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Digital Social Hour
Grayson Rusell: How a Tent Revival Miracle Changed My Family Forever | DSH #1744
00:44:27
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- [00:00]
Grayson Russell
That's the crazy part about being an actor that I never thought would lend itself to music is that I learned early on what stories I can tell well, and ones that I just gotta.
- [00:07]
Sean
Leave alone, you know, that's a good skill to have.
- [00:09]
Grayson Russell
There's somebody else that can play this better than me. There's somebody else that can tell the story better than me. There's some that is mine to tell that I can only communicate at the most effective. Songwriting's the same way performing is the same way. My pet peeve here in town is, you know, watching somebody sing a song. And I don't believe that they believe it.
- [00:25]
Sean
You could sense that.
- [00:25]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. You can tell when, even though the performance might be immaculate, the heart behind whatever it is disingenuous. And not that they're not trying to really communicate it effectively. It's just that I don't believe in what they're singing about or I don't believe that they believe it. For me, it has gone hand in hand in. Okay, here are the stories I know I can tell well, here are the things that I've lived through. Here are the ones I can communicate that people will believe. Even though I lived through all this other stuff, they're not going to believe that friggin actor kid, whatever actually had to go through X, Y and Z. And so some of those, you know, I have to let somebody else sing who, you know, people will believe that, you know, they might live through.
- [01:04]
Sean
All right, so Grayson Russell here today in Nashville. Let's go.
- [01:08]
Grayson Russell
Yes, sir.
- [01:08]
Sean
What's up, my man?
- [01:09]
Grayson Russell
Dude, trying to stay alive.
- [01:11]
Sean
Yeah. After hearing your schedule. Yeah, I get that.
- [01:14]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, I went to bed about 6:30 this morning. So we're. We're probably. We're lunch. So I mean, it's fine. We'll have a big night tonight. But thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Friend.
- [01:24]
Sean
Yeah. I'm curious about your journey, man. You've. You've worn a lot of hats already.
- [01:28]
Grayson Russell
I have. Dude, it's crazy. I know we're kind of talking a little faith ish earlier and we don't have totally go into it, but I was raised predominantly by a bunch of old women. So my granddad was the youngest of six. And whenever I have a great relationship with my folks, but whenever my parents would go to work, like Bertha and Inez and Ethel and all these old women kept me.
- [01:49]
Sean
And.
- [01:51]
Grayson Russell
Like I said, I grew up touring, doing gospel with my folks. I was 5. Even though most of y' all know me as an actor, which Is great. My granddad, when he was 3, his mom died. She got melanoma from picking cotton and fell dead. She was in like her 30s. And when his, his dad became like a belligerent alcoholic after that. And when my granddad was five, he got rheumatic fever, which is like. Happens after you have like strep throat and don't treat it because penicillin wasn't a thing in 1945, 1950, before antibiotics. Yeah. And it paralyzed him. So he would just scoot around on his butt as a five year old child. And it got to the point where he was about to kill him because there's nothing they could do. And they're like, look, kid, there's like a traveling preacher coming into town. We'll take you over there if you want. Don't have to, but that's about the only shot you got. And so the whole family rolls up to this like tent revival, like shucking and bucking church service in the middle of like Verbena, Alabama, with this crippled child in their arms, arguing about who's gonna have to take him in there. Because none of my folks went to church at that point. They didn't want anything to do with it. And so you. I ain't taking him in there. You take him in there. Where the hell I'm going in. You take him in there. And so my belligerent, drunk, freaking hammer, Great granddad was like, fine, y', all, I'll take him. And this drunk comes stumbling down the aisle with his crippled child that hadn't walked in eight months. And the preacher was like, what's wrong with him? He said, he's paralyzed. He said, father, Son, Holy Ghost, put him down and let him go. My granddad took off running. Miraculous healing. Whole family converted, built the church I was raised in.
- [03:35]
Sean
No way.
- [03:36]
Grayson Russell
It was like boom, boom, boom, boom. And I lost my granddad in September. Me and him were really close. And I've got the video, I'll show you at some point of him talking about it. And it's this 70 year old man bawling his eyes out about how this miraculous thing happened to him as a child that he can't explain.
- [03:56]
Sean
That's insane. What a story.
- [03:58]
Grayson Russell
So that's how my life kind of kicked off. That's what I grew up. That's what I grew up under. But certainly, you know, when you don't know any different, you know, there's always another. There's always another side to it.
- [04:12]
Sean
Yeah.
- [04:13]
Grayson Russell
And then when you fall out of that or fall into Something else. It's always a perspective back on what was healthy or unhealthy about what you had going on.
- [04:21]
Sean
To start with, have you had those battles where you've gone away from faith a little bit throughout your life?
- [04:30]
Grayson Russell
Not wholeheartedly, because I always understood that the only reason why I'm doing the things that I am doing or have been afforded the opportunities that I have is because the man upstairs decided to. Which, you know, certain times in my professional life has been a burden for those of y' all who don't know what I do. My name is Grayson Russell. I'm an actor and singer, songwriter, and travel and play music and mental health counselor, all kinds of mess. But the first movie ever did was a NASCAR movie called Talladega Nights. That's what most people know from. Which might have been more your time than the one.
