on, come on. Left his butt in the dust to hold down the fort. Moved back to New York for a year and then I booked a movie right after Wicked, also shooting in New York. And so I ended up being there for like 16 months. [00:31:01] Speaker C: Wow. [00:31:02] Speaker A: Before coming back right when you left. [00:31:03] Speaker B: Oh my God. [00:31:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was here for 10 months. By the time I left, I was here for like eight months. When I found out I got it and then I went back and now I've been back in LA for like a year. [00:31:14] Speaker B: Did that movie, did that movie stem through Broadway connections or was it more of just like you're back in the city and like, things just kind of work out? [00:31:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I auditioned, I self taped for it and I knew I wasn't going to get the role I initially taped for. It just wasn't my. I knew it wasn't my role, but I really liked the writers and I really wanted to work with the writers. One was Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso and Joe Kelly, who also wrote Ted Lasso, but also was a writer on SNL for years. He was like Jason Sudeikis, like writer on snl. And so I really wanted to work on that movie. And so I did a couple callbacks where they read me for a couple other roles and ended up getting it. And so I just extended my time in New York for like a month, five weeks, and then got to come home. [00:32:05] Speaker C: Awesome. And how long ago was that? [00:32:07] Speaker A: At this point, almost a year ago. I shot that in April of last year and then I just did reshoots like two, three weeks ago. [00:32:16] Speaker B: How is that, Was that weird? Like return to a character like that or is it. [00:32:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Also it had like changed. So like the movie ended up. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but the. They had to change the ending of the movie. [00:32:31] Speaker C: Wow. [00:32:33] Speaker A: And so we went back and reshot the ending and the original ending. I had my first on screen kiss and it was, I remember it just being like the most nonchalant. Like everything was totally fine. But in my head, like, I don't know how to explain this without sounding like an absolute virgin. I. It was like a closed mouth kiss. Been doing that shit since I was 13. I was like, what do I do with my hands? What do I do with my feet? What do I like? I was like, I've never. Do you lean in with your mouth Already like this or like. You know what I'm saying? Like, I was literally. How do you do it? [00:33:06] Speaker C: You forgot how to kiss? [00:33:07] Speaker B: Completely. So interesting. Yeah. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Because, I mean, I forgot. It was like, I've never done it. It was like, I've never even thought about this, right. And I remember being just like, I hope this gets cut. There's no way it looks good. I was like, there's no way. There's no way. And so when I found out it got cut, I was like, oh, that sucks. That I like. And it was. I was like, it was a gay for pay. I hate to say it, but it was a. I fell in love with a girl on screen, which was so fun. She's so talented and so funny. But they cut it, and I was like, that's a shame. That would have been so cute. But it's probably because we looked. I looked crazy. But, yeah, going back to the character was actually so fun because I, like, so much had happened in, like, my life and career since then. So going back to this character that was very, like. Like, kind of, like, meek and, like, submissive and, like, felt very, like, felt very much like a choice this time and less like how I actually felt like being on set. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Wow. [00:34:08] Speaker A: You know, it felt like a character this time. Whereas the first time I was just, like. It was the first time I'd ever been on a set for more than one day. And so I felt truly like the first time I was there every day felt like, oh, my God, I'm so grateful to be here. I'm so lucky to be here. Which I still felt going back, but it did feel like, oh, now I feel like it's a choice. I don't feel like I am this character, which was fun. [00:34:33] Speaker C: That's so cool. I'm just thinking from your perspective of you're now getting to do the thing that you always wanted to do and that you always were auditioning for. And, you know, most of the time not getting as. As everybody does. And then you build yourself up in this other way through standup and through writing and sketch and all that. And then you get to go back and do that thing that you always wanted to do. I'm curious, like, how does that time on set on, like, a big set with notable people on it, compare to just, like, the day to day of. Of doing these shows and everything now? Like, do you see it in a different way? [00:35:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, like, one feeds the other, one feeds the other. But I will say I was on sets before I was doing Stand up. And before, I felt confident in like what I brought to something. And I remember, I won't say who it was, but I had a day player role on a set with like one of my like all time icon favorite actors. And he, she, they was so mean to me. So mean to me in a way that was like almost comical. Like, I'll write about it one day. Yeah, but, and it was, and it was at the time, I remember it feeling like, oh, that's just what the industry is like, I'm not like, I didn't feel like an equal enough in that situation. And it's like, obviously when I'm on this other set, I'm not Brett Goldstein's equal, I'm not JLo's equal. But I, I, it's, we kind of, I am, we're all at work here doing the same, we're all here to like serve the same thing. And also they were both, I have to say this so nice, like, you know, you hear things about famous people, especially like really famous women. And so I do feel the need to be like, she was so nice. But I also think that, like, I would have been really afraid to assert myself or really afraid to like be in conversation with these people and like, if I didn't feel like I had my own stuff going on. [00:36:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:32] Speaker A: So I do feel like the confidence from doing my own stuff feeds into how I show up on a set. But then I also feel like once you're on a movie that people know about, it has not come out yet, but like more people want you to do their shows and then you're like doing shows that aren't in a basement. You know what I mean? Like, you're doing shows that are like other people are coming, which feels way better doing it. [00:36:54] Speaker C: One thing totally feeds the other in different ways. Right? Because you doing these shows all the time and singing and. