Isaac Ryan Brown | What Disney Doesn’t Tell You About Child Stars

0:00Mo Gilligan: From Taco Night in Tulum to Sushi in Tokyo, everybody's rewarding and post-worthy with Amex Gold's four-times membership rewards points at restaurants worldwide. Wherever you dine, points are piling up. So bring your friends along for your next course, because it's not all about the posts. It's about the company and the memories. How can gold from Amex sweeten your next food moment? Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Explore-Gold. Terms and points cap apply. Hey, what's up people? My name is Mo Gilligan and this is my podcast beginning, middle and end. Now my guest is only 20 years old but has already starred in huge US network shows like Blackish, Disney's Raven House and also voiced a character in the iconic Family Guy just to name a few of his credits.

0:51Mo Gilligan: Now he's sprung onto our screens on America's Got Talent at just six years old singing none other than Michael Jackson and he's currently in the UK promoting his brand new single, End of the Season. We talk about what it's like to grow up on a TV set and what he has learned and how to stay grounded having a childhood in the spotlight. Please, welcome to the podcast, Isaac Ryan Brown. Yeah, thanks for coming in, man. Thank you for having me, man. Yeah, congratulations is on hand. Your single was number one on UK iTunes as well. Yes, sir. Congrats, man. How are you feeling about that, man? Thank you.

1:27I mean, it's a really beautiful thing. I'm super grateful to God And to the fans Just for this opportunity And to be able to You know what I'm saying Break my music Yeah yeah of course So people can hear it And interpret it However they desire So it's super amazing

1:41Mo Gilligan: But six years old bro Is like Is where you made like Your start On America's Got Talent Like where did you get The confidence from At such a young age You know what it is I think I think everyone is kind of Born with confidence And then the things We experience through life Kind of Tear us down a little bit Like, I think as a baby, we all think, oh, we can do this. We're invincible. And then slowly as you go through life, you realize, oh, I can't or data. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the like for people, the best thing to do is kind of keep that youthful mentality and keep the idea of, well, I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

2:15Why not? If I. Yeah. Yeah. As you get older, it should just be. Well, if I know I have to put in the work to make sure that that's possible. But at six years old, I wasn't doing anything else other than singing and dancing and stuff. My mom always had me in classes. I was in church singing on the weekends. So I was doing performance things on the weekends, like winning little contests and festivals and stuff. So by the time I got to America's Got Talent, I didn't even realize that it was nationally televised and all this other stuff. It wasn't until they came to my school. They came and filmed me at my school, like before I went and did the big one in Vegas and all that.

2:48And they got more info on me and my family. And I was like, why are they at my school? But they was just trying to capture my early life. And I was like, okay, well, this is something. that's when I kind of realized it was a bigger deal than anything else because they were filming me and stuff. I'm like, what is going on? Like, they got the camera on me. But everything else before that, it kind of felt like the same thing. Just go and perform and do your thing and talk to your mom after. I'd be like, mama, how did I do? And I did the same thing on AGT. So it just kind of felt like another day at the office.

3:17Mo Gilligan: I know what you're saying is that you're having the confidence at such a young age and not having the fear. But was there ever a moment where you're like, wow, if this goes well, this could change my life or was it just like you know what let me just do what i like doing whatever happens happens yeah it never felt like that it never felt like i was doing something life-changing like ever because even i remember when i booked um it was it's a popular show in america called bubble guppies and i um i was on the the voiceover show as and i booked it at like seven or eight or however old i was and i did like the final three two or three seasons of that show and at the time my mom was very happy for me like i got my first show in la i was in la for like three four months she's like good job and for me i was like i didn't really process it as being like now as i look back i'm like i was seven or eight and i did like three or four different voiceover projects like that was pretty decent like but at the time i was like okay like they had a free cereal bar i get to see pictures of spongebob you know like yeah it wasn't ever that big of a deal But I mean, to me now I can look back and I'm like, wow, I thank God those blessings were huge and amazing.

4:25But at the time, it didn't really occur to me what I was doing.

4:29Mo Gilligan: Do you ever get nervous, especially at a young age? Like, was you ever nervous? Because I feel like kids don't. But also, I just feel like having gone across the pond, I don't know, but I feel like American kids are very confident. Yeah. Like they're very confident kids at such a young age. yeah i mean i that like i said i don't think i started actually getting nervous until i understood the like the reality of the situation i was i wouldn't say my first memory of like being nervous if i'm thinking in my head was probably like 10 10 or 11 and but that was also the first time i ever had like experienced doubt or anything like i had um i was i had done raven's home for six years i booked it when i was like 11 but before raven's home i had tested for this other popular show in america called the shy i don't know if you ever heard of it no no yeah it's called the shy and then there was another shy yes yeah i have heard of that yeah yeah so yeah yeah yeah so i tested but that's that's a lot different from yes yes yeah yeah because that's like a drama based in chicago yes yeah and then i had also tested for a few other disney shows around that time and like i had just i worked super hard especially on the shy even though that's not really my genre but I had worked super hard just I was praying I was like Lord I'm gonna be living in Chicago yada yada I was cussing that woop de woop and I didn't get it and that was like the first time I'd ever experienced like doubt because I was like wow like I worked so hard like for what like and I remember being 10 me my mom and my little sister we're eating out of our trunk we living in a room you know what I'm saying so around 10 11 is when I started to understand okay the financial burden of it all like my dad was because my dad didn't really come to LA with us a lot but for a time he was in LA with me and he let me know like yeah son like this cost money yeah my dad was keeping it real with my mom just like son just you know I'm saying worry about work just worry about trying to get somewhere and my dad he just kept it real with me in terms of what everything was but that was the first time I'd ever experienced doubt and I was very like Like, I don't know, I cried a little bit over that project and it made me feel some type of way.

