PassionPod
PassionPod is the official Passionflix podcast where members of the Passionflix team, including Tosca Musk, Ali Whitaker, Lauren Olsen, and special guest hosts, dive into behind-the-scenes conversations about your favorite Passionflix projects. Tune in for interviews with authors, actors, and the creators bringing romance to life on screen.
PassionPod
Episode 39 - The Heart of the Brotherhood: Gene David Paulsson as Fritz
In this episode of PassionPod, Lauren (Director of Development) and Tosca (Founder and CEO of Passionflix) interview Gene David Paulsson, who plays the beloved character Fritz in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Gene shares his surreal experience of playing a fan-favorite role & his background as an actor from his early years in Manitoba to his extensive career in theater and television. The conversation touches on memorable moments on set, building relationships with co-stars and the emotional depth he brings to Fritz. Gene also reflects on the fan reactions at the premiere in New York City and the support he has received for his portrayal.
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Lauren: Hi everyone! Welcome back to an episode of PassionPod. I'm Lauren, the Director of Development.
Tosca: And I'm Tosca. I'm the founder and CEO of Passionflix, and the Director of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Lauren: Today's guest plays a character who is without question one of the most beloved in the entire Black Dagger Brotherhood universe.
He is the ever loyal doggen and the quiet force behind the scenes. We're talking of course about Fritz. He's grace, dignity, warmth, and wisdom, all wrapped into one iconic. Presence. One fan, WendyE612 on YouTube said, please bring Fritz on the podcast. We need to know how he feels about being on a spicy show with all these gorgeous men, and still have the entire female audience adore him as much as, and sometimes more passionately than the main males. I was Team Fritz from Book one. If I could have any of them, I would pick Fritz every time. Well, you're in luck, Wendy. 'cause today we have the man bringing Fritz to Life with here with us, the talented Gene Paulson. Welcome Gene.
Gene: Well thank you so much.
Lauren: Yeah, of course. What is it like hearing that your character is such a fan favorite?
Gene: So, honestly, somewhat surreal.
Lauren: Aw,
Gene: yeah. Uh, uh, it, it's interesting because the last day of my, of my shooting when I was wrapped and everybody cheered Of course. Yeah. Um, and all I was leaving and. Vishous. Sia.
Lauren: Mm-hmm.
Gene: Um, and Andrew came up and said, oh, you're gonna be the most loved character. Everybody's gonna just love you.
And I went, uh, you know, y'all are the men. And he, then they go, no, no, no. You're the one that's gonna love. So all of a sudden it's coming true. And it's, it's encouraging, gratifying, validating.
Tosca: Well, you're definitely the heart, right? Yeah. There's so much like you're bringing everyone together. Mm-hmm. You, uh, that's the most amazing thing about Fritz is that he's just so, um, joyful and, um, familiar to everyone, uh, all of the brothers and, um, and you portrayed that character so wonderfully.
Gene: Well, he, so I read the. You know, a little blurb about the character. Mm-hmm. And it said, you know, he lives to serve.
Lauren: Yeah.
Gene: And he's older than dirt and Spry and I went, well. That's me.
Lauren: Yeah, I love that.
Gene: Older than dirt and somewhat spry.
Lauren: I love it. Well, and before we dive more into Fritz, I'm really curious to hear more of your backstory as an actor. I think people are too.
Gene: Okay. Well, five years old, that would've been 1956. That's a long time ago, right? It's wow. Uh, I was in kindergarten and we had a Christmas concert at my school, which was okay, a one room country school in the middle of my uncle's farm in Manitoba, Canada.
Tosca: Oh my gosh. I didn't know you're Canadian. Why did I not know? You're Canadian. I'm Canadian. My family's from Saskatchewan.
Gene: Really? Yeah. So we're neighbors.
Tosca: We're practically neighbors from Moose Jaw.
Gene: Really? Yes. Oh my gosh,
Tosca: that's amazing. Know. And now they live in Swift Current.
Gene: People from Moose. I used to. And Swift Current used to come and buy hay from my dad.
Tosca: Oh wow. Wow. Our families totally know each other. What a small world. I love this. That is awesome.
Lauren: Yeah. That's why I love asking that.
