This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Andrew: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Glee.

[0:09] Andrew: There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me.

[0:18] Andrew: Glacket by Glacket, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one.

[0:26] Andrew: Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week. It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:35] Andrew: Hello! Before we get into this episode, this is a very, very fun episode. Can I just say that?

[0:41] Andrew: Featuring none other than Glee Project and Glee stars Samuel Larsen and Damian McGinty, having a little reunion. I had this idea not too long ago, and I was like, it would be fun to have an episode with those two as guests. And sure enough, it was a great time.

[1:00] Andrew: I will say, maybe the chillest episode of all time. I know that most episodes are like, gays and girls screaming. This is kind of the complete opposite of that.

[1:11] Andrew: It's just very, very chill vibes. A reunion of these two gorgeous, talented men.

[1:19] Andrew: There's a dog. There's only one competition in this episode. And it also features a song that y'all have been waiting to see in round three of the Glacket.

[1:30] Andrew: So stick around. It's a good time. And yeah, enjoy.

[1:35] Andrew: There he is. What's up? What's happening? What's going on, man? Jesus Christ, it's been a minute.

[1:44] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Yeah. You look great, man. I feel like you have not aged a day.

[1:51] Samuel Larsen: You neither, man. I feel like I just saw you last week.

[1:55] Damian McGinty: Yeah, I've aged a wee bit. I'm a bit more grey. I've got two kids now. So it's like, you know, life has happened.

[2:03] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. How's the family?

[2:10] Damian McGinty: Everybody's great. Yeah. It's an insane time. We had my son a couple of weeks ago. He came about a month early.

[2:15] Damian McGinty: So, yeah, it's been a bit of a stressful week. He was in the NICU and stuff. But he's out. He's home.

[2:22] Damian McGinty: So we've got two under two for a couple of months. And it's a blast.

[2:28] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. Loving it, man. Congratulations. Andrew, by the way. Hello.

[2:32] Andrew: Hello. This is what I wanted. So you guys can take it over.

[2:38] Samuel Larsen: This is great. Sam, how's life?

[2:43] Samuel Larsen: Good, man. Good. You still in L.A.?

[2:48] Damian McGinty: Still in L.A., yeah. Still in Hollywood. Still in the thick of it all. Just.

[2:52] Samuel Larsen: Are you in the same? You're not the same spot, are you?

[2:56] Damian McGinty: No, no, no, no. I'm in a different spot.

[2:59] Samuel Larsen: OK. I'm still in Hollywood, but like different, different spot.

[3:02] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Lived in like five spots since then, probably.

[3:04] Samuel Larsen: I've lived all over L.A. and I always end up back in Hollywood for some reason.

[3:12] Damian McGinty: Well, if you live in Hollywood, I think you're only cool people can pull off living in Hollywood itself.

[3:19] Samuel Larsen: When I was in L.A., I tried West Hollywood for a few years.

[3:25] Samuel Larsen: I find it like very fast paced, crazy.

[3:30] Samuel Larsen: And then I shipped off to the valley for about six or seven years.

[3:34] Samuel Larsen: And I much, much prefer the valley, to be honest with you.

[3:38] Damian McGinty: I really did. Over the hill, it's just like a bit quieter.

[3:42] Damian McGinty: You know, but then I came from Ireland, so I wasn't used to Hollywood was like, you know, quite literally very foreign to me.

[3:48] Samuel Larsen: So, I mean, it's definitely a very different since the pandemic.

[3:52] Samuel Larsen: It's definitely a lot quieter. And it's like, yeah, I'm sure I would.

[3:56] Samuel Larsen: I think I would like somewhere else better than here. It's just like all my friends are here.

[4:00] Samuel Larsen: Like my community's here, you know, but the life, but the life there.

[4:04] Andrew: Where are you at the moment?

[4:08] Samuel Larsen: I mean, I'm in Tennessee, in Nashville.

[4:10] Damian McGinty: Oh, very cool.

[4:15] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. So we moved here. We did during the pandemic.

[4:22] Samuel Larsen: Actually, we were, I got married in 20, I should know this, 2019.

[4:26] Samuel Larsen: And we moved to Huntington Beach for a couple of years. So I was down in Huntington Beach.

[4:30] Samuel Larsen: Loved it. It was a great place to live.

[4:34] Samuel Larsen: And then kind of in amongst all the action of the pandemic, multiple things, kind of L.A. slowing down, kind of recognizing that everything was going digital.

[4:43] Samuel Larsen: You can do most things from wherever you really, wherever you are, doesn't matter anymore.

[4:47] Samuel Larsen: You know, every tape, every audition now is a tape anyway.

[4:51] Samuel Larsen: Just, I don't know, just sort of recognize that being in L.A. there was less weight on that than what they're used to.

[4:57] Samuel Larsen: And then also we just, I mean, simple things.

[5:03] Samuel Larsen: We just like wanted a yard and we just couldn't do that in L.A.

[5:07] Damian McGinty: So we were, you know, Nashville people were not very happy because they were like, everyone's flying in from California.

[5:11] Samuel Larsen: And I was like, yeah, I was one of those people.

[5:16] Damian McGinty: So yeah.

[5:20] Damian McGinty: Nashville and in Texas as well.

[5:23] Damian McGinty: It's like, I swear if I went out there, I'd see all I'd see all these people.

[5:26] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[5:29] Samuel Larsen: You definitely would. Austin's like blown up in the last, I don't know, two, three years.

[5:33] Andrew: Well, I'm so excited to have you both.

[5:37] Andrew: I mean, like Damian, when I had this idea to bring you guys together for an episode, I didn't even realize that you were expecting a child so soon.

[5:41] Andrew: And then when you were like, oh, yeah, I could do it. I was like, oh, OK.

[5:45] Andrew: I mean, like he has so many things going on. I really appreciate you both making the time.

[5:49] Andrew: Thank you so much for this little Glee union.

[5:52] Andrew: When was the last time that you saw each other?

[5:58] Damian McGinty: When was it? I actually don't think I could tell you.

[6:03] Damian McGinty: I just don't think I could tell you. Are we saying over 10 years?

[6:07] Samuel Larsen: I don't know. It's this. I feel like me and Sam and a few of the others from that show.

[6:14] Samuel Larsen: It's this invisible but tangible connection.

[6:19] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. That no matter how long it goes, it feels like it has not been that long.

[6:27] Damian McGinty: And the connection will always be there because we had such a very specific, unique experience together that nobody else.

[6:36] Damian McGinty: I mean, what, 24? I don't know how many people were in season two, but also season one was just different in season two because we were the guinea pigs.

[6:46] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. I mean, they were making it up as they went along.

[6:52] Damian McGinty: You guys were like in the woods, right?

[6:55] Samuel Larsen: We were.

[6:57] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. Yeah. In Glendale, some campsite.

[7:00] Damian McGinty: Wild.

[7:01] Damian McGinty: And then I remember, I remember that we, I think, I think I've got this right.

[7:07] Damian McGinty: I remember when we heard that they had like glamorous accommodation shooting season two.

