Tatyana Ali Meets World

Summary

Pod Meets World – "Tatyana Ali Meets World"

iHeartPodcasts | April 27, 2026
Guest: Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, singer, activist, author)

---

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode takes listeners on a nostalgic journey revisiting the culture-defining 1990s through the lens of Tatyana Ali, best known as Ashley Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The hosts—Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Ryder Strong—engage Tatyana in a wide-ranging discussion about her early career (from Sesame Street to Fresh Prince), her advocacy for maternal health, her creative pursuits, and her perspective as a child actor who grew up in the public eye and later attended Harvard. Their conversation weaves personal stories, industry insights, and reflections on family, education, and empowerment.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Activism & Maternal Health Advocacy

• Early Values: Tatyana discusses being raised with a sense of service:
  “People always said, you know, to whom much is given, much is expected. And I grew up hearing that.” (17:15, Tatyana Ali)
• Personal Trauma: She recounts her own traumatic birth experience and how it propelled her into advocacy:
  “I was held down, my arms and legs… the term I use is obstetric violence.” (18:32, Tatiana Ali)
  “Once I realized what happened to me was so common, I was pissed.” (18:04, Tatiana Ali)
• Platform as a Microphone:
  "All the people I'm talking to, no one puts a mic in their face. Like, they don't necessarily have, you know, a platform. What's happening?" (22:59, Tatyana Ali)
• Using Celebrity for Credibility: The group discusses the double-edged sword of using fame to shine light on important issues.
  "In your situation, using that credibility for something credible and truthful… what a blessing." (23:25, Easton Allen)

2. Early Career: Sesame Street and Childhood in Showbiz

• First Gig Memories:
  “You kind of have, like, a preschool backstage… When you get to sit on the little ledge, the puppets… you’re a part of the magic making.” (29:44, Tatyana Ali)
• Working with Legends: Stories about performing with Herbie Hancock, Carly Simon, Sid Caesar—moments she only appreciated in retrospect.
• Child Actor Perspective: Tatyana credits her parents and child actor camaraderie on set for stability and support.

3. Landing and Working on Fresh Prince

• The Audition: At age 10, after finishing an off-Broadway play, Tatyana was brought onboard from the East Coast, even skipping the test in LA due to a prior commitment.
  “There were only two auditions… I guess they did test everybody and they paired everybody up, but they decided to go with me.” (36:56, Tatiana Ali)
• Comedy Learning Curve:
  “I had to learn comedy with Fresh Prince. All the stuff in New York was more dramatic… so I had to learn the rhythm of it. And I loved it. The science of it is so dope.” (39:32, Tatiana Ali)
• Table Reads & Ensemble:
  “Table reads, guys… It’s like the page, it’s either there or it’s not.” (41:42, Tatiana Ali)
• Empowered Cast: Explains how showwunners actively sought input from the cast, especially on cultural authenticity.
  “They were asking us, what do you guys think?… we maintained that. And boy, would James say, my daughter would not talk to me like that.” (45:19, Tatiana Ali)

4. Fashion & Cultural Impact

• Wardrobe as Identity:
  “There was a lot of attention paid to it… Costume department would have a library stack of pantyhose in every single color.” (54:13 & 56:29, Tatiana Ali)
• Cultural Legacy: The hosts praise the show's ensemble and the show’s unique blend of heart, comedy, and authenticity, noting Fresh Prince’s lasting impact.

5. Reflection on Fame, Child Stardom, and Education

• Processing Success:
  “I felt that way after the show… I watched her joy… that’s what rings that bell for me.” (47:36, Tatiana Ali)
• On-set Education: Both Tatyana and Ryder discuss thriving in one-on-one education setups and the difference between states/New York and LA regulations for child actors.
  "I had an incredible education because of it. But… you could also have a terrible experience because of it. It depends on who’s doing the teaching." (59:39, Tatiana Ali)
• Harvard & Career Choices: She describes deferring Harvard for music, touring in the UK, and ultimately prioritizing college:
  "I just went to school. I really got to experience the dead of winter in Massachusetts." (62:36, Tatiana Ali)
• Academic Influence:
  “All the things that I did study in school… inform it all the time.” (64:54, Tatiana Ali)

6. Creative Life & Family

• Music vs. Acting:
  “I love singing and I love acting. I don’t particularly like the music business… the ensemble makes it feel a little bit safer.” (66:10, Tatiana Ali)
• Her Children’s Book: She shares her inspiration for Ozzy and the Octopus—celebrating imagination and childhood freedom.
  “Being a kid who achieved at a very young age… I think it’s nice to just see our kids play.” (71:05, Tatyana Ali)
• Raising Young Artists: Tatyana acknowledges her children might be drawn to performance but doesn’t plan to steer them into professional acting before adulthood: “The protection has to be ironclad… I don’t know how my parents did it.” (69:20, Tatiana Ali)
• Performing Genes: She humorously recounts her youngest practicing pratfalls in the hallway (68:16–68:54).

7. On Abbott Elementary, Sci-Fi, and the Future

• Joining Abbott Elementary:
  “Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding me?… Full freak out.” (73:08, Tatiana Ali)
• Working with Quinta Brunson:
  “She is a boss. Nothing goes down without her say so. She keeps her eyes on everything. She’s amazing.” (73:30, Tatiana Ali)
• Upcoming Projects: She mentions roles on "For All Mankind" (Apple TV+, her first sci-fi), ongoing book projects, and openness to more TV work.

8. Advice to Her Younger Self

• Wisdom & Reassurance:
  “If you have a good heart… do your best and throw it away. It’ll all work out. The way it’s supposed to. It’s okay. You don’t even know where you’re going until you’ve gotten a little bit down the road.” (75:51, Tatiana Ali)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On maternal health trauma:
  “They pushed him back inside me, Danielle. That’s what happened. My baby was all the way crowned…” (19:47, Tatiana Ali)
• On being a child actor:
  “You’re almost conditioned when you’re young to not make waves. You let all the bad wash over you, and you never open your mouth about anything.” (23:52, Will Friedle)
• On Fresh Prince’s cast dynamic:
  “James Avery really was a huge part… our notes were different from notes in other places… they would ask, ‘What do you guys think?’” (45:19, Tatiana Ali)
• On education as a child actor:
  “If I needed to spend weeks learning to write this particular thing… you have the ability to do that.” (59:56, Tatiana Ali)
• On music biz realities:
  “There were things that didn’t make any sense. Like, why was I in a studio at one o’clock in the morning?” (66:23, Tatiana Ali)
• On pride and perspective:
  “It’ll all work out. If you have a good heart… you don’t even know where you’re going until you’ve gotten down the road.” (75:54-76:39, Tatiana Ali)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Activism/Maternal Health Story (16:17–24:34)
• Sesame Street, Star Search & Early Career (29:12–35:41)
• Landing Fresh Prince & Ensemble Work (35:41–45:19)
• Fashion/Costume Conversation (53:51–57:27)
• Child Actor Schooling & Harvard (57:36–64:54)
• On Her Children’s Book (70:37–72:42)
• Abbott Elementary / Recent Work (72:53–74:14)
• Advice to Young Tatiana (75:33–76:39)

---

Noteworthy Themes

• The power of speaking out and using a platform for advocacy
• The value of ensemble and community in creative work
• How childhood experience in showbiz shapes adulthood
• The changing realities for women and Black artists in the entertainment industry
• Celebrating and protecting childhood imagination

---

Tone & Language

The podcast embodies warmth, mutual respect, humor, and candor—just as familiar as friends catching up but unafraid to dig deep into serious issues of trauma, representation, and advocacy. The hosts frequently share their own experiences, creating a rich dialogue that balances nostalgia, empathy, and practical wisdom.

---

Recommended For

Fans of 90s television, Fresh Prince, or Boy Meets World; those interested in child acting, Hollywood lore, or how stars transition careers and give back; advocates for maternal health or child welfare; anyone seeking authentic, uplifting entertainment industry stories.

---

End of Summary

Transcript

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Will Friedle]

This one's for all my TV lovers. My entertainment from DirecTV gets you 60 plus channels and Disney, Hulu and HBO Max all in one pack.

[Ryder Strong]

But here's the thing. With so much great TV and my entertainment, you're going to want to talk about everything you've been watching.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just remember that your friends might not

[Easton Allen]

be as well matched as you.

[Will Friedle]

Don't be a spoiler and encourage them to get my Entertainment for just $34.99 a month.

[Ryder Strong]

Go to directtv.com genrepacks and sign up today.

[Danielle Fishel]

New customers only.

[Easton Allen]

Service renews monthly unless canceled.

[Danielle Fishel]

Credit card required conditions apply to apps HBO Max Basic with ads begins after DIRECTV five day trial. Learn [e-mail] restrictions apply.

[Will Friedle]

You ever show up late to the game and your friends already saved your seat, your drink, even a plate that's

[Ryder Strong]

looking out, that's having your back?

[Will Friedle]

And that's exactly what AT and T does with the ATT guarantee.

[Ryder Strong]

They know that staying connected matters, so they actually guarantee a network that comes through when it counts.

[Will Friedle]

AT and T has connectivity you can depend on or they'll proactively make it right. Just like that friend who takes care of things before you even ask.

[Ryder Strong]

AT&T connecting changes everything. Terms and condition apply.