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:01] Speaker C: And doing comedy feeds your confidence in terms of these larger roles and movies and TV and everything. And then on the other side, the movies and TV feed your ability to sort of move up the ranks in those shows. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Right. It's also like doing like, I'm never going to love stand up. I'm never going to love it. But doing stand up at a show like Linda, which is always sold out, which has a great, like, audience that is always really there to see comedy, that feels so much better than you know what I'm saying? Doing a show where people want to be there and where the hosts are putting on a good show is so much Easier than doing something you hate on a show where, like, nobody's showing up, you know? [00:37:43] Speaker C: Yes. [00:37:43] Speaker A: So it makes me like it a little bit more. And then I was like, oh, obviously successful and rich people are happier than us. They get better stuff and better opportunities. Of course their skin is clearer. Do you know how expensive skincare is? Do you know what I'm saying? Like, all of it. It all feeds each other. [00:38:03] Speaker C: Yes. 1,000%. [00:38:04] Speaker A: It's like excessive money can buy happiness. [00:38:07] Speaker B: It's like a snowball of success, you know, which sounds like you got the taste of. With Broadway. Like, once the Broadway thing hit, then the movie hit, and then you came back. You know what I mean? It's like that. [00:38:17] Speaker A: And Broadway was nuts. Yeah. Broadway is a crazy. I've only done it once, but I was in Wicked the year the movie came out, and that specific experience was, like, the most exhausted I've ever been in my whole life. But also, it's like, that is an experience on Broadway that most people never have. Like, Wicked is one of the biggest musicals to ever exist. Paired with the fact that it was. I was in the show the year the first movie came out. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Crazy. [00:38:45] Speaker A: The fanfare around it, the events we got to go to, the things we got to do. [00:38:49] Speaker C: It's almost as good as Linda. It's true. [00:38:52] Speaker A: Almost as good as Linda. It was a very Hollywood version of Broadway because Broadway is a very unglamorous thing, and it was a very glamorous version of Broadway. So I think I would have a hard time going back to a different experience. [00:39:06] Speaker B: What did that time on Broadway teach you, if anything? [00:39:13] Speaker A: Oh, God, so much. You know, it's so funny. I would feel. I feel. I always said it. I feel more anxiety doing stand up in a room of 50 people than I did singing in Wicked in front of 2000 people every single night. [00:39:28] Speaker B: Wow. [00:39:29] Speaker A: And it's because there's something about Broadway that's like. I don't want to say the word trauma Bond, but I did, where everybody on that stage is there. Like, the thing about Broadway is, like, you will not be there by accident. You will not be there if you only kind of like doing it. It's a job that's so difficult. It's so isolating. You don't get to, like, spend time with your family or your friends that aren't also on Broadway. And it's. You don't get paid as much, nearly as much as people who do film and tv. And there are tons of people who work in film and TV who kind of Stumbled into it who are like, I don't. I'm not super passionate about it, but I, like, work on this show or I do this thing. So there is something, like, really? I've never experienced that before, being on a job with so many people who were so passionate about the job. But it is like, you will not survive if you don't take care of yours. I didn't drink for a year. I didn't smoke anything. I didn't. You know, I remember I joined the company, and I remember immediately being like, why does everyone on Broadway only date other people on Broadway? It's, like, really incestuous and really weird. And then I was like, oh, it makes sense, because we all only have Monday nights off. Everyone's on the same schedule, and all of our social events are just all the Broadway shows coming together. So you're hanging out with the same 200 people every single week. [00:40:50] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:40:52] Speaker B: This is probably crazy. Social events are there. Are there, like, everyone, like, a different square after? [00:40:57] Speaker C: Right? Like the. [00:40:58] Speaker A: The bars now Times Square, but near. But there's this thing called Broadway bowling, which is every Thursday night. And then there's Broadway softball, which is every Saturday morning during the spring. [00:41:08] Speaker B: Wyatt's taking notes. He's ready for this. