"Hannah Montana" Star Jason Earles | The Latest With Maya

A conversation with Jason Earles.❤️ 


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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It's a latest of it. It's a latest to play. Oh what's you gonna talk to? What's you gonna what's gonna fuck? Hi Jason, welcome to The Latest with Maya. You've seen Jason Earls in Hannah, Montana, Kickin' It, High School Musical, The Musical, The Series, and more. Thank you so much for being on my show. I'm so excited to be talking with you.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Thanks so much for having me. I've been I've been looking forward to this all week. I've just genuinely been stoked uh that we had this scheduled for today.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Thank you. I've been yeah, I've been looking forward to this all week too. So um, yeah, I've actually had kind of a hard week. So this was like the highlight, the thing I was looking forward to.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I love that. Well, let's have let's have some fun. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yes. Um, so who has had the biggest impact on you professionally?

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Oh, that's such a good question. I I have been really interested in acting specifically since I was a really little kid. I used to watch a lot of TV shows and movies with my mom. Um, and one of the first actors that I was really like drawn to was Dustin Hoffman. Um, he was in this movie called Tootsie a long time ago, where he was a struggling actor and he wanted to get work, and he actually ends up dressing up as a woman to get a role like on a really famous uh like soap opera. And it's just I just thought it was like such an interesting movie and such a fascinating character. And I just loved uh Dustin Hoffman as an actor. Um, and he's like a shorter dude as well. I'm not a very tall guy, so I think I gravitated towards that. And then also Michael J. Fox um is somebody who like I loved watching family ties growing up. I loved him in the Back to the Future movies. Um, and I just again another sort of short guy who I just identified with and I loved his sense of humor. And and so growing up, those I would say those were two of the biggest uh influences as an actor.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh wow, I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so who has had the biggest impact on you as a person?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Ooh. I I've been really fortunate. I've been like surrounded by a lot of people that I love and respect and have like given me love back. Um, I definitely think you know, you you have to shout your parents out. They uh you know, they're probably the you know, first. My my dad passed away about three years ago, and um he was like uh just such a great role model of like how I wanted to be as a man, you know, like how I wanted to like how I wanted to work, how I wanted to be just taking care of myself, how I would be as like a husband or a partner to someone. Um I just like really, really looked up to the way that he like just was. Um so I would definitely shout him out uh for sure. And then like on Hannah Montana, the the showrunner for the show, Steve Peterman, was somebody who really took me under his wing and gave me a lot of confidence as an actor like going forward. He just he really encouraged me to trust my instincts and like just make big choices and and try to be as silly and as fun as possible. And um, it just I it it made the whole Hannah Montana experience better and gave me a lot of confidence for everything I did after Hannah Montana. So I I would shout Steve Peterman out as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Oh wow, I love that. Um and I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

I appreciate that. I he was a he was a wonderful, beautiful man, and um I have a million wonderful memories with him. So um it there's no I mean I obviously miss him all the time, but um uh yeah, I just I I I like just shouting him out because it keeps it keeps him like fresh in my mind and and I am still so grateful for him even to this day. So um yeah, so there's no there's no there's no like bad, sad feelings or anything. Uh it's a more of a celebration for me, like uh what a what a what a cool man he was.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah, oh I love that. I actually um I have I wanted to tell you I actually have a signed Hannah Montana script that's framed uh hanging on my wall. Uh awesome. Because uh my friend Heather Wordom Wordom, uh yeah, she sent me uh one of the signed scripts she had.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

I I love Heather Wordom. She was one of my all-time favorite people on the show. I was very lucky. I was in the writer's room a lot on that show, just sort of hanging out and watching, seeing how it works. But then they also like what occasionally let me pitch a couple of jokes, and and uh I was really interested in learning what sitcom writing was like at the time. And um and Heather was in the room and she was always so nice to me. She always made me feel so welcome, and like she didn't make fun of me as much as some of the others write writers did if I if my jokes were were bad. She's so great.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Oh, I love that. Yeah, she's awesome. I interviewed her um last year, or I get the times mixed up. Um I interviewed her uh for she created um Alexa and Katie is one of another one of my all-time favorite shows. So, and then when I found out she wrote for Hannah Montana, I was as well. I was very excited, even more excited.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, she's a she's a fantastic writer, and that that was a great show for Netflix. That was a really, really good show.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah, yeah. I re-watch it all the time. It's like one of my comfort shows. Same with Hannah Montana.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

