Matt Kirkwood Meets World

00:00:18
Speaker 1: I don't remember where I was in my quote unquote cancer journey when I last updated you, our dear listeners about where I am, but I have started radiation now.

00:00:32
Speaker 2: I was very hopeful, perhaps naively, that I wouldn't have to do radiation, of all the things. I mean, I knew, thankfully for me, going into finding out I had cancer pretty early on, that I was not gonna need chemo. I was like, the type of cancer I had is almost never treated with chemo. It's just not effective and not needed. So that was never like, that was never something I was dreading. So the only thing I really had to dread was radiation and or hormone therapy. And I was really hoping I wasn't going to need radiation. And I'm not really sure why. I didn't know what to expect. I just I had heard that it's like having a really bad sunburn, which I've never enjoyed, and I am kind of sun avoidant. I have been, at least for the last twenty years of my life. I don't lay out in the sun, and I know that it can change your skin, and I just like was not looking forward to it.

00:01:30
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, a question change change your skin kind of everywhere or just around the area, just.

00:01:35
Speaker 2: The area, so that area that you're doing. And this is also something I had to learn, is that you can do like depending on what where you get cancer, most radiation that's done is very targeted. So it's like the very small little area of your body that had cancer, or maybe it's a bigger area of your body that part gets radiated for breast cancer, especially the type of cancer I had that was in the ducks, the ducks are all connected, so it's really hard for a doctor to feel very confident even after surgery, when they've removed the cancer they can see, they do not feel super confident that being that all those ducks are connected, that there aren't some rogue cancer cells that may be benign right now, so not obviously showing on an MRI or on a mammogram right now, but that may travel and eventually become cancer. And so the reason you do whole breast radiation versus just very targeted radiation is for those potential rogue cells that may have traveled that we can't see. So I met with a couple of different doctors, asked for a lot of explanation, and really ended up feeling before I made my decision that yes, I was in agreement with the science that I needed to have whole breast radiation and memorial Sloan Cuttering, which is a wonderful cancer institute. They do a lot of great work. They actually have a tool online where you can go in and enter all of your specific information. They have all these prompts and you can enter in how old you were when you found your cancer, how many surgeries you had to have to remove your cancer, whether or not you plan on taking hormone therapy. Like you answer all these very specific prompts and it will give you a percentage chance of recurrence.

00:03:24
Speaker 4: Wow.

00:03:25
Speaker 2: So, based on that and all the information I entered, if I chose to completely stop treatment after my surgeries that I had, I had about a nineteen percent chance of recurrence. If I do radiation, it gets me down to about a nine percent chance of recurrence. If I do hormone therapy on top of that, I get down to somewhere between a three to five percent chance of Okay. So to me, it was a very obvious. Absolutely my fears and despite my hesitation, just do it all. I'm gonna do it, and I want to leave as much of it behind me in twenty twenty four as I can. I will be starting hormone therapy when radiation is over. But so I have started radiation at this point, I have had only two radiation appointments. I had no idea what to expect. It's very weird. It's I had never had a ct scan before, so I like, I he really, I'd never had one.

00:04:27
Speaker 4: Wow.

00:04:27
Speaker 2: And so when I walked in, they were like, I'm sure you've had a CTEA before, and I was like, I have not, and they were like, okay, so you lay in my case, when you do radiation for rest, you can either lay prone on your stomach or you can lay on your back, and it all depends on where your cancer was. And they line you up with all these lasers. They gave me a little radiation tattoo. They line me up every single time I'm laying on my stomach. My arms are I'm like Superman and my arms are extended, my head is turned to the side. They line me up perfectly with the lasers, and then the thing just kind of like spins around me. And no one's in the room with you. They can only talk to you through a microphone, so it feels very On my first day, I was laying there going, what does this feel like? And all I could think of was it feels very much like if I had been abducted by aliens. This would be what I would probably experience. That they would put me on a table, they would lay me down, someone would be like, Daniell, we're gonna start the thing now, and then it would go like, yeah.

00:05:27
Speaker 5: You were saying you actually different.

00:05:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're so naive, Daniel, Come on.

00:05:40
Speaker 5: So you you were saying.

00:05:41
Speaker 6: You were telling me the other day that you actually kind of get like a sunburn, but you don't actually feel anything when it's happening.

00:05:48
Speaker 2: I was not expecting. I was not expecting to feel anything. And part of me still I'm going to doubt my own feelings because I'm like, maybe it's in my head, it's psychosomatic. But there was a point in yesterday's session, my first one, where I felt a little like zinger, like just some some zingers. And that word is in my head also because before my treatment, the doctor had said to me things you can expect afterward, you can expect. He said, have you ever been sunburned? And I said, yes, he said, Okay, imagine the worst sunburn you've ever had. It might be a little worse than that on that one spot, which for his whole breast. So it's going to be my entire right breast and I don't know exactly how high up like collarbone, collarboned rib, I don't know, but at least a significant square of my right breast is going to have this burn. And that burn permanently changes your skin. My skin may never go back to being its normal color. It may always be a little darker, it may feel leatherier, it may it becomes thicker. It's not better. So the one thing it will do that I think is better is it helps lessen your scars. Your scars aren't quite as noticeable, so my two surgical scars will apparently get better. But yeah, I felt that. He did tell me that in after effects wise, some people even years after radiation still get zings of pain, and that that's something that could last. And so while it was happening and I was like, I'm feeling some singers. Today I had it again. I did not feel the zingers as much this time, but I will say yesterday I did leave the office thinking I already feel a little burnt. I don't look burnt, but I do feel a little burnt, which I'm not loving that as my sign because it's cumulative, and like, I have nineteen more days of this. Well, now I have eighteen more days of this. And if I'm already feeling burnt on day one and two, oh, what's stay twenty gonna be?

00:08:01
Speaker 4: Like?

00:08:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, can you do any Are you allowed to do any like put on any cream or do any of that kind.

00:08:06
Speaker 2: So I have some cream. I have colendula cream, which they recommended I put it on before my procedure, but not like immediately before. They don't want you like lotioned up for your procedure, so I have I put lotion on at five thirty in the morning. I'm doing it at seven am. So I put lotion on at five thirty in the morning, I get there at seven, and then I'm out of there usually by like seven fifteen, seven twenty. It's a really quick thing. Then I come home, I take a shower, then I put the colendula cream back on, and then several times throughout the day I'm taking pauses to put on lotion or vasaline or aquafor just things that are going to really help hydrate my skin. And so yeah, so there's my update. I Will Jensen was very this morning. I was like, oh, I'm so tired this five thirty wake ups in the seven am and the you know, the kids woke me up a bunch of times last night, and he goes, I did think of the stat it sounds maybe better than it is. But after today two sessions, you're already ten percent done. And I was like, hey, that's a good point when I get to fultimism present. So I'm trying to find the ways to just be positive about it. And uh, you know, I will get through it. But i'll update you as I, you know, eventually have third degree burns.

