SPOTLIGHT: My Panel with Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

[00:00:00] here and this is the Wilhelm podcast. So I've been away for the past couple weekends,

[00:00:28] the best couple weeks rather and I had a lot going on. I got to go to WrestleMania 40 right

[00:00:33] here in Philly, which was an absolutely incredible weekend, especially for someone like me who has

[00:00:38] grown up watching professional wrestling. It was just a blast to go to that. But for the

[00:00:44] past couple weeks, I have been promising you audio from one of my panels and it is the panel

[00:00:50] that I did with Christie Swanson at Contropolis, New Jersey last year with

[00:00:55] altered reality events. Now, we're entering con season again. We are my first show this year is

[00:01:01] coming up in just a matter of weeks and that is Fan Expo Philadelphia. I don't know yet what my

[00:01:06] panels are but trust me as soon as I know you, my wonderful Wilhelm listeners will also know

[00:01:14] both via the podcast and also social media. So if you are in Philly and you do happen to go

[00:01:21] to Fan Expo Philadelphia, you can come and see me. You can come and see me do what I love

[00:01:26] and that is moderate panels with some awesome guests working awesome shows and not just for

[00:01:31] Fan Expo Philadelphia but through all the shows I have this year. I have six shows this year.

[00:01:36] So I am fully entering con season in a matter of weeks and I have a show a month going until

[00:01:42] the end of 2024 which is just absolutely amazing. So I will list those shows as I go forward.

[00:01:48] But again, I promise you for the past couple of weeks, audio from the Christie Swanson panel.

[00:01:53] Now this happened at Contropolis, New Jersey as I mentioned. It was a one-on-one with Christie.

[00:01:57] She was very hesitant and kind of because she doesn't... We had a... Christie and I had

[00:02:03] a conversation about this after the panel and she says she kind of closes in and because

[00:02:10] she gets very uncomfortable. She feels like she doesn't come over well on panels but let me tell

[00:02:16] you she was an absolute sweetheart. I was sitting next to Buffy Summers the entire time and

[00:02:24] it was just an amazing opportunity. You could tell about halfway through the panel if not sooner

[00:02:29] she really, really opens up and becomes very much more comfortable in speaking and when we had that

[00:02:36] conversation afterwards and she said she feels like she doesn't come across properly. She said

[00:02:42] I said to her, I said you came across great. You were very open and honest and she's like,

[00:02:47] well that's because you made me feel very comfortable which meant the world to me and I love

[00:02:52] anytime that happens. So I have more audio from other panels that I'm going to be releasing

[00:02:57] over the course of the next couple of weeks as well but in addition to this, the Christie

[00:03:02] Swanson audio from Contropolis, New Jersey, next week I am working in conjunction once again

[00:03:09] with Jason, my good friend over at Podcastica. Him and I are going to be covering,

[00:03:14] we're going to be doing a full season one recap of Amazon Prime's new show, Fallout which I have

[00:03:20] been absolutely like I've been so excited for this show as a fan of the games and as a fan of

[00:03:27] Walton Goggins as well as you know Kyle McLaughlin and Mike Gawrmerson and so many other great

[00:03:32] cast members from Enlopernia, so many great cast members in the show and it looks fantastic and

[00:03:39] I've been hearing nothing but rave reviews about this show. So I'm going to be watching that over

[00:03:44] the course of this week and Jason and I as well as his friend Doug we're going to be getting

[00:03:48] together and we're going to do a full season one recap of Fallout. So if you watch the show

[00:03:54] you'll be able to listen along and you can leave feedback as well. We encourage you to do that

[00:04:00] as a matter of fact. Go to the social medias, you know go to the Wilhelm socials at Wilhelm

[00:04:06] podcast on Instagram, facebook.com slash Wilhelm podcast on Facebook and or email directly

[00:04:13] feedback at Wilhelmpodcast.com. Let us know your thoughts on Fallout season one because

[00:04:19] we're going to be talking about it and again it's going to be a joint conjunction with

[00:04:23] Podcastica so if you are a Wilhelm listener which you clearly are if you're

[00:04:27] listening to this episode you can find it here on this feed next week that's Monday April 22nd

[00:04:33] or you can also hear it also on the House Podcastica feed on the same day Monday April 22nd.

[00:04:40] But without further ado thank you guys so much for listening I mentioned the socials already

[00:04:44] I'll mention them once again at Wilhelm podcast on Instagram or facebook.com slash Wilhelm

[00:04:49] podcast give us give me a like on socials if you like the podcast please do me a favor

[00:04:54] go to wherever it is you listen to podcasts and leave a review whether it's just a five star

[00:04:59] review or a written review reviews help so I said five star and sound a little conceited

[00:05:08] hopefully it's five star so no post credit this week we're doing everything right now

[00:05:13] but without further ado please enjoy the audio from my panel with the delightful

[00:05:21] Christy Swanson from Contropolis New Jersey 2023

[00:05:51] my sweater that's very cold in here yeah definitely a little chilly in here um

[00:05:56] I want to get to any audience questions that we have throughout the show so if you do have any

[00:06:00] either raise your hand or there actually is a mic over there you can step up too as well

[00:06:05] but we'll see um but yeah thank you so much I had the opportunity to meet you yesterday before

[00:06:09] you know before we did this and how has the show been for you um show uh since yesterday and today

[00:06:17] yeah like how have the people been been that's the best part is that um I was based a show off of uh

