Latest / Mommywood / Mary Elizabeth Kelly: Comedy, Content and Creativity as a New Mom
Transcript
- 0:00Mom, welcome to Mommy Wood, the podcast where motherhood meets
- 0:06Hollywood. Real moms, real talk, no
- 0:09scripts. I'm your host Emily Bolt and we
- 0:12are talking about the messy, funny and unfiltered side of
- 0:16being a mom in the entertainment industry.
- 0:19This episode of Mommy Wood is brought to you by Donderstein.
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- 1:10OK, I am definitely fangirling out for this episode.
- 1:14Today's guest is someone you've definitely seen online and
- 1:18probably sent to a group chat at least once.
- 1:22Mary Elizabeth Kelly is a writer, actor, comedian, content
- 1:25creator, and one of the most spot on celebrity voice
- 1:29impersonators on the Internet. And now she's also a brand new
- 1:34mom. We are talking in this episode
- 1:37about building a creative career across multiple lanes, So what
- 1:42it's really like to keep showing up online while navigating new
- 1:47motherhood and how becoming a parent shifts your voice and
- 1:51your work and your priorities. And sometimes those might be in
- 1:55ways you don't expect. This episode is very funny.
- 2:00It's very honest and very if you know, you know, especially for
- 2:05after moms trying to stay visible without losing their
- 2:09minds. Please enjoy.
- 2:11I know you will. I am so excited, so happy, so
- 2:17honored, grateful that Mary Elizabeth Kelly is on this
- 2:22episode of Mommy Would Yay. I'm saying you're full name.
- 2:30And that's what it is in SAG so. I'm so excited to chat with you.
- 2:37I've been following your content on Instagram and so I'm I am
- 2:45fanning out a little bit. I'm.
- 2:49Very excited to chat with you so thank you for being here.
- 2:53Can you start by telling us your son's name and age?
- 2:58Yes, his name is Teddy Theodore and he's 6 1/2 months.
- 3:05Yeah. Is he like like a pudge six
- 3:10months or is he a skinny 6? Yeah, I know.
- 3:14I know what you mean. He's tall.
- 3:16He's really long. He's very long.
- 3:19And like he's like a big, he's like a big boned boy, but he's
- 3:24not. He doesn't have a lot of like
- 3:26chub. So yeah, but I can sense he's
- 3:29going to be kind of be, I don't know, He's like a strong, a
- 3:33strong six month old he's. Got a He's got a Midwest man in
- 3:37him. Yeah, I think so.
- 3:38Yeah. He's a little brawny.
- 3:40I would say are. You now where are you originally
- 3:43from? I'm from Connecticut.
- 3:46OK, wait, we're at Connecticut. From Fairfield County.
- 3:50My sister lives in Wilton. Really.
- 3:53Yes, and. I'm from.
- 3:56Fairfield because she works at, Well, I guess I won't say it,
- 4:00I'm here, but she works at a shop and the Fairfield where I
- 4:04get actually I can say it 'cause I share it on Instagram all the
- 4:06time, Jane and Mercer. Okay.
- 4:10I get lots of things, treats from there which are.
- 4:15That is such a small world. Yeah, yeah.
- 4:18I mean, it's so small that anytime I meet, I went to France
- 4:22in September, met someone from Connecticut who was also from
- 4:25Fairfield, and she was like, I go to that store all the time.
- 4:29Oh my gosh. Well, it does.
- 4:30Yeah. There are a lot of a lot of
- 4:32people concentrated into like the Fairfield County area in
- 4:36terms of like working in New York and stuff.
- 4:38But now my family lives like in the center of the state, like
- 4:42out in the country as they say it's.
- 4:45It's so beautiful there. It's really beautiful and that's
- 4:48that. I was going to say city, but
- 4:50it's more like a town. Yeah, yes.
- 4:53So cute. Yeah, actually took May my
- 4:58daughter on a solo trip there to visit my so it was really nice.
- 5:05Give us your little like your journey from Connecticut out to
- 5:10LA and like how you got into comedy and acting and.
- 5:14You know, just. Like life story?
- 5:19Nation of the past decade plus. OK, so yeah, I, so I went to
- 5:27Northwestern for college out outside of Chicago and studied
- 5:31theater there. And when I graduated I was like,
- 5:36oh, I'm just going to go to New York.
- 5:39And because I did theater in school, but I also was really
- 5:42interested in comedy and TV and commercial stuff.
- 5:45And so I was like, oh, New York, Best of both worlds, and started
- 5:49doing UCB there, got really into comedy, got really into UCB, did
- 5:54a lot of improv and started booking commercials and
- 6:00television and getting like a lot of interest there.
- 6:06And I was auditioning for plays and musicals, like I'm a singer
- 6:10as well. And it just wasn't like hitting
- 6:15and, and the process of auditioning for theater is so
- 6:20hard. It just, I just was like, I
- 6:22don't know if this is sustainable, but I was getting a
- 6:25lot of traction TV commercial comedy wise.
- 6:28So I was like, let's lean in that direction.
- 6:31Got married in New York to my college sweetheart and then in
- 6:362019. Out there together, is he?
- 6:40He's a couple years. Older than me.
- 6:42OK. Yeah.
- 6:43But industry at all? So we studied.
- 6:46We met doing a play in college, and he's an incredible actor.
- 6:51But he was like, as soon as he started auditioning in New York,
- 6:55he was like, I need a consistent paycheck.
- 6:58And he studied business at Northwestern as well as theater.
- 7:02So he was like, let's use that degree.
- 7:05Smart, yeah. Yes.
- 7:07So he's, it's kind of the best of both worlds though, because
- 7:09he is such a great reader for me and like really understands the
- 7:14industry and so many of his friends and my friends are all
- 7:17in the biz. But he, you know, works in
- 7:20digital ad sales, so. Yeah, no, that's kind of
- 7:23perfect. Best of both worlds.
- 7:26Yeah. Exactly what years were you in?
- 7:28When were you in New York? 2013 to 2019.
- 7:33OK, so we might have we overlapped.
- 7:36Oh no, we just missed each other.
- 7:38I was here 20 10/20/12 something.
- 7:44OK. OK, wait.
- 7:46So side note, actually, do you know Jessica Morgan by chance?
- 7:52No. Did she go Northwestern?
- 7:54No, she did a lot of UCB in New York.
- 7:56OK, OK. Figured I'd ask.
- 8:00I feel like, you know, with I'm so much better with faces than
- 8:04names. I always remember her face, but
- 8:07names her Instagram. Yeah.
- 8:08Send me her. Send me her thing.
- 8:10And I'm sure I've seen her. There is.
- 8:13Yeah. OK, great.
- 8:13You're in. New York till 2019.
- 8:17Yes. So then, yeah, I moved here a
- 8:19little less than a year before COVID and yes, and it was great
- 8:27for that first year. And then, yeah, everything shut
- 8:30down and everything got very quiet.
- 8:35And I was like, OK, what do I do now?
