Latest / Kyle Meredith With... / Ariel Winter on The Sisters Grimm, Finding Her Inner Snark, and Returning to Sofia the First

Transcript

Ariel Winter on The Sisters Grimm, Finding Her Inner Snark, and Returning to Sofia the First · Kyle Meredith With...

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's easy to hear your favorite artist on WFPK from wherever you are.
• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Listen on your smart speaker, live stream from our website at WFPK.org from Louisville Public Media.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: And welcome to another edition of Kyle Meredith with It's the interview series presented by WFPK at WFPK.org Consequence and the consequence podcast network Thanks for making your way here and for checking us out if you're not already I do hope you hit the subscribe button You get new interviews just like this one Sit your way every single week
• 0:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can grab us at all the usual spots, Spotify, Apple Podcast, NPR, WFPK.org, consequence, YouTube for the video versions or anywhere you get your podcast from.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can subscribe to Kyle Meredith with, please to give this series a rating.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: Leave a review if you feel so inspired.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: We've had some great guests here lately.
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: Just talked with Danny Elfman, Richard Patrick from Filter.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Riza and Ernie Dickerson from the VHS Mixtape series that's now out on shutter the cast of carry including a showrunner Mike Flanagan and Matthew Lillard Let's see Lorraine Newman, you know from the original cast of Saturday Night Live, she's in the new sister's grim
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: and that's what we're also talking about today with star area winter of course that area winter you know her from modern family you've also heard her voice and everything from Sophia the first Mr. Peabody and Sherman Speedraiser Pheneas and Furb and now she's back in season two of this Apple TV series that's based on Michael Buckley's New York Times best-selling book series the Sisters Grim
• 1:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's a journey of adventure and heart about a, well, sleuth-solving sisters descended from the brothers' grim who, while very different, make a pretty great team.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: In season two, one year after their parents' mysterious disappearance sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm continue uncovering the secrets of fairy port landing where fairy tales and fairy tale creatures are real as they face new adventures and mysteries.
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: going to be talking with with area all about that she says playing a sarcastic cynical character likes to bring a grim comes uh it comes pretty naturally mostly because she recognizes a little of herself uh in the role uh we'll get into why the shows themes of family and foster children matter just as much as it's very televinters how she found Sabrina's voice by channelling a younger version of herself
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: We'll also look at her returning to Sophia the first and discovering the fans are following her from really one magical world to another over the course of their lives and the strange experience of voicing animated characters who really never have to grow up.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: even as she does.
• 2:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's all of that and more as we talk about the sister's grim on Apple TV.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's Kyle and Meredith with Area Winter.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's nice to meet you and and congratulate you for another great season of the sister's grim.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's great to see the family back.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, thank you so much.
• 3:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I was very excited for season two and forever.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think there's a lot of interesting stuff, a lot of more complex situations that serenifines are self in this one.
• 3:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm excited for people to see it.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: What do you think it is?
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: What do you think about the, what's the magic of this show?
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: Mine is the magic itself, obviously.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's like because it, it does, it works, right?
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it, it obviously works.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think that there is a lot in this show for viewers.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, of course, there's the magic and people love that fantasy aspect.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: There is the history of it with stories from like the brother's scrim and, but I also think what is really important and helps make the show so successful is the themes of family
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: The sisters being the heroes of the story, and I think that is something that is really beautiful and people love seeing.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: I know I, for sure, was drawn to the project.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: aside from the magic and the character of Sabrina because I think that she is a really interesting complex character.
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love her cynicism, the snark.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love all of that.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's really wonderful.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: But also because of the themes that are in the show that I think are really important to highlight that maybe I haven't seen highlighted in a lot of other things, you know, the fact that they're essentially foster kids.
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: Their parents are gone missing and that is something that
• 4:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: And so to be able to highlight that, I think is really important.
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: But also just two sisters getting the job done.
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love that.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you mentioned that that that attitude she has it was like a back on that because the the author of the book series right Michael Buckley he was talking about like that was the thing he went a protected most in the series was Sabrina's character traits that's sarcasm and the and the snark What does that mean for you when when when the job starts like getting into that did you have to think through that's that that part of it
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I think I am a little bit more similar to Sabrina in the, in the, in the, the sarcasm, this, Morgan, maybe this is a, um, and so I, I don't think there's something.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it comes a, it can bring naturally to me, so I look, there was something that I had to, uh, really find so much as I was like, oh, good.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: I recognize that.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: But how did you find the voice for her?
