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[0:00] Iain Armitage: This is Iain Armitage and you're listening to the Art of Kindness podcast.

[0:05] Robert Peterpaul: Hello beautiful people. Welcome to the Art of Kindness where we have compassionate conversations with artists from all areas of the entertainment industry who are using their voice to spread joy and make this big spinning planet in the universe a better place to be. I'm Robert Peterpaul and I'm so glad you're here.

[0:34] Robert Peterpaul: Hello friends. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Okay, deep breath. Deep breath. This is barely, what, a couple seconds into episode one of the new season? Okay. I miss this community, if you couldn't tell, and I have been thinking of all of you and what the proper place for me to meet you would be. The place to meet you in these intense times. And I guess that was me blacking out and singing welcome back on the mic. I apologize for that. Actually, I don't. I'm going to do a self-kindness to myself and not apologize for being me. This is me. Whoa. Okay. Oh, did that, did that sound pretty good? I figured what better week to come back to you all than this one.

World Kindness Week. Happy World Kindness Week. I hope this week you can all join me in taking action and really committing to kindness on your corner of the world. Whether that's helping a neighbor break the leaves or treating yourself to a much-needed massage or vocal outburst. Okay, sorry, that's enough singing. Simply thinking about kindness and how it can transform the world is, well, great. And if you're just tuning in here for the first time, hi, welcome to the party. Where have you been? We're so excited you're here. I am never trying to preach kindness at you. I'm trying to learn along with you. I'm your buddy down this cobblestone yellow brick road. If you can't tell, I'm excited for the Wicked movie, which is why I keep singing.

And that's another thing that I think makes maybe this show a little different is that we get a little unhinged and weird on here. So join the party. It's going to be a great new season. Now, I need to quickly thank my unofficial official producer, my partner in everything. You know her, you hear her sometimes. Cassie!

[2:38] Robert Peterpaul: Are you here? Oh my gosh, you just came home! I'm recording the podcast intro. Smells like clams.

[2:49] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, I think I need to keep that in. Hi, I'm back. Okay, one of the commitments I'm making to y'all this season is to release the need for perfection, which is a journey, right? We talk about that a lot on here, but honestly, I can spiral when I'm recording these introductions to you all, and I can really get in my head. And I don't want that for me or for you this season. So I'm going to be real, and I'm keeping that little moment in this time capsule forever. Cassie was out. She just came back. She happened to walk in when I said that I want to thank my unofficial official producer. You know her as Cassie. Cue Cassie. I mean, I manifested my wife. So that moment's staying in. And then, of course, you heard her very real comment about it smelling like clams in here.

I made salmon tonight, so that's probably why she's not a seafood gal. Can't really tell the seafood apart. Oh, the seafood families. But she smelled something fishy. You know what's not fishy? The way she supports me. I don't know if that even makes sense. Anyway, I was boggling the brain for special guests that could lead in season four. And I look over at Cassie, who was not eating clams or salmon or any kind of seafood for the record, and she had the answer. She was literally watching it on the TV! Young Sheldon! It's one of her favorite shows of all time. She manifested this, and then I manifested her walking in, and I live to make her happy. So I am thrillified to say we are speaking with the one and only Young Sheldon himself, a guy of many talents, Iain Armitage!

[4:32] Robert Peterpaul: Iain Armitage is a joyful, multi-talented creative from Georgia. He's most recognized for his titular role in the hit CBS comedy Young Sheldon, the prequel to The Big Bang Theory, which just wrapped its seventh and final season. For this role, he was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award and even received a Teen Choice Award nomination. Iain first burst onto screens in a major way, appearing as Shailene Woodley's son Ziggy Chapman in the HBO series and cultural phenomenon Big Little Lies, which was a big little binge watch, if you know what I mean. Iain reprised his role in the second season and was nominated for a SAG Award alongside his cast for Best Ensemble. In the film space, Iain has appeared opposite legends like Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in Our Souls at Night on Netflix, in The Glass Castle with Woody Harrelson, and opposite J.K. Simmons and Mandy Moore in I'm Not Here.

But guess what? I am here, telling you that Iain can be heard as the voice of young Shaggy in Scooby-Doo's animated feature Origin Story, Scoob, and as the voice of lead pup Chase in Paramount's animated Paw Patrol feature. I had the best time speaking with Iain. Seriously, what a kind soul. We talked about saying goodbye to Young Sheldon, his CBS-like receipt list of hobbies he has so many, dreams of Broadway, and of course, all things kindness.

[6:09] Robert Peterpaul: Now, this is our season four premiere, so you bet I went big. We were fortunate to record this episode where we recorded our 100th episode with Carol Burnett. Still can't believe that happened, but it is in this podcast feed, so go back and listen to it if you have not already or if you just want to feel like you're being wrapped up in a cozy warm blanket. Anyway, we recorded this at Factory Underground Studio here in Connecticut. It's a true haven for creative souls. Seriously, it's the most magical space that you'll ever record a podcast in. Thank you to all of the lovely humans that work there. While we're thanking folks, I also need to show my gratitude to the beautiful people of Matt's Kindness Ripples On.

I'm honored that this organization awarded me with a grant for our work here at AOK. A major shout out to the Kurtz family for helping to keep us going this season and for all they do to spread kindness in honor of Matt. Learn more about Matt's powerful legacy and all the work they're doing at mattskindnessrippleson.com. Okay, the truth is I don't normally talk this much during the preamble and I promise I'm almost done, but it's our premiere! The start of a new season! Everything has a season! Okay, if you'd like to support our show, please click the buy me a coffee cup link in our show notes. If you can't give, that's totally A-okay. We would appreciate a little five-star review here or wherever you listen or you spreading kindness by sharing the show with a friend or on social media.

I don't know, let's create a little kindness community. Oh, audio hug! Okay, I think that's all the matters of business on the docket that I had to check off before we get to this amazing conversation. As always, stay tuned after the interview for a special kindness tip of the week with me. This one is really exciting, you won't want to miss it. And now, without further ado, please enjoy our season four premiere with the amazing Iain Armitage.

[8:26] Robert Peterpaul: Ian, I am so excited to talk to you today. I am just such a fan. I also, I saw you at the Creative Coalition recently, which honored our friends at kindness.org. I want to shout that out because they're great. And you just seem like such a kind soul. So thank you for being here.

[8:38] Iain Armitage: You're very, very kind. You are very much one as well. And I feel incredibly lucky. I kind of lucked out in the wildest way to be able to get to be a part of the stuff that I've been doing recently. It's been so much fun. And I feel very, very honored.

[8:51] Robert Peterpaul: Well, I feel like you deserve it. And from the research I've done, and just seeing you out there in the world, you seem to conduct yourself with such kindness. So I'm grateful we have you in this industry. I'll just say that. And then I'll stop complimenting you. Or otherwise, I'll never stop. I probably won't stop.

[9:04] Iain Armitage: Well, I was going to say, you're very kind yourself.

[9:08] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, I would expect it. I would expect it from you. And I would hope for it, certainly, from the title. But imagine if you log in here and I'm like, hello, I'm like, just, you know, I mean, I am wearing green today, so it could go that way.

