Robert Peterpaul (00:00)

Well, Ian, I am so excited to talk to you today. I am just such a fan. I also, saw you at the Creative Coalition recently, which honored our friends at kindness .org. I wanna shout that out because they're great people and you just seem like such a kind soul. So thank you for being here.

Iain Armitage (00:32)

You're 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, honored.

Robert Peterpaul (00:45)

Well, I feel like you deserve it. And from the research I've done and just seeing you out there sort of 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, honestly. thank you.

Iain Armitage (01:00)

Well, I was going say, you're very kind yourself. I would expect it from you and I would hope for it, certainly, from the title.

Robert Peterpaul (01:08)

imagine if you log in here and I'm like, hello, I'm like just like a little Grinch, you know, a little, I mean, I am wearing green today, so it could go that way. 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.

Iain Armitage (01:27)

It's weird. I don't know, it's kind of funny. think I've gotten a little better, but it is such an odd and kind of crazy part of doing what I do because on set, obviously, it's a job and it's a job I love very, very much, everybody has a job and most people's job, I think acting is the easiest job on a film set by far. And it's the least taxing by far and most

Robert Peterpaul (01:51)

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (01:56)

you get the most recognition for it. think I'm probably one of the, in terms of jobs on set, one of the least hardworking people and for some reason, because of the visibility of what I do versus what maybe a base camp PA would do or a writer would do or whoever, I get visibility from it, I get complimented, get, and it's, I think it's so unfair and sometimes when people...

Robert Peterpaul (02:13)

Yeah. Yeah.

Iain Armitage (02:23)

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 have done so little to deserve this.

Robert Peterpaul (02:28)

Hahaha

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.

Iain Armitage (02:47)

Yeah, and 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 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. I'm so grateful to all of them for facilitating what we got to do.

Robert Peterpaul (02:55)

Yeah.

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. 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.

Iain Armitage (03:17)

Yeah.

Yes, thank you. And can we follow it up with the meaning of the universe?

Robert Peterpaul (03:33)

we can, young Sheldon. feel like if anybody would have that, I think it would be you. So thank you for adding that in.

Iain Armitage (03:37)

Well, 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 and he's getting his PhD in like two years. So in terms of geniuses, I feel like he's the one to ask. I might have to shoot him a quick text after this and ask if he's been working on that.

Robert Peterpaul (03:43)

I love it.

What?

Yeah, please do. Was he like an inspiration for young Sheldon? Because that's kind of funny that you would have a friend like that.

Iain Armitage (04:02)

No, it's funny because we actually sort of met through the show. He mentioned like six years ago or maybe seven years ago, 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 and so he's an awesome guy. But to go back to your question, you're very very

Robert Peterpaul (04:23)

Yeah!

I just got a PS5, offline, if you want to recommend me anything, we can get into that later.

Iain Armitage (04:32)

sick! But, no, to get into your very philosophical and mean question, for 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, but really I tend to look at kindness as a much more micro level, because I think...

Robert Peterpaul (04:41)

Hahaha

Iain Armitage (05:02)

Nowadays, especially in a time where so many people 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 have put a lot of effort into, or just to be able to talk to somebody and know that you didn't make their day worse because of interaction and hopefully made their day better because of it.

Robert Peterpaul (05:11)

Mmm.

Yeah No, I think it's great

Iain Armitage (05:31)

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 smile at somebody, just being able to say, hey man, that color looks great on you, or I love your watch, or your dog is so cute. You know, but just being able to find something that somebody might have put effort into that day, or, I try and think,

Robert Peterpaul (05:50)

Thank you. I'm not even wearing a watch, but I appreciate it. Yeah.

Iain Armitage (06:00)

What did they look in the mirror before leaving the house? They go, hey, that looks good on me. And then come with that.

Robert Peterpaul (06:04)

Yeah, 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, to be kind, especially maybe at your level, sort of, I have to donate so much money to this or do this. Yeah.

Iain Armitage (06:18)

I think you think like, 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 charity is still incredibly important. I live by the rule sort of that 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,

Robert Peterpaul (06:30)

Yes.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (06:46)

there's not much you can do except for the little things that could make someone stay better. Which then can ripple outwards.

Robert Peterpaul (06:50)

Mmm. I love that. It does. And actually, the nonprofit 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. 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?

Iain Armitage (07:27)

Well, it's kind of funny because my... So I started off doing theater reviews and for the first... I'm very kind. For the first six years of my life, that was, you 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, never thought...

Robert Peterpaul (07:33)

So good.

Iain Armitage (07:52)

There's never a moment for me where I was sitting in the audience and I thought, that could be me on that stage up there 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, you want your son to sign on with us or would you represent him? And we never, my mom never really said yes for a few reasons, primarily because you hear so many awful stories.

