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[0:00] Laura Bell Bundy: I'm Laura Bell Bundy, and you're listening to Behind The Awards.

[0:12] Eila Mell: Hello and welcome to Behind The Awards. I'm Eila. I'm with Bruce. But today, Bruce, we're joined by Roxanne Messina-Kaptur.

[0:20] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Hello. Hello. This is such a pleasure. I really think you do an amazing job with your show, so I'm honored to be here.

[0:27] Eila Mell: Oh, thank you so much. We're thrilled to have you. Thank you. Well, you're a director, you're a producer, and you're also a cultural leader in the film industry. Can you tell me what that means and what you do for film, notably with Gavin Newsom?

[0:38] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Well, I think, as you said, I'm a filmmaker. I'm also an educator. I first met Governor Newsom when I was the Executive Director of San Francisco International Film Festival, and he was the mayor of San Francisco. And we became colleagues. We did a lot of work together. He supported the festival. He put me on a panel, a policy committee that was for runaway production, and we did help to get more production in San Francisco. And then when he was running for governor, he put me on a policy committee for higher education, and we did recommend some excellent ideas for the educational system, that's state systems. And I do teach at Santa Monica College, which is a community college. So when he became governor, I kind of thought I'd be on a film commission, but he said, no, your background, because you started as a professional ballet dancer, you've been on Broadway, you have this whole theater background, you're still directing and choreographing.

He said, I think you'll be great on the Arts Council. So I have been on there now for, the end of this year will be my fourth year. I've been chair for two years, because recently I've done a couple of movies for Hallmark, which is shot in Canada, which were fantastic. Everything was great. But when I came back, I talked to him and I said, you've been looking at runaway production, and everyone in Los Angeles is saying, we have no work, we have no work. And to Canada's credit, they're taking care of their people, and they're making good money up there with all these films that are shooting up there. And obviously some of the other states have done well, like Georgia or New Mexico. So when they started the whole process to increase the tax incentives, I was interviewed by Senator Allen, as well as Senators Assemblyman Sayre, about my personal experiences, and what an independent person, producer needs to take advantage of the tax incentives.

So I would say I've been an advocate. When I ran the festival, the French government gave me the Chevalier d'Ordre of Arts and Letters to honor my work in the arts, and especially with film. So it's been a wonderful opportunity to be able to educate, as well as work in an industry that really has a message to say. I did a film for CBS a while ago called Home Sweet Homeless. It was about a mother who was a single mom. She got walking pneumonia. They ended up in the her and her three boys in their car. And it won the Humanities Award. It was nominated for an Emmy. And I think I bring that up, even though it was a while ago. It's the kind of message that this industry can so powerfully get across.

I've also done another documentary on women veterans and what they face when they come back. Because at these last two years, they were doing the same job men were doing on the front lines. And then they would come back and try to be wives and mothers, and they had a very difficult transition. It was like a new battlefield for them. And some were homeless. And we get into that. And that particular one, Dr. Biden saw and screened at the UN. So that, to me, that is the power of what the gift of doing this work is about. So AI is a big, you know, question now in the film industry. And I know that Governor Newsom is taking steps to secure actors' futures. What are your thoughts on that as a filmmaker on AI?

[4:39] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Well, I've played with it. I have to know what's going on. And as an educator, my students are always like, well, you need to get into the new day, you know. I think it's a great research tool. I don't think it's anywhere at a place where it's going to take over for writers, take over for directors. And yes, I think the bigger thing that has to be looked at is what Governor Newsom is looking at. Because it's so easy in AI to replicate, because we saw that in Indiana Jones, replicate an actor's look. That really has to be. And I know Screen Actors Guild is taking a heavy duty position on that. And although when you look at they did a good job in Indiana Jones, I will say, but most of the time when you look at an AI replicated person, they look AI.

They look like a robot. They don't look like a real person. And they don't have the bottom line in the arts that I always say is it's about here. It's about soul. You know, I worked with Gene Kelly. I worked with Coppola. And that's what they always talked about, the soul. And an AI robot is never going to have the soul that a human actor. And that's the thing with a script. If you're trying to get AI to help you, they can give you research, but they can't put the soul that a real writer puts into their work.

[6:10] Eila Mell: Right, because they only draw from what's already been done. They can never have new ideas.

[6:16] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Correct. Right. It's very surface. It's not going to give you what's behind the eyes.

[6:21] Eila Mell: Yes. And one of the things when I write and also things that I direct, I tend to always be looking for what's under the surface. You know, we all see the glamour or the glitz, but what's under the surface? What got to that? So I have a project that's a piece of Pearl Buck's life. And what's fascinating to me is here is this amazingly accomplished woman who won the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize and started a foundation that saved hundreds of Eurasian and Mareasian children, changed the laws for interracial adoption. And yet in the script, she has one thing she says to her sister who's going to have a new baby, says, I would give this all up if I could have one more natural child. So to me, what's under the surface? That's always fascinating to me.

[7:11] Eila Mell: So is that the latest piece that you're working on?

[7:14] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Yes, that and I'm also because you're New Yorkers, you'll know this. I'm working because of my background being a dancer and having been on Broadway. I'm working on a piece called the Legacy Robe, which is about which had been called the Gypsy Robe. Right. Just in case people don't realize. And it's about a dancer who is hit, you know, hits 30 and dance world. It's got a saying, you know, it's weird because dancers careers and as others are starting. So it's she's, you know, she's making this transition. She doesn't really want to make it. And the two young people who are hopefuls, they want to get in that Broadway show, one's working at Radio City. And they, of course, there's a love interest and, you know, it's so it deals with the whole struggle of trying to fulfill your dreams, but the passion and the discipline and the perseverance of getting there. And then there's the choreographer who's sort of a young bossy type. So that's kind of my big pet. Well, they're both my big passion.

[8:18] Eila Mell: Yeah. Yeah. Probably everything you do is.

[8:21] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Yeah, I tend to be that way. Are you going to have the opportunity to I'm not sure what at what point you are with the film, but are you going to have the opportunity to film any of it? Like on location using Radio City using some of the Broadway theaters?

[8:32] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: That's my intention. Absolutely. I want to and I do want to cast out of New York. I mean, my heart is still I mean, I love L.A. I've lived here forever. I didn't initially. But yeah, my heart when it comes to like, you know, I go back and I go to a Broadway show and I just cry. Yeah. You know, there's just there's nothing like it. But now I say, you know, and I mean, the West End is great. We've seen shows there and I can't say they're not fabulous too. But I don't know if it's because I was part of that world, but there's something, you know, and then you go to Joe Allen's afterward. Right. There's just a whole I don't know. It's right here for me. So, yeah, I never. Thanksgiving's coming. I watched that parade every year.

