There are few writers that have impacted the landscape of the science fiction genre over the past few decades, quite like Ronald D. Moore has. After all, he expanded the world of Star Trek in a manner that continues to be used to this day, he revolutionized the reboot and showcased how sci-fi can tackle real world issues in a new way via Battlestar Galactica. Plus, he updated how epics are adapted via Outlander and of course, he paved a new path for ‘what if?’ type stories with his work on For All Mankind, and well… we here at NTG had the distinct and humbling honor to sit down with Mister Moore at the Austin Film Festival to discuss his stunning career.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

John Betancourt: What was it that inspired you to get into writing in the first place?
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Ronald D. Moore: I think… I don't know. I just started writing things as a kid, like in elementary school. I wrote short stories, kind of for my own amusement. My mom kept this one. I wrote this long story with little pictures of us, me and my dog on this crazy trip to Disneyland, and the dog getting out, and me chasing through all the rides, because I was a huge… I loved Disneyland Park as a child, and she kept it. And she bounded a thing, and it's still like, it's like 20 pages or something, of all this hand, hand scrawl of mine when I was a kid and I was just like writing, and I always enjoyed it, and I always did well in classes that featured it in one way, shape or form. But I come from a very small town in central California, and being a writer wasn't real job, so I didn't really think of it as like something I was going to do one day.
 
John Betancourt: You've had a very unique career and a very fulfilling career, and I'm curious what it means to you to be in the chair that you're in now as a person and as a writer.
 
Ronald D. Moore: It’s… I have the best job in the world. I mean, to be a showrunner, to create a show, to run a show, to put a team together, to, you know, to be the player manager, and in a baseball sense, that nobody does that role anymore, but I get to do that role. It's incredibly fulfilling, you know, and then to present to an audience, and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life now, it's just the opportunity to dream and play on this kind of scale. You know, these are big budget. All these shows cost millions of dollars that you're trusted with to do something with. And you work with really talented people, and you challenge each other, and you try to do something better every single day, and it's enormously rewarding. It's incredible.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, you've done, you've written so many amazing stories, written so many amazing things. Is there a particular type of story or a genre that you haven't been able to touch that you're still eager as a writer to get into?
 
Ronald D. Moore: I'd love to do a James Bond film. But I'd be a writer, and then there'd be another writer after me, which is kind of the drag of features. But Naren Shankar, who was a friend of mine and a colleague, and I tried to resurrect The Wild Wild West. Once wrote a pilot for CBS that they didn't, they didn't do, and that's still the one that got away from me. It's still man, because The Wild Wild West was, which is kind of a forgotten show now, it doesn't come up in conversation. It's not referenced really in pop culture, right? But it was a big show that it was a huge hit at the time, and when I was growing up in, again, this trip syndication, it was like Star Trek and Wild Wild West were sometimes back-to-back, you know, Monday through Friday. And I love that show too. And I just like, oh, my God, wouldn't it be great to do a spy Western thing that also has the occult, and, you know, there were some wacky, crazy places in that show. And I just, I would love to resurrect that, but it's… I've been chasing that for years.

John Betancourt: Now with a few exceptions, shows you’ve assembled receive a complete arc, a series finale, the works. What’s that like? Since so many TV writers don’t get that journey.
 
Ronald D. Moore: You know, it's funny because I've had a specific and unique career. I know that's just what I expect it to be, is I expect to be able to finish my story, and I have, I have, fortunately, you know, not had the experience of being cut off in the middle and not I've had pilots that got made but didn't air, and stuff like that, but generally speaking, I've been able to complete the story, and that's, that's great, but that's kind of what it should be, and I just expect it to be that
 
John Betancourt: Of the many things you’ve done, is there a particular piece you’re most proud of? And why?
 
Ronald D. Moore: That’s hard. There's a lot because there I'm proud of different things for different reasons. I mean, “33” pops to mind today because we spent a lot of time talking about it today, and it was an extraordinary episode, and I was very proud of the fact that it's the only episode I've ever written where I didn't have an outline or really of any kind, because it was a whole story that I wrote that because it was between the mini-series being produced and when they hadn't picked up the show yet at Sci-Fi And there was a moment when UPN, if you remember UPN, they talked. Where they'd stepped in and they said, “We might pick up the show if Sci-Fi doesn't want it.” And David Ike was my producing partner, that was talking to them directly, and he called me, like, over Christmas and said, “Okay, UPN, might pick up the show, but they would need to see a script of, like, an episode. Could you just, like, get an episode by January?” And it's like, “Okay, I guess.”
 
And I didn't have any, there were no outlines. It was, there's no staff. It was just me and David, you know, and I had a… I did have some log lines of potential episodes, and it was like, we're gonna go to the prison ship, and there'll be a murder mystery and, and one of those log lines was the fleet jumps away from the Cylons every 33 minutes. And I just kind of fixed on to that one. Said, “Okay, I'll do that one. And I just decided… fade in, and I just started writing it, and just wrote it each scene and what's the next scene? And just made myself write a next scene, and a next scene, and then it became that episode. I'm very, very proud of that episode, and it was like a moment of just pure writing.

John Betancourt: What was it like, to have one of your first jobs be Star Trek: The Generation?
 
Ronald D Moore: Oh, it was crazy. It was literally my first job. And it was, it was a childhood dream come true. I mean, it was, I was a dyed in the wool Star Trek fan as a kid. I was a Trekkie, and growing up in the 70s, and I thought that the show was this thing that I loved that nobody else did, because, again, it was a little cow town, yeah, and it was in strip syndication, so it was on five days a week when I got home from school and I could watch it five days in a row, and I loved and obsessed about it, and, you know, couldn't get enough of it. And it wasn't until I was in a drugstore one day and saw Starlog magazine for the first time, and it was issue three, and on the cover that was a cartoon drawing of the Star Trek cast members hanging from a chandelier over a convention floor of fans with signs, yeah. And I went, “What? What is that?” And that's how I realized there was a thing as fandom.
 
And so, I was like, “Oh my god.” Suddenly I wanted to go to conventions. And you know, wrote away for catalogs and all this stuff, and realized there was this whole community out there that I had no idea even existed. But then I embraced it and loved it. And so, when I got the chance to be on the show, you know, I was the fan made good. I was like, I was a fan who suddenly would walk down and sit on the bridge in the Enterprise anytime I felt like it, which is an amazing thing. It's yeah, it's… I don't even… now today, all these years later, I’m still kind of astonished that that's part of my life story, and it's an amazing gift. And I just, you know, it's, it's, it's unbelievable what the show did for me growing up as a child, and then what it did for me as an adult for a career. And it's just like, it's, it's one of the defining things of my life.
 
John Betancourt: I think something that I've always been very intrigued by is that you are, in essence, the father of the modern Klingon. That's probably the best way to put it. So, with that in mind, I'm very curious how you managed to build that world so well. Because we could not think of the Klingon Empire without the work that you put together.
 
Ronald D. Moore: Well, thank you. It was, it really wasn't by design. It was just kind of happenstance, because when I showed up on the show Michael Piller, the late Michael Piller, who was the showrunner at the time, he was just getting to know the Star Trek Universe, and didn't really know really the difference between Klingons and Romulans, and he kind of turned to me and asked me to write, “Could you send me a menu of all this stuff? Can you just send me a memo of who the Klingons are and who the Romulans are?” I went, “Okay.” So, I wrote what I thought, I think the Klingons, the Romulans were, and then he handed me on that same day, he said, “All right, here's two scripts about Worf that we're having trouble with. See what you can do with them, it has to be an episode”. And Som I just took these two scripts and combined them, and that's what became Sins of the Father. And in the course of writing Sins of the Father, because it was the first time the Enterprise was going to the Klingon Homeworld. Homeworld didn't have a name. It was a lot of things had yet to be defined.
 
So, then I could just play around with sort of who I thought they were based on things that were mentioned and referenced in The Original Series and the movies. And they had done that one episode of Next Gen, “Heart of Glory,” first season that kind of told you they had some rituals. And it was just, there was just a lot of room. And I could kind of play and do a lot of things and set stuff up. And once I did that episode, because it ends on sort of an emotional cliffhanger with Worf has lost his honor. You knew we were going to revisit that story at some point. And when we did it was kind of Michael said, “Well, you should write the next one, because you wrote that one,” and that was Redemption Part One and Two, and after that, yeah. I was the Klingon guy at the staff. I was the Margaret Mead of the Klingon Empire. It was like, “Okay, I'm gonna tell you.” It was fun. I really enjoyed it.

John Betancourt: Now I would love to know what it was about Outlander that resonated with you as a writer?
 
Ronald D. Moore: I was just fascinated with, you know, I read the book, and I could kind of just see what the show was, because I really responded to the central character of Claire in the book. First book is written in her voice, so she's talking to all the way through. And I thought she was fascinating and smart and strong and funny, and I really thought, well, I can build a show around that character. And I didn't know a lot, if anything, about 18th century Scotland. So that was like, I'm going to an alien planet. I don't know these people. I don't know what the customs -- the customs seem crazy, and they do this stuff, and all this is kind of fascinating. And I was drawn to doing it because I thought the audience would have that experience too. Like, “what is this?” And it just felt like a really big, sweeping adventure that was still grounded in intimate stories about these, these particular characters.
 
John Betancourt: And obviously now we're coming to one more season of the show. What has the response, and the journey of Outlander meant to you?
 
Ronald D. Moore: It's been amazing. You know, it's, I start every project as this wide eyed optimist that this is gonna be the greatest show. People are gonna love it. It's always, this is gonna be the biggest show ever. And, you know, doesn't always happen. Usually doesn't happen. But on that show, it happened like, yeah, it took off. People loved it. The fans embraced it. Public embraced it. Eight seasons. You know, it's, it's a success. I'm very proud of it. And it's very… it's not surprising in a certain sense, but it's gratifying. It's like, “Yeah, we did do a good show.” It's nice it's being seen like that

John Betancourt: So, we absolutely need to talk about Battlestar Galactica, since that's been on topic today. It really does stick with everyone. And I'm curious why you think it resonates so well still, after all this time.
 
