I LOVE TUNA MELTS. Ft. Hayley Kiyoko | Episode 226

The icon herself Hayley Kiyoko joins Drew on the show this week!! Drew and Hayley talk about her new film Girls Like Girls, and how its namesake music video shifted the lives of young queer people everywhere, Hayley’s teenage girl group, being a child ice skater, her lifelong obsession with tuna melts, and so much more. Hayley IG: https://www.instagram.com/hayleykiyoko/?hl=en Hayley Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hayleykiyoko?lang=en Follow The Comment Section on IG! https://www.instagram.com/thecommentsection/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 0:06Speaker 01

  Love the crown molding.

• 0:08Speaker 00

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 0:12Speaker 01

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 0:16Speaker 00

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 0:19Speaker 01

  No FiOS? Yeah, no thank you.

• 0:23Speaker 00

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye bye.

• 0:25Speaker 02

  Get Verizon FiOS, because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 0:32Drew Afualo?

  Are we twins?

• 0:33Speaker 04

  I'm freaked.

• 0:35Drew Afualo?

  If I was at my head blonde, you better watch out. I'm coming for your game.

• 0:39Speaker 04

  Drew's coming for me. Drew's like, I'm Haley Kiyoko.

• 0:50Drew Afualo?

  Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show. Sorry, me, your favorite, everybody knows me, who cares about me. Onto the guest today, we have the iconic, the legendary lesbians. Let me fucking hear you. Haley Kiyoko!

• 1:05Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:06Speaker 04

  I could hear the lesbians screaming.

• 1:08Drew Afualo?

  They're strapping up and they're ready to go. Honestly, I've been conquering lesbian mountain lately. Like, I just had Lucy Dacus on.

• 1:15Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh, you're just taking us one by one.

• 1:18Drew Afualo?

  Like Thanos, I'm taking you one by one. Collecting y'all.

• 1:21Speaker 04

  I love it.

• 1:21Drew Afualo?

  I'm so honored to have you here.

• 1:22Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 1:23Drew Afualo?

  Thank you so much for coming.

• 1:24Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 1:25Drew Afualo?

  Before we jump into it.

• 1:26Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:27Drew Afualo?

  I do have to tell you something, because there has been a running bit about you, but not at expense of you.

• 1:32Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh, what's been happening behind my back?

• 1:35Drew Afualo?

  It will be at the expense of my lesbian sister, Jason. She's not here currently, but I do have to tell you, because I've talked about it on the show for now, years, that you were my sister's lesbian awakening. If you can believe it.

• 1:47Speaker 04

  I'm so honored.

• 1:47Drew Afualo?

  From Lemonade Mouth.

• 1:48Speaker 04

  Wow.

• 1:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, she was really into that movie, and it was very confusing to me at the time, because she hated musicals. And she didn't really care for the music, so I was kind of confused. I was like, why do you love this movie so much?

• 1:59Speaker 04

  Because she be gay.

• 2:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, she be gay. As hell.

• 2:02Speaker 04

  Her name's Jason?

• 2:03Drew Afualo?

  Her name's Jason, yes.

• 2:04Speaker 04

  Love you, Jason, determinate. Be heard, be strong, be proud.

• 2:08Drew Afualo?

  And I did ask her for her permission to bring it up to you. And she said yes, and then she said, I'm glad I'm not going to be there.

• 2:16Drew Afualo?

  For when she was, normally she's at every recording I do.

• 2:19Speaker 04

  Oh my gosh, wait, really?

• 2:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, so I had to get this out of the way.

• 2:22Speaker 04

  Wow.

• 2:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I had to tell you that.

• 2:24Speaker 04

  Thanks for breaking the ice.

• 2:25Drew Afualo?

  You were pivotal in her awakening, and I'm grateful to you because I'm really glad my sister is gay. Thank God.

• 2:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's thank God for you.

• 2:32Drew Afualo?

  There's only room for one annoying straight girl, and I filled the shoes.

• 2:35Speaker 04

  We can only have one.

• 2:36Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, we can only have one.

• 2:37Speaker 04

  In the family, yeah.

• 2:38Drew Afualo?

  But I'm honored to have you, you are Ledge.

• 2:40Speaker 04

  Thank you so much.

• 2:41Drew Afualo?

  And I really want to get into what you've been up to lately, because obviously you have some really exciting project coming out soon.

• 2:47Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's basically the most important project of my life.

• 2:50Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 2:51Speaker 04

  It's called Girls Like Girls, the movie.

• 2:53Drew Afualo?

  The movie, the one, the only.

• 2:55Speaker 04

  The one, the only, I was saying earlier, like, it's so weird, I don't recommend working on something for over 10 years.

• 3:03Drew Afualo?

  You don't think?

• 3:05Speaker 04

  I literally look insane, but it's been 10 years of trying, you know, Girls Like Girls came out in 2015. It was a song, music video, I wanted it to be a film, it wasn't working out, I wrote into a book. And, um, and then years, years later, it got greenlit, and now the movie is gonna be in theaters, which I also, when we were shooting this movie, I was like, I hope someone sees this film. Even the lead actress was like, I don't, I like, where is it gonna be? I was like, I have no idea, and so to actually like, be in movie theaters nationwide, June 19th is, it's mind blowing, and to be able to know that we're like, weeks out, it's such a odd feeling.

• 3:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I'm sure.

• 3:47Speaker 04

  It's like, it's been something I've been working on for so long, that I haven't been able to share with people, and so now I'm just giving it, I'm giving it away.

• 3:55Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely. Does it feel like completing the circle a little bit?

• 3:59Speaker 04

  Totally. It feels like I'm completing the circle, and also like, start, like, people were like, oh, does it feel like the end? And I'm like, no, it really feels like the beginning, because I've just been desperately wanting a film like this to exist, and like,

• 4:10Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 4:11Speaker 04

  How come it takes 10 years to get a film made like this?

• 4:14Drew Afualo?

  No, for real.

• 4:15Speaker 04

  With two girls falling in love, ending in hope, and, um, and I've, like, thinking about being able to buy tickets to go see a movie like this in theaters, to see myself, like, represented. Having two Asian leads and like all of it. There's a lot going on.

• 4:30Drew Afualo?

  And it's AAPI month.

• 4:31Speaker 04

  And it's AAPI month. It's Pride Month.

• 4:34Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it's Pride Month.

• 4:35Speaker 04

  There's a lot going on.

• 4:36Drew Afualo?

  There is so much happening and all at the perfect time.

• 4:39Speaker 04

  I know, and it's so funny because like some people will be like, oh, like you're so niche or like what you do is so niche. And I'm like, how is it so niche? We've got Asian Americans, which are like predominantly everywhere.

• 4:49Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 4:49Speaker 04

  We've got queers. We've got women. It's like, this is mainstream.

• 4:53Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 4:54Speaker 04

  Girls like Girls is mainstream.

• 4:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, what are you talking about?

• 4:57Speaker 04

  We need this.

• 4:58Drew Afualo?

  Especially, I feel like, uh, Girls Like Girls, the music video, I feel like has had a resurgence with younger gays. The new generation of gays in the last like five years. So if anyone needs it, it's them.

• 5:08Speaker 04

  Totally. And it's, it's been a really while to meet people because I didn't realize how young my fanbase was when I released the music video in 2015. Like, some of them were nine. Like, they come up to me, they're, they're like nineteen or twenty. And they're like, oh, I watched that music video when I was nine years old.

• 5:24Drew Afualo?

  Which is crazy.

• 5:25Speaker 04

  Which is so crazy.

• 5:26Drew Afualo?

  That's insane.

• 5:27Speaker 04

  And, um, and so it's just like, it's so, I'm so excited for the new generation to get to experience it. And also like have every generation experience it. Like even, I was saying, like, even though it's called Girls Like Girls, it's such a universal story because whether you're straight or queer, every single person has had that experience where you've had to go up to someone and be like, do you like me or not?

• 5:49Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 5:50Speaker 04

  Is this going somewhere or not?

• 5:51Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 5:52Speaker 04

  Which is terrifying. That feeling of being like, either like happy or obliterated and like getting your heart broken.

• 6:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 6:00Speaker 04

  Everyone's experienced that.

• 6:01Drew Afualo?

  Especially at that age where you're like, everything is life or death.

• 6:05Speaker 04

  Yeah, you're seventeen. You're like, I'm gonna marry this person.

• 6:08Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like everything is the most serious thing in the entire world.

• 6:11Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 6:11Drew Afualo?

  I think that's beautiful.

