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Robbie Simpson Interview · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

0:02
Speaker 1: This is a Bramble Jam podcast.
0:22
Speaker 2: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm Megan,
0:25
Speaker 2: and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy. I'm a
0:28
Speaker 2: former Hallmark hater. You guys. Today we are joined by
0:33
Speaker 2: one of our favorite new best friends spoiler alert, you're
0:37
Speaker 2: our friend now, Robbie Simpson from Finding Mister Christmas Season two. Robbie,
0:42
Speaker 2: thank you so much for being here.
0:44
Speaker 1: I'm so honored to be here. I'm such a fan
0:46
Speaker 1: of y'all and your podcast, and so I'm just happy
0:48
Speaker 1: to be chatting all things Hallmark in front of Mister
0:50
Speaker 1: Christmas today.
0:51
Speaker 2: I have to stop, where are you? Where'd you grow up?
0:54
Speaker 2: Because you dropped the y'all. I'm dying to know y'all.
0:57
Speaker 1: I know you guys. I feel I've been caught. I haven't.
1:01
Speaker 1: So I'm actually in Massachusetts right now, which is where
1:03
Speaker 1: I crew up. I did not grow up in the South,
1:05
Speaker 1: and now I live in New York City. But I
1:08
Speaker 1: was making like some cameos the other day and like,
1:10
Speaker 1: you know, stuff on Instagram, and Kyle, my partner, was like,
1:13
Speaker 1: why do you keep saying, y'all, you're not from the South,
1:16
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I don't know, I'm not trying to
1:18
Speaker 1: put it on, but it's just been coming out. So
1:21
Speaker 1: he just like grilled me on it. And now now
1:23
Speaker 1: I just got so yeah. No, grew up in Massachusetts,
1:26
Speaker 1: very proud, love it so beautiful Western mass kind of
1:29
Speaker 1: like the burk Cheers, And now I'm a proud New Yorker.
1:32
Speaker 2: You and Derinda? Is that the right person?
1:36
Speaker 1: Denda?
1:37
Speaker 2: Do you know who we're talking about from Real Housewives
1:40
Speaker 2: Bluestone manor isn't that in the Berkshires?
1:43
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that's how people know the Berkshiers. But I
1:45
Speaker 1: mean for me, it's Derenda from The Traders.
1:48
Speaker 2: Do you know I would you love to be on
1:51
Speaker 2: that show?
1:52
Speaker 1: Consider this my campaign Traders. If the Traders is listening,
1:56
Speaker 1: start I am. I'm ready. I'm ready to go. I'm
2:00
Speaker 1: ready to be a Trader.
2:01
Speaker 2: And they need Jonathan to The two of you on
2:03
Speaker 2: the show would be incredible. And Durinda needs her redemption
2:08
Speaker 2: story eliminated entirely too soon.
2:10
Speaker 1: I know, but she's and she's getting it right.
2:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh the upcoming season. Yeah. As a full side note,
2:17
Speaker 2: I heard Bob the Drag Queen on an interview that
2:19
Speaker 2: the day, and he was like those housewives. The problem
2:22
Speaker 2: is is they ride hard for each other. The other
2:25
Speaker 2: shows are competition shows, so they're like, I'll vote you
2:27
Speaker 2: out tomorrow. But like that, they have a real disadvantage
2:30
Speaker 2: on Traders because they're just like this natural click, so
2:34
Speaker 2: they're just going to come for them.
2:35
Speaker 1: So which is so funny because on their own show,
2:37
Speaker 1: like they will fight each other tooth and now. But
2:40
Speaker 1: it's like sweet that, like I'm the Traders, they like
2:42
Speaker 1: ride or die.
2:43
Speaker 2: Do we need to recap the Trainers this season?
2:45
Speaker 1: Maybe?
2:46
Speaker 2: Okay, maybe we let's let's you want to you want
2:48
Speaker 2: to be a special guest on The Trader.
2:50
Speaker 1: I need I need to weigh in.
2:52
Speaker 2: Okay, excellent. Back to Robbie, Let's start with the obvious.
2:55
Speaker 2: How are you doing since the show rapped? Since the
3:00
Speaker 2: was of your elimination has aired?
3:02
Speaker 1: Listen, I'm doing great. I'm doing great because here's the thing.
3:05
Speaker 1: Like I was eliminated from the show back at the
3:07
Speaker 1: end of April, you know, so like I was shocked
3:10
Speaker 1: then and so sad, But mostly I was sad because
3:12
Speaker 1: I loved going to set every day, I loved filming
3:14
Speaker 1: the show. I loved the guys, I loved never knowing
3:17
Speaker 1: like what wild and zany challenge Jonathan had dreamed up
3:19
Speaker 1: for us, So it was so fun. So I guess
3:22
Speaker 1: I wanted to win a Hallmark movie. But I actually
3:24
Speaker 1: think when I left, I was more sad to just
3:25
Speaker 1: be like leaving the best Christmas party I'd I ever
3:27
Speaker 1: been to. So that was sad. But since then, like
3:30
Speaker 1: I had an amazing summer. I went and did like
3:32
Speaker 1: a dream role in a play. I went to London
3:34
Speaker 1: and produced a musical. I taught this great class for
3:38
Speaker 1: Nyu and Stella Adler. So like I've had like a
3:40
Speaker 1: great time since then. And then now it's just been
3:43
Speaker 1: like the wonderful ride of the show, coming out and
3:46
Speaker 1: doing press and like hanging out with all the guys again.
3:48
Speaker 1: So it's been so fun. What is hard is like
3:51
Speaker 1: looking at my friends and family and that's like not
3:53
Speaker 1: because they don't know about the elimination, And then I
3:56
Speaker 1: think it was a hard turn from them, going from
3:57
Speaker 1: the Talent show, which was so exciting and so fun
4:00
Speaker 1: and getting so much love and not just you know,
4:02
Speaker 1: also from fans, but looking at my friends and family
4:05
Speaker 1: and going next week's going to be a hard week,
4:08
Speaker 1: you know, so it was harder to kind of watch
4:10
Speaker 1: their sadness and disappointment than it was for my own
4:13
Speaker 1: because I knew it was happening. But I have to say, like,
4:15
Speaker 1: what's being awesome is like, if you have to be
4:17
Speaker 1: eliminated from a reality TV show, like I would, I
4:19
Speaker 1: would recommend this is the way to do it. Like
4:21
Speaker 1: to have Jonathan's support and like to have him come
4:24
Speaker 1: hug me and say that he's proud of me, and
4:26
Speaker 1: then to have that video kind of become like a
4:29
Speaker 1: little viral on the Internet and having like all of
4:31
Speaker 1: these fans weigh in has been incredible. And hearing from
4:35
Speaker 1: so many people in the LGBTQ plus community I didn't
4:38
Speaker 1: even know watched Hallmark that are saying like they're so
4:41
Speaker 1: proud to see themselves like represented, and also some like
4:45
Speaker 1: older folks like saying that they never thought they would
4:48
Speaker 1: see this on you know, on Hallmark. Has been like
4:51
Speaker 1: really incredible. And then this petition started by this sweet fan.
