Sarah Chalk (3:44)

So the last time I saw you was in Vancouver. Yes, at the Taylor Swift concert, her last performance.

Unidentified Female Guest (3:51)

Last show.

Sarah Chalk (3:52)

I had seen her concert in L. A at the beginning of her tour. And then Justin was like, should we go to the last show? I was like, yes, we should. Of course we stayed in the hotel, like literally right next to that venue. And the first night we were in the hotel, she was doing like a five night run there. Our hotel room window looked into the venue and we could basically see sort of like a slightly obscured. But you could see the show and like feel the reverberation of the concert through our walls. And then the next night you went to the show and.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (4:32)

Yeah.

Sarah Chalk (4:32)

Did you take your kids with you or did you go.

Unidentified Female Guest (4:34)

Yeah, so we actually went to Seattle with. Oh, so we went both. Okay, so we went to Seattle because. So I have my daughter at the time in Seattle was seven, I think. And then I have three nieces and my nephew's girlfriend and my sisters. And so we were like, how are we possibly going to find a way to get 10 tickets to this concert? But what happened was is my niece comes walking down the stairs when it got announced and she can't breathe. And she was like, taylor Swift is going on tour, falling just remit being announced. Yeah, so we got the tickets because every. We all registered for the lottery and one of us got the lottery of six tickets and then I was able to get four more tickets. And you know, it was in Seattle, Lumen stadium. It's probably, I don't know what, 80,000 seats there. Yeah, we got the tickets in the row right behind. Right. So we had six. We had 10 seats together. It was like a Taylor Swift miracle. And I can't like that. When that clock starts counting down for two minutes, it's like any other concert I've ever been to. The whole stadium is like. There's an energy to it. Everybody is screaming, everyone is crying. Everyone's trading bracelets, which was, like, the coolest thing in the world. We live in a world where nobody talks to anyone they didn't come to a show with. And everybody's, like, interacting. And there's, like, people coming down the stairs with arms of bracelets that they're just giving to all the kids. It was like this incredible feeling.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (6:07)

Incredible energy.

Unidentified Female Guest (6:08)

Incredible.

Sarah Chalk (6:09)

Like, such positivity.

Unidentified Female Guest (6:12)

Such positivity. It was so cool. And my. I mean, I just remember, like, I just walked kind of like, in front of these two rows of my daughter and my nieces, and I just watched their faces for that whole first song, and they were just like. It was like they were elated. Like, it was incredible.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (6:30)

So cool.

Sarah Chalk (6:30)

You got to give them that.

Unidentified Female Guest (6:32)

So cool. And then. So when it was in Vancouver, I took my nieces and my daughter, and it was. Yeah, it was insane because it was the Last Call concert. It had this, like, even crazier energy to it.

Sarah Chalk (6:42)

I know, I know. I was like, is she going to just go on for, like, three more hours? We could have stayed there if she had.

Unidentified Female Guest (6:48)

Yeah.

Sarah Chalk (6:48)

There was a piece to me, though, that was like, I'm. I get so tired so fast. And concerts already start after my bedtime.

Unidentified Female Guest (6:54)

Yes.

Sarah Chalk (6:55)

Remember when Jamie Lee Curtis was doing, like, her Oscar campaign for Everything Everywhere all at once? And I remember her like, God loves her Oscar campaign. Because she would just be like, I'm going to tell you how it is. She's like, concerts need to do matinee. We need a Coldplay matinee. And I was like, she's just speaking my truth. But that's how I felt. Like, this is starting way too late. I'm getting out, like, a quarter to 12. Guess who I helped get Taylor Swift tickets for? You're never gonna believe Lori Metcalf.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (7:25)

No. Oh, my God.

Sarah Chalk (7:26)

Yeah. Yeah.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (7:27)

Oh, my God.

Sarah Chalk (7:28)

Amazing.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (7:28)

Yeah.

Sarah Chalk (7:28)

Your TV aunt.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (7:29)

Amazing.

Unidentified Female Guest (7:30)

She.

Sarah Chalk (7:32)

It was actually for her daughter, and her daughter was like, I want to see Taylor Swift in Ireland. I don't know who to. How to get tickets. And Laurie was like, I think Jesse has maybe some sort of an in. And so I called Taylor's publicist, who is a friend of ours, and I was like, look, zero pressure, but can we do it. Can we do a solid for Laurie Metcalf and help her get her daughter in? And they pulled through. They pulled through.

Unidentified Female Guest (8:02)

It was the hardest. It was the hardest pull through. Like, it was just like. Yeah, it was impossible.

