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Exclusive Interview: Mateo Davis and Alexander Pobutsky of Detroit Public Theatre's 'King James' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  King James is arriving soon at Detroit Public Theater and today we're talking with two of the cast members from this production, Alexander Pobutsky and Matteo Davis.
• 0:06
  Thank you so much for being here.
• 0:08
  Also, thank you for having us.
• 0:09
  Our pleasure, my treasure.
• 0:11
  So you're currently in the middle of rehearsals for this production, Mateo.
• 0:14
  How has the rehearsal process been so far?
• 0:17
  it's been great.
• 0:17
  It's honestly just, I enjoy being in the rehearsal space, being in the rehearsal room, being able to work, figure things out.
• 0:22
  Cause you know, you do a lot outside of it.
• 0:24
  And so being able to come together, bring different ideas into the room is great.
• 0:29
  It's been a wonderful time.
• 0:31
  Alexander, how about for you.
• 0:32
  What's it been like?
• 0:33
  Awful no, I it's been um, I find that it's just always interesting how even if you're like super tired Or you're just like I don't want to be here you constantly keep making new
• 0:45
  discoveries in the material em Things that you've I mean you go over lines I spend my mornings just going like walking down Dequindre Cut and I would just go over the lines in
• 0:55
  my head or from the script and when you're doing that you often come up with ideas, but I feel like um
• 1:02
  Yeah, just when you're in the rehearsal space, something different is happening.
• 1:05
  It is truly, it might sound pretty cliche and maybe somewhat cringe, but the depth of the art is like sort of infinite, you know?
• 1:13
  There's always new stuff to discover, which is daunting and terrifying and also exciting.
• 1:20
  Yeah.
• 1:20
  Absolutely, you know, this is where you're kind of growing your characters and the story is kind of finding itself with the two of you.
• 1:27
  We had a really big shift actually, think, yeah, think we were doing some work on the first scene in particular, and this is a play about friendship, and just something clicked
• 1:38
  where it totally changed very much in my opinion, I think you probably agree, that the friendship really clicked in, or at least the spark of friendship really clicked in the
• 1:48
  first scene, and it kind of changed the rest of the show, for me at least personally.
• 1:53
  Yeah, you can see like the development.
• 1:55
  can see how from the beginning how that friendship can progress and then it's represented throughout the rest of the show.
• 2:04
  sure.
• 2:04
  And so for those who maybe aren't familiar with the what this play is, King James, Mateo, what's kind of the story without giving away too much?
• 2:12
  I'd say overall it's a story about friendship.
• 2:17
  Yeah, friendship.
• 2:19
  With King James and the idea of it, a lot of people assume that it's just about basketball, but basketball is just sort of like the foil or what is used in order to
• 2:28
  express the deeper themes of the show.
• 2:31
  So overall, yeah, I think it's a show about friendship and how two guys interact and go through life together with basketball being the focal point or the fulcrum in which
• 2:42
  they both kind of teeter on or find connection with.
• 2:47
  For sure, absolutely.
• 2:48
  You know, with a play that is centered around the fandom of LeBron James, how do you feel like that kind of shapes the emotional core of the story?
• 2:55
  I think it shifts it uh quite a bit because especially the characters are from Cleveland Heights.
• 3:00
  And so being that they are Cleveland natives and things like that, they have a whole uh deeper appreciation and understanding of LeBron James throughout his entire career.
• 3:07
  So from knowing him, seeing him blow up as a high school um player, then play for the Cavs, then just to leave, you know, and then come back.
• 3:17
  There's a whole lot of emotional turmoil that they go through in his whole trajectory and that kind of their whole relationship.
• 3:25
  kind of plays against that, know, in the problems that they face and things like that.
• 3:30
  Sure, absolutely.
• 3:32
  So Alexander, with this story, what was it about this story or this production that really drew you to wanting to be a part of it?
• 3:38
  man, the paycheck?
• 3:40
  Hello?
• 3:40
  No.
• 3:44
  As an actor?
• 3:44
  um I think, yeah.
• 3:49
  I think the show is just lighter than stuff I usually do.
• 3:51
  um I also get to be, I feel like pretty goofy in this show.
• 3:58
  um The last couple shows I did at...
