Award-Winning Actor Robert Craighead

 Meet my guest, award-winning actor, writer, producer, and country singer, Robert Craighead.

Robert  is respected as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood. He’s known for his recent roles in Seth Rogen's Hulu TV series, Future Man, as Detective Vincent Skarsgaard.

He was series regular, Sheriff Mobley on Tyler Perry's Too Close to Home and currently stars in his 4th Season as Sheriff Conley in Perry's Ruthless on BET Plus.

His notable career has spanned over 30 years. He has made guest appearances in hundreds of television shows including a very successful three-year run on the CBS series The Bold and the Beautiful. Robert’s had roles in over 50 feature films, performed in over 100 theatrical productions and has seen recent success as a country music singer.

Robert has appeared in several highly successful motion-capture video games. And with this voice, it’s not a wonder. He starred as Brok, the foul-mouthed blacksmith, in 2018's Video Game of the Year, God of War.

He also writes and produces his own projects in association with the production company he founded, Positude Productions. 

You can find all things Robert Craighead here:

Website

IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0186060/overview

Social Media

Instagram: # robert_craighead

Twitter: @robertcraighead

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialRobertCraigheadFanPage

Links mentioned in the episode

Flowers in December : Available to view for free at Bitpix (with free account sign-up)

My very first EVER interview with Robert and special guest Dee Wallace

7th Street - Josh Pais doc, (so good, ya’ll): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8oOb9Z5gq8 

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Transcript

Kathy: Hey guys. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad you've chosen to come hang out with me today, and I'm so excited for you to meet my friend and guest, award-winning actor, writer, producer, and country singer Robert Craighead. Robert is respected as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood. He's known for his recent roles in Seth Rogan's Hulu TV series, Future Man as Detective Vincent Skarsgaard, you know what? 

Audio from Robert’s acting reel Detective Skarsgaard in Future Man:

"You know what this sketch is missing? The corpse of my partner, Jorge Santiago. His widow behind him. Weeping. Belly swollen with child.

I used to know a guy a lot like that. My partner Jorge Santiago.

Jorge Santiago left a widow belly, swollen child. What the-- do you people do here?

Well, I better get going. The widow Santiago's coming over for dinner. Pretty soon her belly's gonna be swollen with meatloaf. "

Kathy: Robert was a series regular Sheriff Mobley on Tyler Perry's Too Close to Home and currently stars in his fourth season as Sheriff Conley in Perry's Ruthless on BET Plus. 

Audio from Robert’s acting reel – Sheriff Conley in Ruthless:

"I'm hearing horrible things about these people. I don't want another Waco, Jim Jones or Ruby Ridge or any of that crap in my town. I know none of us do. No, you don't understand how bad what I'm hearing is."

Kathy: His notable career has spanned over 30 years. He's made guest appearances in hundreds of television shows, including a very successful three-year run on CBS series the Bold and the Beautiful. Robert's had roles in over 50 feature films, performed in over a hundred theatrical productions, and has seen recent success as a country music singer.

Robert has appeared in several highly successful motion capture video games and with this voice, it's not a wonder. He starred as Brok the Foulmouthed blacksmith in 2018's video game of the year, God of War. 

Audio from Robert’s reel – Brok in God of War:

"Come. It was nice meeting you, Brok. I'll be thinking of a name for your beast. How about I name her fucking gratitude? Hey, fucking gratitude. Come over here. I like it. "

Kathy: He also writes and produces his own projects in association with the production company he founded, Positude Productions. Most recently, he starred opposite Brea Bee in Lucy's Last Song released in early 2023, winning multiple film festival awards. Prior to that, he produced the 2020 award-winning short film, Amazing Grace. His screenplay Catch a Fallen Star featuring music by CMA and Grammy-winner Paul Overstreet, is in the works and a television comedy pilot, And the Weeds Grow Taller, has garnered screenwriting awards at several recent film festivals. 

Originally from the tiny Texas oil town of Electra, Robert makes Los Angeles his home with his wife of over 30 years, Ms. Jenny.

I've known Robert for about 20 years. We're both alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and we spent some time working together in a scene study workshop in Los Angeles. 

Join us as we jump into this relaxed and fun conversation for some interesting Hollywood stories and a few laughs.

Welcome. And enjoy my chat with Robert Craighead.

Kathy: So hey, I have like a million questions that've been floating around my head for the past couple of weeks just thinking about us hanging out and visiting together. Cuz you know, it's like we've had these little touchstone moments over the last 20 years, but we've both kind of, then we touch and then you go do your thing, I go do my thing. But we haven't had a chance to like really like just sit down and like chat, so,

Robert: Yeah, I believe the last time we, we did this,I brought in Dee Wallace

with me. 

Kathy: I know. Thanks a lot. 

I mean, that was like the biggest mixed blessing because like my very first, you know, air quote interview and you know, Dee Wallace 

Kathy (cut in): Yeah. So, just real quick, I'm referring to trying my hand at this whole thing back in 2014 with my blog, I thought, hey, I should do some video interviews. So I tried my hand, and Robert agreed to let me interview him and shows up with, you know, mega movie star, ET mom. Anyway, I was kind of tripping all over myself and my editing was, uh, anyway, you can check it out if you want. It's on YouTube. I'll put the link in the notes.

Kathy: and I was like tripping all over myself. But thank God, thank God for editing and for your guys's just your gracious patience. It was, it was sweet. Really sweet.

Robert: Oh, you did a great job. Did a great job. And Dee's so easy to interview as well. 

Kathy: Yeah, it 

Robert: Hopefully I'll be that easy for you.

Kathy: Oh yeah. Well, it's just two friends chatting, right? and Flowers in December was fantastic. It was so fun to see that film.

Robert: Actually that is, that is out. Yeah. JT Mollner, the director, a writer director, he reached out to me not long ago. was telling me that it's available out on, YouTube that he had gotten the rights finally back on it. And he was putting it out for all to be able to see. 

Kathy: That's fantastic.

Robert: Yeah, I believe it's out on YouTube.

Kathy: So yeah, Flowers in December is a short film by JT Mollner and starring Robert Craighead and Dee Wallace and I, I did an interview, I'm just gonna say this for listeners, that I did an interview, I think it was in 2015 maybe, or, or something 2015. With, with the two of them while the film was in production.

I don't know if you'd gone into production yet, but I know you were in, in the middle of your, a big Kickstarter campaign and, and so things were just Yeah. And, and so the film was subsequently made and released. And so now Robert is saying it's on, gonna be available on YouTube, so I'll drop, I'll anything we mention that's available, I'll drop links in the show notes so people can check it out.

Robert: Maybe, maybe I can find the, the link that he sent me and, and send that over to you. Cause he was just texting me, but it was, he was trying to, cuz he doesn't do social media, he only does Twitter.

Kathy: Good for him.

Robert: Yeah.

Kathy: Social media is such a time suck. I just, 

Robert: Yes, 

Kathy: You know, I don't know if I'm just old, but, I'm, you know, I don't spend much time out there, but--it's hard...

Robert: Me neither. I kinda gotten away from Facebook. I mean, it's connected to my Instagram and, but yeah, so I, I pretty much, when I'm posting something, I put it on Instagram and it, it transferred over to Facebook as well. 

But, uh, 

Kathy: Yeah, you're Too busy living life and working and doing your dream, right. It's time to be messing around with all that.

Robert: Yeah, no, I, I enjoy it and I love reaching out to people and staying in contact with people, but it, it is, uh, time consuming, like you said, it's like, it, you know, you fall into it and then all of a sudden, it's like hours have gone past.