[7:15] Damian McGinty: And we were like, I'm sorry. We were like, I'm sorry.

[7:19] Damian McGinty: I mean, I'm not joking. I remember 2am in the morning, the work I had to put into a Glee project because I was like so much further behind than everybody else.

[7:26] Damian McGinty: 2am in the morning, I remember being in the field in the dark by myself rehearsing "Can't Touch This," the dance moves with an MP3 player.

[7:33] Damian McGinty: MP3 players were still a thing back in like 2011.

[7:39] Damian McGinty: Not really, but there was no money in this production, really.

[7:42] Damian McGinty: Yeah. So I was literally in the field in the middle of Glendale in the pitch black dark dancing by myself.

[7:50] Samuel Larsen: So no cameras caught that for obvious reasons.

[7:53] Damian McGinty: Yeah, that's that's all we had was that that MP3 player they gave us and they didn't want to have our phones or anything.

[8:00] Samuel Larsen: And in season two, they were like on their phones more and they were more interactive and were like, we had it so much worse.

[8:06] Damian McGinty: We were.

[8:07] Damian McGinty: Yeah, I wouldn't change it, though.

[8:12] Andrew: Do you remember the first time that y'all met each other or the other contestants for the first time?

[8:17] Samuel Larsen: Did we meet when it was like in that big we met in that big gymnasium when they had like thousands of people still.

[8:24] Damian McGinty: Right. Long Beach.

[8:29] Samuel Larsen: Right. Long Beach. Yeah, I don't.

[8:33] Samuel Larsen: That would've been early January. Right. I think.

[8:38] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, I think we had met there.

[8:41] Damian McGinty: I don't think we like became friends yet, but we definitely became aware of each other there.

[8:47] Samuel Larsen: No, I mean, it's you know, it's pretty funny.

[8:49] Samuel Larsen: Me and Sam became really good friends and could always could always shoot it straight during that experience.

[8:55] Samuel Larsen: We always had that in common.

[8:58] Samuel Larsen: However, at the very sort of beginning of the process, sort of the last two people that you would really expect to like be homies was probably me and Sam.

[9:05] Samuel Larsen: It was like this Irish guy flies in having no idea what's going on, like so different than everybody else.

[9:10] Samuel Larsen: And then there's this like incredibly cool and I was the opposite of cool.

[9:17] Samuel Larsen: There was this incredibly cool guy with like dreadlocks who could like sing really well, play guitar.

[9:22] Samuel Larsen: He had charisma, you know, just kind of really kind of everything that I wasn't, you know, we were real opposites.

[9:26] Damian McGinty: But we became surprisingly really good friends very, very quickly.

[9:30] Samuel Larsen: Well, I think it's because we had so much respect for each other's not just each other's talent, but each other's attitude.

[9:35] Samuel Larsen: Like I always was a fan of your humility. I was like, if this guy gets it, he can handle it.

[9:40] Samuel Larsen: He won't be better than everyone about it. He'll be really humble about it.

[9:44] Samuel Larsen: And plus, we had our own lanes so well that we weren't like stepping on each other's toes.

[9:49] Damian McGinty: We could just, you know, get on.

[9:52] Damian McGinty: Right.

[9:53] Damian McGinty: That's for sure.

[9:54] Damian McGinty: We were so different that it made it very easily to like compartmentalize what we would be on the show.

[10:00] Damian McGinty: Like what you like, I could do a role that you wouldn't be able to do and vice versa.

[10:05] Damian McGinty: So there was kind of no point in being competitive between me and Sam because it was just like, I mean, listen, you either like this really well cooked, baked pizza that's like really thick and doughy.

[10:21] Damian McGinty: And that's probably Sam. Or you like this like medium rare burger with like a little bit of cheese.

[10:27] Damian McGinty: But that's about it. And that's probably me.

[10:31] Samuel Larsen: This is the humility I was talking about.

[10:33] Samuel Larsen: But I mean, it's true, you know, so like I think that was kind of that was kind of our places.

[10:37] Samuel Larsen: So, yeah.

[10:38] Samuel Larsen: I mean, like it's such young ages.

[10:42] Samuel Larsen: You yourselves were on this this reality TV show programs as yourself, like letting yourself all out there.

[10:48] Samuel Larsen: Also in front of Ryan Murphy, who is such an enigma to so many people.

[10:54] Andrew: What was your relationship like with Ryan during that entire experience?

[10:59] Samuel Larsen: Respectfully, Damian, you got a rapport with him a lot, a lot sooner than I did.

[11:05] Damian McGinty: Yeah, but for reasons that I wish hadn't happened, that was in the bottom three a lot.

[11:09] Samuel Larsen: Oh, yeah.

[11:10] Damian McGinty: But he fell in love with you for like the "I wish I was Jesse's girl."

[11:13] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, that like worked in your favor.

[11:19] Damian McGinty: Yeah, it did work in my favor.

[11:22] Damian McGinty: In hindsight, you know, hindsight on the whole thing ended up being something.

[11:27] Damian McGinty: Hindsight's a weird thing, isn't it really? Because like, you know, when the show was airing, I only recognized then that the audience watching it were going to get to know me very quickly.

[11:40] Damian McGinty: Because again, for reasons that I didn't love, for reasons that I wouldn't have chosen, I would have chosen Samuel's path every single time.

[11:49] Damian McGinty: But like the audience got to know me incredibly quickly because I was on their screen a lot.

[11:54] Damian McGinty: Because I was in the bottom three a lot.

[11:59] Samuel Larsen: So it was the same thing with Ryan.

[12:01] Samuel Larsen: You know, I seen Ryan a lot.

[12:04] Samuel Larsen: Ryan seen a lot of me.

[12:08] Samuel Larsen: And sort of I was able to show him a lot of different colors and parts of my personality.

[12:12] Samuel Larsen: And he just, yeah, I guess he just got to know me very quickly.

[12:17] Damian McGinty: But again, you know, I wouldn't have chosen that path initially.

[12:24] Damian McGinty: But in a weird way, it definitely worked out pretty good.

[12:27] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, I think because he had seen you so much.

[12:30] Samuel Larsen: I remember us watching you and being like, because you got so much one-on-one time with Ryan, all of a sudden he just fell in love with you.

[12:33] Samuel Larsen: And we were like, how did going to the bottom three so much just work out so well?

[12:38] Samuel Larsen: Like now he just loves you. We were like, that worked out beautifully.

[12:42] Damian McGinty: Because Sammy, you weren't in the bottom three until the very end, right?

[12:46] Samuel Larsen: I was the last one to get to the bottom three.

[12:49] Damian McGinty: Yeah, yeah.

[12:50] Samuel Larsen: Were you ever in the bottom three?

[12:52] Damian McGinty: I had, but I was.

[12:56] Damian McGinty: I was.

[12:57] Damian McGinty: It just it was like towards the end.

[13:00] Damian McGinty: But I was a bit strategic about it because I was like, I had just done American Idol.