• 5:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, it's something that I was like, okay, got a factor in her age, but also I don't I didn't want to make her voice too different from mine because I felt like it was a character that, to a degree I related to and I was like, you know, younger me, I feel like fits this pretty well.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, and so yeah, I basically just tried that, pitched myself up just a little bit.
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: They seem to really like it.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that's the greatest thing where you're like, oh, I can just be like, you don't have to so much keep track of it.
• 6:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: I guess exactly exactly like I'm kind of just myself, just in a different situation.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to take a quick break.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: But before we do, if you like what you're hearing right now, please do consider hitting that subscribe button.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: It helps out so much.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we'll be right back right after this.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome back, it's Kyle Meredith with Ariel Winter.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Is the book series a reference for you at all or do you kind of keep the two separate?
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: I actually, this is in Santero, I actually didn't, I had not read them.
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: It would be Lorentz of the same thing.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: Look, it's like I hate saying that too, because I'm like, who hasn't?
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: But me and Lorentz, we're ready to do that, haven't.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: So to me, it's definitely, I do keep it a little separate, but I do know of the, like, I know the lore of it, and I know all of that.
• 7:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: let's feel like when you've got something like that a popular book series it almost takes it feel like I feel like it would take the pressure off like like those stories are already there like you know they kind of already take care of themselves like they're vetted I guess anyway you know like for sure like you just get the kind of step in and play the parts exactly exactly I love that
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you've also become the, quite the expert, I guess, on schooling and magic because with Sophia and that returning.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: Are you finding people that sort of grew up with that that's finding you now through darker fairy tales like this?
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, yeah, a little bit.
• 7:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: I've definitely had some people be like, I was a huge fan of Sophia and kind of just like went down that path to see like what else that you've been in or like, what other shows are like somewhat similar.
• 7:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, of course, it's like dark on the sister's screen and not on Sophia.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, but I definitely have had a couple people be like,
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, I found you in this and now I really like your work in this and I really like this genre a couple people didn't know they they liked the magic genre and and No, they really like it and I'm like oh, that's pretty awesome like the fantasy genre and yeah, that was the entryway.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, that's gonna be so
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: I wonder if that's surreal, because you've got this alter ego that's out there, right?
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's not your face, but it's your voice, and people are taking this, and they're making core memories to it, and it just exists so beyond you in a way that live action television, I mean, it does, but in a very different way, I guess, I'm asking if it does.
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, I mean, it definitely does.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm creating, well, I'm voicing a drawing basically of something entirely different.
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you watch animation and it's me, but it's not me.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: Whereas like I watched something else where I'm on camera and I'm like, oh, no, that's me.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like I see me, it's different.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm playing a little drawing now brought to life that is completely different.
• 8:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: So, I mean, it is definitely different when you watch it back and you see it and you're like,
• 9:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: This is something new that I'm a part of in a different way.
• 9:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: But even be connected to characters that, you know, most animations frozen in time.
• 9:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: They get to be, you know, definitely like, like, what does that mean to you to?
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, to tap it into those as you get older, I guess.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, I mean, it's, it feels iconic and exciting to be able to be like, this character is going to stay immortalized in the same way and also it's something that I could do forever, you know, you can do if we want to do a hundred seasons of this show, we could well a hundred would be crazy.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: I would be done.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: But,
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: you know what you're so right you're so right I could live for all hundred seasons but you know we could do all of these things and it would stay the obviously like the stories would change or whatever but the characters would stay exactly the same and I think that is really cool and iconic in a different way
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Do you stay connected to the cast at all?
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, did you have the thing that we would have?
• 10:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, we're, you know, because I know most people, you know, you do your parts in isolation a lot of the time.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: So once you're seeing it on screen and then you're talking with everybody else, feel like, oh, that's not what I imagined at all.
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, I, yeah.
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: Unfortunately, I did record totally separate from them.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I didn't really get to bond with them.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, I saw them in the press, uh, day first season one.
• 10:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, but I really wish that maybe we had gotten a little bit more time to, to work together actually and experience that they would have been fun.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: But, um,
• 10:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: But we didn't, so we're not really in contact so much, but I want to be, it's been pretty cool to see how everyone's characters have come to life and like how we all go together and how it works so well when you watch the show.
• 10:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: World of voice acting right there.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: It is a magical show.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: I really enjoy what you guys are doing out there and I hope you do get a hundred or a hundred one seasons out of this.