- [05:08]
Sean
I heard of it. I heard of it. I never watched that one, though.
- [05:10]
Grayson Russell
And so I played Will Ferrell's youngest son in that Kid named Texas Ranger. I had no intention of being an actor at all because I grew up in the same town that my granddad and all his older sisters had lived in.
- [05:22]
Sean
Right. Small town.
- [05:24]
Grayson Russell
Small town. Clanton, Alabama. 9,000 people, maybe.
- [05:26]
Sean
Wow.
- [05:27]
Grayson Russell
And so I'd done commercials for the guy who, like, owned the local car dealership, but he would use the cheer squad, you know, like it wasn't a. It wasn't a big thing at all. And I was six. Maybe I was in the first grade. Talladega Nights was an open call audition in the newspaper. The only reason we went was because my dad had a tournament. He wanted to go fish because my dad loved to bass fish at that point. And me and mom were bored. That was it. And two months later, I land the role. I have no idea what's going on because I couldn't read. Like, I hadn't started the second grade yet.
- [06:00]
Sean
Dang.
- [06:01]
Grayson Russell
And, you know, my folks didn't know if it was going to be a real movie, what it was like. Saturday Night Live was past my bedtime. They didn't watch Anchorman. We had no idea what was going on. Totally illiterate. So we understood, like, from. From that point, like, okay, this, whatever this is, is a whole lot bigger than us. Because there's no reason why Grayson, from Clanton, Alabama, population 9,000, who should be a peach farmer when he grows up because that's what everybody does, has now been afforded this opportunity to be an actor, got saved doing that film. Met Michael Clarke Duncan, who's the big guy from the Green Mile, he played the pit crew chief and it's a NASCAR movie.
- [06:49]
Sean
Okay.
- [06:50]
Grayson Russell
And at the premiere he set me up with his manager and that's how I was able to stay in it.
- [06:54]
Sean
Wow.
- [06:55]
Grayson Russell
And so I don't know if anybody really expected me to keep going, you know, much less get it, get to start with, but I've done probably 18, 19 different, you know, film related projects since then. Did all the Diary of Wimpy Kid movies. Played Fragley in those. Who is this, like white kind of Urkel?
- [07:13]
Sean
Yeah, I remember him from the books.
- [07:15]
Grayson Russell
Played frankly in those. The last movie I did, we got nominated for an Oscar. It was a World War II film with Tom Hanks called Greyhound.
- [07:21]
Sean
Let's go.
- [07:22]
Grayson Russell
Tom Hanks legend, Precious. One of the. I mean, there's, there's people that you work with and I'm sure probably, at least going through this podcast has probably been the same for you. Like there's, there's individuals that you grew up going, man, it'd be really cool to meet this guy, really cool to work with this woman, or blah, blah, blah, but never actually, like, maybe you dreamed that you would, but there are those that are so far above those, you know, dreams that you don't even, they don't ever cross your mind. Like, I haven't once ever thought about catching a touchdown in the super bowl because that's just not going to happen.
- [07:57]
Sean
Yeah.
- [07:58]
Grayson Russell
You know, like that's, that's not in the cards. No different than going, hey, you're about to spend boot camp and then two and a half months on a Navy destroyer with Tom Hanks and get nominated for an Oscar.
- [08:10]
Sean
Wow. You were actually on a ship for two and a half months.
- [08:12]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. So we were on either the fake ship or the real one. So we were on the. We were. Is. I'd never worked on a gimbal before, is what they call it, which is this hydraulic motor with the set built on top of it about 20ft in the air and it moves under you. And so we had the fake ship and then we had the actual ship, which was the USS Kidd, which is docked on the Mississippi and Baton Rouge. And a lot of people, A lot of people ask most of the time because they know that I travel and do music as well. You know, which one do you, you know, if you had to pick one, which one and why? And for me, there's not another occupation where I can wear gear made to fight the Nazis in World War II. Made in 1941 for World War II. Yell at and get Yelled at by Tom hanks, surrounded by 70 something extras, jumping and screaming and getting shot at, and put myself through school so my folks don't have to. There's not another job on the planet that I can do that. But also, I am not, in my real life a signalman second class on the side of the USS Kid fighting Nazis. And when I'm doing film, I get to tell somebody else's story. When I'm doing music, it's mine and I get to be me. And this is, you know, how I am, how I act. And these are the, you know, stories and lives and cautionary tales that I've led. When I started putting together this record, you know, even though I have done music my entire life, and I'll get to, by the grace of God, open for my ninth Grammy winner this year, all doing Southern rock stuff. Sorry, I lost. I lost track of where I was going from it.
- [10:10]
Sean
Music, your whole life.
