Stefano Carannante

Intro: headshots, turning off my self-view, Emotional Brain Training,
Let Me Run This By You: Is Flakiness always hostile?
Interview: We talk to Season 2 of Severance's Stefano Carannante about going to theatre school in Italy

Creators & Guests

Host

Gina Pulice

Co-host, Writer, Actor, Director

Host

Jen Bosworth Ramirez

Co-host, actor, writer, consultant

What is I Survived Theatre School?

We went to theatre school. We survived it, but we didn't understand it. 20 years later, we're talking to our guests about their experience of going for this highly specialized type of college at the tender age of 18. Did it all go as planned? Are we still pursuing acting? Did we get cut from the program? Did we... become famous yet?

FULL TRANSCRIPT (NOT EDITED)
1 (8s):
I am Jen Bosworth

2 (9s):
Ramirez.

1 (10s):
And

3 (10s):
I'm Gina Icci.

4 (11s):
We went to theater school together. We survived it, but we didn't quite understand it. 20

3 (15s):
Years later, we're digging deep talking to our guests about their experiences and trying to make sense of it all.

4 (21s):
We survived theater school and you will too. Are, we famous. yet

0 (30s):
Remember

2 (31s):
For your kid, your kid sent a thank you. So nice for the bat mitzvah.

1 (36s):
Yeah. But that, you know, that may have been the last time. Anyway, I wanna hear all about like, you got had a callback. My, it must have been for an audition. Oh my gosh. I mean, for a commercial.

2 (45s):
No. So it was a short and, sorry, I'm trying to get my light 'cause I wanna see you and see me better. Okay. So let's see. Oh, much better. Okay, so the, the, oh, it was quite something. Okay. Yesterday was quite the day, so I'm really, yeah, I, my agents, my commercial agents were like, Hey, we got some feedback from clients. And. I was like, oh no. And it's just, oh

1 (1m 16s):
Shit, shit feedback. The f word

2 (1m 18s):
For me, it's the F word. Right? And so I was so scared. And I said, oh no. And they're like, no, no, it's just that you don't look like your headshots anymore. And I was like, oh, that is manageable. And it's because I've lost some weight. And so my face is just more angular. And also my hair is a little shorter. And also I'm older. I'm fi you know, I'm five years older. So though I took those five years ago. So Like, I haven't had any since I moved to LA. And, and anyway, the feedback was fine, but it was like, you need to get headshots. 'cause like, they're saying that when they see you on screen, it, you don't look like your headshot. And I'm like, oh man. For the zoom, for the self tape. Right. Okay. So yesterday I, and then I went with someone they recommended because the reason that I do that is So, that they, if they have a problem with my headshots, they are the person who recommended the photographer.

1 (2m 9s):
Yeah. Right, right, right.

2 (2m 11s):
And I also don't really care. Like, to be honest, Like I, it's funny, I used to, this is like such a thing. Like I. Remember when we graduated the theater school, getting your first headshots, it was like this huge deal. And every, who do

1 (2m 23s):
You pick? Was that Brian McConkey? Brian

2 (2m 25s):
McConkey. You went with Brian McConkey and okay, fine, whatever. But like now I'm like, listen, in LA right now in Ventura it's 20 degrees cooler. But in LA it's lit literally 98 degrees. And I.

1 (2m 41s):
Wow. Oh, it's 20 degrees.

2 (2m 43s):
It can be Ventura. That's great. So, so right now it's like 70 here. When it's 90 there. Yeah. So we don't ever get above like 82, which is thank thank God. 'cause we don't have

1 (2m 52s):
That's amazing. Central

2 (2m 53s):
Air. You'll see our house when you come, but it's not we. No. So, okay, so I, for headshots am just thinking, yeah, quick make it look like me, but elevated And I I'm going to use, it's like my priorities have really shifted. And I, almost Like I used to buy clothes for headshots. One, I can't afford that right now. And two, I have enough clothes like And I end up literally wearing beans, the same shirt, the the same two shirts in my self tapes to different plaids. So, 'cause it's always a mom in a Hyundai commercial. So like, no, I'm not buying new clothes. And I. So I, I, they referred me to this woman.

2 (3m 34s):
She was lovely. We did it in the beginning of the morning, And, you know, I just was like, I can do this thing now. Which is like, when I'm in front of the camera, I'm able to get to a place where I'm not as self-conscious as I once was. And I also think it's about, it becomes about the shot and less about me, right? These are, I need usable shots that look good and elevated that are gonna like not get feedback from clients. That's what I need. I don't, I'm not looking to glamorize my life. I'm not. but it used to be this sort of sort of like self-esteem, like show showcasing me to myself that look, oh, I can be glamorous and beautiful.

1 (4m 22s):
Yeah, dude, I, it's of course no surprise that you're bringing up something that I've been thinking about a lot. I started a hack for the camera class, like online through HP Studios. And listen, day one, I, I, I, I, I just, I couldn't, I had to turn off the self view. I mean, usually when I'm doing a meeting, I turn off the self view. I don't wanna be looking at, I don't wanna be distracted by bad thoughts I'm having about myself. So, but, but then I realized, no, but this whole, this is literally the thing where you are supposed to look at yourself and you are supposed to, right?

1 (5m 4s):
And so I was just going like, okay, how do I stop this negative self-talk? you know? Because what I know intellectually is anybody who would hire me for anything, regardless of what I think about my, what my look is, they would want that for their own reason. Oh, she looks like an every person. This ego, this, this ideal, this thing that has been so hammered into us about, well, yeah, but you don't look the way you're supposed to look, so therefore you should just be trying to pretend you're somebody else. I still can't really get past that. Also, I had like a bunch of feelings about this acting teacher and the other kids in the class kids 'cause they're all kids, you know, except for me, And I just like, and it made me, I, it made me not do my homework.

1 (5m 56s):
I was supposed to record a self tape for my homework. I somehow found a way to avoid doing it. And I, just, that was for the first class. And I. And yesterday we had the second class, And I just realized like, dude, this is exact, this is exactly what happened to me my senior year of college. I just panicked And I abandoned myself. And I was just like, well, I'm not good enough. I'm not thin enough, I'm not pretty enough, so therefore I won't, that's it. Like it, it began and ended with how I imagine another person probably accurately. But how I imagine another person is perceiving me. That's it. Like that's, that's, that's the whole of the

2 (6m 36s):
Story, right? It ends, it's Like I a very, it's like a very fast immediate story that always leads to the same place and is, and it sort of, it's interesting. It's like it doesn't matter that it's not true, right? Because it, it's true to you in your brain. And so I, I totally get it. And your brain. So I've begun to look at it like, now And I started doing Emotional Brain Training don don't know if you know. Yeah. Whoa. It's Like I. I joined this group about literally, 'cause what I notice on a plane, of course is that I, they always, people always say shit like, oh, it's, your brain needs to be rewired.

2 (7m 19s):
And I was always like, go fuck yourself. I don't, I don't know what that means. I'm not, I can't rewire my brain. Fuck you. I don't know how to do that. So I'm, I, IIII just, one of those things that bothered me, and then I joined this group and it was like a, a, a women's group online, a zoom group about Emotional, Brain Training. Just 'cause I was curious and it was, it was given to me free. And so I said, okay, I'm gonna see it. Okay. What I learned is, yes, I have to rewire my brain So that when I'm looking, when I'm getting in a situation that is like old school core triggering, I don't mean irksome.

2 (7m 59s):
I mean like you did a direct express train to self abandonment. I need a technique that works for me that I can disrupt it. Just like, like medicine for migraines is an abortive medicine that aborts the migraine completely. It doesn't try to dull the symptoms. It's trying to abort it to stop it when, as soon as you feel it. Okay? So I'm like, but there is no medicine for that, for this psychological stuff, this emotional stuff. Like, you can take an antidepressant and I'm on, but that's a slow acting situation. So I was like, how can I do it? And so Emotional Brain Training literally is the neuroscience of, I mean, basically it's stuff they've already known, but like these techniques and they paired it with an app.

2 (8m 45s):
And I'll send you the app, which is, you notice it's a set of steps you must do when this core trigger comes up. And you have to do it immediately, which is for me, is you notice it's, it literally tells you the steps to do what is going on. Notice yourself, step back, look at yourself as if you're looking at a cell. You're like over your notice what's happening, what is, what are you feeling? What support do you need? And then it takes you through, through these steps. It's kind of like CBT mixed with neuroscience. Like that's, but what is very helpful for me is the underlying principle is I will not abandon myself no matter what.

1 (9m 28s):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just, and it just takes practice, right? Like it took me all these year, decades of practice to get to this place where I, like, I'm crippled And I can't look at myself. It's gonna take more time than I

2 (9m 40s):
Expect. It's, it's practice

1 (9m 41s):
To change outta it, it's

2 (9m 42s):
Practice. And it's also, for me, it was understanding that this is less about changing, actually changing my brain wiring. And the real brain wiring will change when the intention of never abandoning myself, no matter how fucked up or painful the shit is, and uncomfortable that is happening in the moment. It is like, for me, when I abandoned myself, I have no hope of of, of participating in any kind of real way. I'm gone. Yeah. I'm literally gone.

1 (10m 23s):
Well, your way sounds much more healthy than my way, which is like, maybe I'll accidentally have a str like a stroke or a traumatic brain injury that will do for me where it'll take away Like I knew my mom knows somebody in real life who, you know, had an accident. And he, that story of like, he came out a different person. It didn't work out well for my mom's friend. 'cause he decided, I don't love you. I'm not even attracted to you. Right? But I, I wish I had something or I could go in and like in Severance, which ironically we're gonna be talking to somebody from Severance, just take out the part that don don't like. No,

2 (10m 58s):
It's no surprise that like, that show is about that, right? Like, we wish we long to take out the parts of ourselves that aren't working for us. And the danger with that is then other people can take them out if it's not working for them. So it's, it's so hard to be a fricking human. It is impossible. And I. I, I literally, it has taken me so long to get to the point where I'm like, oh, this is about not abandoning myself. And, and still that's not the end of the road because I have to figure out how not to abandon myself in every given uncomfortable situation. And it's a fucking pain in the ass.

