Jordan Warkol & Blake Collins: The Little Rascals

Before the guests start coming on, we figured the best place to begin… was with us.

In Episode 1, Jordan Warkol & Blake Collins sit down and interview each other about a friendship that’s lasted more than 30 years—starting with the moment that changed everything: getting the call that led to The Little Rascals.

We go back to what it was actually like being kids thrown into Hollywood—what we understood at the time, what we didn’t, and how different it all looks now with a few decades of perspective. From auditions and life on set, to what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, we unpack the real experience of growing up as child actors.

Along the way, we share stories we’ve never told publicly, moments we forgot we remembered, and the kinds of behind-the-scenes experiences that only make sense looking back. There’s a mix of nostalgia, honesty, and a lot of laughs—because some of it was surreal, and some of it was just being kids.

This episode sets the tone for everything this podcast is about: real conversations with former child actors about what it was like then—and how it shapes who we are now.

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Transcript

Welcome to the first episode of The Not So Little Rascals. Jordan and I have been friends for over 35 years and grew up in the business together, from co-starring in the 1994 classic The Little Rascals to films like Carpool and Richie Rich's Christmas Switch, plus voices from your favorite cartoons and plenty of classic 90s commercials.

Now we're here to share the stories of what it was really like growing up as child actors and how it shaped the people we are today.

So from our childhood to yours, welcome to the not so little rascals. Hi Jordan. Hey Blake. How's it going, dude?

It's good.

Yeah? Yeah. I'm so happy we're finally doing this. I thought it'd be a neat way to start this out if we talk about the call. 

Like that first call that changed your life. When you first got the call that you booked the little rascals, do you remember where it was and like how you felt and what that situation was like for you?

I do. And you know, it's over 30 years ago at this point. And I just I've it's very vivid. I'm sitting at my dinner table with my siblings, my dad, my mom gets a, you know, she gets a phone call. This is you know, a physical phone on the on the on the fridge or like on the on the sidewall. There's a cord hanging, everything. And then she just starts screaming and jumping around because I got froggy, you know, little rascals, and it meant more for her. And that moment, and like my siblings were probably like, I don't like give a fuck, you know, just eating their peas or whatever they're eating, and like and then it all like snowballed from there.

Were you able to comprehend at like six years old that you had just booked like a major feature?

I I I don't think at six you can know like how big it really is, but my parents definitely did. My dad knew the series, my mom knew it, and the audition process was so so long that we knew it was like it was almost like a culmination of so much. And and for you, like how

 much of it, how much of the call do you remember?

I remember it specifically, like like uh pretty detailed actually. We um I was in the back of my mom's car. I spent a lot of time in the back of my mom's car. Like uh my childhood was getting picked up early from school, going back and forth Hollywood, Santa Monica all day. We had these little things, this peak 90s technology called pagers. And uh my mom got a page from the agent, and I remember we pulled over into a parking lot and we had a this was kind of crazy actually. We had a car phone. Do you remember those? Like those are like those weren't like you know that common, but kind of cool. So um called our agent and they told us we got little rascals. And at that point, like we had already been told we didn't get little rascals, which was another thing, but um we went nuts. I mean, the car was shaking, we're freaking out. Like, very much I was caught. I I understood, like, oh, this my my life's gonna change that. My mom's like, you're gonna be a movie star, you know, like this is it, baby. You know, we hit the big one. That's that's how I remember it. I remember the auditioning process for the little rascals was quite hectic. Like, um, there was a lot of steps to it. It was it was kind of a big deal. It was a cattle call. It was a cattle call. I I was curious, like, I I know a little bit about your auditioning process and like what you went through, but can you share that with us?

That part I remember very well. It's uh it was the first really big project of any kind I was auditioning for. And what's weird is like I started out auditioning for for Butch for your for your buddy.

Can you imagine if if it if that's how it worked out?

Yeah, it would have been a bullying real life, it would have changed me forever.

Oh my gosh.

But then I then I auditioned for alfalfa. And for alfalfa, I went back, I think like honestly, eight to ten times, which you know, in our day of of acting in the 90s, like going back and forth five plus times for anything was really common.

Yeah.

I one of the last times I dyed my hair black, I did the did the cowlic, went on a suit, did everything, and they really, really liked me for it. But being the leader of of the of the crew and the cast, they wanted someone a little older because at that point, when every couple of years you can work longer hours, so that was more meaningful for someone that was in more of the film.

Yeah, he's in a lot more of the scenes, of course. It makes sense.

And they wanted someone a little taller, yeah. So they try to make it work in that sense, but then my acting coaches at the time were Blake Lively's parents, right? So they're really known, the whole family was in the industry, and he knew the film or he knew the series, was really uh familiar. He's like, just put on put on these glasses and walk in and just talk like Froggy.

Right.

I had no idea who that was, but I walked in and did it, and they're like, Okay, now we're bringing new for Froggy. And then at that point, they already had someone hired. They said, You're done, it's okay. They fired their the original Froggy, and they gave me that part because they already really liked me. So I was kind of in a good spot and you know, change of fortune because of my coaches.

Right. Oh, that's rad. Yeah, I think uh mine was sort of similar. I mean, I I I only auditioned for Wyme for obvious reasons. Like Wyme was like, you know, this red-headed freckled kid, like, you know, since the 30s or whatever. But I didn't get it originally. They went with someone else and they started doing screen tests and everything like that, right? And I guess something had happened and they decided to go with me because it just didn't work out with the original character, so or the original cast, uh, the original kid that was cast for the part. So that's cool. You and I were both were uh second picks.

Well, it's it's crazy that like I I always wonder if if the parents and that kid hold on to that story in that way of like what could have been. Yeah, like are they still acting? Was it just like a fluke and they stopped? But but but that was pretty common, you know, back in the day.

I wonder if he has like a voodoo doll of me or something like that.

Like he just alternate universe best friends.

Fuck this kid, you know, still angry about it.

That's that's the crazy part though, is like that audition process, a lot of people don't understand. It it was kind of common for us to like learn about, but you don't like you don't realize you can go in eight to ten times and not get something.

Yeah.

And it doesn't matter. All that happens is the cash director is a fan of yours, they like you, the director likes you, they might bring you back for something else, but yeah, it doesn't change your life otherwise.

It's a it's an it also an interesting thing, like um, I think we've touched on this before, but like you you

 learn how to deal with rejection at a very young age. Yeah. Um, you're like, oh, you know, I went out for this a bunch of times, and I'm not doing this job. Something must have not worked out, and that's just you know, like a very young introduction to being, you know, denied. Yeah. You get you become very used to it as you get older to be honest with you.

In high school, you know, it worked really well. It couldn't be phased by girls. Yeah. Got so used to like I've heard this from every kind of director. It doesn't, you got nothing. Right, no? Whatever.

On to the next.

But um, yeah. That would, you know, how fast did it like happen after that? Of just like, I remember after that, just started getting auditions and movies, and like it just happened really quick. It was a lot.

Um well, I remember when we started shooting, like it kind of just felt like you were showing up to hang out with your friends, right? And you were just doing what you were told. Like the the whole like I we were too young to understand the whole process, really. Like, you know, I knew that I was doing a movie, but um, you know, I only knew like what based on what my mom was telling me. But after Little Rascals, yeah, like I think we all went on a little run, which was pretty cool. I remember you did a couple features like within a year or two. Like you did pretty good.

Yeah, this uh the funny part for this movie Carpool that's in like the 30th year right now. The the character Travis had like a shower cap and goggles, and I didn't realize at the time, but the shower cap had frogs on it, and the goggles were green with little frogs in the side. I'm like, I didn't know they like if they did like a little Easter egg even then, but it's funny to do it for like a kid.

Yeah, that's awesome.

It was it was really random.

But um would you say you get recognized more for being Travis or from being froggy?

Froggy because usually people are watching it with their kids or when it you know appears on Netflix, yeah. I think they look up the cast. Sure. We get a bunch of follows on Instagram all of a sudden. Like, I'm like, oh, somewhere it's airing. Right. But then that, but surprisingly, there seems to be a large, large group of people who were fans of Carpal.

And Carpal actually has this like really interesting cult following. Like, um, I I remember my wife when she found out you were in Carpool, she went nuts. She's like, I she's like, I like that movie way more than the Little Rascals. And I'm like, okay, that's a little bit offensive, but I remember coming and visiting you in Vancouver when you were shit.

Yeah, yeah, that was awesome. That's what that's how you like we were friends before Little Rascals, but we were friends like in that way. Like you and your mom and your sister flew out like to Vancouver. Yeah, it's awesome. It's like to visit for like a couple weeks. That was awesome.