Kathy: It's like a portal. It's like a weird evil portal. I'm pretty sure, although there's some genius content out there, I have to admit, I sometimes it's easy to get sucked in because people are posting amazing things. I mean, I see things, you know.

Robert: Yeah. And I think maybe that's part of it. I feel inadequate cause I don't have the technology to do these fancy things people do and the videos that they post and

Kathy: Yeah. But yeah, but you're out there in the, in the, quote unquote real world. I mean, I love, okay, so I don't wanna get too in the weeds yet, cuz I'll get in the weeds. I do get in the weeds cuz I'm very circuitous the way my brain works. But, but I, so we will circle back around to talking about, your production company and some of the films that you've, produced and have out, or at least in the works now.

But before we go there, I would like to just go backwards in the timeline a little bit because, two things I'd love to hear a little bit about your, childhood, like what shaped you and, like, just anything that pops into mind about what, what you think shaped Robert, to orient you toward the arts, orient you toward the career that you ultimately chose. And how, your background supported that journey, whether it be family or friends or mentors...

Robert: I think a lot of it had to do with being the class clown, you know, maybe, being a middle child, hungry for attention. you know, it's good. My older sister, you know, she was, she was a girl, so she got a lot of attention.

Kathy: Those girls.

Robert: And then my little brother was the baby, so of course he got a lot of attention.

So I guess it was. You know, middle child syndrome. I, I probably was, reaching out, that way. But I started having fun. I started doing impersonations, like when I was, and I've always had this deep voice, and so I would do like John Wayne and, Dean Martin and a horrible Jerry Lewis and, uh, you know, and so I was, I was, uh, doing those as a kid and they had a talent show, like, I think I was in the third grade or something like that. 

Kathy (cut in): So are you seeing like a little third grader standing up on stage with that voice? Wahaha Pilgrim, you got a snake in your boot. I can just see it.

Robert: And it was actually for the middle school, kids, junior high. And, they brought me over to do my stuff. And so I did, and everybody just loved it.

And so I think that's what got me hooked in, in, performing in front of an audience. And so I got, I got wrapped up in theater and started doing shows, doing community theater, et cetera. But I always wanted to get out to Hollywood and make movies and do TV. My mom and I used to, uh, she used to stay up late at night a lot and watch old movies and I would stay up with her and, you know, those old black and white movies, you know, the romance and the, you know, the film noir.

And, I, I would watch those and I would like, uh, you know, those people are dead. Those actors are dead. But yet they're still entertaining people all these years later. And, uh, I said, that's what I want to do. I wanna, I want to be able to, uh, entertain forever, you know, and leave a legacy maybe, you know.

And so, you know, that was just like something that inspired me to get into film and television was the possibility of being able to, to leave something, you know, and to entertain, on past, you know?

Kathy: Yeah. That's lovely. And your, your mom was an artist?

Robert: She has, yes, she was, she, she's passed away. She was a beautiful, beautiful artist. I mean, she did, paintings, oil paintings. You know, I mess around with charcoals, but I could never paint, you know. And my daughter can paint. She's fabulous. But she must have picked it up. It skipped a generation, you know?

Kathy: Yeah.

Robert: But I have, I have lots of my mom's artwork here at house.

Kathy: Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, my mom was a pianist, so her art is like up in my head instead of like, it was never...

Robert: Did she record?

Kathy: No. Although I did get a little slice of video that I took of her the summer before she passed away. She was 81 and she was sitting at her piano playing. So Mike, brilliant, flipped on my phone and recorded her playing. And it was always like her fingers were getting kind of gnarled, you know? But she was like, she was concert pianist, level pianist, like she could have had a career, but she chose me. She chose kids and so she would play and her fingers wouldn't work, right?

So you'd hear this gorgeous like arpeggio, and then she'd fumble and then you'd hear, Ah, shit. So all her songs were punctuated with, Oh shit. And she'd start again. 

Robert: Yeah. 

Kathy: But I have that all, I have that little bit on, on video, but it's wonderful that your mom was able to leave like that very tangible part of herself.

Robert: Yeah. She went, she went along and she, I don't know, in the later years in her life, she started tagging, the paintings for like, who there to go to.

Kathy: wow.

Robert: Yeah. So that 

Kathy: Oh, how do you mind if I, how long ago did she pass?

Robert: Let's see, it was three years ago.

Kathy: wow. It's still fresh. Yeah.

Robert: My dad, my dad passed away, right about this time last year.

Kathy: Wow. Wow. I'm sorry, Robert. That's hard. They leave big, giant holes, you know?

Robert: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think, uh, you know, they were both, in pain,

you know, and, had gotten to where they didn't get around, 

Kathy: Yeah. 

Robert: know, they immobile.

Kathy: Time to pass on to the, the new frontier.

Robert: Yeah. 

Kathy: Yeah.

Robert: I was just trying, trying to get rid of all the stuff and what to do with 

it, and 

Kathy: God. Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's a big one. That's one of the ones where it's like you start thinking about it. Like, at my age I'm thinking, do I want my kids having to go through all this crap? Not really.

Robert: I've done decided my daughter's gonna have to clean up my mess for years. That's

Kathy: Does she know that?

Robert: Not yet, but,

Kathy: She will now I can cut this if you need me to, but that's funny. And, and so, you did some theater. Did you, so did you start in theater and then move into, you know, 

heading 

Robert: Oh,

Absolutely. I mean, that's all I had around it. You know, back when I was growing up, there were, there was three television stations, you know, ABC, CBS, NBC, and that was it, you know, and, where I lived, chances of getting on even the local news was, you know, kind of hard. So,

Kathy: Yeah. Even for a middle child.

Robert: Even for middle child. But, yeah, I got involved with the community theater over in Wichita Falls, Backdoor Dinner Theater.

And, they were doing this main stage production, and it was an original production that they had written, that the director had written of the Three Musketeers. And this was, I was like, Sophomore in high school and I had long blonde hair. And so, and the movie had just came out with Michael York, as D’Artagnan.

And so I was like, I go, I, I gotta do that, I gotta do that show. So I went and auditioned and I got the part and yeah, it was like a huge cast. It was 42 people in the cast. It was, an enormous production. And I worked on that for, oh my god, I want to say eight, nine months, something like that. Cuz you had to learn all the choreography, the fencing and, and all the stunts and everything.

And it was on three different levels. But that was, that was the first like big production I was ever involved with. And of course we got a lot of notoriety on the local news affiliates and everything 

Kathy: So did make it on the local news, Robert. Oh, that's fun. And, and so I don't know about you, but and I would like to know about you, for me, that one of the big, like forever addictions of theater, besides like the, the incredible energy exchange that happens between you and the audience, which you talk about legacy and entertaining, lasting.

But there's something about that, that moment of live theater, of it's the interchange that happens. There's such an exchange, it's like magic and that gets under your skin. I, I mean, it did for me.

Robert: Absolutely. That's the, that's the, that's the Jones. You know, that's the fix, you know, like the, the, the addiction, 

Kathy: Yeah. 

Robert: you know, is, but you know what, I find that also in, in film and television, probably more so with film, sitting in a, an auditorium watching a movie that you're in and, and you're like literally experiencing, what the audience is with them.

So it, it's kind of like a weird kind of,

Kathy: Voyeur kind of thing.

Robert: Yeah. But it's, it's, it's, it's cool because it's the same thing, but you're experiencing it with them, 

Kathy: Yeah. That must be an interesting dimension that to, to bring in for sure. But, but the other piece I was gonna ask you about, which was another piece for me, which, which is the collaboration and the family and the connections that form around projects.