[9:21] Robert Peterpaul: Right off the bat, the first question I always like to ask people such as yourself that I'm sure gets stopped all the time with a lot of love and compliments, or at least I hope so, is how are you at accepting compliments? Because I feel like it can be a tricky thing.

[9:33] Iain Armitage: It's, it's weird. Um, I don't know, it's kind of funny. I don't I think I've gotten a little better. But it is such an odd and kind of crazy part of doing what I do. Because, you know, on set, obviously, I'm, it's a job. And it's a job I love very, very much. But it's everybody has a job. And most people's jobs, I think acting is the easiest job on a film set, by far, and it's the least taxing by far. And most, you get the most recognition for it. I think I'm probably one of the, in terms of jobs on set, one of the least hardworking people. And for some reason, I, you know, because of the visibility of what I do versus what, you know, maybe a base camp would do, or, you know, a writer would do or, you know, whatever, whoever, I get visibility from it, I get complimented, I get, you know, and it's, I think it's so unfair.

And sometimes, you know, say such nice and kind things about me, I'm always a little bit like, I don't deserve this at all. But thank you, you're very kind, but I legitimately, I've done so little to deserve this.

[10:41] Robert Peterpaul: Well, I would say you definitely deserve it. And other people also deserve it. Because it is sort of a weird thing about our business, right? Like what you're saying, I think the people behind the scenes like being behind the scenes, but that doesn't mean they also shouldn't get the same amount of attention.

[10:52] Iain Armitage: Yeah. And I kind of, I think what I sort of try and do is, I've gotten better at saying like, thank you, that means a lot to me. But I always kind of try and say, thank you. But I played a very small part in what was a very big job for hundreds and hundreds of people. And, you know, I am so grateful to all of them for facilitating what we got to do.

[11:18] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, that's so gracious. I love that. Everybody rewind that and listen to it, because I think that's a great way to accept a compliment right there.

[11:24] Robert Peterpaul: You know, before we get any further, I would also love to know, Ian, what is your definition of kindness? And how do you think it's changed over the years? Just a small morning question.

[11:34] Iain Armitage: Yes, thank you. And can we follow it up with the meaning of the universe?

[11:39] Robert Peterpaul: We can, young Sheldon. If anybody would have that, I think it would be you. So thank you for adding that in. Actually, funny enough to go into the smallest of sidetracks. My best friend, he's 16 years old and he graduated college, I think three years ago now. He has his master's degree. He's getting his Ph.D. in like two years. So in terms of geniuses, I feel like he's the one to ask. I might have to shoot a quick text after this and ask if he's been working on it.

[12:05] Iain Armitage: Was he like an inspiration for young Sheldon? Because that's kind of funny that you would have.

[12:08] Iain Armitage: No, it's funny because we actually sort of met through the show. He mentioned like six years ago or maybe seven years ago, he mentioned liking Young Sheldon. And then our parents started talking and his mom and my mom are now like best friends. And we also get along crazy, crazy well. We text every day. I would consider him to be my best friend in the world. He's awesome and really funny. We also play, you know, play video games together. But to go back to your question, you're very, very cool. And if you want to recommend me anything, we can get into that. But no, to get to get into your very philosophical and being a kind guy. I tend to kind of zoom in to the I think you can look at it on such a big scale and the way it affects somebody's life.

And really, I tend to look at kindness as a much more on a much more micro level, because I think nowadays, especially in a time where so many people are receive receive so much news and interaction and everything from social media and online, being able to smile at somebody or to compliment somebody on something that you think they might be proud of or might, you know, put a lot of effort into or just to be able to to talk to somebody and like, know that you didn't make their day worse because of an interaction and hopefully made their day better because of it.

[13:39] Iain Armitage: I think if you look at kindness as being too big of a thing, it can be hard to go about. I'm phrasing it very poorly, but I think when you just be mild to somebody, just be able to say, hey man, that color looks great on you, or I love your watch, or your dog is so cute. Thank you, I'm not even wearing a watch by the way. You know, but just like being able to find something that somebody might have put effort into that day. I try and think, what did they look in the mirror before leaving the house, and that looks good on me. I love that. Yeah, kindness is the little things like that. So I think that's a great definition, because you're right, people can get overwhelmed thinking, oh, to be kind, especially maybe at your level, sort of, I have to donate so much money to this.

I think you think like, what can I do in the world? And sometimes that's, you can smile or help the old lady cross the street, or do what, you know, like a small act that doesn't, and of course, donating to charity is still incredibly important. I live by the rule, sort of, to whom much is given, much is expected. If you have been lucky enough to be in a position in your life where you have money to give to charity, give to charity. But at the same time, in your everyday life, there's not much you can do, except for the little things that could make someone's day better. Which then can work all outwards.

[14:58] Robert Peterpaul: It does, and actually, the non-profit I mentioned at the top, kindness.org, they have a lab that studies kindness. So it really is science. They have proven with research that kindness really is contagious, which is kind of cool. So what you're saying is spot on. You know, I wonder if you sort of learned all this growing up in your artistic family, because both of your parents work in entertainment. I think you have actor, producers. How do you think that informed just who you are and your dream in the arts? Like, do you feel like it was always very accepted, or were they sort of the other way of like, you know, trying to protect you and nervous that you would follow this crazy journey?

[15:33] Iain Armitage: Well, it's kind of funny, because my, so I started off doing theater reviews. And for the first—

[15:39] Robert Peterpaul: So good.

[15:40] Iain Armitage: That would be very kind. For the first six years of my life, that was, you know, we would see so many shows and travel all over. You know, we'd be in London, we'd be in New York, mostly, we'd be here at home in Virginia, and just seeing theater. And I enjoyed it so much. And I kind of, I never thought, there was never a moment for me where I was sitting in the audience, and I thought that could be me on that stage one day, making all these people clap. I just love theater. And when you're that young, what most agents look for is mostly just a kid who's social and can talk and feels comfortable in front of a camera. So we got a couple requests from agencies sort of saying, would you want your son to sign on with us or represent him?

And we never, my mom never really said yes, for a few reasons, primarily because you hear so many awful stories from Hollywood of, you know, kids' lives getting ruined and just awful things happening. You hear so much about it nowadays, which I think was a really smart stance that she took. And I'm really appreciative that she's always been so protective of me, both in my career and outside of it. But eventually there was, there's one agent who asked my mom, you know, would you like us to represent? And she said, no. And this agent, Jamie Pillett said, would you be okay to come into our offices and just talk about why you wouldn't want him to be represented? Just, just to have a little chat about it.

And my mom was like, sure. Pretty set my ways. I know my reasons. So she, she went in and they started talking and Jamie had incredible answers for all my mom's concerns and queries. And so eventually she sort of left it up to me. And she, she said, do you want to try acting? And I was like, yes, yes, yes. Very much. It sounds like fun. And so it was kind of a balance of both. I think my, my mom is wonderful and very good about protecting me and, you know, very smart in that regard in all senses, whether it's physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, however, she's a wonderful parent. And I think also I've gotten a lot of freedoms and opportunities and things as well. So I think it's a good balance. Yeah. It supported me, but kept me safe.