[00:06:25] you know not just like who's there or or how big the show is or how small the show is you'd be

[00:06:32] you know because some shows are enormous yeah room after room after room is amazed right

[00:06:37] but it's more about the people who come and and the people who run it and how they treat you

[00:06:43] and it's all been very great and I always it always makes it pleasant you know and everybody's

[00:06:48] having a good time so yeah I mean you've done a number of these shows already and I'm sure you'll

[00:06:54] people will continue to see you as you go along but as you mentioned you know some of these shows

[00:06:58] are absolutely huge and they're huge spectacles and there's there's other shows that are very

[00:07:02] little chill and give you more opportunities to meet more people than you want. As somebody

[00:07:07] who's here as a guest do you ever take the advantage of the opportunity to meet people

[00:07:11] yourself that you might have ever you might never had the opportunity before?

[00:07:15] Well yeah like yesterday I had to geek out on Murr you know like I went up to Murr from

[00:07:23] impractical jokers I said oh my god hi you know I had to give him a hug and you know because

[00:07:30] I've been watching him since day one of that show because I don't watch like scripted TV shows

[00:07:35] or movies very much I like docu stuff and comedy or animal planet whatever and so and so when I saw him

[00:07:45] I just always wanted to meet him so that was a big deal for me. And your booth I don't think

[00:07:48] as far from his on the floor right there. No it's just as the stones are away I'll be like hey how

[00:07:52] are you this morning? I think like him and Photon are right there like quite closely within walking

[00:07:58] distance they had a panel up here yesterday and that somebody they were talking about you

[00:08:02] know he was bringing he was talking about bringing in different celebrities for new season

[00:08:06] and stuff like that. You should I think you should absolutely pitch yourself if there's something

[00:08:11] you never wanted to do. I've always wanted to do their show because I uh I'm a total chameleon

[00:08:18] like I can change my look like anytime like people don't know you know what I mean like

[00:08:24] blonde I could be brunette and like people just wouldn't know I could change my voice

[00:08:28] you know what I mean those guys they probably have a hard time now doing practical jokes at this

[00:08:34] point and he had to wear a wig at one point didn't he like he had to change his look. I think so I've

[00:08:39] only seen I watch it on random but I haven't watched all the way through so yeah I'm sure.

[00:08:44] Yeah and you can't miss Lay right you know or or Q or whatever yeah I would love to do their

[00:08:51] show that'll be fun. You have the opportunity? In a heartbeat I mean now I live on the east

[00:08:54] coast now so easy. Oh do you really? Yeah I mean I think he's uh he's in central jersey I'm in south

[00:09:00] jersey. Well there you go. Yeah let's do it. Perfect opportunity. Okay we'll go over we'll go over and

[00:09:05] pitch it to him to get absolutely. Yeah we'll do the contract on a napkin and it'll all be good.

[00:09:08] Exactly uh you know you know turning the panel back back to you instead of the

[00:09:14] practical jokers. Oh no I'll talk about them all day long. You know you you've had such a great career

[00:09:19] I think one of the most notable roles obviously is Buffy the Vampire Slayer even though there's

[00:09:24] been so many others. What going back to that point what kind of attracted you to that role

[00:09:31] when you took it on? Um well it actually I didn't know about the project until Luke Perry told me

[00:09:38] about it. I knew him personally just through show business and LA having a lot of you know

[00:09:43] like mutual friends and whatever and he had told me that he he goes oh my god Swani because

[00:09:49] Swani's like my nickname he's like Swani um I'm doing this movie I got a he I don't know it was a three

[00:09:55] or five picture deal with 20th Century Fox because he had this project that he wanted to do called

[00:10:00] Eight Seconds or it was the Lane Frost story and they said we will do that movie with you

[00:10:07] and then we also have a couple other movies that we want you to do as well and the first one

[00:10:11] they wanted to do with him was this movie called Buffy the Vampire Slayer that

[00:10:15] Josh Whedon had written he said it is so funny and you are the perfect Buffy like you would play

[00:10:24] that but you would not get out of the park he goes I want you to will you go meet with them or I mean

[00:10:30] obviously you're gonna have to audition you know like he can't like get me the part or anything

[00:10:34] but um I had to audition I had to audition like seven times for that part so um you know I just

[00:10:41] went in and did my thing and then they bring in the girls because they have to match everybody up

[00:10:45] and blah blah blah so he was um he was always in my corner from day one to have me play the part

[00:10:53] but you know ultimately wasn't his decision I myself but it was yeah it was good so Luke

[00:11:00] so Luke was the one that actually got you encouraged you to audition for the part and

[00:11:04] yeah take the role on well yeah and also yeah and I mean he was he was my biggest cheerleader let's say

[00:11:13] you know but he he was always that way with his friends but he wasn't the kind of guy that was

[00:11:18] like oh I want Kristy Plates part because I like her and she's my friend you know he creatively

[00:11:24] like could see how I could pull that part off in a funny way because he knew me personally

[00:11:30] knew I could you know yeah I mean and you look at everything that has happened since that movie

[00:11:36] released that was what 1992 was the was the film that's when it was released was when it was released

[00:11:43] yeah we've actually filmed it then because I think we started in January of 92 and we finished in

[00:11:51] early March or mid-March something like that I mean you look at everything that's happened since