Robert: Oh, absolutely. You know, it's, I did, did a series for Tyler Perry. Well, I'm still doing a series for Tyler Perry, but, the first one, I, the first series I did called Too Close to Home and we were on for uh, two seasons and we were just so close, such a tight-knit family. And, one of the actors, Danielle Savory, just recently, w I had an audition for what is it, Station 19.

And, Danielle's been a regular on Station 19 for five years now. Anyway, I'm looking at the sides and the script and I go and the director Danielle Savory, and I'm going, oh my God. Yeah. And I was so proud. I, I texted her and I was telling her congratulations, and, and she was like, well, have you auditioned yet?

I go, no, I'm, I just wanted, I'm just excited for you, you know?

Kathy: Yeah. That's neat.

Robert: Unfortunately I didn't get the part with her. But, you know, it's, it, I don't think it was exactly right for me cuz it was for an old man, so...

Kathy: Oh well, sh-- ya know... 

Robert: Yeah. yeah. Yeah. 

Kathy: That would've been way off. So not right. Tell me how you feel about, like, this was one thing I gotta keep, you know, I try not to turn things back around on myself, but I mean, you know, we're all one, right? We're all connected. No, but I was thinking, like, I never, for me, the idea of working yourself out of a job, like the whole, audition cycle and, you know, finishing one project, starting another project.

How, how does that wear on you? How do you, do you love the audition process? Do you love that part of the, the industry?

Robert: I used to. I, to be completely honest with you, I abhor self-tapes. I mean, that whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. I mean, it's, I mean it's, it's kind of like how can they hire someone, sight un-- I mean, without meeting someone, you know, you're missing that element of personality, of who the person is.

All you're getting is an audition. You know, it's a character that someone's playing in front of the camera. It doesn't really say who you are, what you like to work with, what your temperament might be. You know, it's a job interview is what it is. And yeah, I'm not a big fan of the self-tape. I do them,

Kathy: Mm-hmm.

Robert: but I much prefer getting, uh, straight offers. So...

Kathy: That's not happening for you enough? We need that to bump up, you know?

Robert: But no, I, I, I really, I, enjoyed the audition process going in and meeting people, feeling the room, and, and every audition is an opportunity to perform. That's the way I look at it even now with the self-tapes. But because they are so, you know, everyone wants perfection or they want to put out perfection, you know, the, the stigma is that you've gotta nail it.

You have to memorize the script. You have to give a performance level right then, and, you know, put your best foot forward. You know, and I know a lot of people disagree with that and say, you know, no, you don't. It doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah. I mean, if, if you're gonna, if you're gonna send in your stuff and they're giving you the, the chance to put it out there and give 'em your best, then

Kathy: Yeah.

Robert: Give 'em your best, you know... 

Kathy: Yeah. Yeah. I would, I would, I don't, I've been out of there for so, so long that I, I, you know, when I was there, it was in person and I agree. I think if I was, if I was producing, directing something, I, I'd want my actors in the room, you know, I agree with you that like, there's, there's more to creating art than like just the final product. For me it's the whole experience and, you know...

Robert: Exactly. 

Kathy: Yeah.

Yeah. And, and I was gonna ask you about that, like, when we were talking about the collaborative piece, the relationships that form and, you know, you hear horror stories about like, film projects or big projects, Hollywood projects, big studio projects where, you know, you, you hear stories from crew or cast or whatever, where it was just like a nightmare.

It was just like the energy on the set was bad and, and, and, and super high tension. And people are angry. And, can you think of, projects that you've worked on where that just, well, maybe that was the case and, and then by contrast wasn't the case and what the difference was and like, you know, what would be your, your take on h how that could change?

I, I, it's a silly kind of a woo question, but I just sometimes feel like the idea of creating the ultimate like environment would be

Robert: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I, I, it's, it's, it's rarely happened where there's been explosions on set. I've seen it, you know, but, nothing that I would want to specifically...uh, 

Kathy: Oh of course not. Call out. Yeah. No...no. 

Robert: But, you know, I mean, for example, uh, Future Man, was, uh, which hilarious every day was laughing my ass off ya know.

Kathy: Oh, love that.

Robert: And everyone in the cast was having a great time. And, uh, you were able to play around with the characters and work with the creators and the writers in developing, your character.

 Cuz I signed on as Detective Skarsgaard for, I think it was originally, it was two episodes. And, we just had so much fun. I think I wound up doing seven and, and, and we were, and it was, it was great because, they, they came to me with ideas and even I came to them with an idea that was like going, you know what I've always wanted to do? I've always wanted to be the voice. Like, you know, this is, yeah, next, next week on Future Man, you know?

Kathy: That was you, right? That was you, right? I told Mike, that's Robert. He's like, lemme hear. Yep. It's totally Robert.

Robert: They gave me that opportunity and I was so thrilled. 

Kathy: That's so fun. It's so good. It's so much fun. I love that. And so, like, you know, my whole reason behind doing this podcast, which is Permission to Play, is that that's become a mandate for me, for my life. You know, in the last 10 years of like redefining who I am after a very long, weird, church experience, which I think I've told you about in the past, but, rediscovering who, who I am, the mandate has become like, think less, play more. And you have always come across to me as like super playful person, like the little interactions, the acting class we did together. Like, although interestingly, you play some pretty like gnarly, serious characters, but but there's such a playful side to you and I just wonder, what does play... what significance does it hold for you? How do you bring it into your life? How do you bring it into your work? Does it have any specific, do you ever think about that or is it 

Robert: I, well, the play, the playfulness. Well, that's the, that's, that's what we're doing, isn't it? We're just, you know, pretending, play, acting. We're, you know, like, as, as a little kid, that's what we used to do is like playing cops and robbers, you know? You were, yeah. You were play acting and, of course we're taking it farther.

And with the years of, of, studying and, different techniques that you apply to bring out from your own personality things, it, it's, yeah, I mean that, that's, playfulness is always gonna be there because that's what makes it fun. If it, if it ever became not fun, then I think I would stop doing it.

Kathy: Yeah, for sure. Do can, I'm gonna ask you a question that might, I don't know if you wanna talk about this or not. But I, I know you had a little break, like you had an early career and then you took a break from that career, and then you came back to that career. Can you talk about that little section?

Robert: Sure. I mean, it was, it just kind of like happened. I mean, it was, as far as, you know, I was on a soap opera. I was on, The Bold and the Beautiful for three years. And, then the, you know, the gig kind of just played out, and and my daughter was getting to be an age where she was playing softball and doing school plays. And I got involved with her life, like directing her school plays and coaching her softball team at school. Also coached a travel softball team for her and just, and my wife's career was, flourishing and, she was, you know, making advancements in her career. And so I helped out and I just kind of, you know, well, also, also at the time after the, after The Bold and the Beautiful deal ran out, around that same time, my manager and I, had kind of parted ways and, and my agent, he closed his door, so all of a sudden I was gonna have to start all over again.

And I, oh God, I was dreading that. So, I, I think I'm gonna take a little break. And next thing you know, that break turned into 10 years.

and, and, and, and it hurt, after, you know, because I really wanted to come back after a few years, but then I got to thinking, you know, I'm not really, I'm getting older, et cetera, et cetera.

