Speaker 1: And That's what You Really Missed with Jenna.
Speaker 2: And Kevin an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 3: Welcome to and That's what You Really miss podcast. This
Speaker 3: is a special podcast because we have Samuel Larson.
Speaker 2: That's right, one of the two winners of season one,
Speaker 2: of the Glee Projects and duel dual winners. He supremely talented,
Speaker 2: supremely kind.
Speaker 3: I always knew he was gonna win. I gotta say
Speaker 3: I knew he was going to win.
Speaker 2: I I'm very foggy from that time.
Speaker 3: I knew he was gonna win.
Speaker 2: We were ushered in and out of the Glee projects
Speaker 2: so quickly, that's so true.
Speaker 3: But I just knew. I knew.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for everyone to hear his sort of take
Speaker 2: on coming into the Glee project because I think it
Speaker 2: was fascinating. Yes, not his first rodeo, you know. I
Speaker 2: want to interview everyone from the Glee Project because I'm
Speaker 2: fascinated by this because we knew nothing about it.
Speaker 4: Really.
Speaker 1: No, we're only getting the inner working through Damien and
Speaker 1: Samuel and maybe next one day.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, Okay, without further ado, here is Samuel Larson.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3: It was good to see at the strike for a second. Yeah,
Speaker 3: the picket lines.
Speaker 4: Yes, we had to do our duty, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was really nice. That was like such a
Speaker 2: good to start off morbid for a second. A lot
Speaker 2: of times you've gotten together recently, it's not for like
Speaker 2: good news, and so like to get together for the
Speaker 2: strike was like a really nice.
Speaker 3: Positive, corrective experience every part.
Speaker 4: Yeah, everyone was there. It was cool.
Speaker 1: Yeause yeah, like give me jobs, let's go back remember us.
Speaker 3: Well, it's really good to have you.
Speaker 1: We're so excited to talk to you about all things Glee.
Speaker 3: How are you.
Speaker 5: I'm great, I'm fantastic, I'm doing awesome. I'm loving where
Speaker 5: I'm at in life. How about you guys?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Same, to get to see Jenna every week, which
Speaker 2: is really nice.
Speaker 3: Just force with me so we can hang out. Let's
Speaker 3: get into this.
Speaker 2: All of this because so we started season three recently
Speaker 2: rewatching season three, and so you come up and so
Speaker 2: does Damien, and it was just so lovely seeing both
Speaker 2: of you come on. And we've talked about it with
Speaker 2: any new person that comes into the show of how
Speaker 2: daunting and crazy that must have been. But you were
Speaker 2: so good and have such a great storyline that first episode.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about before that, how the hell the Glee
Speaker 2: project happened? What was that journey like?
Speaker 5: Well, for me, I don't know if you guys remember
Speaker 5: I had gone up for Chord's role.
Speaker 2: Yes, did you make a Chord during that? Did you
Speaker 2: see him at all during that process?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 4: Yeah absolutely? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Oh wowz.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: There was a they had done some sort of like MySpace,
Speaker 5: the audition thing where you have to submit a video
Speaker 5: you just like sing and talk about yourself. And I
Speaker 5: was like, I told my mom about it, and I
Speaker 5: was like, nothing's gonna happen. I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 5: And she was literally like, here's my camera. You're not
Speaker 5: allowed to go out until you make this video.
Speaker 2: Oh and yeah.
Speaker 5: Good mom, and she I made the video and there
Speaker 5: was like some sort of deadline you would hear by
Speaker 5: and I didn't hear anything, and I was like, see,
Speaker 5: told you, nothing would happen. And then I get this
Speaker 5: Facebook message from Fox and They're like, hey, we're trying
Speaker 5: to find you, and I'm like.
Speaker 2: Fox showing up in the DMS.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm like, what are you talking about? I'm right here.
Speaker 5: So I called the number and I was just like, hey,
Speaker 5: it's Samuel, Like Samuel.
Speaker 4: I'm like Samuel Larson, like, oh my god. They start
Speaker 4: freaking out.
Speaker 5: I get Robert Orrich on the phone, and the next
Speaker 5: day I was at Fox like auditioning, and I remember
Speaker 5: I was like the only one going up for that
Speaker 5: didn't have an agent, so Robert gave me his agent.
Speaker 5: He's still my agent now, Row and my god, really yeah,
Speaker 5: it was incredible. And then the callback was a couple
Speaker 5: of days later. There was like six of us and
Speaker 5: in that room was everyone Ryan and Ian and Bruh.
Speaker 5: It was, it was, it was really intimidating. I kind
Speaker 5: of blacked out. I just kind of did my thing.
Speaker 5: And then I mean I knew I kind of knew
Speaker 5: I wasn't going to get it because he's really.
Speaker 4: Sam's a quarterback.
Speaker 5: And I came in with like dreadlots and like twelve
Speaker 5: necklaces on and I remember Robert was like, please button
Speaker 5: the bottom button on your shirt.
Speaker 4: Because I was always had that open.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was like, this is not I'm not going to
Speaker 4: catch this one.
Speaker 2: Always very you know, yeah, I.
Speaker 4: Couldn't help it.
Speaker 5: But he didn't call me afterwards and was like there's
Speaker 5: always new characters. Just hang on, I know you have
Speaker 5: this new agent now, like just wait, and then I
Speaker 5: moved to La like maybe like maybe nine months later
Speaker 5: or something, I get the email about Glee project and
Speaker 5: it was so pissed. I was pissed off. I was like,
Speaker 5: there were six of us, and now you want me
Speaker 5: to jump to this one thing. And they're like, don't
Speaker 5: worry about it, we'll throw you in when there's like
Speaker 5: two hundred people left and only two hundred people, I was.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yes, like I already got that. I already
Speaker 2: did this right.
Speaker 4: I was like I was this close, and now you
Speaker 4: want me to yeah, do it again? Yeah? But so
Speaker 4: I was like really mad and I had like the contract.
Speaker 5: I was like, I'm not going to do it, and
Speaker 5: then I was like, well, I'd be stupid not to
Speaker 5: do it, And like the deadline to mail it in
Speaker 5: was really close, and I looked at the address where
Speaker 5: I'd be mailing it too, and it was literally two
Speaker 5: blocks away from me.
Speaker 4: So I signed it all and I walked it over.
Speaker 3: And now did you watch Glee?
Speaker 1: Like did you watch it consistently or had you just
Speaker 1: heard of it when you were going to submit this tape.
Speaker 5: That it was my favorite show I watched it every
Speaker 5: single week. I remember my friend Olivia showed it to me.
Speaker 5: It blew my mind because it was so camp and
Speaker 5: like a comic book, and it was edgy even though
Speaker 5: it was camp. It was like I just immediately was like,
Speaker 5: I get what's going on here?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you understood it better than we probably did at
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my comic book is a really great way to
Speaker 2: describe it.
Speaker 3: Yes, very good, very very Yeah.