All those visits to see the beluga whales, the beluga whales, yeah, eating poutine.

The the the a lot of so many memories from Little Rascals, though, of like we went to Chicago and FAO Schwartz. I remember for the promotional tour. Yeah, that was the only time I've really done a big one like that. And I remember we were on the second floor of like the biggest toy store in the country throwing like pogs and trading cards, and like I wish I could see a video of that and see everyone like excited for us because that it's hard to tell when you're a kid like what that really was, but it was awesome.

Yeah, totally. Actually, this photo, um yeah, we'll throw it up in the edit, but uh that's actually from uh Real Livers, yeah, and that's it's me and then Blake Ewing and my sister, and then I think that's Sam, and then you and Cortland. Yeah, so rad. How cool did you like? It feels so cool like getting driven around.

That was like getting driven around. We got like a we got a gift card to just like do a shopping spree. Yeah, we had pogs. Yeah, I did a cool little run of some of some films and stuff, but very different than yours. Like you were you were, I think, actually termed the commercial king for like years of doing the most commercials in a year, right?

I think it was like 97 and 98. Variety

 magazine used to have these like lists, right? And they were like one page with just pictures of you know who did the most commer, like like most working commercial uh actors, like most um working theatrical actors and stuff like that. And 97 and 98, I got I I did the most commercials. I mean it was ridiculous. I did everything from like, you know, Gushers, Nestle Quick, like Pizza Hut, um, like every cereal you could imagine. I was kind of like the original influencer in a way, you know? Yeah. Anything where like, you know, I could take a sip of something and then like like, you know, what I was good at.

But a lot of people don't know, you actually have to eat or drink in in many takes when you're filming these, right?

Oh yeah, totally. I did this uh Hormel Chili commercial where um I'd eat I had to take a bite of a hot dog, right? I was like, oh, it's so good. I had a spit bucket, but it's still, you know, like you do that 40-50 times, like you know, you're ingesting a little bit of chili dog. Yeah, it's fun at first, but it gets a little old, I'm sure. But you know, you got your mom and drill in the background, like motherfucker, like you want this fucking make sure you like it. Yeah, you want to go to the card store after you just eat those fucking chili dogs.

But commercials are best because like a national commercial is like the best payday. Like some actors now, you can do a couple commercials a year and you're set.

Yeah, yeah.

That's the the difference with little rascals. Everyone thinks we got paid like a million dollars. Like people were child, like, you must have got paid a million dollars, you must be rich. I'm like, we were six, they're not paying us a lot of money.

I don't really remember. Do you remember what the like the pay was for shooting little rascals?

Like, I mean, I don't I don't really feel weird to say it now because I always kept it a secret, but I think it was I think it was like 50,000, which you know, but but this is in '94.

Yeah, 94.

And we were six years old. So like that's that's still a lot of money, but everyone's gonna hear and go, only 50,000.

Is that pre or is that after taxes?

That's all before. And before uh, you know, managers, agents, mommagers, everything. So it's it's never as much as you think.

Yeah, it's never as much as you think. Commercials paid pretty good. I feel like I made a lot of money. I wouldn't, I wouldn't know. I never saw any of it.

What? Well come who saw it?

Uh still trying to figure that out. I think there was a lot of poor investments made. There was a lot of loopholes when we were kids on how people could actually take your money and invest it on your behalf. I think that I was a a victim of that. Um, I think that there was always good intentions, just they weren't they weren't done like you know, they weren't they didn't have very good guidance. I never I never really saw any of it, you know, which is kind of a bummer. Like I definitely have some resentments towards that.

And that and and that's from from your parents?

Yeah, yeah. My mom was my manager. Um, and you know, like I said, I think she was trying to do, you know, she was trying to do the best she can. And um, she was a great manager because it's a job for them, you know, like it's it's a full-time job. And my mom kicked ass at it. Like I was I was good. I was always, you know, she got me on every she got me to every audition. She managed my career really well, ex except for the money part.

Well, I think that I think the key part though, a lot of people, and this is like a big reason why we're actually doing this podcast now, is all the documentaries and stories that come out is always for for clickbait to show who got you potentially touched, who got the money taken from someone else, what fallout in the relationships. But I think it's important to show, like, yeah, while your money that it was good intention. And our parents, like your mom, my mom, they did a full-time job that we wouldn't do for our kids now.

Totally.

Like that's a very hard thing to do.

And we were we were like a product that they had to, you know, develop and help sell, and they did a great job at it, you know. And like you and I turned out pretty good.

Yeah.

There was a lot, like a lot of former child actors, and you know, they they weren't as lucky. Like their parents were like took advantage of them in in a like much larger way.

When people ask me, like, would you put your kid into it or how it was just in general having it?

Yeah.

And when I feel bad watching others like, you know, Amanda Vines and and others like that, I think the biggest difference is if you have a surrounding group of family that actually stays your family and care about you and friends versus some who grew up in the space their parents are using and feeding off of them and friends are using them. And if you have that, you have no chance in this industry or or anywhere.

Yeah, and unfortunately that's what we had. Yeah, and unfortunately, I think it's more common um that it's the negative, like darker side. I do think it was a full-time job for our parents, and they did a very good job. Like you and I were very protected, and um, we were never put in uncomfortable situations, you know, as far as I know, or as far as I can remember.

And this is before phones and maps.

Yeah, it was before phones and maps. So you had to print out map quest. Remember that shit? And then you had a Thomas guide. But uh, I feel like MapQuest was the was the one that used to print out the door.

That was the go-to, and like I, you know, I I don't want to drive to Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and then back to Culver City three times in a day. Yeah. So, like, you know, they did they did real work there.

Yeah, it was real work, it was tough. And then like managing the schedule and stuff, and and also like keeping a home. You have two siblings, like I have two siblings, and like you, I mean, your parents your parents were together, like, you know, it's it's it's much more than just managing your kid, like you also have a household to run too. So I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on them as well, in a way.

At least for me, for my siblings, it's almost kind of like you have a separation in the house, in the sense where my brother and sister were six and nine years older, or they or they are.

Yeah.

And still are. It still are, yeah. My my dad mostly had to be taking care of them, which you know, which meant they were kind of you know, on their own on their own, you know, like Ira. And um I know your dad. And then my mom and me were like, like you said, for carpal, we lived in Canada for six months. Yeah. When I was 13, I lived in Canada again for six months, and we would travel and be gone for the afternoons and nights. So like was the second movie you did in Canada? Uh Songs in Ordinary Time with Sissy SpaceX.

Oh, was this the one you did that little Irish accent for?

No, I just played a Catholic kid.

I feel I feel like I ever did an I feel like you took on this Irish accent when we were kids for some reason.

I did that uh in in college. College at bars. Yeah. Shouldn't shape me from our then. Yeah, that was. Well, what's your name, Lassie? Yeah, yeah. But um, you know, you almost have a separation in your household that you can't because everyone can't be everything. Yeah. So I think you grow up a little bit apart in that sense of like, you know, always having dinner at home together because you're doing auditions, you're back late, and then your your mom's running sides with you, so you have a weird relationship. But yeah, it's you know, my brother when the when the rascals came out, I remember he would walk like six feet ahead of us anywhere in public. Because, you know, in those years after, when we look the same and the movie is very recent, we got recognized a lot. Sure. So I I never I think about that now, how it would have been. It's probably very weird as as like watching your younger sibling like be seen and and and recognized everywhere.

Yeah. I think Britney probably went through a little bit of that too, but she was much she was littler than us. But I feel like she was always kind of involved in like hanging around us, and it was it was she was like one of the little rascals, you know what I mean? She's there, even there. She's there, yeah. Um Chicago with us. Obviously, much different for Ian, because you know, Ian was like a teenager and was like, Oh god, I don't deal with this anymore. But um, I think it was a little different for my sister.

But well, imagine being like a teenager and your friends are like, wasn't your little brother a little rascal? Like, hey, shut up, leave me alone. Like so annoying.

I would be so annoyed. Like, obviously, like, you know, my

 my resentment, or not resentment, but you know, is that my money wasn't handled properly, and like I never got to see any of it. But uh definitely not the case with you. Your money was handled very well.

It was, it was, it was kept in this uh account that when I was uh in college, I learned I had this the savings account. Uh-huh. It wasn't it wasn't like a ton of money, but it it helped. It was enough. It was enough to to you know spend on my first car, my Mustang that I loved, and then the replacement car after I crashed in high school. I don't need to share that story here, but it was uh typical, typical fun college story where um you know had too much cough medicine and I I hit something and then I ran away because I was dizzy. I was disoriented. I had to get a replacement, but I had enough money to get a replacement truck. Yeah. And then I and then that truck got totaled a few years later. So I got through I got to spend my own money on my own mistakes and blow it on, you know, some gambling, some partying. But at least I got to do it myself. I got ownership of my money.

