Rudy Pankow

25:28I was just like into storytelling. Do you remember the first actor or film you became obsessed with? Even when you were just a fan, before you kind of got serious about it, what was the movie that you knew by heart, the actor that would get you out of the house to go see them?

25:50Yeah, I have one that comes to mind, but it's like, it would just be something I would pop in every now and then just to shake it up. And actually, I still kind of do it here and there. I haven't watched it probably for about a few years now. But for some reason, Sherlock Holmes, when Robert Downey Jr. played Sherlock Holmes, I was like, why is this so fun? And yeah, I put that on. But I can't really think of like really small. Like I'm thinking like movie's going through my head right now. We're all animation. That's okay too. And that was fun. But Downey is one of those like electric performers too.

26:27Who's like he's. Yeah. He's bringing something that's just so present. And when he played Sherlock, I was just like, oh, he's so kinetic. And I can't stop watching him. Okay. So pre Outer Banks, what is, like, are you making a living? When do you start to make a living? Do you have to work odd jobs before Outer Banks? Yeah, I was working at the Cheesecake Factory at the Grove. Oh nice, how were you? About two years. Would you have been a good server? What were you? Didn't make to that. I was, signed myself up for the dish room and I was back there for about six or seven months. Then they promoted me to Buzzer.

27:06I'm pretty sure they asked me. They were like, what do you want to be? And I was like... Where do you see yourself in the Cheesecake Factory organization? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was like, bus her. And they're like, okay, this kid's weird. And that's where I stayed until I just liked the position. I didn't wanna become a server too much or else I feel like I was gonna have too much responsibility and I couldn't ask for a time to get out of a shift or something. And that's where I stayed until Outer Banks happened. Were you like, did you feel like, when you're working in LA at The Grove, are you adjacent to the celebrity world?

27:41Are you like, you know, are you going to, you must have had, I assume you had friends that were kind of like succeeding or not succeeding. You're going to parties. You're waiting on somebody that you recognize. I mean, did it feel like you were close to like breaking through before Outer Banks or no? No, it didn't. It didn't. I had some great fun projects and short films and one feature actually, but it didn't feel like I was like necessarily breaking through. I did feel like I was learning. And that's what I will say is during that time, I really did feel like I was like I was a sponge taking in things to do, things not to do.

28:19And I actually am happy I did the growth because I feel like that taught me a certain characteristic. I was like, yeah, that's a that's someone that knows what they're doing. And then this is someone that's like, I'm just willy nilly doing this right now. And I kind of could see those personalities working there. So was there anything you came close to before Outer Banks that you thought was going to change your life? Or was truly Outer Banks the first one that was a real thing? There was a Netflix show. I don't think it lasted very long. It's called Trinkets. Oh, I don't know. Okay. Yeah. And I think it had one season, and then it got canceled.

28:56And I was like, my mind was blown when I got the second callback. And I was like, it's all happening. Oh, my God. But no, that was about it. Again, yeah. Yeah, that's the start. Okay, so let's do the Outer Banks origin story. Is that in the room? Is that Zoom? Like, what's the audition process for that? As I understand that you were up for a few different roles. It wasn't just JJ, right? Right. No, it was a tape. It was a tape initially. I think the tape initially was for JJ. And then they brought me in in person for Rafe. Then they brought me in person for John B. And then flew out to Charleston.

29:31and this is after I think probably six or seven auditions as different characters. They flew me out and then did the Kem Reed as John B. And they're like, never mind. I think we're good. Let's go back to JJ. And so then they had another audition or Kem Reed and they put me as JJ and boom. So were you reading with some of the actors that ended up being on the show? Yeah. Yeah. No, that was, that is how that happened is that actually, Yeah, I mean... They were kind of mixing and matching. They were mixing and matching. Yeah, they were doing like a round robin kind of thing. And do you still remember like the moment you got the offer that you officially got it?

