Rachael Leigh Cook

Summary

---

Pod Meets World – "Rachael Leigh Cook" (March 18, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this special episode, Danielle Fishel hosts actress Rachael Leigh Cook for a nostalgic and heartfelt conversation about growing up in the public eye, the realities and awkward moments of 90s teen stardom, and navigating family, fame, and friendships through the decades. Through candid storytelling and playful banter, Danielle and Rachael share behind-the-scenes insights from their parallel journeys in Hollywood, reflect on the pressures of early career success, and offer wisdom on balancing personal and professional growth, all with a sense of humor and genuine warmth.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Childhood Roots and Early Ambitions

• Minnesota Beginnings & Family Support

  • Rachael discusses growing up in Minneapolis, her mother as a cooking instructor, and her father, once a stand-up comedian turned beloved social worker.
    • "My dad just bringing it basically with the dad jokes on stage. It was pretty adorable." – Rachael (07:23)
  • Explores navigating the entertainment industry as a non-'nepo baby':
    • "You were in no way a Nepo baby. Your mom was a cooking instructor and your dad was a stand up comedian turned social worker." – Danielle (06:42)

• Sibling Relationships & Family Dynamics

  • Both Rachael and Danielle reflect on the strain their early acting careers placed on relationships with their younger brothers.
    • "I kind of hijacked my mom away from him, which isn't the coolest thing in the world...He'd only be home alone for a couple hours before my mom would come back." – Rachael (09:24), Danielle (11:23)
  • Importance of striving for balance and fairness as parents themselves:
    • "I'm always like, they're gonna bust me on just balancing it out now that they're older." – Rachael (14:11)

Modeling Days to Acting Breakthroughs

• First Roles & Challenges of Print Modeling

  • Transitioned from local print work (famously the Milk Bones box and Target ads) to pursuing acting, sharing both pride and teasing from classmates.
    • "Does it get any bigger than Milk Bones?...Well, it does get. You made fun of." – Danielle (14:34), Rachael (14:49)
  • Discussed role models and the realization that more was possible seeing peers succeed (e.g., print model Stephanie Watson).
  • Early industry scams and legitimate opportunities in Minneapolis, leading to short film work and her first tape for agents.

• The Leap to Hollywood

  • Detailed her first trip to LA at age 15, staying with her new manager, and landing her first major film: The Babysitter’s Club (1995).
    • "It just goes to show, isn't life like a...just like a long hallway of doors that you're just like, if I don't try to open this, maybe, like, how do I know if it's gonna open? It's like I tried a doorknob and it opened." – Rachael (20:25)
  • The Oakwoods apartment complex as a rite of passage for young actors, crossing paths with Danielle and others from the era.

Navigating Teenage Fame & Friendships

• On-Screen Friendships vs. Real Life
  • The challenge of maintaining connections with cast members after filming:
    • "Even though I got to be a part of that movie, which was so much about female friendship...what followed those movies about amazing friendships were really lonely times." – Rachael (24:41)
  • The confusion around talking about success with non-industry friends in Minnesota:
    • "...hard to talk about, you know, the luck that had come my way...being myself, the way I was raised, which is Minnesotan to the core. Like, just keep. Keep it down." – Rachael (26:13)
  • Industry gatherings like 90s Con feeling like genuine school reunions.
    • "I describe 90s con as being a high school reunion. It is our reunion." – Danielle (28:05)

Career Highlights, Iconic Roles & Candid Confessions

• Babysitter’s Club, Tom and Huck & “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” PSA

  • Rachael shares the imposter-like feelings and insecurities about early film roles, underplaying her own achievements as a way to cope.
    • "I swear, like, if I watch my early work, I'm like, oh, it looks like you plucked someone off the street. Can you speak English? And I was like, I can..." – Rachael (29:46)
  • Iconic anti-drug PSA:
    • "That PSA did more for me than all the movies that I had. Shoot someone in grainy black and white and let them break some shit and you're off to the races." – Rachael (43:05)
    • Funny PSA filming details (cast iron pan, competitive audition, no lasting guilt over drug messaging).

• She’s All That & 90s Teen Movie Explosion

  • Discusses landing the role of Laney, her identification with the character, and how she underestimated the film’s eventual cultural impact.
    • "I felt really special to have gotten that part. I could tell that it was good material. Did I think anyone was going to see it? Not really..." – Rachael (53:39)
  • Star-studded cast and quick production timeline:
    • "Gabrielle Union, Dual Hill, Tamra Mello, Clea Duvall, Alexis Arquette, and then also Usher and Lil Kim." – Danielle (55:45)
  • Notable, self-aware moments:
    • "I was really busy thinking I was smarter than I was and acting like it and pretending to have read and liked books that I didn't. Teenage nonsense." – Rachael (55:20)
    • Recollects dodging a prom dance sequence by claiming it as a character choice—humorous candor about her limits as a dancer.

• Industry Insecurities

  • Ongoing anxieties about being hired and perceived, pressure of “what’s next?” and “are we renewed?” (31:22)
    • "You're only as good as what's on the docket next." – Danielle (31:41)

Relationships, Diaries, and "Boy Meets World" Memories

• Dating in the Industry

  • Challenges of dating as a young actor:
    • "I did a lot of fishing off the company pier, as I like to follow." – Rachael (65:53)
  • Discusses her relationship with Rider Strong and Danielle’s subtle childhood crush (with diary entries as evidence!):
    • "She’s so cool. I’m not sure she really understands him though… Seems like Ryder maybe didn’t talk to Rachel on the phone today. I wonder if they’re on the rocks." – Danielle, reading teen diary (61:54)
    • Rachael recalls a poetic, cinematic “running through sunflower fields” date with Ryder (62:57–63:18).
  • Both reflect on past insecurities and evolving adult perspectives.

• Boy Meets World & Guest Spots

  • Danielle recounts her funny, roundabout casting as Topanga (#FishGirl).
  • Rachael describes guesting on Dawson’s Creek, the intimidation of established casts, and last-minute script changes.
  • Emotional resonance of seeing industry peers pass and the longevity of their "class" of 90s stars.

Burnout, Reinvention & Parenting

• Encounter with Burnout

  • "The burnout when I sort of let myself acknowledge it happened in my..." – Rachael (73:56). Occurred post-kids, exacerbated by industry demands and lack of creative autonomy.

• Creative Autonomy & Hallmark Era

  • Found renewed satisfaction producing and acting in Hallmark projects, appreciated the support for women in the company and newfound creative input.
    • "When I was able to team up with a producer and bring them a project, it just sort of kept going from there. It's been really awesome." – Rachael (77:06)

• Perspective on Childhood and Parenting

  • Sometimes wishes for a traditional childhood, especially when relating to her daughter’s normal teen experiences.
    • Shares a poignant memory: seeing kids throw ice in a movie theater parking lot and “knowing no one was ever gonna throw ice at me” (77:28).
    • Finds a kind of closure by including similar scenes in her movies as an adult.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Understating Success:
  "I think I told myself diminishing things about my role in things now...I was probably telling myself things to sort of, like, undercut the win, to not be intimidated by the moment."
  – Rachael (23:07)

• On 90s Fame & Friendships:
  "What followed those movies about amazing friendships were really lonely times...You have this life that people think that they want, and you're like, I don't think you really know what's going on."
  – Rachael (24:43)

• On the Frying Pan PSA:
  "Shoot someone in grainy black and white and let them break some shit and you're off to the races."
  – Rachael (43:05)

• On Dating Ryder Strong:
  "He looks at me, puts out his hand, and I'm like, oh, no...We have to run into this flower...I knew in that moment that I was just like, I'm not...I'm not the person what he's like ultimately gonna need."
  – Rachael (63:15)

• On Burnout:
  "It still feels like people are making you prove that you can act at all...And that just feels really hard on the ego...It wasn't until I started working for Hallmark and they empowered me creatively that I started to feel like I had any degree of autonomy."
  – Rachael (73:56–75:14)

• On Childhood Tradeoffs:
  "I just remember having this weird feeling…like I had graduated in some form and in another way it felt kind of sad."
  – Rachael (77:28)

---

Important Timestamps

• [06:11] – Rachael’s family background and origin in Minnesota
• [09:24] – Navigating fame’s impact on sibling relationships
• [14:34] – Print modeling days (Milk Bones, Target, being made fun of)
• [20:25] – Getting 'The Babysitter’s Club' and the early acting “doorknobs”
• [24:41–25:51] – Loneliness after films about friendship, and old vs. LA friends
• [29:46] – Early self-doubt and feeling like she’s “plucked off the street” in acting
• [43:05] – The “This Is Your Brain On Drugs” PSA, surprising impact
• [53:39] – Landing "She’s All That" and expectations vs. reality
• [61:24–64:38] – Danielle’s diary entries about Rachael & Ryder, Rachael’s memory of their relationship
• [73:53–75:14] – On industry burnout and regaining creativity through Hallmark
• [77:28–79:45] – Reflecting on lost normalcy of teen years and recreating it in adulthood

---

Tone & Atmosphere

Throughout, the conversation is intimate, thoughtful, and peppered with dry humor and mutual respect. Both women share their journeys with honesty, vulnerability, and insight, creating an engaging dialogue that both demystifies and celebrates the unique struggles and triumphs of growing up as a teen star.