[9:16] Eila Mell: Don't do anything because I when I was there, I was in the parade with Ben Vereen. You know, he had four dancers and him and we did we were in the actual we came out at Macy's there.

[9:30] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: Yeah. Like shows do. And we danced with him. And of course, the year I did it, it was pouring rain.

[9:36] Eila Mell: Of course, of course. Tapping away in the rain. Oh, my gosh. You're lucky you didn't slip.

[9:45] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: But what a thrill to be part of it. Great experience. And it's one of the things I tell everybody. I was in the Macy's parade and I danced in the Macy's parade. You know, you get all these wonderful credits, but there's a few like this. Yeah. Go. I got to tell everybody this because we all grow up with it. It's just something that's part of our lives. Exactly. And my husband knows. Nope. Can't bother her Thanksgiving morning. I mean, I can tape it, but that's just not the same thing. Now I have my robe on and my coffee and sometimes we have a little champagne and watching the parade. Don't bother me. I know I'm going this year.

[10:21] Eila Mell: Good for you. Yeah. Are you covering it? Are you going to be interviewing?

[10:26] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: No, I have a friend who works the parade every year. He's part of the organization. So through him, I get to go. So it's very fortunate. I'm jealous.

[10:37] Eila Mell: So for listeners that don't know, let's take this Broadway film that you're working on. You're in the very beginning stages. You know, you wear so many different hats, writer, director, producer. Do they all kind of speak to each other as the journey of this piece goes on? Or do you have to like kind of interchange to navigate?

[10:45] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: That's a really good question. I think they all talk to each other, you know, ever since because I started dancing at three and I was professional at 12. So I have always seen music, not heard it. So I always knew I was a choreographer because I hear music and I see it. I see it. So when I read a script, I see it immediately. You know, it's just there. And that gift is definitely the gift of a writer, especially a director. So I think when I'm writing, I'm thinking directorially as well. And I think I'm also very good at recognizing is this, you know, what if we're only on this budget? Can I still make this movie? But if we're on this budget, you know, like you mentioned Radio City, well, that's a huge to get.

So but then there's always stock footage, you know, because there's lots of stock footage for Radio City. I tell my students when they're doing their small documentaries, don't go shoot the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier. It's been shot a million times brilliantly. The amount of time it's going to take us with what we have equipment wise, it's not worth it. So it might be a situation where we get Radio City interior for a day just to get some of those interiors, you know, and the exterior will be stock footage. So it's I'm always sort of thinking, is there a way, you know, but I don't let it limit the creative when I'm writing. I mean, you've got to let the creative just blossom. And I always think that those are down, you know, yeah, I always think that those restrictions encourage the creative process.

Anyway, you know what, I appreciate that. Because the Arts Council has had some budget cuts over the last couple years. And, you know, I always feel like people who are saying, well, how are we going to do it on only this much of a grant? Well, you're an artist, right? You can figure it out. Even with Pearl, at one point, we were going to do the whole shoot in China. We had money from China that fell through. So now I'm thinking, well, I could do all those interiors in a location that has fabulous tax incentives. And then go to China. There's a studio just outside of Shanghai, which has the bond that has built everything. Just go to that studio for a month and do all our exteriors. So that's cost savings.

Yeah. But that script has now been, and so I've had so many fabulous writers read it and redline it for me and do the rewrite. So that's at a place where I can start thinking about that kind of stuff. You know, it's so great that you can think as a producer and a director at the same time, because it's the business and the creative. Is that something you learned from Coppola when you worked with him?

[13:53] Roxanne Messina-Kaptur: I don't know if that's necessarily true from him.

[13:59] Roxanne Messina Captor: Him, you learn to just be the most expansive creative you could be, you know, just expand and try and then he'll pare down when he has to, you know, he did Outsize and Rumblefish on almost on a very limited budget, but then he'll go into Dracula or something on a huge budget. So he can, you know, in the old days, The Rain People, which is one of my favorites of his films with, you know, Shirley Knight, who was, I mean, for him to get into the psyche of that woman was so brilliant to me. So, you know, I think when he wants to work in this world, he can, but he can also work in this world. So I think it was more, never stop your creativity, let the creativity flow. And the bigger thing, how we got close was I had a classical background, and he has a classical background.

So, you know, I teach that to my students, even Star Wars was based on a myth. And they all look at me like, well, you know, what are you talking about? It's like, yeah, because so that basis of, you know, Greek mythology, Greek plays, classical music, all of that, that's your basis. And you build on that. And you guys know this, there's the old adage, there's only four, no, five storylines, and they just keep repeating themselves.

[15:29] Bruce Gotlieb: Where can our listeners follow these projects along as they come on their journey? Is there a specific place we can give them a link, whether it's your website, or does each project have its own? So that way, yeah, I have, I do have them listed on my website, which is my name.com, you know, with no space. One of the last films I did, Dickens of Christmas, which was in the Newport Beach Film Festival, along with a documentary I did with Broadstage and Santa Monica College on Stanley Clark, the jazz musician. They were in Newport Beach, they sold out, they added screenings. And Dickens has just been uploaded to Apple, to the Amazon Prime and Fandango. So that's amazing. That can be found at those outlets.

My documentary on women vets is on Amazon Prime. A small movie I did with Shelley Long and Harry Shearer called A Couple of White Chicks with a Hairdresser is on Tubi. It was on Comedy Central, it's on Tubi. And that one's done very well. It was in the Cannes Short Film Corner, and it's won a lot of awards. So those, and I built a digital series on it too. So most of the ones that aren't yet on like a Tubi, they can on my website, you know, and I do have information on my website about the projects that are being developed. And then they're on IMDb too, the development projects.

[17:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Perfect. So we'll put a link for the website and all of that in the notes. So that way, the listeners and the viewers, you're just a click away for them.

[17:19] Roxanne Messina Captor: Good. I appreciate that. Thank you. Well, thank you so much for joining us. This was such a treat for us.

[17:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, it was a treat for me too. It's always fun to talk to New Yorkers.

[17:28] Roxanne Messina Captor: Absolutely. We're going to keep an eye on these new pieces coming out. We can't wait.

[17:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Thank you so much. It was just a pleasure.

[17:35] Roxanne Messina Captor: It was all ours. Thank you so much.

[17:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Coming up right after this commercial is our interview with Laura Bell Bundy. Stay tuned.

[17:46] Laura Bell Bundy: I am Laura Bell Bundy and behind the awards will be right back.