Speaker 4: I knew. I was like I want to get there,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 1: Wow, Well, okay, so you did. You did the Glee project.
Speaker 1: Now what was.
Speaker 2: What was that?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: That like, because we talked to Damien about it and
Speaker 1: we get to we got to understand a little bit
Speaker 1: more of the inner workings. Obviously we came in and
Speaker 1: like you know, did our little judging and got out,
Speaker 1: but you know, tell.
Speaker 3: Us more about that experience for you.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 2: Also, the thing is like Damien beforehand had sort of
Speaker 2: a career, was on tour and do it. Like, what
Speaker 2: was what were you doing? I guess you know, pre
Speaker 2: being on that because you obviously came in and were
Speaker 2: very much like you looked you sounded like an artist,
Speaker 2: like you had been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 2: Like when we met you, it was like, Oh, this
Speaker 2: dude is like a real the real deal, like a
Speaker 2: real thing. Were you doing all of that pre like
Speaker 2: we was trying to be an actor? Were you trying
Speaker 2: to be an artist? Like what was the.
Speaker 5: I don't like acting stuff as a kid, and I
Speaker 5: think the rejection when you're a child, you just don't
Speaker 5: get it. But I always liked and I always played music.
Speaker 5: I had like been the singer of a few bands
Speaker 5: and like did some solo stuff.
Speaker 4: I was. I was very into making music.
Speaker 5: I had just done season nine of American Idol, like
Speaker 5: right before Glee Project.
Speaker 4: That's part of the reason I didn't want to do
Speaker 4: it is I was like just on.
Speaker 5: A reality show, Like what am I just going to
Speaker 5: hop around and do reality shows the rest of my life?
Speaker 5: And that's why I went and so determined too. I
Speaker 5: was like, Okay, I have to win this one.
Speaker 2: And I imagine that having that experience or American Idol
Speaker 2: is ten times you know whatever. The Glee Project probably
Speaker 2: was so very prepared for sure, exactly if you can
Speaker 2: do that, then like Glee Project, no big deal.
Speaker 5: It was also kind of nice to like, I mean
Speaker 5: season nine of that show. I could see how unoiled
Speaker 5: of a machine. Season one of Glee Project was I
Speaker 5: was like, these guys don't really know what they're doing.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, it was you could tell they were figuring
Speaker 5: it out as we went. So like we showed up
Speaker 5: when there was the twelve twelve of us, right, we
Speaker 5: were just in this camp in like Glendale. They took
Speaker 5: all they took all our phones, they took everything, which
Speaker 5: is actually kind of a blessing because with zero distractions,
Speaker 5: like a little EMP three player with whatever we were
Speaker 5: working on, and it was great.
Speaker 4: To just hyper focus. I appreciate that. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I remember we had like the weekends off and we
Speaker 5: could go to the mall and I saw like Jamien
Speaker 5: and Rolling Stone magazine and I'm like what, I was like,
Speaker 5: did you're already there?
Speaker 3: Man's very funny and.
Speaker 5: We looked like YouTube interviews with Brian about Glee Project
Speaker 5: and he was starting to say things like there might
Speaker 5: be more than one winner.
Speaker 4: We're like we're getting and right right. It was great.
Speaker 1: So you enjoyed the experience that because I you know
Speaker 1: that there were some words that Damien used about, you know,
Speaker 1: feeling like kind of like a pressure Croockert there. It
Speaker 1: was very competitive. Everybody really wanted it, Like what was
Speaker 1: your kind of mindset in it? Because you obviously wanted
Speaker 1: to win it because you had done in reality before.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I definitely had a different mentality than everyone else,
Speaker 5: and it was because of America. American Now really crushed me.
Speaker 5: M and I went in like this is not for fun.
Speaker 5: We're not making friends, We're getting a job. And like
Speaker 5: you know, people would ge it sent home and people
Speaker 5: would be crying, and I'd be like, this is great
Speaker 5: for me.
Speaker 4: I'm fine with things, and.
Speaker 2: Even another one down.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was like I just went through this, They'll
Speaker 4: be fine, you know.
Speaker 5: I remember I wanted it so bad, Like I remember
Speaker 5: even at the end before like they were going to
Speaker 5: choose the winner that day, the producers pulled me aside,
Speaker 5: were like, hey, Samuel, like just have perspective. Okay, this
Speaker 5: isn't everything, Like don't do anything stupid if you don't
Speaker 5: get it. And I'm like, guys, I'm gonna get it.
Speaker 5: It's fine, don't worry.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 4: It was so determined.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean did it feel like along the way,
Speaker 2: like did you feel like, Okay, I got this in
Speaker 2: the bag, Like I'm the front runner, Like I'm the
Speaker 2: one to beat.
Speaker 1: It.
Speaker 4: Definitely vacillated for sure.
Speaker 5: I mean when you have someone like Alex there who
Speaker 5: can just sing anything, and then you start hearing how
Speaker 5: much they love the Damien. There's definitely moments where I
Speaker 5: was like, I am not the best one to hear.
Speaker 5: It wasn't until the very end that I was like,
Speaker 5: I think I could do this. Maybe they had to
Speaker 5: be something beyond just like singing or like just talent.
Speaker 4: It had to be an energy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that happened.
Speaker 2: I mean I remember when we showed up to do that.
Speaker 2: I remember thinking how different all of you were from
Speaker 2: one another. Yes, like this is in a great way,
Speaker 2: like Robert was such a pro at putting, like you
Speaker 2: put all of us together in the beginning of the
Speaker 2: show of everyone is incomparable in that way. Everyone has
Speaker 2: their own Like I said that, you were so uniquely you,
Speaker 2: so is Damien, so is Alex, is everybody.
Speaker 3: That's why they put on the show, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 1: And that's why they put you guys all on the
Speaker 1: show because you could all on your own you know,
Speaker 1: shine your own light.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: When I came in for the episode in your competition,
Speaker 1: I remember them saying Samuel won the last three, and I,
Speaker 1: because I did want to pick you nice and awesome,
Speaker 1: I did, and they had said, you know, Samuel has
Speaker 1: won the last three and I was like, oh, you
Speaker 1: want me to pick somebody else because I'm going to
Speaker 1: pick Samuel, and you want somebody else.
Speaker 3: So that it's not just an obvious win.
Speaker 4: Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, front runner right.
Speaker 5: I had a strategy when I did it, I did.
Speaker 5: I noticed that, like everyone was just coming in, singing
Speaker 5: their highest notes and dancing the hardest they possibly could.
Speaker 5: And I was like, you're going to run out of tricks,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean? Like, I was like, how
Speaker 5: how can I do just good enough to make it through?
Speaker 5: But not so good that they're like what? Skating by
Speaker 5: as long as I could? And then when they were like,
Speaker 5: hey man, we need more, I was like, oh there's more.
Speaker 2: I love this game play. I know you didn't want
Speaker 2: to do reality shows, but now I need to see
Speaker 2: you on like that show Traders or something like. I
Speaker 2: want to see you. Yeah, system, because you guys got
Speaker 2: down How old are you smart? Why is beyond your years?