So yeah. Um so what is the greatest lesson you've learned from a character you've played?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Um, you know, I think I think Jackson is a really interesting character because he's such a goofball and he's such a mess up, but he really does just sort of uh honestly live his life. Like he doesn't try to be something he's not. And I think that just sort of going through life with that uh I don't know, just like a just a grounded honesty about like who you are and what you want out of life. And um I think there's something really good about that, as well as I even though he was a little bit of a schemer and he was always trying to like pull one over and make a make a buck year or or take advantage of his relationship with Hannah Montana to like you know get stuff at his core, he was a really sweet guy. He was always there for his friends and his family, especially Miley. He might, he might uh you know, make fun of her the entire episode, but at the end of the episode, when she really needed him, he was always there. And so I think that there's something to be said for again the authenticity of being who you are, going through life with a sense of humor, but at the end of the day, being a kind person and trying to like have real relationships with people. Uh and I think I think oddly enough, Jackson embodies that for me.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um so if you had to choose a theme song that plays every time you enter a room, uh, what would it be and why?

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Um case this is you're gonna be be I'd probably be surprised by this. I would my theme song would be in the pilot of Hannah Montana. Billy Ray and I are making fun of Miley a little bit at the kitchen table because she's frustrated with how Miley is taking the news that she's Hannah Montana, and she's really, really upset. And we sing this song to her. It's the potty training song, and it goes, I like to sing, I like to dance, but I can't do it with poopy in my pants. And I think that song is that little jingle is so funny, but I actually again, this is where my brain is a little just kind of I look at things in a weird way. Um I I look at it as a little bit of a mantra. It's like, I like to sing, I like to dance. So there's these things in our lives that we love, whether it's uh, you know, your favorite hobbies or your favorite TV shows or your friends or your family. Um, and these are the things that make our lives better. Um, but the second part of the song, I can't do it with poopy in my pants, always makes me think like, well, if I'm running around and I'm angry and I'm holding grudges and I'm just basically running around with poopy in my pants, I can never fully um appreciate and enjoy all of those really wonderful things in your life. So like I always try to remind myself, don't get too like bogged down in the negative feelings and you know holding grudges and and and being angry all the time, feeling like, oh, why does that person have that? But I don't. Like I try not to play that game because it just robs you of all the joy of the actual good things that are in your life. So I would rather focus on that. So I like to sing, I like to dance, but I can't do it with poopy in my pants. That's my theme song. It's such a silly, it's just such a silly thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Yeah, I love that, but I I get the like your brain thinking about it differently because I always have that with songs have like certain meanings to me that maybe that's not what the song is actually about.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

But that's the best part about like artistic things. It's it's what it's it's for it's for the audience. Like you as an artist, you can say whatever, you know, have your message, but it really does come down to how people interpret it, and and they may love it for a completely different reason than why you wanted them to love it, but they still love it in their own way. And I think there's something really great about that.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, so I am uh pop culture obsessed, and I go in stages of shows that I cannot stop watching. Um is there a show that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Um, I think probably I go I have like I probably have like 10 shows that I constantly cycle through. Like I'll pick up a new show and I'll watch it, but there's like when I don't have anything new that I want to watch, there's probably like literally like 10 shows. But the one that I have gravitated to the most recently is uh The Good Place. Have you ever seen that show? Yeah, I love that show so much. It's so heartfelt, it's so funny. I think it asks a lot of really interesting questions about what this all means and where we're going. And uh and I just thought it was handled so beautifully, and I loved all the relationships in the show, and so it it really is like this really wonderful emotional roller coaster watching that show. And I I could watch that one on repeat like over and over again.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I um I love that show, and I was actually um, it was a few months ago that I finished watching it, but I watched um Franklin and Bash for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Oh I've never seen it.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Um, I'm constantly thinking about it because it was just such a funny show.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Um should I put it on my list?

