Episode #2: Once We Were beJeweled

Summary

Once We Were Spacemen, Ep #2: "Once We Were beJeweled"

Release Date: November 12, 2025
Host(s): Nathan Fillion & Alan Tudyk
Guest: Jewel Staite

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Episode Overview

This episode welcomes Jewel Staite, known by many as Kaylee from "Firefly," onto the podcast for a warm, funny, and insight-packed conversation with her former castmates Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. The trio reminisces about their shared sci-fi roots, explores Jewel's journey from Canadian child actor to working mom and series lead, and dives deep into the realities of the entertainment industry, fame, family, and the magic—and grind—behind television success. The episode is filled with affection, wit, and industry wisdom, making it a treasure trove for both fans and creatives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter & Firefly Nostalgia

• Playful Introductions: The hosts call Jewel Staite "the heart of our maiden space journey together" on the Serenity, poking fun at their own roles as other "organs" of the ship (Pancreas, uvula, etc.) (01:05–01:40).
• On Meeting Jewel: Both Nathan and Alan recall Jewel’s early competence and humor, reflecting on how rare it is to find someone so young with intrinsic acting talent and industry experience (02:41–04:01, 04:18–04:31).
  • "There’s people who have a knack, and then there’s people who have an intrinsic understanding of what it is they’re doing… That’s where I put our next guest." – Nathan (02:51)
• Child Actors & Staying Grounded: Discussion about how early industry exposure can "warp" people – but Jewel avoided those pitfalls, staying "fun" rather than "warped" (04:01–04:31).

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2. Canadian Identity & Heritage

• Canadian Stereotypes & Culture: Discussion on whether people are surprised Jewel’s Canadian and what being Canadian means in the industry—Nathan and Alan note Canadians’ patience, generosity, and subtle cultural markers (04:57–09:02).
• On Métis Heritage: Jewel explains her background—her great-grandmother was Métis, leading to a conversation about the darker side of Canadian history, including her grandfather being taken away as a child due to heritage policies (05:18–07:04).
  • "It was one of those very sad stories… where he was taken from her when he was a small child… he was separated from her at the age of six, I believe." – Jewel (06:17)
• Tattoo Discussion: Jewel doesn’t have a commemorative tattoo, feeling it’s “not quite her place” due to personal distance from that part of her heritage (06:12–06:17).

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3. Family, Motherhood & Work-Life Balance

• Home Life: Jewel talks about living near water in BC, spending time on Galliano Island at her mother-in-law’s beach house, and being a "water person" (09:43–10:14).
• Husband & Son: Playful confusion as Alan jokes about Jewel’s "other husband" (her son, Wilder); discussion of Wilder’s personality and whether he’ll follow his mom into acting (10:36–12:48).
  • "He has my sense of humor… It's like arguing into a mirror." – Jewel (11:27)
• Navigating Child Acting: Jewel would support her son if he wanted to perform, but is wary of him missing out on regular childhood experiences. She values her own childhood acting path but recognizes its sacrifices (12:53–20:28).
  • "There are things that he would want to do as a regular kid that would be disrupted if he were to start working." – Jewel (19:28)

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4. Early Acting Career & Life Lessons

• Discovery Story: Jewel was discovered at age five in a shopping mall and quickly booked work in commercials and TV movies, leveraging her ability to cry on cue (14:33–15:33).
  • "I was walking with my mom, and an agent… came up and said, 'Would your daughter be interested in auditioning'… I just kept booking work." – Jewel (14:46)
• School and Working: Explanation of juggling traditional school with tutors on set, longing for a regular high school experience, and missing out on typical rites of passage (16:49–17:56).
• Industry Sacrifice: How her career shaped relationships and her ability to maintain friendships (17:56–18:55).

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5. The Realities of Sustained Acting Careers

• Navigating Downtime: Jewel reflects on the importance of learning to cope with industry “down time,” the emotional challenges of the business, and shares industry stories about divas and “problematic” stars (21:05–23:43).
  • "I think if anything, I would want to educate people... how you keep your confidence up and how you get through the hard parts." – Jewel (21:16)
• Typecasting and Breakthroughs: Jewel discusses moments when she felt she "made it"—early with "Flash Forward" as a teen, but especially after "Firefly" started to open opportunities in sci-fi, including "Stargate" (27:33–28:43).
• Fan Demographics: Jewel distinguishes between sci-fi convention fans and her more recent audience for "Family Law" (29:08–30:43).
  • "A Family Law fan comes up, kind of frightened, doesn’t know what I’m going to say. Hands up, for defense." – Jewel (30:33)

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6. Parenthood and Industry Realities

• Hard Lessons with Kids: Jewel shares an anecdote about her son helping her process not getting a job—sometimes a little too honestly:
  • "I’m sorry you didn’t book that job, mama... but to be fair, you haven’t booked a lot of jobs." – Wilder (her son), relayed by Jewel (32:29–32:40)
• Job Selection with Family in Mind: Jewel prioritized jobs close to home after becoming a mom, eventually landing "Family Law," and shares the emotional process of really caring about (and fighting for) a role (34:11–36:09).

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7. Leadership on Set: Learning from the Best

• Stepping into a Lead Role: Comparison between leadership on Firefly and Family Law — what makes a good "number one" on a production, building strong cast community, being inclusive, and setting a no-drama precedent (38:49–42:24).
  • "If you have everybody there feeling comfortable enough to do their best, that's when the magic happens." – Nathan, recalled by Jewel (39:02–40:09)
• Balancing Motherhood & Work: Navigating exhaustion, learning to ask for time off, and finding work-life equilibrium over several seasons (43:31–44:36).
  • "So basically every other week I would have one day off. And I knew that was coming… my day with my family or… sleeping… I had to learn to listen to myself and figure out what it is that I needed and not feel guilty about it." – Jewel (44:12)

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8. Writing, Creativity, and On-Set Culture

• Interaction with Scripts: Jewel notes that "Family Law" was so well-written she never had to push back on storylines (50:57–51:23). She describes leaning into her comedic instincts in auditions and how the writers, recognizing it, began to write her character funnier (51:23–51:58).
• Comedic Set Pieces: Jewel describes making scenes memorable with unexpected food props—like eating a whole pizza or hot dog at serious moments—delighting the cast and the audience alike (52:39–53:44).

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9. Notable Moments & Quotes

• Alan on "Firefly" Set Vibes: "Every picture that Nathan took, the people were like, ah, there you are. Hey, there's my guy." – Alan (46:03)
• Nathan on Set Leadership: "Whoever learns the entire crew's names first wins. And I'm already winning." (46:21)
• On Victor Garber’s Professionalism: "If you are not there on time, you're, you know, 10 minutes late, essentially. He is on the ball at all times and you better be as well." – Jewel (55:22)
• Parenting and Perspective: "You can’t be all of the things... That’ll slow down with age." – Jewel (19:13–19:28)

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10. Jewel Staite’s “Amateur Kitchen” YouTube Channel

• Cooking as Self-Expression: Jewel details how her husband encouraged her to film her cooking, leading to her popular, self-shot, self-edited, humorous “Amateur Kitchen” videos on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok (57:04–58:26).
  • "It's all easy. That's the whole [point]." – Jewel (58:54)
• Humor and Relatability: Nathan admits her cooking videos crack him up and inspire him to cook (58:08–59:02).