00:09:18
Speaker 7: You'll know about.

00:09:20
Speaker 5: Hormones are going crazy.

00:09:22
Speaker 2: I won't need to update. I won't need to update you, and you'll be able to tell you. You'll know, you'll know before I do. Probably Welcome to Pod Meets World. I'm Daniel Fishel, I'm rather strong, and I'm Wilfredell. So today we are bringing in a guest we are very excited about. As we move along from season to season. One thing we've remembered and hopefully conveyed to our dear listeners is that many of the very vital crew members for a TV show have to wear many hats, and this week's guest definitely wore many hats for Boy Meets World. He wore the hat of a paramedic, a photographer, an infamous restaurant owner, a cowboy, and most importantly, a lunatic. It's right we've spoken at length about stand ins and how important they are, especially on a kid's show impacted by the legal constraints of working with miners. But if you've listened to all of our recaps, and we know you completists are out there, you've heard us celebrate every time. One specific stand in has also shown up as a background actor on the show first scene in the shopping mall where Will fell into butter while wearing a lobster costume. We've also frequently wondered if we're hearing his voice when a TV is playing or someone yells from nearby. He was there since season one of Boy Meets World and stayed for many a season, able to watch us grow up and stay not only an incredibly friendly face on set, but someone who still makes us happy when just hearing his name even thirty years later, and Boy Meets World wasn't his only gig. He was a working actor, appearing on shows like Castle and Criminal Minds, and most notably was in the twenty twenty one OSCAR nominated movie King Richard and a music video for the most Famous pop Star in the World. And no, Will, that's not Debbie Gibson. What Welcome to Pod Meets World? A stand in who stood out Matt Kirkwood, Tiffany, Taylor Swift. He was in a Taylor Swift video.

00:11:29
Speaker 8: Yeshod Hard, guys.

00:11:34
Speaker 2: Good to see you in your voice. Oh my gosh, just hearing your voice brought me back.

00:11:39
Speaker 4: So good to see you guys. Wow, wow, long.

00:11:43
Speaker 2: I know this is really the exact type of reunion we hoped for when we started the podcast. Yes, yeah, I mean when would have been the last time we saw you?

00:11:55
Speaker 4: I might have seen you, so thanks to Will. My daughter was my youngest daughter who was who was not even in the picture when we were doing Bye Metes Well. She was a big Girl Meets World fan And I saw Will and Ralphs and Will was like, hey, I can get you on the show. I'd love to see you. You know, I was like, and so I took her and a friend and I was the hero for the day. Funya on a set. They got to meet some people and I got to see some old friends and it was a really I think that was the last time. So I forget what season it was, I forget what episode it was, but yeah.

00:12:36
Speaker 2: Somewhere between twenty fifteen and twenty seventeen, somewhere, Yeah, twenty fourteen to twenty sixteen, some were right in there.

00:12:43
Speaker 4: So she would have been about ten or eleven.

00:12:45
Speaker 7: Yeah, at the deli counter at Ralphs and I look up, I'm.

00:12:48
Speaker 2: Like, it's Matt, It's Matt.

00:12:51
Speaker 7: Yeah. It was so much fun.

00:12:52
Speaker 8: Yeah, that was great.

00:12:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was that was That was a really great experience for her, And I'm so glad. And that was at La Center Studios, right right downtown because I ended up working there for a few years as a teacher and a program mentor, because there was a college that was on that on that on that why a four year BFA Acting for Camera, Dance, Musical, Theater and Film college that was there for So I was like, I remember this place.

00:13:23
Speaker 5: Did you taught acting?

00:13:25
Speaker 4: I did? I did, And it was very weird for me. I started out the school is no longer there and they were just taken over by AMDA. I don't know if you know that school, but uh they I started out as a program mentor. I directed a show with a couple of students there and they liked what I did and they they hired me on as a sub and then they had this position open called program mentor where I was academic advising, career advising, help with the scheduling, counseling. I was like doing everything for these kids. And and then you know, the year of the pandemic. Ironically, my boss, Jeremy Kent Jackson, I don't know if you remember, you know him. He was in Labrats. He was you know he was. He was like the head of the department when I was working there, and he, uh, he said, hey, we need you to teach some classes too, And I was like, okay, I've never taught before. I've been acting and directing for years, but I've never taught. And he goes, that's okay, we have a book. And then it was for COVID. So my first experienced teaching was over zoom. It was a sorrowing experience and to make it worse was that we had sixteen weeks semesters, but because it was we were doing everything over zoom, they truncated everything into eight weeks. Instead of teaching a class two days a week, three hours a day, I was teaching a class four days a week, three hours a day. And that was just one of.

00:14:58
Speaker 6: My class, Like the worst thing do over zoom, Like, yeah, well, I can imagine how the dance teachers felt.

00:15:06
Speaker 4: So it was a really good, you know, baptism by fire.

00:15:12
Speaker 2: I guess you know, well, before we jump into your time at Boy Meets World, I know that you had a few jobs before you joined us there. It seems with the research that we've done that maybe your first job was beat was on Quantum Leap. Is that true?

00:15:27
Speaker 4: It was? It was that was my first job, and it was interesting because my parents. I was like, I was so excited. I told my parents and Scott Bakula couldn't have been nicer. He was like one of the nicest guys. Was a great intro into the the TV world because I was sitting in there and I was getting my you know, makeup and hair done, and Scott Backla comes in and goes hi I'm Scott looking forward to working with you. I was like, wow, that was so nice.

00:15:54
Speaker 8: I was like, okay, yeah, and so I couldn't wait to tell my folks back east, and they, of course they saw it three hours earlier.

00:16:06
Speaker 4: And I called them. I said, what'd you think. I haven't seen it, and they're like, well, we saw it, you know, with a Rhode Island accent. And we saw it. And turns out that like the camera was on went back and forth between me and him, and I was in the beginning of the episode and when it went on me, the credits were in my face. So that was like my intro the world. I was like, okay, I never know what's going to happen. I never know. I never tell anybody when I'm casting something. I never know until I see it myself or someone else sees it. You know.