30:12Is that a... Yeah, no, Chase and I had lived with each other the first year and so we were in the car and I don't know, I don't know why, but we were in the car that also was another John B auditioning and Chase gets the call. I got a text and they're like yeah you got it and I was like sweet and it felt amazing and I was just looking out the window and hear and like Chase answers they go right right next to him it's like you got it and then he's like I can only just remember him being like oh heck yeah man all right cool you guys are too cool for school yeah he's like that's great that's great that's great let's go to Cheesecake Factory I'll talk to you I'll talk to you later and then like I could see him in the mirror because he was like right behind me.

30:59I see him in the mirror and he's like looking at the mirror. He's like, and I was like, oh, cool. Yeah. Thank God you both got it. That would have been an uncomfortable car ride. That would have been. I mean, for him, I think it was an uncomfortable car ride. So yeah. What do you remember about the early days? Because I mean, you'll never have that experience again, that kind of like first big experience. And one of the cool things about Outer Banks and I've had Madeline on the show and I've talked to a bunch of the actors is like you kind of all came up together. Like you were all experiencing fame, first experiences together.

31:28It was COVID. So like, I mean, like we, I feel like the energy on set was like, we did something great, cool, but we didn't know. I didn't know. And I still think to this day, like two years, it didn't take two years until after the show came out, probably even after season two, where it was like, oh, like people like it. Because like it was COVID and we were indoors. You didn't see anyone. You didn't walk around. So you didn't really have a reference of like besides maybe social media that was like, okay, like this is cool. But like the recognition and the opportunity, I think also during that time wasn't like, let's go all right back into work.

32:13So it took some time to understand like, hey, like people enjoy this. Maybe, I mean, it's hard to talk about that time that was horrible for all of us as like a healthy version of that. But like you kind of got to dip your toe into celebrity a little bit. Yeah. Which is disorienting. Celebrity of that kind, of that kind of fan base is overwhelming for any human being, let alone somebody where it's like your first real big gig. Yeah. So at least you kind of had the, I don't know. First of all, you're like with folks that are all experiencing the same kind of thing. Yeah. And second of all, it's a, I don't know, it's a little bit of a slow pace as opposed to like walking out your door one day and everybody's screaming.

32:51Oh dude, I can't imagine what it would've been for, I mean, if it happened now, I don't know. Like I really don't know. You're right, it is like a nice little like wade into it. So what about the actual experience though, the first like weeks on set? Was that, what do you remember just about like, okay. We're talking season one? Yeah, season one. Did you love the character from the start? Did you have a beat on him? No, like we were just excited. I was excited. I went into it guns a blazing. And going back to Larry real quick, like I felt really prepped. I felt really prepped. I felt really ready.

33:28Like, I'm in my apartment doing background character work. Like who is like, I wasn't even thinking about his parents and all that stuff back then. Like I was as much as I can focusing on just like what Larry had taught me. Well, that's what separates also. So it's like, I did a bunch of things with Jacob Lorty this past Oscar season. And even when he was doing The Kissing Booth, he was taking it super serious. You have to. I know, I know. I mean, what's the point otherwise? And it's... And it's good. It's a good practice. And I think that's something I think LA taught me. And I do truly mean this.

34:05You can make a text really mean something no matter what the text is. I'm not trying to say there's bad writing out there, but even with that writing, you can make it and deepen it to something. And that's what Larry would always say, is like, take the writer's hand, but make it more than just that. Make it something that's inside of you. And I truly believe that, and that's what I was practicing on that show. So what are you proudest of in terms of that characterization? 40 episodes, four seasons, obviously made an impact with that audience. No, it's a sense of pride. It really is a sense of pride that people connected to all the characters, not just JJ.