[00:11:56] then you know it's become such a cult favorite of people I mean I it's a movie I still watch every

[00:12:03] couple years as well you know not just for the character of Buffy but also for everybody that

[00:12:08] else that was involved in that movie from you know the late Luke Perry to you know Donald

[00:12:13] Sutherland and Paul Rubins and it had just had such a great cast of and everything and since

[00:12:19] then you know we got we have a television series that ran for a number of years when

[00:12:23] when the series was first announced what were your initial thoughts on that it was awesome did you really

[00:12:29] yeah I was like oh my god that's so cool it was like seven years maybe after the fact they

[00:12:37] were going to do a tv series about the vampire slayer and um like I was 22 and I did the movie

[00:12:45] and so I was probably 30 or something when that came out but I was like this is because I grew the way

[00:12:53] I grew up like I don't people are you're such an icon like you being a you know heroin and female

[00:13:00] strong character in a movie blah blah blah I'm like oh no because I grew up watching Bionic Woman

[00:13:06] Wonder Woman you know all these shows that you know inspired me to be strong or you know

[00:13:13] um uh confident gal or young girl or whatever so I was so excited that this character and this

[00:13:24] you know vampire show that has been a comedy in it you know but I didn't know what it was I knew

[00:13:30] I knew later that it was very different from the movie it was a little bit edgier or you

[00:13:35] know a little bit more saturated a little darker a little different which was great

[00:13:39] but I just I was like oh all these girls are going to get to watch Buffy every single week on tv and

[00:13:46] look up to her and be inspired or whatever so I was I was really thrilled. Did you what did you

[00:13:51] watch the series when it aired at all because I know you mentioned earlier you watched like more

[00:13:54] docu series yeah I don't watch TV um I I uh I watched I think what they did was they did a

[00:14:02] pilot and it was like a two hour movie of the week kind of thing and so I just watched it

[00:14:06] just to check it out to see what it looked like and stuff like that but I didn't watch it religiously

[00:14:11] or anything. Have you had the opportunity to meet Sarah since? I did meet her yeah I met a few of the

[00:14:18] people from the show and then uh and then I did Seal team so I worked with um who's the guy

[00:14:27] that's Seal to her? Boreannas. Oh my gosh I feel bad. I'm so bad with Nick. It's hell getting old.

[00:14:32] Okay so um so yeah it was just really you know it was really cool and then they had to spin off of

[00:14:39] that and then us. Yeah with Angel would have been off of that as well. Yeah um you know we're in a

[00:14:44] time now where there's so many reboots and relaunches and you know and restarts of series

[00:14:52] if the idea ever came up of revisiting the Buffy verse that you were a part of rather

[00:14:58] than the series like making a sequel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that anything you would ever

[00:15:03] approach if it was brought to you? Oh yeah absolutely I mean they've been talking about that for God

[00:15:10] knows how long. I mean that movie was what 30 years ago last summer um I it's funny to hear

[00:15:18] like because back then we didn't call it a Buffy verse yeah the Buffy verse now I get it

[00:15:24] that's like a new tag. Everything gets a verse tag now it's a normal verse DC. So I don't know

[00:15:31] could that Buffy verse that it was you know Donald Sutherland and that you know that cast or that

[00:15:38] because that was a uh creatively it was so different and then if they the Buffy verse on the

[00:15:45] TV what if those two verses met you know to me they'd be so different from each other.

[00:15:50] There just happened to be two slayers named Buffy and they and they meet. Yeah one's very bubble gum

[00:15:57] and one's you know a little more serious right I don't know yeah I think it would be interesting to

[00:16:03] revisit at some point. Yeah I mean I would play the Donald Sutherland character you know what I mean

[00:16:08] like I'll play Buffy's grandma how about that? That would be kind of cool too. I just sit in the

[00:16:13] corner knitting and just like you know throw some knitting needles around. Yeah needles around.

[00:16:19] Or the knitting needles that become the spider wood and knitting needles that become spice.

[00:16:23] I got you vampire. Yeah that would that would be kind of cool though to see you come back as

[00:16:28] kind of like the mentorship role as you know as you mentioned the watchers. It could be that it

[00:16:32] could be anything the trainer yeah whatever or I don't know even the sidekick or the mom or

[00:16:39] I don't care I don't really care I just it was a fun role to play and and uh I have a lot

[00:16:45] of great memories from it. Yeah I mean you kind of touched a little bit on too about how people

[00:16:50] would come to you and say how you've played these powerful roles you know these these independent

[00:16:55] women roles and you kind of and you said yourself like oh well I watch these roles the same way as

[00:17:00] well but I do think it's accurate to say that you have played a lot of those roles in your

[00:17:05] career as well and you look at you know the chase with Charlie Sheen which you know I think

[00:17:10] that was a strong female character as well and it's just she became one exactly she was spoiled

[00:17:16] a little brat at first yeah but she became that character throughout throughout the movie.