2 (11m 39s):
And I. Do not appreciate it.

1 (11m 41s):
It's hard. It's hard. It's really hard. It's, it's crazy to think that it will be more comfortable just to do the thing where you just hate yourself all the time. Like, I in some ways I would ra And actually that's, that's exactly what came up with this class. I was like, well, I probably just shouldn't do this class because probably I started to go down this thing of like, well, nobody would ever cast me in anything anyway. And this is a waste of my, and it's a three hour class and it's like, should I really be away from my family for three hours, even though I spend the other 21 hours of every single day of my entire life with them at all times. you know, I, I just, I found a million reasons and it was exactly what I remember feeling in San Francisco after I give, I sent one round of headshots to one round of agents and then I literally never tried to do it again.

1 (12m 32s):
Because what kind of, why, why, why did I spend my whole life wanting to do one thing? And that when it actually came time to do that thing, I was like, oh, I probably shouldn't do that.

2 (12m 43s):
Because, because the ingra the messaging so clear from such a young age that you are not going to get, you are not whatever deserving to use any word. It is not for you to be happy and fulfilled. I don't know. Right?

1 (12m 59s):
It's not

2 (12m 59s):
For me. It's not for you, it's for everybody else. Or maybe nobody else. But you certainly know And I certainly know it's not for me. And, you know, it's not for you regardless of what it is for anybody else. And I think that is, that is just the hardest messaging to change. I I i it it and it's so damaging from such a young age. And the fucked up thing for me is too, is like, even if nobody explicitly says it in words, we still take in that message from our parents and our loved ones. Yes.

1 (13m 32s):
Oh, that's a whole been a whole thing for me to figure out too. 'cause I, I always said like, you know, my mom never gave me any bad messages. She never said anything bad about I. hear stories about people saying like, well, you're ga you know, their mom's telling 'em you're gaining weight or withholding food from them. She never did anything like that. But she hated her body always. Never not after a, the age of 18. She never once liked the way she looked about herself.

2 (13m 58s):
Well, I think, and she didn't

1 (13m 59s):
Have to say it about me, for me to see that she said it about herself for me to be like, oh yeah, me too.

2 (14m 5s):
Right, exactly. And it's interesting because I think knowing also, like really knowing your mom, she was a beauty queen, right? Like she was a beauty queen. So there is something added when the person is, I know a lot of people like this where they are like praised like your sister, like your mom, like my si for their beauty and their physical feminine amazingness. And then it always goes awry because we age and because our bodies changed. She had kids, whatever. And so she was, it was destined. It's a mix of patriarchy meets.

2 (14m 45s):
Yeah. It's it's real rough. It's rough stuff. Totally.

1 (14m 48s):
Yeah. It makes me really appreciate people like Brooke Shields. you know, one of the things that makes her so cool, I think is that she, she's the first person to say people have given her all of this credit for being beautiful. And she's Like I didn't do anything to look like this, but I went to Princeton. And I wish people would be ha praising that Like I. I wish people would say, wow, you went to Princeton and you turned it in, even though they didn't have a film major. You turned it into that and you wrote a thesis on your own movie in French. Like, it's just like, wow, you're unbelievable.

1 (15m 28s):
But yet, even if she was standing right here, right now, I'd probably say, you're so pretty.

2 (15m 32s):
Right. Right. I mean, like, and it's interesting. It's because I I I think yeah, as humans we are, we also, there is something really compelling about someone who looks a certain way. Like, I, don't even Like I don't even think it's, that's the thing too. As I get older, I'm like, Oh, my God, we come by this honestly, and we're not doing anything a lot of times on purpose and we're still awful to ourselves and to other people. And we don't even mean to anymore. Oh

1 (16m 3s):
My, no, we don't even mean to, it doesn't fit with our, our intellectual idea of ourself. It doesn't fit with our feminism. It just doesn't fit. And yet, like, it's a real hard habit for, for,

2 (16m 12s):
Which is why I think if nothing else, like DEI stuff in workplaces, okay, granted, I'm sure like if it only points out our bias about what we think is beautiful, then that is one thing. 'cause they do, they do talk about like, workplace bias in a lot of DEI stuff about beauty and beauty standards, And I think if that's all we get from DEI stuff, because we know it'd be great if we did stuff about, you know, marginalized communities in other ways. But I, I just don't have a lot of hope for that. But if we even just tackled one teeny part of it, which is the beauty standard bias that in, in workplaces, then we're ahead of the game because that is always been there too.

2 (16m 55s):
you know? And it's like, it's so, yeah. It's, it's real tough stuff. So So that being said, back to the headshot, so she was this French, she is this French woman who's a former model. So I thought, oh, what's this gonna be like? But she was lovely. And listen, my other thing is I don't have to be in love with my headshot photographer. They don't have to think I'm beautiful. They don't have to even think I'm interesting. All we have to do is get some good shots together for these couple hours we're together and they don't have to like me, I, I, And I liked her, fine, but if I never see her again socially great. I I'd be okay.

2 (17m 37s):
I'm sure she'd be okay. And we did a transaction, And I saw the, some of the sh test shots. I looked fine, great, whatever. And let's move on. But, so

1 (17m 47s):
Yeah, you looked beautiful. Your makeup looked beautiful. She did a really good job. I mean, you look great right now.

2 (17m 50s):
I have a, like a hot pink situation.

1 (17m 53s):
Yes. You have a hot pink.

2 (17m 54s):
S you a mac, I put a candy. Yum. Yum. On it's called candy. Yum. Yum. Mm. Anyway. Nice.

1 (17m 59s):
Yeah. What was, what was your

2 (17m 60s):
Callback for? Oh no. Oh, Gina. So this is another thing.

1 (18m 2s):
No, no, that's a no no.

2 (18m 3s):
Well, it was a, this is the first time this has ever happened to me in my whole career. So happy to do the self tape for a short film. 'cause short films can be done now because Sag is, that contract is not being struck. Or like it's not Yeah, whatever. So short film did a self tape. it was a little odd. I was like, oh, they wanted in the slate in interpretive dance. I'm not kidding. But, and it wasn't a comedy, but I thought, you know what times are tough. I did a little interpretive dance about some emotional journey you've taken. Look, I knew it was a little weird. I, my agent knew it was a little odd, but I did the self tape. it was about, yeah, it's just very like, interesting fantasy movie.

2 (18m 47s):
And then I got a callback And I thought, okay. And the call. And, and so I, I was at headshots yesterday and my agent is like, Hey, they just sent three hours before the callbacks, callback scenes. And I said, that's okay. You know. She said, I told them it would be a cold read because okay. I said, great, I'm finishing up my headshots. I'll head to the the, and then I am like, let me stop and like print out these headshot, these callback sides at FedEx, And I have time. So let me read them and try to do my best. And then I'm reading and I'm reading and it's new material and it's literally about anal sex. And like, I'd have to perform,

1 (19m 28s):
Oh, it's a

2 (19m 29s):
Porn, basically.

1 (19m 31s):
Okay. Right. Yeah. A short porn. Which honestly, they all probably could be, well

2 (19m 36s):
They should be much shorter than they are really, if you think about it. But this was, and it was blood, it was also blood and flesh being shot out of a gun.

1 (19m 44s):
Cool, cool, cool, cool.

2 (19m 45s):
So I said to

1 (19m 46s):
That

2 (19m 46s):
Sounds awesome. Yeah. So I said to my, I said to my agent, it was really funny. I was in the Starbucks, And I was like, Hey, hmm, I just took a look at this one callback scene. And I. Just kind of be honest. Like, my email's pretty fricking funny. It's like, I have to shoot you put my finger in this man's asshole. And I, I'm an old lady, And I, I'm, I, I I can pass on this, right? Like, we're not gonna do this. Right. And she was like, Oh my God. 'cause she hadn't read it because she was trying to just get the callback scenes to me. And she figured the first scenes were fine, like And I. She was like, oh my. So she called them and said, you can't, and there was no trigger warning. There was no talk of intimacy. Oh. my God.

2 (20m 26s):
And they wanted, yeah, you can't, no, no.

1 (20m 30s):
Well, what must be happening is, you know, porn, amateur, first time director of student films, they're like, this is the golden age because they can illegally whatever above board have access to really good actors for their relat. Shitty,

2 (20m 46s):
Yeah. I don't know where they're getting the money. I mean,

1 (20m 48s):
Which is just another, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but that's just another version of like how actors are always getting screwed and part of why, you know, there's a strike to begin with. Like, no, but see, we're trying to work against this exploitation, not lean into it.

2 (21m 3s):
It, I was just like, that's gonna be a, a hard pass for me. I'm not gonna stick my finger Yeah. Even simulate into someone's asshole and then, and then have sex with them, with blood and flesh parts coming out of and, and eating it.

1 (21m 17s):
No, that's a no, that's a, I I've thought about it. I You know, spoke to God about it. And I, just Like I

2 (21m 24s):
Really?

1 (21m 24s):
It's not

2 (21m 25s):
For me. No, this is not for me. This is not for me. I don't know who it's for. God bless 'em, but not for me.

1 (21m 31s):
And, I am not for you and you are not for me. Right?

2 (21m 35s):
Yeah. Right. So, that was that. So I actually didn't have the full call. What I did have was the almost callback and the getting ready for the callback and the dealing with the aftermath of the callback, which was,

1 (21m 46s):
And then the realization of it. Oh God bless you, God bless you.

2 (21m 54s):
Hey, run this excited.

1 (22m 1s):
Right? Sometimes I. So excited formally and anyway, yeah. Okay. So I You know, this is a story about somebody that I know who probably doesn't listen to this podcast, but I've decided even if they do, even if he does good, great, He, he can hear about it. He can hear about it. I know somebody who doesn't live around here anymore, but who came back for a visit. And I went to see his show and it was a horrible show. And I kind of ran out after, because I didn't wanna have to face anyone. I did like the most cursory, I really just simply cannot do the thing that almost everybody I know can do so well, which is including the two people I was with Oh, my God.

