[00:00:07] And with that ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome everybody to Crashing Game Night. My name is Matt Duario, your host as always. Tonight we are joined by the babyface one, Theowalski.
[00:00:20] Whoa, I get first this time? What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's changing shit. Actually I've been meaning to ask you, the intro with the countdown, is that like old school NASA actual countdown?
[00:00:34] Actually it is. It is from the Apollo launch. Oh, okay. It sounds like it's just... It's courtesy by GarageBand. So it's one of the sound files they have in there.
[00:00:49] So don't hit us up Twitch for copyright. It's Apple's fault.
[00:00:53] Yeah.
[00:00:55] Um, and then I...
[00:00:58] The man with the couch, the maitre de de Civerses, the man, the myth, the legend, the lion's mane Jason Bellidio.
[00:01:06] Hey! How's it going guys? How's it going?
[00:01:10] Yeah, new couch. What do you think of the couch?
[00:01:13] It looks like half a couch though. It doesn't have an armrest on both sides.
[00:01:17] Uh, sir, I'm trying this one out, you know, it's got...
[00:01:20] Avant-garde. I like it.
[00:01:22] It's a little avant-garde, but you know what it is...
[00:01:24] No, but it is one where it's like, you know, I feel like I can just...
[00:01:28] He was shopping and lay down and lounge out.
[00:01:31] He's very feng shui.
[00:01:32] I'm gonna lounge out a little bit. I was looking for one that had Chase, you know, that little like...
[00:01:38] That little, uh, corner.
[00:01:41] But I was thinking about that.
[00:01:43] So like, I mean, I like this one for now.
[00:01:46] This is gonna be the temporary one.
[00:01:47] It's very, very out of the box.
[00:01:51] When I'm in a box, you know?
[00:01:53] Yeah.
[00:01:54] So, I mean, I see the couch and I'm just picturing you, like, pulling a George Costanza right now pose and everything.
[00:02:04] And just getting ready to be, uh, photographed.
[00:02:06] Speaking of that, hold on real quick.
[00:02:08] I'll just segue into, and our version of George Costanza.
[00:02:12] Thank you for the setup.
[00:02:13] Thank you for the setup.
[00:02:14] Great setup.
[00:02:16] Anyways, oh, that, for all those Seinfeld nerds, that was a good one.
[00:02:21] And all you nerds out there.
[00:02:22] We love you, Newman. It's been a while.
[00:02:23] I know, it's been a while.
[00:02:24] Yeah, that's true.
[00:02:25] I hope, I hope Newman's doing well.
[00:02:28] Uh, thank you, thank you all you nerds, everyone out there.
[00:02:31] Thank you very much.
[00:02:32] Uh, how's it going?
[00:02:34] Uh, what's going on, boys?
[00:02:36] J-Rock.
[00:02:38] The avant-garde, uh, uh, feng shui, uh, new couch.
[00:02:42] I'm digging it.
[00:02:43] I'm very sure.
[00:02:44] Don't know about, I don't know about the mustard yellow just yet.
[00:02:47] Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
[00:02:49] Why you got this yellow?
[00:02:50] It's growing on me.
[00:02:51] I think it's good contrast.
[00:02:52] At least it's growing on me.
[00:02:54] It's growing on me.
[00:02:54] Yeah, it stands out.
[00:02:55] I just, I think.
[00:02:56] Before I was like, always hitting his mouth.
[00:02:58] It's just one of those that I like, I need to get used to it.
[00:03:01] It needs to grow on me, but it's growing on me quick.
[00:03:05] So real quick, I just want to, uh, tell the listeners, um, unfortunately we were supposed
[00:03:10] to have just Jeff Seitzer on, uh, the voice of multiplayer from Halo tonight.
[00:03:14] Um, due to schedule scheduling conflict, we're going to have to reschedule and have
[00:03:18] them on at a later date.
[00:03:20] Um, but next week we're going to make it up to you.
[00:03:25] We'll talk about at the end of the show.
[00:03:27] Um, I want to get right into it though, because, um, we're going to be voting for game awards
[00:03:32] tonight.
[00:03:32] Yeah.
[00:03:33] So we all know that runs a little bit longer, so we're just going to have to jump to it.
[00:03:37] So real quick, I want to start off is, um, Shuhei Yoshida.
[00:03:43] Yay.
[00:03:44] We all know him as he's now Mr. Indy at PlayStation.
[00:03:47] He was also head of PlayStation studios, um, during the PS3 and part of the PS4 era, as
[00:03:52] well as part of the infamous E3 skit with Adam Boyce stating, this is how you borrow a game
[00:04:02] from on the PlayStation.
[00:04:04] Right.
[00:04:04] Um, and it was just basically, I believe, I believe, uh, uh, Jason and I, Jason and I,
[00:04:11] uh, not only applauded that, but I believe we recreated it very cleverly.
[00:04:17] May I say.
[00:04:17] And, uh, yeah, that was so good example.
[00:04:20] Yeah.
[00:04:20] I love that.
[00:04:21] After, after 31 years, January 15th will be his last day and he's leaving.
[00:04:27] Dang.
[00:04:28] Um, and for me, I think this is, this strikes, although you've got Herman Holst there and
[00:04:35] you saw the different people involved at like naughty dog and stuff like that.
[00:04:38] I think this hurts PlayStation because he's been an advocate for Indies for a while now.
[00:04:44] Um, and you're seeing the old guard is now leaving police PlayStation internal.
[00:04:52] And with the direction we see PlayStation going in where it's more remakes and pay to play.
[00:04:58] I need to pay to play and stuff like that, man.
[00:05:01] I, I hope they get somebody to fill his shoes that can be advocate for Indies and try and keep what makes PlayStation PlayStation.
[00:05:10] Because at this point, right.
[00:05:13] The rolling competition is Nintendo.
[00:05:16] Let's just be honest, as far as in terms of dollar revenue.
[00:05:19] Let's be real.
[00:05:22] Let's be real.
[00:05:30] Yeah.
[00:05:31] I think I think, but as you said, uh, they've been doing a lot of pay to play and a lot of remakes, which honestly, it feels like they've, they're still kind of resting on their laurels.
[00:05:43] We're not seeing a lot of original content.
[00:05:45] Uh, we still see, you know, more remakes and, you know, reboots down the horizon.
[00:05:53] Now we're hearing about Uncharted
[00:05:55] getting rebooted.
[00:05:57] We're going to get a whole restart on that now.
[00:06:00] You know,
[00:06:00] and then...
[00:06:02] It's a sequel with his daughter.
[00:06:06] Possibly.
[00:06:07] Or I'm hearing possibly
[00:06:09] starting at one.
[00:06:11] Like a whole reboot.
[00:06:14] Yeah.
[00:06:15] Restart, restory, but
[00:06:17] keep the same characteristics
[00:06:19] of who Nathan Drake is.
[00:06:21] But like, now...
[00:06:24] Ooh.
[00:06:25] Hey, Jeff just joined us.
[00:06:27] Ooh.
[00:06:28] In true Crashing Game Night fashion.
[00:06:31] Crashing Game Night fashion.
[00:06:32] There he is.
[00:06:33] Oh, yeah.
[00:06:34] So we'll do Game Awards.
[00:06:35] We'll do Game Awards next week.
[00:06:37] Yeah.
[00:06:37] Hey, Jeff.
[00:06:38] Jeff, hello.
[00:06:40] Hello, hello, hello.
[00:06:43] What?
[00:06:43] Oh, I wasn't sure you got my calendar invite,
[00:06:47] so we were going to just wing it tonight.
[00:06:50] How are you doing, man?
[00:06:51] I'm doing fine.
[00:06:53] I'm sorry I'm a little bit late.
[00:06:54] I had something I was doing with my son,
[00:06:58] and then I had to get all the way back home,
[00:07:01] and it took a little longer than I had intended it to.
[00:07:04] So, but I'm here now.
[00:07:06] No problem.
[00:07:07] Thank you so much.
[00:07:08] That is perfectly okay.
[00:07:11] Yeah.
[00:07:12] So, folks...
[00:07:12] Actually, Jeff, I think this is the first time, like,
[00:07:15] we didn't expect a crash on Crashing Game Night.
[00:07:19] Yeah.
[00:07:19] This is fantastic, right?
[00:07:20] We had you guys.
[00:07:21] We love it.
[00:07:22] This is an accomplishment.
[00:07:23] That's the whole point.
[00:07:23] Yep.
[00:07:26] So, yeah, I just got to Jeff telling everyone,
[00:07:28] hey, there was a scheduling conflict,
[00:07:30] you know, because I had heard back from you,
[00:07:31] so I was like, we'll have you back on a later date.
[00:07:33] We're going to do Game Awards,
[00:07:33] and then you crashed, so it's perfect.
[00:07:36] Awesome.
[00:07:36] It works.
[00:07:37] It's all the people out there.
[00:07:39] We cut, and we're like, yeah, all right.
[00:07:43] So, folks, so, yeah, we do have officially on the show tonight now
[00:07:48] the voice of guys for the Halo franchise multiplayer.
[00:07:53] Let's do this right.
[00:07:55] Jeff Steitzer.
[00:07:56] Woo!
[00:07:57] Hey, everybody.
[00:07:58] How are you?
[00:08:00] It's good to be here.
[00:08:01] Oh, my gosh.
[00:08:01] Thank you so much for trying, man.
[00:08:03] It's, like, what's funny is,
[00:08:05] like I mentioned in my email, man,
[00:08:08] you've been a part of gaming history,
[00:08:09] and we'll talk about that in a minute,
[00:08:11] but, like, for me, every time,
[00:08:13] because I play Call of Duty with Theo all the time,
[00:08:17] and every time I have a double kill or a triple kill,
[00:08:20] it's your voice that's in my head.
[00:08:24] All I hear is your voice going, you know,
[00:08:25] double kill, triple kill.
[00:08:27] Like, I really wish that would happen.
[00:08:30] Don't worry.
[00:08:30] He doesn't hear it that often.
[00:08:31] Yeah, right?
[00:08:33] Just a long time.
[00:08:34] None of us do.
[00:08:34] Double kills and triple kill last night.
[00:08:35] We only start with the single kills and dying.
[00:08:37] But I do have a question for you.
[00:08:41] I'm sure you probably have answered this many a times,
[00:08:43] but I was just wondering,
[00:08:45] what does it feel like kind of being that voice
[00:08:50] for generations playing Halo Online
[00:08:56] and, you know,
[00:08:57] kind of being that voice in their head,
[00:08:59] as Matt says,
[00:09:00] but it kind of carrying over
[00:09:03] or even just being a part of that?
[00:09:05] How does that kind of feel?
[00:09:06] What's your perspective on that?
[00:09:08] It is an amazing thing,
[00:09:10] although for the longest time I did not realize,
[00:09:13] as I've said in other settings,
[00:09:16] I didn't realize we had fans.
[00:09:17] I didn't realize that our game was successful.
[00:09:22] Nobody from Microsoft or Bungie
[00:09:24] ever called and said,
[00:09:26] yippee,
[00:09:27] we're a big hit.
[00:09:28] So, you know,
[00:09:29] the first I knew that the combat evolved
[00:09:31] had gone well
[00:09:33] was what I got a call several years later
[00:09:36] from my agent saying,
[00:09:38] hey, they want you to do a sequel.
[00:09:40] I said,
[00:09:41] who wants me to do what?
[00:09:43] And they said,
[00:09:43] Halo.
[00:09:44] I said,
[00:09:45] really?
[00:09:46] It did well?
[00:09:48] I mean,
[00:09:48] I did not know.
[00:09:49] That's so great.
[00:09:51] Now,
[00:09:51] it happened a couple of years.
[00:09:53] I can't remember if it was that time
[00:09:55] or another or the next one,
[00:09:56] but I saw a thing in the New York Times,
[00:09:59] I believe it was,
[00:10:00] it said that the game had sold
[00:10:03] $175 million in one day.
