Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Directors' Playhouse for this April 27th, 2025 session 62-ish, probably somewhere around.
I think you're right. You're hosting program director here, James J. Mayloff, along with my partner in our head of production, Seth Habhagger, Seth the Mike Seron, let's roll.
Yes, it is time. Thank you. Thank you very much. We have an audience here today.
So we are going to be speaking with someone today that is actually somewhat responsible for James and I meeting each other.
In fact, very much responsible for James and I meeting each other, leading us to, well, all the stuff that happens here at the radio station today, so...
I am so sorry.
So we have a very special guest today.
Yeah, we want to welcome to the WFHR stage from Central Wisconsin Community Theatre, local treasure, actor, director, creative Susan Egren.
Well, thank you, Saris. Susan, Saris.
We have an eternal thanks to Susan. We have no journalistic integrity with this woman.
Not at all. We just value and appreciate her way before anything of involving Seth and I.
You know, I don't know, extend this to your family. I've put so much into our communities artistically and just, well, whether you're creative or not out there, you definitely pay taxes.
You definitely have something to do. The Edgrens have affected the economy in this area.
So this is something that, no matter who's listening or what, I think you can value and appreciate the impact that families like yours make in this area.
You're one of many, but we want to note this one in particular because of the decades that you guys have been doing this around here.
And how much we appreciate it.
And certainly along the things that Seth said there about for some blown personally.
Very silly.
We're here to talk about Don Quixote de la Center, the night to remember.
Yeah, I'm all grown. I'm all grown.
I love it. I'm going to do as much as I can.
This is premiering May 8th through the 11th over at, over in Steven's Point at the 29th, 52th Minnesota Avenue and Steven's Point right there.
At the Century. Yeah, right there at the Century Building Theater.
Susan, before we dive too much into rehearsals or the cast or anything like that, can you tell us a little bit about the play?
Yeah, sure. David Bareford is the playwright. He is currently living in Seattle, Washington.
This is actually going to be the Wisconsin premiere.
I think this is only maybe the fourth production that's been done in this play. So it's fairly new.
It handles, especially if you're 65 and over, it handles some questions and subjects that are always on our minds, you know, which are our minds.
And do we have them or are they going?
It takes place in the center is basically a hospice house, privately run for patients who are either suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's.
They're not going to get better. They don't have families that can take care of them.
So they are here, you know, in this home.
And Don Quintero is the newest resident and he's not happy about it.
He's not happy being there at all. His home is gone. He lost his wife two years ago that he just, you know,
adored and dotted on and depended on and his memories are going, you know.
Sometimes he doesn't even recognize his son or where he is.
So it's a very scary thing.
And so as he's trying to learn to cope, a young knight nurse named Sandy Cho gives him an idea.
She's trying to get him involved and they're going to have a Halloween, you know, costume party coming up in a couple of days.
So how would you like to be, you know, and she's talking to him and he likes stories of knights of all kinds.
And so she makes him a knight costume out of a catcher's vest.
They kept, yeah, right? Cheshire kept her.
And helmet, an old fashioned one, not these huge things.
We tried that in props. I imagine.
No, but old fashioned, she wraps them in tin foil.
And when he wears these, he becomes, he just suddenly decides to take on the persona of Don Quixote.
And that persona brings him out and he starts making friends and he starts helping people.
But just as in the real, you know, Don Quixote, it can get dangerous, especially for himself, or even sometimes others.
And so the staff and his son all have the big question of, do they let this go on?
Or don't say, what's going to happen if we do, what's going to happen if we don't, you know, and that's the play.
Wow, I haven't seen the play, but I've read some of the script.
It's such good writing. It's such good writing.
It's, especially in, in this day and age, I don't think you need six degrees of separation from anybody
that knows the topics we're talking about, like Charles Heimers, or even just the fear of them.
I think every human being can relate to that.
Yes, definitely. I, myself, my mother had dementia the last years of her life.
I have another, an actress, you know, who lost a parent to All's Heimers.
You know, it is. And I have a cast where, you know, I'm one of the youngest.
Yeah, right. Makes sense.
At 70? Yeah. And so it is. It's something that everyone can relate to.
And it's something that we all need to think about because it's there.
The one of the things in just the bit that I read of the script that I got from it right away
was such a great opportunity to display is I'm not only some empathy and some understanding
for the individuals going through this, but the topic being talked about and being talked
about and raised voices like this and not hushed or not afraid to talk about.