[13:03] Damian McGinty: So I was very like, I can't just keep doing reality shows.

[13:07] Samuel Larsen: So I like, well, that was that's what was funny.

[13:09] Samuel Larsen: Like we both had our past experiences.

[13:12] Samuel Larsen: I just come from American Idol.

[13:15] Samuel Larsen: And you I remember we we broke off one weekend to go to the mall when we could finally consume some outside material.

[13:18] Samuel Larsen: And there you were with Celtic Thunder in Rolling Stone magazine.

[13:22] Damian McGinty: And we were like casual. You're already there. You're already there.

[13:28] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. You know, I was really cool.

[13:30] Damian McGinty: Yeah, that that was that was a bit weird for me because I felt like and I totally understand like this aspect and this perspective on it.

[13:42] Damian McGinty: There was moments in that experience that I felt like people were looking at me being like, why are you here?

[13:45] Damian McGinty: Like you've already you've already got a career.

[13:50] Damian McGinty: Like the 11 of us don't like we're not professionals.

[13:54] Damian McGinty: You've like played Radio City twice and you're 18 years old.

[13:59] Damian McGinty: Like why and why on earth are you in this TV show?

[14:03] Damian McGinty: So like I understand that aspect, but the way that I kind of it was, you know, it was kind of it was a risk and a chance on my part because I did already have a somewhat of a profile, not like overly big at all.

[14:17] Damian McGinty: But like, you know, there was people that like my music and came to the shows and so it felt like a bit of a gamble because I was taking away the professional shine and being like really vulnerable and having everything stripped back on a TV show and immediately like being in the bottom three and being like, oh these guys.

[14:38] Samuel Larsen: You're actually way better than me.

[14:40] Damian McGinty: Even though I'm the professional.

[14:41] Samuel Larsen: I just remember us asking you about that, being like, you're already in the magazine doing this.

[14:44] Damian McGinty: And you're like, but who doesn't want to be on Glee? Of course I'm here! Who wouldn't want to be on the show?

[14:50] Samuel Larsen: And we're like, yeah of course. Did you find it to be different between like yourselves and the other cast members on Glee?

[14:55] Damian McGinty: That it's like you guys were known as yourselves first. You know, where everybody was like, oh I really like Samuel and Damien on the Glee Project, we got to know you.

[15:07] Samuel Larsen: And then you became characters. Whereas, we're meeting Rachel and Finn and Quinn first.

[15:14] Damian McGinty: I still feel like that now. Sometimes when people are like, you're from Glee Project. All I can think is like, oh man you've totally seen me cry as a teenager. Not in character, just like as a real person.

[15:24] Samuel Larsen: Right.

[15:25] Damian McGinty: Yeah, definitely a bit weird having them get to know the real you first.

[15:30] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[15:31] Damian McGinty: Because they were asking a lot in those music videos to be like, hey let's open up some wounds before we shoot this music video.

[15:39] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[15:41] Damian McGinty: Yeah, I remember the vulnerability week being like particularly uncomfortable for me.

[15:49] Samuel Larsen: I think it was me and Cameron at the time. Because as soon as we seen that theme come in the door within 30 minutes, whenever like we were off camera me and Cameron looked at each other and were like we're definitely bottom three this week.

[16:04] Damian McGinty: That's my dog by the way.

[16:04] Samuel Larsen: We're definitely bottom three this week.

[16:07] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[16:08] Samuel Larsen: Just because everybody else had such a hook.

[16:13] Damian McGinty: And I feel like I really didn't. I think my word was like numb or something. I don't know because honestly I was just like an ordinary dude.

[16:23] Samuel Larsen: I didn't feel like many insecurities at the time in my life. I really didn't. I was very comfortable in my own skin and like happy to be part of the show and happy to be doing it without feeling like I don't know any particular like weakness about myself or my personality I guess.

[16:45] Damian McGinty: So that was, I remember that being like really hard and feeling again, feeling like maybe I shouldn't be here because all these people have like I mean some of the stories that were coming out about what people have been through and how relatable that was for hundreds of thousands of people watching the show.

[17:04] Samuel Larsen: And then I sort of felt like well it's just me. I mean I kind of like who I am. I don't apologize for it. It is what it is. It's me. It's all I've got. I'm going to live it.

[17:15] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[17:16] Samuel Larsen: Damien, I feel like it was like recent knowledge where you revealed with Kevin and Jenna that your decision to actually leave at the end of the third season of Glee and that was information that I wasn't aware of. Talk more about that decision.

[17:31] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Me personally, I don't know Samuel's story about this at all. Samuel was in season four, weren't you?

[17:39] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[17:40] Damian McGinty: Me personally, it wasn't necessarily as black and white as me picking up a phone call and like turning it down. Like it didn't quite play out like that.

[17:53] Samuel Larsen: But what I would say is that it was clearly headed into a direction that I did not sign up for, that I did not want.

[18:04] Damian McGinty: You know, I always say that like I'm the sort of performer that I don't really care like what you pay me. I want to do what I love to do. I really just don't care what show it is.

[18:17] Samuel Larsen: I don't want to sit in a choir room and just be a part of things but not really be a part of things. That's just not me.

[18:25] Damian McGinty: And it doesn't matter if that's what you do like or if that's what you do want to do. Just personally speaking, I didn't want to do that.

[18:32] Samuel Larsen: You don't want to be the last to leave the party.

[18:34] Damian McGinty: I just didn't want to. And I was like, listen, I've done like 20 episodes. You know, if you had said to me like, hey, here's a full-time contract and like you're going to be one of the main guys, I would have been like, yeah, honestly.

[18:47] Samuel Larsen: But at the time, I don't think I was probably capable of being one of the main guys.

[18:51] Damian McGinty: My acting, I don't think, would have carried a show like that during that period of my life.

[18:57] Samuel Larsen: So, you know, it was kind of this conversation where I was just like, let's just call it a good thing and let's just charge on from here.

[19:10] Damian McGinty: You know, let's just kind of go. And I didn't have that conversation with like Samuel, for example, because I knew Samuel was probably having similar conversations.

[19:16] Samuel Larsen: So, I mean, I'm curious about like what his experience looked like on that.

[19:19] Damian McGinty: I mean, for me, it was like, yeah, because you started season, what episode did you start season three?

[19:25] Samuel Larsen: Episode four.

[19:26] Damian McGinty: Episode four. It was hilarious because we won at the same time.

[19:30] Samuel Larsen: But by the time I joined, it was like, what, what episode 14? You'd already been to parties with everyone and knew everyone.

[19:37] Damian McGinty: I was like, yeah, I was like, I just got here.

[19:41] Samuel Larsen: It felt forever.

[19:42] Damian McGinty: Yeah. It really felt like such a long time.

[19:45] Samuel Larsen: And I, yeah, that, I felt sad for Samuel in that sense, to be honest, because, I mean, it ended up turning out great and turning out the way it's meant to turn out.

[19:56] Damian McGinty: But just like when I was working August through like January, February, six months, you know, I talked to Sam like every other week and he'd be, you know, just, has there been any mention of like when this is going to happen?