6:38And then six months before I had even tested for The Chi, I got the first call for Raven's Home. It wasn't anything. It was just called Untitled Raven Project. Yeah, yeah. And then six months after, I just lost The Chi and they come back. They're like, we're about to start testing for this project you auditioned for six months ago. And I went in with such, like, I had tons of friends there. people that I knew from the industry because I had been living in LA for like five years at this point I had tons of friends had a lot of people test and audition I didn't speak to anyone I walked into the room we walk into the room everybody at this point we're still auditioning together it's no self tapes so everyone is in the room we all lock eyes with each other I look at everybody my mom is not telling me not to speak I'm like because at my mind I'm like listen it's not even that y 'all are my competition it's that I'm not gonna let y 'all distract me in this moment I'm not saying hi.

7:31I'm not speaking to y 'all. I'm not acknowledging your presence. I'm locked in on what I was doing. And like, I think the doubt and the turmoil I had faced coming off The Chi made me just go 100 % harder on Ravensholm. And thank the Lord that it did because we did six seasons. 118 episodes. I was truly blessed.

7:51Mo Gilligan: And that's crazy because you're from, you're originally, you're from Detroit. So what was life like in Detroit and then going over to LA? to LA. My own experience of like going over to LA. The first thing I thought when I was in LA, I was like, this looks like Grand Theft Auto. That was the first thing I ever said. Grand what? Grand Theft Auto. What's that? Grand Theft Auto. GTA. Oh, oh, oh. I said to myself, I thought you said Grand Theft Auto. I was like, what is that? I was about to say, oh my God, am I that old? No, Grand Theft Auto. Two different generations. He was like, Graffin, what the fuck?

8:32No, no, no, no, no.

8:33Mo Gilligan: GTA, that's our generation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We share that. I said, oh, phew, I'm not as old as I thought I was. But the fuck was like, I literally landed and I was like, this looks like GTA San Andreas. That was the first thought in my head. But what was it like for you going, because I've been to Michigan. I've been to the, what's it called? The University. U of M. Yeah, that kind of area. Okay. And for me, even when we were driving in, so we had drove from Chicago. And when we drove that, like even going from Chicago. Where are you from? You're from here. So I'm from here. So I'm from South London.

9:07Mo Gilligan: Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm from South London. But like my, I'll be honest, in terms of even going to America, it's mainly the East Coast and the West Coast that I've only ever been to. But like when I was in Michigan, it was very, okay, that area, you know massive student you know population that are there for university and stuff um and i guess my only other perception of detroit was probably from eight mile and eminem do you know what i mean that was probably from outsider um so what was life like for you like from that to then going to like la yeah um i don't know i grew up on eight mile and gratiot and my i lived on collingham which is like if you know Detroit Collingham is like three four blocks over from eight mile so that's and my mom kind of owned a business right on eight mile in Gratiot which is it was a daycare center which is where I grew up going to school and stuff but um I never knew I lived in like the hood so to speak like I both my mom and my dad was both there um it like obviously you know what I'm saying you hear shootings and stuff you see abandoned buildings and stuff but it doesn't it was never really registering to me that i wasn't in a a good area i just like this is just my home you know so it never really i never really noticed that i wasn't in a nice part of town but when i came to la it was just like i don't want to say it was a culture shock but like it was a culture shock in the sense of like the libraries was a lot cleaner like the it was like Like, I don't know how to explain.

10:50We didn't really have, like, we had one library in Detroit that I could think of that, like, you, I don't know. It was kind of a little bit ghetto. The parks was a little bit nicer in California. I noticed that. And then my agency was in Beverly Hills. So, and then when I first came, I was going to a lot of different agencies, auditioning, trying to get signed. Who's your agency? Right now, I'm with CESD. Oh, okay. But see, I used to be with, before they shut down, I used to be with Abrams, which was A3. Oh, okay. And then before that, I was with a couple. No, I've actually been with Abrams my whole career.

11:26But before I signed with Abrams, I tried to go audition for this other one called Paradigm or something I can't really remember. But it was just all these really nice, luxurious buildings that I was like, okay, this is what it is. This is L.A. And that kind of is what it was. But I didn't. The culture shock for me became when I got back, because at some point, like I would do three months in L.A., nine months in Detroit. But every year I just was working more and more. So my time started to be less and less. So I went from three to nine to four to six to five to however many, five to seven to six and six to now I'm spending more time in L.A.

12:09than I am in Detroit just because of my work schedule. And I went back to Detroit and spent a lot of time during covid, which I was like 15. And that's when the real culture shock hit me going back to Detroit because I'm like, oh, man, like my cousin was older, doing grown stuff. I had to get it. My mom made me get a summer job when I was in Detroit. Oh yeah. What was your summer job? I worked at a car wash.

12:32Mo Gilligan: Oh, nice. I worked at a car wash. That's a good summer job, though. It is a good summer job. I think that's all right, man. Yeah. I mean, it was all right. I was making a nice$7.50 an hour. You know, it was a little bit of below what I was used to making. I saved up like a thousand dollars, took my mom and dad out to eat, bought groceries for the house and stuff. And just that. But yeah, that was my real culture shock. Like coming back, experiencing life without this. I don't know, this allure to it. It was just normal life, like having to go shopping, having to take out the trash, do my because when I'm in L.A., we were living out of a room.

13:07So it's like whatever trash we had, we literally probably took it to set whatever food we would eat. We got it off set. And then I was at work most of the time that I go home for a couple hours, lay down, go back to work. So I would say that's when my real culture shock came going back to Detroit.

13:22Mo Gilligan: Was the weather different as well? Yeah. Because I feel like the minute you're in LA, any time of the year, you see sunshine. And then you realize when you're in America, I think what I realize is going to America at different times of the year, and I'm like, oh, it's not as sunny. Yeah, no, for sure. I miss the cold, though. I do miss the sea. In LA, we get rain instead of snow. Because in Detroit, you would get snow probably from late. from October to like, I mean, my grandma said it ain't no snow in there right now. I just talked to her the other day. But you'll probably get snow from October to like February, early of February, top of February.