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Literally, Broadway. Broadway bowling. And I've said this before. I don't know if I'm giving away secrets. Broadway bowling is the sluttiest event I've ever been to in my life. I've never seen so much PDA happening in my whole adult life. It's crazy because it's the one night where people will get, like, absolutely ripp and bowl, which I never thought was sexy. Still don't want that written down. You're writing stuff down. Write that down. [00:41:37] Speaker C: Yeah, Broadway bowling. [00:41:38] Speaker A: Okay, but just, like, the hottest. Just like a hundred of the hottest twinks you've ever seen slamming shots and making out with each other in a bowling alley. It's the craziest thing I've ever experienced, and I miss it. I miss it. But, yeah, the social events are really strange and crazy. And they do. Like, there's a group of guys at Wicked who've been in the show for a while. They're in the ensemble, and they have a. Like, a party production company, and every, like, twice a month, two Sundays a month. So after our matinee on Sunday, they'll be a. They'll rent out a club, and there'll be, like, a club night, and every club night has a theme, and they invite everybody from all the Broadway shows. [00:42:18] Speaker B: Wow. [00:42:18] Speaker A: And people just go nuts because people can't normally go nuts because they all have to sing. So like one night a month, people will really go absolutely deranged. It's a lot of like pent up energy. [00:42:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really, it's like, it's exactly like the investment banking people down the street, you know, except that's every Friday for them, I guess. [00:42:39] Speaker A: But it's been crossover. Yeah, yeah, but it's the same kind of energy is where it's like where [00:42:43] Speaker B: there's one night and it's gonna be. [00:42:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:46] Speaker C: I was almost thinking about like people who work at like a hospital or something. Like that's, that's the kind of schedule to some, you know, we're like, yes. Yeah. [00:42:53] Speaker A: They're like, It's Tuesday at 3pm, let's get ready. It's crazy. Yeah. But yeah, I think I just learned the importance of like taking care of my body because I don't think I ever really had to do that before because I remember when I joined that show being like, hell, yeah, I only have to work three hours a day. That's so easy. And then I was like, no, no, no, no, no. You have to work so much more than that to be ready to do that kind of show. [00:43:21] Speaker C: Totally. To pivot a little bit. I would love to chat with you about representation because obviously you've been in the game for so long and you've had, I'm sure, various reps and things like that. I'm curious what your relationship with representation is like, sort of in conjunction to. I know you're also such a self starter and put so much out on social media and are figuring out career stuff by herself as well. So what does that push and pull look like? [00:43:52] Speaker A: I have hot opinions on this that have changed over the years. So I was with the same agent from the time I was like 17 or 18 until I was 25. I guess I got dropped. Right. Like April 2020, because I was mainly auditioning for Broadway and they're like, we don't know when Broadway's coming back. We're scaling back. They dropped me. And I remember being so viscerally angry. And I remember one thing she told me was, you know, we're mostly focusing on film and TV and we feel like you're a little too old to break into film and tv. [00:44:27] Speaker B: What? [00:44:27] Speaker A: And I remember thinking like, I can't even be. I can't even be offended by that because that's insane. Yeah, that's insane. [00:44:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:36] Speaker A: But it was a horrible time to be dropped. But what I can now look back on and say is, like, I really think that, like, Reps are earning 10%, right? Your agent earns 10%. Your manager earns 10%. So they're taking 20%. You need to be doing 80% of the work. They need to be doing 20% of the work. And the work isn't like, hey, I heard this thing is casting. Can you submit me? It's like not being aware of what's going on on breakdowns. It's like making your own stuff. It is going to class if that's the outlet that, like, you feel fueled by. But the way I got hooked up with my newest reps is, like, the most random thing that's ever happened to me. And because that happened, literally the week I was getting dropped by my other agent, I was like, I will not take this for granted. I will not lose these people. And the way it happened for me was I'm with Gersh now, and my sister's been with them for a while, and she's constantly tried to get me repped by them, but I had no real resume. You know, I like regional theater on my resume, and I wasn't doing comedy. So they're like, we can't really do anything for her, you know, because I wasn't doing anything for myself. And something like the most bizarre thing happened where it was, you know, strange pilot season because it was 2021 at this point. Oh. So I guess I got dropped in 2021, a year into the pandemic. So Broadway still wasn't back. Broadway was down for like 18, 19 months. So it was the first kind of pilot season back. And my sister had booked a pilot, so she was committed to a Fox pilot and that was going to series. And this abc, I believe, or CBS pilot was looking for, wanted my sister to come in. And my agent was like, I'm really sorry, she's committed already. And they joked to him, they're like, oh, man, do you have any other Taylor Ortega types? And he just screenshotted that and sent it to her and was like, oh, my God, you've made it. They're looking for a Taylor Ortega type. And she was like, oh, well, if they're really looking for somebody, my sister's an actress. And he literally said, I'll send her the sides she can tape. If I think it's good enough, I'll send it. I ended up screen testing for it. And. And so they took me, they signed me, and I got my manager through there. Through actually, my. My manager is best friends with my sister's manager. And so they were