[00:10:06] And I went,
[00:10:07] what?
[00:10:08] And it's like,
[00:10:08] it is sort of successful,
[00:10:10] but it wasn't until some years later,
[00:10:12] because remember,
[00:10:13] nobody knew what I looked like
[00:10:15] or what I sounded like in real life.
[00:10:18] So I could walk anywhere,
[00:10:20] you know,
[00:10:21] completely unrecognized,
[00:10:23] which was fine.
[00:10:25] But then,
[00:10:26] you know,
[00:10:26] it started to happen that
[00:10:29] out of the blue,
[00:10:30] somebody would say,
[00:10:31] are you a voice actor?
[00:10:33] And I'd go,
[00:10:34] yeah,
[00:10:35] sometimes.
[00:10:37] And they said,
[00:10:38] are you involved in,
[00:10:40] you know,
[00:10:41] Halo?
[00:10:42] And I'd go,
[00:10:42] well,
[00:10:43] yeah.
[00:10:43] And the announcer,
[00:10:44] I mean,
[00:10:44] you know,
[00:10:44] I do,
[00:10:44] you know,
[00:10:45] double kill,
[00:10:46] triple kill.
[00:10:48] People would kind of explode
[00:10:50] in front of me.
[00:10:51] Oh,
[00:10:52] that's sad.
[00:10:53] You know,
[00:10:54] okay.
[00:10:56] And it,
[00:10:56] yeah,
[00:10:57] I mean,
[00:10:57] I was always,
[00:10:58] I'm still staggered
[00:11:01] by the response
[00:11:02] of the fans
[00:11:04] to the game.
[00:11:05] It's,
[00:11:05] it's obvious.
[00:11:06] Oh,
[00:11:07] I,
[00:11:07] I got jazzed.
[00:11:08] I just got jazzed
[00:11:09] like just now.
[00:11:11] Like,
[00:11:11] right.
[00:11:11] I felt,
[00:11:12] I was back at,
[00:11:13] in,
[00:11:14] I know,
[00:11:14] like my old house
[00:11:16] where exactly where it was
[00:11:17] in my house playing Halo.
[00:11:19] Like,
[00:11:20] I was right at that moment.
[00:11:21] Like,
[00:11:22] oh my gosh.
[00:11:23] I mean,
[00:11:24] that's what it is.
[00:11:25] But I have these guys on my desk.
[00:11:27] Wow.
[00:11:27] Wow.
[00:11:28] That's what's so awesome about it.
[00:11:30] like that,
[00:11:31] that was kind of my,
[00:11:33] my first go around it at like maybe going,
[00:11:37] uh,
[00:11:37] public online and like talk,
[00:11:39] talking smack to other guys,
[00:11:41] but other people online or,
[00:11:43] or,
[00:11:44] but,
[00:11:44] but just kind of like giving it a try.
[00:11:47] And then,
[00:11:48] yeah,
[00:11:49] just,
[00:11:49] just getting immersed in it.
[00:11:50] It was just so much fun.
[00:11:51] I'm so glad.
[00:11:52] Yeah.
[00:11:53] I mean,
[00:11:53] obviously,
[00:11:54] you know,
[00:11:55] as I say very often when I'm doing like a
[00:11:57] cameo or something,
[00:11:58] I say to somebody who is a self-professed fan or
[00:12:02] who a friend has said is a fan.
[00:12:03] I'll say,
[00:12:04] you know,
[00:12:04] I've got to thank you people.
[00:12:06] Jen Taylor said the perfect thing.
[00:12:08] We were at a,
[00:12:09] um,
[00:12:09] gaming convention a couple of weeks ago in
[00:12:12] Columbus,
[00:12:12] Ohio.
[00:12:13] And somebody referred to the game as iconic.
[00:12:15] And she said,
[00:12:16] no,
[00:12:17] no,
[00:12:17] you make the game iconic.
[00:12:20] We didn't make the game iconic.
[00:12:23] You did because of,
[00:12:25] you know,
[00:12:26] how much you love it.
[00:12:28] The game,
[00:12:28] you know,
[00:12:30] disappeared or not.
[00:12:31] So yeah.
[00:12:32] Um,
[00:12:33] I suppose,
[00:12:34] but it didn't.
[00:12:36] And the reason,
[00:12:37] as I always say that we're still here,
[00:12:39] 23 years plus later,
[00:12:44] right.
[00:12:44] The incredible fans all over the world.
[00:12:47] And that's the thing that blows my mind.
[00:12:49] I mean,
[00:12:49] it's the fans are everywhere.
[00:12:51] It's,
[00:12:52] you know,
[00:12:53] I do a lot of,
[00:12:54] I,
[00:12:54] it's so funny because Halo is a very small part of what I've done over the course of an almost 50 year professional career.
[00:13:02] Wow.
[00:13:02] As a performer.
[00:13:04] Um,
[00:13:05] cause it only comes up every like three or four years,
[00:13:07] you know,
[00:13:08] and I go in,
[00:13:09] Hey,
[00:13:10] maybe.
[00:13:11] And then it's like,
[00:13:12] okay,
[00:13:13] see you in a few years.
[00:13:15] Reunion's over.
[00:13:16] But it's like in the other things that I do,
[00:13:20] which primarily has been theater work,
[00:13:23] you know,
[00:13:24] I might perform in front of 3000 people.
[00:13:27] Wow.
[00:13:28] Might be the biggest auditorium I've performed in,
[00:13:31] in,
[00:13:32] uh,
[00:13:32] here in Seattle,
[00:13:33] actually.
[00:13:33] I don't think the theater that I appear,
[00:13:36] I was,
[00:13:36] I did Mary Poppins in New York on Broadway for a year and a half played at boom.
[00:13:42] And the main chairman,
[00:13:43] I don't think we had 3000 people there,
[00:13:45] but it was a large audience.
[00:13:47] And,
[00:13:47] you know,
[00:13:48] you take that and you multiply it by the year and a half.
[00:13:52] I was there and it's still.
[00:13:54] Isn't going to reach the same number as one busy evening around the globe.
[00:14:00] When everybody sits down the game,
[00:14:03] it's mind boggling.
[00:14:05] Yeah.
[00:14:05] So much so that I can't really wrap my brain around.
[00:14:08] And I'm always surprised when fans come up and say,
[00:14:11] Oh my God,
[00:14:12] Oh my God,
[00:14:13] Oh my God.
[00:14:13] Or whatever.
[00:14:14] Whatever.
[00:14:15] I'm like,
[00:14:16] thank you.
[00:14:17] You know,
[00:14:18] that would be my next question is like,
[00:14:20] have you been to any conventions or anything like that?
[00:14:22] Cause I'm sure those crowds have been Columbus.
[00:14:26] Yeah.
[00:14:26] I'm sure those have been like super overwhelming.
[00:14:28] Like,
[00:14:28] I'm sure you've seen the fans there.
[00:14:30] Like,
[00:14:31] yes,
[00:14:31] absolutely.
[00:14:32] I have been going to,
[00:14:33] I,
[00:14:33] I go to conventions every week.
[00:14:35] If I could,
[00:14:35] I love them.
[00:14:36] Awesome.
[00:14:37] And they're not the worst thing for the typical fragile actors ego.
[00:14:45] Not bad at all.
[00:14:48] To,
[00:14:49] to sit there and sign posters and have people say nice things to you.
[00:14:53] I got to tell you,
[00:14:55] it is glorious.
[00:14:57] Yes,
[00:14:57] I have.
[00:14:58] I've been,
[00:14:58] um,
[00:14:59] to a couple of conventions here in the Pacific Northwest where I live,
[00:15:04] uh,
[00:15:05] and where I primarily have lived over the last.
[00:15:07] Jeez.
[00:15:09] Since 1975.
[00:15:11] Wow.
[00:15:13] Yeah.
[00:15:13] Yeah.
[00:15:14] And,
[00:15:15] um,
[00:15:17] Phoenix,
[00:15:18] Cleveland,
[00:15:19] Columbus,
[00:15:20] where else?
[00:15:21] New York.
[00:15:22] I did.
[00:15:23] I was at the comic con,
[00:15:24] but kind of nice.
[00:15:25] Nobody knew I was there.
[00:15:26] So that was not the biggest,
[00:15:29] uh,
[00:15:29] audience we had,
[00:15:30] but every time we do an event of any kind,
[00:15:34] um,
[00:15:35] you know,
[00:15:36] people,
[00:15:37] sometimes it's very cool.
[00:15:39] They're excited and that's great.
[00:15:42] Um,
[00:15:42] um,
[00:15:43] they've got big smiles on there,
[00:15:45] which I love.
[00:15:46] Yep.
[00:15:46] There have been occasions on the other hand,
[00:15:48] where people were so freaked out that they were,
[00:15:52] you know,
[00:15:54] within range of me that they couldn't look me in the face.
[00:16:00] I've had people start shaking uncontrollably,
[00:16:03] you know,
[00:16:04] and,
[00:16:04] and say,
[00:16:05] I,
[00:16:05] you know,
[00:16:06] I,
[00:16:06] I don't,
[00:16:07] I don't know what to say.
[00:16:08] I don't know what to say.
[00:16:09] And I had all these things I'll say,
[00:16:11] you know,
[00:16:11] what would you like me to write?
[00:16:12] I don't know.
[00:16:13] I don't know.
[00:16:13] I don't know.
[00:16:14] I don't know.
[00:16:14] I don't know.
[00:16:15] I can't remember what's in the,
[00:16:18] what's something you said.
[00:16:20] Tell me real quick.
[00:16:21] Exactly.
[00:16:22] And,
[00:16:22] you know,
[00:16:23] it's,
[00:16:24] it depends on the individual.
[00:16:25] the ones that blow me away.
[00:16:27] The ones that blow me away the most are in some ways,
[00:16:30] the ones that are the saddest in that there are,
[00:16:36] there have been many instances where people have come up to me and they said,
[00:16:41] you just,
[00:16:42] I have to let you know that my home life was horrible.
[00:16:47] And,
[00:16:47] you know,
[00:16:48] I didn't get along with my parents or my siblings or whatever.
[00:16:51] There was one young man in Phoenix who came up.
[00:16:54] Um,
[00:16:55] and he said,
[00:16:56] you know,
[00:16:56] I,
[00:16:56] I had an abusive childhood.
[00:16:59] Oh,
[00:17:00] geez.
[00:17:00] The only thing that got me through it was being able to go to my room and play Halo online.
[00:17:08] And it's,
[00:17:09] he said,
[00:17:10] it literally saved my life.
[00:17:11] And I said,
[00:17:12] you're not still at home.
[00:17:14] Right.
[00:17:15] And he said,
[00:17:16] no,
[00:17:16] when I turned 16,
[00:17:17] I left.
[00:17:19] Oh,
[00:17:19] wow.
[00:17:20] Okay.
[00:17:20] Awesome.
[00:17:21] Do you mind if I hug you?
[00:17:22] And I said,
[00:17:23] no,
[00:17:24] I don't mind.
[00:17:25] And,
[00:17:25] you know,
[00:17:27] we hugged and then he went on his way,
[00:17:30] but it's like,
[00:17:31] you don't,
[00:17:32] you know,
[00:17:32] that never happens to me or anything else I do because,
[00:17:37] nothing else I've done,
[00:17:39] no matter how well it's been received.
[00:17:41] And a lot of this stuff I've done has turned out pretty well,
[00:17:46] but none of it's had the impact that this game has had for its fans.
[00:17:53] And I think that's what makes gaming so great though,
[00:17:57] Jeff,
[00:17:57] to that point,
[00:17:58] right.
[00:17:58] Is,
[00:17:59] um,
[00:17:59] a couple of years ago,
[00:18:00] I met,
[00:18:01] um,
[00:18:02] that Denver fan expo,
[00:18:03] uh,
[00:18:04] Nolan North and uncharted.
[00:18:06] I,
[00:18:08] that game came out at a really down part in my life.