---

Final Takeaway

This episode offers a rare, honest look at the internal journeys behind the faces of 90s pop culture. For fans, it's a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes memories, relatable adolescence awkwardness, and grown-up wisdom about fame, identity, and resilience—reminding listeners that even the 'coolest girl in the room' never felt that way herself.

Transcript

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Ready to save? It's time for cyber deals. Put a spring in your step with fresh savings that brighten the season. These exclusive week long digital offers on your favorite products are only available when you shop online. Save on eligible items from Kettle Chobani, Quaker Skippy, Hidden Valley International, Delight, Frito Lay and Signature select. Available now through March 24th on pickup or delivery orders only. Restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's it's not just for fitness. It's for getting after life. The 30 grams of protein gives you the fuel you need. It's not just for intense gym sessions, it's just for life. With the wide variety of flavors from cafe latte to cake batter, it never feels boring. It's a flavor for everyone. I personally love the peaches and cream, but maybe you're a root beer floater cinnamon roll kind of person. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite [e-mail] that's P R E M I E R protein.com or at Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Tax season has arrived and doing taxes without the right help can feel overwhelming. Intuit TurboTax is here now to guide you through it with confidence. Match with a TurboTax full service expert who handles everything for you from start to finish. Your dedicated expert checks every single deduction and credit to help you get the best possible outcome so you can feel confident you're getting every dollar you deserve. And the best part? You'll see real time updates on your expert's progress right on your phone while you live your life. Plus, you get unlimited expert help at no extra cost, even on nights and weekends during tax season. Visit turbotax.com Only available with TurboTax full service experts Real time updates only on iOS mobile app.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wasn't that delicious? So good. Your bill, ladies.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously.

[Danielle Fishel]

I assist.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I assisted first. Don't be silly.

[Danielle Fishel]

You don't be silly. People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Rock, paper scissors for it.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Rock Paper scissors Shoot no the Wells

[Ryan Seacrest]

Fargo Active Cash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply. Do you want to find a stress free way to buy your next car? Start at CarMax and shop your way. If you want to browse with confidence, get pre qualified online with no impact on your credit score and shop cars within your budget. From luxury cars to family rides, CarMax has options for almost every price range, including more than 25,000 cars priced under $25,000. So hey, want to get started? Just head to CarMax.com for details and get pre qualified today. Want to drive CarMax?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Give me money for cigarette I'll never leave your cooking bed

[Danielle Fishel]

I stay the

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

night and one night we can two

[Bowen Yang]

or three years the kids are not

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

all right but that's okay cause no one here is Teen Beat.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hello beatniks slowly getting there. I can feel it. We are inching closer to a name. It's time for another installment of Teen Beat with me, Danielle Fishel. That's the host of the 1998 ABC TGIF Premiere Party, featuring the musical stylings of NSYNC and an appearance from the Olsen twins. But now, decades later, I sit down with interesting people to chat about their awkward and embarrassing memories from childhood, all in an attempt to learn more about their present selves. And I am the perfect host because, like I say, I gave you my childhood. It's time we hear yours. And this week I'm joined by someone else who experienced the joy of puberty under the watchful eye of an international viewing audience. She began her time in the spotlight at just 7 years old in a PSA for foster care, though not this one. A public service announcement would later become quite a big deal in her origin story. But first, she'd transition into print modeling at age 10, all from the comfy confines of her hometown, Minneapolis, Minnesota. And when she left behind those cold winters and Juicy Lucy's for Hollywood, that was the moment she became a 90s It Girl. She made her screen debut in 1995's Babysitters Club, a who's who of cool girls from the era who out me for the part. But it was 1999's She's all that that forever cemented her as a first crush for an entire generation. And her starring role in 2001's Josie and the Pussycats has outlived us all, a film that has grown from box office failure to cult classic, now correctly repositioned as a feminist manifesto. But now she's employed her 10,000 hours of experience in the industry and lovable personality to move from just starring in a dizzying amount of Hallmark movies like Autumn in the Vineyard, Sisterhood Inc. And the recently released Caught by Love to also producing her own like minded content, Like Love Guaranteed on Netflix and an upcoming cinematic reunion with Freddie Prinze Jr. That I am currently sat for. I can tell you, as someone who has now been in rooms with her for four different decades and counting, she is always the coolest girl in the room. But is it possible that underneath that cool is somehow some embarrassment from her formative years? Well, it's time to find out. Welcome to Teen Beat. The one, the only Rachel Leigh Cook.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Danielle Fishel. That was the nicest intro I've ever gotten in my life. I don't even care that it's not true. Most of it. And I'm not cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

You're so cool.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You're so. Oh my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

You've always been cool. Truly.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I, I'm like, I'm trying to be like Hallmark cool right now. Yeah, I am. Like, I never felt cool cool ever. I was such a little try hard too, like embarrassing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

In what way?

[Danielle Fishel]

You never came across that way. Just so you know, we apparently cannot understand how we are perceived by others because you did not seem like a try hard at all to me. You actually were the definition of effortlessly cool. So I, I mean, I can't even imagine you had one awkward moment as a teenager. But we are going to search and I hope to find something. So let's start in Minnesota. Okay. You were in no way a Nepo baby. Your mom was a cooking instructor and your dad was a stand up comedian turned social worker.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. Much heavier on the social worker. Social worker for sure.

[Danielle Fishel]

But did you ever get to see your dad on stage?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I did, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Luckily.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Really shined in very clean material. You know, even before like, you know, Seinfeld was a household name and things like that, there was my dad just bringing it basically with the dad jokes on stage. It was pretty adorable. If I do say, oh, I love that. Yeah. And I know that my dad is one of the most beloved humans to this day. He's doing great, thank God. I get messages sometimes saying like, hey, Mr. Cook, you know, really helped me a lot when I was in junior high. And I hope your dad's doing good

[Danielle Fishel]

as a social worker.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

The impact he made on people, that's so special.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. He was at Olson Junior High for a very long time and. Yeah. Bloomington, Minnesota. Wow. So, yeah. Amazing guy. What was the question, Danielle? I'm just so happy to see you again. I don't even know what to say.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's so nice to be in the same room with you. I mean, sometimes when parents are trying to make it in the industry and then don't, they're not necessarily super encouraging.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

What?

[Danielle Fishel]

Were your parents supportive of your dream?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I think literally my dad is just someone who liked to laugh and make people laugh. And there was a comedy club, I think three, three blocks from my house. So I think it was a passion project of convenience.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, got it.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. I don't know. I don't think he was ever gonna try and take it on the road as a whole.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. He wasn't gonna try to be famous.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not at that.

[Danielle Fishel]

No.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

No, no, no, no, no. But he also just loved comics. And you know, who isn't intrigued by that world a little bit? So I think he liked hanging with the people a little bit. And I think they found my dad adorable and non threatening, which he definitely is. Even though very smart. Yeah. And I think that, you know, they sort of liked having him as a friend and he maintained some of those friendships with, you know, a couple of them. That's so cute.

[Danielle Fishel]

And you have a younger brother, Ben, who's a producer.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes. Did you ever meet Ben back in the day?

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't think I did.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Okay. I don't think I met your brother either.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, I don't. I don't think so.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

All right, we'll get around to that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Were you guys always close growing up?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not always. It was a weird thing for my brother, who's two and a half years younger than me, to sort of all of a sudden have his sister disappear for what he's told is gonna be a couple month adventure. You know, doing this thing. It's an amazing opportunity. She's gonna go make this movie. And I think he was like, well, mom's gonna just leave me. I'm 12 and this doesn't feel great. But like, okay, I understand that this is a special thing. Cool. And then I think before Ben kind of knew it, I had kind of hijacked my mom away from him, which isn't the coolest thing in the world. She's a great mom and my dad's a great dad. But Ben tells me about the odd day on just like sort of hot Minnesota summer afternoon where my dad just not knowing what to do or how to full time dad would just knock on his door and be like, do you want soup or what do I do here?

[Danielle Fishel]

Soup seems like a thing. I Could feed you and it could heat that up.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So, yeah. So when you say, like, were we always friends? We were doing a normal amount of sibling fighting before I sort of fell into, you know, what became my career.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But I think in a weird way, it was great for our friendship because when we were able to truly reunite and spend time together, we were almost legal adults.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So, yeah, now we're incredibly close, so that's a blessing. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

My brother and I have a little similar situation. Cause, you know, I started on Boy meets World at 12. He's four years younger than me. So around the time of eight, you know, my dad had a full time job. So my dad was always gone and my mom had to be on set with me, which meant we hired a live in housekeeper so that someone could be home to let my brother in after school. And then, you know, he'd only be home alone for a couple hours before my mom would come back. And then I'd maybe drive back with Ryder or Ben. But still, similarly, my brother would be like, wait, what? So mom's just on set now with you? Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And he was really young and he's

[Danielle Fishel]

eight and so, yeah, that was. That was hard. Or then, you know, going out to dinner for his birthday to Ruby's Diner and then having a long line of people coming up and asking for my autograph. And he'd be like, I. Why do people like you so much? You know, so just.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I know, but. No, but I know that that's incredibly hard because you're also just like, you know, you're, you', special, you know, And I'm sure that like, did he do that thing where he was like, well, maybe I should try acting?