• 6:12Speaker 04

  Thank you. So that's like the experience of Girls Like Girls when they see it's like they are young, but like it's through the lens of more of a mature lens. Because when you're seventeen, you think you're thirty-five.

• 6:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it's true.

• 6:23Speaker 04

  Like you literally feel like, this is it.

• 6:26Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. Do you ever get questions like that from younger people, especially when they're like, I feel like I'm so far behind. I feel like, and they're like nineteen years old. And you're like, oh my God, you have so much time.

• 6:34Speaker 04

  Well, my Lead actress Maya DeCasa was eighteen when we shot this movie.

• 6:38Drew Afualo?

  Oh my gosh.

• 6:39Speaker 04

  And I, I felt ancient. I'm not old, but I felt ancient. And I was like, don't worry. And I felt like the classic person of like, you know, things will work out and what, once you turn thirty, things will start getting clearer, you know. Ten year, ten years plus away from you.

• 6:56Drew Afualo?

  Give yourself about ten more years. You'll figure it out. Well, this is like, okay, so this project is huge, obviously, but it's also like a directorial debut. So I would love to know like, how, how was it directing? How was it like, existing in that art form, making your own piece of art?

• 7:10Speaker 04

  It was like coming home. I have been fighting so hard to just be able to have an opportunity to do what I thought I would love to do and to be able to do it and be like, oh my gosh, this is it. Has been amazing because I, you know, I grew up acting. I did Lemonade Mouth. You know, and I also was a musician and I realized I'm a storyteller. I like building worlds. And so to be able to have the opportunity to build a world and cast and also like write the music and have an album coming out inspired by the film, like all the things that I've grown up loving to do, I get to do all at once as a director. And so it really feels like I'm coming home and I finally found, oh my gosh,

• 7:53Speaker 04

  this is what I want to do forever. Like, this, yeah, like this is it. Like, I want to make hopeful career content. I want to direct films, direct TV shows, and then I want to write music for those projects. And I'm like, that's it.

• 8:06Drew Afualo?

  How is the, the preparation process? Does it differ from like directing versus like writing an album or even acting? Like, is the process completely different? Is it some one in the same? How does it feel for you?

• 8:17Speaker 04

  It's so different. I mean, for, I mean, also just as the creator and the director, it's like the process of just finding someone to finance the film, people believing in the project, believing in you, like that was the first seven years of the journey. And then to be able to get on set, all of a sudden you have fifty plus people who are professionals in their individual line of work. And then, you know, I don't think people understand, and honestly, I didn't really understand how involved a director is. Like, the spoon that you see on screen. That was a decision.

• 8:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 8:53Speaker 04

  The napkin, like we would be, I'd be making so many decisions on set.

• 8:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 8:57Speaker 04

  And people would be like, do you want this glass or this glass?

• 8:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 8:59Speaker 04

  This or this, and it's just like, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah.

• 9:01Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 9:01Speaker 04

  And also too, when you're making a movie this size, you've got twenty-three days, twenty-three, twenty-four days.

• 9:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 9:07Speaker 04

  And so, a lot of the times, you have like, five or ten minutes to get a shot.

• 9:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and every second counts.

• 9:13Speaker 04

  Every second counts.

• 9:14Drew Afualo?

  Every single second counts.

• 9:16Speaker 04

  You were rolling, and it's so wild, like some of my most favorite scenes of the movie, when like, Colleen's just like, typing and like, on her A I M and stuff like that, are my favorite scenes, and she had like, ten minutes to do, like, three of those. And it was just so wild, because you just, as an audience member, you don't get to see any of that, and you don't really know how, um, intense that is, and that's what makes actors incredible, because

• 9:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 9:41Speaker 04

  they are having to perform at such a high level with so much going on.

• 9:47Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 9:47Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 9:48Drew Afualo?

  In such a condensed timeframe and space.

• 9:50Speaker 04

  So it's definitely different, like when I'm writing an album, like, you are on your own time.

• 9:55Drew Afualo?

  Mm-hmm.

• 9:55Speaker 04

  Time isn't money to a degree.

• 9:57Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 9:57Speaker 04

  You could be writing music and then scrap the whole thing and start over.

• 10:01Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:02Speaker 04

  And what I learned about films is what makes them miracles, is you have to make the best film possible with the time that you're given.

• 10:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:10Speaker 04

  And the tools that you're given.

• 10:11Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 10:11Speaker 04

  And that is the challenge. And when you're doing an album,

• 10:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:14Speaker 04

  you, you can start over as many times as you want.

• 10:17Drew Afualo?

  That's so tea.

• 10:18Speaker 04

  And so, with the movies, you can't, and it's like, it is what it is, and then you're trying to improve it or adjust with the time that you're given.

• 10:26Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:27Speaker 04

  And it's just like a ticking clock of like, when you turn it in.

• 10:29Drew Afualo?

  That's so interesting to think about, too. I, I feel like, well, I love that you talked about world building. I think that's so wonderful. Did you like, did you watch anything or find yourself consuming anything when you were like, preparing for, to make this movie, like, anything that helped you build your own world, like, in your own head, or were you kind of just blank slate, I wanna build from scratch?

• 10:48Speaker 04

  I mean, I had seven years to like, really marinate on what the world was going to be.

• 10:53Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:53Speaker 04

  When I, the movie actually got greenlit, I actually didn't consume art. I stayed very focused.

• 11:00Drew Afualo?

  I guess that.

• 11:01Speaker 04

  And I was also similar to albums, like a lot of times you'll listen to music for influence.

• 11:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:06Speaker 04

  But then when you're actually writing the album, you're only focused on.

• 11:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you don't wanna outside influence.

• 11:11Speaker 04

  Right, and so I think it's similar when you're preparing for the film because you're you're trying to build a world that you haven't seen before. And it's like, what does this look like? And again, what's so crazy is you also don't pick your location. I don't know if you know this, but like. I mean, I'm sure like, I'm sure like Marvel movies, I can, you know, but like for movies like mine. You know, you are kind of like assigned a location depending on tax credits and whatever. And so get this, I'm on this journey and I get a call and they're like, hey, we're going to shoot this movie in Kelowna, Canada. Have you heard of it? Have you heard of Kelowna?

• 11:47Drew Afualo?

  I've not, no.

• 11:48Speaker 04

  Nobody's heard of.

• 11:48Drew Afualo?

  I do know a lot of people film in Canada, though.

• 11:50Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 11:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:51Speaker 04

  So it's east of Vancouver and most people don't know about it. And I'm like. Are you kidding me? My grandparents are buried there and I grew up going to Kelowna, Canada.

• 12:02Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, what are the odds? The universe. It's so powerful.

• 12:05Speaker 04

  Dude, it li- I literally had, I was like, oh.

• 12:07Drew Afualo?

  I got chills.

• 12:08Speaker 04

  I was like, are you kidding? And I hadn't been there since pre pandemic when my grandparents were alive. And there also a big part of this journey has been connecting to my Japanese side and it's my my mom's side, which is my Japanese side.

• 12:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:23Speaker 04

  And so I'm literally on this tiny rickety plane landing in Kelowna, Canada, the small airport.

• 12:28Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:28Speaker 04

  Where my grandpa used, my grandma and grandpa used to pick me up. We shot the movie like two streets down from my grandparents' house.

• 12:35Drew Afualo?

  What the hell?

• 12:36Speaker 04

  It was like out of everywhere and the movie's set in Oregon, but like out of everywhere in the world.

• 12:42Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:43Speaker 04

  That to happen and to have like this homecoming.

• 12:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:47Speaker 04

  It it definitely like people go, you know, timing is everything, trust the process.

• 12:51Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 12:52Speaker 04

  And you know, year after year, this movie was not getting made. It was so hard to like hold on to that light.

• 12:57Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 12:58Speaker 04

  And so for that to happen, I was like, oh my god.

• 13:00Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, so spiritual.

• 13:02Speaker 04

  And that is.

• 13:02Drew Afualo?

  I was like, I'm not a religious person, but I'm starting, God? That's low key the gayest thing about your movie. It's the spirituality of that. If you really think about it.

• 13:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 13:12Drew Afualo?

  Only lesbian movie could be made that way.

• 13:14Speaker 04

  Exactly. I have the lesbian like magic.

• 13:18Drew Afualo?

  Lesbians are magic, that is true.

• 13:20Speaker 04

  Looking out, looking out, isn't that creepy?

• 13:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, that is crazy. I still have chills. Like low-key thinking about it, I still have chills. I think that's so powerful, that's so incredible. How was it in the casting process for your movie? Like being able to cast the two leads?