00:16:39
Speaker 2: Oh that's so funny. So you're from Rhode Island. When did you move to LA.

00:16:44
Speaker 4: I moved to LA after my graduation from Emerson. I moved to LA in the November of eighty five, eighty five. Yeah, and I had never been out of New England before, except for a couple of trips in New York. So it was really interesting. Us.

00:17:02
Speaker 3: I remember you and I talking about Emerson case. I had a very close family friend that went there, who was the DJ for the Emerson radio station. Okay, so yeah, you and I would sit there talking about and then we were talking about New England and all that kind of stuff. But I didn't know your first show was Quantum Leap, which is like one of the best shows ever on television.

00:17:19
Speaker 2: Oh, it was such a good show.

00:17:21
Speaker 4: It was It was an amazing show. And he was so gracious, he was such a wonderful guy to work with. Rookie Acter mistake because I'm taking I'm playing the one where he becomes a woman, the broad Burning episode. Oh yeah, yeah, so I'm taking his picture and you know, the polaroid comes out, and I made a huge Rookie Acter mistake when there was no film in the camera and I said cut that was director. And the second yeah, you don't need to say.

00:17:56
Speaker 7: Man yelling cut yourself.

00:17:58
Speaker 2: That's awesome, that's hilarious. Well, our listeners have learned so much about the many important jobs that help their favorite shows get on the air, including being a stand in. But we wanted to talk a little bit about being a featured background actor too. You had also shown up in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It? Right?

00:18:21
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:18:22
Speaker 2: Okay, Can you tell us what a typical schedule is like to be a featured background talent.

00:18:28
Speaker 4: You know, I think it's different, and I only did it for a couple of projects. It was different for film. For film, I was there one day. For TV, like what Boy Meets World experiences, it's it's different. You have the same people come in and you know, do it. For film, I was only in a couple of scenes, so it wasn't really that.

00:18:53
Speaker 2: Monumentous of experience, like you said, one day of your life. Yeah, one day in my life.

00:18:58
Speaker 4: You go in, you shoot you a line, if you don't have a line, or if you do, it gets cut or whatever. And I was like musician number six or something like that, something like that. I still did three cent residual checks from that, so perfect those. Yeah.

00:19:17
Speaker 2: So can you tell us how did you get your job on Boy Meets World? Do you remember getting hired?

00:19:23
Speaker 4: Yes, so, Arlene Grayson got She was one of the most beautiful people in the world. I was doing a staged reading at my theater company and I was playing multiple parts, and you know, it's just it was, it was it was just a fun time. We were just you know, reading a new play and I was playing like four or five different parts, and she happened to see it. So she came up to me asked her. She goes, you, uh, do you want to have you ever done standard work? I'm no, I have no idea what that is. And she's like, well, could you show up on the set on Monday. It's a show called Boy Meets World, and I think it was like the sixth episode in that is when I started. It wasn't right at the beginning, and I was I was like sure, and I showed up and you know, I got introduced to everyone, and and I hadn't you know, I was just like what do I do much what Rider's doing, or what what Bill is doing or what Russ is doing, you know, and just you know, when we asked just go up and do what they're doing, I'm like, okay, you know, and I've had experience on stage, so it's like, okay, I can just follow the blocking and just step in when needed. So that that was kind of like my intro to Boy Meets World. But Arlene was the one who got me in.

00:20:41
Speaker 7: The first year. Then it was you and Kevin and Tommy.

00:20:46
Speaker 4: Kevin, yeah, it was Tracy there too, and.

00:20:50
Speaker 7: There too. Okay, okay, Kevin.

00:20:51
Speaker 4: Tommy and Tracy. Yeah. Yeah. And I saw Kevin a few years a few years ago, No, god about I want to say about. You know, I'm getting old. So a few years exactly, a few years ago, I still Kevin. I was. I actually did an extra work on a TV show and Kevin just happened to be there and I was like, right, We've got to catch up on a few things, and it was really good scene. Each soon.

00:21:19
Speaker 3: Well, I remember when you came to the show, because you change my life. I still have Matt Kirkwood in my life almost every day because you and I were talking and you walk over with your same plastic cup that you would always have, and you went to the water cooler and you filled it up three quarters away with cold water, and then you put in hot water, and I went, what are you doing? And You're like, oh, you never want to drink full cold water. It's like it spikes your body temperature. You want to make sure that your your water is always like room temperature. Or close to it. And to this day still I still every day go three quarters the way up with cold water and then splash in the warm water.

00:21:59
Speaker 7: Every day I'm like, yeah, it's.

00:22:04
Speaker 4: Provide such a great memory.

00:22:05
Speaker 7: Still change my life right there.

00:22:08
Speaker 2: So you still drink room temperature water, mat I.

00:22:12
Speaker 4: Do, But you know what, I've changed my diet completely. I ate a lot more fruit and vegetables, so I get a lot of water through fruits, you know, and.

00:22:20
Speaker 3: Good for you, Matt, fru It's not good fruits and vegetables.

00:22:26
Speaker 4: Potatoes.

00:22:27
Speaker 7: Yeah, you can't supersize it. It's not good. Everybody knows.

00:22:35
Speaker 2: So was Boy Meets World then, your first time working with child actors?

00:22:40
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah, it was. Sorry, no, no, no, I gotta say, and I've been you know. When I knew you guys were gonna have me on, I I thought about a story that I was like, because you hear stories about child actors and you know, their their helicopter parents, and their their their their braddy. And it was such a wonderful experience working with you guys. Because there was one incident and I have to bring this up because I was like, these kids are amazing. There was one producer who shall rename named nameless nameless and he they were kind of casting their child's birthday party. I don't know if you guys remember that. They sent out a letter to all.

00:23:26
Speaker 3: I know exactly who you're talking about and were saying, hey, have.

00:23:30
Speaker 4: Your agents send you a picture and resume. I'm like, that's disgusting. I just.

00:23:36
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:23:36
Speaker 4: I was like, you're casting a birthday party. Wow, that's that's showing your son who their true friends are, you know. And it was like, but you guys collectively took that piece of paper and just tore it up. And I was like, oh my god, thank you you guys. And you guys had you know, I always you guys always had good heads on your shoulders, and you were always talking about, hey, how can my character grow? There was always discussions about how can I make my character grow? What? You know, this character is the same in this episode that I've done three episodes ago. Why can't you give me a different issue? Why can't? And I was really impressed with how much you guys cared about your characters.

