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- [00:00]
Podcast Announcer
This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
- [00:11]
Paul Verze
Give me money for cigarettes I'll never leave your cooking bed. I stay the night and one night we can Two or three years. The kids are not all right but that's okay cause no one here is
- [00:30]
Danielle Fishel
Take me Welcome back to another episode of Teen Beat. I'm Danielle Fishel, host of not only this podcast, but of the 1997 Disney World Easter Parade. It was hot and I wore a big hat. But now I wear many hats and this one has me sitting with interesting people who've done interesting things every single week, tapping into their teenage years to find the awkward and uncomfortable truths that that connect us as members of the human race. Because even if you were on TV as a kid, like I was, exposing every moment of your puberty to millions of viewers. Looking back is a way to learn more about who we've become today. I look at it this way. I gave you my childhood. It's time we hear yours. This week I'm talking to a pivotal piece of what I'm calling the Canadian invasion of Y2K. Whether it was Ryan Gosling breaking out from the Mickey Mouse Club or Nelly Furtado flying like a bird, Hayden Christensen being cast as a young Anakin Skywalker, or Avril Lavigne wearing a tie over a tank top, the Great north really was quite great. And the all out attack also included a Calgary born, Montreal raised actress who first found the spotlight as the young co host of Popular Mechanics for Kids, arguably the oddest magazine to ever become children's programming. Unless there was a Good Housekeeping for Tweens show that never hit the States. She would stay in Canada for her first major role in Airspeed alongside Joe Montana and then the Gemini Award winning Lucky Girl leading her to Los Angeles in 2001 where her whole life changed when she was cast as Kim Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland's always in peril daughter in the pop culture smash 24. She'd also appear in classic movies like Old School and Love actually and and then supply the Internet with thousands of beautiful gifts from the movie the Girl Next Door. But it's her time on wildly underappreciated projects that interests me most, like one of TV's funniest modern day sitcoms, Happy Endings and the 2005 MTV generation remake of House of Wax, which was much better than it ever should have been. Now she's returned to our screens after a four year hiatus where she focused on being a mom, but now appearing as Sue Florek in the romantic drama series Every year after. Currently available to stream in full on Prime Video. And today, as fellow members of the Maxim FHM Complex magazine generation of young Hollywood, we will sit together and chat about what it was like to grow up both on and off camera. Because Even though in 2013 she was crowned TV's most beautiful woman, I think deep down she must have some teenage embarrassment to share. Welcome to Teen Beat. The most famous Canadian to never appear on an episode of Degrassi High, it's Alicia Cuthbert.
- [03:29]
Paul Verze
Hi.
- [03:30]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah. Oh, my gosh. That kind of made me want to cry. You did that better than anyone I've ever heard before. Oh, thank you. I couldn't have given my career any better words than that. I mean, that was the whole kit
- [03:43]
Danielle Fishel
and caboodle, you know, sometimes it's just nice to hear all of your incredible accomplishments read back to you.
- [03:49]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was getting a little teary eyed there, but I was also laughing. I was like, this is all very accurate and it's touching my heart. So thank you for that.
- [03:58]
Danielle Fishel
You are so welcome. Thank you so much for joining me here on Teen Beat. I know I joked about it at the end of your intro, but I do need to know, how did you not end up on Degrassi?
- [04:09]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was just gonna say, I mean, until you just uttered those words, I realized that now I have a little bit of a grudge. Like, what the hell happened that I didn't get to be on that show?
- [04:18]
Danielle Fishel
I.
- [04:18]
Alicia Cuthbert
But you know the director, Kit Hood, he. He was one of the bigger, like, creators of that show. And I ended up. He directed me in a film, a feature film in Canada. So I guess I could say I have a little connection. But not actually on the show. But yeah, it was. It was a movie called Dancing on the Moon. And you talk about embarrassment. I think I had my first kiss on and it was on screen, so I was so nervous.
- [04:47]
Danielle Fishel
Something else we share.
- [04:49]
Alicia Cuthbert
I also.
- [04:50]
Danielle Fishel
My first kiss was on camera too. How old were you
- [04:56]
Alicia Cuthbert
want to say? I was 14.
- [04:57]
Danielle Fishel
Okay. Yeah.
- [04:59]
Alicia Cuthbert
Weird isn't that. I can't picture him. I'd have to go back and look, I can't picture, like, I can't. I was so petrified and I was so out of my element that like, you know when you have like a trauma experience and you like block it out? Like, did that even happen? Like, I don't even know. But it's true. And I mean, yeah, that was. So what was your. Was yours how scary? It was so scary, wasn't it?
- [05:25]
Danielle Fishel
It was scary. We had a live studio audience because it was on a sitcom. So it was, you know, live studio audience and my grandparents and my parents. It was like, everybody's watching and we didn't kiss through the week, so we didn't rehearse the kiss. So, like, the actual first time kiss. Kiss was in front of, you know, hundreds of people and on camera.
- [05:47]
Alicia Cuthbert
Oh, my gosh. Yeah, no, we. And our. We had a crew and it was so crazy. They. They. It just ended up that it was scheduled for the last scene of the night. And so I had to stew on it, like, all night, all day and all night, like, leading up to it. And I just. I had put it in my head like one. I didn't want to mess it up because I. I was like, I don't know how to do this. So if, like, I got to go in there. What if I, like, fumble and, like, kiss his nose or. I don't. I don't know, like, I put my aims off. Oh, my God. What if our teeth clink? I mean, I don't. I was like, I don't know what to do. But it ended up happening and it was fine. And I was like, I don't know why I made such a big deal of it, but I. Yeah, it was very scary. But, yeah, that's. It's so funny. Like, you put yourself in these situations on set that, you know, because you're. You're acting and it's not real, but yet, I mean, obviously you're a part of it and it's your physical body
- [06:46]
Danielle Fishel
bringing it to life. So, like, it's not a fake kiss. There may not be, like, sexual tension behind it, but there's. It's really happening.
- [06:55]
Alicia Cuthbert
It's really happening.
- [06:56]
Danielle Fishel
I want to go back to even earlier because I know you started modeling at just seven years old, and I want to know, how did that come about? Because I'm always interested in the moment. You go from just adorable child to adorable child model. Like, were you discovered in the Tim Hortons? How did this. How did it happen?
- [07:16]
Alicia Cuthbert
You know, it's so funny. My mom and dad would get, you know, pestered a lot. Like when we were out together, when I was like a real infant. Even, like, I think of my mom has stories you'd have to tell. Ask her. But, like, I mean, there were stories where people would come up and be like, oh, you should put her in modeling. And it was just, I think fate was sort of aligning this path for me way earlier than I even understood. And then at one point, a family friend was a was a casting director, but. And she had mentioned to my parents about maybe having me, you know, just go and do some modeling stuff. And so they finally relented, and they were just like, okay, let's. Let's. Let's do this. And I mean, I was so young. I didn't even. I just knew I was having a good time. I didn't know that it was, like, work per se. I just thought it was really fun activity to do. But, yeah, I would say that, like, I look back on it, and it is mysterious in a way that, like, not my parents or anyone else that was in my inner circle were ever pushing. It was just. Things were sort of coming into my path in a way that I can't even explain. It is. It is one of those mysterious things that I. That I still question. And I go, well, obviously, I'm on the path that I should be on. And fate was sort of leading me towards that. Yep.
- [08:39]
Danielle Fishel
Yep. That's another thing we share very similar story.