Ronald D. Moore: It was different. It was an intense show, and it was very human show. I think it was the characters that people really connected to. And, you know, there's the cast. We've got an amazing cast, and those characters were just indelible. You know, Adama and Laura and Starbuck and Apollo and all of them. And it was just… we were daring. We were daring to do something that hadn't been done at that point. We were trying to break the mold of how sci fi was on TV. It was the time of, you know, the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan were in the news, and we were talking about those things in real time. And I think that got people's attention. And it's just an extraordinary show. It was extraordinary thing to be part of. I'm very proud of being part of that. Very proud of being part of that team.
 
John Betancourt: That was something I was very appreciative of when it comes to Battlestar. That fact that it was the first piece of media that really talked about and helped us process 9/11 in any capacity.
 
Ronald D. Moore: That’s the genius of science fiction and good science fiction, we could talk about 9/11 without having you have to relive 9/11. We didn't have to, like, actually call everything by its name and make you literally go back through this horrible, horrible event, you know, again. But we could talk about it. And you knew what we were talking about it, but you had a -- yeah, it was one step removed, and it made it okay. And then we can look at it from different perspectives, you know? So, you don't have to, like, feel weird that we're looking at it from Osama bin Laden's perspective. Like, that's a hard show.  But, you know, okay, step back. It's not Osama, you know, we're not… the players are different, but the themes are resonant.
 
John Betancourt: I think what I appreciate the most about the show is that it does shift tone as we start getting closer to the end. It becomes a very beautiful and hopeful show. I personally am a huge fan of the finale, because that was just this beautiful piece. And I'm curious what went into, and when the decision was made to shift the show into this hopeful… “we’re gonna be okay,”
vibe?
 
Ronald D. Moore: It was important to me that that was the note that we ended on. I… it was, I always felt like, as tough as the show was, it always had an element of hope. It was always, you know, there's a baby born on the Rising Star at the end of 33? You know, there's always… these are characters that are dealing with incredible, difficult times. They've gone through horrible tragedies, but they're still struggling to be better. They're struggling towards the light. It was always important that we're not going to end the show on a downbeat we're not going to end the show on a hopeless note there. There should be hope at the end. Was really important in the concept of the series.

John Betancourt: Let’s talk a little bit about For All Mankind. Specifically, what inspired the origins of it, because it's such a cool idea. I love the idea of this alternate Earth along those lines.
 
Ronald D. Moore: For All Mankind came out of a discussion. Came out of a discussion with an executive, actually, Zack Van Amburg, was an executive at Sony Television when I was there doing Outlander. And he and I had a casual conversation years ago where he said, you know, he grew up when NASA was a big thing when he was a kid, like it was for me. And he said, “Wouldn't it be cool to do like a Mad Men style show, set NASA in the 70s?” “Yeah, that'd be cool.” And then we didn't talk about it again. Years go by. He then left and ran Apple TV Plus, as one of the co-presidents, called me up and said, “Let's talk about some stories.” He came over and he said, “Oh, you know, I still think about that. NASA, Mad Men show. We want to do that.” And I said, “Well, wow, I thought about that in a while. Let me go think about it.” And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that, yeah, you can do that show. You could do Mad Men as an office thing about the culture and the characters at NASA in the 70s, and that'd be an interesting show.
 
But to me, who was a space aficionado, the story of NASA in the 70s is kind of a sad and depressing one, because it's about budgets getting cut, ambitions being curtailed. And you know, we weren't going to do these big things, I thought we can do as a kid. And I went back to Zack, and I said, “What if we did the show about the space program? I didn't get the one that was promised, where we really do go to Mars, we really do these big, big things, and to really step out into space in a dramatic way.” And he said, “Well, that's cool, but why would we have kept going like, what's different? Why would that be the case?” And I didn't have an answer, and so I decided -- I called up a friend of mine, Garrett Reisman, who's an actual astronaut and was a big Battlestar fan. We had talked to him when he was in orbit, when we were on Battlestar, and he did a cameo on the show. He's great, very smart, amazing guy, and who had kept in touch over the years. And I called him up and said, “Can we have lunch and let me just pick your brain about something?” And he was working at SpaceX at that point, went over to SpaceX, had lunch with him in the commissary, and I told him, “Okay, this is what we're talking about doing.” And I said, “I'm not sure. Why do you think they would have kept going? What could have gotten the space program to keep going after Apollo 11?” And he said, “Well, you know, a lot of people just don't know how close the Russians came to getting on the moon.” I said, “Really?”
 
Because I was a huge aficionado, and I knew that the Russians sort of made a vague attempt, but I thought they didn't really try. And he said, “Well, actually, they really made a real attempt to do it. But you know, the rockets blew up, and they had political problems around it, but they had really committed a lot of resources trying to do it. They had picked the astronaut, Alexei Leonov, was going to be their first man on the moon. In reality, they had built the space suits. They had prototyped the lander. They were down the line to try to do it, and they just couldn't pull it off. And he said, “You know that if they had actually gotten to the moon, yeah, it might have been very different.” And I realized, yeah, if they had beaten us to the moon, it would have changed everything, in my opinion, like the people, Americans, just would have gotten pissed off. “We can't. This is crazy. We're gonna double down in space.” And I thought, now we're into a story. Now we're into the whole alternate history of the country.
 
John Betancourt: See, I’m with you on so much of that. Because I too noticed that all the programs and promises were never fulfilled by NASA. But I also appreciate the commentary in the show, and the depth, and this could have been a simple, straight forward, alternate history story. But I am curious when the decision came about to add that subtext to the story.
 
Ronald D. Moore: Because it felt like we're still it's not gonna change people. So, we're gonna have, it's still gonna be problems. We're still gonna have these, elements of fighting against each other and fighting against other people. So, we wanted to go down this road that was more that was leading towards a better world, a better future, towards the Star Trek futures. As we always said, this is like the path that takes you there, but that it wasn't going to be easy, and there were going to be setbacks, and there were going to be tragedies, and there were going to be things that were questionable happening as people interacted with each other. So, it was important that we did that because it kept it feeling real, like, “Oh, it's more grounded that it's really going to still be problematic, even if it's a better, a better world that we're watching.” Generally.
 
John Betancourt: What have you enjoyed the most about piecing together this particular series?
 
Ronald D. Moore: Oh, it's a lot of fun because there's so much in the writer’s room of “what ifs” or what if this had changed, what if you tweet that, coming up with who's the president is like a really great game. And then all the little pop cultural things that we throw in, and there's so many more ideas that we have than we're ever able to do, but it's just kind of a thrill. I'm a history buff as well as a space aficionado and a political junkie, so a lot of those story lines of charting a path for Ellen, from ex-astronaut in a world where space is huge, to give her, like, well, John Glenn really did run for the presidency in 1984 Well, she's going to actually run, she's going to win. And so that was fun. Like, okay, our astronaut is going to be her. It's going to be a woman that's going to do it for the first time in our in our new sort of history of the world.

We meant when we said that the aspireTV feature, Nochebuena, was ‘one of the most refreshing holiday films in years.’ Simply because it offered us so much and accomplished so much from a storytelling standpoint, and that is why we sat down with the film’s director, Adam Lopez, and one of its stars, Carmen Morales, who plays Mel… to further deconstruct this special film.
 
John Betancourt: I Would like to start by getting to know what inspired each of you want to be involved with this project.
 
Adam Lopez: First of all, Glenaliz Quezada wrote the script, and I was showing my last project short Adam at a film festival. She said, “Hey, I wrote this Christmas movie. Will you take a look at it.” And when I read it, I was like, “Oh my gosh. I like, I lived this as a kid, like, I remember the parrandas when I was a kid” and, there was, like, little things that she littered throughout the script that I thought, “Oh, this, this feels like home.” And so, it really resonated with me. And then when she asked me to direct it, I was, I was just completely honored and excited to jump on board.
 
Carmen Morales: Oh, I Well, honestly, it was a story that I had never heard put out there, and you don't often get an opportunity to read a script that hasn't been done yet. I'm sure you know that John… it seems like everything has already been done. So, this was a story that I was like, not only was it new, but not new, but it was like something that I hadn't seen, but it also had a lot of life in it, and there was a lot of heart in it. And that was something that was like, it's, those are the things you really want from a Christmas movie and for a holiday film. And that was the whole thing, is, we've seen so many holiday films done ad nauseam that are the same three beats, the same things over and over and over again, the same thematically. I mean, I'm certain, you know, you know which ones I'm talking about. Don't make me say it. (Laughter) Um, so this wasn't like that. You know, this is a story that was told, and it also had, it also had Afro Latinos and Latinos in general, acting like real people and not like caricatures of themselves, and all of those things put together. I was just like, yes. How could I say no to something like this? This is… I want to be a part of this story.
 
John Betancourt: Now you both bring up great points about the realism present here, and there are moments in this movie I relate to as well. So, I want to talk about that in detail, and Adam, to start with, what went into the decision to make this story so authentic and so realistic?
 
Adam Lopez: I think my background in acting really helped me. I mean, I get incredibly frustrated when I watch… and I'm not trying to be a hater. But like, you know, you see people put on the Hispanic accent, and, my big note was, as I was communicating with the actors, is like, listen, just, let's not do that. Like, that's not what it is. It's not my reality, it's not how I sound, you know. And so that was definitely an active choice in the casting process and on set, you know, try to be as collaborative. Carmen brought so much colors to what she was doing on set. I also, you know, it's like, I got the take we did. We did the take where it was scripted, and then it was like, alright, Carmen, do your thing. And, you know, having Carmen, who's got so much experience on stage doing stand up, you know, it was a lot of fun just to sit back and watch her play, you know, and just take it off the script and add, you know, all these cool buttons that, you know, made it into the film, and, you know, punched it up, really, and gave it a lot of life. So, you know, I just, I kind of on set, you know, you try to be, you know, as collaborative as possible, you know, while going like, “Hey, this is the goal. We're trying to get this. These are the beats we're trying to hit.” And I just didn't want it to be stereotypical.
 
