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- [00:00]
A
Hey, it's Josh. Recently, I appeared on a great podcast, Dinner's on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Jesse and I have known each other for a really long time. We have a lot in common. We were both on hit sitcoms at this very specific time. We're around the same age, but we hadn't really ever sat down and talked about the weirdness of being on a long running hit show for as long as we were. We ate at a restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, called Evelina.
- [00:35]
And if you're a fan of our show, you will likely love Dinners on Me because he has a lot of people on that have appeared on your favorite TV shows, from Lisa Kudrow to Tracy Ellis Ross to Joshua Jackson to the Ed o'. Neal. Now, being recorded during a meal means you'll truly feel like a fly on the wall. There's the ambient sound of the restaurant conversation with the server. You get to hear what people drink and how they take their coffee. I mean, I'm curious about that. I don't know if you are. And a good meal does let some walls down. And you'll hear our unguarded conversation about everything from imposter syndrome to parenting to coping after loss. For me, I got to talk about my evolving relationship with the character I played on How I Met yout Mother. And we got to commiserate and share about a really crazy, wonderful time in our lives. Actually, let's. Let's hear a bit of that conversation right now.
- [01:33]
B
When you were starting off your career, I mean, where could you.
- [01:38]
Conquered so many different. I don't know if I. Conquer is the right word, but you have found success and.
- [01:48]
Traction in so many different facets of this industry, with music and with writing and directing. I love your movies, Josh.
- [01:56]
C
Oh, thanks, man. I'm really. I mean, that's mostly what I'm wanting to do.
- [02:01]
B
You're a great director. You're a fantastic writer. I'm in awe of the fact that you have not only written and directed, but also starred in those films.
- [02:10]
C
Yeah, I don't want to do that again.
- [02:12]
B
I was. I can only imagine that must be incredibly difficult.
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C
Yeah.
- [02:16]
B
But when you were starting off your career, did you have.
- [02:21]
A game plan or did you have, like, an idea of, like, what success looked like? I mean, did you know where you want to land? And was it. Was what you created? Is this what you imagined?
- [02:32]
C
That's such a great question.
- [02:35]
You know, for years, I told a story about myself that I realized was a bit of a lie. Okay. And the story was, I Wanted to be a theater actor in New York who, like, did the occasional Law and Order, but was just really committed to the theater above all things. And then I found these journals that I had written and like, little pep talks to myself. And I actually was envisioning a bigger career. Bigger meaning bi coastal that involved TV and film. Just more varied. I don't mean I think the theater is like the best, but I did have my eye on the prize a little bit more than I. But I had this story. I think it's. Being from the Midwest is a very like, don't brag. Don't. You know what I mean? And I've struggled with some of that through my.
- [03:23]
B
What did you grow up again?
- [03:24]
C
Columbus, Ohio. But there's. It's. It's got a kind of tall, poppy thing going. So I think I had to. I felt like I had disguised my ambition, but I was. I remember when I did the. My Broadway debut, I took over for Jason Biggs for a couple months in the Graduate, Kathleen Turner, and they wanted me to come back and take over the role. And I told someone, I can't do this because I got to go out to LA and do a. Get a hit TV show so I can do all the theater I want.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah.
- [03:54]
C
Like, I had this idea and I think some of it was from. Because I went to NYU to the grad acting program, and there was this bulletin board, like the alumni board, you know, where they put up, like, what the alumni are doing in the world. Yeah. And, you know, there's reviews and good reviews are highlighted and profiles on people and all these magazines. And I would stare at it. And I was just like, am I going to be on that board? Like, am I going to be up there? You know, because I wanted my training to. To have. Be fruitful.
- [04:21]
A
Right.
- [04:22]
C
You know, I wanted. I wanted a good career. So, I don't know. I think that, yes, I wanted to be on a big TV show. I wanted. I even said this to myself. I want to be on a primetime show. I want to be the lead. I want it to be generationally, like, defining. I want the people who created it to have never done a big hit show before, because I think it's kind of lightning in a bottle. Like, there were all these weird things that I kind of like, put on my little wish list that came true years later. I was looking at that and I realized I forgot to say. And I always say this now when I put it in order with the universe. I forgot to say, and I want to enjoy it.
- [05:04]
Because it took me a while to learn how to enjoy it. Yeah.
- [05:06]
A
You know, to hear my full chat with Jesse in all its glory. Please head to Dinners on Me. Listen to Dinners on Me, wherever you listen to podcasts.