I'm so fucking jealous, which I got to gamble all my money.

So that's that's that aversion.

Yeah, you had an epic run in your 20s. I was so jealous.

It was a it was a good run.

Yeah.

You didn't have any of your own money to spend. So, and I already know, I already know where this is going. That's why I'm laughing. Um but since you didn't have your own money, like at what point did you actually consciously stop acting and have to enter the real world of working?

I stopped acting when I was 14. Um, I made the conscious decision that I just didn't want to do it anymore. I want to have a normal childhood, you know, I want to smoke weed, want to try and hook up with girls, hang out with my friends, play sports, and all that stuff.

When people would recognize you as one, which is like you looked exactly the same, still do, you would sometimes still say no.

Yeah, I hated the attention. Like I don't think I embraced it very much until you know the last few years really. I just felt I felt kind of like embarrassed about I didn't like that attention. You know, I liked attention because I'm a total ham, but like it just for some reason that always felt like uh I it always felt like I was getting poked fun at, you know what I mean? It's just this weird thing in in in my head and probably wasn't the case at all. But um, you know, it's like sometimes people treat you like like you're a prop almost. Yeah, you know, 100%. Um I feel like you went through that sort of experience, like especially in high school.

Honestly, that's like that's probably the time period between middle school. It's like a cycle where in middle school I did homeschool first to fifth.

Yeah.

So I wasn't in school, you know, back and forth working and auditioning and stuff. And then I went to real school in fifth grade and it was with the same group from fifth to eighth. And I don't think I knew the reasons they're sometimes making fun of me or not really as friendly. There's probably some jealousy, and I'm not even sure if the kids know, but like it was just there. Yeah, and I was also like a nerdy ass kid. So like at the mow it, I didn't I didn't make it easier on myself, but I thought you were cool as fuck. Thank you. But I I didn't I didn't have that naturally. So then high school, there's one kid from my middle school that went and he just told people I was frogging. That kind of thing got you know, it got passed around so fast. So everyone just wanted to kind of meet me and then tell someone else, hey, this is froggy. Yeah, like you said, it felt I I don't think I realized at the time it felt like being a prop. And that's probably like the period of of life that I look back on a lot. Of it was definitely harder because you know, I knew a lot of people, but you don't feel like you know you make a lot of friends because they don't always want to hang out, they just want to know you as Froggy, know the actor in the in the valley in the local area, and that's kind of it. So that that's kind of the drawback of it is you start to rely on that as who you are, and it's hard to be something separate sometimes as you get older.

Right. Did it ever get you laid?

I mean, you know, it definitely had to use it.

Did you ever use the froggy to get laid?

It's it's you know, trying to find the moments where you throw it in versus just randomly say it. But my friends in college especially, I was I was, you know, I thought I was the wingman, but I was really just like the prop, like you said. And it was like, hey, have you like do you recognize this guy's face? And I have to stand there like an idiot, just like, you know, I don't look the same. Like, remember a movie from your childhood? The little rascals, and they and they can eventually get there, and I'm standing there the whole time, and then they introduce themselves and push me out of the way. But it definitely worked. But um, what I always say is, you know, like people like to role play. Yeah, you know, like hops and robbers or pretend each other are celebrities. Sure. But try role playing where someone's pretending you're the six-year-old celebrity version of yourself. Yeah. Just gotta push that out of your head and finish the night.

Hold on a second. You mean you want to go home with me because you're interested in the seven year old version myself? Never mind. Don't let's just continue on. My card's outside. Yeah. Yeah.

So you just you just push that far back and unpack that in therapy. Yeah. It's the same question, everything.

I think the one time I used it, I actually ended up marrying the chick. There you go. Yeah. That'd be my wife.

I was lucky. My my wife is uh is from Peru. And moved here at 13 and had no idea what the movie was. And I think that's probably was like, I love you right away. Right. Yeah. You don't know me from that.

You have no expectations.

And then she learned what she would tell some of her friends. They're like, oh my God. And she was like, what's the big deal?

unknown: 
Yeah.

So I got to be cooler as the years went on, which is that's amazing.

Which is cool. I was finally, you know what, fuck it. I'm gonna embrace this a little bit a few years ago. And I um I'd had a hinge profile, and it's like, you know, put something interesting about you. So I put like a little rascals photo, and then I was, you know, in little rascals. And then, you know, the first person I matched with, I ended up marrying Christina. She didn't give it time to like no, I didn't give it any time to breathe.

Such a genius idea.

Yeah, but I was one for one, so that's cool. Nice.

Well, then, okay, so so going back, because I want everyone to know about this part of your life.

Uh-huh.

You stopped acting at 14. So and you had no money, so you had to enter the workforce as a normal, a normal young man.

Yeah.

When did that start? And where did it start?

When I was like 15, I started working at McDonald's. Um, not only, not just any McDonald's, uh, McDonald's inside of a Walmart. Um, and that was quite an experience. I worked there for probably a year, and I actually became a manager at some point. Um, but then I was let go because, or I wasn't let go, but they told me, like, oh, you actually can't be a manager, you have to be 18 to be a manager. So I was like, oh, okay, well, I'm just gonna leave then.

You're probably distracting too, because like because people would definitely recognize you.

Oh, I got recognized all the time. And you know, I think my lucky stars every day that we didn't have cell phones really back then.

That became a trend recently is like showing actors working normal jobs that used to be in things and like trying to try to shame them online, yeah, even though they're just people working.

Yeah, can you imagine mine? Hey, uh, can I have a number two with the wait, were you the kid and the little rascals? And I'm here like, yes. And they're like, now you work at McDonald's, and I'm like, yes. Like, okay, yeah, two on fries with that, you know? Yeah, from the big screen to the big Mac, baby. You know?

Oh, that that should have been on your on your profile for much. Any other any other fun odd jobs?

I also I worked at Sears in the shoe department. That was like my first job after high school. So you just followed college.

So you followed Al Bundy next time totally. Yeah, yeah.

Was a shoe salesman. I don't remember getting recognized too much there, but um, then after that, I I became a ticket scalper. That's a whole nother story, you know about that. That's another for another time, you know. And then when I was like 23, the tickets got we got raided by the FBI. We had shut down, got a little bit of trouble. Just casual raid, just no big deal. Yeah, and then I started working in camera. My one of my best friend's dad's from high school, he was actually a cinematographer who I did a lot of commercials with when I was a kid. I used to do a lot of Joe Pitka commercials. Joe Picka's a legendary commercial director, he directed like Space Jam. Um, but every like major commercial campaign in the 90s was Joe Picka. My best friend's dad, Greg, his dad Curtis was Joe's DP. And DP is director of photography. So when Greg and I started hanging out in high school, his dad was like, I recognize you somewhere, you're an actor. And I was like, Yeah. Um he's like, Yeah, we used to do all these commercials together. And like, I didn't know what he was, you know, I didn't know what a DP was or um cinematographer or anything like that. So after uh the ticket scalping company went under, um, he offered me a job as a camera PA on a TV show back in like 2010. And then um I've been doing that ever since.

That's pretty cool. It's like a whole reversal to come back, yeah, come back to the industry behind the scenes, but also like as a conscious choice, which is nice because as a kid, we didn't we didn't choose to be an acting, maybe we chose to continue or or or stop or discontinue, but you're choosing to be in it, which kind of shows like you probably wouldn't have had any reason to want to do that if you didn't have the background, like it probably it stayed with you to like being on set and being in the industry in some fashion, right? Just not wanting you know to be eating cereal for 80 takes in a row on commercials.

Yeah. I don't remember you having any like normal jobs when we were kids. Nope. I just remember you were like a amateur poker player for a little bit. Yeah, I was uh I was a pretty spoiled uh kid, and what I learned is you had the sickest Pokemon collection.

I did. I just bought Pokemon cards, and Star Wars Toys. Everything we used to go to all the shows, buy everything. Yeah, pretty spoiled kid, not having to work, though my siblings had their regular regular high school jobs. I should have. I should have done the responsible choice and worked a regular job to understand it, but instead I would always just say, like, I worked from since I was five years old.

Yeah.

And mom, I'm not gonna work McDonald's, like Blake. Stop telling me that's a good thing to do. So I avoided it. I just you know spent my money and had fun, and I would get you know good grades to to kind of even it out.

Yeah, you should have held on to those fucking Pokemon cards.

I know when Logan Paul just sold one for like 12 million. That's nuts.