- [08:42]
Alicia Cuthbert
I knew this was gonna happen.
- [08:44]
Danielle Fishel
Everywhere we went, my parents were told, you should get her in. You need to get her in modeling or you need to get her in commercials. And it was. My parents were like, we don't know anything about this. Like, none. No one in our family did it. They were like, we don't know how to do it. Same. And then when that wasn't working, a girl I went to school with got an agent, and she just told me about it, and I went home and then was like, I want an agent. It was like, the universe was like, all right, we'll try all these different avenues until you land on the path that you're gonna land on.
- [09:12]
Alicia Cuthbert
And I think, too. I think our personalities. I mean, I was not a shy child. I was always interested in speaking to people. Like, you know, I. With my son, particularly, like, you know, we work on, like, when we're at a restaurant, like, I try to encourage him to order what he wants and not, you know, kind of step over that. And. But of course, he's. He's timid and he's shy. He's little and. But, you know, I do recall being younger and having this sort of fearless personality. I feel like I'm more shy now in my adulthood than I was then, But I agreed to. Right. And I remember just being, like, ready to go to anybody, be like, hey, what's up? Yeah, totally. What's your story? Yeah, tell me more.
- [09:55]
Danielle Fishel
What's that? What are you doing?
- [09:56]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, how can I help you? Like, what? You know, I'LL have the, the cheeseburger with, you know, my son's like,
- [10:05]
Danielle Fishel
yeah, I know, I know. I need to work on that too. Because they both my kids have. When they're, when they warm up, both of them turn on these big personalities. But there's always that moment where they have to decide, am I going to do a little. Yeah. So like, it's probably a smart idea right before you walk into a place to be like, let's practice what we're going to do. We're going to walk into a restaurant, you're going to order, so let's pretend I'm the waiter, you know, like even just to give them a practice run at it right before it happens. But that's really smart that you're encouraging that. Because people's skills are a lost art for.
- [10:39]
Alicia Cuthbert
Well, they're turning into a lost start. Learning how to communicate is, is dying out slowly. I mean, it's so strange to see. But yeah, I, we really do try to encourage the kids to be as independent as possible and especially in those scenarios because, you know, they have to learn how to speak up for themselves at some point. And I may not always be right there at his side or her side because we have an 8 year old daughter as well where, you know, I can, you know, always like they can always fall back on. I want them to, you know, have the skills to at least order a meal.
- [11:11]
Danielle Fishel
Exactly. At least be able to say you'd like a cheeseburger. You know, you got to be able to do that.
- [11:15]
Alicia Cuthbert
Exactly.
- [11:17]
Danielle Fishel
Let's chat. Popular Mechanics for Kids. You hosted seasons one through four and it was based on a magazine and you covered topics like animals, the human body, amusement parks, electricity. Is there one lesson or something you learned from the show, like maybe a fact or a topic that is still weirdly with you?
- [11:41]
Alicia Cuthbert
You know, it's funny, I, there are, there's, there's plenty. And they, and it's weird how like throughout my life they've helped me because it was almost like another mini education for four years that was so intense and like I find myself way more handy than I ever should have been. Yeah. I mean, as far as like, I mean, I'll give you an example. Like our toilet was running the other day and I just, you know, didn't even think twice. Just lifted the lid, knew the mechanics of it. Oh, the chain's off. Put the chain back on. Bang. Toilet's working again. And I'm like, wait, how did I just do that? I don't that it has to Be something to do with all of the mechanical education I had on that show. But we, we also got to do some really cool things that no one else had ever gotten to do. I mean, at one point we, we were on. Invited on to an aircraft carrier for three days. And I mean, just getting all the information on how it, how the whole craft ran, you know, getting to be catapulted off the craft. I mean, I don't think there was any, there was no other television crew up until that point. I mean, I don't know about now, but up until that point when we were there, it was the first TV crew to ever be invited to film on an aircraft carrier. So it was super top secret and it was super. Yeah. Exclusive and it was a really cool thing. So I remember like, getting to like, walk away from those experiences and be like, there's no one else on the planet that other than a military trained personnel person would. If that's what you call them.
- [13:21]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, yeah, that's the official title.
- [13:23]
Alicia Cuthbert
That sounded official.
- [13:24]
Danielle Fishel
It's right.
- [13:25]
Alicia Cuthbert
But yeah, other than like people that were trained to be there, you know, I was like, I. We are so special. We're so lucky. And yeah, you learn like little things. Like, you know, the, it. The flight takes off, like, you go from zero to like 60 in like two seconds to get cat bolted off that. It was like unbelievable. And yeah. So, I mean, and the list goes on and on. I just. Yeah. As far as like electricity goes and you know, hot air balloons. We were up in hot air balloons. I rode an elephant. I mean, I've gotten.
- [13:56]
Podcast Announcer
Oh my God.
- [13:57]
Alicia Cuthbert
I always say to my husband, I'm like, sometimes I feel like when I go back and people ask me about the show, I feel like that Dose Equi guy on the commercial, like the most fascinating because, you know, the best thing that came away from it is that no matter where I am at any dinner party or any sort of event, I can. I feel like I can converse with almost anybody on most topics. So it's, it was a really. Yeah, like, really amazing experience to have.
- [14:25]
Danielle Fishel
What a great work experience. Like, yeah, it sounds so fun. Did you get to spend any of your Popular Mechanics money? Did you have like, what was the first thing you treated yourself to as a kid?
- [14:37]
Alicia Cuthbert
No, you know, I. My parents helped me save it all and I used it to move to Los Angeles and get an apartment and, you know, try to make it in. In Hollywood. That's really where all that money went.
- [14:53]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. Which is an expensive endeavor.
- [14:56]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, it was. So I Was like, I was. And you probably know, I was at the Oakwood Apartments and Boulevard, right up the street from Wars Brothers. I was, like, feeling very, you know, old Hollywood in that way. And it was. It was. And, you know, Jay Baruch all also moved in there. Another actor we know, Andrew Walker, who's also a good actor. He was. He was there at that.
- [15:22]
Danielle Fishel
Every.
- [15:22]
Alicia Cuthbert
Like, they're like generational groups of actors that sort of find themselves at. Or did.
- [15:28]
Danielle Fishel
Anyway, it doesn't even exist anymore. No.
- [15:31]
Alicia Cuthbert
Well, there you go.
- [15:32]
Danielle Fishel
I know, I know. It's. It's a real time capsule, but we, We. We talk about it on Pod Meets World all the time because it seems as though everyone lived there at some point. Everyone had their friends, their crew that lived there. Yeah, it's. It's quite a.
- [15:47]
Alicia Cuthbert
It was. It was scary, but it was iconic. Exactly.
- [15:50]
Danielle Fishel
It was both of those things at the same time. Kind of like in general, the teenage years. It's just scary. But iconic.
- [15:57]
Alicia Cuthbert
Exactly.
- [15:59]
Danielle Fishel
One thing I have to ask you, because it's a pretty famous story that Hillary Clinton saw one of your reports and reached out to you to meet at the White House.
- [16:06]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yes.
- [16:07]
Danielle Fishel
Did you steal anything to take it home? Don't worry. I think the statute of limitations has passed. But I'm dying to know, do you have any sort of memento from your time at the White House?