Sarah Chalk (8:11)

Listen. Honored to do anything for Lori Metcalf. That woman is a national treasure.

Unidentified Female Guest (8:16)

She's a national treasure. I was literally, like, brand new to this business, had no idea what I was doing. And I remember just sitting on set with her, watching her. Every take was different. Every time she read it was incredible. One of those people you watch and you're like, oh, nobody would have read it like that ever.

Sarah Chalk (8:31)

I still think about the scene. I don't know if you were in this season, but I do want to talk a little bit about her, even though you can talk about it ad nauseam. But there was a scene where she's saying that. She's saying that someone's dead. Someone's passed away. He's no longer with us. They care him here. He's. He's no longer here. He's dead. He's dead. He has passed away. She's so good.

Unidentified Female Guest (8:59)

So good. No, she's unbelievable. And I had no business being there. I was brand new. I was like, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Sarah Chalk (9:08)

I mean, I learned a lot when I was doing. My first sitcom was called the Class, and I had a great cast. And we were. Two of my castmates on the Class were dating actors on from Friends. Andrea Anders was dating Matt LeBlanc at the time, and Lizzie Kaplan was with Matthew Perry. And they would get advice from their boyfriends. They're like, don't do anything crazy in a shoot, because that's just like, all of a sudden it will be like, yeah. And like, you know, they were telling stories about, like, you know, when we were splashing around in that fountain, like, you know, doing the opening credits for Friends. Like, we didn't know that. That's, like, the thing that would, like, live on for 10 years, you know, and.

Unidentified Female Guest (9:56)

Oh, that's interesting. I heard that story. Yeah, they were just having a good time.

Sarah Chalk (9:59)

They were just having a good time. And I remember when we were doing the shoot for Modern Family, I season one, I did this, like, crazy. They had us, like. And, you know, it's like broad strokes at the beginning when they're putting the experiences with Scrubs. Like, no one knows these characters. We have to, like, really, like, nail home, like, who these people are so that the audience understands. And so, like, on the promotional materials for Modern Family, it was all of us, the whole cast. But, like, we all had, like, props that, like, sort of, like, Julie was, like, you know, looking very stern, and Phil was, like, wearing headphones, being goofy. And, like, Gloria was putting lipstick on, and Mitch and Cam were holding a baby, and I was holding a cream puff because I was one of the lines in the pilot. And I, for one shot, like, went, that's the shot. They used me looking gayer than I've ever looked in my entire life. And that was the shot that they used. And, like, I'm not even kidding you. Like, boom. In Times Square. Like, I see it in on the billboard in Times Square. I'm like, this is not how this was supposed to go. I. I've told this story before. I might have. I'm not sure we've ever put on here. But, like, I got that. I got them to change that photo.

Unidentified Female Guest (11:13)

How? I said, I think nobody's ever done that in the history of time once.

Sarah Chalk (11:17)

I don't think everyone. I don't know. I said. I said, we gotta tone that photo down. I was like, there are other options of me, like, not looking like a crazy person. I know we're not gonna be able to, like, change the fact that I'm holding a cream pop, which is I probably should have said no to. But, like, we gotta, like, the face has gotta be toned down a little bit. And sure enough, they, like, they calmed my face down, put another shot on. I mean, it still existed in Times Square for, like, three months, but, like, we got a different picture.

Unidentified Female Guest (11:43)

But good for you for speaking up and saying something.

Sarah Chalk (11:46)

I was like, I'm like, I'm so excited about this gay couple. They're happy. They have a kid. Like, it's a gay couple representing, you know, a family structure on network television for, like, I don't know since when. And, like, yeah, I was like, we can't. This can't be the photo. This can't be the picture. And my fault, my bad, for doing it. Listen, I made the face, but it's.

Unidentified Female Guest (12:06)

Like, you want to also have freedom in those photo shoots so that there can be something fun and organic that happens. But then, yeah, like, yeah, you're right.

Sarah Chalk (12:13)

Yeah. So now anytime, like, I do something crazy, I'm always like, you can't use that one. Can't use that one.

Unidentified Female Guest (12:18)

Right, Right.