[00:18:11] And it,
[00:18:12] it brought me out of that,
[00:18:14] that depression and stuff like that.
[00:18:16] And I think that's what makes gaming great is that everyone finds something
[00:18:20] that betters their life in some way.
[00:18:26] But to your point,
[00:18:27] right.
[00:18:27] You've,
[00:18:28] you've had a lot of things that you,
[00:18:29] you touched on your,
[00:18:29] your theater career.
[00:18:30] And I mean,
[00:18:31] it has been nearly 50 decades for you.
[00:18:34] That spans not decades.
[00:18:36] Five or sorry.
[00:18:37] 50 years.
[00:18:40] Sorry.
[00:18:41] You know,
[00:18:41] I'm old.
[00:18:42] You're God.
[00:18:44] You're giving it away.
[00:18:45] He's immortal,
[00:18:46] man.
[00:18:46] Jeez.
[00:18:47] The voice is immortal.
[00:18:49] Um,
[00:18:49] iconic,
[00:18:49] iconic.
[00:18:51] You've been on stage.
[00:18:53] You've done voice of work.
[00:18:53] You've done film.
[00:18:54] Um,
[00:18:56] you know,
[00:18:56] you touched on Mary Poppins.
[00:18:58] Yep.
[00:18:58] But one of the other ones that I,
[00:19:00] you know,
[00:19:00] we're doing looking at your stuff is that inherit the wind with Christopher
[00:19:04] Plummer and Brian Dennehy.
[00:19:06] Yes.
[00:19:07] Which Christopher Plummer is.
[00:19:10] Wow.
[00:19:10] In Hollywood and whatnot.
[00:19:13] But what I didn't know is that you actually stepped off the stage and
[00:19:18] were a director.
[00:19:20] Oh yeah.
[00:19:20] Oh wow.
[00:19:21] Oh yeah.
[00:19:22] Oh nice.
[00:19:22] Like you mentioned on your site is 180 plays.
[00:19:26] Yeah.
[00:19:27] Wow.
[00:19:28] That is.
[00:19:29] Well,
[00:19:30] what happened was,
[00:19:31] is I think any,
[00:19:34] as I said before,
[00:19:35] I was joking about my fragile ego.
[00:19:37] If,
[00:19:37] if only.
[00:19:39] Yeah.
[00:19:40] In point of fact,
[00:19:41] my ego is all too healthy and about the size of Texas.
[00:19:45] Uh,
[00:19:45] and I decided,
[00:19:47] I think when I was in high school,
[00:19:49] it's like,
[00:19:49] well,
[00:19:49] I can direct these plays better than the drama teacher.
[00:19:53] And I started directing in high school.
[00:19:58] And then I got to college and it was no better there.
[00:20:01] I thought,
[00:20:01] well,
[00:20:01] I'm certainly better than these clowns.
[00:20:03] And I wanted to direct it.
[00:20:05] And I did.
[00:20:06] And then when I moved out to Seattle to visit a friend,
[00:20:10] um,
[00:20:10] I was in the Midwest.
[00:20:11] She had been in the Midwest.
[00:20:13] We'd gone to college together.
[00:20:14] And then she'd gone to Seattle and she said,
[00:20:16] come out and visit me.
[00:20:18] And I went,
[00:20:19] Oh,
[00:20:20] okay.
[00:20:20] Why not?
[00:20:21] Nothing else.
[00:20:21] You know,
[00:20:23] it's either better go straight to the twin cities,
[00:20:25] which is where I thought I would go and start auditioning or finding a job,
[00:20:29] you know,
[00:20:29] terrifying.
[00:20:31] So I drove from Cedar Rapids,
[00:20:33] all the way to Seattle,
[00:20:34] went to an audition.
[00:20:36] The artistic director saw me,
[00:20:38] decided to bring me back.
[00:20:39] So that the ensemble that this company posted at the time could see me and vote on whether they wanted me to be a part of the company.
[00:20:47] And they did.
[00:20:48] And I made it very clear from the very beginning that I wanted to direct.
[00:20:52] So we got to a point late in that first,
[00:20:55] and what turned out to be the last season of that ensemble,
[00:20:57] uh,
[00:20:58] late in the season,
[00:20:59] they were like first show.
[00:21:00] And I'd brought in a script and they decided they couldn't decide on anything else.
[00:21:03] And they said,
[00:21:04] well,
[00:21:04] all right,
[00:21:04] we'll do that.
[00:21:05] And they said,
[00:21:06] um,
[00:21:07] leave the room.
[00:21:08] We're going to vote on whether we're going to ask you to direct it.
[00:21:14] And I just kept,
[00:21:15] and I just kept doing it.
[00:21:17] And,
[00:21:17] you know,
[00:21:17] I've directed all over the country at some of the largest theaters around big regional theaters.
[00:21:22] Um,
[00:21:22] I have,
[00:21:23] I ran a theater here in Seattle for five years.
[00:21:26] Um,
[00:21:27] I've directed every theater in this.
[00:21:29] I've done 180.
[00:21:32] Productions.
[00:21:33] Some of them.
[00:21:34] Wow.
[00:21:34] Geez.
[00:21:34] New,
[00:21:35] some of them new to the United States.
[00:21:39] Um,
[00:21:40] you know,
[00:21:40] a lot of British playwrights got their American premieres in productions.
[00:21:46] Amazing.
[00:21:46] Yeah.
[00:21:47] A lot of classics,
[00:21:49] just all musicals,
[00:21:51] just a little bit of everything.
[00:21:53] So,
[00:21:53] yeah.
[00:21:53] And then you also taught the professor or sorry,
[00:21:58] the professional actor training program at university of Washington.
[00:22:02] I did.
[00:22:03] Indeed.
[00:22:03] That was nice.
[00:22:04] I directed a show at this theater company for many,
[00:22:08] many years,
[00:22:09] the empty space.
[00:22:11] And I cast two actors and the movement teacher from the university of Washington.
[00:22:18] It was just,
[00:22:18] you know,
[00:22:19] they'd audition.
[00:22:20] They were the best.
[00:22:20] Oh,
[00:22:21] I cast them.
[00:22:22] I cast them.
[00:22:22] And the guy who was the head of the program,
[00:22:24] quite legendary in academic circles,
[00:22:27] guy named Bob Hobbs,
[00:22:28] came to see the show,
[00:22:30] loved it,
[00:22:31] wanted me to come and do something over at the school.
[00:22:33] And when the occasion arose for me to do something,
[00:22:37] he said,
[00:22:37] will you come direct at the university of Washington?
[00:22:42] And I said,
[00:22:43] sure.
[00:22:43] I was taking over production for somebody who had had to pull out,
[00:22:47] but it was like,
[00:22:49] yeah,
[00:22:49] that's great.
[00:22:50] They wanted me to do the school for scandal.
[00:22:53] Wonderful play from the,
[00:22:55] I'm going to say the 1800s,
[00:22:57] the 18th century,
[00:22:58] I should say,
[00:22:59] not the 18th century.
[00:23:02] And it was a cast of the actors in the program.
[00:23:06] One of whom was a guy I knew as Rick Karn,
[00:23:11] who would go on to be better known on TV as Richard Karn.
[00:23:15] He was Al,
[00:23:15] the tool time guy on all improvement.
[00:23:19] Wow.
[00:23:20] Remember Al?
[00:23:21] Yep.
[00:23:26] And he was playing this character.
[00:23:28] He was a hypocrite and he had a servant and the servant was cast with a,
[00:23:34] an undergraduate who had not yet joined the BFA program,
[00:23:40] which he would do the next year.
[00:23:42] And that was Kyle McLaughlin,
[00:23:43] who was from,
[00:23:46] um,
[00:23:47] Dune,
[00:23:48] from Blue Velvet,
[00:23:51] and from Twin Peaks.
[00:23:53] And.
[00:23:54] What?
[00:23:55] Yeah.
[00:23:55] He was the mayor of Portlandia.
[00:23:57] He was in show girls,
[00:23:59] but he met your mother.
[00:24:00] He was the captain.
[00:24:02] Yep.
[00:24:02] Yep.
[00:24:03] That's right.
[00:24:04] He got his start in a production.
[00:24:07] Oh my God.
[00:24:09] Comedy for me.
[00:24:11] Wow.
[00:24:12] Yes.
[00:24:12] It was great.
[00:24:13] That's insane.
[00:24:14] But a number of people,
[00:24:14] you know,
[00:24:15] that I've encountered,
[00:24:16] this is the thing about,
[00:24:17] well,
[00:24:17] first of all,
[00:24:18] you know,
[00:24:18] I,
[00:24:18] people will say things like,
[00:24:20] you know,
[00:24:21] so many people,
[00:24:22] it's like,
[00:24:22] well,
[00:24:22] stick around long enough.
[00:24:23] And so will you.
[00:24:26] Everybody eventually.
[00:24:28] Um,
[00:24:29] which is great.
[00:24:30] It's one of the things that's so great about being involved in the theater.
[00:24:34] Um,
[00:24:36] uh,
[00:24:36] and this was just the earliest instance of it.
[00:24:41] And.
[00:24:42] You,
[00:24:43] speaking of Kyle McLaughlin,
[00:24:45] um,
[00:24:46] story you told on Tik TOK.
[00:24:48] I want to actually share with,
[00:24:50] have you share with the group is.
[00:24:52] You getting involved with a casting for dinner.
[00:24:54] Oh,
[00:24:56] yeah.
[00:24:57] So one day I go home and I've got,
[00:24:58] this is back.
[00:24:59] Oh,
[00:24:59] before any of you children were born answering machine.
[00:25:05] And on the answering machine was a message from a woman saying that she was.
[00:25:12] I believe,
[00:25:13] I think they said it was Dino DiLorentis,
[00:25:16] his daughter's secretary or something.
[00:25:19] And we're looking for information about actors.
[00:25:22] And I thought,
[00:25:23] right.
[00:25:24] But for whatever reason,
[00:25:26] I.
[00:25:27] Called back.
[00:25:28] And indeed it became apparent that yes,
[00:25:30] it was Dino DiLorentis,
[00:25:32] his daughter.
[00:25:34] I can't remember her name,
[00:25:35] who was working on the casting for David Lynch's film of Dune.
[00:25:41] And she said,
[00:25:43] not just to me,
[00:25:44] there were other people,
[00:25:45] but I've always claimed that,
[00:25:47] you know,
[00:25:47] I was the first and the most persuasive.
[00:25:52] They said,
[00:25:53] uh,
[00:25:53] do you know the book Dune?
[00:25:55] And I,
[00:25:55] not that,
[00:25:57] you know,
[00:25:57] I'm fairly recently I'd read it.
[00:25:59] And I said,
[00:26:00] yes,
[00:26:00] I do.
[00:26:01] As a matter of fact.
[00:26:02] And they said,
[00:26:03] is there anybody,
[00:26:03] any young actor that you can think of in the Seattle area?
[00:26:08] That might be a good Paul Atreides.
[00:26:10] We're looking all over the country.
[00:26:12] And I said,
[00:26:13] well,
[00:26:14] yes,
[00:26:14] actually,
[00:26:14] as a matter of fact,
[00:26:15] I do.
[00:26:16] He's appearing in a play that I directed right now.
[00:26:21] No way.
[00:26:22] I was doing a production of two by Moliere.
[00:26:26] He was playing the hot headed son,
[00:26:28] Dami.
[00:26:29] And so one day he was asked to go down to a hotel room in Seattle where he put
[00:26:37] something on film,
[00:26:38] I think.
[00:26:39] And then a couple of days later,
[00:26:42] he said,
[00:26:42] Jeff,
[00:26:43] I have to leave the show.
[00:26:44] I've got an audition in LA.
[00:26:47] And if I get this role,
[00:26:50] they're going to send me straight to set in.
[00:26:54] I believe it was Mexico where they filmed.
[00:26:57] Okay.
[00:26:57] Oh my gosh.