34:48It's a sense of pride that we got it done, and I am really proud of it. Do you have a favorite episode, favorite scene, favorites, anything? No. I mean, there's scenes, there's moments where it's just like, you do know this feeling. You just know this feeling of when you've finished the day, and you're like you think about it and you're like that worked right that worked and gave everything to it did everything to it and there's that feeling now there's the other side of that feeling of where you're like kicking yourself like i should have done that i kicked that like i how could i have forgotten that uh but then there are those scenes where you just know in the editing room that it's like that's gonna work yeah you know so so where are you at now because you haven't really like had this kind of conversation since you left the show is your first kind of press tour.

35:38Right, right, right, right. Was it tough to say goodbye? I mean, the audience was very emotional, your castmates recorded this beautiful kind of remembrance of your contributions to the show. Was it, I mean, that's an end of a chapter. Yeah, playing, like you said, 40 episodes as a character, and that is hard to, like, just like, I enjoyed playing JJ, and the moments of just creating that person. Yeah, that is a little hard to leave, but it's a celebration. And I think the character stands for something. And the writers did that to deepen that role and that chapter. And that's what I truly believe.

36:19So no flashback in season five. I'm not seeing you. No, that would be news to me. Unless they've been like shooting you surreptitiously. You don't know it. AI is getting crazy these days. Will you watch it or is it going to be weird for you to watch? No, I'm totally going to watch it. I want to see how they do it. I really want to. do and they're going to crush it no doubt totally we'll be right back with more happy sad confused sierra has all the best active and outdoor brands for the super athletic stuff like running gear for cruising up the trail and the super athletic ish stuff like fishing gear for chilling by the creek nice cast fitness apparel to push for higher reps you got this and golf balls priced so you You can afford to lose one.

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37:43All right, so talk to me a little bit about this next chapter. This is the beginning of the new chapter with this film and beyond. You've got some other cool stuff. You shot Cowboy, I think, with Ben Foster, who he's the real deal. Yeah, he's awesome. Yeah. He's awesome. So, I mean, talk to me in terms of like, I don't know, do you feel like you have specific goals in mind in terms of like this next chapter of your career, the kind of roles you want to do, the kind of people you want to work with, the kind of genres you want to dance in? Okay. I can give you two answers. Let's go. There's like the, okay, that's clickbait.

38:15And then that's like. I'll take both. We'll take both. The truthful answer right out of the gates is like anything that's soulful. Yeah. If a script is soulful and also the team behind it, it's like, okay, let's commit to this. And I actually think Reminders of Him had a very soulful message and everyone on it just had that same goal. And stories like that. And there's a lot of them out there, but I think to get on the same page is a lot easier said than done. And then I can give you like the, yeah, this character I would love to play. Let's do it. We can manifest this. Probably can't do it anymore.

38:50and I, maybe there's a way to do it. Peter Pan would be so fun. Yeah. Peter Pan would be so fun. I'm too old for it. But you can do it. You're like 14 going on 20. Yeah, I'm 14 going on 30. He'll never grow up. Was that always a character that like intrigued you? Peter Pan? Definitely as a kid, I loved to just like, like the woods, like one of the woods. Imaginating, I remember as a kid, just run through the woods and be like, ah, yeah, I'm Peter Pan. That makes sense. And like, I think there's a way to do it. Like hook, like Robin made a hook that's like older, but maybe there's like a middle age.

39:27You're not quite middle. No, no, no. Robin is middle aged in that. Sorry. Sorry. Pre-middle age. Pre-middle age. Yeah. Young, I guess young adult, young adult Peter Pan. Is the superhero thing at all interesting? Like in your age group, I've kind of gone through this the last 10 years where like five or 10 years ago, it was like everybody was dying to be a superhero. And now it's like, it seems like a little less so or not. I mean, they're gonna be casting the X-Men. Everybody in your age group is gonna be going up for that kind of stuff. Is that on your radar? Is that something that intrigues you at all?