[Will Friedle]

Visit att.comguarantee for details. Open the door to Spring with Pura Explore vibrant scents inspired by place designed to refresh your home and how it feels every day. Transport your senses to a terrace in Santorini or a French lavender field, bringing the essence of spring into the home you love. Get started with a free Pura 4 diffuser when you subscribe to 2 cents monthly for six months. Shop now at pura.com Summertime is here and you know what that means.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beach trips?

[Ryder Strong]

Family vacations? Nope.

[Will Friedle]

It means it's time to find your next obsession on Prime Video.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh yes, we do love a good obsession here. Especially when you could talk about for years and suggest to everyone you know

[Ryder Strong]

steamy romance, addictive love stories and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Because when a story hits, it really hits off campus.

[Will Friedle]

Elle, the Love Hypothesis and much, much more.

[Ryder Strong]

Slow burns, second chances chemistry. You can feel through the screen the

[Danielle Fishel]

type of binge worthy shows and can't miss movies where you're fully invested, staying up all night just to finish it. Just one more.

[Easton Allen]

Oh, all right, one more.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know the feeling.

[Will Friedle]

The kind of stories that pull you in and don't let go in the best way.

[Ryder Strong]

Your next obsession is waiting.

[Danielle Fishel]

Watch Only on prime.

[Easton Allen]

Jensen and I just got back from Puerto Vallarta. We took the kids to Mexico for spring, spring break and it was really fun and enjoyable. I feel comfortable now that I've had a good vacation with them, saying I have not up until this point enjoyed vacationing with my children.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, it's hard.

[Easton Allen]

It's hard.

[Ryder Strong]

A journey. Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

It is not a vacation. It is just a trip to a new. It's a. It's a new location without any of the comforts of home. And you are trying to make the best of it. And you know, the things that like sightseeing that you want to share with them, maybe they're not into because they're too young to get it. And like, you know, they're tired and time changes and you know, do you throw it all out the window and getting them things to eat? It's just difficult this trip. Well, for one thing, we went with four other families.

[Ryder Strong]

I was gonna say that's the key. You cannot travel with just your family because then you have other kids, other parents and like the respons ability gets like sort of offloaded and like separate. Yes. It's so much fun. Like I highly recommend, like, I mean I'm sure you guys were at a hotel, but like you going on vacations where you all get a house together like with other families is so much fun because then it's like all the kids are like in the living room hanging out and all the parents are able to like go hang out in the kitchen and talk. And like you're still doing stuff but you're all like dispersing the responsibilities of childcare.

[Easton Allen]

It's so much fun kind of what we did. Even at the hotel. I can definitely see how at a home it's even easier. But like there were, you know, there was one day where all the moms went and got massages and the dads did had kid duty while they all

[Ryder Strong]

stayed in the pool.

[Easton Allen]

And then it was like, okay, now you know, then the moms all came back and let the dads off for a couple of hours. And one thing we did that we next time realized, oh, this is what we should do. We, we did plan an adults only dinner and put the kids at the kids club.

[Ryder Strong]

Yep.

[Easton Allen]

And then one by one they just started picking us off. Like, this kid's crying, this kid fell, this kid.

[Ryder Strong]

And then, oh, you have to hold line. You have to hold the line. As parents, you all have to agree.

[Will Friedle]

Sounds like you're making a battle plan.

[Easton Allen]

You do what we Said was what we need to do next time is take couples dinners. So tonight's mine and Jensen's night. We're gonna have a date night while the kids and the other adults are out. Then tomorrow night it's a new adult couples night. And like the rest of us, so we.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, the kids center thing is such a. That's so. It happens all the time. You're like, you all agree, like, oh, we'll just put all the kids in. And then they're like, well, but Jimmy doesn't want to because Jimmy's dairy free and they're only serving you. You're like, you're the parent that's gonna ruin this for all the rest. And sure enough, once that one kid gets pulled up, then all the other kids are like, well, why isn't Jimmy? Why can't I? And no, no, you have to hold the line. You have to all agree. And we're not getting. We're not. And this is the problem with kids all having Apple watches because they could just text their parents and be like, I want out of the kids center. And you're like, no, this is why Indy doesn't have any of that. He's not getting a phone till he's 16.

[Will Friedle]

Well, it takes a village, Rider. It takes a.

[Ryder Strong]

Takes a village. You gotta hold that line.

[Easton Allen]

I feel like 6 and 4 now. Now granted, it's nearly 7 and nearly 5.

[Ryder Strong]

Right.

[Easton Allen]

So the tail end of 6 and 4. I feel like we finally hit the sweet spot. So I'm, I was, I had a great, we had a great vacation. Ryder, you were in Hawaii. How was Hawaii?

[Ryder Strong]

Hawaii was great. And this was our fear because this was of no other kids trip, which is traditionally a disaster for Indy. Exactly. We learned that lesson. We just always have to travel with other families. But it's just so coordinate, you know, it's hard to find families that have the same schedule can, you know, just make it work. So we ended up with just my parents and my brother and his girlfriend and Indy at 11 years old as the only kid. And we were terrified going into it. We were like, oh God, he's going to be. But you know what, he's 11 is a different thing than 9 or 10. 11 is like, he's now a cool dude that hangs out with us and he talks to my brother, he hangs out with my parents. Like, it's like no longer like, oh, it's like he's just more of a. He's just grown up. He's just. And he was fine. It was Great. We got to, we went surfing, we went bike riding. He didn't complain as much as he usually used to.

[Tatiana Ali]

Wow.

[Ryder Strong]

So we were like, wow.

[Easton Allen]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

So yeah, we came back and we were like, okay, maybe we can go on vacations with just Indy. And it's a little, it's, it's gotten better because like when we were in New Zealand last year or year and a half ago, whatever, and it was just the three of us, you know, in a camper van for three weeks with Indy, it was hard, you know, because he's a kid, he wants to do kid things and Alex and I want to like, you know, do more grown up things. Things like hiking and hot springs and, and he was just didn't care about any of that. So actually this trip, like, I feel like we turned a corner of like, oh, now you're just a cool like 11 year old who's willing to keep up with us and.

[Easton Allen]

Right. He's like a young man now to a child.

[Ryder Strong]

Exactly.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

I still want to try and find like, you know, other kids to hang out with if we can for other vacations, but if we can't, I feel, I'm feeling like we're okay in a way that we weren't a year ago.

[Easton Allen]

Well, how was your spring break?

[Will Friedle]

I didn't take one every day. Spring break when you don't have kids. Dude, I'm on spring break for the rest of my life. It's the best.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, that also sounds nice. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Bought a sports car.

[Easton Allen]

I saw your new baby sports car writer. Did you comment on it? I didn't even see it.

[Ryder Strong]

No, I didn't comment.

[Will Friedle]

No, neither of you did. Jensen is the only one who commented and I was like, oh, they're jealous of my car. That's what it is.

[Ryder Strong]

I thought you had this whole like I don't need a car attitude.

[Will Friedle]

But then what's it? H. HL5160. The California law that since I'm about to be 50, I have to buy a stupid sports car. So I have that one.

[Ryder Strong]

That's a law in California.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, California law. So I haven't owned a car in almost six years.

[Easton Allen]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

And it was so pretty that I didn't have a choice.

[Easton Allen]

Was it on the. It was the display car in the dealership. Right. You walked in and saw sitting there.

[Will Friedle]

No, no, I walked in. I was, I was bored and I was, I had nothing to do and I was walking. Then when I found the car that I liked. My son in law is a master at this so he found me the perfect car that's now being shipped to me from Clearwater, Florida. I haven't even seen it in person, so it's, it's real pretty. And I get my five, my first

[Ryder Strong]

car in a while.

[Will Friedle]

So very similar to having children.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Being bored, having nothing to do and

[Easton Allen]

walking around and then buying a very sports car.

[Will Friedle]

Yep, pretty much. And I think, I feel, I just feel like a 20, 25 sports car. It's the perfect age to really start understanding the sports car and really it becomes its own kind of thing which is kind of fun. So I don't have to worry about leaving it places and I can keep it with other sports cars and it's going to be really great. So I'm just very excited.

[Easton Allen]

You're in a sweet spot. Sweet spot of car ownership.

[Will Friedle]

500 horsepower area is a real sweet spot for my life. I'm pretty happy.

[Easton Allen]

Welcome to pod meets world. I'm Danielle Fishel.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm Ryder Strong.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm Will Friedle.

[Danielle Fishel]

Guys, can I tell you about my new rug?

[Ryder Strong]

I am sure I cannot wait.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. It's so cute. I got it from article and I love it so much. The quality is top notch. The style is a perfect match for the house, and delivery was so easy I didn't even have to lift a finger. They moved around some chairs, the old couch, picked up the old rug, laid it down and voila. Perfect custom customer service and at prices

[Ryder Strong]

that can't be beat with curated collections like mid century Modern, Coastal and Scandi Inspired. Their site makes it simple to find what you're looking for, then easily pair it with other article products so everything

[Will Friedle]

feels cohesive and it looks like you know what you're doing, which I personally don't.

[Danielle Fishel]

Their pieces have a craftsmanship and quality that will stand the test of time. I immediately noticed my new rug has a serious texture and weight to it. I knew it meant business.

[Will Friedle]

And don't forget their 30 day satisfaction guarantee. With their customer care team available seven days a week, they want to make sure you are in love with what you bought.

[Danielle Fishel]

Plus, Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit Article.comPMW and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

[Ryder Strong]

That's article.compmw for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

[Will Friedle]

Summertime is here and you know what that means.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beach trips?

[Ryder Strong]

Family vacations? Nope.