[00:17:22] So I mean I think it's safe to say that you've become you've taken on that mantle

[00:17:26] yourself as well yeah no I'm just saying like in today's like they'll be like

[00:17:30] do you notice more women are playing stronger female roles and I'm like actually as long as

[00:17:34] I've been alive they've been doing like I grew up on Lucy who is a comedian but

[00:17:39] she was very prominent in in the world you know and uh Samantha Stevens character you know like um

[00:17:46] Elizabeth Montgomery is be witched and I mean there are so many great female actresses and

[00:17:53] you know Sally Field was a crusader and Golihan and I mean there's just so many of them yeah

[00:17:58] out of these names that I mean you know these names that you've listed too I'm just curious

[00:18:02] off the top of my head is there and do you have a like a dream person you would love to work with

[00:18:08] one day as far as like an actress? Another actress yeah off the top of my head I can't

[00:18:17] think of one at the moment maybe this ends I might it might pop in my brain we can we can come

[00:18:22] back to it yeah no I mean I I usually approach every project and you know I I usually enjoy

[00:18:30] everybody that I work with and I'm always very respectful of the fact that all artists are very

[00:18:36] different from each other and they all have their own process and they all work you know in certain

[00:18:41] ways or or whatever so I always I always try to adapt and be flexible with everybody some people

[00:18:48] like to rehearse a lot some people don't you know blah blah blah so you just have to adapt

[00:18:53] those kinds of things and be respectful about it I mean there's oh god there's I mean if Lucy was

[00:19:01] still alive I'd love to work with her you know there's there's a ton of them yeah I mean there's

[00:19:09] so many great actors and actresses that are fun yeah and I could see you there there's a number

[00:19:14] of them I could see you pairing up with at some point I mean even Sarah Michelle Geller as we

[00:19:17] mentioned even if it's not a Buffy project or a Buffy verse like just to see the two of

[00:19:21] you together in some kind of project I think would be fun yeah even just for the fans to see

[00:19:27] you together working on something would be yeah a lot of fun yeah um you know talking about

[00:19:33] television as well like that's it's something that's a medium that you've obviously done a lot of

[00:19:36] working as well outside of movies and television I know one of my favorite projects I've seen you

[00:19:41] in you did a short run on psych oh yeah which I still love that show yeah this day do you

[00:19:49] have like a um that was unplanned too because they brought me in they were doing a vampire

[00:19:56] sort of theme show that was called This Episode Sucks and and they brought in a few actors to do it

[00:20:03] and I was gonna play the love interest to uh um uh blanking on the character's name

[00:20:13] um uh not Carl they called me Marlowe but what was his character's name it's like

[00:20:20] who James Roday or no no but they had me do this love interest sort of like scene and we had so much

[00:20:27] chemistry and they loved the the fact that we had all this chemistry and they had never had a love

[00:20:34] interest for this character for all the years of the band on the air like five years or whatever

[00:20:39] so they're like will you come back so then I just did like a couple episodes a year for the last three

[00:20:44] years yeah which was it was a really fun show I've heard from a number of people who've worked on that

[00:20:50] show that that show was just a blast like James and and Duley were just absolutely fantastic

[00:20:56] like it was the whole crew's just a family setting it was really really fun yeah but do you

[00:21:02] so you know talking about the differences between working on films and working on television

[00:21:06] do you kind of have a preference as to which one you enjoy doing more or which one maybe you would

[00:21:14] find easier to do when it comes because they are very different when it comes to filming

[00:21:20] so I'm just very I'm just curious if there's one that you prefer

[00:21:24] when I was younger I always preferred doing movies because I knew I there was always like

[00:21:30] I hate to say this because it sounds like Debbie Downer I don't mean to make it sound like

[00:21:33] Debbie Downer but when you make a movie it's like there's a beginning and there's an end

[00:21:38] and then you're done like you play that character and that role you wear that wardrobe for three months

[00:21:44] or whatever and then you're done and you go on to the next and you create a whole new character

[00:21:48] and you're on to you know whether it's a comedy or it's a psychological thriller whatever it is

[00:21:54] it's just kind of a lot of variety in in your life creatively to be able to do that

[00:21:59] and I had friends that were on tv series and although they you know have a seven-year run and

[00:22:05] they'd you know be on tv for so long they're there um like I said I always liked being a chameleon

[00:22:12] and play different roles and I thought if I'm on a series for seven years would I get bored

[00:22:17] would I be like god get me out I want to do something else you know because sometimes you

[00:22:23] unless the everything falls right you do like a year series you only have like three or four

[00:22:30] months off some of them can do movies in between but some of them it doesn't work out that way

[00:22:36] yeah you know so or you're just so burnt out after doing you know because you work

[00:22:42] 14 hours a day I mean this is long when you're when you're doing a series um you might just

[00:22:47] need the time off before you do the next year you get picked up again and do another year so

[00:22:52] it's hard to say you know you never want to kick a gift horse in the mouth but you know

[00:22:56] you get a tv series that lasts a long time that's a great thing no question um but I always

[00:23:02] I always enjoyed the fact that I could do uh you know like do four movies a year and play different

[00:23:08] characters or travel to different parts of the world or play and work with other actors not

[00:23:14] just the same cast all the time the change up in the variety of everything that comes with it yeah

[00:23:18] yeah yeah I mean not to mention the fact too that I know with television series as well if it runs for

[00:23:23] a long period of time and especially if it's something that's not local to where you're filming

[00:23:27] you're away from home a long period of time well yeah you know whereas a movie it might only

[00:23:32] be like a couple weeks to a month or two that you're away from home and then you get to the

[00:23:36] home and enjoy have a little bit of life yeah yeah but I mean I've all my actor friends they always go

[00:23:44] the best job on the planet is a sitcom because you work like four days a week it's like bankers

[00:23:50] hours yeah you work four days a week you just rehearse and then you shoot the show on Friday