00:24:19
Speaker 3: Well, I mean I think you, I mean, arguably, you know, we're kind of you become a company. You know, you become it's like it's like a stage company, and so we all worked together every day. Yeah, I mean the the you know, guest cast would come in, they'd be there for a day or so. But I was working with you more than I you know, as much as I was working with writer and Danielle and Ben. I mean, we were all acting together every day, and you'd start to get to know each other's vibe and you were very much there for all of that.

00:24:49
Speaker 5: So we're not only kind of but also our directors were changing. Yeah, so in a weird.

00:24:53
Speaker 6: Way, like Matt was there, like he was part of ours team as the actors. Right when these new directors are writers, it would always be like those people would be changing, but like our little actor crew, like we were always there all day, every day, rehearsing together.

00:25:07
Speaker 4: So fun. Yeah, and it was you know, I remember it was great. You know, David was so great grow gracious as a director, and Jeff was so gracious as a director. And I remember there are a couple of others. There was Alan, and then John Tracy came in and directed a few. David Kendall directed a few, so you know, it was it was a really interesting experiencing how you guys adapted to each each new voice, you know. You know. Another thing that I thought was really impressive was the way Michael handled everything in that I would see. I would watch run throughs that were hysterically funny, hysterically funny. I was like, oh my god, this has got to stay in. Yeah, and then when Michael gave notes, he was like, yeah, it was funny, but was it truthful? And you know, he always went for the truth rather than I think that's what was part of what boy means world staying power was. It wasn't always for the cheap laughs. You know, it was always for let's help these characters grow. This is what the story's about. And I really was I really learned a lot listening to him during the run throughs and you know, giving notes.

00:26:16
Speaker 5: So, yeah, show has heart for sure.

00:26:19
Speaker 7: Yeah, yes, And he knows sitcom.

00:26:21
Speaker 3: I mean, you say what you want about Michael, but the man knows especially family sitcom backwards, forwards and sideways.

00:26:27
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. And that was apparent, Yeah, really apparent. Yeah. Yeah.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: So being a stand in on a kid show, you were probably standing in for any one of us when we were in school or doing something else. Do you happen to have any memorable interactions with Bill Daniels.

00:26:46
Speaker 4: I don't. I was, you know, I was listening to other previous podcasts, you know, and I heard DD's podcasts. She was talking about Bill Daniels as well. I kind of like was in the same boat. I was like, oh my god, seventeen seven, twenty six n Adams for a few years, and you know, I was like, I was like quietly admiring of him. You know, I never really had any interaction with him, just there's how how are you type of thing, and you know, it was just, yeah, I just never I always kept I was kind of shy that way. If I was admiring of someone, or if I had really had a fan kind of thing that happened, I'd be like, I'm.

00:27:27
Speaker 2: Not not going to approach.

00:27:30
Speaker 4: I'm just going to keep my distance because I'll just watch.

00:27:33
Speaker 3: We kind of felt the same, at least for the first few years. I mean, we felt the same where it was like, okay, well we'll just keep our distance and try to annoy him as little as possible.

00:27:44
Speaker 7: Exactly.

00:27:45
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:27:47
Speaker 3: Now, do you remember the week that we did Model Family with Kathy Ireland.

00:27:54
Speaker 2: Yes, you played the photographer.

00:27:56
Speaker 4: I was the photographer. Yeah, that was a great experience. And and do.

00:28:00
Speaker 7: You remember what happened that week with your hair?

00:28:05
Speaker 4: With my hair? Oh? I put it up.

00:28:07
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, So I don't know if you were, if you want to tell that story, if you remember, because I reman, do I remember that because you and I had a conversation right after it happened.

00:28:15
Speaker 4: I think I put it because it was long, and somebody said it was in my face, so I put it in a ponytail. Yeah.

00:28:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, they put it in a So they were sitting there and we're doing the run like so a lot of times the stand ins will stand in not only for us, but also in the run throughs for the guest cast before they haven't cast somebody or something like that. So there was the part of the photographer, and so of course you stepped in and you know, you did it for the run through, and they were like, well.

00:28:42
Speaker 7: It's just be mad, like you should you should just do the part.

00:28:46
Speaker 3: So you're doing the part, and you had your hair down the whole week, and then we go to shoot and I guess the war makeup and hair. Somebody put your hair in a ponytail and we're shooting and then you hear Michael.

00:28:57
Speaker 7: No, no, no, no no.

00:28:59
Speaker 3: All week long, I'm watching this guy, this photographer has long hair and why is it up like that? And oh my god, and you turn around and you're kind of ashen face because Mike, that's how you said. So they come out, they pull it, they shake it down, we do the scene. You come over to me after, You're like that was terrifying. I thought he was gonna fire me, Like, oh my god, yeah, I'll never forget your face.

00:29:26
Speaker 7: You're like that was terrifying.

00:29:29
Speaker 4: My first experience that I'm blowing on my go.

00:29:34
Speaker 6: You up on the show so often, like five episodes we keep seeing You're like, oh, that's so great.

00:29:40
Speaker 4: It was, you know, it was it was really I really appreciated all of that because it was just like I still get residual checks and you know, I still work at AMDA right now as an academic advisor, and the students come to me. It's like, oh my god, I saw a Boy Meets World or I saw Castle or I saw and I'm like, oh yeah. So it's it's you know, the fact that this show is still iconic. You know, even my freshman when I talked to my freshman last year, like, oh my god, I love that show and it's really crazy, you know, so it was really good to be part of a part of this iconic experience. You know.

00:30:17
Speaker 2: Well, I want to know how many times have your students recognized you as playing the Lunatic in an episode the Eskimo episode of Boy Meets World.

00:30:29
Speaker 4: I'm the one that says jump right, yelling jump.

00:30:36
Speaker 2: Yes and one.

00:30:40
Speaker 4: I don't know if they you know, uh, I think they remembered the the weatherman, yes, that as well. I think they remember that and the photographer. I don't think we talked about I don't think I've ever talked about the Lunatic one.

00:31:00
Speaker 8: But you also got to be chummy at one point, right, Yes, I mean I did, but I was like, you know, I saw myself is chumpy.

00:31:07
Speaker 4: I watched the run through. I watched myself from going Oh, I was so over the I was like, oh my god, I'm over doing that, you know.

00:31:19
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, okay, we thought you were great.

00:31:22
Speaker 4: Oh, I appreciate that.

