Latest / Breaking The Meta / I’ve Married About 50 Billionaires | Nicole Mattox

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I’ve Married About 50 Billionaires | Nicole Mattox · Breaking The Meta

• Nicole Mattox: I've seen them change actors' facial expressions because they decided they wanted them to do something else, or I've seen them do very lewd things that they did not do and they did not agree to doing. And Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: that is where I that's a real problem, and that's just not Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: okay. Mike Winson: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Breaking the Meadow. My name is Mike Wins, and today we are sitting down with Nicole Maddox, star of such amazing shows as Christmas with a cowboy bad boy, a stepbrother I hate to love, buried alive, back for revenge, step by step. And she is going to be starring in a movie with an amazing friend of mine and the channel, Lawson Grayson, called Perfect Date. And I can't wait to talk about that one too. Hello, Nicole. How are you doing today? Nicole Mattox: Hello, hello, I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. Mike Winson: I am st I tell you, I got so excited when you said yes to doing this. I cannot even describe. I love watching your stuff. You have probably the most infectious smile of anybody that I've ever met. And it's I am so, I am so excited to do this. So thank you so much. I appreciate it. Nicole Mattox: Thank you so much. Just so everybody knows too how this happened was I was on a TikTok live and Mike made a happened to comment right when I looked down and saw it and was like, I have a podcast, please check your DMs. I was like, on it. So it was like a very nice, unconventional way to make this happen. Mike Winson: It I and you know, and it's really funny that it worked because I if y I mean you don't know, but I have actually DM'd you quite a few times but you just never saw them because yeah. Nicole Mattox: Well I see it now because I went and I looked up your name. Mike Winson: It's okay. It's okay. We're good now. We're we're all friends now. So it's great. Nicole Mattox: We got there. Mike Winson: Okay. So, okay. Nicole Mattox: That's Mike Winson: So I what I want to do is I want to start. I want to just I don't know how many people I didn't know about you until I started like doing research on you. I went deep. I went deep into Nicole's past. And Nicole Mattox: Yes. Mike Winson: I found out that you've been acting since you were five. Five years old. That's Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Yeah, it's been my whole life. Mike Winson: crazy. Like Nicole Mattox: I know. I love it. Mike Winson: Okay. I know you don't remember what you thought at five, and that's fine. I'm not expecting you to remember everything you you thought at five, but is is acting because you also were like a TV personality before you started doing it. Like you were on you were on news, right? Nicole Mattox: Yeah, I was doing like entertainment lifestyle news kind of thing because I thought acting wasn't feasible. And I was like, well, this is close. And so that's kind of like why I ended up going Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: there. And I've always been somebody I love talking to people. I love especially talking to people about like what they're passionate about. And so I was like, this is like my second Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: love, is I love talking to people. I love acting the most. But I was like, this is Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: probably a little easier to do. And my mom's a news anchor, so she has connections more in that world. So she was like, Please, I can help you if you do this. I can't help you if you act. And I Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: but I I started doing it and I like, I just I have to try acting. And then maybe I can do both one day. But Mike Winson: Yeah. So when you started the acting from it, did you start in the vertical world or did you start in other kinds of videos first? Nicole Mattox: Yeah, no, I started in indie traditional horizontal stuff. I kind of like it was literally like the universe had been telling me I needed to be acting, and I just kept ignoring it. Things just kept falling in my lap in such an amazing way. Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: I my first thing was there was this director. I was still living in Texas and I was producing and working on this lifestyle show. there was this director who was doing a commercial for the station I was working at. My mom happened to be involved somehow. I don't know how she was involved in this, but she heard him talking about how he's casting a feature film. And she was like, Hey, my daughter's Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: about to move to LA to go act. Like, could she audition? And at the time, he's like, my god, another parent pushing their child. Sure. Mike Winson: Yeah, I know. Nicole Mattox: She can audition and then was gonna just kind of like let it go. And then I auditioned, and he was like, wait, okay. and so that was my first ever movie. I think I did like four or five features and shorts before vertical. came into the picture when they were still called Mike Winson: Okay. So Nicole Mattox: like mobisodes. They are you. Mike Winson: So okay, so verticals start being a thing. Did you know they were verticals when they like did you know the difference between them when it started? You didn't. Nicole Mattox: What it was. No, I was like, I literally was just like, you'll pay me to act. Are you sure? Yes, I'll do it. I had no clue. They were still and they were called mobisodes at the time. They weren't even called like verticals Mike Winson: Right. Nicole Mattox: or micro dramas or anything yet. And I remember my agent had reached out to me. I think he had a client that was the lead of one. And I for a while was just like, I I'm not really, I don't really know what they are. I wasn't trying to audition. I wasn't not trying to audition. and he was like, Hey, my client, this client is the lead of this one and they need someone who can look like her sister. Could you just come in for this one day thing? It's acting. I don't know what it is. I wouldn't really recommend like doing a whole career on it, but like, cause I don't know what it is. But if you want to do a one day thing, I'll pay you to come do it. And I was like, sure, I'm free, why not? And then I was like, my God, this is a real set when I got to set. It was like the it was run well. It was so I was like, Okay, I'll start auditioning for them. And then it just kind of I got a lead and it Took off from there. Mike Winson: So what was what were your thoughts when you got to the point of actually like reading scripts for leads? Because verticals are a little different than than normal horizontal videos. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. So I truly my thought was, this will be a fun challenge. Because I never, from Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: my first one, I never was gonna lean into like the over-the-topness of it. I was always gonna be like, I'm gonna find a way to make this grounded. I'm gonna find a way to make this person a person. And that was always from my very first one. Mike Winson: Mm-hmm. Nicole Mattox: That was my thought process of it, which was bold of me because I didn't have a name in the space yet, and I didn't. There was no reason for me to be like going against what the script was saying to do. but I got lucky Mike Winson: Sure. Nicole Mattox: and they were letting me do it here and there. Sometimes I'd get some pushback, but but it it was truly it was like, okay, this is a challenge and this is fun for me because I'm a nerd. I've been a nerd. I was in marching band in high school. I was all a honoral, I've been a nerd my Mike Winson: Heck yeah. Nicole Mattox: whole life. And I love the homework of it. I love when I get the script before I go to set. I love doing the deep dives. I love finding out who the character is. I love it's like it's reading. It's it's fun. Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: It's the juice of it. So that's the part where I get to like find out Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: how to make this very over-the-top, written, usually a very one-dimensional character. And I can like find my own ways to kind of like make them more of a person and say the lines as scripted, but sound a little bit more realistic. so for me, I like, What a challenge, how great. Mike Winson: I want to talk about your your your a tw we I wanna wanna we're gonna talk about three different three different of your shows, but I want to talk about your a twist movie, buried alive back for revenge, because you were you were what was it like okay, I gotta Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: ask, what was it like getting buried alive? Nicole Mattox: It was so fun because I mean it was just it was the very it was the last scene of the day, thank God. And it was like Mike Winson: Was it really? Nicole Mattox: it was, yeah. It w well, it was mine. I think I think I think maybe Molly and Nick had one more scene after that, but I was like it was like Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: everything like buried and a dirt and everything was all the very last half of this one day. So it was like Mike Winson: Yeah. my gosh. Nicole Mattox: so it was fun though, because a lot of a lot of these is like Like you're in these really grimy circumstances, but like you're still pretty. And this one, they were like, We're gonna make you you just came out of the ground. Mike Winson: You looked you looked like you're miserable. Nicole Mattox: it was fun and I like, you get to lean into it. But I did, Mike Winson: And yeah. Nicole Mattox: I had dirt like trapped in my corset wedding dress. I was itchy. I was I smelled terrible. I had l like it was like so intense. But it it I loved it because it was so what the character is also experiencing. So Mike Winson: So when you did when you did that arm bust out right in the beginning, because that's for those listening, that's like the first, the first scene. Like the first scene is is you busting that arm out. Were you actually under dirt to bust out or was it like something else? Nicole Mattox: So here's actually a fun fact. That was a hand double because I was in hair and makeup for the rest of the scene. And they we were running out of time. And so they literally just grabbed somebody who had dainty-ish hands, and they're like, we don't have time for Nicole to get out of hair and makeup. Come here and do this hand shot. Mike Winson: Yeah, yeah. Nicole Mattox: Somebody else, so what they did is they had this like bed of mulch basically lifted up off the ground and just kind of like, she was able to kind of get under it a little bit and just. Do that. So it was like when Mike Winson: Just bust through it. Nicole Mattox: I arose, they had one layer of dirt covering me so that it could like fall off of me and Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: everything like that. But it was like all in it was like a little portable coffin that I just got to do my Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: do my thing in. Mike Winson: Well, and and I think one thing that's cool about it is because the other part is you're playing someone who formerly was blind, wasn't blind anymore, but had to pretend to be blind. Nicole Mattox: Mm-hmm. Mike Winson: And and that does kind of fit in with what you were talking about and how you like to prepare. How do you prepare to play a blind person? Nicole Mattox: It was really tough actually. And I knew it was gonna be a little hard, but it was tougher than I thought. because like Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: you said, it's the trying to find the differences because I wanted to also show the difference of like when I'm actually blind versus when I'm pretending to be blind versus when I can see. So Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: I like wanted to find those little things, which obviously I know not not everybody's gonna clock those things, but like again, I was like, challenge. so it was a lot of like, like I'm like, okay, so I I could play into what people think. blind people do when I was pretending to be blind. So I did a lot like I tried to do like little like shifts in my eyesight here. I just I f I