• 13:36Speaker 04

  The coolest. It's so wild and I mean, you've written a book too and but like when you're like envisioning characters, it was so interesting to be, you know, prepping for this film and being like, there's a girl out there that is living and has no idea that she's going to be the lead of my film.

• 13:56Drew Afualo?

  Which is so fun to think about.

• 13:58Speaker 04

  Who is she? What does she look like? Where does she live? And so it was such a beautiful experience. We had over 4,000 tapes come in. And Maya Dacosta, who plays the lead, Coley, she was actually the very first tape I watched. Like I was in New York, I was doing work and they're like, oh, we just got a bunch of tapes, you want to see it? Which is the first tape I watched.

• 14:18Drew Afualo?

  That's cool.

• 14:19Speaker 04

  And I watched her.

• 14:20Drew Afualo?

  Again, spiritual.

• 14:21Speaker 04

  Again, again!

• 14:22Drew Afualo?

  Right, the touch, the feel.

• 14:23Speaker 04

  I watched her and there was a moment where she was doing this, this scene in Sonia's bedroom, the other lead. And she sits on the bed and everyone's tape would end there. And she just let it roll for like 20 seconds and she was just sitting in the space. And I like all of a sudden saw the whole movie around her and I was just like, oh my gosh, she's gonna be the one to be. And so she ended up getting the role.

• 14:46Drew Afualo?

  Very cool.

• 14:46Speaker 04

  18, half Asian, from Canada, and is so just like authentic and real. Like she is Coley.

• 14:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, how did it feel getting to cast Asian women specifically? Because I feel like it's so liberating and how beautiful to be able to cast people who look like you. Especially people like us, growing up, the media we've been fed and consumed, like hardly ever do they look like us. So how, how did that feel for you?

• 15:14Speaker 04

  It was so healing because she got to play a role that I dreamed of, of getting an opportunity. Like I dreamed of getting like an email saying like, half Asian, queer, lead.

• 15:27Speaker 04

  You know, like to the T.

• 15:29Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 15:29Speaker 04

  And I never got it.

• 15:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 15:31Speaker 04

  And so to be able to give that space and opportunity for for someone who who is very similar and authen- authentic to my experience and who also she really connected to the book. I it just was so healing. I was like, oh, my gosh, this is like what life's all about is like being able to help people and create space and lift women up.

• 15:55Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and keep the door open.

• 15:56Speaker 04

  So good.

• 15:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely. I think that's incredible. I'm like, I'm writing right now. I'm in the process of writing fiction books.

• 16:04Speaker 04

  Oh, cool.

• 16:04Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, but I'm writing like fantasy romance kind of deal.

• 16:07Speaker 04

  Love.

• 16:07Drew Afualo?

  But it's I'm basing it like the the themes in it are like Polynesian, like mythological lore.

• 16:14Speaker 04

  I'm already I've already bought it.

• 16:16Drew Afualo?

  Right. I was literally when I was writing and as I was like writing it with, because I'm writing it with someone. Um, and she's black and she's like Jamaican. So we were talking a lot about characters, what they look like, that kind of thing. My goal is to get it made into something.

• 16:29Speaker 04

  Hundred percent.

• 16:29Drew Afualo?

  Eventually.

• 16:30Speaker 04

  It will.

• 16:30Drew Afualo?

  I was thinking, guess what? No whities.

• 16:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 16:33Drew Afualo?

  Not in my book. Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found, girl, sorry. And if they are, I'm gonna kill them.

• 16:38Speaker 04

  Oh, my god.

• 16:41Drew Afualo?

  I'm kidding.

• 16:42Speaker 04

  I can't wait to read this book. I'm so excited.

• 16:46Drew Afualo?

  I'm like, when I cast everyone.

• 16:47Speaker 04

  It sounds like a horror film.

• 16:48Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my god, when I cast everyone, I'm like, everybody's gonna look just like me. Everyone's gonna look like me, and I think it's a beautiful thing.

• 16:53Speaker 04

  Well, that I think that's the whole point is like, it's like, to know that I'm part of of the a club of five percent of women directors in the industry.

• 17:03Drew Afualo?

  Hell, yeah.

• 17:03Speaker 04

  It takes so long for us to be able to just have the opportunity, let alone tell stories.

• 17:08Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 17:08Speaker 04

  That have characters that represent us. And that's what's been so beautiful about this journey. Like, you know, the music video was just like a piece of the story. And then every evolution got me one step closer to my authentic truth and and having a half Asian lead and that looked like me and reflected who I was. And that's been a journey for me as well, is embracing my um, my culture and my background. And um, I think it's been really cool that the fans have gotten to see that evolution.

• 17:41Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 17:42Speaker 04

  As I've gotten closer to my authentic truth and as I've gotten closer to my confidence, like, I remember singing Girls Like Girls in 2015 for 15 people in Michigan. And there was no green room. And I'm like, sitting in a minivan, like. In the back.

• 17:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:58Speaker 04

  And I remember singing Girls Like Girls and I'd be like shaky, I'd be like, girls like girls like like looking around seeing like if there was any homophobic people and

• 18:08Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 18:08Speaker 04

  To come 11 years later to be able to be on stage knowing that I've waved the rainbow flag to thousands and thousands of people and I can sing that song with absolute confidence. I think that also kind of mirrors the journey of Girls Like Girls and the evolution from the song to the music video

• 18:24Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 18:25Speaker 04

  To the book, now the film.

• 18:27Drew Afualo?

  Well, and I want to rewind to Girls Like Girls, like the the out like the music video and the track itself, like the inception of it, like why did it feel important to put it out at the time you did? Because you're right, at the time it was nowhere near where media is now, especially with the acceptance of gay people and if you can even call it that at this point.

• 18:43Speaker 04

  Yeah, I mean, we've kind of, we're kind of back at the same.

• 18:46Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly.

• 18:47Speaker 04

  Same place.

• 18:48Drew Afualo?

  But art persists, right? And art and art is driven on the shoulders of gay people and mo and and women and most often times. So like, how was that putting it out at the time? Like, why did you feel it was important to put it out at that time?

• 19:00Speaker 04

  I think anything important is kind of scary.

• 19:03Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 19:04Speaker 04

  And it was very scary. I had finished my EP, The Side of Paradise, and last minute, I decided to put Girls Like Girls on and um, that was the first song I had co-written where I came out to the songwriters and I like, I remember Lily, my co-writer, was like, what is the thing that you're most scared of? And I like cried to her and was like, I'm gay!

• 19:27Speaker 04

  And she was like, well, let's write a song about it. And I was like, I wish I was confident. I wish I could steal a girl. I wish I could do this. And so the song Girls Like Girls is actually really cocky. And I wasn't that at the time.

• 19:39Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:39Speaker 04

  And so it was almost like manifesting what I wish I, who I wish I was at that time.

• 19:45Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 19:45Speaker 04

  And um, and then here I am now, very confident.

• 19:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:50Speaker 04

  About being a lesbian.

• 19:51Drew Afualo?

  Hell, yeah.

• 19:52Speaker 04

  So sometimes you have to like convince yourself that when you don't, you when you aren't that person yet.

• 19:57Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 19:58Speaker 04

  You know?

• 19:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, a fake it till you make it kind of deal.

• 20:00Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 20:02Drew Afualo?

  And honestly, and you made it, girl, period. Thank God.

• 20:05Speaker 04

  I made it to the other side of the rainbow.

• 20:08Drew Afualo?

  Thank God.

• 20:08Speaker 04

  I'm here.

• 20:10Drew Afualo?

  My sister, my sister is obviously, as I said, a lesbian, but when, before, she was like, I don't know. Yeah, I think, I think I'm lesbian, even though the only serious relationship she ever had was a woman at the time. I think after a while, like, a couple of years ago, we were talking about it and I told her, honestly, I think you are a lesbian. And I think, I think you can't.

• 20:29Speaker 04

  You diagnosed.

• 20:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was like, I think you're a lesbian and I think we should stop pretending. I think it's over for you. And then she like laughed and she was like, yeah, you're right. Because I was like.

• 20:37Speaker 04

  Who am I kidding?

• 20:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was like, there's only room for, for one straight annoying girl. I took that.

• 20:43Speaker 04

  Right.

• 20:43Drew Afualo?

  So unfortunately, you have to be a lesbian now. It's the law.

• 20:46Speaker 04

  I love that.

• 20:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, so I'm, I'm really happy that she is. Honestly, she's made me cooler. And that's how I feel about you.

• 20:53Drew Afualo?