[17:53] Robert Peterpaul: No, I mean, I think that's wonderful. I love the reverse psychology of getting into that meeting from the agency who's so kind, by the way, shout out to Jamie's office, just even dealing with them over email was such a lovely experience. But Jamie, Jamie Pillett is an incredible, incredible person and just a force of nature. I can't even describe to you. She is so kind and so sweet and such a killer at the same time. She's amazing.

[18:14] Iain Armitage: Yeah. You want that. You want like a kind shark kind of through the ocean.

[18:18] Robert Peterpaul: Described her perfectly. Okay, cool. Thank you. Thanks for coming. No, but you mentioned Ian Loves Theatre, your reviewer YouTube page, which is such a treasure trove. Everybody go check it out. I did a deep dive on it again. No, if you go far enough, there will be. I'm friends with the music, current music director of Wicked, and I sent him the video of you singing Defying Gravity yesterday. I hope you don't mind just because I thought it was so cute. I was like and he just had a kid and I was like, you'll think this is so great. Anyway, we were we've been dying over that page and you keep it up a bit, which I love. Do you have a favorite show ever that you've seen? I know this is sort of a mean question.

[18:52] Iain Armitage: No, it would have been a mean question if you'd asked me like a year and a half ago. I wouldn't have been able to answer. I saw a show that is, I think, the best show I've seen in my life. And I it has stuck with me and resonated with me so much. It was Good Night, Oscar with Sean Hayes.

[19:08] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, I'm so jealous. You saw that I missed.

[19:13] Iain Armitage: I saw it three times. I would have seen a million. It was incredible and absolutely phenomenal. And I loved it so much. Mr. Sean Hayes is so talented. And also, after I believe the second time we saw it, I got to meet him afterwards. And he was so sweet because I was so and he gave me a big hug. I left I left I left tear stains on his shirt. Oh, my God. He is such a such a kind man and ridiculously talented. If you don't know, in the show, he plays Oscar Levan. He gives a wonderful performance. He doesn't look like him, but it is the best character acting I've seen in my life. He was so good. And I've never seen somebody embody a character so well. And it was just also so different from everything else I've ever seen him in. Everyone in the cast was so talented. And also at the end, he plays Rhapsody in Blue or short versions of a program about seven, eight minutes long. And it was the best thing I've ever seen on stage.

[20:12] Robert Peterpaul: Wow. I'm so glad you had an answer for that. That was so fun. I heard amazing things about it. And we talked to him a bit at the at the Tonys that year, we were in the press room. And he was saying how, you know, his fingers were all injured from playing it so many times. We have to ice them before and after the show.

[20:24] Iain Armitage: Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. It's like an athlete. You know, since we are the Broadway Podcast Network, I just you know, I have a couple of theater questions. Of course. I know I mentioned before we started recording, you were on our friend Eli's podcast, Take a Bow. Everybody check it out. Such a great episode. It's incredible. With you guys. And you kindly said that you listen to our network and different shows. So I wonder, do you have a dream show that you'd like to be in? I saw you did Shakespeare recently, which is so cool.

[21:00] Iain Armitage: I did. It was a lot of fun. A lot of work. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I think in terms of theater or in terms of acting in general, I guess acting in general on the stage, if you like, if you could be in a Broadway show tomorrow, would it be like Young Sheldon, the musical? Would it be Little Shop of Horrors? I could see.

[21:09] Iain Armitage: Yeah. Oh, God. Little Shop would be fun. I love I love Evita so much. It'd be really, really fun to I don't know. I don't know even what character it would be. But getting to sing High Flying Adore would be pretty incredible. And then, gosh, let me think. Let me think. I also love Sunset Boulevard.

[21:29] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, thank you.

[21:30] Iain Armitage: Back six months, I was at the bottom of the boom. Be a lot of fun.

[21:34] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, that score. And it's coming back, which is why.

[21:36] Iain Armitage: Yes. Oh, my gosh. No, I saw a production in London recently, which I believe is coming to New York.

[21:39] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, you said it was amazing.

[21:44] Iain Armitage: It was absolutely fantastic. And it was so different and very stark staging, but so incredible. And the actress who played Norma, whose name I'm blanking on.

[22:01] Robert Peterpaul: Nicole Schreisinger?

[22:03] Iain Armitage: Yes. I think she was the one who played her. Yeah. She was phenomenal, because she was I don't even know how she she more than inhabited Norma's character in such an impressive way. And throughout the show, there's elements of dance and of course, a lot of singing. And yeah, she she's also she's a very slight person, but she she had such a powerful voice. And that was such an impressive thing to get to hear.

[22:33] Robert Peterpaul: This is why you're a great reviewer, because the way you describe things is magical. And you touched on dance. I think you're a big tap dancer, so you could bring that to the stage, you know, from what I heard.

[22:41] Iain Armitage: I'm tap dancing underneath under my I'm like laughing at how little I look. And I look I look too big. No, I think it's a Warner Brothers haircut.

[22:52] Robert Peterpaul: I love it. No, your haircut is great. I was admiring it. I actually need one.

[22:57] Iain Armitage: Well, no, in terms of in terms of Warner Brothers haircut, when they when they frame, you get you get you get a little buzz cut from that.

[23:04] Robert Peterpaul: Yes, yes. I love this. I was at Warner Brothers in the in the city recently, and your pictures all over those offices. You're everywhere.

[23:11] Iain Armitage: Which is I love Warner Brothers. I have I have a lot of a lot of love my heart for those offices. I think Warner Brothers is a great company. And it's been cool to get to work with them for seven years. It's so cool. And I mean, let's get into that. Because, you know, speaking of Warner Brothers, I do want to ask you about Young Sheldon. This show brings I sound like Moira Rosenau. I'm like this show brings home this show. I feel like brings so much joy to so many people. And I'm a little late to the party on it. But my wife has been obsessed with it for years. And she really bonded in like the kind of final days with her grandma not to get too deep. But they would sit and watch Young Sheldon and she would just say over and over again, that boy is so cute and giggle.

And it brought them so much joy in those days. It's such a comfort show for her on the tough days. She'll like just rewatch an episode when she's feeling sad. And that's just one example. And so I wonder, what do you think makes this show so enjoyable across generations? Because we kind of need that in the world. We need that uniting front more than ever.

[24:03] Iain Armitage: Yeah. Well, it's, it's, it's funny, because it's an odd combination of things. I think number one, especially, especially now, oh my gosh, especially now, where there's a lot of 90s, especially, which is great, especially now, where there's such 90s nostalgia, I think it's it's nice because our viewer base, when we were just on network television, was primarily, I put this delicately, people who would have 90s nostalgia from living through it, which I think is a really our whole team again, this goes back to the point that I made that I did the least work on the show. Every, every single person, every department worked so hard to make our show so authentic. And I actually for a school project, I got to do one day with every department and then work with them and see what they did.