Yes, exactly. There's a lot of our society has done a really good job.
I think we don't do this enough of actually give credit to society sometimes.
I think we've done a really good job of being, we talk about mental health more now.
We're talking about it in the raised voices. We're all okay with it. It's not a tabling subject.
But we're now that that's done, we still got a lot of work to do on these things.
And there's that the kind of gray areas or the subcategories of this.
And one of them that isn't really is well known, but I don't think is thought of in this
under this umbrella is dimension mental and in All's Heimers, which are diseases.
Yes, they are. Similar to depression and other things.
Right. Exactly. We almost put them to side categories and they deserve their own respect
and their own category. Don't get me wrong. But the more we talk about mental health and everything,
I think we need to get better about just talking about topics, just even regardless of what is said
in those conversations, just talking about them. We take away a lot of the taboo, a lot of the fear
of this stuff. And these things have been around forever. We just didn't have a name to
call it something else. It's like autism. It's been here. It's nothing new.
Right. Well, you go back to the original Don Quixote, the novel.
Yes. And obviously he's suffering from something.
He's having hallucinations. So it's like, yeah. And now we would be able to diagnose
whatever it is he had. But that's exactly what they were kind of dealing with even back in the
1500s. Exactly. And we're actually fortunate now because there are labels as you were or whatever.
But they're clues. And we do have the research still, hopefully. You know, don't get me started
but because we have the research and because we're learning more about it, science is learning more
about how our brains work because boy, I tell you, you know, I think there's too much there for
any of us to totally comprehend it. Absolutely. But we're learning more and more all the time.
And the more we learn, the more we can help people who need the help and talk about it.
Yes. And to that, actually, this play is going to be a really good outreach program for all of us.
We'll talk about that later when we talk about ticket prices and everything. But there is,
we have the Tuesday afternoon, Matt, or Tuesday, Sunday after the sea. Sorry.
Starting already. Oh boy. Yeah. I told you she was going to
have a mental health care official or professional from the point area come in after the play.
And we are going to hold at a Q and A discussion period. Wow. Yeah. It's one of those plays that
really I think people will want to talk about. Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah. And my producer will
be there as well as this health official. I will be there. And we're going to invite any of the
actors that care to them. We're just putting off strike for a little while. After that, we have
been assured by my tech director that that will not be a problem. So yeah. So it's opening up
discussion. And we're reflecting a lot of that in the tickets and things that we're offering,
as I said, and we'll get to that later. I think that's beautiful, Susan. I think that's
above and beyond offering that having that. And one of the other things that I want to touch on
with this along with it being an open conversation is the opportunity it gives people to have the
conversation to even so many, especially the population that this is affecting currently and
everything are still from a generation that may want to do that, but don't have the playbook of
how do I talk about things? Oh, yeah. I think of a good intended gender wanting to be better
about that and with their kids and some of those things. But as far as for themselves, how do I
even jump into this topic? How do I even talk about this or something? Here we go. There you go.
It's not only the play itself is that, but having this outreach afterwards, like just
it goes. That's really cool. Oh, yeah. I mean, with my own mother, none of us in the family ever
just sat down and talked about, you know, this is happening. Right. We know this is happening.
But I had, you know, there were situations, you know, where the hardest was at a holiday with family
gathering and I, she was looking for her brother, my uncle, who had died several years previously.
And we had to tell her all over again that he was, it's gone. Right. And to watch her have to grieve
freshly all over again. And then we still didn't talk about it the rest of us afterward. Wow.
We just felt it dealt with it and passed on. I think I appreciate you sharing that because I think a lot
of us were immediately pulled to our own situations like that. I can't think there, I don't know
if there will ever be a person on this planet that will love me like my Nana did, the way that she
felt about me and her many, many times. And the last time I saw her, she called me Anthony, my dad,
my parents, my youngest child, their youngest child, my mom's youngest child that died when he was
like three. And I remember wondering, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. Do I
correct her? Do I, you know, right? And I didn't. And it's one of the few times in life where I'm
I actually get myself a high five. I actually did the right thing for once that situation. Now teach
the wrong and I wouldn't judge anything. But you brought up the topic of the content in this play
and everything. And again, brought me back to that moment. And what you do in those situations.