And I think I talked about this with you before, I, I had a heart attack at 48 and, 98% blockage. I guess it kind of what they would call a widow maker. But I was talking to Dee, who's one of my best friends in the world, and she said, Robert, she goes, you know what that is? It's, it's it's heart dis-ease, disease. Dis-ease. Your heart is at dis-ease. You're not happy with your life, you're missing something. You're missing your passion. And, I just kind of snapped and I said, you're right. I really, I really miss acting, you know? And so right then I started back and, and it was, and it was fun.

It was fun again. My life became fun again. And, and, fortunately I found out there's so many more mediums available to you, to be able to work as an actor nowadays. Back, back, whenever I left, it was black and white, glossy photos with the resume walking around, you know, and still three networks, you know. 

Kathy: Yeah. The whole career was trying to get your career going. Yeah.

Robert: Right. and, now everything's on the computer and, which I'm not that great on, but at least, you know, it was, you know, an opportunity for me to work, work my way back into it.

Kathy: Yeah. Which you did. I mean, I guess the, and I knew that story. I just, I can't hear it enough times because it's so, it's, it's just an inspiration, to me and I'm sure to others who are ignoring a call to their heart or a call of their heart. And so I just, I think it's an important story for people to hear, because I think we have to pay attention to those things.

Robert: Oh, you, I, you know, I think it's really important to follow your passion no matter what it is. If it's a hobby, if it's a career. I mean, I mean the, the, one of the greatest feelings in the world is to be able to make a living doing what you love. And, I've been blessed to be able to do that, most of my career.

So, especially in the latter part. So I'm like, you know, 

Kathy: So it's 

Robert: very grateful, very grateful 

Kathy: Yeah, yeah. And, and, I was curious about some of the, the new projects you've got coming up. these two short films, Lucy's Last Song, and Amazing Grace. These two have both come from your production company. And I love your production company, Positude Productions. I love that.

Robert: That, that came from, a word I made up, oh my God back when I was a young actor, uh, I had a football coach in high school who was coach Joe Loudermilk; I'll give him a plug right there. He's sweetheart of a man and he was all about the power of the, positive thinking, the power of the mind.

And he turned this little ragtag team into, you know, this, you know, a team that we, we won more games than we a actually should have. We, you know, we wound up, you know, doing very well. I wound up, you know, becoming, you know, getting honors and football and scholarships that I didn't take advantage of but, he really instilled the power of positive thinking in my mind and how it can change your life. And so I had a license plate made up when I was a young actor, it's Positude, and "positive attitude". And, so whenever I got to a point where I needed to incorporate myself for work, for tax purposes, I, uh, Positive Productions, and of course it's gotta be that.

So, and then we started, using, I mean making, short films, getting involved with those. Uh, and, uh, e even a few features I've, I've invested in.

But, yeah, this, this last one or these last two, Amazing Grace that I did with a good friend of mine, Nina Brissey. She directed it and wrote it. She was a first-time director. Won tons of awards, and it was a beautiful film. I was able to help with that film, finish it, and post-production, et cetera. Really hands-on and learn about, you know, the, the whole production process. And, you know, I, I got like, the sound engineer from Future Man to come on board and do the sound and calling in favors from people, you know, I paid people, but, but still being able to, call upon great artists to do their craft for me at a nominal fee, you know?

And uh, same thing with, well Lucy's Last Song actually, I read the script. I didn't know these people and I wanted to be involved in this project. It just was such a beautiful story. And, and then when the director came to me and said, you know, he sent an email out about a year later and said, well, he said, you know, I'm not gonna, looks like I'm not gonna finish this.

So I'm gonna just take some of the scenes, put 'em out on YouTube, you guys can have them for your reels or whatever. And I'm like, I just picked up the phone. And I called him. I said, no, no, no, no, Let's do it. Why don't you you turn this over to me and post post-production. Let me finish this and help you finish this and keep your dream and keep your vision.

And so we did. And, just got it finished at the, about the middle of February and started entering in film festivals, so... Very proud.

Kathy: That is so beautiful. That makes me so happy to think, you know, the heart that's behind that kind of, benevolence...and… 

Robert: Yeah. There was so many people that put so much into the film. my co-star Brea Bee, she's wonderful, oh my God, such an amazing actor. She was, it, did you ever see the movie… Oh my God. Movie with Bradley Cooper set in Philadelphia about the Eagles,

Kathy: Oh,

Robert: She played Bradley Cooper's wife, 

Kathy: I'll look it up. I'll, I'll insert it.

Robert: Okay.

Kathy: After we get over our senior moment. 

Robert: But she, 

Kathy: the end of the fricking thing. 

Robert: Yeah, I know. 

Kathy (cut in): OMG. Okay, everybody say it with me. Silver Linings Playbook. Oh my gosh.

Robert: She's phenomenal. She's just brilliant in this thing. And we've got original music in there…

Kathy: and She plays your daughter, right?

Robert: Yes, yes. And and, and it was funny because I was able to utilize an old friend of mine from the American Academy, John Pratt, who, is an ol' Rock and Roll star. And, we, when we went to the Academy together, you know, he was, he was actually learning to be an actor for his stage presence as, as a rock and roll performer.

Kathy: Oh, interesting.

Robert: And, now he does, music for CBS for, I think he's done 7,500 shows for CBS. I mean, he's, he's, he's amazing. And he, he scored, uh, the music, the film for us.

And, then there was Rodney Thurman wrote an original song that Brea sings and we recorded it at John's studio, at his, at his house in Calabasas. 

Kathy: How fun. Oh, that's so lovely. I, you know, one thing that I, had an interview with a young filmmaker, her name's Emily Branham, and she's a doc filmmaker. And one of the things we talked about was the quandary of these amazing pieces. Even the short, the short pieces, the smaller documentary films.

Well, hers is feature length, but, you know, them being able to find a life outside of the festival circuit. I wish there was just more of a, an opportunity for these films to have a longer life. I mean, I know some of 'em get picked up and get made into full length projects, but, but I, I just think it would be so awesome if there was a platform where people could like just binge shorts and, get to see of these pieces.

Robert: I mean there Sundance, the Sundance Channel has that 

Kathy: Well true, Sundance.

Robert: There, there's a few that you can find out there, but I love short films. I mean, even when I don't have a short film and a festival, I'm going to festivals and sitting through a block and, and checking it out, you know, cause... Yeah, I love short films. And everyone loves short films because everyone's attention span is like that now. 

Kathy: I know, right? We could just scroll 'em. Yeah. Oh, that's great. so, Lucy's Last Song is just now hitting the, the circuit, the, the festival festival circuit?

Robert: Yeah, actually it was, it was just accepted to its first film festival yesterday. And, I I think I entered it in like 25, something like that so far, see how it does and, and, hopefully, knock on wood, we'll, we'll be able to screen it very soon.

Kathy (cut in): Yep. Lucy's Last Song went on to win multiple film festival awards, many in fact, and also premiered at the LA Shorts International Film Festival to sold out audience. So congratulations.

Kathy: Yeah. Awesome. That's fantastic. And do you, do you do some writing too, Robert?

Robert: Yes, yes. I, I, I've written, I've written a, a, a screenplay for a movie that, I would love to do. Actually. I'm talking with, some producer. I, I don't know how many times I've, I've had producers tell me they want to do it, but it's about a country and western singer and the relationship with his son.

And, who he never knew. and, Paul Overstreet, who is dear friend of mine, who's written like 17 number one hits in the Country Music charts, he offered to write the music for the movie. So, write all the songs. And so I've got this great script with a great songwriter and you know, I just need to get it done now. So...

Kathy: Get her done, Robert. Come on man. 