- [10:11]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, yeah. Most people, you know, they only know me from the film side, which is absolutely warranted. And I've been afforded so much grace with it because most people, you know, I've gotten to hit a level three different times with Tal Dagger Knights and Wimpy Kid and Greyhound that most people never hit at all.
- [10:32]
Sean
Right.
- [10:33]
Grayson Russell
If they do, they hit it once maybe. And by the time they do, they're, you know, Morgan Freeman's age doing Driving Miss daisy when he's 60, and his grandparents and his parents and all the people that put in the work to raise this starving artist aren't around to see him do it. And dude, if I'd never work again Got my money's worth I get smoked by the pedal trolley On Broadway tonight Do not weep for me and when it, when it all kind of rolls around Most people know me for film. But now I've toured my whole life. And so for me and in my own mind, to be considered someone who's, you know, not just doing music for this, that or the other, you know, because they got bored or because they hit it on a social media platform, is really important to me to write this whole record.
- [11:28]
Sean
Yeah.
- [11:29]
Grayson Russell
And, you know, this is. It's called Living and Women, Volume 1. Because when all my band would get together to pray before a show, whether it was Broadway, whether it was opening for Casting Crowns, the general prayer request was Hell Living in Women, that kind of covers. That covers it.
- [11:47]
Sean
Yeah. What a name.
- [11:49]
Grayson Russell
That covers it. And So I wrote 11 of the 13 songs that are on here. And that's because two of them are covers and so we started slow rolling that out back in October and, you know, we'll see where it goes. I figure I'll write this whole one myself, which I have, and then the next one, and then somebody else can live through hell. And I'll just pick the songs that I know I can communicate. And that's. That's the crazy part about being an actor that I never thought would lend itself to music is that I learned early on what stories I can tell. Well. And ones that I just gotta leave alone.
- [12:27]
Sean
Yeah. You know, that's a good skill to have.
- [12:29]
Grayson Russell
There's somebody else that can play this better than me. There's somebody else that can tell the story better than me. There's some that I can. That is mine to tell that I can only communicate. You know, at the most effective songwriting is the same way performing the same way. My pet peeve here in town is, you know, watching somebody sing a song. And I don't believe that they believe it.
- [12:54]
Sean
You could sense that.
- [12:55]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you can tell when. Even though the performance might be immaculate, the heart behind whatever it is is disingenuous.
- [13:06]
Sean
Yeah.
- [13:07]
Grayson Russell
And not that they're not trying to really communicate it effectively. It's just that I don't believe in what they're singing about or I don't believe that they believe it.
- [13:15]
Sean
Right.
- [13:16]
Grayson Russell
And so for me, it has gone hand in hand in. Okay, here are the stories I know I can tell. Well, here are the things that I've lived through. Here are the ones I can communicate that people will believe. Even though I live through all this other stuff, they're not going to believe that friggin actor kid, whatever, actually had to go through X, Y and Z. And so some of those, you know, I have to let somebody else sing who, you know, people will believe that, you know, they might have lived through. I hate songwriting as much as I love it. Partly because it takes a great amount of effort for me to write and not because I'm lazy. I have a very Dear friend, he's 91. He's the only doctor we had in the county for like 30 years, 20 years. Well, one of the maybe two that we might have had. Started as a veterinarian, became a people doctor in the 60s. Andy said my favorite thing about being a doctor was delivering babies, he said, because that's the only thing that somebody walked in with and come out with something better than they had to begin with.
- [14:31]
Sean
Wow, that's deep.
- [14:32]
Grayson Russell
He said, that's the only. That was my favorite part.
- [14:35]
Sean
Yeah.
- [14:37]
Grayson Russell
And that's always been songwriting for me in that I'm walking into this really. I'm walking out of this relationship or I'm walking through this particularly God awful situation that I probably got myself into. And when a song happens to come out of the other end of it, it at least redeems part of that situation.
- [15:00]
Sean
Yeah, because you could teach others your struggles, Right. What you went through.
- [15:04]
Grayson Russell
I told you that story about my granddad. I've got a song that'll come out for Father's Day called Turned Out Good. That's the kind of pre chorus of it is. Sometimes I'd look into his eyes and they seemed old. But just by looking, you'd never know that. His mom died when he was 3. Got cancer, picking cot and fell down in the weeds. And he wasn't tall enough to see what was going on. At 7, he got paralyzed from the waist down because the fever took his legs. So he'd slide on the ground. But they took him to a tent revival and they all watched him run. So you can't tell me that they're in a father and they're in a son because he turned out good. And I saw it. And nobody will take that away from me because I saw the man that he became after having losing a mom. Lost a mom being terminally ill and then just not anymore.
- [15:51]
Sean
Crazy.
- [15:53]
Grayson Russell
On the other side of that, I told you I did a. I did a master's in clinical mental health counseling. I did so much work with actors, just, you know, you get put in a relatively confined space somewhere where you've never been before with four or five other people, and you're there for two months, working 16 hours a day. You all get pretty freaking close.
- [16:15]
Sean
Yeah.