Robert Peterpaul (07:56)

Yeah

Iain Armitage (08:22)

from Hollywood of 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 really appreciated that she's always been so protective of me, both in my career and outside of it. But eventually, was one agent who asked my mom, would you like us to represent? And she said no. And this agent, Jamie Pillett, said,

Robert Peterpaul (08:22)

Yeah.

Mm.

Iain Armitage (08:49)

Would you be okay to come into our offices and just talk about why you wouldn't want him to be represented? Just to have a little chat about it. And my mom was like, sure, pretty set my ways, I know my reasons. So 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 said, would you want to try acting? And I was like, yes, yes, yes, very much, it sounds like fun.

Robert Peterpaul (08:55)

Look at that.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (09:19)

And so it was kind of a balance of both. think my mom is wonderful and very good about protecting me and 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. Supported me, but kept me safe.

Robert Peterpaul (09:27)

Hmm.

Mm. Yeah, I... No, I mean, I think that's wonderful. I love the reverse psychology of getting into that meeting from the agency, who is so kind, by the way. Shout out to Jamie's office. Just even dealing with them over email was such a lovely experience.

Iain Armitage (09:58)

Jamie Pillett is an incredible, incredible person and just a force of nature. can't even describe it. She is so kind and so sweet and such a killer at the same time. She's amazing.

Robert Peterpaul (10:10)

Yeah, you want that. You want like a kind shark kind of navigating with you through the ocean.

Iain Armitage (10:12)

Yes, you've described her perfectly.

Robert Peterpaul (10:16)

Yeah, okay cool. Thank you. Well, thanks for coming. No, but you mentioned Ian Love's Theater, 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 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've been dying over that page, and you keep it up a bit, which I love.

Iain Armitage (10:25)

or not.

Robert Peterpaul (10:44)

Do you have a favorite show ever that you've seen? I know this is sort of a mean question.

Iain Armitage (10:48)

No, it would have been a mean question if you'd asked me like a year and 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 it has stuck with me and resonated with me so much. was Good Night Oscar with Sean Hayes playing.

Robert Peterpaul (10:53)

Okay.

Yeah.

I'm so jealous you saw that. I missed that one.

Iain Armitage (11:07)

I saw it three times, I would have seen it a million. It was incredible and absolutely phenomenal and I loved it so much. Mr. Chane's 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 tear stains on his shirt, but he is such a, such a kind man and ridiculously talented. If you don't know in the show,

Robert Peterpaul (11:16)

yeah.

my gosh.

Iain Armitage (11:36)

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, shortened versions of Rover, about seven, eight minutes long. And it was the best thing I've ever seen on stage.

Robert Peterpaul (11:44)

Mmm.

Yeah.

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 Tonys that year. We were in the press room and he was saying how his fingers were all injured from playing it so many times, which yeah, makes sense. It's like an athlete. Since we are the Broadway Podcast Network, I have a couple of theatery questions. 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.

Iain Armitage (12:16)

Yeah. You have to ice them before and after the show. Yeah.

Of course.

It's incredible.

Robert Peterpaul (12:33)

with you guys, and you kindly said that you listen to our network and different shows. So I'm wondering, do you have a dream show that you'd like to be in? I saw you did Shakespeare recently, which is so cool. It's a lot of work, yeah.

Iain Armitage (12:37)

you

I did, it was a lot of fun. my gosh. I think in terms of theater or terms of acting in general.

Robert Peterpaul (12:53)

I guess acting in general on the stage. you could be in a Broadway show tomorrow, it be like Young Sheldon the musical? Would it be Little Shop of Horrors? I could see, yeah, you know.

Iain Armitage (12:56)

Okay.

God no.

god, Little Shop would be fun. 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. I'm beginning to sing High Flying Adore, it'd be pretty incredible. And then, gosh, let me think, let me think. I also love Sunset Boulevard. Let me take you back six months, I was at the bottom of the barrel. It'd be a lot of fun.

Robert Peterpaul (13:10)

Ooh.

That would be cool.

so good, and it's...

Yeah, that score and it's coming back which is wild

Iain Armitage (13:32)

Yes! my gosh, no, saw a production in London recently, which I believe is coming to New York. And it was amazing! It was absolutely fantastic. And it was so different and very stark staging, but so incredible. the actors have played Norma, whose name I'm blanking on. Yes!

Robert Peterpaul (13:37)

you saw it? Wow.

Hmm

I think it's Nicole, Nicole Schreizinger? The Pussycat Dolls, yeah.

Iain Armitage (14:01)

I think she was the one who it. She was phenomenal because she was... I don't even know how... 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 she's also a very slight person but she had such a powerful voice and that was such an impressive thing to get to hear.

Robert Peterpaul (14:21)

Yeah.

