Latest / Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com / An Interview with Bradley Freeman Jr.

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An Interview with Bradley Freeman Jr. · Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

0:02
I've been on my own so long enough.
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Maybe you can show me how to love, Maybe I'm going.
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To In December 2025, Muppet fans got their first new Rizzo video
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since 2016 and their first been Bunny appearance since 2009,
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with both roles now performed by puppeteer Bradley Freeman
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Junior. Recently, our friends at the
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Muppet Studio asked if we'd like to help them introduce Bradley
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as the new performer of these beloved characters, and of
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course, we a tough pig said a resounding yes.
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So last week I sat down with Bradley on Zoom to discuss his
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career, his auditions, and of course, Rizzo singing Blinding
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Lights on The Muppet Show. Please enjoy this chat with
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Bradley Pringe. And I'm here with the wonderful
0:54
Bradley Freeman Junior. Hello, Brad.
0:56
How are you? Hi, I'm great.
1:00
Thank you so much for having me here.
1:01
I really appreciate it. I'm very, very excited to talk
1:03
to you. I'm tired to talk to you about a
1:05
pigeon. I'm excited to talk to you about
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a rat. I'm excited to talk to you about
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a Bunny rabbit and everything in between.
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Yeah, sky rat, a floor rat and a fluffy rat.
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That that's. I'm not sure Bing wants to be
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called a fluffy rat, but you would know You would know more.
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It's just having to be called, I think, yeah.
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I think that's fair enough, Bradley.
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I, I think you and I are about the same age.
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I think you might be. I'm 27.
1:30
Oh, you and I are not the same age.
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I'm much older than you. Oh, I am.
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I'll be. I'll be 37 in a couple of
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months. Oh, Congrats.
1:38
Wait, what? When is your birthday?
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May. May 26th.
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I'm June 22nd. OK, well.
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That's my SO, almost a perfect ten years.
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Almost a perfect ten years. That is my brother's birthday,
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except he is 2 years older than me, so he's much older than.
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OK, well, you and I then. I thought we might have similar
1:57
sort of muppet memories as we grow up, but I guess I've got a.
1:59
Lot we just might, though. Well, I well, no, because I
2:02
remember Muppets Tonight airing. And you wouldn't, because you
2:06
weren't there yet. I was not a glimmer in my
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father's eyes, so yeah. You were not.
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So tell me about the childhood. Tell me about the Muppet
2:14
memories as you grew up. So I guess so it OK, it goes
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back very, very early. My very first birthday was an
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Elmo birthday and I just found these pictures recently.
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So it goes back to, oh, I also found a picture where I'm like 6
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months old and there's like this looming behind me, these
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decorations, like party decorations for like Big Bird
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and Bert and Ernie. And I'm six months old and
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they're just kind of watching over me.
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Like join us, Bradley, won't you?
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And then my first, my first birthday was an Elmo birthday.
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So as as long so as long as I've been.
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You're laughing because my cat was in the shot and just hanging
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out. He was cute.
3:00
I don't know, is it a boy or a girl?
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Cat. It's.
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A boy. His name is Little Murray
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Sparkles, named after the Sesame Street cat.
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Sorry. Continue.
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OK, well, just fun cameo by not for the audio people, but a fun
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cameo for the both of us by the by little Murray Sparkles.
3:16
So Speaking of Sesame Street, that was very, very big in my
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life early on. And of course it is right.
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It's most parents default. And lucky for me, it was it was
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my parents default. It was that along with Barney
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and you know, Baron, the Big Blue House and you know, between
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the Lions and even Fraggle Rock to an extent came, came a little
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bit later for me. And so I had all of these things
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on on DVD home video. I had a lot of VHS of these and
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I was just obsessed. And I was really, I was really,
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really, really obsessed with the tangibility of the characters.
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And so, like, I was a huge appreciator of, of, you know,
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Toy Story and Pixar and stuff. But I knew that, like, I, I know
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I can't shake Woody's hand. Like, I know I can't actually
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meet Woody. And if I do, he'll be 8 feet
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tall at the parks. And it's just not going to be
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the correct thing. But I was.
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It's not the same. Yeah.
4:04
And and so it was like, but I know I can give Barney a hug.
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I know that I can give Elmo a hug.
4:09
I know that I can give Big Bird a hug.
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I don't need to brag. But I have given Big Bird a hug
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and it's very nice. But, and I couldn't really
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articulate that when I was five years old, but it was something
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that was very just I was, I couldn't take my eyes off the
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screen when something like that was happening.
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So from there on, like it was, I remember it was I was an easy
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gift, like when people wanted to get me stuff for my birthday, it
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was it was something something Muppets would would work fine.
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I was always happy with that. And I remember I would get like
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DV DS. And one of the DV DS, funny
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enough, was Muppets Wizard of Oz.
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And one of the greatest things that Muppet Wizard of Oz gave me
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was a trailer for The Muppet Show on DVD before the movie
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started. And I was very excited about
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that. So I asked my grandparents to
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take me to Walmart so we can get season 1 of The Muppet Show on
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DVD, which was all that was available at the time, I think,
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or all that was there, like at the store, at least I don't
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remember. But I do remember we were at
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Walmart and we got this DVD and I remember putting it into the
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so DD player. And yeah, that's what they were
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cleverly named. And the IT was, I remember being
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a little bit scared because it was not as vibrant and they were
5:30
not as polished as as I'd remembered, especially Gonzo.
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I remember having like a weird feeling when I saw Gonzo, like,
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like, that's not like Gonzo. Who is that?
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He was kind of rough around the edges and a little frightening
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looking. And then very quickly, very
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quickly, I was like, I love this so much.
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I love all of this so. And I can't stop watching it.
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And I had season 1 of the Muppet Show on DVD that I would replay
5:58
over and over and over and over. And it was a four disc set.