[17:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, Bruce, there's not many people who can say they literally grew up in the theater, but our guest today, Laura Bell Bundy, absolutely can say that. Welcome.

[18:02] Laura Bell Bundy: Thank you.

[18:03] Bruce Gotlieb: We're so thrilled to have you here.

[18:05] Laura Bell Bundy: I love Ruthless and I know that you were in Ruthless.

[18:09] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes, I was in Ruthless before it was called Ruthless.

[18:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, what was it?

[18:15] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, it was based on the Bad Seed originally, the movie.

[18:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[18:19] Laura Bell Bundy: And so basically they called it Seedy.

[18:26] Bruce Gotlieb: And then they couldn't get the rights to the Bad Seed. So they instead decided to write sort of a little bit of a parody of that where it was like showbiz focused. So it had like, you know, instead of the little girl killing the boy for the penmanship medal, I was the little girl killing the other little girl for a partner show. So it was like that had this like all about Eve meets Gypsy meets the Bad Seed thing going on. But yeah, so I did a whole workshop of Seedy. And I had a new song about my shoes with the taps on the bottom.

[18:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[19:00] Laura Bell Bundy: I love the Bad Seed and I love Ruthless. It's so much fun. And I don't know that people know that Britney Spears was your understudy.

[19:08] Laura Bell Bundy: People have learned that now.

[19:10] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[19:11] Laura Bell Bundy: I mean, she mentioned it in her new book.

[19:15] Bruce Gotlieb: I can't tell you how many people were like.

[19:20] Laura Bell Bundy: That's amazing.

[19:21] Bruce Gotlieb: Unexpected little things that I guess unearthed themselves.

[19:24] Laura Bell Bundy: Nice little Easter egg right there.

[19:26] Bruce Gotlieb: That's right.

[19:27] Laura Bell Bundy: Exactly. So now your names are probably linked forever.

[19:30] Laura Bell Bundy: Probably. Yeah.

[19:32] Bruce Gotlieb: But I mean, your career is just so spectacular. I can only imagine, you know, that this was what you wanted as a kid since you started so young. Was this the dream?

[19:43] Laura Bell Bundy: You know, there was a while there when I was a kid that they would be like, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I'd be like a doctor. You know, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up because I had been in the business for so long. So I studied like I wasn't going to be an actor at school. And I think that was my dad's preference. You know, he was always about education and, you know, the deeper questions in life. Where I think my mom had a bit of stars in her eyes and and some drive. And but, you know, when I look back on who I really was as a kid, it was so imaginative. And I have two older half sisters, but they were so much older than me that they really weren't in the house like one was already like out of the house when I was born.

My other sister is 12 years older than me. So, yes, you know, we had fun. She threw me around and, you know, you know, played with me, roughhoused me in like the best way. But I was like alone a lot. And I would create these like wild stories with my dolls and do these different accents. And then I just loved movies and I would reenact everything. I mean, I was just like I was just like a drag queen in this little body of JonBenet. And and so I think my inner child, who my inner child really is, is the performer that I am today. And I think it just made sense. And I remember like, no, I was going to go to school at NYU. And I did for a minute and study sociology and run track. And then I got a soap opera and I did the soap opera.

And I was like and then the first reading of Hairspray and I was like, I'm out. I'm out. This is what I wanted. So I think sometimes you just, you know, you pick your parents before this life and then there's some predestined stuff going on. But but yeah, so I didn't always know it took it took it took really finding out for sure at 18 when I was faced with a choice that one life was. I here's the thing, I think we're all trying to get back to our childhood in some way or another and feel that fearlessness and that freedom. Right. And we do one of two things. We either become artists or addicts or alcoholics or sometimes both. Yeah, right. Because those are the things that feel like they free us. And so I, I, I love what I do. And I'm all about the work. And in the work is I'm relentless when it comes to the work so that I can find those moments of unabashed freedom.

[22:31] Bruce Gotlieb: You're, you know, as as our listeners know, you're, you know, currently starring in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, the musical at stage 42. How, I guess, were you involved in this in a while? It seems like you always are with these larger than life women that these parts are. And they're, you know, over the top and which is what we love about it.

[22:48] Laura Bell Bundy: I was fresh to Romy and Michelle. Romy and Michelle has been a development for quite a long time. I want to say like they started working on it 15 years ago. Yeah, it's so crazy. And so this was, you know, first day of rehearsal was sort of, you know, not the first time I'd heard the music, but the first time I was learning it. And so that was different for me because all the other musicals I've originated, I did the early readings for or workshops or, or both. And so I would always come to the first day of rehearsal for going into the show, like completely off book. So, so then you just play. So this was like, oh my God, I have so much material to learn. I have a character to create. I have a son at home, you know, so it was just, you know, a little bit harder. But had you been a fan of the movie?

[23:44] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, I mean, I saw the movie in high school. Right. But I kind of forgot a little bit about it. And then when I was offered the part, of course, I went back and watched it again. And with my husband, who's a comedy guy, and we, we actually were watching in bed and laughing and we're like, yeah, still holds up.

[24:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[24:03] Laura Bell Bundy: Did you have a choice of which role or was it was Kara Lindsay already set?

[24:08] Laura Bell Bundy: No, Kara wasn't set yet. And I had a choice over the role. And, and I think when Kara came into the mix, we both were like maybe chemistry reading for both. And it was clearly I was Romy. Um, and, uh, and I think actually maybe that wasn't the initial thought. Um, but there's something about Romy that I kind of locked into and connected with.

[24:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[24:30] Laura Bell Bundy: So you got the voice down, like the minute that stage you guys wheel out. And that first thing it's, you're locked into that Romy voice.

[24:39] Laura Bell Bundy: Thanks so much. I really appreciate you noticing.

[24:44] Bruce Gotlieb: And is it an accent based in actual geography? Or is it something that Mira Sorvino came up with?

[24:47] Laura Bell Bundy: I had no idea what the fuck this accent is.

[24:51] Bruce Gotlieb: I know.

[24:52] Laura Bell Bundy: And excuse me to, for cursing in front of your listeners. But I, okay. So I, when I watched the movie again, I was like, what is that? And if you go and Google Romy and Michelle, like the second to like the IMDb is like, what is Mira Sorvino's accent has been like the biggest question around the movie. And no one else in the movie has it.

[25:18] Bruce Gotlieb: No, big swing.