Gene: Yeah. That just blew my mind. Absolutely. So anyway, um, so we had a Christmas concert. Mm-hmm. It was my first, you know, it's like I was the M in Christmas.
Lauren: Aw,
Gene: okay. You know, little Elf costume. Yep. And everybody comes out with a sign. You know, and I was the m and people, C people clapped, and I was hooked.
Lauren: Mm, wow. That young. I love that you knew from that moment. I, I
Gene: really? Yes. Yeah. I, I think so. And so then, you know, through school, uh, high school, college, I was in plays. I took a play production class at my college, which was the only theater class that was off. Offered. Mm-hmm. But it was there, so I took it. Um, and then I got involved with a, an acting company, a theater company in Winnipeg called Actor Showcase.
Lauren: Oh, wow.
Gene: Which really, I, I grew a lot, uh, classes, um, acting, directing, et cetera, et cetera. And then I went to the Banff School of Fine Arts. In Alberta, a school of fine arts on, in Banff on Sulfur Mountain Band.
Lauren: I was gonna say in Banff is gorgeous. Geez.
Gene: With a view. I'm jealous into the valley of the Band Springs Hotel.
Tosca: Yeah. That's not bad. Stop. That's pretty good. That's living the life. That's incredible.
Gene: So, so yes. So we would go, you know, we would learning lines and we would go off, up, trail up up the mountain and hang our legs over the edge of a ledge.
Lauren: Wow.
Gene: On the mountain and echo. Hear our voices echo from the mountains across. Wow. It was. Yeah, it was great. So, and it got me my actors equity card at Theater Calgary.
Tosca: Oh, amazing. Oh, nice.
Gene: 1976.
Tosca: So you did more theater then?
Gene: Yes. Stage has been my, my thing, yes. Um, I mean, I did, when I lived in Winnipeg, I did some. TV shows. Mm. I did one series that was called the Canadian West, where I was an RCMP officer, or actually Northwest Mount Police Officer got back then. Got it, right. Yeah. Uh, and so that was good. We did, there was like six, eight episodes and I kept getting. Um, royalties from that. They kept re-releasing it and re-releasing it and rereleasing it. And even when I was down in the States, I, every once in a while get this little check. It's like, oh yeah, that's nice. Hey, it was good. So, um, and, you know, a few commercials and narrated a, a film for the National Film Board. Ooh. Um, did a couple movies when I moved to Toronto. Um, and then, but mostly stage. Yeah. And then I got, um, we got married.
Lauren: Aw.
Tosca: We have his wife. Yes, his wife is here.
Gene: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Coming up on 38 years.
Tosca: Wow. Wow. That's That's amazing. Amazing.
Lauren: I love that.
Gene: We had kids twins.
Tosca: Aw. Oh, I have twins,
Gene: and Yes you do. I know. Yeah. Yes you do.
Lauren: Oh my gosh. You guys have everything in common. I love it.
Gene: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We talked about that, and I took several years off. Because it was busy.
Lauren: Yeah, that makes sense. Especially in young ages for the kids.
Gene: Yeah. Yeah. And then I got, I, I, I did, I started my own theater company in, at our church, mountain Park, United Methodist Church in Lilburn. Oh, wow. Um, and it was kind of semi, semi-professional. We did, uh, everything from Neil Simon's, God's Favorite to Gods Spell. Oh, nice. Um, we did Children of a Lesser God. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. Which was interesting. Which was interesting to do in the church.
Tosca: I bet, oh, you did that here? Yeah. Oh, wow.
Gene: Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. We uh, we got, um, we got a young lady who was hearing, but who knew sign language perfectly, so she was perfect.
Tosca: I know. I need to find somebody like that for John Matthew for our next season. Oh, right. Can you help me?
Gene: I might be
Tosca: Ooo! Casting! I know. Look at us.
Gene: So, yeah. And so then I directed Angel Street.
Lauren: Okay.
Gene: Nice. Um, several years ago. And one of my. Actors, Maryanne Geier was said, Hey, do you have an agent? And I said, no. And she said, let me recommend you to J Pervis. And so she did. And I went and I had a little interview, and by the time I got home there was a contract.
Lauren: Oh my gosh.