14:05But my grandma said she ain't got no snow. So I might be lying to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even though it is March. But I don't know. I do miss the snow. And LA is just always hot year round. Like, I love it. And I have a pool now. So it's like I get to go swimming all the time. but I miss the change in the seasons. I like the heat and then the fall and then the snow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, man. But, you know.

14:31Mo Gilligan: So how did Raven's House change your life? Because, you know, you got an Emmy nomination from that as well. And then, like, you know, you kind of talked about as one of the next generation of stars, you know, to come through. You look at the alumni of Disney that have come from Disney and it's crazy. Do you know what I mean? yeah so like how did that start to like change your life a little bit Ravensome certainly changed my life man um I just gotta thank God and thank Ravensome and thank everyone involved with that project man Jed and Scott and um everyone who took a chance on me at 11 because I had never done multi-cam before I did I'd done one multi-cam project which was like Sam and Cat and I did that when I was like six or seven but I hadn't come back to multi-cam and I wasn't really good.

15:20I wasn't really good at it. And when I, like, I was a good actor, but I wasn't a good multicam performer in the sense of four cameras, knowing how to turn my body. I was used to having a microphone or like a lavalier or something. No mics, everything is boom. So you have to project your voice. But it's hard to do that in state, sounding natural so that you sound within your character and stay grounded. Is there audience there as well? Live audience as well on Fridays. so like you had to be on top of your game how how does that increase the pressure of having a live

15:52Mo Gilligan: audience there does it feel like because i i guess the comparisons i would have would it must feel like a bit like theater yeah in some ways yeah yeah um i i i don't that our fans never really made us feel too pressured and the dope part is like they would laugh at us making a mistake Okay. So, like, if we'd come in... Now, I just think because of how Raven is as a person, we would already kind of be locked. We had rehearsed so much that it didn't matter who was in the crowd. We was kind of all on our P's and Q's, energy, like, delivery and all that stuff. But, like, if we did, let's just say, one scene, the very first scene, the very first opening, we come in, somebody forget their line, and we go, ah!

16:38And we forget, the audience will laugh, and we just started over and taking it from the top. But I would say Ravenstone changed my life in so many different ways. But I grew up on that show. Went through puberty on that show. Like kind of became a man on that show. I changed, like I had to grow with Booker and the sense of that when I was like 14, 15, my jokes weren't landing because I looked different and was built different and I had to do things in a different way and grow my character up so that he was still sort of believable. and then in the final couple seasons seasons five and six i got the opportunity to kind of play quarterback and like we had new castmates come on and and kids that were a little bit younger to me so i could finally get to share some of my wisdom and share what i had learned over over the years so yeah and then raven's home also taught me how to kind of deal with stardom in a sense like i'm not a i don't want to sound you know braggadoce or anything like that but you're a star bro you're a big man thank you thank you thank you but i just mean like Like in the sense of like if we go to a school or something, we all we'd all go to schools like a couple of Disney kids.

17:44And then you get bombarded and they want they want to take pictures or they'd be like, sign my forehead or my phone case or whatever. And like when I was younger, like I didn't really understand it. But like, you know, I'm saying you grow up and after having conversations were raving, you just understand that, especially with TV stars, when people see you in their homes every day, they feel like they know you. and obviously you don't owe anybody that the that that access to you but when you get put in such a blessed position you want to make sure that you are grateful for your gift and you're not taking nothing for granted of course and that you give everybody that time that they deserve because i remember when that was me yeah i remember when i was begging people folks for pictures and to man if i could have got chris brown or somebody to sign my my photograph or cameron boyce or or Trevor Jackson or one of these Disney stars, I would have lost my mind.

18:34So I think about that a lot, and I give a lot of reverence to that. And shout out to Raven for showing us the way to handle that as well.

18:42Mo Gilligan: Because I couldn't imagine how hard it would have been, but also with the likes of social media as well. Yeah. Like, you know, you're on the forefront of TV and entertainment, and you're in an iconic show, but you also have social media in the background as well. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? How did that kind of start playing a part in your life? Because I guess you're getting people message you from all around the world being like, oh, my God, we love you on this or we love you on that. Yeah, it was such a weird thing, the transition of social media era for us. Because it happened kind of right as we...

19:15Well, I'm not going to say that. There were always streamers and stuff. And YouTube was already huge. But by 2017, which is when our show came out, they was basically telling us, you're not allowed. 13 year olds are not allowed to run their own Instagram account. But we need you to have an Instagram account. And I was like, so how am I supposed to like, you can have your parents run it. You can do whatever you add it out of. But it was a weird thing. And then like. Here's a tip for you.

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20:27Just what we were allowed to post having to still be within the Disney frame and we were representing something. Don't go on there doing too much. It was a weird thing for me, but my mom just ran it for me and I only worried about work. Yeah, I never was like my little sister was DMing people off of my. She would go on my mom's phone while I'm working and DM people from my account. and those people would come to a live show. Oh, sweat. On everything I love. Random people. My girlfriend of like two or three years, we're not together anymore, but my little sister, the way we met is my little sister DM'd her from my page.

21:02Hey, you should come to Raven's Home. And she just came to the show. Yeah. And we met. And I was like, how you just come keep... I'm talking to my mama like, you gotta be in here watching her.

21:12Mo Gilligan: That's a perfect, that's a good wing woman. Yeah. She's right there. Oh, yeah. No, W, I appreciate her, But, yeah, that was I never really worried about social media and stuff when I was I didn't really get on social media until I was like 15, to be honest, 15, 16. Like I said, when I came back home to Detroit and I like I'd created a spam account and I just had a little bit of extra time on my hands. I was like, OK, well, let me just start posting. And I did. And then that happened from there. But like I said, I did the show until I was 18. So those last three years, I definitely did have social media.