And it was so cool, because down to the paint effects to age the house, it looked so realistic. And from what I've heard from people, of course, I was born in 2008. But it looked very, very realistic and similar to how it would have looked, a house would have looked in the 90s. So I think for some people, it was an actual nostalgia factor. And then for a newer audience and a younger audience, it was sort of nowadays, there's a lot of 90s nostalgia, fashion and trends and things. And I think it fit into that. Also, it really is a family show. It's there's not a lot of shows. At least I think there's not a lot of shows like that. Now there's a couple shows I I love watching with my mom. Another one, a CBS twin is Ghosts, which is incredible.

Yeah. And has Miss Danielle Pinoch from Young Sheldon. She was a Miss Ingram, our math teacher. Oh, yeah, she is good. Phenomenal as Alberta. It's one of my favorite shows. And recently I got to meet a gentleman named Asher who plays Trevor on Ghosts. I got to watch the new one because we started the BBC one, you know, that's the one it's based on. They're both wonderful. It was funny because I've never it's maybe it's just that kind of a premise. I've never seen a show where I love both versions so much because, you know, you usually love the one you start with. And obviously, I started with the American one because patriotism. That's the Olympics. It's not just America. That was the wrong theme.

But I love both versions so much and they're just so talented. Yeah. But no, I think it's it's an odd kind of combination of a lot of elements. And we've gotten also very lucky. We have a fan base from Big Bang Theory coming over and we also have, you know, people who now like Young Sheldon for Young Sheldon. And at the end of the day, I really do think that it's just a relatable story to a lot of people, even if it's not directly relatable, being sort of a fish out of water in your environment is relatable to anybody at any at some point in their lives. Everyone's going to have a moment where you feel that way. And I think it's also nice. One thing that I'm really appreciative of it of. Oh, my gosh.

[27:17] Iain Armitage: One thing I'm really appreciative of is the fact that it tends to make fun of everybody equally when it goes after somebody or something. And it's something that I have friends who are, you know, on the farthest sides of the political spectrum in both directions who can enjoy the show, which means a lot to me because I think something that is unifying rather than something that's polarizing is I'm very lucky to have been a part of. Yeah, that's what we need more than ever. And I think I just want to highlight something you said a little earlier in that answer, which I think is brilliant, is that you got to go around on a school project and kind of spend the day in everyone's shoes on set. And I wish that was almost a requirement with SAG or equity or any corporation, really, that during your training, you had to spend, you know, X amount of time during the day learning someone's job, because then you develop an appreciation for that person.

Now I can't talk. An appreciation for those people. Just like edgings. Yeah, I know. We're like, people are going to listen to this. They're like, was this in another language? I'm like, no, we're just a little drunk. Yeah, just a little drunk on unhappiness to be here today. Actually, that might be that might be the case. I think you hit the nail on the head there. Thank you. Boom. What if I had a hammer? That'd be crazy. You know, speaking of nails on the head, how would how would I do that transition? If you ever held a hammer growing up, growing up on. Actually, that's sort of that's sort of a good transition, because one of the one of the departments I worked with was construction. There we go.

I got to hold a lot of nail guns. Oh, OK. A little more high tech than your grandpa's hammer. Nailing it. Yeah. You're nailing that transition completely. No, I'm famously bad with transitions on this podcast. Don't worry. So am I. I'm good at dad puns, though. Very cringy dad. Same. Oh, what's your best dad pun? Oh, gosh. Well, now you've put me on the spot. OK, you think about it and then just pop it into the conversation later. Yeah. Don't worry. I'm going to I'm going to sprinkle my awful sense of humor throughout our conversations. I think you hit the nail on the head through that through that transition was was all right. But now I'm going to I'm going to think of something much worse enough to really make you cringe.

And then I'll interject myself. No, I'm already cringing because I'm myself. So don't don't even not because of you, just because I see myself. I was yeah. What I was trying to get to is, you know, growing up on television, I feel like that's obviously a pretty unique experience. And you seem like such a down to earth, lovely person. What was that experience like overall for you? And what do you think made your experience so positive? Yeah, well, you're very kind to say that. I it's the truth. It's a kind truth, isn't it? Yeah. I think it's I've been very lucky. I think, number one, it's about the people that I have around me. I have always been surrounded with really, really good, really, really kind people.

And especially on set. I get to work with Annie Potts, who is such a legend, love both in the theater community and in the acting community in general. She's been on so many I've recently saw Pretty in Pink and saw Annie Potts. Yeah. I forgot she's the woman in Ghostbusters, too. I mean, of course, she's Annie Potts. She's effortlessly talented, I think is the way I describe her. She just exudes confidence. And she's always funny, always ready for anything. I love her so much. I might cut this up and edit it to make it seem like you're saying that about me. So if you see that on my actor website. Always ready for anything. What a guy. Plays little Bo Peep in Toy Story. You know, he's the guy from Ghostbusters.

With the glasses behind the table. What a talented man. Thank you. You gave me everything I need. You don't even need to cut it up now. I'm so generous. I don't. But I think the people I've gotten to work with both on screen and off have always been so kind to me. And I think it's not really humility or being down to earth. I think it's more just the fact that I I've gotten to work with such incredible professionals that I've learned from a very young age that nothing. First of all, it's a job, first and foremost. And if you get a big head about being in the acting industry or getting to do something that people enjoy or recognize you for, then you're the wrong kind of person to be in the acting industry.

I think it's just treating everyone with respect also and knowing that you are far from the most important person on set. And, you know, don't ever come in, you know, in a diva-like way or being obnoxious to anybody. And I really just think it's having respect for the people you work for and the place you work and, you know, respect for everything in everyone's department. I think one thing I'm very lucky and grateful to the departments in York Sheldon for letting me work with them for is I read one one big question I would ask is, what is something that people in other departments do that makes your job worse or makes your job better? And I think getting to learn the sort of like little things you wouldn't even think of that can mess somebody up or can really, really help their day or their work.

Yeah. In that being a much bigger thing than you'd realize. And I think it's just coming in prepared and being ready for the day ahead of you and just knowing what you're going to do, knowing your lines for the day, knowing what's going to happen. And if you do all those things, there's not much room to be big headed and have a massive ego because you're working and you're working hard. And if you're working hard, you can be proud of what you've done. And I'm certainly proud and feel very honored to have been a part of York Sheldon. But at the same time, I'm not. I think if you put in work for something, it's very hard to put in work with other people as a group and form that kind of camaraderie.

It makes it much harder to be, you know, it's like a credit hog or to try and, you know, attention grab away from other people because you see the work that other people put in and you're in direct contact with it. So I can't imagine anyone on our set after or otherwise saying, you know, well, let's be honest, I really carried the show. It's just not when you see the work that everyone else puts in at the same time as you. You couldn't say that. Yeah, it's so community based. You're right. And I think what surprised me about Young Sheldon is that it's called Young Sheldon and certainly we're following Young Sheldon, but it is such an ensemble show. I mean, everybody really shines every episode and you fall in love with each character, which I'm sure was so much fun on set.

