Anthony Ramos: Brooklyn-born actor, singer who chose Broadway over baseball, rise to stardom in Hamilton, inspired by Busta & influenced by Bradley Cooper, once turned down J.Lo, his Latino roots, and yes—answers the phone in the shower.

"When you stand on what matters, everything is going to fall into place for you." Anthony Ramos One's journey is never a straight line and often the path we think we are destined for is paved with lots of ups and downs that lead us to where we belong. In this pivotal conversation, Ryan, Channing, and Fred sit down with multi‑talented actor, singer, and storyteller Anthony Ramos, to explore the twists, turns, and lessons that have shaped his journey. From humble beginnings of the New York streets to Broadway stages, from major film sets to music studios, Anthony shares how he’s navigated shifting expectations, risk, and growth — all while staying rooted in identity and purpose. He shares the impact that starring in Hamilton had on his life, the wisdom from Busta Rhymes, the excitement of Spike Lee, being on set with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, his most transformative role as well as his most challenging and gives a sneak peek at some big projects in the works. It's a reflective and honest conversation on the little moments and decisions that led him to chase his dream down an unlikely path overcoming poverty, sharing how the streets taught him to act and maneuver the challenges of a rough upbringing and why pursuing a passion is often out of reach for people like him. He talks to Ryan about dealing with race and cultural barriers, staying authentically himself while balancing Hollywood pressures, choosing to be on the right side of his beliefs, betting on himself and taking risks to chase the big roles. He talks to Channing how he mended the relationship with his father before he passed and explains to Fred saying no is hard but being loyal to his roots matters the most, which he explains turning down the chance to work with J. Lo. The guys get into what “pivoting” really means when your life is already in motion as this episode goes beyond the highlight reel to dig into the grind, the doubts, and the quiet breakthroughs. Whether you’re in creative fields or facing your own pivot point, Anthony’s transparency and mindset offer resonance and inspiration. Tap into The Pivot Podcast on YouTube, hit the subscribe button, like, comment and let us know what you think! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  Hamilton star Anthony Ramos isn't just an actor or a singer. He does it all in entertainment. And honestly, so much more. The Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican thespian didn't learn how to act because he told us, when you grow up poor, you're putting on a show every single day. His dad was in and out of his life. His mom worked her butt off to raise him and his siblings. But still, some days, 25 cent for lunch was too much to ask for. He took us back to the phone call, the one he actually answered in the shower that changed his life. The days off Broadway with his castmates of Hamilton that he'll never forget. And he shared what he learned from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga on the set of A Star is Born and how those lessons have helped him create his own projects.

• 1:16Ryan Clark?

  There's some things you probably know about him, and then there's some that you don't. Like Ramos ain't Hollywood at all. And when I say at all, I mean it. He has these neighborhood principles that make him pretty special for the job. The Transformers and Twister star said he ain't never changing those either. This ain't no Broadway show, but he should take a bow because this chat is worth an encore. Now, please enjoy as me, Fred, and Chan sit with Anthony Ramos.

• 1:43Speaker 03

  All right.

• 1:44Ryan Clark?

  There he is.

• 1:44Speaker 03

  It's good, it's good.

• 1:45Ryan Clark?

  Good brother.

• 1:46Speaker 03

  Damn.

• 1:46Ryan Clark?

  Glad we got to do it.

• 1:47Speaker 03

  Yep, yep.

• 1:48Channing Crowder?

  A man of Transformers.

• 1:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:53Ryan Clark?

  Anthony Ramos of Hamilton.

• 1:54Speaker 03

  I didn't, I don't do musicals.

• 1:57Ryan Clark?

  Trolls too.

• 1:58Speaker 03

  Yeah. Christian Wilkins, the D Tackle, loves Hamilton. He invited me twice, sent me the Disturb Hub tickets. And I'm like, bro, I ain't about to watch that.

• 2:11Speaker 03

  But I know you are super talented, bro. You should have went, Chan. Yeah. You should have went, bro. I know I should have. Now, now I see what's going on.

• 2:19Ryan Clark?

  That's out.

• 2:20Speaker 03

  No, but it's in the theaters right now, you know? Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Let me hold $5. I got you, hold up.

• 2:26Ryan Clark?

  It's in my wallet. It's in my wallet over there. I didn't want to bulge.

• 2:49Ryan Clark?

  This is Anthony Ramos. This is Fred Taylor. I'm Ryan Clark. Channing Crowder. This is the Pivot. Pivot fam, thank you for pivoting with us. And this is a, a real pivot for us. Uh, and I think the reason you're cool for this show is the many things that you dive into. The way that you can, whether it's acting, whether it's on Broadway, on screen, music, you can do it all, dance. But I want to talk about, uh, one, why would you answer the phone in the shower?

• 3:19Speaker 03

  I do it often. Which, which, which time?

• 3:23Ryan Clark?

  The time you, uh, found out you got into ABA.

• 3:25Speaker 03

  Oh, when I got into college, that's right. You know what? I don't, I don't, I mean, I, I talk on the, I probably shouldn't, but I talk on the phone in the shower often. Like, I don't know, I gotta, I always pick a spot where I just keep the phone and I'm lathering and shit. And I open the curtain, I'm like, yo, yeah, nah, that was crazy. You know, and washing the hair, I'm like, yeah, nah, I, I remember when she said that. She was wilding, you know, like, I, I don't know why, but, but I mean, um, but that call changed my life, though. That was crazy.

• 3:54Ryan Clark?

  Talk about that. Tell us about what it's like, you know, when you're told you should go to school there and you have that level of talent from the things you were able to do in high school, but you actually get the phone call.

• 4:05Speaker 03

  I remember I got a call from, I don't know where he is now, but he was so, he was so cool. This guy named Marcus Carter, he worked at, at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy here in New York. And he was like, one of the heads of admissions and he, you know, he called me and told me I had gotten in, I had gotten into this musical theater school. I didn't grow up watching musicals, I didn't, you know, Broadway's expensive. So I didn't necessarily go to Broadway shows, I didn't listen to soundtracks, none of that. But I always, I always liked performing. We used to do like these improv shows at Thanksgiving or like at Christmas for the family, you know what I'm saying?

• 4:46Speaker 03

  We'd do like the first Thanksgiving or we'd do like some crazy, some wild shit. You know, we would just make something up in the room, like, like, and we were all between the ages of like eight and 12 and we're doing like bullet points of like, alright, this is what we're gonna do first, this is what we're gonna do second, and this is where we're trying to end. And then we come out there and make whatever costumes we could in the, from the closet or whatever that our aunt had and come out and do like a 12 minute to 15 minute like skit for the family. That's kinda like how it kinda started and then, but then go get, auditioning for this school. I had a teacher in high school named Sarah, she, she, she helped me with the audition materials, she paid for the application, she, you know,

• 5:27Speaker 03

  like, yo, like, everything worked with me, like, I get into the school, Marcus calls me, that shower call, and next thing you know, I'm like, I'm hyped that I get into the school, but then I get the, the packet for how much the school's gonna cost. And it was like 33,000 or something like that a year. And it was just, it was just wild, you know what I'm saying? Like, we grew up in the projects, like, my mom raised three of us by herself. My mother made 31,000 dollars a year. So it was like, to, to, like, take care of all three of us. And so it was like, seeing that number was crazy and I was just like, I don't know, just like, my whole spirit just like deflated when I saw that packet.