• 4:04
  the public were pretty heavy emotionally.
• 4:07
  This one is a lot less heavy.
• 4:09
  also it was just about, I feel like I don't see stuff about friendship a ton.
• 4:14
  And every time I do, there's like two things I love seeing, like rivalry.
• 4:18
  Ugh, sign me up.
• 4:20
  Like movies like Amadeus or I remember really liking Rush.
• 4:25
  m or just about friendship like there's that Indian movie that came out called RRR which is just about these two guys that are friends.
• 4:32
  It's a crazy movie.
• 4:34
  It's totally bananas, but there's just something about stories about people just being friends, you know, and like um that really drew me in.
• 4:44
  I'm a very, I'm really big on chosen family in my own life.
• 4:47
  So just my friends are my life.
• 4:51
  I think having community is what makes being in a human body tolerable for the most part, in a way, you know?
• 5:01
  For sure.
• 5:01
  As a psychologist, can agree and attest to that.
• 5:04
  human connection is super, super important and it's what makes life tolerable in many instances, but also is the best part of life at the same time.
• 5:13
  Yeah, especially with a friendship in particular because without the sexual or romantic aspect, there's so much less stuff to...
• 5:19
  there's so much less bullshit to deal with.
• 5:21
  I keep forgetting we can cuss on here.
• 5:22
  There's so much less bullshit we have to deal with.
• 5:24
  ah Not even bullshit, but just like...
• 5:28
  they're just almost easier to navigate in a lot of ways.
• 5:30
  But they also have the same pain when they end, too.
• 5:34
  Maybe not the same, but friendships are just...
• 5:37
  Yeah.
• 5:37
  it is still that love, you know?
• 5:39
  The connection between the friends.
• 5:42
  Sure, absolutely.
• 5:42
  And this play does say a lot about friendship and loyalty, kind of over time, over a lifetime.
• 5:47
  heavy on the loyalty.
• 5:48
  Yes.
• 5:49
  for sure.
• 5:49
  ah So Mateo, for you, besides the paycheck, what was it that kind of spoke to you when you first kind of saw the script?
• 5:55
  Um, and actually I love that you said you're a psychologist because first of all, like if I didn't get into theater, I was either going to go into psychology or interior design or
• 6:02
  costume design.
• 6:04
  absolutely.
• 6:05
  So for me it was genuinely the psychology of it.
• 6:10
  I love acting because I like being able to understand a different point of view or a different character's point of view.
• 6:16
  Being able to go into the script to break it down and then you know there are certain things that are given to you within the script but I love being able to search through it
• 6:24
  and figure out okay what is unsaid that helps define or inform the character and so especially with this being a show with only two actors only two characters speaking I love
• 6:35
  the idea of being able to just be able to get into it, break it down.
• 6:39
  Because there's nothing else to really worry about besides why are you doing what you're doing, you know what I mean?
• 6:44
  And so yeah, that's what really drew me to it was being able to understand who this character was without all the other...
• 6:51
  Their perspectives also flip-flop.
• 6:53
  Like they sort of switch roles constantly throughout the show and I found that really interesting.
• 6:59
  Like when they're Jordan fans or when they're LeBron fans or like when they're mad when they're not.
• 7:05
  They both just as individuals, but also as a pair they just like have these role reverses that are really interesting and Just yeah strange to gauge and figure out
• 7:18
  I mean, that has to be kind of awesome to dig in as an actor, but at the same time, it kind of like they're reckoning to be the only two kind of up there?
• 7:26
  Absolutely.
• 7:27
  I mean it's a draw for sure doing a two-hander like it's cool uh to be on stage the whole time and it's just me and one other person.
• 7:33
  I'm sure you feel that but yes it's terrifying.
• 7:38
  There's so many lines and there's so many fucking lines.
• 7:42
  I we have each other but there's so many goddamn lines.
• 7:47
  Which I mean, there's no one else to kind of like fall back on besides the other person.
• 7:50
  You know what I mean?
• 7:51
  Like you can't hide behind, you know, a wall if you need to for a second.
• 7:55
  It's just the two of you.
• 7:56
  the story's always about us.
• 7:57
  Yeah, it's never like, I'm just sitting here and I get to just do nothing.