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely. He did not like it. He did not like the audition process. And you know what's funny is that I feel like my brother. My brother booked a role in a movie once where he played. I think he didn't have any lines, but he was like a kid who was like running or playing in the street and then got hit by a car. Did you do a movie?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I feel like it was a movie. You were in 1114.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I think it had the word angel in it.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

18th Angel.

[Danielle Fishel]

My brother was in 18th Angel.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

What the.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was there a kid who gets hit by a car at the end?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Probably.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think that was my brother. Get out. Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

That's wild. But he didn't love acting.

[Danielle Fishel]

No.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

When did you guys, you know, hopefully like reconnect, build a bridge. It didn't really.

[Danielle Fishel]

Cause Too many problems between my brother and I. It was just something that, like, I realized later he dealt with that, you know, impacted his self worth. And so those are things that now, as full grown adults who are very capable of navel gazing, we have been able to look back and be like, that must have been so painful for you and for him to talk through some of that. So it's nice because I also can take responsibility for things that were in the past, but it's not my fault. You know, that feeling of like, I didn't do it on purpose, but it doesn't matter, like, yeah, no, and that's.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

That's so well said. And you have two kids.

[Danielle Fishel]

I have two kids.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And how conscious are we as parents of two of being, like, fair all the time?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Because it's so hard when one of them really strongly feels like you're favoring or love the other one more. It's like one of the worst feelings.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, it is. And I. Boy, I don't even give one of them a compliment about something without saying a compliment at the exact same time. For something different can totally be different. I want to highlight their differences. I don't want them to feel like they have to be the same. But. But, yeah, you know, when one of them does really great at baseball and the other one's good at watching baseball without getting in trouble, I'm like, adler, what a game, man. Your focus was on fire. And, Keaton, you were the best listener of any other kid I saw there.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But, like, that is so good, you

[Danielle Fishel]

know, whatever you have to come up with, just make them feel like not one of them's more popular than the other.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I know I'm always like, they're gonna bust me on just balancing it out now that they're older. You know what I mean? If Charlotte's like, I got 100 on my tests, and I'm like, that's amazing, honey. And, Theo, I know you said something funny today.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You don't know. I don't.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But, like. But he's amazing. But it's just, you know, in any given moment, you know what I mean? It's just hard.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's very hard. For sure. Now, in Minnesota, you did a ton of print work. You were on the box of Milk Bones. I think that's so cool. Does it get any bigger than Milk Bones?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Well, it does get. You made fun of.

[Danielle Fishel]

I bet it did as a kid.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Comments like, which one's the dog? And, you know, there's that. That was A classic. Okay. I think people just didn't kind of know what to make of it. Like, it's not like that kind of stuff. You know, it makes you think you're gonna transition it into something like acting, you know, it just sort of feels like. Like there's always a point of reference, like, for me. And I'm sure with you, too. There was, like, a girl in my school shout out, Stephanie Watson. Ooh, big help to me, knowing that bigger things were possible for me in. In that world.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

She had done print work, and I was like, well, maybe if she could, I could. And then, you know, just sort of found other avenues to keep going.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jessica Wesson is mine.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you to them and Stephanie.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Right. So, yeah, I think. It's not like I felt like I was, you know, this runaway success at print work, but it was the height of success that I could imagine was being in the Target ads. I was just like, oh, those glossy pages when they would come in in the Sunday paper.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beautiful. And didn't you, like, look forward to them anyway? And now you're like, I'm in. In them.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I think about three times. No more. Don't want to, like, seem like I gotta have a big head about it, but. But, yeah, that felt huge to me. And I still have such a soft spot for Target because, well, honestly, who doesn't? I mean, what moms are each.

[Danielle Fishel]

What moms our age are not regularly thinking about the things they need to get from Target at all times. And then you start looking toward Los Angeles. How did traveling to LA come together? And how long did you live at the Oakwoods?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Okay, I can't. We're. We were fully at the Oakwoods at the same time. We swam in that pool. I remember who. I don't remember who was living there, but I know we were both there.

[Danielle Fishel]

Me, too. Is that what we.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Totally.

[Danielle Fishel]

I must have been visiting someone. Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I know. You were there at least one time.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, I. I've been there a few times. Right. Or lived there, obviously.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Of course. I'm sure that was it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Will lived there.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Did she live there?

[Danielle Fishel]

Shane lived there.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

The ubiquitous. Mm.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, so Shane was there. Yeah. Jessica Biel was there.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Really?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. She's amazing.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I did not live there. I was. Okay, so I still. After all of these years, Danielle, have not gotten good at telling my origin story of, like, how I got to, you know, like, survive in the industry for this long. But basically, I was still with this print agency after it was sort of becoming apparent that I was going to keep working. Make it past five, two.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Right. Or you're not going to be a Runway model. Model.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly. And I was looking for opportunities in the acting world that were not, like, musicals, because I was really aware that singing and dancing were not going to be, like, my thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. You were not a triple threat.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I barely a single stop. We're not in home run territory. And so I just sort of was on the lookout for that. And I think there was both an ad in the classified section of the paper, which, again, we all sat around and read as family.

[Danielle Fishel]

We sure did. Yep.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

For, like, you know, young actors needed. My mom was like, these are a scam. Some of them were like, John Casablanca's nonsense.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And some of them were, like, legit auditions for local, you know, cool little movies that were being made. And I think it came through my agency, but it also might have been that. And I got a part in a short film that was shooting locally with an awesome team, Shout Out. Peter Sivertson, who gave me my first role despite me having no idea how to act, really. I just remember I came into the room, he was sitting on sort of a stool, and he read his lines in a very even tone and just seemed very calm. And I was like, I should probably just do that, too.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm just gonna match that.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And then somehow I just got cast in this movie. And then before I knew I had tape. And back in the day, the hardest thing was you couldn't get tape if you didn't have an agent, and you couldn't get an agent if you didn't have tape. So before I knew it, I had broken through one of the hardest parts of, like, how to move forward. So there was a woman who was a manager who was scouting. She was new to being a manager. She had just come over from the record industry, so was establishing herself with a crop of new, younger actors she already represented at that point. A kid who had been in Iron Will was shot in Minnesota. And funny enough, Brian Grusing, who's in that movie, his mom worked with my dad in the school system.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I know. And so she could, like. Very sweet, very special, I know, for this woman. Beverly Strong.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Thank you. Beverly, who saw some kind of potential in me, as did her other young client, Vinnie Kartheiser, of. Of Mad Men fame and many other things. Incredible talent. Love you, Crazy Vinnie. And he and she were like, yeah, I think this girl might have something, you know, like, we, you know, see if we have some tape. He was sort of like her little confidant. I almost feel like at that time, and I went out to LA and stayed with this manager with my parents blessing on my spring break from school.

[Danielle Fishel]

And how old were you?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I was 15.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

She got me on audition for the babysitters club despite having very little experience. And many, many months later, I found out I got the part after auditioning for several different people in the movie.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

What a leap of faith. That paid off.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly. And that just. It just goes to show, isn't life like a. Just like a long hallway of doors that you're just like, if I don't try to open this, maybe, like, how do I know if it's gonna open? It's like I tried a doorknob and it opened. I'm like, yeah, we're still here, Daniel.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

We're still here.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Oh, my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

And it's. And so much of it is not just the opening of the doorways, but the risk versus re of opening each doorway. You know, it's like for your parents and for you, it was like, okay, I do need people to vouch for these people because I am sending my 15 year old across the country. And so you go, well, all right. Other people have vouched for these people. So the risk feels less now and the reward seems great. But the amount of risk management you're doing with very little education, 100% in the industry.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Can you imagine doing that now with your kids? Like, I mean, we have cell phones now, correct? I cannot imagine.

[Danielle Fishel]

No.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Did you instigate your, like, you know, entry to acting?

[Danielle Fishel]

I did. Jessica Wesson was, you know, in the industry, had an agent, was going to be a model. I was. My mom was like, you can't be a model. You're very short. And was like, right, well, objective. So are you. She was not comment. My mom was not trying to say I wasn't cute enough. She was just like, danielle, my mom's five feet even. And she was like, the hopes for you of like. I don't think she even knew print was a thing. It was just like, come on now, you're not gonna walk a Runway. We're not even going down. And so I went back and told Jessica, I can't do that cause I'm too short. And she goes, oh, yeah, that's true.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Damn it, Jessica.

