Latest / Mommywood / 'Oceans 8' while pregnant, 'Scenes from a Marriage' with her daughter, and host of Mom Curious podcast - Daniella Rabbani
Transcript
- 0:00Mom. Hey, I'm your host, Emily Bolt.
- 0:10I'm an actor, teacher, and a new mom.
- 0:13Once I became pregnant, I went on a hunt for answers to all my
- 0:17questions about being a working actor mom.
- 0:20And what did I find? Practically nothing.
- 0:23So here I am asking all the questions to try to figure out
- 0:27how people do it. How are mothers balancing and
- 0:30not balancing parenthood in this crazy industry?
- 0:35Join me and my amazing guest as we take a real look into the
- 0:38lives of working moms in the entertainment industry.
- 0:43On today's episode of Mommywood, I'm talking to Daniela Robani
- 0:48and she is incredible. First of all, you have to check
- 0:53out her podcast called Mom Curious.
- 0:56It's so. Fantastic.
- 0:58And you definitely have to listen to it.
- 1:01Listen to all the episodes, follow her on Instagram.
- 1:05She has such great guests and such interesting topics that she
- 1:11talks about and getting everyone's different opinions,
- 1:15different experiences. It's it's just so great on on
- 1:20this episode we talk about. Her life as an artist and a mom
- 1:25of two in Brooklyn, NY, and we talk about how she says her
- 1:33children have never stopped her from growing her career.
- 1:38And I love that so much. Because of course, that is one
- 1:42of the biggest fears that women have when trying to decide if we
- 1:47want to start a family or not feeling like we're going to.
- 1:52Become so far behind in our careers or we're going to have
- 1:55to take breaks and all of these. Fears that are a lot of the time
- 2:01is really unwarranted, their fears of things that haven't
- 2:05taken place yet. So to hear her say that her
- 2:10career has never stopped growing, especially because of
- 2:13her kids, was really great. She also talked about how she
- 2:17doesn't have to lose her edge. Because she's a mom.
- 2:20And how her art keeps deepening, which I think is also something
- 2:25that we forget that could happen to us once becoming once we
- 2:30become a parent. That we as artists can deepen
- 2:36our creative sides once we're becoming, once we become
- 2:41parents. Because, you know, we've we have
- 2:45this love now, these deeper feelings that we've never had
- 2:49before, so it can only expand us and instead of limit us.
- 2:53One of my favorite things that she says in this episode is that
- 2:58once she became a mom, she was experienced.
- 3:02She was experiencing herself being the same.
- 3:06And which? Really resonated with me because
- 3:10I always say that I feel exactly the same as I did before.
- 3:15I'm not one of those moms who's like, I don't remember life
- 3:17before her. I feel like I'm a totally
- 3:19different person. I feel exactly the same.
- 3:23And there's it's end of sentence.
- 3:27I mean, it's the and is just so infinite.
- 3:31It comes with so much beyond that, but.
- 3:37Yes, please enjoy this episode and enjoy the wonderfulness that
- 3:43is Daniela Rabani. Hi.
- 3:46It's so nice to meet you. It's so nice to meet you.
- 3:49I'm so happy to be doing this. What a great idea for a podcast.
- 3:53I feel like. I feel like I I also had this
- 3:57idea when we're doing it in such different ways.
- 4:00Yeah, it's really exciting to like, I don't know.
- 4:03It's so exciting to, like, step into your world.
- 4:05Thank you for having me. Yeah, of course.
- 4:07Thanks for being here. I love that you have like you
- 4:11have mom curious podcast which is so interesting.
- 4:16And yeah I've loved listening to like to some of your episodes.
- 4:21It's so and seeing all your guests and stuff when when I'm
- 4:26like ohh I follow her and like. Ohh yeah like The Mummy
- 4:30bloggers, yeah. Yeah, cool.
- 4:33I'll be like, wait, why do they look familiar?
- 4:35Do I know that? Sometimes they're just actors
- 4:39and they happen to be moms. So it's like very similar to
- 4:42your mission. So you're in, you just said
- 4:45you're in Brooklyn. Do you live in Brooklyn?
- 4:50Yeah, I live in. I live in Brooklyn.
- 4:52I have for the past like 5 years.
- 4:55From the West Village. Oh, from the West Village, yeah.
- 4:58And you have a boy and a girl, right?
- 5:03Yeah, and my son Ness is 6 and my daughter Paz is 3 1/2 Ness.
- 5:09And what was the girl's name? Paz, those are so special.
- 5:14I have not. Yeah, Ness in Hebrew means
- 5:19miracle and Paz is also is originally like a Hebrew name
- 5:24because my family is Israeli, but but they were also in this
- 5:28like bilingual. Spanish speaking school and so
- 5:32Spanish has been a part of our life.
- 5:34Just be just through them. And Paz means peace.
- 5:37So those are like pretty meaningful names also they're
- 5:41just, they're easy to spell. They're like, they're very quick
- 5:44to spell their names, like and yeah, like, yeah, I got this.
- 5:51Yeah, yeah, totally. Wait and tell me their ages
- 5:54again 6. And 3 1/2 Oh wow.
- 5:58So, and you've been in Brooklyn for five years, so you moved
- 6:02with a baby then? So my son was exactly 1 year old
- 6:06because I don't know. I don't know what it's like in
- 6:09LA, but in Manhattan, I mean, I guess anywhere in New York, in
- 6:15the city, like space is hard to come by.
- 6:20So I'm not sure that these days, Brooklyn is any.
- 6:25Less expensive, but I think five years ago it definitely was.
- 6:28And it's a little more family oriented.
- 6:31And still we weren't like interested in leaving the city
- 6:35completely like that, just like the suburbs just for us wouldn't
- 6:39work. So this was, this was our big
- 6:42suburban sort of move. Yeah.
- 6:45Where are you from originally? I was born on the Upper West
- 6:50Side of Manhattan and yeah, and I was raised in the suburbs in
- 6:54on Long Island for like my 10 formative years from 7 to 17.
- 6:58But I came back to go to NYU Tish for acting when I was 17
- 7:04and I haven't left for the past 21 years.
- 7:07So, So you are a New Yorker? I really am such a New Yorker.
- 7:15I love it. There I was.
- 7:17I lived there only for like a year and a half.
- 7:21It seemed like longer. So it's crazy to say that I was
- 7:24only there a year and a half because I really loved it.
- 7:28But then I just, like came to LA and was like, excuse me, ended
- 7:35up like doing more work out here and was like, all right, I guess
- 7:41I'll move out here, Who knows. Well, it's really pretty in LA.
- 7:44Where are you from originally? I'm from St.
- 7:46Louis, MO. There you go.
- 7:48Yeah. So you had your options.
- 7:49Yeah. And my sister, Yeah, my sister,
- 7:53she was on Broadway. So I was like, it's easy to go
- 7:58to New York, My sisters. So wow.
- 8:01The two of you are actors, Yeah, and.
- 8:04Then dress the two of you. Or do you have a middle sister?
- 8:09So I have two older sisters and my mom was actually our high
- 8:13school drama teacher. And then my yeah, my sister is
- 8:19an actor and a singer and my middle the other older sister,
- 8:26she was a speech in theater teacher at high school also.
- 8:31Oh. My God, that's so special.
- 8:33Yeah, we're all and my dad is a watercolor painter.
- 8:37But my parents met. Yeah, they met doing a musical
- 8:40in college, so it's. It's it was like, literally in
- 8:44the stars. Yeah.