  I feel that way about most lesbians, honestly, like the, my friend Caleb describes lesbians as the purest of us all. Which I agree, I, I agree. And I feel like, I feel like lesbians are so, obviously so removed from male validation for so long. And they're on that tip way sooner than many, many, many other people. So I feel like that's why I gravitate towards lesbians specifically.

• 21:16Speaker 04

  That's the truth.

• 21:16Drew Afualo?

  That's why I'm conquering lesbian mountain.

• 21:18Speaker 04

  That's the whole truth.

• 21:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 21:19Speaker 04

  We're already at the top.

• 21:20Drew Afualo?

  We're at the top.

• 21:21Speaker 04

  We're at the top, baby.

• 21:21Drew Afualo?

  That's why I met you up here. That's why I was like, and I honestly, I was just joking about this the other day with my friend. Because I was telling them how, first of all, my gay friends forget I'm not gay quite often. And I know it's because I'm not annoying. So that I take it as a compliment. I, I really do. I take it as the highest.

• 21:36Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 21:36Drew Afualo?

  But specifically with lesbians, I'm like, I've told my girlfriends who are like token straights, like that's me. I'm like, you should wear it as a badge of honor. Lesbians are notoriously picky. They are very picky on who they like and who they don't.

• 21:48Speaker 04

  We have a small group.

• 21:49Drew Afualo?

  Yes, they're very, very picky. And if they think you're funny and they think you're cool, take your chips and leave the casino.

• 21:54Speaker 04

  I'm learning a lot about myself through you.

• 21:56Drew Afualo?

  I'm telling you, I, I, and honestly, like, that's why I want to talk to you about that specifically. Because I really do feel like you were one of the first people I saw consistently talking about how important it was to be authentically who you are. And I think it's a beautiful thing. And I think you being so young at the time that that song in that music video came out, it makes you so incredibly courageous to me. And I think that's so powerful. The fact that it's had standing power for the song, I mean, is proof, obviously, that you're so brave and important. But I just have to give you your flowers for that moment. I think it's imperative.

• 22:26Speaker 04

  Thank you so much.

• 22:27Drew Afualo?

  Especially at the time.

• 22:28Speaker 04

  Yeah, I mean, it was.

• 22:35Speaker 00

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  Love the crown molding.

• 22:43Speaker 00

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 22:50Speaker 00

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  No FiOS? Yeah, no thank you.

• 22:57Speaker 00

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye-bye.

• 23:00Speaker 02

  Get Verizon FiOS, because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 23:07Speaker 04

  When I'm going back to what we were talking about, releasing the music video was really scary because no one raised their hand to premiere it. And that's when I knew I had something special, because nobody wanted to be a part of it.

• 23:20Drew Afualo?

  They were all afraid of your genius.

• 23:22Speaker 04

  They were just scared of the storyline, to be honest. And so that really shows the evolution, right? And I ended up releasing it a couple of days before same-sex marriage became legalized in the country. And so there was a lot of really interesting... And then it was like we were leading into the first Trump era. There was a lot going on during that time.

• 23:44Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 23:44Speaker 04

  But, you know, the reason Girls I Girls exists is because I needed that kind of music video. I needed to be able to watch something and see two girls falling in love and making out. And like, I needed that representation. And so I think as creatives and artists and people, we tend to try to take up the space that we wish we had represented growing up.

• 24:08Drew Afualo?

  Totally. And I was lucky enough to see a screener of said...

• 24:12Speaker 04

  Oh, you saw a movie?

• 24:14Drew Afualo?

  Yes, I was lucky enough.

• 24:15Speaker 04

  You didn't tell me that!

• 24:16Drew Afualo?

  I was lucky enough. And I'm not going to spoil anything.

• 24:18Speaker 04

  What?

• 24:18Drew Afualo?

  But I will say there are many parallels between said movie and music video for the fans. For all the fans who are excited, it's even better. Also, you have a little cameo. Love, look at that.

• 24:28Speaker 04

  Okay, you're making it bigger. I'm literally in the movie for a point.

• 24:32Drew Afualo?

  Well, I noticed.

• 24:32Speaker 04

  One half second.

• 24:34Drew Afualo?

  So clearly you had...

• 24:35Speaker 04

  Because that shoot was so crazy, I was like, wait, I have to be in it!

• 24:39Drew Afualo?

  You forgetting, I should probably be in it.

• 24:40Speaker 04

  Yeah, I was like... But yeah.

• 24:42Drew Afualo?

  Okay, so I have seen it. I don't want to spoil anything.

• 24:45Speaker 04

  Oh wait, this makes it so much more fun.

• 24:47Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, but I do want to say though that I would love to know what you hope people take away from it. Like, what you hope people, after they watch the film, like, what do you hope they leave with, if anything?

• 24:57Speaker 04

  Well, I definitely recommend seeing it in theaters because I really hope that anyone that goes to see this movie in theaters feels the love and support from their community, wherever they live. Knowing that those people showed up, that's a safe space for them. But I hope people feel seen. And I hope they feel seen by others or themselves. Self-love, understood, and represented. I hope they feel powerful to chase their dreams and live their authentic truth. And I think that's what Girls Like Girls has been for me, is like, it's been a journey. I haven't always been accepting of myself. I haven't always felt like self-love and self-worth. And you see Coley's character going through that, and we have a lot of parallels.

• 25:42Speaker 04

  She's a fictional character, but like, a lot of what she goes through is what I went through. When I fell in love and was saying olive juice to my crush and all these things. And so, I hope people just, I hope it's just like a big hug and people feel like they have their cup full. You know, and they're able to chase their dreams. Like, to know that I survived ten-plus years of no's. And I got the yes. And now we're in theaters, like, don't give up on your dreams. And like, it can feel absolutely impossible, but, and even like, self-love can feel absolutely impossible.

• 26:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, especially now.

• 26:19Speaker 04

  I hope it just represents that, to know that you can get to the other side. Like, I've found the love of my life, I'm engaged, like, I'm chasing my dreams, like, don't give up on yourself.

• 26:30Drew Afualo?

  Especially, especially now.

• 26:32Speaker 04

  Yes, we need queer joy.

• 26:34Drew Afualo?

  Yes, we need, exactly.

• 26:35Speaker 04

  And that's what this film is about, it's like, we have so many wonderful films that cover other, you know, subjects and like validates trauma, but like, we also just need some like lightheartedness and like queer joy.

• 26:46Drew Afualo?

  There's just as much beauty as there is trauma. And like, I've said this many times, a world without gay people is a world I do. Oh my god, can you imagine?

• 26:54Speaker 04

  And we're fighting for our lives on here.

• 26:56Drew Afualo?

  That's what I'm saying. And well, and that's, and that's like, I think the most beautiful part is that it's, even when your music video and the track came out, was at such a tumultuous time, like politically, and now your film's coming out at another tumultuous time, but it's imperative, like it's imperative that queer art persists and continues to be loved, supported and made, even in the face of adversity, which is like, unfortunately, a hallmark of being queer in the, anywhere in the world, but I just think it's so important that a movie like this comes out now.

• 27:25Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 27:26Drew Afualo?

  And the coloring is also fantastic. I think it's so cute and summery.

• 27:28Speaker 04

  You love the world.

• 27:29Drew Afualo?

  I love, I love that it matches the music video.

• 27:31Speaker 04

  Very warm tones.

• 27:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, very warm tones.

• 27:32Speaker 04

  That's kind of my vibe. I like people to feel safe watching, like, you know, plotlines that are kind of like quite tense and you're on the edge of your seat and I just, I love feeling safe, honestly. And I feel like warm tones, even like if it's a cool night, summer scene, it's still warm.

• 27:51Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 27:51Speaker 04

  So that was definitely a combo I had with all my HODs on set is like, it's in 2006, but we're not like shoving it down people's like, you know, throats. Like, it's like, we're in 06, but it's also nostalgic, it's timeless. And I don't want it to be distracting to the story because it's really about the two girls.

• 28:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely. I think that's very evident, first off, but I am so excited for everybody to see it. I don't want to say too much anymore.

• 28:19Speaker 04

  You said too much. We haven't even said anything at all.

• 28:22Drew Afualo?

  It feels like we've said a lot, though. Even, and even so, I will say too, on a somewhat serious note, my sister has told me many times that the hardest person to come out to was herself. And that's kind of a theme I feel like in this movie especially, was she, she's talked quite frequently with me at length about how like, she was the hardest person to come out to, even though, even if you do have an unfortunate coming out experience with someone else, like herself was the hardest person. And that's the theme I felt throughout watching it.