lot blurred my vision out. It was a lot of trial error, trial Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: and error before I got to set of me recording myself and being like, do I Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: look blind here? but it was Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: it was hard. And it was hard when like Molly and Nick would like walk in front of me and I had to try I had to stay blind. Your eyes Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: want to follow whatever. So it was it was it was Mike Winson: Yep. That's what I was gonna say. Cause that that's one of the re that's one of the ways that I that you you did so good because there were the periods where you just they were walking all around you and you were really not focused on anyone because I would I would think that would be the hardest part for me for sure. Nicole Mattox: It was tough. And I and then the other thing is I had researched a how a lot of people will kind of like see through their ears because that's like the sense. So it's like if somebody's talking instead of looking at them, you're kind of like leaning an ear towards them. So I tried to do that. But yeah, it was again, it was just me nerding out. Mike Winson: And and that is actually really funny because in the I guess it was technically I think the second or third episode where you're inside and the the the statue falls and you're just staring there and they're talking about how they're gonna try and figure out if you're still blind and you do the voiceover for it, but you're like, they know I I'm not deaf, right? And And they do it the entire thing. It's so funny. That's what and that's what I love is a lot of the ones at least that I've seen of you in, you there's there is, I mean, even some of the serious ones, you just again I was I wasn't joking when I said you have your your smile, your face when you do things, it brings something to it that's just makes you it makes it more happy. And and it's one Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: thing I love about it. Nicole Mattox: the thing especially about this one usually I mean when the ones when they're the plot is so intense and out there and zany I I prefer to be like okay we are in on this joke like I want the audience to know that like we are we understand how insane this is and we're leaning into it and like full force we're Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Nicole Mattox: going for it. There are some sets that are like don't view it that way where they're like no this is art like this is so like subtle and what you know something like that and that for me I'm like if you take yourself too seriously it like kind of like ruins Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: like the spark of it and what makes it fun to watch. So Buried Alive was nice because the entire set everybody was like this premise is insane in the absolute best way possible and we all want to lean into it and we all like want it to be insane. And so that was like the best part about it. And I feel like that shone through you can tell we were all like yes we are eating it up. Mike Winson: sure. Like when you're when your co-star when he is escorting you out after and like he's you can see him physically like just wanting to throw up from the smell and he's like grab yeah, yeah. He grabs a little he's like follow me. Or or Nicole Mattox: Nick is hilarious, also. He's a very talented actor. Everybody in that cast Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: is just incredibly talented, which was so fun to play off. Mike Winson: Or even the last scene where your dad where your dad is surprisingly alive and he looks exactly the s it's like he went through the same thing you went through. Nicole Mattox: And he just has like a spoon tapes to him. Mike Winson: Yes. Nicole Mattox: It's so good. It was so they added the little you you Shaw Shanked. I Shaw Shanked. That was totally just Eric and John. Mike Winson: Yes! The shot sh. that was so good. Yeah. It was it was Nicole Mattox: That was so good. Yeah, that was a fun set. It was really fun. Mike Winson: Yeah. okay. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: Well, I I hate to I hate to change the direction as much as we're gonna change it, but I do want to talk about your other your other newest one step by step, which is a Super Punchy Studios, which you are A backer of or is it your studio like what? Okay. Nicole Mattox: Yes. I'm like, yeah, I'm I own like three percent of it. So it's you know, I'm just I'm part of the whole process. Mike Winson: Okay. So you're a backer. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. and it's it's just like really what it was is somebody who I have collaborated with on like horizontal world kind of things. I've helped him with some short Mike Winson: Mm-hmm. Nicole Mattox: films and it's just we have like a history and he said he wanted to get into verticals, and I was like, Yeah, and he was like, How do you feel about kind of being like a big part of it and doing s different kind of storytelling. And we could even get into like if you want to write things, which I'm not a writer, but eventually I'll get into that. I want to do a couple, let him let him take the lead for a couple. and so it was just like more of I want to support him and his vision and everything. And it's fun to work with people that I know. So that's kind of how it started. And now we're we're about to Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: Hopefully start filming our third one soon. Our second one with them is premiering in New York in a couple weeks at the Alza Film Festival. Mike Winson: Yeah, I I saw I think it was it was Seth, right? He was he was he was on a he was either getting on a plane or just got off or something like that, heading to New York. So Nicole Mattox: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's well, it's happening in a couple weeks. I think he's I think he's in Idaho right now. I might be wrong. Something like that. Mike Winson: he was might have been talking about New York. He jumped into Nicole Mattox: Probably. Mike Winson: someone else's live and was talking about Yeah. Yep. Nicole Mattox: That makes sense. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. So that's it's very exciting. But yeah, step by step was a it was a really fun one to do. And yeah, it was just a good team. Mike Winson: You had a lot of big names in step by step. Like a lot of big names. Nicole Mattox: It was all I was I was reaching out to everybody and I was like, Hey, would you do this for me? And everyone people were like, I'm free that day, Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: I'm free that day. And I was like, Yes. And I'm hoping Mike Winson: Heck yeah. Nicole Mattox: to do a true giant ensemble piece with them. That's our next goal. But that one's, I mean, the more people Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: you get involved, the harder it is, and the bigger everyone's roles are, the more days they're needed. And we'll see if that's doable. But Mike Winson: Well, I I always throw this out there with all all all the people. If you ever want a podcaster as a as a part of it, you know, who can sing too every once in a while. Okay. Sounds good. Perfect. Nicole Mattox: Deal, I'll reach out. yeah, I'll let you know. Well hopefully Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: we'll do this one in November. So keep your check your DMs that's Mike Winson: There you go. Nicole Mattox: fine. Mike Winson: Sound perfect. I got it. okay. So Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: step by step, in comparison to a lot of the other ones you did, is a very it's it's a lot more emotional, not not micro drama emotional, but very like deep and conflicting emotional. What was it like to go from doing the the somewhat more out there ish, silly ish. in many ways microdramas to doing something that had a lot of personal growth and pain and and and Nicole Mattox: More nuance. Mike Winson: struggle between the two main characters. Nicole Mattox: It was refreshing. It was really nice. It was, I mean, it that's kind it's where I started acting wise. And it's it's really what I love to do because naturally I'm when I'm acting, I'm actually I'm a very subtle actor naturally. I've had to really push and as a human being, I'm very expressive. For whatever reason, when I start acting, I'm like, I can drop all of that. And I am a very small Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: actor. And so it it was nice to kind of go. back to like, I can keep this just in my eyes. I don't have to like show the audience what I'm feeling because that's not the style of this one. so it was really Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: it was nice. It was like a nice break. the typical kind of more expressive, almost theater like acting for most verticals has been so helpful for me because it's brought me to like this happy medium as an actor of like, Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: okay, like showing a little bit but not crazy. And So I appreciate and I love doing those because it's like a boot camp. But this one, it was, it felt like less work. It was like, I can just relax into this character. And again, I loved doing all my homework and finding all those little subplots and stories and feelings and all of these things that nobody will ever know because it was just going on in my brain. but it was just fun. It Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: just it was nice. It felt like a vacation. Mike Winson: Well, and I think what was what was kind of almost, I guess jarring is kind of the word, especially if you've watched a lot of verticals, is it didn't end like you would think a vertical would end. Nicole Mattox: I know. Mike Winson: Like it seemed like it was gonna end like a vertical was gonna end. And then you guys went, who like did you know you were doing that at the beginning? Did like what was that did you was the goal to have it be very different from what you're used to in a vertical? Nicole Mattox: Yeah, so I mean I when I first read the script, the script was always written like that. Those I that was always how it was gonna end. That it's just very this writer's writing style. He is he's in the director's Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: style. And so he's just he's like he likes when tropes are kind of flipped on their head. And from the beginning, Sal, who's the director and is like really spearheading, super punchy, he was always like, Whatever verticals do, I want to do the opposite. And so there was also written in a slap Mike Winson: Yeah, well Nicole Mattox: at one point. And we he was and I was like, totally okay with the slap. It was I think I slapped Molly at one point. I was like totally okay with that. That is very vertical. And he was like, Okay, let's not do that. Let's what else can we do? And I think we switched like I pulled her hair or something. and so it was Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: just like which was still like the drama of it, but he was like, I just for the very first one. Want to really differentiate between super punchy and other vertical apps. And he loves, he watches them all the time. He loves verticals. but he was like, he just wanted to differentiate. He was like, I want this one to have the juiciness of the drama and the relationship tension and all of the like tropey kind of things, but he didn't want it to feel like every other app. And I really respected that. And I was like, I respect. Cause so many people come in and they're like, we're gonna change the game, we're gonna elevate verticals, we're gonna do this. That happens all the time. And a lot of people do, some people don't. What I respected was he respects the core of what makes verticals verticals, and he respects the vertical Mike Winson: Mm-hmm. Nicole Mattox: audience and he respects like the like cheesiness that people love, but still wanted to grow it with that. And so that was that for me was where I was like, Yeah, I'm in, let's do, let's do it. Cause I love the core of it. And, you know, at their core they're cheesy, they're drama, they're just fun, crazy circumstances that you can just enjoy and sit down and watch. So I l I love that. Mike Winson: Yeah. So I love to ask I like to ask this question. how many if you if you if you could guesstimate how many billionaires have you married, how many babies have