- 8:46Do you think your daughter's going to be an actress?
- 8:48Have you pimped her out for any, like, auditions yet?
- 8:52My agents have, like, we never said really yes or no.
- 8:57But they've like sent us things for her that is just like do a
- 9:02little video of her name and stuff and we've done it, but she
- 9:07hasn't gotten anything. And we're just like, I don't, we
- 9:10don't care. Yeah, yeah, like if it saves her
- 9:14some money, great. If not, like we're definitely if
- 9:19she gets to the age, you know, where she can decide or not,
- 9:23like right now, she obviously doesn't know the difference.
- 9:26She's only 11 months so. But yeah, is your family in the
- 9:34arts at all, or were you just like, this is my thing?
- 9:39No, I I say, I often say that like I was born into a
- 9:42storytelling tradition because I was raised very, you know, like
- 9:47religious. I was, I'm Jewish.
- 9:49And that sort of lineage is like very heavy on the stories.
- 9:53Like we tell the same, We've told the same stories for 3000
- 9:56years. And like, if I'm being honest,
- 9:58they were they that great? Like were they?
- 10:00Awesome story. They're they're fine.
- 10:01But like literally word perfect for that long and and you know
- 10:06like I think if you're raised in an environment where where like
- 10:10ritual and ceremony are like part of your everyday every week
- 10:16life, like there's something so theatrical about it.
- 10:19So I felt like already I was, you know?
- 10:22I was like, in this lineage. My father's a singer.
- 10:26He's a jewelry designer. So is my mom.
- 10:28My grandmother was a Pearl Stringer.
- 10:29So there's some visual art, you know, stuff going on there.
- 10:34I I did not inherit any of that. But.
- 10:37But I think that that creativity in general was, you know, like
- 10:43my parents sold jewelry. Like they they like, you know,
- 10:47like made things beautiful for a living.
- 10:51You know, and I think, like that was something similar to your
- 10:55parents where you're like, oh, this is, this is a job.
- 10:57Like being an artist isn't a hobby.
- 11:00It can be. But it, you know, this is like a
- 11:02monetizable living. I just, like always, could take
- 11:08it seriously because I saw, like, that's how creativity is
- 11:12like an important part of the human experience, you know?
- 11:17Absolutely. Do you think, also growing up in
- 11:21New York, did it seem a little bit more attainable or like
- 11:27being able to see that people were like legitimate working
- 11:32actors? Because yeah.
- 11:35Well, yeah, I think right. Because you're like in Saint
- 11:39Louis, that doesn't exist. I'm.
- 11:40Just thinking, I can see Louis like.
- 11:42Yeah, like your mom being a teacher is like, it's beautiful.
- 11:45It's such a validating. Both of your parents like being
- 11:48artists, I feel like such a validating experience.
- 11:51Not everyone has that, but definitely in New York, my
- 11:56middle school and high school mentor, you know, drama teacher
- 12:00Yesha Gross, he won an Emmy and a Tony like so he and he was the
- 12:05guy who would come in and do the plays.
- 12:09And I would like, mentor under him and I would assistant
- 12:11direct. So I knew that.
- 12:13Like, I I knew two things. I knew that like, it's possible.
- 12:18And I also knew that, like, it's not always glamorous like one of
- 12:23my I always hire babysitters who are actors because I find and I
- 12:27know that you nanny before, so you know I and so did I I just
- 12:32find actors to be like. More than willing to, like, put
- 12:35down their phone and play and be present and like, respect
- 12:38children. And you know, one of my last
- 12:42babysitters, you know, was nominated for a Tony Award.
- 12:45And I knew that experience to be totally normal, totally part of
- 12:50the artist's journey. Like, because Yeeshay, my
- 12:54mentor, was teaching, you know, middle school and high school
- 12:58kids. You know how to act and putting
- 13:02on shows and it was a high quality experience but it was
- 13:05also a side job. So I I like always I I knew two
- 13:10things were were were happening in New York which is it's
- 13:14totally possible. It's a real life living and you
- 13:18can be super glamorous and it's not always like there's a grind
- 13:24and just like any other living, right?
- 13:27Yeah. Do you?
- 13:30Because I know people have such, like, negative feelings of,
- 13:37like, mostly people who aren't in LA or New York.
- 13:41The idea of raising kids in like LA and New York, besides the
- 13:47fact that it is insanely expensive in both places and it
- 13:52is extremely it's just harder than other places money wise.
- 13:58But I really appreciate you saying that because not everyone
- 14:00is transparent in in conversations, even, you know,
- 14:04even on on my podcast, when I like broach the subject of
- 14:08money, I feel like actors have a very fluid way of discussing,
- 14:13like maybe not how much we're getting paid for a job, but
- 14:15we're just like we know that we for for most journeymen, actors
- 14:20like, you know, money just doesn't.
- 14:21It's not like a huge money making career.
- 14:24Like, you know, but a lot of people will sidestep that issue
- 14:29that, like actually raising children is very expensive.
- 14:32It's very expensive in New York and LA and and that in and of
- 14:35itself makes the pursuit of your dreams, your souls calling, that
- 14:43much more challenging. For sure.
- 14:47Yeah. It's.
- 14:50I mean it is because I'm always. It's funny because I'm clearly
- 14:55also doing it like I'm living in LA and I.
- 14:59Doing it a baby so. You're so doing it and you have
- 15:02your own show and you're connecting with other parents
- 15:06and you're dispelling shame and you're doing it really
- 15:11beautifully. And but I always have the
- 15:13question of like, but how are people doing it?
- 15:18Like how are you paying for rent and paying for childcare and all
- 15:23that without like and it's hard to specifically.
- 15:26I'm not going to ask somebody like.
- 15:29But you. But it's your show.
- 15:30You can ask how much do but but like it is.
- 15:35I am curious because with our jobs it's not it's not a nine to
- 15:40five, it's not a steady thing. So do you have a certain job
- 15:49that's more steady for you? I know that you do a lot of
- 15:52voice over. Yeah, yeah.
- 15:55So when I this, this was the thing, you know, when I
- 15:58graduated from college, I I did. I guess I knew that I wanted to
- 16:02be a mom. I think there was a time when I
- 16:04didn't. That I just that I like you.
- 16:07I know you said this in like your first episode like I wanted
- 16:11to get to a certain place in my career and then have children,
- 16:13which I think is a totally worthwhile pursuit.
- 16:16And then at some point the rubber hits the road and like
- 16:19meets the road and you know you're you make a decision
- 16:21you're it's either it's either this or it's that.
- 16:26For me, I I ended up having my son at 33 and it when I was
- 16:31pregnant with him, I was in Ocean's 8.
- 16:34You know, when he was less than one year old, I booked my first
- 16:37recurring role when I was pregnant with my daughter.
- 16:40I got this, like big national commercial with McDonald's.
- 16:42Like, it wasn't we. We, my daughter and I, we like,
- 16:48did scenes from a marriage together.
- 16:49So it's not like, it's not like children ever.
- 16:52My children ever stop me from growing my career.
- 16:55I I still do concerts and I still do, you know, some plays
- 17:01here and there. It wasn't.
- 17:04It wasn't hard for me until the pandemic.
- 17:07And part of the part of that is because I always had voiceovers
- 17:12and when you have enough income, when you have a steady income
- 17:17that you enjoy doing right like I would, I I'm in my studio,
- 17:24bricks studio. This is like really like my
- 17:26bread and butter. It's it's how I got insurance
- 17:29for so long and I knew that in that voiceover.