- [16:19]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was too. I was too afraid to steal anything. But I will say. I will say that I got to hold Socks the cat. I don't know if you remember, they had a black and white. Yes. And I don't know if you're a cat person, but I remember seeing the cat come down the famous corridor with the red carpet, and I was like, is that socks? And they were like, yeah. Do you want to hold them? I'm like, yes. So I was like, I got a chance to, you know, hang out with the cat, which was great. And, you know, I ended up seeing Hillary Clinton Again, like, 20 years after the fact. And I knew I was going to see her because she was speaking at an event that I was at, and I thought, well, if there's a chance that I could, you know, maybe run into her, I should keep this. I snagged that photo that we took together from 20 years ago on my phone, and I ended up getting to speak with her. And I said, I have. I met you at the White House. And it was so amazing. And I'm sure because she's met a million two people. And so I showed her the photograph, and she loved It. She was like, look at my hair. I'm like, look at my hair. We were just, like, laughing at the fact that our hair was so hers. Hers was really short. It was really cute, actually. She looked great. But we were totally laughing like old girlfriends about.
- [17:39]
Danielle Fishel
About your hairstyles and what we were wearing.
- [17:41]
Alicia Cuthbert
She goes, I remember that pink skin. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I said, I don't know why I was wearing a man's blazer, but I guess that made me feel official. But we were dying, and it was so funny. And, yeah, it was a really cool thing. We got to go into all the different rooms. We met in the. We had a meeting in the mapping room together. And she just. She loved Popular Mechanics for Kids because at the time, she was involved in educational programming in the US and she was trying to get every broadcast station to at least have one or two educational programs for kids.
- [18:15]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah.
- [18:15]
Alicia Cuthbert
And so when she saw that Canada was doing Popular Mechanics for kids, she ended up getting it syndicated through the States. And, yeah, she really liked it. So it was really cool.
- [18:26]
Danielle Fishel
That is so cool.
- [18:28]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah.
- [18:29]
Danielle Fishel
On a broader scale, what were you like as a teen? Were you boy crazy?
- [18:35]
Alicia Cuthbert
Not really.
- [18:36]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. I love that for you. I was. I wish I wasn't. I wish I didn't waste so many years of my life just being obsessed with boys. So I just. Yeah, I love that for you. What were you into?
- [18:53]
Alicia Cuthbert
I think I was like an old soul. You know, I always thought that it's funny because it's so the opposite of how my personal life turned out, but I always thought that I wouldn't get married and that I wouldn't have kids, and I was, like, dead set on being a professional and wanting to just be this, like, I don't know, Meryl Streep.
- [19:15]
Danielle Fishel
Right.
- [19:15]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was so driven, and I had, like, the horse blinders on, and I. I mean, I. I had a boyfriend in high school that I had for many years, and I didn't really. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't really have any others. And then it was. And. But I was really focused on my career and. Yeah. Yeah. And it wasn't. And I was terrified about having children, too. I felt like there's. I was scared to, you know, be pregnant. I was scared to think that I could be, like, a great mom, because my mom was so amazing. And I was like, wow, I'm such a working person. I don't see how this fits into my life.
- [19:52]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah.
- [19:53]
Alicia Cuthbert
But then, you know, you meet the right person, and then those Things become so clear.
- [19:59]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah.
- [20:00]
Alicia Cuthbert
And so factual and correct and. Yeah. You can't imagine not doing it so totally. Yeah. So that all shifted for me, but for many, many, many, many, many years, it was just all work driven, which is crazy, right, man. Yeah.
- [20:18]
Danielle Fishel
I really do, though. I so appreciate that because it's the exact opposite of how I was. And I wish I had been like, here I was on Boy Meets World, working.
- [20:30]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah.
- [20:30]
Danielle Fishel
And all I could think. Thank you. And all I could think was like, ugh, this career I have is really taking me away from my purpose, which is to get married and have children as soon as humanly possible. And I think part of that was the fact that my parents met at 15 and got married at 21. And so I just had in my mind that, like, that's what I was going to do. And then of course, that's not at all how my life turned out. But I spent all those years thinking that I was failing because that wasn't what was happening.
- [21:02]
Alicia Cuthbert
Oh, wow.
- [21:03]
Danielle Fishel
So, yeah, like, I just, I'm so. I loved hearing that you spent all those years being like, I'm just gonna focus on me.
- [21:11]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was a cold hearted.
- [21:13]
Danielle Fishel
No, you had a long term boyfriend. It wasn't that you didn't have love in your life. You just like, that was not what you were obsessed with. You were like, I'm gonna develop my sense of self.
- [21:22]
Alicia Cuthbert
Self.
- [21:22]
Danielle Fishel
Which I wish I had done more of in my younger years.
- [21:26]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah. It's funny, I. I feel like what you experience, though, is very natural and makes a whole lot of sense. I. I was just always conflicted as to why I didn't want any of those things. I just thought, that's so strange to like, not be one of like my girlfriends or even my sister. I remember my sister, like when we used to play when we were kids, it was like, oh, her dolls were her babies. And I was like, I have babies.
- [21:51]
Danielle Fishel
Ew. Not babies.
- [21:54]
Alicia Cuthbert
Ew. I know.
- [21:57]
Danielle Fishel
Did you go to traditional school while you were working as a kid or did you. Were you always homeschooled?
- [22:03]
Alicia Cuthbert
I went to traditional school, although my experience was so ridiculous because I probably should have been homeschooled. I think a lot of my last three, four years of high school were, you know, in the trailer and with, with the onset tutors and, you know, the drill. I did all my exams and yeah, like the trailers and it was so weird. I mean, I remember at one point, like, you know, your attendance report card at the end, and it was like, I think I missed like half the school year. But. But I will say, when I was home and, you know, I would get back from filming, it would go. I'd go, yeah, just like a normal kid. I'd go straight to school. And regular, regular high school. Yeah, it was, you know, it was weird. I. I always felt like high school and elementary at the time, because I was filming felt like such a burden. Like, it was in my way, right. I was like, this is, like, it was always aggravating because here I was trying to focus 100 of my time and energy into what I was filming, and then they'd have to, like, rip me off set for two hours to. To study math and English. And I'm like, I'm not going to need any of this.
- [23:15]
Danielle Fishel
I don't want to learn English.
- [23:17]
Alicia Cuthbert
And, you know, I, Yeah, I was like, I don't want to, like, be in school. I have a job. Like, isn't the whole point of going to school to train to do something? And I'm already doing it, so it always. I always had this, like, real bad tug of war with it, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. And then now, again, ironically, I. I wish I would have had, like, the college university experience and knew what that felt like. I never got to really do any of that. And I think I'd be a way better student now, too, because I, you know, as you get older, you. Your mind, you're, you're, you're quenched to, like, learn and take in new things and experiences. And I know what I'd want to study, and so it would be, you know, at one point during COVID I almost tried to do some online university classes, and. But then I was like, oh, gosh, the kids. And I was like, nah, maybe not. I'll just keep drinking my wine.
- [24:14]
Danielle Fishel
What would you want to study now?
- [24:16]
Alicia Cuthbert
I think I would like history. Art history. I think, like, Cornell had some really cool, like, women leaders in business.
- [24:28]
Podcast Announcer
Nice.
- [24:28]
Alicia Cuthbert
I don't know. There was some other topics, but, yeah, I think, like, there was so many. And I was extremely dyslexic as a child.
- [24:36]
Danielle Fishel
Okay.
- [24:37]
Alicia Cuthbert
And which most artists, I think most artistic people can be. It's not uncommon. But I really struggled. And then. But now I've found a way to, you know, ease my mind, work into it. I read so much now, and. And so studying and all that, I think would come a lot more naturally to me. So. Yeah. But I didn't end up doing it very similarly.
