Re-Air: Tara Strong: These Characters Are All Part of Me

Summary

Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown — Episode Summary
Re-Air: Tara Strong: These Characters Are All Part of Me (Originally Aired: January 30, 2026)

— EPISODE OVERVIEW

The episode features renowned voice actor Tara Strong in an in-depth, engaging, and often hilarious conversation about her multifaceted career, the craft and magic of character creation, and her deeply held beliefs about manifestation, magic, positivity, and empathy. The discussion spans topics including the science and skepticism around manifesting, the emotional toll and responsibility of being a performer, body image and bullying, mental health, intuition, angels, and the difficult nuances of dialogue in a polarized social media landscape—especially in the context of antisemitism.

Mayim Bialik and co-host Jonathan Cohen bring their unique blend of neuroscience, spirituality, and curiosity to unravel not only the mechanics of Tara’s path but how science, spirit, and creativity intersect in their guests’ life stories.

—

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

I. Tara’s Origin Story: Childhood, Family, and Early Career

• [02:55] Tara recalls knowing from age five that she wanted to be a singer, dancer, and actress—before realizing it could be a career. Growing up in Toronto in a supportive but non-performing family, Tara had her first professional performance in the Yiddish Theater ("all the bubbies called me the Wundermaidloch").
• Her parents imported Hello Kitty into Toronto and, at 13, Tara voiced Hello Kitty in English for the first animated series.
  • Notable quote: "My parents were the first to import hello Kitty into Toronto. I have a picture of myself as a 5 year old with my dad in a hello Kitty furry costume." (03:01)
  • [04:25] “That was the title role of hello Kitty. First time she had a mouth. It’s the first time she had a mouth.”

II. The Art and Science of Voice Acting

• [06:31] Tara describes her unique ability to create voices and bring characters to life, a skill she recognized early:
  • “One of mine is the ability to manipulate my voice, create characters that seem to make people feel something, which is what really matters.” (07:11)
  • She emphasizes acting over just “having an interesting voice”—the need for characters to feel internally distinct and real.
• [08:51] She discusses how characters “live in [her] head,” differentiating variants like different iterations of Harley Quinn and others (“When it’s their turn to come out and play... it’s like breathing. I can’t really describe it. They just come out.”).
• Emotional impact: [12:13] “There’s a lot of me in Bubbles, and there’s a lot of Bubbles in me... I’m probably most like Bubbles because I’m super sweet... then if you piss me off, I will go hardcore.”
• The profound effect on fans: Comic-Con stories, fan encounters, the sense of being a “conduit” for meaning to kids and adults, sometimes helping nonverbal or autistic children to begin speaking.

III. The Reality of Manifesting: Science and Skepticism

• [38:22] Asked about her sense of luck and intuition, Tara links her success and positivity to an internal knowledge and manifesting ability:
  • “I knew when I was five I was gonna move to Los Angeles and be a successful actress. I knew I’d have a house with a shower. I knew I wouldn’t worry about money. I knew I’d make people happy. I always knew these things.”
• Mayim and Jonathan break down the neuroscience: resilience as cognitive flexibility, positivity creating real synaptic change (“When we say resilience, what we're saying is you have more problem solving ability, right?” [43:08] - Jonathan).
• Mayim contextualizes manifesting as “the ability to anchor yourself in the best case scenario rather than the worst case scenario” rooted in science, not “magical thinking.”
• Tara is clear about harms of “blame the victim” thinking—manifestation does NOT mean people are responsible for misfortune or trauma (“I do not think you invite bad things... I don't think you asked for your husband to have an affair... I don't think you asked for your kid to have a disease.” [41:03]).

IV. Empathy, Body Image, and the Weight of Representation

• [20:34] Tara opens up about her mother’s lifelong struggle with obesity, emotional pain, and bullying, describing how this shaped her drive to bring laughter and healing through performance.
  • “My mom was very heavy and her whole life was bullied ... Children would laugh at her, adults would laugh at her ... and when I made her laugh... She took such joy in seeing me perform... My mom’s laugh was my external success for sure.”
• She also discusses body image in Hollywood, personal struggles with eating, and the importance of not judging or bullying anyone for their body (“There’s a million different bodies when you go to the beach. There are not two bodies the same.” [24:42])
• [23:52] Advocacy example: changing a hurtful line on Rugrats to avoid fatphobic jokes.
• [42:35] “The brain just has a better capacity for resilience when it is geared towards positive thinking.”

V. The Move to LA and Professional Breakthroughs

• [28:45] Tara’s leap to LA at 19/20 was hard—she describes being “eviction notice broke,” contemplating going home, and then, providentially, booking several career-defining roles: The Powerpuff Girls, Batgirl, and 101 Dalmatians.
  • “Those three happened at the same time. And then Hollywood was like, who's this girl? That’s what kind of kept me here.” [32:37]

VI. Magic, Ritual, and Being a “Conduit”

• [49:46] Jonathan asks if Tara feels her creativity is “channeling.” She says yes, matter-of-factly:
  • “Those are my people up in the stars. After this, I get to go back to my star planet and share everything I learned.”
• She describes childhood and family belief in ritual and magic—healing her own physical symptoms through her mother’s “mommy magic” and resonating with Jewish and Wiccan traditions:
  • “My mom told me this later, she came into my room one night and said, I'm your mom, and I have mommy magic. And tomorrow you're gonna wake up and not be allergic to the sun. And I wasn't.” [50:45]

VII. Angels, Signs, and the Afterlife

• [56:07] Tara shares the story of her mother’s passing and receiving a message—her mother’s handwriting saying “time, Tara” just after her death, interpreting it both as a sign and as guidance to cherish time on earth. She believes deeply in both loved ones visiting and other angelic or spiritual guides.
  • “When you keep putting out love into the world ... you get rewarded with little nudges and little help from your angels that are doing the best they can to help guide you.” [57:34]

VIII. Siblings, Empathy, and Caring for Those Different

• [59:00] The conversation becomes personal as Jonathan and Tara talk about their siblings with disabilities. Tara describes caring for her sister, who has a brain injury and is now agoraphobic, underscoring the heartbreaking reality of cruelty in society, but also the unique empathy gained:
  • “When you have someone like that... it gives you an empathy for it. Right? When I see a kid at a con who obviously struggles... you know what that mom’s gone through, that dad’s gone through, siblings gone through to make sure this very special being is protected, not bullied...” [60:54]

IX. Social Media, Fame, and Bullying

• [65:22] Discussion shifts to the double-edged sword of newfound fame for voice actors in the era of social media—greater visibility, more direct fan connection, but also exposure to toxicity, bullying, and even dangerous situations at conventions.
  • “Animation fans are the sweetest in the world. … I like to help people … I do not like the bullying. And I think X is the worst.” [68:11]
• [69:07] She shares disturbing and vulnerable moments, from online harassment to being unfairly targeted and fired over social media accusations—especially related to the Israel-Gaza war and antisemitism.

X. Antisemitism, Israel, and Harsh Realities Online

• [73:24] Tara recounts being accused (incorrectly) of Islamophobia, despite a history of supporting Arab and Palestinian causes and humanitarian work. She discusses how social media amplifies false narratives, the press picks up on out-of-context tweets, and how this led to her being fired from a Kickstarter project:
  • “If you accidentally like the wrong tweet, and that makes you a terrible person, we are all in really big trouble.”
  • “No Jew wants genocide. No Jew wants an innocent person to suffer. We wanna invite you over for matzo ball soup, period.” [83:46]

XI. Positivity, Cognitive Flexibility, and the Science of Hope

• [88:02] The hosts close by reflecting on “spreading light and love,” challenging the critique that positivity means ignoring pain. Mayim and Jonathan clarify: genuine positivity is openness, flexibility, and hope—“what positivity feels like to your brain is an opening and it’s more choice and it’s more flexible and it is open.” [88:54]
• The necessity and practice of building positive mental habits, especially for neurodivergent or traumatized people, is explored, with references to meditation, therapy, and self-encouragement (“The one you feed…” Cherokee story, [93:18]).

—

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• "I see them in my head. They live in my head. When it’s their turn to come down, they do. And I become these characters so that it makes people feel something when they’re watching it." – Tara Strong (07:40)
• "Every time I book something. Even now. I started when I was 13, I’m 51. Even now, I drop to the floor, hands up to the sky, like, yes. Because I love it. It’s what I do." – Tara Strong (08:18)
• "It feels like these creatures are sentient. … When someone says to me, I wanted to end my life till I met Raven, and they’re crying and they’re hugging me… it can’t just be me. … They feel very sentient to me. They feel like they matter—a lot of my major characters." (14:46)
• "I love everybody. Let everyone do what they’re going to do. Don’t judge people. I just. I despise bullying on such a big level because it’s ingrained in me." (25:32)
• "I really do live that way. I just… rely on it a lot. And it’s important to me to keep thinking positive and spreading love and light. That’s what we’re here today." (39:46)
• "Nobody here on this planet right now knows everything. We’re here to learn. Nobody knows what happens when you die or how, whether or not the laws of attraction work or whatever." – Tara (41:11)
• “Animation fans are the sweetest in the world. … I like helping people. I like promoting shows.” (68:11)
• "If you accidentally like the wrong tweet, and that makes you a terrible person, we are all in really big trouble... Trust me, when you die, they're not gonna be like, which tweet did you accidentally like?" (78:59)

—

TIMESTAMPS FOR IMPORTANT SEGMENTS

• 02:55 – Tara’s childhood and path to performing
• 06:31 – Discovering her voice and character-crafting ability
• 08:51 – “The characters live in my head”
• 12:13 – Emotional impact of her work on fans
• 20:34 – Family, empathy, body image, bullying, and comedy as healing
• 24:42 – Ongoing struggles with body image; anti-bullying advocacy
• 32:37 – Professional breaks in LA and “divine intervention”
• 38:22 – Manifesting and the science/spirituality of positivity
• 42:35 – Resilience, cognitive flexibility, and brain science
• 49:46 – Channeling/being a conduit; magic and ritual
• 56:07 – Angel stories, afterlife, spiritual signs
• 59:00 – Caring for disabled siblings; cultivating empathy
• 65:22 – Social media's double-edged sword
• 73:24 – Social media controversy, antisemitism, and nuance
• 83:46 – Coexistence, antisemitism, and the lessons of cartoons
• 88:02 – Real positivity vs. toxic positivity; “the one you feed”

—

FURTHER RESOURCES & PLUGS

• Tara is releasing an in-depth voiceover masterclass, to be announced on her social media (@tarastrong on all platforms).
• Mayim encourages listeners to check out Mayim Bialik's Breakdown’s Substack, and also to follow for bonus content and video versions.