00:31:24
Speaker 2: We have enjoyed every time your face has popped on screen. You're also in, aren't you? In the Sprinkles episode you're you don't don't think you say anything, but you're. You're very featured in the episode with this in the yogurt cup where the sprinkles are falling from the park.

00:31:37
Speaker 3: We shot it in the park and we have to put the goggles on because Dosh Sprinkles is coming.

00:31:42
Speaker 4: And then yeah, Jesus, I forgot all about that one.

00:31:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember seeing you prominently feature there. It literally every single time it's happened, we go and there's.

00:31:59
Speaker 3: Mad Yeah, we love it.

00:32:12
Speaker 2: Do you remember did you watch the episodes when they aired?

00:32:16
Speaker 4: I did? Yeah, I did. I uh, yeah, I watched the episodes every time. You know, I definitely did, because you know, I wanted to see it. I wanted to see what you know, you want to see what happens during the run through and how the laugh track works and how all of that works and how it's all put together. And I was very interested also because I've directed Stage, I was very interested in seeing how the how the direct the sitcom, which was very similar to Stage because it's very proscenium, right, and seeing how they everything got edited together, and so it was very it was very good to see, like seeing it the run through, seeing the whole thing and then seeing how the pieces were put together. So yeah, I watched a lot of the episodes.

00:32:58
Speaker 2: So when you joined us then in season one, do you remember what you thought of the show? Did you think like, hey, this is a good show.

00:33:08
Speaker 4: I didn't know what to think, to be honest with you, because it was I was very green when it came to being on that show. Like I said, I came from the theater, so seeing everything, it was getting to know everybody, and I'm I'm like the type of person that kind of I slink back, I look, I observe first before I kind of like go in. And I was like, these these are this seems like a really good family that I feel like I'm just a guest right now, because I wasn't.

00:33:35
Speaker 2: I wasn't there episode.

00:33:38
Speaker 4: The beginning, and so I'm like, okay, I'm a I'm a guest. And then you know, when Arlene was like, yeah, we'd love to hire you back, I was like, oh, oh, okay, cool, this seems like fun. So it was. But I just saw a great group of like one huge family. Yeah, from the beginning, at least from what I experienced, And that was like from the sixth episode in that you guys. It's got a long great but seeing all you kids like so tiny grow, well, some of.

00:34:09
Speaker 2: Us grew, so, some of us grew, some of us stayed tiny, grew in the wrong direction. I was wider wid yeah, but but I.

00:34:22
Speaker 4: Do remember It's like all of you were so good. I remember, Danielle, when you first came in, you weren't to Panga, you were.

00:34:29
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:34:29
Speaker 4: I think I was there for that. I think I was there for that.

00:34:33
Speaker 2: So I think that was episode four. So you were there for episode four.

00:34:36
Speaker 4: Oh maybe I was. Maybe it was episode four, But I remember that that you were the friend and and and that that kind of like was a good learning experience for me too, because I was like, well, any time someone could say this is right, this person is better, let's bring them in. I think it happened with uh, with you will with Jason, Yeah, I came in. I was supposed to be your buddy and it just didn't work out. And I was there.

00:35:05
Speaker 3: We worked with him until shoot day and then he was gone, and then Marsden came in and that was it. Yeah, we had Jason for just that one day. Yeah, we would see that all the time. It was it was crazy. Lots of that first season, lots of firing, lots of fire out season. Were you married at the time that you that used to Boy?

00:35:27
Speaker 4: You were? In fact, my my daughter was born during during while I was on Boy. Me's my oldest daughter. She's thirty now, so that's another thing that oh my god, I'm aging. We all. Uh she was thirty at the time. No, not at the time.

00:35:42
Speaker 2: She was zero at the time.

00:35:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, zero at the time. Yeah, but I was married at the time, still married, And now I have two girls. One my youngest once in college and my oldest one is thirty living in New York and she so yeah, so it's been a and you know, it's been it's been a whirlwind. Yeah. Yeah.

00:36:04
Speaker 5: Are your daughters in the business at all? Are they entertainer?

00:36:07
Speaker 4: No? No, thankfully, no one is. You know, one did go to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She it wasn't for her, she didn't like it. And now she's working for an attorney in New York. And my old my youngest daughter is going to school for biochemical chemistry you know jobs, yeah, real jobs. So but it's it's you know, I'm kind of you know, my my oldest daughter. You know, I said, okay, let's take you some acting classes. Let's see if it's for you, if you want to try it. And no, because she would she would come see our plays. She would come see our plays, and you know, she'd be on the school yard acting the mouth the next day, you know, and I'm like, she wants to do this, so but now she she was not. That was not for her.

00:36:56
Speaker 2: Well, we mentioned the the different directors that would come through. Do you remember having a favorite director, Like do you remember seeing somebody's name on a script and going, oh, yes, I can't wait for this week.

00:37:07
Speaker 4: Well it was, I mean I really learned from Jeff and David. I thought they were amazing. They were the two, of course, you know, favorites of mine because they've been there the longest. Yeah. Alan was very very nice to me, and I know there was a there was kind of a descriptive he wasn't used to working on kids shows, I don't think.

00:37:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was nice to me too, and to writer. I mean, if if he liked you and you got along, he was great.

00:37:34
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:37:35
Speaker 3: But but there were I know, some people definitely had a problem with his style of direction.

00:37:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, in his style of communication, which was so I'm not used to working with kids, but you know, having Jeff there and also Lynn was there so then too, it was it was really you know, it added to that family atmosphere. And then John Tracy, you know, I liked what he did. David was great. David knew how to move things. You know, let's go, let's go, you know. Uh, And David Kendall was like that as well. So I would say, you know, David and Jeff, David Trainer and Jeff McCracken were my two favorites because they were just so easy going. There was no drama. They just did it and and you know there was, it was very quick. And one thing I do there was there was a Halloween episode, a scream episode, yeah, that Jeff directed, and again it was one of those that he edited in such a way that I thought was so creative, and you know, reading the script itself, I'm like, oh my god, this is hysterical. It was like one of those where you thinking, oh my god, this is hysterical. But he edited it in a way that was just so creative, and I thought it was so interesting what he did with that script, so so things like that you look at and you and you and you say yourself, oh, this this creativity allowed in this sitcom, sitcom format.

00:38:58
Speaker 2: Absolutely. We also got to interview the great Jackie Fell this year. It was the team of stand ins close.