[Danielle Fishel]

But she was like, but you know what? You don't have to be tall to be on tv. And my agent's also gonna put me on tv. And that's all I needed. To know. And so for a year, I just kept begging, and eventually my parents let me do it.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

That's girls girl right there. I love that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah. She was like, yeah, don't let that stop you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Hell yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Try something else. So Babysitters club. It's your first, like, real movie job. And if you didn't have friends in LA because you had only been there for the audition, I really did not. They basically cast you a dozen. Brie Blair, Skyler Fisk, Zelda Harris, Marla Sokoloff, Larissa Oleynik, Vanessa Zima, Natanya Ross. Some of these girls had been acting in Hollywood at this point for a decade.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes. I remember Larissa seemed very fancy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, she was like she had headlined

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

her whole own show for many years. Like, that was wild to me. And Zelda, you know, being like the girl from Crooklyn. Everyone knew that movie. Like, everyone knew it was like this respected movie. It was kind of intimidating, for sure.

[Danielle Fishel]

What was it like for you as your first job?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I think I told myself diminishing things. Things about my role in Things Now. I was familiar with the books. I think a lot of us were of our generation, but I was like, well, Skyler's the lead, and nobody really wants to be Marianne. I'm just sort of, like, here. Because probably it was just sort of, like, low key. The easier part to get. I get. I was probably telling myself, you know, things to sort of, like, undercut the. The win, to not be intimidated by the moment. But it was also just so surreal that, you know, when you sort of get those first opportunities or even the ones that sort of surprise you, you sort of have to come compartmentalize it over here. Like, I'm not really sure that this is real, so I'm not gonna take it all in at the moment.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So it was kind of like that, if that makes any sense. But, yeah, I did have friends while I was there, and, yeah, I got delivered some. And I was probably at the time, you know, closest with. While we were filming, filming Tricia Jo and Larissa and Bri, I feel like Skylar had to do more schools. We didn't see as much of her. So she and I became friends almost in the after. But, yeah, I wish that we had been able to sort of like, keep in touch and keep that going, because even though I got to be a part of that movie, which was so much about female friendship and the power of it, and then years later, to make Josie and make incredible friends out of that, it's as you Know, hard

[Danielle Fishel]

as hell to like to keep in touch.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

In touch. Keep people in your life. And what followed those movies about amazing friendships were really lonely times. I'm sure you, you know, experienced that as well. You have this life that people think that they want, and you're like, I don't think you really know what's going on.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, yes, for sure. And friends in the industry versus friends outside the industry. For me, I had the benefit of living. I was from here, so I didn't. Friendships within the industry, where you meet on a set and you love each other and you have a great time working together, those are harder to maintain because everyone goes on to the next set now. There's new relationships they have to make and they're preoccupied with everything else that goes on. But I always went back to my high school. I always. So I had the same group of friends from junior high and high school that are still supportive, and they're super supportive, and they're still my best friends today. And so I at least had that. When your friends are all in Minnesota and now you're in la, which is not notorious for being a great place to meet people, it can be really difficult, especially as a teenager.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Difficult?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I mean, like, I. When I started, it was at this transition from 8th grade into probably the biggest high school in Minneapolis. My graduating class was close to 1200 people. So it was like I had just sort of been plunged into the sea. I was there barely a full year before everything started.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And so it was a time of great transition, where everyone was going, but who are we going to be friends with in high school? You know what I mean? Which is normal. And I didn't feel, like, abandoned or anything like that, but it was hard to talk about, you know, the luck that had come my way and the fascinating opportunities that had come my way while being myself, the way I was raised, which is Minnesotan to the core. Like, just keep. Keep it down.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know what I mean? Like, be chill, be great. Talk about it. Yeah. And people were curious, you know what I mean? So it's. It just became confusing. What was my nature to not want to talk about it, and what was also just what was sort of understood.

[Danielle Fishel]

We've talked about it on Podmeet's World before, that feeling of like. And the very reality of friends wanting to know more, kids wanting to know more, but also if you talk about it, then you're bragging. So it's a real catch 22 where you get it. Yeah. There's no real Win. It's like, if I talk about it, ugh, she thinks she's so full. And if you don't talk about it, she's too cool. There's no real win. It's complete that.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I'm glad that. I mean, again, sorry to make you, like, cover ground you've covered on your numerous other projects, but I remember when I saw you, you know, 10 years ago, randomly, I think, when we were out at Bobby Kim's dinner.

[Danielle Fishel]

So fun.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And I was just like, Danielle, I was just, like, so excited to see you because, again, when you're like, I didn't have the. You sort of had a haphazard high school experience, but my sort of absence of one made me create, like, this belief that people like you did go to high school with me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You don't know this, but that's how I feel.

[Danielle Fishel]

That was our schooling experience.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. It's like. Well, I mean, I describe 90s con as being a high school reunion. It is our reunion.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes, exactly. I look very much forward to going later.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. It's fantastic. It's such a warm and fun place to run into the people you may have only met a handful of times or sometimes they're people you think of as being my, like, that's my friend. I know that person for, you know, and then you haven't maybe talked or seen each other in a few years. It's really incredible. You guys did do a BabySitter's reunion in 2018, right?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes, we did. It was so wild. A lot of us had very, very young kids at the time, and, yeah, we met up in, I want to say, Austin.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And watched the movie there, and they made the mistake of giving us some really strong margaritas before the movie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Mistake or genius?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Genius idea. Larissa, I'm about to sell you out hard right now because I've never laughed harder than. We start watching the movie, and Peter Horton comes on, who plays Christy's father. And we realize now, as full grown woman women that like, this guy's hot.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, we were like, what?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Wait a minute. Larissa goes, oh, yeah, Christy's dad. Like, just the whole theater. And she goes, larissa, you're not wrong.

[Danielle Fishel]

Not wrong.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

We see you.

[Danielle Fishel]

You've been seen for sure. And then comes Tom and Huck. I mean, you play Becky Thatcher. You are clearly only interested in huge projects. Did you. Were you just Rachel Leigh Cook offer only blockbusters at this point?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I fully auditioned for that, and I maintain that I got that movie because I just done other movies. I feel like. I swear, like, if I watch my early work, I'm like, oh, it looks like you plucked someone off the street. And we're just like, can you speak English? And I was like, I can. And then, like, they just threw me out there. I barely know what the stakes of any given scene are. It's just so. I feel like I don't look even look like I know what I'm doing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, but to be fair, how could you? You hadn't studied the craft.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not in a very real way. I went to, what, a couple acting classes?

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. Well, I'm saying you're learning it. You're in the process of learning it, and yet you were given the opportunities for a reason. Don't. Don't take it away from yourself. You were given opportunities because you showed up with the factor they were looking for, factors they were looking for, and they knew that you were capable. I mean, these movies are classics for a reason, you being one of them.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I so appreciate that. And, yeah, I am so jealous of, like, all the, like. Granted, you had to learn on the job as well.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I knew nothing started off with

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

a bang, and you just, like, put in so many hours and, you know, I feel like people who had your job. I felt like you guys were, like, the real actors. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

It's so funny. And all we felt was that you were the real actors. Truly. We looked at what we were doing as being like, just nobody takes us seriously. So what we're doing is for kids.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Kids. It seemed like you knew what your next job was, and I thought that was amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, yes, there was some version of jobs. At the very least, we KNEW we had 22 episodes this season. We never really knew what was gonna come next season, but at least we would know whether we were picked up for 13 or 22. It wasn't, you know, three months at a time. And then what comes next? Which is a real terrifying feeling, even if you're a teen.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it is. You're only as good as what's on the docket next.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes. You guys probably were thinking, like, are we renewed all of the time? But to the rest of us, it was just like, oh, my God, why, Mr. That show's gonna be on forever and ever. And I remember saying to Ryder, God, it was such a low. Like, oh, you know, like, I just want to do movies, because I couldn't believe the page count and how fast everything was happening. I was like, I don't know how they're doing this. I'M not capable of it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really? And.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, so you wrote it off as

[Danielle Fishel]

being like, I'm going to pass this off as, like, I don't want to do tv.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I definitely was intimidated by what I knew you guys were turning in all the time and fast.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it is fast. I mean, and now I hear, like, about, you know, what it's like to be on a soap opera or what now what you do with Hallmark movies, that is.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It is borderline irresponsibly fast. We always make it happen.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, but, like, have you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You've done.

[Danielle Fishel]

I've never done one. No, I've never done one.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But. But you guys, I don't even know if It's.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's like 14 days. It is.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

We get 15.