39:57Sure, I mean, I'll always take a look at it. I'll always be curious to see what they see me as. There's been a few talks here and there, a few meetings, but in terms of if that came across my table with the TT thing. Right. That's the way to pack it. I'm taking the TT thing. Yeah, the experience. Who in your peer group, whether you know them personally or not, is doing it right? Whoa. In terms of how they've navigated? Because again, I think of something like Drew, who went off and did Luca and Queer, I mean, amazing. And now he's got all these great opportunities. Whether you know him or not, what's the model for you right now of how to steer a career?

40:41Yeah. You know, that's a great question. I really enjoy seeing the growth in Adam Driver and how he was, you know, before. He was a girls guy. Yeah, he was girls. Yeah. And then he was so good in that. And then he was, Star Wars King. And it was just like, wait, this trajectory of things. And then like seeing the stuff that followed, I really look up to him and just love the variation of what he does. Because, yeah, I just love how he shaped his career. Do you get starstruck at all? Like if you work with, have you worked with actors that you have to have set aside? I would like to say no. Like I would love to be like, no, no one's like, I don't want to name drop right now.

41:28I don't want to do that. But it is something that I'm like, no, I don't want to do that. You're in a safe space. You can hear it. You're in a safe space. I recorded. On camera with me. Yeah, on camera. It was a really fun night. I was able to speak to Al Pacino and these guys. There you go. See, I brought him up first. Yeah. No, and it was, he's, you know, king of Shakespeare. So it's like asking him Shakespeare questions was so fun. And I felt like I held it together. I was just like, thanks for the advice, Al. Love you, Al. Dabbed him up. You know. Good luck with the rest of your career. I haven't seen your work, but I'm sure you're great.

42:04One of the same, one of the same. That was awesome. That's amazing. It was really cool. Filmmaker, what about the short list of filmmakers? Is there a filmmaker you're... Oh, there's so many. I mean, Chloe Zhao right now is crushing it.

42:19There's a bunch of young filmmakers coming up that I really would love to work with. And obviously, there's the greats. I mean, Nolan. The PTAs, the Anderson, the Wes Anderson, the PTAs, the... And you can be like, love to work with them. And it's like, doesn't everyone? That's okay. That's okay. But yeah. So in terms of, you said you had a good audition today. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a good, that's a, we're on the, yeah. No, auditioning in New York is not the same as auditioning in LA. How's it? Maybe someone, I don't know. It feels, it feels like New York's like knows the circuit. I'm touching this for good luck.

42:57Where it's just like. Your phone's going to buzz. I got the part. Thanks to the crystal. You jinxed it. No, it just feels like it's like a, hey, like. A little less of like song and dance a little. Yeah, do the job. Let's do the job. And I like that, actually. I like the pressure to get it done once. I actually love that. And like some people will disagree with me on that. We're just like, okay. But it's like, no, if you're up on stage, you got one shot. So like make it count. So you like that pressure. I love it. I love that pressure. you're built for the theater, you gotta do it. Yeah, I mean, it was a nice, again, toe dipping into the water at the ART, doing Romeo and Juliet, and I had so much fun.

43:43The cast was so fun, and we just had a blast. Again, freeing, as much as Shakespeare can be, which it's not very freeing, but it's, we changed motions, we did, and that's really what you can do, and let's just connect and live it. And something I do want to say is that, like, sure, Romeo and Juliet are, like, the king and queen of the chess story. But, like, what I love about that story is that, like, the pawn sacrifices itself. Or let's take Mercutio as, like, the knight kills himself or kills him. It's just, like, it changes everything. And that's, I think, to answer your story and, like, what kind of stories I want to tell.

44:27It's, like, a chess game of stories. If I can be even just the pawn in a chess game of a movie, that's where I want to be. And just even if a pawn sacrifices himself, the whole movie could change. That is the smartest strategy I've found in talking to actors over the years. It's just surround yourself with the best, whether it's the great filmmaker, great cast, great story. The part is important, don't get me wrong, but the whole is bigger than the smart. The whole story is what the goal is. Yeah. Yeah. All right. We're going to end with this. You survived your first podcast. You're almost there.