Robert: Get it done. And then I, and then I've also written, you know, and just to see how it felt, I entered it in some film festival screenwriting competitions, and it won, I, I dunno, almost every one that I entered in, so I, you know, I'm like, Oh, okay. Well this is good. And then I did a, pilot, it's something I've been threatening to do all my life, but, write a story about my hometown, because you just can't believe some of the crazy stuff that happened in this little town of about 2,500 people.

And, uh, so I wrote a pilot for a comedy series called, And the Weeds Grow Taller. Nothing ever happens in this little one-horse town, except the lies get bigger and the weeds grow taller. 

Kathy: The weeds grow taller. That's so good. And it's gotta include like your football coach in there, right?

Robert: Well, I haven't included him yet, but I've just, I've just written the first couple of episodes, but it's... Yeah, it's, it's hilarious. 

Kathy: I, I love that you've got such a funny bone. You've got a great, comedic sensibility and I would love to see you doing a whole lot more of that, cuz I mean, I love your badass stuff too. It's really fun, but you're very funny.

Robert: Well, thank you. Thanks. You know what I couldn't do, is stand up. I just went and saw a friend of mine, Kirk Fox, that I just did a movie with, in Iowa. And he said, Hey, come over to the Comedy Store he goes, I'm, I'm performing there three nights a week. He's like a regular, on the main stage there.

And so I went over and checked him out. There is no way I could do that, man, that pressure man is being up there and just, oh my God. You gotta hand it to those guys.

Kathy: No kidding, man. On their toes.

Robert: Yes, they 

Kathy: Talk about being in flow. I mean, you got, you just gotta get outta your, I used to hate that phrase at the Academy: "Get outta your own way." But it's such a truism of like getting outta your head and being like solidly in your body so that you can be like fully in flow, you know?

Robert: Okay. I didn't, I we didn't have that expression when I was at the Academy.

Kathy: Oh really? I had teachers say that to me. 

Robert: We weren't in 

Kathy: Just to get out. You're great. No, not flow. Flow. That's more of a, probably a more modern term, but back then “get out of your own way” was a thing. And it's like, I don't know what that means. How do I get outta my own way? It's like, well get outta your head is what that means.

Robert: Get outta your head. Yeah. I still find myself getting in my head. Yeah, 

Kathy: Ah, dang it. Well, sure, sure. I mean, that's just part of the practice, like learning how to get into flow. I do. You are. Do you, have you worked with Josh Pais? Josh... he's in, he's in Ray Donovan. He, he does a lot of character stuff. He does a lot of, you know...

Robert: From New York. Right? Didn't he… didn't he do a documentary about Brooklyn?

Kathy: If he did, I'm not familiar with it.

Robert: I think he did. Yeah, I saw that. I'm, yeah, no, I know who you're talking about. Wonderful actor. But no, I've had the opportunity.

Kathy (cut in): Okay, you guys, I just went and looked it up. Yes. Josh Pais has a documentary called 7th Street that he made about his neighborhood he, that he grew up in, in, uh, Brooklyn. And I watched the first five minutes I was in tears. So it's like, okay, I'm saving this one for Mike and I, we're gonna sit and we're gonna watch this puppy. 

I recommend it just off the first five minutes. So fascinating and beautiful. Um, and now I'm gonna have Josh on the show. Mark my words. I'm coming for you, Josh. Link will be in the show notes.

Kathy: Okay. I just wondered. He, he teaches acting workshops and, he's got this program called, Committed Impulse. And he, he has this like four step process to get you out of your head and into your body that I have found like an amazing tool just for life, where he talks about, take a deep breath, see what's right in front of you. Notice what's happening in your body and then say, I'm back. And this is something that he teaches actors, like, especially actors who struggle with like nerves when they have to go to an audition or when they're stepping onto the set or whatever, and they get all up in their head and he, he just has this like, simple four things to do to like pull you back outta your head, into your body.

And I discovered that before, I mean, way after I kind of wasn't acting much anymore. And I found it to be such a useful tool just for life, you know, for mental wellbeing.

Robert: Sure. sure. Absolutely. Thank God that, they, they, you know, I do that a lot, you know, cuz a lot of times when you're on set and they director yells action, a lot of people just automatically start, you know, and that's whenever I take that moment and like, okay, this is, you know, cuz finally everybody stopped moving and the crew stopped moving around. Everything stopped and focus. I can focus now and take that moment then. Yeah.

It don't work when you're in the middle of a firefight, you know, but...

Kathy: Not really, now, now that's when a fight or flight comes in. Right? It's like, not time to be calm, it's time to take action. I wonder if, as a creative, Robert, do you, do you struggle at all, with times where you're just in a funk or you're, you're, you're struggling to find your mojo or, you know, you just, there you got the ups and downs, more downs than ups.

Robert: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, and that's, that's, that's, you know, the times that try men's souls, you know. They say that's when you really-- Like last year. I had, you know, probably financially one of the best years I've ever had as an actor, but there were, it was like nothing. I did like my, the series that I do with Tyler Perry, which thank God, I mean, it was, you know, he's been so good to me and I love working with everyone on that show and at TPS.

But there was nothing else coming in. Nothing else coming in, not even auditions. And I was getting so frustrated and so, you know, and, and then, and then finally, you know, I just started enjoying my time, enjoying my life, working on myself. And, then all of a sudden, the work started coming around the end of the year. And, and then, you know, I had two movies back-to-back and it was just...

Kathy: What does, what does working on yourself look like?

Robert: Working on myself. Well, I, to take a hammer and I hit myself on the head.

Kathy: On the head bang, bang, bang.

Robert: Nah, working on myself-- I started working out with the trainer and, Tracy Wolf, fantastic trainer. If anybody's down here in Los Angeles and needs a trainer, Tracy Wolf is the girl. She, you know, taught me things about how to use my core and things that I didn't even realize at my age that you've, lost the ability to be able to do.

And, so, you know, I, I worked with her for, I dunno, six, seven months, eight months. And, uh, then I got on these two movies back-to-back, one in Mexico that I filmed, in December. And then, um, the one in Iowa in January. And now I need to get back with her and start.

Kathy: Yeah. Yeah, it's one of those things, you gotta keep that pot on the boil or, uh, it goes cold. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, so I'm just gonna ask you a couple quick off questions cuz I, I feel like I've had you for a really long time, but, and I really appreciate it. This has been super fun. 

Robert: I haven't even noticed the time. It's just flying by.

Kathy: Oh, good. Well, one question that I love to ask people is what makes you well up with gratitude?

Robert: What makes me well up with gratitude? My grandkids.

Kathy: Yeah.

Robert: Yeah. You know, during Covid, there was my grandson, he was, he's seven now. But during the beginning of Covid and everything, he was like four, but he really wanted to be a movie maker. He really wanted to make his own movie. And so, uh, I got him an iPad. I wasn't working. So, you know, nobody in Hollywood wasn't working.

And we made like two or three little movies. And, and I had a friend of mine, Alicia Hayes, who's a wonderful editor, and, she edited them together for us and did the titles and credits and all this. And, we made probably three or four movies together. He's got his own YouTube channel.

Kathy: God.

Robert: Luke's Awesome videos. And, it is funny because he's still to this day, I mean, it's been a couple of years since we made this movie, but he still wants me to get it on Netflix.

And he's like, “Grampa, have you talked to the Netflix executives yet?” And I'm like, going, now they, you know, these things take time. These things take time.