• 6:11Speaker 03

  But you know, my mother kept saying, she's like, "Don't worry Papa, God's gonna make a way, don't worry, don't worry." I'm like, "Yo." Better make a way soon.

• 6:20Ryan Clark?

  He ain't made that way forever. I was like, yo, like.

• 6:25Speaker 03

  But thankfully, she had a lot of faith and Sarah too. This teacher in me and Miss H, I had a couple of teachers. Jason Jacobs was my first counselor where I had my first therapy session ever. It used to be me and three other young men. We used to sit with him and just talk about our problems, talk about what was going on at home. And that was the first time we had ever done anything like that. Like, that was the first time I had ever experienced anything like that. It was just all these teachers, my coach, Coach DeMarco, my baseball coach. But these people were just really like advocated for me. But, you know, long story short, it was basically like, I get that call, can't afford it. Sarah gives my name to the Jerry Seinfeld Scholarship Foundation. He had a scholarship at the time.

• 7:04Speaker 03

  I go and meet a woman by the name Kate Feniman, who actually, she texted me today, this morning, Kate. She's like, yo, it's crazy seeing you. I was talking to Sonia Soto-Mayor, the Supreme Justice. I was co-hosting the Today Show with Jenna, Jenna Bush. And she's like, like sitting next to, you know, Sonia Soto-Mayor. And like, her being like, I know you, you like, da-da-da-da. I'm like, yo, this is crazy. Like, it's legendary. You know what I'm saying?

• 7:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 7:38Speaker 03

  And having that, you know, just having that opportunity, I had a point. I don't even know why, oh, Sarah, yeah, I'm like, I'm like drifting. I was just still high from that experience. But basically, she gives my, oh, because Kate texted me, right? So basically, Kate was the head of the Scholarship Foundation at the time. I go, I meet with her, you know, she's like, Sarah writes her a long letter about me. Like, yo, you gotta meet this kid. And I was like, yo, well, has she seen my grades? I don't want her to like, you know what I'm saying? I don't want to meet her. And then she see my report card, she's like, yo, yo, nah. What are we gonna do with this? Because for sure, like, my shit was horrible. Like, not horrible, but it was like a solid, like, C.

• 8:23Speaker 03

  You know what I mean? Like, you know, but it was nothing, nothing special. But she still, she decided to sit with me because she was like, yo, like, I don't know. Like, you wrote this long letter about this kid, at least I'll sit with him. And... You know, I just sat across from her and I said, "Look, man, like, I'm not gonna lie to you, like, I've been through a lot of shit. Like, you know, my father was on drugs, you know, we had, we had a lot of violence and things, like, in our home, outside our home, like, in the community, like, I grew up, like, like, broke and shit, like, but I was just like, I just, I just need a shot. I just need a chance, like, I need someone to take a chance on me. You know, she's like,

• 9:08Speaker 03

  getting pretty emotional, I'm emotional, I mean, I, I shared a lot, you know, I was just like, I'm gonna just tell you the truth about what I went through as a kid, and I'm not saying that what I went through was an excuse, you know, but I'm just saying that, like, this is all I've been dealing with as a kid, and finally, you know, thanks to, again, like, teachers like Sarah and Jason, like, I started to process it for the first time as a teenager, and I'm like, "Damn, like, I got mad trauma, and I got like, real problems that I didn't even know were not normal."

• 9:36Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 9:37Speaker 03

  And, like...

• 9:39Ryan Clark?

  Well, bro, that doesn't build, that doesn't build a Broadway performer, that doesn't build actors, you know, a lot of times you hear about those hard times, and it may be athletes or people that do other things, it doesn't say that that kid becomes someone who expresses themselves through art, so how did that sort of upbringing, those sort of traumas, process themselves out to get you to this point, then?

• 10:06Speaker 03

  I think, when you think about growing up in the hood, you gotta be an actor every day. Right? It's like, you gotta maneuver, you gotta know the right thing to say to get out of trouble over here, if I don't got money to eat that day, I gotta know what to say to the lunch lady to help to, you know, like, or I gotta know, like, for example, I'll give you an example, I was in high school and the cutoff for, for free lunch for students, your, your parent had to make twenty-nine thousand or less. My mom ain't thirty-one. My mother, I also wasn't living with her at the time, I was living with my aunt because she lived closer to the school. So it was more convenient. Also, it was, she lived in a better area, so it gave me an opportunity to kinda like,

• 10:47Speaker 03

  be in a better neighborhood, you know, for three years before I had to go back to my mom's house in my senior year. But, but by the time I had the senior year, still, right, twenty-nine thousand cut off, thirty-one thousand she's making. So I gotta pay a quarter for lunch. I couldn't afford the quarter sometimes. I'm not even gonna lie to y'all. I could not afford a quarter. So I gotta talk to the lunch lady like, "Yo, ma,

• 11:12Speaker 03

  what we doing?

• 11:14Speaker 03

  Like, that patty right there?

• 11:18Speaker 03

  That's not even worth a quarter.

• 11:21Speaker 03

  Let me on this line and let me, let me eat." And she like, "Nah, I can't." So now I gotta find another lunch lady. "Yo, miss, Fulana over here don't wanna let me on the [bleep] line. Can you let me on the line?" Right.

• 11:37Speaker 03

  Maybe, maybe. Now she looking around like she smuggling some shit. I'm like, "Yo, you not committing a crime here, just let me on the [bleep] line." And I don't even know the difference. Who's getting the quarter? Nobody knows where these quarters are going.

• 11:47Speaker 05

  He gets the patty.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  Let me on the line!

• 11:52Speaker 03

  Yo, so, you know, or sometimes I have to ask a friend, like, "Yo, can you go get me a tray or whatever, whatever." Or, I make friends, thank God, I had, I made friends with the shorty that worked in the, in the, uh, the school store. So whenever one of the lunch ladies was being stingy, I go in the school store, I'd be like, "Ma, what's up?" You know what I'm saying? Like, "Let me work a little fifteen minutes for you." I go, you know, I used to like schmooze with her and shit, and she'd give me Doritos and cookies and, you know, whatever, whatever to hold me off to get through school. And then, and thank God, my ex-girlfriend's, you know, God bless her, Cindy, I love you. My ex-girlfriend Danielle's mom used to, uh, have a change bowl she collected every week.

• 12:36Speaker 03

  So she'd throw her change every day, and the supermarket, Wal-Bounds, was right next door. So I used to take the, she used to give me the change every week, at the end of the week. I'd go to Wal-Bounds, and I'm like, "Yo." So I'm exchanging the change, and you could change it for cash. So I would have like twenty dollars for the week sometimes. So I have to stretch it.

• 12:55Speaker 03

  It's just shit like that, that, you know, but you gotta always be acting all the time like, "Damn, these five dudes chasing me." But like, "They following me home right now, fuck."

• 13:05Speaker 03

  "I don't wanna get jumped." You know what I'm saying?

• 13:08Channing Crowder?

  But, but, bruh. Like, it's something we do with, with, we ask a bunch of people like, "Is it, is it nature or nurture?" It's like, was, was your talent created 'cause you singing on Trolls and shit and Hamilton? You know what I'm saying? You, you, like, you doing these movies, you acting like you, you had to do it to survive, but was that God-given talent? Or was that created once you were already here?

