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PCJ Classic - Stranger Things Happen with Grant Goodman · Pop Culture Junkie®

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Pop Culture Junkie podcast.
• 0:02
  We have a super special guest this week.
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  Most of our listeners would know him as the treasure of the Hellfire Club
• 0:10
  on the fourth season of Netflix's Stranger Things.
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  Grant Goodman.
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  [Music]
• 0:42
  Hey everybody, thanks for joining us.
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  Recording as we do every week here at Olympus Games in Mesa, Arizona
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  for the weekly meeting of the Hellfire Club,
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  which you probably know as the Pop Culture Junkie podcast.
• 0:56
  I'm Hailey and I'm here with my fellow Junkies,
• 0:58
  Shauna and Alex.
• 1:01
  And today we are thrilled to welcome our very special guest,
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  Grant Goodman, who played the character of "Freak" on Stranger Things season
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  four. Welcome to the podcast, Grant.
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  Thank you. So happy to be here.
• 1:14
  Thank you so much for being here. We're so excited. We are all
• 1:18
  huge fans of Stranger Things and it couldn't be more thrilled to have you as a guest this week.
• 1:22
  Thank you so much.
• 1:24
  I was going to wear my Hellfire Club t-shirt, but then I thought that one maybe be kind of
• 1:28
  cringey for you. But then I also remember that you are actually going to be here.
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  It's an all-out for fun.
• 1:34
  One of us has the Hellfire t-shirt though.
• 1:36
  We all own them now, I think.
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  All right, you got delivered?
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  Oh my god, you got to let that go.
• 1:41
  Got the Funko Pops, we got the whole thing.
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  So Grant Stranger Things, obviously it's like the biggest thing in the world right now.
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  Is it crazy just being a part of all of this madness or is it just like, you know,
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  hasn't changed your day-to-day life all that much?
• 1:57
  Oh yeah, I mean it's been pretty surreal.
• 2:00
  Obviously my DMs are a madhouse.
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  Going to bars is interesting, I would say.
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  Yeah, I would say it's like, you know, yesterday I was washing my hands in the bathroom and someone
• 2:11
  like put their phone up next to me and I was like, uh, we at least walk out of the bathroom.
• 2:16
  Oh my god, tell me about your DMs though, like who's in there?
• 2:19
  Who's in there?
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  Wait, don't you count slide in your DMs?
• 2:23
  No, not yet.
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  Yeah, I mean of course, like it's a lot of like, you know,
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  rabid fans.
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  I had someone try to like Instagram FaceTime me yesterday like eight times.
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  I have my notifications off, but I still like,
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  saw that like in the, you know, message portal.
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  Wow.
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  So like that was weird.
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  I've definitely had a lot of people like just ask me like, if I can do a fan meet-up
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  in like a certain city and I was like, uh, I don't know, like if I win, I'll be in Toledo.
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  Whatever you may have.
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  Are you, where are you?
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  I'm in Atlanta right now.
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  Oh, Liddy, Liddy.
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  Yeah, Atlanta, the hub of super secret special entertainment business.
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  That are not Marvel related.
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  So stranger things wasn't your first acting credit though.
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  So tell us a little bit about like, when did you start acting and how did you first get into the
• 3:18
  business? Sure.
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  So I was like five or six years old and I kind of just like tried all the different hobbies.
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  And I, you know, threw out like four different kinds of shoes, you know,
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  hated soccer, hated baseball.
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  Didn't care for glass blowing.
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  Wasn't into pottery.
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  I was hip-hop dance was fine.
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  Anyway, so I, uh, finally a family friend who was involved with a like local theater
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  production of Robin Hood approached me and was like they were doing like a, you know,
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  a medium tier professional Robin Hood and they were like, would grant want to be friar talk.
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  And being Jewish, I went, oh, friar. Like I love mozzarella sticks. Like I would love to be a friar.
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  Yeah, I did that. I was friar.
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  Tuck. He was not deep frying anything.
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  Anyway, and so I was like, wow, I, uh, really like working in teams.
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  I'm kidding. I like attention.
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  But I was like, same.
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  My parents tell this story that I was watching the kids choice awards and I was like, I want one of
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  them. I distinctly do not remember that. I don't know if it's like the, you know,
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  the audience is the only, they, they're the only network that does the kids choice award.
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  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They get the audience.
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  So my parents said I was like, I want one of those. I don't know if that's a cute story.
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  They tell, but they are assured me that it happened.
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  So yeah, I wound up, uh, was like, you know, I like, I enjoyed theater, but I was like, I,
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  you know, like, I enjoy this, you know, vibe, I would say. And so I like slowly started taking
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  on camera acting classes and, you know, was slowly referred to an agent.
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  And I auditioned for a commercial for like a Mississippi electricity company that was shooting in
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  Austin. I read for the blind side, which I think was like my second audition ever was to play S.J.
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  I remember like this scene with the catch up in the mustard, like, which was my audition scene.
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  I remember my dad was so excited. Like he could finally teach me something about sports.
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  Because I, yeah, I couldn't care less. And I was like, okay, great.
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  So yeah, that one was, that was like my second audition ever. I was like auditioned for Ted.