1 (22m 49s):
That was great. Congratulate. I, I could get congratulations, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. What I, you know, what would be untrue? Okay, so ran out. Well I had my phone turned off, so I didn't turn it back on until I was almost home. And then I get a message from this guy saying, oh, please stay after. I would love to say hi, And I. I felt bad. And so I said, oh, the truth, which is I didn't get this message until I got home. Bloody, bloody blah. I did say, 'cause I felt Like, I needed to say something. I said, it looked like you, oh my Lord. Or no, I didn't say, it looked like you were having fun. I hate it when people say that. I said, I hope you found the experience fulfilling, because that was the kindest, truest thing I could say.

1 (23m 34s):
Well, he says, okay, well let's get together at blah, blah, blah time. I said, sure. It's blah, blah, blah time. I'm driving. I can't find a parking spot. I text him, oh

2 (23m 44s):
No,

1 (23m 44s):
This is weird. I never have trouble finding parking spot here. He's going, oh, I have to cancel. I'm at the tire store. I got why didn a flat, flat tire. Or I got a blown out tire or something. And so I immediately go, Oh my God. Well, do you need help Like? I'm picturing him stranded on the side of the road. And he said, no, you know, yesterday we were driving someplace and, and I'm going like yesterday. And you're call, and you only wrote me back after I texted happening. You like, if you hadn't, if I hadn't reached out to you, you would've said nothing. So I let it go because whatever that been stressful, but he could have let me know, but whatever.

1 (24m 25s):
So we reschedule and we, we, we rescheduled And I said, can you make it this time? Not this time. He said, yeah, sure, let me move some things around. Then he writes back, actually, I can't make it at all. I gotta take my kid to this thing And. you know? Then later I saw a picture of him having met up with somebody else. Not that day, but the next day I just was like, what's, what are we doing here? What are you doing? Is this, you're just being hostile? Is this the only way you, is you were just really wanted to stick it to me. 'cause you acted like, you know, and I'm just going like, Flakiness, what is it?

1 (25m 6s):
What is the Flakiness? Is it always hostile? Why do we do it? Why do we allow other people to do it? Why does it feel Like I can't confront this person and say, what the fuck, dude, I I, if you had never texted me that you wanted to see me, I would've let this go. I I would never have reached out to you and said, let's, let's meet up, but you, you made me do this

2 (25m 28s):
Twice. That part is real weird. So I'm putting myself in his shoes because I'm just trying to, because I can't really understand. So the only thing I can think of is that he's o like, yeah, it's very much a mystery. Either undercover is really pissed off at you about something for what? Or pissed off at something and taking it out on you. So the hostile, the hostility, which is fucking sociopathic, right? If you're doing that, that's fucking weird and you need help. But also, if it is just that you are over committed, that's unacceptable.

2 (26m 11s):
As an adult, we should learn as teenagers to stop doing that. I know people that haven't, but that's also not acceptable. If you're over committed and cannot fulfill your commitment, that's unacceptable professionally and personally. So nothing about the behavior is acceptable. So now I guess you get to choose how you confront the unacceptable nature of his behavior. I am scared shitless of people, so I might just seethe and tell everybody about it and never say anything, which by the way, then opens me up to having the exact same experience with someone else next month.

2 (26m 55s):
That would happen to me because I in the past have been so afraid to confront someone about their bad behavior that then, because there is a universe I think, that believes in having us learn some kind of lesson, I literally will have the exact same behavior from someone else next month.

1 (27m 16s):
Yeah, dude, you're right. You're right. I mean, here's And. I'll tell you exactly what stopped me from doing the thing. And actually every experience I've ever had with this, not every, that's not fair, but every conflict laden experience I've ever had with this person, I've had sort of the same thought, which is, well, I'm in the situation where if I say something about it, I know, I just know that I'm gonna be perceived as making too big of a deal out of it. Or, you know, it it, it's that thing of like, a lot of times when you're negotiating your way through conflict with certain types of people, you know, because they're immature, you know Sure.

1 (28m 4s):
You know what they say about other people who do things that seem pretty reasonable. So, so my understanding that that's what he's gonna say, or what I think he's gonna say about me sure. Prohibits me from saying the thing that, you know, if I was kind, you know, And I in, in other situations I've been kinder to say, Hey, I just thought you should know how this behavior came across And. I mean I and Like I don't know. Maybe if it's somebody you're trying to You know have you want to have a good opinion of you, maybe you should do it differently.

2 (28m 34s):
We've talked about this too. When someone has called me on my behavior that has been bad, it has been a gift. I'm not saying I like it, but I'm telling you right now when I have been call and it has really made me stop and go, oh shit, did I do that on purpose? What is going on with me? Do I care? And most of the time I do care. Sometimes I'm Like, I don't care that much. But a lot, most of the time, if someone's taking the time to say, your behavior came across like this, I'm like, oh shit, that's not what I want in the world.

2 (29m 18s):
But that's just me. That's me. Even though in the moment I hated it, I probably hem and hawed. I probably called them all kinds of names in my head for calling me on my shit. But yeah, they were right. Even, even I talked about it. Even my old boss at Saturn films that called me on, on not taking the call. Not, not that the call not doing my job. Yeah, lying,

1 (29m 40s):
Lying. She was right. Yeah. But here's the thing, man, I, I think that people like you who have that response and, and even if you get angry, you take it to heart later are not the norm. You know. And so the thing I have to say is to myself is like, what do I really, and actually if I was talking about this with Aaron, he would say, oh, what do, what do you want? What do you want from this person? Oh yes, yes. What do you want from this situation? And this always, this always stops me up because I get to this point of like, well, I don't want anything from him. I would just really wanna let him know that, you know, don't treat me that way.

1 (30m 20s):
And he would say, but you don't really have a close relationship. And wouldn't it just be easier to like end

2 (30m 26s):
It?

1 (30m 28s):
Just end it or not? Yeah, just end it. Like, not, not in this borderliney way of the cutoff, but just like, okay, so you've told me that you don't actually wanna see me, so now I know when you contact me or whatever, you don't really mean it. And then I can just adjust accordingly. It's this thing about this political thing, this way of being in the world that I think is better. If you can find a way to be a little political and to say, cool, I'm not gonna say anything about that because that, you know, I've learned about you and like you and you're not asking me for feedback. And we don't have a close relationship, so there's really no reason for me to tell this person what I really think, except for I have this fantasy that he would say, you know something, you're right.

1 (31m 16s):
Which he's not going to say. So Like I, think there's nothing really for me to get outta it.

2 (31m 20s):
Yeah, you you make a good point. And, I think to that. I think maybe the word I would use is strategic. It's strategic. Being strategic about feedback, received, feedback given, and also strategic about what choice I make next time is what you're saying. So I think there's two different things. It's like he, he, it like triggered you or angry and heard and probably all the things which you gotta deal with. And then there's like, what action am I gonna take, if any? And maybe he's right. Maybe the action is just, you're never gonna, if you make plans, you know it's never gonna happen. Or you don't make plans again, ever again with the person.

2 (32m 1s):
And that's okay too.

1 (32m 3s):
Yeah. Is there an argument for Flakiness that's, that's something like, hey, we don't just, you know, blindly follow our obligations anymore, we take stock of like what we really can and can't handle at any given moment. Like is that 'cause that that's potentially one way to take in this behavior that he's going, well, you know, in these two situations, I'm weighing the benefit of seeing you versus the benefit of like, whatever, doing this other thing that I need to do. Do you know what I mean? Like, is it, is it, is Flakiness always bad or is it, is it sometimes that people are just giving themselves more permission not to, you know, whatever, like

2 (32m 51s):
Yeah, but that can be totally yes. don don't think it means they're always bad. But you can avoid that by saying, when someone says to me, can we play this by ear? Because I am like,

1 (33m 3s):
Yeah, right, that's better

2 (33m 5s):
Then I know. Yeah, I know. Oh, this is probably not gonna happen. Right. And it's okay if it doesn't, right? I'm gonna play it by ear. Right? And we can just, can we keep this our, our, I sometimes say, can we be loosey goosey about this? Or is it like a hard commitment because I have all this other shit going on. I'm trying to cram in. Like when I was in Chicago, I, for the first time in my life, I did not tell a lot of people I was going, and when people found out 'cause of social media, I was Like, I'm not gonna hide. I'm gonna be there for my reunion, but I'm also not gonna, and people were like, Oh my God, can I see you? And I was like, listen, I'm literally here for this time to do these things. I don't think it's gonna happen this trip. If it does, it's gonna be last minute.

2 (33m 46s):
I'm so sorry. But like, I'm so committed to being on this committee for the reunion, And, I, gotta see my nieces and nephew. Like those are my priorities and that's it for this trip. And I'm sorry. And people were finer, not fine. Someone was mad. I didn't let them know I was coming. Okay. I,

1 (34m 2s):
Yeah, I wish she would've done that. I wish she would've said, I wanna see you, but I'm here for a limited time, so I'm not sure. And then I would've said, okay, cool. So like, text me on this day if you're free grade, if you're not, yeah, fine. you know, that would've been a better way

2 (34m 15s):
To, to do it. And, I. I mean, plans are plans and there are a lot of people who, I think when people, I'm one of those people that Like, I love a plan too, but I'm also secretly excited when someone cancels sometimes, depending on, sure,

1 (34m 29s):
Yeah. Yeah.

2 (34m 31s):
But I think it's really important to know that like what kind of person I am and what kind of person I'm dealing with, and yeah, dude, a little heads up is all you needed, you're not asking for.

1 (34m 44s):
Yeah. And that, that's actually more to the point. Like in both cases he could have said to me many hours beforehand, because in the first instance, I was out doing something, And I stopped So, that I would have enough time to come back and like get ready to go see him. And, I could've not done that. And maybe the answer is, I, I should have flaked, I should have flaked on him. I should have said, you know, So, Anyway, Flakiness. And it's, and it, it's something I feel like it came up with our generation. I feel like generations before us weren't ever flaky, but now Flakiness is, is at an all times level of acceptability.

2 (35m 23s):
Mean, hear people talking about, especially millennials, about how and Gen X, how the flake factor and how employers are like,

1 (35m 35s):
They're like Gen Y do you mean?

2 (35m 36s):
No? Yeah. Not Gen Y. No. Gen Z. Gen Z.