• 13:33Speaker 03

  It was, you know, like, I always, I always could sing, but I wasn't like seasoned or anything like that. I didn't have voice lessons. I didn't grow up doing dance classes and nothing like that. Like, I started dancing on the boardwalk in Coney Island in Brooklyn. Like, with the OGs, with the baby powder on the boardwalk and shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, like, that's how I started. I would just learn from them. I would see them moving, I would see them like flowing. And I'm like, "Damn," like, I just learned from them. And I was like, "Shit, this ain't ballet or jazz or tap, but this is like, this is movement, this is fluid, this is fluidity." I'm watching these people just live. I'm like, "Damn, if I could just learn that, then maybe I can learn something else, and then maybe I can learn something else." And, and, and singing, you know, singing was a thing that I, I could do, but I wasn't like, I wasn't great at it.

• 14:18Speaker 03

  I had to work at it. But I had my first, my first voice lesson in college with my teacher, Christie Kelly, who is amazing. She, she really taught me how to sing. That was the first time I thought, "I can only sing up to this certain note." She's like, "No, you actually have this." Like, "No, this is what a vocal scale is. This is what is, you know, like, this is what a vocal warm-up is." And I had never experienced that. And I was like, "Oh, damn." Like, like, she started to really open my eyes to, you know, needless to say is, I, I got that scholarship from Jerry Seinfeld because of Sarah writing the letter. Kate gave me a chance. And, um, and I get into Amda, the, the school here in New York, Musical Theater School and Film. And I go for two years.

• 15:02Speaker 03

  And that was when I took my first dance class. And that was when I got my first acting class and my first, like, musical theater class. So now I'm learning about all these composers and playwrights and I'm learning about musicians. And I'm singing Cole Porter and shit. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm like... I played baseball, bro. I was an athlete. Like, I ain't do none of this shit.

• 15:24Fred Taylor?

  But speaking of that, sports, right? You follow a team now?

• 15:27Speaker 03

  I'm a Jets fan, man.

• 15:29Fred Taylor?

  It's all good, bro.

• 15:31Speaker 03

  I was just there at the game. I was just like, dang, God.

• 15:33Fred Taylor?

  That's cool. So, so Channing and I both went to University of Florida and Ryan went to LSU. Our teams met each other. So, Channing, I mean, RC proposed a friendly bet, right? And you would think it would be two on one, but it was two on one. And he's a Gator. I'm a Gator. So, he switched out on our team.

• 15:55Speaker 03

  Right.

• 15:55Fred Taylor?

  But this is perfect because there's a lesson in loyalty, right?

• 15:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:02Channing Crowder?

  Bro, I ain't seen somebody with the ass whoop. The Gators about to get the ass whooped. I knew it.

• 16:08Speaker 03

  100%.

• 16:08Fred Taylor?

  So, now Anthony got his school. You on loyalty because he had an opportunity to continue growing the industry, but he decided to turn down a part in a project by Miss Beautiful J-Lo, cuz his homie, Mark Anthony. Why'd you decide to make that decision when you had an opportunity to grow in this industry?

• 16:28Speaker 03

  The thing about it is like, I think, I think sometimes you gotta be like, look. And look, whether or not my perception of the piece was correct or not, is neither here nor there. I never, me and Jennifer never talked about it. I don't think we have to either, you know what I'm saying? But it was just more like, I read it. I felt like it resembled a person who was my friend.

• 16:53Speaker 03

  I never asked her about that relationship. I never asked him about their relationship. But I was like, what I'm not gonna do is get in the middle of something that I was never, like, I'm, I'm not gonna be in the middle of it anyway, right? But I didn't even wanna take a chance of potentially, like, it just, it just, I just like, I don't know if what I'm feeling is true, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, you know? And I'd rather not play this role. That seems like this might resemble a relationship that maybe could have been theirs, but it's not, I don't know, but I'm, but you know what I'm saying? And I think, you know, ultimately, I think, I think she understood that. And, and, and, and honestly, like, yeah, like, yeah, but I don't know what that would have done for my career, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm fine.

• 17:38Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying?

• 17:39Ryan Clark?

  Doing pretty good.

• 17:40Speaker 03

  My career is aight, thank God, I'm sitting here with y'all.

• 17:43Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 17:44Speaker 03

  Like, you know what I mean? Like, but me and Jennifer are cool.

• 17:46Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 17:47Speaker 03

  Me and Mark are cool, like, there's, there's no beef. But, you know, I always, I always, you know, I always gotta do what I feel is right in my heart. And if the tables were turned in reverse, I would have done the same for her.

• 17:57Ryan Clark?

  So this is, and I'm, I don't know if you've been asked this question, I think it's a perfect question for, for our show. Hamilton, A Star is Born, The Heights, right? You've, you've played these parts, these very artistic parts, and there usually seems to be like a certain, there's a certain level of talent that goes in that. And the question actually doesn't have anything to do with that, in the sense of, you have very hood values. I mean that as a total compliment.

• 18:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:31Ryan Clark?

  Right? In the sense of, in the sense of this, right? In the sense of this. That's y'all business.

• 18:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:37Ryan Clark?

  And I don't wanna be a part of it. That's not the way Hollywood seems to work. Is it difficult for you to navigate Hollywood with the way that our principles are built based on the ways we grow up?

• 18:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, it has been difficult. Sometimes I walk in the rooms and I'm like, nah, I don't wanna be here, I don't fuck with nobody in here. And maybe that's not the most Hollywood thing, but I'm not gonna schmooze with you for 15 minutes if I don't got nothing in common with you. What the fuck I'm gonna sit here and talk to you for? About what? So where you from? New York? But you're living in LA now? How's that transition? I don't wanna do this.

• 19:19Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying? Y'all know, y'all know.

• 19:23Speaker 03

  Standing there with the executive, they're like, "Yo, that's the executive of whatever the studio, "or whatever, you should just go say hi to him." "That's the executive of the whatever brand "or whatever that we're trying to get to deal with. "You should go shake his hand and go kiss his ass." And I'm like, "I don't care, bro." I don't care, because you know what? Like, I want you to fuck with me. I want you to work with me because you like what I do. I don't want you to have to find out "from the employee of the employee "who was talking to the other employee, "that they like, "No, you should talk to that guy "because he's the whatever, whatever, the next thing." Nah, if you don't know why I'm, bro, it's cool. We don't have to. I'll go over here and make the smaller deal "with somebody who really gives a fuck "about what I'm doing, and I'll build with them, "and we'll create something fire." As opposed to me trying to go out,

• 20:07Speaker 03

  "because you producing the next fucking Jurassic Park?

• 20:13Speaker 03

  I don't care. Why? Because you won three Oscars, "and how many Critics' Choice and SAG-AW. "Well, I don't give a about none of that shit, yo. "Because at the end of the day, like, "the further I get into this shit, "the less I want to just work. "Like, I don't feel like doing shit that I don't want to do. "And like, people are like, "but what about, like, "don't you want to get ahead? "Or don't you want to be..." And I'm like, "You know what? "I am ahead. "My bills are paid. "I own property. "I got businesses. "By the grace of God. "Like, my mother's OK. "My brother and my sister are all right. "I'm chilling. "I don't need... "I don't know. "I don't know if that makes you what I'm saying."

• 20:50Speaker 00

  Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great, "till the CFO sees them. "That's bull spend. "And marketers are calling it out in Dashboard Confessions."

• 20:59Speaker 07

  I remember telling my boss, "It'll be good for the brand." "When leads were slow." Yeah, it wasn't.

• 21:07Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. LinkedIn lets you target by company, "job title, and more. "Advertise on LinkedIn. "Spend $250 on your first campaign "and get a $250 credit. "Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. "Terms and conditions apply.

• 21:20Channing Crowder?