21:47And the main thing for me to worry about was just you were representing a brand, representing an iconic thing that had already stayed for so long. And as long as you're on Disney Channel or whatever, you're going to have to adhere to what is going on. And you know that when you sign on. Yeah. Like, I hate when people are like, well, I never said I wasn't going to. You kind of know what it is when you sign with Disney. You understand what you're getting into. I hate when people act like you know exactly what it is. They line it out for you. They tell you it's all they give you a crowd. This car Disney one on one.

22:16I'm not joking. It's called Disney one on one. They put their actors and their kids and usually the lead castmates into this program where you go and you sit for about five or six hours. You talk to all the heads of the heads of the channel. You talk to everyone. You take notes. They give you what is it called? What is it called? They give you sexual harassment training, whatchamacallit training, which, like, shout out to my castmates because they never made me feel bad. But I'm pretty sure the reason we had so much of that was because of me. We had three or four of those classes a year, and it's just because my mouth was so bad.

22:49Mo Gilligan: So these classes, essentially, they are to kind of guide you as you get older to, like, I guess it's almost like HR a little bit, human resources. And this is how you need to lead your life. This is how your life will change. these are the protocols we have here oh wow and they also and a big part of that like a big part of that was not posting where you were in that moment they say you're not supposed to post until you've been gone for a day or whatever because so many disney stars they've been tracked down is it yeah you're not supposed to post where you are until after you leave that place oh so anytime we would go to disney world or disneyland or yada yada yeah we would post like a picture maybe of of a Disney building that you would obviously know is at Disney World.

23:35Yeah, yeah, yeah. But never your hotel, never your whatchamacallit, none of that, until you leave. Oh, wow. So that people don't follow you or do nothing. Yeah. That happens. Did you get to go there for free? Like with all the passes.

23:46Mo Gilligan: Is it? Yeah. Yeah. Like, cause they go to Kiki. Mr. Passes, boy. Disney. Hey, if y 'all got some extra ones, Y 'all can throw that my way again. Because when you get that, there's like... Because I've experienced it with Universal Studios. Shout out British Airways Holidays. Shout out. They took me to Disney World... Sorry, Universal Studios. And there's the passes you buy, so you can skip. But then there's the person... Yes. Yeah, yeah. Brother, let me tell you. Let me tell you a story. My very first trip to Disney World in Florida. Yeah. I was promoting this hotel. I think it was called the Grand Floridian.

24:31Or maybe it was another hotel, but I was staying at the Grand Floridian. They had me. It was just me, my mom. And I want to say, I don't even think my dad was there. Maybe he was. I can't remember. But my very first experience there, I had a room on the top floor. I had two different rooms. Both rooms had a jacuzzi in the rooms. My mom never cared. I barely saw my mom on this work trip. I barely saw my mom. It was me and my little sister on this side. My mom on that side. I would come in like, Ma, we about to go downstairs or we about to go get some Mickey Mouse waffles or whatever the case. And then like, once I found out that that was what my experience was going to be like, every time I got called to Disney World, oh, I called my whole family.

25:13Oh, yeah. I called my whole family. Everybody. 10, 11, 12 different people. And now mind you, you do need to tip your, if you do have a tour guide, tip your tour guide, especially if you're putting a lot on him because that is a, it's a crazy job. But I had about 12 13 people with me all four parts everywhere inside My guy like he waiting on me at the end. He like you wanna ride it again. I'm like

25:41Mo Gilligan: So yeah, man shout out Disney that was Those passes are it's a different world. Oh, yeah, and it's crazy because people start looking at you like When you go do that you go with no look you're like yeah you know one of them feel like yeah he talk about me I don't know yeah let's go on it one more time and then it's awkward because like sometimes my guy would just take me straight well most times my guy would just take me through the exit and walk that way yeah yeah yeah but sometimes you have to go around and wait and so they sit looking at you like going and there's people that are like at the back and then you've got people that have paid for like the cue pass jump which is sometimes there's still a cue there yes but then it's the fact that you go through the back of the ride.

26:26Mo Gilligan: Through the exit. To the front. I said, me and my friend get looking at each other like, hey, bro, this is, I feel bad, but I feel good. But I love it. But I love it. And you know what? You know what, brother? Don't feel bad. Don't feel bad either because I wish everybody could experience that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wish everybody could experience that. Like, it's incredible. And then, like, he also, my tour guide, when I was there, he had a car. and I think like like not the very first time I went but maybe the second or third time I went because I told you I brought a lot of my family my cousins my auntie my grandma like at one point we had two cars riding around like two black SUVs oh yeah I've seen those yeah yeah yeah so we go they say like Disney World or something yeah yeah yeah so you go and you pop out and then I go get my granny and pop out I felt like the man I felt like the man how did you feel like when you got cast in in in blackish because that is that's an iconic show man with some amazing actors was there anyone that you kind of you you learned from when you know on on that because i guess it's such a juxtaposition from you know being on raven's house yeah um i actually funny enough me and raven were both on blackish like around the same time as I was being cast.

27:48Yeah, yeah. So, like, one day, I think maybe season two or three of Black-ish, I'm walking out of my trailer and I see her walk by and I'm like, Raven! And she's like, hey, little bro. And she give me the depth, whatever. And then, like, I go to the wardrobe lady who I had known for about two, three years at this point. She's like, Raven Simone was just in here asking about you. I was like, what you mean? She was asking, what are you like as a person? Do you hang up your clothes? Because this is wardrobe. And some actors, they just toss their clothes to the side. I always hung up. I didn't even know that it was a thing.

28:25But my mom just would tell me, don't just leave your clothes everywhere. Hang them back up. So my natural instinct was just to hang up clothes. And I guess that was a good thing for her. But I learned a lot from Anthony Anderson. Learned a lot from just watching some of the... I learned more set etiquette than anything on Black-ish. I didn't get the chance to speak with a lot of folks because just because of my role on the show at that time, I was a reoccurring star. If anything, like it wasn't really. But I got I got time to figure out, like, OK, this is how actors carry themselves in this setting.