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  But I would say like 10, 15 auditions later. Maybe I booked this movie called Super with James
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  Gunn and Rain Wilson and Elliott Page, Kevin Bacon, kind of quite an interesting cast. He was shooting
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  in three fort Louisiana. It was like an IFC small budget film. I'm a little bit bored.
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  To that movie. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.
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  Thank you. I played Rain Wilson as a child in flashback scenes where he gets peed on.
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  And I, you know, had fake pee. Hopefully fake pee running down my face. I'm like, sorry, dad.
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  I'm never playing baseball. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait.
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  You said hopefully fake pee is my version of like a runner's high. Tell me, you were saying
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  hopefully. Is it because it smelled close to pee? Like, why do you, are you unsure that this is?
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  I don't know. I mean, we were filming in a warehouse in three port. Like some of the,
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  the odors were indistinguishable from one another. That's fair. That's fair.
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  That's fair. Down in Louisiana.
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  We are. So I wonder doing that. And then, you know, from there, I was in all, you know, did a,
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  this must be the place with Sean Penn. I was in playing for Keep, which I was cut out of.
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  Some may say I wasn't cut out of enough of it.
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  Oh, yeah. So I, um, I guess the campaign was like my big childhood claim to fame.
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  That was when I was like 11 years old. Like, I, you know, took a couple months off of school.
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  You look so key in the picture. Thank you so much. Yeah. So there was that. And then, uh, I was in an
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  adult swim show called Tropical cocktails, which the Boston Globe described as Tim Burton had a
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  miscarriage. Oh, that is incredible. That's amazing. I did describe something. Yeah, I laughed.
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  So I did that. And then I, uh, you know, I auditioned for Stranger Things. And, uh, I heard back,
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  I think it was the very next day with an offer. Wow. So at what point did you audition?
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  Because we know, obviously there was this huge long hiatus because of COVID. Like, were you auditioning
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  in the middle of the pandemic? So I pretty much read for it. I think like a week before. And then
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  I booked it in my first day was supposed to be like the first Friday of filming. And then I was like
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  a fitting on Wednesday. And we got a two week postponement, which just dated into a nine month postponement.
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  Yeah. Wow. Yeah. It was a pretty quick turnaround. The casting directors were affiliated with the
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  adult swim show I had done. So they were familiar with my work. And, uh, yeah. So I mean, what an honor.
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  It was pretty crazy. That's so cool. Were you a fan of Stranger Things? Like, had you watched it?
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  I actually had not. I definitely like get around to watching more films. I would say comedy is like
• 8:20
  more of my wheelhouse. I do, I mean, I have a mild interest in sci-fi. But I would say that wasn't
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  something I was like immediately drawn to. So I hadn't really had a chance to see it. I wound up watching
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  it like this September after I wrapped. But it was funny. Like people kept referencing stuff. And I was like,
• 8:36
  "Uh-huh." Sure. Yeah. I was like, "Sure." Like what's a demi-god or whatever.
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  You're like coming in and filming this kind of in this character, but totally oblivious to
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  kind of the world in which you're stepping in. Yeah. For me, it was like I really didn't want my
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  performance to reflect the performances of others, like which you can see. Like I feel like
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  personally, you know, humbly I distinguished myself. I would say like within the cast, just because I
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  interpreted this script and kind of just like developed, too. I thought this character would be in
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  kind of like how it was like kind of a different kind of angle from like a lot of the characters
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  of the show. So yeah, I like hadn't seen it. And just was like, let me, you know, make my world on
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  this off of this page. And that's what I had done. I would say that's very committed of you as an
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  actor, not to be part of this stranger things world because in your role, I mean, you don't really
• 9:34
  know what's actually going on. Yeah, that's a good point. I feel like I might even have it. Yeah,
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  certainly. I would say like, and I of course had intended to catch up on the show. In that way,
• 9:46
  like I would have some surprises for myself, you know, like I tried to like minimize like what kind
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  of upcoming information. I basically tried to like avoid as many spoilers as I could, although like
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  saying see you next year or see around at the rap party was different. No, you won't buy.
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  Tell us more about freak. Like who is he? How did he get that name, you think? Yeah, so I um,
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  Red for Gareth, who gets thrown to the drum set. That was my audition scene. And I feel like they
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  wanted, you know, this was this character was kind of more nuanced and like a lot of it was like
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  heavily expressions, more than line delivery. And I felt like that was something that like I think
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  I exhibited like a capacity to do a character like that within my audition for Gareth. And like
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  all the members of the Hellfire Club were like, so just such a great, it was such a great group and
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  everyone was like so talented. And we all kind of brought like our own dynamics. We kind of were just
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  like the perfect formula for like this friend group. And I kind of thought that like was my
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  role within the friend group. Nice. Have you ever played D&D in real life? I had not. No.
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  I, uh, we had like a consultant come, I think, we had a music consultant too for the guitar scene.