John Betancourt: That leads me right to my next question to Carmen, because now that I know that there was some improv in there, some of which explains a lot of the great jokes in the film. I mean, the beauty of it too, is, again, your acting work on this is phenomenal. Mel, feels like several people that I've known throughout my life. And I'm just curious how you as an actor, made Mel just so realistic.
 
Carmen Morales: Well, that was because… even in stand up, I oftentimes like, I never get compared to another comedian. I've never been compared to another comedian. I'm always hearing like, “You remind me of my cousin, you remind me of my sister, you remind of my best friend, you remind me of….” It's always somebody in their family. And I was like, “Why don't I take all of that information and bring that into this person?” Because you do want to see that. And especially in a holiday film, those people are always around. So, I wanted to make sure to showcase having that person there and what, what kind of brightness it does bring, and how it activates all of the other characters too. Um, because you saw me and Rose's (Bianco_ dynamic, I absolutely loved in the film, where we could go back and forth, because we were kind of, like giving that same married couple energy of like bickering and stuff like that. And then she was, she loves me, but I get on her nerves.
 
And that's also something that your cousin or your best friend or your sister would be doing, you know. So, I wanted to try to, I wanted to try to bring all of those in, like pulling from my own life and pulling from friends that I've had and from my own nochebuenas, characters in my past that I was like, “Oh, I would, I would love to have some of that life in this character.” So I was, it was a big deal for me to make sure that she was real and that she wasn't, because especially whenever you're doing anything comedically, there's a line between character and character, and I didn't want it to be, you know, I'm not trying to do a slapstick -- this isn't a slapstick. But I did want her to be funny, because a lot of those friends and cousins and sisters are inherently funny without trying to be. And that was what I was trying to encapsulate.
 
John Betancourt: I think another piece that I appreciate about this, in addition to the realism in the authenticity, is just that it's such a moving and beautiful piece of work. I think what I really appreciate is the fact that you have so many layers to this story, which is also kind of rare for holiday film that's usually kind of A to B, you know, and love trumps all. But there's so much more depth here about grief than loss and wonderful things that you don't hear people talk about enough. And I'm just kind of curious. Let me start with Adam again. What you hope the audience takes away from a messaging standpoint.
 
Adam Lopez: Man, that's a really good question. My goal for this film was for the movie as a whole, to transcend it being an Afro Latino film, you know. And we got lucky with aspireTV, and it's like the proof is in the pudding that it lands at a place like aspire where obviously it's working, it speaks to everyone and for me, that was just my that was my goal. And, you know, accompanying the images with a pretty traditional American composition, you know, having, this Latino story backed by, you know, this big sound. And so, when people watch it, I just hope they, they feel like they’re home. You know, they feel, they have all those emotions that come up throughout the holidays. You know, sometimes holidays are sad. You know, it can be a nostalgic time for a lot of people, and it can make them go back to people that are no longer in their lives. And, you know, the big, the core of the thing is that something bigger is at play. And you know that thing, you know, what's meant for you will always be for you. I mean, that is, that's the root of the story. And, you know, hopefully people watching, they'll have a little bit more faith in what's meant to happen for them.
 
Carmen Morales:  I also, I mean to jump off of that. I also feel like a lot of times, especially holiday films, it's usually the same three beats and the love conquers all and stuff like that, and it doesn't really address any of the other feelings. It kind of just brushes over it and ignores everything else. It's kind of like how when everybody is celebrating Mother's Day or Father's Day, it's completely neglecting people who don't have those people in their lives. And this is addressing those things as well. It's like a head nod to all of the things that holidays bring up, the frustrations of dealing with your you know, the loudmouth character, the frustrations of my significant other isn't going to be here, like this should matter, and all of that, and in the significance of dealing with those feelings of loss, and how you go through the holiday with and without these people, all of those things I thought were all kind of beautifully meshed together in this script. And I'm just, I'm happy that we were able to convey that message, you know, I because I thought that was really important.
 
And, and doing it all in 90 minutes, you know what I mean, doing it, getting it done, and have it still b real. You know? That was really. It. And everybody on set really tried their best to do it. And I think, and I think everybody succeeded, because that was the other thing too, is it was important on set and offset. And I you could tell in post too that this isn't just a Latin film, man. This is… like my I have friends from Sri Lanka that connected with it, and it reminds them of her grandmother and there's characters in this that remind me, you know, my friends from all over the world, they're connecting with it. So, it's not just, it is a holiday film. It is not a specific genre of holiday film.
 
John Betancourt: Carmen, you bring up exactly what I want to talk about next. What does it mean for each of you to be part of a movie that really is kind of a revolutionary holiday film, because we don't see these types of stories very often for it?
 
Adam Lopez: Oh, thank you. That's a really nice compliment. You know, I've I kind of always secretly wanted to check this genre off my personal life goals of stories that I want to tell. So, for it to be a film about, you know, the Puerto Rican culture as a backdrop, it's just, it's really cool for me, like, I'm, like, over the moon. Pun intended, you know, but, like, it's really, really exciting for me to be a part of it, and I'm really, really proud of this film, and to have worked with so many of my friends, you know, that I went to high school with Carmen. She was in the first play that I ever did, when I read it, and I'm like, “Oh, this is, you know, I see Carmen,” you know, and I just saw her, you know. And I was like, I know who, exactly who Mel is. And I mean, there's something really like, I said, there's something bigger at play with this movie. I feel like… It was like, all the things that have happened to me in my personal life have led me to, you know, the opportunity to make this kind of movie. And it's just, I'm just really proud of it, and I'm really happy with it. Found such a good home at aspire. They're treating it like their own movie, and they've given it so much love and attention. And, you know, as an independent filmmaker, I couldn't ask for more.
 
Carmen Morales: I um, I think that I'd be… sorry. I was just, I'm… I'm just flattered. I guess that you called it a revolutionary film, that I was just like, “My god. I guess it kind of is,” I didn't even think about it like that. But, um, it's also, yeah, I hope people can connect with it emotionally, because I think that is what is lacking in a lot of other holiday films, and it's also a film that your husband or boyfriend isn't forced to watch like, you know what I'm saying, like everyone can watch it together, and there’s not someone that's eye rolling. Because that was the whole thing, is that I think the realism in it is what made it a better film than your average holiday film. And with that, then it's easier for human beings to connect with, not just, you know, sad white ladies. (Laughter from everyone.)
 
I mean, they could still get into it too, but it's just, you know, it's not the same story, and it's a story that, because I feel like a lot of other people during the holidays, get neglected as far as being represented in a holiday film. So, this is, it's nice that it's, I mean, based on, like, how you received it, it. It makes me feel good that people are receiving it correctly, you know. And I hope people continue to do that, this is a film that's got some unity in it, and that's really beautiful. That's really the point of the holidays.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you two today, relates to the fact that there's not enough Latin representation on television. I'm Mexican American, and there's only so many shows that I watch that that feature Latinos. And that's, that's, that's of concern.
 
Carmen Morales: And then if we are represented, it's always in a in a goofy way. It's gotta be the sultry Latina or you it's somebody working a taco truck, or it's somebody it's like, they’re caricatures, and this is a real story about real people.
 
John Betancourt: Yes! That’s a perfect way to sum up the problem! So, the last question I have for you two today is what it means to each of you to be offering up such an important story when it comes to representation?
 
Carmen Morales: I mean, I think it's incredible. Incredible, to be part of that, because it's something that I've been screaming from the rooftops, even in in this stand-up space, because that's where I thrive the most, as a comedian. So, I've been talking about this for years, so it's nice to be able to see it in the in the film space, to see it come to fruition in any kind of way, especially in a way that's done authentically. So, I think it's super important. And I hope that's their takeaway from it.
 
Adam Lopez: Representation matters. I've, you know, I lived in Los Angeles for 11 years. And, you know, I did, I did… I played a gang member, you know, I played the guy handing out the pizza behind the counter. And, you know, I just had, I just said, you know, enough's, enough. I'm going to champion and make my own movies, you know. And so, anybody watching this that has an idea, you know, tell your stories because it matters. And, you know, you can't sit around, sit around and wait for somebody to give you permission. So, I hope it inspires, you know, other filmmakers to tell their stories is, you know, especially, especially Latinos.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Silent Notes just so happened to be one of the most refreshing films to grace the 2024 Austin Film Festival. Courtesy of its unique plot and its ability to offer audiences incredible representation. It’s a film that we raved over for certain, and we also had the opportunity to sit down with several members from the film to further explore the wonder of this movie. So, without further ado, here is what Director Toni Comas and stars Matt Riker (Ethan) and Daniel Durant (Bruce) had to say about their work in putting this important film together.

John Betancourt: What inspired you to take part in this project?
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Matt Riker: The honest truth is, an actor of my limited stature doesn't get many opportunities. I'd be lying if I didn't plainly state how grateful I was to be given the audition that opened the path towards even discussing the project. From that vantage point, it was very easy to see how delicious the role of "Ethan" was for me as an actor. I love exploration of characters, and there was so much to chew on in this script. The subject matter of love, exploring silence, and friendship just added layers to my own inspiration. Working alongside Daniel was just the cherry on top!

Toni Comas: Two of my favorite movies are The Conversation by Coppola and Lost Highway by David Lynch. I realized that the most defining element in both films is the sound design. So, I wanted to make a movie where the main character is deaf, which allowed me to play with the point of view and sound design to help narrate the story. 