[Will Friedle]

It means it's time to find your next obsession on Prime Video.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yes, we do love a good obsession here, especially when you could talk about for years and suggest to everyone

[Ryder Strong]

you know steamy romance, addictive love stories and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Because when a story hits, it really hits off campus.

[Will Friedle]

L the love hypothesis and much, much more.

[Ryder Strong]

Slow burns, second chances chemistry. You can feel through the screen the

[Danielle Fishel]

type of binge worthy shows and can't miss movies where you're fully invested. Staying up all night just to finish it. Just one more.

[Easton Allen]

Ooh, all right, one more.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know the feeling.

[Will Friedle]

The kind of stories that pull you in and don't let go in the best way.

[Ryder Strong]

Your next obsession is waiting.

[Danielle Fishel]

Watch only on prime let's talk about modern home shopping.

[Will Friedle]

It's sort of becoming like a fun side hobby, right?

[Ryder Strong]

Scrolling listings at night, dreaming about kitchens you haven't seen or backyards you haven't stepped foot in. All from the comfort of, well, literally anywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own but are stuck in this browsing mode loop.

[Will Friedle]

That's where Redfin flips the script.

[Ryder Strong]

With listings that update within minutes and tours you can book right from the Redfin app, you can see your dream home the moment it appears.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it? That's where Redfin comes in.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin has over 2,200 agents with local

[Ryder Strong]

expertise, and Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents.

[Danielle Fishel]

That means they help you win, not just window shop.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home.

[Ryder Strong]

So become the newest neighbor on the block.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit redfin.com to start finding and start owning.

[Will Friedle]

That's redfin.com be a 2 percenter with

[Danielle Fishel]

the active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a lot of name, but it's also a lot of card.

[Will Friedle]

It earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, whether it's buying tickets to the game, grabbing an afternoon coffee or dinner with friends. Purchases big and small. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards.

[Danielle Fishel]

No limits, no categories to track, just straightforward rewards that keep adding up.

[Ryder Strong]

So you might stumble a bit while saying it, but paying with it will make you stumble upon so much more. Say it with me. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

I'm going to say that again just because I have the verbal dexterity to do so. Be a 2 percenter with the active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, that sounds nice.

[Ryder Strong]

Learn more@wells fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply.

[Easton Allen]

Online these days, there is a lot of discussion about Mount Rushmore. Not the literal US Landmark that most likely has very expensive parking, but the pop culture exercise of picking any specific categories. Top four of all time time entry into the Mount Rushmore of your field. Who forever cement your legacy as one of the goats? One viral variation has participants ranking their Disney Channel greats, trading around names like Miley Cyrus, Raven Simone, Hilary Duff and the Dog with a Blog or who's on your rap Mount Rushmore, Biggie, Tupac, Jay Z, the Dog with a blog. Well, if you're interested in constructing a Mount Rushmore for the coolest people to come out of the 90s, our guest this week might just get the whole side of a mountain. She began her career in the coolest neighborhood possible, Sesame street, playing amongst Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. One of her more memorable appearances was alongside Herbie Hancock, who took a sample of her voice and ran it through his legendary synthesizer to show off a brand new technology in music. Then she made her way over to Star Search, covering Marvin Gaye and scoring a four star rating at just seven years old. But her breakthrough came in 1990 when she was cast by Quincy Jones in a television show he was producing for a rapper he thought could easily transition into family tv. And since that show was the legendary Fresh Prince of Bel Air, that rapper was Will Smith. An entire generation would come to know and love her as the spoiled brat with a big heart, Ashley Banks. Oh yeah. She also became a pop and R and B star with a certified gold album, Kiss the Sky, released on Michael Jackson's record label in 1999. And somehow she did all of this while also graduating from Harvard. Recently you've seen her on Abbott elementary, on social media advocating for maternal health, talking about her new children's book, Ossi and the Octopus, inspired by her own son, or promoting Baby Yams, her Philanthropic Baby Quilt Company where 10% of all proceeds go to support black and indigenous community birth workers. And so we are honored to welcome a guest we have wanted on Pod Meets World for quite some time. It's Tatiana Ali.

[Tatiana Ali]

Hello. How are you? How are you guys?

[Easton Allen]

So good to see you. Thank you so much for being here with us. You have been a dream guest for us for some time. I know we have asked you now several times to come on and I'm just so grateful that it finally worked out for your schedule. In your intro we talked all about your activism and your philanthropic work with a lot of focus on maternal health and rights. And I wanted to Know, having been in Hollywood since you were 6, where did your desire to help others come from? Since so many of us are self absorbed in narcissistic others?

[Tatiana Ali]

Huh? Where did it go? Where did it come from? I don't, I don't, I don't know if I can put an exact answer on that. I know that throughout my childhood, even when I was, you know, doing fresh prints or doing other work or, I don't know, in my family, they'll. People always said, you know, to whom much is given, much as expected. And I grew up hearing that. And with maternal health specifically, I just. Once I realized that what happened to me and to my kids, my family, once I realized that that was that our story, that trauma is very commonplace. I have to tell you, it wasn't anything altruistic. It was just real anger. Yeah. That something could be so. Something so awful could be so common.

[Easton Allen]

Right.

[Tatiana Ali]

Every place I went, I just heard the same story. So that's, that's really what that was. I was pissed.

[Easton Allen]

Would you, would you mind sharing with us a little bit of the story? I know you, like me, have two beautiful sons and so much of the work that you do has been guided by that, by the fact that you are now a mother. Can you tell us a little bit about what your birth is story was that. That was so traumatic.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, I had a really healthy pregnancy. You know, luckily my, it's. This is my, my first son, my first baby. And all of that changed once we got into the hospital. You know, our birth plan wasn't followed. There's all that that is. But I was also held down. I mean, I'll give you the quick version. I was held down, my arms and legs, I was what. The term that I use is obstetric violence. There are people who have, since that I've heard stories of that have sued for very, for almost the identical thing that happened to me. And one at the time, once we were, you know, once it was time for us to leave the hospital. And this is after my son had been in the nicu. He couldn't pee on his own for a long time, for about five or six days. And when they realized that actually it was a pediatric urologist who is the only one who came to my side and said, I saw what happened during your birth, the things that resulted in this emergency C section. And she said, I think the traumatic nature of his birth is what is causing this. That was the only person in the whole hospital who mentioned what happened. There was a lot of gaslighting I mean, I'll be real with you. I know you guys, but. But they pushed him back inside me, Danielle. That's what happened. My baby was all the way crowned and I.

[Will Friedle]

Why can I ask? Because I don't know. I'm the only one here who's not a parent, so I don't understand what's.

[Tatiana Ali]

So that's not a real procedure. That's not a real procedure.

[Will Friedle]

And is there a reason why they would do that or.

[Tatiana Ali]

In my, in my records, it shows that he goes from the lowest station I could. I saw his hair, I touched his hair to the highest station. And it doesn't say, well how that happened. It's an incredibly dangerous thing that they did. They could have snapped his neck. But this is after hours of them holding me down, not allowing me to move.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh my God.

[Tatiana Ali]

But these stories are, I mean, you know, it's all, they're all over Instagram. It's been happening for a very long time. The people who have spearheaded the reproductive justice movement have been ringing the alarm. You know, black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth. And I think a lot of times people go, oh, well, those are other health risks and other Whatever. Yes, that's in the mix of things. But there are incredible traumas that are also being experienced in the hospital. When you're a black woman, an indigenous person giving birth, that the treatment is just totally different. And how they feel, they can manipulate and touch you and what they can do to your body is just very different. And yeah, and you know, it's. But like I said, it's this, My story is so common. And like when we left the hospital, we were, we left in the middle of the night. As soon as we got the go, I think it was like past midnight. We ran away.

[Easton Allen]

Wow. Well, that definitely helps explain your answer, which is, you know, you got into this work partially because it has been a family value of yours since the time you can remember, and also righteous anger for things you have experienced. So thank you for using that to help others because like you said, it is very common.

[Tatiana Ali]

I'll share something else that I think you guys would understand that a lot of people wouldn't necessarily. I, I, when I started meeting other people, other families that experienced this, many of whom their loved ones are not here anymore. Okay. Because they died in the hospital. And multi generationally grandmothers who I shared my story in a room and they shared their story with me, I started to really consider like, wow, I have been singing and dancing and acting for people since I was a little girl. And you kind of go, well, why? And now I have this experience to like make it make sense. And it does make sense. It's like, well, I'm supposed to say something.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Because all the people I'm talking to, no one puts a mic in their face. Like they don't necessarily have, you know, a platform. What's happening?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

So it kind of just was like, God, I'm going to take all the things you give me, the good and the bad, and you know, do something with it.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

That's amazing.

[Easton Allen]

There's such a double edged sword to the idea that unfortunately in society, sometimes just being a celebrity gives you credibility and you can, you can use it.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes.

[Easton Allen]

You know, and so in, in your situation, in this case, using that credibility for something credible and truthful and to share other people's stories and your own, you know, like I said, it's a double edged sword. There are certainly a lot of people who use that platform for not credible things. But in this case, you know, what a blessing that you recognize that you have the platform and that you're able to do something about it. So thank you for making such a difference.

[Will Friedle]

It's also great that you're doing it because as child actors, we've talked about this, and entertainers, you're almost conditioned when you're young to not make waves. You know, it's like just, just do your job and listen to the directors and listen to the adults and let them know what's going on and be the best person you can. Cause you want to keep the job. And so you put on a smile and you let all the bad wash over you and you never open your mouth about anything. So it's really impressive that you're like, nope, not doing that.

