Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, hello again. Our last episode with Moshe Lobel, it covered so much ground from from his work off Broadway, with the Yiddish Fiddler to his film Stadel. But one of my favorite parts of every conversation is when I get to ask final five questions to the guest, and it's where we get to hear about personal lessons and hopes for the industry and and those moments that truly define an artist's career. So, Moshe, you ready to get going?

Moshe Lobel:

Ready or not...

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Here we go. Alright. Number one, what do you remember most about your first professional show that you were a part of?

Moshe Lobel:

So my first professional show was Awaken Sing. I played Ralph. I had severe depression for most of my life since childhood. And at some point, I decided to move to California, change up my life, and figure out how to be emotionally healthy. And I took some time, and it helped a lot. And then I got bored of that and asked my, colleague if they have a role for me, and they said, actually, we have a perfect role for you. So I went back to New York, and I did this. And the character is a very depressed character.

Moshe Lobel:

He's just I mean, he starts off the show just, like, brooding. So every day, I would wake up, and my whole day, everything that I did, everything that I ate was to get me to that point where the show opens. Every thought that I had. Like, everything was just to get me there. So I had to feel miserable and depressed every day, and then I had to go home and be, like, sane and healthy. And that was a real test for me, coming back after this, like, healing process to show me that, actually, I am very emotionally healthy at this point because I am able to manage these emotions, to fully indulge in the necessary emotions and then come back and be myself. Because I I I should contrast like, in college, I did a show where my character kills himself every night, you know, in the show. So I was doing that every night, putting a pistol in my mouth, and it was a a few good men.

Moshe Lobel:

And that really, really messed me up, and that was years before. And so recognizing the contrast that I can play a depressed character and really me really feel it, really believe it, but also be enough in control to stay happy and healthy. That was a really, extraordinary it was very empowering for me in not just on stage, but in my life to to learn that this is actually a skill that I have now.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, navigating tough emotions. Yeah. I mean, it's it's certainly something we have to do as humans. But then, yeah, as actors, we have to be able to let our characters go through that without it drawing us or taking us with it. You know? So the yeah. Yeah.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

It's a it's it's it's all part of the skill of learning to acting for sure. Well, number two, if you could give advice to your younger self just starting out, what would that be?

Moshe Lobel:

The same advice I give anybody now. Not that people should be asking me for advice, but they do for some reason. And I would say, do what you wanna do, not what you're supposed to do. I don't know if I need to elaborate. I think that's

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, that well, I I I think your life story proves that.

Moshe Lobel:

Yeah.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

For sure. And I

Moshe Lobel:

I think the the biggest part of my healing, you know, when I moved to California was realizing that I need to stop doing what people expect me to do, what's what the sane thing to do is, what the reasonable, responsible thing to do is. But I will only be happy when I do exactly what I wanna do. And, and that doesn't mean being the most successful, but just choosing to do this and not that and not necessarily to to let people tell you, oh, you should do this because it's a stepping stool for your career or whatever. Because, I mean, some things, yes. But even if it's a stepping stool, you still have to enjoy what you're doing because you can spend your whole you can spend thirty years on stepping stools climbing that ladder, and you wake up one day and you you're nowhere. So rather than thinking of where you're gonna get to, just focus on what you wanna do now. Maybe it's bad advice, but it works for me.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

No. No. No. I've I I I think any advice that you that anyone gives or hears or takes, that it it has to be in conjunction with the the whole life. I mean, it it's it's it's good advice for one person at one time at a particular moment. You know? And so it's yeah. We and then advice is one of those things that everyone has, but few people take and few people listen to. So it's

Moshe Lobel:

Right.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

We we we have to take it with a grain of salt for sure. Well, number three, what does success or making it mean to you?

Moshe Lobel:

Continuing to be passionate about whatever you do. That's success. I've I've achieved what some people would call success, not financial success, but I have done maybe I've peaked. I don't know. I've gotten to do some things that I didn't even dream of doing ever, let alone in my twenties. For me, it was all about just doing something that I'm passionate about and working with people that I enjoy working with, having that, community, that collaboration, no matter what you do. So I'm doing a lot of, like, random work now. I I work in production.

Moshe Lobel:

We're doing, like, kind of, corporate videos and nonprofit videos, and, I'm behind the camera. But we get to, like, interview, like, some pretty extraordinary people and hear stories. And for me, every day that I every job that I do, no matter what it is and that's why I will avoid plenty of jobs because I know that I I will not care enough, and I don't wanna just, like, show up and do the work and go home. So I need to, like, feel like whatever it is, I can show up and be passionate about it and wanna do the best that I can do and be creative, try to think of new ways to make things more beautiful or more efficient or more pleasant just to work in that environment. That's success. Yeah. As long as you can keep doing that, you're successful.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, getting on to number four, and this talks about the industry itself, kinda, you know, what we've been talking about, you know, all the various jobs that you do. What what changes would you like to see in the industry moving forward?