John Betancourt: What do you hope audiences take away from this film from a messaging standpoint?

Matt Riker: I don't think it has to be anything deeper than I hope people were fulfilled in even the tiniest way. First and foremost, were you entertained? We're not curing cancer, but you are hoping people can escape and find their own silence within themselves.  Did this film feel authentic and honest to you? Not every film can break the mold, but we can try our best to connect with honest and unique depictions of love, friendship, hardships; all the intricacies that make life so damn challenging. So, did we do that for you, in even the tiniest way? Could you relate to Ethan? To Bruce? I hope I did my part and allowed you to have that moment. 

Toni Comas: One of the characters in the movie, the Policeman Gene learns from the main character Bruce that, in the end, it is impossible to live without love and connection to others. I hope the audience takes away the same message.

John Betancourt: What was the most fulfilling aspect of working on this project?

Matt Riker: I got to sink my teeth into a fully formed character (on paper).  At my level, meaty roles (and jobs) don't come around often, so when one is lucky enough to sink his/her teeth into one, it's a gift! I'm never fully confident I got the job done or that I even approve of my contribution; however, in this I was a part of something so unique in structure, intelligent in writing, and FUN that I find the whole project itself to have been fulfilling! 

Toni Comas: The most fulfilling aspect is having been able to finish the film the way we envisioned. Many times, during the process, I felt like I would never be able to complete the film. Looking back now, I realize that all the struggles made sense, that we had to go through those phases for it to reach its true form. My producer Andres Torres always told me, “Make sure that you like the final version of the film, no matter how long it takes.”

John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to be part of such an important feature?

Matt Riker: A film is only as important as the people that surround it. It's much more important to me, to have been trusted in adding my vision to the already topical story. The film was always going to be important for audiences with or without me, so the fact that I got to play but a small percentage of the overall value of this feature is a forever gift.

Toni Comas: This film means everything to me - it is the most important thing in my professional life. Making this movie was such a learning process both in writing and directing, and I hope to take some of that into my next creative project.

John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work here?

Matt Riker: My proudest moments are that I took chances throughout production, and within a limited construct of time. I leapt onto a moving ship mid filming and came prepared to contribute. So many of my greatest moments came from improvisation, which can be terrifying and yet fully exhilarating.  I'm proud of the communal talent from everybody, from the top (Toni Comas), sideways to the Producers, and "down" to every Production Assistant. We all made a film that we can, in fact, be proud of. I sincerely hope that I, too, made the rest of the cast / crew proud.

Toni Comas: Resilience. It took five years, three reshoots, and a lot of coffee to finish the film. I'm also really proud of the camaraderie and environment that we found making this movie - I'm still friends with the cast and crew and we are all in touch to this day.

John Betancourt:  What attracted you to this story as an actor?
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Daniel Durant: When I read the script, I really enjoyed the fact that this deaf character becomes part of the mafia. Most often, stories have the benevolent sweet deaf guy character, but this shows a person surviving and doing what they have to do and getting into the thick of it, even being in a gang, and developing this tough exterior. I really liked that about this character.

John Betancourt: What did you enjoy most about the role?

Daniel Durant: My biggest joy came from working with Toni. We communicated directly despite my having an interpreter on set. Toni would come up to me with a photo of a facial expression or a body movement that he wanted me to embody, and was so clear about what he was asking for emotionally and what the scene required that it gave me an “in” for how to play it. And if there was something he wanted more of, he would race right in and give it to me face to face. I also enjoyed watching Matthew become “Ethan,” because the two are very different.

John Betancourt: How did you craft a character with such depth?

Daniel Durant: After studying the script, I spoke a lot with Toni Comas before we began filming so I knew what was expected of the character and what kind of journey he was on. Toni shared with me how he believed everything about Bruce would be learned through his eyes. That was Toni’s goal for this character in this film, that I would be open and show my sensibilities through my eyes. He wanted the audience to feel the perseverance through his eyes as the journey progresses and so I worked to deliver that for him.

John Betancourt: What do you hope audiences take away from this film in terms of messaging?

Daniel Durant: Our humanity seems to be an underlying theme. We all have hopes, we all have goals, and my character Bruce aspired when he suddenly becomes deaf. So, what does he do? Life goes on and he goes down a path to the unknown where he falls in love with a guy and starts a relationship. He is so open emotionally to his journey that I hope the audience takes note of the humanity of it all. 

John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to be part of such an important feature?

Daniel Durant: Honestly, when we started shooting, I put all of my trust in Toni. I could see that he had a clear vision for telling this story by the writing, and the actors he chose, and the crew he hired. I knew this would be good and had an innate feeling it would be special. 

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Jennifer Oxley is a highly accomplished producer that has worked on a bevy of family programming, including Wonder Pets! Currently she helped bring for the next chapter in the saga, Wonder Pets: In the City on Apple TV+, and we had the honor of sitting down with Jennifer to discuss this magnificent new show.
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what inspired you to want to bring this iteration of Wonder Pets to life.
 
Jennifer Oxley: Well, you know, when we, when I got the call asking if I wanted to, you know, bring a new version of the Wonder Pet to a new audience. I was initially shocked, but also, like, because I didn't expect it, but I was also super excited. I loved the challenge of, like, regaining something that stays true to the love and, sort of, like, the nostalgia for the original and honors the spirit, but also takes it to another level, you know, the challenge of like, what could this new take on the Wonder Pets be? So, you know, I got to thinking, and I thought, well, what if our originals that lived in this little classroom in this quintessential rural environment in this red schoolhouse, what if they weren’t alone? What if there was actually this vast network of, you know, opera singing animals all over the world, and we get a chance to meet, you know, three new pets in a new location with new personalities and, you know, new ways of getting around, new ways of getting there. Also, it'd be like… sort of like same format, but, you know, sort of break it out and get a chance to meet some personalities.
 
John Betancourt: I was really impressed with the depth of the songs, of just the lessons overall. And I'm very curious, well into the decision for this iteration of the show to have such impactful and powerful lessons.
 
Jennifer Oxley: Yeah, that's a that's a great question, because, you know, on the original, you know, we definitely like, you know, spoke to the sort of message of kindness and the sort of like joy of helping others, collaboration, teamwork, that was at the heart of the original and I think it's still at the heart of this spin off, but we also wanted to challenge ourselves, because the question is sort of like, why now? Why bring this to the screen now, you know, what if we were to add an additional layer of storytelling, you know, speaking to messages, deeper messages, passion, empathy and inclusivity, you know? What if we were to challenge ourselves to, you know, have a layer like that in every one of our stories for this new spin off. So, I think that that's something that really will set it apart, I think, from the original, and it is definitely an expansion on the world. Even though we did do that, we touched on that on the original, I feel like we've really gone for it on this side, this new spin off.
 
John Betancourt: Now there are some incredible lessons present in this show. Especially when it comes to moral and racial issues people encounter in the real world, and I’m curious what kinds of challenges went into putting together those lessons.
 
Jennifer Oxley: Yeah. I mean, you know what? One thing that we do, pay extra close attention to is, you know, making sure that we get it right. So, we definitely work with a lot of consultants to, you know, sort of make sure that what we're doing is, you know, right, and get their advice on how we might, you know, tackle some of these, you know, subject matters, these deeper, you know, messages in a sort of kid appropriate way. But I will say that that Tate, Tate the snake, sort of like embodies, you know, sort of what we were trying to do with this series, in that, you know, he is this, this snake. And a lot of people, you know, think of snakes as slimy and sneaky and scary and like, already have this preconceived notion of what they are.
 
So, what if we had a character that sort of has that sort of almost like baked into, you know, into the character, and so, you know, we had that episode where they traveled to the farm to help this mom and chicken with this runaway egg. And when the pets get there, she's like, “Oh no, hold the bone. I don't want this snake helping me” because, you know, she's judging him by his appearance. Um, so the whole episode, you know, we still have our formal features of like, we're saving an animal while singing opera and working together. But then there's this added layer of like, you know, don't judge a book by its cover, you know. And we have this wonderful apology moment where she realizes that she was wrong.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of other challenges too. I would be remiss to not ask, what kind of challenges went into assembling such incredible songs because they're so perfect and they work so well.
 
Jennifer Oxley: Oh, thank you. You know, I think that writing for the Wonder Pets is a challenge because you're basically writing a mini opera. You're weaving in and out of dialogue and song lines, and sometimes it's little, you know, some moments, and then sometimes it's full-on songs. So, it's like figuring out what the flow is going to be. We definitely have some amazing, you know, writers that have come back to work on this spin off. Billy Lopez came on board as our series lyricist. So, I think, like his genius is definitely singing through in all of the songs. And then we were also able to through Jeffrey Lesser, our music producer, who was on the original and is now back with us on the spin off, he was able to tap into his community of Broadway composers, sort of bringing back a lot of the original composers that made the series so great, way back when, to compose for us for this new series, and we also brought in some new voices that we hadn't worked with before. That has also been a wonderful treat. So, you know, if we're going to, let's say, into a Japanese painting. It was important to us to find a composer that could help us with that style of music that's authentic to that genre.
 
John Betancourt: Now this is, you know, I mean, Apple TV has just such a massive audience in general, and now this beautiful show is going to be in front of so many people. And I'm curious what it means to you now, as the shepherd of two iterations of the show, to have it out to so many people in this manner.
 
Jennifer Oxley: You know, I mean, I think that's really what it's all about, you know, for me is, you know, telling stories that are going to touch people and ultimately make a difference. And I do agree with you, the reach that Apple TV has, I think is going to be fantastic, and it's been such a wonderful partnership. You know, they really encouraged us. Michelle Hennessy, our exec over at Apple TV, you know, was a fan of the original, so she brought all that love and joy for the original, you know, to this new spin off, and really empowered us to see how we could elevate our storytelling and our animation.
 