  It's not like, people chase money. People chase money.

• 21:25Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 21:25Channing Crowder?

  And as you're talking, like, you probably could have made more money.

• 21:29Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 21:30Channing Crowder?

  Or even have more fame. If the cold switch, is that the thing the kids call it nowadays? You know, we way older than you, because you, you know.

• 21:38Speaker 03

  I mean, look.

• 21:39Channing Crowder?

  Cold switching, but cold switch, figure it out, whatever, but just stack bread. Why aren't you just stacking bread?

• 21:47Speaker 03

  No, I'm stacking bread.

• 21:48Channing Crowder?

  I know you stacking bread, but you can stack more bread.

• 21:50Speaker 03

  But I could, I could, yeah, I mean, you know. Yeah, I definitely had movies where I turned down and the money was, money was nice. But the role just wasn't, like, yeah, it hurt. Like, I'm like, fuck. Like, you know, like, that was a hard one to say no to, but, because of the bread, but like, I'm reading the role and I'm like, damn, but like, where do I want to be in five years? Where do I want to be in 10 years? Where do I want people to know Anthony Ramos as one of the most elite actors that ever did it? I don't, I don't want them to know me as one of the most famous actors that ever did it. I want them to say, he's one of the best that ever did it. So in order to get there, I gotta make the right plays.

• 22:33Speaker 03

  I gotta look at the whole thing and be like, aight.

• 22:38Speaker 03

  That's three months of my life, they don't want to work around my schedule. I got this performance over here for this new single that I got out, whatever. My music is just starting to do that. Like, I gotta look at the whole trajectory, like, I'm like, okay, I gotta do that. But I got, I got that performance there, I won't be able to do that if I do this film. Yeah, the money's right, but you know what? That opportunity, I don't know what's gonna come of that, but that right there is more in line with where I want to be or where I want to go. Or that smaller part is more important to me, that they paying me nothing for than this bigger role, or rather, this bigger movie. You know, and, and I maybe have to do that here, because that's gonna push me further. You know, in, in the grand scheme of things, you know, and, and at least in the plan in my head, you know, like.

• 23:24Speaker 03

  And it's tough, yes, I mean, it is hard to, you know, I remember, I mean, I got offered a deal from a brand.

• 23:31Channing Crowder?

  I was just gonna ask you, what's the most you ever turned down? If you say something crazy, I'm diving on you. If you say something crazy and I'm diving on it.

• 23:40Speaker 03

  No, no, no. It's not. The most I ever turned down was like $2 million. So that's not.

• 23:45Channing Crowder?

  It's not what?

• 23:45Speaker 03

  That's a lot. That's a lot of money. But look, no, no, no. But let me tell you something. No, no, but this is, but, but no.

• 23:51Channing Crowder?

  I didn't expect. I wanted to.

• 23:52Speaker 03

  It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. But what I'm saying is that deal, I turned it down, but that deal came back around. Because the stipulation I have, so when you talk about like, when you talk about, you know what? I'm tripping. It was more than $2 million. But it was only, no, no.

• 24:11Channing Crowder?

  You brought your brother here because you knew.

• 24:13Speaker 03

  No, but look, I'm not even trying to flex. It's really, it was really more like, it was more because that, that, um, deal, there was one bullet point that was really important to me that they did not want to meet me on.

• 24:31Speaker 03

  And I was just like, all I said was, I want to be able to put my own song in the campaign. And they said, no.

• 24:41Speaker 03

  So I said, I don't want to do it.

• 24:44Speaker 03

  My team was like, what? I don't want to do it. This one thing is really important to me. And if they won't do that, I'm willing to do whatever they want. But that one right there is really important to me. And then they conceded on the deal and we were able to, we worked it out and it was, I mean, look, complete blessing, right? Just because, just because you turn something down doesn't mean it goes away. But sometimes they do, right? More times than not, they do. But like, you know, I've turned down like certain roles that thankfully came back. That came back around, like, and they met me. But like, I had to say no to the job and it was so hard

• 25:30Speaker 03

  to be like, I can't do this. But like, I gotta stand on what matters to me. Like, I wanna do this job. I want to make this money. But, but like, yo, like, if this thing over here means more to me? Like, for example, there was another job that, at the time, right, I was gonna get married. Massive movie. I said no to the film. And they were offering me about the same, maybe more, actually more than that. And, and I was like, am I, am I smoking crack? And anyone else in my life would have been like, yes.

• 26:10Ryan Clark?

  Also too, it's a very, it's like a very, like, project drug you just went to. To say, "Smoke a crack."

• 26:16Speaker 03

  Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right, yeah.

• 26:19Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that show you, that show you where you grew.

• 26:21Speaker 03

  Super project drug. But I basically was like, yo, like, I can't because I'm getting married. And finally, they came back to me and said, first of all, I turned it down. My team's like, yo, what the fuck? And I'm like, yo, I can't, I can't move this wedding, I can't do it. Finally, they said, "We will work the production schedule around your wedding." And I'm telling you, it's a multi-million dollar movie. And thank God, like, I mean, and we, you know, the wedding didn't happen, but, but still, it was the principle of like, look, I told her we was gonna do this.

• 27:02Ryan Clark?

  Principles.

• 27:03Speaker 03

  And I don't, I don't wanna let her down. I don't wanna let us down. And take a job and disregard the fact that we've been planning this for however long we've been together. You know, for six years, you know, like, we've worked towards this moment, right? Am I crazy? I don't know, maybe, but thankfully, God worked it out still for me. Like, it was meant for me. And that's another thing, too, I started, I'm starting to realize too, like, yo, when you really stand on what you believe in and you really like... Sometimes, yeah, what you're gonna do is the thing that people think is crazy. They're like, your friends, your fam- and I don't talk about this shit with people because like, they'll be like, "You're a psychopath."

• 27:46Speaker 03

  But, you know, my brother knows all this shit because we talk about it all the time. But when you stand on what matters to you and you really, really, really like lock in on that, everything that's meant for you is gonna fall into place around it, I think.

• 28:01Ryan Clark?

  So what about being like more ethnically ambiguous then? When people tell you, if you know, maybe if you weren't so Puerto Rican, or maybe if you spoke a certain way all the time, or had a certain look, you could do more things?

• 28:24Speaker 03

  I mean, I used to get really insecure about that, you know? Because like, you know, you... I don't know, I walk into rooms and I don't know, I don't know what the, what they were expecting. But like the casting directors or the people ca- you know, the people putting these movies together, people putting these shows together, especially in musical theater like... Again, it's not like, like where I grew up, like nobody gives a fuck about musicals. Nobody's watching musicals, no one cares about musicals. They're like, "I don't do that." Like, that's whack.

• 29:00Speaker 03

  But that was only because like we weren't educated, a lot of us, to that, right? Like, it was all about sports, right? But you think about sports, right? It's cheap to, you get a football, you could play. Get a glove and a baseball, you could play catch. Get a rinky-dink, get a, you know, a shitty bat somewhere and now you could play a game. Get a basketball, we got courts everywhere, what we doing? Those were the sports, those were the things that we, that we grew up with. And you know, we Latinos, so we fucking love baseball. You know, we playing, we playing baseball. My brother was all state. My cousin was like all city. I wasn't none of that shit, but you know what I'm saying? I was good enough to, you know. Coke bottles in the broomstick? Coke bottles. We playing Skelly.