you had, and how many wedding dresses have you gotten to wear? Nicole Mattox: It's great question. ooh, I mean, I think even in the ones where they're not billionaires, they're still billionaires. Like the sports ones and even like the college, Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: high school ones, they're still from billionaire families. So somewhere in the 50s Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: about billionaires I've been with, I've like ended up with. weddings, honestly, probably only half. Probably somewhere in the twenties. I feel like a lot of times I just end up engaged. no, but sometimes I'll have two weddings. Mike Winson: Yeah. Is is it weird? Is it weird? Nicole Mattox: V doing the wedding stuff. Mike Winson: Is it weird be yeah, is it weird doing the wedding stuff? Like, was it weird especially the first time? Nicole Mattox: Kind of thing, the first one, man, that would have been unwanted bride of Atticus Fawn. That's a huge throwback. It no, it wasn't it I mean, it's just another part of acting. It was j I mean, Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: it it is what it is. It's kind of fun because I'm like, Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Nicole Mattox: this wedding dress looks good on me. I don't love this one. So it's kind of that's kind of fun. Mike Winson: So you're already ready for whenever the day comes. You're like, I know exactly what's gonna look good on me. Yeah. Perfect. Nicole Mattox: Exactly. It's just working through all of it. So yeah, the wedding part is just you know, it's another thing. What sucks is when it's outside and you're in like layers of a wedding dress and it's summer. That's where I'm like, no. But even I mean the boys have it worse in that case because they're in their little their suits and everything. Mike Winson: Yeah. At least they get to take their shirts off a lot. Nicole Mattox: Yeah, that's true. It cools them down, which s but sucks for winter. But and then kids I Mike Winson: That's true. That is true. Nicole Mattox: think I've got I know. That's just you're never comfortable. You're you're in no clothes in the winter Mike Winson: No. Nicole Mattox: and you're in all clothes in the summer. And that's just Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: you put the pain into the acting, you know. Mike Winson: You know, you guys, you it you got it's just a feel for you guys. But you guys do it is crazy though. You Nicole Mattox: But it's fine. Mike Winson: got it is fun. I I'm serious. When I said if you guys ever want someone, I would I I have been in musicals, I've been acting, I I love doing this stuff. It just that what didn't end up being where I went. But I was like a I was a full-time karaoke online singer for a year. Nicole Mattox: What does that mean? Mike Winson: I would sing like 60 so there's a there's a yeah, I would sing 60 hours a week. I would sing karaoke online for people and people would would help support me. And I yeah, it was it was probably the most fun I've ever had in a job in my entire life. Yeah, I'll send you video I'll send you I'll send you some videos of it. Nicole Mattox: Can I find videos of this? I'm gonna go look it up. my god, I love that. my god. That's awesome. Mike Winson: Yeah. It's so fun. So I the the the idea of experiencing doing a vertical is is dream. Like I said, I've I've done like I used to do like Gilbert and Sullivan stuff back in you know, back in the day. And it's just that stuff's it's just so much fun to me. I I love the experience. I love Nicole Mattox: I can definitely I can get you on a super punchy set for sure. I'll make that happen. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mike Winson: Ooh, that would be so much fun. heck yeah. Okay. So you have been on many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many verticals. Many. Is Nicole Mattox: Yes. Mike Winson: there is there a vertical, a trope, a story, whatever that you have not gotten to do that if you could snap your fingers and just have it exist right now, that you would want to do? Nicole Mattox: man, so many. I mean, I want to do a Western one, and I know that is a thing, and I haven't I want to do Mike Winson: Ooh. Nicole Mattox: a Western one, I wanna do a military one because I come from a military family and I've never done a military one. Mike Winson: Yep. Nicole Mattox: So that for me, that's just like and I come from Texas. So those are my things where I'm like, these are part of who I am. Why have I not done them? and then I also, another one, I was on the dance team for most of my life. One of the things was I was like a kick, Mike Winson: Okay. Nicole Mattox: like a like Dallas Cowboys cheerleader vibe, like a kicker girl Mike Winson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nicole Mattox: and stuff. And so I wanted to do one for so long of like kick team versus football player and it's the forbidden love because they're not supposed to be together, that kind of thing. So that's a storyline I want to do too. just kind of everything that has something to do with me, I would love to do. Mike Winson: So so if you did a military one, you you'd also want to be an Air Force pilot, probably, right? Because that's what your dad was. Yeah. Yeah. That Nicole Mattox: Yes. Yes. Exactly. I know. That would be ideal. Let's do Top Gun. Mike Winson: would be really cool. We should totally do it. Anyone, any, any producer that's listening, come on. What are you waiting for? Nicole Mattox: Let's do Top Gun. I also, I mean, there's just so many. I also wanna do a like Ocean's Eleven all girls ensemble piece. That's something I wanna do. Mike Winson: Okay. I I I we have to talk after we hit after we hit done because I have an interest I have something very interesting to talk to you about about that. Anyways, okay, we'll Nicole Mattox: So Okay, deal. Mike Winson: move on. okay, so as someone that has was called Nicole Mattox: Yes. Mike Winson: the vertical queen of 2025, Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: which is it's funny. In the sense of I n I have friends who call themselves the vertical queens, by the way. but so that's did you what does it feel like to know to go from, you know, someone who who thought, I wanna do this, to