• 8:01
  We're, one of us is always talking, you know?
• 8:04
  And when we're not talking, we're acting, you know?
• 8:08
  So Matteo, you're playing Shawn Who is Shawn to you?
• 8:12
  Shawn actually gives a little bit.
• 8:15
  I see a lot of myself or like my younger self in him, know There's almost a chip on the shoulder, you know, he has a point to prove Nothing was really handed to him as a kid And
• 8:25
  so he there's like this drive in order to prove things to him not only to himself, but to others And so I find that I find my I do that a lot in just terms of proving things to
• 8:38
  myself going after different things because it's like okay, what can I
• 8:42
  Or you know, even sometimes I might say I want to do something and somebody's like, yeah, no, I don't think that's gonna work out.
• 8:47
  And then it's like, no, I got this.
• 8:49
  Like I have a vision in my head of what I really want or what I want to go after.
• 8:53
  And so I'm gonna do what I can in order to accomplish that.
• 8:56
  And I find that Shawn does that a lot within his own life from when he was a kid all the way up until, you know, he's 33, going after what he wants, figuring out how to accomplish
• 9:05
  that no matter what stands in his way at that point.
• 9:09
  You said that you mentioned that this has a little bit of you in it, but also where do you begin processing and developing a character such as him?
• 9:18
  do I begin?
• 9:19
  Essentially, I just really start with the script, the words, figuring out what are the facts.
• 9:24
  All right, what is said about him?
• 9:26
  What does he say about himself?
• 9:29
  And then from there, I start to try to needle through what can I relate to?
• 9:32
  What can I not relate to?
• 9:33
  uh They say this about him or, you know, they use this adjective to describe him.
• 9:38
  So why at that point did they choose that adjective?
• 9:42
  What can I use from the script that supports whatever adjective they use to describe him?
• 9:46
  Things like that.
• 9:47
  That's usually what
• 9:47
  I begin and then from there that's why we like rehearsals is because I can take any questions ideas I have in my head and then shoot them out and then get different people's
• 9:56
  perceptions their own understanding of the words and then you know from there combine those to figure out okay what works what doesn't you know
• 10:06
  I love that because you're starting with an outward perspective of who, know, who Shawn is and then figuring out internally who does that, does it match?
• 10:13
  then that cognitive dissonance or not and where that sets with everything.
• 10:18
  Exactly, And then getting into the rehearsal space and then be able to figure out the physicality of it is, at least for me, the next step.
• 10:26
  Alexander, you're playing Matt.
• 10:27
  And so who's Matt to you?
• 10:29
  I think that Matt on paper seems really like Well, he is for sure privileged, but he's also he seems obnoxious and I think he's a lot to be around He's pretty high-energy and I
• 10:44
  think a big personality takes up a lot of space but I think that behind that veneer is someone who Wasn't like super believed in growing up
• 10:57
  I think that he is incredibly loving and just super down to make friends.
• 11:02
  He's not one of those people that's like, go to work and I do that then I go home.
• 11:06
  I think he's actively seeking connection.
• 11:09
  all the time.
• 11:10
  mean, it's evident from the first few pages of the script when he meets Shawn, he's just like making conversation about kind of nothing.
• 11:17
  like Shawn there to do something and Matt is very much just like, let's just chat.
• 11:21
  Like we're two boys in here.
• 11:22
  Let's just have fun.
• 11:24
  I think that he's very young.
• 11:25
  think he'll probably, he's one those people that'll be like a kid his whole life in a good way and probably in some negative ways too.
• 11:34
  And I think he has a lot of ambition.
• 11:38
  Yeah.
• 11:39
  Okay.
• 11:40
  that I wouldn't be afraid to do, for sure.
• 11:43
  mean, there's something exciting about that though, playing a character that is just so forwardly outgoing, know?
• 11:49
  That is maybe very out of touch with yourself.
• 11:52
  Seeking naturalism, know or just like being like be subtle and I actually think that Matt is not subtle in a lot of ways And that's it's scary to play I'm also like I'm very big in
• 12:03
  my own life and like loud and I'm a personality but I think that Matt yeah, it's fun to play like just a Big personality.