Sarah Chalk (12:19)

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's insane.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (12:24)

Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sarah opens up about navigating her son's Kawasaki disease diagnosis and how that deeply personal Experience led her to guest star on a special Grey's Anatomy episode. Okay, be right back. Okay, I have a confession to make. Seafood used to really stress me out. Not because I'm gay. No, no, let me explain. I just never was sure I was gonna cook it correctly, you know? Is it reliably sourced? It just always felt complicated, like I was going to overcook it or undercook it or mess it up. That's why I love Wild Alaskan company. They make it ridiculously easy to get high quality wild caught seafood delivered straight to my door. And the difference in taste is immediate. This is the kind of fish that actually makes you excited to cook. What sold me is how simple and trustworthy it is. Their seafood is 100% wild caught. It's never farmed. So there are no antibiotics, no GMOs, no additives, just clean, real fish. It's frozen right off the boat, which means it keeps all that flavor and those nutrients, especially omega 3s. And it's all sustainably sourced from Alaska so you feel good about what you're eating and where it comes from. And there's no pressure here. If you're not completely satisfied with your first box, Wild Alaskan company will give you a full refund, no questions asked. Not all fish are the same. Get seafood you can trust. Go to wildalaskan.com jtf for $35 off your first box of premium wild Caught Seafood. That's wildalaskan.com JTF for $35 off your first order. And thanks to Wild Alaskan Company for sponsoring this episode. You know those moments where your brain suddenly goes, wait a minute, wait a minute, did I lock the door? Or you're already out to dinner and you think, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Did I turn off the stove? Or worse, you come home and you're like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Something just feels off. Yeah, those are the moments where your heart drops and suddenly every second counts. That's what ADT understands. Feeling safe at home isn't a luxury, it's foundational. It's the thing that lets you actually relax, be present and live your life without that low level worry humming in the background. ADT offers customizable home security systems installed by professionals so you feel protected from the start. They're backed by 247 monitoring and the most company operated monitoring centers in the industry. And their technology helps verify alarms so first responders can be sent faster than with unverified alarms. I also love that with the ADT plus app. You can check in on your home from virtually anywhere. Whether you're traveling, working late, or just lying in bed second guessing yourself, you can see what's going on and actually rest easy. ADT makes sure your home is your haven. Not another thing to worry about when every second counts. Count on ADT. Visit ADT.com to learn more. And we're back with more dinners on me.

Sarah Chalk (15:39)

It's really comforting that it's back. I love that it's back. It was very grat. I'm so lucky I got to see the first few episodes. Like, even just hearing the theme song come on again, it's like, ah, this feels so right.

Unidentified Female Guest (15:49)

The music. I love the theme song. The music was such a big part of the show too. Like, I feel like Kristen Miller, who's Bill's wife and obviously Jordan in the show, she was the music supervisor.

Sarah Chalk (16:01)

Yeah.

Unidentified Female Guest (16:01)

She is on shrinking as well. The music supervisor also very so good. And the music so good. And I feel like there's so many moments in Scrubs where, like, the song made such a difference.

Sarah Chalk (16:13)

Yeah, I remember so many moments like that with your show. And then Grey's Anatomy kind of like, also is the same, like, the drama version of that. I found so many great artists who, like, totally.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (16:23)

Yeah.

Unidentified Female Guest (16:23)

That's so true. Grace did such a great job. Did you ever do a Grace?

Sarah Chalk (16:29)

I never did a Gray's Anatomy. I know you did. Very special episode.

Unidentified Female Guest (16:35)

Yeah, it was a really good. So grateful to Shonda for doing it. My son had Kawasaki disease when he was 15 months old, and I never thought I would speak about it publicly. And then I was talking at a fundraiser and I had all these women come up to me and tell me their stories, and they had had a far worse outcome than we did. And I immediately got into my car and I called, met Billy Lazarus, who you know very well, and my agent. And I said, like, what could I do to raise awareness because it's so visual and there's actually a treatment. And he said, let's go tell Shonda. And he sat at the meeting for, like, the next day. And I went in and told her the story. And she was like, we're gonna do this and we're gonna put it on this season and you're gonna play the mob. And I was like, thank you so much for doing this. You're gonna save so many lives by doing it. Give me 24 hours to think about playing the mom because it's the hardest thing that I've been through. And I'm not sure that I hadn't.

Sarah Chalk (17:38)

Had very much space from it.

Unidentified Female Guest (17:39)

And I hadn't had a lot of space from it. That was the biggest part. And so I decided. I thought, no, I do actually need to do it. And so I called her back and I said, I'm in. And then it was so interesting because usually before first day, I'm excited and I'm, like, looking forward to it. And the morning of, I was so like, how is this gonna go?

Sarah Chalk (18:01)

Like, what if I can imagine you were dreading it all day, I was.