- 17:33World Pre Pandemic and I think things have changed quite a lot.
- 17:39I would see children all the time.
- 17:40I see children and I see dogs. I see babies from three months
- 17:43old up until teenagers with their parents at auditions.
- 17:48Sometimes we would babysit each other's kids.
- 17:51This is for oncamera commercials and for voice over.
- 17:53So I was in a in an environment where I knew that, okay, maybe I
- 17:59didn't want the responsibility. Maybe I didn't have the the urge
- 18:03for children, maybe I didn't have enough money or resources.
- 18:10But I knew that I I saw it happen.
- 18:12I I watched other people do it for a long time.
- 18:16It wasn't until about three years ago when the pandemic hit
- 18:19that. I I had two children.
- 18:23One was six months old and five months old and one was three.
- 18:28It wasn't until then that I really found myself not able to
- 18:35field calls and ride on momentum, and I had a hard time
- 18:43really adjusting career wise, even voiceover wise.
- 18:49Because the industry was changing so rapidly, and so were
- 18:54my babies, and so was I. And so I still find myself like
- 19:00I don't exactly have my footing. And I I do think part of it is
- 19:05because I'm a mother. I I that's the honest truth.
- 19:08It's but but it's because the world changed as I was in, in a
- 19:16deep metamorphosis, all that at once.
- 19:20You were really in the thick of it.
- 19:23Yeah. And there was like, no, like the
- 19:26thing about the thing about how intense that experience was,
- 19:29like, I couldn't quite, you know, I I, I couldn't go to
- 19:34those auditions. Like I couldn't leave the nest
- 19:38and go to the thing that I that I recognized, which was an
- 19:41audition room or, you know, rehearsal space or it was all
- 19:46right here in my home or or not happening.
- 19:49At all. And I still am like, wait, what
- 19:54is what? What's going on?
- 19:55Like, there's like, there's like a lot more nonunion stuff going
- 20:00on in the voiceover world. We have a writers strike
- 20:04happening even like self tapes for me.
- 20:09I mean, I did them before, but they're not like I'm like a I'm
- 20:14like a New York. Like stage actor, I like, love
- 20:18an audience. So, So what I ended up doing was
- 20:22similar to you was really just being.
- 20:24There was no metaphor anymore. I just had to just be myself.
- 20:28I had to be honest, like I actually couldn't fake anything.
- 20:33I had to just sit down and talk to another human being and be
- 20:35like, hey, so like what's it like for you?
- 20:39And that's that's why I started my podcast also.
- 20:42So that's a long way. Did did I answer your question?
- 20:46I don't know, but I loved. Oh my God.
- 20:51Know what my question was at this one?
- 20:53No, that's I mean, wow, you were to have a 5 month old and and he
- 21:04just turned three. Yeah, he had just turned 3.
- 21:06Oh my God, I know. And in New York, yes.
- 21:12Oh boy, I can imagine. There was a lot of
- 21:16claustrophobia, Yeah, I mean it was claustrophobia and just also
- 21:22like just like a not knowing also because like you know, I
- 21:26think for many of us are acting is a real soothing force.
- 21:32It's a really it's a friend. It's so it's like a it's like a
- 21:38whole lover you know and comforter of our souls.
- 21:44Like we have this outlet we're so lucky to engage in.
- 21:50We really are. And I and and that was gone for
- 21:53I don't know how long was that, that lockdown.
- 21:57I don't know. Who knows?
- 22:01It was a really long time in New York.
- 22:02I mean their preschool that they like they aren't there anymore,
- 22:05but they just let go of masks 3 weeks ago.
- 22:10Oh, wow. I know, I know.
- 22:13I think that's like because in New York there was like some
- 22:15trauma and they were just like they had.
- 22:17They couldn't they. There are still people bust them
- 22:21who need to or want to wear masks.
- 22:22But we, you know, it was a long time.
- 22:25It is a long time. Yeah, I I mean, honestly, I
- 22:28still wear my mask well, especially when I go to work
- 22:33because I work around children And I yeah, regardless of COVID,
- 22:39I'm like. Kids are Germany.
- 22:41I'm just going to keep wearing my mask because other teachers
- 22:44will get like colds and whatnot from kids and I'm like, I'm just
- 22:49and you have a baby. Wearing this, Yeah.
- 22:52Yeah. So that's so I I did nanny when
- 22:57I was living in New York. And I looking back, I'm like.
- 23:03Thinking I'm like, man, how did I like get the stroller down the
- 23:07subway? And just like all sorts of
- 23:09logistic things where I'm like, oh, how did that work?
- 23:14But it's like it just works. So for sometimes it doesn't
- 23:18work. That's part of the reason why
- 23:19people move. Yeah, that's true.
- 23:22But like, what are your pros and cons of living in the city?
- 23:29Like, obviously it's. I mean, I can.
- 23:33Guess what mine would be in cons.
- 23:36There's so many of both I'm sure, but I'm curious as a mom
- 23:42and it's like, what your Yeah, cuz I have left no and I and I
- 23:49won't, but so many people did in these past few years.
- 23:54But I I really like walking and I like wearing my babies.
- 23:58So part of, you know, the stroller up and down is not a
- 24:01thing for me because I often am just wearing the babies,
- 24:04although I'm not going to have another baby anytime soon or
- 24:07ever. So that was a really nice
- 24:10experience that, you know, I I cherish and so like, I like
- 24:13walking around. When Ness my younger, my older
- 24:17son, I was born, I would take him to auditions all the time,
- 24:22voiceovers and on camera. I wouldn't take him to legit
- 24:25auditions because I guess that that would just be bad.
- 24:28But I I, I really love the diversity that I experienced
- 24:37here in the city. Like, it is so meaningful to me.
- 24:39Like, you know, my kids are in a public school and like they get
- 24:44to be around all different types of people, all different
- 24:47socioeconomic backgrounds, races, cultures, people who
- 24:51speak multiple languages, neuro diversity.
- 24:57And I feel like I feel so lucky to be in that environment.
- 25:04It really means a lot to me. And, you know, they they want
- 25:09for nothing, like I always want. You know, my son is very into
- 25:12like baseball now and he's like throwing, you know, balls inside
- 25:16the house. I mean, I wouldn't have a house.
- 25:18It's an apartment. And I think, oh, I I I guess
- 25:21they would really love a backyard.
- 25:23But like, they don't know about a backyard.
- 25:25I mean they sort of they visit friends in the suburbs and and
- 25:30they enjoy it. But this is their home.
- 25:32This is what they love. And yeah, I I also enjoy the
- 25:39fact that I get to be like myself very easily.
- 25:46Like I could meet, you know, I I went to a 40th birthday party
- 25:52actually with my kids at like a club, which was really cute.
- 25:55I don't know how they rented this out, but it was like there
- 25:58was like a bouncer, like it was like a real club in meatpacking.
- 26:01And and it was so cute that, like, we went there and then I
- 26:04put them to sleep and I went out with friends and like, I could
- 26:08really just be me, which I'm not sure that I could do with as
- 26:15much facility if I had to drive in and park and blah, blah,
- 26:18blah. And maybe I could, I'm not sure.
- 26:20But I can always see a Broadway show.
- 26:23I can always go to the museum. I can.
- 26:28I could go dancing if I want, you know?