Kathy: Oh, that's precious. Yeah, that I, my granddaughter's exactly that age. And we started like doing FaceTime from the time she was four, the start of the pandemic and all the way through till now-- she's a little over seven and we still, she, she lives in Memphis, so they're, I don't get to see her very often. And I'll tell you, I was so grateful for that FaceTime because, we bonded like we played every day when she was, cuz she did kindergarten at home.

And so we just, we played every single day, we had like an hour or two hours, sometimes play times where we would, you know, play around and just pretend stuff and just incredible imagination like, talk about play. Don't your grandkids make you play?

Robert: Exactly, that's what I'm talking about. And it kind of like helps you as far as the playfulness of realizing that's all I do for a living is what these kids are doing. They're just playing. But yeah, my, my, my grandson and granddaughter, just moved about six, eight months ago. They lived like less than five minutes from here.

So we saw them every day and, then they moved, to Atlanta. So, and you know, they moved there about eight months ago and we've been there twice, about to go our third time.

Kathy: Yeah. Can I, can I see the hole in your chest that they left when they went, that they, they from them ripping your heart out? Cuz I know what that feels like. Hey, they gotta live their lives, but oh my god. You know, you bond and it's...

Robert: But also can't help but dig. It's like my daughter's sick right now with strep throat, and I was like, well, you know, if you hadn't moved all the way to Atlanta, we'd be right here to help you.

Kathy: just saying no pressure. No pressure at all. 

Robert: Now we we will probably follow suit, within a year or two and we'll probably, yeah, yeah.

Kathy: Well there's lots of film industry going on in Atlanta.

Robert: Oh, sure, sure. 

Kathy: That's what we thought when we moved to New Orleans, though, then they ca they did something to the tax laws there and the whole industry shut down.

Robert: It was gone. Now they have brand new studios that have never been used.

Kathy: That happened the year we moved to New Orleans. That was our, like, we were gonna go try to make a new start at it. Mike and I both, and we got there and within, I don't know, six, seven months of us being there to just all shut down. Blew away. Dried up and blew away.

Robert: Yeah. No, that, that's horrible. No, Atlanta's really booming. My daughter's husband is a, I I always get this wrong, but he's a special visual effects producer. And he does like, uh, he was working on Black Adam for like, I don't know, two years, something like that. And he was going back and forth to Atlanta and then, you know. And Marvel just built a new studio right there, called Trilith. And they do all the Marvel movies And he does like, like he's done The Matrix, did all the Spider-Man movies, et cetera. So I think right now he's in New York working on the Barbie Movies. 

Kathy: The Barbie Movie?

Robert: Yeah, with Margot Robbie.

Kathy: I don't think I knew there was a Barbie movie coming out. 

Robert: Rob. Oh yeah. 

Kathy (cut in): Okay guys. So this was recorded back in March. It is now July. So yeah, The Barbie Movie. Seen it, loved it. Mostly stellar cast for sure. Stellar abs. I mean, you know what I'm talking about. Don't pretend you didn't notice. I mean, I know, I know. Body image, culture, focusing too much on physical perfection, but come on those abs, right? I mean, even Mike was like, oh my God, those abs.

Robert: No, no. Look it up. Look it up. Margot Robbie is Barbie and is Ryan Reynolds I think is, Ken. Yeah.

Kathy: Yeah. Oh my god, I could see that. I can see that. 

Kathy (cut in): Okay, so yeah, I could see that so clearly and I was seeing Ryan Gosling while saying Reynolds and apparently that is actually a thing out there. It was like some kind of condition. Uh, I Googled it and apparently people like actually even write into advice podcasts like, dear Hank and John complaining of this weird Ryan Dysmorphia, I think they called it something like Gosnalds  Syndrome.

Kathy: That would be so fun. Hey, so are you doing so, like, I'm not a gamer, and I think for a long time I didn't even know you were doing, you were doing the, I mean, I'm not surprised that you do a lot of voice work. Makes a lot of sense.

But I didn't realize, you know, how much you are involved in the, the gaming end of things. Are you still, you So Can I say—LONG BEEP--Am I allowed to say that?

Robert: Well, you have now, now it's been out, it's been out for, for a good six, eight months. So, yeah. I'm sure everybody knows.

Kathy: I can strike it 

Robert: Spoiler alert, you need to put a spoiler alert. 

Kathy: I'll post spoil spoil. 

 Kathy: Okay. SPOILER ALERT that that's what I was, I was trying to say spo Spoiler alert. 

SPOILER ALERT. 

Kathy (cut in): Yeah. So for the next few seconds, if you've are a God of War fan, but you haven't played all the way through or you think you might play, there is a spoiler coming up in the next few seconds, but you can fast forward to somewhere around 54:33 or thereabouts... and you'll be safe.

So, all right. You have been fairly warned.

Kathy: Well, here's something I, I came across that I thought was so hilarious. There was a, a thread and somebody wrote, and I, I can strike this if I need to, Robert, but I just wanted to share it with you. Somebody wrote, Brok is dead! RIP Brok, the Greatest Dwarf to ever live in fiction.

I was like, and there was a lot of that. Like people were heartbroken, you know? Talk about a legacy. I mean, like, people are crying because

Robert: Well, I worked on, I worked on that, franchise for 10 years, you know, and, hopefully I'll still be able to, you know, there, there's rumors that we're gonna be doing some more stuff, but, yeah, like, well, I'm going, at, see on Easter weekend doing a convention in San Diego, and I think it's called Dream Hack.

And, along with, a lot of my castmates from God of War. And we'll be down there making an appearance, doing a panel discussion, signing autographs...

Kathy: Fun, fun, fun. Oh, that is cool.

Robert: And fly out from there on Easter Sunday and go see my grand babies in Atlanta.

Kathy: Oh my. I mean, talk about reasons for gratitude. Right? That sounds so cool. Do you, do you like, doing voiceover work for games? Is that, is that like really different than other types of voiceover?

Robert: Well, it's, what I do is motion capture. So I mean, yeah, you do also do voiceover, but I do the whole nine yards, where the wear the embarrassing little Velcro suits with ping pong balls and, you know,

Kathy: It's very tight fitting, isn't it? Like very form fitting?

Robert: Yes, yes, yes.

Kathy: I would pay a lot to see that.

Robert: No, you wouldn't. No, it's, but it's great because it's a, it is a wonderful experience because you are, it's like Acting 101. I mean, you have no sets, no costumes, no props, so to speak. And it is just you and the other actors and, and cameras 360 degrees around you. And, uh, the only thing awkward is you're wearing a helmet that has a camera coming out and cameras all around

Kathy: You can get all your facial expressions

Robert: Yes. And, so sometimes in intimate scenes, you guys, you know, you're like hitting the cameras, 

Kathy: Oh, 

Robert: Or fight scene, you know.

Kathy: Clack, clack, clack. Oh, I had no idea. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, now that makes so much sense. I guess because I'm not a gamer. I, I don't put a lot of thought into, like what it takes to pull that kind of animation off. I mean, I see clips and I think, wow, that's like watching a movie.

And it is, it's like a whole other, like, if you're not a gamer, I feel like I'm missing out. Like I would like to see the movie God of War, and I would like to see like Brok is like a beloved, beloved dwarf and his beast of burden.

Robert: Fucking Gratitude.

Kathy: I love that. I, yeah, I wanna, I don't wanna play game. I don't wanna play the game, but I wanna watch it. I guess I could do that. Maybe I could find a channel.

Robert: Actually, you can go on YouTube and look up uh, "play through" or "full play through" or "story" or whatever. And I think the actual story for God of War, like God of War the first one and then God of War the second one. I think they're like three hours each to sit and just watch the whole thing.