[00:23:56] night or whatever and then you go home for the weekend and then you go home and it's like

[00:24:00] and the script is like this thick you know it's like 30 minute half hour sitcom yeah

[00:24:07] everybody always said that was the dream job and the best job and I'm like well yeah I guess I don't

[00:24:12] know would have been what are you like acting like so big and over the top I don't know so would you

[00:24:18] and would you have ever considered a sitcom if it was ever a pro if it was ever presented to you

[00:24:22] yeah I would I guessed it on a few of them I always felt uncomfortable there though yeah

[00:24:27] because I wasn't I'm not like trained in front of a live audience like I'm standing here talking to

[00:24:32] you guys and thank God it's a small room like because I'm not I'm kind of shy when it comes to that

[00:24:37] because I've been a film actor since I like I was nine and so I'm just so used to this space

[00:24:45] and it's just different like I never did like I did a little bit of theater or did a couple of

[00:24:50] sitcoms but I don't know if I I never I guess after if I did a few episodes I get the cadence of

[00:24:59] the sitcom you know like set up set up joke set up set up joke it's always like a rhythm yeah right

[00:25:06] I could probably get that but I just never did a sitcom you know that I starred in or anything

[00:25:13] well I did I did this one called The Great Vine which was really cool it was sort of ahead

[00:25:18] of its time where we broke the fourth wall and talked into the camera sometimes but it was a half hour

[00:25:25] comedy but it was three cameras so it was shot like film and we spoke to each other normal

[00:25:33] instead of the big vibe yeah boisterous kind of attitude yeah yeah yeah like the kind of

[00:25:40] stuff that you see maybe on like friends or something like that even though they were

[00:25:44] that one was more chill yeah yeah that was a bad example yeah I was thinking the sitcoms at Disney

[00:25:49] those are really over the top oh that was incredibly over the top you know but one of the things too

[00:25:54] about like working with sitcoms too is it's very dependent I think on the sitcom but a lot of

[00:25:59] times you hear the guest actors usually get treated pretty pretty well when they come in like

[00:26:05] I know it can be intimidating sometimes for someone to come in as a guest because you're

[00:26:08] basically walking in on somebody else's family and you're temporarily becoming a member of

[00:26:14] that family so it could be kind of awkward right and they have a system you have to kind of like fit in

[00:26:18] for a minute yeah yeah exactly yeah um and does anybody have any questions for Christie they'd

[00:26:25] like to ask what we're here sure step one up so I was kind of curious um you know with the

[00:26:30] controversial legacy of Josh Wheaton uh after the Avengers and uh all the controversy was he

[00:26:36] like as bad as they say on set or was he uh you're gonna tell me what the controversy

[00:26:42] was though because I didn't know about any uh so he was he was kind of like soft canceled

[00:26:48] basically people said that the gist of it is that he was like sleeping around with like actresses on set

[00:26:54] and fan girls at conventions cheating on his wife so he was kind of like a little bit of a

[00:26:59] hypocrite and supposedly he would like scream at people and Buffy like the whatcha call it

[00:27:03] does oh yeah I heard I did hear about some of that stuff there was there's some lawsuits or

[00:27:08] something that sure with like Spike guy he likes it you're nothing without me I don't care how popular

[00:27:13] you are oh wow I think it's kind of safe to say though that just the fact that you didn't hear

[00:27:18] about any of that and you weren't aware of it I think that kind of answers the question

[00:27:22] though controversy yeah I just didn't really maybe I just didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it

[00:27:27] you know but um I would say I didn't experience that I only knew Josh when we did the movie in 92

[00:27:37] I was 22 years old um I don't know how old he is today but he was a kid too I remember he was just

[00:27:44] a young guy and uh he was getting his movie made by 20th Century Fox and he he was first one on the set

[00:27:54] last one to leave he was there every day and it was really great to have him there because

[00:28:00] if we had any questions or something wasn't working with the dialogue or we needed to change

[00:28:06] something he was right there to help make it work you know what I mean like because of the location

[00:28:12] we were in or or this we could make this a little funnier whatever it was he was he could be there

[00:28:18] to work with the director and the actors and it was nice to have that you don't always have

[00:28:22] that on a movie set where the writer's right there and he can fix it you know what I mean

[00:28:27] so uh my experience with him was really good um I never had a horrible experience but we also weren't

[00:28:37] like besties or you know like we didn't stay in touch after the movie or anything but I was happy

[00:28:43] for his success I was happy that he brought Buffy into and as a TV series the rest of the stuff

[00:28:51] I I know nothing about I wish I could answer no it's a really good perspective sometimes I question

[00:28:56] a lot of that so I don't know if it's real or not I don't know if it's tabloid talk I don't you know

[00:29:00] I don't know but thank you for your frank assessment yeah absolutely um yeah I mean you

[00:29:07] you know you mentioned um you know working on Buffy again and working with Joss you know over

[00:29:12] the course of your career you've worked with a number of you know great directors

[00:29:16] as well as other actors you know we mentioned you know Luke Perry Paul uh Paul Rubins uh Donald

[00:29:22] Sutherland you've worked with um Charlie I almost forgot Charlie Sheen's name I don't know how I would

[00:29:29] have forgot it yeah um you know but you know at a scene is that what you can oh okay yeah I would

[00:29:38] like to see if anybody called them chuckles how we would have heard that I've heard it before on