4:55
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, being an actor is hard,
4:58
Speaker 1: like what Craig said in the five elimination, have you
5:01
Speaker 1: just creeped you know, auditioning on auditioning and auditioning, Like
5:03
Speaker 1: he's right, and so to like have this kind of
5:06
Speaker 1: moment of feeling like you're making an impact is like,
5:09
Speaker 1: is really incredible. So it's actually been like a really
5:12
Speaker 1: wonderful last week and a half hearing from people and
5:14
Speaker 1: talking and doing some press about it, and so I'm good,
5:18
Speaker 1: it's been it's been a good you know, little ride.
5:21
Speaker 2: I heard that after your elimination one, Jonathan Bennett called
5:25
Speaker 2: your partner Kyle and just like touched base with him
5:28
Speaker 2: about how proud he was of you and what a
5:31
Speaker 2: great experience it had been working with you, and that
5:34
Speaker 2: just that really speaks to me about the heart of
5:36
Speaker 2: the show, about what we're doing here as opposed to
5:40
Speaker 2: what's happening on some other reality programming like The Traders
5:43
Speaker 2: or The Housewives.
5:45
Speaker 1: One hundred percent no, that that's exactly what happened. And yeah,
5:48
Speaker 1: Jonathan facetimed my partner Kyle, and it was really so sweet.
5:52
Speaker 1: But all of the producers and all of the you
5:56
Speaker 1: know people behind the scenes making the show happen, from
5:59
Speaker 1: the heads to the sound people to like you know,
6:02
Speaker 1: the craft services people were like coming up and we're
6:05
Speaker 1: so kind, but that's just kind of what this set
6:07
Speaker 1: was like. We were not treated like contestants on a show.
6:11
Speaker 1: We were treated like we were on a show and
6:13
Speaker 1: making something really beautiful and fun together. And you could
6:16
Speaker 1: tell because of season one and how much fun people
6:19
Speaker 1: had doing it, that we were being welcome to this
6:22
Speaker 1: party and treated so well that every time someone went home,
6:25
Speaker 1: everyone was sad that they were like leaving the party.
6:28
Speaker 1: You know. It was just it was like the best
6:31
Speaker 1: set environment. And like I've been on, you know, a
6:33
Speaker 1: bunch of TV and film sets, and it's not always
6:36
Speaker 1: like that. In fact, it's never like that, So it
6:38
Speaker 1: was really special. But I think that just is that's
6:42
Speaker 1: the Hallmark brand, and I'm here to tell you that,
6:45
Speaker 1: Like honestly, it's not just on the camera and on set,
6:48
Speaker 1: it's what's happening behind the scenes too. It's like really sweet.
6:51
Speaker 2: You mentioned season one going into season two, did you know,
6:54
Speaker 2: I mean, I could tell that you're a Hallmark fan
6:57
Speaker 2: and that you were familiar with the show. Did you
7:00
Speaker 2: feel like you were getting yourself into Did you have
7:02
Speaker 2: a good grasp of what you were going into when
7:04
Speaker 2: you arrived.
7:06
Speaker 1: I did because we were able to watch season one,
7:08
Speaker 1: which was really helpful, and I liked what I was
7:11
Speaker 1: seeing and I'm a huge reality TV show fan, so
7:15
Speaker 1: and so is my partner. But I never really saw
7:17
Speaker 1: a show that I feel like I could go beyond
7:20
Speaker 1: or felt like there was like a space for me
7:22
Speaker 1: there because for a lot of different reasons, but just
7:25
Speaker 1: like what I'm doing in my life, like mostly I'm
7:27
Speaker 1: producing and directing and acting and really wanting to feel
7:30
Speaker 1: like I'm holding that space just making sure that I'm
7:33
Speaker 1: making the right decisions, do you know. And so when
7:35
Speaker 1: this show came up that was Hallmark, that was about acting,
7:38
Speaker 1: that Jonathan Bennett was the head of it just was
7:41
Speaker 1: like a no brainer. And so but it was helpful,
7:45
Speaker 1: you know, looking at season one and also just when
7:48
Speaker 1: you're so familiar with the brand and to be able
7:50
Speaker 1: to tell those stories. It was such an easy yes
7:52
Speaker 1: for me. Although I'll also say, like I feel like
7:54
Speaker 1: getting on the show should be its own show in general,
7:58
Speaker 1: because like getting on the show, the audition and the
8:00
Speaker 1: amount of people, the amount of calls, self tapes, producer interviews.
8:04
Speaker 1: Do you know that we did to get on the
8:05
Speaker 1: show that should be in its own thing? Like I
8:07
Speaker 1: feel like I won just by being selected as.
8:09
Speaker 2: One of the ten guys I would watch that show.
8:12
Speaker 2: I would absolutely watch that show. And in fact, when
8:14
Speaker 2: you were talking about it, what was that process? Like
8:17
Speaker 2: did they come to you? Did you fill something out online?
8:20
Speaker 2: Like how did how did this all unfold?
8:24
Speaker 1: It was like eleven pm at night and I got
8:25
Speaker 1: a DM from the casting director, Lindsay Lyles, Like, shout
8:28
Speaker 1: out Lindsay. She is an incredible casting director, an incredible human.
8:32
Speaker 1: And I like said to Kyle's like, look at this
8:34
Speaker 1: DM I just got and He's like, it's fake. Don't respond.
8:37
Speaker 1: But then I like looked her up online and looked
8:39
Speaker 1: at she was legit and looked up the show and
8:41
Speaker 1: then had a phone conversation with her. The next day,
8:44
Speaker 1: Kyle and I sat down to watch one episode of
8:45
Speaker 1: season one of Finding Mister Christmas. We watched four in
8:48
Speaker 1: a row. We couldn't get enough of it. We loved
8:50
Speaker 1: all the guys. The next night we watched the rest
8:52
Speaker 1: you know, episodes five through eight, and and then from
8:55
Speaker 1: there on, I was a very last addition to the show.
8:57
Speaker 1: Like I think I was really like fast tracked towards
9:01
Speaker 1: the end. Like a lot of the guys, it was
9:03
Speaker 1: a very long drawn out three month process for them.
9:06
Speaker 1: But I was like every day. It was like either
9:08
Speaker 1: the self tapes, interviews, zooms, phone calls. Do you know?
9:12
Speaker 1: It happened very It wasn't fast. I mean, I'd still
9:14
Speaker 1: say it was like about three weeks of a process,
9:17
Speaker 1: but for some of the guys it was like three months.
9:19
Speaker 1: So but it was. It was the most intense audition
9:22
Speaker 1: process i'd ever I had ever gone through. But it
9:24
Speaker 1: should be like they're really and I think it shows.
9:26
Speaker 1: I think all the guys are incredible in so many
9:28
Speaker 1: different ways, but they are really looking for homemarks, you know,
9:32
Speaker 1: next leading man, and so I understand that that it
9:34
Speaker 1: takes a lot.
9:35
Speaker 2: They want someone who's going to make good reality TV
9:37
Speaker 2: and who's going to be someone I can put in
9:40
Speaker 2: a movie, a movie that you're right.