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Yes. Oh, it's so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

I'll take the recommendation. Uh I'll I'll I I will definitely check it out.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Oh, cool. Yeah, I actually I can't find where to I think it's like available to buy on Amazon right now. It was on Netflix and then Netflix took it off.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

So Netflix.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yeah. So yeah, I yeah, that's the show, even though I'm not currently binge watching it. Like that's one of my new favorites that I've recently seen.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

I love that. I love finding new shows to watch. Yeah, because I can only watch I can only watch The Good Place and Soprano so many times before it's like you need to get a new show.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Yeah, I mean this was on like I think over 10 years ago, but I just watched it for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

So that's great.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

It's new to me. Um so if you had a warning label, what would yours say?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Uh warning can use abrasive language. Uh I probably curse a little too much in my in my real life. Uh so if you're if you if if in general you're offended by salty language, sometimes sometimes that can be a little too much.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

I like that one.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

I won't give you the examples here.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

I'll I'll keep it clean here, but well, now I'd love to hear examples.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Well, uh my only justification is once uh once again going back to my dad. My dad was a truck driver for a long time, and I would occasionally get to go out on the the tr the road with him when he would uh you know do some of his hauls. And and uh truck drivers are very colorful people, they have lots of interesting things to say. So from a from a young age, I was I was exposed to some uh less uh less clean language than I probably should have been. So so that's that's my justification.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Um yeah. Um yeah, I think I'd have so many warning labels.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Give me give me your give me your best one. What's what would your warning label be?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

I think my mom actually came up with this one for me, and I think it's a really good one. It's um prone to anxiety, don't overload. Um so I think that would be my main one.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

That's a good one. I think a lot of people could have that stamped on their forehead. That feels like a very relatable uh warning.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Um, yeah, so um what genre of movie would your life story be told as?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Uh I think it would be a dramedy. Yeah, I think there's definitely there would be it would be one of those movies that like you're sort of laughing along and it's everything seems free and easy, and then every once in a while, you know, you get to the act one act break, and something really like uh gut punchy, punchy in the heart sort of thing happens. And then you watch me sort of climb out of it and sort of joke my way out of it, and everything seems like it's going along good, and then you know, you get sucked with something, and you're like, oh wow, that's uh and actually I think those are the best movies in general because you you just get so invested in those characters. You love watching like the the comedy, and like you feel they're super relatable, and then the tragic thing happens and you feel so deeply for them, and then when they climb back out of it and you see them come out on the other side, there's something so triumphant and joyous, and like you want to celebrate with that character. And I think that I think that my life has been sort of a series of man, I can't believe how fortunate I am, and like, oh man, that's that's a big obstacle that you gotta like now, you gotta work your way around that, and then you look you're doing pretty good, and then it's great. And I I think most people's lives are like that, but uh, but yeah, dramedy I think would be like the the genre for me.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Oh, I like that. Yeah, I I've always wanted my life story to be both a musical and a rom-com. Um so that's my dream.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Um, I am the world's worst like singer, dancer, oh me too. So I I as much as I would have loved to have been able to do musicals at some point, uh just I'm just so bad. It's actually what was one of the things that I was always so embarrassed about on Hannah, um, because Miley and Billy Ray and Dolly Parton um are all such amazing singers, and they're always like just sort of like fiddling around on set, playing little ditties and singing little songs, and and then every once in a while they would have me sing on the show, usually as a joke, not like like to do it well, but um, but I was always so self-conscious because there were so many talented people around me, and then I'm like, I'm doing my terrible version of whatever the song is. Um, but they were ever just really nice, they never made me feel that way. That was just a me making me feel that way, you know.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah, yeah. I mean, in this fantasy, I can sing because I can't actually sing, so I I love that.

unknown 17:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Um so what in your life brings you the most joy?