28:58If you're not on set, you're quiet. You're reading your lines. You're doing this when you're in hair and makeup. Have your script in there going over your dialogue, yada, yada. And those are just things that I noticed from watching. Watching other people. So shout out Blackish. But I actually like and I hate when actors bring up like tests and stuff, but I'm just going to bring it up because we're talking about it. I did test for Black-ish me and the girl who played my twin sister on Raven's Home. We tested for the twins on Black-ish against the two twins who got it, which is crazy. Like all of this stuff was so crazy to me.

29:33And when I when I went in and I tested, they kept trying to pull me back. They kept like like you're funny. Just give us a little less. Like, this is good. Just tone it down a little. And I didn't understand what that meant. I was like, how old were we around that time? Like, eight, nine, ten, maybe? So I was like, I'm doing good. Like, as long as they keep laughing at my jokes, as long as I'm doing funny stuff, like, it's going to be good.

29:59Mo Gilligan: And it's hard in the room as well. And you don't know. Yeah, you don't know in the room, 100%. You don't know. So that's something. Blackish taught me a multitude of lessons, but more so small things like that, industry stuff. Like, how to pull back, what to do on set, set etiquette, where Crafty's is and stuff like that. And be super grateful for that experience. Incredible crew over there. They had such a well oiled machine. Like, I remember the first season we was there, like sometimes it would be a little bit of a delay before I would go on. Or sometimes they would hold me a little bit after because they didn't know.

30:32By season two or three. Call time. You're on. You're there. Whatchamacallit, you back. School for three hours, and you're done. They had it all down to the wire. So shout out to those guys over there on Black.

30:43Mo Gilligan: That must have been an amazing experience. It was. How do you find voice acting? Because you've got some really big credits as a voice actor as well. Thank you. I love it. Loved it, but still love it. It's hard to stay consistent with voiceovers. How long would you say you were in the booth for sometime? sometimes because i've done an animated film called 10 lives a few years ago and the fact that what i couldn't comprehend is i'd have to do the vo first and then the visual effects have to do their thing after so they're waiting on how i'm saying it my expressions as they're filming me because did you do motion capture yeah so they're doing all that stuff but then realizing you're like oh so this doesn't start until i start but i have to and i'm talking like in your head you're I'm just saying words.

31:35Mo Gilligan: But I don't know if you've been in a position where they're like, cool, we need your character to sound like he's running, but he's also telling this joke. And you're like, you're on the spot.

31:50Mo Gilligan: I was fighting for my life. They said to me, yeah, you're, you're, because it was a cat who has a bunch of lives and every life he changes to another character. Personality. So they're like, now you've got to imagine that the cat has changed into a rat and he's gone up a drain pipe. Bro, you've never seen your life flash before your eyes so quick. When you're in this booth, you're like, hey, hey. And they're like, great. It's just a bit more. Yeah, give us more efforts. And I'm like sitting there. It's like, hey, my life, I'm stressing out right now. How is it for you? Because you've been in things like Family Guy and stuff like this as well.

32:25Mo Gilligan: How is moments like, is there like a part of you that when you sit in that booth and you're like, oh, this is Family Guy. Like I really want to. execute this you know yeah for sure i um golly for family guy it was super interesting because like i said another well-oiled machine another well-oiled machine um family guy was super dope um the director had like i think his kids were a fan of puppy dog pals which is a show i had done when i was younger and so it was just he was just looking for that kind of i was playing i played Stewie's best friend in the episode and so for that for me I figured it was pretty much just trying to like make him realistic enough to where Stewie wants to be his friend and keep it in that vein of like child innocence or whatever it was a little hard though because in the episode they had to do a lot of choking like they kept putting toys in their mouth and like choking so I remember that being a issue for me did you have to do that where you gotta put like I didn't have to put anything physically in my mouth but just the the sounds and stuff in it yeah all right great um we can just go one more oh man we got the take um but yeah i would say like for if we're talking about like an animated like kid show like for because i i did a lot of animated kid shows um the the real difficulty for me was like and i mean depending on how deep you are into the thing like if you're a lead or if you're this or to that they'll let you go to the animation studio they'll let you go and see the drafts and they'll let you see the artwork and yada yada and that's what that's what i got to experience on that first season of puppy dog pals it was like i got to go in there and see what my character was going to look like i got to see how he was going to move i got to see his facial expressions and for me that helped add a little bit more um authenticity to him just because i already kind of figured and he always every picture they showed me of him he was super like he was always standing in this pose of like let's go and it felt like he was like the and the other my brother he was the goofy one always kind of had that expression on his face so it was easy for me to add a little bit more authenticity i hate to say that again but easier to add a little more authenticity to him after knowing what he was going to look like and yeah seeing him everything like that what what do you think's harder um in terms of voice acting or like on screen like what what do you think the thing is that makes you go, whew, I'm working right now.

34:57Yeah. I'll tell you a funny story, man. One time my mom left me in California with like my older cousin because I think, I don't know if it was something going on with my grandma or whatever the case may be. But I was in California with just my older cousin and my older sister, but they weren't real disciplinarians, you know? And at this point in time, I was doing Raven's Home throughout the week. So you do Monday table read, Tuesday rehearsal, Wednesday network run through, Thursday you film, Friday you do live audience. And then I would do, but mind you, we do, you do three hours of school. And then I was also on three different voiceover shows.

35:37So Monday after we do Table Read, I do my school. I would leave Raven's home and go do Puppy Dog Pals on Mondays. And then on Wednesdays, I would go do this other show on Amazon. It was called Costume Quest. And then on, this was only for like one season, by the way, that I had all this ridiculous workload. And then at some point, I was doing this other show called Stinky and Dirty. In between all of that. And I don't know if it was, what is it called? You know the Disney movie with the elephant with the big ears? What is that called? Dumbo? Oh yeah, Dumbo. Dumbo. So they were, at the time, Disney would invite all of their casts to their original movies.