9:43
Speaker 1: And that's something that Jonathan talks about and it's actually
9:46
Speaker 1: something my partner Kyle recently like said to me. He's like,
9:49
Speaker 1: you know, what you're doing is so hard because you're
9:51
Speaker 1: being judged as an actor, but they're judging you as
9:55
Speaker 1: an actor knowing who you are as a person, and
9:58
Speaker 1: those are really two different things, and you aren't really
10:01
Speaker 1: doing that, you know, And it's a way, you know,
10:05
Speaker 1: we don't have control over a lot, you know, as actors.
10:09
Speaker 1: But it's an interesting show and it's difficult to be on.
10:12
Speaker 1: And Jonathan says this, I'm so, you know, we're so
10:13
Speaker 1: brave for doing this and to be doing these scenes
10:16
Speaker 1: and these challenges. And let me tell you, like when
10:18
Speaker 1: they say we have fifteen minutes to like memorize the
10:20
Speaker 1: scene and learn how to ride a horse, we have
10:22
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes, like that's all, that's all real. And then
10:25
Speaker 1: we're doing it in one take in front of you know,
10:28
Speaker 1: a whole Hallmark audience. So that's difficult, and then you
10:31
Speaker 1: see your reaction as a human being. It's a difficult
10:34
Speaker 1: like type rope to walk.
10:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were just talking about the recent episode. There
10:40
Speaker 2: was a bee or a wasp or something that got
10:43
Speaker 2: into the scene. But I was like, that's so unfair
10:45
Speaker 2: because if it was a real TV show or a
10:48
Speaker 2: real movie, it wouldn't be just one take. You would
10:52
Speaker 2: stop the scene and reset or whatever. So I do
10:55
Speaker 2: feel sometimes when we're watching the scenes that you guys
10:59
Speaker 2: do on the show, so we're like, well, that wouldn't
11:01
Speaker 2: happen in real life. We need to see them as
11:04
Speaker 2: an actor, not like how they would react as a
11:07
Speaker 2: just a regular human.
11:08
Speaker 1: So very I think I think it is a mixed
11:12
Speaker 1: bag because I feel like some of the best things
11:14
Speaker 1: that happen on film can be happy accidents. So like,
11:20
Speaker 1: you know, the way you deal with the be or
11:22
Speaker 1: the way you deal with the mistake can sometimes end
11:25
Speaker 1: up being gold. And it's like, thank God we kept
11:27
Speaker 1: going with it. And then Jonathan tells this great story
11:30
Speaker 1: about the movie that he just did a Curli Christmas
11:34
Speaker 1: Vacation about they had one take to do one of
11:37
Speaker 1: those scenes when they're ice skating, and so sometimes you
11:39
Speaker 1: do sometimes you do have just like a very limited time,
11:42
Speaker 1: you know, to do it, and you need to be
11:44
Speaker 1: able to deliver. You need to be able to know
11:46
Speaker 1: your lines, know what you're doing, and be able to
11:48
Speaker 1: show up with charm and charisma and all of that
11:51
Speaker 1: hallmark leading man energy. So I agree, I agree with
11:55
Speaker 1: you that like most often, although when I was doing
11:58
Speaker 1: General Hospital, you do one take and you're moving on,
12:00
Speaker 1: you know, like all of that, and that's a that's
12:02
Speaker 1: a very different world. But but yeah, it's it's definitely
12:05
Speaker 1: it's definitely a mixed bag and and and difficult, especially
12:09
Speaker 1: when you only get like fifteen minutes to member as
12:11
Speaker 1: all those lines.
12:11
Speaker 2: I hope we get it. Last year in the finale
12:15
Speaker 2: they did actually get to do two takes and they
12:17
Speaker 2: got feedback from a director and I was like, that's
12:19
Speaker 2: what we need, that's what they need, Like they need
12:22
Speaker 2: that feedback. Okay, this is what I want to ask.
12:24
Speaker 2: Do you get more feedback from Jonathan Melissa people on
12:28
Speaker 2: set than we see about your scenes?
12:32
Speaker 1: You don't get it before, No, you really get it
12:37
Speaker 1: after the fact. You get it. You get it after
12:39
Speaker 1: the fact because I think that they and I think
12:42
Speaker 1: this is part of the show, like they really want
12:44
Speaker 1: to see what you're going to bring to it.
12:47
Speaker 2: But what you're getting that like after your scene, are
12:49
Speaker 2: they coming to you and saying like, hey, just for future,
12:52
Speaker 2: like here's the feedback we would give you.
12:55
Speaker 1: No, the only feedback you really get is in the
12:59
Speaker 1: in the emanation like and those you know, we film
13:02
Speaker 1: those eliminations for a long time and there's a lot
13:04
Speaker 1: that's discussed and a lot of the time what it's
13:08
Speaker 1: what you see on it's what you see on the show.
13:10
Speaker 1: If you're in the bottom, you get some feedback about
13:13
Speaker 1: why you are in the bottom. But as someone who
13:17
Speaker 1: was never in the bottom, until I went home. I
13:20
Speaker 1: kind of didn't get that feedback. You know. In the
13:23
Speaker 1: first episode, I was like in the bottom five, but
13:25
Speaker 1: then Davey and I were safe, so I don't like,
13:26
Speaker 1: actually consider that the bottom three. But you don't really
13:29
Speaker 1: get you don't really get that. But what I will
13:32
Speaker 1: say is like the whole time, Jonathan would always be
13:36
Speaker 1: like checking in with us, like off camera and being like, hey,
13:39
Speaker 1: are you good, Like what do you need? You're doing great?
13:42
Speaker 1: You know. It's just like a lot of support and positivity,
13:45
Speaker 1: and that's honestly what we need at that point because
13:48
Speaker 1: everyone is it's hard to not be comparing yourself to
13:53
Speaker 1: other people and oh my gosh, I'm here with a
13:56
Speaker 1: you know, international fitness model do you know? Or this
13:59
Speaker 1: person that, or it's hard to not compare yourself. So
14:02
Speaker 1: just to be getting that encouragement that like you belong
14:04
Speaker 1: here and like you are enough, which is what we're getting,
14:07
Speaker 1: you know, from him and all the other you know folks,
14:10
Speaker 1: that's that's that's important.
14:20
Speaker 2: You talked about never having been in the bottom three
14:22
Speaker 2: before your elimination, and I'm sitting here thinking about your elimination.
14:26
Speaker 2: I'm never gonna stop thinking about it. Because always mad
14:28
Speaker 2: about it. We're still mad about it. You and Rustin
14:32
Speaker 2: were not the bottom two based on your acting. You
14:36
Speaker 2: were based it was based on like onset shenanigans, shall
14:40
Speaker 2: we say? And in my mind, I'm like, that's not there,
14:43
Speaker 2: right Like then there's a part of me it's like, well,
14:46
Speaker 2: like you don't want to cast someone who's difficult to
14:48
Speaker 2: work with. But then I'm like, we know that's not
14:50
Speaker 2: the case, right Like, So I'm like, did you have
14:52
Speaker 2: any feelings about that being the basis of your elimination?
14:57
Speaker 1: For sure? For sure, it was definitely it was definitely
15:00
Speaker 1: hard to hear, especially because honestly, I get along with
15:03
Speaker 1: like the guys are amazing, Like we talk all the time,
15:06
Speaker 1: Like everything that all the other guys stay interviews is true,
15:08
Speaker 1: Like we have four different group chats, Like it's incredible.