[00:26:59] Okay.
[00:27:00] So we had somebody could step in for Kyle.
[00:27:03] Did a lovely job.
[00:27:04] Rick was his name.
[00:27:05] Kyle took off.
[00:27:06] And that was the last I saw of him.
[00:27:10] Yeah.
[00:27:11] He met David Lynch.
[00:27:12] David Lynch realized they were,
[00:27:15] you know,
[00:27:15] soul brothers or something so much together.
[00:27:20] And,
[00:27:20] uh,
[00:27:21] the part.
[00:27:22] Yeah.
[00:27:22] Let's go to film the show.
[00:27:23] A couple of years later,
[00:27:24] I have been in Chicago.
[00:27:25] I was directing a show.
[00:27:27] Kyle was in town.
[00:27:28] I don't remember how we even figured that out,
[00:27:30] but we connected,
[00:27:32] got together and we were talking.
[00:27:35] And he,
[00:27:36] I can't remember.
[00:27:37] I think maybe I'd just seen him in a fabulous science fiction movie called
[00:27:41] the hidden.
[00:27:42] If you haven't seen it,
[00:27:44] it's amazing.
[00:27:46] It's about an alien that moves from host to host to host.
[00:27:51] While another character who's chasing and trying to put a stop to him played by Kyle,
[00:27:58] um,
[00:27:59] is after him.
[00:28:00] It's a great,
[00:28:01] great.
[00:28:02] Michael.
[00:28:03] I want to say it's Nori.
[00:28:05] And O U R I,
[00:28:07] I think might've been the other lead.
[00:28:09] Uh,
[00:28:10] but there are some great surprises.
[00:28:11] And it turns out there was actually another actor that I'd known from Minneapolis who is one of the first people to be taken over by this alien creature.
[00:28:20] And so we're sitting and chatting.
[00:28:21] And I said,
[00:28:22] well,
[00:28:22] you know,
[00:28:23] what's going on now?
[00:28:23] And he said,
[00:28:24] well,
[00:28:24] I just finished shooting a film.
[00:28:26] I said,
[00:28:27] yeah.
[00:28:27] He said,
[00:28:28] yeah,
[00:28:28] it was with David.
[00:28:30] Really?
[00:28:31] Um,
[00:28:31] what,
[00:28:32] what is it?
[00:28:32] It's like,
[00:28:33] that's really hard to describe,
[00:28:34] but I had my first nude scene and I said,
[00:28:38] really?
[00:28:39] And he said,
[00:28:40] yeah,
[00:28:40] it was really,
[00:28:41] really freaky because I was standing naked in front of all the cat,
[00:28:47] the crew and everything.
[00:28:48] Well,
[00:28:49] this Isabella Rossellini is threatening my junk with a knife.
[00:28:55] Oh,
[00:28:56] geez.
[00:28:56] The film was blue velvet.
[00:28:58] Dang.
[00:29:00] Copper and Isabella Rossellini.
[00:29:03] Yeah.
[00:29:04] I understood when I saw it,
[00:29:06] why he couldn't really describe it.
[00:29:09] Even though I've seen it,
[00:29:10] I'm not sure I could.
[00:29:14] And that was really what kind of cemented their relationship.
[00:29:17] And then a couple of years later,
[00:29:18] he was doing twin peaks.
[00:29:19] Yeah.
[00:29:20] Twin peaks.
[00:29:22] Coincidentally was the brainchild,
[00:29:24] not only of David Lynch,
[00:29:26] but,
[00:29:27] um,
[00:29:28] uh,
[00:29:28] a young fellow,
[00:29:29] um,
[00:29:31] named Mark Frost.
[00:29:32] And I knew Mark Frost from Minneapolis.
[00:29:36] We had been involved.
[00:29:38] A good friend of mine,
[00:29:40] Barbara field,
[00:29:41] who has since passed on,
[00:29:42] had written some short one act plays as a,
[00:29:46] uh,
[00:29:46] playwriting student at the university and a local theater that was in a
[00:29:52] church basement.
[00:29:55] And overseen by the pastor of the church.
[00:29:58] It was called theater of involvement.
[00:30:00] They gave,
[00:30:01] they did plays and they gave a home to these three one act plays.
[00:30:04] I was in the first one act play.
[00:30:06] Mark was in the last one act play.
[00:30:08] And he was dating a girl who was in my one act play.
[00:30:10] So we ended up the three of us going out and doing a lot of things,
[00:30:14] including one night dropping acid together.
[00:30:18] Which I believe I provided.
[00:30:22] So I've always taken credit.
[00:30:24] That was a good time.
[00:30:25] I've always taken credit for twin peaks because at game,
[00:30:30] had Mark not had the experience of,
[00:30:32] you know,
[00:30:34] dropping acid and hallucinating.
[00:30:35] I can't imagine he ever would have come up with that series.
[00:30:38] Public service announcement.
[00:30:39] We don't condone.
[00:30:40] I absolutely don't either.
[00:30:46] Yeah.
[00:30:47] totally only used by professionals and supervision of professionals.
[00:30:54] Jeff,
[00:30:58] what's it,
[00:30:58] how does it feel for you though?
[00:31:00] Like specifically with Kyle,
[00:31:01] right?
[00:31:01] Is that he had,
[00:31:02] he was doing that play for you.
[00:31:04] You kind of were kind of like that domino for him.
[00:31:07] Like,
[00:31:07] how does it feel for you to see the career he's had and that you kind of
[00:31:11] had that push.
[00:31:13] Well,
[00:31:14] I mean,
[00:31:15] I don't take any real credit for it.
[00:31:16] I joke about it,
[00:31:17] of course,
[00:31:17] but you know,
[00:31:18] the fact of the matter is,
[00:31:19] as I said,
[00:31:19] there were other people.
[00:31:21] They approached who also said the same thing.
[00:31:23] And when they heard it enough,
[00:31:25] that was when they decided,
[00:31:26] okay,
[00:31:27] we should take a look at this guy.
[00:31:28] And the fact of the matter is,
[00:31:30] is that Kyle has always been incredibly talented.
[00:31:34] If anything,
[00:31:35] he's only gotten more talented,
[00:31:36] the older he's got,
[00:31:38] which is the way you'd like to see it work.
[00:31:41] And in fact,
[00:31:42] most of the people I know who I have worked with,
[00:31:44] I've watched them grow and grow.
[00:31:46] And to a greater or lesser extent,
[00:31:49] watch their careers flourish.
[00:31:52] In some instances,
[00:31:53] watch them kind of collapse a little bit.
[00:31:57] But,
[00:31:57] you know,
[00:31:57] one of the actors who went to school in Seattle,
[00:32:01] who I knew is,
[00:32:03] was Brendan Fraser,
[00:32:04] who won the Oscar a year or two for The Wave.
[00:32:07] Oh,
[00:32:07] wow.
[00:32:08] You know,
[00:32:09] we,
[00:32:09] we have a bump into each other.
[00:32:11] We were in London.
[00:32:12] I was leading a tour from the theater,
[00:32:14] the Seattle theater.
[00:32:15] I was running.
[00:32:16] He was there doing voices for an animated.
[00:32:20] Amblin picture called Balto about a dog.
[00:32:25] Yep.
[00:32:25] I remember both of them.
[00:32:26] We both seen the same play and said,
[00:32:29] let's get coffee tomorrow.
[00:32:30] And we did.
[00:32:30] And we,
[00:32:30] yeah,
[00:32:31] and we talked about projects to do together,
[00:32:33] which sadly didn't come to fruition,
[00:32:36] but you know,
[00:32:37] and he was going great guns for a while.
[00:32:39] And was a big action hero with the mummy.
[00:32:42] And yeah,
[00:32:43] suddenly,
[00:32:43] you know,
[00:32:44] there was like all this bad stuff being said about him,
[00:32:47] which made no sense to me because he was one of the nicest people.
[00:32:53] You know,
[00:32:54] like so many of the people that I've encountered,
[00:32:56] I would say more often than not,
[00:33:01] the people I've,
[00:33:02] I've been lucky enough to meet or interact with have been spectacular people.
[00:33:07] Oh,
[00:33:07] that's awesome.
[00:33:07] That's good.
[00:33:08] Yeah.
[00:33:09] I can't,
[00:33:09] you gotta love that.
[00:33:10] And I mean,
[00:33:12] they,
[00:33:13] they,
[00:33:13] they've had even bigger egos in some instances than me.
[00:33:19] With Christopher,
[00:33:21] because I was a director and,
[00:33:23] you know,
[00:33:23] we used to chat backstage and he was great.
[00:33:26] Cause you know,
[00:33:28] this is true of any actor.
[00:33:29] All you have to do is ask them a question and,
[00:33:31] you know,
[00:33:32] settle in for a couple of hours.
[00:33:33] Chris was no different.
[00:33:34] He loved to talk about Chris.
[00:33:37] And I love to hear what he had to say.
[00:33:39] Uh,
[00:33:40] Brian Dennehy was the same way and they told fabulous stories.
[00:33:44] And one day I remember asking Chris very specifically,
[00:33:47] Chris,
[00:33:48] what do you want from a director?
[00:33:51] What are you looking for?
[00:33:53] And he said,
[00:33:54] to stay as far away from me as possible.
[00:33:58] And I laughed,
[00:34:00] you know,
[00:34:01] but then I thought,
[00:34:02] no,
[00:34:03] no,
[00:34:03] you know,
[00:34:03] actually he's right.
[00:34:04] Because a lot of directors get in and tell you what to do.
[00:34:07] They don't tell you how to do it.
[00:34:08] They just,
[00:34:09] you know,
[00:34:09] tell you the result they're looking for.
[00:34:11] It's not useful to an actor.
[00:34:12] Um,
[00:34:13] the best directors basically,
[00:34:16] you know,
[00:34:16] may provide a little bit of structure,
[00:34:18] but then they want your input.
[00:34:19] You know,
[00:34:20] that's why they hired you.
[00:34:23] And this plumber,
[00:34:24] plumber who was really an acting.
[00:34:29] um,
[00:34:30] he's great in film,
[00:34:32] but to watch him as I did every night for six months on stage,
[00:34:39] uh,
[00:34:40] uh,
[00:34:40] and just watch,
[00:34:42] you know,
[00:34:43] him take the audience in the palm of his hand was an extraordinary
[00:34:48] experience.
[00:34:49] Just amazing.
[00:34:51] So I think that that was really good advice.
[00:34:54] Uh,
[00:34:54] but yeah,
[00:34:55] I mean,
[00:34:56] you know,
[00:34:57] there are some egos involved,
[00:34:58] but I mean,
[00:35:00] he goes in the film industry.
[00:35:02] Yeah.
[00:35:02] And voiceover work.
[00:35:04] No,
[00:35:04] never,
[00:35:05] never.
[00:35:06] But in film,
[00:35:08] it's like the people I've had a chance to meet and work with have never been
[00:35:11] anything,
[00:35:12] but incredibly kind.
[00:35:14] Oh,
[00:35:14] good.
[00:35:15] Yeah.
[00:35:16] No matter who they are.
[00:35:18] So you can't believe that anybody thinks they're cool.
[00:35:21] That's the thing that you have.
[00:35:24] Is that everybody is,
[00:35:25] gets to do anything.
[00:35:28] Is first of all talented,
[00:35:30] but they doubt their own talent.
[00:35:32] Everybody has syndrome.
[00:35:34] They don't believe that they can possibly be any good.
[00:35:37] I mean,
[00:35:38] without exception.
[00:35:39] And then they also can't believe that anybody would want to meet them or hear what they had
[00:35:44] to say.
[00:35:44] And it's just the way it is.
[00:35:46] Um,
[00:35:48] so yeah,
[00:35:48] when you,
[00:35:49] like I say,
[00:35:49] all I have to do is say,
[00:35:50] you know,
[00:35:51] Brian,
[00:35:52] what was it like doing cocoon?