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  So that was uh, interesting. I didn't really know it was going on. Uh, some people had
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  looked, you know, I guess read into it more than I had. But uh, yeah, it was interesting. I guess
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  a quick learn. Um, I, you know, I still don't know anything about the game much, but I know more than
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  the average person. It's so convoluted. I played D&D with my friends and then sometimes people
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  throw things out. And I'm like, I'm just kind of here to like pretend to be a dragon and drink you
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  guys. Like, I don't know. It gets super intense. I would just be there to drink. So there, you've done
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  theater and you've done film. So what's the difference, especially when it comes to like character
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  development, I'm asking as a nerd. Like what? Yeah. What's sort of, yeah. What's I mean, I only did theater
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  very, very briefly, but um, I've always thought like it was kind of, you know, rugby and football,
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  I guess, which somehow I'm making a sports reference. I would say like a lot of the skills you need are
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  the same, but like a lot of the like way you utilize the skills are quite different. Um, I know like
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  a lot of people have been abject failures transitioning from film and theater. So I would say that's,
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  I'm not necessarily an expert in theater. I really haven't done it in years since middle school.
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  It was never really like exactly my craft, but I do, of course, I love watching plays. Certainly,
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  like, uh, you know, being a quarterback and trying to decide whether you want to throw it to your tight
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  end or to your wide receiver, depending on their skill. We said no sports references. Hopefully,
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  hopefully the audience knows. People listening to a stranger things episode are like this has way
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  to one of the sports. So for your audition, um, and then once, once you book it and you get to,
• 12:58
  you know, become this character, how much like preparation do you do or like, you know, kind of
• 13:05
  getting into the headspace of like being this guy where you know, you're kind of part of this ensemble,
• 13:10
  like how much work goes into prepping? Like do you develop a backstory for this guy or you just kind
• 13:16
  of like, I'm going to just roll in and take what's written on the page. Yeah, weirdly enough, I tend to,
• 13:21
  like, focus on not learning the lines. Like I usually like to say like as long as you get like the
• 13:27
  message, meaning and magic across, like I've definitely always focused on that. I like my, you know,
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  I would say like half-assed my way to victory. It seemed to work. Like that way, I don't look,
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  look like I'm looking in the back of my head for the next line and kind of just can like, you know,
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  people conversationally say things like, uh, like, and, and what, you know, and uh, I definitely like
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  would when I was reading the lines, I paid attention to other people's lines and like really like,
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  kind of just like, practice like which muscles to use to like really get an expression down.
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  And I would say like that was definitely like the most effort I exerted was into loop, you know,
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  the reactions. And then yeah, I mean deliveries, of course, important, but I would say like a lot of
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  people can deliver lines. That's interesting because like when I'm thinking about just like theater,
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  because I, I like theater, I do theater. I've done theater, I guess. And when I'm thinking about like
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  film, like you're talking about focusing more on the muscles of the, like your facial expressions
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  in the emotion as opposed to like what the line is, I guess. Yeah, I mean, I definitely, my character was like,
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  I guess, um, kind of, you know, had more interjections than thoughtful things to say. So like, I really
• 14:48
  had to make them memorable. So, and there were, of course, like a lot of my reactions were just chosen,
• 14:53
  like they kept cutting to my face, which was such an honor. They really did. It's amazing. Yeah,
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  the editors came up to me at the premiere. They were like, we've watched this episode, like 300 times
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  and like your face is like our favorite part. I'm looking at it right now and you're just like,
• 15:08
  oh, that's good face. No, it's great. It's on your Instagram, 287 million hours streamed. That's
• 15:16
  exactly the face. Yeah, we just crossed a billion. So yeah, I mean, we got to give a shout out to,
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  you know, like you mentioned, the editors, the whole creative team behind Stranger Things,
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  13 Emmy nominations, just incredible. What was your favorite part of being on set or being,
• 15:37
  you know, just being part of this whole experience? I would say, like I really hadn't had a chance
• 15:43
  to work with people of similar age to me. So it was actually pretty cool. Making friends, I would say,
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  like I mean, it's, you know, quite an honor. I've worked with like quite a few distinguished adults,
• 15:54
  but they are 45. You know, they would, they're not sending me tweets. They're meme games not on point.
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  Yeah, exactly. Of course, like it's such, I've been so privileged to like look up to some of these
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  people and like work alongside them and have them as seen partners. But to like have people like
• 16:14
  and like regularly text after work is like was certainly like such a part of the show that I've
• 16:20
  like truly treasured. That's awesome. Were you similar to Freak at all in high school, you think?
• 16:27
  I had expressive reactions, I would say about it. Yeah.
• 16:34
  You wouldn't have done about it. I got to say, I'm still scrolling through your Instagram and you
• 16:41
  got some serious dance moves in here. There's there's one post where you're just really, you know,
• 16:45
  jiggling. Yeah, I think you're about right. Yeah, that was not the premiere. We were having a lot of fun.
• 16:51
  Yes. Right after the clip and the security people, like we're like, you do need some water and I was like,
• 16:59
  yeah, like I don't, I never wear pants.
• 17:03
  Okay, I got to ask, what is your, is since you're part of the Hellfire Club, what is your hot take on
• 17:11
  Eddie Munson? Like, did you think he was going to take over the world the way that he has?
• 17:16
  The world is going to be obsessed. Yeah. I actually didn't like ask Joe Quinn.
• 17:25
  Again, I wanted to watch the show for myself. I didn't ask what his scenes were outside of what I
• 17:32
  was involved with. So I actually didn't know what to expect. Like I, for like I was at the point
• 17:38
  where I was watching the season alongside everyone and he could have been a villain. He could have been
• 17:43
  anything where I like didn't know what was next. Collectively. I, um, yeah, I mean, he's so great.