- 8:38Like I'm fairly new to the city. Like I only had a commercial
- 8:41agent at the time that I kind of held over from New York.
- 8:46And I was like, all right, why don't I just start putting stuff
- 8:51on the Internet? I think a lot of people were
- 8:52doing that at the time. I was like, what are my
- 8:55marketable skills? And started doing just like
- 8:59accents and impressions and comedy things, literally just
- 9:02whatever would pop into my brain.
- 9:05And yeah, it gained traction. And yeah, started kind of like
- 9:10snowballing and getting bigger and bigger and yeah, kind of as
- 9:15so. Just always did you know that
- 9:18you could do celebrity impressions and like, how did
- 9:22you even get started? Like was that?
- 9:253rd It's funny. UCB or like, yeah, how did you
- 9:28Yeah, you're so it's not like you can't, you're not just doing
- 9:32one. You're so well at so many.
- 9:36So like, how did that? Happen.
- 9:39You know, I have been doing impressions since I was a kid,
- 9:42like since I was like 6 or something.
- 9:45Like forever. Like just as entertainment for
- 9:49family and friends. My grandpa was really good at
- 9:53impressions. My mom's dad and he used to do
- 9:56like bird whistles and stuff. Like truly like, like just
- 10:01clearly a mimic, like was able to hear something and just
- 10:04immediately repeat it. And I think it's kind of
- 10:07hereditary I think sometimes. And it was like normal for me as
- 10:12a kid to be doing like wacky impressions and stuff all the
- 10:15time. But then, you know, when you go
- 10:16to theater school, people aren't like, let's let's teach you how
- 10:20to be a different person. You know, it's like very much,
- 10:23you know, you're doing Chekov and Shakespeare and whatever
- 10:26you're not really doing like, oh, let's figure out what style
- 10:29of comedy you are good at. So yeah, I literally just was
- 10:35like, I've always, I've always done this for fun, like almost
- 10:39like a party trick kind of. And then I put it on the
- 10:43Internet. Yeah.
- 10:45And then other people were like, oh, you're good at this.
- 10:47I was like, oh, OK. Like I had no no concept
- 10:51whatsoever that it could be like a.
- 10:54Thing. A lucrative thing for me, yeah.
- 10:58That's so interesting. So, you know, so do you hear
- 11:03that you sound like the person because you know, when you
- 11:07listen to yourself, like if I listen to back to this podcast.
- 11:11I'm like that's. What I sound like, but you sound
- 11:14different in your head. Do you have like a?
- 11:17How do you this is so know that you're?
- 11:22That I'm doing it. Do you have to do like play it
- 11:25back for yourself or is it just off of people telling you how
- 11:29much you sound like them? How do you?
- 11:32I just, I think I have like, you know, an ear.
- 11:35Like, I think, yeah, like, I think I just have like, like,
- 11:39'cause I also, I do think it's a singer thing too.
- 11:41Like when I was in college, I was in an acapella group and
- 11:46there was a lot of sort of, oh, you'd have to listen to this
- 11:48thing really quick and then learn it really quickly and know
- 11:51that you were doing it right. And I think maybe I, I'm always,
- 11:56everyone's always like, oh, how do you get started doing
- 11:58impressions? And I'm like, I really do think
- 11:59that a lot of it is inherent. Like there is kind of a thing, a
- 12:04mimic thing. But then I think it's also a
- 12:07muscle, obviously, like you really kind of hone it over
- 12:10time. And frankly, like some of these
- 12:12impressions, I've done them so often that they just sit in me
- 12:18now, like, like they're a role, you know, that I can kind of
- 12:22like drop into. It just becomes sort of muscle
- 12:26memory. So.
- 12:29Yeah. How do you decide which
- 12:32characters, or I guess not even characters, which actors and
- 12:36characters that you want to impersonate or just like people
- 12:41you like and just give it a try. Oh.
- 12:44Totally. I mean, a lot of times it's
- 12:46people that frankly, like feel good to do, like people with
- 12:52really fun and good energy, people with a, with a lot of
- 12:55like weird idiosyncrasies, things that are identifiable
- 13:00kind of that you can kind of like latch onto.
- 13:03But also, you know, a lot of times people request things like
- 13:05people are like, oh, I really feel like you would be good at
- 13:08so and so. So I'll give it a try.
- 13:10But yeah, there are some I just keep coming back to just 'cause
- 13:14they feel they feel good to do. Yeah.
- 13:18Do you get people to ask you to impersonate them?
- 13:23Yeah, well, it's funny. It's mostly like the common
- 13:27person like like followers of mine will be like, I wonder what
- 13:31it would be like if you did an impression of me and I'm like,
- 13:34well, I don't know you so. But I've never had like a an
- 13:39actor or celebrity be like, do me next.
- 13:42No. Have you ever run into someone
- 13:46that you've done an impersonation of?
- 13:50I have that go. Yeah, it was good.
- 13:55I mean, a lot of times they are very sweetly like fans, like
- 14:00they like Melanie Linsky follows me on Instagram and I've done
- 14:05I've done her I think once or twice.
- 14:07But I met her recently at an event and she was lovely.
- 14:11Sweetest. I mean, she's just so sweet.
- 14:14But I haven't really like like a lot of times people that I do
- 14:21impressions of follow me or have sent me a message or whatever,
- 14:26but I've not run into too many in real life.
- 14:30That's so interesting, Melanie Linsky, especially because she
- 14:33is New Zealand, but like does so like, but you're impersonating
- 14:40her as herself and as. Herself.
- 14:42Right. Exactly.
- 14:43Yeah, yeah. You like, almost only acts as an
- 14:48American. Yeah, he's actually really good.
- 14:51He's amazing at at accents. Yeah.
- 14:53I mean I have a couple videos that are like.
- 14:56Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- 14:57Oh, she's right. I mean, she's a chameleon in a
- 14:59lot of ways. Like, and she's so just like
- 15:03such a like sweet, normal, down to earth person, which I just, I
- 15:07love. See, I love that.
- 15:08I just love when you meet someone, meet an actor that you
- 15:11love and they are just so like normal and kind.
- 15:17It really makes you like, OK, you know, there are, there are
- 15:19good people in this, in this industry.
- 15:22Where are they exist? Yes.
- 15:24I hope so. When did you like obviously you
- 15:32were saying you didn't realize that putting this stuff on the
- 15:37Internet will like kind of snowball and then become
- 15:42lucrative. How has that been?
- 15:47Because I, I feel like, I feel like we're similar ages, but
- 15:54like that's somewhat new to be making money on the Internet or
- 16:01like through things like that. So you found that as a from like
- 16:06kind of a business perspective, like did you, do you have a like
- 16:12social media manager who does that stuff for you and like
- 16:18what? And like how did you decide, OK,
- 16:21it's time? Like I can't I, I can't handle
- 16:24the contracts or. XY Yeah, yeah, it's, I think
- 16:29like, I don't know, six months after or a couple months after I
- 16:34had had like a couple viral videos.