[20:09] Samuel Larsen: I'm just like, honestly, no, like I haven't heard a thing.

[20:13] Damian McGinty: And it was just like this weird gray area for you, which had to have been difficult because like, what are you meant to do here?

[20:19] Samuel Larsen: Were you like, how were you like paying rent?

[20:21] Damian McGinty: Well, I'll be honest. I mean, this is fun to look. So I remember calling Robert like all the time just being like, did you guys change your mind? Did something happen? Like, it's okay. Just let me know.

[20:34] Samuel Larsen: And they were like, no, no, no, we're just waiting for the perfect time.

[20:39] Damian McGinty: And I remember I was like, I'm going broke over here. Like, because it's, you know, what is that?

[20:45] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, you're right.

[20:46] Damian McGinty: And apparently I was supposed to start by like episode 10 or 11. So they owed me like three episodes of pay that I never had to film.

[20:56] Samuel Larsen: So that was a great day.

[20:57] Damian McGinty: They were just like, yeah, that was great.

[21:01] Samuel Larsen: But I think by the end of season three, like I really loved what they did with my character in season three.

[21:07] Damian McGinty: I had a lot to say, a lot of really good things to stand up for, a lot of good connections.

[21:11] Samuel Larsen: And then there was the hiatus after season three.

[21:14] Damian McGinty: And I'm like, wait, we're waiting to hear from regulars or not.

[21:18] Samuel Larsen: And then Fox calls and they're like, we're not picking you up.

[21:21] Damian McGinty: So I start just bawling.

[21:23] Samuel Larsen: And then I call and then my agent calls me and she's like, congratulations, you're going to be back as a guest.

[21:28] Damian McGinty: And I'm just, it's just like a whirlwind. I'm just going back and forth.

[21:33] Samuel Larsen: Like I thought I wasn't on, now I am on.

[21:36] Damian McGinty: And then I remember you calling me and I think you were the one that told me that you were like, I'm not going back.

[21:41] Samuel Larsen: And you were like, are you going back?

[21:44] Damian McGinty: And I was like, I'm going to go back.

[21:46] Samuel Larsen: And then season four for me was like, yeah, that's, I had some cool songs, but yeah, for the most part, like I wasn't, I didn't have a juicy storyline anymore.

[21:56] Damian McGinty: And you know, you're 21 years old and you're like, I want to do the thing.

[22:00] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[22:01] Damian McGinty: You know, of course you want to do, you want to do what you're watching every day.

[22:05] Samuel Larsen: And you're watching everyone around you do it.

[22:07] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[22:08] Samuel Larsen: I remember seeing Darren do stuff and I'm like, I can do that. Send me to do that. Put me in coach.

[22:13] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[22:14] Samuel Larsen: But also like, you know, in hindsight, again, it's like, yeah, but these people had such a strong gravity with millions of people around the world as well.

[22:24] Damian McGinty: You know, like we, like there was never going to be a world where, where we came in, for example, unlike Darren have like 30% less screen time because, oh, they've got to fit Damien and Samuel.

[22:39] Samuel Larsen: Like, that's just not the way the world works.

[22:41] Damian McGinty: That's like not the way people consume in the show work.

[22:43] Samuel Larsen: So that kind of worked against this.

[22:45] Damian McGinty: The fact that it was like mid to late season three or whatever and kind of a five or six year show.

[22:50] Samuel Larsen: Um, it would have been ideal world.

[22:52] Damian McGinty: Uh, I'm not complaining because it all was amazing, but like ideal world, you'd love to be going into a show like this kind of with the original cast, you know, that's, that's like, that's like the dream.

[23:06] Samuel Larsen: So you can get to distinguish yourself.

[23:08] Damian McGinty: You can get to learn with everybody else, you know, because I think my world would have looked very different.

[23:12] Samuel Larsen: Probably Samuel's as well.

[23:16] Damian McGinty: If we did start in season one with the rest of the cast.

[23:19] Samuel Larsen: Um, I feel like I personally speaking would have been like able to learn my craft with them at that point.

[23:25] Damian McGinty: Um, because a lot of them starting out as well were very, um, some of them were inexperienced and hadn't acted a bunch and all these different things.

[23:35] Samuel Larsen: So like you would have had a chance to kind of ride the wave of the show and grow with it.

[23:40] Damian McGinty: Whereas we went into like this animal.

[23:42] Samuel Larsen: They just finished a tour.

[23:44] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[23:45] Samuel Larsen: They were the biggest show on TV.

[23:46] Damian McGinty: They'd already sang for the president.

[23:49] Samuel Larsen: Like, yeah, signed for the president and we've got to go in there and like be on par with that immediately.

[23:56] Damian McGinty: Um, which is challenging as well.

[23:58] Samuel Larsen: We were definitely guests in someone else's house, but they were super welcoming.

[24:03] Damian McGinty: I mean, they were super, super welcoming to both of us.

[24:07] Samuel Larsen: It was a nice house.

[24:10] Damian McGinty: Yeah. You just, I haven't heard from those two guys in a while and they're kind of filling space and I know what they can do.

[24:16] Samuel Larsen: I mean, two of the best voices on the series for sure.

[24:20] Damian McGinty: I mean, Samuel, you mentioned you got some good songs in season four.

[24:27] Samuel Larsen: I'm thinking about three in particular, the Britney cover, which is incredible.

[24:30] Damian McGinty: You did a Britney cover?

[24:33] Samuel Larsen: What was the Britney cover?

[24:38] Damian McGinty: Three, three.

[24:41] Samuel Larsen: Not only you and me, got 180. And I'm caught in between.

[24:46] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[24:47] Samuel Larsen: I mean, you could do it better than I can.

[24:50] Damian McGinty: I thought that was pretty good to be honest.

[24:52] Samuel Larsen: I know, Andrew. That was pretty solid.

[24:56] Damian McGinty: Oh, thank you, thank you. It's so, so good. I really, really love that cover and the Gleeks really love it too.

[25:06] Samuel Larsen: I have a question for Samuel. I mean, back to, because I had experienced that towards the latter part of season three.

[25:15] Damian McGinty: Right.

[25:16] Samuel Larsen: And I remember it like slowly killing my soul and being like this.

[25:20] Damian McGinty: I, and that was why it was kind of, it was fine, you know, like when we were talking about season four, it was fine that like, that I wasn't going to do it because I was like, I mean, let's be honest, I wasn't going to do it anymore off camera, but I had to play him all the time and that's how people knew me.

[26:10] Samuel Larsen: So I was like, I couldn't wait to cut my hair off.

[26:12] Damian McGinty: I couldn't wait to like be myself.

[26:14] Samuel Larsen: And at the time I was like, I mean, I was like, I'm hot shit, like everyone's going to want me. This is going to be easy.

[26:20] Damian McGinty: I didn't think it was going to be one week I'm in the episode and then three weeks goes by nothing and all of a sudden they're like, hey, they're bringing a script to your house.