Speaker 2: Because you exactly knew how to play this. I mean
Speaker 2: that was the other thing, like when I some people
Speaker 2: you could see sort of like the fear of God
Speaker 2: in their eyes and their performing, or some people were
Speaker 2: more prone to like, I'm really good, I can just
Speaker 2: sort of phone it in a bit. And then so
Speaker 2: I do think everyone did have their different levels of
Speaker 2: professionalism or lack thereof, And that's probably why we all
Speaker 2: kept picking you as the winner every week, because you're
Speaker 2: like so solid.
Speaker 4: Well thank you, that's cool.
Speaker 2: Well you won, And then they said Damien was winning too.
Speaker 2: How did you feel?
Speaker 5: I felt amazing because because Damian and I like, I
Speaker 5: felt like I didn't have to go in through it alone.
Speaker 5: I remember even saying backstage like I just liked how
Speaker 5: humble Damien was the whole time. He was a really
Speaker 5: humble guy. And I remember before they even announced the winner,
Speaker 5: I was like, dude, if it's not me, like, I
Speaker 5: hope it's you.
Speaker 4: I remember.
Speaker 5: But then we win, and he joined so much quicker
Speaker 5: than I did. Yeah, right, and I was like, hey, guys,
Speaker 5: what's going on.
Speaker 4: Where you were?
Speaker 5: I thought they changed their mind. Yeah, I would didn't
Speaker 5: come into the fourteenth episode. I'm like calling Robert, like,
Speaker 5: just tell me that they changed their mind.
Speaker 4: Or something.
Speaker 2: Oh god, that has to be so terrifying.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, and then I show up and Damien's already
Speaker 5: like great friends with you guys.
Speaker 4: I'm like, I just got here.
Speaker 5: Yeah, oh god, a lot of thoughts in that time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. Well you did. You joined,
Speaker 3: you joined an episode.
Speaker 1: And you you came in as teen Jesus, what did
Speaker 1: you think of that for a storyline? Were you just
Speaker 1: stoked to have anything, like to be joining the show.
Speaker 4: I was just stoked to be there and so nervous
Speaker 4: to be there.
Speaker 5: And I think there was there was always this I'm
Speaker 5: sure you could tell like behind the scenes, like there
Speaker 5: was always that character was very much me in high
Speaker 5: school and having moved to LA and like finally like
Speaker 5: not at home. I wanted to really be myself and
Speaker 5: I was always edging for like, come on, I want
Speaker 5: to be who I am currently.
Speaker 4: Not who I was.
Speaker 5: So I was always trying to be more edgy outside
Speaker 5: of work than in work. But yeah, I was just
Speaker 5: happy to do that. I was happy to have a
Speaker 5: character that was like touching on some real stuff, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean That I liked.
Speaker 2: That first episode was so great with that the club
Speaker 2: and all of you like talking about religious things and
Speaker 2: like can we sing to Santana in Britain? And I
Speaker 2: was like, what a way to just throw them into
Speaker 2: the deep end, because like we have all these Christian
Speaker 2: groups mad at us, and we're gonna put you in
Speaker 2: front of them. Good luck.
Speaker 4: I thought that was I was so happy to do
Speaker 4: that because it was real.
Speaker 5: It was something real that like people needed to talk about,
Speaker 5: not just hey here I am.
Speaker 4: It was like, yes, we get to there's a message
Speaker 4: here that I liked.
Speaker 2: Right, especially coming from someone like you were an actual
Speaker 2: fan of the show. How was it in the beginning then,
Speaker 2: to like do scenes like that with like Amber them,
Speaker 2: who you like watched for a couple of years.
Speaker 4: It was.
Speaker 5: It was so scary. I remember my first scene. I
Speaker 5: was just I didn't even know that I was doing
Speaker 5: it till I saw the episode. But like that first
Speaker 5: scene in the God Squad, I'm just like spitting out
Speaker 5: my line so fast, like don't mess up, don't mess up,
Speaker 5: and then Ryan comes out of nowhere and it's like
Speaker 5: you're doing great, and I'm.
Speaker 4: Like, oh god, he's watching.
Speaker 5: I'm like it was just so scary, and like you
Speaker 5: guys were all there like real, it was so wild.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it took me. It definitely took me a minute
Speaker 4: to settle in.
Speaker 2: I'm sure. I mean were we nice? Oh yeah, I
Speaker 2: hope you were. You could be honest.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you guys were very nice. You guys were super nice.
Speaker 5: And also like I just thought you guys were so
Speaker 5: cool and that's that's why.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I was intimidated by your coolness. You were
Speaker 2: so cool, you like hang out in the base camp
Speaker 2: just like with your necklaces and ship like this kid,
Speaker 2: why so like I'm an idiot, I'm a clown and
Speaker 2: this kid's like already, Like your voice was so cool
Speaker 2: like this rast like when you sing, I was like,
Speaker 2: why doesn't my voice sound like that? You know? It
Speaker 2: was an amazing that.
Speaker 5: And I it was It's cool to have an opportunity
Speaker 5: to tell you guys this too, because it's like after
Speaker 5: the fact that like the whole time, I was just like, oh,
Speaker 5: they'll never know how much I love them and how
Speaker 5: much I think they're so good. Like I had a
Speaker 5: lot of standboy on my own set, but I was
Speaker 5: just the whole time watching and I was just like,
Speaker 5: I'm such a.
Speaker 2: Nice you did do a good job of like because
Speaker 2: I didn't know you were I had not known you
Speaker 2: were like a big fan in that way.
Speaker 3: Yes, you played it very cool. You're a really good actor.
Speaker 2: I will take lessons at some point.
Speaker 1: I can imagine, though, that being so difficult, like just
Speaker 1: being such a huge fan of the show that you
Speaker 1: watch and then like stepping in, Like I I saw
Speaker 1: Spring Awakening for the first time on Broadway and like
Speaker 1: that it like blew my mind. And not for one
Speaker 1: second did I think, like, oh, I'm going to be
Speaker 1: in that show one day. Never in my million years
Speaker 1: did I ever consider it. It was like it's just
Speaker 1: one of those shows that I was like, they're not
Speaker 1: going to put an Asian girl on the German show
Speaker 1: like that, it's crazy.
Speaker 3: And then when I got the part, it was like
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, this is like the cast of
Speaker 3: Broadway right now.
Speaker 1: Like it was terrifying, And thank god I knew like
Speaker 1: Leah and everybody, you know a few of them in there,
Speaker 1: but I I understand.
Speaker 3: So I'm glad we were nice to you because I
Speaker 3: who knows where we were.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was when we really started to hit our
Speaker 1: breaking points, and obviously like you were there with us
Speaker 1: like some of those days and some of those moments
Speaker 1: were just so rough, and so we all started to
Speaker 1: like the wheel started to come off, and it.
Speaker 3: Was really strange at times.