- 16:37I got a call from my commercial agent at the time and this was
- 16:41like 2020. Yeah.
- 16:44So it's pretty quick that, yeah. It was quick and she was like,
- 16:48hey, I don't really know what to do with this.
- 16:50Like Netflix wants to do, wants you to like do impressions for
- 16:54their new show or movie and like, you know, whatever.
- 16:59And I was like, Oh, that's fun. I literally was like, didn't
- 17:01even think about the fact that they would be paying me to do
- 17:04that. I was like, oh, that's so fun.
- 17:05Sure, I'll do it. And she was like, OK, great,
- 17:07this is the, this is the rate. And I was like, oh, and it
- 17:10because it was such a new thing to have influencer marketing.
- 17:14Like it just wasn't a thing that you, I knew anything about.
- 17:20And that my, my commercial agent at the time was like, I don't
- 17:22really know. Like what, you know, the
- 17:24contracts were all very new. So after that I was getting like
- 17:30somewhat consistent offers to do these kinds of things and my
- 17:35commercial agent was just fielding all of them because
- 17:37they're not really a specific market for that quite yet.
- 17:42Like they're, I feel like 2021 maybe was when I started getting
- 17:47reached out to by actual like influencer marketing managers,
- 17:51agents. And I was with Abrams at the
- 17:57time, which formerly Abrams. And then they started moving
- 18:01into some influencer like digital marketing stuff.
- 18:04And then Abrams, you know, went the way of the dodo, as I say,
- 18:10yeah, RE was reborn and I left them completely.
- 18:16And now I have a commercial agent and then separately a
- 18:22digital marketing like manager. So and the digital marketing
- 18:26manager reached out person you. She did.
- 18:30Yeah. Yeah, there's.
- 18:33A lot about even your reach where like, you know, cuz as
- 18:36actors we're always like trying to get like the next rapper,
- 18:42yeah, whatever. So yeah.
- 18:45So that says a lot about just your reach in general.
- 18:49I mean, I have to say, like the the great thing about having
- 18:52being an actor and having an online presence is like, you
- 18:56know, your body of work is just online like it, you know, like
- 19:01your, your portfolio, your reel is kind of just this whole page
- 19:06that you've built. So it's kind of nice.
- 19:08Yeah. People really can find you
- 19:10pretty easily, which is helpful in many ways.
- 19:14Has. There ever been something that
- 19:16like you put out and then you're like, oh, that actually wasn't
- 19:19good and then deleted yes, all the.
- 19:23Time. Oh my God, all the time.
- 19:24I can't imagine you doing anything that's not great, but
- 19:28Oh yeah. Well, you know, it's not even
- 19:30necessarily like, oh, is, oh, this was bad.
- 19:33I need to delete it cuz, cuz, you know, while I'm doing
- 19:36things, sometimes I'll sit down to shoot something and I'll
- 19:38start doing it and I'll halfway through I'll go, oh, this is
- 19:40actually like not a good idea. Or like this is kind of won't
- 19:45make sense or this won't, this doesn't pan out or whatever, but
- 19:49I'll delete things if you know someone I don't know.
- 19:55I mean, often times it's just sort of like if the algorithm
- 19:57doesn't pick it up and I'm kind of going like, Oh, I don't
- 19:59really love this anyway. And you know, or I'll.
- 20:03You know, delete it and repost it another time or something.
- 20:06But it takes so much like there's so much editing and
- 20:13writing and, you know, vetting basically that I do before I
- 20:16post it, that pretty much everything I post, I'm like, OK,
- 20:20this needs this. This has taken this has gone
- 20:23through many rounds. Which is so funny.
- 20:26And I guess it's, you know, it's the, it's similar to, I guess
- 20:30any art where it's like, if you're good at it, you make it
- 20:34look easy because you know, obviously like watching,
- 20:38watching your content, watching like professional people to like
- 20:42their content. And you're like, oh, but it
- 20:44looks like just, it's like a video.
- 20:46Like it seems like, oh, how are they making money?
- 20:48Like it seems so easy. And then you're like, oh, wait,
- 20:52no, you had to write it. You had to edit it, which also
- 20:55seems like. Oh well, when you're good at
- 20:59yeah. Like it should be easy.
- 21:01Yeah. Yeah, You know, it's just
- 21:03really, it's time consuming. It really is.
- 21:05And you really can get into the weeds of it.
- 21:08And especially when you know, like my videos in general are
- 21:14pretty heavily edited in terms of, you know, like a lot of
- 21:17people will do kind of oh, like I have a lot of comedian friends
- 21:20that do like a one take kind of little monologue type thing and
- 21:23then just post that. And I'm sure they have to do it
- 21:25multiple times to get exactly what they want.
- 21:27But like, the actual physical act of editing something on my
- 21:31phone is like, surprisingly, it takes a a very long time.
- 21:38It's, and that's not to say that it's, yeah, I mean, like, and,
- 21:41and I'm very grateful for the fact that like, it's so flexible
- 21:45and I can do it anytime. But it is funny because now as a
- 21:51parent, I'm like, I really got to carve out the time to edit
- 21:57these videos. I was going to say, so now being
- 22:01a new mom and you don't have time in the world that you used
- 22:07to. I mean, at least hopefully he's
- 22:09a good sleeper. We know he's sleeping now.
- 22:11In case everyone's wondering, where are your babies?
- 22:14Mine is a school, she's a baby and yours is napping.
- 22:17So we are, you know, for the moment.
- 22:22Yeah, well, it's funny. Yeah.
- 22:25He. No, he's a good sleeper.
- 22:27He he is. Yeah.
- 22:28He naps consistently, which is great.
- 22:31Right now he's teething and has a cold, and so he's Lord knows
- 22:36how long he'll sleep right now. But yeah.
- 22:39But even then, I mean, you know, like, as soon as they go down,
- 22:43especially when they're babies, you're like, all right, the
- 22:46timer is starting. And now I need to, you know,
- 22:49clean his bottles. I need to put the laundry in.
- 22:51I need to do this, this and this and.
- 22:54Can they sleep OK? Yeah, right.
- 22:57You know. Oh.
- 22:58Lord no, I don't think I've like.
- 22:59Maybe when he was like a fresh newborn I would nap when he
- 23:02napped but like. Have to to survive.
- 23:05OK, that's right. Exactly.
- 23:07But no, I mean, I end up doing a lot once he goes down for the
- 23:10night because I know for sure he'll be down.
- 23:16But yeah, I mean, and right, Lord knows if I have a self tape
- 23:20that's taken up the whole nap time plus, so yeah.
- 23:26Yeah, it's it's not it's not the same.
- 23:28It's hard. I've found because I always hate
- 23:32it, you know, it's annoying before you have kids when people
- 23:34with kids are like, you just don't understand.
- 23:36You don't have the, I don't have the time that you have.
- 23:38And we're like, we only have 24 hours.
- 23:40And it's like, no. No, no.