[Tatiana Ali]

I actually think I kind of did do that at first. We were just surviving. Yeah. When I became pregnant with my youngest, that's when my journey really started because I couldn't let it happen again.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, man, Amazing.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. It also takes some time to recover from a trim, you know, a traumatic birthing experience. And your son was in the nicu. I did not have, I did not have a traumatic birth experience in it in the same way you did. But I also, my, you know, my son was born four weeks early and he spent the first time, six months of his life in and out of the nicu. And it was, you know, my birth plan was thrown out the window and, you know, so it, I also did not really start to process everything that had happened until you get pregnant again and now there's some space. A couple of years have passed and you go, I think I'm finally ready and able to face the everything that has gone on since that time.

[Will Friedle]

Summertime is here and you know what that means.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beach trips?

[Ryder Strong]

Family vacations? Nope.

[Will Friedle]

It means it's time to find your next obsession on Prime Video.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh yes, we do love a good obsession here. Especially when you could talk about for years and suggest to everyone you know

[Ryder Strong]

steamy romance, addictive love stories and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Because when a story hits, it really hits off campus.

[Will Friedle]

L the Love Hypothesis and much, much more.

[Ryder Strong]

Slow burns Second chances chemistry. You can feel through the screen the

[Danielle Fishel]

type of binge worthy shows and can't miss movies where you're fully invested. Staying up all night just to finish it. Just one more.

[Easton Allen]

Oh, all right, one more.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know the feeling.

[Will Friedle]

The kind of stories that pull you in and don't let go in the best way.

[Ryder Strong]

Your next obsession is waiting.

[Danielle Fishel]

Watch only on Prime. Let's talk about modern home shopping.

[Will Friedle]

It's sort of becoming like a fun side hobby, right?

[Ryder Strong]

Scrolling listings at night, dreaming about kitchens you haven't seen or backyards you haven't stepped foot in. All from the comfort of, well, literally anywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own but are stuck in this browsing mode loop.

[Will Friedle]

That's where Redfin flips the script with

[Ryder Strong]

listings that update within minutes and tours you can book right from the Redfin app. You can see your dream home the moment it appears.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it? That's where Redfin comes in.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin has over 2200 agents with local

[Ryder Strong]

expertise, and Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents.

[Danielle Fishel]

That means they help you win, not just window shop.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home.

[Ryder Strong]

So become the newest neighbor on the block.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit redfin.com to start finding and start owning.

[Will Friedle]

That's redfin.com be a 2 percenter with

[Danielle Fishel]

the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a lot of name, but it's also a lot of card.

[Will Friedle]

It earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, whether it's buying tickets to the game, grabbing an afternoon coffee or dinner with friends. Purchases big and small. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards.

[Danielle Fishel]

No limits, no categories to track, just straightforward rewards that keep adding up.

[Ryder Strong]

So you might stumble a bit while saying it, but paying with it will make you stumble upon so much more. Say it with me. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

I'm going to say that again just because I have the verbal dexterity to do so. Be a 2 percenter with the active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, that sounds nice.

[Ryder Strong]

Learn more@wells fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply Eczema

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

is unpredictable, but you can flare less with epglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema after an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About four in ten people taking ebglis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Empglis Lebricizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EPGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebglis. Before starting ebglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

Ask your doctor about evglis and visit evglis.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Easton Allen]

Well, I would like to switch subjects to maybe Sesame Street.

[Ryder Strong]

I was gonna say Sesame Street Star Search.

[Will Friedle]

Let's go back. Go back a little bit.

[Easton Allen]

Until I started doing research, I had no idea that your career started started on Sesame Street.

[Will Friedle]

That's awesome. By the way. That's the best start of any actor ever. That's awesome. Oh, love it.

[Easton Allen]

Was Sesame street then still awesome for you as a kid, even after you saw how the sausage was made?

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh my gosh. It was even more awesome on that. You know, there are a lot of different things they have the kids do at Sesame Street. They kind of have like a preschool backstage. And what's the most fun is when you get to sit. I remember this being like the thing like when you get to sit on the little ledge, the puppets. And it's you and a puppet talking. And the puppeteers are the. When I was there and I'm sure now just the most beautiful artist people. Yeah, dope. And they would rehearse with you with their hands and whatever. And then when. By the time, like, you're a part of the magic making. That's how it felt when I was a kid. It didn't hurt.

[Ryder Strong]

Ruin it.

[Tatiana Ali]

It didn't ruin it. It felt like part of it. And like I was privy to something that, like, was really special, that, like, you know, at home. I didn't know. But if you're in this place, you get to see who Big Bird really is, right? Yeah, yeah. To walk around with his hands like this and kind of like hit suspenders with the bottom of the Big Bird costume. Oh, such like, beautiful people.

[Easton Allen]

So bring the.

[Will Friedle]

Not to bring the room down, but, you know, Big Bird was actually supposed to be. Instead of Christa McAuliffe was actually going to be the other passenger on the. The challenger shuttle in 1986.

[Easton Allen]

Really?

[Will Friedle]

The only. The reason he didn't do it is they couldn't fit the suit inside the. The shuttle. But he was. It was going to be Big Bird in.

[Ryder Strong]

So much more traumatic for all of you.

[Tatiana Ali]

Imagine that.

[Will Friedle]

It was supposed to be Big Bird.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

That crazy.

[Tatiana Ali]

Who.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, sorry, I just.

[Ryder Strong]

Fun fact.

[Will Friedle]

With Will Friedel there. Yeah. We're supposed to see Big Bird. Yep.

[Easton Allen]

So how did you end up on Sesame street making music with Herbie Hancock? How did that, like, how did that journey evolve?

[Tatiana Ali]

You know what? It's like what Ryder said. I was one of the really behaved kids. So there's like a preschool of kids in the back. And then the kids that were really good at taking direction and, like, you know, hitting their marks or whatever, we were often the ones that would come out and do things with whoever the celebrity guests were, the artist guests. I haven't seen this one that much out there, but I did one with Carly Simon, I did one with Sid Caesar making Faces, and then Herbie Hancock. So that was kind of just one of those moments. And. And when I look back on it, I'm like, that was sort of. It was what he was introducing, what he was showing kind of became the future of music. Like.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Sampling, basically.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I didn't know. Say your name in the mic. So cool.

[Easton Allen]

Another very early experience for young actor Tatiana is with Eddie Murphy in Rock and you are so cute. Singing why Do Fools Fall in Love with Samuel L. Jackson. Directed By Robert Townsend, produced by Keenan Ivory Wayans. I mean, it gets absolutely no more legendary than that. Did you have any idea what this was at the time?

[Tatiana Ali]

No, I did not. And I don't even think the par. I remember they gave us. They were really sweet. And they gave all of the kids. All of the kids in that early scene are all kids. We all work together a lot in New York, or we'd see each other at auditions and our parents knew each other and stuff like that. So it was like a little crew. Dion Richmond, who ended up being in the Cosby show for years and years. He played Bud. He played Eddie Murphy. And he tells. You know, he tells that monkey joke. Like, yeah, yeah. They gave us all little vhs. Like, not little, but VHS tapes of just the beginning.

[Will Friedle]

I was gonna say. Yeah. They're handing the kids Eddie Murphy's Raw

[Tatiana Ali]

so we could see what our work. You know what I mean? They were really sweet. They were really, really sweet.

[Easton Allen]

That is so cute.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, but no, we didn't know. You did not know. I think it was called, like, Eddie Murphy in concert or something. You know what I mean?

[Easton Allen]

Right? Yeah. Well, I know your father is from Trinidad and your mom is from Panama. Did either of them have connections in the business? How did you convince them to let you act?

[Tatiana Ali]

I don't know. I think I was just precocious. I have a lot of memories of, like, being, like, in the backyard in Long island and, you know, we had chain link fences between the neighbors. The backyards. And I just have, like, really early memories being like. And then I saw PT and then the airplane and then the bicycle and then. And like, the neighbors being like, okay, good. Like,

[Ryder Strong]

that's awesome.

[Tatiana Ali]

Sorry. Okay. What's he. Girl, I'm so sorry.

[Will Friedle]

My co host. My co hosts know I'm a freak with this stuff. I have to know where in Long island you were.

[Tatiana Ali]

I need a North Belmore.

[Will Friedle]

Okay. All right, cool. My wife's from Long island, so. My wife's from Long Island. She's from Huntington, and my dad's from Rockville center, so.

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, yeah. Rockville Center. You know what I'm supposed to. And I forgot. And I have to ask my parents this because we moved from Long island to California for Fresh Prince. And I have to remember what the exit is because that's what people.

[Will Friedle]

They want to know what the exit

[Tatiana Ali]

I can do the Long Island Railroad, like Massapequa Park, Wanton Amityville.

[Will Friedle]

They want to know what exit on the lie you are. Exactly. Okay. Makes sense.

[Tatiana Ali]

I'm Gonna get that number one day.

[Easton Allen]

Oh, my gosh. So how old were you when the audition for Fresh Prince came around?

[Tatiana Ali]

I was 10.

[Easton Allen]

Okay, and so you were in Long Island. How did you audition in New York?

[Tatiana Ali]

I auditioned in New York. I had just done another pilot for NBC.