• 12:12
  I don't have to like not everything doesn't to be subdued, you know, I mean it'll be a journey Finding that balance but that that will come in shows I think as opposed to
• 12:22
  rehearsal
• 12:23
  which is all beast, you know?
• 12:26
  So is your developmental process for Matt similar to Matteo's for Shawn, or do you differ in your process a little bit?
• 12:33
  I think in some ways, mean, what Mateo said is great about the, just starting with the words, you know?
• 12:38
  em I don't know that I have a specific process.
• 12:43
  I think that every character's different.
• 12:44
  I think that's something that I'm doing now in this era of my life.
• 12:47
  I mean, we have a big age gap.
• 12:49
  I'm nine years older than Mateo.
• 12:50
  um
• 12:52
  And like, just at this point in my work, think that I'm really trying to fully be myself.
• 13:00
  And I think that there is this mythologization of acting, of like, that you get away from yourself.
• 13:06
  And I think that that's kind of like...
• 13:10
  ho-hum nonsense, you know, we have people like Daniel Lewis and you're like he disappears in the role and whatever but I think that ultimately actors are always really being
• 13:18
  themselves and The more you do that the more interesting it is the more real it is I think I've often played ideas of scenes I mean, I've been doing this long enough now that I
• 13:29
  trust in my craft I You know, I know how to like know the lines and like say the lines and I think I understand these characters I'm also really a feelings based person
• 13:40
  Not necessarily like I Need to know all of these details.
• 13:45
  I mean, it's fun to know the details and stuff, but I relate generally to people and characters on a feelings level like I I don't think I'm received in the same way as Matt,
• 13:55
  but I know what it's like to feel
• 13:57
  you know, like I'm too much or that I'm failing or, you know, excited about something um or just like pumped to make friends, you know, I think in that way it's easier for me to
• 14:08
  relate to stuff.
• 14:09
  um But yeah, right now the goal is to just be myself.
• 14:15
  You see people like McConaughey or Michael Cera or...
• 14:18
  um
• 14:20
  know Eddie Murphy like any number of actors that are just like they're just themselves and it's not a problem it's not like yeah that's that's my answer
• 14:30
  I mean, I think it definitely leads to authenticity, which would make sense.
• 14:33
  You're finding the authentic self and also authentically finding me.
• 14:37
  It's not that you're not acting.
• 14:38
  It's that you blend the two.
• 14:40
  It's not that you remove yourself to become this other thing.
• 14:43
  I mean, you we watch specific actors for specific reasons.
• 14:47
  You know, like we watch Tom Hardy because he's really intense and there's like this wild card nature to him or like, I can't, for some reason, I can't think of any single actor
• 14:58
  ever uh in this moment.
• 15:00
  That's fair though.
• 15:01
  I mean, I know what mean.
• 15:02
  Yeah, everybody kind of has their identity and part of that is blending the two making there's Yeah, for sure
• 15:09
  And we want to see Michael Cera be awkward.
• 15:11
  Like, him being awkward is no one, it's like almost un-mimicable, that level of awkwardness, you know?
• 15:17
  And for him to remove himself from that would be like, what a shame, you know?
• 15:22
  Sure.
• 15:23
  So with there's been so many themes here, friendship, loyalty, know, what material do you feel like is the theme that really resonates the most with most with you with where you're
• 15:32
  at in your life right now?
• 15:34
  Ooh, no, that's a good question.
• 15:38
  Actually, crazy enough, and I don't want to keep harping on it, bringing it back, but I would say it's like the friendship aspect because um at this point in my life, I have been
• 15:47
  analyzing a lot of the friendships, acquaintances, people that I have in my own life, you know, um figuring out timing and hanging out, things like that is like, you know, because
• 15:58
  as you get older, you start realizing or you realize that...
• 16:03
  Some people are only in your life for a season.
• 16:05
  Some people are only in your life for a time or things like that.
• 16:09
  And you know, have to be okay with sometimes they were good in the moment, but you you no longer line up.
• 16:15
  And so, you may have to let that relationship not die necessarily, but you know, changes the dynamic of it.
• 16:21
  And so, I find that in the play, there's a lot of figuring out where they fit into each other's lives with basketball.
• 16:27
  And so, that's kind of where I'm at is you know, just trying to...
• 16:32
  Just trying to figure out how or what adult friendships look like at this point oh and finding time for that and what that looks like.