- 26:30Like, it's like I don't have to lose my edge just because I'm a
- 26:36mom. And for me, I like that.
- 26:39I really like that. And I like that for them also,
- 26:42because the whole I am, the better it is for my kids.
- 26:47Yeah, I was going to say I'm sure that's so much better for
- 26:51kids to see. Well, like first of all to have
- 26:55all that. To have so many experiences of
- 26:59other people and other cultures, but then to be able to see you
- 27:02as you are. It is so important for our kids
- 27:07to see who we really are, not just not just their moms, excuse
- 27:12me. They're like coming up where
- 27:15we're like our moms are moms. Like they're not real people.
- 27:21They don't have. They didn't exist before we were
- 27:24born, you know, I do. And I see that with my kids now.
- 27:27Like, I'll walk, I'll sing. I sing a lot and they're often
- 27:31like, please stop and please don't do it.
- 27:33And then when we get to school, like.
- 27:36And I see that they are like that my, like full expression of
- 27:40myself like is embarrassing to them.
- 27:42So like, I have to compartmentalize that.
- 27:45Like I have to say like I need to sing and be seen and and
- 27:48like, be silly and weird. Maybe not on your time, kid.
- 27:53I get that, you know, like, but but I need to make that time for
- 27:58myself. That's my, that's my, that's on
- 28:00me. Yeah.
- 28:03How did it feel for you? Because, like you were saying,
- 28:08being able to be yourself, aside from being a mom, which I mean,
- 28:16are obviously the same person, but I don't know for you, I felt
- 28:23surprised at how much I was the same.
- 28:28Like, I thought there was going to be this huge shift of like my
- 28:33identity and there really wasn't.
- 28:38I don't know if it's good or bad, but it is what it is, Where
- 28:41I'm like, I love that. It's just me with a baby now.
- 28:45So I'm how have you. How was that for you becoming a
- 28:52mom and being an artist and knowing?
- 28:56This is who I am, but I'm a mom or I don't know if my questions
- 29:01making sense. Yeah.
- 29:03Is there a big shift for you emotionally, physically, but
- 29:11then also career rise too? Yeah, I think those.
- 29:18Questions in one. I think there was like an
- 29:23enormous, like circuit break for me when I had my first child.
- 29:30I was like, Oh my God, this is what people have been doing for
- 29:33millennia. And we don't talk about it.
- 29:37We don't notice it. Like I remember being in an Uber
- 29:40and I don't know why I opened up to the driver, but he or maybe
- 29:44he was just praising me. I think I he wasn't from me
- 29:47here, but he, I don't even know where he was from.
- 29:50But he was clearly in awe of the fact that I was pregnant and
- 29:54that I was creating life. And he sort of pointed me in the
- 29:59direction of like, the window to see all of the people in the
- 30:02world having been populated by women.
- 30:05And it gave me such solace because I just like, I I wasn't
- 30:10sure like how am I going to actually make eyeballs?
- 30:13Like how's that going to work out?
- 30:14Like, like, how did it, you know?
- 30:18And to look out and see, like, wow, all these people came
- 30:22through this same experience, myself included.
- 30:27And then once I had Ness, I just felt like, whoa, The Matrix
- 30:32really opened up for me. I felt I found it to be a deeply
- 30:35spiritual experience. And I don't think that it
- 30:38necessarily changed me, but it definitely deepened me.
- 30:40So, you know, I, like, went deep into respectful parenting.
- 30:45I know you'd mentioned, like, you were listening to the.
- 30:47I don't know. Was it Janet Lansbury's podcast,
- 30:50Unruffled? I don't know.
- 30:52Yeah, I can only see her visually.
- 30:54I don't remember. Her name.
- 30:58But I think I'm like, you know, like respect parenting in terms
- 31:01of just like, you know, watching the child and letting him be who
- 31:05he is. Like, I found that to be so
- 31:10artful. Like I thought my role in that
- 31:13as a facilitator almost was really, like, meaningful.
- 31:20And it really held my attention for long periods of time.
- 31:25And I could feel like, oh, I, you know, my art was deepening.
- 31:31And logistically, I did feel like, you know, I didn't have a
- 31:36lot of time to prepare for auditions and I didn't have a
- 31:39lot of time to go to the gym. And I had to really.
- 31:45For me, I didn't always know if I wanted to leave or if I wanted
- 31:50to stay. I didn't always know if I wanted
- 31:53to hand the the baby off to even my husband or a caregiver.
- 31:59Like, I I just didn't know what I wanted.
- 32:03So on like a logistical level, I was still as ambitious.
- 32:09And I like documented that a lot on my, like Instagram at the
- 32:14time, which is really how I like sort of gained the following I
- 32:19was I was experiencing myself to be the same and and it didn't
- 32:26end like, it's not that like right postpartum, you know I
- 32:33experienced a change. I think I experienced change at
- 32:37a very rapid pace because my children are changing rapidly
- 32:42and the world is changing rapidly and my body is also
- 32:45like, I'm getting older and I look different and I sound
- 32:48different and the, you know, so I think like it's a deeply like
- 32:52feminine experience to change over time.
- 32:58It doesn't happen just when the baby's born.
- 33:01I feel like actually, you know, I was saying that like I booked
- 33:04a lot of work when Ness was a baby, made a lot of money and I
- 33:08booked a lot of work. And I I felt like me and like I
- 33:13felt like I had a superpower and that it is a super.
- 33:19It literally is like that is the most I I had experienced the
- 33:22most creative force of my life. I I was like, wow, I'm capable
- 33:29of that. I am deep.
- 33:31Like, wow. I am, like, wildly capable.
- 33:36Was that surprising to you before like?
- 33:43Were there any fears or like apprehensions about that before
- 33:50before getting pregnant? Wondering what is this going to
- 33:54look like? How am I going to audition?
- 33:57And am I going to audition like while pregnant?
- 34:01Because I feel also so many people just think like once I'm
- 34:08pregnant. Once I have a baby, I'm going to
- 34:10have to take like a year off. Like I can't work at all when
- 34:13I'm pregnant, and then I'll have to take off however long after
- 34:18the baby's born. And I've heard so many stories
- 34:22of, like, people working while they're pregnant and working
- 34:27like, pretty soon afterwards. So were did you have those
- 34:33apprehensive? Like were you surprised by how
- 34:35much you were able? To work and do.
- 34:39When I got pregnant, I had had a very early miscarriage, which
- 34:44was not to me. It wasn't a big problem.
- 34:47I had known that sometimes the body just needs like a
- 34:51rehearsal. And I know that it can be very
- 34:54upsetting and traumatic for many, many women.
- 34:57But it wasn't for me. It was sort of like I I I
- 35:00understood that this happens quite a lot and I got pregnant
- 35:05with Ness and at 8 weeks I was, you know, having producer
- 35:10sessions for the marvelous missus Maisel and you know, like
- 35:15getting callbacks for Ocean's 8. Ocean's 8 didn't shoot until I
- 35:21was 8 months pregnant. So for a long time I was just.
- 35:27And I'm a person whose weight fluctuates anyway, so I just let
- 35:32people think I was getting chubby for a while, for like a
- 35:35long while, and then once once I did get the call, that like,
- 35:39they're going to move forward with me.
- 35:40The writer and the casting director are both women who
- 35:44actually have children just the same age as my second.
- 35:47Now really advocated for me. I was a I'm like in the first
- 35:51scene with Sandra Bullock and I am like a shop girl.