Do you remember you and I used to fuck each other up? We remember when we used to get in little fights, like we beat the shit out of each other once in a while. Playing basketball, trying to get a few. You were a ferocious little motherfucker. I was always way bigger than you, so you know I'd I'd I'd eventually take control of the situation, but dude, you were so scrappy.

I remember it was like ah that's how you know your friends and brothers forever is like is that you do fight.

Oh yeah, you know, I used to fight all the time. And then, like, you know, the next day, because we lived right by each other, our parents bought houses right by each other. You'd call and you'd say meet halfway. Yeah, and then we'd go meet halfway.

Speaker: 
And then and then all of a sudden you would always be super late, and I would go like two-thirds, three-fourths, and I'd just be at your house, like, hey, where are you? Like, oh, I didn't know what you're doing. So bad at me.

Like, what are you doing? Yeah, that's a good memory. You want to meet halfway? That was it. That was all the conversation. But um when so I'm curious, like uh when did you make the conscious decision to like kind of step back from acting? I know that you like you continued for a while, like you took classes and like you know, you made like a you made a very valiant attempt at this. Well, not attempt, I mean you were actually a successful actor, but um, you know, like continuing your career. At what point did you say, like, you know, I don't know if I want to do this anymore? Like, how did that pan out?

It it's funny too, because once people will reach out, like, oh, you're a froggy, did you do anything else? I won't be like, Did you look at my MDB? But like, you should, you know, I hate to have to be like, yeah, I did a bunch. It's just hard to be big after little rascals, but yeah, I have you know, I got to do a full resume of movies and shows and living other places, even cartoons, and I think that's that's a big reason why it was easier to leave. And I say leave because like it wasn't like I was being offered parts and I walked away to go to college in high school. I was really living high school life. I still had really good managers, and I was getting I could like phone it in and get a call back and do good because it was just like in your blood. But when you transition to being a kid actor, which is cute, wacky, you can change the lines, you can kind of do whatever you want. And then everyone knows you. Same cast directors, and then once you hit like 12, 13, 14, yeah, you try transitioning to like young adults and teens, and the casting directors are all different. So you don't have the fans in the room that call you in. So you have to so you're kind of starting over. And I did a good acting school called Leslie Khan when I was uh 16 and 17. I was like the youngest one starting there.

Uh-huh.

And every week everyone shares their how their week was. Auditions and you know, whatever you've been doing. And most people were like in their 20s and 30s and even older standard. I moved here from Idaho, I'm working three jobs as a waiter, and I'm I'm trying to get into SAG. And I'm always sitting here, like, I've been in SAG like my whole life.

unknown: 
Yeah.

And I'm getting auditions, and I have a life that they are trying to get to as part of their dream. And I don't enjoy it the same way. I want to go to high school, and it was easier to not hold on to like some auditions and maybe getting some guest spots or something small versus just saying, like, I'm gonna go to college at the age I'll I'm at the age of college age, join my friends and live that life.

Yeah.

So really at like 20. I did that, went to junior college, stopped auditioning, told my managers, like, I'm just I don't really want to do this. Yeah. And it's easier to kind of consciously do it versus wait five years of of holding on. And that's probably the smarter choice I made.

Right. How did you feel when you finally made that decision to like stop? Like, did you feel okay about it or were you bummed out about it? Because like I mean, like, you know, I know that you know, I mean, you like I said, you made like a m like a pretty great effort at like continuing this, and you were a prominent voice actor, like you did a lot of stuff. I mean, there's not a kid in the world who didn't hear your voice in the 90s on one of their favorite cartoons, you know. Were you sad or were you like, did you did you feel like okay, now it's time for this next chapter of my life? Like this one's over and I'm okay with closing it, and I'm gonna try something else now.

Like in the moment, I was I was very okay because I was very focused on like having fun, hanging out with friends, sure, partying, going to college. Yeah, I would say like a few years after that is kind of when you when you see other people still auditioning, or you kind of just people ask you about it, you kind of miss that part of your life because it was it, it was really a big uh a big part of my identity for so long that you know, probably five to eight years later, it would have been awesome to like revisit it. But uh like people always ask, like, oh, would you go back into it as if it's like an outfit you just put on and you just walk back into Hollywood and they're like, Oh, join your back, like you know, come in audition for this. If it was that easy, I probably would have tried again, but it's not waiting for you like that. You have to have agents and managers, and you have to be continuously working on understanding how to act, and that's what I learned when I was 18. Like, I learned how to act versus just be a wacky kid. So I think it it after many years I was you know, I was okay with it because it was it was so far gone, but I probably missed it for a while, and then now it's kind of like this is really fun talking about this, yeah, planning this, and like you know, putting little videos on social, maybe trying to open mics for stand-up. All that sounds fun because it's my choice and there's no expectations.

Yeah, totally. And like we even have fucking legit coffee mugs. I mean, we got mugs. I mean, we got mugs, dude. Probably uh cheers. I wonder if we'll ever sell these in like a pod shop, you know. I mean, are you even a legit podcast if you don't have a coffee mug? Probably not. Probably not.

But I think I think that's the the the most important part is like you in camera work, yeah, this podcast, and even like writing down jokes and actually like using them in a way now, it's all because I w I want to do it just for the sake of it, without like I want to get paid out of it or my goal is to become a movie star.

Yeah.

If nothing happens and you just like are doing something creative on the side and you enjoy it, it's nice, it's nice to do that now.

Yeah, totally. That's actually interesting because like when I've made it back into the film industry as a camera guy, I kind of fell in love with it again and realized that it's just it's part of my identity, you know. Like, like you, I started when I was five years old, like spent most of my life on a film set, whether it was in front of the camera or behind the camera. I it I can't imagine myself really doing anything else, you know. But it it is interesting sometimes. Like you talk to people who are like, Oh, I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm like, oh my god, like I'm I've done this for 30 years, really, 30 years of my life. 20, yeah, 20 years. Because been in the industry 25 to 30 years of my 40-year life, right? Yeah. Sometimes you you run into actors and stuff like these younger actors, and someone will say, Oh, you know, Blake was a child actor, like he's in little rascals, and they're like, What? Like, you know, it's kind of a it's a sizable credit talking to these younger actors about my career, like you know, it it's it's to the point that you made, you know, these younger actors who look at your resume and go, Wow, like you've actually you've done a lot of shit already.

Well, and you're and you're comfortable talking about it now.

Yeah, totally.

Which it took me a while to feel I used to feel like it's like bragging or weird to like confidently talk about what you've done, yeah, even though like we should be. You should be able to say, like, like now in conversations, I'll finally tell people, like, oh, and I acted as a kid, I was in the little rascals if you've seen it. Yeah, I used to like stumble around it and feel like, oh, I was in a movie you might know. Like, make it more weird versus like this is something I did and it it is pretty cool.

Oh, dude, I threw I use it as a party trick now. Like I didn't, like I didn't do it forever in like the last few years.

I'm like, fuck it, you know, like it's the best party trick and it's fun, but it's it's just it's something that we should be able to say and be proud of because we could have acted for as long and not been in that specific movie and done everything else, and no one would really care as much.

Sure.

And like we have a story to tell, but it's anchored by something that is continued to live forever, which is really awesome, and that's what I'm grateful for is we're in something that just continues to be enjoyed by people.

Yeah, totally. Um, do you have like was there any any time during your career or not during your career where you were you felt like uncomfortable or like scared? Like anything ever had like anything like that, like any instances where it was just like fuck this is weird, you know? That's a good question.

Um I don't know, maybe not for me, because like I it was the opposite. Like what I was talking about for school before, where I felt very comfortable auditioning and being on set, almost like you grow up around adults and you're very comfortable around adults. Yeah, I probably got more scared or or like awkward around around my peers and kids my age. That's probably why I was like a nerdy kid made fun of in middle school and even high school, because I had to kind of you know learn how to hang out with them differently, but in a way that wasn't like I'm just going to school for the first time, and it's and I love homework and I would ask for it and things like that. But my mom had a moment where this is more funny, she was a little a little protective. Um, I think you know I did an episode of the show called Sliders, like futuristic traveling dimensions, and in this episode, I snowboarded through I think like sandstorms, but the guest star was Corey Feldman. Yeah, and Corey Felman is you know like the one of the epitomes of 80s child actors. She's the shit and has been in culture forever. We became pretty good friends, and not in a weird way. I was I was like 12, 13, he had a younger sister, he lived in Woodland Hills, like right near us. So we and my brother was like a huge fan of his. So we would hang out on set, and then after after that show, we were friends. Um, I watched Star Wars with him and his sister, but he was also really good friends with Michael Jackson.

Yeah.