And one of the things that I think is strong in this play is it's not necessarily telling people
what to do. It's helping people. It's helping people know that there are options, there are ideas
that they're not alone in this subject matter. As caregivers, it's so vital to have that known
to people and reminded of that. And there are two characters in the play who are family members
trying to deal with this. You've got, you've got Alice as her husband Clark, who is not suffering,
but he comes and sees her. And he gets torn apart, you know, by watching her memory fade every time
he comes. You've got Sam, Don Son, who puts his dad in the home because he can't take care of
himself anymore. And Sam's got his own problems and can't take care of him. And yet his whole idea is
I want to see my dad get better. Yes. And so he has to come to the realization. You know, one way or
another, you know, and Marta, who is in charge of the clinic, tries to tell him this is not the kind
of, this is not going to get better. You don't, yeah, they don't get better. Right. So it's, it,
he, that kind of tears your heart out too. You know, that's so hard. He has a line. We says,
I just want my dad back. Right. You know, and that's when our producer Joe Noinsky was watching a
rehearsal last week. And that's when he had to leave the room. He was just sobbing. You know,
and his dad is, his dad's fine. Right. But he's, he's imagining, right? Yeah. Exactly.
What, what, you know, and this is what great art does, right? What are the things it does? It
entertains. Of course, that's one of the main things it does. It tells the story. But it also shines
a light. The best art shines a light on some part of the human condition. Yeah. And that is,
and that's exactly what this is doing. Which makes it, you know, great art. Yeah. I have just
going to just a little bit. I have my director's notes. I worked very hard on them. Yes. But just
in this, because I, I've done a little research. And it says about five to eight percent of all
people over 65 have some form of dementia. And this number doubles every five years above 65.
About one in nine people age 65 or over in the US has Alzheimer's. That's one case every 3.2 seconds.
Wow. Wow. I didn't know any of those numbers. And none of them were. I didn't need it to let it
out. Really. Yeah. That's the hard hitting part of that. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that
Susan and looking that up. But it also, I hopefully creates more of an understanding of why this
topic is so important. Why this play is so important. Like all great art and especially great plays.
All the things we've been talking about, along with some laughs, some great moments. There are.
It's one of those ones where the play, especially the reviews that I've read of this one and
everything, it's such a, does such a great balance of that of getting your heart and the funny
moment of being able to really do both. I want to make sure that people understand going into this
show. It is going to be a bit emotional, but it's also going to be, you know, you're going to
enjoy it. Oh, God. Yes. Great cast. Oh, thank you. And it's really fun people that know how to do
this kind of art. Know how to do these kind of work. Yes. I mean, you have a director who's
tailor made for it. Memory lapses amongst the other residents are funny. You know, quite are
very funny. I mean, let's face it. And having a man attack cardboard cut out pilgrims with a
sock flail, yelling infidels, or, you know, jousting with a mop handle in a wheelchair
against a vending machine. And we have that's glowing with red lights and everybody thinks it's a giant.
You know, those are really fun. Yes. He's got, we have a duel. We've got a joust. We've got, you
know, flailing things. Then yet he's got a speech about what his duel scenario, what his
paranoid more means to him. You know, and so it is, we have, Jimmy's very funny, you know.
It's the whole night of mirrors thing starts out to be very funny and doesn't get serious
until later on. One of the things that I think is that the beauty of art and the beauty of theater
is the what you were touching on again, Seth, about the reflection, the mirror that it is to society.
And I don't think I don't care where you land on anything in the day's day and age. Boy,
is this a great idea of our great showing of how you can laugh now, cry later, or cry now, laugh
later, or whatever it is that we got to do in life in this day and age. We should know, yeah, in so
many ways, it's a great example of that. We, I understand with a lot of the movements and a lot
of the things that have gone on, I'm a big fan of and a big supporter of, but one of the things
that I worry about getting lost in the shuffle is the idea of being able to laugh at ourselves
and being able to make fun of ourselves and find the funny, find the funny in the mundane,
find the funny in the insanity that is life, the entropy that is life. I know for me, it's one
of the reasons I'm actually still here, is being able to laugh at the absurdity of my own life
sometimes. And I know I'm not alone on that one. I've got this tattoo on me that I've had since
I was 18, it's the theater masks. And certainly you know me for two seconds, you know I want to act
and I've wanted to do it and I was seven. I don't know if I've told anybody that before. I
but it personally, what it really has always meant to me is that mantra, laugh now cry later.