[26:30] Samuel Larsen: I'm like, I'm in the next one.

[26:31] Damian McGinty: I guess I'm still in.

[26:33] Samuel Larsen: And there was this one script where like I had a big moment, like they were going to put me on this harness on the stage and like lift me up above everyone.

[27:06] Damian McGinty: I was going to die.

[27:09] Samuel Larsen: And that's when I was like, OK, I need to know more about this.

[27:12] Damian McGinty: This angel perform.

[27:18] Samuel Larsen: What was the performance? You recall?

[27:21] Damian McGinty: I don't. I don't quite remember. Maybe part of me blocked it out or something, but it was incredibly exciting.

[27:28] Samuel Larsen: Like I was definitely like the main person of this number and then they just cut it out.

[27:36] Damian McGinty: And I think that's, you know, no looking at it with a sort of older or I don't know, just a slightly older head on me.

[27:46] Samuel Larsen: I feel like that's not very fair.

[27:51] Damian McGinty: You know, like I think there's an element of that that like you're not really looking after your young cast members there because that's tough to stomach.

[28:03] Samuel Larsen: You know, that's sort of waiting weeks, like, get a moment and then, oh, wait a second. I have a moment that 40 hours later the moment's gone.

[28:13] Damian McGinty: It's like, you know, like, come on. I feel like we can do a little better than that, right?

[28:20] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[28:22] Damian McGinty: I mean, it's tough. I sometimes have to put like even just nowadays, like even ever since then, I have to put myself in the shoes of like the producer of the showrunner of course.

[28:36] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, it would have been great.

[28:39] Damian McGinty: But like you said, in hindsight, it all works out the way it's supposed to.

[28:43] Samuel Larsen: You know, like even like talking to like Ali Stroker, who only was in one episode of the show.

[28:51] Damian McGinty: It's like, yeah, like she said that she would like to come back, you know, but it's like there's hundreds of characters on this show that they're trying to work at.

[29:04] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, it would have been nicer to see.

[29:07] Damian McGinty: It's the nature of life as well.

[29:11] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[29:12] Damian McGinty: It's like, listen, you have one aim in your life, one target, you get there.

[29:16] Samuel Larsen: And then when you get there, you're like, oh, the view's pretty good from here. But from here, but honestly, it's gonna be better from like here, you know, and then when you get here, you're like, oh, the view's good. Like, yeah, the red wine is really, really tasty. But like, I want like this red wine up here, this $100 bottle, that's the wine I want. So every time you get somewhere, like aka getting on a show like Glee, aka it's the performer in you that's like, okay, yeah, I'm here. But now what? Like, I want to be the best that I can be. I want to be such an asset to the show that they like, are begging me to stay there. I mean, they're on the phone, and they're like talking to my agent. They're like, listen, yeah, this guy is making an impact. We want him around. And we want more reasons to write for him than like, you know, reasons to not. So that's kind of human nature as well.

[30:08] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Well, we are going to watch two performances from the hit Fox show Glee. Put them head to head, take a trip down memory lane, put them head to head. And then with your help, we'll decide which song is going forward on the Glackett. So the Glackett, the Glee song bracket. I'm pulling up song number one, which is a fan favorite that you are both involved in.

[30:40] Samuel Larsen: Paradise by the Dashboard Light.

[30:42] Damian McGinty: God, that arrangement is good. Like the last 20 seconds of that. I'm like bobbing along. That is so good. Yeah, that is a banger. By the way, that's like, that's like the editing of like, I don't know, like a 13 hour day of us doing that over and over and over. What memories come up when you think about that performance?

[31:01] Samuel Larsen: I don't remember much.

[31:04] Damian McGinty: Hey, so bizarre. But like, I watched that and I haven't seen that particular performance. I maybe ever.

[31:14] Samuel Larsen: I specifically remember, I remember, because Corey, Corey's always been great at those high notes. And I remember him. I remember him being like, dude, those high notes are no problem. It's not a problem for me. And Corey being like, yeah, but how high before it starts sounding weird? You know what I mean? No, it's like, no, it's not a problem. Like the funny thing is with Corey, like he was such a good singer and he like he did not claim to be a singer at all.

[31:40] Damian McGinty: Yeah. He like every time you spoke to him about it, like he he he just did not see himself as a singer. He didn't see himself as a singer, but he's like, but I know how to get away with it. Like I know how to hit high notes. And like, do you remember his do you remember his vibrato trick? Dude, ridiculous. He was just like, just hold a fist. And that's how you get that going. That's what he would do. And I was like, it sounds great. Cool, man. But you're right. Like his range is just endless. Like he could every every every duet with Leah. He more than held his own. Like he's way he's always way up there making it look easy. And it's like and then you and I are like, oh, yeah, we're singers. And we're like, but that's really hard.

[32:23] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, something about him not taking it so seriously, I think helped him just just I know, you know, true. Less fear, maybe. But yeah, that performance, I genuinely haven't seen that. Was that nationals region? What was that?

[32:34] Damian McGinty: That was nationals. Toward the end of season three. I would say competition. Yeah, I did. I would say I don't know what you said. I don't think I've seen that since, like the screening. No, that is not a video that I remember. Did we shoot that? Did we shoot that at Paramount? Or was that when we went to a different school and use their theater? Long Beach? I think it was Parliament. I think it was Parliament. It was not in like the McKinley high kind of auditorium. No, there was like a different theater. We had gone to one time for something else. I think they used to Yeah, they used to set up a long beach set in Parliament as well. That's right. So I think it was Parliament. I just yeah, I bet that was just that's so much choreography. So many so much blocking. Y'all did that. It was fun. I mean, I remember having a ton of fun for sure.

[33:26] Samuel Larsen: It looked like fun, but a lot of work as well. And Damian, you mentioned Leah. I feel like I saw recently that did you run into like Leah at the airport or something? Wait, can you tell that story?

[33:38] Damian McGinty: Yeah, it was so random. And we were, I want to say we were in Miami, I think. This is not that long ago, a few months ago. And yeah, I was checking in with my wife and daughter. She was with her husband and her child. And we I mean, we the definition of like, six degrees of separation, we literally run into each other. She was like, Oh my god, Damian. And I was like, Oh my god, Leah. And I was like, like, how is this? She says that you're so skinny. Because I just I've lost the like the baby fat I had on the show. Well, I also gained a little weight on the show. But like the baby fat I had on the show. I was like, I think I was 19 or 20. And I was just a little more chunky. But yeah, she it was great catching up with her.

She was she's she's doing really well. You know, me and me and Leah always just had like a really kind of friendly relationship. She was like, just always really good to me on set. So yeah, it was great to like meet her kid and her husband and vice versa. She met my daughter and my wife and we went on our separate ways.

[34:59] Samuel Larsen: I love that.

[35:06] Samuel Larsen: I know that you're still in LA, a number of the cast is still in LA as well. Do you run into anybody over the years?