[Easton Allen]

Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

That brought us out to California for like a month because that's how, remember, pilots used to take.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, yeah. Yep.

[Tatiana Ali]

And this one was even more. It was like. I think it was like six weeks. We went back and forth a bit because it was a singing and dancing family.

[Easton Allen]

Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

It was like the Partridge Family, but like the black Partridge Family. And we're all from Indianapolis. Tevin Campbell was my brother in that. Saida Garrett, she wrote man in the Mirror. Michael Jackson's man in the Mirror. Cindy Heron, who ended up being in Vogue, one of the original founders of Invigorating. And we all. Yeah, so that was the first. And it was for NBC. And I think they kind of. Brandon Tartikoff was still at NBC at the time. And so when Fresh Prince came up, I auditioned from New York for it. That was a long answer to it.

[Easton Allen]

Very. No. But do you. Do you remember then the moment when you found out you got the part? How many auditions did it take leading up to that? What was that moment like, you know,

[Tatiana Ali]

it was only two auditions because I did a lot of theater in New York. I was doing an off Broadway play and I couldn't come to LA to do the test. And I remember being really bummed out about it and, you know, my mom being like, well, that's okay. You know, we keep our commitments and, you know, like, let. Whatever.

[Ryder Strong]

It probably worked in your favor because Hollywood loves what it can't get right?

[Tatiana Ali]

So I don't know. And also, I hate testing.

[Ryder Strong]

Of course, everybody does.

[Will Friedle]

It's awful.

[Tatiana Ali]

It's the worst nerve wracking process. But at that time, I had never really tested before that I remember. And it was right after one of the off Broadway shows. And I guess they did test everybody and they paired everybody up, but they decided to go with me. And I was right there backstage. I can see the steps. And I remember my mom going, come here. Guess what she told me. And I remember sitting on the steps and like being like, you know, you're a kid, you don't know, but you know you won something, right?

[Will Friedle]

Did you. Did you have to audition alone or did you read with Will Smith? Did they have. Did they pair you up with anybody or was it just you by yourself?

[Tatiana Ali]

It was me by myself. I had auditioned In New York, the second audition was for Quincy Jones.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

And I remember my mom and my aunts being really excited, but I didn't really know. And then I. And I had to do a rap. They made all the kids, like, make up a rap interesting and do it in the room. And I was like, well, this is. Didn't work out because I can sing, but I cannot rap. I was so corny. But that's what they wanted. I think that's what worked because Ashley ends up rapping in the pilot, and she's corny.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my gosh, that's funny.

[Easton Allen]

Well, the show pretty quickly becomes a cultural phenomenon. You Will and Alfonso breaking out as these young standouts. Did you enjoy the process of making. Was this. You had done a pilot for NBC, but was this your first sitcom or your first multicam?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes.

[Easton Allen]

And did you enjoy the process?

[Tatiana Ali]

I loved the process because it was. I mean, I had done. What other one had I done? The Cosby Show. Because they used to film that in New York. I did one episode of Cosby.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

It's like a play. Yep.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Every week you put on a play. So that I understood really well, you know, because that's what I did in New York. Growing up, the only thing that was very new to me was comedy. All the stuff that I had done in New York was more, like, dramatic,

[Easton Allen]

like the pl.

[Tatiana Ali]

Like Broadway. Like, I was in Fences. I played Raynell when I was little on Broadway. It was all very dramatic, very, like, serious stuff. So I had to learn comedy with Fresh Prince. I had to learn, like, the rhythm of it. And I loved it. I still love it. The science of it is so dope.

[Easton Allen]

I know we all feel the same way about multicams. Just that feeling. You're like, ah, so fun.

[Will Friedle]

We want them back.

[Ryder Strong]

Was somebody teaching you the rhythm? Because we had, like, our executive produce, Michael Jacobs was very clear with all of us, like, here's how it goes. This is where a joke is funnier. This is when it's not. Don't walk on a laugh. Like, like, literally rules that he was teaching us as kids. And we, like, was somebody doing that, or were you just figuring it out as you went?

[Tatiana Ali]

I think someone who was doing it. I remember our directors guiding us with that. I remember Alfonso giving me a lot of the rules of the road because he had been in Silver Spoons on

[Will Friedle]

Silver Spoons and everything around. Old school sitcom actor.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah. And just, like, the rul of threes and, like, all this stuff he would. I don't even know if he remembers this, but he would talk about it really freely. And I was like. And then also, because Will was new to acting, I think there was. Even though I was the only kid on the set, really, I think there was a lot of learning happening, like.

[Easton Allen]

Right, right.

[Tatiana Ali]

And. And so I just got to, like, kind of be a sponge and absorb. Absorb all of that. But, like, as you go. Right. And then there's also so much time to rehearse in multicams, like.

[Ryder Strong]

I know.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Right. It's a great schedule. It's a beautiful schedule, isn't it?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. You were also, I mean, really surrounded by very seasoned actors. James Avery, Joseph Marcel, Charlene Woodward, Jasmine Guy. I mean, Don Cheadle, Roundtree. Yeah, they all show up pretty quickly on the show. So I would imagine you're learning in, like, real time from some of these incredible pros.

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, absolutely. At the table reads. Table reads, guys,

[Ryder Strong]

there are some actors. There's some actors who table reads just scare the crap out of them, and they can't do it. And it's like, for me, it's like. It's kind of like a superpower when you grow up with it. Like, I love it, too. Like, I get to a table read, I am so relaxed. I'm like. It's like the perfect level of, like, pressure for performance. But also, it's just a table read, so it's cool. So, like, I love it.

[Will Friedle]

I thrive.

[Ryder Strong]

But, like, even my wife, who's done it a bunch, like, but she didn't grow up in it, and she's like, nah, she'd rather do the thing. Like, the table read is like an afterthought. I'm like, table read's the best part.

[Will Friedle]

It's the best part.

[Ryder Strong]

That's where you get to throw it out and see if it works.

[Tatiana Ali]

Exactly. It's like the table read, what's so magical about it is, like, it is the page. It's on the page, and it's either there or it's not. And there's nothing that we did or didn't do. Writers get to hear it, and it's like, if it didn't work, it didn't work.

[Easton Allen]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Ryder Strong]

I love it, too. Were you.

[Will Friedle]

Were you a sitcom fan growing up? I mean, was this something. Did you just love tv?

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, me too.

[Tatiana Ali]

And. And movies and everything else? No, I. I did. I loved it. God, what did I grow up with? Watching.

[Easton Allen]

Like,

[Tatiana Ali]

I watched all the tgif. I watched you guys. I watched. I watched Blossom after you Know I watched Perfect Cousins. No. What is Perfect Strangers?

[Will Friedle]

Perfect Strangers with balky.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Tatiana Ali]

Just the 10 of us.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Well, that's old school. TGIF. You're going just the 10 of us and stuff like that. That's great. It's a Growing Pains kind of era.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes. Oh, I love Growing Pains. That's cool.

[Easton Allen]

Do you remember the first time you heard the theme song for Fresh Prince?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes, I do. Do I remember? Yes, I do. They had it. We had a party for the first episode.

[Easton Allen]

I was gonna say, you have your

[Tatiana Ali]

party and that theme song, it was a lot longer in the first couple episodes. There's okay few stanzas that they cut out moving forward, but. Yeah, I remember thinking it was amazing. It was a music video in the beginning of the day.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

You know, tells the whole story.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

Just so great. Was your relationship with Will a mirror to the brother sister style, the way you guys were written on the show?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, totally.

[Easton Allen]

Completely.

[Tatiana Ali]

He's. And he's so funny. He's so funny.

[Easton Allen]

He.

[Tatiana Ali]

He lights up a space, you know? But, yeah, absolutely. It very much. Him and Alfonso. Very much. The big brothers that, like. Do you want them? I don't know

[Will Friedle]

exactly. Exactly. Well, I think you would have to. If you're going back through especially sitcom history, Will and Alfonso have to be up there as one of the best comedy duos you're ever gonna find. So, I mean, it was just one of those things where you saw the two of them on screen together and then this little girl comes in and is holding her own. It was pretty impressive, Tatiana, watching you on that show because you eat. But, I mean, again, you think about it, you think about the power of those two guys together comedically, and it's easy for every other actor around to be really swallowed up. And you weren't. The cast was. So we've re watched a couple episodes of different shows on this podcast, and Fresh Prince is when we were all like, wow, they're all really good. They're really good.

[Ryder Strong]

It was an ensemble, you know, we could see, like, the way. Because, I mean, obviously, obviously, Will is like, why the show existed. But once you get into that kitchen set, everybody's got their beats, everybody's got their own. And it was like. It was really cool to see. It was like, wow. Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

James Avery really was a huge part of, you know, sometimes the strength of the comedy of one or a couple characters can. You know, it's not necessarily that everybody else is dim in comparison to that, but it can kind of set, you know, in the process of making it writers, everybody's like, oh, let's do more of that. Let's do more of that. Because that's the funniest thing. That's the funniest thing. And. But there was something. We always had notes. After every run through, we had notes, and our notes were different from notes that I experienced in other places. And it started. I don't know if it started my experience in what I remember, it was Andy and Susan Barwitz. I remember them asking us, what do you guys think? Wow. Because. And I. And I always felt. I got the feeling I might be wrong about this, but I got the feeling, you know, this is a white couple. They're writing about this black family. And I really felt like they were asking, like, did we get this right? What? Be honest. Like, tell us. And we did. And that became something that. No matter who the executive producers were, we maintained that. And boy, would James say, my daughter would not talk to me like that. Right. We'd have, like. And I'd be like, yeah, she might not, but she might say it in, like, a different way. But I feel like she would fight for that and we would talk about. So maybe that's what she feels like. All of our characters had very fleshed out perspectives, you know, and you had ownership.