• 16:43
  It's an important thing to explore.
• 16:44
  mean, adult friendships are much different than like teenager, young adult friendships.
• 16:48
  it's hard to make friends as an adult unless you get outside or you're out in a community doing something or whatever, you know, it's very difficult.
• 16:56
  And so, yeah, you know, finding those relationships and then also figuring out maintaining them is a large part of what I'm doing right now.
• 17:08
  Alexander, you look like you disagree there.
• 17:09
  Do you feel like it's easier to make friends as you get older?
• 17:12
  I don't think it's easier, but I think there's friends everywhere.
• 17:16
  But I'm also...
• 17:18
  I love making friends.
• 17:20
  Like I said, it's what life's about.
• 17:21
  just get in a volleyball league or a pickleball league or take an improv class, take a class of any kind.
• 17:28
  You have to actively thirst for it.
• 17:29
  Yeah, I mean...
• 17:31
  But I don't know that I'm...
• 17:33
  I've never gone from the standpoint of like, I'm gonna go make friends, but...
• 17:38
  Yeah, and I do understand that for some people it's harder, of course, know, I've just...
• 17:44
  Socialization has become a survival mechanism for me, so I just like...
• 17:49
  It's the spice of life, as it were.
• 17:52
  Yeah, for sure.
• 17:53
  You know, there are some people like during COVID that they completely thrived on having to be around people and there's some people that needed that connection, you know, so it
• 17:59
  just depends on who you are as a person.
• 18:02
  No thanks.
• 18:04
  oh But back to the themes, Alexander, is there any theme that really resonates with where you're at in your life right now?
• 18:09
  I mean, you took my fucking answer.
• 18:11
  ah I think that it's not just friendship.
• 18:19
  mean, at this stage in my life, I'm gonna stop saying that phrase at some point in this interview, but ah at this stage in my life.
• 18:28
  I found that it's not just friendship that resonates with me, but like there's certain friends that are just family and you're like, and I've grown apart from certain people and
• 18:38
  there's been moments in my life where people have done things where I'm like, this is a deal breaker for me.
• 18:42
  And then you live without them in your life for a while and you're like, I don't know that it's a deal breaker.
• 18:48
  Like I'd rather that we like move on from that thing that felt unforgivable.
• 18:53
  and we maintain this friendship.
• 18:55
  And that's not a spoiler of the play of any kind, it's just generally speaking that like, of like, this person is family to me.
• 19:05
  And like, in spite of differences or in spite of like difficulties that this relationship might have, life is better with you in it than without you.
• 19:14
  Which is definitely something I think that people as they grow older, absolutely, you you start to realize that maybe it's not worth throwing it away as we did when we were 18, you
• 19:23
  know.
• 19:23
  there's a guy that was like my brother in high school and then in our 20s we kind of drifted apart and then I was like, I'm kind of done with this.
• 19:31
  Then I was like, I can't get rid of this guy.
• 19:33
  Like I cannot get rid of this guy.
• 19:35
  And then we had a talk and I was just like, I basically said that.
• 19:38
  was just like, you know, there's something here that's like, there's a friction that we need to figure out because we're kind of stuck with each other.
• 19:46
  and like worth figuring out that friction.
• 19:48
  And we did.
• 19:49
  And like we talk now.
• 19:51
  It's not awkward.
• 19:52
  We had to come to Jesus.
• 19:54
  Jesus came and we're good.
• 19:56
  uh
• 19:59
  So, Alexander, if you had to ask your character one question, what would you say that question would be?
• 20:10
  Listen, sometimes I gotta throw the psychology questions in there.
• 20:12
  some of the easy questions first?
• 20:14
  know what mean?
• 20:15
  uh
• 20:16
  switch it up to be fair here.
• 20:18
  What would I ask him?
• 20:23
  I feel like there's advice I would like to give him.
• 20:26
  opposed to...
• 20:29
  I mean one of them is just like breathe.
• 20:31
  Like, take some breaths my dude.
• 20:34
  You know?
• 20:35
  uh As an actor I will have to be breathing up there.
• 20:39
  But as a character...
• 20:42
  I also think you can let go a little bit.