like, oh, you should, you know, and so I just got very. I got very lucky that if I didn't test for that, he wouldn't have signed me. And. And I just, at that point was like, oh, I have to make this worth their time, because I did know that I was a little bit punching up. You know, I just didn't have the resume for an agency that big. And so that's also kind of what fueled me to start doing stand up. I, like, kind of started at that time, but not in a real way. I wasn't doing any Internet content. I was like, just kind of doing Central park mics. And so I was like, okay, let me, like, you know, I have to do everything I can. And that was kind of the only outlet that I knew. So once I had reps that I feel, like, really understood who I was and what I brought to the table. And if I said no, I don't want to do that. There was never a pushback. Like, I felt like I was with people who really respected me, where the rep I had before kind of had this thing of maybe it's because I was younger, where they were like, you can't say no to that. Like, the only thing that they would let me say no to is if I had to take my clothes off, and I didn't want to do that. But it's like, there's other reasons I don't want to do stuff, and I'm like, not a person to turn down auditions. [00:47:58] Speaker C: Yeah. It just means that they understand you better. And. And also the idea that they're listening to you. If you say you don't want to do something, then they know, okay, in the future, I won't bring her opportunities exactly like that. [00:48:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:11] Speaker B: I. [00:48:11] Speaker C: What I'm getting from you is that it feels very much like a collaborative process with your. With your agent manager. Yeah. [00:48:18] Speaker A: Yes. And also, it's like our. He was like, what do you. And he asked me. He's like, how do you want me to do this? Do you want me to send you everything we get for you and you can say yes or no, or do you want me to not send you in for these kind of jobs? And I was like, oh, you can send me everything as long as it's fine if I say no? And you're like, oh, it's always fine if you say no. But, you know, I look at it, and I don't want to put all the Blame on my first agent because I also think part of the trust my team has in me now is they know that I'm hustling and they know that I'm writing and they know that I'm performing and it's like, it [00:48:44] Speaker C: makes them want to work hard. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:46] Speaker C: Yep. [00:48:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And they know that I'm not just saying no because I don't want to do it. They're. I have a vision for what I want to do, they have a vision for what I want to do. And while I do think there is a gatekeeping nature, like, first of all, I don't want to do everything my agent does. I don't want to do everything my manager does. So I understand the argument that, like, there's a gatekeeping culture with reps. I do think, like, if you really had to do as an actor, especially actors who are like, I don't want to create, it's like, babe, you don't want to send emails then either. King, you don't want to be doing that. You want to give somebody 10% to do that. So I think it's really necessary. But I think if they're only taking 20% collectively, you can't expect them to do 100% of the work. It just doesn't make any sense. [00:49:35] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. [00:49:37] Speaker B: That's got to be. Yeah, we've. I mean, right. Like insight wise on. On representation, you know. Yeah, just. [00:49:44] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. They're. There definitely is something to that of. I mean, I worked in management for a while and it's mutual. Right. Because if you are putting in the work, then it inspires them to put in the work. If you are not putting in the work and not wanting to work or whatever it is, they're not going to work for you. They're not going to put in 100% of the effort. They're not going to feel inspired and great if an opportunity comes up, they'll negotiate the deal and hopefully that helps. But. [00:50:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:50:18] Speaker C: They're not going to be like, seeking stuff out and. And also when they hear about stuff from the studios, they're not. Your name's not top of mind. They're not going to suggest you for things. [00:50:27] Speaker A: Exactly. Or like a really great thing. My agent did recently and I'm very close. I love my agent. He's great. But I'm like, close with my manager. We're like friends. [00:50:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:36] Speaker A: When I'm like doing that thing where I'm like, they hated me at that audition, she'll be like, no, girl. Nobody hates you, girl. Like, I would never text my agent that he'd be like, what? But he did something really great the other day that I'm sure is fine for me to say, but I was testing for. I tested for a network pilot this season, and I went in and I did the screen test, and the guy who already had the role, who I was reading with, was shorter than me. And normally in my head, I go, that's not gonna happen. That's not gonna happen. And ultimately it didn't. But what was great before it didn't was that I called my reps after. I was like, it could not have gone better. I was so funny. Me and him got along so well. He is a clean 2 inches shorter than me. And my agent called casting and was like, hey, just gonna pass this along to you if you want to pass the team. And he sent them my music video for Stepstool for my short boyfriend song. [00:51:33] Speaker C: Clever. [00:51:33] Speaker A: I was just like, this might be a bit. And the guy who I was reading with kind of looks like my boyfriend who's in the video. And they all loved it, and they passed it around. I thought it was so funny. Ultimately, the role did not go