15:11
Speaker 1: They're great. One of the people I talked to the
15:13
Speaker 1: most is Rustin after the show. He's and have always
15:16
Speaker 1: felt so close to him. So I think that was
15:18
Speaker 1: like really hard to hear that that was the feedback
15:22
Speaker 1: because we what happened was we were you know, we
15:25
Speaker 1: went back in the house and we were like working
15:26
Speaker 1: on the scene and then you know, when we came
15:28
Speaker 1: outside to have everybody jumping in, you know, and you
15:32
Speaker 1: talked about it in your recap like there was a
15:33
Speaker 1: lot going on, you know. It just it was very fast,
15:36
Speaker 1: and it definitely didn't feel that way. I know Rustin
15:39
Speaker 1: said it didn't feel that way. That was not my experience.
15:42
Speaker 1: But also like at the end of the day, like
15:43
Speaker 1: I trust the judging and I trust what they see
15:46
Speaker 1: and what they saw. But I think also in the
15:48
Speaker 1: elimination they backtracked it a little bit. They said, Okay, yeah,
15:51
Speaker 1: well you're right, but now we just have to judge
15:53
Speaker 1: based on acting, and Rustin just like pulled it out
15:55
Speaker 1: like a little bit more so I'm sure, you know,
15:59
Speaker 1: since then, I'm trying to, you know, I always want
16:01
Speaker 1: to like learn from everything that I do and just
16:03
Speaker 1: become better and take everything with a grain of salt.
16:06
Speaker 1: And I think when it came down to it, I
16:08
Speaker 1: don't think anyone it did a poor job. I just
16:12
Speaker 1: think that Craig and Davy took like a really big swing.
16:16
Speaker 1: They improve some lines at the beginning that like I
16:19
Speaker 1: never would have done because sometimes I feel like, and
16:21
Speaker 1: I said this on a different interview that sometimes for
16:24
Speaker 1: television writers it depends on the writer. They don't want
16:26
Speaker 1: you to, you know, say things that different, and I
16:30
Speaker 1: do come from the theater world, where it's where it
16:32
Speaker 1: is more sacred, like you have to say every the
16:35
Speaker 1: and you know, you have to like get every word perfect.
16:38
Speaker 1: So it's not my experience that you just want to
16:39
Speaker 1: kind of go off script like that. And that could
16:42
Speaker 1: have gone either way for them. You know, we saw
16:43
Speaker 1: Craig take bigger risks and they didn't pay off it.
16:45
Speaker 1: And I just think that they took a big risk
16:47
Speaker 1: and it really paid off and that put Rustin and
16:50
Speaker 1: I in the bottom because you know, and so I
16:52
Speaker 1: don't I think that's in my mind that's like how
16:54
Speaker 1: it worked out is good for them that they did that,
16:56
Speaker 1: and I think it was very funny and them throwing
16:58
Speaker 1: the cookies that got me laughing, and so it just
17:01
Speaker 1: kind of didn't go my way that day would which
17:05
Speaker 1: I obviously wish it did, but for me it wasn't
17:08
Speaker 1: because of anything that happened with the rest In.
17:10
Speaker 2: You're such a good person, because I'm like, I'm mad,
17:14
Speaker 2: and you have brought a life lesson from it. Well,
17:17
Speaker 2: I appreciate that about you.
17:18
Speaker 1: Of course, you like go through the stages of grief
17:20
Speaker 1: because it was, like I said, it was so hard
17:21
Speaker 1: to leave the Christmas party that was the I love
17:24
Speaker 1: that you call it the Balsam Hill House of obsessed
17:26
Speaker 1: with that because it also makes me think of like
17:29
Speaker 1: the Haunting of Hillhouse, you know, like that's scary, but
17:32
Speaker 1: it's like Balsam Hill House. It's like the christ House.
17:35
Speaker 1: And I also love like shout out to cruising mister Christmas.
17:38
Speaker 1: They call it whenever we're like doing reality by the tree,
17:40
Speaker 1: they call it the Christmas Illusions Lounge because that's like
17:44
Speaker 1: a takeoff of RuPaul's drag Race. So I love all
17:47
Speaker 1: these like different terms, but you know, there are the
17:49
Speaker 1: stages of grief. But I have to say, like I
17:52
Speaker 1: really feel this way that everything happens the way it's
17:55
Speaker 1: supposed to do. And I also think that like when
17:58
Speaker 1: you're given an opportunity, and every single one of us
18:00
Speaker 1: was given an opportunity, like even the people that go home,
18:03
Speaker 1: it's like you can decide to make the most of
18:05
Speaker 1: the opportunity that you're given. And I also feel like
18:12
Speaker 1: had I not gone home in the way that I did,
18:14
Speaker 1: and was it not so loved or people have controversial
18:18
Speaker 1: opinions from the fans that have been reaching out. Would
18:21
Speaker 1: I be getting all of this love and attention and
18:25
Speaker 1: support like it's ended up? You know, I kind of
18:27
Speaker 1: like I'm actually I'm good. Like I think I won
18:30
Speaker 1: the most challenges while I was there. I was vulnerable,
18:33
Speaker 1: I made friends. I got to roast Jonathan Bennett. I
18:36
Speaker 1: got to like run around in a hamster ball, slide
18:38
Speaker 1: up and down a Crisco mountain, like fly thirty feet
18:41
Speaker 1: in the air, be the best that. How about getting
18:44
Speaker 1: the firstling shot present in you know, like I got
18:46
Speaker 1: to do so many awesome things. Right, So I kind
18:49
Speaker 1: of feel like I feel I was sad to leave,
18:52
Speaker 1: but I felt like I left with a full heart.
18:54
Speaker 2: Look, I want to tell you when we watch this,
18:57
Speaker 2: we like write notes as we watch the show. Right,
19:00
Speaker 2: and that's the Slingshot episode. I was like, Robbie, I
19:05
Speaker 2: was like so excited for you, but I was like,
19:08
Speaker 2: you have no idea like the genuine like excitement for you.
19:12
Speaker 2: I was rooting so hard. I've like all these little
19:14
Speaker 2: wins that you've been having. Oh man, it was so fun.
19:19
Speaker 2: We talked about the show like we're being paid to
19:21
Speaker 2: do so we are such genuine fans of the show,
19:23
Speaker 2: and we saw when we first got the show. We
19:26
Speaker 2: saw the first two episodes and Wendy was like, who's
19:28
Speaker 2: your favorite? This is one hundred percent of the truth.
19:30
Speaker 2: I was like, team Robbie right here, and that we
19:33
Speaker 2: really didn't know you yet. But that was first impression.
19:35
Speaker 2: And then I'm so sad we only got three more episodes.
19:38
Speaker 2: But I do feel like we you know, we got
19:41
Speaker 2: vulnerable Robbie, We got fun Robbie. You got to be
19:44
Speaker 2: this like voice of reason. And that scene you have
19:48
Speaker 2: with Marcus by the fire is so touching. You're talking
19:51
Speaker 2: about your mom's So I was from Jump a big
19:55
Speaker 2: fan of yours. So I'm glad for getting to talk
19:57
Speaker 2: to you, is what I'm saying.
