Justine Lupe

29 Jul 2025 · 1 h 8 min · 29 chapters

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In short

One Night Stand with guest Justine Lupe (actor) discussing her reading life and favorite books, plus her current TV work and creative process. She also talks about love, responsibility, competition, anxiety/attention, and class/identity themes she sees across literature.

Guest background

Justine Lupe is an actor and theater-trained (mentions theater school). She’s currently working on Season 2 of a show (episodes locked; release Oct 23; ~2.5-month shoot). She discusses watching Succession and exposure therapy for seeing herself on screen.

Key claims

Saying how you feel out loud is “terrifying.” Great writing about place/location is especially compelling. Responsibility often means balancing attention to harm with protecting one’s peace. In books, women often carry “pragmatist” burdens while men get framed as moral heroes, though she notes women’s roles can be equally vital.

Notable examples

East of Eden (Samuel Hamilton; “thou mayest”/free will; Kathy as a “villainous” character); Small Things Like These (quiet violence; father’s responsibility for five daughters; ending’s repercussions); My Brilliant Friend/Neapolitan novels (friendship rivalry; Lila’s disassociation/anxiety-like moments; author anonymity discussion); Stoner (quiet life across a full lifespan; workplace conflicts; dying conversation with his daughter).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Justine Lupe Joins the Conversation

0:34 to 1:24

Justine Lupe shares her excitement about joining the podcast.

“Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto.”

Childhood Reading Experiences

1:24 to 2:26

Justine and Hunter discuss their childhood experiences with reading.

“Yeah, I'm like, what was the first book that I really like dove into?”

Diving into 'East of Eden'

2:26 to 3:39

Justine talks about her love for 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck.

“Like adult readers love to tell you if they're a bookworm.”

Character Analysis in 'East of Eden'

3:39 to 6:16

Discussion on the characters of 'East of Eden', focusing on Samuel Hamilton and Kathy.

“And all of these really complicated relationships and sort of like, I loved reading about, is it Samuel Hamilton?”

Villainous Characters and Adaptations

6:16 to 10:47

Justine reflects on playing villainous characters and thoughts on adaptations.

Exploring 'Small Things Like These'

10:47 to 14:01

Justine shares her thoughts on the book 'Small Things Like These' by Claire Keegan.

“I think at one point, if there is such a thing as past lives, we all must have been a peasant at one point or another.”

Exploring Themes of Awareness and Responsibility in Literature

14:01 to 16:42

The discussion delves into a book's themes of parental responsibility and societal awareness, particularly in the context of a father's perception of his daughters as potential prey.

“It's such an important part of this book and it makes sense like that moment of him like catching, like knowing that men are looking and like that they are like prey kind of.”

The Balance of Ignorance and Awareness

16:43 to 18:21

The hosts discuss the tension between ignoring harsh realities for personal peace and the need for awareness and action in social issues.

“But also you can get so bogged down if you spend your whole day seeing all these things.”

Gender Roles in Literature: Navigating Pragmatism and Morality

18:22 to 20:40

The conversation reflects on gender roles in literature, particularly how women often embody pragmatism while men are portrayed as moral heroes.

“in East of Eden as well, and maybe a little bit in My Brilliant Friend, is like the fact that the wife has to sort of play the like pragmatist while the man gets to be like moral hero.”

The Complexity of Female Friendships in Neapolitan Novels

20:41 to 22:25

The hosts explore the dynamics of female friendships depicted in the Neapolitan novels, emphasizing competition and emotional ties.

“It's funny too when you have come off of like, there has been times where I swear to God, I'll read like five books that are about an affair.”
Show all 29 chapters

Competitive Dynamics in Relationships and Games

22:26 to 25:58

The discussion shifts to the competitiveness in personal relationships and games, examining how it can both enhance and strain connections.

“And it was another one that I just, I flew through it.”

Competitive Dynamics in Relationships and Games

26:02 to 26:28

The discussion shifts to the competitiveness in personal relationships and games, examining how it can both enhance and strain connections.

“Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto.”

Navigating Relationships and Personal Growth

26:29 to 28:00

The hosts discuss the complexities of personal growth and the impact of family dynamics on adult behavior.

“That's the most recent endeavor that we've really dived into.”

Navigating Family Dynamics

28:00 to 29:08

Explore how family interactions can trigger feelings of regression and immaturity.

“And it's also like, you know, whenever I go home, I feel like I just regress to 16-year-old me.”

Season Two Insights

29:08 to 30:25

Get the latest updates on the upcoming season and cast dynamics.

“but whenever I talk to people about it, they're like, what a quick turnaround.”

Character Relationships

30:25 to 31:58

Discuss the nuances of character relationships and the fun behind the scenes.

“He's an incredible actor and an incredible friend, so we just have a blast, and I think that you can kind of pick up on that when you're watching something.”

Self-Reflection and Journaling

31:58 to 33:49

Understand the challenges of self-reflection and emotional vulnerability in journaling.

“Does this have to be on the internet forever?”

Literary Themes and Violence

33:49 to 35:29

Examine themes of misogyny and violence in literature and their implications.

“Yeah, the men through the whole series are disappointing.”

The Mystery of Authors

35:29 to 36:45

Delve into the intrigue surrounding authors' identities and their impact on interpretations.

“and she's just, like, at home with her brother.”

Cultural Impact of 'Succession'

36:45 to 38:04

Reflect on the cultural significance and personal experiences related to the show 'Succession'.

Memorable TV Themes

38:04 to 39:41

Discuss unforgettable TV themes and their effect on viewers' emotions.

“There were like quite a few of you there from the show.”

Literary Connections and Preferences

39:41 to 42:01

Explore literary preferences and the significance of authenticity in art.

“I didn't ever watch that because that's in the UK.”

Exploring Themes in Literature and Personal Experiences

42:01 to 49:26

Listeners will learn about the interplay of personal experiences with literary themes, particularly related to class and identity.

“I also could see her like really leaning into like an obscure classic.”

Exploring Themes in Literature and Personal Experiences

49:30 to 49:54

Listeners will learn about the interplay of personal experiences with literary themes, particularly related to class and identity.

“Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto.”

Reflections on Life Lessons and Career Paths

49:55 to 56:00

The discussion revolves around the challenges and lessons learned from personal and professional experiences, particularly in acting.

“And honestly, it's like, there's no other way, really.”

Reflections on College Experiences

56:00 to 59:24

Explore the emotional journey of transitioning from home to college.

“I'm so glad that I did it when I was just out of high school, because I think going back and doing it as a grad student, I'd be like, I can't.”

The Impact of A Hundred Years of Solitude

59:24 to 1:02:34

Discussing the significance and personal impact of a classic novel.

“It was probably it's kind of the first book I remember reading past Harry Potter.”

Trust in Education: Teaching Complex Themes

1:02:34 to 1:05:31

Understanding the importance of trust between teachers and students.

“because I wasn't really used to reading all the time, and it was advanced for me.”

Cultural Differences in Drinking Habits

1:05:31 to 1:09:01

Comparing drinking cultures in England and America.

“I could see - And I heard Chris Abbott is playing Adam.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:02Saying how you feel out loud is terrifying. But that's what Hinge's new free audiobook, No Ordinary Love, is all about. It's a collection of real love stories about five couples that met on Hinge. The stories are written and read by Tembi Dinton Hurst, Nicola Dinan, Curtis Garner, Raven Smith, and Rufi Thorpe. I, Hunter Harris, wrote and read the foreword. The audiobook's out now. Give it a listen. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling? Smart move. Another smart move? Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto.