—

FINAL THOUGHT

This conversation is a testament to the power of creativity, resilience, empathy, and openness—even (and especially) in the face of pain, struggle, and misunderstanding. Tara Strong models how to remain light-filled and grounded—and how every voice, no matter how fantastical, can touch lives and foster healing.

Transcript

[Tara Strong]

Foreign.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Bialik and I'm Jonathan Cohen.

[Mayim Bialik]

And welcome to our Breakdown. We're kicking off the new year with a bang and with some good excitement and hilarity, many of us are setting fresh intentions, trying to build momentum, trying to think about what healthy habits can take us through 2026. So we are revisiting an episode that we did with Tara Strong, one of the world's most recognized and recognizable voice actors. She has voiced Powerpuff Girls, Fairly Odd parents, Harley Quinn. She was the voice of hello Kitty. The list goes on and on. But this is a hilarious episode and a really significant one for the work that we do here at Mayim Bialik's Breakdown.

[Jonathan Cohen]

A very notable aspect of this episode is that Mayim breaks down the science of manifesting. Yes, there is science behind the scene, that word that has been taken over by some of the hippies. But mime explains to us how our brains can actually help us achieve and get the things that we want as well. Tara opens up about her own manifestation process for attracting positivity her way, and she's able to tune in to something greater.

[Mayim Bialik]

Also, I have a long history of friendship with Tara, so I make sure to ask her to explain in detail her belief in magic and angels. It's a really great conversation. And also reminder, check us out on Substack. We're putting up some really fun, exclusive content there, engaging with the Substack community all year long. So please check it out.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And now we hope you enjoy this revisiting of the episode with Tara Strong.

[Mayim Bialik]

Break it down.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Tara, welcome to the Breakdown. Thanks for having me in reading your bio. It is worth mentioning you work on many television shows at the same time.

[Tara Strong]

Yes, that's true.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Like, I think I counted eight.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, I think sometimes. Sometimes it's like four and sometimes it's 10 at the same time.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

So you and I used to audition in kind of the same circles at the same sort of period of time. And there was a time when I got voiceover work and then we ended up getting to do an episode of Recess together and. And then I stopped getting work and I realized you were getting more and more work.

[Tara Strong]

By the way, we also did Lloyd in Space together. We were a two headed monster.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

We were a two headed monster. That's right. But it's really, it's, it's. It's an astounding, impressive resume that you have in that you are able to have your voice on so many different platforms at the same time. And I have to ask, was this like a dream of yours as a child. Like, I have an amazing voice and I'm gonna get to be on 10 shows at the same time.

[Tara Strong]

No. Okay. I knew when I was 5 years old that I think you're the same. Wanted to be singer, dancer, actress, it's all I wanted. And I knew that before I knew it was a career. It just looked fun. And that's. I came here to perform and no one in my family was a performer except a grandfather who was a cantor. But nobody knew anything about showbiz. I grew up in Toronto. My mom was a caterer, my dad was a pharmacist. We had a toy store. I grew up in this toy store. My parents were the first to import hello Kitty into Toronto. I have a picture of myself as a 5 year old with my dad in a hello Kitty furry costume. And like we didn't have a lot of money, but they were very supportive of me fulfilling this dream. And I had lots of acting, singing, dancing classes my whole life. My first sort of professional performance was at the Yiddish theater. I spoke Hebrew, not Yiddish, but I learned it frenetically. And all the bubbies called me the Wundermaidloch. And it was very wonderful. And then I finally got an agent and I got my first theater production at Toronto's downtown Limelight Dinner Theater which was the Music Man. And a lot of people's first show was the Music man. And my first on camera show which was a show with Mr. T. And my first cartoon which was hello Kitty. I was the first English speaking voice. The first time she had a mouth was me at 13.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

This blew my mind. I didn't know this about you.

[Tara Strong]

I started when I was 13 and

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

you were hello Kitty.

[Tara Strong]

First. First series. That was the title role of hello Kitty. First time she had a mouth. It's the first time she had a mouth. What did she sound like?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

What'd she sound like?

[Tara Strong]

Hello Kitty's furrytail theater's proud to present the wizard of Paws.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

That's exactly what I think hello Kitty should sound like.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, she does.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Tara Strong]

So I didn't know. And in Toronto I had a very well rounded career. I did. I had a sitcom that was, you know, I was the kid in the sitcom. I had lots of film and TV roles, a lot of Broadway production stuff that went to Toronto that I shot. And tons of cartoons, Beetlejuice, Care Bears, my pet monster, you garbage pail kids, all kinds of crazy stuff. So that when I came here, it wasn't a blank resume. Right? I had a very extensive resume. But even with that, it did take some time. I was eviction notice broke for like two years and. Great story. The person who gave me hello Kitty saved my la existence and called me and said, would you be on the new Inspector Gadget Show? It's called Gadget Boy and Heather. So she gave me hello Kitty, and then she gave me the job that kept me in Los Angeles. And her name is Marcia Goodman. So she's my. She's my voiceover angel.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

She's your. Yeah, fairy godmother.

[Tara Strong]

So.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Okay, so I want to go back to what you did with your voice when you did your hello Kitty voice. I can't do that with my voice. A lot of people can't do that. When did you realize you had this kind of ability to create voices? Very distinctive from yours.

[Tara Strong]

Are you sure you can't do that?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I can't do that.

[Tara Strong]

I think you just think you can't do that. But I bet if you had the challenge to do that, like, what if they're like, okay, we want you to play June Foray in her lifetime story, and you have to practice. I bet you can do it.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You're being very. You're being very humble because everybody has different vocal cords and everybody has different. Different musculature in there in those parts. Like, you do things with your. With your voice and with your vocal cords that don't hurt your voice. Like, I can do things with my voice, but I can only do it a couple times. When did you realize that you had the ability to sort of do a variety of different sounds than most people can make?

[Tara Strong]

Probably pretty young. Cause I did always do funny voices. My sister and I had our own little fake radio station and we record ourselves. And I was the kid at 6, 7 years old that would take my mom's hand and say, let's pretend we're from England in this store. Like, I loved doing accents and voices always. So it's definitely like, I think, like, look, Mayim, you came with a brilliant brain and a gorgeous singing voice and acting abilities. There's no question. There are kids that come that play the piano, guitar. We know these kids can paint shit at like, I don't know, can we say shit on this show at, like 5 years old? Right? Like, you come with certain gifts. So I think one of mine is the ability to manipulate my voice, create characters that seem to make people feel something, which is what really matters. Right. A lot of people come to me and say, oh, I really wanna do voiceover. And that's their voice. And I'm like, have you had any acting experience? Right. Cause it's not about having a interesting voice or a unique voice. It will work for some commercial careers or promo careers or like a job here and there that they have a very distinct voice that. That works for. But to sustain a long career where you are creating multiple characters, you do need to have. Most of us have that can do this, a pretty normal sounding voice and can manipulate our sound to become other characters, which is what happens. Right. You don't just change your voice. You find for me, in my process, I see them in my head. They live in my head. When it's their turn to come down, they do. And I become these characters so that it makes people feel something when they're watching it. And, you know, have you gone to Comic Cons?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yes.

[Tara Strong]

You know, when you go and people are like, you are my childhood. You. I. You know, I didn't have friends till this show. I thought I was the only person like me till this show. And then you realize the impact that you have on people. It's so. I consider it like this beautiful gift that I was given to share love and light. And I feel so lucky every time I book something. Even now. I started when I was 13, I'm 51. Even now, I drop to the floor, hands up to the sky, like, yes. Because I love it. It's what I do.

[Jonathan Cohen]

So when you just dropped into that character a moment ago and you just said they live in your head, like, is it busy in your head? Like, there's a lot of character.

[Tara Strong]

Yes, it's very busy. And I think a lot of people have busy brains. But I don't know if they have them in all the different voices I have a lot of. It's not that they're all speaking at the same time. It's that they live there in their own little spaces. And when it's their turn to come out and play, it's not like I do anything. It's like breathing. I can't really describe it. They just come out. I know when it's this character's turn. And I also know specifics, right? Like, I've played maybe five, six, seven, ten versions of Harley, right? So Harley Quinn on a video game might be like, oh, you know, it's time to kick some ass. And she's like, more like action. And then on a kid's show, she might be like, hi, Babs, let's go out and play. And she's like, really hyper. And then I've played her very Dark. And so when I get a script,

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I want to hear dark Harley.

[Tara Strong]

Well, I did a very dark Harley and she wasn't even the same, like she was like a Boston Harley. Like it was like a lower, like, and she was very evil. But what I'm saying is when I see the script and read, you know, the character description or whatever's going on in the stage directions, I know exactly which version of that to tap into. Like when we did Rugrats, right, There was a baby dill. Hey, that's why poopies. And then there's an older dill, but he's still the same guy.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

That's outrageous, Sarah. Like, I know you and I've seen you work and every time it's just, it's really unbelievable to me. Does it ever get confusing? Meaning, is there ever a point when you get a script and it's like, oh, which how it's sounding too much like this other one, or do they feel so distinctive?

[Tara Strong]

It's never confusing when it's an established character. And sometimes people were like, can you do like Timmy Turner on this show? And I'm like, no, Timmy Turner lives on the Fairly Odd Parents, so we're not gonna do that. But I at one point was playing like five different tragic 16 year old girls. At another point I was playing like five different ten year old boys. And each of them had to have something distinct about them or I couldn't live with myself because they're their own entity for sure. So the only time it gets confusing is if there's like a guest star. And you know how it is. Sometimes they're like, oh, can you do this extra character? And then somehow that extra character just comes back and you don't remember what it is, but they play it for you.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Right? Right.

[Tara Strong]

That's the only time it gets confusing.

[Jonathan Cohen]

What about not in a script? Like, I'm still stuck with all these characters residing in your head. And like, do they appear when you're not working?

[Tara Strong]

All the time, but, but it's more like I do voices all the time. I do voice, like if you're friends with me, if you're dating me, you're gonna hear not just this, this is

[Jonathan Cohen]

what I'm the most interested in is like when in your regular life are you basically processing the world? And because all these characters are living in your head, like certain experiences are going to draw up this personality. I'm not saying you have multiple personalities, I'm not saying that, but I am. I think, like, you can't help if you know these characters so deeply, they become a bit of a part of you. And how could you not? Like, we all have these different Personas that we drop into. You just happen to have a wider repertoire, and they each have personalities, which I think is just awesome.