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Um, well, my wife is incredible. She is like my absolute rock. She's so supportive, whether it's like encouraging me professionally or recognizing when I'm having sort of a bad day and like asking me what I need. Like, do you I do I need attention or do I do I need space? Um she introduces me to things that I had no idea that I would be interested in. For example, we are giant K-pop fans. And uh my all-time favorite K-pop group is Stray Kids. That's what my hat is. And um, and I would have never discovered them without her, but like with her, I've probably seen them 15 times in concert. Every time they drop a new album, it's they drop at Korea time. So like usually it's like you know, nine or 10 o'clock here in the States uh in our time zone, and we will literally like set an alarm and whatever we're doing, we just stop and we'll sit on the couch together and listen to the new album drop. And um, and it's something that I never would have probably discovered myself, but she really I don't know, she just sort of exposes me to things I wouldn't normally be into, and then because I have so much fun with her, it ends up being like my favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Oh, I love that. Yeah, yeah. Um so if you could choose anyone to narrate your life, who would you choose and why?

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Uh do you want to narrate my life?

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

That would be fantastic. I would love to hear the commentary. I'd love to hear the the funny little things that you as you make fun of me as I go through my life. That would be really, really fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Oh, I would love that.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

That would be so much fun. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, you know what? If my if my these are such weird answers, but like if I have also, in addition to my wife, my cat is also like my favorite thing. Um, his name is Zeke. And if somehow Zeke had a voice and he could do a narration voiceover of my life, I would love to hear his perspective on what's going on in my life.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I mean, it's always so fun to just give voices to your pets.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Do you do you have any pets at the house?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Yeah, I have a dog.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

What's your dog's name?

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Her name's Rony.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Romy or Rony?

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Roni.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Nice. So pretty.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

How how is she is she a younger uh dog or older?

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah, we she's probably like six. My family and I got her um in 2021, and um we thought she was two, and then the vet told us she was like at most a year and a half. So we have no idea how old she actually is.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Um age is just a number.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

That's sweet. I love I love animals so much, so that's great.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Me too. She's my favorite, um, favorite thing in the whole world.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

So is she is she your joy? Is she is that the thing that like brings you the most joy right now?

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, her and I mean being with like my family and um my sister's coming home today for a couple days. So um, I'm very excited to see her.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Um I love that.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Um yeah. Um so if uh oh sorry, I was just about to ask you the same question.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Oh no, you're gonna I probably would have ended up giving you a different answer because my I'm all over the place.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

So yeah, sometimes I just lose track of what question I already asked.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

So totally understandable.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Thank you. Yeah, there have been a few interviews that I've accidentally like asked the same question twice because I just lost track.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

You're you're but by the way, you're fantastic at this. You you it's a really nice interview. You're very friendly. You set you set me at ease. Like it's a it's a very this is a very fun interview. I I you should I hope you feel I hope you feel good about your abilities as an interviewer.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Oh thank you so much. Of course. Yeah that means so much to me. This yeah this is another thing that just brings me so much joy.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

So yeah you can tell. I think that's partially why it's so fun to do because you this is obviously like your like your zone you know oh thank you um so what are people surprised to learn about you? I think some people are surprised at how short I am in real life if especially if they've only ever seen me on TV and they meet me for the first time they're thinking oh that he's he's a lot shorter than I thought he was going to be um I also think that like I'm probably a little quieter in general than people would think because most of my characters on TV are pretty loud and obnoxious and high energy and bouncing off the walls and um and I I can get a little anxious around people sometimes like big crowds and especially if I feel like people are are looking at me or watching me. So I can be I can be inclined to be a little bit like more reserved. I I break out of it pretty easy and I I you know I I sort of I deal with it but um I think people would be a little surprised at at how sort of calm I am in general in real life.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

Oh wow yeah I actually I can totally relate to getting anxious and like in front of large crowds and I I try to avoid large crowds as much as possible. And um yeah like people staring at me I remember there was once in uh school I took an acting class that I did not like only because I can't act and I didn't like everybody staring at me. So that was the reason I didn't like it.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yeah well I mean two two sort of prerequisites for like liking to be an actor you know being in front of people and then you know yeah that's but that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