- [16:15]
Grayson Russell
And somebody's life's almost always falling apart. If it hit mine, it's somebody else's. And I figured, you know, if I'm going to be put in this situation, I want to know what I'm doing. And so I went and I got. Was able to do a master's in it. And I remember sitting outside cooking steaks with my dad in Alabama, and I don't get to go home that often. I was there and I was going through that part of my curriculum where I was learning how important, like first couple months to couple years of your life are as to you turning out, you know, as you turning into who you are without any relative kinks along the way. And I was sitting with him, I was like, hey, thanks for, you know, hindsight's 20 20. Thanks for letting me Be raised by a bunch of old women in their 70s who had nothing better to do than worship the ground I walked on. And that it wasn't like a half lit sophomore that didn't care. Thanks. Because I'm understanding now, you know, doing all my clinical stuff, how important that was to me, being me.
- [17:19]
Sean
Yeah.
- [17:21]
Grayson Russell
And my dad's always been a very hard man. And he locked up, started crying. He said, the only reason you were raised that way is because I was abused by my babysitter when I was 8 years old. And mama doesn't know and nobody knows. And I don't remember my childhood. And I want to believe that was good, but I don't know because I don't remember. It sucked it all back up. And so that first verse of that song being my grandad lived through all this hell. The good Lord intervened. He turned out good. The second verse very quickly became, here's my father who is beat 90 to nothing the first 18 years of his life and abused by the only individuals who were supposed to take care of him and love him. And the only reason he still has his marriage, he's not in prison, he has me. I am. Okay. Is because the good Lord intervened. Keep in mind, we're Southern rock band. We take a little gospel turn somewhere in the middle, because that's the roots for everybody. And then we'll go right back playing Skynyrd or Freeburg or whatever. But there is no comparison for me in my personal or professional life than when I'm able to stand here in front of 30, 40,000 people and sing this song about why I am the way I am. Because of the people who brought me to the dance and watch grown ass men bawl their eyes out and then go, hey, here's your evidence. Because my dad can sing circles around me and then bring him out. He's gonna be on it. We've got a live record coming out in September. And me and dad did this old gospel song called can't even walk without you holding my hand. Like the 80s. Josh. Terry will be on, I'm sure, at some point.
- [18:57]
Sean
Yeah.
- [18:57]
Grayson Russell
And he heard. He was there when we did it.
- [19:00]
Sean
That's beautiful.
- [19:01]
Grayson Russell
And to watch my father stand next to me and I watch tears coming down behind his Ray Bans as he's singing and experiencing some form of redemption from the hell that he was raised in. Not that the point of that was for me to write a song about it. I'm not so naive or whatever to believe that was the case, but to watch something that Absolutely wrecked my father's life, be redeemed in something as simple as a song. When film kicked off, I couldn't get hurt, so I couldn't play a lot of ball in Alabama. That's all that matters is if and when and how good are you at basketball? Basketball, football, baseball didn't matter. And I wasn't any, really any good at any of them. But I couldn't afford to, you know, take a line drive to the, you know, ribs or collarbone or whatever and be put out of work because I had bigger fish to fry. Yeah, my dad had the most rushing yards in the state for a private school in 1988. Dad was in USA today from a. His graduating class was 18 people.
- [20:27]
Sean
Wow.
- [20:29]
Grayson Russell
My father has yet to see me score a touchdown or hit a home run. But my gift to him is being able to stand there with him in front of, you know, if we do NASCAR stuff next, go round for Talladega nights with a concert series that could be 200,000 people and watch that man's.
- [20:54]
Sean
Life.
- [20:57]
Grayson Russell
Not entire life, but those situations in his life be redeemed and turned around. And then when we're done, you know, we'll do, like I said, we'll go back to Free Bird and we'll put on a show.
- [21:06]
Sean
You'll pop off.
- [21:08]
Grayson Russell
But the crazy thing is by the time we're done, there will be as big of a line, if not bigger, of burly, hairy 40 year old men bawling their eyes out, coming to meet my friends father as there ever were. Wimpy kid or Todd Eggin Knights or Greyhound fans or Blue Ridge fans. Which is the show I'm on right now on Peacock. And they're standing there going, how do you still have your marriage and how do you still have X, Y and Z? And the only thing we can chalk that up to is the good Lord.
- [21:34]
Sean
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- [22:40]
Grayson Russell
Cuz he shouldn't. He shouldn't be here.
- [22:42]
Sean
Wow.
- [22:43]
Grayson Russell
And neither should my granddad, by extension me. Long rant, but that's how I came up. That's how I was raised.
- [22:52]
Sean
That's impressive that your music is touching the lives of grown men. And they're so open that they're crying in front of you.
- [22:56]
Grayson Russell
That's powerful. It's. It's not something I ever thought I would do. I remember I put my. This band together my freshman year of college. So we've been playing together for eight years next month. And I remember at some point driving through campus going, I have no desire to do original music at all ever. Because why, like, what do I have to say? What could I write that would be any more entertaining than me just getting up there and playing Freebird?