- 23:43I don't want to say and obviously we've chosen to become
- 23:48and I don't regret it, but we're allowed to complain.
- 23:51Yeah, totally. Look.
- 23:54I can't count this. I don't.
- 23:57It's hard, yes. It's not easy.
- 24:01It's not. It's not easy.
- 24:02That doesn't mean we don't want to do it.
- 24:05Yes, it's true. But it's the same as our.
- 24:06It's the same as acting or anything that's worthwhile.
- 24:11It's like it's hard. That doesn't mean you don't do
- 24:14it. Right.
- 24:15Yeah, It's so fun. I still love it.
- 24:18Yeah. But it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's
- 24:20not easy. Yeah, I've always said I
- 24:24somebody else said this recently and they said it better than me.
- 24:27But fact that it's like you always hear there's so much
- 24:32stuff out there with like parents complaining about, you
- 24:34know, the lack of sleep and just like all the things that there
- 24:37are to complain about. Like the mess isn't a million
- 24:41things, but it's like because that's so much easier to explain
- 24:48I think then the joy of it. Because the joy of it I'm like,
- 24:53I'm already going to cry just saying the joy.
- 24:56It's you. You can't explain with enough
- 25:04exaggeration how, like, seeing them smile or laugh, like,
- 25:08literally makes you want to die. Like, in the best way, Like, Oh
- 25:12yeah, I think that makes sense. Besides.
- 25:15And then you're like, OK, well, I can talk about how cleaning
- 25:18bottles and not sleeping is horrible like that.
- 25:22Right. But well.
- 25:23Right. It's, that's the relatable part,
- 25:26right? For people who don't have kids
- 25:28yet or are choosing not to have kids.
- 25:31Like I think, right, you're kind of like, oh, well, you get this
- 25:35mess that's tough and like not sleeping well, that's hard.
- 25:39But right. The, the, the sort of
- 25:43unexplainable parts are the best parts are the unexplainable
- 25:49parts. It's like those parts are the
- 25:52kind of like you really, you don't know until you know.
- 25:55And then once you know, oh, my God, it's a doozy.
- 25:58Yeah. It's really.
- 26:00Yeah. It's unbelievable.
- 26:02But right. Like I, I tell my friends with
- 26:07kids all the time, I'm like, I wish I knew.
- 26:09Like, I wish I understood, you know, obviously the difficult
- 26:13things that you were going through, but also like how it
- 26:18euphoric it can be. But also, I think weirdly,
- 26:23especially people who don't have kids, I don't know, I feel like
- 26:27sometimes people don't want to hear the whole like, oh, it's
- 26:29amazing. I love these, you know, They're
- 26:32like, I want you to feel, you know, I think people want to be
- 26:37validated sometimes in their decision not to have kids, which
- 26:40I feel like stunning if kids aren't for you.
- 26:43Great. Not for you.
- 26:43Because right, it's. It is.
- 26:47Yeah. Really start to finish.
- 26:49Really, really hard. And also emotionally devastating
- 26:55pretty much all the time. I mean, what do they say?
- 26:58It's like motherhood is a series of little heart breaks, you
- 27:01know? And it's true.
- 27:04Yeah. But but right, It's like
- 27:06outweighed for me, outweighed by God, just the beauty of the
- 27:10whole thing. But yeah, what?
- 27:13Was it I was watching something literally I think this this like
- 27:18yesterday or today and somebody was saying about how they they
- 27:24didn't want kids and obviously great, sure, but they were like
- 27:28the idea of having something that needs me all the time and
- 27:32is just covered in shit. Like it's not sound appealing to
- 27:36me. And I'm like, if that's what you
- 27:38think, having a. Yeah, yeah.
- 27:40Right. Then don't.
- 27:41Definitely don't. But also I'm like.
- 27:45What is the baby covered in? Shit, right?
- 27:47What parents have you been? It's like.
- 27:50Parents, have you been talking to or your baby's just covered
- 27:53in shit? But it's because I do think that
- 27:56though of people with dogs, I'm like, I don't, I don't know how
- 28:01you do it. I'm like, I don't know how you
- 28:03do it. You have to walk them outside to
- 28:05use the bathroom. Then you have to actually pick
- 28:09up their poop like for the rest of their life.
- 28:12Emily imagine having a dog and a baby, which I can't, I have.
- 28:15I can't. I don't know how you do it.
- 28:17I know. It's it's it's over stimulating,
- 28:22I'll say that much. It is.
- 28:25There's a lot going on at all times.
- 28:27This is my dog here, Maple. She's a little, she's like a
- 28:31doodle Maple. Yeah, she's, she's very, very,
- 28:37she's a great dog, a very sweet dog.
- 28:38But she's, you know, it's when you have a kid it it's tough
- 28:42because your dog does have to sort of take a, a bit of a back,
- 28:46a back seat. But yeah.
- 28:50No, I cannot. I cannot imagine elites were in
- 28:54LA and walking them outside is not tremendous as snow or
- 29:00anything. OK, if you have ever tried to
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- 29:51www.donderstainco.com. I will be linking those both in
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- 30:13Yeah, it's not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
- 30:18So now has since you've become a mom, has like your the like
- 30:23content that you want to share. Has that changed at all?
- 30:27I mean, as an outsider, it seems like you've stayed pretty
- 30:30consistent, but has has anything shifted for you in just like
- 30:37what you want to share and want to do and not just with your
- 30:43content, but just like overall I guess?
- 30:47Yeah, you know, it's funny, I think my, my, my first and major
- 30:51instinct was I want to share less about my personal life
- 30:56because I am, I feel very obviously protective of Teddy.
- 31:01And so I don't really want to show much about him or, you
- 31:07know, his situation or anything like that.
- 31:11So that is interesting because I feel like previously I was,
- 31:14like, posting all these kinds of things on my story.
- 31:16And I've always, I've always really tried to maintain like a
- 31:19separation in terms of my personal life and social media.
- 31:23But obviously, when you have a baby, it like, UPS the ante in
- 31:27terms of like, OK, I want to make sure he is safe.
- 31:32But in terms of, like, comedy content, Yeah.
- 31:34I mean, my whole life has changed.
- 31:36It's been a complete 180 shift and so and like, so the way my
- 31:41brain works is different now and the way that I think about
- 31:46comedy, the things I think are funny, the things I think are
- 31:51worth sharing is all different. So yeah, I mean, you know, I'll
- 31:56be playing with Teddy and I'll think of something funny and
- 31:58I'll go, oh, you know, obviously that's something I would never
- 32:02would have thought of pre baby. And yeah, I've been, I've also
- 32:07just, I really found, especially in the last couple weeks now
- 32:12that I have, I'm kind of like feeling a bit more like myself
- 32:18and like, you know, I'll never be my pre pregnancy self,
- 32:22obviously. But like she's kind of becoming
- 32:25a little bit clearer to me lately.
- 32:28All I really want to do is just like connect with other moms and
- 32:32like help other moms, help other pregnant people.