to me. Maybe not because, by the way, because the other girl was better for it. [00:51:47] Speaker C: The casting director and everybody involved remembers. [00:51:50] Speaker A: They all have that, you know. Exactly. And you know what? My agent wouldn't have been able to do that if I was not creating stuff on my own. So it's like, you have to. You have to give the people who are working for you the ammo to work for you. [00:52:07] Speaker C: Yep. [00:52:08] Speaker A: Because they can only do so much by being, like, writing a pitch, being like, my client is so talented, and they're like, awesome. Can we see anything? And they're like, no, there's nothing to see. [00:52:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:19] Speaker A: Like. [00:52:19] Speaker C: And they try to be, like, coy about it, but it's really. Because there isn't anything to see. [00:52:23] Speaker A: Yeah, no, no, there's just nothing. They just have nothing. [00:52:25] Speaker B: I mean, it sounds like the. Because a large portion of our audience are. Are, you know, folks who might not be rep yet, like, have representation yet. And a lot of them are actors, of course. And we'll. I think I'm confident we'll find a bunch of insight in this episode, but it sounds like the biggest takeaway is just, like, the importance of actually making stuff, you know, and, like, doing it on your own and not waiting for someone to call you. And instead, it's like, right when Gersh does call and says, what do you have it's like. Or. Or here's this opportunity for you to come screen for this. You're ready for it because you've done all. Or like, other stuff. [00:53:06] Speaker A: Right. And I've. I've talked to a lot of my friends who are either unwrapped or, like, have changed reps. And I know that I got very lucky. Like, the way it happened for me with Gersh was very lucky. And I do think that the biggest problem in our industry is it's so difficult to get representation. And you really can't do anything without it. You really can't get the big jobs without it. You can't get into the big rooms. There's no way. There's not enough time in the day for them to see everybody. They have to see from Gersh and CAA and Buckwald and all these people, and then also see somebody who's unwrapped and doesn't have access to breakdowns. [00:53:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:39] Speaker A: It's just doesn't. There's. [00:53:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Reps at the end of the day, you know, they. They supply. Yeah, it's. It's like a legitimacy thing, you know, like you. [00:53:47] Speaker A: It's like a check mark on Instagram. [00:53:49] Speaker B: Wow. So do you think. Because with the writer director, conversation is completely separate, where it's like when it's time and it's time. You know, it's like when you get the first feature and you're. Maybe you make a first one on your own and then it's time. Or it's like they help you with that first one with an actor. Do you think it's like the first step? It's like you need to do this as soon as possible. [00:54:10] Speaker A: In my experience. Yes. And I do think that the way to get representation now and like good representation. Because the only thing worse than not having reps is having a. A shitty agent who's gonna make you sign a three year contract and then not do anything for you because they don't have the access. And that's the problem. It's like, give more agents more access. But the way you have to do it is you have to be doing. If you just want to be an actor, join a theater company. If you just want to be an actor, make a short film. You can like, you can film them on iPhones and put them on YouTube. Like, people don't care about the quality. They just want to see what you're doing. [00:54:46] Speaker C: Yeah. And put yourself out there as an actor to. To talk to directors and people, you know, like, everybody needs an actor. In a short film or in a student film or MFA film, all that, like, you all need. [00:54:58] Speaker A: You just have to abandon your ego. You have to abandon your ego. And if you just want to be an artist, you have to do it for the sake of doing it. Then, like, when I was coming off of Wicked and auditioning, I was getting a little frustrated because I feel like this is gonna sound. So pick me. But I don't know how else to say it. I feel like I'm, like, a little weirder than my headshots come across. And so the roles I was always going out for were, like, somebody's wife or somebody's girlfriend or somebody's daughter or somebody's like, college roommate. And I really wanted to do something funnier because I think that I can, but it's a matter of getting in the room. And I was like, why am I not getting these auditions? And he was like, well, he's like, we submit you for them. But, like, most of your real and stuff, the jobs you've booked already are these more kind of traditional ingenue, like, kind of roles. And I was like, oh, that makes sense. Like, why would they just think that I could do something that they haven't seen when there's a bunch of other people who they have seen? And so I go, okay, well, how do I fix that? And so I thought of these. I. Do you guys know who Cam Gabinski is? He's on. He was on Linda at some point, too, but he's. He's my writing partner, and we were on a comedy team together at ucb. And I was like, I really want to play a weird character, and I want to have a recurring character and do it on the Internet and invite other comedians to come in and improvise with us. And so I made the show. Me and Cam created the show called Partners, where we played two, like, dumb ass cops. And then we just invited comedians that we love to come in and improvise with us. And we just sold that to Fox. And it's like. But it's like the whole point was like, I want to be seen. I want to. I was getting so frustrated for literally years because I'm like, nobody knows. Nobody's giving