• 17:52
  So what was your experience watching it? Like, have you watched the most recent? Yeah, so I watched
• 17:59
  each volume in a single sitting. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was incredible. I got together with a lot of
• 18:06
  my like friends from high school and like they had a viewing party and stuff. So that was awesome. But
• 18:11
  yeah, uh, Joe Quinn is just so incredible. What I could tell is I was like, this guy is going to be
• 18:16
  the next big thing. Like I, I saw that for a million miles away. I was like, he's fantastic. He's,
• 18:24
  he's such a great guy too. I had like a layover in London for like 36 hours and he sent me like a
• 18:29
  multi-paragraph detailed itinerary, which was like so considerate. That's awesome. Is that where he is
• 18:34
  in London? Yeah, he's been in London. Yeah. I'm going back to London in September and then I'll be in
• 18:41
  Liverpool in November. And I'm going to like try to get together with him or Charlie or someone.
• 18:45
  Oh, that's right. Charlie is English too. As long as you're raising the roof and twerking like you know.
• 18:51
  I have seen some video going viral the past couple days of Joseph just like how kind he seems with
• 18:59
  his fans and like genuinely pleased to be there. So that's always nice to see from people who are
• 19:05
  blowing up. He's so great. Like I can't even begin. He's such a great guy. Like he deserves all the success
• 19:10
  that came to him and is coming to him. I'm a super thrilled and like it was such a privilege to work
• 19:16
  with him. I want to talk a little bit about this next show that you have coming up on Netflix called
• 19:23
  Mo. What can you tell us about that? Sure. So it's an A24 series on Netflix. It's Seton Houston.
• 19:31
  Moa Mayor is the lead. And then Teresa Ruiz is the other lead in that she's from NARCOs,
• 19:37
  Mexico and she was my scene partner. She is fantastic. It's a set in Houston where I grew up and where
• 19:43
  he also grew up. And I am very excited. I am a guest star in the second episode. Yeah, it's
• 19:50
  pretty cool. Houston's film industry was pretty much Rushmore, I would say. So it was pretty weird.
• 19:58
  They filmed it like my city hall that I'm like grew up for blocks from for like two weeks. And they
• 20:07
  filmed all over town and a bunch of restaurants I went to. So yeah, that was super cool. Taking
• 20:15
  the street, my high school is off of to work with like a little interesting. But yeah, this shows super
• 20:21
  exciting. A24 hasn't done much television. So this is like so exciting. And yeah, I mean, they just
• 20:27
  have like such a magic touch. And that's coming to Netflix on August 24th. Very cool. Very soon.
• 20:33
  What's like, all right. So you've worked in Stranger Things. You've done GI Joe. You did the campaign.
• 20:39
  Like what is the different styles in terms of just like doing different genres even like do you
• 20:46
  find yourself gravitating towards one more than the other like whether it be sort of like sci-fi or
• 20:53
  comedy. I have a strong preference for comedy largely because it comes naturally to me. And even
• 21:02
  in things like GI Joe or Stranger Things, I tend to be comedic relief. I do feel like I, you know,
• 21:09
  and experience enough where I could handle like all kinds of different kinds of work.
• 21:14
  So I certainly would like to have a broad, diverse career. But yeah, I would say like the characters,
• 21:23
  like I kind of just keep bringing grant onto these sets. But I do think I like could certainly
• 21:30
  diversify into different kinds of roles. I've done a lot of auditions for like all kinds of terrible
• 21:36
  people and sad people and a lot of them turn out really well. And I mean, I would, you know,
• 21:45
  happily portray any kind of character. I think it'd be fun to like, you know, change it up and
• 21:51
  be someone angry or be a bully or someone who is bullied or something like that would be just
• 21:56
  like such an interesting realm. Out of those characters, do you find yourself connecting more to one of
• 22:03
  them? Not necessarily. I would definitely say like there's obviously like,
• 22:07
  assemblance of me in every character I bring to the screen. But I definitely would say like it's,
• 22:15
  I don't necessarily like necessarily like get home from work and I'm like that guy for a while.
• 22:21
  Gonna be chuggy for the rest of the day. What was it like to work with? Because you've worked with
• 22:28
  a number of different directors and stuff. What was it like to work with? The Duffer Brothers,
• 22:32
  you got to work with the Duffers and Sean Levy, right? Yeah, that yeah, I mean, what a privilege.
• 22:36
  It was pretty cool working with identical twins while they're wearing masks. So like,
• 22:42
  they like, oh, hey boss. Another boss. You, yeah, and then Sean's like such a visionary. I mean,
• 22:51
  he's our showrunner. And like, he's like the nicest guy ever. He was very, you know,
• 22:58
  effusive with compliments at the premiere, which was like so touching. And yeah, he's like, he's the best.
• 23:04
  And yeah, the Duffers are great too. Like they're, you know, have this, I mean, they've brought like
• 23:08
  something so mystical and magical to so many people like to the world. And like, yeah, it's just like
• 23:15
  such a enormous privilege to work with all three of them. The Duffer Brothers just announced that
• 23:20
  they're going to have what a production company or they're expanding the universe. So that's kind of
• 23:24
  exciting. Yeah, I think they're going to have a string of things spin off. Yeah, that's super exciting.