[Danielle Fishel]

You get 15 days. Okay. Okay. Great. That extra day truly makes a huge difference.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's still crazy fast. They just know how to make it happen. We have a lot of multipurpose locations.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And we could do a whole separate thing about this, and maybe we'll get to make one together.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, wouldn't that be so fun? I know I would. I would truly love that.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I so would.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. Most people are surprised to learn what OCD really is because pop culture has spread the idea that it's just about being super neat and organized. But that's not accurate at all. My husband has ocd, and I can tell you it is so much more than that. Real OCD is a serious condition where you get unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts. They're stuck on repeat in your mind, often focusing on people or things we care about, like relationships, identity, or character, making them hard to ignore. And then you feel driven to do certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make the anxiety stop. This obsession and undying desire to make it go away can completely derail you. For decades, Jensen ruined his own life and the happiness of those around him purely because he couldn't make the repeated worry go away. But he'd eventually learn it doesn't have to be that way, because OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions. Once you get the right kind of specialized therapy, OCD needs ERP therapy. That's exposure and response prevention, which is proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended and can actually make OCD worse. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider, and all of their licensed Therapists specialize in ERP therapy. With no CD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about starting OCD therapy with no CD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's n o c d.com hey, it's

[Ryan Seacrest]

Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Ready to save? It's time for Cyber Deals. Put a spring in your step with fresh savings that brighten the season. These exclusive week long digital offers on your favorite products are only available when you shop online. Save on eligible items from Kettle Chobani, Quaker Skippy, Hidden Valley, International Delight, Frito Lay and Signature select. Available now through March 24th on pickup or delivery orders only. Restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier Protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting afterlife. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein. That's P R E M I E R protein.com this is Sophia Bush from

[Danielle Fishel]

Work in Progress with Sophia Bush.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Bring the good with Avocados from Mexico.

[Danielle Fishel]

Upgrade your meals, your get togethers, even your everyday life. Give your moments a little.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Glow up.

[Danielle Fishel]

Be the one everyone's glad showed up

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

because avocados from Mexico spark the joy with every bite. And by the way, they're good for you too. So elevate your everyday. Bring the good flavor so rich and craveable.

[Danielle Fishel]

Avocados from Mexico.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Always good.

[Bowen Yang]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know if you knew this,

[Bowen Yang]

but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So do like I did and have

[Bowen Yang]

one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Danielle Fishel]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for three

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

month plan Plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full terms@mint mobile.com.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, so back to Tom and Hock. I mean obviously this is based on Mark Twain. It stars the biggest young stars of the Time. Jonathan Taylor Thomas and one of my other favorites, Brad Renfro.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now a few months earlier you were in Minnesota, basically just most likely watching on Home Improvement and now you're co starring with him. What was that like for you?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I'm so relieved that I hadn't seen Home Improvement.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So you, my parents, bless them, love you. Mom and dad, your snobs, they just,

[Danielle Fishel]

yeah, they didn't want to watch the grunting guy. Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's a delightful show.

[Danielle Fishel]

It sure is.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I know, I know now. So luckily I didn't have the mania. And when you're, you know, I was 15 and I think he was like 12 and a half.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh my gosh.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Which seems weird when you're 15.

[Danielle Fishel]

Totally. I was gonna say, how long did it take for you to develop a crush on him? But now that I hear that, I'm not trying to go, absolutely not. This is a child and I am a woman. Because I remember I was, I was in my mind, you mind, I was a full blown woman at 15 completely. And someone 12 was like, he might

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

have been 13 and Brad was like 12. But Brad somehow had the soul. I know, we'll get into it.

[Danielle Fishel]

About this 60 to 70 year old man.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You're a touring jazz musician.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Like I can't even. Yeah, just wild. The, the age of the soul on that human.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

In some ways when people are like, can you believe it?

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm like, in some ways, yeah, yeah, in some ways. Because he did live a lot longer in those years than the rest of us, you know. What was that movie like for you in your downtime? Did you hang out with them and they were younger than you, but did you, what did you do?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I would have welcomed a friendship with Jonathan. He was very funny in a kind of under way and wildly smart. And you remember the connection between him and David and Wesley, your set teachers from back in the day. We're all so connected, you guys. Weird.

[Danielle Fishel]

We are so connected.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So yes, David being my set teacher on that movie is what introduced me to Ryder. It introduced me to you. So I was not super tight with Jonathan, but we weren't as close. His mom was there and they were just sort of like doing family time when it wasn't work and it was cool. So Brad and I. Brad was unsupervised, to put it mildly. He was there with his grandmother Joanne, who was just constantly like, Brad, Brad. Where? I didn't know where you were, Brad. And he'd be like, you don't know, leave me alone.

[Danielle Fishel]

Shut Up.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, he just did his own thing,

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

what he wanted, and he was still getting my head around right to this day. And we would go and hang out at, like, the Waffle House. I love a Waffle House. Exactly. Kick around Huntsville, Alabama, which is crazy to me. Yeah. What an experience. It really was. It was a really awesome experience. I hadn't been back there since. Until about two years ago. And, yeah, I brought back a lot of memories. But, yeah, I still don't understand how I got that opportunity, like, from going from being able to be Marianne Spear, who was. You know, that was my favorite book series when I was a kid, to Becky Thatcher, who, you know, I had to read Tom's Wear in school. A lot of us did. To be like, wait a minute. How is this.

[Danielle Fishel]

How. How. How have I gotten this lucky? Especially when you have appreciated the work in your. To then be like. And now that's. I decide I want to be an actor. These are the roles I get to play. Like, that's. That's a great feeling.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Well, it was totally amazing. And I want to say that I was just utterly in love with, like, the craft and acting, and I was, because I also just wanted to find out if I was good at anything. I was one of those kids who was, like, not at the top of my class in school. Did fine.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But, like, not sporty. Don't have me catch a ball. Like, like, not. So when it was just like, oh, you can do this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's like how we've all wondered if we're secretly good at something that could get us into the Olympics. Or, like, am I good at singing? Maybe I'll just sing a little bit. When you're young and someone will be like, you're amazing at this. And then nobody does. And, you know. So when it was, like, I felt like I found a superpower, yes, it was kind of incredible. But I was also not super popular. I was, like, a little bit shy and 100% awkward. Told you it would get there. So sometimes I wonder if I was just trying to jump, being. You know, I was like, I don't think I'm gonna be school popular. What if I can just be, like, life popular?

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. Right. What if I could be recognizable and that will feel like popularity. That's not. I mean, honestly, really smart.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I don't know. P.S. it didn't work.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But in retrospect, it does feel like I got what I was trying for.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Which is kind of weird.

[Danielle Fishel]

When does the frying pan commercial happen

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

that, My goodness, that was, I think, early 1999.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. So for those of my listeners who are a little too young, Rachel starred in an iconic psa, taking the classic this is your brain on drug commercials from the 80s and remixing it a bit.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Indeed.

[Danielle Fishel]

Rather than the monotone voice used in the original, you not only showed us the egg, you violently smashed the frying pan all over the kitchen, creating an aggressive destruction and talking about how heroin in particular would ruin our families and our friends forever. This ad created a frenzy around you. And your hair also might be the cutest cut ever depicted on film.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Oh, my God. Thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Did everything in your life change after that?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I was trying to have Natalie Imbruglia's hair, so that's probably where that came from.

[Danielle Fishel]

The ins.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Oh, God. I don't think I ever got there, but I tried. So that's where that was. I feel like that PSA did more for me than all the movies that I had. It just, you know, shoot someone in grainy black and white and let them break some shit and you're off to the races. So, you know, it gave me, I think, a little bit of, you know, oh, hey, she can do this more dramatic, ish stuff, and then she's got gravitas. It was just black and white, you know, I don't know what I was. I tried my best, but, yeah, for something that paid $0, you know, that was just an initiative by Partnership for Drug Free America. And the whole war on drugs thing did not work out.

[Danielle Fishel]

It didn't pan out.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not great. But specifically, heroin, like you said, not a controversial take.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Heroin's still bad.

[Danielle Fishel]

Heroin's not good.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I said what I said.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Do you want to take me to task for it? I'm just not a fan. Did you then after doing that, if you did ever try a drug, did you have extra guilt?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Cause, like, I did.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But. Okay, wait, who hasn't? It's California.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And found out that it is not for me. No? No.

[Danielle Fishel]

Why? It's not for me either. But I want to know why. For you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Bad news. My feet are not attached to my legs anymore, so I don't know how I'm going to get home. Like, as I think.

[Danielle Fishel]

And you talk those things.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. So don't know what we're going to do about it, but can't go anywhere. Yeah. Does it make you paranoid? Apparently so.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I mean, they're still.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're there. They're there. They are there.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I mean, like, oh, God. Knock on Wood. No, I was just like, this is. I don't know if this is for me. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I also am obnoxious. I'm a chatty Kathy. Like, you know, obviously there's different types. You can have this chill type. I was not having that too.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Once at. Yeah. Seth Green, Claire Grant's house, and I was watching people do a puzzle and I fell asleep and there was no judgment because they're awesome.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. They were like, we gave it to you. We can't judge.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. It was not for me, but did I feel bad because I was the this is your brain on drugs girl? Sorry, but no, no, no, I did not.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, you did not. You did not. Okay. Just. Just curious if that ever popped into your head. How many takes did you shoot of that?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Was it like.