me a chance to do what I can do. And it's like, why would they. They don't know that you can do that. Like, you're only the center of your own story. That casting director is just trying to get it done and trying to get it done fast. And so I was like, let me make something that is cheap. We. We did it very, very cheap. We edited ourselves. We. He did it. He edited. He edited it. I don't know how to do that. [00:57:05] Speaker B: We do. [00:57:06] Speaker C: We. [00:57:07] Speaker B: Yeah, we. [00:57:07] Speaker A: We. So the two of us edited it together. Anytime I try to edit with him, he's. I'm always just like. And he's like, you're really. You're distracting me. It's so boring. It's so boring. And he's so good at it. So, like, I'm just slowing him down. Yeah, yeah. But. But that's why I was like. The only reason I made that is a. Because me and Cam hang out all the time. We're like best friends. And I was like, well, I want to make something, so I'd rather do it with somebody who I like being around. And then I just was like, well, let me create something because I want to just be an actor in something, but I want to do a different thing. And they've never seen me do it. And so I'm going to give them an example. [00:57:43] Speaker C: And now. And now when people search your name, they're seeing that first, basically, you know, like, if you go onto your. [00:57:50] Speaker A: It's the. It's the highest viewed. Yeah, it's the highest viewed thing I've ever, ever put. [00:57:54] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:57:55] Speaker B: What. [00:57:56] Speaker C: How did that. What was the timeline on that? So you. You sort of generated the idea with Cam. Yeah, let's. Let's talk about. [00:58:02] Speaker A: You mean from generating idea to like selling a television show to. [00:58:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And we, we don't need to go fully into it because I assume it's a lot to discuss. But. But yeah, I would be curious. [00:58:12] Speaker A: It's actually so quick, unfortunately. So I thought of this. I thought of this idea, like, I would say like April of 2025. And Cam was like, absolutely, let's do it. Like, Cam is really good at like, shooting stuff. He has like a good eye for it. He knows how to do it really cheap. We have a bunch of friends who are really smart and cool. Our friends Jack Hackett and Greg Furman shot and dp'd it. Like directed and dp'd the three episodes we made. And we made them all. We shot each episode in. We did three 10 minute episodes. We shot each of them for two hours and then we cut them each into like three to five Internet clips. [00:58:52] Speaker C: Wow. [00:58:54] Speaker A: And we did those three. We shot between May of 2025 and July of 2025. And the way we started pitching was so crazy. I was in a general meeting at FX for acting like for casting, just having a general, which generals are normally so soul sucking. And this one was so fun because the woman who I was having a general with is so girly pop, like, just so, like, was so easy to. We were just like, yap, yap, yapping. And she was like, oh, I saw these videos. I'm like, oh, yeah. And I said like, oh, it's this show that me and my friend are making. And I meant like a real show, like a Internet show. And she was like, oh, this would be something we'd be really interested in. So when you guys start pitching, we would love to be part of that cycle. And I didn't correct her because I was like, oh, maybe it would be something we did. And I was like, oh, yeah, definitely. If it comes to that, we'll let you know. And I brought it to Cam and that night we were hanging out writing, I think, another episode, and he was like, let's just. And pulled up a Google Doc and just wrote like four pages of a Google Doc of just like everything we could think of in the world. And we were pitching to production companies and networks by August. We sold by September in the room. And then it's the, you know, the contract is something that takes the longest time. [01:00:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:12] Speaker A: And now we have our first interview with like a showrunner on Monday because we're trying to like find a showrunner before we go to a buyer. [01:00:19] Speaker C: Amazing. [01:00:20] Speaker B: Was a part of that pitch showing or had those clips been posted yet? Like, was there proof of success? Proof of eyeball? So you're walking in there saying, look at the views. [01:00:32] Speaker A: Yes. Well, actually, you know what's so interesting is like the, the, the. The clips that were getting like, you know, we have like probably 20 million views across those clips, but we had each of those clips was part of a longer episode where like three, three 10 minute episodes that are unlisted on YouTube. So those are the things we sent. [01:00:54] Speaker C: Wow. Unlisted. [01:00:54] Speaker A: A little pitch doc. [01:00:56] Speaker C: Interesting. [01:00:57] Speaker A: Because the reason we posted the long form unlisted is because we were like, we. Even if they want to pick it up or none. Yes. And also it's like we don't want to over saturate in a way that makes people think it's an idea that's been wrung out. And so also we were doing this so on the fly because it happened so quickly. [01:01:15] Speaker C: But it's, but it is very thought out at the same time. Like, I applaud you guys for. It's very smart. [01:01:20] Speaker A: Meticulously. [01:01:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:21] Speaker A: Also like, Cam has Sold a television show before. I never have, but Cam has sold a show. He knows how it works. He's, like, very savvy and smart. But we sold it on pitch. We didn't have a pilot written. [01:01:32] Speaker B: Wow. [01:01:33] Speaker C: Did. [01:01:33] Speaker B: Did that first clip hit on social media or was it once, like five were posted, all of a sudden it started hitting or was just since day