[00:35:54] Oh,
[00:35:55] God.
[00:35:56] That was the craziest thing.
[00:35:58] I'm,
[00:35:58] you know,
[00:35:59] off and running.
[00:36:00] It's great.
[00:36:01] That's,
[00:36:01] that's cool.
[00:36:01] And it's awesome that you still like come in contact with them.
[00:36:05] If you recognize them,
[00:36:07] they recognize you.
[00:36:07] Well,
[00:36:08] I don't come in contact with Brian and Chris.
[00:36:10] They're both dead.
[00:36:11] No,
[00:36:12] no,
[00:36:12] I know.
[00:36:13] But yes,
[00:36:14] I would,
[00:36:14] I would occasionally,
[00:36:15] you know,
[00:36:15] we would run into each other and they could not have been nicer.
[00:36:18] I actually went to,
[00:36:20] when I was living in New York,
[00:36:21] I lived in New York for about six and a half years.
[00:36:22] That's when I was doing the two Broadway shows.
[00:36:24] And that's when I,
[00:36:25] you know,
[00:36:26] I had a little teeny tiny bit on 30 rock and I spent a half hour,
[00:36:29] you know,
[00:36:30] yakking with Baldwin,
[00:36:32] you know,
[00:36:33] I mean,
[00:36:34] again,
[00:36:34] could not have been nicer,
[00:36:35] even though I'd heard from close friends that he could be terrible,
[00:36:39] but he wasn't with me.
[00:36:40] He was great.
[00:36:41] And,
[00:36:41] um,
[00:36:43] so,
[00:36:44] uh,
[00:36:44] uh,
[00:36:44] I went up to a theater in,
[00:36:46] um,
[00:36:48] new Haven,
[00:36:49] Connecticut,
[00:36:49] the long war theater,
[00:36:50] where a friend of mine from Chicago,
[00:36:52] who I'd worked for a guy named Bob falls had directed a production of a play by Eugene O'Neill called Huey.
[00:36:58] It's basically a two character play.
[00:37:00] It's about this guy with a night clerk in a rundown hotel in,
[00:37:06] you know,
[00:37:07] lower Manhattan back in the day.
[00:37:09] And the,
[00:37:09] like the teens,
[00:37:10] I think it was set.
[00:37:12] Um,
[00:37:42] and afterwards it was a talkback and then I'd stayed for it.
[00:37:44] And he spotted me,
[00:37:46] Brian did.
[00:37:47] And he went,
[00:37:47] Hey,
[00:37:49] tiger.
[00:37:50] Great to see you.
[00:37:51] Ladies and gentlemen,
[00:37:52] this is one of the best actors in the country.
[00:37:54] And it's like,
[00:37:55] we only did one show together,
[00:37:57] but it's early on.
[00:37:58] And then he decided that I was a good actor.
[00:38:00] And he told this audience,
[00:38:02] I,
[00:38:02] I could not have been more embarrassed,
[00:38:04] but then afterwards we sat and chatted.
[00:38:06] He said,
[00:38:06] you want to,
[00:38:07] he said,
[00:38:07] what are you doing now?
[00:38:08] I said,
[00:38:08] I'm going to get,
[00:38:08] catch the train back to New York.
[00:38:10] He said,
[00:38:10] well,
[00:38:10] let me give you a ride.
[00:38:11] You know?
[00:38:12] So we chatted and,
[00:38:13] you know,
[00:38:13] from the theater to the train station.
[00:38:16] Um,
[00:38:17] I'm going to think if I saw him again,
[00:38:18] I sent him a present backstage when he was doing a show in New York.
[00:38:22] That was the last show.
[00:38:23] I think Chris did on stage was inherit the wind.
[00:38:27] Wow.
[00:38:28] Wow.
[00:38:31] Cause he was doing movies so much.
[00:38:33] Okay.
[00:38:34] Um,
[00:38:35] they both did movies.
[00:38:36] They both.
[00:38:37] That's awesome though.
[00:38:38] They both did Pixar films.
[00:38:41] Chris did up.
[00:38:42] He's the villain in up.
[00:38:45] I came in one day and Brian was always kind of,
[00:38:48] you know,
[00:38:48] I'm coming to do the show and be kind of tired.
[00:38:52] You know what?
[00:38:53] And he's saying,
[00:38:53] so I said,
[00:38:54] well,
[00:38:54] what'd you do today?
[00:38:55] Brian said,
[00:38:56] Oh,
[00:38:56] I was doing voice recording for some animated film.
[00:39:00] It's a Pixar film.
[00:39:02] when,
[00:39:03] you know,
[00:39:03] just my luck.
[00:39:04] It's about this rat that wants to be a chef.
[00:39:08] Who the?
[00:39:08] Yeah.
[00:39:09] He goes to see a movie about a rat.
[00:39:12] Awesome.
[00:39:13] He played the rat's father.
[00:39:15] Oh,
[00:39:16] that's amazing.
[00:39:17] Shortly thereafter,
[00:39:18] the movie came out,
[00:39:19] came out.
[00:39:20] And it was like,
[00:39:21] I just,
[00:39:22] I,
[00:39:22] by then we'd close.
[00:39:23] And it's like,
[00:39:23] I wanted so badly to see.
[00:39:26] Well,
[00:39:27] Brian,
[00:39:27] what do you think?
[00:39:29] That's awesome.
[00:39:31] He was great.
[00:39:31] He was super.
[00:39:32] So when you talk about auditions,
[00:39:33] how did the audition for halo come about?
[00:39:37] Like every other audition I ever did for anything.
[00:39:40] Basically I got,
[00:39:41] well,
[00:39:42] for the longest time I worked without an agent for,
[00:39:45] um,
[00:39:46] I was able to go from job to job,
[00:39:48] to job,
[00:39:48] to job,
[00:39:49] because basically work begets work and people would ask me to do stuff,
[00:39:53] which was great.
[00:39:54] And then for a long time I was directing plays.
[00:39:56] So I wasn't looking for acting work,
[00:39:58] but,
[00:39:58] um,
[00:39:59] after I started doing voice work in 1976,
[00:40:04] unbelievably enough,
[00:40:05] the reason I did it was there was a guy who produced commercials,
[00:40:08] a very,
[00:40:09] very dear fellow who has since passed away.
[00:40:11] Great guy.
[00:40:12] Greg Palmer was his name.
[00:40:13] He ran this,
[00:40:14] uh,
[00:40:15] companies that produce commercials.
[00:40:16] And he loved our ensemble of actors because he did not like voiceover
[00:40:21] actors.
[00:40:22] You know,
[00:40:23] the ones that sounded like they were voiceover people.
[00:40:26] He didn't want those.
[00:40:27] No,
[00:40:27] he didn't,
[00:40:28] he couldn't get,
[00:40:29] they weren't funny.
[00:40:32] He would write these,
[00:40:33] you know,
[00:40:34] very,
[00:40:34] very funny commercials.
[00:40:35] So he asked us if we would,
[00:40:37] you know,
[00:40:38] appear in his commercials was like,
[00:40:40] sure.
[00:40:40] A little extra spending money.
[00:40:42] Why not?
[00:40:43] So we did that.
[00:40:44] And,
[00:40:44] uh,
[00:40:45] there was a guy who was the engineer for Greg whenever we did.
[00:40:48] And so Greg had us in a lot and had me in.
[00:40:50] We got to be very,
[00:40:52] very good friends over the years.
[00:40:53] In fact,
[00:40:53] I narrated the audio book.
[00:40:56] That was his memoir.
[00:40:58] After.
[00:40:58] Oh,
[00:40:59] wow.
[00:41:00] Optimously.
[00:41:01] That's incredible.
[00:41:01] But then he passed away.
[00:41:03] And his widow asked who I also know quite well,
[00:41:05] asked if I would do it.
[00:41:06] And I said,
[00:41:07] absolutely.
[00:41:09] that's an honor.
[00:41:11] And,
[00:41:11] uh,
[00:41:12] so the engineer started recommending me to other people.
[00:41:16] And I was on a fairly regular basis for,
[00:41:19] I don't know how many years.
[00:41:21] And then I had an audition one day and I went in and did the audition and,
[00:41:26] um,
[00:41:27] ended up not getting the part,
[00:41:28] but the casting person who was fabulous,
[00:41:31] uh,
[00:41:32] said,
[00:41:32] do you have an agent?
[00:41:33] And I said,
[00:41:34] yeah,
[00:41:34] no,
[00:41:34] I don't.
[00:41:35] I've been thinking maybe I should get one.
[00:41:39] Do you have anybody in mind?
[00:41:42] And I said,
[00:41:42] well,
[00:41:42] there was this one talent agent in town.
[00:41:45] It was the big talent agent.
[00:41:47] And my ex-wife had been with her.
[00:41:49] And I think,
[00:41:50] I don't know if by then I directed her son in a play.
[00:41:53] Anyway,
[00:41:53] I thought,
[00:41:53] well,
[00:41:53] maybe I'll talk to Tish was her name.
[00:41:56] So,
[00:41:57] well,
[00:41:57] I'm sure she would love to have you.
[00:41:59] They'd be delighted to have you on their roster,
[00:42:01] but there's this new agent in town.
[00:42:05] You might be interested in,
[00:42:07] uh,
[00:42:08] she's got more of a boutique agency.
[00:42:10] And I thought,
[00:42:11] oh,
[00:42:11] okay,
[00:42:12] sure.
[00:42:12] And as is my want,
[00:42:15] you know,
[00:42:15] I,
[00:42:15] I put in the back of my mind and I probably would not have thought about it
[00:42:18] again,
[00:42:19] except the next morning at 9am,
[00:42:21] I was still in bed having been as usual up late doing God knows what
[00:42:26] and the phone rings and I reach and I'm going to go,
[00:42:30] hello.
[00:42:31] And this voice says,
[00:42:32] Jeff,
[00:42:33] hi,
[00:42:33] it's Topo Swope.
[00:42:34] Uh,
[00:42:34] talk to Jody Rothfield.
[00:42:35] I understand you're looking for an agent.
[00:42:36] I'd love to represent you.
[00:42:38] Uh,
[00:42:39] can you come in and talk to me about it?
[00:42:40] It was like,
[00:42:40] uh,
[00:42:41] yeah.
[00:42:42] And she said,
[00:42:43] well,
[00:42:43] how about Monday?
[00:42:44] It was a Friday.
[00:42:45] And I said,
[00:42:45] sure.
[00:42:46] Yeah.
[00:42:46] What time?
[00:42:47] She said,
[00:42:48] meanwhile,
[00:42:48] I'd like to send you out today for a TV audition for a series that
[00:42:53] was,
[00:42:54] you know,
[00:42:55] being shot in.
[00:42:56] It was Northern exposure.
[00:42:58] TV series.
[00:42:59] Oh,
[00:42:59] hitting the ground running.
[00:43:00] Oh yeah.
[00:43:00] I went out and did it,
[00:43:02] you know,
[00:43:03] and Topo,
[00:43:04] as it turns out was from Los Angeles.
[00:43:06] Her mother was an actress named Dorothy McGuire.
[00:43:09] And if you've ever seen the movie of Swiss family Robinson,
[00:43:14] she's the mother in that film.
[00:43:17] Oh,
[00:43:17] oh wow.
[00:43:18] It was also in the film Peyton place,
[00:43:20] which spawned this huge successful TV series.
[00:43:24] She also,
[00:43:25] um,
[00:43:27] did a film called,
[00:43:28] um,
[00:43:30] uh,
[00:43:30] oh God.
[00:43:31] Spiral staircase where she plays a servant who is being threatened by a
[00:43:39] mysterious figure.
[00:43:41] Who's a killer.
[00:43:42] I think she's mute.
[00:43:45] I can't remember.
[00:43:45] It's been so long since anyway,
[00:43:47] Dorothy McGuire discovered by Henry Honda.
[00:43:50] right.
[00:43:51] Oh wow.