Speaker 1: So and my memory like doesn't fully serve me as
Speaker 1: like to where I was emotionally to other people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a scary thing to like imagine because in
Speaker 2: my head, I'm like, I think we were nice to
Speaker 2: there were people coming on, but but it's like we
Speaker 2: all had bad days and stuff, and so like you
Speaker 2: don't know if your first day, like maybe I was
Speaker 2: in a foul mood and that was the impression you got.
Speaker 2: It's like you just never know those things. Well, like
Speaker 2: Jenna was saying when she got into Spring likening having
Speaker 2: people she knew, like Leo, how big having Damien there
Speaker 2: with you and who's somebody who had already started Like
Speaker 2: did he like get Yeah, like what what the what
Speaker 2: the deal was?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 4: It was it was really good to have him there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, because we had this whole experience together with him,
Speaker 5: and I knew what we were feeling. We were guests
Speaker 5: in your guys's house. That was very humbling for us.
Speaker 5: For me, but yeah, him starting sooner, I show up
Speaker 5: to set. He's already been to parties with you guys.
Speaker 5: He's already like has all these this rapport with everyone,
Speaker 5: And I was like, am I an outsider again with
Speaker 5: my own kind?
Speaker 4: That was that was a little hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then also just to touch on this, I remember,
Speaker 5: uh they told me I was going to start in
Speaker 5: episode thirteen, which was the Michael Jackson tribute. So yes,
Speaker 5: I love Michael. I remember talking to this move to
Speaker 5: you about this. Yeah, yeah, I remember you coming in
Speaker 5: at some point You're like, I'm so pissed because I
Speaker 5: really want to do that Michael. Episode was like and
Speaker 5: we needed you. You would have been great, you know,
Speaker 5: that would have been cool. But so it makes sense.
Speaker 5: I mean, how were they going to introduce me in
Speaker 5: that episode?
Speaker 4: That's hard, right.
Speaker 1: There was barely enough time for any of the music,
Speaker 1: so it's true they'd be like, who, who's this guy?
Speaker 2: He sounds like.
Speaker 4: It was so exciting and so humbling and like, yeah,
Speaker 4: for took a long time. It was.
Speaker 5: There were so many like polarizing feelings going on at
Speaker 5: the same time, you know, like I'm on this big
Speaker 5: like production, but I still have like remnants of my
Speaker 5: of my old life, like my beat up car I
Speaker 5: would show up in and I'm just like, I have
Speaker 5: these ties to like, this is news, this is where
Speaker 5: I was.
Speaker 4: And yeah, that was just a whirlwind for sure.
Speaker 2: I think that's a really important thing to mention. I
Speaker 2: think now a days, because of the strike, people outside
Speaker 2: of in him of business are starting to learn about
Speaker 2: the disparity between some of those things where you see
Speaker 2: people on a show and you're like, oh, they must
Speaker 2: be immediately rich and famous and their life meet must
Speaker 2: be completely different. But for all of us, like we
Speaker 2: all came, Like I was driving around a total car
Speaker 2: for most of the first season while we were filming Glee,
Speaker 2: And I think that's an important thing to remind people of.
Speaker 2: Like you people normally it takes so long to get anything,
Speaker 2: and then when you do, you've usually amassed some sort
Speaker 2: of debt and it takes time to get these checks
Speaker 2: and pay back all the debts you owe and all
Speaker 2: of that. But you're on TV already, and during Glee,
Speaker 2: it's like you're in front of ten million people, six
Speaker 2: million people, whatever it is, every single week all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, and so like you go out and are
Speaker 2: viewed by the outside world one way, but like you said, like,
Speaker 2: then you get into your like old beat up car
Speaker 2: and go home to this apartment you just got. Could
Speaker 2: you just move to La right? And it's a really weird,
Speaker 2: like complete mindfuck.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, like no middle ground is complete nou side
Speaker 4: of the spectrum.
Speaker 2: And I was talking to it. I have a friend
Speaker 2: who's on a Netflix show currently, a really big Netflix show,
Speaker 2: and I did that thing where I was like projecting.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, well, he's on like one of
Speaker 2: the biggest Netflix shows, he must be. And then he
Speaker 2: was like talking about all that stuff, the life stuff.
Speaker 2: I was like, right, right, you do ten episodes the
Speaker 2: season or twelve episodes, like whatever it is. That's like, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: because you see these people like flying around the world
Speaker 2: to like go to fashion shows and do these things.
Speaker 2: You're like, oh, but you're still we're here struggling.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: But I think it's important to talk about too, especially
Speaker 2: you had to go through the first thing of auditions
Speaker 2: final six didn't get it. After doing a reality show,
Speaker 2: then you can put on another reality.
Speaker 4: Show like here he is, And I'm like, you have
Speaker 4: no idea, You've.
Speaker 2: Already been on TV for at a minute. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5: Maybe that was good though. I prepared that definitely. There
Speaker 5: was definitely a lot of preparation in that to that.
Speaker 2: I think if you can take away, yeah, if you
Speaker 2: can take away those positive things, which sounds like you
Speaker 2: did then and you have like a level head which
Speaker 2: you've always had, then I think it is a benefit
Speaker 2: to be able to go through those things and withstand
Speaker 2: them and come out on the other end of them
Speaker 2: better for it, because not everybody. I think most people
Speaker 2: probably don't because reality shows can break you, I think,
Speaker 2: and you seem to be come out of me like
Speaker 2: I got a strategy.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Man, I remember like it was like the last week
Speaker 5: of the first week on Glee Project and just seeing
Speaker 5: everyone go so freaking hard and I'm like they're they're
Speaker 5: they're messing up, that they're done like that that you
Speaker 5: can you can't do that for two months.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: How do you feel like looking back on the show
Speaker 1: on Joe's arc of the season that you were on,
Speaker 1: sorry two seasons, how do you feel about the arc
Speaker 1: of the character? Do you feel like you were utilized
Speaker 1: in all the ways you could have been? Were you
Speaker 1: just still kind of like happy to be there? By
Speaker 1: season four? Like, what was that for you? In hindsight now.
Speaker 5: I mean season three, I was just yes, so happy
Speaker 5: to be there, really liked that I had a very
Speaker 5: important message with my storyline. I was like, that is
Speaker 5: so cool. I get to be a part of such
Speaker 5: a great message and open open some eyes to do
Speaker 5: how things should be, how things ought to be. And
Speaker 5: but I always I don't know if you I was.
Speaker 5: I didn't get any solo, Like I never had a
Speaker 5: song is just mine.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 4: I don't know how make you feel.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 4: I'm always going to frame it and in the most
Speaker 4: empowering way I can.
Speaker 5: Maybe maybe that's why I'm supposed to make and put
Speaker 5: out music now, because now you can if you want
Speaker 5: to hear me do a solo, you can hear my music.
Speaker 4: That's right, I'll be for interesting. It's interest in not
Speaker 4: ever having a solo.