one. [01:01:41] Speaker A: So our first comedian was Todd Glass, who is awesome, has had a long, illustrious career. And the Todd episode, like every episode we've written since Todd, the Todd one was really like a. We didn't know what we were making, we didn't know we were doing. And since then, the way we've written it is if we have a 10 minute episode, we want it to be cohesive as a 10 minute episode, but we want to have three to five minute and a half beats that we can pull. Todd was like a misery to edit for Cam. Not because of Todd, but because we didn't write. We just were like, this would be a fun thing to riff on. This would be a fun thing to riff on. And there was no, like, continuity because [01:02:18] Speaker C: a lot of improv write a script. [01:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And the rest of it is too. But now we're like, we always have a script where we're like, we'll just get one take of this. That way if the improv doesn't work or if it just like, somebody's off, we can like, plug in the stuff we wrote. But Todd has such a following and was so down to, like, collaborate on the reel. And like, that is somebody who, like, has no. He's not beholden to either of us. He didn't have to do this. And we're two young comedians and he was so down to be in it and down to share it. And his episode, like, the first one hit a million views pretty quickly, but none of Todd's got under 300,000 and now they're all up. And then our second group of videos was with two of our UCB friends who didn't. Don't. They're like us. They don't have big followings. And those were. Those dipped down, which is funny because those are my favorite videos that we've done with the two of them. And those two are the. Those two guys are the only recurring characters, like, now that we've written the pilot, they're there throughout the whole series, those two. So it was very important for us that, like, even if it wouldn't get views to find the actors and the comedians that were really right for this because we would want to obviously carry them through the whole thing. And then when we had our friend Hannah Pilkis on, she exploded because she's such just an absolute nut. And then once she went on, everything else started retroactively getting. But most, like, we had several that were like 10 million and I think that was enough. [01:03:52] Speaker B: Was there like a marketing push or some sort of like. No, you just posted and that was that. Yep. It's so. It's so like, it's amazing. [01:04:01] Speaker C: It's really inspiring. [01:04:02] Speaker B: How did, how did you get Todd? How did that. Were you guys friends? Was that through Stand Up Cam? [01:04:07] Speaker A: Cam and Todd are friends. [01:04:10] Speaker B: Okay. [01:04:11] Speaker A: Cam had worked for Todd or with Toddler doing some shows with him a few years ago, and they just struck up a friendship. And I've made some videos together online for Todd's channel or Todd's Instagram. And so we were like, I don't know if Todd will say yes, like, maybe. And he was like, hell yeah, I'll do that, no problem. And he's so funny. [01:04:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:04:36] Speaker B: I wrote something down that I heard a while back, which is just success as it's a creator, but a filmmaker, artist, whatever, is just the opportunity to do more of what you're already doing. As in like, what your Instagram. Like, if my Instagram is just all photography, success for me is going to be more photography, you know, like, for you, if it's all comedy, all of a sudden it's all comedy, which I know we spoke about earlier, of like, okay, you're getting these parts, but, like, you think you could be doing so much more comedic stuff that's only going to happen once you make this show with Cam, you know. [01:05:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:11] Speaker B: Pushing the stand up stuff. [01:05:12] Speaker C: You truly, you wanted also, like, you wanted a part. You had that conversation with your agent of like, why am I not getting more of these, like, funny roles that I definitely can do really well and gravitate towards? And then you kind of just made the role for yourself, you know? [01:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I was like, fine. Nobody's gonna give me this audition. I'm gonna put in my hair in a low Alexander Hamilton ponytail and cargo shorts, and I'm just gonna do it. [01:05:35] Speaker C: It's a great outfit. [01:05:36] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a. It's a bizarre outfit. We just, you know, there's only so much we can put out right now while we're in development. And so we made a couple of like, holdover videos the other day of just like, like dash cam in the cop car. And to put that whole outfit back on, I Was like, oh man, this feels like coming back for a season two. Like, this feels like you slide into it and you're like, yeah, buddy. And now the cop shirt with the badge on it is like hanging in the back of my Lexus and it's just like, somebody's going to bash my windows in. I just want to like put a note outside being like, it's fake. [01:06:10] Speaker B: It's just a roll. [01:06:12] Speaker C: Yeah, just a roll. [01:06:13] Speaker A: I'm on your side. [01:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:16] Speaker C: That's amazing. [01:06:17] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, really, this has been so insightful and I think just your, your experience and expertise and in just this career so far, you know, is like so incredibly helpful and illuminating for our audience, for sure. [01:06:33] Speaker A: Also, I want to double down, like, really clarify the fact that like I want to be an annoying actor. Like, I want to be like, you know, my boyfriend fucking hates watching awards shows. I love it. I love it. I want to be that annoying actor that's like, like there's war happening. There's like war physically