• 23:30
  I, yeah, I mean, I'll go see the play. I'll go watch the spin off. Yeah. You know,
• 23:37
  we're have really been involved. I know they have like some kind of deal with Steven Spielberg too.
• 23:41
  We're just super interesting. That is cool. Yeah. Let's just start spreading the rumor right now. Yes.
• 23:49
  You heard it first, folks, that somehow, because I'm looking, I'm looking ahead to season five and
• 23:56
  and you're still alive. You made it out unscathed. At least we think we don't know. Maybe you're buried
• 24:02
  in the library. It's like he could have fell in the crack or something. But we think you're alive.
• 24:06
  So let's just start spreading the fan theory right now that the Hellfire Club is going to return in
• 24:09
  season five. Yeah, I was certainly hope so. It was funny. I like the photos that Jason burns of us
• 24:18
  in episode five and then the photos of us that were distributed in the town hall in episode six.
• 24:22
  We actually, like those photos were taken for episode two. So like I didn't expect to see myself
• 24:28
  in episode five and six. It was cool because now I'm like on the cast list and stuff for that. So
• 24:33
  now like if an agent ever wants to call me back, they can see that I was literally in five episodes.
• 24:43
  My image was nice, like not seeing myself in episode nine on the missing persons wall.
• 24:49
  Certainly in honor. I was like, oh, maybe my photo will pop up again and then I was like,
• 24:55
  not dead. Maybe get to swing an axe or something next season. That would kind of sick.
• 25:00
  Swing a guitar at a democlip. I mean, I certainly love to be promoted if you will.
• 25:05
  That's what I dust and promise to look after the sheep, right? That's the idea. So
• 25:12
  I think he's going to have to bring the Hellfire Club alongside. They're going to need all hands on deck
• 25:16
  fighting Vagna. So yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, that would be incredible.
• 25:20
  So once you went back and you binged the show, what has been your favorite moment
• 25:29
  aside from the ones featuring you over the four seasons? Yeah, I definitely thought this shopping mall
• 25:37
  set was so cool. And rumor has it, according to the internet, I haven't talked to it and talked to
• 25:43
  accounting, that they spent like 80 million dollars or something like rebuilding that shopping mall.
• 25:51
  That was the figure I saw online. But the figure online also says, my network is 50 million dollars.
• 25:57
  So at least 80, right? On the internet, there's like a bunch of like spam websites that like speculate
• 26:07
  how much I weigh. And I'm like, oh, okay, that's flattering. Look at this child star grew up to be.
• 26:16
  Yeah. Anyway, so I definitely thought like the underground shopping mall set was like so cool.
• 26:22
  And like just like the lighting and stuff. And the way like obviously like the giant monster just
• 26:28
  like goes through the glass ceiling. And the way they like built out like the gap and
• 26:34
  anti-ans and all the like retro different stores they built in the mall were like so like precise
• 26:40
  and craftful. It was wonderful. Like I that thoroughly impressed me. I yeah, I kept telling people like,
• 26:47
  you know, you got to watch season three too. And you got to watch one and two and certainly three.
• 26:52
  Are you a fan of 80s music? Is that kind of your vibe?
• 26:58
  I have like such an interesting sense. I mean, I have very, very wide like I listen to everything from
• 27:05
  Billy's old to Dr. E. Domingo. Love it. And sometimes K-pop and Jason Aldin sneak their way in there too.
• 27:13
  Yeah, I wouldn't say like I have like a explicitly retro sense of music. But I yeah, I mean there's
• 27:21
  certainly I have my like Spotify top 100 is like a war crime like every year. Same. It's just nonsense.
• 27:29
  Yeah, it's like yeah. I'm worried like the Alvin and the Chipmunks cover of Uptown Funk will make
• 27:35
  it on their fear because I keep playing it as a joke when I put on more than honestly. You saw it's not
• 27:41
  even out yet. You just start liking it after 100th listen. Is it out? Can I hear it? Can I listen to it?
• 27:48
  You know, why don't you do that in your dry home? I'm sure running up that hill is going to be on
• 27:54
  everybody's top 100 Spotify this year. That song is actually fantastic and I haven't stopped listening to it
• 27:59
  either. Yeah, I mean, I didn't know it would have the explosion that it did. But yeah, what a great song.
• 28:06
  It's like so exciting. Like how many people have succeeded alongside us? Just like that's just like
• 28:10
  the power of finger things. It is incredible. And it's so funny now like just people
• 28:15
  becoming fans of you know 80s culture and things that they didn't grow up with. Like I've seen young
• 28:21
  people tweeting like this Metallica band is kind of cool. I'm here for it. And the fact that Metallica
• 28:28
  like stopped people from gatekeeping. They're like whether you've been a fan for 40 years or 40 minutes
• 28:32
  like you are welcome in the Metallica. Yeah, it was pretty funny. I kept like just messing with the
• 28:37
  costume people and I was like oh, and like have you seen my iron mistress shirt like how young I was?