[Tara Strong]

They do. And it's a very symbiotic relationship. So that there's a lot of me in bubbles, and there's a lot of bubbles in me. And I'm probably most like bubbles because I'm super sweet. I want everyone to be friends. And then if you piss me off, I will go hardcore. Like, that's me in person. Right? I'm just usually very light, positive attraction. Let's go do fun shit. Everybody come to my house. But, like, okay, I will kick your ass if I have to. That's like, right? That's me. So. And then there are other characters that feel very part of me. Twilight Sparkle is, like, super part of me. And when I first read for that part. So Powerpuff Girls was created by a man named Craig McCracken, and he is married to Laura, who worked on that show. And she created My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, which is the biggest fandom I've ever seen in my life. And it was unbelievable and so fun. But that character came about because she came to my house and said, hey, I'm putting together a pitch for a new version of the ponies with more depth in their characters as opposed to just selling toys. And I think that's why it spoke to so many people. And she had me read three different characters and just for the pitch presentation. And she said as soon as she heard me do Twilight, she knew I was going to be that character. And I think it's because part of me is very similar to her. And another same thing. She's always, like, ready to lead the pack. She wants everyone to be friends. She wants to do everything right. She loves to read. She's like, loves magic. I love magic. Like, when you say, is it, you know, a part of you? Like, there is a part of me, like, let's get weird a minute that feels like these creatures are sentient. And so, like, when someone. Someone says to me, I wanted to end my life till I met Raven. And they're crying and they're hugging me. The best story ever was this woman. Her daughter was dressed as Raven, and she was talking and talking and talking and talking. And I looked over and her mom was crying. And a lot of people cry when they meet me, but this was, like, unusual crying. So I went over to see if she was okay. And she said, my daughter hasn't spoken in five years. She's severely autistic. And when she heard you were coming, she has not spoken. Stop talking. And so I feel like a conduit for these. You know, I know that sounds weird, but it's like, it can't just be me. Like, I feel so lucky that something I did helped someone like that. And I hear stories like that all the time. So, I mean, maybe I'm a crazy person, but they feel very sentient to me. They feel like they matter a lot of my major characters. And also, I feel very lucky that there's been so many major characters. Right. Not many people can say I was Batgirl and Harley and Timmy Turner and. And now Miss Minutes. And all these characters that really touched people's lives. Raven, Twilight, Sparkle. Like, these are very important to people around the world. And when I go to cons around the world, people are like, oh, you go for the money. No, the money's nice. But that exchange of light magic and energy is so beautiful and important to me. And sometimes people like, you know, you shouldn't hug everybody or you shouldn't do this. How can I not hug someone when they come to me and said, my childhood was so hard and fairly odd Parents was the only thing that got my dad to sit down with me and like, can I have a hug? No. Like, no. You know, I just. It's a beautiful exchange. I just had a con two weeks ago, and a guy was a grown man was crying to me saying his daughter was born autistic and or very young. They found out she was very autistic and couldn't really connect. And he's like, I was so worried that I would never connect with her. I didn't know how to connect with my kid. And then I was feeling like a terrible person. And then we sat down and watched my little pon. And that's our thing, and we communicate through that. And like, thank you. And he's bawling mind.

[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Mayim Bialik]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Guest Host / Interviewer]

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[Mayim Bialik]

you have more questions than answers, you're in good company. The Jewish people have been like that for thousands of years. Wandering Jews with Michal and Noam is a of podcast where two of today's most dynamic Jewish voices, Michal Bittone and Noam Weissman, dig into the biggest questions about life through a Jewish lens. It's the kind of conversation where you'll laugh, learn something new, and probably shout in disagreement at least once. Michal and Noam tackle the tough topics like anti Semitism in America, what happens after we die, and the future of religion with guests like Brett Stevens, Michael Rapoport and Sarah Hurwitz. And this past month, in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, they've been celebrating some of the Jewish lives and institutions that have shaped American life, from food to music and comedy. Thoughtful, joyful, and always honest. That's Wondering Jews with Michal and Noam, a production of Unpacked. Find it on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube and make sure to hit subscribe. Check out Wondering Jews with Michal and Noam podcast and subscribe at Unpacked Bio nmx.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

There's something that Jonathan mentioned. You know, it's known as Dissociative identity disorder now instead of multiple personality disorder, but it's something that even people who do like internal family systems work where you look at different parts of you. There are different parts of us that have different Personas and they have different needs. And, you know, in some of the really interesting research on people with dissociative identity disorder, sometimes personalities will have different blood pressure. They'll have completely different physiological things, meaning, you know, when people split into parts, it's usually because of trauma and, you know, really, really fragmented things. But the notion that there are different parts of us that. That live in us is not outside of the realm of understanding. And it doesn't just have to be in clinical situations. But there's something you said that I really want to. Since we're getting deep, there's something I want to dig into a little more. You said that you understood from a young age that you could manipulate your voice. And I wonder if that ever felt like also an emotional ability not to be manipulative, but to be able to change. I mean, as actors, that's what we have to do. We have to make you believe something, we have to make you feel good, we have to make you comfortable. Right. And for me, I had a lot of that in my home of origin. I don't know if you did, but the notion of maybe that's part of this sort of gift, as you said, is that when you're given the ability to be a performer, to make people feel something, it really is the ability to. To change where you are for other people's, in some cases, comfort. And sometimes that means for their enjoyment or their entertainment. But I wonder if you can talk a little bit about if you noticed that kind of outside of your artistic abilities.

[Tara Strong]

I know, like when you said that the first thing that felt true was to make people laugh. I really liked that, especially with my mom. My mom was my kindred spirit, and my mom was very heavy and her whole life was bullied and I never saw her eat to excess. She's first generation Russian Jew, grew up in a catering world where I'm sure they made not great choices growing up. But she wasn't like someone that over eight and every one in her family had thyroid and diabetes and problems. Right. And she was in a tremendous amount of pain, both physically and emotionally. Children would laugh at her, adults would laugh at her. Kids would come to me at school and say, your mom's the fattest person ever. And I would see her cry and I would hold her hand and tell her, she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen. And she is. And I miss her so much. Like, I miss helping her, you know, Like, I miss being an arm for her in her later life. She had horrible osteoarthritis. She used to say it was like stepping on a knife. And like, the fact that she had to endure people making fun of this beautiful soul made me so sad. And when I made her laugh, when I made this very sad human laugh, she took such joy in seeing me perform on stage, on a show, on a cartoon, whatever it was, in person, making voices, doing funny things. My mom's laugh was like my external success for sure. For sure. So probably to bring joy and make people laugh. And also, like you said, to make people believe things. Like last over Covid, I did an on camera series in Toronto that was basically if Harley was a mom, that was this character. And it was a wonderful part. Cause I usually play like, you know, cute teacher or bitch, slut, whatever. Like, I have roles that I tend to book, but, like, third on the call sheet at 49 was kind of awesome. And it was with Adrienne Moore from Orange is the New Black. And it was for Netflix Canada. It aired here on IMDb TV. So I don't know where you can find it, but to play this terrible person that was basically using her daughter to date some kid to sell drugs, it was really crazy. And I don't know that I looked so beautiful, but it was a performance that I was very proud of in terms of acting and believability and making people feel. Because when you can make people feel empathy for the villain and the bad character, I think that's like a really wonderful thing. And so I do think there's something about making people feel something and making people have empathy for other people. Like, I'm a very, very empathetic soul. I think most real actors are right. We know how other people feel, we care about how other people feel, and we want to help portray that and help that. When I was doing a Rugrats episode, you know, like whenever the Rugrats would go into adventures, you'd see the adventures. And there was an episode where the kids were at a car dealership and they said, let's pretend we're under the sea, and all the fish were people. And this heavyset lady walks by and, you know, Tommy Pickles is like, look, there's a whale. And I stopped tape and I went to the producers and I'm like, can we make it a muscle man so that we don't perpetuate that hatred? And they're like, no problem. So, like, a big part of me is wanting to keep perpetuating that.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I wonder if you can talk a little bit more about that. You know, I think, you know, our culture kind of goes back and forth with how we feel about, you know, clinical discussions of obesity and BMI and all these things. I wonder if you can talk a little bit about, you know, sort of what you see in terms of, like, what is body positivity? You know, what does that look like? If you think about kind of your mom's experience and especially being the child of someone, right, who's receiving all of this hatred and bullying. I mean, it's not even bullying. It's ignorance and it's horrible. I wonder if you have any sort of reflections, especially as your career is so much about appearance. It has to be for us, even if you're a voiceover actor as your primary work.

[Tara Strong]

That's so true. It's so true. It's so important because also, sometimes they want you to do press. Also, they draw a character to look like you a little bit more or create a character for you. So it is an important piece. And I do remember as a child watching a movie of the week and saying, oh, I want to be that girl. I want to be on a movie. I want to be in Teen Beat magazine. I want to do all that. I mean, I was a huge fan of yours, by the way, the moment I saw you in Beaches, I was obsessed. I think I told you that the first time I met you. Like, you're a super, magical, talented, insane being. Thank you. And also, by the way, I grew up with a sister who was very different mentally. She had a brain injury at 1 years of age and comes across like someone on the Asperger's scale and was also bullied her entire life. And I would have her back at school. So I had the experience of watching someone different and someone obese and what that looks like in terms of being mean for no reason. Right? These are very, very good humans. These are sweet, caring humans that would do anything for you. And I think it did give me a base and an understanding that maybe someone else wouldn't about why you shouldn't say that to someone or be mean to someone or make a judgment call. Right. Like I said, I never saw my mom overeat. You look at a big person like, oh, they must eat all day. But we all that friend that's this skinny that can eat french fries and cake all day and never gain weight, and they don't realize how lucky they are. Because there's a million different bodies when you go to the beach. There are not two bodies the same. I've definitely struggled with borderline eating disorders, starving myself, bulimia, anything to feel like I look good enough for the camera. And it's very challenging. And if I say today I don't struggle with it, I'd be lying. I don't feel good if I don't work out every day. I like to feel good and look good and keep inside and outside healthy. So it's a very big part of me. And I also saw growing up what happens if you don't take care of yourself and exercise young, right? You can't just start at 60. And, I mean, maybe you can, but it's harder, right? Like, it's better to sort of try to maintain. And I don't have a perfect body. I've, like, never loved my legs. You know, there are girls that could go out with a little mini skirt. It's never been me. I just. I danced when I was a kid. I'm five foot two. I've got, you know, bigger thighs. I've got a Jew booty. I'm like, I'm not a waif, right? And I never, like, I don't want to be. I'm more happy in my skin now and go, this is me. I'm pretty happy with it. But I do appreciate the women who put themselves out there at all sizes to make people see beauty comes in all sizes. And thank God, like, what I find beautiful isn't what someone else. I mean, sometimes it is, but, like, you know, some people really like people with a lot more meat on them. Some people really like people more slender. So, like, thank God that's open. Like, love everybody. Let everyone do what they're gonna do. Don't judge people. I just. I despise bullying on such a big level because it's ingrained in me, in my. It's in my bloodstream, right? Like, to. To be mean to people for no reason. To hate an entire group of people. Like, all of that, where you hate an entire group. You hate fat people, you hate lgtbq. You hate black people, Jewish people, Muslim people. You hate as you hate whatever you hate. To hate an entire group is for the one same reason. Do you know what it is? There isn't one. You can hate someone who wronged you in business, in love, you can hate someone, that's okay. But to hate an entire group, to have a judgment against an entire group makes zero sense and shouldn't be Tolerated. And everybody should learn that we are all one person and should love each other and see each other and help each other. That's what we're here to do.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I love that. I wonder if you'll talk a little bit more about moving away from Toronto. How old were you when you came to LA?