00:39:08
Speaker 4: It was. It was especially you know, you know, Kevin and Tracy I adore, you know, they're just such lovely people. And then we had some you know, other standings that came and went and things like that. But when Jackie came in, it felt like that was a completion to the puzzle. Yeah, yeah, you know, she she just fit in so perfectly, and we just all got along so great. And she I mean, she's just a marvelous person. She you know, it just was a missing piece of the puzzle that just got finally got put together. And I get along, you know, we all get along great. I do remember her and I heard her podcast. I heard her on the show too, and just talking about being that waitress. Funny, that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the show. And you know, it was just a great experience. Yeah, bringing her in was just really that's what I felt like. We were a completion, you know.

00:40:05
Speaker 3: So I have to ask, because I'm a huge television fan, take Boy meets World out of the equation. Uh huh, what's your favorite set that you've worked on That wasn't Boy because obviously Boys gonna be your number one answer, no matter what.

00:40:20
Speaker 4: Lincoln Lawyer was. Yeah, I was. That was a fun set. I liked that, and I liked Castle. It was a fun set, well, not fun, I was. It was. It was just a good, easy going you do it, you're in, you do your drop, you're out, and uh, you know, Quantum Leap was was interesting.

00:40:42
Speaker 7: Yes, the Quantum Leap is oh Man. To have spent some time on that set would have been great.

00:40:47
Speaker 4: For a first experience. It was really it was a really good, nice easing moment. But those were nice. I mean I think every set I've been on, Criminal Minds, every set I've been on was very was very nice. I mean, I would say the favorite was Lincoln Lawyer because I was I knew Bruce Davidson, who played the judge in that episode like years ago, like when I first came out here. I got to know him and it was great seeing him again. So I had a little friendly face on the set as well.

00:41:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's always n yeah, so.

00:41:18
Speaker 4: It's kind of put my mind at ease. You know, it's like, oh, we kind of just just gabbed backstage and brought up old memories and things like that, so let's cool.

00:41:27
Speaker 2: You were also in the will Smith Williams Sisters movie King Richard. You played a tennis coach in that. Do you have any stories about that experience?

00:41:36
Speaker 4: Tennis Dad number two?

00:41:39
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:41:41
Speaker 4: It was it was. It was a good experience. No I because I I I'm the one that gives him the line, hey, your other daughter's good too. I forget what it was, but it was something along those lines, kind of introducing that. Venus was there. Uh, Serena, Serena, thank you. Yeah, but Serena was there too. And you know, I kept checking IMDb pro I'm checking that and it wasn't on there. I'm like, oh, maybe I was cut. And I'm like, oh my god, If I was cut, that's wrong because that was like a that was like a huge moment, moving moment, and and so I was like okay. And again I didn't tell anybody.

00:42:15
Speaker 2: Until it came out.

00:42:20
Speaker 4: Because I was invited to the premiere and I didn't go because again I didn't want to see my you know, go and not see myself. It'd be like kind of like then go in and I had one day's work and I'd be like, who are you? What did you do? You know? And I have a very weird kind of thing like that. So but a friend of mine who had a bigger role in it, went to see it, and you know, I saw his Facebook post saying, well, I went to see you know, King Richard. I was cut, but my buddy Matt Kirkwood is in it. So they cut him out really fromone now you know, no, they cut him out there Jesus. But I was. I was a little nervous, you know, hesitancy has then because I didn't want to you know, I didn't want people to think, oh, he's in it. Oh I didn't see him. So I am kind of like that, like I don't tell anybody until until I actually see myself in it or someone lets me know in a minute.

00:43:14
Speaker 6: So my first job, I was of three weeks on a movie. I had one line in the script. They gave me two extra lines while we were filming, but I had to be in the back of this. It was part of this family in this like dust Bowl h California situation, and it was like a grapes of wrath rip off. And then they called and said, we need writer to come do looping, and I said, they called my mom and I said, but I only had one or one line, and they're like, oh, actually, yeah, we don't need writer come do looping.

00:43:42
Speaker 5: So when we actually watched the episode, it's somebody. It's like clearly a woman's voice, Like they took my one line.

00:43:48
Speaker 7: And dugged me over.

00:43:50
Speaker 6: Oh, my agent had to send out postcards because that's what you used to do, send out postcards if you were going to be able to Now all the casting directors, so like everybody in Hollywood saw my my one line that wasn't even my voice.

00:44:04
Speaker 2: Oh my god.

00:44:05
Speaker 6: I remember that was my experience. I was eleven years old, and I remember being like, I'm never telling anybody. I'm I'm month wait which movie was this again? Long Road Home Mark Harmon, but it was It's it's yeah. But like that was I had very early lesson, like don't tell anybody you're going to be on TV. Don't just don't even bother, don't bother because you never know what's going to happen.

00:44:23
Speaker 2: Well, one role I want to know absolutely everything about in painstaking detail. Is your time in Taylor Swift's music video No.

00:44:34
Speaker 4: No, I wish I wish I was?

00:44:38
Speaker 2: That was Mark, Yeah, exactly. It's on IMDb. So that's just something we you.

00:44:45
Speaker 5: Know, the Matt Kirkwood out there.

00:44:46
Speaker 4: Maybe I think there's another Matt Kirkwood who's a weather man in Ohio or something.

00:44:51
Speaker 3: So maybe which which video is the other Matt Kirkwood in?

00:44:56
Speaker 4: Now? Which saw it's for?

00:44:58
Speaker 2: I bet you think about me for her remade version in twenty twenty one.

00:45:02
Speaker 4: Oh okay, so I have to see that.

00:45:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's on your IMDb. So i'd start telling people. Come up with some stories, Matt. Yeah, come out with some stories about how amazing it was.

00:45:11
Speaker 4: So when I worked with Taylor, you keep going.

00:45:15
Speaker 3: Call Taylor because we know colored t t.

00:45:21
Speaker 2: Teez whizzle. That's fine.

00:45:28
Speaker 4: Oh my god.

00:45:29
Speaker 3: One thing I was trying to remember because am I wrong? Did you leave for like a season?

00:45:36
Speaker 4: No? I did, though I left after the sixth sixth season.

00:45:40
Speaker 7: That's what it was, Okay, I thought, so yeah.