And it kind of makes me wonder, too, during your downtime on set, what's what's your vibe? How do you show yourself? I guess this sounds wooboo, but self-kindness sort of like what do you do in your downtime in your trailer? Are you hanging out with these people or do you kind of need time to chill? Well, it doesn't sound wooboo at all. It's a really good question. Well, thank you. I know you have like eighty seven thousand hobbies that I've learned about. I mean, you're such an impressive person. I am a very nerdy person. I'm not I it's funny. I don't do I don't do any hobbies to get cooler or to gain any sort of I do it just because I'm a massive nerd. I love I love linguistics. I love travel.

I love all sorts of stuff. So I'm I love learning random stuff. But in terms of showing self-kindness, especially on set, I think there there are some, you know, wherever you work, you're going to end up having you're going to end up making close friends with somebody or somebody in some department or something you're doing. I love and this is partially because I'm a massive foodie, but our crafty trailer was wonderful. I would often go hang out there sometimes and help out. I really loved getting people's lunch orders ready and stuff and handing those out. But it's dangerous. I was a crafty P.A. on a movie once and I gained weight like I just sat there. Someone would take an M&M and then I would pour more in and then take some for myself and then someone take a Triscuit.

You eat so much, which is yes. No, I understand the risks. I didn't. I don't worry. I had a scale with me. You're like I was standing on a scale constantly. Yeah, I know. But it's it's very lucky again to be at that point in my life where my metabolism is fast enough that I can eat like that and it'll be gone, which unfortunately, I think when I'm older, I won't be able to do that as much. But I could try. I don't know if I could succeed. But I also think taking down time to yourself is really important. I have a lot of good friends in the acting industry and I know a lot of people also who were who've been acting for a longer time than I have since they were around the age that I was when I started acting.

And I think a good piece of advice to follow that a lot of real good professional actors I know say is treat your job like it's a job. You have to have a life outside of it and you can't like you have to have your own friends. You have to have your own life. You don't need to go to every party. You don't need to go to every event. You don't need to constantly be hanging out with the people on set. And of course, when you're on set, be present, be there. And you feel like I love everyone on our set so much. So I've been lucky in that regard. But I think it's also about having a life outside of that, getting good sleep, you know, not not always being. Yeah, not when I'm when I'm when I'm off set, not needing to come in and stand there.

But I I think in terms of hanging out with actors and people, Annie Potts has got to be peak. She's wonderful, but I love her. She seems like it. Well, it's funny because you're on screen. Grandma is now making me think of my grandma, my nanny, who I talk about. And she listens to every episode, which is really sweet. Hi, I love you. She's the best. She just texted me a quote from Glenn Close today, which was exactly what you said, which was have a life outside of acting. If you're going to succeed in this, you can't be your whole life. And you certainly live by that. I mean, I mentioned you have eighty seven thousand hobbies as a joke, but you literally do. I mean, I think martial arts, linguistics like you touched on various languages, but that can be hard.

What's your advice for people out there who are curious but just can't seem to find the motivation to start, especially when you have a nine to five job, just to start to sign up for a class to go for acting, try or to try a hobby, just do anything that they want to do outside of their quote unquote job? I feel like sometimes it can be hard to be. I have a ukulele collecting dust under my bed. I've been there for like six months from Amazon Prime Day. So well, gosh, that's a really good question. I think I tend to be the kind of person where I'll see something or learn about something that just sounds really interesting to me and kind of be motivated to to sort of hyper focus in on that and learn as much as I can about it.

And I I think it's interesting because sometimes that motivation is hard to find. I think the main thing is just thinking, number one, if you if you find a hobby or something that you might be interested in finding local resources near you or looking up online if there's any classes in your area, knowing how you learn is a really important thing to if you're a visual learner, if you're an auditory learner, if you're a hands on learner, there's a lot of different ways to intake information. So I think whether it's like, for example, with learning languages, I find it really helpful if it has a different alphabet system. The thing I find most helpful is first to learn how to read in that alphabet and how to write to a degree in that alphabet.

And then I listen to a lot of music in that language. I research as much about the culture as possible before doing anything else. I like to watch cinema and other languages and music is the primary thing I'd say. And that also just gives you a good cultural basis once you start learning that language to be able to bond with people over. And then after that, starting some sort of a program that is pretty grammar heavy in that language and also before even starting to learn the language, understanding the way the language works, if it's a gendered language, you know, how sentences work, how, you know, the order of, you know, just how everything kind of works in that language as a whole and then learning it.

And there's so many great resources for that nowadays that are free. Yeah, I think finding resources that will help you is important. And sometimes getting someone or somewhere to hold you accountable is really good too. Like if you want to get fit, having a personal trainer is great because, you know, you're not if you're it's way harder to sit there at the gym and scroll on your phone, not doing anything. If you've got somebody screaming, do this thing right next to you. Yeah. And that's why I'm on a treadmill under the screen right now. You can't see my legs, but I am running. I'm impressed. I it's weird because motivation is something that sometimes will be randomly inspired to, you know, you'll have it randomly and you'll get a lot of inspiration suddenly.

And it's really hard to spark that if it's not there. But I think if you're passionate enough about something, you'll find a time, you'll make time and you'll kind of find a time where you'll feel much more passionate about it. And you just kind of you get an urge to start. You get an image. Yeah, that's awesome advice. And then you scratch it because the inspiration inspiration is sort of an inhale by definition. So just going outside, taking in anything, the bird, not the Duolingo bird, but a bird flying, you know, whatever it may be, the non-green birds, the non-green birds in the world.

[40:21] Iain Armitage: The what? Well, I could do the accent a little bit. I heard you taking Russian on the episode I listened to on Take a Bow. I think you were talking about it. But that's awesome advice. Knowing how you learn, having that awareness. I think a lot of us, even as actors, might not realize, well, the best way I learn lines is by walking around while I read it or listening to it or doing that sort of Shakespeare trick of just writing the first letter out and over and over again doing it. How do you learn lines as the master? Do you just get really used to it being on a TV set and having to learn it really quickly? Because it is a muscle.

[40:55] Iain Armitage: Yeah, here's the thing, and it's funny because I have a trick that only works for TV and on stage it really sucks for me because I kind of, I'm very bad at memorizing lines for theater projects, but for stage or for film or for TV, it's so easy for me. I can have a three-page long monologue on a show and if it's going to be like in takes that we're doing, I can read it a couple times right before I go on set and I have it locked in for the next eight, nine hours. In my short-term memory, it is really, really easy to commit something quickly and then forget it right when I don't need it. But for something like stage, I have a really hard time and I need to really kind of commit myself and memorize properly.

Or get an earpiece. I did a show once where, well, it was only because, no, I'm just kidding, the woman, she dropped out for medical reasons before opening, so they flew someone in and she had an earpiece in and was incredible. It was like, oh, should we all just have earpieces? We can replace you with AIs while we're at it. Oh yeah, here we go. Well, we kind of did that before, you know. I have another kind of big question about Young Sheldon that I want to make sure I ask you, which is what are your hopes sort of for the legacy of Young Sheldon as it lives on? I mean, I picture sort of, I guess even in decades from now, you'll probably be revisiting it on some anniversary show with the whole cast talking about how it was magical and now there's like three other spinoffs or whatever it might be.