[Danielle Fishel]

I feel like you must have just gone wild for like three hours, but I don't know.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not a ton. You have to be, like, wearing safety glasses and all other. That cool stuff where you're trying to act all badass. The thing is pretty heavy, so it's hard to control.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was it cast iron?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It really was.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, why'd that need to be cast iron? It's black and white. They could have given you a non stick.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

This is why you're a director.

[Danielle Fishel]

Give the girl a calon, please.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Thank you. Okay, so, yeah, not. Not a ton. That was another, like, room full of models situation. Walked in there and I was just like. Pardon? Because it was CK1 era.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I was just like. I meant I think I'm in the room. I'm in the wrong.

[Danielle Fishel]

Should I. Do you want me to go?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, but I remember that audition. Remember I like, booted over the card table at the end. You're just supposed to, like, hit the plastic plates in the picture and things like that. I like, got into it.

[Danielle Fishel]

You took it an extra. That's. That's what made you stand out. Those are the things. Those are the things that people. We try.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, that's. Those are the things that people go, oh. And then she did something no one else thought to do. And now guess what? You could be. You don't have to be first or last. You're still going to be salient. Right in the middle. Kicked over the cart.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

What do you remember about your Boy Meets World audition?

[Danielle Fishel]

The first one where I didn't even get a callback? No. Yeah. I didn't even get. I didn't get.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I'm sorry to everyone who's heard this before. I need to hear it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, they I didn't have Boy Meets World. They booked. They booked someone else.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

What?

[Danielle Fishel]

But then I had another audition to play a part we have jokingly referred to as Fish Girl because she pulled fish skeleton out of a jar of something in a class. And I got that role. It only had two lines. And then I saw the girl they cast as Topanga, and we were in the same episode she did the first day, and at the end of the day, they fired her. And then they were like, well, we could do a full recasting, or we could bring in these two girls that are playing the fish girls, me and Marla Sokoloff. And we both auditioned, and then they called us later that night and said, danielle got the role. Show up on Monday as Topanga.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Damn.

[Danielle Fishel]

And the rest is history.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

That girl's mom had to be like, they replaced you with Fish Girl. Yeah. Damn it. Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Crazy. That sucks. Crazy story.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I hope that she's, like, out curing major diseases right now or not wasting time in our nonsense industry. She is wonderful and feeds my family.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct. And we love it. She is actually still in the industry. She is a contortionist, and she is part of a very famous. A very famous family. They do, like, you know, she's on billboards for when the circus comes to town. And, yeah, her name's Bonnie Morgan. We interviewed her on Pod Meets World, and it was very healing for both of us because, you know, you never usually talk to the people you replace. And so I got to hear from her perspective what that must have been like, and got to just flat out ask her if every single year for the next seven years, when Boy Meets World was popular and Cory and Topanga were a thing, if it was hard for her, and of course it was, but, you know, those are the kinds of, like, healing conversations we get to have now as adults.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

That's so true. That's so beautifully said.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it was really nice.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. And the things that wouldn't be the way that they are. You know, who knows who her partner is now. You know, if she has kids now. The number of people. Yeah. The butterfly effect, as it were.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely. I know most people are surprised to learn what OCD really is because pop culture has spread the idea that it's just about being super neat and organized, but that's not accurate at all. My husband has ocd, and I can tell you it is so much more than that. Real OCD is a serious condition where you get unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts. They're stuck on repeat in your mind, often focusing on people or things we care about like relationships, identity or character, making them hard to ignore. And then you feel driven to do certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make the anxiety stop. This obsession and undying desire to make it go away can completely derail you for decades. Jensen ruined his own life and the happiness of those around him purely because he couldn't make the repeated worry go away. But he'd eventually learn it doesn't have to be that way because OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions. Once you get the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs ERP therapy. That's exposure and response prevention, which is proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended and can actually make OCD worse. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed therapists specialize in ERP therapy with no CD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about starting OCD therapy with no CD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's n o c d.com hey, it's

[Ryan Seacrest]

Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Celsius Body armor or Aida Silk Capri Sun Bavarian Meats and Charmin. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why premier protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. 30 grams of protein gives you the fuel you need. It's not just for intense gym sessions, it's just for life. With the wide variety of flavors from cafe latte to cake batter, it never feels boring. There's a flavor for everyone. I personally love the peaches and cream. But maybe you're a root beer floater cinnamon roll kind of person. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite [e-mail] that's P R E M I E R protein.com or at Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is Sophia Bush from Work in Progress with Sophia Bush.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Bring the good with Avocados from Mexico

[Danielle Fishel]

Upgrade your meals, your get togethers, even your everyday life. Give your moments a little glow up. Be the one everyone's glad showed up.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Because avocados from Mexico spark the joy with every bite. And by the way, they're good for you too. So elevate your everyday. Bring the good flavor.

[Danielle Fishel]

So rich and craveable.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Avocados from Mexico always good. We all have different styles.

[Danielle Fishel]

I may be into Levi's and you may be into Fendi or Miu Miu,

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

but we all should be into poshmark.com right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Because we can all find exactly what we want to fit our style.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Poshmark has millions of new and pre lived pieces.

[Danielle Fishel]

Vintage, luxury, men's, women's, children's, everything from Carhartt to coach. Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase. Okay, so now a little over a year later, she's all that comes out. You play Laney Boggs and you end up in a classic still considered a tentpole for teen rom coms. Did this movie feel special when you were making it?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I felt really special to have gotten that part. I could tell that it was good material. I could just tell. Did I think anyone was going to see it? Not really because I had done smaller movies than I wasn't aware of the scale of it until it sort of started and it felt bigger. So there's more trucks here that seems like it's different.

[Danielle Fishel]

The budget on this has gone up,

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

but you don't take these things into account really. When you're a kid, you're like the immediate crew on set was about the same number as any given tiny movie I had done. I did a movie in Montana that was probably a quarter of a million dollar budget. And you know, in some ways it didn't feel that different to me. So was the craft service different in retrospect?

[Danielle Fishel]

Probably, yeah. Okay. You just didn't necessarily pay attention to that as a kid.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's always how you can tell. Exactly. If there are too many bags of Cheez its at craft service and not a whole lot of. I can usually tell you're 100%. This budget's not great, but if there's fresh food, we are talking real money here.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know your stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know what you're talking about.

[Danielle Fishel]

I've been around.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You've seen things. So, yeah, I. I knew that it was good, but did I know people were gonna see it? Not necessarily. I knew that I liked teen, you know, like, LED movies, Like John Hughes movies were like my end all be all when I was young, like Molly Ringwald. Oh, my God. And so I knew that it was something that I kind of would have liked. And I was very similar to the character at that time in my life, which I know just sort of, like, helped. I think I was really busy thinking I was smarter than I was and acting like it and pretending to have read and liked books that I didn't. You were a teenager. Teenage nonsense.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. It's the description of a teenager, for sure.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly. And so I think that where that movie played it incredibly smart. Is that the wave of teen movies like Varsity Blues and this and that? They were coming, but we were just first.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So that was just smart. I remember hearing that they were really rushing posts to just, like, get it

[Danielle Fishel]

out, get it out.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Because, yeah, Miramax knew and, like, Babysitters

[Danielle Fishel]

Club or even Tom and Hawk. You are, once again, you are surrounded by superstars in your age bracket. Listen to this. Murderer's row. Freddie Prinze Jr. Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Anna Paquin, Kieran Culkin, Gabrielle Union, Dual Hill, Tamra Mello, Clea Duvall, Alexis Arquette, and then also Usher and Lil Kim.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It makes no sense.

[Danielle Fishel]

This had to be fun, though.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So much fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I mean, I really. Why is this now going to seem like a sob story about me being like. But I didn't have any friends.

[Danielle Fishel]

But you didn't. So it was like a painful no.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Well, okay. Well, while I was making she's all that, I was busy dating someone who was, in retrospect, too old for me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's a rite of passage.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely. Sure have.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So that's sort of what I was up to. And I didn't feel like. I felt like all of the rest of the cast somehow knew each other a little bit already. Like, Freddie and Dulay knew each other, I'm pretty sure already. And Tamara just was this, like, talk about ultimate cool girl. And I've since, like, I literally tracked her down when I found out we had a mutual friend. And I was like, I would like to be friends. Would you like to be friends? And now we Are. Oh, good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But at the time, I remember, you know, like, having a good rapport with everybody, but because of the fact especially that we were not on location, everybody went home. They went home home. It was not like, what are you guys doing this weekend? So even though I walked away from that with a million fond memories and had a great experience, I didn't see a lot of everybody. I saw Gabrielle somewhat because we had the same management company. She's always been amazing. And I was lucky enough to work with Dulay again on Psych for a while, and I love him. He's so special. And Freddie and I are looking to reunite and got in touch again after Paul passed, but. Yeah. God, we've been alive for a minute, huh?