John Betancourt: Ultimately, what do you hope Wonder Pets in the city accomplishes for audiences?
 
Jennifer Oxley: I mean, I guess I hope that they, they feel the love between these three friends who are so different, you know, and feel the sort of joy and the kindness that sort of like is exuding from their, you know, relationships with one another and how they work together, and how they're able to get along, and how, when they come together again as one, they can do great things. And I feel like that's sort of like a message that can be applied to, you know, things that go well beyond preschool and television, the idea of bringing, you know, different outlooks and personalities and views together to work as one.
 
John Betancourt:Oobviously this is a part of been near and dear to your heart for ages. And I'm curious, just from a personal standpoint, what it means to go on this journey.
 
Jennifer Oxley: Yeah, it's been great. I mean, I think that the best part about it for me was that, like, I said, like, it kind of, it started this way, you know, getting to stick with, you know, what I think made the show so special way back when. This sort of unique look and the idea of a mini operetta music forward format that records a live orchestra for every episode. I think that because we were given the freedom to stick with that, I think that that has been very special for me, but maybe even more so than that, was getting the chance to work with the folks that made the show so great way back when. So many of the original, talented, you know, animators and designers and composers and writers and lyricists came back to help us, you know, bring these new characters to life. And I feel like their experience and knowledge from the original and then bringing it forward all these years has enabled us to really take it to that next level. I don't think we could have done it without them.
 
John Betancorut: The last question I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to this iteration of the show?
 
Jennifer Oxley: You know, I think I am very proud of the fact that we are able to tell these sort of deeper stories, you know, that we were able to touch on things that you know sometimes are shied away from on kids TV. You know what I mean, like, the episode that I was speaking about the mama chicken and the egg. You know, that was a complicated story to tell in the right way. And so, I think sometimes the inclination is to just not do it. But I love that, you know, we were given the freedom to challenge ourselves to try and tell some of these deeper stories.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Michael Angarano and Andre Hyland are a pair of talented actors that are quickly coming to dominate our screens large and small, and currently, they star as Richie and Zack in the new Peacock series, Laid, and we had the honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss this amazing new show.
 
John Betancour: Would love to start getting to know what inspired each of you as actors, to want to join this project?
 
Andre Hyland: Well, the creators have a good track record, so that, and then the script was really funny, and then also it was right on the heels of the strikes ending. So, it was just like, amazing and great to be back to work.
 
Michael Angarano: Yeah, it was a no brainer. It was a really great script that was genuinely funny. And Nahnatchka Khan is, is a genius slash beast, like she's just, you know, so incredibly smart and down to earth and funny and, like, just such a good person to work with. And also, like, Stephanie (Hsu) was somebody I had wanted to work with. And, yeah, it was just, it was also the character, like, it was such a fun character for me to play that there was pretty much, like, no reason to not want to be a part of this. And like, Andre said, it was like, hot off a yearlong strike in which nobody worked. And so, everybody who had read this script, and there were a lot of people who read this script, thought it was one of the, you know, better things they had read. And so, it was just exciting all around.
 
Andre Hyland: Yeah. So, I even read for different parts. I read for Richie, and then kind of came and went, “Okay,” and I got a call being like, “Can you do a chemistry read for a different character?” and I was like, “Oh, yeah.” And then I wound up playing, Zack, and I was, I think… we've talked about this earlier, just like, how they cast everybody really fit the writing and vice versa. I think it was, like, really well curated.
 
John Betancourt: That does actually bring me to my next question, because you're now a part of something that's very original and very refreshing for the airwaves, and I'm curious what it means to each of you to be a part of a project like this?
 
Andre Hyland: I feel like that's some that's an element you would always like to have in something. And it's, it's unfortunately kind of rare. So, it's great to get to do that, to feel like you're part of something that feels different than everything else.
 
Michael Angarano: Yeah, like, first you want to have a good experience. Then if something's creatively satisfying, that's just a plus. But people watching it is the ultimate, the ultimate plus. And so, the show just feels like, you know, it has the potential to, like, you know, be accessible to a lot of different people, just not like the industry or a certain group. So, it feels it's exciting in that sense, yeah,
 
Andre Hyland: Yeah, almost like it's got a big reach, but it's still a unique project.
 
Michael Angarano: Yeah, it was totally, it's a tough combo.
 
John Betancourt: I think there's a lot of layers and a lot of themes here, people can latch on to. And I'm curious if there's a particular theme or message that you hope the audience takes away from season one.
 
Andre Hyland: Treat people nice they sleep with. (Laughter from everyone.)
 
Michael Angarano: That's certainly one. I, just thematically, I really, like, I really appreciate how the show, like, talks about sex and death, doesn't take itself too seriously, obviously. But it's also like, you know, I just appreciate the sort of full -- the flawed characters, and how we're treating these people and how, you know, we're watching them actively make and retroactively make many mistakes. And you know, they're just kind of figuring their shit out. It's, it's messy. It's very messy in that sense. And that's, that's nice. That is a nice thing to see. It's a less watered-down version of that, you know?
 
John Betancourt: Obviously there's more than just, you know, the depth and what we kind of talked about and some of the magic of it. It's just purely a funny show in general. And I'm curious, from a more general standpoint, what are each of you most excited for audiences to experience when they tune in?
 
Andre Hyland: I, like, there's some… I mean… stuff I can't and don't want to say, but I just like, sort of the twists and turns of the show. Like, it's a fun one to watch, not knowing what's going to happen. There's a better way of putting it, yeah. I'm also like, I like to go to movies in as blind as I can, but I feel like this is a kind of show where you want that, you get the premise, and that's like, I don't know, to get further into it. It's like, I don't know there's stuff I'm excited about that I experienced. But just as a viewer, I think it's just fun to watch it unfold without knowing what's going to happen.
 
Michael Angarano: I think just nostalgically for me, especially like millennials in general, like the show, feels a little bit like a throwback to the kind of, you know, raunchy or romantic comedies that were being made in the 90s, like dark comedies, a little bit like Jawbreaker, Drop Dead Gorgeous, or… Forrest Gump, yeah. You know, old Zemeckis, prime Zemeckis? No, it just, it just feels like it has that reverential throwback vibe to me, a little bit that I think people will click into.
 
John Betancourt: Last question I have for you… if you had to use one word to describe this series, what would it be?
 
Andre Hyland: Oooh. One word. My first thought is like, regret, but that doesn’t say it all.
 
Michael Angarano: This is hard… what have other people said?
 
John Betancourt: Have to be honest I haven’t asked this question to anyone from Laid, today. I’ll take more than one word if it helps.
 
Andre Hyland: I’ll just go with kimono for me.
 
Michael Angarano: Yeah, I’ll just go with relationships.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Sally Bradford McKenna is a highly accomplished writer and producer that has worked on many iconic shows such as Will & Grace and Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. Currently serves as the co-showrunner/executive producer of Laid on Peacock, and we had the honor of sitting down with her to discuss this dynamic new series.
 
John Betancourt: Sally, thank you so much for your time today, what a great show you've helped assemble. And I want to start by getting to know what inspired you to help bring this project to life.
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: This was actually based on an Australian format from 2011 this was a show that John Davis, one of our EPS, got the rights to, and he brought it to Nahnatchka Khan, who's incredible writer and showrunner and director. She was instantly on board. She came to me wanting to partner up on this. I think she thought, my guess is, she thought this was something that would be very much up my alley. And she was right. So, she came to me early, early COVID days, going, “Do you want to work on a show?” And I was desperate to leave my son's room where I was teaching him math, so I was thrilled to work on anything, but this especially, not only just because it was not but also the idea of it was just so my sensibility.
 
John Betancourt: Let’s expand on that a little further, because I'm very curious what it is about this concept that has resonated with you since it's so different and so unique.
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: Yeah, it's really, I mean, we try and think of it as it's one cohesive show, but we really have such different tones going on. We have a rom com. The way we even started is it feels like you're watching one show, and then we take some hard turns, even in the pilot, to go, like, “Wait a minute. I thought this was a sweet Anne Hathaway rom com. Why are people dying?” So I was very intrigued by that, not just because it's tricky, but it's, it's two things I love, I feel like, in terms of doing the terms of telling love stories, we still wanted to be hopeful and optimistic, and still kind of, you know, tell those stories that we've grown up on, watching classic rom coms, but also have this dark, effed-up twist that, that I personally love.
 
John Betancourt: I too, love the twist. I thought it was so refreshing and speaking of it, you mentioned a lot of the twists and turns and a lot of the different directions that it takes. What I appreciate the most about it is that there's so many layers to it about romance and modern romance. And I'm very curious what you kind of hope audiences will take away from this season from a deeper perspective when it comes to those concepts like love and dating?
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: Yeah, I think the main thing we're hoping is that the audience is going to be surprised and kind of see how unexpected all the turns are of the show. I don't think we want to say, I don't think we want to, like, deliver any message on love, but I think if there was a takeaway, it is that it's messy, and it's messy in 2011 or 2024, and in Australia, or in America, or queer, straight, it's, it's all messy, and there is no one real answer by having a character like Ruby, who's so you know, focused on finding the one and finding the thing that she thinks is going to complete her, and then having to go on this journey where she realizes “I don't know what it is I'm looking for,” felt very relatable, very universal. And we also just love the metaphor of like, having to tell these stories of, why can't I find love? Is something wrong with me? And the answer is yes, there is this very specific, fucked up thing that's wrong with you.
 