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And then I would lose 1 because I would took it everywhere with
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me. And then I was a three disc set
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and I would and so I had, but I would remember, I would watch
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the bonus features. I would watch the sex and
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violence pilot that was offered on that DVD.
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And I my favorite thing was the zoom out at the very end when we
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got to see all the performers. And it was like just magic.
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It was, it was I, I can't describe it.
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And, and from there on, I kind of had this like tunnel vision
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for what I wanted to do. Like I knew that I wanted to do
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that. I knew I wanted to be a part of
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this show, which was over. But like I wanted to be a part
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of this truth, people doing this thing somehow, someway, I don't
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know how, I don't know where I don't know what I'm going to be
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able to do, but I want to be a part of it.
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And so everything that I did, whether it was banned or theater
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or this this Destination Imagination, which was a thing
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that we had in after school program, no matter what it was,
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that is what everything was going to lead me toward
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puppetry. Somehow.
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It was the thing that I was going to do and, and, and
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nothing my site for that was so strong that nothing really ever
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got in the way of that. There was all there.
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There was some periods where I was like, maybe do I want to be
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an animator? Like maybe I want to do that
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because I'm like, I don't know what jobs there are in this
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industry. It's like 2006 when I'm being
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about this. So I'm like, I'm 8 and so I'm
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like, is it? Do I want to be an animator?
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Do I want to be because there's no muppet stuff happening right
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now? Maybe I won't get a job.
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And I remember trying it and thinking, Nope, don't want to do
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this at all. Just going to keep hoping that
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there's nothing stuff when I when I go and I just kept kept
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pushing for that. The other the other movies that
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I had on DVD or that my uncle had on DVD were Matt Muppets
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take Manhattan and Muppets from space.
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Those were probably the two movies outside of The Muppets
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show that I watched constantly. I watched them over and over and
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over and over and had them like memorized and two very funny
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enough ended up being 2 very kind of historic movies for for
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Rizzo 1 was kind of with the first time we saw him really in
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his in the iteration that we know him as today, like as like
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proper true Rizzo form visually, he sounded like him.
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He acted like him And then Muppets from space was very
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heavy. Gonzo Rizzo, you know, in a, in
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a very nice representation of, you know, that relationship and
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his, his relationship with the other Muppets and, and the sort
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of comedic beats and just it was a, you know, people have things
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to say. That was a very fun movie.
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I, I, I have a lot of fun watching that movie.
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I don't maybe agree that Gonzo should have been named as a
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specific thing. I kind of like when he's a
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whatever. Well, I don't think that ever
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really became Canon. Like I've heard Dave Golf say.
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Nah, that's not real. Don't worry about it.
8:54
Good, good. Yeah, I'm not worried about it.
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I think it's funnier when he's a whatever, when we just don't
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know what he is. But the movie itself, that there
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was a lot of fun to be had in that movie and and those were
9:05
those were some of my favourites.
9:07
Yeah. So, all right, you've got this
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tunnel vision. You're 8 years old, you've got a
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tunnel vision. I'm going to be a puppeteer no
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matter what. How does that eventuate into?
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Because I believe you started, Is it you started with Sesame?
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Yeah, I started on Sesame Street and that was in 2021.
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I got the job in late 2020 and. So yeah, how old is that today?
9:29
She started shooting in 21. What?
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I was 22, OK, I was 22 on my first day of shooting.
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And that was, well, the way that I got it.
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I should even back up further. The way that I got that part is
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there was a workshop in 2018 for, for young puppeteers from
9:49
around the world who wanted to potentially be a part of this
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learning experience from the Sesame, the cast of Sesame
9:56
Street. So this included Matt Vogel,
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Martin Robinson, Peter Linds and Stephanie de Brutso were all the
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the teachers for this. And that's like big freaking
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deal for me. The the idea that I would even
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get to meet them was stellar. So I was really just excited
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about that Sent in an audition. There were several 100 people
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who sent in an audition. They were only going to be
10:22
taking 30. I remember shooting my audition
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like 20 times, hoping, just making sure that just laboring
10:30
over every my new detail of the puppetry to make sure that it
10:34
was good enough to be accepted. Luckily, I got accepted and
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those were some of the coolest days of my life because I got to
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go up to New York for three days and it was my first time meeting
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other puppeteers. I had never met another like
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true, you know, passionate puppeteer people like me,
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whereas like this is the thing that I do.
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I I obsessed on this. I sit here and I work on it to
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make sure it's the best. And it was also my first time.
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I was really, really excited to be critiqued by professional
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puppeteers because I had nobody to look at what I was doing and
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say, I know exactly what you're doing wrong and I know exactly
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how to make it better. You know, my mom couldn't do
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that, My friends couldn't do that.
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They could say something looks off and I could listen and
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really try to figure out what they were talking about because
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ultimately that is your audience, but they don't quite
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know how to articulate, you know, oh, well, you know, the,
11:25
the, your eye focus is off, you know, so you just need to bring
11:28
that down or he's not breathing or, you know, he's, he's
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completely still and he goes kind of dead.
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So you need the micro move. My mom can't say that, but Matt
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can, Marty can and they did. And so I soup.
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I, I was just so excited to be there.
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And then after that was over, there have been some auditions
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and stuff, you know, over the over the next year or two, there
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had been auditions and I hadn't been called and I was feeling
11:56
kind of down about it, but I was also really excited.
11:58
Like, you know, I'm still on the list and maybe they just didn't
12:00
remember, blah, blah, blah. And then I remember thinking one
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night, this was during COVID. So I was exceptionally lonely,
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as we all kind of were at that time, where I was just kind of
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like stuck with my thoughts. And it's funny because it was
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literally a dark and stormy night.
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So it was very like I was driving my car because it was my
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only way to get out of my apartment.
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I was in college at this time and I was driving my car and I
12:31
was just thinking like, OK, well, they've had these
12:36
auditions. I haven't been called.
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These seem like auditions I probably would have been called
12:40
for. And that's OK.