Kathy: That sounds fun. I might do that. Unless I'm gonna be watching a lot of heads come off. Am I gonna be watching a lot of heads come off and spewing and stuff?

Robert: Not from me. No. There there's, there's some, there's some stuff, you know, there's some violence cause...

 It's rated "M" and then I swear every other word. So...

Kathy: Yeah. I love that. I love that about you. I reclaimed my sailor mouth after 22 years of, you know, like, you know, no potty mouth allowed, you know, in, in church. I'm sure I'm shocking people by now, but...

Robert: Oh, well my wi my wife's always, cuz I'll post something and, or I'll sign an autograph and I, cuz I always sign my Brok autograph. Uh, always be full of Fucking Gratitude. And, and she's like, and she's like going, that's not nice. You shouldn't put, am I going? It's the name of the beast, that I ate. Be full of Fucking Gratitude.

Kathy: I love that. So I, how, you know, I, I can't, I'm gonna have to ask you about Miss Jenny, who I've never met. I only know her, just, surreptitiously through your posts and always noticed what a sweet, a seemingly sweet relationship you two have. I, I, I dunno about you. I'm, we're going on 40 years this year.

We hit 40 years this year. 

Robert: Congratulations, congrats. When are you? 40. When is the 40th?

Kathy: In September.

Robert: In September? Congratulations.

Kathy: Thanks. But, but you 

Robert: We hit 38 in July.

Kathy: Yeah. Yeah. This is a rare thing in Hollywood.

Robert: Yes. Yes, I guess so. Well, it it's from, no, I can't attribute it to me at all. It's all her, you know. 

Kathy: Right there with your brother?

Robert: Yeah. Yeah, she's patient. 

Kathy: It's all me. No, no, I'm kidding. No, no, no, We married our opposites probably. I don't know.

Robert: Y'all, you guys, you guys are a perfect couple. You know, you guys really are. You're just perfect.

Kathy: Well, not really. But, I just think we both, we lucked out. And you know what, it just is fricking work and people don't realize that, you know, it just is y you know?

Robert: No. Any relationship's yeah. I mean, I sometimes I just think that God sent her here to, make sure I stay out of trouble. You know? She, I think she agrees,

Kathy: Yeah. And he's, he sent you to her to worship her, right?

Robert: Basically. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much.

Kathy: Yeah. That helps too. That helps too. Well, it seems to be a rarity in your industry. So, you know, congratulations.

Robert: I'm blessed on, on many different levels. I am very blessed.

Kathy: Yeah, that's great. Hey, I've got a quick, a lightning round, and I, you know, this is one of those things that like, I don't know, I, I hear podcasters do this, and I was like, oh, do that.

I don't know, but I'm, I may axe this, but every once in a while I get really fun answers from people. So you good with me shooting some quick questions and you can just like, just quick, like,

Robert: Off the top of my head,

Kathy: All right. What's your go-to comfort food?

Robert: My go-to comfort food would be chicken. Grilled chicken. Chicken wings.

Kathy: Grilled chicken wings. 

Robert: I love chicken wings. 

Kathy: No, Deep fried for Robert?

Robert: No, I haven't, since the heart attack, I, I'm away from fried food.

Kathy: Good. And Alicia. Is Alicia your trainer?

Robert: No. Alicia is my, editor / graphic.. 

Kathy: Oh. 

Robert: Designer. 

Kathy: Oh, okay. We'll get these. Tracy. Tracy's like no fried chicken wings, Robert. Sorry. Okay. Coffee? Tea? Crack?

Robert: Coffee, tea, crack? Probably go with coffee, Yeah. Diet Coke. I love Diet Coke. I know. It's horrible.

Kathy: I love you. Don't drink it.

Robert: Horrible. Horrible 

Kathy: Okay folks. He just like, he's got a Big Gulp there with a straw the size of a PVC pipe. All right. Uh, mountains, ocean, desert, celestial body, city?

Robert: City.

Kathy: You actors. 

Robert: Well, I mean, I like, I like, I like going to the, to the country, you know it's 

Kathy: Well, you're a fisherman, aren't you, fisherman?

Robert: I love to fish. I love to fish. But when we lived in Vermont, we had snow trails going through our, our backyard and uh, it never went skiing once, but I would look out the big picture window and all the snow and I'd go, sure pretty out there.

Kathy: Yeah, but I ain't going in it. Well you have to get up here sometime because like you can't fish in Los Angeles cuz you know you might catch something that you should not eat...

Robert: No. I, I like getting into the country. You know, my, my daughter lives out in the country and it was sort of, so to speak, in, in Atlanta. She lives in Peachtree City, so it's, she has deer running through her yard and stuff, so it's, it, 

Kathy: Her roses. The critters. Yeah. Well, okay, sometime you and Ms. Jenny have to get up here, 

Robert: Yeah, absolutely.

Kathy: We have the Trinity River up here is like magic, magic piece of water. Yeah. What makes you laugh? 

Robert: Ah, what makes me laugh? Uh, uh, stupid stuff like, like Seth Rogan humor, like, you know.

Kathy: Oh, 12-year-old humor.

Robert: Stoner, stoner humor.

Kathy: Stoner humor. 

Robert: Like, Like, elementary school or, or grade school humor, you know, dad jokes.

Kathy: You like dad jokes. That's good. Okay. Yeah. I always ask my Mike has the exact same sense of humor, and I'll be like, what are you nine? He'll be like, well, four and a half. What is the key ingredient in your secret sauce of joy?

Robert: Secret sauce. The key ingredient in my secret sauce is joy. That one's tough. That one's tough. It seems like, uh, just finding the fun and everything. I don't know. You gotta have, you know, you, you, I don't know. I really don't know how to answer 

Kathy: Yeah, 

Robert: I don't have any special recipe for Joy.

Kathy: No? You are joy. You are the recipe, Robert. You are the secret ingredient. You're the key ingredient. You are it. I'm gonna strike that question cuz you're not the.

Robert: Diet Coke.

Kathy: There you go. Let's see. Okay… skip that one… That one's dumb… Yeah, that one's dumb too. What will be your parting sentence to this life?

Robert: I told you I was sick.

Kathy: Oh, was kind of hoping your parting sentence would be something about your partner. Uh,

Robert: I know it's for my partner. I told you I was sick.

Kathy: Oh, you know, this whole question thing, I'm just gonna axe it. It's kind of, I mean, I'll keep it here, but I don't know. It's kind of dumb. Oh, well, that's all right. I'm learning, you know, I learn as I go. I'm, this is one of those things where it's like, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm just doing it anyway. I don't care.

Robert: You know what, and, and you do it very well.

Kathy: Well, you make it easy. You make it easy. I've, I've had some amazing conversations. It's like I, I hear interviews with people and I think, you know, those are dumb questions. Why don't you ask this or this or this or this? And I'm like, well, why don't you go talk to that person then? So...

Robert: You're very good. You're very, I mean, you're very personable and you are very articulate. And yeah. I, I've enjoyed our time chatting, Chatty Kathy. 

Kathy: I'm chatty Kathy.

Robert: I'm Chatty Kathy.

Kathy: That Mike named that. I had some real name woo. He's like, you are chatty Kathy. So, and then I could use a weird,

Robert: That little doll, uh...,

Kathy: Oh, she's on all over my logo.

Robert: Well, I know she's on your logo, but I mean, you need to put her like on the beginning, scaring the hell out of people.

Kathy: Right? Have you seen, have you I made a, a, a gif of her. So she, she turns and she goes and she winks. So

Robert: Oh, okay. No, I haven't seen that.