Gene: The email. So, uh, so that was my, my start here in
Tosca: Yeah.
Gene: Film.
Lauren: Wow.
Gene: Did a couple of commercials. Then, but then this came, and this was, I'm sitting there, we're sitting downstairs. I was sitting on a couch, right, and looking over my lines and, and Cindy was. On the other side of end of the couch. And, and she says, so what's, what's, what's this? And I said, well, I'm playing this old guy who is the butler to a vampire. And she says, oh, are you Fritz in the Black Dagger Brotherhood
Lauren: Right off. The first guess!
Gene: I says, what and how do you know? She says, I have all the books.
Lauren: I love it. It's like, here, here's the first one.
Gene: So, so I mean we, I had, this was. Middle of the evening already. Mm-hmm. And I'm still learning lines and, but she's giving me background Wow. In, into Fritz. Yeah. And so I went into the audition Grounded. Yeah. With Somewhere to Go.
Lauren: Come from Wonder. We loved your audition. Yeah. Yeah.
Tosca: That's amazing.
Gene: And so, yeah, so thanks, Cindy.
Lauren: Awesome, awesome.
Tosca: I love that. I think when, but when you auditioned, you actually auditioned with a different accent. Didn't you audition your first time? You did?
Gene: Yeah. His name was Fritz.
Tosca: Yes.
Gene: So I did a German accent. A German accent. German accent,
Tosca: yeah. And I watched the audition. I was like, wow. He's really good. I wonder if he can do more of an English accent. Mm. Right.
Gene: And I think And then you did. Certainly. So, just, just a little, just a little, just a little, just a little, just a little bit.
Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Tosca: Just a little bit. Because it, you know, our vampires, they come from the, the old country and they've, and our doggen, and they're very, very old. They've been around forever and many, many different places. So I love multi, like, I love more of a sort of muddled accent for everybody. So it's like we can't quite determine where you are from.
Mm-hmm. But mm-hmm. There's something there.
Gene: Mm-hmm.
Tosca: Um, and so that I thought was brought by, you know, Marissa, by you Havers. Um, yeah. And then it helps with our, um. Wrath and, um, Tohrment with their slice. Or European accent. European accent,
Gene: yes.
Tosca: And then we threw Rhage in with us and then we throw in an Australian,
Gene: you know, which everybody seems to love. They do love it. It's fun though. Oh, it is. Yeah, it is. I, I can't wait to see how this works in the next.
Lauren: Oh yeah. In season two. Yeah.
Gene: It's gonna be great.
Lauren: Um, and so what was your wife's reaction to seeing you as Fritz for the first time on screen?
Gene: So, uh, I mean, she's very excited about it.
Tosca: Yeah.
Gene: Um, um, and you know, people will say, well, what do you think? And she'll say, well, he's fantastic. And I went Well. Aw,
Lauren: I love that. Um, and what drew you to Fritz as a character? How do you, how did you relate to him?
Gene: How did I relate to Fritz? My grandfather on my mother's side, whose name was Walter, actually, his name was Vladik. Oh. Because he was from Austria, Poland.
Tosca: Wow. Right, right.
Gene: Okay. He was maybe five foot one.
Lauren: Oh.
Gene: But he was so strong. Yeah. But he was so quiet and so. Gentle and so not really emotional, but when his eyes would sparkle when something was going on, and so I, I kind of channeled him.
Tosca: Oh, that's delight. I love that. That's lovely. Yeah. Yeah. I have a question. Yeah. Have you ever experienced this kind of fan enthusiasm after performing? In a show or 'cause people are like, they're obsessed with you.
Gene: Oh, I, I've noticed. Which is great. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Um, really, it's, it warms my heart. Um, I, no, it's pretty incredible. Nothing, nothing like this. Nothing. It's, I mean, you know, all, all of a sudden it was after the first episode, it was like, oh, you know, this is just me. Mm-hmm. Just. Doing my job here. Um, and also enjoy having a blast doing it. Of course.
Lauren: Oh yeah. The premier too. And the premier.
Gene: Oh, premier. Yeah. That was cool.
Lauren: Yeah. Yeah.
Gene: I, I, you know, never, never happened to me before.