[35:13] Damian McGinty: A few months ago, I ran into Vanessa two different times in like the same week we saw each other. Over in Venice, I saw her two different times. And then I think the only other time I've really seen everyone was we did. We did we did the strike at where were we I think we were at Universal. But yeah, a bunch of people from from the show were there then. Yeah, that was a trip.

[35:33] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. Yeah, it is interesting because it's like, I feel so many different compartments of how I feel about everyone on the show. It's like, there's the part of me that's just a huge fan of theirs. Like, irrespective of if I was there or not, like, just remembers before even being there being such a big fan. And then being like a guest that doesn't that doesn't want to tell them that because I don't want to like ruin like my peers situation with them. I don't want to like put myself below them too much. So there's like a weird balancing act there. I think my move was always just to be quiet. It was just to stay quiet and have all these feelings inside of me and not know which one to go with. But I just really admired them. It was just I just always felt so lucky to be there.

[36:31] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Because it's something I'm like, I'm filming something I was going to watch anyway, you know, right, which is really cool. So yeah, yeah. Going into what is against Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Here is its competitor. This is cool. I forgot. I forgot about some of the stuff we've done here. Like, hey, we could do this all day if we want to. I have them all. Here we go. The song here is Homeward Bound Home.

[36:49] Samuel Larsen: Another great arrangement. Beautiful. Diana in the performance. I feel like I've been watching I've been watching a lot of interviews, throwback interviews of the two of you before you were even on the on the series after Glee Project. And you were both talking about how you were like, I want to work with Diana. I want to work with Diana. Samuel, you got to work very closely with Diana. Very curious. Always love to ask people if they have any like fun Diana stories.

[37:23] Samuel Larsen: Oh, man. Yeah. I mean, working with Diana was a dream come true. I obviously both me and Damian on Glee Project were like, I want to work with Diana. I want to work with Diana. So I felt I did feel like a bit of a win when I when I got to work with her a little bit. I did feel that. But then her and I just became super good friends. And she became sort of like an anchor for me with this huge cast because all of a sudden everyone would go home and we would just have our scenes to do. And it was like so much so much so nice to just have one on one time with one person and not have to like make sure I'm fitting in with everyone. It was just like, oh, we can just be ourselves and we need to go to like an intimate place anyway. And she was a very safe person to do that with and a lovely person and really proud of some of those scenes we did together.

[38:20] Damian McGinty: Yeah, I think she's she's awesome. Yeah, I don't I don't think I've met a person that has anything bad to say about that. That's my most beautiful woman alive.

[38:25] Samuel Larsen: Really? You're saying very, very graceful, very kind, very soft, but also has a personality as well, like knows it. Silly good girl.

[38:34] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Yeah, big fan.

[38:42] Samuel Larsen: Also in this performance, I really love what both of you shared on Kevin and Jenna's podcast about these lunches with Corey that that you guys had. Watching those videos, it just always kind of makes me feel a little philosophical and because I think, you know, for me and Sam, not certainly not speaking for Sam, but for me and Sam, just knowing these people as human beings and what happened, what has happened since makes it a bit harder to watch some of those performances, to be honest with you. But Corey was just a kind soul, gentle giant, great guy. I feel like Sam, I feel like you developed a really good relationship with him as well, like season four, didn't you? Like you guys were.

[39:34] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, we became it's I say this older now, like I'm not as proud of it. Like we were we smoked cigarettes the most consistently and he was the one that like got he was like, dude, if we tell crafty, they'll get his cigarettes. We don't even have to buy them. So we were always the only two outside taking smoke breaks. So there was a lot of time for us to, you know, just be us. But also like I know he did this with you. He did this with me. I saw him do this with Blake where he was just always the first one to come up, especially to the new guys and just be like, hey, you're a TV star now. Welcome. Like very much like you're fine. Like how we're friends. How can I make you comfortable? Like, you know, be comfortable with us. You're good. Very, very good at that. You know, and you're like, he knows he's the head guy and you're getting the approval of him. And you're like, if I have his approval, my nervous system can calm down for sure. You know?

[40:26] Damian McGinty: Yeah. Yeah. I thank him for that. That was because I know he did that with you and I saw him do it countless times and it really it really does help. You know, it's yeah. I one of the first days I was on set. I finished the scene with him and I really that is my my dog is not happy. I had a really big day. I had a lot of big scenes and the day finished with a scene with just me and Corey and then we were walking back to the traders afterwards and he just made me feel 10 feet tall. He was just like, he's just like, well, he's just like, you know, get ready for this. Just like give me good advice and like talking to me about like his life and you know, what that had looked like, the struggles, the positives, the lows, all the sort of thing just made it very human.

I was just really telling me that like, you've been through a process you as Samuel just said, you belong here, you know, and I just sort of I remember walking back and like everything was so new and like I was truly like a kid with like eyes wide opened. So amazed by everything and a little it was a little daunting, the whole thing and he just made me feel 10 feet tall.

[41:40] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, that's so incredible to me because I mean, you were already you mentioned earlier that you've already done Radio City that you were already in Rolling Stones that like you were still getting nervous about, you know, being on this show.

[41:50] Damian McGinty: No, it was just a very different vehicle. It was a very different environment. I think it was you can't compare it to many other things because of the juggernaut that was Glee that was the show that was the experience that what these people had already been through by the time like me and Samuel got there. There was so many layers and levels of nuance with these people and the whole thing that it was just different. It was just different. It was it was tough. It was great. It was fantastic. But it was also like really, I find it really, really challenging at times. I really did. And then the level of fame that came with it, like it's just not my bag, you know, like, yeah, personally, the level of fame that came with the Glee project in general.

I feel like Samuel got it really bad is because he had the dreadlocks. So it was like, if you had any standout features, such as Cameron Mitchell being six and a half foot tall, wearing glasses, or if you're Samuel Larson with dreadlocks, you can get picked out of a crowd very easily. And I feel like those two in particular, like, got a lot of the fame sort of attention because they were so easy to pick out of a crowd of 100 people. It was like, wait a second, guy dreadlocks. Wait, Samuel Larson, the Glee project. When I was with him, I feel like that happened all the time. And personally speaking, I just like didn't enjoy that aspect of it personally. But, you know, I like to do my job and do what I love to do.

And it's nice to be noticed, I guess, and recognized for it. But at the same time, it's like, you know, it's an aspect that I don't necessarily like love at a level that happens every two minutes, you know?

[43:52] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. I'm part of your The Street Team Facebook group.

[43:55] Damian McGinty: You have some very loyal fans. They're very, very sweet.

[43:59] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. Honestly, Andrea, I feel very, very lucky. I've carried people through my career since I was 14. And for whatever reason, I'm grateful, but I'll not second guess them why, but they've stuck with me the whole way. And they come to gigs, they listen to the music. I just think it's the sweetest thing in the world. I remember one post in particular that my car broke down. Can anybody drive me? And then they were to the Damian concert that night, and they were like, Oh, yeah, I can come pick you up.

[44:36] Damian McGinty: Fans helping fans.

[44:37] Samuel Larsen: I know. Unbelievable.