Unidentified Female Guest (18:04)

Kind of like, I had to cry in a scene. I thought, like, usually as an actor, you're like, hope I can cry at the right time. This is like, how come I can stop? Like, how do we turn this off? So I. I found out that the kid they had cast to play my kid was one of triplets, because, as you know, it's usually twins are triplet. And he was 5 years old, and when he auditioned, he didn't know what. They didn't know what they were auditioning for. It was like, you know, draw a picture and say, I made this picture for you, Mommy. And the mom of the kid didn't know what the storyline was. And then when she found out he got the job, and she found out what the storyline was, he had had Tawasaki disease months before.

Sarah Chalk (18:42)

Did they not know that?

Unidentified Female Guest (18:43)

And they didn't. Nobody knew. And so I had this moment of like, okay, this is. This is like, we're meant to do. This is the right decision. And I. I always thought, like, if it could help one parent see it and go like, okay, we need to go now into the er. And I got. A couple months after it aired, I got a letter from this mom, and she basically talked about having seen it. And she said, I kept getting turned away from the ers, and it gave me the confidence to go back in and you guys saved my kid's life. And it was like, okay, it was worth it for that reason. But it was. Yeah, I was just super grateful to Shonda for doing it and. And. And putting it on and kind of like, you know, they do those things at the end of Grey's Anatomy where they'll say, like, for more information on this, and they'll post something. And they did one of those. So it really is one of the cool things, like this cool thing about medical shows and others where you can actually slide in ways to, like, get a message across or teach someone how to identify something.

Sarah Chalk (19:43)

I mean, I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for you to do stuff with my kids. Like, it is so on the surface. I don't know how you did it, honestly. And it must have made that performance. Actually, I haven't seen this episode. I'm gonna go watch it. But it must have made that performance just so up on the surface, you know?

Unidentified Female Guest (20:02)

Well, the, the kind of. Obviously it's, it's different in the episode than what happened, but there are a lot of similar elements, which was the element of fighting for your kid and kind of giving parents the message, like, go back if you've got a gut. Like, just trust that gut. Because I went back every day and every day I was turned away by doctors ers just saying, no, it's not Kawasaki disease. And I was like, but what if it is? And you have a 10 day window? So like you're kind of under a ticking point plot, which is. Yes, it was. Yeah, it was totally a crazy experience.

Sarah Chalk (20:39)

An opportunity though. I mean, a way to turn something into like a gift for other parents, like you said. I mean.

Unidentified Female Guest (20:45)

Yeah, was super. It was lucky. Felt lucky to get to do it.

Sarah Chalk (20:49)

Yeah. You've had a remarkable career this far. So have you both been super lucky.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (21:01)

Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sarah and I swap stories of our kids showing a knack or interest or disinterest in the business we call show. Okay, be right back.

Unidentified Female Guest (21:18)

I'm Tara Palmieri. I'm an investigative reporter and I've spent a lot of my career reporting on the worst of the worst. I'm the new host of Broken Jeffrey Epstein. But forget Epstein. He's dead. This season isn't about him. It's about the people who are still alive. The victim seeking justice, and his co conspirators and enablers who are trying to hide. Listen to Broken Jeffrey Epstein wherever you get your podcasts.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (21:57)

And we're back with more dinners on me.

Unidentified Female Guest (22:00)

Wait, so how old are your kids now?

Sarah Chalk (22:01)

They're five and five and a half and three.

Unidentified Female Guest (22:03)

Oh, I'm jealous. Those ages were amazing.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (22:06)

They are.

Sarah Chalk (22:06)

They're really, they're really incredible ages. My 3 year old is like a total teenager right now. First of all, it's so funny because like Justin, when he gets really frustrated with Beckett, we're still there, our kids. He's like, all right, let's go straight to bed. It could be like nine in the morning. He's like, straight to bed. Straight to bed. That's like the worst thing that you could. All right, straight to bed and I think they've realized is, like, they're not going to put us to bed. We just woke up. So, like, now they're calling our bluff on it. Our other thing that we do is we count backwards from five, and usually, like, when we start saying five, they, like, would snap into place and they've started to be like, they're going to get to one, and, like, what's really going to happen?

Unidentified Female Guest (22:43)

Straight to bed.

Sarah Chalk (22:44)

Really straight to bed. And so this morning, I was at. Sponsored by Topo Chico. So this morning, I, like, I. I started 5, 4, 3. And he was just looking at me, and I started, like, accelerating my. I was like, five, four. And I was just getting angry. Three, two. And I started yelling at him. And he got this little on his face, like, you've never done that before. And he got so sad. It took like a three, three seconds. And then he just burst into tears. And it broke my heart into 900 pieces. I saw him at that age where it's like, I'm trying to, like, navigate that three nature attitude and also, like, find patience. Yeah, yeah, it's hard.