Lauren: Um, because you got to watch it with the fans there, and that's Yes, yes,
Gene: yes, yes. And the, and. I mean, they were cheering. Oh, they didn't stop cheering. They just, you just kept cheering. You know, the first person came in and, and, and, you know, wrath and Beth and everybody cheering.
And they the cheering. But it was great. Yeah, it was great. The premier was great. It's great. Wonderful. Yeah. A room full of fans. Mm-hmm. Right. The not an empty seat. Yeah. And then at the after party. I had one drink. I never got to finish.
Lauren: Oh, no, because everyone was coming up.
Tosca: I didn't even get a drink
Gene: because, no, because, because I didn't have time. Take a sip. Yeah. Because everybody wanted autograph. Mm-hmm. Photo. And I'd finished that and I'd turn around and there's another semicircle of people going, okay, our turn, it's so one to three. Yeah. And so it, all of a sudden it was done and I'm going, I don't have my drink.
Tosca: Yeah. But how wonderful was it to meet all those people? It was, I loved it so much.
Gene: It was so great. I've noticed actually on some, on, on social media, a couple of people had said, oh yes, I'm, you know, he looks so different than. Know, then on screen. Yeah. And I'll go, well, this, this is me. That's Fritz.
Tosca: Yeah. And you have a beard.
Gene: 20 years without shaving before this.
Tosca: Wow. And then I was like, uh, I need him to shave. I'm like, so sorry. I know. I remember that having that conversation, I think as I was speaking with the casting director and they were relaying back, they're like, um, he has to be shaved and I, he hasn't shaved in 20 years. And I'm like, right, Fritz doesn't have a beard. No. No. Need to make sure he all shaved.
Gene: And my daughter whose wedding was coming up I know. Yeah. In just a couple months, you know, after that, after we started shooting. Right. S said, oh my gosh. Oh no. Aw. Because the last time I shaved she was nine and she cried.
Lauren: So Ali's daughter does that too. If they ever get a haircut without like warning her first, she starts crying. She's like, oh. You changed?
Gene: Yeah. Yeah. You're not my daddy anymore.
Tosca: Oh my gosh.
Gene: You know, so, no, no, I'm, I mean, she's actually, yeah, well, she's 30 now, so, you know. Yeah. It wasn't quite the same, but there was still a guy. Oh no. And then when she saw the first episode, she said, oh yeah. Fritz can't have a beard.
Lauren: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, thank goodness she gets it.
Gene: Which was, yeah. Also, yeah. Somewhat relief. Yeah. No relief. Yeah. That she got it. Yeah. Yeah.
Lauren: Well, and speaking of social media, I have a few comments to read. Amanda Ray Johnson from Spotify says, I have been watching every week with my husband, who has never read the books. He's loving the show and says his favorite character so far is Fritz. He just loves Fritz. Tammy Thomas 13. 13 from YouTube said, because of how wonderfully Gene David Paulsson plays the part I will never picture Fritz any other way. He's absolutely amazing for this role. And then Rachel is bookish life from, also from YouTube, said in Fritz We trust. Um, and but did you feel any pressure playing a character that readers were already a fan of, including your wife?
Gene: No.
Lauren: Oh, well that's good.
Tosca: Did you feel any pressure? Did you feel any pressure when, um, you had to serve. 15,000 courses of food for the dinner scene. Oh my gosh.
Gene: That was a night
Tosca: that you were such a night. You were such a trooper. Everything was based Oh my gosh. On when Fritz would come out with the food. It was all timing. Mm-hmm. And by the way, just to all those, all those viewers, all those fans that have read it and they're like, oh my god, Fritz didn't allow them to eat. I'm like, read the book, make the, they so many courses of food, so many, all these courses of food, but they're talking the whole time and so fast. Mm-hmm. And I was like, all right, well here we go.
Gene: Well, yes. I mean, it's time. I actually responded to a couple of those.
Tosca: Oh yeah.
Gene: Because. In my head, Fritz got the room, right? He's like, get outta here, man. Fritz, fritz, Fritz was going, okay, we gotta keep this moving because this is going sideways fast.
Lauren: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, absolutely. Um, you know,
Gene: so let, let's just keep these courses going. They're not eating anyway, so what the heck? Let's just, let's just bring something else out. Yep. You know.