[42:25] Iain Armitage: Well, you never know. We had a lot of spinoffs. Yeah, when you're there and you're in all of them, while you're there, I guess, what are you thinking? What sort of do you hope this show does for people over time as it lives on? That's a really good question. I don't actually even hope for a crazy amount much. I sort of really just hope that at the end of the day, if you've had a hard day, you can put on an episode of our show and just chuckle a little bit or just feel a little bit better. I don't even, I think it's so hard to even, I just want people to be able to laugh at it and have a good time watching it. I don't even want that much. I don't want it to be this major massive thing. I just think that having a show that I hope it's comfort TV to somebody and I hope people have good memories of it and look back on it well.

Because I think at the end of the day, the biggest compliment to a show like Young Sheldon or Big Bang or any other show that has been, not that I'm comparing us to Big Bang, but any show that's been around for more than like five seasons that's pretty well established in its story, is just that in 10 years, can people still find it funny and laugh and enjoy it or have good memories of it? Which is all I really hope for.

[43:50] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, I think it is that evergreen kind of humor. I mean, I know for me last night, I was watching the brisket episode, which is sort of episode with Annie Potts and going head to head and not wanting to sort of share her recipe. And I was eating dinner and I do feel like one of the greatest joys in life is eating food while you're watching food on TV. There's something magical about that.

[44:08] Iain Armitage: Oh, it's incredible. Yeah. But I had such comfort in having my wife was gone and I was alone and I had Young Sheldon on and I just felt very comforted, like a warm blanket. So I think you've already succeeded with that. And we had a great dinner together, didn't we?

[44:17] Robert Peterpaul: We did have a great dinner. It wasn't the brisket. You know, I was looking for the cumin. They should release a Young Sheldon cookbook at this point.

[44:24] Iain Armitage: I've had people ask me constantly for the brisket recipe. And I'm always like, I know the first four ingredients. And if I knew more, I would be leaking it so fast. I need our writers to come up with a proper brisket recipe because one of our writers, Steve Ballaro, is a really, really well, he's a really fascinating guy. But he had a like a blog a little while ago, like 20 years ago, I think he was actually when I started the non-pizza left beef name from. Oh, I don't know if I'm allowed to say company names from a pizza company when ordering was a very new thing. He ordered non-pizza left beef. So they gave him a like bread with beef on one side. But he sandwiched. He really exactly. I fold it over and have a very, very dry sandwich. But he had a blog about like prison food and he would create really, really odd and, you know, frankly, didn't always seem the most appetizing, but cool to see him try food.

[45:33] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Probably come up with a brisket recipe that would be quite palatable. I think you and Annie should do that and put out like a cooking video and everybody will make this brisket and we can hand it out in Times Square or something because it looked it was like mouthwatering. And I know sometimes on TV shows, they're like spraying it with things that you wouldn't actually want to eat. But it looked great.

[45:49] Iain Armitage: OK, that's actually a point I got to make. We had a prop food kitchen on Young Sheldon that was amazing to the point where I would rather unprofessionally ask for to go boxes of stuff sometimes. And it would end up just being my dinner because the food that we ate there was so good. And it says a lot. If you can sit in a. People don't know, but those dinner scenes took us like six, sometimes seven hours to film. They were a new kind of torture, because think about the way the tables laid out. If you have six people, if you have, you know, if you have George, Mary, Missy, Meemaw, Georgie and Sheldon, you have them in that pattern and you need to get shots of everyone's faces, sometimes shots with multiple people in them.

If there's like reactions between two people, insert shots of the food. And there's just all sorts of specific and also like establishing the dinner scene. And there's so much that goes into one 30, 45 second long dinner scene, like it is hours of filming. And it says a lot that if you can sit there for six hours and eat that food and then whatever dinner, it was very, very good. And I'm vegetarian and they were also super accommodating about that. It was the best vegetarian food.

[47:03] Robert Peterpaul: That does sound like a great sort of review of the food. I mean, you're a great reviewer, but I wonder, too, because then if you pick up the fork in a certain line and you start to eat, then you have to do that for the full six hours. And they sort of say, like, make sure you're not chewing on TV. Otherwise, you know, that's hard to do. Did you did you struggle with that? I mean, as kids, you probably were just sort of like, whatever.

[47:25] Iain Armitage: Well, I've got a black hole stomach. I can eat a lot, but I would definitely get the advice of, you know, don't overeat. But one great thing is, again, when they're over your shoulder and they're not seeing your face, you can you can fake it. But yeah, you do need to you need to kind of map out where you're eating in the scene and kind of also where you'd be eating in between lines. And it's funny because I would get sometimes I would get the note that I was eating too little, which would be kind of funny because I'd be like, OK, well, I don't have to find a place where I don't have a line coming up that I can chew on, you know, and eat more.

[48:03] Iain Armitage: Yeah. No, I've. It's always funny to look back on those scenes because even I get fooled by it watching on TV. And then I think, you know, that was a you know, that was like a six hour scene. I had two more scenes after that. That was like a nine and a half hour workday.

[48:17] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah. So I mean, so much goes into it. Like we were sort of saying before, there's so many different departments, so many hours and people don't realize that, which is the magic of television. You're sort of reminded me when I did a commercial once it was like a gum commercial thing and they kept screaming, chew, chew bigger because, you know, on screen you sort of have to be like showing that you're chewing this. Wow. This gum that I'm chewing in my mouth right now is pretty good gum. Go buy this good gum. I always wanted the gum from Willy Wonka that sort of tastes like different, like a Thanksgiving dinner, all that kind of stuff.

[48:43] Iain Armitage: Oh, my gosh, that'd be incredible. Minus the last course. Yes, please. Well, what is your favorite food while we're on the food topic? Because I'd more or else would we go?

[48:52] Iain Armitage: Oh, you're a mean, mean man. You're a mean. Oh, but I just want to talk about that. The fact that this is a harder question for me to answer than the what's your favorite show question is a little sad. But I got to say, I love I love koshary, which is like Egyptian street food. Really, really good.

[49:07] Robert Peterpaul: Never had it.

[49:08] Iain Armitage: It's amazing. I think there might be. Where are you right now?

[49:12] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, if you want. Oh, no, no, no. I'm locked in a room. No, I'm in Connecticut. Help. Blink. Blink. Blink. S.O.S. and Morse code.

[49:22] Iain Armitage: Oh yeah. I think I'm going to ask what state you're in. Also, if you don't answer, that's fine.

[49:25] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah. No, I say it all the time. I'm in Connecticut at Factory Underground Studios. So I am technically in a basement. But, you know, I'm not locked in.

[49:30] Iain Armitage: Yeah. Good to know. But I'm not locked in.

[49:39] Iain Armitage: I was going to say, I think in New York, there's some good places. I don't know about Connecticut, but where I am, there's a place in your house that's really good. And also in London, there's there's a couple of good.

[49:46] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, yeah. I'm like 40 minutes away from the city. There's also great food in Connecticut. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, completely. And then I also I love it, which is like Russian, like it's like flaky pastry with my I like which is potato.

[50:02] Iain Armitage: Oh yeah. And it's just like potatoes and like a little bit of like herbs and spices and stuff inside of like flaky pastry. It's really, really good.