- [23:26]
Sean
Yeah. So you just said covers at first.
- [23:28]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, for the first five years.
- [23:30]
Sean
Damn.
- [23:30]
Grayson Russell
Nothing but covers. From coffee shops to like frat parties. Nothing but covers. And you know, now this year we'll probably hit three or four arenas.
- [23:42]
Sean
Holy crap.
- [23:44]
Grayson Russell
And it's the same guys that have stood by me, Bryson and Nick and Caleb and Austin and, you know, Johnny. Guys that have stood by me playing coffee shops for nothing. Like, and me saying, hey, let's do Def Leppard in a coffee shop with three homeless people in the back. Makes no sense. My theory has always been, if you only ever gonna play coffee shop music, you'll only ever play coffee shops. So we were playing hair metal at the Salvation army coffee shop in 2017 for nothing. And those guys have stood by me this long. You know, we made it to this point. I'm incredibly gracious for that. That's impressive and grateful for it. But it has been a. It has been a ride. And dude, if I get smoked by that pedal trolley tonight, I got my money's worth.
- [24:44]
Sean
Wow.
- [24:44]
Grayson Russell
I got my money's worth.
- [24:45]
Sean
You've come to peace with death at a fairly young age, man.
- [24:49]
Grayson Russell
Well, is. That's the other side of being raised by a bunch of old people. There's only like two left out of the entire village. That raised me of probably 30 or 40 people. You know, I've Gotten to where I'll lose about four or five a year. And that's not always old people. And life happens. Without, I think, you know, experiencing the cycle of life. I don't know how you appreciate the life that you have, you know.
- [25:34]
Sean
Yeah, that's true.
- [25:35]
Grayson Russell
Not that you just need to be exposed to it all the time. Like, no, that's not healthy. But I think I took for granted how close my family was as far as like I didn't have to go more than a half hour to find my farthest relatives. Wow. Like my. All my folks are on the same road. Granddad, youngest of six. Everybody had kids. Is a friggin herd. That's what I was accustomed to. But that's, that's not the case at all really anymore.
- [26:08]
Sean
America's going away from that.
- [26:10]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, yeah. And so when you have, you know, a family that's, you know, not, not necessarily like a, like a marriage, but when you got a family that's, you know, I got cousins here and cousins here and blah, blah, blah, blah, and everywhere else, you know, and you're not around. That cycle of life, the dog dying is about it, you know. And don't get me wrong, dog's a.
- [26:31]
Sean
Dog.
- [26:34]
Grayson Russell
But it's different, you know, when you lose eight people a year. Certainly when Covid happened, that's what it was. It was all people. That was relatively formative to me. The coolest thing was my granddad passed away in September and I was playing Whiskey Jam here, which is huge deal.
- [26:59]
Sean
Yeah.
- [27:00]
Grayson Russell
And we played it and mom called, said hey. The next morning said, hey, you better get down here. And I got to be with him when he passed. Watching that frickin like a movie scene. EKG beat, his oxygen went down to 9. My grandma said she loved him. It flicked up to about 11 and that was it. And I was able to be with the man that raised me. He was there when I came into this world and I was there when he left it. And that will always be one of the most. It's hard to top. Hard to top. I've kind of stood by. I've never told anybody this.
- [27:46]
Sean
Wow.
- [27:47]
Grayson Russell
I've stood by. This kind of, I don't know, ethos might be a different. Might be a weird word for it, but I think the two most important things you can do in this life is take a life and make one. And knowing how and when it's appropriate to do so is the most valuable thing you can learn. You should know how to be able to do both. Not saying you go out here and just absolutely whack somebody on the side of the road.
- [28:18]
Sean
Yeah.
- [28:19]
Grayson Russell
But you also should be capable of it.
- [28:21]
Sean
Should have it in your back pocket. You never know these days.
- [28:24]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, but, but, but then also just on like, hey, don't be a dumbass and have a bunch of kids that you're not gonna raise either. That isn't just pertaining to frickin getting after it physically or sexually. But Rob right here and Reese have helped to make my life where it is, certainly where it's going in the future. You have contributed. Thank you. To forwarding the life that I want to have. And hopefully I can turn that around and. And do that for you as well. It's not just physically making a child, but knowing how you can contribute to a life that makes all the difference.
- [29:24]
Sean
Yeah.
- [29:27]
Grayson Russell
And so I've tried to allow that to kind of be the greater governance of how I operate. And I think it's afforded me well thus far. I don't always adhere to that the best, But I think part of that perspective comes from, you know, seeing that cycle of life happen and going, the most important sacred thing I can do is be here when this man leaves the earth or be here when my sweet baby cousin Rayleigh was born. Go.
- [30:15]
Sean
Wow.
- [30:16]
Grayson Russell
This is incredible.
- [30:17]
Sean
Yeah.
- [30:18]
Grayson Russell
Forget Hollywood Boulevard, dude. It can go piss up a rope in comparison to these moments.