[Tara Strong]

I was 20. 19. 20. I always wanted to come to LA, always. I knew I would always come here. And I got into college. I got into Amden, New York, and a college in Toronto, and I booked three movies and I had to choose, and I chose movies. And I had three callbacks for Toronto's Beauty and the Beast for Belle. And I didn't get it. And I was so devastated that I'm like, I'm going to la. And I came and I didn't really know anyone. I knew the guy that played my dad on a sitcom who has now passed. He was a comic named Mike McDonald and his wife Bonnie let me stay with them in Glendale, and I was there for a few months. It was so sweet of them. Big Earthquake was my second week. 94.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Oh, gosh.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah. And it was very, very hard to leave my mom because, you know, I was there for her so completely, both physically and emotionally, and we are so close. It was very, very hard to leave. And my sister and my dad and my friends and a career that was consistent. It was hard, but I knew that's what I had to do. There wasn't ever a question on that. And I think, you know, after that, the only other person I really knew well was also from our same high school, Jonathan Nev Campbell. And we got an apartment together. She moved down. Yeah. And wore my shirt to audition for Party Five and booked it. So I think it's the shirt. I think it was the shirt.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

How long after you were here until you were able to kind of support yourself? Because I'm always curious about sort of, you know, we see you with this incredibly impressive resume now, and you're a grownup and, you know, you have two grown kids. But I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about what it was like when you were young and what those doubts were like, or were you afraid that maybe you made the wrong decision, or were you kind of on. On a roll and just kept going?

[Tara Strong]

Well, I. I always knew this is what I was here to do. There wasn't a black backup plan. There wasn't anything else I would try or do. Like, I always knew that was what I had to do. And like I said, we didn't Have a ton of money. We were fine. I didn't have a shower in my house. I shared a room with my sister till I was 16. I wasn't someone that came from a lot of money. We.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Why do you mean there wasn't a shower?

[Tara Strong]

I mean, there was a bathtub and, you know, it wasn't like a big cool house. It was like washing the bathtub. It wasn't until I was like 16 that I kept begging that we finally got a really shitty shower put in. It was like, trickle, trickle. And I always had long hair. It was terrible. And then when I moved to la, I was super broke. Like, eviction notice broke. And I remember at one point crying in my apartment by myself, thinking, like, nobody knows I'm here right now in this moment. You know when you have those moments where, like, nobody knows this little sphere that's around me of sadness right now that I'm sitting in. Nobody knows that I'm here. Nobody cares. I can't pay the bills. I can't keep asking my mom and dad to send me money. They don't have a lot of money. Like, maybe I should go back to Canada. Cause at least I know I will work there. They know me there. And it's a much smaller pool of actors in Toronto. And I've been working since I'm 13. Maybe I should go back. But I really wanted to stay. Also, the weather's so much better. I really, really want to stay. And like I said, Marsha Goodman called me and asked me to do Gadget. Gadget wasn't what kept me here. What kept me here is I had a few little on camera things. And then I booked the Powerpuff Girls and Batgirl, which was huge alongside Kevin Conroy and Mark hamill. And also 100 episodes of 101 Dalmatians, which never happens. Back me up your mime. It was a guaranteed hundred episodes.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

No, that's not even a thing.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, so those three happened at the same time. And then Hollywood was like, who's this girl?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Wow.

[Tara Strong]

That's what kind of kept me here. Those three. Yeah.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

And this was before you were married. Like, you were still just wow.

[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

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[Tara Strong]

Wherever you go,

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

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[Tara Strong]

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[Jonathan Cohen]

does that feel like divine intervention to have that all happen in that moment?

[Tara Strong]

I've had a lot of moments that felt like I had help for sure. One of the most, I think, important ones to me just because she's so important, is like I said when I was doing like all these tragic girls, like Batgirl was like my own voice. Right. She was very real and not like a perky, you know, she was sort of serious and on the darker side of a teenage girl. I was also playing Kylie on Extreme Ghostbusters. Very dark character. Sharina Wicket on

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

detention.

[Tara Strong]

Yes, detention. Thank you.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I was on detention with you. Yeah, I did detention. Yep.

[Tara Strong]

And so I thought, well, I'll probably book Starfire because the character description said she was a grown up. Bubbles. Hello. I'm a grown up. I am literally Bubbles and I'm Grown up. So I'm gonna book that part. And they still wanted me to read for Raven, so I read it, just relying on my acting skills, putting myself in those moments. And of course, it sounded like Batgirl, which was for the same people. I'm like, oh, probably not gonna get that. And I'm walking past out of the recording studio to where producers, writers, casting engineers are in the bay, and I look at Andrea Romano and I'm like, can I try something else? And she's like, sure. And I don't know where it came from. God shot, angel shot, whatever you want to call it. I just had this idea that she had a weird role whenever she spoke, which, by the way, doesn't hurt my voice. And when other people came to visit, they're like, wow, Tara, you're working really hard on this show. But that is what booked the part is that, like, I didn't know before I was going in that I was going to do that. And same thing with 101 Dalmatians. I was auditioning for a chicken that thought she was a dog. And the character description was she was, like, hyper and gets flustered. And right before I went in, right before I called my mom, I'm like, I have this crazy idea. She's like, what? I'm like, would it be funny that, like, since she's so hyper that every time there's like a B or a P, she gets caught and she starts clucking? She's like, what do you mean? I'm like, you know, I can put up with the grilling jokes, the shit, fake references, even you asking me why every time I class the rubber cac. She's like, yes, do that.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I mean, that's like, also a level of. It's a level of independent creativity that I think a lot of people don't think about when they think about, you know, the actual performance level of voiceover actors. And, you know, I. I've gotten.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I want to hear that part again.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I've gotten. I've gotten asked this question because I used to do a lot more voiceovers when I was younger, and, you know, I used to get asked that. And I always had to see a picture. I always had to see a picture of it. If they didn't have a drawing, if they didn't have anything, it was. I mean, it wasn't impossible, but that was what gave it, like. There was usually physicality that went to it, and it's not unlike playing a character role, which not every actor gets. Character roles meaning if you're more of a classic leading lady or leading gentleman. You often don't play character roles. You play like the handsome lead or you play like the pretty girl that everybody wants to date. But for those of us who have, like, character roles that we do, it's much more similar to me to voiceover because you really have to craft that. I wonder if you can talk about manifesting and kind of the positivity that you have. There seems to be this kind of running theme of you having a sort of confidence that feels like it comes from somewhere else. And I wonder, does it feel. Does it feel like intuition? Does it feel like you're able to harness something? What is manifesting for you?

[Tara Strong]

Well, like, thank you for saying that and seeing that because it feels true. And at one point, my ex mother in law showed me the movie the Secret, and I was like, okay, oh, I already know this. I do this by nature. I already know this. I've known this my whole life. I knew when I was five I was gonna move to Los Angeles and be a successful actress. I knew I'd have a house with a shower. I knew I wouldn't worry about money. I knew I'd make people happy. I always knew these things. I've never been someone to worry about money. And I think that's a really big thing. Right? When you start learning about the laws of attraction, they tell you, don't worry. Don't say, I wish I had, I want to have. Cause then if you replay that in a year, what's the message? I wish I had. I wish I. I had. The laws of attraction are feeling like you already have it. Not just saying it, thinking it, feeling like it, and then trying to parlay that energy into your daily life. And let's pretend it works 50% of the time, 40% of the time, that's better than never, right? Right. People that are constantly thinking everything bad happens to me, I'm always unlucky, I'm always sad. They are. And they keep bringing that on themselves. And I feel bad for people stuck in that. I've been stuck in depression. I've been stuck in doubt. And then this part of me that knows I'm here to spread love and light resurfaces. You are here to do this. When I feel insecure, I let the strongest parts of myself take the wheel. Eh, I'm gonna get let Harley handle this situation. I'm gonna let someone else take this for a minute, and then that'll bring me back into my highest version of myself. But I am a very big believe. Checking in with yourself. I listen to meditations all the time that I love. I can send you some of my favorites. That put me in a place of feeling good and inviting the best things that we have on this planet to you. I really do live that way. And I just. I don't know, I rely on it a lot. And it's important to me to keep thinking positive and spreading love and light. That's what we're here today.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

And I just. I want to clarify, because I don't think you. I don't think this is what you meant, but I just want to clarify. The notion is not that people. I mean, I guess there's some element of, you know, you know, what are we attracting, Right? What are we creating? But I think also, you know, for people who are struggling, right, with depression, things like that, the notion is not, you did this to yourself.

[Tara Strong]

Absolutely not. I have a really big problem with. I have a big problem with that. I don't. First of all, not everyone knows everything. You could sit with someone who's like, I speak to ghosts, and I know this happens when you die, and they could still be full of poop or that's their experience or whatever it is. Nobody here on this planet right now knows everything we're here to learn. Nobody knows what happens when you die or how, whether or not the laws of attraction work or whatever. And there are a lot of people putting out videos that I think are very destructive. I do not think you invite bad things. I think that should be removed from that information. I don't think you asked for your husband to have an affair. I don't think you asked for your kid to have a disease. I don't think.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You're not talking to me specifically.

[Tara Strong]

No, no. I'm talking to people in the world. And I do think sometimes people that are, like, obsessively believing in whatever video they've seen, that, oh, I must have brought this bad unto myself. No, you did not bring bad unto yourself. I do believe that positive thoughts have more power. And maybe you can speak to this because they say they've scientifically tested this, that positive thinking seems to bring more energy. And I just think that if you don't believe in something bigger, if you don't believe that you can try to make yourself better. It is harder to manifest good things. But I don't think anyone should feel like they brought on a bad situation unless you physically did something bad. But I just. I don't believe that. No, I don't know what that is. I don't understand it. And it's heartbreaking to see someone you love suffer, but I don't think they brought it upon themselves.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, that makes sense. And we know that the brain just has a better capacity for resilience when it is geared towards positive thinking. I mean, that's literally what, you know, science is proving. That's consistent with what a lot of people like you intuitively knew, right? When you say there's more power to positive thinking, it's because it causes the ability for expansion, for more synaptic connections, like for your brain to literally access more and in particular to access more of, of, you know, the sort of chemistry that then perpetuates more positivity.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Another way of saying that, and I think it's a very good clarification, is when we say resilience, what we're saying is like, you have more problem solving ability, right?