• 20:44
  I mean, I guess if it's a question, like, why do you hold on so tight?
• 20:48
  I think that there's...
• 20:50
  I think he's also, like, there's some aspects of him that are ready to fight.
• 20:54
  Like, he thinks that the world is against him in a lot of ways.
• 20:59
  And...
• 21:00
  Yeah, so I know I'm not really answering your question, I'm more so shifting into an advice thing, but I just think that he doesn't need to...
• 21:08
  be so ready to defend himself.
• 21:11
  Or, like...
• 21:11
  up.
• 21:13
  Yeah, or like, just leave.
• 21:15
  I don't know, yeah.
• 21:16
  I don't wanna say anything else.
• 21:17
  uh
• 21:19
  your question of why do you hold on so tight is an excellent one.
• 21:21
  Because I mean, that is a question.
• 21:22
  And that is something that maybe a lot of people need to ask.
• 21:25
  It's like, why are you holding on to something so tightly?
• 21:27
  What are you gaining from that?
• 21:29
  So perfect answer.
• 21:31
  You gave the best answer.
• 21:32
  See, you went first, and you gave the perfect answer.
• 21:34
  Thanks, do you think that was...
• 21:35
  I think that was I want to your opinion, for real.
• 21:38
  Okay, I don't know if you're asking me, but I'm gonna answer.
• 21:43
  I have to go that route too though.
• 21:44
  I don't necessarily have a question.
• 21:45
  A question might arise from the advice, but the one thing that came to my head is...
• 21:50
  um What was I gonna say?
• 21:55
  Lord have mercy.
• 21:57
  Like sort of the vein of you don't have to try so hard or like, oh, you have nothing to prove.
• 22:02
  That's what I want to say is like you have nothing to prove.
• 22:06
  Cause like I said, he sort of goes around like with this chip on his shoulder.
• 22:09
  And so it's like, you don't always have to constantly fight to be recognized in a certain space.
• 22:17
  You don't always have to fight in order to, for people to recognize the work that you do or you don't have to, you don't have to get.
• 22:24
  approval before you like something yourself, you know what I mean?
• 22:29
  And so, that's sort of what I would give him.
• 22:31
  So yeah, the question did not arise out of there.
• 22:34
  I guess I would ask like, why does...
• 22:39
  Why do other people's opinion of what you like matter so much?
• 22:43
  I guess would be a question, you know?
• 22:46
  Because if you like it, let that be it, you like it.
• 22:49
  You don't have to worry whether other people like it or not, you know?
• 22:52
  You don't have to justify it to anybody.
• 22:54
  Exactly, exactly.
• 22:55
  This be authentic.
• 22:58
  Absolutely.
• 22:59
  So one final question for the both of you before I let you go, is just, what are you hoping audiences take away from this production of King James?
• 23:06
  I hope people leave this show, and I've actually, we've had this experience already, but I hope people leave this show being like, and when I say people have had this experience, I
• 23:14
  mean, like, people in the crew or like the...
• 23:17
  Like the director Courtney, who's wonderful shout out Courtney Burkett.
• 23:20
  Yeah, Courtney Burkett.
• 23:23
  Is that people leave and they're like, my biggest takeaway for people would be that like they leave the space and they're like, fuck, I should reach out to that person.
• 23:31
  I knew you were going to fuck.
• 23:32
  knew you were going to say that because that's what I was to say.
• 23:35
  But he want to say something first.
• 23:37
  See look.
• 23:38
  No, he is that.
• 23:40
  Yeah.
• 23:40
  I people leave and they're like,
• 23:42
  this thing in my life that I like, basically what I just illustrated in my own life of being like, that person's out of there, that people leave and they're like, you know what,
• 23:49
  I really miss that person and it's not worth this idea in my head.
• 23:55
  yeah, uh I had a friend do something like really shitty to me two years ago and then I was just like, the pain is my own business now.
• 24:06
  Like the hurt and the anger is not, it's not their problem.
• 24:10
  Like they don't even see it anymore.
• 24:11
  Like this is just my own shit.
• 24:14
  So like I can choose to squash this and I did.
• 24:16
  And now this guy is a really good friend and we talk every week.
• 24:20
  Uh, he is like super supportive.
• 24:22
  He came to my first, the matter of this thing last week, like, yeah.