- [25:01]
Danielle Fishel
I also did not enjoy or appreciate school when I was young. I just. It was. It felt annoying to me. It was not my favorite thing. I just wanted to do the bare minimum I could do to still get by. But then I did go to college. At 27, I studied and I knew I wanted to study psychology, and I. And I graduated and I loved it. So I think you're right that you. Now that you have a, you know, a better understanding of what specifically you'd be looking for to, you know, you could take any classes you want. You're not limited by, like, getting a specific type of degree. You'd probably be an A plus student and would love it. So I know highly recommend just signing up. Even just one. One little class, you know, one class online.
- [25:46]
Alicia Cuthbert
Just like, yeah, dip my toe and
- [25:49]
Danielle Fishel
dip your toe in. See what happens. If you end up loving it, you can always do more.
- [25:53]
Alicia Cuthbert
Amazing.
- [25:59]
Paul Verze
Hey, guys, Paul Verze here, and I want to talk to you about Paul's best podcast, Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network and I Heart Radio. I sit down each week with a special guest, and we discuss the absolute best of things. Davidson.
- [26:11]
Danielle Fishel
It's that and then there's everything else.
- [26:13]
Paul Verze
He would just shout one line and it would murder. Marie, lunch. Let's talk about the best moments that we had on the road. I would love a cocktail.
- [26:23]
Danielle Fishel
Dude.
- [26:24]
Paul Verze
Joker, get last row, middle seat on a Southwest Airlines flight. Joe, how was your flight? It was great. The guy in Penn State, we were on the field, and the player thought Joe was his former coach, and he hugged him, and he hugged him, and Joe just went with it. The guy goes, what are you doing here, coach? And Joe just goes. And you walk in, and it is bananas. I mean, it's a feast for the eyes.
- [26:46]
Daniel Alarcon
And I was like.
- [26:47]
Paul Verze
It's like. It's not my thing either, but we're here. When in Rome, top athletes, athletes, chefs, musicians, everybody. Listen to Paul's best podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:59]
Podcast Announcer
What did black music, food, and culture teach us about who we were becoming?
- [27:03]
Alicia Cuthbert
2016 was sort of that last era of monoculture where we still consumed things in community.
- [27:12]
Podcast Announcer
From Beyonce and Rihanna.
- [27:13]
Alicia Cuthbert
Everybody wanted to be Beyonce. I don't think we'll ever see another Rihanna.
- [27:18]
Podcast Announcer
To soul food, memory, identity, and the stories we carry through black culture.
- [27:22]
Alicia Cuthbert
What does it mean to be black
- [27:24]
Podcast Announcer
and eat in America?
- [27:25]
Alicia Cuthbert
So we were this group of people
- [27:27]
Paul Verze
who knew how to work the land,
- [27:29]
Alicia Cuthbert
who knew how to live with the land.
- [27:30]
Danielle Fishel
We make it do what it do.
- [27:32]
Podcast Announcer
Therapy for black girls is bringing Together the conversation shaping black life right now.
- [27:36]
Alicia Cuthbert
You will never make me feel bad
- [27:38]
Podcast Announcer
for being a black girl, for being a black American girl ever. Therapy for black girls is bringing it all to the Listen to Therapy for black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [27:50]
Alec Baldwin
Hi, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the Thing, I'm speaking with more artists, policy makers and performers like composer Mark Shaman. Once you've established that you have the talent, it's about the hang. It's the pleasure of hanging out with the people that you're with. You know, Rob and I was always a great hang. We would sit in and kibbutz for hours and then eventually get around to the music. That's what I mostly think of when I think of him, the time together. Laughing Lawyer Robbie Kaplan the great gift
- [28:20]
Paul Verze
of being a lawyer is the ability to actually change things in our society in a way that very few people can. You can really make a difference to causes in the United States if you bring the right case at the right time.
- [28:32]
Alicia Cuthbert
Marriage equality.
- [28:33]
Paul Verze
Yeah, Windsor's the perfect example.
- [28:34]
Alec Baldwin
Director Morgan Neville Film school teaches you
- [28:37]
Daniel Alarcon
all the wrong things about making documentary. What do you want to say? Documentary is all about your ear.
- [28:42]
Alicia Cuthbert
What do you hear?
- [28:43]
Daniel Alarcon
I feel like my job is listening really, really hard.
- [28:46]
Alec Baldwin
Listen to here's the thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [28:54]
Daniel Alarcon
The World cup is under wave and has been incredible. On our podcast the Away End, with Daniel Alarcon and John Green, we're talking about the games that have delighted us, the teams that have inspired us, what we're loving and what surprised us all through the lens of being massive fans of the world's most beautiful game.
- [29:08]
Alec Baldwin
Daniel this tournament has been magical so far. The expanded field of teams has created some incredible matchups that have already made this World cup one to remember. And now things get even more exciting with the intensity of the knockout rounds as the field is whittled down to one World cup champion on July 19.
- [29:27]
Daniel Alarcon
When you say it like that, I get a pain in my heart that the tournament is over. But there's a lot of soccer yet to go and if the first few games of the round of 32 are any indication, anything is possible in the lead up to the final. We've got it covered from an ultra's perspective here on the away end.
- [29:42]
Alec Baldwin
So listen to the away end with Daniel Alricon and John green on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [30:00]
Danielle Fishel
When you look back, would you consider yourself to be a cool kid? Because it seems like you'd be really cool.
- [30:07]
Alicia Cuthbert
I don't know about cool, but I would say that I really got along with everybody. I didn't, I wasn't in, like, some mean girl click. Or I'd say I was, like, very much Canadian in the sense that I was super neutral. Yeah,
- [30:25]
Danielle Fishel
everybody's great.
- [30:27]
Alicia Cuthbert
I, yeah, everyone's amazing. I would hang out with, like, the goth kids. I would talk to, like, the athletes I liked, you know, But I did have my two really best girlfriends. They were, like my steadfast. Like, we were always thick as thieves together, Jen and Steph, and we were just, they were my people and then. But I really got along with everybody, and I, I, So I would say not so much popular, but I don't think anyone, you know, I don't think anyone had a problem with me.
- [30:58]
Danielle Fishel
Right. You weren't offensive to anyone.
- [31:01]
Alicia Cuthbert
I wasn't. I wasn't. But I wouldn't say I was, like, the cool kid. I just think. Yeah. Like I said, I, I feel like, you know, neutral would be the best way to describe it.
- [31:10]
Danielle Fishel
Totally get that. Are you still friends with Jen and Steph?
- [31:15]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, Steph. You know, I haven't talked to Steph in a while, but Jen. Yes, Jen, I, I, I'm still close with. Yeah, it's that, that those are friendships that, you know, you, you go through life and they're just with you for so many years of it, and they, you know, they've been there through such interesting times, too, in your, like, adolescence, when you're becoming an adult and going through those, like you said, those awkward teenage years. Yeah. You know, we, we have so many funny stories and history together that you just, it's undeniable. Like, it. No matter how much time we have apart or how much time goes without a phone call, I know that when I do speak to her, it's like we never left. And those are, like, so special and. Really. Yeah. You kind of cherish those, those friendships. It's because it's in your adulthood, it's really hard to make friends like that because the history is just not there.