And that is a big part of where those masks come from. And to me, that's something that this play
really encompasses so well. You are going to laugh at those moments while also learning in those
moments while also feeling in those moments and hopefully having some empathy for individuals that
are in this situation or that you've known that are in this situation and maybe even like just in
the little bit that I watched or I've read of this or or have seen on when it comes to subject matters
like this. I feel like, oh, like I got to not only think about my Nana again but have a little more
understanding of what she was going through which not only made me remember her and have some great
memories of her but made me made me somehow respect her even more. Something I never thought could
be possible. But I found myself even respecting her more after reading some of the scenes and
actually got me to go back and I know they're two very different subject matters but one of my
favorite movies of all time is The Fisher King. Oh gosh, yes. Got me to go back watch some of that
and kind of relooking at some of these scenes and some of the stuff that's going on and content
that they're talking about. Right. And there are some great relationships in the play to not just
between the relatives but between Dawn and Sandy. And I have a young actress playing San
Cho and she's new that she's never had a role this size before and she hasn't been in that
many plays before but she had something at auditions and so I cast her and it's been so much fun
watching her grow you know but also watching she and Chris Sands who plays Dawn grow together
you know and have this relationship that really is quite close. It's one of the cooler things
to see when you're in a part of a play I can only imagine as a director getting to see something
like that. The reward that that is. It is. I love it. I love to see you know people I just love to
help people become better actors. Right. Yeah. And I think I did that. Oh yeah you said
she can take all the credit for that. I've always given her credit in this regard because you
brought that up and he brought me back to auditioning for Rainmaker. And at the time all I'd
ever been given is like villain roles and bad guys and a lot of these things. I'd never played
any evening close to romantic lead or anything. You cast me in that and the rest of my career I've been
I've been actually doing more of those roles that I have anything else. It's it's set me on a
whole different path as an actor and gave me something that I wanted since I was a kid going into
this field not to be typed and to be able to do any. Exactly. Yeah. Which I think most actors would
want. Yeah. You know. But you are freaky scary. So I've been with him on stage dark to the moon.
It's a little bit of a wheelhouse for me. Yes. He scared the pants off of me and the scene we had
together. But nice. I'd like to I'd like the audience to always like to get into the rehearsal process
a little bit just so the audience can know a little bit of what it's like for the cast and have
some understanding of that but also hopefully encourage them to maybe come on down because you find
out hey it's not that hard. It's not that it doesn't take that much and everybody can be a part of
more intimidating than it is. I think so. Yeah and partially it's because with community
theater and you have cold readings. Yeah. And and it's really hard if you you know or someone
you don't have a lot of experience so you haven't read the script and then you try and come
in audition and that's always you know bad news. Yeah. It's always yeah. That's why auditions
are set on hard. If you've at least read the script and have an idea of the roles that you'd
fit and are interested in and you know then it's a little better a little easier but because it's
cold at least me as a director I always give people the benefit of the doubt and I give them a
chance to read numerous times you know so that and some will get better each time they read and
that's where I can see okay I can work with someone like you know if they get a little better
and sometimes they just watch other people you know and just sort of okay I can do that too.
She ain't kidding everybody one of the worst auditions I think I've ever given is one of the
most important ones I've ever done it was for a basketball and I wanted that part so darn bad
and I was sick and I went into it and I like I've got a director that I've auditioned for a dozen
times it should be fine I got so nervous and I was so in my own head and you saw things that I
didn't see in that audition and she's very good at that and and to be fair we have a lot of
great local directors that do that I don't want you to anybody out there thinking it wants to
try out for play is that Susan's an anomaly she's incredibly special yes incredibly
unique even my hug don't tell Michael right but I like to I like to think that our especially
our central Wisconsin theater families and groups and everything are really good at seeing this
and seeing things that you may not even seeing yourself and so another encouragement to get on
down there be a part of your local theater wherever you're listening to us when it came comes to
the rehearsals how often were you guys rehearsing how long have you been rehearsing okay well we
started let me see I had auditions on the fifth of May and so we started the week after you know
read through and blocking and everything so it's been and we rehearse Monday through Thursday
6.30 to 8.30 you know if last night oh they were so thrilled they looked at me I
said eight o'clock okay go home I went what yeah that's always a treat oh yeah well it's
mandatory off book this week you know all right but this was the second time Monday was