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: You just set all the records blow them out of the water, you know.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: area.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much for taking the time.
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's really has been a pleasure.
• 11:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's been awesome.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
• 11:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to take a quick break.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: But before we do if you like what you're hearing right now, please do consider hitting that subscribe button.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: It helps out so much.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we'll be right back right after this.
• 11:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: All right, and since we only had a few minutes with Ariel, I'm going to actually include a bonus episode here with another Apple TV show.
• 11:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: This is from an interview I did back in 2022 with actress Sarah Drew, who you know her as Dr. April Keppener in Grey's Anatomy.
• 11:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: She also did voice work as a Stacey and MTV's Daria.
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: We saw her in Cruel Summer, but we were really talking about the Apple TV adaptation of Amber Brown, who much like the Sisters Graham was originally a children's book series, that's what I'm trying to say.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: So part two, a little rewind here, back from a 2022, it's Kyle Meredith with Sarah Drew.
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Hi, I've so enjoyed watching this new show, of course, based on a popular book series that you play the mom of Amber Brown also named Sarah well well well done there that makes that was here right right so let's just start with the obvious parts here how what what was your connection to to this series how did you get involved.
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I had never read the book series, but I loved the script that Bonnie Hunt wrote.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I immediately connected to the characters.
• 12:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was funny and charming.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I thought there was a really unique element to the show involving the animation.
• 12:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, her drawings come to life in.
• 12:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this really fun and comedic way of getting insight into the inner workings of an 11 year old mind and imagination and insecurities and all of those things.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And as a mom myself of a 10 and 7 year old, I just related so deeply.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: to the struggle of trying to navigate, loving your kids well and setting good boundaries, wanting them to like you, but many times they don't.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And failing and then finding ways to repair.
• 13:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think this show is a really great family show because it has something for everyone.
• 13:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that was kind of one of the, I'm sure it's one of those obvious questions too because you see those moments in there, you know, there there's there's a struggle with ear piercing there's of course what's going on and like as a mom like how much of that do you do you pull from like, oh, I've been in this situation before I've been here.
• 13:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, yeah, there's a there's an episode where Amber lies about something in it weighs so heavily on her and we see that kind of play out in the animation as well, which is a really neat visual for what it feels like to have breakage with your the person that you trust the most to you are in a trusting relationship with.
• 14:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, I have had those same conversations with my kiddos, where it's just like, I don't care about the thing.
• 14:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I care that you lied to me.
• 14:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I all I want is for us to be able to trust each other.
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: We can get through anything if we can be honest with each other.
• 14:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, like, like,
• 14:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have had those exact same conversations.
• 14:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it was really, really fun to get to play those scenes out, knowing how deeply I know so many people are going to relate to this.
• 14:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and Amber is such a good role model on the screen.
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: I've got a 14-year-old son.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe a little past watching, but but as I'm watching this, I just want to grab him and say, do be this person.
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: Be more.
• 14:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: She's so creative, she's so smart, she speaks her mind.
• 14:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: But she also, she really cares about being kind.
• 15:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: She cares about being kind not only to her friends, but to her parents, to all the people that matter, to her kindness is so important to her.
• 15:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I feel like
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: If my kids grow up to be brave and kind, then I feel like I've done my job.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I want them.
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care what they do for a living.
• 15:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care if they're fancy or impressive.
• 15:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just want them to be brave and kind.
• 15:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're seeing Amber walk into moments and be brave.
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're seeing her
• 15:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: have moments where she's not kind and then have to find her way to repair those relationships.
• 15:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I do, I think it's, you know, I just think we need, we need more that in this world.
• 15:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm so, I'm so thrilled to be a part of a show that has kindness at the forefront.
• 15:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: And to see you all tackling this bigger subject, of course, that the marriage is a co-parenting situation, there are boyfriends and possible girlfriends coming into the scenario too.
• 16:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, we're talking about, in a sense, divorced through the kids' eyes, right?
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, how did you all want to present that story?
• 16:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, what was that part of those conversations?
• 16:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think that, I think that it's like 50% divorce rate in our country, so at least half of the kids in our country have gone through this or are presently going through this.
• 16:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a big deal.
• 16:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think we wanted to.
• 16:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: to show us, to just present the reality that there's so many different ways to make a family, so many different ways to find our way and navigate through the different shades that families come in.