0:43Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. What was it like with Succession when that blew up? I went to this Emmy after party. In the middle of this after party, someone gets onto the piano and starts playing. And everyone was like, what? And they're playing the succession orchestral theme song on a piano, and people are losing their shit. Like it's Cardi B.

1:20Justine, welcome to One Night Stand. Just so thrilled to have you here. I'm so excited to be here. And you chose five incredible books. they were so fun um yeah uh have you always been a big reader you know i grew up with people reading to me like i um my mom always read to us when we were kids i had an incredible fourth grade teacher named miss loftus who was like just the best reader i remember that really well and she also would bring in this woman named lady jones who would read to us so like i had all these like really amazing women reading to me all throughout my childhood but it's really funny i I was thinking about this as I was reading these books and I was like, I never really, like when you imagine like the child who's like, voraciously reading, that was just not me as a kid.

2:06It wasn't me, I wasn't that way either. I got into it more when I was older. Yeah, I'm like, what was the first book that I really like dove into? And I think it was Harry Potter. Oh yeah, I mean, well, yeah. So I was pretty old. I was like 13 or something before I like. I was never one of those like bookworm-y children either. No, no, I was like far more like out and about and running around. Like adult readers love to tell you if they're a bookworm. Totally. Oh my god, totally. They can't wait to fucking tell you. I'm always carrying a book around. Literally. Not I. No, me neither. And like dirt everywhere.

2:37Yeah, totally. Disgusting. But I did love being read too. I remember that really well. I loved people reading to me. And I was good at reading. I always did really well in school with reading and writing. So I'll brag about that. Yeah, nailed it. Well, let's start with East of Eden by John Steinmet. Tell me about your love of that book. Okay, so when I got asked to do this, I had not finished East of Eden. But I kind of saw it as like divine intervention. I was like, wait, there's this thing where they're gonna ask me what my favorite books are. And I was like halfway through, which it's a monster book.

3:11It's like 600 and something pages. But I was so in love with it at that point that I was like, I've got to finish this. And it was kind of like this double-edged sword of like, I really got to dive in even more and like just like every break I had I was just like in it and also I was like I don't want it to be over and it sucked that I couldn't like savor it but it's the most incredible book I've ever read which is part of why I like had to get it done before this talk because I was like it's so special it's the most it's incredible and I don't even know how to approach it because there's just so much richness to it it felt like every single moment was like full of like soul yeah it feels very cinematic i think when you're reading it like it's so sort of grand and scale totally well yes like it's it spans from like what like like i think from the end of the civil war to the beginning of world war one yeah so yeah it's it's massive and i also feel like it's cinematic because the characters are like so incredibly fleshed out they're all so colorful like the good and the bad they're all just like so much fun to read about and have each of their own incredible identities and there's just like I almost like feel like it's the kind of thing you know I waited to read this book because I had a boyfriend when I was in my 20s that had Tim shul which I don't know if you've gotten to that part or you know if you remember it but basically there's like this like incredible part of the book that's all about free will and the idea that you can choose what you want okay so there's this this Tim shul in Hebrew means thou mayest and I had a boyfriend in my 20s who had it tattooed on to him and he was a really crummy boyfriend so I kind of had an aversion to the book I was like I don't know about that book and then I read the book and I was like yeah I would I'm I'm considering it tattooed on to me as well like it's just it's just so full of like all these little lessons that you like truly want to carry with you as a person.

5:15Yeah. And that's kind of an incredible treat. Totally. And all of these really complicated relationships and sort of like, I loved reading about, is it Samuel Hamilton? He's my favorite. And the wife and the dynamic and like, I don't know, it just feels so real. Yeah. I don't know, I mean, it's amazing. Yeah, totally. Their dynamic is really sweet. Samuel is my favorite character by far. And in my mind, I was like, who would I cast as Samuel Hamilton if I was gonna be and I was like Brendan Gleeson I think I would cast. That's a good one yeah. He's just like got it's such a special character because he's got such a fire he's incredibly he's got like incredible will incredible like earnestness and a liveliness and like a whimsical nature like you know he's this character that every single person gravitates towards and is full of these like incredibly magical stories and everyone wants around him and yet he's also like this like fierce moral compass totally he's my favorite character well like when they arrive into town and one of the other people is like if you go and see this man about doing your world you better be good to him oh yeah i was like totally it's amazing and what about kathy though i just like i can't like she's wild right what an amazing you know my husband read it before me and he's part of like what swayed me into reading it um but he was like Kathy just look out for Kathy and that was like his one takeaway and when I finished the book I was like I was like of all the things like it's so funny that that like Kathy because but but she is just so juicy like there's so it's it's like unreal that character and what's also crazy is that everything that she does it feels like it it's like not dated feeling the whole book doesn't feel dated I think that's so true yeah it's all like you could be reading it right now and it would all apply to like what we're going through and yeah kathy and all of her like just the horrors the horrors and the way they describe her is literally almost having hooves i just like know exactly what he when he was like invoking this sort of like non-human yeah her little her little like pointy teeth and her like tiny little baby totally oh it's so weird and her end yeah fucking kathy ma 'am what uh like a piece of shit it was like one of those things where as i was reading at whoever she ran into i was like no no no no go away go away like fuck off fuck off yeah because it's just like something bad is gonna happen to this person like there's no person untouched when you know if she's gonna like come into your into your aura you're you're screwed would you ever do you ever want to play like would you enjoy playing a really villainous character like that oh yeah yeah totally because it's like i was thinking as i was reading i was like this would be such a juicy character to play in the sense of just like because she has to perform purity so much while being those drunk scenes would be like incredible you know when she drinks too much and she just goes like feral and like all the dark comes out like that would be just incredible to watch because she has like these this like crazy mask of being this like angelic kind of like exactly um and then just to have this like snarling terrible vicious beast to come out it would be really fun to play and such a challenge also it's like you know the whole yeah the whole span of this character i'm like it's it would be like what a beast you know i know and a lot of your books that i feel like there's a lot of like agricultury vibes oh interesting yeah they felt very like big american like totally i it's funny because this one is so sprawling but i feel like the other ones are like maybe they are more compact yeah um but no i know what you mean I think that there is something about the land in this book.

8:58Yes. And like what it, I mean, even just the way that it opens, where he's talking about the valley and the mountains and the light and the flowers. And I think that like he just so clearly paints this setting that is incredibly appealing to me. Also, like, you know, I live in California and it describes California. It's also like wild hearing him describe like the drought and like the like waves where you like forget that it ever was like a place that could like you know bring life um I think I am fascinated by like I or I'm just turned on by like great writing about like location totally you know so maybe that's what you're feeling yeah it's because it is that those like big like grand landscapes of like America because I think in any like I've probably grew up reading more British fiction and Britain's so like small and like pokey and everyone's like and they're all wearing each other and I read these and I'm like, the world is your oyster.

9:52Totally. I'm from Colorado so I do think that there's a part of me, you know, I do the road trip from California to Colorado quite often. How long does that take? 17 hours. It's not as bad as it sounds. And it's like the most beautiful land. So I do think there's something in me that's drawn to that landscape. I mean, America's just like, there's gorgeous, gorgeous land. So, yeah, I could see why that might be something that I'm drawn toward. I also had an intuitive tool. In a past life, I was a cowboy. Stop, tell me more, tell me more. I shouldn't even tell you. It's so ridiculous. That was all that was said.