John Betancourt: what are you most excited for audiences to experience when they get a chance to tune in without any spoilers?
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: Yeah, I think the mystery of it, and trying to figure out, trying to have guesses about what it is and always be wrong. I think the other thing is, because we have this kind of, this built in device of the sex timeline, and we have all these great characters that we hope we're gonna meet. We don't know how we're gonna meet them. We don't know who they're gonna be. But it was such an opportunity for such incredible guest cast that we – we got extremely lucky, of like, making a wish list on day one of the writers’ room, and then bringing a lot of those people in. We got very lucky. And it was really fun to have Stephanie also, Stephanie Hsu, who's very, you know, instrumental in all of this, obviously, but even in casting, she was able to kind of attract some, some people we're really thrilled to be working with.
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean you then, to be a part of something that is so refreshing and original?
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: So yeah, it's tricky. It's like two things. It's original, and no one's seen it before. At the same time, we have such, I have such imposter syndrome, like this is based on a different idea, but it's such an idea, I could not have come up with a better concept. It’s one of those concepts – so, I heard of it and it's like, you're jealous of it immediately, like I could have come up with that. So, we love having both of those things. Like, there's already a template here. There's something to work off of, but we can definitely make it our own, and especially from episodes two on. You know, we definitely opened up everything plot wise, character wise. We definitely did our own thing with it. But, yeah, it's really fun.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to what you've accomplished in this first season?
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: Oh, boy. I think for me, it was working with Nahnatchka. I love Nahnatchka, and I've worked for her before, and I could not… there's not a person you could learn more from. Or more quickly, from. She is the greatest teacher in terms of just staying level-headed and calm and cool and collected no matter what is thrown at her, and just being so knowledgeable about writing, about directing, about producing. She's an incredible person to watch. So, I had a had an incredible time working with her.
 
John Betancourt:  last question today, what then did you enjoy the most in writing this and assembling this first season?
 
Sally Bradford McKenna: I think the fucked-up tone. I think really, I feel like I love both those tones, but putting them together, it was really, it was ambitious. It's an ambitious show to kind of put together like these two tones that should not go together, but we make them go together. And there are times where it feels like they go together kind of naturally. And then we even have moments in the show where they don't like there's something very comedic happening in one part of the screen, and then something dark and tragic and heavy happening over here. And to be able to feel those two very different things at once. Um, hopefully we did our and it comes across.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

We’re not done yet with coverage regarding the epic season finale of You Would Do It Too (Tú También lo Harías) on Apple TV+. Simply because that twist was one for the ages, and who better to speak to regarding it, than the man who chose to become the Justice, than Pablo Molinero, the actor who plays Fran on the show.
 
John Betancourt: I would like to start by getting to know what it was that attracted you to the role of Fran in the first place.
 
Pablo Molinero:  So not to reveal too much about the character, but I really found his journey interesting, extremely interesting. It really gets you thinking how one person can really change their mindset and perspective about things, about truth and justice, when life gives you the adequate circumstances to do so.
 
John Betancourt: I'm also very curious, because every actor in this story has just such depth to the character that they play, and that's a testament to your work, because you created someone that's very real. And I'm curious how you made Fran feel so real as an actor.
 
Pablo Molinero: I think just David Victori’s way of working, his methodology really facilitated creating all this… new reality, what he wanted was to make the scenes really dynamic and to pick up momentum. So, we didn't shoot with a lot of cuts. We actually shot as if they were sequences, even if they were edited afterwards. For us, for the actors, we just didn't stop rolling. We acted as if we were in theater when it all really has this flow.
 
John Betancourt: So, I have to ask, if you were aware of the twist in advance.
 
Pablo Molinero: So, I knew, but the others didn't. For example, I knew that there were going to be eight episodes, and I knew what the finale was going to be, but my co-actors like Anna Polvorosa and Ana Wagener, who played the chief, they didn't know. They didn't know that what the last episode was going to be, and they were shooting without actually knowing what the end was going to be. They found out while they were watching something on television in one of the scenes, and they saw my character appear.
 
John Betancourt: Then as a follow up into my question about building the character. How did knowing the twist in advance help you build and flesh out Fran?
 
Pablo Molinero: So, what happened to Fran actually, is what happens to many of us as we go through life, and we come across a crisis. For a person who is very rational and very organized and has this very structured way of thinking, they experience a full loss of control, so they no longer really know what their life is. They don't know what being a cop is. They lose sight of the fact that they're working to serve others and in the benefit of truth and justice. And Fran experiences a full change in his personality. He becomes chaotic. So, it's not really that I thought what this was going to be like. I actually had to experience and live through this crisis. So that's not something that you think through, and you that you think out, but you actually live it.
 
John Betancourt: That is very insightful, and obviously this is a very, very intelligent show. It has a lot to say about choices we make. Great example is Fran’s journey. And I'm curious what you kind of hope from a message standpoint audiences take away from this season.
 
Pablo Molinero: With so many twists and turns, I don't think that… well... I don't have an intention myself, and I don't think that the writers had an intention of either in providing a message or an answer, but rather to really get us to question our role in what society is like now. What is truth? What are all these truths, especially in this time when we see fake news, how easy is it to manipulate truth? Do we each have our own truth as individuals? How does the media interfere in creating this truth? So, if anyone comes out with lots of questions, I'll be quite satisfied.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of with what you accomplished here?
 
Pablo Molinero: Well, I could say that we had this one day when we were shooting, and it was called -- the whole day was called the opera. It was just shooting straight from the attack on the bus to the cops arriving, to the interrogations, to transferring to the police station, to the prison, and these were all sequences that were shot together. It was nonstop from when they yelled action to when they yelled cut. It was two hours, which included the transfers from like the scene of the crime to the police station, when we must have shot straight through about 200 pages of the script. So, it was almost theatrical, as I was saying, and just the show must go on. So, it was really nonstop. It was a full trip.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

It is definitely safe to say, that the season one finale of the incredible Apple TV+ series, You Would Do It Too (Tú También lo Harías), has left us with a lot to process. Courtesy of that epic twist involving Fran and well, to properly process such matters, we sat down with series co-creator, writer and executive producer, David Victory to discuss that ending and more.  
​
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what it means to you now, to have the first season of this incredible story out into the world.
 
David Victori: I'm super excited. I mean, as we talked the first time, I was really excited about, you know, it was taking forever for me. You know, one episode each week. It was, for me like, “Oh, my God, still. They are still in the third or the fourth episode. I can’t believe it.” I was really excited. I was shooting another project during this time, but I was keeping an eye of what, what was going on and you know, I have a group chat with the actors and some of the crew. And we was talking about, you know, the reactions, really excited about how people in many countries were enjoying the series. So, so, yeah, I'm happy.
 
John Betancourt: As you should be. What a finale that was, and a twist that I just did not see coming in the slightest and speaking of that, let's talk about a second. When did you and your co-writer decide upon taking Fran down that crazy path?
 
David Victori: It's a really good question, man, I remember really clear the day that we decided about this ending, and I was working not just with a writer that day, I remember that we had a meeting with a friend of mine who is an expert of a psychological tool that I use for my project that is called Enneagram, and we was kind of working so hard on the design of every and each character. And I remember that we was talking really deep on the character of Fran, and we was talking about all the arcs that these kind of people, the people that has this character, can go around and how, how people like this can change. And it was really interesting when he said, the people who normally don't take action and is more passive, sometimes, when they take action, they are really crazy about the decision that they make. Suddenly, going around these ideas, suddenly we were like, what about if he really goes crazy?
 
And, you know, and he just decided to go for his own sense of justice, and don't care about whatever this means as a human being. And we suddenly had the idea, and we go wild, we start to laugh, like, kind of nervous, laughing like, “Oh my God, no, no, no, no, we cannot do that. We cannot do that. That's wild, that's crazy.” And it's like, yeah, man, but you don't see that coming, you know? And the exciting thing is that make a lot of sense for the design of the character. So that's what we are proud of that because as crazy as it seems makes sense for the arc of the character. And, yeah, this is why we did it, and we're kind of brave about that, and we and we did it, and I think that is savage and crazy and wild.
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious, how early did you guys decide upon the twist as well? Because clearly, as I was thinking about this and going through all the stories before our interview, You start seeing it build. You start seeing it build. So, hi, yeah. When did you guys really kind of hit that inspiration point to start work on the twist.
 
David Victori: I mean, so we wrote all the episodes from the beginning. So we, when we enter in production, we had the, you know, the last draft of every and each episode ready so we have super clear about every detail that we want to build up and in a way, you know, what happened with this character is, in a way, he… so, what is interesting about the project is that if every part of society stop doing or stop trying to do the correct thing, because it's complex… uh, I think that that will never have a good end, you know. I think that what we was talking a lot about this series, is that, in a way, is like society is like a teenager right now, you know, like, it's like a teenager who cannot hold complex subjects.
 
You know, everything that happens in society, we react in a really simple way, like, like, “Okay, who is the bad people? Who is the good people, who are the heroes, who are the villains?” And I think that this relationship with reality is really poor and really sad, because it is not how it is, because in our personal life, everything is complex. You know, it's not just -- things are not simple. So, coming back to the question, when we build that with this character, we try to, kind of like make him go through all the way feeling this kind of disappointment with everything that happened. So, at the end, he feel alone and he feel completely disconnected, in order to, in some moment, he can do anything, and it's okay, you know?
 
John Betancourt: That's great. That's brilliant, and what a good point on society being so immature at this point. Now obviously, I hear you're passionate about this. We talked about the passion before. What did you enjoy the most about putting together this wonderful first season?
 
David Victori: Look the other day, I just shoot another project with the same DOP and part of the same team and we were talking the other day, and he said something really interesting. He said, “in Tú También lo Harías, everything works in a really magical way.” He said, “suddenly we had the ingredients to make the perfect cocktail,” you know? And it's true that when I remember the shooting of this project, the editing and the writing, it was really magical. I think that we choose really well, the team, we choose really well, the actors, the synergy with all the actors, it was amazing. It was something magical and something really, really strange that happened that doesn’t always happen, John, that is, I had completely creative freedom, and that was amazing. That was a dream come true. So, I remember that expression of freedom, creative freedom. And when I was in that process, I remember being aware of that and understanding that that was something that I have to be really grateful about, because it's not always like this, yeah, so I earned that as much with as much responsibility as possible, you know? So, so, yeah, I remember, my memories, about this project is they're really special.
 