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Notable Quotes & Timestamp Highlights

| Time (MM:SS) | Speaker | Quote | |------------------|-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:05 | Alan Tudyk | "I would say the heart of our maiden space journey together is this person." | | 02:51 | Nathan | "There's people who have a knack... intrinsic understanding... that's where I put our next guest."| | 06:17 | Jewel Staite| "[My grandfather] was taken from her when he was a small child..." | | 11:27 | Jewel Staite| "He has my sense of humor...It's like arguing into a mirror." | | 14:46 | Jewel Staite| "I was walking with my mom and an agent was there...came up and said, would your daughter be interested in auditioning..."| | 21:16 | Jewel Staite| "I would want to educate people on what it feels like to have downtime and how you get through having downtime..."| | 28:43 | Jewel Staite| "Firefly did something for me that to this day...still lingers." | | 30:33 | Jewel Staite| "A Family Law fan comes up, kind of frightened, doesn't know what I'm going to say. Yes. Hands up, for defense." | | 32:40 | Jewel Staite| "But to be fair, you haven't booked a lot of jobs." (her son, Wilder) | | 39:02 | Jewel Staite| "[Nathan] You said, 'If you have everybody there feeling comfortable enough to do their best, that's when the magic happens...'"| | 44:12 | Jewel Staite| "...every other week I would have one day off. And I knew that was coming...my day with my family or...sleeping..."| | 51:57 | Jewel Staite| "She [showrunner] started writing her funnier, for sure...she uses humor to cover up all of her insecurities..."| | 55:22 | Jewel Staite| "He [Victor Garber] is on the ball at all times and you better be as well." | | 58:54 | Jewel Staite| "It's all easy. That's the whole [point]." |

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Memorable & Humorous Moments

• Pancreas & Sub(super)numerary Nipples: The episode opens with banter about which body organ their characters would be on the “Firefly,” striking the show’s signature nerdy-humorous tone (01:05–02:09).
• “Firefly Fan in Grocery Store” Skit: Jewel humorously acts out how different fans approach her based on what show they know her from (00:00, 30:31).
• Her son’s brutal honesty about acting rejections (“to be fair, you haven’t booked a lot of jobs”) (32:40).
• Pizza & Hot Dog Scenes: Jewel’s inventive use of food props during somber law scenes (52:39–53:44).
• Camera Culture on "Firefly": Alan and Nathan reminisce about how taking photos on set helped foster camaraderie (45:48–46:22).
• Nathan’s “I once didn’t get a job where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion type.” (33:34)

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Guest Takeaways & Podcast Chemistry

• Warmth & Longstanding Friendships: The episode is a masterclass in camaraderie, with all three remembering shared industry experiences, supporting each other’s evolutions, and bringing in self-deprecating humor throughout.
• Industry Realism: Jewel’s perspective on sustaining a career underscores the joys and challenges of fame, motherhood, and artistry—not shying from the less-glamorous aspects.
• Practical Advice: Know your strengths, appreciate the value of downtime, foster community, and don’t be afraid to set boundaries for well-being.

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Recommended Listening

This episode is essential for "Firefly" fans, working creatives, anyone curious about the realities of TV acting, or those seeking genuine, laugh-out-loud conversation with leaders in their craft. Plus: check out Jewel’s "Amateur Kitchen" on YouTube for that extra slice of her real-life humor.

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Transcript

[Jewel Staite]

I've done a lot of conventions, as you know, and I know my sci fi fans. Like, if someone comes up to me in the grocery store with their arms out and is like, oh, my God. Firefly fan. Firefly fan. Because they're expecting. Kaylee.

[Alan Tudyk]

Once We Were Spacemen. Spacemen. I tend to play weird people, usually aliens and robots and things that don't have romance.

[Nathan Fillion]

I once didn't get a job where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion type. Once We Were spacemen.

[Alan Tudyk]

Once We Were Spacemen.

[Nathan Fillion]

By way of intro. Alan. Here we are. This is episode two. Yes, we already did an episode. Just the two of us.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

This is our second episode of Once We Were Spacemen. And this one's special because we're bringing in a guest, a former space person. Another. Another spaceman.

[Alan Tudyk]

I would say the heart of our maiden space journey together is this person. The heart of that journey that was on our ship, the serenity.

[Nathan Fillion]

If our guest was the heart, what did that make you? Like a pancreas?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. I don't think it's like a mole that you need to worry about. I think I did have a purpose. More like pancreas. I think you got it. Pancreas.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. Not entirely useless like a. Like a uvula, but.

[Alan Tudyk]

No. Or like a. Like one of those subnumerary nipples. Or is it subnumerary or. I think I.

[Nathan Fillion]

This is a word I've never heard before.

[Alan Tudyk]

It means an extra nipple.

[Nathan Fillion]

Well, you can just say third nipple.

[Alan Tudyk]

No. So I'm saying it wrong. It's. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna. I'm just gonna have to just look this up real quick. Extra nipple. Alan.

[Nathan Fillion]

Two.

[Alan Tudyk]

Super. Super numerary. Supernumerary nipple. That's what I meant to say.

[Nathan Fillion]

Sounds like you're gifted with that.

[Alan Tudyk]

You know, that's supernumerary. That's not a good.

[Nathan Fillion]

So she was the heart of the ship, you're saying?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes. And she gives. It says. Suggests it's one of the females. Because you could have said that Book was the heart.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think book was the soul.

[Alan Tudyk]

Thank you very much. Absolutely. He was. He was the soul.

[Nathan Fillion]

What do you remember about the first time you met our guest? Our first guest. What do you remember about meeting her?

[Alan Tudyk]

She was sweet. She was sweet and funny. A lot of people are sweet, funny. That's rare. It's rare.

[Nathan Fillion]

I also found her to be incredibly. Because she was young, right? Incredibly competent. Incredibly. Not just in the job itself, because a lot of child actors, like kid young actors, can be I think there's people who cannot act, people who can paint by numbers. Just tell them, look, just go up at the end of the sentence and then pause and then say this next bit. And they can do that. Don't look at the camera. And then there's people who have a knack, and then there's people who have an intrinsic understanding of what it is they're doing. You couple that with experience. You couple that with. They've been in the business for decades, and you have someone who is incomparable. That's where I put you. That's where I put our next guest.

[Alan Tudyk]

And you're in there, too, because that's where you're putting us. Because when you put us in there, you have to drag us in there yourself. So you're in there.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think I had a knack. I think I started with a knack, and then I got such incredible experience. I gained an intrinsic understanding. I think you. And I think our next guest started with an intrinsic understanding. She was so young when she started.

[Alan Tudyk]

I can't believe. And. And I know that you've seen people like this who started young, and it. It is a weird way to start. You know, we. Who we are as young people, and the experience we have as young people really dictate a lot of who we become as adults, those experiences. And because the business is so weird, it can warp some people.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. People up.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. And she's not. She's not warped. Not any weird way. Kind of a fun way, but. But not in the way that you think of it when you think of, like, child actors. She's just fun.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm realizing I'm trying to build some excitement and, like, make it suspenseful, like, who's it going to be? Who's it going to be? It's probably going to be right on the title of this podcast. Without further ado, let's welcome our guest. So, Jewel Stake, let's start out with just you in. In general. Are you surprised if people don't know you're Canadian? Do people find out you're Canadian? Go.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, yeah, I think so. I mean, yeah. That's a funny thing, isn't it? People are shocked and surprised to find.

[Nathan Fillion]

Out I'm so public about when I'm Canadian and people find out I'm not Canadian. Where. Where you been?

[Alan Tudyk]

You have all the ethnic markers on your face. You wear it, you know.

[Jewel Staite]

Right.

[Alan Tudyk]

You look Canadian, the two of you.

[Nathan Fillion]

No, I did a little Google.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Anjul.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, no.

[Nathan Fillion]

Her heritage is a proper mix. A Proper Canadian mix of British, Irish, and French, but also Iroquois Indian.

[Jewel Staite]

Well, it's. It's Metis, so my great grandmother was even better. Yeah, my great grandmother was Metis, so there's that part of it over there on my mom's side.

[Nathan Fillion]

Okay. How did I never know this about you?

[Jewel Staite]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Alan Tudyk]

What is Metis?

[Jewel Staite]

Metis is a mix of first nations and French Canadian.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, wow.

[Jewel Staite]

So essentially, it can mean 10% First nations or it can mean 50%, as long as you are mixed with French Canadians. So that was my grandfather's mother. Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

They were the voyageurs. The pictures that you see of the Canadians canoeing across for the. For the beaver trade, the fur trade.

[Jewel Staite]

They're strong folk. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Protaging their canoes.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Portaging for you Americans. Do you have a tattoo that commemorates your Metis heritage? I feel like I would.