19:59
Speaker 1: That I mean, that means so much. Thank you.
20:01
Speaker 2: You made me laugh and cry watching this reality TV show, Like,
20:06
Speaker 2: come on, you're such a good human. You talked about
20:11
Speaker 2: the opportunities you've had after filming, and I needed to
20:14
Speaker 2: talk about a real housewife run in that you had
20:17
Speaker 2: because we talked about a little bit off Mike. But
20:19
Speaker 2: you're flying home from Utah and who's sitting in front
20:22
Speaker 2: of you, y'all?
20:23
Speaker 1: Like the universe is crazy. So I and I'll tell
20:26
Speaker 1: you exactly what happened. The day after I was eliminated.
20:29
Speaker 1: You finish up some of the confessional interviews. That's just
20:31
Speaker 1: how it happens. I actually missed my flight that night
20:35
Speaker 1: because I was doing some more confessional interviews and talking
20:38
Speaker 1: about the show, and as you can tell, I love
20:39
Speaker 1: to talk. And then that night I ended up staying
20:42
Speaker 1: extra night. And then that night I went out to
20:45
Speaker 1: dinner with like a few of the guys and so
20:47
Speaker 1: like we got to talk and hang out. But then
20:48
Speaker 1: the next morning, I get on the flight in Salt
20:51
Speaker 1: Lake City and who's sitting in front of me but
20:54
Speaker 1: Bronman Newport, who is just like for me, she's it.
20:57
Speaker 1: She's like reality TV royalty. I think she does it right.
21:00
Speaker 1: And then like flashback, you know, now we got talking
21:03
Speaker 1: on the flight and then we were having drinks in
21:05
Speaker 1: New York and now she's become an incredibly sweet and
21:08
Speaker 1: supportive friend, supportive through the reality TV process. But that
21:11
Speaker 1: never would have happened had I not been eliminated, like
21:13
Speaker 1: when I was. I don't know, it's just it's kind
21:17
Speaker 1: of one of those things where you look back on
21:18
Speaker 1: your life and you're like, oh, I see what was
21:20
Speaker 1: happening there, Like I see the path and she's incredible,
21:24
Speaker 1: So like, yeah, it was a pretty sweet experience.
21:27
Speaker 2: I have been in your damns. I'm like, you know, everyone,
21:31
Speaker 2: I saw you with Ali Liebert recently, did you know
21:33
Speaker 2: her before finding Mister Christmas?
21:35
Speaker 1: I didn't know her. I didn't know her, but you know,
21:37
Speaker 1: I was just flying back. I was flying to LA
21:40
Speaker 1: to do some more stuff for press for funding Mister
21:42
Speaker 1: Christmas and went to the Out one hundred party, which
21:45
Speaker 1: to go there with Hallmark and be supported by Hallmark
21:47
Speaker 1: at the Out one hundred party, I was like, what
21:49
Speaker 1: is my life right now? Like high school Robbie would
21:51
Speaker 1: have just been freaking out. I was always looking at
21:53
Speaker 1: those pictures from that event of you know, the most
21:56
Speaker 1: influential LGBTQ folks of you know, the and then to
22:01
Speaker 1: have to be there with you know, Hallmark PR was
22:03
Speaker 1: like really incredible. So I was out there doing some
22:05
Speaker 1: press and photo shoots, some podcasts and everything. And then
22:08
Speaker 1: but that's also when Jonathan was getting his star on
22:10
Speaker 1: the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, which is just so
22:12
Speaker 1: cool and like Jonathan has been and I will say
22:15
Speaker 1: this forever, and I mean it, like so supportive of
22:19
Speaker 1: us when we were on set, even when he wasn't
22:21
Speaker 1: on camera anything, making sure we were okay. And then
22:24
Speaker 1: since the show we were just texting this morning. Has
22:26
Speaker 1: been so kind and so supportive, and like the fact
22:30
Speaker 1: that I'm saying that because he has been so important
22:33
Speaker 1: to me for so long has been amazing. So like
22:35
Speaker 1: for me to just show up and support him on
22:37
Speaker 1: that day, like I would do I would do anything.
22:39
Speaker 1: So of course I was there. But then he knew
22:41
Speaker 1: that I was driving from LA to Palm Springs and
22:45
Speaker 1: he was like, hey, would you mind bringing my friend Ali?
22:47
Speaker 1: And so like I just like picked up Ali like
22:49
Speaker 1: that morning, and we like did a road trip to
22:51
Speaker 1: Palm Springs together and like, honestly I became like BFFs.
22:53
Speaker 1: Like she's the best and I love you know. We
22:57
Speaker 1: talked about the Holiday Sitter right that that that she
23:00
Speaker 1: directed that film, which was the first like major gay
23:04
Speaker 1: kiss on television. And George Chrisso, who plays Jonathan's boyfriend
23:07
Speaker 1: of that show, is a really good friend of mine.
23:08
Speaker 2: So like what you kind of look like him a
23:11
Speaker 2: little bit.
23:12
Speaker 1: It's a small world. Hey, I'll take it. I'll take that.
23:15
Speaker 1: I'll take that. And how about a movie for us together?
23:18
Speaker 1: About So that was really sweet. So yeah, she just
23:23
Speaker 1: was you know, you just like connect to those people
23:24
Speaker 1: right away. She's incredible and she's doing awesome work just
23:27
Speaker 1: like as a queer woman in media, like acting, directing,
23:31
Speaker 1: just she's really awesome and a really cool human being.
23:34
Speaker 1: So Jonathan Daathan kind of set that friendship up.
23:37
Speaker 2: God, look at that, you're just out here doing it.
23:40
Speaker 2: It's all happening. It's all happening. It's happening. Just wow,
23:44
Speaker 2: put it out and it's just like we're in a secret.
23:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, well please, Well it honestly means so much
23:50
Speaker 1: because you know, we didn't know each other before this,
23:52
Speaker 1: and you know, we didn't really get to talk before this,
23:55
Speaker 1: and so it's so nice. Like I just feel and
23:58
Speaker 1: y'all are such fans of Hallmark and the show, and
24:00
Speaker 1: so I just like I'm like feel honored to even
24:02
Speaker 1: like be here talking to you all. It's just it's
24:04
Speaker 1: the same thing as everything else that's been happening. So
24:07
Speaker 1: and it's nice to feel like because when you're on
24:09
Speaker 1: reality TV, you're sharing your story, you're sharing yourself. It's
24:11
Speaker 1: like so much scarier than like I can play a
24:13
Speaker 1: part and I can hide behind the part, but like
24:17
Speaker 1: I'm talking about and I'm opening up about stuff that
24:20
Speaker 1: i've When I said that on the Talent Show about
24:22
Speaker 1: the regrets about my mom, I've never said that to
24:24
Speaker 1: my father, who's downstairs right now. I've never said that
24:27
Speaker 1: to my aunt, my mom's sister. I had never said
24:29
Speaker 1: that to anyone that I had these deep regrets about,
24:34
Speaker 1: you know, maybe not flying home or not seeing her.