36:15So if they did a Dumbo or the Lion King, Beyonce kissed me, by the way. I went to the Lion King premiere and she kissed me right on my cheek. I will never forget that it was the greatest moment of my life don't tell jay-z boy no no no no no please um but but this particular i want to say sunday or monday it was the dumbo premiere and i knew i had work all this next week i knew what i had to do but my castmates were all there and everyone i knew was all there so i slept through the movie in the front row we was all in the front row it was so bad like what's his name what's this he's uh

36:55Mo Gilligan: while every other channel is fighting for your customer's attention podcasts are where they've already given it no one accidentally listens to a podcast for 45 minutes they choose to be here they trust the voice in their ears and when that voice talks about your brand it doesn't sound like advertising it sounds like a recommendation from a friend a cast gives you that trust at scale Digital precision, post-read authenticity, and performance data that proves it worked. Don't fight for attention. Buy it with Acast. Learn more by visiting acast.com slash advertise.

37:32Danny DeVito's like a couple seats over from me. He was like seeing me fall asleep during this movie. And then I got up and I went to the after party and I stayed for like two hours. and I mean just chocolate fondue yelling a dance floor pizza all the horribles like I'm my cousin was there my older cousin she's from Detroit she's like oh yeah we at the after party you know what I'm saying she's taking pictures with everybody she sees I'm like you not ready to go home she's like no good I'm like oh bet I go to work there's not mind you I by the end of the night I end up seeing all my casmates leave I see Jason leave I see Navia leave I see Sky leave I see all my cast my sleeve but i'm still there i go i go to work this next morning i'm trying not to speak during table read because my voice is shot i'm trying not to yell during rehearsal because i'm like i know later today i have two episodes and two songs to do and i go to record this monday and i'm in there and i'm trying to do like i they say my voice sounds so bad i can't do any dialogue they're like we can't get any dialogue off you today let's just try to get a song or two done and I went to go do a song and all I remember was going and it just I cried I had never cried during a work session before anything like that and I just I broke into tears and I like they called my mom and I just remember I was like mom like I'm sorry like I can't do it like I it was such a I remember that day being very traumatizing for me and then I got offered another voiceover project after called Chicken Squad and they had got picked up now voiceovers are very lucrative in the sense of they usually get picked up from multiple episodes so if you do one show that's 26 episodes a season at the end of the day you know you're getting paid 26 so my mom was not into turning down money so i had got offered a whole nother show 26 episodes already picked up my mom like yeah but the casting director she had worked with me on that other show where she saw me cry okay and she was like ask him she's like ask me if he wants to do it And I was like, that was the first time in my life I'd ever turned down a job.

39:38I was like, no. And I haven't really done a voiceover that requires that much like that again since then. Just because it's a lot. So I don't want to say voiceover is necessarily harder than regular acting. But it's a certain level of, like, you have to have yourself prepared. You have to be able to go in there every week, bring something new to your character. And especially if you're like now with shows like Family Guy, it's a little bit different. You might not have to sing. You might have to do that. So you just go in there and be yourself. But in a show to where you kind of got to play younger and appeal to a younger audience and deliver these messages.

40:17And yet you still need to go through stuff and sing. I don't know. I don't want to say voiceover is harder, but it's they neck and neck. It's a different discipline. It depends on what you're it depends on what you're doing in the same way. And acting, you have to go through and go each of your lines and write your intention. same thing goes for voiceover especially if you're doing multiple different shows and multiple different characters so i'll leave that up for the audience to interpret but i i have my fair

40:43Mo Gilligan: share of run-ins with both of them speaking of the voice you're you're you're now singing and like that's such a different position i guess to be in now from i guess where you are front and center of performing which is a little bit different of being on screen or being a voice actor um how is this newfound thing that you do how is this kind of changing your life in some ways i'm getting my life changed again man this is a whole different um world yeah it's a whole different world and with the music game it's a little bit different because like with acting you know what i'm saying like i have my credits to where like people can go and you can look and see stuff but with music it's like people don't really care about what you did in the acting game They don't really care about none of that stuff.

41:31Like, obviously, if you have a name that's recognized, we're like, okay, that's cool. But ain't nobody really, you're not getting any free passes in the music game, and no one's playing your song or anything like that because you were on TV. Do you feel like you had to reset a little bit as a musician? Like, you have to feel like you've got to start all over again in some ways. Yeah, mentally and physically. Like, it was a brand new, like, I, like, now, so sometimes, like, if I'm doing a Stairmaster, or if I'm taking my dogs for a walk or if I'm doing jump ropes, whatever, whatever it may be, I'm trying to sing now.

42:05I'm trying to do scales. As you're jump roping, as you're doing stairwork, just to kind of get your body prepared to do things that I haven't ever had to do consistently. Like, obviously, I've been performing my whole life. Yeah. But to get yourself ready and physically prepared to go out there and give these people a show and perform, because I don't want to just stand up there and sing. You want to dance, too. You want to entertain. So, you got to write. I see the move, man.

42:35Mo Gilligan: You try to do it like it was nothing. So, you got to have yourself mentally and physically prepared. And that's a journey that I'm very excited to take myself on and a challenge that I'm very excited to continue to pursue because it's not just like you can't just wake up one day and be tour ready. You have to perform like that all the time or get yourself in a physical capability and a mental capability to be able to do that. And so that's what I'm looking forward to. Everybody, make sure y 'all are looking forward for Lipstick. It comes out March 20th. And this might be out by the time it's already out.

43:10Make sure y 'all check it out. But yeah, that's definitely what my mind is at.