1 (35m 40s):
Oh yeah. Well, gen Z, Y and Z We

2 (35m 42s):
Got it. What are we? We're X Yeah, we're X. No, I always mix it up, not X. Yeah, Y and z and millennials get a bad, especially I think Z and Y for like that, that whole thing of like not showing up on time and, and, and people not calling and just not showing up for interviews. Like literally not canceling an interview and just not showing up and not following up in any way. Yeah. And look, I, that's annoying, but Like I think we gotta look at where we're at and what we're teaching people as they grow up. And I can tell you right now from having had my niece who's 14 for a week, and my nephew who's 16, if there is if left to their own literally devices, if left to their devices, those kids will choose the device every single time over anything else.

2 (36m 31s):
Every single

1 (36m 32s):
God damn time.

2 (36m 34s):
Yeah. Yeah. They really will. My niece, my ne they, they, it's not, it is not negotiable. It's not a question of what they will choose. So knowing that it's like, oh, this child will pick this device up and be consumed by it for hours. And that's just the truth. And so I had to be like, okay, I'm taking your phone at 10 30 and that is if you don't get off it and, but you anyway. So I think we, we have to look at like what we're dealing with and what are the, what are the, what is in front of people and what are their options? And if their options are easier to just flake, they're gonna flake. Yeah. If there's no,

1 (37m 8s):
Totally, totally. So, and, and, and like you said, when it comes to a device, that's the only, that is the only option really. It's like, it's like, let me see if I'm bored enough with my device to venture going out into the world and never, we had to make a rule in our house that if we were going out to dinner or to get ice cream or to do whatever, and somebody doesn't wanna come, 'cause they wanna stay home on their device. I'm not gonna bring you anything back. Like the, the, the reward for leaving the house as if like going into dinner is, I'm sure the reward for leaving the house is that you get to have the experience of being out of the house and you get to have the food or the whatever it is.

1 (37m 52s):
And you don't get that if you're, if you're, if your trace is to stay

3 (38m 2s):
Today on the podcast

1 (38m 3s):
We are talking to

3 (38m 4s):
Stef Stefano carte. You may not know Stefano yet, but you will. He is starring on the upcoming season of Severance, one of the best television shows of all time. It's not coming out till 2024. So

1 (38m 19s):
Here is your sneak peek

3 (38m 20s):
Of Stefano carte

1 (38m 26s):
Before. This is not, we've had to

2 (38m 28s):
Do it before. This is not our first rodeo with tech problems. And it's not your fault.

0 (38m 32s):
Yeah, okay.

2 (38m 33s):
It really, we've had way worse people, one guy was doing the podcast driving.

5 (38m 39s):
Oh wow. That's, that's a lot.

1 (38m 41s):
That didn't work. That one didn't. Oh boy. it was real

2 (38m 44s):
Bad. Did not work while they were driving their kid to school. it was not good.

1 (38m 49s):
I forgot all about that. We were like, okay, So Anyway, we always start the same way. Congratulations Stefano Carannante. You survived theater school.

5 (38m 59s):
I did. Yep.

1 (39m 0s):
And I Believe you might be our first Italian theater school alum. So I hadn't heard of your school. It's called something Grassi, right? Paolo Grassi.

5 (39m 11s):
Paolo Gra

2 (39m 12s):
Paolo.

1 (39m 14s):
We wanna hear all about it. Is it, is it like it is in the United States, a four year school? Was it a conservatory? Did you have to audition to get in?

5 (39m 22s):
Yeah, so I had to audition to get in, like in every school in Italy you have to audition in every like, conservatory schools. Yeah. It's like every year they, they audition 2000 from, from 2000 to 3000 people every year. And that's a lot. They, yeah, that's a lot. And they only let in like 12 or 14. It depends on, on, on the, on the school.

1 (39m 52s):
Oh my God. So you really made the grade. Like that was a lot of competition. Do you remember, do you remember your audition?

5 (39m 60s):
I I, I remember my audition because this, it's, it's pretty funny. I I was 20, 20 years old and And I, I, I've been doing theater for like, in my, in my hometown in, in Naples, not professionally. So, and, and a lot of friends of mine said, well, you know what I I I'm going to do this, this audition to this school, to that school to the other one. And they were doing like 10 or 12 auditions every year to get it into schools. It's like, and they just, they just do audition to, to get it to, to see which school will, will say yes. And I'll say And I said, you know what, it's all right, let's do it.

5 (40m 43s):
Let's do it. But it was like two days, in two days I had the audition. So I didn't know what to bring. I didn't know they asked for it. Oh.

2 (40m 49s):
My

5 (40m 49s):
God. Yeah. They asked for a scene. They asked for a monologue and a, and a and a song. And I did this thing in two days, went over there and they asked me questions like, did you study this book? And I said, no, I didn't. I did not. Why did you bring this thing? I said this, that that was the first thing that popped out on the internet. I did it Oh, my God.

1 (41m 14s):
Wait, literally you just printed something from the, like your first monologue you found?

5 (41m 19s):
The first monologue I found and my friend said, oh yeah, this could be okay,

2 (41m 23s):
Oh my God.

5 (41m 25s):
We picked Monologue. Yeah. Super picked And. I did this monologue out of a, how do you say, a play, a theater play called, I'll say it in Italian then I'll translate it in English. Yeah. Le Jennifer, the Five Roses of Jennifer Jennifer's Five Roses. And it talks about this man, she's, she's trans trans and she's like waiting for his lover to come back and all this story. Wow.

2 (41m 59s):
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. So here's the thing. There must have been, I mean obviously you were a super special actor if you, if you were able to get, get into school with that. The other thing I wanna say is, and we talk about this on the podcast Stefano, which is that sometimes when you quote, don't know any better, it is like the best way to get into something because you were probably like, let's just give it a shot. And

5 (42m 28s):
They were, yeah, look at this guy. I think that a lot is also luck for sure. It's obviously luck because I think you have to be in the right place on the right time and you have to be the right person in your, in the right person. No,

1 (42m 46s):
No. You know why, you know why? I'm sorry. A lot of times I'll say that, but, but I'm saying there's 3000 people they're watching 3000 people go through. I mean, look, if you wanted to say everybody was terrible and us 12 were the least terrible, okay, maybe. But the more likely thing is, you know, I'm, I'm just, as a director, I'm picturing myself having to watch that many auditions and I'm dying for somebody to, to be good. Right? But if I only have 12 spots, then I only have 12 spots. It's more than luck. That got you. I mean, maybe it was something luck lucky that you found out about it two days before And, you know, you were ready and you had a song.

5 (43m 29s):
You're making my confidence rides out this. That's

2 (43m 31s):
Good. That's good. But also, also the other thing is like Jay-Z says, I mean, I don't often quote Jay-Z but when I do, it's usually this quote, which is like, you take a advantage of the luck that you've been handed, right? So the luck was, oh, I found out that I could do this thing. But it's really you on that stage. At the end of the day, it's not. So the other thing I wanna say is watching you a little bit and watching and looking at your photos online and stuff, you have the greatest face that I have seen in a very long time. Long time, yes. Okay. I am saying that, that it is so ex it is the kind of face, and I've done some casting Like I, I did casting And I actually know Rachel Tenner, who I believe casts sever.

2 (44m 14s):
I'm not sure if she did, but she's, she's I think cast you in something Rachel tenner. Anyway, so she, and working at, at, at, at pr casting, I have like the faces that you see, the interesting ones. The ones where you're Like I wish that that, that the Sopranos was still going on because you would've been all over that show. And, I, And, I.

5 (44m 36s):
A lot of people, a lot of people say to me, oh, you, you should do the remake of the Sopranos. And I'll say, look, it's not my decision.

2 (44m 44s):
Right, right. So, but I'm just saying like, it is there, there are faces that really capture your attention and you, and you have one of those. So I guess what I'm saying is it's probably all these factors, right? Like it's not just one thing. So there you are. Okay. So they're like, oh, Stefano, you've been accepted and are you like, oh, now I have to go to school. Or are you like, it's a no brainer. I'm going, how did that work?

5 (45m 10s):
Okay, so it, okay, this is, this is a lot. I I did the audition and then after the audition, they choose 40 people to do an intensive week in the school, like 10 hours a day for five days. And everybody's over there is like, like the big brother. Yeah. It's like the big brother. You s you, you are over there and you wanna make friends, but you don't want to because they're all enemies. It's like a, it's like a, it's like a game. It's like the Hunger Games or something like that. You, you love somebody, but then you know that, that you have to kill them in some, I'm just kidding. But, but yeah, out of those 40 is 13.

5 (45m 52s):
13 people. 12. And then I, I go home because the, the school was in Milan, And, I, And I lived in Naples, And I went home. And after it was

2 (46m 3s):
Far

5 (46m 4s):
Milan, it was very all the way north and Napoli South. It's like going, it's Like, I. Think it's like going from New York to don, don't know. Florida. Florida. So that. Yeah. I, don Dunno. Totally. Maybe, maybe a little bit less. It's like 10 hours with the car, eight, 10 hours with car. Yeah. It's pretty far away. And yeah, I got, I get home and after two weeks I was, I I, I'm a pretty good sleeper. I'm, I'm, I sleep, I sleep a lot. I love sleeping. And that day was one of those days where I, I I wanted to sleep. So it was like 12:00 PM in the morning.

5 (46m 45s):
In, in the morning. And my friend that he did the audition with me, he went on the website and he read the list of the people that that got accepted and he read my name on it. At the time, Facebook was a, was a really big and nice thing. And he goes on my, on my page and he writes, what does that mean? That that means wake up Buddy dot Yeah. And And I. I honestly didn't, does that

2 (47m 18s):
Mean he didn't get in?

5 (47m 20s):
He didn't get in, but he got in in old school. Oh,

2 (47m 22s):
Okay.

5 (47m 23s):
He's like one of the best actors here in Italy. He's my best friend. He's one of the biggest actors in, in Naples. And I. I'm really happy that the, he didn't get in in that school because I think that the school that he did get in, it was better for him. That's, that's my opinion. Yeah.