[Jewel Staite]

I. I do not. It's one of those things where it feels not quite my place to do so. Only because I never got to meet my great grandmother. My grandfather spent very little time with her, unfortunately. It was one of those very sad stories that a lot of people don't know about Canada and its heritage. Where he was taken from her when he was a small child. Um. Yeah. So he didn't really have much of a relationship with her either. And he was raised in a boys school. Never really knew his mother. He was separated from her at the age of six, I believe.

[Nathan Fillion]

So the darker side of Canadian history.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. And was put into a school. That whole very sad history of Canada.

[Alan Tudyk]

So separated because of the. Of the.

[Jewel Staite]

Because of her heritage.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. It's a. It is a dark part of Canadian history, but what a wonderful thing to learn. I had no idea. I feel like. Yeah, I just feel like I would have talked to you about it more had I known that about you. I've known you. How long have we known each other now? Well, we're talking Firefly was 2002. 3.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, was it?

[Jewel Staite]

Or was it earlier than that? I know I met you when I was 19, and I'm 42, so it's been a long time.

[Nathan Fillion]

I was to understand there'd be no math today. I was reading that as well. That you were 19 when you were doing Firefly.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

And kind of stunned that you were so competent not only at your job, but at life itself.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. I was the youngest. Everybody thought it was Summer, but Summer was older than me, so I was the youngest in the cast.

[Alan Tudyk]

She was 35. That's what a lot she was.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. Summer's in her 70s now, I believe.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jewel Staite]

Looking very good.

[Nathan Fillion]

Very spry.

[Jewel Staite]

Very good. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. It's the dancing. Everything but her toes.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Does being Canadian, do you believe it brings anything to the table?

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, I don't know. I mean, what would it bring to the table, do you think? I just feel like it's not that big of a deal. Does that make sense to you? And especially in the, in the industry, it's just sort of like more of a pain in the ass to networks than anything else because, you know, they need to make sure you have your work visa and you're able to do that show you just booked. But otherwise it. I don't think it's really ever been a thing, do you? Have you found that?

[Nathan Fillion]

I've always felt that there's a patience with Canadians, that when people say, oh, you're Canadian, that makes a lot of sense.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. I suppose I wouldn't know any other way. Only because, you know, I'm Canadian.

[Nathan Fillion]

You've only ever been Canadian.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

As an American, there's a generosity that is not to say that Americans aren't generous, but there's a just sort of an overwhelming blanket generosity that you can just sort of attribute to Canadians.

[Jewel Staite]

That's nice to hear.

[Alan Tudyk]

Generosity and kindness.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, that was something that was brought to my attention that Americans refer to themselves as Americans, but in South America, they find that offensive.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, really?

[Nathan Fillion]

They say, we're all Americans, we're South Americans, you're North Americans. When you say, where are you from? They say, I'm American. They say, yeah. That doesn't tell me anything.

[Jewel Staite]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

You're from the States.

[Jewel Staite]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

So it's, there's. That's how they differentiate.

[Jewel Staite]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

I didn't know that.

[Jewel Staite]

Interesting.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, I got caught with that. Your family, you're married?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

How's Charlie?

[Jewel Staite]

He's really good.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Charlie is your husband?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. He's the best. Yeah, he's just like. He's just a normal dude, you know.

[Nathan Fillion]

You guys live out of town?

[Jewel Staite]

We do, yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

On a beautiful patch of land. Oh, really? Close to water.

[Jewel Staite]

How much land we're closest to water we don't have. We don't have a lot of land here, but we have access to land on Galliano island, which is where my, my mother in law lives full time. She has this insane beach house that we spend a fair amount of time at my son's favorite place in the world. So we're close to the water here where we are. But we're water people. We like to Go boating. We love to fish. We love to be near the water.

[Nathan Fillion]

I heard you not mention swimming. Is that because the water's so cold?

[Jewel Staite]

It is cold. You don't want to go in there. You don't want to go in there. No, no, I'm not that Canadian. My husband. Would. Charlie. Would he go for a swim?

[Nathan Fillion]

But I. Yeah, there's people that go surfing up there.

[Jewel Staite]

Not I. Yeah, no.

[Nathan Fillion]

Now, which brings us to Wilder. It's his. It's his favorite place in the world. He's. Is he an outdoors.

[Alan Tudyk]

Wilder is your other husband?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

Polygamy happening there.

[Jewel Staite]

Canadian and a polygamist, or is this actually your son? Yes, he's our nine year old.

[Alan Tudyk]

So Wilder named him Wilder?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

Do you feel like that was giving him license to be wild or you just felt that's who he was? That's his spirit.

[Jewel Staite]

I felt like that was his spirit. We had a list of names, and that one felt right. So we. We settled on that very quickly. And it suits him. He's a very expressive, wild child, and I love that about him. Very smart, very funny.

[Nathan Fillion]

He entertains you.

[Alan Tudyk]

You.

[Nathan Fillion]

You have a quirky sense of humor.

[Jewel Staite]

He has my sense of humor. And, yeah, it's. And he has my. Lots of things. He looks a lot like his dad, but he is very much my personality. So I always say it's like arguing into a mirror. You know, when I get into it.

[Nathan Fillion]

With him, it is how you're experiencing our frustration.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. I'm like, is this what I'm like? And Carly's like, yes, this is what you're like.

[Nathan Fillion]

So that was my next question was, who does he take after? So it's a little. Is it a little combination of a little bit?

[Jewel Staite]

I mean, he just. He loves his dad, so he always wants to be doing what his dad is doing. And, you know, Charlie's very outdoorsy, so he loves to follow his dad around and learn all of those things. But he's also. Wilder is very artistic and very dramatic and hilarious. And Charlie is quite shy and reserved. I think Wilder is definitely more or his mama's side where is easy, I.

[Nathan Fillion]

Want to be a fireman. Is he looking at you saying, I want to be an actor?

[Jewel Staite]

He never did until recently. He's starting to be curious about that world and that life. He can be quite shy when he first meets someone, so being on stage isn't necessarily his. You know, I don't know if it's his thing yet or not. I remember being very shy at that age, too. So maybe he'll grow out of that. He definitely has it in him. He's a natural, which really scares me.

[Alan Tudyk]

If he was to, like, say, yeah, I want to be an actor, you'd be like, yeah, okay.

[Jewel Staite]

I think I would nurture that in some way. But I don't think I'd be running out to get him an agent and throw him on set. I grew up that way, and I'm very grateful for the life that I have. And I know a lot of that is because of the hard work I did when I was a kid. And I developed a reputation when I was a kid as being a hard worker. And I kept working, thank God, because of that. But it's a strange life when you're growing up on a set and you miss out on a lot of things.

[Nathan Fillion]

Let's talk about that for a second. But before we do, I just want to ask one quick question. Does Wilder know who we are?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. Well, he knows you as Mom's friends. Right? Like, he. He knows that. And, you know, he. When he was a baby, I don't know if you guys remember, I. I would take him to conventions because I didn't want to be separated from my baby. So, sure, everywhere I went, the baby went. And he would be around us at the signing tables and, you know, knew you in that way and sees pictures and. And knows you that way. But he's never seen Firefly because I don't think he's ready for that yet. He doesn't really know who anybody is in terms of, like, celebrity.

[Nathan Fillion]

Understood. We'll fix that, Allan. We'll get on top.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Does he know Disney?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. Well, he knows. Okay, so he knows. He knows Allan is the voice of everything. He knows that.

[Nathan Fillion]

Everything.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

So that's fair.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. And. Yeah. And he thinks. He thinks that's very interesting, like, that side of things where he's like, how do I become that?

[Alan Tudyk]

Well, if he ever wants a lesson.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, I'm sure he would be delighted.

[Nathan Fillion]

Now, back to let's talk about. Because you were talking about how that was your life and your style when you were a kid. You were five or six when you were discovered in a shopping mall.

[Jewel Staite]

Five. Yeah, about five. And I. Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Discovered it.

[Nathan Fillion]

What year was that?

[Alan Tudyk]

Doing what? Setting something on fire. Because we.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. Shoplifting. No, I. I was.