[Tara Strong]

And right. If you're suffering and you know that side of you exists. And I have suffered, not to say everything's been beautiful for me. There's been very hard times. I've had moments where I get why people want to end things. I've been stuck in cycles of sadness, depression. But I think if you have that piece of you to hold onto, I want get back to that feeling, that person, that mental state. I think it's helpful to anchor yourself in the best case scenario rather than the worst case scenario, right when you don't feel well and you go to WebMD, you're dying of everything, like automatically go to the worst case scenario. If you try to every day, automatically every day go to the best case scenario. I think slowly you can pull yourself from those things. I feel very fortunate that I had a strong base place to, to pull myself to, to get myself out of hard situations. That what you meant? Is that what you meant, Jonathan?

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, yes, I want, and I think it's important to clarify the science of manifesting, or at least part of it, you know, what does it mean to actually put good into the world and good will come back? Because I, I saw the secret, I saw many of these teachers, and some of it I think is botched. As you said, you know, that we bring things on ourselves. But what we know and in other experts that have come on this show, for example, Susan David, she talks about how when we are facing distress, we have cognitive narrowing, meaning that we default to the most uptight, constricted parts of ourselves. It's very hard to find solutions in that space. We have a Lot more black and white thinking. Versus when mime is talking about resilience, what resilience means is actually having a lot more cognitive flexibility that allows us to see it's not this or that. It may be somewhere in between, and that in between might be the solution. So, like, for example, and I'm just, you know, I don't know what happens for you in a moment where you find a character or you find a solution, but for example, if you were in the booth and you saw something like the overweight character and you just tensed up, you wouldn't have the resources to find the solution. Versus, if you are channeling that part of yourself that knows there are resources that knows that you could say something that there holds the possibility of a solution. Therefore, you manifest a solution because you are bringing more of yourself. You are bringing that energy to be available for the scenario, and you're able to interact and find a solution.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, I think that's true also. Mayim, I meant to. Yes, say yes, that's true to you, too. Yes, that's true, Jonathan. Yes, that's true.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You only say the Canadians are saying

[Tara Strong]

I wanted to also give you a yes, that's true. On. Cause I forgot to say this earlier. Visualizing a visual representation of the character. If I have an audition and I do all my auditions right here, I'm in my little home studio right now, I'll put the character side by side and look back and forth. And we do get physical in the booth. We do have a physical thing that happens. And so, Jonathan, back to your point. When you visualize yourself out of a situation, I see. I do sometimes see those characters. I do have a physical thing that happens to me that can help me. And I'm lucky that that part of me is so strong. I'm lucky.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I'm not saying this is what I'm saying, but I'm gonna be this person. Just for the sake of argument, that's like. That's naive. And like, lucky you, like, you were gifted with this positivity. And like, I. What if I wasn't? And what if my chemistry is like, no, no, like downward spiral. Like, I think you can work. There was not a way out. It's hard work.

[Tara Strong]

I think you can work on it. I think mental.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

And we know, right, we know that medication is not the only way to work on it, which used to be what doctors told you. Like, oh, you're not feeling like Tera is Today we're going to give you this pill to make more Tera hormones Right. We're just going to, like, increase the.

[Tara Strong]

Are you coming up with a marketing idea right now?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

No, but I think what. What we're now learning and a lot of what. But a lot of what Jonathan and I do try and talk about and emphasize on this podcast is there are ways to get outside of yourself. And it doesn't just have to be with pharmaceuticals, and it also doesn't just have to be with psilocybin. Like, you live in la, everybody's like, microdosing. That's why everyone's in such a good mood. But you know, the notion that meditation, that, you know, law of attraction stuff, or, you know, I was just. I've been revisiting the emotional freedom technique. Right. Even though I'm in a hard place, I'm still loved by something bigger than all of this. And I'm, like, saying it to myself and feeling like a ridiculous person. Right. But those are ways that we don't necessarily need to just turn to a pharmaceutical or turn to psilocybin and be like, look, I'm all better, but how can I, you know, create my own little manifestation circle in my own brain?

[Tara Strong]

And I think, like, you know, this. I think it's a daily practice. Just like if you want to dance, you're probably going to be dancing every day. If you want to be fit, you're going to work out every day. And all of your muscles and all of your body parts need some kind of attention every day. And I do think if you're just like, eh, I'm going to feel good today and not tomorrow, not work on it. Everything's terrible. Everything's terrible every day. And not work on bringing yourself to a different place. It makes a difference. I think it's. And for me, even for me, it's daily work to put myself in a good headspace. If I see something sad, if something bad happens, I have to work on it. I have to put on one of my meditations. It's not just like, hey, let's feel good and everything's wonderful. I think it's work. Just like, like I said, if you want to be a singer, you can take singing lessons. You're going to work out your voice every day. It's like another piece of you that has to be worked on every day.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

That's a great point, Ter.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I want to circle back to a word that you used that I. That struck me. You use the word conduit when describing receiving these characters, or almost. You didn't use the word channeling, but that's what I conjured. When you used the word that you were a conduit. Do you have a sense of being plugged into the universe? Do you have a sense of. That these characters exist? You know, Rick Rubin talks about the artist being. Downloading and having the work is, you know, fine tuning one's antennae to receive information and then. And translate it. I'm wondering if you could. How does that strike you?

[Tara Strong]

I mean, I. Yes. Like, you guys are gonna later go, she's crazy. Yeah.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Oh, no. He's asking because we know that we believe this. We're just trying to see if you do.

[Tara Strong]

Heck, yes. Heck, yes. I am tuned in. Those are my people up in the stars. After this, I get to go back to my star planet and share everything I learned.

[Mayim Bialik]

Where did you.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

When did you realize that this. Like, is this something that your parents instilled in you, or did you just always feel like you are one with the universe in ways that they don't need drugs?

[Tara Strong]

No, no, no, no, they didn't. That was not part of the thing that I had that was important for who I am from my children, from my parents, was unconditional love and support. Right. We all know the person that wanted to be a performer that was like, no, you're gonna be a doctor like your dad and everyone else's dad. No. So I always had that support and that love and. But they did not teach me about the laws of attraction. Although my mom was super magic, my mom's twin, who was like a second mom to me, was also super magic. And we used to have.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Wow, Were they magic?

[Tara Strong]

Well, we did. My mom's twin liked a lot of sort of Wiccan, like, either. Not so much ceremony, although a lot of the Jewish ceremony felt to me like that. Like, my favorite holiday has always been Passover because I love all the little things that you do. I like anything in any religion that brings people together and you do ritual together. I love that we lit the candles every Friday night. We'd say prayers together. There was a summer when I was 10 that I was literally woke up one day, went outside and broke out into rash and my entire body. And we went to the doctor. And I was allergic to the sun. I was allergic to The sun at 10. Couldn't play with my friends at school. I was the kid sitting under a tree while everyone was having a good time. And my mom came. She. My mom told me this later that she came into my room one night and said, I'm your mom, and I have mommy magic. And tomorrow you're gonna wake up and not be allergic to the sun. And I wasn't. What? Yeah. So we believed in magic, but I don't know that it was portrayed to me as a laws of attraction or that thing. But she definitely believed. She was Russian Jewish, and they definitely believed in.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, we're Hungarian. And there's witches. I mean, like, there's. There's amazing bizarro stories for pretty much all the Hungarian women.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, I. I love reading, like, ancient Jewish Wiccan stuff too. Like, it's very fascinating, like magic and Kabbalah, and I find it all very fascinating, but I'm definitely a believer.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Did you experience that? You know, you. You have two sons who I knew when they were little. They're now men. Did you experience any of that kind of intuitive stuff when you were a mom?

[Tara Strong]

I mean, I think probably she was more magical in some ways, but me and my boys do a lot of magic stuff together. They're very magic. Like, we all, like. I have these in my studio at all times, and I'm like, oh, I'm gonna do Raven today. I'm gonna play with the purple crystal. I like things and traditions and ritual. I like. I like it all. I'm not gonna, like, go put a curse on someone, but I like. I like. I don't know. I like that stuff. And my kids like that stuff.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Huh? My kids think I'm batshit crazy. I got crystals everywhere, and I'm like, hold this. You're feeling agitated. Hold this.

[Tara Strong]

No, that's crazy.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I blame their father, but, no, I think that's wonderful that you were able to access that. But I absolutely did feel separate from my ex husband. I. I absolutely felt a different sense of connection to the universe once those humans exited my body, meaning, oh, I grew this person. They experienced everything I experienced and also everything my mother experienced, because that's when the eggs that made them were actually born, was in my mom's belly, which. Sorry, guys, that's the story. You get all of it. But. But I definitely felt. I mean, to put it plainly, I felt like it was a magical experience to grow a human in my body, and then it was on the outside. Like, that's miraculous. It felt super magical, divine to me.

[Tara Strong]

Super magical also. I had many experiences that made me know magic was real growing up and as an adult. My dad was obsessed with World War II. He was a child during World War II, and he had, in our basement, a World War II museum set up that people would come see. And I have it Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do with it because I don't want to just sell it off. But he has like signed Hitler documents and over 100,000 postcards and things from the Holocaust. And he had a schoolroom set up. He has early edition of every comic and magazine and it was very fascinating. And at one time when I was feeling quite rebellious and didn't have my own room, I decided to sleep downstairs even though all that stuff was right there. And I got out of the shower and I was standing naked for a second and I hear, sorry, I can't whistle. It's the one thing this voice bitch can't do. But I heard like a, you know,

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

cat call whistle, a cat call.

[Tara Strong]

And there is no windows in this room. It's super dark and creepy and it kept going and I ran upstairs and didn't go. Do that again. I've had like enough for sure. And also since my mom passed, like her letting me know she's here happens all the time when I'm having a hard day. My mom went by Lucy. She was born Lillian, but she went by Lucy. So that's my like magic name. If I see that anywhere, I'll just ask for it and it'll show up, It'll show up. I was asked for it the other day. I was at a table reading for a really cool movie, really cool camera movie, and the girl was telling the story that her car had been stolen. And she's like, there goes Lucy down the street. Her car was named Lucy. And then there was a Lucy in the script. I'm like, okay, thanks mom, thanks for checking in. Yeah, I'm a pretty big magic believer. So like we're on the same side. Woo hoo.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

So you believe in magic. And some things that we don't think sound crazy, but what about. A lot of people talk about angels, like being protected by angels. Is that a thing that is in your wheelhouse?