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I'm not mad at anybody. Think that's all right.
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I'm on a list somewhere. My name just hasn't made it to
12:46
the top enough to to do their thing or to to get to these
12:49
auditions. That's OK.
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I'm going to be OK. And sort of came to this like
12:55
conclusion that I don't need to make it to the NBA of puppetry
13:00
to be happy and that I should stop basing my happiness off of
13:08
making it to this brand name of puppetry.
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You know, it is a beautiful goal, but I can't let my
13:18
happiness depend on that. And I was thinking like, I'll
13:21
I'll, you know, get older. I'll grow up.
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I'll get a really nice job where I still get to be creative.
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I'll have a family. I'll keep buying puppets on
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eBay, and we'll be having fun with them.
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I'll shoot my own stuff. I'll make stuff with friends.
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I'll play, you know, with my kids.
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And maybe I'll, you know, be able to make a name on my own
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just sort of doing my thing. But I love puppetry because I
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love puppetry, not because I need to be part of the most
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exclusive group of puppeteers in the world.
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It's even for the best puppeteer.
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It's a very, you know, it's, it's, it's like making it to the
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Olympics. There's I don't know how many
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thousands of puppeteers in the world.
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And there's 12 puppeteers on Sesame Street and there's six
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puppeteers on The Muppets. So like why would I even?
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How if they say something I would not say?
14:15
No, they're the same people. And they're the same people.
14:18
They're the same people. Yeah, so it's like even more
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exclusive than than one would have thought.
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So I'm just like, I can't I I just had this sort of revelation
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and I was like, OK, you know what?
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I'm going to be OK. I'm going to love it.
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I'm going to watch it. I still have this like one up if
14:33
I want to think about it that way.
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Where I got to go, I got to learn from them.
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I got to be there. I got to meet these people.
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That's, that's already, if I want to think about winning
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something that's already so far above so many fans.
14:45
So I'll always have that right if I want to just just rest on
14:49
something. But but that's not what I need.
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And I'm going to be OK. I'm going to be OK.
14:54
And I was at such peace with myself.
14:56
It was really nice. I remember I shared that on a
14:59
call with like that night. Once I got back home, I was on a
15:03
phone call with a bunch of other puppeteer friends of mine,
15:07
Sebastiano, Brandon and Mark. We had this group chat that we
15:11
would chat like every day because it was COVID.
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I remember telling them that. And they were like, that's a
15:14
good way to think about nice, isn't it?
15:17
And the next morning, the next morning, I got an e-mail from
15:21
Martin P Robinson saying, Hey, how are your puppeteer chops?
15:25
And I was like, oh, oh, oh, they're, they're good.
15:27
They're great. They're great.
15:28
Mr. Robinson. And all of that sort of led him
15:32
to him letting me know that there was an audition and that
15:34
he thought I should be a part of it.
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And the they asked me to audition for these characters
15:40
that were going to be introduced to explain race.
15:43
And that was Wes and Elijah. And so I ended up getting the
15:47
part of West. I get there and I do it and I
15:51
have a lot of fun. And I'm also very intimidated
15:54
because, you know, on Sesame Street, usually you do some
15:56
assisting and right handing for years until you finally get a
16:01
speaking role where you say the letter G and then that's your
16:04
whole thing for the year and then you hopefully get more the
16:07
next year. Well, this was one of those rare
16:09
occasions where I had to come in and be a character that was kind
16:12
of leading this video and leading this or one of the leads
16:16
of this initiative, which is very intimidating, especially
16:20
when you're surrounded by your heroes and you have to kind of
16:24
like match pitch like Elmo's walking in and I have to look
16:27
like I'm at least a good enough puppeteer to be in the same
16:30
room. So this is very this is a big
16:32
moment. And so that was that first video
16:33
explaining race. That was my very first time on
16:36
set. That was my it was the same room
16:38
as the workshop and I could hear my heartbeat.
16:40
I was so nervous. And finally they said 54321 and
16:45
they hit the and it's sort of washed out.
16:51
Like I was like, you know, they hired you, they hired you.
16:53
Just just do the thing. Do the thing you've been doing
16:55
for the last 20 years. Just do it is that's what I did.
17:00
And then they asked if I would cover for the puppetry for Tamir
17:03
because it was still mid COVID and there was like all these
17:06
scheduling issues and it was just really hard to get Tao in.
17:09
And so I was covering for Tamir's puppetry while Tao did
17:12
the voice from home. And then Tao eventually decided
17:14
that he wanted to step away from Sesame to focus on a bunch of
17:17
other stuff. And I was very nervous to be
17:22
stepping into that role because it was about to be a principal
17:25
role on the show itself. But I stepped in.
17:28
Well, I got to his blessing before I did that.
17:30
And he said that it was going to be OK, that that he would be
17:32
very happy with me doing it. And so I auditioned for the
17:36
character and then stepped in and started playing Tamir.
17:38
And then that turned into a really nice thing with sesame,
17:45
where I became one of the people that I never thought I'd be,
17:48
which is one of the principal performers on the show doing not
17:53
only Tamir, but, you know, a tomato and a rock and the letter
17:56
Q and all these other super fun things.
18:01
And may I say you look great as the letter Q?
18:04
Thank you so much. Thank you.
18:06
Nobody talks about that. And I think it's the work that
18:08
I'm the most proud of. Yeah, you should be minute 23 in
18:13
episode No, I don't remember. But so after that they asked me
18:17
to be a part of help stories and I got to work on a set, you
18:19
know, like proper and was as an ensemble member there, which was
18:22
very nice because I got to sort of take a step back and actually
18:25
see exactly what was going on rather than being hyper focused
18:27
on my own lines. And as I was doing that, I
18:29
remember getting e-mail getting an e-mail from Disney Live
18:31
entertainment asking if I wanted to be a part of The Muppets
18:34
workshop. And I was like, Oh my gosh, what
18:36
an honor. That would be so cool.