[Danielle Fishel]

I know when we talk about it all spaced out, you're like, yep, there was that era of my life. There's this. Yeah, yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And thank you for being a documentarian of all of this. You're kind of like our class president.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you. I. Gosh, you know what? I accept that role proudly. Thank you. I do appreciate it. Looking back at that whirlwind, what memories stick out the most from that whole point period, that whole she's all that period of your life? Like, is it when it comes out? Is it a premiere? Is it filming it? Like, is there a moment that you're like. That's the most salient for me from that time.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Whenever you look back that far, it's like a couple little, you know, glacial peaks out of the ocean. If I just had to remember a couple. I remember shooting the prom scene. I did not know it was going to be a very full choreographed number. No one tells you about the production plans when you're 18. So I was like, what? We're sure? Yep. Okay. This is wonderful. I went from, like, what? To this is amazing. Like, very quickly. And then I realized all at once that they were gonna try to teach me a couple moves, and that didn't go good. So I made up some nonsense about my character. Wouldn't know the dance, and I'm not really in that sequence.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my gosh, that's great. You were like, you know what? This is a character choice for me. Yeah. I love. I love that power for you that you were like, I'm just going to take. It's an artistic choice.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

They will respect it more than me saying, I can't.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so we're gonna go with that.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

There's three seconds of me, like, sort of like, flailing, doing what looks like the monkey and that is it. It's pretty embarrassing and is also. I've probably never done Dancing with the Stars because I'm also not as brave as you.

[Danielle Fishel]

But you should.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's incredible. Here's my plan for Dancing with the Stars. If they will ever be so kind as to invite me again. I'm gonna wait till I'm a cool 63, 64 years old, and people say the phrase she's still got it. I like that because right now I feel like that would be rude to say because I'm only 46. Right, right. That's my plan. To wait till she's still got it.

[Danielle Fishel]

I will tell you though, that if you do it at 63, having doing it becomes significantly harder. I already, at 44, doing it was like, wow, I can see the difference between two. Yes. Now that I really now understand to be fully related to the medication that I'm on for cancer. I don't think that would happen if I were not taking that medication. I think that problem was exacerbated by that medication. But the difference between the beautiful 25 year old Alix Earle and the ease with which her body moves compared to the 44 year old, it only gets harder. You know, it just becomes harder. And if you don't have dance experience.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I do not.

[Danielle Fishel]

Which I did not either. Well, then, good luck. So what I would say is do it in your 60s when you've still got it, but start dance now. Spend the next 20 years having dance, practicing, having dance experience. And then when you come out at 60, they're gonna be like, oh, you will blow everyone away. But you have to start now. So start that rehearsal process now. Get 20 years. Yeah, yeah. I'm not the person, but I think we know some people who could help you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Okay, that's very good advice.

[Danielle Fishel]

I have been reading some of my real teenage diary entries on pod meets world. And some of them are from when you were dating Ryder.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Omg.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I very clearly had a crush on him. But I also liked you so much.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I like you too.

[Danielle Fishel]

That I couldn't be mean about you in my diary. So I have a lot of entry things that are like, hung out with Ryder and Rachel today. She's so cool. I'm not sure she really understands him though. Or things like, seems like Ryder maybe didn't talk to Rachel on the phone today. I wonder if they're on the rocks.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Oh, my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you remember ever feeling like I was there trying to be happy for you, but also possibly seething inside?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I just felt like you were so busy with your grown up job and you're just so, like beautiful and effervescent and everybody loved you and like the hair. Come on.

[Danielle Fishel]

You're so fine. Thank you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

No, I remember. Here. You've opened up your diary to me. I will open up my memory diary to you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Here's what I can give young Danielle. Ryder and I were. First of all, I probably did not understand him all of the ways that you did. He's the most romantic, like, beautiful, like very deep yourself. So deep. Like, just like I'm struck. I'm like the image of like the front of the Titanic. Just like, he's just, he's such a beautiful. I'm not doing good words for this, but you know exactly what I'm.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know what you mean, yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Ryder's the most poetic soul we've ever met.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And I remember this moment. He had like come to visit me in Italy and there was this like field of sunflowers on the way to where we're going. And he tells the driver, stop the car. And he looks at me, puts out his hand, and I'm like, oh, no.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh no, what are we doing?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

We have to run into this flower.

[Danielle Fishel]

We have to go run through these flowers.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Like really spiky looking flowers, like a movie. And I knew in that moment that I was just like, I'm not. I'm not the person what he's like ultimately gonna need. And I tried and we got a little way into that field, but I was just like, I don't know about this, but the thing that I can definitely give to young Danielle is that even though we were each other's first lot of things, I remember he one time made the I feel vegetarian lightly personal business. But I feel like he would be okay. He's very open and warm and accepting and loving to his younger self. I remember one time he said to me, like, if you weren't with me, you know, who would you want to be with? And I realized in retrospect that he was probably thinking I'd be like, oh, I don't know, James Dean if he was still alive or something like that. But instead I say the name of my ex boyfriend and he takes it on the chin and I was like, I realized that I've probably answered wrong. And then I say, well, what about you? And he goes, danielle, what? Stop the presses. Think I didn't remember. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So then did you not like me after that?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

No, of course I still like you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, not now. I mean, now now, now, I'm sure it's fine, but at the time, were you, like, I remember directly trying to

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

figure out if I was in trouble first because I was just like, ruh, Roh. Which I was not respectful.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, no.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, that's so funny. I don't know that he remembers that, because when I told him on Pod Meets World that I had a crush on him, he was like, what? And he did not in any way, shape or form say that he had. No. Maybe I was just the last person whose name he had seen. And

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

if you think writers ever not thought about something.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know that's true.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Come on.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, I can't wait to talk to him about it.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

It's true.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is. This is game changing for me as.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, that happened.

[Danielle Fishel]

Did you mostly then date other actors back then? Because it. Where. Who else were you meeting?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, yeah, I know we're in the same boat on this. We talked about this at dinner in Kansas City, what, five years ago now?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, we sure did.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. It's hard, you know, you want to think you're gonna go out with other people, but especially when you're young and you're doing something that feels kind of, I don't know, like, just odd. You don't. You don't want someone who's gonna like other you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

A little bit.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Not that. It's like, not that again. Now that you're convinced that you're special because you're just like, I don't have a job next week, like I'm. This is all gonna fall apart. But at the same time, you don't want to feel like you're with someone who might be with you for the wrong reasons. And if someone's even too just like real life awesome, you're like, but I'm not real life awesome. So you just end up with other actors. Yep. You know. Yeah. I did a lot of fishing off the company pier as I like to follow.

[Danielle Fishel]

I also remember that you got to live out the dream of everyone who was on Boy Meets World and you were on Dawson's Creek.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

And with the recent loss of James Van Der Beek and everyone has been talking about what an amazing co worker and friend he was. Do you have good memories from that set?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I so do. Yeah, I so do. I. I get so in my own head when I. That was my first time guest starring and I'd wanted to guess on what, but they did not ask me, which feels crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

I feel like they must have thought that you would not have Done it probably.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

If I had said that stuff to writer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. The writer was like.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

He was probably like, no, she would never. Or maybe go manager, maybe.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Okay.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But anyway, yeah, Dawson's. I. They were such a tight knit group and it's a little bit scary. I don't know if you've done much guesting, but when you go in and everybody knows each other really well and it's terrifying established like how you, you know, do the dance and sing the song and they're all so loose in their bodies while they all seem amazing at acting and you just feel like you're bad at acting all of a sudden. Yeah, that was, you know, the sort of initial experience. But I wasn't like, out of practice. I feel like I fell into a groove with. With the work. And they were all great to work with. James especially. What was weird about that experience is that first of all, I was. I of course would have said yes, but I was told I was doing that by Miramax. They said, it's. We've gotten you an arc on the show. It's gonna come out the same weekend, basically, or the weekend. The weeks before. She's all that. It was all very strategic because I didn't audition for it. I didn't have that much tape, so who knows why? And so that's how that went. But when I got there, I remember they made some changes to the character that was not what I had initially read. And that's how TV works.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hello.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I understand now. But it turned into like a kind of lightly humiliating part where my character was, like, obsessed with Katie Holmes character. So I was just, like, being like, weird and small and creepy and, like, taking notes on who she was because I was an actress playing the. A part of her in a movie that he was making. And she had all these great sick burns. Like there's this one part where she says to Dawson, she's too short to play me. I know. It's so good. Do it. And I am. And fine just is what it is. Yeah. And I was just like. I did not know that this was gonna be happening when I got on the plane.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

But that's, you know, that's life.

[Danielle Fishel]

But that is. You're right. What a difference between movie. In movies, you, like, fully understand the character and it's not usually completely rewritten because then the movie entirely changes. Whereas tv, especially for a guest star, you could be agreed to be one thing and two days later, oh, not only is the person playing you different, the whole character is a different thing.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Totally.

[Danielle Fishel]

So, yeah, that is a little shocking to have come from the movies you've done and then be like, I still have to do it. Oh, I don't.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Do I get.