10:27I didn't delve into it deeper. I was like, okay, cool. Cowboy, I love that. Are you a horse passer? No. No, no, I don't know where in the heck they got it. Oh my God, I feel like I was a minor or something. I feel like a cowboy is so like - Cowboy feels glamorous even for me. Okay, cool, cool. I would have been like an underground peasant, basically. I think at one point, if there is such a thing as past lives, we all must have been a peasant at one point or another. I'm sure. Yeah, that's so fun. Are you into spiritual things? Yeah. Yeah. I have fun with it, for sure. I think it's fun. It kind of gets me imagining, and it's sweet and fun, but I'm not someone who lives by, like, we're in Scorpio Moon.

11:08Totally. That's why I find seeing psychics fun, because I'm like, tell me what's coming up. Yeah, why not? Yeah, exactly. And then when it's sort of like, I think it gives you a lot of information about yourself because you sort of, your gut reaction to what they say, whether you're like, no, or like you sort of learn something about what you want. It gives you like a feeling of what's going on in there. Exactly. Yeah. My husband is like very anti this kind of, I wouldn't say anti, but he's just like, couldn't care less. And so it's good to have like him as like a tether to like reality. Cause I do think that if I let myself, I really could just go down the like, woo woo.

11:44Yeah. like yeah you know like going to fortune tellers all the time kind of oh it's so fun though it is fun it's fun yeah make believe play imagination exactly do you ever read with thinking about would you ever want to adapt things yourself as a producer or like do you ever read with that in mind you know i haven't i haven't but um i've always read like casting things in my brain so So, like, I always, whether it be with a friend or with someone that I know kind of, like, lightly or with, like, an actor, I have a lot of time kind of imagining, like, faces, familiar faces. It's funny you say that, though.

12:25I went to school for theater, and so I, like, have a really hard time, like, with the idea of dipping into, like, different kind of, like, paths for my career. because I'm like, well, no, you have to earn, like, it's like a thousand hours was put into being an actor. So, like, the idea of a producer feels, like, so far away for me, but I have been, like, sent a couple manuscripts as, like, ideas that people could, like, build out. So that's, like, an interesting progression in my career, and I'm excited by it. I also just feel like I have a really hard time, like, admitting that that's something that's exciting to me because I'm, like, I haven't worked to become a producer, you know?

13:00But I feel like having been on so many sets, you like probably like have seen everything that you like as in you see so much about how the sausage gets made yeah totally but i also like i'm so aware of the fact that there's so many things behind that like behind the moment that leads to us being on set that i have no idea what i'm talking about but i do feel like um it's something that i'd love to learn more about so and reading like the idea that there are like there are so many actresses who have really like championed taking literature and creating um like fully produced projects like that's really exciting to me and yeah that's so cool well uh next book um small things like these by claire keegan was adapted into a movie with kilean murphy which i haven't watched yet but i loved this book so much i i saw that it had been made into a movie i love him so much so i'm actually really excited to see it and um yeah I I loved this book it I flew through it I think I read it in like a day yeah because it's nothing it's like tiny yeah um and it feels like that was such an act like it felt like she was aware of that like it felt like she just like had the refined the story down to just what was needed like that there was no like superfluous like anything like it's just such a quiet direct like accounting of this this encounter that happens and um and it hit me so hard yeah and i thought the sort of like quiet violence hanging in the background and the way it's like always there was so sort of like i mean even i remember i wrote down this one line or took a photo of the page where he's like he's talking about his five daughters and he's like he's already he's already seen men's eyes following his girls and i was like that's not even like what the book's about but i was like that it's just such a like the sort of like threat but it does tie into kind of like a father's like his responsibility and his awareness of like you know his his daughters his daughters the fact that he has five daughters is such an important part of this book.

15:16I wanted to say movie. It's such an important part of this book and it makes sense like that moment of him like catching, like knowing that men are looking and like that they are like prey kind of. That women are, like the awareness that women can be preyed upon and the way that it plays into this discovery and how he wants to handle it and his feeling of responsibility towards it. I think it's like greatly impacted by the fact that he has these five daughters. and it's like these two counterweights the weight the pressure of like and when she's basically threatening that the girls will be like kicked out of the school next door and like you know and sort of intimating that and he's like has his obligations to these five girls but then other women and his mom i know i know that ending is like terrible terrible yeah because you kind of it's like beautiful and then he does the right thing and also you kind of like are left with like not knowing what the repercussions of that would be and I mean yeah I think that it speaks to something that we all like have to grapple with sometimes which is just how to be responsible for the things that we see going on around us and and what the repercussions for being responsible for those things might be and um and yeah I'm just it's just completely fascinating and and the history behind it is just like so tragic it's just awful awful yeah there's one bit I wrote down as well that I just like I keep thinking about because it's when his wife says to him where does thinking get us all thinking does is bring you down if you want to get on in life there's things you have to ignore so you can keep on and I was like I mean I feel like that's so much of what like my therapist is always saying like because you sort of have to there is some truth to that but it's also like when like you say when do you put your head down and just be like I can't think about that and when do you say I can't I can't not think about that I know and so much of the stuff I see on social media now and people ranting about why aren't people posting about this why aren't people shits people like wrestling with that of like totally I just on the car right here I was listening to um an interview where this actress was talking about how she like she's like yeah I don't listen to the news I can't I can't it disrupts my peace and and uh I get it like I truly get it and you know especially you know I have this like 11 month old daughter and there's like a part of me that's just like wants to protect myself and preserve like my but I'm also just like I don't know if that's the answer you know I know it's kind of not the answer because if you look back at like the way that things have gone and how we kept things from just going you know the only thing that keeps us out of just going down is like it's kind of shining a light and giving attention to things.

18:04But also you can get so bogged down if you spend your whole day seeing all these things. Totally. I think you have to kind of, I think you really have to, it's a job to balance. It is. It really is. The only thing I didn't love about that book is, and I feel like it came up a little bit in East of Eden as well, and maybe a little bit in My Brilliant Friend, is like the fact that the wife has to sort of play the like pragmatist while the man gets to be like moral hero. Do you know what I mean? I do, I do. I mean, I think that that's interesting. I think that there's something interesting about another woman who's like also raising these five girls, like being the voice of, like she's also protecting the family.

18:52Yeah. So it's like not necessarily like, you know, there's like there's preservation on both sides of this and I think that's what's compelling and interesting about it and I kind of like that it's the woman who's sitting here kind of like advocating for him to like bury it but exactly um and but I do understand being like yeah the thing about East of Eden with that though is there's so many different women and she is like you kind of it's like the same thing is like me and like my cuckoo brain with this like horoscope stuff and having a husband who's like yeah like I do think that there's like yes Samuel needed that Samuel so it's like it's a different kind of brain yeah it's not necessarily a less valuable brain exactly you know like it's actually like offering something equally important in her own way like that that house couldn't have gone on with like how many children do they have an East of Eden like eight or nine kids like without someone who's just literally like on the ground while her husband's like literally in the sky you know it also really tickled me in that with joe the youngest kid where they're like he's just so useless whatever happens to joe i mean what is where they're like he's so useless he's just gonna have to go to college i was like wait for that you just want to go to college that's a very different exactly it was so funny they were like i know we're gonna have to send him to college i mean and even and even like sam samuel's like totally like he reads and reads and reads but like hides the books yeah i don't know it's so funny so it is kind of it's a totally different way of thinking about the world than like us totally like they're farmers oh they really are they're like out there a little piece of i know but i loved also in um small things like these how claire sort of like lets you know that the relationship between um the furlongs that he they've like had some passion like when she talks about how there's like an 11 month gap between two of the kids I was like oh god I mean they were like back back into business very quickly yeah totally I mean I think that's the other thing that's like he cares so much about her you can feel the marital tie between them which is like another obstacle that was so smart um yeah I love that book but I get what you mean I get what you mean well it was just I mean I think it's probably because I had it in my brain from other stuff where I was like, I think I felt bad about how I felt because I was like, God, why is she being so unsupportive?