- [32:11]
Danielle Fishel
Exactly. Yep. I know. And they're getting to know such a. I feel like friends you make now only get to know one very specific side of you version of you. Yeah. Whereas, you know, and this version of me is not even the best version. Not that it's a bad version, but, like, I, There was a time before children where I was more fun and I'm just not as fun now. And so no offense to the new friends I have, but you're not getting the most fun me. You're getting a very kind of structured.
- [32:42]
Alicia Cuthbert
No, because now. Now when we want to be like the fun version of ourselves, we pay for it.
- [32:47]
Danielle Fishel
Totally.
- [32:48]
Alicia Cuthbert
Like, there's no. Like. I remember after having our first. I had. I forget. We. It was like. I don't know what we were doing, but we. We had a night out and my parents were watching our daughter. And we got home at like, I don't know, 12:30. And I certainly had too much wine or whatever it was.
- [33:06]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah.
- [33:06]
Alicia Cuthbert
And just wanted to like, you know, treat myself. I had finally finished breastfeeding. I was like, woohoo, time to go. And that was the night my daughter decided in the middle of the night to have a flu. Throwing up. I. My head was pounding. It was like, they. They know they can sniff out when you're trying to enjoy yourself. Exactly. And be just a little naughty. They just know when you want to be a little naughty.
- [33:28]
Danielle Fishel
Totally. They're like, are you having fun without us?
- [33:31]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah. They're like, I'm gonna decide to get blue. And you're like, really? Or my teeth are gonna start coming in and I'm gonna have a fever. Thank you.
- [33:42]
Danielle Fishel
It's always the way.
- [33:44]
Alec Baldwin
Yeah.
- [33:44]
Alicia Cuthbert
They wait. They wait until you're in the worst position ever.
- [33:49]
Danielle Fishel
So I want to go back to when you moved out to Hollywood, which I think was 2001. You were not even 21,000.
- [33:55]
Alicia Cuthbert
Two.
- [33:56]
Danielle Fishel
2,000. Okay, so 2,000. You're not even 21 years old.
- [34:00]
Alicia Cuthbert
No.
- [34:00]
Danielle Fishel
Did you come out by yourself? Were you super nervous? Did you like. Did you know people now?
- [34:08]
Alicia Cuthbert
I didn't. This is a funny story, actually. So I didn't know anyone. Like I said, I had a place at the Oakwood Apartments, and I. I'm not even kidding you. When I landed, I get to the apartment and I get through the door and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna, like, set up all my stuff. And really the only possessions that I had were like, my clothing, my toiletries, and like 12 of my favorite DVDs. Because now we're talking. Oh yeah. Kids listening to this, they're like, DVD. Yes, I had DVDs. My favorite DVDs. And I open my suitcase and they're all gone. So from.
- [34:48]
Danielle Fishel
They stole them.
- [34:49]
Paul Verze
Yeah.
- [34:50]
Alicia Cuthbert
From the time I left Canada to the time I got someone, you know, in transit, ended up opening my suitcase and stealing all my DVDs. So all I had was clothing and toiletries. I have to tell you, I wasn't afraid to be in la. I was excited. Yeah, I was really ready to like do everything I could to make it and to hopefully get a job there. But what I will say is that the one thing I wasn't expecting was like the loneliness. And I think, you know, not having DVDs didn't help, right?
- [35:20]
Danielle Fishel
You have nothing to watch.
- [35:24]
Alicia Cuthbert
I mean that was, that was like my fallback of like, I know it when I'm not like reading scripts and going to auditions. Mama's gonna.
- [35:32]
Danielle Fishel
My favorite movies.
- [35:33]
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
- [35:34]
Alicia Cuthbert
Didn't even have that. But yeah, it was my first experience away. And you know, hard it is in L. A to like meet people. You're either in your car or I'm sure your guests have said this. It's like LA is not a very easy place to just socialize when you're in New York. You walk down the street, there's bodies, there's people everywhere.
- [35:54]
Danielle Fishel
Yes.
- [35:55]
Alicia Cuthbert
LA doesn't have that culture. So I just, I spent a lot of time by myself for a good, I want to say like, year. Yeah. Pretty secluded. And that was, there were, yeah, there were moments where I just, I didn't want to give up. I didn't, it didn't propel me to like want to leave or give up on it. It was. But it was just a feeling that I had to like settle into my self and my aloneness and my comfortable just being comfortable with being by myself and being just with me.
- [36:31]
Danielle Fishel
And that's such a good lesson.
- [36:33]
Alicia Cuthbert
But it's really interesting to confront because when you, when you grow up, you've got your siblings and if you don't have your siblings, you have your cousins or you have, your parents are always there, you have your network of friends that you go to school and see every day and then you're just like, I was just picked right up out of that whole situation and then just plunked myself down into an apartment with zero nothing. And I went woo. You know, and I didn't have a boyfriend. I didn't have. It wasn't like I was like having like phone conversations with a long distance boyfriend. I really was very, very alone. But it helped me focus on the goals which were, you know, getting out there and succeeding and whatnot. So it wasn't totally bad, but wow, that was an interesting time.
- [37:16]
Danielle Fishel
So when in that process, after moving to LA, did you read for 24.
- [37:22]
Alicia Cuthbert
Six months into that.
- [37:24]
Paul Verze
Wow.
- [37:25]
Alicia Cuthbert
Six months into that. I, I ended Up. I had it. They don't do these things anymore, but. Or at least I don't think they do unless they're bringing them back. And maybe you can tell me, but I had a network deal, like an exclusive network deal with Fox when I got there, so I was only allowed to audition Fox shows pilots.
- [37:43]
Danielle Fishel
Okay.
- [37:45]
Alicia Cuthbert
That didn't cross over into the feature side of things, but it was exclusive for television. So my. My auditioning was. Back then, there was a ton of stuff for men of every network, but, you know, Fox definitely had a lot of stuff going on. So it wasn't like I was lacking in anything as far as, like, auditions go, but I was only auditioning for them, and I got close to a couple of things, and then 24 was. But I was getting dangerously close to, like, the end of my stay.
- [38:13]
Danielle Fishel
Okay.
- [38:14]
Alicia Cuthbert
And I remember being like, I don't know if this is going to work out. I'm gonna have to go back to Canada. I'm gonna have to go to college or, you know, I. I just. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and I was really nervous about it all. And I ended up getting the 24 pilot script, and it was my last audition before I was. The deal was going to be up and I was going to be heading back. So I. There was a lot on it. But I also thought, you know, I. I took a crack at it, and maybe if I can go back and work in Canada and save up some more money, I'll have enough to keep going and come back. And. But then I went in and auditioned, and I didn't hear anything for like a week. And then I got a call saying, oh, they want to read you again. And then they want to read you again. And then. So it was like three, four times I went in. And then. And then I had a screen test with Kiefer, and it was like me and another girl, and I just thought, okay, let's see what happens. And I just gave it my all. And I thought, you know, I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not going to put stress on myself. I'm just going to go really. I'm going to be really prepared, ready to go. And I went in. And then I was driving, driving home, and I thought to myself, well, I guess this is it. And then as soon as I got into the apartment, I had a voicemail, and it was my agent going, turn back around. They want to do a wardrobe fitting. You're filming on Monday.
- [39:30]
Danielle Fishel
Oh, my gosh.
- [39:32]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was like, oh my God. So I called my parents and I was like, I guess I'm not coming home on Wednesday. Wow.
- [39:38]
Danielle Fishel
Literally the la, like days away from you going home.