[Nathan Fillion]

Discovered. Shoplift.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. I was walking with my mom, and an agent was there scouting and came up and said, would your daughter be interested in auditioning and that kind of thing. Yeah. So I. I booked a commercial around that time. And it was a very serious commercial about, you know, the environment. So I did that. And then I sort of started doing TV movies because I was one of those kids that could cry on cue. And so I just booked all those jobs right where I was like, mommy, hurt me or whatever, with Name the Celebrity of the Week. Yeah. So I did a lot of that stuff, and it just kept happening, you know, I just kept booking work. So I stayed in the business, and that's just sort of all there was to it. It just kind of followed me, and I followed it just for perspective. What.

[Nathan Fillion]

What year was that?

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, my God. I don't know. I mean, I was born in 82, so 87. 88 is when I started to book work.

[Nathan Fillion]

So when I was in high school, you were already a professional actor?

[Jewel Staite]

Well, yeah, I guess so.

[Nathan Fillion]

Just. Just to be. I just want to be clear because I do remember this about Firefly was when I met you and I learned how long you'd been doing it. I kind of.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

This bit. It's a hard business day. You have no idea. Yeah, your coffee and your cigarettes.

[Jewel Staite]

I think I remember Floored. I think I remember being like, you know, when they put us on Friday nights at 8, they gave us our time slot, and I remember being like, it's a kiss of death, guys. See ya.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

And I was the only one who.

[Jewel Staite]

Knew it, but I knew I was like, well, great working with you. We're out.

[Nathan Fillion]

And here's. Here's me first, kind of. My kind of almost not first time in pride time, but right there I was like, what. What's wrong? What's wrong with Friday? Exactly.

[Alan Tudyk]

After work on Fridays and they turn on their TV and they don't go out.

[Nathan Fillion]

No, no, that's the time to be on now. What does that do? You're a kid. You attend school normally?

[Jewel Staite]

No, I. Well, I did elementary school for the most part normally, so I didn't miss much of it. I did kindergarten to seventh grade mostly in school, give or take a few months here and there. The longest chunk of time I left for was in the seventh grade, I believe, and we left for six months. I had to go to Montreal to shoot a series, so I missed a fair amount of school. I had a tutor on set to help me. And then after that I just kept booking. So grade 8, 9, 10 was with a tutor on set. And then I had a little break and I was dying to go to school. I wanted to go to high school because all of my friends from elementary school And I grew up in the West End in Vancouver. It's a very small pool of kids. All of my friends went to high school, and they had all their stories and their, you know, cliques and parties and proms and whatever, and I was missing all of that. So I was dying to go. So I enrolled in 11th grade. I went to school for a few months, and then I booked another show and I left.

[Nathan Fillion]

What does that do to the relationships of a young woman in junior high? You know, what, with kids who are looking at you going, I'm not gonna know a real job for a decade. And you've been doing it for a decade.

[Jewel Staite]

I was always that kid, right? I was always that weird kid who worked and disappeared for a while. And I grew up with the same kids. I mean, there are a few people from elementary school that are still my very, very best friends. So we stayed friends and they understood and kind of kept being my friend, which was so nice to come home after being away for months and have your friends still there waiting for you. So it wasn't so bad. It was just different. And I liked what I did. I liked working, and I was having a lot of fun, and I was living this amazing life. So it's not like I was sad about the stuff I was missing out on. It was just different.

[Alan Tudyk]

Since your relationships in school, you were seeing, you know, or the people that you met in school, you had such a short time with them. Did you find in your high school years you had to be a fast woman? You had to make the most of a short amount of time?

[Jewel Staite]

Well, kinda, yeah. Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Take me to prom.

[Jewel Staite]

Basically, it was, you know, I was trying to be all of the things, right? And I. I have a tendency of doing that now. I. I try to be all of the things until I just sort of exhaust myself and then realize you can't be all of the things that'll slow down.

[Nathan Fillion]

That'll slow down with age.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah, I. Yeah, I hope so. I'm definitely better now than I was a few years ago. Like, I've learned a lot in the last, like, five or six years. You know, what it means to be a mom and what it means to work at the same time and all that. That's like a totally other. That's a different story. But, yeah, I. I think more than anything, you know, getting back to whether Wilder would want to be in the business or not, the only thing that would concern me is that there would be things that he would want to do as a regular kid that would be Disrupted if he were to start working. And, and I can see in him that he likes to do those things. He likes to be a part of a soccer team. He likes to be around his friends and go to sleepovers and do all of that stuff. Whereas it wasn't that important to me back then. But I can see that it's important to him and I don't want him to have to sacrifice those things to be on set for 12 hours.

[Nathan Fillion]

That's the word I was just about to use was. It sounds like there was sacrifice in your choice profession.

[Jewel Staite]

Absolutely.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yes.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Where does Vancouver Film School fit in?

[Jewel Staite]

I've never really spent a lot of time at Vancouver Film School. I did a lot of classes with really amazing teachers, scene study and things like that when I was, when I was a kid. But again, it got to the point where I was just learning on set. I didn't really have time to commit to anything other than work. I mean, you guys know what it's like when you shoot a show, you're. That's all you're doing for six months. You know, it's just like so all encompassing that I just didn't really have the space to commit to anything else.

[Nathan Fillion]

If you could go back to Vancouver Film School as a guest lecturer, what would you say? Hey guys, here's the part they're missing. Here's the part they should be telling you that you're going to need.

[Jewel Staite]

Okay, well, the reality of how difficult this is. I mean, no, but like a lot of people have stars in their eyes when they consider getting into this business. It's glamor and exciting and all of the opportunities and you get to take your pick and it's just quite simply not the way it is. So I think if anything, I would want to educate people on what it feels like to have downtime and how you get through having downtime and how you keep your confidence up and how you get through the hard parts. Because I feel there are more hard parts in this business than there are the highs. Don't you think, Alan?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes. Yeah. This business, it's interesting. This business is so many. Can be so many things to so many people. You can have so many different experiences within the business. You know that I was just being told something about a star. You know, in the makeup trailer, in the makeup trailer, you hear a lot of. A lot of gas, a lot of hot gas. And so people that you're working with are coming off of another project and they're about to go to another project and so they if someone was a diva or a complicated, problematic actor and they're annoyed, they'll tell you about it. So I heard all these stories about this one Oscar winning person behaving in a way that I don't know anybody behaving nor anybody who could behave that way. But because they are. Have had success back in the 90s and won some Oscars, more than one, they are now capable of coming onto a show for just a short amount of time and turning it on its head, stealing things like crazy. Whoa, crazy stuff, man. These were crazy things. And why am I not saying this person's name? Because it's not good to say these people's names because maybe one day I want to work with crazy. You don't know because you're in one of those down times. It's just such a.

[Jewel Staite]

So interesting, isn't it?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

I've always felt that celebrity or success in general. Let's just go with success is kind of like alcohol in that it'll just turn you into more of what you already are.

[Alan Tudyk]

Love that stuff.

[Nathan Fillion (closing credits voice)]

Hollywood secrets.

[Jewel Staite]

That's very true. That's very true. Unfortunately, yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Now, having started so early, Jewel, there's people you worked with in the beginning of your career. You started with maybe you knew someone your age that you. Who you were working with. Is there anyone that you started out with or that was in the industry when you started, who is still in the industry now?

[Jewel Staite]

Oh yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

You've outlasted a lot of people.

[Jewel Staite]

I have. But there, there are quite a few. Yes. I mean, there was a whole group of kids. I remember living in LA during a pilot season, staying at Oakwood Apartments. Oh yes, everybody. I mean, you know, the home improvement boys were there and Jessica Biel was there and she was so nice and you know, she was one of the good kids and we were all very bad, very, very badly behaved. But she was so, so sweet. But yeah, I mean there were, there were so many kids around that time, you know, the Disney Channel kids that were either being guided or misguided. And I had a very strict mother who wanted me to have fun and wanted me to get into the good kind of trouble and all that. But she was strict and she was strict in the way where she would not withstand any diva behavior from me.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, wow.