18:38
But I said no because I thought, well, it's Disney live
18:43
entertainment, so they probably want me for the parks or
18:46
something, right? Because that's.
18:48
So I was like, I can't really. I would love to work in the
18:50
parks. That's a dream.
18:52
But the other dream is coming true right now.
18:54
And I can't really give it up to go to the parks.
18:57
So I denied it. I just declined straight up with
18:59
like, no. And they were like, hey, Brad, I
19:02
don't think you'll understand. This is the Muppet Studio.
19:06
And like, wait, no, the real ones, like for TV, they were
19:09
like, yeah, I was like, oh, oh, then yeah, I want to be a part
19:14
of that. So I sent in a video and, and
19:20
got to it was for a workshop and I wasn't able to go to the first
19:26
one, but they they liked it enough that they brought me on
19:30
to the team. And so I was able to start kind
19:32
of working with The Muppets and started doing some assisting
19:35
gigs here and there. And then, you know, eventually
19:40
got into Muppets Mayhem, started working on that.
19:43
And it was around that time that it had been sort of not, I've
19:51
been asked by a couple of the performers like, how's your,
19:56
how's your Rizzo? And it was the first time that I
20:00
had ever even considered the idea that I was a part of The
20:03
Muppets in such a way. Yeah, that they would trust me
20:07
with something like that. I I was there thinking I'd be a
20:11
support, thinking I'd be an assist forever and was so
20:15
content with that. I might be able to shed a little
20:17
bit of light for you on the moment.
20:21
I think they realized that they needed you around now.
20:26
Oh, OK. So I'm not sure if you remember,
20:29
but I was at the premier party for Muppets Mayhem.
20:32
Yes, yes, you and I had a conversation that night.
20:35
Yeah, I do. Of course I remember.
20:36
Yes. And now I was talking with Lee
20:38
Slaughter about you because you had been doubling for you've
20:43
been doing Zoot because Dave wasn't doing the publicity.
20:46
So you've been doing great. You guys had done that
20:48
performance that night, which is literally the background of my
20:51
computer as a photo I took of that.
20:52
You guys doing this? Performance.
20:55
And so I was talking to Lee Slaughter about you and
20:57
apparently she told me that there was a interview where
21:02
someone asked Zoot to question and you've answered.
21:07
And she said at that moment, her Frank, Danny and I think she
21:12
said like a couple of puppeteers underneath the characters all
21:16
looked at each other and went, oh, oh, this guy's good.
21:21
And she told me that was the moment that she's like, oh, I
21:24
think we need AI think we need to keep this guy around.
21:27
And so I wouldn't be surprised if that is maybe at the time
21:32
they started to go. How's your bizzo?
21:34
Oh. My gosh.
21:36
OK, so actually let me say this. So at that time, I know the
21:40
question that they're talking about because I was so nervous
21:42
on this day. So this was I I was covering for
21:46
because Dave was having some sort of a procedure done, so he
21:49
wasn't going to be able to make a really good amount of the
21:51
publicity. So I was just doing the puppetry
21:53
coverage for Zoot for that whole thing.
21:56
And I think this was for Elle magazine when it was like that
22:00
song association thing. And I had been studying this the
22:05
the sort of like notes that they gave us the night before, like
22:09
roughly what words, how the mayhem's going to say it.
22:10
Because usually they, if if it's The Muppets, they'll they'll be
22:13
sort of some sort of like guidelines on how they want to
22:15
do some of these things. And so this one, they were
22:18
guidelines. And you know, it was, and Bill
22:21
looked at the thing and I've been studying it all night.
22:23
Like memorizing. OK, what would Zoot say?
22:25
How I was going to say it. OK, great, great, great, great.
22:27
That way Dave could cover it super easy and also Dave was
22:31
going to be watching me do the character.
22:32
So like that was very like really intense and and I wanted
22:36
to get it right. And Bill, the moment we sat down
22:40
to do this thing, he looked at the script.
22:42
He's like, let's just play the game.
22:44
You guys want to just play the game, Just do it for real.
22:47
I was like, damn it. So like now I have to improv as
22:52
a character that I don't play like this is crazy.
22:55
I'm also like, I just started like this is I'm I just got here
22:59
guys, but but Dave had asked if I would do this.
23:02
And so of course I said yes. And and then Bill was like,
23:07
let's do just do an improv. And so that's what we did and we
23:09
improv it and I just tried to help.
23:11
And there was one question where I answered, or I think it was
23:16
that I didn't answer, but I improv as Zoot in the way that
23:21
he just doesn't hear things. I just covered for myself, not
23:23
having heard. And then we came down and I
23:27
remember Rudman looking back, that was like, that was really
23:30
eerie. That was like Dave was right by
23:33
because that's what Dave does all the time.
23:35
And I was like, thanks. And I guess that was just I I
23:37
had just screwed it up and then it just gave me a little more
23:40
confidence that we kept moving forward.
23:41
So I guess, I guess it was in that in that moment in that
23:44
room. That's cool.
23:45
Well, thank you for for, That's cool.
23:46
For telling me that, I'm glad that I got to tell you that.
23:50
That's so funny. Well, I mean, let's, let's talk
23:52
Rizzo. Because so you were asked how
23:55
your Rizzo was. So this wasn't something where
23:58
they had just decided Rizzo was coming back and had a mass call
24:02
out. Or was it just fit you to go?
24:04
How's your Rizzo? It was so they they had asked me
24:07
because I know they had they had considered me for it.
24:09
And I certainly wasn't the only person being considered for this
24:12
role, but I was one of the people being considered.
24:14
And when they finally sort of came to it, I've been working on
24:23
it for, for a while already. I had, I had sort of been doing
24:27
voice notes and, and talking back and forth with some of the
24:29
performers trying to see like how, how close does this feel
24:32
and where does it need to go? And does it, do I pinch it more?