• 16:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I have this,
• 16:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's this beautiful scene between me and Amber where she's really feeling a sense of mourning, the shifting of what her family unit looked like and what it's beginning to shape into right now.
• 17:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I have this line where I say, you know, I think we still love each other.
• 17:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just changed its shape.
• 17:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to present
• 17:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: the reality that this happens to so many people and so many people are living in this reality.
• 17:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what does the changing shape of family feel like in a really real and visceral way to both the adults and the kids?
• 17:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Cause you really get both sides of it.
• 17:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: You get moms, mom and dad side in the way that they're trying to navigate how to handle this and how to love their daughter well through it.
• 17:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then you also get these really intimate
• 17:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Straight to camera video diaries of Amber asking the biggest questions there are things like who's happiness is most important you know that's a big question and I think that we're really giving these kids the benefit of the doubt they're so smart they're so emotionally smart these days you can't
• 18:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can't just gloss over something and move on like they're having these big feelings and big thoughts and big struggles so having a place where we can put it all out there in a loving way and encourage families to talk about that the stuff that's hard and challenging you know I think it's just it's going to I'm really excited for the world to see it and for families to watch it together and to see the conversations that come out of watching it.
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: And like there weren't certain tropes that you would expect, like Max, who's your fiance in this, he's not the bad guy.
• 18:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: No, it's like the new boyfriend, you know, that's so happened so often and shows like this where it's like, oh, this person is the bad guy.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: And for you, I mean, you're on your own journey to find happiness in a way.
• 18:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, could you talk about that a little bit more because it's not just Amber, we're seeing
• 19:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's all so complicated.
• 19:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Living life is so complicated, figuring out how to love people well is so complicated.
• 19:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that, you know, there was a time in our culture where women just sort of stuck it out in whatever relationship they were in for the sake of the kids like you just hear that as a as a constant kind of trope and and.
• 19:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: What we're beginning to see in our world and what we're embracing more is this idea that it's important for kids to see their parents finding their own joy to like so that so that they can go out into the world and go oh my mom sought her joy and I can seek my joy.
• 19:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to stay in a place that's toxic or heaven forbid abusive because a lot of people have stayed in abusive relationships for the sake of the children, you know.
• 19:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's everything is complicated.
• 20:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's all complicated, but where we're coming from is from a space of love and the reality that we're not going to get it perfectly, we're going to screw up.
• 20:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are going to be times when we're mad at each other, when we're yelling at each other, when our show lying to each other, and then we're going to find a way to repair.
• 20:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever fracture and explosion might happen in your in moments with your kids as long as you are committed to the repair that is that is the stuff where growth happens as we're intimacy grows that's where relationships grow and we're showing that we're modeling that in this show about the importance of communication and saying all the things that are scary to say.
• 20:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: even if it might hurt somebody's feelings just so that we can figure it out and put it out all out on the table so we can talk about it in a healthy way.
• 20:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I will say coming from someone who is in a similar situation, a co-parenting situation, you know, divorce family, we're good friends, both of our spouses are good friends.
• 21:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: When I watched this, I did see ourselves in it.
• 21:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, I'm like, you guys did it well.
• 21:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: You did it right.
• 21:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, thank you.
• 21:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love to hear that.
• 21:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: That makes me really, really happy.
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I mean, he's also, say, you know, as I'm surrounded by music, and one of the very first scenes, I see Amber wearing a bowie shirt and her friend wearing a kink shirt.
• 21:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: You've got to Wilcoe on the soundtrack.
• 21:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was I was having some really great nerd moments music nerd moments throughout all this, but that also becomes a part of it.
• 21:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: As you said at the beginning of the of this interview,
• 21:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: that, you know, Amber is doing the drawings.
• 21:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: We have the animation that's incorporated in it, but that's part of her finding her own voice through her arts, through this music.
• 21:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: How important was all of that on set as you all were doing this?
• 21:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, so important.
• 21:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, when I started to see, when I got to see the show,
• 21:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: in love with the soundtrack.
• 22:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just, I think the music choices are so amazing and so spot on and so exactly where kids are right now, but there's also sort of nostalgia that connects them to our generation to us, so that it's a really, really fun mix of music.
• 22:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just think art, I mean, I'm seeing this in my own relationship with my kids, but my son is really getting into musical theater right now.
• 22:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And
• 22:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: We, you know, we did a trip to New York and talk a bunch of Broadway shows and we've seen some shows and he's been in some shows now and I, we just want to see deer Evan Hansen, the other on Sunday night actually and he left the theater instead to be mommy, what is it about?