2 (47m 41s):
Yeah. So it worked out for him. Okay. So, Wait are just to FYI Are you in Italy right now? Right now

5 (47m 47s):
I am in Italy right now.

2 (47m 50s):
What's I there? I, we could

1 (47m 51s):
See,

5 (47m 52s):
I wish we could see you. You wouldn't believe this. This is is 7:00 PM

2 (47m 55s):
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you're not, you're, you're, okay. So you're in Italy. Gotcha. Okay.

1 (47m 59s):
Hey Buzz. Wait, we, we forgot to say the thing that we were gonna say at the beginning, which is that we're so grateful you're doing this and we acknowledge that the strike is going on. And so what we talked about beforehand, if you're comfortable with, is you should feel free to talk about anything and we're gonna wait until the strike is over to air any of these interviews. Is that okay?

5 (48m 20s):
Yes. Yes. The only thing I wanna say is that since I am in Italy, and I'm not unfortunately in New York and for, for the strike, I do not really know what's happening.

2 (48m 32s):
Oh yeah. Bottom line is they just don't Yeah, no, no, no. We're not gonna talk about, but what we wanted to, so like I'm sag too and we're not supposed to actually talk about our projects and publicize the Sag Like I know You wouldn't really talk about Severance 'cause it's hush hush anyway, but we're just saying that we will talk about SAG projects and all the things, but out of respect for Sag, if we don't air it until the strike's over, that's why you know what's going on. Yeah. Okay. Just that way we're, we're covered and you don't look like a jerk and we don't look like jerks You know what I'm saying? So just so you know, if it doesn't air, the other thing I want you to know is when you are talking, sometimes we'll mute ourselves and it's, and so you'll see me going, but you won't hear, but I'm really with you.

2 (49m 15s):
So don't, don't, don't with the, don't let the silence scare you. 'cause usually I'm a big talker, but it's better for sound if we mute. So that's just what I wanted to say. 'cause normally I'm like, aha, tell me more. So just know that. Okay, so, okay.

5 (49m 28s):
It was actually a little bit scared because I was like talking and nobody was, you were like doing this. Well, no, we're like,

1 (49m 33s):
Yeah, no, we, yeah, we, we've been doing this for a couple of years now and we've just learned, it just makes it easier if we mute ourselves when we're not talking. Okay. So it was a, was it a four year school? I'll just to give you like a quick understanding of how we, how our school was And, I. Think how the majority of conservatories in the United States are. So you can tell us how your experience might have been similar or different. it was a four year school. We spent the whole first year, first two years really doing training. We didn't get to do actual plays until our second year. And then we didn't get to be in the audition pool for the plays that we would present to the public until our junior and senior year. And then in our senior year, it had all been about theater for those three plus years.

1 (50m 18s):
And then in our senior year, they started to talk to us about film and television, which had like an audition class. And when it was all done at the end of the year, we did a showcase in two cities, Chicago and Los Angeles, where we all did our stupid monologues in front of a bunch of casting people, And, you know, and then people got connected with their agents that way. So you can

5 (50m 41s):
Tell us like a showcase.

1 (50m 42s):
Yeah, showcase. Exactly. So you can tell us how your experience was similar or different from that.

5 (50m 48s):
Yeah. So since I've been living in New York for, I think now it's a year and a half, I, I can see a lot of differences. My school, like all the others, all the other conservatories in Italy, they are three ears, three ears, And, I. I do think like five or six days a week from 9:00 AM till closure. It could be at, at even at don don't know, like midnight. So we, we stay over there for eight hours to study a bunch of stuff. And then we stayed there to re rehearsal, continue studying, meet people because my, my school was like kind of Hogwarts.

5 (51m 35s):
You, you can, it was a big, big, big building all by himself with a big garden, with a big theater. Lots of, how you say it? How you say it? Lots of classes. Magic room magic. No, no. We don't do magic. Right?

2 (51m 56s):
Well, no, I but it sounds magical. Like

5 (51m 58s):
It sounds Like I wanna go there? Yeah. It, it's beautiful because we were, we were three ears acting, three ears. Then there are directors, writers, what's the other dancers and what's, what's the other one? Oh, we call it it's organization. Like the people who study to how to organize the, a theater company or administration. We call that administration. Yeah. And we were everybody over there and lots of us in in pajamas. Lots of us in, yeah, because we were like actually living there, you just go home to sleep. But when it was all over,

1 (52m 39s):
There's, it was all in one. it was all basic You know, like one campus for everything is what you're

5 (52m 42s):
Saying. Yes, yes. But we don't have dormitories, we don't have that in Italy. It's not a thing. We, we ha we sleep at home.

1 (52m 51s):
Oh. So if you, if you go, if you go to that school you have to live in, in Milan, but you have to pay for your own apartment or something. Yes,

5 (52m 60s):
Yes. Okay. But I, I'll tell you a thing that will flip your, your brain. Get ready. Our conservatories are free.

1 (53m 12s):
Shut the front door. I

2 (53m 13s):
Mean, here's the thing, here's the thing. I knew you were gonna say that And I think that that is glorious for you all. And that makes me sad for us. But I think not having to worry about the funding when you are an artist in training is Like, I mean. There are so many people, Stefano that we have on our podcast who went to either our school or a state school that had to have like six jobs while they were studying and then were in debt and then were like, you s you graduate and you have You know whatever, 60,000, a hundred thousand in debt. And then you're expected to go like, be a, a theater actor or become famous. Like those are your two options. That's

1 (53m 52s):
Possible. Or be an intern for like the next 10 years. Yeah,

5 (53m 55s):
Yeah. It's, you can't, you can't, it's impossible. And I, I I wanted to to do like a master in, in the United States, but then I saw the price And I said, I said, look, is this is not possible for me. It's, it's, it's not gonna happen. So yeah.

1 (54m 13s):
But how did you make your, I mean, so when you were in school, were you imagining I'm gonna move to the United States and do television.

5 (54m 21s):
Television? Okay. I, the, the decision for me to go to the United States was hard, was ve was very, very hard. I don't know if you, if you know this, I, I'm, I'm a citizen. I'm a citizen. I was born in New Jersey. Oh,

2 (54m 38s):
I did not know that.

1 (54m 39s):
Oh, okay. So you were one. Yes. That's kind of like a common thing. I've, I've known so many Italians who, they were born in Chicago, they spent their whole growing up years in Italy, then they moved back to the United States. Yeah.

5 (54m 50s):
Yeah. I think my mom just, we, my mom was working over there with my grandfather. He was like a pizza man. I was born and, and my mom always said that I wanted to go back in Italy. So when I was three or four, I don't remember. my mom said, okay, let's go, let's go. And. I did all my elementary school, middle school and high school. And then two months of two months of college, I didn't like it. And then I went to Milan. Pandemic happened after the pandemic. I decided to come here in the United States.

5 (55m 31s):
Why? it was, it was a thing that, it was in my head. I said, I was 25. And I said, look, Stefano, you are a citizen. Whenever you imagine yourself in into the future doing acting, you imagine yourself in a, in a, on a big American screen. Let's, it's, it's, it was that. It And, I enjoyed doing theater. And I enjoyed doing my own Netflix show in Italy for Kids. That was awesome. That was so fun. But inside my heart, inside my brain, inside my vision on of the future, it was not in Italy, And, I didn't realize this fully until I was like 20 until after, like, after two years and a half, maybe three years after graduating in school.

2 (56m 21s):
So what is it about, this is good because you're our first person that we are talking to this, what is it about American film and television that really holds your interest? And obviously you're good at it 'cause you keep getting cast, but I mean, like, what is it about our, about the film and television here that really drew you to wanna come back and pursue this? I mean, obviously it was the right choice, but like, what was, what is it about American television and film?

5 (56m 47s):
Okay. It's, it's, I think the, the, the answer is not based on the fact that what is American television or a film, but what is, for me, Italian television and film, there is a very big, big, big difference. The demand in Italy, it's so much high than the, how you say it, than there are the supply. Too many supply The supply. Yes. And in America it's different. I do think this, it's different. And there is a space for me, I really think, and the mo the most important thing is that in America, there's a space for me in Italy, there's no mo there's no space for my niche.

5 (57m 33s):
During school, I've been thinking about how to sell myself as an actor, as a, as a professionalist, as a professional actor. And what I thought is, should I be an Italian? Should I work on myself as an Italian? No, I should work on myself as an Italian that can speak American and has, has that, has that how you say, I'm sorry, my English is not that

2 (58m 2s):
Good. No, it's great. It's great. Wait, so, so what I'm asking, I wanna interrupt just to ask you, when you were at school, what is your, what were, were they like, oh, this is your niche? Did they tell you like, oh, we don't really see you being, being at what is the deal? What is most sort of, who were you seen as and thing that you need to be, if you were gonna be like an Italian film or TV star? I know nothing about it.

5 (58m 28s):
I was seen as, as it's difficult to say in English, there are actors that do protagonist, like lead roles, and there are actor that do like characters.

1 (58m 43s):
Yeah, you're kind of, what, what I was starting to imagine as you were starting to describe that, is what we learn about sort of English theater from like the 16 and 17 hundreds, where they call it stock characters. you know? So if you, if you're the fool, you always get the full roles.

5 (59m 3s):
Yeah. I was not doing, I was not doing alet. I was, I was the fool. Like always. So, like, always.

2 (59m 8s):
So you were seen, this is is very interesting to me. So you were seen as a character actor, not a lick leading man sort of romantic lead.

5 (59m 17s):
Yeah, no, because I'm not, actually I am. It's, it's,

2 (59m 22s):
See, here's the thing, like here's the thing. I think in America, what I am seeing in terms of casting and everything is that there is a place for people who aren't, quote, traditionally traditionally leading man material, but have the most sort of interesting, gorgeous faces. And your age is young, so you are not gonna be playing character actors Allah, 70 years old on our screen. Yeah. So you're, you're like a very handsome character actor is what you are. Thank you. And I. No, no, that's that and that. Yeah. And that is something that I think we are just starting to, and it, and unfortunately, you know, we, we see it more for men than women now, but we're starting to embrace the fact that like, leading people don't have to be traditionally a certain way.