was act one and Wednesday was act one Tuesday's act two tonight is act two so they already had the
really ripped the bandaid off night on Monday yep so Wednesday was just much better we had a couple
of hiccups we did run the giant you know jousting because that's but that's a lot of that's action
movement that's music and it's sound effects and so and everything has at plus the lines everything
has to happen exactly yep in one order only for it to really pull off but other than that you know
yeah so I said you know I'm not going to overwork them because we still have two more weeks we
still have all next week before even load in right you know and so I said no go home
well and and and forgive me if this is if I don't word this right or anything but with a bit of
an older cast and everything you probably want to pace this be smart where you're able to oh exactly
and especially some of them still work you know well Chris Sands is retired but he drives in from
Warsaw so yeah you want to get back to another words yeah this is his first year in Wisconsin he's
from California oh boy so he hasn't been used to the weather let me tell you it's something else
to keep in mind if you're if you haven't done this before and you want to audition another one of
these things that our our our community our our community theaters work with actors a lot there
is a set schedule of course of course a personal time but as far as you know the the personal touch
of a lot of this is really you know hands-on and very case by case and stuff just anybody ever
thinking about I I want anybody to ever not trail for a play for any reason yeah there there's
only reasons to do this I don't think there's a single reason not to and whatever you're telling
yourself of of reasons there aren't two we're trying to encourage you to go ahead you know
still do this yeah if it's something you really want to try then go for it always like too short
yeah before we let you go I want to get into details of the show and you mentioned the outreach
I want to touch on that as well right you can't talk about it already well yes we have we have
let me see I suppose I should just give you the cast names just so you know so you know
you know the actors gonna remember the other yeah that's for sure yeah doesn't they may not
remember what day it is but they'll remember that exactly Christopher Sands is playing Don
Quintero Peter Monk is playing Sam Marta is played by Susan Elant Sandy has been played by
Melinda Rosic Jimmy is Austin Slack Alice is Anna Faring Doris is Maxine Hogan Eddie is Pat Hogan
so I have a husband and wife doing their picking at each other on the sofa which is interesting
Clark is Tom Russell and Dr. Carrasco is Wendy Minch so I have it's a good cast it's a fun cast
we laugh a lot especially since like I said half of us are of an age so if there's some kind of
slip up the tongue or anything or like me going wait a minute what night are we on you know
everyone's going okay okay get out quick quick you know real method act real method yeah but we're
enjoying ourselves very much and they're working very hard most of them because this is an original
manuscript of the scripts are quite large so they have been aching to get those out of their
oh I'm sure yes yes many were off book last week yes please I can't do anything with this
huge floppy thing so no we're enjoying it and I'm enjoying it immensely really okay and it's
not even a farce but I'm having a good guy for those who know Susan it's a progressive kind of
play yes it tells it's a good it's a good play good Shakespeare and farces yeah and I have plenty
of those this is a nice change of pace yeah okay tickets tickets are 15 dollars for adults 12 for
seniors 10 for kids 7 for vets now on top of that free tickets for health care workers that come
in with their IDs wow any health care worker in any field that's I want to stress that nice
also any health and human services it's the same thing with your ID and if you work with the
elderly you and a guest can come in free wow we want people to we want butts and seats but
they have done this the theater group has done so well this year with their previous shows
that they said we can give we can afford to give back to our community this is a perfect
show to do that I'll reach oh goodness right and there are five dollar student rush any student
with an ID not just high school or college but I say med student or you know law school if you have
a student ID that's all you need five dollar student rush okay wow that's above and beyond all of
that it really is it's exciting it's very exciting yes wow and it's a credit to as well the
community the community is supporting their local their theater and them being doing well
enough to be able to do things yes yes and credit it has always had a philosophy in their whole
being of community service you know that theater is community service right so now there's
a reason it's called extending that community yes yes it's not a production company or anything
that it's community theater and that for me it should be definitely part of it yeah 100% so let
me give you the dates so again so my producer says you didn't give me the date Susan uh we open
May 8th and that is uh so we may 8th at 7 p.m. May 9th at 7 May 10th at 7 and then May 11th is the
Sunday 2 p.m. and then with the talk back afterwards right yeah so just one weekend uh certainly
with that matinee I encourage people to make some time afterwards to be a part of that yeah that's
really interesting yeah I think it's I'm excited I'm glad to hear that and always glad to talk with
you Susan we can't thank you enough for not only the time today but putting so much into this
community putting so much into this play and everything you've done over the years um as always