[Will Friedle]

That's the thing.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, it's really cool.

[Will Friedle]

Your opinion mattered to your character. Character, which is. Yeah,

[Easton Allen]

that has been like, we have no trauma.

[Ryder Strong]

We have no trauma.

[Tatiana Ali]

And I know that that's not how it is. Notes is. Yeah, take the notes.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, yeah. We had. We had literal line readings. So, like, you know,

[Will Friedle]

do you. Do you remember when you first kind of realized what you had as a show, when it. When you really were like, wow, we're in the zeitgeist. I mean, this is. We're hugely popular here. Do you remember when you really first felt that?

[Tatiana Ali]

I felt that way after the show.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

Like, I remember being in college and one of my roommates, we were in, like, the common area and, you know, where everybody goes and got our late night snacks or whatever, and we're sitting down watching tv and she's like, like, fresh Prince is on. Would it be weird if I watched it? Weird if I watched it next to you. And I was like, I don't. So. And she's like, come on, let's watch. And I watched her joy. Like, I watched her laugh and, like, know the lines. And, like, I saw how much it meant to her, even despite the awkwardness that should have been. Or what I kind of felt right. And that was so that even after we had done it, it's the lasting power of what the show has meant to people that makes. That has. That's what rings that bell for me. Like, oh, my God.

[Easton Allen]

Like, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

It really touched people.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, we. We feel that too. That like, we don't. I don't really think we knew that the show was big or meant something until after it was off the air, you know, and it's like it took a long time.

[Will Friedle]

Fresh Prince, though, was more, like, way more popular when it was on and.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Magazine covers and TV Guide and stuff than we ever were. So.

[Ryder Strong]

But still, I feel like, I mean, it is strange that we all tuned it out. Like we're talking about the same period in the 90s where we're living this life. We're working every day on the show, and yet it becomes a lot of noise. Like you don't want to. I don't know, Like, I remember avoiding anything that was too celebratory of what we were doing. I just remember being like, tape night was fun, but like, I didn't want to hear. I didn't want to talk Boy Meets World outside of it.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Or like hang around, you know, fans. Like, it would just be like, get me out of here. I don't know.

[Easton Allen]

Right.

[Tatiana Ali]

We were all so little. Look, Karen, who played Hillary, Al, Will, I mean, they were out of the club. I don't know what they were doing, but I feel like they got to.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Enjoy it.

[Easton Allen]

You're right.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Summertime is here. And you know what that means? Means?

[Ryder Strong]

Beach trips, family vacations. Nope.

[Will Friedle]

It means it's time to find your next obsession on Prime Video.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yes, we do love a good obsession here. Especially when you could talk about for years and suggest to everyone, you know,

[Ryder Strong]

steamy romance, addictive love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

Because when a story hits, it really hits off campus.

[Will Friedle]

L. The Love Hypothesis. And much, much more.

[Ryder Strong]

Slow burns. Second chances chemistry. You can feel through the screen the

[Danielle Fishel]

type of binge worthy shows and can't miss movies where you're fully invested, staying up all night just to finish it. Just one more.

[Tatiana Ali]

Ooh.

[Easton Allen]

All right, one more.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know the feeling.

[Will Friedle]

The kind of stories that pull you in and don't let go in the best way.

[Ryder Strong]

Your next obsession is waiting.

[Danielle Fishel]

Watch only on Prime. Let's talk about modern home shopping.

[Will Friedle]

It's sort of becoming like a fun side hobby. Right.

[Ryder Strong]

Scrolling listings at night. Dreaming about kitchens you haven't seen or backyards you haven't stepped foot in. All from the comfort of, well, literally anywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own but are stuck in this browsing mode loop.

[Will Friedle]

That's where Redfin flips the script with

[Ryder Strong]

listings that update within minutes and tours you can book right from the Redfin app, you can see your dream home the moment it appears.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it? That's where Redfin comes in.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin has over 2200 agents with local

[Ryder Strong]

expertise, and Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents.

[Danielle Fishel]

That means they help you win, not just window shop.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home.

[Ryder Strong]

So become the newest neighbor on the block.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit redfin.com to start finding and start owning.

[Will Friedle]

That's redfin.com be a 2 percenter with

[Danielle Fishel]

the active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo that's a lot of names, but it's also a lot of card.

[Will Friedle]

It earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, whether it's buying tickets to the game, grabbing an afternoon coffee or dinner with friends. Purchases big and small. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards.

[Danielle Fishel]

No limits, no categories to track, just straightforward rewards that keep adding up.

[Ryder Strong]

So you might stumble a bit while saying it, but paying with it will make you stumble upon so much more. Say it with me. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

I'm going to say that again just because I have the verbal dexterity to do so. Be a 2 percenter with the active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, that sounds nice.

[Ryder Strong]

Learn more@wells fargo.com forward/activecash terms apply Eczema

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

is unpredictable, but you can flare less with epglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema after an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About four in ten people taking Emplis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Pharmaceutical Ad Voice]

Empglis Lebricizumab LBKZ a 250mg per 2ml injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals, or who cannot Use topical therapies. Ebglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Ebglis. Before starting Ebglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

Ask your doctor about ebgliss and visit ebgliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Easton Allen]

I want to talk a little bit about the fashion of Fresh Prince because you wore these amazing sort of, like, private school looks. Will was wearing all the new, cool streetwear releases and Nikes. Alfonso looked like a banker. Was the process of picking out the wardrobe a big deal because it was so iconic?

[Tatiana Ali]

It was a big deal. It was a big deal. There was a lot of attention paid to it.

[Easton Allen]

A lot of. Oh, my gosh.

[Tatiana Ali]

I used to love how Karen dressed.

[Easton Allen]

Like, I know a little hat

[Tatiana Ali]

and viv. Everything was St. John. Like, they were really expensive, beautiful clothes that kind of, you know, were a part of the scenery of, like, Bel Air, you know, lots of. Lots of shoulder pads.

[Easton Allen]

Shoulder.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, yeah.

[Easton Allen]

Oh.

[Tatiana Ali]

Shoulder pads weren't even in the clothes. They came as a separate accessory.

[Ryder Strong]

That's hysterical.

[Tatiana Ali]

Whatever.

[Easton Allen]

Oh, my gosh. That is so funny. Where's our. Where's our shipment of shoulder pads?

[Tatiana Ali]

Did you wear pantyhose? Because those are in the pantyhose days. Did you like, in color hose?

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, I remember. I mean, I wore them in my personal life, so I know, you know,

[Tatiana Ali]

people, I think, also people. This was before athleisure. Like, just clothes in general. You have to get dressed.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Are pantyhose not a thing anymore?

[Easton Allen]

They are, but most people don't wear them. Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, maybe if it's cold, like, tight.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. If it's colder, they. Yeah. Put on tights. But, yeah. I mean, you used to. If you didn't have pantyhose on, it was almost like, do you even care about where you're going? And like she mentioned to you, you were. You were supposed to wear pantyhose, but unless they were a different color than your skin, you would even wear them to blend in. Do. Is she wearing pantyhose or is she not? It was like. It was.

[Will Friedle]

And what was the purpose of said hoes? What. What. What are you supposed to show you

[Easton Allen]

cared this was an event you cared about. I'm uncomfortable for you.

[Ryder Strong]

Interesting.

[Tatiana Ali]

What's the purpose?

[Ryder Strong]

Was it to keep you warm? Was it to keep you slightly warm or like prevent you from having to shave your legs?

[Easton Allen]

Right.

[Tatiana Ali]

Like, it might be a throwback from like wartime. Like, you know, like movies where like, you know, when they're rations.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, right. Like, oh, I got my girl some pantyhose.

[Tatiana Ali]

Right? But you can't look like you're wearing pantyhose. So they used to like draw the line.

[Will Friedle]

Draw the line up the back. Yeah, exactly. Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

It was a, it was a piece. The costume department would have a library stack of pantyhose in every single color for every single guest. So funny or whatever. I can't believe we're talking about that.

[Ryder Strong]

I know this. This is the hard hitting journalism of pod meets world.

[Easton Allen]

Guys, watch me make it a little hard hitting. Ready? It's also a way to blur skin imperfections, right? So if it's like makeup for your

[Ryder Strong]

legs, in a way, as a woman,

[Easton Allen]

you're gonna wear something short. Well, we can't see that cellulite, we shouldn't see that hair, we shouldn't see that mole or a scar or a, or a, you know, a skin tag or, you know, anything.

[Ryder Strong]

But we still want to see leg.

[Easton Allen]

But you gotta show it, you gotta be sexy. But it, so it's, it was a, it was. Truthfully, it's a filter. It's a filter.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

You know, so anyway, we can, we could talk about it for. I know so much about pantyh.

[Tatiana Ali]

I still have a box full.

[Easton Allen]

I don't know, honestly, I just started buying tights again now. They make so many cute pattern ones, little roses on them, you know, heart. They're, they're back, they're back in a big way. We all grew up on a sitcom, we all had set teachers. And I am always blown away by people like you and Ryder and Jonathan, Taylor Thomas and our other co star, Ben, who, you know, writer, went to Columbia, you went to Harvard, Ben went to Stanford. Stanford. What do you think we learn in this insane situation we were put in? Like, is there an educational plus or minus to being a kid actor? And Ryder, I would love to hear from you as well since you are also a fellow child genius with Tatiana. Will and I'll stay quiet, but you two can talk amongst yourselves.