[Danielle Fishel]

Does anybody care that I don't like it?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

So many zingers. Yeah, it was still fun. Like after you sort of learned to. After I learned to embrace it a little bit more, it got more and more fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know most people are surprised to learn what OCD really is because pop culture has spread the idea that it's just about being super neat and organized, but that's not accurate at all. My husband has OCD and I can tell you it is so much more than that. Real OCD is a serious condition where you get unwanted, distressing thoughts called intrusive thoughts. They're stuck on repeat in your mind, often focusing on people or things we care about like relationships, identity or character, making them hard to ignore. And then you feel driven to do certain behaviors called compulsions to try to make the anxiety stop. This obsession and undying desire to make it go away can completely derail you for decades. Jensen ruined his own life and the happiness of those around him purely because he couldn't make the repeated worry go away. But he'd eventually learn it doesn't have to be that way because OCD is one of the most treatable mental health conditions. Once you get the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs ERP therapy. That's exposure and response prevention, which has proven to be the most effective treatment. Regular talk therapy isn't recommended and can actually make OCD worse. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed therapists specialize in ERP therapy with NOCD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions so you never have to face OCD alone. To learn more about starting OCD therapy with no CD, go to nocd.com and book a free call with their team. That's n o c d.com hey, it's

[Ryan Seacrest]

Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for store wide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Celsius body armor or Aida Silk, Capri Sun Bavarian meats and Charmin. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier Protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting afterlife. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite [e-mail] that's P R E M I E R protein.com this

[Danielle Fishel]

is Sophia Bush from Work in Progress with Sophia Bush Bring the good with Avocados from Mexico Upgrade your meals, your get togethers, even your everyday life.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Give your moments a little glow up,

[Danielle Fishel]

be the one everyone's glad showed up

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

because avocados from Mexico spark the joy with every bite. And by the way, they're good for you too. So elevate your everyday. Bring the good flavor.

[Danielle Fishel]

So rich and craveable. Avocados from Mexico.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Always good. We all have different styles.

[Danielle Fishel]

I may be into Levi's and you may be into Fendi or Miu Miu,

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

but we all should be into poshmark.com right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Because we can all find exactly what we want to fit our style. Poshmark has millions of new and pre lived pieces. Vintage, luxury, men's, women's, children's, everything from Carhartt to Coach. Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase. How did you or maybe you did at some point, but having been doing this now for the amount of decades that we have, how did you avoid burnout? Or did you experience it at some point and then just get through it?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Haven't we all?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I feel like I have for sure.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah. I think the burnout when I sort of let myself acknowledge it happened in my and I can only say this because, you know, having started as young as we did, I was 15. You said you of were kind 12. Like I think it was in my it was right after I had both my kids and it's not because I was working so so much. It was just the the idea of hey, I am the head of my household. I've made these two people, I've survived in the industry this long and I'm still getting calls from my agency saying like you need to put yourself on this untaped for this by tomorrow. And the copy's like, you kids come in before it's dark.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You know, and it's just like. It still feels like people are making you prove that you can act at all.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And that just feels really hard on the ego. And, look, I know it's what we signed up for, but it just felt really hard. And so that nature of just always having to be on call, drop everything, you know, this is what you have to do if you want to survive, which you just keep being told, you know, that's when I sort of felt the most burnt out. And it wasn't until I started working for Hallmark and they empowered me creatively that I started to feel like I had any degree of autonomy in the business.

[Danielle Fishel]

That is so great. How did that then come about? Did they just recognize you as an actor who had good suggestions for things? Did you go to them and say, listen, I have more to offer. I would like to produce? Did you come with an idea? How did you make that transition?

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I had been offered a couple movies by them, and I, you know, was busy, sort of like having my first child and, you know, being told by my agents, like, man, it's probably not that time yet. And the couple scripts that I had read by them weren't quite hitting. But then I read this one that they sent, and I just really love the material. I was like, this is so funny and fresh and romantic, and it just. It felt like what I wanted to say, you know what I mean? And it felt really aligned with just my kind of, like, peaceful, you know, feel good, loving self. I still struggle. I'm trying my hardest to watch Stranger Things with my kid right now, and I am struggling. I am very scared.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. So I don't like to be scared either. It's not for me.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Yeah, it's hard. And so I was just like, oh, my gosh. You know, this thing that had been, for no good reason, stigmatized to me all of a sudden felt like a really good idea. And I went, I made it. And I had the best time. And the amazing thing is, back then, I think they were making. Hallmark was making something close, like, 200 movies a year, Right. Oh, my God. So at that rate, when you get somewhere and you're like, oh, wait a minute, Would it be okay if I xyz, you know, between these lines or whatever, and they're just like, yeah, go for it. Like, they're. They're really empowering to the people who work for them, and they're so supportive of of women. Really? That's so great. Yeah. And so when I was able to team up with a producer and bring them a project, it just sort of, you know, kept going from there. It's been really awesome.

[Danielle Fishel]

That is so incredible. You're so inspiring.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Thank you. Isn't doing it all, Danielle?

[Danielle Fishel]

I just mostly talk. I just mostly talk for a living.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

Got it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you. Is there a time that you wish you had a more traditional childhood, especially now, where you're watching your kids approach the age where you made the big trip out to la? Do you ever wish you could go back and do it differently? Or are you.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

There's some moments where I'll be talking to more specifically my daughter these days about just something that might be happening with her socially. This, that, and the other. And I'll be trying to give her advice or something like that, and it will just be falling on the deafest of years, and I will realize that I am both 46, really far from her age and experience growing up these days. And also, I didn't do my younger years the way she's doing them. And so I wish sometimes that I felt like I was able to relate, but I don't know if that would have been brought about by the passage of time regardless. Right. But yeah, there's this weird moment that's always been so burned in my brain. When I was filming Tom and Huck. I remember going to a matinee movie with my mom on the weekend when we were filming, and a bunch of kids came out of whatever movie they were seeing, and they were all in the parking lot throwing the extra ice from their drinks at each other. And I just remember having this weird feeling, like, just at the back of my spine. And I just kind of knew that no one was ever gonna, like, throw ice at me. And, like, it felt in a weird way, like I had graduated in some form and. And in another way, it felt kind of sad. Yeah. So it's funny. I did a movie. Let me see. A little over a year ago now with my good friend Akash Ambudkar. Shout out, Akarsh. I love you. From Ghost. He's the best. Everybody love him. That's a very meta story about an actress who goes back to her hometown and reconnects with him, her high school boyfriend. And we put in this moment where our characters go and get big gulps and then we chuck ice at each other. And that was. I'm not gonna say it was healing for me. That would be a real shortcut to, like. Yep, you know, glazing that moment. But if there's a. If there was a moment, that was it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beautiful. You know, you didn't.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

You understand everything.

[Danielle Fishel]

I do. I do understand. And I would like to just point out that you. You did not have someone to throw ice at you, but you did have Rider Strong to drag you through a spiky flower patch. And so I love you, Ryder.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

I always will. Yep. I always will for sure.

[Danielle Fishel]

But, yeah, Ryder also pulled me into the rain. Love to run in the rain. And we were in. I think we were in Orlando, and it was like, I think it was at the end of the day. And the hair and makeup, we were, you know, whatever. And then it was like, Danielle, let's. It's raining. And I remember being like, yeah, stay inside. No, grabbed, took my by the hand and we ran in the rain. And it was very fun. But I also remember in the moment being like, he thinks this is so romantic. Like, you know, I remember. Yeah.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And I was like, oh, I know. And we say this from a place of love. And of course, of course, of course. And I love that that's who that boy is.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love that.

[Rachel Leigh Cook]

And I hope he still is.

[Danielle Fishel]

He is. He is. And his family is all the better for it. It's very well appreciated and loved in his family. I'm having such a great time catching up with Rachel Leigh Cook that she is sticking around for our weekly bonus episode where we will list to one listener's voice memo and quietly judge their embarrassing childhood story. All you need to do is search for Teen Beat wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe. That way, every new episode just ends up on your phone, no questions asked, and you can send in your own tales of teenage terror. Just email us a voice memo with all the juicy details to teenbeatpodmail.com and it might just end up on the next episode of Teen Beat. See you Friday with more from the coolest girl I know, Rachel Leigh Cook. Teen Beat is an Iheart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Sudbaksh. The theme song is by Mark Hoppus. Yes, that Mark Hoppus. Follow us on Instagram teenbeatpod.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Celsius body armor or Aida, Silk, Capri, Sun, Bavarian Meats and Charmin. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy Savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go, pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Danielle Fishel]

At CVS it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night, and we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier Protein Shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting afterlife. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite [e-mail] that's P-R-E-M-I-E-R protein.com

[Ryan Seacrest]

with the Venmo Debit Card. A taco in one hand and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking your rewards.

[Danielle Fishel]

Nice.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on your favorite brands when you pay with your Venmo Debit card. From takeout to ride shares, entertainment and more, Pick a bundle with your go tos and start earning cash back at those brands. Do More stash Get more Cash Venmo Stash Bundle terms and exclusions apply. See terms at Venmo me stash terms

[Danielle Fishel]

max $100 cashback per month.

[Ryan Seacrest]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner offering the products you need all in one place, from H Vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock so your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.