24:34
Do I cause bridges voice, if you can't hear is very different
24:37
from my normal speaking voice. It's a lot higher and drier.
24:41
And it's got this. It's, it's got a nasal thing,
24:44
but different from my nasal thing that I have.
24:46
And it's just, it's, it's very unique.
24:48
And so it, it took a lot of work to do, but bottom line was like,
24:53
I'm, I'm a person who like, sure, I have the advantage of I
24:59
was one of the people being considered, but what I didn't
25:01
want was the advantage of like, well, he's already here, so it
25:05
should just be him. I really wanted to earn it.
25:07
I really wanted to make sure that I was the best person for
25:11
this character. So then the auditions came and
25:15
it was internal and it was actually all audio.
25:19
And so I was just sort of like send, send some stuff.
25:23
We have like a script for you to say.
25:25
And then we're going to do call back soon based on based on
25:28
that. And and the callbacks were just
25:29
improv on Zoom with Matt and Eric and Bill and some of the
25:36
execs were in the in Hidden's. And that was intimidating
25:40
because it was just 30 minutes of improving as characters that
25:42
I once again don't really play. So I felt very.
25:45
About it, right? Or just get like.
25:46
Just without a, without a puppet.
25:47
Just vocally. Yeah, just vocally because it
25:49
was, since it was internal, they knew that we could handle the
25:52
puppet part. But I would.
25:53
Thought this was definitely as a character you didn't play.
25:56
Even harder if I didn't actually have the puppet on my hand to
25:59
sort of channel I guess. Yeah, yeah, that, that was
26:03
definitely part of it because I couldn't.
26:05
I'm very used to looking at my character as they're speaking,
26:08
which is not something that many performers get to do.
26:11
So like I when I see Tamir, I know exactly what he's supposed
26:13
to sound like. And I see Rizzo and of course I
26:16
know exactly what he's supposed to sound like, but I'm not
26:18
really looking at him. So I don't have that
26:19
reinforcement. So I don't know if it's falling
26:21
too low or if it's going to. I just, I couldn't tell.
26:24
So I was so nervous during that whole thing, and then it was
26:27
over and I was so nervous after that.
26:29
And then finally, about a week later, maybe a week and a half
26:33
later, I get a call from Michael Steinbach.
26:36
What are the better calls of my life so far where he says that
26:40
they, the team would like to have me play Rizzo and Bean for
26:44
this project and, and if all goes well, quote UN quote, for
26:48
all the projects moving forward. And I was like, Oh my God, dude.
26:54
And that was like a week before we got started filming.
26:58
And so my first time actually seeing Rizzo and Bean were when
27:05
I was going to be the new stewards for these characters.
27:09
So like looking at the puppet in person was very odd because I
27:14
know him so well and we've only just met and this is about to be
27:19
a really close relationship that they're about to have.
27:24
That was with him and and with Bean.
27:26
And so this, you know, and one of the fun things about Bean is
27:29
that that that he's been, he's been, he's been refurbed, I
27:33
think a little bit on the inside, but the tag, because
27:37
most of The Muppets have tags on, you know, which version they
27:40
are, what year they're from, etcetera.
27:42
So we can keep track of that. And this Bean was from 1989.
27:47
And so I was like, I was like, this is Bean.
27:49
Like there's no other, if not Bunny Picnic Bean, but it's,
27:53
it's every other one. It's Muppet vision.
27:57
Exactly. And I can tell which one it is,
27:59
too. And it's, it's I was like, I
28:02
can't believe that I'm even looking at him, right.
28:05
I'm looking at this museum piece now.
28:07
I have to put him on and take care of him.
28:09
And so then I went into a very. Yeah.
28:11
Go ahead. I was going to say before we
28:13
start to sort of talk about the first time you performed these
28:15
characters like that they with so the audition for, you know,
28:21
Rizzo, was that the same as because Rizzo and Bean, they are
28:26
different voices, but they're not worlds apart.
28:29
No. So are you, is this audition for
28:32
Rizzo? Are you, do you know you're also
28:34
auditioning for Bean or is this are they 2 separate auditions?
28:39
Yeah. There was a list of several
28:40
characters that they were planning on bringing back for
28:42
the special. And they were like, we don't
28:43
know if they'll all be in the script, We don't know, blah,
28:45
blah, blah. But we just want to make sure
28:46
that we have somebody to play these characters.
28:48
Yeah. And so I had sent in for Rizzo
28:51
and Bean specifically, OK, to audition for them.
28:53
So I got to have like part of that improv thing was for Rizzo,
28:57
part of it was for Bean, and they were both very fun and very
29:02
nerve wracking. But yes, I did know that I was
29:04
auditioning for B. OK, All right, so all right,
29:07
this first day you're performing in, is this for the Muppet Show
29:09
special or is this for like something we haven't seen yet?
29:12
Or is this for those videos that came out in December?
29:15
Yeah, this was so the very first thing that I recorded as Rizzo
29:20
was the Muppet Show special, which is.
29:24
Really just threw you in the deep end there, didn't they?
29:27
Big time. Because the first thing that I
29:31
recorded ever, it actually wasn't on camera.
29:33
It was the song. It was Blinding Lights was the
29:36
first thing that I went in to record as Rizzo.
29:39
I hadn't even put him on on camera yet, really.
29:41
I had taken him home, you know, because they had me take him
29:43
home back to the hotel. And then I was able to practice
29:45
and really just get the feel for it.
29:49
And I remember having a moment where Rizzo kind of looked back
29:51
at me as I'm sitting in my hotel room.
29:52
He's like, come on, you got it, you got it.
29:54
Don't screw it up. But you got it.
29:58
And it was because he's just got that no nonsense face and it was
30:03
just looking right at me. And so anyways, yeah, the first
30:07
thing that I recorded was was blinding lights, which was very
30:10
scary because it's not what you tip the kind of thing you
30:13
typically hear Rizzo saying. So I didn't really have much of
30:15
a reference to go back and hear that.