- [39:42]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, yeah. I didn't. I mean from the time the auditions process started with 24, but by the time I ended up getting it, I was literally three days away from. That was a Friday. They called me and they were like, you got it, it's good, you're good. And you're gonna film on Monday. And I was supposed. My flight home to Canada was on the Wednesday, so I was two days. Yeah.
- [40:01]
Danielle Fishel
So I don't think they do that anymore. Those exclusive audition deals.
- [40:06]
Alicia Cuthbert
I don't think so because I think the landscape is so different now and we have so many streamings. Yeah, it's so. And even like the auditioning process, I don't, I can't even. I went into. I don't know if you've been in one recently, but I went into one audition, like physically went in. Yeah. And now because we, now we put ourselves on, like if something comes up and they need a tape, you do it yourself. Now because of after Covid, everything has changed and. But I did get a call for a show recently, like I think five months ago or something. And they were like, oh no, they're. They're seeing people in person. And I went, oh. And I was like, oh, that's fine. And so I prep it and I do everything. And then I got in there and there was like all the producers and then the camera. It had been so long. Yeah. And I just, I. I mean, I've been doing.
- [40:52]
Danielle Fishel
You.
- [40:52]
Alicia Cuthbert
You've been doing this? I've been doing this for decades. Two decades. Yeah. And I'm like, all of a sudden I reverted Back to like 11 years old and I was like. And I couldn't even speak and I was like. And I said to them, I'm so sorry, I have to start again. I'm like, yeah. I'm like, my hands are shaking. I'm like, why am I shaking? This is very weird.
- [41:11]
Danielle Fishel
I have not been in an audition room in a very long time. But I did have my first like in person meeting. Just, you know, a non zoom meeting. And it was, it was the same thing. I was like, you can see the lower half of my body. I'm not used to that. I don't know what to do with my hands. And when there is a silence, I felt like I had to immediately fill was so weird. I was like, I don't know how to have meetings in person anymore.
- [41:40]
Paul Verze
Yeah.
- [41:40]
Alicia Cuthbert
And it was so funny because I had this outer body experience. And that's sort of what stumped me a little bit, because as soon as we started getting into the scene, I left my body and I started seeing myself, like you said, trying to fill the space. And I was, like, rushing through this dialogue and I was like, this is not even how I act. Like, I don't even understand, like, what this performance is that I'm trying to pull off. But I was like, I had to halt it. I was like, oh, no, no. I was just like, this is.
- [42:10]
Danielle Fishel
Sorry, let me start again. I'm going to take a breath.
- [42:12]
Alicia Cuthbert
But I think it's just like another byproduct of that Covid experience in that we've now all had to sort of find ways to do what we do away from human beings.
- [42:28]
Alec Baldwin
Yeah.
- [42:28]
Alicia Cuthbert
And then to get myself into a room, which used to be so normal to me, feels so foreign because we're just so not used to the process with other human beings around. And that human connection, it changed the energy within me in such a way that I was, like, taken aback. And I thought, oh, I gotta work on that, because that's. That's not me. And nor was it ever my experience before that. So I just got so used to sort of, you know, curating my own stuff, editing my own tapes, you know, doing all those things. So it was really an eye opener. But it's funny, I don't. You know, we just did. Shot this show in Vancouver, and I will say that didn't feel any different, and filming didn't feel different. And if anything, that's like my happy place.
- [43:16]
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
- [43:16]
Alicia Cuthbert
But, you know, those audition spaces are very awkward because it's just a weird room, an office. It's. It's. It's. They're not. They're not like, the real deal.
- [43:25]
Danielle Fishel
Yep, I totally know exactly what you mean. It feels very. It also, if you are very performative, you have. You are literally there to perform, and yet you also are supposed to be based in reality and grounded and. And so there's a. There's like a. A real you where you talk for a little bit first, and then you have to do the performative view for the character.
- [43:45]
Alicia Cuthbert
What's so funny? We didn't even talk. It was like, okay, go. And I was like, oh. Oh, we don't even get to like.
- [43:51]
Paul Verze
No.
- [43:51]
Danielle Fishel
Like, how's the weather today?
- [43:52]
Alicia Cuthbert
Nothing. No.
- [43:53]
Danielle Fishel
Wow.
- [43:54]
Paul Verze
No.
- [43:54]
Danielle Fishel
All right.
- [43:55]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah.
- [44:08]
Danielle Fishel
I know that when I watch TV because, you know, we grew up in the business I'm always wondering what was this shoot like? And when watching 24, I remember constantly thinking, this seems very challenging. I am guessing there were a lot of middle of the night shoots, action scenes with stunts, intense discontinuity. There was a lot of running, too much running if you ask me. What was shooting that show like?
- [44:37]
Alicia Cuthbert
Very intense. You, you, you nailed all the major points of that experience. I would say continuity for sure, but we had great continuity people, so that, that, that helped. I don't know if you've ever been like on a quick film where you're like also having to focus on continuity. It's really difficult.
- [44:58]
Danielle Fishel
It is very difficult. Yes.
- [45:00]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah. It's not great, but no, on that show it was like a well oiled machine, I will say. So I really only had to dial in and focus on what I needed to do. But my stuff was very intense and trying to not make that character, Kim Bauer feel like a burden in a way and bring as much realism to the ridiculous scenarios that she was involved in. And I, you know, it's so funny. I have a couple of young actresses that I know now that are in, in that stage of their career where, you know, you, you hit an age where you're too young to do any of the younger stuff, but you're not old enough to play, you know, the wife, the, you know, or the love interest. And you end up slotting yourself into the daughter role. Like at some point if you're starting off as a child actor, you're going to, you're going to end up being the daughter role.
- [45:55]
Paul Verze
Yep.
- [45:56]
Alicia Cuthbert
Maybe even more than once. And the daughter role is really challenging because the daughter role is a role that can't really die because it's, it, it's too sacred.
- [46:07]
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
- [46:08]
Alicia Cuthbert
But at the same time they have to write you in and find ways to keep you relevant. And you see that with a lot of different shows. Although Landman is doing a great job with, you know, Allie Lauder's playing amazing mom and her daughter. And you know, their, their writing is becoming really interesting. But for a long time I think that daughter role always felt like the Kim Bauer. I was like, I was like the epitome of the daughter role.
- [46:32]
Danielle Fishel
Right, right.
- [46:33]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, the stereotypical daughter role. But yeah, it was a, it was intense. It was a lot of fun though. But we did a lot of night shoots. We, I remember, I think for like, I don't know what it was five months out of the year, I was sleeping during the day, working during the night. Yeah, it was a lot did you
- [46:48]
Danielle Fishel
like being an action star?
- [46:51]
Alicia Cuthbert
I did, actually. I loved it. Yeah. I feel like house of wax. I got to do a bunch of action, too, towards the end of the film, which is. I got to pull my experience from 24. Yeah. Action is really. Is great. I love it.
- [47:05]
Danielle Fishel
I want to talk about this era we grew up in, too, of the men's magazine. Yeah, Every. I mean, the teen idol publication transformed into basically bikini photo shoots with matchups between us about who's hotter, which is super cool, brutal. Did that kind of attention make you uncomfortable at the time or did you just embrace it?
- [47:30]
Alicia Cuthbert
Oh, I think I was pretty uncomfortable. Yeah.
- [47:33]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah.
- [47:34]
Alicia Cuthbert
I never really understood it, and I also knew that it was a beast of a thing that was. That was undeniable and unavoidable.
- [47:42]
Danielle Fishel
Correct.