• 24:28
  And it was worth circumventing that or just like moving past it.
• 24:31
  Uh,
• 24:33
  And sometimes obviously relationships can be toxic and like if a thing is not changing that it's not changing but like things that seem unforgivable are
• 24:42
  And I think people also stay with this thought that like, no, that's just not me, I could never do that.
• 24:47
  And I was one of those people that was like, I could never do that.
• 24:50
  Like that's a deal breaker.
• 24:51
  And then it happened.
• 24:52
  And I was like, wait, what if I'm not that person though?
• 24:55
  And then you move past it and you have this wonderful friend and you actually deepen that relationship by transcending whatever thing happened.
• 25:05
  Beautiful answer.
• 25:06
  I like how you went from, I'm going to answer first.
• 25:08
  I'm not going to answer first.
• 25:09
  You answered first, gave a beautiful answer.
• 25:16
  Well, Matteo, it's your turn.
• 25:17
  You got to follow that up with whatever, you know, he just blacked out and said.
• 25:20
  From the audience reaction that we have thus far, I do want them to take away or to walk away and be like...
• 25:27
  Yeah, I analyze some of their own relationships in their life.
• 25:30
  I want them to be able to um be able to reach out to somebody after a long while or however long it's been and re rekindle that relationship if that's something they want.
• 25:40
  I just want people to walk out of it and feel
• 25:44
  seems to feel welcome, feel heard, you know, like I, I'm trying to come up with something cause he just took my whole ass answer.
• 25:52
  I don't even know what he's talking about.
• 25:54
  I'm vomiting right now.
• 25:56
  that's it.
• 25:58
  Oh my God.
• 25:59
  makes sense.
• 25:59
  kind of goes along with what Alexander was saying.
• 26:01
  Like you want people to be heard, but you also, you know, like hearing people is sometimes the part of like understanding like, maybe it's not that important.
• 26:09
  Right, it's because I always like to say it's one thing to communicate but it's another to comprehend.
• 26:16
  So someone can be saying as much as they'd like but if you're not understanding or vice versa then the communication's not really happening.
• 26:24
  There's nothing, you know, you're not going to be able to move forward from that and so it's a two-hander.
• 26:30
  No pun intended.
• 26:31
  But you know, being able to talk about...
• 26:33
  You can cut that part out.
• 26:35
  You know what, just cut everything that he says, actually.
• 26:38
  You can cut the video.
• 26:39
  right down the middle.
• 26:40
  Yeah.
• 26:41
  uh But being able to talk about certain things, not only talk about certain things, but be able to have the other person understand where you're coming from.
• 26:53
  That's large part.
• 26:54
  Also, I think just one last thing I'll say is that like, they're seeing a play about friendship.
• 26:58
  Matteo and I became friends through this process.
• 27:00
  Like, they're not watching two people pretend.
• 27:03
  Like, we're just like homies now.
• 27:05
  So that's like a fun aspect of it too, you know?
• 27:07
  It's like...
• 27:08
  I think it makes the show, I know it makes the show better.
• 27:13
  For sure.
• 27:13
  I totally thought you two hated each other by the end of this, you know?
• 27:16
  I'm just kidding.
• 27:19
  can't wait to be done with this so I can, like, get rid of I'm blocking him the second the show's over.
• 27:23
  We're not.
• 27:23
  I'm never speaking to him.
• 27:25
  But truthfully, also adds, what we said earlier, the authenticity.
• 27:28
  The two of you have developed a friendship that's going to play out also in the show.
• 27:33
  People are going to buy into that a lot more.
• 27:34
  It makes a lot more fun.
• 27:35
  I mean, it's us up there.
• 27:37
  like, yeah, we like each other.
• 27:40
  I was worried when I was like, who's who's gonna be other person, you know?
• 27:45
  I hope you're not worried.
• 27:48
  I'd say so.
• 27:49
  ah So thank you so much, Alexander Mateo, for being here and to talk about King James with us.
• 27:55
  We appreciate it.
• 27:57
  great meeting you.
• 27:58
  King James arrives at the Detroit Public Theater on May 6 and runs through June 7.
• 28:02
  So get your tickets now.
• 28:03
  We'll see you at the show.