Speaker 5: I just had so many ideas of what I wanted
Speaker 5: to do, and I remember when season four came around,
Speaker 5: I had so many ideas of how what I can
Speaker 5: what I wanted the character to be, and like I
Speaker 5: would pitch it to like Brad and stuff, and I'd
Speaker 5: just be like, yeah, okay, to do it. And by
Speaker 5: then I was just kind of there. And now I'm
Speaker 5: kind of like I'm seeing everyone doing solos and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 5: I can do this. I want give me a chance
Speaker 5: to do this, and yes, I know I can, Like
Speaker 5: I just knew I was made to do this, and
Speaker 5: and then I get you know you, I didn't know
Speaker 5: how good I have at it for sure, because there's
Speaker 5: there was definitely a time there where I was like, man,
Speaker 5: I'm just kind of here, but I'm not really that important.
Speaker 5: I'm just kind of rounding out the classroom, and now
Speaker 5: looking back at it, I'd be like, dude, shut up,
Speaker 5: just be in the classroom.
Speaker 4: Being quiet.
Speaker 5: It was frustrated because I just wanted to perform so bad.
Speaker 5: I wanted it to be an upward trajector, and it
Speaker 5: kind of went like my storyline became less, which has
Speaker 5: happened with other characters too, of course.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, most of us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we felt similarly.
Speaker 1: We got to do more than you did, but we
Speaker 1: felt some relarly in that way where like you're like,
Speaker 1: you get hired for this job to do your job,
Speaker 1: and then you don't really get to do it to
Speaker 1: your full potential.
Speaker 3: You just don't feel like you're being used.
Speaker 1: And that is it's frustrating as an artist because it's
Speaker 1: so hard to get a job in.
Speaker 3: The first place, and then you're there and then you're like,
Speaker 3: well let me show you, you know, So it can
Speaker 3: be really frustrating.
Speaker 4: But again comfortable. I'm like, god, I'm not anymore. It's okay.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just it's just awesome that it happened.
Speaker 5: I was supposed to do seven episodes and I did
Speaker 5: like episode so it's like, yeah.
Speaker 3: Did you know it was going to keep going like that?
Speaker 3: Or did you find out from episode to episode that
Speaker 3: you were just still hanging?
Speaker 4: It was episode to episode.
Speaker 5: It was like we'd wrap an episode, I'd be like, oh,
Speaker 5: don't know what's going to happen, and then I get
Speaker 5: the phone, I get a script delivered my house and be.
Speaker 4: Like, okay, we're still here.
Speaker 3: Wow, oh my gosh.
Speaker 5: They might kick me out of an episode. Like the
Speaker 5: next episode, I wouldn't be in it. I'd be like,
Speaker 5: oh god, is that it was?
Speaker 4: That it?
Speaker 1: And then well you did disappear with no real explanation,
Speaker 1: Like what does that disappoint you? Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean not at the time, because at the time
Speaker 5: I just felt like hot ship and I was like,
Speaker 5: I am of comodity.
Speaker 4: Now everyone's gonna want me in their thing.
Speaker 5: And it was definitely cool for like a second, but
Speaker 5: then you realize you're like, oh, like I'm I'm sure
Speaker 5: you noticed. Like being on Glee helped me mostly, but
Speaker 5: there's times it hurt me as well. There's been There's
Speaker 5: definitely been times where people people wanted me for a
Speaker 5: movie or something and they're like, yeah, but you're on
Speaker 5: Glee and I'm like.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, okay, ship got it. Yeah, it's a weird.
Speaker 2: It's a weird thing.
Speaker 3: It's a weird thing.
Speaker 5: But I was so ready to be myself, like I
Speaker 5: didn't I didn't feel like that teen Jesus guy in
Speaker 5: my real life anymore. And I remember telling Brad. I
Speaker 5: was like, hey, we're about to go on Hiatus. I
Speaker 5: was like, it's it cool if I cut my hair
Speaker 5: and He's like, yeah, go for it. And then I
Speaker 5: realized I'm like, oh did I just like did I
Speaker 5: just yeah? But again I was like, oh, this is
Speaker 5: it's going to be so sick from here. And it's
Speaker 5: had I've had my ups and downs, but it's been
Speaker 5: it's been a great ride.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's really, I'm not surprised, but it is
Speaker 2: really fascinating to hear like everybody, all of us had
Speaker 2: our own version of like that experience of am I
Speaker 2: going to get fired? Or like you and like Damien
Speaker 2: and all people knew people coming in and going episode
Speaker 2: to episode wondering like are you going to be here
Speaker 2: the next eight days again? To do this episode? Like
Speaker 2: what a wild and stressful. Luckily we were all so
Speaker 2: young and didn't really know any better. I think it
Speaker 2: was probably the saving grace of all of it, Yes,
Speaker 2: because if it was now, I would be like, ask
Speaker 2: them when they need me, like, am I going to
Speaker 2: be here? I don't want to wait around, like just wonder.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thinks are higher now yeah.
Speaker 2: Go now you know we know too much now, you know? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was a scary time.
Speaker 5: I bet it was just again just so many mixed
Speaker 5: feelings about everything, you know, right, because by the end,
Speaker 5: I was like, they don't even need me here. I'm
Speaker 5: gonna go do big things.
Speaker 3: Strike when and we're like you're hot shit, like let's go.
Speaker 4: And I'm trying to go.
Speaker 5: For all these TV shows dreadlocks and they're like this
Speaker 5: show takes place in the eighties, and I'm like, you knows,
Speaker 5: sometimes have no imagination zero.
Speaker 2: I think that was the other thing too. I think
Speaker 2: as hard as all of it was, there was a
Speaker 2: magic with brad Ian and Ryan and Robert oric of
Speaker 2: seeing something in all of us that in ways that
Speaker 2: like we weren't getting jobs outside of that, you know,
Speaker 2: beforehand and during it, where they saw some sort of
Speaker 2: uniqueness and specialness within all of us when other people weren't,
Speaker 2: which was also I think they're like, well, now we've
Speaker 2: been seen, so surely everybody else sees it too, right.
Speaker 2: I know it's just Ryan.
Speaker 4: Totally, You're right. We were really lucky.
Speaker 5: Like, yeah, I look back at it now and I'm like,
Speaker 5: what the hell else was I going to get the
Speaker 5: way that I was like, wereated that?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think Ryan like seeing Chris Colfer in the initial
Speaker 2: audition and creating that role of Kirk for him was
Speaker 2: like the biggest indicator of how he was going to
Speaker 2: go about doing the show, because I mean, just how
Speaker 2: Robert had you come back again because he knew that.
Speaker 1: You there was there was a word for you somewhere
Speaker 1: to fit into this group.
Speaker 2: Like Glee needed Samuel Larson on the track right sort
Speaker 2: of thing, like it was thanks to mom for Yeah,
Speaker 2: what did I wanted to ask you that? How did
Speaker 2: you call Mommy?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: Thanks? You're right. If he didn't make me do this
Speaker 2: tape does my Space audition, I wouldn't.