24:37
Speaker 1: And so I was having discussions with my family about
24:40
Speaker 1: that over Thanksgiving. And if I'm having discussions with my
24:43
Speaker 1: family about it, I've already gotten dozens of messages from
24:47
Speaker 1: people that say that they felt that way and they
24:50
Speaker 1: never acknowledged it before, or they never felt like they
24:53
Speaker 1: could say that about that. They have regrets, you know,
24:55
Speaker 1: greg regrets about something like that. So that's that's the
24:59
Speaker 1: that's the win for me.
25:01
Speaker 2: Gondy cry. Yeah, I really connect it. I know, I'm
25:04
Speaker 2: already like tearing up. I really connected over that. My
25:07
Speaker 2: mom passed away about ten years ago.
25:09
Speaker 1: And I I'm so sorry, thank you.
25:11
Speaker 2: I have some similar of feelings like yours, of regret
25:15
Speaker 2: of things I didn't say or I didn't go back
25:17
Speaker 2: and do or I left, not knowing that would have
25:19
Speaker 2: been the final time. Uh So I really melted when
25:25
Speaker 2: you talked about that on the show, and I would
25:27
Speaker 2: and and you even said, and I'm paraphrasing, but it
25:30
Speaker 2: was something along the lines of if I can talk
25:33
Speaker 2: about it, then that means other people can talk about
25:35
Speaker 2: it too. I it was something like that, and I
25:38
Speaker 2: was like, Oh, I've been shouldering this regret or this
25:41
Speaker 2: feeling like for so long and I've never said it
25:43
Speaker 2: to anybody. So anyway, thank you for that.
25:46
Speaker 1: Because talking about it, well, I think, like I don't
25:49
Speaker 1: remember totally what I said, but it was like, you
25:51
Speaker 1: never know who it's going to help when you're able,
25:54
Speaker 1: you know, when you're able to talk about it, do
25:55
Speaker 1: you know? And it doesn't have to be on the television,
25:58
Speaker 1: Like it's also like just like sharing your feelings, like
26:00
Speaker 1: someone else could feel that way and then you'll never
26:02
Speaker 1: know to the extent of which like it helps them,
26:04
Speaker 1: you know, or heals them. And one of the guest
26:05
Speaker 1: judges that day actually shared that, and I think that
26:08
Speaker 1: was on television that she also had a similar experience
26:11
Speaker 1: to what you just talked about. So what we say,
26:14
Speaker 1: in theater all the time is like when we're building plays,
26:16
Speaker 1: and also television is like the more specific the story
26:20
Speaker 1: and the more specific your words are, the more universal
26:23
Speaker 1: it is. Which is kind of a mind thing because
26:25
Speaker 1: you go, oh, I want a general story so more
26:27
Speaker 1: people can relate to it. It's like, actually, the more
26:29
Speaker 1: specific you are with your feelings, your thoughts, like what
26:32
Speaker 1: you want out of a scene, the more the more universal,
26:35
Speaker 1: and the more touching it's going to be to more people.
26:39
Speaker 2: So we've talked a lot about the good the positive.
26:42
Speaker 2: Is there a moment from filming you're like, oh, no,
26:44
Speaker 2: that's going to be on television that you panicked a
26:46
Speaker 2: little bit realizing Was there a moment for you or
26:50
Speaker 2: was it all good?
26:51
Speaker 1: Not really, I'm trying to think honestly, Like I like
26:55
Speaker 1: went into the you know, the slip and slide cris
26:58
Speaker 1: Go Mountain. You know, we weren't allowed to say Chrisco
27:01
Speaker 1: on camera, but you know, but it.
27:03
Speaker 2: Was Rubik's cube.
27:05
Speaker 1: Or Really's cube, right totally, or Rudolph so but but
27:09
Speaker 1: it was Chrisco, let's be clear. So I wentn't thinking
27:11
Speaker 1: like I am capable of winning all these things, and
27:16
Speaker 1: I'm gonna win a third festive face off. I didn't
27:18
Speaker 1: make it up the hill once. I didn't make it
27:19
Speaker 1: up the hill once of the candy game, and I
27:21
Speaker 1: knew there was a shot where I like completely wiped out.
27:24
Speaker 1: I looked up and there was a camera in my face.
27:26
Speaker 1: And I'll also just say, like the beautiful jerk girl
27:29
Speaker 1: from episode one, I had no idea that I said that.
27:33
Speaker 1: I had no idea that I said that. No one
27:35
Speaker 1: brought it up to me. They didn't talk about it
27:37
Speaker 1: in the elimination. It was like in August, Jonathan like
27:41
Speaker 1: FaceTime you one day and he was like cracking up
27:43
Speaker 1: and he's like, I have to know about beautiful jerk girl.
27:45
Speaker 1: And I was like, what do you talk to you?
27:46
Speaker 1: And I was like, I didn't say that. I didn't
27:48
Speaker 1: say that, and sure enough definitely said it. Definitely said it.
27:52
Speaker 1: So I wasn't like, you know, maybe I was worried
27:56
Speaker 1: to hear that, but I was like, I've watched enough
27:57
Speaker 1: reality TV to know like, you're weird, awkward mistakes sometimes
28:02
Speaker 1: your greatest gift, and so so many people have written
28:05
Speaker 1: that it just like made them laugh, and you know,
28:06
Speaker 1: it was what it was, so and the slipping of
28:08
Speaker 1: the sliding also made people laugh, So it was you know,
28:11
Speaker 1: it's a whitman.
28:12
Speaker 2: You've talked a lot about your acting career prior to
28:16
Speaker 2: this what you're doing Now, what was the moment for
28:18
Speaker 2: you that you were like, Oh, this is what I
28:19
Speaker 2: meant to do.
28:21
Speaker 1: I met my dad, so like these are all like
28:23
Speaker 1: my posters here, like you know, stuff that I've been in.
28:28
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's been It's been an interesting road.
28:30
Speaker 1: There wasn't ever one moment that I was like, this
28:31
Speaker 1: is what I'm going to do with my whole life.
28:33
Speaker 1: I grew up in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, where there's
28:35
Speaker 1: like so much arts and culture in theater, so like
28:37
Speaker 1: I was always seeing theater. My mom was always bringing
28:39
Speaker 1: me to New York City to like see Broadway shows
28:41
Speaker 1: or to Hartford to see the touring show. So like,
28:43
Speaker 1: I always kind of knew I was going to do it.
28:45
Speaker 1: But but the thing that is interesting that I'll say
28:47
Speaker 1: is during it, after the pandemic, I started directing a
28:50
Speaker 1: lot and produced a lot, and started running this musical
28:53
Speaker 1: theater program and started teaching for NYU. That all this
28:56
Speaker 1: wonderful success came in the way of kind of leading producing,
29:00
Speaker 1: and that made me really happy because I got to
29:03
Speaker 1: create the rooms in the spaces too that were healthy
29:07
Speaker 1: and safe and where people felt comfortable to like come
29:08
Speaker 1: and do their work. And I love that. But I
29:10
Speaker 1: kind of got away a little bit from the acting
29:12
Speaker 1: because auditions and jobs would come up, but I would
29:14
Speaker 1: have a really big play that I was you know,
29:17
Speaker 1: directing or something like that. So I kind of got
29:18
Speaker 1: away from that. But we DMD about this, I think
29:21
Speaker 1: very quickly. But Mary Kate Morrissey is one of my
29:23
Speaker 1: best friends from college. We went to school together, we
29:26
Speaker 1: lived together, we moved to New York City together, and
29:28
Speaker 1: she was finishing up her ten year run as Alpha
29:31
Speaker 1: BA from tour to Broadway to you know, you know,
29:34
Speaker 1: doing it so many different times, and so I saw her.