[50:09] Robert Peterpaul: Oh yeah. I love potatoes. I love food in general. And it's very hard for me to pick anything. Honestly, anything in Tennessee, I'd eat.

[50:22] Iain Armitage: Oh, I love Tennessee. Have you been to Dollywood? Have you been to Dollywood? Are you a Dolly Parton?

[50:28] Iain Armitage: I'm not. And I think we're sort of tentatively planning to hopefully go soon. I wanted to after I have my learner's permit now, but I still need to do a lot of like the classes and stuff.

[50:38] Iain Armitage: Yeah. So hopefully when I'm when I'm on the road, we're going to maybe drive there and we'd alternate between who is driving me and my mom.

[50:43] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, congrats. It's amazing. I've heard incredible things. And recently I got to meet the lady herself. She is so amazing. I have a photo with her and it's it's I think one of the only photos in my favorite photos.

[50:59] Iain Armitage: Yeah, I would blow that up and make it my wallpaper. I mean, you two are very similar in that I feel like you're universally loved in a way. I mean, I know that's like a blanket statement. That's scary to hear.

[51:11] Iain Armitage: That is, I think the nicest thing anybody has ever said about me. I am preparing you to die. I am deeply honored. But I think it would be it's an insult to Dolly Parton. So let's know like you're just one of those people that I feel like leads with love. And we need we need more of that now. Now more than ever. And Dolly, you know,

[51:29] Iain Armitage: OK. Oh, wow. Impressive. I don't know about that, but I would say one another icon. You've worked with a lot of icons and met a lot of icons. And I would be remiss if I did not quickly ask you about Big Little Lies just for a second, because I loved that show. You got to work with luminaries like Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Shailene Woodley, of course. I mean, what did you take away from working with them? Because you've talked a lot about like being respectful on set and learning that early on. I'm guessing this was a formative part of that lesson.

[51:59] Iain Armitage: Yeah. We also like Reese Witherspoon. Reese Witherspoon. We had so many. Oh, yeah. I was it was kind of insane. And I sort of I sort of I knew to a degree how insane that was and how incredible those people I got to see and act with were. But also at the same time, I think I was like looking back, I'm still sort of shocked that I got to be part of that. But really at the heart of it all was by far at the heart of it all was our director, Jean-Marc Vallée, who was, I think, the best director I've ever worked with, followed closely by a lady named Miss Ruby Stillwater, who is so awesome. She was the director on Young Sheldon, and I love her to death. What a great name.

[52:39] Iain Armitage: Oh, my gosh, she's incredible. I could talk about her literally for hours. She's so great, so fun, wonderful lady to work with. But Jean-Marc Vallée was the beating heart and soul of Big Little Lies. All the great music from it was all his handpicked choices. All of those incredible shots of, you know, all the colors he used, all the sort of everything was all it was all from his heart. And every project he worked on, he did so many incredible projects. And I highly recommend you go down a JMV rabbit hole and see the stuff he's worked on, because he was incredible. Unfortunately, now, two years ago, he passed away at Christmas time, due to some sort of a pre-existing, like from birth heart condition he had.

He was in the best shape of his life. He was so super, super fit. He would like wake up to go in plunges in the ocean at like 5 a.m. Like he would just do. He was so strong and so fit. He would do like really intense calisthenics and like very, very healthy. And he his heart sort of gave out. And I, I am forever, you know, just forever grateful to him for the incredible experience with the lies. And he didn't direct the second season, but he added he edited the second season. But he nothing compares to his to his style of directing and to his to his vision. He was so inspired and such a cool, kind guy. And I think he his heart was so big and he had so much love to give. I am I'm insanely impressed and very honored to have gotten to meet him.

[54:13] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, that's lovely. I'm sorry. I remember reading. No, no, no. What a beloved getting to talk about him at any point is always good. He was such a good guy. But also getting to work with those ladies. I mean, it's hard because, you know, you think you think like the divas of Broadway, you think like all the famous people, but I don't want to use diva in a negative connotation. They are, I guess, like.

[54:33] Robert Peterpaul: So basically, it's called the Compliment Game and I reached out to someone in your life for a loving statement about you and I'm gonna read it to you and then you have to guess who said it.

[54:46] Iain Armitage: Oh dear, okay.

[54:50] Robert Peterpaul: Okay, and I... oh, it's gonna be a really bad one.

[54:52] Iain Armitage: No, this is gonna be good.

[54:53] Robert Peterpaul: And you can get like three guesses. People freak out when there's no rules, but there's no rules. Three guesses, yes or no questions you can ask me.

[55:03] Iain Armitage: I don't really know anything. I will say this quote is very specific.

[55:06] Robert Peterpaul: Okay.

[55:07] Iain Armitage: It's almost a hint, so I think you'll be okay, but I can help you if you need it.

[55:11] Robert Peterpaul: Okay, let me put my reading voice on. "Who hears that I am sad and within ten minutes shows up at my door and sits with me and tells me how much I mean to him and how much he loves me." I wonder who it could be. Maybe the person that I've gone on and on about loving so much.

[55:29] Iain Armitage: Is this person a famous and incredible and wonderful actress by any chance?

[55:34] Robert Peterpaul: This person is by major chances.

[55:36] Iain Armitage: Fascinating, fascinating. Is this person... I'm trying to think of another question because I just can't put my finger on who this might be.

[55:44] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, I don't think you can.

[55:46] Iain Armitage: Does this person have three dogs?

[55:49] Robert Peterpaul: I believe this person does.

[55:51] Iain Armitage: Huh, huh, fascinating. And if they don't, who you gonna call?

[55:55] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, gosh.

[55:58] Iain Armitage: The kennel?

[56:00] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, probably. The rescue center.

[56:04] Iain Armitage: I think it might be the incomparable Annie Potts.

[56:07] Robert Peterpaul: It is Annie Potts, yes!

[56:10] Iain Armitage: I love her so much and any excuse to get to hang out with her is always one that I will take, however she feels in the moment. I wish she could pop into the Zoom right now.

[56:22] Robert Peterpaul: A much better surprise would be...

[56:24] Iain Armitage: And here she is!

[56:26] Robert Peterpaul: And here she is!

[56:27] Iain Armitage: I love Annie Potts so much. She is such a good, kind person and I just... I'm so grateful to her for being so sweet and so kind to me always.

[56:37] Iain Armitage: I think at the end of our show, there were a couple... you know, there were some moments where I think it hit a lot of people, kind of that we've been doing this for seven years. And I was very surprised because I think I was one of the least affected people on set. I think the only time I really felt strong emotion about it was on the last day, on the last scene when they wrapped us all out because we sort of clapped everyone out and they... everyone got wrapped out and they wrapped me out last.

[57:05] Iain Armitage: And I sort of looked around and I saw everyone there and I looked around the dinner... it was a dinner scene also, which was kind of a perfect scene to end on because everyone was there. And I looked around the table and I saw everybody and it really... I think that was sort of when it caught up to me because I don't tend to be crazy negatively emotional about things like that. I tend to look on the positive side more.

[57:29] Robert Peterpaul: I get that vibe.