[Tara Strong]

First of all, when my mom died, I was at her house in Toronto for the funeral. I had a two month old Aiden in my hand and a two and a half year old Sammy. And my mom had what they called a mini heart attack two weeks before she died. And I had a brand new baby, week old baby. And she said, I know you know what this means, you don't need to come. And I was like, how can I not come? Like what if God, excuse me, you have a week old baby, you don't need to come. And a week later she was dead. And I was so Heartbroken. I was, like, screaming at her, why'd you tell me not to come? And I kept feeling like she was saying it wasn't my time. I didn't know it was my time. I didn't know it was my time. And my ex had left early. It was just me and the kids in her bedroom. And my mom had one of those old computers with the printers with the perforated pages, you know, the holes. And my son had been playing with it. And when the morning that we left the page, the paper from that printer was on the floor with a pen beside it. And there were two words on that piece of paper. And it is undeniably my mother's penmanship. And it said time, Tara. And I took it to mean two things. One is she really didn't know it was her time. And two is that time is so precious on this planet. It's so valuable. You have to love every moment you can. You have to live every moment you can tell people that you love them. Like, it hit me in a very profound way. And that was the first appearance of her, but I've had many from her, so I think someone that you feel very kindred to can come. But I also do believe in beings that we don't know that are helping us. Many of them aren't human. You can meet them in meditation. I've met a few. And I think when you keep putting out love into the world, we're not perfect. We're all going to make mistakes. That's what we're here to do. We're learning. But when you keep trying to be good and put out good in the world, I think you get rewarded with. With little nudges and little help from your angels that are doing the best they can to help guide you. Learn everything you can while you're here.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

That's beautifully said. That's really beautifully said. I wanted to open up. I mean, since we're talking about your mom. Jonathan has spoken on this podcast pretty openly about his brother, who had a traumatic brain injury when he was 17 and Jonathan was 14, and. And Daniel's a very, very special person, Very special part of our life and Jonathan's life and obviously his entire family. But it's something that when he talks about it, we get a lot of really interesting comments. And so I wondered if you might talk a little bit about your sister, about what it's like to advocate for someone who's special and. I don't know, Jonathan, do you want to add anything else to the. The. To the sibling conversation.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Yeah, for, for me, I was the younger brother. And when he had his accident, he was, you know, extremely disabled. He had to learn to walk, talk, recognize family again. The prognosis for him was that he would be a vegetable his whole life. And he slowly fought against that and relearned all of the things that I just mentioned. But one of the hardest parts was as he became 2 1/2 ish years post injury, he tried to, you know, go out in the world and continue to be a young adult. And that by that time I had sort of caught up in terms of what I was going through. I was, you know, in high school and going to parties and meeting people, and then sometimes my brother would be there. And, you know, he was very socially, well, unequipped, basically. Like people couldn't understand him. He had a very intense speech impediment. He had physical disabilities, so you could see that he was different. And, you know, as he would try to connect, I would feel very protective of him. He also had no filters based on his head injury. So, you know, he, he hit on every woman, said very inappropriate things, but also they couldn't understand him because of the speech impediment. But I knew exactly what he was saying.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

He's clear now when he tells me he doesn't like what I'm wearing or how my hair is, what my face looks like.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And he, you know, he's extremely extroverted with no filters. And I'm this very shy, reserved, very cautious. And so I'm being placed. I'm mortified a lot of the time, but I'm also very protective of him and trying to come in, make sure he doesn't piss anyone off, make sure that the woman he's hitting on doesn't have a boyfriend who wants to destroy him. It's it. So I, I know, I know what it's like to sort of have someone that you're looking out for a lot and feeling that they need that extra support.

[Tara Strong]

I love that. I think when you have someone like that and many people do, it gives you an empathy for it. Right? When I see a kid at a con who obviously struggles in social situations and you see the look on their mom's faces, that they're so proud of them, that they're speaking or they're so sorry that they're doing this or whatever it is, you know, what that mom's gone through, that dad's gone through, siblings gone through to make sure this very special being is protected, not bullied, and not getting Themself in trouble. Like you said, sometimes they that aren't awesome, you know. And I think it gives us an empathy for people where people who don't grow up with it don't have that base understanding of it and can be off put or say something mean that then makes that person's heart hurt. And I think that's what we want to protect at all costs. Since my mom died, my sister's completely agoraphobic. Will not leave the house. So social interaction is not that important in terms of in the outer world. Although she does like to be online a lot. If it were up to me, she'd be in my house in a guest house. She'd come with me at all the cons. This is her people. She loves those people. I'll FaceTime her and get like, let her meet her favorite Star Trek person or whatever. I pay for her whole life. I help her every single day. She does not want to leave Toronto, so I got her a place there and I send her food every day and I make her do yoga with me on zoom every day. And I try to make her feel special. Loved scene, beautiful as much as I can because the world's cruel. World's cruel. Parents are cruel, children are cruel. A lot of people, the Internet's cruel. They're cruel. So you want to protect them. So I get that same.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And our world is really strange where, you know, it's so easy to just not have a place right.

[Tara Strong]

And that's true for people who have any kind of thing that makes them different from someone else as well as, as a list celebrities. I have so many friends that have, what do you call that thing? Imposter syndrome. And I'm like, you're so and so. You have an Oscar, you're this. Yeah, but we still get it. Everybody, Everybody. I think that's the thing too, that when people are attacking celebrities online, especially X Twitter, that they we are not people and have emotions and feel bad and feel sad. Yes, we do. We are people that are successful in this line of work and it hurts our heart if you say something mean. So I think that goes for people who aren't well equipped to handle as well as someone who's wildly successful. I think we all struggle with do we belong? Do we deserve this spot?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

This feels like a good segue to kind of dip into social media, you know, something that didn't exist when you and I started auditioning. Being, you know, being a character on a voiceover show was often a very anonymous way to actually get work and make money. Money. And you know, I think, I don't want to speak for you, but, but I know for me there were times when that was really my income, you know, was, was voiceover stuff. And there were, I mean, at that point we thought there were so many animated shows before there were 6,000 networks, but still there felt, it felt like there were more shows that you could do voiceovers for than, you know, be cast in. And especially, you know, I, I talk a lot about what it was like being an actor in the 80s. Like, if you didn't have like blonde hair, blue eyes and very tiny features and look like generic, what was supposed to look like, it was harder to get roles. Like that was what most of the roles were. I like to say I grew up watching television of like attractive people hooking up with each other. Like generically attractive people having sex in different permutations was a lot of the show. So voiceover work was this like really safe haven. And it was a place where, you know, kids would know that you were doing it or, you know, some adults would be like, oh, my kid likes to watch that. But there was no real, like famer notoriety cut to this last, you know, I don't know, it's 20 years or so. I mean, I think when I had my first kid, I didn't even have a smartphone. I think when I had Fred, my second one, I didn't even have a smartphone when he was born. So in the last, you know, 15, 20 years, your role has been not just as an actress and a voiceover, you know, performer, but you've become, you know, a social media presence for, for publicity for all of these shows. That opens you up to allow people knowing what you look like. And I would imagine it also opens you up to a lot of ridiculousness on social media.

[Tara Strong]

Ridiculousness.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I'm, I'm kind of curious, like, is this a double edged sword? Do you feel like, do you, do you manage your own stuff? Like, I would imagine there's a lot of creepy, I'm gonna say creepy dudes because it's an expression.

[Mayim Bialik]

I'm sure there's creepy ladies as well.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

But what is that kind of attention? Like, how does it change how you sort of conduct yourself?

[Tara Strong]

Such a good question. And you're so right. Since the Internet, people go like, oh, who's the voice of this? And then they know what they look like. And so, yes, I get recognized in my real life not as much as someone who does primarily on camera, but I do. And it's usually very sweet. Most of my fans are very sweet. And sometimes, like, there's, you know, good things that happen to you. Like, I was going a little fast to a job, and the police officer pulled me over, and his kid's a really big Powerpuff Girls fan. He's like, I can't get. You give a ticket to a Powerpuff Girl.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I would.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Wait, did you have to say to him, like, guess what?

[Tara Strong]

No. No. He knew who I was.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I'd be like, hey, in case you didn't know, do you happen to have children who are fans of a television show that I'm avoiding?

[Tara Strong]

I'm saying I haven't done that in scenarios, but I was at the Apple store in New York maybe six months ago. I had dropped my phone under the seat, and they know. You know how they tell you, don't move your seat? I moved my seat. It was trashed. And I went in, and they're like, we don't have an appointment till tomorrow. I'm like, ah. And then the girl goes, hold the phone. You're Ms. Minutes. You're Ms. Minutes. We cannot leave Miss Minutes without a phone. You're gonna go upstairs to this other area and get taken care of. So sometimes.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, there's a special area at Apple we didn't know about.

[Tara Strong]

Sometimes it's. I mean, it isn't really. It was just, like, away from everyone else, so they couldn't see that I was getting special treatment. But sometimes it's nice. I haven't had too many terrible experiences in person. Sometimes guys. Guys like we talked about get weird. But I have people around me to help me. The weirdest was a guy who tried to sort of touch himself at my table. That was.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

He tried to what?

[Tara Strong]

He tried to touch himself at my table.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Hold on one second. A certain part of himself.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You mean he came up to you and was like, because I'm looking at you, I need to touch my penis?

[Tara Strong]

Yes.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Was it the sound of your voice now? I need to know. Or it was just. Did he know that you were you, or was it just like you were.

[Tara Strong]

He knew I was me. He was in my line. He was a very large teenage human with a dad that was already holding him in place. He was an unsteady human, and he asked me to read a character that he created. No. So I read it, and he put his pants and started to touch himself. And his dad was like, no, I cr.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

And they're like, we're so sorry.

[Tara Strong]

We're so sorry.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I'm like, I mean, that happens to me at the supermarket, but I didn't expect it was going to happen to you like that.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah, so. Yeah. So anyway, that's like the worst. But normally in person, people are kind and awesome and I think. I think animation fans are the sweetest in the world. I love them. Social media, I love to connect with them in that way. I have spoken to depressed people. I'm not lying with guns in there. Mouth. I like to help people. I like to raise money. I've raised millions of dollars on Twitter for kids with cancer, various animal rescues, someone in need. I like helping people. I like promoting shows that I'm on. I like making jokes. I like making people feel good. I like that element. I do not like the bullying. And I think X is the worst. I think of all the social media

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

platforms, you mean for that kind of conversation, not that it's the worst platform.