43:16Mo Gilligan: Isaac, you're in a place now where, you know, you are, you know, you're performing, you're like a celebrity ambassador for brands. you know you go like you're doing so much as a performer where like you do animation you you're a hustler so you'll easily clean cars and stuff and do you know i mean because there are some people that will say well i don't want to do that because i've done this and i've lived in la and like you're saying like you know you you have a life that you've carved out for yourself that's very lucrative but also there's a part of you that sits there and says well i kind of see where i want my career to go and you're still yeah not to not to patronize you but you're still so young as well but you're also really mature at the same time like you have an idea of what you want which when i think of what i was like at 20 i was like well i'm just trying to get some gal you know yes sir trying to whine on some gal still but like you you it's the truth bro like i was like yeah i hear that but where the girls at yeah so like but now you're at an age where like you're you're to your 20 right yeah when will you be 21 july july so you'll be 21 in july and you've achieved so much in like 20 years which you know some of the things like even you're telling me and what i was researching i'm just like wow so where do you see like the the kind of next chapter is it you know because i don't know whether it i don't know whether you see this but i don't know why i see you like hosting your own almost like late night show because you seem like you can do a bit of everything in some ways you know you you can dance you can sing you can present you can you can do a lot of stuff if that makes sense so where do you see like yourself carving out that next thing for yourself i always saw myself kind of going down the host lane which is weird like um nothing much really came from it but i did do there was this thing that they had on disney it was called quizney and it was like they call in different kids at a yada and have them do things and like you just do them do questions and it started off as like an online thing and then i got to the show and then we did it for like three months and then they were like we're gonna make it like a show like a live action show and then we did it in a studio one time and it was it was on a big it was a green screen it was even bigger and then they was like well we're gonna make it a real show this time with their actual but so then they put it on a sound stage with these huge sets and flew in these families and i was like this is it i'm like i'm about to like i'm about to be a host like yeah yeah and then that what happened was a lot of the challenges in the show, people had to touch a block and give it to them.

46:06Like three of our fundamental shows involved the contestants touching each other and whatchamacallitain. And guess what year we started filming that show? Oh, man. 2020. Oh. And it got shut down immediately. So then I did this other show in 21 called The Magic Bake Off where I was hosting with this other girl named Dara Renee. Shout out, Dara. She's killing it.

46:26Mo Gilligan: And Bake Off is huge. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to Dara. She's killing the game right now. She just got nominated for an Emmy. I don't know if she won or not, but shout out to Dara because she's doing fantastic things as well. But I'm like, OK, this is my opportunity to be a host again. And so I don't know if hosting is in my cards because we did one season of that show. But, you know, I don't know if hosting is in my cards. I definitely tried it. I would love to do it again. I would love to like, you know what I'm saying? Because I don't know. Like you said, I do feel like I have a little bit of that.

46:55I can make things flow just like if we're here, if there's an awkward subject and we don't know what's on the prompter. I feel like I'm very good at filling in the blanks keeping people entertained but for right now my focus is definitely on my music that's where the majority of my mental focus has been and where I'm just going to continue to put it because I just want to do one thing at a time not that I want to be put in a box but I want to make sure whatever I'm giving has 100 % of my focus and 100 % of my concentration people say don't put all your eggs in one basket I don't know about that I'm like, that's for y 'all.

47:31Whatever I'm doing, I'm giving 100 % of my energy to that thing. Until, you know what I'm saying? Until God shows me or tells me that's not for you, I'm going to give everything I have to my music or I'm going to give 100 % of whatever it is to that thing. So, I mean, like I said, keep a lookout for the music. We're on the charts right now. We're number one on iTunes.

47:54Mo Gilligan: Because, bro, that's huge, man, to be charting in the UK and other countries around the world. that is absolutely that's that's that's massive you know i mean that's like a huge success so like who are some of the like musicians that you that you look up to because i know you you sung michael jackson at such a young age as well you know i know you mentioned chris brown as well are there like musicians you sit there and you're like yeah that's it's not to say that's the person i want to be but that's yeah do you know i mean that's someone i idolize yeah i mean definitely definitely people that I draw inspiration from like if we're talking about my personal favorite artist as a kid that was Usher that's why I watched him I watched him I watched all of his shows I used to study his one night one star only show in in Puerto Rico or whatever it was I'm like Jesus he was in such great shape yeah such great and I don't even mean like his abs and stuff he was ripped sure but when I mean shape I mean like he could get out there and sing for hours while dancing without stopping.

48:56I'm like, that's, so Usher was my guy. Did you see his new show? The show last year? The one he was touring around the world. Oh, no, I didn't see the one he tried, but I did get a chance to go to his Vegas residency.

49:06Mo Gilligan: Oh, you went there. Yeah, yeah. So same show. So same show down here where he's on rollerblades and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw that. Oh my God. Sensational. I see it in Paris. Bro, I screamed. Oh, I did too. I did too. Shout out, shout out Miss Wendy Raquel Robinson because I did a play for Amazing Grace Conservatory like two years ago, three years ago, it was called Pino. Like my main, the character of the show, his name was Pino and he just was like a performer, super into that and she literally sent me to Vegas. She bought my ticket, my plane ticket, my hotel room and my ticket to his show.

49:40She's like, go watch him perform and come back with that attitude. Like come back with that and I was like, man, like thank you. Like I appreciate this so much.

49:47Mo Gilligan: How'd she get me some tickets, bro? Wendy Raquel Robinson. You probably know her. Hey Wendy, please. You may be listening, Wendy. Come on, Wendy. She's a legend. She's a wealth, man. She's a legend. But, yeah, I don't know. I would say if we're talking about modern day, I'm looking at guys like Leon Thomas. I'm looking at guys like, well, listening for it. There's not really anyone I watch nowadays to where I'm looking to see if I can perform like them. I mean, because no one's really doing that much stuff anymore. like performance-wise I mean dancing-wise not with the men I don't really see anyone really like killing it Chris Brown obviously still usher still but like you know this new generation I feel like we're looking for someone to come in and reinvigorate us performing-wise um and I just want to I want to help be a part of that generation I want to help bring in the new wave of artists giving energy on stage and coming and doing that but as far as musically I'm looking at guys like kenyon dixon guys like um god i'm trying to think lucky day i'm thinking about um is there any artists that you really want to work with as well because i could imagine there must be people you're like well i love that sound oh man leon thomas he's at the top of my list right now because i i've been i've been listening and watching him for a while like just seeing him watching his progression from a Nickelodeon star to coming back to this music place.