[Will Friedle]

I like ice cream.

[Easton Allen]

You guys like maple donuts, whatever.

[Ryder Strong]

I don't know, Tatiana, don't you think it was just, I mean, for me, I thrived in individual education. Like having one on one relationship with a teacher and the fact that like I just wanted that. I don't think I would have done well in a, in a group situation. So I really just took advantage of that one on one factor.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes. I, I loved, I loved both. I think also I, I, you know what you don't have, you want more of. So being pulled out of school in New York. New York at the time, I think it's kind of the same. No, I think it's changed a little bit. They didn't have the labor laws that they do in California. So you know, you get pulled out of school, you're not necessarily going someplace where there is a studio teacher. So I missed.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow.

[Tatiana Ali]

You know, like.

[Will Friedle]

And do you remember some of the studio's teachers in New York had no business calling themselves teachers. Because I came up in New York too and it was like, well, babysitters. They're babysitters.

[Tatiana Ali]

Was my.

[Will Friedle]

Yes, it was bad.

[Easton Allen]

Absolutely right.

[Tatiana Ali]

Mom was my studio teacher to be.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Came to California.

[Will Friedle]

Totally different.

[Ryder Strong]

Totally different.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Tatiana Ali]

Kathry, Kathy, Cyrus, Lauren. Oh my gosh. They were like. I like what you're saying, Writer. I felt like I was like, oh. When I look back, I'm like, was I the princess of something? Why did I have. I had these incredible teachers.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

If I needed to spend weeks learning to write this particular thing that I wanted to work with or jostle the schedule around to really hone in on something, you know, in, in calculus that I wasn't quite getting. I ha. You know, you have the ability to do that. And I, I had the most. I had an incredible education because of it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

But like, but likewise, because it's one on one. You could also have like a terrible experience because of it. You know, it depends. It really depends on who, who, who's doing the teaching.

[Will Friedle]

You know, I had one teacher I used to just smoke with. I was 12. So. Yeah, I mean.

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Ryder Strong]

So I could go e. So how did you end up. So how did it work out? Like applying to college and going in terms of the show itself. Because like I ended up having to go. Cause I graduated high school in 97, was still on the show for two and a half more years. And so I went to Occidental out here in la. Like part time in the mornings. Cause I could still do that. Did you just make take. Do you finish the show and leap right to Harvard or were you taking classes?

[Tatiana Ali]

No, I. So the show ended right before my senior year in high school. And then during that year I started to record music. I applied to school and then that became. That was the huge. I could think. I could see all the meetings that I was in with the record label about the applying.

[Easton Allen]

MJJ Records.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes. Yes. And. And I applied anyway and I got in to the places I wanted to get into. And so what? I just. So then I deferred a year from college to do music and tour. Wow. I was really given a choice. I was given a false choice. I think I was really given, like, if you do this, like, this is not. We're not doing this. Like, it wasn't anything. I don't know, like, record over the summer. Like, it doesn't make any sense.

[Easton Allen]

Right?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, it was like that because my music did well, but I had to choose. So I did. I deferred a year. Then I went to school for that semester. One semester. Went back and forth. Like. I remember being in the airport all the time. Uk, Boston, you could have. That did not work. So then I took that semester off and then to complete touring, and then I just went to school. I just went to school.

[Will Friedle]

So what, you were touring in Europe at the time then?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, jeez.

[Will Friedle]

It wasn't Even in the U.S. my God.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah. And this is before, like, you know, virtual classes and things like that. I think that could have made it a little bit easier. But I'm. And on the other hand, I'm glad that, like, once I went to school, you know, once that the touring was over and I was there, I was really there. I really got to, you know, experience the dead of winter in Massachusetts.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, that's my neck of the woods. I love it.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my God. What did you.

[Will Friedle]

What did you study? What did you study while you were there?

[Tatiana Ali]

I studied government is what they call it, which is political science. Yeah. And I did. I spent a lot of time at the Barker Center. I should have done a double major, but I didn't. And the Barker center is all African American studies. And at the time that I was there, they had, like. It was called the Dream Team.

[Ryder Strong]

I was going to say that's when everybody.

[Tatiana Ali]

And Anthony Appiah, they were all at Harvard in the Barker Center. So I worked a lot there. And then towards the. Kind of. Towards the end, then I started to go get back into theater, the American Repertory Theater and the Black Box, you know. And I remember my senior year was a group of my friends, we put on for Colored Girls who Considered Suicide when the Rainbow Is Enough and I'm up on the rafters putting the lights together. And. And I just realized up there, I was like, number one, I have a fear of heights. I'll never do this again. I love making stories. I love rehearsal. I love what it smells like in here. Yep. I love the creaky floors.

[Ryder Strong]

It's home. Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, my gosh. I. And I was like, wow, what a little journey I just took myself on to be. To say, this is what I really like. I love it. I love it. And I think it's. I don't know. I think it has. It. You guys know this, like storytelling, it has a potential to just do so much. It can do so much. So all the things that I did study in school that might seem different from performance art or whatever they inform it all the time.

[Ryder Strong]

And your husband is an academic, right? He's in the English department at Stanford. Is that right?

[Tatiana Ali]

At Stanford?

[Easton Allen]

Who was Stanford?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

So I imagine you guys are still having some academic discussions around the dinner table, some fun.

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We talk about stuff.

[Easton Allen]

We recently had Ashley Johnson on the podcast and we talked about her performance on Star Search. And yours is so great. And there's a real fun kind of circle of life thing going on where Arsenio is the host and you would then later perform your music on his talk show. What was your true first love? Was it acting or singing?

[Tatiana Ali]

I'm from New York. You do all of the things.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

[Tatiana Ali]

You don't have to choose. Like. Yeah, the one. The thing that I'm Is probably my I. You know, I. Dancing. I'm not a I. I don't keep choreography the way, the way those. With the way people do. I don't. It takes me a little extra. I need. I need homework time, which doesn't work in theater at all, but like six, seven, eight. Do it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

No. Yeah. Nope.

[Tatiana Ali]

I need extra homework time. But I love. I love singing and I. And I. And I love acting. I don't particularly like the music business.

[Easton Allen]

Right.

[Tatiana Ali]

Of the businesses. I, you know, acting and, and that. That part. I think maybe it's because there's more ensemble that's necessary. There's just more people often involved. That makes it feel a little bit safer or. But as a teenage girl, it's. In music. It was, it was. It was tough. You know, I was signed to Will's production company and so that offered some protection, but there were place. There were things that didn't make any sense. Like why was I in a studio at one o' clock in the morning?

[Easton Allen]

Right. Right.

[Tatiana Ali]

To do what Like a signed artist. It's not like there's a discount. There used to be discounts. That's why people used to be in the studio that late at night. But why is that happening? Just things like that.

[Easton Allen]

Did you enjoy the process of making the album?

[Tatiana Ali]

Yes, Yes, I did. I did. I did.

[Easton Allen]

Even if it meant some 1am recording.

[Tatiana Ali]

And I was working some of it. I was working with Rodney jerkins. He was 16 too, at 1am why were we there? I don't know. We could have easily. And then I'll tell you something else. I did a soundtrack for Elmo in. In Grouchland. In Groucho Land. Nashville. First time I was ever in the studio at 11:30 in the morning, I

[Easton Allen]

was like, oh, so it is. It is open in the morning hours. Interesting.

[Ryder Strong]

Normal human hours. That's funny.

[Tatiana Ali]

Creative now.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow.

[Easton Allen]

That is so funny. Have you seen any early evidence that either of your boys are performers?

[Tatiana Ali]

Caught my youngest in the bathroom making faces. Do you know what I'm saying?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, it starts.

[Will Friedle]

It's where it starts. Then come the voices.

[Tatiana Ali]

I also have caught him. I saw him practicing pratfall walls. I didn't teach him how to do that. Yep. Do it in the hallway. And then after he was doing it for a while, he came to me and was like, look.

[Easton Allen]

Whoa.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my God. I have a video of my son doing the exact same thing. Yeah, he piled up his books. This is when he was like, four. Piled up his books to show me how he could do a whole big Pratt fall and keep it going. I was like, oh, my God.

[Tatiana Ali]

That's how I felt. I was like,

[Will Friedle]

raising entertainers. Nice. Oh, man.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

You're in for it.

[Tatiana Ali]

I've seen it. I've seen it. And my oldest, he. He's a storyteller. He's just always got. We're just trying to get him to write him down. Write him down. Write him down. I see it.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. Are you.

[Ryder Strong]

Are.

[Easton Allen]

How do you feel about it? Are you. Are you encouraging of a. A life in the arts, or are you hoping they'll get distracted by something else?

[Tatiana Ali]

I think the life in the arts can be amazing.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

I think it can be incredible. I mean, the places, you know, you get to go and the people you get to meet and the stories you get to be a part of that. It can be amazing for them to be kids and do it. I don't think. I mean, if I'm honest, I don't think I'm gonna do that. It's so all encompassing you know, there's so in. And. And the protection has to be ironclad. You know, we're not doing anything else if we're doing that. Like, I don't know how my parents. My parents kept their own jobs from. For really. Like, I literally don't know how they did it. My mom kind of went in and out so that she could. She's a nurse. She was a nurse. She's retired now so that she could be there, you know, But I don't know how they did it. And I have two sisters. I have no idea.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, so when I think, yeah, they

[Tatiana Ali]

can have a life in the arts. Be in the school play.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

Exactly.