21:18And then I was like, wow. Totally. It's funny too when you have come off of like, there has been times where I swear to God, I'll read like five books that are about an affair. Yes. And I'll be like, gee, is everyone just having affairs? Like what the fuck is going on? That was stoner for me. I read it in the middle of a whole string of books about like infidelity and I do think that there was like um so I think that that's part of maybe what made it like a little bit like tired where you're like oh another woman who's just like yeah exactly being like pragmatized and not really like in totally yeah yeah it's really interesting but it is amazing and yeah I loved it I loved it so much and I love a short book like I do too there's something I mean I'd never I think that was part of why I was like part of the whole thing that I was attracted to was I was just like this feels like a master class in just like tight storytelling yeah yeah it was just in a different experience of reading a book than I'd ever had yeah yeah it's amazing I loved it yeah well you also have the Neapolitan novels yeah I bought my brilliant friend from my bookcase at home but tell me about your love of that book um i it's another one where i like held off on reading it because like everyone was talking about it i didn't have my throat for years totally and i was like go away guys like i'm like this like thing i'm not attracted like this stupid cover yeah i was like i'm just like i was just turned off by like the hype for such a long time and then i don't know what it was i think it was like covet honestly that just like turned i was just like well i might as well just like dive into into something that's just like a massive undertaking.

23:00And it was another one that I just, I flew through it. And I think I was just so attracted to this friendship dynamic and the way that it ebbs and flows through like a long life. And the way that I felt about that friendship was like really interesting. I had a fun time observing my brain watching how I felt about each of them, how I felt about their dynamic if I felt like it was toxic if I felt like it was this soul connection I also just thought the location, I just was like I fell in love with how clear the setting was and it was just such a it's so familiar feeling this female friendship and yet at the same time like the world was so clearly built that it felt like a very foreign land that i was reading about um and i just yeah i just really like enjoyed it and i also like felt really tied to it like i felt really tied to their relationship and the moves that they were making and book two i was just like i haven't got to that one yet oh you haven't no i need to get into that I mean, I know what happens in plot-wise broad brushstrokes, but yeah.

24:23Okay. Get in. I know. I just finished the first one. Oh my gosh. I feel like two and three are where it's at for me. Really? Interesting. I mean, I loved the depiction of the rivalry when they're young because I think that felt so real. I mean, are you a competitive person? Hmm. Yes. Right? That's the thing. It's kind of... But I think it gets it the way that it can be just kind of fun to be competitive sometimes. Yeah, you know, it's funny. I was just talking to a friend about this because she's so competitive. And I, like, we had this talk about, like, the moment where it veers from, like, competition.

25:00This was, like, game related. But, like, the moment that it veers from, like, a friendly competition to, like, over the line, not fun. And I feel like I used to get into a zone where it was, like, over the line, not fun for people because I would get so competitive. And it's something that I've, like, really worked on in the last few years. and it's truly in the middle of the heat of a game, pulling back and being like, this is a game. This is a game. And then having a more friendly experience because I just feel like the stakes of whatever game I'm playing so intensely. It's so dumb. I love that.

25:35I need to play Monopoly with you, clearly, or something. You know, Catan. Oh, OK, yeah. Have you done it? I didn't like what you said, Odin pauses, about the future. This is the love story of real hinge couple Odin and Edward, written and read by me, Curtis Garner. Listen to the free audiobook now.

25:58This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling? Smart move. Another smart move? Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

26:28Yeah, I play Catan. I'm really into Scattergories as well. That's the most recent endeavor that we've really dived into. But I think also in Nobody Wants This, part of I think the joy is seeing that relationship between Joanna Morgan and that sort of like because there's like elements of sort of when you clearly like love each other and have each other's back but other sometimes you're not like zigging when the other you are zigging when someone else is zagging and that kind of like totally it's an interesting dynamic yeah and they have a lot it's funny that you say this because they kind of weirdly have a competition in their rapport and the like bites that they take at each other yeah um but they it's kind of their like love language at the same time they that's kind of how they like there's some Shakespearean characters where the whole thing is about the wit and the game.

27:18And I don't want to say that this is a modern day Shakespeare by any means. Say it, say it. But Aaron Foster is a modern day Shakespeare. No, but I do feel like there's something about the game of the fight. That it's like never goes too serious unless it does. But there's a lot of like bum bum bum bum bum bum bum with the fighting. With those two as well, what I love is the fact that I feel like it's about giving each other a space to show up completely as yourself. Because even with my friends, you might be a bit competitive over something, but I'm never completely gloves off. With my sisters, that's a different story.

27:57And I think there is that sort of being able to hold space for someone to be themselves, even in that moment they're being a bitch. It's ugly, yeah. Totally. Family is like, yeah, it's wild. And it's also like, you know, whenever I go home, I feel like I just regress to 16-year-old me. The me that moved out. There's something that hasn't evolved past that scenario. And it's like, yeah, it's totally like, there's a primitive nature that comes out with that level of unconditional love. That is really hard to evolve out of when you're put back into it. and these two, like their whole lives are like with each other.

28:40Exactly. So yeah, there's a lot of like full frontal like misbehaving, not good behavior. Where are you at with season two and recording and everything? We're done. Oh, you're done? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. Exciting. Yeah, I think they just locked the first, the first 10, the 10 episodes they've like locked them. Oh wow. Yeah, October 23rd it comes out. Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it was that soon. Oh, that's so exciting. I know. No, it's funny because in my mind it feels like forever, but whenever I talk to people about it, they're like, what a quick turnaround. It shoots very quickly. It's like, it's like a truly like a two and a half month shoot, if that, yeah.

29:19And is Erin and Sarah on set? Are they both on set? Erin's there every day. Okay. Sarah's not. Okay, I was gonna say, because I was interested in the sister dynamic if that was like, letting it go out there. No, no, no, no, Sarah's not there. Yeah, interesting. I think she was there at like the formative stage and like pitched in. She's like a huge part of why it got made, but she's definitely not around everything. Yeah. My gosh, that's so, and we had later Mista on our cover recently and I can't wait to see what her, like she's got a part in it this one, right? She does, yeah. She's so fun. I love her.

29:48She's like a delight and so much more of a goof than I would imagine, you know, before I knew her. Yeah, interesting. How do you feel about all the conversations that go on about your character's relationship with Sasha and the like, that friendship and stuff? I mean, I think it's fun. I think that, you know, I have my opinions about it, which I've, like, said, which is that, you know, what is fun about it is that it's, like, this kind of, like, ambiguous relationship that doesn't really step into anything, like, inappropriate or cross any lines. But, yeah, I have a lot of fun with Tim. He's an incredible actor and an incredible friend, so we just have a blast, and I think that you can kind of pick up on that when you're watching something.

30:37Yeah. You know, I was listening to, who was it? I was listening to Nicholas Holt do an interview where he was talking about how, like, the times where he's having the most fun, it usually results in, like, people receiving it well. And I kind of do feel like there's something about Tim and I and Kristen and I. We have a lot of fun together, and so it's fun to see that people are enjoying those scenes. Oh, I love it. I can't wait. I gobbled up that first season so quickly. Oh, I did too. I had fun watching it too. It goes down easy. It's very sweet. Do you always watch shows? Did you watch Succession as well?