Now I have no opinion either way of what may or may not have happened, but there was a very specific time where he was inviting me to Michael Jackson's ranch, and less casual because I remember he called me on the phone and was like asking, and my mom she said no, unless his older brother can go, and he's like, No, there's no more room. But then there's a roller coaster, there's elephants. He was trying, and I look back, he's trying trying to convince me, I think, but like in a fun way. And my mom back then was like, no, like not very comfortable with it. Sure. And now I just use that as like a funny random party trick. As I that's one of my big regrets, is I didn't I didn't get the benefit of of of being part of lawsuits, being on Hulu documentaries all these years, of like what I could have talked about.

Well, you just brought up another trauma for me. Imagine how I felt as your like supposed best friend, like, oh hey Jordan, you want to be halfway? Oh no, I'm gonna hang out with Corey Feldman today. Like, oh cool, you know, I'll just go fuck myself.

Well, that's the hard part. Like, I was more friends with like you know, older people from set and different things, and then you hang out with the 12-year-old to play goal nights, and it's not the same.

Yeah, it's not the same anymore.

I'll I'll ask you the same thing. Were there any times on set, offset, or you know, related to growing up that you were either scared or just kind of uncomfortable too?

You know, I can't think of like any one in particular instance as a whole, like like when I got recognized, or like you know, when people talked about me being the little rascals or something, or or an actor, like this commercial or that commercial, um, I always kind of felt like I was being bullied. You know what I mean? Like it wasn't especially when it was other kids. Um because you kind of want to just be accepted for who you are and like and liked and get along with everybody. And for some reason, um like the way I handled it was like, oh, there like I feel like I'm I'm being made fun of. And it was like always like kind of embarrassing for me. And that's probably why I didn't embrace it for so long. I associate I have like I associate my child acting career with like some negative shit in my life, you know, like like the reason my parents divorced, you know. How come? Um, well, I mean, it's not really like it's not really why they divorced, but I always just I kind of blamed it on myself for the longest time. I was doing a movie called Richie Rich, Christmas Wish. The transpot coordinator was my mom's high school boyfriend. My parents ran a yeah, no, totally. My my parents weren't weren't doing very well at the time. I think their relationship was probably on the outside anyways, but I think that that expedited the divorce, and then my mom, you know, she she she went and was with this uh with this man for a long time, who I liked a lot at the time.

He was pretty he was really good to us, but it's easy to blame yourself, which is common for a kid's getting parents divorced, but it's especially in this setting, you think at the time I wouldn't have 100 they wouldn't have connected, but something would have happened in either way.

Uh either way, I think my parents would have gotten divorced now that I think about it like in retrospect as a grown-up. Um, but for decades, I blamed my family falling apart on me. Um I took I took complete that's rough I took complete responsibility for that for breaking up my family and for making it so my sister and I had to go back and forth to my moms and dads every weekend, and that fucked me up for a long time. And then it took a lot of therapy and a lot of uh, you know, a lot of free big max. Yeah, you know, just a lot, just a lot of like soul searching and stuff to realize that it wasn't my fault, like you know, and um it probably would have happened anyways, and you know, in the end it probably had some bad like helped them out in the long run.

It's crazy how like you hear other any kid that's a parent like a child of divorce, yeah, they'll find a reason to blame themselves. But because for you it's associated to that, yeah, then for years that pushes you more away from from child acting and not liking that whole experience in totality.

Yeah, totally. And I and I I think that that's that along with you know just thinking that I was always being like kind of used as a prop, like you know, like we've talked about. So I just always had like a negative thing about it. But up until you know, you know, five, six years ago, I didn't really really care about it or embrace it at all. But now I do. I don't care.

I think I think that's the celebration. That's the kind of I think cool part of of doing this and even talking about it more because we because we never really have. Yeah, is people always have a certain way of of thinking child acting is so different than like any other kid's life. And really, every you know, all of us have our own unique stories of like issues with kids being bullied or liking high school or not, you know, you know, being used by people or not, and parents divorced, all those things are really similar to any other kid, but it's very specific to us, and we share that with other actors that grew up in that space because in a vacuum, it's a very different life.

It's a very different life.

It's it's just our version of childhood, and I think it's it's nice for people to hear it's not all it's not all bad. And a lot of a lot of the a lot of the part that is is more difficult is still similar to what other kids go through, but you relate it to the experience.

And it's a job, like people don't understand, like it like acting, it like being a a working man's actor, you know, is a job, like it's a hustle, like it's every day. Um, it's haircuts every week, you know, it's new clothes all the time, you know.

As a kid getting new clothes is one of the worst things, having to try on pants.

Oh my gosh, trying pants, like you know, and and depending on what you were auditioning for, you might have to go learn something. Like, oh, I like I I remember auditioning for like an ice hockey type of thing. So I had to go learn how to ice skate, which is cool. Like, obviously, that's like an interesting part of it, but it is it's work, dude. You know, dialect coaches and like um, you know, I used to my mom used to dye my hair like much redder because it just tested better.

That's what for commercials are it's great. I did uh I would do uh a southern drama law for uh for a lot of southern roles. Yeah, so I think you have a lot of southern roles, Jordan. I didn't get any, I just said I auditioned for them. I would uh um I'm Jewish, but I would always play Catholic. That's why people think I'm Irish because uh the reddish hair too and the beard. Yeah. So I'd always play like you just always audition for these different roles. You do look like a dirty little Irish boy. I know. So um I talked about Corey Fellman. Um, did you have any celebrities or people that you really liked who impacted you that you worked with?

Um, yeah, I mean I did it like I like we've already talked about, I did a lot of commercials, and like uh probably the coolest one I did as a kid was um I did an all sport commercial, just like a sports drink with Ken Groofy Jr. And at the time, like I was a huge Ken Groofe Jr. fan, like everybody was at our age. Um, and I remember he was the coolest. Like he signed, he probably signed 150 baseballs for the whole crew, like, and I still have that baseball. And um, I remember my mom actually went to a card shop down the street and and bought a rookie card at the time that wasn't that expensive, and like he signed it for me, and I still have that. That's cool. So that was cool. An interesting one that like kind of had a full circle moment was uh Dennis Leary. So I did this commercial for um Intel when I was probably like eight or nine years old. Probably really early in Dennis Leary's career. He probably only had a couple of stand-ups out, and I remember he had the worst mouth ever. Like he just cursed, cursed, and cursed, and my mom was getting so mad at him because he was just, you know, and he smoked cigarettes constantly, like on set. This is back in the day where you could smoke on set. Yeah, um, you know, there's a little eight, nine-year-old me with my little pink lungs, you know, everyone's just blowing smoke everywhere. He was like the first celebrity who like had sort of an impact on me because he was just so cool to me. And like I really had a fun time working with him. And I kind of followed his career after that, you know. Like, and he ended up doing one of my favorite shows, Rescue Me. Flash forward years later, I was doing I did a TV show called Animal Kingdom. Uh it's a John Wells show, it's an awesome show that was.

Where you were the camera operator.

I was. A second AC on it, second assistant cameraman. I saw that Dennis Leary had been cast as a guest role on the show, and I was super excited. I was like, Oh my god, that's so cool! Like, I you know, I haven't seen this guy in over 20 years, and I had this idea that I was gonna find the commercial that we did and like you know, show it to him. I thought it would be kind of cool. So my mom had like a reel of my commercials on like an old Betamax tape, you know, those old like reel to reel, kind of huge supersized VHS tapes. So I did all this over a weekend. Like I took the Betamax tape with all my commercials on it to like a uh video transfer store, like you know, like a Photoshop, and they do they transfer film to digital. So they did this for me, it cost a bunch of money. And I got the footage on like a CD. So then I filmed it on my cell phone. After all that, after all that, I put it on the TV and then I filmed it on my cell phone. Um, so fucking ridiculous now that I think about that. But um, you know, Dennis came to set and you know, I went and introduced myself to him, like, hey man, I'm Blake, and you know, he was totally cool. And I asked him, like, hey, can I show you something? So I showed him this commercial on my phone, and it was such a cool, like, super endearing moment. Like, I just saw him like kind of melt, and he went back like because this was so early in his career, he remembered every detail about it. He's like, I remember your mom getting so fucking pissed at me. He smoked a cigarette. I remember your mom gets so fucking pissed at me for cursing all the time. He's like, Joe Pickett directed this commercial, and he's like, I remember you ad-libbed a funny line after that. I got mad because they wanted to cut it, and like he was going into this whole thing. And then uh I just just as like a joke I said to him, I'm like, Yeah, don't worry, you didn't touch me weird or anything. He said he started laughing his ass off. And um, and then he said, So what happened? How'd you end up here? Like you spent all your money on these stupid fucking tattoos. And I'm like, no, actually, like, you know, my oldest, my you know, my go-to joke is uh, you know, it all it all went to my mom's tits. And he goes, Oh, that's funny, like tit for tat.