That's really I also couldn't memorize any of the things I had to so I was always just reading off the paper.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yeah. So yeah I I I as I've gotten older um I definitely have a harder time memorizing lines now than I did like when we were doing Hannah 20 years ago it got to the point where like I could sort of look at a script once or twice and I pretty much knew like 90% of it and with like a rehearsal or two it would all just be in there. And it my brain does not work that fast anymore. It's it takes a lot of effort to just cram those lines into my head.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah I I always like I felt like I had a pretty good memory for a while and then I it was several years ago I was in the hospital with like an infection um in my brain and then I just after that my memory was so bad.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

And so I yeah now I can't uh like I remember certain things but yeah but that's why you you you should be like a a host because a host oftentimes you can just read off the teleprompter you don't even have to memorize it you know what I mean? Yeah yeah that's really nice yeah yeah um so what is uh the biggest obstacle either personally or professionally that you've overcome I think I think that in my profession a huge chunk of it is rejection you know like you audition a lot and you won't get most of the roles you audition for um and it doesn't really matter how popular your show is or how good the movie is every show gets canceled and every movie wraps so you're always like looking for the next job and there's so many steps along the way that just can feel really bad where you feel like you're not wanted or you're not talented enough or people are overlooking you or it's really easy to sort of get into a spiral of self-doubt and and sort of like beating yourself up. Um and it takes a long time to sort of separate out that oftentimes your talent level or your efforts are not related at all to like the quote unquote success of it all. There's a lot of factors out of your control and so you have to be able to sort of do the parts of it that you can control. You know what I mean that you prepare for your auditions you make sure that when you step in the room you're ready to go you've got a good attitude you're easy to work with and for that little brief moment even if it's just in an audition enjoy the performance of that audition and then once you're done it's over like anything that happens after that is a bonus and if you don't get it it's not a reflection on you. And so it's a really difficult thing to do. It's basically I don't even know I can't even do it all the time now but I would say I'm like say 80% successful at that. When I first started I was five percent successful at that it was just a constant state of like beating yourself up because you didn't know how to take the next step as an actor or to get that opportunity that you felt like you had worked and maybe deserved or um or something you'd sometimes you'd be so right for a role you were so excited about it they loved you in the room and then some producer's nephew gets the role because they're some producer's nephew. Do you know what I mean? And you can't beat yourself up over that. Like that has nothing to do with you. So um I I think that it so that's what it is like for my career but I think that actually applies to most people in their lives. I think we spend a lot of time beating ourselves up over things we have no control over as opposed to giving ourselves a little grace and recognizing look we're all just doing the best that we can we're all chasing some sort of a dream. Some of us we'll get closer to it than others but none of it like reflects on what your actual value is like you're still a totally wonderful worthwhile person that deserves to love and be loved back and you're allowed to be proud of whatever your accomplishments are no matter how far you get like I think people are just so hard on themselves bless you. Thank you sorry no you're good um but I think it I think it people are so hard on themselves and because they are they're not very nice to each other they're they're projecting a lot of that sort of self-doubt into the way they interact with other people and this is such a long-winded answer I'm so sorry. I'm no worries but like but I think that I just think that at the end of the day like the the biggest obstacle just learning how to like let it go like realizing that a lot of this stuff doesn't matter the things that matter is like how like treat yourself well and love the people that you love in your life and enjoy those moments that you have with them and the rest of it is just silliness not to be taken too seriously. Yeah you know yeah that was a really long answer so sorry oh that's all it was a little all over the place I'm but like I said I'm uh yeah yeah I I get yeah um so do you have a go-to um comfort show or movie that you turn on when you just like need to tune out the world and escape yeah I actually it's it's actually uh it's actually a slightly different I love the Harry Potter audiobooks read by Jim Dale um the guy who reads that is just so phenomenal he really paints a picture in your head he's got great voices for all the characters um and it for me it's such a perfect decompress sort of bit of entertainment I can listen to it when I'm on a walk I can listen to it when I'm gonna take a nap I can listen to it in the car and if I feel myself being like super anxious it just sort of transports me to this other world and it just calms me down so much. I I love it so much. Yeah oh I love that yeah I um I have a long list that I constantly rotate uh give me give me your top three because I'm like I said I'm always looking like I we got Franklin and bash now is something that's on my list. Um so give me like three things that are just sort of great for you when you're looking to like just get away. Yeah um there's White Collar um Royal Pains and um psych oh I love psych psych is one of the best shows ever yeah I I'm I'm so jealous of that show like I want to be on a show like that so bad where that that that like best friend relationship is one of the funniest most heartfelt like perfect relationships in any show ever I love that show yeah definitely yeah me too I've yeah I've like rewatched the entire series of psych white collar and royal pains more times than I can count. I love it so yeah um yeah you've got good taste you've got good taste thank you thank you yeah um white collar is um usually like the show I put on like when I'm falling asleep at night because I just I like hearing their voices it like it quiets like my brain I love that so everybody needs that everybody needs that yeah definitely um so uh is there um a show or movie that you just find yourself quoting constantly that's a good question I think it like just sort of depends on what I've watched recently you know what I mean um I like for whatever reason I was obsessed with Zoolander like a month ago where I just would randomly just be like uh what is the line they'd be like all the files are in the computer which is like a Owen Wilson line and it just sticks in my head so much that like or like I've got the black lung like there's just there they're not even like quotes that make any sense but the images of them in my mind are so funny.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Um yeah I I think uh Princess Bride is also one that like is so quotable uh so we'll we'll we'll do that one um I don't know what do you have a good one yeah um yeah well my brain is just filled with um show and movie quotes and scenes that I just reference in any conversation so like I uh quote a lot of friends and well and grace um which are two of my other comfort shows and there's a lot of scenes from like the new adventures of old Christine which is another comfort show great I reference all the time and so like there's this one quote or one episode where the character Barb just always answers the phone what do you want so my mom and I always do that to each other if like I call her she answers the phone that way or if she calls me I answer the phone that way.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