00:45:42
Speaker 4: And because and only normally, and it was only because I really it was a great experience. I learned a lot. But the thing is, as an actor, was very difficult to go out for auditions. And Stephen and Michael shay Steve Hayfer and Michael she were amazing. They were like, all right, can you go now? Can you go now? Or come back? Because I knew what I was needed, you know, And I was needed as that was part of my job, that was what I was getting paid for, that was what I was needed for. So but it was like I would get auditions, like in the middle of the day, and I would have to go out, and I was like, I don't I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want to get Steve or Michael in trouble. I know they were doing their best, and and I didn't know, you know, if I should stay on because of that. You know, It's like where's Matt, you know? And I know how the schedule you guys were on tight schedule. He's still in school, you know, And and so I I that's why I left. I was I got to find a job that yes, doesn't you know, that pays the bills, but doesn't you know, doesn't have that that that obstacle, you know, That's my main goal.

00:46:51
Speaker 2: That feeling even just hearing you talk about it, of like you have you're an actor, you were working, you were booking jobs. That stress of like, I have the opportunity to book an acting job versus mess being here for being a stand in, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go because I'm currently getting paid for this job, but I might have to pass up this opportunity. Like the fact that you stuck that out for six seasons. Yeah, that stress is that's that's a lot that's hard to take on. So I can totally understand. And you're like, all right, this show sixth season, Come on, how much longer is this thing gonna last?

00:47:23
Speaker 4: Anyway, I so missed working on the show. It was a hard decision to make, but I so missed working on it because you guys, again it was like this is this job is gold. And I love you know, I love when I'm working. I love doing, you know, watching, I love observing, I love learning, you know, and and you know, I got to sit in editing booths and and selled editing and it was it was really cool and so but it was a very tough decision, very tough. So but I think you guys won one more season after that.

00:47:53
Speaker 2: We did ye seven. Yeah, we did a seventh season. Do you still keep in touch with anybody from the show?

00:48:12
Speaker 4: I well through Facebook. You know Jackie and Michael Shay I saw a few years ago because at at we had these Hollywood Nights at this college, and we'd had these. We'd sometimes we bring in casting directors to talk to the students, sometimes we bring in agents. But one time we brought in television sitcom people and I asked Michael and he came in and spoke and it was a great experience. You know, he loved it because this is he also was credited for working on How I Met Your Mother? Yeah, and so I got to know him. I got to work, you know, see him again, and that was really cool.

00:49:01
Speaker 2: Us out. I just saw Michael Shay not even a month ago. He is working on Happy's Place for NBC and I am directing over at Lopez Versus Lopez and NBC did a big our our sitcom Our Sitcoms and like a little party, and Michael Shaye was there and so I got to see him face to face and give him a hug. We took a picture together. I sent it to the guys. So, yeah, I just saw Michael not even a month ago.

00:49:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, I see. Yeah, he's such a I mean again, everybody was so great to work on work on the show. Everybody that worked on the show was amazing.

00:49:35
Speaker 2: It really was.

00:49:38
Speaker 4: Everyone was Jarry McCain and and Michael and and the David who is the sistant prop guy.

00:49:45
Speaker 2: He was really cool, Mark Pabsen, Mark Mark.

00:49:48
Speaker 3: We just talked to David Glazer too, so we just we've got everybody.

00:49:52
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh my god, yeah, David and Mark and then Chris, Chris Cayer, Yes, I remember Lindsay and who is the Lily Lily Ridgeway. I'm so sorry and Lily. Yeah, but you know what, Lily does a lot of stage work. Now I see her and I was like, oh, I'm so glad she's she's because I met it. It was very hard for her being so young, yeah, and being in this atmosphere, so it was it was great to see. It's like, oh, my gosh, she was doing a show. It out in I guess Ventura or something. Oh, that's so cool that she's still doing this, you know. And one of the funniest lines I still can't get I still he's one of the funniest lines the series ever did was when uh Lindsey came down the stairs I'm out. Ever, what a great intro it really was.

00:50:51
Speaker 2: So we talked a little bit about your teaching. What is some of the best advice you think you give to acting students who want to make it as a career in the entertainment industry.

00:51:00
Speaker 4: Now, training, keep training, And I always say, start out in theater. Theater. You're really learning how to build a character from the beginning. Yeah, you know, the arc of the character, their journey, whatever their journey is, and that that whole feeling of the live audience experiences is so it's so paramount or tantamount to to that feeling on stage. Is that feeling of oneness? I think that's that experience of being on stage because I have some I have seen some actors they start out on TV and then they come on stage and then they they don't know what to do with their hands. They just stand there like sticks. They used to be from from here up. But I always say, you know, stage, start out in theater, start out finding a technique, whether it's Stanislavsky check off, Huda Hogen Meisner, whether it's any of the start out with something just to give you something to start with, just to give you something that you can pull out of your bag you need it, and then learning other techniques as well, because you know, Stan Slawsky doesn't work, so we need to pull out check off, you know, and have that grab bag of different techniques. That's one thing I tell them. It's just to stay trained, keeping training even after you graduate. Yeah, and and don't don't uh, don't give that up because uh, people say it's like riding a bicycle. It really isn't. You know. You have to get back and getting the footwork in and getting the getting the training in.

00:52:38
Speaker 2: But if it's riding a bicycle, I have to say, having done it not that long ago as an adult, it's not. It's still difficult.

00:52:45
Speaker 7: I was riding a bike.

00:52:48
Speaker 2: It's not trouble, but it's not like it's just oh yeah, this is second nature. I was like, oh, balance and the bike and.

00:52:57
Speaker 5: Cannot ride a bike it. I mean she can, but technically, but every time she she hates it. She just hates it. So like life rented bikes when we travel and she's had multiple accidents.

00:53:07
Speaker 2: She just d yeah, she like, I guess who rode a bike? Will?

00:53:12
Speaker 7: I just rode a bike for eighteen miles in Aspen?

00:53:14
Speaker 4: Wow?

00:53:15
Speaker 2: Okay, well two shit.

00:53:18
Speaker 3: For most adults, drop shutdown, Danielle.

00:53:22
Speaker 2: For most adults, I don't think it's the most comfortable if you haven't done it in a long time. But it's just like riding a bike.

00:53:30
Speaker 7: It's literally in the.

00:53:31
Speaker 2: Same I get it, But the saying isn't the same. The saying isn't good.

00:53:37
Speaker 5: You probably weren't great at riding the bike even when you were a kid.

00:53:40
Speaker 2: Not true. I was great, although I do have a scar from falling off a bike, so that's true. You're right, you're.

00:53:45
Speaker 4: My oldest daughter doesn't ride a bike. She never rode a bike. We're in an apartment for like years, so she never really had a place to ride a bike. Now my youngest daughter can ride. But but yeah, riding a bike is is you know, For me, it's once you get on, it's easy. But yeah, but for you guys, maybe for Danielle, it's different.