31:16Yeah. I watched it, but I didn't watch it in time. I'm not one of those actors who's like, I won't watch anything. But definitely, I understand those actors. I feel like when I was in my 20s, I would watch things and I would just be like, and this is when someone shoots me and I'm totally okay with it. I hated watching myself. And then I think it's a matter of exposure therapy and just kind of like, I don't know, just learning how to love watching the thing that you're watching over, worrying about your vanity, not necessarily physical vanity, but just even vanity about, oh, my career's going to tank after this.

31:54Yeah, when you watch something, can you like, ooh. Like sometimes when I read stuff about that I wrote like five years ago, I'll be like, oh my gosh. Does this have to be on the internet forever? It's part of what kills journal entries for me. I read it once and I'm like, and this is when we stop doing that. Right, and you do journal much at all now, aren't I? You know, I like sometimes I'll just like write memos in my phone. Yeah, same. But I don't have like a physical journal. Yeah. Yeah, I've tried it so many times and then like either I just like, Like, it falls off or I, you know, like, look at it and, like, I'm like, ugh, this is bad.

32:28So I only journal on days where I'm really struggling. So it's just basically a legacy of my worst days. And a journal will last, like, two years. It's just, like, a highlight reel of the worst days of those two years. I also had a bad experience where I, my ex, like, went into a journal. After we broke up, he was moving out of the house. He went into the journal and like read my journal and then like tore pages out of them and left them on my bed to be like, I read this. Stop. Totally. That was awful. Yeah, it was pretty intense. I mean, like, listen, like, breakups are hard. So, like, I don't, you know, there was like no bad blood about it.

33:07But I was more just like, okay, lesson learned. Maybe we don't keep journal. Did you confront him about it? No, I like, yeah. That's very big of you. I'd be like, what the fuck? Don't mess with my shit. No, no. It wasn't worth, at that point, it was like, I understood what was going on there. So it wasn't worth, like, you know, shaming him. That's a horror story, though. Well, yes, it's a caution to stand. Truly. I mean, going back to my brilliant friend as well, I think, like, that threat of, like, male rage. Not that I'm saying your ex-boyfriend did it in a rage. But, like, that, like, the constant threat of violence that's, like, looming with these men.

33:42And, like, when she describes that they're angry because we were smarter than them. I loved that. Yeah, totally. But I feel like women need that on a t-shirt. Yeah, the men through the whole series are disappointing. They're so disappointing. Totally. Yeah, I really can't wait for you to read more. Oh, gosh. It is like, you know, it is like misogyny, you know. Yeah, totally. It's like very, very interwoven into this novel and all of their novels and also a huge part of 100 Years of Solitude as well. um but yeah no um I really want to talk to you about it after okay but yeah I felt that too it's it's like it's like just looming all the time I know and and um the the sort of like constant like threat of money and like what that can do and and I thought I mean but it was the violence that struck me and the kind of like the sort of like the dissolving margins thing as well that I found that really weird when she talks about how she's sort of like, I thought it sounded like a panic attack, but when I Googled it after, that wasn't what people, like Lila's character, she has these moments where she sort of always like disassociates.

34:54Weird. Yeah, yeah. It kind of, to me, felt like a little bit of an anxiety attack or some sort of like coping mechanism. Yeah, I know. I know that is one of the things about it that I felt while I was reading it was that a lot of the way that they behaved towards each other was just in reaction to all the things that were happening around, all the, like, kind of forces being imposed upon them. I mean, they also have, like, quite a bit of will, and they're incredibly shiny women. But I do feel like some of the things that go wrong go wrong because they're put into these situations that are kind of impossible.

35:27Completely impossible. I mean, that's how, like, when she, like, can't go to school and everything, and she's just, like, at home with her brother. I know. Also, how do you feel about, so I think it's interesting that that author is like writing under a like fake thing i know i know it's funny i read another book called trust that was written by a man and there's like a rumor that that is actually elena ferrante um interesting yeah you know i don't know i don't i kind of like a little bit of like mystery and mischievous and yes and so i'm like cool it's interesting um yeah it's like I would love to know what's going on there well quite because I do feel like with authors I do like read their bio and I do read it often with that in mind about what I think they're trying to say um and it's kind of when you have that tool taken off you you're forced to just interact with the book on the page yeah and not be like well this is because she grew up in this part of Italy and then her dad died when she was 12 or whatever it is you know I also wonder how what her relationship to the experience of the books is as someone who's like had them blow up to the extent that they have and to not be yeah like if that feels like um a huge kind of like freedom that she has or if it feels like uh like I wonder what her relationship to that is totally I think it would feel very peculiar like yeah I'm not sure what was it like with succession when that like blew up to because obviously it was popular from the beginning but it became such a like cultural conversation right and yeah I mean I felt excited for it I feel like I was like step I was like in this kind of niche sweet little pocket of being like very involved with the show and like very close to the show and also like not in the like crazy storm of the show like I was like one step removed from it um in terms of like I didn't feel like a lot of like crazy energy around me personally but it was like it's an exciting thing to know that people are excited and that they're interested I remember there was like this really wild this is like kind of like a name-droppy like weird experience but there was like this moment where I was I went to like this Emmy after party and it was like at this like like huge comedians house and there was like two like really big musicians there and like there are all these people and in the middle of this after party someone gets onto the like piano and starts playing and I was like and everyone was like what?

38:08and I was like what? this is so bizarre! There were like quite a few of you there from the show. Bizarre it was just like Nick and me and maybe Sarah was there I don't I think Sarah might have been there too there were like maybe a few of us and Nick Bratel who was the um composer yeah was there um it was just so it was so bizarre and I remember that was like kind of the moment where I was like oh my god this is like a weird zeitgeisty type of thing that like we're at this like party and they're playing like the succession like orchestral theme song on a piano and people are like losing their shit like it's Cardi B it It was like so bizarre.

38:50That is funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did everyone start staring at you like? No. No. It was the other weird part of this. It was like a very weird night. They like turned off the lights. Oh. They like turned off the lights in this room. So like there was. Time to drop a banger. Yeah, totally. And then like the stand up like did a little bit of like some kind of like. Yeah. Chat thing. And then someone played more music on the piano. It was like a very cool vibe. I'm almost like a, it felt like almost like a salon or something like that. I was going to say, it sounded like a salon. But it was like an Emmy after party.

39:23An Emmy after party. That's so funny. Yeah. Oh my God, I love that. I mean, that is a great, like, theme show, song. It's funny, I'm like trying to think of other ones that like have really, do you have ones that are? No, not that I can think of. I mean, I might. You know what I think of? Go on. Yes, no, maybe, I don't know. What's that? Can you repeat that question? You're not the boss of me now. It's Malcolm in the Middle. I didn't ever watch that because that's in the UK. That's the first one that came in my mind. Life is unfair. I love it. There's something special about when just like an orchestral piece of music is like the thing.

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40:04Yeah. I can't remember what it is, but I like the theme for industry. I need to watch that show. Tim Simons is obsessed with that show. It's really good. He said it's incredible and I've heard that it's incredible. It's kind of funny how it's like, everybody says this, and yet it's kind of like remained under the radar for quite a long time. I need to watch it, though. I hear it's just great. It's so good. And it's so accurate of like London and that scene and that set. Like, it's so, yeah, it's very, very good. I didn't even know it was like set in London. Yeah, no, it's like. That's how out of the way I am with the industry.