I love that that's so fun I do overwatch The Office I've seen a couple episodes it's not for everyone but uh I think that show is very funny but there's a really famous line that I actually do I'll walk into a room and I'll just randomly go I declare bankruptcy uh which is just like a very funny Steve Correll line but yeah oh yeah yeah um so if you could give someone in your life a star on the walk of fame who would it be that's a good question well Miley's already getting her star on the walk of fame I believe so um so I I I can't use it on her um I don't know that's such a good question my cat I find my cat so entertaining he's just like the funniest little dude he loves me so much and he kind of hates everyone else and so to see him like flip the switch is like the funniest thing to me and he does this thing where he like hides in the the like we have like these vertical blinds in in our place and um he'll like hide behind it and just like his little nose and like one eye will peek out and he'll sort of like spy on you through the through the blinds I just find him so entertaining.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

I'd probably give Zeke his own star on the couple cocaine I love that my dog uh she constantly is making me laugh she is just the funniest yeah I love I love pets they really do like so much to like just calm you down and like let you disengage from life for a little bit. Yeah definitely my um family and I got her like right before I went through um radiation and so there like she and I really bonded because there were a lot of times like I was just on the couch and she just come up and like sit on my lap and just like watch something with me.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

So is there anything better than having a little cuddle buddy like that?

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Like when they decided they want to come up and like chill with you it's like I feel like I won the lottery every to every single time yeah me too yeah my mom actually never um let any of our dogs before Ronie on furniture and then with Ronnie it just because we got her still during the pandemic. So it's everything changed.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Yeah do you do you have a any funny do you does she have like a funny nickname?