- [47:44]
Alicia Cuthbert
Right. Like, I don't think there was a time or space where you felt like you could go to your publicist and be like, absolutely not. I mean, no, the viewership, the amount of people that tuned into that kind of stuff and the, the volume in which the magazines were selling was beyond. So it was, it was undeniable. And you, you just felt like anytime, or at least I did, I felt like anytime we were going to promote something, whether it was 24 or old school or the girl next door especially, it was like, get her on the COVID of men's magazine.
- [48:22]
Danielle Fishel
Yep. It was one of the highest. I mean, it was one of the most sought after promotional tools. And that's how it was just sold to us, that it. It was promo. It was promo for your projects.
- [48:35]
Alicia Cuthbert
I think I resented it a little bit because I felt like it pulled me away from the ability to. They just slotted me into that and made me feel like that's where I belonged. And I was like, well, I have so much more to offer than just my physical attributes, obviously. And I thought, you know, fashion magazines are not going to want to touch that or me in any way. And, you know, that was the one issue I had with it, because once you got into that, it was like, that was your aesthetic.
- [49:06]
Danielle Fishel
Totally.
- [49:07]
Alicia Cuthbert
And really, like, when I would film or when I would shoot those magazines, I always felt like the least version of myself.
- [49:15]
Danielle Fishel
Right, right.
- [49:15]
Alicia Cuthbert
Because I was just like, okay, let me look at the rack of clothing and what am I? What am I? How far can I go without feeling like I wasn't? And if you look back, I mean, I feel like the only things I ever did for those magazines was, like, bathing suits. Because I thought, well, I. I can, you know, I frolic in Bathing suits all the time. So I wasn't too worried. So I really tried to stay as far away from, like, lingerie as I could. So I was trying to, like, find my happy medium and my balance in that. Yeah, yeah. And those lists would come out and I actually didn't even care for those, to be honest. I know. I. I just thought they were another byproduct of this, like, crazy thing that was that time frame. And I'm just. I said to the actress that I just worked with, Sadie Sovereign, who's so great on every year after that, I'm just so glad she's coming up in a time where, because she's so beautiful and she'll get a chance, she's going to do all these, like, beautiful fashion magazines and she'll do all these great things. But I'm like, I'm just so glad you're growing up in the industry at a time when you don't, like, you don't have to do those sorts of things or you don't feel like those are the biggest things that are available to you to promote what you're involved in.
- [50:30]
Danielle Fishel
Correct. They definitely also, like, you're talking about with, you know, looking at the rack of clothes, they shaped a certain type of cool girl aesthetic that didn't actually take into consideration women at all. It was just whatever they decided men thought was cool. And so, yeah, you're right that now so much of what is available to women out there with fashion magazines and is is really about your own taste and your own style and showing who you are as a person.
- [51:03]
Alicia Cuthbert
So the nice thing is too, is that I feel like magazines in, in general are kind of shifting away because of social media. And. And the great thing about social media, there's a lot of bad stuff about social media. But I will say the great thing is, is that we're in control of what we want to curate now.
- [51:20]
Danielle Fishel
Yep, exactly.
- [51:21]
Alicia Cuthbert
Like, I can decide what I want to show people that have interest in me, what I want to show them, you know, and so it takes the control back a little bit and the power. And it feels really great to not feel like you have to expose yourself in any way and you can decide what you want to do, which is so great.
- [51:42]
Danielle Fishel
So great. Well, that leads us to the Girl Next Door, which was a big breakout role for you and if nothing else, will forever keep you alive through the power of gifts. Gifts, you, your beautiful face. You will live forever in gift form. This movie is so funny. It's very sweet and you are wonderful in it. But I also imagine that this wasn't a very easy role for you.
- [52:12]
Alicia Cuthbert
No. Again, I was 20, and I certainly. It's funny, I was telling another friend of mine the other day about it because again, a lot of these memes, gifts, whatever, like, are all over and which I. It's so amazing. I'm so happy that people still feel connected to the film and enjoy it and. Because I certainly do. But I was. I was saying to her that I think I. Even though the role wouldn't be right for me now, I would have had more confidence doing that role at 43 than I did at 20, which seems weird to probably to people, but I think at 20, it felt like such a departure from my confidence and womanhood that I. I really felt like I was doing a great acting job.
- [53:05]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oscar worthy.
- [53:07]
Alicia Cuthbert
Because, yeah, I was like, this is such a departure. But I think people were like, oh, of course. That's how. Yeah, you should look and feel. And I remember it was like, yeah, a lot of hair and makeup, a lot of, you know, smoke and mirrors. And I mean, Luckily I was 20, so it. It was a good time to be doing that part. But I don't know if I could be in those outfits again. But I. I do. I will say that, yeah, I think people are surprised to hear from me that I. I would have probably felt more comfortable doing a role like that now than I did. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [53:40]
Danielle Fishel
Listen, I couldn't agree with you more. There is something about when you're a teenager and then you become a young woman and you've been in the entertainment industry, and all of a sudden people look at you and they go, now you are a powerful sexual being. And you're like, I'm actually just still a teenager. I. I'm barely out of my teens. You were 20, and you don't feel that way, but everyone's looking at you like, that's who you are. That's how we perceive you. And so, yeah, it requires. Requires quite a bit of acting.
- [54:14]
Alicia Cuthbert
And also too, like, I laugh because Emile Hirsch and I, we. We joke about it, but, like, there's like a love scene at the end of the film in the. In the limousine after. After prom. And my. Because it was in the back of the limousine, my side of it filming was literally with like, a. An apple box, which for people at home that don't know, it's like just a square little box. And with no Emile, with no, like, interaction with him at all. Just the camera and this box. And then Flip side for Emile as well. I mean, he was on the other side of it and then just like kind of looking up into camera. I mean, so it's funny, like, people don't realize that the movies take a certain. You know, you have to really put yourself out there and go for it. And it's not always the most comfortable situation, and it's certainly not as it always seems when you're. When you're watching the film. But it all comes together really beautifully. And I really cared about that character a lot because I thought, you know, she had a lot of heart and soul and she was vulnerable. And I didn't look at it as a movie about a porn star who was just sort of silly and frivolous. You know, I really felt like she was searching for her soul and her. Her purpose, and falling in love with this young man was a part of her journey. And I just thought it was a beautiful film.
- [55:37]
Paul Verze
And.
- [55:38]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, but it was, it was, it was. It was a. Definitely a difficult film to do, but it was. I really do love it so much.
- [55:58]
Danielle Fishel
I want to touch on House of Wax because I think it is very fun. First of all, did you like the movie?
- [56:07]
Alicia Cuthbert
I did like the movie. Yeah.
- [56:08]
Danielle Fishel
Okay, good.
- [56:09]
Alicia Cuthbert
I was happy with the movie.
- [56:10]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. Okay. Secondly, and related, will you join my fan club for it?
- [56:16]
Alicia Cuthbert
Well, I will help you run it.
- [56:17]
Danielle Fishel
I love it. Okay, great.
- [56:19]
Alicia Cuthbert
Okay. So I'm glad you loved it. Okay.
- [56:21]
Danielle Fishel
Because.