[44:41] Damian McGinty: I mean, absolutely. I think Samuel can probably attest to this. One of the best things about this is when you're... First of all, there's nothing more important in your career than A, your craft, and then B, your immediate community of supporters and fans that listen to your music, that come to the shows. Everything else outside of that is important, but it's also noise. You've got to take care of the people that take care of you. And these people take care of each other. It's literally a community of people helping each other out, being kind, being nice, sharing stories, have become friends. It's pretty special. It's pretty special.

[45:20] Samuel Larsen: There are a number of Samuel Larson fan pages that follow the podcast that are always in my ear about like, when is he going to come back on? We need more Samuel. So it's for both of y'all.

[45:32] Damian McGinty: It's happening. It's happening now.

[45:33] Samuel Larsen: It's happening right now.

[45:37] Damian McGinty: I have a question. In season four, did you have the dreadlocks or no?

[45:41] Samuel Larsen: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I still I always have my dreadlocks. And I remember I kept like, man, I had so many ideas when I heard that when I heard that Quinn was going to come back like all punk rock for season four. I was like, guys, I have a great idea. So I shaved my head and I'm wearing a leather jacket. We're punk rock together. And they're like, no, Samuel, no. And then like towards the end, I'm like, guys, I was just thinking like, what if what if I cut off my hair like I just was so I had my dreadlocks for like eight years at this point. I was like it was they were getting so long and I was like, I don't think it's me anymore. And I remember asking Brad Falchuk if I could cut them off at the end of season four.

And one day he was like, yeah, no problem. Go for it. And I was like, yes. And then I remember looking at Chris and I was like, oh, no, maybe. Oh, no, maybe this doesn't. Maybe this is a bad thing. Maybe this means I'm not coming back. And I didn't. But but like I said at the time, I was like, this is fine. Like I felt like my life was just about to begin. Like this was phase one. This is my first big acting job. Like, it's all coming up now, you know.

[46:49] Damian McGinty: So when you came back, because you did the final episode, right?

[46:57] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, yeah. Were you did you have this hair then? Or did you have the dreads?

[46:57] Damian McGinty: I had cut my hair then.

[47:05] Samuel Larsen: How was that? How was seeing everybody?

[47:08] Damian McGinty: It was great. I mean, it was getting certain dates. Sorry, Andrew. I'm not I'm not trying to do your job, by the way, but I'm just...

[47:13] Andrew: No, I really love this. This is exactly what I wanted. So you're making my life easier.

[47:18] Damian McGinty: Yeah, you're good. Because I'm curious as to what like what that looked like for you. That was February of 2015. Was this after Cory had passed?

[47:23] Samuel Larsen: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I remember obviously I remember the memorial we had in the theater and that I so when we came back from the union, I think it was just I think we were all just connecting over him more than anything. Everyone was just super emotional. There was the emotions of like, we don't know what's going to happen to the show and to us as a community and grieving, grieving friends. And yeah, it was it was it's anytime that they that they would call me to be a part of anything. It was it was an honor, you know, and you couldn't be there for some reason. Well, I forget what where were you?

[48:04] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, I because it was pretty I mean, these things always are. But it was it was relatively last minute, I would say. It was like I think within like a few weeks of like the shoot happening, I think they reached out to everybody. I mean, just yeah, long story short, I was playing a relatively big gig that night to probably four or five thousand in Atlanta. We're playing a Fox theater. And I we spoke to the promoter, you know, because it wasn't necessarily like we didn't try to make it happen, but we were just like, just contractually, there was literally no way. And also, like, I couldn't let four or five thousand people come to a gig that night. I was just like, you know, this just is what it is. We can edit Rory into the final song. That's your challenge.

[48:53] Damian McGinty: Yeah, because I think bottom there. Yeah, I think everybody but me and Melissa were there from what I understand.

[49:01] Samuel Larsen: Yes, that is what I've always heard, because everyone's always like, why weren't you there? And I was like, you know, I wish I had a cool story, but I really don't. I was just, you know, I was contracted elsewhere. So yeah, what was crazy was coming back for that episode and seeing like all the new cast from the from the last season and seeing Phineas, seeing Phineas all bohemianed out with the long hair. And I was like, oh, you're the new me. You're the new this character.

[49:23] Damian McGinty: Yeah, this is this is like this is not me being like the ex student who's like trying to be cool. But I literally have no idea who Phineas is like a.k.a. Billie Eilish's brother, a.k.a. two times on the show. Yeah, Phineas. Yeah, I was in the Glee Club in season six. Yep. Phineas isn't like Phineas. Billie Eilish's brother. Yes. Yep. What breaking news before all before all of the Billie Eilish stuff. And I just remember coming in, got a cardigan on and an acoustic long hair. And I was like, I'm sorry to be what you're being the new Joe Hart vibe. And they're like behind the scenes photos of like Billie on like on set. Yeah. What else do I not know about the show I was on? Like this is actually I can tell.

What do you want to I mean, I could tell you this is unbelievable. This is unbelievable. What's her name? The huge artist. I just don't listen to the radio very often. So I don't listen to her music. But oh, Lizzo. She auditioned for season one of Glee Project. Glee Project. No way. I did not do that. There you go. Yes. Y'all beat her. Yeah. Y'all are better than Lizzo. I mean, you can. Wow. Yeah. Yep. Our careers have similar trajectories as well. You know, we both we both have sold five billion records since 2015, you know. So, you know, you wish. But whatever. That's the Phineas thing. Not I mean, not as. Yeah. Google it after it'll blow your mind. I mean, he's he's maybe like in like four episodes in total, but he was there. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy.

[51:05] Damian McGinty: Bringing it back to the competition at hand, which is Paradise by the Dashboard Light versus Homeward Bound mashed up with Home. Do either of you feel confident in your vote?

[51:17] Samuel Larsen: I feel like I do. I feel like I feel confident.

[51:24] Damian McGinty: Then Damien, why don't you kick us off then?

[51:30] Damian McGinty: Well, I'm going to say because we're here and because me and Sam are actually in that number, let's go for Paradise. Right. That's what I'm going to go for. 100 percent. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you. I love you. Also, the arrangement slaps. Yeah. Yeah. The arrangement slaps. And it's fun. You can watch it any time and just get in a great mood. Yeah. Of course, Damien and I are there. So that's very important. I think the Gleeks will be very happy with this decision. So thank you on behalf of all the Gleeks. And also one final question that I wanted to ask before I let you go. In a world where we got a duet between Joe and Rory, what is the dream duet that you guys would like to do?

[52:09] Samuel Larsen: Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean?

[52:15] Damian McGinty: What? Creepers. I have no idea what song is that.

[52:25] Samuel Larsen: That's from the Glee Project.

[52:30] Damian McGinty: Oh my God. Samuel Lai is honestly so impressive that that is still wired in your brain somewhere. I'm like, proper throwback. That is a proper throwback.