Mm. 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. I'm tap dancing underneath under my little, I'm like laughing at how little I look compared to you. think it's, no, I think it's hilarious. I love it. No, your haircut is great. I was admiring it. I actually need one. Once I take these headphones off, it's like, pssh.

Iain Armitage (14:33)

You're very kind.

You're fair.

And I look too big, I'm giving myself a little Warner Brothers haircut. Well, no, in terms of Warner Brothers haircut, when your hair goes out of frame, you get a little buzz cut from that.

Robert Peterpaul (14:57)

Yes, yes, I love this. I was at Warner Brothers in the city recently and your picture's all over those offices. You're everywhere, which is...

Iain Armitage (15:07)

I love Warner Brothers. I have a lot of love in my heart for those offices. think Warner Brothers is a great company. And yeah, it's been cool to get to work for them for seven years.

Robert Peterpaul (15:15)

yeah. 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 Rose now. I'm like, this show brings so much. 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, to get too deep, but.

Iain Armitage (15:26)

Hahaha

Robert Peterpaul (15:41)

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.

Iain Armitage (16:06)

Yeah, well, it's funny, because it's an odd combination of things. think number one, especially now, my gosh, especially now, where there's a lot of 90s, especially, which great reference, by the way, especially now, where there's such 90s nostalgia, I think it's nice, because our viewer base, when we were just on network television, was primarily

Robert Peterpaul (16:17)

Especially now. Yeah, sorry, now we're both turning into Moira Rose. Thank you.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (16:35)

how do I put this delicately, people who would have 90s nostalgia from living through it, which I, I, I think is a really, our, our, 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 in every department worked so hard to make our show so authentic. And I actually for school project, again, 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

Robert Peterpaul (16:42)

There we go.

Yeah.

Cool.

Iain Armitage (17:03)

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, how it 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, was sort of nowadays there's a lot of 90s nostalgia, fashion and trends and things that I think it fit into that. Also it really is a family show.

Robert Peterpaul (17:07)

Yeah.

Hahaha

Yeah.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (17:33)

Not a lot of at least I think there's not a lot of shows like that now. There's a couple shows I love watching with my mom. Another one, a CBS twin is Ghosts, which is incredible, and has Miss Danielle Pienaar from Young Sheldon. was Miss Ingram, our math teacher, and she is 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.

Robert Peterpaul (17:45)

Yeah

yeah, so good.

I gotta watch the new one because we started the BBC one, know, the one it's based on.

Iain Armitage (18:04)

They're both wonderful. It was funny because I've never, 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 usually love the one you start with, and obviously I started with the American one because patriotism.

Robert Peterpaul (18:15)

Mmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Wait, that's the Olympics theme. That's not just America. That was the wrong theme. Anyway.

Iain Armitage (18:29)

America! But I love both versions so much and they're just so talented. But no, I think it's an odd kind of combination of 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 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.

Robert Peterpaul (18:35)

Yeah.

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (18:56)

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 of their lives. Everyone's gonna 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, my gosh, one thing I'm really appreciative of is the fact that it doesn't, it tends to make fun of everybody equally when it goes after somebody or something, and it's something that,

Robert Peterpaul (19:02)

Yeah.

Hmm

Iain Armitage (19:25)

I have friends who are on the farthest sides of the political spectrum in both directions who can enjoy the show, which means a lot to me because I something that is unifying rather than something that's polarizing is, I'm very lucky to have been a part

Robert Peterpaul (19:34)

Yeah.

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 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.

Iain Armitage (20:11)

Just like kind of... hitching.

Robert Peterpaul (20:13)

Yeah, I know, people are gonna listen to this, they're like, was this in another language? I'm like, no, just English. Yeah, just a little drunk on happiness to be here today.

Iain Armitage (20:18)

You're just a little drunk.

Actually, that might be the case. I think you hit the nail on the head there.

Robert Peterpaul (20:27)

Thank you. Boom. What if I had a hammer? That'd be crazy. You know, speaking of nails on the head, how would I do that transition? If you ever held a hammer growing up, growing up on, no, that was so bad.

Iain Armitage (20:36)

Actually, that's sort of a good transition because one of the departments I worked with was construction. I got to hold a lot of nail guns. A little more high tech than your grandpa's hammer. No, I... You're nailing that transition completely. No, I... Don't worry, so am I. I'm good at dad puns though, very cringy dad pun. gosh, well now you've put me on the spot.

Robert Peterpaul (20:43)

There we go. okay. Well, we're nailing it. Nailing it, yeah. Well, that's creepy. I'm famously bad with transitions on this podcast.

Same! what's your best dad pun?

Okay, you think about it and then just pop it into the conversation later.

Iain Armitage (21:09)

Yeah, don't worry, I'm gonna sprinkle my awful sense of humor throughout our conversations. I think you hit the nail on the head through that transition was alright, but no. I'm gonna think of something much worse enough to really make you cringe and then I'll interject it, so don't worry.