00:54:05
Speaker 2: For me, it's just not I don't think it's a great I don't think it's great saying that's what I'm saying.

00:54:09
Speaker 7: What would your version of that saying be then, Danielle, for you.

00:54:12
Speaker 2: It's a donut, You'll never have a hard time meeting another day.

00:54:19
Speaker 3: Something you had to learn as a kids that doughnuts were.

00:54:24
Speaker 6: Not bagels, to stop eating doughnuts exactly.

00:54:30
Speaker 2: And then also donuts and bagels are two different things. There were a lot of things I had to learn about it. But now that no, Mom, I know it. I'll never mistake it again. Anyway, this isn't about me object.

00:54:44
Speaker 3: Oh god, that's great.

00:54:46
Speaker 2: So finally, Matt, did you ever think, with as much as you saw on set over the six seasons that you were there, did you ever think we would still be talking about this show thirty years later?

00:54:59
Speaker 4: I I think, yeah, I did. I mean thirty years later. I don't know, but I did think that it was it was something that was going to last. It was uh, something that was that was again I want to say iconic, but it was something that was going to last because you lasted six seasons, and the stories did grow and they got more serious, and they got more truthful, and they got more It was more about issues. It was more about you know, It wasn't just like, oh, you know, Will forgot to take out Eric forgot to take out the trash. But an episode on that it was you know, there's some stories there was about abuse and and and growing up with an alcoholic parent. You know, only I thought was really, you know, that was going to last. I had a feeling that those stories carried through because people still relate to them. You know. It wasn't it wasn't uh you know, like I said, Stock family sitcom issues was real issues and and they, like I said, listening to the way Mike Michael handled things and the way they were directed and the way you guys grew it was just something I knew was going to be. Uh, it was gonna be long lasting thirty years, I don't know, but yeah, have a say never, especially in this time where it's like nobody remembers anything that happened five minutes ago, you know. Yeah, Like I don't remember being in the Taylor Swift video exactly.

00:56:27
Speaker 2: No, you were so good in it.

00:56:30
Speaker 4: Oh my god. I got to give her a call. She gave me a number.

00:56:35
Speaker 3: You are never, ever, ever, ever gonna remember being in a Taylor.

00:56:39
Speaker 2: Swift well with the lyrics.

00:56:44
Speaker 7: Little tea Swifty for you.

00:56:47
Speaker 2: Well, Matt, thank you so much for being with us here today. Where can is there a project you you're working on you'd like us to know about? Where can people find you? What would you? Where would you? What would you like people to know about you today?

00:57:00
Speaker 4: God? Well, I'm still working at Amber right now, academic advising. I still direct and do theater once in a while, and I still you know, I still go out on auditions, but or self tapes or things like that. Oh, I hate self tapes. I just think it's like you got to put everything up and you got to, like, you know, make sure the take is perfect, and if it's not, you know, it's either perfect or by the end of three hours you're going to I'll just send this one because I love the idea of going into a room and getting redirected, you know, which is.

00:57:38
Speaker 3: Where we're just having that conversation about just wanting to be directed.

00:57:41
Speaker 7: How important it is.

00:57:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you know, because that's I mean. And now now what I see people are asking for is like two takes. So it's like, you know, send in two different takes if you want, you know, if you feel like the first take you want to give us something different, do that. But you know, I like the fact that it's like maybe I'm missing a step here, maybe I'm missing the uh you know, you know you try to watch the show beforehand, or you know, you try to look at some to see how the style of the show goes, and you know, you try to bring that into it. But you know, you want somebody to go, hey, yeah, but before this scene happened.

00:58:18
Speaker 3: So well, it's because real acting is is a give and take, and now it's just give and that's okay, that's it's half of the process.

00:58:25
Speaker 7: So yeah, it's weird.

00:58:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, and then you have a reader that's like on zoom while you're looking in your camera, and you know, it's like it just seems kind of yet. Yeah. Yeah, so that's the thing. Right. So right now I'm working at American Academy of Musical and Dramatic Arts as academic advisors, so uh in Hollywood. But yeah, that's what I'm doing now, and you know, hopefully I'll get more work. Hopefully I'll you know, just like everybody else, Hopefully.

00:58:57
Speaker 2: We will be there cheering you on the next time you books thing. Please let us know. We will let our dear listeners know when that is where to look for you. Thank you so much for joining us. It was such a pleasure to see you and to hear your voice again. Thank you for spending your time with us.

00:59:11
Speaker 4: Thank you guys, and good luck with the rest of the you know, rest of the podcast.

00:59:15
Speaker 2: You know, nice to see you too.

00:59:21
Speaker 7: Thanks Matt all right, bye bye.

00:59:25
Speaker 2: My gosh, you're right.

00:59:26
Speaker 7: That voice. It brings you right back, doesn't it.

00:59:28
Speaker 2: I know his voice is exactly the same. The minute he said hi, I was like, it is so fun.

00:59:35
Speaker 5: It's so interesting to think that he was like our first audience. Mm hmmm, oh yeah, you know what I mean.

00:59:41
Speaker 6: Like, because you do the run through or the read through, and then you go to rehearse and it's really just Steve Hayfer him.

00:59:47
Speaker 4: You know.

00:59:47
Speaker 6: It's like our stand ins and our prop and our director and then our stage manager and that's kind of it.

00:59:54
Speaker 5: They're the ones that, like you have to feel comfortable with and laughing at your jokes or not. I don't know. It's so interesting.

01:00:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, And first season it was just Matt and then three little people, right, so it was yeah, so he essentially he would stand in for any of the adults, right, and then the little people would stand in for all the kids.

01:00:12
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, interesting.

01:00:15
Speaker 2: Well, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Podmeets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send us your emails pod Meets World Show at gmail dot com and we have.

01:00:24
Speaker 7: Merch by our merch It's like eating a donut.

01:00:29
Speaker 2: Pod Meets the World's show dot com writer send us out.

01:00:34
Speaker 5: We love you all, pod dismissed.

01:00:39
Speaker 6: Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast producer hosted by Danielle Fischel, Wilfridell and Ryder Strong Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tarasubash producer, Maddie Moore engineer and boy meets World Superman Easton Out. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow us on Instagram at Podmeets World Show or email us at Hodby's World Show at gmail dot com.

01:01:06
Speaker 3: M