[Jewel Staite]

It was, it was quite simply not acceptable.

[Nathan Fillion]

The opposite of a monitor.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. She.

[Alan Tudyk]

Sorry, a mom at her. What's a mom?

[Jewel Staite]

A mom, you know, like a mom manager. Mom.

[Nathan Fillion]

A mom manager who will go out there and typically you describe that person as someone who will destroy their child's career because they are so demanding.

[Jewel Staite]

Like, guys like, I've seen.

[Nathan Fillion (closing credits voice)]

Seen.

[Jewel Staite]

We saw that. We saw a lot of that, and it was so crazy to see. And my mom would go, oh, my God, this kid. This poor kid. And we would watch this happen, and it was so sad and. And sort of just the. The real side of the business, you know, rearing its ugly head all the time, and these parents just encouraging their kids to kind of do the wrong thing. As long as it made them more famous, maybe, or. I don't know. It was just. It was all so weird. And she had a panic moment. I remember I was 15 or 16 and I just come off a Disney show and. And she had a panic moment where she was like, we gotta get. We gotta get outta here. We gotta go home. This is not good. We did, and we packed up and, you know, my agent said, aren't you gonna stay for the next pilot season? She said, we are not. We are not going to stay. We are going home. And we went home and I booked a sweet little Canadian show and did that for a while and stayed focused and, you know, had my party days for sure, but did not go off the rails.

[Alan Tudyk]

Was that hard for you to go back and not.

[Jewel Staite]

No, no, not at all. I had had it at that point. I think it was all just too much. It was all so crazy. And, you know, it was a whole bunch of people in and around my age living and breathing the business and living and breathing every audition and all that anybody wanted to talk about was, was work and the next show and did you book that thing? And I hope, you know, will you read with me with this thing? And it was, like, so oversaturated in my world that it was unhealthy. Like, I'd forgotten. I was starting to forget how to be a person and how to, you know, prioritize other things in life other than, you know, being in Teen People magazine, you know what I'm saying?

[Nathan Fillion]

I love that your mom did that. I love that she recognized the. The bubble that exists.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

For the industry here.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. And there was. There was. That it was. It was kind of coming to that point where, like, there was a path that was about to be presented where I could have gone this way or I could have gone that way. And she was. She was getting scared that I was around people that were going that way, on that path, and she didn't want me going that way, so she took me home.

[Nathan Fillion]

When did you know you made it?

[Jewel Staite]

I Mean, I had a moment when I was like, 14, 15. I did this show called Flash Forward on the Disney Channel. And it was a little bit of a hit. And I remember a lot of kids following me around in the mall or whatever. Like, there was that period of time where I was like, oh, this is weird. But as an adult, Firefly was the one that propelled me into a different kind of level. Meaning that I didn't necessarily always have to audition. Sometimes offers came to me. I felt like I finally was considered a bit of a name, you know, Like, I remember a long time, I would. I would audition for something and they'd say, it's going to a name. It's not going to you. It's going to a name. And I would go.

[Nathan Fillion]

And then they tell you the name and you say, I've never heard of them.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah, but, you know, it. It. At that point, I was like, oh, maybe. Maybe this has done something. And then I started getting other jobs because of Firefly, because the producers of, like, Stargate, for instance. Right. Stargate came along and I booked a series lead because. Because it just so happened that some of the writers and producers were fans of Firefly. Right. So, like, Firefly did something for me.

[Nathan Fillion]

That to this day, it brought some notoriety.

[Jewel Staite]

Absolutely. That still lingers.

[Nathan Fillion]

And it opened sci fi doors.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes, yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

And those doors open like this.

[Jewel Staite]

Very good.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's a really cool door. Yeah, that's true.

[Alan Tudyk]

Sometimes it's up, sometimes it's. Yeah, it's in the middle, very big. And they.

[Nathan Fillion]

Or if it's Firefly, you gotta.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

The Stargate door was a cool one, too.

[Jewel Staite]

It was opened very fast.

[Nathan Fillion]

What is the difference between a. A sci fi fan.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh.

[Nathan Fillion]

And a fan of Family Law?

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, big difference. Big, big difference. I've done a lot of conventions, as you know, and I know my sci fi fans. I know a Stargate fan and I know a Firefly fan and I know a Supernatural fan, and I can pick them in a room. They are.

[Nathan Fillion]

Wow.

[Jewel Staite]

They are different people. And they're all wonderful in their own ways, but they're. They're all just. They're all kind of. They're different. It's very rare that I meet a Stargate slash Firefly fan.

[Nathan Fillion]

Really?

[Jewel Staite]

All in one. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like they're two totally different shows. Yeah, they really are. So Family Law fans are people in their. Usually people in their 50s and 60s and 70s.

[Alan Tudyk]

So. So I'm basically. Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah.

[Jewel Staite]

I see them at the grocery store. They are hilarious and. And really fun to Talk to. Because they are very into the show and are very, very sweet. And I also play someone kind of scary on the show, so they're sort of intimidated by me, which is also really interesting. Like, if someone comes up to me in the grocery store with their arms out and is like, oh, my God. Firefly fan. Firefly fan. Because they're expecting Kaylee. Right, Right. If it's Family Law fan.

[Nathan Fillion]

But if they're like, if they're pulling their kids away.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. A Family Law fan comes up, like, kind of frightened, doesn't know what I'm going to say. Yes. Hands up for defense. Yeah, it's. It's funny. It's very funny.

[Nathan Fillion]

Now, I think the impression that most people have of our industry is that we have our pick and choose of what we're going to do next. Are you going to do more sci fi? Are you going to do more like you pick, like you have? But that's not really the case.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's.

[Nathan Fillion]

More opportunities open up in front of you. If you had your pick, if you could pick, would you bolt back to sci fi?

[Jewel Staite]

I mean, I really like doing sci fi, and I feel like it's been a long time since I've done something like that. It's a fantastical world. You really get to do wild and crazy things that you wouldn't normally get to do in a procedural, you know, like family law. So I. I miss it when I haven't done it in a while. But I mean, like you said, it's not like a lot of us can pick and choose. I say that Firefly was the show that changed things for me. But that's not to say I haven't had to fight tooth and nail for all kinds of jobs since then. And lots of jobs don't go my way all, all the time. I mean, the other day I was, you know, my son, who really just knows how to put it toy. I didn't book this thing and I was upset about it. I really wanted it. It was one of those ones where I was. I just. I wanted it too hard and it was annoying. And I. And I said. I said, you know, sorry, I'm just having a little bit of a day because I found out that somebody else booked that job. And I'm frustrated and I'm a little sad about it. And my son goes, okay, I'll give you some space. Comes back about half an hour later and he gives me this big hug and he says, I'm sorry you didn't book that job, mama. And I Go, thank you, honey. And he goes, but to be fair, you haven't booked a lot of jobs. And I go, oh, but like, he's right. And he's seen this happen many times. So in his mind, what he was saying was, it's just another job. It's just another day. Don't worry about it. But it, it just.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's a little brutal. The honesty is a little brutal, especially when it's presented with to be fair.

[Jewel Staite]

To be fair, yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

How old is he using that phrase?

[Jewel Staite]

There's a lot of phrases he uses that are mine. Like, to be fair is one, and then I'm in hot water is another one. He came up with that one the other day where he was like, so I'm a bit of a hot water at school. And I'm like, oh, my God.

[Nathan Fillion]

Listen, Mom, I'm not going to lie. You're great.

[Jewel Staite]

But it's very funny. But, yeah, so, I mean, you know, it. It just. It. There are opportunities that come your way, sometimes magically, that are amazing and perfect. A perfect fit in your life for that moment. And how wonderful is that? And then there are other opportunities that you have to chase and prove that you're the right person for the job. And I. I don't know. I mean, I think there's like 1% in the industry where that don't have to worry about doing that, but I'm not in that 1%. And, you know, I fight for it. I fight for what I want and sometimes it goes my way.

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm not. I'm not in that 1% either. Nathan.