40:36You've got a like real treat ahead of you. When Love Island's over, that's next up for you. Yeah, we'll do like an abrupt. Although the accents will have some continuity. too okay yeah yeah we'll ease in it's like easing in with the accents to like a very different yeah cerebral vibe what do you think willow would have read i was thinking about this i was trying to i was like what do you think she would have read gosh it's funny i feel like there's something about and i feel bad because a lot of your guests have said ernest hemingway is like their yeah but there's something about like you know what i mean totally yeah and like i could i could imagine that too like her like kind of like feeling the like yeah the like um like there's just something about it that's just like so like it's almost like a cool like there's something like you know yeah the drinking and the like you know like how like lethargic it is yeah like like you know what i mean i feel like she would and and to be like i love hemingway yeah like she feels like someone totally lean into like being like yeah trying to find like a blue shirt name that she could like Yeah, totally.

41:42I wonder how she would feel about like on all fours. Like I can also imagine her being like into on all fours. I think so too. I was also, I could imagine her like reading like Arteza Moshfeg, My Year of Rest and Relaxation and like, but reading it like five, 10 years after everyone was read it and being like, this is a really important book or something. Do you know what I mean? Delayed, delayed reaction. I also could see her like really leaning into like an obscure classic. Yes. that like nobody knows but like having fun with being like oh you haven't read yeah poor will i'm really taking it i'm taking it out on her but she does have a lot there's like a lot of simultaneous like straightforwardness and like authenticity to her and also like some like posturing and like imposter syndrome especially when it comes to art totally you know which i mean i like relate to to some degree like in the sense of like my parents aren't interested in the arts at all like i don't I know I think your dad has worked in this.

42:40He's a visual artist. Yeah, exactly. But I think for some reason, I think my dad is so, it was very matched by an aversion to pretension. My whole family was kind of just like pretense. It's truly top turnoffs for me. So I feel like it gave me a healthy relationship to being like, if I don't know something, I'm very happy to be like, I have no idea. help me out or like tell me about it or like I don't have a really strong relationship to looking like I'm like an intellectual or anything like that and maybe I could use a little bit more honestly as I was saying it I was like a healthy dose of a little bit more I think it's great because when I got to university I like just felt like such a peasant compared to so many other people who have been like reading so much from when they were so young and I had like an what we're talking about this Birmingham is known for its accent and it's worn off a bit over the years but I had a stronger accent then and um which is widely always reported as the stupidest sounded accent in the UK the accent thing in the UK is so like complex and interesting no it's because it dovetails with the class thing so much um but yeah there's sort of um the pressure to like seem literate in like artistic matters I think is often something that women like oh yeah no don't have it I don't have it I like I yeah I'm like I feel lucky that I don't have it in some ways because it feels like then it gives you like a lot of room to like get curious about playing and just be like I'm gonna discover this thing totally yeah it's like an open door but it's funny that you say that because I do feel like that's another thing that's like really explored in East of Eden is like the feeling of like incompetence and the feeling of like rejection and how it can like lead to like as you were saying this I was in the class thing and like people feeling like insecure tied to their class like I was just think about like you know this that was a huge part of this book and just that feeling that feeling of being like rejected or like not enough and like that leading to evil because there's this whole thing about good and evil that's a huge part of this book and like um and i thought a lot about like how we got here as a country and it kind of ties into the things that we're talking about now is like this kind of like the dynamics of like feeling forgotten or feeling like not heard or not enough or like not considered because you're not of a certain class you know totally and also just feeling that you can't try and like transcend your beginnings like and like even if you acquire material different material conditions in the UK certainly there's this sense that you'll never be different from where you started in terms of your class and I think a lot of those characters rub up on that to some degree as well like Lee did you hear yeah did you get to like the the whole thing about Lee moving over here and he's talking to him and he's like you can like turn into whatever you want and I'm stuck being this like it's easier for me to actually talk in this way that people assume I'm going to talk like because then they'll actually hear me yeah whereas like if I was to speak in the way that I actually know how to speak people won't even hear me that's yeah it's just really interesting I know there's so much in it and what's also beautiful about it is how Steinbeck like resolves the issue in the book by being like it really just takes like attention and love to like dissolve that tight feeling yes you know yeah and I yeah like that was like a beautiful kind of sentiment to turn to which is like also like especially in this time where I'm like god I just feel like what we all need to do really is like turn towards like love right now you know I completely agree um well talking of a sort of underrated classic or tell me about Stoner because that's obviously a book that became so much more popular in the last sort of 15 years or so yeah it's so funny I didn't know the history of it I I just had a friend who's like a reedy kind of friend.

46:42I was in Montana for like a month. And I was like, what are some good books? And he sent me this list. And it was one of the ones. And I thought it was going to be a very different thing. It's called stoner. I know, me too. I went to that. I was like, OK. I was like, all right. Count me in. And then it's very much not that. It's like The Quiet Life of a Man in Missouri, I think, right? Missouri? like rural Missouri um yeah you know what I liked about it is it's so funny because all a lot of these books it's like they they're they cover these like massive spams and this book is like it is that it's like a massive span in that it's like a man's entire life and yet it's like this like very quiet book totally and like not too much happens but so much happens and like you get to witness like all the kind of like you know tragedies of his life and the winds and they're very quiet winds but they're like impactful and you kind of just like get to bear witness to this like life that most of us lead and but and it feels at once like very like small and kind of in moments i think sad and at other times it's just like it's everything exactly i completely agree i think that's beautifully put that's what i loved about it as well and i loved the kind of um the sort of like small details like the like workplace conflicts when he's like arguing with this but it's just it's so real because when those things are happening they feel like the only thing in the world right and then like in the grand scheme of when someone's on their deathbed they're like i know and they're like and no one ever really talked about him after that like you're like they're his colleagues who kind of considered him when he was live never talked about him yeah I also totally I love this bit at the end where he's with his daughter when he's dying and she goes poor daddy things haven't been easy for you have they and he's like he pauses and he goes no but I suppose I didn't want them to be and I kind of like I love that because I when I was growing up I definitely felt like I mean like most parents they want their kids to sort of like settle and be secure and like they my parents definitely wanted me to have a very like stable like go and get a nice job at a big corporation and have like get married have some kids like whatever and this idea that i was just like yes no we don't always want everything to be easy totally do you relate to that should she say that about the kisses is that weird she doesn't care she presses send this is the love story of real hinge couple daniel and roisin written and read by me rufie thorpe listen to the free audiobook now

49:27This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling? Smart move. Another smart move? Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like it's like the catch of relief, the catch and release of life is, is like what makes it compelling and interesting.