• 28:50Speaker 04

  I definitely feel like that was my journey as well. It's like, you are your hardest critic, and you hold yourself back. And so you, you follow two characters and the other character, Sonia, played by Myra Malloy, she, you, you're watching her struggle and she's really holding herself back, even though there's so much societal pressures and kind of like almost an unspoken thing. Like, I grew up in Los Angeles. I had such a hard time being gay. Like, I knew I was a lesbian since I was like six. And I grew up in LA. You know, and so it just says so much about society and like being able to read a children's book and seeing two moms like there's so much lack of representation that we're slowly getting better at, but all of those little pieces

• 29:35Drew Afualo?

  Play a role.

• 29:36Speaker 04

  Play a role of the narrative of who you're supposed to be, even if you're surrounded by people that you know, might be accepting yourself as you know yeah, the hard, the one, the one that you have to break through and you definitely see that with Coley and her journey.

• 29:51Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 29:51Speaker 04

  And navigating that with Sonia.

• 29:53Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and I think there was no one better to tell the story than you. I'll be honest, no one better than to tell her story.

• 30:00Speaker 04

  I was like, I have to tell this. I was like, if I can't tell this story, no one can because this is so hard. It's so hard to get a movie made. Like it's just, you're just knocking on so many doors. And I'm just like, Focus Features has been amazing and so supportive. And again, like going back to the parallels of the music video, people not raising their hands to then being able to have the opportunity to be in theaters. So please go see it.

• 30:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 30:23Speaker 04

  Because like all of our shows get cancelled.

• 30:26Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 30:26Speaker 04

  Like the suffix, we're, we need representation.

• 30:30Drew Afualo?

  No, for real. And consistent representation, mind you.

• 30:35Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 30:35Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 30:36Speaker 04

  It shouldn't be every 10 years or like only getting one season of anything.

• 30:40Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 30:41Speaker 04

  So we have to show up for, you know, and, and show Hollywood that we exist and we're not just niche. We're, we're mainstream.

• 30:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, hello.

• 30:49Speaker 04

  We're everywhere. The gays are everywhere.

• 30:51Drew Afualo?

  And you want the gays to support you. You need to make gay things.

• 30:53Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 30:54Drew Afualo?

  Hello.

• 30:57Drew Afualo?

  Also, you did mention, uh, to pivot to queer joy, you did mention you're engaged. How is that?

• 31:02Speaker 04

  I'm engaged.

• 31:02Drew Afualo?

  Congratulations.

• 31:06Speaker 04

  It's awesome.

• 31:07Drew Afualo?

  How has it been for you?

• 31:09Speaker 04

  It's so cool. I get why, you know, when people get engaged or they get married, they're like always posting photos which are borderline annoying.

• 31:16Drew Afualo?

  Oh my God, I know. I got it.

• 31:17Speaker 04

  I never understood it, but now I do.

• 31:20Drew Afualo?

  I get it too.

• 31:21Speaker 04

  You just like get obsessed with each other. And you're just like, oh my God, this is so cool that we're getting to do this like societal, traditional norm that we don't even really like

• 31:29Drew Afualo?

  Care about.

• 31:29Speaker 04

  Care about.

• 31:32Speaker 04

  You know what I mean?

• 31:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I agree.

• 31:33Speaker 04

  We never, like, it was never, like, we have to get married. But there was a moment where I was like, I want a ring on my finger.

• 31:39Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 31:40Speaker 04

  I want to, like, get to do the things that other people get to do.

• 31:43Drew Afualo?

  That's exactly how I felt too.

• 31:44Speaker 04

  And I want us to, like, make it our own. And, like, do it the way we want to do it. And so it's been so, it was so cool to get to propose to her and have her propose to me. She surprised me in Japan and, like.

• 31:55Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 31:56Speaker 04

  I love Japan, obviously. It's like my dream and, um, yeah, it's just been a really cool, beautiful season.

• 32:03Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh. How's wedding planning been going for you?

• 32:05Speaker 04

  It's been nonexistent.

• 32:07Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:07Speaker 04

  Currently.

• 32:07Drew Afualo?

  That's how I was. When did you get engaged?

• 32:09Speaker 04

  Uh, uh, well, I proposed to her in July and then she proposed to me in December, so I would say July.

• 32:15Drew Afualo?

  Love. Okay, T. That's, I've been engaged for two years. My wedding's coming up this year.

• 32:19Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh, exciting!

• 32:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, so I get it. Like, I was like, I'm cool to chill here.

• 32:24Speaker 04

  Yeah, we love being engaged. I also have, like, the movie coming out. So it's like, once I get through Girls Like Girls universe.

• 32:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:31Speaker 04

  Then we'll start.

• 32:32Drew Afualo?

  That's good. Chill, being engaged.

• 32:33Speaker 04

  Yeah, we're still having convos, but we're not in a rush and.

• 32:36Drew Afualo?

  That's how I felt too.

• 32:36Speaker 04

  I just love the engagement season.

• 32:38Drew Afualo?

  It's fun.

• 32:38Speaker 04

  It's so fun!

• 32:39Drew Afualo?

  It's so fun. It's always like, this whole thing.

• 32:42Speaker 04

  Oh, wait, let me see your ring. I haven't seen it. Oh, that, wait!

• 32:46Drew Afualo?

  Wait, hold on, let me see. Princess cut?

• 32:48Speaker 04

  We have the same cut.

• 32:49Drew Afualo?

  Okay, T, look at us!

• 32:51Speaker 04

  But it's slightly different. But they're both squares, but mine's on the side.

• 32:55Drew Afualo?

  Oh, T, it's like a trois mois. Is it kind of like?

• 32:57Speaker 04

  It's called an Asher cut, um, east-west.

• 32:59Drew Afualo?

  T, that's beautiful. You're so good.

• 33:02Speaker 04

  Thank you! Wow, we're twinsies.

• 33:04Drew Afualo?

  Look at us!

• 33:05Speaker 04

  Literally.

• 33:06Drew Afualo?

  Can you believe a man picked this out?

• 33:08Speaker 04

  He did an incredible job.

• 33:10Drew Afualo?

  I know.

• 33:10Speaker 04

  That's a good find.

• 33:12Drew Afualo?

  Sometime, I know, especially with.

• 33:13Speaker 04

  Only women can do that.

• 33:14Drew Afualo?

  That's what I. I agree. There are so many things that I know women can do.

• 33:20Speaker 04

  You found a good, good one.

• 33:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, for real. Honestly, yeah, I did, because I, when I got engaged, a lot of people were like, oh, you picked such a beautiful ring. I think it's because it's, I wouldn't be surprised that most women are like, this is the exact ring I want.

• 33:32Speaker 04

  Right.

• 33:32Drew Afualo?

  I didn't look at anything. I didn't look at cuts.

• 33:34Speaker 04

  That's fun.

• 33:35Drew Afualo?

  I just knew, like, the year, because we'd been together for seven years and then we got engaged.

• 33:40Speaker 04

  Oh, my god, same.

• 33:41Drew Afualo?

  No way. Oh, my god.

• 33:42Speaker 04

  Oh, my god, are we twins?

• 33:43Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 33:43Speaker 04

  I'm freaked.

• 33:46Drew Afualo?

  If I dye my hair blonde, you better watch out.

• 33:49Speaker 04

  Drew's coming for me. Drew's like, I'm Haley Kiyoka.

• 33:54Drew Afualo?

  I'm gonna adopt a real you kinda thing going on. Well, yeah, I, when I got-

• 33:58Speaker 04

  Well, congrats, I'm so excited for you.

• 33:59Drew Afualo?

  Thank you, look at us, year seven, look at us. But I, I was never in a rush, just like you.

• 34:04Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 34:04Drew Afualo?

  I felt the same way about, especially about, I feel like most marriage, anything is within white organized religion.

• 34:11Speaker 04

  It's just so traditional, I'm just like, ugh.

• 34:13Drew Afualo?

  I know, that's how I felt too. So even our wedding is super non-traditional in the way that we're doing almost everything. Because I just don't want any of the, I just wanna get married. And I feel like you feel that way too, like, I'm very excited to get married. And I wanna do the dress, and I wanna do the, the ceremony and all that, but there's many things I cut, cuz I was like, nah, don't need it.

• 34:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, well, I think, I think the perspective that you, when you find your person and your partner, and you're starting to build a life, you realize, you're like, oh my gosh, every single generation, every single person has been trying to build the life that they wanted to build. Whether it was big or small.

• 34:45Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 34:45Speaker 04

  Whether they ended up staying exactly the way their parents were, or branched off.

• 34:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 34:49Speaker 04

  It's like, you're always trying to make it your own.