[25:21] Laura Bell Bundy: It was a big swing. And I don't know if I'm an idiot for also taking the big swing, but here's what I knew. If you were going to Google, if the number one Googled thing connected to that movie is what is that accent, then I'm going to do that accent because this is an iconic movie and that's an iconic accent. But then we're going to try to delve into why is this the accent? Right. And so there's like a little like Keanu Valley girl kind of thing going on. There's also this weird sort of Philly thing that I have no idea why, but there's a lower quality to Romy and the lower is indicative of the masculine energy that Romy has. For sure. And so I sort of was like, okay, for me, I'm a voice first person.

So I create the, I come up with the voice of the character and then the rest of the mannerisms take hold. And so there's like a little bit of a masculinity, more masculinity than Michelle has. Michelle's more feminine. Romy's in her masculine and that's why they make this perfect pair. And so I sort of leaned into that. And then if you talk to Robin Schiff, the writer, if you hear her, she kind of talks with a slower version in the same sort of timber as this. So I thought, well, maybe Mira was doing Robin and Robin is from Pacific Palisades. Like maybe that was it. But either way, it's kind of worked. And then the composers have pit us when we sing, Romy's singing lower and Michelle is singing higher. So I take all the low harmonies, which by the way, I don't know if you've ever tried to learn a low harmony. They're really hard. So much harder. Especially when you're used to doing the top.

[27:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[27:14] Laura Bell Bundy: We're both two Glindas. We're like, right, right.

[27:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Exactly.

[27:18] Laura Bell Bundy: So actually that has been a little bit of a struggle. But, but, you know, I guess I, I guess I should just start drinking every night after this. But it's permission, I guess. But, you know, so yeah, that's how the whole voice came to be. Now, here's the thing. If you haven't seen the movie and you hear me doing this voice, you're like, it's going on. But if you have, then I think you can appreciate it. So, you know, somebody's doing a really strong Valley girl without kind of knowing that there's something campy about it intentionally.

[28:30] Laura Bell Bundy: It was, yeah, so the audience, you know, they're just ready for fun. Like, that's what I think about the show. It's just a good time. Go, you know, if you want to escape all the things that we have to deal with in everyday life. It's just so much fun and go with your friends and, you know, you're just going to have a great time. Yeah, I think that's the point. You know, I think while we can go into the depth of it and the depth of friendship and the depth of insecurities and comparing ourselves to others, right? And the traumas of high school, right? At the root of it, they're quirky. There's a silliness. And it's supposed to be unabashed fun and joyful. Well, and if and and also you do feel the power of friendship, I really do think you do.

But that's also joyful. So you know, that's the point for me. It's like joy is a form of resistance these days. Yeah, right. Had you known Cara before the show? Because it's really important that we buy that you two have this lifelong bond. Well, so we had met, we taught a masterclass together years ago in Texas, and I was pregnant. And she was like, wanting to be pregnant. And so we while we didn't teach at the same time, we had dinner afterwards with a group, and she and I completely connected over, you know, fertility. And, and, and then I kept, I followed her and then she followed me and we would keep in touch. And that went on for a while, but we've never worked together. And the next time we saw each other was like our press, like our marketing day where we got in costume.

But let me tell you, talk about instant. I mean, immediately bonded and connected, like day two, I'm singing coolest person I know, and I'm crying. I'm like, why am I? Why am I so moved? Because I actually so admire and respect her. And we have some common things in common right now. In life, we both have one little boy, I have one six year old, she has one five year old, we both live in New Jersey, we're both doing this commute. And just like as moms, we're sort of connected in that way. And then as like silly, like playful girls, we're also that way on stage. So and we've also kind of become our characters in our dynamic. But like, that was also sort of instant, like within the first week, we were like, Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, that's happened. Yeah.

[31:05] Bruce Gotlieb: But do you feel like, like, you have to lead the cast? Because, you know, you're a big name? And, you know, is there that expectation that you're going to take that lead role in your, you know, interpersonal?

[31:12] Laura Bell Bundy: You know, funny, like, I don't see that. I'm really necessarily when I, I feel like my job, when I start first day of rehearsal is to just make sure that I learn what I need to learn, right? And that everything makes sense, right? Like every move makes sense. And so that, like I said, I can do a performance where I'm not thinking, God, this sucks, or this is hard, that were that this would this doesn't make sense. I wish we'd solve this in the rehearsal room. And by the way, there's not a show that there isn't a moment like that. But you just try to get closer to not having those moments. And so I think that's my objective, and to create and connect with the other actors. But I, I never really feel like it's my job to come in and lead cast or that I have any sort of authority or knowing that they don't know better themselves, right?

And, but I have had feedback from them, where they kind of did think that, you know, yeah. And, and, and so that's sort of trippy for me, because like, I remember being the youngest adult in the cast, and I was the youngest adult in Hairspray. And everybody sort of led me. And, and now you find yourself as like, the oldest adult in the cast. And, and you still feel like the youngest adult, right? Yeah. And so I was always the young one. And, you know, I'm just trying to stay that way. But yeah, I mean, this cast is so incredible there. I always I just say they're carrying us. We're not carrying them. They're moving and, and changing every five seconds. I can't believe it. Crazy. They're flipping.

They're dancing there. They're some people. They're playing three or four parts each. At least. Yes. And also within the same song. Right? That's right. They're different characters within the same song. And so I and I would sometimes when I started to notice and I wasn't up my own butthole for this part, then I started to notice what everybody else was doing. I guess my jaw was on the floor. Yeah. And they'll still be backstage changing while they're singing harmonies. And I am amazed by them. But I think the way that Karen I have kind of like, Oh, we should probably do something nice for the cast. We should probably buy some cookies. We should probably buy some drinks, you know, things like that, that I do feel I have that I do feel I have to do.

Ah, well, I saw I think it was on Instagram. I maybe it was an opening night. You did the post it cookies. Yeah, I didn't post it cookies. And then Karen, I got dummy bear blankets. For for everybody. We were trying to get the candy corn blankets. They had them. And they just weren't gonna get in on top. Oh, that's the worst. When you're like, Come on, Amazon. Yeah. Exactly.

[34:31] Beth Level: Hi, this is Beth Level and behind the awards. We'll be right back. Don't go anywhere. Don't do it.

[34:42] Bruce Gotlieb: Now, what is it like? Because you're originating roles that also have threads of familiarity to a lot of people that that's just kind of been what your your career has been? Is it? Is it hard to find that? Okay, this is the Laura Bell Bundy. Miss of, you know, Elle Woods, let's say, or, you know, Glinda, like, because people know who these people are, or at least think they do.

[34:56] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. I mean, I always think the heart is the filter, right? You're putting it through your own knowing and intuition and heart the words, and, and you'll respond differently than any other actor. And your backstory, if it's not already given can be whatever you think your backstory for that character is, which will also inform differently. And with both this, and with Legally Blonde. In the beginning of the casting process, I watched both of the movies, and then I never watched it again. Yeah. And then how I respond is how I would respond if I was cast in the movie. Right? Makes sense. It's not every actor is going to audition the same way either. Right? Right. Of course, there are things that we know about those characters, right?