John Betancourt: Keeping in that line of thinking, what does it mean to you to have created something so refreshing and so original?
 
David Victori: It's, it's my goal from the beginning, you know, I try to make movies that I will enjoy as an audience, you know, and I don't know… I think that I'm not particularly smart. So, I need something when I watch movies or a series. I need something that really grabs my attention so really quick, but then I don't want, I don't want movies or stories that don't go deep, you know. So, if I put my time in some story, I want that person or that crew or that team, to bring me somewhere that I cannot reach for myself, right? So, if you choose my series, I want the journey to make sense. And you know, because I really value the time that people can put in my stories. I think that is the most precious gift that someone can give you is their time. So, when somebody give me that, I want to use that in a really entertaining way, but at the same time, you know, try to give that person a point of view of reality that sometimes maybe he cannot see, or she cannot see for themselves.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when with what you've assembled here?
 
David Victori: I think that the energy that the story has. Because I think that we shot the project in a way that we try to bring something really organic and authentic. And I feel that is in the result. And you can see that has this kind of like characters that you feel, you feel something real on what you are watching, it's really, in a way, that you feel that something was happening there, and really was happening. I mean, what I don't want is that I don't want to put the camera in something that is dead. I want the camera to put in something that is alive. And in order to shoot something that is alive, when we are living this, when we are shooting this, has to be alive, because, if not, you know, it's just too mental, you know, too intellectual. And I think that we did a lot of efforts to try to do that during the shooting. And I think that we catch that and it's what we offer to the people who want to enjoy the show.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
It is definitely safe to say, that the season one finale of the incredible Apple TV+ series, You Would Do It Too (Tú También lo Harías), has left us with a lot to process. Courtesy of that epic twist involving Fran and well, to properly process such matters, we sat down with series co-creator, writer and executive producer, David Victory to discuss that ending and more.  
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what it means to you now, to have the first season of this incredible story out into the world.
 
David Victori: I'm super excited. I mean, as we talked the first time, I was really excited about, you know, it was taking forever for me. You know, one episode each week. It was, for me like, “Oh, my God, still. They are still in the third or the fourth episode. I can’t believe it.” I was really excited. I was shooting another project during this time, but I was keeping an eye of what, what was going on and you know, I have a group chat with the actors and some of the crew. And we was talking about, you know, the reactions, really excited about how people in many countries were enjoying the series. So, so, yeah, I'm happy.
 
John Betancourt: As you should be. What a finale that was, and a twist that I just did not see coming in the slightest and speaking of that, let's talk about a second. When did you and your co-writer decide upon taking Fran down that crazy path?
 
David Victori: It's a really good question, man, I remember really clear the day that we decided about this ending, and I was working not just with a writer that day, I remember that we had a meeting with a friend of mine who is an expert of a psychological tool that I use for my project that is called Enneagram, and we was kind of working so hard on the design of every and each character. And I remember that we was talking really deep on the character of Fran, and we was talking about all the arcs that these kind of people, the people that has this character, can go around and how, how people like this can change. And it was really interesting when he said, the people who normally don't take action and is more passive, sometimes, when they take action, they are really crazy about the decision that they make. Suddenly, going around these ideas, suddenly we were like, what about if he really goes crazy?
 
And, you know, and he just decided to go for his own sense of justice, and don't care about whatever this means as a human being. And we suddenly had the idea, and we go wild, we start to laugh, like, kind of nervous, laughing like, “Oh my God, no, no, no, no, we cannot do that. We cannot do that. That's wild, that's crazy.” And it's like, yeah, man, but you don't see that coming, you know? And the exciting thing is that make a lot of sense for the design of the character. So that's what we are proud of that because as crazy as it seems makes sense for the arc of the character. And, yeah, this is why we did it, and we're kind of brave about that, and we and we did it, and I think that is savage and crazy and wild.
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious, how early did you guys decide upon the twist as well? Because clearly, as I was thinking about this and going through all the stories before our interview, You start seeing it build. You start seeing it build. So, hi, yeah. When did you guys really kind of hit that inspiration point to start work on the twist.
 
David Victori: I mean, so we wrote all the episodes from the beginning. So we, when we enter in production, we had the, you know, the last draft of every and each episode ready so we have super clear about every detail that we want to build up and in a way, you know, what happened with this character is, in a way, he… so, what is interesting about the project is that if every part of society stop doing or stop trying to do the correct thing, because it's complex… uh, I think that that will never have a good end, you know. I think that what we was talking a lot about this series, is that, in a way, is like society is like a teenager right now, you know, like, it's like a teenager who cannot hold complex subjects.
 
You know, everything that happens in society, we react in a really simple way, like, like, “Okay, who is the bad people? Who is the good people, who are the heroes, who are the villains?” And I think that this relationship with reality is really poor and really sad, because it is not how it is, because in our personal life, everything is complex. You know, it's not just -- things are not simple. So, coming back to the question, when we build that with this character, we try to, kind of like make him go through all the way feeling this kind of disappointment with everything that happened. So, at the end, he feel alone and he feel completely disconnected, in order to, in some moment, he can do anything, and it's okay, you know?
 
John Betancourt: That's great. That's brilliant, and what a good point on society being so immature at this point. Now obviously, I hear you're passionate about this. We talked about the passion before. What did you enjoy the most about putting together this wonderful first season?
 
David Victori: Look the other day, I just shoot another project with the same DOP and part of the same team and we were talking the other day, and he said something really interesting. He said, “in Tú También lo Harías, everything works in a really magical way.” He said, “suddenly we had the ingredients to make the perfect cocktail,” you know? And it's true that when I remember the shooting of this project, the editing and the writing, it was really magical. I think that we choose really well, the team, we choose really well, the actors, the synergy with all the actors, it was amazing. It was something magical and something really, really strange that happened that doesn’t always happen, John, that is, I had completely creative freedom, and that was amazing. That was a dream come true. So, I remember that expression of freedom, creative freedom. And when I was in that process, I remember being aware of that and understanding that that was something that I have to be really grateful about, because it's not always like this, yeah, so I earned that as much with as much responsibility as possible, you know? So, so, yeah, I remember, my memories, about this project is they're really special.
 
John Betancourt: Keeping in that line of thinking, what does it mean to you to have created something so refreshing and so original?
 
David Victori: It's, it's my goal from the beginning, you know, I try to make movies that I will enjoy as an audience, you know, and I don't know… I think that I'm not particularly smart. So, I need something when I watch movies or a series. I need something that really grabs my attention so really quick, but then I don't want, I don't want movies or stories that don't go deep, you know. So, if I put my time in some story, I want that person or that crew or that team, to bring me somewhere that I cannot reach for myself, right? So, if you choose my series, I want the journey to make sense. And you know, because I really value the time that people can put in my stories. I think that is the most precious gift that someone can give you is their time. So, when somebody give me that, I want to use that in a really entertaining way, but at the same time, you know, try to give that person a point of view of reality that sometimes maybe he cannot see, or she cannot see for themselves.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when with what you've assembled here?
 
David Victori: I think that the energy that the story has. Because I think that we shot the project in a way that we try to bring something really organic and authentic. And I feel that is in the result. And you can see that has this kind of like characters that you feel, you feel something real on what you are watching, it's really, in a way, that you feel that something was happening there, and really was happening. I mean, what I don't want is that I don't want to put the camera in something that is dead. I want the camera to put in something that is alive. And in order to shoot something that is alive, when we are living this, when we are shooting this, has to be alive, because, if not, you know, it's just too mental, you know, too intellectual. And I think that we did a lot of efforts to try to do that during the shooting. And I think that we catch that and it's what we offer to the people who want to enjoy the show.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

It is definitely safe to say that season two of Based on a True Story on Peacock is about as epic as it gets. Courtesy of some powerful storytelling decisions and some amazing twists and turns. One of which involved the character, Drew. Who we learned, wasn’t Drew, but Olivia and had her own sordid past with Matt. One that brought about quite the explosive confrontation, and well, now that we’ve all had time to process season two, we thought it best to sit down with cast member Melissa Fumero, who played Drew-Livia, to discuss all things Based on a True Story.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what it was that attracted you to the role of Olivia/Drew.
 
Melissa Fumero: Well, I was already a fan of the show and a fan of Annie Weissman and also Kaley (Cuoco), so it was a really exciting call to get. And then also, when they told me about the character, it felt really different from anything I've done. The show itself feels really different from anything I've gotten to do. So, it was just like a very easy yes, and an exciting situation all around.
 
John Betancourt So you bring up a good point that we have to expand upon… the fact that you're a fan of the show. Because you’re one of many of us that love it so, and I’m curious why you think it resonates so well with audiences.
 
Melissa Fumero: Oh, man, I think. Well, I mean, it’s a stellar cast that is so fun and easy to watch. I think also the premise, the sort of comment, the satire about these, you know, intense fandoms that exist in these little niche genres, is a really interesting topic to explore and have fun with, and I think the show does it in a really clever and fun way. You know, they're making a lot of comments, but you never feel preached to. And you know, you never know where it's gonna go. You know, the violence and the gore comes out of left field. You never see it coming. So, it's just a fun thriller, exciting show to watch, and I think that's why it resonates with so many people.
 
John Betancourt: You are so right about the twists. I don't think I saw anything coming this year at all, and speaking of the twists, out of curiosity for your character, were you given advance knowledge of what was going to happen with Drew/Olivia?
 
Melissa Fumero: I was. Annie Weisman and Jaclyn Moore were really generous and told me all of the twists and turns before I started, which was so valuable and does not always happen as an actor. And it was just really fun to get to hold those secrets with me in every scene. And I think they really informed my approach and my choices. And so, I was just very grateful to know everything before I started.
 