• 28:43
  Oh my god. They're just like shut up shut up shut up shut up. They're like you know what iron
• 28:48
  maiden is. I was like yeah, whatever. Well, that's like anytime because I I'm that type of fan that I
• 28:56
  get so immersed in in a series or something that I'll forget for a moment that the people are not
• 29:04
  actually in the 80s. You know, and so I'll go watch an interview with like Maya Hawk and she's like
• 29:10
  I don't know, you know, what a walkman is. And I'm like girl your job is Ethan Hawke. Come on. Like
• 29:15
  you need to know these things about the 80s. But then I remember like y'all were born a minute
• 29:19
  there like younger than us. Yeah, absolutely. I was born in the 80s. So I'm like oh no. Yeah, it's crazy. So
• 29:25
  her mom was in playing for keeps with me. Oh cool. Yeah. Yeah. So I worked with her mom like
• 29:31
  forever ago. And then we meet and she's like vaguely remembered me which was impressive. And yeah,
• 29:37
  we're like so similar and it's she's so great. Yeah. So as uma Thurmond like was definitely one of
• 29:43
  the first people like I was like 10 years old when we did this movie. And she was like the first person
• 29:48
  I liking counter professionally that like treated me like an adult. Yeah, which was great. I mean,
• 29:54
  she's incredible. Like I'm everything, you know, she is the touch of gold. Like everything she's
• 29:59
  in is just fantastic. And yeah, now like working alongside her daughters like very full circle. I'm
• 30:05
  what yeah, what a great honor. That's so cool. Okay. So if fan theory rumor starting right now
• 30:14
  we're manifesting it. Manifesting season five Hall Fire Club returns. Who would you love to
• 30:20
  be able to share a scene with that you didn't get to in season four? Yeah, I guess there were quite a
• 30:25
  lot of those people. I mean, Charlie's so great. It would be super cool to have a scene with Jonathan
• 30:31
  Biers for Winona. I mean, she is incredible. Yeah, I mean, anyone I didn't have a scene with
• 30:37
  11 either. Yeah, I mean, everyone would be an exciting new scene partner with like how accomplished
• 30:45
  and talented everyone is. I feel like it has to have kind of like an Avengers in Game Vibre where
• 30:50
  every single character kind of meets in the middle of Hawkins and is armed at the team. You know,
• 30:54
  I kind of see that now. Yeah. And because in strange through things season four, like
• 31:00
  it finally happened. Like now, how do people hide the fact that there's this, you know,
• 31:05
  a truth is out. Everyone kind of sees what that's the irony though is that, you know, the as it showed
• 31:12
  on the news or whatever, they're like, oh, you know, it's now seeping into what I'm sure. And
• 31:16
  there, which is the closest thing to the earth that they've got. Right. And then they're like, oh,
• 31:21
  no, no, no, you know, it's the satanic panic, whatever. I feel like season five might be more about
• 31:26
  Hawkins, like the town fighting back. I don't know. I will see. I mean, half of Hawkins left. So
• 31:32
  he's like a mass exodus. That's even more reason why everybody except freaking the Hellfire Club.
• 31:38
  They're holding him down. Yep. Yep. And they're because they're in circle with pizza. That's what I'm
• 31:43
  saying. They're experiencing fighting, you know, demons demons. So they're ready to roll them.
• 31:47
  And then our guy is going to pass out some weed and everyone will be everyone will forget about
• 31:52
  hell on earth, because they're just going to be so high in eating so much pizza. That's pretty
• 31:57
  good. Yeah. Manifesting it. We'll write a letter to the deafers.
• 32:00
  Welcome back to the pop culture junkie podcast. We are here with our special guest Grant Goodman
• 32:10
  from Stranger Things. Grant, we talked a little bit about your love of film and what it was like
• 32:17
  working with the Duffer Brothers and Sean Levy. I got to ask who are some of your favorite directors,
• 32:22
  like when you talk about geeking out about film, who are those directors that you look up to
• 32:27
  idolize like, you know, dream about working with one day? Yeah. I definitely love Edgar Wright
• 32:34
  and Jason Wrightman, which are, I mean, I guess some younger picks, which is exciting. I definitely
• 32:39
  think like there's like, you know, they're not necessarily the voice of my generation, but
• 32:44
  certainly of theirs. Like up in the air, thank you for smoking, baby driver, like they're both so great.
• 32:49
  I like, I really like Matthew Vaughan movies. I don't know. I just have a soft spot. Action
• 32:54
  comedies, I guess like my guilty pleasure, I would say. Like I, you know, love movies like that.
• 33:00
  Get smart and Kingsman and they're all like fantastic. Yeah, I would say any director that would
• 33:06
  put me in a movie alongside Jim Carrey, I would like to work for it too. Oh man, that'd be incredible.
• 33:11
  Yeah, a buddy cop movie. It's happening. Yeah, I would love it would be second honor to be the
• 33:16
  fat guy on the computer. I'm like going back to Jurassic Park. Like, you know, you can get eaten off
• 33:23
  a toilet. That don't make it. Yeah. So that's my follow up question is who are your favorite actors
• 33:30
  that you would love to work with? Yeah, I mean, Jim Carrey's amazing. He's like certainly like
• 33:37
  probably my top choice. Yeah, it'd be great to work with Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill of course. Let's see.