• 22:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: musicals that just ripped your heart right out.
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: What is it?
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, he was so moved and I was saying to him, there's something profound about good art where it transcends the sum of its parts.
• 22:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: where it allows you to think about something in a way that you can't find words to articulate.
• 23:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what's going on with Amber is that she is very articulate.
• 23:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: She's articulate in a lot of things straight to camera and her video diaries.
• 23:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there's also all of this animation and the music that are bringing things to the surface that are beyond words, beyond the ability to articulate.
• 23:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we need that.
• 23:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're desperate for that.
• 23:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what makes us human and makes us alive, you know.
• 23:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I love that this show taps into that because I'm seeing it so I'm seeing it as such a crucial element to the joy in my sense life right now.
• 23:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I get it and I love that we're doing it.
• 23:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's so big when when you do see your kids coming in head like so so
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: go back to the time machine for a minute, if you will, who are those artists for you?
• 23:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, was it musical theater that kind of awakened you?
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, on the musical side of it, like who are you coming of age artists?
• 23:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: was all musicals.
• 24:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was a theater geek through and through.
• 24:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had a really hard time making friends.
• 24:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was just sort of marched to the beat of my own drum and I found my people in musical theater.
• 24:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when I was in elementary school and middle school, that's where I felt at home.
• 24:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, my brother would listen to popular music.
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I would always be like,
• 24:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's the point of music if there's no story to it?
• 24:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I need a narrative to follow.
• 24:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the only and now I understand that each song is its own story.
• 24:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Each song is its own narrative, but back then I was like It's just one just sounds and chorus and whatever it's dumb.
• 24:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like give me layments.
• 24:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me dream a dream.
• 24:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I needed in my life.
• 24:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I'm seeing in my son.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, my husband plays all kinds of different music, but when I'm with my kids, we are listening to into the woods.
• 24:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're listening to, you know, and Conto and Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Hamilton, like activated my son in a way.
• 25:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: never knew or expected would, but it was just like his entire universe opened up.
• 25:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: He sat laid down on the floor and listened to the two and a half hours soundtrack on repeat over and over and over again after seeing that show.
• 25:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: I got to see so many kids do that and it reminded me like, yeah, you know, like when I was like rent.
• 25:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 25:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: That was great.
• 25:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: That was a big one.
• 25:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, and when you first found Greece a little bit, like those moments right there, like, yeah, seeing Hamilton play that sort of role has been really fun.
• 25:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Big time, yeah, I definitely went like student rush tickets to see rent right up in the front row, screaming my face off, like being blown away by the energy in the room.
• 25:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's, and it's still works, too.
• 25:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's still a very powerful soundtrack right there.
• 25:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: They're worth it, not too long ago.
• 25:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: Kind of playing around with what this is and reminding me of other parts of your work, there are these, the popular girls in Amber's school.
• 26:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: And they're welcome around.
• 26:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: And my first thought was Daria.
• 26:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, it's the fashion, you know, the click from from Daria.
• 26:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I was thinking to you, and there's, I know there was supposed to be the, uh, the reboot, uh, a Jodi, are, are we going to see, are you part of that world still?
• 26:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody has asked me to be a part of that world, but I mean, it would be so fun to, to get a chance to pop back into that world.
• 26:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's, that's my first professional gig was was doing that while was in high school, recording that show high high school in college.
• 26:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think.
• 26:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was so fun.
• 26:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I just, I continue to, to show to me in so many, to so many people, that's, and you tend to have a talent for picking those shows too.
• 26:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, a raise, of course, you, you pop back on reason.
• 26:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: What was it like getting back into that world after a small time away?
• 26:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was so fun.
• 26:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was it was a really beautiful reunion and it was different because you know I went back last season, but it was just me and Jesse and it was on a location where we were working with a crew that wasn't our normal crew.
• 27:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I got to work with some of my favorites that I just have missed so much, I found myself sitting in the little chairs in between shots looking around the room while we were waiting to go in while it was being lit and just being like, oh my gosh.
• 27:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: We've all lived four years of our lives since the last time I was sitting here in this room, but
• 27:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: It feels so comfortable.
• 27:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like I was here yesterday was a very weird surreal experience, but I'm really lovely one.
• 27:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was so sweet to be back and so meaningful to be asked to be back for such an enormous episode, the 400.