[00:29:42] set somewhere I don't know we did we were in three of the same film we were both in Ferris

[00:29:46] Bueller his scene in Ferris Bueller is like one of my favorite scenes ever on film that scene with him

[00:29:53] and Jennifer Gray is just the funniest ever I love that scene and um and then we did hot shots

[00:30:00] and then we did the chase hot shots I get because I almost forgot actually that you were in hot

[00:30:05] shots until I rewatched it I was kawalski yeah it was like the girl with the dudes yeah yeah the barracks

[00:30:13] yeah I had um I had an opportunity to uh have a conversation with Ryan Stiles who was also in

[00:30:18] that movie as well from uh oh yes yes Ryan so you tend to forget sometimes yeah did you really

[00:30:25] yeah he's a funny guy yeah but I mean like you know obviously we're Ashley Kutcher and Sean

[00:30:30] William Scott and Adam Adam Sandler as well what's been some of the takeaways that you've kind of

[00:30:35] taken away it has there been anything from working with these people you've kind of taken away from

[00:30:39] them to kind of I guess accentuate your own career uh that makes sense I don't know um

[00:30:51] I don't know I I can't say I mean I've always enjoyed working with most everybody that I've

[00:30:56] ever worked with and um and I you know growing up in the business being a nine-year-old starting out

[00:31:04] and then having a lot of friends that were kids whether they were like 10 to 16 years old being

[00:31:14] on tv series and being mega stars and being around them was a huge influence on my life because

[00:31:24] for some reason I don't know if I was just an old soul when I was young but

[00:31:28] I was like I like what they're doing you know I think I would love to do that but then I always

[00:31:34] look to the future and I always thought but I'm gonna because I would see because I've been

[00:31:42] around for 43 years in my career I could see like a lot you're always taking a risk when

[00:31:48] you're a child star it's hard to then transform or transfer into like an adult having an adult

[00:31:58] career because you're like known as so-and-so for made is enough or you're known as so-and-so from

[00:32:05] whatever you know what I mean so I I was worried about that I was like I I want to do this my

[00:32:10] whole life if I can you know that worry being typecast not being just typecast or just being

[00:32:17] a household name at such a young age it was there's only a few that I knew that that did it like Jody

[00:32:23] Foster is a perfect example I'm blanking right now and who are there were just a couple that

[00:32:33] that really could make it happen and so I just wanted to be able to make sure that I had lunged

[00:32:40] it so I was really all I focused on was I'm gonna get as much experience as I can as a young

[00:32:46] person and do you know as many TV movies or movies or parts or roles or this or that and just be in

[00:32:53] in my craft and around the business and blah blah just do my thing and then as I get older

[00:33:00] because I was all I was I mean when I was 14 I got emancipated because they were hiring 18

[00:33:05] year olds to play 14 and 15 year olds so I got emancipated so that I didn't I could work a 12

[00:33:12] hour day I was already done with my school I was homeschooled by my parents so I got all those years

[00:33:18] of being able to work as an adult but being a child and then I trans and then I was able to just

[00:33:25] transition right into my 20s and then the 30s and my 40s now here I am my 50s which is gonna be a

[00:33:32] little bit of a lull because I'm waiting for that grandma role you know what I mean that's

[00:33:37] what I want I think we wrote it earlier though so I mean I think we're I think we're already there

[00:33:43] yeah we've already wrote the grandma with the knitting needles and then the wooden knitting

[00:33:47] and at the end of the day it's like you know you got to be I'm just so grateful that I've been

[00:33:53] able to have the life that I've had it yeah it's different yeah it's whatever but it's the

[00:33:58] only thing I kind of know yeah um but I understand why it's different but I'm I'm grateful that

[00:34:04] I've been able to stay because staying is very hard you know it can be hard and it's it's it's like

[00:34:12] one of my favorite movies um Parenthood where the grandma in that she's like that's like a

[00:34:20] roller coaster you got your lulls and your ups and your downs right and um and I think that's

[00:34:26] in any career and anyone's life and anyone's anything you know I mean it's just how life goes

[00:34:32] and so I've just always treated my job or what I do for a living as life like that's my life but

[00:34:40] it doesn't define me you know I mean I define me I just play parts yeah and there is and there is

[00:34:46] something to say too about the the longevity of the career and having that staying power that you're

[00:34:51] talking about too it is an achievement I mean because you watch movies nowadays and you see all

[00:34:55] these fantastic young actors that you're like oh they're gonna be something one day we're gonna

[00:35:00] see them in more things and then you never you kind of never see them again only because they've

[00:35:04] either left the industry or they're they've moved on to other things and just never pursued it

[00:35:09] so the fact that you started at the age that you did and you still kept this career for as long

[00:35:14] as you have I think that speaks well about a high achievement that that actually is well I also

[00:35:20] believe I'm I'm you know just being an actor I research characters I understand like you know

[00:35:28] psychology and everything I think that when you're nine years old or I know for a fact when

[00:35:33] I was nine years old I didn't know what I just wanted to act or be in that I knew I could play that

[00:35:39] part in whatever that show was that I was watching on TV right that's all I knew I didn't know that

[00:35:44] it was I didn't know what fame was I didn't know what celebrity was I didn't know what

[00:35:50] money was or or being a mega star or I didn't know any of that stuff and that didn't ever

[00:35:58] matter to me and it still doesn't to this day like I was never being an actor because I wanted