[Nathan Fillion]

I once didn't get a job where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion type.

[Jewel Staite]

I remember that. I remember. I remember reading that breakdown.

[Nathan Fillion]

That is soul crushing for an adult diapers commercial.

[Alan Tudyk]

You didn't want that thing anyway.

[Nathan Fillion]

Come on. They said Nathan Fillion type.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, okay, you're right. You're right, you're right.

[Nathan Fillion]

And I'm the type to load my drawers now to that end about getting jobs and how they come about. You are in the industry for decades. You're not a stranger to lead roles. But now suddenly here's a project with, you are the lead Family law. How did that come about?

[Jewel Staite]

I had had my kid and I'd done a couple jobs away from him and had the SADs the entire time. And I thought, okay, so I don't want that. I don't want a job that's going to take me away from him for too long. Tough life, you know, it's just. It's too. It's not worth it. It's not worth the sacrifice. I can't do it. A lot of people can, and kudos to them. But I am miserable when I'm away from him. And that I know. So I thought, I need to find something that will keep me in B.C. so he can go to school and he can have his life and I can work, and wouldn't that be great? So I held out for a while, waiting for this magical job to come along. And then it came along and I read the script. I was in Mexico, we were on vacation, and I read the script and I thought, oh, my God, this is it, this is it, this is it. And then I had that feeling come up, which I hate, that feeling of like, oh, I actually really want this one. I really care. And I was like, oh, no.

[Nathan Fillion]

Were they saying. Were they saying, are you interested? Or were they saying, we're interested in you?

[Jewel Staite]

They're saying, you can audition for this like everybody else. So I read it, and it was a complicated audition with lots of law jargon. And so we taped it in Mexico against the hotel room wall on a.

[Alan Tudyk]

Topless beach, which I thought was, at first, was bold.

[Jewel Staite]

Alan. I think that's why I booked it, because I was topless. So I sent the tape in and I made it to the next stage and I went in again and I met the producers and the showrunner and she and I had a moment where we just clicked. I don't know. She's one of those people who will be friends for life, but it was.

[Alan Tudyk]

The first time you'd ever audition for them.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. And. Yeah. And then I tested after that. I was the only one testing which felt good, took away some of the nerves, but as you know, testing is hard. And I read with a bunch of other actors who were to play the siblings in the show, and then they called and offered it to me and. And everything, everything I wanted came true and fell into place and.

[Nathan Fillion]

Cool. I think one of your strong points is it makes perfect sense to me. You're in the room and you click with people. I think that's probably one of your strengths is being in the room, to be, what are you? Like, who are you? What is this person going to be like to work with? This job could potentially be years.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Who are we? Right? Getting into bed with?

[Jewel Staite]

So totally. I always say it's like buying a house, right? For the. For the creatives, for the producers to commit to you for that long as a series lead, they're taking a Big risk. I mean, it's.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yes, it's.

[Jewel Staite]

It's buying a house. Basically, you are committed to this person, and you better hope you made the right choice.

[Alan Tudyk]

They better have good plumbing.

[Nathan Fillion]

How did you enjoy family life?

[Jewel Staite]

I loved it.

[Nathan Fillion]

That was a. First of all.

[Jewel Staite]

It is. We. We shot four seasons of it. I will say that when we did Firefly, it was very, very special. There was something about it from the very beginning, and I know we can all agree that it just felt different from anything else. It felt like the relationships that we made were relationships, friendships we were going to have for life.

[Nathan Fillion]

Agreed.

[Jewel Staite]

And it really just. We knew in our heart that it was different, and it was something to cherish and to appreciate while we had it. I hadn't had anything like that. That felt that. Right. That magical. Since then, and family law came along, and I met these people, and we clicked in a way where I realized that no matter what happened with the show, I would love them forever and I would take care of them, and I would be family to them forever, and that's what I was gonna take away from the show. So no matter what happened, we had that. And it was totally magical. From day one, we laughed every day, all day, and were there for each other and shared the workload very well. I was the number one, but I had people around me who were willing to pick up the slack and help me and support me in a way that I needed. And it was this crazy experience of growth and figuring out how to balance my life as a mom and as a wife and as an actor and all of those things. It was like, you know, an invaluable experience that I'm just. I can't believe came to me, and I will always be grateful for it.

[Nathan Fillion]

Being a number one is a heavy workload.

[Jewel Staite]

Heck, yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Especially in the beginning, because you have to establish. You're establishing the show.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

What is. What. What else is different about the difference between being on a show or being the number one? What are the different responsibilities that you. You discover, you recognize?

[Jewel Staite]

I. I had seen many number ones in action. I'd done a lot of tv, and I'd experienced all different types of number ones.

[Nathan Fillion]

I can imagine.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah, I've experienced some shitty number ones where I'm like, wow, you just hate life. What's going on here?

[Nathan Fillion]

Right?

[Jewel Staite]

Like, you know those ones where you're like, are you. Like, you're so miserable? Maybe you should quit the business and go live on a deserted island because you just don't want to be here and Everybody else can sense it and you're creating a terrible atmosphere. Please stop. So I've, I've seen that, I've seen ones that are really grandiose, which I think are absolutely hilarious. You know, the super diva types where, you know, I just sit back and go, look at her go. And, and then I, I've seen ones that are, that are super fun and really generous and, you know, like, Nathan's heard me do this before, but I'm going to do it again. I don't care. You are just, you're such a fun number one. And I remember being that 19 year old kid and watching you work your ass off and then at the same time, try your best to make it the most fun set it could possibly be. Yeah, you made people laugh all the time. You made fun of yourself and you created this vibe. It was just a vibe that felt inclusive and relaxed. And you taught me something. You said, if you have everybody there feeling comfortable enough to do their best, that's when the magic happens because people let go of their nerves. They let go of this like, I don't know, feeling like the new kid and feeling scared. They let go of all of that and then they're able to relax enough to do their best work. And I thought, I'm going to do that, I'm going to do that one day. And then family law came around. I went, okay, here's the opportunity. Because these people seem great, they seem cool. No one's weird. No one's weird in this cast. I think this could be something really great if we set the precedent right away. So I did and I said, I want to have fun. I want everybody to feel supported. I want every single guest star that comes on this show to feel relaxed and to feel at home. I don't want any bullshit. And as soon as anybody sniffs any anything like that, I want you to tell me because I'm going to put a stop to it. So we had a no drama zone on set, no drama allowed. And it stayed that way. And I was lucky in that I had a cast that felt the same way. Nobody wanted that, so it was just a good time. But I'll tell you what, I'll tell you, it's so tiring. But I think, you know, at the beginning I remember you saying to me, it takes a lot of energy. It takes a lot of energy and you're going to feel burnt out and, you know, just make sure you don't burn out, basically. And that was so true. I really didn't Know how much energy it took to a do my job. As in play the role and learn all those lines and work every day, all day, 12 plus hours a day, five days a week. And then go home and be this mom and be a wife and like, it's insane. And then also be a really nice person. Like have the energy to treat everybody still with kindness and respect and all those things. Even when you're totally entirely exhausted and you don't feel like having a conversation, like all you want to do is just shut your eyes or bury yourself into a book, you have to be, you still have to be that welcoming person to the guest star who's there on their first day. Do you know what I mean?

[Nathan Fillion]

That's something I have never experienced. As in any number one situation is going home and having another full time job of being a mom, being a parent, having to have that energy, dude, and, and that focus.

[Jewel Staite]

It's like that, that, that first season nearly killed me because my kid was 4.

[Nathan Fillion]

4.

[Jewel Staite]

And like, he was, he was nuts. Like, I would come home and Charlie looked like he'd been to war, okay? And like Charlie runs a company and so he, it's not like he wasn't working. Like, he would work all day. He would go get that kid and bring him home and deal with insanity. And like I come home and there'd be like a burnt meal in the frying pan, you know, and like the house would be destroyed and Charlie would just be looking at me like pleadingly for help. So I would, I would step in and help and like, there was no break. I had no break. And. And then I, I realized, oh, like, I'm starting to fatigue and I can't run on this level forever. This is.