- 32:37You know, I just like want to share the wealth now and because
- 32:41I feel like, I mean, you know, the the mom network is
- 32:46unbelievable. I mean, it's like just I could
- 32:49cry talking about it. It's like the I have found it to
- 32:54be like some of the most like supportive, like incredible
- 32:58relationships that I've ever been in is with other other moms
- 33:02or friends of mine that are that are moms.
- 33:04So I have found that I wanna be like, these are all the baby
- 33:08items I like. And do you have any postpartum
- 33:11questions? Do you wanna talk to me about
- 33:14your birth experience? I just really am like, I wanna
- 33:18talk to people about it. Yeah, it's surprising how much
- 33:22you can just open up. And almost I'm like almost
- 33:27immediately TMI. When I meet other moms, I'm
- 33:30like, oh, sorry, are you are you cool?
- 33:33With this, yeah, there's there aren't that many spaces to talk
- 33:40about that stuff. And like, as we said before,
- 33:42it's such a like, like when I gave birth, I remember my
- 33:46friends being like welcome to the mom club.
- 33:47And I was like, ha, ha. But it is like a real, it's like
- 33:51you've opened a curtain into a completely different world in a
- 33:57really amazing way. And so I'm almost sort of in awe
- 34:01of that and like am marveling at it, especially since I'm a new
- 34:04mom. Like, you know, I'm like, oh,
- 34:06cool, this is so amazing. And I don't know, I think you
- 34:12had a lot of stories about like, sorry, I was just going to say
- 34:15I, you, I before I had a baby, I would hear a lot of stories of
- 34:18like, oh, moms are so judgmental of each other or like, you know,
- 34:21whatever, whatever. I and I just have, I mean, you
- 34:26encounter a couple people that sometimes you're like, oh, maybe
- 34:29you're not. Maybe your style of being a
- 34:32parent is not for me. Or even just like our friendship
- 34:36styles are different. But I mean, overwhelmingly it's
- 34:40been like just amazingly supportive people.
- 34:45So anyway, I'm just like, I really, I'm like, I have this
- 34:48platform. I really would love to connect
- 34:50more with people about that. And then, you know, I like, have
- 34:54married some of my comedy stuff with mom stuff.
- 34:59So yeah, it's changed. Yeah, it's like you said what
- 35:03you know, you don't know what you don't know.
- 35:04So if your friends or you have had babies before you and then
- 35:10being like, oh, I didn't know you were going through this.
- 35:13Like I wish I could have helped in this way.
- 35:16But now all we can do is really like, pay it.
- 35:19Forward so exactly. I know.
- 35:22I wish I could go back. Yeah.
- 35:24But there's, I think almost every person that I've talked to
- 35:29that's that's a parent. It's like, Oh, I wish I would
- 35:34have done this for my friends when they had a baby because I
- 35:39look back on even my sister has two kids and she had two littles
- 35:44during the peak of COVID. And I'm like, Oh my God, I
- 35:50didn't like send you dinner once.
- 35:52Like I didn't do anything because I was like, oh, you seem
- 35:56like you got it so. Right, well, and I think.
- 35:59I'm so good at like having it all together.
- 36:02Yeah, well, and I, I I think there's also this.
- 36:07Sorry, what were you, you just. I was just like, we're all just
- 36:10keeping it, trying to hold it together is what we're actually.
- 36:14Yes, right, exactly. And I feel like yeah.
- 36:17And I it's so interesting. I feel like even parents that
- 36:22are are actually very good at keeping kids together,
- 36:25everything's on, you know, like not even just seeming that way,
- 36:29like very capable on IT. Parents.
- 36:33I think even those parents, it's like things help of any kind is
- 36:40just so meaningful, especially when you have kids because I
- 36:45have friends who are like, you seem great.
- 36:47You seem like everything's great postpartum.
- 36:50I'm like what? I'm like, sure, nothing.
- 36:52You know, I, I'm not like my head's not underwater.
- 36:55Like I feel relatively good and I'm very lucky in that way, But
- 37:01it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate like how are you or
- 37:05like can I help you or like, you know, it still is, it still is
- 37:10really hard as we said so. As in you, your like your family
- 37:14is still in Connecticut. Do you have a family or how have
- 37:19you found support out here? Like do you do have you found
- 37:25like a babysitter? Does your like?
- 37:28Does your do you and your husband like?
- 37:32Yeah. Team together.
- 37:33I don't know if he works from home or how that works.
- 37:36How have you found your support? Yeah, so I, I do have family out
- 37:43here. I, my, a lot of my cousins live
- 37:46out here. My aunt lives out here.
- 37:49My husband's like godmother essentially lives out here who
- 37:54we see a lot. But I, I have, I'm so lucky.
- 37:59I have like 10 of my closest friends from college live here.
- 38:04Like I have. I'm.
- 38:07So lucky and we see each other all the time.
- 38:09Like my one of my very very best friends from college has a 2
- 38:13year old and lives up the street from me.
- 38:15So like, oh. I'm so jealous.
- 38:19I, I literally, I mean, every time I see, every time I see
- 38:22them, all of us are like, we are so, so lucky that we have this
- 38:26group. Of people 2 year old a boy or
- 38:28girl, a boy even better. Yes, yes.
- 38:32So. But yeah, yes, all of my best
- 38:35friends have boys. It's so funny.
- 38:38Yeah, we all kind of are boy moms together, but my husband
- 38:43does, he does work from home, but he's in, he's just in
- 38:46meetings all day. So like.
- 38:48You know. Yeah, if there's an emergency or
- 38:51something, or if, you know, I have often like a last minute
- 38:55audition or something, he he can usually, you know, pop in and
- 39:01hang out with Teddy for a little bit.
- 39:03But we do have a babysitter that comes twice a week for a couple
- 39:07hours. To find your babysitter.
- 39:09I'm always curious where people are finding friends or like her.
- 39:14She's a friend of a friend. I posted to my close friends on
- 39:18Instagram actually, and I just was like, do you know anybody
- 39:21who anyone know anyone? And she went to Northwestern,
- 39:24but after my time and it's just like an awesome, lovely, smart
- 39:32training to be a, a therapist in school to be a therapist.
- 39:35So yeah, she's awesome. So we got lucky there in terms
- 39:39of like she knows people we know and, you know, she's very highly
- 39:44qualified for a, a position like this.
- 39:49But yeah, every other day. So she's here twice a week, but
- 39:53every other day it's it's me. Pretty much, yeah.
- 39:57That's that's a lot. How so going back a little bit
- 40:03with like the time situation, how do you find that?
- 40:08I mean, I can only assume that the the fact that like you.
- 40:14Are making an income out of out of this career and your content
- 40:21but like how do you continue? To.
- 40:28Get be motivated. I don't that's all the only word
- 40:32I can think about. But to stay motivated to post
- 40:36things like that you're not getting paid for or just like is
- 40:43that I mean, for me, I'm like, I don't know, like how you stay
- 40:50creative and motivated and just like to do it without getting
- 40:56paid. And I say that and I have not
- 40:57made a dollar off of mommy woods.