Robert Peterpaul (21:13)

I'm

No, I'm gonna enjoy it.

Yeah, no, I'm already cringing because I'm myself. So don't even, not because of you, just because I can see myself. Well, I was, yeah, what I was trying to get to is, 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?

Iain Armitage (21:44)

Well, you're very kind to say that. I... You're very kind. It's a kind truth, isn't it? No, 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, both in the theater community and in the acting community in general. She's been on so many... I recently saw Pretty in Pink and saw Annie Potts.

Robert Peterpaul (21:47)

It's the truth.

Love her.

Yeah, I forgot she's the woman in Ghostbusters 2. mean, she's... Yeah. Little Bo Peep?

Iain Armitage (22:16)

Of course, she's, she's antipods. She's effortlessly talented, I think is the way I'd describe her. She just exudes confidence and she's always funny, always ready for anything. I love her so much.

Robert Peterpaul (22:31)

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 and He plays little Bo Peep in Toy Story. No, it's like, okay. Wait, what? Wait, huh?

Iain Armitage (22:34)

Robert is always ready for anything. What a guy.

You know, he's the guy from Ghostbusters.

Robert Peterpaul (22:45)

With the glasses behind the table. Thank you, you gave me everything I need.

Iain Armitage (22:50)

What a talented man. But I... You don't even need to cut it up now, I'm so generous. 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've gotten to work with such incredible professionals that I've...

Robert Peterpaul (22:57)

I don't.

Hmm.

Iain Armitage (23:18)

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. If you, 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.

Robert Peterpaul (23:35)

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (23:47)

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. think one thing I'm very lucky and grateful to the departments in New York Sheldon for letting me work with them for is, 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?

Robert Peterpaul (23:52)

Yeah.

Mmm

Iain Armitage (24:15)

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 end up 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

Robert Peterpaul (24:23)

Yeah.

Mm

Iain Armitage (24:45)

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 Young Sheldon. But at the same time, I'm not, I think if you've put in work for something, it's very hard to, and put in work with other people as a group and form that kind of camaraderie. It makes it much harder to be, you know, 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.

Robert Peterpaul (24:54)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (25:15)

or otherwise saying, you 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.

Robert Peterpaul (25:23)

Mmm.

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. 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 your vibe? How do you show yourself, I guess this sounds woo -woo, 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?

Iain Armitage (25:35)

completely.

Well, it doesn't sound woo -woo at all. It's a really good question.

Robert Peterpaul (25:59)

Well, thank you. I know you have like 87 ,000 hobbies that I've learned about. I mean, you're such an impressive person, so you might be doing one of those.

Iain Armitage (26:02)

I am a very nerdy person. 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 are some,

Robert Peterpaul (26:13)

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (26:31)

you know, wherever you work, you're gonna end up having, you're gonna end up making close friends with somebody or somebody in some department or something you're doing. I love, and this is partially just because I'm a massive foodie, but our Cracky 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.

Robert Peterpaul (26:38)

Mm.

Same.

But it's dangerous. I was a crafty PA on a movie once and I gained weight. Like I just sat there. Someone would take an and then I would pour more in and then take some for myself. And then someone would take a Triscuit. You eat so much, which is great.

Iain Armitage (26:55)

Yes, no, yeah, completely.

Yes, no, I understand the risks. didn't, I, I, don't worry. I, I, I had a scale with me.

Robert Peterpaul (27:07)

You're like, I was standing on a scale constantly. Yeah, it's beautiful, but it's filling.

Iain Armitage (27:10)

No, no, no. I'm 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, you 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 downtime 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...

Robert Peterpaul (27:17)

Enjoy it.

Yeah.

but you could try.

Iain Armitage (27:38)

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,

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 always being... Yeah, when I'm off set, not needing to come in and stand there. But I think in terms of hanging out with actors and people, Annie Potts has got to be pink. She's wonderful. But I love everyone.

Robert Peterpaul (28:10)

Mmm.

yeah, they could be hard.

Mmm.

she seems like it. Well, it's funny, because your 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. But she...

Iain Armitage (28:37)

my gosh, hi!

Robert Peterpaul (28:38)

Nanny we love you! She's the best. She just texted me a quote from Glenn Close Today, which was exactly what you said, which was, a life outside of acting. If you're gonna succeed in this, it can't be your whole life. And you certainly live by that. I I mentioned you have 87 ,000 hobbies as a joke, but you literally do. mean, I think martial arts, linguistics, you touched on, various languages. 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, try, or to try a hobby, to do anything that they wanna do outside of their quote unquote job. I feel like sometimes it can be hard to be motivated. I have a ukulele collecting dust under my bed that's been there for like six months from Amazon Prime Day, so.