you did two good of a job so you're gonna have to come oh yeah sure we'll find reasons to get
well I think in our pregame we already came up with something yeah we definitely
grabbed her back um and and thank you again please uh carry on from us here uh to the cast
break a leg have a great we're hoping to be able to take these shows in and we will meet you there
everybody yeah um to me this isn't a hobby you know it's my avocation that's right you know I
wasn't able to make a vocation of it the way I wanted to but it's been a very strong I think I
think you've done done pretty well either way yeah absolutely and selfishly we're thankful to
have you around yes we are well thank you well I'm thankful that I have two theaters that I can
that's right yeah right uh yeah find out about one of them cwack.org uh it's the best
segway I had cwack.org is where you can get your tickets and find out more
encourage you to make plans uh again the show premieres may a make take I make plans and get
your tickets and get on over there cwack.org and thank you again to everybody for listening we
appreciate the best listeners and radio hanging out with us we'll be back with another director's
playhouse coming up for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR welcome back everybody to WFHR's
directors playhouse Seth and James hanging out with you we thought a fun tag end of this show
would be something that Seth and I get into on another side though we've talked a number of times
at the about actors who you know uh turn down roles uh that they know that they you know later
regretted I think famously Will Smith turning down neo it is a good example of that but what about
the other side of that when actors that that gut instinct tells them hey this isn't going to be
and well um this this might hurt my career yeah maybe I shouldn't say yes to everything yeah right
judo um I loved your law I have big fan he's great he's read had a very recent late career
resurgence but but he's yeah it's a great point you know we're looking at you know what because
we have seen this where certain actors take certain roles and it does it really can hurt your
career and what what were the near misses you know it says oh pass on that one and it turned out
to be a good thing right yeah uh and and sometimes they've even worked out for the actor that took
on the role uh maybe just a movie didn't go very well exactly but uh I used to laws an example
because it's actually something that we've I've heard teachers talk about enacting classes um and
where he early on in his career got that big break and uh had an agent and a zeer who was telling
him to see us to everything and that really kind of like saturated the market would you long so
yeah you kind of don't see him for a little while there now thankfully uh and because of his skill
and his will power you know he pushed through and he's still around and everything but it could have
ended differently it has for a lot of other actors right you may not realize that but it has um
i think of Eddie flash in the pan if you will an actor who yeah um there's a number of actors
right now uh that i i think are are in danger of that if they weren't to play it right um right
the uh gentleman from twisters their guy uh oh yeah now i can't remember his name yes yes
oh dang it um did that prove our point i don't know yeah maybe you know what i want to do is
i keep wanting to say scott Eastwood that's not it is no no no but um uh is it is it is it
is it Dempsey no it is no pal pal that's then pal then pal okay then pal we're leaving that in
uh really leaving all that it uh yeah then pal is is a rising star he uh is from top gun to twisters
to all that uh he's been really smart about taking roles that he likes and also that he thinks can
help grow him as an actor he's done it he's doing it uh hulu tv show and stuff oh like you don't
usually go to tv but it's a whole new world now with with all that's right so let's look at some
of the more famous uh situations where an actor turned down a role and it worked out for him
like Margaret Robe in Ghost in the Shell uh Scarlett Johansson ended up taking the lead and got tons
of backlash for portraying what was originally an Asian character right um and a stone ran into
this a little bit with a movie she did a while back now that worked actually blew up in people's
faces because it turned out of a stone actually is a percentage and everything but this one didn't
go well for Scarlett Johansson no hasn't also heard her career to be fair it has not because she is uh
well to be and and the other thing too for that one is she was already established at that point
Scarlett Johansson I mean Margot Robbie was still uh up and come her yeah and that might have
caused some issues for her Johansson can whether the story maybe not Robbie yeah um Zendaya this
is an interesting one Zendaya another up and coming great actor great actor uh Aliyah the Princess
of R&B she wisely dropped out but that was mainly because Aliyah's family didn't support the movie
oh there's a there's a one where that movie if that movie had become a best-seller uh the
the actor who played Aliyah got nominated for an Oscar I still think that's a good call
yeah because you got to the other part of this is not just your career in having a career
keeping a career but your PR right how you how people perceive you off the field yes um it may not
feel like a big deal but man uh it is part of what gets people to come to movies
is you know wild as it is for people like me to think of that like that that would make me see a
movie or not a movie it does and and might even play more of a part than I realize in my own brain
right and it gives her it shows that she has a lot of awareness yeah too about with what roles
she is willing to play and and not and I gotta say she has been just super smart with the roles