[Easton Allen]

Yes, exactly. Do it for school.

[Ryder Strong]

And we'll. We'll talk when you're 18.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Or at least when you can drive yourself to auditions, maybe. Exactly.

[Will Friedle]

There you go.

[Ryder Strong]

No, I know, it's crazy.

[Easton Allen]

Can you tell us about your kids book, please? Ozzy and the Octopus.

[Tatiana Ali]

Look, have it here.

[Easton Allen]

Yay.

[Tatiana Ali]

It's my first book. Guy.

[Ryder Strong]

That's awesome, man.

[Easton Allen]

That is so cool.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, the COVID looks great.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah. So this is actually. This is. This is my oldest, and he never. He always had an octopus. Stuffy

[Will Friedle]

place to take a break.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah. The whole upper floor of my house is a tank. But I think it's because we, you know, we were in San Francisco very. When he was very, very young, and we were just. I was just always in the aquariums and the museums with him, and it's just always been Marine life. I've been working with Scholastic for a few years now as a mentor for one of their library connection collections, Girls and Steam. They're called Rising Voices. And they really work towards creating these libraries that are representative for children, you know, whether it's girls in Steam or Black and Brown Boys or this. This book is a part of the richness of black stories collection. So kids can see themselves. So kids can also see others in the community, learn about each other as protagonists. And while I was working with them, I told them, you know, they learn about my kids and I told them about the story idea that I had to kind of go into his imaginary world and. Because I think that's where a lot of the magic lives. Like being a kid who achieved at a very young age. And, like, that was kind of like achievement, achievement, achievement. I think it's nice to just. It kind of touches on the question that you asked. Like, it's kind of nice to just see our kids play.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. You know, for no other reason other than just to play There's a lot

[Tatiana Ali]

of good stuff there too. So that's what I hope the, the, the book celebrates so great.

[Easton Allen]

Do you think it could be a series? Are you planning any new books?

[Tatiana Ali]

I am. I am in the midst of writing, like, a couple others.

[Easton Allen]

Okay.

[Tatiana Ali]

But I could definitely see it as a series.

[Easton Allen]

A whole new generation. Discovered you on TV recently with Abbott Elementary, Easily the best comedy on tv. Were you as excited to be on that show as I would be?

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding me?

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

I put myself on a tape just like we do. And when my agents were like, guess what? I was like, oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

Freak out.

[Tatiana Ali]

Full freak out.

[Easton Allen]

I had the joy and honor of meeting Quinta at an ABC Hulu party last year. And she's everything you want her to be in more.

[Tatiana Ali]

She is. When I said, like, she brought. I think it was the third episode or something I did when we were all in a park. And I also think because we'd been sliding and running and physically doing all this stuff, very kid like stuff. She brought tears to my eyes. I just never seen anybody. She is a boss. Like, she is the boss. Like, it is her show. Like, like, like nothing goes down without her say so. I don't know how she keeps her eyes on. And she does. It's just. Yeah, she's amazing. She's amazing.

[Easton Allen]

So are, Is there a chance we're gonna get to see more of you on tv? Like, I wanna, I just, I wanna know where we can get all things more. Tatiana.

[Tatiana Ali]

Oh, my gosh. I, I, I mean, I'm so, I feel so lucky to, to be having this recurring, like, moment on an Abbott. I did do a little bit for all on for all Mankind, which is an Apple TV show that just started streaming and which is my first Sci Fi, which.

[Ryder Strong]

Cool.

[Easton Allen]

Okay. So does Will.

[Will Friedle]

Well, mostly I'm mostly fantasy.

[Easton Allen]

Fantasy?

[Tatiana Ali]

Are you serious?

[Will Friedle]

This is all my fantasy collection right behind me. So I'm a fantasy nerd. Yeah, that's all. Those are all fantasies or most of them are my signed fantasy novels by, like, oh, I love it.

[Tatiana Ali]

Comic Con.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I'm at Comic Cons. We're at Comic Cons all the time.

[Tatiana Ali]

Well, I know you guys. Yes, that's true. That's true. That's true. So I guess it's a different question, like, when I'm there and I see people, like, cosplaying and stuff.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I'm like, that's me. Yeah. I'm a huge nerd. I play Dungeons and Dragons. I'm a huge Nerd.

[Tatiana Ali]

Yeah, but I'm down. Down.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I'm a huge nerd. So, yeah. Yeah. Oh, we'll come up. We'll all cosplay at something. It'll be great. Danielle. Danielle loves that stuff.

[Easton Allen]

Support you. I'll support you.

[Will Friedle]

You'll support us while dressing like an elf.

[Ryder Strong]

She won't do it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, she will. We'll get her.

[Easton Allen]

If you could go back in time and tell young Tatiana, just starting out, anything about the entertainment industry or about your future, what would you. If you could deliver one message to young Tatiana, what would you say to her?

[Tatiana Ali]

It'll all work out. That's the lyric. But it should be. If it's not. Yeah, that's not the lyric at all. But I just changed it to, it'll all work out.

[Easton Allen]

Well, it'll all work out.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Tatiana Ali]

If you have a good heart, if you are, you know, kind, if you're a good person, do your best and. And throw that. Throw it away, because it's very interesting. It's like, you think these crosses in the road or these major moments in the road are like, if I don't make the right. And if I don't get this thing, and if I don't. And if I. Okay, do your best. It'll all work out. It'll all work out the way it's supposed to. It's okay. You don't even know where you're going until you've gotten a little bit down the road and you can look back

[Easton Allen]

and go, oh,

[Ryder Strong]

that's so true. I was always headed here.

[Easton Allen]

I was gonna end up here no matter which road I took.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah. Kind of so crazy. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for spending your time with us, joining us today, talking about all things. You've always been such an inspiration to me and somebody I look up to so much, even though I'm pretty sure you're younger than I am. But I really admire you. So thank you for being here with us.

[Tatiana Ali]

I love you guys. Thank you. I don't know about that, Danielle. All right.

[Easton Allen]

It was great to see you.

[Ryder Strong]

Great to see you,

[Easton Allen]

man. She's so cool.

[Ryder Strong]

She's so cool. She was so cool back in the day, too. I didn't really spend much time with her in the 90s, but I always just thought she was so cool.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah, she is. She's always been cool, and she's always been just so smart and, like. No, I mean, I don't know any other way to say it other than, like, no BS about her. She is just Yeah, I, you just. She is real and she is authentic and she. I just. Yeah, I, I absolutely adore her.

[Will Friedle]

So I can't imagine sitting in a note session and having the first thing they say to you is, what do you think?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, it's, it makes sense to why that, that, that cast felt empowered and, and felt like they owned their characters and it comes across.

[Easton Allen]

It comes across.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Easton Allen]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Easton Allen]

You see it and you feel it. Well, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram Pod Meets World show. You can send us your emails. Podmeatsworldshowmail.com and we've got merch.

[Will Friedle]

Woke up in my house just sitting on my perch. And that's when it hit me.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm the prince of the merch.

[Will Friedle]

Merch.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow. Pretty good.

[Easton Allen]

Podmeatsworldshow.com Will, when did you write that?

[Will Friedle]

That kind of. I've been tinkering the last six, eight months.

[Ryder Strong]

No big deal.

[Will Friedle]

No big. No, no problem. We do hear it back by, by, by an orchestra. It's pretty amazing.

[Easton Allen]

Oh, my gosh. PodBeats WorldShow.com will send us out.

[Will Friedle]

We love you all. Pod Dismissed. Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Fredell and Ryder Strong, executive producers Jensen Karp and and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara Sudbaksh, producer Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World superfan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon, and you can follow us on Instagram odmeatsworldshow or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com

[Danielle Fishel]

here's another mouthwatering recipe idea from

[Easton Allen]

the world's finest rice vinegar.

[Danielle Fishel]

Try a Morakan hot chicken sandwich with pickled cucumbers made with chilies, garlic, and

[Easton Allen]

the vibrant, zesty flavor of Morrican Genuine Brewed Rice Vinegar.

[Danielle Fishel]

Or go sweet and savory with Morrican

[Easton Allen]

Seasoned Gourmet, a flavor bomb for veggies and grilled proteins.

[Danielle Fishel]

Get the green label for Genuine Brewed

[Easton Allen]

or the orange label for Seasoned Gourmet. Then check out ricevinegar.com for more delicious

[Danielle Fishel]

recipes, because the food you love is best better with maricon.

[Will Friedle]

This is an ad for the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small.

[Ryder Strong]

So whether it's buying tickets to the game or grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

[Will Friedle]

Say it with me the Active Cash Credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a 2 percenter.

[Danielle Fishel]

Learn more at Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply Hot Take you can disagree with someone and not hate them. I know really groundbreaking stuff, but lately that line seems blurry. Because hate is rising across communities in all kinds of ways, and Jewish communities are getting a lot of it right now. You don't have to agree with people, you just have to not be awful. The blue square is a simple way to say I'm with you and I don't tolerate hate of any kind. Go to bluesquarealliance.org get a pin, share it, and stand up.

[Will Friedle]

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 an I Heart podcast.

[Podcast Host (Ad Voice)]

Guaranteed human.