• 29:44Speaker 03

  I don't know if y'all know Skelly, where you put the candle wax in the top. This is, you know, this is some hood shit. And you like, you draw out a square in the middle of the floor, and you put like numbers. There's nine, eight, seven, whatever. You gotta hit the Skelly in the seven, you go in the eight. Then you hit the other person out. Like, this is the shit we did to keep ourselves busy.

• 30:06Fred Taylor?

  But even, we have all have similar upbringing, right? And we come from these, you know, variety of demographics. And you said, you know, from where you come from, nobody with Broadway. Nobody wasn't going to plays and this and that. But, once you made it, and your people had an opportunity to come check you, like, what was that experience like for you and for them? To see you, you know, dressed up and going over your parts and going all that stuff? How was that experience?

• 30:36Speaker 03

  Honestly, being on Broadway and, you know, having that experience, my friends coming for the first time. It was a lot, like, a lot of their first Broadway shows, or like, second Broadway show. And the first one was like when they, like, uncle took them when they was like, 12 or something, you know? So like, they coming to see me on Broadway. Like, some of my boys from like, childhood. Like, my boy Chris, who I've known since I was 12. Wild hood, like, OD.

• 31:09Speaker 03

  You know, like, seeing him pull up and being hype. And he's like, yo, blood, that shit was fire, like, yo. Yo, just like that, he's like, yo, I never s- like, that's crazy. I don't even like Broadway, but, you know. And like, just seeing people in my life get excited about a thing that I've been excited about for a long time, since I started it. But that was in high school. And seeing them see it in that way, on the biggest stage, was so special, man. Like, my father, rest in peace, when, you know, him coming to see the show. And, you know, my dad passed away two years ago. And like, seeing my father, like, his reaction after the show.

• 31:56Speaker 03

  And like him, seeing him after the Transformers premiere, I still have a video, that was the last thing my dad came to. And, um, you know, I put a thing in the, in the movie. Like, I try to put one thing for my friends in everything that I do. Like, just one thing that they'll only know. So every time and every premiere, they laugh. You know, like, they laugh when that thing comes up. Like, I'll say some shit like, "Yo, we in the mix." Like, "We in the mix" is a thing we say. So I said it at Transformers, like, "I'm looking around, like, we in the mix." And then out the whole row, they're like, "Oh, shit." Like, they all go crazy. Right. Like, they all go nuts. And, but my dad, we put this little nugget in there. We used to do my, me and my brother, we still do it.

• 32:39Speaker 03

  But my father used to be like, he used to be like, "Yo, put it there." And I'd be like, he'd be like, "Home team." And I do this with my little brother in the movie. I go with Dean. Dean Vasquez was an incredible actor. And we like, "Home team." And that was a thing that, um, we still do. Like, we text each other and I'm like, "Yo, Al, thanks for helping me with that." Or, "Bye, bye." He'd be like, "Yo, Ed, thanks." We'd be like, "Home team." You know, and it's just like little, you know, like little things in, in every movie that your home, like your friends will know.

• 33:07Speaker 00

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• 33:17Speaker 01

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• 33:37Channing Crowder?

  But as you progress, as you get success, and not having that relationship with your dad, I went through something similar. Mom and dad got divorced. You know, mom says dad ain't shit, dad says mom ain't shit. So now, you in that, I was in that mid-ground of a little dumb kid sitting around like, "Damn." I'm about a bunch of not shit-ass niggas. Like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Like, you like, you like, "Damn." But then making...

• 34:04Channing Crowder?

  Ain't nobody shit.

• 34:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:07Channing Crowder?

  Ain't nobody shit around me.

• 34:08Speaker 03

  Hey.

• 34:09Channing Crowder?

  But then now with your dad and even speaking about him now and having a dad on drugs and then getting that relationship built back. You seem very family oriented, but having that separation, but then growing up as a man, and that's what I had to do. When I became a man, I'm gonna make my own decisions on people.

• 34:31Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 34:31Channing Crowder?

  And then I got back with my daddy when I got to the league and I was like, man, this dude cool, like, I'm a fool with him. What was the, I guess, the maturation of y'all's relationship? And how could you help anybody out there that going through that? Because when I read your story, I'm like, oh. I'm pointing like the little Leonardo DiCaprio meme, like.

• 34:53Speaker 03

  It was, I mean, it was a process to, you know, to get good with pops. I mean, that took, it took a while, man. Like, it was tough because it was, yeah, it was like him and mom weren't together. And, you know, I think that I was used to that, but it was just more of like the, every time we kind of let him back in, he would do something again to let us down. And then we let him back in again and he'd do something. So it was just over and over and over and over and over. But then I realized, I was like, I guess as I grew up, I said, you know what? I think, I think there's a way to, to deal with him where I, in a way where I can still love him.

• 35:39Speaker 03

  But I think it was, I think it just starts with forgiveness though, at the end of the day. Like, and number one, it starts with forgiveness. You gotta forgive a person. You gotta forgive yourself and you gotta forgive them. You know, like, period. I don't blame him for anything he did. I know, I'm not gonna make excuses for him, but he had a hard life and he dealt with his life as best as he could. Was it in the best ways? It wasn't, but, but he, he tried his hardest. You know, sometimes someone's best is not in the world's view, good, but it was his best. And I had to like, I had to just accept that. Yo, he is trying his best.

• 36:22Speaker 03

  So what are the boundaries I can put up in my life? Where I can still be able to love him, but not put myself in harm's way? If I know he starts shooting at 6 o'clock, maybe I shouldn't be near the house. You know, like, start shooting, you know, like theoretically, like nah.

• 36:43Ryan Clark?

  What you mean?

• 36:43Speaker 03

  Feel me, like if I know, oh, once he gets a drink in his system, once this, how can I? Alright, if I know that I can only talk to him on the phone for 30 minutes, maybe 40 if the conversation's good. But I gotta cut it off, even if it's going great, I gotta cut it off just in case it goes left. Before it goes left, just putting up, like trying to figure out bound, I mean, thank God, I mean, I've worked with my therapist for a few years now on this too. You know, in these later years before he passed away, but it was, it was, it was always like a, like a project. I'm like, okay, well dad's tendencies are like this, and so are mine.

• 37:22Speaker 03

  So if I'm like, if I get like this when he does that, how do I prevent myself from being in a position where that could potentially happen to me? Maybe I don't hang out with him here, maybe I hang out with him in a park, not at a bar.

• 37:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 37:34Speaker 03

  Maybe I, you know, maybe I take my dad to the movies and I don't go to, I don't take him to a game. Right? Like, trying to figure out how I, we could be together, but in a safe way. You know, and, and in time, it really benefited our relationship. Like, were we as close as I wanted to be before he died? No, but were we as close as we could be? Absolutely.

• 37:59Ryan Clark?

  And that's a distinction, I love the, the way you put that though. You know what I mean? Like, you were as close as you could be. Like that's, I think that's all we as humans can do to work to build a relationship, where we can only control us. I thought that was beautiful.

• 38:14Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, and I, and I also wanted to add to that, you mentioned, uh, cause you're preparing for a marathon right now.

• 38:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:20Fred Taylor?

  Which is crazy.

• 38:21Speaker 03

  It's wild.

• 38:21Fred Taylor?

  26.2 is crazy. I can do, I can give you 3.

• 38:25Speaker 08

  What he about to do? What he about to do?

• 38:28Fred Taylor?

  He about to run a marathon.

• 38:30Ryan Clark?

  So Freddie T though, so yesterday, so when I was texting him about the show, right? I was on TV.