2 (1h 0m 11s):
And also you have this sort of thing of like stranger from afar and your English is really good So, that I could see why you'd be cast a million different ways, a million different times. But you knew that somehow you knew America was the place for you in terms of your acting.

5 (1h 0m 26s):
Yeah, I truly believe in, in faith in not, I don't wanna call it destiny, but I wanna call that life is, it's given you signs and life give, give me a lot, gave me a lot of science. And I said, why should I not follow these signs? And I knew it was going to be hard. it was going to be very hard. I knew it was going to be a step back in my, into my career for the, for the beginning. And now it's, it's a step forward, obviously, but I, yeah, but, but I had to wait. And I had to work a lot. But And I read. I read a, I read a phrase today or somebody told me, don don't know.

5 (1h 1m 7s):
And it said, if you don't sacrifice yourself for your dream, the dream becomes the sacrifice.

2 (1h 1m 18s):
That is, that is really,

1 (1h 1m 19s):
Oh yeah. Wow. That's great. I like that. That's really good. Well, but I'm wondering, was it, was it a risk for you to leave Italy and come here? Were you worried at all about being able to support yourself? I mean, we'll, we'll get to it. You, you've, you had small parts and then, then you got Severance. So I think things are going in the right direction for you, but there was a time where you didn't know if that was gonna be the case. And was it really risky to leave Italy?

5 (1h 1m 49s):
I was afraid. I was a afraid a lot. I knew that I had, I, I had to get a a, an apartment. And I had to get a job that it was not acting o obviously. So And I knew that I, I I wasn't going to like it. And, I didn't, I didn't like it every day was I, I I say it because I'm, I'm a I'm, I'm an honest person. I, I, I don't like it. I don't like working in a field that is not mine. It's not, it's not why I studied. And it's, it's not what I studied, it's not what I sacrificed myself for my entire life. So if I have to be a waiter, And I did it for a year and a half.

5 (1h 2m 29s):
And fortunately now, I, I just quit. And I'm pursuing my dreams in a, in a, in a, in a more healthy and balanced way. And I, I'm happy now. But yes, I was scared. And maybe it was the most, probably, no, it is, it was the most, how do you say it? Scary. The scariest thing I've ever done in that life.

2 (1h 2m 55s):
Wow. And you picked New York because you had been born on the East Coast. How did you pick New York? Why didn't you go to like LA and be like, I'm going to Los Angeles

5 (1h 3m 2s):
Because my mom had a restaurant in Pennsylvania, so it was closer. But that's this super simple, super simple. She was closer to me,

1 (1h 3m 13s):
But still, so here's where maybe some luck ca came in because not everybody, you know, jumps so, so quickly to such a, an, an amazing show. And I Like I said, because we're gonna wait to air this until the strike is over. Can you, we, we've had, you're our third Severance person that we've had on, we had Trammel and Sydney. Yeah. Okay. So

5 (1h 3m 37s):
Wonderful people,

1 (1h 3m 38s):
Wonderful people with really, you know, interesting stories about the experience. I I think you might have not had their same experience of having to wait through the pandemic to start. Yeah. But I, I imagine there's a story there with your

5 (1h 3m 53s):
Audition. Can I I can I talk about this of the audition? Just

1 (1h 3m 57s):
The audition without talking about the character or the plot? I think you can,

5 (1h 4m 1s):
All right. You,

2 (1h 4m 1s):
Yeah. We're, I'm more interested in hearing about your perspective as an actor on the, in New York, and you get this audition and you and what went on for you, and then the process of finding out that you booked it. And you don't need to tell us anything about the plot. Okay. Because we'll, watch, believe me, we're about

5 (1h 4m 20s):
To watch. Yeah. And I don't wanna tell anything otherwise, I think I'm gonna, I have to pay a fine. So, okay. it was five months after I moved to New York and And I got, like, it was my third audition in New York. I don't know why, because I was, I was, I was with this manager. I, I am actually still with this manager. His name is Bobby. Hi Bobby. And. I didn't get like a lot of auditions because I think there, I I, I was talking about the niche that I had.

5 (1h 5m 1s):
So I'm an an Italian American, mostly Italian that can speak American, English American. And it has this little accent. So there was, there, there were not a lot of auditions for me, but suddenly this thing came, the, this thing came, this came, this thing came. And. I said, oh wow, yeah, let's do it. And I didn't know it was for Severance. There was no, there was nothing over there. And just, it was just, it was just, just the script. I did the, the, the audition and then I had to wait for like a month, I think a month.

5 (1h 5m 42s):
So my brain was, okay, just, just, just don't think about it. It's, it's done. Bye-Bye. Let's do another one. And after a a month we got an email and said, oh, that's, it was really nice. Let's do a callback And I say, okay, let's do this callback. And I did the callback. And that went well too. After two weeks.

2 (1h 6m 4s):
Did you go to the warehouse on the pier, wherever they have it like that?

5 (1h 6m 8s):
Not yet. That area? Not yet. Not yet. Oh, okay. Call back self tape. Yeah, same. Yeah. So I, at this point, I had to do like two self tapes at this point. After two weeks, I got another callback. And that time, that was the time where the callback was in Zoom. So they were all, all over there. And I still, like the day before, I figured out by myself that it was for Severance because I, I was like doing one plus one and, and, and it was for that And I did this callback on Zoom, and Ben was there.

5 (1h 6m 50s):
Yeah, I, I freaked out. I free, I pressed the button, my face showed up, and there was all these boxes, all the names And I said, oh wow, this name, there's a name over there, don don't know these people. And then I read Ben Stiller and, and, and And I. I, I, I, I sweat, I, I was sweating. And they were like very accommodating. They were very nice, very nice. And also Ben is really nice, a really nice person. So all that fear that I had at the beginning, it was okay.

1 (1h 7m 23s):
Wait, is, so, is sweating kind of your norm with auditions? For me, I, I mean, just to think about having an audition, I wanna like fall apart and need a beta blocker. So did you, or you're saying No, that was, that was the first time you really felt very nervous auditioning. It's the

5 (1h 7m 40s):
First time I felt very nervous. I, I, I'm meeting Ben Stiller. It's, it's, it's something very, very nice, very, I usually don't sweat. When I do auditions, I'm usually very confident because I know what I'm bringing. And as soon as I have clear what is my opinion and my proposal, artistic proposal, I'm, I'm, I'm okay. I'm, it's fine. It's, I'm doing something and this is my job. Why should I sweat? If, if I am, if I'm Waitering, why should I sweat? Amazing. It's, it's a job, but amazing. But yeah, Ben Stiller was there. So I, I got really nervous at the beginning, but then he, he or somebody else calmed me down.

5 (1h 8m 25s):
And, and then after that, it was another callback. Oh,

2 (1h 8m 30s):
How old were you when this, I mean, you're still around that age. How old? When was this?

5 (1h 8m 35s):
I was, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I was 26.

2 (1h 8m 42s):
Oh my gosh. I mean, okay, so you're 26, you've got two, you had one callback on Zoom with Ben Stiller, and I'm assuming all the producers and all the peoples. Yeah. And you must have, okay. And, and how did, okay, after that first Zoom callback, how did you feel? Did you, you pressed disconnect and what does Stefano tell himself?

5 (1h 9m 2s):
I got up the chair. And. I go like, Ew, ew. Because I liked it. I liked it. I, I had, I, I liked it. I was proud of myself because Aw,

2 (1h 9m 14s):
That is so good to hear. Yeah. I love stories where people are like, you know what, I'm good. I, and instead of like, that was awful. I'm never going to hear whatever we do to ourselves. You didn't do that. Thank God.

5 (1h 9m 25s):
Yeah, thank God. You have to be, you have to be s you have to be fine with, with yourself. Otherwise, what are we bringing on the table? If you don't believe in yourself, why somebody else should believe in what you are saying, just bring something of yours on the table. And if it does not go, that does not go, go. Well, who cares? You are not the right person and it's okay. It's okay.

2 (1h 9m 57s):
So, no, I need you to be my life coach.

5 (1h 9m 59s):
Can you be my life coach? Yeah, sure. No worries.

1 (1h 10m 3s):
So when you, when you had to go to the next callback, are we still on Zoom or are we meeting in person?

5 (1h 10m 10s):
We meeting then in person, yes. Baby guy. In person. Yeah. But this is where the thing got tricky. I am, I, I am a pretty anxious person, but when we're talking about auditions, I'm not, I'm there. I'm doing my job. I'm, I'm, I'm 10 on 10, 100 on 100. I am there, but I'm a pretty anxious person. So the, the, the last audition was at 11:00 AM And, I got there at 7:00 AM Oh my God. That is amazing. I was so anxious.

5 (1h 10m 51s):
I said, I I didn't want to, you didn't wanna cut

2 (1h 10m 53s):
It. You were Like I am not cutting it close. Because, because if you listened to Trammel's interview, he cut it close and ended up running full speed towards the Yes. Yes. So. Anyway. Okay, so you're there at 7:00 AM you're there at 7:00 AM

5 (1h 11m 8s):
I'm completely, I was the first person over there. I had to wait the guy to open the gate. I, and then he said, oh, you're for, you're here for an audition. And I said, yeah, okay, you have to wait. My guy, my guy, you have to wait. And I said, okay. So they brought me upstairs on don. Don't know if I can say where I, I did the audition because they also don't say

2 (1h 11m 35s):
It. Don't say it. Yeah, just say you, they took you

5 (1h 11m 37s):
Upstairs, right? I was there. I was there and I drank like three coffees because I, I didn't know how, what to do. I really didn't know what to do. I didn't wanna go on my lines because what do I think? You don't do it the same day, it's done. Whatever's done is done. You don't, you don't go all on the lines again. And even it was the Ford callback. So I I was pretty

2 (1h 12m 1s):
Sure you're, yeah, you're not a big overthinker. Like you have pretty good boundaries with your, well, you have boundaries with yourself that you're able to say, no, if I know the lines by now, I know the lines, I'm not gonna do it. It's like you learned how to be a pretty good adult. Like

5 (1h 12m 20s):
Yeah, I'm, I, I do not overthink because I do think that after the, the third clip you do, it's done. It's not gonna be as good as the first one or maybe the second one. you know, that happens to me.