Moshe Lobel:

I wanna see more diverse Jewish stories. Some of the stuff we discussed already get into that. I mean, the my next project that I'm working on, I want stories that we haven't heard before, characters that don't fit this typical kind of, sorry to say, lazy stereotypes, that are so common, for for Jewish characters in film and TV. I mean, it's been entertaining. It's been funny, you know, with Woody Allen and, you know, these these kinds of characters. But at some point, I do wanna see more just, like, different kinds of people, different personalities, different genres. It doesn't it shouldn't all be, like, either, like, this kind of kitschy comedy or schmaltz. They should be mature, interesting characters that feel relatable and normal.

Moshe Lobel:

You know?

Patrick Oliver Jones:

The full human experience, basically.

Moshe Lobel:

Yes. And and not just, you know, diversity, of course, in in other ways as well because I think a lot of Jewish characters, the overwhelming majority of them are Ashkenazi, like Eastern European. And it would be nice to see more, Sephardic, you know, like or, Mizrahi. So, like, Eastern, Middle Eastern or, Spanish, you know, that kind of, different skin tones, different communities, different cultures. There's a lot of diversity in in Judaism, and I wanna see more of that. Yeah. There are some amazing, like, groups that are doing this reboot Jewish, which supports that. There's just some some efforts to to get that going.

Moshe Lobel:

I I don't know if there's a lot of money in it because people just invest in what has been done. They wanna do it over and over again. But I I wanna see more investment in in diverse stories. I like

Patrick Oliver Jones:

that. Well, lastly, number five, describe a personal lesson that has taken you a while to learn or one that you're still working on to this day.

Moshe Lobel:

I'm the kinda I'm the kinda person who enjoys extraordinary experiences, is maybe a little bit addicted to them, whether personal or professional. I've barely had a dull moment in my life since the beginning, and I I think I got used to that. And a big lesson that I had when I moved to California, actually, and when I, and after every projects that I do is to remember that life is as much about the little things as these big extraordinary experiences. Sometimes the thing after a project, while my colleagues are freaking out about what they're gonna do next, I'm usually just like, I can't wait to get home and wash some dishes and cook myself dinner and, like, spend time with my family and walk in the park. I mean, I get so intense when I'm involved with the project that I I crave that. The problem is that after a while, I'm craving the extraordinary once again. I I get, I guess, maybe bored of that, and I I have to keep remembering to enjoy those little things.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Yeah. I I I totally get that. Yeah. After after show, I love coming home and just, like, having a snack, watching TV, just kinda, like, decompressing from the day. Just the simplest of activities is what I crave whenever whenever I get home after doing the show or or or or even doing these interviews because these interviews that I I enjoy doing, it still is is a a form of engagement and and, you know, being on. And so when I get to just kinda relax and kinda just sit back, you know, yeah, it it it's You're

Moshe Lobel:

traveling on on tour. Right?

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Right. Right. Yeah.

Moshe Lobel:

So do you get to, like, do you get to, like, explore? Yeah.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Yeah. I there's there's definitely time to see the cities and and to see you know, to go around and see what a particular city has to offer. So that that is at least one of those things. But then there have been some cities where I'm just in my hotel room, and I'm not doing anything that week. So

Moshe Lobel:

That's also like

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. It's it's a mix of both for sure.

Moshe Lobel:

Yeah. When I was in, in Kyiv, I I hardly saw the city for the entire process that we were working because on the weekends, my colleagues would, like I don't know. One day one day it was, like, a Sunday, and my like, towards the end of the shoot, there was a group chat with, like, my colleagues, the director and some actors, and they send, like, a video. They're on a yacht with Klitschko, like, the mayor of of Kyiv. And I am sitting at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial just, like, preparing for the massacre scene that's about to be filmed in in the next, week. So this was, like, my experience in that city. And then after we wrapped, I had a few days where I started to just, like, walk around and go to, like, galleries. And I played piano in the park, and I met some random people who invited me to a jazz club where we were jamming.

Moshe Lobel:

And I was, like, finally discovering the city after spending, like, two and a half months there.

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That must be quite an experience. Well, I certainly wish you the the best for for Stadel as it as it comes to America and goes to different cities. What what what's gonna be, its process as you go through going forward?

Moshe Lobel:

So we have, the dates are not completely set yet, but we have an opening in South Florida in a couple of weeks. And then we're gonna move to New York and open gradually in a handful of cities in The US and Canada. We'll see how it goes. If more people see it, then, they'll open up in more theaters. So, hopefully, people will

Patrick Oliver Jones:

Well, there will certainly be a link in the show notes for you to follow the film. So, so, yeah, we'll definitely, keep an eye on as it, moves around the country for sure. Alright. Thank you so much for joining why I'll never make it. And don't forget, you can become a subscriber and get bonus conversations by going to whyI'llnevermakeit.com and click subscribe, or just look for the link in the show notes. Be sure to join me next time as we talk more about why I'llnevermakeit.