happening outside of the Dolby Theater. And they're like, I want to thank God and my mom. God has other things he could be paying attention to right now, but he gave me this Golden Globe. Like, I want to be that bit. Yeah, 100%. [01:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:04] Speaker A: I just want to act. [01:07:05] Speaker B: You know, you kind of answered our final question. Which is, which is, I mean, why, if you want to. Yeah. Take it away. [01:07:14] Speaker C: What? Well, we've really covered so much on this episode and it's so valuable because it's, it's at this point it's like age old advice. Right. You talk with the, you know, 50, 60 year old exec who is giving advice to the 20 year old person and is like, just, if I, if I was young, I would make my own stuff. You know, that's, it's like, it's such, at this point, to me it feels like it's sort of hack advice. But we, we have, through this interview, I, I do feel like we've actually seen how that actually works. You know, one thing is saying it and preaching it and knowing that it's like the hack to the industry but through you. And we've seen very intricately how that works and the fact that you're not just making your own stuff too. You're able to book bigger and bigger roles and you're now seeing yourself as a writer and as a producer and all this stuff. So with all that said, we do ask one final question and it's intentionally vague. What is the dream for you? [01:08:23] Speaker A: Well, to be an annoying actor at the Dolby theaters, war going on outside 100, not even talking about the war, because who needs an actor's political opinion? I'm kidding. I'm not, but I'm also kidding. But I used to say, like, when I would have these conversations with my sister who, like, what a fucking saint for listening to me complain for so many years. But she was like, what do you want? Like, what is your dream? And I was like, I want to be on a character driven sitcom like an the Office or, Or you know what I'm saying, Like those things that are like, not like, I love a show like 30 Rock that's like a joke per minute, but I would rather write on a show like 30 Rock. And I would rather be like, being able to develop a character like Dwight Schrute. Like what. Like, how many people get to do that kind of thing? And so that is my dream. So the idea that I could do that and also be the executive producer and also be in the writers room would just be like an unbelievable dream come true for me. And I do think it's important to note too, that like, you know, they call it development hell. We could be in development for this whole year and then the show doesn't get picked up to series, right? And then the show's done and. But all of those things, it doesn't like, it can feel. And I'm sure if that happens, it will feel this way of like, I did all this for nothing. But it's like, no, because then you're like the actor, writer, producer who sold the show to a major production company or a major. And it all builds on itself. So my dream is really to be on a highly respected character driven sitcom and then do movies in my office. I want to be Steve Carell. Don't we all? [01:10:07] Speaker B: There you go. [01:10:08] Speaker C: Yeah, there we go. [01:10:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think the path to that is creating. I'm not passionate about stand up. I wish I was. I am not. But the path to that kind of career, I think is. Is creating. [01:10:24] Speaker B: You're. You're really. Yeah, you're. [01:10:27] Speaker C: You're also like a. Are you. Would you consider yourself a professional podcast guest? Because I feel like you are like you. This is. [01:10:33] Speaker A: I literally. No, no, no, you're good at it. [01:10:37] Speaker C: You know what you're doing with the. [01:10:38] Speaker B: You know what you definitely. This is written or something. [01:10:42] Speaker A: I told my boyfriend that I was doing. I was doing this podcast and he was like, natalie, after the last podcast, you said, nor podcasts. Because a clip from a podcast that I did went viral, and then everyone made fun of me online, and I was like, I'm too sensitive for this. I'm too sensitive for this. And I really got chewed. I really got roasted on the Internet. And so I was like, I'm not doing any more podcasts. And you guys. You didn't even have to ask me. That hard. You're like, hey, would you want to do this? [01:11:07] Speaker C: Yeah, it was, like, very easy. It was really, really easy to do it. [01:11:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:11:12] Speaker A: So. So we'll see how the public responds to this one. [01:11:15] Speaker C: And whether or not I'll do another, Time will tell. Time will tell. Well, we appreciate. It's been such an honor chatting with [01:11:21] Speaker A: you and, oh, my God, thank you for having me. It's been so nice and so fun. [01:11:25] Speaker B: Nice to meet you. Looking forward to seeing. Stand up. Come on. [01:11:29] Speaker A: Oh, God, I hope you never do for me. I'm kidding. No, it'll be fine. Everything will be fine. [01:11:34] Speaker C: It'll be great. Everything will be fun. [01:11:36] Speaker A: And, Luke, get the buzz cut. Get the buzz cut. [01:11:40] Speaker B: Come on. Hey, if. If I get a buzz cut, I get the best seat at All Star. What's it called? All rise. [01:11:50] Speaker C: What. [01:11:51] Speaker B: What's the restaurant called? [01:11:52] Speaker C: Oh, all time. [01:11:53] Speaker A: All time. [01:11:54] Speaker B: All time. [01:11:54] Speaker C: God. [01:11:55] Speaker A: Really good guesses, though. Really good guesses. [01:11:58] Speaker C: Christ, [01:12:02] Speaker B: did you learn something? I'm like your mom. Did you learn something in this episode? I hope so. Or not. That's okay. Thanks for hanging. Make sure you follow us at the 5050Fest on Instagram and give us five stars, because. Why not? Why not subscribe? Why not? You know why not. Okay, bye.