[00:36:05] to be a mega star that wasn't the goal the goal was just to act and that just never changed

[00:36:12] yeah yeah because it's not about a star and the or an Oscar you know like that's not what it's about

[00:36:21] for me it's just about doing the art and and having fun doing it about the craft and yeah

[00:36:26] and learning more about that craft as you're as you're going forward yeah and then as I got older

[00:36:31] and I got into the mom roles now I'm you know passing my 20s now I'm playing the mom and now

[00:36:36] I'm working with children which is a huge emotional thing for me because I was a child actor

[00:36:43] so it was it was like I immediately stepped into that role of knowing exactly how they felt

[00:36:49] what they were going through I could read their body language if they were frustrated or

[00:36:54] and I and I loved being there for them and helping or helping helping them learn their lines or

[00:37:01] you know if they had a sort of a stagey stage mother person around them or whatever you know I

[00:37:07] just knew how to handle them yeah and so I always and I've enjoyed over the past 20 years or whatever

[00:37:16] working with children and protecting them you know yeah you're you're able to see what

[00:37:22] they're going through through their eyes because you've seen it yourself yeah yeah so that's it's

[00:37:26] been that's that's a cool kind of thing to kind of see or come around full circle yeah

[00:37:30] and the kids that I work with they all say the same thing um if there's any advice that you could

[00:37:35] give me as an actor what advice would you give me you know they do that all the time and I say wow

[00:37:41] always be humble always be kind uh you never know what somebody else is going through think

[00:37:49] before you react um share things you're not comfortable with with the right people but when

[00:37:56] it comes to acting be jack of all trades master of none so go learn how to play the violin go ride a

[00:38:04] horse go water ski go do this get you like learn these things you don't have to get don't become pro

[00:38:08] at it just know how to do it know how to sing just watch well there you're not auditioned for

[00:38:14] a role where you gotta play tennis or you know what I mean like get your athletic skills together

[00:38:21] learn how to fight learn you know you know because all these roles may come along in in your life

[00:38:27] in your career that you need to be able to just because they have stunt doubles for that stuff or

[00:38:32] you know an actual expert at it that they use as a double but you gotta play it too you know

[00:38:40] I mean just learn as much as you can about relationships people sports you know what I

[00:38:47] mean like just educate yourself I think that's good advice even just for life even outside of acting

[00:38:53] I mean I mean you mentioned the whole be humble be kind and those are very obviously life traits

[00:38:57] that you everybody should take on but even you know when it comes to the acting part of it as

[00:39:01] you mentioned learning these skills or at least attempting them to kind of just get the knowledge

[00:39:07] of it I think that's good advice for life as well because even if you know even if you're not

[00:39:12] an actor I see things that I would I would like to take an interest in at some point and even

[00:39:16] if I just attempted them just to say I tried them I think I think that's again I think that's good

[00:39:21] life advice regardless yeah acting yeah we all do that with golf don't we and we end up sucking at it

[00:39:28] although I still I still attempt golf multiple times I attempt golf we do we all try to be that guy

[00:39:37] none of us are tired yeah we all kick the ball yeah you know you've you brought up a number

[00:39:44] of times how young you know starting off at a young age at nine years old how did you get the

[00:39:48] start because you did mention you did theater and I know there are a number of actors who start in

[00:39:53] the theater was that the same for you or was it more were you more right behind the camera when

[00:39:58] you started maybe commercial work or something like that well I was involved like I went to I

[00:40:02] was raised in a very conservative Christian home I was in church three days a week Sunday Sunday

[00:40:09] school Wednesday youth group my parents did choir Thursday so I was there waiting for them to do that

[00:40:14] or whatever my church so I was always know what was going on in the church there was always

[00:40:20] performances going on plays Christmas plays this and that so I'd always try to get my

[00:40:25] self-involved in those kinds of things or participate and then there was like the local

[00:40:31] theater stuff that was going on but I had some friends from kindergarten

[00:40:38] that did commercials and I asked them about it mom and stuff and then they told me about it

[00:40:43] and then I was then smash cut to me being like eight or nine years old being probably in second

[00:40:50] grade or somewhere around there I got I was still friends with them even though we went

[00:40:56] to different schools at this point I got their mom and my mom to talk so I was very much a

[00:41:04] pushing that and I told my parents that's what I wanted to do and they were like oh no that's

[00:41:11] like in Hollywood somewhere we don't want you to be in show business like you know they didn't

[00:41:17] I just was they just couldn't you know like comprehend that they didn't know what it was all

[00:41:22] about but on the other hand my parents were the kind of people that like my brother was in sports

[00:41:27] they give him any opportunity whatever I was into or wanted to you know try they would want to give

[00:41:32] me the opportunity but they wanted but they were also very they were protective you know so

[00:41:38] the parents talked they said do you just got a letter to this agency and take some pictures

[00:41:44] of Christy and send them to this agency children's agency that's who our kids are with

[00:41:50] so my my parents were like okay and I'm begging I'm begging please do please can we do this please

[00:41:55] please please please and then like just so much better than them to do it they're just to appeal

[00:42:00] okay fine we'll take the pictures they finally walk back okay okay okay so they did it and they

[00:42:07] said and then they called they said we'd like to meet your daughter and have her come in for a

[00:42:12] meeting in LA and I was like see so but I didn't still at this point I mean I know it's now moving