Kathy: Yeah. That's good. Yeah. I went and found footage of her and I created a, a little gif of her, like, yeah, yeah, that would be super fun. I, I know I'm skating on thin ice using her anyway. I mean, I got her from a, like, like a, 

Robert: Chatty Cathy's been off the market forever.

Kathy: Oh, she's making a comeback.

Robert: Is she really? Wow. Well, then you might be in trouble.

Kathy: Yeah, I might be. I talked to somebody and they're like, eh, you're not, you know, it's no big deal. Yeah. I love Mattel, I guess. I don't know. It is what it is. You know, I, you know, I'm good at pivoting, so we'll see what happens. But I just, having a creepy doll was like, oh, yes. Must have the creepy doll.

Robert: It's so, it's such a contradiction to who you are though.

Kathy: I'm not a creepy doll. You don't know. You don't know.

Robert: Oh, shoot. Now you're scaring me.

Kathy: I know. I, I hope you don't wake up in the night with eee eee eee!

Robert: That's, that's the way my wife says she's gonna kill me if I, if she ever, if she ever killed me. She goes, that's the way women do it all the time, with the eee eee eee!

Kathy: Yeah. Knife in the night. Oh,

Robert: That is so sick. Why? Why do women wanna do that?

Kathy: I dunno.

Robert: It's not...

Kathy: But better die than, you know, the Bobbit thing. Right. Do you remember Lorena Bobbit?

Robert: Now you're really freaking me out. 

Kathy: Yeah. We start talking about members and it gets scary, so we won't go there. I know your boys are sensitive about that kinda thing, you know, and we'll cut it off before I get to ovaries. We won't talk about those either. I'm getting loopy. Okay. So thank you so much Robert for hanging out with me.

Robert: Thank you, Chatty Kathy. Thank you. I a great time.

Kathy: was fun. It was fun. I, I'm gonna think of 200 more questions, you know, when we hang this up, but that's okay. Maybe you'll come back again when you 

Robert: well,

Kathy: you're promoting.

Yes, sure. I've got, let's see. There's a new movie, if you go and See Scream, which comes out I think next week. No, I'm not in Scream. But from what I understand, a new horror movie that, I'm in called Dweller, which I'm one of the main characters. Dweller?

Robert: Dweller. D W E L L E R. Look it up. There's a trailer for it on YouTube Dweller, the movie. And, anyway, it's supposed to start being advertised with Scream because it's being distributed by the same distribution company.

Kathy: Okay. I 

Robert: And then, 

Kathy: I can't, I can't watch horror. I can't.

Robert: It's scary. It's scary. 

Kathy: System can't handle it.

Robert: Well, if you can't handle that one, then you definitely won't be able to handle the next movie that comes out, which is, in April, it comes out, it's called God Is a Bullet and Nick Cassavetes directed that. And, you know, another Academy alumni.

Kathy: Yeah, that's right. Nick Cassavetes. I forgot about that. 

Robert: Yeah, we, we ran together back in 80, 81. And, anyway, he, he wrote a little part for me in it that's really creepy. And it, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maika Monroe, January Jones, Ethan Suplee. 

Kathy: Oh wow. Is it a, is it a horror or is it just, is it a horror? 

Robert: No, it's just... 

Kathy: It's oh, it's just got some violence and gore in it. 

Robert: It's a true story.

Kathy: I can do that cuz I can do like this kind of thing or, you know, la la la. But if it's got too much, like, like 

Robert: It's gonna be a lot. Yeah. A... 

Kathy: Okay. 

Robert: Alot like that. It's a, yeah, it's, it's a true story about, a, gang that abducted young girls, and would take them to Mexico, get them addicted on heroin andprostitute them out.

Kathy: Does it have a happy ending?

Robert: You have to watch, I I can't... 

Kathy: Oh, sh that's right. You're not allowed to say that thing. 

Robert: Let's see, what else, what else is, uh, oh in Season Four of Ruthless that's gonna be coming, your way soon and, hopefully I'll be going back to shoot season five soon.

Kathy: Wow, that's awesome. That's, and you're lovin' your work with Tyler Perry. Huh? That's great.

Robert: I love Tyler Perry. He's one of the most, um, gracious, generous human beings I've ever met in my life.

Kathy: Oh, I love that. I love that those kinds of people are making art. That's not just for the, what they put out, but for what they create in the, like the culture that they bring. You know what I'm saying? Like, he employs a lot of people, so if he's a bringing his magnificent self to that, and then people get to experience that as their day-to-day work.

I love that. That makes that, that's something that brings me so much joy, to think of that. 

Robert: You know, I went in, June, this last June. he had a wrap party for, because it was the first time since Covid that he could build a wrap party. So he held a wrap party for all of his shows, nine television shows. And it was a shindig. And it was, you know, we had, Fantasia performing, Usher. Uh, it, it was, yeah, it was awesome.

Kathy: Oh, that is cool. Very fun. Very fun.

Robert: But he put on this big beautiful party with lots of food and drink for everyone. I think there was 1500 people at this party. 

Kathy: That's, is that a, that's, wow, that's a thing. That's a convention. That's not a party. I should have charged admission. Oh man. That's great though. That's, I love that generosity. It's beautiful. You know, I should, I, I was just thinking I should be hitting up more, more of my Academy, like alumni buddies, and you know who I wanna have on? I wanna have Madonna McGee on. Gotta talk to Madonna.

Robert: Yeah, Madonna's been pretty busy lately.

Kathy: Yeah. I just love the second acts, you know, I just love people who are, you know, it's like, here I am 59, starting a podcast. It's like, you know, there's room, there's time, there's room. 

Robert: [mouths fifty-nine] 

Kathy: Yeah. 

Robert: Really? Wow, you look great. 

Kathy: You're sweet.

Robert: Fantastic. Wow. 

Kathy: Well, you know.

Robert: I'm only 39.

Kathy: Shit. You better get off the meth, man.

Kidding. You look fantastic. You do. Hey, you know, it's all that good. It's all that mountain living man. Look it, I'm wearing my, I'm wearing my lumberjack shirt. I wish I was still in the biz cuz I'd love to like, work with you. It'd be fun.

Robert: Come on down. Let's do something together.

Kathy: Oh my god. Can you imagine?

Robert: A short film.

Kathy: Oh, okay.

Robert: There you go.

Kathy: That'd be fun. Well, okay. Really honestly, I gotta let you go because this is gonna take me three weeks to edit. Just, no, actually not really. Cuz this has been fantastic. There's nothing to cut. Well, maybe a couple things, but not much. 

Robert: Okay. Well, you make it beautiful. 

Kathy: Awesome. Thank you for hanging out with me so much fun.

Robert: Thank you for having me. I had a great time. It's great to see you again. 

Kathy: Likewise. 

Robert: Congratulations on this. Yeah.

Kathy: Aw thanks. Thanks. It's fun. It's been a decade incoming, so I'm just doing it.

Robert: All right, well, let me know if I can do anything to help, okay?

Kathy: Thanks Robert. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Be well. We'll see you again. 

Robert: Bye. 

Kathy: Bye bye.

OUTRO

Thanks so much for joining us today.

If you enjoyed this conversation, please come back for more. I've got some really interesting and inspiring guests on tap for upcoming episodes. I've got award-winning authors, actors, more plant medicine people, nervous system experts, just a smorgasbord of goodness and curiosity. And also, if you could please help me grow my audience by sharing with your friends, and especially subscribing to rating and reviewing the show.

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