- [30:31]
Sean
Yeah. You'll never forget those moments.
- [30:32]
Grayson Russell
Right? Never forget them. Now, don't get me wrong. Hollywood has made the life that I have. I'm incredibly grateful for it. And it has allowed me to share these moments because I wouldn't be here having this conversation to whoever's here in this conversation tomorrow or 30 years from now. But it has given me a platform that I'm. I try to be very respectful of.
- [31:00]
Sean
Yeah.
- [31:03]
Grayson Russell
Because I know it's. It's not a calling that's any better than anybody else's. It's just a different one.
- [31:09]
Sean
Yeah.
- [31:09]
Grayson Russell
And it's one that you gotta take care of or you won't have it anymore.
- [31:15]
Sean
A lot of responsibility. Yeah. Cancel culture, too.
- [31:19]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. Yeah. I was. I was so thankful. My mom was on me. Still is on me. But it's been on me my whole life. And I never Understood as an 8th grader why I just couldn't tweet what I wanted to. Like, who cares? It's Twitter. I am 11 years old.
- [31:37]
Sean
Yeah.
- [31:38]
Grayson Russell
And, dude, when freaking canceling started kicking off when I was like a senior in high school, I couldn't be more thankful for that.
- [31:46]
Sean
They start pulling out.
- [31:48]
Grayson Russell
I was like people are getting axed for something. They tweeted about the super bowl when they were nine years old. It was like, what is going on? They're, you know, 21 now. Who cares? And. And so I'm very thankful that my mom was as strict on me with that because she didn't know my folks didn't plan on having an actor. They had a hard enough time just having me, you know, much less like, okay, cool. Now we're gonna have a kid that's gonna be under an incredible amount of scrutiny the rest of his life. Good luck.
- [32:21]
Sean
Especially in Hollywood, man. Yeah.
- [32:23]
Grayson Russell
I mean, my mom is an accountant. She's a partner in the firm. She started working in in high school as a sophomore. Could not be more proud of her. My father's a contractor, retired, builds homes. Grandparents, peach farmers, had a T shirt company. I'm not supposed to be doing any of this, dude. So the fact that my mom did have the wherewithal, even in the little.
- [32:49]
Sean
Things, said, hey, yeah, shout out to her.
- [32:51]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, shout out to Mama. Crystal, wherever you're at, I think. What's today? Today's Wednesday.
- [32:56]
Sean
March 18th.
- [32:57]
Grayson Russell
She's at work.
- [32:58]
Sean
March 19th.
- [33:01]
Grayson Russell
Taxes, dude. It's rolling. It is rolling. I. Do you ever dive into, like, theory of relativity?
- [33:08]
Sean
A little bit, yeah.
- [33:11]
Grayson Russell
And I could be totally off on this. Y' all can quote me and absolutely crucify me later. Going back to old people, my God, they take long to say stuff.
- [33:20]
Sean
Well, they're. They're doing studies on that. I think their processing speed is much slower.
- [33:24]
Grayson Russell
Yeah, well. Well, the processing speed is much slower. Makes total sense because it is.
- [33:29]
Sean
Yeah.
- [33:31]
Grayson Russell
But growing up, I remember 15 minutes used to take forever because in relation to the four years that I had been alive, 15 minutes was a long time.
- [33:42]
Sean
Yeah.
- [33:43]
Grayson Russell
But in relation to my 79 year old grandmother, 15 minutes is a blink. Once I started looking at stuff that was like, oh, that's why times flying by, because it's because the increments are not near as big as what they used to be.
- [34:01]
Sean
That's true. It does feel like it goes by way quicker as we get older. It's like so fast. But growing up, I was like, can this day get over with? You know?
- [34:10]
Grayson Russell
Come on, we gotta pick up the face.
- [34:11]
Sean
Yeah. I used to be so super impatient, but now days are just flying by, losing loved ones by the year, you know? It's crazy. Yeah.
- [34:21]
Grayson Russell
And I didn't mean for all that, you know, take a morbid turn with it.
- [34:24]
Sean
No, I think it's important, but it.
- [34:25]
Grayson Russell
Is but it is. I mean, because that's how you know, I mean you. What is it? You don't know what you got till it's gone youe don't ever want to, you know, not appreciate things.
- [34:34]
Sean
Yeah.
- [34:34]
Grayson Russell
But certainly when something or someone is taken from me, it absolutely should light a fire under your butt to make the most of what you have before it is taken. Cause you really never know. You don't know.
- [34:49]
Sean
Yeah, you don't know.
- [34:51]
Grayson Russell
But also, I mean, it just, it's motivation to freaking get after it, dude, and get it done. Yeah, and I'll take that too.
- [35:00]
Sean
You still have the same drive as you did when you were first entering the scene. Motivation.