Lauren: One of the funniest moments from, from filming all of that was that JR was still on set then. And I remember her turning to Tosca and being like, I, I won't, I won't ever write another dinner scene. I'm so sorry, because she, I think she started feeling bad that you had to keep coming in and out and in and out and in and out another dinner and remembering all the plates to carry so many courses, so many courses, and remembering the right order. Like it's just. So complicated.
Gene: Well, and the, and the poor props people. Yeah. Oh my God. Having, having to put, make sure that the carrots are just exactly the same way as they worked. Same way. Yep. Time, the last, the next time I brought it back out again. Mm-hmm. You know, with the, working with the photo from the original. Right. Wow. Uh, they were so great. I have, I, you know. I, I, props.
Lauren: Yeah, props to props.
Tosca: It, it was definitely props. I think we had, like, we had like a food stylist and all these different people back there. Like I think there were like five or six props people back there all just like making sure Yes.
Gene: And a chef.
Tosca: And a chef putting this together because it had to be in a very specific way. In a very specific order. Right. And then, and we had like the full plate of food. Yeah. And then halfway through the dialogue we had to switch out to an eaten plate of food. Yep. So that he could remove the eat plate of food and was like, oh,
Gene: yes. Yes. And Carlos behind the door. Oh no, Carlos. Yeah. With his ear to the going. Okay. Go. Because I couldn't hear, right? Yeah. Behind the door. I couldn't hear. Listen in for you. Mm-hmm. It was all very quiet, right? Mm-hmm. So he's Go, go. Alright. Alright. Alright. You know, warning, warning, warning. 1, 2, 3, go.
Lauren: Yep.
Gene: Thanks Carlos. You were the greatest.
Lauren: Yeah. God. Well, no, it, but it honestly goes to show that there's an entire team behind the scenes, right. In every scene, making sure it runs smoothly. Right. And like I feel like if more people got to come onto set, like some of our founding and signature members do, they'd be like, oh my God. Yeah. They have to do the scene so many times just to make sure they get every little piece.
Tosca: I think it took us almost an entire night to shoot. It was whole. Was the, that was day. The whole day was 12 hours. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 12 hours of shooting to do that, that scene. Very long den scene. Right. But it was like very, yeah. It was intense.
Lauren: But talking more about the fritz becomes kind of a key figure for Beth. He's, uh, her steady loving guide in the world of the brotherhood. What was it like working with Olivia and building of the relationship between your characters? Because you're almost a pseudo like grandfather to her. Yes. I would say yes.
Gene: Yes, yes. I love Olivia. She's awesome. We've, we've, we've kept in touch Aw. Through this whole time. Yes. Could not, not keep in touch with her.
Lauren: Yeah.
Gene: Um, even over Thanksgiving and things like, you know, Aw. However, she was way up north somewhere and I was anyway, but, um, so we had not met until we are doing the car scene. Me driving her.
Tosca: Right. Oh wow. Yeah.
Gene: I hadn't met her. 'cause we hadn't Yeah. That that was it. Right? Yeah. That was the first time, which was, but that was great because we're sitting in the car. Yeah. And lights are being changed and angles, camera angles are being changed and we're just chatting and getting to know each other. Aw. And so we really bonded. Uh, during that scene? Yeah. During that, you know, while that scene was going on, 'cause we're in a car in an enclosed space, no distractions at all except for people knocking on the window going, can you, you know, push the, make sure you push the button right. You know, make sure you're changing the gear. Yeah. You know? Mm-hmm. And so we would walk back, we'd walk to on set mm-hmm. From the trailers. Right, right. And she would take my arm and so speak and we would, and she didn't just take my arm, she grabbed my arm. I would walk her up, you know, towards, towards the, you know, whichever house it was that we were filming in.
We were Fritz and Beth.
Tosca: Yeah.
Gene: Before we even got to the set.
Tosca: It was really beautiful. It was very easy for me because when we were shooting that, that scene firstly you, there was a lot of dialogue for you. So much dialogue. Yeah, so much dialogue. And you had it down pat, like I was like, that's impressive. And you had to drive a car that wasn't actually moving, you weren't really driving and you had to act like you were driving car. And I was like, really? It looks like he's driving the car. Like, it's like very thoughtful, like how are we doing it? Looking and driving. I was like, that's really hard. And so many actors can't, they're like. Frozen. They're doing this with the car. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? And they're not, um, really driving.