[Nathan Fillion]

Where do you go?

[Jewel Staite]

Well, basically what happened was I got through that first season because I was like, finish line, finish line. Just go to the finish line. So I did. And after that first season, I was like, whoa, that can't happen again. That was too much. How do I figure out a way to balance this? How do I, how do I be all of the things to everybody? So season two, I spent the entire time trying to figure out how to be all the things to everybody again, which was a mistake. And then by season three, I realized there had to be less of a workload somewhere. So how do I do that? And so we, my producers and all the writers are so wonderful and amazing. We just figured out ways to give me a day off here and there.

[Nathan Fillion]

Cool.

[Jewel Staite]

So basically every other week I would have one day Off. And I knew that was coming. And that was, you know, going to be my day with my family or what. Or sleeping, you know, whatever the hell it is that I needed to do. And I had to learn to listen to myself and figure out what it is that I needed and not feel guilty about it. But those first couple years were. Were a grind for sure.

[Nathan Fillion]

The first couple of years, you can't say no. You. There's a. Part of it is. I have to establish something here. I have to build a foundation.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Alan. Similar situations. I mean, you have all these things going on. Except for being a people pleaser.

[Alan Tudyk]

I definitely. I have you as a role model in number one ing. It's funny, there was a. You know, back when we did Firefly. Nathan always has a camera. You've always had a camera. The digital cameras, whenever they came out, you'd be like, hey, check out this new camera. Look how little it is. And it gets three pixels or two pixels. I mean, it's like, you know, whatever the. Whatever the edge was, you were. You were already there. The cutting edge. So I had all these pictures that were some that I had taken on. On set, and then also that you had taken. You'd shared them with me. And I remember showing them to a friend, and they were looking through them, and there was one of you, Julie, you've probably seen it where you're in your trailer door, you're, like, in shorts, and you're smiling, and my friend saw this, and they're like, my God, look at how these people look at you. They love you. I was like, no, no, that's Nathan.

[Jewel Staite]

No.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, this one. This one looks a little scared. That was me. That was me. That was me. This one feels a little annoyed. Yeah, that was me. No, but. But they did say that about. About you. Because every picture that Nathan took, the people were like, ah, there you are. Hey, there's my guy.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think that was our natural state on Firefly, our jewel state.

[Alan Tudyk]

Thank you.

[Nathan Fillion]

If you might.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

But, yeah, you had a lot to do with that from the very beginning, saying, all right, that guy's name is Tom. That guy's name is Alan. Whoever learns the entire crew's names first wins. And I'm already winning.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

And so we started learning the crew's name, and that was a huge thing for the whole. We all got together as a group, as a crew, as we were one thing. You know, people appreciate that you notice them. I think a lot of, yes, you can get caught up in your own department.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'M going to give you guys a new one that you can try out so you'll know your crew, and then there'll be a new face that you don't recognize. You walk over and you say, oh, hi, I don't know you yet. My name's Nathan. You are? And they'll tell you their name, saying, what are you doing for us today? And they'll say, oh, I'm the new second camera assistant. Oh, that's wonderful. Great. Welcome. We're so happy to have you. Then turn around to everybody and say, hey, everybody, new guy, look me right in the eyes, Matt, right here. And then everybody in the crew goes, oh, sorry, Matt. That was great. Remember Matt? Remember when he used to work here? Yeah. And they'll, like, shuffle him off. It's kind of a. Kind of a hazing. We do.

[Jewel Staite]

I like that.

[Alan Tudyk]

Have you ever had this experience?

[Nathan Fillion]

It's only funny, though, when everybody goes.

[Alan Tudyk]

Have you ever gone and go, sorry, sir. Hey, hey, new guy. My name is Nathan. And you are. They go, I've been working here for two years. You haven't. I'm not saying that's happened to me.

[Nathan Fillion]

But not ringing a bell. I've worked here for two years.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, God.

[Alan Tudyk]

Now my. My experience is a little different. This shows, the first season especially, I did get that, you know, I. I was really part of, you know, pushing the show and in the face of the show and all of that. But it's changed. It's much more of a group. The. The creator of the show, Chris Sheridan, has always said he wants it to be an ensemble show. He doesn't want it to be Resident alien, just about an alien. It wants it to be about a town of people that an alien happens to live in. And so I'm. I work very little this season, and it's not because I've asked for the time off. It's just not in the show, though.

[Nathan Fillion]

Alan, you're the kind of. You are the actor who looks at something and goes, this is good. But you know what's better? You see the opportunity for quality to go up, and then you cannot rest until that quality is achieved.

[Alan Tudyk]

And Chris has been great about that. I mean, I can't not do it. I can't go do a scene that I'm like, if. Okay, just. If I said my line first, then you said your line, that's a funnier delivery of what would happen here. Or if we put in this device, there's a comedy device. We can. If we put the idea here, because it's because sci fi comedy is so much fun. It's so much fun to write. Because I go to the.

[Nathan Fillion]

You can make your own rules.

[Alan Tudyk]

Exactly. And because it's a comedy. I was just working with Edie Patterson, who plays the bird, the love of my life. And you may know her from vice principals. That was on HBO. And then she's also now on the other Danny McBride Show.

[Jewel Staite]

The show Alan is thinking of is the Righteous Gemstones.

[Alan Tudyk]

The Righteous Gemstones.

[Jewel Staite]

Yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

We had to make out. And I saw that scene, right. We were spitting in each other's mouths at one point. It was insane.

[Nathan Fillion]

It was. It was over the top. And then you took it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. It says they kiss. It gets out of control, was the only thing it said in the script. And I said, yeah, well, let me just tell you in one of the takes, I would love it if you. Because she had these sunflower seeds that she was eating. Because she's a bird. She's a bird alien, but she was in her human form, and so she had these sunflower seeds she was eating. And I said, at some point, could you just eat a bunch of sunflower seeds and then just regurgitate them into my mouth? She goes, got it. I know which level you're ready for. So it became the most crazy thing, and we did it again. But, yeah, so sci fi is. Sci fi is a lot of fun to write for. Sci fi is. I enjoy it. It's right up my alley. It can become very broad, but also become grounded again. And the show allows that. I'm choosing to take what I learned from it. You know, I am. I am getting to write. You know, I do have a different satisfaction when I'm watching the show. I'll go, my line. My line.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah, my line.

[Alan Tudyk]

You know, that. That aren't. I don't even know if the cast knows that some of their lines are my lines. Hey, if you guys are listening.

[Nathan Fillion (closing credits voice)]

Hollywood Secrets.

[Nathan Fillion]

Jewel, we talked about your. Your sense of responsibility to how things run, but now we're talking about story. Did you also feel the sense of responsibility to story? Like you're looking at a script saying, oh, our relationship isn't that yet. What if. What if we did this instead?

[Jewel Staite]

I haven't really had to do that at all. No. I think with family law, it's very well written and the writers have a concrete plan, and it's fun to read the scripts and go, oh, my God. Okay, I didn't see that coming. So, yeah, I never. I, I. On that show anyway. I'd never felt the need to say anything in terms of what my character would do or not do.

[Nathan Fillion]

How about those parts of the. The things that you bring to the table that they go, oh, Jewel is great with this, and I'm gonna start writing for that. Is. Have you seen it shape to you in a certain way?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes. I think in the beginning, I took a risk in the audition process and played a lot of the comedy, or at least the funny I found in these scenes and just went for it, because why not? And luckily, the risk paid off in that our showrunner, Susan Nielsen, was like, I didn't really think that scene was funny until I saw what you did.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, how cool.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. So they. They started writing her. Funnier, for sure. So she. She's this sad character kind of down and out, and has made a lot of mistakes, but she uses humor to cover up all of her insecurities and all of her sadness. They really went for it after a while, and it was fun in that she's a bit gross. I wanted to. We have a lot of scenes where we're sitting around this table in the. In the law office talking and eating. Right. It's like, oh, here they are again, sitting, eating lunch. And I kept thinking, what's a food I could eat that's disgusting and inappropriate and makes this speech about this case very bizarre?