Kept going back and forth.

Yeah, it was cool. Um, so yeah, that was that was a that was like a fun moment.

Um, yeah, cool way to remember like being in the space too. Yeah, like for that full circle moment.

Yeah, it is, it's just such a weird, like full circle moment. And I've had a couple of those, like especially with like we had uh DGA trainee on Little Rascals. DJ Train is like director's Guild of America, like they're training to be an assistant director. The DGA trainee on Little Rascals was a man named George Bamber. And uh I ran into him on a TV show I did, and he he came up to me. He's like, Do you remember do you remember me? And I'm like, No. He goes, I was the DGA trainee on Little Rascals, I was the one who took care of you guys all the day, all like all day.

What a shitty job.

Yeah, can you imagine like like wrangling all these seven-year-olds all day? But it was so cool, like another full circle moment, like you know, him, you know, he was he's a first AD, and I think he's a producer now, just awesome human, super cool dude.

That's probably cool for him to see, like he turned out well.

Yeah, and his career started on Little Rascals, you know, and now now it is where his career, you know, his career is where it is now. And it's the same thing with me. And like, you know, it's just another cool, like, full circle moment.

You know, what has happened a lot over the years is I'll randomly someone will find out I'm frogging, there'll be some other random kid that's like, oh, and I was really close to getting alfalfa or Darla or whatever. And I'm and I'm like, I never really get offended when other person's like, I'm an actor too. Yeah, but when they do that, I'm kind of like, okay, gotta pull out the big guns here. I'm like, who is your agent? How many auditions did you go with? I'm like, don't pull that shit around me.

Yeah, just trying to steal your thunder.

No, the valley, everyone auditioned for the movie.

Yeah, no.

They it makes you feel a certain way. Like I remember I was actually interviewing to work at Holster at the mall. And in the interview, I like I like one of the guys in the front with your shirt off? Uh sadly, they actually had me in the back. And that was probably a big uh stocking underwear, a big stab in the heart of realizing like my role in life.

Speaker: 
Being in the front of Hollister for my only job I've ever had.

Try working at McDonald's, buddy. I would I would take that you're in the front. Um, but I I remember having to say, like, oh, my only background is like I've never had a job, so my resume is acting, and it's like, oh, that's so awesome. You did this. And then someone there's like, oh yeah, I'm an actor too. And like, I get really offended when people toss it out.

Yeah.

It's you know, if and I was like, Oh, like, what have you worked on? Are you SAG? Are you this? And he's like, No, I just you know, I've I've auditioned for something, and I'm like, Look, man, I pulled him aside, I'm like, not the same. You gotta earn calling yourself an actor, even. Yeah, and I think that's that's the kind of thing that people forget. Yeah, you know, if you just move out here from another state and you say you're an actor, that doesn't make you an actor. You have to be doing the thing. You like a lot of people try to get in a sag, even that itself is hard. Yeah, get having an agent, actually auditioning, just taking claim is not the same.

I don't know, man. Like, I feel like uh like also taking ownership, like you are that, you know, dress for the job you want, you know.

Don't do it next to someone that that that's gonna feel a certain way. I don't know.

I I was I was the voice of fucking chocolate boy, okay?

Well, that's the only time I've had to like stand on my own and be like, because then everything seems the same, everyone's an actor, but there's different stages of it. And if you moved here and you're not SAG, you're attempting to be an actor and you're trying to live the life. Like that's there's nothing wrong with that. No, but you have to take ownership of that and don't put yourself in someone that's done it for years.

So yeah, I also think it's just people trying to find a way to relate, you know, like you like any way they can, right? Yeah, no, no relating to the city.

And also, I was still sitting there trying to get a job in the mall. I was already feeling a certain way about it.

Speaker: 
Yeah, I'm not gonna let this kid put me on the same level. I'm like, look, I don't need to be here. Yeah, listen, Kyle. Yeah, listen, I'm gonna go to the food court to get a smoothie. Yeah, when I come back, you better not be here.

Yeah, I'm gonna get an orange Julius. I I'm what was the most annoying question you always got as a kid, like in regards to little rascals?

Oh man, there's a f there's a few. And it's it's not that they're annoying at first, but when it's like 30 years and like you should you should realize it's kind of a funny question. One is is that your real voice?

Oh yeah.

If you don't remember, I sound like this. Now, I I I get asked that all the time. I did it to get the job, 100%, but they had to dub it with uh side note, it was EJ Daly, who was Tommy Pickles, very famous voice actor, awesome to have that be the person.

She was also in Pee-wee Herman, big adventure. But just the best.

But they thought it would be a lawsuit if I hurt my throat at six years old, straining it every day, which is fair. So I acted, I set the lines, I did it to get the part. So I still did it, but people always ask and they almost take offense when I say I didn't, or they find out, like, oh, so you didn't really do froggy. I'm like, no, I did. And I got paid the same either way, so shut up.

I you know what's so funny? I like I have vivid memories of you being asked that question like all the time when we were kids. I still do. That was always the question was asked too, and they still ask you to this day.

What happens at some point you just start making up bullshit because you get asked so much, and like I would just tell people, honestly, I came out the womb just going to Zuga. My mom was like, Oh my god, you're perfect for froggy. So I was like, I just tell people I was literally born for the role.

Yeah, or you smoke cigarettes.

Yeah, the other version. Yeah. Um, that's my favorite. But when it would get really, and I really want to see if people would believe me, be like, look, this is the 90s. I told the producers, I will come back and I will be froggy. Just give me six months, and I tell this who's ever asking me, I would just smoke like two packs of Marlboro's in my mom's garage. It's the 90s, and this is you know, this is acting, you know, child acting. Like, there's no rules. I'm like, oh my god, like I was the Daniel Day fucking Lewis of Ken Actors super method. Yeah, and then like, oh my god, tell me more. I'm like, how do you believe this?

But you were savage, you were so much more out of pocket than I was when it came to that kind of stuff.

When you get asked something I just tried to avoid it for 30 years, eventually you're just gonna have some fun with it.

Yeah, just a lie.

I'm trying to think, and then you get asked, like, you just get asked random stuff, like like, do you still talk to everyone, of course? So, like, you're the go-to uh of of this, and this is kind of the culmination of 30 plus years of being friends. Like, we talked to a few others online, you kind of keep track. We did the reunion, yeah. That was really cool, and like I don't think I realized how professional it was from the person that invited us all out.

Yeah, that was awesome. The rascals 20th, yeah.

We got like either, we did like hair and makeup to look like the rolls. Yeah, and the weird thing about it is it was the first time any large number of us were together, and we got out. I remember we went bowling, had some food the night before just to kind of like hang out. And it is weird that you feel like you're a family getting back together in some weird way that you can't like say, yeah, it just felt very cool, very natural. Like you all had this life. Some of them only did rascals and never did anything, some worked for years, yeah. Some some were still doing it at the time, but it was just really cool.

Yeah, it's this we're it's this really cool connection that we all have. And like I I think um, you know, no matter how many years go by, like it's still that connection doesn't go away. Like I still feel, you know, like I still care about everybody, and like it's it's just it's always gonna be like an easy like way to reconnect, you know. For you and I, it's easy. I mean, like, you know, we've can been consistently friends for like even before Little Rascals.

Um and maybe one day we'll be known for something that's bigger than Little Rascals itself. Yeah, maybe that's that can be yeah, that's the dream. Yeah, it's the dream. The the dream is you know, my daughter will watch it and be like, that's awesome, versus like, no, like like put back on YouTube.

Yeah. Do you think you'll ever put your daughter in acting? Have you thought about it?

I that's actually one of the questions like I get asked, I'm sure you get asked, it's like, would you put your kid in that? Um I don't think I would do it as my choice, but if she got older and wanted to, you know, do acting or make videos, and now it's more like, you know, I want to be an influencer or create content. I think I definitely would if it's their choice and find a fun way to be creative and do it together or let her do it. But I'm not gonna put her into acting without really knowing what it is. Yeah, it's just it's also very different. Everything is self-taped now, and like the edition process is not the same. So I think we were the last like generation of child actors that's talked about in that way that live that life. Yeah, and now it's very different.

Do you remember what you used to have to say when you went in and on an uh on an audition?

Just my name. I don't know. What the slate?

Yeah. Hi, I'm Blake Collins. I'm seven years old and I'm with Coast to Coast. Yeah. All right, cool. We'll call you back if you're in if we're interested. That was it. And fucking next. You know, I've thought about putting your kid in uh putting like because we're pregnant right now, we're five months pregnant, we got a little girl doing gelatin. Thank you. I'm leaning towards yes, like I wanna like, especially as an infant, because infants work so much and it's like it's very easy money to like build them something to start out with, you know, and I'm gonna I'm gonna let a professional manage it, not me.