- 40:59So I guess I do know, but maybe the the the hope to someday.
- 41:07Yes. Well, and you know what, and you
- 41:09are, I mean, I think you're helping people.
- 41:12I mean, you're connecting with people.
- 41:13I mean, there, there are definitely a lot of like, you
- 41:17know, benefits obviously to posting on online in general.
- 41:21But you know, frankly, it's really hard nowadays to get sort
- 41:29of enough energy revved up to do videos.
- 41:34And I think what I've sort of shifted towards is, but now I
- 41:37really am just trying to make things that are fun for me to
- 41:41make. I think previously I would go
- 41:43like, oh, what will you know, what might be trending or like
- 41:47what, what did well before and maybe I'll do a Part 2 or
- 41:50whatever. Now I'm sort of just like,
- 41:52because I have to really be excited about it to get the
- 41:56energy to do it, frankly. And, you know, I've really, now
- 42:00that I do, I am lucky enough to like, you know, do brand
- 42:03partnerships and like make a living off of social media.
- 42:06Like I, I really see the unpaid videos as sort of feeding the
- 42:12beast, basically like kind of watering, watering my little
- 42:17plant and you know, keeping. And also like I have this
- 42:23audience of people and they're kind of like, all right, where's
- 42:27the stuff? You know, like they really they
- 42:30have they have gotten me to where I am like I would not be
- 42:34able to make a living off of social media if not for people
- 42:38following along. So, you know, got to keep keep
- 42:42them happy do. You have any tips for creative
- 42:46people when for like the that balance of like doing things for
- 42:59the likes and the views versus doing things that kind of tickle
- 43:05you? Yeah.
- 43:07Yeah, I mean, that's my number one piece of advice when people
- 43:10say how do I go viral? And I'm like, the algorithm is
- 43:15so fickle and it changes all the time.
- 43:18There's no pleasing it basically like there's no secret formula
- 43:22for like going viral. I really, I really am a huge
- 43:25believer in like if you think something is funny, if you think
- 43:29something is interesting, if you're drawn to subject matter
- 43:33of some kind, someone else is going to be interested in that
- 43:36too. Like it's going to find its
- 43:37audience somehow. So even if you posted it, like
- 43:41there have been videos that I've posted that are so niche and
- 43:44random, like impressions of, you know, I think I did something
- 43:50that was like impressions of like Dame Maggie Smith and like
- 43:54other dames, like having tea, which was like a series, like a
- 44:01like Auk series of like tea with the dames or something.
- 44:04And I thought it was so funny and I love everyone involved.
- 44:08And so I made a video about it. It got very little engagement,
- 44:12but it was so fun to make. And there are people that still
- 44:16reference that to this day of like, I loved when you made the
- 44:18Dames video or I found you from the Dames video or whatever.
- 44:21And so I go, OK, yeah, like even if it's not a huge influx of
- 44:28followers or likes or, you know, you don't get that big serotonin
- 44:31burst of like, Oh my God, this is going viral.
- 44:35I think if you think something is fun, absolutely other people
- 44:39are going to find it fun too. So and then and then you have
- 44:42fun doing it. And then if it doesn't do well,
- 44:44oh, well, like you had a good time.
- 44:46Versus if you really try to cater towards your audience too
- 44:49much and say like, oh, what will they like?
- 44:52And then if it doesn't do well, then you're like, OK, well, I
- 44:54sacrificed something. Like now I'm just bitter.
- 44:58Yeah, exactly. Have you found that?
- 45:02Because we've been hearing for so long about, you know, when
- 45:06you audition for things that people casting directors are now
- 45:10looking at Instagram followers and things like that when it
- 45:13comes to casting for acting jobs.
- 45:17Have you found that to come up for you at all?
- 45:23I think so. I mean, it's hard because I
- 45:25think a lot of times it's happening behind the scenes.
- 45:30Like rarely. Like there have been a couple of
- 45:33auditions actually for commercials specifically where
- 45:38they're like, we want real people with social media
- 45:41presences for this, like, and the subject matter is like being
- 45:47an influencer or doing social media or something.
- 45:49So there is that real like 1 to one thing of like, oh, you're on
- 45:53social media and this is about someone on social media.
- 45:55So we're auditioning you. But I think the, the way it's
- 46:02most benefited me, frankly, is just having some notoriety when
- 46:08I walk in the room, like, I think it's almost less about
- 46:12like, oh, how many followers do you have?
- 46:13And it's more like, oh, hi, I've seen your thing.
- 46:17Yeah. Like, and I've had some, you
- 46:20know, directors before be like, Oh yes, you did the whatever.
- 46:25You know, I love your impression of Drew Barrymore or whatever.
- 46:28You did the James team. You did the James, didn't you?
- 46:33That was you. Yeah.
- 46:35So it's more almost that where it's like, so maybe I don't know
- 46:39if it was between me and one other person and I had that
- 46:44connection because they've seen my videos.
- 46:47Then I go, Oh yeah, let's do her.
- 46:48We whatever, you know, I have no idea, but it at least makes me
- 46:52feel kind of like also warm in the room when people are like,
- 46:56Oh yeah, we've seen you or whatever.
- 46:59How do you feel when people recognize, because I assume that
- 47:03people will recognize you in person to Do people ever come up
- 47:07to you and like ask you to do impersonations?
- 47:12Yeah, you know, people, people are going.
- 47:15To be $20. Please.
- 47:16Yeah. I'm like, if you want to pay me
- 47:18for it's funny, like I most of the time everyone's so sweet and
- 47:23it's just sort of like, oh, I love your videos and like, oh,
- 47:26thanks. And we chat for a little bit or
- 47:28whatever. But yeah, once in a while I'll
- 47:29get someone who just really kind of goes for it and is like,
- 47:35wait, wait, do can you just do a little bit of Jennifer Coolidge,
- 47:38please? Just just for me.
- 47:40And I'm like, it's just so funny.
- 47:42I'm like, I don't think you would ever go up to like,
- 47:44Leonardo de Capte. Not that I'm nearly anywhere.
- 47:48I know what you mean. They'll be like, can you just do
- 47:50that? Right, right.
- 47:51Like could you can? You pretend you're funny.
- 47:54Yeah, do a little wolf at all, right?
- 47:57I'm like so. But, you know, I think there's
- 47:59something about the Internet where people feel like, oh,
- 48:03she's just like me, Like she's just this normal person.
- 48:06And I am, it's true. Like, you know, everybody,
- 48:09everybody with an iPhone can or anybody with any kind of phone
- 48:12can make content. So But yeah, people are for the
- 48:16most part, very, like, sweet and respectful.
- 48:19And it's great. I mean, I love, I love
- 48:21connecting with people in real life because you know, people
- 48:26online can be kind of, if you're kind of hiding behind your
- 48:29phone, you can say all kinds of weird things, but in person, you
- 48:34know, it's almost always like people who are just being really
- 48:37kind, so. Yeah, I actually, I didn't even
- 48:40think about that before, but I guess because I was like, well,
- 48:44what could they possibly say that would be you.