hit a point where you like were called the vertical queen. Nicole Mattox: It is surreal. It is. Because it's it's just one of those things Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: that's like like you do it because you love to do it. And so then when you get things from it, it's just like it's j it's mind blowing because you don't think about like kind of where everything goes, I guess. And so when people when people are coming to me like, hey, this made an impact on me, or I love your things specifically. It's just like it it's one of those Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: things like, wow, like I I one am making a difference to people, which is just kind of all you could ever want in life. And two, it's like, I this thing that I've thought I could do forever, like people also think I can do. And it's just like it's it's just it's like that little five-year-old me who was in the first play in her whole life, where it's like, hey, other people support you too. And that girl who was like, I'm not gonna Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: be an actor because it's not feasible. So it's one of those things where it's just like it's nostalgic, it's mind blowing, it's it's just it's really It's humbling also, because the other part of that is I'm like, whoa, now I I wanna it puts the pressure on me. Well, I I guess I put the pressure on me, but to like keep making content that's good and that people can connect with and that people who have already seen me would like still be proud of and be like, Yeah, no, see I knew I liked watching her stuff. So that's it's it's humbling and it it it keeps me working hard, which is really nice. Mike Winson: Well, you have definitely been working hard and you're taking a break from working hard for for a whole month. How Nicole Mattox: For a month. Mike Winson: how does that feel? Like Nicole Mattox: It's nice, but I'm also kind of I'm taking the month. I'm doing an acting intensive, which is gonna be pretty much every day of that month also, just to kind of get back into like my acting. Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: So I'm taking a break from working. I'm getting I'm taking a Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: break from getting paid, but I'm still gonna be working. but I'm I Mike Winson: Hey, you know Nicole Mattox: mean, it's nice because then I get to do things like this and I get to do my do some press. Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: I get to do just chat to people, connect with people, see my friends. Which is nice. So I'm I'm excited, I'm happy, but I'm Mike Winson: Yeah. Very nice. It it's Nicole Mattox: already having set withdrawals. Mike Winson: Now, okay, so obviously one of the things that has hit the vertical world a lot is is AI. And we don't need to go crazy into it because but it has been a struggle for a lot of people in the vertical world. has it affected you at all? And you know, where do you see vert where do you see AI? in verticals going forward. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. So I mean it it absolutely has. I think everybody's gotten less offers and there's just straight up less being made live action-wise. I've been Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Nicole Mattox: incredibly fortunate where I have still consistently been able to work. but it is also like I I used to have like, I've got 10 scripts I can choose from and I can pick the best one, and that's not Mike Winson: Right. Nicole Mattox: necessarily the case anymore. So sometimes I'm like, I need to pay rent. So I this is the one I'm going with. Mike Winson: I need to get paid, yeah. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. So it's that that part's been a little bit of an adjustment, but I I've been very fortunate. I've been just it's been incredible. I can't I can't complain about it. I more so see how it's affecting crew members who are losing their jobs. I'm seeing people who Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: weren't getting paid necessarily what leads get paid and and that's really affecting their life and their livelihoods. And it's that that's really where for me I have the issue with AI is I'm like this is affecting so much more than just like male, female lead, and now we don't get to choose what scripts we do. So it's like for me I'm like like I'm like watching my friends like really deeply suffer for it. And that's where I have the issue Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: with it. I don't see AI going away is the thing. the other issue I have is when not just an AI production happens, but when Apps use AI to make the actors do things they didn't do in real life and in real performance. They will I've seen them change actors' facial expressions because they decided they wanted them to do something else, or I've seen them do very lewd things that they did not do and they did not agree to doing. And Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: that is where I that's a real problem, and that's just not Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: okay. I think AI productions, that's not going away. It's kind of like new age animation. Is kind of the thing, which is taking away animator shops. A whole other thing. but I think it's gonna coexist. I think there's gonna be genres that AI really excels in, and there's genres that real people are gonna really excel in. And I think anything that is truly human connection based needs to be live Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: action. That needs to be live action. You can't you can't fake like a a story that's based on like human connection and chemistry and like those love like love stories. You can't. You can't do that. If it's like, Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: this is a battle, or this is like aliens, and this is like and it's just like to be cool and have these fight scenes. I think Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: obviously I would like to be doing those because I wanna be an alien. I want to do those things. But I think I can see Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: how with the budget constraints, AI's gonna take that one over live