[00:42:22] forward something good is happening but I don't know the whole lot of it you know and so my parents

[00:42:29] took me up there and met with the agency they had me read some sides which I had never really

[00:42:35] read before like to people and it was from the 1970s film the bad news bears okay so I was like

[00:42:43] reading sides and I'm a terrible reader I'm dyslexic I words on papers scare me you know what I mean

[00:42:51] I wasn't I wasn't not seasoned or trained you know what I mean I may have done like some musicals

[00:42:57] at church but that's about it you know yeah so I I was I've read that whatever I must have won it

[00:43:04] I don't know how it happened but then they said we would like to represent your daughter and send

[00:43:10] her on her first commercial audition tomorrow and I was like see you know so now I'm going on an

[00:43:19] audition for Tommy Toy commercial dollhouse commercial I get there my dad just me and my dad

[00:43:23] I'm in my best Sunday dress and I've got my little Kodak pictures or whatever they were maybe

[00:43:28] they were Polaroids I have no idea but all these girls have these 8 by 10s and these composite

[00:43:34] pictures and there it was like walking into like a I don't know like it looked like a beauty pageant

[00:43:41] toddlers and tears the gov all the stage moms and all that and I'm saying how my dad's like

[00:43:48] whatever so I go in and I met the directors of the commercial and everything I was like hey

[00:43:54] I just got an agent yesterday you know and they're like really I said yeah I'm so excited to be here

[00:43:59] so what is this like a dollhouse or what's going on you know and uh and then they were cracking up

[00:44:05] because I don't guess the shit I was saying was making them laugh and then they asked me and

[00:44:09] told them a joke I told them a joke um and then I got the I got the job that was how it all

[00:44:17] and that's how it all started and then my second audition I got the job third when I didn't

[00:44:21] fourth when I did and so I was just kind of on a roll in that in that respect and and I just never

[00:44:28] stopped oh that's awesome um I know we time is up Christmas no no we're not done yet like I said

[00:44:36] before it was I'm very shy it doesn't it doesn't come across at all because now I'm comfortable there

[00:44:42] you go we do have about like five we've about five minutes left so if there are any other questions

[00:44:48] sure deadly friend yes I believe that must have been 89 I think I was 19 I believe I know it's

[00:45:02] kind of around the time of nannican but I think wait did you say deadly friend or highway to hell

[00:45:08] I'm so sorry deadly friends no that was 86 so that was um that was with West Craven that was my very

[00:45:17] first starring role in a feature film for for a studio and um I just finished doing uh Mr. Boogity

[00:45:26] in December of 85 and um so it was early 86 that we shot deadly friend and that was an incredible

[00:45:37] experience working with West Craven like even to sing his name gives me oh all welled up

[00:45:45] because he was such a mentor and like he was just that guy that just took you under his wing

[00:45:51] he's like where are you going to get through this because it was my first movie you know and he's

[00:45:55] he just he would make me laugh he he was just so so wonderful to work with he really taught me

[00:46:02] the ropes and and he knew that I mean I was just I was percocious I was just curious about

[00:46:08] everything I wanted to know how this worked and how did this you know what I mean like I

[00:46:13] would go and hang out with the sound guys I go hang out with the camera guys I go hang out with

[00:46:17] everybody I just wanted to know every department and and uh and I just would educate myself every

[00:46:24] single day you know if I wasn't in a scene I was right there and I'd be watching them do it

[00:46:29] you know so um so I think he liked that about me because I liked watching what he did

[00:46:34] you know and it was fun it was great it's awesome yeah um if there's no more audience

[00:46:39] questions I'm gonna wrap it up with one more and it's no no your time is up all right fine

[00:46:44] then we can just wrap it up right here um I can't wait to hear it better be good see now it's a lot of

[00:46:50] pressure now I don't know what's your favorite color I can't ask the favorite movie because you

[00:46:57] already mentioned it I don't have a favorite what what did I say was my favorite no I don't

[00:47:02] remember I don't have a favorite I know I should be better at this too but no I'll just I'll wrap

[00:47:07] it up with this you know my parents really have a favorite child well maybe some it's like

[00:47:12] maybe something they don't admit it but I'm sure some of them probably do um you know you've worked

[00:47:18] in a ton of you know all the movies that you've worked in a ton of you know genres you've done

[00:47:22] comedy you've done drama you know we have flowers in the attic which has which wasn't even brought

[00:47:26] up super dark yeah very dark is there a genre you have yet to work in that you would you

[00:47:32] would be interested in an old western would be fun that would be kind of cool actually yeah

[00:47:41] an old west I mean I've done with a stessen on like just yeah I've worn a cowboy hat a movie or

[00:47:46] whatever but yeah and I've done the dog done you know some that I had some southern accent that came

[00:47:53] out of my house I don't know but but I would love to do like something really cool like like horses

[00:47:59] and western and stuff like that but I don't know I'm in my 50s now I don't know maybe I don't know if

[00:48:04] I could do all those stunts and all those things anymore East Clint Eastwood was still doing it

[00:48:09] until like his 60s and 70s you've got plenty of time to you've got plenty of time to do it okay yeah

[00:48:15] grandma grandma eating on a horse with the stats in on there we go dances with dances with grandma

[00:48:23] I don't know uh Chrissy thank you so much for for spending this time of the day

[00:48:30] guys make sure you go over to her table if you haven't already