50:01And honestly, it's like, there's no other way, really. Like, it's never going to be easy. And if it is, I'd be bored. Totally. And also, it's like, I think, you know, the things that are the hardest part. I mean, when I think about things that are going to be the hardest in my life, which are like things like, like my parents passing or like my dog. I mean I'm very close to my daughter when I was I've had her for 13 years or like watching my baby grow up like I Think that what is painful about it is like its relation to the amount of love that you have and so like there's just like no way To like live a life that doesn't have pain if you are like living it really well So yeah, I mean I can't I mean and I also just think it's healthy to have rejection and it's healthy to have fails and yeah it sucks though totally there's something about that book where it's like not even like big swing fails it's kind of just like quiet mediocrity at points which is like really possible hell like that by deep fear yeah and the other thing that i thought was really interesting about it i don't know if you had the same feeling but like it's like this like quiet quiet quiet quiet and then when he has his affair yes it's like this like massive like opening up feeling and you feel like life like like flushing in and then it's like and then it's like exactly it's like this sort of yeah and he does such an incredible job of writing that kind of like it just you just he like puts you through it yeah you know yeah it's amazing i know and there were just so many there were so many sentences that i wrote down that i felt just like really accurately described something that almost like meme-ish in the sense of like just saying something in such a succinct true way that I was just like oh that's yeah it's like really good writing totally I felt that way about I keep on going back to me but it is and I was like and we're writing that down yeah exactly like it really like you know there was so many moments where I was like holy shit how did he even like come up with this yeah I know yeah and it's just a sort of nice like it captures all this sort of like exploration and wasted time of like university or college experience i think like because i was just like able to read books but obviously i didn't read them i was like out drinking like well you know what i mean but it's such a sort of and he's like such that's the other thing that i kind of like loved about it is he's like so he's so married to his job i know and he loves it and like i wrote down this bit where he goes when he talks about some of the people who are studying and he goes as if they were doing it as if those studies were life itself and not a specific means to a specific end which I was like that is really what he like believes in all the world it's like a really sweet place it's funny when I went to school um I went to a conservatory and I I was just talking to someone about it and I was like I think that that's how I felt about acting up until I graduated and realized that I had to like you know monopolize or like you know monetize my art but like it was kind of like this beautiful time from like when I was kid and would just like put on plays and do stuff until like the moment of graduation it lasted quite a while like someone was like when do you think you would want to you like thought about like making a career out of it and I truly think that like it was like just a life thing before I graduated like I didn't really think of it as like a means to the to an end at all until like I realized that I had to like survive off of it yeah and there's something like really beautiful about being in school and that moment where you don't have to work like you're out of the house you're choosing something and you can put all of your attention into it yeah before like you have to worry about anything else and you just are living for like the thing that you're studying you know what was that experience like at juilliard was it it was it was like that it was like it was i mean and it was also like all the other thing like that when you're like talk about putting yourself through something hard like i it's like acting school and yet it was so hard it was the hardest time in my life by a long shot wow uh i mean just i mean just physically it was difficult like you know you're going you're going in at like 7 a.m and you don't get out until like 9 or 10 like you're just it's just like hours just so many hours of like being in this like box like basically it's like one floor of the building and it's like you're in these like rooms that are just plain because you're kind of like building your imagination off of them like it's very intentional that they don't have like colors or it's like you know it's very like minimal and it's just you're just constantly physically diving into things doing like movement class and you know um scene study and voice and speech it's just like it felt like boot camp for actors it was like just intense and psychologically intense too because you're just putting your brain into the same space with the same people for so long and you the stakes feel so high because you care so much and also because there's teachers there that are like incredible but also like are really like holding you to task and sometimes like I think in a way that was like a little bit like discouraging and like you're like whatever like you know I think there are a lot of people who had a really hard time there you know yeah totally I met how many of your class still in the industry um I have a really really my class is working quite a bit I have probably like half the class is like working pretty regularly yeah it's really cool it's been nice to watch my peers like doing some really amazing like I just had two friends who were in the color purple like wow yeah cory hawkins and danielle brooks and gail rankin just did cabaret on broadway and my friend audyn just did this incredible movie called broke and um jacquina's working all the time like i just have so many they're they're all like going going strong it's really cool yeah it's like it's a nice reminder that it you know can work out and the people who aren't acting i think a lot of them are doing really cool stuff so great good for them yeah Oh, that's so nice.

56:30That sounds like you had a fun. How many years is, like, four years? Gosh, that's a long time. It's a long time. It's a really long time. I'm so glad that I did it when I was just out of high school, because I think going back and doing it as a grad student, I'd be like, I can't. No, no, no, absolutely not. And it must have been fun to come to New York at, like, 19 and, like. You know, I was, like, heartbroken. Really? Yeah. I had such, it's so funny, like, my memory of first year was just, like, so much, like, mourning, like, leaving home. Like, I, like, there were, like, exercises where we had to, like, sing a song.

57:03And I remember singing, like, Rocky Mountain High by John Denver. And, like, I remember, like, we had to do, like, a poem. And I, like, did a poem, like, all about, like, my house and, like, all the little parts of my house that I miss. Like, I was, like, so codependent with my family. Like, my family is, like, such a unit that I had, like, a very, very hard time going to college. Like, just, like, hyperventilation kind of. Oh, gosh. crying goodbye like really like i don't want you to go like as an 18 year old like not you know like really was like preschool me came back that's hard it was really hard and then i and then i really like and then you were like peace all right that's over now yeah oh my god i love it yeah um that is a lot though and i suppose america's so because i was like an hour away from where i grew up when I went to uni so I could like pop home anytime yeah it's just a different where did you go to school Oxford oh no it's so cunty isn't it I hate when people ask me I'm like oh god I know the feeling I know the feeling like I feel like so I like really don't like it because it's it's seeing Juilliard it just comes off like go home I think also for me like I didn't love it like I I made the most of it, but I felt out of place there a lot of the time.

58:23Like, it was a very, I mean, I think when I was there, it was still half of the intake were, like, private school kids, and the rest of us who were state school kids were, like, and I went to a state grammar, which is, like, where you pass an exam, so it was, like, the middle ground, if anything, but my parents didn't have any money to pay for it, but it was just, it was very divided. Gosh, it's such a thing, huh? It's such a thing. Like, hearing you talk about it, like, several times in this conversation, I'm like, wow, it's fascinating. It really like hangs around you your whole life in a way that, and I think people, whenever people ask me about uni, they want me to be like, oh, it's like Brideshead revisited.

58:57And I'm like, I mean, it was sometimes, but a lot of the time it was not. Yeah, no, totally. I feel the same thing when people ask me about Juilliard. It's like far more complex than just being like, it was amazing. Right? Anyway. Sounds like we all had better times than Stone, anyway. Totally. Well, your last book, A Hundred Years of Solitude, Just will start on us to end on an AM and not a light one by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Tell me about your love for that book. Okay, so I read this in high school. It was probably it's kind of the first book I remember reading past Harry Potter. Oh, I think that I had this incredible teacher.

59:37Her name was Miss Sparks. She was great. And she just it's funny in retrospect. She just taught this book so well. she was not shy about it in any way there's a lot in this book that's like you know there's incest yeah there's a lot of sex there's a lot of um you know like toxic masculinity and and she was like so brave about teaching it there was like no weird like there was no stigma against it there was nothing taboo she just felt like really curious and um so i just remember being so into it like I just had so much fun with it it's so colorful it's so imaginative it's so like far out like it is a trippy book he is on on something like I feel like he's like got some kind of access to like different dimensions or something because totally he like kind of is like hitting on like parallel universes and timelessness and and and it's just I didn't know about magical realism obviously and so it was like kind of the first time that you know I just read Harry Potter um and there's like obvious magic but this was like a different thing it was like magic married to soul and like substance and and it creeps up on you and you'll be like reading a sentence about something so ordinary and so sort of and then suddenly the magic elements and suddenly she like floats into the air because she's too good for the earth like there's just these beautiful there's just these beautiful beautiful um images that have stuck with me yeah even now like i like i haven't read it since i haven't read it since i was in high school and i still remember like little things like that or like you know the grandmother growing so small that you could put her in a pocket like they're just beautiful images that I've taken with me and I also felt like I had to work at it and I liked that like knowing like there was something about being that age being in high school and like I had to work hard to read this book I completely agree I had this conversation with an author on Monday and he was talking about how it's bullshit to that it's okay the idea that books can like shouldn't be hard and I was like I sort of disagree like I think it's okay at some point especially when you're young and you're like developing the muscle it's like learning to run like you sort of get better at it yeah yeah totally I listen there are some books that I gave up on oh yeah like infinite jest oh yeah no I've never I gave up this book though I just remember like I had the tree for like all the family members because because there's just so many of the same guy with the same name.