We know about Elle, that she's positive and optimistic. And how does someone who's positive and optimistic hold themselves high towards the sky? Yeah. And so that's why she walks the way she does, you know, and high and she's enthusiastic about life. So she's like got a higher timbre in her voice. So there's more sense of like discovery and surprise. And there's also a knowing to her, she's very serious about silly things. And so, you know, Bruce is a dog. Bruce is not a dog, Bruce is family, you know, right? That's like, that's a matter of fact statement. Yeah. And she's very serious about. So whereas we have Romy, and she's more in her masculine, there's going to be more of like the lower timbre in the voice and the talking.

And so then we take the body a little bit down a little bit more grounded a little, you know, and so that's it. And then after that, the rest is the heart does the work. You know, I said to Bruce, when we left the show, I said she really leaned into the masculine side of Romy. So I'm so glad that you're saying that. Now, that's not to say you're not 100% feminine in your how you look, but I got that energy completely. And I love that you did that. So Marissa Winokur tells me that I have big dick energy. So I told her she would be happy that to see me doing this. Yeah. Now I have to tell you that Romy and Michelle have particular style. Yes. I find hard to believe that an editor at Vogue would actually appreciate, but that's okay. We all have different opinions. But, you know, you look amazing in that Madonna dress. I have to tell you.

[37:52] Laura Bell Bundy: Thank you. Wow. My favorite. Yeah. Oh, yes. I can totally see why, but I'm sure that those costumes are so much fun for you. Yeah, they are fun. I mean, I love really fun. I love like the swap out of like, yeah, like high school hair and like, there's also sort of something more punky about both of them than the rest of everyone else. Like there's a punk quality to them in the 80s. And I have like my converse on and my hair and my maroon and kind of dark. And then we both are like clearly Madonna fans. So we're like on the edges. Right. Oh, yeah, for sure. I would have definitely wanted to hang out with Romy and Michelle and not the other girls. Yeah, we've got our roots growing, you know, I mean, that's right.

But yeah, the costumes are really fun. They're really fun. So when was the when was the switch made? Because you guys, when we saw it, you bow in the post address, which is just chef's kiss. But I noticed I think it was one of the videos that were posted early on by the team that you guys were bowing in the whatever the last scene dress was.

[39:02] Laura Bell Bundy: Let me tell you, this was the fastest tech process on the planet. Oh, really? In five more days. And so those five days of tech were also previous. Wow. So basically, we had the dress. We were just getting them fit. We had not we had not had time to do the bows. So my gosh, curtain went up, we bowed what we had on. And that was like, you know, that was just we had them. They were in there on the rack. They were ready to go. We just didn't have time to work out the change. Because to be honest with you, because we these are the wildest quick changes I have ever done. Oh my god of anything I've ever been in. Because it is a complete change. It is a wig change. It is a body change. I wear a fat suit. I mean, it is like what in like 90 seconds? Yeah. And so that was kind of like focus wise where we were just like, let's just try to get the body of the show. Yeah. Before we tried the bows.

[40:14] Bruce Gotlieb: How many dressers do you have helping you?

[40:19] Laura Bell Bundy: There are two dressers for the entire cast.

[40:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh my god. How is that even possible?

[40:31] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes, that's what I said. That that is why those dressers. And one hair person. I that's unbelievable. I can't. Oh my god. It's you all might help each other if you have time. I mean, sometimes. Listen, we're just sticking pins in each other. We are fixing each other. Yeah. Oh yeah. Kara just took a pin out that was hanging out of my hair yesterday. I don't know if you've seen the video where I bow and my wig fell off. Amazing. We love that. When you have five seconds to put a wig on. It might fall off. But I love that, you know, you just took it completely in stride. It was fun. I love that shit. That's live theater. You know, right. This is what you come for. Of course. My wig falling off from my shoe flying into the audience.

This is what we come for. That's a good wig. Get out of bed and stop watching Netflix. Okay. I have something. You're like, and by the way, I need that shoe back. You got an extra one back there. That's right. That's a Gucci. Yeah. Are you actually wearing Gucci in the show? No, but I did in Legally Blonde. Oh, nice. Oh, the infamous shoes that flew off into the audience. Those were Giuseppe Zanotti and Jerry Mitchell, like climbed on the ground to grab it. Oh my God. He's a smart guy. He knows. Yeah. So the post address, I mean, did that come from the Entertainment Weekly cover that Mercer, you know,

[41:58] Laura Bell Bundy: Lisa Kudrow did? It's in the script. It's written and then they bow in post-it dresses. Because they did a famous cover where they were wearing those post-it dresses, so I wonder if that was why. But you really need it. I'm sure that that is why Robin wanted the post-it. It's why she wrote it into the script. I'm sure that's why. I don't know, but she did. She wrote it in the script and they're a hit. When I first saw it, I didn't realize it was post-its. I thought, well, it looks like a nice piñata. It has a piñata look. It does. And my son loves a piñata. That's great. I'm going to shake and candy come out one day. We were so lucky because when we were there, we got to see Robin and also Winnie Holzman. So two amazing women that, you know, have been part of your life and career.

[42:50] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes. Oh my gosh. It was so fun. And the fact that they're friends. And then I was like with them both and Mona May, who was also there that night. Yes. She had made the costumes for the original movie. And like, I'm thinking to myself, if these like theater nerds who are right here waiting for autographs knew who these women. Right. Right. I know. Like, yeah, like this lady wrote Wick. Okay. Exactly. This lady wrote Romeo and Juliet. And they're friends and they're both here and they're undercover. Right. While we were talking to them, it occurred to me they are Romeo and Michelle. Yeah. Right. And Winnie was so supportive. It was the nicest thing. I mean, I love when, you know, friends just look out for each other in that way.

She just wanted to talk about Robin and how excited she was for her. Yeah. And if you were a bystander, and you didn't know who she was, you would just think it's a friend gushing about a friend, not that she's literally written like the Holy Grail over here.

[43:48] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. I know. Right. You just, it's really sweet. And they've known each other for years, I think. Winnie was a show running a show and somehow they got connected and they were told they should be connected because they were like two of the only female show runners at that time. That's sad. I know. But it's also amazing because it is like the power of women sticking together and lifting each other up and then supporting each other for like decades to come. Decades. Yeah, exactly. Well, and speaking of that, you, Marissa and Carrie had, you know, you did this little cabaret, Mama, I'm a big girl now, which I think you guys are touring with, but you, you know, you have that kind of same thing now mirroring that you get this friendship that you've had for so many years with Hairspray and now carrying over. What's that been like to be able to continue to be in each other's lives through?