[57:31] Iain Armitage: I don't know. And also at the end there were a couple stressful things going on in my personal life, like just stuff that sort of made it a little hard to focus on the ending. I'd sort of rather do my job well and then come home and not be doing my job. I know some people were like crying all the time on set and just having a really hard time with it. Annie not being one of them at all. Annie is incredibly professional and I love her so much.

[58:01] Iain Armitage: But I think at one point, like everybody else, I guess at least I sort of realized how lucky I was. And I always have known, but I sort of really made it a point to inform her how lucky I knew I was to get to work with her and get to be around her. And I went over to her house.

[58:21] Robert Peterpaul: That's so special. I love your love for her and how you sort of spread the word about it in your interviews. It comes through and it seems like it was such a special time and dynamic in your life and I'm sure it will continue. And before I let you go, I did want to ask you, looking at sort of that emotion difference between everyone on set, Sheldon was such a fish out of water.

[58:43] Iain Armitage: Wow, my jersey kind of just came out there. Fish out of water?

[58:47] Robert Peterpaul: I'm like dog? Did you have a dog? Three dogs?

[58:51] Iain Armitage: So I wonder with that fish out of water vibe, it does seem like almost every episode he's almost learning how to be a kinder human. Like he has all this knowledge, but he doesn't have sort of the social emotional awareness necessarily. Being in that perspective, did that teach you anything about the world, about kindness, about treating other people with love?

[59:11] Iain Armitage: Yes, I think it's kind of funny because I think I tend to be sort of the opposite of Sheldon in terms of intelligence. I'm certainly no physics whiz, but at least I hope I'm pretty socially smart to a degree at least. And I love meeting people. I love getting to make friends. That's my favorite thing in the world.

[59:29] Iain Armitage: And my grandma often says about me that when I was little we'd be in New York together. We still go to New York together all the time, of course, but she would say when I was little sometimes I would say come meet my friend and she would never know if it would be a kid my age, an 80-year-old woman, you know, it could be a puppy dog. It would just be someone or something completely random.

[59:53] Iain Armitage: I've always been lucky to get to be around so many people that are very... just such a diverse group of people in terms of... I was born in Savannah, Georgia. I grew up in Virginia, New York. We live out in LA part of the year when we're filming. For the past nine years we have been, so it's sort of wild from the south to the north to the east to the west. People with all sorts of different political views, religious views, views on life, views on raising kids, views on all sorts of issues, views on war, views on everything.

[1:00:29] Iain Armitage: And I think getting to have a very sort of... I think that's a really important thing to get to know a lot of people with a lot of different interests and ideas and getting to interact with them all in meaningful ways is really important to me. And I think no one's ideas or beliefs should ever be ruled. Everyone has something to teach you and you always have something to learn. And it can be a cautionary tale. It could be a thing that they're teaching you not to replicate. It could be a behavior that you really don't agree with or don't like, but you're still going to learn from it.

[1:01:07] Iain Armitage: And I think that's what Sheldon, we kind of see him doing as he still progresses, is learning from people and becoming, at the end, maybe a better person. And I always hope whatever I do, whoever I'm interacting with, that at the end of the day I can be a little bit better because I think there is always room to grow. And the second you stop loving life and loving learning and loving learning from people is, you know, your life is essentially over at that point if you think you've learned everything. There's nothing left to learn.

[1:01:35] Robert Peterpaul: Yeah, and being curious is so much fun. I recently spoke with someone who said, everyone wants the answers, but having questions is underrated. And as you get older, you stop having so many questions and you look back and you think, oh, it's so fun to wonder and go on that journey. So I think that's really beautiful advice. And I usually end these episodes by asking for a tangible kindness tip, but since we're out of time and you kind of just gave one for listeners, unless you have anything else to share, I think that was pretty epic advice.

[1:02:01] Iain Armitage: Yeah, no, it's... you're very, very kind, which seems on brand for you. I think the tangible kindness tips, I almost want to just be like, just be kind. It's funny because it's like using the word... you're trying to explain in your explanation, but I think just trying to reach out to somebody in your life who you haven't either is maybe going through a hard time or you haven't spoken to in a while or you think just might, you know, just reach out to somebody in your life who you think might need it and try and relieve their pain or their stress a little bit, I think is one that I think will help somebody in your circle.

[1:02:43] Iain Armitage: So take care of the people that are around you, first and foremost. But also, go out in the world with a smile, you're never fully dressed without one.

[1:02:47] Robert Peterpaul: You're never fully dressed! That was beautiful advice. Thank you, Iain. It was such a joy to have you. I'm so grateful that we have you in this industry to continue to watch grow and to look up to because you're such a great role model, I feel like, for a lot of people.

[1:03:01] Iain Armitage: Thank you, I feel the exact same way about you. You're wonderful and if you ever need me on the podcast again for any reason or for a quote for somebody, I'm here.

[1:03:07] Robert Peterpaul: Oh, well let's co-host the rest of the season!

[1:03:09] Iain Armitage: No, thank you so much, this was great.

[1:03:19] Robert Peterpaul: And now it's time for your kindness tip of the week. Iain, what a great person you are. Thank you so much again for coming on the AOK.

[1:03:27] Iain Armitage: Never fear, the fun's not over yet! We're going from Young Sheldon's high IQ to KQ.

[1:03:35] Robert Peterpaul: What's a KQ, you ask? Well, personally, I feel like we measure things in life that we value: our credit scores, our grades in school, our health metrics, our bank accounts, our podcast downloads, our time, right? Speaking of, today, 11-11, not only marks Veterans Day, love to all the vets, but also my two-year anniversary to my wonderful wife, Cassie. I cannot measure the amount of love I have for you. I think that would be impossible, but I can measure how kind you are.

[1:04:13] Robert Peterpaul: That's right, though we historically haven't measured the most important thing of all in life, kindness. Now we can. The amazing non-profit I work with, kindness.org, has launched the KQ, or kindness quotient, a personality questionnaire rooted in science that can actually measure how kind you are as a person. How exciting, right?

[1:04:39] Robert Peterpaul: Starting 11-13, World Kindness Day, you can go to kindness.org and get your KQ. It's so fast and easy and fun to take. I've gotten to take some early iterations and honestly, the results are pretty mind-blowing. If you do take it, please share it on social media and tag me, @RobPeterPaul and that Art of Kindness pod. Let's be friends!

[1:05:07] Robert Peterpaul: Now that we're friends, I'm gonna make you my new project. Sorry, another wicked reference. Now that we're friends, I can tell you Season 4 is gonna hit you in your core!

[1:05:23] Robert Peterpaul: I just made that up and it rhymed! From Betty Who to Judith Light to Corbin Bleu, that also rhymed! Okay, Dr. Seuss. We have so many sparkling conversations coming your way. There are some I can't even talk about yet, but they're really thrilling! So thank you for tuning in and I hope you continue to join us here on the Art of Kindness podcast. You are part of our kindness community!

[1:05:49] Robert Peterpaul: Audio hug! I know the world seems so crazy right now, probably because it is, but until next time, I hope you remember everything's gonna be A-OK.