action. But you know, I think there's a happy medium where we're gonna have to just all get along and figure it out, but I w obviously wish I want everything to be live action, human made, ideally. Mike Winson: Yeah. Well, speak speaking of AI and a and and quote unquote fighting against it, you are going to be on a new movie that is called Perfect Date that was created by a friend of mine, Lawson Grayson and Brit Brittany, I can never say her last name. Nicole Mattox: Yeah, I don't try. Mike Winson: Can't remember. I don't try. But Brittany and then and then another person. but do you wanna do you wanna just talk about perfect date a little bit, let people know about the whole the story and what you're doing in it and stuff? Nicole Mattox: Absolutely. So it was, it's made by humans for humans, first off, which is the best part. Which is also the kind of thing where I'm like, I'm thankful the AI thing happened because it is pushing people to create more. And so this is one of those things where Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: we were all like, hey, work is slowing down. Let or I say we, this was really them. This was really Faye, Brittany, and Lawson. They were like, let's make something. And so they made this rom com that's so cute and so amazing. And Like one of those, just something that we've been missing for a while. and they Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: just reached out to friends. Lawson reached out to me about it and was please, would you do it? She before she even finished the words, would you do this for me? I was like, Yes, let's do it. I'm in. Send me the script right now. Read the script, fell in love with it. It's just a really good, cute story. I'm playing like the little sister who's getting married, which I'm really excited about. So it's just, it's gonna be really exciting. Mike Winson: That's so cool. Nicole Mattox: It's really fun. It's people who love each other. working together and creating something because we want to create and we want to do things. We want to give people jobs. Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: And like it's just it's n it's it's gonna be, I think, really refreshing in the in the era of AI. Mike Winson: absolutely. not to mention just those those three ladies are just amazing people. And and I I can't imagine how much fun you're gonna have with director Lawson at the helm. It's gonna be hilarious. Nicole Mattox: But she's also like she's so good at getting things done. Like Mike Winson: She's Nicole Mattox: she's gonna kill. She's gonna kill. It's gonna be, I mean, there's just no way this isn't gonna be an amazing experience because all three of them care about like if everybody's having a good time and everyone's taken care of. But also it's gonna be efficient and good. So I'm excited. Mike Winson: Yep. Yep. And and and the last positive, it's it's a all women owned company that's gonna Nicole Mattox: Mm-hmm. Mike Winson: have women in in a lot of the parts, whether it's crew or whatever. And I think that's also a some place that is sorely missing in in Hollywood. So that's also really good. Nicole Mattox: It is. It's it's it's amazing. It's giving women jobs. It's wim like it's a story written by women for everybody. but it is it's that cutesy rom com situation. It's gonna be a safe set, it's gonna be a fun set, and it's gonna be like it's gonna the story itself is just has so much love put into it. So Mike Winson: Yeah. I I told I told Lawson that when the filming starts I need to come and do a behind the scenes of the of the shooting. Nicole Mattox: Yeah, that'd be awesome. All right, we'll make that happen. Mike Winson: Yeah. Okay. So what I want to do now, I call it a I call it a speed round. it's Nicole Mattox: Okay. Mike Winson: basically just a bunch of very simple questions. It's it easy simple. favorite coffee order. Nicole Mattox: I mean vanilla latte, the coffee I have right now is just a coffee with Splenda and two sugars though. So one of the two. Mike Winson: Okay. sweet or savory breakfast. Nicole Mattox: Sweet. I have a sweet tooth. Mike Winson: What's your go to? Nicole Mattox: Waffles with strawberries. S Mike Winson: Ooh, do you put whipped cream on too? Nicole Mattox: Of course. You to. I love it. Mike Winson: You said sweet, so I should have known. Nicole Mattox: Yes. Mike Winson: beach or mountains? Nicole Mattox: That's so tough beach. Mike Winson: Yeah. Okay. I mean you do live there. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: now I know you say you're not much of a singer, but go to karaoke song. Nicole Mattox: Before he cheats, without a doubt. Mike Winson: Before he cheats. There you go. dogs or cat. That's true. That's true. Nicole Mattox: Cause then the whole audience starts singing with you. I have to go dogs because I'm allergic to cats, but I love all animals. Mike Winson: That's so sad. That's so sad. It just gets to you later. That's fair. Nicole Mattox: I know. I still put I still hold them and cuddle them. It just it gets to me later. I just push through. Mike Winson: favorite comfort food. Nicole Mattox: Na either mac and cheese or chicken parm. Mike Winson: Ooh, both very, very good. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: And and you know you know mac and cheese from being in Texas, so Nicole Mattox: Mm-hmm. Yes, I do. Mike Winson: la last show you binged. Nicole Mattox: Grey's Anatomy. But I g I have tried to watch the whole thing so many times. It's never ending. I I've never I can't I've never get to the end of it. But I Mike Winson: Do you just start at the beginning and not get all the way through? Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. I never pick it back up halfway. I know. Mike Winson: You ca you just gotta remember where you stop and keep going. Nicole Mattox: I never do that because usually if I'm binging a show, I'm like, it's for the comfort of I've already seen this. So I'm like, well, I haven't seen this part. Let me start over. And then I never I never get Mike Winson: That's fair. That's fair. Nicole Mattox: all the way through it. Mike Winson: morning person or night owl? Nicole Mattox: Night owl. without a doubt. I'm not a morning person. It takes me forever to wake up. Mike Winson: favorite season. Nicole Mattox: Fall pumpkin spice. Yeah. Mike Winson: Gotta love fall. Mm-hmm. I grew up I grew up in Massachusetts, so fall is Nicole Mattox: You got to see the leaves. Mike Winson: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Have you gotten to go to to Nicole Mattox: See ya. Mike Winson: New England in the fall? Nicole Mattox: No, I've never been. Like, period. Okay, good to know. Mike Winson: You have to. You you you have to. You have to go to you have to go like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, something like that. New Hampshire, Nicole Mattox: Yeah. Mike Winson: if you really want to see like the leaves, New Hampshire is the place to go. Nicole Mattox: Okay, good to know. Maybe I'm gonna I'll work to book something maybe. Right now over there. Mike Winson: Yeah. Well I know they do s I know they do stuff in Massachusetts, so it's definitely plausible. And New Hampshire's not far away. Nicole Mattox: Yeah. I no I did do I d I filmed in Bost or in Gloucester, Gloucester, something like that, or outside of Boston, but it was January. Yeah, yeah, Gloucester, of course, of course. Mike Winson: Gloucester, yeah. Gloucester. If you wanna get Boston accent, you gotta go Gloucester. Nicole Mattox: Gloucester, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I but it was January and it was snowing and freezing and really tough. Mike Winson: Yes. So I grew up that's crazy that you were up there because I grew up right near Gloucester. Nicole Mattox: No way. It was a beautiful town, but I I'm not built for snow. I the first night it snow like we got there. Mike Winson: Yeah. Gloucester is gorgeous. No. No, Texas and Texas and LA? No, probably not. Nicole Mattox: It's not me. It's not me. I we got there and it had not snowed yet. It was cold, but it hadn't snowed yet. We fell asleep, woke up, it had it snowed so much. The first second I stepped outside, one foot outside, one foot inside, I slipped down a whole thing of stairs and I sat in the snow and I was like, this is not gonna go well. It was so immediate. It was so immediate. I was like, Mike Winson: that is so good. Nicole Mattox: Yeah, it was tough. Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: It was tough. And of course I'm in little Mike Winson: Wow. Nicole Mattox: lace outfits the whole time. Mike Winson: Right, of course, cause that that totally makes sense. Nicole Mattox: I know. Mike Winson: okay, sweet treat you can't say no to. Nicole Mattox: Any of I can't say no to any sweet. man. Mike Winson: Okay, what's your top? Like fair. Okay. Nicole Mattox: Okay, right now I switch it up. Right now I'm on I mean, j like ice cream and a warm brownie or a warm cookie is I think the one that I'll never ever ever Mike Winson: Hm. Nicole Mattox: ever be able to say no to. But right now I'm on like I'm doing little Mike Winson: What's your what's your go to ice cream? Nicole Mattox: If it's on top of a cookie or something, it's just gonna be vanilla. But go to in general, I usually will go to salt and straw. It's right down from the street from my house. And I'll get a lavender ice cream and then one of their like rotational seasonal ice creams. But a lavender ice cream Mike Winson: You're the the second person that said lavender ice cream. I've never tried it, I've never even seen it. Nicole Mattox: So good. It's like refreshing. It's nice and summery. Mike Winson: Wow, interesting. I'm gonna have to try it. Nicole Mattox: It's a sign. It's a sign. Mike Winson: It's a sign you are the second person. Real or dream partner to either do like a karaoke with or act with? Nicole Mattox: Ooh. Okay, dream partner to act with would be probably Rachel McAdams, just because I've looked up to her career. I just feel like, you know, we're like Mike Winson: Ooh. Nicole Mattox: similar type and I just I've looked up to like everything she's done. Mike Winson: Yep. I can see that. Nicole Mattox: karaoke with, god, anybody who's a bad singer, because I can't keep up with any of the grades. Danny DeVito, I don't know. Mike Winson: There you go. That would be fun, actually. That would be hilarious. That would be so much fun. Nicole Mattox: nee, blast. Actually, he probably can see these things, so probably not even. Mike Winson: It's I mean, who knows? if you had a free day with no plans, what would you do? Nicole Mattox: Ooh, probably get go get a sandwich and go to the beach. That'd Mike Winson: Mm. Nicole Mattox: be probably my my vibe. Or just Mike Winson: Yeah. Nicole Mattox: like call all my friends and be like, who's around? Happy hour? One of the two Mike Winson: True. That's true. Nicole, thank you so much for for coming in here and hanging out and letting me get to talk to you and learn more about you. I really appreciate it. Nicole Mattox: This was so fun. Thank you for having me. And we'll get you on a super punchy stud. Mike Winson: Absolutely. I would love that. I would love that. for anyone that is living under a rock and does not know who you are or where to find Nicole Mattox: Yes. Mike Winson: you on social media, where can they find you? Nicole Mattox: You guys can find me on Instagram at Nicole Maddox underscore or TikTok at Nicole underscore Maddox. And I just recently was on a different show and I flip-flopped them, but those are the correct ones. Mike Winson: Okay, good. We'll verify Nicole Mattox: Mm. Mike Winson: and we'll make sure they're all in the description just in case. Nicole Mattox: Spell cra yeah, yeah. Mike Winson: yeah, yeah. again, thank you so much for being here. For everyone else that that got this far, that got to the end. Thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it. Please hit all those buttons down below. Like, subscribe, comment, share, all that stuff. It makes it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing, which is talk to amazing people like Nicole right here. And for those of you that may be new to this podcast, breaking the meta is about having hard conversations when necessary. Fighting to break the status quo and the idea that all people, no matter your race, religion, gender, or identity, deserve rights, respect, dignity, and safety. Again, Nicole, thank you so much for being here. And everyone else, we'll see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye, guys.