51:19And I'm like, his sound is so unique and so different. And he I watch a lot of videos about him where he's talking about messing with like adjusting his vocals and making it so that it's like half a point up or half a point down to where you can't tell. It's like but it's something even on this. What's his record? And she said, take your time. What's the rush? He manipulated his vocals so that it sounds bigger. Like, it's little slight things that he does on the technical side that I would love to pick his brain about.

51:51Mo Gilligan: Man just hit us with some notes there, you know. It was nothing. That's how I feel like I sound when I'm in the shower. And I'm like, yeah, let me not sing anymore. That is what I do in the shower. Just sing, man. It's terrible. now just before we go like what would you say your most important lesson in staying grounded and having a childhood when you was famous at six year old six years old is like because you've had a really like amazing career that we've all been able to see we can map out you know where people some people have seen you for the first time to you know you being a teenager and now you know in your 20s like but going back to that six-year-old you know what do you think the most important lesson in staying grounded was for you that's helped your success the most important lesson for me in staying grounded I didn't really have a battle with my humility until I turned about for 13 14 until I started noticing that people were doing things because I was a celebrity quote-unquote because I was on Disney Channel that's when I started kind of having that arrogant attitude of like if you're just gonna be around to take a picture of me don't even come around if you're just gonna be doing this like for i'll give you an example my mom had like my mom loved going to this bar in burbank where it was kids it was like a children's bar but the adults obviously go and have a margarita or whatever yeah and we do karaoke at night and that was my little sister's chance because we were both homeschooled that was my little sister's chance to socialize with excuse me of their children and like just have a good time and for me i didn't really enjoy going because all the kids there were trying to break into the industry so they would always kind of take pictures with me or their parents would talk to me and it was just a little annoying and i was like they only want to talk to me because i am this is an a third but my mom made a constant effort to remind me that like son like i understand you might not want the attention or whatever the case may be, but you have to remain humble and remember that that could be you.

54:03That was you. You wasn't always on TV, son. You wasn't always, you know what I'm saying? You was that person looking for someone to help you or talk to you or give you insider details about the industry and I didn't understand it at the time. At 14, me and my mom butted heads a lot because once again, still living in a small room together. I'm going through puberty, maturing as a man. her authority over me is waning a little because she like i'm sneaking out at nights going doing like just on my scooter on the phone my friends not doing nothing bad but just not listening to my mom yeah yeah of course and and yeah i mean she like her words remain true for like it's weird they say you listen to stuff as you get older you remember and i remember when i turned 16 17 i was talking to some kid on some show and i was like he's not humble like he's not like we were i don't know if it was like a fan i walked up to him or something he was like oh isn't that the worst and i was like i said in my head like um like he he he forgot where he came like i don't know like just my mom's words started ringing true for me yeah they started resonating and i and i i just never wanted to be that type of person or that type of celebrity quote unquote hate to say that word but just yeah so I give a big shout out to my mom and just my sisters and my father my father I give a lot of credit to especially for um bringing me back down to earth at home like I I didn't grow up a lot like obviously my dad was always in my life but like I said from six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen that's like nine years where I spent the majority of my time in L.A.

55:44working, trying to get at it. So when I went back at 15 and my dad had me picking up, I don't know if I can cuss, shit in the backyard or had me bringing in the trash cans. Or one time our basement flooded, because I guess my dog had went and messed with one of our release pipes and the water wasn't going down or whatever. Me and my dad had to literally cut every piece of carpet out of our, squeeze it out, squeeze all the water out and take him upstairs. that type of hard work and that later my dad like what's saying you too good to come down here and help me him saying little stuff like that I was like no dad I'm not like I want to help you and I think that helped ground me and keep me humble so I give a shout out to my father give a shout out to my mother but especially to the Lord up above who all things is possible through him could do nothing without the Lord so I would say those are the three things that keep me most humble oh Isaac man it's been such a

56:36Mo Gilligan: such a pleasure to have you here man and I know you're here for nine days, you're saying, right? You've got a bunch of other press. You're performing here as well. And yeah, I'm just really looking forward to see how your career, you know, plays out from here on out because there's so many things that you've already done, but I'm so intrigued to see where it's also going to amount to as well. Do you know what I mean? That's what I was saying. I can see you hosting your own like late night show, like Arsenio Hall. Oh, I would love to do that. I used to love the Arsenio Hall show, man. Raven made me watch that show.

57:07Mo Gilligan: Oh, really? Yes. I see you in that kind of vibe. As opposed to behind the desk and stuff, but I see you on a vibe of like, you know, someone who can perform, do you know what I mean? But still present at the same time. So it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast and this is your beginning, middle and end. Thank you very much. Yeah. Appreciate you, my brother. Hey, what's up? Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. Now a lot goes into making each episode. I know you hear my voice, but there's a team behind the scenes who helped make it. And if you did enjoy it, I'd really, really appreciate if you could show the love to them by giving us five stars.

57:41Mo Gilligan: And if you also have the time, please leave us a review. It's always appreciated. And we love reading the comments. And of course, we want to keep making it better. Thank you for listening and have a great day. Peace. So I'm 36 and suddenly everything that used to feel easy just didn't. It honestly hit me around 34. Same workouts, same diet, but I felt like I was moving through mud. Nobody really talks about this, but most men start losing testosterone around 30, about 1 % every year. That's what led me to Mars Men. I learned your body still makes testosterone, but a lot of it gets locked up by this protein called SHBG.

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