30:19
And it was like it was going to be processed.
30:23
And then it was, it was also like, I kept going to, to, to
30:27
build when we were there. And just like, let me listen
30:30
back, please let me listen back. This is the first thing that has
30:32
ever been recorded as this character in a decade.
30:34
Like I need to listen back to it.
30:35
And then we, I was in there for a while and just kind of doing
30:39
it and, and over and over. And I picked finally like the
30:42
right key. And so I've been working on it
30:43
for a little while. And so then finally it came out
30:46
and, and we did it. And I was like, no, I need to do
30:49
one more. I need to do one more.
30:50
I know exactly what's wrong. And I did it.
30:52
I did one more and I did just an extra like pinch of the nose to
30:55
get it like to, to sort of a more pointy sound.
30:59
There's no other way to describe it.
31:01
That's just what's in my head. And the moment I did that, Bill
31:04
and I were both like, Yep, that's it.
31:05
OK, we got it. And So what we're hearing is
31:07
like the very last take like an hour before it was due for him
31:11
to send it in to get processed so that we could start recording
31:15
to that track. And so it was nervous.
31:17
And the whole time that we were on set, I was very nervous to do
31:20
the voice. I didn't want to do it,
31:22
especially in front of these people who had worked with this
31:25
character for the last 30 years. They know what he sounds like.
31:31
And I, I am new, you know, I'm one of the first people to to
31:35
come in not having worked with with the previous performer to,
31:39
to do this. So this was really intimidating.
31:44
And so I didn't want to improv. And so all of the guys kept
31:46
like, hey, Rizzo's back. You're so quiet.
31:49
Why don't you say hi? Say hi, Rizzo, say hi.
31:53
Just say hi. Every time I was on camera it
31:56
was mostly Scooter. Just like say hi, that sounds
32:00
like. One yeah, but you know what I
32:05
was like, no, you'll hear it. You'll hear it when it's time.
32:07
And and so that's what that's what happened.
32:10
They heard it during the song and and they luckily they had
32:13
very nice things to say. And then we did a couple other
32:16
things that I got to do Rizzo on and I've been able to work with
32:23
the puppet a little bit more and, and really felt it and, and
32:25
we were recording proper dialogue, which was going to be,
32:28
you know, easier to to compare. And the performers have been
32:33
very kind and and, and very like just sort of they they feel
32:40
pretty grateful, right? And there's, there's this like
32:43
element like, like, I'm grateful to be here and they're grateful
32:45
to have to have me there and to have this character back.
32:49
And because they were, he's so awesome.
32:52
I mean, it's he's definitely been missed in the last.
32:57
Like, you know, as much as I, I love the Gonzo Pepe pairing, but
33:02
it just didn't feel the same in Muppet's Haunted Mansion than it
33:06
would have had it been Gonzo and Rizzo.
33:11
And so I have missed that pairing.
33:12
So I know like at least nothing that's come out yet has been
33:16
Gonzo and Rizzo again, but I'm looking forward to sort of
33:19
seeing that interaction again. How?
33:24
Yeah, I am too. With with these performers, you
33:27
know, being very supportive, obviously, you know, Dave Gold
33:31
had worked Gonzo and Rizzo for a long time.
33:33
How? How's he been?
33:36
It you know that he's actually been fantastic.
33:39
It, it was one of the more nerve wracking things. him and I
33:42
luckily have a really nice relationship from, from mayhem.
33:48
There is, you know, some stuff that we got to do.
33:49
We got together on the last day and had a lot of fun.
33:52
I was assisting Zood and just, we just had a blast.
33:56
And so since then, he's like trusted me and it's why he had
33:59
me cover for the publicity things.
34:01
And, and so I wasn't too scared, but I, I was nervous.
34:06
You know, this is, this is a person who's been working with,
34:08
with Rizzo and, and, and Steve was his really good friend.
34:11
And it's, it can feel weird if you're just coming in and
34:14
really, I don't know, it can feel weird to have this new guy
34:20
just come in and, and, and do that thing that you've been
34:23
doing with your friend for such a long time.
34:26
And we were, we were working on something, I can't say what, but
34:29
it was something that was just audio and it was going to be a,
34:33
it was my first time as a gonzo Rizzo pairing.
34:37
And I was very nervous. But I just decided, you know,
34:42
it's great. I'm just going to have fun.
34:43
He likes to have fun. I like to have fun.
34:45
We all like to have fun. It's all about play.
34:46
So I'm just going to play. And it's exactly what we did.
34:50
And I was just playing around and I was just being a little
34:52
pest with with him. And we were riffing on the lines
34:54
and finding ways to do it. And after that, we, we all went
34:59
out for, for drinks. And Dave was like, there, there
35:04
was several moments where I really felt like Stevie was
35:08
right next to me again. And it just felt, which was an
35:14
honor. And I'm like, I'm, I'm just, I'm
35:15
glad that I'm glad that the way that we play reminds you of, of
35:23
something that is very special to you.
35:25
And I'm also really excited to develop this new sort of
35:29
relationship between the two of us because now it is, it is that
35:32
interesting thing of he is the mature 1 and I'm the new guy,
35:37
which is weird. It's weird calling Gonzo the
35:40
mature one. But if you, if you look at
35:43
something in the world of like Christmas Carol or whatever,
35:45
like Gonzo's kind of leading the charge on this mission that he
35:48
wants to go on. And Rizzo's kind of just off to
35:51
the side being a little bit of a pest kind of up and around him
35:54
and, and, and having fun with it and supporting him, but just
35:57
sort of, you know, being annoying.
35:59
And that's kind of kind of what's happening now, which is
36:04
very fun because I'm just, I'm just the little brother of the
36:07
whole group at this moment. I'm everyone else is like 104
36:11
years old. Let's not tell them that.
36:17
So look, let's go quickly run through.