- 35:56And they were like, well, guys, you know, shop girls can be
- 36:00pregnant. Who cares?
- 36:01We'll put her behind a like you. If you watched it now, you
- 36:03wouldn't think anything of it. Like, I just behind a desk and
- 36:08set my lines and called it today.
- 36:10It was like an overnight shoot. And it was like, it was so it
- 36:14was so exciting. And I did audition quite a lot
- 36:17while I was pregnant, which I do think was a good idea for me.
- 36:22I was with, like, my dream reps at the time.
- 36:26Both of them have since moved on from the industry, and I'm so
- 36:28glad that I had that experience with them.
- 36:31And then I was badass enough to be like, this happens, this is a
- 36:34literal miracle. It happens all the time.
- 36:36Like, we're just going to keep rolling.
- 36:39And it was partially because I was like, I don't know if this
- 36:42is going to be like a full, I don't know if I'm going to have
- 36:44a baby at the end of this. Like, people have miscarriages
- 36:47all the time. Like, I'm I've worked my whole
- 36:49life to have this, these reps and these opportunities.
- 36:52I am not going to snooze on them.
- 36:55And I didn't. And when I had the baby, I
- 37:00really thought, I don't know, I would just, like, hand them off
- 37:04to a baby nurse and do my life. And I tried that, and it didn't
- 37:12quite feel right to me. I didn't enjoy that experience.
- 37:17I really wanted to be with my baby more, so that was really
- 37:22surprising. But I went straight back into
- 37:27voiceovers days later, and I had, I had my own booth in my,
- 37:32you know, that was my, that was my bread and butter.
- 37:34So I had my own booth. I didn't have to leave the
- 37:36house, but I probably would have liked to take more time.
- 37:41I did end up taking about four months with my daughter, and
- 37:45then COVID broke out. So I I sort of corrected that
- 37:49experience in one way and in another.
- 37:52It didn't. It didn't work out for me so
- 37:53well. I pan out.
- 37:57It didn't really pan out, but I did, you know, stick to my guns.
- 38:00I was like, this is the only, this is the only other baby I'm
- 38:03going to have and I want to have this stay home experience and
- 38:08integrate my son into this. And so I stuck to my guns about
- 38:12that too, you know, And the the chips fell where they fell.
- 38:20So it sounds like you told your reps at the time pretty early on
- 38:25when you were pregnant. No, I didn't.
- 38:28No, I wasn't until I like. Saying you're just going to let
- 38:32them think you're like gaining a little bit.
- 38:35I just let that. I just let everyone think I was
- 38:37just gaining weight. Yeah.
- 38:38And I and you really couldn't see.
- 38:40You really couldn't see it, you know?
- 38:43And maybe, maybe I was totally insane.
- 38:47But I also feel like for the roles I was going out for, like
- 38:53why did anyone need to know? Yeah, actually when I when I
- 38:59when I was doing God friended me on Oh my God, was it Fox?
- 39:04I don't even know what network was.
- 39:05Anyway, I I remember being in the trailer and there being like
- 39:09a pamphlet, being like we love all people.
- 39:13You could be disabled. You could be pregnant, no big
- 39:16deal. And I was like, that's cool.
- 39:19I mean, no one, no one tells the rest.
- 39:21No one tells us that. But Okay uploaded and then I
- 39:24did. I did actually fill my last
- 39:27episode with them. About 3 months pregnant with
- 39:30paws, yeah. Yeah.
- 39:36So yeah, I I don't understand why so many.
- 39:41And and I felt it too where it's like we worry about like well,
- 39:48can I audition for this? Can I audition for that.
- 39:50It's like like that woman shop. Girls can be pregnant.
- 39:54Women are pregnant all the time. Why does it?
- 39:57Why does it matter? Like what is it?
- 40:02It's not going to. Affect the storytelling.
- 40:05Yeah, I think there's like a liability.
- 40:09But what people don't understand is that pregnancy is like the
- 40:13epitome of health. It's it's not a sickness.
- 40:17It is not, in fact, a disability.
- 40:18It's the opposite. So I think people don't know
- 40:22that because the way women are treated, because we're treated
- 40:26in hospitals and by doctors, it's become a medicalized
- 40:29experience. And sometimes that's for good
- 40:33reason. But, but what the effect it has
- 40:35on society is that we think that pregnant women are a liability
- 40:41and you know, production doesn't want that.
- 40:44Yeah, it's it's unfortunate, but I mean, hopefully it's hearing
- 40:49all that. These women and I I worked while
- 40:52I was pregnant on set and it's like, yeah, we can do this
- 40:58people. As long as, like, we're okay,
- 41:02Yeah. And like, it's our choice to do
- 41:06that. It should be fine.
- 41:08I mean, I think the more women there are in those positions of
- 41:11power, like the casting director and the writer who have become
- 41:14friends of mine, who have children of their two children
- 41:16of their own now, the more they can advocate to the studio and
- 41:21say don't worry guys, it's okay. And I I I think that you know,
- 41:27for for someone who like you know lives in a body that can
- 41:31never get pregnant or even maybe doesn't doesn't want to or
- 41:35whatever, it is like a male body just doesn't understand what
- 41:38that experience is and it looks fragile and it they're it makes
- 41:42them nervous and would that cost me more money and would we have
- 41:45to postpone and all of these things that totally makes sense
- 41:49if we have directors studio executives like I said casting
- 41:53and writers who are. Female.
- 41:57I think we probably have a better shot.
- 42:00Yeah, absolutely. So are you.
- 42:06Are you also, are you self taping and stuff?
- 42:09And how does that, how does self taping look for you with with
- 42:15two of them at home? I mean, I try and do it when my
- 42:20baby's asleep or when she's napping, but I imagine
- 42:25especially with two, it's like, well, if one's up the other
- 42:28like, how do you juggle that? Well, they're they're in school.
- 42:33I mean, 3 1/2 and six, they're in school.
- 42:35So it's a different life, yeah. It's a different life stage but.
- 42:48You know, the one thing that I've booked well have I booked.
- 42:51I've booked a couple of things. But the one thing that I booked
- 42:53that, like actually moved the needle for me was scenes from a
- 42:56marriage. And I booked that with my
- 42:58daughter in my arms while my son was taking a bath.
- 43:02And like my husband was there and it we were in the rocking
- 43:06chair and it was like, it really looked like a the scene.
- 43:12It really looked like the scene. That said, I find it to be
- 43:15absolute. Fucking chaos.
- 43:17I often pay people to tape me and I still don't feel like I,
- 43:27you know, there's still a large part of me that would love to be
- 43:31in the room. I mean, I I when I do theater,
- 43:34most of the time it's it's in the room.
- 43:39But I I still wish I could just go.
- 43:46Yeah, I still feel that. I even feel that way about
- 43:48voiceovers and like here I am with all my like, bells and
- 43:51whistles and like, you know, there's like editors and, you
- 43:56know, sound engineers have a lot of training and experience and
- 44:01like casting directors themselves have a lot of
- 44:04experience. And like it was a really freeing
- 44:07experience to just like go and do your work and leave, which is
- 44:11not at all. What I do, but what I what I you
- 44:15know what's on my plate now? My studio is soundproof, so like
- 44:20even if the kids are like in the other room, that was necessary
- 44:24for me and I often like I was going to ask about.
- 44:27Because my husband does audiobooks, it is hard for him.