[44:48] Laura Bell Bundy: It's wonderful. It is so nice. I think with so many of the folks in Hairspray, there is, we all kind of came up together and everybody was, everybody sort of popped off after that. A lot of people did. And, and before that we were just like kids, like so excited to be in a show. And like, it was like a runaway hit and we didn't realize like it would just go down from there, you know? But it was, you know, it was so much fun. And we know each other. We know like the young twenties, mid-twenties versions of each other and we're still the same. Yeah. And yet we've had all these things in life happen to us. We thought me and Carrie Marissa all became moms. We've all had fairly long, like marriages and relationships.

And like, we can, like, we just know each other so well and we can be so honest with each other and we trust each other. So to create a show with them where I like look at them and I'm like, I know what you can do and I know what you deliver on and I know I deliver on something different. And I think this combo of the three of us together could get a laugh a minute. Like, I think we can do this. And like, it was so effortless. It was one of the funniest afternoons of my life going to see it.

[46:19] Laura Bell Bundy: I mean, you just, it was nonstop and it was real. It wasn't, you guys weren't playing characters or you were, it was like, as if we were like peeking outside and you guys were hanging out in the living room with like wine, you know, that's what it felt like. We put this show together in my living room and then Carrie's attic. And the very first time we ever performed it, because we were hired to do this concert, we had like, we had had a day of rehearsal together in a rehearsal room in Utah. And then we put this thing on stage and it was like, well, hopes it works, but it really was so like, and then we refined and refined and refined and we added slides and we just kept adding and we are that.

Marissa and I would, would come in and be like, okay, we've got baguette. Let's, let's put the baguette. Like we would cry laughing after the show, texting each other about which props we were going to add to the show. And then, then Marissa that night, like she'd take an ambient and order a bunch of shit off of Amazon. And so then we put it into the show.

[47:48] Laura Bell Bundy: You know, I'm texting them today because, so we have concerts November 21st and November 22nd in Ohio. We have concerts December 13th. And even though I'm doing Romy and Michelle and they're doing Batboy now, and then Karen, Carrie goes back to Heather's and Marissa's shooting a movie. We have managed to get outs for all of our concert dates so that we can do those concerts together because we love to do them. And, you know, we're just going to keep touring this show until we do welcome to our sixties.

[48:59] Eila Mell: Well, you should, I think people will continue to show up.

[49:04] Laura Bell Bundy: I hope so. It's so fun. And what's fun for everybody else about it is like, we're singing the songs that you want us to sing.

[49:07] Eila Mell: Right. You don't have to wait to get to the good ones.

[49:10] Eila Mell: Are you going to do more directing?

[49:12] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, that's an interesting question. Directing is so hard. You know, as an actor, I now really appreciate everybody behind the scenes, the producers, the directors, everybody. There's sitting here complaining, what are we complaining about? All these other people, like steering the ship and, you know, making sure it doesn't sink. And so, but I, you know, right now I'm developing a musical called Women of Tomorrow, which is based on an album I did where I'm a co-creator and co-composer and lyricist. And so I guess that's where my mindset has been. But I do love directing. I haven't done any theater. I've only done like music videos and web series type stuff. I'd like to. I think I'd eventually, I remember, you know, I've talked to Kristen Hagan and I have mentioned once or twice to Jerry Mitchell that I'd love to maybe be an associate because the technical aspects are what I don't feel like I have on the lock. But the actor stuff, like the meat of the material. Yes. That's what I feel like I could do well at. But I have to learn the other part, you know?

[49:26] Eila Mell: Yeah. Well, it'd be so valuable anyway to shadow someone like Jerry or Kristen, too. I mean, you know, they're so good at what they do.

[49:32] Laura Bell Bundy: It would be. I mean, I'm sure that just working with them, you get a lot. Yes. Yeah. You don't have to play a role. You can really focus. Right. I'm not so singularly focused on my trajectory as the character and just have a more objective view. But I definitely approach my the way my process is now is definitely more of a collaborator than than the actor. And I really like to get in there pretty deep and and collaborate. I just really enjoy collaborating with a director. And I love a director who is collaborative.

[50:14] Eila Mell: So you were so good in the cottage. I loved you in that. And your director was Jason Alexander, of course. So was it different working with someone who is primarily an actor?

[50:20] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, I mean, but in a great way, I think, you know, Jason is like a comedic genius. And what's what was nice about that was he could kind of feel me forming. I was trying to form the joke or land it. And he'd be go like, just lean your body slightly backward on this word. Well, there you fucking go. You don't need to rewrite the joke. You just need a smart comedic director. And sometimes it's just that. So in that way, he that is the way that I really benefited from having Jason Alexander, the actor be the director. And I'm just cursing all over this episode. Sorry.

[51:17] Eila Mell: We love it. Don't worry. And everybody's everybody has a different style. Right. But I think what was also interesting about the cottage is, you know, a lot of the television that I have done is multi camera. Mm hmm. And then Eric McCormick, multi camera, right? Alexander multi. Yes. Right. And so there was something about like that sort of mutual understanding of how that world works and how that our processes in that world translated to the cottage, definitely for me and Eric, like a tennis match. Like that first 15 minutes of the show that we had together was just so glorious for us. We loved it. We loved doing that scene together. And it just felt like a like a tennis match, you know, that we both won.

You know, that's that's actually Sylvia lost. But so that process was really fun. And and it, you know, when every director is different, really, you know what they focus on. Like Jason definitely focuses on the funny where they think like Kristen really focuses on the emotionality in the heart. You know? Yeah, but also two different stories. So. Yeah.

[52:33] Eila Mell: Yeah. Right. So now that you're a mother and you know, you have been for six years now, do you approach your work differently? It must be harder just to be out of the house so much.

[52:38] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, I do. I say no a lot more. I don't have the luxury of saying yes to everything. And in a lot of ways, it's made me more selective in the best way. There's a lot of compartmentalization happening. I miss my son tremendously right now. Previews of where we're rehearsing during the day, during the show at night has been so tough because also he's in school and he's getting out at three thirty. And even then, I'm just doing the show. I have to leave at like four forty five to get to the theater because I live on a farm in New Jersey. But he is really taking it in stride and he like loves to come to the theater. Oh, that's great. He's like doing his own little plays. He's playing Olaf and Frozen.