• 27:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: Is there more journey there for you?
• 27:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: There could be.
• 27:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've never, I've never fully, you know, closed the door in my heart in any way.
• 28:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that there's definitely more story to tell.
• 28:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: with April and Jackson in Boston.
• 28:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But as of now, it just lives in the imagination of the fans.
• 28:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that didn't, I don't quickly compliment you too on a cruel summer that was such a powerful season that we've had out on that one and seeing that story come alive.
• 28:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'll throw the same thing.
• 28:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Season two, are you part of that story as well?
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not, it's an entirely new cast.
• 28:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a whole new story.
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 28:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I am not, I'm not a part of the second season for Cool Summer, but that was also a really cool experience.
• 28:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tukas, you know, you should something and you're like, this is fun.
• 28:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're having a great time, you know, I hope you'd like it.
• 28:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then it became this moment, you know, it really took off.
• 28:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was on like all the best TV series lists that were out there.
• 28:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it was really cool to see people resonate with it in such a wonderful way.
• 29:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I loved getting to be a part of that.
• 29:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and the story was strong enough, not that it needed an nostalgia, but for it to hit in the 90s the way it did.
• 29:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my gosh.
• 29:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: It must have been fun to kind of being in, I don't know, that period, I guess.
• 29:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it was so fun to jump back into that with like the Walkman, you know, with the cassettes and the clothes, the fashion.
• 29:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had so much fun.
• 29:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: We did a premiere for it where they because it was still a COVID times they put us.
• 29:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: in little hotel suites with balconies and we watched it from our balconies like a wave to each other, but they decked out the rooms with all this like 90s paraphernalia.
• 29:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was like a caboodle and chokers and little butterfly clips and pictures of team beat on the wall.
• 29:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was so fun.
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I brought stuff home to my daughter and she still wears this choker like almost every day.
• 29:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: She loves it so much.
• 29:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: the fashion's back.
• 29:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's back.
• 30:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel better about wearing the flannel these days.
• 30:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, you're perfect.
• 30:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of flannel shirts.
• 30:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love flannel shirts.
• 30:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I've never, but I never stopped wearing them.
• 30:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that might be a problem.
• 30:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I never stopped wearing them.
• 30:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, they're just now it's okay again.
• 30:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: Now it's okay.
• 30:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
• 30:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'll continue to compliment again.
• 30:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: This new series again, Amber Brown on Apple TV.
• 30:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's such a great and well done show.
• 30:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: So congratulations on all you all have accomplished.
• 30:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: And Sarah, thanks for taking the time to talk about it today.
• 30:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 30:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks so much for having me.
• 30:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Alright, thanks to Sarah Drew, thanks to Ariel Winter, thanks to you for checking out the episode.
• 30:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: Before you get out of here, do hit that subscribe button so you can keep up with all the interviews that I put out every single week, just like this one.
• 30:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can find us at Spotify, Apple Podcast, NPR, WFPK.org, consequence, YouTube for the video versions or anywhere you get your podcasts from.
• 30:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can subscribe to Kyle Meredith with, again, please to give this series a rating,
• 31:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: And after that, you're going to head over to WFPK.org.
• 31:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's where you'll find me every single weeknight starting at 6pm Eastern.
• 31:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's four hours of classic indie and americana alternative.
• 31:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: You get the best in new music, bonus interviews, lots of music and film news as well.
• 31:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: One of my recent shows featured some classics and favorites from Southern culture on the skids, the war on drugs, cake, New York, Doz, Funkadelic, Brian Ferry,
• 31:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: The beta band, Michigan, or Dell, the funky, homo sapient towel, radio head, Margot Price, Tom, Petty, Silverchair.
• 31:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: This is Laura Lye and my interviews with everyone from David Duss, Malci, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Sammy Hagar, Darrell Hall, Midsky, Lauren Mayberry, Slow Dive, Morgan Neville, just an example of what you get when you tune in.
• 31:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So tune in weeknight, starting 6 PM Eastern at WFPK.ORG.
• 31:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Consequence has your music and film news.
• 31:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can also find me on any of the social media sites The address is always at Kyle Meredith.
• 32:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: Please do like follow along and that doesn't for another edition of Kyle Meredith.
• 32:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'll see you next time
• 32:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Consequence podcast network, it's easy to hear your favorite artist on WFPK from wherever you are.
• 32:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Listen on your smart speaker, live stream from our website at WFPK.org from Louisville Public Media.