• 38:35Speaker 03

  And so it's the commercial and he texts me back. But it was the, the voice, like he voice messaged or whatever it is. And so I had to read it because I couldn't play it. And it was like, this is not making any sense.

• 38:49Ryan Clark?

  That translation was crazy, bro. It was like, yo, tomorrow we gotta fight, but we're going for it. I was like, this is nothing I said.

• 38:56Speaker 03

  I was like, what is this? He was like, he said, I'm training for a marathon. I said, got it.

• 39:03Channing Crowder?

  Bro, you too talented. Don't die.

• 39:06Speaker 03

  No, no.

• 39:06Channing Crowder?

  Your ass about to die. You about to run how far?

• 39:08Speaker 03

  Twenty-six point two miles.

• 39:11Channing Crowder?

  Man, listen, go sing, whatever. You have a beautiful voice.

• 39:14Fred Taylor?

  Nah, do your thing, man.

• 39:15Channing Crowder?

  For what? What are you doing that for?

• 39:17Fred Taylor?

  He's been retired 10 years and hadn't worked out. So don't listen to that one. Remember, we talked about loyalty, right? That ain't the one you want to deal with.

• 39:24Speaker 03

  Come on, man.

• 39:25Fred Taylor?

  But no, I, I was gonna get to, because you talked about your dad. And, and the thing that I saw, you say you had to stop in the middle of, while training, while out on the road running, and you just broke down crying.

• 39:36Speaker 03

  I did, yeah.

• 39:36Fred Taylor?

  Could you share with us kind of, you know, what that moment was?

• 39:40Speaker 03

  I'll never forget it. I, I know exactly where I was running to. I was running up some hill in LA, man. I was in Beverly, Beverly Hills, like running. And I was running up this hill and this shit was, could not be harder. It was just so difficult. And it was one of my first runs in training. And this is my first marathon. Like, I'm, I'm not necessarily been a, a runner before, you know, but I'm just running up this hill and I'm just like, yo, this shit is terrible. And yo, I just started breaking down. And I just started calling out for my dad. Yo, it was the most wild experience. Like, I'm just like, dad. I'm like, dad, I need you, man.

• 40:25Speaker 03

  Like pops, please help me.

• 40:29Speaker 03

  Of all the people I could call out to, but I'm like, "Dad, I need you. Please help me. Please help me." And I'm running up this fucking hill and I'm like, "Yo, this shit is hard." "This shit hurts." "And I wanna quit so bad right now." "I'm like, 'Dad, help, please.'" "And then I start calling out to God and I'm like, 'God, like Dad, God.'" "And Dad, Mario, like, both of you, if y'all hanging out, please help me." "You know what I'm saying?" "And, um, you know, it was, um..." "Yeah, it was just a, an experience I can't really, I can't really explain, but I, you know, I've been finding that like, "On these, on these runs, man, like, when it starts hurting, I start to like, I'll get like an idea about something."

• 41:14Speaker 03

  "Or I'll get like, I'll get like, I'll start thinking about a person that I wasn't necessarily thinking about." So, therapeutic? A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I had no idea. This shit is... "It's just like when you, when you pushing your body, I mean, y'all know, y'all played at the highest level, you pushing your body to the limit." "I don't know if this has happened to you guys, right? Like, where you're just like, "It hurts, but you gotta think of something that's gonna get you through to that next moment, or like, I don't, I don't know, like, what has that been like for you guys?" It's the finish. It's gratifying. Yeah.

• 41:48Ryan Clark?

  I think it's the process too, though. Right? It's the, when you cross the finish line, you have obviously reached your destination, "But everything you learn to get to that point is what you take with you." "And, you know, that brings me to asking this question. You talked about being on Broadway, "And your homeboy coming there and saying that it was, you know, a great show, and it was fire, but you say that like it wasn't Hamilton, though." "Right? Like, there are, there are Broadway shows, and then there's Hamilton." "And I haven't seen it, my, my daughter has, and she would make us watch it on Disney Plus all the time."

• 42:30Ryan Clark?

  Right, and the first time, I'm not gonna lie, I was, I was hatin'. You know what I mean?

• 42:36Speaker 03

  Damn, right?

• 42:36Ryan Clark?

  I was, dawg.

• 42:38Speaker 03

  Sound like Channing.

• 42:41Speaker 03

  Y'all should've came together. What the fuck is going on here?

• 42:44Ryan Clark?

  Hey, no, my daughter got the tattoo and everything, and I actually-

• 42:47Speaker 03

  Oh, that's why?

• 42:48Ryan Clark?

  I actually met, I met, uh-

• 42:50Speaker 03

  What's this?

• 42:51Ryan Clark?

  I met Lynn at WWE.

• 42:53Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, he loves, he loves that.

• 42:54Ryan Clark?

  He was sitting right behind me, and I was like, "Hey, bro, I noticed, and I know you might, I was like, 'Can I take a picture with you and send it to my daughter?'" My daughter goes crazy, uh, you know, it was Off-Broadway in New Orleans, she went. But, when you are a part of something that ends up being so big, how did it feel during it, though? Right? Because it grows into this big thing. While you're performing, do you know it was received the way it was?

• 43:23Speaker 03

  When, when we did it, when we did it Off-Broadway, that was the first time I felt, like, we had one, there's one show that sticks out to me in particular, right? It was like Busta Rhymes, Spike Lee, Manny Patink, there's a bunch of people in the audience.

• 43:39Speaker 03

  They all sta- I'm talking about, as soon as the lights go down, they jump to their feet. We could see them, and I'm just, they're just applauding, they don't wanna stop applauding. And I see Spike like this,

• 43:50Speaker 03

  in the middle, and, and I'm like, "Oh shit." So we bow, and then they come back, Spike's like, "Yo, let's get a picture." I'm like, "Oh shit, Spike, he want a picture with me? That's crazy." And then like, you know, uh, you know, all these, uh, amazing, amazing people we're, we're meeting back there. And this is Off-Broadway, this is, this is only 300 seats, so far. And then Busta Rhymes gives us like, a 30-minute speech about how he's just inspired by what he just saw, and how he's like, "Yo, y'all got the king in the thing. I'm about to change my whole shit for my tour. I'm on tour right now." With all his rings and his, you know, Bust always got like a fat-ass chain on him.

• 44:33Ryan Clark?

  You're right.

• 44:34Speaker 03

  So the shit is clinking while he's talking. He's like, "Yo, I'm telling y'all, oh god, that shit changed the whole, y'all changed the whole game with this shit. Y'all don't understand, y'all for real spitting up there." And like, but he's saying this shit, and I'm looking at him like, "Damn, yo, this is one of the greatest rappers ever." Like, giving us props, and-

• 44:56Speaker 03

  You know, I'm like, and we're all just super like attentive, hanging on to every word. That was one of the first of many like amazing moments with that show. But that was one of the first and it really stands out in my mind. Plus him being from New York, being from Brooklyn, like he's like, you know what I'm saying? Like every time I see him, he shows me so much love. He gives me like the biggest hug like, and it's um, you know. But like, like that was one of the moments, I think that was the first moment where I said, "Damn, I think we got one here."

• 45:25Speaker 00

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• 45:35Speaker 07

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• 45:43Speaker 00

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• 45:55Channing Crowder?

  Like you said, you read the scripts and you turn down stuff. I'm still hyped with you about this two, three million dollar thing.

• 46:01Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no, but thank God both of those worked out.

• 46:03Channing Crowder?