29:37
Speaker 1: I've seen her probably like thirty times, like at least
29:39
Speaker 1: to play that part. But she was finishing her run
29:41
Speaker 1: on Broadway in February March, like right when I was
29:45
Speaker 1: like auditioning, you know, when the show like popped up,
29:47
Speaker 1: and I was just watching her do her thing, and
29:49
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, like I missed that.
29:51
Speaker 1: I love that I had done a play that was
29:52
Speaker 1: like a dream like six months prior and like felt
29:55
Speaker 1: like awakened. So like right when you're seeing me like
29:58
Speaker 1: on the show, and I was like really coming back
30:00
Speaker 1: to acting in a big way, and you know, seeing
30:03
Speaker 1: Mary Kate inspired me. And then the show happened, so
30:07
Speaker 1: it was like a wonderful reunion and back to that.
30:10
Speaker 1: So I'd feel like maybe that's the moment that I
30:11
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, I'm not done with this,
30:13
Speaker 1: and after like the support from the show and some
30:15
Speaker 1: other stuff that's like happening. That's pretty exciting. I feel
30:18
Speaker 1: like it's definitely going to be where I'm spending some
30:21
Speaker 1: time over the next however many.
30:22
Speaker 2: Years, So I love that that moment existed. Side note
30:26
Speaker 2: for anybody listening who is a theater fan, Mary Kay's
30:30
Speaker 2: a great follow on social media because she posts a
30:32
Speaker 2: lot of like the nitty gritty, the behind the scenes,
30:35
Speaker 2: her day to day really interesting. That's how one of
30:37
Speaker 2: the ways I know her. But that's also how you
30:40
Speaker 2: know Jenna Claire. The two of them toured together and
30:44
Speaker 2: then they both did Broadway runes, but never at the
30:46
Speaker 2: same time as my understanding, but they're friends from the
30:49
Speaker 2: touring production. How long have you known her?
30:52
Speaker 1: So before Mary Kate was with her now husband a
30:56
Speaker 1: wicked has like almost like emotional support money, So like
30:59
Speaker 1: I would and I would go out to the tour
31:02
Speaker 1: a lot and visit her like whenever, because like the
31:05
Speaker 1: role is tough, the schedule is tough. So I would
31:07
Speaker 1: just go out and we would like spend time like
31:10
Speaker 1: laying in the hotel, like watching American Horror Story and
31:12
Speaker 1: eating ice cream, you know, with with her not talking
31:14
Speaker 1: and doing vocal rest. And her best friend was Jenna Clair,
31:17
Speaker 1: so they would always like get an Airbnb together, and
31:19
Speaker 1: so I would always just hang out with Jenna Claire.
31:21
Speaker 1: We would always have such a blast together. And Jenna
31:23
Speaker 1: Claire was taking such good care of Mary Kate on tour,
31:27
Speaker 1: like behind the scenes, off stage, you know, really like
31:29
Speaker 1: being a wonderful Glinda on and off stage that I
31:32
Speaker 1: would check in with, you know, Jenna Claire. I'd be like,
31:35
Speaker 1: you know, is everything good? How she doing? You know?
31:37
Speaker 1: So we got really close because of that. And then
31:39
Speaker 1: I remember when she got her first Hallmark movie, The
31:41
Speaker 1: Holiday Spectacular. It was like such a huge win and
31:44
Speaker 1: we were so excited and she was so good and
31:45
Speaker 1: I'm so happy that she's continued to be a huge
31:48
Speaker 1: Hallmark star, and when I started like was getting very
31:52
Speaker 1: close and I was like, I think I'm gonna be
31:53
Speaker 1: on this show. I was so hard to not reach
31:55
Speaker 1: out to her, to be like, you know, but you know,
31:58
Speaker 1: we clearly you know, it's not surprise to find out
32:00
Speaker 1: that we can't tell anybody, you know, and haven't been
32:02
Speaker 1: able to tell anybody. So but now to like, you know,
32:06
Speaker 1: kind of be cross pollinating Hallmark with her as like
32:09
Speaker 1: such a joy because I've known her for I don't know,
32:12
Speaker 1: like over it well over a decade. Yeah, she's wonderful
32:15
Speaker 1: and I'm so proud of everything she's doing at homework.
32:17
Speaker 1: Her movie is Newport Christmas is so good. If you
32:20
Speaker 1: haven't seen it and say, like, not every actress could
32:24
Speaker 1: pull that off, I could have seen that going very differently.
32:28
Speaker 2: Perfect casting for that role like that when she stumbles
32:31
Speaker 2: into the future. I was like, there's there's nobody else
32:33
Speaker 2: who could have done this like this, it's purple Bolder Dash.
32:36
Speaker 2: Oh my, yeah, she's so good. Honestly, I was just thinking,
32:40
Speaker 2: I'm like, we're gonna be playing six Degrees of Robbie
32:41
Speaker 2: Simpson a few years here now, Like you know, everybody
32:44
Speaker 2: and This is why you're going to be successful is
32:46
Speaker 2: because you are genuinely interested in people and you like them.
32:50
Speaker 2: That's going to be That's going to be the thing, Robbie.
32:53
Speaker 2: That's why people like you because you're so damn likable.
32:57
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Well from your lips to like who
33:00
Speaker 1: versus to whoever's listening to the to the casting team
33:04
Speaker 1: of the Traders.
33:08
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. And then dancing with the stars, Oh
33:12
Speaker 2: my gosh, so much dance.
33:14
Speaker 1: That would be so much fun. I danced in college,
33:17
Speaker 1: like in I did a lot of musical theaters in college,
33:19
Speaker 1: so like it would definitely be like brushing off the
33:22
Speaker 1: old dance shoes. But I mean, that show has gotten
33:25
Speaker 1: so much attention, especially this year, and I just love it.
33:29
Speaker 1: I loved their like wicked episode that they did. It
33:31
Speaker 1: was like so wonderful and campy. So I don't know,
33:34
Speaker 1: here's the thing, Like I never thought that I would
33:36
Speaker 1: do reality TV, and now that I've done it, I'm like,
33:38
Speaker 1: oh my god, that's such a blast. But you know,
33:41
Speaker 1: I also think and I know that homemark and I'm
33:44
Speaker 1: not just saying this, like took such good care of us.
33:46
Speaker 1: We were treated so well. Also, all the press afterwards.
33:50
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't imagine it being any cushier than
33:54
Speaker 1: than Hallmark. And so that's part of It's like maybe
33:56
Speaker 1: I had it so good I don't want to do
33:58
Speaker 1: it again. But but but it was fun.
34:01
Speaker 2: Well, you touched on it briefly at the top of
34:03
Speaker 2: the episode, but a lovely viewer of by a name
34:06
Speaker 2: mister Christmas was as upset by your elimination as we
34:10
Speaker 2: were and took it a step further and started a
34:13
Speaker 2: petition to get you cast in a Hallmark movie. First
34:17
Speaker 2: of all, did she reach out? How did you come
34:19
Speaker 2: to be aware of this petition?