45:07How do you feel? I feel safe. Earn the crystal. We end with the profoundly random questions for you, Rudy. You ready? Yeah. Hit me. Dogs or cats? I'm a dog person. I have to say it. I'm a dog person too. My partner's a cat person, so rough life. How's that going? You know what? She's actually said, She's actually said, I want both at the same time if possible. You grew up with dogs? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. What do you collect? Pokemon cards. You got it, Peter Pan. You're a kid. You're still a kid. No, I collect all kinds of things. I even got a coin collection. I really do. No, yeah. Collect good times.

45:46Good times. Do you collect things from rolls? Like, do you have any Outer Banks stuff you kept? Sure, yeah. I mean, I try to get, like, from Uncharted, I kept... Actually, this is going to sound gross. I kept the bubble gum, not used. Mark Wahlberg's? Mark Wahlberg's. He like pops in a bubble gum and not, I didn't keep that one. It's like the stick of it. And I thought that that's what the brothers bonded over was this bubble gum. Nice. And that's the, I kept that. JJ's boots I kept for, I'm trying to think of the other role that I kept something from. Yeah, no, Scotty kept this like little necklace.

46:23Nice. Yeah, it's...I try to keep one thing from each character. Was there ever, by the way, Uncharted, was there ever hope of coming back? I still hope so. I actually was able to ask Tom that recently. Yeah? And Tom was like, we'll see. I'm like, you're right, you're too busy, man. The Spider-Man thing. Uncharted was a huge hit. People forget how big that movie was. Yeah, and I was hoping. I was hoping, and still am. But that was part of the idea, I would imagine, when you signed on. I mean, obviously, you're, again, kind of like reminders of him. Your character was like, even when you weren't on screen, it was about your character.

46:54You're right. You're right. I didn't even put that together. Thank you, Josh. I'm always in the background. This is the Dakota Johnson Memorial question. She asked me this. I ask everybody, would you rather have a mouthful of bees than one bee in your butt? Tough one. Yeah, I know. Bee in my mouth. It's going to be a mouthful of bees. Lots of bees. We're talking like 20? Yeah. It's going to fill it up. Okay. Well, then never mind. There's no wrong answer. There's really no right answer. How long is it in there? Let's say a minute. A minute? Solid 60 seconds. All right. No, I'm still sticking with Beezemovab.

47:33I think I've seen that before, so I'm sticking with that. Fair enough. Do you have a favorite video game of all time? Yeah. Yeah, I will say Mario Kart, the first Mario Kart. I think Pokemon Silver is on there, though, too. It's pretty neck and neck. Okay. What's the wallpaper on your phone? Oh, it is. Exclusive. Here we go. No, no, no. Don't worry. My butt. No, this is the skiff my family had growing up. And that's off our cabin that's in the middle of nowhere. I love it. In Alaska. Gorgeous. Yeah. Who's the last actor you were mistaken for?

48:12I don't know. Ever happened? I mean, yeah, actually, I don't know. I don't get out much. No, I don't have an answer for that. No. I mean, it's definitely out there. What happens with, tell me this, a fan that does recognize you, and presumably it is probably an Outer Banks aficionado. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it an intense kind of interaction generally? Like what happens when they clock you? For the most part, it's usually just, and actually I really love it. I really appreciate it when someone just says, hey, I loved you on that, or hey, I appreciate your work. That's the perfect. For the most times, that's what it is.

48:49I mean, you're going to get variation here and there for sure. If you go to a concentration of a certain kind of a young person's birthday party, it's might be a little different, but yeah. Are you crashing young people's birthday parties? No, that's not on my agenda. Hey guys. Hey, you might remember me. Thanks for booking me. Yeah. It's a side hustle. And then, oh, actually no, here's one before this. What's the worst note a director has ever given you?