John Betancourt: That does lead me to my next question, because there is a wonderful nuance to what you do this season in playing two characters really, and I'm curious how you, as an actor, built that incredible duality.
 
Melissa Fumero: Oh, thanks, yeah. I mean, again, I think it was, you know, having the knowledge of all the secrets, you know, and getting to play, to choose when to lean into those. I think there's a really specific way that she interacts with Ava because of those secrets, and the way she questions Ava, and the way she listens to certain things that she says. You know, it's all like, kind of there, and then when the big reveal happens, then that was just like, kind of fun to get to create, like, who is this person, really, without all the masks that she wears? So, it was like just a very fun, dreamy role to play as an actor.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of that enjoyment in general, what was it that you enjoyed the most about playing Olivia and Drew?
 
Melissa Fumero: Yeah, I think, you know, I've been a fan of Kaley's from afar for a long time, and we fell into a really easy rapport and chemistry from day one, and so doing scenes with her, all those scenes in the restaurant were so fun to shoot, and we played a lot, and we ad libbed, and she's just a really fun person to act with. You kind of don't know what she's gonna like, toss at you, which is always fun and, and I think, you know, playing, getting to play with the whole cast in that, you know, in that final episode for my character, was also like, really fun. And all the little things that are revealed about her character and her history with Matt is, to me, was so interesting and fun. And, you know, letting all those kinds of nuggets out. So, it was a great way to spend my summer.
 
John Betancourt: I always find that we each kind of take something away from the experiences that we go through. And I'm curious with a show this intelligent and this deep, what did you take away from playing Olivia/Drew?
 
Melissa Fumero: So, I learned that there's a really specific way that you have to hold fake blood in your mouth in order to cough it up naturally, which I did not anticipate would be really tricky to do. It's like you gotta, like, hold it really, like in your throat. So, I left the show with some new tricks and techniques for playing death scenes, which it was my first time dying. And you know, I just love the different kind of the fun that this show has with tone and genre, it was really appealing to me, and I kind of hope to do more things like that.
 
John Betancourt: That’s interesting, I’ve talked to a lot of folks who’ve dealt with fake blood and horror elements, and you're the first one to bring up the art of throwing up blood.
 
Melissa Fumero: Yeah, it's, it's harder than it looks. Yeah. I was… after the first take. I was like, “Oh, I think I did it wrong.” It was really bad the first take. And I was just like, “Oh, wait, no. This is hard.” I was like, “Let me, give me a minute to figure this out.” There's some mechanics there. If you don't hold it in your cheek, it'll look real bad.
 
John Betancourt: Well, I just got my first acting lesson, and I very much appreciate it! I'd also love to know what you hope the audience takes away from this season of storytelling, from maybe a more messaging standpoint.
 
Melissa Fumero: Oh, hmm. I mean, there's so many comments that this show makes. I think… about fame, about fandom. I think about, you know, gosh, yeah, it's, you know, there is a sort of, like intense culture around fandom. I think that is happening right now. And I think this show is examining, like, one aspect of it, and in a fun, satirical way, kind of maybe warning people how out of control it can possibly get, and that, you know, maybe it's not so good to, like, hold anyone up on too high a pedestal.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to your work in season two here?
 
Melissa Fumero: Oh, um, you know, I think it's always really hard as an actor to kind of come into someone's house and just like, fold yourself in. And, you know, it's terrifying to do. And you know, when I was a younger actor, and I did guest stars, and you know, anything like that, it's a tricky dynamic. You want to honor the space that they've already created, and then you also, like, want to bring in your own thing. And I think this is the first time that, um, I think I did that from a really confident place. It also is because I was so, so welcomed by this show and this cast and this crew and everyone just made me feel really comfortable. So that made it easier. But yeah, I think that's probably the thing I'm most proud of, was just, um, yeah, not letting any nerves get the best of me, and just kind of having the confidence to just jump in with them and trust everyone around me and have fun. And I did.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Truly, the new-boot of Night Court on NBC does an amazing job of bringing in and bringing back amazing guest stars that entertain and impact the story, and last night… Bert, played by Betsy Sodaro returned to Judge Stone’s courtroom for more shenangians. And we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with Betsy to discuss ‘The Hole Truth’ regarding Bert. 
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious to start off by getting to learn what as an actor, attracted you to the part of Bert.
 
Betsy Sodaro:  I mean, honestly, just the idea of like, kind of a no BS, like, custodian who works in like, a New York Night Courtroom. I was like, “Yeah, absolutely.” This seems so much fun, like all this stuff she must have seen and sees every day is like, “Oh, that's so much fun.” And I'm just a big fan of Night Court and sitcoms in general, I'm like, you know, this sounds so much fun. I want to do this. You know? 
 
John Betancourt: Something that I really enjoy is the fact that doesn't matter what week it is or what what's going on in that court, every character has such amazing depth to them and has such a realism to them, and Bert is no exception to that rule, and I'm very curious how you built that depth, because Bert felt like somebody that we've all known at some point.
 
Betsy Sodaro: I feel like, because, truly, when I first read the role, it felt very much like,” Oh, she has a lot of other stuff happening in her life that doesn't have has anything to do with what's going on here in the courtroom,” where it's just kind of like, “What is she doing on her time off?” You know, in like, kind of a weirdo in a great way, where, and they, like dropped, there are always, like, a couple of hints where it's like, “Wait, what's your deal, man?” you know, and I think that brings a lot, like, just a really fun game to that character, and just kind of like, yeah, some intrigue of what's happening, what's going on in your life, in the courtroom and outside of the courtroom, which is very fun. 
 
John Betancourt: Now you mentioned your adoration of the show, and I kind of want to go back to it as well, because Night Court is such an important show and so iconic. What is it about Night Court that you love, just from a personal perspective.
 
Betsy Sodaro: I really love how kind of cartoony it can get. Like, I've always been such a fan of comedy in general, and mostly like the cartoon heightening of stuff where it is, like, yeah, why not have a great big hole where stuff just disappears and there's no explanation. Like, I love, and I feel that happens on this show a lot, of like, these jokes and these ideas just heightened so much like a cartoon, that it's just like, “This is so funny and fun and feels like just that classic sitcom.” And for me, the classic like, “Oh, this is what comedy is to me, where it gets so heightened and silly.” And having those characters that like help ground the silly, even though they're just as silly. You know, I just, I love it so much. It really makes me happy. 
 
John Betancourt: To expand on that a little further, why do you think this show continues to resonate so well with audiences.
 
Betsy Sodaro: I think I really do think the kind the comedy of it all and how silly it gets; I think people really like that. You know, people really kind of want that. I feel special. I mean, this is so cliché, and I feel people have been saying it for the last, like, 40 years, but it is like people want an escape. People want to laugh. And this is a great show where it's like, it absolutely deals with relevant stuff, but not to where it's like, punching you in the face, to be like, “Yeah, we're living that right now. We're living that. And this is kind of rough.” It's more of like, “Yeah, this thing's happening. But also, here are the funny ways our very beloved characters are reacting to what's going on and stuff,” which I think, I do think it's like the fun kind of cartoony comedy of it all is what people are like, “Yes, I need this right now.”
 
John Betancourt: I agree. I mean, especially, I think probably this year, more than ever. Now, comedy is where you thrive, as are sitcoms and television, and I’m curious how you prepare for a show like this. What process do you go through to get Bert ready? 
 
Betsy Sodaro: Oh, my goodness. Well, I will say, fortunately, I have gotten to do a ton of stuff for live audiences, and I've also gotten to do quite a few multi cam sitcoms, which are so much fun, and having that live audience is just so incredible, and such a rush. And it's all just --especially coming into Night Court it… I was absolutely a little nervous, because I'm like, I'm just like, some of the biggest, like, sitcom legends ever, you know, like Melissa (Rauch) and John (Larroquette) and now Wendie (Malick), like… freaking out. But also, what's so wonderful about multi cam is that we rehearse. You get to rehearse a lot, and you get to, like, you kind of get to try, depending on the show or night, you can try things and, like, kind of make moves and see, like, does that work? And it's just… it's surprisingly, like, relaxing and just really fun. And I gotta say, the whole vibe on the set of Night Court, the writers, the crew, the cast, made it super fun and chill and easy to kind of walk on and be like, let's make people laugh. Let's just have fun and get silly. Which rules like, that's all you can hope for in a job.
 
John Betancourt: Now you bring up a good point about nerves. a really good point about nerves. We don't talk about that a lot, because everybody kind of assumes that actors are immediately, you know, ready to go, just like that. How then did you get over some of those nerves? 
 
Betsy Sodaro: Yeah, a big thing is, like, for me personally, when, because you always start with a table read of the episode, like the very first day, the first thing you do is a table read. And for me, once I get that, like first laugh, that's kind of like, “Oh, okay, here we go. Here we go.” But then, of course, right before shooting and stuff. I still get the nerves, and I'm glad I still get a little nervous and excited. Be like, “Okay, be on your toes. Get ready for this.” But it is like, and once again, while shooting, getting that first laugh is such a big like, “Oh, okay, the audience is on our side. Let's go,” you know, so that's a that's a big and once again, just rehearsing helps me so much. 
 
John Betancourt: I really appreciate that insight. The last question I have for you today, what you enjoy the most about getting a chance to be on Night Court and just play in this playground.
 
Betsy Sodaro: I mean, I do think being surrounded by such unbelievably great performers was a dream come true. You know where it is like -- I've been watching these people for years, and now I get to, like, make them laugh and laugh with them, and, like, make a really fun show. It's just such a dream. And also, like, it's just, it's so fun just being on set and once again, like rehearsing all week and then putting a show on it just… yeah, it's a dream come true. It feels wild. I'm constantly like, “Whoa, okay. Is this real? I'll take it!”
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.