Unidentified Female Guest (23:31)

It's really hard. It is such a hard age. And I forgot about the 3 Nager Park. The reason I was like, oh, is because they, like, you think it's going to last forever. It's a minute. And there's something about three and five where it's like, they're not babies anymore and they're becoming these people that are, like, super interesting and fun to talk to.

Sarah Chalk (23:47)

Yes.

Unidentified Female Guest (23:47)

And impossible some mornings, but start to have, like, opinions. And it just starts to get like, yeah, just. You start to see, like, oh, you see, like, glimmers of, oh, this is who this. Men who are going to be.

Sarah Chalk (24:00)

It's really incredible. I mean, it's completely, obviously changed my entire entire life. And I'm 50, so I'm an older parent, and I. I sometimes mourn the fact that I didn't start earlier and have, like. Because I have kids now. I. I have friends now who have kids who are like, Matt Bomers, like, kids are in college. And I'm like, wow, like, you're almost at the end of, like. I mean, you're never at the end of it, but, like, you know, you're almost in, like, an empty nest place.

Unidentified Female Guest (24:29)

I was like, wow.

Sarah Chalk (24:30)

I mean, I'm so far away from that. And then I think about it, I'm like, yeah, but I had all the fun stuff at the beginning when I was young. And like, this. You know, there's 900 ways to skin a cat. And, like, this is just the way I'm doing it. But it is being 50 and, like, you know, I'm exhausted.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (24:48)

Yeah.

Sarah Chalk (24:49)

And meanwhile, my son Beckett, who's five and a half, he was in his first musical school. He played Grumpy in Shrek the Musical, which is, you know, consolidated down to, like, basically an hour and five minutes. And he had to have every line fed to him, you know, probably not made for the stage. Maybe.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (25:08)

Maybe. I don't know.

Sarah Chalk (25:09)

I was too young, terrified. Terrified to be on. Terrified to do it. He's seen me on stage before, and I think he thought, like, I've seen what my papa does. Like, I don't want to do that. I'm like, oh, honey, you have to work up to that. That's like, you know, it's not gonna be like that when you first do Shrek the musical. It's gonna be, you know, maybe 20 parents.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (25:27)

And it was.

Sarah Chalk (25:29)

But I was so proud of him, and I was like, did you have fun? That's all that I cared about. And he's like, yeah.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (25:34)

He's like, I did.

Sarah Chalk (25:34)

And he's like, I would like to do it again. I don't want to do a new show, but I want to do Shrek again. He's like. Wanted to know the crack at it.

Unidentified Female Guest (25:41)

That's so cute and great. And, I mean, five and a half is so young. To have the guts to get up on a stage and do that at that age is incredible.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (25:49)

Yeah.

Sarah Chalk (25:50)

Yeah. No, I was really impressed.

Unidentified Female Guest (25:53)

My. My littlest is nine, and she. I was, like, doing the dishes and running my lines for scrubs, and she. She was like, I'll run those with you, mama. And so she started. We've never done that before. And she starts running lines with me, and every line had to be with a different accent, different cadence, different prop. She'd put on a wig, and she'd deliver with a Southern accent, and then the next line of dialogue she would do, and she was, like, pouring a drink, and it was the funniest thing.

Sarah Chalk (26:20)

Oh, my God, I love this.

Unidentified Female Guest (26:21)

It was hysterical. I mean, she's never, like. She would come to set with me a bunch, and she'd sit by the monitor with a clipboard, and she would give Zach and Donald, everybody notes after a take. Give me notes. Let's face.

Sarah Chalk (26:32)

Incredible. That's incredible.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (26:39)

That was a little bit more from a Conversation with Sarah Chalk. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, make sure to check it out on Dinners on Me. This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Clark Street Diner in Los Angeles, California. Next week on Dinners On Me. You know her from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Melrose Place, and more recently from the newest season of the Traitors. It's Lisa Rinna. We'll get into her iconic soap days, her reality TV reign, and what drew her to the ultimate mind game, the Traitors. Plus, she has a new memoir coming out, so I got a lot of questions for her. Dinners on Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Behr engineered this episode. Hans Dale, she composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tameka Balance Kolasny and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week. This episode is brought to you by FX's Love Story. John F. Kennedy, Jr. And Carolyn Bessette join host Evan Ross Katz on the official podcast for FX's new series Love Story. John F. Kennedy, Jr. And Carolyn set and go behind the scenes with cast and special guests featuring Sarah Pigeon, Paul Anthony Kelly, Grace Gummer and Naomi Watts. FX's love story, John F. Kennedy, Jr. And Carolyn Bassette. Wherever you listen to podcasts.