  Okay, but do you know, like, when Hamilton came up, you was like, "Oh, this, this, this, this is special." When this came up, this is special.

• 46:12Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 46:12Channing Crowder?

  Like I said, I was like, when Tuesday said they were like, they were like, Anthony Redd.

• 46:17Speaker 03

  Let's get that straight.

• 46:18Channing Crowder?

  I was like, "Transformers dude, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

• 46:20Speaker 03

  No, no, no, I was saying yes to everything. I said, "What, you want me in a donkey costume in the back? You need me to hop around three times and make a donkey noise? I got you."

• 46:31Channing Crowder?

  But do you know, do you know like, Hamilton was about to be that? Transformers was about to be that?

• 46:36Speaker 03

  Hamilton I knew was special, you know? And like Transformers and the way Steven wanted to direct it and the, and the way he wanted to cast it and the way he just was so fearless with the way he was, you know, he had a monster. That movie was like a $185 million movie, you know? And, and he was coming off of Creed 2 and, you know, I think, you know, Steven Capel Jr. Man is, is a workhorse. That guy is so talented, he's so smart, family oriented. And he just, yo, he like, he was just a beast with it. But, but, but with Hamilton. Like, the first time I heard the demos, they were just demos. They were just like, like if somebody put their phone out and voice recorded. That was what they gave us to learn the songs.

• 47:21Speaker 03

  This was before it even went into production. We were doing like, a workshop for four weeks. It was still developmental. And when they gave me those voice notes to listen to, I was like, I couldn't stop listening to it.

• 47:34Ryan Clark?

  Star is Born is one of my favorite movies.

• 47:36Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 47:37Ryan Clark?

  It's also like, really, really sad.

• 47:40Speaker 03

  So sad.

• 47:41Ryan Clark?

  Right, and, and you know, you play Ramon in that movie, but like, the level of talent shown in that movie was so hot, right? From the acting to the music, all of those things. What were some of the things you took away from the experience of filming that movie that has helped you moving forward?

• 48:01Speaker 03

  Watching, well, Stephanie Gaga, crazy, like, work ethic like you wouldn't believe. Um, like, unreal. She's a, she's a special human. You know what I'm saying? Like, just this fucking ball of power, bro. And, but, but watching, that was my first like, big set. Ever get into a set and be like, damn, these are what trailers look like? Like, wow, like, yo, that's a crane.

• 48:33Speaker 03

  It looks like they're gonna shoot a big scene on that one, like, I'm, you know, Bradley made me do four auditions for that. You know, and I did like, two tapes. Then he wanted me to fly to LA to do a reading with the cast. And all of them are like, we can't wait to see you on set. And I'm like, do y'all know this is an audition? Like, this is not, I'm not in the cast yet, but I'm like, yeah, I can't wait to see y'all, man. It's gonna be great. Yeah, man, I'll see you guys soon, you know? Even that night, I, like, I didn't even know if I could make that work. I had, I was singing in Arizona. I had a gig in Arizona. They're like, yo, we need you to fly to LA this morning, do this reading, and then, I'm like, yo, but I got this gig this evening. They're like, this is the only way you're gonna get this job. So I'm like, shit, like,

• 49:11Speaker 03

  I don't want to get sued by these people, but I also don't want to lose this opportunity. So thank God I flew 45 minutes to LA. I did this reading with the cast. And I hopped straight back on the plane. And they told me I got the job on the way back to the airport. And I was able to make my gig that night in Arizona. But that was the first time I had been on a set like that. And I think the biggest, you know, which I'm so grateful to Bradley and all of them, Lynette, the producers, everybody there at Warner Brothers, for giving me the opportunity. But watching Bradley direct and act at the same time, that was some other shit. Like, that was some other shit.

• 49:45Ryan Clark?

  What was it about what he was doing that stuck out? To be able to do both of those?

• 49:49Speaker 03

  Because my man's was like, for example, there's one scene where we're at the Greek Theater and they're about to perform. I think him and Stephanie got their first scene where they're going to sing together or something. But Bradley is in character and giving me direction. So Bradley's like with all his makeup flush, you know, he's got his eyes glossy, right? Because he's supposed to be a little buzz on stage. And Bradley's like with his guitar. He's like this. Bradley turns around to me. He's like, alright, so when Stephanie, when she walks, you're just going to wait a couple of steps. And then you're going to like, you're just going to give her some space. And you're going to move, you're going to move past her. But just give her a window right here. He's giving me direction in the southern accent with the like.

• 50:31Speaker 03

  And then he turns back around and just like hits it on stage. And they crush it. And then they call cut. And then he goes to the monitor immediately. And he goes to, or they bring him to monitor. And then Bradley's watching playback on the monitor like this after he just did that take. And I'm just like, yo. I'm like, yo, this guy's different, man. This dude is different. And I think watching him do that, I haven't directed anything yet, but watching him do that made me want to start. I started producing and directors next. He made me want to direct. Like seeing him do that, I was like, nah, yeah, I gotta, I gotta get busy. Like, look at this guy. I'm like, man.

• 51:13Fred Taylor?

  Right. Even seeing that, but all that you do, you know, from Broadway, acting, singing, writing, everything, multifaceted, what inspires you or what's your biggest pivot? Which is that one moment you can look back on and say, because this happened to me or for me, is the reason I am who I am today?

• 51:33Speaker 03

  I think my biggest pivot was, I was on the baseball field when I was 17. I was in the outfield and I was playing summer ball. And I just, I knew like, I had been trying to keep this dream alive of being an athlete and being a baseball player and like, ah, it's cool. If I don't make it to the major leagues, at least I'll play in college and then I'll be a baseball coach. You know, you gotta be a health teacher to be a baseball coach. I'll take health classes and I fucking hate the science. You know what I'm saying? You know, and finally, I'm like, I'm in the outfield and I'm just like, this ain't it. This ain't it. I gotta pursue this thing that I know, I don't know a lot about this,

• 52:16Speaker 03

  but I know how it makes me feel. I know what it makes me feel like to be on stage. I know what that feels like. Even if I feel ridiculous wearing too much makeup, which, yeah, my teacher, she put me in a bunch of makeup on stage and I didn't even have to wear it. She had me on the eyeliner and all blush and shit. I'm like, they could see my face, bro. Bitch, I got fresh on.

• 52:38Speaker 03

  What the fuck?

• 52:41Speaker 03

  She's like, you know, they're gonna help you see your eyes. I say, they can see my [bleep] eyes. But, you know, I didn't, yeah, whatever. I was like, you know, I'm wearing this blanket for a cloak because I'm playing Zeus in this musical, the students' role with the Burger King crowns. I don't know if y'all remember them, that they used to be on top of the seats. And, but I just felt this joy, man, when I was on stage and...

• 53:04Speaker 03

  I think it was just that moment in the outfield where I was just like, nah, this ain't it. This ain't my life. And there was a few pivots in there. I mean, it was just a few of them, like, you know, like, and saying yes in those moments where I didn't feel comfortable, you know? I didn't feel comfortable doing a Shakespeare monologue for this audition. I didn't feel comfortable singing this musical theater song for my first audition, for the only performing arts school that I ever auditioned for, you know? And I didn't feel comfortable, you know, sharing my life story with this woman who I don't know, you know? But it was just all these moments where it's like,

• 53:44Speaker 03

  yeah, this is what I want to do, but I got to pivot from my plan. My plan is not the best plan here.

• 53:49Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 53:50Speaker 03

  God's plan for me right now is the best plan. And I have to pivot from my plan. Because if I stick to this one, I might not get what's intended for me.