49:20Okay, I have a hot take. It's not, this might be a hot, this is a hot take. The hottest take of the pot, here we go. Probably, and it's a great last question. When they say throw it away, have you heard that one? Of course, yeah. Yeah, yeah, throw it away. Yeah. I go, yeah, but throw away how? Right. Like, you don't want to use a full take? And I don't want to be one of those actors, and I know exactly what they mean. I know exactly, like, don't put anything on it. Like I could literally just be like, if I was just to say the line, throw it out. Like this is with it with like crazy two over the top, throw it away.

49:55Then, and then like, this is it without it. It's like, throw it away. And like, I know what he means, but there's still an intention with throwing it away. Right, the intention is not to do anything. Not to say. It's like, don't think about it. It's like, vaguely, or like give it an adverb. And that's how I would, that's what I mean by how. and so I a lot of directors gonna be like oh but but no I don't I don't like to know throw it away yeah I think there's even nothing as a choice yeah don't do anything don't do anything is even better than that but like feel nothing

50:36yeah be numb yeah you know like there's all those things of words like if you said that, oh, no. Throw it away. You know? You know? What's your favorite kind of direction? Ah. What do you like to hear from a director? Is it just... That can vary. And I truly mean this. It can be from like studying, like something, before I do a scene or do a specific take, they like, here's a song, or I have a song, and then if it's just verbal, like letting me know, it's like it could just be one word of like, and again, adverb of like aggressively or like excitedly. Right. Angry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are doing this this way.

51:28Right. And give it that and give it a new color. Also, I love it when a director says a color. I love that. And that actually happened on Reminders of Him. So what does that mean? Give me an example. Ness would say if Scotty's yellow, this is a scene, give him a little blue in this one. So what does that mean? Blue, you know, I would say, and maybe that's just me, I'm weird, but it's like I understand blue, there's this, you know, I'm feeling blue, but then there's this anxiety, and I think that's blue. Okay. Give it a little anxiety. And like, that's how I hear that. When I hear blue, I'm like, okay, give it a little anxiety here, but what about?

52:10And that's for me to figure it out. Yeah. Well, I guess the point is it's whatever just like fire something in your brain. Yeah. It can be anything, whether it's a color, an adverb, as you say - Orange is explosive and energy and like you give it that color and then you're like, whoa, cool. Now I can mix up my brain and see what comes out. Yeah. I like it. Okay. And in the spirit of happy second fuse, an actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're in a better mood. Okay. What do you got? Robin Williams. He comes up a lot. Yeah, he should. He should. He should. Movie that makes you sad.

52:41Wrong. Not just wrong. Sad? Yeah. Pursuit of Happiness isn't sad. Ooh, there's a movie called Collateral Damage. Oh, yeah, I remember that one. That's a sad movie. Another Will Smith one, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And a food that makes you confused. You don't get it. A food? Yeah. Oh. I thought I had this the other day. I was thinking about this. This food doesn't make any sense to me. Food that confuses me.

53:20Man, this is the hardest question. Yeah, I saved literally the hardest one. Something that you just don't get. For me, it's like get that sour cream away from anything. I'm just not into it. Beets. yeah uh you'll eat anything rudy yeah i'll eat absolutely anything um octopus pancakes go for it oh that's that's that doesn't that confuses that does that come up often in your life people trying to give you octopus it happened once but it made an impact it made an impact and it confused the shit out of me see you arrived at the perfect answer it was worth the wait yes sir yes we did it um rudy thanks so much for stopping by my man congratulations on the film thank you josh the The career's just getting started.

54:02I'm excited to see you at this juncture. Yeah. And now we'll be able to compare and contrast. Yeah. And let Daniel know I'm here. So like, you know, we'll be, we'll, we'll go see him. There it is. We'll see him together. There it is. Thanks, buddy. Thanks for the time. Thanks, man. And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

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