- 44:35And because we just have this little corner of our room, which
- 44:39obviously is not soundproof, he can't work if she's awake
- 44:45really, regardless because she's so small.
- 44:47But he has been looking into these.
- 44:50It seems like something that you have.
- 44:52So it's like this, you said it's it's a booth that you put inside
- 44:58that it's. Yeah.
- 44:59That's like a built in booth, like it's I guess it's as big as
- 45:04a urinal. It's like fully soundproofed.
- 45:08It's what they use in. Like studios.
- 45:13So there are several. And this one's, this one's
- 45:15expensive, but there are others that are less so.
- 45:20But even then, like, you know, I mean my kids playroom, so they
- 45:25can't play right next to me or else I would hear or the dog is
- 45:27barking, I would hear. But really, like this was a a
- 45:31really necessary purchase for me because here we were at home
- 45:36there there was just no way I could do well.
- 45:41And if that's where you're making your a lot of income
- 45:45from, then the cost is will. Yeah, out and end up working
- 45:54better for you. I.
- 45:55Yeah, I mean, I feel I film many of my auditions in here, and
- 46:00then I also film my remote interviews in here also.
- 46:05It's like my this is my office. That's my office.
- 46:09Is there like a name for it or the?
- 46:13Studio bricks. It's called the studio bricks.
- 46:16Okay. All right.
- 46:17Then yeah, right, it's down. Yeah, cuz we definitely, I mean
- 46:22at some point hopefully there's enough of the income where like
- 46:26yeah, that makes sense to buy. Did you is voice over something
- 46:37you've How long have you been into that?
- 46:40Because that seems definitely something that's more conducive
- 46:47to being a parent to me seems like.
- 46:52So is that something more that you intentionally focused on
- 46:56once you had kids? No, I had.
- 46:59I had done it for a long time, like I when I graduated from.
- 47:04NYUI like, I was connected with someone named Cynthia Adler, who
- 47:09was a big voice over star back in the day.
- 47:12And when I started in voice Over, she was like, the heyday
- 47:15is over, you know, blah, blah, blah.
- 47:17And I was just like, the heyday's over.
- 47:20I just got to check for $50,000. This for me is a heyday, you
- 47:24know, like, that's incredible. And it was I I like, I've been
- 47:28the voice of like Colgate. I I've done some animation like
- 47:33Red Dead Redemption. I have like a recurring role on
- 47:35there. But like mostly it's commercial.
- 47:38I I've done commercials for a long time and the community was
- 47:41amazing for the longest time. I I like know all these people's
- 47:46children and partners and it was like a very small tight knit
- 47:51community and it always has been.
- 47:53Sometimes people come in and out like they're like.
- 47:56Theatrical people who like, oh, they dip their toe in
- 48:00commercials and then they got sent out on a voiceover
- 48:03audition. They booked it and.
- 48:05But it was something that I really focused on for a long
- 48:09time and it was great for building a family for sure.
- 48:13The industry has changed quite a lot so I think audio books are a
- 48:16great way to go. But that's how I got my union
- 48:19card originally was I guess what would it, what did I book?
- 48:23Oh, I would do these like. Marlo Quin novels for Audible.
- 48:29And so I that's it was when SAG and AFRA merged and it was like
- 48:37that week and I got my union card.
- 48:41I think it's a great way to to get into the industry and also
- 48:45to make some insurance. Yeah, sure.
- 48:50Yeah, that's that's always I forget that.
- 48:53It's like because I'm not in SAG.
- 48:59I'm just, I'm SAG eligible. So I will like.
- 49:03Oh, they're as long as possible. Well you know what?
- 49:06You should maybe look into a site that's called, I think it's
- 49:10called Voice 123. Maybe it used to be Video Voice
- 49:13bank but there are sites that are non union which is.
- 49:19Unfortunate for the union and probably unfortunate for all
- 49:22actors if I'm being honest. But very good for you and a way
- 49:27of making money and you can do like elearning.
- 49:31You can do ebooks, you can do website stuff, you can.
- 49:35There's a lot there and if you spend quite a lot of time
- 49:40auditioning it mean you have a booth.
- 49:43It's a nice way of making money during nap time if possible,
- 49:47Yeah, it's. Fun.
- 49:49I think voice overs are a lot of fun.
- 49:51I know. It really is.
- 49:53It is a lot of fun. How I know you were talking
- 49:58about that you like to hire actors as like babysitters.
- 50:03Where do you tend to find your support system and your
- 50:09babysitters? I seems like your family's still
- 50:14nearby, but where do you how do you find support for yourself?
- 50:23Yeah, the support looks so different now because people
- 50:28have to come to me right? Like it's not like I'm and.
- 50:32For a long time, even play dates were hard to come by.
- 50:35But I just like, came back from a trip to Israel and people are
- 50:38just so different, you know, like in other countries, they're
- 50:42just like hanging out. Like like a mom will just pick
- 50:47up another kid from from school and they'll go have a play date
- 50:52real quick before the other mom comes home from work.
- 50:56And I just want to name that like this is not really how
- 50:59we're supposed to be doing it where we have to, like, pay for.
- 51:04Support at every turn like that is not, you know, it's I have
- 51:09nothing, There's nothing wrong with capitalism.
- 51:11There's nothing wrong with money.
- 51:12But I do feel like it's it's one of many ways that we are keeping
- 51:18women small and stressed. Is that like every time we, you
- 51:26know, leave the house, it costs us $23.00 an hour.
- 51:31Across our family $23.00 an hour and and I anyway, I really
- 51:38liked. I think it was like industry
- 51:44sitters for industry parents or there's a Facebook.
- 51:48There was a Facebook group in New York where I initially found
- 51:53a couple of babysitters that I liked a lot.
- 51:58Sometimes I'll just ask another mom's babysitter, like, wow,
- 52:01you're great. Do you have friends?
- 52:03And that worked out really well for us.
- 52:05We had this new babysitter, Lydia, and she comes twice a
- 52:07week and she's the best. She's like 20-4 years old.
- 52:10She's an actress. She just like plays.
- 52:14She just plays with them and it's funny and is engaged and
- 52:18it's the best. I don't know.
- 52:22I didn't really like care.com. Like, I just, I never really
- 52:26felt comfortable with like career.
- 52:28Nannies. And that sucks because honestly,
- 52:32people who have nannies, who are like third parents have a lot of
- 52:38stability in the home and a lot of orderliness.
- 52:43And you know, I think there's like so many amazing things
- 52:47about that experience. And for me, it just like never
- 52:51felt good. And my mom comes twice a week.
- 52:56And that has been a beautiful experience because I've never
- 53:00felt closer to her than I do in this iteration of our
- 53:04relationship. And it's been so healing and so
- 53:11transformative for me to see her with my kids.
- 53:16And I just it's like it's hard. You know, my kids also did go to
- 53:23like a school. By the time they were in, they
- 53:27were 18 months. They went to Montessori
- 53:30environment, which I think is like they're really great, it's
- 53:34really great. And it was bilingual and I felt
- 53:36like they were with other kids and for me just like it meant
- 53:41that they were out of the house also.
- 53:43So they I had childcare. I was excited to see them.