• 54:02Ryan Clark?

  Right, yeah.

• 54:03Speaker 03

  You know? There were multiple moments like that, but I think that was probably the beginning. Just like, I never showed up to a game. I didn't show up to a game. That coach was tight.

• 54:12Ryan Clark?

  He should have been.

• 54:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, he was pissed. I quit, and I kept the uniform.

• 54:16Ryan Clark?

  When you guys came out with Ironheart, which was around the time I met you, it's the reason. It's how I met you.

• 54:22Speaker 03

  D23, right?

• 54:22Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, it's how I met you. And there were kind of, what do they call it? Review bombing.

• 54:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 54:29Ryan Clark?

  Right? Review bombing because of the black female who was the superhero.

• 54:40Ryan Clark?

  When you go into sort of a project like that, and it's being sort of torpedoed in that way, what's the reaction of all the people who are a part of it? And how do you support each other as something like that's released?

• 54:55Speaker 03

  We're proud of it. That's the thing, right? Like, and...

• 55:00Speaker 03

  I get to see people on the street be like, yo, Ironheart, love that shit.

• 55:07Channing Crowder?

  So dope.

• 55:07Speaker 03

  One season two. Like, the reviewers could say whatever they want, right? People could be racist, they could be prejudiced, they could be whatever the fuck they want to be. But at the end of the day, that's the projects I want to be a part. I want to be a part of the ones where y'all like, jarred. What? They hired this person for what? Dominique Thorne is a beast, bro. That woman is, yo, she's so talented, she's hardworking, she's beautiful, she's smart.

• 55:36Channing Crowder?

  Smart, yeah.

• 55:38Speaker 03

  Everything her character is. And I'm like, yeah, she should be the superhero. No brainer. She's black, she's a woman. Yes, she is. Deal with it.

• 55:50Speaker 03

  So many, uh, black women out here that are smart, beautiful, all that. Right? And yes, they should have a hero to look at, like that, you know? You know, like Letitia Wright, and like, come on, man. You know what I'm saying? But I think people... It's tough for people. Like, when we did Transformers, all the lead characters were white, bro. All white boys from like, I don't know where Shia LaBeouf from and Mark Wahlberg from, you know, Massachusetts. And look, I'm fan, they're both great actors. Like, I'm a fan of both of them. You know what I mean? But like, it was a pivot.

• 56:32Speaker 03

  For Lorenzo and for those guys to be like, yeah, Anthony Ramos. Wait, what? Yeah, Dominique Fishback.

• 56:41Channing Crowder?

  What was that? You talking about when he was fast and sleepy?

• 56:45Speaker 03

  Oh, which one? Oh, what, the sea?

• 56:46Channing Crowder?

  Whatever, yeah. He kept taking your ass to bed. I'm like, man, get your ass up, bro.

• 56:53Speaker 03

  We were doing a night shoot and I couldn't stay awake, bro. We had to reshoot that shit. That's the only time, hey, for the record, for anybody that worked with me, that never happens, okay? This is a one-shot deal, I'm crazy. Don't even, strike that from the record. My bad. No way I raised it, yeah. I dead-assed for hours, I couldn't keep it together.

• 57:14Fred Taylor?

  You were working too hard. Bob the Builder, eh?

• 57:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, Bob the Builder, we producing that now.

• 57:19Fred Taylor?

  What's that like, though, animation?

• 57:22Speaker 03

  I love it, man. I love animated movies. I've been blessed to be a part of, you know, animated franchises, Bad Guys and Bad Guys 2 and then Trolls 2. You know, and now with Bob the Builder, I've been, we've been, you know, we've been developing this for a few years now. And when I told them my concept for the movie, I was like, "I don't know. We'll see what happens," you know, Mattel. And then they were like, "We love it." And I was like, "Fire." Amazing, you know, because I feel like we have, we have something, we can do something really special with this animated movie. And it's like, what is Bob building? Who is Bob the Builder? What is he, but what is he building? Like, why is he building? For what?

• 58:04Speaker 03

  And he's not just building buildings and he's not just building construction sites or whatever, like at construction. He's building communities. He's building, building up young people, right? That's what he's building. So how do we bring all of those things together? All of those things are encompassing in that story. And we get to really, we get to really see Bob in a different way than we did in the cartoons, you know? And I'm just really excited for people to be like, "Damn, I didn't know I was gonna feel that after Bob the Builder." Like, you know what I mean? I didn't know.

• 58:38Ryan Clark?

  That's also the cool thing with animated movies, though. You get to make them what you want. It's what your creativity can be.

• 58:46Speaker 03

  And we get to set the movie in Puerto Rico, you know, and like, and, you know, you think about Puerto Rico and it's, you know, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. Bioluminescent bays and most beautiful beaches, but it's also, right? Like, it's like, when I went there during Hurricane Maria, or after, I went three months after Hurricane Maria, I was like, what were people doing? They were rebuilding.

• 59:09Speaker 03

  Right, and there was this one woman that she kept saying, "Can these in or set weather, can these in or set weather?" She kept saying like, "Who said we can't do this? Who said?" Because FEMA was taking mad long to come up to the top of this mountain. So we're all, there's a bunch of us volunteers clearing out what used to be this old man's house. And like, a refrigerator fell on me, I'm like, "Ah shit." I was like, "Y'all spoiled milk, shit was crazy." But yo, we're up there and we're doing this and this woman keeps saying this. And what's the saying for Bob the Builder? "Can we fix it? Yes, we can." And she's saying, "Who said we can't do it?"

• 59:47Speaker 03

  That was like the spark for the idea for the movie. You know, and I was like, "What if we did this? Or what if we did that?" And, you know, like, and, you know, it was inspired by things that have happened, but, you know, also a lot of it made up. But, but that struck me, I was like, yo, like, yeah, we're not just building a house here. We're not just building a building. We're not building a beautiful landscape. We're building community, we're building people up. So that they know that yo, not only did we build this, it's not about us building it, right? The building was only the first thing, the first step. The, the, the real thing is the maintaining of it.

• 1:00:27Speaker 03

  Is us maintaining our relationships with each other and maintaining this community so we can maintain what we've built.

• 1:00:35Ryan Clark?

  Bro, I'm gonna be honest, I've seen a ton of your work, you know? We've texted a few times. This was way, way better than I could have ever imagined, bro. Like, to get the real you, to not have to see you be who you are based on a script or who you are based on the song you, you've written. But just truly get to experience, man, like, this sort of conversation with you, though. It was amazing and I'm truly, truly grateful, brother. Appreciate you, fam.

• 1:01:01Speaker 03

  Thanks for having me, man.

• 1:01:02Ryan Clark?

  Nah, no doubt.

• 1:01:03Speaker 03

  Incredible, man, incredible.

• 1:01:04Ryan Clark?

  Hey, they gonna be like, "The boy from Hamilton, act like that?" They gonna be like... I know, I know what my boy gonna be like. They gonna be like, "Twisters."

• 1:01:12Fred Taylor?

  The whole time I'm singing, I'm thinking like...

• 1:01:14Ryan Clark?

  They be like, "Twisters?"

• 1:01:18Ryan Clark?

  That's the dude with the tight pants and the fucking polo. He act like that in Twisters.

• 1:01:26Speaker 03

  Channing be hitting the bevel on these pictures.

• 1:01:54Speaker 05

  Every game day you show up for your team. Now it's your time.

• 1:02:04Speaker 05

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