1 (1h 12m 37s):
You, you are making me realize something, which is that we had the same, we had the same reaction to Tramel and to Sydney about being very confident. And so, this is a good word to the wise. 'cause people listen to this who are like in theater school, you know, young people or thinking in high school and thinking about gonna theater school or just contemplating becoming an actor, You know. I'm not saying it's easy to get to a place of confidence and to feel calm, but I am saying every person that we've talked to that's been cast on that show has the same thing in common. So, you know, if nothing else, actors out there, ask yourself what, when, because you said audition is something that you never feel nervous about.

1 (1h 13m 20s):
And what that says to me is you just know you're locked in. You've got it. You know, this is something to do. That's how I feel about directing. I feel I could go up against any director at any time without any preparation. Maybe even And, I. Don't think I would feel that nervous. But I would have to do a lot of work to feel that way at an acting audition. And so, however you got there is, you know, is your journey. And every, it's not the same for everybody else, but that would be my, my word to the wise is You know, figure out a way to feel confident. Okay, so you're there four, five hours early, you're four hours early, you're feeling confident.

1 (1h 14m 0s):
It's the same scene that you've done for the call, for the previous callbacks. Okay. But now the difference is you're in person. And so you're presumably you're working with other actors or at least an other actor in person, or are we still reading with the casting person?

5 (1h 14m 15s):
Acting with the casting in person? Yes. Still acting with her. But they were other two guys for my role. And they were completely different, like super diff physically different from me. And this guy I can never stop thinking about this because I was there and said, hi, what's your name? I was Like. I was, I was fine. Like I wanted to make friends. Hi, what's your name? And he says, now I'm gonna say another name. Okay. I'll say Marco. And he goes like, yeah, I'm Marco Italiano. I'll say Italiano. And he goes like an Italian, see?

5 (1h 14m 56s):
Yes, but like, so dry. So like, he doesn't, he doesn't want to talk with me. And I say, oh, where you come from, but, and he says, Beto, And, I go like, oh cool, my, my town is, it's, it's near Beneto. That's super nice. And he goes like, yep, good for you. Alright. Oh wow. And, I stopped talking to the guy.

2 (1h 15m 21s):
Yeah, I mean I think that that's the other thing is that you're talking about is that everybody's process of e either getting centered or finding confidence looks different. And sometimes it's interesting Like I too, like it depends on the role and stuff, but Like I too, am am am my, my go-to is to like talk, because I'm just, that's who I am. But I did notice that like, oh shit, some people are not, that is not their thing. Yeah. And I. It took me a long time to realize like, oh, everyone has their process and maybe that helped him or maybe it didn't. But I, it's a very bizarre experience in a waiting room where everyone is up for the same role.

2 (1h 16m 3s):
Yeah. And you're also different. And it's so weird. Okay, So Wait, when you walked in there, who was in the, like all the Ben, I'm assuming Ben was in the room. Yeah. 'cause that makes sense since that's and a bunch of other people. And did they just have you do the scenes or did they, what did they have you do?

5 (1h 16m 20s):
I walk into the room, And, I say hi to everybody with my, with my like Italian accent, because at that time I, I, I didn't have this American accent. So at that time when, whenever I was normally talking with people, I had Italian accent. But when I had to to act, obviously I put in the, the technique, you know, and, and do the American one. But I, I go inside and, and, and Bess was there, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was there. Casting's producer, writer, I think Dan. Yeah, I think Dan, yeah, Dan was there. I don't remember Oh, my God, it was a long time ago.

5 (1h 17m 2s):
Dan was there and Ben was the last guy who, who said hi. And he gave the, he, he, he, he, he gave the hand, he wants to shake hand. So I go, so I, I, I dry my hand on the pants, And I give my hand to Ben. And after that I said, okay, I'm not gonna wash this hand for at least two months. I'm gonna touch everything I can man. He, he was very accommodating. He is a really nice guy. He is very nice. I can't believe that people in the industry as directing or writers or producers should have or could have an attitude where you don't put the actor on, how you say, make him feel comfortable.

5 (1h 17m 58s):
Yeah. Make him feel, look comfortable.

2 (1h 17m 59s):
Make, yeah. Well, I also find that the, the more professional or like, the more, most, for the most part I've found anyway, I mean, I'm not, but the, the, the more confident, the more professional the job, the nicer they are because there's no, they, they want the best. Especially when you get to a third callback. They're not threatened. They're not threatened, and they want good work out of you. And they understand that getting good work from an actor involves being a regular human being, accommodating and all and pleasant versus making them feel afraid. Like if you need to make an actor feel afraid, for whatever reason, at the third callback, you're doing something very wrong.

2 (1h 18m 45s):
So I'm glad. Okay. So did you feel good in that room? How did you, how

5 (1h 18m 49s):
Did you I felt, I felt, I felt confident. I felt confident. I, I can't stop saying this. You should, you should feel confident. You go over there and you do your thing and you, but I have to say, whenever you know, there's a director over there, and whenever you do your, your proposal, he's, he's obviously gonna ask you to do something different. Something that is not your proposal. So he has to see if you are capable of doing something different that is out of your imaginary or your actor imaginary. So the most important thing that I always tell myself is actually here, listen.

5 (1h 19m 32s):
Listen, what, what he's talking about not doing. Oh yeah, sure. I'll do this, I'll do this without even listen, without even let him finish. What, what he's, what he's asking to you. And just take your time. Don't, don't just, okay, I'm ready, I'll do it. I, I think I said, alright, can I have a, can I have like 20 seconds? And, I waited. And, I said, okay, just put your feet, put your feet on the ground and repeat your, on yourself, what he asked to you. We are over there. We are over there to work together. So I'm, I'm, I'm trying to, to put on the table the best work I can and to put on the table the best work I can.

5 (1h 20m 17s):
You don't have to be fast, you don't have to be,

2 (1h 20m 23s):
Right. That's the thing that I think about the art of not abandoning yourself. Meaning when they say, okay, here's your note, here's your feedback that you can stick with yourself and say, I love the idea and I'm gonna try it. It of saying, what did I just hear? Like to myself, can I have like 10 seconds, 20 seconds? Of course you can have 20 seconds. They don't, they want you to do what you need to do. And say to myself, okay, what did I just hear the director or the casting person actually say to me? Got it. I think this is what they said. And let me go. You took the time for yourself. Because let me tell you something. Every time I have not done that in a callback or something, it's like the thing goes not great because I'm, I'm so nervous and I'm not centered.

2 (1h 21m 8s):
So good for you. And I. Think that's also another lesson for us, is that like, take your time to really take in what the director has said.

1 (1h 21m 19s):
Yeah. And And, you know, something else that I'm thinking about is I'm taking my very first onscreen acting class. So now I know everything I learned yesterday that You know that in a really important part of auditioning for television is to be really familiar with the style of the show itself. I mean, certainly watching episodes to get backstory on a character or on a, you know, situation or a dynamic. But also the style meaning just, is this a style where everybody's overlapping talking over each other? Is this a style that everybody has like big bright energy and Severance, which is You know, one of my very favorite television shows has a style where actually everybody, how it, how it comes across in the audience is that everybody is really listening to each other in a way that isn't even maybe so much like what real life is like.

1 (1h 22m 12s):
It's a style unto itself that people are very intentional with what the characters are very intentional with what they say. And the, both the characters and the actors do listen. They wait for somebody to finish their sentence before they bring in their thoughts. So the fact that you, even though it sounds like that's just a part of your process anyway, and you would do this anyway in an audition, the fact that you brought that style to this callback is, was probably really important.

5 (1h 22m 41s):
Probably. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. As you said, the characters in Severance, they wait, they use time as an action. They use words precisely the words that the writer said, and the, the physicality in in those actors and those characters is precise, so different. And that's, that's what they, what, that's what makes the, makes the, the, the, the show so beautiful.

2 (1h 23m 10s):
Well, it's so beautiful. And also it is so specific. And, you know, the world building of that show is everyone is on board. And, I, think in your callback. What I am imagining, I have no idea really, but what I'm imagining is they were looking to see, will this actor fit into this world in the way that they take direction, in the way that they listen, in the way that they can, how are they, are they this kind of an actor? And you, I think were able to show them that you could help them with that world building and not be a distraction, or they wouldn't have to spend like extra time being like, Hey buddy, this is actually how we do this show.

2 (1h 23m 51s):
You got it. And so you matched energy, which I think is so important and so hard to do when you're scared or when you are like, you wanna impress, like if your job is to, if you feel like you just wanna make them like you, it's gonna be, it's gonna go awful. And it's so easy to say that and really hard to do so. Oh, so yeah. Woo woo.

5 (1h 24m 13s):
This, this, this field is full of judgment. This work, this job acting especially, or just doing art in, in every sense is full of judgment. I, I And I at school, it's the thing that breaks you, it will break you at some point and will say, Hey, ha, hello, I'm judge, I'm here to tear you apart. But the thing that that make made me grow is take that judge guy take it with you and use that.

5 (1h 24m 57s):
you know that somebody is gonna judge you. So you better know that. Don't try to impress, try to figure out the way to make yourself fly and make the best part of you be the best part of that room.

1 (1h 25m 17s):
Did you, do you think that is, well I wanted to ask you, what specifically from school do you think you brought over, you know, with you to, to the acting work you've done, and maybe even especially with Severance and, but also, I guess another way of phrasing it is how much of that did you know innately inside of yourself before going to school? And how much did you, how, how, how much of your success now? Can you really link? Like for example, I'll give you an example.

5 (1h 25m 49s):
Yes, but I got, I got, but tell me the example. Tell me. Okay.

1 (1h 25m 54s):
Well, the example is I did theater my whole life. I started in, you know, elementary school, And, I did it all the way through high school. But when I went to just the audition actually for theater school, it exposed me to a whole new way of approaching acting that I had never been exposed to before. It turns out it's like the regular way you should be exposed to acting. I just didn't know that. 'cause I did it in schools where it was like the English teacher who was teaching drama. but, you know, it was very physical and it was very like inner life based. I learned all of that in school. I wouldn't have known any of that. I wouldn't have come to any of that if I hadn't gone to school. So what did your training really prepare you for in the real acting world?