- 48:49But I'm sure people will always find a way, won't they?
- 48:52How do you deal with that if somebody says something negative
- 48:55or you're just like? I try to ignore it.
- 48:59Yeah. I mean, I think, I think.
- 49:02Sometimes, I guess, yeah. Well, it's hard because
- 49:04sometimes people really will. Like when I was pregnant, I
- 49:08hadn't announced it or anything yet, but, you know, I was
- 49:11pregnant. So I was starting to kind of
- 49:13like fill out a little bit, look a little bit different.
- 49:15And someone commented, well, somebody's gained a little
- 49:20weight. And I was like, oof.
- 49:24I just was like, you know. Let's find that person.
- 49:26See what? Well, I what's funny is that of
- 49:30course the. White man, I'm sure no, it's a
- 49:34it's, you know, it's like a. Fitness instructor person who
- 49:38was I think probably wanted to be like, Oh yeah, I'm gaining
- 49:41weight. I can I buy your whatever, you
- 49:46know, stuff like that. So I, I try in those instances
- 49:49to just be like, you know, how sad is it that they're spending
- 49:53their day going to people's profiles and making, trying to
- 49:56make other people feel like shit like that is such a bummer.
- 50:01Yeah. And I'm out here trying to like
- 50:03be joyful and make people laugh. And I'm going to just focus on
- 50:07that and not on like, you know, but I get mostly what I get is
- 50:10like, you know, keep your day job and stuff like that.
- 50:15Which is funny because I'm like, this is my day job.
- 50:18I'm like I hate to break it to you but your comment is actually
- 50:23helping me, you know, keep my day job which is this.
- 50:28That's weird too, because right, Isn't it kind of like a comment
- 50:31as a comment, We're oh. Yeah, yeah, engagement is
- 50:35engagement. So yeah, if you don't like
- 50:37someone, don't comment on their stuff because you'll just keep
- 50:40getting their stuff. But also do comment because.
- 50:46Right. Always comment on my stuff.
- 50:48Please always like share, subscribe.
- 50:51Let me know. Literally, you know, all over
- 50:54the comment section. Yeah, yeah.
- 50:57At a time please. Yeah, literally.
- 50:59I mean, look, there's no pleasing everybody.
- 51:01So like, I know when I post something like not everyone is
- 51:04going to be like, you're amazing.
- 51:07So you know, I just tried to take it all with a grain of
- 51:09salt. But I will say for everyone, you
- 51:11are amazing. That's very nice.
- 51:14Thank you so much. It's.
- 51:16It's great to have to just have your feed, whatever it is you
- 51:24see. I'm so good at this for content.
- 51:27Your feed that's like, that is just fun and something that we
- 51:33can all just like, get a chuckle at and be impressed by.
- 51:39And there's no like, because, I mean, you know, the Internet,
- 51:45especially like Instagram, there's so much like, not good
- 51:50stuff that it is fun. It is nice and refreshing to
- 51:53have something that's just nice and fun and yeah.
- 51:58You don't have to think too hard about it.
- 52:00Yeah, think about it. It's a dark, it's a dark time.
- 52:04It really, really is. And yeah.
- 52:07And it's really, definitely easy to especially online, like fall
- 52:10down into just rabbit holes kind of of despair.
- 52:15So yeah, honestly, that that's all I've been trying to do my
- 52:18whole life. I mean, it's why I'm an actor
- 52:19like, and it's why I love comedy because it's so powerful.
- 52:25I think to make people laugh. Like comedy is so joy is so
- 52:31powerful. And so it's cool.
- 52:35It's very cool that I get to kind of, I think what's hard
- 52:39about being online and being a comedian, the one of the only
- 52:41things that's hard really is that you don't get the like, I
- 52:46love doing live comedy because you get the laugh, like you get
- 52:49the immediate feedback and you get to connect with people.
- 52:55So online, you're kind of like, is anybody out there?
- 52:59But you reach such, you know, so many more people, which is which
- 53:04is great. Yeah, yeah.
- 53:07But well, I know we are. I don't want to take your his
- 53:11entire nap away from you. So I'm going to do a few quick
- 53:15rapid fires and then I'll I'll let you go and hopefully you'll
- 53:18have like a minute to pee and get a drink for coffee or
- 53:21something. OK, Who is your favorite person
- 53:26to do an impression of? Drew Barrymore, it's good.
- 53:31It's a good. He feels good.
- 53:34What coffee or wine? I mean, I'm a matcha girl, so
- 53:41here you go, matcha. Surprise third choice.
- 53:48OK, would you OK when he's down if you're not doing a podcast?
- 53:54Well, I guess we kind of already talked about this, but sleep or
- 53:56scroll, those are your only two choices.
- 53:58You can't do other work. Oh, sleep.
- 54:01I mean, I wish I should. What is a parenting hack that
- 54:11you have found? Or like parenting advice that
- 54:14you wish you? Let's just start with the hack.
- 54:18What's it? Do you have a good parenting?
- 54:20Oh gosh, I mean I'm fairly new at it, so I'm learning, learning
- 54:25things everyday. I would say like, I mean, as
- 54:30hard as it is, like get outside if you can.
- 54:34Like I do really feel like that seems to turn everybody's kind
- 54:38of day around mine and the babies.
- 54:42So yeah. But I'm sure check back, you
- 54:45know, in a while and I'm sure I'll have much better, much
- 54:48better tips. Have you had any parenting fails
- 54:55that you can laugh at now? Oh man, Oh yeah.
- 54:59I mean, I don't even know if it this is a fail, but I do think
- 55:03back and laugh about how when Teddy was first born, I, I cried
- 55:10and look, I obviously postpartum you're very hormonal and I don't
- 55:14I don't regret this. I'm not embarrassed, but I laugh
- 55:17thinking about this. But I cried for I think 3 days
- 55:20straight. Like I could not stop crying
- 55:22about the fact that he would one day get married.
- 55:30Like I just was like I could not even fathom the thought of him
- 55:35like loving someone that wasn't me.
- 55:38And I was like this is toxic boy mom shit Like I need to have a
- 55:43reality check. But I do think back on that
- 55:46because I really was like so heartbroken over that.
- 55:48But now I'm like, OK, you know, this is life.
- 55:52It's very real in the moment, but yeah, it's very.
- 55:54Real in the moment, yes, but in hindsight it'll be OK.
- 56:00OK, but what's a parenting win that you've had?
- 56:05Oh, oh, Oh my gosh, I'm going to cry.
- 56:09I feel like I making gosh making Teddy laugh is like.
- 56:16The best, right? I feel like a superhero when I
- 56:20make him laugh. So yes, that's.
- 56:23Good, yes, it's that's one of the explainable where you're
- 56:27like their laugh is like. I crave it.
- 56:32So good. Yeah, it's so good.
- 56:34Like May was a hard 1. I feel like she didn't.