• 33:43
  So like comedians. Yeah, somewhat. Yeah, I mean, there's all kinds of like dramatic actors. Like,
• 33:50
  I mean, Daniel De Lewis retired, but like that would have been incredible. Oh, yeah. I mean,
• 33:53
  well, that's something with like Jim Carrey because Jim Carrey is such range, I feel. Yeah, like I
• 34:00
  even like Mr. Popper's penguins. Like he just brings everything to life. That movie is highly
• 34:05
  underrated. Listen. So what did you grow up watching? You know, what was your big fandom growing up?
• 34:13
  Are you a Pokemon guy? Like, what do you watch after school? Yeah, like my childhood favorites were like
• 34:19
  I was super and if any of them for still am. Life long family guy watcher, no matter how miserable it
• 34:27
  is nowadays. I'm kidding. It's still pretty great. Oh, yes, that's Nick Farland. I guess I should have
• 34:32
  mentioned him too. I've always wanted to work with him in any capacity. So I think he's brilliant.
• 34:37
  He's like a, you know, stepped couple threat. Yeah, he's kind of a genius. He really is. Yeah, he's
• 34:44
  actually, I mean, I he does opera and he writes movies and he made Ted and family guy and American
• 34:50
  dad and even the Orville and yeah, I mean, he's he's he's incredible. Definitely liked
• 34:57
  Sweet Life of Zack and Cody was like a big thing for me. I started watching like adult stuff pretty
• 35:02
  quickly. I love sign told on a geeky or side Urika is probably like my favorite. Oh, I love your
• 35:09
  kids. I think you guys incredible watch that. That's cool. Yeah, I was like, that was like definitely
• 35:15
  like the first like show that like really impressed me. I don't know. Yeah, I would say things like that.
• 35:21
  Well, it's so funny. You tell you about Phineas and Furman like sweet life of Zack and Cody because
• 35:24
  that stuff is like like that was after my time. But now I've got an eight year old daughter and like
• 35:30
  that's the stuff that she's now makes to streaming like that's the stuff she's going back and watching
• 35:36
  and getting into and so it's so funny because I I think about when I was a kid and like I would watch
• 35:41
  happy days and threes companies. You're not that old. But no, because because it that was stuff that
• 35:46
  was like for my time, but it would play in reruns in the morning. I would make it night. Yeah,
• 35:52
  and so now it's like we don't have the syndicated shows in the morning and Nick at night now kids are
• 35:58
  just finding stuff on streaming and they're still going back and watching stuff from like a generation
• 36:03
  before. Yeah, Nick Kale and what's it called? They're on all that. Yeah, they're on Netflix now. Yeah.
• 36:08
  Yeah, it's pretty great. Like I watched like some of the slightly older stuff like Phil of the
• 36:13
  future and even Stevens. And I would say I also like wreck it Ralph's like my favorite children's movie.
• 36:19
  I think it's so great. I love wreck it Ralph. Yeah, and the second one's like somehow like arguably better.
• 36:26
  It is good. It's because it's like it's very self-aware. It's kind of meta, right? It is a little meta. Yeah.
• 36:36
  And like the sequence alone where Ralph is reading the comment section on the internet. Like I feel
• 36:41
  like that is like every kid should have to watch that. Like my daughter is like, Mom, can I make a
• 36:48
  YouTube channel? I'm like, no, and let's watch Ralph. Absolutely not. And we'll see why.
• 36:52
  Grant, what are you watching right now? What are you been doing on Netflix? Or who?
• 36:59
  Lou, if that's your thing. Or Amazon Prime. He's actually obligated to only watch Netflix.
• 37:05
  Yeah, I just caught up on the boys. Of course. Oh my god. I'm catching up on hacks, which is great. I've
• 37:12
  been watching like quite a lot of Michael Mann movies and like some of the older stuff like that.
• 37:18
  Martin Breast movies have been watching quite a bit recently. He's amazing too. Yeah, I don't know why.
• 37:24
  I've recently been watching action thrillers from the 80s. Love it. That's awesome. That's super well done.
• 37:30
  Like face-offs, one of my favorite movies. Like ever. Oh my god. I love face-off. Oh my gosh. I love
• 37:34
  Nikos Kate so much. Me and my friends in high school had some quote that all the time. I want you to take
• 37:39
  my face. Yeah, of course. Love everything everywhere. All at once. And the unbearable way to
• 37:44
  the mass italian. Yes. So good. I've enjoyed quite a lot of those recently. Let's see. I guess I've been
• 37:51
  working a bunch. I haven't had a chance to watch much content. That is a good problem to have.
• 37:56
  Right. I'm a teacher on summer vacation right now. So I have the exact opposite
• 38:01
  bra. She's writing a lot like content. I can't find enough content. I started watching Virgin River
• 38:05
  you guys because I have nothing else to do. Wow. Well, the young and the rest of us scumble upon
• 38:13
  part of Dixie. Yeah. Dude, I inevitable. I love Rachel Bilsen. So I saw that you're in
• 38:19
  heart of Dixie. I got really excited. She's ridiculously nice. We didn't have any scenes together.
• 38:25
  She came to set on her off day and was like, I heard you've been doing a great job. Like I don't
• 38:29
  hold time by. Thank you for being part of the show. It's so sweet. It's so nice having you here.
• 38:34
  Like we're so happy for you. I mean, wow. She's incredible. Like I'll never forget that. Like that.