Iain Armitage (29:09)

to start to start what?

for acting.

Yeah.

Well, gosh, that's a really good question. 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 sort of hyper -focus in on that and learn as much as I can about it. And 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 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 too. If you're a visual learner, 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

Robert Peterpaul (29:57)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (30:23)

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 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.

Robert Peterpaul (30:39)

Yeah, that's

Iain Armitage (30:52)

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 work resources for that nowadays that are free and you know, My god, no that thing that your bird is evil. I never touched do a lingo That bird is abusive and unkind I Have I have friends who use to a lingo and I've seen so many of those do a lingo notifications. They scare me

Robert Peterpaul (31:05)

Yeah, do a lingo with the little bird thing. It is? really? Okay. But they sponsor this podcast, so we might have to take another video. It is? my goodness. All of sudden a bird just takes me away.

that, yeah, sometimes, well that's like the Apple Watch notifications sometimes really do sort of accost you. They're like, you didn't drink enough water today. It's like, get up. I'm like, okay, mom.

Iain Armitage (31:22)

I have never used dual -ango.

They make you feel so bad! You did not reach your movement goal yesterday. Maybe you could try a little harder today. Maybe one day you could reach it. Get off the couch and get your 12 ,000 steps in.

Robert Peterpaul (31:36)

Yeah.

Maybe one day you can move.

Yeah, I'm like, I just wasn't wearing my watch, okay? Just sitting there eating at the crafty table. It's fine. Yeah.

Iain Armitage (31:46)

I know, no it's the worst when you get that. I wasn't wearing it. I think finding resources that will help you is important. And sometimes getting someone or somewhere to hold you accountable is really good too. if you want to get fit, having a personal trainer is great because you know, you're not, it's way harder to sit there at the gym and scroll on your phone not doing anything.

Robert Peterpaul (31:56)

Mm.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (32:13)

if you've got somebody screaming, this thing right next to you.

Robert Peterpaul (32:17)

Yes, and that's why I'm on a treadmill under the screen right now. You can't see my legs, but I am running.

Iain Armitage (32:20)

I'm impressed. No, but I, it's weird because motivation is something that sometimes will be randomly inspired to have, 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, get an urge to start. You get an itch.

Robert Peterpaul (32:33)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hmm. Yeah, that's awesome advice. And then you scratch it. Because 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 whatever it may be, could inspire you. The non -green birds in the world. The what?

Iain Armitage (32:52)

Yeah.

the non -green birds fly, yeah.

And now I speak Russian.

Robert Peterpaul (33:11)

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, which is great. 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. Well, 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?

Iain Armitage (33:17)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Robert Peterpaul (33:41)

it is a muscle.

Iain Armitage (33:42)

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 gonna 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.

Robert Peterpaul (34:10)

That's awesome.

Iain Armitage (34:12)

In my short -term memory, 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 commit myself and memorize properly because...

Robert Peterpaul (34:17)

Yeah.

Hmm.

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. And I was like, should we all just have earpieces? You why we memorizing?

Iain Armitage (34:34)

gotcha.

No. We can replace you with AIs while we're at it.

Robert Peterpaul (34:45)

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 spin -offs or whatever it might be. So, yeah, well, you never know. So when you're...

Yeah, when you're there and you're in all of them with the Duolingo Bird, while you're there, what are you thinking? What sort of do you hope this show does for people over time as it lives on?

Iain Armitage (35:26)

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. don't even want that much. I don't want it to be this major massive thing. 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, they're way better. But any show that has been around for...

Robert Peterpaul (35:55)

Yeah.

No, I mean they're different, but they're both amazing.

Iain Armitage (36:22)

you know, more than like five seasons that's pretty well established in its story, is just that in ten years can people still find it funny and laugh and enjoy it or have good memories of it, which is all I really hope.

Robert Peterpaul (36:34)

Yeah.

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 a famous 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. Yeah. But I had such comfort in having my wife was gone and I was alone and I had young children on and I just felt, yeah, very comforted, like a warm blanket. So I think you've already succeeded with that, which is...

Iain Armitage (36:41)

Ha ha ha!

completely. it's incredible.

And we had a great dinner together, didn't we?

Robert Peterpaul (37:06)

We did have a great dinner. wasn't the brisket. You know, I was looking for the cumin. I got it. They should release a Young Sheldon cookbook at this rate because...

Iain Armitage (37:12)

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 blog a little while ago, like 20 years ago I think. He was actually the one who started the non -pizza left beef meme from

Robert Peterpaul (37:17)

Yeah

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (37:42)

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, he, he really, exactly. You could fold it over and have a very, very dry, un -explanatory sandwich. But he had a blog about, like, prison food. And he would create really, really

Robert Peterpaul (37:47)

Okay. Yeah.

Wow, an open sandwich.

Yeah, bury me in that.