36:19
So the first thing we all got to see as public was, you know,
36:25
Piggy and Rizzo talked about Christmas and then there was
36:30
Bean and Piggy's Disney Vacation Club.
36:34
So that was the first time we saw Bean in right years and
36:36
years. Years.
36:38
Yeah, my personal favorite resolutions.
36:41
I watched it again. I watched it again last night
36:43
and a just very funny, but B, the puppetry you're doing of him
36:47
going bam resolution really made me laugh every time.
36:51
And then Fozzie and Bean telling jokes.
36:53
Are these all things recorded on one?
36:55
Yeah, all recorded on one day. Yeah, those were all a social
37:00
media day that we had. And I was like, Oh my gosh, you
37:02
want me to be a part of it? Of course.
37:04
And so it was just me, Matt and Eric for the whole day and we
37:08
did a bunch of stuff. I think some hasn't even come
37:09
out yet, but but the rest of it will be coming out very soon.
37:15
And it was, it was it was also very intimidating because that
37:19
resolutions script actually started out as like a three page
37:24
script. It was, it was just, it was too
37:26
long for socials and it was still good, but it wasn't Rizzo.
37:31
And this is this is sort of one of the things that I really,
37:33
really admire about The Muppets and the Muppet performers.
37:37
As we all know the characters so well.
37:40
We've all not only studied these characters thoroughly, but we've
37:44
lived these characters. And part of the reason that
37:47
we've been chosen to be these characters is because our
37:50
relationship with each other in many ways can reflect the
37:53
relationship that you see on screen.
37:56
And so it's very true to the to the characters.
37:59
And so when you become a person who is taking care or performing
38:02
these characters, you also need to know how to take care of them
38:04
and you need to know what's true to them.
38:07
And so we were reading it and it was like, it's a funny script.
38:09
It, it works, but it's not Rizzo.
38:13
It's not about him. It was kind of like a Rizzo
38:16
saying it's OK to give up on your resolutions.
38:18
Just call them resolutions. And then you don't have to feel
38:20
bad anymore. And it's like, that works, but
38:24
it's not Rizzo. What does Rizzo want?
38:26
He, I mean, if we want to boil it down, you know, he's, he
38:30
wants food, he wants money, right?
38:33
Like he's always, he's always got some kind of a grift going.
38:36
He's always got some like, oh, there's snacks over there,
38:38
there's pizza over there, there's this.
38:39
And so I was like, so how can we make this happen?
38:42
So we sat there and we actually kind of just retooled the whole
38:45
thing into something that was about a page and a half.
38:47
And we did the, the rule of three, which was 123.
38:50
And then the last one was just like, yeah, call your mother,
38:52
though. You got to, she wants, she's
38:53
been wanting to hear from you. And then we just sort of plus it
38:58
up. And so I had, Matt was my right
39:00
hand for that video, so I was able to do like the extra boom
39:04
because he saw that I was trying to do it and it didn't quite
39:05
work. And so then but there's
39:07
something so cool about the way his jacket like everything just
39:09
falls just right when he says boom.
39:12
And so yeah, we retooled it and we did that a little bit later
39:16
on because it was like the first thing up in the day and I had
39:19
barely performed the character before and it was 3 pages of
39:22
monologue. And that was like, let's move
39:24
this, let's move this until a little bit later so that you can
39:28
have a chance to be on camera and say a few things and let
39:31
your voice warm up before you do this because these might be the
39:34
first things that people get to hear.
39:35
Yeah. So that's.
39:36
And I was like, yes, thank you for delaying this thing because
39:39
I don't want to do it right now. And so.
39:43
Yeah. So we sat there and we we
39:44
retooled the script. And I remember hearing from, I
39:48
think it was Marty or Peter, but somebody said that, you know,
39:51
one of Jim's tasks that he left us with was Jim Henson, by the
39:56
way, he's he did The Muppets. So he was.
39:58
Creative. OK, All right, I've done.
40:00
Are you talking about? It didn't.
40:03
You James Maury, OK, Well, he. I I know him.
40:06
But James Maury, James Maury Hanson, there we go.
40:09
So he's the one. He left us with this task, which
40:12
was to take bad scripts and make them good and to take good
40:17
scripts and make them great and to take great scripts and make
40:21
them exceptional. And so that's kind of our job is
40:25
like we, we get the bones and usually they're not fully bad.
40:28
I mean, we've gotten bad ones before, but usually there's
40:30
like, OK, we get, we get exactly what you're trying to do.
40:32
Here's how we make it true to the character.
40:33
And it always pluses the comedy. It pluses everything and it
40:36
makes everything stays true. And the reason that people
40:39
perceive Piggy a certain way is because she's always portrayed a
40:42
certain way. It's not because she's just mean
40:44
and she likes to hurt people. If she does, there's always sort
40:48
of a reason behind it. And so everybody's got their
40:50
drive. Everyone's got their thing.
40:51
So we sat there and we retooled it.
40:52
I got to shoot it. It was very, very fun.
40:55
And then we did the video that was Miss Piggy Rizzo.
41:00
And it was the I was told right before I walked up like, hey,
41:05
this will be the first thing that anybody ever sees of you as
41:07
Rizzo. So so good luck.
41:10
Enjoy. Yeah, have fun.
41:12
And I was like flying. And off you go.
41:15
No, thank you. So I was really, really nervous
41:18
and so I worked really hard to make sure that it sounded right
41:21
and it was good. I was very excited.
41:24
It was Ryan Dozier was on set with us, helping us out with I.
41:27
Don't know who that is. He he's the most famous Ryan D
41:34
in Puppetry I. Still don't know who he is.
41:38
No, OK, no, just like Google, Google.
41:42
So, but yeah, he was a big help and, and, and he was a really,
41:47
really big help in, in, in all of those moments and making sure
41:50
I was like, does that sound right?
41:52
It sounds like I'm right because it is.