5 (1h 26m 39s):
So, I'll tell you a good thing. Before school I was, I, I didn't have an i an absolute idea of what was acting. I just liked it. I just went to the stage, do my thing, get my applause, and then go back and do not know. I did not know anything of how this field could possibly could have possibly worked. I got into school and then the first year I was just doing stuff as I was doing it before doing this, went to school, you know, do my stuff.

5 (1h 27m 19s):
After six months of school, the main teacher used, let say the supervisor, you know, the, the main one calls me upstairs in the, in the, in the, how you say the secretary room or whatever. And they talk about discipline and they talked about how should I behave and how I should take this school. And they said, if you continue like this, we are afraid we have to let you go. Yeah. So I I, I went down the stairs crying the hell out of myself.

5 (1h 28m 3s):
I was crying. I said, wow, am I really that bad? Am I really that irresponsible or am I really that non-professional? I cried, I cried a lot for a week, and then thing changed. So error fault helps you grow. If you make an error, that is the best thing you can do in life as an actor, at least as as my opinion, do something wrong. Do do something wrong big.

5 (1h 28m 43s):
Do it at 20 years old though, and learn from that. And you always learn from, from from your life. You always do something wrong and you always will learn about that And, I learned in that school, how to behave in a professional world and how to, how to use judgment, how to gain from judgment, how to gain from other actors and not be in competition from other actors. How to respect the other actor, how to listen. And these are the things that, not technique. Technique is a thing that comes and go one day you'll feel bad.

5 (1h 29m 26s):
One day you feel great in voice and physique. Like today, I don't feel great in physique. I don't feel great with, with my voice. It's okay, comes and go. But professionalism, listening, respect, all these things that school gave to me, he gave that school, gave, gave me to me a lot. And that is the thing that I brought on set, because that was my biggest set ever. So if it wasn't for that, okay,

2 (1h 29m 54s):
So what I'm realizing so glad you said that because Gina, what I'm realizing is despite all the, the bizarros of our conservatory, what I did learn was how to be a professional. It it, I may have not, I, I knew I may have not always done it great, but I did understand upon leaving our conservatory, that that that there was something ma maturity was expected and that the, the, the art itself was something to be taken very seriously. I didn't always follow through on that, but I did feel like, oh, I may not know who I am, but I know that this thing we call acting is actually something to revere and something that is, I didn't know how to get there really, but I knew that it was a serious thing and that it wasn't a waste of time and it was something to be taken seriously.

2 (1h 30m 50s):
Now, I didn't know how to actually pursue it in, in professionally, but I knew, like when I showed up at auditions, I knew that Like, I was, I I could act like a grownup for the most part. I I I, so you're making me appreciate my schooling more Stefano, because I do feel Like I spent a lot of time thinking I didn't, I I had a horrible time. And I did in a lot of ways, but I also did do think that we learned this was a serious business in some ways, and it wasn't a joke, you know? And I'm, and I'm proud of that. So Yeah.

1 (1h 31m 24s):
But are, are you saying Stefano that you were, because of your age or something, you were just, you were treating it like a fun thing? Yes. Oh, okay. Yes. So you were having fun

5 (1h 31m 36s):
Though. Well, you know, yeah, I was having fun, but I was also, as I said, I'm a big sleeper, so I was also coming to school late, you know, eh, eh, fun is okay because you always has to ha have to have fun acting because that is the job, the job of doing it in a fun way. Right. But yeah, I was jumping classes, I was coming in late. And I was not respecting the other time, you know, it sounds it was not this big of a deal. I was coming like late of like 10 minutes.

2 (1h 32m 13s):
But it, like, you got mature. You were being immature because you were immature and this, it sounds like the school helped you to be more mature and to, and to

5 (1h 32m 21s):
Up

2 (1h 32m 22s):
Absolutely. Show up for your, in your own life, which I think I learned too at DePaul. I was like, wait a second, I gotta show up and I'm expected to be somewhere. And whether or not I do it, I knew, I knew, I knew it was the right thing to do to be a professional. I just, And I may have not done it well, but I am, I'm, anyway, I have a more respect as you're talking about like, growing up and being mature and, and taking that judge and saying, okay, judge, I'm gonna like, what you're, what I hear you saying is like, you take the stuff and use it to your benefit and not use it to like beat yourself up or say, I'm awful. And you were able to Yeah. Step up into the role at that last callback.

2 (1h 33m 4s):
Okay, so you do your callback, you're like, you leave the actual room. What do you say to yourself in that, in that one, when you were in person,

5 (1h 33m 12s):
Oh, my God, this, this, this, this is gonna sound, yeah, I, I see you laughing, but I said, okay, I'll see you, I'll see you next month. That, that was in my head. Not because, not because they were like happy. Like not because they, they said, oh, you are amazing, or, oh, this was the best thing I ever saw in my entire, it's not, it's come on, let's say, let's say the truth. This is not, I'm not, I'm not Jesus, or, or I don don't know whatever. Robert DeNiro. I'm not that guy. I'm, I'm just a 26 years years old guy that is happy with what he did.

5 (1h 33m 59s):
So yeah, that's gonna sound a little bit how you say it. Corny, not corny.

2 (1h 34m 3s):
No. Because what it sounds like is, I mean, if you had said that to them, because I've had people that say that say, see you on set. And I'm like, Oh, my God

5 (1h 34m 12s):
Oh my God. Okay, bye-bye.

2 (1h 34m 14s):
But you said it to yourself and you knew that you were grounded in the knowledge that you had done your best and that this seems like a good fit for you, and you could feel that you're not. So, okay, so you leave the room, you say, thank you very much for your time. And you say, I, I did. And then what do you have to wait? How long?

5 (1h 34m 33s):
I had to wait a week. I had to wait a week. it was a Friday. I could never forget. I was at the time living with this guy, his name is Boken. Hi Boken. And he always says, oh, I was there, I was there when your manager called. So I was like, I was watching tv. I, I don't know what I was doing. I think I was watching like a series on, on Netflix, I don know. And my manager calls And. I knew that that call would've been like, oh, it will be the next time. Or Hey, congratulations. He calls And I go like, Hey, he waits And, I go.

5 (1h 35m 16s):
You got it? And he says, you got it. Yeah. And And, I, And, I jumped And. I goes like, yay,

2 (1h 35m 24s):
Are you kidding

5 (1h 35m 25s):
Me? And I said a lot of bad words, even words that I didn't know in English. And. I go like, thank you. You thank you. How thank you. That was one of my favorite moments.

1 (1h 35m 39s):
Sure, of course it was. What a great moment.

5 (1h 35m 43s):
It's the big audition. The first big out is, it's not the first big, but it iss the biggest.

1 (1h 35m 50s):
Sure, yeah.

5 (1h 35m 51s):
It's the biggest, obviously it's the biggest one. And. I go like, okay, okay, let me call my mom. Aww. So I go, I go down, I go, Hey, hey, hey, vCAN, shut up. I said, I have to call my mom. I obviously, I, I hug them and stuff, but I call my mom And, I go like, Hey, what doing all good? And she goes like, yeah, I'm working. I'm here. Oh, alright, cool. you know what? I got the role. Like, super simple. And she goes like, what? No, she just starts crying. Don't say things that to me, like this simple way. I, because I said like super fast, like it was nothing.

5 (1h 36m 32s):
And so I got her off guard. Off guard, right? Yeah. Yeah. And she started crying and she's, she suffers of a ta tachycardia, how you say it?

2 (1h 36m 42s):
Tachycardia.

5 (1h 36m 42s):
Yeah, tachycardia. Yeah, tachycardia. And she goes like, oh, wait, wait, wait. Oh my God. I'm feeling I'm not feeling good. She was serious. Hey mom. Like a mom. Chill Mom. Just calm down. Yeah. Yeah.

2 (1h 36m 54s):
Oh my gosh. And So, that was how, that's beautiful. How that's, how long ago was that?

5 (1h 36m 58s):
That was I think October, 2022.

1 (1h 37m 3s):
Amazing. Okay. So, wow. A lot has changed for you in one year. Not even

2 (1h 37m 8s):
A year. We'll have to do a part two. I wanna do a part two. 'cause I'm, I'm mindful of time, but I, but, but I am so listen to me, this has been, we haven't done, we haven't recorded in a while. And I. It makes me really grateful that, that we did, because your story is so inspiring, but in a real way. And you have a great listen. Listen, you, you have a great, like, head on your shoulders, And I also think that you, you're gonna, you're gonna work your ass off. You're, you're gonna work your a I mean, really, you're gonna, if you want to, because you just, you're a good, you, you can tell you're a kind person and you also take this seriously, but not too seriously.

2 (1h 37m 50s):
You're, yeah.

5 (1h 37m 52s):
Right. It's a game. Well, not every day though.

1 (1h 37m 55s):
We really look forward to seeing Severance and everything else that you've got coming up. Thank you so much for your time. And I will try to let you or your manager know, you know, well, actually, you can just imagine when the strike is over, it'll be coming out soon after that.

5 (1h 38m 11s):
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Because, because

2 (1h 38m 13s):
That way also, it'll be better for you for press. And so people then can, you can, you can use it as a, as a way of like, yeah, the strike's over. Like, like, get me out and, and, and it'll be great. So it'll be great publicity. Very nice. Thank you for your time. And

5 (1h 38m 27s):
I, thank And I. This was, I'm so excited for you. I, I was, I was not scared, but I was, okay. This is my first podcast, so let's, yay. Let's so you, you got me and you first time. That's it. Woohoo. I'm happy about that. That was very nice.

1 (1h 38m 43s):
Together forever. All thank you, Stefano.

5 (1h 38m 45s):
Thank you. Take care. Bye.

3 (1h 38m 55s):
If you liked what you heard today, please give us a positive five star review and subscribe and tell your friends I survived. Theater school is an undeniable ink production. Jen, Bosworth, Ramirez and Gina PCI are the co-hosts. This episode was produced, edited, and sound mixed by Gina Pucci. For more information about this podcast or other goings on of undeniable ink, please visit our [e-mail]. You could also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you.