34:21
Speaker 1: It was the night before Thanksgiving and my partner Kyle
34:24
Speaker 1: texted me and said, have you seen this petition? That's
34:26
Speaker 1: how I found out about it, Like what you know,
34:30
Speaker 1: what's going on? And so I don't know Lindsey. I
34:33
Speaker 1: don't know her. I didn't know her previously, and I
34:38
Speaker 1: was like so floored by more so the note that
34:43
Speaker 1: she wrote and like pushing the petition on anyone, but
34:47
Speaker 1: just like like, listen read the listen read the note
34:50
Speaker 1: that she wrote. Like, as actors, sometimes you feel like,
34:56
Speaker 1: you know, you want to make a difference, you want
34:57
Speaker 1: to feel like you're telling stories, you're breeding empathy, like
34:59
Speaker 1: you're you're here to make your mark on the world.
35:01
Speaker 1: And like reading that, I was like, yep, this is
35:04
Speaker 1: this just feels so fulfilling, or like I'm doing what
35:07
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be doing. And you know, we didn't,
35:10
Speaker 1: we didn't, we didn't know each other. She's just like
35:12
Speaker 1: and it's not like she has this big influencer, you know,
35:16
Speaker 1: she writes that, and I just loved for her that
35:19
Speaker 1: she felt like, I want to use my voice and
35:21
Speaker 1: she says that that, like that's that's like up. Really,
35:24
Speaker 1: what was so meaningful to me about it? And and
35:27
Speaker 1: like I'm happy for her that it is taken off
35:30
Speaker 1: and it's gotten all of these you know, attention and
35:33
Speaker 1: signatures and everything, because it means, you know, her voice matters,
35:37
Speaker 1: and her voice does matter. And I think Homemark really
35:39
Speaker 1: listens to their fans. I think that they always have.
35:41
Speaker 1: They take their fans very seriously, and so I just
35:44
Speaker 1: really appreciate her her doing that. It was incredibly meaningful.
35:49
Speaker 2: We will absolutely we wrote a post about it on
35:51
Speaker 2: Girls Gone Hamewark, but we will of course share the
35:53
Speaker 2: links to that petition in the show notes of this
35:55
Speaker 2: episode and yeah, you should check it out and see
35:58
Speaker 2: what she wrote. She also called in to a recent
36:01
Speaker 2: episode of Girls Gone Hallmark Our episode six recap. You
36:04
Speaker 2: can hear her voicemail that she left for us there.
36:08
Speaker 2: I just I love the fans activating for their people.
36:11
Speaker 2: So do I love it? I love it so much.
36:14
Speaker 2: Speaking of that petition, if this comes to fruition, which
36:17
Speaker 2: we're all just gonna do everything we can, what's your
36:19
Speaker 2: dream Hallmark role? Like, what does that look like for you?
36:22
Speaker 1: Oh? What a good It's such a good question. Well,
36:25
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, like I always like love mysteries, and
36:27
Speaker 1: I love like a kind of like a who Done It?
36:29
Speaker 1: And I love that Hallmark has this whole they do that,
36:31
Speaker 1: you know, like mistletoe murders, all of that. So maybe
36:34
Speaker 1: maybe like something maybe something like that would be really
36:36
Speaker 1: fun to do. But also I just like want to
36:40
Speaker 1: just like be there, like are.
36:41
Speaker 2: You thinking what I'm thinking? When did you just got
36:43
Speaker 2: a look? She's like, I got an idea, I got
36:45
Speaker 2: an idea. Okay, I'll tell you about it later, but
36:48
Speaker 2: go ahead.
36:50
Speaker 1: But also just like it's just like existing, like you know,
36:54
Speaker 1: I'd love to like be Jonathan's like best friend in
36:57
Speaker 1: a movie or something or you know, like be you know,
37:00
Speaker 1: Jenna Claire's like, uh, like buddy or like that's what
37:04
Speaker 1: I want. Me and Jena Claire like in a movie
37:06
Speaker 1: together and I'm like helping her figure out like how
37:09
Speaker 1: to get the guy. I'm like, this is like what
37:11
Speaker 1: you need to do. And then she's like going to
37:12
Speaker 1: like try to you know, try to get the guy.
37:14
Speaker 1: So it's like we're like working together on it. That
37:16
Speaker 1: would be so fun and you know, like play a
37:18
Speaker 1: stray character or play or play gay character. But it
37:21
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be for me like a romance. It's
37:23
Speaker 1: just like just existing, just like being there, you know,
37:26
Speaker 1: hanging out. But I you know, for me, what I
37:29
Speaker 1: do is all about the community and all about the people.
37:32
Speaker 1: That's why I got into theater. That's what I love
37:34
Speaker 1: most about being on set doing funny Mister Christmas. So
37:38
Speaker 1: I guess that's why I'm like, uh, you know, how
37:41
Speaker 1: about how about a Christmas movie directed by Ali Liebert
37:45
Speaker 1: that's like a little bit of a mystery Christmas movie
37:48
Speaker 1: where Jonathan and I are mischievously, you know, influencing Jenna
37:55
Speaker 1: Claire to do something.
37:56
Speaker 2: How about that The hijinks right old are going to
38:00
Speaker 2: write themselves? Yeah, we got who are going to get
38:03
Speaker 2: to write that?
38:03
Speaker 1: Oh?
38:04
Speaker 2: You know who should write that is Joel Doovev, the
38:07
Speaker 2: writer of the Cases of Mystery Lane, a canceled Too
38:12
Speaker 2: Soon mystery franchise. He would be a good time.
38:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll love it.
38:15
Speaker 2: Go yeah, tell everybody where they can find you to
38:19
Speaker 2: keep up with what's going on with you, Robbie for sure.
38:22
Speaker 1: I'm most active on Instagram at mister Robbie Simpson. I'm
38:26
Speaker 1: trying to get more into TikTok as someton as. I
38:28
Speaker 1: feel like I don't know what I'm doing over there,
38:30
Speaker 1: but I'm trying to figure it out. That Instagram is
38:32
Speaker 1: the best, and I love hearing from people like write
38:35
Speaker 1: me DM me like happy to hear anything that you
38:37
Speaker 1: want to talk about.
38:38
Speaker 2: It's so lovely. Thank you so much for being here
38:42
Speaker 2: and sharing all of these thoughts with us. This was
38:44
Speaker 2: such a good time. I could talk to you forever.
38:47
Speaker 2: And thank you for listening to this episode of Girls
38:50
Speaker 2: Gone Hamewark, a Bramble Jam podcast. We'll be back next
38:52
Speaker 2: time with more Hallmark reviews. Goodbye bye, all right friends.
39:08
Speaker 2: Before we go, just a quick heads up, you're about
39:10
Speaker 2: to hear some ads. These little JEMs help us keep
39:12
Speaker 2: the show running and the Hallmark love flowing. So do
39:16
Speaker 2: with that info what you will, Grab a snack, hit
39:18
Speaker 2: the skip button, or maybe just maybe listen in and
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Speaker 2: discover your new favorite product. Bye.