- [56:21]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, I, I did. I really. You know, that was one of, like, those moments where it was like a pinch me moment on set because Joel Silver, who was like this huge producer and he was running Dark Castle at the time that was doing like all these amazing big horror films. And I just remember being on set and like, when you, when, you know, when you're on a movie and you're like, oh, this budget is big, like, this is not some, like, middle ground, small independent film. This is like, this is. The big boys are out. Yep. And I remember being like, oh, I made it. Like, I'm on my. I'm leading a really big feature. And it was just incredible and surreal. And I remember thinking, like, this is what I dreamed about. This is what I. This was the dream. This was the goal that I wanted to be an actress on, like, a real film, you know, a Hollywood movie that I knew was people were gonna see. And it just felt great. And it was a lot of fun in, like, Jared Padalecki and Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton. It was a really beautiful, beautiful time. And we had so much fun we were in Australia.
- [57:30]
Podcast Announcer
Wow.
- [57:30]
Alicia Cuthbert
We had a great time together.
- [57:32]
Danielle Fishel
And another very physical sect.
- [57:35]
Alicia Cuthbert
Oh, my gosh. Yes, very. And a lot of stunts and fire and of course, wax.
- [57:42]
Danielle Fishel
Of course. Yes.
- [57:44]
Alicia Cuthbert
But, yeah, it was a really. It was really intense. But I have to say, I had a lot of fun. I had the energy for it and I. I was just. Yeah, I wanted to, like, kick ass and. Yeah, it was good.
- [57:55]
Danielle Fishel
Well, after a four year hiatus, you are back on screen for prime videos every year after. Did you feel at all rusty coming back or did it just feel like the most natural thing ever?
- [58:10]
Alicia Cuthbert
It was. It was like a breath of fresh air. Like, it felt so good. It did, because I was. I was emotionally ready for it and I didn't have this burden of, like, I'm leaving my kids behind. And that's why I had to take the time, because after I had. After we had our first. I was pregnant throughout that on the ranch with Ashton Kutcher, and I, I. So I was pregnant, really pregnant for that. And then had her while we were, like, filming and had to go back and was like, breastfeeding through film. Like, it was really hard to, like, juggle both of those worlds for me. And then, so when we had. I was on another film with Josh Duhamel in Atlanta called Bandit, and I found out I was pregnant on, like, while we were there. And I thought, okay, once this movie is over, there's no way, because I had such bad morning sickness while we were filming that movie. And I just thought, no, no, no, no, I'm not doing this again. Like, I can't. Like, I just can't. And then. So what I thought was only going to be about a year or two ended up turning into four. You know, how the years just sort of fly by, but then. Yeah. And then when. Yeah, every year after came around and the project, I started, you know, wrapping my head around coming back to filming and being a part of something again. And the show came about, I was like. I read the script and I thought, wow, well, how perfect. You know, sort of art imitating life in that the sue character is such a maternal force for this show. And I thought, wow, this is like the perfect back introduction into coming back to work. And I just. Yeah, I got to set and that all felt very, very natural. Funny enough that that felt really good. And I didn't feel out of place or nothing. Felt awkward. It just felt like it was exactly where I was supposed to be.
- [60:11]
Danielle Fishel
Oh, I love that. That's a great feeling. Because, you know, similarly to what we talked about going back into an auditioning room.
- [60:17]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah, that didn't feel good at all.
- [60:19]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, that didn't feel good. So knowing, like, showing up on set and being like, ah, this is right
- [60:25]
Alicia Cuthbert
where I'm supposed to be. I never as much as I would. I would always have to, like, really prepare for auditions. I will say I never was like the greatest at it to begin with.
- [60:35]
Danielle Fishel
So I think auditioning is always awkward.
- [60:37]
Alicia Cuthbert
Like, taking that much time off, I was like, oh, not so great for me. But yeah, no, the set felt like, you know, it's like my home. Yeah, it always felt. That's always felt like home. I've never felt uncomfortable on set.
- [60:50]
Podcast Announcer
Good.
- [60:51]
Danielle Fishel
Every year after began as a beloved romance novel, especially within the booktok culture. Were you aware of the rabid fandom and did it scare you a little bit when you were trying to figure sue out? I mean, you are obviously competing against what they've had in their heads for all this time.
- [61:10]
Alicia Cuthbert
And I think I always will be competing with what people have in their heads because as an avid reader myself, I feel the same way. I have a vision. But it's funny, I don't know for people that read if they feel this way and maybe I'm alone on it, but when I read, I have an idea, but it's kind of fuzzy.
- [61:28]
Danielle Fishel
Mine too. I couldn't agree with you more. Yeah, it's very. It's very like with a filter. A blurry filter.
- [61:33]
Alicia Cuthbert
It's a blurry filter. I mean, it's clear, but it's not. Yeah. So I always, like, let myself have a little grace in that. Like, I wouldn't be disappointed if so and so played that character. But I will say I do have. I think I have a sort of an aesthetic for it, but I. A blurred vision of it. But I. I will say, when I got the script, I then found out that it was based on a novel by Carly Fortune, and she's Canadian. And so even more so, I was really, because being Canadian, I was like, oh, my gosh, now that I know that I'm doing the show, I'm going to read the book. So I got the book and I was hooked. And I thought it was so well written. I ended up reading the next book based on the other son's character, Charlie's character. And then I read all her other books. I went into like this crazy fandom thing myself with Carly's novels. And then of course, because of my algorithm, I ended up figuring out what book talk was. And so I'VE got. I do. I do see and get a lot of recommendations based on obviously liking all that other stuff.
- [62:42]
Danielle Fishel
Exactly.
- [62:43]
Alicia Cuthbert
Yeah. But I, Yeah, as far as, like, sorry, your question was the pressure. You know, I will say that I did put a lot of pressure on myself because I had a vision for her. Like I said, a little blurry vision, but I did have a vision for her. But my biggest thing was if I could take away anything from the novel. And what sue meant to me was that she just had this joy and love and presence about her and everyone wanted to be around her. So I was just like, as long as I can convey that and people feel like they love sue, then I feel like I've done a good job. So I hope they feel that and that passion I have for her from reading it.
- [63:25]
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. Good. Well, I can't wait to see it. I haven't seen it yet, but I can't.
- [63:29]
Alicia Cuthbert
Oh my gosh. The perfect summer show you're gonna love. I promise.
- [63:32]
Danielle Fishel
I cannot wait. And I want to read all the. Should I read the books first, though? Because I do love to read, so I'm wondering, like, should I watch and then read?
- [63:41]
Alicia Cuthbert
I won't discourage you from reading first, but I will say I, I would maybe watch it because I then the book, you, you'll kind of know where the story goes and there might be some spoilers.
- [63:51]
Danielle Fishel
Got it.
- [63:51]
Alicia Cuthbert
Maybe just watch and then. But what I will say is, why don't you watch this season and then read the next book, which takes. Yeah, perfect.
- [63:59]
Danielle Fishel
Great. I'll start, I'll start first with watching, then I'll read the next one and
- [64:02]
Alicia Cuthbert
then, and then read. Meet me at the lake. Yes.
- [64:04]
Danielle Fishel
Okay, good plan. I've got so much more to talk to Alicia about, including her time on one of my favorite shows to ever air on tv, Happy Endings, and one of our listener voice memos. So make sure to catch a bonus episode this Friday exclusively on the dedicated Teen Beat feed. Just search for it wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss another episode. And I need your voice memos. Send in a one minute clip telling us all about something embarrassing from your childhood and we'll talk about it. Email it today to teenbeatpodmail.com Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subaksh. The theme song is by Mark Hoppus. Yes, that Mark Hoppus. Follow us on Instagram teenbeatpod.
- [65:00]
Podcast Announcer
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.