1:02:25Totally. I still remember writing that out, and as I was reading it, I would look over to my little tree and remember who they were talking about. And I remember, I just remember it wasn't easy, because I wasn't really used to reading all the time, and it was advanced for me. And I stuck with it, and I remember feeling so proud of myself that I'd read it and I loved talking about it. It was like the first time where I was like, I don't know, really engaged with the book in that way and felt so proud of myself and felt the feeling of like pride in reading a book. I still feel that way. Like there's times where I like read something and I'm like, I'm proud that I read that book and I like, I'm proud of being able to like talk about it and being excited about it.

1:03:11And like, I do feel like it did something to me internally. Like it actually like changed me. Oh yeah. and there's like something to be proud of 100 and that's what I love most about reading now is that like because I am very guilty of like double screening if I'm watching tv I'll have my phone in my hand I have to really make an effort not to and um I you can't do that with a book no I can't even do it when I'm listening to a book if I'm like listening to something because I went with East of Eden I've been reading and listening and it's actually very good East of Eden is a good one to listen to great I listened to part of it it's good I would drive and listen to it exactly he's great but that is right the voices it's perfect voice he's got like um it feels timeless his voice it like fits right into like that time era kind of totally there's something very spartan about it but soulful but i couldn't i couldn't listen to it while i was knitting no you can't no no i'd like the most i could do was when i was cleaning i was like cleaning my apartment and i was like i could do that because i wasn't really uh-huh i was like mindless yeah exactly totally but um but yeah there is that's the joy of reading i think everyone has a book that when they were a teenager that if they love reading now it was the one of the books that like converted them to that and actually my colleagues that's her book as well really oh that's so cool i'm like i really also i just think back on miss sparks and i'm like because now it's like i'd be scared to be a teacher teaching complex thoughts complex like you know like to talk about like even sex like i'm like and there's like all kinds of sex in that book like in high school to be a teacher teaching about it and to do it with like such a lack of fear like it's like i still remember that like i don't remember i like i i don't remember feeling skittish around any of the things that she was explaining it sounds like she trusted you yeah and i think that's the thing if a teacher if you can feel your teacher trust you that gives you so much confidence to engage with it yeah yeah totally totally she felt like peer yeah but also a guide yeah yeah it was great yeah i looked out she was great have you watched any of the adaptation like um no no me neither no i've not it's crazy that as we're like going through these i'm like i haven't watched my brilliant friend no i haven't watched uh small things like these i haven't watched um 100 years of solitude and i hear they're making east of eden into a tv are they because i was wondering that that interesting or a limited series yeah and i think florence pew is playing kathy is she because i was thinking about who would play that i mean this is all like yeah who knows if this is real or not it's probably i think it's definitely happening right now and i could totally find out if it was real but right now I'm like, it's maybe real.

1:06:05I think that I could see that. I could see - And I heard Chris Abbott is playing Adam. Mmm, interesting. Yeah. I wanted like, oh God, I'm having a brain fart. The woman who plays the queen in The Crown, Olivia. Mmm, Coleman. Yes, I imagine like Olivia Coleman playing Cathy at some of the older ages. Ooh, that'd be really interesting. Just because she can do that sweetness and rage. Totally, did you watch the one with Jesse Buckley that she did. Oh, I loved that movie. So good. I thought it was so great. I thought they were both incredible. They're both incredible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, she can do nothing.

1:06:41Like Olivia Colman, it's just like every time she's just like home running. Exactly. Every time. Exactly. She was over when, like, you know, when you're younger and you're playing, like, everyone's like, who would you want to play in a movie of your life? She was always my person. Really? Yeah. Wow. When I was younger from like Peep Show and stuff, but also like, because I was just like, she's, wow, that's a very good pick. I'm like proud of it it's aged well compared to everyone else's totally I'm like everybody else is like Paris Hilton yeah so true sorry no offense to Paris Hilton no we love Paris Hilton I don't even name too so you're not even active no she's not exactly I was just thinking about something I was obsessed within a high school I had like a weird obsession obsession with Paris my year 8 book report and loads of people did Harry Potter and I did Victoria Beckham's autobiography learning to fly listen I loved it so much girl I'm I mean she's there's something going on though that woman is she's like she's capable very capable yeah same with Paris honestly like you know what I'm I'm proud of my choice but I remember at the time I like went to Target and I bought an like not an autobiography it was a how to be Paris Hilton guidebook and my parents were like girl I was like 15 or something maybe 14 they're like what are we doing I just remember one thing where it was like when you go out to a bar drink like a water in an out of a shot glass like instead of vodka and and drink red bull instead of advice honestly totally not bad advice um sober i guess like the idea was just like stay and i to be honest i took that advice yeah i didn't really at least in high school and college i did not drink at all no not at all yep all because of Paris.

1:08:25Just kidding. Not all because of Paris. That's amazing. Yeah. I mean, like, I just, it's not good for, I don't think it's like, yeah, it's not, it's not good for my, I mean, jean pool, I'd say. We started young in England, unfortunately. I mean, yeah, it's like so. It's culturally, yeah. 15. And you guys can like also just like handle it. Put it away. Yeah, totally. It's like, I would be dead after like 10 minutes of what you guys are doing. I know, No, it really is habitual to the point that when I moved to America, it was quite nice to not drink like that on a casual Wednesday. And you live in New York, so that's saying something.

1:09:02Yeah, exactly. But compared to London, I mean, I look back and I remember one time telling a therapist, he's like, what do you drink? And I told him and he was like, so you have a binge drinking problem. I was like, no, I don't. I was like, I could stop. And he was like, but he was more like, no, no, no, but just that's a lot. And I was like. I have a few British friends and they're like, this is not like, this is nothing. I'm like, you just drink a bottle of wine at night. That's wild. But it's just so, they're like, they can take it. They don't even seem like a different vibe. It's wild. Yeah, and you do just get so good at like, putting it away.

1:09:38Yeah, and the Aussies. Oh, they come from the con. I know, they were like the cons that were sent there, weren't they? Yeah, the bad boys. The bad boys. British bad boys. Well, this was so much fun. Oh, my God. I had the best time. Thank you for doing it. And this was such a great conversation. I loved all your books.

1:10:01I don't think I can be your friend, Isabella said. Rebecca's stomach flipped. This is the love story of real hinge couple Isabella and Rebecca, written and read by me, Temi Denton-Hurst. Listen to the free audiobook now.

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From the publisher

In ⁠One Nightstand⁠, celebrity readers and writers join us at ⁠The Blond⁠ in ⁠11 Howard⁠ to discuss their favorite books. In this episode, Charlotte Owen sits down with scene stealer Justine Lupe, to talk about her top five books, her chemistry with Nobody Wants This co-star Timothy Simons, and when she knew Succession had officially entered the zeitgeist. 

Season 2 of Nobody Wants This’ premieres Oct. 23. 

Credits

Director/Director of Photography: Ryan Mitchel

Assistant Camera: Sam Cowan

Post Supervisor: Delia Kelly

Post Production Manager: Mateo Delgadillo

Editor: Matt Hoffman

Producer: Aubree Lennon

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