• 34:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 34:52Speaker 04

  And it just goes back to constantly trying to just evolve as people.

• 34:55Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I agree, cuz even at the beginning of planning, like, when we were like, thinking about the wedding as a concept.

• 35:01Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 35:01Drew Afualo?

  I was like, I guess I'll do like a semi-big wedding.

• 35:04Speaker 04

  Yeah, like, what do I want?

• 35:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and I was thinking about inviting people, and then I was thinking about seating people, and I was like, that makes me wanna die, I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that. So I like completely changed my entire wedding, cuz I was like, no one talks about how embarrassing it is to get married in front of people.

• 35:18Speaker 04

  Oh yeah, I mean, I don't, I've never done it, so I have no idea.

• 35:20Drew Afualo?

  So that's why, but I'm just, the thought of like telling him my innermost feelings, and like, my uncle's right there.

• 35:26Speaker 04

  Yeah, right, totally, yeah, that actually is quite weird.

• 35:31Drew Afualo?

  So I was like, we're doing private vows, we're gonna do private a lot of stuff.

• 35:34Speaker 04

  Well, that's why I wanna be close with everyone that's in the space.

• 35:35Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 35:36Speaker 04

  The goal is that you don't have weird uncle.

• 35:38Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, just watching.

• 35:39Speaker 04

  In second row.

• 35:40Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, just kinda just hanging out there.

• 35:42Speaker 04

  Totally, totally.

• 35:42Drew Afualo?

  They don't need to be there. But I'm so happy for y'all.

• 35:44Speaker 04

  I'm happy for you too.

• 35:46Drew Afualo?

  I hope you enjoy your engagement season, it's the best.

• 35:48Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 35:49Drew Afualo?

  No rush, no need.

• 35:49Speaker 04

  I'm, we're, we're happy, we're cruisin'.

• 35:52Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I'm so excited for you. Anything else fun or exciting? Before I get into your fun facts that you want to talk about.

• 36:00Drew Afualo?

  One of my fun fact.

• 36:03Speaker 04

  Yeah, no, I just like, I, Becca's the absolute best. And it's, and again, I think it goes back to the Girls Like Girls journey is like, I grew up. Never believing that I could find someone and have a healthy relationship and feel so loved and like seen and supported and. It's really, really special that I get to go into this Girls Like Girls era as a director, my directorial debut. With an amazing partner. Like that's like, just like the sugar on top. I didn't even expect that would happen and.

• 36:35Drew Afualo?

  For real.

• 36:37Speaker 04

  And it's just, it's a really beautiful.

• 36:39Drew Afualo?

  You're so amazing and so cool. I can't stand it. It's honestly unfair. Okay, I do, I'm gonna pivot.

• 36:44Speaker 04

  Obsessed with each other.

• 36:45Drew Afualo?

  Yes, obviously, because we're twins. We're literally in the same womb. Look at us. Okay, I do have some fun facts about you.

• 36:51Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh.

• 36:51Drew Afualo?

  We do have just.

• 36:52Speaker 04

  What did you Wikipedia?

• 36:56Drew Afualo?

  You can tell me if they're fun.

• 36:57Speaker 04

  Okay. They're factual.

• 37:01Drew Afualo?

  So this first one says, as a kid, you got scouted by Nickelodeon at an ice rink.

• 37:07Speaker 04

  I did.

• 37:09Drew Afualo?

  That was my dream as a kid, to just be discovered.

• 37:11Speaker 04

  I lived your dream.

• 37:14Speaker 04

  So my mom's a very successful ice skating choreographer.

• 37:18Drew Afualo?

  Okay, gee.

• 37:19Speaker 04

  And so my childhood, it was very unique. I grew up in an ice rink all the time.

• 37:24Drew Afualo?

  Very cool.

• 37:24Speaker 04

  And so my mom was working and I was just ice skating and they were like, we need. An Asian girl to ice skate in this commercial.

• 37:35Drew Afualo?

  And they thought you were the cutest thing in the world, I bet.

• 37:36Speaker 04

  Yeah, I wasn't a great skater at all.

• 37:38Drew Afualo?

  Really? Your mom was an ice.

• 37:41Speaker 04

  I can probably do more than average. Like, I definitely was like, when I was in high school and I'd like try to like. Ask a girl out, but not ask her out. I'd be like, do you want to go to the ice rink? Like during the holiday times when they had those patches of square ice. With terrible ice skating rentals where you could barely skate, but like I could like do moves. I'd be like, oh, I have my ice skates in the car and I'd like pull out my white skate. It's like, no game. Like, thank god Becca asked.

• 38:08Drew Afualo?

  I know how to skate.

• 38:09Speaker 04

  Thank god Becca made a move on me because I had no game whatsoever. I'm like, these girls are gonna love my white ice skates.

• 38:17Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're like, I'm just gonna go show off at the ice rink.

• 38:20Speaker 04

  Yeah, but now ice skating's cool. I mean, look at Alyssa. We're, we're, we're, we're on track.

• 38:24Drew Afualo?

  I'm honestly not a very good ice skater at all, but I don't think that's shocking.

• 38:27Speaker 04

  We'll go ice skating on our next podcast.

• 38:28Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, yeah, that's true. Well, you can teach me some tips.

• 38:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 38:32Drew Afualo?

  Okay. This says, when you were five, you were in an ad advertising the internet itself.

• 38:38Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 38:38Drew Afualo?

  Is that true?

• 38:40Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 38:41Drew Afualo?

  That is dating you a little bit, yeah.

• 38:42Speaker 04

  Literally, the, um, the magazine, I'm just smiling, and it's like, the inter- their internet is awesome. Or so I was like promoting using the internet.

• 38:52Drew Afualo?

  And now we have AI, so that's your fault.

• 38:55Speaker 04

  It's all my fault.

• 38:56Drew Afualo?

  That's all on you, Haley.

• 38:56Speaker 04

  I, it's me.

• 38:57Drew Afualo?

  You and that damn ad.

• 38:58Speaker 04

  This is something I carry.

• 39:00Drew Afualo?

  The weight of AI, it's on your shoulders.

• 39:02Speaker 04

  Damn ad. I'm just like smiling like this. No idea what I'm promoting.

• 39:07Drew Afualo?

  That's crazy.

• 39:08Speaker 04

  Yeah. I don't, I don't even think I got paid either. I think that was just for free. Yeah.

• 39:13Drew Afualo?

  Damn, you should hit up Steve Jobs. It's his fault. Honestly, were you doing a lot of commercial stuff as a, as a child?

• 39:18Speaker 04

  No, I mean, those were literally the two things I did under the age of seventeen. And then, and then my first, like, acting role, I was seventeen. So people think I was like a child actor, but I actually just look really young. So like, when I was on Wizards, I was nineteen.

• 39:33Drew Afualo?

  No way.

• 39:33Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 39:34Drew Afualo?

  How was Wizards? How was that set?

• 39:36Speaker 04

  It was cool. I had no idea that it was like a successful show. So I just was like, and I had like my spiky hair.

• 39:43Drew Afualo?

  Also, they made you gay in that show, low key.

• 39:45Speaker 04

  Well, I just was naturally gay.

• 39:47Drew Afualo?

  No, I mean, like, the characters, yeah, I guess.

• 39:50Speaker 04

  I didn't, I didn't know because it was just natural for me. So I was like, ah, but apparently I was like giving off the gay. To Selena, but I didn't know. And I just was like, thought I was acting.

• 40:01Drew Afualo?

  I've seen quite a few edits of, of like your character on Wizards.

• 40:06Speaker 04

  It's amazing what editing can do on TikTok.

• 40:08Drew Afualo?

  But they, they cut all the scenes and basically they were like, they should have written in.

• 40:12Speaker 04

  Was it giving?

• 40:13Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it was giving. Yeah, it was giving. You were, you were rizzling her up bad, like in that show.

• 40:17Speaker 04

  I was just slowly being an activist by like oozing my gayness.

• 40:20Drew Afualo?

  That's your gay agenda.

• 40:21Speaker 04

  All over TV shows and, and movies.

• 40:24Drew Afualo?

  You were just leaving it everywhere.

• 40:26Speaker 04

  Just traces. Speckles everywhere.

• 40:29Drew Afualo?

  Sprinkles of gay everywhere.

• 40:31Speaker 04

  Follow, follow the trail of breadcrumbs to the rainbow.

• 40:34Drew Afualo?

  How was it like acting on, on sitcoms like that? Was that like weird or crazy? Or was it just another job to you?