[00:43:52] She got her Hollywood career and she was a Hollywood star.
[00:43:56] And Topo was her daughter and Topo had done some acting and stuff and
[00:43:59] then moved to Seattle and decided she wanted to be an agent.
[00:44:02] And that's how we got together.
[00:44:03] And it was Topo who called one day.
[00:44:07] She would always call and say,
[00:44:09] you've got an audition here,
[00:44:11] there,
[00:44:11] wherever.
[00:44:12] It's like,
[00:44:12] okay.
[00:44:13] So one day I get a call and she says,
[00:44:15] you've got an audition out of Microsoft.
[00:44:16] And I'd done some stuff for Microsoft,
[00:44:18] done a couple of games,
[00:44:21] um,
[00:44:21] small ones,
[00:44:22] you know,
[00:44:22] nothing that ever went anywhere terribly important.
[00:44:25] And,
[00:44:26] uh,
[00:44:26] I said,
[00:44:27] okay,
[00:44:27] what time,
[00:44:28] where,
[00:44:28] when,
[00:44:29] you know,
[00:44:29] it's going to be at the,
[00:44:30] uh,
[00:44:30] main campus,
[00:44:31] uh,
[00:44:32] whatever clock it was going to be.
[00:44:34] Uh,
[00:44:34] I said,
[00:44:35] what do I need to do?
[00:44:36] Just show up.
[00:44:37] They'll have the copy there.
[00:44:38] It's like,
[00:44:39] okay,
[00:44:39] what is it?
[00:44:40] And she said,
[00:44:40] it's a,
[00:44:41] it's a new game.
[00:44:42] And I said,
[00:44:43] uh-huh.
[00:44:43] I said,
[00:44:44] so,
[00:44:45] did it have a name?
[00:44:46] She said,
[00:44:46] I think it's called Halo.
[00:44:48] Oh.
[00:44:49] Yeah.
[00:44:49] So I drove out there as I would for any audition.
[00:44:52] Went in my car,
[00:44:54] went inside,
[00:44:54] went into,
[00:44:55] you know,
[00:44:55] it was finally,
[00:44:56] I was called to go in an audition.
[00:44:59] I think Marty was there.
[00:45:00] I can't remember for sure.
[00:45:02] I would meet Marty.
[00:45:04] I think I met Marty actually when I went in to record.
[00:45:06] But I could be.
[00:45:07] Are you referring to,
[00:45:08] uh,
[00:45:13] he is the composer of the score.
[00:45:17] And he's the man who was in charge of the first three games.
[00:45:21] He was the big boss.
[00:45:23] And,
[00:45:23] um,
[00:45:24] he must've been there.
[00:45:25] Yes.
[00:45:26] I think he gave me the only direction I got.
[00:45:27] So what happened was every actress and actor in town who did voice work was called in to audition for the game.
[00:45:35] Marty had come from Chicago with Bungie.
[00:45:38] That's where his company had been located originally when Microsoft decided they wanted Bungie and Halo.
[00:45:44] Everybody moved out to Seattle.
[00:45:47] When Marty was in Chicago,
[00:45:49] the people he worked with were all Chicago actors because as everyone knows,
[00:45:53] Chicago has insanely amazing actors.
[00:45:56] They've turned out,
[00:45:58] you know,
[00:45:59] and comedians.
[00:45:59] I mean,
[00:46:00] it's just,
[00:46:02] so Marty thought,
[00:46:03] well,
[00:46:03] I'm going to be in Seattle.
[00:46:05] I should,
[00:46:05] you know,
[00:46:06] I understand it's got a great talent pool.
[00:46:08] Let's see if we can't cast as much of this as we can from that.
[00:46:12] So we all,
[00:46:13] the men all had to read master chief.
[00:46:15] And I,
[00:46:16] I remember reading an alien,
[00:46:18] the women all read Cortana.
[00:46:21] And then everybody who auditioned had to,
[00:46:24] um,
[00:46:25] act like they were being,
[00:46:27] uh,
[00:46:28] destroyed.
[00:46:29] You know,
[00:46:30] they had to scream and,
[00:46:31] and,
[00:46:32] you know,
[00:46:33] wail and like react.
[00:46:34] And.
[00:46:36] Exactly.
[00:46:37] I have no doubt.
[00:46:39] And I really,
[00:46:40] somewhere in that first game,
[00:46:42] you can hear me screaming.
[00:46:44] Um,
[00:46:44] because they had it.
[00:46:46] Why wouldn't they have paid for it?
[00:46:48] Of course they used it,
[00:46:48] but I never,
[00:46:49] I never found it or anybody,
[00:46:51] you know,
[00:46:51] who knew where it was.
[00:46:53] So I,
[00:46:54] you know,
[00:46:54] the end of the session,
[00:46:55] which was reasonably brief as most of them are,
[00:46:59] um,
[00:46:59] I,
[00:47:00] they said,
[00:47:00] well,
[00:47:00] thanks a lot.
[00:47:00] Yeah.
[00:47:01] That's great.
[00:47:01] And I was like,
[00:47:02] okay,
[00:47:02] goodbye.
[00:47:03] Thinking that's the last of that.
[00:47:06] And then I get a call from my agent saying,
[00:47:08] they want you in the game.
[00:47:10] Now it's a longer story,
[00:47:11] so I won't tell it necessarily,
[00:47:14] but I was told by my,
[00:47:16] part two,
[00:47:17] they want you for master chief.
[00:47:19] They,
[00:47:19] your cast is master chief.
[00:47:21] And I went,
[00:47:21] and I went really.
[00:47:23] And it's like,
[00:47:24] okay,
[00:47:25] but remember,
[00:47:26] I don't know what that means.
[00:47:29] That's true.
[00:47:32] Was that's true.
[00:47:33] Yeah.
[00:47:34] You know,
[00:47:34] since nobody did artwork,
[00:47:36] I'd seen like,
[00:47:37] you know,
[00:47:38] six lines or a half a page of lines.
[00:47:40] And that could mean you're like general of this part of the army.
[00:47:44] And like,
[00:47:45] yeah,
[00:47:46] totally.
[00:47:46] You know,
[00:47:47] anything.
[00:47:48] It's like a soldier.
[00:47:49] And I was asked if I could,
[00:47:51] you know,
[00:47:52] sort of do it like Clint Eastwood.
[00:47:54] And it was like,
[00:47:54] oh,
[00:47:55] okay.
[00:47:55] Clint Eastwood,
[00:47:56] you know,
[00:47:57] you're kind of doing it,
[00:47:58] you know,
[00:47:59] sort of in the back of your throat kind of thing.
[00:48:01] Something like that.
[00:48:02] Nice.
[00:48:04] It is what it is.
[00:48:06] Not bad.
[00:48:06] Almost,
[00:48:07] but almost Logan Wolverine like to there.
[00:48:10] I liked it.
[00:48:10] Yeah.
[00:48:11] Well,
[00:48:12] that was just what,
[00:48:12] you know,
[00:48:13] it was kind of like that kind of a feeling and he had to have some,
[00:48:16] you know,
[00:48:16] cojones and stuff.
[00:48:18] So anyway,
[00:48:19] and so I thought,
[00:48:20] well,
[00:48:21] time passes.
[00:48:22] Everybody.
[00:48:22] I know who's in the game,
[00:48:24] David Scully,
[00:48:25] who was Sergeant Johnson,
[00:48:26] all the other actors,
[00:48:27] they all go in,
[00:48:28] they're all recording.
[00:48:28] And I haven't been called yet.
[00:48:30] I finally called Jen,
[00:48:31] Jen Taylor,
[00:48:32] who's a friend.
[00:48:33] And I say,
[00:48:34] um,
[00:48:35] have you recorded yet?
[00:48:37] And she went,
[00:48:37] oh yeah,
[00:48:37] I finished all my stuff like a couple of weeks ago.
[00:48:39] And I thought,
[00:48:40] Oh,
[00:48:40] Oh,
[00:48:41] I called Topo.
[00:48:42] And I said,
[00:48:45] Topo,
[00:48:46] um,
[00:48:47] all everybody I know has been into record for Halo.
[00:48:49] What's going on?
[00:48:49] She went,
[00:48:50] Oh,
[00:48:50] I'll,
[00:48:50] I'll give them a call.
[00:48:51] Find out.
[00:48:52] She called me back shortly thereafter.
[00:48:53] She said,
[00:48:54] well,
[00:48:54] I've got good news and I got bad news.
[00:48:55] And I said,
[00:48:56] uh,
[00:48:57] Marty got cold feet about using you for master chief because he's not worked with you before.
[00:49:05] So he decided to go with somebody he knew in Chicago that somebody, as we all know, is Steve
[00:49:12] down.
[00:49:14] And in,
[00:49:15] you know,
[00:49:15] over the years,
[00:49:16] I've come to the conclusion that everything works out the way it's supposed to work out because I, having heard Steve,
[00:49:26] I'd say,
[00:49:27] I couldn't have done that.
[00:49:29] You know,
[00:49:30] it is truly inconceivable that that isn't master chief,
[00:49:34] you know?
[00:49:35] So they said,
[00:49:36] yeah.
[00:49:37] Topo said,
[00:49:37] but the good news is they want you to be the announcer for the game.
[00:49:39] And it was like,
[00:49:40] well,
[00:49:41] that doesn't sound interesting.
[00:49:43] I'm feeling it or something,
[00:49:45] you know,
[00:49:45] a character.
[00:49:48] So I go into the first day to record for the game and I park,
[00:49:52] I have to go through security,
[00:49:53] which I've never done at Microsoft before.
[00:49:56] You know,
[00:49:56] I mean,
[00:49:56] literally there was a guard there that,
[00:49:58] and that while they checked my ID and everything,
[00:50:00] it's like,
[00:50:01] it's me.
[00:50:02] What?
[00:50:02] No,
[00:50:02] come on.
[00:50:03] So I went in and Marty came out and he got me and we chatted a little bit.
[00:50:07] Then he took me into a big room where all the work was going on.
[00:50:09] Everybody was at computer terminals.
[00:50:11] So,
[00:50:11] you know,
[00:50:11] it's like one of those films were like,
[00:50:13] we're in a newsroom and there seemed to be a hundred desks and everybody's got
[00:50:17] their little computer and they're all working.
[00:50:18] And he said,
[00:50:19] Jeff,
[00:50:19] let me introduce you to some people.
[00:50:21] I was meeting people.
[00:50:22] Of course,
[00:50:23] I didn't remember anybody's names,
[00:50:25] you know,
[00:50:27] Sony people,
[00:50:28] but they were,
[00:50:28] and it was showing me the artwork and it was like,
[00:50:30] dear God,
[00:50:31] it was hyper real.
[00:50:32] It was for Ben.
[00:50:34] Unbelievable.
[00:50:35] And he showed me a halo ring and I didn't know what it was,
[00:50:38] but he said,
[00:50:39] this is the halo ring.
[00:50:41] And it's like,
[00:50:41] Oh,
[00:50:42] okay.
[00:50:43] Sure.
[00:50:44] Yeah.
[00:50:44] Sure.
[00:50:45] The ring man.
[00:50:47] It's big.
[00:50:48] Yeah.
[00:50:50] He said,
[00:50:50] okay,
[00:50:50] we should probably get you working.
[00:50:53] He said,
[00:50:53] let's go to the booth.
[00:50:54] He says,
[00:50:54] okay,
[00:50:54] what are you going to do for the voice?
[00:50:55] And I was like,
[00:50:56] I don't know.
[00:50:56] What do you want?
[00:50:57] And he said,
[00:50:58] well,
[00:50:59] can you do monster truck rally?
[00:51:01] Monster truck rally.
[00:51:03] Saturday,
[00:51:03] Sunday,
[00:51:04] Sunday,
[00:51:04] Sunday.
[00:51:04] Yeah.
[00:51:05] I said,
[00:51:05] I can do that.
[00:51:06] He said,
[00:51:07] okay,
[00:51:07] we'll pull it back a little bit.