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (38:11)

odd and frankly didn't always seem the most appetizing. But cool to see him try foods. But I feel like he would probably come up with a brisket recipe that would be quite palatable.

Robert Peterpaul (38:18)

Yeah. yeah.

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.

Iain Armitage (38:26)

Great.

Okay, that's actually a point I gotta 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 din... 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...

Robert Peterpaul (38:49)

No, that's eco -friendly.

haha

Hmm.

Iain Armitage (39:07)

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 like there's so much that goes into one

Robert Peterpaul (39:25)

Mm

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (39:37)

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 want it for dinner, it was very, very good. And I'm vegetarian and they were also super accommodating about that. It was the best vegetarian food.

Robert Peterpaul (39:51)

Amazing. 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 then 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.

Iain Armitage (40:03)

Mm -hmm.

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 fake it. But yeah, you do 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.

Robert Peterpaul (40:15)

I feel you.

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (40:39)

okay, well now I have to find a place where I don't have a line coming up that I can chew on, you know, and eat more, yeah. It's always funny to look back on those scenes because even I get fooled by it watching on TV and then I think, no, was like a six hour scene and I had two more scenes after that that was like a nine and a half hour work day.

Robert Peterpaul (40:44)

They're like, eat more!

Yeah, so much was 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 reminding me when I did a commercial once. It was like a gum commercial thing, and they kept screaming, chew, chew bigger! Because on screen, you sort of have to be showing that you're chewing this gum.

Iain Armitage (41:21)

Wow, this gum that I'm chewing in my mouth right now is pretty good gum. Go buy this good gum.

Robert Peterpaul (41:25)

You're like, I always wanted the gum from Willy Wonka that sort of tastes like different, like a Thanksgiving dinner, all that kind of stuff, but that's a different. Yes, please. Well, what is your favorite food while we're on the food topic? I, where else would we go? I know, but I just want to talk about food a little bit longer.

Iain Armitage (41:33)

my gosh, that would be incredible, minus the last course.

you're a mean, mean man. You're a mean man. That's 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 gotta say, love, I love koshary, which is like Egyptian street food. Really, really good. It's amazing. I think there might be, where are you right now? if you want, no, no, afterwards. Help. Blink SOS in Morse code.

Robert Peterpaul (41:49)

It says a lot.

Wow, never had it.

Connecticut. I'm locked in a room. No, I'm in Connecticut. yeah, I think I did.

Iain Armitage (42:09)

No, I may ask what state you're in. Also, if you don't want to answer, that's fine.

Robert Peterpaul (42:12)

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. I'm not locked in,

Iain Armitage (42:19)

Yeah, yeah. Good to know. But no, I'm not in a basement. I was going say, think in New York there's some good places. I don't know about Connecticut, but where I am, there's a place in New York that's really good. And also in London, there's a couple good.

Robert Peterpaul (42:36)

yeah, I'm like 40 minutes away from the city. There's also great food in Connecticut, but.

Iain Armitage (42:39)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, completely. And then I also, love, pirozhki, which is like Russian, like it's like flaky pastry with, I like, kartofyli pirozhki, which is potato pirozhki. And, it's just like potatoes and like a little bit of like herbs and spices and stuff inside like flaky pastry. It's really, really good. I, I love food in general and it's very hard for me to pick. I, anything.

Robert Peterpaul (42:51)

yeah.

Mmm. yeah, I love potatoes. I love...

Iain Armitage (43:07)

Honestly, anything in Tennessee, I'd eat.

Robert Peterpaul (43:10)

I love Tennessee. Have you been to Dollywood? Have you been to Dollywood? Are you a Dolly Parton? Everybody loves Dolly Parton.

Iain Armitage (43:12)

Take me to Beal Street, I'm ready.

I've not, and I think we're sort tentatively planning to hopefully go soon. I have my learner's permit now, but I still need to do a lot of the classes and stuff. So hopefully when I'm on the road, we're gonna maybe drive there and we'd alternate between who was driving, me and my mom. I've heard incredible things. I recently got to meet the lady herself. She is...

Robert Peterpaul (43:20)

Huh.

Yeah.

congrats. It's amazing. I really highly recommend it.

No way.

Iain Armitage (43:42)

so amazing. have a photo with her and it's I think one of the only photos in my favorite photos. I love her so much.

Robert Peterpaul (43:48)

Yeah, I would blow that up and make it my wallpaper. I mean, you two are very similar in that. feel like you're universally loved in a way. I mean, I know that's like a blanket statement that's scary to hear, but I am comparing you to Di Par.

Iain Armitage (43:57)

That is, think, the nicest thing anybody has ever said about me. I am deeply honored, but I think it would be, it's an insult to Dolly Parton, so let's not.