Um, but are is is one of you willing to have the time for it?

Yeah, I think so. I think I think that we'll figure it out because yeah, you know, one thing I do know from working on the other side of the camera is like, you know, I see like there's always a need for baby, you know, you always need to bring in infants, like you know.

But do you think what's happening with technology and AI will actually change that? Because like like background characters are easier to use without it, but like things like an infant that doesn't that just make sound and looks real and doesn't really move, that might be something that may be replaced because it's just easier.

Maybe, but I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. But I do I do think that there is it's an easy opportunity to like you know build a solid like uh financial like you know structure because it is really easy to work as an infant. Like you just show up for like an hour or two, you get paid a few grand, and then that's it, you know, and the rest of the time they use dolls. You can tell sometimes too. Yeah, you can tell sometimes for sure. But um, you know, I just I think that's an interesting like way to like you know, intro to it. But I I am open to like kind of exposing like my my my daughter to it when she gets a little older because I just think it's an interesting, like super unique thing that I that I know how to navigate, but maybe not it's not the same as when we were kids, obviously. It's very different, like we're just talking about.

So I feel like the idea of it would come up at some point, yeah, like it does with any parents and and their kids.

Yeah, so I'm definitely open to it. We'll see, we'll see how that goes. I'm not sure. Yeah.

Uh a question. So are you this is this podcast like for you? Is it is it your way of just talking about things again, trying to finally monetize being little rascals that we've done so poorly for all these years, or like what brought you to want to do it after all these years?

Well, you and I've talked about doing this for a while before even podcasts were a thing, or like, you know, trying to figure out something meaningful. For me, it had to be like kind of therapeutic. Like, I like I'm not interested in like, you know, being a celebrity again or anything like that, or like uh riding the coattails of my past, but you know, in a sense, I kind of am. Um but uh what's this podcast called again? Yeah, exactly. But I I just I just think it's an interesting way to give insight into a world that nobody really knows about. Like you like you think you know about it, but you really don't. Like it like it was a career, it was a job, it's had major impacts on my life that are are gonna last forever. And there's a lot more to being in the film industry as a kid than you see like in tabloids or like on the news. Like, I feel like we've talked about it gets a lot of negative negative attention, and usually there's like some negative dark stuff attached to it. All in all, my experience, and I and I could definitely speak for you as well. Like, it was we had good experiences, you know, we turned out great, as as far as you know, at least I think so.

I like to think so too.

Yeah, there's really no major negative spots in it, and I think that that needs to get a little bit more attention. Do you know what I'm saying?

I I think we live in a world now where it's easier to do and control and actually get it to people. Yeah. Because, like, you know, if you're the Netflix's or HPOs, you're only gonna make a documentary or a story about it that is gonna be watched, and usually that's leaning towards the negative. Yeah, watching a happy kid, watching a kid grow up in a happy life and acting there's nothing interesting about it, that's an average story. So I think that's the benefit of where I think we kept talking about it, where a podcast is just a good medium of interviewing and talking to others to hear like, look, all of us will have some good and bad, but the bad may not be directly related to acting, it's just being a kid. You know, the same with you. And I think that's that's what drew me to really wanting to do it is being able to kind of control it and also tell people like we get all those questions over the years. A lot of it really at the core of the questions, it's not just is that your real voice or how much you got paid. It's like what was it like? I'm I'm curious, like I would watch all these kids and like I want to know, like, did you live a normal life? Did you go to school? Did you do this? Like people like after the fun questions of like the obvious, they generally ask just curiosity of how is that life for you because it looks so fun or it looks so crazy, and they don't realize it is an actual job at the end of the day, and you're working and there's sacrifices, you know, and there's things that there's things that you have to give up, you know. Well, I remember for uh my second time going to Canada for the I was I was you know funny enough, I was turning 13. Yeah. And in Jewish culture, you you have a bar mitzvah. When you're turning 13, you become a man.

I remember your bar.

You wake up, you go to sleep at 12, you wake up, your dad walks in and gives you a job.

It was at the Odyssey. The Odyssey in Granada Hills. That's where your bar mitzvah was. I remember like it was yesterday.

The the crazy part, I got so I did I didn't go to like uh I didn't go to like Jewish school in the same way to learn everything. I didn't go to Hebrew school. Yeah, so I just um I did private tutoring and then I got this movie. And you you you can't change the planning of things. It was filming during my bar mitzvah. So I went there first with my sister to start the movie while my mom stayed back to plan the my bar mitzvah, and I had it carved out that they would let me fly back for literally like the day and a half to have my bar mitzvah that would I like I I left again, but like things like that. Like it was one of the biggest moments in a child's life in in in that religion, and it came second, of course, because it was in the middle of a movie. Yeah, I came back and I remember very distinctly during the party.

Speaker: 
I like gave a speech in the middle of the party, tell Roman, I have to leave, I have to go film a movie in Canada, I'll see you later.

Like, no one gave a shit because they're having fun, yeah, they're dancing, they're throwing streamers or whatever around, and I just left. And like I one of my regrets probably is honestly like not being like, I'll see you guys later. I gotta go film a movie in Canada and just like drop the mic.


Shalom, bitches.


Like, it was really, I mean, it's pretty cool because it's the one different thing. I would have owned it way better, but like, but that's that's such a change in a really big moment that interrupted everything. My parents had to plan around it, and like that I always think back now of like how crazy it was for my parents to like plan for that. And look, I think we should I think we've talked a little bit about Little Rascals, but I think we should talk more about some of the fun behind-the-scenes stuff. The podcast has called it, it makes sense, yeah. And for me, one of the craziest things I remember, and this is like I can't imagine what happened behind the scenes, but the movie was filmed in 1994. And in Northridge, this is the biggest earthquake that's happened, I think, on the San Andres Fault. And the the next day, a van comes to my house to pick me up. Same for you. What the f what was happening behind the scenes? Could you imagine?


Yeah, I think like I I imagine uh Spielberg called and was like, uh no, get those little kids set, get their asses on set. Like, we got a deadline, baby. This is Hollywood.


This is one of the biggest earthquakes, like like that's why people know about Northridge is the Northridge quake.


Yeah, totally.


And we were and that's why it's pretty crazy to be like, well, during the quake, yeah, my house kind of fell apart, and then I was picked up to go back to work.


Yeah.


Like that's it's a crazy story to say. Like you said, it's still a job.


Yeah, it's still a job, and like um Hollywood, Hollywood doesn't uh doesn't wait on anything.


Like I mean, every day COVID barely even from being behind the scenes of like every day, like an actor gets hurt and they can't film like for the time.


Yeah, they'll write his ass out and then you know it doesn't matter. So an earthquake's not gonna stop, you know, especially because Little Rascals was like a sizable feature at the time, you know. It was one of the biggest movies going on at the time.


And it was filming on the Universal Lot. So Yeah, like do you remember during set? Like, people would just be on the on the trams doing the tour, and we'd just be like, Yeah, we'd wave it on some.


Yeah, it was cool. Yeah, it was a funny experience being on that set because it like again, it was all little kids, and like you just you felt like you were just hanging out with your friends all the time. My experience was was wild because it like you know, I got pickles thrown on me, we got painted with blue paint, and then I got I jumped in the mud, uh, which was actually oatmeal.


But it was supposed to be like manure, right? It was supposed to be like pig pucky, was it?


Pig pucky, whatever pig pucky is, so yeah, uh, but it was actually oatmeal, which is you know, like just another effects thing, I guess. But um in case you ate it, yeah. And and I remember kids always ask me, like, why'd you jump in the mud? And I'm like, um, because it was scripted and I was good at following directions. That's why I'm I'm paid to follow directions and I was good at it, you know.


There we go.


But yeah, I had some fun scenes, and um I remember another little cool thing that they they did for us, like at the time when we started shooting, they gave us all Game Boys. Do you remember that? Like they gave the whole cast Game Boys because like we needed something to keep us like you know preoccupied in between shooting. And because I mean it's difficult to wrangle like 11 kids all the time, and like that's just the core cast. Like, there were still tons of extras, and uh, you know, we had our our uh doubles, which were actually little people now that I think about it.


A lot of people don't realize, like you know, and people know in filming you have a stand-in to stand on the mark like for for little kids ready. Yeah, they light and line up the shot with it, but I had no idea like that these were little people because I would always ask my mom, like, why are my friends smoking? Like, what are they doing? And like you learn later, like that's the only people that can be stand-ins for little kids.