[Tara Strong]

Yeah. I think Twitter is by far the most bullying, rampant. Hey, it's free speech, so we can tell you to die, bitch, if we want to place. I find it very hard on my heart. Of all of all the places. And I just wish. I don't know why everybody can't be kind to each other. I don't understand this piece, but I do know that there are a lot of mentally disturbed people on these platforms. There was a girl that told me I should have been aborted during the original Trump stuff that was going on. I was very vocal and, like, put out this tweet that I should have been aborted. All my fans went after her and I was at a con and three very frail girls came up to me. I mean, probably one of them had cerebral palsy. That's the level I'm talking about. They were not solid, confident humans. And this girl said, Ms. Strong, your fans were really mean to my friend. And the girl was this big. I was like, oh, my God, I'm arguing with you. You. My army of fans are going after you. I don't want that. I don't want anyone arguing with you. And so you have to be very careful when you engage, because sane people don't want to go on the Internet and ruin someone. That's not what sane people do.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

So let's. I'm going to parlay this into something that is a delicate conversation that shouldn't be. The Tel Aviv Institute posted a very interesting discussion of something that recently happened to you. And they post the Oxford Dictionary definition of Islamophobia, which is the dislike or unfair treatment of Islam or Muslims. And the reason that they felt the need to define Islamophobia is that you were accused of going on an Islamophobic binge on Twitter X for statements that, objectively speaking, had nothing to do with Islam or Muslim people. You were responding to the terrorist organization Hamas and you were not just let go, fired. I hate to use the word, I don't know why I'm so afraid to say it. You were fired from a job that also was part of a. Is it a Kickstarter? Kickstarter. Kickstarter. A Kickstarter that essentially, you know, utilized your power in the industry to sell a project and you were released with them making a statement. It was bandit mill animation saying, this was not a difficult decision. Decision. They felt very, very secure. And when I looked through a variety of your tweets, what I saw is that you were praying for peace. You were expressing concern with all suffering that occurred. A lot of people don't know. About half of the remaining survivors that we estimate are alive of the hostages are actually from Thailand. They're from Nepal call some hold, I believe, Mexican and French citizenship. So there's a lot of people being held that you expressed concern for the, you know, the notion that. That standing with Israel, which was, you know, one of the hashtags that many of us were using, the notion that that was interpreted as Islamophobic and as an extension had you lose a job. Job is pretty astounding. And I wonder, Yeah, I wonder sort of what that feels like. Also to be comfortable being open about it, to say I'm a person who's a humanitarian who prays for peace, who is devastated at the suffering that the people of Gaza are experiencing, and also at the same time to be accused of Islamophobia, which is a horrendous thing to be accused of because it is horrendous to hate Muslims or Islamic. Um, Yeah. I wonder if you. If you. I'm not asking you to defend yourself. I don't think you need to defend yourself, but I wonder if you can speak to it in terms of the larger context of what happens in. In the forums of social media.

[Tara Strong]

This is why Twitter X is dangerous. These interpretations and things that people run with and then get people to run with and then press runs with. That can be devastating. So I'm going to go back and say how this happened. Like I said, I like helping people. And this guy came to me on Twitter, sent me a DM and said, hey, we're doing a Kickstarter for a pilot. I'm such a Big fan. I'd love to have you play this character. And I don't typically do things from fans because I don't know who these people are. But he was very sweet and showed me some of the art and I recognized that he was working with some people who did have some good experience in the business. And they. Then he told me it was non union. And I said, I really appreciate this, I wish you all the best, but I cannot do a non union project. And he came back to me, he's like, the team's willing to go union to have you. And we had a dialogue. We had a online friendship going. I was like, great. I hook him up with my agent, arguably the biggest animation agent in the world. Spends half a day helping this kid learn about sag, how to get a low budget Screen Actors Guild contract, all these things. It was a very collaborative process. I do the job for less than I would do something else for like a. You go like sag, less rate, whatever they call that. I go on their Kickstarter, I help them raise money. I'm all in. October 7th happens October 7th. And this fight is something very important to me that I've been in for a very long time. When I was a kid, there was a swastika sprayed on our synagogue that my mom was there for that. My dad was. My grandfather was the cantor. My parents, my mom and her mom ran the catering business. This was our synagogue. And it said daiju pigs. And when I was 16, I went on the March of the Living. We had stones thrown at our bus. We had a swastika drawn on our bus when we were going to Auschwitz, Meindanek. It was still quite anti Semitic. Although there were beautiful moments. We were dancing at at a synagogue outside and this old man walked by and he said it'd been so long since he'd seen the Jews come home. It was very beautiful, but it was also still anti Semitic. Went to Israel after that. Had the best time. I was singing in the choir there. For peace, for understanding. I came back, I sang for Arnold Schwarzenegger. For peace, for understanding. I've been working for over a decade with an amazing org called Children of Peace that brings Arab Israeli families together in Israel. This is something very important to me. I am a human, as I said before, that shares light and love. And I don't want anyone to suffer anywhere. I don't understand how this planet still has wars. I don't understand. We've learned nothing. No one should ever be unalived. For some, like narcissist's cause. Like, that's just insane to me that we still have wars. I want a ceasefire around the world. I've sent thousands of dollars to Doctors Without Borders. I've sent thousands of dollars to. To help people in Gaza. I pray for them every day. I have family there. I have 50 family members and friends in Israel. Like, these are my people. This is important to me. And this fight for freedom, for everybody to be respected and together and live in love and peace and light is important to me. And that day was devastating. And I tweeted they were smart to start with the people love to hate because there were celebrations, people were in the streets quoting Hamas statements saying, it was a beautiful day. They want to see this happen over and over. So I say it was smart for them to start with a country people love to hate. And that kid retweeted it. I don't even know if he's a kid. I don't know how old he is. Retweeted it and said, this is disappointing. I'm like, what's disappointing? I'm speaking about Hamas. I'm speaking about a terrorist org. And then they were saying, no, I was speaking about. About Muslims. And the press bought it. But there's evidence that Tweet was on the 10th of October. Israel didn't go into Gaza on the 10th of October. And also Gaza isn't a country. I said, is a country people love to hate. But they took my words and they spun it. And also on that day or a few days later, there was a tweet that said, Hamas is isis. And I liked it. And I also liked a tweet that said, thank you for speaking up for the children. And then. And then about 20 minutes later, I'm like, oh, I didn't read the entire tweet. And it said something about like, Islam, you know, is a problem or something. So I unliked it. Within 20 minutes, I was like, oh, my God, that's not like I just read it too fast. Happens, Happens. When I'm doing a script, I'll read. I've got a script in front of me. I'll read something completely different.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Sure.

[Tara Strong]

And they took that and a picture I posted of Shani Luke from my friend who is a Muslim activist. Loe. Do you know him? He's amazing. I'll send you his stuff. He and I have been friends long before October 7, and he posted a picture that said, this is not freedom, meaning the rape of these women. And people came at me, even though he was a Muslim. Post. And they took that to the press, and the press bought it, which was heartbreaking, by the way. The rest of the tweet that said, thanks for standing up for our children. The rest of that tweet was that the Jews are killing. That was up for two days with my like on it. Nobody said anything. Didn't make the press because it didn't fit the narrative that I was a terrible person. Right. And I do think now that I know how the press operates, right? You can say, oh, the Jews run Hollywood. There's a lot of Jews in Hollywood. Well, we certainly don't run the press, right? You see how much negative there is. And unless you're a Jewish person saying, I don't want to be Jewish anymore, you're an Islamophobe, right? You can't say anything without them attacking you. Even though I. This is an important thing to me. I'm sending them money. I love all people. It doesn't matter. Your entire world is defined by you accidentally liking a tweet. If you accidentally like the wrong tweet, and that makes you a terrible person, we are all in really big trouble. Trust me, when you die, they're not gonna be like, which tweet did you accidentally like? Right. I. It's just. It was so heartbreaking to see so many people coming at me when all I wanna do is spread love and light and help. It's all I wanna do. And it's still there. People are so mean. You can't tweet anything now without people going, you know, you're a Jewish genocider, right?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You look at that well, and I just think that's. Yeah. And I think, you know, sort of what my experience has been is, you know, anyone who's listened to me for any number of years or decades before October 7th knows that, you know, I've been an advocate for Palestinian rights, for Palestinian dignity, for a restructuring of many policies of the Israeli government. But when it comes down to it, if someone has a problem with the fact that I believe Israel should exist, we're going to have a fundamental problem. Because I can hold both of those things. I can hold love and space for both people in my heart and in a geographic place. And for me, you know, I think what you're talking about is really people showing their cards to a certain extent. You know, if their fundamental issue is that you believe that Israel should exist, then unfortunately, it doesn't matter. Right?

[Tara Strong]

It's insane. Like, these people who. I think you're right, don't know that the Things. They're chanting the Hamas based chants. You are asking for me to be unalive. You are asking for me and people that I love to not exist. It's so crazy to me that people are so outwardly, vocally, blazingly anti Semitic and they say, no, we're not. Yes, they are. Anti Semitic crimes are up over a thousand percent. Like you said, it's at every college, it's online. Every day. Every single day in my inbox, I get die Zionist. See you next Tuesday. Every day. It doesn't matter if I say I'm pro peace. I want everyone to have love. I want everyone to be on my little pony. Like that's how my brain works. I want everybody to, you know. And cartoons were way ahead of that game. Rugrats had black family, Jewish family. Cartoons are all colors of the rainbow. They worship everyone. They love whoever they wanna love. And we all love each other. We could all learn from cartoons. Actually, we could all learn a lot. Coexisting is, you know, there are beautiful, beautiful orgs in Israel. Hands hand in hand. Schools where kids are together. Muslim, Jewish, everyone's together. The fight should be against terrorism from everyone. There should be no justification for terrorism. There should be no justification for rape. You should be able to say, I'm praying for these children to be returned to their parents without being called a Zionist. See you next Tuesday. If a kid was kidnapped in your neighborhood, there'd be signs everywhere. People wouldn't be tearing them down. The fact that people hate Jews because they're at war is insane around the world. They don't hate Christians because America's at war. Jewish Israel has Jewish Jews, Christians, Hindus, Druze, Muslims, everybody. It's a country you can hate the way Netanyahu's done things. You can hate certain policies, but to hate an entire group of people is stupid. I don't. Nobody should. And the fact that there's all this very vocal hatred for Jewish people is terrifying. I don't understand why there are more arrests at some of these rallies where people are causing pretty terrible vandalism. A guy died. A guy died in California. You know, it used to be when Black Lives Matter was at its peak, we knew to share the mic. Now it feels like not only do they not want to share the mic, they want to take it from us and hit us over the head and kill us. Look, that guy got killed by a megaphone. Like, if I'm saying this feels anti Semitic, believe me, I grew up with this. It's in my blood. My grandmother escaped the pogroms. At 16, she put all her family on a boat. Her mom said if I die, it's her fault. She saved a generation. This is in our blood. To any Jewish person today is alive because your ancestors survived being hunted, period. Don't hate Jews. You can hate a policy, you can hate a war. I hate all wars. Most Jews do. No Jew wants genocide. No Jew wants an innocent person to suffer. We wanna invite you over for matzo ball soup, period.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Thank you, Tara. It's such a pleasure to get to talk to you about such a variety of things from, you know, from your voiceover career to the magic that you bring to your love for all people. And it just seems, it seems so fitting that you get to live this life, you know, where you are creating characters that bring so much joy to so many people. Where can we tell people to find you? Where do you like to direct people? What can we plug for you?