Gene: Well, it's interesting 'cause that was my audition. Yeah. Oh, yes, it was. That scene was my audition Yes. Head. So I It was in your head. So it was easier to learn because I already learned that.
Tosca: Yeah. Yeah.
Gene: I mean, it was while Yeah. In between. And so I, you, I had to relearn it. But for the audition, I actually practiced. Doing the driving like I was talking to her.
Lauren: No, we loved your audition. You were awesome. Do you have a favorite behind the scenes moment from filming?
Gene: Do I have a favorite behind the scenes moment? Okay, apologies and asking forgiveness from Robert. So I'm serving him. His meal, right?
Tosca: Oh, yes. Oh yes. Okay.
Gene: And he's on the couch? Yep.
Tosca: Mm-hmm. Okay.
Gene: Leather couch. Oh yeah. Leather, leather pants. Oh, no. Right. And he's back and he can't reach it. And so somebody said, well, you need to move forward. So he moved forward leather pants on leather couch, and there was a. Sound squelching noise, more like a flatulent noise.
Lauren: Oh, no.
Gene: And we all, everybody absolutely had was because this is wrath, right?
Lauren: Yeah. And he doesn't flatulence. That's amazing.
Gene: But he broke up.
Lauren: Oh, no. Okay.
Gene: And so we were all cracking up and it took a while to get everybody back together again. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I, I, I'm not a fan of. Breaking up. Mm-hmm. Or losing character. But that was,
Tosca: I know,
Gene: totally unexpected. Yeah, of course. And it was, yeah. So, so that's my favorite. That was a fun moment.
Lauren: That's a great behind the scenes moment.
Tosca: Yeah. It was also, you know, so funny because we have wrath in these tight leather pants, having to sit down on this very low couch that is leather. And it is, it was hard for him because the, the costume didn't, wasn't that flexible.
Gene: Right.
Tosca: Right.
Lauren: I remember in some, like he would, he would put the pants on last I think when getting ready for scenes. Yeah. Because he couldn't sit down in them in the makeup chair. No, I forgot about that. No. Right. Oh my gosh. The poor guy.
Gene: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Getting up was worse.
Tosca: Yeah, I bet. Getting up. Getting up was say Jose, costume designer for that. He really did like these guys in very, very tight. I mean, I think the fans of appreciated. Oh yeah. Everybody appreciate everybody. Appreci, they look great and the leather up, not complaints. And they're like, I just can't sit down. And I'm like, okay,
Lauren: it's fine. I'll just stay here. Yep.
Gene: Right, right, right, right.
Lauren: Um, and was, was there a particularly change gears slightly, was there a particularly emotional scene that you had to film?
Gene: When when I get to meet Beth
Lauren: Mm,
Gene: and I see her
Lauren: mm
Gene: for the first time and. Then I get to kiss her hand.
Lauren: Yeah.
Gene: Um, more emotional than I even remember.
Tosca: Yeah.
Gene: But, but looking back on it and, and for the character,
Lauren: right?
Gene: This was the moment.
Tosca: Yep. Mm-hmm.
Gene: This was absolutely the moment. Mm-hmm. It was just so you could heard a pin drop in that house when that, when that scene was going on. I mean, everybody was. I think everybody in that, in the place was just focused in on it.
Lauren: Yeah.
Gene: And just drawn in to the, to that moment, to that motion, to the words. I will, you know, it's my honor to serve you, uh, serve you of the rest of my life.
Lauren: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Gene: Which is what it means.
Tosca: Yeah. Yeah.
Lauren: Crying. It's fine. Um. No, because like, it was very beautiful because it's, it's in, because in the moment, in the episode when, when everyone's watching it after it's finished, like they can feel, they can feel all of that. You felt on set that day, especially with the history of you had just learned that Darius was gone and just hold wrath, all of that too, and Yes. Now Beth's suddenly you can finally see her face to face. Yes. And it's yes.