Robert Peterpaul (44:06)

No, you're like, you're just one of those people that I feel like leads with love and we need more of that now more than ever. And Dolly, know, means now is love. Okay, so one of the, I don't know about that, but I would say 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.

Iain Armitage (44:12)

What the world needs now is love. wow, impressive.

Robert Peterpaul (44:36)

I mean, what did you take away from working with them? Because you've talked a lot about being respectful on set and learning that early on. I'm guessing this was a formative part of that lesson.

Iain Armitage (44:47)

Yeah, and we also had like Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, we had so many. It was kind of insane and I sort of 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 a 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 Follet who was

Robert Peterpaul (44:49)

Reese Witherspoon of course, yeah.

Yeah.

It's so good.

Mm.

Iain Armitage (45:16)

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. I think she is. 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 Valet was the beating heart and soul of Big of the Lies. All the great music from it was all his handpicked choices. All of those incredible shots of

Robert Peterpaul (45:25)

What a great name.

Ha

Iain Armitage (45:44)

you know, of 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 about 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

Robert Peterpaul (45:56)

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (46:13)

So super, super fit. He would like wake up to go and plunges in the ocean at like 5 a Like he would just do, he was so strong and so fit. He would do like really intense calisthenics and like very, very healthy. he, his heart sort of gave out and I am forever, you know, just forever grateful to him for the incredible experience with The Little Lies. And he didn't direct the second season, but he edited the second season.

Robert Peterpaul (46:37)

Hmm.

Iain Armitage (46:42)

but he nothing compares to his style of directing, his vision. He was so inspired and such a cool, kind guy. I think his heart was so big and he had so much love to give. I'm insanely impressed and very honored to have gotten to meet him.

Robert Peterpaul (47:01)

Hmm. that's lovely. I'm sorry. I remember reading that and what a beloved person Yeah

Iain Armitage (47:04)

No, no, no. Getting to talk about him at any point is always great. He was such a good guy. But also getting to work with those ladies, I mean, it's hard because you think the divas of Broadway and you think of all the famous people, but I don't want to use diva in a negative connotation. They are, I guess, prima donna. don't know. I don't even know a word that can compare to how glorious and magnificent the people that I got to work with on that show were. Every single person was so talented and just so wonderful. And again,

Robert Peterpaul (47:18)

Yeah.

Mmm.

Iain Armitage (47:33)

so down to earth and so humble. think I've never met, I've never met an actually talented, famous, good actor who is really seriously conceited or vain or not humble. It's interesting. I think it's one of those things where you see the jobs of everyone else on set and then you see your job and you realize that you are another person on set. And it would be stupid to be conceited about your role on a film set.

Robert Peterpaul (47:34)

Hmm.

That's good.

Yeah, and I think that kindness is more sustainable. You know, what I've found in interviewing people and working on different sets is that the quote unquote more famous someone is, usually the kinder they are because they've been around and people want to work with them. And that's kind of what it's all about. We're all just little muppets bouncing around. And if you're a good one, people want to vibe with you. And I do feel like, especially Nicole and Reese and Shaylin and...

Iain Armitage (48:07)

Yes.

completely.

Robert Peterpaul (48:22)

Laura, like you're saying, they get the question all the time, is it ever coming back? Do people ask you that or are people always like asking you, and you're like, I don't know.

Iain Armitage (48:29)

Yes, yeah. mean, from what I know, I think it is, but I kind of, first of all, I don't know exactly when, and second of all, I don't know how they're gonna do it without JMV. Because even in the second season where he didn't direct, he edited it. Which, I, you know, so I think it is going to happen. I think there will be a third season at some point. One that I would love to be on, but I have no idea of anything aside from the fact that it, there's a very solid chance it would happen.

Robert Peterpaul (48:34)

Yeah.

Hmm.

I'm sure you will.

Mmm. Well, I hope so. I do know there's a very solid chance right now of a surprise game happening. Woo! Are you down to play? Okay, well then I don't want to disappoint you because it's actually not much of a game really but it's There's a cheesy theme song that I'll insert here. Yeah, and I won't make you listen to it. Thank the Lord You You will hear it later. Don't worry So basically it's called the compliment game and I reached out to someone in your life for a loving statement about you

Iain Armitage (49:06)

I am ridiculously competitive, let's go. I completely get it, I'm ready.

I wanna hear the, I will hear the Cheesy theme song, you will give me the Cheesy theme song. Wonderful.

Robert Peterpaul (49:29)

and I'm gonna read it to you and then you have to guess who said it. Okay, and I... this is gonna be good. 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. I don't really know anything. I will say this quote is very specific. It's almost a hint. So I think you'll be okay. But I can help you if you need it. Okay. Let me put my reading voice on.

Iain Armitage (49:32)

dear, okay. it's gonna be a really bad one.

Okay.