[Alan Tudyk]

Exile sandwich.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah. Or like a. Like a. We did one with a pizza where I just have a large pizza in front of me, and, like, no one talks about it. Everyone's having salad and I have a. I have a large pizza, and I'm, like, holding the slice and, you know, gesticulating with it and overacting. Right. I overact throughout the entire show. And I'm flinging the. The piece of pizza like this, and there's mushroom and pepper flying. Cool. And everyone's kind of reacting. And then we. We had one where I was like. I just kept trying to up the stakes where I was like, what about, like, a chili cheese dog? You know? And, like, I'm in a scene with Victor Garber, who's upset with me, and we're having this serious conversation, and I've got a hot dog, and I'm, like, squirting condiments on the hot dog as I'm talking to him. And it. It's so funny to me to see a woman in a pencil skirt eating stuff like this. And she eats with her mouth open, you know, Like, I'm, like, chewing and spitting, and no one ever talks about it. Like, it's never referred to Ever.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, that's great.

[Jewel Staite]

And it became really fun. So we just kept going and thinking, like, what else could she be eating and doing? That's just absolutely vile.

[Alan Tudyk]

How fun.

[Nathan Fillion]

Let's talk about Victor Garber for just a second. That guy is amazing.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, he's Canadian, right?

[Jewel Staite]

Yes, he's Canadian.

[Alan Tudyk]

National treasure.

[Jewel Staite]

He is, yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

What was that like? What's it like hanging out with him, acting with him, his level of expertise?

[Jewel Staite]

I'd done a show with him before. I did one episode of Legends of Tomorrow and he was a regular on that one. He doesn't really remember because it was one scene. And he had had this experience on Legends where, you know, he basically says, he'll be the first person to tell you, I have PTSD from that show because it was just night shoot after night shoot. And, you know, at one point they had him at the end of a pier tied to a post. And three in the morning and it was pouring rain and, you know, someone yelled, how are you down there, Victor? And he said, I hate everyone.

[Nathan Fillion]

So.

[Jewel Staite]

When I met him, I said, you know, actually, Victor, we've met before. I did a stint on Legends. And he went, oh, God, I've probably blocked that out, darling, I'm sorry. And I said, no, no, that's fine. And right away he was very self deprecating and very funny. Extremely professional in that if you are not there on time, you're, you know, 10 minutes late, essentially. He. He is on the ball at all times and you better be as well.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, cool.

[Jewel Staite]

So it's kind of exhilarating to be in a scene with him especially, you know, our characters fight a lot. So when you have Victor Garber inches away from your face, very upset with you, it can be quite intimidating because he brings it.

[Alan Tudyk]

That's great.

[Jewel Staite]

But at the same time, you know, he became kind of like a dad. He would be over at our house on the weekends and my son would insist on sitting next to Victor every time we had a meal or went out to a restaurant or whatever. Like, he became a fixture in my life. And I just love him very much.

[Alan Tudyk]

Now, I told you to, I asked you if you would ask him. When I was in Rome for a day on my own, first time I'd ever been to Rome, I was down a crowded street. I just bought a nice jacket and I was walking and sort of going along, being pulled in one direction. It was very tight. There was two streams of people of a crowd. And as I was walking these, this narrow alleyway, there was Victor Garber. Suddenly and he looked at me and I looked at him. We've never met before, but he recognized me as an actor and I definitely recognized him. And he went hi. And I said hi. And we just were swept along. So I'm. He's probably talks about me often.

[Jewel Staite]

Yeah, he talks to me all the time. Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay, good, good, good. That's what I thought I was good.

[Nathan Fillion]

We've had you for an hour. But I do want to talk about before you leave, if anyone knows you or what you are like to kind of hang out with and wanted to let the world know. This is what Jewel is like. This is what it's like to hang out with Juul. I'm telling them all they would have to do is subscribe to your food channel. Oh yeah, because that's you. I subscribe. You are so entertaining.

[Jewel Staite]

Oh, thanks.

[Nathan Fillion]

It is rare that I will laugh out loud while watching television. I laugh out loud probably twice for every video you put out. Your little throwaways, your self deprecating. It's hilarious.

[Alan Tudyk]

What's the name of it so we can all jump on it.

[Jewel Staite]

I basically I have, I have a YouTube channel. It's just Jewel state official. And I do what I calling amateur kitchen. So I also post them on Instagram and I post them on TikTok and all that. But it just, it became I love to cook, so I cook anyway and I bitch and moan when I cook all the time. And Charlie was like, you should film this. You should just like, why don't you just set up a camera and just film yourself doing this stuff? And I said, why would anybody be interested in that? And he said, I promise it was Charlie's idea. Yeah, it was his idea. It was his idea.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh great.

[Jewel Staite]

Well, and I thought, okay, I guess I'll do it. So I did. And then people seemed to be into it, so I just kept doing it. But I enjoy it. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy cooking with people and it is fun for me.

[Nathan Fillion]

So wildly entertaining. And I've seen ones where you have like a guest hook there with you but watching you on your own. First of all, you set up a camera. No one's filming it.

[Jewel Staite]

No, I just set it up. I just put it on my little tripod and click.

[Nathan Fillion]

Who's editing?

[Jewel Staite]

I do it. I do it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, wow, how cool.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's concise. It's on it. There's one I remembering you're saying. And then you need to put a little fig jam on this. People say, why do you like fig jams? I'm telling you, I go through this faster than I go through mine.

[Nathan Fillion (closing credits voice)]

And that's saying something.

[Nathan Fillion]

And then you got over the shoulder as you're walking away. I crack up watching you cook this stuff. And I'm saying, I. I think I could. I think I could cook. You're actually inspiring me to. I think I could cook some of this stuff.

[Jewel Staite]

I know you could. It's all easy. That's the whole.

[Nathan Fillion]

Your sweet and savory grilled cheese. I'm looking around my house going, I don't have bread, but I wonder if I can.

[Jewel Staite]

So good. So good.

[Nathan Fillion]

You're our first guest, by the way. Really?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. Yeah, you are.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. You're our first guest.

[Alan Tudyk]

It wasn't even a question.

[Jewel Staite]

Excuse me. I'm just gonna text Marina right now. Imagine, hey, bitch, me again.

[Nathan Fillion]

Joe, first of all, thank you for doing this. Second, guys, I love you guys so much.

[Jewel Staite]

I love you guys so much.

[Alan Tudyk]

I love you too.

[Nathan Fillion]

Love you. Can you believe that we're all still friends and we're all still banging around in the industry? Congratulations to you both.

[Alan Tudyk]

Right?

[Nathan Fillion]

I can believe it's not easy. There's so many people I've worked with up in left town right now, particularly. Things are really tough for the entertainment industry. But here we all are, still plugging away. Congratulations to what is a monumental success to be around, to be relevant this long. Congratulations to you all and I can't tell you how pleased I am again that we're all still friends.

[Jewel Staite]

Me too. That's never going to change. Never.

[Nathan Fillion]

Well, Nathan, never say never when we die.

[Nathan Fillion (closing credits voice)]

Hello, and thank you for listening. This is Nathan Fillion. Now is the part where I read a lot the credits for our show in my best telephone voice. So put on some headphones, lay back and relax because this is our time. If you haven't yet, you can always head over to our Patreon to get bonus content, longer episodes, and a chance to get your hands on some incredible crap. If you love the show, please leave us a review and feel free to tell all your friends. If you didn't love the show, now is the time for quiet contemplation. Once We Were Spacemen is a collision 33 production. Some of the names I will mention are my favorite people in the world and some of them have room for improvement. You know who you are. If you hear your name being read, please stand up. This show is produced by Siobhan Homan and Josh Lepe of Collision33. We are edited, mixed and produced by Resonate Recording with special thanks to Courtney Blomquist and Adam Townsell. Our theme music is done by Carlos Sosa and Joshua Moore. Artwork by the incredible and incomparable Louis Jensen. But gonna tell you right now, I think he fakes his accent. Until next time.

[Nathan Fillion]

I was to understand there'd be no math today.