Oh, he's rehearsing. He has rehearsals today. Wow. Great. I have a wonderful mom tribe that has been helping me so much. I have an incredible, very supportive husband. And there would have been no way for me to do this without how amazing my husband has been and taking a lot of his work and making it a second priority during the time of rehearsals and previews and press and me doing the TV show at the same time. Right. These busy seasons. But I was explaining to my sister the other day who has concerned I'm not going to get to see my kid enough and her kids are grown and she was like, oh, by the way, these things and I have concern. But then. I'm not in a show. Right. Exactly. And then I am the most present mother because I am there all day, every day, and I am writing the musical or whatever when he's at school.

But I'm there to pick him up and he has no idea. Right. Like and I put him to bed for every bedtime and I don't work a nine to five. Right. So I really am there. I was last year the mom that picked up the three kids from school and took them to theater and we played the music in the background and they went over their lines. That was me driving, you know? Yeah. And so when I can, I just try to like be as present as possible with my son. As of yesterday, he had a half day of school. I had the whole day till four forty five. So I had to come here and he's like, mom, I'm going to go on a bike ride. And I was like, all right, we have an electric bike. I have a little thing for him to hold on. He has a little seat.

Right. Yep. You know, we went and got some went on a picnic and we played tag at the park and you know, and yeah, that's great. They don't need you all the time. They just need to know that you want to be there.

[55:33] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, I love him. I mean, like he knows we write each other note. He left me a note that I would find when I got home and then I leave him a note before bedtime. And yeah, he's just the greatest. That's so sweet. I love that. I don't know how single moms do it, though, that that's got to be the hardest. I have no idea. Yeah. Yeah, it is.

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[59:48] Laura Bell Bundy: That's so funny though, how that is like, whatever's going on behind the scenes that you don't even know about and it's about your schedule.

[59:55] Eila Mell: Yeah, it is wild. It is wild but it's nice to know that somebody is asking I think they should tell us more often.

[1:00:03] Laura Bell Bundy: We go on such roller coasters like now, but again that's the other thing that's nice about motherhood is that I know I'm more than my career.

[1:00:14] Laura Bell Bundy: And I am so much more to this little guy. And then the other big guy that's at the house, you know, and I am not the actress to them.

[1:00:26] Laura Bell Bundy: I'm just that human that is, you know, asking my kid what he thinks the meaning of life is.

[1:00:36] Laura Bell Bundy: These big questions.

[1:00:39] Laura Bell Bundy: It's about pooping mom.

[1:00:42] Eila Mell: Well, he's not wrong. I said, you know what it is. We are all trying not to be full of poop.

[1:00:48] Laura Bell Bundy: That's right. That's right.

[1:00:51] Eila Mell: Do his theater friends when you're taking them to rehearsal, do they know that this is your business?

[1:00:58] Laura Bell Bundy: They didn't in the beginning.

[1:01:00] Laura Bell Bundy: Okay, so he has this little friend Sophie.

[1:01:03] Laura Bell Bundy: And we had group swimming lessons at our pool like two years ago.

[1:01:09] Laura Bell Bundy: And Sophie.

[1:01:12] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, like started to go I don't know I was playing with her in the pool. They were four.

[1:01:17] Laura Bell Bundy: And I started singing I think Little Mermaid with her, and then she was like, every time she came over she wanted to sing.

[1:01:26] Laura Bell Bundy: And then she was like, do you know this song and she sang like the fight song in its entirety.

[1:01:32] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, I'm perfect pitch and I looked at her mom and I was like, do you have this child in singing lessons?

[1:01:42] Laura Bell Bundy: I played. I was Lorna Bell Bundy on your mom. Yeah, yeah.

[1:01:49] Laura Bell Bundy: And she was like, well, she sings all the time so I can't get her to do a sport I can't do that I'm like, this child needs to be in theater.

[1:01:55] Laura Bell Bundy: So that's when I did good one myself. And now the mom knows, but it took it was a minute and then Sophie and her sister and Huck came to a show I did and now they know.

[1:02:08] Eila Mell: Yeah. But, but in the beginning I was just the mom that sang with her in the pool.

[1:02:14] Eila Mell: Now do you get extra street cred for being Glinda and wicked. I mean, okay.

[1:02:22] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, I didn't think so.

[1:02:24] Laura Bell Bundy: But so when I sing popular in mom I'm a big girl now. And so Huck now associates that that I was Glenn, and then we saw the wicked movie together and so now he's a mom that's your song.

[1:02:36] Laura Bell Bundy: So he's figured it out, right, even though he hasn't seen wicked on Broadway yet but that is coming. That's coming this year.

[1:02:44] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes, it's a must. He's at the age. And he says to me this year after the first week of school.

[1:02:52] Laura Bell Bundy: Um, mom.

[1:02:56] Laura Bell Bundy: One of my classmates is a fan of yours.

[1:03:01] Laura Bell Bundy: But I was like, how, like how, how is a six year old fan. Like how I just don't get it. I'm like thinking in my mind like, I don't think they would have seen Lele Blanc on YouTube, they wouldn't know much.

[1:03:14] Eila Mell: Right.

[1:03:15] Laura Bell Bundy: And the only thing I can think of is this, that the little girl came to school with a wicked something on. And my son was like, my mom is Glinda.

[1:03:28] Laura Bell Bundy: She may think you're Ariana Grande.

[1:03:31] Eila Mell: I know, I know. And, and she was like, well, he says he goes, Mom, I have this friend is a fan. And then he goes, when my friends found out who you were, I could feel my cool go up.

[1:03:46] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, that's hilarious. And I was like, Oh my god, this is great.

[1:03:56] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh my gosh. Wow.

[1:03:59] Laura Bell Bundy: But it had to have been. Because what else would have been a reason it had to have been so wicked.

[1:04:07] Laura Bell Bundy: I still don't know. And then I picked him up last week from school and he goes, that's the girl that's the fan of yours.

[1:04:15] Laura Bell Bundy: I kind of want to be like, Oh, right, you want to ask this little girl. How do you know me?

[1:04:23] Laura Bell Bundy: But how do you really know?

[1:04:26] Eila Mell: Right.

[1:04:29] Laura Bell Bundy: Because she might, but she might also be mistaken.

[1:04:33] Laura Bell Bundy: So I think she's mistaken.

[1:04:35] Laura Bell Bundy: But next time it comes up, you're gonna have to ask your son. How much did you tell him about me?

[1:04:42] Eila Mell: The best part is that your son thinks it's so cool. I love that.

[1:04:47] Laura Bell Bundy: It's really cute. And yeah, this kid is so privileged. He's like he doesn't like he is going to think you go backstage every time he goes to show.