- 56:37She was a hard nut to crack away.
- 56:40A tough audience. But now she because she's 3 1/2
- 56:47now, so she is a chatterbug. So she But now she is the one.
- 56:52If she says something and you laugh, she is like.
- 56:56She's like. I am all in and I'm like Oh no.
- 57:02She's a little ham. We have a ham on our hands.
- 57:06I. Love it.
- 57:08It's so funny though. Yeah, once they get talking.
- 57:11Oh God. So Speaking of though, if you're
- 57:15if Teddy could talk, what do you think he would roast you about
- 57:19first? Oh my gosh, I mean, yeah, how
- 57:22much I cry. Probably.
- 57:24Like sometimes I'll just be looking at him and be like, you
- 57:27know, and he's like, Oh my God, like, get over it.
- 57:31Yeah. Or honestly, like I, I will say,
- 57:34because I'm so obsessed with getting him to laugh, There's a
- 57:36lot of clowning that's going on. Like, there's a lot of, you
- 57:40know, I'm really going for it. I'm working hard.
- 57:45Yeah. Literally.
- 57:46He's like, take it down a notch. Yeah.
- 57:49I think he'd be like, we can turn the dial down a little bit
- 57:51on the on the on the comedy. What is the worst advice you've
- 57:58ever gotten for comedy and for motherhood?
- 58:03Parenting. For for comedy, Oh gosh, the
- 58:07worst advice. Or just acting in general, I
- 58:10guess, yeah. You know, I would say anytime
- 58:14someone's been like, oh, you need to change for any reason.
- 58:22I think what I've come to find is like uniqueness and being
- 58:28yourself is like actually the biggest commodity, like the best
- 58:33thing you can do for for yourself and your career and for
- 58:35your like self worth, frankly, and it's all connected.
- 58:40The worst parenting advice. Oof.
- 58:43I mean, I think anybody who's like, I mean, kind of the same
- 58:49advice, like anyone who's like, you will never be able to do
- 58:54this anymore. You'll never be able to do that
- 58:56anymore. Like you're going to be stuck at
- 58:58home with your baby and blah, blah.
- 59:00It's more like that's the worst. Kind of like there's a lot of
- 59:03fear mongering that I was given of like just wait, you'll never
- 59:07sleep again and you'll blah, blah, blah.
- 59:08All the negativity because I feel like each parent is
- 59:13different and you get to make the rules like you get to decide
- 59:18how your house is going to, you know, how you, how you get to
- 59:21decide what kind of parent you're going to be.
- 59:23Your, your baby doesn't necessarily get to decide that
- 59:26for you. Sometimes you're kind of like,
- 59:28well, I'm, you know, got to do what they want to do, but you're
- 59:33the captain of your own ship, you know, so.
- 59:36Yeah, I always, I always feel like like parenting does gets a
- 59:43bad rap. You're like, wait, there is so
- 59:46much good, yes. There's so much good.
- 59:49Well, and there's like there is, there's more, there's much more
- 59:54within your control than people make you think.
- 59:59I think because I, I think when I got pregnant, I was like very
- 1:00:02excited because it was a, you know, very desired pregnancy.
- 1:00:05But I did worry like, oh God, like.
- 1:00:08My husband and I will never be the same.
- 1:00:09Our life will never be the same. We'll never be able to do this.
- 1:00:11We won't be able to do this. And it's like, you know, I'm,
- 1:00:16when he was like 6 weeks old, I was like sitting having a
- 1:00:19Margarita, like chatting with my friend, you know, like life, I
- 1:00:24think that's what it is. It's like, I would often hear
- 1:00:26like life kind of ends when you have a baby.
- 1:00:30And I feel like, sure, life changes a lot, but it's, it kind
- 1:00:35of begins, you know, life kind of begins in an interesting way
- 1:00:39once you have kids. So yeah.
- 1:00:42Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I'm going to movies by
- 1:00:45myself. I'm doing all.
- 1:00:48That, yeah. And look like it's not going to
- 1:00:50hit the same. It's not.
- 1:00:51It's certainly not. I am not the same person living
- 1:00:54the same life as I was before pregnancy.
- 1:00:58But it's it's certainly full of much, much, much more joy and
- 1:01:03freedom than people led me to believe.
- 1:01:07OK, and you're fine. My final question what advice
- 1:01:10would you give an an actor who's thinking about becoming a parent
- 1:01:17or trying to? Do I would say like, first of
- 1:01:25all, everything will be OK. No one's going to forget about
- 1:01:28you. I think that was my biggest fear
- 1:01:30is like, oh, everyone's going to forget about me and whatever,
- 1:01:33whatever. No, I and like, I think I just
- 1:01:38always think about when I'm on my deathbed one day, I think I
- 1:01:41will be thinking like I am surrounded by these wonderful
- 1:01:46people that I love that I made rather than like, oh, I really
- 1:01:52wish I had gotten that guest star on that procedural.
- 1:01:58You know, like, I think really follow your instincts, like in
- 1:02:05terms of what you want in your personal life and the goals that
- 1:02:09you have in your personal life and in terms of like having
- 1:02:12children, starting a family, let that take priority and your
- 1:02:17career will be OK. It'll be fine.
- 1:02:20You'll figure it out. Yeah, I love that.
- 1:02:23Yeah. It's like you kind of have to
- 1:02:25look at big picture as opposed to like, which is hard to say in
- 1:02:30the moment because of course I'm like, can I get a coaster?
- 1:02:33Yeah. I know, no, I know, but.
- 1:02:36But yeah, grand scheme where you're like, I also don't want
- 1:02:40to be, you know, 60 and being like, oh, I wanted to have kids
- 1:02:46and now I don't have a coast I don't have.
- 1:02:49AI don't have either, right? Yeah, like you have to just do
- 1:02:53like you really have to just do it, do it not, not worry that
- 1:02:59somehow this is going to like screw up your career or
- 1:03:02whatever. Like you have to do what you,
- 1:03:06what you feel called to do in your private life.
- 1:03:09And the rest will will follow. And also, frankly, I mean, as
- 1:03:12we've discussed on this call, like motherhood, parenthood, as
- 1:03:17people always say, like your heart cracks wide open and your
- 1:03:21and your emotions are just like, right here, you know, like
- 1:03:25they're right there, right on the surface.
- 1:03:27And you're experiencing things like, and, you know, being an
- 1:03:32actor is basically just pulling from your own life, your own
- 1:03:37experiences and parts of your brain and your heart open up
- 1:03:41that just you never thought were possible.
- 1:03:44And I think it it feeds into acting.
- 1:03:48And like, I think it could make you a better performer, a harder
- 1:03:51worker. Like, there are a lot of
- 1:03:54benefits to it, too. Yeah.
- 1:03:57You love. That well, thank you so much for
- 1:04:02being a Bobby one. It was so great to chat with you
- 1:04:06and we'll have to meet in person soon.
- 1:04:09How close? I am.
- 1:04:11Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Mommy Wood.
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