- 53:47You know, whether it was a three or four hour day or longer for
- 53:51my daughter was much longer than it was with my son because I had
- 53:54two. And you know, life was
- 53:56different. But yeah, I think daycare is a
- 53:59great option. I think people like poo poo it
- 54:04quite a lot. And I I I'm, I'm way more into
- 54:09it than I would be like someone in my home, even though I know
- 54:13it would be like. A lot easier to pursue my girams
- 54:18if there was someone there cleaning up and feeding and
- 54:23disciplining. But I also am not interested in
- 54:27that style of discipline. So anyway yeah, no, I, I
- 54:32recently I just saw one of your posts about the about like
- 54:38imaginary play and just like your independent play or both I
- 54:45guess really. But just like, because I, I
- 54:49think it's we feel guilty. Just like letting our kids like,
- 54:55oh, I'm, I'm over here. I should be interacting.
- 54:59I should be playing blah, blah. And I'm like, she doesn't want
- 55:04like need me to show her how to play with her toys.
- 55:09Like she's fine. But it is it's harder than I
- 55:15thought it would be to just be like then it's yeah, it's like a
- 55:23full of, like I feel guilty, but also I don't.
- 55:27And then I feel guilty that I don't feel guilty.
- 55:29Like it's a whole. I think it, I think.
- 55:33This reminds me of the conversation you had in your in
- 55:37the last episode that I heard around birth.
- 55:40And the indoctrination that we all have in our society,
- 55:45specifically American Society. That this doesn't happen in
- 55:48Europe and other places where we are so cruel to women.
- 55:55That we have internalized that cruelty.
- 55:58That literally nothing we can do is good enough.
- 56:01That if we're working. We are abandoning our children.
- 56:04If we are staying at home, then we are worthless.
- 56:08If we have, you know, an epidural, we're weak.
- 56:14And if we birth at a pool, we are.
- 56:16We have something to prove. I think so much of the the mom
- 56:21guilt that I experienced and that I heard you experience are
- 56:26thoughts that are not organic for ourselves because if we were
- 56:30being honest with ourselves. You just put life onto this
- 56:33earth. You're welcome.
- 56:36If we were being honest with ourselves, we would be like, I'm
- 56:41such a good mom that I trust my baby.
- 56:44You know, I'm such a good mom that I don't have to prove to
- 56:48her that I'm here for her. That she knows it, that she
- 56:50understands it, that we can take that for granted.
- 56:54Like, but we have been, you know, like beaten to a pulp.
- 57:02We are too fat. We're too thin.
- 57:04We're too loud. We're too quiet.
- 57:07Like there's just no winning. And yeah, I I just, I I just
- 57:14think like all that mom guilt is like, it's so pervasive.
- 57:21And I think what you're doing with this podcast in like
- 57:24talking about it, like asking the questions like how do you
- 57:27afford to like live a creative life and have a child like.
- 57:31I think, I think that is the change we're we're both longing
- 57:36for and a part of actually and having these conversations.
- 57:42Yeah, cuz I I do wonder if the mom guilt is something that we
- 57:49actually have or if it's something that is is just from
- 57:55the outside. Cuz like I said, I was like I I
- 57:59don't feel bad, but then I'm like I'm supposed.
- 58:04To Should I wait? I'm supposed to feel bad now?
- 58:07I feel bad, but I don't feel bad.
- 58:09And it's like, where is all of this coming from?
- 58:13It's so it's And then you feel just crazy.
- 58:17Right. Yeah.
- 58:17Then you feel crazy. And you're not the only one.
- 58:19Like you're voicing something that many of us experience,
- 58:22sometimes even as far back into, like the fertility.
- 58:27Journey and the the the pregnancy journey.
- 58:31And it's not something that is just like in the first year of
- 58:34life. This is an experience that we're
- 58:37constantly like, second guessing ourselves, partially because
- 58:41there's an information overload and we've lost the connection to
- 58:45our own internal system. Like, she's fine.
- 58:50I see with my own eyes, she's fine.
- 58:54I like. You know you don't trust
- 58:57yourselves enough. Yeah.
- 58:59And we don't give ourselves the credit that's due.
- 59:04I mean, at three months you started a podcast.
- 59:07I mean, that's incredible. Like with a producer and an
- 59:11editor and guests, you know, like to have the wherewithal to
- 59:15do that is enormous. And you know, like I have to
- 59:19know what I need to need that. Like you said, you need that
- 59:25connection with other moms and just and I just enjoy not
- 59:32necessarily not giving advice, not receiving necessary advice,
- 59:39but just people's. Experience.
- 59:43I know there's nothing. Yeah, I know.
- 59:46I love that. I love that about you.
- 59:49And I love that about me that like.
- 59:52I think there's something so special about having been an
- 59:54actor and knowing that, like firsthand accounts and that
- 59:57lived experience is so gently powerful because we can see, oh
- 1:00:04boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like, you know, this person has
- 1:00:08this whole life experience before that informs the present
- 1:00:13moment. Oh, I don't have that.
- 1:00:14So, so I can't really compare myself, but I can be inspired by
- 1:00:20you know. Which is so much better than
- 1:00:22prescriptive advice. You know, I I I enjoy following
- 1:00:27parenting experts on some level, but I also know that it feeds my
- 1:00:31perfectionism. Yeah, same.
- 1:00:34And that perfectionism can be debilitating.
- 1:00:37And it's actually not good for my kids.
- 1:00:40Like when I was like, so hell bent on no TV, no TV, no TV,
- 1:00:44Guest two turned into a monster. Me.
- 1:00:46You know, like, guess who was a mean mommy?
- 1:00:49And like, really me? So like, why am I saying no TV?
- 1:00:54Because because some expert told me it was bad okay and maybe I
- 1:01:00can use some discernment. I can trust my child.
- 1:01:05I can trust myself. Yeah, I I, I like to say I grew
- 1:01:12up watching plenty of TV. And I'm like, no one's going to
- 1:01:17just, we're not going to, they're not going to watch TV 12
- 1:01:21hours, yeah. Like, they're just, they're not.
- 1:01:26I mean if they are maybe, maybe you should think about those
- 1:01:31choices. But like they're not going to.
- 1:01:35So yeah, but I feel like where I'm like, oh, she's like, I'll
- 1:01:40never, I'll never bring a tablet to dinner like that.
- 1:01:46Like I didn't have a tablet when I was little and we just.
- 1:01:50And I'm like, yeah, I also never went out, went out to
- 1:01:53restaurants with my, like, we just we ate dinner at home all
- 1:01:58the time. But yeah, I think it's a lot of
- 1:02:01projection. When I first had Ness, I was
- 1:02:04very, very critical of other parents.
- 1:02:07And I'm pretty sure that it was my own projection of, like, my
- 1:02:11perfectionism, what I had read, what I had done, like just
- 1:02:18rejecting all over my friends and family.
- 1:02:21Like no one could do it right except for me.
- 1:02:25And guess what? That was an incredibly lonely
- 1:02:27experience. And I see now that I was wrong.
- 1:02:30I was just straight up wrong. It doesn't matter how many books
- 1:02:34you read, like every single person and every single child in
- 1:02:39particular is different. I think that's like, that's
- 1:02:42that's the other thing that I think the actor experienced has
- 1:02:46lent me is like, I can be fascinated by how different my
- 1:02:49children are, how different each child is, how different each
- 1:02:53parent is. You know, that's clarity.
- 1:02:56That's reality. The other thing where I'm
- 1:02:59judging everybody and I'm like, I would never, you know, that's
- 1:03:04absolute insane. That makes no sense.
- 1:03:07I have no idea where that person's coming from or going
- 1:03:09to. Yeah.