• 38:40
  So my encounters with Umat Therman were like so reassuring and comforting and respectful.
• 38:46
  That is so cool. I love hearing that about actors that I like and find out they're actually good
• 38:51
  likable people. Yeah. Especially because there's so many stories out there of the opposite.
• 38:56
  Right. So spill the tea. It tells all your negative experiences.
• 39:01
  Put them on blasts, Grant. Just kidding. You don't have to do that.
• 39:08
  Yeah. I was in a movie that Harvey Weinstein produced in 2012.
• 39:12
  Oh, you could put him on blasts all you've won. Yeah. Yeah. I had like two people last
• 39:18
  to use my grandfather. That's nice. We don't look alike. I promise.
• 39:25
  So what else is coming up for you then, Grant? What else do you have on the on the horizon for you?
• 39:32
  I was just asked to go to Liverpool Comic Con like literally yesterday.
• 39:38
  Oh, that's so cool. I guess like I got a firm that up, but I mean that would be so awesome.
• 39:42
  There's quite literally nothing better than traveling internationally for work.
• 39:47
  So hopefully I get that firmed up. I mean, I've just been I guess reading for stuff.
• 39:52
  I wrote a movie and you know, been going to the arduous process of trying to get that made
• 39:57
  riddle me that on how that's going. We have like meetings periodically and stuff. We have like
• 40:04
  some line producers who are great and we have like a finance guy, but who knows if that'll come together.
• 40:10
  We're great at manifesting here the pop culture junkie podcast, so we're going to manifest that for you.
• 40:14
  Yeah, it's like a rocky comedy. I would I would say accepted is probably the movie. It's been
• 40:25
  compared to the movie. Me too. I mean, that's kind of in my raison d'etre, like since we finished
• 40:32
  writing it like three years ago. I have learned more about producing than I ever thought I would.
• 40:38
  Hopefully someone was so impressed by me and stranger things. They're like, let me make your
• 40:42
  passion project. Yeah, in doubt that'll happen, but that's happening. Manifesting. Yeah, the first
• 40:51
  pop culture junkie productions, debut film. We're looking at the producers right now.
• 40:56
  I'm doing it. Have you ever been to a Comic Con before? I when I was filming the campaign,
• 41:02
  the New Orleans Comic Con was like in the convention center below my hotel.
• 41:09
  So we actually had to walk through it like every day on my way out pretty much. You're like almost
• 41:17
  everyone is staying there. I would say that's my most exposure. I've had to Comic Con, but no,
• 41:22
  I've never done that. You're gonna have so much fun. Yeah, no, I'm super excited. And like I mean,
• 41:27
  if I was on the low level Comic Con circuit indefinitely, like that would be thrilling. Like go to
• 41:33
  Germany and Japan and Kira Boss or wherever would be super exciting. You know, hopefully there's a
• 41:40
  Luxembourg Comic Con or Greece. Yeah, that'd be so. Just all these amazing places. I'm sure. Yeah, Maui
• 41:48
  Comic Con. It just happens to be on the beach. So weird. With a drink in my hand.
• 41:55
  Like a Comic Con. It sandals resort. Yeah, exactly. That'd be if I got to do those periodically,
• 42:02
  like that would be such an honor and travel. Like, you know, it'd be like,
• 42:06
  heard, Liverpool is like New Orleans. So that's cool. Grant, we know you're a busy man.
• 42:12
  We have taken up too much of your time already. We are so grateful that you took time to be on
• 42:20
  our podcast. Yeah, thank you so much. This was so much fun. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, of course.
• 42:24
  I had a great time before we go. Can you tell everybody who wants to slide into your DMs?
• 42:31
  Just kidding. Can you tell everybody to not slide into your DMs? But where they can find you,
• 42:36
  like if they want to find you on social media, where can they follow you?
• 42:40
  Yeah. My Instagram is @GrantSGoodman. Grant Goodman asked me for $5,000 for that username.
• 42:48
  And I said, I only like Twitter where I got Grant Goodman, @GrantGoodman. Nailed it. Yeah, I would say
• 42:56
  those two I don't take talk. Yeah, I would say I have a strong preference for Twitter. I have a
• 43:04
  Facebook fan page that I periodically remember to hit the share button whenever I see news articles
• 43:10
  or something. Yeah, I would say @GrantSGoodman on Instagram or @GrantGoodman on Twitter.
• 43:15
  Awesome. Well, we will give you a follow Grant. So great man. And we will be manifesting your
• 43:22
  infinite success in the future. You can find us the Pop Culture Junkies on social media too.
• 43:31
  Shauna, where can they find you? You can find me Shauna Trinidad @shuanatrinidad S-H-A-U-N-A-
• 43:35
  T-R-I-N-I-D-A-D on also Instagram and Twitter and Alex Alex and I'm @alcusnun on
• 43:45
  Instagram and Twitter. And of course, as always, you can find us on our website popculturejunkie.com
• 43:50
  on Facebook @ PopCultureJunkiePodcast on Instagram @pop.culturejunkie. Be sure to tune in
• 43:56
  again next week for another hit of pop culture. The Pop Culture Junkie Podcast is produced by Jeff
• 44:07
  Markin and Cheryl Lightfoot for the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.