Yeah, totally. And like, people used to ask me, like, oh, um, did you get to drive the go-kart? I'm like, no, I was seven years old. They're not gonna let a seven-year-old drive a go-kart. It was, you know, a stunt, a stunt driver, which happened to be a little person. And yes, it was kind of funny to see these people because you know, uh, at the time, like, man, I don't know the difference.


Um, you know, just ripping cigs and we also had like we had an elite group of uh of cameos. Totally. I remember Whoopi Goldberg was one of the parents in in like those in like the montage scenes, and I yeah, I ran into her at a Laker game like years later and walked up and she like had me sit at her seat, gave me a big hug, and like it just like it it was a big experience for a lot of people, I feel like, yeah, which is really cool.


Totally. Who else did we have?


We had uh Daryl Hannah, everyone's crush, yeah.


What's her name from uh Back to the Future?


Like Leah? Leah Thompson?


Leah Thompson. There we go. Yeah, Leah Thompson. She was the one who grabbed me by the ear and like uh threw us out of the Valley Recital. Yeah, um, Ruby McIntyre at the Go Carson. Remy McIntyre, that's right. AJ Ferguson. She was awesome. I remember her being so cool. Um, and then uh, you know, I don't think we need to say his name, but uh Waldo's Waldo's dad. Waldo's dad. Yeah, yeah. The current uh the current president.


It's crazy cameo.


Crazy cameo. I like to um I remember him giving us all 20 bucks. You know, I don't know if that actually happened, but I feel like I I feel like I remember that happening. Yeah, yeah.


It's what we say.


Yeah, it's what we say. He probably he'll he probably knew he'd get it back someday somehow.


John Candy was supposed to be the the dad for for Spanky. Yeah, I think two weeks before he had his heart attack. That's right. It's crazy.


Yep.


But that movie had a lot. And then Mel Brooks, I had to see Melbourne, like I didn't even realize at the time. I had to see him with Mel Brooks, the legendary.


Yeah, that's like that's awesome. That's that's actually like my favorite scene in the movie.


When we're on top of each other, and that was real. That's what was fun. That scene was real, like we were somehow on top of each other. Obviously, there was a standard version, but like that was I forgot how we were like doing it. It was like wires or something, but it was a pretty it's a pretty funny gag of like just three kids going to bank being like seven feet tall. Yeah, try eight. Like that's like like I even I look back and like when I catch clips of it, I'm kinda I'm like, that was pretty funny.

Yeah, it was a good time.


I haven't seen it all the way through in probably 20 years. Really?


You should give it a watch, it holds up. I watched it not too long ago, it's still great.


I've watched a little bit until my daughter got mad and told me to turn it off. And it's just like you realize it's yeah, it's I'll get back to it.


I don't like this. Yeah, this is too long. That's what I'm worried about. Like kids now, they like it's hard to keep their attention span for that long, you know.


though like they you know what's funny too the way the kids run in the beginning I never really realized until you till you like watch a bunch of little kids are doing drop off and pickup yeah they all run like that like super ironically fast and like all goofy yeah well they did it they did a high frame rate with the cameras it's so cool but it's like yeah so good yeah did you ever feel famous did you ever like you know at any moment in your career when you were little like go oh man like you know I'm I'm something I don't it's hard to remember but there was there was one moment where where uh I think I let it get me in trouble with my mom I remember distinctly we had I think it was E came to set do you remember like E Tra Hollywood came to set and was filming some of the behind the scenes oh dude I totally remember that I was taking a bath at the end of a night at home and when it aired on TV and I just hear my mom what you did that what and like I remember when I did the camera was filming us and I ran up to the camera and was like all you people out there are crazy and I started making a face and I yelled it and I freaked my mom out.


Dude I actually have that footage kids had different ways to expense Princess Mel okay one moment we were together that I it felt really cool.


I think we might have been like between eight and ten we're at I think Magic Mountain Knott's Berry Farm and these like probably high school age like teenage girls came up to us and we're like oh my god you guys were little rascals and they asked our parents if they could take us around to rides and it was like in a very fun way we were like eight to ten perfect age to be like have crushes on those girls and they were excited to take us around to rides and just hang out with us and like and it felt really cool then I remember this. But otherwise I don't think I remembered much of like how much we probably did get recognized just walking around. Yeah and I don't think it doesn't really hit you at eight years old that you're famous like some where if social media was around I think it would have been different. Yeah the fact that we didn't see ourselves all the time on social media and our parents seeing that and talking about it I think changed and kept us more grounded.


Yeah. I did a um like on the press tour for some reason I got I got sent to Germany to be on a talk show. It was like the Jay Leno, you know like tonight show of Germany when I was like eight years old or something like that. And that was a pretty wild experience because like uh like culturally they're just so much different at least they were back then. And the talk show that I was on I there was another little rascal from but from the original one. She's obviously since very passed away. Also the guest at the same time on the show was was all the play bunnies from Germany. So there was like all these smoke show like play bunnies and then me and I have I I think I still have this picture but I'm laying on I'm laying on their laps and this is an eight year old me with bright red hair with my mullet still and everything like that. And I'm holding the Playboy well uh like like laying on their laps when we took a photo yeah it was awesome Germany's the 90s the 90s were wild we went on was it Heraldo Rivera Heraldo Rivera and they it was like every rascal that had the older version still alive was part of that episode.

It was like the then and now mine just passed away just okay um the original Wyme my uh the original Froggy died I think at 18.


Yeah a lot of them died really young I think that's yeah it's a curse I think that's why my original character yeah Sidney Kibrick he he he passed away not too long ago which was like he would he never really involved himself with any little rascal stuff because I I think that he uh like because of the curse you know like a lot of them got sick and passed away very young and um you know so he he wasn't really interested in being involved with it but um yeah he just passed away I think he died at like 98 or 99.


That's a good run. That's a lot of years to have to answer those questions. Yeah totally about like why is your character name Wyme which I still actually don't know.


It's actually funny because every time people ask like the what the character's name was they can't pronounce it. It's like worm or weem or womb and and uh then I told them like actually where it came from the original Butch Tommy Bond was his name and uh he had a super heavy like New York accent like like you know he was a Brooklyn kid and he couldn't pronounce worm he said Wyme. So the original character's name was Worm but since Butch who uh was higher built in the cast he couldn't pronounce it so they just changed it to WOIM. So I always just tell people it's like it's like worm with a New York accent. They're like oh WyM yeah that makes total sense.

Yeah with uh with froggy it's like it's because I guess you know he had a frog in his throat yeah but yet I wept out my lizard. So that's kind of the but the funny part I'm always like like when he whip out a frog you were just like a weird kid who was into reptiles. Well people would ask like like did you keep the lizard and like I actually did. And there were there were two um one died quickly.


What were their names?


They were I don't even remember now but they were iguanas after Pokemon or something and and they were iguanas so like what do you learn when you're young is like you the iguana seems to grow in the cage it's in yeah and then my mom would have to take out this six foot long iguana with like gloves and it was terrifying. Yeah I remember your iguana but it was uh we kept that for a while we had until until we you know I think like 10 plus years. Another stupid question people always ask oh is like the dog still alive like you know I get that one sometimes like you know especially after we did the reunion like oh is that the dog I had someone tell me someone messaged me on social media recently that the dog they have is an ancestor related to PD and and at first I was gonna I'm like what why would I why would I engage with questioning it to wait for the back and forth I was just like I'm happy for you.


I'm sorry I'm gonna need some documentation on that I'm happy for you I've moved on with my day but that was uh a wild comment right right on dude well I mean this has been cool like I'm glad we finally did this and I'm excited to have like the you know the goal of this is to bring on like other child actors and like you know hear stories on like our favorite movies growing up you know and what their experience was like and like other little rascals.


And just hear is it is it enjoyable for them to revisit it yeah in in a positive way with others that share this life and I think that that's what's gonna be fun to see like how is it for them to you know talk to us about it. I'm really happy we finally did this like we've been talking about it for a long time we get questions over the years and it's a finally a way to address everyone's questions. Yeah maybe get some views eh but really but I'm I'm actually really excited for the other guests we're gonna bring on and ask about their experience to see if it's something like ours if they are happy to talk about it if they're finally ready to like unpack some stuff in a in a safe space and also just shoot the shit with fellow actors that that share the experience. I think I think it's gonna be really fun.


Yeah same I'm excited to like use it as a little bit of therapy and um you know hear other people's fucked up experiences and how it turned them into a screwed up adult. Yeah um or not but yeah dude congratulations I'm glad we finally did this same yeah we get it we're famous again relax hit like drop a comment subscribe because the residuals are not a retirement plan. Ask our moms