• 40:40Speaker 04

  It was just cool. I think for me, I, I didn't know I wanted to be a director at the time, but I wanted to be a musician and I wanted to be a pop star. So I just was doing everything I could to have experiences and opportunities. And so acting ended up being opportunities and a lot of the acting like Lemonade Mouth, I played a guitarist. Like there was a lot of like music.

• 41:00Drew Afualo?

  Involved.

• 41:00Speaker 04

  Influence, yeah, going on. And so I just, I was just excited to like be a part. Like, oh, this is cool. Cameras everywhere and.

• 41:09Drew Afualo?

  I think that's an awesome way of looking at it.

• 41:11Speaker 04

  You know, 10 years plus, I was like, oh my gosh, Wizard, that was a big show. Like I, literally, because none of my friends were, at the time, like, no one knew. And then later they're like, oh, you're on Wizard. I was like, oh, people watch that. That's cool. Same with Lemonade Mouth. It's really interesting. It was like not deemed a success at all.

• 41:31Drew Afualo?

  But it was like a cult classic, kinda like Jennifer's Body.

• 41:33Speaker 04

  Yes, it'd be, yes. The only other girls like girls movie out there.

• 41:39Drew Afualo?

  A, a movie that was not appreciated at its time, but it was later, as it should be.

• 41:44Speaker 04

  We're starving. The, the Sapphics are starving.

• 41:47Drew Afualo?

  For real, honestly, I loved that movie too.

• 41:51Drew Afualo?

  Okay, this next one says that you were one-fifth of a pop girl group that formed in 2007 called The Stunners, who opened for Justin Bieber.

• 41:59Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 42:00Drew Afualo?

  Whoa. Your lore goes crazy.

• 42:02Speaker 04

  I'm all over the place.

• 42:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you were a, a man of many hats. You were doing so many things.

• 42:06Speaker 04

  The cool chick in the girl group who sang The Bridges, but I was like, the gay one. But like in the closet. But that's also too, like when I was in that girl group, which was very short-lived.

• 42:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 42:18Speaker 04

  I got to experience, again, I was like, I wanna be a musician. What is that like? And then getting to tour and also experience the negative sides of the male gaze and like having to perform for these old men at these labels and like you're 16, like it's weird.

• 42:35Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, creepy weird.

• 42:36Speaker 04

  So it was good, cause that kinda ended and then I was able to chase my dreams and be like, okay, this is what I don't wanna do and this is like. The environment I don't want to be a part of.

• 42:46Drew Afualo?

  I'm like obsessed with your attitude towards it. I wanted to try it, so I did. I fuck with that. I like that you're just kinda like, yeah, that was cool. I love that.

• 42:58Speaker 04

  I mean, and that, I mean, Justin was, I mean, that was his like, I think it was like never, never say never era. So like, that was cool. It was cool.

• 43:08Drew Afualo?

  That's how I feel about most things. In this industry especially, that's how I feel about most things. And I think it's important, honestly.

• 43:14Speaker 04

  I learned how to dance in high heels. I don't anymore. I wear sneakers.

• 43:20Drew Afualo?

  I don't need that skill anymore.

• 43:22Speaker 04

  But, you know.

• 43:25Drew Afualo?

  I love how you're just so, you're so beautiful and talented that you're kinda just joining anything and then you're like, yeah, I don't like that. Dropping that, onto the next.

• 43:33Speaker 04

  I think you're just trying. You know, and it's like, how do you become what you, who you know you are and who you wanna become? What does that look like? How do you do that? How do you get on TV? How do you? How do you have an audience? Like, I remember watching N'Sync and I was like, I wanna be them. How do you have scre- girls screaming at you and like dance and sing with like a little mic? Like, how do you do that? So you're just trying stuff.

• 43:56Drew Afualo?

  Watching boys and going, now I need to get into that.

• 43:59Speaker 04

  That's what I'm trying to get into.

• 44:04Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I'm obsessed. What's your sign?

• 44:05Speaker 04

  I'm an Aries.

• 44:06Drew Afualo?

  Oh, tea. Love that. I love Aries women.

• 44:09Speaker 04

  Libra rising and Sagittarius man.

• 44:12Drew Afualo?

  Oh, tea, okay. I'm Virgo sun.

• 44:14Speaker 04

  Oh, fun.

• 44:15Drew Afualo?

  Cancer moon Sagittarius rising. Look at us.

• 44:21Drew Afualo?

  One of my best friends from college was an Aries and she, I say all the time, like, I would have never had fun without her. So she does everything fun, anything. She's down to try anything. And she would have died without me. So I think it's a win-win.

• 44:34Speaker 04

  Okay, wow. So we're, do you wanna hold hands?

• 44:36Drew Afualo?

  Yes, there we go, there we go. Connecting again.

• 44:40Drew Afualo?

  Okay, this next one says, "In an interview in 2018, you told Diva Magazine that you quote, 'have a serious obsession with tuna melts.' Is that still true?"

• 44:51Speaker 04

  I love tuna melts. Man, the internet really has all the information.

• 44:59Drew Afualo?

  What's your favorite tuna melt you've ever had?

• 45:00Speaker 04

  I recently, thanks so much for asking. I just had one of my favorite tuna melts. It's at Apple Pan and it's rye bread with tuna. But I love just a classic tuna, like a little bit of relish.

• 45:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 45:12Speaker 04

  Or maybe a little bit of celery. Don't go crazy. Don't be adding parsley, dill. Like, we just want basic with some cheese.

• 45:20Drew Afualo?

  They're soiling the ancient texts.

• 45:21Speaker 04

  Cut in a triangle, slant. I will eat a tuna melt with anyone. I love tuna. Like, there's like, when I go on tour, like, people would be like, "Haley, go outside." Because I like, I'm eating. I was like, I'm like the tuna girl. Like, even like at school, like, I would open up my thing and then have my tuna sandwich. But it'd be stinky, so I'd have to like, eat it in the corner.

• 45:43Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, because everyone had something to say about it stinking. You're representing people in more ways than one, then.

• 45:47Speaker 04

  Yeah, I am.

• 45:48Drew Afualo?

  Even stinky food eaters.

• 45:49Speaker 04

  Yes, I am.

• 45:50Drew Afualo?

  You're like, "I'm doing it for us."

• 45:51Speaker 04

  Listen, you have one life to live. Like, eat the food that you want. Like...

• 45:55Drew Afualo?

  Don't listen to outside commentary on your food. Honestly, and you, have you ever, um, had Ike's, like, the sandwich shop?

• 46:03Speaker 04

  I've heard of it. I haven't been.

• 46:05Drew Afualo?

  They have a tuna melt?

• 46:06Speaker 04

  Is it good?

• 46:07Drew Afualo?

  It goes crazy, bitch.

• 46:09Speaker 04

  Interesting. I might be going there today.

• 46:10Drew Afualo?

  It's actually fucking insane. When I think about it, my mouth waters like a dog.

• 46:13Speaker 04

  See, I...

• 46:13Drew Afualo?

  I feel like a pit bull.

• 46:14Speaker 04

  I love making art, but the thing I love also is food. I love eating food. Like, my dream is to just eat food 24/7, all the time.

• 46:23Drew Afualo?

  Have to.

• 46:24Speaker 04

  It makes me feel electric.

• 46:28Drew Afualo?

  You enter a flow state when you have a good tuna melt.

• 46:30Speaker 04

  I'm not kidding. My friends, they'll say, she's like, she is in her flow state. And I'm just like, "Oh my god, that food was so good."

• 46:38Drew Afualo?

  You think I'm joking. I'm not.

• 46:39Speaker 04

  Literally.

• 46:40Drew Afualo?

  I'm glad to see the tuna melt thing has still held up over the years.

• 46:43Speaker 04

  It's good to have passions.

• 46:43Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I think so.

• 46:45Speaker 04

  Side quests.

• 46:46Drew Afualo?

  Okay, last, last fun fact, um, is that you were a class president in middle school.

• 46:51Speaker 04

  I was.

• 46:54Speaker 04

  I was.

• 46:54Drew Afualo?

  Did you take that title seriously?

• 46:56Speaker 04

  Girl, I was campaigning so hard. I, I was the student council girl and I was in the closet, but I had spiky flared hair and I worn a vintage blazer, plaid blazer and I had a boyfriend who gave me a vintage brooch.

• 47:18Speaker 04

  I'm painting the picture. So I am in the closet, wearing a blazer with a vintage brooch with

• 47:23Drew Afualo?

  From your boyfriend.

• 47:23Speaker 04

  My boyfriend who is probably also gay.

• 47:26Drew Afualo?

  Your lavender marriage.