she has I mean she's she's got she's been really hammering it man um speaking of Emma Stone or
Kristen Dunst or anybody else uh I've loved every actor said it's played Mary Jane yeah I think
they have nailed that character every single time and we never talk about it no it's in dyes by far
away by favorite yeah right especially the way they they revealed it at the end that was fun oh
so good so good nice little twist their chemistry is fantastic yes um Jordan Peele one of the most
sought after directors in all of the world right now and a great actor uh hilarious human being
the emoji movie here turned down the poop emoji uh which I didn't know that oh yeah which ultimately
which was taken by Patrick Stewart uh being offered the part was one of the reasons Peele decided
to focus on directing and go with that route wow so that kind of changed the course of his career
at that point you can make the argument piece of course a Hollywood like before before uh they
the move the first one of his right um there there is a horror movies are in a stall and there's
there's just nothing new going on in everybody just keeps on leaning into blood and gore and guts
and everything with with his movies yeah it becomes a hitchcock and modern hitchcock tail it's
more about suspense and all that and oh my god his movies are good yes so uh which is set off a
whole new thing which right now you're seeing with sinners with the popularity and the success of
the movie sinners right who really remarkable right who go from superhero movies to go do in
the suspense and horror yeah like Jordan Peele yeah I I'm not trying to you know be a prisoner of
the moment more say that he changed the complete game or projection of Hollywood for 20 40 years
but he definitely has a route in that a branch in that tree that's sent in a different direction
especially well especially for a minority uh directors I mean the oh what wins the last time we had
I mean not talking about parody like scary movie or anything like that black creators doing horror
was probably in the 70s you know you know you know blackula and that kind of stuff those
exploitation films and that since then it's been like nothing and then he kind of brought it up
and now he's bringing more people in with him and it's really cool to see crazy to think about that
if he had taken that role and what might have been different also you turned on that role do you
like yeah I can play the poop him yeah I'm doing that man nothing like that then you find out
like later like wait but Sir Patrick Stewart took it but I turned it down but that guy who's
literally royalty and like he can get away with anything actually I just don't know how if that
was me I'd be like like oh I feel like a little bit almost like a little like a joke all right a
little bit like oh he can do it uh Emma Stone who we brought up earlier turned down Wonder Woman
in 1984 the original was such a hit you'd think it had been safe bet but Emma was not
was smart not to accept the part of Cheeto the Winthropy Kristen Wig now I wonder though
if the movie had been more successful and and there had been a better job I love Kristen Wig
I was so I was proud of the casting and her taking the change in direction as an actor um but it
just didn't hit and um in the movie suffered because of it I also when you have a Pedro Pascal
it's got to be a better villain the main villain they chose couldn't have been more
unmovie friendly right you know like in the comics it works really good that character
but I don't feel like it works very good on screen even though it's good it tells you something
when Pedro Pascal couldn't make that character work right I mean as good an actress he is that
that is telling you something Drew Barrymore turned down showgirls uh this one's become kind of a
cult classic but it did hurt Elizabeth Berkeley's career it killed it killed it I mean if you want
like exhibit A of taking a role um and which which is and to be fair to Elizabeth Berkeley she did
it for because she wanted to break out you know get away from the save by the bell thing like that
I get that but um and but it did it really it really ruined her career you can see interviews with
her since then she's like I wanted to do because I'm a dancer she wanted to dance all these things
there were good reasons for taking the the part but yikes I don't blame her and I agree with
everything you said this is one of those ones where a athlete is too hurt to go out on the field
and the coach has to be the person like no I'm sorry man you can't do it casting directors have
to be like no I'm sorry you are not but instead they leaned on we can get the save by the bell girl
in a racy role right and they went for cheap headlines and stuff and made a mad movie yeah put
an actor who didn't deserve to be in that spot a young actor did didn't deserve to be in that spot
right she was she was a grown woman she made her own choices but again the coach has to make
the decision sometimes right hey you are not ready for the you were not and it was and it was
totally unfair too for her because look at all the other people that were in the movie did not
affect them at all even though they did ridiculous performances a couple of big names too yeah
I mean Gina Gershon never gets mentioned about it and she you know Kyle McLaughlin in that one
oh my god that ridiculous seed I don't know I can mention what it is but it's so silly and again
nothing happened to him and on the other side of this too around the same time you've got a show
uh showgirls with or no uh did it mean more deal strip T's yeah with her Reynolds and her and
that gets all this like critical success and how daring of to me to do this and stuff and the
complete flip yeah which is really insulting yeah not just though these actors but moviegoers smart