Speaker 5: Oh, definitely. I was like, Wow, how different things would be?
Speaker 5: Like I was really about to go out with some
Speaker 5: friends and she's like, you're not allowed to go out
Speaker 5: and here's my camera to make this and and and
Speaker 5: good honor, like she just believes so hard. Like my
Speaker 5: mom's the one that like when I was in high
Speaker 5: school and I found out like the guitar player from
Speaker 5: Chili from John for Sure they quit the redout Chili Peppers,
Speaker 5: She's like, what's the singer's phone number?
Speaker 4: You need to call him?
Speaker 5: Like you should be the guitar player. I'm like, what
Speaker 5: do you think is gonna happen? Like I love I
Speaker 5: love it too, and I need to. I really learned
Speaker 5: to like try to carry that possibility around with me
Speaker 5: because look, you know here we.
Speaker 2: Are, Yeah, exactly, nothing is impossible. Do you have a.
Speaker 3: Favorite memory from your time of life?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, yes, or a not favorite memory show.
Speaker 5: Favorite memory? I really enjoyed doing Night Fear. That was
Speaker 5: such a fun day. That was a really fun number.
Speaker 5: Of course doing Stereo Hearts, it was like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 5: sure you know, like when there's silence in the room
Speaker 5: and it's time to do like some acting, it could
Speaker 5: be really daunting your your first everyone there's music and
Speaker 5: everyone's dancing, you can like hide behind the music. It
Speaker 5: was that really set me free, Like that was such
Speaker 5: a fun moment because I was like, this is what
Speaker 5: I do.
Speaker 4: Like here we go.
Speaker 2: What were some of the ideas you had for songs
Speaker 2: that you wanted Joe to do? If you remember.
Speaker 3: Any well, I know that.
Speaker 4: I mean.
Speaker 5: I know that Ryan knows how it's like, I don't
Speaker 5: know what's the best way to put this. You know,
Speaker 5: there's lot of ROUGHI your feathers a little bit, like
Speaker 5: I remember saying in like an interview that I wanted
Speaker 5: to do Human Nature by Michael Jackson, and I think
Speaker 5: he had known there was like a weird thing between
Speaker 5: me and me and Cord were always like either best
Speaker 5: friends or there were something weird. And I love that guy,
Speaker 5: but that was always the thing with us. I don't
Speaker 5: even know why, but I remember when he gave human
Speaker 5: nature to him, and I was like, I know what
Speaker 5: you're doing or maybe I'm completely wrong, but like in
Speaker 5: my head, I was like my song. I really wanted
Speaker 5: to sing that song because also like what Michael Jackson
Speaker 5: songs are in your rage and like that one, it's
Speaker 5: like truly you you know and you killed, you killed
Speaker 5: Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2: I was also like I couldn't complain because I got
Speaker 2: Michael songs, but I was like, damn, I wanted you
Speaker 2: in nature.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I really wanted to do that one. Yeah, just
Speaker 4: to mention it.
Speaker 5: Like I think for every new guy that came in,
Speaker 5: Corey was just the best. Corey would just completely take
Speaker 5: you under his wing. I remember just always coming up
Speaker 5: to me. He's like, what's up, TV star, how you doing,
Speaker 5: And would take me out to lunch and just really
Speaker 5: it was really easy to feel welcome with him, specifically
Speaker 5: because I could tell he was paying extra attention to
Speaker 5: me to make sure I felt welcomed and that was
Speaker 5: huge for me. And I saw him do it with
Speaker 5: others as well, Like I saw him do it when
Speaker 5: when Blake joined as well, and I was like, I
Speaker 5: know what he's doing, Like that's his thing, and I
Speaker 5: think that's great, and it's and it brought up the
Speaker 5: best of me.
Speaker 4: Like I see certain scenes.
Speaker 5: And I'm like, we filmed this like right after me
Speaker 5: and Corey just had lunch, And I think that's why
Speaker 5: I'm doing better because I was more comfortable having just
Speaker 5: hung out with him.
Speaker 4: So Yeah, the.
Speaker 1: Board, I think every guest that we've had, every crew
Speaker 1: member we've had, has always mentioned the kindness that Corey
Speaker 1: personally brought to them. I mean there's very few interviews
Speaker 1: that I think people don't mention that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was a very quiet. He was quiet
Speaker 2: about it because you wouldn't showy.
Speaker 1: It was just a genuine, genuine feeling of like inclusivity
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: He was a real leader on set in that way.
Speaker 2: And I don't think like I didn't necessarily realize it
Speaker 2: to the extent that he was doing that. So we
Speaker 2: started interviewing people.
Speaker 5: Right And also him and I were, I mean, him
Speaker 5: and I were the most consistent cigarette smokers.
Speaker 4: We smoked every day, so we were always.
Speaker 5: Outside, just us to a lot of the time, smoking
Speaker 5: and bonding and up. It was like our thing. We were,
Speaker 5: you know, let's go have one. And I think that
Speaker 5: helped a lot too. Yeah, for the best reason, but.
Speaker 2: No, but it's definitely a he's probably very thankful to
Speaker 2: have go. There's a guy and.
Speaker 5: He's like, you know, we can get crafty to get
Speaker 5: a cigarette, and I'm like, oh, way, that's awesome.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's so sweet. Though.
Speaker 1: We have a few fa well, there's quite a few.
Speaker 1: We posted to ask some questions because you were coming
Speaker 1: on the show, and some people wrote in, so we
Speaker 1: have some fan questions for you.
Speaker 4: Awesome.
Speaker 1: Somebody Tonic said, what was it like to film without
Speaker 1: shoes on?
Speaker 4: Oh? I mean that was just very inspired by me.
Speaker 5: When I was seventeen, I pretty much I went with
Speaker 5: the whole year without wearing shoes.
Speaker 2: Shut out, that is zero.
Speaker 5: I was living in a suburb at the time, so
Speaker 5: it wasn't as Dirney like.
Speaker 4: When I moved to La I was like, we're not
Speaker 4: doing that at all, you know. I was in this.
Speaker 5: Weird I was playing in a band, and I was
Speaker 5: very inspired by like Lenny Kravitz and Bow and I
Speaker 5: remember just thinking like I didn't feel like I was
Speaker 5: old enough for masculine enough for boots yet, but I
Speaker 5: didn't like the old the old shoes I was wearing,
Speaker 5: and I was like, the only way I'm gonna pull
Speaker 5: off is I'm just not gonna wear shoes. And I
Speaker 5: remember when I did my when I made it to
Speaker 5: the bottom three on Glee Project for the first time,
Speaker 5: I came out barefoot and Ryan was like, he gave
Speaker 5: me a second And they didn't hear this, but he
Speaker 5: gave me a second chance afterwards, and you know what
Speaker 5: he told me. He was like, He's like, you did
Speaker 5: the same thing you did in the audition. He's like
Speaker 5: you you're awesome, You're whatever other adjectivity use he's like,
Speaker 5: but he's like, you are are not vulnerable enough.