- 1:03:11But I mean, I understand where you're coming from, where it's
- 1:03:14like. It's an easy, it's an easy thing
- 1:03:17to do, but then it's like, who does this serve really.
- 1:03:23But but like you said, it's it's it's just a whole mind shift of
- 1:03:30like, I like to just say we're all just doing our best, just
- 1:03:38trying our best well. I mean, I could, I feel like I
- 1:03:44could just talk to you about being an artist and a mom for so
- 1:03:48long. There's so much, there's so much
- 1:03:51depth to both sides. There's so much depth to
- 1:03:57motherhood and to being an artist.
- 1:04:01So I feel like women who have both of those things are just
- 1:04:06like you said, just it's a superpower.
- 1:04:09It really is. What has been your lifesaver at
- 1:04:13the moment? Be it like your your babysitter
- 1:04:18or your booth or a mantra. I think art really saved my life
- 1:04:24and continues to every single day.
- 1:04:27I think it. I think it makes me a better
- 1:04:31mother and a way better partner and a good friend.
- 1:04:37Like the more I listen to when the the sort of creative bug
- 1:04:44gets me, like if I let that lead and if I feel like I need to
- 1:04:51rest because my creative sort of juices aren't flowing and I just
- 1:04:57need a second to myself. Like, I really believe that if
- 1:05:01it weren't for art making, I would.
- 1:05:07I would be, I would be no good to no one.
- 1:05:10So I think my, I think my podcast has been really a
- 1:05:17lifesaver for me. And that I'm reminded, I have
- 1:05:21perspective around how many different ways there are to be a
- 1:05:27woman, which include not having a child at all, which include,
- 1:05:32like a myriad of ways of, you know, being a mother.
- 1:05:39And I can find myself in the tapestry of all the mothers of
- 1:05:48all time because when I, like, zoom the lens back, I can see
- 1:05:53like, oh, there are things that I can do better and there are
- 1:05:56things that I am really excelling at.
- 1:05:59But overall, I'm part of something really magical which
- 1:06:07is a lifesaver, that perspective.
- 1:06:09Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful.
- 1:06:11Look at you. Oh oh God, I never have that
- 1:06:17question turned on me. What has been my lifesaver?
- 1:06:24I think right now my husband just having him because he's he
- 1:06:31like he's in the other room with with May and he's the one who.
- 1:06:37For me, because I have to leave, I have to leave to make money.
- 1:06:41So to be able to leave and not have to pay someone
- 1:06:46logistically, like financially, that's definitely a life
- 1:06:54lifesaver. We wouldn't be here if we had to
- 1:07:00pay someone to watch our kid because we don't make enough to
- 1:07:03do that. Make the difference.
- 1:07:08So yeah, him. I also don't know how I would
- 1:07:10eat without. I don't.
- 1:07:13I don't make anything. So he's.
- 1:07:17Yeah, he's my lifesaver at the moment.
- 1:07:19My God, I love a good man. Shout out.
- 1:07:22Shout out to our good men the best.
- 1:07:25Partner is really, really. I don't know how people who do
- 1:07:32it solo. Ooh boy, sometimes that.
- 1:07:36You know what? I actually interviewed a mother
- 1:07:38who decided to have a child on her own.
- 1:07:42She's having a great time. She's having a great time.
- 1:07:44She did move in with her family, like her parents, because we all
- 1:07:50need support. But I just think, like, you
- 1:07:54know, there there are a lot of different ways to do it.
- 1:07:59I'm really, I'm really glad to be doing it with my husband too.
- 1:08:02So thanks for that reminder that we really, we really should
- 1:08:05appreciate each other more I. Know, Right.
- 1:08:08Yeah, I'll tell him that later, but I hope you do.
- 1:08:13We do. We do.
- 1:08:16I do think that is important. We do tell each other very
- 1:08:19often. Like, hey, just so you know, I
- 1:08:21really appreciate all that you do because so much that he does.
- 1:08:28And then he's always like you do everything for her, and so like
- 1:08:32it is. It is nice to remind each other.
- 1:08:39And then I just lost my train of thought.
- 1:08:41Oh, since you were saying you are interviewing this woman who
- 1:08:45decided to have a kid by herself, There was this show
- 1:08:50that reminds me on I watched it on Hulu, but it was called Like
- 1:08:58The Parenting. It's like kind of a game show,
- 1:09:02not a game show, but like a different parenting styles and
- 1:09:06like there ends up being a winner.
- 1:09:08I can't remember. Weird.
- 1:09:10But, but there was a woman on it who was raising her daughter by
- 1:09:16herself and she was saying she's like, it's she's like, it's nice
- 1:09:21because I don't have to. She was like, I don't have to.
- 1:09:24It's they're all my decisions like.
- 1:09:28Talk it out with somebody else. If we don't agree.
- 1:09:31And I was like, interesting, yeah, that is true too.
- 1:09:35But you know, obviously we all need support regardless of where
- 1:09:41it comes from. Totally, totally.
- 1:09:44I'm so glad you have that support.
- 1:09:45And him, yeah. You too.
- 1:09:47Can I ask what your husband does?
- 1:09:49He's an entertainment lawyer. Yeah.
- 1:09:53So we're both in like the industry.
- 1:09:56Yeah. That's that's cool.
- 1:09:58Yeah. I I babysit for a few, a few
- 1:10:01people where one of the parents is an artist and the other an
- 1:10:06actor and the other is a lawyer. There's been I think like 3
- 1:10:12three families that I nannyed for like long term, where it's
- 1:10:16like one's an actor, one's a lawyer, and I'm like, yeah, that
- 1:10:20my sister is one of them. Yeah, I didn't nanny her, but.
- 1:10:24My sister is an actor and her husband's a lawyer.
- 1:10:28It's I I think from like a relational perspective.
- 1:10:31It's it's like, you know, he holds the, the, like sort of
- 1:10:34masculine container and I get to be this like wild sort of flame
- 1:10:40without burning the house down. Yeah, I actually know a couple
- 1:10:44of, yeah, totally. I I know a couple of you know, a
- 1:10:50couple of couples actually two couples who one is a bass player
- 1:10:54and one is a violinist. And that also feels like the,
- 1:10:57you know, the man is the bass player is like boom, boom boom.
- 1:11:00And then you know the violinist like gets to be frilly and
- 1:11:03feminine. And it really it's it's like an
- 1:11:06interesting jigsaw puzzle who you end up with, you know, it's.
- 1:11:10So, great. Yeah.
- 1:11:11Yeah. Partners are very important.
- 1:11:13Yeah, they really are. Well, thank you so much for
- 1:11:18taking the time and talking with me.
- 1:11:20And I can't wait to listen to more episodes of Your Mom
- 1:11:25Curious Podcast. It's so.
- 1:11:28I love it so much. It's so interesting.
- 1:11:31Thank you. I love your work too.
- 1:11:32Thank you so much for having me. And that's our episode.
- 1:11:37Thank you so much to my guest and a special thank you to my
- 1:11:41producer Cecilia Trip with Laurel Canyon Creative and thank
- 1:11:46you to Edith Mudge for our theme music.
- 1:11:50And I hope you enjoyed having a look into Mommywood.
- 1:11:56Don't forget to follow Mommywood Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
- 1:12:03And please give us a nice review and a few stars while you're at
- 1:12:08it. We would appreciate it.
- 1:12:10So, so much and take care.