- [35:04]
Grayson Russell
Oh, far more, far more of a drive. Because whenever I got into the film and the music so early on, I didn't know any different. You know, just like, okay, cool, this is what I'm doing with film. It was always cool, you're going to audition for this and if they want you, they want you. If they don't, you don't. Or you might get a call out of the blue in three years that says, hey, you got something. And here's what you're doing. With music, it's very much a grind and a far more foreseeable path. My joke is with music there's far more asses to have my head up because I can be on raw about doing something here or I can be on Skinny or Ward or whoever. And here's what we want to do and here's how we can do it and here's kind of a more control. Well yeah, here's a more foreseeable path. At least I can be working toward with film I can be working out, working on some kind of skill that's going to make me more marketable. I used to fence in the eighth grade or work on my accent and the networking side of that is far more limited because it's not always up to the powers that be. Because who's to say that the script that they really love is going to get picked up? And who's to say that when it does get picked up that it's going to get green lit by studio to actually be made or the budget's going to be there to do it the way that they want to? And who's to say that if they do get that far, it's not going to conflict with something you've already got going on. And at this point you're five years into somebody going, hey, I got this part I'd really like really like, for you to read for. So it's a different. It's a different animal altogether. I'm glad that I got into it early on when my livelihood did not. Or at least the livelihood of my family didn't depend on it, because, like, the rejection side of it that really eats people up is one that kind of. I escaped because it wasn't as big of a deal whether I got the movie or not as a nine year old because I was just doing it because I knew I was supposed to be doing it.
- [37:04]
Sean
Right.
- [37:05]
Grayson Russell
There were some roles I didn't get that I really wanted. I auditioned for SJ and the Blindside, but was too tall.
- [37:11]
Sean
You were too tall.
- [37:12]
Grayson Russell
Like the final round and of all things, I was, you know, five, eight. Grayson, you know, as a nine year old, was too tall or whatever. But, you know, when you're, you know, just starting out into it, have enough success to where you want to do that full time, and you're, you know, 30 and you, you know, or 35, and you've got a wife and two kids, and that's how you're making a living. I don't wish that on anybody.
- [37:38]
Sean
A lot of pressure.
- [37:39]
Grayson Russell
A lot of pressure. Because it's not up to you. It is not up to you. You can be the best actor on the planet and somebody's grandkid to say that they want to take.
- [37:48]
Sean
Yeah. A lot of politics involved there.
- [37:50]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. Or, I mean, okay. The budgets are there. Okay. Well. Well, now we've cast our lead, and our lead's five, nine. So now everybody else kind of has to be. Now if the leading male's five, nine, the leading female is probably gonna have to be five, six. Wow. You know, and so now you've got the height discrimination. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [38:10]
Sean
I didn't even think about that.
- [38:11]
Grayson Russell
Well, I mean, that's just how it shakes out. I mean, I didn't get a lot of roles correct growing up because I was redheaded.
- [38:15]
Sean
Really.
- [38:15]
Grayson Russell
Not because people don't like redheads. It's just because it's hard to match you to a family.
- [38:19]
Sean
Oh.
- [38:20]
Grayson Russell
When there's not a lot of leading, you know, women and men who are redheaded. Tao dance is my saving grace. Because I never thought about it. They wanted it to look like I was illegitimate and wasn't Will's kid, even though I was Will's kid. And I didn't think about that until somebody pointed it out. Probably like two years ago, you didn't even know. And I didn't think about it. But Both my parents have black hair. You know, there's not another redhead person in my family. There was apparently on both sides, maybe a great great grandfather somewhere, somewhere down the line. Because it has to be because it's recessive, which it, which if you'll see people like that have a red beard but black hair. That's because it comes from one side.
- [39:04]
Sean
Okay. So you need both to be full red.
- [39:06]
Grayson Russell
Both live already.
- [39:07]
Sean
Wow. I wonder if I have it. My aunt has red hair. Maybe I'm Irish.
- [39:11]
Grayson Russell
So there you go.
- [39:12]
Sean
Yeah, I'm not sure. We'll see if my fiance has some red hair in her family. I wouldn't mind a redhead, baby.
- [39:17]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. Now, how long have y' all been together?
- [39:19]
Sean
Eight years. Getting married this year, man.
- [39:21]
Grayson Russell
Congratulations. Like, is there like a particular place you've always wanted to get married?
- [39:26]
Sean
We met in Jersey, so we're gonna do it there. Both our families are from there. But big change. I'm.
- [39:31]
Grayson Russell
I'm no longer engaged. I. I was engaged for a while.
- [39:33]
Sean
Oh, that was one of my questions for you.
- [39:35]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. Yeah. So I was. Not anymore. You know, wasn't happy about it then. Not over the moon about it now. But you live and you learn and you do the best of what you have. But I remember probably five, six years ago. No, it's probably longer than that. Once I got old enough to, you know, like, know, like, okay, cool. Really? You know, once I started thinking about, you know, okay, if I propose to somebody, where am I gonna, where am I gonna do it at? And the most beautiful place I'd ever seen in my life was Etterus in the Lord of the Rings. If you've ever seen Lord of the Rings, Two Towers, I've seen it. It's this, where all the horse riding people are from. It's this little hill surrounded by Snow capped mountains, 360 degrees.