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Do you have something like cute that you call her besides her name oh uh I mean there's so many um my mom always comes up with the funniest nicknames for her um that I'm not sure if she'd like me saying any of them like on the while we're recording so I'll tell you afterwards.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Gotcha. My uh we sometimes sometimes we'll like yell out to the cat uh to try to get his attention we call him Zekariah poop butt.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

I don't know why it just came out one day we're just like Zekariah poop butt and then yeah I um yeah I mean honestly I don't think my mom would care if I told you any of the nicknames um but she's there's so many times I'll go down after an interview and tell her something we were talking about. And she's like anybody who listens to your interviews is going to think I'm insane. That's the best that's the best yeah yeah um my we actually my family and I have such a warped sense of sense of humor. And so we just have so many conversations that I'm like thank goodness this isn't being recorded.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Everybody would think we're all insane.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

So no I I relate to that so much. I mean I think especially like if you like as a family have gone through challenging like times together like there is sort of like a dark humor that comes with that. You sort of you sort of joke your way through things and and um it really does help. I think it's a really healthy thing to do. Even if people on the outside would think like your guys' sense of humor is a little out there. You know I I think it's I think it's good. I totally get it. My family's the same way thank you.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Yeah I um there were so many times like when I was younger that we'd have to my mom would like take me to the emergency room in the um like in the middle of the night and because it was only her my sister would come with and um we'd always joke that it was a road trip um because it felt like we were when I was younger we were there like all the time so we always joked it was a road trip. I love it it's so good um so I just um have uh one uh final question for you um so today what are you most grateful for that's a good question um I don't know like I don't know I don't know I'm grateful for a lot of things I am I am grateful for what my life is today um and there was a lot of really hard things to go through in order to get here but I'm really proud of the work that I've done on all of the shows that I've worked on I'm really proud of the relationship that I have with my wife um I love I'm I'm working on a podcast with my friends from Hannah Montana um best of both our worlds and I'm really proud of the work that we're putting into that and the sort of the continued joy that we get to share with the fans about Hannah Montana like we just had the 20th anniversary and and to be able to sort of continue celebrating this show after all this time is is really special.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

But like for all of the stuff that I've gone through I'm just really content with where I'm at today. So I'm j I think I'm just really grateful that everything everything that I had to go through is worth it to be able to sit here today and enjoy this interview. Know that I get to hang out with my wife later I get to pet my cat later I get to work on the podcast I I have a lot of freedom in my life that um I could have only like hoped for 20 years ago. And and a lot of it does stem from the fact that like Hannah Montana happened I'm very grateful for that show. Every sort of good thing in my life has come from that um and yeah I think just again it's sort of a long-winded circular answer but I'm just sort of I'm I'm really just grateful for today where where what my life looks like today yeah oh I love that yeah um well that was um my final question for you um thing I feel like I needed to I feel like I needed to end it on something funnier as opposed to something sort of like like downbeat should I do you want me to do any any more bits for you? Do you oh sure uh here do you I'll do do you do you like cheese jerky? I I can do you want me to do cheese jerky? Yeah sure okay then just just so that way there's something a higher energy like and so I'll I'll do I'll do cheese jerky for you okay okay here we go cheese you're the girl that had the jerky we put them both together and dude it really worked it cheese jerky say what say what cheese jerky say what say what mozzarella moush with salmon gouda turkey you just want to taste it'll drive you baza cheese jerky and it's all frickin' frickin fresh says the steward smoking open enterprises pat and pen and go at least I can end with a with like a fun Hannib as opposed to something too serious. I love that yeah I was actually just re-watching that episode so that's one of my favorites I Oliver Oliver was like that the I think the Jackson Oliver that's the best scene that we ever did together in the show.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

Oh I love that yeah I love that scene so um it always makes me laugh so um thank you um so much for joining me I just I've been looking forward to this all week so thank you so much thank you for having me this really was genuinely like so fun and you're the sweetest and you're a a fantastic interviewer um I would come back and chat with you again anytime oh thank you so much that means so much to me and I would love to talk with you again whenever you want to come back on I would love that thank you and um I hope you have a great rest of your day you too thank you um and that's a wrap on today's edition of the latest with Maya She gonna talk you now What she can't ask about Yeah