41:53
It's a big deal. It's a big deal to to to get
41:56
this right. And I was really very conscious,
42:00
very conscious of it. Well, let's talk about the the
42:04
reception, because the reception has been overwhelmingly
42:07
positive. And so to put a timestamp on
42:10
this, we're recording this less than a week after the Muppet
42:13
Show special came out. So between these videos and
42:20
blinding lights by the weekend, which I texted you the other day
42:24
and said that song has been stuck in my head two weeks since
42:27
I saw the the Screener. Thanks very much.
42:31
You're welcome. What's has that felt?
42:34
Just saying the overwhelming support and love that you're
42:37
getting and that Rizzo is getting.
42:40
Surreal is kind of the only word because this, like I said, this
42:46
has been my dream since I was five years old to be a part of
42:49
The Muppets and to be a part of the Muppet Show, which is a
42:52
dream that I did not think would come true.
42:56
And, and here we are. And, and not only do I get to be
42:59
a part of the Muppet Show, not only am I in the credits, but I
43:02
get to, you know, do it as this character that I've grown up
43:08
really loving and, and with the people, surrounded by the people
43:12
that I have admired for years and continue to admire and now
43:16
get to call my friends. And so I'm sitting on the other
43:20
side of, of this, like, you know, I, I got past the glass on
43:27
the TV that I just didn't think I'd be able to get past.
43:29
Now I'm sitting on the other side of it and I've never been
43:32
on this side. So it's, it's, it's enlightening
43:35
and, and wonderful. And, and I got really, really
43:38
emotional during the, the premiere, the, the big premiere,
43:42
because I'd already seen like a version of it.
43:46
We had done a special screening at Imagineering.
43:48
And so I used that one to sort of nitpick kind of everything.
43:52
And I tried not to, I tried to just watch, but I was like, oh,
43:54
I should have. And I could have.
43:55
And it would have. What if we?
43:57
And then I knew what to expect and the audience still reacted
43:59
well. I was like, OK, so then we went
44:00
to the big premiere and it was lovely.
44:04
It was lovely. And the the audience was, you
44:07
couldn't tell what was, you couldn't hear the laugh track
44:11
over the laugh track that happening behind us.
44:13
And I was really, I started tearing up.
44:19
I was sitting next to the other, the more obscure Ryan D Ryan
44:22
Dillon and getting very, just very teary eyed at the fact that
44:29
I'm listening to the Muppet Show's team, something that I've
44:32
heard a million times. And I'm watching the Muppet
44:35
Show. But on the screen is me like 10
44:40
times. And like all of us in this row
44:42
like 10 times. I'm, I'm on that character on
44:44
that character, on that character.
44:46
And nobody will ever really know because it's not about people
44:49
knowing. It's about the fact, it's about
44:51
the fact that I got to be a part of this.
44:53
And I'm making these people feel the way that I felt, which was
44:56
just this, this moment of escape and, and, and wonder and just
45:02
joy. And you just forget about
45:04
everything else because I would love to forget about everything
45:08
else for a little bit and just focus on the stupidity and, and
45:12
fun and humor of, of, of The Muppets.
45:14
And so it was wonderful. So the reception to the show is
45:19
incredible. I was, I opened Disney Plus last
45:21
night because I'm back in my hometown right now.
45:23
And so I was just on the TV and I opened up Disney Plus and, and
45:26
we're still the number one movie as of as of today, February
45:29
10th, which is crazy. I did.
45:31
I totally did not expect that and the reception to to Rizzo's
45:35
return has been so positive and heartwarming.
45:40
And the reception to blinding lights.
45:42
My phone is blowing up constantly with text like like
45:46
what you said it and messages on Instagram and stuff that are
45:49
just so wonderful. And I didn't know the Internet
45:52
could be this kind. I'm so grateful for to be
45:55
receiving that. And I, I don't, I don't seek it
45:58
out anymore. On the very first day that the
46:00
stuff was released, I was actually kind of like looking at
46:02
things and looking at the feed and it was lovely.
46:04
And then I decided, OK, I'm going to cut my losses here and
46:08
I'm not going to look up anything else.
46:09
Whatever makes its way to me is fine, but I'm not going to look
46:11
up anything else. But it's, it's my whole feed
46:13
now. It's everything.
46:15
There's so many people that are talking about it and continue
46:17
talking about it and it's all over YouTube, all these video
46:19
essays and so many like Youtubers and theme park people
46:23
that I really love watching like are saying my name and I'm like,
46:26
oh man, this is just bizarre. This is so weird.
46:31
But I'm so grateful to be in that position.
46:35
I'm so grateful to have been trusted by, by The Muppets, not
46:38
only just to be a part of it, but to be such a major part of
46:41
it. And I, I'm so grateful to all of
46:45
the fans who have been so kind and excited and supportive and I
46:50
cannot wait to to do more. And I'm going to try my best to
46:53
not let everybody down. Well, I'm sure you won't.
46:57
We are all very, very excited. We're also it kind of feels like
47:01
you're one of us a little bit so we.
47:04
I am, I would hope it feels that way because I absolutely AM.
47:08
And also I wanted to say the fact that I'm getting
47:10
interviewed by tough Tigs is also a really big deal for me
47:13
because I was, I was a regular reader in school.
47:17
Whenever I, every time, I would just pull it up all the time.
47:20
And that was my thing. I loved the the when we had like
47:24
all of the art that like those were my favorite.
47:26
All of those were my wallpaper at some point, just like nonstop
47:30
and all of the news articles and everything.
47:32
I I'm the idea that now I'm going to be on the other side of
47:35
the tough big stuff too is crazy.
47:38
Well, we're very, very, very thankful to have you here, and
47:41
thank you for sharing all of this and thank you for carrying
47:46
on the legacy that is Rizzo and Bean.
47:48
And I'm genuinely very, very excited to see what happens.
47:53
I am too. Thank you so much for having me
47:55
and thanks to everybody who has listened.
47:58
I appreciate all of you so much.