[00:51:09] Monster truck rally.
[00:51:11] And then he said,
[00:51:12] you did it be alien.
[00:51:13] Right.
[00:51:14] And I said,
[00:51:14] yes,
[00:51:15] I did.
[00:51:16] And it was sort of,
[00:51:17] you know,
[00:51:17] a bad emperor Palpatine or something.
[00:51:22] A little of that.
[00:51:23] So we're adding all these different flavors.
[00:51:26] And after about 20 minutes,
[00:51:27] maybe he said,
[00:51:28] I think we got it.
[00:51:29] And it was like,
[00:51:30] okay.
[00:51:31] So.
[00:51:31] Oh,
[00:51:32] that's it.
[00:51:33] All right.
[00:51:34] Start off.
[00:51:34] And we did it.
[00:51:36] And that was nice.
[00:51:38] That was the short version.
[00:51:40] And that's how it was.
[00:51:41] I got the audition.
[00:51:43] And the rest is history.
[00:51:45] It is.
[00:51:46] History.
[00:51:47] As it turns out.
[00:51:49] One of the things that sort of made,
[00:51:51] cheered me up a little bit when I was told I was going to be the announcer,
[00:51:53] the guy who was the,
[00:51:54] one of the sound designers,
[00:51:56] Jay Weinblatt,
[00:51:57] who I worked with a lot,
[00:51:58] said,
[00:51:59] Jeff,
[00:51:59] they're going to hear you more than anything else in the game.
[00:52:02] And I went,
[00:52:02] yeah,
[00:52:03] really,
[00:52:04] again,
[00:52:04] ego,
[00:52:05] right?
[00:52:05] Really?
[00:52:06] Oh,
[00:52:06] that it's okay.
[00:52:08] You know,
[00:52:09] but yeah,
[00:52:11] that was how it was.
[00:52:11] I mean,
[00:52:12] to your point,
[00:52:13] Jeff,
[00:52:14] I can remember shortly after Halo coming out and the introduction of like Halo 2.
[00:52:20] And I can remember doing LAN parties.
[00:52:22] Oh,
[00:52:22] yeah.
[00:52:22] At friends' houses where we have TVs.
[00:52:24] We're all bringing in TVs.
[00:52:25] The good old LAN parties.
[00:52:27] The good old LAN party,
[00:52:28] man.
[00:52:28] Oh,
[00:52:28] yeah.
[00:52:28] Your voice,
[00:52:30] seriously,
[00:52:30] since the game has come out,
[00:52:31] like it's always been the multiplayer.
[00:52:34] It's to your point.
[00:52:35] We heard it more than just playing the game.
[00:52:38] Oh,
[00:52:39] I mean,
[00:52:39] it's one of the great,
[00:52:40] it's one of the great injustices of the world that,
[00:52:44] you know,
[00:52:45] Steve hardly breaks a sweat when he goes into it.
[00:52:50] Or because he doesn't say a whole lot like Clint Eastwood,
[00:52:54] you know,
[00:52:55] yeah,
[00:52:55] much like exactly.
[00:52:59] But yeah,
[00:53:00] it,
[00:53:01] you know,
[00:53:01] I worked a whole lot harder,
[00:53:02] you know,
[00:53:03] we'd always have a lot more to do.
[00:53:05] He's a delightful person.
[00:53:08] I didn't meet him until 2020.
[00:53:11] Wow.
[00:53:13] I'd known Jen,
[00:53:14] knew Scully,
[00:53:15] knew a lot of,
[00:53:16] you know,
[00:53:16] the other people.
[00:53:17] I've never met Keith David.
[00:53:19] And I said,
[00:53:20] really?
[00:53:21] It's a live works.
[00:53:22] I said,
[00:53:22] if you can,
[00:53:24] is there any chance you,
[00:53:26] because we've been putting together,
[00:53:27] you know,
[00:53:28] events where they send us all out.
[00:53:31] So it'll be Steve.
[00:53:32] And then like either Bruce Thomas,
[00:53:35] who's the motion capture master chief.
[00:53:37] And one of the stars of the latest call of duty game.
[00:53:41] Or like had Tim Dadaabo was with us in Columbus,
[00:53:45] who was guilty spark.
[00:53:48] Is that his name?
[00:53:49] Yeah.
[00:53:49] Yes.
[00:53:51] And I said,
[00:53:52] it'd be,
[00:53:53] I'd love to,
[00:53:53] you know,
[00:53:54] maybe go to one of those things with Keith.
[00:53:56] And it was like,
[00:53:57] we'll keep that in mind.
[00:53:58] That's a great idea.
[00:53:59] So,
[00:54:00] and of course I've known him as an actor from long before.
[00:54:03] I knew he was in halo.
[00:54:04] I didn't know.
[00:54:05] I have no idea for the longest time.
[00:54:11] So Jeff,
[00:54:12] one of the things that we like to ask our,
[00:54:14] our guests that are,
[00:54:15] you know,
[00:54:16] actors and stuff like that is what's the biggest piece of advice that you
[00:54:20] could give to anybody that was looking to get into either stage voiceover
[00:54:25] or film as an actor.
[00:54:31] Gosh,
[00:54:32] that's a much more complex question.
[00:54:34] And I can answer in,
[00:54:36] you know,
[00:54:37] simply,
[00:54:38] I will try to not bloviate for long.
[00:54:44] Anybody can pretty much do stage work,
[00:54:46] no matter where they live,
[00:54:47] because almost anywhere you are is going to have a community theater or a
[00:54:50] high school drama program.
[00:54:51] You can do plays.
[00:54:53] And that's how you get started.
[00:54:55] Because as with anything,
[00:54:57] you have to start somewhere.
[00:54:58] And once you start,
[00:55:00] if you really,
[00:55:02] really,
[00:55:02] really love it,
[00:55:03] then you will want to do it some more to the point where you may end up
[00:55:07] moving to one of the bigger cities where you can actually hope to make
[00:55:11] some money doing it.
[00:55:14] Voiceover at one time,
[00:55:15] I might've said,
[00:55:16] you have to go to New York or LA because they're two of the bigger centers
[00:55:20] for voiceover work.
[00:55:22] But even before the pandemic,
[00:55:25] more and more people were investing in their own studios.
[00:55:28] But once the pandemic came,
[00:55:30] you had to have your own studio.
[00:55:32] It used to be,
[00:55:33] I would get a call to an audition.
[00:55:35] And just as I did for Halo,
[00:55:37] I would drive down to where the audition was.
[00:55:40] I'd park my car.
[00:55:41] I'd hope I put in enough change.
[00:55:43] I'd walk in,
[00:55:44] check in,
[00:55:45] go in and sit with a bunch of other voice actors competing for the same role.
[00:55:48] All of whom I knew we would chat and laugh and be told to quiet down.
[00:55:53] And then eventually you'd be called in,
[00:55:55] you do the audition,
[00:55:56] you'd finish it.
[00:55:57] You'd check out,
[00:55:58] you'd go home,
[00:55:59] you know,
[00:56:00] you got it or you didn't get it,
[00:56:01] or you got a call back.
[00:56:02] You didn't.
[00:56:03] That never happens.
[00:56:05] Now what happens is I've got a New York agent,
[00:56:08] Stuart talent,
[00:56:10] and I will get an email saying you have an audition.
[00:56:14] This is the copy.
[00:56:16] This is what they're looking for.
[00:56:17] This is when we need it by,
[00:56:19] you know,
[00:56:20] they've already vetted my studio.
[00:56:21] They decided that the studio is good enough that they can send.
[00:56:25] I can send samples of my own voice that I've recorded and I've edited and
[00:56:31] mastered for an audition in.
[00:56:34] And,
[00:56:35] you know,
[00:56:36] then we see what goes with it there.
[00:56:37] So you can do now voiceover from pretty much anywhere.
[00:56:44] Oh yeah.
[00:56:45] Nice.
[00:56:45] Yeah.
[00:56:46] Yeah.
[00:56:47] Films and TV.
[00:56:49] It's different.
[00:56:50] You sort of,
[00:56:51] I mean,
[00:56:52] it is,
[00:56:53] for instance,
[00:56:54] I had a recurring role in the TV series of the fugitive with Tim Daly and
[00:56:59] Michael T.
[00:56:59] Williamson,
[00:57:00] because they shot it here.
[00:57:03] And I was lucky enough.
[00:57:04] I didn't know it was shot in Seattle.
[00:57:06] No way.
[00:57:07] All the places it was pretending to be.
[00:57:10] We're only around Seattle.
[00:57:13] Oh my God.
[00:57:14] And some of them,
[00:57:15] this is the best part is they,
[00:57:17] they,
[00:57:17] their major studio was a,
[00:57:20] an airplane hanger.
[00:57:22] So for the scenes where we're all in our,
[00:57:25] at our desks,
[00:57:27] it was just this big room with these big desk walls.
[00:57:31] Walls that could be pulled away.
[00:57:34] Wow.
[00:57:35] Right.
[00:57:36] And then like kept into tight shots and like,
[00:57:38] Oh,
[00:57:38] I framed.
[00:57:39] Oh my God.
[00:57:40] Huge windows on the other side of which was like a big drop.
[00:57:44] It was a photograph.
[00:57:47] That's awesome.
[00:57:49] Wow.
[00:57:50] So it looked real.
[00:57:51] If you saw it now,
[00:57:52] you'd go,
[00:57:53] that's a real location.
[00:57:54] No,
[00:57:55] it wasn't.
[00:57:56] And as I say,
[00:57:58] we,
[00:57:58] everybody had a desk in this large kind of,
[00:58:01] you know,
[00:58:01] room like,
[00:58:02] you know,
[00:58:03] all the president's men or any of those newspaper things.
[00:58:06] Then one day I get a script for what ends up being the last.
[00:58:10] Episode I was in.
[00:58:12] And it was,
[00:58:14] you know,
[00:58:14] we find my character.
[00:58:19] Was I art Zimmerman?
[00:58:21] Art Zimmerman was my name,
[00:58:23] I believe.
[00:58:24] And we,
[00:58:25] we find art in his office.
[00:58:28] And I went,
[00:58:29] um,
[00:58:30] I don't have an office.
[00:58:33] And they were like,
[00:58:34] yeah,
[00:58:35] you will tomorrow.
[00:58:37] When you shoot,
[00:58:38] there will be an office.
[00:58:39] And I said,
[00:58:40] how's that going to happen?
[00:58:41] Because the production designer was a.
[00:58:45] Just a genius.
[00:58:46] And they said,
[00:58:47] remember when we shot that sequence,
[00:58:49] when you're in the control center and it was dark and there were all
[00:58:51] these TV screens and screens.
[00:58:54] And you and Michael T were like talking about,
[00:58:56] you know,
[00:58:57] information you were finding,
[00:58:58] trying to sort of figure out some mystery.
[00:59:00] And I was like,
[00:59:01] yeah,
[00:59:01] he said,
[00:59:02] that's going to be your office.
[00:59:04] So I thought,
[00:59:05] well,
[00:59:06] we'll see.
[00:59:07] So I,
[00:59:07] you know,
[00:59:08] I get a ride to my car and I drive home.
[00:59:10] And the next morning I drive park and get a ride to the studio.
[00:59:13] And they said,
[00:59:13] you want to come see your office?
[00:59:15] And I went,
[00:59:16] sure.
[00:59:16] And they opened the door to this room.
[00:59:19] That's about the size of a study somewhere.
[00:59:24] And it's got a desk.
[00:59:26] It's got a chair.
[00:59:27] It's got another chair.
[00:59:28] It's got all this memorabilia.
[00:59:30] It's got,
[00:59:31] you know,
[00:59:33] pizza.
[00:59:34] So they knew how to dress on that show.
[00:59:38] That's so cool.
[00:59:39] One of the reasons we didn't get renewed was that every episode cost around a
[00:59:43] million dollars.