Gene: After, after being, you know. The shadows. Yeah. Yeah. Literally. Oh yeah. I went to a graduation. Following your picture. Took picture so your father could
Lauren: see. Yes. Yes. Your father could see. Oh, your voice. Yeah. It's Fritz. Yep. I know. I think we all jokingly on set. We're like Fritz-y. Is Fritz-y on set? The nickname we gave.
Gene: Oh really? The character I didn't know.
Lauren: Well, that was over walkie, like me and Kyle. Yeah. See like, yes. For, that's fine.
Tosca: I, I was like, it's Fritz. And then when I had nicknames for Wrath and Beth I Oh yeah. You know, I would call them depending on the day, I would be like, is Wrathy-y-Pooh on set or Bethy Pooh?
I'd be like, Wrathy-y-Pooh and Bethy Pooh.
Gene: That's so funny.
Tosca: And then, um, when Wrath had to be like, really, you know, aggressive, I was like, I need wrath. Son of wrath like wrath. Son of Wrath. I'd be like, he'd come on to set. And I was like, oh, it's Wrath Pooh.
Gene: Yes. Oh, there was an Instagram post Wrath Son of Wrath.
Tosca: Yeah. Oh yeah. He's wrath. Son of Wrath.
Yes. Right. Yep.
Gene: Yes. So, yeah. And it was interesting being, um, being there with and being the only person anywhere near my age.
Lauren: Right, right. That's true.
Gene: Actually probably being more than twice as old as anybody on set. Everybody was so respectful though.
Lauren: Mm, yeah.
Gene: Especially the, the production staff. Oh, that's nice, sir. Good.
Tosca: Oh, lovely. Yes,
Gene: sir. I mean, it was, it was, of course most of them are from, from around here. Right. So they're brought up. With the Southern. Yeah, man. Yeah. But it was, it was wonderful.
Tosca: Oh, that's really nice to hear. Um, you looking forward to season two?
Gene: Uh, I am so excited.
Tosca: Let's do it. Yes, let's do it.
Gene: Absolutely. Yes, we're excited.
Tosca: Um,
Gene: and hopefully season three and four.
Lauren: I know, right? Listen, on and on on it. All on and on it all. So from the series as a whole, now that all the episodes are out, can you say what you were most excited for fans to see of, of all the episodes?
Gene: Probably me reading the letter.
Lauren: Oh, oh God. Why are you doing that to us?
Tosca: Oh God.
Lauren: It was devastating.
Gene: Yeah, it was. So, read the script, it was so hard to get through. Mm-hmm.
Tosca: Mm-hmm. I, you remember us when we were shot that on set? 'cause it wasn't supposed to have so much hesitation, and then when you performed with that hesitation, I was like, oh, oh Jesus.
Gene: Well, so where that all came from? Mm-hmm. So I, I did the eulogy at my mother's funeral. Oh, God. I did the eulogy at my father's funeral and I did the eulogy at my mother-in-law's funeral. Okay. Which was just not that long ago.
Lauren: Oh goodness.
Gene: And so before the, before the show, like about a year. A year before the show, before we filmed. And so. A lot of that was coming back.
Lauren: Yeah.
Gene: Which was great for the character.
Lauren: Great for the character, but geez gee, that's devastating.
Gene: Was so, it was really hard to get through. Yeah. But because it was hard to get through, I think it came across, oh my gosh. The way supposed to come across came across so beautifully.
Lauren: I don't think there was a dry eye behind the camera at after that moment. That was, yeah. So emotional.
Tosca: Beautifully done.
Lauren: Thank you. But I love that that's the scene you were mostly looking for, for them to see, like, just get devastated everybody. Yeah.
Gene: No. Well, I wanted to see's, I wanted, really wanted to see Yeah, yeah.
How that came out, because I was so in the moment. Yeah. I was so in the moment, I, I, yeah. Had no idea what I did when it, when it was done.