- [40:21]
Sean
Mmm, that's beautiful.
- [40:23]
Grayson Russell
And I saw that as a four or five year old. And that's always in my mind been, that's the most beautiful place on the planet. And so when I got ready to propose, gosh, 20 years later, it's like, okay, going to New Zealand, taking her to Mount Sunday. And that's where I'm proposing. Because that's the most beautiful place on the planet I can think of.
- [40:47]
Sean
Yeah.
- [40:48]
Grayson Russell
Now, I probably should have asked her before I did, but probably should have consulted her about it.
- [40:54]
Sean
So she said no.
- [40:55]
Grayson Russell
Oh, no. She, she said yes. And then it ended. It ended up not working out, like for other reasons. But the other side of my mind was if it don't work, I got a trip and we're good. And you know, that's one of those things where, like I said, my grandparents did T shirts, made T shirts.
- [41:12]
Sean
Yeah.
- [41:13]
Grayson Russell
You know, I would be four or five years old with a stick in the back of the shop, you know, fighting them imaginary orcs. And so 20 years later to have the, the to be blessed enough to say that I want to go propose to my wife in New Zealand.
- [41:29]
Sean
Yeah.
- [41:30]
Grayson Russell
And I got my little sports shop, Clanton, Alabama hat, wrapped it up in some rocks and unless the wind blew it off, it's still sitting. I love that on that mountain.
- [41:42]
Sean
I've been to 20 countries, man. New Zealand is top three for me. Dude.
- [41:45]
Grayson Russell
Dude. It is the most cons consistently beautiful place I've ever seen. So beautiful. And the people are awesome.
- [41:49]
Sean
People are great.
- [41:49]
Grayson Russell
Like, you can be in the worst part of town and you can just pull some homeless guy up and he'll be like, oh, man, you just hang a lift down here. And then, you know, it's like, I never once felt threatened at all. The last time I went, we, we rented a, like a Toyota Hilux at the Christchurch airport. We're driving down the south island and I started cranking George Jones like old school, like, you know, like, like George Jones with the windows down. And the parking attendant came up, he was a younger guy, he's like in his 30s. He's like, I can't do a Kiwi accent at all. But he's like, oh, I heard your music and thought, ah, rednecks. He's like, you can take the boy out of America, but you can't take America out of the boy. And some other guy came up and started making fun of us. He's an old guy. And the young one said, oh, shut up. You're the same way with Elton and John. It's funny, just really sweet people.
- [42:42]
Sean
Yeah.
- [42:43]
Grayson Russell
Really good food.
- [42:44]
Sean
Food is. Oh my gosh.
- [42:45]
Grayson Russell
I love the fact that sheep are so stupid. I understand now why the good Lord refers to people as sheep. Because we're stupid. Yeah, but dude, going down the road, sheep everywhere. Honk the horn, the whole flock will scatter in complete and utter terror. They live next to a road. It's not like they've never heard a car home before. It was a blast.
- [43:07]
Sean
Yeah, dude, same thing with squirrels. When you go to certain spots, squirrels are stupid. But where I grew up in Jersey, they're smart. Yeah. You know, they'll avoid you, but in New Zealand they'll come up to you. It's crazy.
- [43:17]
Grayson Russell
Hey, like, every. Everything's nice.
- [43:19]
Sean
Everything. Yeah, every animal is nice over there.
- [43:21]
Grayson Russell
It's like, what's going on?
- [43:22]
Sean
It must be the energy. Yes.
- [43:23]
Grayson Russell
It's the free health care. That's all.
- [43:24]
Sean
They like free health care and no one's bothering them. They're on an island.
- [43:28]
Grayson Russell
No, he's bothered them. They're on their own.
- [43:29]
Sean
They don't got to worry about border issues.
- [43:31]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy.
- [43:33]
Sean
Well, Grayson, it's been fun, man. I can't wait to follow your journey. Where can people keep up with you, man?
- [43:38]
Grayson Russell
Yeah. If y' all wouldn't mind, on my Instagram or TikTok or whatever, it's Grayson. G R A Y S O N C Russell. Two S's and two L's. My website's Grayson Russell online dot com. Go listen to my music. Got a new song out called Go Cry Somewhere Else. The. The. The. How I introduced that one is for anybody who's ever cheated on you, then cried about it. Song was called Go Cry Somewhere Else. And. And yeah, Sean, I really appreciate you having me on.
- [44:07]
Sean
Yeah.
- [44:07]
Grayson Russell
Rob, Reese, thank y' all for setting this up.
- [44:09]
Sean
Shout out to Reese.
- [44:12]
Grayson Russell
I look forward to seeing you again, my friend.
- [44:14]
Sean
Likewise. Check them out, guys. That was a fun episode. Important episode. I'll see you guys next time.
- [44:20]
Grayson Russell
Boom. Thank you.
- [44:22]
Sean
I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.