• 47:27Speaker 04

  Yeah, my lavender marriage in middle school campaigning for ASB president.

• 47:32Drew Afualo?

  Right, right.

• 47:33Speaker 04

  And I won.

• 47:37Drew Afualo?

  So go and jot that down.

• 47:38Speaker 04

  And I'm such an emotional hoarder that I still have that blazer.

• 47:42Drew Afualo?

  The, the plaid blazer? That's crazy.

• 47:45Speaker 04

  It doesn't fit, obviously.

• 47:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, but you're all, but this is what I won, the presidency and.

• 47:49Speaker 04

  Yes, yes. So I have to keep it.

• 47:51Drew Afualo?

  And you know, I will say this, and maybe it's coincidence, maybe not, but all of my gay friends, all of them were involved in student council in some regard.

• 47:58Speaker 04

  We love, we know how to organize.

• 48:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 48:00Speaker 04

  We have to. It's, it's fight or flight. We be organizing for our rights, our safety. We've been organizing since we were six years old.

• 48:09Drew Afualo?

  Shit, that's all you know.

• 48:10Speaker 04

  It's all we know. It's our flow state.

• 48:12Drew Afualo?

  Organizing and crowdfunding. That's all you guys know.

• 48:15Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 48:15Drew Afualo?

  Honestly, they're good at it. Period. Well, those are all the fun facts I have for you. Would you deem them to be fun?

• 48:21Speaker 04

  They were fun and they were facts.

• 48:23Drew Afualo?

  There you go. Period. Everyone, give it up for the fun facts.

• 48:25Speaker 04

  They were fun facts.

• 48:26Drew Afualo?

  Thanks, guys. Thanks, Amanda.

• 48:30Drew Afualo?

  Okay, just to kind of close us out, I do, first off, want to give you flowers one more time. I really do genuinely believe that you are imperative to the space and I think that you have been so brave and so courageous for so long. The fact that your art persists is not surprising because it's beautiful and amazing, but more specifically, your consistency with it has been inspiring. And I really do think like genuinely, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for opening my sister's third eye to be a lesbian. Thank God. But also for a lot of people, I'm sure you have been. Just paramount in their self-discovery and I think you are so amazing and important. And the fact that you're AAPI alongside me is another reason I love you. It adds to to the totality of why I think you're so amazing.

• 49:14Speaker 04

  I'm feeling quite loved.

• 49:18Speaker 04

  It means a lot cuz like and I mean you're in this industry and space, but we're so hard on ourselves. And it's just like you're just doing everything you can and it feels like sometimes you're just like swimming against a current. And you're just like, when does this get easy? And I don't know if it ever gets easy. But I'm grateful to have been swimming against the current for ten plus years. And I have, I have been around for a long time and so it's been exciting to um have this movie kind of start a new generation and a new cycle and chapter and well, I don't know if we talked about it, but I also have an album coming out that I that was inspired by the film and like

• 50:00Speaker 04

  I think when I did this movie, I just was like, I gotta give it everything I got. We're gonna, we're gonna direct the movie. We're gonna co-write it and we're gonna do an album. And we have all these amazing queer artists on the album, which I think is either out now or might be out in a couple of weeks, depending on when this comes out. Yeah, it'll be out in a couple of weeks. But that my, my goal for that too is like people who may not have access to the film or you know, my international fans are able to at least listen to the album and getting to experience it.

• 50:29Speaker 04

  But yeah, I really appreciate it. It's been a really hard journey. I've learned a lot, but I'm just really proud to still be existing and to still be putting out some queer content and joy. And I'm so grateful for the fans sticking with me and hopefully, you know, exploring new fans in a new era. I'm excited to maybe thrive as opposed to feel like I'm, you know, swimming for my life.

• 50:56Drew Afualo?

  For real. And that's why I think it's so important to tell you how amazing I think you are because I do think sometimes when you do it the right way and you do it the authentic way.

• 51:06Drew Afualo?

  It takes a lot longer.

• 51:07Speaker 04

  Why am I going the longest route?

• 51:10Drew Afualo?

  And no, and then it sometimes I feel like feels like um Almost like Sherpas when, when white people wanna go up Mount Everest.

• 51:18Speaker 04

  Right.

• 51:18Drew Afualo?

  No one ever credits Sherpas for having made that trek.

• 51:21Speaker 04

  Oh my gosh.

• 51:22Drew Afualo?

  Hundreds of thousands of times. To the top, but they are transporting white people up there. And that's, and sometimes it takes a while to get the recognition, but it's worth it. And that's where I think you're at.

• 51:31Speaker 04

  I'm the Sherpa?

• 51:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I'm a Sherpa too. Just so we, just so we're clear.

• 51:35Speaker 04

  We're the Sherpas on the mountain.

• 51:38Drew Afualo?

  Unfortunately, yes.

• 51:39Speaker 04

  But guess what?

• 51:40Drew Afualo?

  On the mountain.

• 51:41Speaker 04

  We're on the mountain.

• 51:42Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 51:43Speaker 04

  And we get to the top.

• 51:44Drew Afualo?

  Exactly. And we survive and come right back down and help people up.

• 51:47Speaker 04

  And then we do it again.

• 51:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and I think that's far more important. I feel very seen. Yeah.

• 51:52Speaker 04

  I've been chirping?

• 51:53Drew Afualo?

  Sherpa.

• 51:53Speaker 04

  Is that a word?

• 51:54Drew Afualo?

  I've been chirping too, girl. Yeah. And that's, and I think that's what, like, why you stand the test of time is my point. Like, I really do believe that because it's authentic and it's true to you. And it's meant to happen in the right way and the way it's supposed to happen. And I'm just so happy for you. And I think this is such an important film and the album as well as your directorial debut. So my last question for you is any advice you may have for any aspiring queer artist in whatever medium that they so choose? Cause you do it all. But if you had any advice for them and they're worried about that current, like, you know, kind of pushing against them, what would you say to them?

• 52:31Speaker 04

  I think my biggest lesson or epiphany on this whole journey is I took the long way to, to get to myself.

• 52:39Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 52:40Speaker 04

  And so I would say like my advice to any artist or someone who's, you know, pursuing, pursuing their dreams is to, don't take the long way. Just like be yourself from day one. And that is such a hard, it's such an easy thing to say. And it's such a hard thing to actually apply and do. But that is truly my, you know, encouragement. Cause even like this album, I went back to what I used to do. I had unfinished songs that I'd written when I was like 16 or 17 and I finished them for this album. And I'm like, why wasn't I doing that from the beginning? Like, why did I go all the way around to try everything I wasn't? To come back to who I really am. And so that would be my biggest challenge for you guys is to.

• 53:23Speaker 04

  To just, don't take the long way around that. Just, just start as you.

• 53:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 53:28Speaker 04

  And embrace that, cuz that's your, your biggest power, your superpower. I mean, looking at like my career, my career started when I was truthful.

• 53:37Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 53:37Speaker 04

  And authentic to who I was.

• 53:38Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 53:39Speaker 04

  And here I am, finding my purpose. And had I never done that, or continued to hide, or lie to myself.

• 53:46Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 53:46Speaker 04

  I would have a very different life.

• 53:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. And thankfully, now, you're in the perfect place at the perfect time. And you're engaged.

• 53:54Speaker 04

  Oh, my god.

• 53:55Drew Afualo?

  I'm done with that. Wins, wins, wins, all around. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show.

• 53:59Speaker 04

  You're amazing.

• 54:00Drew Afualo?

  I fucking love you. I think you're amazing.

• 54:01Speaker 04

  I fucking love you too, Drew.

• 54:02Drew Afualo?

  I think you're incredible. And yes, another win on Lesbian Mountain. You guys are welcome for that. So, uh, for those, I don't know, the two straight people that watch me and don't know where to find you, where can everybody find you?

• 54:13Speaker 04

  Oh, just Haley Kiyoko, anything. But you can see me in theaters June 19.

• 54:18Drew Afualo?

  Yes, you absolutely can. Girls like girls. Very exciting. And...

• 54:22Speaker 04

  I'll be sitting in every single screening with Paco.

• 54:26Drew Afualo?

  Don't worry, she'll be at every single one.

• 54:27Speaker 04

  Row, J, 11.

• 54:30Drew Afualo?

  Thank you all so much for tuning into this episode of the comment section. Thank you so much to my amazing guest Haley Kiyoko. Don't forget, new episodes of the comment section drop every Wednesday. Thank you so much to my amazing guest Haley. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll see you next week.

• 54:41Speaker 04

  Bye.