[00:59:46] And that's 2001,
[00:59:48] a million dollars.
[00:59:49] Exactly.
[00:59:51] Wasn't that crazy?
[00:59:52] Anyway,
[00:59:53] it could not have been more cool.
[00:59:55] Yeah.
[00:59:55] It was great.
[00:59:56] Great fun.
[00:59:58] Well,
[00:59:59] I just,
[01:00:00] I just,
[01:00:00] you need to go most.
[01:00:02] I'm sorry.
[01:00:03] I was in the middle.
[01:00:03] You're fine.
[01:00:04] No,
[01:00:06] movies or TV.
[01:00:08] Eventually you had to New York or you had to Los Angeles.
[01:00:11] If you're young and talented,
[01:00:14] and recently good looking or quirky or something.
[01:00:17] And if you're really,
[01:00:18] really,
[01:00:18] really,
[01:00:18] really,
[01:00:19] really are willing to do anything you can to do it.
[01:00:21] You go to LA and you try and get into movies.
[01:00:26] Wow.
[01:00:26] That's it.
[01:00:28] There's a lot of work in New York,
[01:00:30] TV and movies,
[01:00:31] but I still think LA is where young folks should go.
[01:00:38] Yeah.
[01:00:38] And then you do whatever you can,
[01:00:41] you know,
[01:00:42] so that someday you can get an agent because then you can get set out and,
[01:00:46] you know,
[01:00:47] meet as many people as possible.
[01:00:49] Basically what you want to do is you've got to want to do this more than
[01:00:54] anything else in the world.
[01:00:56] You've got to be willing to say yes.
[01:00:58] Every single time.
[01:01:00] Until you don't know,
[01:01:02] because everything is experienced.
[01:01:04] And the more experience you have,
[01:01:06] the better you will get at whatever job you're doing,
[01:01:10] whether it's being,
[01:01:11] you know,
[01:01:11] holding the stage in a 3000 seat theater,
[01:01:15] whether it's,
[01:01:16] you know,
[01:01:16] standing in front of multiple cameras with a crew of 30 people all around you,
[01:01:22] you know,
[01:01:23] and you have to not notice them,
[01:01:24] you know,
[01:01:26] memorizing bunches of lines,
[01:01:28] TV is the same way voiceover.
[01:01:30] When it's time to go in and produce,
[01:01:32] you can go in and produce,
[01:01:34] you know,
[01:01:35] I mean,
[01:01:36] that's really what it,
[01:01:37] what it's all about.
[01:01:39] But I would say the most important thing is to want it as much as
[01:01:44] anything in your life and then go for it.
[01:01:48] And if you do want it that badly,
[01:01:50] chances are,
[01:01:52] you'll do it.
[01:01:52] It'll happen.
[01:01:53] Yeah.
[01:01:54] That's amazing advice.
[01:01:56] But yeah,
[01:01:57] so I just looked at the time.
[01:01:58] We're already up at the,
[01:01:59] you know,
[01:02:00] top of the hour of the show.
[01:02:01] Oh my gosh.
[01:02:02] Like I can see here and listen to stories from you.
[01:02:04] I thought we were only like 20 minutes in to be honest.
[01:02:08] I just looked up.
[01:02:08] I was like,
[01:02:09] wow.
[01:02:10] Oh,
[01:02:10] I knew where the kids are being.
[01:02:12] Yeah.
[01:02:14] But no,
[01:02:15] definitely appreciate you coming on Jeff.
[01:02:17] So for all of our listeners,
[01:02:19] I have a guest profile already built on the website for Jeff.
[01:02:26] It has a link to his website.
[01:02:28] Go,
[01:02:28] go check that out.
[01:02:29] It's got a lot of great information about Jeff and,
[01:02:31] and his career and some of the services he does.
[01:02:34] So if you happen to be a,
[01:02:35] a casting director or something,
[01:02:38] you want to hire Jeff,
[01:02:39] Hey,
[01:02:40] his contact information is,
[01:02:41] is on a crashing game night.com.
[01:02:43] Um,
[01:02:44] drop some names really easily.
[01:02:47] Um,
[01:02:48] but you know,
[01:02:49] with that,
[01:02:50] um,
[01:02:51] to our,
[01:02:51] our listeners,
[01:02:52] this first time you were crashing with us.
[01:02:53] Thank you.
[01:02:54] You know,
[01:02:54] we appreciate you giving us a chance.
[01:02:56] My pleasure.
[01:02:57] My pleasure.
[01:02:58] Yeah.
[01:02:58] And you are so much fun to just listen.
[01:03:01] I could listen to your stories forever.
[01:03:03] Oh yeah.
[01:03:04] We're going to have to meet again.
[01:03:05] I told you,
[01:03:06] all you have to do is pull the string,
[01:03:09] ask the question,
[01:03:11] and let it go.
[01:03:13] But,
[01:03:13] but above all,
[01:03:14] we also just want to say thank you for,
[01:03:17] for essentially our childhood.
[01:03:19] And just like,
[01:03:20] like we said earlier,
[01:03:21] being that voice,
[01:03:23] being a part of our lives in that way,
[01:03:25] because it's generational,
[01:03:27] man.
[01:03:27] It's,
[01:03:28] it's not just our generation,
[01:03:30] but it's gone on and,
[01:03:32] and we really appreciate it.
[01:03:34] So thank you.
[01:03:35] Okay.
[01:03:35] Uh,
[01:03:36] what do you want to hear?
[01:03:38] Oh,
[01:03:39] for me,
[01:03:39] I'm a,
[01:03:40] I'm a classic dudes.
[01:03:41] I double kill.
[01:03:43] Double kill.
[01:03:45] Me.
[01:03:46] It's always been running.
[01:03:47] Right.
[01:03:48] Running.
[01:03:49] Running.
[01:03:49] Right.
[01:03:52] Oh my gosh.
[01:03:54] That's the name of the,
[01:03:55] the name of this episode was oddball on the running.
[01:03:57] Right.
[01:03:58] Yes.
[01:03:59] So awesome.
[01:04:01] But thank you again,
[01:04:02] sir.
[01:04:02] And thank you for joining so much.
[01:04:04] But to our listeners,
[01:04:05] like we close out all the,
[01:04:06] I close out all the shows,
[01:04:08] especially with everything that's going on right now in the world.
[01:04:11] A lot of uncertainty as far as what's going to be happening,
[01:04:13] especially here in the States,
[01:04:14] especially with some of the news that's come out last couple of days.
[01:04:18] Just please be excellent to each other.
[01:04:22] That's right.
[01:04:23] All you nerds out there.
[01:04:24] Uh,
[01:04:24] I'm going to keep it short this time,
[01:04:25] but let's just,
[01:04:26] uh,
[01:04:27] uh,
[01:04:27] once again,
[01:04:28] let's just promote the,
[01:04:29] uh,
[01:04:30] same,
[01:04:30] uh,
[01:04:31] from,
[01:04:32] you know,
[01:04:32] same movement.
[01:04:33] Let's just try and do and be better.
[01:04:36] Let's just try and,
[01:04:37] uh,
[01:04:38] lend out a helping hand and,
[01:04:39] uh,
[01:04:39] just try and be there for one another and just try and,
[01:04:42] uh,
[01:04:43] see if we can help out,
[01:04:44] uh,
[01:04:45] and be safe out there to J rock.
[01:04:47] Go on baby.
[01:04:48] Um,
[01:04:49] one other question that I need to ask you for sure,
[01:04:52] Jeff.
[01:04:53] And I asked all my first time,
[01:04:55] all the first time guests we have on board game night for your family game
[01:05:00] night,
[01:05:01] whether it be friends,
[01:05:02] family,
[01:05:03] coworkers,
[01:05:03] whatever it may be.
[01:05:04] What is your go-to board game or like card game or any of those games?
[01:05:11] Oh dear God.
[01:05:12] I am.
[01:05:13] I'm,
[01:05:13] I'm going to sound like an old retired person from Florida.
[01:05:18] Uh,
[01:05:18] my friends and I play Pinochle.
[01:05:21] Hey,
[01:05:21] all right.
[01:05:23] Cool.
[01:05:23] Classics never.
[01:05:27] Unlike bridge.
[01:05:28] You don't really have to be paying too close attention.
[01:05:34] Thank God.
[01:05:36] Beautiful.
[01:05:37] That's awesome.
[01:05:37] I like that.
[01:05:38] I like it.
[01:05:39] I love it.
[01:05:39] I love it.
[01:05:40] Yeah.
[01:05:40] Don't worry.
[01:05:41] Don't worry.
[01:05:41] Like I am,
[01:05:42] I am a big Mahjong player.
[01:05:43] Like the guys know,
[01:05:44] I love playing Mahjong.
[01:05:45] So awesome.
[01:05:46] Absolutely.
[01:05:47] So cool.
[01:05:48] I love board games though.
[01:05:49] I love board games.
[01:05:50] Yeah.
[01:05:50] That's so good.
[01:05:51] They,
[01:05:52] they,
[01:05:52] they,
[01:05:53] they bring people together so much like closer.
[01:05:55] Like you can just laugh.
[01:05:57] Sometimes you don't even finish and you're just like,
[01:05:59] you know,
[01:06:00] and you just have a good time.
[01:06:02] Absolutely.
[01:06:04] but again,
[01:06:05] thank you for coming on tonight.
[01:06:06] Like it was just,
[01:06:08] we're just so happy to have like literally one of the childhood voices of,
[01:06:14] or,
[01:06:14] and generations to come,
[01:06:16] you know,
[01:06:16] like,
[01:06:17] thank you so much.
[01:06:17] It's,
[01:06:18] it's just an honor.
[01:06:19] Um,
[01:06:20] yeah,
[01:06:21] going to keep it simple.
[01:06:22] It's a Thanksgiving.
[01:06:23] Hey,
[01:06:23] you know what?
[01:06:24] Happy Thanksgiving,
[01:06:25] Jeff.
[01:06:25] Happy Thanksgiving.
[01:06:26] And happy Thanksgiving.
[01:06:28] Early.
[01:06:28] That's right.
[01:06:29] All of you,
[01:06:30] you know,
[01:06:31] everybody.
[01:06:31] It's a big Thanksgiving.
[01:06:32] It's my birthday as well.
[01:06:34] Oh,
[01:06:35] and happy birthday.
[01:06:35] Happy birthday.
[01:06:36] Early birthday as well.
[01:06:38] Happy early birthday.
[01:06:39] You know,
[01:06:40] like get,
[01:06:42] hopefully you have everybody out there.
[01:06:44] If you're watching,
[01:06:45] listening,
[01:06:45] if you're watching,
[01:06:46] you have a good,
[01:06:47] safe,
[01:06:47] happy Thanksgiving,
[01:06:48] you know,
[01:06:50] Jeff,
[01:06:50] you're always welcome back.
[01:06:52] The guys don't like this couch.
[01:06:54] I am,
[01:06:54] I'm for it,
[01:06:55] but you're always welcome back on the couch anytime you want.
[01:06:58] You know,
[01:06:59] Thank you.
[01:07:00] Thank you very much.
[01:07:02] We'll sip tea and we'll,
[01:07:03] we'll have a good time.
[01:07:05] So,
[01:07:05] but we're closing the show out.
[01:07:07] So my man,
[01:07:08] Theo Walski,
[01:07:10] send us out like you do.
[01:07:12] I have to say,
[01:07:13] Jeff,
[01:07:13] thank you again for,
[01:07:15] for joining us.
[01:07:15] It was just so amazing to have you on.
[01:07:18] And hopefully we have you on again where we get to meet and just
[01:07:21] listen to all your stories.
[01:07:22] It was just fricking amazing.
[01:07:24] Really appreciate it.
[01:07:26] But to all our listeners,
[01:07:27] to all our watchers,
[01:07:28] till next time,
[01:07:28] TGFN.
[01:07:29] Time's out for now.
[01:07:31] Good night,
[01:07:32] everybody.