Tosca: Yeah. Well, you did it well. That's fair. Very, very well. Um, I think that, um, you know, on a, on a lighter side, because I think Fritz, Fritz is the heart and he mm-hmm. So he has this. This beautiful emotion, this attachment to everyone. And, and this, he's allowed to be attached to everyone. Whereas our brothers are like, I am strong and I have no feelings until they meet their shellan or the mate. And, and then they're yeah. Able to, um, you know, okay, well with you I have emotions, but with everybody else, I don't have any emotions. And, um, and then Fritz is like, okay, well I have emotions here and I have emotions here. And then, um, and so you have this, this heartbreaking. For the note. Um, and then at the same time, you're also a bit of comic relief when you're like, um, if you're going to bloody the human mm-hmm. An outside in the backyard, I was about to say, and then peaches at the end. Yeah. I mean, offering some peaches at the end. I mean, seriously, anyone.
Gene: Of, and they all, everybody crack. How many times did they crack up? What came up with, I mean like it
Lauren: was just that whole, the spin. Is it the spinach wrap? Spinach pot, whatever. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. The spinach crepes. Are those the spinach crepes I like, like that whole sea, that whole moment. I'm like, I'm dying of laughter because he is just like, if you're gonna bloody up.
Gene: Well, they were good too. I mean, these guys were just making that food. I know. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tosca: So do you know what's gonna happen in season two or do you wanna wait and find out when we send you the scripts?
Gene: I am. Reading Love Eternal right now.
Tosca: Okay. All right. You do so,
Gene: yeah. Yes. No, I don't like, I don't want to know more. Fair. Then I need to know for this season. Got it. That's fair. For this next season. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm not going to, it may take me a while to read the books, but Fair. I'm not reading any more than what I need to know for this.
Lauren: Got it. Yeah.
Gene: Backstory is fine. Yeah. Yes, yes. So if there's ever a. Fritz book, I'll know all about it.
Lauren: Yeah. But that is very fair. I think a few of our actors have done that. If they're gonna be in more than one book with us, that they don't like to read further than what we're gonna shoot. 'cause they wanna stay in the moment of where their character is timeline wise.
Right. And I think that's smart, right.
Gene: It because then there's no, um, telegraphing,
Tosca: right? Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm.
Gene: That's, I said, well, I already knew this was gonna No. Yeah, it's all new.
Tosca: Exactly. It's happening at the time. I'm like, yeah. 'cause I have worked with, um, actors who have read multiple seasons of not necessarily this, but of other shows, and they're like, well, in the future this happens. I was like, I know, but it hasn't happened yet, so we can't live there. Yes, right. We have to be still here. Mm-hmm. In the future. Mm-hmm. That happens. But right now. You're still really sad. Yeah. Yes, exactly. You're happy in the future. Sad now.
Lauren: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, yeah, and we're kind of wrapping up here with questions, but is as a last question, is there anything you'd like to say to your Fritz fans?
Gene: Love you all. Y'all are just great. Yes. Just making me feel good every day. Appreciate you so much. Um. Keep it coming. I love you.
Lauren: You, I love that. That's great. And thank you for chatting with us today. It was nice to get to know you some more and more of your background in acting. I love that you and Tosca have the Canada connection and the twin connection.
Gene: We have. We have more, more things to talk about. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. No, no. Oh, thank you so much for having me here. This, this has been fun. Absolute honor and a pleasure. Yeah. Appreciate you.
Lauren: I know you've responded to social media questions before, but for anyone who might not be following you yet is, do you have, uh, well, what Can you share your Instagram handle or any of your social handles?
Gene: Okay, so, so yeah, so Instagram is uh, at Gene David Paulsson, and Facebook is also Gene David Paulsson. And yes, it. Y'all who are arguing about it. That's actually my Facebook page.
Lauren: Oh, there you go. Good to know. Great. Well, thank you. And, um, and just for our, uh, our listeners or our watchers, just remember that we, we do watch all the comments, so if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post on any of our YouTube, Spotify, those kind of places for anyone commenting on our social specifically about the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Um. Feel free to call into the number as well just for that. 'cause we are planning to have a Black Dagger Brotherhood exclusive episode where we can answer all of your questions, comments, concerns, and uh, yeah, it'll be really exciting to chat about that.
Tosca: Thank you so much for listening and for watching. Thank you so much for being here. And for all of you that have watched all the episodes of The Black Dagger Brotherhood, please watch them again, share it with your friends. Tell everybody to watch The Black Dagger Brotherhood, and stick with us as we go ahead and make season two.