[52:35] Samuel Larsen: Sound of Silence. Oh, that's a good one. You guys, it sounds so good on that. Yeah. Maybe hey, without anyone listening, like low key, maybe we can make that happen. Maybe we can do that after the fact. That would be kind of cool, actually. Not such a bad idea. I don't want to make any promises. I'm just saying I'm just putting it out there. I'm sure we both have microphones at our place and could put it down. Yeah. I mean, not that you're saying that. That's a really good idea. But also I was talking to Robert pretty recently. You probably keep in touch with him.

[53:06] Damian McGinty: I'd say, yeah, you guys are always. And he was sending me, he was going through like, I don't know what he was going through. Robert's so funny. He sends me the most random things, like random. And he sends me these photographs that he found on a digital camera that he had in a box in his house or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like really throwback stuff. And then, yeah, we just got talking and we were like, OK, for like for 20 years of Glee Project, we've got to do something. We've got to do something. It's weird that we're getting close to that 20 years. This year will be what, 16 years?

[53:49] Samuel Larsen: This will be 15, right? 2011, right?

[53:53] Damian McGinty: 2011, yeah. So 15 years ago, about 15 years ago to the day-ish, because we started shooting on like close to Valentine's Day, wasn't it? That's almost half of our lives ago. That's crazy.

[54:04] Samuel Larsen: Wait, were you aware that Glee Project kind of blew up on TikTok this past year? Do you know about this?

[54:09] Damian McGinty: No.

[54:10] Samuel Larsen: They were uploading like full episodes to TikTok and people were having like a resurgence of, yeah. No, but I had no idea.

[54:18] Damian McGinty: I didn't always say like, and certainly not because I was in it, but like, it was a very good TV show. It was very, it was very, very, it was a very good TV show.

[54:29] Samuel Larsen: Bring it back. Well, honestly, I think like, I think a Netflix or a Hulu would be very surprised if they like picked it up, like how much it would be enjoyed. I've often thought that because like, it's kind of nowhere to be found. It's like this enigma.

[54:49] Damian McGinty: Oh yeah, it's-

[54:50] Samuel Larsen: Nobody can find the Glee Project anywhere, you know.

[54:52] Damian McGinty: Because when it was uploaded to TikTok, they were like, oh, finally a place to watch it.

[54:56] Samuel Larsen: So yeah, Netflix and Hulu.

[54:58] Damian McGinty: It's just a good TV show. Yeah.

[54:59] Samuel Larsen: It was.

[55:00] Damian McGinty: So yeah, so Sam, 20 years and we get to see everybody that was a part of the show. I haven't seen most outside of you.

[55:13] Samuel Larsen: When was the last time you saw Cameron?

[55:16] Damian McGinty: I seen Cameron, actually last year.

[55:19] Samuel Larsen: Oh, nice. Very cool.

[55:20] Damian McGinty: In Nashville. Yeah, both in Nashville. So he's married, lives in Nashville. He is guitar tech now for like Mac Carney and Ben Rector. And he goes on the road a lot.

[55:30] Samuel Larsen: So yeah, so I seen him. I talked to Bryce, haven't seen Bryce in a long time. He's killing it.

[55:41] Damian McGinty: Oh, he's killing it. Yeah.

[55:42] Samuel Larsen: Very talented. Yeah.

[55:46] Damian McGinty: And he knows it. And you can tell him I said that.

[55:48] Samuel Larsen: I've seen, I haven't seen Lindsay in a long time, but I definitely, we definitely keep up with each other. I've seen Hannah and then obviously Sam.

[55:56] Damian McGinty: So I talked to, I probably talked, I talked to Alex a bit, for sure.

[56:02] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[56:04] Damian McGinty: And Robert.

[56:05] Samuel Larsen: That's pretty much, yeah, that's pretty much it.

[56:08] Damian McGinty: Bryce here and there, but more, probably more so Alex.

[56:11] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[56:11] Damian McGinty: It'd be great to get everybody in the same room.

[56:13] Samuel Larsen: That'd be awesome.

[56:15] Damian McGinty: Keep holding hands.

[56:16] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, we've got to, we've got to unearth the keep holding ons that we shot that were never released.

[56:22] Damian McGinty: Oh yeah.

[56:23] Samuel Larsen: We need to find that.

[56:24] Damian McGinty: That's somewhere in a hard drive.

[56:26] Samuel Larsen: Yeah.

[56:26] Damian McGinty: Somewhere. Because we all, so the four people in the final, we all shot that the first day of filming. Remember Sam? We all shot keep holding on. So obviously ours were never aired because we were never sent home, but they're right there somewhere. And I bet I look so uncomfortable.

[56:39] Samuel Larsen: You've never seen them?

[56:42] Damian McGinty: Yours?

[56:45] Samuel Larsen: No.

[56:45] Damian McGinty: No.

[56:46] Samuel Larsen: No.

[56:46] Damian McGinty: Have you Sam?

[56:47] Samuel Larsen: No.

[56:47] Damian McGinty: I've never seen it, no.

[56:49] Samuel Larsen: Robert has it. I'm sure of it. It's all there somewhere.

[56:52] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[56:54] Andrew: Well, thank you so much for spending this hour with me. I loved this Glee Union. The Gleeks will be obsessed with that this is happening. Is there anything that you would like to plug Samuel, starting with the Gleeks?

[57:09] Samuel Larsen: Um, I have more new music coming very soon. I just finished writing my next single yesterday, and I'm very excited about it. I have a movie called Relapse coming out soon. I just saw the screening of that and it kind of blew me away. I thought it was really great. So that's that's the couple things I have coming up.

[57:32] Andrew: Yeah. Booking busy. Love it.

[57:33] Samuel Larsen: Love to hear it.

[57:34] Andrew: Yeah. Can't wait to hear the tunes.

[57:37] Samuel Larsen: Yeah, I don't I don't really if you want to check out my career, check it out. If you don't also good for you. For anybody in Australia, I'm touring. I'm touring Australia in March, so I'll be down under for about three weeks. So that's the next thing. I am touring Europe in April. Have a couple of things and then three months in the US in the fall. So new music throughout the year. So yeah.

[58:03] Andrew: Incredible. Well, thank you both so much. This has been an absolute delight. Andrew, thank you for making it happen, Samuel.

[58:10] Samuel Larsen: Oh my gosh. I had a brain worm and I was like, this needs to happen.

[58:14] Andrew: Yeah, I'm glad that it was able to.

[58:16] Damian McGinty: Yeah.

[58:17] Samuel Larsen: Thanks for bringing us together.

[58:18] Damian McGinty: Great to see you, Damien.

[58:20] Samuel Larsen: Samuel, you too, man. Always proud of you and keep killing it, buddy.

[58:23] Damian McGinty: You too, man. I'll talk to you soon. We'll stay in touch.

[58:26] Andrew: Cheers, guys. Thanks, Andrew.

[58:28] Samuel Larsen: Take care.

[58:29] Damian McGinty: See ya.

[58:29] Andrew: Bye.

[58:30] Samuel Larsen: It's Gleek.

[58:31] Damian McGinty: Gleek of the week.