[Tara Strong]

Well, I'm still on all social media, media platforms, believe it or not. I still believe people are good. I'm still gonna keep pushing for all of the charity work that I do and helping people and making people feel good and seen and important. It matters to me. So I'm still there. Ara strong. I'm also arastrong on Instagram and on TikTok and I'm going to be for the first time releasing a class with all of my secrets because at every single con someone says and online. How do you get into voiceover? I really wanna get into voiceover and it is not a simple one answer question and I've never taught before because it is such a small group of people that find success that I didn't want to take someone's money and not be able to offer a reward and I can't guarantee myself a job, let alone anyone else. So I didn't do it before, but at one point my boyfriend's like, you get asked this all the time, why don't you tell them what you can and make it a community. So I've been working on it for over a. I recorded hours and hours of dialogue, sort of like masterclass with all my secrets. There's a lot of weird shit too, a lot of magic shit of how I create a character, what I do, everything you need to know to get in. But it's going to be a community where we all get to see ourselves and hear ourselves animated and work together and I'm here for people, for auditions and blah blah, blah, blah. So that's be coming out soon. It's all done and edited. And I'm, like, so happy with. Because it's. Like I said, it's not guaranteeing you work. It's teaching you all of my little secrets and what I do, and I'm just sharing what's in my crazy brain with everybody.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Where will people be able to find that?

[Tara Strong]

I'll announce it on all my social platforms. Ooh, I don't want to say the name yet because it came to me kind of like a godshot, and it's kind of fun.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Oh, I can't wait to hear. Okay, so great. It's really, really. It was so great to see you and also really appreciate you sharing, you know, not just everything going on, but specifically what's been going on regarding Israel stuff. So thank you so much.

[Tara Strong]

Much.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Thank you.

[Tara Strong]

Thanks for having me.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I know what you're gonna say, Jonathan.

[Jonathan Cohen]

What am I gonna say?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

You can't believe that I know someone who believes in so many awesome things like crystals and magic, and I never told you about her. I've been keeping you away from her.

[Jonathan Cohen]

What I was gonna say is she has her life mission of spreading light and love. Love. You could spread light, love and science.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Why do you have to make me competitive with tarot?

[Jonathan Cohen]

You don't have to be competitive. I'm just saying, you know, as a motto to live by, I think a lot more spreading light and love. I. I'm into it. I used to have a email when I was seven. Like, there's a lot.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Was your. Okay, what was your email?

[Jonathan Cohen]

No, I'm not telling you. I'm not.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Now you're here to tell us?

[Jonathan Cohen]

No, I can't.

[Tara Strong]

It was.

[Jonathan Cohen]

I'm embarrassed.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Light, we love to embarrass. What was your email?

[Jonathan Cohen]

Was it like, you know, if there's a few people in Toronto that know what that email was? It was a Hotmail account.

[Tara Strong]

Ooh, Hotmail.

[Jonathan Cohen]

And, you know, I feel like in my late teens, early 20s, I had. I mean, I was a little naive, but I was unabashedly pursuing that type of, like, leading with love and positivity. It was just. I was like, the world is just needs, all of that. And then I decided I had to make a living somehow. And, you know, practical reality set in, and I feel like I lost some of that. I mean, I think it's my foundation. And I believe her. I believe that when you come back to a place of love and, you know, we've spoken about this on the show, and even if you come back to the science of what does it Mean to actually lead with, with love.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Oh, are you asking me to explain it?

[Jonathan Cohen]

Well, I think it actually ties back into some of the stuff we were talking about in terms of having more cognitive flexibility.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

I think that positivity, Positivity gets a bad rep, you know, because there's toxic

[Jonathan Cohen]

positivity, which is not what we're talking about.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

No, there's toxic positivity, which, I mean, that feels a little judgy, but yeah, there's, there's toxic positivity. There's also lip sync service. You know, a lot of people give lip service to a lot of this stuff. And, and the fact is, once you can like buy the slogan on a tea towel, you know, that you can buy in TJ Maxx, which is a place that I happen to love. I'm not disparaging TJ Maxx, but once you can buy that slogan on a tea towel at TJ Maxx, it can definitely lose some of the, the depth and the nuance and the power behind it. But if you'd like to have a happy saying on a tea towel, by all means, go for it.

[Tara Strong]

It.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

But the larger and, and deeper notion, which in some ways makes it a smaller notion because it literally starts just with you, right? It's what's between your two ears. This notion that what positivity feels like to your brain is an opening and it's more choice and it's more flexible and it is open and the opposite of that, that small minded, you know, it's, it's a buzz kill. It's a, it's a joy kill. It is a closing. I've been dealing with some health stuff recently, and I can't tell you how many doctors are like, you're, we're gonna figure this out. And I need you to believe that. And I'm like, but I just want to feel sorry for myself. It's like, yeah, but if so many people are telling me it, I think that you're onto something.

[Tara Strong]

Right?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

We have to have an open for hope and the brain knows what that feels like.

[Jonathan Cohen]

The way that positivity gets a bad rap is that when it's shallow, when it's surface, people are like, no, it

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

gets a bad rep when people don't want to hear it.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Yeah, but people will say, it's so easy to be loving and positive when all of your problems are taken care of by someone else, or when you don't have to deal with the hard reality of life and difficult choices that we have to make, then it's super Easy to just be like, oh, I love everyone and every. It's all going to work. Work out. Like, it's, it's seen as trite sometimes.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Well, and I think also for people who are feeling negative, which I. I sometimes am, it's very easy to say, well, because they're skinny, because they're prettier, because they have more money, because they have a bigger house. I mean, we, we as humans can make up any reason, you know, to. To turn inward and to not be open. But this is one of the things that, that, you know, having an instructive meditation practice teaches you is that that is all about how you frame things. It is as easy to not go there as it is to go there. It's flipping a switch, right? So the question is, what do you replace it with?

[Jonathan Cohen]

You know, so this is where I want to go. Because what we replace it with doesn't necessarily need to be. I know what the solution is, right. Holding hope that it is not going to be the darkest part of our psyche that surfaces.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Even though I'm going through something difficult, even though I'm going through something difficult, even though I'm going to. I'm going to be okay, right?

[Jonathan Cohen]

She's tapping. You're. As for people who are only listening, Mayim was doing that and she was tapping different parts of her body. What were you doing there?

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I was tapping on. They're actually acupressure points. But yeah, there's. There's a technique where you're. You're acknowledging that you're in the middle of something, but you're holding out hope that God loves you, you're taken care of, you're protected. And there's a whole system that goes with this kind of, you know, tapping technique. It's a reassessment of how you feel about it when you're done with a sequence. And often it means you have to go deeper and find out what's beneath, you know, the fear or what you're going through. So it's kind of a portal, you know, to try and learn more about something that you're feeling despairing about.

[Jonathan Cohen]

We also know that the brain will pull reality in the direction it thinks it will go. So when she talks about having positivity, we will look to reinforce what we're thinking and feeling.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

It's a sort of placebo effect for your brain. That works.

[Jonathan Cohen]

That works. And sometimes the placebo effect is like, oh, it's not actually working. But like, we know that if I'm sitting in this inner you being like, no one wants to hear anything I'm talking about. I will read your facial cues that may be totally unrelated to anything I'm saying, and then project what I believe onto you. So then I will create the reality that is happening in my brain. So if we do have more openness, if we do have more hope, if we hold the possibility that things can get better, that there are solutions to be had, and sometimes that is that a part of that is holding on to or connecting to something greater than ourselves. Because we can't figure out what the solution may be, then it tends to go in that direction. It tends to get better by programming ourselves to believe it will.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

There's a Cherokee story that I reference frequently. A boy goes to his grandfather and he says, there's two wolves fighting inside of me. You know, one is darkness and violence and destruction, and the other is good. I mean, I'm mangling this as I say it, but. And the other is goodness and joy and hope and peace and love. And they're fighting. And he says to his grandfather, you know, which is going to win. And the grandfather's answer is the one you feed. Right? That's literally. That is. Is this what you feed? And, you know, there's actually. There's a story in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous about a man who's very upset with his wife. And he said that the more that he focused on the things he was upset about, the larger they grew. And when he started focusing on the positive aspects of her, those grew. Right. And so when we're in. In a relationship with another person, not just a romantic relationship, when we're in any interaction with another person, that's what we're constantly doing. We're constantly filtering and. And you know, if I want to believe that the interview is going well, I. I can look to your face, and if you look like you're distracted, instead of thinking, he's upset with what I'm saying, he doesn't like how this is going. I can think any number of things. Maybe he's making an editing note. Maybe he saw an upsetting message come up. Cause he didn't turn off his do not disturb, you know, for messages. It could be any number of things, but doesn't have to be me. That's what it means. Means, you know, and then I will seek that, you know, I will continue to do things. And that's the notion of, you know, self fulfilling prophecy. Which there's been some research, a little bit hard to test, as you can imagine. It's hard to have a control group for a self fulfilling prophecy.

[Jonathan Cohen]

The self fulfilling prophecy of the study is that the study turned out to be super good.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

That's right. But that really is a very similar notion. So I really enjoyed talking to Tara about so many things and she's so articulate and expressive and I just love talking about to her.

[Jonathan Cohen]

What we didn't get to do and I want to have her back is just feed her a series of prompts and just have her go nuts with all the different characters she has in her head. And I just want five minute mashup of that. But until we get that, I just want to hear all the voices that you have in your head. Mayim maybe that will be our next episode.

[Guest Host / Interviewer]

Mostly the voices say. Make sure to subscribe like us. Leave your comments. It helps us hit the little bell icon on YouTube and get us anywhere you get Bell podcasts. And from our breakdown to the one we hope you never have. See you next time.

[Jonathan Cohen]

It's Maya Bialik's breakdown.

[Tara Strong]

She's going to break it down for you.

[Jonathan Cohen]

She's got a neuroscience PhD or two fiction and now she's going to break down.

[Tara Strong]

To break down.

[Jonathan Cohen]

She's going to break it down.