Robert Peterpaul (50:00)

Who hears that I am sad and within 10 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?

Iain Armitage (50:09)

I wonder who it could be, maybe the person that I've gone on and on about loving so much. Is this person a famous and incredible and wonderful actress by any chance?

Robert Peterpaul (50:19)

this person is by major chances.

Iain Armitage (50:22)

Fascinating, fascinating. Is this person, I'm trying to think of another question because I just can't put my finger under this. Does this person have three dogs?

Robert Peterpaul (50:24)

you

I don't think you can. I believe this person does. And if they don't, who you gonna call?

Iain Armitage (50:36)

Huh, fascinating.

gosh, the kennel. The rescue center. I think it might be the incomparable antipods.

Robert Peterpaul (50:45)

Probably, yeah, probably. We're like, North Shore Rescue Center. It is Annie Potts,

Iain Armitage (50:55)

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. if you, a much better surprise would be, and here she is.

Robert Peterpaul (51:05)

I wish she could pop into the zoom right now, I'm. And here she is. She walks in. She's behind me in like a Duolingo outfit. You're like, that's, that could be anyone. I'm going to, I'm going to email them this episode and hopefully they will sponsor it. No, they probably won't. They'll probably like delete me.

Iain Armitage (51:14)

No! Have you done your lesson today? I love

I don't think they will. I love Annie Potts so much. She is such a good, kind person. I just, I'm so grateful to her for being so sweet and so kind to me always. think at the end of our show, there was 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

least affected people on set. 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 wrapped me out last. 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

Robert Peterpaul (52:03)

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (52:21)

and I saw everybody and it really, I think that was sort of when it caught up to me. But, because I think I don't tend to be crazy, negatively emotional about things like that. I tend to look on the positive side more. I think I tend to be a pretty happy person. But, I don't know. And also at the end, there was also a couple of 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.

Robert Peterpaul (52:38)

I get that vibe.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (52:50)

I know some people were like, you know, 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. I think at one point, you know, like everybody else, I she kind of, you know, 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 interview around her. And I went over to her house. just hung out for a little while.

Robert Peterpaul (52:55)

Mmm.

Aww.

Iain Armitage (53:20)

talked and it was nice.

Robert Peterpaul (53:21)

That's so special. I love your love for her and how you sort of spread the word about it in your interviews and 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, know, looking at sort of that emotion difference between everyone on set, Sheldon was such a fish out of water and, wow, my jersey kind of just came out there. Fish out of water, I am from Jersey. Fish out of water? Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Iain Armitage (53:46)

What? A fish out of water?

Robert Peterpaul (53:50)

I'm like, dog? Did you have a dog? Three dogs? So I wonder what 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?

Iain Armitage (54:14)

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. 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.

80 year old woman, homeless man, could be a puppy dog, could be a whatever, it would just be someone or something completely random and she would never know. Sorry. Not though. We gotta stop invoking its name. It could attack me at any point. I've always been lucky to get to be around so many people that are very...

Robert Peterpaul (54:50)

Hahaha

Not the Duolingo Bird. No. I said not the Duolingo Bird. No, sorry. Good. But we'll have it on, we'll have it recorded.

Iain Armitage (55:12)

just such a diverse group of people in terms of, I grew up, I was born in Savannah, Georgia. I've grown up in Virginia and New York. We live out in LA part of the year sometimes, know, when we're filming for the past nine years we have been. And so it's sort of wild. I know a lot of people from, you know, from the South to the North, to the East, to the West, and, you know, people with all sorts of different political views, religious views, views on life, views on...

Robert Peterpaul (55:17)

Hmm.

Iain Armitage (55:41)

raising kids, on all sorts of issues, views on war, views on everything. I think getting to have a 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.

Robert Peterpaul (55:54)

Mm.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (56:08)

should you should you either 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 and I think that's what Sheldon we kind of see him doing as the show progresses is learning from people and becoming at the end maybe a better person and I 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.

Robert Peterpaul (56:48)

kind of dead. Yeah. 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, 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.

Iain Armitage (57:19)

Yeah, no, you're very, kind, which seems unbranded for you. I think the tangible kindness tips, you can't just, I almost would 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, who either is maybe going through a hard time or you haven't spoken to in a while, or you think just might.

Robert Peterpaul (57:24)

Hahaha

That's what Carol Burnett said.

Yeah.

Iain Armitage (57:48)

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. So do take care of the people that are around you first and foremost, but also go out the world with a smile. You never fully addressed that one.

Robert Peterpaul (57:56)

Hmm.

Yeah. You're never fully dressed. That was beautiful advice. Thank you Ian. 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. So thank you.

Iain Armitage (58:09)

Wonderful.

You're incredibly kind. 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 happy to.

Robert Peterpaul (58:24)

well let's co -host the rest of the season. No, thank you so much. This was great!