so smart move by Drew Barrymore there yeah not to take that one yeah although Drew in any kind of
different type of role I would have liked to have seen I don't think she's acting anymore yeah but
not so much her as a showgirl just her and something very different than what we've normally seen
at the time especially at the time yeah because again another one of these actors we never got to
see the range of their talent no no she never got a chance to completely do some of the stuff she
could have uh one of my famous examples of this is Val Kilmer Val Kilmer famously turned down
Batman and Robin went to George Clooney movie wasn't exactly a success that was actually a smart move
on him on Val's part of course he had reasons for doing it you mentioned those before because he
had other projects that he wanted to do and that was but still smart move Robin Williams was
originally cast as the riddler but was unable to do it because of scheduling I believe he was doing
being human or something like that at the time one of my favorite movies of his he plays four
different roles in it and everything it's great um Val Kilmer the reason but the thing nobody
talks about this and I feel like I am one of the few people championing and it's this is fact
uh Val Kilmer turned down this role because he got the opportunity to do one movie Batman and Robin
and you know make a more money than he knew I never sure you would have made up yeah or he could
work in the Ghost in the Darkness with Michael Douglas he could do the Island of Doctor Monroe with
Marla Brando and do heat with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro he chose that not for the money because
again he made less in those three movies than he would have made for one day of on the set of Batman
and Robert right but he wanted to get better as an actor and he knew if he worked with those actors
that's how you get better working with better actors right and so we did the right thing he did
even though I mean there's no question heat is a classic you know uh especially in heist movie
circles it's a classic very excellent movie Ghost in the Darkness that is a fine movie you know
good performances yeah that Doctor Monroe is not good and there's lots of reasons for that
um but but still I mean the fact that he got to do those two other ones and really kind of
solidify his kind of his legacy in that sense yeah absolutely it's kind of funny where when this works
out uh so well for an actor in their legacy you know that's kind of cool to see now right um
and uh there there's Jim Carrey and Evan Almighty another famous one of course it would probably
wouldn't have been called Evan Almighty of Jim had done it since it would have been a sequel to Bruce
Almighty exactly would have been Bruce Almighty too or whatever yeah but instead the focus shifted
to Steve Carell's character the movie bombed luckily for Steve didn't really hurt him he had the
office uh he was already a few years into the office at the time so it was kind of almost like
not to say it helped or hurt it was just kind of like oh not even a speed bump just kind of
another thing no and it's funny that movie has become sort of a cult classic too even more
than Bruce Almighty has been the Evan Almighty one has kind of gotten some following well and again
this also gave him the opportunity okay uh they don't want me in comedies right now because I got
a little bit of a black eye I'm gonna do drama and I'm gonna do Foxcatcher and get nominated for an
Oscar be amazing right yeah yeah like just Steve Carell man yeah no where he's great so much
and we wrap up with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway and Katz I don't know if we got to get into this one
I feel like no explanation we all have a big sigh of relief for that one although for the way
Hugh Jackman is or I mean no no no it's it's it's I mean yes yeah I mean the fact that it's both
of them work you know what lay miss um uh which is I've I've only been able to see that movie once
because it's so emotional and it just just kills me every time I've seen it especially
Anne Hathaway does a fantastic of course Hugh Jackman she is so damn good she is good in that
and then Hugh Jackman of course is an amazing uh all-around performer and entertainer and you know
you say what you want about uh Mr. Mr. Russell Crowe but yeah other than that that is amazing but
the idea of them having co we get doing cats oh so smart you guys are brilliant I uh I don't know
how I want to be in on the the selling of that session of uh did it involve them just writing down
a number and like that little that scene where they just pass a piece of paper back and forth
like as far as every member of that cast is that how the uh that went as far as getting them to do
that movie I can't even you know I think of I can't even think of the names in that except for
James Corden I mean he had his other issues that kind of destroyed his career um and it was but
being cats didn't help did not help uh Taylor Swift Eager's elbow Dame Judy Dench Jennifer Hudson
Rebel Wilson Sir Ian McKellen how did you convince Sir Ian McKellen like like to do this like hey
you haven't had any black eyes in your career how about one how about one everybody needs one
come on come on Ian Sir Ian this movie had Taylor Swift and it couldn't succeed that's
that's say it's up to be fair to the actors and stuff the script was terrible but it was a lot
of the post-production that really sank that ship but yeah you can find the complete article at
buzzfeed.com this was a lot of fun said yeah it was we'll have another episode of directors playhouse
coming up for your real soon everybody by local support local support our shows and spread
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