[1:04:55] Laura Bell Bundy: Right. Because mom knows somebody and everything. I've got Jonathan Groff leaving messages for him.

[1:05:02] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, like as his as his character in Frozen. Yeah. Yep.

[1:05:08] Laura Bell Bundy: And then Huck leaving messages back. And then and then Adina's getting sent the messages and also leaving messages.

[1:05:17] Laura Bell Bundy: And he he's like, he got a message from Elsa, you know, and it was like, Oh, my God, he was in love with Elsa.

[1:05:23] Laura Bell Bundy: And then I'm like, but I can't, like, show him who Elsa really is. Right.

[1:05:28] Eila Mell: Now, does he know that Elsa? How do you know Elsa? And I'm like, Oh, he took a trip to Annandale.

[1:05:37] Laura Bell Bundy: You can't pop and bubble over over all. So he doesn't know that she's also Elphaba. He has no idea.

[1:05:44] Eila Mell: That's nice to keep some magic. Yeah, we got to keep the magic alive as long as you can.

[1:05:49] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, eventually magic. You have all of that. Yeah.

[1:05:54] Eila Mell: So other than obviously you said you're in the midst of creating this musical.

[1:05:59] Eila Mell: Other than that, and Romy, which clearly keeps you busy, anything else our listeners could be on the lookout for?

[1:06:05] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, we could have a Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now show coming to to you.

[1:06:11] Laura Bell Bundy: OK, we have a website which you can check out. And we just started to post about the shows that we have coming up in the next six months.

[1:06:18] Laura Bell Bundy: And I'll put that in the notes, too, so they can find it easy. I'm sure they can find it on all of your Instagrams.

[1:06:23] Eila Mell: Yes, all of our Instagrams. And then check out Not Suitable for Work on Hulu when it comes out.

[1:06:31] Laura Bell Bundy: Love it. Can't wait for that. And yeah, that's it.

[1:06:35] Eila Mell: All right. One final question, because I always wonder this. What is harder as an actor?

[1:06:40] Eila Mell: The pace of working on a soap and learning new pages every day or doing eight shows a week on Broadway, off Broadway?

[1:06:47] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, I know. Oh, that's tough.

[1:06:52] Laura Bell Bundy: Because the soap life is not for the weak at heart.

[1:06:55] Laura Bell Bundy: No, and they're underappreciated, too.

[1:06:57] Laura Bell Bundy: No, they really are. I got, like, the best training of my life having, like, 20 to 30 pages of dialogue to learn a day and then having to cry at a drop of a hat.

[1:07:07] Laura Bell Bundy: So I would say, like, in the morning, I hate waking up.

[1:07:12] Laura Bell Bundy: But what would be nice, if you're a mom, a soap would be easier. And if you are not a mom.

[1:07:20] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes.

[1:07:21] Laura Bell Bundy: Broadway, all right.

[1:07:23] Laura Bell Bundy: A week is easier.

[1:07:24] Laura Bell Bundy: Because the schedule is different. You have your weekends off.

[1:07:28] Eila Mell: Well, that's true. And do you know what time you're going to be done when you do a soap?

[1:07:32] Laura Bell Bundy: No, you can get a different call time every day, but you are in the same building in the same, very similar.

[1:07:40] Laura Bell Bundy: And you can get in and out. Like, I would sometimes, I'd be called at, like, 7 a.m. and I was wrapped by 11 a.m.

[1:07:45] Eila Mell: Oh, that's nice.

[1:07:46] Laura Bell Bundy: So sometimes it was easy for those folks to figure out how to have a family in those schedules.

[1:07:52] Eila Mell: Sure.

[1:07:53] Laura Bell Bundy: And Guiding Light was very family oriented. We all, like, everybody's kids were always around.

[1:07:57] Laura Bell Bundy: I'll tell you what's more fun, though.

[1:08:00] Eila Mell: What?

[1:08:01] Laura Bell Bundy: Eight shows a week.

[1:08:01] Eila Mell: Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, it's the camaraderie, right?

[1:08:04] Laura Bell Bundy: I mean, right now, I'm, like, my neck, my back.

[1:08:07] Eila Mell: Yep.

[1:08:08] Laura Bell Bundy: But you don't have that problem with a soap. You don't have the physical stuff.

[1:08:13] Laura Bell Bundy: But the lines and the mornings, that stuff.

[1:08:16] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[1:08:17] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah.

[1:08:18] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. But, again, great training.

[1:08:20] Laura Bell Bundy: Like, up until this time I did the soap when I was 18, everything I had done was, like, this big, campy comedy.

[1:08:31] Laura Bell Bundy: Right.

[1:08:33] Laura Bell Bundy: And even though we kind of think that soap has camp to it, too, right?

[1:08:38] Eila Mell: Sure.

[1:08:39] Laura Bell Bundy: But we're really trying to play the truth. It's dramatic. It's emotional. It's not about getting a laugh.

[1:08:46] Laura Bell Bundy: And I think that doing that, those things, that was such a good and important integration for me as an actor.

[1:08:55] Laura Bell Bundy: It is definitely the reason why roles like Glinda in the second act or Elle Woods having the stuff, the emotional stuff.

[1:09:04] Laura Bell Bundy: Or even the Romy. It's the reason why anything is ever grounded.

[1:09:08] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[1:09:09] Laura Bell Bundy: Right. Well, soaps are only campy because they really don't have the time or the money to make it look better.

[1:09:15] Eila Mell: Right.

[1:09:16] Laura Bell Bundy: So, you know, they're not intending to be over the top.

[1:09:20] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[1:09:21] Laura Bell Bundy: But this is fun.

[1:09:23] Eila Mell: You're amazing. We hope that you'll come back when you have something new and we think you're fantastic.

[1:09:29] Laura Bell Bundy: Thank you so much for joining us.

[1:09:31] Laura Bell Bundy: My pleasure.

[1:09:32] Eila Mell: And everyone, everyone run out, get your tickets to Romy and Michelle.

[1:09:35] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes.

[1:09:36] Eila Mell: At 842. Grab some friends, make it a night out.

[1:09:39] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, yeah.

[1:09:40] Eila Mell: And don't laugh and bring some Post-its with you.

[1:09:43] Laura Bell Bundy: Bring your bestie or your best gay.

[1:09:45] Eila Mell: That's right.

[1:09:46] Laura Bell Bundy: They'll both like it equally.

[1:09:48] Eila Mell: Absolutely.

[1:09:49] Eila Mell: And we will see everyone next time on Behind the Awards.

[1:09:51] Laura Bell Bundy: Bye-bye.

[1:09:53] Eila Mell: Bye-bye.