Speaker 4: And I was like, oh, that's what you want to
Speaker 4: see from me.
Speaker 5: I thought you wanted me to be a rock star
Speaker 5: and he's like, no, I want to see you be vulnerable.
Speaker 5: So he said, go backstage, get your guitar, put some
Speaker 5: shoes on, and come back out and do something else.
Speaker 3: Put some shoes on.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So but then they wrote my character with no shoes,
Speaker 5: so that's I.
Speaker 3: Think Ryan just had a thing about no shoes.
Speaker 2: Then he did, didn't he I think.
Speaker 3: I think he did. I think it was a personal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the opposite of Quentin Tarantina.
Speaker 4: Oh my god. It was great. It was nice filming
Speaker 4: without shoes on. It was I was used to it.
Speaker 3: I hear that. I hear that.
Speaker 2: I was like, how clean was the set floor? I
Speaker 2: don't know that's true.
Speaker 1: Ka Bell Zoo said, what was it like to play
Speaker 1: two drastically different characters, Joe and Glee and Zed Evans
Speaker 1: in after?
Speaker 4: Well, Uh, Joe was they're both me.
Speaker 5: Joe was just me, like in high school, that's exactly
Speaker 5: who I was, very much me. And then Zed was
Speaker 5: who I got who I am more of who I
Speaker 5: am now, who I got to be when I didn't
Speaker 5: have to like make sure my parents were not mad
Speaker 5: at me, and I was trying to do the people
Speaker 5: pleasing thing.
Speaker 4: Like I knew in the back of my head.
Speaker 5: I was like, when I'm out of here, I'm going
Speaker 5: to loose and I'm going to be who I really
Speaker 5: want to be.
Speaker 4: So Ed was real who I really am now. Yeah,
Speaker 4: both me. It was nice to.
Speaker 5: Play Zed because I was like, it was very much
Speaker 5: who I was now. They even like, let me wear
Speaker 5: my own clothes.
Speaker 4: Wow wow. Yeah.
Speaker 5: See if we're talking about clothes, that's what was really
Speaker 5: funny too, about like Joe's wardrobe was like, even though
Speaker 5: it was very bohemian, it was like the nicest clothes ever.
Speaker 4: Like everything was so expensive. I was just like, he looks.
Speaker 5: So like bohemian and and yeah, but everything was like
Speaker 5: those cardigans were like a thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Always this is ridiculous, Like I'll always be pissed I
Speaker 2: had the cheapest wardrobe on that show. Everyone you had some.
Speaker 3: Stuff from Barney's Kevin don't scarf scarf, That's what about
Speaker 3: that dinosaur belt?
Speaker 2: Okay, the belts maybe, but like I was wearing use
Speaker 2: larges from like J. C. Penny, my button ups and
Speaker 2: a lot of it was like Goodwill and with my orthopedic.
Speaker 3: Some of your sweaters did smell.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, well I'm happy Samuel had whatever. I'll get
Speaker 2: over it one day. Amy Aby wants to know. Did
Speaker 2: you enjoy the Quinn Joe relationship?
Speaker 4: Of course, there was always the thing.
Speaker 5: There's always the thing of like we knew we were
Speaker 5: going to have more camera time if there was some
Speaker 5: sort of love interest going on, so I was like, yes,
Speaker 5: there's gonna be camera time as well. It was it
Speaker 5: was really fun becoming friends at as well, and that
Speaker 5: was I guess saving all My love for you was
Speaker 5: maybe the closest that I ever got to like a
Speaker 5: solo our duet, which was I love how they arranged
Speaker 5: that as well, because we switched from like who was
Speaker 5: doing the high harmony.
Speaker 4: I just thought that was such a cool arrangement.
Speaker 2: Your voices are so pretty together too.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks, Yeah, I was. I'm very proud of that
Speaker 5: specific track. But yeah, of course it was such a
Speaker 5: fun time. It was fun to really like that's when
Speaker 5: I really felt like I was doing some acting because
Speaker 5: it was one on one and it was deeper. You know,
Speaker 5: if any scene in anything, like when it's one on
Speaker 5: one gets deeper than if it's a classroom environment or
Speaker 5: there's five people there. So it was nice to really
Speaker 5: dive in and yeah and yeah, and she helped me
Speaker 5: feel more welcome as well, Like, yeah.
Speaker 4: It was awesome.
Speaker 1: Wind Dreamer Entertainment wants to know when we'll see an
Speaker 1: album or some new music from you.
Speaker 3: They it's your voice.
Speaker 4: Oh, that's that's really sweet. You know.
Speaker 5: I feel like it's taken me this long to find
Speaker 5: myself as an artist, to be honest, I think I've
Speaker 5: gone through some things in life and I finally have
Speaker 5: like a lot that I want to say, and I've always.
Speaker 4: Had qualms with my voice.
Speaker 5: I think that's what's humbled me a lot in my
Speaker 5: journey is that you know, we're talking Michael Jackson and
Speaker 5: Prince and Bow. It's like the greatest of all time.
Speaker 5: And just knowing that I'm not them almost me a lot. Knowing,
Speaker 5: you know, as a singer, like knowing your limits almost
Speaker 5: you a lot.
Speaker 4: But I don't know.
Speaker 5: I think I have an EP that's coming out. I'm
Speaker 5: actually gonna start campaigning the first single here really soon,
Speaker 5: and I think it's like the most me it's ever sounded,
Speaker 5: and it doesn't sound like anything else I've put out.
Speaker 5: It's just like I found where I like to sing
Speaker 5: that I that I like my voice, and it's probably
Speaker 5: the music you walk away from not going like, oh,
Speaker 5: that guy is such a good singer. It's like it's
Speaker 5: it's not about singing good as is. It's using my
Speaker 5: voice as a tool for like the heart that I
Speaker 5: want to make and I'm just really excited about it.
Speaker 5: I have an EP that'll be out probably in a
Speaker 5: few months. I'm going to drop singles until the EP
Speaker 5: comes out. It's gonna be called When Love kills you
Speaker 5: and then by the end of the year, I want
Speaker 5: to have an album out. I think I saw their
Speaker 5: friend the other day is like, just have your just
Speaker 5: do your first album, like whatever you think it is
Speaker 5: supposed to be, just let that go, especially if you're
Speaker 5: in that head space maturity. Yeah, it's happening. I mean,
Speaker 5: they're just it's I don't know, and I produced it myself.
Speaker 5: It's the first thing I've produced everything myself, and I
Speaker 5: don't know. I just think I found myself and it
Speaker 5: happened later than I thought, and that's okay.
Speaker 3: That is okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the journey, there's something about I love one artists,
Speaker 2: so you know, can like really sing, like you can
Speaker 2: really sing like showing restraint or that like sweet spot
Speaker 2: that you're talking about. I love that when it's like
Speaker 2: I know what you can do. But it's like even
Speaker 2: I think for what the.
Speaker 3: Intent is or the motivation is behind it, or.
Speaker 2: It's harder I think to have that restraint and to
Speaker 2: like play within the part that you feel most comfortable.
Speaker 2: And I think it's harder to do that. Like you
Speaker 2: were talking about Glee project, when people came in the
Speaker 2: first week doing the most you're like, no, I'm not
Speaker 2: doing that. I do think like Beyonce did on Renaissance.
Speaker 2: You know, you're just like Beyonce. That's what I'm saying. Yes, finally,
Speaker 2: I know that's what you want to hear.
Speaker 3: Wow, what is the feeling that Glee leaves you with?
Speaker 5: Like like as a viewer, as as a part of it,
Speaker 5: a part of it, or felt very seen like you
Speaker 5: were saying, like felt very understood, really felt like you
Speaker 5: they understan. Yeah, like they just understood who I was
Speaker 5: and what my strengths were and where my vulnerabilities were.
Speaker 5: And as much as I wanted to like be myself
Speaker 5: currently at that time of my life as a nineteen
Speaker 5: twenty year old, I was looking back on it. It's like,
Speaker 5: it's so cool that I got to represent who I
Speaker 5: really was in high school and like there's a lot
Speaker 5: of parallels there, and they didn't even know who I
Speaker 5: was in high school, but somehow they got my energy
Speaker 5: and wrote me as a teenager and now it's immortalized forever,
Speaker 5: and like those messages that they gave Joe as like
Speaker 5: immortalized forever, which is really cool. I want to mention
Speaker 5: this just because I said Joe, I don't know if
Speaker 5: you guys know this, but my character's name was Apollo
Speaker 5: until five minutes before my first scene.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: We Yeah, I don't think I knew that, And why did?
Speaker 3: Do you know why they changed it?
Speaker 5: Because it's because it's not biblical, probably why they chose Joe.
Speaker 5: There's a lot of really cool biblical names there are.
Speaker 5: But yeah, it was like literally I was in the trailer,
Speaker 5: make up done, ready to go, and they're like, oh,
Speaker 5: we have one.
Speaker 4: More change your whole character's name.
Speaker 2: That is a huge thing. That's a huge difference thing.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Paulo, I thought was so cool. But then I'm like,
Speaker 5: all right, let's go shoot it. And I'm just like,
Speaker 5: who am I? Hey whatever, I'm here, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, welcome in a nutshell guess what.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, we were so grateful that you you said
Speaker 1: yes and you know, popped on this week. We're so
Speaker 1: it was so nice to speak with you. You brought
Speaker 1: such a nice, fresh kind cool energy and vibe and
Speaker 1: like confident vibe to our group, and I'm so glad
Speaker 1: we were nice to you in the beginning.
Speaker 4: You were you were.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we had such a we had so many
Speaker 1: good memories on on those crazy days and those crazy times,
Speaker 1: and we're just so happy for you and where you're
Speaker 1: at now.
Speaker 3: So everybody make sure you check out Samuel singles and
Speaker 3: his EP and his album at the end of the
Speaker 3: year that hopefully will be out and hold you to it.
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, now I'm accountable, Yes exactly, But honestly, you guys, like,
Speaker 5: thank you so much for having me. Those memories I
Speaker 5: look back on are like some of the best times
Speaker 5: of my life, some of the best feelings I've ever had,
Speaker 5: and you guys are so instrumental to that and just
Speaker 5: being able to even be fly on the wall watching
Speaker 5: what you guys do. You guys are so talented and
Speaker 5: inspiring and just yeah, really really cool.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Likewise, you haven't changed. That's wonderful, like you've al I
Speaker 2: hope people take away from this like how just nice
Speaker 2: you are and talented, because it was really nice to
Speaker 2: be around someone and be like, damn, we got ste
Speaker 2: of our game. Yeah yeah, yes, yes, absolutely, and you
Speaker 2: made us better and it was You were such a
Speaker 2: great addition. So thank you again for spending the time
Speaker 2: to talk about this with us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, pleasure, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: You're the best good luck.
Speaker 4: Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3: Hope to see you in person again soon.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, please, thanks, thank you, Thanks guys.
Speaker 1: I don't think that we've we we got to talk
Speaker 1: to Samuel all that much towards the end because he
Speaker 1: left before the show ended. To hear his whole experience
Speaker 1: is so uplifting to me. I think it's really nice
Speaker 1: to hear his appreciation for just where he was despite
Speaker 1: some of the challenges and you know, being a little
Speaker 1: bit underused, Like we all felt that way because there
Speaker 1: were fifty of us at the time, like when he
Speaker 1: was on, but like really just it's really refreshing to hear.
Speaker 2: I also feel sort of bad because it was a disparity,
Speaker 2: but because I'm a broken record, but because we were
Speaker 2: sort of losing our minds by the time he came in,
Speaker 2: like or we had lost our minds by the time
Speaker 2: he came in.
Speaker 1: It's why I keep saying I was so grateful we
Speaker 1: were nice to him, because like my memory is just
Speaker 1: so yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't like John had. There was a little window
Speaker 2: when Damien came in, and we had like a couple
Speaker 2: of brain cells.
Speaker 1: Left, yes, and then by the time Samuel came in,
Speaker 1: they were gone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so I'm glad he had a great experience.
Speaker 2: I do feel bad like that there was like he
Speaker 2: probably came into such a shit show on our part, but.
Speaker 3: He was also such a big fan, which I also love.
Speaker 2: Like a lot.
Speaker 3: It's very sweet. Well, he did a good job covering
Speaker 3: it up.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I just have this like distinct memory of being
Speaker 2: at Chord's apartment and Cord always had like a little
Speaker 2: like get together, not huge parties, but he'd have like
Speaker 2: you know, with then and everywhere, like we just have
Speaker 2: these little parties. And I remember it might have been
Speaker 2: like Samuel's first party with us or something like that,
Speaker 2: and I could see him sort of like being the
Speaker 2: new kid, like, but you're awesome, You're great, Like, don't worry,
Speaker 2: we're all here together.
Speaker 3: There's none of that, right, right, So you're not a
Speaker 3: new kid, You're just with us.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But I just think it was probably so hard
Speaker 2: for people to like come into that because I get
Speaker 2: like that now, going into like a bunch of.
Speaker 3: People you admire, respect or whatever it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and like especially with us, we were absolutely clique.
Speaker 2: And he was just so nice through all of it,
Speaker 2: like so.
Speaker 3: Yes, exactly, just.
Speaker 1: Like did his job so yeah, well, we were so
Speaker 1: grateful for Samuel to come out and coming on. It's
Speaker 1: so fun to have like be able to talk to
Speaker 1: all of our our castmates again on the show and
Speaker 1: hear their experiences again.
Speaker 3: So thank you Samuel, Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2: For another episode and that's what you really missed. Thanks
Speaker 2: for listening and follow us on Instagram and that's what
Speaker 2: you really miss pod. Make sure to write us a
Speaker 2: review and leave us five stars. See you next time.